Goodluck Jonathan must sack the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh.
It said there was a “dangerous” trend by the Executive in ignoring the resolutions of the House.
“The House resolves once again to urge Mr. President to implement the resolution of the hallowed chambers by removing Ms. Arunma Oteh from office on the ground of non-possession of the minimum professional qualification prescribed in the Securities and Exchange Commission Act for appointment into the office of Director-General,” it stated.
The motion on the matter was sponsored by the Deputy Minority Whip, Mr. Dhatti Ahmed, who recalled that it was because Jonathan refused to act on the resolution on Oteh that the House stopped the 2013 budget of the commission.
The latest resolution came barely 48 hours after the House received request for an amendment to the 2013 budget from Jonathan.
In the amendment proposal, Jonathan had contested four clauses, including the clause allocating zero budget to SEC.
The President had argued that the SEC clause was misplaced as it was not an item originally stated for in the 2013 Appropriation Bill. He also observed that the clause could shut down the entire operations of SEC if it was not removed from the budget.
But, the House members noted that by his action, Jonathan had reopened the Oteh case, instead of complying with their resolution.
The Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, referred Jonathan to Section 31 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which he said empowers the National Assembly to appropriate funds to SEC.
He said, “The Act is very clear on this. It clearly says that the minister (Finance) shall present the budget of SEC for appropriation by the National Assembly.
“Mr. President’s refusal to sack Oteh is what is shutting down the operations of SEC, not the resolution of the House. We have to bite and bark as a House.
