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Tag: state assembly

  • Benue Assembly extends suspension of 6 LG chairmen

    The Benue House of Assembly has extended the suspension of six local government chairmen by three months over alleged misappropriation of public funds and gross misconduct.

    The extension was sequel to a unanimous decision by members of the house on Wednesday during plenary in Makurdi.

    The House explained that the decision to extend the suspension of the chairmen was not a witch-hunt but to allow the executive conclude its investigation.

    The affected council chairmen are: Mrs Becky Orpin – Gboko Local Government; Mr Francis Ogwuche – Okpokwu Local Government; Juliana Audu – Makurdi Local Government; Austin Okwoche – Oju Local Government; Mrs Comfort Echoda and her Vice, Mr Joseph Ngbede – Agatu Local Government and Mr Terdoo Kenti and his Vice, Mr Orvande Aondose – Kwande Local Government.

    The assembly had suspended the council chairmen for three months on Jan 21, 2019 in line with Section 154 of the local government law following a correspondence from Gov. Samuel Ortom.

    Ortom earlier accused the chairmen of misappropriating local government funds, gross misconduct, abuse of office and truancy.

    The governor said the reason for the request was to allow the executive conclude investigations into the allegations leveled against the chairmen.

  • Yari presents N135.3bn budget for 2019

    Zamfara State Governor, Abdula’ziz Yari on Monday, presented a budget of N135.32 billion for the 2019 fiscal to the state Assembly for approval.

    Yari said that N62.71 billion was proposed for recurrent expenditure while N72.61 billion was earmarked for capital expenditure.

    According to Yari, the N72.61 billion allocated the Capital Expenditure would go agriculture, livestock, forestry, manufacturing, power supply, transport, commerce, cooperatives and finance.

    The governor explained that Transport sector was allocated N15.38 billion, Agricultural, N3.45 billion; Power Supply, N2.55 billion; Manufacturing, N1.13 billion.

    Also Livestock takes N570 million; Forestry, N160 million; Fisheries, N85 million, while Commerce, Cooperatives and Finance was allocated N125 million.

    He said that the Social Service Sector was allocated N22.96 billion, representing 32%, with education getting the highest allocation of N11.170 billion.

    ”This is followed by Health with N8,450,000,000.00, Information with N1,645,000,000.00, Youth with
    N830,000,000.00 and Social Welfare with N865,000,000.00,” he said.

    He added that the Environment Sector would receive N16.59 billion, representing 23% of the budget size.

    Yari thanked members of the House
    for their support, encouragement, understanding and cooperation throughout his tenure.

    ”This hallowed chamber is indeed the backbone of our success.

    ”I, therefore, commend your contributions to the general success of our administration from
    inception to date.”

    He also thanked people of the state, saying: ”I cannot thank you enough for your immense support, cooperation and understanding that enabled us to fulfil most of our campaign promises, especially during the turbulent times in the history of our state.

    ”I deeply appreciate your prayers, patience, and understanding throughout our moments of trial.

    ”This cooperation from you has remained our source of hope and strength.

    ”I wish to call on the entire people of our state to extend their legendary support and cooperation to the incoming administration which is going to be a government of continuity so that it will succeed the same way this administration had succeeded.”

    Responding, the Speaker, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji, pledged speedy passage of the budget. (NAN)

  • Southwest APC to voters: elect our candidates for good governance

    THE Southwest All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the electorates in the zone’s six states to vote for its governorship and state assembly candidates on Saturday

    A statement signed by its Zonal Secretary, Mr. Ayo Afolabi, said the APC prides itself as the party that offers good governance, which is the overall goal of democracy.

    It said good governance brings unprecedented growth as witnessed in APC-governed states, a feat it said started since the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s days.

    APC added that it has the best record of responsive leadership in Nigeria’s democratic history.

    The statement reads: “We are asking the people to vote for all our candidates because we remain the best listeners and the most approachable. Our democracy is still growing and we remain the best party to bring it to maturity.

    “Our people must remember the past PDP leviathan regimes. We have not forgotten how they remained deaf to people’s complaints and cries and did whatever pleased them. Such characters always come disguised as angels with temporary reliefs to deceive the people, but their devilish intention can never offer meaningful development and long-term solutions.

    “It is only during the regime of the APC that we see the Rule of Law gaining ascendancy instead of the Rule of Force that held sway under the PDP administrations.

    “What this means is that our party remains the best structure to deliver good governance to our people because we not only listen to the people, we learn from our mistakes.”

    Afolabi urged residents of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states to vote for the APC governorship and the state assembly candidates.

    The party also denied that former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala was induced with huge amount of money as being reported in some media.

    Describing the reconciliation with the former governor as a norm in democracy, he said such “allegation can only exist in the minds and imagination of heavily-corrupt PDP and their supporters”.

    “It is out of place for APC to give financial inducement to anyone with a view to  gain or get the support of anyone, talk-less of a person of Governor Alao-Akala’s caliber, who was until some six month ago a strong member of our party.

    “Alao-Akala made some certain demands, which includes among others: the completion of the teaching hospital in Ogbomosho, which he wanted to be put to immediate use as soon as possible, the issue of LAUTECH,  which he wanted the governments of APC to address immediately and other sundry issues, which are the basic ingredients for good governance,” the party said.

  • ‘How we keep Lalong on his toes’

    ‘How we keep Lalong on his toes’

    The 8th Assembly in Plateau State is been led by Rt. Hon. Peter Azi, who has been in the state assembly for the 4th time. In this interview with Yusufu Aminu Idegu, the Speaker dwells on relationship with the state executive as well challenges facing the state legislature.

    HOW has it been coping with the task of leading the 8th assembly in the state considering the composition of the house made up various party members?

    I am coping very well, though it’s not easy, but I know as a politician there are bound to be challenges, but those challenges in an assembly of people of various political background require an experienced legislator to handle and I’m not lacking in such experience because this is my fourth time as a state legislator in this same house of assembly. Leadership itself is never smooth but with God on my side I’m trying my best. As soon as I emerged the Speaker, I let my members know that we have to work as a family. I told them to drop their party differences at the gate and relate on the floor as member of one family. One family in the sense that Plateau is the only constituency that all of us have and not the parties. Parties are just the platform that we ride on to come here and so once you are here your primary role is to make law for the interests of people of the state.

    But your debates here at times are so heated because members are just consider their party interests more.

    That is human. Even if we are all of the same party in the house, members will still argue in a manner that shows each member putting his or her own constituency first and they will defend their position. That is man exhibiting his selfish tendencies which is natural. But the best way to go is we have to put Plateau interest first and every other interest as secondary. Like I said earlier, our primary responsibility is to make laws for the state. It then means that we should leave the issue of projects to the executive whose responsibility it is to identify and approve locations for projects.

    How will you asses the Chief Executive in the implementation of the laws you make especially the appropriation laws?

    Governor Lalong himself is a trained lawyer even before venturing into politics. So he knows the importance of the laws we make in this house. For the 19 bills we have passed so far by this 8th assembly, the governor has signed them into law and that has given him the enablement to run his administration smoothly. We have a process of monitoring implementations of the state laws by the chief executive, I mean the processes of budget defense by ministries, agencies and departments every year. I have advised the head of agencies, departments and parastatals to equip the members of the house with relevant information that we can work with. It is one of the ways we can assess the implementation of the appropriation laws by the executive. I have also insisted that the ministries should come up regularly with their quarterly financial reports to the various house committee, it is also the major way the house can know any areas of problem in terms of release of funds and so on, that will enable us do proper oversight functions as required of us. You know for oversight function to be thorough and effective, government ministries, agencies and parastatals need to come up with relevant report, but in most cases they don’t make these reports available to us. It’s like I keep begging them to do their own work. Sometimes these government agencies think passing the budget annually is just an annual routine of the house. They don’t really realize the critical role they as government agencies need to play to enable the appropriation bill succeed. When as a house we are fully equipped with the reports from the ministries and agencies, we will know which area that needed support and that will guide us on how to pass the next budget. But when they failed to come up with their report the process of appropriation bill is not complete because at the end of the day one section of the state will feel marginalized. There is no doubt that the executive is embarking on projects as we can see projects all over which shows the governor is working, but we need formal reports from the various government agencies. We need relevant information for us to do our oversight function and reshape the annual budget estimates that will be presented by the executive. Apart from the annual appropriation laws, some of the laws we passed here has resulted in the creation of new agencies and commissions for the state. For instance, the new Peace Building Agency, the new Disability Commission, the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) and several others.

    In terms of oversight functions, how will you rate the commitment of house members?

    The commitment of the house members is commendable, especially in the area of oversight function. They are so passionate about it. I supervise them and I can say they are doing a lot to keep the executive on its toes. In short, we are not giving Governor Lalong any breathing space. This is why you see that he cannot relax. It is because he knows the house members are very inquisitive and up to their constitutional duties.

    But people often say you don’t check the excesses of the executive enough. Is that true?

    I have also heard that before. But it depends on who is making such insinuation. All I know is that the executive and the legislative arms are parts of the same government. We are working for the same people and if so, our work is supposed to complement one another. People wants to see me fight Governor Lalong, and I’m asking them, just for no reason? I should have a good reason to fight Lalong. But so far I don’t think there is any reason to fight him. One thing people did not know is that I do disagree with the executive on several issues, especially on issues that is of general interest of our people. But we are too matured as leaders to show the public how much we fight even though we do when necessary and when we do, the corrections are effected and both parties accepted that yes, this is best for our people. We do fight but we don’t fight dirty and subject ourselves to public ridicule. We are not here for that.

    But the truth is, if you go round the state and even the state capital Jos, you will see the physical hand work of the collaboration between the state executive and the state legislature. The governor send us annual budget and we work on it and pass it. Then the governor signs the bill into law and we see implementation by the executive in our constituencies, on our streets, in capital projects and in physical infrastructural development. The governor has done a lot with very lean resources and I think he deserve commendation so that he will be encouraged to put more efforts. This government came in to meet unpaid salary arrears and unpaid pension. The governor made his commitment to ensure these inherited salary and pension arrears are cleared and by the grace of God today, the governor has cleared all those backlog and he continued to pay monthly salaries without leaving any arrears behind. The governor did something that is not common among chief executives. When the Paris refund came, he simply handed the money over to the Head of Service and directed him to set up a committee to work out the modalities for the payment of inherited salaries and pension arrears. Apart from that, you can see capital projects here and there. Do you fight an executive that is delivering dividends of democracy? I will rather cooperate to continued to deliver the goods to our people.

    So are you saying you are satisfied with the way the state executive utilized the Paris refunds and all the bail out to the state?

    Exactly, I am satisfied. With the fact that the governor is paying salary regularly and is up to date, which is what the bail out funds was meant for, and he is also embarking on social infrastructural projects, he has done well. Even the Bible and the Quran believed that the laborers deserved to be paid for his labor before his sweat dry off. That is exactly the principle Governor Lalong is using in handling workers welfare in the state. It will interest you to know that ICPC gave the House of Assembly an award for the way and manner the Paris fund was appropriated in Plateau state. You know ICPC actually sent out its men to monitor the disbursement of the cash in all the states of the federation. We didn’t know about that until we were told during the award ceremony in Abuja. Plateau assembly under my leadership was identified as one of the best in the country in transparent financial management. We also got another award from the police service commission in the area of peace and security. They said this 8th assembly made much more impact in the restoration of peace in the state. You know in the past, attacks by gunmen was very common in this state, but that is no more.

    Let look at your primary duty as law makers, how many bills, motions, or resolutions have you passed since assumption of office?

    In the last two years we have had three sessions, and in all the session we passed a total of 19 bills so far and 32 other bills are at various stages of completion. Some of the bills include that which brings about the Peace Building Agency for the purpose of peace and security in the state. Another bill was that of Public Procurement Agency in the state. Then there was the bill for the creation of disability commission to take care of citizens with disability. Of course there was the bill on revenue harmonization. And the most important of all, the bill on local government laws that create room for the constitution of Plateau state Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) which gives room for the conduct of local government elections in the state. And then there was a bill for bureau for statistics. All these bills I mentioned have all been passed into law for the smooth running of government administration and services to citizens.

     

     

     

  • APC candidate wants judgment ousting him from state assembly election set aside

    A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Lagos Island Constituency 1,  Hon. Hakeem Masha has filed a Notice of Appeal against the judgment of Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court, Lagos, which declared Wasiu Sanni-Eshilokun as the All Progressive Congress(APC) candidate for Lagos Island Constituency 1 in the April 11, House of Assembly elections.

    Justice Buba had also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC)  to recognise and substitute Hon. Masha’s name with that of Sanni-Eshinlokun’s for the  April 11, House of Assembly elections.

    Hon. Mash is urging the court to set aside its judgment delivered last week  by   Justice Ibrahim Buba, which declared his opponent in the All Progressive Congress (APC), Wasiu Sanni-Eshinlokun the lawful candidate of the party, representing the Lagos Island Constituency 1 for the April 11 election into the Lagos State House of Assembly.

    In the notice of appeal filed by his lawyer, Mr. Bonojo Badejo (SAN), Hon. Masha based his appeal on five grounds.

    The appellant is seeking for a stay of execution of the judgment delivered by Justice Buba pending determination of his appeal.

    He stated that  Justice Ibrahim Buba erred by declaring Wasiu Sanni-Eshilokun as the lawful candidate.

    He claimed that the judge also ignored all fundamental issues raised by Hon. Hakeem Masha while adjudicating on the matter.

    Other ground of  his appeal was that the judge erred in law when he assumed jurisdiction to hear originating summons when the first respondent failed to explore or exhaust the internal dispute remedy enshrined in the APC constitution before proceeding to court.

    The appellant also faulted  the judge on the issue of waiver as the APC National Working Committee or its National Executive Committee had at no time, granted waiver to Wasiu Sanni-Eshilokun to participate in the primaries.

    He said Sanni-Eshilokun, who was declared winner by the court did not resign from his position within the stipulated time by the party’s constitution.

    It said the APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) had, in a response to the petition filed by Hon. Masha,  ruled that Sanni-Eshilokun did not resign within the mandatory 30 –day period as required by the party’s Constitution and was not qualified to contest in the primaries elections.

    The NWC of the party, it further stated, had then upheld the prayers of the petitioner, Hon. Masha and forwarded his name as the Party’s candidate for Lagos Island Constituency 1 to INEC.,

    •The application for stay of execution of judgment was served on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at its National Headquarters in Abuja on Friday, March 6,

    •The effect of the application  was to ensure that INEC does not carry out the order of the court until the application/appeal has been determined by the court.,

    During trial at the court, the plaintiff, through his lawyer, Mr. Wahab Shittu, sought a declaration of the court that the substitution of his name in the list forwarded to INEC with that of Masha, ran contrary of the provisions of Sections 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the Electoral Act, 2010.

    In a 37-paragraph affidavit deposed to in support of the originating suit, Sanni-Eshinlokun had averred that he has  not, at any time withdrew his candidacy in the race for the Lagos House of Assembly on the platform of the APC.

    He insisted that he  remains the substantive and the lawfully nominated candidate of the APC.

    “I state that I am alive, fully fit and in good condition of health.”

    But the APC and Masha, through their own lawyers, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) and Mr.  Bonojo Badejo (SAN), had raised objection to the plaintiff’s prayers.

    Falana and Badejo  described the suit as “frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of court processes” and urged the court to dismiss same for want of jurisdiction.

    They had also contended that the suit was “not initiated by the due process of law.”