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Tag: Senator Rafiu Ibrahim

  • Senator Ibrahim arraigned in court, granted bail

    A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital on Friday granted bail to Senator Rafiu Ibrahim and nine others.

    Senator Ibrahim who represents Kwara south in the Senate was arrested by the police last Friday in connection with political violence that occurred in his Ojoku country home early last week.

    Senator Ibrahim was also the Kwara South senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last Saturday elections.

    He, alongside other nine suspects, has been in police custody since Friday last week before their arraignment in court.

    They were granted bail alongside nine other suspects by Magistrate Bio Saliu.

    They were accused of allegedly inciting disturbance of public peace and for firing at a campaign train in Ojoku, Oyun local government area of the state.

    Their act was said to have led to the death of one Samuel Abidemi Adeosun.

    The Officer In Charge of Legal Department, Kwara State Police Command, DSP Adeyemi Ajibola prayed and adjournment of the case but, Counsel to the suspects Tunde Olomu and Rasaq Bola Gold urged the court to invoke section 36 (5) and section 128 of the constitution to admit the defendants to bail saying they are still presumed innocent until proved otherwise.

    In his ruling, Magistrate Bio admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N500, 0O0, two sureties each in the like sum in which one of them must own a landed property.
    He then adjourned the matter to 28th March, 2019 for further mention.

  • N242bn INEC budget: We acted in agreement with Executive – Senate

    The Senate Friday said that its decision to rescind and revise the method of funding of the supplementary budget of the  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for the conduct of the 2019 general elections, was done in good faith,  after due consultation with the Executive arm of government.

    Read Also:Senate in rowdy session over move to probe NSIP, Sure-P

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, gave the explanation in a statement released by the Office of the Senate President.

    The statement may have been informed by the insinuation that the Senate unilaterally reduced the budget of Ministries, Departments and Agencies with recourse to the affected MDAs.

    Senator Ibrahim, in a statement, said that on Tuesday, October 16th, the Senate had already passed the N242, 245, 050,100 virement request with the stipulation that it should be funded from the Service Wide Vote.

    He noted that the Senate had to rescind, reconsider and revise its position on the source of funding of the virement following pressure on members of the Appropriations Committee by the Executive.

    He said: “The insinuations being peddled that the Senate single-handedly and unilaterally cut the budgets of critical MDAs is false. Such actions are uncharacteristic of this 8th Senate.

    “The facts remain that on Tuesday, October 16th, the Senate approved a report that stipulated that the supplementary funding for INEC and security agencies to conduct the 2019 election should be sourced from the Service Wide Vote of the Executive through virement. This information is out everywhere.

    “However, the Executive came up with a counter-proposal that asked that the election be funded through both the Service Wide Vote and the budgets of 30 MDAs —on a pro rata basis.

    “This is why, the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Danjuma Goje, had to come up with a motion to rescind, reconsider and revise the source of funding contained in the original approval granted by the Senate.

    “So, if you take a close look at the Senate’s Order paper of Wednesday, November 7, 2018, you will see that N121, 122,525,050, which represents half of the entire supplementary budget, was sourced from 30 MDAs chosen by the Executive, while the other N121, 122,525,050 was taken from the Service Wide Vote.

    “As always, all Senators remain committed to ensuring that Nigeria has free, fair and credible general elections next year, and they will continue to collaborate with the Executive, members of the public and all other stakeholders to ensure that this happens,” Ibrahim stated.

  • Senate rejects Buhari’s nominee for CBN job

    The Senate Thursday turned down the request for the confirmation of Dr.Abdul Abubakar for appointment as a Non-Executive Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    This followed the presentation and consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions which screened the nominee.

    Chairman of the committee, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, said the nominee failed integrity test.

    Ibrahim also said Abubakar “lacks honesty and failed to answer questions put to him” by members of the committee

    The committee added that there was a negative petition against the confirmation of the nominee

    The rejected nominee hails from the North West geopolitical zone of the country.

    Read Also: Senate confirms CBN deputy governors, MPC nominees

    The Senate however endorsed the nomination of four nominees as Non-Executive Directors of the Board of the apex bank.

    They include: Professor Ummu Ahmed Jalingo (North East), Professor Justina Odinakachukwu Nnabuko (South East), Professor Mike Obadan (South South), Abdu Abubakar (North West) and Adeola Adetunji (South West).

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, in his contribution suggested that the committee should be mandated to take a second look at the rejected nominee.

    Ekweremadu said that the petition against the nominee should further be scrutinised.

    Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, toed the same position

    The Senate resolved to ask the committee to carry out further legislative action on the rejected nominee and report back in one week.

    When Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki put the questions to voice votes, confirmation of the four nominees was unanimously accepted by lawmakers.

    The rejected nominee was referred back to the committee for further work.

    Saraki urged the nominee to work with the apex bank to ensure the growth of the economy.

  • Senate screens CBN, MPC nominees

    The Senate Monday screened President Muhammadu Buhari’s two nominees for the position of Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The nominees are Mrs. Aisha Ahmad and Mr. Edward Adamu.

    Similarly, four other nominees were also screened as members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). They are Prof Festus Adeola Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa and Dr. Asheikh Maidugu.

    The nominees took turns to face the Senate committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, as members of the committee threw a barrage of questions at them.

    Mrs. Ahmad who was accompanied to the venue of the screening by her husband and her father, was the first to be screened. In response to questions, the nominee stressed the need for the country to have a stable foreign exchange policy in order to stabilise the economy.

    On his part, Edward Adamu, who is widely acknowledged to have been appointed on merit, based on his track record at the apex bank, was not subjected to the grill. Members of the Senate committee were unanimous in giving him a smooth passage.

    Earlier moves, allegedly by some Presidency cabal to replace Adamu with a preferred candidate were vehemently resisted by his colleagues at the CBN who vowed to frustrate such manipulation.

    The Senate had put on hold the screening of the nominees and others appointed by President Muhammadu Buahri for several weeks, owing to disagreement between the two arms of government.

    At the commencement of the exercise, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters (Senate), Ita Enang, pleaded with the lawmakers to also screen other nominees of the President whose nomination are still pending.

    Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, however said the leadership of the Senate decided to yield ground owing to the strategic and sensitive nature of the nominees’ appointments.

    Read Also: http://staging.thenationonlineng.net/senate-makes-u-turn-buharis-nominees/