LEGISLATORS,PRESIDENT JONATHAN MEETING DEADLOCKED

** President told to Forget Subsidy and Tackle Insecurity

** Sources Say President Was ‘Incoherent and Unconvincing.’

The meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and members of the National Assembly at the presidential villa yesterday could not produce results as the lawmakers rejected overtures from the executive to support the planned removal of oil subsidy.
With this development, the National Assembly and President Goodluck Jonathan may be headed for a major showdown.
Senate President, Senator David Mark and House Speaker, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal at the parley which lasted a little over an hour told the President in plain terms that the nation was not ready to accept subsidy removal at this time when insecurity has taken the centre stage.
The lawmakers rather advised him to concentrate and even double his effort at tackling the worsening security situation in the country.
It was from sources at the meeting that "The President said the main reason for calling the members of the Parliament is to appeal to them for support in the government’s bid to remove the fuel subsidy in 2012.
A lawmaker who was at the meeting told our correspondent that Jonathan had pleaded with the lawmakers that the government could no longer support the huge cost of subsidizing petroleum products. According to him, "the country may not be able to hold together in the next 15 years."
He said the President told lawmakers that his administration was doing everything possible to arrest the growing insecurity in the country but the peculiar nature of the situation was not helping matters.
In his words, "The President said before it was the issue of militancy, then kidnapping and armed robbery. He said now it has escalated to suicide bombing in which people are willing to die in order to wreck havoc on the country. He appealed to the National Assembly members for cooperation in order to succeed in the fight against the menace."
Nigeria is presently faced with the task of tackling members of the extremist group Boko Haram which has claimed responsibility for several deadly bomb attacks in northern Nigeria.
According to sources, after President Jonathan had finished talking, he invited the Senate President who openly told him that the present state of the country does not call for oil subsidy removal.
A source said "Mark told the President that the Nigerian people are against the removal of Petroleum subsidy. He said that if the subsidy is removed, what else can the masses say they are enjoying or benefitting from government? He said in a situation where there is widespread poverty, lack of proper infrastructure, no adequate power, overwhelming unemployment, the issue of deregulating petroleum will cause more harm than good at this point in time.
"Since you know who the cabal that is sabotaging the subsidy on petroleum products is, you can deal with them by having them arrested and prosecuted. What will the Nigerian people benefit from the government if you remove the subsidy," Mark allegedly asked Jonathan.
The lawmaker said Mark clearly told the President that it was better for the President to address the current insecurity in the country by squarely facing Boko Haram before contemplating deregulation in the oil sector.
According to the source, the President was shocked when after the Senate President had spoken and he asked if members of the House of Representatives had anything to say.
He said "about 20 hands were raised. But the Speaker stood up and said: ‘Today is not a day for debate. You have called us here and spoken to us and we have heard what you have said. We cannot be stampeded into a decision right now. We will return to the chamber and consider the import of it and make our decision known to you. But our decision will be what is best for the Nigerian people."
One source described the President as incoherent and unconvincing adding,"nobody bought his reasons."
Another said, "His message was disappointing and we did not take it.
"He was made to know that his facts and documents were sketchy and blurred and failed to address certain fundamental economic indices in such circumstance as subsidy removal."
It is however unclear when the leaders would deliberate again on the contentious issue.
Meanwhile, the Senate through its spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe has debunked reports that senators moved to pass a vote of no confidence on the President.
He said there was no iota of truth in the report; and "come to think of it, a no confidence vote tradition only applies in a parliamentary system of government and not in a presidential system as practiced in Nigeria."



source:THEWILL