Following the approval granted to the Central Bank of Nigeria by the Presidency on the new 5000 naira notes and the approval of the federal government on the continuous operation of Dana Air in Nigeria, the Nigerian lawmakers who are currently on vacation have boasted that they will not fold their hands to have the president and his cabinet take decision on issues that affect the ordinary Nigerian without their approval.
Information reaching Daily post indicates that the Lawmakers are angry with the way the presidency quickly nodded to these two contentious national issues without consulting the National Assembly which is the arm that represents the interest of Nigerians.
A National Assembly source had revealed that it was unimaginable that such contentious issues would be tackled by the executive arm alone when the lawmaking arm is still very much active in the country. According to the source, the action of the Executive clearly shows that the legislative function of National Assembly is been clearly undermined.
In a statement credited to one of the Lawmakers who had pleaded anonymity, Stella Oduah, the Aviation Minister had clearly made caricature of herself by approving the continuous operation of Dana Air when the two committees that investigated the Airline over the crash that killed 153 Nigerians in Lagos are yet to make their report available for onward recommendation and consideration.
The source affirmed, “You can see the levity with which this government treats the National Assembly members, who were elected to make laws for the good of this nation. What do they take us for? We will certainly take up these issues once we resume because we have not given any approval for the government to embark on any of them. These are issues that border on people’s lives and we cannot just keep quiet over them.
“Nigerians should be rest assured that we will always work for their own interest and whatever we decide will be in the interest of the people”
Recall that the operational license of Dana Air was suspended after one of its planes crashed in Lagos, killing all 153 passengers on board. The lifting of the ban on the airline operation has generated heated controversy since the government made the pronouncement. Well meaning Nigerians and civil society have asked questions on why the ban should be lifted when investigation is still ongoing on the matter.
Relatively, Nigerians embarked on a protest against CBN and the Federal government early this week, demanding for government’s explanation on why it is imperative to have 5000 naira notes rolled out to Nigerians at this very critical period where unemployment rate is said to be very high.
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