The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lawmakers

  • Our lawmakers have gone mad again

    To admit it right away, I deserve no credit for the above headline. It is simply an adaptation of the title of Ola Rotimi’s hilarious play wherein a soldier named Lejoka-Brown took three wives. The first he married while fighting in the Congo, the second he inherited from his late elder brother in a strange but enduring African tradition while the third was an America returnee and daughter of an influential market woman he married because he was contesting for an elective office. The play centres on the series of crises that Lejoka-Brown has to contend with as his American wife forged allegiances with the other wives, teaching them to become independent in their thoughts and actions and literally prompting them to forsake the culture of absolute submission to their husband. The prevailing situation got Lejoka-Brown repeatedly worked up and prompted him to do crazy things.

    Of course, the National Assembly is not a matrimonial setting. It is supposed to be a gathering of sane and mature minds; an assembly of reserved and right-thinking individuals representing the interests of their constituents. The least expected of them are rational and decorous acts that would hold them up as refreshing examples of statesmen and role models. Having elected them to represent their interests as senators and members of the House of Representatives, their constituents are supposed to go to sleep in the belief that their interests will be well protected by the individuals they have elected.

    That, however, is far from being the case. The bulk of our national lawmakers appear to have been bitten by the bug of kleptomania. They have become so rapacious and jaded about their individual interests that they now think that their primary mandate is to loot the nation’s treasury.

    After the piece I wrote on the Senate in this column a fortnight ago over the outrage that greeted the coarse invectives and obscene threats Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye, issued against his female counterpart from Lagos Central, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, during an executive session in the upper legislative chamber on July 12, I did not expect to revisit the goings on in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly so soon. But events have dictated otherwise with the emerging roforofo between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and three other principal officials of the House on one hand, and the immediate past Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Alhaji Abdulmumin Jibrin, on the other.

    The sore point this time is the allegation and counter-allegation being traded between the two parties over alleged ‘padding’ of the 2016 Budget. The matter came to the open after a minor reshuffle carried out by the Speaker in the leadership of the House committees, which saw Jibrin losing his seat as the chair of the House Committee on Appropriation. Jibrin’s offence, according to the leadership of the House, was that he turned the appropriation business of the House in respect of the last budget into his private affair, sidelining other members of the House and allocating to his constituency 20 projects worth a whopping N4.3 billion.

    But observers who thought there was nothing more to the move than public interest were soon jolted by Jibrin’s declaration that he was victimised by the leadership because he refused to pander to their demands for more money after the sum of N40 billion had been allocated to the leadership of the Appropriation Committees of the Senate and the House. Curiously, there is no dispute as to whether the nation was defrauded by members of the National Assembly in the 2016 Budget. What is in dispute is the mastermind of the heinous act between Dogara and Jibrin.

    The ensuing face-off has culminated in more scandalous revelations by Jibrin who has also sworn to open more cans of worms, among which is his claim that 10 committee chairmen injected 2,000 fictitious projects worth N248 billion into the budget and the allegation that the Speaker diverted to his private farm in Nasarawa State a multi-billion naira project meant to serve the public elsewhere. Of course, Dogara has threatened to drag Jibrin to court for defaming his character if he fails to renounce the allegations and tender a public apology within seven days while the public waits with bated breath to see who blinks first between the two gladiators.

    But the court option may not be the best for the image of the Speaker. In the circumstance, he has more at stake than Jibrin not only because he is Speaker but also because he has before now been touted as one of the most upright men in the National Assembly. The story is told of the wild jubilation embarked upon by one of the prominent Nigerian church leaders upon learning that Dogara had emerged the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The said church leader was said to have vouched for Dogara’s integrity, which he said would rub off on other members of the lower legislative chamber.

    Depending on the slow and tedious judicial process of the nation to clear his name of the mess would certainly not be in Dogara’s best interest as there are insinuations in some quarters already that he has chosen the court option because he knows it is the best way to kill the matter. The wiser option would be that the Speaker steps aside for an independent investigation of the matter if only to disabuse the minds of people who believe that the desperation with which he plotted his way to become speaker against his party’s preferred candidate for some selfish agenda. The current state of affairs appears to have further vindicated President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the All Progressive Congress’ choice of different candidates from the ones that plotted their ways to the leadership of the National Assembly.

    We are now witnesses to open confession of sordid acts of corruption in the supposedly hallowed chambers of the National Assembly. Obviously, such huge sums have been cornered from the nation’s budget for decades, leaving one to wonder what the lawmakers involved have been doing with them.

  • Lawmakers allege police plot to invade Ekiti

    •‘It’s not true’

    Members of Ekiti State House of Assembly have accused the police of planning to invade the Fountain of Knowledge to arrest top government functionaries and chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Describing the planned invasion as an “assault on democracy”, the legislators, who condemned what they called the “incessant harassment” of cabinet members of the Ayo Fayose administration, Assembly members and PDP members, said it was aimed at gaining power through the backdrop.

    In a statement yesterday by their Speaker, Kola Oluwawole, the lawmakers accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders of being the masterminds of the alleged plot.

    It urged the Acting Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, not to allow the Police under him to be used to truncate democracy.

    Oluwawole claimed that 20 officers that will carry out the alleged Ekiti invasion will be led by one ACP Olusola Oke, urging the acting IGP to resist the pressure of using his men to “cause chaos” in the state.

    But the Ekiti State Police Command has denied the lawmakers’ allegation, saying signals to that effect had not been received from the Louis Edet House, Force Headquarters in Abuja.

    The state police spokesman Alberto Adeyemi said:” I am not aware of that. We are about 5,000 policemen in the command and for 20 policemen to come and invade Ekiti, I regard that as too absurd.

    “We have nothing of such either from the IG or the CP. All we know is that we are on ground and doing our work as required by the law. My brother, there is no truth in that, it is not true.”

    But Oluwawole said: “Harassing PDP members in Ekiti State, government officials and members of the State House of Assembly will not help democracy in Nigeria and the international community should help Nigeria to sustain Democracy by calling the APC-led federal government to order.”

    “Plotters of evil against Governor Ayodele Fayose and his government must know that we in the House of Assembly will not present ourselves to be used against our governor. They should know that even if we are arrested and detained for one year, we won’t collaborate with those plotting evil against Governor Fayose.”

    “If two years after losing a free, fair and credible election and exploring all legal options up to the Supreme Court, some people are still running from the Army, DSS, EFCC and Police, writing frivolous petitions, law enforcements agencies in the country, especially the police should be mindful of turning itself to tool in the hands of those who are obviously out to truncate democracy in Ekiti State.

    “The IGP should rather ask, what is the sense in writing over 100 petitions over an election conducted in just 16 local councils and was adjudged as free, fair and credible even by International Observers, including the United States Government.”

  • Still on the ‘randy’ lawmakers

    SIR: On June 9,  U.S Ambassador, James F. Entwistlesent  a letter  to  Speaker of the House of representatives Yakubu Dogara, accusing three Nigerian lawmakers – Mohammed Garb Gololo (Benue APC), Samuel Ikon (Akwa Ibom PDP) and  Mark Gbilar ( Benue APC) of soliciting sexual favour from hotel stewards while  attending  a leadership programme in the United States.

    The three lawmakers involved have since denied the accusations just as the Speaker has called for proof from the US authorities. The social media, Nigeria’s major discussion forum, has witnessed a barrage of comments damming the affected lawmakers while calling for a thorough investigation and appropriate sanctions for the lawmakers should the finding of guilt be established against them.

    While we still presume the accused to be innocent, one can boldly say that it is not unusualfor Nigerian leaders to be caught in such web as many of them can hardly differentiate between business and pleasure. It is typical of us here to shout vendetta and political victimization when trapped in shoddy deals. Armed with security operatives and power, the average Nigerian leader prefers to gallivant about rather than focus on his/her statutory responsibilities. Little wonder many of them are scarcely seen during House sessions and sittings.

    But this time around, they chose a wrong location. The U.S is a better planned place than here.  It is a place where laws are strictly obeyed. The business of governance in America is done in the open.  Little wonder citizens’ participation in governance is higher therein. It is a country where there are cameras virtually everywhere you go. This is why lawbreakers in America rarely go scot free.

    From America, there is a take home for Nigerian leaders: nobody is above the law. It is also pertinent here to state the ‘honourable’ tag the lawmakers bandy around is an all- time decoration which must be adorned and demonstrated across the shores of Nigeria.

    We await the proof of the accusations just as we look forth to seeing the affected lawmakers carry out their threats to sue the United States. Clearing their names is the only way their constituents will resuscitate the trust they have in them. Nigeria as a country will benefit more from this as its name would be cleansed from this mess too.

     

    • Gwiyi Solomon,

    Abuja.

  • Lawmakers’ quest for immunity and pension

    Lawmakers’ quest for immunity and pension

    The National Assembly has proposed an amendment of the constitution to accommodate pension for its principal officers. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines the issue and its implication for country.

    THE Eight National Assembly has been embroiled in one controversy or the other since it was inaugurated over a year ago. The most recent one is the plan by the lawmakers to make the offices of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives pensionable.

    The proposal has been generating reactions from the members of the public, who see the move by the lawmakers as insensitive to the economic reality of the day. The Nigerian Pension Act has already stipulated categories of public servants to earn pension after the mandatory years in public service.

    Observers say the economy is over-stretched, noting that additional pension benefit for the lawmakers will be an unnecessary burden for the tax payers. They believe that the federal lawmakers’ proposal is criminal, self-serving and designed to frustrate those who genuinely deserve pension after serving the country meritoriously.

    The President of the Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Anyekwee Nsirimonu, said the legislators are already enjoying privileges that allow them to perform their duties in accordance with provisions of the law and that there was no justification for the proposal, because they are already enjoying outrageous perks of office.

    He added that the lawmakers are only concerned about what they will gain, instead of serving the interest of those who elected them. He said: “What is being demanded by the lawmakers in this case has gone beyond the known privileges. They want to be shielded from persecution, while they are in office and earn pension. This is unacceptable.

    “As a country, we should not get to a point where we cannot question our representatives or take them to court; doing that will greatly hurt our democracy.”

    Former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh said what is being canvassed would not happen if the lawmakers were operating on part-time basis. He said restructuring the country will address some of these vital issues that have kept surfacing from time to time.

    The former minister expressed optimism that a unicameral legislature will reduce cost of governance, particularly given the fact that Nigerian lawmakers were one of the highest paid in the world.

    He said: “The country would have to restructure to reflect the level of development in our society. That is, the legislature should be on party-time. So, the question of giving pension to lawmakers does not arise. The cost of governance is too high. So, I will never support anybody in the National Assembly canvassing for such.

    “It is on principle that I make this allusion and it is my own personal opinion. Politicians who are lawmakers should not earn pension. It is understandable if you say the executive should earn pension; this is because the President cannot do any other job.

    “It is understandable that governors earn pension. But, ministers should not earn pension; lawmaker should not earn pension; lawmakers should earn sitting allowance. It happened in the First Republic. The restructuring should accommodate only one legislative chamber at the centre.”

    The Chairman of United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, said the lawmakers have always tried to manipulate the system for personal gains and that the same game played out during the administration former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The UPP chieftain said during the last constitutional amendment by the Seventh Assembly, the lawmakers tried to smuggle what was incomprehensible into the amended constitution which made the former President to reject it.

    He said: “I must say that the clamour in the past has been the removal of immunity, but they are now talking of pension. I do not see how what they are asking for will enhance legislative duties. They should rather be making laws to improve governance.

    “They should engage themselves at strengthening laws that will further the improvement of federalism. I don’t see how somebody would work for four years and he is now demanding for pension. Some of them are retired civil servant, governors who already enjoy pension from their previous service.

    “The same issue played out when the House presented some dubious constitutional amendment proposal to former President Jonathan, which he refused to sign. They are at it again; the present proposal cannot see the light of day. The President must not accept what they are demanding and Nigerians are not ready for it.”

    The Convener of the Coalition of Democrats (CODER), Ayo Opadokun, said the efforts by the National Assembly to secure pension for themselves was a project through the back door. He explained that it was a misadventure aimed at enslaving the Nigerian people.

    He said: “What the Senate is talking about is a misadventure, under the leadership of someone I consider of less value, with particular reference to Senate President Bukola Saraki. He did the same thing while he was at the helm of affairs in Kwara State.

    “Saraki did the same thing when he coerced the Kwara State House of Assembly into towing his line of action when he was governor. The state could not pay workers its wages. He was the most unqualified and unthinkable element in that office.

    “They should look at his past, look at the charges against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). He made declaration of assets that cannot be substantiated; now he is seeking an inglorious pension allowance. This is totally unacceptable and would not see the light of day. Nigerians would resist this fresh attempt by those in authority to impoverish them.

    “They are surrogates of the military class. It was the same way the military decided the choice of things they wanted by sinking their hands into the wealth of the country. They are now using their surrogates to manipulate the poor people of this country.”

    The Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability (SERAP), Adetokunbo Mumuni, lamented that those who were supposed to lead a pathway for the country were the ones adding to its problem.

    He explained that the lawmakers were using their legislative powers to manipulate the constitution, noting that what they were doing is not strange.

    Mumuni said the perks of office currently enjoyed by the lawmakers should be pruned, because of the dwindling revenue.

    “We are all aware that the revenue from oil has nosedived. Senator Saraki and Hon. Dogara should focus on enhancing the National Assembly to perform its functions in a manner that will rid the country of corruption.

    “Granting senators and members of House of Representatives immunity and life pension would neither enhance accountability nor contribute to the betterment of Nigerians.

    “Nigerians will reject any self-serving attempt by the lawmakers to tear up section 308 of the 1999 constitution to grant their leaders immunity from persecution for corruption and money laundering. Nigerians will reject the despicable attempt by senators to grant themselves life pensions.”

    Constitutional lawyer and rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana said the proposal was provocative and that the human rights community will mobilise the people to reject the arrangement.

    He said: “Indeed, it is the height of insensitivity for the legislators to propose life pension for themselves at a time workers are owed arrears of salaries in many states. No serious nation can grant immunity to legislators who have been linked with criminal diversion of public funds, forgery and rape. We can assure the concerned members of the public that the satanic proposal of the legislators will not succeed.

    “It is pertinent to inform the lawmakers that the members of the human rights community have resolved to mobilise the people to reject both proposals. Nigerians deserve fairness, justice and equity in the administration of the commonwealth.”

    The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, urged the government to reject the plan in its entirety.

    He said any bill from the National Assembly to the government should be vetoed by President Muhammadu Buhari. He maintained that the proposal was outrageous and annoying.

    He added: “Saraki is a former governor; is he not enjoying pension in Kwara already? It is annoying, immoral and outrageous. It is the height of insensitivity. The demand shows that they don’t fear Nigerians.

    “Seeking immunity was tantamount to planning for a crime and demanding immunity in advance to cover up. Many Nigerians are started frowning at the immunity being enjoyed by the President and state governors. Proposing immunity for senators at this point in time is insensitive and unacceptable.

    “Should all Nigerians be asking for immunity? I am shocked that some people could be dreaming of such outrageous idea; it is out of the question.”

    The idea was equally condemned by Senator Shehu Sani. He said his colleagues were planning what is unthinkable, instead of making good laws, adding that though he supports immunity for the President and Vice President in the proposed amendment, it should not be extended to the lawmakers.

    His words: “This is not what the country need at this point. I don’t have anything against immunity for the President and Vice President; it should not be extended to the lawmakers. They should put Nigeria first before self.”

    The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Bala Kaigama, called on the lawmakers to retrace their steps. He said what they currently earn is impossible to sustain and that the new proposal will weaken the quest by Nigerians for decent living.

    He said: “The TUC condemns this unfortunate development, the proposed life pension for presiding officers of the National Assembly after their tenure in office, even at a time the economy has collapsed and brought about massive job loss and unprecedented poverty should be the last thing to put on the front burner.

    “We insist that those who violate the law, no matter how highly placed should face the wrath of the law. It is yet unfortunate that while we are yet to recover from the shock caused by some lawmakers who allegedly molested some ladies in a hotel in the United States, another drama is unfolding in the name of pension for lawmakers, this the crudest attack on the people. “

     

  • Lawmakers push for ‘safe beaches’

    Lawmakers push for ‘safe beaches’

    Lagos State House of Assembly Committees on Waterfronts Infrastructure and Tourism and Culture have been urged to work with the appropriate ministries on safety regulation at beaches and hotels.

    This is contained in a motion moved yesterday by Deputy Majority Leader,  Olumuyiwa Jimoh, citing the drowning of two postgraduate students of the University of Lagos, Sola Ogunmefun and Olubunmi Odusina, at Elegushi Beach on June 5.

    Jimoh said beaches should be safe to attract visitors, adding: “Gadgets should be put in place in our beaches. We have a regulation that should be obeyed. If the regulations are put in place, we will tell the world that we are ready to receive visitors.”

    Speaker Mudashiru Obasa said the issue should not be limited to beaches, but that it should cover hotels.

    He said the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture should come together to prevent death at beaches, noting that a policeman drowned in the swimming pool of a hotel in Lekki/Ajah some months ago.

    “They should come up with a regulation to monitor the beaches in the state. The Ministry of Tourism and Culture should provide equipment to monitor hotels and beaches to ensure safety,” he said.

     

     

  • Lawmakers urge Ambode to fix Ikorodu/Sagamu road

    Lawmakers urge Ambode to fix Ikorodu/Sagamu road

    The Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday called on Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to repair the Ikorodu-Sagamu Road.

    The resolution followed a motion by the Majority Leader, Sanai Agunbiade, at plenary yesterday.

    The House also called on the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to wake up to its responsibility.

    The lawmakers urged President Muhammadu Buhari to arrange for the refund of all funds spent by  the state to maintain federal roads.

    Tunde Braimoh (Kosofe 2) said there was need for urgent intervention by the state, adding that the road was germane to economic activities.

    Nurudeen Saka-Solaja ( Ikorodu II) said the busy road has been abandoned for long.

    Lanre Ogunyemi, the Chairman, Committee on Education, urged the industries along the corridor to wake up to their responsibilities.

     

     

     

     

  • Governors, lawmakers and Fulani herdsmen

    Last week on these pages, we talked about Yoruba governors who wear Awo’s cap without imbibing Awo’s character and philosophy. I think they have their parallel all over the country especially in the north where Ahamadu Bello, Awo’s contemporary, with an annual budget of 44m pounds, lower than what each of the 414 LGAs in the north today collects as allocation, according Nuhu Ribadu, “maintained law and order and ensured effective security of life and property, built Ahmadu Bello University, Ahmadu Bello Stadium, NNDC, the largest black-owned conglomerate in black Africa;  built many textile factories, good roads, marketing boards, efficient water supply etc” while the 19 northern  governors sadly  have nothing to show for the N8.3 trillion they  got from the federation account between 1999 and 2010″.

    While Awo and Bello as Premiers, stayed  at home,  studied and proffered solutions to the problems of their people, many of today’s imperial governors spend more time in Dubai, Britain, US, Jerusalem and Saudi Arabia purportedly sourcing for investors or shamelessly using taxpayer money to fulfill their religious obligations. Some even chose South American islands as their own destination. But we now know from the Panama papers that some governors use some of the Islands as safe havens to avoid payment of taxes on alleged stolen state allocations badly needed to checkmate the menace of Fulani herdsmen that have turned part of the Middle Belt into a killing field in the last seven years.

    Unfortunately, northern governors and their lawmakers believe the federal government is the answer to all their problems. This is probably the only reason why 19 northern governors whose major reason for being in government is the protection of life and properties, will last week disingenuously claim the Fulani herdsmen problem have to be resolved by the federal government. Speaking on behalf of Northern Governors Forum, Kashim Shetima, their chairman insisted ‘the crisis goes beyond Fulani herdsmen and as such, the country must collectively work towards a solution’. He did not forget to introduce an odious comparison between Fulani herdsmen’s atrocities and kidnapping in the South-east  without making a distinction between the target of the latter which are  Igbo victims of the tyranny of their own leaders who made fortunes by bargaining in their names and the target of the former who are victims of state tyranny with an unjust land allocation Act which has reduced them to subsistence farmers in small parcels of land not yet confiscated by government to satisfy the rich.

    Now the patrons of Fulani herdsmen, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Associations speaking through Nuru Abdullahi and Ardo Ahmadu Suleiman, their leaders in Plateau and North West Zone arrogantly say the federal constitution which allows land to be taken from the poor for the use of the rich, gives them access to any land in Nigeria. To show there is unanimity of thoughts on the issue by northern politicians, Hon Sadiq Ibrahim (Adamawa APC) on April 13 sponsored the National Grazing Routes and Reserve Bill which seeks the establishment of a commission to control and manage grazing routes and reserves in all parts of the country. The commission will be expected to undertake a physical/geographical analysis of land use in each state in order to ascertain the best and most appropriate place to locate the federal government reserve and route within the state.

    Defending the bill during a Channels TV programme, Sadiq warned of the consequences of not passing the bill which include but not limited to the possibility of northern farmers driven by search for water overrunning the south in a matter of decades.  He forecloses the possibility of the north taking its fate in its own hands even after pointing out that Saudi Arabia a desert nation, has the largest cattle ranch in the world.

    Sadiq also attributed the mindless killing of farmers and armless children and women by AK47-wielding Fulani herdsmen to the fact that  most children sent out of their homes as early as their ninth birthday to herd cattle not necessarily owned by commercial cattle farmers but by uncles and cousins spend their formative years bonding, not with man but animals.

    The fundamental question to ask northern governors and their federal lawmakers, beneficiaries of the foresight of Ahmadu Bello who 60 years ago went round towns and villages of northern cities selecting underprivileged children including President Buhari for schools, is why they have not seen it as a challenge to end the lives of misery of nine-year-olds hijacked from their poor parents and forced to spend the most critical formative years  in the bush looking after cows owned according to Sadiq by ‘uncles and cousins’, who most certainly have their own children in the best schools in and outside the country?

    Shetima’s Borno State before the outbreak of Boko Haram insurgency had only about 30% of children of school age in schools. It was not markedly different in many parts of the north where when nine year olds are not uprooted from their families to spend the rest of their lives in the bush, they are roaming the streets of northern cities as almajiris. Until the bold step taken by the former Kano State governor to provide an alternative choice to Kano street urchins and the introduction of ex President Jonathan’s nomadic schools, we have no records of efforts made by other northern governors to stop labourers siring labourers.

    But the northern governors don’t have to look far to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and Israel where desert regions produce enough food to feed themselves and parts of Europe. Many of the governors who are now in APC should ask Tinubu, Fashola and even newly elected Ambode how they have been able to manage the peculiar problems of their state without federal government support.

    While the northern governors exploited the defective federal constitution to unfairly corner more LGAs and more federal allocations, Lagos State went on to create more Council Areas. The state in spite of a vindictive federal government creatively increased its IGR from pre- 1999 N600m to about N16b. The state set up LASTMA to tackle the traffic gridlock associated with urban centres in spite of a vindictive federal government that set up a parallel body made up of political thugs to confront Lagos State officials on federal roads. The state was the first to set up an Independent Power Plant. The pilot scheme took three years instead of three months because of a vindictive federal government fearing ‘Lagos might become like London”. Lagos State wanted state police to address peculiar urban problems as obtained in all federations in the world. The 19 northern governors that equally needed state police to address their own peculiar challenges of porous borders joined the federal government to kill the initiative. Lagos State did not give up. It went on to creatively make use of the same Nigeria Police to tackle the problems of violent crimes in the state. Fashola started the miracle of Oshodi; Ambode has completed it. Today, if you are caught loitering in Oshodi, you will be picked up by the police. And finally to ensure food security as well as prevent jobless immigrants taking on to crime, Ambode went to Osun State to lease land for agriculture. Two weeks back, he signed a Memorandumý of Understanding to establish a commodity value chain that will boost food processing, production, and distribution with Kebbi State.

    The 19 northern governors who are busy passing the buck, their lawmakers who are sponsoring bills to shift their responsibilities to others, and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Associations who are threatening to unleash armed Fulani herdsmen on poor farmers must be reminded that in a federation, states have the constitutional duty of defending their citizens. And states who like Lagos cannot creatively do that through LASTMA or the police are at liberty to employ the services of vigilante groups because states exist primarily to protect lives and properties of their citizens.

  • Lawmakers summon commissioner over fee hike

    The Benue State House of Assembly has summoned the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Denis Ityavyar, and the Vice Chancellor of the Benue State University, Prof. Msugh Kembe to appear before it to explain the recent fee hike at the institution.

    Though the summons was for last Wednesday, the duo is yet to appear because they travelled.

    When he finally appears, the Commissioner is to explain why he  allegedly justified the recent increment in the amount paid as ‘conditional charges’ by students of the university; while the Vice Chancellor, who is to appear alongside his principal officers, is expected to explain why he increased the charge despite the harsh economic climate.

    Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Mr. Terkimbi Ikyange, handed the resolutions of the House after a debate on a motion of Urgent Public Importance moved by the member for Gboko West Constituency, Mr. Terhemba Chabo, who drew attention of the House to the hike.

    Chabo noted that while the Assembly was not against increasing rates, the increment was ill-timed and unjustifiable, calling on the lawmakers to intervene to avert crisis at the institutions.

    The Majority Leader, Benjamin Adanyi, and others, Dr. Adoga Onah ( Oju I), Mr. James Gbande (Kwande East), Mr. Stephen Tyochir (Gwer), and the Minority Leader, Alhaji Audu Sule, stressed the need for the institution to take the plight of parents into consideration before effecting the increment.

  • IPOB slams lawmakers for allowing Grazing Bill

    The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has berated the Southeast and Southsouth lawmakers in the National Assembly for allowing the Grazing Reserves Bill to pass the second reading at the Senate and the House of Representatives.

    A statement in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, by its Director of Media and Publicity, Emma Powerful, said the National Assembly members from  zones  did not know what they were doing by their action.

    The statement reads: “The national assembly members from the two zones allowing the grazing bill to pass second reading shows that our people in the national assembly were used by their fellow members and they

    were just stooge and they are there for their personal interest and not for their people.

    “We of the IPOB discovered that they have been bought over by their Hausa-Fulani counter parts in the Senate and House of Representatives in Abuja to the detriment of their people who they are representing.

    IPOB is warning them that this is a systematic way of bringing the invaders in our land and they are coming to Islamise us (we children of Chukwu Okike Abiama) God Almighty.

    “We are warning the Southsouth and Southeast, governors to thread with caution because we don’t have places to use as Fulani ranch and any governor who issues a place will bear the consequences and

    posterity will never forgive those who sabotaged his or her people.

    “More so, the highest producers of cows grazing and ranch in the world is Argentina followed by Australia, they have not been ravaging and

    destroying farmland or causing problems with the people, let the northern governors allocate enough land in their state to them because we have no land for cow rearing in Biafra.”

  • Lawmakers, activists, church to Fed Govt: rescue girls now

    Lawmakers, activists, church to Fed Govt: rescue girls now

    Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday urged the Federal Government to rescue the Chibok girls.
    The motion moved at the plenary by Hon. Sola Giwa from Lagos Island constituency 1 under Matter of Urgent Public Importance.
    Giwa said: “The President Muhammadu Buhari-led government should direct the military and men of the Department of State Security (DSS) to take necessary steps to locate the girls to give confidence to the people.”
    Hon. Moshood Oshun from Lagos Mainland Constituency 2 said 15 of the children were recently featured in a video by the CNN.
    “We once requested for support from the United Kingdom and the United States of America on the matter. They yielded to the request and sent some of their military men to Nigeria, but the men were recalled as they alleged that they did not get the necessary support from the then President Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government,” he said.
    He said if the government could not get intelligence about the whereabouts of the girls, it should find a way of consoling the parents of the girls.
    Speaker Mudashiru Obasa said the House sympathised with the parents and the Borno State government.
    Obasa said: “We want to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to help find the girls. We read that Boko Haram members once demanded a huge amount of money to free the girls.
    “The girls are our future leaders; so, the Federal Government should search for them to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the system,” he said.
    Deputy Majority Leader Olumuyiwa Jimoh added that the Federal Government should locate the girls as their parents have become so much apprehensive about the whereabouts of their children.
    Another lawmaker, Hon. Oluyinka Ogundimu, said the parents of the girls are in pains and that the matter should be resolved as soon as possible.
    A human right activist, Comrade Femi Aborisade, yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital urged the government to organise and lead a monthly mass protests against Boko-Haram insurgency.
    The activist spoke during a protest organised at the Nigerla Labour Congress (NLC) Secretariat to mark the two years of the girls’ abduction.
    The group carried placards with inscriptions, such as:” FGN, keep your promise and brink back our girls, Chibok Girls abduction is not a mirage, it’s 2 years now bring back our girls, our missing girls must be found, this is a national calamity”.
    Aborisade said the monthly rallies should be led by the president, governors, ministers, commissioners and the leadership and members of the legislature.
    Members of the Church of the Brethren, also known as Ekelisiyar Yann’uwa a Nigeria(EYN), yesterday used its 96th annual conference to offer special prayers for the release of Chibok girls.
    They were joined by colleagues from the Church of the Brethren from Illinois, United States. EYN church was based in Kwarhi village in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State but was forced to relocate to Jos, the Plateau State capital due to incessant attack by Boko Haram in October 2014.
    Executive Director, Global Mission and Service, Mr. Jay Wittmeyer, who led the delegation from Illinois, said the Church would not be discouraged.
    He said: “The actuall numbers of the girls abducted from the school two years ago are 278, out of which only few of them were lucky to escape.
    “The school where the Chibok girls were abducted was established by the Church of the Brethren in 1948, but we handed the school over to Nigerian government and left back to U.S. where we came from. So today, it remains government school.”
    He applauded the efforts of the Buhari administration for its consistent and committed efforts to rescue the girls.
    The Church’s president Rev Samuel Dali, who presided over the special prayers for the missing girls, said: “Today marks the second year of the disappearance of our daughters from their school in Chibok. We are still weeping in our hearts as parents and as a church.
    “178 of the missing Chibok girls belong to the church. The parents are members of this church and that is why we decided to organise the church’s 69th conference on the very day these girls were abducted.
    “15 of the parents of the Chibok girls have been killed by the same people who kidnapped our daughters. 11 of the parents of the Chibok girls have died out of trauma in the last two years. Chibok village has also been attacked more than five times since then.
    “As Christians we have no weapon other than prayers, we have been praying and we will continue to pray to our God to have mercy of these girls and the parents.
    “Let there be no more attack on Chibok village or any village in the country, let there be peace all over the country and the entire world. Let the secret of those who abducted these girls to be revealed.”