O(A specialR commemorativeDER edition of PAPOrderPaper.ng) ER TVODAYOL 1. NO. 1 SEPTEMPTER 2016 Secrecy of NASS Budget Whistleblowers and anti-corruption war Meet the New Clerk of the National Assembly Movers&Shakers of the National Assembly Happening today (Monday, September 26, 2016) THE GALLERY COLLOQUIUM ON BUDGETARY REFORMS Venue: Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja Time: 10am prompt 2 ORDERPAPERTODAY | September 2016 September 2016 | ORDERPAPERTODAY 3 EDITor’S NOTE t is with immense delight that I introduce to you this commemorative edition of ORDERPAPERTODAY, a special print publication of OrderPaper.ng. We are essentially an online newspaper dedicated to reporting and tracking the IParliament (both the National and State Assemblies) in Nigeria. Part of our mission is also to offer citizens a veritable platform to interface and engage with their representatives in the legislature. In summary OrderPaper.ng is a medium designed to serve legislative news to citizens and offer them a much-desired channel of communication with those they elected to make laws and ensure good governance. So the fact that you have this copy in your hand and going through these lines and subsequent pages is very gratifying to all of us in the editorial team. For us this is a milestone achievement. And not just because this special issue commemorates the formal public presentation of OrderPaper.ng but because it also signposts the hosting of the maiden The Gallery Colloquium convened to interrogate Nigeria’s budgetary process and offer suggestions on how the nation’s annual budgets can be made to work towards delivering the goods of democracy to the greater majority of citizens. So this publication is actually a toast to our mission. And to your success more importantly, because without you being there we would not have the inspiration to be here serving this buffet of juicy stories and tasty articles variants of which have been on offer online in the last one year at OrderPaper.ng. In this edition, you get to know who the prime movers and attention- grabbers of the federal legislature are in Movers and Shakers of the National Assembly. You will also read about the secrecy of the National Assembly budget and why it is difficult to open up the finances of the federal legislature in spite of persistent calls for an open and transparent Parliament. You will learn about the new Clerk to the National Assembly (CAN), Mr. Mohammed Sani-Omolori and also read about how lawmakers intend to help President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption battle through the Whistleblowers Protection Bill. And of course there are many more stories you will find online at OrderPaper.ng. So please feel free to flip through the pages even as we invite you to take a jolly good ride into our world in cyberspace. You will surely keep going back there because no other newspaper reports the Parliament like we do. And of course, we are always available to say welcome aboard and enjoy the flight each time you show up. Oke Epia Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, OrderPaper.ng 4 ORDERPAPERTODAY | September 2016 Office of the Speaker HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONGRATULATIONS TO ORDERPAPER.NG Congratulations on the formal public presentation of OrderPaper.ng, Nigeria’s parliamentary online reporting portal. The birth of the medium is a commendable initiative that will surely help to fill a void in media coverage of the legislature. The added value of providing a platform of interface between the Executive and Legislature as demonstrated by convening The Gallery Colloquium on Budgetary Reforms stands OrderPaper.ng out further as a veritable partner with the Parliament in consolidating democracy in our country. I commend OrderPaper.ng to members of the National and State Assemblies and indeed all Nigerians as both a news medium and portal of convergence between People and Parliament in Nigeria. Accept my best wishes in the task of expanding the media space of our country and enriching democratic practice. Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara Speaker September 2016 | ORDERPAPERTODAY 5 Reports&Reviews he credibility of the 8th National Assembly especially the Senate has come under Tdoubts as the upper chamber 17 years after, National Assembly is now known for reneging on promises made. It does seem many of the promises made are mere political stunts and pro- paganda contrived to steal the show at budget still shrouded in secrecy a particular time with little or no inten- tion of fulfillment. press statement signed by Bamikole Muhammadu Buhari seemed to have The much debated budget of the Omishore, Special Assistant on New favoured the National Assembly as all National Assembly comes under fo- Media, pledged to publish the budget the attention shifted to the 2016 budget cus in this regard. The federal legisla- breakdown so Nigerians would not brouhaha. And no mention was made ture has since the advent of the Fourth have to rely on the ‘falsehoods’ and of the NASS budget breakdown. Republic 17 years ago, maintained a speculations from social media. In a few days, the 8th National one-line budget (without breakdown) While commissioning the refur- Assembly would have completed one in the Appropriation Act. bished Senate Press Centre in February, year of a four-year term. Although, it The annual sum of N150billlion al- 2016, Saraki again pledged to make has been a turbulent ride, that is no ex- located to the National Assembly under public the budget breakdown but this cuse for reneging on promises. the David Mark Senate Presidency was was also not to be. It is even baffling that those who never broken down in spite of pressures Recently, in a statement issued by once clamoured for the National from social critics and activists. Mohammed Isa, Special Assistant on Assembly Budget to be made public Upon assumption of Office, the 8th Public Affairs to Saraki, he pledged to while they were ‘activists’ immediately Senate through its President, Bukola publish the budget “next week”, being find it difficult to disclose their take- Saraki, promised a more transparent between March 14 and March 18. Same home the moment they become legis- and open National Assembly, sug- promise for the umpteenth also failed lators. gesting a break from the past. In fact, the fulfillment test. However, Nigerians are still waiting, Saraki’s inaugural speech touched on When public pressure continued still asking questions: why would the making public a breakdown of the unabated, Spokesperson of the Senate, same National Assembly that passed National Assembly Budget. Senator Aliyu Sabi again promised that the Freedom of Information Bill shroud He was roundly applauded and the breakdown of National Assembly its budget, which should be a free infor- touted as the one who would make Budget would be released alongside the mation as “Classified Top Secret”? the difference in the public relations 2016 budget that had just been trans- Many still wonder: would the bud- Saraki baggage of the National Assembly. But mitted to the Presidency at the time. get of the National Assembly ever be Nigerians waited with baited breathe as This was however not to be. made public? Or would it be okay for that legislators in Nigeria earn far more nothing happened to fulfill the prom- Fortunately or unfortunately, the con- Nigerians to conclude that indeed there than their contemporaries even in the ise. troversy that surrounded the eventual is so much to hide? richest countries of the world. In November 2015, Saraki in a transmission of the budget to President It is still the belief of many Nigerians This allegation the National Assembly has continued to deny, yet Senators and House of Representatives members find it convenient to hide their budget breakdown. DOGARA: Whither the NASS NEEDS Assessment Report? If the NASS Budget cannot be published during this All Progressives n August 14, 2014, Speaker of among others. But one year after, it appears the enthu- Congress (APC) administration of the House of Representatives, Recall again, the words of Speaker siasm of the Speaker in raising the bar on ‘change’ and anti-corruption, then Yakubu Dogara, inaugurat- Dogara at the inauguration: “We have all transparency and accountability in the fi- when would it? Would Nigerians ever Oed a 20-man committee to been making, at best, educated guesswork nances of the Parliament, has turned cold. know what the National Assembly does undertake an assessment on what is re- on whether the legislature is adequately The world is waiting on him. The world is with the N115bn allocated to it in the quired as running cost for the National funded or not. An appropriate needs as- also waiting on members of the commit- national budget? Assembly and offer recommendations sessment may well find out that the legis- tee to say what exactly has become of their accordingly. Against the backdrop of the lature in Nigeria is over-funded or that it assignment so far. At least, the NUJ which (This report was part of a series of Special clamour for a more open and transparent is underfunded. You should in the course represents the media as the Fourth Estate Reviews – #NassReportCard- of the 1st year National Assembly and rising indigna- of your work also make a comparative of the Realm in the Committee owes the of the 8th National Assembly published on tion over so-called jumbo pay of legisla- study of the cost of running legislatures nation the responsibility to not just play May 31, 2016 @ http://www.orderpaper. tors, that singular step earned the Speaker in other relevant jurisdictions. These are but demonstrate its watchdog role on this ng/17-years-national-assembly-bud- instant positive commentaries. But that only suggestions as you should feel free to all-important matter.