The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Senate

  • Obi bids for Senate on PDP’s ticket

    Obi bids for Senate on PDP’s ticket

    •INEC shifts poll indefinitely 

    Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi will contest Saturday’s Anambra Central rerun on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    This followed the Federal High Court’s ruling that the PDP was eligible to contest the election.

    Former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism Joe Martins Uzodike noted that PDP stakeholders had been mounting pressure on Obi to contest.

    “PDP is yet to submit its list, but everybody is urging Peter Obi to come out to save PDP in the central zone.”

    Uzodike hinted that the party had conducted its primaries and was waiting for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the list of the contestants.

    Meanwhile, the election, scheduled for Saturday, March 5, has been postponed indefinitely.

    This, according to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Lawrence Azubuike, followed the court order received yesterday.

    He announced this yesterday at a meeting with parties at the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women’s Development Centre in Awka.

    Uzodike described the postponement as a welcomed one.

    Chairman of the state Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Sam Oraegbunam said the postponement came at the right time, adding that the parties had longed for it.

    But Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Sir Norbert Obi, said the postponement would not stop his party’s victory.

    For the All Progressives Congress (APC), INEC’s decision was a right step in the right direction.

  • FCT Capital Budget: Senate extends implementation of N144bn

    FCT Capital Budget: Senate extends implementation of N144bn

    The Senate on Tuesday approved a request from President Muhammadu Buhari for the extension of the implementation of the N114 billion FCT capital budget to March 31.

    The Senate acceded to the request of the president and gave the bill accelerated hearing as it was considered for second reading, third reading and passed.

    However, in his remark, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, directed the Conference Committee of the Senate to harmonise its figures with the House of Representatives.

    Earlier, while presenting the bill for second reading, the Leader of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, noted that the 2015 FCT budget was approved on May 28, 2015, allowing only seven months for its implementation.

    He said that in order to meet the obligations of the FCT and as requested by the president, the Senate should give accelerated passage to the request for extension.

    He said that in view of the seven months period, the FCT budget implementation only stood at 40 per cent, hence the need for the extension.

    It would be recalled that Buhari on February 23 requested the Senate to extend the implementation of the budget to March 31.

  • ‘Quest for foreign education costs Nigeria $2b’

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, Senator Binta Garba, has disclosed that Nigerians spend about $2 billion annually on education abroad.

    Garba said the sum was used to service the fees of elites, who crave for foreign education.

    The Senator, who spoke at the inauguration of new governing board of 12 federal universities in Abuja, described the trend as embarrassing.

    She stated that such situation could be stopped if stakeholders partner to strengthen the weak educational structures in the country.

    Garba said: “Capital flight from education in Nigeria is about $2 billion. This is something we must work hard to stop.

    “We at the National Assembly are projecting that before 2019, there should be a very drastic reduction of such funds going out of the country.”

    She commended efforts to scale up tertiary institutions in the country to become some of the best in the world.

    Earlier, the Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu, argued that the decision to appoint 12 new Vice Chancellors before inaugurating the board of the universities was in order.

    The 12 federal universities were established by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

     

     

  • Senate will expunge anti-social media bill – Saraki

    Senate will expunge anti-social media bill – Saraki

    The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki has assured that the Senate will expunge Section 4 of the Anti-Frivolous Petitions Bill, popularly known as ‘Anti-Social Media Bill,’ to give the media the freedom it deserved.

    Saraki said this in a statement signed by the Special Assistant on New Media, Mr Bankole Omishore and issued to Journalists on Friday in Abuja.

    The Senate President gave the assurance while delivering a keynote address at an interactive session of Social Media Week in Lagos.
    According to the statement, he.promised that the National Assembly would not pass any bill that would gag the media or infringe on the rights of Nigerians.

    He recounted the critical role played by online media in the successful conduct of the 2015 general elections.

    He said that social media ensured that manipulation of votes was reduced to the barest minimum because results were posted online as the elections progressed.

    He urged Nigerians to continue to contribute to the development of the country through dialogue and debate on social media.
    The Senate President assured that the legislature would be open to Nigerians as part of its effort to ensure transparency and accountability.

    Saraki said that the recent interactive session between the National Assembly and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) was part of such efforts.

    Saraki assured that the legislature would, from 2017, engage CSOs in budget hearing process to ensure inclusiveness.

    It would be recalled that the Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Na’ Allah sponsored a Bill for Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions, and other matters connected therewith in 2015.

    The bill scaled second reading on the floor of the senate and it is scheduled for public hearing in March.[incor]

  • Ex-EFCC boss Lamorde keeps mum over Senate’s arrest order

    Ex-EFCC boss Lamorde keeps mum over Senate’s arrest order

    The immediate past Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Lamurde is not in the mood to talk ,at least publicly,about the warrant of arrest issued against him by the Senate.

    He rebuffed attempts yesterday by reporters to get him to respond to the Senate’s action.

    The Senate wants Lamurde to come and defend himself about a petition alleging that about N1trillion kept in the custody of the EFCC during his tenure was tampered with.

    The former boss of the anti-graft agency was sighted yesterday at the National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Jos to commence a one year research course.

    He is one the 67 top public servants and private sector executives nominated for the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 38 at the end of which successful participants will earn mni (member Nigerian Institute).

    As reporters kept pestering Lamurde,a police officer,with questions on the development,he said: “Please, I’m here for a course. I’m here for pure academic research work. I will not discuss any other thing. “I will need to take permission from my sponsors, the Nigeria Police Force, before I comment on anything outside this course.”

    The course participants are drawn from the military, para-military organisations, the Police Force, Labour, civil service and the academic.

    All the participants arrived NIPSS two weeks before the inauguration of the SEC yesterday by the Vice President Profesor Yemi Osinbanjo.

    Lamurde’s predecessor, Nuhu Ribadu was also sent to the institute immediately he was removed as EFCC boss.

  • NLC accuses Senate of undermining labour

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused  the Senate leadership of undermining labour movement. It alleged that the Senate leadership was holding discussions with individuals who are not representatives of unions in the power sector, describing the meeting between the Senate leadership and individuals as a move to hijack the sector for selfish motives.

    In a statement signed by the NLC Deputy President, Joe Ajaero, the Congress urged the Senate and the National Assembly to stop every “unholy romance” with such group of individuals on issues in the power sector without involving the leadership of the union.

    The Congress insisted that the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) remained the two unions within the power sector, adding that any agreement reached without NUEE and SSAEAC would not be binding on workers in the sector.

    “We know that the Senate may have meant well and is desirous of resolving all public interest issues arising from all sectors of the  economy of which the power sector is one. We also acknowledge and appreciate one of the key roles of the National Assembly, which is their oversight function over the activities of the executive arm of government.

    “In exercising these functions, we urge the Senate not to allow it to be misled into being used by some individuals to achieve certain hidden agenda. This is to protect the Senate from being ridiculed and unwittingly dragged into on-going crisis within the NLC. The Senate president should know that the NLC presently has two factions with each having a complete set of organs and officers thus capable of engaging any of our social partners on any issue effectively nationwide. He has to be reminded that though we are making efforts toward reconciliation, we are still unfortunately fractionalised.”

    Ajaero said continuing with the discussions in this context and structure would be viewed as a conscious effort by the Senate to undermine the union and collude with fourth columnists to scuttle ongoing reconciliation effort within the Congress. It will also keep Nigerian workers and the movement perpetually divided to the benefit of the ruling elite and employers.

    However, Senate President Bukola Saraki assured labour unions that the Senate would ensure due consultation on all issues that affect workers.

  • Budget: Senate uncovers N5b shortfall in unity schools’ vote

    The Senate Committee on Appropriation considering submissions of sub-committees on Thursday discovered N5 billion shortfall in the amount provided for meal subsidy for unity schools across the country.

    The shortfall also involved the personnel cost for Kings College Lagos as submitted in the 2016 budget proposal by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The discoveries were made during collation of the 2016 budget of Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education by the Appropriation Committee.

    The Vice Chairman of the Committee on Education, Senator Rose Oko, who presented the report, explained that only N6.8 billion was proposed for meal subsidy for unity schools instead of N11.2b needed.

    Senator Oko noted that the amount is grossly inadequate for the unity schools meal subsidy, insisting that the amount provided will only last for six months.

    She underscored the need to look for N5 billion to meet up with this shortfall in the interest of the schools.

    Senator Oko also informed the Appropriation Committee about the N338 million omission in the personnel cost of the Kings College‎.

  • Alleged fraud: Senate orders arrest of ex-EFCC boss

    Alleged fraud: Senate orders arrest of ex-EFCC boss

    The stage may be set for the arrest of immediate past Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde over alleged financial crime and corruption.

    The Senate Thursday asked its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to comply with relevant Sections of the Constitution that empowered it to issue a warrant of arrest on Lamorde for refusing to appear before it when invited.

    The 11-man committee investigated allegations of financial crimes and corruption brought against Lamorde by Dr. George Uboh, a human rights activist.

    Chairman of the investigative Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, presented the report of his committee to Senate in plenary Thursday.

    Anyanwu told the Senate that after a series inviting Lamorde to appear before the committee to tell his own side of the story on allegations of financial crime and corruption leveled against him by Dr. Uboh, the former EFCC boss failed to honour the invitation.

    The committee chairman specifically referred to three letters of invitation written to invite Lamorde to appear before the committee dated 19th August 2015, 3rd November 2015 and 11 November, 2015 which he said did not convince Lamorde to appear before the Ethics and Privileges Committee.

    He noted that on receiving the letter of invitation dated 19th August, 2015 from the Committee, Lamorde wrote the Committee through his Special Assistant to claim (1) “That due to time constraint and the nature of their operations, the EFCC Chairman was unable to appear before the Committee, and suggested 31st September, 2015 as a more convenient date he would appear before the Committee;

    (2) That if what the Committee wanted was comprehensive information of all recoveries forfeited and/or restituted funds and property in defence of the said allegations, then the Committee must wait until September, 2015 when it (EFCC) would submit its annual report to the National Assembly.

    (3) That the petitioner, Dr. George Uboh was an accused person in a case instituted against him by EFCC (FRNV George Uboh, CR/21/09) before Hon. Justice A.J. Aledetoyinbo of High Court 3 of the Federal Capital Territory Judicial Division on charges bordering criminal breach of trust;

    (4) That the petitioner was once convicted by a US Court for engaging in credit card fraud.”

    Anyanwu told the Senate that after his committee digested the contents of Mr. Lamorde’s response, it again invited Mr. Lamorde to appear before it, advising him not to confuse the invitation of an investigative committee to appear before it to say his own side of the story as a public servant over a serious allegation against his person, with EFCC’s routine annual report responsibility to the National Assembly, or the Senate President’s previous invitation to a briefing.

    The Committee chairman said that Lamorde further responded through his Special Assistant “That he was at St. Petersbury, Russia, attending the 8th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) and that he had been there since 29th October, 2015.”

    Anyanwu said that Lamorde again requested for a new date and time to enable him to honour the invitation.

    He noted that when the committee received Mr. Lamorde’s second letter of excuse, it decided to write a third letter of invitation dated 11 November, 2015; this time, threatening that it would no longer accept flimsy excuses for his non appearance.

    He said that after going through the facts available, the Committee observed “that having waited in vain for the appearance of Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde since 24th November, 2015 and not seeing or hearing from him, it was forced to conclude that Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde wants to evade investigation by the Committee.”

    Anyanwu noted that “Consequently, the Committee reasoned that the only way to get the former EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, to appear before it was to invoke the powers of the Senate in Section 89(1c&d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and compel his appearance.”

    He said that the Committee was “convinced that unless this line of action was taken, the National Assembly might be drawn into consequential disrepute in the future.”

    The Committee therefore recommended in its submission (1)“That to save the National Assembly, as the highest law-making body of the nation, from irreparable damage to its reputation and capacity to summon, the former EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, be compelled to appear before the Committee to answer for activities of his tenure.

    (2)That to effect recommendation ‘1’ above, a warrant of arrest be issued by the Senate for his arrest.”

    Anyanwu said the Senate may wish to consider and adopt the recommendations of the Committee as proposed.

    Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu intervened by raising a Point of Order.

    Ekweremadu referred the Senate to Sections 88(1) and 89 (1c&d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended.

    He said; “Subject to the provisions of this constitution, each house of the National Assembly shall have power by resolution, published in a journal or the official gazette of the federal government to direct or cause to be directed, an investigation into (a) any matter with respect to which it has powers to make laws. (b) the conduct of affairs of any person, authority ministry of government, department, charged with the responsibility of executing or administering laws enacted by National Assembly and disbursing or administering money appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly.

    “So on the basis of this section that this enquiry is being conducted.

    Now the subject under investigation has refused to come; what do we do?

    “That is what is now covered by section 89 which says;”

    “For the purposes of any investigation under Section 88 of this Constitution and subject to the provisions thereof, the Senate or the House of Representatives or a committee appointed in accordance with section 62 of this constitution shall have powers to:

    (1)    Procure all evidence written or oral, direct or ask as it may deem necessary and examine all persons as witnesses whose evidence (2)may be relevant to the investigation

    (2) Require all evidence to be given on oath

    (3) Summon any person in Nigeria to give evidence at any place or produce evidence in his possession.

    (4) Issue a warrant to compel the attendance of any person who after having been summoned, fails, refuses or neglects to do so and does not excuse such failure, refusal or neglect to the satisfaction of the House or the Committee in question and order him to pay all cost due to have been occasioned in compelling his attendance by reason of his failure, refusal or neglect to obey the summons and also impose such fines that may be prescribed for any such failure  shall be recoverable in the same manner as a fine imposed by a court of law.

    (5) The warrant issued under this section may be served or executed by any member of the Nigerian Police Force or by any person authorized by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives as the case may be.”

    Ekweremadu said that “what is required here is for the committee to issue a warrant of arrest and then the President of the Senate will direct the Police to effect the arrest.”

    He added, “It is not the business of the Senate in plenary to do so otherwise we will be offending this part of the constitution.

    “So the issue of warrant of arrest is not something that we will take a resolution on, the resolution has already been taken by the committee.

    “If there is any consequential order that needs to be made, the committee can deal with that and direct it through the Office of the President of the Senate who will direct the Police to effect the warrant.”

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki sustained Ekweremadu’s Point of Order

    Saraki said; “The issue has been well spelt out by the Deputy Senate President, he has clearly referred to the constitution.

    “Based on the Constitution this matter does not need to come to us at plenary.

    “It should be left at the level of the committee and in accordance with section 89 of the Constitution. So I will sustain the point of order of the DSP.”

    Anyanwu had, reeled out Uboh’s allegations against Lamorde to include:

    That EFCC operates accounts in banks to warehouse recovered funds which do not reflect in EFCC’s audited account;

    That EFCC doctors and manipulates bank accounts to conceal diversion of funds

    That EFCC releases recovered funds to unidentified persons and EFCC officials

    That EFCC moves fund from its recovery accounts to EFCC operations account from where it diverts same.

    That over 95 percent of EFCC recoveries in foreign currencies, other than those from multi-national companies, has been diverted.

    That EFCC trades with recovered funds through bank deposits and placements.

    That EFCC colludes with real estate companies in order to grossly under value seized assets before they are sold to their cronies.

    That EFCC has not accounted for offshore recoveries

    That over half of the assets seized from suspects were not reflected in EFCC exhibit records.

    Anyanwu said that Uboh prayed the Senate to stop from receiving further allocations from the Federal Government until it accounts for the huge remittable funds recovered which the Commission is still holding back, contrary to the EFCC Act, 2006 and financial regulations

    Ten out of 11 members of the committee endorsed the report presented by Anyanwu except Senate Deputy Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South.)

     

  • Senate orders CBN to terminate TSA contract

    Senate orders CBN to terminate TSA contract

    • SystemSpecs: we ‘re committed to resolving commercial issue

    The Senate yesterday ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to terminate the 2013 e-payment contract renewal with SystemSpecs.

    The upper chamber also ordered the CBN to disregard the one per cent charge provided in the contract agreement with the leading indigenous software giant.

    As part of its contract with SystemSpecs, the CBN  agreed to the deduction of one per cent charge of all e-collections by SystemSpecs, operator of REMITA platform driving the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) initiative.

    This is part of an 11-point recommendations by the Senate Joint Committee on Finance, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions and Public Accounts.

    The Senate in plenary adopted the recommendations as presented by Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator John Owan Enoh.

    The submission of the Joint Committee was however not debated as Senate President,  Bukola Saraki, ruled that only the recommendations of the committee would be considered.

    The Senate had, at its sitting on November 11 last year debated a motion on alleged “Abuse and Mismanagement of the TSA.”

    But SystemSpecs said it is irrevocably committed to indigenous technology aapplication for national transformation

    In a statement, the firm saidthe subsisting one per cent charge eventually agreed by the CBN, banks and it at the commencement of the project was considered a good starting point which could be reviewed based on emerging realities. This much is a clear and integral part of our contracts with the CBN, it said.

    The statement reads in part: “The resounding success of the TSA project has obviously attracted attention from different quarters which may include those benefitting from the old pre-TSA order, competitors who lost out in the selection process, un-informed or under-informed commentators, and others. In it all, we have always been and will remain fully committed to the full resolution of any issue surrounding the commercial component of our contract in the overall larger national interest.

    “On a last note, we thank the Senate for its avowed commitment to preserving the national interest, the government for entrusting such a significant national IT project to an indigenous firm, and numerous Nigerians who continue to objectively analyse issues and encourage us particularly during these times.”

    The upper chamber resolved to, among others, mandate its Joint Committee on Finance, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions and Public Accounts to conduct holistic investigation on the matter.

    It specifically mandated the Joint Committee to investigate the alleged abuse of the TSA and deduction of N25 billion from accounts of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under the e-payment.

    Other recommendations also adopted by the lawmakers include: that the CBN should show evidences of all refunds made by SystemSpecs as well as identify and recommend for prosecution, all the persons involved in approving the controversial TSA contract.

    It mandated the CBN to carry out in-house enquiry to sanitise its system of contract awards to avoid future discrepancies.

    The committee said SystemSpecs deducted only N7.6 billion from its collections.

    The Senate agreed with the Joint Committee that the CBN should pay N656,504,100 only to SystemSpecs as transaction cost for funds transfer collection for the period ended Nov. 30 last year.

    It said the approval of N656 million payment was based on CBN wage band of N700 per transaction for electronic transfer payment which was adopted by the Senate.

    The upper chamber asked the CBN to ban deductions from MDAs, but should be paid from a central pool.

    The Senate said all monies realised from TSA operations should be provided to be appropriated in 2016.