The Senate has declared the Inspector General of Police (IGR), Ibrahim Idris, as an enemy of democracy and unfit to hold public office within and outside Nigeria.
This followed his non-appearance before the Senate for the third consecutive week.
The resolution was arrived at after a closed door session by the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.
Idris was expected to appear before the Senate over the alleged inhuman treatment meted out to Senator Dino Melaye as well as killings across the country but he was conspicuously absent to brief lawmakers at Wednesday plenary.
But arising from a closed door session which lasted for over 30 minutes, Senate President Bukola Saraki who presided over the session, noted that the IGP’s non-appearance is not only a disrespect to the institution but to constituted authority.
Saraki also pointed out that his earlier refusal to appear before the investigative committee was overruled by a competent court of jurisdiction in April this year.
“The Senate therefore views this persistent refusal as a great danger to our democracy. Therefore, the Senate resolves to declare the IGP as an enemy of democracy and unfit to hold any public office within and outside Nigeria,” Saraki said.
“The leadership of the Senate was also mandated to look into the matter for further necessary action,” he said.
Earlier in their contributions, Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan; Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Bwacha; Chairman Senate Committee on Navy Isah Misau and his counterpart in Power, Enyinnaya Abaribe, described the IG’s absence as an abuse of power.
Specifically, Lawan disclosed that he made several attempts to reach the IGP but to no avail.
Meanwhile despite assurances by Senate President Bukola Saraki that the 2018 budget would be presented this week, both chambers of the National Assembly adjourned till Tuesday, May 15, 2018 without presenting the proposal.
On Monday, Saraki had told State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the National Assembly that the long-awaited federal budget would be laid within the week and passed by next week.
Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan, who moved the motion for the adjournment at the upper legislative chamber, attributed the development to the forthcoming local government congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scheduled for this Saturday.
In the same vein, the House after the consideration of motions and adoption of the report of the House Committee on Justice on “A bill for an Act to amend the Extradition Act, 2004,” resolved to adjourn till next week Tuesday.
However, the issue relating to the 2018 budget was not mentioned throughout the session which was presided over by Speaker Yakubu Dogara.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had submitted the N8.612 trillion 2018 budget estimates to a joint session of the National Assembly on November 7, 2017, with a call on the legislature to quickly pass the budget and return to the January – December budget cycle.
However, six months after the presentation of the budget bill, the National Assembly is yet to approve the document, even as Saraki attributed the delay to failure of heads of ministries, departments and agencies to defend the budget before their respective committees.
This is the second time the leadership of the National Assembly has reneged on its promise to pass the budget.
In March this year, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, had announced that the National Assembly would pass the 2018 budget on April 24.
The Speaker added that the joint Committees on Appropriations would lay the report on the budget in the two chambers on April 19 in readiness for the approval.
However, neither the presentation nor consideration of the Appropriation Committee’s report took place on the two dates.
Analysts say while the 2018 budget can boost Nigeria’s economy, they, however, expressed concern that with seven months to the end of the year and three months to the commencement of party primaries for the 2019 elections, the delay in implementation could negatively impact its performance.
Already, politics has taken centre stage and governance relegated to the back stage with the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari to seek re-election for a second term.
BusinessDay also gathered that although the Body of Principal Officers – comprising key officers from both chambers – met at the office of the Senate President on Wednesday before commencement of plenary, the issue of the 2018 budget was not on the agenda.
One of the principal officers who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that issues discussed included the invasion of the Senate and theft of mace, disrespect for the institution of the National Assembly by appointees of President Buhari and the alleged inhuman treatment meted out to the embattled Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye.
“Who is talking about the budget when our institution has been desecrated by the President and his men?” the North Central lawmaker asked rhetorically.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA & OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
