The National Assembly resumed plenary on Tuesday, 6 November 2018 after a two week break on October 24 to carry out oversight functions on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s), which may have posed practical difficulties when in full session.
The two-week period provided opportunity for various Committees to sit and hold investigative hearings and meetings with MDA’s under their oversight watch and critical stakeholders. The Senate for instance, utilised the platform at an investigative hearing to probe a $3.5 billion budget recovery fund allegedly spent by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) after its attention was brought to the matter by Senate minority leader, Sen. Biodun Olujimi shortly before its adjournment.
Sen. Olujimi had noted that NNPC operated a subsidy recovery fund that was managed by its Managing Director and Executive Director of Finance and was of the view that there was need for Legislative appropriation of the sum given that the National Assembly is the arm of government constitutionally empowered to appropriate funds. The Senate had then mandated Senator Ahmed Lawan to chair a Committee that would among others invite the NNPC on the said funds and to explain its discrepancy in utilising the term “recovery fund” which rather appeared to be a guise for fuel subsidy nwhich had been removed from the national budget since 2016.
During the public hearing conducted by the National Assembly on the said allegations on Thursday, 1st November, 2018, the Federal Ministry of Finance denied knowledge of keeping any $3.5billion fund utilised by the NNPC for fuel subsidy. Mr Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director of the NNPC also corroborated this position by reinstating that it had no such funds in its custody and no fuel subsidy fund account. The GMD also explained that his agency was only utilising a revolving fund of $1.05 billion from its dividends from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to defray its under-recovery or operational costs from importing fuel since the provision is not usually captured in the national budget and since National Assembly issued a directive mandating it as the sole importer of petrol to maintain robust petrol supply.
This provoked outrage among Committee members who questioned what authority NNPC was spending the money. The Senate was very dissatisfied with the answers generated from the Investigative hearing last week and has promised to probe the fresh claims made by NNPC boss at plenary after lawmakers including the Senate President expressed grave concerns that the GMD’s statement amounted to legitimising the “illegal diversion of funds” that ordinarily should be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Other hearings conducted by the Senate while carrying out its oversight included a public hearing on 5 educational bills, 4 of which seek to establish different educational institutions across the country including one in Daura, President Buhari’s hometown.
Pending Activities before NASS
As the National Assembly resumes from its break, items anticipated in its schedule of activities over the following weeks include its review of the Medium Term and Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) that it received from President Buhari and whose passage precedes the presentation of the 2019 budget.
The Senate is also expected to review pending nominations from the President who has asked it to confirm various persons to head its agencies and parastatals. For instance, Senate has been asked to confirm Hon. Abike Dabiri as the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission whose functions include the coordination and organizing of Nigerians from the Diaspora to contribute human and material resources (including expertise) for Nigeria’s development. It will be recalled that Vice President Yemi Osibanjo had assented to the establishment of the Commission which is under the supervisory jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in July 2017. Other outstanding nominations include Senate’s confirmation of Mr. Chidi Kingsley Zuwa as the Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and Mrs. Funke Shokefun as Chairman, Board of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation. Senate is also expected to attend to the report by its Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial on its Screening of 9 nominees for confirmation as Chairman and Members of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences.
The National Assembly is also expected to revisit the recent clash between soldiers and the members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in different parts of Abuja following the continued detention of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and the death of a minor Naomi Ochanya who died from medical complications from Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) after being sexually abused by close family members.