NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE

FOURTH ASSEMBLY 
First Session 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OFFICIAL REPORT

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OFFICIAL REPORT

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA 

Thursday, 17th June, 1999
The House met at 10. 15 a.m. 

PRAYERS

(The Deputy Speaker in the Chair)

The Deputy Speaker: Hon Members, I am sure you are surprised to see me on the Speaker's seat today. The Speaker is a bit indisposed. He has been under tremendous pressure. I will advise Hon. Members to please allow him to, at least rest. He will join us later in the afternoon.
Thank you.

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS

The Deputy Speaker: I have gone through the Votes and proceedings of Wednesday, 16th June, 1999 and have approved same.

OATHS

The Deputy Speaker: Members who have not taken their Oaths should please come forward. (No response)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Meetings

The Deputy Speaker: Members of the Ad-hoc Committee on NUT will meet today, Thursday, 17th June, 1999 after the day's Sitting.
There will be a meeting of the Ad-hoc Committee on the Ward Crisis today at 2.30 p.m.
There will also be a meeting of members from Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. They are to meet here after the day's proceedings.
Production of Law makers 1999 - 2003 Eighteen Members of PDP are yet to complete their questionnaires and take their photographs for this magazine. They, should please do this immediately.

Reduction in Tariff

The Bolingo Hotels have reduced their tariffs from N 4,000 to N 3,000 in support of democracy. (Applause)

NOTICES OF MOTIONS

The Deputy Speaker: There are six Motions on Notice. The House will not debate them until they are mature. I wish to remind Members that the essence of putting Motions on Notice is to enable Members to peruse them and file amendments as they may consider necessary. The House will, however, debate the three Motions listed on the Order paper.
The debate on Mr. President's speech will resume after the Motions have been dispensed with. 

MOTIONS

Recovery of Ill-Gotten Wealth

The Deputy Speaker: The first Motion is on the Recovery of ill-gotten Wealth. May I call on Hon Owoola Ogunsanmi to present his Motion.

Hon. Owoola Ogunsanmi (Idose/Moba/llepe Meje): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, I rise to move the Motion on the Recovery of III-Gotten Wealth which reads:
In view of the havoc that corruption has caused in this country and considering the need to evolve back-up actions for the effort of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in his anti-corruption programmes for curbing the social menace, this House do urge the Federal Government to:
(i) extend its anti-corruption investigation to those who held public offices during the past military regimes but their activities are yet io be investigated with a view to identifying whether or not some of them have corruptibly enriched themselves; and
(ii) seek assistance from the international communities for the recovery of ill-gotten properties and monies stacked in banks abroad.
I do move, Sir.

The Deputy Speaker: Is there a seconder to the Motion?

Hon. Josiah Binuwai Gobum (Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, I rise to second the Motion moved by hon. Owoola Ogunsanmi on the Recovery of Ill-Gotten Wealth.

The Deputy Speaker: I wish to call on hon. Owoola Ogunsanmi to commence the debate on the Motion.

Hon. Owoola Ogunsanmi: Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Colleagues, as we know, Nigeria is the giant of Africa but this giant is being reduced to a dwarf because of the act of looting. Former public office holders with their stolen wealth parade themselves around this country without shame, displaying their wealth with the best type of cars and building palaces around this country. A lot of this money is being stacked in different banks all over the world. The confidence that was reposed in them by the citizens of this country was misplaced because of their greed and at the same time they thought they are above the law. Our educational system is calling for a lot of money. The teachers are on strike. Our hospitals need money. Our railways will not go round the country. A lot of other infrastructures are not put in place because of lack of fund and yet we have a lot of our billions stacked in foreign bank accounts.
Last month, our respected Permanent Representative at the Unites Nations Organisation, Prof. Gambari made it clear that more than 50 billion `US dollars of Nigerian money is stacked in foreign accounts. Why should we be here to suffer when our money is elsewhere? The citizens of this country put their trust in us. They believe that we are going to do the best for them. If we do not take action, they will not appreciate it. We should not pretend not to do what is right. We ought to stand up and do the right thing at the right time. We must not allow transparent, honest and accountable government to elude the people of this country. God himself has said:
Ask, it shall be given; seek, ye shall find; knock, it shall be opened unto you.
Let us, therefore, ask the foreign communities to help us repatriate this money back to Nigeria. It will help us and our children. At the end of the day, we will be proud enough to be Members of this august House.
Hon. Colleagues, I seek your indulgence to look critically at this Motion because it is going to help our fatherland.
Thank you. (Applause)

Hon. Ibrahim Abdullahi (Sabon Gari): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, in as much as I have sympathy for this Motion, I would want to object to this honourable House debating it. We know that before the President, Commander-in-Chief came to the floor of this honourable House, he established what he called Presidential Policy Advisory Committee which looked into all the problems bedeviling this nation. Since the inauguration of the President, his speeches and actions have shown how committed he is in tackling this cankerworm of Corruption and Recovery of ill-gotten wealth. In this very House, at a joint sitting, the President of this nation promised to send a Bill on corruption in two weeks' time. The two weeks' time Mr. President promised is yet to be up, and our debating it may pre-empt whatever might be contained in that Bill.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. Olaribigbe Matesun (Amuwo-Odofin): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, I want to make it clear that we are not an appendage of the executive. If there is anything that we feel that is necessary to do, we should not shy away from doing it just because the executive said it is about to do it.
I will want to expand the Motion a little bit. Not only the money that is carted away in foreign accounts that we should be looking at, we should also be looking at the corruption in Nigeria as a whole. Now, you may not take your money overseas; supposing you used it in building estates, then it means you can get away with it; but those who took their money overseas would be repatriated. We want to see those people who are living beyond their means investigated. In India, if you exhibit affluence beyond your visible income, you will be investigated immediately. You find people, civil servants riding cars that their salaries for five years cannot procure. We do not raise any eyebrow. We should now probe everybody; not civil servants alone, this should be extended to the private sector. You find people riding Rolls Royce in Nigeria (laughter). There is nothing wrong with somebody riding Rolls Royce, but I want to see how much he has paid as tax from the income he used in buying that Rolls Royce. If you get your money legitimately, there is nothing wrong even if you want to buy aeroplane, but not somebody who has no any visible means of income exhibiting affluence. (Applause)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. Barau Jibrin (Tarauni): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, I do agree with this Motion in all its ramifications, but the issue is how do we get this money back to this country? To me and to everybody who really takes a look at the whole affair will agree with me that it is going to be a difficult task to bring back this money into the country. I do understand that some years back, the European countries really talked about the fact the money . being stacked away by Nigerians is quite enormous, and even more than what we have in the country. My suggestion is, if we decide to embark on an effort and get this money into this country we will spend about 20 years without being successful. Let us follow the foot-steps of Ghana. Ghana never forced anybody to bring this money by duress or by force. The government only kind of give them words of inspiration, look you have no other country but Ghana. When you look around you see Ghanaians all over the place, not even in West Africa alone, but also in Africa. So, they were told: bring back this money and invest in Ghana and we will not give you any problem. And they did just that. This action of the Ghanaian leader actually brought the Ghanaian economy to be buoyant. We should encourage these people to bring back these money and invest it in Nigeria rather than trying to get the money from them by force, which is impossible.
Thank you. (Applause)

Hon. (Barr.) Gabriel Dumi (Okpe/Uvwie/Sapele): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, my views about this particular Motion is that it is untimely. We have just started to function, this House has not been able to put itself in order. We have not been set in motion. That is point number one.
The second point is that if we want to investigate now the assets of corrupt officers, the list will be inelastic. It will go a very long way to the extent that it is likely to cause another revolution of problem in this nation, and that does not show or confer on us discipline as Members of the House of Representatives.
I submit.

Hon. Altine Oga Idikwu (Oju/Obi): Mr. Speaker, I intend to agree with the two honourable Members that have spoken here. First and foremost, I would want to agree that the Motion is too early. The timing is not very convenient. Since the aim is the same with that of Mr. President in trying to check corruption in this country, I think we can harness all the ideas despite the fact that we are not appendices to the executive, we can bring all the ideas together and forge ahead in doing these things together so that we can achieve a very common goal at the end of the day for the good of this country. I submit, Sir. Thank you.

Hon.Nnemeka Celestine Ughonze (Oyi/Ayamelu): Mr. Speaker, in opposing this Motion, I will first and foremost commend the intention of the sponsor, but I will have to say that it is pre-mature. Again, I would like to let this Honourable House know that Motions are not laws. They are at most, persuasive instruments.
Since Mr. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in joint Session addressed this august House, and he did indicate that he would bring a Bill that we will pass here to enable him fight corruption. Whatever our arguments will be in this Motion we can bring them in the main Bill because when he brings a Bill, we have the power to amend and put in whatever we want to put in. So, it is better for us to await the arrival of that Bill so that we beef it up the way we want and have a law that has force to enable Mr. President to perform in fighting corruption. Thank you.

Hon. Joseph Babatunde lakoju (Akoko East): Mr. Speaker, I think it is critical that this Motion is being debated this morning. I think that whatever we can do to strengthen the arm of the Executive in fighting corruption, we should do it.
My concern is that we should first of all tackle why people were able to amass so much out of the sweat of this nation. For me, two things were absent. One, in our public service, the issue of supervision was totally lacking and again accountability is totally absent and I think that the duty of this honourable House is to ensure that in the course of our activities, we will put legislation in place that will ensure proper supervision and accountability in the Public Sector in this country.
I would like to refer us to what is happening even in this House. The mentality of looting this nation is not relative only to public officers. We are in the process of putting ourselves in Committees to tackle all kinds of problems. I belong to the Selection Committee and from the little I have seen so far, nobody is interested in those Committees that render services. Everybody wants to be in Petroleum Committee, Transport Committee and in all kinds of other Committees. I want to say that this looting is not relative to Public Service alone and the mentality should start to be curbed even from us in this House.
Thank you.

Hon. Olaka Johnson Nwogu (Eleme/Tai/Onyibo): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members of the House, permit me to just make one or two suggestions in this matter. There is no doubt that we need to address the issue of corruption. However, I want to urge this House to try to settle down immediately for business, instead of an ad-hoc way of addressing issues. I say this because in a few days' time, I believe, we are going to have a Committee on Corruption, Ethics and Privileges and I do not see how if we are to have this Motion in this form which we have today to succeed out side of just acknowledging that it is a good, thing, that we cannot set up a Committee to address it. If we set up a Committee, they must investigate and come up with their findings,, because that is what it is asking for and in a few days time we will have another substantive Committee doing the same job.
I would think that as well intentioned as we are, we will be contradicting ourselves in setting up Committees that will die in a few days and for some others to take over. The pattern that I would, therefore suggest is as good as this is, we note it and keep it there. It would be passed as a matter of either urgency or necessity to the appropriate Committee that will handle it. Let me bring this to the notice of the honourable House that we will today continue debating Mr. President's speech, but at the rate we are going, it appears to me that even in twenty or thirty days we would not have finished that debate. It is not a very very good thing for this House.
Thank you.

Hon. Uduese Essien (Eket/Esit Eket/Onwa/Ibeno): While I will support the Motion for us to investigate corruption in the country, I think it is a bit premature and actually, I wonder how Motions just get mentioned on the first day in the House and it is debated. This is a matter which I will take as a very serious issue that we should have done a lot of work on before presenting it to the House.
So, I would request Mr. Speaker to please shelve this Motion. Let the proposers go back and do some serious work on it before they bring it back. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker: We will have the last comment on this Motion.

Hon. Jaafaru M. Damulak (Shedam/Mikang Quaan-pan): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, whereas I support the principle behind this Motion,
I think that since Mr. President has said that h would send a similar Bill to the National Assembly I would say we should not do anything about It. The reason is that it will not make sense if the House will be asking the same people the same questions, which the security agents that Mr. president will probably commission to do the same job, It will amount to a waste of people's time. It is better for the two arms of government to liaise, together and save time for everybody:
Thank you, very much.

The Deputy Speaker: I wish to now put the question.

Question put and negatived.

The Deputy Speaker: The next Motion is on-Anti-Democratic Practices at the State level. May I call on hon. Tony Anyanwu to please present the Motion:

Anti-Democratic Practices at the State level

Hon. Tony Anyanwu (Ahiazu/Ezinhite): Mr. Speaker, Sir, before . I proceed, may I crave your indulgence to make one observation and that is with respect to how questions are put: in this House. I am proposing with the greatest respect, that when questions are proposed in the House, they should not be limited to Ayes or Noes. You can also propose that such Motions lie on the Table because that will save us the situation where the House could be perceived as saying no to moves to fight corruption in this country. I think we could have laid such a Motion on the Table so that we do not get misconstrued. Having made that observation, Mr. Speaker, may I then continue. (Interruption)

Hon. (Major). Ibrahim Abdullahi (rtd.) (Sabon Gari): Mr. Speaker, Sir, Point of Order.

The Deputy Speaker: What Point of Order? 

Hon. (Major) Abdullahi (rtd.): Mr. Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member for Ahiazu/Ezinhite (hon. Tony Anyanwu) was asked to move a Motion, not to make a comment.
Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker: Hon. Anyanwu, you can continue with the presentation of your Motion, please.

Hon: Anyanwu: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the Motion standing. In my name on the order paper: 
That in view of the fact that it has been reported in the Media that there has been crisis at the Lagos State House of Assembly, the Imo State House of Assembly, the Anambra State House of Assembly wherein we have two Speakers as at today and particularly in view of the assertion of the Governor of the Anambra State accusing his Deputy of attempts to assassinate him, that is, (the Governor) and in view of our Constitutional responsibilities as enshrined in Section 11 of the 1999 Constitution to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation; this House does resolve that:
i. a message be conveyed to the affected persons and authorities to show and apply restraint in order to ensure the sustenance of democracy within the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
ii. a message be conveyed to the affected persons 'and authorities to operate within the confines of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and 
iii. set up an Ad-hoc Committee or perhaps refer it to an existing Committee, if any, that will liaise with the affected three State Houses of Assembly with a view to finding permanent solution to the disputes.
I so humbly move, Mr. Speaker and my colleagues.
The Deputy Speaker: Is there any seconder for the Motion? (No Response)

Motion lapsed.

The Deputy Speaker: Order! Order! The next Motion is on Protection of Lives and properties in the North East 'and North West Zones of the Country.

Hon. Alli Lateef Adebola (Akinyele/Lagelu): I have an observation to make, Mr. Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker: Yes, hon. Adebola?

Hon. Adebola: Mr. Speaker, in a situation like this, once a Motion has been moved in the House and it is not seconded, it is the Speaker that will tell us whether the Motion lapses or not Mr. Speaker does not have to gloss on it just like that.

Several hon. Members: Sit down, sit down.

The Deputy Speaker: Order! Order! When a Motion is not seconded, it impliedly lapses.
May I call on hon. Abmed Lawan to please move his Motion.

Hon. (Dr.) Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan (Bade/Jakusko): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order paper
In view of the wide spread destructions of lives and properties in the North East and North West zones of the country, and considering the need for the security of lives and properties to be assured and guaranteed to the entire citizens of this country, this Honourable House do consider the gravity of the situation and resolve as follows:
i. that the situation in the aforesaid zones be regarded as a national emergency;
ii. that well equipped security personnel be deployed to the affected zones to restore and maintain peace and security;
iii. that relevant Government organs should take up the issue of the violation of the territorial integrity - of Nigeria with neighbouring countries;
iv. that relief materials be provided to the victims; and
v. that an Ad-hoc Committee be set up to investigate and recommend further measures to this House.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, distinguished colleagues, I so humbly move.

Deputy Speaker: May I have a seconder to that motion?

Hon. Sale Yari Gandi (Wurno/Raba): Mr. Speaker, Sir, distinguished Colleagues, in view of the good intent of the motion brought before this honourable House by the member for Bade/Jakusko (Dr. Ahman Ibrahim Lawan,) I hereby second the motion.
Thank you.

Deputy Speaker: This, motion was extensively discussed yesterday. But if there are further comments, we can take a few of them.

Hon. (Barr.) Nnaemeka Celestine Ohanze (Oyi/Ayamelu): Mr. Speaker Sir, I have a point of Order!

Deputy Speaker: What is your point of Order? 

Hon. Nnaemeka Ohanze: Mr. Speaker, Sir, my point of Order is Order 32, Rule 6 of the 1993 Rules of the House of Representatives which this House adopted for use for now. It says:

                                                              It shall be out of order to attempt to 
                                                              reconsider any specific question upon which 
                                                              the House has come to a conclusion during 
                                                              the current session except upon a substantive 
                                                              motion for rescission.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, what I am saying is that in as much as I am not against this Motion, on the 15th day of this month, we had discussed an issue of this nature and resolved on it. My concern now is the procedure. We should first bring a motion to rescind the one we have done so that this motion can come in to enlarge what we have done. That is the procedure, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you.
Can the mover of the motion comment on this? 

Hon, (Dr) Ahman Ibrahim Lawan: Mr. Speaker, Sir, before I make my comments, I would like to observe that what my honourable Colleague has just said is not correct. This is because on the 15th of this month, we debated a motion on the protection of lives and properties in the North-East geographical zone. This Motion has to do with North-East and North-West.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, the problem of insecurity of lives and properties is a widespread problem especially in the whole of Northern Nigeria. I am sure too, that it is a problem to a certain degree in the Southern part of this country. The Constitution of this country guarantees security of lives. This country owes its citizens duties just as the citizens of this country owe the country obligations and duties. Where there is persistent insecurity, social economic activities and indeed in rural areas, agricultural activities are hampered. This is particularly very apparent in the North-East and North-West where huge sums of money have been taken away from businessmen, where agricultural products have been eaten up by cattle and other animals that crossed from the Republic of Niger, Chad or Cameroun.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Constitution of this country gives the right for Nigerians and the whole of this country to be protected by our Armed Forces. We are calling in this Motion for a well-equipped, well organised troops to be taken across the border so that the violation of our territorial integrity would be stopped.
Thank you, very much.

Deputy Speaker: May I inform the House that we resolved yesterday that the Motion be drafted and presented today for us to take it. It was debated extensively yesterday. I do not know whether there is a lot more to add to it today. I would have liked to put the question. However, we shall take a few comments on it.

Hon. (Barrister) Obozuwa Augustine (Etsako East/Etsako West/Etsako Central): Point of information!
Yesterday, I did caution about the use of emergency in drafting this motion. Today, it has appeared in a greater form to read, national emergency. If you look at Section 305 which I referred to yesterday, first of all, before you can declare a state of emergency in a State, the first body that has the right to do so is the State House of Assembly under Section 305(4). It is the State House of Assembly in conjunction with the Governor who must request the President to declare a state of emergency.- It is when they fail and the situation is such of grave nature that the President feels that
they have failed in their duties that he would act on his own and declare a state of emergency and pass it to the National Assembly for ratification. In this instance, instead of using the word, emergency, we should say, grave situation and not national emergency. This is because to use the word, national emergency means the entire nation is being threatened and is under danger of foreign invasion.
So, Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to amend it to read grave situation and not national emergency because of the dire constitutional consequences. (Applause)

Hon. Adams Jagaba (Kachia/Kagrako): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members of this House. I am standing here to disagree in its entirety with the last speaker from East/Etsako west/Etsako Central (Hon. (Dr) Augustine U. Obosuwa). If you look at Section 305, sub-section 3(c) of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which he has just quoted, it states that:

                                                                If there is actual breakdown of public order 
                                                                and public safety in the Federation or in any 
                                                                part thereof to such extent as to require 
                                                                extraordinary measures to restore peace and 
                                                                security.

To add more light to that, we should take this matter on very serious note. This matter does not affect the North East and North West zones only. My constituency happened to share with the Federal capital, Abuja. I want to tell you that just last week, some business women from Ibadan and Lagos came to buy a commodity popularly known as Elubo and six of them were killed. Also, just about two weeks ago some Ibo businessmen who came to buy cattle were all slaughtered. So, this is a matter of national security and we should it take as such.
Thank you, very much.

Hon. Nwakanma Chimaobi (Isiala Ngwa South): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, as one of the sponsors of this Motion, I did not get the opportunity to speak on it yesterday. Having listed to the contribution already made on the floor of this House this morning, I am inclined to agree with those who are worried about the word, emergency. I would rather prefer we substitute it with grave situation which is as strong as the word, emergency itself.
I have three reason to support this motion. One is the tragic situation being painted by our brother from the Northern part of Nigeria. I happen to come from the South. The grave picture is picture of shame as was mentioned by a Member yesterday and all of us should be concerned about this.
The second reason is that, I am a Nigerian and what affects one part of Nigeria affects the others too. Our country is being invaded by external forces, whether they are organised or are mere bandits. I have traveled through Bauchi, Damaturu and beyond. I have been to Maiduguri on road; I have seen the results of the kind of invasion being discussed here I think, Sir, speaker, Sir, this august House has the responsibility to draw the attention of Government to the neglect that the citizen of this country had suffered in the past and ensure that now that a new dawn has arrived in Nigeria, things are done differently.
The primary responsibilities of Government to its citizens is to protect their live and property. Nigeria is supposed to be a giant of Africa. Here we are, talking about herdsmen and bandits holding us on siege as if we are clay-footed giants. It is my view, Mr. Speaker, that the attention of Mr. President be drawn to the need to dispatch security officials immediately to assess the situation and take immediate remedial steps to save us from further embarrassment. It is also my suggestion, Mr. Speaker, that a high-powered diplomatic mission be sent to Cameroun, Chad and Niger to find ways of addressing the situation to ensure that our borders are not porous as they were made to be. That we do not attack the matter from only the Nigerian side, we also attack it from both Nigeria and from other areas because if we concentrate only here, we are only attacking the result and not the cause. This means we are addressing the effect not the cause. So, we should now be able to attack it from two angles and resolve this matter.
In any case, I am sure that some other Motion may be coming up very soon regarding the issue of security of lives and property in Nigeria and the roles of our security forces. I think that they should be told that this is a new era that the time when security men sit down and do not care about their jobs, is over. This time around, we want Nigeria to emerge and raise its head in the comity of nations as a country that cares and to be respected.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. Musa Elayo (Awe): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to draw the attention of this honourable House to the Motion before the House. This motion has nothing to do with the proclamation of state of emergency, if you read the content very well. I will, therefore, urge this honourable House to look at what the Motion is talking about and give it effect. When we decide to go to the issue of proclamation, it is entirely a different matter all together and the procedures are there in the Constitution. So, Mr. speaker, Sir, nobody should think this Motion is asking for a proclamation of a state of emergency by the President of Federal republic of Nigeria.
Thank you.

Hon. Adeyemi Oluwale (Somolu): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members of the House, the last time I rose to speak, I did say that this is a House of Representatives, the law making body. Those of us who earn our living in law know that law is precise, unambiguous and direct. Now, let us examine this Motion again. Particularly, a lot have been said about the state of emergency. I do not want to talk on that again.
Now, item (iv) of the Motion says: that relief materials be provided to the victims, and I ask, by whom? Let us be very clear and precise. Let us say
it as it is and as we want it to be so that there is no room for ambiguity.
I will suggest that the movers of this Motion amend it and be very clear and precise. That is my comment.

Hon. Ethiogie West Idahosa (Ovia North East/South): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members; I want to direct the House back to the Motion and to provide vital assistance in resolving the controversy being raised on this Motion.
Mr. speaker, Sir, we must look at the intent, especially of the first item of the Motion which says: That the situation be regarded as a national emergency. I want to direct the attention of the honourable House to Section 305, subsection 3, paragraphs (C) and (D) of the 1999 Constitution on what is meant by national emergency and the consequences of national emergency.
When there is an actual breakdown of public order and where there is the question of taking an extra-ordinary measures to restore peace and security, there seems to be only one avenue open to Government to declare a state of emergency in an area, in order to restore peace and security. From the debate we have so far had in this House, it is clear that that place has broken down irretrievably and that there is only one thing that can be done to take an extra-ordinary measures to restore peace and security in the North-East and North-West zones that are affected.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, may I, therefore, assist the mover of this Motion by appealing that he amends his Motion to read as follows:

                                                                   That in view of the facts made available to 
                                                                   the House, that a resolution be passed 
                                                                   directing the president to proclaim a state of 
                                                                   emergency as required by the Constitution, in 
                                                                   that area.

Once this is done, it takes care of every other situation and all the necessary measures required in items 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Motion will be provided by the Government without further hesitation.
Thank you.

Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba (Ehime Mbano/lhiteuboma/Obowo): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, the point of order I am raising will be found on page 28 of the 1993 Standing Rules, No. 32(6) as was earlier raised and reading that in conjunction with Rule No. 36 (1): What that rule says is that when a decision has been reached by this House on a particular motion and you are raising, there is an avenue which is espoused in what you are trying to refer to, which is an amendment. Most of the things that have been canvassed in this Motion, except the issue of North-East and North-West or national emergency, are things that ought to have been addressed by way of an amendment which are allowed under the Rules. You can make an amendment into the Motion that has already been made, instead of going round to do a new debate on it, you can ask for an amendment to the Motion which had already been passed by the House. You can add North-East and West. You can add relief materials to the victims because the relief materials
had already been canvassed. In fact, these items here had already been agreed to by this House. Please, I am just drawing your attention to that order.
Thank you very much.

The Deputy Speaker: I wish to put the amendment proposed by the hon. Member from Etsako East/West/Central (Hon. Augustine U. Obozuwa) that item (i) of the Motion be amended to read: that the situation be regarded as a grave situation no longer national emergency.

Amendment put and agreed to.

Main Motion accordingly put and agreed to 

Resolved: That in view of the wide spread destruction of lives and properties in the North east and North West zones of the country, and considering the need for the security of lives and properties to be assured and guaranteed to the entire citizens of these zones, this honourable House do consider the gravity of the situation and resolves as follows:
(i) that the situation be regarded as grave situation.
(ii) that well equipped security personnel be deployed to the affected zones to restore and maintain peace and security.
(iii) that relevant government organs should take up the issue of the violation of the territorial integrity of Nigeria with neighboring countries
(iv) that relief materials be provided to the victims; and
(v) that an Ad-hoc Committee be set up to investigate and recommend further measures to this House.

INFORMATION 

Personal Emolument Forms

The Deputy Speaker: Personal Emolument forms are being circulated to Members; you are requested to complete the forms and return them to the office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives with one passport photograph by Monday, 21st June, 1999.
Thank you.

Meeting of APP Members

The Deputy Speaker: All Members of APP are to meet immediately after today's business, the venue is the usual Committee. This was signed by Hon. Fibel Ayiogu, the APP Whip

Meeting of AD Members

The Deputy Speaker: The following AD Members are to see the Party Whip immediately after today's sitting. They are:

Hon. Okuneye Gholahan Lagos State
Hon. Babawale Remi Ogun State
Hon. Olagbenro Adebayo Oyo State
Hon. Andy Clement Bayelsa State
Hon. Charles Bayo Fajuro Ekiti State
Hon. Femi Onimole Lagos State
Hon. Rasheed Remi Babawale Ogun State 

Photographs and Return Documents

The Deputy Speaker: AD Members that have not taken their photographs or returned their questionnaires should please to do so today. Those that have not return their Committee Nomination Forms should please do to today also.

ORDER OF THE DAY

Debate on the Address of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Fourth Alloted Day), (Adjourned Debate 16th June, 1999)

The Deputy Speaker: We shall continue with the debate of the presidential speech. I shall call on hon. Bojude Saidu Ahmed, to speak.

Hon. Saidu Ahmed Bojude (Gembe Kwani/ Funkaye): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members, in the first instance, Mr. Speaker, permit me to identify with the beautiful and well articulated speech of Mr. President. earlier on, Members have contributed meaningfully to most aspects of this speech. what I will do in my own small way is to do the same.

The Deputy Speaker: please, hold on for a minute. may I appeal to members of this hon. House that we are debating the presidential speech which is a serious policy pronouncement. I think we should give it some attention and members should please take their seats so that we can have peace in the hall.
Hon. Bojude, please continue.

Hon. Saidu Ahmed Bojude: Again, thank you Mr. Speaker. As I was saying, I will also make my own contribution in a small way on Food and Agriculture. First, I would like to identify myself with earlier speakers who spoke on the subsidy of fertilizer. I would also like that same subsidy be extended to other sectors of agriculture, such as animal feeds, livestock buffer, poultry and fisheries. I would also like the same extended to livestock graft or veterinary grafts both for livestock and the other aspect of agriculture.
The issue of subsidy, particularly on fertilizer as earlier complained by an earlier speaker was the issue of diversion. I think the problem of agriculture in Nigeria is that agriculture is being practiced by peasant farmers who own small pieces of land and are so numerously distributed all over the country in which case their voices are very faint and do not make any meaningful effect to anybody, particularly the government. My suggestions here is, if the issue of subsidy is important it should be considered. We have to think seriously on having institutional framework on the ground so that it will coordinate and reorient' the existing institutions that will handle this issue. I know we have groups like the Cooperatives. I do not think the current cooperatives we have are serving any purpose. The reason is in most cases, cooperative are formed ad-hoc for a specific issue particularly when government wants to dish out loans or money to people and by the time they collect this money, they do not pay and there is no cooperation again.
Thank you Mr. speaker. (Applause)

The Deputy Speaker: Before I call on the next speaker, I would like to advise that Members should be brief in their comments. I give a maximum of 2 minutes so that we can make progress on this matter.
May I call on hon. Budof Dauda Garba to give us his comments.

Hon. Dauda Garba Budof (Borodo/Dassi Tafawa Balewa): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. members, I recommend the wisdom in the speech of the President and I think if we give him the necessary cooperation, we are going to achieve a good memory at the end of our tenure. There are some places that I would like to make some comments on. While on one hand, I commend the President on the issue of economic recovery as it relates to increasing of extra-budgetary commitments, I would like to advise that we should not do something that will create a kind of impression in the minds of our international friends so that they will begin to feel that the present government does not oblige to the commitments of the former governments. It may be possible that some of our international friends do have commitments in that extra-budgetary arrangements. So if it is genuine, necessary and unavoidable it shall be reviewed so that we can continue from where they stopped. That does not mean that the extra-budgetary commitments should not necessary be increased.
Then on the issue of agriculture, I would like to say that most of the time when emphasis is being place on subsidy on agriculture and other things, people feel that it is the little things that encourage farmers to produce enough food. I would like to draw the attention of the honourable House on the issue of price protection to farmers. Most of the time, farmers do farm but at the end of the year due to lack of available board co-ordinating the price of the products, they loose a lot of money. So, I would implore the House to come out with such a measure that would encourage the government to come out with price protection scheme that will encourage people to go into farming.
Also, when it comes to rural roads maintenance, the President has made us to understand that they are not maintained on regular basis. they should be repaired from time to time whenever they are bad. Thank you.

Hon. Maxwell Bulama (Hong/Gombi): Mr. Speaker, I have extensively gone through the Presidential debate and the points made by
Members, I wish to identify with most of them. The only addition I would like to make here is on the issue of marginalization and reconciliation. These two issues are very serious in our country today.
Those who are marginalized know it. Mr. President in his Address did indicate that it is a situation where everybody cries against marginalisation. I wish to implore on Mr. President to please take this matter seriously and know who is marginalized in the real sense and who is doing the marginalisation so that he can attempt to stop the practice.
Again, I want this honourable House to be serious and committed to what we do here so that the government and this honorable House will truly make a difference from the past Administration. We cannot achieve this by analyzing situations all the time and then proffering solutions. We will achieve it better by being committed and serious to the course. We cannot do all these by ourselves. I would want us to seek guidance from the Almighty God so that He will give us the Grace and divine intervention in solving our problems.
Thank you.

Hon. Adamu Bulkachuwa Mohammed (Katagun): Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have for the past week or so been debating on a paper presented by Mr. President, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr. Speaker, when I saw and heard Mr. President present this paper, I thought it was very good, well presented and well written. And when I saw him also hand over an envelop to the Senate President during the Joint Sitting, I thought that envelop would contain the pledges on this paper.
Mr. Speaker, Unity, Faith, Peace and Progress is the national motto which Mr. President referred us to. But soon after his speech, presidential actions seem to go diametrically opposed to what is contained there.
Mr. Speaker, honourable Members, I am now begging to wonder whether the paper in itself was in good faith. I doubt it. That envelope contained a list of forty nine Ministers, and out of that forty nine Ministers, Mr. President demonstrated aptly that he is still not a politicians; he is still in his military
uniform but under agbada. (Applause). Honourable Members otherwise, how can a democratically elected President neglect his constituency now, being the People Democratic Party PDP, the people who gave him eighteen million votes and then went round to his kits and kins and say, come my brothers, come and let us chop. Is that the case of monkey de work, baboon de chop? I wonder.
Mr. Speaker, when Mr. President referred to good security for the nation and soon after delivering this paper, he really forgot about food security because, he made no further announcements that will help farmers in this country. These farmers are just starting to plant and it is now that they need these inputs but he made no pronouncement on how he would help the farmers secure fertilizers and other inputs at affordable prices. No mention of it was made at all since that time.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President mentioned his worry about corruption. I do not know. I remember pretty well he first introduced himself as a Member of the People Democratic Party, and as aspirant for the Presidency, he donated One hundred and fifty million Naira. I wonder how he came about that money. I am sure that it is not from chicken farming because I am a farmer myself until I came to this Assembly. Now I cannot plant because the season is around and I am here. people do not make that profit in chicken farming, neither from corn farming. (Interruption)

Mr. Speaker: Order! Order!! Could the Hon. member summaries his points, please.

Adamu Bukachuwa Mohammed: I will certainly do, please. Mr. President certainly talked about marginalisation and even asked a question, who is marginalising who? we now know who is marginalising who. We have gotten the answer in his envelope. That is the answer. We now know who and I am sure all of us know who.
Thank you

Hon. Bada Busari (Akoko North East/Akoko North West): Mr. Speaker, I have an observation to make. The observation I want to raise is, when we are given the opportunity to look into the Address and make comment on Mr. President's Address, we
should not come here to malign the personality of Mr. President. When you were campaigning for your election, the way you got your money to fiance your election is not a subject for debate here in this House. You are supposed to come here and discuses and not how Mr. President got his money. (Interruption)
Mr. Speaker, Sir, my reaction to the speech of the President is as follows: the President has articulated some problems be devilling the smooth administration of this country and he has proffered some solutions. if we follow the weekly performance evaluation of what the president has done so far, I think he should be commended.
I am going to anchor my reaction on page 2 which reads:

This whole nation has been traumatized by misrule 

Who is responsible for this misrule? It is the military that is responsible for this misrule? It is the military that is the mother of corruption , it is the military that is the mother of embezzlement, mention any kind of menacing cankerworm in this country, it is the military. I am only happy that on his corruption drive, the President has taken some very laudable measures which is putting this country in shape of sanity.
In a proper democratic setting, I want a situation where this august House would have even brought up some Motions here which will make us have a position as to frown at any action of the military coming into governance. We do not want a situation where any military officer could just stand one day and say good morning, fellow Nigerians and then that will be the end of democracy.
With the enthronement of democracy now, everything should be done to sustain it. The military is responsible for misrule in everything, the military with its centralised approach to governance is responsible for all these corruption and all negativities that we have. So, I want to say that now that we have democratised, power should b completely decentralised. More power should g to the States, I do not see what the Police an Fishery have to do with the Exclusive List. In the educational sector, the universal primary education system should be extended to the secondary level. 

The Deputy Speaker: thank you, very much. please, could speakers limit themselves to two minutes, we are only on number 92.
May I now call on the Chief Whip of this House hon. Abubakar Bawa Bwari.

Hon. Abubakar Bawa Bwari (Gurara/Suleja): Mr. Speaker, Sir, a lot has been said about the President's speech and I do not need to bother you repeating all that have been said. But for the purpose of this exercise, I would just say a few things.
The President touched virtually all aspects of our national problems. The only thing here is that the hope is not just those kind of beautiful speeches we have been receiving before. The problem has always been that of implementation. So, we pray that the Almighty God give him the right guidance and wisdom to achieves these goals. This is where we come in as legislators because he will need our support. Moreover, his achievements will be the yardstick that will be used to judge our achievement.
So, I urge this honourable House that Bills relating to all those areas sponsored by the Executive should be handled with maturity and patriotism. We know there will be disagreements here and there, but when we disagree, please let us do it m the national interest and whenever we are going to agree, we should agree to the best interest of this country. I pray that God gives us the right guidance and wisdom to achieve these goals. I am sure insha Allah that we will achieve these goals because of the spirit I have seen so far, and the comments hon. Members have been making. I think we are on the right path.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Hon. (Prof.) Cliford Obiaga (Obingwa/Osisioma/ Ugwunagbo): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think the President's address has identified some critical success factors which, if probably addressed will meet up with the expectations of Nigerians.
On economy, I associate myself with the measures enunciated in the address to revamp our battered economy. But we should go a little further to apportion or demand appropriate punishments for those who have committed economic crimes on this nation.
There should be no sacred cows. The wicked must be punished and there should be a reward system whereby honesty, integrity and hard work are adequately rewarded.
One of the areas which I want to mention is the treatment of retirees. This has been abysmally unsatisfactory. The President's address, in my view,
is the main intent, not the main action. It is to right the wrongs of the past because most of the retirees are not paid, when they are paid, they are paid peanuts and the peanuts do not even come in time, thereby putting most of the families into serious hardships and at times to untimely death.
The other point I want to mention is the issue of rationalization. It should be done with some caution. It should not be done without first of all setting up structures to retrain and reposition redundant staff to other sectors because unemployment has its dire consequences.
On transportation, priority placed on development rural roads is well-thought out because it is from there that the bulk of the population comes from and it is where the bulk of the foodstuff that come from the rural areas are transported to the urban areas. On agriculture, in addition to the priority set out, I think he missed one important item and that is bringing more land into cultivation. This is necessary if we must extend our agriculture and increase production. In that case, agencies like NALDA and River Basins should be revitalized so that they would be able to meet with these challenges. We must also talk of subsidies on agricultural inputs, either by subsidizing inputs directly or subsidies placed on yield of products. That is, the price of farmer's end-product should be subsidized at the selling points. Strategic reserves should also be mentioned so that the grains and other things should be strategically put in silos during periods of scarcity of food. In addition to livestock, I wish to emphasize also poultry and fish development which he mentioned in his address.
On petroleum, there is the need for the strict enforcement of laws that govern the procurement, storage and distribution of petroleum of products. The proliferation of petrol stations and indiscrimnate sites of these stations call for some caution because some of them are sited in living homes while some are very close to major roads causing avoidable disasters.
On education, we should update our infrastructural facilities. The secondary, primary and tertiary institutions should be upgraded. Of course, the mode of admission of students into institutions of higher learning should be revisited. On admission examinations, I think JAMB has out-lived its usefulness. Univeristies should be allowed to admit their own students so that they know the students they are admitting.
The last point I want to make is that in the President's address, there was no mention of security of lives and property and I think that should be a priority area which the President should have mentioned.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. Nnayelugo Chukwuemeka Chikelu (Aniocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia): Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President's speech was a brief overview of the state of the nation and to give us some clear indication of some of the major policy thrust of his administration. The comments on the speech of the President has been extensive but I will like to make comments on one area that I consider important.
I noted with satisfaction the commitment he made in his speech towards pursuing faithfully the privatization programme. Mr. Speaker, Sir, many people have identified the economy as one of the major causes of the problems in Nigeria. The struggle for the very scarce resources that the economy of our country provides has been responsible for a lot of the bitterness and divisiveness that we have in our country. Many people also recognized the benefits that the privatization of some of the major sectors of the economy can bring to Nigeria, not just in terms of the potential for a better management and increased production and generation of wealth, but also the importance of privatization in fighting some of the things that we have identified in this house as being major cankerworm in the country, such as corruption.
Mr. President's speech urged the house to begin the processes for repeal and amendment of all laws that we consider to be against democratic ideals that we are striving for. In this light, Mr. Speaker, Sir, Members, I wish to draw our attention to section 16(1) of the Constitution in the chapter on Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy.
This section in the Constitution expressly requires the Federal Government of Nigeria to manage and operate the major sectors of the economy. It is my view and concern that this provision, by its meaning, may suggest that any privatization without its repeal or amendment is inconsistent with the Constitution and, therefore, probably illegal. I submit that this provision is probably inconsistent with the spirit of economic reform that Mr. President stated in his speech and I urge this honourable House, in due course to take a look at that provision in order to forward the privatization programme.
Thank you very much.

Hon. Chimaobi Nwakanma (Isiala Ngwa North /Isiala Ngwa South): Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members of this House, I want to thank and join my Colleagues here in thanking the President for a very good speech but unlike many people who have praised the President's speech as being very comprehensive, I humbly wish to suggest that quite a few questions are still left very much unanswered.
I want us, first of all, to observe that the problem of Nigeria has not been very well articulated and presented. If anything, Nigerians are known all over the world as fabulous speech-makers, using the best languages, the best styles and presentation in language but at the end of the day our problem has been the will to see through our commitments, our promises and our pledges.
Recently, I was asking myself , is this likely to be a horse of different colour? Is he likely to be Zebra of different stripes? Or is he going to be like other orators who we have seen occupying the sea of power in Nigeria ? But I was impressed when came to realize that certain actions taken by President, can only be taken by men of courage and vision. A man determined to have a date with history, therefore, I can now sit confidently and, perhaps say this might be the messiah Nigerians have been waiting for over the years,
I observed, Mr. Speaker, the concern which the President showed on the topic of Reconciliation. And he did observe in the same paragraph of the subject, part of it reads:
In the early fifties the founding fathers of our Nation recognized the imperative of Federalism.
I understand now that the reference to Richard' Constitution as coming from the early 50's may not be very correct. That brings me to one other point.
I want to observe in this whole paper, that might be very small, it may not have anything to do with the substance of the paper, but it is very important that we recognize this and to draw the attention of those who package our President to the fact that, whatever he writes, whatever he presents to the public, goes into the hands of international media and international governments and they assess our seriousness from that point of view.
In terms of accuracy, there should be no question on any paper to be read by Mr. President, it must be very accurate in the areas of typographical errors and even errors of substance.
I was only worried on the areas of reconciliation, because he did not come out clean saying what his own plan of action is. He made a pledge here that he is going to see that Nigeria is truly reconciled. He was very ambiguous on the issue of true reconciliation and the steps to be taken and on Federalism whether he really believes in what the founding fathers of Nigeria wanted or he does not believe it. I am aware, going by antecedents, he comes from a culture of unitary government and they brought it into Nigeria. Has he read the package from that culture? Is he now embracing true federalism like all of us. If he is , here is my interest for Mr. President.
I go to the area of economic recovery and something that I have just observed in principle. Apart from his serious concern concerning Nigeria's economic turn around which is very impressive,
apart from his lamentation concerning the depletion of our national reserves which is very sad, I now move on to another important area. Referring to the legislature, please, Mr. Speaker, permit me to look at the last sentence in the second page which says:
We simply cannot sustain this level of expenditure pattern. And yet, we have to add the extra cost of democracy in terms of capital and recurrent cost of the National Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, there are three arms of government: The executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. How come Mr. President is speaking on the National Assembly as if it is a luxury? As if it is an unwanted irritant? I am not going to be quick in suggesting the reason. Actually, I am not going to suggest that some people still harbour the military mentality. (Interruptions)

The Deputy Speaker: Thank you very much. 

Hon. Chinonyerem Macebuh (Ukwa East/Ukwa West): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to look at the President's speech as providing a window into the mind of the President. In that respect, I want also to recognize that in going through this speech and what the President has said since assuming office, that we can see that the speech is limited to providing that window into his mind. Taking what the country has been over the years, I believe that it behoves us to question what the frame of mind of the leadership, that we have experienced had been in executing important tasks of advancing the cause of this nation.
And if we recognize that what we have been experiencing since all these years is total failure as a Nation, we will then be worried.

Hon. (Dr.) Adeleke Kehinde (Ojo): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a point of Order. I think the Hon. Member from Ukwa East/Ukwa West (Hon. Chinonyerem Macebuh) contributing to the address of Mr. President is not properly dressed.

The Deputy Speaker: May I advise that hon. Members should please be better attired when they are appearing before this House. Just a point of information, the House will be sitting tomorrow, please.

Hon. Chinonyerem: Mr. Speaker, if I may respond to that, L want to know which section of the Order is being referred to in respect of my dress? I am wearing a dress which cloth is made in Nigeria. I am wearing a traditional type of dress. There is nothing to show that this is the cheapest attire in this House. L take objection to that Order.

Hon. F. O. Aladejebi ( Ekiti South): Mr. Speaker, Sir, to be properly dressed in the National Assembly, if you are in Nigerian attire, you must have a cap. That is the meaning. Once you do not have a cap with your dress, you are not properly dressed.

Hon. (Alhaji) Lateef Adebola Alli (Akinyele/ Lagelu): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have an observation. Yesterday, I drew the attention of Mr. Speaker to the fact that we have to go through the Standing Order as recommended by the Rules and Standing Committee, So that the question of mode of dressing to the House and the conduct of. the House of Assembly and all other regulations guiding Legislative Procedures here Is addressed in the Standing Order. I actually called on the Hon. Speaker to make sure that the House is constituted into the Committee of the Whole House whereby we can go through this Standing Order, make amendments and make some suggestions. Until this is done, It is like a community, where there is no law and therefore, there is no sin.
So, this particular issue should be addressed properly.

The Deputy Speaker: Thank you very much. 

Hon. Chinonyerem Macebuh: Mr. Speaker, Sir, in respect of what L was saying, we should be worried. And I said that In all these years, as a nation, we have experienced -almost total failure and that we should question the frame of mind of our leadership. In respect to that, I am worried when going through the President's speech, L found that his mind also operates in what we could refer to as the conventional mode of thought.
For example, the President is going into battle more or less, to advance the course of this nation and any battle commander who goes into battle and does not realise that he has sufficient equipment and manpower to execute the battle to a success up to some extent is bound to deploy his troops in a meagre way which may cause failure.
I refer to the second paragraph, to the last one on the first page of the President's speech where he made reference to Nigerian resources as meagre and dwindling. We agree that our resources may be dwindling since we are using them but for a nation that has more than 100 million people, a nation that has reputed manpower both at home and abroad, a nation that has sales of almost 200 million barrels of crude oil every day, a nation that has many other innumerable resources including almost every solid mineral that counts in the development of man, it will not be true to refer to these resources as meagre; and I will tell you that once the frame of mind of Mr. President runs in this, fashion, It Is very important in determining how he is going to allocate these resources towards creating further resources.
For example, he made a reference just almost at that point, which one of my honourable Colleagues had referred to, that is, how the expenditure on the National Assembly can affect national issues in respect to spending money. But you see that, what we ought to think about is that it is important to sufficiently commit resources that will make the National Assembly effective. But if you think if our resources as being meagre, it Is likely that he is also going to be in that frame of mind and allocate meagre resources to the National Assembly and once the National Assemble Is encumbered with meagre resources, it certainly will affect how effectively it can perform its functions.
So, once your frame of mind is in that form, I think it may affect things negatively.
I also want to refer to the President's reference to our deficits. There is nothing wrong in the economy with making deficit expenditures because once you want to execute any project and once that project will make you richer and create more wealth, you can borrow and when you borrow, your ultimate objective is to, in the end, create more resources that you have borrowed so that when you repay it, you have something left for you.
So, I do not think that the President should worry much with the fact that we run a deficit budget as much as worrying over what the deficit was committed to. This is very important because once you begin to reduce the expenditure because you do not want to run a deficit, you may be denying the economy investments which could be funded through deficit process and thereby denying us the ability to create greater wealth. These things are very important because they inform your frame of mind and once It is in the wrong mode, you are bound to take wrong measures.
I also want to point out another thing which confirms the conventional wisdom which is why this country has been where it is and that is the emphasis on foreign investments. Although investors are the same every where by way of the maximum profit being devoted, it is wrong to concentrate on making foreign investments possible when our compatriots; the owners of the economy are investing abroad; when they have no confidence in investing at home and you do not worry over making investment attractive to the owners of the house, rather you are worried and concentrating on  policies that will attract foreigners to invest in the country. I do not think that frame of mind is appropriate.
I call the attention of the House to these issues because these have constituted the conventional wisdom in governments over these years. Since that has not worked, there is no reason why we should stick to measure which have brought about failures. I believe that what will save us is that we must begin to deviate from those thing that have caused us failure in the past.
In this respect, let me point out again that on the issue Mr. President raised over removing, retrenching or retiring people, that in fact, he has asserted that people should retire. It is unfortunate that his list of ministerial nominees did not come into this House. If it were to come to this House, I think, we should have started removing people who should be removed from that list.
So, I want to stop here. Thank you very much. 

The Deputy Speaker: May I call on Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba to speak.

Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba (Ehime Mbano/ Ihiteuboma/ Obowo): The President's speech would appear to have said one or two things concerning the Nigerian nation and left unsaid so many things about the Nigerian nation.
Reading through that speech, we would have expected to see the President's line of action not just his thoughts. We would have expected him to show us his understanding that Nigeria is in dire need of redirection. We must stop running Nigeria as government as usual, to make money from sources you hardly know how it works and, maybe, spend it how you like. Nigeria, at this thresh-hold of democracy must bring itself back to issues of revenue generation, revenue conservation, penalties for corruption and then revenue usage.
We must redirect ourselves to how it is possible in this world that a nation or 115 million people who are supposed to have commonsense are bankrupt. How can that happen? We must bring ourselves to the issues of how people m a country with so much money cannot pay tax. In a system where you cannot even tax prostitution, you cannot tax drug money, you cannot tax bribe, you cannot tax 419, what are we doing here? These things are taxable including these new churches. We should collect all these monies that make the economy look buoyant without being buoyant and use them to service the Nigerian populace.
It is important for us to understand that the military is not our enemy. They are our brothers. Most of them have been trained with much money than you and I have been trained. Their services need to be inculcated into Nigerian business. We must redirect and re-engineer that forces that Nigeria has spent so much money to train. Just to tell us that we have a military that can be confined somewhere without asking and telling them that mobile telephones were actually the product of the military in the late 60s is not fair. must understanding that the military stand at a threshold where we can ask them to please, our brothers, go back to the laboratories and use all the money we spend on you. We should have an engineering corps that works.
We have more than three and half million youths who do not have employment and we award jobs to Julius Berger to bring the best machines when we can line up everybody here from Oturkpo to Kafanchan to build railways. They did it when the Europeans were here, why can we not do it again?
I do not understand what the President was talking about in his speech when he was making all these rhetorical statements. We need facts and working papers because we are here to work. It would occur to hon. Members here that Niger Delta and all the problems associated with it are not things that exist in the air. They are practical problems that we can see on the ground. When they tell you that it is blueprint, If the blueprint is blue, then publish it in blue and let us see it in blue. The Niger Delta problems need to be addressed as a whole; the desertification issue also needs to be addressed as a whole. We must see the landmarks of Nigeria and see what we must do with each square Kilometres in Nigeria. (Interruptions)

Hon. Abayomi Sowande Collins (Ifo/Ewekoro): Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President's speech is quite commendable as it touched on very specific areas of immediate concern. The President has invoked this hon. House that we should really keep faith m the unity that binds us together. And he talked further on the issue, of reconciling the past with the present. The President mentioned the issue of marginalisation which he said has nearly gone round everybody. But then, he went on to say that while we should not condone the misguided decisions and tactical calculations of the past, this particular one really touched my mind. And I feel that it will be reflective at the appropriate time when we go further in this House. All those misguided decisions of the past, administration, I believe, are the things that caused the issue of marginalisation that has been discussed widely. I believe the President will touch on this to pursue his true federalism proposal. I cannot but agree very well with the president on the fact that there must be strict discipline and responsible financial management in view of the dwindling external reserve situation. But then, the President should be cautious about the measures he attempts to take. Laying off the civil or public servants now may not be too good for the new administration, more so, that many of those workers have really groaned under a very bad military administration. So, throwing them back to the unemployment market would really create a bad image for the President. I want him to be conscious about that.
On the issue of corruption which is one of the other things that comes. under 'recovery, I believe that corruption cannot be treated in isolation of the financial side. Even the highest paid worker in the society will still be corruptible, not to talk of people who are supposed to earn N3,000 per month. I believe we are here to' review the salary structure that we are talking about. How minimum is the minimum wage? Is the N3,500 you are talking about absolute minimum? Will it be enough to feed just a man for a month, taking cognisance of all the various parameters like feeding, transportation and so on, m our society today, even m the remotest part of our urban set-up.
The Vision 2010 report whose item he went through summarily was even talking about N13,500 for a family of five for subsistency. So, if we really want to touch on corruption, we must touch it from the root. We must look at the value of our system. 

The Deputy Speaker: Could you summarize, please?

Hon. Collins: On corruption, we must look at the value system of our people, so that there can be orderliness which we are really facing.
Thank you.

Hon. M. S. Dagash (Mongonu/ Ngazai /Marte): Mr. Speaker, Sir, although two minutes is not enough to comment on the President's speech, I would like to raise a few points that Mr. President should have stated in his address in view of the fact that this speech is directed at the National Assembly and the conceptual element of that speech has certain implications.
I have listened to several speakers commending the speech but I believe certain weaknesses are apparent in that speech. I think we will be doing justice to ourselves as well as the people of this country if we can pin -point certain amendments to the speech with regard to omissions. It is pertinent to note today as a matter of interest that both the executive as well as the legislature have to work together, because we are here to discuss, work and achieve certain things and right certain wrongs in respect of overall development of this country. I would have thought that Mr. President should have told us what he intends' ,to . do, how he intends to dismantle the PTF and how he intends to get us involved in achieving this open task that has a bearing on all the proposals that we have come here to achieve in the next four years.
Mr. President also spoke about several things including economic recovery, sectoral strategies on transportation, minerals, petroleum, etc. The President was silent on power and energy. It is my humble view that a serious statement of position should have been made by the president in view of the importance of power to the overall development of this country.
The state of power and energy sector today in Nigeria is known to all of us. NEPA at best covers 30 percent of this country. Power generation has dropped from say, an installed capacity of 6,000 mega watts to just about 2,500 mega watts. The present national demand is on the range of 10,000 mega watts of power. Power transmission is at best epileptic, power distribution is problematic, the quantity and quality of power fall below the acceptable minimum standard in this country. Mr. President needs to focus seriously on the national grid, rural and urban power supply, distribution, rehabilitation of NEPA, generating plants, hydroelectric dams and thermal stations.
Mr. President should please note that the situation of power sector today is far worse than that of the petroleum sector. If Mr. President is serious about solving the unemployment crisis by creating jobs and improving national productivity, the most basic necessary factor is power and energy.
The other element I wish to speak on is the issue of devolution of powers to states and local governments. With respect to the three tier of government, Mr. President should be armed with his proposals to enable us, the National Assembly, to focus on the ways and means of achieving this.
In conclusion, may I sound a caveat to this hon. House. All political statements, speeches or positions
made by the executive should be assessed and analyzed with some measure of caution and skepticism. We should always read between the lines and keep in view the overall interest of this House and the nation in general.
Thank you, very much.

ADJOURNMENT

Hon. Mohammed Wakil (Damboa/Gwoza/ Chibok): Mr. Speaker, Sir, Hon. Members, before I move the Motion for Adjournment, I have an observation to make with the permission of Mr. Speaker. I have noticed that something is wrong with this Honourable House. Yesterday, I moved a Motion for Adjournment, but to my surprise, I do not know whether the problem is with the Secretariat of this House, that is the Clerk of House of Representatives.
I do not know whether it is intentional to derail my Motion. Today, My Motion is being omitted in this House. I want to make it a point of observation because I thought we have respect for this House. If the Secretariat of this Honourable House can omit this kind of thing, then, I think we have a problem.
I urge this Honourable House to please plead with the Secretariat to correct this kind of omission in future.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, Hon. Members, having said that, may I adjourned till Friday, 18th June, 1999 at 10.00 a.m.
Thank you.

Hon. Ita Solomon Enang (Itu/Ibionoibon): Mr. Speaker, Sir, Honourable Members, I stand to second the Motion for the adjournment of this Honourable House till Friday 18th June, 1999 at 10.00 a.m.

Question put and agreed to

Resolved. That the House do stand adjourned till Friday, 18th June, 1999 at 10.00 a.m.

The House adjourned accordingly at 12.45 p.m.