The Nation Newspaper

Tag: queries

  • Expatriate quota: Labour queries govt

    The Federal Government has been criticised by the organised labour for failing to checkmate expatriate quota abuse by multinationals.

    National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) President  Lateef Oyelekan, who spoke at the inuaguration of the Kwara/Kogi/Niger branch secretariat of the union in Ilorin, said the government’s failure to act decisively has further compounded unemployment in the country.

    “Our government should take this issue of expatraite quota abuse seriously and take a decision that will be beneficial to the country just as the government of Ghana has done,” he said.

    The law of the country, he noted, only allows expatriates on technical ground, but the multinationals, he lamented, no longer respect the law.

    According to him, they now bring in expatriate as line managers, accountants, sale and marketing managers, including other jobs that Nigerians are more qualified to do.

    He said: “Government should ensure that no expatriate comes in for the jobs that Nigerians can do, especially in marketing and sales. When you make a foreigner a marketing director, what does the person know about our terrain and market?

    “Most of our jobs have been taken over by the expatriates and we continue to complain of rising unemployment in the country.”

    Oyelekan said labour would no longer tolerate Nigerians being made second class citizens in their country.

    He recalled that workers in the aviation sector under National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers ( NAAPE ) umbrella recently shut down the operations of the Bristow and Caverton Helicopters nationwide, alleging  expatriate quota abuse and gross violation of workers’ rights.

    The NUFBTE President said all efforts at creating more employment should be encouraged, adding that the union through its entrepreneurial venture has over 200 employees.

    “Our goal is give all our state branches building of their own and empower them to go into business through that more jobs will be created. This we are doing in our little efforts to support the government,” he said.

    He said the inuagurated secretariat’s foundation was laid in 1993, but his leadership as part of the commitment to position the union as self sustaining with little reliance on the employers, undertook several ventures and completed many of such projects.

    Michael Imoudu Labour Institute (MINILS) Director-General, Alhaji Saliu Alabi, who represented the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige, at the event commended the union for its foresight to remain financially relevant  in spite of the dwindling check off dues.

    Nigeria Breweries Employee Relations Manager, Mr. Niyi Alabi, equally described the new building as a national pride, built in spite of the recession. He urged the union to extend the goodwill to other councils.

  • Senate queries AGF over court case to stop Maina’s probe

    Senate queries AGF over court case to stop Maina’s probe

    The Senate yesterday urged the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Abubakar Malami, to explain why he is in court to stop the National Assembly’s probe into how Mr. Abdulrashid Maina was reinstated into the service after being dismissed.

    Maina, who headed a taskforce on pension and accused of diverting funds, was secretly reinstated as an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Interior after he sneaked into the country.

    A statement by Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, the upper chamber said it was surprised that the AGF who had utilized the ample opportunity given to him by both chambers of the National Assembly to state his case on the Maina issue is now the one going to court to stop the legislature’s investigation.

    “We are wondering what the AGF is afraid of. When he appeared before our committee, he was well received and fairly treated. He indeed expressed his happiness with the protection given to him by the committee handling the Maina case. Why then is it very important and urgent for him to stop the investigative hearing? What is the AGF trying to hide?

    “Let it be known that the legislature has the power of investigation on all institutions, bodies and individuals, particularly those who access funds that have been appropriated by us. We however expressed our commendation to the judiciary for upholding the principles of separation of powers and insisting on fair hearing. We believe that is the reason why the judge refused to grant the prayers of the AGF yesterday and rather insisted that the National Assembly should be put on notice and served all the court processes so that we could enter our own defence.

    “While we respect the position of the court and would respond accordingly, the Senate has further directed the committee investigating the Maina issue to expedite action and submit their reports on time. The Senate believes Nigerians are interested in knowing the how, who , why and where of what is now known as the ‘Maina Gate’. We definitely will not allow those who want the facts buried to prevail,” Abdullahi said.

  • NERC queries AEDC for over-billing customers

    NERC queries AEDC for over-billing customers

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday  issued the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) notice of enforcement action over what it described as ‘manifest and flagrant breaches’ of approved methodology for estimated billing of electricity consumers.

    In the notice , it directed Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) to explain within seven days why “enforcement action should not be taken against you and sanctions meted accordingly for non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the licence granted you, the Methodology for Estimated Billing 2012 and directives to submit a comprehensive data used for the billing of unmetered customers” for the period under review.

    Its Head, Public Affairs Department, Dr. Usman Abba Arabi in a statement yesterday, said the notice is a follow up to previous investigations and forensic observations of electricity distribution companies’ operations through which an unusual increases in estimated billings of electricity consumers were observed within the last quarter of last year by NERC.

    AEDC and some others were subsequently invited for explanation for the unusual increase in estimated billings.

  • Security vote: Senate queries defence ministry

    Security vote: Senate queries defence ministry

    THE Senate Committee on Defence and Army has demanded details of the expenditure of over N1.275 billion security vote appropriated for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for the 2014 fiscal year.

    Chairman of the committee, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, who made the demand yesterday at MOD’S 2015 budget defence, directed the Permanent Secretary of the ministry,  Aliyu Ismaila, to furnish the committee with details of the expenditure within one week.

    The fund was appropriated for the MOD under the subhead of security vote, including operations/ration and allowances for Brigade of Guards.

    Sekibo wondered whether the allocation was not duplication since Service Wide Vote, which was provided for in the year under review covered the issue of security vote for Brigade of Guards.

  • Rural electricity: Reps’ committee queries minister over N5b unspent fund

    Rural electricity: Reps’ committee queries minister over N5b unspent fund

    The House of Representatives has expressed doubt over the ability of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to supply power to rural parts of the country.

    The lawmakers’ vote of no confidence on REA followed the reported inability of the agency to spend N5 billion earmarked for rural electrification this year.

    The agency reportedly received N5 billion for the project in July but has not mobilised contractors to site till date.

    Also, the House Committee on Power expressed uncertainty on the essence of REA, following allegations of corruption in the agency.

    The committee’s Chairman, Patrick Ikhariale, during an oversight visit to the Ministry of Power, expressed shock when the minister, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said the ministry had only utilised 18 per cent of the N5 billion it received in July.

    The committee sought explanation on $1.2 billion China Exim Bank’s loan and the level of local content involved in it.

    The lawmakers sought answers on the inability of the Hydro-Elecrric Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPADEC) to take off, despite the budgetary provisions to it.

    The committee expressed concerns over the sustainability of two electrification projects – Light up Nigeria, for selected mega cities and Light Up Rural Nigeria, for rural communities.

    Ikhariale said: “This is December and less than three weeks to the end of the year. What kind of miracle do you want for the money that has been in your possession for the past five months?

    “You have this money with you and Nigerians have been crying for power. This calls to question your capacity to spend the funds allocated to your agencies.”

    The committee chairman expressed the displeasure of his colleagues on the situation of power in the country, going by the dismal performance of the new companies handling the sector.

  • Fed Govt queries states, councils over SURE-P funds

    The Federal Government has challenged states and local governments to show what they have done with their share from the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds.

    Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, who spoke in Abuja, noted that the only report in the public on the usage of the SURE-P fund was that of the Federal Government, adding that nothing had been heard on how the other two tiers of government had spent theirs.

    Chukwu stressed that the issue of health is not primarily for the Federal Government alone, but for all.

    The minister, who debunked the report that most Nigerians go abroad for medical treatment, claimed that only five per cent still travel abroad for treatment.

    He said the majority of Nigerians were treated in the country.

    Prof. Chukwu said the ministry is working on a memo that will stop government officials from using public funds for treatment abroad.

    He added that the ministry, as a prelude to the memo going to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to seek approval, has compiled lists of hospitals in the country that could handle certain cases.

    The minister passed a vote of confidence in Nigerian doctors, saying he trusts them more than other doctors.

    He said the health sector has being carrying out some revolutions.

    The minister, who agreed that there were some areas where the country was still lacking, however, said there had been some improvements.

     

  • Senate queries company’s remediation technique

    Senate queries company’s remediation technique

    The Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology yesterday queried the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) over the quality of its remediation done on oil spills sites in Niger Delta communities.

    Committee chairman Senator Bukola Saraki, who spoke at an interaction session with the company in Abuja, noted with reservations the work done on some of the spill sites visited by his committee in September last year.

    He said there were no remediation signs in the areas where Shell claimed it had cleaned up.

    Saraki said: “The method of remediation is of concern to us. We saw a contractor just excarvating contaminated soil and replacing it with fresh soil.

    “That is not the way it should be done.”

    The former Kwara State governor stated that the practice of awarding remediation contracts to local contractors with little or no technical-know- how was worsening the situation rather than helping it.

    Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Benedict Ayade, urged Shell to evolve the best practice in remediating the spill sites.

    He said it was not enough to use obsolete and ineffective methods to cure soils that had been damaged by oil spills.

    Shell’s Managing Director Mr. Mutiu Sumonu, identified illicit practices, security and lawlessness as some of the challenges facing his company’s efforts to remediate impacted communities.

  • Senator queries ‘Ekiti road projects’

    Senator Babafemi Ojudu (Ekiti Central District) has uncovered an error in the 2013 Budget of the Federal Ministry of Works.

    During the budget defence by the ministry and the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) before the Senate Committee on Works yesterday, it was discovered that the four roads to be built in Ekiti in the 2013 budget are not actually in Ekiti.

    They are roads in other states.

    Ojudu, who is a member of the Works Committee, discovered the error and drew the attention of the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, to it.

    Ojudu asked the minister why roads to be built in some states are as high as 20, 15 and 10, while only four are listed for Ekiti.

    He said all the four roads are in other states but listed under Ekiti’s name.

    The four “roads” to be built in Ekiti are Ogbomoso/Oko-Ologbo/Osogbo road (Osun), Ikorodu/Imota road (Lagos), Ido Ani/Idogun/Imeri/Ayegunle road (Ondo) and Lafia/Doma road (Nasarawa).

    Southwest shares this same fate as the region got the least number of roads to be built in the 2013 budget.

    Ojudu could not hide his disdain as he argued further that that had always been the practice wherever Ekiti is concerned at the federal level, adding that he would personally see an end to such fraud.

    Ojudu also took the Managing Director of FERMA, Mr. Gabriel Amuchi, up on why Ekiti got the least funds for repairs in the 2012 budget, much of which has not been released up till now, few days to the end of the year.

    Tempers flared as Ojudu asked the Works Minister whether Ekiti State was not part of Nigeria, stressing that it was high time such deliberate marginalisation of the state and the Southwest stopped.

    But for the intervention of the Vice-Chairman of the Works Committee, Senator Mohammed Garba, who calmed Ojudu down and asked that the meeting ended in a close session, it could have become uglier.

    It was at the close session that the Minster of Works was said to have apologised and promised to make amends.

  • Oshiomhole queries Airhiavbere’s credibility

    Oshiomhole queries Airhiavbere’s credibility

    It was a drama of sorts yesterday at the resumed hearing of the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

    When Governor Adams Oshiomhole queried the credibility of Maj.-Gen. Charles Aihiavbere, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the July 14 election.

    Airhiavbere is challenging Oshiomhole’s re-election on grounds that the governor allegedly lacks the academic qualification to contest the election.

    He is also alleging that the election was fraught with irregularities.

    When Airhivbere entered the witness box , Oshiomhole said the petitioner could not be taken seriously because he was “detained for three months” while in the Army for “questionable conduct”.

    The tribunal admitted two documents: the Western Region of Nigeria Gazette No 17, Volume 5 of April 5, 1956 and the Tribune of July 12, 2012, as exhibits.

    The Gazette states that a child must attain six years before being admitted into primary school.

    During cross-examination, Airhiavbere, who was the sole witness of the plaintiffs, initially refused to acknowledge that Oshiomhole had certificates, which he referred to as “documents”.

    He later admitted that Oshiomhole had certificates, which he was compelled to read out by the Action Congress of Nigeria’s (ACN’s) counsel, Mr. Ken Mozia (SAN).

    Airhiavbere said there was a riot at Polling Unit 20 in Ward I where he voted and that people voted without pictures.

    He said he was not present at the 2,627 polling units across the state and that statements made in his petition were based on what he was told by his agents.

    Airhiavbere said: “Everything in my witness statement was based on what I was told. I witnessed anomalies in my polling unit, but was not present at the other units. We are here because I did not win in any local government in the state.”

    Oshiomhole queried Airhiavbere’s credibility as a witness. He told the tribunal that Airhiavbere was detained for three months for questionable conduct, which necessitated his compulsory retirement.

    But the plaintiff insisted that he served the Army meritoriously for 37 years before retirement.

    The tribunal, presided over by Justice Muazu Pindiga, adjourned till Wednesday, when the respondents will call their witnesses.

  • APGA crisis: NJC queries Enugu CJ

    THE National Judicial Council (NJC) has queried the Chief Judge (CJ) of Enugu State, Justice Innocent Umezulike, for his conduct in a suit between Ichie Jude Okuli and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh.

    Umezulike was given a month to answer to the query, which was dated October 4 and signed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and NJC Chairman, Aloma Mariam Muktar.

    It reads: “I forward herewith a petition dated September 21 by Chief Sir Victor Umeh, APGA National Chairman, on the above subject matter. The petition is self-explanatory. I shall be glad to have your comments within one month from the date of receipt of this letter, please.”

    A complaint Umeh reportedly lodged with the NJC reportedly prompted the petition.

    The APGA chairman was said to have complained about an abuse of due process by the Chief Judge.

    He also reportedly accused Justice Umezulike of erring in his handling of the case, especially by refusing to rule on the preliminary objection which he brought before the court, and was duly argued by both counsel.

    Umeh reportedly told the NJC that the Chief Judge extended the ex-parte order he made against him on July 25 by extra 48 days.

    The petition reads: “By July 31, the CJ took full arguments on notice of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the case. The CJ adjourned the matter to September 17 for a rendition of the considered ruling of the court on the notice of preliminary objection

    “In adjourning the matter, the CJ stated that ‘if this court accedes to the contentions of the defendants/applicants on any of the above issues, this suit shall legitimately come to an end …In the event, I shall adjourn the case for a considered ruling on the merits. In the circumstances, the interim order of this court shall endure against the parties and against the convention of any APGA Executive Committee Meetings as stated under the order until the court’s rendition of a ruling which I now fixed for September 20,” Umeh said.

    He, however, regretted that on the 17th September when the ruling ought to have been delivered by the Chief Judge, to the amazement of the people who gathered in court, the Chief Judge declared that he has remanded his ruling and would instead hear the main suit and deliver judgment on the preliminary objection and the main suit together.

    The direction taken by the court, Umeh said, has exposed the Chief Judge as being desperate to get into the main matter and deliver judgement against him, knowing that the notice of preliminary objection was strong enough to have legitimately terminated the suit, being grossly incompetent as APGA was not made a party.

    The APGA Chairman noted that in his letter of 19th September 2012 to the Chief Judge, he requested for the Transfer/Re-assignment of the case to another judge”, and informed the Chief Judge that he no longer has confidence in obtaining justice in his court, being reasonably satisfied that he is biased, compromised and was intent on causing mischief for their dear party, APGA.