Make Jonathan’s Handover Notes Available To The Public, Reps Tell Buhari

Jonathan and Buhari

The House of Representatives on Tuesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to publish the details of the handover notes of his predecessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan.


The House said the notes should be published in the official gazette of the Federation so that Nigerians could access them for “information and record purposes.”

The resolution followed a motion sponsored by a Peoples Democratic Party lawmaker from Abia State, Mr. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta.

However, the resolution noted that Buhari could exclude aspects of the handover notes, which might have security implications or restricted by law.

Nkem-Abonta had hinged the relevance of the motion on the argument that there had been “conflicting” comments from government officials on what the previous administration did or did not do.

He also observed that Nigerians were at a loss regarding the exact amount of funds the former President left in the national treasury before he left office on May 29.

“We have heard of empty treasury, near-empty treasury, money, no money and all that.

“As it stands, we are not sure what exactly was included in the handover notes,” Nkem-Abonta told his colleagues.

He argued further that the publication would end the “needless speculation.”

Part of the motion read, “The handover notes would have expectedly captured the activities, projects, programmes, achievements and constraints of the last administration, including counsel to the new administration on the way forward. “

But some members opposed the motion on the grounds that the Freedom of Information Act had taken care of the issues raised by the sponsor.

One of the members, an All Progressives Congress member from Edo State, Mr. Pally Iriase, said all that anybody who wanted information on the content of Jonathan’s notes needed to do was to invoke the FoI Act.

“The motion is well-intended no doubt.

“But, we don’t have to go this way. The FoI Act has taken care of everything.

“It is for one to just invoke the law and make a request,” he added.

However, when the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, put the motion to vote, it was passed in a majority voice vote.

Meanwhile, the House set up a 15-member adhoc committee on Tuesday to screen the new service chiefs recently appointed by Buhari.

Dogara had set up the committee after he read a letter the President wrote the House notifying members of the appointments.

The screening committee is chaired by a member from Kaduna State, Mr. Garba Dhatti.