In spite of pressures being mounted on President Muhammadu Buhari to append his signature to the 45 Bills hurriedly passed by the 7th Senate at the twilight of its stay at the National Assembly, highly placed Nigerians have called on the President not to rush into signing such laws because of the discrepancies contained by some of the Bills.
The 7th Senate had shocked not a few Nigerians when, on June 3, 2015, they sat and within 10 minutes ,passed45 BILL into ACTS of the National Assembly.
Among the Bills that have continued to generate controversy, include AUDIT BILL 2015 which seeks to establish the office of the Auditor –General for the Federation. Another is the Tertiary Education Trust Fund[Establishment etc] ACT [Amendment] Bill 2015.
While the Audit Bill, according to those who sponsored its passage, seeks to “provide for additional powers and functions to the office, establish the Federal Audit Service Commission, repeal the Audit Act 1956, the Public Accounts Committees Acts P35 LPN 2004 , that of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund [Establishment ] Act aims at amendment of the original Act that set up the place.
The law makers’ haste in passing these two Bills, among many others, had made members of the public to hold them in suspicion. This reporter has it on good authority that some top civil servants in the Auditor General have voiced out their opposition to any impending Presidential assent to the Bill.
They are said to have picked holes in some clauses of the Bill which were said to have been planted there by the current occupier of the Office of Auditor General of the Federation[AGF] Mr Samuel Ukura, to favour his self-perpetuation in office agenda.
The civil servants who did not want to be quoted, had articulated some areas of the BILL which they want the President to study carefully before appending his signature to the said Bill. For instance, they are said to have queried the proposal for establishment of a commission with the Auditor- General doubling as its Chairman.
According to them, “if the proposed Bill establishes a commission whose Chairman will double as the Auditor –General will decisions made therefrom be objective in all ramifications? Whoever superintends a commission, wields so much power, such that often times it could be misused”.
They said also, that “to qualify for the post of AG , according to the Bill, such person must be a registered member of the FINANCIAL COUNCIL OF NIGERIA[FRC]. To be a registered member of FRC, according to the ACT, section 41[5] the person must have a practicing Licence/Certificate” They argued that “it should be noted that no public/civil servant while in service, can have such Licence or be a member of the FRCN. This makes all staff illegible, irrespective of where the person works”. This, they said, will affect productivity.
The Bill is fashioned to change the current structure of four year tenure in government as it states that “anybody with equal to or less than four years will not qualify to contest”. This, again, the civil servants said, will not promote commitment by the serving Directors who may be affected.
Aside these flaws, they pointed out that while the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria still holds 60 years of age or 35 years of service, whichever comes earlier, the Bill proposes 65 years of age or 35 years of service for only the AG and no ther worker in the organization.
They pleaded that “with the power of Hire and Fire if given to the Chairman of the Commission who will also be the AG/Accounting Officer, it may be putting poison in the fangs of the tiger, which can be misused.
The AG who is said to be looking for a second term of office, having been seconded from Benue State where was a level 13 officer in the state civil service and catapulted to his present position, is being alleged to be sparing no effort to get President Buhari sign the said Bill into Law, as soon as possible, which will make an easy sail for him.
It is the same selfish ambition of some individuals, especially those in the education sector, to propose in the TETFUND BILL, that the organization should be compelled to be extending its services to tertiary institutions in the private sector. TETFUND was essentially set up as an interventionist agency in public tertiary institutions which lack adequate funding from government to cater for their needs. Unlike the privately owned tertiary institutions which are virtually run on profit motives, the public schools in Nigeria are not allowed to charge the type of fees that those in these other institutions charge.
But the framers of the Bill such clause that “This Bill seeks to amend the Tertiary Education Trust Fund [Establishment etc ] Act 2011 “to expressly provide that the meaning of of university shall include Nigerian Law School and any other tertiary institution established by law which runs full time programme which leads to formal qualification by law”.
Officials of the Ministry of Education see this Bill as an attempt to smuggle, through the back door, government sponsorship of privatelyowned tertiary institutions which are already operating as commercial/ profit oriented ventures.
Presidency sources however said that Buhari is not keen on signing those hurriedly passed BIlls into law. ,not withstanding the pressures being mounted on him by those are likely going to be direct beneficiaries of them.
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