The former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has disclosed that contrary to a press statement issued by the Director of Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, the eighth Senate which he presided over actually aided and not hindered President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against insecurity.
In a statement issued by Mr Oluwole Onemola, Media Officer of Dr Saraki, the former Senate President said contrary to the statement which alleged that the Saraki-led eighth Senate “rejected the president’s request for $1 billion for the purchase of arms,” the truth is that the eighth Senate never rejected any fund request for security but only insisted that the due process should be adhered to.
According to the statement: “Professor Ishaq Akintola’s statement intentionally attempts to re-write history by suggesting that the Saraki-led Senate ‘rejected the president’s request for $1 billion for the purchase of arms.’
“However, the truth is that the eighth Senate never rejected any fund request for security but only insisted that the due process provided by the constitution of the Federal Republic should be adhered to even by the Executive branch.
“This is why, in order to enlighten the public about the facts, and once again put it on record for posterity’s sake, it is important to reiterate the following points:
“On Wednesday, the 25th of April 2018, the then-President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, read a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari which stated that he had granted ‘anticipatory approval’ for the release of $496,374,470. These funds were said to have been paid directly to the Treasury of the United States government.
“However, in line with the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is the overarching legal framework on which our republic is founded, the powers of appropriation are specifically and only conferred on the National Assembly in Sections 80 to 84. Additionally, nowhere in our Constitution is the principle of ‘anticipatory approval’ provided for.
“This means that the President did not follow the proper procedure during this constitutionally-flawed and thoroughly unprecedented ‘anticipatory approval.’ Still, the National Assembly went ahead to approve the money that the executive has started disbursing without approval. Thus, $1 billion was approved by the eighth National Assembly.
“We all need to remember that at this time, based on allegations of human rights violations by the military, there was a US government ban on the sale of offensive equipment to Nigeria in compliance with the Leahy’s Law. However, it was only after the US Congressional Delegation met with the Nigerian National Assembly delegation in Nigeria on Monday, August 28th, 2017, that reassurances were made by the Nigerian Senate President on behalf of the National Assembly — that the Nigerian National Assembly delegation promised that it would look into the allegations of human rights violations, and work to prevent any future recurrence.
“It was at this time that the US Congressional delegation, which was led by Senator Chris Coons and Ambassador Symington agreed to make the lifting of the US ban on the sale of military hardware to Nigeria one of their priorities. It was after this meeting that the US Congress recommended the sale of the Tucano Jets to Nigeria to President Trump.
“Furthermore, it is important to note that in order to ensure that the Nigerian Armed Forces were properly equipped, the eighth Senate invited the service chiefs on many occasions to the plenary to discuss funding for their operations, and to ensure that they were well-equipped to handle the necessary security challenges.
“Finally, the public, especially Prof. Ishaq Akintola of MURIC, should be well aware that the eighth Senate had a clear-cut track record of working to tackle issues related to insecurity head-on.
“On this note, the public is hereby advised to disregard MURIC’s factually devoid statement. This is because dates, facts and numbers don’t lie.”
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