Tag: Reps

The House of Representatives on Thursday, May 16, asked the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to liaise with the Military high command and the Department of State Services to deploy more security operatives to communities in Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara states to help curb rising cases of banditry and kidnapping.

The House also asked the Chief of Army Staff to consider locating a military barracks in Tsafe local government to strengthen border defence of the areas.

Adopting three separate motions at plenary, the House asked the federal government to deploy additional security personnel equipped with adequate logistics support to affected communities in the three states.

The House urged the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide food and non-food items to save thousands of victims from dying of hunger and severe hardship.

In his motion, Shehu Dalhat Tafoki (APC, Katsina) said an unspecified number of persons mostly women and children were kidnapped at Unguwar Goje of Sayau Ward Sabuwa local government with the bandits demanding more than one hundred million naira as ransom.

He also said that five people were killed and so many others, mostly women and children were kidnapped at Unguwar Hussain of Gamji Ward Sabuwa Local Government.

He also said that on 13th and 14th May 2024 the community of Yarmalamai Ward in Faskari Local government was ransacked by bandits, killing 9 people with over 5,000 people displaced and 4900 bags of grains carted away, over 200 herds of cattle were rustled, as well as about 50 shops robbed and many burnt down.

He expressed concern about the frequency of bandits’ attacks that seem to have turned into the order of the day, resulting in killings and kidnapping of innocent persons and the tragic loss of 5 Soldiers.

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Also in his motion, Umar Shehu Ajilo (PDP, Kaduna) expressed concern about the escalating insecurities bedeviling MakarfiKudan Federal Constituency of Kaduna State which has almost deprived them of the enjoyment of the inalienable rights guaranteed by the constitution.

He said the recent incident consumed the life of the village head of Marke; Malam Kabiru Muhammadu, who was slaughtered and set ablaze by his killers resulting in his instant incremation, injuries to some of his households, and loss of properties worth millions of Naira on Thursday the 24 days of May, 2024.

He said if this menace is not timely checked, it might spread to other communities in Zaria, Katsina, and some parts of Kano State.

In a similar motion, Kabiru Mai-Palace (PDP, Zamfara) informed the House that on the 10th of May 2024 in broad daylight, heavily armed bandits stormed Bilbis town of Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara state and killed over 27 innocent people, while 50 sustained various degrees of injuries.

According to him, a similar event happened weeks before then in Tsafe town with bandits attacking and killing the PDP secretary in the local government Alhaji Musa Ille as well as the newly appointed commandant of the community protection guard (CGP) of Tsafe local government, Mal Aminu Sarkin Baura Tsafe.

He stresses that the continuous killings and abduction in Tsafe local government demands immediate attention as a result of the constant threat and the situation is deteriorating rapidly day by day.

He said the innocent casualties of these attacks are harmless civilians, Farmers, Children, and Women who have lost their peace, farming, livelihood, and business.

The House of Representatives committee investigating public-private partnership and concessions arrangement by the federal government has summoned the Minister of Transportation, Said Umar Alkali, and the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Railway Corporation and other relevant organisations to appear in its next sitting.

The committee also has threatened to cancel all leases and concessions agreements domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Transport.

The chairman of the committee, Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos) who issued the threat in Abuja said the PPP and Concessions agreement of Nigeria Railway Corporation, (NRC) and the Railway Property Management Company Limited (RPMC) failed to comply with extant laws of the land.

Kuye who heads the House Committee on Public Assets spoke when a delegation from the Federal Ministry of Transport led by the Permanent Secretary, Pius Oteh appeared before the committee.

The Permanent Secretary had told the committee that the ministry has over 170 leases, but was unable to provide the relevant documents as required by the lawmakers to prove whether they comply with the extant laws.

Kuye said the committee will not hesitate to invoke relevant constitutional provisions if any organisation fails to honour their invitation.

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“As you may be aware, this committee will not hesitate to invoke the relevant constitutional provisions if any head of ministry, agency, or department fails to honour the invitation of this committee.

 “We can issue an arrest warrant and direct the relevant security agencies to bring such person here,” he said.

The committee said the improper management of government assets through public-private partnerships and concessions has been one of the major challenges in infrastructure development.

The legislators directed the representatives of Nigerian Inland Waterways and Nigerian Port Authority who appeared before them, to come with their Chief Executive Officer in the next sitting.

The lawmakers noted that they can only attend to the CEO of the organisation and not representative except such person comes with an authorisation letter from the CEO.

The House of Representatives on Thursday, May 16, resolved to investigate the daily increase in prices of commodities in the country at random and the state of medical research institutes in the country.

This followed two separate motions by Jesess Okey-Joe Onuakalusi (LP, Lagos) on the need to awaken the Price Control Board of Nigeria to its constitutional responsibilities and Wale Hammed (APC, Lagos) on the need to fund medical research institutions to combat future unforeseen novel medical challenges.

Moving his motion, Onuakalusi accused the Price Control Board of Nigeria of abandoning its responsibilities to the marketers, who are now responsible for increasing the prices of commodities with impunity and to the detriment of consumers.

According to him, the take-home pay of Nigerian civil servants has not increased, yet workers are witnessing an increase in the prices of commodities daily in our markets.

He recalled that the Act establishing the Price Control Board gave it the responsibility of overseeing and enforcing price control regulations and also established for each state, a committee to be the Price Control Committee to advise and assist the Board on the implementation of this Act.

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He said efforts as stated in the law have not yielded any result as the Board has remained inactive.

He said further that the responsibilities of the Price Control Board of Nigeria are to regulate the prices of all commodities in Nigeria and ensure that the marketers comply for the prices to be comparable with the income of the Nigerian civil servants.

He argued that this trend of leaving the prices of commodities at the marketer’s discretion is affecting mostly low-income earners and also increasing crime, as individuals unable to afford to purchase at an exorbitant price will resort to other means or steal.

He regretted that the Price Control Board of Nigeria did not take action to checkmate this menace of daily price increases.

In his motion, Wale Hammed said that due to the global increase in viral outbreaks like Lassa fever, Ebola, and coronavirus, it is crucial to increase financial support for medical research to combat health challenges.

According to Hammed, the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in Nigeria conducts research on public health diseases. Develops dissemination structures, and collaborates with national and international institutions.

He said there exist other research institutes in the country with similar objectives of collecting, analyzing, and providing scientific data and information for the development of scientific products for sustainable development and benefit for the country.

He said further that these institutions are not operating optimally, as they are currently underfunded, inadequately equipped with modern technology and lack requisite library resources to effectively perform their duties.

He argued that Nigeria Medical Research Institutes have the potential to contribute to the nation’s medical advancement given the required attention and funding.

The House of Representatives wants the federal government to suspend the introduction of new genetically modified crops into the country pending an investigation by its Committee on Agricultural Production and Services on the implications of such crops on the lives of Nigerians.

The House also wants the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to ensure that the already introduced GM foods and crops in Nigeria are properly labeled to safeguard consumers.

Adopting a motion on notice by Tolani Shagaya (APC, Kwara), the House resolved to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the introduction of genetically modified crops in Nigeria by the National Biosafety Management Agency to assess the potential health and environmental risks associated with genetically modified crops.

Moving the motion, Hon. Shagaya explained that genetically modified crops, commonly referred to as GM Crops, are plants used for agricultural purposes whose DNA has been altered using genetic engineering methods.

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He said that the recent introduction of genetically modified crops in Nigeria has raised serious questions about safety, regulatory oversight, and the potential impact on the country’s biosafety and ecosystem.

According to him, genetically modified foods can be created to contain almost anything, including genes that have higher levels of toxicity and negative long-term effects on human health.

He alleged that introducing these crops has led to public outcries, with serious concerns expressed about the potential risks these GM crops may pose to human health, environmental degradation, and food security.

He said the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has been accused of approving the introduction of GM crops into Nigeria without following due process and scientific protocols.

He said these GM crops are being introduced into Nigeria at a time when the said craps have been banned in several countries like France, Russia, and Germany. China, India, and a host of other countries in Europe due to safety concerns.

Shagaya said further that the GMO crops’ long-term impact on human health remains uncertain, prompting precautionary measures due to potential health issues including cancer, antibiotic resistance, allergic reactions, and reproductive issues

The Lawmaker said the introduction of genetically modified crops could have far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s food security, potentially transferring control to foreign biotechnology companies which are primarily driven by profit and cost reduction.

He said there was a need to prioritize public health, biodiversity, and traditional farming practices due to uncertainties surrounding the long-term impact of GMOs on health, environment, and food security.

The House of Representatives on Thursday, May 15, called for the immediate ban on the exportation of unprocessed natural resources and raw materials from Nigeria.

It urged the federal government to implement policies and incentives that would add value addition to raw materials and mineral resources and attract investors and businesses in the country.

The House is also to conduct an investigation into the current practices and challenges related to the exportation of unprocessed natural resources and raw materials from Nigeria and propose legislative interventions to promote and prioritize domestic value addition and processing.

Adopting a motion of urgent public importance by Ojuawo Rufus Adeniyi (APC, Ekiti), the House asked the Federal Government to collaborate with relevant stakeholders, including state governments, private sector entities, and development partners, to develop a comprehensive strategy for promoting value addition to raw materials and mineral resources.

It also wants the federal government to provide support and incentives to local industries and entrepreneurs engaged in the processing and value addition to natural resources and raw materials.

The House also stressed the need for relevant Ministries, in collaboration with relevant agencies, to monitor and enforce compliance with the ban on the exportation of unprocessed natural resources and raw materials.

Leading debate on the motion, Adeniyi said Nigeria is blessed with vast natural resources and raw materials in large commercial quantities but most of them end up being exported in their raw form, which reduces their export values, adding that the norm of exporting these natural resources and raw materials deprives our nation of the true value and potential economic benefits.

According to him, the exportation of unprocessed natural resources and raw materials deprives the country of potential revenue and job opportunities that could arise from value addition within Nigeria. When value is added to primary products before export, the benefits to the nation increase geometrically.

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He stressed the importance of adding value to natural resources before exportation as a means of enhancing the country’s economy and promoting sustainable development, saying it was an indisputable fact that the Nigerian economy, like that of most African countries, is characterized by the export of raw materials and the import of finished goods.

He maintained that overdependence on imports has a serious impact on the Nigerian economy, leading to a lack of control over growth factors and vulnerability to external economic conditions.

The lawmaker said this economic model encourages subsistence living, discourages growth and development, fosters hardship, poverty, disease, and crime, and undermines nationalism and loyalty to the state, adding that this economic model interferes with the government’s purposes of creating infrastructure for growth and prosperity.

The House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions says it is pushing legislation to ensure the establishment of a trust fund to manage correctional services across the country.

The committee’s chairman, Hon Chinedu Ogah, said this in an interaction with reporters at the National Assembly in Abuja on Tuesday, May 14.

He said that the trust fund would mandate the three tiers of government where a statutory amount would be deducted from local, state, and federal governments, for this purpose.

Ogah urged state governors to be more responsible by establishing correctional facilities as the responsibility had moved to the concurrent list.

He said it would decongest the correctional centre since it is now on the concurrent list.

He noted: “I wrote to all the governors of the 36 states, including the Attorney General of the Federation, outlining this line of the constitution that is not being implemented by the states.

“But most of these governors have neglected this part of the law. They have defaulted on obeying the law of the land, the amended 1999 Constitution. And this Act is the 2019 Act.

“This is a breach of the constitution. And some NGOs have approached me about taking most of them to court for breaching this constitution. But we will continue to appeal to them to implement what the constitution says.”

He said a situation where undue pressure was mounted on the federal government was unacceptable.

He stressed: “Everybody always puts pressure on the Federal Government, leaving a particular work that is supposed to be done by then.

He said that 90 percent of the inmates in all the correctional services were state offenders, saying only 10 percent were from the federal government.

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“It is the federal government that bankrolls the feeding, renovation, rehabilitation, training, and reintegration of these offenders into society. Why should it be so? he queried.

He said that none of the state governments had been able to put together a budget to establish a correctional centre, adding that it was only Ebonyi State that had passed a law aligning with it.

“It is only Ebonyi who has started building a correction service. Why can’t other states follow suit?” he asked.

“Most of the correctional services today are in the market, like the ones we visited in Suleja, Enugu, Taraba, and so many other places.”

…seek implementable agreement with unions

The House of Representatives on Thursday, May 9, asked the federal government to desist from any further selective treatment of any of the unions in the education sector and ensure fair treatment to avoid counter-strike action by such unions which usually disrupt academic activities.

In its resolution following a motion by Abubakar Hassan Fulata (APC, Jigawa), the House also asked President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to direct relevant MDAs to come up with modalities for true negotiation with both the academic and non-academic unions and come up with a workable, implementable and final agreement to be signed by both parties.

The House also directed the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget Office of the Federation, Accountant General of the Federation, and other MDAs to ensure the full implementation and prompt payment of all the money due to the unions.

Moving the motion, Fulata describes education as the hub of the socio-economic, political, and technological development of every nation which equips individuals with the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities essential for effective decision-making and problem-solving, in shaping policies, laws, and the overall direction of a nation and the economy.

He said: “For a country to attain its aspirations of socio-economic, political and technological development, it must have functional, sustainable, quality and stable tertiary educational system to be able to produce qualified and productive graduates in its labour force that will drive the process;

“Nigerian tertiary education sub-sector has witnessed unprecedented strike actions over the last three decades as a result of disagreements and non-implementation of agreements, memorandum of understanding, most especially, the 2009 agreement and such other agreements reached between the Federal Government and the unions.”

The Jigawa legislator expressed concern that strike actions have continued to distort both the academic activities and calendar, thereby negatively affecting the early and timely completion of academic Programmes and by extension, the future of students as a result of these incessant strikes.

He said: “This and other issues such as poor funding of public tertiary institutions in the education sub-sector, resulted in a growing demand for foreign-owned and private universities in the country which is characterized by illicit activities including certificate racketeering.

“Also, the actions have negative effects on the realization of the missions and visions set by the government with the possible consequences on our economic and technological advancement.”

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He argued: “Most of the demands by the unions which include the provision of infrastructural facilities, teaching aides and equipment, proper remuneration, welfare and allowances especially earned allowances, conducive working environment, are genuine and implementable which will forthwith, avert any reoccurrence of strike actions in our tertiary institutions.

“The way and manner this issue is being handled and treated with levity and given selective treatment if not properly handled and resolved amicably is capable of further aggravating the impasse and distorting academic activities with the attendant proliferation of social vices, economic and security consequences to the country.”

He stressed that in the interest of the nation, “We do not need another strike to address the problems of the unions.”

The House of Representatives has resolved to carry out an holistic investigation of activities of Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a view to ensuring that the mandate for which it was set up ja achieved. 

The House expressed displeasure that several Nigerians are subjected to untold hardship outside the country while several others are serving jail terms under harsh conditions. 

This followed a motion of urgent public importance brought betore th House by the House Committee. 

On Foreign Affairs on the urgent need to O ensure effective implementation of the government reforms in the ministry, Nigerian mission abroad and the foreign policy agenda of the government. 

Moving the motion on behalf of the sponsors, Ben Etanabene (LP, Delta) described the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a body recognized by law to ensure the implementation of the foreign policy objectives of government exercisable through the various foreign missions. 

According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs equally plays other specialized roles that promote and regulate how Nigeria and Nigerians are perceived across the global community, especially through activities in the Embassies and High Commissions which carry out Consular and Diplomatic functions in all areas of our national life.

He explained that the government has set in motion reforms for effective service delivery in the Ministry of foreign Affairs, Parastatals and the Missions and has put in place a clearly defined Foreign Policy thrust of Democracy, Development, Demography and Diaspora known as 4Ds to usher in a new foreign policy focus for the country. 

He said that the House has taken several steps to ensure that the reforms and policy thrust comes to fruition for the good of the country, adding that inspite of the efforts of the House, Nigerians around the world are faced with general and urgent Consular Services Challenge.

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He disclosed that many Nigerians are illegally held or imprisoned in foreign countries and often under harsh conditions that may lead to loss of lives if urgent actions are not taken.

He maintained that many Nigerians students are stranded in foreign land over issues that can be resolved while many Nigerians owned businesses around the world helping in contributing to the economy of those countries and sending remittances back home are suffering harassment and sabotage.

He said fuether that many Nigerians go through extreme difficulties to secure visas for legitimate travels including Government Officials and Legislators after paying exorbitant visa fees.

He disclosed that many embassies, in a bid to ease visa application processes have resulted to outsourcing the processes to agent whose cost of services are born by Nigerians.

He said “several modes of visa applications are in force including express services with huge cost paid by applicants who are sometimes denied visas after such payments.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in addition to budgetary allocations, benefits from intervention  funds, for running the affairs of the ministry and missions as well as the internally generated revenue by several missions around the world with questions over effective and efficient utilization over the years.”

He said further that the committee on foreign affairs had received several complaints regarding issues of employments in the ministry and missions, appointments, postings, redeployment and disciplinary issues that affect morals and service delivery. 

He said the country has properties and assets across the world under various missions, many underutilized and several others abandoned which if properly audited and harnessed will enhance efficiency of our Foreign Service Officers and increase the revenue that is generated by the federal government.

He expressed concern that in a lot of missions, local staff ceiling has been exceeded due to violation of rules and in some instances, the ceiling of Foreign Service Officers. 

This has further resulted to indebtedness in the respective missions.

He said if these issues are not investigated and appropriate and urgent actions taken by the House, it may lead to loss of lives and properties, further difficulties in visa and consular services home and abroad, malfeasance and waste, inefficiency and loss of revenue, poor implementation of the government reforms, 4Ds policy thrust.