The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Onyedi Ojiabor

  • Senate backs Buhari on move to prosecute looters hiding abroad

    Senate backs Buhari on move to prosecute looters hiding abroad

    The Senate on Wednesday passed for third reading and possible passage into law, a Bill which seeks cooperation with other countries to repatriate and prosecute alleged corrupt Nigerians and their accomplices who are staying outside the country.

    The Executive Bill is entitled: “A Bill for an Act to make provision for mutual assistance in criminal matters between Nigeria and other foreign states and for related matters, 2016”

    Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume lead the debate on the general principles of the Bill.

    It went through a brief debate before its referral to the Senate Committees on Judiciary, Foreign Affairs and Anti-corruption for further legislative consideration.

    The Committees are expected to come up with a report on the Bill after a public hearing in two weeks.
    Ndume in his lead debate noted that the legislation will fast-track the prosecution of Nigerians and their accomplices fleeing abroad with loots from the country and would also strengthen President Muhammadu Buhari’s war on corruption.

    Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, urged the Senate to support the passage of the Bill so as to hasten the battle against graft even across borders.

    Na’Allah said, “Let’s agree to fight-trans border crimes. This Bill, apart from meeting the international requirements to fight crime and the war on corruption is a very serious Bill that deserves urgent attention.”

    Senator Chukwuemeka Utazi (Enugu North) supported the Bill and urged the Senate to approve its passage into law without hesitation.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, agreed that the Bill is key to the fight against corruption.

    Saraki referred it to the Committees of Judiciary, Foreign Affairs and Anti-corruption to hold a public hearing on it and report back to the Senate in two weeks.
    The Senate also received reports of its Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Special Duties on fuel scarcity.

    The report was presented by Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano North-APC).

  • Count me out of N60b arms deal – Saraki

    Count me out of N60b arms deal – Saraki

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday dissociated himself from the N60billion arms deal involving the immediate past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).

    Saraki in a statement  issued by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, said that contrary to report published on an online medium, SaharaReporters, he never had anything to do with purchase of security equipment.

    The Senate President noted that in his entire political career he never served in any committee or body which had any link with defence or national security.

    It said: “As a member of the Seventh Senate, Dr. Saraki was not a member of any of the committees with oversight function on the Ministry of Defence or the intelligence and national security apparatus.

    “If he was tagged the leader of the opposition to the Jonathan administration, how then will he be privy to arms purchases and have the influence to blackmail any government agency or institution over the release of funds.”

     

     

     

  • Screening of ministerial nominees begins on Oct 13

    Screening of ministerial nominees begins on Oct 13

    Screening of the ministerial nominees is to commence on Tuesday, October 13.

    Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki announced the screening date after announcing the names of the nominees contained in the letter from President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He said the curriculum vitae of the nominees will be circulated to the Senators ahead of the screening.

    The nominees are :

    Babatunde Fashola

    Rotimi Amaechi

    Dr Kayode Fayemi

    Senator Chris Ngige

    Dr Ogbonaya Onu

    Malami Abubakar (SAN)

    Aisha Jumai Alhassan

    Mrs Amina Mohammed Ibrahim

    Mrs Kemi Adeosun

    Emmanuel Kachikwu

    Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazzau (rtd)

    Senator Hadi Sirika

    Dr Osagie Ehanire

    Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma

    Ahmed Isa Ibeto

    Engineer Sulaiman Adamu

    Ibrahim Usman Jibril

    Adebayo Shittu

    Chief Audu Ogbeh

    Alhaji Lai Mohammed

    Solomon Dalong

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  • Boko Haram: Ekweremadu to lead Senators to Adamawa

    Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, will today lead some Senators to Adamawa State as part of Senate’s move to obtain first hand information on the activities of Boko Haram insurgents in the North East.

    The visit will also take the lawmakers to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the state.

    This is sequel to the resolution of the upper chamber on the need to establish a Presidential Intervention Committee for the rehabilitation of the North East.

    The motion was sponsored by Senators George Thompson Sekibo (River East) and 35 others on the urgent need to establish a Presidential Intervention Committee for the rehabilitation of the North East zone being ravaged by the insurgents.

    Apart from Ekweremadu, Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki also listed other Senators on the trip to include Senators Ahmed Lawan, (Yobe North) Murtala Nyako, (Adamawa Central) Binta Garba, (Adamawa North), Ahmadu Abubakar, (Adamawa South) George Sekibo, (Rivers East), Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South) and Bashir Marafa (Taraba State).

    Saraki had on Monday led some Senators on the spot assessment of the security situation in Borno State.

    He also visited IDP camps where he made a cash donation of N10million in support of the upkeep of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    [news_box style=”1″ display=”tag” link_target=”_blank” tag=”IDPs, Ekweremadu” count=”8″ show_more=”on” show_more_type=”link” header_background=”#2c5e5e” header_text_color=”#ffffff”]

  • Senate confirms Service Chiefs

    Senate confirms Service Chiefs

    The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Major Gen. Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin as the Chief of Defence Staff.

    Also confirmed were Major General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (Chief of Army Staff); Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Chief of Naval Staff); and Air Vice Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar (Chief of Air Staff).

    The military chiefs were grilled in a closed session with the lawmakers for over four hours. They were appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 13.

    President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said the officers answered questions on various issues, after which they were cleared for confirmation.

    “Having successfully completed the screening and confirmation of the nominees, it is clear that their appointments were based on merit,” Saraki said.

    He added that the appointments came at a very crucial time, especially at a time the country was still battling with insurgency in the Northeast.

    The President of the Senate urged them to work hard to ensure the insurgents are routed in record time, assuring that the Senate would always give the Armed Forces every necessary support.

    Saraki charged them to restore the battered image and prestige of the Armed Forces and to also tackle corruption in military procurement process.

     

  • PDP crisis will end soon, says Mark

    PDP crisis will end soon, says Mark

    Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

    Senate President David Mark believes that the crisis plaguing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will soon abate.

    Mark, according to his Special Adviser on Media, Kola Ologbondiyan, spoke when he visited Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State in Dutse.

    He pleaded with party leaders and supporters across the nation to work towards a permanent reconciliation.

    He urged the stakeholders of the party to work together and ensure that the party survives its challenges.

    He said: “When the crisis in our party started, I called my brother and friend (Governor Lamido) and asked him if what I was hearing that he was leaving the party was true. He replied me that he is not a fool. He said ‘How can I leave the house I built for somebody else?’ He spoke with courage.

    “We cannot solve the problems of our party by running away from it. Governor Lamido is courageous and he speaks from his heart always. We must all work together to make sure that the PDP survives.”

    The Senate President commended the zonal, states and local government executives of the North-West geo-political zone for ensuring the continued unity of the party.

    He said: “The PDP problem is winding to an end while the problems of the other party are beginning to emerge. It is our (PDP) turn to sit down, rest our back and begin to laugh now the same way they were laughing at us.”

    He stated that the Senate is united, adding that the “Senate is not partisan because we are not Senators of parties but Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    He commended Lamido for “truly providing noticeable democratic dividends for his people. Your democratic dividends are not songs that are being sung only on the pages of newspapers. The change in Jigawa is commendable because it is noticeable.”

    Lamido described his guest as a nationalist who has taken up the responsibility of providing hope for Nigerians.

    The Senate President commissioned a number of projects including the new Deputy Governor’s lodge, the State House of Assembly Complex and the State Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, among others.