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Tag: national assembly

  • Corruption fight: Private investigator seeks cooperation of NASS, Judiciary

    The Special Investigator to the Special Presidential Panel for the Recovery of Public Property,  recently appointed by the federal government to help trace and recover looted funds, Victor Uwajeh, has said that the war on corruption case won by the collaboration of all Nigerians, including the National Assembly and the Judiciary.

    Uwajeh, a London based Nigeria private investigator who was reacting to his appointment assured the government and Nigerians that all the looted funds and property, no matter where they are hidden will be recovered to better the country.

    He sought the cooperation of the National Assembly and the judiciary for the success of anti-corruption fight and to ensure that all looted funds and undeclared property are recovered and return to the government.

    While appreciating the government for giving him the opportunity to serve his fatherland, Uwajeh said “President Buhari relentless efforts have yielded great success in curbing corruption and impunity in Nigeria. It is no longer business as usual. The government has made looting unattractive and the indication is that the rate of acquisition of foreign assets has dropped drastically.

    “I wish to state that we will recover all foreign properties and funds of Politically Exposed Persons, their allies and cronies no matter the jurisdiction. We will trace and return all tax payers funds and ill-gotten properties stolen from the commonwealth of Nigeria.

    “The war on corruption is a collective one. We seek the cooperation of the judiciary and the national assembly in this arduous task. The war against corruption is a tough one, but we are tested professionals that are immune to blackmail and intimidation.”

    While giving assurance of taking the job seriously, Uwajeh commended Barrister Okoi Obono Obla, “for his focus, drive and zeal to recover stolen assets.”

    Read Also: Fed Govt appoints investigator to trace loot

  • Security at Senate Chamber porous, says Alasoadura

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) Chief Tayo Alasoadura on Monday said the frequent invasion of the National Assembly by suspected hoodlums would persist unless urgent tight security network is built around its premises.

    Alasoadura, who is representing Ondo Central District at the Senate, spoke with reporters shortly after presenting utility Bus to the Students’ Union of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) to aid mobility.

    The former Finance Commissioner said the last week invasion of the Upper Chamber by hoodlums was disturbing, stressing that the porous security around the Senate aided them in gaining entry to remove the mace.

    According to him, such development would never happen in any advanced country.

    He expressed optimism that such scenario would not re-occur in the hallowed chamber.

    Alasoadura said, “We even learnt that the suspected hoodlums allegedly paid their way into the Senate premises, this showed the level of unlimited corruption mentality in the country.

    The lawmaker noted that several times his colleagues had raised the alarm over the weak security situation at the Senate without appropriate remedy from appropriate authorities.

    He called for proper monitoring of movement of people into the chamber to guard against future occurrence.

    The politician said the donation of a bus to FUTA SUG was not a significant event, but to restore hope in leadership and a challenge to future leaders.

    According to him,” I have always believed that in building a great nation, the youths must be properly be equipped and positioned for leadership responsibilities”.

    He said the bus would encourage students’ mobility and participation not only in campus affairs but their participation in other institutions activities.

    The lawmaker said he had raised Motions and sponsored Bills on (Petroleum Industry Governance Bill) Adeyemi University of Education Bill among others which were of great importance to the country and Ondo Central.

    FUTA’s Vice Chancellor, Adeola Fuwape appreciated Alasoadura for the gesture, assuring him that the 25,000 students’ population would support his present and future endeavours.

    The SUG President, Olaseinde Olayinka also appreciated the bus donation, stressing that it came at the appropriate time of need.

    He promised that his colleagues will back Alasoadura second term bid, adding that the bus would be judiciously utilised for the benefits of the entire students in the institution.

    Read Also: Alasoadura urges APC members to unite

  • Senate Invasion: Lesson on our security structure – Ekweremadu

    Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, says Wednesday’s invasion on the Senate is another lesson on the need for Nigeria to re-assess its security structure.

    Ekweremadu, according to a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Mr Uche Anichukwu, stated this when he received the leadership of Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), which visited him at the National Assembly on Friday.

    He said: “It is an embarrassment to Nigeria before the international community for someone to drive all the way into the National Assembly Complex, enter the hallowed chamber, and cart away its symbol of authority.

    “It shows a breakdown of security and it is a setback to Nigeria’s drive for foreign investment because no one would be ready to invest money in such a system.

    “So, it is a lesson that we cannot keep doing the same thing with our security system and expect a different result.

    “It is also an irony that the people involved would organise armed bandits to rob the senate of its mace since they understand the implication of what they have done.

    “As a parliament, we will ensure that this does not happen again and insist that all the actors behind the drama are brought to book’’.

    Ekweremadu urged the association to help the nation to rethink its governance and security structures in line with other federal systems.

    Earlier, President of the association, Prof. Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, had said that the delegation was at the National Assembly to show solidarity with the senate and condemn what happened.

    “Our association is non-partisan, but we must speak the truth, stand by the truth and protect the truth.

    “Any group or person that perpetrated what we saw live on national television needed to have his head examined.

    “A normal person cannot come here and desecrate the National Assembly, let alone infringe on the Mace.

    “It was not really an assault on the National Assembly, but the entire people you have been mandated to represent.

    “The desecration of this hallowed chamber is so grave an event that it calls for an immediate national action to avert a re-occurrence and to bring the culprits, whom we regard as bandits, to book,” he said.

    NAN

  • Labour leader: Senate invasion, injury to Nigeria’s democracy

    A NEC Member of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Issa Aremu has condemned the invasion of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly and disruption of the Senate plenary by unknown persons on Wednesday.

    Comrade Aremu said “an injury to the National Assembly is an injury to the nation’s democracy” adding that the “Federal government probe of the invasion should be prompt and conclusive with the objective of prevention of future acts”.

    The labour leader said the unfortunate senate event was a rude awakening to all for good governance with respect to security of lives and property as contained in 1999 constitution.

    Comrade Aremu said what the Senate just witnessed had been “the routine lots of many defenseless Nigerians” who are daily physically assaulted by criminals in homes, on the roads and in their communities.

    He said while nothing could justify thuggery at the Senate, the leadership of the National Assembly must also stop criminalizing dissenting views of democratically elected members.

    “The serial suspension of any members of the hallowed Chambers who hold contrary views amounts to legislative dictatorship which is also unacceptable in a democracy” he observed.

    Democracy is about cooperation as much as contestation and the National Assembly is the true symbol of both, he said.

    He however said that, the mass condemnation of the senate invasion was an indication that,  “there is a national consensus that democracy despite some of its shortcomings remains the best form of good governance and development for Nigeria.”

  • Senate invasion, injury to Nigeria’s democracy – Aremu

    A NEC Member of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Issa Aremu has condemned the invasion of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly and disruption of the Senate plenary by unknown persons on Wednesday.

    Comrade Aremu said “an injury to the National Assembly is an injury to the nation’s democracy” adding that the “Federal government probe of the invasion should be prompt and conclusive with the objective of prevention of future acts”.

    The labour leader said the unfortunate senate event was a rude awakening to all for good governance with respect to security of lives and property as contained in 1999 constitution.

    Comrade Aremu said what the Senate just witnessed had been “the routine lots of many defenseless Nigerians” who are daily physically assaulted by criminals in homes, on the roads and in their communities.

    He said while nothing could justify thuggery at the Senate, the leadership of the National Assembly must also stop criminalizing dissenting views of democratically elected members.

    “The serial suspension of any members of the hallowed Chambers who hold contrary views amounts to legislative dictatorship which is also unacceptable in a democracy” he observed.

    Democracy is about cooperation as much as contestation and the National Assembly is the true symbol of both, he said.

    He however said that, the mass condemnation of the senate invasion was an indication that,  “there is a national consensus that democracy despite some of its shortcomings remains the best form of good governance and development for Nigeria.”

    Read Also: Invasion: Senate summons IGP, DSS DG

  • Invasion: Senate summons IGP, DSS DG

    …Ekweremadu confirms return of snatched mace

     

    Dazed by the audacity which shrouded Wednesday’s invasion of the National Assembly, the Senate Wednesday summoned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Director General, Department of State Service (DSS) Lawal Daura, to appear before it over the incident.

    Idris and Daura are to appear before the Senate next week, the Senate said.

    It said that the police boss and DSS DG were specifically invited to throw light on the extent of investigation into the invasion largely believed to have been orchestrated.

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who presided over the plenary issued the summon in an address after over one hour Executive Session.

    Issues relating to the invasion of the hallowed chamber of the Senate by armed thugs and steps to ensure lasting harmony in the chamber were said to have dominated the closed session.

    Ekweremadu formally confirmed to his colleagues that the stolen mace had been recovered by the police as demanded by the Senate.

    He lamented that despite recovery of the mace “it still beats the imagination of Nigerians and the civilised world that the attackers passed through the several security checks and barriers into the National Assembly and the inner recesses of this chamber and also escaped with the mace into the thin air despite the well-known fortified surroundings of this parliament.”

    Vowing that what happened on Wednesday must not be allowed to go unpunished or to be swept under the carpet, Ekweremadu assured the Senate will get to the root of the matter.

    He called on the Inspector General of Police and Director-General of the State Security Service to “ensure that all those, who plotted, aided, abated, and executed this dastardly affront on our democracy and belittled Nigeria before the international community must be brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others.”

    A added “We will be inviting them (Idris and Daura) next week to brief us on the state of the investigations.”

    Ekweremadu who read a statement entitled “The affront on our laws and institutions must not go unpunished” said: Distinguished Colleagues, “Yesterday, (Wednesday) this legislative chamber, the nation, and the international community were treated to the theatre of the absurd when armed men invaded the chamber to assault our staff and cart away the mace, the symbol of authority of the Senate. It was a very sad testimony, a derogation, and total smear on our democracy and nation.

    “On behalf of the President of the Senate, His Excellency, Dr. Bukola Saraki, CON, I want to register deep appreciation to you, my colleagues for your understanding and maturity in the face of flagrant provocation. You showed forth yourselves as patriots and elder statesmen and women. I am indeed proud of you and salute your patriotism.

    “I want to also specially appreciate the leadership and members of the House of Representatives, the Management and staff of the National Assembly, especially our chamber staff for their gallantry.

    “We appreciate Nigerians, the media, civil society, the political parties, and the international community for the outpour of solidarity and concern.

    “Ugly and provocative as the event of Wednesday was, it soothes that the entire nation and the world stood together in total condemnation of the ugly drama, brigandage, and desecration of the National Assembly by those, who hold themselves above the laws and institutions of our land.

    “Distinguished colleagues, you would also recall that this hallowed chamber, supported by the House of Representatives, demanded that the Inspector-General of Police recover and return the stolen mace to the Senate within twenty-four hours.

    “Concerned colleagues and Nigerians, who wanted to find out if the mace had been found, have inundated me with calls and messages since last night. Let me, therefore, formally confirm to you, my distinguished colleagues, that the mace has been recovered by the police as we demanded here in this hallowed chamber.

    “Nevertheless, we believe that there should be consequence for bad behaviour. We swore to uphold the laws of the Federal Republic and the principles of democracy. It still beats the imagination of Nigerians and the civilised world that the attackers passed through the several security checks and barriers into the National Assembly and the inner recesses of this chamber and also escaped with the mace into the thin air despite the well-known fortified surroundings of this parliament.

    “Therefore, we hold that it will be a detour to the state of nature where life was lawless and brutish if what happened yesterday is allowed to go unpunished or to be swept under the carpet. It will never happen. We will get to the roots of the matter. We call on the Inspector General of Police and Director-General of the State Security Service to ensure that all those, who plotted, aided, abated, and executed this dastardly affront on our democracy and belittled Nigeria before the international community must be brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others. We will be inviting them next week to brief us on the state of the investigations.

    “This incident has also brought to the fore the case many of us have always made for a decentralised police system. Ordinarily, a big institution like the National Assembly should have its own police, apart from the Sergeants-at-Arm. However, the security of this parliament is fully outside the control of the National Assembly. Instructively, the same gangterism that was witnessed here Wednesday has been recorded in various State Houses of Assembly.

    “It is on this note, distinguished colleagues, that I welcome you back to this Thursday plenary. I want to assure Nigerians that we will never waver in the responsibility they have elected us to shoulder. We will all stand together to defend this institution of the parliament and our democracy. We will never fear to legislate; and we will never legislate out of fear. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    Read Aslo: Ekweremadu briefs Osinbajo on Senate invasion

  • National Assembly dumps plan to override Buhari’s veto

    SENATE and House of Representatives yesterday made a U-turn on  their plan to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto  of the order of Elections Bill.

    Buhari refused to assent to the bill.

    Attempts to pull through a new bill sponsored by Chairman, Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Suleiman Nazif, failed on the floor of the Senate.

    The bill was entitled: “A Bill for an Act to amend the provisions of the Electoral Act No. 6, 2010 to further improve the electoral process  and for related matters, 2018.”

    The Bill was withdrawn following a proposal by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to that effect.

    The Senate and the House of Representatives had in their passage of the 2010 Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2018 in February this year,  proposed a new sequence of elections, which placed the National Assembly election first, followed by State Houses of Assembly/ Governorship elections and Presidential election last.

    Buhari vetoed the bill last month on three different grounds.

    Senator Nazif, in his lead debate, noted that the new reordered sequence of elections would start with Governorship/State Houses of Assembly elections, followed by the National Assembly election and Presidential election last.

    Majority of the senators in their contributions opposed the bill.

    Ekweremadu apparently saw that the bill was on its way for defeat and rescued.

    He proposed that the bill be reverted to the committee for more legislative inputs.

    Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North), who was the first to oppose the bill, noted he is totally and comprehensively against the proposed legislation..

    Lawan insisted that the right thing to do was not to legislate for new sequence of elections but to support INEC in the conduct of the elections.

    Senator Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central) also kicked against the bill.

    Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio was even more categorical in his opposition of the bill.

    Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olushola Adeyeye ( Osun Central) also kicked against the bill.

    Adeyeye described the bill as unconstitutional and called the action of the Senate as legislative rascality.

    Senators Dino Melaye ( Kogi West) and Mao Ohuambuwa ( Abia North)  made spirited attempts to get the bill passed for second reading.

    Ekweremadu said: “President has made observations in respect of some aspects of that bill, he did not say that the bill we passed was entirely useless. In other to safe those noble provisions in the Electoral Act, it is important that we remove all those areas that the President had objected to and pass the remaining items as a separate bill and send it back to him, Then we can now deal with the issues where he has issues as a separate bill altogether and then we either defeat it or have it succeed.

    “If it succeeds, we send it to the President, he decides what to do, if he brings it back, we also decide what to do. We need to clean up that bill so that we will be able to safe all those provisions that were already made in the Electoral Bill.”

    Ekweremadu’s proposal was unanimously adopted.

    Also yesterday in House, the lead sponsor, Dukku was not on the floor and the Chairman Rules and Business, Emmanuel Orker-Jev (APC, Benue) requested the leave of the House to step down the bill, which was on electronic voting.

    This did not, however, go down well with a pocket of lawmakers who were heard shouting no, no no.

    The next bill for an Act to amend the provisions of the Electoral Act, No. 6, 2010 to make provision for sequence of elections in Nigeria; and for related matters sponsored by Edward Pwajok (APC, Plateau) and seven others also suffered the same fate.

    Though the lead sponsor, Pwajok, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria  (SAN), was on the floor, he nonetheless asked that the bill be stepped down.

    Before he could conclude his speech, shouts of no, no no broke out, which forced the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Yussuff Lasun to calm his colleagues down, saying the lead sponsor has every right to step down the bill.

    No sooner had the Lasun ruled on the bill that the Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, in a point of order on privileges, disclaimed being a co-sponsor of the bill, having been listed on the order paper as one of the eight sponsors.

    His point of order was sustained.

    Having been stepped down, the bills can, however, be presented again for debate on another legislative day.

  • Dictatorship in National Assembly

    SIR: The National Assembly comprising the two legislative chambers of Senate and House of representatives, traditionally and constitutionally empowered to make laws and perform oversight functions is gradually morphing into a dictatorial Frankenstein where members are gagged on rhetorical and omnibus house rules.

    While no one should begrudge the two chambers for enforcing rules to guide parliamentary ethics in legislative business, the bias and tendentious application of such rules to members as the nation has witnessed lately is not only reprehensible but also expose the underbelly of the heads of the two chambers as empress with primordial missions to accomplish outside the extant legislative templates.

    This skewed legislative praxis is more pronounced in the Senate where the chamber has been partitioned into either pro-Saraki or pro-PMB. Any infraction from pro-Saraki seems to be approached with perfume whilst any from pro-PMB is awarded the most severe sanctions.

    The danger in this unfortunate praxis is that the fear of being unjustly sanctioned would prevent robust debate predicated on alternative views and opinions that should underpin legislative decisions.

    The victim of this dictatorial tendency is not only the suspended senator but the entire constituency he represents.

    Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for instance is suspended for 90 legislative days despite tendering apologies while Senator Shehu Sani did the most unthinkable to the Senate’s guided ethics by revealing the allowances of members on national television, overreaching the spokesman of the chambers.

    Sani has not been sectioned because of his membership of the Senate oligarchy. The public cannot forget in a hurry Senator Dino Melaye’s clownish show of unrestrained passion.

    Could any member of U.S.A congress dance on CNN in celebration of inanity without being recalled? Is the show of shame not an embarrassment to the Senate?

    It is gratifying that Omo-Agege has gone to court to seek redress but the outcome of such judicial intervention remains a matter of conjectures because of the doctrine of separation of powers.

     

    • Bukola Ajisola,

    bukymany@yahoo.com

  • FG orders probe of National Assembly invasion

    The Federal Government has expressed shock on the invasion of the National Assembly and the subsequent snatching of the Senate mace by thugs on Tuesday.

    In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the security agencies have been directed to immediately unravel the circumstances surrounding the allegations breach of security that led to the invasion.

     He said the security around the National Assembly complex would also be reinforced to prevent a recurrence.

  • ‘NASS to overhaul security arrangements’ – NASS Spokesman

    Five members of the National Assembly’s special security personnel, the Sergent At Arms sustained injuries during the shock visitation of unidentified men who disrupted Senate sitting and made away with the mace on Wednesday.

    “Five of us sustained varying degrees of injury and were taken to the clinic for treatment on Wednesday but the situation of Sandra, the only female, was worrisome as she was seriously hit in both eyes,” a source told The Nation.

    Although there are a number of policemen headed by a DPO at the National Assembly police post, prevalent use of policemen ended after the November 20, 2014 invasion of the National Assembly by hooded men in black uniforms and anti-riot policemen who padlocked the five entry points into NASS.

    The following day, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal and his fellow lawmakers were tear-gassed andproperly humbled by policemen who barricaded the main entrance into NASS.

    Since then, the National Assembly adopted the global parliamentary practice of putting Sergeant-at-Arms in charge of security whilepolicemen man only the outer/main entrance into the complex.

    Although some changes, including the appointment of a retired military general, Brigadier-General Mohammed Sani Dawalis as the ChiefSarjeant-At-Arms early this year, have been made to security arrangements since the resumption of the current Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Sani Omonori, NASS’ Director of Information, Mr. Rawlings Agada informed The Nation that with a preliminary review ofWednesday’s occurrence, additional security arrangements are very likely.

    “These designated to have various equipment have them and while the current paucity of funds may affect some allowances, NASS management has made the security personnel’s capacity-building programmes a high priority.

    “What happened on Wednesday is a national challenge to our security architecture and the lesson learnt will help to strengthen newsecurity arrangements in the National Assembly,” Agada told The Nation.

    Four years ago, in response to security threats to federal legislators, several of them had proposed that security officials under theSarjeant-At-Arms be provided with the necessary weapons to perform their security functions.

    Then, Senator Ita Enang had proposed that the National Assembly should “Ensure that every other security· personnel within the precinctof the National Assembly is subject to and under the control of the Sarjeant-At-Arms and that no person brings in arms into the chambers or the premises except it is authorized by the Sarjeant-at-arms.”

    Contributing to a debate on the matter, other Senators supported the idea of granting the Sargent-At-Arms full autonomy over all security issues within NASS.

    “They need to protect us; considering the situation of insurgency, there is a need for the sergeant-At-Arms to carry arms and protect the National· Assembly,” Senator Kabiru Gaya had said.