The Nation Newspaper

Tag: constitute

  • Buhari to constitute minimum wage committee

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has said President Muhammadu Buhari will soon approve the setting up of a 29-man committee to engage organised Labour in negotiating a new national minimum wage for workers.

    He said the committee’s report will be subjected to the scrutiny of the National Assembly before it can be implemented by the government.

    Organised Labour comprising the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has submitted a N56,000 new national minimum wage request to the government.

    The minister, who addressed reporters in his office after a meeting of the technical committee, said the committee was yet to be set up, adding that the technical committee set up in June 2016 to work out modalities for the review of the palliatives would soon submit its report to the main committee.

    He said in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, it was within the ambit of the National Assembly to amend the minimum wage act, since national minimum wage issues are on the exclusive list.

    According to him, the main committee made up of eight ministers and the Secretary to Government of the Federation, as well as Labour leaders, will adopt or review the report before submitting it to President Buhari, who will approve the composition of the national minimum wage committee.

    Ngige said for the first time in the history of minimum wage negotiation, the Nigeria Governors Forum would be represented by three of their colleagues, while the private sector employers would also be represented.

  • ‘Constitute board to check medical negligence’

    The Federal Government has been  urged to constitute the governing board of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to address medical negligence.

    A Professor of Public Health, Oladele Kale, made this call at the weekend at  the annual faculty lecture organised by Faculty of Public Health, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, with the theme:” Medicine, Law and The Bolam Test”.

    He said: “The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria is a regulatory body that regulates the practice of medicine and dentistry in the country, and if it is not formed there cannot be any activity. If doctors falls foul of the law on me now, there is nobody I can report to because the board is not there.

    “There are many cases of medical negligence that have not been visited by the council because the board has not been constituted. Most times the doctors can find excuses for what they did. For instance, the man that claimed to have discovered cure for HIV, Abalaka’s case is still there pending, and many more.”

    A medical-legal consultant, who was the guest lecturer at the event, Prof Paul Osuhor, said the Bolam test has made it difficult for plaintiffs to successfully make claim against a defendant doctor in cases of medical negligence.

    He added that the success rate by patient is under 40 per cent compared with a much higher percentage in non-medical cases.

  • House orders Suswam to constitute caretaker committee

    Benue State House of Assembly has directed Governor Gabriel Suswam to present before it for confirmation a list of local government caretaker committees within three days.

    It said if the governor failed to comply, it would invoke Section 21, Sub 5 of the Local Government Law, 2012, by reviewing the tenure of the DGSAs.

    However, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Dr. Mathias Byuan, said the House lacks power to order Governor Suswam to constitute a caretaker committee.

    Byuan, in a telephone interview with The Nation, said the appointment was not in the purview of the legislative arm  because the executive controls the finance and should be in a better position to know how much it would pay an appointee.

    Byuan, an associate of Governor Suswam, berated the lawmakers for the ‘incessant arm-twisting’ of the governor.

    He said the governor could not constitute a caretaker committee for local governments two months to the end of his tenure.

    Byuan suggested that instead of a caretaker committee, the money for their emolument should be used to pay  civil servants, who are owed salary arrears.

    The Assembly described the more than three months’  leadership at the third tier as illegal, saying they are not supposed to stay for more than three months.

    It took the decision while ruling on a point of order raised by the member representing Ohimini, Mr. James Ochojila and seconded by Mr. David Iorhemba of Guma Constituency.

    In the order, Ochojila condemned the continuous occupation of the councils by the DGSAs, saying it was illegal and needed to be addressed.

    This is the second time in 14 days that the House moved against Governor Suswam through a motion.

  • Nasarawa Assembly asks Chief Judge to constitute panel

    Nasarawa Assembly asks Chief Judge to constitute panel

    The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has asked the Chief Judge, Justice Suleiman Dikko, to constitute a seven-man panel to probe “alleged gross misconduct” against Governor Tanko Al-Makura.

    The lawmakers took the decision during plenary yesterday, which lasted for about 20 minutes.

    The lawmakers, it was gathered, left Abuja at about 2am, arrived at the Assembly complex at about 5.50am.

    Some of the lawmakers observed their morning prayers (Subh) before heading to the Assembly Complex.

    The Majority Leader, Godiya Akwashiki (PDP- Udege/Loko) moved the motion for the setting up of the probe panel. He was seconded by Mohammed Baba-Ibaku (PDP- Udege -Uloko).

    The Speaker, Musa Ahmed, put the motion to vote and 20 of the 24 members voted in favour; the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers voted against the motion.

    The Assembly, therefore, directed the Clerk, Ego Maikeffi, to communicate the decision to the Chief Judge, saying that he has one week to constitute the panel.

    It was gathered that the APC lawmakers attempted to snatch the mace but were prevented by security operatives.

    But the governor prevailed on the people, some of who had gathered at the Assembly complex, not to attack the lawmakers or take any action which could desecrate the Legislature

    Security was strengthened on the road leading to the Assembly, with armed policemen and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) stationed at strategic areas and within the Assembly.

    The legislature, on July 14, resolved to serve notice of impeachment for “alleged gross misconduct” on the governor.

    The development led to state-wide protests in major towns in the state, causing tension in Lafia, the state capital.

    The Assembly published the notice in the media on July 17, after alleged failed attempts by the Clerk to personally serve the governor with the impeachment notice.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Abdulhamid Kwarra, said Governor Al-Makura was yet to be served with the “purported” impeachment notice.

    He said when he gets the notice, he would respond appropriately.

    A source said: “The governor has assembled a legal team to study the dawn session of the Assembly and the legality of its resolution when he has not been served an impeachment notice.

    “So, the battle is shifting to the court any moment from now as soon as the strike action by judicial workers is called off.

    “What the governor did was to prevail on the people not to take any action to attack the lawmakers or desecrate the Legislature.”

  • PDP NWC to constitute caretaker committee for Kano chapter

    PDP NWC to constitute caretaker committee for Kano chapter

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is to constitute a caretaker committee for the party‘s Kano chapter.

    The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Olisa Metuh, told reporters on yesterday in Abuja that the decision was taken following the expiration of the tenure of the existing executive committee.

    “Because nature abhors vacuum, a caretaker committee will be constituted, pending when a new executive will be inaugurated for Kano PDP,’’ Metuh said.

    He said that Gov. Rabi’u Kwankwaso of Kano State would be involved in the process when the time came.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some PDP stakeholders from Kano had earlier visited the national leadership of the party to intimate it of the expiration of the existing state executive.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the tenure of the state executive, headed by Alhaji Adamu Sumaila, elapsed on Aug.14.

    The agency recalls that Gov. Kwankwaso was among the seven governors that staged a walk out from the party‘s Special National Convention on Aug. 31.

    The governors had since then formed a parallel PDP with an alleged secretariat having the inscription “New Peoples Democratic Party.”

    The secretariat, which the group intended to inaugurate on Sept 7, however, was not possible as security operative condoned off all access roads to the building following an injunction.

    Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the PDP National Chairman, had earlier said that he was fully in charge and threatened to declare the seats of those that joined the purported new PDP vacant.

    Meanwhile, PDP has applauded the sealing off of the alleged new secretariat.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Olisa Metuh, in an earlier statement, said the action was in line with the Abuja High Court injunction of Sept, 6.

    The court had held that the splinter group should not operate or parade themselves as leaders of the PDP until the hearing of the suit before it.

    It affirmed the leadership of the party under the chairmanship of Tukur.

    “By the order of the court, no person is authorised by law to open a secretariat or operate under the name, colour and flag of the PDP other than the one led by Tukur.

    “The sealing off of the secretariat opened by the splinter group, under the name, colour and flag of the PDP, is therefore, in order and in line with the law,” Metuh said.

    Several reconciliatory meetings were however going on to have the seven governors and other aggrieved PDP members to return to its fold.

    NAN gathered that the scrambling for the seat of a new chairman for Kano PDP had commenced in earnest in the state.

    Ghali Na’Abba and Aminu Wali were among those that visited the PDP leadership but it was not known if they expressed interest in the proposed leadership.