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  • What 10th National Assembly should focus on

    What 10th National Assembly should focus on

    By Bonniface Lancelot

    The 10th National Assembly has spent its first year in office. It was a first year of mixed feelings, more of not meeting the people’s expectations than being above board. It was a first year of little to show in terms of legislative support for the attraction of the Foreign Direct Investment (FID) our economy needs to get out of coma. Instead, there are steps it has taken that are capable of instilling fears in investors and making them to look elsewhere.

    Its leaders, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, aren’t neophytes. Both men have been ranking members of the National Assembly. Aside this, they are also well-educated and being grassroots politicians, they know where the shoes pinch the Nigerian people. They are aware of the hardship Nigerians are going through.

    As the 10th National Assembly enters its second year in office, its focus should be on the Nigerian people and not on what individual members can get for themselves. It can do a lot in terms of legislative efforts to cushion the hardship Nigerians are facing.

    Read Also: Senate passed 25 Bills, 115 resolutions in one year, says Bamidele

    It can also lead by example by cutting its expenses. So far, it has exhibited some nonchalant attitudes. We’ve seen obscene amounts being expended on cars and we’ve seen money being deposited in members’ accounts for them to enjoy ‘vacationing’.

    We have also seen it dabbling into areas I need to be convinced are in the interest of Nigerians. One of such areas is dictating to private businesses how to run their affairs.

    The first time the National Assembly confused me was over Multichoice Nigeria, the operators of DSTV in Nigeria. We all know Multichoice as a private company and what business the National Assembly has with its pricing of its products and services remain a mystery to me. I have the same feeling about its involvement in Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited’s affairs.

    Yes, the government of Nigeria, through the NNPC, has shares in the NLNG but the controlling shares remain with multinationals that also run and determine its leadership. But, not a dollar of the money being spent on Train 7 came from the Nigerian government. The company sourced the funds for this all-important project, which will lead to the increasing push for energy transition from fossil fuels to new energy sources.

    For years, Nigeria’s LNG growth was stunted because of the government’s failure to take the Final Investment Decision (FID) on this project for which it was not expected to pay one dollar. When the Muhammadu Buhari government eventually took the needed decision, the NLNG swung into action so that it will maintain significant market share in the global gas market and reap the potential benefits in the market.

    On July 3, the National Assembly joint committees will reconvene over its inquest into the $4.451b Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Train 7. Its last sitting, days ago, led to a rowdy session. The joint committees’ grouse is about contract variation and not even NLNG Project Director Ali Uwais’s explanation that the fluctuation in foreign exchange rates is a principal cause of contract variation would convince them.

    “The overall progress of the project is at 67% completion, made up of engineering at 97.9%, procurement at 95.5% and construction at 52.5%,” Uwais had said.

    Uwais noted that the project was already delivering on one of its benefits with over 9,000 Nigerians working on the project on Bonny Island, and numerous indirect jobs and businesses emerging and booming because of the construction.

    But for the committees, a mountain must be made out of a molehill and they urged the NLNG, a private company, to halt further variations in the $4.451,731,937bn contract.

    The Train 7 will lead to more foreign exchange for Nigeria, monetise gas, curb gas flaring and also create value in the domestic LPG sector.

    Since construction began, the Train 7 has achieved over 45 million man-hours without lost time to injuries and other incidents and it is about 66% overall completion with approximately 10,000 personnel engaged. About 55% of Train 7’s engineering activities and procurement have been done in Nigeria.

    If the truth must be told: the matter is not about transparency. This is all about the NLNG and its principled insistence on international best practices. Contracts on the Train 7 project are not awarded on regional basis, but on established/proven capabilities, a development that politicians hardly like. But this is international standard and since it is not a government project, geo-political considerations aren’t required.

    The National Assembly can help the federal government by encouraging private sector operators like the NLNG that are crucial to the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas initiative. Train 7 aligns with the country’s gas development aspirations, which made the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration separate the administration of gas from crude oil. The Train 7 will support the diversification of the country’s revenue sources, revenue generation during the energy transition, and aid the country in achieving a net-zero future. With an estimated over 200 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven reserves, projects such as this will enhance gas monetisation in the country.

    The administration, we all know, needs all the cash it can get in order to renew the hope of Nigerians, which it promised during the campaigns. The National Assembly should focus on helping President Tinubu achieve this instead of focusing on probes that will unearth nothing.

    I will be the last to be against legislative oversights but we are all witnesses to history. Probes such as the ones on private businesses are waste of public funds. Even many of the ones on public institutions have not served the interests of Nigerians. They have been more noise, less action. They have been more drama, no action. They have, to be fair, been grandstanding. The reports are just gathering dusts!

    So, I urge the 10th National Assembly to, in the name of God, refrain from actions that will steadily frustrate investment in future large scale projects like Train 8!

    The 10th National Assembly in its second year must work for the Nigerian people, work for Nigeria as a country and work for a Nigeria that will be the envy of the global community. The second year should be for serious legislative support for the Bola Tinubu administration’s renewed hope agenda and the National Assembly should get into the train or risk being crushed by it.

    •Lancelot, a public affairs commentator, writes from Ikeja, Lagos.

  • National Assembly barking up the wrong tree

    National Assembly barking up the wrong tree

    Fresh from their feeding frenzy on the new national anthem, which they passed with dizzying speed on May 23, exultant national assembly members have now trained their guns on a new target. Starting with the House of Representatives, the lawmakers appear determined to make hay while the sun shines. They seem convinced that there are many sharpshooters among them, some of them connoisseurs of lawmaking of the uncanny kind. But they don’t seem aware that their national anthem bill left many Nigerians reeling from the pace of the process as well as the shock of seeing it passed and assented in quick order by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29, just days after. But regardless of any reservations, particularly by a skeptical public wary about the vaunted motives and altruism of the legislators, the lawmakers have already gone ahead to gleefully embrace a new tenure campaign.

    Their new crusade is an old gelding, a dead horse called six-year single term. Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan promoted the idea barely three months after winning the 2011 presidential election. He did not specify at the time how long that single term should be, but it was widely believed he had six years in mind. And despite promising not to take advantage of that amendment should it be passed by the legislature, he was roundly condemned for disingenuously campaigning for tenure elongation. The six-year single term proposal had repeatedly attracted newspaper headlines, but without any matching attempt to railroad it through like the new national anthem which became law late last month. Unlike the national anthem, term lengths and limits are very impactful and problematic, not to say deeply political. It is at the root of Nigeria’s democratic unease since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, and indeed since independence. Amending it will require far more efforts and negotiations than the wordings and inspiration of an anthem.

    Read Also: Sallah: Abbas congratulates Muslims, urges more sacrifice by Nigerians

    How far can the House of Representatives go, assuming they get the buy-in of the senate? Not very far, it seems, especially because they have included in their crusade a welter of difficult and controversial amendments. Some 35 Reps members led by Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere (Ideato North/South – Imo State) have lent their weight to the proposal, perhaps believing like Dr Jonathan that a single term would obviate the bloodletting, waste and acrimony that accompany every election cycle. In their words, “We are a group of over 30 reform-minded lawmakers from different political parties that have come together and are committed to ensuring a working Nigeria using legislative instruments within our power to ensure the reduction of cost of governance and campaigns, unite our country, ensure a seamless transition, continuity, uninterrupted development, justice, equity, independence of INEC, efficient use of state resources, tackle nepotism, state capture, and corruption in electoral processes, etc.”

    Hon. Ugochinyere adds, “There is no doubt that our country is in desperate need of a long-lasting solution to our poor economic situation, insecurity, disunity, weak institutions, weak health and education sector, corruption in public sectors, and waste of state resources. We have now a critical phase where what is at stake is the very survival of Nigeria as one political and economic unit. We must rise to the challenge, and what we do with this opportunity given to us by our people matters a lot. We, the reformers, elected representatives of the people of Nigeria, are concentrated on proving that we are fully capable of managing our affairs together as a nation.”

    Some of the changes the Group of 35 seeks are rotational presidency among the country’s six informal geopolitical zones, constitutional formalisation of the zones, provision for two vice presidents, and a host of other amendments. The lawmakers acknowledged that the amendments were not original to them. They traced the amendments’ historical course and deplored the abandonment of the efforts to birth constitutional reforms despite spending so much money promoting change. Soon, however, they will discover why their predecessors abandoned their efforts and wilted before the challenges posed by the proposed reforms. Not only must reformers get the amendments passed through the two legislative chambers without significant dilution, they must also get them passed by at least 24 state assemblies. Getting the amendments through the national assembly will be truly herculean; passing them through the states will be like forcing a camel through the eye of a needle. The lawmakers can surely not have forgotten that last February, some 60 members of the House began advocating a return to the parliamentary system, forgetting, interestingly, that in December 2018, more than 70 national lawmakers also campaigned for the same system to replace the presidential system. Legislators seem to love flogging dead horses.

    So far, the reformation many national assembly members romanticise has not really taken off. Presuming the new national anthem, not to say the brevity of the efforts that heralded its passage, to be the new leitmotif of constitutional amendment, they have displayed undue optimism and greedily expanded their shopping list. However, amending any constitution is exhausting drudgery, probably the worst kind in these parts due to ethnic and religious suspicion. Amending a constitution is also riddled with many unassailable procedural pitfalls. Nevertheless, the lawmakers can try where their predecessors had dared and failed, and hope against hope that they are not barking up the wrong tree. But they must finally try to answer the global conundrum surrounding term limits wherein many countries attempt to counterbalance the drawbacks of extended one term for incompetent leaders against the costliness and sometimes disruptiveness of competent leaders campaigning for a second term. After all, one term helps a country cuts its losses when grappling with an inept ruler.

  • National Assembly probes Niger mine collapse

    National Assembly probes Niger mine collapse

    • Lawmakers seek urgent rescue of trapped victims
    • 16 rescued, 14 still trapped, says state agency

    The Senate and the House of Representatives yesterday launched an investigation into the causes of Monday’s mine collapse at Galadiman Kogo in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

    They directed their Committees on Solid Minerals to conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the gold mining site where rockslide killed 30 miners.

    The Red Chamber mandated its committee to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the rockslide and accelerate the passage of the Mine Ranger Bill currently before the Senate.

    The Senate observed a minute of silence in honour of the victims.

    It hailed Solid Minerals Development Minister Dele Alake for his swift and proactive response in monitoring the situation at the mining site.

    The Red Chamber also urged the Federal Government to “come out with strict safety measures and regulation on mining activities in Nigeria, in line with international best practices, and deploy adequate security apparatus to the mining communities in order to maintain vigilance around mining areas to prevent further incursions and intrusion by informal miners”.

    The House of Representatives also urged its committee to probe the operational eligibility of Africa Minerals and Logistics Company Limited, the mining company.

    It is also to probe the underlying causes of the incident and review current mining safety regulations.

    The House urged the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to deploy more emergency response specialists to the mining site and successful rescue operations site without delay for effective and successful rescue operations.

    The Green Chamber also observed a minute of silence in honour of the dead and solidarity with those awaiting rescue.

    Read Also: JUST IN: Union opens National Assembly gates

    These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent importance on the need to rescue miners trapped in the deep mining pit at mining site, sponsored Ismail Musa Modibo.

    The House noted that all efforts to rescue the victims were in vain, necessitating immediate federal intervention.

    The Green Chamber said it was aware of the presence of the State and Federal Distress Response teams at the collapsed mining pit.

    It expressed grave concern over the report of the death of many miners during the rescue operations.

    Also, 14 persons are said to be trapped in the collapsed mine site, while 16 others have been rescued alive.

    The Niger State Ministry of Mining Resources, the State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), and the police command confirmed the figure through their officials.

    The state Ministry of Mineral Resources also released the names of those still trapped at the mine site.

    They include Abdullahi Yahaya, Ibrahim Mansir, Abubakar Isah, Friday Musa, Godwin Hussaini, Benjamin Ashafa, Zayyanu Ibrahim, Abdul Ali, Hamza Musa, Umar Abubakar, Joseph Madaki, Ibrahim I. Ishiaku Kuta, Abbas Musa, and Yakubu Mamman.

    The Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Mineral Resources, Alhaji Yunusa Mohammed Nahauni, said the ministry was working with relevant authorities and rescue teams to ensure the safe rescue of the trapped mine workers.

    He said the ministry would give updates on the situation as events unfolded.

  • JUST IN: Union opens National Assembly gates

    JUST IN: Union opens National Assembly gates

    The Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) has opened the gates of the National Assembly to allow lawmakers, staff and visitors access to the complex.

    The opening of the gates at about 1pm on Tuesday, June 4, followed the news that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) has suspended the strike for one week to allow for further negotiation with the Federal Government.

    Read Also: Union leaders picket airports, National Assembly govt offices

    PASAN had on Monday locked the gates in solidarity with the NLC and TUC which called the strike to push for a new minimum wage for workers in the country.

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, had on Monday led the federal government’s team to meet with the leadership of organised labour to continue negotiation on how to resolve the impasse.

    The unions and the federal government had during the meeting signed a pact in which the government agreed to pay higher than the N60,000.00 it earlier offered.

    The NLC and TUC had demanded for a national minimum wage of N494,000.00 per month but the government said the amount would stifle its ability to fund critical sectors of the economy like Education, Defence and Healthcare, among others.

  • Union leaders picket airports, National Assembly govt offices

    Union leaders picket airports, National Assembly govt offices

    • Labour allows international flights
    • Defends shutdown of National Grid
    • Oyo commissioner ordered out of office

    Organised Labour commenced its indefinite yesterday by picketing workers of major public institutions and throwing many states into darkness.

    The Federal Capital Territory(FCT) where the Labour leaders also picketed National Assembly workers,  and Lagos were the worst hit by the strike.

    Other badly affected states were Rivers, Kwara,  Enugu, Kaduna, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Anambra, Taraba, Bauchi, Adamawa, Benue and Niger.

    In some states, activities of private businesses like banks, airlines and schools were partially disrupted while normalcy prevailed in others.  

    The two labour centres in the country—Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC) and Trade Union Congress(TUC) declared the strike on Friday after their meeting with the  Bukar Aji-led Tripartite Committee on minimum wage on Thursday ended in another round of deadlock.

    On Thursday, the Federal Government and Organised Private Sector offered N60,000 as a new minimum wage, which Labour turned down and insisted on N494,000, N6,000 less than its demand a week ago.

    On Sunday, the government urged the unions to shelve the strike, saying they had not met conditions contained in labour laws and International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles for the commencement of any strike.

    Earlier yesterday, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) advised the unions to call off the industrial action to prevent a breakdown of law and order.  

    International flights allowed, domestic disrupted

    International flights landed and took off at the Nnamdi Azikiwe and Murtala Mohammed International Airports in Abuja and Lagos in the early hours of Monday but those on local routes were prevented by protesting members of the  National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) . NUATE is an affiliate of the NLC. 

    Passengers on local routes who were on the ground to board their flights were shut out of the terminal buildings of the two airports by the workers..

    An airline, United Nigeria, apologised to its customers at the NAIA  for the inconvenience.

    It said:  “None of our scheduled flights has been permitted to depart the airport, significantly affecting our services and operations.

    “We sincerely apologise for any inconveniences this may cause to your travel plans. Please rest assured that we are actively monitoring the situation to evaluate its impact on our operations and will provide updates accordingly.”

    The management of Air Peace, in a statement,  said that only its regional and international flights were confirmed to operate yesterday.

    Like United Airlines, Air Peace said it regretted the inconvenience the disruption of its local flights caused its clients. It appealed for their  understanding and patience.

    Another domestic carrier: Ibom Air   assured its passengers  that it was  ‘’fully committed to resuming normal operations once the strike is called off.”

    A  NUATE executive, who did not want his name in print, explained international flights were given the grace to operate yesterday.

    He, however, said  that  from 00:00 hour midnight Tuesday, International flights will join the strike and ‘’it will be more serious.”

    Many passengers who rushed out in the early hours to the domestic wings of the MMIA were unable to gain entrance into the departure halls.

    Members of NUATE  locked out passengers from gaining entrance into the operational area of the terminal.

    At the MMIA   Terminals One and Two,  hundreds of passengers milled around the facilities, hoping that the strike would be called off. 

    The General Aviation Terminal (GAT) otherwise known as Terminal One was firmly locked throughout the day with intending passengers and airport taxi drivers expressing their frustration over the strike.

    National Grid shut 

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) explained that the nationwide blackout in the early hours of yesterday was caused by striking workers who shut the national grid.

     It added in a statement from its Public Affairs Manager, Ndidi Mbah, that  the workers beat up and injured some of its officials for resisting being forced out of the control room.

    The statement reads in part: “The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby informs the general public that the Labour Union has shut down the national grid, resulting in black out nationwide.

    “ The national grid shutdown occurred at about 2.19 am this(yesterday) morning, 3rd June 2024.

    “At about 1:15 am this (yesterday) morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room and that staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room and without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Centre was brought to zero.

    Read Also: FULL LIST: National Assembly staff, TCN, banks, others join labour nationwide strike

    “Other transmission substations that were shut down, by the Labour include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba and Osogbo transmission substations.

    ‘’Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of the labour union.

    “On the power generating side, power generating units from different generating stations were forced to shut down some units of their generating plants.  .

    “At about 3.23 am, however, TCN commenced grid recovery, using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. The situation is such that the labour union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide.

    “We will continue to make effort to recover and stabilise the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide.”

    But NLC President President Joe Ajaero defended the decision of workers in the electricity sector to shut down the grid.

    Ajaero, in  a statement, said that  workers would  not be intimidated by any form of falsehood dished out by TCN or any other agency or organisation of the government ‘’ over our rightful decision to withdraw services.’’ 

    “The spreading of outright falsehood to mislead the public instead of working with other stakeholders to resolve the issues raised by Nigerian workers via the NLC and TUC is not helpful in any way,” he added.

    FCT

    Labour leaders also picketed the National Assembly, Federal Secretariat housing the Ministries of Communication and  Labour and Employment.

    The two gates into the Assembly complex were shut by the unionists, making it impossible for workers and visitors to gain access..

    The Nation gathered that electricity and water supplies to the two buildings housing the Senate and the House of Representatives were disrupted. 

    A revenue monitoring hearing by the House Committee on Finance scheduled for yesterday was called off due to the strike.

    Lawyers and judiciary workers were also denied access to court premises by leaders of the  Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) whose members withdrew their services.  The main entrances of the  Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Federal High Court headquarters, and the various divisions of the High Court of the FCT were shut when The Nation visited.

    Many patients of government-owned hospitals in Abuja were stranded as health workers on morning duty hurried packed their things to leave.

    A worker  at the Radiology Unit of the Kubwa General Hospital informed patients   that “we are not attending to patients  because of the strike.”

    At the Pharmacy unit of the Accident and Emergency Wards, Shade Omoba lamented that she made payments and had a refund because the unit had closed.  “They collected money and refused to give us the drugs. If they knew they wouldn’t attend to anyone because of the strike, why did they open,” she asked.

    LUTH shuns strike, LASUTH consultants take charge

    Activities at the  Lagos University Teaching Hospital(LUTH) went smoothly yesterday with relatives of patients confirming that they were being attended to.

    At the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) consultants were fully on duty but many other health workers stayed off their posts.

     The development left patients on periodic appointments stranded as they were informed of the workers’ actions.

    The striking doctors, nurses, midwives, and other general staff members were seen threatening to beat up their colleagues who ventured to work.

     Security personnel manned entrances into wards, informing visitors of development.

    Lagos partially affected

    Most affected by the strike in Lagos State were public offices. Some banks opened their doors to customers while others did not for fear of being attacked.

    At the state  State Secretariat, Alausa in Ikeja union leaders arrived as early as 7.30 am to prevent access to the complex.

     They also blocked the entrance to the state  House of Assembly with a bus, which was later towed away by men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

    A civil servant, who said he parked his car outside the state secretariat complex, added that messages were circulated on various social platforms directing workers to stay away from their offices.

      State Chairman of the NLC, Funmi Sessi, who led the team was captured on video fuming and blaming governments for being insensitive to workers’ plights. 

    The strike, however, did not affect pupils writing the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) as they were allowed into their school premises.

    Pupils of some schools in Mushin, Igando, Isolo, Ikeja, and Egan were turned back by their teachers who cited the strike as a reason.

    An Education Officer at Egan Senior Grammar School, Egan, said: “It’s only those doing their WAEC that are present here. We have only four teachers on the ground to supervise the ongoing examination.”

    Ports operations hotes

    The major seaports across the country were also shut by the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN). 

     Many importers,  port workers, clearing agents,  and truck drivers were denied entry into the Apapa port in Lagos by unionists.

    Oyo  commissioner ordered out of office

    Workers at the Oyo state government Secretariat on Monday reported for duty.

    But some hours later, Labour leaders arrived at the  Secretariat in  Agodi and directed the workers to return home.

     A mild drama, however, played out at the Ministry of Health where the labour leaders met and directed the Commissioner, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetumobi, and some senior officials to leave their offices.

    At the gates of the   Federal Secretariat and   University College Hospital (UCH) were under lock and key with unionists turning workers back.

      Within Ibadan, many banks which had their workers in attendance did not attend to customers.

     Public primary schools did not open but secondary schools in the state did only for candidates writing the ongoing   West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) examinations.

    Ogun

    Activities at the  Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Idi Aba, Abeokuta, the state General Hospital in  Ijaye, Abeokuta, and public schools were also grounded.

    The Nation observed – out-patients, including expectant mothers, who had presented themselves in the morning  for antenatal care at both facilities being advised to go back home.

    Public secondary school students were sent home but special arrangements were made for those participating in the ongoing May/June  WAEC examinations.

  • National Assembly halts amendment of CBN Act

    National Assembly halts amendment of CBN Act

    The National Assembly Committee on Banking, Insurance, and other Financial Institutions has decided to pause the amendment process for the bill titled “An Act to Amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act No. 7 of 2007.”

    This decision was made to allow for more consultations amid controversy and misleading reports.

    Professor Uche Uwaleke, Special Adviser to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and other Financial Institutions, clarified recent misunderstandings in the media.

    He addressed false reports claiming that the Senate planned to strip the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of its power to set interest rates and transfer this authority to a committee led by the Minister of Finance.

    Read Also: Soldier killed in home state Abia after surviving five years fight against terrorists

    “My attention has been drawn to a misleading report currently circulating in the media that the National Assembly plans to transfer interest rate decisions from the CBN to a Committee to be chaired by the Minister of Finance. This is completely untrue,” stated Professor Uwaleke.

    He explained that the amendment bill proposes creating a Coordinating Committee to align fiscal and monetary policies. This new committee is not intended to replace the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) or undermine the CBN’s independence.

    Professor Uwaleke emphasised that Section 12 of the current CBN Act, which establishes the MPC and outlines its functions and composition, remains unchanged in the amendment bill.

    Due to the controversy and misunderstandings surrounding the amendment bill, the National Assembly Committee on Banking, Insurance, and other Financial Institutions has decided to halt the entire amendment process temporarily. This pause is intended to provide time for additional consultations and to ensure that all stakeholders are adequately informed and their concerns addressed.

  • National Assembly moves to revert to old anthem

    National Assembly moves to revert to old anthem

    Both chambers of the National Assembly have begun moves to revert to the National Anthem of “Nigeria, We hail Thee.”

    The Bill was given accelerated consideration in the House of Representatives and passed for first, second, and third readings within minutes.

    The Senate also passed the Bill for first and second reading before committing it to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative work.

    In his lead debate, House Leader Julius Ihonvbere spoke on the need for Nigerians to see the anthem as a national symbol and sign of authority which does not deny the realities.

    The old anthem – “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” – was replaced with the current one “Arise, O Compatriots…” in 1978.

    Read Also: DSS operatives allegedly brutalise two National Assembly employees

    But Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda opposed the Bill, arguing that the old anthem had a colonial background which necessitated the reversion to the new anthem.

    But the Bill was given accelerated consideration and passed by the lawmakers.

    Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele led the debate on the “Bill for an Act to provide for National Anthem of Nigeria and for Related Matters, 2024”.

    He argued the merits and demerits of reverting to the old anthem, saying: “The new anthem – ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ – will inspire in us the zeal to build a fully integrated and indivisible nation, whereby all citizens will live in unity and harmony.”

    Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the Bill to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative work and to report back in two weeks.

  • DSS operatives brutalise two National Assembly staff

    DSS operatives brutalise two National Assembly staff

    Two senior staff members of the National Assembly were on Friday reportedly brutalised by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

    Trouble was said to have started around 11:45am when the two staff were asked to identify themselves as they made their way from the New Senate Building to the White House section of the Complex.

    According to an eye witness account, the two staff, John Nnadi of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) and Chris Odoh, a deputy director, had flashed their Identity cards to the DSS operatives but were accused of not identifying themselves properly.

    Being senior staff of NASS, attempts to proceed to the White House from the door linking the walk way linking the two edifices, were  said to have been resisted by the DSS operatives. 

    The action of the DSS was said to have led to a scuffle  and outright physical assault of the staff by the operatives.

    It was learnt efforts by passers-by to resolve the crisis, had angered the DSS operatives who after being  joined by four other operatives, descended heavily on the two affected staff by dragging Nnadi and pushing the Deputy Director (Chris Odoh) to their office at the White House.

    The forceful movement and dragging of John Nnadi and Chris Odoh to the DSS office by its operatives from a distance of about 125 metres and the rising pandemonium, drew the attention of the staff of the Unity Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA) as well as other employees of the Senate Public Accounts Committee and Journalists from the Senate Press Centre  whose offices were along that route.

    Not happy about the embarrassment of the two staff, other members of staff of the National Assembly from various offices at the White House, including a Sargent-At-Arms who often bears the mace during procession of presiding officers of the Senate spontaneously gathered at the front of the DSS’ office with a call on the operatives to allow the two victims go.

    The Divisional Police Officer in charge of the the National Assembly, Alex Annagu and Deputy Clerk to the Senate (Legislative), Mrs Ilobah Isabella, later arrived at the scene and tried to calm the situation. 

    They appealed to the crowd to return to their respective offices.

    While listening to the appeal from the DPO and Deputy Clerk, one of the affected staff John Nnadi stormed out of the DSS’ office, saying in a loud tone that the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Alhaji Sani Magaji Tambawal, must hear about the injustice and intimidation the DSS operatives had subjected him and the Deputy Director to.

    His suggestion was spontaneously accepted by the crowd who joined him to march to the office of the CNA, chanting: “We no go gree o , we no go gree” for about 15 minutes before dispersing, since the CNA was said not to have been in the office at the time. 

    On getting back to the lobby, the DPO, further appealed to the victims and other staff that had gathered to allow peace to reign saying the police would investigate the matter to ascertain the cause of the misunderstanding and the subsequent action of the DSS operatives.

    “My appeal to all at this point, particularly Mr John Nnadi, is that, we should all return to our offices while Nnadi and Odoh go to the Clinic for medical examination. 

    “Gathering here and chanting solidarity songs will not right whatever wrong that might have been committed but going to the clinic for medical examination and possible establishment of any injury from the alleged assault, will help in establishing a case,” he said.

    The assaulted John Nnadi who was later joined by Chris Odoh, thereafter, went to the Clinic, while the enraged crowd subsequently dispersed at about 12:35pm.

  • National Assembly shifts resumption to April 30

    National Assembly shifts resumption to April 30

    The National Assembly has again postponed its resumption of plenary from Tuesday, April 23 to Tuesday, April 30.

    The Clerk to the Senate, Chinedu Akubueze, and the Clerk to the House, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, announced this in different messages yesterday in Abuja.

    It was the second time the National Assembly was postponing its resumption after the Easter and Eid-el-Fitr break.

    It was initially scheduled to resume plenary on Tuesday, April 16, but shifted it to April 23 to complete the renovation of the main chambers of the National Assembly.

    Akubueze’s message, titled: For the information of Distinguished Senators: Notice of postponement of resumption, reads: “Distinguished senators are hereby, respectfully informed that resumption of plenary, which was earlier postponed to Tuesday, April 23, 2024, has further been postponed to Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 11 a.m.

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    “Kindly note that the plenary sitting will be held at the main Chamber of the Senate.

    “All inconveniences this postponement may cause Distinguished Senators are highly regretted, please.”

    Also, House spokesman Akintunde Rotimi quoted the Clerk as saying the extension followed the earlier decision of the Committee on Constitution Review to extend the deadline for submission of memoranda till April 30.

    He said: “Additionally, the extended timeline will allow for more concerted preparation for the legislative summits on State Police, as well as the one on Tax Reforms, Revenue Enhancement, and Digital Transformation coming up in the next two weeks.

    “All inconveniences arising from this rescheduling are regretted.

    “In line with the Legislative Agenda of the 10th National Assembly, the House remains committed to being accountable and providing timely communications to all stakeholders.”

  • Gender-based bill ‘We’ll lobby National Assembly to pass it’

    Gender-based bill ‘We’ll lobby National Assembly to pass it’

    Vice Chair of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in FCT Correspondents Chapel, Grace Ike, has said they will lobby National Assembly to ensure passage of gender-sensitive laws to protect and promote rights of women.

    Ike spoke in Abuja, during 2024 International Women’s Day: ‘Together ensure inclusivity, loud her voice’, organised by Female Journalist Network with Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), in FCT yesterday.

    In her address: “Together we can do more; Together we will do more. This year, we shall do everything together as Women”, Ike hailed the female journalists and womenfolk for breaking barriers and making their voices heard in male-dominated spaces.

    Ike, who chairs House of Representatives’ Press Corps, said: “This year is special as we are gathered to give a amplification to our yearnings and desires. Particularly, the secret pain and muffled ambitions of women. This year, we shall speak truth to power. We shall speak to each other as we speak for each other. This journey is collective and we shall move as one  unbreakable vanguard.

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    “… As we gather,’ we are reminded of the role women play in shaping societies and charting the course towards a more inclusive and equitable world. This year, our words would become action and a force that will pull us all to the promised land. There is just one bend before we get to end of the tunnel and I see light already.

    “As chair of House of Representatives Press Corps, and the vice chair of Correspondents’ chapel of FCT, I stand as a testament to the progress women have made in breaking barriers and making their voices heard in male-dominated spaces. I have worked with female lawmakers, wives of top politicians and women who have excelled.”

    While pursuing gender equality, Ike said women should not “waver in our commitment to challenge injustice, discrimination, and inequality. Inclusivity is not a fleeting notion but a cornerstone upon which our movement thrives. By embracing diverse voices and perspectives, we sow seeds of a future where we flourish.

    “Let us pay homage to the  role of female journalists in shaping narratives and amplifying our voices. Their dedication to illuminating our struggles merits our support and appreciation.

    “To empower our female journalists, we must equip them with tools and opportunities to excel. Comprehensive training and mentorship are essential in nurturing talents and ensuring their voices reverberate. Let us advocate for gender parity in media representation, fostering a more inclusive and representative discourse…”