Legislature

Ex-Imo Speaker Reacts Angrily As Constituents Tell Him Not To Re-contest Over Poor Performance
Legislature, News, Nigeria

Ex-Imo Speaker Reacts Angrily As Constituents Tell Him Not To Re-contest Over Poor Performance

A trending video has shown a lawmaker and former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chiji Collins, spilling kolanuts in anger during a meeting with constituents. In the video, the lawmaker was seen pushing down a table angrily after a member of his constituency slammed his performance in office. Read Also: PDP’ll Take Over If APC Leaders Fail On Convention – Buhari Speaking in Igbo, the young man had stated that Collins shouldn’t re-contest over poor performance. Infuriated by the comment after trying to silence the young man down, the lawmaker angrily pushed the table with refreshment moved towards the critic. Chiji was elected in 2019 under the All Progressive Grand Alliance, he became Speaker of the state's Assembly after he defected to the Peoples Democratic...
AMCON Lists 7,912 Names Owing N4.4tn As Deadline Expires Today
Finance, Legislature, News, Nigeria

AMCON Lists 7,912 Names Owing N4.4tn As Deadline Expires Today

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria is set to publish the names of 7,912 debtors owing it a total of N4.4tn, it has been learnt. The move follows the expiration of the 30-day ultimatum given by the National Assembly to debtors to regularise their debt status with the bad debt manager. The one month notice elapses on Wednesday (today), January 5, 2021. The corporation confirmed on Tuesday that the agency had no choice but to obey the directive of the National Assembly asking it to publish the names of debtors who have refused to repay their loans. The spokesperson for AMCON, Mr Jude Nwauzor, said debtors who were yet to provide a repayment proposal risked having their details published in the media after the 30-day grace period given by the National Assembly. He said,...
Budget: National Assembly Faults Buhari, Insists On 6,576 Extra Projects
Finance, Legislature, News, Nigeria

Budget: National Assembly Faults Buhari, Insists On 6,576 Extra Projects

Members of the National Assembly have insisted on the amendments made to the 2022 Appropriation Bill, including the reduction of allocation to 10,733 projects and insertion of 6,576 new ones. The lawmakers stated that by the power of appropriation conferred on the National Assembly by the constitution, the parliament has the right to tinker with the Federal Government’s budget like any other bill. Read Also: BREAKING: Buhari Signs N17.126trn 2022 Budget Into Law, Laments ‘Worrisome Changes’ According to the members, who spoke to Punch, in separate interviews on Sunday, the changes made and the response by President Muhammadu Buhari, showed that the legislature was not a rubber stamp of the Executive, as being alleged by Nigerians. Buhari had on Friday while signing into law...
BREAKING: Buhari Signs N17.126trn 2022 Budget Into Law, Laments ‘Worrisome Changes’
Finance, Legislature, News, Nigeria

BREAKING: Buhari Signs N17.126trn 2022 Budget Into Law, Laments ‘Worrisome Changes’

President Muhammadu Buhari, Friday in Abuja signed into law the 2022 Appropriation Bill and the 2021 Finance Bill. The President signed the documents in the Presidential Villa in the presence of Senate President Ahmed Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and other members of the Federal Executive Council. Speaking at the event, the President said the 2022 Budget, just signed into law, provides for aggregate expenditures of N17.127 trillion, an increase of N735.85 billion over the initial Executive Proposal for a total expenditure of N16.391 trillion. The President explained that N186.53 billion of the increase however came from additional critical expenditures that he had authorised the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning to forward to t...
Auditor General Queries Ministry’s N3.8bn Spending From Suspended RUGA Fund
Finance, Legislature, News, Nigeria

Auditor General Queries Ministry’s N3.8bn Spending From Suspended RUGA Fund

The Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation has queried the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for spending a total sum of N3.809bn on the suspended Rural Grazing Area scheme without a presidential approval or National Assembly appropriation. The query is part of the eight audit queries issued against the ministry in the ‘Auditor-General for the Federation’s Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses Issues in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for the Year Ended 31st December, 2019.’ The OAuGF had queried expenditures totaling N60,795,898,225.84 by the ministry. The Acting Auditor-General of the Federation, Adolphus Aghughu, presented the report to the Clerk to the National Assembly, Ojo Amos, on September 15, 2021, whi...
Amendment: NASS Dismisses Report On Collection Of Signatures To Veto Buhari
Legislature, News, Nigeria

Amendment: NASS Dismisses Report On Collection Of Signatures To Veto Buhari

The National Assembly has dismissed media reports that members of the two chambers of the assembly had commenced collection of signatures to counter President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to assent the electoral amendment bill. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, made this known when he fielded questions from State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The Speaker, who met the president alongside the Senate President, said he was not aware of any move by the legislators to override the president, saying a collection of signatures was not an easy task as being speculated. He said: “I’m not aware of any such as at least not in my chambers. We’re on a break right now, a collection of signatur...
Legislature, News, Nigeria

Electoral Act Amendment Bill: Senate Backs Down On Overriding Buhari, Refers Bill To Constituents

The Senate on Wednesday failed to override the veto of President Muhammadu Buhari, on the Electoral Act Amendment bill. The President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan,  after an executive session, said the lawmakers had decided to take the President’s rejection of the bill to their constituencies during Christmas and New Year holidays before deciding on the next line of action. Buhari had withheld assent to the Electoral Act amendment bill 2021, insisting that the inclusion of the mandatory direct primaries in the bill might pose financial, legal and security challenges. While the House of Representatives led by Femi Gabajabiamila had resolved to debate the matter after they returned from recess in January, the Senate remained adamant even as 73 senators reportedly resolved to overri...
House Of Representatives’ PDP Caucus Calls For Buhari’s Resignation
Legislature, News, Nigeria, Security

House Of Representatives’ PDP Caucus Calls For Buhari’s Resignation

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus of the House of Representatives has said Nigeria needs saving from the grip of President Muhammadu Buhari. A statement by O. K. Chinda, the Chairman of the PDP Caucus of the House of Representatives on December 20, Nigeria has been hijacked by terrorists and bandits who have turned communities into killing fields. "Unfortunately, the General who famously boasted of leading from the front is now missing in action," the PDP Caucus said. The statement read, "Nigeria, under the rulership of General Buhari, has been seized by hostage-takers - bandits and terrorists - who exact ransom demands on the poor and impoverished citizens and turn homesteads, hamlets, villages, towns and cities into killing fields. "The bloodletting unleashed by the h...
Electoral Act Amendment: Buhari Returns Bill To NASS, Faults Direct Primaries, Cites Insecurity
Legislature, News, Nigeria

Electoral Act Amendment: Buhari Returns Bill To NASS, Faults Direct Primaries, Cites Insecurity

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the National Assembly to remove the clause that has to do with direct primaries from the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. On Monday, the President, who stated this in his letter to the Senate, asked the National Assembly to remove the controversial clause on direct primaries from the bill and return the proposed law to him for assent. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed to Punch that Buhari had sent the letter to the National Assembly. But a source who was privy to the content of the letter said the President refused assent because political parties had their various constitutions that stipulated mode of primaries that should be adopted. According to the source, the President argued that it would ...
Senators, Reps Get N52m, N32m Yearly Office Running Allowance – Lawan
Finance, Legislature, News, Nigeria

Senators, Reps Get N52m, N32m Yearly Office Running Allowance – Lawan

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Monday, revealed the salaries and emoluments of members of the National Assembly to the public in Abuja. Lawan also said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had surpassed his predecessors on assent to bills. He stated this in a paper presented at the First Distinguished Parliamentarians’ Lecture Series organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies. The President of the Senate said the monthly salary of a senator was N1.5m, while that of a member of the House of Representatives was N1.3m. He said the N13m thrown into the public space a few years back as the monthly salary of a senator was actually their quarterly office running allowance. Lawan said, “The total salary of a member of t...