The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Reps

  • Reps begin consideration of constitution review report

    Reps begin consideration of constitution review report

    From next week, all committees in the House of Representatives will be engaged in nothing else but with the report of the Constitution review, it was learnt yesterday.

    Speaker Aminu Tambuwal spoke yesterday on the suspension of the various oversight functions of the committee for the consideration of the constitution review report.

    The House, it was also learnt, began the consideration of the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Constitution Review yesterday.

    The report was laid before the House on July 4. Members went straight to business after Majority Leader Mulikat Akande Adeola moved a motion that the House move into the Committee of the Whole.

    The Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the Constitution, Emeka Ihedioha, read a synopsis of the report.

    Yesterday was the first day for the consideration.

    Members raised issues about the procedure for contribution. This took a while to resolve.

    Tambuwal warned members not to vote against the decisions of their constituents, as documented in the result of the people’s public sessions.

    He said: “Let me once again say that what we have before us is not our opinion but the aggregate of all opinions from our constituencies. Whether it’s individually or collectively, we do not have any issue against any politician. But we aim to strengthen democracy.”

    The Speaker said he had heard that the people’s public sessions be subjected to a referendum.

    He said: “The constitution has proscribed the procedure for amendment, and we can’t go outside it. The constitution did not prescribe a referendum. As issues are raised, we, as members who facilitated the people’s public session, have no power over the decision of the people.

    “My charge is that we proceed with the wishes of the people. I appeal to all of us that when the time to vote comes with the result, we should not vote against the wishes of our people.”

    The House deferred the consideration till today to allow members bring copies to the floor.

    Tambuwal said there would be a clause-by-clause and section-by-section considerations of the constitution review report today.

    He said voting would come after the consideration of the report.

     

  • Tambuwal, Reps chide EFCC over N2tr seized assets

    Tambuwal, Reps chide EFCC over N2tr seized assets

    •To trace whereabouts of $170m

    THE House of Representatives is set to trace the whereabouts of $170 million transferred to an unidentified account. The cash was discovered in an unnamed document and cannot be linked to the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF).

    House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal spoke while opening a three-day public investigative hearing organised by the Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes to verify the status of all assets seized and recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since inception.

    Tambuwal decried the secrecy surrounding seized assets of accused and convicted persons in custody of the anti-corruption agency.

    The committee has given pioneer EFCC Chairman Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and his successor Mrs Farida Waziri till tomorrow to honour the invitation, noting that Section 89 of the Constitution empowered the Committee to carry out such duty.

    Represented by the Deputy House Leader, Leo Ogor, the Speaker said:”I have learnt that between 2003 and now, the EFCC has confiscated over 200 mansions and large sums of money through 46 forfeiture court orders.

    “These landed property, monies, and business concerns which were estimated to be worth in excess of two trillion naira, included bank accounts, shares in blue chip companies, exotic vehicles, fuel stations, holdings, warehouses and shopping malls among others.

    “However, there have been many reported cases of vandalism, improper storage, abandonment and waste. We have reports that some of these properties have fallen into disrepair and that some cannot even be accounted for.

    “We cannot allow a situation whereby over 400 cars seized through the diligence of the EFCC for instance continue to rot away.

    “We have a vicarious responsibility to ensure that assets seized through forfeiture court orders are prudently and carefully manage to avoid waste and to ensure they are maximally disposed of for the benefit of the public.

    “It is not enough to just seize assets, we need to ensure that they are quickly utilised as part of the restitution for the original crime”.

    The Committee was, however, shocked that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) however disclosed that from the 70 cases it transferred to the EFCC between 2006 to date, only three have been concluded.

    The Committee was also told that N1, 841, 225, 239 was transferred to the EFCC in different currencies.

    NDLEA Chairman Ahmadu Giade told the Committee that once cases were transferred to the EFCC, it is up to it to do whatever it wants with them. He said his agency does not follow up on the cases or the movement of the monies transferred.

    He gave the breakdown as N27, 822, 410; N441, 928, 968 ($2, 832, 878) and N1, 114, 489, 896 ($7, 144, 166 fake dollars); N4, 872, 000 (£20, 300) and N225, 236, 880 (£938, 487 fake); N2, 309, 530 (€11, 266) and N1, 312, 000 (€6, 400 fake); N28, 125, 155 (CFA93, 750, 517) and N400 (5 Cedis).

    However, Mr Kunle Lasisi, who works for Aminu & Ibrahim and Co, an audit firm commissioned to audit the appropriated expenditure of the anti-corruption agency said the agency was not found wanting in the funding of its operational expenditures.

    The Committee wanted to know if the agency funded its operations from seized assets and if certain seized assets accounts were hidden from the auditor in the course of its activities.

    Lasisi said the scope of his firm’s duties, as permitted by the constitution would not allow him to audit the agency beyond accounts operated solely on the agency’s appropriated expenditure.

    On the missing $170 million, Lasisi insisted that they worked within the scope of their mandate.

    “There is no way I will know anything about such money because our scope has to do with how monies appropriated were utilised, our job is to find out if monies were taken from other sources to fund their operations.

    “As long as there was no record to that effect, there is no way we are going to audit such account. We only got to know about seized asset accounts and mentioned it because we requested for bank statements from the three banks that have the agency’s appropriated funds account,” Lasisi said.

  • Reps seek ‘proper management’ of seized assets

    Reps seek ‘proper management’ of seized assets

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, said the House would ensure that assets seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission were properly managed.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Tambuwal made this known at a three-day investigative hearing on Monday in Abuja.

    The hearing organised by the Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, was to unravel the status of assets seized and sold by the EFCC since its establishment.

    The speaker said the House had a responsibility to ensure that the assets seized and sold through forfeiture court orders were prudently managed.

    “My dear colleagues, we cannot allow a situation whereby over 400 cars seized through the diligence of the EFCC for instance continue to waste away.

    “We have a vicarious responsibility to ensure that the assets seized through forfeiture, court orders are prudently and carefully manage.

    “This is to avoid waste and to ensure that the assets are maximally disposed of for the benefit of the public,” he said.

    According to him, this is why the House has resolved to carry out this investigative hearing, as it is not enough to just seize assets.

    “We need to ensure that they are quickly utilised as part of the restitution for the original crime,” Tambuwal said.

    Earlier, Jagaba Adams (PDP-Kaduna) Chairman of the Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, said the investigation was premised on a mandate given to the committee.

    He said the committee had earlier in the “spirit” of giving a fair hearing called for memorandum from the general public.

     

  • Reps reject NNPC’s N384.9b operation loss claim

    Reps reject NNPC’s N384.9b operation loss claim

    The House of Representatives has rejected the operational loss of N384.9billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) between 2009 and 2011, describing it as ‘unacceptable.’

    The lawmakers also expressed disbelief when the corporation asked to be exempted from remitting certain part of its operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) on the basis that it has never made any profit.

    NNPC made N6 trillion between 2009 and 2012 as IGR, but refused to remit N142billion to the CRF as demanded by the Fiscal Respinsiblity Act (FRA), 2007.

    The NNPC had informed the House of Representatives Committee on Finance probing Federal governemt agencies’ remittances of surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), that the three years under review have been financially negative for the corporation.

    The breakdown, as contained in the corporation’s presentation to the Committee yesterday, showed that crude oil lost to vandalism was 2.316million barrels in 2010, while 6.391million barrels were stolen in 2011. In 2012, loss to vandalism was 3.045million barrels.

    The total loss recorded was 11.753million barrels between 2010 and 2012.

    Financially, losses recorded in the NNPC’s upstream, midstream and downstream operations, amounted to N298billion in 2009, N110.9billion in 2010 and N37.6billion in 2011.

    The Group Executive Director (GED), Finance and Accounts, Benard Otti, who led a team of senior management to the meeting said, as indicated in the presentation, the NNPC therefore was in no position to remit any surplus to the CRF.

    “Quantum of losses are indicative of crude and pipeline vandalism and unrecovered subsidy claims. It seems as if we are only working for thieves and vandals.

    “Our business model defies description,” he said.

    The Abdulmumin Jubrin-led Committee however questioned the integrity of the report, as it was internally computed without any input from external, credible professional auditing firm.

    For instance, the Committee noticed inconsistent figures in the 10 per cent Gross margin presented against the breakdown that overshot the 10 per cent by 1.17 per cent.

    While expressing its readiness to employ the services of professionals to investigate the report, the Committee however requested the Corporation to finish it with details of its tax remittances.

    The Committee asked the Corporation to furnish it with details and sources of how it has been meeting its operational costs since it has always been operating at a loss.

    In view of the bleak and hopeless picture painted by the NNPC for the country, the Committee asked if there was any reason for the existence of the corporation with it unending operating losses.

    The Committee wants the corporation to account for what it does with the left over of daily domestic crude allocation and the crude swap, in addition to how it gets funds for the repair of vandalised pipelines since there was no appropriation for it.

  • Reps probe attack on Assembly

    Reps probe attack on Assembly

    The House of Representatives is seeking a quick and an enduring solution to the political crisis rocking Rivers State as a result of the attack on the House of Assembly yesterday.

    The House directed the Deputy Leader of the Assembly, Leo Ogor (PDP,Delta) and the Majority Whip, Ishaku Bawa (PDP, Taraba), to liaise with the ad-hoc Committee that was constituted last week to look into the feud between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the Police Commissioner, Joseph Mbu.

    The decision of the House followed the adoption of a point of order on a matter of urgent public importance by Andrew Uchendu (PDP, Rivers) who posited that democracy is under threat, with ex-militants attacking members of the Assembly yesterday morning.

    Stressing that the motive was to prevent the House from sitting, Uchendu said the hoodlums must have acted on information supplied by the Commissioner of Police who already had knowledge of the sitting.

    He said: “I regret to inform the House that some militants invaded the House of Assembly to prevent the House from sitting. This is prior to the information the House Assembly gave to the Commissioner of Police that the House would sit today.

    “In the ensuing fracas, there was a free for all and so many members were wounded. The House Leader, Hon. Chidi Lloyd, who spoke to me on phone, said that so many members were wounded.

    “The interesting thing is that the House still went ahead to sit with many members and their stained clothes. Democracy is being threatened by the activities of the police and hoodlums and ex-militants. It is obvious that democracy is seriously being threatened.”

    The presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, refused to entertain debate of the motion, being an investigative motion, but he stressed the urgency of finding a lasting solution to the crisis.

    Ihedioha said politicians and other state actors must realise that the country’s thriving democracy was not achieved on a platter of gold.

    “It does appear some of us have forgotten how we got this democracy. Some of us were in the trenches fighting for this democracy and cannot fold our hands and sit when the democracy is threatened,” he said.

    Ihedioha directed that the report of the ad hoc Committee be submitted next Tuesday.

     

  • Reps, CBN alleged deal stalls BOFIA Act amendment

    Reps, CBN alleged deal stalls BOFIA Act amendment

    There are indications that the bill to repeal and re-enact the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) may not be passed in the seventh House of Representatives. There are allegations that the House leadership has been compromised over it.

    The House was alleged to have sold the soul of the BOFIA amendment to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for an undisclosed amount. There appears to be a consistent and orchestrated attempt by the House leadership to bury the BOFIA Act, or at best to ensure that it was not passed during the Seventh House, The Nation gathered.

    It was learnt that February 18, a day to the presentation of the BOFIA amended Act for consideration at the Committee of the Whole House by its sponsor, Betty Apiafi, the CBN was sent a copy to enable it to remove aspects that are offensive to the financial sector’s regulator.

    Though independent sources at the CBN confirmed receiving the bill on the eve of its consideration, the apex bank authority denied any passage of money- for -non-passage of the bill.

    The bill entitled: “An Act to Repeal the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2004 and to Re-enact the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2010, and for Matters Connected Therewith” in its current form, whittles down the powers of the CBN Governor and bars directors from collecting loans in banks where they work. It also revises upwards the outdated penalties for various offenses in the banking sector.

    The repeal and re-enactment of the BOFIA bill is also aimed at improving regulatory regime as well as protecting depositors from losses in situations where banks fail.

    The consideration of the bill on the floor on February 19, 2013 was stalled by the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha and the Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Mr Chukwudi Jones Onyereri, to the amazement of members.

    Since then, only three clauses were considered in the bill and that was at the instance of the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, on a day he presided over plenary.

    The Speaker, who is said to be unaware of the deal, called for the consideration of the bill and three clauses were subsequently considered.

    Every other attempt to continue the presentation has been continually frustrated, as the House allegedly await the CBN version of the bill.

    There are allegations that the CBN was promised by some members of the House leadership that the presentation and consideration of the bill would be delayed by whatever means to ensure the non-passage untill the CBN makes its input.

    Efforts to initially present the bill was rebuffed by Ihedioha who always refused to mention the bill when it is listed. The Rules and Business Committee also ensures that the bill comes last on the few occasions it was listed so that members never get to it at plenary.

    But Oke Epia, Chief Press Secretary to Ihedioha, said he would not speak on the issue and referred the reporter to Onyereri.

    Onyereri said the allegation is not true, adding that the new BOFIA bill, “ is the best thing that has happened to the country,” no one would be allowed to truncate it. He further stated that the bill is at the Committee of the Whole for consideration and that at that level, “no one, can stop it.”

    The committee chair, while applauding Apiafi, said the House was going through the bill and that at the end of the day, “ the country will applaud the BOFIA we will present.”

    The spokesman of the CBN,Ugochukwu Okoroafor, told The Nation that people who are insinuating that the CBN is stalling the BOFIA Amendment Act “are mischievous.”

    His words: “The bill is a public document and there are many copies flying around . People saying that CBN is trying to stall the process are mischievous. When we come to public hearing CBN makes presentations.

    “Amendment of BOFIA is not a CBN issue but what do we want as a country, is what we have different from other countries, The BOFIA is not such a big deal. What if Sanusi steps down, will the bill be stepped down?

    “The bill might send wrong message. In a country where people know that the laws can be fiddled with, it will drive away foreign investors. Why should they hid it from CBN, we proposed some bills ourselves.”

  • Budget row: Reps kick against envelope system

    Budget row: Reps kick against envelope system

    The House of Representatives has described the envelope system of the nation’s budgetary preparation as inimical to the economic and technological growth of the country.

    The lawmakers opined that laziness and lack of creativity was responsible for the continual usage of the moribund system for the preparation of the annual budget.

     In addition, the bill, sponsored by Bamidele Faparusi (ACN, Ekitii)  seeking to provide for a specific fund to support entrepreneurs wishing to commercialise research findings in the nation’s research institutions also successfully scaled reading.

    Similarly, the lawmakers supported the second reading of a bill for an Act to mandate and authorise rollover of all unspent or utilised capital expenditure of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) in financial year to the next financial year under the same head of capital expenditure.

    Speaking on the need to discard the envelope system, sponsor of the bill, Beni Lar (PDP, Plateau) said the system had been responsible for the yearly dismal performance of the nation’s budgets.

    Besides, the system is outdated as many countries have done away with it, she said, adding,  “The current procedure involves the Budget Office of the Federation giving indicative expenditure  ceilings considering the real demands in the respective sectors of the economy for which these funds are allocated”.

    Abubakar Momoh (ACN, Edo) said: “No wonder there has not been marked improvement in our yearly budgetary implementation. We need to invite experts that would fashion modern proactive system that would ensure that budget implementation translates into something positive for our people”.

  • Reps to probe banks for fake note-dispensing ATMs

    Reps to probe banks for fake note-dispensing ATMs

    The House of Representatives has resolved to look into reported cases of fake naira notes being dispensed by Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

    The lawmakers noted that the negative trend has the potential of affecting the cash-less economy policy and the economic growth of the country at large.

    Consequently, House Committee on Banking & Currency has been mandated to investigate the matter and report back to the House in three weeks.

    Mover of the motion, Tajudeen Yusuf (PDP, Kogi) noted that since the commencement of the ATM, it has impacted positively on banking operations (service deliver) and safety of customers fund.

    He, however, found it worrisome that in spite of that, there has been growing incidence of fake naira notes dispensed by the machines.

    He said: “It is disturbing that many law abiding citizens have been victims of this unfortunate, unprofessional and immoral practice, which has led to the loss of legitimate funds by Nigerians.

    “More worrisome is that in most cases, victims of the fake naira notes dispensed by ATMs, suffer neglect, anxiety and confusion, as no concrete and proactive measures are taken by commercial banks to correct these anomalies; immediately.

    “It is of great concern that the dispense of fake naira notes by the ATMs may grossly affect the operation, viability and success-rate of the recently introduced Cashless Policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    “Not that alone,  this negative trend has the potential of eroding public confidence in our banks, impede smooth banking transactions, throw-up ethical questions, slow ­down investment and affect economic growth.”

    Meanwhile, the House of Representative  Committee on Information and National Orientation has blamed the Federal Ministry of Finance for poor budgetary  allocation to Ministries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs).

    House Committee Chairman, Information and National Orientation, Honourable  Umar Buba Jubrin while on an oversight function to the National Orientation Agency, (NOA) in Abuja yesterday, said the failure of the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala to yield to the request of the legislatures caused the poor budgetary allocation to MDAs.

    Jubrin described the situation where NOA staff are not being paid their salaries adequately according to appropriation as unfortunate and unacceptable, noting that this was capable of demotivating the staff.

    He appealed to the Ministry of Finance to release appropriated funds to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies without further delay to enable the implementation of the 2013 budget as the third quarter of the year is already on course.

  • House of Reps decries rot in National Theatre

    The House of Representatives’ Committee on Culture has condemned the rot at the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

    The committee made its position known during a visit to the theatre at the weekend.

    The Ben Nwankwo led-House Committee House Committee expressed concern on the concession agreements on projects at the theatre.

    Nwankwo said: “The renovation or rehabilitation of the theatre complex craves for attention. Unfortunately, government does not have the resources to do it alone, hence the PPP arrangement. In fact, culture and tourism should play key roles in national development. The theatre, which is a cultural monument, is susceptible to encroachment. But government is desirous of developing it into an income earning project.”

    On the crisis over the relocation of some culture agencies, he called for amicably settlement.

    He asked: “Why was the National Troupe of Nigeria was sent packing from the theatre? Has the act establishing the two bodies as one management been reviewed?”

    Culture Minister Chief Edem Duke said the National Theatre project was at its conceptualisation stage and that all would be carried along, including the National Assembly.

    “We must find the will to ensure the property benefits from new investment that will grow its potentials…For us, it is a legacy thing and must pull through a transparency process,” he said.

  • Reps seek 25-year jail for illegal arms possession

    Reps seek 25-year jail for illegal arms possession

    A bill stipulating 25-years jail term for illegal possession of firearms went through the second reading in the House of Representatives yesterday.

    The bill seeks to amend the Fire arms Act, Cap F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, which prescribes a four-year jail term for offenders.

    The bill got overwhelming support from members.

    Justifying the amendment of the principal Act, the sponsor of the bill, Dakuku Peterside (PDP, Rivers), noted that the influx of illegal arms into Nigeria “constitutes a serious threat to our unity, socio-political and economic development”.

    According to him, one of the key reasons the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) gave at a recent briefing on why Boko Haram was thriving is the proliferation of illegal arms.

    Peterside said: “A 2011 small and light arms survey by the United Nations (UN) shows that about 875 million of such weapons are produced in 100 countries and are in circulation.

    “Nigeria’s share of the illegal arms in circulation was put at about eight million in 2011 and 12 million in 2012, making Nigeria the country with the highest rate of prevalence of illegal arms in Africa alongside South Africa.”

    The lawmaker said the proliferation of small and light arms has become a network affair that needs to be broken.

    He said: “Proliferation of small and light arms thrive in Nigeria because of several cells involved in the trade; importers, transporters, those who warehouse it, those who market it, those who bear it, among others, very often the law focuses on those who bear it.