Politics

Deepening confusion in Buhari administration

Published

7 years ago

January 30, 2018

Olu Emmanuel

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Executive/legislature impasse deepens

The government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to experience divisiveness and disorder in the administration of the country. A party government that controls both the executive and majority lawmakers in the National Assembly consistently functions as though the leaders are in opposition.

Ironically, the theatric of confusion in the Senate deepened with the legislative conduct of Senator Kabir Marafa, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream, who sent out a Director of the Ministry of Finance, representing Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance, at public hearing on the N5 trillion subsidy paid to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The senator was furious that it was disrespectful of Adeosun to have sent a Director to the committee on such crucial national issue. The senator emphasized if the Minister was not able to make it, she would have sent a more senior official, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry.

Marafa was cited to have stated: “With due respect to your personality, I would reject your presentation. We want you to communicate to her the displeasure of this Committee.

“This is an indication of disrespect. When the Minister of State to Petroleum Resources is unable to attend, he sent the Permanent Secretary. And somebody feels she cannot come, and cannot send her Permanent Secretary?

“If she is bigger than this institution, let us know that she is bigger. Let us flex muscles and see who is bigger.”