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Tag: panel

  • Kogi governor-elect urges panel to ensure smooth take-off

    Kogi governor-elect urges panel to ensure smooth take-off

    Kogi State Governor-elect Yahaya Adoza Bello has urged the transition committee to chart a course to engender a smooth take-off of his administration on January 27.

    Bello, who addressed the committee, led by Alhaji Isah Shaibu, said the committee should consider the experiences of the 24-year-old state.

    He said: “Kogi State is endowed with natural and human resources, which puts it at an advantage, in addition to being close to the Federal Capital Territory. With the presence of Obajana Cement Factory, Ajaokuta Steel Company as well as Itakpe Iron Ore, our state could not have been asking for more as far as industrial and economic aspirations are concerned.

    “These resources and industries should place our state among the top five in the federation. Sadly, due to the leadership gap we have experienced over the years, the reverse is the case, as our social and infrastructural development indices leave much to be desired, although we are ranked 18th in terms of monthly federal allocations. This, to say the least, is unacceptable.

    “Against this background, we must take advantage of the blessings bestowed on us by rededicating ourselves to surmounting the challenges ahead. In the next few weeks, I expect this committee to come up with a framework to enable our administration take off.

    “You will need to think outside the box by coming up with workable and realistic plans for the smooth take off of the new administration, bearing in mind today’s economic realities.”

    The governor-elect enjoined the committee to address key sectors, “including education, health, job creation and youth empowerment, agriculture and rural development, solid minerals and infrastructural growth as well as civil service reforms for efficiency, enhanced productivity and a reward for service.

    “These can only be achieved by looking inwards with the objective of improving our Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) within the shortest time.”

    He assured that his administration “will be committed to the responsibilities that God has placed on our shoulders.

    “Given your antecedents, you will no doubt deliver on this assignment, as you can be rest assured of my commitment to the realisation of our collective vision.”

    Other members of the committee are: Edward Onoja (secretary); Hajia Zainab Abdulazeez; Prof. Olu Akerejola;  Hajia Khadijat Suleiman;  Alhaji Ohinoyi Shaban; Alhaji Suleiman Baba Ali;  Mr. Idris Sura;  Dr. Atte David; Idris Haruna; Hajia Halima Alfa; Dr. Yakubu Ugwalawo; Mumuni Okara; and Dr. Martin Makoju.

  • Dickson’s panel to probe poll violence

    Dickson’s panel to probe poll violence

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, yesterday, inaugurated a six-member Judicial Commission of Enquiry to identify those behind the violence of the December 5 governorship election.

    Dickson also mandated the commission to extend its probe into all secret cult-related and extra-judicial killings in the state from 2007 to 2011.

    All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Chief Timipre Sylva was governor within the period.

    Dickson inaugurated the panel at the Executive Chamber of the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Dignitaries at the inauguration included his deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd); House of Assembly Speaker Kombowei Benson; Chairman of the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff and other government officials.

    Chief Registrar of the Customary Court of Appeal Mr. David Opokuma administered oaths of office and allegiance on members, including the Chairperson and former Acting Chief Judge Justice Margaret Akpomieme.

    The governor described the inauguration as a simple but solemn event.

    He said: “The election has come and gone; everyone is aware of the degree of violence unleashed on our people, from Brass to Ekeremor, to all local government areas.

    “All I am saying is that our government is committed, as ever, to the protection of life and property of people. It is only an irresponsible government that will have the kind of reports that we have received from our people from local and international observers and not do anything.

    “Today, some Bayelsans are receiving treatment; some of them life-threatening injuries, through no fault of theirs. Our concern is not whether the perpetrators belong to one political party or the other.

    “Our concern is that this should not have happened. Our resolve is to properly work with the commission and others to identify those who caused this and ensure that the culprits are prosecuted.

    “This government and the people are law-abiding loyal citizens. This state must not be intimidated and the people will not be intimidated by anybody.

    “This is why the government has acted under the laws and powers  to select a body of credible, non-partisans, impartial, citizens and public officers to identify what happened, identify those who caused the violence and make a recommendation to help this state, moving forward, to stamp out unnecessary disrespect for the life and property of our people.”

    Akpomieme said the panel would work only with evidence and not hearsay.

     

     

  • Panel gets three days to report on abducted girls

    Panel gets three days to report on abducted girls

    Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has ordered a newly constituted seven-man committee to get facts, within three days, on the abduction of some girls at Bam-Buratai, a community in Biu Local Government Area, by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.

    The governor’s order followed reports that insurgents, at the weekend, abducted an unspecified number of girls in the community.

    He gave the committee three days to get the facts and report back to him by Friday.

    A statement yesterday in Maiduguri, the state capital, by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Communications and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau, said members of the committee were mostly indigenes of Biu Local Government Area, location of the affected community.

    Shettima urged members of the committee to deploy all lawful means, including interface with their kinsmen in the affected community and surrounding areas, to establish facts on the abduction for appropriate government’s action.

    The committee is chaired by the lawmaker representing Biu in the House of Assembly, Aliyu Mamman Kachalla;

    Mrs Adama Badawi is its secretary.

    Other members are: Habib Yusuf, Baba Isa, Usman D. C. Buratai, Ibrahim Audu Miringa and Dr Hamma Adama Biu.

    The governor urged Borno residents to remain calm and go about their businesses without fear.

    He assured that his administration was working hard to support security agencies and youth volunteers to end Boko Haram’s insurgency.

     

  • Panel summons 30 arms dealers as manhunt begins

    Panel summons 30 arms dealers as manhunt begins

    I’m ready to face trial, says Dasuki

    Security agents have launched a manhunt for former military and security chiefs suspected to have duped the country of billions in phoney arms deals.

    Former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki has been named in the deals. He said yesterday that he was ready to defend his action in court after President Muhammadu Buhari ordered his arrest.

    Also to be arrested are former Chiefs of Defence Staff and five service chiefs indicted by a panel which examined arms purchases from 2007 to 2015.

    The panel has summoned 30 arms contractors, The Nation learnt last night.

    All the suspects may have their movement restricted to the country, pending  further interrogation and arraignment in court.

    Col. Dasuki has got a court’s nod to travel abroad for medical treatment, but the Federal Government has refused to let him go.

    According to a source, the  former NSA is a “security risk” and the nation cannot afford  to let him “slip away”.

    All the suspects implicated in the arms deals have been  placed under surveillance.

    But none was yet to be arrested as at the time of filing this report.

    A top source said: “Those accused of mismanaging N644billion include some former Chiefs of Defence Staff, about five service chiefs and some security chiefs.

    “They have all been placed under surveillance and some of them may be arrested any moment from now pending their arraignment in court.

    “Their names have not been released to avoid any acts that may jeopardise attempts to bring them to justice.

    “Immediately they are arrested, we will release their list to the public.”

    There were indications last night that the Presidency may have foreclosed Col. Dasuki’s overseas trip.

    A source said: “With the revelations from the panel probing arms deals, Dasuki is a security threat. No sane government will allow him to travel abroad.

    “So, the ex-NSA cannot step out of Nigeria, until he is brought to trial on these allegations. But no one is molesting him at all; he is still under house arrest.”

    Asked why Dasuki was still under house arrest, the source said he would have been picked up but we don’t want to treat his case as an isolated one.

    “Do not forget that he has a subsisting case in court. The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will present these new facts against Dasuki to the court and the security implications of allowing him to travel abroad,” the source said, pleading not to be named because of what he described as the sensitivity of the matter.

    Before the President raised the panel, there had been some petitions before the Office of the National Security Adviser(NSA), the Department of State Services(DSS) and Defence Intelligence Agency(DIA) among others on shady deals in procurement process in the Armed Forces.

    A source said: “We are having this challenge because military purchases are exempted by law from undergoing procurement process.

    “I think the problem at hand may assist the nation to learn from the models of other countries.”

  • Reps panel: we won’t restrict agencies, NGOs from rebuilding Northeast

    Members of the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs yesterday said the House will not restrict well-meaning humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organisations from helping to rebuild the Northeast, which has been devastated by Boko Haram insurgency.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Sanni Zoro, had in statement last week said the House Committee on IDPs would ensure that there would be a restriction on the unchecked influx of humanitarian agencies into the Northeast for security reasons.

    However, a new statement by three other members of the ad hoc committee – Abdulrazak Namdas, Rimamnde Shawulu Kwewum and Mark Gbillah – said no such action was in the offing.

    The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to the news items published last week to the effect that the House of Representatives was worried about the ‘unseeingly unchecked influx of Foreign Non-Governmental Organisations into the Northeast’.

    “The news report further said that the influx ‘portends a security risk’. According to the news report credited to Hon. Sani Zorro, the newly created House Standing Committee on IDPs, Refuges and Initiatives on the Northeast zone would ‘beam its searchlight into their activities’.

    “The House of Representatives would like to assure Nigerians and the international community and particularly the people of the Northeast region that the House would not abridge the rights of well-meaning people to give help or prohibit the traumatised peoples of the Northeast from receiving assistance to rebuild their lives and communities.

    “As a lawmaking institution, the House of Representatives respects the laws of Nigeria and all the international conventions and treaties that the Nigeria state is a signatory to. We would therefore not be putting in place new measures that are contrary to the extant laws of Nigeria.

    “The creation of the new committee only underscores the seriousness with which the House and the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, take the issue of the Northeast. The Northeast situation has been on the frontburner at the House of Representatives. The Legislative Agenda, as adopted by the House, sets out the Northeast situation as a serious issue.

    “The House also, unanimously adopted a motion, which among other resolutions, sought the cooperation of all well-meaning people in the world to join hands to reconstruct the Northeast, rehabilitate the several millions of people displaced by the insurgency and reintegrate communities that have been ravaged by the activities of insurgents.

    “It is therefore a welcome development that the call of the House has been heeded by people from around the world. The House would welcome more well-meaning people who will help in this regard. It is important to place on record that the new standing committee came about also as a result of the request of the International Development Partners, who suggested that legislative oversight is necessary for the reconstruction and rebuilding process of the Northeast to be transparent and accountable.

    “Given the fact that Nigeria today hosts about five million internally displaced persons, the second biggest host, next to Syria, the House decided to create the  standing committee, whose responsibility includes the Northeast reconstruction initiatives.”

    It added: “The House of Representatives would, therefore, like to assure all civil society groups, development partners and well-meaning individuals that as the bastion of democracy, the House, which is committed to the Northeast reconstruction and rehabilitation, will continue to welcome partners in accordance with extant laws and International conventions and treaties.”

  • Aregbesola inaugurates panel on IGR, salaries

    Aregbesola inaugurates panel on IGR, salaries

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has inaugurated a 17-man committee to oversee government revenue and its application to the payment of workers’ salary arrears.

    Speaking at the weekend inauguration of the committee, headed by former Secretary-General of the Organisation of the African Trade Unions (OATU), Hassan Sunmonu , the governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to workers’ welfare.

    The committee is made up of government officials and labour leaders, including Chief of Staff to the governor   Gboyega Oyetola, former Commissioner for Information and Strategy Sunday Akere, Chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Jacob Adekomi.

    Others are Bayo Jimoh, Bola Oyebamiji, Bayo Adejumo, Rufus Adeyemi, Comrade Wakil Amuda, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Idowu, Gbenga Oyebode, Akeem Ibrahim and Y. A. Afolabi.

    Aregbesola said the committee was inaugurated to ensure that the apportionment of net revenue accruing from federation accounts and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to government coffers is sufficient for payment of workers’ salaries, pensions and other critical expenditures.

    The governor, in his speech, titled: “We Are in Extra-Ordinary Time”, noted that the state of the nation was not ordinary.

    Aregbesola, who noted that Osun was the first to alert the public of the impending financial crisis, said no government has ever attempted the inauguration of such committee in the country.

    He added that Osun was also the first state to form a committee to assess and evaluate the accrued revenue from all sources.

    The governor said the government and its workers agreed on how to spend the fund.

    He said: “As we are all aware, the financial tsunami that entered global lexical in 2008 and swept throughout the federation, beginning from July 2013.

    “This, however, crippled the finances of the states and Federal Government, though some people did not believe this, as the traducers attributed our economic crisis in the state to financial recklessness.

    “This scenario of financial crisis made the payment of workers’ salaries difficult, but what some people do not realise was that the financial crisis which ravaged the country led the former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to announce that the Federal Government  borrowed N476 billion to pay workers.”

    The governor decried the report that the state collected and fixed the bailout funds to accumulate interest.

    “Our traducers announced two weeks before the CBN publicly announced the release of the bailout funds to the state that we have collected and fixed the loan.

    “Well, we thank God that our political enemies did not succeed because our people are wise enough to justify all the circumstances and arrive at the truth,” he said.

    Sumonu pledged to do the work assigned to the committee without any rancour.

    He promised that the welfare of the people would be prioritised and urged  workers to remain focused.

  • New tribunal panel in Ondo

    A new tribunal panel has been constituted to hear the petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and two of its candidates in Akure South (Festus Aregbesola) and Ilaje II (Gbenga Edema).

    This followed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Akure, which ordered the Court’s President to set up a new panel to hear the petitions afresh and set aside the dismissal of the petitions by the Justice Anthony Ogar-led tribunal.

    The Appeal Court held that it was usurpation of the power of the court for the tribunal to reverse its ruling without a successful appeal.

    The tribunal raised an objection to the petitions and thereafter dismissed the petitions without hearing the substantive petition.

    But the Appeal Court ruled that the application for pre-hearing by the petitioners’ counsel, Charles Titiloye, was properly filed under the Electoral Act and the petition ought not to have been dismissed or held to have been abandoned.

    It also ordered the accelerated hearing of the petition before the new tribunal.

    But the tribunal could not sit on Friday because it did not meet the required quorum of three judges.

  • Plateau gets panel to resolve Fulani, Berom crisis

    The Plateau State Government has set up a 14-man committee, seven each from the warring Berom and Fulani communities, to reconcile their differences and ensure lasting peace.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Jos, the state capital, Governor Simon Lalong said: “We decided to select seven representatives from each of the groups to enable them resolve their differences. The peace committee is already working and it has gone very far.”

    The governor said the committee was at the behest of the warring groups after meeting with them separately and collectively.

    He said: “We met the two groups separately, listened to them, before we met them together, where we gauged their feelings toward each other.

    “From what they said, they appeared to have resolved that government should allow them to work out a peace process from among themselves without any external interference.

    “They have poured out their minds, and you will be surprised at how open they have been to each other.

    “Honestly, they all want to live in peace. They are tired of the violence and want to live peacefully because they have seen and felt the consequences of the lingering violence.”

    Lalong said government’s involvement in the peace talks had been supervisory.

    He said: “The committee is chaired by a government representative. The secretary is also a government representative. We did that to free the atmosphere for the talks to proceed without distractions over who should chair or lead.

    “We also believe that such stance had smoothened the flow of the talks because they feel equally treated and are confident that no one is being treated as a minority in the talks.”

    The governor urged the warring communities to embrace peace, adding that the consequences of the instability had been very disastrous to all groups.

    Lalong said: “They are farmers and herdsmen who need freedom to enter the bushes to farm and graze without the fear of being attacked or ambushed.

    “The restrictions to cattle movement and distractions from farms have brought untold hardship to them and they appear anxious to put that experience behind them and embrace each other.”

    The governor said the government was ready to parley with any group or community to ensure the return of peace on the Plateau.

    He noted that peace was crucial to the state’s development and growth.

    Lalong said: “We want a better state. We want to grow as a people and we want development projects.

    “We also want our Irish potatoes and poultry farms to flourish and buyers to come in from inside and outside the country. We can’t get such dreams to reality if there is no peace and if the impression is created that Plateau is not safe.”

  • Ex-military chiefs jittery as arms purchase panel sits

    Ex-military chiefs jittery as arms purchase panel sits

    Committee under pressure to hold sessions in camera

    The 14-man panel on arms purchase for the Armed Forces, which begins sitting today in Abuja is under pressure to sit in camera “for security reasons”.

    The pressure is coming from some of the retired military chiefs who are listed to tell  the panel how the cash voted for their offices was spent.

    Emissaries are being sent to panel members by the ex-military chiefs.

    The Ministry of Defence has exonerated itself from whatever discrepancies that may be found in the arms purchase contracts going by Permanent Secretary Ismaila Aliyu’s statement at the Villa last month that it was sidelined in the arms purchase arrangement. According to him, purchases were made by the office of the national security adviser and the service chiefs.

    As a result of this, President Muhammadu Buhari approved that the ministry should get a seat on the panel.

    It was gathered that National Security Adviser Gen. Babagana Monguno last week inaugurated the panel behind the scene, in view of the seriousness attached to the task.

    The panel, sources said, spent the last few days collating some facts and figures on Defence budget, allocations for arms purchase and valedictory addresses by some past Service Chiefs.

    It was learnt that the panel may sit in camera following indications that some disclosures might touch on sensitive matters which might affect national security.

    The panel was weighing options last night on whether to throw its sitting open or to restrict coverage to non- sensitive issues.

    A highly-placed source said: “The committee will begin its work on Monday (today). All members have been advised accordingly.

    “The panel was inaugurated by the Gen. Monguno last Wednesday in line with the mandate of the President.

    “At today’s meeting, the panel will work out its modalities and how to go about preliminary paper work, which is in huge volumes.

    “The committee has also done some preliminary investigations including retrieval of some relevant documents on arms purchase.

    “I think the panel may sit in camera because its assignment touches on national security. There is even pressure on the government for a confidential briefing unless it is extremely necessary to allow the public insights into non-sensitive issues.

    “The committee is however weighing options on how best to conduct its assignment without distraction or heating up the polity.”

    President Buhari had on August 24 directed the National Security Adviser to convene an investigative committee on the procurement of hardware and munitions in the Armed Forces between 2007 till now.

    The panel was initially composed of 13-members before it was expanded with the inclusion of a representative of the Ministry of Defence.

    The committee is expected to identify irregularities and make recommendations for streamlining the procurement process in the Armed Forces.

    The government said: “The establishment of the investigative committee is in keeping with President Buhari’s determination to stamp out corruption and irregularities in Nigeria’s public service.

    “It comes against the background of the myriad of challenges that the Nigerian Armed Forces have faced in the course of ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast, including the apparent deficit in military platforms with its attendant negative effects of troops’ morale.

    “The committee will specifically investigate allegations of non-adherence to correct equipment procurement procedures and the exclusion of relevant logistics branches from arms procurement under past administrations, which, very often resulted in the acquisition of sub-standard and unserviceable equipment.”

    Members of the panel are AVM J.O.N. Ode (rtd.) – President; R/Adm J.A. Aikhomu (rtd.); R/Adm E. Ogbor (rtd.); Brig Gen L. Adekagun (rtd.);Brig Gen M. Aminu-Kano (rtd.);Brig Gen N. Rimtip (rtd.); Cdre T.D. Ikoli ; Air Cdre U. Mohammed (rtd.);Air Cdre I. Shafi’i ;

    Col A.A. Ariyibi ; Gp Capt C.A. Oriaku (rtd.); Mr. Ibrahim Magu (EFCC); Brig Gen Y.I. Shalangwa – Secretary and a representative of the Ministry of Defence.

    Some of the controversial issues likely for investigation are as follows:

    • $466.5m contract to weaponize six Puma helicopters by Jonathan administration
    • N3billion contract for the supply of six units of K-38 patrol boats to the disbanded Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Security (PICOMSS).
    • Theft of over 200m Euros by PICOMMS including the purchase of two private jets
    • $9.3m cash-for- arms deal seized by South Africa
    • Whereabouts of $1billion loan approved by the 7th Senate for arms purchase to fight Boko Haram
    • What became of un-accessed N7b budget for the military
    • Contract scam over rehabilitation of the Military Reference Hospital in Kaduna