The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Reps

  • Don’t replace firearms with stun guns, Reps tell IG

    Don’t replace firearms with stun guns, Reps tell IG

    The House of Representatives yesterday called on the Inspector General of Police (IG) Solomon Arase to shelf plans to replace firearms with stun guns till such a time when the insecurity in the country would have abated reasonably.

    The resolution was sequel to the passage of a motion by Ayodele Oladimeji and the adoption of the prayers of the motion. It was subsequently referred to the House Committee on Police Affairs

    Presenting the motion, Oladimeji said the IG recently announced that the Nigeria Police Force will soon replace firearms with stun guns, as part of measures to reduce casualties resulting from misuse of firearms by police personnel.

    The lawmaker noted that “the current high rate of robberies, kidnappings, abductions and general insecurity needs strong, conceited and unrelenting efforts of a well-equipped police force to combat.”

    He doubted that stun guns, being an incapacitating weapon that momentarily disables with an electric shock, will reduce extra-judicial and accidental killings by policemen in the course of their official duties.

    “Many of the extra-judicial killings involving the police have had to do with the demand for bribes and the victim’s refusal. Besides, many of the police personnel involved in those incidents allegedly acted under the influence of alcohol and narcotics, which largely impaired their sense of judgment,” Oladimeji said.

    He reiterated that replacing firearms with stun guns will expose the officers and citizens to danger of hoodlums who possess more powerful weapons.

  • Reps probe NCAA, others over planes’ airworthiness

    Reps probe NCAA, others over planes’ airworthiness

    The House of Representatives yesterday mandated its Committee on Aviation to investigate the activities of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigeria Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    The investigation, the House said, is to ascertain whether  the regulatory agencies have lived up to their responsibilities of ensuring the airworthiness of aircraft flying in the country.

    The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of the prayers of  a motion with the title: “Need Regulatory Authorities to Conduct Routine Checks on the State of Aircrafts Operating in the Nigerian Airspace and make Public the Reports”  moved by a member, Hon. Sergius Ose Ogun.

    While moving the motion, Ogun said notwithstanding the establishment of the regulatory agencies and the range of functions they were mandated to carry out, the frequency of air crashes in the country called to question the expertise and competence of these regulatory agencies.

    He said: “If a thorough investigation of the activities of airline operators are carried out with a view to ascertaining the airworthiness of aircraft operating in the country, it will help in no small measure to minimise the frequency of air crashes and also significantly improve the ratings of the Nigerian aviation sector globally.

  • Reps to Arase: Don’t replace firearms with stun guns

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to shelf the plan to introduce stun guns to replace firearms for the force until when the state of insecurity in the country would have abated reasonably.

    The House resolution followed the passage of a motion by a member, Hon. Ayodele Oladimeji and the adoption of the motion.

    It was subsequently referred to the House Committee on Police Affairs.

    Oladimeji while presenting the motion said the IGP recently announced that police will soon replace firearms with stun guns to reduce casualties resulting from misuse of firearms by police personnel.

    He said, “The current high rate of robberies, kidnappings, abductions and general insecurity of lives and property in Nigeria need strong, conceited and unrelenting efforts of well- equipped police force to combat.”

  • Reps panel begins meeting with NLC

    Reps panel begins meeting with NLC

    The House of Representatives has urged the leadership of the organized labour to be patriotic and make the interest of the masses paramount in the on going negotiations over the petrol price hike.

    Speaking at the commencement of a meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday at the National Assembly, Chairman of the 18-member ad- hoc Committee set up to interface with stakeholders Hassan Doguwa said: “This meeting is to rub minds with the organised labour on the way forward over the issue of fuel price hike. It is the hope of the House of Representatives that this meeting will be open, frank and patriotic to enable us secure and protect Nigerians.”We have to put Nigeria  first in all matters”.

    NLC President Ayuba Wabba expressed optimism that the face-off would be resolved with the intervention of the House.

    While he expressed regret that the increment has direct bearing on fixed income earners and other people in the country, Wabba noted that it was coming at a time the economy was not doing well.

    “The effect on fixed wages is enormous, with purchasing powers of Nigerians greatly affected, that is why we want to discuss the issue.

    “With the intervention of the House and the calibre of the members of this Committee, we are confident that the issue would be resolved,” he assured.

    The meeting went into an executive session to allow for further deliberation where the leadership of the NLC was said to have raised a lot of “pertinent questions”.

  • Reps probe NERC, Discos, Gencos over N309b govt’s secured bond

    Reps probe NERC, Discos, Gencos over N309b govt’s secured bond

    • House to remove ‘offensive’ estimates from budget

    The House of Representatives is to investigate the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission ( NERC ) over  the N213b  intervention fund provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (ÇBN) last year through the Nigerian Electricity Sector Intervention facility.

    The investigation followed  the opposition of the lawmakers to a plan to borrow another N309b through a Federal Government secured bond.

    The bond, according to the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, was to cover the electricity market shortfall of N187b in 2015 and a projected shortfall of N122b for this year.

    The lawmakers were at a loss on the justification for the bond, which translates to  Nigerians bearing the operational loss of private electricity companies despite paying their electricity bill.

    Consequently, the utilisation  of the N213b  intervention fund has been commited to Committees on Power, Privatisation and Commercialisation, Aids, Loans and Debts Management.

    The House also directed NERC to devise a monitoring mechanism to measure and enforce full monthly remittances  by the DISCOS.

    The lawmakers also urged the regulatory body to recoup all mis-appropriated funds that resulted in the accumulated market shortfalls and apply sanctions for any default whatsoever, including the threat to withdraw the licenses of erring firms.

    The decision of the House followed the adoption of a motion by Edward Pwajok (PDP, Plateau ) who regretted that power sector operators have not lived to the expectations of Nigerian with their poor services in spite of increasing  tariffs twice since 2013.

    Saying that Distribution Companies (DISCOS) have severally failed to remit revenues collected to other market participants in full,  Pwajok added, “Tariff computation was a factor of capital investment that which was considered during the privatisation exercise, but regrettable there is no evidence that the DISCOS and GENCOS invested in acquiring any tangible assets.

    The House of Representatives yesterday went into a closed door session over the 2016 budget impasse.

    The session which lasted over two hours featured discussions on the  budget and how to address the “ grey areas “ as agreed with the President Muhammadu Buhari in an earlier meeting he had with the principal officers of the National Assembly.

    Though there was no briefing on what was discussed by members at the session as was the norm, The Nation learnt that the lawmakers moved to resolve aspects of the budget which the Presidency have designated as part of the “grey areas.”

    A source who pleaded anonymity said the Speaker briefed members on the meeting held with the president and pleaded with them to help ensure the issue of grey areas in the budget was resolved quickly.

    The Nation learnt that one of the things agreed in the closed door session was to scale down amounts added to the estimates brought by the MDAs under different subheads.

    Though the lawmakers had earlier insisted that the National Assembly has the power of appropriation and the prerogative to add or subtract from the Executive’s estimates, members were said to be in agreement  that in order for the budget to be assented to by the President, there might be a need to back down from their previous position.

    “Members agreed that the offensive additions on the part of the Representatives would be drastically reduced,” he said.

    The Speaker was said to have told members that three committees have been set up from the Senate, House and the Executive to work on the details to ensure a speedy transmission to the President to allow him assent to it with the next few days.

  • Reps ask IG to probe Enugu killings

    Reps ask IG to probe Enugu killings

    The House of Representatives has mandated Inspector General of Police  Solomon Arase to investigate the killings allegedly carried out by Fulani herdsmen in Enugu State.

    Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Lawal Daura was also summoned to brief the House on measures being put in place by his agency to stop the killings.

    The probe, according to the lawmakers, is to ascertain the cause as well as bring those culpable to book.

    The decision of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Chukwuemeka Ujam (PDP, Enugu). He expressed regret that findings have shown that a number of persons have been declared missing with their whereabouts unknown.

    He said the recurring killings by the Fulani herdsmen threaten the security of the country and added: “Eye witness account indicates that this mayhem was perpetuated by an army of masked herdsmen emerging from the bushes and attacking their victims with careless abandon.”

     

     

    “These merchants of death were armed with guns bow and arrows, swords and engaged in sporadic shooting for a lengthy period of time, sending shivers into the inhabitant of this community and hacking any person within sight to death”.

    Minority Leader, Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta) said the issue of conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and host communities over grazing must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

    “Rearing should be done in confined zones but it is important to address this issue once and for all,” he added.

    The motion was unanimously adopted after it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

     

  • Kogi crisis: Stalemate as Reps, AGF meet

    Kogi crisis: Stalemate as Reps, AGF meet

    The meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on the Kogi House of Assembly Crisis and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister Justice, Abubakar Malami ended in a stalemate Monday.

    The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila who is the head of the committee while speaking after a closed door meeting with Malami Monday said the meeting was “ongoing.”

    His words:”The outcome of the meeting? Well we are making steady progress, what we have is an ongoing discussion. There are a lot of issues to be resolved and hopefully, we will be able to resolve them next week.”

    On if there was an agreement with the AGF on if to maintain the status-quo or not, Gbajabiamila said: “No, no, we didn’t go in there to come to an agreement. We went in there to discuss the issues, to unravel all the legal and factual issues. And this is still ongoing and by next week, we will resolve all the issues.”

    On the findings of the committee, the lawmaker said: “We have found out that there are lot of constitutional issues between the Attorney-General’s office and the National Assembly that we need to look into it not just at face value.”

    The Majority Leader said it was apparent that the AGF wrote a letter to the IGP “and it’s clear that the IGP acted on the letter.”

    He said the contents of the letter and constitutional issue were discussed.

    “I know it is a very important matter that not just the press, but everyone in Nigeria is interested in how we resolve this issue. But you just have to be patient because whatever we resolve now sets a precedent for the future.

    “And so we are taking our time to look at all the issues, we are not rushing into it, we will dot all the i’s and cross the t’s. We should by any way or the other come out with the report next week.”

    Recall that the House of Representatives summoned the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister Justice, Abubakar Malami and the Inspector – General of Police, Solomon Arase over the crisis in the Kpgi State House of Assembly.

    While Abubakar  Malami was to appear before the 22- member ad hoc committee headed by the Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila to explain why he advised the IG to discountenance the House’s directive to seal the Kogi State House of Assembly, the IG was to explain why he sought the AGF’s advice after being given a clear directive by the National Assembly.

    But the Inspector- General of the Police, Solomon Arase last week apologized to the members of the House, saying he did not purposely contravene the directives of the House to seal the Kogi State House of Assembly.

    Arase, who appeared before an Adhoc committee on the crisis said what occurred was misinformation and that it was not in his character to disobey laid down rules and constituted authority and powers of the National Assembly.

  • Reps summon Prisons chief

    Reps summon Prisons chief

    There was anger in the House of Representatives yesterday. It was learnt that a female member, Mrapor Onyemaechi (PDP, Delta State), was slapped on Wednesday on the National Assembly premises by the security detail of the Comptroller General of Prisons, Peter Ekpendu.

    Members agreed that Ekpendu be invited to explain what transpired, although others called for his sack.

    The minister of Interior, who supervises the Prisons, will also appear with Ekpendu.

    Lawmakers agreed that the Interior Committee investigates the issue and get back to the House by next Tuesday, particularly as Ekpendu may vacate his position in a week.

    The House agreed to amend its rules to stop convoys from the executive arm into the National Assembly Complex, except the Presidency’s.

    Members were incensed that security agencies in the National Assembly, including the Sergeants-at- Arm, Police, Directorate of State Service (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps members and others, could not stop the assault.

    Ogor, while moving the motion under matters of privilege, said Section 16 of the Powers and Privileges Act was breached.

    Majority leader Femi Gbajabiamila said the House should move against such actions. The comptroller general, he said, was guilty of “assault, battery, and inflicting grievous bodily harm.”

    The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, halted further debates on the issue, saying it was a clear-cut case.

    The House resolved to call the CG, Minister of Interior, Andulrahman Danbazzau, as well as other security agencies in the National Assembly, to appear before its Committee on Interior.

  • Reps probe pension fund

    The House of Representatives is to probe the role of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) in managing the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS).

    DBS is for pensioners,  who retired before June 2007 and did not transit to the defined contributory pension scheme.

    According to the sponsors of the motion, Sergius Ose Ogun (PDP, Edo)and Lawal Garba (APC, Adamawa ), there is need to ensure strict compliance with the Pension Reform Act, 2014.

    The House also resolved to audit the assets of pension offices existing before the Pension Reform Act 2014.

    The committee was also mandated to determine the level of compliance by the PTAD with the Pension Reform Act, 2014 in the execution of its mandate, and report to the House within six weeks.

    The motion was adopted in a voice vote conducted by Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

  • Reps to invite Army over Ogoni killings

    The House of Representatives Committee on Army on Tuesday said it would invite the Nigerian Army to explain its roles in killings that took place in Ogoniland in February.

    The committee stated this shortly after visiting communities affected by the army raid in Gokana and Khana local government areas of Rivers State.

    The military had allegedly invaded some suspected criminal hideouts in Yeghe community in Gokana, leading to several deaths.

    During the invasion, the soldiers searched the house of ex- militant leader, Mr. Solomon Ndigbara and later demolished several buildings including that of Ndigbara.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Rima Shawulu-Kwewun, said the army would be invited for questioning, pointing out that the invitation would enable the security agency to get fair hearing on the matter.