The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bayelsa State House of Assembly

  • Bayelsa Assembly passes 2017 budget

    The Bayelsa State House of Assembly on Friday passed the  state’s 2017 Appropriation Bill of N243.2 billion.

    The Speaker of the House, Mr Konbowei Benson, expressed optimism that the funds would be judiciously used to improve the quality of lives of the people.

    A breakdown of the 2017 Appropriation Bill showed that N191 billion was projected as revenue from statutory allocation, N6.9 billion from Value Added Tax and N15.1 billion from independent revenue sources.

    The budget indicated that N8 billion was expected from grants and N21.9 billion from internal loans.

    Personnel costs would gulp N52.3 billion, overhead costs N41.3 billion, while consolidated revenue fund charges N61.4 billion

    Capital expenditure is to get N88.1 billion.

    Benson urged the executive arm of government to ensure proper implementation of the budget.

     

  • Kidnappers free Bayelsa lawmaker’s octogenarian father

    Kidnappers free Bayelsa lawmaker’s octogenarian father

    Abductors of Chief W.G. Watson, the 81-year-old father of a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Chief Alfred Watson, have freed him.

    The lawmaker confirmed in a terse statement in Yenagoa that his father was released in good condition at about 3:00pm, on Thursday.

    However, he did not disclose whether ransom was paid to the hoodlums to secure the freedom of his father.

    Two people linked to the abduction of the octogenarian were arrested and handed over to the police following personal investigations conducted by the lawmaker and some youths.

    The suspects were taken to and detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of the police where they were said to have made useful statements.

    The octogenarian chief of Okpoama Kingdom, was kidnapped on August 5 at about 9.25am by gunmen who operated on a speedboat.

    The octogenarian was said to be conveying the remains of his wife from Okpoama mortuary to Egweama, the deceased maternal home for burial as customs demand, when the gunmen struck.

    The hoodlums fired four gunshots, attacked the boat driver with machetes and stole valuables of persons occupying the casket-bearing speedboat before whisking the old man away to an unknown location.

    The profiles of the two arrested suspects and the evidence against them indicated that the dastardly act was masterminded by persons close to the family.

    The kidnappers earlier demanded N70million ransom but later reduced it to N5.5million with a request that the money should be supported by two gallons of fuel and three bottles of Chelsea gin.

  • Bayelsa Assembly to swear-in three opposition members

    Bayelsa Assembly to swear-in three opposition members

    The Kombowei Benson-led Bayelsa State House of Assembly has bowed to pressure and opted to swear-in three lawmakers elected on the platforms of opposition political parties.

    The Speaker, Benson, has been under attacks from different groups for failing to inaugurate the lawmakers four months after they were declared winners of their constituencies.

    Benson has refused to administer oaths of office on Watson Belemote of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), representing Brass Constituency 2; Gibson Munalayefa of the Labour Party (LP) for Ogbia constituency 2 and Gabriel Ogbara of African Democratic Congress (ADC) for Ogbia constituency 3.

    They were declared winners of their various constituencies four months ago by the Appeal Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    The police, elders in the state under the aegis Bayelsa First Initiative (BFI) including the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation had warned Benson of the consequences of not swearing-in the lawmakers.

    The Governor of the state, Mr. Seriake Dickson, was also accused of being the unseen hand behind the travails of the lawmakers.

    But Dickson denied involvement.

    It was gathered Wednesday that Benson announced on the floor of the House that the members-elect would be sworn in Thursday.

    He reportedly blamed the delay in their inauguration to faulty processes saying the elected lawmakers did not furnish the House with requisite documents on time.

    He said as a law-making body, the House was under obligations to follow laid down procedure in swearing-in members and not to depend on petitions from lawyers.

     

  • Bayelsa Assembly holds public hearing on Child Rights Bill

    The Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Wednesday, held a public hearing on the Child Rights Bill following its age-long efforts to domesticate the Child Rights Act.

    Members of the public converged at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa to make inputs into the bill before its passage to law.

    The one-day public hearing was in partnership with the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the European Union (EU), the United Nation Office on Drugs and crime (UNODC) the Bayelsa State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and the Bayelsa Child Protection Network (CPN).

    Speaking at the occasion, the Chairman, Joint Committee of the House on Judiciary and Justice and General/Social Development, Mr. Bernard Kenebai, described the public hearing as a critical requirement to enable the public scrutinize the bill before its passage.

    He said the Bayelsa state version of the bill had been lying in the floor of the House for quite a while adding that it had gone through many processes of scrutiny including scaling the first and second reading.

    Kenebai said: “The UNO and the AU, on the interest of the child developed the Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC) and Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (CRWC) in November 1989 and July 1990 respectively.

    “The objective purpose of these instruments is to establish a universal template (comprising standards and principles) for the handling of the child base issues.

    “Nigeria domesticated the CRC in 2003 with passage of the bill by the National Assembly and subsequent accent by Mr, President.

    “With issues of child rights being in concurrent legislative list, the baton was handed over to the state house of assembly to do same putting into consideration their localities and peculiarities.”

    He added: “Issues that concern the wellbeing of our children, deals with our foundation, strength and survival as a people; because in our children is our future.

    “As with most things in nature, children who are in their budding state of life are ‘delicate and fragile’; spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally. They therefore require at the protection they can get for viable development and survival to a productive and meaningful adult life.”

    The lawmaker representing Sabgbama Constituency 2 urged the participants to enrich the document with their wisdom, knowledge and wealth of experience.

    In his goodwill message, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Charles Nzuki, said the public hearing represented significant milestone with promises to improve laws, policies to promote and guarantee survival, development and protection of children in the state.

    He said since 2003 when the Child Rights Act was passed at the Federal level, 24 states had since domesticated the bill adding that the public hearing would enhance the domestication process in Bayelsa state.

    “The United Nation Children’s Fund, UNICEF, stands in partnership with the Government and people of Bayelsa state to actualize this goal; not just the letters of the law but in actual implementation of the law when eventually passed,” he said.