TheNewsGuru

Tag: National Assembly

  • NASS invasion: We’ll get to the roots of this – Senate President

    Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki has condemned the invasion of the National Assembly in which the symbol of authority of the Senate was carted away by suspected Senator Ovie Omo-Agege sponsored thugs.

    TheNewsGuru reports Senator Omo-Agege allegedly sponsored five thugs to invade the red chamber of the National Assembly on Wednesday and forcefully carted away the mace of the Senate.

    In his reaction to the developments, Saraki, who has been away in Washington where he is attending the Spring Meeting of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the National Assembly will get to the root of the matter.

    He commended the leadership and all members of the Senate for standing up firmly in defense of democracy and the rule of law with their decision to defy those who machinated the attack on the red chambers of the National Assembly.

    Saraki also lauded the swift reaction by the leadership and members of the House of Representives in demonstrating their solidarity with the red chamber and thereby sending a strong signal that enemies of democracy and those who want to undermine the legislature will be resisted by all parliamentarians.

    “I have just been informed that some hoodlums invaded the Senate chambers, forcefully taken away the mace and assaulted some of our Sergeant-at-arms on chamber duties. I am delighted that the Senate stood up to them by disregarding their unreasonable and shameful action and went on with the day’s proceedings as slated in the Order Paper.

    “My commendation goes to my deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, other members of the leadership, my colleagues, the leadership and members of the House of Representives for standing in defence of democracy, parliamentary sanctity and constitutionalism.

    “With the way the Senate has defied those seeking to undermine it, we have sent out a strong signal that we are always ready to defend our constitutional mandate and nothing will deter us from this.

    “I associate myself with the comments of the Deputy Senate President that we are ready to get to the roots of this assault on democracy and ensure that those who are responsible, no matter how remote, will be brought to justice,” Saraki stated.

     

  • Breaking: Commotion as hoodlums invade Senate; hijack, cart away mace [Video]

    The Nigerian Senate is under attack by certain persons who have been branded as hoodlums, who hijacked and cart away the mace of the red chamber.

    TheNewsGuru reports Wednesday’s plenary session was ongoing when the said hoodlums invaded the Senate chamber of the National Assembly.

    Watch video below:

    According to a source who spoke to TheNewsGuru.com on the incident, about 10 suspected thugs who came to the venue forced their entrance into the chamber.

    Seconds later, the hoodlums ran out of the chamber with the mace causing pandemonium in the Senate.

    They left the National Assembly with the mace in a black SUV.

    The mace is the symbol of authority of the parliament.

  • Easter: Sen. Abe preaches forgiveness

    The Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has appealed to Christians to learn how to forgive one another just as Jesus Christ forgave mankind, advising them to surrender anything in their heart that will prevent God from answering their prayers.

    “I want to use this opportunity to appeal to all of us as Christians, that we should try as much as possible to learn forgiveness. Christ, who was betrayed and crucified, forgave those who betrayed and crucified him, if he can forgive; what is it that people have done to you that you cannot forget and forgive as a Christian”.

    Abe made the appeal while speaking at a special prayer session to mark Easter Good Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Capital and maintained that the period should also be used for sober reflection over our lives as mankind.

    The senator said, “I want to appeal to all of us to use this time to remember our neighbours; sometime the situation they are facing may even be worse than our own. As we were praying today, I was praying to God to answer everyone because different people have different challenges and the one you think is the biggest challenge could actually be a very minor one comparing to the situation that others are facing.

    “I pray that God will remember all of us this Easter season. Finally, I want to use this opportunity to encourage each and every one of you. There is nothing in life that is of value that is easy, there is nothing in life that is useful, that you can just pick like that without struggling for it”.

    Abe, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on FERMA also appealed to Christians to use the period of the Easter celebration to remember in their prayers, the Dapchi girl who has not been released by her captors because of her refusal to deny Jesus Christ.

    “Let us use the opportunity to specially remember the Dapchi Girl, particularly the little girl that is still being held. I want to urge each and every one of us to use that girl as a point of contact to remember to thank God that you are free to worship God as you like, that you are free every day to take little decisions about your life”.

    “But there is a little girl somewhere away from her parents, away from her friends; she does not know if she will be alive tomorrow or death, but she is hanging on to the same God that you and I worship. I want us to remember that child and to pray for her not just today but every day”.

     

  • We have to part ways with judiciary if… – Dogara

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has urged the nation’s Judiciary to adhere strictly to the principles of separation of powers as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.

    Speaking during plenary Thursday, Hon. Dogara lamented that some persons were using some judges to gag the National Assembly, a situation he said will spell danger for Nigeria’s democracy.

    Hon Dogara stated that Nigeria is not a Banana republic and warned that if the Judiciary continues to cross the line, the National Assembly will be left with no option than to part ways with them.

    “We would part ways with the judiciary if it continues to gag the National Assembly. There are external forces pushing the judiciary to tackle the Legislature. Some persons somewhere are intimidating the nation’s Judiciary to gag the National Assembly.

    “We know that Nigeria is not Banana Republic and operates on basic principles such as rule of law and separation of powers, which states that none of the arms of government should gag the other.

    “Just as we cannot gag the Judiciary, we also expect same from them. We make laws and the Constitution only empowers them to interpret the laws, but for us to sit here and the judiciary tells us what we should consider and not consider and when to seat, then we are no longer practicing democracy.

    “The way the judiciary is going, nothing stops them (the judges) from coming tomorrow and saying the National Assembly should not sit. I don’t think it is us that is intimidating the Judiciary like is being alleged. It is some people that are intimidating them from somewhere else, to gag the National Assembly.

    “We have respected the Judiciary a lot and we expect same from them. When the Judiciary gets to the level they are now, that spells danger for our democracy. If they insist they must continue this way, we have to part ways.”

     

  • National Assembly fixes date for passage of 2018 budget

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives,Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday confirmed that the 2018 Appropriation Bill will be passed by the National Assembly on April 24.

    Dogara, who gave the hint at plenary said a harmonised committee of the two chambers of the Parliament had proposed to lay the budget on April 19 to prepare for its passage on April 24.

    Recall that the budget has become a source of tension between the two arms of government.

    While the Executive claimed the lawmakers had arrested the budget, the lawmakers said Ministers and heads of Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were not coming to defend their budget estimates.

    President Muhammadu Buhari laid the budget estimates on November 7, before a joint session of the National Assembly. The executive urged the lawmakers to pass the budget by December so as to return to the normal January to December budget cycle.

    In Dogara’s words: “We are proposing that we are laying the budget finally on the 19th of April 2018. Hopefully, we will be passing the budget on 24th April, 2018. This is harmonised calendar with the Senate”.

    In a similar vein, the Senate at plenary on Wednesday also listed 23 ministries allegedly frustrating the passage of the budget.

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki directed Chairmen of standing committees to submit reports of the 2018 budget to the Appropriation Committee without further delay.

    A document marked “Committees 2018 budget status as at 21st March, 2018” listed Ministries Works, Land Transport, Finance and Science and Technology among 23 ministries and agencies that have failed to appear before its committees to defend their 2018 budget proposals.

    Mr. Babatunde Fashola is minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun Minister of Finance, Chibuike Amaechi is minister of Land Transport while Ogbonnaya Onu is minister of Science and technology.

    Other ministries also listed in the document obtained by our reporter included Culture and Tourism, Education (Basic and Secondary), Foreign Affairs, Health, Housing, Privatization, Solid Mineral, Sports and Youth Development and Tertiary Institution and TETFund.

    Saraki asked the committee chairmen to take steps to submit their reports on 2018 budget to Senator Mohammed Goje led Appropriation Committee.

    The Senate President gave 29th March 2018 as deadline for the submission of the reports.

    He said, “This is to inform chairmen of all committees to as a matter of urgency, submit reports of their various committees on the 2018 budget to the chairman of the Senate committee on Appropriation.

    “The reports should be submitted beginning from Thursday, 22nd March 2018 to Thursday, 29th March, 2018. I urge lawmakers to take this assignment very seriously.”

     

  • 2018 budget: Buhari orders MDAs to submit details to National Assembly before Friday

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday mandated representatives of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that were yet to submit and defend details of their 2018 expenditures before the National Assembly to do before Friday.

    Recall that President Buhari had in November 2017 presented the 2018 budget to the lawmakers. However, there has been rows between the Executive and Legislature over the passage of the budget.

    The lawmakers have, however, said the budget was being delayed because some ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) were yet to appear before relevant national assembly committees to defend their proposals.

    That stance of the lawmakers has now been buttressed by a message the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, sent to relevant public officials.

    In the memo, dated March 19, the SGF said, “It has come to the attention of Government that a number of Agencies, Corporations and Government owned Companies have not fully complied with the provisions of Section 21 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007.”

    “Agencies are reminded that the FRA 2007 provides that consequent upon laying of summary of budget estimates of Agencies listed in the schedule to the FRA alongside the National Budget by Mr. President, it is required that details of such budgets are made available to the National Assembly for consideration and passage. This position was reiterated in the attached publication in the Nation Newspaper of Wednesday, February 7, 2018, by the Senior Special Assistant to the President (SSAP) on National Assembly Matters (Senate).”

    Mr. Mustapha added that President Buhari “has directed:

    (i) That Agencies, Corporations and Government owned Companies in the schedule to the FRA 2007 should comply with the provisions of the law;

    (ii) All submissions (109 copies to the Senate and 360 copies to the House) should be made available to the appropriate Committees of the National Assembly. Copies should also be made available to the SSAP on National Assembly Matters (Senate and House respectively), not later than Friday, 23rd March, 2018; and

    (iii) All Agencies, Corporations and Government Owned Companies should honour invitations to defend their estimates timeously.”

    He added that “Supervising Ministers [of the MDAs] are enjoined to ensure timely compliance with the content of this Circular.”

     

  • Why social unrest looms large in Nigeria – Dogara

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has attributed lack of opportunities as a contributory factor to social unrest in Nigeria.

    The Speaker made this known while receiving a delegation from the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in his office.

    He said the inability of many young, talented and gifted Nigerians to access funds to take their dreams to reality has led to their involvement in activities that are detrimental to the growth and development of the society.

    He, therefore, challenged the banking sector to contribute to the fight against violence, terrorism and sundry acts of criminality by providing opportunities to Nigerians to pursue dreams that will yield positive outcomes.

    “When citizens are alive, they are free but they are excluded from pursuing their dreams and realising them, they cannot be said to be enjoying the promise of democracy.

    “Unfortunately, that is the biggest challenge of our democracy in Nigeria and it is giving birth to other challenges that are even threatening the entire democratic architecture and that is lack of opportunities and we see that manifesting in violent crimes, in terrorism.

    “Most of the people doing this, the young people are involved in kidnapping, sundry acts of criminality. If they had opportunities where they can release their latent energies or potentials, they would have definitely be doing other things for the benefit and good of the system and not joining the coalition of the enemies of open society,” he said.

    He urged the bankers to take a very in-depth look at the possibility of reducing their bank rates to encourage small and medium businesses in the country to thrive as this would lead to strengthening of the democratic architecture of the country and enable Nigerians to enjoy life, liberty and pursue what makes them happy.

    Hon Dogara expressed confidence that with the commitment of bankers, reduced interest rates can be achieved, while assuring that the House is committed to the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

    “To be candid, when you borrow monies from banks to fund businesses, especially in Nigeria, it is like you are signing your cheque to poverty because in some cases, you struggle with the interest, not even the principal, and years and years, you have not been able to sort it out and once you run into any misfortune, banks are even like in a rush to ensure that you either pay or they close it on you,” he said.

    Earlier, the President and Chairman-In-Council of the Institute, Professor Segun Ajibola, commended the speaker for promoting the ease of doing business in Nigeria through the passage of landmark bills, including the Collateral Registry Act, by the National Assembly.

     

  • RMAFC cautions NASS on creation of account to capture all excess revenue

    The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), has urged the National Assembly to be mindful of the constitution in its bid to legalise an account to capture all excess revenue.

    The Acting Chairman, Mr Shettima Abba-Gana said this in an interview with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The House of Representatives recently moved to legalise the Excess Crude Account (ECA), by proposing a bill to capture all excess revenue in an account to be called Excess Revenue Fund Account (ERFA).

    The bill, which has passed second reading, was proposed by a member of the House, Mr Lovette Idisi.

    According to the proposed bill, no money shall be withdrawn from the account except it is approved by the National Assembly.

    The existing ECA, which has been mired in controversy over the years, is owned and managed by the Federal, States and Local Governments.

    The Federal Government remits any crude oil revenue in excess of the budgeted crude oil benchmark for the current year into it.

    Abba-Gana, however, said that the account was non-existent in law, adding that the three tiers were accountable to each other and took decisions on how the money is disbursed.

    “Yes the account does not exist in law, but if the shareholders decide to do what they want, then it is them that decided, and the sharing will have to follow their ownership of that fund.

    “That is why before the funds will be used, the 13 per cent of the oil producing states must first be removed because that is the first charge on any revenue, and then the balance is to be shared to everybody.

    “If it is only one tier that sits down and decides what to do with the ECA, that would be absolutely illegal, but if the three come together then it is understood that the owners decided to use the funds in a particular form.

    “If they all say that all the money in it should be shared immediately it is generated, all well and good, but if they say they will save it and distribute it when it is needed, that is also good as long as the decision is that of all of them.’’

    Regarding the proposed ERFA by the National Assembly, he said that if it was to be established by the stakeholders (Federal, States and Local Governments), it would be a sub account of the federation account, which was the way RMAFC would regard it.

    He, however, advised the National Assembly to be careful so that it does not violate the constitution.

    “The constitution is very clear and it is good for them to study it to know what can be done within the current structure before they go and pass a law that negates or violates it.

    “The constitution is very clear on how the money should come, who owns it and how it should be spent, so the National Assembly cannot dictate the management of these funds when it cannot decide for states and local governments.

    “I do not think the National Assembly should go and pass a law that does not satisfy the constitution because it is the primary document that everyone swears to uphold and defend and you cannot do anything outside it.’’

    RMAFC was established to monitor accruals into and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account, review from time to time, the revenue allocation formula and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities.

  • Breaking: Buhari declines assent to 2010 Electoral Act amendment

    President Muhammadu Buhari has declined to assent to the amendment of the 2010 Electoral Act forwarded to him by the National Assembly (NASS).

    TheNewsGuru reports the amended 2010 Electoral Act seeks, among other objectives, to re-order the sequence of polls during general elections.

    NASS amended section 25 of the Principal Act and substituted it with a new section 25(1).

    According to the section, the elections shall be held in the following order: (a) National Assembly election (b) State Houses of Assembly and Governorship elections (c) Presidential election.

    This amendment, which is at variance with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) elections time-table that stipulates Presidential and National Assembly elections were to hold first, while governorship and state assembly would follow, did not go down well with President Buhari.

    The NASS also amended section 87 by adding a new section 87(11) with a marginal note: “time for primaries of political parties”.

    “The primaries of political parties shall follow the following sequence (i) State House of Assembly (ii) National Assembly (iii) Governorship, and (iv), President.

    “The dates for the above stated primaries shall not be held earlier than 120 days and not later than 90 days before the date of elections to the offices,” the marginal note read.

    The NASS also amended section 36 to allow for running mate of a candidate that dies before the conclusion of elections to inherit his/her votes and continue with the process.

    Section 35 that states if before an election a candidate dies he will be replaced by the next contestant with the highest vote was also amended.

    The amendment indicated that if a nominated candidate died in the election process, the next person from the same political party with the second highest votes in the primary election should replace the deceased.

    It stated that the name of the new person should be submitted to INEC, which should accept such replacement as if the deceased was alive.

    President Buhari, in a letter addressed to both chambers of the NASS, and read on the floor of the Senate House by Senate President Bukola Saraki today, declined assent to the amendments stating it conflicts laws establishing the INEC.

     

  • Dapchi abduction: PDP demands National Assembly’s investigation

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the National Assembly to immediately commence full-scale investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abduction of 110 school girls in Dapchi, Yobe.

    The party made the demand in a statement issued by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, on Monday in Abuja.

    It will be recalled that suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi last week Monday, abducting 110 students.

    The party said that the investigation had become imperative in the face of rising speculations and conspiracy theorems in public space, fueled by conflicting reports.

    It added that the investigation was important, following attempts at cover-up and disagreements among some government officials and agencies regarding the incident.

    “The National Assembly must take a critical note of the allegation by Yobe State Governor, Ibrahim Geidam, who insists that the abduction was preceded by the withdrawal of troops safeguarding the troubled area.

    “The governor is the chief security officer of the state.

    “His statement cannot be taken lightly or even dismissed by just a wave of the hand by anybody or any government agency under any guise whatsoever,” it said.

    The PDP also urged the national assembly to investigate the conflicting reports that on the abduction.

    The party stated: “Nigerians are indeed worried about the apparent deliberate design to hide the facts of this abduction and demand to know the truth.

    “It is a common saying in Africa that thunder does not strike on the same spot twice.

    “We must not allow our national ambience to be filled with speculations from conspiracy theorists.

    “Our lawmakers must therefore, in unraveling the matter, question all security agencies, particularly those operating in the area.”

    The PDP further urged the national assembly to urgently come to the rescue of some of the parents of the abducted girls.

    According to the party, some of the parents were arrested and taken into custody for daring to demand explanations on the whereabouts of their children and wards.

    It added: “The Federal Government must be made to live up to the basic responsibility of protecting lives and property.

    “We therefore demand a strong legislative action at the highest level to enable our nation know the truth on this matter and other issues directly affecting the safety and wellbeing of our citizens.”