Senate may override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto of the Peace Corps Establishment Bill, it was learnt yesterday
The two chambers of the National Assembly passed the Bill into law in 2017.
It was transmitted to the President for assent.
Buhari wrote to the Senate and the House of Representatives last week to inform lawmakers that he was withholding assent to the Bill.
The President cited security concerns and lack of funds as part of the reasons why he would not sign the Bill.
Senator Dino Melaye raised a point of order yesterday to insist President Buhari should either reconsider his position on the Bill or face a possible override by the National Assembly.
The Senate Committees on Gas and Petroleum Resources (Upstream) have commended Total and its partners for the progress made in the completion of the Egina Floating Storage, Production and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, being finalised at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in LADOL Free Zone, Lagos.
The Senate Committee Chairman on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Omotayo Alasoadura, and his counterpart, Senate Gas Committee Chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade, led their committees’ members on an inspection of the 330m-long Egina FPSO, where they expressed delight with the pace of work on the unit and its massive Nigerian content.
“Seeing the Egina FPSO has shown that a good investment has been made to ensure that Nigeria moves deeper and deeper into the sea to exploit its God-given endowment of oil,” Senator Alasoadura said, pointing out that touring the FPSO facility had been a very wonderful experience.
“I believe that with Egina going operational very soon, Nigeria will be able to meet its quota not only to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but also will have enough to meet its other commitments. I believe that it is a good project and Total has done a great thing bringing such a facility to Nigeria for integration of locally fabricated modules, making it first in Africa. This milestone has brought us to where we should be as the giant of Africa,” he added.
On the local content work being done on the project, Senator Alasoadura said: “It is massive development of capacity. You cannot do much for local development without building capacity and that has been done by giving Nigerians the opportunity to build part of what we are seeing here today. I am sure the next time it will take less money and time to build something similar because of developed capacity.”
Senator Gemade said: “We are very excited about the participation of Nigerians that are technically qualified in major and huge projects like Egina. This impact cannot just be swept under the carpet.Those responsible for actualising this project must be commended.”
The Managing Director of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Nicolas Terraz, thanked the senators for taking the time to visit the Egina FPSO saying, “What you are seeing here is a product of the hard work of our staff, many of whom are Nigerians, along with our very supportive partners and Nigerian authorities.”
Other senators on the visit were Senators Gershom Bassey, Magnus Abe, Samuel Egwu, Peter Nwaoboshi, Benjamin Uwajumogu, Baba Garbai, Ogola Foster and Ibrahim Kurfi.
Being the first project to be launched after the enactment of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development Act in 2010, the ongoing integration and work on the Egina project pushes the Nigerian local content on the project to the highest level and has set a benchmark for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
The Senate Committees on Gas and Petroleum Resources (Upstream) have commended Total and its partners for the remarkable progress made towards the completion of the Egina Floating Storage, Production and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, which is currently being finalized at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in LADOL Free Zone, Lagos.
who is chair of The Senate Committee Chairman on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Omotayo Alasoadura, and his counterpart, Senate Gas Committee Chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade, led their committees members on an inspection tour of the 330m-long Egina FPSO, where they expressed delight with the pace of work on the unit and its massive Nigerian content profile.
“Seeing the Egina FPSO has shown that a good investment has been made to ensure that Nigeria moves deeper and deeper into the sea to exploit its God-given endowment of oil,” Senator Alasoadura said, pointing out that touring the FPSO facility had been a very wonderful experience.
“I believe that with Egina going operational very soon, Nigeria will be able to meet its quota not only to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) but also will have enough to meet its other commitments. I believe that it is a good project and Total has done a great thing bringing such a facility to Nigeria for integration of locally fabricated modules, making it first in Africa. This milestone has brought us to where we should be as the giant of Africa,” he added.
On the local content work being done on the project, Senator Alasoadura said: “It is massive development of capacity. You cannot do much for local development without building capacity and that has been done by giving Nigerians the opportunity to build part of what we are seeing here today. I am sure the next time it will take less money and time to build something similar because of developed capacity.”
In his remarks, Senator Gemade said: “We are very excited about the participation of Nigerians that are technically qualified in major and huge projects like Egina. This impact cannot just be swept under the carpet. Those responsible for actualising this project must be commended.”
The Managing Director of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Nicolas Terraz, thanked the senators for taking the time to visit the Egina FPSO saying, “What you are seeing here is a product of the hard work of our staff, many of whom are Nigerians, along with our very supportive partners and Nigerian authorities.”
Other senators on the visit were Senators Gershom Bassey, Magnus Abe, Samuel Egwu, Peter Nwaoboshi, Benjamin Uwajumogu, Baba Garbai, Ogola Foster and Ibrahim Kurfi.
Being the first project to be launched after the enactment of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development Act in 2010, the ongoing integration and work on the Egina project pushes the Nigerian local content on the project to the highest level and has set a benchmark for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
A gulf appeared to have developed in the Northern Senators Forum following the unceremonial removal of its chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
A member of the forum, Senator Ali Wakil, yesterday dissociated himself from Adamu’s removal.
He was sacked as chairman, Northern Senators Forum on Wednesday following a letter signed by Senator Dino Melaye, Publicity Secretary of the Forum, alleging some financial misconduct.
Wakil told the Senate that the meeting of the forum was never called to discuss the sanction or removal of any leader.
He noted that some of them watched in disbelief the announcement of the removal of Adamu.
The lawmaker came short of saying that the removal was done in bad faith.
Wakil said: “I was not here yesterday (Wednesday) but I saw it in the papers and television when you (Deputy Senate President) announced the removal of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as the leader of the Northern Senators Forum.
“Your Excellency, I come from the North and I am active member of the Northern Senators Forum. At no time have we met and put to question any of the leaders of the Northern Senators Forum.
“It was brought to this place and it was announced and some of our colleagues went to the Press Centre and made statements that referred to some of us as monkeys.
“We are taking this political brinkmanship beyond the level we are supposed to take it. We are supposed to be wise men.
“The fact that I am not privy and the fact that the Northern Senators Forum was dragged to this level, my privilege has been breached because nobody called me for a meeting.
“Senator Barau Jibrin, secretary of the forum, had never called a meeting. Senator Dino Melaye, the public relations officer of the forum, had never called for a meeting.
“When the announcement was made, the spokesman of the Senate (Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi) led some senators to the Press Centre to make some of these bombastic statements.
“By this, I want to say that my privilege has been breached because my constituents and other concerned northerners have also expressed their disgust that why are we trying to destroy our leadership.
“I want the Senate to take judicial note of what I have said.”
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, did not subject the observation of Wakil to debate.
Ekweremadu simply said “noted” and hit the gavel to foreclose further debate of the matter.
Senate spokesperson Abdullahi rose to absolve himself of any blame on the appearance of Senators Shehu Sani and Isa Hamman Misau at the press briefing, where Adamu’s removal also featured.
Abdullahi said he spoke to reporters in his capacity as the spokesperson of the Senate.
He added that he did not address reporters on behalf of Northern Senators Forum, even though he is a member.
Ekweremadu also did not allow further comments on the issue as he again said “noted”.
Ten senators are facing sanctions over their stand on the amendment of the Electoral Act. They may be suspended.
The controversial amendment reordered the sequence of elections.
It placed the Senate and the House of Representatives elections first, followed by governorship and House of Assembly elections and the presidential election last.
Following the adoption of the conference report on the amendment, 10 senators kicked, describing it as “unconstitutional” and “an attempt in futility”.
Yesterday, the upper chamber mandated its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to investigate alleged unsubstantiated comments credited to Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central) and nine others on the issue.
The Senate said that Omo-Agege and nine senators claimed that “reordering of the election sequence was done to target President Muhammadu Buhari, ahead of the 2019 general elections.”
The nine other senators are: Abdullahi Adamu, Abu Ibrahim, Benjamin Uwajumogu, Ali Wakil, Abdullahi Gumel, Binta Masi Garba, Yahaya Abdullahi, Andrew Uchendu and Umaru Kurfi.
The plan to probe the conduct of the senators followed the adoption of a motion of by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) on the issue.
Melaye said Senator Omo-Agege and others misled Nigerians by claiming that the target of the amendment was President Buhari.
The Kogi West senator, who cited Order 14 of the Senate Standing Rules, prayed his colleagues to refer the matter to the Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions committee to investigate the claims made by the 10 senators.
Melaye said: “I am heavily worried. President Muhammadu Buhari is not only my party man. He is a president we all laboured to vote for. My colleague, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, addressed the media last week. He said the decision taken by this Senate is targeted at President Buhari. I cannot be part of any group of persons to move against the President. The allegations are weighty. I followed President Buhari to 35 states of the Federation during the campaigns.
“When I was following the President round the country, Omo-Agege was in the Labour Party. To now allege and put the integrity of the Senate under check that the amendment was tailored towards the President is unheard of. It is in bad taste.
“I want to ask that this statement made by Omo-Agege, among other statements, be investigated by the committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. They need to find out if our actions were targeted at the President. Another interview was granted by the same senator.”
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, subjected the prayer to a voice vote. It was carried.
In March 2017, Melaye raised a point of order against Mohammed Ali Ndume for alleged unsubstantiated claim on the purchase of exotic cars for the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, and alleged certificate forgery by him (Melaye)
Ndume was hurriedly investigated and eventually suspended for six months.
The implication of referring Omo-Agege’s comments to the Ethics committee is that if the committee is able to establish that the claims by Omo-Agege and nine others are false, the lawmakers may be suspended.
Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, senators and others are billed to attend the interdenominational prayer session.
The prayer meeting is organised by Sign and Wonders and Prayer Ministry Evangelical for all Nations in partnership with the Christ Apostolic Church, Ero-Omo Oke, Ikoyi, Osun State.
It is scheduled to hold at Ori-Oke Ikoyi, Osun State on April 27.
Tagged Nigeria must be redeemed the prayer session will attract thousands of Christian, captain of industries, church leaders and public office holders.
The visioner of Sign and Wonders and Prayer Ministry Evangelical For all Nations, Evangelist Adunpe Felix, told reporters the prayer session is aimed at drawing God’s hands to save Nigeria.
He attributed the challenges of Nigeria to the Festac 77 Arts festival.
“Festac 77 was our undoing in Nigeria as the country went into full scale idol worship and we forgot the true God who had given us independence and immerse mineral resources for our survival. We must ask God for mercy,” he said
God, he claimed, told him Nigeria will continue to face hardship until leaders repent and ask for repentance over the Festac ‘77 celebration.
Felix said: “God has promised to restore the lost glory to Nigeria, bring enduring peace and unity, remove all spiritual hindrances against economic growth of Nigeria eradicate terrorism, occultism and all forms of social unrest in Nigeria.”
HOW that the heat generated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s “special statement” seems to have subsided and the follow-up by former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida has caused a civil war in the Hilltop mansion, it is fitting and proper to move on to other matters that are no less important.
Obasanjo, you may recall, has since launched a Coalition – some call it Commotion – for Nigeria Movement (CN) after advising President Muhammadu Buhari not to pick up the gauntlet in 2019. Babangida and his media aide Kassim Afegbua are battling the wages of shiftiness, an attribute many will not hesitate to decorate the former military leader with.
As I was saying, it is time we moved on to other matters. Among such weighty issues is the unnecessary contempt with which our senators are held, even among those who, by virtue of their standing, should be custodians of protocol and etiquette.
Nobody considers the intellectual and physical exertions that go into lawmaking and oversight duties which keep them burning the midnight oil. All we talk about is their fat pay packet as if we knew what they actually earn.
The other day Senator Dino Jonah Melaye took some time off his new video making venture – he has just released one in which he excoriated Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello; in the earlier one he was on the street hawking groundnuts and many thought he had gone nuts. He led the Ad Hoc Committee on Economic Wastage in the Nigerian Customs Service to the Customs Headquarters in Abuja. Comptroller- General Hameed Ali did not go downstairs from his office to receive the Very Important Visitors (VIV). He simply waited in his office until they were seated in the conference room before showing up.
Melaye, the distinguished senator representing the good people of Kogi West, immediately charged him with a breach of protocols, a rather serious offence in official circles. “Mr CG, rather than meeting us here at the conference room by way of courtesy, you’re supposed to have met us at the ground floor on arrival into the premises. That has been the practice of statutory bodies headed by Chief Executive Officers like you,” he told Col. Ali.
The Senator banged the table with a gavel he had brought with him. The Senate was in session, Melaye – yes, Melaye – presiding. Oh; what a session.
But Ali, a veteran of such battle of wits, would not be bullied. “I don’t need to come downstairs to receive you, just as nobody in the Senate or House of Representatives has ever come out to receive us anytime we visit the National Assembly,” he replied. “So, there is no breach of protocol for not coming down to welcome you since appropriate officers have been assigned to do so. Our protocol is our protocol and should be allowed to be. In fact, by way of etiquette, it is the committee that is supposed to come to my office first on arrival and not just come straight to the conference room.”
Needless to say, the meeting ended on a stormy note. No photographs. Nor handshakes. Nor tea and other niceties to which Customs is said to be accustomed.
If Ali is summoned to appear in uniform and explain the “economic wastage in Customs”, we should not be surprised. A little courtesy to lawmakers surely goes a long way.
Perhaps the CG did not understand all this talk about protocol, etiquette and such elements of officialese. Such ignorance could someday cause a dutiful senator to move a motion for the abolition of the Customs Service. The “ayes” will have it and, just like that, our Customs will cease to exist. But, to be candid, these are compassionate people; I do not see them doing that.
The Melaye-Ali row reminded a friend of mine of an encounter with a Senate committee last year. Some fertiliser suppliers had been summoned to, as they say, shed light on their bids for the yearly contracts. The planting season was on. It was that time of the year when all hands must be on the plough to avert a devastating food shortage.
The company’s spokesman told the lawmakers that it was being owed for supplies it had delivered in the past and that in the new scheme it had supplied about 85 per cent. With payment, it would be able to supply the remaining 15 per cent, the gentleman said.
“But you don’t have the capacity for this job,” a member of the committee said.
“We have. We have already done 85 per cent. We have the capacity for this job and more,” the company chief insisted.
The argument went on and on. All about “capacity”. Flustered, the company chief kept quiet. The distinguished senator – all senators are distinguished – who led the committee looked straight into the eyes of the now subdued company chief and said: “We say you don’t have capacity; you keep screaming that you have capacity. I put it to you on behalf of this distinguished committee that you don’t have capacity. Listen. You went to the Villa and showed them capacity. You went to the Ministry of Agric and showed them capacity. Now, show us capacity.”
He was all smiles. Obviously showing some understanding of the word “capacity”, the company chief smiled in return and promised to be back – apparently to show his “capacity”.
The story is told of how the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was being summoned last year to explain one thing or the other. So frequent were the summons that many thought the CBN had moved its offices to the National Assembly.
On one of such occasions, said a source close to a lawmaker whose colleague is a friend of one of the uncles of a member of the panel that met with the bankers, one of the senator could barely conceal his indignation.
“Every time we read in the papers that the CBN has injected $200m into the forex market to prop up the Naira; who is getting the contracts?” he demanded.
“Nigerians want to know and this committee will do everything within its power to let Nigerians know who is getting the contracts; $200m today; $250m tomorrow. Haba! The contractor must appear. Who signed the contract? Was there due process? Was it competitive? Is that the best we can do? Why were we not carried along? You award contracts without telling us and when Nigerians demand an answer, they want us to come up with one. Enough. Henceforth, the CBN must not intervene in the forex market or any market – Gerin Kasua, Ariaria, Oba Market, Oyingbo, Balogun; any market at all without the express permission of this committee.”
However, of all the hazards of lawmaking, none seems to be more of immediate danger than the continued stay in office of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu. A court has said the Senate has the power to confirm the appointment of a chairman for the agency. Based on this, the lawmakers are asking the Executive to nominate another person for the job. The Presidency does not appear to be ready to do this; it would rather swim or sink with Magu.
How do we resolve this logjam? Simple. Let’s just pick a senator for the job. Won’t that save us all the rigmarole of background investigation, security report, and formal Senate interview?
A curious (and dubious?) amnesty
IMO State Governor Rochas Okorocha has ignited another controversy. He has not created a new Ministry. Nor has he erected any new statue. The fresh row is about the amnesty His Excellency has granted some seemingly repentant lawbreakers, including Emenike Agamu (aka General Red Scorpion).
Red Scorpion is said to be number four in the hierarchy of leaders of the late Don Waney’s gang, which reportedly killed 23 people on New Year’s Day in Omoku, Rivers State. Some other members of the gang, including Waney’s brother, have met a bloody end.
Okorocha and Wike
With the security agencies in hot pursuit of other members of the collapsing criminal empire, it is curious that Owelle Okorocha will suddenly announce an amnesty for the group. Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is angry. He has said that the amnesty is not binding on the state. He believes it is a desperate step by some suspected criminals to evade justice.
Is the amnesty not preposterous? Isn’t the timing curious and dubious? How are we sure that Red Scorpion will not, like his late boss, go back to running a criminal enterprise?
Don Waney was once pardoned by the government of Rivers State. He even got a chieftaincy title to the bargain. Yet, he would not forsake crime, until his sensational life of crimes collapsed under a hail of bullets fired by patriotic security agents. Will the killing and abduction of innocent people stop now? Will the destruction of oil pipelines end?
Let’s hope Okorocha has not got it all wrong this time.
Senators and governors are locked in a bitter row over the 2019 elections. The development sparked an uproar on the floor of the Senate yesterday.
Zamfara Central Senator Kabiru Marafa accused Governor Abdulaziz Yari of plotting to eliminate him. Both are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) .
Marafa asked his colleagues to hold the governor and his deputy responsible should anything happen to him and members of his family.
He said he had information that his life and his family members’ were no longer safe.
The senators/governors crises in some of the states were brought up by Bauchi Central Senator Isa Misau who said the crisis between Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, could threaten the peace in that state.
Misau criticised alleged display of weapons by youths and women in Kano State on Tuesday.
Kwankwaso (Kano Central) was on Tuesday advised to shelve his planned visit to Kano State to avoid a breakdown of law and order.
Kwankwaso has been having a running battle with Kano State Governor Ganduje over unresolved political differences.
The Bauchi State lawmaker urged the Senate to condemn a situation where a senator would be prevented from visiting his constituency.
He insisted that if the development was allowed to fester, it would become a norm too dangerous to handle.
Misau said: “I want to talk about what is happening in Kano. About 70 per cent of the people in my place share boundaries with Kano. The level of thuggery we have seen in Kano State is troubling. We need to talk of how Boko Haram started in the Northeast. It started as “ECOMOG.”
”This issue happened when one of our colleagues said he was going to visit Kano State. Instead of him to be allowed to visit and talk to his people, the police stopped him. If a senator is not allowed to visit his constituency, one day, it will be anybody’s turn.
“The kind of weapons people paraded yesterday in Kano was troubling. We are watching. I see no reason why a person who wants to travel to his own town will not be allowed. For the first time in the history of this country, women were given arms in Kano on Tuesday.
“If we do not do anything about this, we will be in trouble. How do we give our own people arms? We need to investigate what is happening in Kano State to avoid a national crises.
“We need to condemn what happened in Kano. We need to investigate arms that were given to people in Kano.”
Hardly had Misau concluded his submission when Kano South Senator Kabiru Gaya challenged his right to bring an issue that was being addressed in the state to the floor of the Senate.
Gaya, also a former governor of the state, noted that contrary to the bad picture painted by Misau, there was no breakdown of law and order in Kano State.
He told his colleagues that Kano politics is peculiar and should be handled with care.
Gaya, who described the face-off between Ganduje and Kwankwaso as a “family affair”, asked the Senate to tread softly due the volatility of Kano politics.
He said: “Let me clearly say that we are peace loving people in Kano State. Kano politics has always been different. Kano has always been a volatile state during politics. The rally we had in Kano, there was no case of fighting.
“Nobody was killed. Let us understand. The issue of the two governors must be understood. They are both governors. This is a family matter and we are working to reconcile both of them.”
Backing Gaya, Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano North) questioned why Misau should bring the issue to the Senate.
Barau said senators should restrict themselves to issues in their states, instead of delving into areas that do not directly affect them.
He wondered why Misau was not bothered about the face-off between him and Governor (Bauchi State) Mohammaed Abubakar)
The Kano North Senator accused Misau of misleading the Senate, by claiming that Kano State could be thrown into chaos.
.Barau said: “I am worried here. A trend is now emerging and we tend to create troubles among ourselves. What Misau has started will not go well with this Senate. The Senate President must stop it.
“We are all politicians. There are bound to be disagreements. Misau is being used by some people to blackmail us in Kano State.”
Senate President Bukola Saraki frustrated attempts by Misau to respond to the barrage of attacks on him.
Saraki gave Kwankwaso the floor, but he declined, saying: “I believe as a leader, I do not want to say anything.”
Saraki asked his colleagues to avoid bringing personal problems with state actors to the floor.
He noted that senators needed to agree at what point certain issues will be entertained in the chamber.
Saraki said,”This is a matter that can be addressed at the state level. There is still a room for reconciliation. There is going to be a trend when politics will creep in here. We need to try and manage this issue. Many states have these challenges.
“We need to agree at what point this issue should come to the floor of the Senate. Let us rise above these issues before we bring them here. We need to set up a committee to begin to look at these issues.”
Saraki told Committee on Police Affairs Chairman Abu Ibrahim to invite the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, and ensure that adequate security is provided whenever Kwankwaso decides to visit his constituency.
“They must provide security at anytime Senator Kwankwaso wants to visit Kano State,” Saraki added.
Senators are threatening to boycott the February 1 security summit organised by the upper chamber, it was learnt yesterday.
They do not want the Villa Banquet Hall venue.
The decision to organise the summit was taken by the Senate after a January 17 debate on the state of the nation and killings.
The Executive showed interest in participating and President Muhammadu Buhari agreed to open the summit.
Some senators are now questioning the decision to coopt the Executive into the programme.
Yesterday, senators went into an executive session on the summit and it was learnt that the argument was heated, with many threatening a boycott.
The relationship between the Executive and the Senate has not been cordial.
After a lengthy closed-session, Senate President Bukola Saraki merely announced that the Senate deliberated on workings of the Senate and the National Assembly in general.
But a source said the issue of the security summit and where it would be held dominated the “heated closed-session”.
It was gathered that efforts by Saraki to persuade the senators to attend the summit failed.
Most of the senators, the source said, insisted that on no account should the security summit be held in the Villa.
The lawmakers were said to have said that instead of the Banquet Hall, State House, the summit should take place at the International Conference Centre (ICC).
Besides, it was gathered that the senators suggested that President Muhammadu Buhari should only attend the conference as a guest of honour where provision should made for him to speak and address participants.
Another source linked the position of the senators to the “shabby treatment meted to senators on October 26, when some senators were blocked from entering the Presidential Villa.”
“We should learn our lesson because once bitten twice shy,” he said.
Before the Closed session, a statement entitled “Security Crisis: Senate partners Presidency, to hold national summit Feb 1”, endorsed by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, was circulated.
The statement said in part: ”Worried by the multi-dimensional security challenges facing the nation, the Senate in collaboration with the President Muhammadu Buhari and the Executive arm will on Thursday, February 1 and Monday February 5 convene a National Security Summit.
“The Summit will provide an all-inclusive platform for heads of security and defence agencies, Governors, traditional rulers, socio-cultural groups, civil society organisations and others, with a view to finding solutions to acute and long term security challenges in the country.
”President Buhari, according to the statement, will declare open the summit to be held at the Banquet Hall of the State House on Thursday with all the 36 state governors in attendance.
“Other participants at the event include all Senators and members of the House of Representatives, Ministers of Defence and Interior, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Service Chiefs and other heads of security agencies.”
Another statement circulated after the closed session said the Ahmed Lawan statement should be dropped because the date for the security summit had changed due other national assignments.
Also in another statement entitled “Senate suspends security summit in honour of late Ekwueme”, the Senate Leader said: “The national summit on security being organised by the Senate had been postponed in honour of the late former Vice President Alex Ekwueme who will be buried on Saturday.”
The statement added, “The summit, scheduled to hold on February 1 and 5 at the Banquet Hall of the State House was to be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“A statement by the chairman of the Chairman, Senate ad-hoc committee on review of security infrastructure who is also the Majority Leader, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, stated that the postponement was to honour the late former Vice President, and to also enable Federal legislators, particularly those from the South-East, participate fully in the burial programme of the late elder statement.
“Lawan said a new date for the summit would be announced in due course, and extend the committee’s apology to the invited dignitaries.
“The summit was organised to provide an all inclusive platform for heads of security and defence agencies, Governors, traditional rulers, socio-cultural groups, civil society organizations and others, with a view to finding solutions to acute and long term security challenges in the country.
”Though the now postponed summit was an initiative of the Senate as part of its contribution to the resolution of the rising security challenges, it is being convened in partnership with the Presidency to find a common solution to the issue.”
Mr CG, rather than meeting us here at the conference room by way of courtesy, you are supposed to have met us at the ground floor on arrival into the premises — Melaye
I don’t need to come downstairs to receive you just as nobody in the Senate or House of Representatives has ever come out to receive us anytime we visit the National Assembly — Col. Ali
It was meant to be a routine visit, but yesterday’s oversight duty by senators at the Customs headquarters turned out to be more. It sparked another confrontation between them and Comptroller General (CG) Colonel Hameed Ali (retd.).
The Senate and Col. Ali had a long row over his refusal to appear before the upper chamber in uniform.
The drama yesterday was triggered by remarks made by the Chairman ad- hoc committee on “Economic Waste in the Nigerian Customs Service”, Senator Dino Melaye, over the manner in which the Senate delegation was received at the Customs Abuja headquarters.
Melaye noted that Col. Ali, by way of protocol, should have come down from his office to welcome the committee members into the premises.
The Kogi West lawmaker said it was a breach of protocol for the CG to casually meet the delegation at the conference room.
Melaye noted that ushering in the senators had been the practice with statutory bodies, such as Immigration, Prisons and others, over the years.
He wondered why such established etiquette, which he said was the norm under previous Customs CGs was not accorded the committee by Col. Ali.
Melaye said, “Before reading the prepared speech of the committee, let me make this small remark on what we have just observed here in form of breach of protocols.
“Mr CG, rather than meeting us here at the conference room by way of courtesy, you are supposed to have met us at the ground floor on arrival into the premises.
“That has been the practice of statutory bodies headed by Chief Executive Officers like you. Relevant Senate committees have over the years been accorded this by bosses of Immigration Service, Prison Service and others, making us to wonder why it is not so here today under your leadership.
“Therefore, before proceeding further, on account of this observation , we want the Customs management to know that the presence of this committee before it implies that the Senate itself is before it to put things in order as regards the economic waste taking place in the Customs Service requiring the seriousness it deserves from you and the entire management.”
Melaye insisted that the committee’s meeting with the Customs management was more or less that of the Senate.
Apparently to indicate that the Senate was sitting, Melaye hit the gavel on the table to declare the meeting open.
He read a speech to outline how the committee would carry out its investigation on the alleged economic waste in the Customs Service.
In a counter attack, the Customs CG told the Senate delegation that the NCS has its own protocol, which is different from other public establishments.
Col. Ali told the committee that the NCS would not want to be dictated to on matters of etiquette and protocol.
He said: “We have our own protocol as regards receiving visitors like you. I don’t need to come downstairs to receive you just as nobody in the Senate or House of Representatives has ever come out to receive us anytime we visit the National Assembly.
“So, there is no breach of protocol for not coming down to welcome you since appropriate officers have been assigned to do so. Our protocol is our protocol and should be allowed to be.
“In fact, by way of etiquette, it is the committee that is supposed to come to my office first on arrival and not just come straight to the conference room.
“Let me state clearly that we in the Nigeria Customs Service are servants of the people. We believe in Nigeria and working with others to make it great without being railroaded in anyway.
“Personally, I took this job because of my commitment to serve this country selflessly, having earlier done so in the military. So, nobody can tell me that I’m not a committed Nigerian.
“On your assignment you called economic waste, we shall cooperate with you to unearth whatever you want to unearth and effect any correction if there is any.”
The Senate committee, which appeared not to be satisfied with Col. Ali’s reply, boycotted a group photograph organised by the Customs.
As the visitors got set to leave the premises, they found that the Customs boss’ convoy was obstructing them – an action which they thought was deliberate. There was no official comment on this last night.
While the Customs boss left the headquarters at about 2:15pm with his siren blaring convoy, the senators team left around 2:20pm after staying in their bus for about 15 minutes.
Besides, Melaye, other senators in the delegation are: Samuel Anyanwu (Imo East), Gilbert Nnaji ( Enugu East), Hamman Isah Misau ( Bauchi Central) and Babajide Omoworare ( Osun East).
