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  • Breaking: Finally, Buhari signs Not Too Young To Run bill into law [Video]

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday finally signed into law the Not Too Young To Run bill, bringing to an overbearing end, the seclusion of young persons from the politics of Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru reports President Buhari, flanked by a number of Nigerian youths, signed the Not Too Young To Run bill in the Council Chambers of the State House at Abuja.

    The President, signing the bill into law, today, fulfilled the promise he made in his nationwide broadcast in commemoration of the nation’s 2018 Democracy Day on Tuesday.

    He said, “In few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the ‘Not too young to run’ bill”.

    The bill, which is part of the process to amend the 1999 Constitution, seeks to reduce the minimum age requirement for elective positions in the country.

    Member representing Oshodi-Isolo II, State Lagos State, Tony Nwulu, sponsored the bill in the House of Representatives.

    It was first passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives in July 2017. Many state houses of assembly in the country have also passed the bill.

    Speaking shortly before President Buhari signed the bill into law, Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, said, “We passed the Not Too Young To Run Bill because it is a crime against humanity to exclude youths from politics and governance”.

    “They are our greatest assets in Nigeria,” he added.

    The Not Too Young To Run Bill hitherto reduced the minimum age to run for post of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 40 to 35 years, State and Federal representatives from 30 to 25.

    Senator and governorship age limits remain the same at 30 years of age.

    “More than half of our 180 million population are young people under the age of 30. Today’s signing of the #NotTooYoungToRun Bill represents the beginning of the inclusion of this vital segment into our nation-building,” Senate President Bukola Saraki stated after the signing of the bill into law.

    https://youtu.be/1WXM9KMg71U

     

  • Three months after: Baby reunites with parents as Ambode’s wife clears hospital bill

    The joy on the faces of the Oaikhenas knew no bounds on Wednesday when they were informed that wife of Lagos Governor, Abimbola Ambode had cleared the hospital bill of their child three months after delivery.

    For the first time since he was born in February 2018, Baby Ighodalo Oaikhena joined his family at their home in the Ikeja area of Lagos State on Wednesday.

    Recall that The Punch had earlier reported that Ighodalo was born premature at the Ifako General Hospital together with his twin sister.

    The twins were taken to a private hospital, Inton Hospital, Ogba, Ikeja, where they were placed in incubators.

    While the baby girl died in the first week, Ighodalo made it alive from the incubator and was put in a nursery.

    The baby’s father, Michael Oaikhena, a driver; and the mother, Roseline, a teacher, had told our correspondent that they could not raise the N1.2m bill they incurred in the course of the treatment.

    Michael had said despite the family paying N550,000 out of the bill, the hospital had insisted on collecting the N650,000 balance before releasing the baby.

    He further alleged that the hospital threatened to take the child to an orphanage if the balance was not paid on time.

    Although the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Mr Akeem Mustapha, denied the orphanage allegation, he insisted on the payment of the bill.

    However, on Wednesday, a team of aides, acting on the instruction of Mrs. Ambode, visited the hospital and cleared the bill.

    It was an emotional moment as the mother of the child, Roseline, broke down in tears of joy.

    “She did not believe that she would be taking the baby home as she kept asking, ‘Am I really going home with my baby today?’ The aides to the governor’s wife were moved as well, as some of them fought back tears,” a source, who was at the hospital, said.

    Michael confirmed the development in a telephone conversation, adding that he was at work when he was called that his baby had been released.

    He said, “As I speak to you, we are going home with the baby. I was really happy when I got a call from an aide to the governor’s wife that my baby would be going home today (Wednesday). I went there and met them with my wife and by then, the money had been paid. I am now in a car with my baby. I am really happy and I appreciate the governor’s wife for this. I wish I could see her and hug her for the gesture.”

    The Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Office of the Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Folashade Kadiri, in a statement on Wednesday, confirmed the payment.

    She said, “Mrs Ambode’s attention was drawn to a publication in the PUNCH Newspaperof Wednesday, May 30, 2018, suggesting the detention of a baby for the past three months due to the inability of his parents to pay the medical bill.

    “The governor’s wife had immediately directed the payment of the bill to enable the baby to reunite with his parents.

    “The payment of N650,000 was made by the Asst. Director, Public Affairs, Office of the wife of the Governor, Mrs Folashade Kadiri, who also effected the baby’s release.

    “The elated mother, Mrs Roseline Oaikhena, who was in tears, could not believe that she would be returning home so easily with her baby after the child’s three months compulsory stay in hospital after delivery.”

  • Why Reps turned down bill seeking maternity leave for men

    Why Reps turned down bill seeking maternity leave for men

    Members of the House of Representatives on Thursday turned down a bill that sought providence of maternity leave for all married male employees in private and public service.

    TheNewsGuru reports the Bill for an Act to make provisions for optional paternity leave to Nigerian men by Edward Pwajok (APC, Plateau) failed to scale reading after it was roundly defeated in a voice vote.

    The bill was roundly defeated with a unanimous voice vote on the floor, as the lawmakers were of the opinion that since some men are having many wives, it could mean several maternity leaves in a year.

    The bill by Pwajok, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), proposes a two or more week (depending on the decision of the House) paternity leave for married men to ensure that mother and child get adequate assistance and care from the father.

    The APC lawmaker said the leave became important if the mother or the child has health challenges which will make the presence of the father very significant.

    He also said that the presence of the father will afford the child the care he or she deserved during that early period.

    “No better person can support a newly born baby than the father which will make the child more emotionally stable if the father stayed close. This will not be peculiar to Nigeria alone, it’s done globally,” he said.

    While Saheed Fijabi (APC, Oyo), Nasir Ali (APC, Nassarawa) and Yusuf Tajudeen (PDP, Kogi) supported the proposal saying that it is a joint responsibility of both a mother and a father to take care of a child.

    On the other hand, Betty Apiafi (PDP, Rivers) raised a technical challenge against the bill saying since maternity leave issue was discussed in the Labour Act, it would have been better it came as an amendment to the Act and not as a bill.

    Uzoma Nkem-Abonta (PDP, Abia), Rita Orji (PDP, Lagos), Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta) and Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) aligned with Apiafi that the ammendment of the Labour Act would be more appropriate.

    According to the lawmakers, the men should be out trying to provide for the upkeep of the family rather than staying back at home. They said the leave may have a strain on the family if money is not attached to the leave. They also wondered how many times a man with six or seven wives would go on leave if the bill becomes law.

    The motion was roundly defeated in a voice vote.

     

  • House ready to pass minimum wage bill, says Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, on Tuesday in Abuja, says the House is ready to pass the minimum wage bill as legislature awaits the executive to forward the bill for upward review.

    Dogara, in a statement to mark 2018 Worker’s Day celebration, signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Turaki Hassan, reiterated the desire of the House to provide a better life for workers.

    The Speaker said he was not unmindful of the struggles and hardship faced by Nigerian workers in their daily lives.

    According to him, this is why the National Assembly is committed to putting more resources in the hands of workers.

    He expressed optimism that the Federal Government Committee on Minimum Wage currently conducting public hearings across the six geo-political zones in the country, would soon conclude its assignment.

    He said that a new national minimum wage bill would be transmitted to the parliament by the President.

    “On behalf of the entire members of the House of Representatives, I want to use this occasion to, once again, underscore the importance of workers to the growth and prosperity of our dear nation, Nigeria.

    “We see the struggles you go through to survive on wages that can barely last through the first week of the month. “We see your dedication to doing your bit in ensuring that Nigeria continues to run effectively in spite of unfavourable conditions.

    “We commend your courage, your commitment to service and nation building and urge you to continue supporting government policies and agenda.

    “I assure you, on this occasion, that the National Assembly will give expeditious passage to the Minimum Wage Bill whenever it is transmitted by the executive and any other initiative that will promote the welfare of the Nigerian worker.

    “We will support it wholeheartedly,” the Speaker said.

     

  • Reps suspend 2019 election sequence re-ordering Bill

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday suspended action on the Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act 2010 to make provision for sequence of elections.

    This followed a request by the sponsor of the Bill, Edward Pwajok, to withdraw it.

    The bill, which was listed for second reading in the Order Paper of the day, included seven other lawmakers as co-sponsors.

    Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal of assent to the controversial bill, the House vowed to reintroduce it.

    The president had said that the amendment to the sequence of the elections in section 25 of the Principal Act may infringe on the constitutionally-guaranteed discretion of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise and supervise all elections.

    While Pwajok moved for the withdrawal of the bill, some lawmakers opposed the move.

    However, the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker of the House, Yussuf Lasun, intervened and said that the sponsor of the bill had the right to withdraw it.

    “Let us remind ourselves that the mover of the motion has the right to ask the presiding officer to step down his bill and this is what Pwajok has exercised,’’ Lasun said.

    He ruled for the withdrawal of the bill as applied by its sponsor.

  • Gov. Okowa mulls executive bill to curb hooliganism

    Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said he has forwarded an executive bill to the State House of Assembly (DTHA) that is expected to arrest hooliganism and other social vices in the State.

    The Governor said his administration will not fail to jail any youth that is sabotaging his effort to make the state an investment destination.

    The Governor, who said the State was gradually becoming an investors’ hub, threatened to use the powers vested in him to deal decisively with anyone found guilty as charged.

    He said nobody, no matter highly placed in the society, would be spared, if found to be scaring away investors from the state, while maintaining that the bill would be followed to the letter as soon as it passed into law.

    “We are not going to tolerate any youth chasing investors away. We have sent a bill on that to the House to deal with it.

    “As soon as the bill sails through, I will not hesitate to send anybody to jail because no investor will come and invest in a hostile environment,” Okowa said.

    Also, when the leadership of the National Association of Delta State Students (NADESSTU), led by its President, Samson Agolo, visited him in Asaba, the Governor decried the effects of secret cults on Nigerian youths and called on students’ union bodies to be involved in the fight against vices, such as cultism in Nigerian institutions.

     

  • Obaseki signs Edo Criminal Justice Administration Bill into law

    Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has signed the Edo State Criminal Justice Administration Bill into law.

    Governor Obaseki, who assented to the bill at the Government House, in Benin City, the Edo State capital on Tuesday, said, “The law would strengthen the protection of the rights of citizens and ensure fair and speedy administration of justice.”

    Obaseki explained, “This event is historic as it is the first time in decades that a comprehensive review and modernisation of the Criminal Law procedure would be undertaken.”

    Noting that the law will address a number of bottlenecks that hitherto delayed dispensation of justice, he said “Our focus in the justice sector is informed by the deep conviction that there would not be a modern society, particularly the type we seek to build, without respect for the rule of law.”

    “The criminal justice administration law is designed to take us beyond the colonial era rules of criminal procedures and introduce innovative legal procedure, which will ensure fair hearing in the court of law with due consideration of time,” the governor said.

    Obaseki added that the state government, through the Ministry of Justice, would put all the needed infrastructure in place to ensure the implementation of the Criminal Administration Law.

    He commended the committee on judiciary for the effort put into the drafting of the bill, adding, “The state government will ensure that sufficient copies of the law would be made available. The law will be implemented to support the government in protecting lives and property.

    Chief Judge of the State, Justice Eseohe Ikponmwen, represented by Justice Joe Acha, said “The Criminal Justice Administration Law will give a new face to the criminal justice system in the state as well as improve the judiciary.”

    State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, said the Criminal Administration Law will eliminate procedures that delay justice.

    Chairman, Edo State Chapter of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Barr. Ede Asenoguan, said the state government’s domestication of the law is highly commendable, noting, “As of last year, only six states had such a law in place, now that Edo has the law, it is work in progress.”

     

  • Saraki, Dogara vow to give joint response to Buhari’s veto of Electoral Act Amendment Bill

    The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representative, Yakubu Dogara, have vowed to jointly give an appropriate response after President Muhammadu Buhari withheld his assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

    Spokespersons for the Senate President and Speaker, Yusuph Olaniyonu and Turaki Hassan, revealed this in a statement on Saturday.

    Contrary to reports that both National Assembly leaders are divided over the President’s position to the amended bill, Saraki and Dogara noted that they are working “in agreement on what to do”.

    Both leaders added that the move by the lawmakers to change the sequence in which elections are conducted was not personal but in the interest of the nation’s democracy.

    Presidential and National Assembly elections are always conducted (on the same day) before other polls, while the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections follow.

    The lawmakers have, however, amended the sequence such that the National Assembly polls would be conducted first, followed by the state lawmakers, and the governors while the presidential election should take place last.

    The development consequently sparked criticism in the country, as well as a division among members of the Upper House.

    Rejecting the proposal, President Buhari noted that the amendment to the sequence of the election in section 25 of the Principal Act might infringe on the constitutionally guaranteed discretion of INEC to organise, undertake and supervise all elections provided in section 16(a) of the constitution.

    The National Assembly leadership, on its part, maintained that both upper and lower chambers were working jointly to take the appropriate next step.

    Read the statement jointly signed by Saraki and Dogara’s spokesmen below:

    Our attention has been drawn to reports in a national daily insinuating that there was a disagreement between Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, over how both chambers of the National Assembly will react to the withholding of assent by President Muhammadu Buhari on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

    We wish to inform the public that there is no such disagreement between the two leaders, and indeed the two chambers of the National Assembly.

    “The Senate President and the Speaker, as heads of the two chambers of the National Assembly and representing the views of their colleagues, will want everybody to know that they are on the same page on what is the appropriate reaction to the President’s withholding of assent on the Electoral Act amendment bill.

    “There is no disagreement between the two chambers as well as their presiding officers. The leadership of the two chambers constantly hold discussions and are in agreement on what to do, how to do it, when to do it and why it must be done.

    “The issue at stake is not personal. It is about deepening democracy. It is about improving our democracy and the National Assembly is on firm constitutional and legal grounds to amend the law as well as make decisions in the manner they have been responding.

    “We see that story and the insinuations contained in it as a mere distraction and unnecessary misrepresentation aimed at creating division in the Federal Legislature. The Senate President, Speaker and their colleagues urge members of the public to discountenance the report.

  • Death penalty: Gov. Fayose faults proposed hate speech bill

    Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has faulted Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi-sponsored bill that recommends death penalty for purveyors of hate speech.

    In a statement today, Fayose said public office holders are responsible to the people, and hence, there is need for the people to assess and tell those in power the truth, whether it augur with them or not.

    “Those of us occupying public offices are doing so in trust for the people, we are not their lords. The power of the people is greater than the power of the people in power.

    “When you say the truth to power, tell those of us in power what we are doing wrong, it is not Hate Speech. Rather, it is patriotism.

    “If you are in power and afraid of Nigerians telling you the bitter truth, resign and go to your house,” the Ekiti state executive Governor said.

    TheNewsGuru reports the hate speech bill proposes that anyone found guilty of any form of hate speech could face death by hanging upon conviction.

    Senator Abdullahi explaining why death penalty was included in the bill said the hate speech bill has slated some processes which must be exhausted before a person is subjected to the maximum punishment.

    “On this issue of Hate Speech, I stand with Nigerians and anything they say to make the country better,” Fayose, however, said.

     

  • Hate speech: IPC warns against bill, calls for release of Tony Ezimakor

    The International Press Centre (IPC) Lagos-Nigeria has called on the Senate to drop the proposed hate speech bill that seeks to recommend death sentence for purveyors of hate speech.

    The bill which is being sponsored by Senate Spokesperson, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi proposes that anyone found guilty of any form of hate speech could face death by hanging upon conviction.

    The Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, in a statement today (March 2, 2018) said what the country needs today is engagement by multiple stakeholders to determine what actually constitutes hate speech and agree on effective measures for dealing with such. “A draconian law that hallmarks dictatorship cannot be the solution to hate speech in a democratic society”, Mr. Arogundade stressed.

    The IPC Director also said that should such a bill become a law it would certainly pose a major threat to freedom of expression, freedom of the press and safety of journalists.

    “Much as we do not welcome hate speech, we do not also welcome a law that would gag citizens and deny the public the right to know”, Mr. Arogundade added.

    …Detention of Tony Ezimakor

    The IPC Director has also called for the release of Tony Ezimakor (Daily Independent’s Abuja Bureau Chief) who was arrested and detained by the Department of State Services headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, February 28 after honouring an invitation from the security agency.

    Mr. Arogundade said in the alternative, the DSS should immediately charge Mr. Ezimakor to court if the agency is convinced that he has committed any offence known to the law of the country.