News

Reps Hold Public Hearing On A bill To Regulate Corporate Social Responsibility

Published

5 months ago

June 25, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

…warn MTN, Airtel for failure to appear before commitee

By Gloria Ikibah

The House of Representatives has held a public hearing on “A bill To Regulate Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria and for other related matters”.

This bill seeks to provide legal status and guidelines to corporate responsibility for better coordination and regulation.

The Chairman House Commitee on Corporate Social Responsibility, Rep. Obiageli Orogbu, also read the riot act as she gave MTN, Airtel last warning to honour it’s invitation or face the warrant of arrest by the Commitee, on Monday in Abuja.

According to Rep. Orogbu, some companies operating in the country have over time violated the law, hence the need for punishment to be melted at them.

She further frowned at National Communications Commission NCC ,MTN and Airtel insisting that they have on several occasions ignored the invitation of the Commitee, and so there is the need to evoke its powers by issuing warrant of arrest.

She said: “Section 89, 8 of the Constitution mandates individual companies as invited to make themselves available to parliament but they break the law and I want to tell you Sir , MTN Airtel they take so much from our nation and they feel too big to appear before the parliament we will not tolerate that.

“I want you as a regulatory body to organize those telecommunication companies were they will be meeting between this parliament and the telecommunication, we gave them the powers to operate in Nigeria so to refuse to honour the invitation of the parliament is a no, no, we take exception to it . The parliament is frowning at it and this is an opportunity to say clearly .

“If MTN is here and I have taken all friendly measure to make them understand the need to appear before the parliament but they have refuse. If you feel you are responsible then you should appear before the parliament ,we want you to be responsible and accountable they operate across the country and they have disrespected the same nation by not housing our invitation.

“We want the Commitee to be socially responsible. If you are providing any social responsibility let us know what you are doing, all we want to know is what you are doing . We are not here to which hunt any company . As a public affairs representative of NCC please reach out to these telecompanies and tell them to make themselves available, if they disrespect he parliament it doesn’t indicate in anywhere that they are responsible.

“Other companies show up, give account and we even go on oversight but NCC is one company that have given us problems insisting that they are in court that is not acceptable”.

While making presentation, Mr Wondi Ndanusa, representative of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, said that the CBN is in support of the bill, he however raised concerns on on the proposed penalty of imprisonment to defaulting companies, he said rather than the penalty, it should be persuasive.

He also said that many companies are faced with a lot of financial burden and responsibilities; even as he proposed that the CSR should be domicil in Corporate Affairs Commission.

In her response, the Committee Chairman said, “We have a lot of petition on these companies causing problems for us in Nigeria, construction companies, oil companies telecompanies and over the years they have had their way, so I disagree that we make it persuasive.

“A lot of companies don’t understand that term, they keep defaulting there must be a fine to make them responsible”.

Speaking also at the hearing, representative of Oil Producers Trade Section, OPTS, Bala Wuoir, expressed concern that the Petroleum Industry Act already mandates oil companies operating in Nigeria to make financial contribution of three Percent of their profit to NDDC so mandating them do so more will be burdensome on them.

He however said oil companies should be exempted from the bill.

The chairman in response insisted that they cannot be exempted, adding that the Commitee requires them to bring what ever they are doing as a corporate social responsibility to the knowledge of the committee .

Speaking earlier the Speaker of the House, represented by the House Leader, Rep. Julius Ihonvbere emphasized that the success of the legislative process is dependent on public response and contribution to the public hearing.

He called on stakeholders to make meaningful contributions that will make the bill a reality.

“Public hearing is part of our legislative process to engage the citizens in lawmaking, especially because the proposed law has impacts to make on the people. Your robust ideas and expected contribution to the discourse will no doubt shape the outcome of this meeting”, he said.

News

NECO accredits more foreign schools for SSCE, BECE

Published

20 minutes ago

November 24, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has given accreditation to more foreign schools to write the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The Acting Director, Information and Public Relations, Mr. Azeez Sani, disclosed this in a statement.

The newly accredited schools are in Niger Republic and Equatorial Guinea.

“NECO Accreditation Team visited the Schools to assess their readiness to write the SSCE and BECE.

“The Accreditation Team inspected classrooms, laboratories, libraries, computer laboratories, workshops, examination halls and sport facilities to determine their adequacy and suitability for NECO Examinations.

“After a thorough evaluation and comprehensive assessment, the schools were granted full SSCE and full BECE accreditation status,” the statement said.

The statement added that the accreditation of additional foreign schools is a testament to NECO’s commitment to providing quality education and assessment beyond the shores of Nigeria.

“With its expanding global presence, NECO is poised to become a leading examination body in Africa, offering opportunities for students worldwide to benefits from its expertise, thus contributing to the advancement of education in Africa and beyond.”

In another development, the statement disclosed that candidates are participating in the on-going NECO SSCE External in Diffa, Niger Republic.

“The UNHCR School, Diffa, Niger Republic is the first NECO SSCE External Centre outside Nigeria.”

NECO examinations are now written by candidates in Benin Republic, Togo, Cote’ d’Ivoire, Niger Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Saudi Arabia.

News

Guardiola suffers worst defeat of career as Tottenham hammer Man City 4-0

Published

29 minutes ago

November 24, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, suffered the worst defeat of his managerial career as they lost 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night.

The Premier League champions were already on a run of four consecutive defeats ahead of the visit of the North London side.

James Maddison scored twice in the first half to set Spurs on their way to a sensational win.

Pedro Porro drilled in a third, before Brennan Johnson got on the scoresheet late in the game.

The result leaves City in second place with 23 points. They could go eight points behind Liverpool by the end of this Game Week.

Guardiola takes his men to Anfield next weekend.

News

FUOYE Re-Marks Exam Papers of Student Failed By Lecturer Over Sex-for-Grade Scandal, Secures Justice

Published

33 minutes ago

November 24, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State, has cleared a female student, Ramota Olahanloye, to graduate following the re-marking of her final-year examination scripts.

Olahanloye had alleged that a lecturer, Dr. Anthony Agbegbedia, demanded sexual favours from her, and when she declined, he deliberately failed her in two final-year courses.

In a statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser on Media to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Wole Balogun, the university confirmed that Olahanloye’s allegations were investigated, and her scripts were re-marked.

“The young lady’s scripts were re-marked, and she performed fairly better than the scores initially awarded by Dr. Anthony Agbegbedia,” the statement read.

According to Balogun, the university management approved Olahanloye’s revised results, which qualified her for graduation.

“The university management has given executive approval for her results to be processed. She has since commenced her final clearance from relevant units of the university,” the statement added.

Balogun also disclosed that Agbegbedia had been sanctioned by the institution for his misconduct.

Olahanloye expressed her joy over the resolution of the case, saying, “I am happy that I have gotten justice, and I really appreciate the university Vice-Chancellor for setting up the committee that investigated the matter.

“I was shown my entire results, including the graduation list with my name on it. I have started my clearance as a graduating student of the university, and I am truly happy.”

Her father, Rasaki Olahanloye, also lauded the university for its commitment to justice.

“I can confirm to the world that FUOYE has served justice to my daughter. I was shown her upgraded results after her scripts were re-marked, and it is clear that she passed.

“The university fulfilled its promise to ensure fairness, and I appreciate the VC, Prof. Sunday Fasina, and the committee members for ensuring my daughter gets justice,” he said.