The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Reps

  • Reps okay emergency rule

    Reps okay emergency rule

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday declared its support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s proclamation of emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.

    The lawmakers, however, barred the president from utilizing funds of the affected states the way he deemed necessary.

    At the end of lengthy closed-door session where the emergency powers bill sent to the National Assembly was discussed, the House approved the state of emergency declared by the president, but with extensive modification which was designed to focus the president’s mind on security.

     

     

  • Tax remittance: Bank chiefs snub Reps’ panel

    Tax remittance: Bank chiefs snub Reps’ panel

    Investigation into remittance of tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance got underway on Monday with no bank chief executive officer in attendance.

    The committee is probing banks’ tax returns between 2008 and 2012 as well as level of compliance with collected tax remittances to the Federal government within the same period.

    Though 12 of the 21 banks under investigation sent representatives, all the bank CEOs were asked to present themselves before the committee on Wednesday or risk being forced to face the panel.

    However nine bank CEOs were specifically warned against being forced to appear before the committee on Wednesday with warrant of arrest.

    The affected banks are Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Skye Bank, Heritage Bank, FCMB, Ecobank and Enterprise Bank.

    Furthermore, the committee stressed that it will not entertain official lower than the rank of Executive Director should the CEO fail to make the meeting.

    In his opening remarks, Chairman of the Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, warned that the investigation should not be viewed as attempt by the committee to overstep its boundary.

    “We are here today in line with the oversight mandate of the committee on the FIRS and tax matters. Our vision is to strengthen the FIRS and optimize the potentials of our tax system.

    “All over the world, banks are under tight scrutiny by the parliament because of their strategic role in the economy and of course tax matters and treated with utmost importance,” Jubrin said.

     

     

  • Reps urge Ministry, Ecological Office to intervene in N1.1b failed erosion contract

    The Uche Ekwunife House Committee on Environment has urged the Ministry of Environment and the Ecological Fund Office to ensure an urgent intervention in a failed erosion contract in Anambra State.

    The Namka landslide contract was awarded to Messrs Rhino Maritime Setvices and Construction Ltd in November 2011 at a cost of N1.1 billion with a contract duration of 12 months.

    But petitions from the Namka and Oko communities accusing the contractor of a shabby work caused the House Committee to summon the Minister of Environment and the Ecological Funds Office.

    Speaking during a session at the National Assembly, the Chairperson of the committee, Uche Ekwunife, said the Namka landslide is a major national issue, which has been on the spotlight due to its extent of devastation, threat to lives and property.

    The Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafa, told the committee that although she signed the approval for the contract because it met the contract “already packaged” on her assumption of office, she later doubted the capacity of the contractor to deliver on the project when she visited the site in Anambra State.

    The minister expressed appreciation about the enormity of the problem, saying Namka is a catch 22 issue.

    “I visited the site, was not satisfied with what I saw and questioned the competence of the contractor. As I speak, I am not convinced that the contractor is competent.”

    The Chairman of Namka Erosion Control Committee, Chief Demian Okeko Ogene, said the community believed that the design of the project was defective.

    “A lot of bureaucracy is also hampering the project, otherwise they would have gone far in the dry season. It would be a waste of time for them to continue with what they are doing now because it will not be effective,” he added.

    According to him, the project consultant is never on site and the contractors are considering shutting down the project “because we are now in the rainy season.”

    Chief Handel Okoli, who spoke for the Oko community, also corroborated the position of his counterpart, saying that there was need for an urgent intervention before the beginning of the rainy season.

    Trevor Jewitt, the Manager of Messrs Rhino Maritime Services and Construction Ltd, defended himself, saying the company was working within the scope of its contract when the Oko side of the gully caved it and affected the construction already done.

  • Reps pass N260b FCT budget

    Reps pass N260b FCT budget

    The House of Representatives yesterday passed the N259,649,520,705 as the statutory revenue for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for this year’s fiscal year.

    The bill was unanimously adopted after a debate at the Committee of Supply level, chaired by Speaker Aminu Tambuwal.

    The amount is in addition to the N253billion approved by the National Assembly last December as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) expenditure portfolio in this year’s national budget.

    Deputy Chairman, House Committee on FCT, Raphael Igbokwue (PDP, Imo), who led the debate on the Bill, said the committee took its time to examine every aspect of the bill after it scaled the second reading in April.

    The capital component of the budget gulped 60 per cent, which amounts to N160,467,449,402.

    Igbokwue also informed the House that 18.5 per cent and 21.5 per cent of the budget were allocated to Personnel and Overhead costs.

    Though questions were raised on the N522million allocated to the FCT Urban Affairs, N4.3 billion for Public Buildings as well as N52.9 billion for Engineering, Igbokwe explained that precautions were taken at the committee level to block leakage of funds.

  • Senate, Reps back action

    Senate, Reps back action

    The National Assembly last night endorsed the emergency declaration in three states.

    The Senate is ready to stamp the Presidential action, its spokesman Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe said yesterday.

    According to him, the lawmakers will not hesistate to approve the request when it is presented.

    The House of Representatives gave a conditional support.

    House spokesman Zakari Mohammed giving the official position of the House said: “As long as it will guarantee peace and security. if you recall, our motions and bulls have always show concern for the state of security in the country.

    “All our activities if taken in the right direction, were geared towards making the situation better and if taken earlier would have corrected some of this anomalies long before now, but its better late than never.

    “We invited the President on the issue sometime last year and the Senate also invited Service Chief, on the same issue.

    “So, as long as it will bring peace and security, the House of Representatives has no problems with that”.

    The chairman, House Committee on Justice Ali Ahmed said: “The security situation of this country should be of paramount concern to everyone and in my view the country is in clear danger of breakdown of law and order.”

    Lawyers yesterday expressed mixed reactions to the declaration of state of emergency.

    Niyi Akintola, Yusuf Ali, (SAN) Joseph Nwobike (SAN) and Sebatine Hon (SAN) gave different views yesterday. They were however unanimous that the President was right in not sacking elected officials and dismantling democratic institutions.

    They described the practice under former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an aberration.

    Akintola dismissed the measure adopted as being inadequate to curb the rising wave of insecurity in the country.

    “Certainly not. I have my doubt whether the measure will not aggravate the current security situation,” Akintola said.

    He however agreed that by not sacking elected officials in the affected states, the President was within the law.

    He frowned at the tactic adopted by the President, and argued that President Jonathan ought to first seek the approval of the National Assembly.

    “What he has done is in anticipation of the National Assembly’s approval. Of course, he has no power to sack any governor or dissolve the State Assembly without the consent of the Federal Legislature.

    It is a sign of impunity,” Akintola said.

    Ali argued that the President was in order in not sacking elected officials of the affected states. He contended that it would have amounted to punishing the wrong people for the failure of security institutions, over which the President alone has control.

    “What happened under President Obasanjo was an aberration. It was wrong to have sacked governors who were not directly found to be the cause of the crisis.

     

  • Reps order NNPC to refund N326b

    Reps order NNPC to refund N326b

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been ordered to refund N326 billion to the coffers of the Federal Government within one month.

    The House of Representatives Committee on Public Account , headed by Solomon Adeola, gave the order following NNPC’s inability to satisfactorily defend a query from the Auditor-General of the Federation before the Committee.

    Adeola said the committee took the decision because NNPC refused to provide necessary documents to defend itself.

    He added that while investigating other agencies, such as the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), they discovered that NNPC had the funds.

    The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, was meant to appear before the committee.

    Also, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the PPPRA, the Accountant-General of the Federation were said to have appeared over the Auditor –General’s query on the fuel subsidy regime.

    At the session yesterday, the committee refused enteries from the General Manager, Process and Procedures, Abdullahi Kalami who represented the Corporation’s Executive Director Finance and Accounts, Bernard Otti.

    The committee has, however, cleared the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of the N2.8billion query it allegedly used to renovate the old complex in Port Harcourt.

    The Deputy Governor (Corporate Services), Suleiman Barau, who made the clarification, supported his claims with documents, including photographs reflecting the old site and the new building.

    The committee said it would still visit the Port Harcourt site to verify the claims of the Apex Bank.

    The committee, however, queried the sale of the official residence of the CBN Governor in Abuja for N160million to a private company.

    The committee said it would investigate the transaction to unearth the owner of the benefiting company.

     

  • Reps summon JAMB chief over mass failure

    JOINT Admission and Matriculation Examination (JAMB) Registrar Prof. Dibu Ojerinde is to appear before the House of Representatives over mass failure of candidates in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    He is to tell the House what accounted for the woeful performance of candidates at the examination.

    Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Aminu Suleiman (PDP, Kano) said Ojerinde’s invitation came as a result of the barrage of complaints that flooded the Committee from across the country.

    He said: “We heard that JAMB authorities had formally explained some reasons for the mass failure, this is not enough if the content of the complaints of Nigerians is anything to go by.

    “One of the complaints was that concerning the usage of computer for the exam that most of them have never had contact with computer before or that they only learnt the theory without the practical usage of computers.

    “It can be recalled that the House passed a resolution asking JAMB not to use computer for the 2013 exams and they said they would make it optional; but there were still complaints by Nigerians that some students filled the manual or paper option only to find themselves being asked to write the exams using computers”.

    Suleiman, who said the introduction of computers for the examinations may have accounted for the mass failure, noted that most students, especially those in the rural areas, are not computer-literate enough.

    “The Committee has no option than to act accordingly to work towards finding lasting solutions to the perennial failures of Nigerian students,” he said.

  • Reps investigate police occupation of Rivers Assembly

    Reps investigate police occupation of Rivers Assembly

    Order IGP to remove ‘his men’ from complex

    The House of Representatives has urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Abubakar Mohammed, to, as a matter of urgency, withdraw his men from the premises of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

    The lawmakers have also directed House Committee on Police Affairs, Human Rights and Justice to conduct a thorough investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the display of anti-democratic tendencies by the Nigeria Police within two weeks.

    The federal lawmakers also steered clear of legal controversies associated with the suspension of the chairman, deputy chairman and 17 Councillor of Obio/Akpor Local Government by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

    The withdrawal order from other places so occupied by police in the state as well, according to the lawmakers was to ensure unhindered and unencumbered access for those whose responsibility it is to use those facilities to work for the good of the people of River State.

    The decision of the lawmakers followed the adoption of a matter of urgent national importance by Sekonte Davies (PDP, Rivers) who, regretted that the Rivers State Police Command has resorted to intimidation of the state House of Assembly by occupying the complex.

    According to him, the occupation has caused the legislators to adjourn sine die (indefinitely) due to reports that trouble would be fomented at the Assembly complex which will afford the police a reason to cause commotion in a bid to declare a state of emergency.

    Saying that there was no time that the state’s Commissioner of Police informed Governor Rotimi Amaechi of the need to deploy such heavily armed police contingent being the Chief Security officer of the state, Davies said the deployment was capable of sending wrong signals of political and social instability to the people of the state, Nigerians and foreigners alike.

    The motion was unanimously supported when it was put to voice vote by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.

     

  • Reps to probe NIMASA over N40b vessel fund

    Reps to probe NIMASA over N40b vessel fund

    The House of Representatives is set to probe the handling of the N40billion Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF ) by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Security Agency ( NIMASA).

    The investigation was prompted by the discovery that the fund has been trapped in some designated banks.

    Following the adoption of the motion raised by Hassan Saleh (PDP, Benue), the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, constituted an ad hoc Committee that would also determine the total amount that had been generated under the fund since inception.

    The Committee that was given four weeks to turn in its report, was also requested to ascertain the banks warehousing the funds and their level of participation in the scheme.

    The fund was established by the Cabotage Act, 2003, to promote the development of indigenous ship acquisition capacity by providing financial assistance to Nigerian operators in domestic coastal shipping.

    Saleh, regretted that rather than stimulate Nigeria’s maritime growth through participation of indigenous ship owners in maritime transport, the fund has remained inaccessible to Nigerian maritime investors.

    Besides, more than N40billion is allegedly trapped in designated commercial banks, a development that has defeated the purpose of establishing the fund, he noted.

    “The actions of the banks and NIMASA have defeated the laudable objectives of the fund. If the maritime sector was fully developed, it had the potentials to generate much revenue as the oil sector.

    “More than 90 per cent of the country’s international trade was being carried out on the sea. Only 20 active Nigerian registered vessels were handling the country’s external trade, while the remaining percentages are owned by foreigners,” he added.

    Kingsley Chinda ( PDP, Rivers ) said the motion has exposed the fact that Nigeria has weak institutions, which are responsible for the problems we have in implementing statutes and policies.

    “But if passed, the maritime sector would be taken over by Nigerians,” he said.

    Friday Itulah ( PDP, Edo ), noted that Nigerians’ participation in the cabotage industry was not satisfactory, adding that there was a need for Nigerians to look inward to develop the economy.

    According to Patrick Ikhari ( PDP, Edo), if the economic sector was well managed, the management of other sectors would not pose any problem.

    Meanwhile, the House of Representatives was divided yesterday over how to protect Nigerians from foreign incursion and takeover of petty and retail trading in the country.

    While some felt that foreigners should be prevented from petty trading and retail business through the instruments of law, others opined that making it a law would be counter-productive as retaliatory action from other countries should be expected.

    The bill for an Act to Amend the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, sponsored by Saviour Udoh (PDP, Akwa Ibom) generated heated argument on the floor but the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal had to intervene before it scaled second reading.

    The Speaker, after an exhaustive debate prevailed on his colleagues saying Nigerians should rather be given the opportunity to decide what they prefer out of the available.

    Opponents of the bill that included Nnenna Ukeje (PDP, Abia) said cation must be exercised because, Nigerians being migratory in nature that are all over the world should be taken into consideration.

    She said: “The backlash of reciprocity should be considered because we have Nigerians in other countries of the world. Should Nigeria shut her borders against foreign investment, what happens to our unemployed youths that we hope get engaged through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)?”

  • Reps urge IGP to probe Kuku, Dokubo’s statements

    Reps urge IGP to probe Kuku, Dokubo’s statements

    The House of Representatives yesterday urged Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar to investigate the Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, Mr Kinsley Kuku, as well as former militant leader Alhaji Mujahideen Asari-Dokubo, for allegedly making statements that may cause disaffection amongst Nigerians.

    The resolution of the House followed the adoption of the prayers of a motion by a member, Ali Sani Madaki (PDP, Kano), on the urgent need to check the utterances of some Nigerians.

    The Niger Delta men’s statements were on the 2015 presidential elections.

    Kuku, at an event in the United States, reportedly declared that there would be chaos in Nigeria, if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-elected in 2015.

    Asari-Dokubo, at the weekend, reportedly said Nigeria should get ready for a war, if the President is not re-elected for another term.

    The House condemned the statements “in the strongest term” and mandated its Committee on Public Safety and National Security to liaise with the IGP. It urged the committee to keep the House abreast of any development on the matter.

    Madaki regretted that “while Nigerians are fervently praying for peace, some others are out sowing a seed of discord”.

    The lawmaker warned that if the type of inflammatory statements credited to Kuku and Dokubo are not checked, they are “capable of creating disunity and disaffection among the good people of Nigeria”.