The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dogara

  • Imposed National Assembly leadership will fail, says Dogara

    Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, yesterday said that the leadership of the ninth National Assembly should be allowed to emerge from elected parliamentarians.

    Dogara said that any leadership that is forced on the National Assembly will fail.

    The Speaker spoke in Abuja at the ongoing induction of Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect of the ninth National Assembly.

    He noted that a situation where “leadership is forced and literally driven down the throat of elected members had never endured in the National Assembly.”

    He advised Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect to look out for those who have thrown themselves into the race to see who will aggregate their aspirations better.

    The least legislators could afford in the National Assembly, he said, is crisis on account of the leadership selection process.

    Insisting that “I hope we will learn from history”, Dogara noted that leadership imposed on the National Assembly has never worked.

    Dogara said, “Well, I guess that it is not a subject matter you may want just to offer an advice on because we are all parliamentarians those that have been elected, we will be here for four years to serve the people. Leadership is always some thing that emerges from people.

    “Some of us that have been a bit old in the field, we know how that is done. My advice is that we stay calm to understand the people going in for these positions of leadership in the National Assembly.

    “At the end of the day we are praying that we have those leaders who will be able to sustain what we have done in the Eight Assembly or even surpass what we have done. We don’t want leadership that will take us back.

    “We have made a lot of mileage and we hope that we will be able to get the kind of leadership that will build on the achievements of this Assembly which is unparalleled in our legislative history.

    “I will advise members to actually look out for those who have thrown themselves into the race to see who is it that will aggregate their aspirations better and then will be able to surpass the record of this Assembly.

    On the role of party in the emergence of leadership at the National Assembly he said “Well, I’m not here to dictate to parties, the parties have their manifestoes, the way to do their businesses but one thing I have said and if you followed the business during this induction, it is always better to allow the leadership to emerge from the people.

    “Where leadership has been forced upon the people, the history in the National Assembly, and in fact, the history of Nigeria, it has never endured.

    “The least we could afford in the National Assembly is crisis on account of the leadership selection process.

    “So who ever a party is sponsoring and supporting, they should make sure they have the backing of the legislature so that they (legislators) accept it because they own the process and they own the leadership.

    “That way, it will be good but in a situation it is forced, literally driven down the throat, in most cases it doesn’t augur well. Even in the Senate it doesn’t augur well. In the House of Representatives too, it doesn’t augur well too.

    “You are journalists, you should be able to dig into the archive and you will be able to find specific cases.”

    On the sweeping powers of a Nigerian president and the way the president could be disciplined if need be, Dogara noted that unless Section 143 of the Constitution is amended, it is practically impossible to successfully impeach a Nigerian President.

    He said “When people talk about the impeachment of the president, I just laugh because I know with Section 143 of the Constitution, it is not possible to actively activate impeachment of the president.”

    He said that the onus lies on members of the National Assembly to make the parliament strong in the interest of the people.

    Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume in his comment, said that the National Assembly is drifting and has been privatized to some extent.

    He noted that when positions have been zoned, members of the zones should be allowed to choose among themselves.

    Ndume also said that a situation where the presiding officer rules out a member who has contribution to make should be reconsidered.

    Dogara laughed and noted that since Ndume is running for the Senate President, if he gets it he will know where the shoe pinches.

    Dogara said, “If you become the Senate President, you will like to exercise such power because I know you very well. Certain unwritten rules are applied by the presiding officer to stabilize the chamber.

    “If a member raises point of order, the presiding officer may even tell him to approach the chair.”

     

  • Imposed NASS leadership will fail, Dogara declares

    Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Monday said the leadership of the ninth National Assembly should be allowed to emerge from elected parliamentarians.

    Dogara said that any leadership that is forced on the National Assembly will fail.

    The Speaker spoke in Abuja at the ongoing induction of Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect of the ninth National Assembly.

    He noted a situation where “leadership is forced and literally driven down the throat of elected members had never endured in the National Assembly.”

    He advised Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect to look out for those who have thrown themselves into the race to see who will aggregate their aspirations better.

    The least legislators could afford in the National Assembly, he said, is crisis on account of the leadership selection process.

    “I hope we will learn from history,” Dogara noted that leadership imposed on the National Assembly has never worked.

    Dogara said: “Well, I guess that it is not a subject matter you may want just to offer an advice on because we are all parliamentarians those that have been elected, we will be here for four years to serve the people. Leadership is always something that emerges from people.

    “Some of us that have been a bit old in the field, we know how that is done.

    “My advice is that we stay calm to understand the people going in for these positions of leadership in the National Assembly.

    “At the end of the day we are praying that we have those leaders who will be able to sustain what we have done in the Eight Assembly or even surpass what we have done. We don’t want leadership that will take us back.

    Read Also: Speaker: Dogara fingered inplot against Gbajabiamila

    “We have made a lot of mileage and we hope that we will be able to get the kind of leadership that will build on the achievements of this Assembly which is unparalleled in our legislative history.

    “I will advise members to actually look out for those who have thrown themselves into the race to see who is it that will aggregate their aspirations better and then will be able to surpass the record of this Assembly.”

    On the role of party in the emergence of leadership at the National Assembly he said: “Well, I’m not here to dictate to parties, the parties have their manifestoes, the way to do their businesses but one thing I have said and if you followed the business during this induction, it is always better to allow the leadership to emerge from the people.

    “Where leadership has been forced upon the people, the history in the National Assembly, and in fact, the history of Nigeria, it has never endured.

    “The least we could afford in the National Assembly is crisis on account of the leadership selection process.

    “So who ever a party is sponsoring and supporting, they should make sure they have the backing of the legislature so that they (legislators) accept it because they own the process and they own the leadership.

    “That way, it will be good but in a situation it is forced, literally driven down the throat, in most cases it doesn’t augur well.

    “Even in the Senate it doesn’t augur well. In the House of Representatives too, it doesn’t augur well too.

    “You are journalists, you should be able to dig into the archive and you will be able to find specific cases.”

    Senator Ali Ndume said that the National Assembly is drifting and has been privatised to some extents.

    He noted that when positions have been zoned, members of the zones should be allowed to choose among themselves.

    Ndume also said that a situation where the presiding officer rules out a member who has contribution to make should be reconsidered.

    Dogara laughed and noted that since Ndume is running for the Senate President, if he gets it he will know where the shoe pinches.

    Dogara said: “If you become the Senate President, you will like to exercise such power because I know you very well.

    “Certain unwritten rules are applied by the presiding officer to stabilise the chamber.

    “If a member raises point of order, the presiding officer may even tell him to approach the chair.”

  • APC chieftain to Saraki, Dogara: stay off selection of NASS leaders

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena has asked Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara to stay awayfrom the processes leading to the emergence of the leadership of the 9th Assembly.

    Nabena told newsmen in Abuja that the APC has learnt its lessons from the outgoing Assembly when those he described as impostors took over the leadership of the legislature, frustrating efforts of the Buhari government to effect positive change in the country.

    The APC chieftain who is also the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC said the decision of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) on the selection and zoning of principal offices in the incoming 9th National Assembly is supreme and must be respected by the party’s legislative caucus and opposition federal lawmakers.

    He said “The APC has learnt its lesson from the outgoing National Assembly when impostors masquerading as party men sabotaged our party and hijacked our mandate. Affliction shall not rise up the second time.

    Read Also: Saraki, PDP ploting to hijack Ninth National Assembly, Nabena alleges

    “The efforts by the Adams Oshiomhole leadership of the party are commendable in achieving a fair selection and zoning arrangement that appeals to a greater section of the party stakeholders.

    “APC is the overwhelmingly majority party in the National Assembly and has a legitimate right to make its choices on the selection and zoning of principal offices. The APC family is in agreement on the party’s supremacy and the PDP and other opposition parties should focus on their minority positions.”

    He stressed that outgoing Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and the PDP NASS caucus has been moving from pillar to post to frustrate the plan of APC by through a hidden evil plot to interfere in the emergence of incoming National Assembly leaders.

    “We are aware of the scheming by Saraki, Dogara and the PDP caucus to interfere with the emergence of the incoming National Assembly leadership. Their plans are bound to fail as the APC is a strong party with unity of purpose,” Nabena said.

  • BudgIT to Saraki, Dogara: make NASS 2019 budget public

    A civic organisation, BudgIT has asked the leadership of the National Assembly to make details of its 2019 budget open, showing a line-by-line breakdown of allocation.

    The organisation stated that the annual budget of the National Assembly has remained a one-line statutory transfer which is neither reviewed by any authority nor, at the very least, made accessible to the public thus enabling unbridled corruption.

    BudgIT’s Principal Lead, Gabriel Okeowo, in a statement, said  opening the 2019 budget of the lawmakers was the ultimate way the legislature could lead by example in making public accountability a culture in the country.

    According to the statement, it is an irony that the budget of the lawmakers has continued to defile public scrutiny.

    “At this age of digital governance plus global calls for transparency in public institutions, it is a national disrepute that the parliament has refused to eschew anti-democratic practices, as it continues to bury its yearly allocations under the hallowed chambers.

    “That Nigeria’s National Assembly, an arm of government that supposedly upholds accountability, has remained an impregnable black box which defies public scrutiny is an irony of all ironies.

    “Aside from the lawmakers being ranked as world’s top-paid legislators, at public expense, the annual budget of the National Assembly is a one-line statutory transfer which is neither reviewed by any authority nor, at the very least, made accessible to the public thus enabling unbridled corruption.

    “At this age of digital governance plus global calls for transparency in public institutions, it is a national disrepute that the parliament has refused to eschew anti-democratic practices, as it continues to bury its yearly allocations under the hallowed chambers,” the statement read.

    It said more disappointing is the fact that, despite Nigeria’s membership in Open Government Partnership and tons of pledges by Senate President Bukola Saraki to run an “open NASS,” the National Assembly immediately relapsed into its default setting after a breakdown of the budget was made public in 2017 because of public pressure.

    “Asserting that the 2017 record must be made permanent, we are making a renewed demand from the leadership of the eighth assembly to fully redeem its promise. Starting again with the 2019 budget, a line-by-line breakdown of the NASS allocation must be made public going forward.

  • Surrender with honour, Dogara tells Bauchi gov, Abubakar

    Speaker Yakubu Dogara has expressed dissatisfaction over the Bauchi gubernatorial election, which was declared inconclusive on Sunday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Sen. Bala Mohammed was leading his closest rival, Governor Mohammed Abubakar of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    Dogara stated INEC chairman Prof. Mahood Yakubu, an indigene of Bauchi, has a question to answer from the people who he claimed had been deprived of their mandate.

    “I want to say that the Chairman of INEC, who is from Bauchi State, just like all of us has a question to answer.

    ‘’ They say charity begins at home. Will he sit down in Abuja and watch a presiding REC deprive PDP of their mandate.

    ‘’Will he sit down and sleep in peace when he sees that that the position of his own people has been held by agent of the commission over which he superintends?

    “That is the question that Prof.Mahmud Yakubu my name sake will have to answer and the people of Bauchi are watching.

    ‘’We want to see whether he will cast his vote with the people of Bauchi State or those who are seeking to oppress the people of Bauchi State.”

    It would be recalled the collation officer of Tafawa Balewa local government area, Mrs. Dominic Anosike, had earlier said she was forced under duress to announce the result at the collation centre by some political thugs, who she alleged unleashed violence at the centre in Tafawa Balewa.

    The Speaker, while addressing a press conference in Bauchi on Monday together with his PDP counterpart, Sen. Mohammad Bala and other PDP chieftains over the cancelled result of Tafawa Balewa, argued it was thugs belonging to the APC that invaded the collation centre.

    He also urged Gov Abubukar to surrender with honour, saying it will be an unprecedented shame for him who had twice called him a light weight politician to now seek for votes in his constituency in a supplementary election.

    “You have heard him say about twice that I as a speaker, I am a lightweight politician because I represent an area that is my constituency, that the highest votes that come from that area is 70000 and in the last 2015 election.

    ‘’He (Gov Abubukar) won his election with over 300, 000 votes that he doesn’t require a vote from my constituency to be governor.

    “Now I want the media to ask him, will it not amount to any act of unprecedented shamelessness for him to now go to Tafawa Balewa, my constituency, with only 70,000 votes that he doesn’t require to go and campaign for their votes or illegally source for votes from them to make up and be the governor.

    “If there is any honour on his part, having declared he doesn’t need one single vote from there, I think honour demands that he should surrender at this point that he’s lost the election.”

    Mohammed boasted that his party had already won “it is left for the governor to start preparing his handover notes.

    “Even the Presidency has interfered into our election, am not afraid to say it because reliable sources told us the INEC Chairman was called not to act on the election.”

    Meanwhile, the APC while reacting to the allegations during a separate press conference, hailed INEC for declaring the result inconclusive saying that the decision of the commission was legal.

    Chairman of the party Ahmed Uba Nana said: “It is what is supposed to be. If you look at it, a whole local government election cancelled.

    “The margin was nothing to write home about if you compare it with the registered voters, it is clear.”

    The APC chairman accused the PDP of crying foul unnecessarily saying, “If you have somebody who is used to committing an offence, he will run to the police station first to absolve himself.

    “The collaboration officer had Tafawa Balewa alleged that she was put under security threat and that she wrote the result under duress.

    “I want to call on the security agencies to probe it and whosoever is found guilty should face the wrath of the law.”

  • Dogara is a sinking man, says Bauchi gov

    Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar on Tuesday dismissed Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara as a sinking man desperate to hold on to any straw for survival.

    The governor, who spoke to newsmen at the APC National secretariat in Abuja, also cautioned as the nation’s number four citizen, the Speaker cannot afford to be careless in his utterances.

    He said: “Dogara is from a tiny community in Bauchi state and is contesting for one of the 12 House of Representatives seats in Bauchi state and I am contesting for Governor. Even if we will meet, we are going g to meet in that tiny area.

    “I understand where he is coming from. He is a sinking man and so, he is grabbing everything he can hold on to. I am not his opponent in the election.

    Read Also: Dogara, two others formally defect to PDP as House adjourns

    “What people failed to understand is that in 2015, the President did not win election in Dogara’s local government and I did not win election in his local government.

    “But today, Buhari is President of Nigeria and I am governor of Bauchi state. Secondly, people should understand that Dogara represents a total of 80,000 registered voters and I won elections in 2015 with over 300,000 differences. Please do your arithmetic and place it very well.”

    He went on: “Go to the website of the Federal Ministry of Finance, download the total allocation to Bauchi state from June 2015 till date and do a calculation.

    “You will have a total allocation for the entire Bauchi state. It is not up to N400 billion.

    “So, Dogara, as the number four citizen of Nigeria should be careful with his utterances because there is no way the number four citizen can afford to be reckless in whatever he says.

    “I have consulted with my lawyers and I intend to sue Dogara and so, I will not comment much on his claims.

    “I have said that Dogara should be careful in his utterances because he speaks without considering what comes out of his mouth.”

    On the marching order to security agencies to arrest electoral offenders, especially ballot box snatchers by President Muhammadu Buhari, Abubakar said: “Mr. President is the chief security officer of Nigeria. Anybody who snatches a ballot box is a common criminal under the law.

    “Therefore, stopping a criminal is not an act that should be politicized because we keep complaining of lack of free, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria and Mr. President is bent on ensuring that the 2019 elections are free, fair and transparent.

    “So, if it takes stopping criminals to ensure credible elections, so be it. There is nothing wrong about stopping criminal, even you as a citizen as the right under the constitution t9 stop criminals in the act of committing an offense.”

  • Why I left APC, by Dogara

    HOUSE of Representatives Speaker yesterday officially defected to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), saying he had to go back to the party under whose platform he was elected to the House.

    Dogara announced his withdrawal from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a letter he read on the floor yesterday with two others, Edward Pwajok (Plateau) and Ahmed Yerima (Bauchi).

    He said PDP has rebranded with an articulated and clear programme to rescue Nigeria.

    Prior to his formal announcement, Dogara had returned to PDP and secured the House of Representative ticket to represent Bogoro/Das/Tafawa Balewa Federal constituency of Bauchi State.

    Citing injustice meted out to him, Dogara said: “In May 2017, I formally joined the APC consequent upon the crisis that afflicted the PDP, leading to the creation of factions, which negatively affected me.

    Read also: Onnoghen: Discordant tunes persist as NJC sits

    “Subsequent to my defection, the Supreme Court declared that there was no faction in the PDP.

    “The party has since rebranded itself in a credible and transparent manner, it has been conducting its affairs.

    “However, the APC, which I joined, has lost the confidence of my constituents and indeed the people of my state by the undemocratic manner it conducts its affairs.

    “Space will not allow me to table the misgivings of my constituents…

    Accordingly, this is to formally inform you that I have since gone back to the party under whose platform I was elected to the House, and which has articulated a clear programme to rescue Nigeria; that is the PDP.”

    A section of the floor applauded the announcement shouting PDP.

    The House adjourned sitting till after the presidential election on February 19 to allow members participate in the electioneering activities.

  • Dogara, two others formally defect to PDP as House adjourns

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Dogara announced his withdrawal from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a letter he read on the floor on Tuesday.

    Read Also: Dogara calls for caution in prosecution of CJN

    He said he had to defect back to the party on whose platform he originally came to the House.

    The House has adjourned sitting till after the general election, 19th February, 2019.

    Two other APC lawmakers, Edward Pwajok (Plateau) and Ahmed Yerima (Bauchi) also announced their defection.

    Their letters were also read by the Speaker.

  • South-south govs, Dogara, Falana, others kick

    The South-South Governors Forum,House of Representatives Speaker YakubuDogara and Lagos lawyer/ human rights activist,Mr.Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday joined the long list of critics kicking over Friday’s suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

    The South-south Governors Forum described Onnoghen’s suspension as a sad commentary on Nigeria’s democracy while Speaker Dogara  said the action was  a  notice that Nigeria is “now a full-blown dictatorship.”

    For Governor NyesomWike of Rivers State the federal government has, by suspending Onnoghen, hijacked the judiciary for political gains while Falana berated government for allegedly bypassing due process in handling the issue.

    Chairman of the South-south Governors Forum and Bayelsa State Governor,Seriake Dickson, said the action of President Muhammadu Buhari was inimical to the desired stability of the nation and critical institutions of state.

    “It is a very sad day, for our nation’s democracy and for the stability of our nation, and the stability of the critical national institution of which the judiciary is primus inter pares,” he said.

    “We must be concerned about the process, the integrity of the national critical institutions that will safeguard and reinforce our democracy, seeing our democracy has come under very severe stress and test by what has happened today”.

    He stressed that while the courts would make pronouncement on the legality or otherwise on the development around the CJN, he personally found the action condemnable

    “Is this action legal? I am sure the courts are there to make pronouncements on it one way or the other. However I have my views, and clearly I condemn it”, he said,

    He emphasized the need for due process and adherence to constitutional provisions, stressing that countries are governed according to laws and mutual respect among the political class.

    The governor said there must be respect for processes in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies.

    He said: “We should stop demonizing, criminalizing one another, because it takes Nigerians to build Nigeria. We cannot demonize all Nigerians and expect to be a great nation or to be taken seriously anywhere.

    “And I believe essentially that whereas there are serious issues to be dealt with, we are essentially a good and decent people and a great nation potentially.”

    Buhari has hijacked the judiciary for political gains, says Wike.

    The governor of Rivers State branded the suspension  of the CJN as the conclusion of Federal Government’s  hijack of the judiciary.

    Receiving a delegation of the National Executive Committee of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday,Wike said:”This unconstitutional action of the President has several negative ramifications.  A governor who hates his State Chief Judge can concoct a petition and unilaterally remove him.

    “The whole thing is because APC has crisis in Rivers State.  Just because of that,   you destroy the whole institution.  They want another CJN that will upturn everything . These are the type of actions that generate insecurity “, he said.

    He stressed that if the removal of the CJN succeeds, Nigerians should bid credible polls farewell as the Federal Government can unilaterally sack the National Chairman of INEC over any flimsy excuse.

     

    Dogara:It’s a notice that we now have a full blown dictatorship

    House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, in a statement on his official Twitter handle said: “With the unconstitutional suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) by President Muhammadu Buhari, the world has been served notice that Nigeria is now a full-blown dictatorship.

    “We have watched in disbelief as the government recklessly deploys institutional prerogatives; routinely flouts the rule of law; subverts and assaults democratic institutions; refuses to accept opponents as legitimate; suppresses citizens civil liberties(especially those of opponents) and trample underfoot the media. In short, the government’s tyrannical and authoritarian credentials are loathsomely legendary.

    “No provision in Sections 157 and 292 of the 1999 Constitution as amended supports the President in purporting to suspend the CJN or swearing in an acting CJN. The whole idea of a limited government is that the President’s powers is limited by law and it is ultra vires his powers to act in the absence of explicit legislative authorization. That is representative democracy at its best which our 1999 Constitution as amended guarantees.

    “It is instructive to note that our Constitution does not contemplate or presupposes a situation whereby the Judiciary will have a suspended CJN and Acting CJN at the same time. Therefore, it is right to posit, as some have done, that the President now has his own Chief Judge to do his bidding while Nigeria has a sitting CJN until he is removed in line with the provisions of the Constitution.”

    Dogara asked President Buhari to reverse the suspension and follow “the manifestly clear and unambiguous constitutional procedure for the removal of the CJN if he must be removed. Anything short of this demeans all of us.”

     

    Falana: Govt. should withdraw charges against Onnoghen, take due process

    Mr.Femi Falanain his reaction yesterday said: “I have had cause to call on the Attorney-General of the Federation,  Mr. AbubakarMalami(SAN) to withdraw the charge of false declaration of assets filed against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen  at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The call was without prejudice to the merit of the serious allegations levelled against the Chief Justice.

    “In line with decided judicial authorities,I had wanted the National Judicial Council to investigate the allegations. Unfortunately, the 88th statutory meeting of the National Judicial Council scheduled to hold on January 15, 2019, which could have deliberated on the matter and take an informed position, was postponed indefinitely on the directive of the embattled Chief Justice.

    “As the battle shifted to the courts, both the Judiciary and the Executive were shopping for court orders from the Federal High Court, the National Industrial Court, the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. In the process, settled principles of law were sacrificed for the exigency of the moment.

     

     

    “Thus, at the 15th annual GaniFawehinmi lecture which held in Lagos on January 15, 2019, I was compelled to warn against the dangerous trend. Regrettably, the warning fell on deaf ears. “Curiously, in an act of brazen impunity, the Executive procured an ex parte order from the Code of Conduct Tribunal for the immediate suspension of the Chief Justice from office.

    “In his purported compliance with the ex parte order, President MohammaduBuhari has announced the suspension of Justice Onnoghen as the Chief Justice and appointed Justice Tanko Mohammad as the Acting Chief Justice.

     

     

     

    “Notwithstanding the inauguration of Justice Tanko Mohammad as the Acting Chief Justice, the legal profession should not hesitate to review the entire Onnoghen saga in the interest of the nation’s judiciary. In Elelu-Habeeb (2012) 1 WRN,  the Supreme Court held that by virtue of section 292 of the Constitution, the heads of the judicial arms of the state and federal governments in the country cannot be removed without a prior investigation conducted by the NJC. Consequently, the apex court set aside the purported removal of the appellant as the Chief Judge of Kwara State upon an address forwarded to the House of Assembly by former Governor BukolaSaraki. Therefore, the National Judicial Council should convene and constitute a committee to investigate the allegations leveled against the Chief Justice and make appropriate recommendation to the relevant authorities.

    “Meanwhile, the legal team of the Chief Justice should proceed to challenge his suspension from office either at the Code of Conduct Tribunal or the Court of Appeal. Despite the gravity of the allegations levelled against the Chief Justice, the illegality of the suspension should not be allowed to stand. The ex parte order is a suspect document as the motion ex parte on which it was predicated was allegedly filed on January 9, 2019 while the substantive charge against the Chief Justice was filed at the registry of the Code of Conduct Tribunal on January 11, 2019. Furthermore, the counsel who argued the motion is not indicated in the ex parte order. However, in view of President Buhari’s belated fidelity in the rule of law, the federal government should comply with all valid and subsisting orders of competent municipal and regional courts made against the federal government.”

     

     

     

  • NASS members don’t hate Buhari, says Dogara

    House of Represen-tatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, has said that the National Assembly does not hate President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Speaking yesterday at the launch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign in Bununu, Bauchi State, Dogara said the National Assembly was only interested in exercising its independence.

    “None of us hates President Buhari and we are not against him, but we are only exercising our independence as contained in the Constitution,” he said.

    “We are all looking at the plight of our people, especially insurgency, poverty and other vices that have continued to bedevil the masses.

    “You can see what is happening between American president and the legislature, which is normal.”

    Dogara said that Alhaji Abdulkadir Muhammed, the Bauchi State governorship candidate of the PDP, would decentralise the local government system in the state, even without the approval of the Federal Government.