The Senate on Tuesday rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to borrow the sum of $29.9 billion.
Details later…
Tag: Senate
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Senate, PSC resolve dispute over recruitment of 10,000 police
The suspended recruitment of 10,000 personnel into the police force would soon commence, Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, said Monday.
The targeted recruitment was put on hold following disagreement between the Senate and the Police Service Commission (PSC) over the modus operandi of the recruitment.
The upper chamber had in a letter some weeks ago requested the PSC to suspend the exercise over alleged irregularity in the criteria adopted for the recruitment.
Findings showed that the Senate suggested that the recruitment should be carried on local government basis.
The PSC, on the other hand, wanted the exercise to be conducted on the basis of equality of states.
Senator Ibrahim however told reporters yesterday that the disagreement has been resolved.
He said, “We have resolved the issue and the recruitment would be done on local government basis. Very soon the exercise will resume once again.”
The lawmaker also said that those to be recruited would form the foundation for the commencement of community policing in the country.
He explained that nine personnel would be recruited per local government area.
Those recruited, he said, would be used to form a unit for community policing in all the 774 local government areas of the country.
Senator Ibrahim noted that it is expected that in the next three years, 30 police personnel would have been recruited per local government for the community policing initiative.
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More knocks for Senate on CCB/CCT Act amendment
The Senate received more knocks at the weekend for last week’s amendment to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Acts.
Many Nigerians reacted angrily to the concurrence of the Senate with the House of Representatives to take the powers over the CCB away from the President to the lawmakers.
Yesterday, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and Jigawa North Senator Abdullahi Abubakar joined the fray.
The TUC accused the lawmakers of making frantic efforts to sabotage the ongoing fight against corruption by attempting to take over the controlling power of the CCB and the CCT from the President.
In a statement, the Congress said lawmakers had consistently shown Nigerians that they were not ready to perform the function for which they were elected.
The statement signed by National President Bobboi Bala Kaigama and Acting General Secretary Simeso Amachree, said the interest of the senators is not to enhance the anti-corruption fight, but to shield themselves from prosecution when they engage in acts of misconduct.
The statement reads: “The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria condemns the plot by some members of the Senate to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act to their own advantage. By this, they would now take over the controlling powers of the bureau and the tribunal from the President, to shield themselves from prosecution when they engage in acts of misconduct.
“The mission and vision of the 8th National Assembly is becoming clearer by the day, as they have abandoned pressing issues for parochial and self-serving ones.
“It is our belief that if the people in authority do the right thing, there would be no need trying to circumvent statutory laws and acts. For us at congress, allowing the President to maintain his power of appointment into the CCB only is not enough if the war against corruption must be won.
“In the last one and half years the lawmakers have given the country cause to worry, to say the least. They are paid humongous wages and allowances with the tax payers’ money for doing nothing, even at a time the wages of an average worker can barely take him or her home.
“We salute the courage of the Appeal Court on its declaration on the case involving the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on charges of false assets declaration brought against him by the federal government.
The CNPP also called on well-meaning Nigerians and civil society groups, including the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), to mount pressure on Buhari to withhold his assent to the said amendment.
The umbrella body of all the registered political parties and associations, in a statement yesterday by its Secretary General Chief Willy Ezugwu, noted that the CNPP’s decision was taken after a careful study of the amendment and the circumstances surrounding the controversial move.
“We are taken aback that just months after it initially suspended the move to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Act, the National Assembly subtly passed the amendment Bill.
“When the plan by the National Assembly to amend the Act first became known to members of the public, there was deafening outcry, which forced the lawmakers to suspend the move.
“The CNPP, just like many other Nigerians, had thought that the National Assembly by the suspension of the earlier move to amend the CCT/CCB Act was a sign of good days ahead where the lawmakers respect the majority opinion of their respective constituencies.
“But the subtle passage of the amendment Bill is an indication that the National Assembly is serving the interest of its principal officers, and not that of the Nigerian people who unfortunately elected this crop of lawmakers, so insensitive to the core issues bothering the ordinary citizens”, the CNPP said.
The Conference also noted: “The speed with which the amendment was carried out at a time some principal officers were accused of false declaration of assets is an indication of the interest it intended to serve.
“We therefore urge President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold his assent by not signing the amended Act into law as the circumstances surrounding the amendment show it was done in bad fate and the action of the National Assembly amounts to taking over executive powers to the detriment of the constitutional principle of separation of powers. It must be noted that appointment of the staff of the CCT and CCB are clear executive powers, which the National Assembly cannot be allowed to usurp.”
Senator Abubakar (Jigawa North West) told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birninkudu, that “laws are meant to outlive individuals not meant for individuals.’’
The senator, who said he was away on oversight duties when the amendment was made, said he was completely opposed to the decision.
He also described the Bill on inheritance before the Senate as a negation of the provisions on freedom of worship, adding that it would not see the light of the day.
According to him, Christians and Muslims are against the law.
“We are there as representatives of the people and anything that the people don’t want will not scale through.
“We will make sure that the aspirations of the people we represent are not sacrificed at the altar of a few members of the Senate.
“Even though the bill has passed second reading, I believe any law can be stepped down at any stage and this is not an exception,’’ Abubakar said.
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Research and development take centre stage in Senate
Senators described it as one of the finest bills on the floor of the Senate. A bill whose sponsor believes will move the country away from resource based economy solely dependent on commodities to a knowledge based economy through research and innovation.
A bill for an Act to establish the National Research and Innovation Council, National Research and Innovation Foundation and related matters, 2016 scaled the decisive second reading in the upper chamber seamlessly.
Over 70 senators are co-sponsors of the bill. The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, is passionate about it. The Federal Executive Council endorsed it in 2013.
Perhaps the massive support for the bill is a product of the recognition that research and innovation is the way to go if the country is to witness any meaningful breakthrough in development.
The chief sponsor of the bill, Senator David Umaru (Niger East) introduced the bill as a desirable and important legislative intervention aimed at not only reversing the country’s economic predicament but also to entrench a framework that will ensure the use of research and innovation as a tool to fast track sustainable development in the country.
The lawmaker recalled with nostalgia, the acclaimed economic potentials of the country at independence which could not be fully harnessed to place the country in its rightful position in the comity of nations as a result of certain economic misfortunes, including military coup d’etats, the civil war and the discovery of crude oil.
Particularly, the discovery of crude oil instead of being a springboard for development became the economic albatross of the country.
For him, “Nigerians stopped using their brain when oil was discovered in commercial quantity in the country. But the reality has dawned on all of us now that we are unable to feed ourselves because we are import dependent nation,” he lamented.
He submitted that the country could only reverse the absurd situation by evolving into a knowledge based economy by creating an effective national research and innovation system that would address the shortcomings inherent in existing framework such as the absence of sectoral collaboration between research and development institutions, absence of a national research agenda, lack of incentives for researchers, lack of adequate protection for intellectual property and the huge disconnect between research policies and economic policies. In most countries, business activities drive research.
Umaru took a cursory look at policies and arrangement put in place by previous administrations to promote research and development in the country.
The re-establishment of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology as an autonomous entity, he said, underscored the appreciation of the role of research and development to national socio-economic development.
He specifically referred to the flagship programmes of the 2003 Biotechnology Research Information and Communication Technology, Space Science and Technology, Energy and Engineering materials.
In 2005, he said the 2003 Science and Technology policy was criticised as being more of voluminous compendium of sub-sectoral policies without proper harmonisation of such policies with the economic policies which necessitated a rigorous review process that culminated in the adoption of the Science and Technology Innovation (STI) policy of 2012 which has now been woven into a bill for implementation.
The lawmaker informed his colleagues that the subsisting STI represented a major paradigm shift in terms of policies on research and development in many aspects.
For the first time, he said, the new national policy on STI was designed in tandem with the country’s economic policy, the 20:2020 so as to resolve the long standing disconnect between economic policies and research and development. He pointed that there are also adequate proposals in the STI policy to bridge the gap between research and industrialization in the country.
To demonstrate the commitment of the Federal Government to the implementation of the STI policy, President Muhammadu Buhari has taken the driver’s seat with the launch in 2014 of the National Research and Innovative Council as the apex policy body on national research and Innovation.
Talking about global trend on STI, the Niger East lawmaker informed that an overview policy in environment of selected African countries, including Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and the 15 member states of the Southern African Development Community, shows that there are existing policies and legislations in place to promote research and innovation in most African countries.
The International Telecommunication Union, he said, reported that about 60 per cent of STI institutions were autonomous and independent of government interference.
Besides, Umaru told his colleagues that the United Nations System Task Team on post 2015 UN development agenda also recommended that countries desirous of steady improvement in human development indices such as life expectancy, standard of living and others should pay more attention to research and innovation.
There is therefore a convergence of global opinion on research and innovation as a tool for fast-tracking sustainable development hence the need for Nigeria to key in through the passage of the bill,” Umaru said.
With the public hearing on the bill at the corner, the All Progressives Congress lawmaker informed that the bill, when passed, will streamline funding of research and innovation activities in the country to accord priority to issues identified in the national research agenda.
Senators who contributed to the general principles of the bill agreed that if passed and implemented, the National Research and Innovation Council, National Research and Innovation Foundation, will boost research endeavour in the country. They also agreed that the bill will create the missing link between research, innovation and policies, while also engendering the needed marketability of research works.
Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki described the bill as one of the development intervention proposed legislations that would go a long way in retooling development initiatives in the country.
There is no doubt that if passed, the Act will ensure greater recognition of researchers and provide protection of patented research findings in the country.
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Recession: Senate seeks more support from IMF
The senate yesterday solicited more support and closer partnership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in efforts to address its economic challenges.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, made the appeal when he received, on behalf of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, a delegation of the African Department of the IMF, which paid a courtesy visit to the Senate.
He thanked the IMF officials for their support to Nigeria, and said the country needed more support and collaboration of the IMF particularly at this challenging period in the nation’s history.
He said: “The IMF has shown keen interest in the development of Nigeria. We believe that we need greater collaboration at this time of our challenges and we also believe that whatever support and technical assistance we are going to get will be tailored to our own needs, which is also peculiar to us, because every country has its own challenges and peculiar circumstances.
“We believe that working together and taking cognisance of our peculiar circumstances, we will be able to find solutions to our problems. We will work together to build a country where food, shelter and other basic needs are affordable for all.”
The new Director, African Department, IMF, Mr. Abebe Selassie, said he was in Nigeria to have a firsthand assessment of the country and to discuss the economic challenges.
He reassured the Senate that the global body would work hand-in-hand with the country to address the nation’s economic challenges.
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Igbo group petitions Senate over ‘appointment imbalance’
An arm of the Ohaneze Youth Vanguard, Ndigbo Bu-Otu Union (NBOU), has petitioned the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki over alleged exclusion of the Southeast in key national appointments.
The group specifically noted that the non-appointment of a Deputy Comptroller General of Customs of Southeast extraction is a breach of the Federal Character Commission.
It said that its checks revealed that the Southeast has many qualified Customs personnel that could be appointed into the position of DCC.
The petition dated October 17, 2016 was signed by the Director-General and Secretary of the group, Igwekala Leo Ugomaduefule and Chief Samuel Eze.
The petition read in part: “By the Customs Act, every geo-political zone of the country must have a one serving Deputy Comptroller General (DCC). Presently, the entire South East zone has no Assistant Comptroller General who is supposed to be elevated to the position of a Deputy Comptroller General when such a vacancy exists.
“Reliable information at our disposal and our investigation reveal that the Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) who is purporting to represent the South East zone is indeed from Delta State in the South- South geo- political zone.
The only officer from the South -East with the rank of Deputy Comptroller General (DCG) Mr. Ukaigwe , has already proceeded on retirement leave.”
The group said, it frown at a situation where other geo-political zones have two or three Assistant Comptroller Generals while the South East have none.
“We advise the Customs authority to take note and ensure that only a Customs officer of South -East extraction should be appointed to replace DCC Ukaigwe after his retirement,” the group said.
While urging authorities of the Nigeria Customs Service to immediately address the imbalance, the group asked the Federal government and its agencies to uphold the principle of Federal Character in its appointments as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We reject a situation where appointments are one sided and biased. Appointments must be based on merit and Federal Character principles. The South East has qualified, suitable and intelligent personnel for any position and we wonder why the zone is sidelined.”
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NERC job: I’ll honour Senate screening – Prof Akinwande
…Says I didn’t turn down the appointment
Prof. Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande, nominated for the Chairmanship of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has said that he will honour an invitation for screening by the Nigerian Senate after clearing with his current employer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), U S A.
This was contained in a letter, dated 26th October, 2016, to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe, sent through the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Sen. Ita Enang.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Prof. Akinwande said he did not turn down the offer by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science explained that: ‘‘News reports in Nigeria that I have rejected President Buhari’s nomination to be Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission have been brought to my attention.
‘‘I have the greatest respect for President Buhari. I am fully behind the change he has brought and is bringing to the way Government business is conducted in Nigeria.
‘‘I am deeply honored that Mr. President and his team thought me worthy for this important national assignment and sought me out for it. I am a tenured professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
‘‘As such I am contractually constrained to seek formally the consent of the university for a leave of absence before presenting myself to the Senate for screening and if confirmed take on the assignment.’’ he added
He apologized to the Senate Committee for not showing up for the screening process scheduled for Tuesday, October 25, 2017, noting that it was not out of disrespect for the institution.
He said he would be available for the screening after clearance from the MIT.
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Sexual harassment: Varsity lecturers risk five year jail term
The Senate Thursday passed the Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Education Institution Bill.
The sponsored by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central) prescribed a five-year jail term for lecturers and educators convicted of sexual harassment of their male or female students.
The bill also proposed a fine of N5 million in the event that the accused person is convicted by a competent court of law in the alternative.
It made provisions for lecturers and educators who maybe falsely accused by their students.
According to the Bill, an accused lecturer or educator who is acquitted by a court can turn the heat on the student accuser who shall be expelled or suspended, as the University may deems fit.
Senator Omo-Agege, who explained the rationale behind the bill, noted that the menace of sexual harassment has been there for a long time and has gone unchecked.
He said, “Today is a landmark. It is a landmark for our wives, a landmark for our daughters and a landmark for our sons. You recall immediately I got into the Senate, the first and major bill I posted was a bill to prohibit sexual harassment of students in our tertiary institutions. We had a reason for doing that.
“We did that because we felt that this menace had been there for so long and it had gone unchecked, but we have had our daughters, our sisters, our nieces and wives and students who have been harassed and nothing was done.
“We had instances where students who ought to have graduated in three to four years, stayed for five to six years to graduate just because they said no to unwanted sexual advances from educators in these institutions.
“It took a lot of political will to club together the coalition that we brought on board to see to the successful conclusion of this bill. Today, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has made it clear that enough is enough and never again will sexual harassment be the norm or the order of the day in our tertiary institutions.”
On the five year jail term he said, “As you recall, when we pushed this bill, we actually proposed a punishment of three years and a fine of N1 million, but the Senate in its wisdom felt that even that was not enough and they wanted to send a stronger message and as a result of that they have increased the punishment from three years to five years and the fine from N1 million to N5 million or both.
“We have now removed the element of consent as a defence. As you know, most of you are familiar with the law. Consent is always a defence to a charge of rape. The way we make it statutory rape whether or not consent is given becomes immaterial and the prosecution will no longer have to prove whether or not the consent of the female was obtained.
“That is the case with minors and that is what we have achieved today with our female students in higher institutions. Now it is touch and go. You stay away from these girls. You touch them as a lecturer; you know there is a price to pay. Somebody describe as a zip up legislation.”
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NASS amends CCT bill, takes control from President
- Lawmakers limit CCB membership to five-year tenure
The Senate on Thursday passed a bill amending the Code of Conduct and Tribunal Act, which transfers the controlling powers over the bureau and the tribunal from the President to the National Assembly.
As part of the amendment, the CCT shall be made up of the chairman and four other members, with three of the five forming the quorum on every sitting.
However, the lawmakers allowed the President to maintain his appointment powers over the CCB.
But, the appointment of the chairman and members of the bureau and the tribunal will be subject to Senate’s approval, with the appointment of those in the bureau limited to a tenure of five years, while the second term will be subject to legislative approval if the amendment is passed into law.
The House of Representatives had passed the amendment bill in May 2016 and sent it to the Senate for concurrence.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, while laying a report on the concurrence amendment bill on the floor of the chamber during Thursday’s plenary, recalled that the Senate referred the bill to the committee on October 13, 2016, “for critical examination.”
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Senate: no evidence of approval for 1,691 NDDC contracts
The Senate Public Accounts Committee yesterday put the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on the spot for allegedly failing to provide evidence of approval for 1,691 contracts.
The Committee said that a total of 1,697 contracts were awarded by the commission between 2014 and 2016.
The Committee said it discovered the absence of the record of the approval of the contracts during vetting of the books of the commission.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Andy Uba, mandated the commission to furnish the committee with evidence of approval of all the contracts and relevant certificate of no objection from Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) within seven days.
Uba said: “This committee and by extension, the Senate is not happy with this vague report before us particularly on contract awards, date of award, level of execution, names of contractors, etc.”
The Committee also said the commission ran 22 accounts in different banks before the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Uba said records show that only four accounts were approved for the commission by the Federal Government.
Describing the 22 bank accounts as “an untidy practice” the committee said that the accounts should be thoroughly investigated.
The committee directed the commission to furnish it with names of the banks to enable its secretariat to request for statement of account between the banks and the commission before the TSA exercise.
The committee also frowned at the commission’s huge tax debt profile of N28.7 billion.
NDDC Acting Managing Director, Mrs. Ibim Seminitari explained that the N28.7 billion tax debt profile of the commission emanated from the N23billion she met when she assumed duty and N5.7 billion penalty slammed on it by FIRS.
She further explained that commitment for payment of the debt had been entered into by the two agencies.
The committee also faulted the commission for failure to include income figures in its 2016 report on income and expenditure.
Senator Albert Bassey Akpan, a member of the committee, accused the commission of deliberately omitting the commission’s income figures.
The NDDC boss however informed the committee that a total of N23.5billion was given to the commission by the Federal Government.
She added that another N87.1billion proceeds was made from oil companies.
Members of the committee insisted that the omission of the income of the commission was deliberate.
The committee chairman, had in his address alleged that the refusal of the commission to furnish the committee with requested document might be a ploy to hide something.
Uba said, “The Committee as part of its mandate of ensuring accountability and transparency in the management of the Public Accounts of the Federation and on receipt of petitions of corruption on the award of contracts at the commission decided to embark on special oversight on income and expenditure of the commission.
“Sequel to the above, the committee wrote the commission on 23rd and 30th August, 2016 requesting for information on revenue, expenditure and personnel information.
“The commission was to respond within the period of two weeks, but it never responded. The committee wrote a reminder on the 16th September, 2016 and invited the acting managing director to appear before it on 20th September, 2016.
“The commission refused to furnish the committee with the requested information and the managing director did not appear before the Committee.
“The committee again, wrote another reminder to the commission on the submission of the requested information and rescheduled the appearance of the MD to Thursday, 22nd September, 2016.
“The commission formally wrote requesting for a new appointment on 23rd September, 2016. The commission only made submission on the requested information on 13th October, 2016.
“It took the commission more than a month to make its submission.
“Arising from the above, it can be deduced that the commission
“1) Have no regard for the Committee and by extension the Senate.
“2) The commission do not take matters of accountability seriously.
“3) The commission may not have been keeping proper records of its income and expenditure hence the delay in submission.
“4) The commission may have something to hide.
“The sitting today is an opportunity given to the commission to dispel the above views and clarify issues on its income and expenditure.”
The Acting MD apologized and blamed the mix up on call of duty that made it impossible for the commission to respond to the committee’s demands.