Kunle Akogun
President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the National Assembly to approve a supplementary budget of N89.6 billion for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in preparation for the 2011 elections.
Also, the President has forwarded a list of additional three ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening.And in keeping to its pledge to cut short its two-month recess to attend to urgent national matters, the Senate will next Tuesday meet to consider the requests. INEC National Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, had requested for N84 billion for the purchase of equipment for the voters’ registration exercise and for payment of overheads of personnel to handle the exercise.
Also at the planned emergency session, the upper legislative chamber is expected to screen three additional ministerial nominees forwarded to it by President Jonathan for confirmation.
Jonathan had appointed 39 ministers in the last shake-up and still had slots for three more. The constitution mandates that ministers must be nominated from every state of the federation but former President Olusegun Obasanjo started the tradition of six more slots for the six geo-political zones, bringing the total number to 42.
The names of the nominees were still kept under wraps last night, but THISDAY learnt that there was one from Delta State and another from the North-east zones.
The Senate had last Thursday gone on its annual break and was expected to resume plenary on September 29.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media Senator Ayogu Eze confirmed the new development yesterday, saying the upper house will at the emergency session “look at the proposed budget by INEC boss for the review of voters register and also screen the three additional ministerial nominees” forwarded to the Senate by the President for confirmation.
Eze, who declined to name the three ministerial nominees, however, said they would appear before the senators for their screening on Tuesday.
Briefing newsmen last Thursday on the Senate’s recess, Eze had said that the Senate would “even at short notice” cut short its recess to consider any request by INEC for the conduct of the 2011 election.He said yesterday that Tuesday’s emergency sitting is in keeping with the Senate resolve to provide the necessary legislative support to INEC ahead of the 2011 election.
Meanwhile, Senate President David Mark yesterday assured agitators of state creation that in spite of criticisms in some quarters against the exercise, the National Assembly would ensure that the yearnings and aspirations of the people are met.
He noted that the criticism that state creation is not desirable on account of inability of some states to be self-sustaining is not tenable “because we must find out why they are not doing well”.
Receiving a delegation of the movement for the creation of Karaduwa State from the present Katsina State, Mark maintained that more states would bring government and development nearer to the people.
He said the demand for more states are genuine, desirable and necessary to address some imbalances in the present structures.Besides, the Senate President said “the more states we have, the more there would be healthy competition between and among states which would ultimately usher in meaningful development.
“It will bring unity and harmony between and among the federating states,” he said. Mark expressed optimism that the exercise would be executed within the life span of the present National Assembly, saying that necessary preliminary works have been done in that respect.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation and former speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, gave a historical perspective to the agitation for the creation of Karaduwa State, which he said is endowed with both human and material resources. Masari claimed that the proposed state would be economically and politically viable. Besides, Masari stated that the proposed Karaduwa State presently has 11 local government areas and endowed with agriculture and other mineral deposits.
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