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Tag: House of Representatives

  • Stakeholders regroup to rescue mechanic vocation

    Owing to lack of regular training and the developments in automobile technology, auto mechanics in Nigeria are increasingly falling by the way-side. To this end, stakeholders recently partnered with Femi Gbajabiamila, Majority Leader, House of Representatives. Medinat Kanabe reports

    AKEEM (not real name) is a mechanic with long years of experience, preceding the advent of the latest fifth generation vehicles. Recently a car was brought to his workshop and with great enthusiasm and eagerness to get to work, he opened the bonnet of the car, only to let out a loud scream. When asked what the problem was, he said “Where will I put my hand here?” This is because the spectacle that stared back at him was different from what he had been used to.

    The above story was shared by Emmanuel Olorode, one of the Directors, MAGBEN Automotive Technology, while speaking to The Nation during a training session for mechanics and distribution of computerised mechanical tools to 52 mechanics in Surulere, Lagos, by Femi, Gbajabiamila, Majority Leader, Federal House of Assembly.

    Olorode however said what the mechanic saw was simpler than what he was used to, just that he wasn’t abreast of latest developments in automobile technology and therefore wasn’t informed, and confused.

    “Before now, what mechanics do is guesswork. When you take your car to them, they ask you what the problem is and as you begin to narrate, they begin to guess. But today, there is an artificial intelligence in cars; cars communicate with people through the instrument cluster.

    “It is just for you to have the medium to understand what the car is telling you, which is a scanner. What you do is to plug your scanner in and you will be able to interpret what the car is saying and the scanner will also tell you where you should go and what you need to do in the car. This makes life much easier for them but because they don’t have this knowledge, a lot of them have run away from the profession. They are now into other jobs like commercial driving or commercial motorcycle riding; they have gone out of business.”

    To this effect, Olorode said Gbajabiamila has asked that the mechanics be given a handheld scanner which can access 60% of what is wrong with a car. “It will not tell them where to go but they will know what is wrong which is the basic thing. After they have solved the problem, they will use the scanner again to erase the fault so that the car can receive the information that it has been fixed.”

    Explaining why his organisation took interest in training mechanics, he said it is because they stand the risk of becoming obsolete and out of job. And the consequence of that, he said, is that “we will only have foreigners maintaining our cars in Nigeria. Presently we have foreigners, especially Lebanese that run and maintain automotive workshop and that is so because our people are not educated.

    “Cars have changed, it has evolved in so many ways that if you are not informed, you will fizzle out. We have been doing this for a while and we have trained more than 1,200 mechanics.”

    On his part, Gbajabiamila said anyone who underestimates the power of a mechanic either did not go to school or does not understand economics. “The most important part of any economy in the world is transportation. Without transportation, there will be no economy; how do you move your goods, how do you move yourselves? This is why most countries develop their road networks, for ease of movement of people and goods from one place to another.

    “But when you develop those things, what happens to the machines that ply the routes; they have to be maintained by mechanics.”

    He noted that the mechanic work is such that “there has to be continuous training to meet up.”

    Also speaking at the event, Chairman Board of Trustees, Motor Mechanics and Technicians Association of Nigeria, MOMTAN, Apagun Samuel Olushola spoke on sincerity.

    He said “The problem of lack of sincerity is why we have a lot of workshops and symposium for the mechanics. We talk to them about being sincere and tell them that they are rich, if they are sincere because you cannot put smiles on a sad person’s face and the person will forget you.”

    On the menace of unprofessional mechanics flooding the space and damaging people’s cars, he said it is the duty of the government to weed them off the road. “The only way they can be differentiated is with the identity cards of any of the two associations – Motor Mechanics and Technicians Association of Nigeria, MOMTAN and Nigerian Automobile Technician Association, NATAN.

    Also representing MAGBEN, seminar coordinator, Olugbenga Agbana said at the end of the day, they would be handing over some tools to the mechanics, which have all been paid for by Gbajabiamila.

    “We will teach them how to operate the tools and give them some kind of assistance, whenever they get to a dead end.”

    He added that the vision is to make sure everyone in the automobile industry in Nigeria is brought to level.

    One of the participants, Chairman Alhaji Masha Mechanic Village, Surulere, Victor Itoriola Ishola, who has been on the job since 1975, said the programme is very important, as it allows for networking and exchange of ideas. “I have learnt that if I cannot fix a vehicle, I should call someone who can and get the work done instead of trying my hands on different things and damaging the vehicle more.”

  • Boreholes everywhere but no water

    When the construction of a borehole began at the Edaiken Market on the Bénin-Ugbowo Road, the traders were happy that their long years of prayers have been answered. The borehole was initiated by Hon Jim Adun when he was elected to the House of Representatives between 2011 and 2015.
    Today the borehole is a carcass. Abandoned boreholes constructed either as constituency project by lawmakers both at the state and National Assembly from 1999 till date littered the state. Many of the boreholes provided by the lawmakers did not last up to eight months before they packed up. Also, the boreholes provided by local government or state government are now dry and overtaken by weeds.
    Besides the abandoned boreholes, the Edo State Urban Water Board, tasked with the responsibility for providing water, is moribund. Residents cannot remember the last time the agency provides potable water. All the water reservoir through which the board distributed water to households are in a state of disrepair.
    Officials of the board are hardly seen at their duty posts. Many of the offices are under lock and key.
    During the administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the state government bought three dando rigs to help provide water in parts of the state where it is difficult to sink borehole. With the dando rigs, Borehole’s were sunk in difficult terrains in Edo Central and Edo North.
    Checks ,however, showed that many of boreholes are not working due to minor faults. In some rural communities, the community could not provide diesel to run the Generators provided alongside the boreholes.
    Apparently to solve water problem in the state, Governor Godwin Obaseki  scrapped the Urban Water Board and made it the Small Town Rural Water and Sanitation Agency and the Urban Water Corporation. Obaseki has also paid N1.289 billion as counterpart fund to attract N2.8 billion from the European Union for water projects across the state.
    The Small Town Rural Water and Sanitation Agency, it was gathered, would be in charge of providing water to all the small towns and rural areas while the  Urban Water Corporation will be in charge of the cities and big towns.
    Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy Yekini Idaiye told our reporter that his findings showed that many of the boreholes failed because of maintenance. Yekini said the state government planned to encourage the setting up of Water Consumers Association in communities to ensure sustainability of the boreholes.
    In any place we are working, we will have what is called water consumers association for sustainability. The community must also indicate interest on how to maintain and sustain it. We also ensure that the community must open a bank account with at least N1 million in it for maintenance.
    “We are going to rehabilitate most of the bore holes. We have about 47 bore holes constructed by the state government that have failed and they failed because of little maintenance. We discovered that some of these boreholes constructed by our representatives as constituency projects are bad. The solar panel parts are stolen. What we are doing now is to bury the panel so that nobody can go there to steal. We are about reactivating those 47 broken boreholes across the state.
    “Presently, we are taking assessment of all the public stations within the state capital to ascertain their state because we know they are not functioning so that we start to rehabilitate them.
    Yekini said 46 rural communities in six local government areas would benefit from the state partnership with the European Union (EU) in the provision of portable water.
    The Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, explained: “To set the record straight, the Edo State government paid N389 million to attract N700 million from the European Union for water drilling and reticulation in Ovia South West and Etsako West local government areas.
    “In Edo Central Senatorial District, the state government attracted N700 million from the European Union with N300million counterpart fund to reticulate water from the dam that was constructed by the Federal Government, to Uromi and its environs.
    “Two months ago, the state governor released N600 million to attract N1.4 billion for the water, sanitation and artisanal training projects in Orhionmwon, Uhunmwode and Owan West local government areas under the same Niger Delta Support Programme of the European Union.
    “The N2 billion project covers water drilling, reticulation, sanitation facilities in markets, public schools as well as training for 250 artisans that will maintain the water projects, some of whom will be absorbed by the local councils.”

  • Senate concurs with Reps on Electoral Act amendment

    The Senate on Thursday concurred with the House of Representatives on the amendment to some provisions of the Electoral Act No 6, 2010.

    Part of the amendment approved a two-year jail term and N2, 000, 000 fine for commissioners or officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who, out of negligence, cause the postponement of an election over omission of name of party and their logo.

    The amendment further stated that also states that where an election is postponed due to omission of name and logo, the officer, commissioner in charge of printing the ballot papers and caused the omission, shall be liable to a fine of N2, 000, 000 or a jail term of two years or both.

    Read Also: Senate seeks release of 1993 election

    The senators noted that the amendment was meant to serve as a guide and deterrent to those who may be mischievous or negligent or derelict in such all important national assignment and event .

    Also, the amendment prescribed that returning officers, presiding officers and collating officers, as the case may be, shall be involved subject to the confirmation and verification of the polling agents and the aforementioned polling officials.

    Having been passed by the two chambers, the amendment is expected to go to a conference committee of the two chambers.

  • Reps to NSC: Rescind your decision on anti-open grazing law

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the National Security Council to rescind its decision calling on States to suspend Anti Open Grazing Law.

    The lawmakers also asked the Federal Government to submit a supplementary budget to the National Assembly to develop Colonies immediately in those states that have agreed to donate land.

    The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of the prayers of a motion of urgent National Importance by a member, John Dyegh (APC Benue) titled: “Need to rescind the decision of the Security Council as announced by the Minister of Defence calling on States to suspend ranching and Anti Open Grazing Law.”

    While moving the motion, the lawmakers said that the Fulani Herdsmen crises in Nigeria predate the present administration of Muhammadu Buhari.

    He further said: ” For the past over 7 years, the clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers has been on the increase with so many lives lost with farmlands and villages overtaken by herdsmen and resultant  effect of farmers abandoning their ancestral homes and God given lands.

    “They live in camps as refugees and are dying in those camps for lack of food and proper medical care as their land is taken over by herdsmen.”

    Dyegh said the unprovoked Agatu killings by Fulani herdsmen that claimed over 800 persons and ravaged over 20 villages” made Benue eminent sons and daughters to come together to find a lasting solution to the problem.”

    Read Also: Police equivocate about anti-open grazing laws

    ” And after robust debates they came up with the recommendation of Anti- Open Grazing Law and called on the State Government to process it by a bill into Law,” adding that Section 4(7) of the 1999 Constitution gives express powers to be the State Assemblies to make laws for the good governance of the states.

    “This is not the only state that has made laws for good governance in its state. For instance, we have seen states making laws against trading in alcohol and prostitution and such laws are obeyed by visitors and indigenes alike without interference by the federal government.”

    He said it is wrong given the tenets of democracy for the federal government to dabble into the affairs of the states “ignoring the laws of the land in such a manner as this, more so as the Land Use Act has given power over land to Governors.”

    The lawmaker reminded his colleagues that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has said that Eleven (11) states have agreed to donate enough land to accommodate all the cows by the herdsmen into colonies ” to end this crises, more so that even the National Economic Council in one of its meetings also agreed that Ranching is the best way to end this crises.”

    When the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara called for a vote on the motion, it was supported by majority of members.

  • Impeachment threat: Jibrin back to Ethics Committee 

    …House investigates Gudaji for addressing the press on joint session

     

    Honourable Abdulmumin Jibrin ( APC, Kano ) and Mohammed Gudaji ( APC, Jigawa ) are to face the Ethics and Privileges committee of the House of Representatives for daring to voice their views on the impeachment threat issued against President Mohammadu Buhari at an emergency joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

    Jibrin, returned recently from a 180 legislative days suspension on account of bringing the House to disrepute with his comments on 2016 budget.

    His suspension was later nullified by the court.

    Read Also:Senators, Reps give Buhari conditions to avoid impeachment

    This followed the adoption of a motion on breach of privilege by Sunday Karimi (PDP, Kogi) and Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta).

    Karimi, who first raised a point of order on the breach of his privilege by Jibrin said the account given by his colleague to the media was incorrect.

    Karimi would face the Ethics and Privileges Committee for mentioning some of his colleagues as sponsors of the impeachment moves.

     

    Details later …

  • Reps to probe NNPC over $22b LNG project

    The House of Representatives is set to investigate the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the implementation of the $22b Brass Liquefied Natural Gas project.

    The project was originally set up in 2003 with NNPC owning 49 percent while Conoco Phillips, ENI and Chevron holding 17 percent each.

    However, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) in a motion Thursday said there is a need to investigate the implementation of the project due to several allegations of abuse and mismanagement of funds totalling about $22b meant for take-off and running of the project.

    He said: “The project has been stuck in the planning stages for more than a decade, with some western partners having pulled out because of tough operating conditions and an unfavourable investment environment.

    Read Also:Buhari directs NNPC, oil firms to release fund for Ogoni clean-up

    “What should be noted is the fact that the Federal Government’s investment in the Brass LNG project is too enormous to be treated with kid gloves, swept under the carpet or simply put aside with a wave of the hand”.

    Saying that the Senate in January 2018 raised an alarm over massive fraud in the NNPC as it relates to the Brass LNG project and voted to investigate same, Chinda regretted that nothing happened thereafter.

    “If not urgently investigated, the essence of the fight against corruption would be defeated and the Nigerian economy and indeed teeming Nigerian masses would be worse for it,” he added.

    An ad hoc committee to be constituted would carry out the investigation of the expenditure and implementation of the project within six weeks.

    The motion was unanimously adopted after a voice vote.

  • 2019 election: Group cautions APC on nPDP

    The Vanguards for the Protection of Democracy in Nigeria (VPDN) said the continued stay of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) in the All Progressives Congress (APC) portends danger to the party ahead of the 2019 general election.

    Mrs Sharon Cham, National Coordinator of the VPDN, gave the warning on Thursday in Abuja, when she led some of its members to protest the continued stay of the nPDP in the APC.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the nPDP, which fused into the APC in 2014, recently alleged that its members were being neglected, adding that they were going through harassment and intimidation.

    The group had also given the APC leadership and President Muhammadu Buhari a seven-day ultimatum to address issues affecting its members ahead of the 2019 general election.

    Read Also: nPDP did denies demanding for Saraki’s trial stoppage

    “We wish to remind the APC leadership that keeping these people in the party portends a lot of danger not only to the party, but to our hard earned nascent democracy.

    “Political parties and government are formed by different people with different ideas, but with the same vision and mission to move the country forward.

    “However, the way the members of the nPDP have been mounting unnecessary pressure on the government, causing disaffection in the party; shows that they are out to bring mischief and bad blood among teeming loyal party members,´´ Cham said.

    This, she said, could clearly be seen from the series of threats the group had been dishing out to the APC leadership and by extension President Muhammadu Buhari.

    She, therefore called on the APC leadership to sanction the group, adding that its alleged grievances could not be established or justified.

    She said this was especially so, because some members of the nPDP were holding strategic positions in the APC-led Federal Government, including that of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives among others.

    According to Cham, the motive of the nPDP is not to find a lasting solution to the internal crisis of the APC, but to cause more problems in the party and the smooth running of government.

    ´´Please sanction and sack them now from the party, because the enemy within is always difficult to fight than the one outside; we say no to pardoning crimes committed,´´ she said.

    NAN

  • Reps pass bill on Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons

    …Say 350m Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria

     

    The House of Representatives Wednesday passed through second Reading a bill establishing the National Commission against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

    The bill sponsored by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and Hon. Nnena Elendu- Ukeje (PDP Abia) was referred to the House committee on National Security and Intelligence for further legislative action.

    According to the bill, the Commission amongst other things “shall be charged with the responsibility of combating illicit trafficking of arms by strengthening laws and regulations, reinforcing operational capacity and improving on the system in tracing arms flow.”

    It will also promote “removal of arms from society through collection, storage, destruction, management and stockpiling of small arms and light weapons;

    “Control the manufacture and register small arms and light weapons including those to be used in Peace Keeping operations, update its register and transmit same to ECOWAS, AU, UN.

    Read Also:Court nullifies Jibrin’s suspension by House of Reps

    Elendu- Ukeje, who took the argument for the passage of the bill, said: “What used to be a fringe conversation has become mainstream conversation about Nigeria’s insecurity concerns are highlighted on a daily basis as communal conflicts , religious crises, insurrection, terrorism, insurgency, militancy, revolt, electoral violence, robbery, cross border smuggling, kidnapping, sexual violence, domestic violence and all other threats as highlighted in the National Security strategy has been on the increase in the past couple of years.

    “In a recent meeting with the United Nation Center for Peace and Disarmament held by the National Coordinator, Mrs. Okubo Ige, she said that West Africa had about 500 million small arms in circulation and  hat 70 percent of those arms reside in Nigeria. She put the number at about 350 million,” the lawmaker said.

    She further added that statistics from the Office of the Senate President on the timeline of killings in the Middle Belt region alone shows that there have been over 80 reported incidences of armed conflict that had claimed over 877 lives between 1st January to 29th April 2018.

    According to her, “obsolete laws and ineffective stockpile management” was responsible for the present proliferation. She said that Nigeria and Gambia are probable the only two countries in West Africa and probably Africa that has no National Commissions against the proliferation of arms.

    When the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara called for a voice vote on the bill, it was supported by majority of members, many of whom had earlier spoken in favour of the bill.

    Recall that the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in October1998 signed a declaration of the Moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of light weapons and its code of conduct in the sub- region, as well as the establishment of National Commissions Against the Proliferation of Small Arms in Member States.

    Again in 2006 in Abuja, they met and signed a legally binding Convention known as the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and other related matters to replace the Moratorium. Nigeria ratified the Convention in 2009.

  • Reps move to curb mob killings, jungle justice

    The House of Representatives has called on Nigeria Police Force to investigate the spate of jungle justice and mob killings across the country and prosecute perpetrators of such acts.

    This was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Ezekiel Adaji (Benue-PDP) at the plenary on Wednesday.

    Moving the motion earlier, Adaji had pointed out that democracy which Nigeria operated was anchored on respect for the rule of law.

    He said that democracy was also predicated on constitutionalism, order, justice and fairness.

    The legislator said that the Nigerian law had adequate provisions that empowered law enforcement agencies to enforce and implement all laws.

    He said that the idea was to make the country orderly and to ensure the fundamental human rights of citizens as enshrined in the Constitution and other international laws were respected.

    According to him, mob killings and jungle justice are the consequences of failure of criminal justice, the failure of society to apply uniform and equal standards.

    Adaji said that irrational human instincts and impulses, and the failure of criminal justice institutions and agencies to prevent its occurrence were equally responsible.

    He blamed the situation on the failure of relevant institutions to punish those engaged in the heinous practices.

    The lawmaker said that some people across the country who had suffered from one crime or the other now accepted lynching or mob justice as the best model to exert their vengeance.

    Read Also: Police warns against jungle justice in Delta

    He said that this had rendered the law enforcement agencies in the country ineffective.

    The legislator expressed concern over the recent loss of innocent lives as a result of an upsurge in the spate of extra-judicial killings.

    Referring to a report of Amnesty International, he put the figure of victims of mob justice from January 1 to March 31, 2018 at 29.

    He said that incessant application of mob attacks targeting crime suspects may have gained motivation from the criminal practice of extra-judicial killings by virtually all the law enforcement agencies in the country.

    According to the lawmaker, the police are principally most guilty of employing such crude tactics as extra-judicial execution of suspects of crime in their custody which had become a widely tolerated practice.

    For the health and safety of the society, he recommended that those who felt they were above the law were made to face the full weight of the law.

    He said that eradicating mob actions or jungle justice was necessary in eliminating the chance of Nigeria witnessing impunity and anarchy in the society.

    In his ruling, the Speaker of the house, Mr Yakubu Dogara, mandated the Committees on Police Affairs, Federal Judiciary and Justice to ensure full compliance with the resolution.

  • I will return to NASS in 2019 – Igbinedion

    The lawmaker representing Ovia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Barr. Omosede Igbinedion, has boasted that she would return to her office in 2019.

    Barr. Omosede who was elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is serving her first term.

    In a post-apparently to taunt her opponents, Omosede said, “In my Office today and yes I will be back here in 2019  because I am happy to represent the people of Ovia Federal Constituency.

    An aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Mr. Dennis Idahosa, had in a press briefing said there was a huge gap between the Barr. Igbinedion and the people of Ovia.

    He further said that his desire to replace Barr. Igbinedion in the House of Representatives was because of the failure to attract developmental projects to the constituency.

    His words, “When God gives me the opportunity to serve, a whole lot of things will be done differently. Not only has the occupant misses a lot of important deliberation as a result of her focus primarily on her personal business instead of the assignment of representing the people, she has also failed to attract development projects to the constituency.

    “Though I respect her as a woman, but I believe she is incompetent. So, I am going to close this gap by being a vibrant and good representative to the people of Ovia.

    “There is no opposition in Ovia as far as I am concerned. We are going to win them out rightly; we are going to unite out party, strengthen areas of weaknesses and come 2019, we will not only win in Ovia federal constituency, we will win across the state.”