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Senators new timetable now 11am to 3pm for Plenary

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The Senate has amended its rule book to start holding Plenary from 11am to 3pm.

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, had raised two motions at the commencement of plenary.

One of motions was an amendment to the standing rules which proposed that the Senate shifts the timing of its sittings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 11am, and close by 3pm like their counterpart in the House of Representatives.

The Senate Leader also moved his second motion on Standing Committee’s Amendment of order 96 to create the Senate Committee on Reparation and repatriation.

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However, the second motion was stepped down as senators opted to debate on the issue of sitting time.

While lending his voice to the issue, Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio had indicated that the most urgent motion was to align the time of resumption with what obtains in the House of Representatives.

He suggested that the motion should be separated and that the first one to be taken should be the time of sitting.

However, the Immediate past President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan while making his contribution, disagreed with Akpabio.

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Lawan said, “I don’t know the basis at the moment for which we want to shift our sitting from 10 to 11 and end at 3pm, for me, we have more energy, our eyes are clearer in the morning and one hour into the day, probably we would have lost some energy.

“If we work between 10am and 2pm, if we sit in the plenary between 10am and 2pm, our committees would do better. If we don’t have any reason except we have to synchronize with the House, I think we need to look at it again.

“However, if we have other reasons that we must change, that is fine. If it is just to synchronize with the House may have their reasons for sitting at 11 and close by 3pm but here I don’t see the reasons.”

Responding Akpabio threw it back at Lawan that the idea of the Senate sitting by 11am started during his time as the President of the 9th Senate especially during the period of the COVID-19.

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But Lawan reacted by saying it was as a result of the COVID-19 that the time was tinkered from 10am to 11am adding that they had to cut down on the number of days for plenary.

Akpabio then reacted that, “Our rules said 10am but we came to meet the tradition of 11am, the only thing that we changed was to add additional day because during that COVID-19 period we were sitting twice a week.

“I said no, since there is no more COVID we should sit three times in a week and we maintained what we saw, 11am but now we are.saying that we have not been able to justify the 11am sitting unless it reflects same on our rules.

“The Idea of 3pm in my view is not correct because it does not mean you must sit till 3pm, it simply means if we don’t have musc to do we can close at 1pm or 2pm to enable our colleagues to go for committee sittings and other matters related to the proceedings of the Senate such as clearances and all that.

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“The only aspect of it is to legalise it so that people don’t have the impression that we are sitting at 11am while the rule says 10am”.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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Northern Elders Again Reject Tinubu’s Tax Reform Bill, Back 19 Governors, Monarchs On Withdrawal

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The Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) has endorsed the stand taken by the Northern States Governors’ Forum in conjunction with the Northern Nigeria Council of Traditional Rulers, about the proposed Tax Reform Bill by President Bola Tinubu.

The 19 state governors in the Northern region had aired their strong displeasure on the recent Tax Reform Bill the Federal Government submitted to the National Assembly for approval.

The governors particularly rejected the proposed shift to a Derivation-based Model for Value Added Tax distribution.

They claimed that the proposed model would be at the disadvantage of the northern states and other less industrial regions.

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The governors, under the auspices of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, voiced their strong opposition in a communique issued after a strategic meeting in Kaduna in October.

However, NEF Board of Trustees during its Second Bi-Annual Meeting on Wednesday November 20th, 2024 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Center, Abuja, reaffirmed the NEF’s strong opposition to this pernicious policy.

According to a statement, NEF maintained, that, in its present form, the Tax Reform Bill is conceived in bad faith, poorly packaged and it is a palpable threat to their unity and national cohesion.

The forum in a communique signed by Professor Ango Abdullahi, its Convener and released on Saturday, condemned the conspicuous loss of voice on the burning issue by the elected lawmakers in the National Assembly from the region.

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The communique partly reads; “The meeting unanimously endorsed the patriotic stand taken on the raging national debate about the Tax Reform Bill by the Northern States Governors’ Forum in conjunction with the Northern Nigeria Council of Traditional Rulers, just as it reaffirmed the NEF’s strong opposition to this pernicious policy.

“In addition, the meeting seriously maintained, that, in its present form, the Tax Reform Bill is conceived in bad faith, poorly packaged and it is a palpable threat to our unity and national cohesion. The Meeting proceeded by drawing attention to the brazen cavalier way and suspicious manner in which the Tax Reform Bill was imposed on the nation, without allowing the inputs of critical stakeholders, even as it kept members of the National Economic Council in the dark, thus; confirming the sinister intentions of those promoting this outrageous Bill.

“The Board-in-session, condemned in very strong terms, the conspicuous loss of voice on this burning issue by the overwhelming number of elected politicians in the National Assembly from the region, and fiercely warned, that indeed, the days are fast gone, when such conspiratorial connivance against the vital and strategic interest of the region, either by those within or outside the region, would be condoned or even tolerated.”

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