Keyamo Risks Going To Jail If…. – Senator

By Chuks Ekpeneru

Bala Na’Allah, senator representing Kebbi south, has threatened that the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo risks going to jail if he goes ahead with the implementation of the controversial Special Public Works Programme for 774,000 citizens.

Na’Allah noted that Keyamo’s role in the recruitment is only supervisory.

The senator said this in his contribution on a motion by Senator Opeyemi (Ekiti).

Keyamo and members of the National Assembly are currently engaged in tussle on who to implement the programme leading to a shouting match with some lawmakers when he appeared before them over the programme earlier in the month.

While the lawmakers had accused Keyamo of hijacking the programme from the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), the minister said the legislators were the ones trying to take over the project.

In his contribution, Na’Allah said while Keyamo lacks the constitutional backing to carry on with the process, he has been insisting on handling it.

“The president deemed it fit to present before this national assembly under a specific agency established by law to perform a function and all of a sudden we have somebody who has neither legal or constitutional authority but supervisory authority coming to say ‘no, I will take it myself and do it’,” the senator said.

“We will be going riotously against the oath of office and I think that is not good for the institution of the senate.

“I commend Mr President [for saying] that he will not tolerate certain conducts that appear to rubbish the national assembly. The legislative privileges act gave us power to decisively deal with those kinds of conducts which in some cases will end up in going to jail and that is the provisions of the law.

“I would like to draw the attention of Nigerians to look at section 11 of the legislative privileges act as it exists today.

“My regret is that certain people lacking in conduct and character have leveraged on certain political [will] to occupy public office and have displayed lack of content and character, I think we have a responsibility to stop that.”

Keyamo has insisted that it is the duty of the executive to implement the blueprint of government programmes and that as the minister supervising the NDE he has the support of the president in guiding the process to fruition.

He has also been backed by the president.

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