Buhari seeks Senate’s confirmation of Ayine as Auditor-General

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday asked the Senate to consider and confirm Mr. Anthony Mkpe Ayine, as the Auditor General of the Federation.

This is contained in a letter by President Buhari to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday.

President Buhari noted in the letter read by Saraki that Section 86(1) of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (as amended), states that the Auditor-General for the Federation shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Federal Civil Service Commission subject to confirmation by the Senate.

The letter added, “In line with this constitutional requirement, the Federal Civil Service Commission has recommended Mr. Anthony Mkpe Ayine for appointment as the Auditor-General for the Federation. The Curriculum Vitae of Mr. A. M. Ayine is herewith attached.

“I have accepted this recommendation and hereby present the nomination of Mr. Anthony Mkpe Ayine for confirmation by the Senate.

“While hoping that this request will receive the usual expeditious consideration of the Distinguished Senators, please accept, Mr. Senate President, the assurances of my highest regards.”

Senate summons Adeosun as it fails to stop ASUU strike

Nigeria Senate

Attempts by the Senate to stop the warning strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which started on Wednesday - yesterday -, have failed.

Senate President Bukola Saraki presided over a three-hour closed-door meeting with the officials of the union.

Saraki did not, however, speak with journalists after the crucial meeting.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, Senator Jibrin Barau, who addressed journalists, said the Senate could not stop the warning strike.

He, however, said its intervention would prevent the strike from transforming to an indefinite action.

Barau added that the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had been asked to attend a meeting of a committee comprising officials of ASUU and the ministries of education and  labour on Thursday.

The meeting on Wednesday was also attended by the officials of the Ministry of Education as well as representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who was absent at the meeting, was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka.

Barau said the lawmakers had a “fruitful deliberation” with the striking lecturers, adding that “a way forward has been found” and that “the issues will soon be resolved.”

He admitted that the warning strike would continue while the Senate worked towards preventing the lecturers from embarking on a total strike.

The senator announced that a sub-committee, made up of representatives of all the stakeholders had been set up while the panel would continue with the roundtable discussions on Thursday.

He said what the Senate had done was to create a template for dialogue, describing an end to the crisis as “a work in progress.”

Barau said, “We have had a fruitful deliberation and a way forward has been found by creating a sub-committee of this committee to sit and find out certain things in the Ministry of Finance, which will bring us closer to the resolution of this problem.

“We will start sitting tomorrow (Thursday), including the Minister of Finance (Kemi Adeosun), who has not been able to attend this meeting but we are sure she will be here tomorrow and the Director-General of the Budget Office.

“We have created a template on how to resolve this problem. And you know ASUU is a democratic body, they have to consult. So, it’s ongoing; it’s a work in progress and a very important headway has been created. A good template has been created and we see light at the end of the tunnel.”

The National President of ASUU, Abiodun Ogunyemi, who earlier declined to speak on the outcome of the meeting, later thanked the Senate for its intervention.

 He said, “We have discussed and our union will work with him (Saraki). We will do all possible, with the approval of our membership, to get the matter resolved as soon as possible.”

The Senate had, on Tuesday, expressed its resolve to intervene in the face-off between the Federal Government and ASUU.

The lawmakers had specifically asked to intervene in the matter and prevent ASUU from embarking on the one-week warning strike.

The lawmakers, during the plenary on Tuesday, urged the two parties to embrace dialogue.

A document containing the demands of ASUU, which was obtained from one of its executive members after the meeting, indicated that demands bothered on the implementation of the 2009 agreement and the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding between the union and the Federal Government.

Under the ‘Payment of fractions of staff entitlements’, ASUU said, “The 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement Implementation Committee had submitted a report of the outstanding balance of N65, 833, 047,372.24 (2009-2013) plus N62,417‚645‚224.23 (2014-2016), amounting to an unpaid balance of N128‚250‚692‚596.47. This was in line with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government and ASUU, while resolving the crisis of June-November, 2013.

“ASUU stated that the initial N30bn paid university staff as part of EAA (earned allowance) in 2013 was given to the governing councils, not the union, as presented by the ministry. The union also corrected the impression that the record of the balance of the EAA had not been submitted by the lMC. The minister subsequently directed the Director of Tertiary Institutions to expeditiously address the matter to enable him to follow up on the matter.”

Why Senate rejected Buhari’s $30bn loan

 

President Muhammadu Buhari’s request seeking for the approval of the National Assembly for a $29.9billion foreign suffered a setback yesterday after it was rejected by the Senate.
The Senate Leader Ali Ndume had moved a motion for the consideration of the request and it was seconded by Deputy Minority Leader Emmanuel Bwacha.
However, when the motion was put to vote by the Senate President Bukola Saraki, those against it overwhelmed those for it.
The senate president repeated the question and got similar response and eventually hit the gavel in favour of those against the request.
President Buhari had last week requested   the approval of the lawmakers to secure $29.9billion loan through a letter which was read last Wednesday by the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.
The loan, if approved, according the President, will go to areas such as health, power, railway, roads, education, water resources, among others.
A breakdown of the proposal shows that $11.274 billion was for projects and programmes, Special National Infrastructure Projects $10.686 billion, Euro Bonds of $4.5 billion and Federal Government Budget Support of $3.5 billion.
I’ll re-present it – Ndume
Addressing newsmen, Ndume expressed shock over the rejection but said  he would re-present the request.
“The borrowing plan was technically rejected but I’m going to re-present it. The problem came on technical ground.  It was supposed to go to the Committee,” he said.
On why it was rejected, Ndume said, “There was no attachment of the borrowing plan as indicated in the President’s letter. The detail of the borrowing plan was also not included”.
Paragraph one of the President’s letter reads: “I wish to refer to the above subject and to submit the attached draft of Federal government 2016 - 2018 External Borrowing (Rolling) plan for consideration and early approval by the National Assembly to ensure prompt implementation of the projects”.
Ndume, however, expressed optimism that the request would be approved when re-presented.
“There is nothing to worry about. We are only trying to do things there way they should be done.”
We’ll provide needed information – Presidency
In his reaction, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly (Senate), Senator Ita Enang said the Presidency was working hard to provide the required information to the Senate.
“We are not disputing with the distinguished Senate. There are certain information and details which will enable them to consider in detail and appropriately the request of Mr President are contained in the plan.
“So we are collating that information, the Budget Office of the federation, the Debt Management Office, the honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning, Minister of Finance and the economic team are collating the information so that they can be submitted to the Senate to enable them take the appropriate decision,” he said, adding that “We will not be disputing with them but we will be engaging with them.”
What Buhari should do
A ranking Senator who does not want to be named faulted the rejection, saying the external borrowing was approved in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) last year.
“We have approved part of the loan in MTEF that was submitted to us last year. What they should have done is to approve the amount we approved in the MTEF and demand for the details of the remaining amount,” he said.
He said instead of rejecting the request, they should have stepped it down till the submission of the detail/attachment by the Presidency.
“Since there is no detail or attachment, they shouldn’t have listed the request on the order paper (programme) of the Senate. Buhari will not do such a thing because even Goodluck Jonathan that is considered reckless will not do so.
“It is possible that the detail disappeared at the Senate, you know the budget got missing here last time. I think the development was as a result of the crisis between Saraki and the Presidency,” he said.
Daily Trust reports that the request by the president remains alive as it is yet to be considered by the House of Representatives. Spokesman of the House Abdulrazaq Namdas had last week said that the lower chamber would  debate the president’s request this week.
However, sources told Daily Trust that, in view of what transpired at the Senate, the House may not consider it this week.