Tag: Reps

The House of Representatives on Wednesday, February 28, expressed concern over the increasing non-compliance to safety standards and regulations by public and private institutions across the country as enshrined in the Employee Compensation Act (2010).

The House has therefore mandated its Committee on Safety Standards and Regulations to investigate the level of non-compliance to the regulations.

The House also resolved to investigate the agreement between the Government and Star Times to fast-track the complete digitalization of the Nigerian broadcasting industry

The resolutions followed two separate motions on notice sponsored by Ahmed Jaha Babawo (APC Borno) and Taofeek Abimbola Ajilesoro (PDP, Osun).

In his lead debate, Jaha said the Employees Compensation Act, 2010 (ECA) was enacted with provisions that include ensuring the safety, health, and welfare of workers in Nigeria by preventing workplace accidents, injuries, and fatalities and enforcing compliance with safety and health standards and regulations in both public and private entities.

According to him, between July 2011 and June 2023 about 99.678 workplace hazard claims were received by the Trust Fund, in 2023 alone, from January to June, a total of 8.959 claims under the various contingencies of medical expenses refund, loss of productivity, death benefits, disability benefits such as the provision of the artificial body to over 100 disabled workers and medical treatment were also received by the Trust Fund.

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Jaha said there has been a noticeable increase in the rate of work-related hazards and lack of compensation to victims as a result of non-compliance to safety standards and regulations by public and private entities.

He said with non-adherence to health and safety standards and regulations which is crucial for preventing workplace accidents, injuries, and fatalities, as well as promoting a conducive work environment for all employees across various sectors of the economy, the right of citizens to a safe and decent place of work, devoid of hazards seems not guaranteed in our country.

In his debate, Taofeek Ajilesoro recalled that Nigeria embarked on the journey towards Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Broadcasting on June 17, 2006, following the deadline of June 15, 2015, set by the International Telecommunication Union (IT) for member countries to transition from analog to digital broadcasting.

He also recalled that the late President Musa Yar’Adua directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to affect the transition, while Nigerian broadcasting industry leaders agreed to reschedule the initial international deadline at a stakeholders meeting held on June 3, 2008.

He disclosed that the immediate past government planned to complete the process by December 2022 with the launch of the digital switchover in eight states of Lagos, Kano, Plateau, Kwara, Osun, Kaduna, Enugu, Rivers, and the Federal Capital Territory.

He said further that the transition from analog to digital is aimed at creating a more equitable, just, and people-centered information society that will connect underserved populations and remote communities.

He said that upon completion, the Digital Switch Over (DSO} project will translate to increased digital television penetration, improved quality television services, adherence preference ratings, crystal clear sound, and visual sounds, in addition to other value-added services.

He said despite other African nations such as Cote D’Ivore, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Rwanda, Kenya, etc. having finished the transitioning process, the digital switchover program in Nigeria’s broadcasting industry has stagnated or slowed down.

He said: “In spite of being almost ten years into the process, Nigeria, with the biggest economy, still lacks a strong foundation for the shift”.

He regretted that the platforms for Pay TV programs are dominated by foreigners, like DSTV, owned by Multichoice, a South African company, and Star Times, which is 70% owned by Chinese and 30% by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

He disclosed that there was an agreement reached with Star Times for the utilization of their facilities spread across the country to fast-track the implementation of the process.

The Osun lawmaker expressed concern that Nigeria has repeatedly missed the deadlines for switching to digital broadcasting due to a variety of issues, such as the enormous financial outlays needed to build the necessary infrastructure to guarantee that the digital television set won’t be interrupted by thunderstorms or heavy rain—a term used to euphemistically describe bad weather that distorts the quality of the shows.

Nigeria’s House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the frequent collapse of the national grid in order to proffer a lasting solution to the embarrassing development.

This followed a motion by Billy Osawaru (APC, Edo) who argued that sustainable energy is essential to any modern economy, saying that Nigeria is no exception.

He stressed that a stable electricity supply ensures that industries remain viable, power homes, and facilitates significant economic growth and industrial progress;

While commending the plan of the federal government to increase power capacity to 20,000 megawatts (MW) from 12,522 MW projected within the next three years, he said the Electricity Act, 2023, is aimed at addressing the persistent challenges in the power sector, harnessing new opportunities, as well as propel Nigeria toward a future of reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity supply.

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Quoting the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in August 2023, he said the Nigerian power grid recorded an unparalleled period of stability in the history of the power sector by operating without major disruptions or systems collapse for over 400 consecutive days.

He said this milestone indicates an advancement in the nation’s efforts at strengthening its power infrastructure, ensuring a reliable electricity supply to distribution load centres for onward distribution to electricity customers nationwide.

He expressed concern that in a space of one week in August 2023, Nigeria recorded three national grid collapses, with the national grid collapsing twice within 6hrs and on 19 August 2023, another system collapse was recorded.

He said frequent grid collapses this year have negatively impacted the economy, reducing industrial output and raising manufacturing expenses.

He noted that firms are forced to invest in alternate power sources, thus, raising operational costs and leaving end users with exorbitant prices, which citizens cannot afford, especially with subsidy removal effects.

He said the nation is currently facing its worst form of insecurity, including insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and other violent crimes, saying the collapse of the national grid will embolden criminal activities and security facilities such as the Vigiscope App, and Police Situation Room App.

He said all police command control rooms can be compromised during the dark hours, and tracking devices that need the power to reach telephone lines can be hampered.

He said if the frequent national grid collapses are thoroughly investigated and solutions proffered, it will end the continuous system collapse, boost the economy, and reduce the suffering of the citizens

The House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 27, asked the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to urgently deploy medical personnel to investigate and ascertain the nature of the unidentified disease currently ravaging Nafada local government area of Gombe state.

In a resolution following a motion of urgent public importance, sponsored by Abdullahi El-Rasheed (PDP, Gombe), the House also asked the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) to promptly put up a surveillance team to curtail the spread of the disease and ensure that adequate treatment is extended to affected victims.

El-Rasheed expressed concern about the outbreak of what he described as a strange and yet-to-be-identified disease that is gradually spreading across communities in Nafada local government area of Gombe state.

According to him, the disease has claimed the lives of youths and children within the affected communities in the last few days, while the number of victims has continued to increase rapidly, thereby instilling fear and apprehension in the affected communities.

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He said: “The symptoms of the disease start with severe headache; stomach pain; vomiting and very smelly stool; leg pain and ultimately leading victims to severe overall body pain before their untimely death.

“The Gombe State Primary Healthcare Development Agency has deployed more health personnel to support the existing staff of Nafada General Hospital with a view to averting the spread of the disease and extending medical attention to affected victims.

“The blood samples of a few victims that were tested in the Medical Laboratory have shown negative reaction to Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) which implies that the disease is yet to be diagnosed by health authorities and medical experts in Gombe State.

“The disease is fast spreading with about thirty (30) deaths recorded as of yesterday 26th February 2024 and can potentially halt business and school activities across the communities as parents are afraid of sending their children to school due to fear of contracting the disease.”

He expressed fears that the situation will escalate and spread across to other neighbouring communities and local governments if not properly and professionally managed.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 27, asked the Nurses and Midwifery Council of Nigeria to immediately stop the implementation of the certificate verification guidelines for nurses expected to take effect from Thursday, March 1, 2024.

Adopting a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Patrick Umoh (APC, Akwa Ibom), the House directed its committee on Health Institutions to investigate the issue and report back to the House.

Moving the motion, Umoh informed that the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, in a memo dated February 7, put in place fresh guidelines for the verification of certificates of practising nurses in the country.

The lawmaker said that the enactment of the Nursing and Midwifery (Registration, etc.) Act, Cap. N143, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, by the National Assembly was aimed at providing regulations and control of the practice of nursing and midwifery in Nigeria.

He said the council has issued revised guidelines for verification of certificate(s) dated February 7, 2024, which will come into force on March 1, 2024.

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According to him, the guidelines stipulate that applicants for verification must have a minimum of two years post qualification experience from the date of issuance of permanent practice licence; obtain a letter of good standing from the Chief Executive Officer of the applicant’s place of work and the last training institution attended, and that processing of application shall take a minimum of six months.

He said further that there have been concerns, protests and stiff opposition to the implementation of the revised guidelines by health professionals led by the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives;

He said: “Verification of certificates is to confirm and authenticate an already existing certificate issued by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, therefore the requirement for two years post-qualification experience before verification of certificate is unreasonable, arbitrary and unfair, as it may, among other things, restrict the freedom of nurses seeking education or additional skills and training in foreign universities.

“The National Assembly is the body empowered by the Constitution to make laws for the country, and the requirement of two years post-qualification experience by the Nursing and Midwifery Council is to legislate through the back door, and therefore a usurpation of the powers of the National Assembly.

“The requirement that applicants for verification must obtain a letter of good standing from the Chief Executive Officer of the applicant’s place of work is capable of creating forced labour and modern slavery as the applicant will be forced to be subject to the whims and caprices of applicant’s employer.”

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has called for more collaboration and partnership between Nigeria and the Netherlands to address some challenges in the country such as conflicts and food insecurity to foster economic growth and development.

Kalu, who spoke when playing host to the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Nigeria, Wouter Plomp said the Dutch stands as a significant source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria, particularly in oil and gas, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors.

He commended the Netherlands for its investments in Nigeria and its contributions towards reducing insecurity.

According to the deputy speaker, the Netherlands’ support for peace-building initiatives in Nigeria, especially in addressing conflicts in parts of the country reflects both nations’ shared commitment to promoting stability and security.

While harping on the importance of food security, saying that it’s a sustainable approach towards having peace and security, Kalu referred to his Peace in the South East Project’ which has agriculture and food security as one of its pillars, recalling that it recently launched ‘food for peace’ aimed at providing food for the people.

Kalu stated that there’s a significant potential for partnership in the value chain for processing and packaging of dairy products, adding that having the fifth largest cattle herd in Africa, collaboration with the Netherlands in processing dairy products beyond what is currently being done at the moment can foster economic growth.

He said further that the parliament was looking forward to engaging in more productive dialogue that further strengthened the bilateral relationship.

The deputy speaker said: “Your presence here at the People’s House stands as a testament to the deep-rooted historical ties and enduring friendship that bind our two nations. The parliament is aware of your presence in the country and the impact that you’re making.

“Take it back to the kingdom that the parliament of Nigeria is aware of the contribution you’re making to nation-building. In 2022, bilateral trade between Nigeria and the Netherlands reached 7.7 billion Euros, with Nigeria enjoying a trade surplus of 5.2 billion Euros. Our trade relations continue to thrive.

“The Netherlands’ support for peace-building initiatives in Nigeria, especially in addressing conflicts in regions like the North East, is commendable. Specifically, the Kingdom of the Netherlands has provided crucial support to those affected by the Boko Haram insurgency for the past seven years.

“Let me also mention the food system, if we secure lives and properties and we don’t secure food, lives and properties will be lost. We secure lives and food, that’s a sustainable approach towards having peace and security.

“I initiated a project known as Peace in the South East Project and one of the areas we want to solve as a non-kinetic strategy towards solving the problems of insecurity in that area is food. Under its 8 pillars, we have what we call “food for peace”. We have short-term and long-term plans.

“I want to thank the Dutch Embassy to Nigeria for the crucial role it is playing in supporting the HortiNigeria program, which is transforming vegetable value chains in several key Nigerian states, including Kano, Kaduna, Ogun, and Oyo.

“We recognize the Netherlands’ strides in precision agriculture and its expertise in milk processing and other dairy products. Given Nigeria’s substantial livestock population and high demand for milk, there exists significant potential for partnership in value chain creation and processing.

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“Nigeria’s total annual demand for milk stands at 1.45 billion litres, yet more than 90% of our milk comes from cattle in low-input, low-yielding pastoral systems. With Nigeria having the fifth-largest cattle herd in Africa, collaboration in milk processing and dairy products can help meet this demand and foster economic growth.”

Earlier, the Ambassador, Wouter Plomp told the Deputy Speaker that the Netherlands is very much interested in deepening cooperation in agriculture and other sectors, aimed at promoting these sectors, strengthening bilateral relations and mutual dialogue.

He informed the deputy speaker of a memorandum of understanding signed a fortnight ago with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on having bilateral consultations every year.

Plomp assured the parliament of more national coverage with their seed programme to not only promote the agri-business but also the business in agricultural commodities for young people.

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Friday, called on the National Assembly to probe the $3.4billion loan collected by the Federal Government from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in April 2020 without proof of how it was utilized.

The group also kicked against ceaseless requests for loans by the Federal Government and expeditious approvals given by the National Assembly with little or nothing to point at as to what the loans were used for.

The group also added that savings made by the government from fuel subsidy removal from May last year till date, have not been accounted for by the government as Nigerians are watching and suffering.

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The nine  CSOs led by the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, at a media briefing, alleged that the incessant loans by the FG, made the debt profile of the country presently stands at N87.9trillion which is equivalent to $114.3billion.

“The escalating debt burden has profound implications for the well-being of Nigerian citizens and failure to act quickly could result in an additional 23 million Nigerians living in poverty and 80 million working-age citizens without a full-time job by 2030.

“These concerning trends underscore the need for the National Assembly to urgently do the needful by among others, investigating the movement and spending of loans received by the Federal Government in the past and present administrations, including but not limited to the $3.4billion loan obtained from IMF as reported in the 2020 annual audited report published by the Auditor – General of the Federation.

“Stopping borrowing for recurrent expenditure ( personnel and overheads ) and dilatory capital expenditure that adds no value to economic growth, wealth creation and development.

“Demanding accountability for petrol subsidy savings and sincerity of purpose in fulfilling the government’s ‘promises of renewed hope ‘ to the millions of Nigerians who no longer have belts to tighten.”

The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to, as a matter of priority, consider subsidizing agriculture to revitalize the economy and improve food security in Nigeria.

The House mandated the Committees the Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, Privatization and Commercialization, and Public Assets, to investigate the privatization/concession of 22 out of 33 Government Silos for grain storage and other critical national assets in Nigeria.

The Committees are to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion titled “Need to Investigate the Privatization / Concession of Federal Government Silos in Nigeria” moved by Hon. Inuwa Garba.

The House noted that in September 2017, the federal government commenced the process of concessioning 22 out of its 33 silo complexes across the country to the private sector to ensure the availability of affordable grains across the country.

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The House said it was cognizant of the need to scrutinize circumstances surrounding the privatization or concession of Government Silos for Grains Storage in the country considering the vital role these silos play in ensuring food security across the country.

The House said it was also cognizant of the need to investigate the entire process of privatization or concession, including the criteria used for the selection of private entities, transparency in the bidding process to ensure accountability in public administration, and upholding the principles of fairness and equity.

The House of Representatives has called for the investigation of the abandoned second phase of the $38.7 billion Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited/Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Joint Venture Okpai Independence Power Plant Project in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State.

The House mandated the Committee on Power to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the funding and contractors, which includes the Nigerian Agip Oil Company and Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, ascertain the impediments leading to the abandonment of the project, and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Nnamdi Ezechi during plenary on Tuesday, February 20.

The House noted that the Okpai Independent Power Plant project, a joint venture between the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and the Federal Government, received approval from the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for the construction of phase two.

The House also noted that despite the substantial investment of $38.7 billion and the commencement of the second phase of the construction in November 2017, the project ended up being abandoned, resulting in the dilapidation of the critical Federal infrastructure.

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The House said it was aware that the second phase of the project had reached approximately 90 percent completion before its abandonment by contractors Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited (SCNL) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

The House further noted that the project site is in a grave state of decay, with billions of Dollars’ worth of equipment and turbines unused, covered by grass, and taken over by shrubs.

The House was concerned that the abandonment of the Phase II project jeopardized significant investments and hampered an increase in electricity generation for the nation.

It was also concerned that there is ambiguity surrounding the project’s contract amount, casting doubt on accountability and transparency in its execution.

The House recognised the fact that the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited (SCNL) were involved in the award and execution of the project.

It was disturbed by the lack of advancement of the project and the need for government action to preserve this essential national resource.