Tag: Dogara
-
Saraki, Dogara off to London to see Buhari
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara have reportedly travelled to London to see President Muhammadu Buhari.
A very reliable source confirmed that the two principal officers of the National Assembly travelled on Wednesday to meet with Buhari who is on extended vacation for medical reasons.
After the initial ten-day vacation President Buhari earlier requested for which was to end on February 6, he wrote the Senate on the eve of resumption that he will be staying back in London to complete some required tests.
The President did not indicate when he will return to the country.
Former Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande and leader of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu recently visited President Buhari in London.
When contacted, Special Adviser on Media to Senate President, Yusuph Olaniyonu declined to speak on the matter. He said ” I don’t know about that. I dont have any information on it”
More details soon.
-
Dogara trains constituents
I am a farmer and also a marketer of farm produce,” said Musa Ahmad from Tafawa Balewa Local Government of Bauchi state. “I have come here and have acquired knowledge in the crops I produce. When my father told me about it, I was very happy and willing to be here.”
Ahmad was one of those who held tightly to their starter packs, their faces betraying their joy.
They have just graduated from the Federal College of Horticulture (FCH) at Dadinkowa in Gombe State. They were youths and women who graduated from the Yakubu Dogara’s Zonal Intervention Project for Women and Youths in Agricultural Products and Practices organised as part of his constituency project and coordinated by the college.
Madaki Garyalang, a farmer from Bogoro Local Government, said they were taught fish farming, poultry, and animal fattening. He said he preferred cow fattening, adding that the training opened his eyes to new ideas.
Lami Ibrahim and Mayo Shuaibu, both from Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State found the skills useful and interesting. Though a crash programme, they were able to grasp the preparation of sesame seed tea and hope to start from there.
Their illiteracy notwithstanding, they said they would give the manuals to their educated children to put them through on other ventures and the children in the process could also learn something from the book that they may live on for the rest of their lives.
Hon Aminu Tukur, who represented Dogara at the event, said the programme was informed by the need to make the people see the latent value in what they often overlook and turn them into wealth.
“We are products of our parents who have been in agriculture. So it is essential that if you want to put in something into our youths, the best approach is to go into agricultural kind of endeavour simply because of the fact that they have that orientation from the word go.
“The land is there, it is just a matter of additional skill, inputs and improving their capacity. Besides, it is obvious that agriculture is the real deal in the country and people have realised that if you want to grow, grow in agriculture,” said Tukur
He said the FCH programme was one of the series of programmes being embarked simultaneously upon by the Speaker in other places, assuring the constituents that the efforts would be sustained, participants would be graduating even as one of those programmes within a fortnight interval from this.
In her remarks, Provost of the College, Professor Fatima B. J. Sawa said the training programme was initially packaged for 750 beneficiaries who would undergo a weeklong training in two batches of 375 apiece.
-
What Buhari told us on phone, by Saraki, Dogara
Nigerians got more assurances yesterday that all is well with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The President spoke with Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday night.
Yesterday, the President received two leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) – Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande – in London .
The Presidency gave the first hint of the meeting, using @NGRPresident official Twitter handle.
It posted a photograph of the President and his guests sitting down.
It said the meeting was holding at the Nigerian government’s official residence in London.
“President @MBuhari currently receiving party leaders, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande, in Abuja House, London,” it said.
About 30 minutes later, the handle posted another picture with the President apparently seeing off his guests. The tweet says: ‘the president and his guests just finished meeting.’
At 11.35pm on Wednesday, Saraki tweeted: “Happy to have spoken with @NGRPresident @MBuhari tonight. He was in good spirits and joked about my working late into the night, as usual.”
Speaker Dogara, in a series of tweets, said: “@Mbuhari called me yesterday (Wednesday) evening. He talked about what the Executive/Legislature must do to ensure food security for all Nigerians.
“He said he was pained by the suffering endured by most Nigerians last year and he’s resolved not to let events of 2016 repeat themselves
“He also asked me to extend his best wishes to all Hon. Members.”
The Speaker’s spokesman, Turaki Hassan, confirmed that the president spoke to his boss. “They discussed many national issues including ways of ensuring food security for Nigerians,” he said.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the apex Islamic body, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), called for prayers for the President, who is undergoing some medical tests while on vacation.
In a statement, CAN Director of Legal and Public Affairs Evangelist Kwamkur Samuel, advised Nigerians to pray for Buhari instead of dwelling on the needless rumour mongering that he had passed on.
The statement said: “The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is deeply concerned about the ongoing national conversation on the absence of the President due to ill-health. We wish to call on all Nigerians to join hands in prayers for the quick and full recovery of Mr. President and his safe return to Nigeria instead of dwelling on the needless rumour mongering on the President’s health.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is human, hence subject to health challenges sometimes. CAN appreciates the anxiety of Nigerians to hear Mr. President speak, but sues for understanding as we await that. It is very clear that our leader is passing through health challenges.
“We advise the Presidency to update Nigerians on how he is fairing and the full progress of his recovery.
“We call on all Christians and indeed all God-fearing Nigerians to dedicate time of prayers for our President and the nation. We owe our leaders prayers and support at all times while shunning divisive opinions that only generate strive.
“CAN also calls on Nigerians to give the Vice President who is also the Acting President full support and prayers to lead well.
“We acknowledge that government is a continuum, hence, we call on Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to be bold in handling critical state matters and not to be distracted by those who do not wish Nigeria well.”
The JNI directed that all Juma’at prayers across the country today be dedicated to the president’s quick recovery and safe return to Nigeria.
The JNI, in a statement by its Secretary-general, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, said the Islamic body was disturbed by the rumours on Buhari’s health, adding that after all, as with every mortal, illness is inevitable, likewise life and death.
“JNI is very concerned about the pandemonium generated as a result of the rumored illness of the President and the dimension it is unfortunately taking. Does that mean, he can no longer get ill?
“Agreed that reports from the Presidency stated that President Muhammadu Buhari is currently undergoing cycle of tests as recommended by his doctors, hence the extension of his leave. We must, as patriots, be cautioned on spreading inaccurate information. More so, Muslims should be cautioned not to join the bandwagon of rumour mongers. This is so because already some unpatriotic elements are wishing that the President is dead. Interestingly, those who wish him dead will certainly not live till eternity. Aren’t we supposed to wish each other good well being? Let alone the President of the country?
“Therefore, following the unnecessary excitement in the President’s delayed return to Nigeria, we implore all and sundry, particularly the Muslims, to persistently supplicate on daily basis for President Muhammadu Buhari’s safe return, restoration of good health and the ability to continue with the task of piloting Nigeria to greater heights with his team.
“In the same vein, we are all implored to fervently pray for the nation, the vice president, governors and all those in positions of authority for Allah’s guidance in the discharge of their respective duties.
“We therefore call on allJumu’ah Imams to include the matter in their respective Friday sermons tomorrow and beyond. Because in prayers we find consolation,” JNI said.
-
Buhari, Dogara speak on phone
President Muhammadu Buhari has spoken with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, from United Kingdom where he is on vacation.
A statement issued by the Speaker’s media aide, Turaki Hassan, said President Buhari called Dogara at 9:20 p.m. on Wednesday evening, adding that the two leaders spoke for little over five minutes.
“Although the President and the Speaker discussed other national issues, much of it centred on how the Executive and the Legislature can work together to ensure food security for Nigerians and prevent a relapse into events of 2016.
“As the Rt. Hon. Speaker twitted via his official twitter handle @YakubDogara, Mr. President called him at around 9:20 p.m. on Wednesday evening and they spoke for about five minutes.
“They discussed some national issues including ways of ensuring food security for Nigerians.”
-
Saraki, Dogara query N2.7tr spent on power sector without result
Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara have queried the N2.74 trillion spent on power sector between 1999 and 2015, lamenting that its services depreciated in spite of the deployed funds.
They spoke yesterday at a two-day stakeholders’ “Interactive Dialogue/Workshop on the Nigerian Power Sector” organised by the National Assembly in Abuja.
Dogara said the challenges faced by the sector called for concerted efforts by stakeholders in addressing them.
“Perhaps the most important question is what happened to the N2.74 trillion spent on the sector from 1999-2015. Why is it that the more we spent on the power sector, the more darkness we attract,” he queried.
The Speaker said the workshop was organised with the aim of changing the epileptic power supply situation through a holistic diagnosis of the challenges.
“It is important we solve the challenges impeding the development of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and proffer practical solutions.
“These challenges run across the entire power value chain of Generation, Transmission and Distribution.
“The myriad issues are apparently exacerbated by inadequate funding, poor energy mix, fuel supply issues, flawed regulatory framework and commercial issues, among others.
“There is, therefore, a need for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to address these myriad problems,” he said.
Dogara urged the participants to find solutions that would lead to the repositioning of the power sector for effective service delivery.
Speaker queried why power generation remained within 5000 megawatts in the last 56 years.
“Why have various policies by successive governments failed? Why has the transmission infrastructure remained inadequate in wheeling the available power? How can the Federal Government rapidly expand the transmission infrastructure?
“Why are electric meters not available to most consumers, thereby leading to contentious estimated billing?” he said.
Saraki noted that the problems facing power sector were made as a result of fraudulent tendency and ignorance.
He, therefore, said sacrifices should be made to address the issues, decrying that during privatisation of the sector, licences and others incentives were sold to people who had no knowledge of the business.
“We must be blunt and we must accept mistakes, sacrifices must be made; some of the problems are fraudulently, ignorantly and intentionally made.”
Minister of Works, Power and Housing Babatunde Fashola said electricity was not cheap, calling for commiserate tariff to be put into consideration.
He appealed to the National Assembly leadership to enact laws that would give stiffer punishment to those tampering with power installations, especially in the area of vandalism.
Fashola said about 3,000 megawatts of power had been de-commissioned as a result of vandalism.
“The bills that are sent to National Assembly should be given appropriate attention so that they can be made into law.
“There should be amendment of laws to ensure that there are stiffer punishments meted out to those who tempered with power,’’ he said.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe stated that the problems in power supply had remained, even with efforts of successive governments.
According to him, there is capacity, but no power.
In his keynote address, Chairman of Heirs Holding Tony Elumelu said: “We must fix power to fix Nigeria. If we do not fix power, every other thing remains an illusion.”
He explained that there would be challenges the nation might face if the power sector was not fixed.
Elumelu insisted that stakeholders, including the judiciary, the private sector and power regulators, must play a role to address the issue of power.
He advised leaders to stop the blame-game, adding that knowledgeable people should be put in the power sector and not using quota system.
“Let’s look for Nigerians who have track records.”
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, represented by the Managing Director, Niger Delta Holding, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo, said the Federal Government was working to improve the power sector. -
Saraki, Dogara queries N2.7tr power sector spending without result
The leadership of the National Assembly on Tuesday decried the country’s dilapidated power sector infrastructure despite government’s huge investment in the industry since 1999.
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki , blamed the prevailing power supply crises in the country on failure of successive governments to properly address the rot in the sector.
He also faulted the government’s decision to sell power generation and distribution companies to persons that lacked the technical and financial capacities to run the sector.
“Wherever we go in the world, the failure is on all of us, whether we are in the private sector or those of us in the public sector.
“We must be prepared to put Nigeria first and the government itself must be sincere with every decision that they have to take,” the Senate president said.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, regretted that Nigerians have not been positively impacted with the over N2.7 trillion invested in the power sector in the last 16 years.
Arguing that huge investment had only bought darkness to Nigeria, Dogara said it has become imperative for Nigerians to put more pressure on the Federal Government and other stakeholders for realistic steps to revamp the electricity industry.
Saraki and Dogara spoke at a two-day stakeholders’ dialogue on “Nigerian Power Challenge: A Legislative Intervention.”
The Speaker said, “Perhaps, the most important question is what happened to the N2.74 trillion spent on the sector from 1999-2015?
“Why is it that the more we spend on the power sector, the more darkness we attract?
“Why are most of the companies licensed by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission not able to start their projects?”
However, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said there is no going back on the power sector privatisation policy.
He said the solution was to strengthen the privatisation policy by putting the right structures in place to encourage investors.
-
House determined to fight corruption, says Dogara
The nation is determined to fight corruption, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, said yesterday.
He described the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as the frontline agency fighting corruption.
According to him, the December timeline set for the completion of the EFCC headquarters of would be met.
Dogara spoke during an inspection visit to the EFCC headquarters under construction.
He said: “The president in his inaugural address said he would kill corruption before corruption kills us in Nigeria.
“The only frontline agency that is charged with the responsibility of combating corruption is the EFCC.
” It is only proper that when citizens of other countries and even Nigerians come to where EFCC operates, to see clearly that the environment under which they operate speak to the fact that as a nation, we are more than determined to confront this cancer called corruption.”.
Dogara said the House would ensure that the timeline set for the completion of the Head office of the EFCC is met by December.
He added: “Our conviction is that where the EFCC currently operates does not give the good impression to first time visitors in Nigeria or people who come to Nigeria to interface with the agency as it is said that first impression counts a lot.
“I will be the happiest person to see that the EFCC resumes operation in the new building by December.
“It is necessary to complete the project in order to provide conducive environment for the Commission and also to show that government was fully ready to eradicate corruption in Nigeria.
“I am satisfied and motivated. As a parliamentarian it is my joy to see this project completed as soon as possible’’.
The Managing Director, Julius Berger Construction Company, Wolfgang Goetsch, observed that the major challenge affecting the pace of work was funding.
“If funds are consistently made available, the project will be completed by December,” he said.
The Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, thanked the Speaker for the visit and promised to “leave no stone unturned in cleansing Nigeria of corruption.”
With Dogara were Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Mustafa Bala Dawaki and Chairman, House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Mr. Kayode Oladele. -
Dogara and local government autonomy
SIR: The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Yakubu Dogara is championing a worthy but difficult cause- amendment of the 1999 constitution to grant political and financial autonomy to the 774 local governments in Nigeria.
Dogara and his colleagues’ efforts are coming at the right time because the local government system in Nigeria is not working. The reason is mainly due to state governments’ overwhelming control of this third tier of government through the operation of the unpopular joint accounts, bribery, extortion, embezzlement, graft, nepotism and political patronage prevalent in the system.
The founders of the Nigerian local government system and the crafters of the Nigerian constitution envisaged a local government system that will bring development along the local people’s culture and expectations. But sadly, the system is today a true reflection of the decay in the Nigeria state. It has been forgotten in Nigeria’s development equation- Nigerians put more expectations and emphases on the President and the governors, rather than the local authorities.
Dogara was quoted to have said that the ongoing constitution alteration is the only way to guarantee development at the grassroots. However, the fourth schedule of the 1999 Nigerian constitution coupled with some important judgments made by the Supreme Court on issues affecting the local government system are good enough to strengthen the local government system.
The fourth schedule of the Nigerian constitution has clearly spelt out the functions of a local government council, but they have been abused and neglected. Imagine the local councils performing some of their functions as stated in the Nigerian constitution, for example: provision of some basic services.
Dogara has heard the cry of the people to grant local government councils political and financial independence. This will checkmate governors’ abuse of local government authorities and bring sanity to the administration of local government councils.
The local government system has failed not only because of corruption, but also because of the negligence of the public and civil society organisations. A saying goes thus: ‘The less involved we are in our local community politics, the less aware we are of corruption in the system.’ Instead of serving as channels through which development and government’s policies impact on the local people, as well as serve as a political training centre to afford future leaders opportunity to learn the art of good governance, the system has been transformed into breeding ground for bad leaders.
Dogara and his colleagues’ determination to grant the local government system financial and administrative autonomy will reinvigorate it. Most importantly, the elimination of the joint accounts will bring relief to the councils and enhance their capacity to perform. It will also reduce the burden of public expectation on governors and make local councils to be responsive to their constitutional duties.
Due to the operation of joint accounts, most local councils in Nigeria cannot pay salaries. And when they are able to, what is left is always too small to spend on development and it ends up in some officials’ personal pockets. Though, the idea behind the joint account was to eliminate corruption in the local governments, it has eventually turned out to be counter-productive to the local government system.
So many Nigerians are delighted with this landmark initiative from Dogara and his colleagues to grant full autonomy to the local council. Nonetheless, while granting autonomy to local councils is laudable, there are other variables that are pertinent if the local government councils must be effective. These include, having responsible people vie for local council positions; better attention from the public and NGOs; holding the local authorities to a set of standards based on their respective cultures. With these, among others, the local government system will start working.
- Zayyad I. Muhammad,
Jimeta, Adamawa State.
-
Dogara, Kalu hail Buhari over ’s exit
House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara yesterday commended President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for their role in averting a major political crisis in The Gambia.
In a statement, Special Adviser on Media & Public Affairs Turaki Hassan said Dogara hailed said President Buhari and his colleagues.
”The leaders have demonstrated their readiness and strong resolve to defend democracy on the continent.”
Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu described as commendable “the timely intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and other African leaders”, which he described as “worth emulating”. “The era of undemocratic and uncivilized acts in Africa is over,” he said.
The former governor, who spoke yesterday at his Abuja residence while hosting a cross-section of Gambian investors led by Mr. Edrissa Jobe, said: ”At a time countries all over the world are committed to the rule of law, Africa cannot be left out in this noble cause.
“The selfish ambition of an individual should not be allowed to draw a country backward.”