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Tag: Yakubu Dogara

  • Edo IDPs: Dogara urged to fulfill promise on payment of WAEC fees  

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has been urged to fulfill the promise he made last year to pay examination fees for Internally Displaced Persons in Edo State.

    Dogara had in February 2017 promised to pay WAEC, NECO and JAMB examination fees from his personal resources to enable children in the IDPs camp get university education.

    He made the promise when he attended church service at the camp.

    Coordinator of the camp, Pastor Solomon Folorusho, told newsmen yesterday that Speaker Dogara was yet to fulfill the promises he made.

    Pastor Folorunsho disclosed that about 200 IDPs would write this year’s NECO and WAEC examinations.

    Folorunsho said 65 of the IDPs who attended secondary school at the camp are to write the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board examination this year.

    He said the IDPs have started farming for them not to completely depend on donation from people and complement whatever that is donated to the camp.

    “As the students are going to resume schools here, we have challenges of writing materials like notebooks, textbooks, mathematical sets calculators, pencils and biros among others.

    “We need those materials because 65 IDPS students are go to write JAMB while about 200 will write NECO and WASC this year. We need to prepare them for the examinations hence we called for financial assistance to see them through the examinations.

    “These children are Nigeria and we have to do every possible to make sure that they are educated though it is difficult for us. The state government has handed over blocks of classroom it built to us and Nigeria have been very generous to us in ensuring that the children actualise their dreams,” he said.

     

  • Dogara urges Cross River govt to investigate football fans’ death

    Dogara urges Cross River govt to investigate football fans’ death

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has urged the Cross River State government to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of soccer fans in Calabar, the state capital.

    The speaker expressed sadness over the unfortunate incident which led to the death of football fans in a viewing centre in Calabar.

    A statement issued by the Speaker’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Turaki Hassan, Dogara called for a probe of the incident with a view to holding responsible anyone found wanting.

    The speaker condoned with both the families of those who lost their lives and the survivals of incident who were still receiving treatment.

    “My heart goes out to the families of football fans who died in the incident at the viewing centre.

    “At this moment, my thoughts and prayers are with the affected families, survivors, the government and good people of Cross River state following this sad incident.

    “It is my ardent hope that survivors are receiving adequate care, and the state government is taking the necessary steps to avoid a recurrence of such a sad incident,” he said.

    He prayed God to comfort all the families who had been thrown into mourning and to grant the souls of the dearly departed perfect peace.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that no fewer than 30 soccer lovers had lost their lives in a viewing center in Cross Rivers on April 20.

    The soccer fans were electrocuted on Thursday night after a high tension electric pole fell on the building while watching the UEFA Europa League quarter-final match between Manchester United and Anderlecht.

     

  • Bauchi Governor warns against ‘politicking’ ahead of 2019

    Bauchi Governor warns against ‘politicking’ ahead of 2019

    … Oyegun meets APC Governors

    The Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Muhammed Abubakar, has cautioned elected and appointed public office holders at all levels against politicking ahead of the 2019 elections, urging them to concentrate on governance in the interest of the Nigerian people.

    Abubakar, who made the call in Bauchi during the Easter break, said it is too early in the day for custodians of the people’s mandate at all levels to start scheming for positions ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    The governor said scheming ahead of 2019 could distract public office holders from governance, thereby denying the people valuable services they deserved and voted for.

    The call came ahead of Thursday’s emergency meeting between the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and governors elected on the platform of the party.

    “My argument is that now is not the time for politicking. It’s time to work for the people. By the time we are ready to begin politics everybody will be free to come and aspire for any office,” the governor said.

    Commenting on the alleged rift between him and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, the governor attributed the disagreement to the Speaker’s ambition to become governor of the state in 2019.

    The governor, who has been having a running battle with Dogara since 2016, advised the Speaker to concentrate on his job for now, stressing that his track record of achievements in the state puts him far ahead of his opponents.

    Abubakar said, “When I was not governor, I contested along with seven other people for the ticket of the APC. I was the underdog. So I am not afraid of anybody who wishes to contest for any office but now is not the time.

    “Now is the time for us to put our heads together and work for this state and when the time of politics starts everybody can aspire. These people think they are denigrating me. That is why they are doing this against me.

    “But they are not in reality because if my wish is to be the governor of Bauchi state, God Almighty has already answered that. It has gone down in history.

    “So in all this, it is not me that is concerned, it is the image of our state. Our state has never been like this, we have never had it so bad and we are not the only state that has those crops of people.

    “Every state in Nigeria has members of House of Representatives, Senators but none of them is misbehaving the way our own are misbehaving. So it is essentially ambition but they are free to aspire.

    “I don’t know whether they are ganging up to support a particular candidate but each one of them is harbouring an ambition.”

     

     

  • Expectations For The Week

    Expectations For The Week

    Last week was one that was surrounded with fresh controversy from the polity; the discovery of millions of dollars in a private residence in Ikoyi, the exchange of words between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and Governor El-Rufai, and the “battle” between Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido and Governor Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari of Zamfara state.

    Obviously, the last may not have been heard from these cases as this new week may still go on with more. The trending topic in the country is the 43 million dollars alongside other currencies found in an Ikoyi home last week.

    Pictures of the found money circulated the public space like wild fire; the questions started coming in – who owns the money? Who owns the apartment wherein the bogus amount was found?

    Shortly after the information spree, the National Intelligence Agency came forward laying claim to the money, later on, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state said the money belongs to his State. Names of certain individuals (Senator Solomon Adeola, Rotimi Ameachi, Mo Abudu – although these personalities have denied any connection to the found money) were rumored to be behind the money but still, no name has been officially pronounced as owner of the Ikoyi residence.

    Many questions are still begging for answers, who owns the money? Is the NIA trying to cover up for certain persons? Is finding the owner of an apartment in a highbrow part of Lagos a difficult task to carry out?  Who is actually telling the truth? Hopefully, Nigerians will get to know the real situation soon.

    After an open exchange of words, Hon. Yakubu and Gov. El-Rufai last week publicly displayed their pay slips and gave analysis of how security votes allocated to Kaduna state was being utilized respectively. The open “attack” by the duo has gotten many Nigerians happy, are you asking why? Oh, it’s because many consider this a victory for the common man.

    Many are of the opinion that many more of such “argument” will further deepen the roots of our democracy, expose the excesses of political leaders and make the people understand the act of governance better. Will the National Assembly go ahead to reveal their budget as demanded by El-Rufai? It remains to be seen.

    After Gov. Yari declared that God was “punishing” his people with meningitis type C, Emir of Kano Sanusi Lamido replied by saying God had nothing to do with the disease that has claimed the lives of about 500 people, and that the governor should look for a solution to the plight of his citizen.

    The Yari/Sanusi controversy is still ongoing. After attacking and counter attacking each other’s comment recently, both eminent individuals are in the news again. Sanusi’s call for northern leaders to further educate their citizens has met Yari’s – “Practice what you preach” comment. Indeed, the Northern leaders need to improve on the educational sector in their environment to enable the youths have the opportunity of a glorious future.

    On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the Nigerian Professional Football League will be alive again as matches will be played across various stadia in the country. Table toppers, Mfm Fc go away to Akwa United, Plateau United host Katsina United, champions Rangers go away to Gombe United alongside other scintillating fixtures.

    Also, the second leg matches of the UEFA Champions League quarter final will be decided on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Will Barcelona be able to pull through with another comeback after three nil defeat in Turin? It remains to be seen.

    Segun Odunayo tweets from @Segun_Odunayo

     

     

  • House of rep Speaker Hon Yakubu Dogara since 2015

    House of rep Speaker Hon Yakubu Dogara since 2015

    Honourable Yakubu Dogara, born 26 December 1967, is the 14th and current Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, elected Speaker on June 9, 2015, after a keenly contested election. Upon winning the contest, he introduced a legislative agenda for the 8th House which would serve as its guiding document for a period of four years.

    He also constituted a committee which he charged with the duty of reviewing obsolete laws, with a view to repealing or amending the necessary laws in line with global best practices. Dogara is a Nigerian politician and a member of the All Progressives Party (APC) who has served as the House of Representatives Member for Bogoro/Dass, Nigeria/Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria Federal constituency of Bauchi State since 2007.

    Hon. Dogara was born to Yakubu Ganawuri and Saratu Yakubu on 26 December 1967. He began his education in 1976 at Gwarangah Primary School in the then Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State. Upon graduation in 1982, he proceeded to the Bauchi Teachers’ College for his secondary education and obtained a Grade II Teachers’ Certificate in 1987. In 1988, he went on to the University of Jos, Plateau State, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Law (LLB Hons.) degree in 1992.

    From 1992 to 1993, Dogara was a student at the Lagos campus of the Nigerian Law School and was called to the bar in 1993. He later obtained a Masters (LLM) in International Commercial Law at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.

    His first employment was in April 1988 as a teacher at the ATBU Staff School in Bauchi. In 1993, during the mandatory National Youth Service Corps, he served at NCCF, Akwa Ibom state. Upon completion of the NYSC programme in 1994, he went into private legal practice until 2005 when he was appointed Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Transport.

    He held this position until 2006 when he decided to contest to represent the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa constituency at the Federal House of Representatives. His bid proved successful and he has been a member of the House since 2007.

    Dogara is an active supporter of the Not Too Young To Run campaign, which aims to secure representation for Nigeria’s youth in the political process by lowering the age of eligibility for elective offices. He first mentioned the need to consider this reduction in the next amendment process during a meeting with student leaders drawn from across Nigerian tertiary institutions. After this, the Not Too Young to Run bill was sponsored by Tony Nwulu, a member of the House of Representatives, and the bill has since scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.

  • No apologies for calling for transparency of National Assembly – El-Rufai

    No apologies for calling for transparency of National Assembly – El-Rufai

    …Buhari implementing issues in my memo, says el-Rufai

     

    Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai on Friday said that he has no apology for any National Assembly member offended by his call for transparency.

    According to him, he has the right as a Nigerian to call for such transparency.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after observing the Jumaat prayer with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he said that it would be in the interest of the lawmakers to make public their earnings in the face of the bogus salaries allegations.

    He said “There is nothing like falling out with the National Assembly, first of all I am a state governor and do not have any direct relationship with the national assembly. They don’t legislate for me specifically. I don’t have any relationship that is negative or positive with the National Assembly.

    “The National Assembly is the legislature of the federation and we have very good relations with the legislators. There are senators from my state and there are representatives and I meet regularly with those of them that are ready to meet with me. Here, beside me are Senators Abu Ibrahim and Marafa.

    “If I have problem with the National Assembly they will not be standing beside me. So there is no problem. The issue is what I did last Friday was to ask the leadership of the national Assembly to fulfil the promise that they made themselves to publish the details of their budget and asking for that is my duty as a citizen. Every Nigerian is entitled to ask that question,” he said.

    He went on “It is in the National Assembly’s interest to actually publish it because there are rumours of bogus amounts of money that they are getting which I do not believe is true. I think that the best way to kill that rumour is to publish the details of their budget but some people took exception to that call for transparency and I have no apologies because as citizens we have the right to demand for transparency for how resources are being spent.

    “This one hundred billion or so budget of the National Assembly is money belonging to the people of Nigeria and every Nigerian has the right to ask and I am exercising that right as a citizen not even as a governor.”

    He explained that he had no problem with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

    “I have no problem with the Speaker. He is my kid brother, he respects me and I respect him, I have no problem with the Senate President, we worked together in the past and I am confident that we will work together in the future in the interest of Nigeria.

    “But demand for accountability is not a problem and should not be construed to be undermining or any such thing. It is only someone who has something to hide that will do things like that and I don’t believe that the National Assembly has things to hide,” he added

    The Governor also maintained that there is no rift between him and President Buhari.

    He said “There is no strain in my ties with the President. The villa is a bigger place. Within the villa there are people that like me and there are those who don’t and it is normal. My relationship with the President has never been strained in anyway.

    “I met with him last night, I did not talk about things like that but our relationship with him is like that of father and son and it is privilege for me. I told him I will come today for the Jumaat and I did.”

    On how he was received by the President, he said “As usual with great warmth and graciousness and I am grateful for that.

    Asked why he wrote such a letter to the President, he said that it was a well-meaning memo aimed at ensuring development of the country.

    Even though he faulted those who leaked the private memo to the public, he said that most issues raised in it are already been implemented by the government.

    He said “It was a private memo and it is not a letter. If you want to ask any question about it you ask those who leaked the memo because I wrote it seven months ago. I have written similar memos to the President in the past and none of them got leaked. He knows that he can count on me to give him my views of what is out there that he may not hear and to give him sound advice without any interest on my part.

    “If anyone reads that memo he will see that there is nothing in the memo that has anything to do other than the success of Mr. President and progress of the country. That is my goal, my motive and I am driven by that. I stand behind the President to the very end.

    On whether his views in the letter have changed since he wrote it, he said “Yes, I believe that since September last year when I wrote the letter, there have been significant improvement in the delivery of services at the federal level as I said some of our federal programmes have started
    in earnest.

    “Social protection for instance, the N-Power, budget releases has been accelerated, this is an unprecedented move, the minister of finance has released up to about a trillion naira of capital budget. In September last year, little or nothing had been released and that was part of my concern, since then the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan has been done and published.

    “At the time I wrote the memo there was no five year plan for the country, since then the government has moved ahead to change some of the appointees of President Jonathan in parastatals. This is something that we were worried about, many of us in APC felt that we were in office but not in power because the people that Jonathan appointed were still running most of our key agencies.

    “From September till date even up until yesterday there has been significant improvement. So there is improvement and I believe that part of what I recommended to the President is being implemented, whether because of my memo or not, it is being implemented and the country is moving forward and I am grateful to God for it.” he said

    On how he felt about the leakage of the letter in contrast with secrecy oath of office, he said “I am disappointed that a private communication to the highest office in the land can be leaked and it was leaked from the Villa, I am told by those that published it, but this is a fact of life. We live in an
    age where anything you write or say can be leaked. It is ok, my intentions are clear, I have no ill motive but I wanted to communicate with the President what many Nigerians are talking about and what steps can be taken to improve governance of the country and move the country forward.

    “That was my motive and if tomorrow like I said I see anything that the President needs to know I will discuss with him and I will articulate and put it into writing and on the record for him to
    have a reminder document to work on. I have no regrets and I have no apologies.”

    Against the belief that he was stopped for some months from coming to the Villa, he said that he was not stopped and that nobody can stop him.

    He said “No, no one ever stopped me from coming to the villa and no one can stop me from coming to villa. As a governor I come here, I have blank cheques, no one checks me at the gate but I believe what the President needs is for those that love him to keep away from him and allow him to rest.

    “The President needs quality time to rest because it is meeting too many people that strains leadership. I am a governor and I know that when I meet 10 people in a day I get really tired, it is not the paperwork, it is not really the memos approving them or asking questions that strain a leader, it is the stream of visitors.

    “I do not want to contribute to the President’s problem by coming here every day. I am in touch with him, I know everything going on and I do not think I should add to his burden. Most of the time I come to visit the President I do not come to the office, I go to see him at home.

    “I think and I appeal to all of us that love the President to please allow him some space so that he will recover. We need him and the country needs him, it is in our interest for the stability of the
    country, we should just let him be. It is absolutely necessary lets us leave him to do his work in the privacy of his room or his office without strings of visitors. Visitors stress leaders,” he said.

     

     

  • Judge refuses to include Reps members in Jibrin’s suit against Dogara

    Judge refuses to include Reps members in Jibrin’s suit against Dogara

    …Fixes hearing of main suit for ‎April 28

     

    Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja has refused an application by two members of the House of Representatives, praying to be made parties in the suit by a former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin.

    Jibrin, in the suit N1billion suit against House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and others, is challenging his suspension from the House, for among others, questioning the decision the House o Reps leadership.

    In a ruling Thursday, Justice Tsoho dismissed the application by Nicholas Ossai and Orker-Jev Yisa, ans held that it lacked merit.

    Ossai was the Chairman of House Committee on Ethics, which recommended Jibrin’s suspension and Yisa was the House member who moved the motion Jibrin’s suspension.

    The judge described the two lawmakers as co-defendants to the suit as a busy-body and unnecessary parties in the case.

    Justice Tsoho adjourned to April 28 for the hearing of the substantive suit.

    Jibrin, from Kano State, filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/Bl2/2015, shortly before his suspension.

    He is seeking among others, an order voiding his suspension and reinstating him to the House.

    Jibrin, who was suspended on September 28, 2016, for 180 legislative days, eqully asked the court for N1bn as damages against the respondents for his alleged wrongful suspension.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the House itself and the Clerk of the House are the first to the third defendants to the suit.‎

     

  • Dogara releases pay slips, earns N346,577 monthly

    Dogara releases pay slips, earns N346,577 monthly

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara on Tuesday disclosed that he earns N346,577.87 monthly after deductions.

    He made this known in his three months’ pay slips released in response to the disclosure by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai who also released his monthly pay on Monday.

    A breakdown of the Speaker’s monthly pay as reflected in his pay slip below is as follows:

    Basic salary; N206, 425.83, Constituency allowance;  N175,461.96, recess allowance; 20,642.58. and pay as you earn; 55,952.50.

    Spk Pay slip2-1

     

    Spk Pay slip2-2

     

    Spk Pay slip2-3

  • Reps to El Rufai: Face your state’s security problems

    Reps to El Rufai: Face your state’s security problems

    The House of Representatives Tuesday flayed the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai to face the problem in his state and stop attacking the National Assembly.

    Reading from a prepared speech titled: “Mallam Nasir El-Rufai should concentrate on Kaduna State and stop undermining the National Assembly,” to reportersTuesday, Chairman House Committee on Media and Publicity Affairs, Abdulrasak Namdas said El Rufai is ignorant of the financial happenings in the National Assembly and that “We decided to respond only to correct some factual inaccuracies and set the records straight.”

    The statement reads as follows: “Nigerians may recall that the Rt. Hon. Speaker on Friday April 7, 2017 in response to calls by Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai disclosed that the leadership of the National Assembly had directed the bureaucracy and all other agencies under the National Assembly to make available details of their annual budgets beginning from 2017 budget which is still under consideration in the parliament.

    “Nigerians may further recall that the Rt. Hon. Speaker requested Kaduna State Governor, El-Rufai who is known for his consistent advocacy for openness in the budget of the National Assembly, to, in the spirit of good governance, transparency and accountability extend his campaign to other arms and tiers of government beginning from the Judiciary, to State Governments and Local Governments. The Speaker specifically urged Malam El-Rufai who has been championing this cause to impress on his colleagues (Governors) to disclose their Security votes and also publish what they do with local government funds under their jurisdictions.

    “Thus, the call by the Speaker was for Malam El-rufai to extend his advocacy on transparency and accountability to other arms and tiers of government in order to remove the lid of secrecy that has beclouded expenditures at the state level led by his colleagues especially on their security votes and not the states’ security budget. We note that what Malam El-rufai published was the security budget of Kaduna state and not his security vote expenditure as such.

    “We wish to advise the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to concentrate his efforts in Governing Kaduna State and stop undermining and distracting the National Assembly in playing its constitutionally assigned role in nation building. He launched an attack on the National Assembly on Friday, 7th April, 2017 and continued on Monday 10th April 2017.

    “We are aware that there are serious security issues he should be grappling with in Southern Kaduna and other governmental issues facing him. He should not give the impression that he has no challenging work to do in Kaduna State. These attacks are coming on the heels of his now famous letter to Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, where he made strenuous effort to undermine his government, by openly lampooning him when he has unhindered access to His Excellency, Mr. President. As a senior citizen, he has a responsibility not to unnecessarily overheat the polity with tendentious and unfounded outbursts.

    “The National Assembly Budget is not opaque. Since 2010 when the Constitution was amended and National Assembly was placed on the first line charge, its budget became part of Statutory Transfers, together with the Judiciary, INEC and others. You cannot find details of the Budget of the Judiciary and INEC in the National Budget. It exists elsewhere. Of course from 1999 to 2010, the details of the National Assembly Budget was contained in the National Budget.

    “The leadership of the National Assembly has already directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to publish details of the National Assembly Budget from 2017 and so to continue to repeat the same call made 3days earlier smacks of propaganda and cheap blackmail.

    “The Kaduna State Governor chose to give headings of its budget on security related matters. Maybe he will give further details of actual security expenditures at the appropriate time. He claimed that the State’s accounts have been audited. No grounds have been broken here. The response by the Kaduna State Governor completely missed the point. Mr. Speaker’s call was for El-Rufai to extend the campaign for openness and transparency to other arms of government, including the Governors’ expenditures on security votes and Local Government funds. He merely doubled down on his campaign on National Assembly Budget leaving out the other aspects of Mr. Speaker’s request.

    “The Kaduna State Governor claimed that “in 2016, the National Assembly budget for its 469 members was larger than the entire budget of several Nigerian States”.

    “This statement is patently misleading and a terrible display of ignorance and falsehood or a deliberate attempt to blackmail the parliament. For the avoidance of doubt, the National Assembly budget includes the salaries, allowances, expenditure and running cost of 469 members. It includes the salaries, allowances of about 3,000 Legislative Aides; it includes the salaries, allowances, equipment and maintenance of about 5000 staff in the Bureaucracy of the National Assembly.

    “The National Assembly has agencies too. The National Assembly Service Commission has a staff strength of about 500. The National Institute for Legislative Studies is also a parastatal of the National Assembly that serves as a legislative think-tank and a highly rated academic institution, which serves not only the National Assembly but also State Houses of Assembly and the international community. It is currently building its headquarters which is world class. It has to be funded. El-Rufai’s mischievous publication carefully ignores the fact that the Bureaucracy of National Assembly and its agencies and 469 members need travel and transport support. They require medical attention, offices, equipment and all the support available to others in the public service.

    “El-Rufai conveniently forgot that the National Assembly has buildings to build and maintain. He discountenanced the need for training and re-training of staff and even capacity building for members. The narrative is such that he excludes the need for National Assembly members and bureaucracy to attend conferences both local and foreign. Some of the most critical work the National Assembly does is Oversight. It costs a lot of money to conduct proper oversight of executive agencies to save money and ensure governmental efficiency for the Nigerian people. Public Hearings by the National Assembly and its Committees have become a regular feature of our democracy, because citizen engagement and consultation is cardinal for running a democratic government. It costs a lot of money.

    “It is most uncharitable to ignore the fact that the National Assembly is an arm of government, not a department in the Executive branch. The Budget of so many agencies in the Executive is higher than that of National Assembly, an arm of government. Such agencies as NCC – N102billion, CBN – N421billion, NPA – N250billion, NIMASA – N100billion, FIRS – N146billion, Customs – N81billion and NNPC whose budget runs into trillions are some examples. Indeed, the National Assembly Budget is about 2% of the National Budget.

    “Yes, the National Assembly has voluntarily agreed to publish its Budget from 2017, as a responsible and accountable democratic institution.  What happens to 98% of the National Budget should engage our attention too. We are sure that if 10% of the public scrutiny National Assembly receives is also devoted to those spending the other 98%, Nigeria would be better for it.

    “I am directed by the Hon. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, to also in the spirit of transparency release his pay slip for the past 6 months from October 2016 to March 2017, for your information.”

  • Lawmaker accuses security personnel of sexual harassment

    A member of the House of Representatives, Abudulrahman Abubakar (Adamawa-APC), on Tuesday alleged that security personnel at checkpoints in the North-East sexually harassed girls under the guise of conducting checks.

    Abubakar made the allegation while moving a motion on the need to investigate the activities of security personnel at the checkpoint along the Yola-Girei road in Adamawa.

    He said the checkpoint was manned by officers of Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    According to him, commuters on the road are regularly subjected to harrowing experiences at the checkpoint by the officers.

    The lawmaker alleged that commuters were often diverted into secluded areas under the guise of intensive checks and were harassed and intimidated.

    According to him, the officers, oftentimes, allegedly abuse hapless young girls sexually.

    He said that due to lack of substantive evidence, appropriate authorities often turned blind eyes to these unfortunate incidents.

    The legislator said that the situation had turned the checkpoint into a tool of flagrant extortion, harassment and abuse of commuters at gunpoint.

    According to him, if the brutality and harassment of commuters are not checked and officers duly sanctioned, they can become more emboldened to commit worse crimes.

    In his ruling, Speaker of the House, Mr Yakubu Dogara, mandated the Committee on National Security and Intelligence to investigate the allegation and report back to the house within six weeks.