National Assembly

By Chuks Okocha

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described  as empty boast, threat by  opposition members from the House of Representatives to override President Goodluck Jonathan over the signing of the 2013 budget.

PDP said the lawmakers were merely playing to the gallery and do not have the muscle to set agenda for the PDP-controlled National Assembly.

Some  opposition members in the House of Representatives on Thursday rose from a closed door meeting threatening to override the President over the budget. The National Assembly is made up of 469 members.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement  Friday waved off the threat but added that President Jonathan was taking his time in studying the budget to ensure that the provisions were in the general interest of all Nigerians.

“Our attention has been drawn to reports in the media that a handful of opposition members from the House of Representatives had threatened to override the President on the budget. That is an empty boast. The PDP has the majority in the two chambers of the National Assembly. So it is clear that the opposition members cannot set the agenda for the National Assembly. They are merely playing to the gallery instead of addressing issues”, the statement said.