Buhari’s Heckling And National Assembly Invasion

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Fred Itua

On Wednesday, 19th of December, President Muhammadu Buhari got served. He got a dose of insults, jeering and name calling. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he was helpless. For over an hour, he endured one of the most demeaning moments of his life. Did he deserve the dose of heckling he got in excess during his presentation of the N8.83 trillion 2019 budget? Well, it depends on the side of the divide you belong.

Since that played out, I have watched with disdain, how folks, obviously sympathetic to President Buhari, have twisted facts. For them, lawmakers offended God when they jeered the president. I have also watched with pity, how pseudo groups have been sponsored to dole out press statements and berate lawmakers.

Even a sitting governor who has abandoned governance in his state, has refused to pay salaries despite billions of naira secured via loans and has only constructed a minor roundabout in the state capital in almost two years, also joined the long list of politicians who have descended on the parliament. Like an old man who has caved in to amnesia, these false accusers of men have forgotten history so soon.

Let me quickly take you through the events that happened on that day. Trouble started in the House Of Representatives chamber, venue of the joint sitting, shortly before the arrival of the president, when an APC lawmaker from Kano State, Bashir Baballe snatched a placard from a member of the PDP, Linus Okorie, leading to a brawl. Other lawmakers later joined the fray, thereby leading to a rowdy session for several minutes.

As soon as the president stepped into the chamber, where lawmakers were already seated, the jeers and cheers started. For over five minutes, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who presided, tried without success to restore order to the House.

The duo had to ignore the rowdy session to commence the business of the day. As soon as the president stepped into the podium to present his budget, shouts of ‘Sai Atiku’, ‘Sai Buhari’, ‘you’re a liar’, ‘show us the results’ ‘grass cutter’, re-echoed through the chamber.

“This will be my last budget presentation to the Eight National Assembly,” Buhari had started. PDP lawmakers chorused “amen”.

One of the high points of the dramatic presentation occurred when the president claimed that the economy had recovered. His utterance was immediately greeted with jeers and cheers.

Disturbed by the frequent interruptions, a visibly angry president pleaded with lawmakers to observe some decorum. He reminded them that the world was watching them.

“May I appeal to the honourable members that the world is watching us. We are supposed to be above this.”

About 30 minutes into his remarks, the sound system malfunctioned. Again, the president was jeered and cheered. Normalcy was restored after 10 seconds.

Detailing his administration’s achievements in the last one year, the president rolled out sector by sector successes. He blamed the initial setbacks on poor prices of oil at the international market, insurgency in the North East, hostility in the Niger Delta and fall in revenue drive.

He listed roads, bridges, and other infrastructural projects his administration has started and completed. He also dwelt on the number of school children currently benefiting from the feeding program. He said millions of Nigerians have been lifted from poverty through some intervention programmes.

He revealed that the 2018 budget has already reached 65 per cent performance in terms of capital releases. The president told lawmakers that more milestones will be covered before the end of his administration next year.

As soon as he concluded the presentation, PDP lawmakers started chanting ‘aluta’ songs, while APC lawmakers hailed the president.

For over 10, the two presiding officers lost control of the House. Even when Saraki and Dogara stood up to calm angry nerves, lawmakers refused to retreat. At this point, security operatives attached to the president, stepped in and formed a wedge around the president.

After several failed attempts to restore order to the House, the national anthem was hurriedly recited and the president was whisked out of the chamber.

For the first time since 1999, the two presiding officers of the National Assembly didn’t give their opening and closing remarks during a budget presentation. As a result of the rowdy session and the abrupt end of the day’s legislative business, no formal speeches were given.

Now that I have refreshed your memory, let me address some salient issues. For the records, I am not holding brief for the National Assembly. But as a democrat, I can’t sit back and allow some misguided folks rubbish our parliament.

First, there is nothing wrong with the heckling of the president. At least, parliaments in some of the most developed countries have offered same treatments to their leaders. President Buhari is not God and can be jeered by lawmakers if they so wish. We must stop this nonsense and erroneously give the president the wrong impression that he is beyond correction.

Some commentators have claimed that the action of lawmakers was shameful and portrayed Nigeria before the international community as a backward nation. Again, I disagree with every fibre of strength in my body. Some people have repeatedly demarketed Nigeria at every given opportunity since they were elected. They have called their own citizens thieves abroad and have labeled our youth as lazy people. These are the people who are demarketing Nigeria and not lawmakers.

For me and for other sane commentators, the invasion of the National Assembly in April by armed thugs and the siege laid to the parliament in August by armed security operatives, are the two biggest low moments of Buhari’s presidency.

As I pen this piece, the administration of President Buhari is yet to prosecute those behind the invasion of the National Assembly. He is yet to prosecute or sanction those who laid a siege to the parliament, which is the symbol of Nigeria’s democracy. The pseudo faces condemning the heckling of the president because they want to be in his good books, had mouth diarrhea when these two unfortunate incidents occurred.

Lest I forget, one of the culprits arrested and later released when armed thugs invaded the National Assembly, was allegedly a staff of Kogi State Government House. At least, the Senate claimed so. Some conspirators have also claimed that the invasion may have been sponsored by the state agents to force a leadership change in the National Assembly.

If these issues didn’t elicit condemnations from Buhari’s yes men, no sane Nigerian should indulge them and condemn lawmakers for heckling the president. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Beside, the parliament is an independent arm of government and not an appendage of the Executive. Lawmakers are not President Buhari’s subjects. Instead, the president should dread the parliament. We must never forget these sacred facts.

Again, let it be on record that those who heckled the president were not members of the opposition. No! Aggrieved members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who lost out during the recently conducted rancorous primaries of the party, participated in the fiesta. You can’t beat a child and then bar him or her from crying. These folks are bleeding and a president who has maintained a stoic silence in the midst of the crisis rocking his party, deserves some accolades in the form of booing.

In less than 50 days from now, Nigerians will go to the polls. But for lawmakers, they are not certain if their constituents will return them to the National Assembly next year. Why? Because they have ‘failed’ to fulfill their campaign promises by providing portable water, good roads and other basic amenities in their respective constituencies.

Although it is abnormal for lawmakers to embark on these projects, the Executive Arm, presided over by President Buhari, has refused to release funds for their constituency projects. Lawmakers have nothing to campaign with and they are bitter.

Recall that in my last column, I detailed the financial predicaments of lawmakers. Imagine this again. No money to throw around and constituency projects are not funded. If you were a lawmaker, would you have heckled the president during the budget presentation out of frustration? You can answer that.

The National Assembly has been so rubbished and shamed that an average Nigerian sometimes concludes that all lawmakers are thieves. But the bigger thieves who are cutting grasses and their snakes are swallowing money, are in the Executive Arm. Ministers don’t honour summons extended to them by committees of the National Assembly. Instead, they send assistant directors to represent them. President Buhari’s aides insult and treat the parliament with disdain. If you were a lawmaker, what would you have done? Cheer the president during the budget presentation?

Finally, some of the so called achievements reeled out by President Buhari during the budget presentation didn’t pan out. Some of them have turned out to be false. Lest you forget, lawmakers are more in tune with the happenings in every part of the country. The president doesn’t travel by road. Beside his town, Daura, Buhari doesn’t travel to any rural areas in the country. Unlike his deputy who is now a trader, doling out questionable money to hungry Nigerians they have impoverish, Buhari is in love with Aso Rock. He doesn’t move around often.

So, before you crucify lawmakers, imagine if you were in their position. What would you have done? We must tell ourselves the hard truth. When lawmakers buy official cars, Nigerians descend on them. But ministers, directors-general, chairmen and members of boards and commissions, presidential and ministerial aides, and others buy flashy cars running into billions of naira when they are appointed. Nigerians suddenly go dumb. Judicial officials buy new official cars when they are appointed and no one questions that. Does it mean that the parliament is populated by sinners and the other two arms populated by saints? We must begin to re-prioritise and cut the parliament some slack.

Happy New Year people!

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