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Tag: Reps

  • First Bank Team allegedly involved in fraud to face reps committee today

    First Bank Team allegedly involved in fraud to face reps committee today

    Investigative hearing by the House of Representatives committee on Public petition will begin today (Thursday) as top echelon staff of First bank are expected to defend how an alleged N630 mililon loan document was falsified involving Whiteplains British School in Abuja.

    The committee led by Rep Uzoma Nkem-Abonta , the petition committee is adjudged as the voice of the masses is expected to dig deep into the allegations leveled against one of the premier Banks in Nigeria.

    In a petition dated November 26, 2018 and signed by the school’s Administrator, Dr Francis Nwufoh, the petitioner had avowed that the bank used forged documents to seal the school over a loan yet to expire.

    In the petition, it was alleged that the bank unileterally sealed off the school over a N630m loan scheduled to expire on June 12, 2019.

    The petitioners asked the committee to address “Why did First Bank of Nigeria file a suit just to claim and take over the School without establishing any monetary debt claim it has against the School?


    ii) Why did First Bank of Nigeria, an acclaimed Judgment Creditor throw the judgment of our Court to a dustbin and on its own seal up the School on a Sunday?


    iii) Why did First Bank of Nigeria allow nefarious persons to deny our future leaders their own “cradle of civilization” School?


    The answer is simple. It is the intoxication of unbridled greed and forgery against an unsuspecting Whiteplains British School that
    wholeheartedly believed that it was relating with an epitome of noble financial body; a bank.

    Nwufoh further alleged in the petition that with the said tripartite agreement, First Bank secured an order of court to appoint a receiver in the process of taking over the multi billion naira school.

    Whereas the bank insisted that it got a judgement in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1023/2015, to take over the school by appointment of a receiver, the management of Whiteplains are contending that it used falsified papers.

  • Reps Adjourn Plenary for Consideration of 2019 Budget by Standing Committees

    Reps Adjourn Plenary for Consideration of 2019 Budget by Standing Committees

    From Jonas Ike, Abuja

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday adjourned plenary for its Standing Committees to begin consideration of the 2019 Budget of the Federal Republic of Nigeria submitted to both chambers of the National Assembly by the Muhamadu Buhari Presidency.
    The N8.83 trillion budget which was laid by Buhari on December 19, 2018 is the highest budget figure submitted by any federal administration in the past two decades of democracy in Nigeria.
    Soon after the Speaker Hon. Yakubu Dogara announced approval of the votes and proceedings of Thursday March 14, 2019 plenary session, he announced that President Buhari has declined assent to some bills passed by both chambers and forwarded to the Presidency.
    The House however considered some motions of urgent national importance and deferred consideration of the report of the Committee on Finance, Appropriations, and Aids, Loans and Debt Management on the 2018-2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper MTEF.
    Some Bills considered by the House before the Speaker announced adjournment for the consideration of the 2019 budget include: A Bill for an Act the Repeal of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Act Cap N118 LFN 2004 and Enact the Nigeria Law Reform Commission Bill to Facilitate the Effective Implementation of the Commission’s Law Reform Proposal and Enhance its Performance and Related Matters.
    Another Bill is A Bill for an Act to Amend the Federal College of Education Act Cap F8 LFN 2004; and for Related Matters and some other reports listed for consideration by the House.

  • INEC presents certificates of return to 102 elected senators, 338 Reps today

    Winners in the February 23 National Assembly elections are to get certificates of return (CoR) today by at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 102 senators-elect will get their certificates by 10am and 338 would-be House of Representatives members will be issued theirs by 2pm.

    Going by the list of candidates, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has 63 senators, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has 38 and Youth Progressives Party (YFP) has a seat.

    Seven seats have been declared inconclusive and will be contested for during the supplementary election slated for March 23.

    For the lower chamber, the ruling party also has the majority with 211 members. The PDP has 111 members.

    Other political parties share the remaining 16 seats -APGA (six); African Democratic Congress (ADC), three; Action Alliance (AA) two and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), two. African Democratic Party (ADP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) have one slot each.

    Twenty-two seats are still up for grabs where elections were declared inconclusive. Make-up polls in the affected Federal Constituencies (excluding in Rivers State) have been fixed for March 23.

    Elections were suspended in Rivers State for INEC to review. The process that has been wracked by protests.

    The two major parties – APC and PDP – will be slugging it out in six states where elections were declared inconclusive. They are: Sokoto, Adamawa, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau and Benue.

    SOKOTO

    There are 526,892 votes to be contested for in the six states. In Sokoto, where Governor Aminu Waziri of the PDP, who scored 489, 588, was leading with 3,413 votes, the two leading parties will battle for 75,493 votes in 136 polling units in 22 local government areas. The APC candidate, Aliyu Sokoto, was trailing with 486, 145 votes before the process was declared inconclusive.

    ADAMAWA

    Before the process was declared inconclusive in Adamawa, the PDP, with 367,471 votes as against APC’s 334,995, was leading by 32,476 votes. The candidates of the two parties have 40,998 votes to fight for. Incumbent Governor Jibrilla of the APC and his challenger PDP Umar Fintiri will be slugging it out on March 23.

    BAUCHI

    In Bauchi, it was too close to call. The PDP candidate Bala Muhammed was leading the APC candidate, Governor Mohammed Abubakar with 4,059. There are 139,240 votes to decide the winner. After the first ballot, the PDP had 469,512 and the APC got 465,453.

    BENUE

    Governor Samuel Ortom of the PDP, who got 410, 576, was ahead in Benue with 81,554 votes. He will be slugging it out with his APC challenger Emmanuel Jime for 121, 011 votes. Jime got 329, 022 at the close of the first ballot.

    PLATEAU

    In Plateau, incumbent Governor Simon Lalong of the APC got 583, 255 to lead Senator Jeremiah Useni of the PDP with 44,929 votes. Useni got 538, 326. The duo will be fighting for the outstanding 49,377 votes.

    KANO

    There are 100, 873 votes to decide who wins the election. The PDP, with 1,014,474 votes, was leading the APC, which got 987, 810, with 26,664 votes.

    As at the time of filing this report, the Commission has not received the report from the investigative panel it raised on the disruption of the electoral process in Rivers State.

    Though the committee, which was given 48 hours to turn in its report, has not been able to do so as a result of many factors, it has, however, met with critical stakeholders in the state, including the governor and other governorship candidates.

    The committee was set up on Sunday to review the situation that led to the disruption of the electoral process. Going by the 48-hour time lag given, the panel ought to have submitted its report on Tuesday.

    It was learnt last night that the panel was “wrapping” up its assignment.

    The commission had suspended collation and announcement of results, citing electoral violence and safety of its workers. It therefore raised a fact-finding committee to assess the situation and report back within 48 hours.

    Responding to an inquiries on a possible reason for the delay, Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, said the committee may have been bogged down by flight delays and other factors.

    He, however, assured that “immediately the committee turns in its report, the commission will take a decision in respect of Rivers State”.

    Meanwhile, INEC has debriefed all accredited observers on the last polls.

  • Reps lament inconclusive elections in six states by INEC

    Reps lament inconclusive elections in six states by INEC

    From Jonas Ike, Abuja

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday deplored the inconclusive nature of gubernatorial elections in 6 states of the federation by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC noting that the electoral umpire erred by declaring the elections as such.

    This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance titled: “The Malady of Inconclusive Elections in Nigeria” sponsored by Hon. Sunday Karimi (Kogi, PDP) on the matter on the floor of the House.

    Karimi while debating the motion noted that since November 21st 2015 gubernatorial election in Kogi State, inconclusive elections has become a demon haunting the Nigerian Electoral System eroding the confidence of the electorate in the electoral system and has become atoll for subverting the will of the people.

    The lawmaker further noted that prior to the 2015 general election in Kogi State,there were very few isolated cases of inconclusive elections and re-run in Nigeria due to over voting in some polling units and wards and due to non- voting in some wards.

    He recalled that this was the case in Ekiti State in 2009, Anambra State in 2010 and Imo State in 2011. The politician therefore warns that the escalating trend of inconclusive elections has cast a shadow on the neutrality of INEC as an umpire in the Nigerian election process.

    The lawmaker who noted that Section 153 of the Electoral Act gives the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC powers to make Regulations, Guidelines and Manuals for the conduct of elections in Nigeria which led to the issuance of the 2015 and 2019 Election Guidelines by the electoral commission.

    He further noted that the Guideline which was reproduced in 2019 is the basis for which the Commission whimsically declares election inconclusive.

    He also hinted that in the March 9 Guideline General Election Guideline, out of 29 Gubernatorial Elections, 5 of them were declared inconclusive. He added that in Sokoto, Benue, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau and Adamawa States elections were declared inconclusive despite leading candidates having met the provisions of section 179 (2) of the Constitution thereby causing apprehension, insecurity and eroding the confidence of the electorates in the Commission.

    He thereafter called on INEC to ensure that it does not subvert the will of the people by resorting to the provisions of the Guidelines but to adhere to the Constitution and allow aggrieved parties to proceed to the relevant elections tribunal in order to ensure that peace and security and to promote the credibility of the electoral process.

    Other lawmakers including the House Leader Hon. Demi Gbajabiamila also spoke in support of the motion noting that the issue of inconclusive elections goes to the very heart of democracy.

    While Gbajabiamila called for an amendment to the electoral laws to address this issue, Hon. Tahir Monguno (Borno, APC) said that INEC must come out with procedures for the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

    Other lawmakers who condemned the inconclusive nature or the gubernatorial elections in many states of the federation notably Hon. Oker Jev, (Benue, PDP), Hon Bashir Baballe (Kano, APC), Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) and Hon. Oghene Egoh (PDP, Lagos) called on House to ensure that the electoral process is devoid of manipulation by any individual no matter his status in the society.

    Consequently the House presided by the Speaker Hon.Yakubu Dogara thereafter resolved to set up an Ad-hoc Committee to interface with INEC with a view to finding a workable solution to inconclusive elections in Nigeria.

    Dogara added humour to lawmakers’s position when he said that he was almost tempted to also declare the debate inconclusive as the appellation has gained momentum in the polity in recent times.

  • Reps petitions committee shelve sitting over bank infractions

    The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions on Tuesday shelved its planned sitting on the alleged document falsification by First Bank Nigeria Plc due to an adjournment necessitated by the death of Hon Temitope Olatoye who died last Saturday during the gubernatorial and state Houses of Assembly elections.

    The House adjourned as a mark of honour for the departed and this led to the inability of the committee to hear the matter.

    In a petition signed on behalf of the Britishplains School by Dr Francis Nwufoh the petitioners avowed that First Bank allegedly forged documents grandstanding to take over the school over a loan scheduled to be expire by 12th of June.

    It was alleged that surprising is that while the loan is yet to expire on 12th of June 2019, First Bank of Nigeria forged documents grandstanding to take the ownership of the School.

    The petitioners asked the committee to address these: (I) “Why did First Bank of Nigeria Plc file a suit just to claim and take over the school without establishing any monetary debt claim it has against the School?

    ii) Why did First Bank of Nigeria, an acclaimed Judgment Creditor throw the judgment of our Court to a dustbin and on its own seal up the School on a Sunday?

    iii) Why did First Bank of Nigeria allow nefarious persons to deny our future leaders their own “cradle of civilization” School?

    The answer is simple. It is the intoxication of unbridled greed and forgery against an unsuspecting Whiteplains British School that wholeheartedly believed that it was relating with an epitome of noble financial body; a bank.

    It was further stated among others that: “Very disturbing in the Bank’s above loan contract with Whiteplains British School is the curious perplexing strange document, a said Tripartite Legal Mortgage suddenly brought in as if it was part and parcel of the Bank loan arrangements with Whiteplains British School, “The snakey Tripartite Legal Mortgage is said to have been entered into by First Bank Nigeria Plc.

    2. Whiteplains British School Ltd.

    1. Ftance Lee Nigeria Ltd, styled a Guarantor.
    2. Regrettedly, the House committee couldn’t sit because of the passage of a colleague and have tentatively fixed March 21 and 23 2019 for the hearing.
  • 2019 Elections: Reps Hurriedly Adjourns to March 12

    2019 Elections: Reps Hurriedly Adjourns to March 12

    From Jonas Ike, Abuja

    …Fails to form quorum.

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday hurriedly adjourned plenary after its resumption from the Presidential and National Assembly elections of the ongoing 2019 general elections.

    Speaker of the House Hon. Yakubu Dogara who presided over the short sitting said that the House could not form a quorum as only ten (10) lawmakers were in attendance at the plenary.

    Dogara who recently won re-election into the House for a fourth term represents Bogoro, Dass and Tarawa Balewa Federal Constituency of Bauchi State at the green chamber of the National Assembly.

    At Tuesday, s plenary, only ten lawmakers which includes the Speaker and three other principal officers were in attendance.

    The other two principal officers in attendance were the Deputy Speaker Hon. Yussuf Lasun and the House Leader Hon.Femi Gbajabiamila. Hon Edward Pwajok SAN (PDP, Jos North/ South), Hon. Adamu Chika (Niger, APC) were also in attendance among others.

    Accordingly, the House has stood down all the items in the order paper for today’s proceedings.

    Bills listed for deliberation include A Bill for an Act to Amend the Federal Colleges of Education Act F8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004; and for Related Matters (HB 1452)

    Others are: A Bill for an Act to Amend the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforce and Administration Act, to Establish Special Trafficking Court and A Mandatory Annual Codified Training on the Subjects of Human Trafficking, Morden Day Slavery and Protection of Victims, Expand the Composition of the Governing g Board of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) by including members from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Increase Penalties and Criminalize Certain Offences including Patronage of Commercial Sex; and for Related Matters ( HB, 1559) and some motions.

    Our correspondent recalls that the House was adjourned by the Speaker on Tuesday January 29, 2019 to enable the lawmakers participate in the general elections.

    It was billed to re-convene on Tuesday February 19 after the Presidential and National Assembly elections but was shifted due to the rescheduled election which was shifted for more one week.

  • Reps back Council of State, approves N30,000 Minimum Wage for Federal Workers

    Reps back Council of State, approves N30,000 Minimum Wage for Federal Workers

    The House of Representative has on Thursday debated and approved the new minimum wage of N30,000 as provided for in the New Minimum Wage Bill 2019 sent to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    This followed the heated debate on the proposed legislation by President Buhari which was sent to the lawmakers and was moved by the House Leader Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila during plenary.

    It would be recalled that the National Council of State on Tuesday approved N27,000 for State government workers and N30,000 for federal government workers in the New National Minimum Wage Bill.

    But the lawmakers during the debate had lamented that the revised New Minimum Wage Bill is not good enough to address the challenges being faced by Nigerian workers at this inauspicious time.

    Most of the lawmakers who spoke during the debate on the bill had called for a two year review of the new minimum wage to cater for the needs of the average Nigerian workers.

    Some of the lawmakers who spoke at session notably Hon M. T Monguno Borno, APC), Hon. Sunday Karimi (Kogi, PDP), Hon.Sadiq Ibrahim (Adamawa, APC) and Hon. Toby Okechukwu (Enugu,PDP) had noted that the new wage bill is grossly inadequate to cater for the needs of the citizenry.

    Whereas Monguno noted that the new wage bill is not enough to address inflation in the country, Okechukwu particularly noted that it was auspicious for government to be addressing new minimum wage after almost 38 years.

    Consequently the House presided by the Speaker Hon Yakubu Dogara passed the bill into second reading.

    He thereafter referred it to the House Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity for further inputs.

     

  • Lagos Reps member, constituents reject NPA marine services extension

    Lagos Reps member, constituents reject NPA marine services extension

    Lawmaker representing Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency (PDP) at the House of Representatives, Hon. Oghene Egoh has backed residents of Ijegun Egba Satellite town in Lagos in saying no to the planned extension of marine services by Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) in the area.

    Speaking to participants in a stakeholders meeting organised by the NPA at Rockview Hotel in Lagos, Egoh said the arrangement to extend marine services to Ijegun Satellite Town is an exercise in futility and is totally rejected considering the present plight of residents of the area.

    The General Manager, Hydro and Dredging of the NPA, Mr. Olumide Omotoso who led the NPA officials stated that the plan to navigate the water channel at Ijegun have been approved by the Federal Government since 2016 but was delayed due to respect for procedural process and the need for stakeholders input. Omotosho however reiterated that the NPA did not authorize anyone to build tank farm or container terminal in a residential area.

    Also speaking, the chairman of the Community Development Association (CDA), Mr Michael Imitini lamented the pains residents passed through on daily basis in the area. According him, letters have been sent to the federal government, NPA, Lagos State Ministry of Environment and the National Assembly in respect to the activities of the tank farms and container operators to no avail. He said only the Ministry of Environment responded. Imitini insisted that based on their sad daily experiences, the residents in unison reject the NPA’s planned extension of marine services in the area.

    However, Egoh in a response said he passionately share the plights of the residents and others doing business in the area. He stressed that the activities of the tank farms owner and terminal operators have totally paralysed businesses in the area.

    In his words: “People leave their homes to work as early as 4.30am and return late by 11pm. Children no longer go to school because trailers and containers are parked on the roads.”

    The lawmaker stated that if the tank farms activities must continue, they must build six lane roads in and out and railway service to carry petrol tankers to decongest the road.

    According to him, the residents have written new petitions stating their grievances to the National Assembly and other related agencies of government. He promised following up on the petition at the National Assembly to achieve desired results.

     

  • 2019 Budget: Reps Uncover Discrepancies in MDA Estimates

    2019 Budget: Reps Uncover Discrepancies in MDA Estimates

    …Resolve to meet Finance Minister over what it called irreconcilable figures

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday uncovered what it described as irreconcilable figures in the budget estimates of the Federal Government in ministries, departments and agencies of the government.

    This happened at the commencement of the debate on the general principles of the N8.83 trillion 2019 budget moved by the House Leader Hon. Femi Gbajabiaila during its plenary on the floor of the House.

    The budget was entitled: “A bill for An Act to authorize the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, the total sum of N8,826,636,578,915 (Eight Hundred and Twenty-Six Billion, Six Hundred and Twenty Six Billion, Six Hundred and Thirty-Six Million, Five Hundred and Twenty-Seven Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-Eight Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifteen Naira only of which N492,360,342,965 is for Statutory Transfers, N2,264,014,113,092 is for Debt Service, N4,,038,557, 664,767 is for Reccurent Expenditure while the su of N,031,704,458,092 is for contribution to Development for Capital Expenditure for the year ending o 31 December 2019”.

    No sooner that the House Leader concluded his debate on the need for the budget to be passed that a member of the House Hon. China Adamu (APC, Niger) discover discrepancies in the budget estimates of ministries, departments and agencies MDAs of the document.

    He noted that in the MDAs budget, the figures for various subheads did not tarry with the total amount earmarked as the total budget of these agencies.

    Consequently, the Speaker Hon. Yakubu Dogara immediately perused through the document and stated that there are irreconcilable differences in the budget estimates really.

    The Speaker therefore mandated the relevant House Committees to interface with the Minister of Finance Mrs Zainab Ahmed to fine tune the budget figures before further actions on it.

    Meanwhile the House had commenced debate on the general principles of the budget preparatory to its early passage by the lawmakers.

    Some lawmakers who spoke during the debate on the budget such as Hon. Aliyu Pategi (Kwara,PDP), Hon Sunday Karimi (Kogi, PDP), Hon.Simon Arabo (Kaduna, PDP) and Hon. Toby Okechukwu (Enugu, PDP) lamented the little impact of the 2018 budget of the government on the citizen due largely to poor implementation.

    While Okechukwu noted that the past four years budgets had been budget deficits, Pategi noted that the nation wasted huge scare resources on these budgets.

    The House thereafter deferred further debate on the budget to Thursday January 24, 2019 for the relevant House committees to interface with the Minister of Finance on the budget estimate discrepancies.

  • Reps Pass Bill Criminalizing Estimated Billing by Discos

    From Jonas Ike, Abuja

    …House empty as eighteen lawmakers hold plenary

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill criminalizing estimated billing by distribution companies in the power sector who supply electricity to individualsls and companies at outrageous costs.

    The bill was entitled: ‘A bill for an Act to Amend the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 to Prohibit and Criminalize Estimated Billing by Electicity Distribution Companies and Provide forfor Compulsory Installation of Pre-paid meters to all Power Consumers in Nigeria, and for Related Matters’.

    When assented to by the President, the bill will make the issuance of estimated bills by power distribution companies a criminal offence in Nigeria.

    It has become a recurring practice in Nigeria for power sector players particularly the distribution companies to give their customers estimated bills for power used at residential buildings and factories.

    But the bill recently passed by the House sponsored by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has elaborate provisions of penalties for such unwarranted estimated bills by these distribution companies operating in the power sector.

    Meanwhile, the House sat almost empty as only eighteen lawmakers were seen seated at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday due to the ongoing electioneering campaign by various political parties contesting the 2019 general elections.

    The plenary session which was presided by the Deputy Speaker Hon.Yusuff Lasun had started at about 11.35 am.