Twist in Senate peace moves as Senators form G77

*To remove EFCC from presidency control

*Vow to back Saraki

*To confront older senators over juicy committees

 By Henry Umoru

STRONG indications emerged early yesterday of a hardening of position by senators who have coalesced into a Group of 77 drawn from various parties and camps to protect what they have dubbed as the integrity of the Senate.

The new G77 which had its maiden meeting on Thursday night has meanwhile launched moves to extricate the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC from the control of the presidency in the light of claims by the senators that it had become a tool of the administration.The G77 comprising mostly of new senators it was gathered, also up in arms against older senators who they claim have monopolised the juicy committees of the Senate to the detriment of the newer ones.The maiden meeting of the G77 was hosted by Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio who incidentally was not at home at the beginning of the meeting.

The meeting monitored by Saturday Vanguard commenced shortly after 7.00 p.m. on Thursday and ended just before midnight following which some senators also broke up into groups.

36 senators were physically present at the meeting which inside sources disclosed has a membership roll of 77, almost all of them new senators. Remarkably, the group is also putting forward itself as a bulwark for the embattled Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki with members vowing to defend him against what they alleged as the persecution of the executive branch of government.

The formation of the new group came barely 24 hours after senators resolved in a closed session on Wednesday to put aside all acrimonies and project the institution as one. In that light the senators it was learnt resolved to withdraw all cases against the election of Saraki as the Senate President.

It was also resolved that as a sop to critics that the Senate would withdraw the amendment bill to the Code of Conduct Tribunal Act.

However, that agreement ran into trouble at the G77 meeting on Thursday as senators in the group resolved to push forward an amendment bill to the law establishing the EFCC to among other things remove the president’s right as appointing power and transfer same to the National Judicial Council, NJC.

Besides, the amendment aims to ensure that the minimum qualification for the office of executive chairman of the EFCC would be a Deputy Director General of Police, DIG.

A senator from the former Bendel State is to present the amendment bill which would be expected to be fast tracked.

The senators at the Thursday meeting particularly lamented what they claimed as the way and manner the EFCC was being used to hound what they claimed as perceived opponents of the administration. The case of former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa and his son was given as a particular instance at the meeting as it was claimed that the EFCC rushed to file charges without investigation.

As part of the amendment the EFCC would be compelled to finish investigations before filing charges against anyone, a source at the meeting disclosed.

Noting the determination of the new senators to get their own entitlements in the chamber, a senator who attended the meeting told Saturday Vanguard that the group would frustrate what they described as the over ambitious nature of the older senators who are anointing themselves as those that will take over from the embattled Senate President, Senator Saraki.

The source also disclosed that the G77 came into existence to frustrate any gang up against Senator Saraki’s leadership of the Senate.

Among those sighted at the meeting were Senators Samuel Anyanwu, PDP, Imo East; Clifford Ordia, PDP, Edo Central; Matthew Urhoghide, PDP, Edo South; Ben Murray Bruce, PDP, Bayelsa East; Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West; Biodun Olujimi, PDP, Ekiti South; Isa Misau, APC, Bauchi Central, among others including Akpabio who came into the meeting not too long before it ended.      

·         Source: Vanguard

Former Western Region Governor, Robert Adeyinka Adebayo dies at 89

The former governor of the now defunct Western State of Nigeria, Major General

Late Major General Adeyinka Adebayo

Robert Adeyinka Adebayo, is dead. Family sources said the 89-year-old died in his sleep.

The late Adebayo became governor after Col. Francis Adekunle Fajuyi’s death in the 1966 coup d’état, ruling from 4 Aug 1966 to April 1971.

Adebayo was born in 1928, the son of a Public Works employee from Iyin Ekiti, near Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.

He was educated at All Saints School, Iyin-Ekiti, and later attended Eko Boys High School and Christ’s School Ado Ekiti. He joined the West African Frontier Force in 1948 as a regiment signaler and later completed the Officer Cadet Training Course in Teshie, Ghana from 1950 to 1952.

After passing the War Office Examination for Commonwealth cadets in 1952 as well as the West African qualifying examination in 1953, he was commissioned as an officer in the Royal West African Frontier Force as the 23rd West African military officer with number WA23 and 7th Nigerian military officer with number N7 after completing the War Office Cadet Training in Eaton Hall, England.

He later attended the Staff College course in Camberley in 1960 and the prestigious Imperial Defence College, London in late 1965 where he was the only African officer.

Source: Punchng.com

Why I chose Ken Nnamani as Southeast APC leader, by Okorocha

BY BRIDGET EDOKWE 

 The Imo Sstate governor, Rochas Okorocha, has explained why he recently nominated former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, as national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, South-East zone.

The governor was speaking during the meeting of the South-East zonal leaders of the APC held at the Nike Lake Hotel in Enugu.

He said his decision to nominate Nnamani to lead the party in the zone during a recent meeting in Owerri, the Imo state capital, was simply to ensure that the South-East APC has an arrow-head leader who is a capable and well respected figure across the country.

He challenged the leaders and members of the party in the South-East to “sit down” and plan properly so that the APC will win the governorship election coming up soon in Anambra state.

Governor Okorocha however, urged South -East governors who wish to join the party, to declare their interest now before it was too late for them to do so.

According to him, “The APC is a party with lots of promise. The South-West and South-South have better political fortunes today in APC.

“The South-South, for instance, hold the position of national chairman. The South-East has only Minister of Labour and Employment [Dr Chris Nigige], Minister of Science and Technology [Dr Ogbonnaya Onu] and the Minister of Foreign Affairs [Geofrey Onyeama].

“When l met with President Muhammadu Buhari over this matter, he said when he started out his presidential quest, he had picked Chuba Okadigbo (in 2003) and Edwin Umezoke (in 2007) as a way of reaching out to the South-East but it didn’t work. In APC South-East, we have to organize ourselves. The leaders should not be concerned with who sits on the high table. We should come together to move the APC in the South-East forward.

“In fact, being a governor has deprived me of leadership opportunity in APC. Because of the need to have capable leaders in the party, that was why l advised that Ogbonnaya Onu and Chris Ngige should not be made ministers so that they can be the leaders of the party in the zone. I started this political journey with Jim Nwbodo in my house in Owerri long before now.

“And when the issue of leadership came, l said we have to look for a capable person among us to lead this party in the south-east. I felt we needed somebody at this time, a central voice who will be speaking for us. That was why l had to nominate Chief Ken Nnamani, a former Senate President and who is credible to lead the party in the zone.”

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Medical vacation: Stop using phone calls to deceive Nigerians , CNPP tells Buhari

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, on Tuesday warned President Muhammadu Buhari to stop deceiving Nigerians with phone calls regarding his health.

Buhari, who is currently on medical vacation in London, has been communicating with some high profile personalities, the last being with the former Military Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon (rtd).

In a statement by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, CNPP, the group said rather than deceive Nigerians with phone calls, the “Federal Government should face governance issues that would alleviate the suffering of the masses.”

CNPP noted that the continued “media hype of Mr. President’s calls to different individuals were unnecessary” since he transmitted power to Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, who should not be “distracted at this trying times.”

The statement reads, “We see the continued media hype of President Buhari’s phone calls and possible photoshopped pictures of individual visits to his London hospital as a distraction.

“Why is Mr. President always calling from his sick bed to individuals at a time he should be resting to get well quick and return home?

“If he can be talking to individuals, what is difficult about talking to the nation in a live broadcast, where some citizens can call in and get his response?.

“The Presidency should stop deceiving Nigerians and know that governance must not be based on lies and propaganda.

“At a time the average Nigerian does not know where the next meal will come from, we see the presidency toiling with people’s emotions rather than face governance issues to reduce the current suffering in the country.

“Enough of phone calls from President Buhari. It is time for the ruling party to deliver on its campaign promises and make life better for the citizens of Nigeria.”

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Reps demand account of seized cash, others from EFCC

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, ordered an audit of all assets seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, including those already forfeited to the Federal Government as proceeds of crime.

The House said such assets included cash, “moveable and immovable” items like cars and landed properties.

In a resolution in Abuja, it directed the Committee on Financial Crimes to conduct the audit within six weeks in a bid to ascertain the “legality of their current values and make appropriate recommendations to the House.”

The House passed the resolution following a motion moved by the lawmaker representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency of Lagos State, Mr. Babajimi Benson.

Benson had stated that most assets seized by the EFCC appeared to have been left to decay or there was lack of adequate information on the state of the assets.

Assets seized by the anti-graft agency are kept in its custody while investigations or prosecution of offenders are ongoing and become forfeited assets after the agency secures a favourable court judgment.

However, lawmakers observed that the absence of a reliable inventory on such assets left Nigerians wondering about what became of them.

For example, the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Mr. Kingsley Chinda, told the House that many Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government rarely kept a register of seized assets.

He argued that without an inventory, officials could easily pilfer the assets and falsify reports on their statuses.

Chinda, who is from Rivers State, added that agencies went as far as destroying seized assets just to cover up the theft of such properties.

He added, “Our MDAs don’t maintain asset registers.

“This issue is not about the EFCC alone. They can claim to have destroyed seized assets just to cover up other things; like the Nigeria Customs Service seizing bags of rice and destroying them.

“Why are they destroying the rice when we have internally displaced persons in camps all over the place?”

Source: Punchng

 

Lawyer Files Suit Against Payment Of Security Votes, To Buhari, Governors, Others

BY BRIDGET EDOKWE 

A Lagos-based  lawyer, Mr. Adedokun Makinde, has filed a suit before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Lagos division of the Federal High Court, seeking an order to stop the payment of security votes to the President, Vice-President, governors and deputy governors. The suit also seeks an end to the payment of constituency project allowances to the Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker, speakers of state legislatures, members of federal and state legislatures and other political office holders.

Joined as respondents in the suit (FHC/L/CS/220/17) are the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, 36 state governors and speakers of the 36 state legislatures.

Aside from seeking an order halting the payment of security votes and constituency project allowances to political office holders, Mr. Makinde is also requesting the court to declare the payment as well as drawing on funds in the shape of security vote from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or states as illegal.

The lawyer equally wants the court to declare that payment of funds for constituency projects to federal and state lawmakers as illegal. In the affidavit he deposed to in support of the suit, the lawyer averred that the President, Vice-President, governors, and deputy governors are in the category of executive political office holders and are thus ineligible to receive any remuneration as approved or determined by the  RMAFC, the fifth respondent.

He further averred that the Constitution does not provide for the payment of security votes, as part of the remunerations, to the President, Vice-President, governors, and deputies by the RMAFC.

Mr. Makinde added that funds paid and received as security votes are not captured in the Federal Appropriation Act or states’ appropriation laws. The amounts of money drawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund,  which is unknown, represents a huge drain on the country’s resources, reduces the money available for development and therefore violates the constitution.

He argued that being elected exclusively to make laws precludes federal and state legislators from receiving monies for the execution of constituency projects, an exclusive responsibility of the executive arm of government.  Payment of constituency project funds to them, Mr. Makinde contended, is thus illegal.

Also, the lawyer stated that payment to or withdrawal of security votes by the respondents constitutes an illegality and should be stopped henceforth. Hearing in the suit has been fixed for 26 April by Justice Olatoregun.

Source: BarristerNG.com/SaharaReporters.com

Fayose applauds Nigerian women, says they should be in high places not ‘the other room’

 

BY BRIDGET EDOKWE 

 Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has stated that Nigerian women should be in leadership positions and not at the background.

He spoke Tuesday night at a special dinner held at Ekiti Government House in Celebration of 2017 World Women’s Day.

Fayose further hailed women for their role in family and nation-building,

His words: “I want to appreciate you all very specially for your strategic position in history for a world without women will be a world of crisis.

“We have to rediscover Ekiti women and tell them they can be where they ought to be, women should be respected and appreciated.

“It is not what has gone wrong, it’s about how we can catch up with the lost grounds. This event will henceforth be celebrated in Ekiti.

“Before we were born, our fathers have always harassed our mothers, we can’t afford to continue that way. There is no life without a woman.

“It is very irresponsible and reckless for a man to beat his wife. Allow your wife the right of place in your home.

“Some of us don’t have the attitude we are supposed to have because of the way we treat our wives, there must be a change of attitude.

“Let us expose our women so they can become ministers and even presidents, our case cannot be different.

“My wife is very beautiful, if I don’t celebrate her, who will I celebrate?

“I have 5 sons, I have no daughter but I look forward to a day I will begin to harvest daughter in-laws.

“My provost, stand up, this woman taught me in ND 1 and 2 in the polytechnic, today I am her boss,

“As a parting gift for Olori Ajero(a civil servant) in the spirit of Women’s Day Celebration, I upgrade her from Executive Secretary to the position of Permanent Secretary with immediate effect.

“Tomorrow at the Stadium, I will appoint two other women, don’t ask me who.

“Commissioner for Agriculture, are you here? Provide for me 200 female farmers, I will support them with N200m immediately!

“Our women must go beyond the kitchen and the other room, I have told myself to call all the Oloris, we must achieve this agenda of making our women visible.

‘I want to leave this state with landmarks, the governor’s office will the there after my departure, the High Court Complex will be there for life, I want to thank you very much Mrs Alade, Mrs Faseluka, wife of the speaker and our Senator of the federal republic, Abiodun Olujimi.

“Join me to produce a governor that will listen to you, I will never my personal interest, whosoever you ask us to follow we shall follow. Whoever will be there we shall put there, we shall put together.”

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