“A resolution of the House is a resolution of the House; nobody can change it midway,” spokesman for the lawmakers, Hon. Zakari Muhammed, said in Abuja.
Reacting to 'settlement moves' by the PDP and reported overtures by the President to save his job, Hon. Muhammed said the only alternative was for Jonathan to achieve a 100 per cent budget implementation by September in accordance with the resolution of the House.
“The budget implementation is about 35 percent,” the Chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Mr. John Enoh, had told his colleagues. News Nigeria gathered that Hon Enoh's found discovered that only a meagre N200bn had been released to the Ministries of government in the first two quarters of the year.
The House, angered by the findings, directed the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to immediately release all first and second quarter capital votes to the MDAs.
The resolution, which was endorsed by all members, faulted the minister’s decision to withhold the funds of some MDAs on the grounds that they were unable to utilise their first quarter votes. The House noted that withholding funds under any excuse was a “breach of the Appropriation Act (2012).”
Sources in Abuja told News Nigeria that Jonathan and the National Chairman of the PDP, Bamangar Tukur, had reached out to the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, to talk to other members of the House to soft-pedal on the impeachment threat.
But the House have insisted through its spokesman that Jonathan must perform or vacate. “Our practice is that our resolution, once taken, it stands; it can only be reviewed on the floor of the House, not by an individual. A resolution of the House is a resolution of the House; nobody can change it midway. Not even the Speaker has the powers to change a House resolution,” he said.
“What the Executive should do is to implement the budget in line with the House resolution," he added.
It would be recalled that the lawmakers had, on Thursday, frowned at the poor implementation of the 2012 budget and set a September 18 deadline for the Jonathan administration.
“The budget implementation is about 35 percent,” the Chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Mr. John Enoh, had told his colleagues. News Nigeria gathered that Hon Enoh's found discovered that only a meagre N200bn had been released to the Ministries of government in the first two quarters of the year.
The House, angered by the findings, directed the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to immediately release all first and second quarter capital votes to the MDAs.
The resolution, which was endorsed by all members, faulted the minister’s decision to withhold the funds of some MDAs on the grounds that they were unable to utilise their first quarter votes. The House noted that withholding funds under any excuse was a “breach of the Appropriation Act (2012).”
Sources in Abuja told News Nigeria that Jonathan and the National Chairman of the PDP, Bamangar Tukur, had reached out to the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, to talk to other members of the House to soft-pedal on the impeachment threat.
But the House have insisted through its spokesman that Jonathan must perform or vacate. “Our practice is that our resolution, once taken, it stands; it can only be reviewed on the floor of the House, not by an individual. A resolution of the House is a resolution of the House; nobody can change it midway. Not even the Speaker has the powers to change a House resolution,” he said.
“What the Executive should do is to implement the budget in line with the House resolution," he added.
It would be recalled that the lawmakers had, on Thursday, frowned at the poor implementation of the 2012 budget and set a September 18 deadline for the Jonathan administration.
