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Senate Justifies N125bn NASS Budget, Says Its Reward for Hardwork
The Senate has justified the N125 billion proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the National Assembly budget for the 2020 fiscal year.
“The National Assembly has a lot of staff to take care of in both chambers. The number of committees is large too because of the volume of work. So, there is no way we can operate with a small budget,” said spokesman of the Senate, Adedayo Adeyeye, in an interview with The Guardian.
His comment came as Italy’s parliament voted to cut down the number of legislators in both houses. While the Senate will now have 200 lawmakers from 315, the chamber of deputies will have 400 as against 630.
“The bulk of this money is spent on issues that promote legislative operations. Unfortunately, many people believe that legislators take the largest chunk of the money. Our salaries are open for public scrutiny,” Adeyeye said.
“The truth is: it is either we want to have a working and effective National Assembly that is properly funded or we do not. Running the system in the National Assembly is very expensive.”
The spokesman, however, failed to provide details on how the N125 billion would be spent, declaring that he was yet to get the specifics.
The National Assembly has in the past come under intense criticism over its failure to release the details of its budget.
Also, the Senate has reintroduced a bill seeking to establish the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO).
The Eighth Senate passed the bill on May 3, 2019. Buhari, however, did not assent to it. The proposed office, among other functions, will report yearly to the Senate and House of Representatives all items funded in the preceding financial year for which no appropriation was made by the National Assembly, and all items contained in the Appropriation Act in the preceding financial year but which were not funded by the Federal Government.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, continued debate on the 2020 budget yesterday with Senator Emmanuel Bwacha saying the document does not reflect Nigeria’s readiness to diversify its economy. He also accused his colleagues of being insincere in their handling of the budget.
“I’m saying this because, since 1999, budget implementation has not reached 70 per cent. This is very worrisome. We are discussing the 2020 budget estimates. Is it fair to say that we have a 2019 budget, which has not been implemented? As we speak now, nothing has been done. We have the 2019 Appropriation Act and we are discussing the 2020 budget proposal.
“Oversight functions have become a ritual. We have to take it seriously as a parliament. We refused to address this aspect of our shortcomings. We are only prepared to speak from both sides of our mouths. We need to walk the talk if we really want to achieve significant growth in our economy,” he said.
Senator Christopher Ekpeyong said the planned increase in VAT was incompatible with the budget. He explained: “If you increase the VAT to 7.5 per cent today for an investor or a contractor, he will pay educational tax of one per cent, he will pay ITF of one per cent, he will pay NITTF of one per cent, and some times, he goes behind to pay some percentage to the ruling party.
“These taxes are not mentioned. What is the result of the product the man will sell? For that reason, I am not in support of the VAT increase because already the VAT not mentioned is over 9 per cent and if you now add this to this, you will be having 10.5 per cent as VAT in the country.”
Similarly, the vice-chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Ojang Sandy Onor, described Buhari’s attribution of low receipts in VAT to the general election as a cover-up. According to him, the real reason is that the economy is not performing well.
He said: ‘If yesterday when VAT was five per cent we experienced lower levels of economic activities, today that VAT is 7.5 per cent, we risk not having economic activities at all, and the consequences are dangerous.”
But Senator Ajibola Basiru who seemed to support the proposal gave the reason for the lack of full implementation of the 2019 budget. “The budget was not fully implemented because it was passed and signed into law towards the end of the Eighth National Assembly. What struck me is that the revenue projections and infrastructure show a 70 per cent deficit in the 2019 budget, and in 2020, it has already been highlighted that N2.18 trillion will be the proposed deficit,’’ he stated.
“People are looking at the allocation to key sectors and the revenue to fund the projects. For instance, when you talk of the N256 billion being allocated to Works, I have it on good authority that what is even required to take care of the outstanding in the Ministry of Works and Housing is in excess of N500 billion. Yet, many people are hailing the N256 billion allocated for Works, describing it as huge. We should also be looking at the aspect of progressive taxation.”
The Guardian
A former Minister of Education, Dr. (Mrs) Obiageli Ezekwesili, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of suppressing civic freedoms and eroding citizens’ rights.
In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) titled “A Memo to Nigerians: A Call to Collective Voice on the Shrinking Civic Space and Erosion of Citizens’ Rights in Nigeria,” Ezekwesili condemned what she described as a “deeply troubling trend” of growing state intolerance and repression of dissent.
She urged President Tinubu to immediately direct the Inspector-General of Police to release activist Omoyele Sowore and his colleagues, who were recently detained.
Ezekwesili also called on Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to publicly apologise to EiE Nigeria’s Executive Director, Yemi Adamolekun, and activist, Ms. Nafziger, over their reported harassment during a peaceful #EndSARS memorial event.
“The latest wave of actions against citizens by state security agencies reflects a deeply troubling trend — the steady shrinking of civic space and erosion of citizens’ fundamental rights in our democracy,” she wrote.
The former minister cited three recent incidents — the harassment of Adamolekun, the police clampdown on protesters demanding Nnamdi Kanu’s release, and the repeated arrests of Sowore despite a valid court order — describing them as evidence of “a dangerous pattern” of intolerance and abuse of power.
According to her, the Tinubu administration has become “intolerant of dissent, allergic to accountability, and fearful of citizens’ voices.”
“It is clear that President Tinubu is running a government and security apparatus that are increasingly intolerant of dissent. True strength of a government lies not in silencing critics, but in protecting those who speak truth to power,” she stated.
Ezekwesili urged Nigerians to defend their democratic rights, stressing that sovereignty belongs to the people, not the government.
“Nigeria’s democracy cannot survive on the silencing of conscience. Every act of repression against one citizen diminishes the liberty of all,” she warned.
”We must collectively safeguard our right to speak, assemble, and demand accountability. Our democracy must not become one without citizens.”
The United States government has revoked the non-immigrant visa of Wole Soyinka, the Nobel laureate.
In a letter dated October 23 and signed by the US consulate-general in Lagos, Soyinka was directed to present his passport at the consulate for physical cancellation of the visa.
Soyinka spoke during a media parley held in Lagos on Tuesday, where he read excerpts from the official correspondence sent to him.
“This letter serves as official notification by the United States Consulate General in Lagos that the nonimmigrant visa listed below has been revoked pursuant to the authority contained in U.S. Department of State regulations 22 CFR 41.122 and is no longer valid for application for entry into the United States,” the letter reads.
The Nobel laureate said he could not identify the specific offence that led the revocation of his visa by the US government.
Soyinka said he applied for the visa after he received a letter from the US Internal Revenue Service about an audit for tax returns.
He explained that his trip was to resolve the tax issues, adding that he wanted to prevent a situation where the US might advertise him as a “tax dodger” to the world.
Soyinka made reference to how he discarded his US green card after President Donald Trump assumed office in his first term.
The Nobel laureate said he wondered whether his visa was revoked because he described Trump as “Idi Amin in white face”.
“It is necessary for me to give this press conference so that people in the United States who are expecting me for their event, not to waste their time. I have no desire,” he said.
“It is necessary for me to give this press conference so that people in the United States who are expecting me for their event, not to waste their time. I have no desire,” he said.
“I have written a lot of plays about Idi Amin. Maybe it is about time I also write about Donald Trump. Literary compliment. Maybe he would reconsider and restore my visa.
“I want to reassure the US Consulate that I’m very contend with the revocation of my visa. Individual citizens are free to interact with me.”
In September, Soyinka said he would not honour an invitation by the US consulate in Lagos for a visa interview scheduled for September 11, 2025.
TheCable
Cameroon ’s top court on Monday declared incumbent Paul Biya, the world’s oldest president, the winner of the Oct. 12 election. Clashes with security forces left at least four protesters dead ahead of the announcement as opposition supporters rallied to demand credible results.
Biya, 92, has led the central African nation since 1982. The Constitutional Council said he received 53.66% of votes while former ally-turned-challenger Issa Tchiroma Bakary got 35.19%. The turnout was 57.7%.
In a social media post after the declaration, Tchiroma said that there was gunfire directed at civilians and two people were shot dead in his hometown in Garoua.
He said: “Toll of their attack: two dead. I wonder what will be said this time? Shooting point-blank at your own brothers — I can’t help but wonder if you’re mercenaries. Kill me if you want, but I will liberate this country by any means necessary. What blatant impunity.”
The four protesters were shot dead in Douala, the economic capital, on Sunday, as hundreds of people stormed streets in several cities. Tchiroma had claimed victory days before Monday’s announcement, citing results he said were collated by his party. Biya dismissed the claim.
According to Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral Region that includes Douala, several members of the security forces were injured by protesters. He said at least 105 protesters were arrested.
Dozens of opposition supporters, activists and leaders have been arrested in recent days. Paul Atanga Nji, minister of territorial administration, said on Saturday the government arrested several people plotting violent attacks.
One protester, Oumarou Bouba, a 27-year-old trader in Maroua, said: “I am ready to stake my life to defend my vote. I voted for Tchiroma because I want change.”
Following the announcement of the results, Sani Aladji, a 28-year-old who works in a hotel in Maroua, said: “Nothing will change. I expected that Issa Tchiroma would bring change, which is why I voted for him. There’s rampant corruption under Biya’s regime. We are tired of that. We don’t have roads.”
Biya has ruled Cameroon longer than most of its citizens have been alive. Over 70% of the country’s almost 30 million population is below 35. The election has been the latest dramatic example of tension between Africa’s youth and the continent’s many aging leaders.
He first came to power in 1982 following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president and has ruled the country since then, later benefiting from a constitutional amendment that abolished term limits.
Critics accuse Biya of leading Cameroon from a period of relative stability into one of crisis and conflict. The country in recent years has faced attacks by Boko Haram militants in the north and a secessionist insurgency in the country’s English-speaking North West and South West regions.
That crisis, triggered by the government’s attempts to impose French in English-speaking schools and courts, has killed nearly 7,000 people, displaced more than one million more internally and sent thousands fleeing to neighboring Nigeria.
Despite Cameroon being an oil-producing country that is experiencing modest economic growth, young people say the benefits have not trickled down beyond the elites. According to World Bank data, the unemployment rate stands at 3.5%, but 57% of the labor force aged 18 to 35 works in informal employment.
“Many young people across the country and in the diaspora had hoped for change, but that their hopes have been dashed. It feels like a missed opportunity,” said Dr Emile Sunjo, a senior lecturer in international relations at the University of Buea. “Cameroon could potentially slide into anarchy.”
Source: AP
