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Tag: Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila

  • Appoint our constituent commissioner, youths urge Sanwo-Olu

    Concerned youths of Surulere Constituency 2 have urged the leadership of the Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) to consider the constituency in the appointment of commissioners and special advisers.

    The youth Leader, Mr. Adeyemi Akanni, said the emergence of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker of the House of Representatives was a testimony that Surulere Constituency impacted a lot in the polity.

    He thanked the National Leader of the party Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing direction for the party, noting that Surulere turned out en masse to vote in the last election.

    He said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu should complement the efforts of Surulere Constituency by appointing commissioners from the area.

    He said: “The emergence of Hon Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker of House of Representatives is a plus to Surulere Constituency, Lagos State, Southwest and Nigeria in general.

    “Surulere Constituency 2 deserves commissioners that will bring the impact of our amiable governor to us. Instead of running to Speaker, we will have recourse to contact the commissioner from the constituency.

    “We deserve better place in the cabinet so as to feel the impact of governance of our great party. We are not asking for too much and we know we are speaking the mind of the entire youth of our party in Surulere.”

    Akanni said the constituency parades loyal party men among who is Hon. Akeem Bamgbala whose dedication to the betterment of the party is tremendous.

    He stressed that Surulere youths would continue to support the party and Sanwo-Olu in his determination to ensure Lagos remains the barometer for the measurement of good governance in the county.

    “We want the party and governor to look toward men of reputable character for appointment. We want people that have served the party with determination both at the local government and state levels. We see Hon Akeem Bamgbala in this light and our choice for appointment in Surulere Constituency 2”, he said.

  • 9th Assembly: Can Lawan, Gbajabiamila deliver ‘change’?

    Following the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports that Nigerians have some specific expectations the new leadership of both the Red and Green chambers must strive hard to fulfil

    Following their emergence as the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively, the duo of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, according to many observers of the National Assembly, now have the task of convincing Nigerians that they are men of their words. This is because many Nigerians are waiting to see how they will deliver on their promises to give the nation a better National Assembly.

    While campaigning for their current positions during the hard-fought processes that produced the new leaderships of the upper and lower chambers of the federal parliament, both Lawan and Gbajabiamila identified areas needing changes in the businesses of the legislature, promising to introduce new ways of doing things that will better the lot of legislators and also improve the quality of legislation in both the senate and the House of Representatives.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, while congratulating the newly elected National Assembly leaders, President Muhammadu Buhari also challenged the duo to offer new approaches in the running of the legislative chambers. Coming just short of telling them to do much better than the leadership of the 8th Assembly, the President harped on the need for more patriotism and non-partisanship in the discharge of their duties.

    Buhari described the emergence of the new leaders of the legislative branch of government as “a new dawn, different from duplicity and perfidy of the immediate past.”` He then charged the Senate President and Speaker to use their exalted positions for the higher interest of the country, her people, and for the growth of democracy.

    “The Executive does not desire a rubber stamp legislature. While separation of power is essential, collaboration among all arms of government should be the name of the game. Opposition needs not be virulent. Stepping into the Next Level, the legislature has a big role to play for the goals of the administration to be achieved. This is for the ultimate good of the nation,” President Buhari said, signaling the high expectation of the people from the new leaders.

    THE PROMISES

    If the promises made by the new Senate President and Speaker are some things to go by, it appears they are equally prepared to bring about some of the changes Nigerians seek. While gunning for the offices they now occupy, both Lawan and Gbajabiamila examined the National Assembly and identified areas needing change, and promised to be the change themselves if elected to lead the two chambers by their colleagues as Senate  President and Speaker respectively.

    “We need a National Assembly that will look at Nigeria as its constituency. We want a Senate and a National Assembly that will maintain cordiality, synergy and cooperation with other arms of government. The welfare of Nigerians should not be compromised, stressing that jobs and wealth should not be concentrated in a few hands. You can’t sleep with two eyes closed, if the wealth does not go round, if there is poverty, if the children of the poor cannot go to school,” Lawan said back then.

    Promising that the relationship among the three arms of government would be characterised by cooperation, collaboration, partnership and synergy under his watch if elected, Lawan stressed: “We may disagree. Our perspective may differ. We don’t go to the market square to settle our differences. We should be able to meet and discuss issues and make compromise in the national interest. That is the way to grow democracy. We may disagree, but the disagreement should not escalate.”

    On his part, Gbajabiamila said under his Speakership, power will reside in the people. “The House of Representatives was established to be the people’s House and for the people’s business. It follows, therefore, that the Speaker must be the people’s Speaker elected to do the people’s business and champion their cause and in doing so fulfilling their hopes and aspirations. This is the Speaker I intend and hope to be and the House I intend and hope to lead, a People’s House,” he said.

    “My candidacy is not about him myself, but about sanitising our democracy. It is about practising what we preach, global best practices. We make reference to the United States and United Kingdom. Why is it that we are very bad in practice? I will be a Speaker for every member of the House. I will also ensure the independence of the legislature,” Gbajabiamila added, declaring that his intention is to improve on the quality of legislation if elected.

    HOPING FOR CHANGES

    It is not only the President that is looking forward to better legislative days as Senator Lawan and Hon. Gbajabiamila settle down to work. Thousands of other Nigerians have been expressing their desires to see the upper and lower chambers live up to their calling as the defenders of the people of Nigeria, who, according to the constitution, are the real owners of the political powers being wielded by elected representatives both in the executive and the legislative arms of government.

    “It is instructive to say here that the people expect a lot from their representatives in the National Assembly. This explains why many Nigerians showed keen interest in who became the leaders of the National Assembly at the expiration of the 8th Assembly. It is the desire for a better and more representative legislature that informed their interest. Lawan and Gbajabiamila as the beneficiaries of the peoples’ interest must therefore bring their experiences to bear on the new 9th Assembly,” Seeni Dosu of the Centre for Democracy and Justice (CfDJ) said.

    Chief Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in calling on the new Assembly leadership to put Nigeria and Nigerians first, also had some good words for the Bukola Saraki led 8th Assembly saying “future NASS should and must take a cue from the 8th NASS, that it is an independent arm of government, specifically created by section 4 of the 1999 Constitution, to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Nigeria.

    “Though expected to cooperate with the Executive, it must not do so at the expense of its own independence as an arm of government that participates in the inbuilt constitutional checks and balances. It is not a rubber stamp to executive desires and nuances. Any NASS worthy of its name must rise up and use its oversight powers under sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution to check the excesses of the other Judicial and Executive arms of government.”

    Also, former Deputy Senate Leader, Dr. Jonathan Zwingina, advised the new Assembly members to ensure unity among members and the two chambers, so as to maintain the sanctity of the parliament and ensure the much needed collaboration that will yield desired results. “First and foremost, is that they must be united, both in each chamber and as well as between the chambers. This is important. That way, they will maintain the sanctity of the chamber,” he said.

    NEEDING ATTENTION

    Ahead of the resumption of the National Assembly which is currently on recess till next month, many pundits are saying the new legislature should make it a point of duty to promptly revisit some crucial bills that were left unattended to by the 8th Assembly largely for political and personal reasons. According to Dosu, while blaming the incessant face-off between the Saraki-led NASS and the Buhari-led Presidency for the fate suffered by the bill, “the 9th Assembly must rescue these critical bills.”

    The human right crusader named the Presidential State of the Nation address bill, Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Amendment bill; Chartered Institute of Pension Practitioners bill; and the Revenue Mobiliaation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (Amendment) bill, the Electoral Amendment bill, Petroleum Industry Governance bill, the Police Reform bill, Gender and Equal Opportunity bill; South East Development Commission bill; and the Company and Allied Matters Act Amendment bill, as some of the legislations that must be revisited.

    “There are many other bills that suffered neglect due to politics and other reasons under the 8th Assembly leadership. These must be revisited in the interest of the country. Bills like the Bankruptcy and Insolvency bill; Small and Medium Enterprise Agency bill; Energy Commission (Amendment) bill; Ajaokuta Steel Company Completion Fund bill; National Housing Fund bill; Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences (Amendment) bill and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Act (Amendment) bill are meant to impact on the country when passed,” he added.

    Similarly, Senator Zwingina wants the 9th Assembly to do all it can about the issue of security. “The National Assembly must support community policing. It has the advantage of a thorough knowledge of the environment and also the advantage of being patriotic because the police cannot feel happy if the community from which they come from is continuously not at peace. When the number of policemen is increased that increment should come from community policing.

    “The other agenda is job creation, because if you don’t create jobs, where are you going to keep all the people that are unemployed and are involved in crimes because they have to survive? Some of them have families and sometimes they resort to crime because that gives them some money. We must do something in the economy that expands the job creation effort of the government. These are things the National Assembly should work on and bring in a legislation that should be able to increase the local content of Nigerian workers otherwise investors will come with money, finance and also labour and we will get nothing out of it,” he appealed.

  • Cut NASS salaries; no VAT hike

    What do Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who seek to lead the senate and House of Representatives think about the insultingly high and mostly secret salaries and perks and constituency projects? Will they seek the slashing of same and bring salaries into the salary scale of the federal government e.g. Level 18,19,1 up to 25? This unbridled and nearly blank paycheck is the main embarrassment of our politics in the international community and a serious insult inflicted on the electorate and citizenry by a greed-polluted political class.

    New National Assembly (NASS) members are being shown around. We hope they too are planning less salary and perks? This should be a key plan of this government.

    Some governors are moving around their finishing projects. But is it an avenue for stealing?  If not, it is a pleasant surprise and a credible alternative to the former widespread practice of raiding their treasuries and shutting down business including the business of paying salaries so as to accumulate ‘take away funds’.

    It is always strange when elephants talk to each other, move menacingly, rub tusks or even struggle with each other especially by prox. Last month, it was an ex-president and an incumbent president seeking re-election. This week it is a proxy war. Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)’s BabatundeFowler, promoted from working for one elephant to working at a higher plain for another, who proclaimed that national salvation lies in more taxation and in particular more VAT and its immoral distribution across states which did not pay it. He spoke on behalf of a rejuvenated re-elected government’s interest in yielding to the taxman’s suggestion that VAT should be ‘way up there’ – a misquote! Buhari’s is the bigger elephant and may not like to be advised by two people for the same Southwest to go in two directions.  Is this struggle over the spoils of war, the ruins left by war against the people or in the genuine interest of the people? I believe it is about sharing the future income of the hardest workers with others with less opportunity to work or with less inclination to work or those seeking to benefit from where they did not sow from religious inclination. The sharing formula for VAT has always been an acrimonious unsatisfactory event. The situation will only get worse with increasing VAT.

    I have never been a fan of what I consider to be often draconian tax level introduced in Lagos under Tinubu when he was governor and consolidated by Fashola and taken enthusiastically to an outrageous edge by Ambode before he was reined in by the courts after mass protest. This is because it takes no notice of the Nigerian factors in daily life – substituting for power, transport and health failures, extended family costs and the constant fall in naira value all decimating incomes and the value of that income. Yes, an undisclosed fraction of the tax income was used, mostly without permission of those it was extracted from, outside the state nationwide. For this I believe Lagosians who contributed deserve a rebate, not an increase in VAT! However, Lagos has severely underperformed compared to its multi-billion portfolio of income streams. I have always objected to the huge wasteful cost of reducing the overcrowded three-lane Ikorodu Road to a two-lane road, a bad move, with a multibillion concrete lane divider. And too few buses. Even the federal government has made a similar costly error on the Lagos-Ibadan so-called expressway where the concrete median is duplicated more than doubling the cement costs. Instead that money should have tarred many alternative roads or completed the tarring of the expressway.

    Nobody except Nigeria stimulates an economy or manufacturing sector by increasing taxes. Even the Nigerian government offers tax breaks to foreign investors and even single digit loans. Charity, tax charity, should begin at home. Nigerians are very resourceful substituting for a collapse of infrastructure – power, transport, water and security.  And they have created many jobs not on the tax list – middle man, motor tout, car parking boys, road-way sellers in traffic they sometimes create by digging potholes, the army of okada drivers, shopping-bag carriers in addition to the yahoo-yahoo etc. I agree that VAT should not be increased, more people should be brought on board, and some taxes should be lowered to stimulate growth in the economy. At last the MPR, Monetary Policy Rate, has been reduced to 13.5%. Nigerians have suffered for too long under this CBN/Government punishingly high ‘add-on’ to any loan Nigerians take. This is a shameful and evil burden especially in the light of the huge amounts in multi-billions maliciously stolen by almost anybody willing to steal in and out of government and even legally – illegally by NASS members under the guise of as stupendous salaries and perks and constituency projects, SAPing Nigeria dry. Add to this the late and therefore underperformance of the budget and you have a lot of unaccounted funds. Why add to this more tax funds through an increase in VAT?

    Presumably the 9th Senate will guarantee efficiency and re-institute a January -December budget from January 1, 2020. Hopefully it will cut NASS salaries and perks to upper civil service scale and revert constituency projects to relevant ministries. Only then will Nigerians be convinced that NASS has been rebranded in the national interest and we NASS and Nigeria have a future together.

  • When ‘boys’ returned home as men!

    Last week, Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, last week returned to his home base in Surulere, Lagos, to a rousing welcome by the Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN).

    Surulere, according to Gbajabiamila, has always been the hub for movie and entertainment practitioners who have also commonly been seen as the ‘homeboys’ of Surulere.

    The event was the official opening of the office of the DGN and there was a mild drama as Hon. Gbajabiamila told the movie practitioners that he was proud of them.

    Read also: Gbajabiamila opposes Senate over Onnoghen

    He added that many born and bred young boys from Surulere have gone out there to make it to the top in different spheres of human endeavour. Some of them, he said, were among the members of the film body as directors.

    Just then, Hon. Desmond Elliot, another Surulere born and bred, who made it in Surulere as an actor and later got elected to the Lagos State House of Assembly, arrived at the event to the joy of all.

  • Fighting Piracy Will Improve Economy – Gbajabiamila

    Fighting Piracy Will Improve Economy – Gbajabiamila

    The Leader of House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has expressed the commitment of the House against piracy in the country.

    Gbajabiamila spoke  when the stakeholders from the entertainment and creative arts industry paid him a courtesy visit in his office on yesterday in Abuja.

    A statement issued by his Research and Media Assistant, Olanrewaju Smart , Gbajabiamila decried the growing level of impunity among pirates and their collaborators within the entertainment industry.

    His words: “The impunity is obvious when you see pirates selling their illegal products in public . We would look at the laws so as to criminalize buying and selling pirated films to keep even the buyers in check and provide stiffer punishment for owners of buildings used for this illicit act. It takes two people to commit the offense if there is no willing buyer the illicit business won’t thrive”

    “If can address counterfeit money, drugs and goods, we will look into our intellectual property laws and possibly a collaboration with state governments is necessary, while the federal government deals with issue of copyright the states as well can deal with censorship of films sold within their jurisdiction.

    “We would amend relevant laws to empower the Inspector General of Police and his men in fighting piracy. The House is aware that the entertainment industry is vital to the economic diversification policy of this government and the industry can be assured of the support of the legislature .”

    Leader of the delegation and Chairman, Optical Disc Replicators of Nigeria, Cyprian Orakpo, had earlier lamented the rising case of piracy in the country and its negative impact on the entertainment industry.

    He said: “We want the National Assembly to join in curtailing piracy and chase piracy away, with the National Assembly we can achieve 80% success in fight against piracy, it disturbing that the energy of film makers is sold out for peanut and interestingly some elites in the country spend a lot of Millions of Naira to invest in production of pirated movies”, Orakpo said .

    “There was a time President Buhari made a pronouncement that his government will fight piracy and suddenly immediately after that pronouncement, original copies started selling faster and the Pirates left the market but thereafter the pirates went back to business unhindered, we want the government to be more proactive because the country itself is losing lots of revenue.

    “Moving makers borrowed up to 1billion Naira from government through the Bank of Industry and could not meet up with the repayment due to piracy. Whilst the economy of the country is in need of help, piracy thrives. At Alaba Market in Lagos pirates operate in buildings and shops closed during business hours of the day and only opened to business at night.”

    “The investors in piracy provide protection fund of up to 14million Naira monthly to some gullible market leaders to get soft landing, even the regulator Nigeria Copyright Commission went to Alaba market to fight pirates but their officials were beaten and the vehicle burnt by pirates who even promised to replace the burnt vehicle on the condition that they would never return to Alaba again,  this is worrisome in a country where there are laws” , Orakpo alleged.

    Members of the delegation included Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Tourism and Film Maker, Desmond Elliot; Foremost Actor, Segun Arinze; Film Maker, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen; National President, Motion Picture Distributors, Igwe Gabosky.

     

  • Gbajabiamila opens Surulere clinic

    Gbajabiamila opens Surulere clinic

    There was jubilation in Surulere local government, Lagos State, when the leader of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila formally declared open the Surulere Clinic in Baracks area of the local government.
    Residents, workers, stakeholders and other dignitaries witnessed the landmark project declared open on Thursday.
    Addressing the attendees, Hon Gbajabiamila recalled the difficulties encountered in completing the project, which took off over 10 years ago.
    He said: “This project is over 10 years old. At a point, the things we bought were vandalised and stolen. The local government chairman then could not help. There were some powerful people who said it was over their dead body that this project would be completed.”
    Hon Gbajabiamila lauded the present Executive Secretary of Surulere local government, Mrs Bamidele Hussain for her support and dedication to the completion of the project and others like it in the LG.
    Speaking on the clinic, the lawmaker said the standard would be at par with that of other local government clinics across the world.
    He also donated three fully equipped ambulances, one each, to three hospitals in the LG, Akerele, Pako and the new Surulere Clinic, to commemorate the day.
    “I place a lot of importance on health matters. Every year, we have our two-day health festival in Surulere where we bring in health facilitators from around the world. We must pray that nobody has any reason to visit this place, but if you do, you will enter and come out in good health.
    “It is important that we understand that health is wealth. We would not compromise, but we will ensure it measures up to the standard of any local government clinic across the world,” he said.
    Mrs Hussain, who played host at the event declared that the clinic would be named ‘Hon Femi Gbajabiamila Clinic’.
    She said: “The provision of this facility is based on the sustainability of the health care sector in our local government, that is why the package of the facility revolves around a comprehensive health services including maternal and child health services such as antenatal care and family planning, non-communicable disease screening site, such as cervical cancer, child welfare services like basic child survival strategies which include growth monitoring and immunisation services. Also included are out-patient unit, accident and emergency unit, laboratory, maternity ward and Labour room; admission ward; pharmacy and a proposed site for dental services, eye care centre and a minor operation theatre.”
    Health personnel at the event were excited about the opening.
    A nurse, Fatimah Muhammed, said: “The structure has been constructed for years without commissioning or usage. Now we are glad that this community can enjoy good health services with the opening of this clinic. It would grant relief to residents and even those outside the local government would enjoy it’s services.”
    A resident, Tokunbo Bakare danced in excitement at the event, saying she was very happy at the developments that are going on in her local government in recent times.
    Meanwhile, Chairman of the Community Development Council, Mr Abayomi Balogun lauded the project, but called for a rectification of power problems in Surulere.
    He said the local government’s transformer was in bad shape, putting the community into a constant black out.
    Other dignitaries present at the event include: State house of assembly representative at Surulere, Hon Desmond Elliot and his mother, Mrs Elliot; women leader, Alhaja Olaide Agaba, Hon S.S. Ajao, Mother of the celebrant, Alhaja Gbajabiamila, Baale of Surulere, High Chief Kareem Adeyemi; representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Oluwatoyin Odejimi, among others.

  • Deregulation: Gbajabiamila calls for review of minimum wage

    Deregulation: Gbajabiamila calls for review of minimum wage

    The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos-APC) Thursday said in order to cushion the effects of deregulation of the petroleum sector by the Federal Government, there was need for a review of the minimum wage of workers.

    The majority leader who had fought relentlessly against efforts by past governments to remove petroleum subsidy said though it was necessary to deregulate the petroleum sector to shield the country from economic problems, it was also necessary to raise the minimum wage in order to meet the rising cost of living in the country.

    His words: “There has to be a serious review of the minimum wage if you are going to increase the pump price of petrol because we all know everything rests on that.

    “Prices are going to skyrocket, from school fees to food to transportation to school uniforms and to books. Everything is going to go up because of mono economy. If we are going to do that, it is incumbent upon the government to take seriously the demands of labour.

    “Minimum wage needs to be reviewed; we cannot increase the cost of living and keep salaries where it is, they go hand in hand.”

    Gbajabiamila gave a vivid account of what transpired at the stakeholders’ meeting at the Villa on Wednesday.

    He said: “I was at the stakeholders meeting with the Vice President Wednesday and other stakeholders before the decision was made.

    “The story that was painted, the details, the breakdown and the facts were scary. From what I read and what I saw, if we had continued that way we may not even have a country in two months time.

    “Salaries would not have been paid by any state. Faced with that, it puts me in a very difficult situation and serious dilemma as to which way to go. I have always on one hand fought against the removal of fuel subsidy but now, I am confronted with very scary details as to if they don’t deregulate.

    “The consequences will be very bad for me and you so it is like being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.”

    Gbajabiamila however said the Federal Government ought to have established refineries before removing the subsidy.

    His words: “I believe that if God has given you natural product the least we should do is to allow the people to benefit from that kind of product,” adding that subsidy has dented the image of the country.

    “If subsidy is being abused, all we need to do is to block the holes of abuse and not to punish the whole of Nigerians for the abuse of a few people.

    “But having said that, I have always agued why don’t you build a refinery first if at all you have to remove the subsidy. It is only in Nigeria that subsidy is given a bad name.

    “There is subsidy all over the world, in America agriculture is subsidized and in UK transportation is subsidized.  It is only in Nigeria that they say subsidy is bad. So, why is it not bad in other countries? That’s what we need to look at.”