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Tag: Abubakar Bukola Saraki

  • Saraki inaugurates panel to probe invasion of chamber

    -Vows to bring perpetrators to book

     

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki on Tuesday inaugurated a joint Senate and House of Representatives committee to investigate the April 18 invasion of Senate Chamber.

    Members of the committee, including Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, Senators Abu Ibrahim, John Owan Enoh, Shehu Sani, Samuel Anyanwu Suleiman Hunkuyi, Baba Kaka Garbai, and Binta Garba, will chaired by Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah.

    Saraki said that the Senate Ad Hoc Committee was inaugurated to investigate the Incident of the Senate chamber invasion on Wednesday the 18th of April 2018.

    He noted that the events of the 18th of April 2018 will go down as “one of the darkest days of our democracy.”

    He said,” The precincts of the National Assembly is not just a place where the National Assembly meets, it is the symbol of our liberty and freedom from autocracy and the base of our democracy.

    “This should not happen. It should never have happened. The violation of this solemn place, the symbol of our liberty to have a government by the representatives of our people for our people by a group of mobsters and criminals cannot simply be ignored. It has been inferred in many quarters that this group of thugs and urchins were led by a serving distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is most despicable and unspeakable.

    “It is clear and remains the duty of the legislature when faced with behaviours that undermine its fundamental integrity like this one that the legislature acts to restore the integrity of the institution. We owe it as a duty not only to this present National Assembly but also those to precede it, that the legislative process is purged of this dirt and the legislature restored to its full place of dignity.

    “This is a duty that must be achieved. We cannot let a precedence proceed from this. Everyone involved from conception to execution of this heinous crime must be brought to book.

    “This committee, therefore must see its charge as pivotal to the restoration of the sanctity, the preservation of the dignity of the National Assembly and the restoration of the security, integrity and moral authority of the National Assembly.

    “To the Committee, I make this charge to be thorough, fair and courageous in the discharge of this assignment.

    “The Senate has deliberately considered your pedigree for this assignment, knowing fully well the enormity of the job ahead. You have been chosen also because we have a great task ahead, to think outside of the box to take lawmaking back to the people through creative interventions.

    “This Senate looks up to you to do the nation proud. This Senate has confidence that you will discharge your duties with responsibility and probity.

    “May I use this opportunity to commend the Clerk of the National Assembly, National Assembly Management and distinguished senators who have worked to ensure that this inauguration is achieved. I wish the committee success.”

  • Saraki inaugurates panel on National Assembly museum, archives

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Wednesday inaugurated Ad-hoc Committee for the establishment and development of the National Assembly Museum and Archives.

    The Committee chaired by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Senator Fatimat Raji-Rasaki, according to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President, Sanni Onogu, in Abuja, is charged with the task of establishing a National Assembly Museum for the purposes of immortalization of its proceedings, processes and procedures of law making in Nigeria.

    Saraki in his address said the Committee is to help in the realization of the quest for a befitting Museum and Archives for the National Assembly as a national monument fit for the digital age.

    He stated that that contrary to beliefs in some quarters, the proposed National Assembly Museum and Archives is not about immortalizing the present set of lawmakers.

    “This is about institution building, it is about institutional memory, it is about legacy; and most of all, it is about the greatness of Nigeria,” Saraki said. “Parliamentary libraries can be found all over the world.

    “In the United States, the Library of Congress was founded in 1800; in the United Kingdom, the House of Commons Library was founded exactly 200 years ago, in 1818.

    “It is in that same tradition that we seek to establish such a venerable institution in our National Assembly,” he said.

    The President of the Senate further stated that while information availability is critical to the functioning of democratic legislatures, access to information is crucial to the strengthening of parliamentary oversight, improvement in the work of representatives and accountability to the electorate.

    “Museums and archives play an important role in preserving legislative records for posterity. This becomes even more critical in a fledgling democracy such as ours,” Saraki said.

    He urged the Committee to draw on the deeds and records of past National Assemblies, to enable it cross the bridge of memory that was broken by the military years.

    “This way, we will not keep re-inventing the wheel in our quest for nationhood. There is also the need for greater intellectual depth in our public life. A Museum and Archives would give a leap to intellectualism in our legislative activities.

    “It also promises to be an invaluable repository of knowledge that would be of untold benefit to scholars, historians, students and citizens in general.

    “Above all, it would aid our knowledge of legislative history, because as Edmund Burke said, ‘Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it,’” he stated.

    Earlier, the Chairman of the Adhoc Committee, Senator Fatimat Raji-Rasaki, pledged that the panel would work to develop a legacy that will stand the test of time.

    “It will be a deserving repository of our proceedings and a documentation of the happenings within the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly. The institution shall become the authority in the dispensation of our ideas, ideals and standing,” she said.

    Members of the committee include Hon. Ogbeide-Ihama Omoregie (Co-Chairman), Senator Matthew Urhoghide, Senator Babajide Omoworare, Senator Victor Umeh, Senator Obinna Ogba, Hon. Joseph Edionwele, Hon. Sam Onuigbo and Hon. Chille Igbawua.

    Others are Yahaya Danzaria, Ms. Cerie Jogai (FCT) Aminu Waziri Mohammed, Abbas Mohammed (Secretariat) and Moyo Adeniran.

    Read Also: Saraki inaugurates panel on National Assembly museum, archives

     

  • NASS to work for improved welfare for workers – Saraki

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki Tuesday saluted the resilience, dedication and contributions of Nigeria workers to national development.

    Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, also described workers as the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.

    “They (workers) form the bedrock on which the building blocks of any sustained national development can be laid,” he said.

    He called on the Workers to continue to put in their best in any sector they find themselves, saying that their efforts shall never be in vain.

    Saraki also promised that the National Assembly under his leadership will support all efforts aimed at ensuring workers are adequately rewarded and well catered for.

    “There can be no economic growth without the contribution of workers and there can be no national development without economic development,” Saraki said. “Our workers play crucial roles in all we attain as a nation and that fact needs to be recognized always.”

    He added: “On this Workers’ Day 2018 celebrations, I salute all Nigerian workers for their sacrifice and resilience in the face of dwindling economic fortunes.

    “What they put in daily to ensure that the ship of state continues to run is tremendous when considered holistically and I want to urge them not to relent in their efforts to help grow the economy in particular and the National in general. The National Assembly will always support all efforts geared towards improving their remuneration and General conditions of service and living.

    “Workers represent the mainstay of our economy because without them there could be no economic activity of any kind, whether online or offline, digital or manual.”

    He however called on workers’ unions to always toe the path of peace and dialogue in making their demands, as both employers and employees need one another to succeed.

    “There can be no development without peace and anything done in the pursuit of peace is often good in the national interest,” he said.

    Read Also: ‘NASS to overhaul security arrangements’ – NASS Spokesman

  • Drug abuse is everybody’s problem, says Saraki

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Tuesday commended the BBC Africa, ‘Africa Eye’ documentary ‘Sweet Sweet Codeine’ that details the widespread prevalence of drug and substance abuse in Nigeria.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, Saraki stated that documentaries like ‘Sweet Sweet Codeine’ are real-life attestations on the need for Nigeria to take its drug abuse problem more seriously.

    “The widespread nature of this substance abuse problem in Nigeria is why the Senate convened the stakeholder Roundtable in Kano in December,” the President of the Senate said, “Even though I have been working on this issue for a few months now, watching the BBC documentary was another eye-opener. Nigerians can now see that if care is not taken, we could be sitting on a catastrophe. We cannot all just fold our arms and expect this issue to fix itself. This is everybody’s problem.

    “As things stand, following the Roundtable on Drug Abuse that held in Kano in December 2017, we have already developed a draft Legislative framework for the control of narcotics and psychotropic substances and the provision of mental health and substance Use services in Nigeria.

    “With the Drug Control Bill that we are set to introduce, the mandate of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) and other relevant law enforcement and other regulatory bodies will be strengthened to eradicate the illicit production, and trafficking of controlled substances.

    “While the Mental Health Bill will ensure the availability of mental health and substance abuse services in every state, as well as guarantee the enforcement of minimum standards of care for people with mental health disorders.

    “This is because, we cannot continue like this. We cannot continue to have one psychiatrist for every 1.6million Nigerians and expect this substance abuse problem to go away. This legislative framework that we are preparing recognizes the low number of mental health practitioners in the country, and works to rectify that problem by ensuring that quality mental health and substance abuse services are available for this underserved segment of the population.”

    Read Also: Drug abuse: When last did you check your children’s bags – NDLEA

  • $496m jets fund: Buhari survives impeachment motion in Senate

    Urhoghide’s motion referred to Judiciary, Legal committee for advice

     PDP behind motion, says Ibrahim

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday survived impeachment motion in the senate.

    The motion is not completely dead though.

    The upper chamber resolved to refer the motion to its Judiciary and Legal Matters Committee for advice and guide on whether to activate Section 143 of the Constitution which deals with procedures for impeachment of the President.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki saved the day when he prevailed on his colleagues to refer the contentious matter to the Judiciary and legal Matters Committee for guidance and direction on the way to go.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters, Senator David Umaru, was asked to submit his report next Wednesday.

    The controversial motion followed another motion by the Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah about the need to include $496,374,470 (equivalent of N151,394,494,335.00) in the year 2018 Appropriation Bill.

    Na’Allah specifically prayed the Senate to consider he request of Mr. President C-in-C on the inclusion of USD 496,374,470 (equivalent of N151,394,494,335.00) only in the 2018 Appropriation Bill for the purchase of Super Tucano Aircraft from the United States Government.

    Saraki was about to refer the request to the Appropriation Committee for further legislative work when Senator Mathew Urhoghide (Edo South) intervened and raised a Point of Order.

    Immediately Urhoghide moved that the Senate should activate Section 143 of the Constitution, the chamber went dead.

    When the chamber came alive once again, there appeared to be sharp division among the senators which Saraki laboured to control.

    Urhoghide who referred to his aborted attempts to argue the matter on Wednesday said:

    “This matter on Thursday was raised by me to say that this request that was sought by M. President is procedurally wrong. What has been read by the leader this morning was that this matter has been referred to the appropriate committee for the inclusion of this amount of money that has already been spent.

    “This ought to have been the first request to this Senate. We must put it on record that this is a violation of procedure as stated in the 1999 constitution….

    “The objective of the expenditure is very well established but the procedure is wrong.

    “There are serious consequences for violation of our constitution. As a consequence, the only thing we can draw from this is that we call on you, Mr. President, 9Saraki) to invoke section 143 of the Constitution. Because, what it means is that this matter is not to be investigated. It is clear that this offence has been committed by Mr. President (Buhari).

    “I want this Senate to resolve that what the President (Buhari) did is procedurally wrong and a violation of our constitution. It must be condemned and of course, the consequences of section 143 of our constitution should be invoked. I so move M. President (Saraki).

    Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North) who seconded the motion said: “Mr. President, a time has come when this Senate has to rise up and do the job which the Constitution has stipulated that we have to do.

    “If we have a Chief Executive who doesn’t want to behave according to the Constitution, we follow the Constitution to handle such Chief Executive. There is no other name to call this than that this is an impeachment offence. It is an impeachable offence and we cannot allow that. We cannot stay here and this assembly will be taken for granted”.

    Senator Abu Ibrahim came forcefully to defend the presidential action. The Katsina South lawmaker said that the Senate should appreciate the fact that President Buhari acted in national interest.

    He described the impeachment motion as out of order especially as the President action was not for any pecuniary interest.

    Ibrahim said, “Mr. President took action based on national interest that is why he authorized this payment.

    “As far as I’m concerned, this is the first time that money drawn from excess crude account is brought to the National Assembly. Since they began to operate this account, I have never seen any expenditure that was brought here for approval.

    “$17.7 billion was withdrawn by Obasanjo from excess crude account to pay the Paris Club and fund two projects without National Assembly approval. Obasanjo left $943 billion in excess crude account but former President Goodluck Jonathan frittered away the money with no recourse to the National Assembly. The Excess Crude account increased from $5.16 billion in 2005 to over $20 billion in 2008 and decreased to less than $4 billion by Jonathan in 2010. It never came to National Assembly for approval.

    “$2 billion was used by previous PDP administration to fight Boko Haram in 2014. Governor Godswill Akpabio was the one who moved the motion at the

    National Economic Council to get the money. $5 billion was taken for power generation whhen they were sourcing for Niger Delta power holding the same process was not taken by Yar’ adua. It was later taken to the National Assembly and it was approved.

    “This is a PDP conspiracy. I will like PDP to tell us which of their governors have taken the money released from excess crude account to the state assembly for approval. If this is a PDP conspiracy to tarnish the image of Muhammadu Buhari, they will not be able to do it because we are coming out with figures.”

    Ibrahim prayed the Senate to consider the matter dispassionately without political colouration.

    He further said that “the payment was government to government without pecuniary interest whatsoever. It was for the security of this country which all of us support. The money should not have come to us in the first instance because the governors approved it. Only 53 per cent of the money should which goes to the Federal Government should come to us for approval because we do not legislate for states and local governments. The PDP has interest in it and wanted to be holier than thou in the way and manner they are going about it. But the same PDP has not sanctioned its governors who have not taken the excess crude account money to their state assembly for approval.”

    Senator Godswill Akpabio raised a Point of Order to cut Ibrahim short.

    Akpabio said that he cannot recall ever moving a motion to withdraw money from the excess crude account as alluded to by Ibrahim.

    He said that the Senate should discountenance the reference to him “because I did not even see Senator Abu Ibrahim in any of our meetings.”

    Ibrahim took the floor again to say that he was totally against the impeachment motion “because it is politically motivated.”

    He prayed the Senate to endeavour to work for the interest of the country.

    In his contribution, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, said that the admittance by the Presidency that the money had already been spent was a vindication of his motion that something was amiss in the purchase of the fighter Jets.

    The Imo East senator recalled that a former Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo was removed from office over alleged anticipatory approval.

    Anyanwu said that he is aware that those who say that truth targeted by the government “but we should continue to say the truth.”

    He insisted Section 143 of the Constitution should be followed to deal with the alleged infraction on the Constitution.

    Anyanwu said, “I wanted to invoke order 53 (6) of our standing rule which states that no senator shall input improper motives for any other senator. What Senator Abu Ibrahim was saying is out of context on the issue of PDP. It is wrong. I think he should withdraw that.

    “This is a motion brought to this Senate by a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as regards to infractions.

    “When I was born by my mother, we were twin. I was born a twin and my elder brother and I don’t know how I would be afraid of my elder brother. What I am saying is that, this is an institution. We should keep every friendship and look at the constitution which I swore to protect.

    “He was talking about PDP; I remember the late Okadigbo was removed from office based on anticipatory budgetary approval. What has been done today is a pure breach of the constitution and we must realize that. I believe as a responsible and responsive institution, we must put things straight. Someone has brought a motion and we are debating the motion, we have commenced it, it is beyond party affiliation but we have agreed that everything we do is based on the provisions of the constitution and our standing rules.

    “The matter has been canvassed and I think we should all contribute on the matter. Yes, when you say the truth, you become a target but you don’t fear to become a target by saying the truth, the truth must be said. What do we do in the case of this issue on the breach of constitution? I think it is important that we look at the issue. I raised this motion and the prayer of this motion and it’s for the appropriation committee to look into the matter. Now, there is infraction what do we do? We have no other thing to do than to follow the constitution which my colleague has spotted section 143 of the constitution.”

    Deputy Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah proposed that the matter should be referred to the Judiciary and Legal Committee to consider and guide the Senate appropriately.

    The Kebbi south senator noted that in view of the controversy surrounding the matter the advice of the Judiciary and Legal Committee would be handy.

    N’Allah said, “I am in a bit of difficulty to understand the purpose of this motion in view of the fact that while the constitution raised certain responsibility for the President, it equally gave the National Assembly to do certain responsibilities. If you have my permission, I would like to read section 83(1-2)

    1. (1) of the Constitution says The National Assembly may by law make provisions for the establishment of a Contingencies Fund for the Federation and for authorising the President, if satisfied that there has arisen an urgent and unforeseen need for expenditure for which no other provision exists, to make advances from the Fund to meet the need.

    (2) Where any advance is made in accordance with the provisions of this section, a Supplementary Estimate shall be presented and a Supplementary Appropriation Bill shall be introduced as soon as possible for the purpose of replacing the amount so advanced.

    “I am aware that in the last budget, there was provision for supplementary provisions but in view of the controversy that this has generated, I would advise that we have a committee on Judiciary and legal matters. Issues of this nature can be referred to that committee. Let them look at it properly and advise the Senate on the way forward. Let us not try to put it as if it is partisan issue. The people who raised the matter, yes, politically they have raised their right to present the matter at the National Assembly on the concern. The advice can suffice to that the Senate can be properly guided on this matter.”

    Saraki agreed with Na’Allah and said, “The contribution from the leader addresses two issues. We must take note of that. The concerns we have, according to Sen. Shehu Sani said and all of us agree is that there is security concern in our country. I think also we all agree that from what has been presented to us; definitely there is a breach of constitution.

    “The question concerned is, what are the circumstances surrounding the breach of the constitution? Whether those circumstances justified the breach of constitution. This issue has some of you realize, I am sure you all remember that it was August last year, we were on recess when I got the message from the US ambassador that the senate committee at the congress of the United States wanted to visit us because they got a request from President Trump to approve the payment of Tucanos but they needed approval. Their congress wanted to come to Nigeria to speak with their counterparts and we all had to come back from our vacation and I led the team with the House of Representatives members and members here and we met the members of congress on this issue.

    “So definitely we were aware that time for this issue. Between September and February, with all due respect, there was ample time for the executive to have carried us along on this issue. So their argument for and against, I think this arguments are valid and I don’t want us to bring it down to partisanship issues.

    “These are not partisan issues. The suggestion of the leader that let us sends it to judiciary to advice if the constitution has been breached, the circumstances surrounding the breach of the constitution and the justification. What do we do going forward in trying to even appropriate because the funds have already been spent, do we go under what the leader has come under or we start the whole process of appropriating. I don’t think this exercise is worth it itself because we endorsed it to the US congress. It was after we agreed in September that the US government now went back to give approval to the executive to pay to their own government so they can go ahead and sell this equipment to Nigeria. If we all agree, I will put it to vote and refer the matter to the judiciary and give them a short period of time, that by Wednesday next week, they submit it.”

    Urhoghide said “In as much as we don’t want to make this issue very contentious, I want to submit Mr. President that what the leader of the senate advised based on his argument, the section he read does not apply.

    Saraki stood his ground and said, “I am not referring it to the judiciary and legal Matters committee because of section 83. He has come up with his own interpretation. I am saying that the only best committee here that can advise us on whether an infraction has taken place or not and how do we move forward to address it normally. By Wednesday, they can bring the report back to us.

     

  • Senate sets up special panel to probe invasion of chamber

    The Senate on Tuesday said that it has concluded arrangements to constitute a special investigative panel to probe the April 18 invasion of its chamber by armed thugs.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, announced Senate’s resolve to set up the panel after about three hour Executive Session.

    Saraki was away in the United States of America attending the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring summit when the incident happened.

    He noted that the National Assembly would constitute a joint Senate and House of Representatives committee to investigate the invasion.

    Senate said that the committee would also be charged with the task of coming up with recommendations that would ensure that such security breaches did not reoccur in the Senate or the House.

    Saraki said that they also resolved to direct head of security agencies, including the Inspector General of Police, to articulate ways and means to strengthen security of the National Assembly to prevent occurrences that might be injurious to democracy.

    Saraki said, “The Senate in a closed session, deliberated on issues bothering the workings of the Senate in particular and the National Assembly in general and resolved as follows:

    “The distinguished Senators will like to use this opportunity to thank the chamber staff for their gallantry, courageous actions that they took during the invasion of the Senate chamber on Wednesday, April, 18, 2018.

    “We want to particularly thank two of your colleagues, Chucks and Sandra who had to be admitted and we are happy to see that they are recovering. We wish them speedy recovery.

    “We thank the team of the Sergeant-at-Arms for the work they did not only as individuals but as an institution also for the country.

    “This legislature is a true representation of democracy and as long as we defend this legislature, we defend democracy in this country,

    “We also resolved the need to tighten the security at the National Assembly and I’m calling on all members of the public to please cooperate with us.

    “Clearly, there are some loopholes here and we need to tighten them.

    “A constitution of a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives also resolved to investigate the incidence of the 18th of April, to look at the factors leading to it and to ensure that such never happens again at the National Assembly.

    ”We also directed our committee on Security, Intelligence and Police to engage with the Director of the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Inspector General of Police to look at how to strengthen the security of the National Assembly to ensure that these security lapses will not reoccur.

    The upper chamber adjourned plenary immediately after Saraki’s announcement.

     

  • Senate constitutes panel to probe invasion

    The Senate on Tuesday set up a joint Senate/House of Representatives investigative panel to probe the April 18 invasion of Senate chamber by thugs.

    Senate president, Abubakar Bukola Saraki announced the constitution of the probe panel after about three hour executive session.

    Saraki was out of the country when the Senate chamber was invaded.

    Read Also: Senate invasion: Saraki, Ekweremadu visit injured sergeant-at-arms

  • Why Local Government Autonomy Is Imperative – Saraki

    President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has reiterated his support for local government autonomy in the country.

    Saraki, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, in Abuja, stated this during a visit by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), led by its National President, Comrade Ibrahim Khalil.

    He said that the Senate and the National Assembly appreciate the importance of autonomous governance at the third tier of government and will continue to work towards its realization.

    “Here in the Senate and the National Assembly, we appreciate the importance of governance in the third tier of government — the local government,” Saraki said. “As such, it is very important that we strengthen local government administration.

    “Part of strengthening local government administration is ensuring that there is autonomy. I also believe that strengthening local government administration means that we all do our best to increase the capacity at the local government.

    “Sometimes, you find out that in developed countries, people who are competent, to contest at a level even as high as the Senate, would tell you that they don’t want to be at the Federal level like Abuja or Washington, they prefer to stay at the local level,” he said.

    Saraki told the local government employees that it is also important to see that local governments are properly and independently funded, “however, there must be a symbiotic relationship between the states and the local governments to ensure that the third tier of government is not placed at a disadvantage.”

    “It is unfortunate that you observed that in the last Constitution alteration exercise, we were not successful on this issue. Being a former Governor, the Senate Leader always reminds me that ‘I have seen the light.’ But on a serious note, we all have a role to play to strengthen our local government system.

    “It is important that we see how local governments can be independent, how local governments can have more autonomy, and Governors cannot interfere with what is due to local governments.

    “In all of this, there must still be a cordial and symbiotic relationship. If we just say that local governments should just be on their own, it might have some disadvantages.

    “We must also look at how we can ensure that local governments have funding of their own without any interference,” Saraki stated.

    Read Also: Court dismisses IGP’s suit against Saraki, Senate

    Saraki also noted that following the last Constitutional Review exercise embarked on by the National Assembly, only nine states were in support of local government autonomy, stating that he would do more to ensure that further cooperation and collaboration is achieved to rectify the issue.

    “If we look at the last Constitution review exercise, unfortunately, I must say that we have a lot to do. I don’t think that we got up to nine states that were in support of local government autonomy.

    “I will ensure that we do more to rectify this issue. I am proud to say that my home state, Kwara, was one of those 9 states that supported local government autonomy.

    “It will happen. I assure you, it will happen. We are all in a hurry to see that it happens. The question though, is how soon? I always say that these kinds of things like the Constitutional amendment process, you cannot bully anybody. But you must ensure that there is cooperation and collaboration,” the President of the Senate said.

    Earlier, the National President of NULGE, Ibrahim Khalil lamented that local government administrations in the country have been rendered impotent over the years as a result of undue interference.

    “Our visit is to rekindle efforts and bring all hands on deck to ensure that Local Governments become autonomous in this country,” Khalil said. “We recognize that the leadership of the National Assembly has a critical role to play in ensuring that Local Governments become autonomous in this country.”

  • Saraki names 20 committees sitting on 2018 budget

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Thursday named 20 critical sub-committees of the Senate delaying the passage of the 2018 budget.

    Saraki who spoke on the worrisome development at plenary warned that the committees must not continue to hold the country to ransom by their apparent refusal to submit their budget reports.

    The senate President said that he had no option than to openly name the sub-committees to ensure that the needful was done in the interest of the country.

    He mandated the committees to ensure that their reports were submitted to the Senate Appropriation Committee with failure Friday.

    This revelation is coming more than five months after the 2018 budget was presented to a joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    President Buhari had, on submission of the Appropriation Bill on November 7, 2017, sought the leave of the National Assembly to consider and approve the fiscal document by January 2018 to ensure that the budget ran its full course of 12 calendar months.

    The request was not kept as the National Assembly earlier blamed heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for allegedly refusing to appear before sub-committees to defend their budgetary votes.

    The Senate President named Defence, Army, Air Force, Navy, Industry, FCT, States and Local Governments, Culture and Tourism, Petroleum (Downstream) Petroleum (Upstream) Niger Delta, Sustainable Development Goal. and Primary Health Care & Communicable Diseases, as committee that have not submitted their reports.

    Others are Health, Capital Market, Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, FERMA, Works, Power and Cooperation and Integration committees.

    Saraki concluded: “I am sorry to have chosen this method. I have no alternative than to list these committees so that these chairmen can know that they are holding all of us back. The listed committees have not submitted and they must submit unfailingly tomorrow (today).

    “These 20 committees must ensure that their reports are submitted on Friday. We have a deadline which we have committed to. You can’t hold us back. You must submit unfailingly by Friday.”

    The two chambers of the National Assembly scheduled April 24 to pass the 2018 budget.

    Read Also: 2018 budget will be ready in April – Lawmaker

  • Buhari names 23 NPC commissioners, INEC member

    President Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday named 23 member National Population Commission (NPC) for Senate confirmation.

    He also nominated one additional Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commissioner and two non-legal practitioners as members of the Federal Judicial Service Commission for confirmation.

    The position of the NPC members is said to have been vacant for about three years making it difficult for the board of the commission to form quorum for its meetings.

    President Buhari’s nominations are contained in a letter dated 27th March 2018 entitled “ Request for confirmation of appointment of 23 members for National Population Commission” addressed to the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

    The letter read in part, “In accordance with the provision of Section 154(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), I write to forward to the Senate for confirmation, the following names of 23 nominees representing their respective states at the National Population Commission.”

    Those named included, Nwanne Johnny Nwabuisi (Abia), Dr. Clifford T.O. Zirra (Adamawa), Mr. Chidi Christopher Ezeoke mni(Anambra), Barr. Isah Audu Buratai(Borno), Navy Captain Charles Iyam Ogwa (rtd) (Cross River), Sir Richard Odibo (Delta0, Okereke Darlington Onuabuchi (Ebonyi), Mr. A.D. Olusegun Aiyejina (Edo), Ekike Ezeh(Enugu) and Hon. Abubakar Mohammed Danburam (Gombe).

    Others nominated NPC members include, Prof. Uba S.F Nnabue (Imo), Dr. Abdulmalik Mohammed Durunguwa (Kaduna), Suleiman Ismaila Lawal (Kano), Prof. Jimoh Habibat Isah(Kogi), Dr. Sa’adu Ayinla Alanamu (Kwara), Nasir Isa Kwarra(Nasarawa), Barr. Aliyu Datti(Niger), Yeye(Mrs)  Seyi Adererinokun Olusanya(Ogun), Prince(Dr) Oladiran Garvey Iyantan(Ondo), Senator Mudashiru Oyetunde Hussain (Osun), Mrs. Cecilia Arsun Dapoet (Plateau), Dr.Ipalibo Macdonald Harry (Rivers) and Sale S. Saany (Taraba)

    President Buhari nominated Kaduna State based Barrister Festus Okoye, for confirmation as National Commissioner representing South East geo-political zone.

    He named Senator Abbe Ali (Katsina) North West and Mohammed Sagir (Niger) North Central for confirmation as non-legal practitioners members of the Federal Judicial Service Commission.

    President Buhari solicited expeditious consideration of the requests.

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