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Constitution review: Reps receive 305 memoranda, 112 bills

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A total of 305 memoranda and 112 bills were submitted to the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu disclosed in a statement on Friday.

This is just as the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, assured all of the readiness of the 10th National Assembly to produce a constitution capable of meeting the collective needs of Nigerians.

Akpabio gave the assurance on Friday, in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State while delivering his remarks at the beginning of a two-day retreat of the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.

Akpabio charged federal lawmakers of both chambers to be diligent in the ongoing review of the constitution, stressing that every bill and proposal must receive the needed consideration.

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A statement issued on Friday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, Levinus Nwabughiogu, quoted the 36 Speakers of State Houses of Assembly and the government of Akwa Ibom State as pledging their support for the establishment of state police, resource control, and decentralisation of power, among others.

The statement also quoted Akpabio as saying that the new constitution that will emerge will create a framework for a prosperous Nigeria.

“I believe that at the end of the day, the Senate and the House of Representatives will create a blueprint that guides us towards a more united and prosperous Nigeria. This journey has just begun in this retreat.

“The challenges before us are significant, but so are the opportunities. This opportunity is to ensure that all the bills we consider and comprehend are fair and reflective of the aspiration of the Nigerian people.

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“We must take into account the diverse perspectives and experiences that make up our great nation. By doing so, we lay a solid foundation for a constitution that truly represents the hope and dreams of every single Nigerian alive,” Akpabio said.

The Senate President also urged Nigerians to take advantage of the constitution amendment exercise to bring about a renewed focus for the country.

“Let us rise up to this duty and answer our country’s call, particularly at a time when we have a Vice President and President and even the wife of the President as former legislators. This is the right time for us to shape the future of our country through legislation,”Akpabio added.

In his address, Kalu who doubled as the Chairman, House Committee on Constitution Review highlighted areas of top priority for the exercise.

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He listed local government autonomy, judiciary, electoral matters, state police, gender, human right issues among others as areas Nigerians are demanding amendment or alteration to the constitution.

Recall that the committee has held a series of public engagements from its pre-inaugural meeting to the unveiling of sub-committees on work plan development, the inauguration of the committee, the call for memoranda, appointment and inauguration of consultants, retreat of the secretariat and consultants of the House; a joint committee secretariat and consultants of both the Senate and the House and setting a timeline to achieve the first set of amendment by December 2025.

Throwing more light on the issue,Kalu stated that the thematic areas have been shared to various experts in line with their disciplines and competence.

According to him, local government matters will be handled by Prof Nuhu Jamo, the judiciary assigned to Barr Mike Osuman (SAN); electoral matters to Samson Osagie; state police to Usman Ibrahim; gender issues were given to Prof Anthonia Simbine; human rights issues to Chris Uche (SAN) and special matters to Prof Yusuf M Yusuf.

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“Our consultations will extend to the judiciary, election stakeholders, women groups, traditional rulers, and civil society organizations, among others, and presently, we have received 305 proposals from Nigerians, and 112 bills sponsored by members are at various stages of consideration in the House. These memos have been analysed by the committee consultants, and a report will be presented to the members during the course of these deliberations.

“We will also engage the citizens from across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones and will cap our consultations with a national public hearing in Abuja before the end of 2024.

“The committee will now be presented with the outcome of the review of the bills and memos received.

“Furthermore, the constitutional amendments are instrumental in achieving better economic outcomes by modernising legal frameworks, enhancing institutional capacity, better enhancing Nigeria economic potentials, addressing emerging economic challenges and facilitating inclusive development.

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“Constitutional amendments have become imperative for a couple of reasons including the need to adapt to changing economic realities; strengthen property rights and the rule of law; promote economic freedom and fear competition; foster fiscal responsibilities and budgetary discipline to enhance governance and accountability as well as empower subnational governments and to facilitate structural reforms,” he said.

In his remarks at the retreat, the Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Pastor Umo Eno, represented by the Deputy Governor, Akon Eyakenyi gave his support for the establishment of state police, asking the committee to also consider devolution of powers.

“The issue of devolution of powers from the centre to sub-nationals to make Nigeria a proper federation has been a recurring decimal since the promulgation of decree 34 of 1966 by the military, which sets the nation on the path of unitary federalism.

“The result was an overburdened center and over-dependent federating units, thus making it impossible for sub-nationals to look inwards for development in a manner peculiar to their natural endowment and circumstances.

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“Thankfully, recent efforts at constitutional amendments have removed some of these bottlenecks. However, a lot remains to be done, especially in the areas of security and revenue allocation,” he added.

Speaking on the imperative of state police, Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State, said, “At this point in our history, vis-a-vis the seemingly intractable security problems across the nation, I doubt if we can still debate the necessity or otherwise of state police.

“Experience has shown that a centralized security architecture cannot effectively tackle localized crimes. The creation of state police does not mean the abolition of federal police.

Also speaking, the chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Oyo State House of Assembly Speaker, Adebo Ogundoyin said that the conference is more interested in state police, local government autonomy, resource control and revenue allocation, devolution of powers to the states amongst others.

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He said: “There are fundamental national issues that must be reviewed and considered for constitutional amendments, issues such as state police, local government autonomy, resource control and revenue allocation, centralization of powers in the center or devolution of powers to state amongst other pressing matters.

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SHAME! WATCH moment NDLEA nabs nursing student over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of h3rd drugs

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Again, NDLEA operatives have proven that there’s no hiding place for hard drug peddlers as a nursing student was nabbed over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of drugs.

Naijablitznews reports that the video clip captured the student counting such a large quantity of hard drugs she wanted to ingest.

WATCH clip below:

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NDLEA massive raids across Nigeria yields results nabs India-bound nursing student(Photos)

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… over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of cocaine
…intercepts illicit consignments heading to Borno, Kano, Abuja; arrests 33 suspects in Lagos, FCT, Kano, Kwara, Kogi, Taraba raids

Attempt by 26-year-old Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, a 200-level student of nursing at the Noida International University, Uttar Pradesh, India, to swallow 76 wraps of cocaine hours before her return flight to the South Asian country through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, MAKIA, Kano, has been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

Esther was scheduled to return to Delhi, India from MAKIA Kano on Qatar Airways flight 1432 on Friday 17th January 2025 but was arrested in her room at 11:30pm on Thursday 16th January at Royal Park Hotel Sabon Garin Kano, while awaiting the cocaine consignment she was to ingest before her flight the following morning.

Her lid was blown open when NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi state on Thursday 16th January intercepted 31-year-old Cosmas Okorie in a commuter bus coming from Lagos enroute Kano. Inside his black polythene bag was an audio speaker, which was used to conceal 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.340 kilograms, which he was going to deliver to Esther in Kano. A swift follow up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the female nursing university student later same day.

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In her statement, Esther claimed the drug cartel she was working for recruited her in India and paid for her trip to Nigeria to enjoy her Christmas and New Year holidays.

To avoid her parents knowing she was in Nigeria, Esther did not travel to her home state, Imo but was lodged for two weeks in a hotel in Enugu, from where she was flown to Abuja and then Kano where she was lodged at Royal Park Hotel to swallow the 76 pellets of cocaine sent to her from Lagos before taking her Qatar Airways flight to India on Friday morning. She said she was promised over $5,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit consignment in India.

In other operations along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja highway, NDLEA officers arrested four suspects: Abdullahi Umar; Tijjani Samaila; Lucky Obotte and Abubakar Haruna, who were heading to Maiduguri, Borno state, Kano, and Abuja in commuter vehicles with over 38,000 pills of tramadol 225mg, 250mg and 100mg concealed in audio speakers and cloths.

In Lagos, operatives of a special operations unit of the Agency on Tuesday 14th January raided the hideout of a 59-year-old Nwokedi Emeka Jonas in Ojodu-Berger area of the state where they recovered 10 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 4.9kg as well as different paper bags he uses in dispensing the psychoactive substance in retail quantities. Printed on them include street names and codes such as ‘Dead man’; ‘Gelato top shelf smoke’; ‘Topshelf’; and ‘Gelato cake’

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In other operations in Lagos, operatives of the state Command of the Agency on Wednesday 15th January raided a house in Igando New Town area of Alimosho where they arrested three suspects: Isaac Vincent, 32; Ebube Ikechi, 25; and Christopher Usifoh, 43, from whom 1,610kg skunk, a strain of cannabis and 6kg pills of tramadol were recovered. Also recovered from the house were a delivery van and three other vehicles used for distributing the illicit drugs.

Two suspects: Olashile Okoya and Mohammed Ibrahim were arrested on Saturday 18th January when NDLEA officers raided their home at 5A Addison Palmer, Cadogan Estate, Castle Rock Avenue, Osapa, Lekki Lagos, where 28 kilograms of Cannadian Loud were recovered following credible intelligence.

Not less than 67kg skunk was seized from Saheed Sulaiman on Thursday 16th January when NDLEA operatives raided his Edumare street, Lagos Island hideout, while various quantities of assorted illicit substances were recovered from Adamu Abdullahi on Tuesday 14th January when Jerry Irabi Estate, Lekki hideout was raided by NDLEA officers. They include 3.7 litres of codeine syrup; 10,000 pills of tramadol; 1,670 tablets of rohypnol; 6.5kg cannabis; 3,100 tablets of diazepam; 10,090 tablets of Molly; 5,500 tabs of Exol-5; 1.2kg crisps of wrapped methamphetamine and a monetary exhibit of ₦623,650.00.

In Kano, two suspects: Usama Adamu, 25, and Isah Ibrahim, 29, were on Friday 17th January
arrested at Dawanau, Dawakin Tofa LGA where a total of 7.6kg skunk, 78 tubes of rubber solution and 356 bottles of ‘suck and die’, a new psychoactive substance were recovered from them.

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In another raid in Kano, Usman Isa, 29, was nabbed along Zaria road with 114 blocks of skunk weighing 49.8kg.

Three suspects: Lawali Isiaka, Umoru Isiaka and Mohammed Kabiru were on Wednesday 15th January arrested by NDLEA operatives with 390 tablets of Molly and 65.5kg of cannabis at Bode Saadu in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, while Samuel Ogbu, 24, was nabbed with 25,000 pills of tramadol by operatives along Wukari- Zaki Ibiam road, Wukari LGA, Taraba state.

In series of raids in Abuja, a suspect, Rufa’i Hashimu, 27, was arrested at Gwarimpa village area of the FCT with 118 bottles of codeine-based syrup, while 13 others were nabbed in other locations such as: Area1 IDP camp, Gishiri, Zuba, Dei -Dei, AYA, Lagos Street Garki, Karu, and Lugbe.

Recovered from them include different quantities of tramadol, diazepam, and methamphetamine.
With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of NUD Basic Primary School, Orile-Igbon, Oyo state; Corpus Christi College, Ilawe Ekiti; Holy Family International Schools, Calabar; Kudam Islamic School, Osogbo; Business Apprenticeship Training Centre, Kankia, Katsina, while Abia state command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to Governor Alex Otti, among others.

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While commending the officers and men of Lagos, Kogi, SOPU, Kano, Kwara, FCT, and Taraba Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) urged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their oars as they intensify their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

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SAD! Two Judges shot dead in Court as attacker takes own life

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Two top judges in Iran were shot dead on Saturday in what has been reported as a targeted assassination directed at the Islamic regime’s enablers in the country’s Supreme Court.

The two judges, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh were killed after an armed man entered the court, in Tehran, Iran’s capital on Saturday morning.

The attacker was said to have then killed himself while fleeing the scene, according to the judiciary’s news website, Mizan. A bodyguard was also injured in the attack.

The motive for the attack is unclear, but both judges are said to have played a role in the persecution and killing of opponents of the Islamic regime throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

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In a statement to state news agency IRNA, the judiciary’s media office described the attack as premeditated assassination.

It also said that, according to initial findings, the attacker had not been involved in any case considered by the supreme court, and an investigation had been launched to identify and arrest any further people who may have been involved in the attack.

The judiciary’s spokesman, Asghar Jahangir, told Iranian state TV that the attacker had entered the court carrying a handgun before opening fire.

One of the judges, Razini, had survived an assassination attempt in 1998 that shook Iran at that time. He was one of the most senior judges in Iran.

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The other, Moghiseh, was sanctioned by the US in 2019, with the treasury department accusing him of having “overseen countless unfair trials, during which charges went unsubstantiated and evidence was disregarded”.

At that time, he was a judge in the Tehran Revolutionary Court. He was reportedly named to the supreme court in 2020.

Moghiseh was also among seven Iranian judges sanctioned by Canada in 2023 for what the country described as “their role in gross and systematic human rights violations”.

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