Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen Abbas on Wednesday shut down efforts by opposition lawmakers to smuggle a motion summoning President Bola Tinubu to appear before the House over delays in releasing funds to Ministries, Departments and Agencies for budget implementation….
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen Abbas on Wednesday shut down efforts by opposition lawmakers to smuggle a motion summoning President Bola Tinubu to appear before the House over delays in releasing funds to Ministries, Departments and Agencies for budget implementation.
The Speaker’s action followed the deliberation on a motion of urgent national importance brought by Alex Ikwechegh on the Urgent need to address the poor funding of appropriated budgets and delayed releases to MDAs.
Mr. Ikwechegh had submitted a copy of the motion containing five prayers to the Speaker in compliance with House Standing Rules, but while presenting the motion, he allegedly smuggled an additional prayer calling for the invitation of the President to explain to Nigerians why releases were not being made to fund the budget.
Consequently, Yusuf Gagdi moved to amend the prayer explaining that instead of summoning the President, government officials saddled with the responsibility of managing nation’s financial institutions should be invited.
Although he was shouted down by some of the opposition lawmakers, the Speaker weighed in insisting that the original motion had no prayer seeking for the invitation of the President, and as such, the prayer could not be put to vote.
Rebuking the lawmaker, the Speaker described the act as unparliamentary.
Also citing the House Standing Rules, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu admonished his colleagues saying it will be wrong for lawmakers, who legislate for the nation not to obey their own rules and regulations.
He advised lawmakers to conduct themselves in a way befitting of their status.
Consequently, the speaker put the motion to a voice vote and it was adopted without the prayer to invite the president.
Earlier, while presenting the motion, Mr. Ikwechegh urged the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria to prioritise the timely release and cash backing of appropriated funds, publish a clear schedule of releases for the 2026 fiscal year, and conclude the verification and settlement of all outstanding contractor liabilities within a defined and publicly communicated timeframe.
