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Tag: Plenary

  • Yuletide: Senate adjourns plenary till January 2019

    The Nigerian Senate on Thursday adjourned plenary till January 16, 2019.

    The motion for adjournment was moved by the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, after Thursday’s plenary.

    While moving the motion, Mr Lawan thanked opposition colleagues, staff of the National Assembly, journalists and others ‘who made 2018 successful’.

    The motion was seconded by FCT Senator, Philip Aduda.

    The Presiding Officer, Ike Ekweremadu, wished Nigerians a Happy Chrismas and urged them to drive safely.

    The lawmakers thereafter adopted the motion through a voice vote.

  • Reps adjourn plenary for third time over faulty microphones

    Reps adjourn plenary for third time over faulty microphones

    For the third time in two weeks, the House of Representatives adjourned its plenary over defective microphone system.

    This adjournment is coming twenty four hours after the House adjourned to Wednesday for the same reason.

    Recall that the House had less than two weeks ago also adjourned its plenary over the same problem.

    Explaining the need for adjournment, Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, said the problem has not been fixed because it can only be done by the manufacturers.

    “Unfortunately up till now we have been unable to fix the problem because we are not masters of this technology here.

    “I have been told that the microphones on the rows on my right are not working. Only rows seven to 11 are working. Rows one to six are not functioning.

    “The system was fixed in 1999 and this technology has a lock and anything that happens to it, we have to reach out to the manufacturers.”

    He said the House is not ashamed to be criticized because they are the house of the people.

    He however said the House will take items on the order that do not require debate before it adjourns to next week.

  • Reps adjourn plenary over malfunctioning microphones

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday adjourned plenary unexpectedly due to malfunctioning microphones.

    House proceedings have witnessed hiccups since Tuesday, forcing members to move from seat-to-seat in the hope that some of the microphones will work.

    On Wednesday, the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara, amid the frustration, suddenly adjourned sitting till Thursday.

    Details soon…

  • Senate adjourns plenary for two weeks

    Nigerian senate has adjourned its plenary for two weeks.
     
    The lawmakers will resume for plenary on November 6, Senate President Bukola Saraki announced on Wednesday.
     
    Mr Saraki said the break would allow committees of the senate to carry out oversight functions.
     
    “These are committees that are going to carry out the oversight. It is only plenary session that is being suspended. We expect our committees to carry out oversight in this period.
     
    “Particularly if you recollect, when we debated the Eurobond, there were a lot of questions on implementation and utilisation of those loans. But because of the expediency and the demand from the executive that we approve those loans, we did it but with the understanding that our committees will quickly go and do oversight in MDAs to see that those funds have been properly utilised.
     
    “And also budget implementation of 2018, and also the poverty social intervention programme that we raised. So I will like all our committees that during this period, to carry out the necessary oversight so that we can report when we do resume back to plenary. The committees will be meeting till 6th of November,” he said.

  • How I made it to plenary despite security operatives’ siege – Saraki

    …Explains why Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu could not make it to plenary

    The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday, explained how he escaped alleged ploys by security operatives to stop him from presiding over plenary on Tuesday morning.

    Recall that Security agencies early Tuesday morning laid siege on the homes of Saraki and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu in Abuja.

    The move is said to be a ploy to prevent them from making it to the National Assembly today because of a plan by many lawmakers to decamp from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Saraki, however, made his way to the Senate chamber at about 10:40 a.m. and presided over the plenary. His deputy, Ekweremadu did not make it to plenary and the siege on his home was still on at midday.

    Reacting to a motion on the siege on his home and that of his deputy, Saraki said the plenary would not have held if not for his preparation.

    “The road leading to my place was cordoned off and all cars coming in and out as early as 6:30 were being stopped and you have to come down.

    “My convoy was stopped from moving. Given something that one was prepared for, I had my own car too. So the deputy senate president called me and said he could not come here.

    “And as you are all aware, very late yesterday, at about 8 p.m., I received a letter asking me to report to the police on a case of this Offa robbery which had been concluded before now.

    “That’s the situation why the DSP could not come here and I was already going somewhere else. If not, this plenary would not have been able to hold today. So I had to come here.”

    Saraki, however, condemned the siege saying it was God that made him escape it.

    “But as you all rightly said, if one of our colleagues cannot come out for no fault of his, I don’t see how we can continue to sit and ignore the fact that a presiding officer cannot be here.

    “And if it was by the plan, I too, would not be here.

    “It was just by the intervention of the almighty God that I was able to get myself here.”

    Saraki eventually presided over the Senate and announced the defection of 15 senators away from the APC

    The Senate president was, however, not among those that defected.

  • Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege appears before Senate in plenary

    Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege on Wednesday appeared before the Senate in plenary.

    The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent reports that Omo-Agege was seen signing the attendance register within the upper chamber.

    The Senate on April 12, suspended Omo-Agege (APC-Delta) over a “dissenting comment’’ on decision of the Upper Chamber on adoption of conference report on Electoral Act (2010) Amendment Bill.

    Omo-Agege, however went to court to challenge his suspension and the court in its ruling, declared the action unconstitutional, saying that the Senate could not suspend a member beyond 14 days.

    The Senate appealed the ruling but said in a statement that while it was waiting for a stay of execution, it would not stop the lawmaker from resuming plenary.

    Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, of Federal High Court on May 10, held that while the National Assembly had the power to discipline its erring members, the premise on which Omo-Agege’s suspension was anchored was illegal.

    Although the court refused to grant any of the seven prayers sought by the senator, ‎it held that the suspension could not hold on grounds of the “violence” it did to the Constitution.

    The judge noted that from the wording of the report of the Senate’s Ethics and Privileges Committee which recommended Omo-Agege’s suspension, he was punished for filing a suit against the Senate after apologising to the legislative house over the allegation leveled against him.

    “Access to court is a fundamental right in the Constitution, which cannot be taken away by force or intimidation from any organ,” the judge ruled.

    The judge also added that the Senate’s decision to punish Omo-Agege for filing a suit against the Senate and for punishing him while his suit was pending constituted an affront on the judiciary.

    He added that even if the Senate had rightly suspended the senator, it could only have suspended him for only a period of 14 days — as prescribed in the Senate rules.

    He also ruled that the principle of natural justice was breached by the Senate’s Ethics and Privileges Committee by allowing Senator Dino Melaye, who was the complainant, to participate in the committee’s sitting that considered the issue and also allowed him to sign the committee’s report.

    The judge therefore nullified Omo-Agege’s suspension “with immediate effect.”

    He also ordered that the senator be paid all his allowances and salaries for the period he was illegally suspended.

     

  • Why Omo-Agege will be allowed to resume plenary today – Senate

    The leadership of the Senate on Monday night explained why it will allow senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District (APC), Ovie Omo-Agege resume plenary in accordance with the recent court ruling in Omo-Agege’s favour.

    Recall that the embattled senator had earlier been suspended for 90 days.

    In a statement by its spokesperson, Sabi Abdullahi, the Senate said it has been briefed by lawyers on the court judgement nullifying Mr Omo-Agege’s suspension.

    Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court nullified the suspension of Mr Omo-Agege last week Thursday.

    Dimgba said the Senate’s decision regarding the suspension, as well as the pattern adopted by the National Assembly, was constitutionally defective.

    Following the judgement, an aide to Senate President Bukola Saraki, said the Senate has approached the court to appeal the ruling and institute a stay of execution.

    Omo-Agege in reaction on Monday said the appeal will not hinder his resumption as the stay of execution which the Senate applied for has not been granted.

    In its statement late on Monday, the Senate said it would allow the senator resume in obedience to the court order.

    “The Senate leadership has been briefed by our lawyers on last Thursday’s judgement of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on whether the Senate has the legal authority to suspend a member for certain misconduct or not.

    “We have equally filed an appeal against the judgement of the court and a motion for stay of execution of the judgement at the Court of Appeal.

    “As an institution that obeys the law and court orders, the Senate has decided that it will comply with the judgement of the Federal High Court and do nothing to stop Senator Ovie Omo-Agege from resuming in his office and at plenary from tomorrow May 15, 2018, pending the determination of the application for stay of execution.

    “The Senate has been advised that since the motion for stay of execution of the Thursday (May 10, 2018) judgement shall be heard and possibly determined on Wednesday, May 16, 2018, we shall therefore respect the subsisting High Court judgement and await the appellate court’s decision on the pending motion.”

  • Senate adjourns plenary till Tuesday, fails to pass 2018 budget this week

    The report by the joint Senate and House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations on the 2018 Appropriation Bill was not laid at the Senate before the chamber adjourned plenary to Tuesday next week.

    The Senate cancelled today’s (Thursday) plenary to allow members of the All Progressives Congress caucus to prepare for the local government area congresses of the party holding on Saturday.

    Recall that President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Monday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, in company with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said the report would be laid this week, while the passage of the budget would be done later in the week or by next week.

    “Hopefully, it should be laid this week. If it can be laid this week and passed early next week. We are hoping it will be laid this week,” Saraki had said.

    Corroborating Saraki, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, while featuring on the breakfast current affairs show of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, on Tuesday, said the report would be laid this week.

    Briefing journalists after the plenary on Wednesday, Sabi-Abdullahi, however, said, “It was supposed to be laid this week but they are putting finishing touches. They are being careful not to make mistakes. The report will be laid on Tuesday and by Wednesday, we will approve it.

    “The good thing is that it is the harmonised version (that will be laid). So, whatever is laid in the Senate will be laid in the House of Representatives, and it will be considered and passed the same time.”

    The House of Representatives had defended the National Assembly’s failure to pass the 2018 Appropriation on Thursday as earlier planned.

    The House stated that some details of the N8.612tn budget had yet to be fine-tuned by the Joint Committee on Appropriations.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, had last Thursday said the budget was scheduled for passage last week but had to be shifted to this week.

    The joint Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives was expected to present the report on the budget in the two chambers on April 19 but the report has since not been laid.

    In another development, the lawmaker representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Senator Shehu Sani, raised a point of order at the plenary on Wednesday to urge the Senate to lift the embargo on executive appointments and confirm President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees for the Board of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    The Senate had imposed an embargo on consideration and confirmation of appointments not listed in Section 171 of the Constitution. This was to protest against the retention of Ibrahim Magu as the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission despite the rejection of his appointment by lawmakers.

    Sani said, “Nigeria’s central bank is the only central bank in the whole of Africa without a board. And when there is no board, there is a limit to the ability and capacity of the management of that institution, which has a pivotal role to play in our economy, to manage the affairs of banks and function properly.”

  • Thugs invasion: Senate continues plenary with ‘improvised’ mace

    The Senate refused to stop plenary on Wednesday afternoon after some thugs suspected to be working for a suspended member, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege invaded the Senate and hijacked the mace leading to commotion.

    An improvised mace was provided pending the recovery of the stolen one.

    However, the Senate leadership has alerted security agencies to fish out the culprits and also recover the mace within 24 hours.

    It also said the invasion and subsequent hijacking of the mace in an act of treason and all those behind it will be treated as such.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki was not in Nigeria when the incident took place.

    The Senate, reacting in a statement said the invasion was a treat to the nation’s democracy.

    Read full statement below:

    Today, some armed hoodlums led by suspended Senator, Ovie Omo-Agege, walked into the Senate plenary and seized the symbol of authority of the Upper Legislative Chamber, the mace.

    This action is an act of treason, as it is an attempt to overthrow a branch of the Federal Government of Nigeria by force, and it must be treated as such. All security agencies must stand on the side of due process and immediately mobilise their personnel to retrieve the mace and apprehend the mastermind and the perpetrators of this act.

    This action is also an affront on the legislature, and the leadership of the House has come to express their support against this action.

    The Senate is now in an Executive session.

    An updated statement will be released immediately after the closed door session.

     

  • Easter: Senate suspends plenary till April 10

    Easter: Senate suspends plenary till April 10

    As part of activities marking the 2018 Easter celebrations, the Senate on Thursday suspended plenary activities till April 10.

    The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, made the announcement on Thursday, after the Deputy Majority Leader, Bala Na’Allah (APC, Kebbi South) moved that the Senate adjourn for the day.

    The suspension is because of the Easter celebrations for which the federal government already declared Friday and next Monday public holidays.

    While wishing his colleagues a happy holiday, Mr Ekweremadu admonished his colleagues not to relent in praying for the nation.

    “This is an opportunity for me to wish all of you and everyone a happy Easter and please let’s use the remaining period of the Lent to pray for our country for God to intervene in our lives and ensure that all these killings will stop and our economy would pick up and we continue to leave in unity and there would be progress all round.

    “We believe that God would hear our prayers this period and wish everyone a happy Easter and look forward to seeing you again on the 10th of April,” he said.