Dogara seeks senate’s approval for removal of IGP

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara yesterday canvassed for the involvement of the National Assembly in the appointment and removal of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, to ensure operational independence and command integrity. The Speaker also called for the decentralisation of the Police force for effective crime detection.Dogara-House Dogara who stated this in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the National Dialogue on economy, security and development facilitated by The National Institute for Legislative Studies, further disclosed that the House of Representatives was contemplating to amend Section 82 of the Constitution from six months in which the President was allowed to spend without appropriation to three months. Recall that the Fiscal Responsibility Act has recommended that the executive should forward to the National Assembly the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, three months before the end of the financial year, but President Muhammadu Buhari was yet to forward the MTEF for the preparation of the 2016 Appropriation to the National Assembly.

But the Speaker in an indirect reference to the delay by the executive to submit the MTEF to the National Assembly, suggested a possible review of the Act, to streamline budgetary processes to achieve strict adherence to timelines for budget presentation and passage. Expressing optimism that the dialogue would address the burning questions of the day, and proffer workable solutions to guide both the Executive and Legislative arms of government, especially at this early period of President Buhari’s administration, he said the House was committed to reviewing budgetary process in the country. According to him, “This Roundtable has security as one of its main themes. That the security situation in Nigeria is very bad is common knowledge and needs no repetition here. We should be rather concerned with legislative solutions to the problem. We need to think outside the box. “It seems to me that the time has come for us to reexamine the legal and constitutional framework for policing in Nigeria. A decentralized police force may be more effective as Nigerians in their communities are better placed to detect criminals in their midst. We look forward for further guidance by experts in this regard and for your recommendations. “Furthermore, it has become necessary, in my view, for the appointment and removal of the Inspector General of Police to receive the blessing, of at least, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This will also ensure some measure of operational independence and command integrity. “Policing however, must exist side by side with economic empowerment of the people for it is said that an idle mind is the devils workshop.” Dogara said the House was committed in its legislative agenda, in the review of the national budgetary process and the revamping of the national economy development in areas like “Legislative measures to tackle non-remittance of internally generated revenue and leakages; Infrastructure development; Legislative Initiative on New Cities and Regional Hubs of Development and Legislative initiative on North-East and Niger-Delta.” Other areas include, “Legislative initiative on Unemployment; Legislative Initiative on Housing, Urban Development, Mortgages; Legislative initiative on Power; Legislative initiative on Security; Legislative initiative on Economic Diversification.” He said the House had further committed itself in specific terms to a review of the budgetary process with emphasis on the following the promotion of an inclusive budgetary process that seeks the cooperation of the executive in institutionalising pre-budget interface and consultations and the adoption of an effective Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) “Strict compliance with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007. Insistence on prioritisation of budget expenditure that reflects approved budget lines and zero tolerance for non-implementation of capital projects as approved in annual budgets.