Fresh crisis appears to loom between the Presidency and National Assembly as senators are poised to reject the request of President Muhammadu Buhari for the approval of a N4.2 trillion bond.
It was gathered that the senators took the decision before they embarked on Easter break, just as both members of the upper and lower chambers were said to be unhappy that the executive failed to render account of more than N9.2 trillion loans or bonds approved by the National Assembly in 2016.
Investigations in the National Assembly confirmed that the lawmakers in both chambers are angry that President Buhari has failed to learn from the past experiences, especially the loan request of $200 billion which was abandoned as lawmakers showed no enthusiasm in handling it.
They claimed that the latest bond request to the National Assembly was another evidence of a President failing to play as a team member and one who treats the legislature with levity.
A Senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the “sins” being counted against the latest loan request are multifaceted, leading to what they described as a near consensus feeling that the request be rejected.
If will be recalled that President Buhari, had in separate letters read in the House on Tuesday, March 27 and in the Senate on March 28, requested for approval of a fresh N4.2 trillion bond.
One of the perceived sins of the President, according to lawmakers, was that he forwarded such a request without prior discussions with them.
The senator said: “There is a feeling among senators and House members that the President is treating them with contempt, if not disgust, on key issues.”
According to the senators, one of the sins committed by the President is the fact that the nation’s Procurement law mandates the government to borrow money only for capital expenditure and the lawmakers are claiming that the bond appears a way of raising money to finance recurrent expenditure.
The President in the letter read in the two chambers last week and entitled “Request for the establishment of a promissory note programme and a bond issuance to resettle inherited local debts and contractual obligation,” that though Section 41 (1a), 44 (2b) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) that proceeds of borrowing by government at all tiers shall be applied solely towards capital expenditure, his government had in August 2017 proposed amendments to the FRA.
The letter gave further insights to the borrowing plans thus: “The promissory note and bond issuance program has become imperative to clear these obligations which include: Unpaid obligations to pensioners, salaries and promotional arrears of civil servants; Obligation to petroleum marketers; Contractors and suppliers debt; Unpaid power bills and obligation from tariffs reversal in 2014; Export expansion grant IMBET; Judgement debt and Refunds to state government for projects undertaken on behalf of federal government.”
Senators and members of the House are, however, said to be unenthusiastic about breaching the FRA, especially as the requested amendment by Buhari has not been effected.
The source said, “Unless, there is intense persuasion, the legislators have vowed to either ignore the letter or reject the request in the outright. But you know that such a persuasion won’t start with writing mere letter to inform legislators without discussions.
In 2016, the National Assembly had initially turned down a $5.5 billion loan request as the chambers declared that a mere two-page letter cannot explain in details such huge borrowing.
The South-East Caucus in the National Assembly also took offence that none of the projects to be covered by the borrowing was sited in the zone. The loan was later considered after the President had provided details in 2017.
Sources said that the current request for N4.2 trillion bond might face outright rejection owing to the growing bad blood between the two institutions and the perception that the President was unwilling to work with the lawmakers.
The looming crisis is coming on the heels of another growing tension over plans by the National Assembly to override the President’s veto of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2018.
