Boycott Buhari’s budget presentation, CUPP, PDP tell lawmakers
The Coalition of United Political Parties and the Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday called on the leadership and members of the National Assembly to boycott Wednesday’s presentation of the 2019 budget by President Muhammadu Buhari.
CUPP, in a statement by its national spokesperson, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said the lawmakers should boycott the exercise as a show of resentment and condemnation of Buhari’s alleged three years’ reign of impunity, non-implementation of past budgets and abuse of state institutions.
Other reasons cited by the group included the President’s alleged incompetence, abuse of appropriation laws and refusal to sign the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
It stated, “The opposition coalition holds the view that sitting down and listening to a man who has led several assaults on the institutions of our nation’s constitutional governance is tacit support for his many sins against our nation.”
CUPP alleged that Buhari refused to implement previous budgets passed since 2015 till date and committed gross misconduct and obstruction of justice by refusing to obey judgments of courts including the ECOWAS court.
The group added that the President promised to fix the economy, but only succeeded in turning Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world.
It also described Buhari as “a man who has lost control of his government as alleged by his wife with two unidentified and unelected men using presidential powers under him; a man who has divided our nation along ethnic and religious lines.”
The group said the President deserved impeachment for allegedly committing many acts of alleged gross misconduct, incompetence and obstruction of justice.
CUPP stated, “Our call for the heroic, patriotic and courageous walkout/boycott of the 2019 budget presentation on Wednesday, December 19, 2018 is hinged on the following national interest based on economic and political reasons; refusal by President Buhari to substantially implement previous budgets from 2015 to 2018 which led to rise in poverty, waste and sufferings of Nigerians; refusal to sign the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill that will guarantee free and fair elections, reduce rigging and avert bloody electoral contests; inflicting poverty on Nigerians as a result of incompetence and prompt leadership action; and the sudden rise in Boko Haram activities, armed robbery and bloody violence across Nigeria.”
It also noted that the President had refused to sign the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, which would have raised revenue for Nigerians and protected the Niger Delta people and their environment.
CUPP further said that Buhari did not attend the burial of soldiers killed in Metele, Borno State. It also accused the Buhari administration of illegal detention of opposition and innocent citizens and lack of respect for human rights.
The group stated that the administration had not rescued Leah Sharibu and the remaining Chibok schoolgirls from the captivity of Boko Haram.
“It is important to note that after a careful review of the pattern of the past three years’ budgets including the snippets from the 2019 budget, we can categorically tell Nigerians that the document is once again an empty proposal that lacks the capacity to pull Nigeria out of the economic woes the previous Buhari budgets landed it and hence we caption it a budget for consolidation of incompetence, waste and poverty and an official paper for the rampaging looters to complete their four years looting cycle,” CUPP stated.
On its part, the PDP threw its weight behind the call on lawmakers to boycott the 2019 budget presentation by the President.
The party said it remained part of the CUPP and would therefore not oppose whatever decision taken by the body of opposition parties.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, who spoke with one of our correspondents, insisted that the President had disappointed Nigerians.
He said, “You know we are part of the coalition and whatever decision they take, we are part of it. Though we need the budget, if the boycott will let the President sit up and attend to state matters, so be it.
“The President cannot even defend the budget of last year. It is being poorly managed and the country is not moving forward.
“This is a government that has told us that whether we have light in our homes and factories or not, it isn’t their business.
“The same government will make a huge budgetary allocation to the power sector next year. You can see the hypocrisy.”
Call for budget presentation boycott irresponsible – Pro-Buhari’s PSG
But the Secretary of the Parliamentary Support Group, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, criticised the coalition, saying the CUPP’s directive would not be complied with. The PSG is a group of pro-Buhari lawmakers in the National Assembly.
Omo-Agege said, “I believe that the call is very irresponsible. I do not expect any right-thinking legislator elected by his or her people, who is supposed to carry out their constitutional duty of receiving Mr President to make the presentation, will stage a walkout. It will be most irresponsible of any legislator to heed to that irresponsible call from any group.
“Mr President is coming to carry out his constitutional function. People need to understand that we were elected and not answerable to CUPP. We all have our political parties.
“If you tell me that it is the Peoples Democratic Party that is asking their Senate or House of Representatives’ members to do that, I can understand. Even at that, I don’t expect any right-thinking elected senator or House of Representatives member to heed the call and boycott Mr President as he lays the budget. That will be very irresponsible.”
No going back on strike, say N’Assembly workers
Meanwhile, barring a last-minute change of plan, workers at the National Assembly, under the auspices of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, will begin their four-day warning strike on Monday (today).
As of 6pm on Sunday when one of our correspondents contacted the Chairman of PASAN, Mr Musa Bature, he said the industrial action would still go on as planned.
Bature was asked if there had been an intervention from the authorities to make the workers shelve their strike on Monday.
He said, “As I am talking to you now, (there is) none.”
When further asked if the strike would go on as planned, he said, “Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!”
Bature said, “Yes, because the main issue is the implementation of CONLESS that has been approved since 2010. The Senate President had assured us that before the expiration of the 18th (December deadline) they would have begun the implementation, but they just told us this (Friday) morning that the Minister (of Finance) said they (Federal Government) could only start paying from next month – January 2019.
“Before the end of January, most of them (lawmakers) would have gone to their various constituencies for campaigns. So, we are skeptical about those promises. That is why we said we need to embark on strike.”
Bature had earlier on Friday told one of our correspondents that the issues raised by the workers had been partially addressed.
Asked to confirm when the strike would begin, Bature had said, “It is Monday; we are starting on Monday. Four days warning strike.”
When asked if he was aware that President Buhari would be at the National Assembly on Wednesday to lay the 2019 budget, he said, “We are not stopping him from coming. But the staff of the National Assembly will not be available. We are not going to work. The legislators can go to work but there will be no staff to work for them.”
President Buhari had written to the National Assembly last week to notify the legislature of his intention to lay the 2019 Appropriation Bill on Wednesday.
As the budget would be laid on Wednesday, the National Assembly has planned to go on Christmas and New Year break on Thursday.
The workers had earlier on December 4, 2018, shut down the National Assembly by picketing the chambers and paralysing legislative activities.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, in their intervention, had issued a three-day ultimatum to the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr Mohammed Sani-Omolori, to address the issues.
The House of Representatives had on December 6, 2018, summoned the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, over the non-release of funds appropriated to the National Assembly, part of which would be used to finance the new Consolidated Salary Structure approved for its workers.
Ahmed was expected to explain the non-implementation of the 2018 Appropriation Act, which captures the 28 per cent increment of salaries under the new structure.
But on December 7 when the ultimatum issued to the Clerk expired, PASAN threatened to paralyse activities of federal legislature again, if the management failed to meet their demands.
Bature had said, “We hereby reiterate that the proposed indefinite industrial action will ground all legislative activities of the National Assembly.” He noted that the workers would down tool from December 17.
The minister had on Friday appeared before the Committee on Finance where she said no specific date could be stated for the release of the legislature’s allocation.
(PUNCH)
