The Senate Committee on Appropriation has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for the virement of N242 billion under the 2018 Appropriation Act to conduct the 2019 general elections.
Chairman of the committee, Danjuma Goje, who stated this at the committees meeting on Wednesday, said the decision would be laid before the full house for consideration at plenary on Thursday.
Goje said the decision to approve the president’s request was informed by the urgent need for funds by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to begin preparations for the polls.
Earlier at plenary, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, had read out the president’s request, which came in a letter dated Sept. 19, 2018.
In it, Mr Buhari asked the lawmakers to consider including the total N242 billion as part of the virements of the 2018 Appropriation Act.
The amount is being requested by INEC and security agencies to conduct the 2019 general elections.
In a July 11 request to the legislature, the president had asked that N164 billion out of the N242 billion be vired in the 2018 budget, and the balance of N78 billion included in the 2019 budget.
But the lawmakers indicated their willingness to accommodate the total amount for virement under the 2018 Appropriation Act, if requested by the president.
Buhari said, “In the light of the current realities, and in order to ensure that the 2019 general elections are not affected by the delays in the passage into law of the 2019 budget, I accept this kind suggestion.
“I look forward to your urgent consideration of this request to ensure that the 2019 general elections are properly conducted.
Tag: Senate
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2019: Senate committee approves Buhari’s N242 billion virement request
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NDDC 2018 budget: Senate refers N364bn proposal to committee [Breakdown]
The Senate has referred to its Committee the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) 2018 statutory budget proposal sent to the House by President Muhammadu Buhari.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports this followed a motion moved by Senator Ahmad Lawan that the Senate do consider the request of President Buhari for the approval of the NDDC 2018 statutory budget proposal.
President Buhari in an executive communication requested the Senate considers approval of N346 billion as the 2018 budget proposal of the NDDC.
The figure is N18 billion lower than the N364 billion budget approved for the Commission in the 2017 fiscal year.
A breakdown of the proposed amount shows a total recurrent expenditure of N32 billion and cumulative capital provision of N314 billion.
The president listed sources of revenue for the Commission in 2018 to include Federal Government contribution (N81.8 billion) and unpaid arrears by the Federal Government (N33.9 billion).
Others are contributions from oil companies and others (N220 billion) and other “realized income” (N150 million).
While Senator Biodun Olujimi seconded that the Senate do consider the request of Mr. President, Senate President Bukola Saraki referred the executive communication to the Committee on Niger Delta for further legislative investigation.
TNG reports the Niger Delta Committee has as its Chairman: Senator Peter Nwaboshi, and Senator Abdul Abubakar as its Vice Chairman.
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Breaking: 4 months after, Senate confirms CBN Deputy Governor
The Senate on Wednesday finally confirmed the appointment of Mr. Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi as Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Shonubi’s confirmation followed a report of the committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions on his nomination by Senator Rafiu Ibrahim.
Senator Emmanuel Paulker seconds that the Senate do receive and consider the report of the committee on the nomination of Shonubi for appointment as the Deputy Governor of CBN.
TNG recalls President Muhammadu Buhari had in June approved the nomination of Shonubi as Deputy Governor at the CBN subject to Senate confirmation.
The President wrote the Senate a month after seeking confirmation of Shonubi. The letter was read by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, after a one-hour closed-door session.
The Senate, however, proceeded on an annual recess, suspending the confirmation of Mr. Shonubi. Also billed for confirmation before the Senate went on the recess, is the confirmation of Dr Muiz Adeyemi Banire as Chairman of the Board of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria.
Shonubi was the Managing Director of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) – the financial payments, facilitation and settlement platform.
NIBSS has been instrumental to the growth in electronic payments in the Nigerian financial industry.
Mr. Shonubi holds double Masters Degrees respectively in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering, from University of Lagos.
He is a resourceful Information Technology-driven banker with over 22 years professional experience.
Prior to his appointment as the Managing Director of NIBSS Plc., Mr. Shonubi was Executive Director, Information Technology and Operations at Union Bank of Nigeria Plc; a member of the Board of Union Homes and Director, Information Technology and Corporate Services in Renaissance Securities Nigeria limited, with responsibility for the Group’s IT infrastructure in Africa.
Mr. Shonubi also had a stint with Citibank Nigeria Limited as its Head, Treasury Operations (1990-1993).
Between 1999 and 2007, he worked in MBC International as Deputy General Manager and supervised their IT operational platforms. He served in First City Monument Bank Limited as Vice – President and in Ecobank Nigeria Limited as Executive Director.
He has served on a number of sub-committees of the Bankers’ Committee, including the Ethics and Professionalism sub-committee.
The nomination of Mr. Muiz Banire Adeyemi By President Buhari for appointment as Chairman of the governing board of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was also confirmed.
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Jos pond of death: Senate urges FG, security agencies to find Alkali
The Senate on Wednesday called on the federal government and security agencies to intensify effort towards finding Major General Idris M. Alkali, who has disappeared since September 4th, and whose car was found two days after draining a Jos pond that has been tagged pond of death.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the Senate made the call after hearing a presentation by Senator Mohammed Hassan on the disappearance of the retired Army Major General.
Major General Alkali who was the immediate past Director of Administration of Nigerian Army was declared missing barely two months after his retirement.
On Monday, 4th September 2018, Alkali’s wife, Mrs. Salamatu Alkali alerted the Army authorities that her husband who had departed Abuja the previous day in the morning for Bauchi had not reached his destination, after informing her the previous day at about noon that he arrived Jos safely and would be passing through Du road to Bauchi.
TNG reports that was the last communication she had with her husband until this moment as his where about is presently unknown.
Following his disappearance, the Nigerian Army with the support of the Nigerian Police, Department of State Security, Fire Service and other security agencies embarked on intensive search vide tracking of his phone up to when it was switched off as well as relying on tip-offs.
Senator Hassan in his presentation acknowledged the thoroughness of the investigation of the Nigerian Army and other Security Agencies who narrowed their search to a pool of water in Lafande Community in Du District of Plateau State by using local divers from Wase and Taraba State to search the pond since the community claimed they did not have local divers.
Earlier efforts of the Army and other Security Agencies did not yield the desired result, hence the whole pond was drained amidst protest from local women from the community who attempted to stop the Army from draining the water on the pretense that it was their only source of drinking water.
The Senate confirmed that after two days of draining of the pond, a bus was found in the pond alleged to belong to a young man that had earlier disappeared along that road, while on 29th September, 2018 at about 6:00pm a Toyota car with Registration Number MUN 670 AA belonging to Maj. Gen IM Alkali was pulled out of the water with some of his belongings without any trace of his person, while another car (Rover) was recovered from the pond whose owner disappeared in 2013.
The Senate also “Acknowledges with serious concern the reported disappearance of numerous commuters along the DU axis fin the past few years, especially Bauchi on-ward bound travelers and the need to address same urgently.
“This incident raises some pertinent questions: why did the people from Du Community refused to assist the Security Agencies during the search; why did the people (women) try to prevent the Army from draining the water; why didn’t the community raise a formal complaint from the local government to the state government about the draining of the water; who were those spreading false information about the circumstances of the disappearance of Maj. General IM Alkali and what were their motives”.
The Senate, therefore, accordingly resolves to urge the Federal Government to setup an investigate Panel of enquiries to examine and determine the remote and immediate circumstances surrounding the dumping of cars in the ponds in DU District, and identify and interrogate possible suspects in this dastardly not and ensure that the perpetrators face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrence to other criminally minded persons in the strongest possible terms.
The Senate condemned the act and urged all the surrounding communities (DU axis) to cooperate with Security Agencies to uncover this crime and criminality; and urged the Security Agencies to intensify effort towards finding Maj. Gen IM Alkali.
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Breaking: Saraki swears in 2 new Senators
Senate President Bukola Saraki on Wednesday administered oath of office on two new senators: Lawal Gumau and Ahmed Babba-Kaita.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Gumau as an All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate emerged winner of the Bauchi South senatorial election held on August 11.
He was declared winner by Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) returning officer of the election, Ahmed Fadam, who supervised the final collation of the results.
Mr. Gumau, former member of the House of Representatives, polled a total of 119,489 votes beating his closest rival, Ladan Salihu of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 50,256 votes.
He replaces late Senator Ali Wakili, who died March 17.
Mr Babba-Kaita, also an APC candidate, was declared winner of the Katsina North senatorial election by the INEC, scoring 224,607 votes, while his elder brother and a retired customs officer, Kabir Babba-Kaita of the PDP scored 59,724 votes.
He replaces late Senator Mustapha Bukar, who died April 4.
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Senate to constitute technical committee on bills not assented to
The Senate is to set up a technical committee to study some bills that President Muhammadu Buhari declined assent to.
This followed a Point of Order raised by the Leader of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, at plenary on Tuesday.
While making reference to Order 43, Lawan said it was expedient for the Upper Chamber to set up a committee to take a look at the concerns raised by the President.
The bills are: National Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2018; Stamp Duties(Amendment) Bill 2018; Advance Free Fraud and other Related Offences(Amendment) Bill 2017; and Subsidiary Legislation(Legislative Scrutiny) Bill 2018.
Others are: National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism(Establishment) Bill 2018; National Research and Innovation Council(Establishment) Bill 2017; and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency(Amendment) Bill, 2017.
The president also declined assent to Industrial Development(Income Tax Relief)(Amendment) Bill; 2018; Chartered Institute of Entrepreneurship (Establishment) Bill 2018; National Agricultural Seeds Council Bill 2018 and five(Fourth Alteration) Amendment Bills.
Lawan in his point of order, said, “I have listened to the bills you have read conveying the observations of Mr President for not signing so many bills.
“I am of the opinion that we should study all these bills that have been returned to us to understand the real issues
“I believe that we will have something to learn from it to avoid a repeat.
“This is because we put in a lot of time and our very limited resources. If at the end of the day, we are not able to get these things properly done it amounts to waste of time and resources.
“We need to take proactive action. In view of this, I suggest we set up a technical committee under the Chairman, Rules and Business.”
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, asked Lawan to constitute the committee and forward the names of members to senate in plenary.
“Leader you can set up the committee and let us have the names and give a time frame for the committee to work,” Saraki said.
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Buhari seeks NASS approval for $2.78bn Europonds
President Muhammadu Buhari has requested a National Assembly resolution to raise 2.78 billion dollars from the International Capital Market for part-funding of the 2018 budget.
Buhari’s request came in a letter dated July 23, and read by President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, at plenary on Tuesday.
The president said the amount, approved in the 2018 Appropriation Act, would be used to finance deficits and key infrastructure projects in the 2018 budget.
The loan, according to him, will be raised from Eurobonds and other securities in the international capital market.
In the same letter, Buhari also sought legislative nod for an external capital sourcing of 82.54 million dollars to refinance the balance of 500 million dollar matured Eurobonds in the international capital market.
Buhari said the requests were pursuant to Section 21(1) and 27(1) of the Debt Management Office (Establishment, Etc.) Act of 2003.
The lawmakers on Tuesday resumed from their annual recess, which began on July 25.
Although, the break was earlier scheduled to end on Sept. 25, it was extended to Oct. 9 to enable them to participate in the just-concluded primaries of their political parties.
In another letter dated Sept. 10, the president requested Senate to confirm the appointment of Mr Olanipekun Olukoyede as Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This is coming amid the pending confirmation of Mr Ibrahim Magu, whose nomination by the president as substantive Chairman of the EFCC has been rejected twice by the lawmakers.
Also requested by the president was Senate consideration and approval of N346 billion as the 2018 budget proposal of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The figure is N18 billion lower than the N364 billion budget approved for the commission in the 2017 fiscal year.
A breakdown of the proposed amount shows a total recurrent expenditure of N32 billion and cumulative capital provision of N314 billion.
The president listed sources of revenue for the commission in 2018 to include Federal Government contribution (N81.8 billion) and unpaid arrears by the Federal Government (N33.9 billion).
Others are contributions from oil companies and others (N220 billion) and other “realised income” (N150 million).
Buhari also presented an Executive Bill titled ‘Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Bill, 2018″ to the Senate for consideration and passage.
In a separate letter dated July 20, Buhari said the bill was intended to curtail illegal activities of pirates at sea and to reduce oil theft in domestic and international waters.
He added that the proposed legislation would also domesticate relevant provisions of international treaties to which Nigeria is signatory.
One of the treaties, according to the president, is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS II) relating to piracy.
He identified another as the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts (SUA) against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, 1988 and its protocols.
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Saraki must quit Senate Presidency – Omo-Agege
As the National Assembly prepare to resume plenary session tomorrow, Tuesday, Sen Ovie Omo-Agege (APC), has said that Dr Bukola Saraki should be ready to vacate the seat as Nigeria’s Senate President.
Omo-Agege, who is representing Delta State Central Senatorial District, spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
Saraki had, on July 31, defected from the All Progressive Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hinging his defection on unsuccessful efforts to ensure a harmonious existence in the APC.
The APC National Working Committee (NWC) had queried Saraki, asking him to respond within 48 hours why disciplinary action should not to be taken against him for breaching Article 21 of the party’s convention.
The allegations raised against him by the party included that ‘’you encouraged and facilitated by providing an enabling environment for the defection of some senators who are members of the APC to the other opposition parties”.
The party called on Saraki to resign his position as the Senate President, insisting that he lacked the moral ground to retain the position after defecting to the PDP.
However, the Senate president had stood his ground even as the National Assembly declared its annual recess which began July 24.
Although the federal lawmakers were initially expected to resume Sept. 25, the resumption was postponed to Oct. 9.
Mohammed Sani-Omolori, the Clerk of the Assembly, who announced the postponement in a statement on Sunday, Sept. 23, attributed the development to the primary elections of political parties.
Sani-Omolori said members of the National Assembly were expected to resume by 10am on the new date.
Meanwhile, Omo-Agege told NAN that the demand of the APC’s senators for Saraki’s removal was still standing.
‘’Our demand has not changed, in fact, that demand has been accentuated by the directive of the APC national leadership.
‘’We have all been enjoined as APC senators at a slightest opportunity to remove Saraki and once we are provided with that slightest opportunity, we will remove him and he knows that,” he said.
According to him, the moment Saraki left the party, APC, to join the minority PDP, he lost the right, legal and moral, to occupy the office of the Senate President.
‘’Absolutely, he knows he cannot be; we are not shying away from that. Our position has always been consistent.
‘’This is not new neither is it news. We have made that clear, very clearly in the past.
“Therefore, the position of Ovie Omo-Agege has the position of APC as a party,” he remarked.
On whether the members, who were aggrieved by the outcome of the primaries at various states might affect their plan, the senator said: ‘’Well, that is something that we will need to address when we return on Tuesday.
‘’We will take an audit of where we are in terms of the numbers, in terms of those who are happy and those who are not happy.
‘’But you should understand one thing, just as you have people who are disgruntled in APC, you also have others who are disgruntled in PDP.”
When asked if the aggrieved group had the number to remove Saraki, Omo-Agege said: ‘’of course, we have always had the number. We have the number.”
On whether defection of members could affect their plan, he responded thus: ‘’Like I am telling you, as people are leaving APC to PDP, people are leaving PDP to APC.’’
He said as soon as the APC lawmakers in the red chamber have the number, the deed would be done.
‘’I mean once the environment is conducive; that is, once we have the number, we take him out, as simple as that,” he said.
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2019: APC adopts indirect primary for senatorial, governorship tickets
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has adopted indirect primary for all elective positions apart from the presidential election.
The decision was taken at the 6th national executive committee (NEC) meeting of the party in Abuja on Thursday.
Simon Lalong, governor of Plateau state, told reporters that states may consider direct primary when the need rises.
Details later…
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El-Rufai vows to remove Shehu Sani from Senate despite meeting with Buhari
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has re-echoed his determination to replace the senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani.
He spoke at the weekend just two days after Sani paid Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari at Daura, Katsina State.
Sani had disclosed that they deliberated on issues bordering on strengthening the All Progressives Congress, APC, through resolution of all internal tissues.
He said: “I am also here to fully assure him of the support of my constituency, Kaduna Central, to his aspiration for the second term.
“I’m also here to assure him (President Buhari) of my own wholehearted support to the success of his administration and his return to office for the second term.
“Those were the basic issues that we discussed with him and other issues that border on the need to strengthen our party; the need to end all internal strife and also the need to put heads, hearts and hands together for the success of his administration and also for the success of the party”.
On his Kaduna Central Senatorial ticket, the senator told journalists in Daura that, “the party had made it very clear and known to each and every person that there will be reward for loyalty but in every sense of the word due process of the party needs to be followed.”
But addressing party stakeholders at Kaduna North Local Government Area, El-Rufai declared that he would only listen to the senator if he secures $350million loan for Kaduna State.
“In politics, it is impossible to hide your choice. Government officials have their choices but the government does not have a candidate. Whoever you selected, is the choice of God”, Daily Nigerian quoted him as saying.
“But as you all know, I have my candidate here. You may recall that we voted for somebody named Shehu Sani in the last election. When he went to Abuja and drank Abuja water, he started misbehaving, abusing the president and this government and sabotaging the party.
“For this, I personally asked Uba Sani to contest against him. So Uba Sani is my candidate.
“As you all know, Shehu Sani is among the senators who denied Kaduna State access to loan. Since he has shown the people of Kaduna State this enmity, you must pay him back in his own coin at the primary election.
“I therefore, seek your favour in the primary election to support Uba Sani.
“We are surprised that Shehu Sani has not left the party. We thought he would commit political apostasy like others, but he remained in the party making efforts to correct his sins.
“We are waiting for him. As I have said, we have no grouse about him but his character. If he repents, we will listen to him. But if he refuses to secure that $350million loan for Kaduna State, we will not listen to him.
“Those close to him should tell him: wherever he goes (for lobbying), we will not listen to him if he did not bring $350million to Kaduna”.