BOMB SCARE AT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, LAWMAKERS, WORKERS FLEE

There was pandemonium at the National Assembly on Tuesday as rumours of a bomb scare forced lawmakers, National Assembly workers and staff of banks within the premises to hurriedly close their offices and ran for dear lives.
The development started around 2pm when some legislative aides and civil servants were seen discussing in groups following an alleged strange movement of some group of people whose mission to the National Assembly was said to be suspicious.
It was learnt the immediate response of the security operatives, whose attention was drawn to the suspicious movement, actually heightened the tension by creating fears in the minds of the workers.
Security agents, comprising the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, were immediately drafted to the major entrances to the sprawling complex frisking both visitors and workers.

NO BREAKDOWN FOR N/ASSEMBLY’S N150BN 2014 BUDGET

The National Assembly is to spend the sum of N150 billion this year as contained in the 2014 budget proposal currently before it.
The budget document however did not provide for the different projects they money would be expended on.
It also shows zero allocation for the capital expenditure of the federal legislature.
Unlike other agencies and parastatals of government, the amount proposed for National Assembly does not have any sub-heading and titles under it but only states N150 billion as general allocation for recurrent expenditure.
For instance, whereas the total amount for the presidency’s personnel is N12.799 billion; total overhead is put at N12.216 billion while total recurrent is N25.016 billion and total capital is N8.390 billion, that of the National Assembly shows N150 billion for both personnel and recurrent with overhead and capital having zero allocations.

2014 BUDGET: NASS GETS N150BN AS RECURRENT EXPENDITURE

A total of N150 billion has been allocated to the National Assembly (NASS) as recurrent expenditure in the 2014 Appropriation bill.
The 2014 budget, which was presented to the parliament by the coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on December 19, 2013, has a total sum of N4.642 trillion.
In the budget proposal, N3.7 trillion, representing 72 percent is for recurrent expenditure while N1.1 trillion representing 27 per cent only is for capital expenditure. N399, 687 billion is for statutory transfer while N712 billion is for debt service.
The N150 billion earmarked for the National Assembly is for the senate and House of Representatives as well as the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC).

UNEASE IN N/ASSEMBLY AS JONATHAN SUBMITS BUDGET

...Workers barred from parliament premises
Disquiet has persisted in government circles over threats by some lawmakers and staff of the National Assembly to disrupt President Jonathan’s budget presentation today.
Daily Trust learnt last night that members of the House of Representatives in the Abubakar Baraje-led PDP faction vowed to heckle the president when he arrives in the chambers today, in retaliation for the booing of Baraje by members of the mainstream PDP in September.
This was why Jonathan postponed the budget presentation earlier scheduled for last week.

SENATE PRESIDENT, SPEAKER, OTHERS REJECT N3 BILLION OFFICIAL HOUSES

• Buildings to be converted to guest houses, says minister
• Explains delay on Vice President’s residence
FOUR presiding officers of the National Assembly have rejected official houses being built for them by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
Senate President David Mark, House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha have cited insecurity and delay in the provision of infrastructure as the reasons for their action.
FCT Minister Bala Mohammed, who gave the hint at the weekend, disclosed that the authorities had consequently discontinued the construction of the N3 billion official houses by the construction giant, Julius Berger, at the Maitama Extension (renamed Goodlock Jonathan District) located behind the Lungi Military Barracks in the city centre.

THE FEDERAL LEGISLATORS’ REMUNERATION ROW

On September 27, hundreds of Nigerian youths marched to the National Assembly to protest what they believed to be an unjustifiable package of incomes and allowances that are paid to the lawmakers.
The protesters demanded more openness from the legislature.
Among demands presented to the National Assembly by the youths that September 27 were: a breakdown of how the federal legislators spent their budgetary allocation of N150 billion for this year, and about N1 trillion since 2005; functional contact information – phone numbers, email addresses and physical addresses of their constituency offices; voting records on constitution amendments; publicising of the attendance list for each plenary; and the exact amount that each legislator earns.
The march to the National Assembly was, apparently, spurred by recent revelations about the emoluments of National Assembly members.

HOUSE PROPOSES BAN ON OVERSEAS EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN OF POLITICIANS

A bill seeking to ban political office holders and senior public servants from sending their wards to schools overseas may soon be introduced in the House of Representatives.
If the bill scales all the hurdles at the National Assembly and is passed into law, it would be a crime for the president, vice-president, governors, deputy governors, ministers, members of the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly, commissioners, permanent secretaries and directors in the federal and state Civil Services to enroll their children in schools abroad except for post graduate degree programmes.

N’ASSEMBLY TAKES OVER RIVERS LEGISLATURE … DEMANDS REDEPLOYMENT OF STATE CP, MBU

The Senate passed a resolution on Thursday empowering it and the House of Representatives to take over the legislative functions of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
In the resolution which concurs with that of the House on July 10, the Senate also flayed the attempt by five anti-Rotimi Amaechi lawmakers to impeach the state Assembly Speaker, Otelemaba Amachree.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said after the decision that a meeting between the President of the Senate, David Mark, and the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, would be held to draw up modalities for the running of the assembly.

PRESIDENCY PROBES NASS CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS

THE long battle between the presidency and the National Assembly over the 2013 budget is not yet over, as the presidency has ordered a probe into the constituency projects done by the legislative arm of  government in the past 10 years.

Sources from the presidency,  who did not say precisely what the government wanted to use the report for, said the presidency has given them directive to compile all the National Assembly constituency projects done in the last 10 years and forward the report to it within one month.

“They have directed us to compile all the constituency projects done by the National Assembly in the last 10 years and forward the report to the presidency. We are to visit the site of the projects and see physically what  has been done so far and report back within one month,” the source said.

2013 BUDGET: JONATHAN CUTS DEAL WITH NASS LEADERS

The leadership of the National Assembly and the presidency were locked in a crucial meeting last night, in a last-minute effort to solve the 2013 budget imbroglio.

The meeting, said to be at the instance of President Goodluck Jonathan, was still in progress at press time.

A source disclosed to LEADERSHIP last night that the meeting might be the last between both arms of government, but there were strong indications that a truce would be reached, leading to an eventual signing of the bill into law by the president “probably before weekend”.

5 REASONS JONATHAN HAS NOT SIGNED BUDGET

MORE facts have emerged on why President Goodluck Jonathan has not signed budget 2013 as about five grey areas are now identified by the Joint Committee of the Executive and the Legislature working on the budget.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the areas of differences include the personnel cost, capital cost, SURE-P budget, SEC exclusion and the constituency project with the committee reported to be meeting regularly to finalise areas of disagreements.

It was learnt that the  personnel cost as passed by the legislature is lower than what was submitted by the executive, leading to fears that approving the budget as passed may create crisis in the payment of salaries of civil servants.