According to them, with poverty and unemployment rates, among other problems, at alarming levels, the news is an indication that the government does not have its priorities in order.
Disappointment swiftly gave way to anger when the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed, told a conference in Abuja recently that the National Assembly had rejected the quarters for security reasons, only for the lawmakers to deny the allegation, claiming instead that it was the FCT Administration that abandoned the project.
Bala had said the President of the Senate, David Mark; Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; and their deputies, along with some other principal officers of the National Assembly rejected the quarters as a result of insecurity and the delay in the provision of infrastructure.
But the Chairman, Committee on House Services, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, speaking on behalf of the principal officers, told Saturday PUNCH that it was the FCTA that chose to stop the project.
“This was entirely the idea of the FCT minister. Obviously, there was no contribution from the leadership of the National Assembly at the meeting where he briefed members on this issue,” he said.
Following Bala’s comments, some prominent Nigerians have condemned the National Assembly for rejecting the quarters, which they argued the lawmakers did not deserve.
In the wake of the lawmakers’ counter claims, the citizens have been critical of the discordant tunes emanating from both arms of government over the state of the quarters and described the project as a waste of funds and a further proof of government’s insensitivity to the hardship majority of Nigerians face.
Commenting on the development, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Isay Sagay, said, “It is consistent with the wind of profligacy, impunity and total disregard of the masses of this country. If Ms. Stella Oduah (Minister of Aviation) can buy two cars for N255m, why won’t they build quarters for N3bn for officials in a country in which two-thirds of the people are earning less than $2 a day?
“You see, there is a certain level of callousness and criminal insensitivity that is killing this country.”
Those, who spoke to our correspondent, explained that what irked them the most was the fact that the government could have avoided wasting funds if it had taken public opinion more seriously and avoided selling the Apo Legislative Quarters.
The Apo Legislative Quarters, built for lawmakers in the FCT in preparation for the return to civil rule in 1999, had been sold to the lawmakers in 2004 despite public outcry.
According to analysts, it is a decision that has cost Nigerians in many ways.
First, the allowances of new lawmakers were increased to cover the cost of securing accommodation. Second, when the Umaru Yar’Adua administration was inaugurated in 2007, the National Assembly had to go on recess immediately to enable the legislators sort out their accommodation issues.
According to Sagay, if the Apo quarters had been kept as was originally planned, the talk of new accommodation for the lawmakers would not be an issue now.
“But they went and sold the houses to those who occupied them and they have started rebuilding again. This is what I call the height of recklessness and criminal irresponsibility,” he said.
Whether the new residence was rejected or abandoned, the Publicity Secretary, Afenifere Renewal Group, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, said the development had thrown up a lot of questions and highlighted the need for a review of the mode of governance adopted in the country.
One of them is whether the earnings of the lawmakers in question will be affected should they eventually be provided new accommodation.
Another question is whether they will also buy the houses, leaving taxpayers with the responsibility of funding the construction of new accommodations for their successors.
Famoriyo, who questioned the motive behind the decision of the FCTA to build the quarters for the principal officers of the National Assembly, said, “These are the contradictions we are facing in the country today. It is why the ARG has been calling for dialogue in this country. It is the more reason why we are saying that the presidential system of governance as it is being practised in this country is unsustainable.”
According to him, at the moment, the government is being run by the elite and works for the elite, with the common Nigerian marginalised.
“We are voting people in to go and enrich themselves; that is why it is difficult to remove them, hence we are saying before the bubble burst finally in this country, we need to sit down and discuss how to manage it,” he added.
With the FCT minister and the National Assembly failing to give any clue as to what would become of the project, some Nigerians have expressed concern that it may as well end up as one of the thousands of failed and abandoned projects across the nation.
Culled from Punch.
No comments:
Post a Comment