TheNewsGuru

Tag: National Assembly

  • My agenda for the 10th National Assembly – By Mack Ogbamosa

    My agenda for the 10th National Assembly – By Mack Ogbamosa

    By Mack Ogbamosa

    Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the 10th National Assembly will be inaugurated in June this year. The lawmakers are expected to take off from where their predecessors stopped.

    In the Fifth  Alteration to the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the 9th National Assembly  made some improvements. Even though they did not go far enough to douse the tension generated by the high level of agitations and insecurity in the country,  they  deserve applause for some of the bills passed and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    These include the bill  to liberate the judiciary and legislature from state governors by granting them financial autonomy, putting railways on the concurrent list so that state governments can run this means of transportation and most notably granting state governments power to generate, distribute and transmit electricity. 

    This is in line with the provision  in Section 13 of the Concurrent Legislative List under the Second Schedule of the Constitution. The Section states that: “The National Assembly may make laws for the Federation or any part thereof with respect to-

    • electricity and the establishment of electric power stations; 
    • the generation and transmission of electricity in or to any part of the Federation and from one State to another State…” 

    Although overdue, many Nigerians see the amendment on electricity generation, distribution and transmission as a most welcome relief.

    There is no doubt that this  is one area which has kept the nation  in  darkness and under-development for many  years. Without power,  many businesses have  either died or relocated to other countries thereby worsening  the state of unemployment and poverty in  Nigeria today.  

    The immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources,  Mr Timipre Sylva, admitted to this ugly situation  in a recent speech to the delegates at the 2022 Nigerian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference in Abuja, where he disclosed  that about 62 per cent of Nigerians lack access to electricity  and that  the frequent  breakdown of our National Grid costs the nation more than  25 billion United States  dollars in economic loss yearly. 

    It is hoped that many states that have the capacity will take advantage of this devolution of power and provide regular electricity supply to their citizens in order to minimise this economic loss by  reviving our industries,  generating  employment and reducing poverty. 

    Restructuring through Resources Control 

    Beyond this, there are still  many critical areas which must be looked into if we  are actually serious about practising federalism under a democracy in Nigeria

    One of these  is restructuring through resource control . What this means is  that states should be allowed to have control of the mineral resources in their territories by amending  the Constitutional provision that vests ownership and control of all mineral resources in the country in the hands of the Federal Government. This will affect 

    Section 44 (3) of the Constitution under compulsory acquisition of property which states that” Notwithstanding the forgoing provisions of this section,  the entire property in and control of minerals, mineral oils and natural gas in , under or upon the territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone of Nigeria shall vest in the Government of the Federation and shall be managed in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.” This provision is also reflected in Section 39 of the Exclusive Legislative List in the Second Schedule of the Constitution where  these items are listed as mines and minerals,  including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas. 

    There is no state in Nigeria that does not have mineral resources. These minerals are lying untapped because nothing has compelled the state governments to work towards financial independence for their states. The regular resort to the monthly Federal Allocation from Abuja is largely responsible for this. Although, the allocation is supposed to give  financial succour to the states, it has contributed to the high degree of laziness and corruption at the state governments level.

    It is regrettable that  the outgoing government of  Buhari under the All Progressives Congress (APC) which promised to restructure the country, did little or nothing to fulfil its promise. Fortunately, however,  the incoming government at the Federal level is under the same political party and the President- elect, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tinubu  is a strong proponent  of decentralisation of powers. He  demonstrated this  while he was governor of Lagos State. He created more local government areas called Local Development Council Areas (LCDA)s. He tried to introduce independent power project to  generate and distribute electricity at the state level. 

    Even when the Federal Government under President Olusegun Obasanjo stopped the allocation of funds to the state because of what the central government considered as an illegal act by creating more LCDAs,  the state government survived . Ìt sued the Federal Government and eventually won the case .

    There is therefore, no doubt  that Tinubu will be comfortable giving assent to any bill that will be in favour of devolution of powers to the states.

    State/ Community Police as solution to insecurity 

    Another very crucial issue which the 10th assembly should urgently look into is the  establishment of state and community police . It is no longer news that  insecurity is the greatest challenge in the country today. Non state actors have taken over everywhere. They have invaded our farms, homes, roads, rail tracks ,  schools, streets , churches and mosques. If they are not terrorists,  they are bandits.  If they are not bandits,  they are kidnappers.  

    The current situation where all our security forces  are under the control of the federal government cannot solve the problem of insecurity. We do not have enough security men  to man the country. 

    As I have said in my previous write-ups, state governors are not Chief Security Officers as it is erroneously believed.  

    The Constitution should be amended to give room for  the creation of state and community police, who are answerable to the state command and the people of the state. They will work with the locals and traditional rulers who are familiar with our local terrain as well as being in touch with the people.  

    This will help curb insecurity, youth restiveness,  inter- communal crisis, ethnic militancy and reduce unemployment among youths as more of them will be absorbed by the local police force.

    This will in effect,  lead to the amendment of 

    Section 45 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the Second Schedule of the Constitution which places the  Police and other government security agencies established by law  under the control of the Federal Government. 

    Justiciability/ Enforceability of Chapter II 

    Above all, the 10th assembly should give  true meaning to Chapter II of the Constitution which deals with socio-economic rights. These rights which are under Fundamental Objectives And Directive Principles of State Policy include the:

    -provision of security and welfare for  the people;

    -Provision of free and compulsory basic education as well as free secondary and tertiary education when resources are available; 

    – Provision of  employment opportunities ; and 

    -Provision of adequate housing for the people. 

    Unlike the  Fundamental Human Rights in Chapter IV , which include right to life, freedom of association, freedom of movement and freedom of expression, which are considered as political rights, and are enforceable, the rights in Chapter II are not enforceable.  

     Section 6(6c) of the Constitution  bars the courts from entertaining any matter on justiciability of these rights. The Section states that: 

    “The judicial powers vested in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section-

    Shall not,except as otherwise provided by this Constitution, extend to any issue or question as to whether any act or omission by any authority or person or as to whether any law or any judicial decision is in conformity with the Fundamental Objectives 

    and Directive Principles of State Policy set out in Chapter II of this Constitution”

    Apart from amending this section, the 

     lawmakers should also  expedite action on “The establishment and regulation of authorities for the Federation or any part thereof to promote and enforce the observance of the Fundamental Objectives And Directive Principles of State Policy contained in this Constitution”  in line with Section 60(a)  of the Exclusive Legislative List 

    It is a mirage to think that we can have a government that is accountable when it cannot be challenged for not discharging its responsibilities. 

    Of what use are the freedoms in Chapter IV when a man is uneducated, unemployed and homeless? 

    Of what use is the State when it cannot serve  its primary purpose of providing security and welfare for the people?

    How meaningful is the essence of the social contract between  the people and the government when  the government cannot fulfil its obligations to the people?

    The belief that the government does not have the resources to fulfil its obligations to the people is erroneous. Our leaders have been profligate with our resources.  Instead of applying the available resources for the benefit of the people, they have been engaged in  squandering them for their own selfish ends largely because there is no compelling legislation that would warrant performance of these obligations. 

    This has also  raised the level of laziness, indolence and corruption in government at all levels. 

    The earlier these  parts of the Constitution are amended by the 10th National Assembly, the better for the promotion of good governance in the country.

     

    Ogbamosa, a legal practitìoner/ Communications consultant, wrote via mack_ogbamosa@yahoo.com. 

  • Protesters storm National Assembly to request for annulment of presidential election

    Protesters storm National Assembly to request for annulment of presidential election

    Some unidentified persons have staged a protest at the national assembly in Abuja over the just concluded general elections in the country.

    The protesters carried placards with the inscriptions such as ‘Save our Democracy’, “INEC + Corruption, Politicians are killing our Democracy,” and “INEC killing the Nigerian Democracy.”

    They called for the annulment of the presidential elections in the country.

    Some of the protesters were seen shouting on top of their voices  crying and laying curses on those who were responsible for the irregularities in the election.

    Recall that another protest had erupted 24 hours ago at the Unity Fountain on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Security personnel were immediately drafted to the scene to prevent hoodlums from hijacking the protest in the Federal Capital Territory.

     

     

  • BREAKING: “It is my turn to become Senate President” – Kalu affirms

    BREAKING: “It is my turn to become Senate President” – Kalu affirms

    The Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Kalu, has declared his intention to contest for Senate presidency in the 10th National Assembly.

    Kalu, who won re-election to represent Abia North in the Red Chamber, disclosed this Tuesday while briefing newsmen at the National Assembly.

    The ruling All Progressives Congress maintained a majority in the Senate, having secured 57 seats.

    APC senators eyeing the Senate presidency have been lobbying their colleagues to seek their support.

    I’m hoping that Nigerians will pray for me to become Senate President because it’s my turn

    Aside from Kalu, who has publicly declared interest in the position, Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Sani Musa (Niger); Barau Jibrin (Kano); and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) are also said to be interested in running for the coveted office.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the final candidates for the position will largely be determined by zoning.

    However, the APC leadership said it has not zoned the Senate presidency.

    Some pundits believe that it is likely that APC might zone the post to the South for power balance, especially after its Muslim-Muslim ticket triggered outrage from some quarters, especially the Christian community.

    BREAKING: "It is my turn to become Senate President" -Kalu affirms

    Kalu told reporters that it was his turn to become Senate President, being a ranking lawmaker and from the South East.

    He said, “It is my turn to become the Senate President. If I’m elected Senate President, I will be team Nigeria. I’m going to work in every corner of Nigeria.

    “I schooled in Maiduguri, Borno State. I started my business in Lagos and spread it across all state capitals. My first name will be team Nigeria, my last name will be team Nigeria.

    “Remember, I’m the only former governor who has never changed phone line for more than 20 years ago. I’m still willing to maintain that telephone number to answer all my calls. I’m not going to switch off my phones because I’m Senate President. I’m hoping that Nigerians will pray for me to become Senate President because it’s my turn.”

  • A national assembly of electoral fraudsters – By Evaristus Bassey

    A national assembly of electoral fraudsters – By Evaristus Bassey

    By Evaristus Bassey

    On the 12th of March 2023 David Eke made a post that showed quite convincingly that the President-Elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu had more paths to victory than Peter Obi. According to him, “Obi won Southeast and shared Niger Delta with PDP and APC. Any vote Obi got from the south, could have been neutralized by Tinubu’s votes from the south too…On election night, after analyzing the voting pattern of polling units’ results posted on social media of the core northern states, I knew they did not vote for Obi, and he was technically out of the race.” (Eke,D.(2023)[Twitter] 12/03. Available at: URL(Accessed 13/3/2023)). He went further to say that, “These states; Kebbi, Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara, and Niger DID NOT VOTE OBI. This is the Muslim-controlled north. Obi was making waves there initially until we turned Obi into a “Christian Project” …”

    Eke supported his conclusions with the data from the INEC results viewing portal.

    As objective as his analyses seemed, what dents the legitimacy of Tinubu’s win is that INEC made it seem like a shady deal. INEC appeared highly biased towards the candidate of the ruling party that as clearly as his path to victory was, it is perceived as a compromised victory and therefore affects his legitimacy in the eyes of a critical mass of citizens. This is one situation in which perception is reality. INEC did so much disservice to itself that the credulity and credibility it built up towards the elections dissolved just a day after the elections, for a large chunk of the population.

    The entire core north may have given their votes to the President-Elect because their leaders had decided to concede power to the south and had so instructed their followers to vote the APC candidate. The Southwest may have overwhelmingly voted for Tinubu as their son, except Lagos of course. APC too had loyal party men in the South-south and Southeast. But INEC did not maintain the needed neutrality to allow the process flow naturally so that we see truly whether all the previous prognostications and the current postmortems are ad rem. The very fact that INEC allowed a seamless transmission of the national assembly results but somehow, nationwide, there was a glitch in the uploading of the presidential results showed that there was something not very transparent going on. Someone has gone ahead to make the following breakdown: 840 results not accessible, 8217 results blurred and unreadable, 527 results cancelled, 164,279 results uploaded one week after election, 490 wrong PU results uploaded, 209 improper uploads on the form EC8A and 10,000 results not usable.

    Unfortunately, INEC Headquarters must take the blame, as is normal with Nigeria. Our unitary federalism makes everyone focus on the federal capital. There is very limited activism at state and local government levels whereas there is a lot at the federal level. Buhari easily gets the blame while some of our state governments are literally criminal enterprises with our governors the gang leaders. The INEC offices at state level and especially local government level commit the most heinous electoral infractions which we all turn around to heap the blame on INEC headquarters. The local politician easily has the security agencies under his payroll and at the risk of being severely molested, the ad hoc INEC staff at the polling unit is intimidated into doing their bidding; or at that level he is easily swayed with money. Many ward collation officers, and some local government collation officers see election time as harvest time, their own time to reap where they have not planted. And so, we have a system that is manipulatable at the national level and extremely compromised at the grassroots level.

    For me, the root cause is a legislature that is filled with electoral criminals influenced by an already established thieving executive.

    Why allow so many stages of human interference in the electoral system when a good law would eliminate all those bottlenecks? Why multiply entities beyond their necessities? Nigerian politicians generally have no sense of the common good; all they think about is winning the next election, and they believe they cannot win by free and fair means, because they do not serve the people during their tenures and know that a free and fair election would throw them out, so they put loopholes to be able to carry out some electoral heist. Take the falsely hyped BVAS machine for instance. While the rest of us celebrated it as a game changer, the politicians knew it was just a camera, just to take a photograph of the result sheet, a result sheet that can be filled with or without accreditation! While the rest of us spent time to queue for accreditation and voting, those who knew how to win their election simply thumb printed ballot papers and assigned scores to political parties as they wished on the result sheet and used the BVAS camera to take a shot and send to INEC server days later. Same thing happened in 2019 with some parts of the country completely ignoring the card reader. In 2015, after all the hype that card reader will be used, some parts of the country used the card reader only for INEC to announce sometime during the day that manual accreditation was okay because of the ‘challenges’ of the card readers! It then gave opportunity for certain parts of the country to come up with humungous figures! Every time the citizen is taken for a ride by selfish and purposeless politicians.

    We as citizens will have to mount pressure on the national assembly to review the electoral act and eliminate all the devilish human agents that are obstructing the path to the peoples’ sovereignty. The law must be unequivocal about electronic accreditation, voting, and collation. These are things that could be sorted out with software. As we get accredited, the ballot should be electronic, where you click on the party logo and your vote is automatically collated. Nigeria has so many software engineers that could do this, or it could be outsourced. I am not lost to the fact that this would require a running battle.

    The foundations of our nation should cease to be this gross dishonesty. I know that the national assembly cannot do this without the agreement of the executive. The President-Elect should try and be like President Y’Ardua who acknowledged that the election that brought him into office was flawed. He may not need to say it though. But he should do reparation for the abuses that have taken place during the presidential election through working with the legislature to adopt an electoral act that would shore up confidence in the populace. The people have been taken for a ride for too long, with a corrupt fuel subsidy regime, deceptive electoral processes, and even now with a conflicting currency policy that has brought untold hardship. Never did I dream that anyone would buy his national currency in a territory where it was legal tender! This issue has been the greatest low of the Buhari regime. The incoming government should do its best to respect citizens.

    As for Peter Obi being a Christian candidate, I completely disagree. Yes, most Christians may have supported him, not because he is Christian, but because he sounded fresh and different. Most Christians supported Buhari in 2015 against Goodluck Jonathan because Buhari was mistakenly seen as something different. As Christians, we support the truth from wherever it is coming from, whether it is coming from one who is in our fold or outside of our fold. And if INEC had allowed things to flow smoothly as they should, it would have been seen that Obi was also supported by very many Muslims as well, because they saw him as a departure from Nigeria’s usually deceitful ways. Truth is open to all humanity irrespective of their religious affiliations.

  • Tinubu, APC leaders rally lawmakers-elect over National Assembly leadership

    Tinubu, APC leaders rally lawmakers-elect over National Assembly leadership

    The leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has invited the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima; senators-elect and members of the House of Representatives-elect on its platform to a crucial meeting.

    The closed-door meeting, which is scheduled to hold at the State House in Abuja on Monday, has got political stakeholders pondering what it is all about.

    Though the agenda for the meeting was not stated, a source at the APC secretariat told our correspondent that it had to do with early consultation and strategic plans concerning the issue of zoning of the Senate presidency, Speaker for the House of Representatives and other principal

    The leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress has invited the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima; senators-elect and members of the House of Representatives-elect on its platform to a crucial meeting. The closed-door meeting, which is scheduled to hold at the State House in Abuja on Monday, has got political stakeholders pondering what it is all about. Though the agenda for the meeting was not stated, a source at the APC secretariat told our correspondent that it had to do with early consultation and strategic plans concerning the issue of zoning of the Senate presidency, Speaker for the House of Representatives and other principal offices in the National Assembly.

     

    offices in the National Assembly.

    “We have a feeling that this was a frantic effort to avoid a repeat of the coup that brought in Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House in 2015, respectively,” the source stated.

    The source explained that the “ghost of the civilian coup” executed by Saraki and Dogara in 2015 was still haunting the ruling party.

    According to him, the situation could have been averted if both politicians had considered party supremacy ahead of their selfish interests.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the invitation to the meeting, which was signed by APC National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, was also published on the party’s official Twitter handle around 10.08pm on Friday.

    While requesting the guests to come along with the Certificates of Return issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission after they were declared winners, the statement also urged them to arrive early enough to participate in a screening before the event slated for 2.00pm would commence.

    The invitation read, “This is to inform all Senators-elect and members of the House of Representatives-elect of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that they are invited to a parley with the party’s national leadership.

    “The meeting, which will be attended by the President-elect and Vice President-elect, will be held at the State House Banquet Hall, Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. Senators/House of Representatives-elect must come to the meeting with their Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Certificates of Return and must come alone.

    “The meeting is strictly on invitation. Date: Monday, 13th of March, 2023. Time: 2pm prompt. Venue: State House Banquet Hall, Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. All invited guests are expected to arrive early to allow for screening and be seated before 12noon.”

    Confirming the agenda of the meeting, a member of the APC NWC, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH on condition of anonymity, said, “The meeting is going to deal with the issue of who leads the next National Assembly. You know we cannot stand aloof and allow everyone to continue spending money in wooing their colleagues for their ambitions.

    “We are also trying to prevent power brokers and external forces from hijacking the next National Assembly. The President-elect will not stand by like the current President and allow power seekers and enemies to hijack the National Assembly. It is not in the interest of the President-elect and not in the interest of the ruling party as well.

    “Yes, the President is aware of the meeting, but he is not attending. We took the meeting to the Villa in order to limit the number of attendees and prevent those not invited and also our enemies from coming.”

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the invitation to the meeting is coming on the heels of calls by concerned members of the party, including the National Vice Chairman (North-West) and member of NWC, Mallam Salihu Lukman, who insisted that there was a need to lock down the sensitive positions of the Senate president Speaker after the posts of President and Vice-President had been zoned to the South-West and North-East regions, respectively.

    Lukman warned that no candidate from the two regions should be considered for both positions and that the APC should not give consideration to narratives by opportunities in the party.

    The Kaduna politician, who earlier called for reformation of the party, appealed that only candidates from the North-West, South-East and the South-South should be considered for the principal positions.

    He said, “Some specific recommendations may be necessary at this point. The offices of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives will have to be locked. Given that the President and Vice-President are from the South-West and the North-East, respectively, nobody from either of these two regions should aspire for any of these offices. Opportunists may argue that in the last four years, the South-West also produced the Vice-President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

    “We must correct this kind of lopsided reality as a strategic approach to dousing ethnic and religious tension in the country. With a national chairman from the North-Central and hopefully a Christian, the North-Central too should also be excluded from aspiring for either the position of Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives.

    “Accordingly, the positions of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives should be zoned to the North-West, South-East or the South-South. With a Muslim President and a Muslim Vice-President, it is only logical to zone the Senate President, who is the number three ranking leader of government, to either the South-East or the South-South, who will be a Christian.

    “Logically, the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives should be zoned to the North-West. This will have the advantage of acknowledging that the North-West gave Asiwaju the highest votes of 2,950,393, representing 33.6 per cent of the votes he won. All other positions in government can be assigned by taking a bearing from that.”

    Lukman added that while it might be important to also consider the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation as part of the positions to be zoned, Tinubu must not undermine his government by appointing a politician with zero experience in managing public service institutions to serve as the SGF.

    According to him, the office of the SGF is the brain box of any government system, warning that if a wrong person is appointed into such a sensitive position, the delivery capacity of the government will be weak.

    However, a member of the APC NWC and National Vice Chairman, South-East, Dr Ijeomah Arodiogbu, has drummed support for the party to consider zoning the Senate presidency or the speakership of the House of Representatives to the region.

    The appeal was in reaction to the agenda of Monday’s meeting.

    Although Arodiogbu admitted that he had no inkling of the agenda of the meeting, he expressed confidence that it would be about a consultation on principal officers of the lawmakers to avert a repeat of the controversial manner in which Saraki and Dogara emerged as leaders of the respective chambers of the National Assembly.

  • INEC announces winners of National Assembly election in Rivers

    INEC announces winners of National Assembly election in Rivers

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers has released winners of the National Assembly election conducted on Feb. 25 in Rivers.

    INEC announced the results in a statement issued to newsmen by the commission’s Public Affairs Officer, Mrs. Geraldine Ekelemu, in Port Harcourt on Saturday.

    The commission announced the winner of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District as Mpigi Barinada of PDP with 53,734 votes to defeat his closest APC rival, Ngofa Nyimenuate who polled 24,123 votes.

    It stated that Rivers West Senatorial District was won by PDP’s Banigo Harry who scored 67,668 votes to beat APC’s Asita Asita who netted 32,572 votes.

    The commission also announced that PDP’s Onyesoh Allwell clinched Rivers East Senatorial seat with 134,283 votes to floor LP’s Benjamin Okwuwolu who scored 74,725 votes.

    Similarly, INEC released the list of the House of Representatives members from Okrika/Ogubuolo, Etche/Omuma, Ikwere/Emohua, Ahoada West/Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru, Eleme/Tai/Oyibo, Abua-Uduah/Ahoada East, Andoni-Opobo/Nkuru, Degema/Bonny, Obio/Akpor, and Port Harcourt 1, while the result of Port Harcourt 2 is suspended.

    The results showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won only Okrika/Ogubuolo seat, while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won nine seats and Labour Party also won only one seat for Port Harcourt 1 federal constituency.

    Rivers has 12 members in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.

    Recalled that the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Johnson Alalibo, had earlier told newsmen that the results of Port Harcourt 2 federal constituency would be suspended and reviewed due to reports of irregularity.

  • Buhari hosts National Assembly election winners of Daura constituency

    Buhari hosts National Assembly election winners of Daura constituency

    President Muhammadu Buhari hosted winners of the Senate and House of Representatives elections in Daura Zone of Katsina on Monday.

    His media aide, Malam Garba Shehu, stated that the president hosted the National Assembly members-elect at his country home in Daura and advised them to “respect the voters and make them feel important.

    “If you don’t, they will wait in ambush for you at the next election. Depending on how you deal with them, they will keep you in office, or they will send you packing.’’

    He congratulated the Senator-elect, Malam Nasiru Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 174,062 votes to beat the incumbent, Sen. Ahmed Babba-Kaita, by more than 10,000 votes.

    Babba-Kaita had defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following his defeat at the APC’s primary election.

    Buhari also welcomed the election of Alhaji Aminu Jamo (APC), House of Representatives member-elect for Daura/Sandamu/Mai Adua Federal Constituency who defeated his PDP opponent by more than 10,000 votes.

    The National Legal Adviser of the APC, Ahmed El-Marzuq, who led the elected representatives, told the president that the good showing of the party owed largely to progress recorded in the senatorial zone under the Buhari presidency.

    El-Marzuq cited several projects, which he said had enhanced education, entrepreneurship, social development and the development of human capital in the area.

    He presented copies of the election results to the president.

  • National Assembly dismisses report on DSS siege on complex

    National Assembly dismisses report on DSS siege on complex

    The National Assembly management has dismissed reports that surfaced online that masked operatives of the Department of State Services on Wednesday barricaded the gates to the National Assembly complex, shutting out lawmakers.

    This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Agada Emmanuel, the Director of Information
    National Assembly in Abuja on Thursday.

    ”The reposted unverified video clips was a reported incident that took place in 2018 at the main entrance gate leading into the  National Assembly complex.

    ”The main entrance gate is presently under reconstruction and near completion for commissioning,” he said, while condemning the motive behind the video.

    A social media user had tweeted from his Twitter handle, @Chukwuebuka, alleging the siege of the National Assembly complex by the DSS.

    Emmanuel said that the video was misleading and fake news in its entirety, stressing that as the National Assembly members are currently on recess and staff are not under any siege by the DSS.

    According to him, the new Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Sani Tambuwal and his Management team are fully in charge, focused and determined to achieve their set goals in line with their core mandates.

    He urged security agencies to  Investigate the user of the Twitter handle account to forestall future abuse and spreading of misinformation into the media space.

    He said such misinformation was capable of creating panic, mischief and anxiety leading to breakdown of law and order as this repost, might have been intended.

  • Buhari assents to Defence Research bill and three others

    Buhari assents to Defence Research bill and three others

    President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law the Defence Research and Development Bureau Bill, 2022 passed by the National Assembly.

    The bill will initiate new scientific, technological and environmental research on defence matters. It also seeks to facilitate collaboration with other national and international institutions in the promotion and transfer of science and technology relating to defence.

    Other bills signed by the President are National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons Act, 2022, the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority Act, 2022 and National Assembly Library Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, 2022.

    This was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate) Babajide Omoworare, on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in Abuja.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that last year, the Senate passed a bill seeking to establish a Defence Research and Development Bureau in the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

    The Defence Research and Development Bureau (Establishment) Bill seeks to initiate new scientific, technological and environmental research on defence matters.

    It also seeks to facilitate collaboration with other national and international institutions in the promotion and transfer of science and technology relating to defence.

    Majority Leader of the Senate, Yahaya Abdullahi, moved the motion for re-committal of the bill to the Committee of the Whole for consideration and passage.

    Abdullahi, in his presentation, recalled that the bill and two others were passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to the President for assent.

    He said, “Some fundamental issues which require fresh legislative action by both chambers of the National Assembly emerged after critical analysis of the bill by Mr President and C-in-C.”

    The lawmaker added that against the backdrop of the issues identified, a technical committee of the Senate and House of Representatives as well as the Directorate of Legal Services of the National Assembly met and reworked the bill.

    Accordingly, the Senate, relying on order 1(b) and order 52(6) of the Senate Standing Order, 2022 as amended, rescinded its decision on the bill as passed and re-committed the same to the Committee of the Whole for reconsideration and passage.

  • January-December budget cycle: Why Buhari’s assent to the 2023 budget is coming late

    January-December budget cycle: Why Buhari’s assent to the 2023 budget is coming late

    Barring last minutes changes, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the 2023 Appropriation Bill into law next Tuesday, as part of his first official assignments in the new year. This is expected to be the last Appropriation Bill the President will sign before leaving office in May 2023.

    The Senate President Ahmed Lawan who gave the hint on Friday after a closed-door meeting at the State House, Abuja, noted that both chambers of the National Assembly only passed the bill on Wednesday December 28, for the President’s assent.

    “We are looking forward to Mr. President signing the Appropriation Bill 2023, by the grace of God, on Tuesday…both chambers have passed the Appropriation Bill 2023 on Wednesday, and I’m sure that Mr. President and his team, on the executive side will work on what we have done,” Lawan said.

    The National Assembly has also extended the capital implementation period of the 2022 Appropriation Act to March 31, 2023 following a request by the President, citing amongst other reasons, late capital releases to Ministries, Departments and Agencies, which may not be fully utilized at the constitutional expiration period of December 31st.

    Section 318 of the 1999 constitution stipulates 12 calendar months for the implementation of the budget in any fiscal year and the 2022 Appropriation Act which took effect in January ought to have elapsed Saturday.

    “The proposed 2022 appropriation supplementary budget submitted to National Assembly for consideration as well as recent 2022 capital releases to MDAs are likely to be utilized before December, 31st, 2022 due to the late release of the funds which will lapse if the capital implementation is not extended beyond December, 2022.

    “In the light of the above, the National Assembly is requested to amend the 2022 Acts expression clause to reflect March 31, 2023 for the capital components only,” President Buhari’s letter to the National Assembly read.

    Timeline on Buhari’s assent to appropriation bills in the last seven years

    Since assuming office on May 29, 2015, President Buhari has signed a total of seven appropriation bills to law and part of his second-term ambition was to return the budget cycle to January- December fiscal year.

    President Buhari signed the first Appropriation Bill (N6.06 trillion) after his assumption of office on May 6, 2016, while his Vice Yemi Osinbajo, acting as President, signed the N7.4 trillion 2017 Appropriation Bill on June 12, 2017 while Buhari was away on medical vacation in London.

    On June 20, 2018, President Buhari assented to the 2018 Appropriation Bill of N9.12 trillion, while those of 2019 and 2020 were signed on May 27, 2019 and December 17, 2019, respectively. However, the 2019 Appropriation Bill was later revised from N10.59 trillion to N10.8 trillion which was signed by President Buhari on July 10, 2020.

    In keeping with his goal to return the country to the January- December budget cycle, the President also timely signed the 2021 and 2022 Appropriation Bills on 31st December 2021 and 2022 respectively.

    It is therefore expected that the President will assent to the 2023 budget on Tuesday, which is already a few days late, judging by the timeline for the last three years.