Members of the House of Representatives did not mince words on Tuesday when they said President Muhammadu Buhari committed an “impeachable offence” by authorising the purchase of $462m jets for the military without appropriation by the National Assembly.
Buhari is buying 12 Tucano aircraft from the US with the money.
The planes will be delivered in 2020.
The lawmakers became angry as soon as the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, read a letter from Buhari, informing the House that the expenditure was done in “anticipation of approval” by the National Assembly.
They noted that the letter was a “mere afterthought,” as the expenditure had already been done.
The anger caused a brief rowdiness on the floor, forcing Dogara to intervene in a bid to calm down the lawmakers.
The eventual decision on Tuesday was that the letter should be properly tabled on another date for debate by the House so that it would take a position on the next line of action.
But before the resolution, it was the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Mr. Kingsley Chinda, who raised a point of order to draw the attention of members to the alleged “constitutional breach” by Buhari.
He said both the 1999 Constitution and other laws in the country did not recognise spending by the President in “anticipation of approval” by the legislature.
Chinda stated, “This matter ($462m) came up last week. Today, Mr. President has admitted that the expenditure has already been incurred.
“We are supposed to be a watchdog, but as it is, we cannot bite. This is an impeachable offence and there is no misconduct that is more serious than this.
“I propose that we commence the impeachment of Mr. President, based on this infraction.”
Another member, Mr. Karimi Sunday, observed that Buhari admitted in the letter that he had actually spent the money already.
“The President has written to say that he spent the money without appropriation.
“This is the time to rise up as a legislature. There is a need for this House to reply him, to inform him that he breached the constitution and that he should be ready to face the consequences,” Sunday added.
The Chairman, House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Mr. Tajudeen Yusuf, wondered what the urgency was in releasing $462m for aircraft that would not be delivered until 2020, such that the President could not wait for the legislature to approve it.
“This is an impeachable offence. There are no two names for it. Why are we paying for aircraft that will be supplied in 2020 today without appropriation? What is the urgency?,” he queried.
Other members, including Mr. Chukwuka Onyema, Mr. Sergious Ose-Ogun, Mr. Samson Okwu and Mr. Aliyu Madaki, agreed that Buhari breached the constitution.
“A breach is a breach and we can’t be dancing around it. Approval comes before expenditure. Even in our homes, our wives will get approval first to spend. The procedure is not for them to come and brief us after they have already spent the money. Let us send a message to the President that he breached the constitution,” Onyema said.
However, some members called for caution, advising their colleagues to patiently follow the rules of the House in tackling Buhari’s letter, no matter the anger the President’s action generated.
One of them, the Chairman, House Committee on Rules/Business, Mr. Orker Jev, reminded members that the letter was “a communication from Mr. President,” which could not be acted upon on the first day.
Jev explained that by the House rules, the letter would be tabled for a proper debate on another legislative day where the House would take a position after the debate.
“These issues about breach of the constitution can be raised on the day of the debate, not before,” he said.
The Deputy Whip of the House, Mr. Pally Iriase; the Chairman, House Committee on Financial Crimes, Mr. Kayode Oladele; the Chairman, Committee on Agricultural Services, Mr. Mohammed Monguno; and Mr. Munir Dan-Agundi, aligned themselves with Jev.
Shouts of “no”, “no”, “no”, drifted the session close to rowdiness, forcing Dogara’s intervention thrice.
Dogara ruled that Buhari’s letter would appear to be asking the House to appropriate the $462m, which still fell under communication from the President.
He added that by the House rules, the matter ought not to have been discussed at all on Tuesday, other than reading it to members.
The Speaker stated further that it was the point of order raised by Chinda that necessitated the comments made by members on Tuesday.
“I will say that let us use our rules in resolving this matter. We will put it formally for debate on another day,” he said.
The House eventually resolved to table Buhari’s letter for debate on another day (PUNCH).
