TheNewsGuru

Tag: Senate

  • Senate to debate Danjuma’s statement on Wednesday

    The Senate says it will on Wednesday deliberate on the statement made by former Minister of Defense, General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma on insecurity in the country.

    Danjuma had, at the convocation of Taraba State University on Saturday, urged Nigerians to resort to self-defence in the face of unending killings across the country.

    He also accused the military of complicity in the killings, especially in Taraba, where he said that the herdsmen were being aided in killing innocent citizens.

    The Senate’s decision followed a Point-of-Order raised by Sen. Yusuf Yusuf (APC-Taraba) at plenary on Tuesday.

    Yusuf pointed out that Danjuma raised fundamental issues that should be debated and investigated by the Senate.

    But while considering Yusuf’s submission, the matter turned controversial when it was put to voice vote by the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki.

    There was initial confusion as to where the voting favoured, but Saraki ruled in favour of the “ayes”.

    He said that the matter would be debated on Wednesday.

     

  • 2019 Election Sequence: Senate re-introduces Electoral Act Amendment Bill

    The Senate on Tuesday started a fresh move toward reordering the sequence of elections by reintroducing the bill to amend the Electoral Act 2010.

    The bill, which was presented by Suleiman Nazif, passed first reading at plenary.

    Following the resolve of the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives to harmonise position on the contentious amendment bill, the House of Representatives re-introduced its version last week.

    President Muhammadu Buhari withheld assent to the first version of the bill, which originated from the House of Representatives and was later passed by both chambers of the National Assembly.

    In declining assent to the bill, Buhari said the proposed law would usurp the constitutional powers of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to decide on election matters, including fixing dates and the order they would go.

    In addition, the president explained that he was complying with Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution, particularly sub-section 4, by refusing to sign the bill.

    Earlier, the introduction of the bill generated controversy, with some lawmakers alleging that it was targeted at Buhari in the 2019 elections.

    The matter also went to the Federal High Court, Abuja, which on March 14, asked the National Assembly not to take any further action on the amendment bill.

    The judge, Ahmed Mohammed, made the order while delivering ruling in an application filed by the Accord Party seeking a preservative order on the matter.

    The judge said “all parties in the suit are directed to maintain status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit between now and the next adjourned date.”

  • Just in: Senate confirms CBN dep govs, MPC nominees

    The Senate has confirmed the appointments of Mrs. Aishah Ahmad and Mr. Edward Adamu as Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria. It also approved nomination of three of the four members of the Monetary Policy Committee.

    The MPC members confirmed are Prof. Adeola Festus Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi and Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa. Rejected is Dr. Asheikh A. Maidugu.

    The confirmation followed the adoption of the reports by the Senate Committee ‎on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, which screened the nominees on Monday.

    In the report on the MPC nominees presented by Chairman of the committee, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, the panel said Maidugu was considered not qualified to occupy the position for which he was nominated.

    “The nominee was interviewed by the committee and he responded to the questions asked by the members, but the committee was dissatisfied with his response to the independence required for each member of the MPC and concerned that a regular civil servant Iaden with bureaucracy and red-tapism may not be independent in his judgment on each crucial decision of the MPC that affect directly the whole economy,” the report stated.

    In his remarks on the nominees, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said, “At this point, let me congratulate the two nominees, particularly Mr. Edward Lamatek Adamu whose upliftment to a Deputy Governor will be a great encouragement to the staff of the CBN who will see one of their own in this position. I am sure it will boost the morale within the institution.

    “Let me also commend and congratulate Mrs. Aishah Ahmad for her nomination to this very competitive role. The two new Deputy Governors of the CBN are coming at a time when the economy is a major issue. We have just come out of a recession and we need to continue with our economic growth and see the sustainability of the foreign exchange and other related challenges.

    “We hope that the two new Deputy Governors will work with the Governor (Dr. Godwin Emefiele) to move the country and our economy in the right direction. We hope also, that you all will continue to work closely with the National Assembly to update us on the progress that is achieved by the CBN.”

    The Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, however, urged Buhari to nominate a replacement for the rejected nominee. He also urged the lawmakers to consider the President’s request for confirmation of CBN’s governing board nominees.

  • JUST IN: Senate suspends plenary, moves order paper items

    JUST IN: Senate suspends plenary, moves order paper items

    The Nigerian Senate suspended today’s plenary session over the death late Senator Ali Wakili, who won the Bauchi South Senatorial seat in the 2015 election on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    This is after the Senator Representing Lagos East Constituency, Gbenga Ashafa, had moved, seconded by Senator Emmanuel Paulker, for the approval of votes and proceedings of Thursday’s.

    Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, citing order 43 of the Senate’s standing order, moved Senate suspends plenary to honour late Senator Wakili.

    “On the 17th March, 2018 we woke up to the sad news of the demise of our friend, brother and colleague Senator Ali Wakili.

    “It is our culture in the Senate and National Assembly in general that when this kind of thing happens either in the Senate or House of Representatives, we observe a minute silence and adjourn plenary in honour of our late brother and friend,” he moved, and seconded by Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

    The Senate Leader also moved that all other items on the order paper be stood down to another Legislative day, which was also seconded by the Senate Minority Leader.

    In a short comment, Senate President Bukola Saraki reminded his colleagues of a valedictory service in honour of the deceased slated for Wednesday.

    “It is only proper that we pay our respects to him, his family, his constituents that he contributed to and the country.

    “The Upper Chamber would hold a valedictory session for late Senator Ali Wakili tomorrow. Please ensure that we are all dressed appropriately for that session tomorrow. I hereby adjourn the Senate till Wednesday the 21st of March 2018, 10am prompt,” he said.

    The plenary was adjourned at 11:08 a.m.

    TheNewsGuru reports late Senator Wakili was born in 1960 and attended the Lere Primary School in 1979.

    He attended the Government Secondary School Damaturu where he obtained his Secondary School leaving certificate.

    He attended the Bauchi College for Arts and Science in 1979, and obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Arts in 1982 from Bayero University Kano.

    He was enlisted in the Nigeria Customs Service after which he attended the customs training school Lagos in 1984 and the infantry training school Jaji in 1991.

    The late lawmaker retired from the service as a Comptroller of Customs.

    Senator Wakili was an active member of the APC caucus in the Nigerian Senate.

    He was the Chairman Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation.

    https://www.facebook.com/NgrSenate/videos/1645738572148145/

     

  • Senate screens CBN, MPC nominees

    The Senate Monday screened President Muhammadu Buhari’s two nominees for the position of Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The nominees are Mrs. Aisha Ahmad and Mr. Edward Adamu.

    Similarly, four other nominees were also screened as members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). They are Prof Festus Adeola Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa and Dr. Asheikh Maidugu.

    The nominees took turns to face the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, as members of the committee threw a barrage of questions at them.

    Mrs. Ahmad who was accompanied to the venue of the screening by her husband and her father, was the first to be screened. In response to questions, the nominee stressed the need for the country to have a stable foreign exchange policy in order to stabilise the economy.

    On his part, Edward Adamu, who is widely acknowledged to have been appointed on merit, based on his track record at the apex bank, was not subjected to the grill. Members of the Senate committee were unanimous in giving him a smooth passage.

    Earlier moves, allegedly by some Presidency cabal to replace Adamu with a preferred candidate were vehemently resisted by his colleagues at the CBN who vowed to frustrate such manipulation.

    The Senate had put on hold the screening of the nominees and others appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari for several weeks, owing to disagreement between the two arms of government.

    At the commencement of the exercise, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters (Senate), Ita Enang, pleaded with the lawmakers to also screen other nominees of the President whose nomination are still pending.

    Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, however, said the leadership of the Senate decided to yield ground owing to the strategic and sensitive nature of the nominees’ appointments.

  • Pro-Buhari senators gather signatures to halt senate veto

    Members of the Nigerian Senate loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari have started gathering signatures as part of efforts to frustrate moves by the upper chamber to veto the electoral bill.

    It was also learnt that some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors have intervened to ensure that the Senate’s decision to override Buhari’s veto power in the passage of the amendment to the Electoral Act 2010 was not successful.

    The president had written to lawmakers on his decision to withhold assent to the controversial Electoral Act 2010 Amendment Bill which seeks to re-order the sequence of polls in such a way that the presidential election would come last during the general elections.
    Punch reliably gathered that members of Buhari’s cabinet and governors on the platform of the ruling APC had been mobilising members of the National Assembly loyal to Buhari to frustrate the move to override the President’s veto on the amended Electoral Act.

    An APC governor from the North-Central, one from the South-West and another from the North-West were said to have been part of a meeting with the lawmaker representing Nasarawa West Senatorial District, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, in Abuja last Thursday.

    Adamu is leading the opposition to the amendment, which is considered to be anti-Buhari in the Senate.

    It was reliably learnt that a minister from the South-South was also part of the meeting, where it was agreed that the pro-Buhari members of the National Assembly would be mobilised to frustrate the likely overriding of the President on the bill.

    One of the senators opposed to the amendment told Punch on Wednesday night that it was the meeting that made Senator Obinna Ogba (PDP-Ebonyi-Central) to raise the alarm that there was a move to sack the leadership of the Senate led by Bukola Saraki.

    The lawmaker however insisted that the meeting was to mobilise for Buhari’s defence and not to sack Saraki.

    The source said: “Of course, there was a meeting but it was not held with Adamu in Lafia on Tuesday, it was held at his residence in Abuja last Thursday. But they started gathering signatures on Tuesday. The conclusion at the meeting was that senators who were opposed to the amendment should lobby others to reject the move to override Buhari’s veto on the bill.

    “So far so good, we should have got the needed number that we need, which is just over 40. They need 73 or two-third of the 109 to override the veto but we need less than 50 to frustrate that.

    “The Peoples Democratic Party caucus just met tonight and part of their agenda is how to achieve the imposition of the bill on the President.”

    He said although the larger percentage of the PDP caucus is for the amendment, a particular member of the caucus from the South-East chose to sign the pro-Buhari senators’ list.

    “He has already signed with us and there is a few others too,” he added.

  • Akeredolu urges Senate to confirm Magu’s appointment as EFCC chairman

    Akeredolu urges Senate to confirm Magu’s appointment as EFCC chairman

    Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has pleaded with the Senate to confirm Ibrahim Magu as the substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

    Akeredolu, represented by his Deputy, Agboola Ajayi, made the plea on Wednesday in Akure, while playing host to a team from the commission’s zonal headquarters, Benin Office.

    According to him, the Senate should resolve the lingering issue of confirming the appointment of Mr. Magu as EFCC chairman for the benefit of the country.

    The governor said Magu had been in acting capacity as chairman of the commission for more than two years.

    Akeredolu said that EFCC, under the President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government, had achieved a lot in fighting corruption more than the previous governments in the country.

    “To fight corruption is more difficult than the fight against Boko Haram in the northern part of the country.

    “With the record of billions recovered by the commission in the country, it means God is with this country.

    “With the level of massive looting in the country in the past, I believe there is hope for Nigeria to get to the greater height,’’ he said.

    While commending the commission for its achievements in the last two years, he urged the team to extend its offices to states.

    This, he said, would enable the commission to recruit staff with apparatus to aid it to fight corruption at the state and local government levels.

    Earlier, the EFCC Zonal Head, Benin Office, Mallafia Yakubu, called for the support of the state government in the fight against corruption.

    Yakubu said that corruption had led to underdevelopment and employment.

    “We want to join hands with the state government to fight corruption as the commission cannot do it alone,” he said.

    Yakubu also solicited the support of the state government on the need to sponsor programmes at the grassroots to highlight the damage corruption had caused in the country.

     

  • Senate begins confirmation of CBN’s MPC nominees

    The Senate on Wednesday mandated its Committee on Banking and Finance to begin the process of confirming four presidential nominees as members of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    This followed the adoption of the communication from President Muhammadu Buhari, requesting the Senate to confirm the nomination of the four appointees.

    The nominees are Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, Dr Aliyu Sanusi, Dr Robert Asogwa and Dr Asheikh Maidugu.

    The Senate would also consider Buhari’s request that Mrs Aisha Ahmad and Mr Edward Adamu be confirmed as CBN Deputy Governors.

    Moving for the adoption of the request, the Senate Leader, Sen. Ahmed Lawan said that the process was in accordance with the provisions of Section 12 (1)(4) of the CBN Act 2007.

    The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, gave the committee one week to consider the requests.

  • Declare state of emergency in health sector, Senate urges FG

    The Senate on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to declare a state-of-emergency in the country’s public health sector over decay of infrastructure.

    The Senate also urged the Federal Government to provide special funding for the overhaul of at least one public medical facility in each geo-political zone in the country.

    The resolutions were sequel to the unanimous adoption of a motion by Sen. Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna-APC).

    Moving the motion, Hunkuyi expressed worry over increasing decay of infrastructure in the country’s healthcare institutions.

    He said that the “sorry state of affairs’’ in government hospitals and other healthcare facilities had rendered their services ineffective, resulting in dire consequences for the citizenry.

    According to him, the decayed infrastructure occasioned by epileptic power and inadequate water supply further increased the risk of hospital-transmitted infections.

    Hunkuyi added that critical diagnostic equipment essential for providing efficient diagnosis was either non-functional or not available.

    He pointed out that the situation had led to failure by the system to attract the required calibre of health professionals and skilled manpower to the public health institutions.

    “The situation in our public health institutions has resulted in increased medical tourism by Nigerians, with doctors and other healthcare professionals leaving for greener pastures to private medical facilities or even abroad.

    “This is with attendant outflow of foreign currency to the tune of several millions of dollars spent on medical care annually in Europe, America, Asia and some African countries to the detriment of our health institutions.

    “Recently, UNICEF in its latest statistics on child mortality ranked Nigeria second highest in the world with losses of about 2, 300 under-five years olds and 145 women of child-bearing age daily,’’ Hunkuyi said.

    Contributing, Sen. Abdullahi Sabi restated that the state of facilities in the country’s public health sector called for worry.

    According to him, over the years we talk about medical tourism and Nigeria has continued to witness capital flight.

    “You will agree with me that Nigerians are doing well outside and the question that rises is why are they not coming back?

    “If we provide solutions to reasons why they are not coming back, then we can attract them.

    “There is need to promote primary healthcare because something that can be tackled with right personnel and equipment eventually turns out to be chronic,’’ Sabi said.

    In his remark, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, stated that there was need for Federal Government to ensure compliance with the provision of the National Health Act.

    Saraki also said that the Senate, while working on the 2018 Appropriation Bill, would ensure adequate funding for primary healthcare services in the country.

  • Senate summons security chiefs over Chibok, Dapchi girls’ abduction

    …demands two-week rescue plan

    The Senate has summoned the ‎Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, to explain the circumstances surrounding the abduction of 110 students of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, by Boko Haram on February 19.

    The invitation followed the adoption of a motion moved by Senator Binta Masi Garba, to commemorate the 2018 International Women’s Day.

    The motion had Senators Stella Oduah, Oluremi Tinubu, Biodun Olujimi, Monsurat Sumonu, Fatima Raji-Rasaki, Rose Oko, John Enoh and Yele Omogunwa ‎as co-sponsors.

    Unanimously granting prayers of the motion, the lawmakers resolved to “felicitate with Nigerian women and girls on this year’s International Women’s Day Celebration.”

    They also mandated the Senate Joint Committees on Police Affairs; and Security and Intelligence “to summon the Inspector-General of Police and the Chief of Army Staff to brief the Senate on the actual situation of things regarding the kidnap and, in addition, present clear operational strategies to rescue the remaining Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls within two weeks.”

    Boko Haram had earlier on April 14, 2014, abducted over 200 pupils of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, while more than half of them had either escaped or secured their release through negotiations.

    Olujimi, who presented the motion on Garba’s behalf, said the Senate was concerned that the implementation of policies that prohibit violence against women and girls, and promote the girl-child’s education was still poor.

    “Practices such as violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking, sexual and other types of exploitation, early child and forced marriage, female genital mutilation are still being practised,” she said.

    Olujimi added, “The Senate is further concerned that the spate of girl-child kidnapping in Nigeria has assumed an alarming dimension. On the 21st of February, 2018, the nation was shocked with the news of the kidnap of 110 schoolgirls from Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi, Busari Local Government Area of Yobe State. This incidence is reminiscence of the 2014 Chibok girls’ abduction in which 113 of the girls are still in captivity almost four years after.

    “The Senate is worried that a pattern is gradually being established which clearly indicates that the objectives of the Boko Haram insurgents is to deprive young girls of school age from pursuing education.

    “The Senate is further worried that if this ugly trend is not checked, the girl-child education, which is part of the objective of goal Number 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals would have been lost in Nigeria, even before the 2030 target year.”

    Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, called for proper implementation of the affirmative action by Nigeria.