… Challenges Red Chamber To Subject Self For Public Scrutiny
By Joseph Edegbo
A political Activist and Convener of Arewa Movement For Good Governance, Dr. Usman Bugaje says the suspension of Sen. Abdul Ningi appears to be a panic measure that violates the principles or representation in a democracy.
He said it was unfair for an issue (allegation) of such magnitude to be swept under the carpet without a thorough investigation to prove beyond doubts to the Nigerian public, who ostensibly elected these senators to represent them, that the senators are not culpable.
Bugaje was addressing a News conference on Thursday in Kaduna, titled “A Culpable National Assembly, A Failing Nigerian State and A Democracy In Crisis: Whither Nigeria?”
The Political Activist noted that from the video clips shown by the media covering the NASS, they found it intriguing that after the suspension and as the Senator was walking out of the chamber with the hip of evidence in his hands, no senator appeared to show any compunction.
“This suggests a conspiracy of silence in the supposedly hallowed chamber, or better still a chamber of shame. It apparently did
not occur to the Senate that they were judges in their cause or worse still, they were the prosecutors and the jury at the same time. We are forced to ask the question, Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, what is distinguishing in this behavior? Where is your conscience? What do you want us to think of you?”, he asked.
On the padding of the 2024 Budget, Bugaje asserted that an expert institution has confirmed allot of Ningi’s allegation that while the budget submitted to the NASS was N25T, what went out for signing was over N28T and therefore asked whether the Senate could come clean by opening up and subjecting the Budget to a thorough investigation.
Bugaje also frowned at Constituency Projects which have been a thorny issue between the executive and legislature saying that the projects which allocation is shrouded in secrecy had made legislators to become contractors.
Budget process, he said, appears to be messy, pointing out that some of the revenue sources in the budget are the sale of government assets without details, making the revenue sources suspicious and unreliable.
Bugaje said Democracy is in crisis in Nigeria impoverishing the citizens falling below the poverty line and that many are trapped into multi-dimensional poverty.
From the foregoing, Dr Bugaje suggests the following as the way out ;
Halting and freezing all funds that are suspect until a thorough investigation is done.
Independent investigation including civil society like CISLAC and BUDGETit.
The young people should endeavor to engage these political institutions and defend their future which is being destroyed.
Leaders of civil society, especially those who were in the trenches in the late 90’s,
fighting to restore democracy must come forward to give a policy direction and build
an elite consensus on the future of this great country.
We must Focus on the leadership recruitment process, we must develop criteria for suitability of political offices.
To be sure, the criteria in the constitution is only a criteria for eligibility.
We must not confuse eligibility with suitability. Character, competence and courage of conviction must be part of these criteria” he concludes.
