Still on House COVID-19 stimulus package

 

IN disunity, bricks do not raise a wall but in unity, a nation built. The mantra of the ninth Assembly remains “joint task for nation building.” A mandate of four years anchored on the elements of unity, togetherness and compromise beyond the colours of the various political parties that make up the House membership. I was once asked as its spokesperson on what is the secret of the numerous successful outings of the House of Representatives under the current leadership and my answer was, the “joint task” philosophy, where everyone has a role to play for the success of the task of nation building. It has never been like this in the history of the National Assembly that members are treated on the basis of the value they bring, rather than the political party they belong to. The ninth Assembly does not discriminate along political party lines at all. A visit to both the offices of the leadership and their guest houses will show you how the open door policy of the current leadership is beneficial to all members.

The strength of this unity has benefited Nigerians considering the various milestones we have recorded from inception till date on the various relevant house Bills, resolutions and valuable legislative interventions to address the hydra headed needs of this country. You are aware of the budget passage, the Finance Bill, the Economic Stimulus Bill, Educational Loan Bill, Electricity Tariff Bill, among others. What about our responsiveness during this COVID -19 crisis? It has been next to none because the House is united and speaks with one voice under Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamilla.

The ninth Assembly is united and not divided but as expected, the opposition will always throw up distractions to impress their political parties even when it is unwarranted and uncalled for. The wish to get the House divided will never see the light of the day considering the transparency and accountability with which this leadership has carried the affairs of the House. I have learnt that Nigerian politicians are bad losers when elections don’t go their way. They keep fighting and always looking for ways to discredit the man who won the election or to pull him down. I have been a victim severally and I think that is what is happening to Gbajabiamilla, whose effort in impressing the House with novel ideas and new style of result-oriented leadership will never worth a penny in the eyes of the detractors. This is how I describe the attack on the leadership of the House, especially the Speaker and invariably the entire House which I speak for, by Honourable Mark Gbillah who was in the opposing camp during the speakership contest. I wished he would join the joint task team fully like many of his colleagues, including Hononourable Bago, who was the first runner up in the speakership election. If Bago is jointly working with the leadership, why is someone crying more than the bereaved? Election has come and gone. We should move on for the sake of Nigeria and jettison petty house politics. As an intelligent honourable member, his contributions will add value and I will urge him to hop on the joint task platform because there is a space for the value he will bring.

On the issue of the salaries of members and whether or not there was due consultations made. You will recall that the House has been on recess due to COVID-19 and so when the need arose for it to assist Nigerians with our salaries, we were not attending plenaries. This is why in the administration of the House, state causes play vital role in information dissemination. We all belong to state caucuses. The leadership thought it wise in the face of the emergency to make use of our state caucus leadership in reaching out to us on the need to make a sacrifice that will cost us something for Nigerians. This was after members called for it by asking leadership to take a step in this direction.

I remember one Honourable Mansur from Bauchi even granted an interview asking the House to donate a certain amount. The pressure actually came from the members to the leadership and not the other way round. Once we were formally approached by our state caucus leaders, we accepted to make the sacrifice. It was never imposed, we were never coerced. How can it be imposition or coercion when we had already started spending millions in our various constituencies on relief materials? Ask around in Bende, I have sent goods and Personal Protective equipment (PPE) to 5000 homes and still doing more, even after agreeing to give our salaries. It was an act of patriotism; love for father land and not the imposition of the Speaker. We are doing beyond what he asked us to sacrifice because we cannot afford to “sit aside and look” while our people die of hunger.

The leadership, under Gbajabiamila, obtained our consent through our state caucus leaders before authorising the National Assembly management to effect the deductions of our salaries for two months. I will be shocked if Honourable Gbillah was not contacted by the leader of his state caucus on this issue. The decision to give our salaries was not out of coercion but inspired by the need to bridge the gap created by the pandemic.

Finally, the joint task for nation building philosophy of the ninth Assembly equally flows between the leaderships of the two houses of the National Assembly. I can assure Nigerians that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House are always in consultation on issues of national importance. As you are aware concurrence is a fundamental part of our law making and must be present at all times to grant validity to bills of the National Assembly before presidential assent. Therefore, both need each other to achieve any of their objectives. The members are impressed with the level of the mutual respect in their working relationship.

• Kalu is the chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs.

 

 

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