Drama As Reps Committee Members Disagree With INEC Chairman Over Budget

The budget defence session of the House of Representatives took
a dramatic turn on Wednesday, as members of the Committee on
Electoral Matters disagreed with their chairman on the modality she
employed in engaging the Chairman of the Independent Electoral
Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmud Yakubu concerning the performance
of his commissions 2020 budget.

The committee also curiously asked out all National
Commissioners of INEC on the entourage their Chairman, Prof.
Yakubu, as it opted to meet with only the Chairman in a closed-door
session.

Chairperson of the committee, Rep. Aishatu Jibril Dukku had
after making her opening remarks called on Yakubu to give an
appraisal of the Commission’s 2020 budget performance, as well as
make a presentation of the 2021 estimates, but was immediately
challenged by one of her colleagues, Hon. Solomon Bob from Rivers
State, to the effect that “the committee did not carry out any
oversight on the commission in the year, but here are we, being
called upon to superintendent over another budget”.

Repeated attempts by Dukku to explain that 2020 was ruptured by
the lockdown occasioned by the outbreak of the Covid-19 could not
stop Bob, who insisted that he must be allowed to land. “Honourable
colleague, I rule you out of order”, a visibly angry Dukku told the
man and hit the gavel, urging Yakubu to commence his
presentation.

As a result, the committee was forced to move into a closed-door
session, after the INEC Chairman ended his appraisal of the
Commission’s 2020 budget performance, following a suggestion to
that effect on the 2020 budget by Hon. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, (PDP,
Abia), which was immediately supported by Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf,
(PDP, Kogi).

“The executive session is very important because 2020 is where
the issues are. The budget has been implemented so that we don’t
have to be asking the Chairman (Yakubu) subjective questions on the
issue raised”, Yusuf said.

One of the National Commissioners who were asked to stay
outside, Mr. Festus Okoye, however, told journalists that there was
nothing strange about the committee opting to meet with only Yakubu
behind closed doors.

“They have their own rules, they set their own rules so we have
to comply. They can invite only the chairman for a meeting, so
there is nothing strange in what is happening now”, he said.

The INEC boss earlier informed the panel that the Commission had
to revert to its special fund, created under section three of the
Electoral Act, in order to meet its mandates, due to a drastic
reduction of its budget after the review.

According to him, its initial budget of N40 billion was reduced
to N36 billion, when the Commission was already in the middle of
implementation, and so had to draw N5.2 billion from the INEC Fund
in order to deliver on its mandate.

The budget defence session of the House of Representatives took
a dramatic turn on Wednesday, as members of the Committee on
Electoral Matters disagreed with their chairman on the modality she
employed in engaging the Chairman of the Independent Electoral
Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmud Yakubu concerning the performance
of his commissions 2020 budget.

The committee also curiously asked out all National
Commissioners of INEC on the entourage their Chairman, Prof.
Yakubu, as it opted to meet with only the Chairman in a closed-door
session.

Chairperson of the committee, Rep. Aishatu Jibril Dukku had
after making her opening remarks called on Yakubu to give an
appraisal of the Commission’s 2020 budget performance, as well as
make a presentation of the 2021 estimates, but was immediately
challenged by one of her colleagues, Hon. Solomon Bob from Rivers
State, to the effect that “the committee did not carry out any
oversight on the commission in the year, but here are we, being
called upon to superintendent over another budget”.

Repeated attempts by Dukku to explain that 2020 was ruptured by
the lockdown occasioned by the outbreak of the Covid-19 could not
stop Bob, who insisted that he must be allowed to land. “Honourable
colleague, I rule you out of order”, a visibly angry Dukku told the
man and hit the gavel, urging Yakubu to commence his
presentation.

As a result, the committee was forced to move into a closed-door
session, after the INEC Chairman ended his appraisal of the
Commission’s 2020 budget performance, following a suggestion to
that effect on the 2020 budget by Hon. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, (PDP,
Abia), which was immediately supported by Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf,
(PDP, Kogi).

“The executive session is very important because 2020 is where
the issues are. The budget has been implemented so that we don’t
have to be asking the Chairman (Yakubu) subjective questions on the
issue raised”, Yusuf said.

One of the National Commissioners who were asked to stay
outside, Mr. Festus Okoye, however, told journalists that there was
nothing strange about the committee opting to meet with only Yakubu
behind closed doors.

“They have their own rules, they set their own rules so we have
to comply. They can invite only the chairman for a meeting, so
there is nothing strange in what is happening now”, he said.

The INEC boss earlier informed the panel that the Commission had
to revert to its special fund, created under section three of the
Electoral Act, in order to meet its mandates, due to a drastic
reduction of its budget after the review.

According to him, its initial budget of N40 billion was reduced
to N36 billion, when the Commission was already in the middle of
implementation, and so had to draw N5.2 billion from the INEC Fund
in order to deliver on its mandate.