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“On FAAC, we do not have powers to pass such a resolution. This House has powers to make laws and not to monitor State governments.”
The House of Representatives on Tuesday rescinded an earlier resolution that sought to monitor the utilisation of the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) by states.
The motion for the rescission of the House decision was brought by Rep. Francis Waive (APC Delta) and Rep. Solomon Bob (PDP, Rivers).
Earlier, Rep. Bob in his debate noted that, “We do not have powers to pass such resolution. This House has powers to make laws and not to monitor State governments, we should not do things because we are enthusiastic but we do things the right way through the right process.”
OrderPaper recalls that on Tuesday, 13 February 2023, debated on a motion on “Need to monitor increased FAAC allocation and usage in accordance with enabling laws in the country to reduce poverty in Nigeria”, sponsored by Rep. Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos).
Moving the motion, Rep. Bob noted that it resolved and mandated the Committees on Special Duties, National Planning and Economic Development, and Inter-Governmental Affairs to look into State spending and utilization of the increased allocation from FAAC.
“The subject matter of the motion is not within the powers of the National Assembly to legislate and hence the motion for the rescission,” he said.
Opposing the motion, Rep. Kuye said the House acted so that parliament must not shy away from its responsibility of checking corruption.
“Section 2 subsection of the constitution provides that Nigeria must be a Federation consisting of the 36 States including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) so an injury or crisis in our States is an injury to Nigeria.
“Honourable colleagues, I put it to you that immediately after the resolution of the House, the President called for a meeting with all the State governors on this issue and since then the States have been reaching their people.
“The power given to this parliament, we should not shy away from the responsibility of the power”, he insisted.
However, he was ruled out of order as the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu (APC, Abia) reiterated that “the parliament lacks the powers to probe the activities of States hence the reason for the State Assembly and as for the federal government, the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee is constitutionally empowered to monitor the utilisation of funds allocated to various agencies of government.”
