Senators Reject Buhari’s Emergency Powers Bill, Say It’ll Turn Him into a Tyrant

The move by President Muhammadu Buhari to secure emergency powers aimed at addressing the nation’s economic crisis may not see the light of the day, as senators yesterday rejected the proposed bill, saying Buhari was seeking to transform himself into a tyrant and would foist a dictatorship on the nation.

The bill entitled, “Emergency Economy Stabilisation Bill 2016”, will be sent to the National Assembly by the president upon resumption from its summer vacation and after the Eid el Kabir holidays.

However, given the reaction of some senators to the proposed emergency powers being sought by Buhari through the bill, the legislation may be thrown out.

Several senators, who spoke to ThisDay monday, vehemently kicked against it, adding that it was “dead on arrival”.
According to the senators, who did not want to be named, some of the provisions in the bill were unnecessary, describing it as nothing more than a subtle way of avoiding counterpart funding by the Buhari administration.

According to them, if the bill is passed as proposed, the president will gradually transform himself into a dictator and draw Nigeria back to the path of military rule, which it exited 17 years ago.

They said without the so-called emergency powers at his disposal, Buhari has continued to trample on the powers of the legislature, explaining that if given further powers, he would more or less reduce the National Assembly to a rubber stamp like the kinds of legislature that exist in China and Russia.

Accordingly, the senators who spoke to ThisDay vowed to kill the bill before Buhari kills the entire legislature and by extension, the nation’s traumatised democracy.

Accordingly, the senators who spoke to ThisDay vowed to kill the bill before Buhari kills the entire legislature and by extension, the nation’s traumatised democracy.

An unnamed government official had disclosed to reporters at the weekend that Buhari would seek emergency powers from the National Assembly to push his planned stimulus for the economy.

The objectives of the bill will include shoring up the value of the naira, job creation, boosting foreign exchange reserves, reviving the manufacturing sector, and improving power supply.