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Tag: Mr Yakubu Dogara

  • House of Reps still lasts until June — Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has said the life of the current House still lasts until the next three months, adding that there were many pending issues before shortly it.

    Dogara made this known in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Turaki Hassan, on Sunday in Abuja.

    The speaker said that the pending issues before the House needed urgent legislative attention including the 2019 Appropriations Bill.

    “The Speaker is concentrating in accomplishing all he promised in the Legislative Agenda of the House of Representatives.

    Read also: Buhari, Amosun meet in Aso Rock

    “Who becomes what in the 9th House of Representatives is not the concern or business of the current Speaker, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara.

    “You should please spare him from these unfounded speculations,” Turaki said.

    Section of the media has been awashed with reports on likely prime contenders in the leadership race of the two chambers of the assembly. (NAN)

  • Dogara mourns emir of Katagum

    Dogara mourns emir of Katagum

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has described the death of Emir of Katagum, Alhaji Mohammed Kabir Umar, as “”a big loss”.

    In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Turaki Hassan, on Saturday in Abuja, Dogara, stated that the late monarch was a father and mentor to many including himself.

    “We have lost one of our finest and highly revered Royal Fathers. A patriot and an elder statesman.

    “He was a man of integrity and impeachable character who dedicated his life to service of humanity, development of Katagum emirate and Bauchi State.

    “I condole with his immediate family, all sons and daughters of Katagum emirate as well as Bauchi State.

    “May God grant us all the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.’’

  • Nigeria loses N7tr to insecurity in high seas annually – Dogara

    Nigeria loses N7tr to insecurity in high seas annually – Dogara

    The Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, on Monday said Nigeria lost about N7 trillion annually to insecurity and revenue leakages in the waterways.

    Dogara said this at a public hearing on a Bill to amend the Maritime Operations Coordinating Board Act organised by the House of Representatives.

    The Bill seeks to ensure the repositioning of the board for effective control of maritime operations in Nigeria’s territorial waters and create the Maritime Security Fund.

    Dogara insisted that security in Nigeria’s territorial waters must be strengthened and urged the Nigerian Navy and other relevant agencies to ensure greater collaboration to stem the tide of piracy and other coastal attacks.

    He assured Nigerians that the House would embark on holistic review of extant maritime legislations with a view to halting the loss in the sector.

    The Speaker said, “it is even more disturbing to note that Nigeria is said to be losing about N7 trillion annually in the maritime sector due to leakages in revenue generation and insecurity in the water ways.

    “Between January and March, 2016, several attacks were reported off Nigeria’s coast. This was said to involve pirates stealing cargoes of crude oil and petroleum products.

    “Reports had it that no fewer than 44 ship crew members were abducted and in the first half of 2017, over 20 commercial vessels were attacked in Nigerian waters.

    “The increasing level of attacks and violence in the Gulf of Guinea has given Nigeria and other countries in the sub-region very damaging and negative image.

    “This is in addition to an estimated monthly loss of 1.5 billion dollars to the country.

    “As I said recently, prevalence of insecurity in our waters resulted in the loss of 1.3 billion dollars annually to illegal unregulated fishing in West Africa alone.

    “The only way to promote intra-African trade in our water ways is to ensure safety and security of navigation in our waters.

    “Thus, the onus is on the Nigerian Navy to stem the tide of pirate attacks and secure our territorial waters in cooperation with other agencies of government.’’

    He added that in the absence of enabling laws stipulating stiff penalties and adequate funding, the Navy might not be able to perform its responsibility effectively and efficiently.

    Dogara said that the importance of the maritime sector and its capacity to take Nigeria out of recession could not be undermined.

    “The importance of making Nigeria’s maritime sector safe and secure cannot be over emphasised given that the bulk of our trade and commerce come through our waters.

    “This will greatly boost government revenue, increase our foreign reserve and ultimately provide jobs to millions of our youths.

    “Our water ways and even the Gulf of Guinea have been witnessing increasing level of piracy and kidnapping of expatriates and Nigerians alike,’’ he said.

    He assured that bills that would address insecurity in the sector, especially piracy, would receive urgent passage in the House to restore order to the marine sector.

    The Speaker added that establishment of Maritime Security Fund would provide the Navy with needed funds to effectively discharge its sub-regional duties of patrolling the joint development zone between Sao Tome and Principe and Nigeria.

    The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas, at the hearing, confirmed the recovery of over N420 billion stolen oil fund in 2016.

    Ibas said that the recovery was aside from stolen oil worth N6. 7 billion destroyed in various illegal refineries between January and June, 2017.

    He cited the report of study conducted by Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) data, saying estimated oil production in Nigeria plummeted by more than 25 per cent in 2009, as a result of piracy and sea robbery.

    He, however, reiterated Navy’s commitment toward combating criminality ranging from vandalism, kidnapping, environmental pollution, maritime terrorism, illegal bunkering and poaching.

    Other anti-economic growth vices, the naval chief said, included smuggling, proliferation of arms, waste dumping and oil pollution.

    He noted that such colossal loss to piracy and sea robbery was avoidable, but added that intense efforts were being made to drastically reduce the menace over the past 18 months.

    Ibas said “according to the Oil Producers Trading Section (OPTS) report, annual crude oil loss due to COT for 2014 amounted to about 36,162 barrels per day’’.

    He, however, said that the intervention of the Nigerian Navy had led to increase in national crude oil production from less than a million barrels per day in early 2016 to over two million barrels per day in April, 2017.

    On his part, Chairman, House Committee on Navy, Rep. Abdussamad Dasuki, lamented that while incidences of sea piracy had reduced in other territorial waters due to effective coordination, “it is increasing in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.

    “This is apparently disturbing given repeated warnings by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) that attacks by sea-borne bandits off the West African coast are on the rise in Nigeria.

    “To compound the problem, the United Nations Security Council reported that Nigeria was losing about 1.5 billion dollars monthly due to piracy and other activities,’’ Dasuki said

     

  • We will raise teachers’ retirement age to 65 -Dogara

    We will raise teachers’ retirement age to 65 -Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has assured Nigerian teachers that the National Assembly will increase their retirement age from 60 to 65 years to retain more experienced teachers in public schools.

    Dogara disclosed this when he received a delegation from the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) who paid him a courtesy visit on Wednesday in Abuja.

    The Speaker said that the House would support an upward review of teachers’ retirement age to benefit Nigerian children.

    “We have done it for the Tertiary institutions and the Judiciary, so nothing should stop us from taking the bull by the horns.

    “They say that wine gets better with age. It was the same consideration that motivated us to raise that of university lecturers, raised that of judges. So this is something we can pursue.

    “Thankfully, it doesn’t require a constitutional amendment, it is something we can achieve by amending the existing law.

    “That is the responsibility of the parliament and we assure you that we will do something about that so that the benefit that comes with experience and wisdom will not be lost,” he said

    Dogara said that the welfare and working condition of teachers must also be upgraded to enable Nigerian citizens to compete with the global world and produce citizens that can achieve development that the country seeks.

    “If we don’t have people who will sacrifice their time and energy to impact knowledge on our children, then like I said, we have lost the future.

    “This government which is a government of change must be prepared to change the narrative by ensuring that teachers are motivated and the condition in which they work are conducive at all levels, so that they can deliver on their professional calling,” he said.

    The speaker also advised the union to channel their request for salaries of teachers to be handed over to state governments or paid from first-line charge from the federation account through the Universal Basic Education Commission to the Constitution Review of the House of Representatives for consideration.

    Comrade Alogba Olukoya, the National President of NUT,said the union preferred that payment of teachers’ salaries be handed over to State governments. He also canvassed for an increase in the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years.

    The teachers union also demanded that teachers’ salaries be paid from first-line charge from the federation account through the Universal Basic Education Commission.

    “We want the responsibilities of paying the salaries of Teachers be handed over to State Governments in which case the salaries component of the revenue allocation of the Local Governments will have to be transferred to the states and restructure the fiscal allocation of our national resources in favour of the states to guarantee uninterrupted and unfettered primary education in Nigeria.

    “We teachers of Nigeria in primary and secondary schools do seek and demand that our retirement  age be raised to 65 years to increase the teacher retention rate in our schools.

    “This will help to check the rate at which experienced teachers are being lost in the school system whereas younger and prospective teachers are not recruited to take their places,” Olukoya said.

  • Reps summon IGP over alleged invasion of Senator’s residence

    Reps summon IGP over alleged invasion of Senator’s residence

    The House of Representatives has given the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, 24 hours to return all documents relating to the 2017 Appropriation Bill taken away from Sen. Danjuma Goje’s residence.

    The House gave the order in reaction to the allegation that the documents were carted away when police raided Goje’s residence.

    The legislative order followed a motion at Wednesday plenary on the “need to check the excesses of security agents with regards to invasion of residences of law-abiding citizens”

    The House also resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to invite the IGP to appear before it and explain what warranted the alleged invasion and the laws which backed the police to carry out such operations.

    The ad hoc committee is expected to submit its report within two weeks for further legislative action.

    Debating the related motion, moved by Rep Yunusa Ahmad (APC- Gombe), lawmakers who spoke on the matter said the budget report was scheduled to be laid before the Senate and House.

    The budget report was for consideration and passage during the week.

    The lawmakers expressed anger over the way the police and other security agencies “had been invading homes of private citizens under the guise of fighting corruption without recourse to due process’’.

    Leading the debate on the motion, Ahmad said the invasion of Goje’s residence amounted to gross violation of his fundamental human right.

    Rep. Toby Okechukwu (PDP-Enugu) accused the security agencies of attempting to come to the legislature.

    “They have cowed the judiciary. Now they have proceeded to the legislature. We cannot allow that. We must call to question anything considered untoward.

    “Goje’s house was invaded, we don’t know the reason. This kind of whistle-blowing should be driven by intelligence,’’ he said.

    Similarly, Rep. Sergius Ogun (PDP- Edo) said the House must put a stop to the undue harassment of innocent citizens by security agencies in the country.

    “The police should not get away with it. If a senator can be so treated, what is the fate of the ordinary Nigerian? We must put a stop to it,’’ Ogun added

    However, Rep. Ahmed Musa (APC- Kaduna) who spoke against the motion, described the debate as “judgmental”.

    Musa said taking a stand on the alleged police invasion of Goje’s residence without an investigation negated the principle of separation of powers and would subject the House to public ridicule.

    “It is the duty of the executive arm of government to investigate perceived crimes, and asking the police to return documents was tantamount to asking them to return their exhibits,’’ he said.

    The motion was unanimously adopted when it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogàra

  • Political interests may disrupt proposed 2018 census – Dogara

    Political interests may disrupt proposed 2018 census – Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, says political interests may mar the proposed 2018 population census.

    Dogara, therefore, called on the people clamouring for the conduct of the census in 2018 to exercise patience until after the 2019 elections.

    He said this was necessary as there would likely be mounting pressure to manipulate the outcome of the exercise.

    Dogara, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Turaki Hassan, on Monday in Abuja said that conducting the census in an election year may generate unrealistic results.

    He advised that the next administration should conduct the census at the beginning of its tenure.

    “This should be done when there isn’t so much at stake.

    “I won’t advise anyone to conduct national census in 2018.

    “If we are not going to achieve it in 2017, then we should just forget it until after 2019.

    “If you conduct census at the niche of elections, there will be so much pressure, crisis and the lure for people to manipulate the figures for political reasons, such that the agency cannot even cope with,’’ Dogara stated.

    According to him, it is better for a new administration to conduct the exercise from the beginning of its tenure, when there is no election in sight.

    “We may have something that resembles reality, but I can bet it, if the census is conducted in 2018, the outcome will be doubtable.

    “I know who we are and I know the kind of litigations, backlashes and the pressure, but we don’t need all that now.

    “We have so many challenges; let us empower the agencies to keep building on the blocks that they will leverage on in the future in order to do the exercise.’’ Dogara said.

  • We won’t accept excuses for non-payment of pensions – Dogara

    We won’t accept excuses for non-payment of pensions – Dogara

    Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, on Thursday urged the executive to ensure that backlog of pensions were paid promptly, warning that excuses would not be accepted.

    Dogara made this known while reacting to briefing by Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and her Budget and National Planning counterpart, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, on efforts to offset arrears owed Nigerian pensioners.

    He expressed confidence that the promise of President Muhammadu Buhari on the pensions would be kept.

    “When the president promised that he was going to release money for bailout to States so that they can pay backlog of salaries and pensions, he did.

    “We will not accept any excuse that leaves part of this pension funds hanging,” he said.

    According to him, I don’t know where you got the money to bail out the states from, but wherever you got the money from that is where we are going to get the money to solve this problem.

    “I want to believe this will be the last intervention we will be having with regards to the issue of pensions in this country. That is my charge.

    “The message the House will be sending to the President through the ministers is `when you meet him to brief him about this engagement, tell him that we have taken his words to the bank and we believe that we would cash it’.”

    Meanwhile, the spokesman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Abdulrazak Namdas, said the 2017 Appropriation Bill would be passed after the Easter break.

    Namdas told reporters after plenary on Thursday that all legislative work on the fiscal document would be concluded as soon as the Assembly resumed from the recess.

    He explained that the House intervened in the issue of arrears of pensioners’ entitlements to enable the ministers in charge of finances to address the matter.

    According to him, the explanation provided by the two ministers will go a long way to assuage the pains of the nation’s senior citizens.

     

  • Reps adjourn plenary over member’s death

    Reps adjourn plenary over member’s death

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday shelved plenary following the death of one of its members, Hon Sani Mashi, of Mashi/Dutse Constituency of Katsina state.

    The House was scheduled to resume plenary after a three-week working recess devoted to the defence of 2017 Budget by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    As the lawmakers arrived for plenary, the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara, announced the demise of the member.

    He said: “on a sad note, I wish to announce the death of a member, Sani Mashi, whose demise took place on Wednesday, January 15, 2017.

    “As the custom of the House demands, we will shelve today’s business”.

    The house, therefore, adjourned sitting to Wednesday.

    Mashi’s death at 51 brings the deaths recorded in the House since the commencement of the 8th assembly to four.

    He was also a member of the 7th assembly and a former chairman of Mashi Local Government Area.

  • Reps to impose time limit on ministers’ nomination

    Reps to impose time limit on ministers’ nomination

    The House of Representatives on Thursday passed for second reading a bill that nomination for appointment of ministers should not be later than 30 days from when the president takes the oath of office.

    The bill also seeks to provide that nomination for appointment of commissioners shall be made not later than 30 days from the date a governor is sworn in.

    Presenting the bill, Rep. Solomon Adaelu (PDP-Abia), said that the need to ensure improved efficiency in governance prompted the amendment bill which sought to alter sections 147 and 192.

    According to him, sections 147 and 192 of the constitution are not explicit as to when the president or governors are to make the nominations for appointment of ministers and commissioners.

    “Consequently, it is feasible and practically necessary to impose a constitutional time limit for a president to present nominated ministers and their portfolios to the senate.

    “Preferably, 30 days time limit after swearing in will be ideal as it provides sufficient time for the president to settle down into governance and carry out final vetting of his nominations.

    “And also ensure that the running of governance is not necessarily delayed or held up by the absence of ministers to run the various government departments,’’ Adaelu said.

    He emphasised that experience from other developed countries revealed that the chief executive already had clear nomination list prior to swearing in.

    “And this is forwarded to the parliament within a short time of inauguration.

    “This practice should be constitutionally mandated in Nigeria to improve the efficiency of governance upon a change in government.

    “The experience of 2015 whereby it took almost four months after swearing in for the president to forward nominated names to the legislature resulted in a serious setback for governance.

    “This adversely affected the serious handling of pressing national issues in the country; this must be prevented by constitutionally imposing a time limit,’’ Adaelu said.

    He said that attaching portfolios would facilitate effective screening and deliberation by the legislature on the competence of the nominated person for the particular role he would play in government.

    “This will greatly reduce the fixing of round pegs in square holes which is the bane of governance in Nigeria.

    “The discretion of the president to assign people to whatever department he deems fit after screening by the legislature is unhealthy as the legislature will not be able to adequately assess his suitability for that role,’’ Adaelu said.

    The Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, referred the bill to special ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review.

  • Reps pass motion to invite Abdulmumin Jibrin over fresh petitions

    Reps pass motion to invite Abdulmumin Jibrin over fresh petitions

    The House of Representatives has passed a resolution to allow Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin into the National Assembly premises for the purpose of defending himself before the Ethics and Privileges Committee following fresh petitions against him.

    This followed a motion by Rep. Ossai Ossai, the Chairman of the Ethics Committee, which was unanimously adopted by members through a voice vote.

    Moving the motion, Ossai explained that the motion followed the receipt of two fresh petitions against Jibrin by the National Youth Council.

    Ossai said “the Committee on Ethics and Privileges has commenced investigations into the petitions and it seeks the indulgence of the house to invite Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin.

    “It is on the grounds of fair hearing that he will be allowed into the premises of the House for the purpose of defending allegations contained in the petitions,”he said.

    Ossai said that the petitions received against Jibrin were on his absenteeism and the poor representation of his constituency of Kiru/Bebeji in Kano State and for operating foreign accounts which were in violation of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    Rep. Aliyu Madaki (APC-Kano) said that since Jibrin had been suspended and the issue was a subject of litigation, there was no need to consider the motion.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, said that the matter in court did not have anything to do with absenteeism or the foreign accounts said to be operated by Jibrin.

    Dogara said, “we don’t know of any case in court as regards operating foreign accounts or absenteeism, but this is in line with a fair hearing and I think that is why the motion is here.”

    Jibrin was suspended in September 2016 for 180 legislative days for breach of members’ privilege in his 2016 budget padding allegations.