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Nigerians are hungry, losing patience with your Govt — Senate tells President Tinubu
The Senate has urgently called upon the federal government to tackle the pressing issue of hunger caused by food insecurity, which it has identified as an emergency situation.
In response to rising food insecurity, the Senate has urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to implement effective measures to combat the crisis. It emphasized that with increasing hunger and poverty, people’s patience and tolerance are wearing thin.
Furthermore, the Senate cautioned against an impending crisis, warning that the country cannot afford the unrest that could erupt in its streets. It stressed the need for immediate action by the Executive arm of government to address the grievances of the people and avoid taking their support for granted.
Over recent months, the Senate observed a significant increase in the prices of goods and household essentials across Nigeria. This surge has led to heightened inflation rates, diminished purchasing power, and a deterioration in the living conditions of the majority of Nigerians.
As an urgent response to the food scarcity problem, the Senate disclosed that the Federal Government has dispatched 60 trucks of fertilizer to each of the 36 states, allocating two trucks per Senator and one per member of the House of Representatives.
These Senate resolutions followed a motion titled “Urgent Need to Address Food Insecurity and Market Exploitation of Consumables in Nigeria,” sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi of Kogi West, APC, and co-sponsored by Senate Whip Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South, APC.
Senator Karimi highlighted the recent steep rise in the prices of goods and household essentials, which has exacerbated inflation and worsened living conditions for many Nigerians.
According to him, ” the latest data by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics shows that food inflation in the country skyrocketed to 40.66 per cent on a year-on-year basis, a significant increase from the 24.82 per cent recorded in May 2023.”
He said that the Senate is “Aware the current market price of food items such as beans, maize, rice paddy, yam, tomatoes, and onions which initially rose by about 40% after the removal of petroleum Subsidy has now increased to over 100% to 300% without any attributable reason for the increase in prices;
He added that the Senate is “Further aware that although insecurity in food-producing regions, bad roads, increase in the cost of transportation attributable to the removal of fuel subsidy and depreciation of the value of Naira, are possible factors that have contributed to the increase in the price of Food items, Household Commodities, and Consumables; the percentage of increase in the cost of transportation and some under factors listed above is significantly less than the percentage increase in the current prices of goods all over the country;
“Concerned that the greater percentage of the increase in prices of food items and consumables in the Country is not only due to these factors but to the zest of the merchants, traders, and retailers to make supernormal profits whilst they excuse the hike in price on these factors (depreciation of the Naira against the Dollar, increase in price of Petroleum Products due to Fuel price increase and insecurity in farming Regions), thereby heaping all the blame on the Federal Government;
“Notes that there is a general attitude of “Get Rich Quickly” or “Get Rich By All Means” leading many Nigerians to jettison “being their brother’s keeper” and exploiting one another to make abnormal profits: This attitude has been justified on the basis that many members of the Political Class, Technocrats, and Corporate Elites have helped themselves with Public Funds without any repercussions in Law, Nigerian Traders have thus resorted to Price Gouging to maximize profits;
“Further notes that there are reports that Farming Communities in the Border Regions with other Countries, prefer to sell their food items abroad (to these neighbouring countries), rather than domestically(to the hinterland), thereby increasing local food insecurity; and Concludes that all efforts made by the current Federal Executive to arrest the consistent increase in food inflation have not yielded the desired results, there is a need to be more pragmatic about addressing food insecurity, curbing herder farmer crises, kidnapping for ransom, and Terrorism, and ensure the development of a viable National Commodity Board to regulate the price of grains and ensure the elimination of artificial contributions to food and commodity inflation in Nigeria.”
In his contribution, Ndume who lamented that this was the first time Nigeria was listed as one of the countries battling food insecurity, said, “In their many publications, they say Nigeria is likely to experience the highest session of food insecurity globally.
“Currently, there are four countries including Sudan and some others that are facing very serious insecurity. Nigeria is added to this list this year by the International Rescue Committee as one of the spots for food insecurity action against hunger. World Food Program also indicated that over 32 million people are expected to face a critical hunger crisis and emerging levels between June and August.
“I don’t know about some other colleagues, but there in the North, we have started seeing it visibly. This is the first time we are experiencing this level of hunger. It’s the first time Nigeria is being listed as one of the countries with food insecurity.”
On his part, the immediate past President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, APC, Yobe North told his colleagues that the people are really hungry in the country, warning that patience and tolerance are both elastic, but they are not eternally elastic, just as he took a swipe at the Federal Government, saying that the government has nothing in the food Reserve across the Country and that the Silos are empty.
Lawan said, “Let me say here that patience, and tolerance, are both elastic but they are not eternally elastic. Our students are facing real, real anger. I travelled the two states last week, in the north particularly, and I’ve seen first-hand how people, especially those who are not in the civil service, nor in any business, are suffering, fighting, and struggling to have food at least once a day.
“Under normal circumstances, Mr. President, in the rainy season, from maybe June up to September or October, when there will be harvests of new foodstuff, prices escalate prices of foodstuff. Now we don’t even have that the truth. Mr. President in today’s national daily, the Executive arm of government is saying it is considering reducing or removing taxes on imported foodstuff.
” Here’s the catch. This Senate must engage the executive immediately. What are the issues? Which taxes are they talking about? Because we should be seen to be doing the right thing. We have little or nothing in our food reserve across the country. And nobody. If they come and tell us, they will distribute foodstuff from our silos, the silos are empty. So it means we have to import food. And if we have to import, it means we need foreign exchange.
“We wouldn’t like the kind of thing that we see in our streets and it is time that we take every possible action to get out of the event of the arm of government to ensure that food floods our country, the right food. In portation, the government must be entirely responsible because we cannot, we cannot take people for granted for too long. We have come almost to the end of the patience. And I think the elasticity is now going to snap if we are not careful.”
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Finance ministry amendment bill scales second reading
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved for second reading a bill to repeal the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Act, 1959, and any amendments thereto, and to enact the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (Establishment) Act, 2023, along with related matters.
The bill, sponsored by Ademorin Kuye, the member representing Shomolu Federal Constituency, Lagos State, aims to ensure effective ownership, accountability, and management of federal government assets.
MOFI, established in 1959 by an Act of Parliament, serves as the sole custodian of Federal Government assets across the country.
Kuye noted that since its establishment, the agency has failed to meet public expectations, citing widespread “pillage, brigandage, abandonment, diversion, misappropriation, and abuse of federal assets throughout the country.”
The Lagos lawmaker argued for new legislation, stating that the 1959 Act, with only six sections, lacks the capacity to enable the corporation to fulfil its modern mandate.
“The new Act introduces a comprehensive framework of 49 sections to govern the conduct, management, and use of Federal Government assets,” Kuye said.
Presenting the general principles of the bill, Kuye explained that once passed into law, the proposed legislation would revitalise MOFI by establishing a robust institutional framework to enhance its corporate governance and organisational structure.
“This bill will provide a strong legal foundation for the emergence of a truly national corporation capable of managing, accounting for, and optimising over N300 trillion worth of Federal Government assets. It will grant MOFI certain powers and ensure that the board is properly incentivised,” he added.
The bill’s objectives, outlined in Section 3, include empowering MOFI to identify and enumerate all Federal Government assets and investments, ensure their productivity and sustainability, develop and implement a national asset management strategy, act as the investment vehicle for government assets, and advise the Federal Government on asset and investment matters.
Additionally, the bill proposes the creation of a national asset register for MOFI, which will provide an accurate record of government assets and liabilities, their value, depreciation, location, and components.
Kuye stressed that the bill would ensure efficient control, management, utilisation, and disposal of government assets, as directed by the council.
In its miscellaneous provisions, the bill grants the Minister of Finance powers to issue guidelines and policies for implementing MOFI’s investment objectives. It also specifies actions for legal proceedings, Federal High Court jurisdiction, and MOFI’s authority to set regulations for managing government assets.
The lawmaker highlighted the benefits of the bill, including increased revenue generation, reduced financial leakages, and enhanced value of the national asset portfolio.
“Currently, MOFI has only N18 trillion registered as the value of assets in its portfolio. With the proposed national asset register, a comprehensive census of Federal Government assets, including holdings in multilateral agencies, could raise this figure to an estimated N350 trillion, significantly bolstering the economy,” Kuye said.
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Three soldiers killed as troops repel terrorists in Borno
The Defence Headquarters has disclosed that three soldiers of Operation Hadin Kai were killed while repelling an attack launched by Boko Haram terrorists in the Kukawa Local Government area of Borno State, on Monday.
A statement from the headquarters on Tuesday, however, said while mourning those who paid the supreme price, the acting Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Olufemi Oluyede, commended the troops for their courage, as he also urged them to sustain the momentum.
According to the statement, several items were recovered from the terrorists who launched an attack on troops of the 101 Special Forces Battalion.
The statement read, “In the early hours of 25th November 2024, an unconfirmed number of terrorists, mounted on gun trucks and motorcycles, launched an attack on troops of the 101 Special Forces Battalion under Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) in Kukawa Town, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.
“The attackers attempted to breach the camp using a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) from the Gudumbali axis.
“The gallant troops, in a coordinated and determined response, engaged the terrorists with overwhelming firepower, bolstered by support from the Air Component and the Nigerian Army’s ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Command.’”
The statement added that 12 of the terrorists were killed while others fled with gunshot injuries.
“During the confrontation, 12 terrorists were neutralised, while many others fled with gunshot wounds. The following items were recovered from the terrorists; 5 AK-47 rifles, 1 RPG bomb, 1 RPG tube, 2 Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns, 1 QJC gun, 1 NSV heavy machine gun, 40 motorcycles, 152 rounds of Shilka ammunition, among other items.
“Additionally, four out of seven VBIEDs deployed by the terrorists were destroyed,” it added.
It however stated that three soldiers lost their lives during the gun battle.
“Regrettably, three brave soldiers paid the ultimate price during the attack. Efforts to clear and exploit the area are ongoing, with house-to-house searches being conducted to ensure the area is secure”, it said.
The statement reassured all that Operation HADIN KAI remains steadfast in its mission to eliminate the remnants of terrorism in the Northeast and foster an environment where socio-economic activities can thrive in line with its mandate.
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4,449 Police Officers drag Nigeria Police, IGP to court over promotion
The National Industrial Court, Abuja, yesterday heard a case filed against the Nigeria Police Force and the inspector general of police (IGP) by some police officers. The IGP refused to decorate them with their new ranks, which they had been promoted and approved by the Police Service Commission pursuant to its Act.
Counsel representing the claimants in the matter, Barrister Muka’ila Yahaya Mavo, argued and prayed that the court should order the Nigeria Police Force and the inspector general of police to give effect and implement the 19th plenary decision meeting of the Police Service Commission that sat and approved the promotion of 4, 449 police officers.
The decision of the commission was in line with section 6 [1] [a] of the Police Service Commission Act and section 16 [3] [a] of the Police Act.
Yahaya Muka’ila Mavo further argued that this has been the tradition between the Nigeria Police Force and the Police Service Commission, and it has been given a judicial flavour by the Supreme Court, which held that the Police Service Commission is responsible for the appointment, promotion, and discipline of all police officers (other than the IG).
Hon. Justice R.B Haastrup has adjourned the case to 18th December 2024.
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