The subject of discord was the debate for second reading on a bill for an act to amend the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) for the purpose of empowering the fund to design, set up and operate guidelines for training and certification nationwide at state, local council and ward levels and to establish area registries for maintaining up-to-date registers of certified artisans and technicians in all fields and in all parts of the federation.
Besides, citing the need to shore up the naira, the House yesterday moved to ban the use of foreign currencies as a means of exchange in local transactions.
This came following the adoption of a motion introduced on the floor of the House by Nadu Karibe who lamented the growing trend in the use of some foreign currencies in the country.
The development, according to the parliament, is contributing seriously to the weakening of the naira against such currencies, with its resultant negative effects on the country’s economy.
The bill to amend the ITF introduced by Chudi Uwazuruike is aimed at setting standards for artisans so as to expand the scope of industries.
It attracted vehement opposition from lawmakers who argued that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was taking care of the functions sought by the new bill.
Trouble started when the deputy speaker called for a voice vote on the bill after an exhaustive debate. After the first call, he opted to take it a second time, explaining that the difference was not discernible. He, therefore, put the question again, during which, according to the lawmakers, the nays again overwhelmed the ayes.
However, after conferring with the deputy clerk of the chamber, the deputy speaker ruled in favour of the ayes. As soon as he ruled, those who were against the bill stood up and were about walking out of the chamber before he appealed to them to take their seats.
Ali Madaki (PDP, Kano) immediately raised a point of order drawing attention of the deputy speaker to the House Standing Rules, in a situation like that. According to the House Rules, the members would have to be divided to arrive at a decision.
The deputy speaker ignored the point of order and ruled that “this bill has been referred to the committee on industries.”
The ruling infuriated the majority of the lawmakers who started protesting. Before the House Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, would move for an adjournment, the members walked out and were waiting for the deputy speaker to come out.
As he made to step out of the chamber, a member, Tijjani Abdullahi Jobe, was heard telling him: “You cannot continue this type of attitude in this House. You have to respect our opinion because we are all representatives of the people.”
The lawmakers who supported the bill such as Friday Itulah (PDP, Edo), Patrick Ikhariale (PDP, Edo), Sekonte Davies (PDP, Rivers) and the sponsor of the bill, Nwazuirike (PDP, Imo) tried to intervene. But Aishatu Dahiru (PDP, Adamawa) who had laid a solid foundation for opposition against the bill on the floor said: “We cannot sit here all day and our opinion will not be taken into consideration by the presiding officer. Nobody was elected as presiding officer from his constituency; they were all voted here on the floor. This is bad and it has to stop.”
The deputy speaker walked pass them but as he was leaving the main building known as “White House” for his office in the new building, he was again accosted by the aggrieved lawmakers who expressed displeasure at the way he handled the ruling on the bill.
It was at this point that the deputy speaker rebuked Babale, shouting at him: “Keep shut! Keep shut! You impugn the motive of everything we do on the floor of the House. We don’t have any interest in this bill.”
But the lawmaker replied: “The way things are done in this House is wrong, you cannot continue to treat us this way.”
At this point, the deputy speaker who was visibly angered by the comments charged at Babale, saying: “Don’t portray us in the way we are not.”
Meanwhile, threatening further action, Madaki who fielded questions from reporters on the matter said: “We will not accept this. This will not stand, it must be revisited next Tuesday. We are not anybody’s children. We voted three times rejecting the bill and that is our stand.”
Leading the debate on the use of foreign currencies, Karibe had argued that “every country has its currency which serves as a means of exchange, a symbol of identity, a source of pride and a sign of independence and economic stability. “
The lawmaker also observed that “without equivocation, the naira is the only means of exchange for local transactions known to law in Nigeria.
“There is a growing trend in the use of foreign currencies, especially the United States (U.S.) dollar for payments of school fees, hotel bills, real estate, rent and purchase in bars, night clubs, luxury good shops, in Nigeria.
“This trend has led to the high demand of these foreign currencies, especially the U.S. dollars in Nigeria.”
Contributing, Warman Ogoriba said: “I was in South Africa where I wanted to pay my hotel bills in dollars and they were rejected.
“Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised because here Nigerians freely use the dollar.
“I urge members to support the motion and the CBN to ban the use of foreign currencies in local transactions.”
Buba Jibrin described the motion as a timely intervention, adding: “In foreign lands, we are made to change dollars into local currencies using our passport as an identification mark.
“But here in Nigeria, even in our shopping malls, dollars are freely used, that is wrong. It is only the high and mighty that spend dollars the way they like.”
But in his contribution, Ali Madaki said: “If Nigeria is really serious and they want investors, we need to use dollars.
“If we look at Dubai today, dollars are openly used and just in the 1970s, they came here to borrow money from us.
“They wanted to borrow $10 million; but the then Obasanjo administration was told the place was a desert, but look at Dubai today, is it not better than Nigeria? We need investors to grow our economy.”
Speaking against the motion, Aminu Sulayman described the motion as a glorified one, adding that it was only an inconsequential number of Nigerians that use the dollar in Nigeria.
“This matter should be left for the appropriate authority to handle or the motion should be thrown out through the window.”
0gbuefi Ozomgbachi, however, in his contribution said: “There is an existing Act of Parliament that forbids Nigerians from using foreign currency for marketing purposes. “
But while rounding off the debate, Karibe said the motion was not against the sale of foreign currencies but its use in local transactions in Nigeria.
When the Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal put the question to the motion titled “Need to ban the use of foreign currencies in domestic transactions in Nigeria”, it was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers in a voice vote.
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