The Senate has rejected the nomination of American-based professor, Akintunde Akinwande, as the head of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Mr. Akinwande was rejected for his failure to attend confirmation hearing.
The decision was announced Tuesday.
Other nominees for whom confirmation was sought by President Muhammadu Buhari, were cleared by the Senate
The Senate has kicked against the planned closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and diversion of flights to the Kaduna airport.
The lawmakers also summoned the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, service chiefs and other stakeholders in the aviation industry, giving a 48-hour deadline.
The senate, after a lengthy discussion on the matter during plenary on Tuesday, January 10, resolved to have the minister come around to explain why the airport had to be closed down for the repairs.
Details later…
Trouble appears to be brewing in the Senate as Senator Ali Ndume who was Tuesday removed as the leader of the senate insist he maintains his position in the upper legislative chamber.
The senate had Tuesday removed Ndume and appointed Senator Ahmed Lawan representing Yobe North in the Senate as the new senate leader.
Ndume described as laughable, the report of his removal as the Senate leader, insisting he still remain the leader of the Upper Legislative Chamber.
Ndume, in a press briefing on Tuesday shortly after the news of his removal broke, said he is unaware of his removal by the APC Senate Caucus.
The Senate President made this known while responding to the cry of a concerned Nigerian on Twitter on Monday, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on New Media, Bamikole Omishore, in Abuja.
A twitter user, Chimeze Okoro Ukoha had tweeted: “@Bukolasaraki About 800 Christians massacred in Kaduna and nobody is talking about that. VERY BAD,” the concerned Nigerian told Saraki.
Saraki went further by also tweeting: “Every Nigerian life matters, and @NGRSenate will work to ensure that rule of law is always upheld as prescribed by Nigerian Constitution.”
Many have questioned why the killings have continued despite the security measures put in place by the Kaduna State Government. A lot of Nigerians have also appealed to the Federal Government to nip the ugly trend in the bud.
Special Assistant on New Media to the Senate President, Bamikole Omishore, said the Senate President is in touch with Senators from that state and constantly getting updates on developments even though the Senate is on recess.
A civil society organisation, Citizens Action To Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN) has described as “unfortunate lies”, the interim report by the Senate ad-hoc committee which indicted the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Engr. Babachir Lawal, over alleged abuse of the Public Procurement Acts in contract awarded by the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE).
Co-convener of the group, Ibrahim Garba Wala, while presenting the report of its independent investigations on the grass cutting scandal in Abuja Tuesday, stated that the contract was carried out contrary to the Senate ad-hoc committee report.
“CATBAN can assert with authority that the contract was indeed carried out. The claims that it was meant to clear grass in IDP camp or that nothing has been done are nothing but unfortunate lies,” Wala said while presenting the report on CATBAN’s facts -finding mission to the North-east region.
Wala said the testimonies of people they met and the evidence before them proved that it was a worthwhile contract that was executed for the benefit of the people.
The report showed that the said grass cutting contract was originally tagged “Award of contract for removal of invasive plants along river channels and 115 hectares of simplified village irrigation operation in Your state.”
The findings from the report also revealed that Rheolavision Engineering, which is linked to the SGF, was not the main contractor that got the job.
“Rheolavision was engaged only as a consultant even though the Senate committee created the impression that the company of the SGF executed the contract,” the report added.
The report also revealed that the SGF actually resigned from Rheolavision Engineering and all the other companies he had shareholdings in through a letter of resignation to his lawyers, D. D Azura and co, on August 28, 2015.
The President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Monday launched a contest to promote Made in Nigeria products.
The contest which will run for the best three months is aimed at showcasing the process and raw materials used in producing such locally made goods.
A statement signed by Bamikole Omishore, special assistant on New Media to the Senate President said that the contest will identify the good products that could be matched with investors and relevant government agencies.
He said that such agencies or investors would drive the products to the extent that they compete favourably with any similar product being imported.
“Today, as promised, we kick-start the soft launch of the #MadeInNigeria Challenge.This campaign is organized to showcase everyday products that are used by Nigerians and produced by Nigerians locally that serve as alternative to imported products.
“The next few weeks, we hope to identify products and ideas that can be matched with investors and government agencies. To wrap up the Challenge, in March, we will be inviting some of the finalist to a Made In Nigeria Roundtable at the Senate.
“This roundtable will allow us – legislators, government agencies, business owners, and everyday Nigerian consumers to review and update the report of the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER), which was held in 2016 to improve the ease of doing business in the country,” he said.
Saraki added that the roundtable would also be used to get feedback on the amendment to the Public Procurement Act passed by the Senate in 2016.
The amended Act mandates government agencies to give preference to local manufacturers in the procurement of goods and services.
Saraki’s aide added that from feedback received from Nigerians, people want to see improved ease of doing business, access to funding, effective oversight on agencies to make sure they are actually giving preference to Made In Nigeria and most importantly to make sure clear guidelines that are accessible online are set by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council, etc.
He wished all the participants good luck and called on Nigerians to use the hashtag #MadeInNigeria in their submitted videos for the competition.
About one and a half months after Justice Walter Onnoghen was sworn in as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), hopes that his appointment would be confirmed are getting dimmer.
Onnoghen was appointed the acting CJN by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 11, 2016 following the retirement of the immediate past CJN, Mohammed Mahmud on November 10.
This is the first time the holder of the office would be appointed in acting capacity for such a length of time in recent times. He now has till February 10, 2017 to get his appointment validated by the National Assembly or be removed from office.
Section 321 (5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended stipulates that any person so appointed “shall cease to have effect after the expiration of three months from the date of such appointment, and the President shall not re-appoint a person whose appointment has lapsed”, meaning that Justice Onnoghen, if not confirmed, would leave the office.
Stakeholders are deeply concerned that the uncertainty over whether Onnoghen would be the substantive CJN or not, might impede justice administration and judicial reforms in the country.
This development also confirms worries from different quarters that there are grand plots to deny justices from the Southern part of Nigeria the opportunity of heading the apex court. The next in rank to Justice Onnoghen is a Northerner, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad from Bauchi State.
The last time a Southerner headed the apex court was in 1985, when Justice Ayo Gabriel Irikefe held sway. Since then, the North has produced virtually all the CJNs. Justice Mohammed Bello took over from Irikefe from 1987 to1995. Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais served between 1995 and 2006; Justice Salisu Modibo Alfa Belgore (2006-2007), Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi (2007-2009), Justice Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu (2009-2011), Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar (2012-2014) and Justice Mahmud Mohammed who began to serve from 2014 till November 10, 2016.
Underscoring the seriousness of the issue, a Lagos lawyer, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo has filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja asking the court to compel President Muhammadu Buhari to forward Onnoghen’s name to the National Assembly for confirmation.
Respondents in the suit are Buhari, attorney general of the federation, federal judicial service commission, Justice Onnoghen and the National Judicial Council (NJC).
Among other prayers, the plaintiff wants the court to declare that by Section 231(3) of the 1999 Constitution, the first respondent as the head of the executive arm of government cannot handpick and/or choose who he wants to be the head of the judicial arm of government.
A retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Olufunlola Oyelola Adekeye, is unhappy with the development. According to her, the appointment of Onnoghen in acting capacity may affect reforms in the judicial sector.
Speaking to The Guardian, Justice Adekeye, who retired from the Supreme Court in October 2012, having attained the mandatory retirement age of 70 years, maintained it would be difficult for a CJN in acting capacity to introduce reforms in the judicial sector since he is not sure of his time frame in office.
She said: “When you have an acting CJN, who can be removed at any time, he will lay down whatever he wants to do as a substantive CJN but will wait until he is appointed properly.
“It is very important. When you have a solid tenure of office and you know what to do, you can swing into action.”When your tenure is not certain, you do not know what to do. That surely will affect the Nigerian judiciary; not only in the dispensation of justice but in several other ways.
“But no reform can be done now when you do not know your position. This is the first time we are having an acting CJN. It has never happened in Nigeria. May God help us in Nigeria.”
Justice Adeyeke further charged government to always adhere to constitutional provisions in its decisions and actions.”The Constitution must be strictly followed. There is a provision in the Constitution for the appointment of the CJN. It says the next in rank.”So, we do not know whatever reason the government may have to appoint Justice Onnoghen in acting capacity,” she said.
Senate President Bukola Saraki has said he would not shield aide, Ugochinyere Ikenga from the Department of State Services (DSS).
The secret police had accused Ikenga of plotting with Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, to destabilise the federal capital territory (FCT).
The secret police had raided his office on Thursday.
Saraki in his reaction said Ikenga should face the consequences if found guilty of the allegation levlled against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).
“The attention of the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki has been drawn to a statement issued by the Department of State Services (DSS) in which the department raised allegations against Mr Ugochinyere Ikenga, an aide to the senate president,” Yusuph Olaniyonu, media aide of the senate president, said in a statement.
“Though the DSS has not officially informed the senate president of the allegations against Ikenga, Dr. Saraki, having read the statement now circulating online will want to make it clear that he will never condone any action by any of his aides which threatens the peace of the country or is against the provisions of the law.
“Dr Saraki hereby calls on the DSS to properly investigate the allegations against Mr. Ikenga and if he is found to have acted against the law, then the law should take its natural course.”
The Senate yesterday affirmed its rejection of the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) based on the damning security reports against him.
By the assertion, the Upper Legislative Chamber nullified the claim by its Majority Leader, Muhammed Ali Ndume at the Presidential Villa on Monday that the Senate had not rejected Magu’s nomination.
After five months of intrigues, wit games and serious political manipulations among the powers that be in the Presidency and the National Assembly, the nomination of Magu was rejected by the Senate last Thursday.
Abdullahi stated that although Ndume is the Senate Majority Leader, he could not speak for the chamber as the two responsibilities are quite different.
“The call to national duty is crucial. So I am here based on a series of calls and text messages from you about what you thought are conflicting messages. It has become critical for the senate to clarify issues. The eighth Senate believes in its integrity; we uphold and promote the rule of law which is the basic thing about our democracy. We are committed to doing things differently to stabilise the polity in the collective interest of Nigerians.
“I would like to make the following clarifications: I’m holding the votes and proceeding of Thursday. We had two votes and proceeding because we had to go into a joint session to receive Buhari.
Our votes and proceedings are the official records of what transpired in the chamber. I briefed you on Thursday to the effect that the senate was announcing that in view of security reports, we were unable to confirm Magu. We then rejected and returned the nomination to Buhari for further action.
“Media reports emerging, especially from interviews granted by Senator Ndume meant that we have to clarify issues. For the records, I am the official spokesman of the Senate and I intend to discharge this with honour and integrity because the sanctity of the institution is crucial to the sustenance of democracy.
“I have only one point of reference, which is, the votes and proceedings. The Senate deliberated on the nomination of Magu for the position of EFCC chairman with regard to security report available, but referred the other nominees for screening since nothing much was found about them.
“This is the only official position of the Senate. What I say, I say on behalf of the senate. Nigerians should be guided. There is no ambiguity in what we said,” Abdullahi declared.
According to him, “ The Senate is an institution and we are working with the Constitution, and whatever rules we use are drawn from the constitution. We also want the media to be guided in the matter because of some misleading news in the public domain.”
The Senate spokesman said that “even with respect to the indictment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the genesis was the motion raised by Kaka and Ndume and the Senate decided to take a look at the abuses and the SGF was found to be part of the abuses.”
He said the Senate considered the only security report submitted to it and took its decision, pointing out that the Senate was not aware of any other report.
“As a routine, when you have a nominee, a security report should be given. The report we are talking about was sent to the Acting Clerk of the Senate. If you talk about two reports which one is the second one? I heard a report was sent to Ita Enag (the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters) but I am not holding brief for him. He is a liaison officer and if there is any communication, Saraki or the clerk is in charge.
“It will be unfortunate for anyone to say that the Senate will be subjected to a report sent to the liaison office.
#OpenNASS, an advocacy campaign organized by Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE) and VOTO Mobile with support from the Omidyar Network, conducted a survey finding, among other things, that an overwhelming majority of Nigerians support greater government transparency. The group therefore called upon the National Assembly to take measures that would make the budget and other aspects of government more accessible to Nigerians.
Read the press release below:
76% of Nigerians Actively Support Open Government Policies and #OpenNASS is a Panacea for Transparency and Accountability
‘There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, and there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy.’ – Joseph Pulitzer
The OpenNASS Project is an advocacy campaign aimed at tackling the major disconnect between the elected representatives and the general voting population outside of the electoral process by providing both voter education and a communication platform to help voters reach their representative and demand the ‘dividends of democracy’ – education, health care, shelter, water, power, access to employment or finance for enterprise etc.
We conducted a scoping survey randomly selecting telephone numbers and collecting 1,200 responses to 39 questions between June 29 and July 4, 2016. The sample was recalibrated to get a 48-52 gender split, and proportional representation by geo-political zone. The survey was run in five languages – Yoruba, Pidgin, Igbo, Hausa and English – to ensure it was inclusive. Each respondent was asked 27 multiple choice questions relating to the governance and democratic processes in Nigeria to understand the level of civic education, and if there was a link between this and a willingness to support the OpenNASS campaign. The results were fascinating.
Levels of Civic Education
Political Engagement
Open Government Policies
Sources of Political News
Radio is therefore a crucial way of reaching people and EiE has gone from one radio program in 2014 to four in 2016 and by Q1 2017, we will have 9 radio programs in Lagos (2), Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Owerri, Kano & Enugu.
What Next?
It is clear that despite low levels of civic knowledge there is already huge support for EiE’s #OpenNASS campaign, especially with regards to making the breakdown of the 2016 National Assembly budget public after several promises and assurances to do so by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Lack of accountability in the National Assembly is very dangerous for our democracy because those who are elected to provide oversight over the executive arm’s implementation of our budget cannot be expected to provide leadership and ensure accountability when they have refused to be accountable with resources allocated to them.
Over the last 3 years, the National Assembly has refused to respond to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and a court order to provide its detailed budget. The National Assembly was recently taken to court by SERAP for failing to respond to an FOI request about its running costs.
It is of great concern to Nigerians that members of the National Assembly do not know the content of their own budget, yet they hold court over how the budget of the country is spent. Public auditing of spending by the National Assembly and several reports on allegations of corruption that have been investigated remain shrouded in secrecy. This does nothing for an institution that seeks to be ‘responsive, accessible, representative and accountable’.
The budgets of the National Assembly, the National Judicial Commission (NJC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), amongst others, are a first line charge. As such, it is not necessary for these institutions to provide a detailed breakdown of their budget as part of the annual budgeting process. This is a great disservice to Nigerians as it does nothing for transparency and accountability.
For example, between 2006 and 2016, approximately N1.3 trillion has be allocated to the National Assembly (~ $4.2 billion) and there are no records of how most of this monies were spent.
#OpenNASS has been a very active conversation on social media and we’ve expanded the conversation through newspaper infographs and radio programs.
We will be increasing our engagement using mobile technology and additional media platforms to enable Nigerians to get engaged, informed and most importantly, take action. A toll-free line is now available for citizens to sign the petition on the National Assembly budget breakdown and get other information on governance issues.
The ‘flash’ service toll free lines to call are 08139861001 and 08139861002. ‘Flash’ service meaning upon dialing, the call drops up and calls you back immediately. The hotline is in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Hausa and Yoruba.
Through the hotline and our engagements on social and traditional media, we will promote three advocacy goals:
The National Assembly is a critical institution in our democracy and we will ensure that it is repurposed to serve all Nigerians, not just a few. They are currently on recess until January and we encourage citizens to engage them at home and demand for accountability so they can start the new year delivering on their promise.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
– End –
###
The OpenNASS project is collaboration between Enough is Enough Nigeria and VOTO Mobile supported by the Omidyar Network. The project builds on the work and networks of partners across Nigeria – Budgit, CITAD, CONGOs (Edo), CSNAC, Dawn in the Creeks, Development Dynamics, Reclaim Naija (CLP), SERAP, Premium Times, Sahara Reporters & YNaija.
Enough is Enough Nigeria (www.eie.ng) is a coalition of individuals and organizations committed to instituting a culture of good governance and public accountability in Nigeria through active citizenship. EiE Nigeria was an integral part of the #OccupyNigeria movement in 2012 and it’s currently very active in the #OpenNASS campaign. The coalition includes The Future Project; Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN); Education as a Vaccine (EVA); Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND); and LYNX Nigeria. Partners include BudgIT & ReclaimNaija.
Voto Mobile (www.votomobile.org) is a Ghana-based tech startup and social enterprise that makes it easy for businesses, governments, and NGOs to share information and gather feedback through interactive SMS or voice calls in local languages – using mobile to instantly reach across distance, language, and literacy barriers. Voto’s mission is to increase participation and accountability in the services delivered to citizens, and to empower communities to collect and share information to drive positive social change.
The President – whoever he is – has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.”
The prologue to this piece was part of the farewell address to the American people delivered in January 1953 by President Harry Truman. It was a categorical reference to the concept of “The buck stops here,” which Truman, 33rd president of the United States, invented and espoused diligently. So passionate was Truman about this principle that he made the phrase into a desk sign that stood on his desk throughout his tenure.
“The BUCK STOPS here! This phrase is an irrefutable reminder of where the ultimate power lies in a democratic presidency, which one is minded to recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari in these very worrying times, especially in the wake of the Nigerian senate’s despicable rejection of his nominee, Ibrahim Magu, as substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Clearly, if nothing else, Buhari should know that that rejection sounded the death knell for his vaunted war against corruption, as well as constitutes a huge embarrassment to his person and office.
And he should also take notice that rather than being the end, the senate’s act is just the beginning of the process of giving full expression to a familiar refrain of his and numerous other lieutenants in the APC administration: corruption is fighting back. Yes, corruption is fighting back, and the Buhari administration needs to summon the will to repel the attack and crush the monster. Otherwise, as Buhari himself has often stated, it will kill us. With the decision to block Magu from becoming EFCC chairman, there is no way corruption won’t kill us eventually if Buhari does not act like a true president.
Now, it’s no longer about Magu, nor an utterly useless Senate populated by overfed thieves whom Nigerians would be too glad to do away with as quickly as possible. It’s about Buhari. It’s about the kind of president he wants to be, and whether he wants to continue to run a heavily tainted and compromised presidency where the one who runs the show is the highly discredited Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, a man who has been linked with multiple acts of corruption and who on the eve of the 2015 elections denounced Buhari as a “serial loser.”
In the subtle design to rubbish Buhari’s government and preserve the old order, Abba Kyari is ably supported by other willing collaborators among them the equally unpleasant DSS boss, Lawal Daura, and the Senate president Bukola Saraki. But now is the time to urge Buhari to toe the path of Truman and point to Abba Kyari and the rest of the destructive gang where the buck stops.
With an impressive credential of personal integrity, and with fervent pre and post election resolve to wage an all-out war against a scourge that has gone down as the biggest cog in Nigeria’s development – a resolve for which he received an unequivocal endorsement from the vast majority of Nigerians – will Buhari buckle under the unrelenting onslaught of a vicious cabal whose singular interest is to perpetuate corruption as the directive principle of state policy? Will he continue to fold his arms and look the other way when his arch ally in the anti-corruption war, the man who has demonstrated rare courage in dealing corruption an unprecedented blow is being sought out by the cabal for destruction?
That the Senate did what they did was not altogether surprising. Every discerning observer saw it coming. After more than one year of Magu as acting chairman, and six months after receiving a letter from the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, requesting the Senate to confirm him as substantive chairman of EFCC, the senators reluctantly rustled up a pathetic engagement with Magu on the day they had scheduled to go on end-of-year recess. Instead of allowing the man to appear before them at plenary as the whole world expected, they arranged a sham executive session where the public was shut out.
It was at that dubious session that Magu’s fate was purportedly sealed. While the world was still waiting for the chambers to be thrown open and Magu invited for screening, it was a guilt-ridden, tremulous spokesman of the senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, that appeared to read a terse statement announcing the senate’s decision that Magu was not “fit” to be confirmed as substantive chairman based on a security report submitted by the DSS. What the spokesman failed to tell his audience was that there were indeed two security reports on Magu written the same day by the DSS. The one that clearly acquitted Magu and certified him qualified to lead the EFCC was discarded by the Senate, and the negative report was picked just because they had an evil agenda that must be satisfied no matter what it takes. No wonder he refused to take questions.
It will be interesting to see how Buhari reacts to all of this. His reaction should determine the status of The Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC) headed by Professor Itse Sagay, going forward. If Buhari would not see through the shenanigans of the Abba Kyaris the Bukola Sarakis and assert himself as president by insisting that Magu remains his choice for the EFCC chair, Sagay should lead other members of the committee to resign the job and allow Buhari to fight corruption his own way.
Truly, if Magu was really corrupt, the crooked Nigerian Senate that we know would have filled the chamber with chorus of “Take a bow; Take a bow!”
Godwin Onyeacholem is a journalist. He can be reached on gonyeacholem@gmail.com; Follow him on Twitter @Gonyeacholem
Ali Ndume, majority leader of the senate, says the upper chamber of the national assembly has not rejected Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Addressing state house correspondents on Monday, Ndume said even if Magu will be rejected, it would not come from the red chamber. He explained that Magu’s confirmation was put on hold because of a security report from the Department of State Services (DSS).
Ndume said the senate was awaiting the advice of President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue.
“Let me say categorically that the senate did not reject Ibrahim Magu. What happened was that when we selected his confirmation for Thursday, we had an issue or a letter from the Department of State Security (DSS) that could not allow us to continue with the confirmation without further clarifications,” he said.
“So, we now concluded that since we had a letter that we could not ignore. So, it was not that we sat down to take a decision that we had rejected Magu. So, I want that to come out clearly.
“We specifically asked the chairman on media to issue a statement. What we said was that on that Thursday the senate could not go ahead with the confirmation of Mr. Ibrahim Magu and that we are in possession of a letter from the Department of State Service which requires clarification from Mr. President, who is the head of the government. That was what happened.
“Even if the rejection is going to come, it is not going to come from the senate because we have not done anything anyway.”
Back then, Aliyu Abdullahi, spokesman of the senate, had categorically said the nomination of the anti-graft czar was rejected.
“The nomination of Ibrahim Magu is hereby rejected and has been returned to the President for further action,” he had said.?
?Reminded of this, Ndume said: “I hope we are not arguing. I listened and I still listened because of this controversy that can come out.
“I’m part of the persons that wrote the short press statement which stated that the senate could not continue with the confirmation. It is different from saying that the senate rejected him. In fact, we have referred the other four to the committee.”
?On the demand for Babchir Lawal, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), to step down and face prosecution, Ndume said the senate said the lawmakers only made a recommendation and did not issue an order.
While deliberating on the report of an ad hoc committee set up to look into the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north-east, the senate indicted Lawal for allegedly abusing his office by misappropriating funds.
But Ndume said since there had been reports that Lawal was not given fair hearing, the senate would give him the opportunity to clear himself.
“The senate resolution is a recommendation, it’s not a law. What the senate considered is work in progress because it was an interim report,” he said.
“The public is interested in knowing what we as a senate had done about those allegations. The committee issued an interim report and the interim report seemed to indict the SGF, the consequences of that indictment are what they recommended, but we are not there yet because the report itself is interim. Ok, we take the interim report, we give the public until the whole investigation is concluded.
“I hear, coming from the SGF that he has not been given a fair hearing, so the hearing has not finished. We can give him an ample of time to go before the committee and clear himself.”?
President Muhammadu Buhari has described Senate President Bukola Saraki as “one of the most influential politicians of our time”.
In a statement issued by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, on Monday, Buhari felicitated with the senate president on the occasion of his 54th birthday.
“In a goodwill message to the celebrant, the president describes the senate president as ‘one of the most influential politicians of our time who has made tremendous impact on the country,’” the statement read.
“President Buhari notes that Senator Saraki has successfully kept the memory of his late father alive by identifying with the grassroots in his home state.”
While wishing the senate president more prosperous years , the president called for closer cooperation between the executive and the legislature to ensure the smooth implementation of government policies and programmes.
The State Security Service (SSS) sent two different and contradictory security reports to the Nigerian Senate on the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today.
While both reports stated that Mr. Magu had some “integrity issues”, they differed on the actions they suggest the upper chamber take on the confirmation of the EFCC boss.
One of the reports suggested that clearing the anti-corruption fighter would spell danger for the administration’s anti-graft war.
The other described Mr. Magu as having performed excellently so far, and should therefore be favourably considered for the post of substantive chair of the EFCC.
Three senators told PREMIUM TIMES in separate interviews that the two reports were dated October 3, 2016, with one addressed to the acting clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, and the other to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang.
The two reports were also signed by the same official, Folashade Bello, on behalf of the Director General of the SSS, Lawal Daura.
The two documents were sent to the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki.
The senators, who requested not to be named so they are not accused of divulging proceedings at a closed session, said both letters were read to lawmakers during the executive session held to decide the fate of Mr. Magu last Thursday.
“The two letters contain almost the same allegations against Magu,” one of the senators said. “But they are different in the recommendations made.
“While the report addressed to Ita Enang was dated August 25, 2016, the one to the acting clerk was dated September 21, 2016. But both were signed by the same Folashade Bello on behalf of Daura.”
Another Senator disclosed that in the letter written to Mr. Enang, the SSS stated that “although they found some adverse things in relation to Magu, he should be cleared given his excellent performance. They said he should be given the chance to run the commission.”
However, the senator said, the same SSS in the report addressed to the acting clerk about a month later asked the Senate not to confirm Mr. Magu.
“That other report concluded by saying Magu is integrity-challenged and will constitute a liability to the anti-corruption stand of the Buhari administration,” he said. “We can’t understand why the SSS cannot get its act together to issue a single report and make the same recommendation.”
A third senator told PREMIUM TIMES the Senate decided not to confirm Mr. Magu because of the two contradictory reports.
“It is our position that given the two confusing reports, it is only the president that can decide whether he still wants the man to run the EFCC or not. The ball is in his court,” he said.
The spokesperson for the Senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, had told journalists on Thursday that the upper chamber decided against confirming Mr. Magu based on adverse security report from the SSS and that the Senate would write to the president intimating him of the decision.
Contacted on Monday for comments on the two contradictory reports the Senate received, Mr. Abdullahi said he would not join issue with anyone on the decision taken on the Magu affair.
“We have a moral, legal and constitutional duties to vet nominees, and that is what we did,” Mr. Abdullahi said. “Every necessary administrative actions were taken.
“What usually happen in every confirmation hearing was what took place. Whoever is not satisfied should explore other avenues to make his or her case. As far as we are concerned, we have done our job.”
In the reports, the SSS, among other allegations, accused Mr. Magu of benefitting from proceeds of fraud from an individual it (SSS) is prosecuting.
The agency alleged that the suspect, Umar Mohammed, who was a member of the presidential panel on arms procurement, paid the rent and furnished Mr. Magu’s official residence in the Maitama district of Abuja.
It also claimed that Mr. Magu used Mr. Mohammed’s private jets for trips outside Abuja.
A fact-check of the allegations by this newspaper indicates they were largely false.
The presidency said on Sunday that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to investigate allegations of corruption against Mr. Magu and other officials of his administration accused of corruption.
If the president allows himself to lose his legitimacy, he cannot exercise his authority and that is what we are beginning to observe. The president appointed Magu to the EFCC in November 2015 and thirteen months later, he cannot get the appointment confirmed. Where is his authority?
The action of the Department of State Security of going to the Senate to challenge the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is the clearest signifier of the crumbling of President’s Buhari’s authority. The DSS has the competence to advice on the suitability of candidates for appointment through background checks that show whether or not the said candidates have skeletons in their closets that make them ineligible. That process occurs before the names of the persons are submitted for confirmation. For the DSS to go to a third party, the Senate, and argue that the person whose name has been submitted by the president is not suitable for appointment is a direct challenge to the authority of the president. Of course the DSS can find information at anytime that would in their assessment make a person ineligible for appointment. When the name of the person has already been sent to the Senate for approval, the correct protocol is to forward such information to the president who could then decide to withdraw the nomination if he makes the determination that, based on the facts presented, the person is no longer considered suitable for the appointment.
Presidential authority is about the power, or rather, the competence to make decisions, give directives and enforce compliance to the said decisions and directives. When a president gives directives and state institutions under his authority take action to nullify the directive, the implication is that they feel no compulsion to obey the president, and that is a bad sign for the exercise of authority. I believe that the Senate was right to make the decision not to confirm Magu because a security agency directly under the president’s authority has questioned the suitability of the nomination. This is not to say that they might not have ulterior motives for using the information provided by the DSS. The point, however, is that when there is disarray in the exercise of presidential powers, they have a responsibility to pause and question the process. I therefore have no problem with the decision that: “Based on available security report, the Senate cannot proceed with the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.”
What is interesting about the Magu affair is the content of the evidence provided in the security report, which was immediately leaked to the public. The first allegation was that Mr. Magu lives in a residence fraudulently rented for N40 million at N20 million per annum. This is surprising, as it is generally known that when people are given political appointments that are considered to require secure accommodation, it is the responsibility of the Federal Capital Development Administration to provide such official accommodation. It is therefore strange to accuse the resident of such accommodation for rents that had been paid by another government agency. A second allegation was that he flew on a first-class ticket to Saudi Arabia on Emirate Airlines to perform the lesser hajj. The allegation is that the cost of the ticket was N2.9m. What is surprising, however, is that there was no information whether it was a private or official visit. If the visit was private and Mr. Magu was paying for the ticket himself, there is nothing that says he cannot fly first class.
Nigeria’s security situation is very fragile and it is imperative that all security agencies work in concert and synergy for the return of peace and good governance. When they appear to work at cross-purposes, it is our security that suffers. President Muhammadu Buhari must re-assert his authority immediately by ensuring that all his subaltern appointees obey his directives and support his policies.
The most surprising allegations related to the difficult time Mr. Magu had following the removal of Nuhu Ribadu and the appointment of Farida Waziri as EFCC chairperson. The received wisdom was that Magu become a victim of political intrigues by politically exposed individuals that wanted to destroy the commitment of EFCC to prosecuting corrupt politicians. It was precisely because the assessment was made that Mr. Magu was sent out because he was doing his job well that might have convinced the president to bring him back and appoint him as Chairman. Once again, the message here is that the authority of the president to make the decision to appoint Magu is what his subordinates are questioning.
The legitimacy of President Mohammadu Buhari is based on the belief of Nigerians that he is deeply committed to the war against corruption. He searched for and appointed Mr. Magu because he believes that the choice will advance the struggle against corruption. What is clear is that a number of key officers in the Administration are bent on frustrating the anti-corruption war. The Senate has just revealed explosive information that indicts the Secretary to the Government of engaging in corrupt acts. The information is very damaging to the president because the alleged corruption involves money meant to help the starving population seeking to recover from the devastation imposed on them by the Boko Haram insurgency.
There have also been allegations against the Chief of Staff to the President that no one has responded to. The message to Nigerians is that those around the president are engaged in corruption and would not allow anyone to expose their acts. This is the fastest route to the dismantling of President Buhari as a leader committed to the struggle against corruption. If the president allows himself to lose his legitimacy, he cannot exercise his authority and that is what we are beginning to observe. The president appointed Magu to the EFCC in November 2015 and thirteen months later, he cannot get the appointment confirmed. Where is his authority?
Finally, there is growing evidence of intense inter-agency rivalry and conflicts within the security sector. Nigeria’s security situation is very fragile and it is imperative that all security agencies work in concert and synergy for the return of peace and good governance. When they appear to work at cross-purposes, it is our security that suffers. President Muhammadu Buhari must re-assert his authority immediately by ensuring that all his subaltern appointees obey his directives and support his policies.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned the United Nations (UN) over alleged intimidation, harassment and unfair treatment of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Ibrahim Magu, by the Senate.
The petition, which was signed by the Executive Director of SERAP, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, was addressed to Mr Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
In a copy of the petition made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday, Mumuni accused the Senate of “apparently working with other agencies of government to use a purported security report it knew or ought to know is baseless and politically-motivated to reject Mr Magu’s confirmation as substantive chairman of the EFCC.
“By relying on a report they knew or ought to know is baseless and politically-motivated to reject Mr Magu’s appointment as chairman of the EFCC, the Senate of Nigeria has flagrantly violated his right to a fair hearing, and is implicitly working to weaken, intimidate, harass and ultimately undermine the independence and freedom of action of the EFCC in its efforts to combat high-profile official corruption,” it said.
The project, therefore, urged Forst to “urgently intervene in this matter to stop further intimidation and harassment of a prominent anti-corruption campaigner and human rights defender.
“SERAP believes that the action by the Senate of Nigeria and other agencies of government apparently working with them undermines and violates Nigeria’s international obligation to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of the citizens, which inevitably creates a duty for the government to establish efficient and independent anti-corruption mechanisms.
“Apart from the fact that the allegations against Mr Magu are baseless and politically motivated, the Senate of Nigeria flagrantly denied him constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to a fair hearing by not providing him an opportunity to respond to the allegations against him.”
In its customary and baseless umbrage, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has indicted the Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr. Babachir David Lawal over alleged contract scams. Flowing from this, the Red Chamber has also issued a matching order in a resolution calling on his resignation or suspension.
Precisely, the indictment of the SGF is over alleged contract infractions from the Presidential Initiative on the Northeast (PINE) on Internally Displayed persons (IDPs) camps. The Senate also directed President Muhammedu Buhari (PMB) to ensure his prosecution for contravening Nigeria’s code of conduct for public officials as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
Nigerians need no soothsayer to remind them of the absence of a Senate, which can proudly lay claim to the status of truly venerated parliamentarians of Nigeria. It has been the unfortunate situation since the return of democracy in 1999.
It explains former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s (OBJ) constant criticisms of the National Assembly. He adamantly and consistently describes them in derogative terms as crooks and unarmed robbers. Weeks ago, OBJ at the Akintola William Annul Lecture series in Lagos renewed the bellicose in these words;
“The National Assembly cabal of today is worse than any cabal that anybody may find anywhere in our national governance system at any time. Members of the National Assembly pay themselves allowances for staff and offices they do not have or maintain. Once you are a member, you are co-opted and your mouth is stuffed with rottenness and corruption…the National Assembly is a den of corruption by a gang of unarmed robbers.”
Like OBJ’s vexations, what is however novel today is the realization of the current Senate headed by Senator Bokula Saraki, as incomparably worse than preceding Senates. Many a times, they are seen indulging in responsibilities which at best seek to usurp the duties of other arms of government, while their cardinal job of legislation suffers neglect.
There is nearly nothing this senate has set out to do that it has done cleanly to the applause of all. It is famed in scandals and the blackmail of the executive.
When some Senators queued up to pressurize the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) against prosecuting Senator Saraki for alleged violation of assets declaration laws for public officers, it gave an inkling into their mindset. The egoistic refusal to consider President Muhammedu Buhari’s (PMB) about $39 billion loan request to salvage Nigeria or Sen. Dino Maleye’s verbal assaults to Senator Remi Tinubu have cleansed the Senate of any vestige of integrity.
The Senate’s grudge against Babachir is his alleged fraudulent handling of the contract awards emanating from PINE, an initiative domiciled in the SGF’s office for supervision.
The Senate’s ad-hoc committee chaired by Senator Shehu Sani which conducted an inquest into the mounting humanitarian crisis in the Northeast affecting IDPs claimed its findings suggest Babachir awarded fake and inflated contracts to his company, Global Vision Ltd. The Senate report alleged the SGF awarded the N200 million contract to clear ‘invasive plant specie’ in Yobe State to his company, where he presided as a director until last September, while holding the position of SGF.
It also accused PINE of exploiting the critical and deplorable conditions in IDPs in camps in the Northeast to allegedly award fraudulent contracts, as realities on ground in the camps showed a chasm between spent funds and remedied problems.
The Senate marketed their pre-conceived intentions on PMB through Senator Isah Misau who called for SGF’s suspension and prosecution. Misau claimed Buhari administration have difficulties with performance delivery “because of people like the SGF,” noting that “Without the prosecution of the SGF, this anti-corruption fight will go nowhere.”
In Babachir’s reaction to the Senate’s altercation with him, he described the lawmakers as people infested with the pull-him-down syndrome which they unleash on the best people unjustifiably, insisting that the Senate resolution was gibberish. Reminding Nigerians of the familiar imprints and antecedents of the Nigerian Senate, Babachir insisted that the Senate resolution is balderdash insofar as the committee never deemed it necessary to accord him the opportunity to defend himself over the allegations before nailing him in court of public opinion, after concocting outright blatant lies.
His words, “It is therefore, surprising that they devoted a whole session of today (yesterday) at maligning me, claiming what is not true without even giving me the chance to come and put my own case before them.”
The SGF made a valid point at this juncture. The validity of his submissions can be gleaned from the fact that as lawmakers, Senators are privy to the stipulations of law which demands fair hearing from all parties to a dispute before a verdict of condemnation is issued. But since today’s Nigerian senate is increasingly turning towards the absurd, extending such luxury to the SGF, who is perhaps, their arch-enemy, is unthinkable. So, they rushed like ravenous wolves in all directions to devour him with a verdict of guilt.
Anyway, Babachir is a man who is not given to the niceties of groveling before arrant rubbish, bluntly told the Senate “I will not resign.” The scenario brings to the fore for the umpteenth time, the Senate’s obstinate nude dances in the market place. It is a chamber that has so far stripped itself of any modicum of integrity and respect in public estimation.
It is a Senate that allegedly forges House Standing rules; it is a Senate whose leader, Senator President Saraki has engaged tricks to evade trial for his alleged false assets declaration and it is a Senate with the least consideration of the feelings and the pains of the masses; they preach patriotism but settle for foreign official cars, worth millions, in the time of the country’s economic recession.
Sometimes, without any scruples, they anoint themselves with the wigs and robes of members of the Bar and the Bench, by conducting investigations into everything, everywhere to pass damnable verdicts. But sensitive bills affecting the lives of Nigerians gather dust on the shelves.
It is the proclivity to pursue the mundane, instead of the germane that the PIB has survived many sessions of the Senate untouched; the bill for the establishment of the National Poverty Eradication Commission is still at its virgin stage and for sure, a bill for the establishment of Special anti-graft and other related offences, as contemplated by PMB would be stalled and frustrated, because it would speedy the trial and conviction of the corrupt ones among them.
But when they resolved to protect Saraki from prosecution or whittle down the powers of Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), amendment to clauses in the enabling Act received expeditious attention and passed overnight. The 2017 Appropriation Bill is likely to be passed mid next year again, as they would devote more time to chase the SGF. Can these Senators excuse Nigeria from their profane tendencies?
Okanga writes from Agila, Benue State.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders over the “intimidation, harassment and unfair treatment” of Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The upper legislative chamber had refused to confirm Magu’s appointment, citing a security report by the Department of State Services (DSS) as its reason.
But in the petition dated December 16, and signed by Adetokunbo Mumuni, its executive director, SERAP accused lawmakers of vilifying the anti-graft czar.
“The senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria apparently working with other agencies of government to use a purported security report the senate knew or ought to know is baseless and politically motivated to reject Mr Magu’s confirmation as substantive chairman of the EFCC,” the petition read.
“By relying on a report they knew or ought to know is baseless and politically motivated to reject Mr Magu’s appointment as chairman of the EFCC, the senate of Nigeria has flagrantly violated his right to fair hearing, and is implicitly working to weaken, intimidate, harass and ultimately undermine the independence and freedom of action of the EFCC in its efforts to combat high-profile official corruption.
“SERAP believes that the action by the Senate of Nigeria and other agencies of government apparently working with them undermines and violates Nigeria’s international obligation to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of the citizens, which inevitably creates a duty for the government to establish efficient and independent anti-corruption mechanisms.”
SERAP urged Forst to “urgently intervene in this matter to stop further intimidation and harassment of a prominent anti-corruption campaigner and human rights defender”.
“Apart from the fact that the allegations against Mr. Magu are baseless and politically motivated, the Senate of Nigeria flagrantly denied him constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to a fair hearing by not providing him an opportunity to respond to the allegations against him,” the petition read.
“The senate confirmation hearing therefore amounts to a nullification, or destruction of the very essence of the fundamental principles of fair hearing.
“The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria relying on a baseless and politically motivated report declined to confirm the appointment of Ibrahim Magu as substantive chairman of the country’s leading anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The Senate claimed that its action was based on a purported security report forwarded to it by the State Security Service.”
The president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said the Senate would look into the disbursement of N213 billion power sector intervention fund by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Mr. Saraki said this in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, on Saturday in Abuja.
Mr. Saraki, according to the statement, spoke during a meeting to proffer solutions to the worsening electricity generation in the country.
He said the upper chamber would verify claims and counter claims of non-remittance of revenues between the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET), Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) and Generation Companies (Gencos).
Mr. Saraki urged the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy to conduct a public hearing on the funds as well as on the declining electricity generation which currently stands at 3,000 megawatts.
He said the public hearing should take a look at reasons behind the inability of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to effectively supervise and audit the electricity generation and distribution companies.
The president of the senate lamented “the poor electricity supply in Nigeria and the consequences of the negative development in the efforts to move Nigeria out of the present economic recession.’’
He called on operators in the sector to work towards proffering solutions to the “imminent collapse of the electricity system in the country.’’
On Thursday, the Nigerian Senate declined to confirm the appointment of Ibrahim Magu as substantive chair of the country’s premier anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The upper legislative chamber claimed it could not approve the presidency’s request to confirm Mr. Magu based on a security report forwarded to it by the State Security Service.
“The Senate wishes to inform the public that based on available security report, the Senate cannot proceed with the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” the spokesperson for the Senate, Aliyu Abdullahi, said in a statement read to journalists.
“The nomination of Ibrahim Magu is hereby rejected and has been returned to the President for further action,” Mr. Abdullahi said.
The Senate did not provide the EFCC chairman an opportunity to respond to the allegations against him.
PREMIUM TIMES has obtained details of the security report on which the lawmakers based their decision and has investigated the claims against Mr. Magu.
We fact-checked some of the claims made by the SSS, and below are our findings:
ALLEGATION ONE: That during the tenure of Farida Waziri as EFCC chairperson, sensitive documents were found in Mr. Magu’s home.
The facts do not support that claim. A reporter for this newspaper extensively reported that event in 2008 when it happened, and is familiar with what transpired at the time.
Based on pressure from political gladiators of the period (among which were former Governors James Ibori and Bukola Saraki), then President Musa Yar’Adua unceremoniously removed Nuhu Ribadu as chairman of the EFCC.
After Mr. Ribadu’s departure, his successor, Mrs. Waziri, frustrated some of his closest and most resourceful aides in the commission, and harassed them for prolonged period.
Mr. Magu, who was a chief superintendent of police at the time, was sent away from the EFCC and his Lagos and Abuja homes were raided by operatives even before he had the opportunity to hand over to Umar Sanda as head of the Economic Governance Unit of the commission. He was later detained for three weeks.
Following complaints by Mrs. Waziri, the then Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, queried Mr. Magu, accusing him of serious misconduct. One of the allegations against him was that he removed and withheld EFCC files.
On August 25, 2008, Mr. Magu replied the query, explaining to the IGP that no unauthorized EFCC official documents were found in his home.
“I wish to state that the nature of my assignment at the EFCC is such that I worked round the clock and it was impossible for me to do my work effectively without working on some documents at home,” he wrote to Mr. Okiro at the time. “This is the reason I maintain an office bag where documents relating to investigations were kept. The documents listed were found in my office bag which I was in the process of handing over and were not found hidden anywhere in my house.
“It is therefore not the correct position to say that I bluntly refused to hand over EFCC’s property and documents. I had just concluded handing over the Abuja office and I was in Lagos to conclude handing over the Lagos office when the search was conducted. At the time of the search, I had not reported to my new command. It could therefore not be my intention to keep government documents in my house.
“I have suffered untold humiliation within the past one month. My home was ransacked, vandalized and my properties destroyed by men of the EFCC. I was detained in a cell meant for hardened criminals most of whom are armed robbers for three weeks. My health condition deteriorated as a result of his inhuman treatment meted out to me for doing my job diligently and with the pride required of a senior police officer of my rank in the Nigerian Police Force.
“I humbly implore the Inspector General of Police to totally exonerate me from blame and the said acts of serious misconduct because I was not involved and I am not involved. I will never be discouraged in my unrelenting war against crime and its associated manifestations as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
After investigation, the police IG exonerated Mr. Magu, posted him to the police’s Special Fraud Unit and promoted him to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police shortly afterwards.
ALLEGATION TWO: That Mr. Magu currently occupies a residence rented for N40 million at N20 million per annum. This accommodation was not paid [for] from the commission’s (EFCC) finances, but by one Umar Mohammed, air commodore retired.
This claim is also untrue.
PREMIUM TIMES has obtained evidence showing the property in question was paid for by the Federal Capital Development Administration, and not Mr. Umar.
The E-Payment schedule, dated March 31, was issued by to the branch controller of Central Bank, Abuja, in favour of M/S Valcour SA Nigeria Limited.
The company was paid N39.628 million as payment for two-year rent and furnishing of the property, located in upscale Maitama district of Abuja.
The payment schedule was signed by Isiyaku Ismaila and confirmed by Zanna A. Hamza.
Mr. Magu lived in Karu, a suburb of Abuja, before his appointment as acting EFCC chair. With his new position, Mr. Magu moved into an official residence provided by the FCDA.
ALLEGATION 3: That the acting EFCC chairman regularly embarked on official and private trips through a private jet owned by embattled Air Commodore Mohammed Umar (Rtd).
PREMIUM TIMES checks show that this is not entirely correct. Our investigations indicate that Mr. Magu first met Mr. Umar when both of them worked as members of the Presidential Committee on the investigation of arms procurement. At the time, Mr. Umar was very close to President Muhammadu Buhari and had unlimited access to the presidential villa. Both men became close during the assignment.
Our investigations indicate that once this year, Mr. Magu travelled to Kano in company of EFCC’s director of finance and that in charge of organizational support. Those familiar with the trip said on their way back to Abuja, Mr. Umar, who at the time remained Mr. Magu’s colleague at the presidential committee, and who was at the time not in any trouble with the SSS, gave the two officials a lift.
We are unable to find any evidence that Mr. Magu flew in Mr. Umar’s private jet at any other time. Neither were we able to establish that the EFCC chairman flew to Maiduguri alongside Mr. Umar and a bank MD being investigated by the EFCC over complicity in funds allegedly stolen by former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
While some insiders at the commission denied the allegation, we could not independently verify the claims.
ALLEGATION 4: On 24 June, 2016, he (Magu) flew Emirate airlines first-class to Saudi Arabia to perform lesser hajj at the cost of N2.9m. This is in spite of Mr President’s directive to all public servants to fly economy class.
Insiders say while it was true that Mr. Magu indeed flew first class to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj, he did not pay for the ticket with public funds. We could not however confirm this claim independently.
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has urged the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy to conduct a public hearing into declining electricity generation in the country that currently stands at 3000 megawatts capacity.
Saraki who spoke at the weekend during a special stakeholders meeting to proffer solutions to the worsening electricity generation in the country said the public hearing should look at the role of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) which serves as Board members in the Discos and Gencos, thereby making it difficult for the BPE to effectively supervise and audit the electricity generation and distribution companies.
He had in his opening comments lamented the poor electricity supply in Nigeria and the consequences of the negative development in the efforts to move Nigeria out of the present economic recession.
He told the stakeholders in the power sector led by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Louis Edozien that the essence of the meeting was to proffer solutions to an imminent collapse of the electricity system in the country.
Briefing the meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Edozien, lamented that power generation has gone down to 3000MW/H from a 7000MW/H generating capacity with a 12000MW/H connected load.
Edozien also said there was poor and declining revenue collection capacity as the Discos are remitting about 45 per cent of collectable revenue instead of the performance agreement target of 65 per cent.
Read More: dailytrust
An ad-hoc committee of the Senate on “mounting humanitarian crisis in the North East” led by Shehu Sani submitted its interim report on Wednesday and indicted Mr. Lawal for allegedly receiving N233 million contract to clear invasive plant species in Yobe State through a company, Rholavision Nigeria Limited.
The Senate had on Wednesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend Mr. Lawal and ensure his prosecution over alleged breach of Nigerian laws in handling contracts awarded by the Presidential Initiative for the North East, (PINE).
Ali Wakili, senator representing Bauchi south, says the rejection of Ibrahim Magu’s nomination by the senate was done “in the interest of the Nigerian state”.
Wakili said this on Friday in reaction to a statement credited to Itse Sagay, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption.
Speaking at a legislative and media roundtable organised by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Wakili said nobody loves Nigeria as much as the senate.
“These are eminent Nigerians saying that whether we like it or not Magu is going to be there,” she said.
“Is he trying to blackmail us or not? We took the issue purely in the interest of the Nigerian state. Nobody loves Nigeria more than us.”
On Thursday, Sagay said the appointment of Magu would be “renewed” whether he is confirmed by the senate or not.
“Since Nuhu Ribadu left, we have not had a man with such sterling qualities as Ibrahim Magu and whether they like it or not, Magu will be there until he completes his term under the law,” Sagay had said.
Magu has acted as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman for about a year.
Omojuwa.Com sources in the Presidency have confirmed that a new name has been forwarded to the DSS for screening to replace Acting EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu.
The said name has been forwarded over 2 weeks ago which lends credence to the speculation that the Presidency was aware of Magu’s dirty dealings and eventual rejection by the Senate.
From speculations, the new intending EFCC chair may be from a Yoruba speaking North Central state.
Recall that the Senate on Thursday afternoon announced the rejection of the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as the substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over security report at its disposal.
Follow our updates for more details.
Itse Sagay, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, says the appointment of Ibrahim Magu, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), will be “renewed” whether he is confirmed or not.
On Thursday, the senate refused to confirm Magu’s appointment after leaving the matter pending for five months.
But in a previous chat with The Interview, which was only revealed on Thursday, Sagay said: “Whether they like it or not, he (Magu) will be there. His chairmanship will keep on being renewed.
“Since Nuhu Ribadu left, we have not had a man with such sterling qualities as Ibrahim Magu and whether they like it or not, Magu will be there until he completes his term under the law.”
The EFCC chairman has a four-year tenure. From the EFCC Act, non-confirmation does not impair his duties.
Azu Ishiekwene, managing editor (MD)/editor-in-chief, described the edition as “arguably the best kept secret in the anti-corruption war”.
In the interview, Sagay said Magu’s delayed confirmation was “corruption fighting back”.
Also speaking on corruption in the judiciary, he said what retiring chief justices collect off the books is “frightening and totally unrelated to what the judiciary is entitled to”.
The National Judicial Council (NJC) recently suspended seven justices on allegations of corruption and two of them have so far been arraigned.
The Interview said its investigations, which Sagay neither confirmed nor denied, indicated that the NJC pays retiring justices up to N800m in cash and provides a house valued at N500m, off the books.
The practice started around 2010 and virtually all retired CJs have benefited from it.
“Something very serious is happening there,” Sagay said.
“Those rumours have some basis.”
There are now more details about the security report that prompted the senate to reject the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In the report, Magu is accused of living in a N40million mansion paid for by one Umar Mohammed, a retired air commodore who is allegedly involved in shady deals.
There have been reports of no love lost between Magu and the DSS director, Lawal Daura, who authored the indictment.
“Investigation on the chairmanship of Magu revealed that in August 2008 during the tenure of Farida Waziri as the commission’s chairman, some sensitive documents which were not supposed to be at the disposal of Magu were discovered in his house. He was subsequently redeployed to the police after days of detention and later suspended from the police force,” said the report seen by TheCable.
“In December 2010, the Police Service Commission (PSC) found Magu guilty of action prejudicial to state security – withholding of EFCC files, sabotage, unauthorised removal of EFCC files and acts unbecoming of a police officer, and awarded him severe reprimand as punishment.
“Notwithstanding, sequel to the appointment of Ibrahim Lamorde as chairman, he made the return of Magu to the EFCC a top priority. Magu remained a top official of the commission until he was appointed to succeed Lamorde.
“Magu is currently occupying a residence rented for N40m at N20m per annum. This accommodation was not paid [for] from the commission’s finances, but by one Umar Mohammed, air commodore retired, a questionable businessman who has subsequently been arrested by the secret service.
“For the furnishing of the residence, Magu enlisted the Federal Capital Development Authority to award a contract to Africa Energy, a company owned by the same Mohammed, to furnish the residence at the cost of N43m.
“Investigations show that the acting EFCC chairman regularly embarked on official and private trips through a private jet owned by Mohammed.
“In one of such trips, Magu flew to Maiduguri alongside Mohammed with a bank MD who was being investigated by the EFCC over complicity in funds allegedly stolen by the immediate past petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
“Furthermore, the EFCC boss has so far maintained a high-profile lifestyle. This is exemplified by his preference for first-class air travels. On 24 June, 2016, he flew Emirate airlines first-class to Saudi Arabia to perform lesser hajj at the cost of N2.9m. This is in spite of Mr President’s directive to all public servants to fly economy class.
“Magu has fostered a beneficial relationship with Mohammed who by his confession approaches clients for possible exploitation, favours and associated returns.”
However, in the report, the secret police cleared members of the board of the anti-graft agency — Nasule Moses, Lawan Maman, Garandaji Imam Naji and Adeleke Adebayo Rafiu — of any wrongdoing.
Usman Abusidiq, a blogger, had made the same allegations for which the EFCC arrested him, keeping him in detention for about 48 hours.
As at the time of filing this report, calls to Magu’s phone line did not go through.
Also, calls and a message to Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesman, for a reaction to the report, were not answered.
Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says the upper chamber of the national assembly is yet to take a decision on the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a statement issued late Thursday, Falana said the decision of the executive session of the senate to reject Magu cannot be binding on the red chamber.
He said the action of the lawmakers who antagonised the anti-graft czar is a proof that forces of corruption have decided to rubbish the anti-graft war of the current administration.
“My attention has been drawn to the refusal of the senate to conduct confirmation hearing in respect of the nomination of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” he said.
“Since Mr. Magu was not allowed to justify his appointment before the plenary of the senate it is misleading to say that his nomination has been rejected by the senate.
“Section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act 2004 provides that “The chairman and members of the commission other than ex officious members shall be appointed by the president subject to the confirmation of the senate.
“Since it was the executive session of the senate that took the decision not to confirm Mr. Magu the senate has not taken a decision on the matter. In the entire history of the senate, an executive session or committee of the senate has never been allowed to usurp the statutory power of the senate with respect to the confirmation of nominees of the President of the Republic.
“The announcement credited to the Bukola Saraki-led senate is that Mr. Magu’s confirmation could not be considered based on a security report. The purported security report was not presented on the floor of the senate. To that extent the refusal of the executive session of the senate to circulate the report and allow the senate to take a decision is an insult on the integrity of the entire senate.
“Since the said report was prepared by the management of the State Security Service, it is crystal clear that the refusal of the senate to consider the nomination of Mr. Magu is a confirmation that the forces of corruption have decided to rubbish the anti corruption crusade of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The President owes the nation a duty to flush out all the well known corrupt elements in the government and their cronies without any further delay.”
The Senate’s refusal to confirm Ibrahim Magu as head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was months in coming. In the end, it was a rancorous power-play involving the Senate, the State Security Service, and the Presidency that sealed Mr. Magu’s fate.
At a hurriedly arranged press conference Thursday, the spokesperson for the senate, Abdullahi Sabi, announced that Mr. Magu’s nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari as EFCC chairman had been rejected.
He cited “security report”, and said the president would be informed of the decision.
Several top security officials and lawmakers have shared with PREMIUM TIMES key elements of that report, and the sequence of events leading up to the Senate’s decision.
They also gave details of the high-wire intrigues that worked against Mr. Magu, a senior police officer who has managed to inject vigour into the nation’s fight against graft, while generating a whirling controversy with his tactics.
The principal charge against Mr. Magu, our sources said, was the allegation that the chief corruption fighter himself seemed tainted.
The SSS report pointed at Mr. Magu’s N20 million-a-year rental home, and the expensive air transport service he allegedly once enjoyed, at an estimated N2.5 million.
The service involved a private jet belonging to former Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Umar, which transported Mr. Magu from Kano. Mr. Umar, a close friend to the EFCC boss, is facing corruption charges.
The report also noted that Mr. Magu had once been arrested when Farida Waziri headed the EFCC, for stashing official government files at home. EFCC files were also found at Mr. Umar’s home more recently when the property was searched by SSS agents, one source said.
Mr. Magu did not respond or return our calls Thursday. He did not speak to journalists at the National Assembly.
In earlier comments when faced with same allegations, he told PREMIUM TIMEs and other media that he was given the official apartment by the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA), and was unaware of its worth.
He also explained that the files found in his home at the time were documents he took home to enable him attend to pressing official duties.
Beyond the report
But multiple sources at the National Assembly and the Presidency agreed the report merely provided a cover to an interplay of power between the Presidency, the Senate and the SSS.
“By and large, it was more or a turf war, and an issue of personal difference between Mr. Magu and the SSS Director General, Lawan (Daura),” one source said.
Outside the National Assembly, the hushed confrontation had been mostly between two camps, involving top Buhari administration officials, they said.
Mr. Magu’s camp has the National Security Adviser, Mohammed Monguno, a retired Major General, and Mr. Umar, a former member of the presidential panel of military arms procurement.
The opposing camp, which for months canvassed M.D. . Magu’s removal, PREMIUM TIMES understands, has the SSS boss, Mr. Daura, Interior Minister Abdulrahman Dambazau, and President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.
Our sources said for weeks, both camps lobbied senators for or against Mr. Magu, and the second camp aggressively pushed the “security report”.
While the report had long been received by the leadership of the Senate, it was not distributed to senators, officials said. It was read to Senators on Thursday.
By then, both sides had won fairly good numbers of lawmakers to their camps, and the two sides agreed Mr. Magu should neither be confirmed nor rejected as EFCC chairman.
Instead, Senators advised the president be informed of the SSS report and be asked for his view, in the hope that if the president persisted, then Mr. Magu would be confirmed.
Lawmakers said when Mr. Magu and other nominees were summoned at Thursday’s closed-door session, he was not asked to respond to the allegations against him.
“They only informed them of the report and told them everything will be sent back to the president,” one source said.
President fingered
Several officials and lawmakers questioned the role of President Buhari in the matter, saying the plot succeeded because the president had himself become apathetic about keeping Mr. Magu at the post.
Lawmakers pointed to the report emanating from the SSS, which they said was copied to the president.
“It is impossible for the president to nominate someone for confirmation and for another of his appointees to write a damning report against the person and send to the senate,” one lawmaker said.
A presidency source said the president was clearly not keen about retaining Mr. Magu, and did not want to withdraw his nomination to avoid offending Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
“Remember it was the vice president who sent the letter for his confirmation to the Senate,” one presidency source said. “This works somehow because people can now blame the Senate.”
The source said ahead of the Senate session, when repeatedly asked about Mr. Magu’s confirmation, the president’s reaction had always been that he should go through the senate screening process and if he succeeded, that would be fine.
The Senate on Thursday hit back at the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, after he dismissed the legislative body as saying “balderdash” over the call for his removal and prosecution.
The Senate had on Wednesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend Mr. Lawal and ensure his prosecution over alleged breach of Nigerian laws in handling contracts awarded by the Presidential Initiative for the North East, (PINE).
An ad-hoc committee of the Senate on “mounting humanitarian crisis in the North East” led by Shehu Sani submitted its interim report on Wednesday and indicted Mr. Lawal for allegedly receiving N233 million contract to clear invasive plant species in Yobe State through a company, Rholavision Nigeria Limited.
The Senate alleged he remained a director of the company till September 2016, over a year after his appointment, in breach of Nigeria’s code of conduct for public officials as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.
Rholavision was incorporated in 1990 by Mr. Lawal, he confirmed, to carry out information and communication technology services.
But it was found by the Senate to be handling a N233 million bush clearing contract in the North East in 2016.
The Yobe State Government said the contract was never executed.
But less than an hour after the Senate indicted him and called on authorities to punish him, Mr. Lawal accompanied his principal, Mr. Buhari, to the National Assembly to present the 2017 budget proposal.
After the presentation, Mr. Lawal told journalists the Senate was only victimising him and trying to “rubbish” his personality.
“The senate is talking balderdash; it has developed the habit of bring-him-down syndrome,” he said.
“I have the report of the senate committee in which it was said that I didn’t resign from Rholavision Nigeria Limited. Let me tell you, Rholavision was formed by me in December 1990, and it has been a company that was run very successfully.
“Now, when I was appointed secretary to the government of the federation, I resigned from that company on 18th August 2015. I can see that in their report, they are talking about 2016. I don’t know where they got their facts.
“By the way, it is very instructive that when the committee was sitting, no effort was ever made to invite me to come and make submission. It is therefore, surprising that they devoted a whole session of today (Wednesday) at maligning me, claiming what is not true without even giving me the chance to come and put my own case before them.”
But on Thursday when the Senate resumed, Dino Melaye brought the matter up, saying his privilege and that of his colleagues were breached by Mr. Lawal.
The Senate insisted on its committee’s findings and Senators took turns to lambast Mr. Lawal.
“President should review how somebody like Babachir Lawal managed to get into this government,” said Chukwuka Utazi (PDP-Enugu).
Also commenting, Mr. Saraki said the Senate had played its role of exposing Mr. Lawal and that the onus was now on the executive “in a government that is fighting corruption” to do the needful.
“But I know Nigerians are watching,” said Mr. Saraki, adding that the Senate would directly communicate its resolutions that Mr. Lawal should be suspended and prosecuted to the President.
Later, the chairman of the committee that indicted Mr. Lawal, Mr. Sani (APC-Kaduna), spoke with PREMIUM TIMES exclusively and insisted Mr. Lawal lied in the claims he made.
He said Mr. Lawal was invited contrary to his claim.
“We invited him but he sent a representative,” said Mr. Sani.
On the claim of resigning from the company last year before the contract was even awarded in March 2016, Mr. Sani said, “we got to know from the Corporate Affairs Commission (that he held directorship till September 2016).
“We wrote the Corporate Affairs Commission and they supplied us the information.”
He said there was more the committee would reveal regarding how officials and companies criminally benefited from the North East crisis when the Senate resume next year.
The Senate on Thursday hit back at the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, after he dismissed the legislative body as saying “balderdash” over the call for his removal and prosecution.
The Senate had on Wednesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend Mr. Lawal and ensure his prosecution over alleged breach of Nigerian laws in handling contracts awarded by the Presidential Initiative for the North East, (PINE).
An ad-hoc committee of the Senate on “mounting humanitarian crisis in the North East” led by Shehu Sani submitted its interim report on Wednesday and indicted Mr. Lawal for allegedly receiving N233 million contract to clear invasive plant species in Yobe State through a company, Rholavision Nigeria Limited.
The Senate alleged he remained a director of the company till September 2016, over a year after his appointment, in breach of Nigeria’s code of conduct for public officials as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.
Rholavision was incorporated in 1990 by Mr. Lawal, he confirmed, to carry out information and communication technology services.
But it was found by the Senate to be handling a N233 million bush clearing contract in the North East in 2016.
The Yobe State Government said the contract was never executed.
But less than an hour after the Senate indicted him and called on authorities to punish him, Mr. Lawal accompanied his principal, Mr. Buhari, to the National Assembly to present the 2017 budget proposal.
Read More:
The rejection of Ibrahim Magu’s nomination as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission marked the end of months of delay by the Senate to act on President Muhammadu Buhari’s request.
The Presidency requested the Senate to confirm Mr. Magu’s nomination in July through a letter signed by Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo in his capacity as the acting president when Mr. Buhari was away on a medical trip.
However, since the letter was read by Senate President Bukola Saraki on July 14, the Senate showed no readiness to act on it until last week.
After failing to hold the confirmation hearing last week, the Senate said it would screen Mr. Magu today, Thursday.
But indications that Mr. Magu would face difficulties emerged Thursday morning during a meeting of the Senate leadership ahead of the plenary.
There was disagreement over the mode of the screening. While some Senators were for an open screening of Mr. Magu at plenary, some were opposed to it, saying the EFCC nominees should rather be referred to the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption for screening.
Later, Dino Melaye and Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, exchanged insults openly.
Due to the disagreement, the Senate was little over an hour late to commence sitting. Then, the Senate dissolved into an executive session which lasted over one hour.
During the executive session, Mr. Magu was invited into the chamber and stayed “for about 15 or 20 minutes”.
But the Senators had already made up their minds, it seems.
The Senate on Thursday afternoon announced the rejection of the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as the substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over security report at its disposal.
Spokesman of the Senate, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, told members of the Senate Press Corps that the Senate cannot proceed with the confirmation hearing of Magu and other nominees into the commission based on the security report sent to the Upper Chamber by the Department of State Service (DSS).
He added that the Senate consequently returning the nominations back to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Details later…
The plan to conduct the screening of the Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission today is causing confusion at the Senate.
The lawmakers are currently in a close-door executive session over the matter.
It was reliably learnt that the usual pre-session meeting of the principal officers, which holds at the Senate President’s office, was rowdy this morning as senators were said to have engaged themselves in a shouting match.
A source who witnessed the clash said the Leader of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume and Senator Dino Melaye, who was alleged to be against Magu’s confirmation, specifically engaged themselves at the meeting.
Although the screening had been listed on the Order Paper as part of activities at the chamber today, it is uncertain if the exercise will hold due to the latest development.
Details later…
Information reaching Omojuwa.Com from inside the National Assembly revealed that the Senate is locked in a closed door session since the last hour whilst Mr. Magu, Chairman-designate of EFCC waits patiently in a holding room for his confirmation that is slated to hold today.
Recall that the Nigerian Senate rescheduled Mr Magu’s confirmation to December the 15th.
The Presidency had in July written the Senate seeking the screening and confirmation of Mr. Magu as substantive chairman of the commission.
President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Mr. Magu as acting chairman of the EFCC after the removal of Ibrahim Lamorde on November 9, 2015.
Before his appointment, Mr. Magu was the Head of Economic Governance Unit of the commission.
If confirmed, Mr. Magu will be the fourth head of the anti-graft agency, after Nuhu Ribadu, Farida Waziri and Ibrahim Lamorde.
The Senate on Wednesday indicted the Secretary to the Government to the Federation (SGF), Mr. David Babachir Lawal over alleged fraud involving funds meant to cater for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-east.
Senate decision followed the adoption of a report of its adhoc committee on North-East Humanitarian Crisis presented by Sen. Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna), Chairman of the adhoc committee.
The report which was unanimously adopted by Senators with some slight amendments, recommended that the SGF be suspended and prosecuted by relevant anti-corruption agencies for violating the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to the award of contracts.
Senator Sani in his report said the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE) took undue advantage of the provision of emergency situation contract award in the PUblic Procurement Act, 2007 to over inflate contracts.
He said: “Contracts were awarded to companies belonging to top government officials’ cronies, family members and close associates. For example, Rholavision Engineering Limited incorporated in 1990 with RC No. 159855 at the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja to carry out information and communication technology services, anchored by David Babachir Lawal, the current Secretary to the Government of the Federation was awarded consultancy contract for the removal of the invasive plant species in Yobe state on 8th March, 2016.
“Although, Lawal resigned the directorship of the said company in September, 2016, it is on record that he is still the signatory to accounts of the company. About 95 to 100 per cent payments of all contracts awarded by PINE have been paid even as some contracts are yet to be fully executed, e.g, payment of One Hundred and Eight Million naira (N108 million) only for the supply of 1100 units of temporary tarpaulin carbines at Three Hundred and Two Thousand naira (N302,000:00) per unit made to Dantex Nigeria Limited despite the fact that 125 units valued at N37.7m were yet to be supplied.”
Confirming the alarming humanitarian crisis in the area, Senator Sani said: “lt is absolutely true, that there is serious humanitarian crisis in the North-East as evidenced by the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) both in camps and within the host communities.
“There is hunger, disease, squalor, deprivation and want amongst the lDPs. This observation is corroborated by a statement accredited to the United Nations’ Deputy Coordinator of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Mr. Peter Lundberg to the effect that ”a projected 5.1 million people will face serious food shortages as the (Boko Haram) conflict and risk of unexploded improvised devices prevented farmers from planting for the third year in a row, causing a major food crisis in the North East”.”
Speaking on the non-availability of Federal Government’s health workers in almost all the camps visited, Sani said: “There was vivid absence of the Federal Ministry of Health in all camps visited, however, while the few critical government agencies like National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as well as States Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) were noticed, but without synergy with other agencies. However, the Nigerian Air force medical , team was found rendering medical services to the lDPs with the little equipment at their disposal.”
He continued: “Despite the claim by some Federal government agencies to the effect that huge sum of money is being spent on lDPs in the North East, what is on the ground as seen by the Committee does not justify/reflect the claims. For example:
“Over 70 per cent of displaced children both in camps and with host communities were out of schools due to lack of classroom infrastructure, inadequate teaching materials and even teachers. They were also seen loitering in the camps mal-nourished, sickly, and poorly dressed.
“Generally, there is acute shortage of food amongst the lDPs, as observed in one of the lDPs visited, three(3) bags of rice of 50kg each, a bag of beans of 50kg and a 4 liter of palm oil were given to 30 people for 15 days. These were considered too insufficient as confirmed by many lDPs that interacted with the Committee.”
In their contributions, senators lampooned the SGF and backed the position of the interim report which called for the suspension and prosecution of Mr. Lawal.
Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi) while making his contribution said: “The SGF rushed to the Corporate Affairs Commission in September only when the Senate started investigating him. He awarded a contract to his own company where he is a signatory. The SGF has exhibited anti-Buhari tendencies.
“This is a gross abuse of office. I call for the immediate resignation of SGF and after that, he should be prosecuted by the Federal Government. It is time to call a spade a spade. It is time for the Senate President to act.”
Melaye got dramatic when he said “yesterday I felt like crying but today I actually need to cry,” and was promptly handed a white handkerchief by a colleague which he used to dab his face.
Incidentally, at same time the presiding officer, Bukola Saraki also raised a handkerchief to his face as if to also wipe a tear.
Senator Adeola Solomon (APC, Lagos) on his part, said: “While the SGF was giving his testimony to the committee, what he was saying was not in tandem with the documents we had. This is just the interim report. What we have now is just the phase value. The companies were only created for the award of these contracts.
“We are asking him to resign and also calling for his immediate prosecution. When you go to the IDP camps, there is nothing there to write home about.”
Leader of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno) however sounded a note of caution: “I am a bit worried. This is an interim report. If we have a report that is interim, what decision can we take? Why can’t we wait till the full report is ready.”
But he was ignored by Senators and Saraki quickly intervened, saying “when we get there, we will look at the issue and do the right thing.”
In his final remark, Saraki added: “Let me thank the committee for being able to do a report and for coming out with this daring infractions that are commendable. I hope the relevant agencies will take note of the recommendations.
“The message from the Senate is that business cannot continue as usual. Those that have contravened the relevant acts must be prosecuted. This government that is seen to be fighting corruption must not cover up this fraud. We must do something about it.”
The Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has said that calls by the Senate for his resignation and prosecution are an attempt to rubbish his person.
Mr. Lawal said this while speaking to journalists shortly after the 2017 Budget Proposal presentation by President Muhammadu Buhari before the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that efforts to get more response from the SGF failed as he did not respond to further questions.
The Senate had at plenary earlier called for the removal and prosecution of the SGF following alleged complicity in the diversion of the North East humanitarian funds.
This followed the presentation of interim report of the Adhoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North East by the Chairman of the Committee, Shehu Sani.
The call for Mr. Lawal’s removal followed alleged contravention of the provisions of Public Procurement Act and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to award of contracts.
Presenting the report, Mr. Sani said that some of the contracts were awarded to companies belonging to top government officials’ cronies and family members.
He explained that the committee found out that Global Vision Engineering Limited, a company, with Mr. Lawal as Director, for instance, was awarded consultancy contract.
Despite being an IT company, the firm got a job to clear grass in Yobe at N200 million.
“Although, Lawal resigned the directorship of the said company in September 2016, it is on record that he is a signatory to the accounts of the company,’’ he said.
The adhoc committee was directed to expedite action on its findings to submit a complete report on the humanitarian crisis in the North East.
1. It is my pleasure on behalf of my Distinguished and Honourable colleagues to warmly welcome you Mr. President and your entourage to this joint session of the National Assembly.
2. Mr. President, while we may have struggled with key aspects of our budget process in the past, I am happy to note that we have made some important progress.
To start with, we are seeing the budget presentation coming slightly earlier this year. Though, we hope tosee an even greater improvement on this in the coming year. But more importantly however, is that so far this year’s budget process has benefitted from greater cooperation and consultations between the National Assembly and the Executive.
3. Mr. President, I wish to note that the National Assembly recognizes however that the problem with our budget and budgeting process goes far deeperthan the relative progress we have made. This is why in August this year, I inaugurated a joint Executive/Legislative committee and a technical committee to review our budget systems and identify ways we can make them more transparent, more participatory, more result oriented and therefore more effective.
The committee has since submitted its report and the National Assembly is already started the process of implementing the recommendations.
4. Already, we have tried to bring the key highlights of the report into effect within the 2016 framework. These include:
• pre-budget consultation and engagement,
• greater information sharing and recording,
• Public hearing on the budget bill
• Drafting of an Organic Budget Bill
• Amendment of the Public Procurement Act
5. Our hope is that the remainder of the recommendations of this report will be implemented within the 2017 budget year with the passage of the Organic Budget Law.
The Organic Budget Law will provide the legal framework for regulating the procedures that budget preparation, approval, implementation and even accounting must follow. It will bring the budget and national planning regime within a clearly defined framework, thereby ensuring greater predictability, transparency and efficiency.
6. When the current National Assembly introduced the Civil Society Public Hearing on the Budget initiative, the idea was to open up the budgeting space by incorporating the Civil Society into the budget process, thereby ensuring greater transparency and accountability. We are proud to say that this engagement has come to stay as a crucial part of our budget approval process.
7. Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, honourable members, you would recall when the National Bureau of Statistics NBS came out with the numbers to confirm that the Nigerian economy has slumped into recession, the National Assembly rose with one voice. Through a joint resolution, we recommended that you make a “state of the nation” address on the plan of government to get us out of recession and have 20 important Executive actions that in our view needed to be taken to get the economy back on track. The National Assembly on its part listed and prioritized 11 economic reform bills for passage. We intend to get these bills ready alongside the 2017 Appropriation bill. We believe that the core elements of these bills will aid the Executive in mobilizing the required private capital into the general economy, but especially the infrastructure market.
8. In the thinking of the 8th National Assembly, our country can no longer rely on the public sector alone to spend us out of recession. It is therefore critical that we mainstream private sector business and investment in the economy. To achieve this, we must make it much easier and efficient for people to invest and do business in our country.
9. Further to this, we are also aware that if we must attract private investments to play a central role in our economic recovery efforts, must make deliberate efforts to market Nigeria as an attractive brand through a very robust and highly coordinated process of engagements. This effort must necessarily start with injecting confidence in the market through clarity and consistency of policies. We must speak the right language and show that we are open to and ready for legitimate business.
10. I wish to reassure Mr. President that the National Assembly would continue to seek opportunities to deepen this relationship because we are convinced it is the only by working closely together that our country can make the progress that we all desire.
11. The overarching purpose of a budget is essentially to ease the economic pressure on our people in general and the poor most especially. The 2017 budget assumes even a greater significance, particularly in this time of recession. Mr. President, the feedback we get from visits to our various constituencies is that there is hardship in the land. We can see it and we can feel it. This situation therefore commands all of us as government to a greater sense of urgency. We cannot work magic, but we must continue to work the clock.
Our people must see that the singular pre-occupation of government is the search for solution to the current economic hardship; and the commitment to ease their burden. They don’t want to know what political parties we belong, what language we speak or how we worship God. They have trusted their fates into our hands, and they need us now more than ever, to justify the trust that they have reposed on us. The people of Nigeria will pardon us if we do some things wrong. But they will not forgive us if we do nothing. And that is why, Mr. President the two chambers have taken a position whatever may be our differences, or opinions on issues of the economy we will all work with one common purpose for this reason.
12. It is in times like this, when we are challenged from all sides that we need to develop new relationships and cultivate more friends. No one can clap with one hand and expect to be heard. This is the time when compromise, engagement is the tool necessary for successful collaboration and cooperation.
13. This is why I encouraged the Executive to continue with its engagement plans across all sections and stakeholders in the country particularly with our brothers in the Niger Delta and all parts of the country where instability is impacting on our collective economic and security aspirations.
14. Mr. President, you will recall in 2015, , I made a clarion call while receiving Your Excellency’s budget presentation for that year that the 2016 budget needed to be bold and pragmatic to drive local production and promote made-in Nigeria goods.
15. Today, permit me Your Excellency to reiterate this call. The only way we can cut down on our foreign exchange needs, create jobs and stimulate entrepreneurship in the country is to promote local manufacturing and investments.
16. This is why the National Assembly injected the made-in-Nigeria amendment into the Public Procurement Act. We are expectant that with your leadership, Mr. President, we will achieve even much more in this area. It is the hope of the National Assembly that the 2017 budget will continue to proactively pursue this policy objective.
17. Mr. President, though we are confident that we are receiving from you a very well-articulated budget proposal, it is worthy to point out that the best produced budget from the executive at all times still remains a proposal according to our constitution which the National Assembly will work assiduously on.
On behalf of the National Assembly, we commit to work on the 2017 budget, conscious of the responsibility that the current economic situation imposes on us and driven by the urgency to alleviate the suffering of our people and also bearing in mind your aspiration and vision for our people. We assure you Mr. President and all Nigerians that not even a single minute would be wasted on our side in the course of getting this budget approved.
18. With these few words, I hereby invite Your Excellency to deliver your speech and lay the 2016 budget proposals for the consideration of the National Assembly in accordance with Section 81 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
19. I thank you and extend the season’s greetings to all.
President Muhammad Buhari has benchmarked the 2017 budget at N305 per dollar, as against N197 to the greenback budgeted in 2016.
The N7.298 trillion budget also sets a benchmark of $42.5 per barrel of oil, as against $38 in 2016.
The budget, which is 20.4 percent bigger than that of 2016, has earmarked 30.7 percent for capital expenditure “to pull the economy out of recession”.
Again, the ministry of power, works and housing has the lion share of the budget, at N520 billion for capital projects.
More to follow…
After much delay and a postponement, President Muhammadu Buhari arrived Green Chamber of the National Assembly for the 2017 budget presentation.
To watch live, click HERE.
The Senate has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend and ensure prosecution of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, over alleged breach of Nigeria’s law in handling contracts awarded by the Presidential Initiative for the North East, PINE
The Senate’s resolution on Wednesday followed presentation of the report on mounting humanitarian crisis in the north-east by the Shehu Sani-led ad hoc committee.
Mr. Lawal’s company, Global Vision Ltd., is one of the companies indicted by the committee for allegedly benefiting from inflated and phantom contracts – or ones not executed at all – awarded by the PINE.
Mr. Lawal’s firm was said to have been awarded over N200 million contract to clear ‘invasive plant specie’ in Yobe State.
The committee found that as of the time the contract was awarded in March 2016, Mr. Lawal was still the director of Global Vision and that he just resigned in September.
Yet, currently, Mr. Lawal is the signatory to the company’s account.
Mr. Lawal’s directorship of the Global Vision while being a public official – Secretary General of the Federation – contravened Nigeria’s code of conduct for public officials as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, the Senate held.
Global Vision was incorporated in 1990 to carry out ICT services; but it received contract to clear grass in 2016 even while the owner is senior government official, the lawmakers found.
“Babachir Lawal is a disgrace to the All Progressives Congress,” said Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi West); adding that the SGF “is exhibiting anti-Buhari tendency”.
Mr. Melaye led the call for Mr. Lawal’s resignation and prosecution, after Mr. Sani (APC-Kaduna) presented his committee’s report.
Also, Isah Misau (APC-Bauchi) said Mr. Lawal should resigned immediately or be suspended and be prosecuted afterwards.
Mr. Misau said the Buhari administration was having challenges with performance delivery “because of people like the SGF”. He said the SGF was the one responsible for non-constitution of many boards of the federal government.
Mr. Misau said Mr. Buhari should sack and ensure prosecution of the SGF to prove seriousness of his anti-corruption campaign.
“Without the prosecution of the SGF, this anti-corruption fight will go nowhere,” he said.
That of SGF was one the numerous scams uncovered by the report, said Adeola Olamilekan (APC-Lagos). He said Mr. Lawal should resign and be prosecuted.
Mr. Sani’s report revealed that the Presidential Initiative for the North East took advantage of the emergency situation to award fraudulent contracts; and also that the realities in the Internally Displaced Persons camps did not commensurate with funds released.
The Senate therefore resolved that PINE should turn in all documents pertaining to contracts it had awarded, and that all government officials, apart from Mr. Lawal, found to have contravened law in the processes of the contracts should be prosecuted.
The Senate also asked the Federal Ministry of Health to immediately deploy its personnel to the IDP camps to support the international humanitarian crisis managers and military hospitals in the north-east.
It also asked the federal government and state governments in the north-east to ensure an end to acute food shortage in the IDPs camps; and that infrastructures in the recaptured villages and towns be rebuilt so that IDPs can go back to their homes.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has acted in national interest on the issue of data price increase, the Senate Committee on Communications has said.
The Committee, which visited the NCC headquarters in Abuja yesterday as part of it oversight functions, said Nigerians should see the commission as being on their side on the issue of data price increase.
Senator Solomon Olamilekan (Lagos West) who spoke on behalf of the Committee members said the NCC had taken some commendable steps to sanitize the telecom industry and the data price hike was one of them.
He said “Each time we invited the leadership of the agency to the National Assembly, they honoured our invitation and responded to our inquiries, particularly during the MTN issue, and of recent the data price floor. They have acted in national interests and Nigerians see NCC as being on their side.”
While receiving members of the Committee, the Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Danbatta, said unless the issues regarding the data price floor are resolved, it remains a whirlwind that would not do anybody any good.
He said it is imperative that all stakeholders agreed on appropriate price floor on data for the good of the industry, noting that a proper cost-based study would be carried out shortly to determine price floor.
Credit: dailytrust
The Executive Vice Chairman, of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, tuesday said the non- adoption of a data price floor in the telecommunication industry is a whirlwind that would do all the stakeholders no good.
The EVC made the disclosure, when members of the Senate Committee on Telecommunications, led by Senator Gilbert Nnaji, paid him a courtesy visit at the NCC headquarters in Abuja.
According to Danbatta, it had become imperative that stakeholders agree on appropriate price floor on data for the good of the industry, adding that a proper cost based study would soon be concluded by the commission.
In their remarks, the Senate commended the EVC for placing national interest above all other interests, especially regarding the steps taken so far to sanitise the telecoms industry.
On the fine paid by MTN, the Senate noted the commission’s handling of the MTN’s N1.04 trillion fine though later reduced to an acceptable amount by both parties, adding that the recent outcry over the planned increase on data tariff, which the commission suspended was also commendable.
“We will like to commend President Buhari for putting a square peg in a square hole with the appointment of Professor Danbatta as the EVC of the NCC. Within the past one year, the agency has brought sanity into the telecom sector by promptly addressing all regulatory issues.
“Each time we invited the leadership of the agency to the National Assembly, they honoured our invitation and responded to our inquiries, particularly during the MTN issue, and of recent the data price floor.
“They have acted in national interests and Nigerians see NCC as being on their side” said the Senate through the Senate Committee on Communications.”
The committee urged NCC to make details of its 2017 budget available on time to enable members go through and approve to avoid the delay occasioned by the 2016 budget.
Credit: thisdaylive
President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate seeking the confirmation of Anthony Anyene as Auditor General of the Federation.
Senate President Bukola Saraki on Tuesday read the letter during plenary.
Buhari in the letter said the Federal Civil Service Commission recommended Anyene for the position.
Details later…
Nigeria’s Senate is stepping up efforts at saving democracy from executive abuse. It plans to amend the Constitution to decentralise the police force, whittle down the powers of the President over commissioners of police by giving state governors the power of the ‘last command.’
Through a gazetted Senate Bill 346 sponsored by Solomon Olamilekan of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) from Lagos East Senatorial District, the Upper Legislative Chamber has given full powers to governors to issue unconditional directives to the Police in their states.
A copy of the Bill specifically deleted the proviso in section 215 (4) of the 1999 Constitution as amended that empowered the President to overrule any orders given to a Police Commissioner by the state governor.
The Bill also seeks to nullify the provision in section 215(5) which had prevented any court from entertaining cases arising from such orders issued by the President to the police.
Greater control of the police by states will douse tension between the presidency and state governments over local policing, bolster efforts at fighting crime and ease governance. Effective policing at that level would also help states build the required infrastructure to create jobs.
There have been loud calls for political restructuring of the country for effective policing at the state and local government levels in response to rising spate of crime, including insurgency, armed robbery and kidnapping. The idea of state police has received increasing support despite Federal Government’s insistence on total control of the force. It was also part of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference convened by former President Goodluck Jonathan which the current government has refused to implement.
Security experts have however said, without appropriate checks and balances in place, governors’ control of police commissioners in their states would be a “recipe for disaster.”
Managing Director of Beacon Security Consulting, Kabir Adamu, expressed worry that the political situation in Nigeria does not favour the decision, as its implementation would help political and self-serving interest prevail.
He said: “But I think it would be better if one sees the checks and balances the Senate intends to introduce in the new law and to ensure that this very vital institution of law enforcement is not used to serve either political party or self interest. If they do not introduce checks and balances, then it is a recipe for national disaster,” Adamu argued.
Aliu Umar Babangida, who manages the Abuja-based Goldwater & Rivers and Consult, a defence and national security firm, agreed with Adamu. “It is necessary but not yet the right time to allow governors exercise control over Commissioners of Police,” he said.
The Police force in its reaction said it would simply enforce any law made by the Legislature and signed by the Executive arm of government.
“I can’t comment on political decisions; we are professionals and law enforcers. Whatever law comes into force, we would obey, Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Don Awunah, said.
He described the Police as an agency vested with the responsibility of enforcing the law, while the National Assembly makes the laws.
The specific amendment that removed the obstacle on the way of state governors in directing the police commissioners reads: “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (in this Bill referred to as “the Principal Act”) is altered as set out in this Bill. Section 215 of the Principal Act is altered by deleting the provision to subsection 4.”
The same section 215 is also altered by deleting immediately after the word “shall” in line 3, the word “not” in subsection 5. 3.”
The explanatory memorandum to the Bill states that it seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) by deleting the Proviso to section 215 (4) and removing the ouster provision of directions given to the Police on combating crime under section 215(5) of the Constitution.”
The amendment, according to sources within the Senate, became necessary following undue control of the police by the Federal Government and its agents in Abuja, which has made it difficult for governors to promptly address security issues in their states.
As if underscoring the move by the upper legislative arm, former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday urged Nigerians to give the police the necessary support for effective and efficient policing.
Obasanjo spoke in Abeokuta at a maiden meeting of the Eminent People’s Forum (EPF) and launching of “Change Begins with me” of the Ogun State Police Command.
The State Police Commissioner, Ahmed Iliyasu, disclosed that the EPF is a collaborative group that works to make policing more efficient.
The former President disclosed that the work of the police is a difficult task; hence, society must help them to perform their duties.
Obasanjo explained that security of the society must be done collectively. He urged the people to assist the police in the community with necessary information.
Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, a direct beneficiary of the proposed law, who was represented at the event by Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, lamented the total loss of public trust in the police and urged men and officers of the police to do everything possible to evolve new strategies at combating crime and restore confidence in themselves.
In a nutshell, the Senate is seeking the amendment of Section 215 (4) of the current constitution, which reads: “Subject to the provisions of this section, the Governor of a state or such Commissioner of the Government of the state as he may authorise in that behalf, may give to the Commissioner of Police of that state such lawful directions with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order within the state as he may consider necessary, and the Commissioner of Police shall comply with those directions or cause them to be complied with: Provided that before carrying out any such directions under the foregoing provisions of this subsection the Commissioner of Police may request that the matter be referred to the President or such minister of the Government of the Federation as may be authorised in that behalf by the President for his directions.”
And section 215 (5) in the current constitution that prevented courts from hearing cases related to presidential directives to police reads:
“The question whether any, and if so what, directions have been given under this section shall not be inquired into in any court.”
The Bill, when successfully passed by the Senate, will face little hurdle in the state legislatures which are required to endorse any amendment of the constitution by the national legislsture before it becomes valued. But with the governors already itching to enjoy powers similar to having a state police, the amendment could have a smooth sail in the 36 Houses of Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Magnus Abe, All Progressives Congress as the winner of the Rivers South East senatorial district election.
Professor Gideon Onuekwusi, the returning officer announced that Abe polled 125,938 votes while Olaka Nwogu of the PDP polled 25394 votes.
Abe had called for a rerun after losing in 2015.
Yesterday the Senate urged the Federal Government to overhaul and reposition the NYSC in the interest of corps members.
The resolution followed a review of the death of three corps members – Miss Oladepo, Miss Elechi Chiyerom and Mr. Ukeme Asuquo in orientation camps in Kano, Zamfara and Bayelsa.
Chief Whip Senator Olusola Adeyeye, (Osun Central) painted the pathetic deaths of the corps members at the NYSC camps.
Senators in plenary agreed with Adeyeye that steps should be taken for the total overhaul of NYSC scheme.
The Senate agreed that the state of orientation camps across the country was unfit for human habitation.
Apart from total overhaul of the scheme, the Senate urged the government to immediately improve medical facilities in all NYSC orientation camps including deploying experienced medical personnel in the camps.
The upper chamber also mandated its Committee on Sports and Youth Development to conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the three corps members in order to prevent future occurrence.
Adeyeye said: “The death of corps members is becoming a recurrent decimal in almost all NYSC Camps across the country. Experienced medical personnel are practically non-existent in all our Orientation Camps across the country as fresh doctors who have not garnered any experience are the ones administering treatments to corps members.
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The Senate on Thursday rescheduled the screening and confirmation of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, to December15.
The Deputy Leader of the Senate, Bala N’allah, made this known while addressing journalists on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the postponement of the exercise from December 8 to 15 became necessary to allow for a full house to convene.
According to him, lawmakers who travelled out of Abuja for official assignments requested the postponement pending their arrival to enable them participate in the confirmation process.
“The Senate is normally guided by the time frame of the work. We agreed that today will be the confirmation of the EFCC Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu.
“But we received a lot of calls from senators who are away, who want to participate.
“When we looked at the demand and the number we felt it will be wrong for us to proceed, disregarding those calls.
“We decided to fix it for Tuesday but we were not sure if the President will declare Tuesday as Public Holiday, so we agreed to fix it for Thursday.
“We have since written an official letter to the acting chairman fixing Thursday as the day for the confirmation hearing of his appointment,’’ he said.
On why Mr. Magu’s confirmation had lingered for more than five months, N’allah said the senate had other matters of priority to attend to.
“Anybody who is familiar with the normal procedure of governance would have known that there are certain procedures that need to be taken for candidates to be confirmed.
“Whatever we do is always subject to interpretation but what is important is that a date has been fixed,” he said.
The Presidency had in July written the Senate seeking the screening and confirmation of Mr. Magu as substantive chairman of the commission.
President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Mr. Magu as acting chairman of the EFCC after the removal of Ibrahim Lamorde on November 9, 2015.
Before his appointment, Mr. Magu was the Head of Economic Governance Unit of the commission.
If confirmed, Mr. Magu will be the fourth head of the anti-graft agency, after Nuhu Ribadu, Farida Waziri and Ibrahim Lamorde.
The Senate has failed to hold the confirmation hearing earlier scheduled to consider the request of President Muhammadu Buhari that Ibrahim Magu be confirmed as chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had announced at plenary on Wednesday that the confirmation hearing would hold Thursday, after five months of delay.
But the Senate did not list the confirmation in the Order Paper for Thursday eventually.
Officials of the EFCC led by the acting Chairman, Mr. Wagu, were at the Senate this morning, awaiting to be called for the hearing.
The Presidency had sought the Senate’s request since July through a letter signed by Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo in his capacity as the acting president when Mr. Buhari was away on a medical trip.
However, since the letter was read by the Senate Presiden, Bukola Saraki, on July 14, the Senate had not shown readiness to treat the request, fueling allegations that some Senators were trying to block Mr. Magu’s confirmation.
The senate will hold a confirmation hearing for Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday.
Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president, who presided over a session of the upper legislative chamber, disclosed this on Wednesday.
According to him, the board members of the anti-graft agency would also be screened. They are Nasule Moses, Lawan Maman, Garandaji Imam Naji and Adeleke Adebayo Rafiu.
In July, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had forwarded Magu’s name to the senate for confirmation.
At the time, President Muhammadu Buhari was on a 10-day vacation in London.
But the senate did not consider or confirm the appointment of the EFCC boss for months, fuelling speculations of cutthroat wrangling between him and some key figures in Buhari’s government, who want him out of the way.
Buhari appointed Magu in November 2015 to succeed Ibrahim Lamorde, who was removed as EFCC chairman under controversial circumstances.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, says Senate will pass the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, PIGB, in tranches as a way out of its non-passage for the past eight years.
Mr. Saraki made this known at a three-day Public Hearing on the PIGB organised by the Senate joint Committee on the bill on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the passage of the bill in tranches was necessitated by the need to unbundle its contents into manageable compartments that could be implemented in phases.
Mr. Saraki noted that the Senate was set to pass the first tranche of the bill, while putting measures in place for the passage of other tranches.
He added that the passage of the first tranche would further tackle persistent problems associated with fiscal framework and host communities.
“This public hearing is another avenue for us to hear from the operators, regulators, experts and other stakeholders in the industry on how to move the industry forward.
“We want to move away from the way things were done in the past during the consideration of such bills, especially fiscal framework and host communities.
“We will push for greater partnership so that the bill will be a win-win for everyone; one that works for government, attractive to oil companies and takes into consideration concerns of the host communities.
“We will also tackle the issues of downstream, gas and environment. We are poised and resolved to deal with all issues related to the industry, albeit in tranches.
“As a nation we cannot afford any further delay in our effort to reform our oil and gas industry.
“The journey begins now and I assure you that we will guarantee that all of these bills are passed in record time,” he said.
Mr. Saraki expressed concern that though the petroleum industry contributed over 90 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, existing legal, regulatory and institutional structures in the industry were out-dated.
He noted that the sector had performed below expectations, adding that the development had led to the Federal Government and investors losing significant edge in the oil and gas investment trends.
According to him, it is unacceptable that till date, Nigeria still imports over 90 per cent of needed petroleum products, flares substantial gas produced, damages the eco-system and pollutes host communities.
The senate president added that in spite of Nigeria’s might in the sector, it could not supply adequate electricity to individual homes and industries.
“This situation has undermined our citizen’s standard of living, life expectancy, national energy security.
“It has therefore resulted in other unforeseen fallouts like labour unrest, fuel queues, high cost of delivery of products and unquantifiable wastage of national productivity.
“The oil and gas industry is yearning for good governance, competitiveness, transparency, indigenous participation and accountability,” Mr. Saraki said.
He assured that the bill would be passed in record time.
The Chairman of the joint committee, Omotayo Alasoadura, said if Nigeria must get out of the present recession, the petroleum industry must be made efficient and more profit-oriented.
He said it was therefore expedient to pass the bill to reposition the industry.
Mr. Alasoadura said: “It is in this spirit that we are beginning today the journey of consultation with stakeholders in the match towards passing the bill.”
The public hearing ends on Friday.
Nigeria’s battle to exit the league of corrupt nations will suffer a setback as the Senate plans to amend the 1999 Constitution to protect lawmakers from all criminal and civil cases.
Civil society organisations yesterday warned that the proposal could erode confidence in the law, especially in the eyes of the global community that sees Nigeria’s political class as being ‘fantastically corrupt.’
They expressed the concern that with such immunity for all lawmakers at national and state levels, legislators will now be able to blatantly ask for bribes with impunity.
Immunity for Nigeria’s more than 1200 lawmakers at federal and state levels of government means they will escape criminal and civil prosecution for at least four years if the Senate succeeds in altering any part of the constitution for this purpose.
The Guardian obtained the Senate Bill number 342 yesterday and found that it has already been gazzetted and being given accelerated legislative processing.
The main objective of the amendment is to ensure that leaders and members of the legislature — particularly National and State Assemblies — are not subjected to any form of prosecution or legal persecution on account of their actions or statements in the course of carrying out their legislative functions.
Those opposed to the amendment, however, expressed the fear that it could be misconstrued to mean, “The Bill is simply seeking to give the presiding officers of the Senate protection against being prosecuted for their alleged involvement in the Senate rules forgery case.”
It was learnt that the body of Principal Officers of the National Assembly was able to clear the way for the amendment following the withdrawal of the Senate forgery suit by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation last October.
In withdrawing the suit against Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu last October, the Ministry of Justice filed an application to amend the charges and attached the amended charges. In the new charges, only the former Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Salisu Maikasuwa, and a former deputy clerk, Mr. Ben Efeturi, were listed as accused persons.
Sponsored by Senator Solomon Olamilekan, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) representing Lagos East Senatorial District in the Senate, the constitution amendment bill is aimed at strengthening “our democratic institutions (The Legislature) by guaranteeing the freedom of speech and protection of members of Parliament over words spoken and actions taken in the normal course of legislative business.”
Specifically, the bill seeks to amend Section 56 of the Constitution by adding new Sub-Sections which read: “No civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against any member of the Senate or the House of Representatives in respect or words spoken before that House or a Committee thereof or in respect of words written in a report to that House or to any Committee thereof or in any petition, bill, resolution, motion or question brought or introduced by him therein.”
According to Olamilekan’s Bill, the Constitution will be further amended by adding new Subsections (4) and (5) in Section 98 to read:
“No civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against any member of a State House of Assembly in respect of words spoken before that House or a committee thereof; or in respect of words written in a report to that House or to any committee thereof or in any petition bill, resolution, motion or question brought or introduced by him therein.”
It was learnt that the earlier disagreement generated within the National Assembly on the matter has been resolved at regular meetings of the body of National Assembly principal officers where it was stated that the amendment was not just to benefit presiding officers but to protect all lawmakers from frivolous political machinations that could manifest through litigations.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) described the proposed amendment as self-serving and an attempt to frustrate democracy in the country.
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) Tuesday said that it intervened with an interim price floor for data services to avert a looming price war in the telecommunications sector.
The explanation of the NCC is coming even as the Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, asked Nigerians to face reality.
The regulatory commission said that it feared that the price war could eventually lead to a monopoly in the telecom industry that would force small operators to shut down.
It said that monopoly in the telecom sector could also push the country back to the days of NITEL to the detriment of small operators in the sector.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Dambatta stated this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Communications.
The committee was mandated to investigate the proposed hike in the price of data tariff said to have been ordered by the NCC.
Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Adeola, who presided, noted that there was a public outcry over the proposed data price increase.
Adeola said that Nigerians were united in their opposition that the proposed increase in the price of data should be stopped.
He said that the position of Nigerians was that the idea of hike in data price was ill- advised especially with the biting economic situation in the country.
Professor Dambatta told the committee that the intervention of the NCC was not designed to undermine the consumers.
He noted that if cheap prices were introduced, they may end up undermining the telecom service operators.
He said that if the situation arose where the operators could no longer cope, the consequences could be better imagined.
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Senate said Monday it would appropriate N95 billion in 2017 nutrition funding for some 1.9 million children aged under five suffering from malnutrition.
It is the biggest appropriation promised for nutrition so far, after it appropriated a paltry N2.4 million in budget for federal health ministry in 2016, which wasn’t released.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Olanrewaju Tejuoso admitted malnutrition budget in 2016 “wasn’t properly budgeted.”
“Only N2.4 million in FMOH budget, less than some states budgeted,” told a press briefing before the senate committee started a policy dialogue on nutrition in Abuja.
“If we are going to take care of children confirmed for malnutrition, we need to make sure they are budgeted for.”
Senator Matthew Urhoghide, vice chairman of Senate health committee and also on the appropriations committee, defended his committee’s passing just over N2m for nutrition.
He said the amount was “proposed by the ministry, and that was what was passed.”
Speaking about its current calculation of N95b for nutrition in 2017 budget, he said, “We are saying this is what must go to the budget office before it comes to us.”
He said it wanted the health ministry to budget that amount of funding for nutrition before submitting its budget to avoid any alternation to the budding raising concern about “budget padding.”
Out of an estimated 2.5 million children considered wasted – too thin for their age — and in need of malnutrition treatment, the expected funding can only provide for 1.9 million at an estimated N50,000 child.
The United Nations Children’s Fund has pledged to fund treatment for an extra 600,000 children to be treated for severe acute malnutrition. Another 11m children are considered stunted, or too short for their age.
“The actual footprint of the burden of malnutrition is far greater than what you see in terms of [severe acute malnutrition],” said Shawn Baker, director of nutrition and global development at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“What’s terribly encouraging is there’s a recognition that nutrition has not been under-prioritised.”
Working with Borno state, UNICEF expanded treatment to reach 15,000 children, up from 6,000 between June and September, said Arjan de Wagt, UNICEF nutrition chief.
“What’s stopping us from scaling up?” said de Wagt. “When the resources are there, it is very easy to scale up to a million children. That’s not rocket science.”
Credit: dailytrust
The Senate will this week inch towards passing half of its historic and the much needed economic reform package as six of the 11 priority economic growth and reform bills have been scheduled for public hearings between today and Thursday.
The legislation scheduled for public hearing today includes the National Development Bank of Nigeria Bill, which is intended to provide short, medium and long term financing to participating financial institutions for loans to small scale, medium and industrial enterprises in agro allied businesses, manufacturing, mining; and the National Road Fund Act to fund the rehabilitation and maintenance of the national road system.
Also, public hearing on the Federal Roads Authority Act, which is to manage the federal roads network so that it is safe and efficient, with a view towards meeting the socio-economic demands of the country; and the Customs and Excise Reform Act, which seeks to reform the administration and management of the Customs Service for greater accountability and revenue generation, will hold the same day.
Tomorrow, Land and Marine Transport Committee will hold public hearing on the National Transport Commission Act. The legislation establishes a National Transport Commission as an effective, independent and impartial authority in the transport sector.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Committee on Upstream Petroleum will hold public hearings on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIB).
This long-awaited legislation will establish a framework for the creation of commercially oriented and profit driven petroleum entities that ensures value addition and the internationalisation of the petroleum industry.
Procedurally, legislation is referred to the committee with the appropriate jurisdiction for it to hold public hearing after the bill has passed the first and second reading during the Senate plenary session.
Once the committee submits the public hearing report to the full Senate, the legislation is subject to a third reading, or final passage by members sitting at plenary as a committee of whole.
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The Senate will do everything possible to fast track the passage of the Anti-Tobacco Bill, Senate President Bukola Saraki has assured.
Mr. Saraki gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja when a delegation of civil society groups led by Bintou Camara, Director, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CFTFK), paid him a visit.
He also pledged that the Senate would adhere to all anti-tobacco laws in the country; stressing that global and World Health Organisation (WHO) standards must be maintained.
Mr. Saraki, however, warned that Nigeria would not be a dumping ground for goods that had negative implications on the health of its citizens.
He said: “we must reassure you that we will not pass laws that anybody will evade. We will definitely ensure that those laws are strictly adhered to and complied with.
“I can assure you that once the necessary bills come to us from the Ministry of Health, we will fast track them and ensure they are passed into law.
“We are on the same page and I want to assure you that here in the Senate, we will work very closely with you.
“We will ensure that there are strict compliance with global standards and regulations of World Health Organisation (WHO).”
He said that the Senate would laise with the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that draft bills form the ministry were given prompt attention.
Earlier, Bintou Camara, the leader of the delegation, said that they were at the National Assembly as part of their advocacy to ensure free tobacco environment in Nigeria.
He urged the Senate President to ensure that anti-tobacco bill was given speedy passage whenever it was brought to it by the Federal Ministry of Health.
The Senate has proffered a solution to the controversy over who succeeds a governorship or presidential candidate who dies after election had begun and before the announcement of the results.
While passing the clauses of a bill seeking to amend the Electoral Act 2010 for the sixth time, the lawmakers, during the plenary on Thursday, recommended the conduct of a fresh primary within 14 days to choose the new candidate.
The bill also recommended the suspension of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission for 21 days.
The amendment, which was inspired by the development during the last governorship election in Kogi State, had suffered a setback at the Senate on November 2, when lawmakers failed to reach a decision on what happens to the mandate when a candidate of a political party dies midway into the poll
The development had forced the suspension of the consideration of the report by the Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission on a bill titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act 2010.’
The report proposed the amendment of Section 36 of the Electoral Act by inserting a new ‘Subsection 3’ to address the legal logjam that greeted the last governorship election in Kogi State, after the death of the All Progressives Congress candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu, during the collation of results.
Senate President Bukola Saraki has expressed optimism that the 2017 budget will be passed sooner than the 2016 budget, and without rancour.
He gave the assurance when he spoke with state house correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari?, at the presidential villa.
Saraki, who said he was at the villa to consult with the president on a number of national issues, including the budget, also said the national assembly was expecting to get the budget in the next 10 days.
The federal executive council presided over by President Buhari had on Wednesday approved the 2017 budget, preparatory to its transmission to the national assembly for its consideration and approval.
?Saraki said the senate was ready to receive the 2017 budget.
“We are ready. Once the document comes to us, we are ready,” he said.
“I think this time around, a lot of work has taken place behind the scene. There is a lot of more collaboration and you will see the result of that in the time frame it will take after the president will have presented it.”
?When asked if the issues surrounding the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) that led to the senate describing it as empty ?had been resolved, Saraki replied: “That is still a work in progress.
“I am sure that very soon, that matter will be concluded. But I am very optimistic that this year’s budget will be passed much more sooner than what we saw in the past.?”
Asked to disclose the details of the budget, he said: “Well, I haven’t seen the details, [not] until the president lays it. I am sure within the next 10 days, it will be presented.”
On the crisis generated by the defection of Yele Omogunwa to the All Progressive Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Saraki said :?”It is democracy at work.
“The opposition party has its views about the defection of a senator to the APC. Normalcy has been restored to the house and we are one family again.”
The Senate on Wednesday morning urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to halt the panned increase in data tariff by mobile telecommunications operators in the country.
Deputy Senate Leader Ibn N'Allah raises a motion on the increase in data tariffs by the telecomms. over policies of the @NgComCommission
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) November 30, 2016
Senators in all totality condemned the increase of data Tariffs by the service providers in tandem with @NgComCommission
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) November 30, 2016
Senate mandates #CtteeCommunications to carry out through oversight on the process to ensure that Nigerians are carried along in the process
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) November 30, 2016
Senate further mandates the #CtteeCommunications to investigate the allegations of failure of the service providers.
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) November 30, 2016
Senate now resolves to halt the new tariff approval.
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) November 30, 2016
Details later….
A bill that seeks to dedicate a whole day for health fitness exercise for Nigerians has scaled the second reading in the House of Representatives.
The bill, which is being sponsored by Diri Douye, a lawmaker from Bayelsa State, got the approval of the House to proceed to the committee stage at Tuesday’s plenary.
While making case for the bill’s passage, Mr. Douye said a lack of physical activities often results in poor health or worse.
“Exercise has long been known to lower risk factors like high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol which in turn reduces the risk of heart diseases and diabetics,” he said.
He said the bill would encourage the government and the private sector and all Nigerians to recognise fitness day and mark the day with local events and initiatives promoting the importance and use of recreational sport and fitness facilities.
Mr. said that the national fitness day would present an unparalled prospects to propagate the world about the benefits of keeping fit.
“If more Nigerians were physically active for just 30 minutes a day, the Nigerian health care system and the economy can save billions of Naira yearly, while creating a healthier community,” he said.
He further stated that it would also engage, educate and empower all Nigerians to adopt a healthy lifestyle that include regular, physical activities and good nutrition.
Mr. Douye it would promote programmes and initiatives that motivate people of all ages, background and abilities to live a healthy life,” he added.
Also contributing to the bill, Ayo Omidiran (APC-Osun) said that the bill if passed would be taken to the grass root to prevent diseases.
“We will use the day to advocate to the people to understand the benefits of staying healthy and eating well to live longer,” Mr. Omidiran said. “One major advantage is that we will use this National day of fitness as awareness creation.”
The bill was unanimously allowed to proceed after Speaker Yakubu Dogara put it up for a voice vote.
The Senate has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to amend the 2016 budget by re-assigning N180.8 billion to critical recurrent and capital items.
The Senate’s approval followed the presentation of the report of the Committee on Appropriations led by Danjuma Goje on Tuesday.
On August 3, Mr. Obono-Obla’s and others were nominated for appointment to the NCC Board. The nominees’ names were subsequently forwarded to the Senate for screening and confirmation by the Senate Committee on Communications. He scaled the hurdle of screening Senate for confirmation on 19 October.
On November 17, when Senator Gilbert Emeka Nnaji, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications, presented the report of the committee before the Senate Plenary Session, it showed those cleared as Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye (Chairman), Mr. Sunday Dare (Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management), Mr. Clement Omeiza Baiye (Non-Executive Commissioner); Senator Ifeanyi Ararume (Non-Executive Commissioner) and Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla (Non-Executive Commissioner).
The committee rejected the nominations of Mr. Aliyu Saidu Abubakar because he was accused of advocating the abrogation of the Nigerian Senate and Pastor Ezekiel Yissa provided vague reasons.
The confirmation and rejection exercise were captured in the Votes and Proceedings of the Senate (Pages 880-891) of Thursday, November 17th, 2016, and widely reported in the media the next day.
Bizarrely, though, the Senate President unilaterally overturned Obono-Obla’s confirmation. In a letter dated November 22 and addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Senator Saraki falsely included Mr. Obono-Obla’s name among those rejected. These were Messrs. Aliyu Saidu Abubakar and Pastor Ezekiel Yissa. The letter was titled “Confirmation of Appointments”.
SaharaReporters gathered that after the confirmation of Obono-Obla, Senator Saraki was heavily pressured by Senators John Owan Eno (Cross River Central) and Gershom Bassey (Cross River South), both of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to remove Obono-Obla’s name from the confirmation list.
Sources said Saraki assured the duo that he would do as they wished and transmitted such to the President.
The two senators told a lie which suited Senator Saraki’s vendetta instincts that Obono-Obla, who hails from Cross River State, is one of those at the President’s office behind the Senate President’s legal travails. Sources in the Senate, however, argue that the Senate President has no power to unilaterally revoke the confirmation of a presidential nominee by the Senate.
A senator told SaharaReporters on the condition of anonymity that once a presidential nominee has been confirmed by the Senate, such nominee can only be removed by the President on the ground of misconduct, but with the concurrence of other Senators.
The Nigerian House of Representatives on Thursday described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the “most corrupt” Nigerian on the record.
The lawmakers said the “greatly corrupt” and “morally bankrupt” former leader is effectively plotting to derail the government of Muhammadu Buhari in the same manner he allegedly did to successive presidents since 1979.
“It is unfortunate that he has started his very familiar method of bringing down governments,” House spokesperson, Abdulrazak Namdas, said in a statement Thursday.
“He did it to Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He did it to Gen. Buhari. He did same to Gen. Babangida. He attempted to bring down Gen. Abacha before he imprisoned him for treason.
“He made frantic efforts to derail the government of President Ya’ardua when he couldn’t use him. He supported President Goodluck Jonathan but when he refused to take dictation, he turned against him.
“He supported President Buhari, but since he has sensed that Nigeria is having economic difficulties under him, he has pounced to derail his government,” the lawmakers said.
The House was responding to the former president’s stinging criticism of the level of corruption in the National Assembly.
At a forum on Wednesday, Mr. Obasanjo said the National Assembly had become “a den of corruption” controlled by “a gang of unarmed robbers.”
The former president also backed the campaign of Abdulmumin Jibrin, a whistleblowing lawmaker who was suspended in September.
Mr. Obasanjo also called on President Buhari to end the corruption in the National Assembly with a clampdown similar to the one against senior judicial officers last month.
“If the Judiciary is being cleaned, what of the National Assembly which stinks much worse than the Judiciary?” Mr. Obasanjo queried.
The House responded to the attacks on Thursday afternoon through its spokesman, Mr. Namdas.
Mr. Namdas said Mr. Obasanjo lacked the moral authority to speak against corruption, adding that his allegations were devoid of any credibility.
“He remains the grandfather of corruption in Nigeria and lacks the moral authority to discuss corruption or indeed abuse of office in Nigeria,” Mr. Namdas said in a statement.
Mr. Namdas said Nigerians would not forget in a hurry the loads of cash Mr. Obasanjo allegedly bribed members of the House of Representatives to impeach a former Speaker, Ghali Na’Abba.
“Have we forgotten the sacks of money displayed on the floor of the House of Representatives being bribe money paid by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to some honourable members to impeach Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ghali Na’Abba?” Mr. Namdas queried.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki on Wednesday, decorated the former Senate President, David Mark with the leader of the Decade award.
This was announced on Wednesday, November 23 during a National Assembly Press Corps Award in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.
Mark is a retired Nigerian Army Brigadier General and politician who was President of the Senate of Nigeria from 2007 to 2015 and is the Senator for the Benue State constituency. He is a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
The Senate Tuesday commenced investigation into alleged illegal recruitment and lopsided appointments of some management staff of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The probe also covers NHIS expenditure on trainings and travels.
Management staff of the scheme led by its Executive Secretary, Mr. Usman Yusuf, appeared before the Senate Committee on Health yesterday to answer question bordering on alleged illegal recruitment, lopsided appointments and expenditure on training and travels.
Yusuf told the committee that the new recruits were on “secondment” and not on appointment.
Asked if the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who was present at the hearing, was aware of the “secondments” in the NHIS, the Executive Secretary answered in the negative.
He said, “No, he (Adewole) is not aware.”
The committee queried the NHIS boss why he spent N150 million on trainings and travels between January and June 2016, while the amount spent for the same purposes between July, August and September was between N2 million and N4 million, and the sum of N412 million was spent for the same purposes in October alone.
The committee noted that it received a petition against the NHIS in which the petitioner claimed that while the number of general managers of NHIS was raised from 23 to 25, their appointments were not in line with the Federal Character principle.
The panelists however declined to disclose the name of the petitioner as well as to provide
a copy of the petition to Yusuf.
The committee said that the petitioner claimed that the North-Central geopolitical zone, which had three representatives, now had five.
The petitioner was also said to have claimed that the North-East, which had three, now has
four while the North-West was raised from six to nine; South-East remained three; South-South dropped from four to three; while South-West reduced from four to one.
Yusuf insisted that, “It will be for the sake of fair hearing that I get a copy of the petition before I respond (to the allegation). I am not aware of any petition and I can only respond to the petition that I can see and read. I need to know what is in the petition and where the petition is coming from.”
Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Lanre Tejuoso, said that Yusuf should be able to state if the figures were correct or not even without seeing the petition or knowing it came from.
The Executive Secretary insisted on seeing the petition before confirming or refuting the allegations.
He said, “I need fair hearing; I need to see a copy of that petition.”
The committee declined to grant the request for the NHIS boss to see a copy of the petition before responding to the allegations
The committee said that since the allegations were against the NHIS and the person of Yusuf, they were not obliged to give out a copy of the petition to the Executive Secretary.
A member of the committee, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, noted the committee would confirm the allegations after going through the nominal roll of the NHIS.
The committee said that the NHIS boss failed to provide its nominal roll, which was the first information it requested from the scheme.
Read More:
Senate probes secret recruitment, lopsided appointments in NHIS
The Senate has summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, over his claims of multibillion dollars oil and gas deals with India and Chinese firms.
Mr. Kachikwu, in an interview with This Day in June, said Nigeria signed Memorandums of Understanding with several Chinese firms during a road show in the Asian country on “$80 billion new investments, spanning five years, in the oil and gas industry covering pipelines, refineries, gas and power, facility refurbishments and upstream financing.”
He also hinted at new investments worth $20 billion from Sinopec and Chinese National Offshore Oil Company in the Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
In October, Mr. Kachikwu, through a statement by the Director of Press in the Petroleum Ministry, said Nigeria was set to sign with India an investment deal which would see the Indian make an upfront payment of $15 billion to Nigeria for crude purchases.
But on Tuesday, the Senate resolved the Minister should appear before its committees on petroleum, gas and foreign affairs to explain the terms of the deals and the their implications for the economy.
The Senate’s resolution followed a motion by Clifford Ordia (PDP-Edo).
In his remarks, Senate President Bukola Saraki expressed appreciation to Mr. Kachikwu for his initiatives but emphasised the need for transparency.
The Senate on Tuesday called on the Nigeria Police to probe into the recently reported mob action in the Orile area of Lagos State in which a young boy was burnt to death for alleged stealing.
The upper chamber of the National Assembly, which specifically asked the police to either confirm or reject the incident, decried that the recent increase in cases of lynching indicated that the people were losing confidence in the government.
The lawmakers, who took turns to condemn the killings, pointed out that the ruling elite had alienated those they governed. They also stated that the security agencies had failed in their responsibility of law enforcement.
The senators spoke on a motion titled ‘Condemning the Rising Cases of Jungle Justice in the Country,’ which was moved by the lawmaker representing Lagos-East Senatorial District, Senator Olugbenga Ashafa, and co-sponsored by the Majority Leader, Senator Ali Ndume.
Speaking on the motion, Senator Shehu Sani (Kaduna-Central) Shehu Sani, said it was quite unfortunate that mob justice was becoming a way of life in communities.
He said, “I can directly attribute it to the loss of confidence between the people, the government and the law enforcement agencies.
It has become a recurrent decimal that, each day, you see people being killed under the guise of politics, culture or religion.
The Senate has expressed surprise at a recommendation by the Nigerian Law Reform Commission for a review of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Act in order to empower the Central Bank of Nigeria to jail people for up to two years or fine them for 20 percent of the amount of the foreign currency held in their possession for more than 30 days.
The Senate in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, stated that with its focus on boosting investors’ confidence in the nation’s economy, such move as proposed by the Commission that will prevent investors from making free entry and free exit from the market will be outrightly rejected by its members.
“The measure is disruptive and counter productive, threatening to undermine many of the reform efforts already underway in the legislature and by government ministries intended to boost investor confidence.
“The Senate would never pass such a punitive and regressive proposal. Overall, some of the Commission’s recommendation has many sound attributes and could help Nigeria’s investment climate. We believe the CBN should have the authority to regulate the forex market and determine the exchange rate policy as already enshrined in its enabling Act.
” A market-oriented exchange rate policy is the best recipe for guiding the operations of the foreign exchange market. This will ensure the supremacy of market mechanisms in efficiently allocating the scarce forex resources”, the Senate stated.
It added: “we will continue to work with the Executive to halt the worsening recession and return to economic growth.”
The proposed changes are said to be intended to help control capital flows and prevent foreign exchange from being taken out of the country. Analysis of the proposed rules changes, that were posted on the Commission’s website, states that, “the amendments are necessary for effective monitoring and control, and to ensure probity in foreign-exchange transactions in Nigeria.”
Last September, the Senate spearheaded an economic agenda to pass key reform legislations to promote economic growth through greater public sector participation, boost investors’ confidence and create jobs.
Also in June, the CBN was cheered for loosening its control over exchange rate policy in a bid to encourage investors to return to Nigeria and prevent capital flight. Hopes were high after the Nigerian government finally allowed the naira to float, as was recommended by domestic and international investment advisors. Currently, however, the markets do not reflect a loosening of CBN control over the forex market, leading to the emergence of multiple exchange rates.
A constitutional lawyer, Barr. Wahab Shittu, has called on the Senate, as a matter of urgency’ to confirm the appointment of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, within the next 48 hours.
It would be recalled that the Presidency has written to the Senate, seeking the screening and confirmation of Magu as chairman of the EFCC.
President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Magu as the acting chairman EFCC after the removal of Ibrahim Lamorde on November 9, 2015.
Speaking, Shittu said it was a shame that someone of the pedigree of Magu who has so far performed credibly and exceptionally well in pushing the frontier of anti-corruption war in the country be made to undergo this frustration.
Shittu stated that failure to confirm the EFCC helmsman by the Senate simply means that the senators are calling for the wrath of Nigerians because the nation’s anti-corruption fight is not a fight of the executive, legislature or judiciary but a fight to reposition Nigeria amongst comity of nations by Nigerians.
He said, “The Senate has no choice, than to confirm him, because failure to do so simply means that they should be ready for the wrath of Nigerians. Anti corruption fight is not a fight of the executive, legislature or judiciary it is a fight of the Nigerian people so when you do anything to confront the fight then you are indirectly fighting Nigeria and the Nigeria people will fight back to ensure that there interest is not endangered.”
President Muhammadu Buhari will soon send a “reworked” list of non-career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
The Senate had last week rejected the 46 non-career ambassadorial nominees earlier sent to it by Buhari for approval.
The lawmakers, who said the list would be returned to the President “for re-submission and re-jigging,” added that they rejected the nominees because of over 250 petitions against them.
Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that a fresh list would be prepared and sent to the Senate.
The fresh list, it was further learnt, would have the contribution of state governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress who complained that they did not have input into the selection of those who featured on the rejected list.
A government source, however, said some of the 46 names might still make the new list to be sent for approval if nothing serious was found against them.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, confirmed to our correspondent on Sunday that the list of the ambassadorial nominees would be worked on and sent to the Senate soon.
Adesina was however not specific on when the list would be ready for transmission to the Senate.
“The (non-career ambassadorial nominees) list will be worked on, and communicated to the Senate as soon as possible,” the presidential spokesman simply said.
The APC governors had met Buhari to protest about the inclusion of some nominees shortly after the rejected list was made public,
The President was said to have asked them to put their observation in writing which was done on their behalf by the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha.
Some notable names on the 46 non-career nominees’ list rejected by the Senate are retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice George Oguntade; a former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Mrs. Paulen Tallen; a former member of the House of Representatives, Usman Bugaje; and a former Deputy Governor of Niger State, Ahmed Ibeto.
Others include Dr. Uzoma Ememke (Abia State), Dr. Clifford Zirra (Adamawa), Maj. Gen. Godwin Umo (retd.) (Akwa Ibom), Christopher Okeke (Anambra), Yusuf Tugar (Bauchi), Baba Madugu (Bauchi), Brig. Gen. Stanley Diriyai (Bayelsa), Dr. Enyantu Ifenne (Benue), Mohammed Hayatuddeen (Borno) and Dr. Etubom Asuquo (Cross River).
Also on the list are Francis Efeduma (Delta), Jonah Odo (Ebonyi), Uyagwe Igbe (Edo), Ayodele Ayodeji (Ekiti), Maj. Gen. Chris Eze (retd.) (Enugu), Suleiman Hassan (Gombe), Amin Dalhatu (Jigawa), Muhammad Yaro (Kaduna), Deborah Iliya (Kaduna), Prof. D. Abdulkadir (Kano), Haruna Ungogo (Kano), Justice lsa Dodo (Katsina), Prof. Tijjani Bande (Kebbi), Prof. Y. O. Aliu (Kogi), Nuruddeen Mohamed (Kwara), Prof. Mohamed Yisa (Kwara), Senator Olorunimbe Mamora (Lagos), Modupe Irele (Lagos), Musa Muhammad (Nasarawa), Ade Asekun (Ogun), Sola Iji (Ondo) and Adegboyega Ogunwusi (Osun).
There are also Maj. Gen. Ashimiyu Olaniyi (retd.) (Oyo), Dr. Haruna Abdullahi (Plateau), Orji Ngofa (Rivers), Justice Sylvanus Nsofor (Rivers), Jamila Ahmadu-Suka (Sokoto), Kabiru Umar (Sokoto), Mustapha Jaji (Taraba), Goni Bura (Yobe), Garba Gajam (Zamfara) and Cpt. Abdullahi Garbasi (retd.) (Zamfara).
Tallen and Bugaje had rejected their nominations, citing failure to duly consult them.
There are strong indications that influential Nigerians, including a serving governor and a minister, are among owners of about 1,500 exotic vehicles parked in the Volkswagen Yard, on the Mile 2-Badagry Expressway in Lagos since 2015.
Another governor from the South-East (name withheld) has also been identified as the owner of 15 Sports Utility Vehicles intercepted and impounded by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and parked in the agency’s office in Ikeja.
The Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff, led by its Chairman, Hope Uzodinma, had visited the VON premises last week on oversight assignment when it discovered that the place looked deserted with disused equipment in its assembly plant.
The officials of the company, who had earlier declined to open the store to the lawmakers for inspection, were forced to grant the visitors access into the warehouse when the lawmakers threatened to force the door open.
The senators, who were there in company with security operatives and officials of the NCS, saw no fewer than 1,500 pieces of various models of Volkswagen products and other brands of vehicles in the warehouse.
It was learnt that the senators were curious when they found out that there were port tags on the vehicles, indicating that they were imported.
One of the lawmakers said that his colleagues were not convinced by the explanation offered by officials of the company that the firm did not abuse the auto policy introduced by the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration with its action.
The senator added that the team discovered that about 15 Sports Utility Vehicles, on the premises of the NCS office in Ikeja, Lagos, which were impounded by the service when the dealer attempted to evade payment of duty, belonged to a serving governor in the South-East.
He said the vehicles carried Federal Government’s official number plates in an attempt to deceive officers of the customs service.
Uzodinma had alleged in an interview with journalists in Abuja that there were indications that the company was not assembling vehicles in Nigeria as it claimed.
He stated that his committee discovered different vehicle brands in the company’s warehouses which were already assembled before they were shipped to Nigeria.
The Managing Director of VON Automobiles, Mr. Tokunbo Aromolaran, however, refuted the Senate claim that the company was sabotaging the country’s economy.
Aromolaran said, “The Chairman of the Senate Committee, in company with about 30 people, comprising senators, officers of Nigeria Customs Service, journalists and police officers, descended on the VON premises on October 28, 2016, without prior notification.
“They were given free access to our plants and warehouses, and found nothing other than what you would expect to see in an auto assembly plant – an inventory of vehicles assembled, awaiting delivery.
“We also confirmed that applicable duties were paid at the ports when the components were imported into the country.
He said, “All applicable duties and levies on Volkswagen vehicles stored at VON have been paid to the NCS (SKD vehicle kits and fully built units). This can be verified by the service.
Uzodinma, however, said on Saturday that the committee was convinced that VON was sabotaging the nation’s economy, adding that a public hearing would be organised soon to unravel the alleged sharp practices.
The Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, said the affected vehicles had remained under NCS custody because duty was not paid on them.
Adeniyi stated, “There are no separate laws for top government officials or highly-placed Nigerians. The laws are the same for everybody and the laws specify that all imported vehicles attract duty. If duty was not paid, the vehicles cannot be released.”
He, however, added that if the owners paid the required duty, the SUVs would be released.
On the 1,500 vehicles found in the premises of Volkswagen, Adeniyi said, “I do not have details of that development.”
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday signed eight bills sent to him by the National Assembly into law.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He described the development as unprecedented in the history of the present administration.
Following its role in the anti-graft war, the Senate said yesterday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, would be empowered to keep two percent of recovered loots as soon as the amendment of the Act which set it up was completed.
Speaking during a nationwide visit to offices of government agencies handling corruption-related cases, Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, who led other members of the committee to Enugu State, said: “There is a bill for an Act to amend the EFCC laws. We will pass the bill next week.
‘’We have made provisions for the EFCC to auction seized assets. We have also made provisions for special funding for the EFCC. Going forward, the EFCC will keep two per cent of whatever it recovers for its operational cost. We have big plans to ensure that things are working well for the EFCC.”
Utazi noted that the Senate was prepared to contribute its quota to the ongoing anti-corruption fight, which necessitated the committee’s nationwide visit to offices of government agencies handling corruption-related cases.
President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has stated that his recent meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari have nothing to do with the President’s $29.96bn external borrowing plan rejected by the Senate.
He also stated that the rejection was not personal but in the interest of the country.
In a statement on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki advised politicians and the media to stop “peddling empty speculations about his recent visits to the Presidential Villa and linking such visits to the request by the Buhari administration for approval of the National Assembly to get $29.9bn loan from foreign sources.”
The Senate President described the comments by some politicians on the loan issue “without any factual basis” as “unfortunate.”
Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, had warned the Senate President not to join the Federal Government in ruining the country by supporting Buhari’s request for the foreign loan.
The governor, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, specifically warned Saraki against doing so due to personal interests.
Fayose stated that, “No matter how much he (Saraki) tries to warm himself into the hearts of the Aso Rock cabal, they can never love him and accept him into their fold.”
Saraki, however, said, “Like I once told the media, these politically-motivated commentaries are trivialising a serious national issue and presenting it as if it is a personal matter that can be decided at meetings between Saraki and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The National Assembly, which I head as Senate President, has taken a position on the issue as required of it by the laws of the land and legislative conventions.”
The Senate on Wednesday invited the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Mrs Joan Ayo, to brief it over increasing allegations of secret employment by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the country.
The upper chamber said that it is worried over the unending allegations that MDAs were clandestinely carrying out employments without due process.
Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs said that the decision to invite the FCSC boss was taken after its oversight visit to the headquarters of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) in Abuja.
Acting Executive Chairman of FCC, Shettima Bukar Abba, was said to have lamented that government agencies have failed in their responsibilities to comply with the federal character principles.
Abba was also said to have disclosed that efforts by the FCC to get the FCSC to comply with the federal character principle as well as discourage secret employment in government agencies were being frustrated by denial of the FCSC boss.
Abba was said to have added that MDAs skew projects in the budget based on regional sentiments against an even distribution of projects as required by the principle of federal character.
The FCC boss was said to have told Senators that the unfortunate development, which was fast becoming a norm, was severally challenged in the past by the FCC, but to no avail.
He appealed for the support of the National Assembly, “because the commission needs its protection against erring government agencies.”
Abba said: “There is an issue I need to draw your attention to as well. Distribution of projects in the annual budget ought to be in compliance with the federal character principle. So far, you find that this has not been the case as it is skewed to favour one part at the expense of another.
“As legislators, I think you should watch out for this by ensuring that projects are not skewed to favour a particular section of the country.
“Also, I must add that in order to realise this, lawmakers should protect us (FCC) against MDAs in ensuring that the principle of federal character is maintained in drafting budget proposals.
“If they (MDAs) bring out their budget, their proposals must be balanced. They put in areas not based on the needs of people but based on sentiments. These are some of the issues we want your support on, since we believe it is what will keep this country together.”
Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character, Senator Tijjani Yahaya Kaura, in his ruling noted that following concerns raised by the Acting Chairman FCC, it became a necessary invite the FCSC boss to brief the Senate on the issues raised by FCC boss.
He noted that the FCSC boss should also be expected to throw light on her alleged failure to adhere to the provisions of federal character principles.
The Zamfara North Senatorial District assured the FCC of the Senate’s support saying, “It is because of our directive for submission of nominal rolls that is why government agencies are now rushing to you (FCC). We want to assure you that the National Assembly will stand by you and give you all the necessary support to succeed.”
The main entrance of the National Assembly on Wednesday remained shut as youth protest against corrupt politicians enters day two.
This has affected movement of vehicles through the main gate as lawmakers and staff can only access the complex through alternative routes.
The protest, led by a socialite and activist, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, is seeking a downward review of salaries and benefits of politicians in the country by about 70 per cent.
The protesters are also clamouring for the sentencing to death of public officials found guilty of stealing public funds.
They are also seeking a cessation of state and local government joint accounts.
One of the protesters, Miss Joy Amadi, said that the protest is a welcome development.
Amadi said the need for accountability in governance prompted her to join the protest.
She said, “Occupy NASS is a protest against corruption, political criminality, and a long period of bad leadership.
“However, just as the current government stands out to fight corruption, we also want to join hands to make Nigeria a corrupt-free nation.”
According to her, politicians have for a long time continued to extort from Nigerians through fat salaries and frivolous allowances.
Another protester, Mr. Ignatius Adeleke, stated that the campaigners are committed to the protest until the leadership of the National Assembly considers their demands.
He said, “We will not leave this place until our demands are met; we have suffered for too long while our politicians are living in affluence.
“We will not take it anymore; there has to be a change in our attitude.”
Similarly, a staffer of the National Assembly, who prefers to remain anonymous, commended the conveners of the protest and urged more Nigerians to join the campaign.
He said, “I wish the conveners well and I am hopeful that we will have more Nigerians, who will walk the talk and not just grumble on the streets.”
The bill for establishment of Nigerian Maritime University at Okerenkoko in Delta State, on Wednesday scaled second reading at the Senate, months after Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, announced scrapping of the project.
The bill sponsored by James Manager (PDP-Delta) was unanimously supported by the senators after the mover’s lead debate, making case for the establishment of the university.
The groundbreaking of the proposed school at Okerenkoko in Warri south-West local government area was done by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 and, according to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, physical asset were on site.
However, there has been no law backing the establishment of the university.
Addressing the senate committee on maritime on January 19, Mr. Amaechi had announced the scrapping of the project, which was to be financed by the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration Agency, a parastatal under his ministry.
Mr. Amaechi then cited insecurity in the area, and said the project was a “misplacement of priority” because there are transport institutes in Zaria (Kaduna), and Oron (Akwa Ibom), already.
Later on June 14 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the Minister said the Federal Government lacked the funds to continue with school; and that unless the N13 billion spent on the procurement of the land for the project was retrieved, the project stood scrapped.
“Okerenkoko (Maritime University), I am not against,” he said. “My argument about Okerenkoko is that land alone is 13 billion(naira). If you give me 13 billion, I will buy the half of Lagos. That 13 billion has built the university already.”
“What to do: let EFCC retrieve the money and release the money and we build the university. If they bring the N13 billion, I will build the university for them. That’s for land alone. I believe the Federal Government does not have money. When we have money, we can continue. The minister of petroleum has said he would look for the money. Minister, give me the money and we continue,” Mr. Amaechi said in Uyo.
But the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu disagreed with Mr. Amaechi, saying he was in support of the project, drawing a loud applause from the audience.
“First, let me say on Okerenkoko University, I disagree with the Minister of Transport,” he said.
“Any facility that is located in the South-South we should work close to developing it. I don’t care the circumstances under which you are placed.”
On Wednesday, the Senate shunned the transport minister, ensuring the bill for the establishment of the Maritime University scaled second reading.
Mr. Manager, the sponsor, argued that maritime sector had huge potentials and that Nigeria should have a university for the purpose of producing capable manpower for the sector which, as he said, is currently dominated by foreign interests.
On suitability of Okerenkoko for the project, he said the area was close to the sea and surrounded by oil wells.
The move that the bill be read for the second time was seconded by Fauster Ogola (PDP-Bayelsa) who said the giving legal backing to the school would make Nigeria become a “hub of manpower development in the Maritime sector.”
He said Nigeria would be the first to have maritime university in West Africa once the bill received approval of the National Assembly ultimately.
Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos) and Jibrin Barau (APC-Kano) also supported the bill.
After the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, called the voice vote and the Senators unanimously responded ‘ayes’, Mr. Saraki ruled the bill be referred to the committee on tertiary education and Tetfund.
The committee was asked to report back in four weeks.
Also, the Senate made progress on the bill to make the Maritime Academy in Oron, Akwa Ibom State a degree awarding institution. The bill, proposed by Effiong Nelson (PDP-Akwa Ibom) was read for the second time.
The bill for establishment of Nigerian Maritime University at Okerenkoko in Delta State, on Wednesday scaled second reading at the Senate, months after Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, announced scrapping of the project.
The bill sponsored by James Manager (PDP-Delta) was unanimously supported by the senators after the mover’s lead debate, making case for the establishment of the university.
The groundbreaking of the proposed school at Okerenkoko in Warri south-West local government area was done by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 and, according to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, physical asset were on site.
However, there has been no law backing the establishment of the university.
Addressing the senate committee on maritime on January 19, Mr. Amaechi had announced the scrapping of the project, which was to be financed by the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration Agency, a parastatal under his ministry.
Mr. Amaechi then cited insecurity in the area, and said the project was a “misplacement of priority” because there are transport institutes in Zaria (Kaduna), and Oron (Akwa Ibom), already.
Later on June 14 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the Minister said the Federal Government lacked the funds to continue with school; and that unless the N13 billion spent on the procurement of the land for the project was retrieved, the project stood scrapped.
“Okerenkoko (Maritime University), I am not against,” he said. “My argument about Okerenkoko is that land alone is 13 billion(naira). If you give me 13 billion, I will buy the half of Lagos. That 13 billion has built the university already.”
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The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, has vowed that the body will embark on its warning strike billed to commence today despite the intervention of the Senate.
Recall that the academic body had on Monday threatened to embark on a one week warning strike over the failure of the Federal Government to fulfill an agreement reached in 2013.
Following its threat, the Senate had yesterday urged President of the senate, Bukola Saraki to intervene in the matter with the view to stopping the body from carrying out the threat.
The senate, however, extended an invitation to the leadership of the union while calling for a temporary suspension of the planned strike action.
But speaking with The Nation, Ogunyemi insisted that the planned industrial action will go on despite the invitation by the senate.
“They have invited us for a meeting tomorrow (today) and we are going to meet with them. It is only after the meeting that we will call our own meeting and take a position.
“So, for now, the action will commence as planned. When we get to the Senate, we will address the issue. That is the position for now,” Ogunyemi said.
The Senate has expressed its resolve to intervene in the face-off between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities. ASUU
The lawmakers specifically asked the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, to intervene in the matter and prevent ASUU from embarking on a one-week warning strike which begins on Wednesday.
The lawmakers, during the plenary on Tuesday, urged the two parties to dialogue.
Details later…
The Nigerian Senate has mandated its President, Bukola Saraki, to personally lead the intervention towards resolving the brewing industrial crisis between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
The Senate resolved to muster efforts at stopping a protracted ASUU strike on Tuesday, barely 24 hours after the Union announced one-week warning strike, starting tomorrow.
The Senate resolution followed a motion on “matter of urgent national importance” with regards to the planned ASUU industrial action by Jibrin Barau (APC-Kano).
The warning strike, ASUU said, is over the failure of the Federal Government to implement terms of the 2009 and 2013 agreements.
“Many aspects of the 2013 MoU and the 2009 agreement with the Federal Government have either been unimplemented or despairingly handled,” ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi, said at the University of Abuja on Monday.
“The agreements are: Payments of staff entitlements since December 2015, funding of universities for revitalisation, pension, TSA and university autonomy and renegotiation of 2009 Agreement.”
Backing ASUU in his motion, Mr. Barau argued that ASUU was agitating for smooth running of Nigerian public universities and staff welfare which basically formed the terms of the agreements perfunctorily implemented – or not implemented at all – by the Federal Government.
In his contribution, Danjuma Goje (APC-Gombe), lamented plights of students of public universities whenever lecturers embark on strike, thereby calling for avoidance of ASUU strike.
Read More:
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/215413-asuu-strike-senate-asks-saraki-mediate.html
The dream of 47 Nigerians to represent this country as Non-career Envoys may have hit the bricks as the Senate on Tuesday resolved that the list of nominees should be sent back to the Presidency.
In a motion ably moved by the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume and seconded by the Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, the Senate cited controversies and plethora of petitions emanating from the list as reason behind its rejection.
Earlier, the Chairman of Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu had submitted that her committee could not commence screening of the Non-career Ambassadorial Nominees due to litany of petitions that saturated the committee secretariat.
“We find it very difficult to commence screening for the Non-career Ambassadorial Nominees. We received over 250 petitions against some of the nominees,” she said.
In his ruling, the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki said the list should be reverted to the Presidency, to readjust it before submitting to the Senate.
It could be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari sent a list containing 47 names of Non-career Ambassadorial Nominees to be screened by the Senate.
The list, however, suffered rejection in some quarters. While Senator Philip Aduda queried the non inclusion of FCT indigenes in the list, some Analysts also probed why Lagos State could get 3 nominees and states from the North also got 2 nominees, whereas, Imo State had no representative in the list.
President Muhammadu Buhari, may have asked the Senate to probe Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and other governors over how they spent the bailout disbursed to them by the Federal Government.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on States and Local Government Administration, Senator Abdullahi A. Gumel, in a letter dated November 3rd and forwarded to Aregbesola informed the governor that the senate committee would visit the state on December 7 for the investigation.
Read More:
http://punchng.com/senate-probe-aregbesola-others-bailout/
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met for the third time within one week with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
They met first last week Friday while the second meeting was on Wednesday after the President met with members of the South East Caucus in the Senate led by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and Eyinnaya Abaribe.
The third meeting on Friday was held after the Jumaat prayer in the President’s office.
Just like Wednesday’s meeting, this Friday’s meeting was termed private as State House correspondents were not allowed to cover the meeting.
The Senate had recently rejected Buhari’s approval request for $29.9 billion loan.
It also described the 2017 to 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) forwarded by President Buhari for approval as “empty.”
The MTEF is yet to be approved by the Senate.
The Senate President, at the end of last week Friday’s meeting, had told State House correspondents that the issue of the $29.9 billion loan was work in progress.
Bukola during the encounter also warned Nigerians not to politicise the issue of the loan request.
The Senate yesterday criticised its Finance Committee for approving the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) 2016 budget, which it said was full of ambiguities and duplication of projects.
The lawmakers, while debating the recommendation of the committee during the day’s plenary also criticised the report as lacking in details.
Senate President Bukola Saraki who presided over the plenary, asked the committee to work on the grey areas in its report and re-present it in one week.
On the proposed 2016 budget of the FIRS, the report said, “The FIRS projected to collect tax revenues to the tune of N4.082trn in 2016.
“This comprises N484bn oil and N3.597tn non-oil revenues. The projected four per cent cost of collection on non-oil revenue is N143, 904,640,000.
“The total projected available fund for the 2016 budget is N146, 165,108,293, comprising four per cent cost of collection and N2, 260,468,293 or 20 per cent of 2015 operating surplus.”
It therefore rejected the report of the committee, which had approved all projects, provisions and proposals.
Yesterday too, Saraki warned ministries, departments and agencies of government (MDAs) against violating the Public Procurement Law, which charged them to give preference to locally produced goods in Nigeria.
He also charged Senate committee chairmen to ensure in the course of their oversight duties that MDAs comply with the provision of the law on the patronage of local manufacturers just as he also urged all military and paramilitary agencies to emulate the army by procuring items like boots and other needs locally.
In a statement by Chuks Okocha, Special Assistant on Print Media, Saraki said this when members of the Leather and Allied Products Manufacturers Association of Abia State (LEAPMAAS) visited him to express appreciation to the Senate for its support for the ‘Buy Made in Nigeria’ campaign.
He advised local manufacturers to petition the Senate whenever any government agency deliberately refused to patronise them.According to the Senate president, “Today, we have made it a national project. I also promise you that we will amend the existing laws to give your efforts a legal backing that will ensure patronage of local manufacturers. That has also been done with the amendment of the Public Procurement Act.”
The Chairman of Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, yesterday said time would soon run out on recalcitrant obligors of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), given the renewed commitment of the lawmakers to support AMCON’s debt recovery drive.
Members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions are in Uyo, for a three-day retreat to deliberate on the best approaches to be adopted to help the challenged Nigerian economy.
The theme of the retreat is: “Economic Rebuilding through Eligible Assets Recovery.”
According to a statement, in attendance were the management of AMCON led by its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ahmed Kuru.
According to a statement, Ibrahim stated that the gathering was timely because the entire hallowed upper legislative chamber was committed to helping in stabilising the economy.
According to him, “This retreat for the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions is in keeping with our commitment to build strategic collaborations in order to develop greater capacity for sustained development. It is my hope that we will fully achieve the objectives of this retreat thereby strengthening the relationship between AMCON, this committee and indeed the entire hallowed upper legislative chamber.
“It is my expectation that at the end of the day, this committee will have identified new legislative support frameworks for AMCON where necessary, as well as more efficient ways to consolidate on already existing support legislations and frameworks so that AMCON can be strategically positioned to optimally perform its uniquely important responsibility of asset recovery and management.”
Earlier in his remarks, Kuru, told the committee that AMCON was seeking for support and partnership of the upper legislative chamber because of the frustration from obligors most of who are riding and leveraging the deficiencies in our institutions to hold AMCON and the nation to ransom.
“After more than 6 years of operation, all efforts to recover diligently have failed. We now have to resort to the Act setting AMCON up by resorting to the courts…Let me be quick to add here, that AMCON is not trying to unduly prejudice the views or positions of stakeholders, especially the judiciary.
“We are a responsible law abiding organisation with respect for the rule of law. However, our campaign is intended to draw attention to the enormity of the challenges and potential threats, which the bad loans in our portfolio pose to the wider economy and the common man.
“We are mindful of time as AMCON is a corporation with a very short lifespan. Our sunset date is drawing nearer each day. In fact, other similar institutions around the world, like Malaysia have wound up their recovery vehicles. They are now focused on managing or turnaround of the assets taken over during the recovery phase.”
The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly voted against the report of its committee on Finance, on the budget of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the 2016 fiscal year.
DAILY POST recalls that the Senate had at its sitting of Thursday, 21st July 2016 considered the request of President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2016 Budget of the FIRS and referred same to the committee on Finance for further legislative action.
However, when the committee’s report was read on the floor by the Chairman, Senator John Enoh, the Senate President and other Senators discovered loopholes in the said report.
The committee through its report, had recommended that a total expenditure of N143, 722, 430, 526 (One Hundred and Forty-Three Billion, Seven Hundred and Twenty-Two Million, Four Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Five Hundred and Twenty-Six naira) be approved for FIRS in 2016.
While reacting, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki queried the report. According to him, “the committee met in July, how comes it is recommending exactly what the agency projected at the beginning of the year 2016”.
Saraki was also baffled that the committee could recommend all the figures the FIRS proposed, without making any adjustment.
On his part, Senator Albert Bassey (Akwa Ibom North East) observed that the personnel overhead of the FIRS budget increased drastically to N25bn from 2015 to 2016; whereas, the agency is just undertaking a recruitment exercise for more personnel.
Senator Mohammed Hassan (Yobe South) in his reaction said, “the description of some of the items on the budget are fake”, stressing that the Senate needed full details of the items captured in the budget.
The deputy Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’allah and the Senate Minority Whip, Philip Aduda were of the opinion that the report be withdrawn as various issues needed to be worked upon.
They, however, bemoaned the way agencies would be presenting budgets for the fiscal year at the a time the year was already getting to an end.
“It is not helping the Senate in any way”, they said while flipping the John Enoh report into the trash, describing it as a “copy and paste budget”.
Saraki while ruling on the matter, said there was a need to always do a thorough job and ascertain the figures, especially when it comes to area of revenue generation.
He also observed that some capital projects always reoccur in agencies’ budgets every year.
Having voted against the report, the Senate President, therefore, asked the committee on Finance to go back and tidy up issues raised, and report back within one week.
The Senate yesterday stepped down three bills on the controversial issue of grazing in the country.
They are: “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of Grazing Areas Management Agency and Other Related Matters 2016”, sponsored by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso (APC, Kano Central); “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of National Ranches Commission for the Regulation, Management, Preservation and Control of Ranches and Connected Purposes 2016”, sponsored by Senator Barnabas Gemade (APC, Benue North-East); and “A Bill for an Act to Control the Keeping and Movement of Cattle in Nigeria and Other Related Matters 2016”, sponsored by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North).
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said the Senate lacked the constitutional authority to legislate on the issues.
In as much as I would have loved that we find a lasting solution to the issue of animal grazing in Nigeria in the national assembly, I’m also of the opinion that the state governors do have a huge part to play in resolving the crisis that follows destruction of farmlands by Fulani herdsmen and their livestock.
As I have always opined that the Grazing Bill is dead on arrival basically because it does not address the fundamental questions raised by the victims of the herdsmen versus farmers carnage.
The Grazing Bill seeks to allocate portions of lands all over the federation to herdsmen for grazing. Any critical thinking person should know that this move will but only further the escalation of the feud between herdsmen and host communities. Using constitutional powers to allocate lands to nomads in host communities cannot count as a just method to solving the crisis.
Creating a grazing route in 36 states of the federation is like favoring settlers with the ownership rights to lands over the indigents of a particular area and considering how deeply divided the Nigerian people are along tribal and ethnic lines, the bill simply seeks to institutionalize the existing tension between herdsmen and farmer which in turn tends to be more dangerous than what we presently witness.
For instance, allocating grazing lands to a Fulani man in a Yoruba land like Ekiti is not a move that will sit well with the original indigents unless of course it is a business transaction of which in this case, is not.
Apart from the land-grabbing outlook of the allocation of lands for grazing, we are simply seeking to elaborate an already over-bloated government. In a time of recession, when the government is expected to reduce the size of it’s operations in order to save cost, we are looking to pass a bill that seeks to establish a Grazing Route Agency which intends to have a secretariat in all 36 state of the federation and thereby incurring running costs in operation and staff remuneration.
In a corruption-ridden country like ours, we cannot afford to use tax-payers money to create avenues for corrupt practices. As the struggle to cleanse ministries, parastatals and agencies of corruption, it’s not advisable to encourage corrupt practices by creating unneeded and inconsequential government agencies.
What To Do:
It is a laudable move for the government to put into consideration the plight of the herdsmen but that should not come at the detriment of people with other sources of livelihood. Therefore, the Grazing method of animal husbandry should be replaced with immediate effect by Ranching.
Ranching is the practice of raising herds of animals on large tracts of land. A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat, diary, skin or wool.
One of the major reasons why Ranching should be adopted over Nomadic Grazing is the elimination of the movement of animals from one part of the country to another thereby infringing on the rights of other citizens. Apart from averting crisis, research has also shown that animals that are ranched tend to be healthier than those that are being moved around.
In furtherance, ranching is a good source of revenue generation for state governments. Providing ranches in the 19 Northern States of Nigeria will go a long way in ensuring that cattle owners do not have to leave the state in search of vegetation for their animals thereby helping the government to keep tabs on revenue opportunities. For instance, if there are ranches in a state like Sokoto, the Sokoto Government can lease out such ranches to willing herders in exchange for money. Proper sensitization of herdsmen by the government can be carried out to give better understanding about the benefits that come with ranching.
SECURITY: Herdsmen over time, have always had dangerous encounters with cattle rustlers. Cattle rustling is the act of stealing cattle, which is made easy because of the nomadic nature of Fulani Herdsmen. Despite bitter encounters, the government have not been able to find a solution to cattle rustling and that is basically because it is almost impossible to provide security for an entity which happens to be on the move constantly. Animals that are ranched up in one location can be adequately provided with necessary security. The risk of being attacked and robbed in open fields will be greatly minimized because animals can be efficiently tracked and appropriately secured.
HEALTHCARE: As part of the benefits herdsmen will enjoy, ranches also enable animals to be tracked and properly given the needed medical attention. Government can set up veterinary facilities to ensure quality of animal production. This feature will be impossible if animals are being moved from one place to another in a nomadic method. In ranches, when animals need medical attention, all the farmer needs to do is to contact the closest veterinary facility to get help and because the veterinary personnel readily knows the location of the animals, response is swift and precise. Also, laboratories for animal medical researches can be set up to have a proper study of livestock in terms of behavioral patterns in comparison to weather, nutrition, climate and so many other factors. Such researches help in projections and provisions of certain inventions that may yet be beneficial to both farmers, animals and consumers of animal products such as leather, beef, dairy and other by products.
If government can generate funds from herdsmen by providing them with ranches, the outcome benefits of such collaboration is not quantifiable. From security, to healthcare, to improvement in livestock production, the benefits trump whatever benefits derived from the nomadic method of animal husbandry.
Since the Senate has stepped down the Grazing Bill and made it known publicly that finding a lasting solution to the issue of grazing is the sole responsibilities of State Governors, it is time the governors especially northern governors came together in a forum with sole purpose of mapping out plans to ensure the clashes between herdsmen and farmers come to a perpetual halt.
I have, in this piece made their job 50% easier. All the need to do is; do a little more research, fine-tune it and then implement.
The Senate yesterday stepped down three bills on the controversial issue of grazing in the country.
They are: “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of Grazing Areas Management Agency and Other Related Matters 2016”, sponsored by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso (APC, Kano Central); “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of National Ranches Commission for the Regulation, Management, Preservation and Control of Ranches and Connected Purposes 2016”, sponsored by Senator Barnabas Gemade (APC, Benue North-East); and “A Bill for an Act to Control the Keeping and Movement of Cattle in Nigeria and Other Related Matters 2016”, sponsored by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North).
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said the Senate lacked the constitutional authority to legislate on the issues.
He said: “I believe the matter here concerns everybody, given the level of carnage and conflict going on in different states. So, I feel the concern of my colleagues. But, unfortunately, we do not have powers to legislate on matters relating to livestock in this Assembly. It is a matter reserved for the states.
“I believe that both the bills for Kwankwaso, Gemade and Utazi are beyond the reach of this National Assembly and should, accordingly, be withdrawn, so that the states, under the constitution, would be able to deal with the matters which the constitution has prescribed for them. I will like to see somebody show me anywhere on the exclusive list or concurrent list that has given us powers to legislate on this matter because they are not in existence.”
Supporting Ekweremadu’s position, Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, questioned the necessity of any further debate.
He said: “The point that the Deputy Senate President raised is a very important one. First, if we don’t have the power to make laws, I think there is no need to even start arguing about it.”
He, however, added: “What we now know before us, to be very candid, is just the heading of the bill, which attracted us. We should hear them out on the merits, if that is possible. But if we don’t have the powers to do it, then we just waste our time. But if we have, I think we should listen to the merits and principles.”
Senate President Bukola Saraki disclosed he had already held a discussion with sponsors of the bills, urging them to harmonise their positions and present a uniform document.
“It is clear from the discussion today that it is not so. And my view is that since the basis by which they came on the Order Paper has changed, the way forward is for us to step it down from the Order Paper of today. I will want the Leader to move that we step it down from the Order Paper of today to another legislative day,” he said.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticised the Federal Government for choosing to dialogue with armed Fulani attackers.
It asked: “How does a civilised government intend to dialogue with murderers who have destroyed such farming communities as Agatu in Benue State, Godogodo in Southern Kaduna State, and have raided communities in Kogi, Enugu, Abia, Delta and most of Middle Belt states of Plateau and Tarawa?”
The group’s statement follows constitution by the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, on Monday of a committee to resolve clashes between the Fulani and farmers.
“This time-wasting and money-guzzling committee is totally unlawful and amounts to an attempt to usurp the legal functions of law enforcement authorities, like the police and attorneys-general, where such killings have occurred.”
HURIWA dismissed the action as an attempt to provide soft landing to outlaws who disguised as herdsmen and caused the deaths of thousands of Nigerians and destroyed property and crops worth billions of naira.
Senate has stepped down the second reading of three bills on cattle rearing in the country.
They are ‘A Bill for An Act to Provide for the Establishment of Grazing Areas Management Agency and For Other Related Matters 2016’ sponsored by Senator Rabi’u Kwankwaso (Kano-Central) and ‘A Bill for An Act to Provide for the Establishment of National Ranches Commission for the Regulation, Management, Preservation and Control of Ranches and for Connected Purposes 2016 sponsored by Senator Barnabas Gemade
(Benue North-East).
The third is ‘A Bill for An Act to Control the Keeping and Movement of Cattle in Nigeria and for Other Related Matters Thereto 2016’ sponsored by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu-North).
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who raised a point of order when the lawmakers began to treat the bills during Wednesday’s plenary, pointed out that the Senate lacked the powers to deal with matters that are on the Concurrent List, except on the Exclusive List.
The Majority Leader of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, also supported Ekweremadu’s point.
Read More:
http://punchng.com/senate-suspends-grazing-ranches-bills-passage/
Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, has congratulated the President-Elect of the United States of America, USA, Mr. Donald Trump, on his victory in the US presidential election.
In his message, Ekweremadu, who described the election as “hard-fought”, said the two major contestants gave a good account of themselves, and commended the candidate of the Democratic Party, Mrs. Hilary Clinton, for calling to concede the presidency to her rival and congratulating him on his hard-worn victory.
He said: “Mr. Trump has rightly described the election as historic. But it is not only historic for the U.S, but also for the world. It is an important reminder to the entire world of the true meaning and essence of democracy as government of the people.
“I urge him to work for democracy, global peace and prosperity because the peace and prosperity of America is intrinsic in that of the entire world.
“In particular, I urge better bilateral deals for Nigeria by the incoming Donald Trump presidency. I have no doubt that the people of Nigeria and indeed the Peoples Democratic Party are willing and ready to work with the incoming U.S government for the good of both nations”.
Senator Ekweremadu also enjoined emerging democracies, including Nigeria, to emulate the democratic and transparent nature of the U.S election, noting that the will of the people and respect for democratic principles must be allowed at all times.
“We have many lessons to learn from the American presidential election. It was highly democratic, transparent, peaceful, and free of intimidation, willful manipulations, contrived security scares; and it was absolutely conclusive, even though the ruling party was losing, and eventually lost”, Ekweremadu stressed.
Saraki in his message said: “On this day, I wish to extend my sincerest congratulatory remarks to U.S. President-Elect Donald J. Trump, on his remarkable victory in yesterday’s national election in the United States.
“Mr. Trump persevered through a very challenging Republican primary election cycle, where he defeated sixteen (16) professional and well-organized candidates. While many career politicians tried to write off Mr. Trump’s candidacy as a long shot, he stuck to his positions and controlled the daily media messaging like no other candidate in the history of American Presidential campaigns.
“Additionally, I must commend Mr. Trump for his gracious and courteous acceptance of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s phone call to concede the election. He recognizes that Secretary Clinton ran a courageous contest and was perhaps the most qualified candidate for President in decades. Having worked with Mrs. Clinton as a champion of the Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves, I can personally attest to her hard work and dedication to the less fortunate in our society. Secretary Clinton would have been a tremendous leader and we will all miss her dedication and commitment to public service.
“I look forward to working with President-Elect Trump to continue the strong U.S.-Nigeria relationship and to address our mutual interest in defeating global terror networks, rooting out corruption and strengthening the institutions of governance.
“Mr. Trump’s years of being a private sector leader can be invaluable to Nigeria as we work to restructure and diversify our economy. It is important for the private sector here to have a larger role in expanding our economic base, creating jobs and fostering entrepreneurship. In these areas, I am sure he will be able to serve as a strong partner.
“In closing, it is my hope and prayer that the United States can move beyond this election and heal the divisions that divide that great nation. Mr. Trump has an opportunity to be a unifying force and I believe his humble acceptance speech was a great beginning.?”
The Republicans have kept control of the Senate, with several races still to be decided.
Senator Pat Toomey’s narrow victory over Democrat Katie McGinty, in Pennsylvania, pushed the party over the line.
It means the Republicans will continue to have control of both Houses of Congress.
Republican Donald Trump has also edged closer to winning the White House with a series of shocking wins in battleground states such as Florida and Ohio on Tuesday.
If Donald Trump wins the White House, the party will have a clean sweep, making it easier for them to pass legislation.
The senate yesterday summoned the minister of Labour and productivity, Dr Chris Ngige to appear before it to provide insight into government’s road map towards tackling the alarming unemployment rate in the country and consequently review and reinforcing the blueprint.
This followed a motion by Sen Duro Faseyi (PDP Ekiti North) on the intolerable upswing of unemployment in Nigeria.
The senate said that it was worried that the economic recession which has hit the country would multiply the level of unemployment in the country as more companies have already started downsizing in order to cut cost , which according to them would compound the unemployment situation in the country.
It urged government to declare a state of emergency on unemployment with a view to confronting the challenge squarely.
The senate also directed government ministries and agencies and parastaltals , particularly the security outfits to enlist more Nigerian youths as s measure towards enhancing security around the country as well as ease unemployment.
It further directed the senate committee on labour and productivity to organise a one day retreat to dicuss the issue of unemployment with a view of addressing the challenge.
Read More:
http://leadership.ng/news/558304/senate-summons-labour-minister-over-unemployment
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties, Abdulazeez Nyako, said on Sunday that the lawmakers would view seriously the inadequacy of water and health facilities at the Internally Displaced Persons camps located in Borno and Adamawa States.
In an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Yola, Nyako said that despite the fund budgeted and allocated specifically for the provision of water and health facilities in the camps, the places were still hit by acute water scarcity and lack of enough health facilities.
He said: “The committee had already visited some major camps in Maiduguri and Yola, where we discovered they are suffering from lack of enough potable water and inadequacy of health facilities.
“We in the National Assembly, the Senate and House of Representatives, budgeted money for water supply and provision of health facilities for various camps in Borno and Adamawa.
“So far, we have not seen the effect.
“We will invite the Ministers of Water Resources and Health to explain what have they done with the fund provided for water supply and provision of health facilities in the camps.”
Nyako said that in the 2016 budget, the Senate allocated N1 billion each for water supply and provision of health facilities in the IDPs camps.
Similarly, another member of the committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, told NAN that they were not satisfied with the water supply situation and the health facilities in several camps visited in Borno and Adamawa States.
Gaya, representing Kano South Senatorial District, said that the Ministries, Departments and Agencies responsible for the projects would be summoned to appear before the committee.
He said that the MDAs had abandoned their responsibilities, leaving the National Emergency Management Agency to undertake the responsibilities not meant for her.
He therefore praised NEMA for effective humanitarian services and assured that National Assembly would continue to support the agency.
Anti-corruption groups have called on the leadership of the Senate to expedite action on the confirmation of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, so as to give the ongoing anti-corruption fight the impetus it desperately needs and help sustain the Buhari administration in curtailing impunity in governance.
This was stated in a statement collectively signed by Debo Adeniran, Coalition Againts Corrupt Leaders (CACOL); Lanre Suraju, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC); Adetokunbo Mumuni, Social-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP); David Ugolor, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ); Okey Nwanguma, Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN); Faith Nwadishi, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Nigeria and Oluajo Babatunde, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA).
This latest call on the National Assembly reiterates an earlier call made by the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, in August 2016 in the wake of delays in the confirmation of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as substantive chairman of the EFCC.
The group, rising from the recently concluded National Conference on the Role of the Legislature in the Fight Against Corruption, organised by the National Assembly and the Presidency, noted that prior to the process leading to the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Commission, the National Assembly went on recess.
“Interestingly, the Senate has since reconvened, screened and confirmed justices of Supreme Court and Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) forwarded to it long after the submission of Mr. Magu’s name for confirmation as EFCC’s chairman by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Section 2 of the EFCC Act says “there shall be a chairman who shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the commission, and who shall not be below the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of police. He is to be saddled with the responsibility of running the anti-crime commission. The groups verily believe that Mr. Magu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, meets and exceeds this requirement, and therefore his confirmation as EFCC Chairman without further delay will give the anti-corruption fight the boost it needs to end the culture of impunity and systemic corruption in Nigeria”, representatives of the coalition stated in a release.
If you learned nothing else from that visit, you should take the following to the bank:
1. A frosty relationship can be smoothened
The Senate and Executive arms of government haven’t enjoyed the best of relationships in the Buhari era.
There’s been too much bad blood between both camps.
Too much for President Buhari’s liking, a State House source has told Pulse.
Friday’s meeting may have been brief, but it was all for a better working relationship between Buhari and the Saraki-led Senate in the future, Pulse was reliably informed by a top ranking official in the Presidency.
Saraki had said after the meeting: “We should not look at that as a reflection of the relationship. Don’t let us politicise very important issues. As we said, this is work in progress.”
Yeah, you read that right.
The relationship between the Executive and the Legislature is very much a work in progress.
2. That $30B loan rejection was on the agenda
“I came here to pray, I have finished praying and I just had a general felicitation with the president. It didn’t go beyond that”, Saraki said as he deflected questions from State House correspondents concerning whether the rejection of the $30B loan proposal from the Executive was on the cards.
Yeah right. Aso Rock must have the best praying ground around these days.
The loan request from the Executive was turned down by the Senate earlier in the week and Saraki visits the President as the week tapered off.
Make of that what you will.
Remember what they say about the Witch crying at night and the Child passing away at dawn?
Even President Buhari gave the agenda away in the following tweet:
3. President’s aides have been doing such a poor job
To be very frank here, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma and Senior Special Assistant to Buhari on National Assembly matters, Ita Enang, have made a huge mess of Executive proposals sent to lawmakers recently.
First, it was the 2016 budget proposal that was duplicated and laden with errors; and then we had the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) that was lacking in details and a loan request proposal that had no attachment.
It has been a comedy of errors from Buhari’s men.
Today’s meeting was supposed to address all of that.
***********
Trust us when we say the President’s loan request will be re-submitted to the National Assembly and speedily passed this time.
And we’ll remember this meeting as the moment when a relationship reset happened.
President Muhammadu Buhari, Senate President Bukola Saraki and the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno after the Jumat prayers in Aso Rock mosque on Friday
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday held a closed-door meeting with President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Saraki was accompanied to the President’s office by Senator Danjuma Goje.
Saraki later told State House correspondents after the meeting that Buhari’s external borrowing request that was rejected by the Senate was a work in progress.
”I came here to pray. I have finished praying and I just had a general felicitation with the President. It did not go beyond that.
“We should not look at the loan request as a reflection of the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature. Don’t let us politicize very important issues. As we said, this is work in progress.”
Buhari who tweeted about the meeting via his official Twitter account @MBuhari wrote, “This afternoon I received in audience Senate Pres @bukolasaraki. The Executive & Legislature will continue to work together for Nigeria’s progress.”
The Senate on Thursday dismissed the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Sustainability Paper sent to it by President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the documents as “empty” and not worth considering.
Senate’s action is coming two days after it rejected the president’s plan to borrow $29.690 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018. It said the plan lacked detailed information.
It also came on the same day the Senate denounced presidential aides as being “incompetent”, saying they failed to present a comprehensive proposal on Mr. Buhari’s bid to borrow $30 billion.
Mr. Buhari had on October 4 sent the MTEF and FSP, ahead of the 2017 budget, to the Senate and the House of Representatives for consideration.
The Senate complained that the details of the fiscal proposals, which in Nigeria’s public finance architecture are the precursors to the annual budget, were not attached to the president’s letter requesting the consideration.
At plenary on Thursday, the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, raised a point of order drawing the attention of his colleagues to a newspaper report with a headline, which suggested that the National Assembly was to blame for failure to meet the October target for the submission of the 2017 budget proposal.
He said the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, was quoted as saying in the publication that the suspension of debate of the MTEF/FSP had stalled the ministry’s plan to transmit the 2017 budget to the legislature.
Mr. Ndume expressed displeasure that the executive arm had resorted to blaming the legislature over the avoidable delay.
Read More:
The Senate on Thursday dismissed the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Sustainability Paper sent to it by President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the documents as “empty” and not worth considering.
Senate’s action is coming two days after it rejected the president’s plan to borrow $29.690 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018. It said the plan lacked detailed information.
It also came on the same day the Senate denounced presidential aides as being “incompetent”, saying they failed to present a comprehensive proposal on Mr. Buhari’s bid to borrow $30 billion.
Mr. Buhari had on October 4 sent the MTEF and FSP, ahead of the 2017 budget, to the Senate and the House of Representatives for consideration.
The Senate complained that the details of the fiscal proposals, which in Nigeria’s public finance architecture are the precursors to the annual budget, were not attached to the president’s letter requesting the consideration.
At plenary on Thursday, the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, raised a point of order drawing the attention of his colleagues to a newspaper report with a headline, which suggested that the National Assembly was to blame for failure to meet the October target for the submission of the 2017 budget proposal.
He said the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, was quoted as saying in the publication that the suspension of debate of the MTEF/FSP had stalled the ministry’s plan to transmit the 2017 budget to the legislature.
Mr. Ndume expressed displeasure that the executive arm had resorted to blaming the legislature over the avoidable delay.
He said, “As the Leader of this Senate and I am responsible for presenting communications, bills from the Executive. You will recall that we received the MTEF on 30th September. Instead of submitting it according to law not later than 1st of September, that is not even the problem.
“I went through and the copies have been circulated. I talked to some experts. Even in this chamber, we have people that you can call experts. If you look at this document that they call MTEF, it is empty. And it doesn’t contain anything. If you have nothing how do you consider nothing?”
Mr. Ndume said on October 19 he wrote Mr. Udoma and his Finance counterpart, Kemi Adeosun, seeking the details of the MTEF/FSP but that he was yet to get any response from the duo.
He said he invited both ministers to meet with the Senate on November 1 to review the MTEF from holistic perspective but that they failed to turn up.
He further explained that in the letter he requested that a comprehensive report on the implementation of the 2016 budget as of third quarter as well as the fiscal rates taxes and charges used to derive the projected revenue.
“Up till now, there is no communication to that,” the senate leader lamented.
Mr. Ndume warned that the legislature could not afford to begin the 2017 budget process with blame game.
He said, “We cannot afford to start the 2017 budget process with this blame game. This Senate is Nigerian Senate. We have the opposition that is co-operating with us and we have the majority in this Senate.
“So, it is not like we are working against the government but we know what we are doing. And we should do it right.
“When they bring nothing and we ask for something so that we will do it properly, they run to the newspaper to start blaming the National Assembly.”
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said he called Mr. Udoma on phone to discuss the matter and that the minister was ready to retract what he reportedly said about the MTEF and the blame on the legislature.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, Albert Bassey, also said, “I called the Minister of Budget and he confirmed that he was quoted out of context that he will address this.”
On his part, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, gave assurance that the Senate was ready to consider the 2017 budget provided things were done right.
“We are ready to take the budget presentation anytime … in doing so, the executive must be reminded that everything must be done right. All arms of government must live to its responsibility. The issue of blame game should be put behind us,” he said.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr. Udoma, denied snubbing the Senate.
In a statement by his media aide, Akpandem James, Mr. Udoma expressed surprise at the accusation by Mr. Ndume.
He said the proposed meeting with the Senate was eventually moved by agreement; and wondered why Mr. Ndume would go on the floor of the upper legislative chamber to say he failed to turn up, when he was aware that the meeting was rescheduled.
“Senator Udoma was equally surprised that even after the newspaper that published the story, which quoted him as blaming the National Assembly for the delay in the presentation of the 2017 budget, has published that the reporter never spoke with the Minister, Senator Ndume still went ahead to make an issue out of the matter on the floor of the Senate,” his aide said.
The Senate Thursday ordered the refund of N263,931,254,708.51 billion allegedly diverted from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) by the Federal Government.
The decision follows a revelation of mismanagement of funds in the education sector between 2011 and 2015 when TETFUND allegedly lent to other government departments, contrary to the law establishing the agency.
The Chairman of the Committee on Education, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), while presenting the report of his panel on the floor of the upper chamber, said that contrary to the claim by the former executive secretary that the whole N273,931‚254‚708.51 billion was diverted to meet the expenditure as stated, it was later revealed to the committee by the recently appointed executive secretary that N10 billion out of the N273,931‚254‚708.51 billion was loaned to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), and that the PTDF had recently refunded the money to TETFUND, leaving a balance of N263‚931,254‚708.51 billion to be refunded by the Federal Government.
Jibrin said that the provision in the TETFUND Act which allows only the president to be the approving authority for this very important agency that always has huge amount of money in its coffers without including the requirements of the National Assembly’s approval in line with the democratic dictate of checks and balances, was in clear violation of Section 82(4) of the Constitution of Nigeria which states that “no moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.”
He noted that the fact that the executive secretary and other members of the board of trustees were all solely appointed by the president and not confirmed by the Senate made them not to have the strength to raise objection or stop the diversion of TETFUND money to other uses.
The committee recommended that in addition to the approval of the president, the approval of the National Assembly should be included in the process of allocation and disbursement of funds belonging to TETFUND.
He noted that the appointments of the executive secretary and chairman and members of the board of trustees of the agency should be made by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The panel wants the TETFUND Act to be amended to include the two recommendations. It urged the Senate to ensure the refund of all monies borrowed from the Education Tax Account as there were numerous infrastructural projects to be executed in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday stated that the Senate would be introducing a Host Community legislation to complement the Governance and Institutional Framework Bill of the revised PIB that passed Second Reading at the Senate on Wednesday.
In a statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Special Adviser on Media & Publicity to the Senate President, Saraki stated that with the institutional and governance framework aspect of the PIB at the Committee Stage, it was necessary for the Senate to begin work on the passage of the host community development legislation, which is aimed at addressing issues relating to community participation, security, and the ecological debt incurred by host communities from oil extraction.
“For many years now the PIB has been stalled at different stages for one reason or the other,” Saraki stated, “At this point, the Senate is ready and willing to do everything that it takes to get Nigeria’s economy out of this recession — and the efficient and effective management of our oil resources is a key component of this.
“Now that the legislation to provide a governance and institutional framework for the petroleum industry has passed Second Reading, it is time to re-introduce the host community development legislation to address the legitimate agitations of the people of the Niger Delta,” he said.
By the calculation of the Senate President, work on the passage of the two key bills will be nearing completion stage before the end of the year.
The Senate President also stated that he has asked legislators from the Upper Legislative Chamber to work together and introduce the host community development legislation, within four weeks, emphasising the fact that the predicaments of host communities that have faced the adverse effects of oil exploration for decades need to be addressed.
The version of the PIB that is now at Committee Stage is sponsored by Senator Omotayo D. Alasoadura and Twenty-eight Co-Sponsors.
The Bill with the long title of “An Act to Provide for the Governance and Institutional Framework for the Petroleum Industry and for Other Related Matters” is aimed at creating an efficient and effective governing institution for the petroleum industry by defining clear and separate roles for all involved entities and establishing a framework for the creation of commercially oriented and profit- driven petroleum bodies that ensure value addition and internationalization of the petroleum industry.”
The Senate on Thursday blamed its rejection of President Muhammadu Buhari’s $29.960 billion external loan bid on the incompetence of presidential aides tasked with preparing the proposal.
This position was given by the Senate spokesperson, Aliyu Abdullahi, when he featured on a Channels TV breakfast program, Sunrise, on Thursday.
The president, last week Tuesday, forwarded a request to the National Assembly to approve an external borrowing plan of $29.960 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018.
Mr. Buhari said the external loan, the biggest in Nigeria’s history, will fund targeted projects cutting across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation.
Other sectors, he said, are poverty reduction through social safety net programs and governance and financial management reforms, among others.
But a week after the request was submitted, the Senate on Tuesday threw out the loan request without debate.
The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, later revealed that the president’s letter had no detailed information about the loan bid, even though the letter made reference to an “attached” breakdown in its first paragraph.
This was admitted by the Presidency through Mr. Buhari’s assistant on the Senate, Ita Enang, who said the government would work with relevant agencies to collate the needed information.
Speaking on the development Thursday morning, the Senate spokesperson, Mr. Abdullahi, said people entrusted with key responsibilities within the Presidency must do their work.
He noted that there was a line in the letter that read “attached”, but lamented “nothing is attached”.
He blamed the anomaly on officials who were responsible for helping the President on matters of communication.
“This is the reality unfortunately. We have to rethink position given to certain persons and people who are not competent should step aside.
“What is the Chief of Staff doing? What is the SGF doing?
“We have said it that some people are working to set the president against the legislature,” said Mr. Abdullahi.
Defending the Senate’s action, the spokesperson said since the president’s letter was not supported by detailed information, the lawmakers had nothing to work with.
Mr. Abdullahi however said “if all these things are addressed, the Senate is more than desirous” to consider the loan authorisation request.
As at June, Nigeria’s debt profile is N16.29 trillion, representing $61.7 billion at N283/$1 exchange rate, according to the Debt Management Office.
In the 2016 budget, N1.48 trillion is meant for debt servicing, far higher than the country’s N221.7 billion budget for health and the N369.6 billion for education.
The proposed 2016-2018 borrowing (rolling) plan of $29.960 billion is made up of proposed projects and programmes loan of $11.274 billion, special national infrastructure projects $10.686 billion, Euro bonds of $4.5 billion and Federal Government budget support of $3.5 billion.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, Wednesday said President Muhammadu Buhari will resend the $30bn loan request rejected by the Senate.
Recall that the Senate had on Tuesday rejected Buhari’s proposed $30bn loan due to issues bordering on technicalities.
Following the rejection of the loan, the Leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, had explained that the Buhari’s loan request was rejected due to technical issues.
Addressing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister said the administration would continue to engage the lawmakers on the benefits of the borrowing plan.
Mohammed expressed optimism that the loan request at the end of the day will be approved by lawmakers.
He said, “It is not unusual for the government and the Senate to have some disagreements; they (senators) want more information. We will continue to engage them. We will give them all the information they need.
“We are sure that by the time we finish, they will approve the request.”
The South-East Chapter of the All Progressives Congress has appealed to the Senate to reverse its decision to reject President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to borrow N29.9bn.
The Senate voted against the request on Tuesday.
However, the South-East APC is begging the lawmakers to reverse the decision.
In a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Mr. Hyancinth Ngwu, and made available to journalists in Enugu, the APC in the South-East equally condemned the rejection of the proposed loan.
“The All Progressives Congress in the South-East geopolitical zone has appealed to the members of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to rescind their rejection of the $29.680bn loan planned for the three fiscal years of 2016-2018.
“The rejection of the request by the Senate is ill-advised and an ill wind that blows no one any good,” the statement said.
The party noted that the loan was in order.
The petroleum industry bill (PIB), which seeks to split the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into two independent entities, has passed second reading at the senate.
The bill passed the stage, and was referred to the committee on petroleum (upstream and downstream) for more legislative work after a brief debate on it.
Leading the debate on the bill, Tayo Alasoadura, a senator from Ondo central and chairman senate committee on petroleum (upstream), said the PIB was first introduced in 2008, but that it was not passed in previous administrations of the national assembly.
He said the objective of the bill was to create efficient institutions, and to promote transparency in the administration of petroleum resources in the country?.
Alasoadura said the bill was the first in a series of its kind to reform the petroleum industry, adding that it would cure some? of the ills in the sector.
?”This bill provides for the unbundling of the NNPC into two independent entities, which are the National Petroleum Company (NPC) and National Asset Management Company,” he said.
“It also provides for the establishment of a single petroleum regulatory commission which will focus mainly on regulating the industry.
“The poor performance of the NNPC is a major concern. The commercialisation of the corporation and its splitting into two entities is for more efficiency and to enhance performance.”?
On April 26, the upper legislative chamber ended debate on the bill abruptly, and its consideration was subsequently delayed until Wednesday.
This is the first in a line of bills on the petroleum industry.
Senate President Bukola Saraki said the next part of the bill would focus on the petroleum producing communities.
The Presidency has said it will not dispute the decision of the Senate to reject the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to borrow $29.9 billion.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on National Assembly Matters, Sen. Ita Enang, disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Senate on Tuesday rejected the request of Mr. Buhari to borrow $29.9 billion as part of its external borrowing plan for 2016 to 2018.
The leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, told journalists after plenary that the request was rejected due to the absence of certain documents that should have accompanied the letter.
Ita Enang, therefore, said that the Presidency would not be disputing with the senate but would rather engage with them on the issue that had been raised.
“We are not disputing with the distinguished Senate.
“There are certain information and details which will enable them to consider in detail, and appropriately the request of Mr President.
“So we are collating that information.
The Budget Office of the Federation, the Debt Management Office, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Minister of Finance and the economic team are collating the information so that it can be submitted to the Senate to enable them take the appropriate decision.
“We would be engaging the Senate. We will not be disputing with them but we will be engaging with them.
“When we present a matter before the legislature it is for them to consider and as they have considered, more information is needed and that information they are entitled to it and we would provide,” he said.
The Senate, yesterday, unanimously, threw out President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for external loan of $29.96 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018 because the letter conveying it was not accompanied by a borrowing plan.
The Senate did not even discuss the request as it died immediately it was mentioned as an executive communication by Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume.
However, the Presidency, in a swift reaction by Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senate, Senator Ita Enang, said it would engage the Senate and provide all the needed documents and borrowing plan.
The matter came up soon after the Senate convened for the day’s plenary and the request was number one under Executive communication in the Order Paper.
Leader of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, moved a motion that the request be considered and his motion was seconded by the Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha.
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki who presided over the plenary, put the question forward whether or not the request should be debated.
However, Senate President Saraki was interrupted by Senator Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West, who raised a point of order. He was still speaking when he was cut short by Saraki, who insisted that the question be put forward before Melaye’s position will be accommodated.
Senate President Saraki, thereafter put it to vote and the nays had it. Senator Saraki who was surprised and apparently out to give President Buhari a soft landing, decided to put it to vote the second time and the Senators again thundered ‘nay’ and the Senate President had no option than to rule in favour of those who voted against collecting the loan.
The request was shot down at about 11am yesterday.
Read More:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/11/30bn-loan-senate-rejects-buharis-request/
The Senate has rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for authorisation to borrow about $30 billion.
The president, last Tuesday, forwarded a request to the National Assembly to approve external borrowing plan of $29.960 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018.
He made the requests in two separate letters to the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
Mr. Buhari said the external loan, the biggest in Nigeria’s history, will fund targeted projects cutting across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation.
Other sectors, he said, included poverty reduction through social safety net programmes and governance and financial management reforms, among others.
According to him, the cost of the projects and programmes under the borrowing (rolling) plan is $29.960 billion.
This is made up of proposed projects and programmes loan of $11.274 billion, special national infrastructure projects $10.686 billion, Euro bonds of $4.5 billion and Federal Government budget support of $3.5 billion.
The Majority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, was quoted on Monday as saying that the House would approve the loan.
But The Senate considered the request on Tuesday and refused to give its approval.
The Senate has rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for authorisation to borrow about $30 billion.
The president, last Tuesday, forwarded a request to the National Assembly to approve external borrowing plan of $29.960 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018.
He made the requests in two separate letters to the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
Mr. Buhari said the external loan, the biggest in Nigeria’s history, will fund targeted projects cutting across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation.
Other sectors, he said, included poverty reduction through social safety net programmes and governance and financial management reforms, among others.
According to him, the cost of the projects and programmes under the borrowing (rolling) plan is $29.960 billion.
This is made up of proposed projects and programmes loan of $11.274 billion, special national infrastructure projects $10.686 billion, Euro bonds of $4.5 billion and Federal Government budget support of $3.5 billion.
The Majority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, was quoted on Monday as saying that the House would approve the loan.
But The Senate considered the request on Tuesday and refused to give its approval.
Read More:
The recruitment of 10,000 personnel into the Nigeria Police will now continue as the Senate has lifted its suspension on the exercise.
The new condition is that the new policemen will be employed based on their local government areas and would be deployed in their communities.
The recruitment was suspended following a clash between the Senate and the Police Service Commission.
The Senate had, in a letter four weeks ago, asked the PSC to suspend the recruitment over alleged irregularities in the criteria adopted.
The lawmakers had asked that the recruitment be done on local government but the PSC insisted that it should be done on state basis.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim (APC, Katsina-South), however, told journalists in Abuja on Monday that the commission could now continue with the recruitment.
Ibrahim announced that the clash between the Senate and the PSC had been resolved.
“We have resolved the issue and the recruitment would be done on local government basis. Very soon, the exercise will resume,” he said.
The lawmaker stated that the new intakes would form the foundation for the commencement of community policing in the country.
He said, “Nine personnel would be recruited per local government area. The policemen would be used to form a unit for community policing in all the 774 local government areas of the country.”
The senate has vowed that it will monitor and ensure that the process of disbursing the N500 billion social intervention fund to vulnerable Nigerians by the executive is transparent in order to avoid mistake of the past.
The senate majority leader and senator representing southern Borno at the National Assembly, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, disclosed this to Journalists yesterday in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
He noted that such fund in the past was used for political gratification to the detriment of vulnerable Nigerians who ought to be the actual beneficiaries.
Sen Ndume said the executive has failed already in the process by telling people to go online and register notwithstanding that some states are offline as a result of insurgency.
“We are not going to let this pass like YOU–WIN where nobody won or SURE-P where nobody shop. They have started wrongly through the way they want to do it.
“How can they start by saying that people should go online and register. Some states are offline and in fact Borno is one of them.
“let them do it on local government basis. Let them go to different wards and give forms to people to fill. Our people in the rural areas are waiting for Federal government to give them Job. We have graduates in the rural areas who have no access to online, “ said Sen Ndume.
It would be recalled that the House of Representative recently told the federal government not to disburse the N500 billion social intervention fund captured in the 2016 budget until a framework and detailed information about the scheme was made available.
The House at the plenary presided over by the speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara mandated its committee on legislative Budget and Research and poverty Alleviation to compel the senior Special Adviser ( SSA) to the President on social protection programmes to make available the framework and details of the programmes and advise the House within 3 weeks.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday in Abuja berated the Senate over its approval for the re-introduction of toll gates across the country.
The NLC General Secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, while reacting to the development, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Nigeria’s policy making processes needed to be interrogated.
NAN recalls that the Senate had on Tuesday passed a motion seeking to resuscitate the collection of tolls on federal highways across the country.
The Upper House argued that toll collection from motorists was the only way to construct and maintain roads and enhance their efficiency.
However, Ozo-Eson, in his reaction said:“We used to have toll gates and we started them under pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, among others.
“We built a number of toll gates and the government itself came and tore down those structures.
“To come back again to re-introduce the toll gates means another waste of public resources and this shows that something is fundamentally wrong.
According to him, the first experience became an avenue for rewarding favoured cronies, who were given the franchise to collect the tolls.
He also noted that the nation never benefitted from the first experience as some set of people fed fat on the tolls and the roads were never maintained.
“Unless we are able to put in place a mechanism that will ensure that the revenues from the tolls are used for the development and maintenance of the roads, any attempt to bring the toll gates will again be a failure.”
A Bill for an Act to make provision for the prohibition and punishment of sexual harassment of students by lecturers in tertiary institutions has been passed into law.
The Bill which was sponsored by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central) and 57 other co-sponsors, was read for the first time on Wednesday 4th May, 2016.
The objective of the Bill is to prohibit the offence of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions and impose stiff penalties on perpetrators.
It also creates a strict liability offence by removing mutual consent as a defence in prosecution of sexual harassment cases, as it were in the extant laws.
The new Act when signed to law, will not only prohibit lecturers from having sexual intercourse with underage students; it will also punish lecturers who demand for sex from female students as a condition to giving passing grades.
Presenting the report on the Bill to the Senate on Thursday, the Committee chairman on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator David Umaru said the Bill enjoyed full supports of various stakeholders and civil society groups during public hearing.
As against the initial proposal of the sponsors of the Bill that any lecturer who harasses female student shall be liable to 3 years imprisonment; Senator Umaru said the clause has been amended.
“Any person who commits any of the acts specified in section 3 of this Act is guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be sentenced to imprisonment of up to 5 years but not less than 2 years and there shall be no option of fine”, the Bill reads.
It was, however, agreed upon presentation, that the penalty should be 5 years imprisonment or option of fine to the tune of N5m or both.
The Act also provides that the head of an institution upon receiving a written complaint of sexual harassment from a victim, shall set up a ‘Sexual Harassment Investigation Panel’ which shall submit its report in writing within 30 days.
The panel shall be headed by a non academic staff who is not less than the rank of Assistant Director, with 2 members of the Academic Union and 2 members of the Nigerian Bar Association.
The Senate has approved a bill seeking to end all forms of business monopolies in Nigeria and promote trade competition in the 36 states of the federation.
The upper legislative chamber, therefore, approved scrapping of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and ratified its replacement with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Passing the bill sponsored by Senator Andy Uba (PDP, Anambra South), yesterday, through a second reading, the Senate directed its Committee on Trade and Investment to conclude all legislative work on the issue and report back within four weeks.
The Federal Government, meanwhile, is ecstatic that it’s reforms for instituting a vibrant business environment may have started yielding dividends, as Nigeria’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business remains static, halting a falling trend in the past years.
A statement signed by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, said the latest 2017 report released Tuesday, October 25, and which ranked Nigeria 169 out of 189 countries was good indication that the focus and tenacity of President Buhari to reposition the nation’s business and economic environment was working.
While Nigeria’s position remained the same last year on the index ranking, it has recorded confident outlooks in four critical areas namely: Starting a Business, Dealing with Construction Permits, Registering Property and Access to Credit.
The Senate believed promotion of business competition would be achieved by provisions of the bill, which would “control existing monopolies, discourage the abuse of dominant market position, and other restrictive trade and business practices.”
The proposal is part of Reform Bills, highlighted by the 8th Senate at the inaugural National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable in March 2016.
Leading the debate on principles of the bill, Uba said its essence was to promote: a balanced development of the Nigerian economy; welfare and interests of consumers, providing them with competitive price and product choices; competition and enhanced economic efficiency in production, trade and commerce; expansion of opportunities for domestic enterprises, to participate in world markets; ability of small and medium enterprises to compete effectively; and restriction of business practices which prevent or distort competition or constitute abuse of a dominant position of market power in Nigeria.”
Uba said the bill was initiated because “It is necessary to ensure through legislation that monopolistic enterprises in our country do not take undue advantage of and hurt consumers at will.”
The issue of resale price maintenance is critical in every market, and because it is well known that Nigeria is the largest market in Africa, it is crucial to ensure we do not allow our country to become a dumping ground for inferior products or be seen as promoting unfair trade practices.”
According to the bill, it is unlawful for any two or more enterprises that are suppliers of products to enter into or carry out any agreement where they “withhold supplies of products from dealers (whether parties to the agreement or not) who resell or have resold products in breach of any condition as to the price at which those goods may be resold; refuse to supply products to such dealers except on terms and conditions, which are less favourable than those applicable to other dealers carrying on business is similar circumstances.”
During the screening of the nominees, a member of the committee had confronted the nominee asking why he once led a protest for the scrapping of the Senate.
The member told the nominee that he was appearing before the same Senate he wanted scrapped.
Abubakar, in his response, insisted that the cost of running the Senate was high and therefore should be scrapped.
The nominee noted that a situation where the senators had been receiving huge transport, wardrobe and dressing allowances and others was a clear economic loss to the country.
He also listed the purchase expensive vehicles for senators as another reason why the upper chamber should be done away with.
The committee presented several photographs of the nominee leading organised protests against the Senate, particularly at the gate of the National Assembly recently.
The apparently unrepentant Abubakar told the committee that he has no regret for his actions.
He insisted that he was still convinced that “the Senate is an avenue for wastage of scarce economic resources of the country”.
The Senate, he said, “must go”.
Speaking after the session, Abubakar told reporters that the Senate should be scrapped.
The Bauchi State nominee however denied telling the committee that the Senate must be scrapped.
He said: “It is not true that I told members of the committee that the Senate should be scrapped.
“They asked me whether I was part of the group that agitated for the scrapping of the Senate and I said yes because of so many things involved in the Senate and their budget.
“They asked me to state the reasons why we were agitating for the scrapping of the Senate.
“I said it is because of their huge budget.
“They (Senators) consume a lot of resources from the government.
“They put it in their own budget.
“Also, they have transport allowance and, yet, they budget a lot of money to acquire vehicles.”
Abubakar said that the committee confronted him with several photographs of him during the “Occupy National Assembly” protests, including the ones held at the National Assembly and in Bauchi State, which he did not deny.
Asked if he still stood by his words that it was a waste to keep the Senate and that it should be scrapped, Abubakar replied: “The Senate must go because something has to be done to cut down the expenses on the Senate.
“I still maintain that.”
The committee had earlier listed what it described as “grave irregularities” in the personal records of the nominee.
The committee noted that it was curious that apart from birth certificate, there were only copies of court affidavit and police extract dated the same day, claiming loss of his credentials.
The committee noted that it appears the court affidavit and police extract were procured after Abubakar had been nominated to serve in the board.
The committee also said that it was interesting that the highest academic qualification of the nominee was a one-year “Diploma in Computer” from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
It said that the attached statement of result was dated September 23, 2016, also obtained after he had been nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Requested to show reason why he chose to present documents that were procured shortly after his nomination and also why he believed that he was qualified to function as a National Commissioner in such a critical agency like NCC given the rigours, challenges and required expertise for efficiency of the commission, Abubakar said that he “did not bother to go for the credentials”.
He explained further that he “only went to school merely for knowledge having been self-employed prior to the nomination”.
The NCC Chairman-designate, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, expressed concern over the public perception of the Senate.
Durojaiye noted that as a former Senator, who also headed the Committee on Communications, he was committed and passionate for a very strong Senate that grows in leaps and bound.
He said: “Please permit me to convey a message from the oldest living former Senator, Chief Reuben Farosanti, who just clocked 91.
“Although I have presented it to the Senate President, Senator Farosanti had requested for a closed door session between the current Senate and the old generation to discuss.
“Considering the heat from the other side this has become imperative….”
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Gilbert Nnaji, urged the nominees to seek to add value to the regulatory agency and ensure that Nigerian masses truly got the greatest benefits of their appointment if they scaled through.
Nnaji said that the committee would make its report available to the plenary for approval.
Drama ensued on Wednesday during the screening of one of the arrowheads for the campaign that the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is scrapped.
Alhaji Aliyu Saidu Abubakar, who is a nominee representing the North East in the proposed Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) stated that the upper legislative chamber was a waste of fund and government resources.
The nominee had appeared before the Senator Gilbert Nnaji-led committee on Communications for the ongoing screening of NCC board nominees.
A member of the committee had confronted the nominee, asking why he would accept to appear before the same Senate which he once led a protest for its scrapping.
The drama, however, started when instead of apologizing to the Senate and repent of his previous moves, the nominee insisted that the senate is scrapped as the cost of running the legislative arm was high and unbearable.
The committee had also earlier listed what it described as “grave irregularities” in the personal records of the nominee while perusing through the copies of curriculum vitae he submitted.
The committee noted that apart from the birth certificate, there were only copies of court affidavit and police extract dated the same day, claiming loss of his credentials.
This made the committee infer that the court affidavit and police extract may have been procured after Abubakar had been nominated to serve on the board.
The committee also said that it was interesting that the highest academic qualification of the nominee was a one-year “Diploma in Computer” from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
It also revealed that the attached statement of a result was dated 23rd September 2016, also obtained after he had been nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
When asked, Aliyu said he “did not bother to go for the credentials.”
He explained further that he “only went to school merely for knowledge having been self-employed prior to the nomination.”
Source :
http://thenationonlineng.net/drama-as-nominee-for-ncc-board-seeks-scrap-of-senate/
