The Nation Newspaper

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  • Another National Assembly leadership debacle looming

    The pronouncements of various stakeholders have evoked memories of the 2015 National Assembly leadership debacle. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) lost the opportunity to install its preferred candidates. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examines the issues at stake and why another fiasco should be averted now.

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari touched a sore point in his four-year administration at a recent a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, when he lamented about some actions and decisions of the 8th National Assembly that thwarted the realisation of its agenda for change. The president made his feelings known when he hosted governors and senators-elect of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, recently. President Buhari particularly cited the deliberate and persistent delay in passing the nation’s annual budget by the National Assembly.

    Since the coming on board of the administration and the inauguration of the 8th Senate, the executive arm led by President Buhari and the National Assembly have been embroiled in several epic battles that have marred the relationship between the two arms. The lack of synergy between the Presidency and members of the National Assembly has been a source of concern to party stakeholders.

    Indications are that Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South in the Red Chamber, is gearing up to follow the footsteps of Senator Bukola Saraki, by trying to usurp the leadership of the chamber, which has been bestowed on Senator Ahmed Lawan by the APC national leadership. Ndume, it was learnt, has rejected entreaties by the party leadership to drop his ambition.

    In the view of analysts, the APC appears to be making the same mistake that led to the emergence of the Saraki-led Senate leadership and the Yakubu Dogara-led leadership of the House of Representatives, by seeking to impose Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila on the National Assembly. Such analysts say the party ought to have zoned the positions to its preferred regions and throw it open to all aspirants. This, they say, does not stop the party leadership from backing a preferred candidate.

    One of the analysts said: “But the way the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is going about it, by imposing particular candidates for the post of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, amounts to interfering in the affairs of the legislature.”

    In the same vein, the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Garba, said: “The National Chairman of the APC, with due respect, may not always be right. This is a parliamentary institution only for legislators. Even in our own rules, we don’t create situations whereby only the ruling party members will constitute the committees. So, it can’t be winners-take-all (thing). When we come to sharing committee headship, certainly many committees will go to the opposition party.”

    With the current state of affairs, those who have already indicated interest to contest for the position of the Senate Presidency and the Speakership of the Green Chamber may not withdraw from the race, in spite of the threats and intimidations from several quarters to do so. Against this background, the leadership of the 9th National Assembly is likely to emerge through elections, rather than affirmations as being proposed by the APC leadership.

    To avert what happened in 2015, when the leadership of the 8th National Assembly connived with members of the opposition to emerge, observers believe that the party must tow a more conciliatory approach.

    The greater part of the failings of President Buhari’s first term has been attributed to the glaring lack of synergy between and among the three arms of government. If anything, in the view of public policy analyst, Uche Ugboajah, “the executive, the legislature and the judiciary came across as working at cross purposes, with each other holding tenaciously to its ground against the very interests of the people who put them in government “.

    With the election over, the attention of Nigerians is now turned to the possible complexion of the National Assembly, particularly the leadership of the 9th Senate. The public policy analyst said the country’s monitised politics has robbed off badly on the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, “robbing it of its dignity and integrity”.

    He said: “Sadly, the bastion of our contemplative policy making has been reduced to a safe sanctuary for corrupt politicians, especially former governors running away from the law. Although, through the just-concluded general elections, some of these oligarchs of corruption have been shown the way out of the Senate by the electorate, sadly some other more dangerous fugitives sequestered in Abuja are running to take cover at the hallowed chambers of the Senate.”

    The relationship between the 8th Senate and the Presidency has been acrimonious from the inception of the APC-led government in May 2015. The foundation of the unending rift is traceable to the controversy and contention that greeted the emergence of the senate leadership, where the Presidency and the APC leadership attempted to impose persons of their interest to certain leadership offices at the apex chamber, but without success.

    Following the emergence of Saraki and Dogara at the helm of affairs at the National Assembly, the executive and the legislative arms of government have been working at cross purposes, particularly with regards to budget preparation. Since 1999, the two arms of government had never experienced the kind of serious face-off over the passage of budgets as it happened in the last four years.

    Many commentators have urged the APC leadership to act fast to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2015. One of such commentators and a member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said there is likelihood of a repeat of 2015, if the party fails to act fast. Jibrin, who was a guest on Channels TV programme, Sunday Politics, said the majority seat won by the APC should be properly utilised by the party and government of President Buhari.

    He said: “I had expected that with the experience of 2015, the party must have given direction. It is getting late because lawmakers are not the kind of people you tell to seat and they seat. In the 9th Assembly, I believe that the party should come out to give a direction on what we should do. Most of us believe that we should go with party supremacy, and that is, what the President wants.”

    In other words, there is need for synergy, for the ruling party to be able to steer the country towards the desired change it promised four years ago. The need for synergy between the executive and the legislative arms of government perhaps explains why there is fusion of powers in the parliamentary system of government, especially the Westminster model; the two arms of government are intermingled.

    Though there is separation of powers in the presidential system, which Nigeria currently practices, members of the National Assembly are expected to cooperate with the executive, not only because the the ruling party usually has majority in the parliament, but also in pursuit of policies that advance the national interest.

    So far, such synergy has been lacking between the two arms of government. Buhari’s first budget was presented on December 22, 2015, that was for 2016 budget. It took several months before the budget was passed by the National Assembly and eventually signed into law by the president on May 6, 2016. During the budget defence for that year, a lot of issues came up with some heads of government agencies disowning the amounts allocated to them, while some accused the National Assembly of inserting several projects under their agencies, in what has now become known as ‘budget padding.’

    The 2017 budget was presented by President Buhari on December 17, 2016, and it also took several months for the National Assembly to pass it and the president assented to it on June 12, 2017. The controversy that trailed the 2017 budget was minimal compared to the one before it.

    However, the 2018 budget once again brought to fore the battle between the executive and the National Assembly, especially the Senate. At some point, heads of agencies were said not to be co-operating with the legislature for budget defence, and the president had to give an express directive for all heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to urgently attend to the National Assembly on the budget. In the end, it emerged that projects worth over N570 billion were introduced into the budget by the National Assembly, thereby increasing the size of the budget, which the president was reportedly not comfortable with.

    The first real battle between the executive arm and the Senate was the prosecution of the two presiding officers, Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu, over allegations that they masterminded the forgery of the Senate rules that ushered them into power.

    The allegations were that while the Senate rules as obtained in the 7th Assembly provided that the election of presiding officers shall be done via division, which was a form of an open ballot, suddenly, the rules were changed to allow secret ballot, although there was allegedly no time the then Senate changed its rules to accommodate such.

    As a result of the allegations, the Nigeria Police Force invited Ekweremadu for interrogation, and the Federal Government later initiated charges of forgery against Saraki and Ekweremadu on the matter as prosecution commenced before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi Division, Abuja. However, in a dramatic turn of events, the charges were dropped in October, 2015.

    The non-confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by the Senate was, and still is, one issue that strained the relationship between the two arms of government.

    Twice Magu’s name was sent for confirmation to the Senate, and twice he was turned down. The EFCC acting chairman was first nominated in 2016 to head the anti-graft agency, but the Senate rejected him in December of that year, citing a report of the Department of State Security (DSS), which advised against the confirmation.

    In January 2017, President Buhari re-nominated him for confirmation by the Senate, but it later emerged that the Department of State Security (DSS) submitted two contradictory reports to the Senate on the nominee: one clearing him for confirmation and the other opposing his confirmation. The Senate relied on the later, and rejected Magu’s confirmation for the second time in March 2017.

    The upper legislative chamber recommended that he should be removed as the acting chairman of the agency. But Buhari refused to budge. As a result, the Senate delayed over 37 confirmations sought by the President for several months, and in some cases up to a year.

    The 8th Senate, under Saraki’s leadership, also embarked on some investigations that were perceived to be targeted at getting back at the President. For example, the Senate launched an investigation into the activities of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, over allegations of mismanagement and corruption, in what is now known as ‘grass-cutting’ deal. The Senate also probed the reinstatement of the former head of a presidential task force on pension, Abdulrasheed Maina, though President Buhari had ordered for his dismissal from the civil service.

    Being the year the general elections, 2018 was particularly one of sustained battles between the Presidency and members of the National Assembly, particularly the Senate.  One of the most controversial decisions of President Buhari in 2018 was his refusal to sign the electoral reform bill. In February 2018, the National Assembly forwarded an Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill to the President. This was vetoed. It vetoed the bill over disagreements on the issue of whether or not the National Assembly has the right to determine the sequence of elections.

    The lawmakers in re-ordering the 2019 elections had put the presidential election last, apparently to prevent the possibility of the elections being influenced by any bandwagon effect. The matter went to court and the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the National Assembly. On June 27, 2018, the National Assembly sent another version of the amended Bill to the President for his assent. This was again vetoed on the grounds that it contained constitutional breaches.

    On July 24, 2018, the very day the National Assembly embarked on a recess till September 25, the National Assembly again passed another version of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill which purportedly reached the President on August 3, 2018. Pressures from National Assembly members to the effect that the bill should be signed was rebuffed by the Presidency, with the argument that the President still had enough time, since the Constitution provides for a 30-day window within which he can assent to a bill or he would be deemed to have vetoed it. That 30-day window closed on September 2.

  • Ikpeazu sacks aides

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has relieved political appointees of their posts.

    A statement by the Permanent Secretary of the Government House, Elder Bernard Ogbonna, said appointees in the Office of the Deputy Governor and Wife of the Governor were also affected.

    Ikpeazu, however, directed Commissioners, Secretary to State Government, his Secretary, the Deputy Chief of Staff (both Governor and Deputy Governor) and the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to continue to perform their official duties till further notice.

    Ikpeazu, who thanked the aides for their contributions to the success of his administration in the last four years, assured them that their contributions to the making of a more progressive Abia would not be forgotten.

    The statement hinted that the governor also dissolved the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), and directed members to hand over to the most senior worker in the board.

    The statement reads: “Governor Ikpeazu has approved the immediate dissolution of the body of appointees to the governor, including Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants and Technical Officers.

    “The governor also directed that Commissioners, Secretary to State Government, Principal Secretary to the Governor, Deputy Chief of Staff (office of Governor and Deputy Governor) and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor continue to perform their official duties till further notice.

    “He thanks those who contributed to the success of his administration in the last four years, and promises that their contributions to the making of a more progressive Abia would never be forgotten.”

    However, sources within the Government House said there has been intense lobbying among outgoing political aides seeking reappointment. Party members and close associates to the governor who felt sidelined in the first four years are also hoping for appointments as they claimed to have worked for Ikpeazu’s victory.

  • Dockworkers urge govt to boost eastern ports

    The Nigerian Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has advised the Federal Government to boost operational activities at eastern ports.

    Its President, Shipping branch, Ekpeyong Etim Ekpeyong, told reporters in Lagos that Onne, Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar ports should be made busy by the government through constant dredging of the channels to pave way for bigger vessels to call at the ports.

    Speaking on the advantages of the eastern ports, he said with the government’s support, several jobs would be created in the region.

    Besides, Ekpeyong said the resuscitation of the ports would further reduce youth unrest, noting that  pirate attacks on ships, kidnapping, unemployment and other social vices would also become a thing of the past.

    According to him, the fear of kidnappers and pirates are some of the factors responsible for importers’ low patronage of the eastern ports, hence, the government should rise to the occasion by providing adequate security along the corridors to foster confidence in importers that may want to use the ports.

    “The only thing is to make the ports busy, the more busy the ports are, the more activities will increase and when activities increase, there is prospect of more employment. There are no two ways about it because the advantages of those ports working outweigh the disadvantages,” he said, adding that there is also an urgent need to dredge the routes because the shallowness has made big vessels that have depth not to go there except the flat bottom vessels.

    Ekpeyong said the government has a responsibility to ensure that the ports are functioning well, because if ports in the East are doing well, Lagos ports would be decongested. For him, granting of tax rebate to importers who use the  ports just to encourage them should be considered because between  70 and 80 per cent of importers are from that axis.

    He maintained that good roads and railway lines should be constructed to link ports with cities, adding that by so doing, importers in Anambra, for instance, would not come to Lagos to clear their consignments.

    In a related development, MWUN said it was regrettable that five years after the expiration of the biometric identity cards for seafarers, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) was yet to renew same for its members.

    Read also: ‘Nigeria’s maritime space porous’

    The union lamented that unregistered workers have been usurping jobs meant for legitimate dockworkers and that the union was no longer comfortable with such practice.

    Consequently, MWUN said it might have to address the issue through an operation codenamed “Option B” if the relevant government authority failed to yield to their demand.

    NIMASA, under its former Director-General Mr. Temi Omatseye, initiated the dock-workers biometric identity card project.

    MWUN President General Adewale Adeyanju, who disclosed this at the Dockworkers Branch Working Committee (BWC) of the union, in Lagos, said dockworkers were peace-loving people who always ensured industrial harmony; but they should not be taken for granted by any group of persons in the industry.

    Adeyanju accused some port concessionaires of engaging unregistered dockworkers, warning that the union would be forced to tour some of the culpable facilities to apply “Option B “. He described the engagement of unregistered workers as unprofessional, noting that the union will not hesitate to clampdown on such persons.

    “We want NIMASA to renew our biometric identity card because for over four years now, this has not been done. All dockworkers, including seafarers in Nigerian seaports were properly registered and we are appealing to them to renew the biometric card,”he said, adding that the union will further alert security agencies to ensure that the unregistered workers are apprehended.

  • Effective regulation key to convergence, say NCC, others

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other stakeholders in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry have stressed the importance of effective regulations to drive the inevitable convergence in the ecosystem.

    The NCC, Backbone Connectivity Network (BCN), Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat), Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Rack Centre and others spoke at the 10th West African Convergence Conference organised by KNOWHOW Media & Market Intelligence Limited (KMI) at Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja.

    Speaking on: Regulations, Disruptions, employability, entrepreneurship and convergence, broadband plan, NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Danbatta, said convergence of IT telecom and media has become imperative in view of the new opportunities and threats that are being thrown up.

    Represented by NCC Head of Wireless Networks, Anthony Ikemefuna, the regulatory chief said industries were being disrupted, new industries were being created while new competencies and skill-sets were required.

    “The increasing convergence of the ICT and media industries is a trend that we’ll be watching as it has tremendous implications for the types of services that will be delivered, the ability to connect to new audiences, and even the types of networks built to power the new data-intensive customer demands,” he said.

    Dambatta said broadband connectivity and convergence would be difficult to achieve without effective regulation. “Regulations represent a powerful instrument to promote efficiency, but their impact depends on good implementation and effective compliance. NCC has over 12 enforceable regulations for the telecommunication industry and more are being developed to cater for emerging technologies in the sector,” he said.

    BCN CEO Ibrahim Dikko and Rack Centre Managing Director Tunde Coker said supporting local data ecosystem would depend on how much of broadband the environment can offer. Convergence of technologies and services is a function of the availability of broadband and right regulations to foster and not impede growth, they said.

    ATCON President, Olusola Teniola, stressed the need for collaboration between government and private sector players if the new timeline of 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2024 must be met. He agreed with Dikko and Coker that “broadband should be a privilege right’ since broadband is the key vehicle to drive all sorts of growth, including converged technologies and services in the 21st century.

    Head, Lagos Regional Business Office, NigComSat, Ibiye Ukoko, said with convergence, voice and data services are merging to belong to a single data stream, adding that a single device can handle calls, instant messages, stream television, photography email and many others.

    “Some services are becoming obsolete with convergence, however, a lot of other opportunities are open to those that can innovate in developing new applications,” she said.

    Ausso Leadership Academy (ALA ) founder, Mr Austin Okere, in his keynote presentation, said the future of work would be driven by technology. According to him, a lot of youths  prefer to be entrepreneurs because of the technology enablement.

    According to Okere, convergence will also change the face of the work place as many will work from home in silos as opposed to relating and meeting with their co-workers everyday.

    Qitech Technologies Chairman, Dr Sola Afolabi, said the education system and curricula must be tweaked to reflect the realities of convergence. According to him, while the role of the academia is to produce goods and services (workers and ideas), their products must meet the need of the industry which is now becoming converged.

    With special attention on broadband as the next frontier for Nigeria’s ICT development, participants said the government and stakeholders must see broadband as a right for all citizens and not just service.

    Dambatta said as at last February, broadband penetration hit 33.34 per cent, adding there is steady increase with the deployment of 4G networks.

     

  • 9th NASS: this way to perdition

    The 9th National Assembly should listen to the voice of reason.  In their quest for quality leadership, they should shun the bedlam of the politically ruined.

    Doing otherwise would be baiting perdition, as the 8th National Assembly has done.

    On the leadership question, therefore, anything from Bukola Saraki, outgoing Senate President, and Yakubu Dogara, outgoing House Speaker, ought to attract instant but negative buzz.  The duo is the tag-team that derailed the present National Assembly.

    The Muhammadu Buhari executive had its own challenges.  But Saraki and Dogara spectacularly rebranded, by their actions and inactions, the 8th National Assembly as an ultra-selfish coven, driven by its members’ primitive greed; not by the pressing need of their electors.

    That would explain the near-total clear-out of the old chamber, though many a hustler survived, just as many a dutiful member sank, in what speaks to the Biblical phrase of the innocent carrying the can with the guilty.

    Though Dogara survived, it’s immensely pleasing that Saraki, the fountain head of that rot, got consumed by voter anger.  It’s a dire warning that perfidy is execrable!

    But the Saraki debacle issued from the tragic delusion that politics was a-moral; and, with spin, you could turn the wrong right, and the right, wrong — “government magic”, in Fela-speak!  It’s reassuring furious voters won’t have that crap.

    Long before US President Donald Trump and aides dawned with their “alternative facts” (a euphemism for pure fabrication), Nigeria had witnessed own loss of pristine innocence, on that stark and sacred temple, where wrong is wrong; and right is right.

    That tragic loss was on 12 June 1993.  On that day, a presidential election held.  Moshood Kasimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate won.  Bashir Tofa, the National Republican Convention (NRC) candidate lost.  The election itself was deemed the best ever, in Nigerian history.

    Yet, a certain Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), strutting as a self-named “military president”, decided to play God; and purported to cancel the democratic will of the people.

    Gen. Sani Abacha, his Khaliffa (successor), in those never-again days of reckless military rule, with its power sans responsibility, seized power; and clamped MKO into gaol, from where he never came out alive.

    In-between IBB and Abacha, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo too, hee-hawed: neither hailing the MKO mandate nor nailing the IBB electoral crime.  He settled for and actively pushed a grey area of peace-without-justice, the grand fraud of Interim National Government (ING), just to side-step a sacred mandate.

    Even Obasanjo’s No. 2, during their military rule days, Major-Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua, right in the Abacha era “National Constitutional Conference with full constituent powers”, played the politics of anti-MKO score-settling, against the principle of upholding the truth.

    However, when the dust cleared, all of the dramatis personae, in the anti-MKO plot, ended up in grief.

    Obasanjo and Yar’Adua got gaoled for alleged treason, from which Yar’Adua never made it out alive.  Abacha, the gaoler, himself expired in controversial circumstances, leaving behind a horrible stench of sleaze and graft.

    Ay, IBB has lived through it all.  But even he would appear much chastened, weaned from that rush of tragic delusion, of not only “being in office, but also in power”.

    That had pushed him to write himself into the dustbin of Nigerian democracy history, because of his annulment debacle, even when, in spite of his suspect motives, he ought to now be venerated, for organizing the freest election Nigeria ever had.

    But the grandest loser, of them all, would appear Obasanjo.  Yes, he made it from Abacha’s prison to president, all thanks to the Army Arrangement (AA) – apologies to Fela — of 1999; and was prime beneficiary of the June 12 debacle he helped to nurture and sustain, with his ING role.

    But somehow, he also helped to crash the conservative ruling coalition that had held from independence, and even all through the military years – no thanks to his tragic attempt at remaking the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in his own stark image; and therefore drove away many (wo)men of conscience from that conclave.

    Now, out there in the cold, Obasanjo is self-condemned to periodically screed and bawl; screech and howl, all to grab attention – with each successive racket having less impact than the previous one!

    And now, horror of horrors!  The grand recognition of June 12, instead of May 29, as the true Democracy Day, takes off this year; and Obasanjo is alive and well to see the event – a pestilence he had done everything, in and out of office, to stave off!  But lo!  This cup won’t pass over him!

    This then, was the background to – and the hefty comeuppance of – the elite conspiracy against June 12; and Nigeria’s tragic arrival, at that terrible pass, of the loss of political innocence.

    Still, that made little or no dent on Saraki, as he waltzed his way, into his own self-made hall of shame, after which he would lose everything – including the political fiefdom he inherited from his father, the late Baba Oloye, Dr. Olusola Saraki.

    For him, it was perfidy undiluted: sold his party for personal gain; pawned that party’s inalienable right – the deputy Senate presidency – to the opposition; and conspired to turn his party’s legislative majority into a pitiable minority, in hyper-active plotting to cripple his own party’s presidency!

    That was the wind.  But then came the whirlwind, and Saraki’s political paradise got completely smashed!

    From the formidable emperor of Kwara, Saraki has become the political equivalent of the internally displaced person (IDP), fleeing for dear life, hibernating in some temporary camp!  Talk of sitting in limbo, apologies to Jamaican reggae great, Jimmy Cliff!

    But aside this personal ruin, Saraki’s 8th NASS, like Abacha’s Stone Age dictatorship, got blown away too – with crippling stench of legislative tyranny, that could well have been, but for prompt voter anger!

    As with June 12, Saraki’s personal and NASS debacle has shown trashing decency, for short-term expediency, has its grim expiry.  As Saraki himself could tell, it could be extremely gory!

    Which is why the cant oozing from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is rather amusing.  In parliament, a minority party has its place, just as the majority.  That perking order was settled by voters.

    Therefore, any attempt to grandstand to the contrary, could equal fast-paced doom — and Saraki is living proof.  That could mean morning yet, on PDP’s day of trauma – and further decline, despite the grand delusion of electoral rebound.

    But to the 9th NASS: learn from Saraki’s ‘Humpty-Dumpty’ crash.  Vote leaders that can drive the people’s representatives to serve the people.  That — not personal aggrandizement – is what you were elected to do.  Any other way leads nowhere but perdition.

  • ‘Entrepreneurs should be disciplined’

    Young female entrepreneurs have been admonished to be dynamic and disciplined to drive socio-economic growth thereby having a successful business.

    The Executive Chairman and Founder, Byinks Foundation/Oja.org, Yinka Banire, at an event to mark the International Women’s Day, noted that one core value of a successful business is integrity.

    The event was organised for young female entrepreneurs by Leadership Empowerment and Resource Network (LEARN).

    Banire said: “It is the number one core value of a businessman. If you lack integrity, or cheat your fellow human being, your business will collapse. You have to be honest first with yourself then your business, work on your conscience and build a war against dishonesty so that you can discipline yourself whenever cash comes in.”

    According to him, integrity and honesty without discipline is as good as having zero business. “Discipline is a major ingredient for a successful business,” he reiterated.

    Banire also enjoined participants on the need to have mentors. “As business entrepreneurs, you need mentors, because without mentors, you are heading to an unknown destination. The areas that you need mentors include – spiritual mentor, legal, financial, business and social mentor.”

    The Chief Operating Officer of LEARN, Mrs. Ronke Oguntoyinbo, said: “The aim is to empower young female entrepreneurs in all areas such as health, social media, finance, accessing loans with low interest and how to make their business better.”

  • Ahmed sets up 24-member transition panel

    KWARA State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has put in place a-24 member transition implementation committee (TIC).

    The committee, headed by the Secretary to the State Government Alhaji Isiaka Gold, would be inaugurated today by the governor.

    Permanent Secretary Political, Cabinet and Special Services, Tunde Shuaib Aremu, will serve as the secretary of the committee.

    Other members of the committee include Mrs. Susan Modupe Oluwole, Head of Service, Alhaji Wahab Yusuf Baba, Chief of Staff, Government House, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Balikis Oniyangi and Finance Commissioner Demola Banu.

    Others are Works and Transport Commissioner Alhaji Aro Yahaya,  Information and Communications Commissioner Alhaji Ishiak Mohammed Sabi, Commissioners for Energy Alhaji Eleja Taiwo Banu and Health Commissioner Alhaji Usman Kolo Rifun.

    The committee members also include Special Adviser, Government House Alhaji Ibrahim Kayode Adeyemi, Executive Chairman, Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) Prof. Muritala Awodun, Special Adviser Political Alhaji Toyin Olookoba Sulyman, Chairman SUBEB Lambe AbdulKareem, Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy Prince Tunji Moronfoye, Chairman, Harmony Holdings Limited Prof. Kenneth Adeyemi and Director General, Bureau of Lands, Alhaji Salman Ibrahim.

    Read also: Kwara election tribunal to lawyers, parties: Be wary of fraudulent agents

    Also part of the committee are  former Education Commissioner Musa Yeketi, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Communications Dr. Muyideen Akorede, former chairman, Civil Service Commission Alhaji Salman Adelodun Ibrahim, Chairman, Teaching Service Commission Rasaq Ibrahim, former permanent secretary, general services Muritala Shehu and Elder  David A. Adesin.

    In a statement, Gold said the committee members will interface with the incoming administration to ensure a smooth transition.

    The statement added that “the government TICs inauguration follows the completion of the administration’s handover notes by a separate committee headed by Kwara State Head of Service, Mrs. Susan Modupe Oluwole and comprising cabinet members and other government officials”.

     

  • ‘No deal on supply cuts extension with OPEC, allies’

    Major oil producer, Saudi Arabia, yesterday said it was premature to say whether a consensus existed among Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to extend oil supply cuts but a meeting next month would be key.

    A joint OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial committee known as the JMMC is due to meet in May. Saudi Arabia and Russia are members of the panel, which includes other major oil producers that took part in a global supply-cutting agreement last year, such as Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Nigeria and Kazakhstan.

    “JMMC will be a key decision point because we will certainly by then know where the consensus view is and, more importantly, before we ask for consensus, we will know where the fundamentals are pointing. I think May is going to be key,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, said.

  • Ekiti begins rehabilitation of deplorable roads

    THE Ekiti State government has commenced the rehabilitation of deplorable roads in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State, a step which, it said, is in line with the ‘operation no-potholes’ of the Kayode Fayemi-led administration.

    Speaking with reporters during an inspection tour of the roads, the Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Works, Mr. Bamidele Agbede, said the rehabilitation work is sequel to the directive of Governor Fayemi that all roads in a state of disrepair be rehabilitated.

    Agbede assured that rehabilitation works will be completed within three weeks so that commuters can have a new lease of life plying the roads.

    He listed the roads under rehabilitation as including Ekiti Parapo Pavilion-NTA- Baptist High School road, Baptist – Ijigbo road, Ijigbo- Ikere road, Ikere -Oja Oba road and Oja Oba – Adebayo- Adehun road.

    Others are Ajibade lane-Oke Ila-Housing road, Olora-Adebayo road, Okeyinmi-Stadium road, Nova-Basiri road, and Delight- Mobil road.

    “We are on NTA road now. Most of the roads in Ado-Ekiti are not motorable as at present, particularly all the roads in the interior. The governor has approved that we have to put these roads on track. We are fixing them now. When they finish this road, we intend to move to some other areas to ensure that the roads in the streets of Ado-Ekiti are motorable…”

  • Oyetola, stakeholders seek Court of Appeal Division in Osun

    OSUN State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has thrown his weight behind the call for the establishment of a Court of Appeal Division in the state capital, Osogbo.

    He spoke during the beginning of the special sitting of the Court of Appeal, Akure Division at the Osun State High Court.

    The two-week programme is meant to enable the appellate court to attend to the many pending cases before the justices emanating from Osun State.

    The governor said: “I cannot end this address without lending my voice to the request of the stakeholders that you should graciously consider the possibility of having a Court of Appeal (Division) sited in Osun state.

    “I want assure you my Lords that our government would do everything possible to support this move.”

    Before the governor spoke, leaders of the Bench and Bar in the state, in separate speeches, urged the visiting justices to assist in making a case for the establishment of a division.

    With not less than 250 cases, Osun State has the higher number of suits on appeal before the Justices of the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, which has appellate jurisdiction over Osun and Ondo states.

    It was the first time the court, established 10 years ago, would move its sitting to Osun State to take justice closer to the people.

    The other stakeholders, who called for the establishment of the Court of Appeal, include Chief Judge of Osun State, Justice Bola Adepele Ojo; Osun-based Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr. Yomi Aliu (SAN), members of the state chapters of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and representative of senior legal practitioners, Mr. Vincent Abiodun Akinleye, among others.

    Oyetola said the Court of Appeal remains a strong pillar of judicial and political expedition.

    “Your Lordships, your current assignment in Osun State is in furtherance of the judiciary’s role as the arbiter and protector of the rule of law.

    “The judiciary has played this role with vigour and unblemished integrity. It has demonstrated to the people that it remains the filtering agent when unscrupulous elements muddle up our judicial waters.

    “The Court of Appeal has established a reputation for itself as the home of landmark judgments in the nation.

    “In furtherance of your resolve to build sustainable democracy and a just and peaceful nation, I urge Your Lordships to continue to uphold the tenets that have endeared you to the people as an institution of nobility, integrity and trust,” Oyetola said.

    The state Chief Judge, Justice Adepele  Ojo, said the unprecedented special session was geared towards the facilitation of easy access to justice and bringing justice to the people.

    She said the establishment of a division of the Court of Appeal in Osun would bring relief to the burden of the many pending cases.

    Aliu (SAN), who spoke on behalf of the senior lawyers, appealed to the President of the Court of Appeal to see the establishment of the Court of Appeal Division in Osun State as an urgent matter.

    The Chairman of NBA, Osogbo Bamidele Ajibade and Chairman NBA Ilesa, Kanmi Ajibola, gave their support to the call.

    The Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Akure Judicial Division, Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, promised to take the request for the establishment of the Court of Appeal in Osun to the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.

    “In a very due course, we will bring to the attention of the President of the Court of Appeal the agitation for the establishment of a Judicial Division of the Court of Appeal in Osun State”, she said.

    Justice Omoleye, who led the three other judges: Justice Muhammed Danjuma; Justice Ridwan Abdullahi and Justice Patricia Ajuna Mahmoud, hailed the governor for his support for the judiciary and the temporary relocation of the Court to Osogbo.

    She added: “Since the period that I have been the head of the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, I have noticed that Osun has a huge number of appeals in this division.

    “But commendably,  litigants and their counsels flock the Court in Akure on daily basis, sitting sometimes for hours to ensure the hearing and disposal of their matters.

    “It is in appreciation of this great effort and amelioration of the hardship involved that the division has shifted its siting to Osogbo for two sitting weeks.”