TheNewsGuru

Tag: Senate

  • Senate investigates clashes between Nigeria, Cameroon communities

    The Senate has mandated its committees on Police Affairs and National Security to investigate clashes between border communities in Nigeria and Cameroon, which has claimed lives and property of Nigerians.

    The resolution to this effect emanated from a point of order raised by Sen. John Enoh (APC-Cross River) during plenary on Thursday.

    Enoh said that it was Federal Government’s duty to protect its citizens from internal and external aggression, lamenting that affected people from his political jurisdiction had been abandoned to attacks from Cameroonian aggressors.

    He said, “I rise to call attention to a dire and serious security situation that is occurring in my senatorial district between the communities in Cross River and communities in Cameroon.

    “This crisis has taken international dimension. The porous nature of our borders, especially at that particular axis, is a great concern.

    “The main reason why government exists is to protect people’s lives and property; I, therefore, call on Nigerian authorities to increase security presence because there is still rising tension in that part of the country.”

    The lawmaker also urged the security agencies to see how much help they could provide to ensure that people in that area were protected.

    In his remark, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, stressed that it was the responsibility of government to provide adequate security at the borders and also ensure safety and security of the citizenry in the country.

    He, therefore, referred the matter to the Committees on Police Affairs and National Security, mandating them to carry out a thorough job on the conflict and report back to the chamber.

     

    NAN

  • Buhari sends 2018-2020 MTEF, FSP to Senate

    President Muhammadu Buhari has sent the 2018-2020 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and Fiscal Strategy Paper, FSP, to the Senate.

    The submission of the documents usually precedes the presentation of the budget estimates to the National Assembly.

    In a letter read by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Thursday, the President said that the MTEF and FSP were structured against the backdrop of “a generally adverse global economic uncertainty.”

    “I am pleased to submit the 2018-2020 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the Senate. Let me use this opportunity to express my gratitude for the enduring partnership between the legislative and executive arms of government,” the letter read.

    “Pursuant to provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, the preparation towards the submission of the 2018 budget to the national assembly is progressing well.

    “The MTEF and FSP were prepared against the backdrop of a generally adverse global economic uncertainty as well as fiscal challenges and recovery in the domestic economy to ensure that planned spending is set at prudent and sustainable levels and is consistent with government’s overall developmental objectives and inclusive growth.

    “I hereby forward the 2018-2020 MTEF and FSP to the Senate and trust that it would be kindly considered and approved expeditiously in order to bring the 2018 FGN Budget preparation process to timely closure.”

    In a separate letter, the President also sought the Senate’ approval of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention Establishment bill 2017.

    “I forward therewith for your kind consideration and passage into law, a bill for an act to provide for the establishment for Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “It is my hope that the distinguished Senate would pass this bill in your usual expeditious manner,” the letter read by Mr. Saraki said.

  • Ogoni Cleanup project on course – Senate

    The Senate on Wednesday allayed fears on the implementation of the ongoing Ogoni Clean-up project, saying “it is on course”.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, said this in Abeokuta at the ongoing the 11th National Council on Environment (NCE) meeting on Wednesday.

    Tinubu was represented by Sen. Magnus Abe, a member of the Senate representing the South/East constituency of Rivers.

    The Federal Government inaugurated the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation project to take charge of the clean-up of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas in Ogoni land, Rivers in a bid to address the devastation wrought on the environment.

    Tinubu assured that the Senate would provide the necessary oversight for the project, adding that the Federal Government had continued to liaise with and provide updated information to the Senate on the process.

    “The Ogoni Clean-up has been one of the major signposts of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and a lot of people have expressed concerns about the speed of the implementation.

    “I want to use this opportunity to assure all Nigerians that Ogoni cleanup is on course and that we are closely monitoring activities in that respect.

    “We understand the concerns of those who feel it is a bit slow but we want to assure them that the implementation is on and we are being briefed accordingly.

    “We realise that people would have loved to see things happening immediately but they have to understand that there are frameworks, procedures and challenges of implementation of programmes of that magnitude which has never be done before.

    “If we are not patient, we will not be thorough and we could easily get overwhelmed by the whole thing because it is a multi-layer operation.

    “It is something we have not done before because it is new and we must be careful to adopt best methods to make it happen and so people have to be patient and give all necessary support,” she said.

    Tinubu gave assurance that the Senate through her committee was ready to partner with the Ministry of Environment and other stakeholders to provide robust legislative support and oversight on environment-friendly activities.

    Earlier, the Minister of State for Environment, Mr Ibrahim Jibril reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to exploring alternative sources of revenue to sustain the ongoing economic recovery process.

    He urged the private sector to take advantage of the investment opportunities existing in the environment sector.

    The investment areas, according to the minister include waste management, repositioning of the National Agency for Great Green Wall, renewable energy and the Ogoni Clean-up project.

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun said that the choice of Ogun as the venue for the meeting was a testament and an acknowledgment of the giant strides that his government had made in the sector.

    Amosun, who noted that environment “is central to the survival and existence of human life,” called for concerted effort to ensure the protection and sustenance of the Nigerian environment.

    Citing example of Singapore, Amosun said that developed countries paid particular attention to the implications of human activities in their environments.

    He said that Ogun remained unwaveringly committed to the conservation of its environment

    “We have continued to build Ogun standard roads which are complemented by the standard gauge drainages to prevent flood in our urban areas.

    “Likewise, our organisation of the first ever Green Summit in the state tagged: Ogun Goes Green has had an impactful and huge success in the lives of the citizens and residents of our state.’’

    The governor said that the state had also purchased over 40 refuse trucks to increase the capacity of its environmental protection agency among other measures to ensure a friendly environment.

     

    NAN

  • [See details] Senate passes Electoral act No. 6 bill into law

    The Senate has passed the Electoral Act No. 6 (2010 Amendment) Bill 2017 into law and below are the details of the bill;

    1. There shall now be full biometric accreditation of voters with Smart Card Readers and/or other technological devices, as INEC may introduce for elections from time to time.

    2. Presiding Officers must now instantly transmit accreditation data and results from Polling Units to various collation centers. Presiding officer who contravene this shall be imprisoned for at least 5 years (no option of fine).

    3. All Presiding Officer must now first record accreditation data and polling results on INEC’s prescribed forms before transmitting them. The data/result recorded must be the same with what they transmitted.

    4. INEC now has unfettered powers to conduct elections by electronic voting.

    5. Besides manual registers, INEC is now mandated to keep Electronic registers of voters.

    6. INEC is now mandated to publish voters’ registers on its official website(s) for public scrutiny at least 30 days before a general election and any INEC staff who is responsible for this but fails to act as prescribed shall be liable on conviction to 6 months’ imprisonment.

    7. INEC is now mandated to keep a National Electronic Register of Election Results as a distinct database or repository of polling unit by polling unit results for all elections conducted by INEC.

    8. Collation of election result is now mainly electronic, as transmitted unit results will help to determine final results on real time basis.

    9. INEC is now mandated to record details of electoral materials – quantities, serial numbers used to conduct elections (for proper tracking).

    10. A political party whose candidate dies after commencement of an election and before the declaration of the result of that election now has a 14-day window to conduct a fresh primary in order for INEC to conduct a fresh election within 21 days of the death of the party’s candidate;

    11. Political parties’ Polling Agents are now entitled to inspect originals of electoral materials before commencement of election and any Presiding Officer who violates this provision of the law shall be imprisoned for at least1 year.

    12. No political party can impose qualification/disqualification criteria, measures or conditions on any Nigerian for the purpose of nomination for elective offices, except as provided in the 1999 Constitution.

    13. The election of a winner of an election can no longer be challenged on grounds of qualification, if the he (winner) satisfied the applicable requirements of sections 65, 106,
    131 or 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and he is not, as may be applicable, in breach of sections 66, 107, 137 or 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. [For example, a person’s election cannot be challenged on the ground that he did not pay tax, as this is not a qualifying condition under the Constitution.]

    14. All members of political parties are now eligible to determine the ad-hoc delegates to elect candidates of parties in indirect primaries. The capacity of party executives to unduly influence or rig party primaries has been reasonably curtailed, if not totally removed.

    15. Parties can no longer impose arbitrary nomination fees on political aspirants. The Bill passed prescribes limits for each elective office as follows:

    (a) One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N150,000) for a Ward Councillorship aspirant in the FCT;

    (b) Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N250,000) for an Area Council Chairmanship aspirant in the FCT;

    (c) Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000) for a House of Assembly aspirant;

    (d) One Million Naira (N1,000,000) for a House of Representatives aspirant;

    (e) Two Million Naira (N2,000,000) for a Senatorial aspirant;

    (f) Five Million naira (N5,000,000) for a Governorship aspirant; and

    (g) Ten Million Naira (N10,000,000) for a Presidential aspirant.

    16. Relying on the powers of the National Assembly in Paragraph 11 of Part II (Concurrent Legislative List) of the Second Schedule (Legislative Powers) to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Senate also passed measures reforming procedures regulating Local Government Elections. State Independent Electoral Commissions can no longer conduct elections that do not meet minimum standards of credibility.

    17. Any INEC official who disobeys a tribunal order for inspection of electoral materials shall be imprisoned for 2 years!

  • We should expect a budget of N10 trillion in 2018 – Saraki

    The Senate said, yesterday, that from all available indications and economic indicators, the executive may not be able to implement more than 50 per cent of 2017 budget, and would jerk the 2018 budget to N10 trillion.

    Speaking in Abuja during the debate on the report of the implementation of the 2017 budget at plenary, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, said since the executive might not implement more than 50 per cent of 2017 budget, the 2018 budget might be more than N10 trillion.

    He said: “If the implementation of the 2017 budget is going to be 50 per cent, it means we should expect to have a budget of N10 trillion in 2018. I hope the executive takes note of that.”

    The Senate also said there was no pending loan request currently before it, saying all requests from President Muhammadu Buhari were approved before the National Assembly embarked on its annual recess in July.

    The position of the Senate, yesterday, countered that of the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, over claims that the National Assembly was yet to approve President Buhari’s borrowing plans needed to fund capital projects in the 2017 budget.

    Saraki said: “There is no request before us about borrowing we have not approved. We approved all the requests before we went on break.

    I needed to make this explanation because of what the Minister of Finance said, that the National Assembly is holding on to borrowing requests sent by the executive.”

    Insists on 50% implementation The Senate is also insisting that the implementation of 2017 budget must reach fifty percent completion before it would be rolled over to 2018 budget.

    This is part of recommendations contained in the report of the Committees on Appropriations and Finance, which recently invited Minister for Finance, Mrs Adeosun, and her Budget and National Planning counterpart, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, to explain the level of implementation of 2017 budget.

    Indicts MDAs over non-remittance of revenues Meanwhile, the Senate has accused some Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of the Federal Government of failure to remit revenues into the Federation Account. Presenting the report of the committee, Senator Goje, who did not mention names of the MDAs, said the revenue leakages must be blocked and agencies involved sanctioned to guard against a repeat in the future.

  • Corruption allegations: Senate sets up committee to probe IGP, Ibrahim Idris

    The Senate has set up an eight-man ad hoc committee to investigate allegations of corruption brought against the Inspector General of Police(IGP), Ibrahim Idris, by a senator, Isah Misau (APC-Bauchi).

    The Senate also mandated its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to investigate Police allegations against Mr. Misau, and present its findings to the House.

    The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had alleged that Mr. Misau did not follow due process when he retired from the force.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Senate’s resolution followed a Point of Order by Mr. Misau, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy.

    Mr. Misau had told his colleagues that he had been having a running battle with the IGP over the level of corruption in the NPF.

    The senator said he deemed it necessary to bring the matter before the Senate because it had been in public domain for “some weeks now”.

    He accused the IGP of blackmailing him because he dared to talk about the level of corruption in the force.

    “I am a retired Police officer and served for 10 years; my father served the force for 34 years. In fact, he joined the Police before I was born.

    “So, when I speak about the Police, I know what I am saying. When I speak about the Police, I speak with authority.

    “I am concerned about what is happening in the Police in terms of bribery; there is a need for something urgent to be done to salvage the image of the institution.

    “Before raising alarm on the irregularities in the institution, I called three serving officers and they confirmed to me that people pay more than N500,000 to get promoted.

    “I also have other evidences that I am ready to release for investigation,’’ he said.

    The lawmaker further alleged that the police was generating money from companies where officers were deployed to serve.

    He lamented that while most Nigerians were without security protection, the force had deployed a large number of officers to guard companies and a few individuals.

    “This is an open secret; it is obvious that even people with questionable character have Police protection and have been blaring sirens all over the place.

    “One Police officer is supposed to serve 400 people, but in Nigeria, it is one Police officer to 800 people, while one private marketer has more than 30 policemen.

    “A situation like that only depletes the number of Police personnel available to protect the ordinary citizens.

    “We have excellent Police officers who are now demoralised because promotion is no longer based on merit and years of service.

    “Another thing I found out is that there is illegal diversion of funds. Under the 2016 Budget, there was a line item for purchase of Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), but instead of the APCs, luxury cars were purchased without virement,’’ Mr. Misau said.

    On allegations that he left the NPF without due process, Mr. Misau said he followed due process before retiring.

    The president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said that in view of the weighty nature of the allegations brought against the Police, the Senate would not hesitate to investigate the matter.

    Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris

    “We have listened to him and he has raised a number of issues which we can’t sweep under the carpet.

    “We have to reform our institutions and deal with allegations of corruption so as to cleanse them.

    “The ad hoc committee will deal with the area of allegation of corruption, while the Committee on Ethics and Privileges will deal with the allegation of the Police against Misau,’’ he said.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Deputy Chief Whip, Francis Alimikhena, is the chairman of the committee whose other members include Joshua Lidani (PDP-Gombe), Binta Masi (APC-Adamawa) and Duro Faseyi (PDP-Ekiti).

    Others include Nelson Effiong (APC-Akwa Ibom), Obinna Ogba (PDP-Ebonyi), Abdul-Aziz Nyako (APC-Adamawa) and Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC-Kaduna).

  • N30trn revenue scam: Senate notifies EFCC, to hand erring firms over

    The Senate Wednesday said that arrangements have been made to hand over companies found culpable in its investigation of alleged N30 trillion revenue scam in the import and export value chain to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC for prosecution.

    Chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport, Senator Hope Uzodinma, stated this in Abuja while briefing reporters on the activities of his committee.

    Uzodinma noted that companies to be handed over to the EFCC were “those discovered to have manipulated the foreign exchange procedure and others involved in money laundering, round tripping and abuse of foreign exchange manual.”

    He said the committee would pass all established evidence against the companies to the EFCC for immediate prosecution.

    Uzodinma said that companies with established cases of infractions of import, export value chain would be referred to the Nigeria Customs Service for blacklisting.

    He said, “We have also established another department for investigation, which is abuse of fiscal policies in the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    “Most of these companies that have applied and received approval as manufacturers of different products, assemblers of various products but import finished goods in the name of CKD will be charged for an economic crime.

    “We are going to follow up the prosecution with all shreds of evidence available to us.

    “As we are about concluding our investigation on the 60 selected companies being currently investigated, it is very clear that so many collectible revenues are still hanging.

    “These are monies that government would have used to ease governance and provide necessary infrastructure and amenities to the citizenry.

    “So, this committee will not sit back and allow the economy to crumble. This is just 60 selected companies. We are visiting over 1000 companies.’’

    Uzodinma noted that the 60 companies in its first phase of the investigation, the committee had been able to interact with 50 while 10 of the companies refused to appear.

    He insisted that the committee would ensure that the companies were fished out by the relevant security agencies to face justice.

    On the funds recovered so far, he said a significant amount of money had been returned by some companies.

    He said “Many of those companies have paid partially. I know that with the evidences we have against them we are confident that these companies are now aware that we caught them.

    “We cannot let go of what belongs to the government.”

    He added that the committee took time to carry out the preliminary investigation because it needed to establish the necessary benchmark.

    He said, “Now that we have all that and the modus operandi has been established we will put it on autopilot and it will be faster.’’

  • Senate approves removal of indiscriminate speed bumps on federal roads nationwide

    The Senate on Tuesday asked the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to remove all speed bumps illegally erected on Federal Government highways and ensure strict compliance using speed limits.

    The decision was based on the adoption of a motion jointly moved by Senator Barnabas Gemade (Benue North-East) and Senator Stella Oduah (Anambra-North) at the plenary on Tuesday, entitled, ‘Urgent Need to Control the Indiscriminate Erection of Speed Bumps on Federal Roads Nationwide.’

    The Senate unanimously granted the prayers of the motion, including to “direct the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to remove all the speed bumps indiscriminately erected on the federal highways nationwide and regulate and standardise erection of all speed bumps.”

    The lawmakers also urged the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to cause owners of petrol filling stations to build a service lane of not less than 50 metres on both sides of the stations to avoid customers turning directly to and from the highways.

    They also urged the ministry to enforce setback regulations for fixed structures along the highways and urged the planning authority to enforce regulations for motor parks, markets and places of worship.

    Moving the motion, Gemade said the Senate noted “with dismay” the thousands of speed bumps recently erected on almost all federal highways nationwide, ostensibly to control the speed of vehicles plying the roads.

    According to Gemade, some of the hazards posed by the bumps to vehicle owners are “accelerated wear and tear of the vehicles, loss of many hours in billions (of money) when quantified nationwide, and damage to vehicle suspension systems as most of these bumps are not professionally designed.”

    Seconding the motion, Senator Joshua Lidani said while Bauchi State had removed speed bumps from its roads, Nasarawa State still has many of them.

    “I think there is the need for these speed bumps to be removed. If they have to be installed, let it be done professionally,” he stated.

    However, some senators did not hide their displeasure at the decision. They noted that the erection of the speed bumps has helped reduced accidents and avoidable deaths while insisting that it’s removal would pose a great danger as there were communities, schools and businesses along the highways the bumps were erected.

     

  • Independence: Senate congratulates Nigerians, sues for peace

    The Senate on Thursday, congratulated Nigerians on the celebration of the country’s 57th Independent Anniversary, on Oct. 1, and cautioned the people to avoid violence and anything that would threaten the peace and unity of the country.

    This followed a Point of Order by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, on the floor of the Senate.

    While raising the point of order, Ekweremadu said though the country had witnessed several challenges since independence, it was making progress in various sectors.

    He also urged Nigerians to continue to tow the path of peace and always entrench values that would move the country forward.

    “I congratulate my colleagues and constituents on this year’s anniversary and I call on us all to continue to work for the growth of the economy.

    “I am optimistic that this country will get over its challenges and continue to maintain its place in the comity of nations.

    “Shortly before the 2015 elections, we were the fastest growing economy and I know we are making progress,’’ he said.

    Contributing, the Minority Leader, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, said the sacrifices of the country’s founding fathers and all those who brought the country to its present position would not be forgotten.

    “We must remember our heroes that died during the civil war, never again will the country experience another civil war because it is difficult to recover from war.

    “At a point in our history as a country, we were looked at as a country with motion and no movement, but I am happy we have overcome all that.

    “However, our leaders must ensure justice for all. We must not allow marginalistion because it leads to agitation.

    “The current trend in the country shows that we need restructuring,’’ he said.

    The minority leader called on the legislature to play its part in restructuring the economy.

    Akpabio, who also congratulated Nigerians on the celebration, said there was need to “rejig’’ the country and urged all hands to be on deck to achieve that.

    The Chairman Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Sen. Shehu Sani, said there was no doubt that the journey through independence had not been easy.

    He, however, expressed hope that in spite the problems the country had gone through, it would forge ahead.

    Sani called on Nigerians to use the opportunity of this year’s celebration “to carry out the necessary adjustments needed to strengthen all sectors of the economy.’’

    Sen. Atai Aidoko (PDP-Kogi), called on Nigerians to use the occasion to reflect on areas Nigeria ought to take advantage of, to compete favourably with other countries.

    He lamented that despite the country’s political, social and economic might, it had not been able to compete favourably with countries like Malaysia that it had independence with.

    Aidoko said, “as leaders, we need to redirect our agenda for this great country and be more focused toward making a mark, globally.

    “I urge us to take a critical look at the present situation and work on our weaknesses so that we can catch up with countries Nigeria started with.’’

    In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said there was something to be happy for as a country.

    Saraki, who acknowledged that the country had gone through trying times, assured that hope was not lost.

    He called on all and sundry to work for peace and unity, rather than fan the embers of discord.

    The Senate stressed that “ rather than seeing the cup as half empty, we should see it as half full because there is assurance that things will get better.

    “Nigeria is a work in progress and we must all come together to take it to where it ought to be.

    Saraki congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari and all Nigerians as the country prepare to celebrate another anniversary.

     

     

    NAN

  • Senate passes Bill against kidnapping, jungle justice, others

    The Senate on Thursday, passed a Bill for a law to against abduction, wrongful restraint or wrongful confinement for a ransom.

    This came after a clause-by-clause consideration of a Report on the issue by Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters at plenary.

    The Bill was sponsored by Sen. Isa Misau (APC-Bauchi) and Sen. Chukwuka Utazi (PDP-Enugu) presented the report on behalf of the Chairman of the committee, Sen. David Umaru.

    While presenting it, Utazi said that the Bill sought to prescribe stiff punishment for the offence of abduction, wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement for ransom.

    He said that the bill sought to combat and prevent any form of kidnapping in Nigeria and gave wider powers to the Inspector-General of Police to ensure adequate combating of crime.

    Clause 1 (3) of the Bill states that “whoever is guilty of the offence and then results in the death of the victim shall be liable on conviction to be sentenced to death.’’

    Clause 5 (2) reveals that “anyone who fails to produce any book, account, receipts, vouchers or other documents which is in his possession or control shall be guilty of an offence.

    “The person shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N100, 000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both fine and imprisonment.”

    Clause 3 provides a 30-year jail term to anyone who colludes with abductor to receive any ransom for the release of any person who has been wrongfully confined.

    The report was unanimously accepted by the lawmakers after a voice vote put by the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Senate also passed the Bill for the Prohibition and Protection of Persons from Lynching.

    However, the report of the Committee on Trade and Investment on Counterfeit Goods Bill was stepped down due to technical irregularities.

    Saraki, thereafter, referred the report to Legal Department of the National Assembly and urged chairmen of all committees to ensure that their reports passed through the legal department before consideration by the Senate.