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Senate Explains Onochie’s Rejection as INEC Commissioner

13Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Senate Explains Onochie’s Rejection as INEC Commissioner

The Senate has explained its rejection of Lauretta Onochie, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, as an Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, commissioner. The red chamber said the decision was informed by Onochie’s partisanship and breach of the federal character principle. This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by Ezrel Tabiowo, Special Assistant (Press) to President of the Senate, titled Senate confirms five nominees as INEC Commissioners, rejects Lauretta Onochie’. Several Nigerians had reacted to Onochie’s nomination, noting that she was too attached to the Buhari administration to be an INEC commissioner. According to the statement, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya (APC, Kano South), said the committee also received several petit...

Reps Seek to Make President, Govs Vacate Seats After Defection

11Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Elections, Legislature, News, Nigeria

Reps Seek to Make President, Govs Vacate Seats After Defection

The House of Representatives is seeking to pass a bill that will force a president or governor to vacate their position if they defect from the political party on whose platform they won an election to another. Currently, the constitution only recommends such to National Assembly and state House of Assembly members. The bill is which is sponsored by a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from Taraba State, Rimamnde Kwewum, seeks to extend the same to the president, vice-president, governor and deputy governor. Three governors have cross-carpeted since the last general elections in 2019 among whom are David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Ben Ayade of Cross River State, and recently Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State. The bill, which is awaiting second reading by the House, seeks t...

Onochie Denies APC Membership Three Times

8Jul

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Legislature, News, Nigeria

Onochie Denies APC Membership Three Times

Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, on Thursday denied membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) three times. This followed her being grilled intensely by Senators to determine her suitability for appointment as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Onochie, who appeared before the Senate Committee on INEC, said she parted ways with the APC and stopped her volunteer work with the Buhari Support Organization (BSO) since 2019. Onochie, whose nomination has continued to generate uproar, said people and groups are only after her because of her ‘due process stance’ and belief in the rule of law. President Muhammad Buhari had, on October 12, nominated Onochie (Delta), Professor Muhammad ...

UK Parliament to Query Kenya’s Role in Forced Kanu’s Repatriation to Nigeria

7Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Human Rights, Justice, Legislature, News, Nigeria

UK Parliament to Query Kenya’s Role in Forced Kanu’s Repatriation to Nigeria

The United Kingdom Parliament is scheduled to probe the circumstances surrounding the repatriation of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from Kenya to Nigeria today (Wednesday). Earlier, the British government had stated that Kanu who was travelling with a British passport, was not arrested within its territory. IPOB had accused the President Muhammadu Buhari administration of complicity in the abduction of its leader in Kenya, a claim echoed by Kanu’s lead counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, who accused Kenya’s special police force of arresting and torturing him before he was transferred to the Nigerian government. Read Also: We’re Not Against Restructuring, Our Demand Is Biafra, Referendum – IPOB However, the claims were debunked by Kenya High Commissioner...

Saraki, Buhari rift Responsible for APC’s Failure – Senate President Lawan

23Jun

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Legislature, News, Nigeria

Saraki, Buhari rift Responsible for APC’s Failure – Senate President Lawan

Senate President Ahmed Lawan has said that his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, could not perform optimally because of the crisis that existed between the parliament and the Executive during Bukola Saraki’s tenure as President of the Senate. Recall that Saraki was the Senate President of Nigeria from 2015 to 2019, during President Muhammadu Buhari’s first tenure in office. Lawan who succeeded Saraki, said the APC government was hindered from delivering on its promises to the electorates during the first term because the two bodies did not have a cordial rapport. The Senate President said this at the First Progressives Youth Conference 2021, on Monday night in Abuja, PeoplesGazette reports. Read Also: Budget: National Assembly Faults Buhari, Insists On 6,576 Extra Proj...

Reps Seek Mandatory ‘State of the Nation’ Address for Presidents

15Jun

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Legislature, News, Nigeria

Reps Seek Mandatory ‘State of the Nation’ Address for Presidents

The House of Representatives is seeking to make it mandatory for every incumbent President of the country to address Nigerians on the state of the nation. The green chamber is proposing a bill making it compulsory for the president to address a joint session of the National Assembly periodically, while the legislative chamber could also summon him, he failed to honour an invitation as and when necessary. In the event that the bill becomes law, it would be compulsory for President Muhammadu Buhari and subsequent presidents to address the federal parliament. The bill was sponsored by the lawmaker representing Ethiope-East/Ethiope-West Federal Constituency in Delta State, Mr Ben Igbakpa, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party as the State of the Nation Address Bill2020. The legi...

Reps Scraps Plan to Stop One-Year National Youth Scheme

11Jun

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Legislature, News, Nigeria, Youths

Reps Scraps Plan to Stop One-Year National Youth Scheme

The House of Representative Committee on Youths has clarified that there is no plan to discard the National Youths Service Corps, NYSC. This was disclosed by the chairman of the committee, Yemi Adaramodu, at an event in Abuja on Thursday, describing the programme as the most successful national at engendering unity in the country. It comes on the heels of recent debates in the national discourse about the relevance of the scheme and its continuation. Recall that the scheme was introduced by the government in 1873 after the civil war to involve Nigerian graduates for the purpose of fostering national unity. The House of Representative Committee on Youths has clarified that there is no plan to discard the National Youths Service Corps, NYSC. Read Also: Nigerians Have More Values...

BREAKING: Senate Screens Lauretta Onochie, Five Others As INEC Commissioners

9Jun

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Elections, Legislature, News, Nigeria

BREAKING: Senate Screens Lauretta Onochie, Five Others As INEC Commissioners

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday asked the Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission to screen for confirmation, the appointments of Ms. Lauretta Onochie and five others as INEC commissioners. This is coming eight months after President Muhammadu Buhari sent the list of the nominees to the Senate for screening. It was learned that protests among the Peoples Democratic Party members in the red chamber halted the process of the screening as the opposition federal lawmakers were said to have accused Onochie, who is presently a presidential spokesperson, of unnecessarily casting aspersions on their party. They also faulted the idea of making Onochie, a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress as an INEC Commissioner to represent Delta State on ...

Senator Omo Agege Explains Why Gulak Was in Owerri

2Jun

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Legislature, News, Nigeria

Senator Omo Agege Explains Why Gulak Was in Owerri

Senate Deputy President Ovie Omo-Agege on Tuesday said former Political Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, was in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on a national assignment when he was killed by gunmen on Sunday, May 30, 2021. The former presidential aide was on his way to the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport in the town to connect a flight to Abuja, when he was killed. Omo-Agege spoke at plenary after citing Order 43 to notify the Upper Chamber of Gulak’s death. The Deputy Senate President said the former presidential aide was on a national assignment on behalf of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review when he was killed. “He was a lawyer – a very brilliant lawyer at that. Apparently, it was in that capacity that his relationship with me, as...

Reps Deliberate Scrapping NYSC as Bill Reaches Second Reading

24May

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Legislature, News, Nigeria, Youths

Reps Deliberate Scrapping NYSC as Bill Reaches Second Reading

The House of Representative is deliberating scrapping the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, scheme. the Alteration Bill, 2020, of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which seeks to amend the NYSC Act is scheduled for second reading. Justifying the move, the sponsor, Mr Awaji-Inombek Abiante, in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal, highlighted the various reasons why the NYSC should be scrapped. It partly read, “This bill seeks to repeal Section 315(5)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended) on the following grounds: “Incessant killing of innocent corps members in some parts of the country due to banditry, religious extremism and ethnic violence; incessant kidnapping of innocent corps members across the country; ...