The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Senate

  • Senate and our freedom

    On October 1, the intrepid governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, uninvited, announced to the nation that the previous Jonathan government spent some N64 billion on Independence Day celebrations.  It turned out that El-Rufai was wildly off the mark; the mallam had greatly massaged the figures.

    Jonathan administration actually spent N333, 600, 000 over four years on Independence Day festivities.  This correct figure was confirmed by the Office of the Secretary General of the Federation (OSGF).  How did the truth emerge?  A group called BudgIT Nigeria applied to the OSGF under the Freedom of Information Act.

    Well, the Freedom of Information Act is in trouble.  So also is the Cyber Law.  Just a couple of weeks ago in the Senate, the Senate Leader, one Ali Ndume got up and opined that the Freedom of Information Act as well as freedom of speech “must be looked into.”

    It got worse.

    Ndume had been contributing to a debate in the Senate to introduce a bill to restrict and punish social media use in Nigeria!  I kid you not.  Even Afghanistan and Iran have got it better in that regard.

    The current government and its various majority representatives rode into office on the back of a change mantra a lot of which was driven home by (mostly young people on) social media.  All of a sudden, now in office, the same people that used and profited handsomely from the social media now find that these tools are abhorrent and negative.  It has to be done away with or severely curtailed with associated heavy punishment for infringements as defined by our senators.  How’s that for irony?

    Six months in office, I can only remember the Senate for three things: a long and unsavoury leadership tussle; protection of their various allowances and entitlements – including something they called wardrobe allowance; and a very slap-dash ministerial screening exercise.  The rest of the time, the distinguished people took prolonged recesses.

    Now they are back, their first job is to restrict social media use.  An All Progressives Congress-led Senate!  It is beyond mind-boggling.  The anti-people bill is being sponsored by Senator Ibn Na’Allah of Kebbi State.  The most noteworthy thing about Na’Allah, a lawyer and a former car dealer, is that he reportedly bought a plane in 2009 and claimed that it was cheaper for him to maintain his aircraft than to maintain some cars in his garage.  Ali Ndume’s grouse was that a while ago, he was accused of providing Boko Haram with some golf buggies.  Senator Dino Melaye was particularly bitter about Saharareporters.  Also, there was a picture of a champagne bottle adorned with the senator’s face flanked by the Senate’s mace that recently made the rounds on social media.  Dino didn’t like that.

    Keeping the details of their bill from some of the more serious-minded senators, this group presented their Anti-Social Media Bill on the floor of the Senate.  Amazingly, in just 14 days, their bill got its second reading.  Of course Senator Melaye led the debate.  Dino used to be an activist of sorts in this Nigeria.  He was promptly supported by various others; most notably Ali Ndume and one elderly looking People Democratic Party female Senator from Ekiti State.  Ekiti is supposed to be the home of well learned folks.  Anyway, after their very negatively-charged debate, their self-induced hysteria and contrived indignation, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, referred the whole matter to a Senate Committee to work out the fine details.

    This is what the sponsors of the Bill want:

    • Up to two years in prison or N2 million fine or both for anyone disseminating via Text message, Twitter, WhatsApp, or any other form of social media an “abusive” statement
    • A sentence of up to seven years in prison or N4 million fine for anyone who intentionally propagates false information through electronic message intending to “set the public against any person and group of persons, an institution of government or such other bodies established by law”
    • Imprisonment for six months without an option of fine for any person who unlawfully uses, publishes or cause to be published any petition or complaint not supported by a duly sworn affidavit.

    In other words, do not criticise any government official or institution.

    The whole thing beggars belief.  Of all the challenges presently confronting Nigeria, our senators are more concerned about the intrusion of, and how they are portrayed on social media.

    Happily, President Buhari has disowned the Senate and their perfidious bill, and rightly so.  The last thing he wants to be reminded of is Decree 4.  Personally, I do not know anyone that is not alarmed and disgusted by what the Senate is doing.  Already, a group in America has begun to lobby their senators in the US Congress to place our anti-social senators on a No-Fly list – you know, the way such lists are routinely imposed on tyrants and other jump-up dictators across the globe.

    So where does all of this leave us?  We have to fight for our right, that’s where.  Already, there’s a feeling that the country is being dragged backwards anyway.  When you try to articulate this, you are called a wailer.  But that shouldn’t stop us from getting in touch with our legislative representatives to register our disapproval of the Anti-Social Media Bill.  Similarly, we should be pressing whatever is left of the Civil Liberty society to organise us and themselves into a cohesive opposition to what is looking like a major encroachment on free speech and our collective freedom.  We must all stand up and challenge the tyranny of the privileged.

    We should never submit ourselves to thought-control.  We would never allow our voices to be muzzled because some folks don’t want to be challenged in this 21st century.  If this is how they feel, they should have steered well clear of public office.  There are sufficient provisions in our statutes to counter libel and slander.  Let aggrieved senators use that.  North Koreans, we are not!

  • Senate may withdraw social media bill – Sani

    The Senate is not averse to the withdrawal of the proposed media bill if it is not in the interest of Nigerians, Senator Shehu Sani has said.

    The senator representing Kaduna Central said that the bill which has passed Second Reading in the red chamber may not see the light of day if it is not in the interest of Nigerians.

    Sani said he was deeply concerned that issues about the bill would give Nigeria a bad name and the credibility of its democracy would be doubted.

    There had been public criticism against the proposed social media bill sponsored by Senator Bala Ibn Na’allah, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress from Kebbi State.

    The Senator spoke on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, on Wednesday in Abuja.

    He said the Senate would listen to the outburst that has trailed the bill, adding that the red chamber would consider what is best for the country when it comes up in the chamber.

    He said: “There is nothing wrong if the senators will say okay we understand such fears now and the Senate as a democratic institution takes a reverse. But it has to move the through the parliamentary procedure for such to take place.

  • 2016 budget: FG votes N500b for social welfare

    2016 budget: FG votes N500b for social welfare

    The Federal Government has earmark the sum of N500 billion for social welfare intervention programmes for 2016 fiscal year.

    The government also made a provision of N63.29 billion as the Federal Government share of the controversial oil subsidy payment for the same fiscal year.

    No provision was however made for kerosene subsidy for the year under reference.

    Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) will be funded with the sum of N241.51billion under the headline Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Excess Crude Account (ECA) & SURE-P.

    But essential requirements to benefit from the social welfare package are evidence of school enrolment and immunization certificate.

    This is contained in the 2016- 2017 and 2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (PSP) submitted to the Senate for consideration and approval.

    The document read and circulated to Senators by Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki is expected to be the basis for the 2016 appropriation estimate for presentation to the National Assembly.

    According to the document, the Federal Government will collaborate with state governments to institute well-structured social welfare intervention programmes such as: School feeding programme initiative, conditional cash transfer to the most vulnerable and post-National Youth Service Corps grant.

    It said that “N500 billion has been provisioned in the 2016 budget as social investments for these programmes.”

    The government said, “These interventions will start as a pilot scheme and work towards securing the support donor agencies and our development partners in order to minimize potential risks.”

    Under special intervention including cash transfer, home grown school feeding programme and micro credit loans (SMEs, market women etc) which is also covered by the social intervention programme, the government provided the sum of N300 billion for 2016, N339.05 for 2017 and N338.93 for 2018.

    The document put the arrears of 2015 Subsidy on Domestic consumption as N150 billion.

    The government had also included the sum of N108 billion as the cost of fuel subsidy to cover October to December 2015 in the recently passed 2015 Supplementary Budget of N521 billion.

    In 2015, the SURE-P gulped N0.25 billion for running cost and the sum of N20.78 billion as capital expenditure.

    The budget for the Presidential Amnesty Programme was slashed from N47.39 billion in 2015 to N20 billion in 2016.

    Provisions were not made for the programme for 2017 and 2018 fiscal years.

    Provision was made for Frontier Exploration Services to the sum of N39.88 billion.

    The budget of the National Assembly was put at N115 billion for 2016 down from N120 billion for 2015.

    The government put the sum of N50 billion under the heading of “recoveries of other misappropriated funds.”

    Still on recoveries (refunds/recoveries from Strategic Alliance contracts) N137.90 billion while NNPC/CBN N162.43 billion.

    The total under the subhead of recoveries of misappropriated funds is therefore N350.33 billion.

    On social development, the government said that job creation and social inclusion are key to the administration’s development programme as a means to reducing the rates of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

    It said that a phased social welfare programme will be created to cater for a larger population of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians upon the evidence of children’s enrolment in school and evidence of immunization.

    The government said that it will, in the near-to-medium-term, continue to prune the size of the federal government and its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) to more efficient levels without compromising efficiency and effectiveness.

    It noted that over the medium-term, however, “government will revisit the need to rationalize the agencies of government and strategically implement relevant provisions.”

    On the introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA) the government said that the multiplicity of government accounts had made it difficult to have an accurate picture of the public financial resources.

    “Government has therefore enforced the full implementation of the TSA system. Already, this is facilitating a more effective aggregate management and control of government cash balances, which, hitherto, had been maintained in several bank(s) accounts. Government has similarly enforced the full implementation of the integrated payroll and personnel information system (IPPIS) in all MDAs, which should result in some saving,” the document said.

    The government also said that the mounting number of claims for increases in salaries and allowances including pensions and other benefits should be curtailed as part of the efforts at rebalancing the structure of government spending.

    The government said that the 2016 budget will be structured to provide a stimulus to reflect the economy by investment in key infrastructure and the development of an inclusive economic recovery.

    It said that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio, which at 12%, is one of the lowest in the world, gives room for the fiscal expansion.

    It added however that government will ensure that additional borrowing is kept within prudent limits and channeled towards infrastructure.

    To that extent, government said that a budget size of N6.04 trillion is being proposed and federal government’s revenue is projected at N3.82 trillion implying a projected deficit of N2.22 trillion.

    It said that the ratio of capital to recurrent expenditure is envisaged to move from the current 16/84 to about 30/70 in 2016.

    It said that fiscal deficit is targeted at not more than 2.16% of GDP (about N2.22 trillion in normal terms.)

  • NPAN to Senate: Don’t consider anti-social media bill

    NPAN to Senate: Don’t consider anti-social media bill

    The attention of the NPAN has been drawn to a so called Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and Other Matters Connected Therewith currently being considered in the Senate of The Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    The NPAN urges the National Assembly to cease and desist from considering or  passing any laws seeking to abridge constitutionally  guaranteed  free speech as such laws will not only be unconstitutional, they  undermine our system of democracy and the rights we all fought for.

    We cannot because of a few irritations on the social media seek to clamp down on the rights of citizens to freely hold and share opinion on any platform.

    We believe any untruths should be confronted by facts not laws, and indeed the Freedom of Information Act should be enhanced to promote more openness in governance.

    Very many thanks

     

    NDUKA OBAIGBENA

    President NPAN.

    President NPO.

     

  • The Nation urges court to refuse Senate’s bid to arrest judgment

    The Nation urges court to refuse Senate’s bid to arrest judgment

    The Nation has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to refuse the Senate’s bid to arrest judgment in the newspaper’s suit against the National Assembly.

    Justice Mohammed Yunusa, on November 9, adjourned for judgment after the plaintiffs’ counsel, Wahab Shittu, adopted their processes.

    But the Senate denied being served with the suit or hearing notices.

    In an application filed on December 1, it prayed the court not to deliver the judgment, but to extend the time within which it “may” file and serve its counter-affidavit to the suit.

    Vintage Press Limited (publishers of The Nation); the Editor, Gbenga Omotoso; and a correspondent, Imam Bello, are the applicants.

    Shittu had informed the court that respondents were yet to file any response to the suit.

    “They have neither filed a memorandum of appearance, nor have they joined issues with the applicants,” Shittu said.

    After identifying all the motions he filed, he prayed the court to enter judgment in the plaintiffs’ favour, following which the court adjourned till yesterday for judgment.

    But the Senate, in the motion on notice, sought an order striking out the suit for want of jurisdiction.

    It prayed the court to set aside the proceedings, as well as its orders and decisions taken so far in the case.

    The Senate said it was “on account of non-service of the originating motion and hearing notices in this case on the second respondent/applicant herein (Senate).”

    In a supporting affidavit, Clerk of the Senate’s Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee, Freedom Osolo, said the Senate “is willing to defend this case…”

    He added: “The inability of the second respondent to file a counter-affidavit and written address in opposition to the Originating Motion of the applicants/respondents within the time stipulated by the applicable rules is not deliberate, but is due to the non-service of the aforesaid process of this honourable court on the second respondent.”

    However, the plaintiffs, in a counter-affidavit to the application, said the Senate’s motion was an abuse of court process.

    According to them, the respondents had ample opportunity to defend the suit but failed to do so.

    They recalled that the court adjourned the case severally to accommodate the respondents to enable them file their responses, but they “deliberately failed and neglected to file their defence”.

    In the counter-affidavit sworn to by Alayo Akanbi, a lawyer in Shittu’s firm, the plaintiffs said the National Assembly cannot deny reading news reports on the suit since it was filed, including when an order of interlocutory injunction was granted.

    Besides, they said the respondents were duly served with all the processes. The court papers, the plaintiffs said, were received and duly acknowleged with an official stamp, according to affidavits deposed to by the court’s sheriff.

    “It is glaring that the second respondent, having been served with originating process in this suit, is not diligent in defending it.

    “The inability of the Senate to respond to the applicants’ suit having been duly served is deliberate and in contempt of the powers of this honourable court,” the deponent said.

    The newspaper noted that the Senate has not disputed the story which it complained about, nor has it sought to enforce the laws of libel or slander which is available to anyone who feels aggrieved by any offensive publication.

    “I know as a counsel that the second respondent’s application filed on 1st December 2015 amounts to an application to arrest the judgment of this honorable court, which is an abuse of court process,” he added.

    Shittu had earlier argued that the Senate’s invitation to the applicants amounted to unlawful interference with the functions reserved exclusively for the press.

    Justice Yunusa had granted an order of interim injunction restraining the respondents, whether by themselves, their members, committees or agents from summoning or directing the appearance of the applicants or any of their agents before any Senate Committee.

    According to the proof of service, the suit was received by the Office of the President of the Senate on September 1.

    The National Assembly was earlier served on August 27 through the office of the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly.

    Among the plaintiffs’ processes were a motion for interlocutory injunction and the main suit which seeks, among others, an order of perpetual injunction against the respondents.

    The Senate had, in an August 4 letter, invited Omotoso and Bello to appear before it unfailingly over the story: Motion: 22 APC Northern senators ‘working against Buhari’, published on July 30.

    The Senate wrote again on August 11, threatening to invoke Section 89 (1) (D) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to compel the applicants’ appearance.

    But the court barred the lawmakers from requesting the applicants to produce any papers, notes or other documents in respect of the story.

    The judge also restrained the respondents from issuing a warrant to compel the applicants’ attendance before the Senate Committee set up to investigate the publication.

    The judgment could not be delivered yesterday because it was not ready, according to a court official.

    The case was adjourned till February 10 for judgment.

  • The Nation urges court to reject Senate’s bid to ‘arrest judgment’

    The Nation has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to refuse the Senate’s bid to ‘arrest judgment’ in the newspaper’s suit against the National Assembly.

    Justice Mohammed Yunusa, on November 9, adjourned for judgment after the plaintiffs’ counsel, Wahab Shittu, adopted their processes.

    But the Senate denied being served with the suit or hearing notices.

    In an application filed on December 1, it prayed the court not to deliver the judgment but to extend the time within which it “may” file and serve its counter-affidavit to the suit.

    Vintage Press Limited (publisher of The Nation), the Editor Gbenga Omotoso and a correspondent, Imam Bello, are the applicants.

    Shittu had informed the court that respondents were yet to file any response to the suit.

    “They have neither filed a memorandum of appearance, nor have they joined issues with the applicants,” Shittu said.

    After identifying all the motions he filed, he prayed the court to enter judgment in the plaintiffs’ favour, following which the court adjourned till Friday for judgment.

    But the Senate, in the motion on notice, sought an order striking out the suit for want of jurisdiction.

    It prayed the court to set aside the proceedings, as well as its orders and decisions taken so far in the case.

    The Senate said it was “on account of non-service of the originating motion and hearing notices in this case on the second respondent/applicant herein (Senate).”

    In a supporting affidavit, Clerk of the Senate’s Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee, Freedom Osolo, said the Senate “is willing to defend this case.”

    He added: “The inability of the second respondent to file a counter affidavit and written address in opposition to the Originating Motion of the applicants/respondents within the time stipulated by the applicable rules is not deliberate but is due to the non-service of the aforesaid process of this honourable court on the second respondent.”

    However, the plaintiffs, in a counter-affidavit to the application, said the Senate’s motion was an abuse of court process.

    According to them, the respondents had ample opportunity to defend the suit but failed to do so.

  • NUJ, others condemn Senate’s move to gag press

    NUJ, others condemn Senate’s move to gag press

    SENATE’S plans to criminalise certain aspects of media practice have come under criticisms from the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), media partners and others.

    They were reacting to a bill entitled: “An Act to prohibit frivolous petitions and other matters connected therewith,” sponsored by Deputy Senate Leader Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South), which scaled second reading on Wednesday.

    The bill recommends jail terms ranging from a mandatory six months to up to two years or fines of between N200,000 and N4 million for petitions written or published through “any medium of whatever description” against public or private individuals without a sworn affidavit in a Federal or State High Court.

    The NUJ said the bill was an attempt to clamp down on journalists, social media and petition writers.

    The union called on reporters in the Senate and House of Representatives to reject “this anti-media bill”.

    In a letter to The Nation yesterday, NUJ National Secretary Shuaibu Usman Leman said: “We consider this bill as abominable and capable of causing irreparable damage to the nation’s quest for credible democracy.”

    Usman added that it was untenable for Na’Allah to equate the bill to the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

    He said: “The FOI Act is not meant as a means for journalists to pry into areas wrongly perceived as government secrets or expose the privacy of citizens; rather it should be seen as a means for the masses of this country to demand for how they are governed and to hold such leaders accountable.

    “The NUJ believes that information participation by all is necessary for effective democracy and the failure of the state to provide unhindered access to information can lead to monumental corruption and abuse of rights of citizens.”

    The union warned lawmakers and government functionaries against playing “dirty politics” with important national issues.

    The Media Ethics Organisation said the Senate’s move might end up being counter-productive to Nigeria’s democracy.

    The non-governmental organisation (NGO) in a statement by its director, Mr. Dele Banjoko, admitted that although the passage of the bill might check the rise of defamatory reports, the law would be an overkill because of the existing laws on libel and slander.

    It added that professional bodies like the NUJ, the Nigerian Guild of Editors and Newspapers Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria also have organs for handliing complaints against unethical conduct by journalists.

    “A bill, which sets out to punish the author and publisher of a petition without a duly sworn affidavit will render the public further hopeless instead of widening the space for the aggrieved to ventilate their grievances without violence,” the NGO said in a statement yesterday.

    For blogger and veteran journalist, Dr. Kunle Hamilton, the law was “preposterous”.

    Hamilton argued that the passage of the law would mean Nigerians would no longer be free to discuss government’s excesses on television, radio, blogs, pages of newspapers and magazines, and even on their telephones.

    He said: “You could go to jail for posting on your phone that a public officer is corrupt. This is preposterous and all well-meaning Nigerians must stop the Senate from stopping the media, especially social media, which have become the poor man’s only hope of airing his views against corruption in high places.

    “Everywhere else in the civilised world, the laws of libel and regular criminal codes are enough to protect honest public servants against character assassination.”

    The National Coordinator of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Otunba Adams, also condemned the Senate for seeking to introduce the bill.

    Addressing reporters in his office yesterday in Lagos, Adams described the bill as the same with the obnoxious military Decree 4 of 1984, saying the trend was worrisome.

    He said with the introduction of the bill, “the Senate is plotting a coup against the media in order to gag it.”

  • NLC calls for legislation to protect whistle- blowers

    NLC calls for legislation to protect whistle- blowers

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Thursday in Abuja called on members of the National Assembly to work out a policy to protect whistle blowers.

    President of NLC, Mr Ayuba Wabba, made the call while briefing newsmen on “Why the anti-corruption war is succeeding in the country.’’

    Wabba said the National Assembly should rise to the challenge immediately, while the courts should ensure speedy disposal of corruption cases.

    He said the on-going revelation on the $2.1 billion arms purchase deal has justified unqualified support for the fight against corruption.

    “The revelations by the former National Security Adviser, his erstwhile Director of Finance, Shuaibu Salisu, which we believe are just the tip of the iceberg, are mind-boggling.

    “This justifies as well as reinforces our call for capital punishment in cases of corruption in public office.

    “With prescription of more stringent punishment for corruption cases, few will dare to go to this extent.

    “Massive corruption in the system is responsible for our lack of development and our present economic woes.’’

    Wabba said Nigerians must be resolute and firm in the support for good governance and fight against corruption.

    He said people should imbibe the culture of accountability by ensuring that public officers were accountable in and out of office.

    Wabba called on the Federal Government to expand the terms of reference of Prof. Itse Sagay Committee to accommodate receiving confidential information on corruption.

    The NLC said that this should be forwarded to anti-corruption agencies for prosecution and recovery.

    He, however, commended Shuaibu Salisu for having the courage to make the revelation, saying that this had assisted in revealing the monumental corruption in the arms deal.

    Wabba also called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to relent in his war against corruption.

    `We call on the government to, among others, probe the power sector reform programme which has delivered darkness instead of light, in spite of billions of dollars expended on it,’’ he said.

  • Senate seeks re-introduction of tollgates

    The Senate on Thursday asked the Federal Government to re-introduce tollgates on federal highways.

    The upper chamber also advised the government to introduce weigh bridges to protect roads and to discourage over tasking highways that were not constructed for ferrying heavy vehicles and trucks.

    This was part of the resolution of the Senate as adopted from the report of its ad-hoc committee on works on total collapse of federal roads and prevalent of gully erosion in the country.

    The Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Senator Barnabas Gemade presented the report.

    The Senate at its sitting on July 28, deliberated on two motions entitled: “State of disrepair and total collapse of the Ikot Ekpene-Itu-Calabar federal highway,” sponsored by Senator Albert Bassey Akpan and “Landslide in parts of Isuikwuato and Arochukwu local government areas in Abia North Senatorial District, Abia State,” sponsored by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa which led to setting up of the ad-hoc committee.

    The Senate resolved that revenue collected from the tollgates should be channeled to road maintenance.

    The lawmakers said new methods of funding road projects should be adopted including concession to construction companies with solid capital base and excellent track record.

     

  • Senate moves against social media, others

    Senate moves against social media, others

    A Bill making it an offence to write a petition against a public officer without a sworn affidavit, scaled second reading yesterday in the Senate.

    The bill, entitled: “An Act to prohibit frivolous petitions and other matters connected therewith,” is sponsored by Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South).

    Those found guilty will be imprisoned “for a term of two years or a fine of N200,000” on conviction for acting, using or caused to be used any petition or complaint not accompanied by a sworn affidavit.”

    It also provides a mandatory six-month jail term without an option of fine for any person that unlawfully uses, publishes or cause to be published any petition, or complaint not supported by a sworn affidavit.

    Section 4 of the Bill states: “Where any person through text message, tweets, WhatsApp or through any social media, post any abusive statement knowing same to be false, with intent to set the public against any person and/or group of persons, an institution of government or such other bodies established by law shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction shall be liable to an imprisonment for two years or a fine of N2 million or both such fine and imprisonment”

    Section 3 says: “Where any person in order to circumvent this law makes any allegation and or publish any statement, petition in any paper, radio, or any medium of whatever description, with malicious intent to discredit or set the public against any person or group of persons, institutions of government, he shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction shall be liable to an imprisonment term of two years or a fine of N4 million.”

    The Bill also seeks to make it unlawful to submit any petition, statement intended to report the conduct of any person for the purpose of an investigation, enquiry and or inquest without a sworn affidavit in the High Court of a state or the Federal High Court confirming the content to be true and correct and in accordance with the Oaths Act.

    It provides that “any petition or complaint not accompanied by a sworn affidavit shall be incompetent and shall not be used by any government institution, agency or bodies established by any law for the time being enforced in Nigeria.”

    Na’Allah, in his lead debate, noted that with the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act in place for unfettered access to public information, it was not right “for this government to continue to waste valuable time and resources in investigating frivolous petitions from the same public”.

    He insisted that “the Bill would assist in shaping our negative thinking by elevating hard work over and above sycophancy and indolence.”

    The senator added that Nigeria had been drained of well-meaning civil servants, who left the public service on the basis of frivolous petitions, only to be replaced by dishonest ones.

    He said: “As a nation with a strong desire to move forward, this negative trend must be reversed, if only the desired objectives of the present government is to be met.”

    Na’Allah said the Bill sought to punish people for frivolous petitions by making sure only credible and verifiable petitions were presented for public use.

    He noted that the utility of the Bill would save the  time and resources going into investigating frivolous petitions.

    Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki referred the Bill to the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.

    The committee was mandated to report back to the Senate in plenary in four weeks.