Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila, the Leader of the House of representative has written a letter to the Chinese President, President Xi Jingpin over a letter sent before now by Governor Fayose who asked the Chinese government to turn down Nigeria's financial assistance from the Chinese government. He described as lowering of the country's status, the claim by Governor that Nigeria is a project in which he (Fayose) is a stake holder.
The House Leader said he was writing to the Chinese government in response to the letter but for his responsibility of driving all government business and policies in the House, he explained that he wrote to the Chinese leader to set the records straight.
"…I am sure the letter written to you by the governor will probably receive little (if any) attention from your high office, assuming it even gets to you.
"Mr. President, Nigeria as you well know is not a project as erroneously described by the governor, but a nation like all others in the comity of nations.
"It is also a federal republic operating under the principles of administrative and fiscal federalism," Honorable Gbajabiamila said.
"The duties and responsibilities of a governor are clearly spelt out in the Nigerian Constitution and they do not include negotiating loans on behalf of the country nor do they extend to foreign affairs or economic diplomacy," the letter stated.
According to Sahara Reporters account, The House Leader added that the Nigerian constitution in its Seventh Schedule contains the oath of office taken by a state governor on assumption of office and unambiguously states:
“…That I will exercise the authority vested in me as Governor so as not to impede or prejudice the authority lawfully vested in the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The House Leader explained that by the letters of the aforementioned, Fayose has gone above his constitutional limit while describing Fayose "as a meddlesome interloper"
The House Leader explained that the Governor has a skimpy understanding of the way budgeting works at the Federal level.
'Nigeria, has a three- year budget rolling plan captured under a Medium Term Expenditure Framework. "The MTEF 2016- 2018 has a borrowing component in which the legislature approved for the President to incur both domestic and foreign loans for the purposes of infrastructural development and deficit financing.
"This MTEF was passed unanimously by the National Assembly, including the six House members and three senators from Ekiti, the governor’s state.
"I am therefore dismayed, as are many members of the National Assembly, that the governor would claim that the loan sought from your government did not have parliamentary imprimatur.
"It is also a fallacy that the country’s debt is being financed with 25 percent of the Federal Governments annual budget, as there is something in economic and legislative borrowing parlance called nominal debt service where a portion of borrowed monies in this case about 1.3 trillion stays within the country’s financial system.
"Such are the intricacies of national debts, aids and loans," the House Leader said.
"Such symbiotic relationships are the kind of relationships for responsible governments embrace.
" The people of Nigeria overwhelmingly elected President Muhammed Buhari to make such strategic decisions for them and on their behalf not any state governor," said Gbajabiamila, who described Fayose's letter as a new low in opposition politics.
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