BEVERLY HILLS, June 15, (THEWILL) – The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has reacted to the assertion by the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, that the legislature lacked the power to insert new projects or modify those contained in an Appropriation Bill.
Speaking during plenary on Thursday, he stated that the Constitution clearly spelt out the duty of each arm of government, adding that should there be a conflict, the Executive was not the appropriate arm to interpret the constitution.
THEWILL recalls that Osinbajo had, while signing the 2017 Appropriation Bill into law on Monday, stated that there were two broad issues about who could do what.
“The first report is about who can do what. When you present a budget to the National Assembly, it is presented as a bill, an appropriation bill. And secondly, do not introduce entirely new projects and all of that or modify projects. This is something that we experienced last year and this year again. It now leaves the question about who is supposed to do what,” he had said.
Reacting to this speech, Dogara stated that it was difficult to believe that the Acting President could say such thing
“I don’t want to believe the acting president said that. When it comes to the budget, the worst the executive can do is to withhold their assent. After 30 days, if we can muster two-third, we will override the veto.
“The executive is only one man- the president- the relationship between the president and other members of the executive arm is at best, a master-servant relationship.
“All of us here (lawmakers) represent different constituencies. The House cannot be a rubber stamp of any executive arm under our watch,” the Speaker said.
