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The House of Representatives is in a rowdy session over the presidential request to include the $496million fund for the purchase of Tucano aircraft in the 2018 Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly.
During Thursday’s plenary at the Lower Chamber in Abuja, some members were of the opinion that the request should be presented as a bill and not in form of a motion as presented by the Acting Deputy Leader Mohammed Monguno.
$496m Aircraft Purchase: Senators Call For Buhari’s Impeachment
However, others noted that the spending process had already been declared illegal and the motion shouldn’t be considered by the House.
Similarly, the purchase of the aircraft sparked a heated debate at the Upper House of the National Assembly.
Some senators who believed the President’s action breached the constitution called for the commencement of his impeachment process and asked Senate President Bukola Saraki to invoke Section 143 of the constitution in view of the approval.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Account, Senator Mathew Urhogide, noted in a motion that the approval was “a violation of Section 80 subsection 1, 2, 3, 4.”
Senators Chukwuka Utazi and Sam Anyanwu also backed the call for President Muhammadu Buhari’s impeachment.
However, Senator Abu Ibrahim disagreed with his colleagues and stated that since the establishment of the Excess Crude Account, no government has ever sent a formal request to the National Assembly for approval for appropriation of funds.
In a letter read by Senator Saraki on the floor of the Red Chamber on Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari had revealed that the fund had been withdrawn and paid to the United States for the purchase of 12 Super Tucano aircraft.
He explained that the money was paid ahead of legislative approval so as to beat the deadline for the arms deal.
“Recently, approval was granted by the United States government but with a deadline, within which part payment must be made otherwise the contract relapses.
“In the expectation that the National Assembly will have no objection to the purchase of these highly specialised aircraft, which is critical to national security, I granted anticipatory approval for the release of $496,374,470. This was paid directly into the treasury of the United States government,” President Muhammadu Buhari had explained in the letter.
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