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Author: Femi Ogunshola

  • Abia Rep., Aguocha, meets Buhari over Nnamdi Kanu’s release

    Rep. Obi Aguocha (LP-Abia) and former President Muhammadu Buhari in Katsina

    Kanu
    By Femi Ogunshola
    Abuja, June 30, 2024 (NAN) Rep. Obi Aguocha (LP-Abia) has visited former President Muhammadu Buhari, with a request to intervene toward the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Aguocha, representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia, disclosed the essence of his visit in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

    He stated said he was in Katsina “to seek Buhari’s intervention and elicit his support for a political dialogue and constructive engagement”.

    This, according to him, is to engender a resolution of the salient issues surrounding the continued detention and trial of Kanu, “which could lead to his release on pragmatic national reconciliation considerations”.

    He stated, “for the missteps, utterances and ill gestures of the past, especially on the part of my constituent and brother, Nnamdi Kanu, I am deeply sorry.”

    Aguocha further expressed his belief that a political resolution would not only address the grievances of parties on all sides but promote greater understanding and unity in the country.

    The statement quoted Buhari as commending the lawmaker’s humility and dedication to serving his people.

    Buhari was further quoted to have assured the lawmaker that his approach was welcomed and that he would not be opposed to any political solution for Kanu’s release.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Aguocha recently led a group of 50 House members across the political and ethnic divides to sign a letter appealing to President Bola Tinubu to release Kanu.

    The letter requested Tinubu to direct the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fegbemi (SAN) “to invoke section 174(1)(c) of the 1999 constitution to reach a desired outcome”.

    The lawmaker further stated that the meeting with Buhari was part of a broad-based initiatives aimed at securing a speedy political resolution of Kanu’s detention and trial.

    This, he said, “is to secure his release in the spirit of engendering dialogue and non-contentious approaches to resolving thorny national issues”.

    Aguocha said that the initiative was anchored on the understanding that “Kanu was willing, ready and able to embrace the new dynamic in joining hands across the country in building a new Nigeria”.

    Kanu had been in the custody of the Department of the State Services since his extradition from Kenya in June 2021 and being prosecuted for alleged treason and terrorism charges. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

    ODF/USO
    Edited by Sam Oditah

     

  • Reps committee suspends sales of Kaduna Poly property

    Reps committee suspends sales of Kaduna Poly property

     

    Suspension

    By Femi Ogunshola

    Abuja, June 28, 2024 (NAN) The House of Representatives Committee on Public Assets has suspended the allocation of land and houses in Kaduna Polytechnic to non-staff of the institution.

    The suspension followed consideration of the petition by the committee in Abuja.

    The serving and retired staff of the Polytechnic had petitioned against the management of the school over the indiscriminate allocations.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee had summoned the Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Suleiman Umar.

    Also invited for investigation were Perm Sec., the Ministry of Education, and the Head of the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC), as well as the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP).

    Others are the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), Kaduna Polytechnic branch.

    Kuye, however, said that the specific date, time, and venue for their appearance would be communicated to them later.

    Kuye said the suspension became necessary because most of the plots of land and houses at the school were sold to non-staff.

    He added that, as such, future lecturers and non-teaching staff would not find it easy to operate.

    NAN reports that the petitioners had lamented over how the authorities of the Kaduna Polytechnic were carrying out illegal sales by carving out parts of their plots of land and selling them to non-staff of the institution.

    This was without remitting the money to the government account.

    Two leaders of the petitioners, Dr Omale Apochi and Isiaka Bankole, alleged that most of the teaching and non-teaching staff were not aware of the sale of the houses and plots of land belonging to the institution.

    Mr Bala Sanusi, Head of the Presidential Implementation Committee, said in his submission that the issue of leasing the polytechnic plots of land and houses had resulted in a legal battle.

    This, he said, lasted for over 10 years, but the issue was later resolved through an out-of-court settlement.

    According to Sanusi, the agreement reached by the parties led to the resolution, which was approved by the Kaduna Polytechnic Board, PIC, and Secretary to the Federal Government.

    According to the resolution, the non-staff of Kaduna Polytechnic shall not be beneficiaries of the allocations of plots of land and houses. (NAN) www.nannews.ng
    ODF/NNO/SH

    ===========

    Edited by Nick Nicholas/Sadiya Hamza

  • Reps extend 2023 budget implementation timeline to December

    Reps extend 2023 budget implementation timeline to December

    Budget
    By Femi Ogunshola

    Abuja, June 27, 2024(NAN) The House of Representatives on Thursday considered and passed two bills,  extending  implementation of the 2023 Appropriation Act and the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Act until December.

    President Bola Tinubu had presented the bills via a letter read on the floor of the house by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas in Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bills are titled: “The 2023 Appropriation Amendment Bill, 2024, and The 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Amendment Bill, 2024.

    Following its first reading, the Minority Leader of the house, Rep. Kingsley Chinda during  debate on the general principles of the bill, expressed reservations about the propriety of accelerating  passage of the bills.

    He stated that such might not be in the best interest of the country, suggesting that provisions of the bills should be harmonised and included in the anticipated supplementary appropriation Act 2024.

    In response, the house resolved to enter an executive session to deliberate further on the matter.

    The session saw extensive discussions, with members from both sides of the divided contributing their perspectives and suggestions.

    Following these deliberations, the house, dissolved into the Committee of Supply to debate the various clauses in the money bills, all of which were carried.

    Subsequently, the house reverted to plenary where the bills were read for the third time.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
    ODF/CHOM/SH
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    Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Sadiya Hamza

     

     

     

  • Heated debate erupts in House of Reps over Tinubu’s budget request

    Heated debate erupts in House of Reps over Tinubu’s budget request

    Budget
    By Femi Ogunshola
    Abuja, June 27, 2024(NAN) The House of Representatives on Thursday engaged in a heated debate over President Bola Tinubu’s request to extend the implementation period of the N21.83 trillion capital component of the 2023 budget.

    Also debated was the extension of the N2.17trillion 2023 supplementary budget to Dec. 2024.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas had during the plenary read a letter by the President after which the executive bills requesting the extension were introduced.

    The Leader of the House, Rep. Julius Ihonvbere, moved for the second reading of the bills.

    However, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, the House Minority Leader, raised concern on the request for extension of the two budgets.

    Chinda said that it would be morally wrong for the country to be running three to four budgets concurrently.

    He said that the 2024 budget is currently being implemented while the executive is still requesting for the extension of the 2023 main and supplementary budgets at the same time.

    According to him, rather than extension, important projects in the supplementary budget should be moved to the 2024 budget.

    Rep. Alhassan Doguwa (APC-Kano) in his contribution supported the position of the minority leader, saying that it would be morally wrong to have three budgets running at the same time.

    The Speaker, however, appealed to members to support the extension of the budget implementation.

    He said most of the items on the supplementary budget were security related issues.

    In spite of his plea, majority of the lawmakers appeared not comfortable with the request for extension of the budgets as they kept on shouting “No, no.”

    Following the disagreement, Abbas asked that the House should go into an executive session for members to iron out issues before resuming consideration of the bills. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

    ODF/CEO/SH

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    Edited by Chidi Opara/Sadiya Hamza

  • WOFAN, stakeholders mull agricultural extension, revitalisation bill

     

    Bill

    By Femi Ogunshola

    Abuja, June 27, 2024 (NAN) The Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) and others critical stakeholders in the agriculture sector have resolved to present Agricultural Extension Revitalisation Bill (AERB) to the Senate Committee on Agriculture for consideration.

    Hajia Salamatu Garba, Executive Director, WOFAN, disclosed this at the WOFAN ICON 2 project, supported by the Mastercard Foundation in Abuja.

    Garba said that the bill would sustain food security in Nigeria and also strengthen and prioritise the agricultural extension system.

    She said that if the bill became and act, it would help Nigerians farmers to get things right in the agriculture sector.

    According to her, WOFAN is currently working with 675,000 farmers in 10 states in Nigeria and 1500 extension workers.

    She said extension workers were not properly supported.

    “It is one of the reasons why they are supporting a system that will bring in more extension services,” she said.

    Garba emphasised that once the capacity of retention workers was built, the capacity of farmers would also be positively affected.

    Prof Ikani Emmanuel, the Executive Director, National Agricultural Extension Research Liaison Services, Zaria, highlighted the importance of an extension bill.

    According to him, so far, extension delivery service in Nigeria has been unorganised and there is no law backing it.

    He explained that, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, they were able to produce an agricultural extension policy that was passed by the Federal Executive Council.

    “That makes it a policy but to implement or enforce it, we needed to convert it to an act of parliament.

    “And that is why, for six months, we have been working on how to convert the policy into a language that can go to the National Assembly as a draft bill for them to consider and pass so that it can become a law.”(NAN)(www.nannews.ng

     

    ODF/MAM/CJ/

     

    Edited by Modupe Adeloye and Chijioke OKoronkwo

     

     

     

     

  • U.S. identifies Nigeria as location to promote chemical security

    U.S. identifies Nigeria as location to promote chemical security

    Chemical

    By Femi Ogunshola

    Abuja, June 26, 2024 (NAN) The United States of America says it has identified Nigeria as one of the most viable countries to promote chemical security for a safer world.

    Mr. Daniel Rockniak, Senior Director, America Chemical Council (ACC), said this in Abuja on Wednesday at a workshop tagged “Promoting Chemical Security for a Safer World.”

    According to him, Nigeria is one of those countries we have identified as hopefully good locations for responsible care, and that’s why we are here to start this workshop.

    He said that his mission was to talk to stakeholders handling chemical distribution about how the country could handle responsible chemical distribution.

    He said that it was imperative to potentially identify the responsible organisations to sponsor responsible care in Nigeria.

    “We have seen benefits around the world of a country and industries taking up responsible care and having a program that identifies specific requirements.

    He stated that the US was not about to replace the regulations on chemical distribution in the country but to complement them.

    According to him, in a country where you already have chemical management programs, responsible care can help improve a company’s performance.

    He said that if there were challenges with regulatory processes, responsible care could help fill some of those gaps by using best practices around the world to improve their chemical management.

    Dr. Patric Omokpariola, Director, Chemical Evaluation and Research at NAFDAC, said that the concept of chemical safety has been around for many years.

    He said, “Everyone that has contact with chemicals and chemistry already knows that chemicals are inherently hazardous and dangerous, so we have to be kept in such a way to be safe.”

    He said that the real concept of chemical security started after Sept. 11, 2021, what we usually call 9-11, during the attack on the World Trade Center.

    He said that NAFDAC had adopted the chemical security programs of the United States, adding that this is what’s being implemented in the country.

    He stated that this had been developed to make sure that the citizens were able to keep chemicals safe.

    “Chemical security is to keep people safe from the harmful effects of chemicals, while chemical security, on the other hand, is to keep the chemicals safe.

    He stated that this is so  in order that people who have various activities, such as non-state actors, terrorists, and the rest of them, do not have access to chemicals.

    This, he said, was to forestall criminal elements such as suicide bombers and terrorists, among others from using it to manufacture bombs .(NAN)

    ODF/EAL

    ======

    Edited by Ekemini Ladejobi

  • Reps demand NCAT director, auctioneer’s arrest over 2 choppers sale

    Reps demand NCAT director, auctioneer’s arrest over 2 choppers sale

    Arrest

    By Femi Ogunshola

    Abuja, June 25, 2024 (NAN) The House of Representatives has demanded the arrest of an alleged unlicensed auctioneer and Director, Quality Control, Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, for providing false information on oath.

    The alleged false information was in respect of the sale of two helicopters for $1.2 million.

    The lawmakers want the duo to be arrested by the police in the National Assembly.

    Rep. Ademola Kuye, Chairman, Committee on Public Assets, said this was part of the resolutions of the committee after interacting with the management of NCAT and other relevant bodies in Abuja on Tuesday.

    He called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, to take over the investigation into the alleged illegal sale of the two choppers by NCAT.

    In December 2023, the House commenced an investigation into the state of public assets in the country.

    He said the committee’s mandate was to recover assets and moribund public assets within and outside Nigeria.

    This, he said, said the aircraft was sold without the approval of the Federal Executive Council.

    Kuye expressed worry that the two choppers bought at $2.4 billion were sold at $1.2 billion without following due process.

    “We requested documents of any kind of joint venture; there has been no response to that, whether you have one or not.

    “We requested a list of assets, including a comprehensive description and specification of all your listed assets, rented apartments, including acquisition dates and methods, and the current status and conditions of such assets.

    “We cannot specifically say that you have satisfied all of these requests. Though you tried to answer some of them, your responses are not adequate,” he said.

    The lawmakers also queried the use of an unlicensed auctioneer who failed to provide the needed response to inquiries.

    Mr Musa Alkali, Coordinator of Nigerian Army Aviation, said urged the recovery of the two helicopters. (NAN)www.nannews.ng
    ODF/KUA
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    Edited by Uche Anunne

  • Why we embarked on e-registration—APC

    Why we embarked on e-registration—APC

    E-registration

    By Femi Ogunshola

    Abuja, June 25, 2024(NAN)

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) said on Tuesday in Abuja that it  adopted e-registration to ascertain the true number of its members nationwide.

    Mr Suleiman Argungu, the National Organising Secretary of the party, said this when the National Director, APC Professional Women Council, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, paid him a courtesy visit.

    “Between 2022 and 2023, they said that our party has a certain number of registered members and supporters which we Believe is not real compared to the outcome of the election results“, Argungu said.

    He said in particular was the outcome of the presidential election, adding that the party has now embrace e-registration in other to be sure of the number its members.

    “We want to be sure of what we have on the ground; we want to be sure of the number of members we have in each ward, local government and in each 36 states of the Federation.

    He said that organisations such as APC Professional Women Council would always be encouraged by the party so that they would do more.

    Argungu said the visit would enable the National Working Committee to understand the challenges facing the the party at all levels.

    He urged the women to mobilise for the upcoming e-regitration of members.

    “You said that the men are more in numbers during primary elections, so when it comes to primaries, you must mobilise to have a reasonable number to emerge victorious.

    “So I encourage you to mobilise the number of women that we will be proud of; our purpose of going for e-registration is because of our experience,” he said.

    Soyombo called for more involvement of women in the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.

    “What we are looking for is for the party organ to include women in the Edo and Ondo governorship election as members of key committees.

    “We have able members who can serve as members of critical committees’’, she said adding that the group also supports women at the grassroots”, she said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
    ODF/KUA
    ========

    Edited by Uche Anunne

  • Water Resources: Groups seek support for FG

    Water Resources: Groups seek support for FG
    Water
    By Femi Ogunshola
    Abuja, June 25, 2024(NAN) The Empowerment for Unemployed Initiative and Society for Open Governance and Transparency, has urged development partners to support Federal Government’s efforts to transform the nation’s agriculture and water resources sector.
    Mr Igwe Umanta, for the groups said this during a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
    He said the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, had demonstrated commitment to transform the sector, ensure sustainable development and improve livelihoods for Nigerians.
    He also called on Nigerians to support President Bola Tinubu administration’s efforts to address water challenges in the country.
    Umanta commended the minister’s dedication to improve access to safe water and food security, adding that the water sector had witnessed remarkable transformation under his leadership.
    He said that Utsev’s leadership in the sector had fostered efficient management and development in the water sector.
    He said his commitment to food security through irrigated agriculture had significantly boosted agricultural productivity.
    This, he said, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
    He, therefore, urged development partners to collaborate with the government, while urging the citizenry to scale up support to achieve 100 per cent access to sustainable water and improved sanitation by 2030.
    He urged also governors to collaborate with the Federal Government by investing in water infrastructure. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
    ODF/CHOM/KUA
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    Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Uche Anunne

  • Reps move to sanction MTN, Airtel, other defaulting coys on CSR

    Reps move to sanction MTN, Airtel, other defaulting coys on CSR
    Sanction
    By Femi Ogunshola
    Abuja, June 25, 2024 (NAN) The House of Representatives Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (SCR) has resolved to sanction MTN, Airtel, and other companies for failing to perform their Corporate Social Responsibilities.
    The committee said that it would enact laws to sanction any offenders in that regard.
    Rep. Oby Orogbu, the Chairman of the Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility, said this during a public hearing in Abuja on Tuesday on “a Bill to regulate corporate social responsibility in Nigeria.
    She, however, gave MTN and Airtel the last warning to honour the committee’s invitation or face the arrest warrant.
    According to Orogbu, some companies operating in the country have overtime violated the law, hence the need for punishment to be imposed on them.
    She also frowned at the conduct of the National Communications Commission, MTN and Airtel, adding that they had several times ignored the invitation of the Committee.
    She said that the committee had no choice but to invoke its powers by issuing a warrant of arrest.
    “Section 89, 8 of the Constitution mandates individual companies as invited to make themselves available to parliament, but they break the law.
    “I want to tell MTN and Airtel that they take so much from our nation and they feel too big to appear before the parliament; we will not tolerate that.
    “We gave them the powers to operate in Nigeria, so to refuse to honor the invitation of the parliament is a no-no; we take exception to it.
    “I have taken all friendly measures to make them understand the need to appear before the parliament, but they have refused.”
    “If you feel you are responsible, then you should appear before the parliament. We want you to be responsible and accountable,” she said.
    She said that in spite of operating from across the country, they had disrespected the same nation by not honoring the House invitation.
    Mr. Wondi Ndanusa, who spoke on behalf of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said that the CBN is in support of the bill.
    He expressed concern about the proposed penalty of imprisonment for defaulting companies, stating that the penalty should rather be persuasive.
    He also said that many companies were faced with a lot of financial burdens and responsibilities, adding that the proposed SCR should be domiciled with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
    Mr Bala Wuoir, the representative of the Oil Producers Trade Section, expressed concern that the PIA already mandates oil companies operating in Nigeria to make a financial contribution of three per cent of their profits to NDDC.
    He said that mandating them do so again would be burdensome, adding that oil companies should be exempted from the bill.(NAN)www.nannews.ng
    ODF/SH
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    edited by Sadiya Hamza