The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dogara

  • Reps pass 2017 Budget

    Reps pass 2017 Budget

    The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the N7.441 trillion 2017 Budget.

    President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2017 budget before a joint session of the National Assembly on December 14, 2016.

    However, the 2017 Appropriation Bill presented by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Mustapha Dawaki and passed by the lawmaker, was N143 billion higher than what was presented to the National Assembly by President Buhari.

    The Green Chamber suspended the business of the day and dissolved into the committee of supply for the consideration and passage of budget with its 12 attached clauses.

    There was only one complaint as the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, took members through a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill.

    Members also protested the N84.7 billion Recurrent and Capital budget of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

     

  • Osinbajo, Bukola, Dogara visit Buhari before President’s UK trip

    Osinbajo, Bukola, Dogara visit Buhari before President’s UK trip

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Sunday night visited President Muhammadu Buhari, who is scheduled to leave for London on medical trip.

    The President, who confirmed this development on his twitter handle in Abuja, said he also received the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    President Buhari said: “I received Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara at home this evening ahead of my trip tonight.’’

    Buhari had earlier hosted the 82 Chibok schoolgirls recently released by Boko Haram to a light reception shortly before the arrival of Osinbajo, Bukola and Dogara.

    The President had planned to leave for London on Sunday afternoon but delayed the trip due to the presence of  the Chibok girls who arrived Abuja earlier in the day.

    The President, at the reception, described the girls’ release as a pleasant 2nd anniversary gift to Nigerians.

    The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina, announced had announced on Sunday that Buhari was travelling to London to see  his doctors for a follow up check on his health conditions.

    NAN

     

     

  • Dogara settles patients’ N3.76m bills at ATBTH

    Dogara settles patients’ N3.76m bills at ATBTH

    SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, on Friday spent N3.76 million to settle bills of patients at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi. The bills of N1.26 million for five patients with critical issues were settled while N2.5 million dropped with the hospital’s management to cover the bills of other patients.

    Out of the critical cases, N500, 000 was paid for a cancer patient, N300, 000 for an orthopaedic case, N200, 000 each for a policeman with gunshot injury and an unsettled bill, and N60, 000 for a man with renal problem. Dogara, who made the gesture during a visit to hospital, said he was there to assess the quality of facilities and to assist indigent patients.

    He said that the settlement of the bills was with the assistance of some his colleagues, who had concern for patients in need. “We came to assess the quality of facilities here to see where we can assist. As lawmakers, we appropriate funds for Federal Government agencies and the visit is to identify areas we can assist. “I want to say that with the contribution from some of my colleagues, I will settle the bills of some of the cases we came across”.

    Dogara said that visit to the hospital was part of his tour of projects in his constituency “and to thank the people of the state for their support’’. Receiving the speaker, the acting Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Abubakar Kadas, said that the institution had been facing financial difficulties in providing its services. He commended the Speaker for picking the bills of the patients, and for his continued support to the hospital. Kadas stated that the management of the hospital would continue to count on the House of Representatives for necessary assistance.

    One of the patients, Mr Ismaila Sule, said that he was glad for the Speaker’s visit and intervention. He appealed to other politicians to emulate him. Some members of the National Assembly, including Sen. Suleiman Nazif, Sen. Ali Wakili, Rep. Halliru Jika, Ossy Prestige, Edward Pwajok, Hassan Saleh and Benjamin Iorember accompanied the Speaker on the visit.

  • Dogara settles patients’ bills at Bauchi hospital

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Friday paid the N3.76 million medical bills of patients at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.

    The N1.26 million bills for five patients with critical issues were settled while N2.5 million was dropped with the hospital’s management to cover the bills of other patients.

    For the critical cases, N500, 000 was paid for a cancer patient, N300, 000 for an orthopaedic case, N200, 000 each for a policeman with gunshot injury and an unsettled bill, and N60, 000 for a man with renal problem.

    Dogara, who made the gesture during a visit to hospital, said he was there to assess the quality of facilities and assist indigent patients.

    He said the settlement of the bills was done with the assistance of some his colleagues, who had concern for patients in need.

    The speaker said, “We came to assess the quality of facilities here to see where we can assist. As lawmakers, we appropriate funds for Federal Government agencies and the visit is to identify areas we can assist.

    “I want to say that with the contribution from some of my colleagues, I will settle the bills of some of the cases we came across.”

    Dogara said the visit to the hospital was part of his tour of projects in his constituency “and to thank the people of the state for their support.”

    NAN

     

     

  • Era of using governors for cheap political points over – NGF

    The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on Thursday said the era of using governors as “punching bags’’ to score cheap political points in the country was over.

    The Head, Media and Public Affairs at NGF Secretariat, Mr. Abulrazque Barkindo, stated this in a statement in Abuja.

    He said the governors were signatories to an initiative, Open Governance Partnership (OGP), aimed at improving governance and promote transparency in governance.

    Barkindo decried the “incessant attacks on state governors’’ by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, saying they were heating up the polity and raising concerns.

    He recalled that Dogara recently tackled the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, where he challenged the governor to make public his salary and security votes “to which the governor obliged.”

    “The governor had earlier demanded that the Speaker should come clean on the expenditures of the National Assembly but instead Dogara published N346.57 as his January take-home,’’ he added.

    Barkindo said that it was obvious that the published amount was barely enough to fuel Dogara’s official motorcade for the period.

    He cited another instance where the speaker also attacked the Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Ibrahim, claiming that the state had no developmental projects to show for the governor’s two years of governance.

    He said the governors wondered if Dogara was aware of the giant steps being taken by the current set of governors to improve the quality of governance and by implication the quality of life in Nigeria.

    “Of course, governors are human and can therefore not be adjudged to be all perfect, but the governorship institution is an integral part of this democracy, just as the House of Representatives

    “If the speaker continues in this path of disparaging governors, he may ultimately endanger this same democratic process that brought him national prominence.

    “It may interest the speaker to note that at the last Governors’ Forum meeting of April 17, governors agreed to sign into the Open Governance Partnership (OGP).’’

    “The key indices of the agreement include fiscal transparency, anti-corruption, access to information and citizen engagement,’’ Barkindo added.

    NAN

     

     

  • Recession: Nigeria ’ll soon bounce back, says Dogara

    Recession: Nigeria ’ll soon bounce back, says Dogara

    House or Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara yesterday said there are obvious signs Nigeria will bounce back from recession soon.
    Dogara, who was represented by Jimmy Benson, said activities of the House Tactical Committee on Economic Recession were generating consciousness in the economic sector and relevant government sectors.
    The Speaker, who spoke in Lagos at the opening of a four-day retreat for members of the House Tactical Committee on the Economic Recession, said institutions had taken proactive steps that have cushioned the impact of the economic crisis.
    He explained that the retreat themed: “Proactive Steps to Abate the hardship” being experienced by Nigerians as a result of the current economic recession’ was aimed at gathering information from experts in the economic sector to enable lawmakers proffer solution to exit recession.
    Dogara said the House constituted the committee to monitor steps and policies of the government aimed at pulling the economy out of recession.
    He noted that the committee, inaugurated on Tuesday, February 14, came into being after the House, on Thursday, January 26, considered the motion on economic recession.
    The Speaker said: “The committee has the mandate to interface with government, ministries, agencies and departments as well as Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), civil society organisations and any other relevant bodies considered relevant in the bid to arrest the recession and return the economy to the path of growth and stability.”
    The committee’s chairman, Bode Ayorinde, said the committee had held several meetings and interacted with major stakeholders in government, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ministers of Finance and Budget and Economic Planning as well as Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Customs Service.

  • Political interests may mar 2018 census, says Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has said political interests may mar the proposed 2018 census.
    He urged the people clamouring for the conduct of the census next year to be patient until after the 2019 elections.
    He said this was necessary as there would likely be mounting pressure to manipulate the outcome of the exercise.
    Dogara, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, in Abuja said conducting the census in an election year may generate unrealistic results.
    He advised that the next administration should conduct the census at the beginning of its tenure.
    “This should be done when there isn’t so much at stake.
    “I won’t advise anyone to conduct national census in 2018.
    “If we are not going to achieve it in 2017, then we should just forget it until after 2019.
    “If you conduct census at the niche of elections, there will be so much pressure, crisis and the lure for people to manipulate the figures for political reasons, such that the agency cannot even cope,’’ Dogara said.
    According to him, it is better for a new administration to conduct the exercise from the beginning of its tenure, when there is no election in sight.
    “We may have something that resembles reality, but I can bet it, if the census is conducted in 2018, the outcome will be doubtable.
    “I know who we are and I know the kind of litigations, backlashes and the pressure, but we don’t need all that now.
    “We have many challenges; let us empower the agencies to keep building on the blocks that they will leverage on in future, in order to do the exercise,’’ Dogara said.

  • Dogara, others for conference on child marriage

    Dogara, others for conference on child marriage

    Leading lights in all fields of life will converge on Accra International Conference on April 25 for the African Women Intercultural dialogue.
    The experts will deliberate on negative cultural practices affecting modern African girl-child and woman with a view to overturning them via legislations in the continent. The dialogue will centre on policy, social and educational issues contingent to the sustainable development of the girl child in contemporary realities. It is endorsed by UNESCO Ghana with Mrs. Nkechi Okorocha, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu among the discussants.
    The theme is Negative cultural practices and underdevelopment of the African girl child and woman’ with Ghanaian First Lady Mrs. Rebecca Akuffo Addo expected to chair the dialogue and Speaker Yabuku Dogara overseeing and advising participants on how issues raised can pass legislative process.

  • Reps attack El-Rufai as Dogara unveils his pay

    Reps attack El-Rufai as Dogara unveils his pay

    House to governor: face your problems

    oHw much does a member of the House of Representatives earn?
    Nigerians got a rare insight into the package – for long a well kept secret – yesterday, with House Speaker Yakubu Dogara tendering a copy of his November 2016 pay slip.
    The net pay is N346,577.87, according to the little document.
    The basic salary is N206,425.83. There are constituency allowance (N175,461.96); and recess (N20,642.58).
    A monthly deduction of N55,952 is made for the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax.
    According to the October 2016 payroll, the Speaker is on Grade Leve CO8.

    Pay slip
    The release of the pay slip is in response to Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s challenge to lawmakers to publish their earnings.
    Dogara had told El-Rufai to publish details of his security vote after asking the National Assembly to publish details of its N115 billion 2016 budget.
    The governor responded on Monday. He said his monthly pay is N470,521:74. His security votes for the year is N4.556 billion, spent on CCTV cameras, and drones.
    Other details of the governor’s pay are Income Basic Salary (N185,308.75); Hardship Allowance (N370,617.50); Gross Pay (N555.926.25); PAYE (N85,401.51 deduction.
    The House yesterday advised the governor to face his state’s problems and stop distracting the National Assembly.
    Besides, it faulted El-Rufai’s response, saying he published “the security budget of Kaduna State and not his security vote expenditure as such”.
    Reading from a prepared speech titled: “Mallam Nasir El-Rufai should concentrate on Kaduna State and stop undermining the National Assembly,” to reporters, House Committee on Media and Publicity Affairs, chairman Abdulrasak Namdas said El-Rufai was ignorant of the finances of the National Assembly and that “we decided to respond only to correct some factual inaccuracies and set the records straight”.
    He statement reads as follows: “Nigerians may recall that the Rt. Hon. Speaker on Friday April 7, 2017 in response to calls by Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai disclosed that the leadership of the National Assembly had directed the bureaucracy and all other agencies under the National Assembly to make available details of their annual budgets beginning from 2017 budget which is still under consideration in the parliament.
    “Nigerians may further recall that the Rt. Hon. Speaker requested Kaduna State Governor El-Rufai, who is known for his consistent advocacy for openness in the budget of the National Assembly, to, in the spirit of good governance, transparency and accountability, extend his campaign to other arms and tiers of government, beginning from the Judiciary, to state governments and Local Governments. The Speaker specifically urged Malam El-Rufai who has been championing this cause to impress on his colleagues (governors) to disclose their security votes and also publish what they do with local government funds under their jurisdictions.
    “Thus, the call by the Speaker was for Malam El-rufai to extend his advocacy on transparency and accountability to other arms and tiers of government in order to remove the lid of secrecy that has beclouded expenditures at the state level led by his colleagues, especially on their security votes and not the states’ security budget. We note that what Malam El-Rufai published was the security budget of Kaduna State and not his security vote expenditure as such.
    “We wish to advise the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to concentrate his efforts in Governing Kaduna State and stop undermining and distracting the National Assembly in playing its constitutionally assigned role in nation building. He launched an attack on the National Assembly on Friday, 7th April, 2017 and continued on Monday 10th April 2017.
    “We are aware that there are serious security issues he should be grappling with in Southern Kaduna and other governmental issues facing him. He should not give the impression that he has no challenging work to do in Kaduna State. These attacks are coming on the heels of his now famous letter to Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, where he made strenuous effort to undermine his government by openly lampooning him when he has unhindered access to His Excellency, Mr. President. As a senior citizen, he has a responsibility not to unnecessarily overheat the polity with tendentious and unfounded outbursts.
    “The National Assembly Budget is not opaque. Since 2010 when the Constitution was amended and National Assembly was placed on the first line charge, its budget became part of Statutory Transfers, together with the Judiciary, INEC and others. You cannot find details of the Budget of the Judiciary and INEC in the National Budget. It exists elsewhere. Of course from 1999 to 2010, the details of the National Assembly Budget was (sic) contained in the National Budget.
    “The leadership of the National Assembly has already directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to publish details of the National Assembly Budget from 2017 and so to continue to repeat the same call made three days earlier smacks of propaganda and cheap blackmail.
    “The Kaduna State governor chose to give headings of its budget on security related matters. Maybe he will give further details of actual security expenditures at the appropriate time. He claimed that the state’s accounts have been audited. No grounds have been broken here. The response by the Kaduna State Governor completely missed the point. Mr. Speaker’s call was for El-Rufai to extend the campaign for openness and transparency to other arms of government, including the governors’ expenditures on security votes and local government funds. He merely doubled down on his campaign on National Assembly Budget, leaving out the other aspects of Mr. Speaker’s request.
    “The Kaduna State governor claimed that ‘in 2016, the National Assembly budget for its 469 members was larger than the entire budget of several Nigerian states’.
    “This statement is patently misleading and a terrible display of ignorance and falsehood or a deliberate attempt to blackmail the parliament. For the avoidance of doubt, the National Assembly budget includes the salaries, allowances, expenditure and running cost of 469 members. It includes the salaries, allowances of about 3,000 legislative aides; it includes the salaries, allowances, equipment and maintenance of about 5000 staff in the bureaucracy of the National Assembly.
    “The National Assembly has agencies too. The National Assembly Service Commission has a staff strength of about 500. The National Institute for Legislative Studies is also a parastatal of the National Assembly that serves as a legislative think-tank and a highly rated academic institution, which serves not only the National Assembly but also State Houses of Assembly and the international community. It is currently building its headquarters, which is world class. It has to be funded. El-Rufai’s mischievous publication carefully ignores the fact that the Bureaucracy of National Assembly and its agencies and 469 members need travel and transport support. They require medical attention, offices, equipment and all the support available to others in the public service.
    “El-Rufai conveniently forgot that the National Assembly has buildings to build and maintain. He discountenanced the need for training and re-training of staff and even capacity building for members. The narrative is such that he excludes the need for National Assembly members and bureaucracy to attend conferences both local and foreign. Some of the most critical work the National Assembly does is Oversight. It costs a lot of money to conduct proper oversight of executive agencies to save money and ensure governmental efficiency for the Nigerian people. Public Hearings by the National Assembly and its Committees have become a regular feature of our democracy, because citizen engagement and consultation is cardinal for running a democratic government. It costs a lot of money.
    “It is most uncharitable to ignore the fact that the National Assembly is an arm of government, not a department in the Executive branch. The Budget of so many agencies in the Executive is higher than that of National Assembly, an arm of government. Such agencies as NCC – N102billion, CBN – N421billion, NPA – N250billion, NIMASA – N100billion, FIRS – N146billion, Customs – N81billion and NNPC whose budget runs into trillions are some examples. Indeed, the National Assembly Budget is about 2% of the National Budget.
    “Yes, the National Assembly has voluntarily agreed to publish its Budget from 2017, as a responsible and accountable democratic institution. What happens to 98% of the National Budget should engage our attention too. We are sure that if 10% of the public scrutiny National Assembly receives is also devoted to those spending the other 98%, Nigeria would be better for it.
    “I am directed by the Hon. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, to also in the spirit of transparency release his pay slip for the past six months from October 2016 to March 2017, for your information.”

  • Dogara worried about $40.266b revenue loss in oil industry

    Dogara worried about $40.266b revenue loss in oil industry

    •House panel: govt agencies scuttling $17b stolen crude, gas exports probe

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara said yesterday the $40.266 billion and N196.3 billion revenue loss in the Nigeria’s oil and gas industry in the past few years was worrisome.
    Dogara spoke at the opening of a four-day investigative hearing by the Abdulrasak Namdas-led ad hoc committee on $17 billion stolen from undeclared crude oil and liquefied natural gas exports to global destinations.
    He said the House would leave no stone unturned in its effort to tackle corruption in the oil and gas sector.
    The Speaker catalogued the revenue losses as including an audit that over $4.4 billion involving the national oil conglomerate “was trapped somewhere” and Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) audit report, “which revealed that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation failed to remit $12.9 billion revenue accrued from Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company since 2009 into the Federation Account”.
    He said others were $5.966 billion and N20.4 billion revenue allegedly lost to offshore processing agreement, crude theft and the notorious crude oil swaps, N175.9 billion disparity lost during the subsidy claims in the NEITI report as well as the $17 billion stolen from undeclared crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas exports to global destinations.
    His words: “As you are well aware, today’s public hearing is one in the series of investigative hearings by the House of Representatives on the looting of the nation’s wealth in the oil and gas industry, which runs into billions of dollars. The emphasis and the interest, which the parliament has shown in investigating the sector is not a coincident but a deliberate effort to cleanse the industry of rot that has epitomised its existence over the years.
    “The incidence of money missing in the industry has become a recurring decimal to the point that news items in the national dailies are incomplete without reports on one fraudulent activity or the other in the subsector, which incidentally is the mainstay of the economy.
    “Hence, the reporting of the media on the ills of the industry clearly attests to the concern of Nigerians on the need to tackle the problem headlong.”
    Namdas was not happy that most of the agencies invited yesterday failed to attend the hearing.
    Those invited that did not appear include: the NNPC, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Navy (NN), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
    Others are the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Accountant General of the Federation, NEITI, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
    He said: “The government is fighting corruption. It’s very serious business. We have put it as part of our legislative agenda to actually support this government to fight corruption and we expect government agencies to also compliment by doing the needful.
    “The government is in Abuja. It’s not in Lagos. The heads of agencies are in Abuja and this is a serious matter… We’re talking about $17 billion, stolen and diverted. And the people who are responsible for this, just to come and give clarification and they’re sending people. We’re not going to take it.”
    Namdas said even the few representatives of agencies that attended such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Petroleum Development Corporation, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), had no letters of authority showing they were truly representing their managing directors/ chief executive officers and hence may not be able to answer the question of the committee authoritatively and satisfactorily.
    The lawmaker said over 57 million barrels of Nigeria’s crude oil were illegally exported and sold in the USA between January 2011 and December 2014.
    “The estimated revenue loss by the government of Nigeria is around $12,722,600,327. At an exchange rate of N196/$1, this translates to over N2trillion; you can imagine what the value is now.
    He insisted that all the heads of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) invited must be present at the continuation of the investigation today.