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Tag: Senate

  • APC panel clears Adeleke’s brother for Senate

    APC panel clears Adeleke’s brother for Senate

    A five-man panel constituted by the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to screen aspirants for a vacant Osun West Senatorial District has disqualified Senator Mudashiru Hussein from participating in party’s primaries.

    The by-election into the vacant seat, following the death of Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke on April 23, is scheduled to hold on July 8.

    The chairman of the panel, Sanusi Rikiji, who is also Speaker of Zamfara State House of Assembly, said Hussein was disqualified because he failed to tender his registration letter as a serving commissioner within 30 days before the expression of his interest to contest for the senatorial seat.

    But younger brother to the late Osun senator, Ademola, who is the second aspirant for the vacant seat, was given a clean bill to run for the party’s primary today.

    The panel’s Secretary-General is Charles Airhiavbere.

    In a letter to Osun State Chairman of the party, Prince Gboyega Famoodun, as well as two aspirants – Hussaine and Adeleke – Rikiji and Airhiavbere said Hussein was disqualified for allegedly breaching the Electoral Act.

    Hussein was reportedly advised to approach the three-man appeal panel set up to handle complaints from the screening.

    The panel said the two candidates – Hussein and Adeleke – were screened and given the outcome of the screening according to the party’s guidelines.

    The panel also said the primary to pick the party candidate for the July 8 Osun West senatorial by-election will hold today at 8 am.

    The panel urged the aspirants to ensure that their supporters behave well during the primary.

    It reminded that aspirants with complaints should not hesitate to approach an appeal committee.

    But Osun State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice Dr Ajibola Basiru said the panel did not set a rule of engagement for its operation before the screening.

    Hussein said he had formerly resigned his position and tendered his resignation letter to the governor on June 6.

    According to him, he will contest the primary today.

  • Suspension: Why I won’t apologise- Ndume

    Suspension: Why I won’t apologise- Ndume

    Suspended former Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, has ruled out tendering unreserved apology in order for him to be recalled.

    He told reporters after an interactive session with of his constituents in Abuja on Sunday that there was no basis to ask him to apologise since he did not do any thing to warrant his suspension in the first place.
    He was handed six months suspension on March 29, 2017 over allegation that he breached Senate rules by drawing attention of the upper chamber to allegation of purchase of exotic car for the Senate President with forged customs papers and the certificate scandal against Senator Dino Melaye.
    The Senate specifically blamed him for not “conducting due diligence” before bringing the matter to the floor.
    The Borno South senator however said that though he is not averse to tendering apology where there is need to do so, there was nothing for him to apologise for.
    He insisted that he did not offend the standing rules of the Senate.
    The leadership of the upper chamber was reported last week to have asked Ndume to apologise to pave the way for his recall.
    Ndume said, “The move for apology was made but I did not do any thing to warrant an apology. I have no problem with apology but you have to apologise for something you did.
    “The issues I raised were put to rest after I raised them. The issue of importation of car was put to rest. The certificate issue was also put to rest. It was because I raised the issues. Perhaps if I did not raise them, the issues may have lingered.
    “I did not do any thing so there is no basis for me to tender any apology.”
    Ndume also said that the resolution to investigate the issues was not his but a Senate resolution.
    He added, “The whole thing will come and go. It will pass away. It is part of the challenge a politician go through. My challenge in the Senate now is temporary. It should not stop me from do what have been doing for my constituents. It is very temporary.
    “I take my suspension in good faith. It will pass away. I am lucky to be in the Senate. Right now I am going through industrial attachment because one day I will leave the Senate. I don’t expect to die in the Senate.”
    Ndume also appealed to the Federal Government not to yield to the pressure to evict Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from their Area One Camp in Abuja.
    He said that he would take up the planned eviction of IDPs from their Area One Camp with the Minister of Internal Affairs to stop the plan.
    He said that IDPs are not sent packing without providing them a place of abode.
    Ndume who said that they have 12 IDP camps scattered in Abuja, asked the government to take up the issue of security at the camps especially at the Area One Camp.

  • Senate passed 96 bills, 72 petitions from 2015 – 2017, says Saraki

    Senate passed 96 bills, 72 petitions from 2015 – 2017, says Saraki

    President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said the 8th Senate passed 96 Bills and 72 petitions from its inauguration in 2015 to June, 2017.

    He made this known at a special session to mark the second anniversary of the 8th Senate in Abuja on Friday.

    Saraki said that the passage of the bills and petitions by the chamber during the period eclipsed the highest ever in the history of the National Assembly.

    He said that the closest record to it was by the 5th Senate which passed 65 bills and six petitions within the same period.

    “When we started, I knew that the 8th Senate was going to be significantly different and effective.

    “I saw across the aisle, a passionate, energetic, and a set of leaders made of sterner stuff with a desire to make the difference.

    “Though we inherited a legacy that created in some minds, cynicism and despondency, we were undeterred irrespective of an unending barrage of virulent attacks and unprovoked aggression.

    “The 8th Senate marched on together, erasing records and setting new ones.

    According to Saraki, the 8th Senate has led with courage and taken up more hot-button- national and legislative issues and successfully dealt with them.

    “We committed ourselves to greater openness and accountability and many doubted our capacity to do as we preach.

    “But, we have led from the frontline on the war against corruption, having passed several corruption-exposing resolutions that have saved our government billions of naira cumulatively.

    “Today, in keeping with our pledge, the National Assembly has opened its line-by-line itemed-budget to the world, first in the history of the National Assembly.”

    He congratulated the lawmakers for putting in the shift to ensure they realized the milestones.

    “Indeed, there have been many more. We have taken on the toughest Bills and challenges affecting our unity, the welfare and security of our people and the necessary platform for a greater Nigerian economy.

    “From the Nigerian Railway Bill, the Public Procurement Act Amendment, the Nigerian Ports & Harbour Bill, the National Road Funds Bill to the National Transport Commission Bill, the National Inland Waterways Bill and the Federal Roads Bill.

    “Others are the Competition and Consumer Protection Bill, the Investment & Securities Act Amendment, the Companies and Allied Matters Act Amendment, the Secure Transactions in Movable Assets Bill and the Independent Warehouse Regulatory Bill.

    “They also include the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act (Repeal & RE-enactment) Bill, the Electronic Transactions Bill and the Nigerian Postal Commission Bill.

    “All of these and many more have been the highest compendium of economic reforms ever undertaken by any administration in the history of our country.

    “We are taking it one after the other. We are laying the foundation for a new Nigerian economy to emerge, one that is empowering the private sector,” he said.

    On the issue of opening the lawmaking process, the senate boss said that the lawmakers had not been afraid to push the boundaries of convention.

    According to him, that is why the 8th Senate can be credited to have initiated the first-ever National Assembly Joint Public Hearing on the Budget.

    He also said that the 8th Senate broke the 12-year jinx on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by passing the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) that would reform the oil sector.

  • Senate committee expresses reservation over proposed transportation university

    Senate committee expresses reservation over proposed transportation university

    The Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts on Thursday in Abuja expressed reservation over the plan by the Chinese Government to establish a university of transportation  for Nigeria.

    The committee members made their position known during discussions on the omission of the Eastern rail corridor  in the 2016-2018 external borrowing  plan.

    Sen. Philip Gyunka, the Vice-Chairman of the committee, said instead of building new universities, the faculties of engineering in existing institutions could be upgraded to perform in various transport capacities.

    “Rather than establishing a new university, why not look at the competences that exist in our existing structures and build them up?,

    “We have enough universities already. It is better we look at quality and not quantity adding to the rate of unemployed graduates,“  Gyunka said.

    He said that the Maritime Academy, Oron, Cross River,  could  serve the same purpose for training Nigerians on special transport fields.

    Sen. Enyinaya Abaribe said instead of building a new university just to train Nigerians on rail maintenance, they could be sent abroad for training.

    He said that the Chinese Government could not be building a transport university free as they were not philanthropists.

    “Nigeria railways have been in existence for so many years and was run without building a new university, we want you to look at this matter again.

    “The reason that we have engineering departments and faculties in universities is so that if you have funding you can take them abroad. Why won’t you upgrade them?

    “Why must we set up another brand new university? It doesn’t in any way enhance people.

    “What is the Nigeria Railway Corporation doing?

    “We have good engineering students in Lagos, in Zaria that can be trained, the Chinese Government are not doing us any favour, the university cannot be free and they are not Father Christmas,“ Abaribe said.

    However, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, said that there was no issue if the committee  wanted the idea of the university of transportation  dropped.

    Amaechi said that the Chinese Government had agreed to build the university free to train Nigerians that would continue to run the rail lines.

    “You will agree with me that the quality of education is very low and we are not spending anything to establish this university.

    “It is the contractor and the Chinese Government that will establish this university.

    “They will import the teachers, who will teach and grow knowledge, the graduates of that school will become teachers.

    “This university is not a university for engineering alone, it is a university of transportation that will deal with railway transportation, aviation and maritime, we are looking at two universities, it will be a specialised university.“

    He said that the Chinese Government would train  Nigerians free before handing over the rail projects.

  • A Senate with many firsts

    Today is the second anniversary of the Eighth Senate. The senators have agreed to simply mark the day with a special session devoted to reviewing their activities in order to talk about what and what have been achieved as well as areas that require improvements.

    However, viewed from several perspectives, the last two years in the Red Chamber of the federal legislature had been filled with events and successes. It is true that this Senate resumed as a divided house over the issue of election of its leadership. There was a clash between the preference of the senators for independence in the choice who leads them and the insistence by certain leaders of the party with the majority, All Progressives Congress (APC), to impose their wish on the newly inaugurated lawmakers.

    As the facts today show, the senators prevailed. This however exposed the lawmakers to mischief and sabotage by those who decided to ensure that if the senators refused to be controlled from outside, then they would have to face public odium arising from manipulation from outside. This explains the ceaseless attack and campaign of calumny consistently waged against the institution by those who specialize in manipulating public opinions and putting spins on issues, events and occurrences around the Senate and the senators.

    Today, the Senate has risen from the ashes of the division that plagued it in the early days. It is now very stable, united and focused on its agenda to build a strong economy through using the instrumentality of law-making to create a working partnership between the public and private sectors. Thanks to the leadership acumen, foresight and resilience of Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the Senate President.

    The Eighth Senate has set itself apart with many innovations that it has brought to the business of law-making. First, in the consideration of the 2016 budget, the Senate introduced the concept of public hearing as part of the process. What this means is that the budget process is further democratized and many people from the professions, the civil society groups, the private sectors, youth groups and the rest have a say in the making of the budget.

    Again, the 2017 budget was the first time the report of the Appropriation Bill was passed on the floor with the full details made available. The details enabled the executive and interested members of the public to have a holistic view of the budget with the necessary details to make informed analysis, review and comments.

    This present Senate, in further revolutionizing the budgeting process, has passed a law establishing the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) which is to provide technical support, sustained specialized services and necessary research materials that would aid the legislators in the preparation of the budget.

    The current National Assembly in demonstrating its transparency, openness and accountability acceded to popular request in making public details of its own budget. It was the first time in about a decade that the National Assembly will provide a 34-page detail on its budget instead of the one line item that members of the public had been presented with over the years.

    Another innovation of the Eighth National Assembly is the establishment of the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER) which is now a clearing house for getting the private sector to take part in the conception, formulation and enactment of laws aimed at achieving comprehensive reform of the national economy and bringing it in line with international best practices.

    The partnership created by NASSBER has helped the Senate to identify 56 laws which are said to be essential for reforming the economy. Thirteen of the laws are categorized as high priority laws.  As at today, seven of the high priority law have been successfully passed. The remaining six are in the process of being passed while several others in the medium and low priority bills have equally being passed. These are among the 92 bills already passed as at the time of putting together this piece.

    One of such successfully passed laws is the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) which has suffered defeats for the past 12 years in the federal legislature. The Eighth Senate has broken the jinx. The now successfully passed PIGB will be a precursor to two other key bills dealing with host community and fiscal issues. These proposed laws will revolutionize the oil sector in Nigeria, create efficiency, attract global players to invest in the sector, generate more money for the federal government and create massive employment, among several other benefits to the nation and her citizens.

    Also, working on the NASSBER template, the Senate has successfully amended the Nigerian Railway Act, the first time in 62 years. The new law will allow private sector participation in ownership, management and investment in the sector. This is expected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, uplift the transportation sector, and revive the hitherto agro-based economy in our rural areas. By the time the National Road Fund Bill, Federal Road Authority Bill and other proposed laws in the sector now in the final stages of their passage successfully become laws, the combined effect will raise the level of investment in national infrastructure, generate more jobs and improve the general standard of living of the people.

    Also, this Senate has successfully amended the Customs Act, the first time that is being done in 35 years. The amendment has been hailed by several international organizations as it incorporated the Kiyoto Agreement adopted by in many countries across the globe and seeks to modernize the operation of the revenue generation department.

    In the same vein, the present Senate is the first to successfully amend the Electoral Act introducing key reforms like the use of card reader and electronic collation of results, all coming two years before the General Election. The tradition in the past is to amend the law governing elections few months to the polls and at a time when all interested parties focus on how the law could help their electoral fortunes. By amending the law when there was no election, the amendment was informed by non-partisan and patriotic considerations.

    The plan is to follow up the amendment of the Electoral Act with making the desired changes in the constitution at a sane time when all issues could be viewed from the prism of national interest, rather than parochial personal interest.

    This Eighth Senate is the first since 1999 to consider and conclude work on as many public petitions as 72 in an entire tenure. The 72 petitions were concluded in two years. It should be noted that the petitions are from Nigerians who have been short-changed in their dealings with government agencies and who prefer that the Senate helps them to seek redress rather than going to court.

    The Committee on Public Petitions in serving as an ombudsman, arbitrator and mediator has helped to restore the jobs of those whose appointments were unjustly terminated or secure the necessary payments to those whose entitlements are denied.

    As the Senate begins its third and penultimate year, it is believed that the members will not slow down the momentum and will move on to continue to make its work relevant to ordinary Nigerians by working for the improvement of their standard of living.

     

    • Olaniyonu is Special Adviser to Senate President.

  • Senate passes Witness Protection Bill

    The Senate has passed the Witness Protection Bill to enable persons receive protection in relation to information and evidence rendered to law enforcement agencies during investigation.

    The bill, sponsored by late SenateIsiakaAdeleke (APC-Osun), was passed after consideration of report on it by the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters at plenary.

    Presenting the report, committee chairman Senator David Umaru, said the practice that informed the bill was universally accepted.

    According to him, it is for the protection of witnesses willing to provide information and evidence for the purpose of enhancing a justice system and whose lives may be threatened as a result of it.

    “The legislation will give impetus and credence to the current anti-corruption drive of this administration. It will also restore confidence in our justice system,” he said.

    During the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, SenatorKabiruMarafa (APC-Zamfara) said: “I don’t think N100,000 is equivalent to five years imprisonment as penalty for offenders.

    “We need to increase the fine, because any person that is given such an option of fine will quickly pay the money.  It should be increased to N1, 000,000.’’

    Responding to Marafa’s suggestion, Umaru said: “Whatever we think is most appropriate should be done”.

    Deputy President of the Senate Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the session, said: “We are committed to the enhancement of our judicial process.

    “Those in the judiciary will have it easy in securing witnesses who are now sure of protection.”

  • Senate proposes two-year jail term for false witnesses

    Senate proposes two-year jail term for false witnesses

    If the Senate had its way, false witnesses will be liable to two years in prison, courtesy of the Witness Protection Bill which scaled a third reading on Thursday.

    The bill seeks to enable certain persons receive protection in relation to certain information, evidence or other assistance rendered to law enforcement agencies during enquiries, investigation or prosecution.

    However, the other side of the bill seeks punishment for anyone witness giving false testimony under the cover of the bill, or pulling out of an ongoing case for no justifiable reason.

    But there is an option of N500, 000 fine in lieu of the two-year jail term for an offending witness.

    Incidentally, the bill was a brainchild of the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke (Osun West) who died in May.

    Senator David Umaru who anchored the bill on behalf of Adeleke said the witness protection programme contained in the bill is a universally accepted concept for the protection of witnesses who are willing to provide information and evidence for the purpose of enhancing the justice system but whose lives may be threatened.

    Umaru added that the bill seeks to address a major lacuna in Nigeria’s justice system as there are no extant laws in place to protect witnesses that may volunteer to give testimony to advance the cause of Justice.

    “It is to give impetus to the current anti-corruption drive of this administration. No doubt it would restore confidence to our justice system.

    “It also seek to provide an enabling environment to effect government policies that enhance the administration of criminal justice and the fight against corruption and assist unravel criminal activities which has constituted major challenges in corporate existence”, Umaru said.

    Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremedu who presided over plenary, commended the late Adeleke for initiating the bill.

    “This is one of our contributions to the judicial process. I believe that going forward, those in the judiciary, especially those in the prosecution process will have it easy securing witnesses when they are sure of protection”, Ekweremadu said.

  • Senate steps down bill proposing fuel levy

    Senate steps down bill proposing fuel levy

    The Senate on Thursday suspended consideration of the report on the National Roads Fund Establishment Bill, which proposed multiple taxes, including a N5 levy on every litre of petrol and diesel imported or refined in the country.

    The Senate Committee on Works had on June 1 recommended the fuel levy to help finance the proposed National Roads Fund.

    The Kabiru Gaya -led committee also recommended the deduction of 0.5 per cent on fares paid by passengers travelling on inter-state roads to commercial mass transit operators and return of toll gates on federal roads, among others.

    The upper legislative chamber, during Thursday’s plenary, mandated the committee to make further consultation on the matter.

    Details later…

  • CBN spent N1.23tr intervention fund illegally, says Senate

    CBN spent N1.23tr intervention fund illegally, says Senate

    Senate yesterday took steps to curb alleged recklessness of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on use of intervention funds.

    The upper chamber frowned at alleged expenditure of N1.23trillion by the apex bank in 2015 without recourse to law.

    The amount, the lawmakers said, far exceeds five per cent of CBN total revenue in 2014 as provided for in Section 38 of its Act.

    This is contained in a bill sponsored by Senator Rose Oko (Cross River North) and passed for second reading yesterday.

    Senator Oko in her lead debate on the Bill entitled:  “A Bill for an Act to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 to ensure transparency and accountability in the operation of the bank and subject intervention advances to the approval of National Assembly,” lamented that there is no mechanism in place to monitor and track the CBN intervention funds over the years.

    She accused the apex bank of contravening relevant provisions of the constitution and the Fiscal Responsibility Act through extra-budgetary intervention to selected bodies, institutions and agencies under the guise of intervention funds.

    She added that lack of proper tracking of CBN intervention funds has made it difficult for the lawmakers to properly oversee the agency.

    According to her, many countries across the globe such as Ghana, Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa , United States of America and others, have windows for such interventions in their economy just as the CBN programme but carried them out in line with relevant laws regulating them and through legislative approval.

    She submitted that aside the N1.23trillion spent by CBN in 2015 as intervention funds far exceeding the totality of five per cent of its revenue in 2014, it almost equal the N1.8trillion voted as capital expenditure for the 2016 budget.

    “The need to bring the CBN Act 2007 in line with provisions of Nigerian constitution by subjecting it to National Assembly scrutiny and approval has become imperative,” she said.

    She listed some of the intervention funds given out by CBN without National Assembly approval in recent time to include “ the N620 billion bailout for five banks, namely Afribank Plc, intercontinental Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria, Oceanic Bank and Finbank Plc, varrious donations to tertiary institution running into several billions; the N300 billion bailout to states drawn from $2.1 billion NLNG’s taxes and dividends to pay salaries.

  • Senate to investigate illegal Sahara migration

    Senate to investigate illegal Sahara migration

    The Senate on Wednesday mandated its committees on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora to investigate causes of rising migration across the Sahara and Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

    It charged the committees to proffer solutions to the problem.

    The upper chamber also called on the Federal Government to strengthen the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Nigerian Immigration Services to take measures to prevent trafficking in persons.

    This followed a motion by the Deputy Chief Whip, Sen. Francis Alimikhena, entitled “Trans-Sahara-Europe Crisis’’.

    In the motion, Alimikhena said that migration by Nigerians and other Africans through illegal routes across the Sahara and Mediterranean had resulted in colossal loss of lives over the years.

    He said that Nigerians often embarked on illegal and irregular migration by finding their route through Libya, Morocco and Algeria.

    “The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) report of 2016 revealed that more than 5,070 people were estimated to have died on migratory routes around the world.

    “The Mediterranean alone recorded 3,870 casualties out of which 2,000 were from the Central Mediterranean.

    “In view of the fact that many Nigerians are involved in irregular migration, the IOM made Nigeria and Iraq a case study in one of their researches, the result of which was mind-boggling in addition to the tragic losses of life.

    “Also, a substantial number of victims are not recovered and even those recovered are buried with at best, a number and not a name.

    “It is important to emphasise here that each unidentified migrant represents a missing person for a family that lives in perpetual grief without certainty of the whereabouts of their loved ones.

    “This phenomenon is aggravated by the activities of unrepentant human traffickers who deceive unsuspecting Nigerians with promises of leading them to greener pastures only to sell them as sex slaves.

    “At times, they even harvest their body organs for money,’’ he said.

    The lawmaker called for reverse of the trend and the inhuman treatment suffered by Nigerian migrant in the hands of Immigration officials in neighbouring countries.

    In his contribution, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, commended the sponsor of the motion.

    He said that it was important to use the parliament as a platform to let the youth to know that there was no job available in Europe for them, stressing that the future of the youth lay in Africa.

    However, Ekweremadu charged leaders to take up the responsibility of providing enabling environment for the youth to grow.

    “As leaders, we owe them the responsibility to provide for them not only for today but for tomorrow. It is our responsibility to be creative enough to provide job opportunities for our people.

    “ Emphasis is being placed on agriculture. Yes, it is good but commercial agriculture has made it impossible for few people to feed the nation and so that cannot take care of all the youths that are unemployed.

    “We must make conscious effort with the private sector to provide factories and industries all over Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

    “We also need to lay emphasis on ICT to discourage them from taking this risk to migrate to Europe because they are our greatest assets,’’ he said.

    Sen. Shehu Sani (APC-Kaduna), while supporting the motion, said that it was a dangerous trend that had led to human trafficking, terrorism and drug trafficking.

    He said, “Trans-Sahara-Europe migration is a reality, a reality that has affected nations in the sub-region and in the East African sub-region.

    “According to statistics from International Organisation for Immigration, over 4,500 Africans drown in the Mediterranean Sea in their attempt to cross to the Europe. This is alarming.

    “It is a moral duty for us as nation and as a parliament to intervene to see that our young ones stop crossing the Sahara to Libya and Algeria in an attempt to reach Italy.

    “It is of note that just last week about 40 West Africans mainly from Ghana and Nigeria were buried along the Sahara and we can’t fold our arms.’’

    Ekweremadu called for institutional framework and multi-national joint task force to tackle the menace.

    In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said that the legislature had the moral responsibility to intervene in the matter.

    “I read just last week that we lost some Nigerians. Every time you travel to European countries and meet with their officials, the major concern is this issue of migration.

    “So I think we ought to work on multilateral agreement to address this problem,’’ he said.