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APC Senators - We Intentionally opposed Jonathan’s $1bn loan, Because..
Members of the opposition. All
Progressives Congress in the Senate on Friday clarified that their
decision to vote against the approval of the $1bn loan request by
President Goodluck Jonathan did not mean they were against the current
war against insurgency in the country.
Members of the APC in the upper chamber
had kicked against the approval of the loan to procure military
hardware, though their counterparts in the Peoples Democratic Party
supported it and their voice votes were upheld by Senate President David
Mark during plenary on Thursday.
But speaking with our correspondent on
the issue, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, (APC, Ekiti Central), said his
colleagues were not opposed to endorsing the bid by Jonathan to raise
money for the military to combat terrorism but that they were opposed to
borrowing money for that purpose.
He also stated that the legislators were
against the idea of seeking such approval through a letter of request,
instead of bringing a supplementary appropriation bill, as recognised by
law.
He said, “The Constitution recognises
laid-down rules for appropriation and since the procedure adopted by the
Presidency contradicted the rules, we don’t want to be part of
constitution violators. Besides, we don’t believe we should borrow money
for that purpose.”
Also, the leader of the opposition in
the Senate, George Akume, said his colleagues voted against the loan
approval because they wanted to be guided by the law of the country.
He said his colleagues were opposed to
the approval to avoid constitutional breaches, which he said had been
frequently recorded in the country for too long.
Akume said, “If we want to borrow, let
us follow what is stipulated in the Constitution so that we know where
we are going. We have raised fundamental issues and the Senate must be
guided by the provisions of the Constitution, as far as this matter is
concerned “
Also, Akume said the opposition party
was not against obtaining a loan to fight insurgency, but that the
proper process must be followed to get the loan.
He insisted that APC members had raised
issues that touched on the Constitution, which superseded the
Procurement Act used as defence by the PDP senators.
Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (APC, Ekiti
North) also explained that the Senate approval of the loan had
contradicted constitutional provisions, as contained in Sections 83,
81(4) A and B of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He argued that the loan request also had consequences for the existing Appropriation Act.
He said, “We did not question the right
of Mr. President to ask for money or to borrow money but there is a
process that needs to be followed and the provisions of the Constitution
for the process.”
He said his position was not to question
the right to address the issue but to draw attention to the procedures
that are stipulated in the Constitution and the act of the parliament.
Adetumbi explained that Jonathan’s
letter was a request for authority to borrow and that the borrowing
plans of Nigeria is contained in the Medium Terms Expenditure Framework.
He demanded to know whether the $1bn loan was within the MTEF.
He asked whether the MTEF needed to be
amended and a supplementary appropriation for purposes of security be
brought to the parliament so that a supplementary appropriation can be
approved for the President to undertake his constitutional
responsibility as the Chief Security Officer of Nigeria.
It would be recalled that the Chairman,
Senate Joint Committee on Finance, and that of Local and Foreign Debt,
Senator Ahmed Makarfi, while presenting his report, had clarified that
all the issues raised by his colleagues in the APC were not relevant
because there was no inflow or outflow of cash in the loan request.
Makarfi had said the appropriation bill
could only be necessary when the request involved cash, adding that the
military hardware being requested would be taken on credit and would be
paid for over a period of seven years.
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