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Tag: Senate

  • Killings: Senate begins push for state police

    The Senate has mandated its committee on constitution review to urgently initiate moves for further review of the constitution to accommodate the establishment of state police.

    The senators were reacting to the killings in Plteau villlages.

    Senator Adamu Aliero, (APC Kebbi Central) set the stage for the need to establish state police in the course of narrating how one of his aides was burnt to death when he ran into attackers on a Plateau highway.

    Many of the lawmakers agreed with Aliero, as they vehemently rebuffed the objection raised by Senator Kabiru Marafa (APC Zamfara Central) on the matter.

    The debate followed a motion moved by Senator David Jonah Jang ( PDP Plateau South) who condemned the wanton killings of some people in his constituency.

    Jang lamented what h described as the helplessness of the security agencies, particularly the police in responding to the attacks.

    Jang, in the motion, said 155 people were killed in the attack, which he said, were carried out by herdsmen, adding that 98 of the victims were from Mangu local government.

    The ex Plateau State Governor lamented that the attacks went on for several hours without any of the security agencies coming to the rescue of the victims.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, lent his weight to the call, saying “I have been saying it here anytime issues of senseless killings in the land come up; that creation of state police is the way out since the centralised police have proved to be incapable of addressing the problem .

    “By tomorrow (today) or next, a bill for constitutional provision for state and community policing shall be sponsored by me in this chamber”.

    Some other senators that backed the call for state police included  Olamilekan Adeola ( APC Lagos West), Godswill Akpabio ( PDP Akwa Ibom ), Barnabas Gemade ( APC Benue North East) among others.

    President of the SenateBukola Saraki said: “These are acts of criminality and we should not encourage any other colouration to it. Be it religious. This is criminality and as such we have a role to ensure that we must address this criminality

    “We believe there is need for urgent review of the security architecture. We must not only see from the point of view that there is danger to security.

    “There is also danger if we really believe that we are going to push our economy, it is going to become stagnant”

  • Plateau killings: Senate mulls state police

    The Senate on Tuesday mandated its committee on constitution review to urgently initiate moves for the establishment of state police.

    The senators were piqued by the latest spate of senseless killings in Plateau State and the seeming hopelessness of the security agencies in tackling the violence across many states in the North Central.

    Senator Adamu Aliero, (APC, Kebbi Central) had during a debate, set the stage for the need to establish state police.

    He narrated how one of his aides was burnt to death when he ran into attackers on a Plateau highway.

    Many of the lawmakers agreed with Aliero, as they vehemently rebuffed objection raised by Senator Kabiru Marafa (APC, Zamfara Central) on the matter.

    The debate followed a motion moved by Senator David Jonah Jang (PDP, Plateau South), who condemned the wanton killings of some of his constituents penultimate Sunday.

    Jang lamented what he described as the helplessness of the security agencies, particularly the police in responding to the attacks.

    The former governor, in the motion, said 155 people were killed in the attack carried out by Fulani herdsmen.

    According to him, 98 of the victims were from Mangu local government area of the state.

    He lamented that the attacks went on for several hours without any of the security agencies coming to the rescue of the victims.

    Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, said as long as Nigeria failed to get it right in terms of policing, the senseless killings would continue.

     

  • Court picks September 25 for ruling in IGP’s suit against Senate

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday fixed September for judgement on a suit filed by the Inspector -General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, against the Senate and its President, Bukola Saraki.

    Justice John Tsoho chose the date after listening to IGP’s lawyer, Alex Izinyon (SAN), argued on behalf of his client and urged the court to grant the plaintiff’s prayers.

    Idris is challenging the propriety of the May 9 resolution of the Senate, describing him as ” enemy of democracy and unfit to hold any public office within and outside Nigeria.”

    He is praying the court to, among others, quash the resolution of the Senate because it lacks the powers to declare him unfit to hold public office in Nigeria or elsewhere.

  • 2018 Budget: NASS will address media on concerns by Buhari- Senate

    The Senate has said that it had delegated its Chairman Committee on Appropriation, Sen. Danjuma Goje to hold a media briefing to clarify concerns raised by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2018 Budget.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi made this known in a statement on Wednesday.

    President Buhari in his speech while signing the 2018 budget on Wednesday, had raised concern about some changes made to the budget by the National Assembly.

    Abdullahi said the senate was in agreement with the statement issued by the House of Representatives, in response to the issues raised by Buhari on the budget.

    He said, the leadership of both chambers have directed the chairmen of our committees on appropriations to provide item by item, detailed explanations on all points raised by the President for the benefit of members of the public.

    “They will therefore address a press conference on Friday, June 22nd, 2018.

    “It should however be noted that the action of the National Assembly while working on the budget was informed by the provision of the Constitution on the need for inclusion, balance and the fact that the first responsibility of government is the security and welfare of all citizens,” he said.

    Read Also: Buhari signs Budget 2018 despite N578b injection

    President Buhari had in his speech said, “the logic behind the Constitutional direction that budgets should be proposed by the Executive is that, it is the Executive that knows and defines its policies and projects.

    “Unfortunately, that has not been given much regard in what has been sent to me. The National Assembly made cuts amounting to 347 billion Naira in the allocations to 4,700 projects submitted to them for consideration and introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting to 578 billion Naira.

    “Many of the projects cut are critical and may be difficult, if not impossible, to implement with the reduced allocation.

    “Some of the new projects inserted by the National Assembly have not been properly conceptualized, designed and costed and will therefore be difficult to execute.

    “Furthermore, many of these new projects introduced by the National Assembly have been added to the budgets of most MDAs with no consideration for institutional capacity to execute them or the incremental recurrent expenditure that may be required.

    “As it is, some of these projects relate to matters that are the responsibility of the States and Local Governments, and for which the Federal Government should therefore not be unduly burdened.

    ” Such examples of projects from which cuts were made are as follows:
    The provisions for some nationally/regionally strategic infrastructure projects such as Counter-part funding for the Mambilla Power Plant, Second Niger Bridge/ancillary roads, the East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Itakpe-Ajaokuta Rail Project were cut by an aggregate of 11.5 billion Naira.”

    “Similarly, provisions for some ongoing critical infrastructure projects in the FCT, Abuja especially major arterial roads and the mass transit rail project, were cut by a total of 7.5 billion Naira.

    “The provision for Rehabilitation and Additional Security Measures for the United Nations Building by the FCT, Abuja was cut by 3.9 billion Naira from 4 billion Naira to 100 million Naira.

    “The above will make it impossible for the Federal Government of Nigeria to fulfill its commitment to the United Nations on this project.

    “The provisions for various Strategic Interventions in the health sector such as the upgrade of some tertiary health institutions, transport and storage of vaccines through the cold chain supply system, provision of anti-retroviral drugs for persons on treatment, establishment of chemotherapy centres and procurement of dialysis consumables were cut by an aggregate amount of 7.45 billion Naira.

    “The provision for security infrastructure in the 104 Unity Schools across the country were cut by 3 billion Naira at a time when securing our students against acts of terrorism ought to be a major concern of government.

    “The provision for the Federal Government’s National Housing Programme was cut by 8.7 billion Naira.

    “At a time when we are working with Labour to address compensation-related issues, a total of 5 billion Naira was cut from the provisions for Pension Redemption Fund and Public Service Wage Adjustment.

    “The provisions for Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and Special Economic Zones/Industrial Parks, which are key industrialization initiatives of this Administration, were cut by a total of 14.5 billion Naira.

    “The provision for Construction of the Terminal Building at Enugu Airport was cut from 2 billion Naira to 500 million Naira which will further delay the completion of this critical project.”

    He also said, “the take-off Grant for the Maritime University in Delta State, a key strategic initiative of the Federal Government, was cut from 5 billion Naira to 3.4 billion Naira.

    “About seventy (70) new road projects have been inserted into the budget of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. In doing so, the National Assembly applied some of the additional funds expected from the upward review of the oil price benchmark to the Ministry’s vote.

    “Regrettably, however, in order to make provision for some of the new roads, the amounts allocated to some strategic major roads have been cut by the National Assembly.

    “Another area of concern is the increase by the National Assembly of the provisions for Statutory Transfers by an aggregate of 73.96 billion Naira.

    “Most of these increases are for recurrent expenditure at a time we are trying to keep down the cost of governance.

    “An example of this increase is the budget of the National Assembly itself which has increased by 14.5 billion Naira, from 125 billion Naira to 139.5 billion Naira without any discussion with the Executive.”

    NAN

  • Senate seeks declaration of June 12 election results

    SENATORS resolved yesterday to request the electoral agency that conducted the 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola to declare the results.

    The military government of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida halted the tally of the results and the announcement of the winner after states had released the results.

    Gen. Babangida, for no just reason, annulled the results and declared the election invalid.

    The resolution of the Senate followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day and the posthumous award of GCFR to Chief MKO Abiola.

    Senator Lanre Tejuoso (Ogun Central) drew the attention of the Senate to the recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day by President Buhari.

    He prayed the upper chamber to acknowledge the feat achieved by President Buhari in his recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day.

    He said the time was ripe for reconciliation in the country as was demonstrated by President Buhari in his recognition of Abiola and Babagana Kingibe for their roles in the June 12 election.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki agreed that reconciliation was long overdue in Abiola’s matter.  .

    Saraki hoped that honouring  Abiola would go a long way to heal the wounds inflicted by the annulment of the June 12,1993 election.

    Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) raised another motion – that the debate of  the proclamation  of  June 12 as Democracy Day should be thrown open for others to contribute.

    She praised Buhari’s courage  recognising  the June 12 election and added that the result of the election should be announced and Chief Abiola and Kingibe declared President and Vice President.

    Olujimi said only the result’s announcement would make Buhari’s gesture not be taken as a Greek gift.

    She said that after the announcement of the result of the June 12 election, reparation should be paid to the family members of Chief Abiola and to Kingibe.

    Senate Leader  Ahmed Lawan said on June 12, 1993, Nigerians voted for a candidate of their choice without ethnic colouration.

    Lawan said it was obvious that President Buhari uplifted Nigerians’ spirits by recognising June 12 as Democracy Day.

    He prayed the Senate to be supportive of the President’s declaration while encouraging Nigerians to always vote for candidates on their merits.

    He said that Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) senators might want to make a caricature of what the President did.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who also commended President Buhari for the recognition of June 12, quoted Section 135 of the Constitution to insist that May 29 of every year must remain the date of inauguration of elected officers.

    Ekweremadu said since President Buhari had elected to redress injustices in the country, he should go the whole hog to address injustices wherever they exist.

    Ekweremadu supported that the electoral agency should be prevailed upon to release the results “so that Chief Abiola will be known as president and Kingibe vice president of Nigeria”.

    Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe said the Executive should quickly bring to the National Assembly the Act dealing with posthumous awards for amendment to accommodate Buhari’s announcement.

    Abaribe (Abia South) proposed that December 31, 1983 be declared democracy destruction day “because this is the same day this same President staged a coup to remove elected government of President Shehu Shagari”.

    Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano North) raised a point of order to the effect that Abaribe’s motion should be discountenanced because it introduced matters not related to the subject under discussion.

    Saraki sustained the point of order.

    Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) said that although Abiola deserved the honour , the rule of law should always be followed.

    Melaye said a dead man should not be considered a citizen of the country.

    Saraki ruled that the good intention in the recognition of June 12 should be taken.

    He noted that though there might be imperfections, the good intention should be taken.

    The Senate subsequently adopted that the result of the June 12, 1993 should be announced and resolved that:

    .Abiola’s and Kingibe ‘s entitlements should be paid; and that

    .May 29 remains the day of inauguration of elected officers.

  • IG accuses Saraki, Senate of harbouring hatred for him

    A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has given nod to plan by the Inspector General (IG), Ibrahim Idris, to sue for an order quashing the May 9, 2015 resolution of the Senate, which described him as “an enemy of democracy and unfit to hold any public office within and outside Nigeria”.

    In an ex-parte ruling, Justice John Tsoho granted leave to the IG to file an originating summons for judicial review of the said resolution made on May 9 this year by the Senate, for the purpose of quashing it.

    The judge ordered that processes in the suit, including the ruling, to be served on the respondents – the Senate and its President, Bukola Saraki – through the Clerk of the National Assembly.

    He said the service of the processes through the Clerk of the Senate shall be deemed proper and valid service.

    Justice Tsoho gave the ruling after IGP’s lawyer Alex Izinyon (SAN) moved the application and prayed the court to grant it.

    The proceedings yesterday were separate from a pending suit equally file by the IG, challenging the legitimacy of the Senate’s insistence that he must appear before the legislative house in person in relation to the Senate’s purported probe of the trial of its member, Dino Melaye, on criminal charges.

    Idris, in an affidavit supporting his ex-parte application that was moved yesterday, described the May 9 resolution of the Senate as “legislative judgment”.

    He argued that the conduct of the respondents, in the proceedings leading to resolution, was borne out of the “hatred and undisguised contempt” they allegedly harbour against him.

    The IG said the conduct of the Senate and its President, Saraki, during the “votes and proceedings” leading to the May 9, 2018 resolution “is palpable of bias, deep rooted prejudice, visible hatred, and undisguised contempt of me”.

    He added: “That I was informed by my lead counsel, Dr. Alex A. Izinyon, SAN, in his office at No. 1 Kinshasa Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja on May 20, 2018 about 5:30pm of the following facts, which I verily believe to be true:

    “That the respondents lack the competence and/or jurisdiction to impose penal sanction on me under section 88 and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

    “That the respondents act ultra vires its powers under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by imposing on me penal sanction unknown to law contained in the said gazette dated 9th May, 2018.”

    The IG added that the conduct of the respondents throughout the votes and proceedings that led to the said resolution showed “deep rooted prejudiced, visible hatred and undisguised contempt for me”.

    “That the said votes and proceedings leading to the resolution contained in the said gazette wherein sanction was imposed on me is a legislative judgment.

    “That this court has the supervisory power to quash the said resolution contained in the gazette dated May 9, 2018,” he said.

    The IG, in the originating summons, is praying the court for “order of certiorari” quashing “the entire votes and proceedings” leading to the “resolution contained in the gazette dated May 9, 2018”.

    He also prayed for the same order “quashing same the report of the Ad hoc Committee investigating the various allegations levelled against the applicant (Idris) that led to the said resolution contained in the gazette dated May 9, 2018”.

    Hearing in the case has been fixed for June 27.

     

     

     

  • Senate adjourns till July 3

    THE Senate yesterday adjourned plenary till July 3.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki made the announcement.

    The Senate had in the course of the day’s plenary deliberated on declaration of June 12 as public holiday by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The senate also confirmed Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati among other things.

  • Senate confirms Abdu-Kafarati as Federal High Court Chief Judge

    THE Senate yesterday confirmed the nomination of Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati as the Chief Judge of Federal High Court.

    This followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matter, which screened the nominee.

    Chairman of the committee, Senator David Umaru, presented report of his committee on the screening of Abdu-Kafarati for consideration and approval.

    The report was not debated as the lawmakers agreed with the recommendation of the screening committee that the nominee should be confirmed.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided during the consideration and adoption of the report, reminded Abdu-Kafarati that “to whom much is given much is expected”.

    Ekweremadu said Abdu-Kafarati should dispense justice always without fear or favour and to be seen without reproach.

    He lauded Abdu-Kafarati for his appointment and wished him well in the discharge of his duty as a judicial officer.

     

     

     

  • Malami faults NASS on impeachment plot against Buhari

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has faulted the National Assembly over impeachable issues raised against President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He also said any senator or member of the House of Representatives indicted for wrong doing must be investigated by the appropriate agency.

    The AGF said he has not come to terms on why the National Assembly passed a vote of no confidence on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

    Malami bared his mind on Wednesday night while featuring on a Channels TV programme, “The Core,” which was anchored by ace broadcaster, Ms. Kadaria Ahmed.

    He had appeared on the programme with the spokesman of the Senate, Aliyu Sabi, the representative of the Inspector-General of Police, DIG Habila Joshak and a human rights activist, Mr. Clement Nwankwo.

    The AGF said instead of the National Assembly challenging Buhari on insecurity and unemployment, it should realize that it failed to pass the 2018 budget on time.

    He said: “Issues were raised by the National Assembly during their session that they think constituted perhaps misconducts but then, within the context of the issues raised, we need to reassess them. Let us take for example the issue of insecurity, or perhaps issue that borders on unemployment among others.

    “For the past seven months, insecurity for example, the Executive placed the budget before the National Assembly for passage. For instance, you have around N1trillion that was intended to address insecurity but it has not been passed.

    “On unemployment, over N900 billion was embedded in the budget and meant for social investment programme of the Federal Government. Within seven months period, senators for instance were taking over N3billion as wages within the seven months while the social security investment meant for the masses was not attended to.”

     

  • Senate holds public hearing on PIB

    The Nigerian Senate today will be holding the Public Hearing on the following Bills:

    1. Petroleum Industry Fiscal Framework Bill;

    2. Petroleum Host Community Bill; and

    3. Petroleum Industry Administration Bill.

    This was made known by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki via his twitter handle in the early hours of today.

    Senate on PIB

    The Petroleum Industry Bill ( PIB ) seeks to provide solutions to several issues militating against the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

    The PIB, as a single, all embracing, and comprehensive document, will change the whole gamut of the petroleum industry in Nigeria.

    It will encourage more investment as well as achieve improved regulation, transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

    You can follow the conversation on twitter via: #PIBPublicHearing.