DSS, police takeover N/Assembly as Buhari presents budget today

Operatives of the Directorate of State Service (DSS) and police
officers, yesterday, took over the entrances of the National
Assembly complex, as President Muhammadu Buhari presents 2019
budget proposals to the lawmakers today.

The security operatives prevented the striking workers of the
parliament from gaining access into the complex. The workers have
been protesting since Monday over unpaid allowances.

A presidential aide on National Assembly (Senate), Senator Ita
Enang, last night confirmed that Buhari will present the budget to
the joint session of the legislature today.

Enang, in a phone interview, said the president would present
the budget as scheduled, saying the legislature had approved the
presentation through a resolution yesterday.

“Yes, he is presenting tomorrow (today). The National Assembly
has passed the resolution on the budget presentation,” he said.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that quorum was not
formed at both chambers of the National Assembly during yesterday’s
brief sitting, he said, “they will come tomorrow (today).”

The president is expected to present a budget proposal of N8.73
trillion as approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on
October 24, which considered the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework
(MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) for the 2019 -2021.

We won’t ridicule the president – PDP
lawmakers

A PDP member in the House of Reps told Daily Trust last night
that they were ready to receive the president for the budget
presentation.

The lawmaker said they would not in any way “ridicule the
president” during the budget presentation, apparently responding to
insinuations that some members plan to heckle the president.

“We have decided to receive the president. The issue of budget
is of paramount importance to the country, so we shouldn’t joke
about it. We won’t allow anything like the ongoing strike to
prevent us from receiving the president.

“As you saw what happened today (yesterday) on the floor of the
House, the majority of members present were of the PDP, and we were
the ones that agreed to receive him.

“I want to assure you that we don’t have any plan to ridicule
the president in any way. He is our president, and we respect him.
Our only problem is the level of implementation of the National
Assembly budget.

SGF meets APC Reps

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss
Mustapha, yesterday met All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers
in the House of Representatives, to “smoothen today’s budget
presentation by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

The meeting which started at 3 pm at the House of
Representatives wing of the National Assembly was held behind
closed doors with the APC lawmakers led by House Leader, Femi
Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos).

Briefing newsmen, Mustapha denied that the meeting had anything
to do with the budget presentation or ongoing strike by National
Assembly workers.

He, however, described the meeting as a routine get-together
with APC lawmakers aimed at mapping out strategies for the 2019
general elections.

“We are preparing for the 2019 elections, and you know they (the
lawmakers) will soon go on recess. So, we need to plan,” the SGF
said.

He further said he had no knowledge of either Buhari’s position
about the striking workers or “purported plan” by some lawmakers of
the opposition PDP to boycott today’s budget presentation.

Although Gbajabiamila declined to speak to journalists, the
meeting was said to have dwelt extensively on today’s budget
presentation by the president before a joint session of the
National Assembly.

N/Assembly workers delay Senate, House
plenary

The ongoing strike and siege on the National Assembly entrances
yesterday led to a delay of about two hours in the plenary for both
the Senate and the House of Representatives.

While senators were supposed to commence their plenary at about
10:30am, their counterparts in the House were billed to commence at
11.am.

However, plenary did not commence in the Senate until about
12:30.pm. It was observed that at the commencement of the Senate
plenary, there were less than 20 senators in attendance, which is
less than the one-third (36), required as a quorum for sitting.

The senators went ahead to sit briefly at plenary, where they
considered and adopted a motion sponsored by Dino Melaye (PDP,
Kogi), and mandated the committees on judiciary ‎and police to
probe the police arrest of an activist, Deji Adeyanju, and report
back in one week.

On the other hand, about 25 members of the House of
Representatives went ahead and held plenary sitting despite the
ongoing strike by National Assembly workers.

At 12:15 pm when the plenary kicked off, Daily Trust counted
only 25 members seated at the legislative chamber.

Presided over by the Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun (APC, Osun), the
plenary was dominated by deliberations on how to resolve the
ongoing strike by the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria
(PASAN).

Laying a motion on the strike before the House, Femi
Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos) regretted the effects of the strike,
which crippled virtually all legislative activities at the complex
the previous day.

He said the shutdown of the legislative arm of government as a
result of the strike was uncalled for especially as the lawmakers
themselves had nothing to do with its causes.

The Presiding Officer, Yusuf Lasun, however, called on the
government to expedite action and ensure that the strike was
resolved so as not to disrupt the official presentation of the 2019
budget by President Muhammadu Buhari today.

The protesting workers, under the platform of the Parliamentary
Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), had commenced their 4-day
warning strike on Monday owing to the National Assembly
management’s ‎inability to meet their demands.

The workers prevented legislators and other support staff from
gaining access to the parliamentary building on Monday.

Sensing that the same scenario would obtain yesterday, being
Tuesday, when the lawmakers begin their weekly plenary, the
leadership of the National Assembly invited the police DSS to
ensure adequate security within the vicinity of the National
Assembly.

This, the leadership said, was ‎to enable members and staff to
gain access into the complex to perform their legitimate duties
without any hindrance.

The directive was passed after a meeting of the joint leadership
of the two chambers with the management and representatives of the
security agencies, a statement by the Clerk to the National
Assembly (CNA), Mohammed Sani-Omolori said late Monday.

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