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Tag: Senate

  • Senate, House fail to lay Budget 2018 six months after presentation

    Six months after President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2018 budget to the National Assembly, the lawmakers yesterday failed to lay it for consideration, contrary to their promise to do so.

    The President presented the document to the lawmakers on November 7, 2017, urging them to pass it on time to enable the country return to the January – December budget cycle, which has not been in place for many years because of the delayed passage. This year’s delay is the longest since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999.

    There was no mention of the budget at the plenary in the Senate and the House of Representatives yesterday.

    Last week, the House of Representatives promised that the budget would be laid yesterday and passed before the end of the week.

    But the Order Paper of the House carried no such item. Reporters were also not told why it was not listed but it might not be unconnected with the failure of some of the committees to submit their reports to the Appropriation Committee.

    Briefing reporters last Thursday, House Committee on Media and Publicity Chairman Abdulrasak Namdas said: “By the Grace of God, we will lay the budget on Tuesday (yesterday) and then try to pass it that same week.

    “We are laying it on Tuesday and I can assure you that within that same week, we’re going to pass it.

    “We tried to do that, but you know, the budget is a voluminous document.. Actually, we’ve been working hard so that we can beat the deadline, and hopefully this time around, I can assure you that by next week (this week), everything about the budget will be concluded and passed.”

    The Senate also gave assurance on the passage of the budget this week.

    On Monday after meeting with President Buhari, Senate President Bukola Saraki said the budget might be laid this week and passed next week.

    Before then, the lawmakers had been giving conflicting dates. House Speaker Yakubu Dogara promised the passage of the Budget by late April. House Committee on Appropriation Chairman Mustapha Dawaki said it would be passed this month.

    After a meeting between the leadership of the National Assembly and the President, the lawmakers accused some ministers and heads of agencies of failing to defend their budgets, thereby causing the delay. The President issued an order for those involved to comply.

    Saraki on another occasion accused some committees of the Senate of failing to do their job with dispatch.

    Yesterday, efforts to reach Namdas, who promised on behalf of the House that the budget would be laid yesterday, failed.

    He was said to have travelled to South Africa on an assignment.

     

  • Arms proliferation: Senate summons NSA, service chiefs, DSS DG

    The Senate Tuesday invited the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno and Service Chiefs to brief the Senate about how to halt increasing spate of proliferation of dangerous weapons into the country.

    The upper chamber also invited the Director General, Department of State Service (DSS), Director General Nigeria Intelligent Agency (NIA), Comptroller General Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Comptroller General Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for the same briefing.

    Also invited for the same purpose is the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idirs.

    The resolution to invite the security chiefs followed the unanimous adoption of a motion entitled “Proliferation of Dangerous Firearms in Nigeria,” sponsored by Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North)

    Senators took turns to decry what they described as the reign of terror in parts of the country due controlled proliferation of firearms.

    The lawmakers warned that unless drastic action was taken to halt sweeping proliferation of firearms the country was likely to be the worse for it.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, noted that briefing by the security chiefs would surely go a going way to enable the Senate articulate the way out of the problem.

    Hunkuyi in his lead debate noted that tribal, communal, religious, and other sectarian clashes; including the farmers/herdsmen crises were more devastating due to wrongful and easy acquisition of firearms in violation of due process as laid down by the enabling laws and regulations in the country.

    He said that the ugly trend has contributed to the colossal loss of lives and wanton destruction of property of Nigerian citizens.

    The Kaduna North lawmaker said that he is aware that the situation is attributable to the inability to control the proliferation of firearms within country; “as well as negligence from the departments of government entrusted with the responsibility to control how individuals, corporate entities can acquire and maintain firearms in Nigeria, but particularly the free access by hoodlums to acquire firearms easily.”

    Hunkuyi said that he is disturbed that online, electronic and print media carry chilling reports confirming the proliferation of firearms in Nigeria.

    He cited a report which said that the Inspector-General of Police, on the 24th February 2018, ordered a nation-wide mop up of illegal firearms to sanitize the country and another report which said that the Commissioner of Police, Jigawa State had ordered all indigenes to surrender firearms to embrace peace and yet another which said that the Police Commissioner for Zamfara State had given directives to all citizens in that state to drop their firearms in the interest of peace.

    He said that there were similar reports, part of which was that the Inspector-General of Police ordered his officers and men to harvest arms in Bauchi, Imo, Delta, Edo, Rivers, Zamfara, Yobe, Kano, Kaduna and others.

    He expressed worry that “despite the killings in Benue, Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara and other parts of Nigeria, (which occurred within a spate of a short period of February to April 2018!), and of course, the Boko Haram mayhem in the North-East, coupled with the daily nationally spread cases of sophisticated killings, deadly clashes, armed robberies, kidnappings, cattle rustling and other heinous crimes, where hitherto unavailable firearms are used, meaningful effort is not seen to be done on the part of the government to curtail the proliferation of firearms in Nigeria.”

    He lamented that “the situation has worsen to the extent that some opinion leaders are calling on Nigerians to stand up and protect themselves. These prodding at self-defence, if not checked through action by the government, would certainly get to the extent that firearm would be secured by every household either in the name of protection or for some other purposes.”

    He noted that from the observation of the United States experience, the prevailing scenario will not augur well for the country

    Hunkuyi further expressed worry that “the spate of unrest due to illegal proliferation of firearms has negatively impacted on economic and agricultural activities to the extent that due to fear of attacks, many law abiding citizens fear going to the market as well as  attend to their farms (this is Noma Haram; and very soon, we shall have Kasuwa Haram).”

    “The loss in the economy occasioned by this problem is better imagined,” he said.

    According to him, a closer look at the fallout of the incessant attacks by firearm bearing criminals would reveal the unprecedented devastation to the country’s economy and agriculture.

    He continued, “The well-known cattle and the peaceful herdsmen in parts of Zamfara, Kaduna and other areas are no longer there. Many of the guinea corn, millet, rice and yam producing areas of Borno, Yobe, Zamfara Kaduna, and Benue now lie waste due to the murderous activities of gangs carrying illegally acquired firearms;

    “Alarmed that if this situation is allowed to further deteriorate, unprecedented famine and diminishing economic output, as seen in nations plagued by war and crises will pervade Nigeria. As the most populous country on the African continent, the nation’s GDP would certainly be affected adversely;

    “Regrets that the various departments of government entrusted with the responsibility of checking and regulating the influx of firearms into Nigeria have failed woefully in the discharge of this all important duty. The combined effect of sections 3 and 4 of the Firearms Act respectively, restricts the possession of firearms among persons. Section 3 of the Firearms Act specifically mentioned that no person should possess the category of firearms as seen with these heartless persons, unless that person is granted a license by the President. Section 4 of the Act gave the Inspector-General of Police the power to issue license for people with less lethal firearms.

    “But one does not need to ask whether all the firearm bearing elements, ranging from kidnappers, armed robbers, armed herdsmen, cattle rustlers, cultists et all, got their license from these appropriate quarters, because the answer is an emphatic no. Then the question goes to the effect that why the proliferation?;”

    He noted that “by virtue of section 24 of the Customs and Excise Management Act, the Nigerian Customs could be directed to prohibit the importation of any specified goods. Section 8 of the Act gives Customs the power of police officers in the discharge of their duties. By implication, it is also the responsibility of the Customs to ensure that no single firearm comes into the country without due authorization. By its establishment Act, the Department of State Services Act is likewise empowered to detect and prevent any crime within Nigeria. What is obtainable on the whole is that the colossal system collapse of these organizations to live up to the minimum level of expectation in this regard is most glaring.”

     

  • Senate, IGP Idris and rule of law

    THE last two weeks have been galling for the National Assembly, Nigeria’s most critical symbol of democracy. Twice the Senate invited the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to answer questions on the ongoing killings in parts of the country and the Dino Melaye affair, particularly the apparent mistreatment of the Kogi West senator. But twice the IGP declined to honour the invitation, citing a number of extraneous excuses. Both the invitation and the shunning of the invitation have implications for Nigerian democracy.

    Mr Idris was first invited to interact with the Senate on April 26. Since he declined the invitation with a belated excuse issued verbally, the lawmakers rescheduled the invitation for May 2. Hoping perhaps to deflect the consequences of shunning the invitation, and expecting that he could whip up public sentiment in his favour and against a parliament to which many Nigerians had either become indifferent or revolted, the IGP caused to be issued on April 30 a public effrontery setting out why he ignored the lawmakers. The statement itself was a study in public affront.

    After setting out why he thought he acted within his powers to delegate his second-in-command to attend to the Senate’s queries, Mr Idris, through the Force public relations officer, Jimoh Moshood, threw down the gauntlet: “The Nigeria Police Force is a law abiding organization and holds the Senate and its leadership in high esteem. However the Force wishes to impress on the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not to personalise or trivialise the criminal offenses (Criminal Conspiracy and Unlawful Possession of Prohibited Firearms and other sundry offenses) indicting Sen. Dino Melaye from confessions of two (2) suspected kidnappers and Armed Robbers namely: Kabiru Saidu a.k.a Osama and Nuhu Salisu a.k.a Small in Lokoja on the 19th of March, 2018. Considering all the above, the Senate should allow the rule of law and justice to prevail in this matter.”

    It is not clear how the IGP thought the police were a law-abiding organisation, having just declined the parliament’s invitation, not once but twice. Nor, going by his extremely intemperate observation about police duties and organisational structure, is it any clearer whether policemen as law enforcement agents actually understand the law. Worse, by impudently impressing it on the Senate not to “personalise or trivialise” the Sen Melaye affair, it seemed abundantly clear just what the police thought of the highest lawmaking body in Nigeria. It is doubtful indeed whether in penning their saucy rebuke of the Senate the police have either a deep or at least commonsensical understanding of the role of a parliament in a democracy.

    Like many Nigerians, the police have chosen unwisely and ignorantly to view the Senate as an institution to be coterminous with its generally unflattering reputation. Widely viewed as rapacious — a point ‘impressed’ on Nigerians by both ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo and former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, and now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi — self-centred, combative and insolent, the Senate is believed by many Nigerians to be incapable of putting even one foot right. In addition, given the controversial manner in which the principal officers of the 8th Senate took office, many Nigerians generalise the Senate to be lacking in legitimacy. And finally, considering the unearthly earnings the senators have managed to appropriate for themselves in the midst of widespread poverty and infrastructural collapse, quite a significant number of Nigerians, it seems, will be happy to see the parliament sacked or defanged.

    Though they are capable of far worse behaviour, not to say abominable dereliction of duty, the police may themselves be cashing in on this public disenchantment with the parliament to justify their rudeness to the lawmaking body. But if anybody or organisation should disrespect the parliament, the police, by nature and duty, should be the last to engage in such abhorrence. What the attitude of the IGP and the imperious statement he issued have shown is that Nigeria is witnessing deep fissures in the body politic. Mr Idris could not have behaved so atrociously or author that very disrespectful April 30 statement without some support from higher quarters. It is possible the trip with the president to Bauchi had been planned before the Senate invitation reached him. But if he had respect for the parliament, he would have mentioned the summons to the president. And if the president knew the value of the parliament and rightly esteemed and situated the institution within the context of democracy and national stability, he would have ordered the IGP to honour the invitation. It is inconceivable that the IGP kept silent about the invitation, and that the president was himself unaware of the widely reported invitation to an officer who had once been egregiously insubordinate to him.

    But not only were there no indications that both the president and the IGP handled the matter deftly, there was no mention by the police boss that he showed any consideration whatsoever in the discharge of his duties or his attitude to the parliament. In any case, when the Senate sensibly extended the invitation by another one week, perhaps to give the IGP enough rope to hang himself, Mr Idris took off to Kaduna State to attend, as he suggested implausibly, to the worsening security situation in Birnin Gwari. It was clear he had no intention of honouring the Senate invitation, or at least not as soon as he received it. There is also no doubt that Mr Idris has very little understanding of the place of a parliament in a democracy, especially in Nigeria’s tottering democracy to which the Senate, despite its obvious and galling weaknesses, has been more responsive than the police has shown depth, imagination and ethicalness in law enforcement.

    Even if their invitation to Mr Idris was ‘personal’ and ‘trivial’, the Senate still reserves the right to ask to meet with the police over the evident mistreatment, if not persecution, the supposedly loathsome Sen Melaye had received at the hands of the police. It may not occur to the police and to those who still find it difficult to divorce the person from the issue, but the unprofessional manner the IGP has handled the Melaye affair, especially the widely held suspicion that the police were acting at the behest of the Kogi State governor with whom the senator was locked in political battle, required the attention of fellow lawmakers. Sen Melaye is still a senator, and the mistreatment and indignity he has suffered rub off on the image of the Senate. There was nothing in what the police presented to the public to suggest that adequate investigations had been done in the mater to warrant the brutal but figurative execution of the image and person of the senator. The Senate rightly showed concern, regardless of Sen Melaye’s foibles.

    More worryingly, it is strange that it has not occurred to those who defend the atrocious police approach to the affair that if a senator could be so manhandled on the basis of a shoddy and flimsy investigation, the rest of the country would be fair game for a law enforcement body more notorious for damning and implicating the innocent than exposing the guilty. The police handling of the Melaye affair, like the many negative portraitures of Nigerians by Nigerian leaders during their foreign trips, has done a lot of damage to the image of the country. If Nigerians lack the decency and common sense to treat one another fairly and decorously, they are merely exhibiting to the world just how poorly they esteem the human person.

    The IGP may lack the depth of understanding to handle the Senate invitation and the Melaye affair with the circumspection expected of his office, but the problem is even much worse than seems apparent. The executive, which should deter public appointees from insulting and affronting the parliament, has been unenthusiastic in playing the role of the best and most powerful defender of democracy. The reason is not far-fetched. The presidency and their supporters view the parliament with suspicion and fear bordering on disgust and disdain. Since the Senate has informally turned itself into probably the most potent opposition to the Buhari presidency, the government may be disinclined from taking any step to strengthen the parliament. This is short-sightedness at its worst. Past presidents took similar steps either to compromise the parliament or weaken it. Now, they probably regret their roles in fostering the parliament’s own failings, and exacerbating the existential crisis Nigerian democracy appears to be facing today.

    The Excess Crude Account (ECA) controversy in which about $500m was withdrawn without appropriation in February, a disturbing fact that came to public knowledge only last month, indicates just how gingerly democracy is perched on the edge of disaster or authoritarianism. But much more critically, it also indicates how superficially the executive branch appreciates the role of a parliament in a democracy, and how the parliament’s balancing role, even if led and inspired by intraparty and interparty opposition, is apt to be interpreted as disrespectful of the presidency or subversive of its agenda. Senate president Bukola Saraki, apart from the suspicion about where his loyalties lie, is considered as the personification of that hurtful opposition. But by being incapable of differentiating between the person and even image of Sen Saraki on the one hand, and the sanctity and independence of the parliament on the other hand, when in fact the parliament, more than the executive, is the truest representative of Nigerian democracy, the presidency creates the worrisome impression that at bottom it could not care less what happens to democracy. This summation is incontrovertible, for the Nigerian presidency under Muhammadu Buhari, has more or less given the impression it prefers to operate as a monarchy.

    By dealing with Sen Melaye as brutally as they have done, and by refusing to honour the Senate’s invitation, the police have disrespected the parliament and sneered at democracy. They may not like Senators Saraki and Melaye, and a vast majority of Nigerians may find the parliament greedy and grabbing, but they will be foolish to do the nauseous bidding of an executive branch that shows a proclivity for authoritarianism and finds merit in denuding the parliament of its power to check a government that alarmingly still justifies its unlawful ECA spending. It is in moments like these that the judicious wish Nigeria was running a parliamentary government, where a prime minister should think on his feet or be compelled to blanch at his own witlessness after making inane arguments.

    The Senate may already be feeling the pressures from the presidency and the colluding security agencies. Senators may even be groaning under their own failings and shortcomings. But they must not be discouraged from pressing on to the logical conclusion in tackling what is clearly budding fascism as exampled by the police. If the IGP could tell the Senate off with such brazen effrontery, asking them to eschew personal interest and triviality in the discharge of their duties, and if the police could lend themselves to the malevolent designs of a state government, there is no telling what they will do on some inauspicious tomorrow to a commoner. Now is the time to put a stop to the malady, for whether critics of the parliament like or not, democracy is clearly endangered.

  • Senate without Melaye

    Love or hate him, you cannot deny the huge talent of Dino Melaye, the rambunctious senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly. Reputed for winning elections even when the odds are stacked against him, he has also proven that his talent extends to other spheres of human endeavour, including boxing, wrestling, music and acting.

    He came into national consciousness as a member of the House of Representatives in 2007 when he provoked a free for all on the floor of the House as a member of the Integrity Group demanding the resignation of the then Speaker, Patricia Etteh. In the process, he had his dress torn into shreds. He has since followed up the incident with others like a verbal attack on Senator Oluremi Tinubu and his celebrated face-off with Omoyele Sowore of the online news medium, saharareporters.

    Last week, he upped his game by treading on a terrain dreaded even by James Bond. Arrested by the police after weeks of manhunt, Melaye reportedly wriggled his huge frame through the window of a police vehicle that was conveying him from Abuja to Lokoja where he was billed to face trial for criminal conspiracy and illegal possession of firearms, diving unto the hard surface and injuring himself in the process. Seemingly embarrassed at the huge crowd the incident attracted, the police left the scene only to re-arrest him at a private hospital where he was reportedly taken by suspected thugs who were said to have blocked the police vehicle conveying the senator to Lokoja.

    Events thereafter assumed a fast tempo, culminating in the senator’s arraignment, first in Abuja for attempted suicide, and then in Lokoja for gunrunning, illegal possession of firearms, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and other offences. The judge in Lokoja court where he was arraigned on a stretcher declined Melaye’s request for bail and ordered that he be kept in prison custody until June 11 when he would be brought back to court.

    Although the police have assured that the next time Melaye appears in court he will be as fit as a fiddle, it is hard to imagine the Senate without the man on whose pivot its engine rotates. Whether for his comic value or his skill at stirring up incidents when the upper chamber appears dull, the Senate without him will be nothing but drudgery. It is no surprise, therefore, that Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, a co-owner of Silverbird Galleria who knows the worth of the entertainment Melaye brings to the chamber, has been so concerned about the plight of the embattled senator. Melaye’s wellbeing is of so such importance to Murray-Bruce that he has taken it upon himself to do a minute by minute update on his condition in the hospital, at the police station and in the courts.

    In one of his numerous posts on the internet, the Common Sense Senator, as Murray-Bruce is fondly called, volunteered an explained why Melaye had to jump off a moving vehicle. He said the senator had to jump off a moving vehicle because he was asthmatic and the police kept firing tear gas at him. Rather than hail Murray-Bruce for his brilliant account, some mischievous people say it is devoid of commonsense. The police, they insist, would not be so stupid as to throw tear gas canisters in a vehicle they boarded with Dino.

    The interest Murray-Bruce has shown in Melaye’s matter is by no means an indication that he feels more concerned about him than does the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; the man to whom Melaye has shown more commitment than his constituents. Indeed, his fawny adulation of the Senate President had been one of the reasons his constituents made moved for his recall from the Senate before they backed down at the critical stage of the exercise. The Senate President will surely be ruing life in the upper chamber without the man better known by many as his bodyguard. It is one of the ironies of life that Melaye, who has been escorting the Senate President in and out of court over his false asset declaration case, now has to shuttle between Abuja and Lokoja to attend to two different cases filed against him by the police.

    Anyone who does not share a gene with Boko Haram or killer herdsmen would be moved by the sight of Melaye on a stretcher. But one must be honest to admit that in shunning the invitation the police extended to him, his conduct as a senator fell short of the expectations of reasonable people. With all his loquacious braggadocio, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode would not smirk at an invitation from the police. Neither would Melaye’s boss and Senate President, Saraki, spun such a summons.

    Just two or three days ago, Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central, posted a message on his Facebook wall, saying that he had just returned from honouring a police invitation in Kaduna State. That is a senator whose relationship with Governor Nasir El-Rufai is probably more strained than Melaye has with Governor Yaya Bello. But Sani, unlike Dino, would not latch on to it as an alibi to spun police invitation.

    • Continue online www.staging.thenationonlineng.net

  • Senate hails Fed Govt’s ban on codeine

    THE Senate has hailed the Federal Government for the ban on production and importation of codeine syrup.

    At its plenary session yesterday, the lawmakers observed that codeine was one of the drugs so much abused in Nigeria.

    Speaking on the matter, Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan said: “You will recall in October last year, this Senate debated and took resolutions on a motion specifically dealing with the abuse of drugs, particularly codeine syrup in Northern Nigeria and Nigeria at large.

    “The report at that debate was that between Jigawa and Kano states, over three million bottles of codeine are consumed on a daily basis. Today in Nigeria, there is hardly one single family that does not have an addict of some sort.

    “This is the most destructive phenomenon in Nigeria after the killing by Boko Haram and the bandits. Nigeria is supposed to be much more worried of addiction than any other situation.

    Lawan noted that the Senate President Bukola Saraki led a delegation to Kano last year with the view to finding ways and manners of dealing with the situation.

    Lawan continued: “I believe that today between the executive and legislature, we have found a common ground. We debated and took resolutions. The executive have found enough reasons and grounds to ban the importation of this deadly syrup.

    “I feel the National Assembly, particularly the Senate and our committees on drugs and narcotics should work with the Federal Ministry of Health and NAFDAC on the implementation of this ban.”

    Saraki, while commenting on the matter said, “Let me commend the Minister of Health and NAFDAC who have responded quickly to this.

    “The committee should ensure proper oversight to see that this ban is strictly adhered to. It is a great day for those of us advocating the tackling of drug abuse, which is affecting many of our girls and women. Let’s see that this is restricted. This is one of the good things the two arms of government are working on together.”

     

     

  • Omo-Agege’s suspension not supported by any law – Malami

    …Court fixes judgment for May 10 in suspended Senator’s suit

     

    The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) argued Monday that the decision by the Senate to suspend the Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Ove Omo-Agege was not supported by any known law.

    Malami equally contended that the suspension violated the right of the constituency represented by Senator Omo-Agege to participate in the country’s governance and to be so represented.

    The AGF made his position on the issue public Monday at the hearing of the suit by the suspended Senator, challenging the legality of the Senate’s decision.

    The Solicitor General of the Federation (SGF), Dayo Apata, who represented Malami said the AGF’s position in the case was informed by his constitutional responsibility as the defender and guardian of the Constitution

    He argued that although the AGF was sued as a defendant, he has the right to address this court on the need to prevent the breach of constitutional provisions by the Senate.

    Apata added: “In view of the position of the law, it is the 3rd defendant’s submission that the suspension of the plaintiff is not supported by law and should be set aside by this honourable court.

    “As a Senator, the plaintiff represents his senatorial district, whose electorate, through him, participate in the governance and his suspension for a whole lot of 90 days amount to punishing an entire senatorial district for a period of 90 days and denying them participation in the governance of the country, which is a legal right.

    “It is our submission that the suspension of the plaintiff for 90 legislative days without any legal backing is also an infringement of the rights of his people, who elected him to represent them in the Senate to participate in the governance of Nigeria, thus illegal and unconstitutional and we urge my Lord to so hold.”

    Earlier, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Alex Iziyon (SAN) urged the court to nullify the steps taken by the Senate; including his client’s suspension by the Senate during the pendency of a suit he (Omo-Agege) filed against the plan to suspend him.

    Iziyon said: “Under the consequential orders sought by the plaintiff, the court can nullify any other steps taken by the defendant during the pendency of this suit.

    He added that the court has the power to “pull down what has been done in defiance of court’s proceedings”.

    Relying on a number of court’s decision, prohibiting legislative houses from suspending legislators, Iziyon argued that the “this court has the power to undo what they have done.”

    Lawyers to the 1st and 2nd defendants (the Senate and its President), Mahmoud Magaji (SAN) urged the court to dismiss the suit.

    Magaji argued that the cases cited by Izinyon were distinguishable from Omo-Agege’s case.

    He noted that: “Exhibit MAM1 shows that the plaintiff is not an ordinary senator. He is a lawyer. In addition, he is a member of the committee that recommended his suspension.

    “He is number 13 on the list of the members of the committee. He participated in the proceedings of the committee that recommended the suspension of other senators, particularly Senator Ali Ndume.

    “Those who live by the sword must die by the sword”.

    Malami wondered why the senator, “who has been dishing out such punishment to his colleagues should come to court for protection for such punishment”.

    He argued that Omo-Agege was bound by the rules of the Senate and had no basis to challenge the action of the Senate against him.

    Malami said: “He (Omo-Agege) swore to an oath to be bound by the rules of the National Assembly, including the standing order,” Magaji said.

    After listening to arguments by parties, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba adjourned to May 10 for judgment.

    Earlier, the dismissed an application by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senators Samuel Anyawu and Bala Na’Allah, seeking to be made parties in the case

    The judge upheld the objection put forward by Omo-Agege and the AGF against the two senators’ application.

    The judge upheld the contention that since the committee members were agents of a disclosed principal – the Senate and the Senate Principal, needed not to be joined in the suit.

    He added that they could not be joined because no contribution would they make in the case that the Senate and its President could not make.

    He also ruled that the application by the applicants were incompetent as they failed to file their proposed defence in respect of the suit as the court’s rules required of an applicant seeking to be joined in a suit.

    Read Also: Omo-Agege takes Senate, AGF to court

     

  • Because this Senate isn’t anyone’s fiefdom…

    ORDINARILY, the Senate of any nation in a constitutional democracy is conceived to be an arena for informed wisdom, cross-fertilization of productive ideas with an almost limitless tolerance for dissention. It is a place where people either agree to disagree or disagree to agree. It is for this reason that, oftentimes, the majority is sure to have its way while the minority will have its say. Essentially, it is a gathering of equals in which leadership is picked at the discretion of members who represent various constituencies across the federation. By all sense and purposes, the Nigerian Senate as it was then and as it is presently construed should not be any different. Members are expected to freely ventilate their opinions, political thoughts and choices without let or hindrance as long as such is done within the bounds of the laws of the land in dignified manner. Age is not necessarily a barrier to the lofty ideals that such law-making body all over the world sets for itself. However, it is assumed that those privileged to be in a chamber with the arduous task of formulating laws for the good governance of the country must exhibit some level of gray-haired perceptive mindset and comportment in discharging that responsibility. It should be a gathering of serious-minded patriots and not a conclave for rascally display of ego-tripping buffoonery and hollow charade.

    It is a pity that, some 18 years after Nigeria’s fresh foray into democratic governance, the nation’s highest legislative body is yet to grasp all the fine ethos of representative governance highlighted above despite its pretenses to such. The hallowed chamber, as it were, has been desecrated by the despicable acts and serial political heresy of brigands occupying the sacred seats. The mace, which is the symbol of legislative authority, has been dazed in a maze of deadly punches and unrestrained sacrilege. It has been laid bare of its power. For all we know, it could just be one of the mere artistic works engraved with the nation’s coat of arms regularly hawked on the streets to, perhaps, remind us that we still have a country no matter how battered. It may be a harsh verdict but it is the sad reality of a country still battling for a governance identity despite countless trials. The truth is: as long as the National Assembly continues to see itself as the alternative government in line to take over from a bumbling executive and for as long as it is run at the whim of a leader with the power to distribute ‘juicy’ freebies, it will continue to be buffeted with sour tomatoes in addition to taking a prime place as an object of ridicule.

    To be candid, I had often nursed the fear that the 8th National Assembly, especially the Senate, was a time bomb waiting to explode going by the desperation with which its present leadership grabbed power. The cowboy style with which the leadership heralded itself into power marked the beginning of what we are witnessing today. Right before our eyes, the All Progressives Congress’ birthright to control that arm of government was traded off to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party by those who place selfish interest over honour, dignity and party supremacy. And so, embedded in the ruling APC is a powerful force that, right from inception, was poised to frustrate it if the executive doesn’t pander to certain demands from the legislature. That, to me, is what the President Muhammadu Buhari government has been battling with after the euphoria of his grave confession of being ready to work with whosoever emerged as the Senate President had fizzled out. It was quite clear that this political neophyte in Aso Rock didn’t understand the dynamics of power neither did he know what he was toying with by opting to work with an opponent that obviously wasn’t interested in working with him or with his party. His enemies are his fiendish friends who share the same table with him.

    Today, Nigerians remain the collective victims of that political gamble of the 2015 Senate leadership chicanery. It is one of the pivotal reasons why the Buhari change agenda has remained comatose. And it is the reason why the Senate is being run like a fiefdom by a band of brigands who would do anything to muzzle any form of opposition even by their own members. That is why Senator Ovie Omo-Agege could be suspended without due regards for the courts or even the rules and principles that ought to guide the conduct of the Senate. When you try to interrogate why a duly elected Senator should be suspended for 181 days or 90 legislative days, all you get are tendentious excuses that stand logic on its head.  Is it not laughable that, in this age and time, a senator could be ‘sanctioned’ for associating with some of his colleagues to form the Parliamentary Support Group for the President of his nation? How can holding a dissenting opinion in a parliament become punishable by suspension? And where, in the world, do you punish a man for seeking a judicial interpretation to his rights and privileges as a lawmaker and citizen of a country?

    In the first place, we wouldn’t have needed a legislature if it is assumed that those that would gather in the chamber would just rubber stamp the decision of the leadership. There wouldn’t have been any need for debates, arguments, lobbying and even voting. The legislature, if there was to be one, would just draft its Act and order the President to sign into law as it attempted to do with the amendment of the sequence of election in the Electoral Act. That can never be the ideal in any political structure. Unfortunately, our Senate is peopled by men and women who wear their ego on padded shoulders with an overdose of hollow triumphalism. They spit on the same law they are meant to guide and guard jealously. They rape, abuse and trample on the Constitution of the land with benumbing gusto. In case they don’t know, the 1999 Constitution (as amended by the National Assembly) is very clear on how a lawmaker can be removed.  Sections 68 and 69 of the 1999 Constitution exhaustively states that he could choose to vacate his seat or resign; if he dies then he is automatically deleted; if he is recalled by registered voters or electors in his electoral constituency; and decampment from the party platform on which he was elected (without a division in that party). A lawmaker may also be removed by a court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction. Therefore, it stands to reason that when you bar a man for 90 legislative days simply because he ventilated his dissention to a bill that aimed to rubbish the political fortunes of a President that he supports, you have effectively removed him from his officially assigned post as an elected member among equals. What were Saraki and his men thinking anyway? Or could this be a carryover of the master/servant relationship that exists between state governors and members of state houses assembly whose main duty was to grovel at every prompting of the Excellency?

     

    By the way, those fawning senators nudging the leadership to arbitrarily suspend one of them outside the extant act and rules are a bigger threat to democracy. Or would they claim to be ignorant of Section 21 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2018, which stipulates that a member of a Legislative House may be suspended but such a suspension should be limited to 48 hours? Were they also unaware of Order 67(4) of the Senates Standing Orders, 2015 which clarifies that a Senator cannot be suspended for more than 14 days if he commits a serious discretion? So where did this Senate derive the power to suspend any member for more than the stipulated days not minding the fact that, in law, these orders become invalid as they are inconsistent with the Constitution? Oh, has the Senate chosen to ignore the judgment of the court that it has no power to suspend any member in a suit filed by Senator Ali Ndume against it? Could it be possible that these men and women we trusted to make laws that would ensure our wellbeing didn’t care a hoot about different court pronouncements that bar them from arrogating to themselves the powers to suspend any member from the case involving a member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly to that of Hon. Danna Usman and the Kaduna State House of Assembly and even that of Hon. Dino Melaye (as he then was) versus the House of Representatives? By the way, could embattled Senator Melaye be part of this act of callous brigandage purportedly led by a man who thought he could run things the way he has been leading his fiefdom in the North Central by the nose?

    One thing is clear though: this Senate of intrigues, treachery and brazen impunity may as well be digging its own grave without knowing it. Those laughing with scorn now may end up in the pit they thought they had dug for those who dare to be different. It is just a question of time. And that time ticks dangerously close.

  • $496m jets row in Senate, House

    •NEC backs Buhari

    The payment of $496m to the United States government by the Federal Government for the procurement of 12 Super Tucano fighter jets generated furore in the Senate and the House of Representatives yesterday.

    A motion was moved by Senator Mathew Urhoghide (Edo South) for the activation of Section 143 – on impeachment of the president.

    At the House of Representatives, many lawmakers kicked against the President’s letter requesting approval for the payment for the aircraft.

    However, the National Economic Council (NEC), the nation’s highest economic advisory body to which the governors belong and headed by the Vice President, endorsed the payment for the planes.

    At the end of the meeting at Aso Villa yesterday, Jigawa State Governor Abubakar Badaru said it was important for Nigeria to quickly buy the military jets before the United States changed its mind.

    He said: “We forget easily. If you recall, we have been battling with approval from America to buy these equipment since 2014. We were begging America to sell these equipment to us.

    “We tried Dubai (United Arab Emirates), they could not allow us, we tried a factory in Brazil, we couldn’t get it. The Americans still could not sell to Nigeria.

    “Then, luckily, President Donald Trump said it was okay to buy. So we had to quickly buy before they changed their mind.

    “Because there is also deadline and this is a state to state transaction, no middleman, and we are all here concerned about security and they (lawmakers) are raising questions on way and manner you protect people. This is an emergency situation.”

    Also defending the payment for the fighter jets during the debate at the Senate, Senator Abu Ibrahim said: “Mr. President took the action based on national interest; that is why he authorised this payment.

    “As far as I’m concerned, this is the first time that money drawn from excess crude account is brought to the National Assembly for approval. Since they began to operate this account, I have never seen any expenditure that was brought here for approval.

    “$17.7 billion was withdrawn by former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the excess crude account to pay the Paris Club and fund two projects without the National Assembly’s approval. Obasanjo left $943 billion in the excess crude account but former President Goodluck Jonathan frittered away the money with no recourse to the National Assembly. The Excess Crude account increased from $5.16 billion in 2005 to over $20 billion in 2008 and decreased to less than $4 billion by Jonathan in 2010. It never came to National Assembly for approval.

    “$2 billion was used by the previous PDP administration to fight Boko Haram in 2014. Governor Godswill Akpabio was the one who moved the motion at the National Economic Council to get the money. $5 billion was taken for power generation when they were sourcing for Niger Delta Power Holding, the same process was not taken by Yar’ adua. It was later taken to the National Assembly and it was approved.

    “This is a PDP conspiracy. I will like the PDP to tell us which of their governors has taken the money released from excess crude account to the state assembly for approval. If this is a PDP conspiracy to tarnish the image of Muhammadu Buhari, they will not be able to do it because we are coming out with figures.”

    Ibrahim prayed the Senate to consider the matter dispassionately without political colouration.

    He added: “The payment was government to government without pecuniary interest whatsoever. It was for the security of this country which all of us support. The request should not have come to us in the first instance because the governors approved it. Only 53 per cent of the money which goes to the Federal Government should come to us for approval because we do not legislate for states and local governments. The PDP has interest in it and wanted to be holier than thou in the way and manner they are going about it. But the same PDP has not sanctioned its governors who have not taken the excess crude account money to their state for approval.”

    Senator Godswill Akpabio raised a Point of Order to cut Ibrahim short.

    Akpabio said that he could not recall ever moving a motion to withdraw money from the excess crude account as alluded to by Ibrahim.

    He said the Senate should discountenance the reference to him “because I did not even see Senator Abu Ibrahim in any of our meetings”.

    Ibrahim took the floor again to say that he was totally against the impeachment motion “because it is politically motivated”.

    He prayed the Senate to endeavour to work for the interest of the country.

    The upper chamber resolved to refer the motion for impeachment to its Judiciary and Legal Matters Committee for advice and guide on whether to activate Section 143 of the Constitution which deals with procedures for impeachment of the President, as advised by Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters, Senator David Umaru, was asked to submit his report next Wednesday.

    The controversial motion followed another motion by the Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, about the need to include $496,374,470 (equivalent of N151,394,494,335.00) in the year 2018 Appropriation Bill.

    Na’Allah specifically prayed the Senate to consider the request of Mr. President on the inclusion of USD 496,374,470 (equivalent of N151,394,494,335.00) only in the 2018 Appropriation Bill for the purchase of Super Tucano Aircraft from the United States Government.

    Saraki was about to refer the request to the Appropriation Committee for further legislative work when Senator Urhoghide (Edo South) raised a Point of Order.

    Immediately Urhoghide moved that the Senate should activate Section 143 of the Constitution, the chamber went dead.

    When the chamber came alive once again, there appeared to be a sharp division among the senators which Saraki laboured to control.

    Urhoghide, who referred to his aborted attempts to argue the matter on Wednesday said: “This ought to have been the first request to this Senate. We must put it on record that this is a violation of procedure as stated in the 1999 constitution….

    “The objective of the expenditure is very well established but the procedure is wrong.

    “There are serious consequences for violation of our constitution. As a consequence, the only thing we can draw from this is that we call on you, Mr. President, (Saraki) to invoke Section 143 of the Constitution. Because, what it means is that this matter is not to be investigated. It is clear that this offence has been committed by Mr. President (Buhari).

    “I want this Senate to resolve that what the President (Buhari) did is procedurally wrong and a violation of our constitution. It must be condemned and, of course, the consequences of section 143 of our constitution should be invoked.”

    Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North), who seconded the motion, said: “Mr. President, a time has come when this Senate has to rise up and do the job which the Constitution has stipulated that we have to do.”

    He described the impeachment motion as out of order especially as the President’s action was not for any pecuniary interest.

    Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP, Imo) said the Presidency’s admittance that the money had already been spent was a vindication of his motion that something was amiss in the purchase of the fighter jets.

    He insisted Section 143 of the Constitution should be followed to deal with the alleged infraction on the Constitution.

    Anyanwu said: “I wanted to invoke order 53 (6) of our standing rule which states that no senator shall input improper motives for any other senator. What Senator Abu Ibrahim was saying is out of context on the issue of PDP. It is wrong. I think he should withdraw that.”

     

    $496m request divides Reps

    President  Muhammadu Buhari’s request for parliamentary  approval for the purchase of military equipment at $496m failed to scale second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday.

    Speaker Yakubu Dogara had to refer the request to House Committee on Rules and Business for clarity on the status of the request, whether to be treated as a bill or motion.

    He also requested that the House be furnished with information on whether there had been a precedence on such issue  before or not.

    President Buhari in a letter to the House requested for the approval of the House for the  purchase of Super Tucano aircrafts from the United States (US) government.

    House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila presented the letter and it generated heated debate that eventually led to the invitation of  the Ministers of Defence, Finance and other appropriate officers to brief the House on the need to include the requested the 2018 Appropriation Bill.

    The Speaker eventually  referred the letter for second reading.

    When the request came up for second reading yesterday, lawmakers differ on whether to approve or reject it.

    While some lawmakers opined that the request should be thrown out because the  President had already breached the constitution by spending the money without due process, other felt that national interest  should be considered whikentakingbthe decsion.

     

     

     

  • N216b subsidy: Senate seeks sanction against NNPC officials

    The Senate yesterday resolved to demand sanction against officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) involved in illegal payment of fuel subsidy in 2017.

    The upper chamber said over N216.9 billion was frittered away by NNPC officials under the guise of payment for oil subsidy.

    It also asked the NNPC to halt forthwith illegal payments without appropriation.

    It mandated state-owned oil firm to make a formal request to the National Assembly for appropriation for the illegal payments.

    These are part of the recommendations of the Senate Public Accounts Committee in its report on the investigation into alleged illegal subsidy payments.

    The recommendations were adopted by the Senate in plenary yesterday.

    Chairman of the committee, Matthew Urhoghide, who presented the report, noted that the Federal Government spent N3.8 trillion on subsidy between 2010 and 2016.

    The Senate asked its Committee on Appropriation as well as Public Accounts to liaise with the Executive to submit the appropriation for subsidy to be included in the 2018 budget estimates.

    The Auditor General of the Federation, it said, should carry out a forensic audit of NNPC’s account over the last five years.

    Other recommendations of the committee also adopted included the need for the Federal Government to pay oil marketers the outstanding subsidy arrears owed them prior to 2017 as well as giving local refineries maximum attention to enable them function in optimal capacity.

    Senator Urhoghide said: “The NNPC declared operating losses in 2018. Why can’t we have functional refineries in Nigeria for our produce? A lot of money has gone into turn-around maintenance of old refineries. Why can’t we just build new ones?

    Senator Victor Umeh noted that “we first have to tackle the corruption in this area so that Nigerians can benefit fully from it.”

    Senators George Akume, Chukwuka Utazi and Binta Masi Garba in their separate contributions expressed concern about the recommendations of the committee.

    They noted that there was no serious sanction for those who approved payment of the subsidy without recourse to the National Assembly.

    Senator Utazi specifically said: “The 2018 budget has no provision for subsidy. We cannot live a lie here. What is the role of the Minister of Finance and who does the Ministry of Petroleum Resources report to? This has to be addressed.”

    Senator Godswill Akpabio wondered NNPC’s operational costs that they can throw away N216 billion in a year without asking for a refund? The NNPC needs to be indicted.”

    The panel chairman who gave breakdown of the N3.8 trillion subsidy payment, said while the government spent N491 billion in 2010, it paid N245 billion in 2011 and N888 billion in 2012.

    Other payments, the panel said were N1.9 trillion in 2013 and 2014, N100 billion in 2015 while 2016 gulped N150 billion.

    It said: “In 2017, NNPC imported 9.8 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit at the cost of $5,483,634,448.91 amounting to N1,672,508,506,917.55 at the exchange rate of N305. In the previous years, all importers including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had collected subsidy for differentials.”

    The panel concluded: “It is therefore curious that NNPC will in year 2017, describe the differentials as ‘operating cost’ and a loss but will not demand for refund.”

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki said it was obvious that the NNPC had constituted the body as law onto itself.

    Saraki added that the corporation had continued to engage in monumental illegality by taking the law into their hand.

    He said the law is clear that no money should be spent without appropriation.

    Saraki said: “As some of you know I spent a lot of time on the issue of subsidy in the seventh Assembly. The recommendation on illegal payment is what is creating the problem because they are requesting for appropriation for illegal payments. The appropriation we are asking for is appropriation for 2018. The issue of illegal payment, that is a different subject matter on its own which we can decide how we are going to address.

    “The important thing is that NNPC cannot continue going forward making those payments without appropriations because definitely there is subsidy going on now and it needs to be backed by law which has always been the case since 1999. There has been appropriation for fuel subsidy.

    “It stopped briefly, but now NNPC is using the absurd word ‘Operational Costs’ to justify this expenditure — and we all know this is not operational cost, this is fuel being imported. How that becomes operational cost is even an insult on the integrity of Nigerians.

    “I think we need to bring up the issue of legality. This is because, when the IMF sees these kinds of reports, it is an embarrassment to us as a country. There are two issues here, illegal payments that have been made is one.

    “Going forward, for 2018, we should put the figure that will capture the entire subsidy for 2018 so that when they do make these payments, they are no longer illegal payments as it will be backed by an appropriation. If we agree that they should pay outstanding arrears, then Government will put that as part of the subsidy.

    “We are coming to the end of the budget exercise and that is my concern. It is better we quickly rectify this for the 2018 budget and stop the deception to Nigerians and do the right thing. By doing the subsidy also it means private companies will participate and it will even be more efficient.

    “Now, the NNPC is the only importer of PMS and Government has never been an efficient agency anyway. Who knows, if private sector are importing, the subsidy might even come down.

    “Distinguished Colleagues if we agree, let us move to the recommendations and on the issue of sanctions we can talk about additional prayers. We were hoping that today, Thursday, the Appropriations Committee will submit their report.

    “They were planning to lay it sometime next week. If we can quickly get government to come with a figure and we know that item is in budget, that stops this illegal payment going forward.”

    Additional recommendations adopted by the Senate included:1. The NNPC should stop the illegal payments without appropriation henceforth; 2. The NNPC through Mr. President, should make a formal request to the National Assembly for 2018; 3. There is need for the Federal Republic to pay all marketers their standing arrears of subsidy owed in 2017; 4. Local refineries should be given maximum attention to enable them function in full capacity; 5. The DG should carry out a full audit on the NNPC; and 6. Direct the committee to recommend appropriate sanctions for officers and personnel who have carried out this illegal payment.”

    Saraki said that “If the report from the Auditor General is not satisfactory, then we can talk about setting up an Ad-hoc Committee.

    “We also need to ensure that the Office of the Auditor General is properly funded in the 2018 budget so that they can carry about these jobs properly. Chairman Appropriations should follow up to ensure that the Government submits the budget for the fuel subsidy over the next few days so it can be submitted to us next week.

  • Dino Melaye: Senate orders IGP to appear on Wednesday

    •Senators reject representation by DIG

    THE Senate has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to appear before it at 11 am on Wednesday, to answer questions on why Senator Dino Melaye was handcuffed by policemen, who arrested him on Tuesday.

    Idris was also expected to answer questions on the spate of insecurity and its attendant killings in different locations across the federation.

    The police boss, who was summoned to appear before the lawmakers yesterday, failed to show up, as he was said to have accompanied President Muhammadu Buhari to Bauchi State on official engagement.

    Announcing the inability of the IGP Ibrahim to honour the summons, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Abu Ibrahim, said the IG had mandated Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Operations to stand in for him.

    But the senators were piqued by Senator Ibrahim’s statement, with many of them accusing the IG of being disrespectful of the Senate.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki reminded Ibrahim that it was the IGP that the Senate summoned through a resolution and not the DIG.

    Deputy Senate Leader Bala Ibn Na ‘Allah urged members not to listen to any other person other than the IGP.

    “This Senate consists of elected representatives of over 180 million Nigerians. So, the invitation to the IGP is from over 180 million Nigerians.

    “I am not comfortable with the way democratic institutions are being treated in this country. It is in the interest of the President that his appointees respond to invitations from the legislature.

    “I don’t want my grandchildren to look into my legislative record at the National Assembly in the future and say that ‘our grandfather was stupid.”

    A suggestion by one of the senators that the IGP should inform the Senate about a convenient date to honour the summon was dismissed by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa.

    Senator Emmanuel Bwacha said the Parliament has suffered untold humiliation in the hands of officials of the present administration, regretting that some officials believe that the legislature should be treated as an appendage of the executive arm.

    The senator representing Taraba South noted that some of the President’s appointees were responsible for the strained relationship between the executive and the legislature with habitual disrespect for the institution of parliament.

    According to him, many of these appointees have the erroneous impression that it is disrespectful of the legislature to invite the President’s appointees, particularly security chiefs.

    Senator Sam Egwu (Ebonyi North) blamed Senator Abu Ibrahim and the President’s liaison officer at the Senate, Ita Enag, for the lapses.

    In his own contribution, Minority Leader Godswill Akpabio said he was of the conviction that the IG would be glad to honour the invitation to address the Senate on issues of security.

    Senator Isa Misau wondered why the IGP could mobilise over 100 armed policemen within a short notice to arrest Senator Melaye, whereas the police were yet to arrest the thugs that invaded the Senate chambers and made away with the mace.

    Closing the debate, Saraki said the dignity and integrity of democratic institutions should be respected, saying that he had been trying to reach the in the last 72 hours without any response from the police boss.

    He stated that if the IG had informed President Buhari that he had a date with the Senate, the President would have given him leave to honour the invitation, adding that it was disrespectful of the IGP to send his DIG.