Yesterday's attempt by President Goodluck Jonathan to lobby members of the National Assembly to accept his planned removal of fuel subsidy failed as the meeting summoned by the President ended in a deadlock. The two groups failed to reconcile their differences following complaints by the lawmakers that the President was not doing enough to address the growing insecurity in the country.Jonathan summoned the emergency meeting with all the 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives to the Presidential Villa to explain to them the rationale behind the removal of subsidy and inform them about the efforts of his government in tackling some of the country's security challenges, especially the Boko Haram attacks.The two-hour meeting which took place at the Banquet Hall of the State House started at about 3 pm and had almost all the lawmakers in attendance while the president was also supported by ministers and presidential aides.The President told the lawmakers that Nigeria would collapse if subsidy on petroleum products was not removed.Many MPs shouted 'No! No! No!' when Jonathan said that.Sources at the meeting told Daily Trust last night that the meeting recorded some tense moments following attempts by 'pro-Jonathan lawmakers' to convince their colleagues to toe the line of government on subsidy, security and budget.Soon after the issues were tabled for discussions, Senators Mohamed Ali Ndume and Ita Enang spoke. Enang (PDP, Akwa Ibom) said although subsidy removal may be economically wise, 'It won't be politically wise.' At that, many lawmakers shouted, 'it won't be wise!'{pullquote}The President told the lawmakers that Nigeria would collapse if subsidy on petroleum products was not removed.{/pullquote}But when other lawmakers were asked to speak, all the members of the House of Representatives refused to speak, saying they had a Speaker and that they were only there to listen to the President, after which they will go back to the House, debate it and make their views known.Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim then intervened, saying the session was an interactive one and that the President wanted to listen to the legislators' views, but the MPs adamantly refused to speak. One member of the House who got up to speak was booed and jeered by his colleagues and was forced to sit down. The Senators also took their cue from the House members and stopped speaking.At that point, Senate President David Mark stepped in to speak. Thinking that Mark would support fuel subsidy removal, the lawmakers stopped the session for more than 5 minutes, shouting 'No! No! No!' when Mark finally spoke, he sidestepped the issue of fuel subsidy and instead spoke about the security problems facing the country, saying the President should address them on the efforts he has been making to confront the security challenges. Members then gave Mark a thunderous round of applause. President Jonathan seized on Mark's window of opportunity and spoke at length about the government's efforts to combat terrorism and armed robberies in the country.Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was then invited to speak, and he said the MPs will cooperate with the government to find lasting solutions to the problem of insecurity in the country, but that will respect to 'other issues,' the Members will go back to their Chamber and discuss them before coming out with a position.Yesterday's meeting came a day after some Senators had threatened to pass a vote of no confidence on the President over the growing insecurity situation in the country. Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Chairman Senate Committee on Works, Senator Ayogu Eze (PDP, Enugu), aid issues of governance like security, subsidy and the balancing of the budget dominated the discussions. Asked why the two parties failed to agree on the issues discussed, he said, 'No, it will be premature to say that we have failed to understand ourselves. This is the first interaction, we have listened to him (President) and we are going to take it further. There is no date yet for the next meeting but it is assumed that it is going to continue and I can see two or three more meetings before we can come to a comfortable platform.'On the threat by senators to pass a vote of no confidence on the president, Eze said, 'That never came up at the Chamber of the Senate. We were scandalised when we read about it this morning. Such a matter was never discussed. But I can take you into confidence; a lot of our colleagues at the closed session were concerned about security issues in the country and about lives and property. And of course, it is not unusual for them to be worried about that.'Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters Senator Joy Emordi said the meeting was intended to carry the lawmakers along. She said, 'Mr President saw everybody as leaders whereby the Executive and Legislature should join hands together to find solutions to the few challenges facing our nation. It goes to show a clear manifestation that Mr President is not a dictator. He wanted to carry the legislative arm of government along in whatsoever decision he is going to make and that was why he requested for this interactive session and it is going to be a regular affair.
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