National Assembly Members; Lawmakers Or Lawbreakers? By Alhassan Dambatta

It is becoming very clear by the day that the National Assembly members are all out to insult the sensibility of Nigerians by their deliberate advances to sabotage the 2016 budget for their self gain. This perpetual denial of their criminal actions have since exposed their hidden intentions meant to service the caprice of some few individuals that have held us captive since the beginning of this government of change.

They are beginning to play their dirty politics on Nigerians by refusing to allow our budget of change see the light of the day, one crisis after another, they have us suspended on one leg looking dejected and frustrated.

While advanced democracies have for hundred of years subjected lawmakers to be responsible and responsive to the needs of the people he or she represents, in Nigeria, the case is the opposite, because in Nigeria the electorates are regarded as slaves who lacked choice. We have continuously been trampled upon by the same politicians we elected to represent us at the National Assembly.

The Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Sunday blatantly denied anything missing in the budget. He vehemently denied the issue of Lagos to Calabar rail project been padded or outrightly removed from the budget estimates. He went further to insult us by tweeting that Nigerians are “Barefaced liars” demanding for any evidence of any provision for Coastal Rail line in the budget.

While Dogara have demanded for evidence of that provisions, he went further by tweeting that it is “Absolute rubbish” of Nigerians to think towards that direction.

The Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin via his twitter handle reinforced Dogara’s position, that there was no such proposal in the budget sent to the National Assembly. He said, “Lagos-Calabar Railway line was never captured in the budget”.

Abdulmumin knowing well how to blackmail us and by extension the presidency said “All they (Nigerians), and those spreading the false information needed to have done is to check the initial document sent by the Executive.” This came after knowing fully well that the estimates were only forwarded after the initial document was submitted.

The brain work here is that, the National Assembly’s argument is tailored towards sustaining the position that the budget estimates for the Lagos/Calabar rail project was never submitted in the first estimates, and their hidden calculus is that they have not approved any proposal of that nature, but very afraid to say it in the open.

To corroborate the true position of the contemplation, the Senate Committee Chairman on Land Transport, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, refuted the claims by Abdulmumin and his co-travellers that, the Calabar to Lagos rail link has indeed been appropriated for in the 2016 budget.

Argument upon argument, the National Assembly have now taken a position, this position taken is dented with more stupidity of confrontations. Reading through their press release, the National assembly have taken a wild goose chase position that may not buy them any sympathy but velification and bad omen. Nigerians have already sided with the presidency after analysing the situation, and weighting all the possible truthful options. This is why their advise to the Presidency to come clean with Nigerians on the 2016 Budget is the opposite of the situation. They (National Assembly) should rather come clean with Nigerians.

Their challenge as they put it that they make bold to say that the said Lagos-Calabar rail project was not included in the budget proposal presented to them by President Muhammadu Buhari and that they challenge anyone who has any evidence to the contrary to present such to them only validates my line of argument that they don’t want that project executed, I don’t know the logic behind that but ordinarily i knew it as a sabotage of the last order.

Now, the evidence they demanded is being circulated in the social media, video clips of the minister of transport, Rotimi Ameachi explaining vividly of the need to include and approve the proposed Lagos/Calabar rail system.

I cannot imagine a situation where the National assembly becoming such a daft, forgetting so quickly about the possibility of recorded video or audio files popping up and subsequently exposing their indiscretion. With the social media we now know better.

We are in a situation in Nigeria, our lawmakers, have turned lawbreakers and the only way out is for Nigerians to exert their authority.

Comrade Alhassan Haruna Danbatta.
Alaski1972?