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Tag: Ahmad Lawan

  • Senate president: Buhari, APC leaders pacify Goje

    LEADERS of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have moved fast to nip in the bud any disaffection on Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan’s choice for Senate President.

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday met with one of the leading contenders for the job, Sen. Danjuma Goje.

    Besides, top APC leaders, senators and senators-elect have held series of meetings with Goje to prevent him from being “hijacked” by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    It was learnt that Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima and Lawan’s supporters met another aspirant, Sen. Ali Ndume, to prevail on him to accept Lawan.

    Parliamentary Support Group Chairman Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, who wanted to be Senate president, is backing the President and the APC on the candidature of Lawan.

    The President, APC governors and party leaders have spent the last 24 hours clearing the intrigues surrounding Lawan’s recommendation for the job.

    It was gathered that the President personally coordinated the initiative to keep the party’s caucus in the Senate united ahead of the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly in June.

    Eleven meetings have been held between Tuesday and yesterday to reduce tension among APC senators-elect, The Nation learnt.

    A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “We are getting closer to an amicable resolution of all issues/ grievances on the recommendation of Lawan. There have been meetings in the last 24 hours on the need to respect the wishes of the President and APC.

    “As the leader of the party, the President has been in charge of the initiative. He has had audience with Goje on why Lawan was picked and the need for all stakeholders to work with him.

    “Some APC governors, top leaders of the party and senators-elect have also reached out to Goje. We want to avoid any rancour in the party and reduce tension. We know the PDP is waiting in the wing for any slip but we won’t allow it.

    “We will come out with power-sharing formula in a way that all stakeholders, including Senate presidential aspirants, will be fully integrated.”

    A senator-elect from the Northcentral said: “When some of us met with Goje, he simply said: ‘If that is what the President wants, I will not drag it. As at this stage, I cannot afford any crisis.’ He is so patriotic about it.”

    Regarding Sen. Adamu, a senator-elect from Northcentral said: “The former governor has really keyed into Lawan’s project.”

    Read also: APC: why we picked Lawan for Senate President

    But a rapprochement could not be fostered with Ndume who left Abuja on Tuesday for his Borno State home.

    A senator-elect from the Northwest added: “Sen. Ndume is away; we are expecting him back on Thursday. But Lawan’s strategists have raised a team to meet with him on why the President and APC took the decision on the Senate presidency.

    “In fact, Governor Kashim Shettima has volunteered to discuss with Ndume to allow the choice of Lawan.”

    The APC is battling to keep its members united to avoid a repeat of the situation of 2015 as being allegedly plotted by PDP.

    “We will not allow the opposition to break our rank this time around. It is a global convention that the party that has more members in the parliament will produce the leadership.

    “We have the majority; we will not succumb to the tyranny of the minority this time around,” a source said, adding: “Notwithstanding, we will extend the olive branch to PDP senators-elect. We are also talking to them to come on board.”

  • Buhari, APC chiefs endorse Lawan for Senate President

    Ahmad Lawan is the favourite for Senate President  – courtesy of his “rich legislative experience” and character –  The Nation learnt yesterday.

    President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership and most APC governors have endorsed the Senate Leader after consultations.

    The leaders were said to have considered  Lawan’s “qualifications, prudence, accountability, loyalty and rich legislative experience” which will assist the APC government to have a robust Executive-Legislative relationship to fast-track development.

    Lawan is believed to be a “leader with much focus on accountability”.

    It was also learnt that Buhari preferred Lawan because he repeatedly told senators-elect that he will “like to leave sustainable legacies; to be remembered for something”.

    Buhari, who was emotional at a stage in his speech during a dinner with old and would-be lawmakers on Monday, regretted the frosty relationship between his administration and the leadership of the 8th National Assembly.

    Senators Danjuma Goje and Adamu Abdullahi were calm, but Senator Ali Ndume protested against what he called Lawan’s imposition.

    The search for the President of the Ninth Senate started immediately after the February 23 elections when members of the “kitchen cabinet” sought the opinion of the President on the direction to go.

    It was gathered that the President wasted no time in picking Lawan.

    Besides, every time the governors met with Buhari, his refrain was always “I will be involved in the election of principal officers in the National Assembly this time around”.

    The source said the Kitchen Cabinet members, strategists, governors, national leaders of the party and APC leadership later endorsed Lawan.

    A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The choice of Lawan for the office was not the making of the National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. The President had zeroed in on Lawan since 2015 and he did not mince words in asking the leaders of the party, APC governors and even senators-elect to ‘leave the Senate President for me’.”

    “He spent the past few weeks to consult with some leaders of APC, governors and senators-elect to feel their pulse on Lawan. Having realised his position, some APC governors asked senators-elect from their states to be part of Lawan’s campaign.

    “When Ndume met with one of the leaders of the party, he only said: ‘Whichever direction the President is going, I will follow him. You cannot expect me to work against the interest of the President.’

    Read also: Group to APC leadership: ensure fairness in zoning National Assembly’s positions

    “Security reports on Lawan’s lifestyle revealed a commitment to accountability. He does not indulge in wasteful spending. He fits into the austere focus of Buhari.”

    Security agencies, it was learnt, rated Lawan as a loyal politician, who has been consistent in the last 20 years as a progressive.

    “The dilemma of the President was how to break the news to senators-elect without making it to look like an imposition. Again, he was not too comfortable with the intrigues on the race for Senate presidency. This was why he felt he must address it before going on break,” the source said, adding:

    “Buhari only routed his choice through the National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, to demonstrate deference to party and promote discipline in APC.”

    A source said: “The President actually respected us and named his preferences for President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

    “Oshiomhole’s job was simple. He was only to convey the decision of the leader of the party to our members-elect in the National Assembly. We are trying to avoid what happened in 2015.”

     How the news was broken to senators-elect

    A senator-elect at the dinner in the Villa said: “Sitting beside the President, Oshiomhole spoke passionately and made it clear that all ranking senators-elect are eminently qualified to be the President of the Senate and other principal officers. He eulogised all ranking senators.

    “He had some difficulty in going straight to the point but he explained why it was necessary for the party to be united and have a solid leadership in the National Assembly.

    “After some rigmarole, the National Chairman said the National Working Committee had consulted with the governors elected on the platform of the party and APC leaders and reached a conclusion that Dr. Ahmad Lawan should migrate from being a Senate Leader to the President of the Senate. At the end of the day, we are presenting Lawan for consideration.

    “Oshiomhole assured that the party will ensure a win-win situation for all, especially those aspiring for Senate presidency.”

    Another Senator-elect said: “Only the President and Oshiomhole spoke at the session in the Villa; we were not allowed any input. Lawan is mandated to reconcile with everybody and allow ranking senators to choose the committees they like.”

    Asked how they knew that Buhari endorsed Lawan, a senator-elect from North-Central said: “The President was by his side and his body language suggested the choice of Lawan.

    “Not only that the President in his remarks plainly said: ‘I thank the National Chairman of our party for making a difficult job for me much easier. I hope this will go as expected.’ Nobody needed any other signal from the President.”

    The President was said to have also earned some mileage at the session with some emotional words.

    A Senator from the Northeast said: “The President emotionally told us:  ‘I want to be remembered for something; I want to leave something for Nigerians. I need your support.”

    “Immediately after the President spoke, we all rose to sing the National Anthem.”

    Although the announcement of Lawan by Oshiomhole received much applause, it was shocking to other contestants for Senate president, including Senators Danjuma Goje; Ali Ndume and Abdullahi Adamu.

    A Senator from the Northwest said: “While Goje and Adamu took it in good faith, Ndume immediately protested to the APC governors at the meeting that what Oshiomhole did was unconstitutional.

    “He made his feelings known and he was obviously bitter with the development. What pained  Goje and Adamu  was that they were not consulted. They said they would have loved to be consulted by the President and the party.”

    Lawan has been mandated by the party and most senators-elect to reach out to Goje, Adamu and Ndume.

    A ranking Senator said: “We are working on how to appease all. We said all our leaders should reach out to these respected Senators aspiring to be Senate President and give them some comfort. We believe it is not too late for the President and APC leadership to consult Goje, Adamu and Ndume.

    “For instance, we have some proposals to  make Abdullahi Adamu Senate Leader and retain Goje as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

    “It was also agreed that all ranking senators be allowed  to choose the committees they like.”

  • Senate probes NNPC diversion of $1.05 bn NLNG dividend

    The Senate, on Tuesday, asked its Committee on Gas Resources to investigate alleged diversion of $1.05 dollars by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, last week, told the Senate that the NNPC was using Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) funds to augment under-recoveries in the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

    The NNPC GMD claimed that the landing cost of the product was higher than the government control price of N145 per liter.

    Baru who appeared before the Senate ad-hoc committee set up to investigate alleged $3.5 billion subsidy fund, noted that the fund was sourced from the NLNG dividend funds.

    He said that the decision was taken at the height of last fuel scarcity experienced by the country between December 2017 and January 2018.

    Baru said that the corporation acted in line with a directive from the National Assembly “to do everything necessary to end the scarcity of fuel in the country”.

    Baru noted that the decision was also in line with section 7 (4) (b) of the NNPC Act which mandates it to fund its operations from its revenues.

    The NNPC represents the Federal Government, which holds 49 per cent stake in the NLNG shareholding.

    In a statement on Monday, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said that it was illegal for the NNPC to unilaterally draw from the NLNG dividend funds without appropriation by the National Assembly.

    Saraki said the dividends paid to the federal government from the NLNG business were supposed to be kept in the federation account and shared among the three tiers of government.

    Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Bassey Akpan, Tuesday, raised a point of order at plenary, seeking the permission of the Chamber to carry out a thorough investigation into the withdrawals and spending by the NNPC from the NLNG account.

    Akpan noted that utilizing the funds without appropriation by the National Assembly and without the knowledge of state and local governments was an illegal act that should be investigated.

    He said: “The Senate Committee on Gas has received several calls, complaints and questions from the general public through phone calls, emails on the basis of what has been trending in the newspapers and social media on the unauthorized withdrawal of over $1 billion from the proceeds of the NLNG dividends account by the NNPC.

    “The NLNG dividend account belongs to the three tiers of government and comes under the Consolidated Revenue Account. Therefore, any unauthorized withdrawal from the account without the approval of the National Assembly or any other structure of government is illegal.

    “I therefore, seek the leave of the President of the Senate, to allow the Senate Committee on Gas to investigate this withdrawal and other withdrawals and the way and manner the account of the NLNG proceed is treated by the NNPC and report back to the Senate,

    Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said that the investigation of the 1.05 billion dollar NLNG dividend fund should be left for the ad-hoc committee, which he chairs and is already looking into the matter.

    The 15-member ad-hoc Committee was set up on Oct. 16 to investigate the alleged secret spending of 3.5 billion dollars by the NNPC on fuel subsidy.

    Lawan said, “Mr President, I don’t think at this juncture that the Senate Committee on Gas should go and investigate the utilization of the 1.05 billion dollar from the NLNG dividend fund.

    “We are already doing that. But if the committee on gas is to do this, it means our work is over, because we adjourned, NNPC is presenting all their documents to the committee next week.

    “We are sitting this afternoon with other stakeholders. So, I pernally feel that this will subtract from what we are doing, and I think it will make our work unnecessary.”

    Senator Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central) disagreed with Lawan saying that the matter being investigated by the ad-hoc committee was different from the NLNG fund.

    He said: “The ad-hoc committee was set up specifically to look into the alleged spending of 3.5 billion dollars on fuel subsidy.

    Subsidy issue should not be confused with the issue of the interest that arose from the dividend of the NLNG. So, I believe they are two different issues.

    “So, while the ad-hoc committee is going on with their work to identify what NNPC did with the subsidy, I see nohting wrong for the gas committee to investigate the usage of the dividend arising from the NLNG Ltd,” Paulker said

    Saraki agreed with Akpan and Paulker.

    He said that the Gas committee’s investigation would be restricted to the utilisation of the NLNG dividend fund.

    He noted that the dividend issue was beyond the alleged 3.5 billion subsidy payment and should be separately investigated by the Committee on Gas.

    Saraki said: “Who knows, maybe the dividend is also being used for other things, may be for recurrent expenditure, we don’t even know. I think the ad-hoc committee’s investigation is wide, and Akpan is talking about dividend of NLNG being used for subsidy.

    “Could it be that the fund is also being used for other things as well? I think they are two separate issues.”

  • Senate stands down Electoral Bill consideration

    The Senate on Thursday stood down consideration of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 for third reading and passage, until Tuesday.

    The bill, which was captured on the Order Paper, was stood down at plenary for more legislative work.

    Announcing the development, Leader of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said “in view of the sensitive nature of the bill and its importance, it is vital to give the committee more time to do a thorough job.’’

    Read Also:Akpabio to Saraki: Senate leadership must change

    After his remarks on it, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, put the issue to voice vote and the “`step down’’ was unanimously adopted.

    The bill scaled second reading on Oct. 10, a day after the Red Chamber resumed from recess.

    Ongoing process on the Bill is the fourth attempt by lawmakers to have it ready for assented of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Buhari had on Sept. 3, declined assent to the Bill, which was transmitted to him by the National Assembly on Aug. 3, for the third time.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Ita Enang, in a statement in Abuja, announced the president’s decline of assent to the Bill.

    He had explained that the president declined endorsement of the bill due to some drafting issues and the period fixed for political parties’ primaries, among others.

    In August, Enang had clarified that the bill, which was forwarded to the President on Aug. 3, was “alive and awaiting assent.’’

    The clarification was against the backdrop of media report that Buhari had again vetoed the bill forwarded to him for assent.

    But, Enang explained that the vetoed bill was the one sent to the President on June 27 and not the one passed by the Assembly on July 24, the day the lawmakers commenced their annual recess.

    In February, the president rejected the first Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2018 forwarded to him for assent and gave reasons.

    NAN

     

  • National Assembly’s 2018 budget ‘ll be open, says Senate Leader

    Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan yesterday said the 2018 Budget of the National Assembly would be made public.

    The federal lawmakers’ budget has been shrouded in secrecy over the years.

    But Senator Shehu Sani recently revealed that each senator takes home N13.5 million monthly as running cost, which they retire, in addition to N750, 000 monthly pay and allowance for constituency projects.

    Lawan, briefing reporters on the objectives of the “Open NASS’’ initiative designed to increase public access to the operations of the National Assembly, said:  “Increasingly, governments around the world are promoting initiatives in transparency?

    “Governments that are open and transparent are more accountable to their citizens and are less likely to be corrupt.

    “Openness generates trust in government and also paves the way for meaningful participation by citizens and more informed and better policies.

    “Around the world, an increasing number of parliaments are being more proactive in the provision of information.

    “This has become easier with the proliferation of the internet and access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT).”

    Lawan heads the Special Committee set up to organise “Open Week Event’’ which is scheduled for June 25 to June 29 at the National Assembly Complex.

    He described the initiative as an evolving one, adopted by parliaments all over the world.

    Lawan emphasised that the event would broaden public understanding of legislative functions and processes and engender interactions between legislators and key stakeholders.

    “Series of activities during the `Open Week’ will include interactive sessions with various interest groups and question and answer sessions.

    “It also includes exhibitions and tours, planned over a four-day period to raise awareness on legislative initiative and activities,’’ Lawan said.

    He said that the interactive sessions would feature members of the executive arm of government on the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the judiciary on pre- and post-elections adjudication.

    “Others are constitutional separation of powers, a session with state assemblies and a session with trade unions on economic growth and industrial relations.

    “Also, there will be sessions with traditional rulers and pressure groups, civil society organisations on accountability and service delivery in governance as well as sessions with women, youth, and student bodies.

    “The exercise will feature daily exhibitions for National Assembly committees to display their outputs and interface with stakeholders via cluster units to be created from both chambers for ease of access.

    “The benefits of the Open Week are numerous and have direct bearing on democratic governance in Nigeria.”