Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai’s position on restructuring and state police has pitched him against the Senate.
The governor had said that the National Assembly ignored the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s True Federalism Committee’s proposal on state police and devolution of powers since 2018.
El-Rufai, who was chairman of the committee, spoke at a public lecture to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Arewa House, in Kaduna, on Saturday.
He said, “It is a matter of regret that for some reasons the consequential action by the APC leadership to adopt and implement the report has not happened since it was submitted in January 2018”.
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The Kaduna governor urged the National Assembly Ad-Hoc Committee on Constitution Review to take advantage of “our report and initiate constitutional and legislative amendments in either a piece-meal or comprehensive manner without further delay.”
But in a Sunday statement, the Senate said el-Rufai’s comment showed he was not well-informed on the workings or activities of the National Assembly.
In the statement signed by its spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru, the upper chamber told el-Rufai to submit a memorandum on the matters rather than making newspaper statements.
The Senate spokesman said, “The National Assembly operates in different assemblies. The present Assembly was inaugurated in June 2019 and if Governor El- Rufai is talking about 2018 proposal, he is talking about the 8th Assembly.
“The job of an Assembly starts from the date of its inauguration. I believe that it is not the intention to confuse Nigerians as to what to say.
“The 9th Assembly has inaugurated the Constitution Review Committee and we have called for Memoranda which has been published in most of the national dailies.
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“If he (el- Rufai) has a proposal on constitution amendment and on what he has highlighted, we expect him to forward it to the National Assembly.
“As at today, we have not received any Memorandum from him. We are also not unaware that he was chairman of APC Committee to review the Constitution and the Report was submitted to the party.
“Our party is the ruling party; one expects him to use his office through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, or use his well-known connection in the presidency to bring such a proposal to the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly is not a single party, it is a place for all Nigerians and people of different parties. You cannot expect us to come up with issues without consultations.
“Governor Nasir El Rufai has not approached the National Assembly with any of the recommendations. I don’t believe that he has been well informed or briefed before he came up with it, we are committed to amending the Constitution. He cannot be blaming us for what is not before the National Assembly.
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“There is a proper channel to present an issue, we expect him to do that if he has any Memorandum, he should come with it to us rather than just making statements in newspapers.”