The war of egos between both chambers of the National Assembly i.e Senate and the House of Representatives, took a frightening dimension last week when the tradition which sees the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria presenting yearly budgets in a joint sitting got truncated, due to an ego trip which bordered on where the budget should be laid this year. STANLEY NKWOCHA narrates what transpired and concludes that the legislative crisis portends danger for the economy.

The signals came early in the day. Since Dimeji Bankole took over the mantle of leadership of the House of Representatives, what cannot be denied is the manner in which the House has fought to distance itself from any form of inferiority.

Known to have always  passed different budgets from the Senate and always shied away from endorsing willy-nilly FG's budget, unlike the Senate, it has never passed the budget as presented by the executive, even when pre-budgetary meetings had been undertaken. For  the Bankole-led House, it was no longer business as usual.

For the Senate, as far as it is concerned, the reps remained members of the lower chamber, and no matter how they tried to prove their worth and class, they would always be the 'boys'.

Early in the year, when a visiting European prime minister could not address a joint session of the National Assembly, it became manifest that perhaps, the battle line had been drawn. Before this however, was the famous Minna Retreat where the nation was treated to an open confrontation and display of the intensity to which the ego trip between both chambers had reached.

In Minna, Niger State, an attempt to hold a retreat of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review, (JCCR) was ditched by members of the House of Reps who insisted that the House's deputy speaker, Usman Bayero Nafada should be co-chairman with deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, chairman of the JCCR.

Amongst many speculations, it was thought that the battle was to enable each chamber manage the N500million allocated to it so that the idea of a joint purse of N1billion managed by Ekweremadu would not stick. And it did not as the purse had long before now got split into two - N500million for each chamber.

Since that incident, it must be said that the centre has never held between the two legislative partners as the superiority battle has rather taken a turn for the worse. With the House members insisting that they are no way inferior to the Senate, the Upper Chambers, as the Senate wants to be addressed, says the constitution is clear on the issue as it gives it such privilege and authority.

Enter the sacrifice of tradition. During the week, what started like a melodrama ended up being a major upset to tradition, as a major assignment which over the years has come to be marked with great pomp and pageantry, fell victim to the power play between the Senate and Reps: The 2010 budget.

During the week, for the first time in the history of the nation's civil rule, a presidential aide presented the 2010 Appropriation Bill from the executive arm instead of the president. And what more? He laid it separately before both floors of the National Assembly.

Senator Mohammed Abba Aji, special adviser to the president on National Assembly Matters, led director-general, Budget Office Of the Federation, Mr Bright Okogwu and the special assistant to the president on National Assembly Matters, Dr Cairo Ojougboh to present the bill before the Senate and the House of Reps. This act totally rewrote the history books, and it started in style.

Senators Lee Maeba and George Sekibo, both from Rivers State, set the tune for this course of history when president Umaru Yar'Adua wrote  Senate president, David Mark, intimating him of the executive's decision to present the 2010 appropriation bill, as reminiscent of the lingered bickering, frowned at the senators visiting the Reps chambers for the presentation.

Senator Sekibo had last Tuesday, raised a point of order from the constitution as to why the president needn't address a joint session. Sekibo made reference to Section 81(I) which states that "The president shall cause to be  prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year, estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the federation for the next financial year.''

As Senate President Mark sought to know if anything prohibited the president from making the presentation himself, even as Senators Ahmed Makarfi and Idris Umar intervened, saying nothing precluded the president from making the presentation, Senator Maeba went for the kill, launching what perhaps was a provocative attack.

Senator Maeba blasted his colleagues for what he termed their desire to always 'run' to The Reps Chambers, adding that it was not justifiable for the senators to go sit with them.

Said Senator Maeba: "If the senators come and sit with the boys, there is no basis for quarrelling over the concept of chamber inequality. Our running to that other side is not justifiable."

Senator Umar on his part, disclosed that Section 67(I)  of the constitution gave the president the powers to make such presentations. The section reads, "The president may attend any meeting of the National Assembly or any meeting of either House of the National Assembly, either to deliver an address on national affairs, including fiscal measures, or to make such statement on policy of government as he considers to be of national importance." As a result of this, the gavel went down as Mark ruled that the joint session would hold. But it was not  to  be.

In a most dramatic move, Senate spokesman, Ayogu Eze, at a press conference, announced that the joint session would hold in the hallowed chambers of the Senate, a deviation from the norm that has been for almost nine years running.

"The president is coming to present a budget to the joint session and it is the prerogative of the chairman of the National Assembly to decide the venue of the joint session.

"This year, he has decided that the session will take place in the red chamber. Relevant authourities - the leadership of the House of Representatives, the National Assembly leadership, including the clerk of the National Assembly and the management, have been notified. I think every arrangement is being put in place to ensure that the president comes and makes a hitch free presentation of the 2010 Appropriation Bill" said Senator Eze.

Just seconds when Eze finished, his counterpart at the House of Reps, Hon Eseme Eyiboh dismissed the call as mere speculation, saying the House's members would not go anywhere else for a joint sitting except in its chamber.

This speculation has come to pass, as today, none of the chambers played host to President Yar'Adua who is away in Saudi Arabia receiving medical attention. The tradition has been broken as events of the past days are no longer news. What might be interesting henceforth may be the dimension the new battleline drawn takes, as clearly, for the present chambers of the National Assembly, it would never again be business as usual.

If the intervention of the presidency, leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, party chieftains and stakeholders fell on deaf ears, as clearly, self-serving egos reigned supreme over national interest, then uncertainty best describes the future relationship between both chambers of the National Assembly. One thing is sure however, and that is the fact that the ultimate loser would be the Nigerian economy which for many a year, has not been fair to its citizenry, as a result of failed budgetary policies. Sadly, while the executive has always received the blame, this time, as a first step, the legislature seems to have stolen the show. The 2010 budget will in the few months to come, be subjected to super intrigues. We may indeed be heading for real hard times, as speculated by the president himself.