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Tag: Lawmakers

  • APC lawmakers to Fayose: you can’t arrest us

    APC lawmakers to Fayose: you can’t arrest us

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) members in the Ekiti State House of Assembly have faulted an alleged directive from Governor Ayo Fayose calling for their arrest for holding a plenary in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, last Thursday.

    They claimed that the governor has directed the Ministry of Justice to write a memo authorising the commissioner of police to arrest them for conducting a sitting in which some resolutions were made.

    The APC lawmakers maintained that they cannot be arrested for performing their constitutional duties, adding that they acted in line with Section 101, which allows them to sit in another location in the state capital, if their security cannot be guaranteed in the House of Assembly complex.

    In a statement yesterday by the Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, the lawmakers said political thugs have continued to lay siege to the Assembly complex and the situation has endangered their lives.

    “The governor or the police cannot arrest us for performing our constitutional duty. Section 101 of the constitution  makes it explicit that the House can regulate its activities, including conducting its sittings in public buildings in the state capital.

    “The Supreme Court had also ruled that the House can conduct its sittings in public places in the state capital if conditions exist that endanger members in the conduct of their sittings.

    “Governor Fayose has kept armed thugs permanently in the House of Assembly to attack us. We can’t put ourselves in harm’s way, yet we have a responsibility to our constituents to make laws for good governance.

    “This is why we followed the law to sit to consider issues on the ongoing constitutional amendment.

    “Ekiti State has just one House of Assembly. That is why the National Assembly acknowledged the receipt of our resolutions on the constitutional amendment.

    “If they are sure of their status, let them approach the National Assembly or the Judiciary for recognition.”

  • Should lawmakers impeach Jonathan?

    Should lawmakers impeach Jonathan?

    Some lawmakers are gearing up to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan, with less than three months to the 2015 elections. Will they succeed? Lawyers air their views on the move. ADEBISI ONANUGA reports

    Should President Goodluck Jonathan remain in office? No, say some senators who are accusing him of gross misconduct.

    No fewer than 63 Senators are said to have signed an impeachment notice to be served on the President.

    Reports say once the primaries are over, the pro-impeachment Senators and their counterparts in the House of Representatives will meet to consider when to present the impeachment request to Senate President David Mark in line with Section 143 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution.

    A principal officer in the Senate reportedly confirmed that the pro-impeachment lawmakers have embarked on signature drive to get the required two-third stipulated in the Constitution for the exercise to scale through.

    The impeachment move is coming against the backdground of what some pundits described as undemocratic and unconstitutional acts by the President or agencies supposed to be subservient to democratic rules and constitutional authorities.

    Observers cited the recent use of police to prevent the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and other lawmakers from gaining access to the National Assembly. Some of scaled the gate to enter the place.

    Others are the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba’s refusal to recognise Tambuwal as Speaker; the desecration of the judiciary in Ekiti State and the police clamp down on the “Bring Back Our Girls” campaigners.

    The President has also, by his body language, allegedly backed the ‘impeachment’ of Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker by seven PDP lawmakers.

    Reactions to the impeachment plot

    Some lawyers are backing the impeachment move since to them, the allegations are weighty.

    They, however, warned against heating up the polity, especially with the election a few months away.

    Former Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Monday Ubani, said if the President has committed any offence which the National Assembly considers impeachable, then he should go.

    He added: “However, this is subject to the two basic tests. One is, can  both legislative chambers muster the requisite numerical strength constitutionally provided to carry out successfully the said impeachment? Two, is it politically expedient to carry out any impeachment of the President now that election is a few months away?

    “On the first question, I doubt very much the possibility of mustering the requisite numerical strength (in this case 2/3 majority members of both legislative houses) to impeach the President,” Ubani said.

    According him, opposition party members alone cannot impeach the President.

    “The second issue is: is it politically inexpedient to do so? The current Vice-President is from the Northern region and a likely successor to the office of the President in case of a successful impeachment.

    “Sinister meanings with demonic consequences will be the outcome of such a successful impeachment. The consequence of such act is better imagined than manifesting.

    “The people from the Southsouth and those presently benefiting from the present government from Southeast are likely going to fight dirty to ensure a reversal,” Ubani said.

    A member of the Ogun State Judicial Service Commission, Abayomi Omoyinmi, said all the impeachable allegations leveled against the President are real.

    He agreed with the lawmakers that the President has committed the offences, while there has been leadership failure.

    He noted that  the procedure for impeachment of the President could take months, adding that the illegal impeachment processes witnessed recently cannot be re-enacted with regard to the President.

    “The fact that the election is just a few months away should not stop the commencement of the process if the legislators are desirous and are committed to proving the allegations once the process gets started,” he stated.

    However, a constitutional lawyer, Sebastine Hon (SAN), faulted the timing of the impeachment.

    He said the cumulative period of four months stipulated for the various stages in the impeachment of the President under Section 143(2)(b), (3), (5) and (7)(,b) of the Constitution will not be met before the February, 2015 elections.

    This, according to him, then means that taxpayers money would have been spent on a phoney project.

    “It is, with due respect, wrongly timed and is capable of engendering unimaginable political consequences. Mind you, the President will not stand aloof and watch himself disgraced out of office. The ensuing political battle will splatter extremely foul water on our political and economic spaces, which are already at breaking point,” he said.

    Hon added: “Nigerians are already restive and have become marooned, no thanks to the recklessness and impunity of the political class and the downward spiral of oil prices, resulting to crushing poverty.

    “They are, therefore, not ready for any expensive political fight between the executive and the legislature in the name of impeachment of the President.”

    A Lagos lawyer, Olukayode Enitan, wondered why the lawmakers chose this period to try to impeach the President.

    According to him, most of the allegations are not new. “So why raise the issues now and as grounds for impeachment rather than election issues?”he asked.

    “If Jonathan should be impeached, who comes in? The VP Namadi Sambo.  Can you extricate him from what the executive has been doing? Never forget that it’s been said that a people get the government that they desire and deserve no matter what they say.”

    To Enitan, there has been a failure of leadership from this administration’s beginning. He said the non-release of the Chibok girls is  a  reflection of the lack of leadership, stating that the National Assembly is partly to blame for the continued captivity of the girls by the Boko Haram.

    He wondered why it took the Senators till now to see the fact that the award of oil pipeline protection contract to former Niger Delta militants meant a vote of no confidence on the police and other security forces of the country.

    He lamented that corruption is everywhere in the  country and while the Jonathan administration can be held to have been derelict in the fight against it, the National Assembly has also been complicit by being ineffective in its oversight duties.

    Former Welfare Secretary of the NBA, Ikeja Branch, Samson Omodara said while the National Assembly has reasonble basis to begin an impeachment process against the President if indeed he committed the alleged offences,  but he is worried about the timing. “The timing is politically in-expedient,” he thought.

    Lagos lawyer, Emeka Nwadioke considered the allegations against the President weighty on one hand and “tenuous and laughable” on the other, particularly the one dealing with corruption.

    The lawyer/publisher said the timing of the planned impeachment is manifestly inauspicious, especially in light of the terror war and the national economy, which are “on the precipice”.

    “If the lawmakers have condoned Mr. President for so long, and have to wait until the invasion of the National Assembly by a motley crowd of wayward policemen to recall that as many as 120 bills remain unaccented to while they have been rendered a toothless bulldog all this while, it is safe to say that most of the lawmakers deserve to be ‘impeached’ or recalled.

    “Nigerians are not amused by this fiddling with our collective intelligence. What is more, the impeachment process as provided by Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is not a tea-party; it can last for as long as almost four months.”

    He hoped that with the electioneering campaigns around the corner, the plan is not yet a grand design by the lawmakers to beef up their electioneering war-chest through ‘Ghana-must-go’ stratagems.

    Lagos lawyer, Adesina Adegbite said that the impeachment plot against President Goodluck Jonathan will die a natural death.

    Though the impeachment threat appeared to be yielding some result,  Adegbite, a former Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Ikeja Branch  contended that it was weaven to get the President’s support for the return ticket for some powerful PDP members in the Senate.

    He said that the impeachable offences compiled by some senators against the President, are all political gimmicks.

    “There’s no doubt that the President has failed in many respects and in a decent society the President would have voluntarily bowed out of office long before now. However, I can tell you straight away that the impeachment threat is only meant to achieve one aim, and that is  to get the President’s support for the return ticket for some powerful PDP members in the Senate”, he insisted.

    Hon said with the general elections imminent,  all hands must be on deck to ensure their success.

    Ubani urged the political elite to do everything possible to avert the predicted break up of the country by the United States.

    “It is a task we must all pursue  if we must have a country we can still call our own. This impeachment threat remains what it is; a mere threat, which may or may not be tabled at all, let alone debated upon.”

    Omodara advised the lawmakers not to heat up the polity.

    “Care must be taken by our political gladiators not plunge the nation into an avoidable calamity,” he said.

    Instead of an impeachment exercise that may not work, Enitan urged Nigerians to take a decision in February 2015 by vote Jonathan out.

    “If we are agreed that he (the President) is inept and unable to govern properly nor offer the type of leadership that we need at this point in our national life, then he must be voted out,” he said.

    Nwadioke urged the National Assembly to refrain from playing to the gallery or overheating the polity.

    “Let them face what is left of their jaded tenure and leave Nigerians to decide Mr. President’s fate in February,” he added.

     

  • Reps: Jonathan must go

    Reps: Jonathan must go

    Lawmakers open impeachment battle against President

    Police, SSS teargas Tambuwal, others

    It was like a scene from an action-packed movie.

    Lawmakers removed their shoes and climbed the iron fence to make their way inside the chamber. Teargas fumes choked the environment, drawing tears from the lawmakers’ eyes. Many were shouting and screaming. Chaos.

    That was the scene yesterday at the National Assembly complex in Abuja where the police and other security agents battled unsuccessfully to stop House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal from entering the chamber.

    In anger, the lawmakers launched an impeachment battle against President Goodluck Jonathan.

    By evening, no fewer than 130 of them —there are 360 members in the House— had signed a register to back the Jonathan-must-go move.

    Policemen allegedly acting on the instructions of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, locked the gates to the National Assembly (NASS). There were no comments from Anyim and Col. Dasuki yesterday.

    Efforts by the Speaker to enter the complex was resisted by security forces, mainly the police, led by Acting Police Commissioner Wilson Inalegwu.

    The policemen were in combat gears, fully armed. With them were hooded Department of State Service (DSS) personnel.

    Signs of a chaotic day came as early as 7.00am when  early callers were confronted by a new set of armed security personnel.

    No vehicle was spared from being checked as drivers were made to alight from their cars to open their booths. Cars with tainted screens were asked to wind down the windows to ascertain the identity of the  occupiers of the back seat.

    Construction trucks were not spared as policemen climbed inside the drivers’ cabins to check any for any hidden unapproved  objects or persons.

    A Supreme Court Judge who used the road to access the Supreme Court complex could not hide his anger when he retorted after his driver was asked to wind down the passenger side’s windscreen.

    “Why are you people disturbing everybody, aren’t you aware that people have work to go to? I am going to Supreme Court,” he shouted angrily at the police officer.

    The policeman replied: “Sorry for the inconvenience sir. The NSA is aware of why we are here.”

    At about 10.35am,  Aminu Tambuwal arrived at the first entrance to the NASS in his official vehicle, with the House of Repesenatives’ crest and the Coat of Arms accompanied by a convoy of about 50 cars.

    The security men at the first gate made no attempt to stop him.

    At the second and final gate, the convoy was stopped for checking.

    After passing the second gate, the Speaker’s car could not pass the final gate as it was firmly locked. His convoy could not even go through the second gate.

    The Speaker alighted from his car to talk to the police officers on the other side of the gate.

    The Speaker called out to their leader, the FCT Acting CP, Inalegwu, who said he was on the telephone.

    Likewise, none of the policemen, mostly of junior ranks, responded to his introduction as the Speaker of the House.

    At a point, some of the lawmakers who accompanied the Speaker, began banging on the gate, pulling it and threatening to force their ways in.

    The Speaker stepped away to make some calls.

    The pulling of the gate continued but the security men did not bulge, saying they had an order from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to lock the gate.

    At this point, caution took over as some lawmakers continued to talk with the policemen and by a stroke of luck, the gate was partially opened on the order of the FCT Acting CP.

    The Speaker and some lawmakers were  pushed in before the gate was shut again.

    The lawmakers began to scale the tall gate. One after the other, they scalde the gate, saying nothing will stop them from performing their duty.

    On arriving at the scene, just minutes after the Speaker had gone in, the Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, joined his compatriots in scaling the gate.

    The oldest member of the House, Hasan  El Badawi, made for the 10 feet tall gate, climbed it and jumped into the complex –  to the admiration of his colleagues and others.

    Other lawmakers who accompanied the Speaker include Deputy Minority Leader, Suleiman Kawu, Solomon Adeola, Mohammed Zakari, Samuel Adejare and Biodun Akinlade, among many others.

    The security men made no attempt to stop the lawmakers until they got to the entrance of the Parliament building (White House).

    Meanwhile, lawmakers within the National Assembly had received phone calls that the Speaker was prevented from entering the complex.

    In anger, scores of lawmakers raced out of the White House in the direction of the main gate. But they met the Speaker at the arcade being led in by other lawmakers.

    That was when the police started targeting him with shots of tear gas.

    Before Tambuwal was muscled  into the chamber by his colleagues, teargas canisters were shot at him three times at the entrance of the White House and twice inside the lobby.

    His colleagues rushed him into the Chamber and locked the door.

    For hours, the lobby was filled with teargas fumes. Lawmakers and others were coughing and clutching their noses with handkerchiefs. The fumes permeated offices and committee rooms in the White House.

    Senate President David Mark also got a dose of the security meltdown as he  was locked out for over 30 minutes. He entered the complex through the back gate.

    An angry Mark flayed the Divisional Police Officer in the National Assembly, who on allegedly said the SGF gave the order for the lockdown of the legislature.

    However, on gaining access, Mark got a raw deal when he made to see the Speaker on the Representatives’ wing.

    He was ruffled up by the crowd milling around the Speaker. He was  pushed and shoved by the crowd who claimed that he had foreknowledge of the attack on the Speaker but die nothing to stop it.

    After conferring with the Speaker, Mark returned to his office. He was seen off by Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha.

    Afterwards, the House went into plenary to consider the only item on the order paper the President’s request for extension of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.

    The matter was debated behind closed doors.

    On emerging from the plenary, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and a host of other Representatives made for the office of the Senate President.

    The Senate President’s office, the Speaker and his team were denied entrance and, after a while, a warning boomed from the public address system, asking those around the entrance to return to their offices.

    The Deputy Speaker left, leaving the Speaker. After a while, the Speaker left. to be joined at the Senate car park  by Ihedioha and over a hundred other members.

    The crowd swelled by the moment and the Speaker left in a motorcade of over 70 cars, with the convoy lined on the side by lawmakers, well-wishers and staff of the National Assembly.

    The Speaker drove out of the complex at about 1.17pm.

    The House condemned the action of the police but promised that it will defend its territory (the National Assembly complex) with all its might.

    Spokesman Zakari Mohammed told journalists at the end of the special plenary that the action of the police was capable of undermining the country’s democracy.

    He said: “We are not criminals, we were sent here by Nigerians that elected us. How can the President give an assignment to the Speaker and at the same time lock him out and tear gassed?

    “Though we see this drama as one of the hazards of democracy, but we have sworn to defend the constitution and our democracy.

    “We refused to be cowered. The National Assembly is not a State Assembly where all kinds of illegalities are perpetrated and there won’t be any response.

    “We condemn the police action in all its entirely, we cannot turn this country into a banana republic; what is important to us is we must continue to uphold the constitution and  continue to do what is constitutionally right.

    “The National Assembly is our territory and we will defend it and resist all attempt to stop,us from doing our work.”

     

  • Anger as 7 PDP lawmakers endorse Fayose’s nominees

    Anger as 7 PDP lawmakers endorse Fayose’s nominees

    Under police cover and emboldened by a band of thugs, seven Ekiti Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers “sat” yesterday to approve three commissioner-nominees presented by Governor Ayodele Fayose.

    The action drew outrage.

    The lawmakers also empowered Fayose to appoint 12 special advisers and constitute caretaker committees for the 16 local governments, pending the conduct of the local government election.

    The seven PDP legislators were joined by three individuals whose identities could not be ascertained, in a bid to surpass a quorum of nine members needed to carry out a valid sitting  of the House as stipulated by the Constitution and the Assembly’s Standing Rules.

    Reporters were not allowed to go inside the chamber with cameras.

    The electronic media were prevented from covering the “sitting” –  apparently to shield  the three “unknown legislators”.

    The “sitting” was conducted under a massive security cover provided by mobile policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

    A police Armoured Personnel Carrier marked NPF 5907 C and police pick-up vans were stationed outside the parliamentary building throughout the “sitting”.

    After the strange sitting, the nominees and the lawmakers were ferried into the Government House in a Toyota Coaster bus marked EKGH 111 with a massive security cordon woven around them.

    Fayose, in a letter dated November 11, which was addressed to the Speaker, requested the approval of the Assembly for the constitution of caretaker committees – a request that was rejected by the majority APC House members.

    A PDP lawmaker representing Ekiti East 2, Mr. Samuel Ajibola, told reporters shortly after the “sitting” that Speaker Adewale Omirin was on an assignment for his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Lagos. Deputy Speaker Taiwo Orisalade was on a campaign tour to his constituency (Ido/Osi 2), he said.

    Ajibola maintained that 10 legislators attended the “sitting” adding that they sat to ensure good governance, peace, progress and development of the state.

    But the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers have declared the “sitting” as illegal, unconstitutional, unparliamentary and a rape of the Constitution and the Standing Rules of the House.

    They called for the arrest and prosecution of the three impersonators who posed as members of the House to carry out an illegality in the parliamentary chambers.

    The APC Assemblymen said no sitting was slated for Monday and the House was not convoked by the Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, who is constitutionally empowered to do so.

    The PDP lawmakers at the  sitting “elected” Mr. Dele Olugbemi who defected from the APC on October 16 during Fayose’s inauguration, as the protem speaker.

    Olugbemi, who represents Ikole 2 Constituency, shortly after his “election” presided over the session in which the three commissioner-nominees were screened and cleared.

    The nominees are Mr. Owoseni Ajayi for Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Kayode Oso (Works) and Mr. Toyin Ojo (Finance and Economic Development).

    The “sitting”, which started at about 10.00 am, saw the PDP lawmakers led by Ajibola who is the Minority Leader, conducting the business of the day.

    The seven PDP lawmakers who could be identified by reporters inside the chamber are: Ajibola, Olugbemi, Mr. Adeyinka Adeloye (Ikole 1), Mrs. Abeni Olayinka (Ado 2), Mrs. Ayo Olajide-Fatunbi (Moba 2), Mr. Olowo Ajiboye (Oye 2) and Mr. Alex Adeojo (Ekiti Southwest 2).

    Ajibola was the only PDP member in the House before Fayose returned to power on October 16. He was joined by the six who defected to the  ruling party on the day of the governor’s inauguration.

    But reporters struggled to identify the three other persons posing as lawmakers as none of the trio was seen immediately the “sitting” ended at about 10.40 am.

    Ajibola, who acted as Leader of Government Business in the House, hinged the action of the PDP lawmakers on Section 27 of the Standing  Order, which, according to him, gives the lawmakers powers to appoint a speaker pro-tempore in the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Soeaker.

    He argued that the protem speaker is empowered by the Standing Order to perform the function of the substantive Speaker when the first two principal officers are not around.

    Ajibola moved the motion  to allow the Sergeant-at-Arms to usher in the three nominees. Themotion was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers and their nomination was subsequently “ratified”.

    WE CONDUCTED A VALID SITTING-PDP CAUCUS

    Speaking with reporters shortly after the “sitting”, Ajibola denied that three unidentified persons joined the seven PDP lawmakers, adding that 10 lawmakers sat – a figure he described as greater than needed to form a quorum.

    “The quorum is nine and we had 10 members who attended the sitting of today. That shows that we formed a quorum. We don’t have PDP or APC in the House; we are all members of Ekiti State House of Assembly.

    “We make laws here and we treat issues brought before us in the overall interest of the people of the state.

    “The Deputy Speaker is on the field campaigning and Mr. Speaker is in Lagos for a party meeting. Section 27 of the Standing Order gives us the power to elect a protem speaker from among ourselves if the speaker and the deputy speaker are not around.

    “The law permits us to do so and what transpired today was a normal procedure.”

    SITTING, AN OUTRIGHT ILLEGALITY-APC CAUCUS

    The 19 APC lawmakers declared the sitting as an illegality, which violates the provisions of the Constitution and the House Standing Order.

    Speaking with The Nation on telephone, the Majority Leader, Mr. Churchill Adedipe, challenged the PDP lawmakers to identify the three individuals who posed as “honourable members”.

    Adedipe maintained that the 26-member parliament comprises 19 APC members and seven PDP members, wondering where the ruling party “recruited three thugs” to sit in the House in a “desperate bid to reach the quorum of nine”.

    Adedipe said the House does not hold plenary sitting on Mondays, maintaining that anything done in the hallowed chamber by PDP lawmakers and the three impostors was an exercise in futility.

    He likened the “sitting” to what took place during the tenure of the  Third Assembly when some PDP lawmakers who did not form a quorum conducted a “sitting at dawn” to screen and ratify nominees for the State Independent Electoral Commission (S.I.E.C).

    Adedipe recalled that the illegality was later nullified by the State High Court, expressing confidence that the latest illegality will not stand the  test of time as his party would challenge it.

    The majority leader also revealed that chairmen and members of caretaker committees in the 16 local government areas and 19 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) have filed a suit challenging their dissolution by Fayose, wondering why the PDP-led government couldn’t wait for the determination of the case before constituting new ones.

    Adedipe argued that it is in the Standing Order of the House that members should stay action on any issue that is before a court of competent jurisdiction.

    The Majority Leader, who represents Irepodun/Ifelodun 1 Constituency, said the action of Fayose and the PDP lawmakers was an attempt to foist a fait accompli on the court of law and a contemptuous breach of the 1999 Constitution.

  • ‘Compel lawmakers to render account of stewardship’

    ‘Compel lawmakers to render account of stewardship’

    Many people, especially from the upland part of Ondo State besieged Igbokoda in the riverside area of the state recently to listen to the lawmaker representing Ilaje constituency II in the state House of Assembly give account of his stewardship. DAMISI OJO was there.

    Apparently disturbed by the purported reckless spending of resources by public servants, a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly representing Ilaje Constituency II, Gbenga Edema has urged the federal government to enact a law mandating all lawmakers both at State and federal levels to give account of their stewardship before the end of their tenure.

    According to him, the development would help in curbing the excesses of the legislators in appropriating large sums of money for themselves and also spending such recklessly.

    Besides, it would force them to move closer to the people they are representing.

    Edema, a lawyer is the only legislator in the State Assembly out of 24 other colleagues who refused to follow Governor Olusegun Mimiko to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the Labour Party.

    He gave the advice, at a ceremony in Igbokoda, headquarters of the riverside Ilaje local government area where he rendered account of his stewardship to members of his constituency.

    He said as lawmakers they do not have power to award or approve contracts to their supporters but stressed that within the three and half years of his tenure as a lawmaker, he had spent the time in acquiring things that would benefit his people.

    His words, “some of my achievements are that I have been able to improve the educational system of the Riverside area. Before, at that time, people believe so much in miracle centres,(for WAEC/NECO SSCE)  it is not peculiar to Ilaje local government, but it is more here.

    “I was worried about the large number of our youths roaming the street without doing anything, due to unemployment and no money to start business. I was able to enroll 11 of them in Donbosco Skill Acquisition Centre and today, they have graduated after being trained in different fields.

    “I also fought to ensure that Araromi-Tofolu-Lagos road is given attention. There is a road in Ilaje area that if reconstructed you will not spend an hour before getting to Lagos from Ilaje.

    “I wrote the federal government and today, this same road has been included in the Federal Ministry of Works 2014 Budget. We are going to ensure this is implemented.

    “Also, on the issue of dichotomy caused by oil among the Ilajes, through our efforts and as at today, all Ilaje communities are now regarded as oil producing communities. We want to appreciate Governor Olusegun Mimiko because great thing was done during his tenure.

    “The dichotomy of you have oil and I don’t have oil which is used to divide our people is over. A Mahin man can now be OSOPADEC chairman, a Mahin and Aheri can now be appointed into NDDC board.

    “When looking at the rate of kidnappers’ activities in Ilaje, you will recall some prominent Ilaje people were affected by this menace, I joined my colleague, who is from the constituency I, to make a bill which is now law, “Anti-kidnap law” as at today, the issue of kidnapping in the Riverside area has reduced drastically”.

    An Ilaje indigine, Festus Olamasebi who spoke with ‘The Nation’ commended the lawmaker, saying the people felt his impact during his tenure.

    He advised Edema not to relent in his efforts to bring development to the riverside area, adding that they would continue to support him as he continues to work for the progress of the Ilaje land.

  • Lawmakers get N9b projects’ letters

    Lawmakers get N9b projects’ letters

    Lawmakers have got the Presidency’s nod to embark on constituency projects.

    Some N9 billion will go into such projects, which generated some controversy, with the Executive claiming that lawmakers should not execute projects.

    Such arguments seem to be dead, with House members getting letters to embark on the projects.

    It is all believed to be part of a plan to pave the way for President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of his intention to run again next year.

    Besides, it is to smoothen the road for his budget presentation and make peace  with the National Assembly, according to sources.

    The release followed a “new understanding” between President Jonathan and the leadership of the National Assembly.

    Similar gesture was said to have been extended to the Senate but the figure was kept under wraps as at press time.

    But, to many members of the National Assembly, the approval does not amount to automatic backing for Jonathan.

    According to sources, after foot-dragging on modalities for the projects the presidency also bowed to the demands of the lawmakers.

    The demands are input from the lawmakers on the types of projects for their constituencies and facilitation of the contractors to make execution faster.

    The release of project letters to lawmakers started on Thursday.

    Each member of the House got a letter for a project worth about N50million with conditions attached to it.

    As at press time, about 180 of the 360 Representatives have got letters on their constituency projects.

    It was learnt that others might get theirs this week.

    The government is, however, expected to fast-track payment to contractors as soon as any project is certified as “properly executed”.

    A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “We have had issues with the Presidency on constituency projects which ought to have come on stream in the last five months. But, surprisingly, during the week, I think on Thursday or so, some of us got letters to proceed with our proposed constituency projects.

    “We were suspicious of the timing because the letters came at about the same time the President announced plans to seek re-election.

    “But if anyone thinks that the constituency projects will amount to automatic support for the President’s second term, it is a joke.

    “We are not begging for constituency projects; they are already in the 2014 appropriation. They only used their veto to delay it. In any case, failure to implement the constituency projects will amount to a violation of the 2014 Appropriation Act.”

    Another high-ranking member of the House said: “I think they are using the projects to appease us to consider the 2015 Appropriation Bill. They know that they are behind time because the bill ought to have been presented in September.

    “As I am talking to you, they are still dealing with Medium Term Framework for the 2015 budget.

    “Definitely, there is no way we will not join issues with the Executive on the constituency projects when they bring the Appropriation Bill. They are trying to pre-empt us.

    “They have used the projects to douse the tension building up in the National Assembly against the Executive. You see, they do not know that these projects are not our personal jobs. They are short and quick win projects to improve the lives of the electorates.

    A PDP member of the House said: “I see the projects as in line with the improving rapprochement between the Executive and the National Assembly.

    “My concern is that the projects are late and the development is a setback for our plans to make December the life span of any budget. We have been struggling to keep that budget window.”

    The Minister of Special Duties, Alh. Kabir Tanimu Turaki yesterday said constituency projects are purely National Assembly affairs which the Federal Government only supervises.

    He said the Federal Government does not determine what projects to be executed, where to be sited and how much to spend.

    Turaki, who spoke on the phone last night, said the projects were not coming late as being insinuated because constituency projects have a lifespan of up till March 31st,

    He cautioned against reading politics into the management of constituency projects.

    Turaki said: “Constituency projects are executed through intervention funds given or allocated to the National Assembly.

    “Usually it is about N100billion every year and the National Assembly members know the formula they use. While every member of the House gets [projects worth about N70million, Senators may get N90million.

    “It is within the discretion of each member of the House or Senator to determine the constituency projects to implement based on the needs of their constituents, which MDAs to implement out of the budget envelope allocated.

    “We, in the Ministry of Special Duties, do not give out these contracts, we do not pay but we supervise to make sure that they are properly executed. So, we do not see the contracts, we don’t pay.

    “Therefore, the Federal Government does not determine what projects, where to be sited and how much to be spent.”

    Explaining how it works, Turaki added: “The way it works out is this: A member of the House might out of his envelope  want a skill acquisition centre in his constituency and will prefer the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to handle it. He or she might say out of N70million, I want N15million used for the centre, and another N20million for motorized boreholes to be executed by the Ministry of Water Resources. The breakdown will flow until his envelope is exhausted.

    “For each constituency project, the money from the Budget Office will go to the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). After, the Ministry of Special Duties will write to the MDAs to send us evidence of completion.

    He said: “Last year, 114 MDAs were involved but this year, 127 MDAs have been engaged for constituency projects. Some have started early and more than 70 per cent have been completed.”

  • Lawmakers sue Ondo Speaker, others

    Lawmakers sue Ondo Speaker, others

    Two lawmakers in the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olugbenga Edema and Fola Olasehinde-Vicente, have sued the Speaker, Princess Jumoke Akindele, the Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    This followed alleged plans by the Assembly to suspend them and declare their seats vacant for defecting from the Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Akure, by a lawyer , Charles Titiloye.

    They are praying the court to declare that their seats are not vacant and that INEC cannot conduct by- elections in Ilaje Constituency II and Ose Constituency.

    The lawmaker urged the court to declare that the steps being taken by the Speaker and the Assembly to suspend them before the completion of their tenure were unconstitutional and illegal.

    They sought the court’s protection to continue to attend proceedings and perform the functions of their offices until the expiration of their tenure.

    Titiloye said the Speaker and other PDP lawmakers who precipitated division in LP before joining PDP could not preside in judgment against their colleagues, who joined APC.

    The lawyer said: “Their hands are soiled with the same allegation of defection. We will not allow them to use their majority to undermine the rights of the minority APC lawmakers.”

  • ‘Our grievances with Bayelsa federal lawmakers’

    The day of reckoning has come. It is now the turn of the downtrodden, the rich and the mighty who make up the constituencies and wards in Bayelsa State to decide the fate of their elected representatives.

    The constituents have rolled out their scales to weigh the performances and achievements of persons they gave their mandates some years ago to fight for their collective interests at the National Assembly.

    But the scaling results seem unsatisfactory to the power owners, the constituents whom sovereignty belongs.

    Elders and leaders of the three senatorial districts that make up the state had at different separate enlarged meetings taken collective decisions that appeared to have foreclosed the possibility of the federal lawmakers to return to their seats in 2015.

    Unless the decision which zoned the seats out of the reach of incumbent lawmakers are reversed, the legislators are not even fit to stand for primary elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015. They can, however, seek to retain their positions in another political party possibly the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    Already, some heavyweights who are believed to have the blessings of major power brokers in the state are rising to challenge the lawmakers. The first to indicate a senatorial interest is the Secretary, South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA), Dr. Ayakeme Whiskey.

    Whisky, who is one of the board members of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), is seeking to occupy the seat of the Bayelsa West Senatorial District at the Senate. The senatorial district is made up of Ekeremor and Sagbama local government areas.

    He is up against Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who hails from Ekeremor. While Lokpobiri represents the district in the upper legislative house; Dr. Stella Dorgu, who is from Sagbama, represents Sagbama/Ekeremor in the House of Representatives.  Lokpobiri is serving his second term in the Senate while Dorgu, who replaced Governor Seriake Dickson, when the former became governor, is doing her first term.

    Recently, the stakeholders in the district had zoned the senatorial seat to Sagbama and the House of Representatives position to Ekeremor. The zoning which was kicked against by the supporters of Lokpobiri has become a big threat to the third term ambition of the senator.

    The supporters of Lokpobiri had argued that the decision of the PDP elders was against performance and legislative experience. According to them the state deserved to have ranking senators and Lokpobiri should be reelected in 2015 to fill the void.

    Favoured by the zoning, Whisky, who spoke to the Niger Delta Report, thinks otherwise. Whisky who was also a former commissioner in the state said beyond zoning, the incumbent lawmakers have failed to give their constituencies effective representation.

    He said:  “As far as I am concerned, our democratic experiment is still at infancy. It has not matured to a stage where somebody will say we want ranking senator. Ranking should be a product of service to the people you represent.

    “Ranking should not become an issue only when you feel that by going to the Senate two, three times, you will have the opportunity of being given highly valued House position. It should take more than that.

    “If the people you represent see evidence of effective representation, they feel being carried along at every point in time, they share in a sense of belonging to the National Assembly, it should be voluntary position on their part to say our son has done well, let him go.

    “To that extent, I fully subscribe to the decision of the senatorial party leadership that Sagbama Local Government, which started representation at Senate for eight years and relinquished that to Ekeremor, and Ekeremor having made eight years, the office of the Senate should now be zoned to Sagbama.

    “I fully subscribe to it. Those who want to go three, four times should be a product of people’s consensus agreement and not because they want it.”

    Whisky, who hails from Bolu-Orua, a community that shares boundary with the hometown of Governor Dickson’s Toru-Orua in Sagbama further identified the flaws of the incumbent federal lawmakers from the state.

    He said: “I am not coming out because it is zoned to Sagbama. Even if party leadership had not come up with the decision to zone the Senate to Sagbama, I would have still indicated interest. I am one of those that believe that the people to whom sovereignty belongs have not been effectively carried along.

    “Representation is beyond getting up to speak in the hallowed chambers. The democracy we practice is called representative democracy. How many times have the people of Bayelsa been involved by their representatives in defining laws, in being educated on the various bills?

    “In advance democracies, I stand to be corrected, representatives are every now and then being in touch with their people. If any substantive law is in the offing to be enacted, they go back to their people.

    “Now the other argument people will propose is that there is always public hearing. How many of us from Sagbama-Ekeremor have the means to go to Abuja to attend public hearing on proposed bills? I think part of the responsibility of those who aspire to represent us is to come back home to consult their people.

    “For instance, the entire Niger Delta area and Bayelsa in particular, our main resource here is oil. Now a bill as sensitive as Petroleum Industry Bill was being introduced, how many people of my senatorial district and how many people of other senatorial districts were briefed by our senators and House of Rep members on the fundamentals of the PIB?

    “They will say there was public hearing, but how many people have the capacity to go to Abuja for public hearing? These are the fundamentals. It is not just an issue to say that the senatorial leadership of the party had zoned the Senate to Sagbama. I as a person feel that there are fundamental flaws in representation and I would ordinarily have come up to challenge the status quo.

    “Even while I was a commissioner here, we brought up a policy called bottom-up approach in budgeting. A good representative should be able to come back home in a pre-budgeting season, gather stakeholders of their constituencies and discuss issues that could be included in the budget.

    “After discussing the issues and demands, you should be able to prioritise the demands and see how many of the demands you can fix in the various budgets. It is not just merely constituency projects.

    “We know that constituency project is the euphemism to lining the pockets of legislators. Representatives are only interested in constituency projects and they become the contractors of the projects and line their pockets.”

    On why he wanted to abandon a South-South regional leadership for the Senate, he said: “South-South Peoples Assembly is a pressure group. You can at best place the issues affecting your people before relevant authorities and agencies.

    “You cannot define the solution. As the Secretary of the assembly for the past eight years, I have become very conversant with the issues that border, militate and concern the people of South-South.

    “Secretary of Southsouth can only afford me the rights and privileges of making a noise and how that noise will be translated to reality can only become possible if I am in the Senate”.

     

  • Tension in Jonathan’s district over lawmakers’ fate

    •Dickson’s loyalists plot to stop senator, others

    president Goodluck Jonathan’s kinsmen in Bayelsa East Senatorial District are fighting over the fate of the three lawmakers representing the area in the National Assembly.

    Loyalists of Governor Seriake Dickson in the district were said to have finalised a plot to frustrate the lawmakers and deny them re-election using zoning.

    But supporters of Senator Clever Ikisipo, the senator representing Ogbia, Nembe and Brass local governments and two members of the district in the House of Representatives, Foingha Jephtha and Nadu Karibo, were said to be fighting back.

    It was gathered that the polarisation of the district into two blocs has torn the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) apart.

    The cracks were said to have become visible on Sunday at a meeting organised by stakeholders to endorse the three lawmakers.

    Tempers were rife, following the discovery that the hall was locked by party stalwarts said to be against the lawmakers’ return.

    The development came a few days after the same hall was used by persons challenging the continuity of Ikisikpo, Jeftha and Karibo.

    A team of armed policemen were said to have been drafted in the area to deny the pro-lawmakers’ stakeholders access to the hall.

    After some protest, the PDP stakeholders were said to have moved to another venue where they unanimously endorsed the three lawmakers.

    Convener of the meeting and Chairman of Ogbia Brotherhood Olord Basuo said the sealing of the venue was unfortunate.

    He accused a certain ‘powerful monarch’, of taking undue advantage of his closeness to the President to oppress the people.

    Basuo said the move by the lawmakers to replace the old lawmakers was detrimental to Jonathan’s political future.

    A former Chairman of Ogbia Local Government Area, Innocent Kaku, said the lawmakers, representing the district, had performed well.

    “Based on these facts, it is only proper to allow them to return to continue their good work after 2015,” he said.

    In the communiqué at the end of the meeting, the stakeholders reaffirmed their support for the continuity of the three lawmakers.

    The communiqué said: “As it is said, ‘experience is the best teacher’. We resolve that our current representatives are experienced in the legislative business.

    “It is our decision to give them another opportunity for effective representation, consolidation and impactful representation at maximising the gains of democracy.

    “We totally condemn in strong terms, the zoning arrangement by the ‘purported political stakeholders’ of the senatorial district.

    “We advise that whoever is having any political ambition should come and his popularity at the primary election.”

     

  • Dickson, lawmakers clash over return tickets

    Dickson, lawmakers clash over return tickets

    Senators and House of Representatives members from Bayelsa State are at loggerheads with Governor Seriake Dickson over zoning.

    The crisis was said to have been triggered by a statement by the pioneer state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Charles Dorgu, at a rally in Sagbama last week.

    Dorgu was quoted to have said that the state chapter had zoned the three senatorial seats and the five House of Reps seats to areas outside the lawmakers’ wards.

    He was also quoted to have insisted that the tickets would be zoned for two terms with Sagbama producing the senator for Bayelsa West and Ekeremor producing the House of Rep member.

    The senators affected by the controversial zoning formula include Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central); Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa West) and Clever Ikisikpo (Bayelsa East).

    Their counterparts in the House of Representatives are Foingha Jephthah (Nembe/Brass); Henry Ofongo (Southern Ijaw); Warman Ogoriba (Yenegoa/Kolokuma-Opokumo); Dr Stella Dorgu (Sagbama/Ekeremor) and Nadu Karibo (Ogbia).

    Stakeholders from Ekeremor and Sagbama in Bayelsa West have kicked against the move, describing it as an attempt to cause disaffection among the people.

    At a meeting in Yenagoa, the state capital, the stakeholders insisted that the 26 electoral wards in Bayelsa West had ceded the ticket to Lokpobiri.

    Convener of the meeting and group leader Dennis Daunemighan was quoted to have said that the zoning arrangement being canvassed was divisive and inciting.

    He said: “The decision on who represents Bayelsa West at the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, should be informed by cognate experience, proven track record of competence, capacity to attract infrastructural development and ability to bring about robust perspective to help stabilise the polity at this crucial period of our national history.”

    A party chieftain, Abeke Ebikake, said Sagbama had produced three senators.

    He listed them as Felix Obaro, Diffa Emmanuel and John Braibaifa, adding that Ekeremor had served only twice.

    “The pronouncement that the senatorial seat should go to Sagbama again is wrong. It is not proper.”