TheNewsGuru

Tag: House of Representatives

  • 2018 Budget delay: NASS not responsible – APC lawmaker

    2018 Budget delay: NASS not responsible – APC lawmaker

    A member of House of Representatives, Mr Nicholas Ossai (Delta-APC), on Wednesday urged Nigerians to hold the Executive accountable for the delay in the passage of 2018 Appropriation Bill.

    He told News Agency of Nigeria Abuja that apart the Bill being late November, 2017, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had refused to go before relevant committees of the legislature to defend their budgets.

    Ossai, therefore, said that it was unfair for the Executive to blame the lawmakers for delay in passing the budget, insisting that it could not be approved without MDAs defending their needs as contained in it.

    According to him, the National Assembly cannot address issues regarding the Appropriation Bill in a hasty manner, particularly when the Executive that made the inputs in the budget are reluctant to come and defend them.

    On the intended January – December fiscal year, the lawmaker said “I don’t really agree with the executive’s assertion, whether budget year or not budget year.

    “The most critical issue is that the budget was brought late November, and so there was no way the National Assembly could have addressed the matters in the Bill in one month.

    “January to December is not supposed to be an issue but bringing the private sector to bear when budgeting is the issue.

    “This is because the economy is run not only from the public sector but also the private sector.

    “The executive ought to bring the budget in the first week of October to give three months for the legislature to address the issues critically, looking at the books and performance of preceding budget.’’

    “Sometimes you blame the executive because you invite them to come and expatiate on the budget items and they find it very difficult. I don’t know what they are hiding from the legislature.

    “The Constitution has given us power to be able to look at the Bill; we are representatives of the people and the executive is to implement what the people have prescribed.

    “I think to some extent, the National Assembly has been dutiful enough to its job by creating value for money because without scrutinizing, you won’t be able to see value for money,” Ossai added.

    According to him, if certain amount is budgeted, it is also necessary to know how it is utilised based on the prescription of the national assembly.

    “If you are the executive and have budgeted a sub-head of N10, you should be able to feed us that the N10 we gave you last time, you used it and to what extent.

    “If you can defend that very effectively, then there is no reason why the National Assembly cannot prescribe further N10 or even give more depending on what you have presented.

    “But, in a situation where the executive budget performance is eight per cent or sometimes, 20 per cent and you are bringing a higher figure in a new budget, the National Assembly will ask questions.

    “Those are the reasons why our constituencies want to know why most of the budgets are not well implemented, especially when revenue generating agencies have met their target according to approval.

    “So, these are the issues we want to know and critically examine so Nigerians can get value for money,” he said.

    Ossai said that though implementation of 2017 budget was quite low at the end of the year, it had gone up to about 50 per cent due to queries by the legislature.

    “Today, I can tell you that over 50 per cent of the 2017 budget has been implemented.

    “This is because of the critical assertion by the House of Representatives in particular; the executive had to rush and hasten implementation of the budget.

    “You can see that the representation of the people counts a lot in a democracy; without being critical about the last year’s budget, there was no way the executive would have implemented it.

    “So, Nigerians should be patient with the National Assembly; we are trying to create value for money,” he said.

     

  • Regulation breach: Probe report on IHS Towers ready in April

    Regulation breach: Probe report on IHS Towers ready in April

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the panel it set up to probe into allegations of market stiffening levied against mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider, IHS Towers, by another service provider, SWAP Technologies and Telecoms will be ready in three weeks’ time.

    Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Dambatta, who led other management staff of the commission to a House of Representatives Committee on Telecommunications investigative hearing, today, revealed this.

    Dambatta who was represented by the Director in charge of Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, told the Committee that the Commission had set-up the panel to ascertain the level of compliance with the NCC regulations by IHS.

    “NCC has a standard regulation for installation of masts, for instance, there must be a minimum distance of 1km for a mast of 355-meter height. We only received the coordinate from SWAP in February, we have set up a committee to investigate and the report will be ready in three weeks,” the NCC representative said.

    TheNewsGuru reports in 2017 SWAP petitioned the House of Representatives over an alleged breach of NCC regulation on the citing of based stations by IHS, resulting to the House placing a ban on IHS to desist from completing about 243 of its telecommunication masts under construction across the states of the Federation.

    Speaking, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon Saheed Akinade-Fijabi, explained that his committee had received several petitions from telecommunications service providers, as regards inability of IHS to deliver on their terms to contract.

    This, he said, is according to the pending directive of the committee.

    The Chairman, however, noted that it would be insensitive to further halt the business operations of IHS, after four months.

    “This committee in November directed IHS to halt further installation on the facilities in contention, this was in anticipation that the NCC report would be ready and presented to us within three weeks.

    “However, since the report is not ready, IHS can continue its installation, on the condition that if they are indicted by the NCC report, appropriate sanctions will be applied,” the Lawmaker said.

    Meanwhile, the Committee made IHS Head of Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr Abbey Bond, to sign an undertaking that adequate sanctions, including compensation, would apply if the NCC report indicts the company.

     

  • Lawmaker who sponsored amnesty bill for looters should be punished – Sagay

    Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay has described the bill seeking to grant amnesty to self-confessed looters in the House of Representatives was disgraceful.

    In a statement on Wednesday, Sagay said the sponsor of the bill, Mr. Linus Okorie should be punished.

    “Now what shall we do with Linus Okorie? I propose that the House of Representatives should regard Linus’s bill to be so impertinent and scandalous as to earn him a suspension from the House, for the rest of the 8th session, i.e., until July 2019. That should serve notice that Nigeria will no longer tolerate such brazen impunity and corruption or its promotion thereof.”

    Sagay added that Okorie was promoting corruption through the bill.

    He added, “That a Nigerian legislator (a lawmaker) can have the effrontery to promote a bill which if enacted into law, will enable looters of our treasury and national patrimony to keep the loot, if only they can acknowledge it as looted, provided they undertake to spend it in Nigeria, is breathtaking.

    “In summary, what Mr. Okorie is encouraging is free plundering of state funds without consequences. Simply put, it is the legitimating of treasury plundering. It is clear that if such a bill becomes law, the anti-corruption war is doomed.

    “How do we punish this man for his total lack of morality, and his heedless, headlong promotion of looting without adverse consequences? I think people who come up with such shocking assaults on our common morality and sense of decency deserve a sharp rebuke coupled with sanctions.”

  • News Hour 06-07-2017 I TNGtv

    News Hour 06-07-2017 I TNGtv

  • Senate to partner Albinos in fight against stigmatization

    Senate President Bukola Saraki has said the Nigerian Senate will partner Albinos and other vulnerable groups in the country in a renewed effort to combat stigmatization.

    The Senate President made the statement in a meeting with the Albino Foundation in Abuja today.

    He said the essence of the meeting was to discuss the discrimination and stigmatization of albinos across the country.

    “This afternoon, I met with The Albino Foundation, led by Dr. Douglas Anele to discuss the discrimination and stigmatization of albinos across the country.

    “The meeting was aimed at discussing how the Senate can partner with albinos and other vulnerable groups to curb and limit their marginalization in Nigeria.

    “I assured the members of the Foundation that this Senate will always defend the rights of albinos and other vulnerable groups.

    “You are not alone. You will never be!” the Senate President said after the meeting.

    Moving forward, he said the Senate will work to ensure that albinos have the necessary empowerment opportunities, access to education and healthcare services that they need to live productive lives.

    “Additionally, once we receive the Bill on the Rights of Albinos that is currently in the House of Representatives, we will act on it immediately in the Senate!” he further stated.

     

     

  • Reps to test run e-voting in proceedings after SE dev. bill commotion

    Reps to test run e-voting in proceedings after SE dev. bill commotion

    The House of Representatives may commence a test-run of e-voting method in its legislative procedures.

    Deputy Majority Whip of the house, Mr Pally Iriase (Edo-APC) gave the hint while speaking with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja after the chamber’s plenary.

    The resolution of the resolution to adopt e-voting ostensibly stemmed from the controversy that trailed the rejection of the South-East Development Commission Bill by the house on Thursday.

    It would be recalled that it was difficult for the Speaker of the house, Mr Yakubu Dogara, to ascertain whether the “nays’’ or the “ayes’’ had majority when he put the motion on the bill to voice vote.

    It was at the second voting that the rejection of the bill was clear as majority of the members voted against it.

    Iriase said that e-voting would replace the regular voice vote being currently applied and forestall future controversies in the house, explaining that the method would promote accountability and transparency.

    “Arrangements have been perfected for electronic voting to ease the process and ensure more accountability and transparency.

    “We will be dealing with the modernisation of the process of law-making toward e-parliament.

    “What has been done is to get experts who have concluded their work and the test-run is going to start on Wednesday,’’ he said.

     

  • NASS committed to making laws to improve business environment – Dogara

    NASS committed to making laws to improve business environment – Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has assured that the National Assembly will act on legislations that will improve Nigeria’s business environment.

    Dogara gave the assurance on Monday in his remarks at the one year anniversary of National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER) in Abuja.

    He commended NASSBER for the successes it had achieved over the last one year, saying that the group’s efforts would lead to robust and responsive private sector.

    “Looking back the last 12 months, NASSBER is but a success story of novel synergy, dialogue and engagement between the legislature, development partner, the private sector, the bench and citizens.

    “The National Assembly will continue to play a central role not only in governance but also ensuring that we deliberate and act on frameworks that will improve Nigeria’s business environment.

    “This we will do through the review of relevant legislations and provisions of the constitution.

    “A little over a year ago when NASSBER was inaugurated, we were very confident it was the right step to take if we were indeed committed to bringing our economy out of recession, and stimulating long term economic growth.’’

    Dogara urged members of the NASSBER Committees to provide the strategic guidance needed to move the roundtable initiative forward.

    He added that they were on course to having the law as a proactive instrument to promote development and, therefore, influence and change present realities.

    The speaker congratulated DFID ENABLE project, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), and the Nigerian Bar Association – Session on Business Law (NBA-SBL) for their service to the nation through the project.

    He said that the outcome of their efforts will lead to an agile private sector that could respond to global opportunities.

    “As a result of this effort, I am more confident that our economy would attract ‘agile private sector that can innovate and respond to global opportunities’ as contemplated in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of this government,” he said.

    The speaker also commended the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, for demonstrating leadership and an unwavering commitment to the NASSBER process.

     

  • Telecoms masts pose health hazard only if EMF exceeds limit – NCC

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta has continue to argue against the position of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) that exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF) from base transceiver masts is hazardous to human health.

    Prof. Danbatta’s position as reported by TheNewsGuru was that the belief that telecom masts and/or towers constitute health hazards was mere imagination and myth, stressing that the belief “…has no scientific base”.

    Prof Danbatta was responding to questions yesterday in Abuja at a sitting of the House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee that is currently investigating the health implications of mounting telecommunications masts close to buildings.

    “With regards to other professional bodies like Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), we don’t have any quarrel with their positions.

    “The only question is when we say exposure to electromagnetic field is hazardous to health what level are we talking about? We have to define the level of exposure that is hazardous to human beings.

    “Of course if you generate a massive electromagnetic field of unprecedented proportion and put a person inside, there will be medical consequences,” Danbatta said at the sitting.

    To prove his point further, Danbatta said given the concerns, researches so far conducted in areas where telecoms masts are located have not indicated any adverse health effects.

    “What we are saying is that: provided the limit specified is observed and NCC is there to ensure compliance with that limit, there is no health hazard.

    “There is a limit of safety below which electromagnetic fields do not cause any harm to health,” he explained.

  • Jibrin again: Reveals ‘Axis of Evil’ in National Assembly

    Embattled Nigerian federal lawmaker, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has revealed ‘Axis of Evil’ in the country’s National Assembly, stressing that there are propaganda being peddled around against him.

    The lawmaker took to his twitter handle on New Year’s eve to make certain revelations, while demonstrating readiness to fight budget fraud.

    “The propaganda spread around against me by the axis of evil in the House of Representatives shows how desperate Speaker Dogara has become,” Jibrin said in one of his tweets.

    https://twitter.com/AbdulAbmJ/status/815213495436320768

    “No such planted stories aim at diluting our crusade will deter me and I will use every legal means to regain the mandate of my people,” he added.

    Jibrin left the country four weeks after he was suspended by the House for stirring the budget padding scandal in the public domain, and spent seven weeks in London.

    “My few weeks of silence was to strategize and put to work some of the advice I have received from hundreds of well-meaning Nigerians,” he said.

    Jibrin said “as we enter New Year, let’s not forget 163 days after Dogara is yet to respond to mountain of allegations”.

    “We must deal with the axis of evil in the House of Reps in 2017 and they should rather focus on responding to the mountain of allegations of 40, 20, 30 & 284 billion budget fraud, 20% house inputs hijacked for the axis of evil by Lasun, 9 roads blended to 4 Speaker inserted in budget, diversion of FGN projects to his farm, 500 million naira they collect for rent of house and guest houses-how much Hembe stole from the money, why the Speaker is yet to release details of internal budget of the house after deducting running cost allowances, allegation of wasteful contracts on office items, billions of naira money laundering, the car purchase scam of the 7th and 8th assembly, allegation of shortchanging members in 2015 MDG, allegations of bribery and corruption in the 2015 MDG with the corrupt Doguwa in charge, allegations of doctoring our house rules that is a subject of ligation that gave him draconian powers, and among many others,” he added.

    Jibrin stressed “We have secured funding from two international organizations to establish a central online platform that will be used to disseminate budget fraud and corruption acts, and publish evidence; and also hold lecture series and sensitization programs on budget fraud and corruption across the country.

    Jibrin, who said a whistle-blower is not necessarily a saint but he or she is supported for what he reveals that is of benefit to all, said “I shall remain committed to this struggle for the rest of my life even if I am alone.

    “Our anti-corruption crusade will be ruthless in 2017. It is a struggle I am ready to die for,” he covenanted.