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State assemblies filled with governors loyalists, minister laments

Published

4 months ago

July 17, 2024

Admin

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has expressed concerns about the composition of state Houses of Assembly across the federation.

According to him, the state Houses of Assembly are filled with passive loyalists who neglect their duty of providing checks and balances on the executive arm of government.

Tuggar’s comment comes as many in the country are celebrating the Supreme Court’s judgment granting autonomy to local governments.

Delivering a paper titled “Pathways to Peace, Security and Stability in the Sahel: What Role for Nigeria?” at the Nigeria Intelligence Agency Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, Tuggar stated that a system had been put in place to promote loyal local government chairmen to the state House of Assembly, ensuring they wouldn’t challenge the governor’s actions.

He said, “Many states don’t even bother with elections. The governors simply appoint loyalists as LG sole administrators. A system has been perfected through which a loyal LGA Chairman is promoted to the state House of Assembly, where he would not dare challenge the perspective of the governor.

“In reality, state Houses of Assemblies are packed with passive loyalists that fail in their duty of providing checks and balances on the executive arm. They also fail in looking out for the interest of their local government areas.”

Tuggar noted that after the autonomy granted to the LGs, routine elections must be conducted.

He added that this would prevent anyone selected by the governors from controlling the LG funds.

Tuggar said, “The other half is to find a way to establish routine elections at the LGA level, so that LG funds are administered by elected officials- Chairman and Ward Councillors, instead of those handpicked by governors.

“The governor’s party sweeps all the LG elections except in a few symbolic instances, leaving little room for inter-party competition for developmental projects that ultimately benefit the people. Competition makes everyone sit up for fear of underperforming and losing the next election.”

Addressing the lecture’s topic, Tuggar noted that there is often an over-simplification that the Sahel is primarily inhabited by nomadic groups like the Tuaregs, Bororo, and Zaghawa, many of whom are incorrectly assumed to lean towards terrorism and criminal activities.

He said, “There is often an over-simplification that goes thus: the Sahel is sparsely populated by nomadic groups (Tuaregs, Bororo, Zaghawa, etc.) and many of them tend towards terrorism and criminal activities. A certain degree of laziness in information collection processes and the wholesale adoption of western taxonomy and labelling has often led to wrong decision-making.”

He called on NIA to take the lead in adequate information collection processes to solve the challenges of insecurity in the Sahel region

Tuggar said, “Nigeria must therefore, as the hegemon in the region lead the way in providing more accurate and factual analyses and interpretation of events in the Sahel. It is incumbent on the NIA to pave the way through its information collection process.

“This would begin with more accurate taxonomy and labelling of groups. Not every act of crime- kidnapping for ransom, attack on a community, smuggling of weapons must necessarily be ascribed to a stand-alone jihadi or tribal group. Quite often, such acts are driven by economic interests and not ideological or tribal association.

News

Before final liquidation, NDIC set to auction Heritage bank properties

Published

1 hour ago

November 14, 2024

Naijablitznews

In a bid to ensure timely declaration of liquidation dividends to uninsured depositors of the failed Heritage Bank (In-Liquidation), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has commenced the process of auctioning the landed properties and chattels of the defunct bank.

According to the Corporation, this exercise is in line with its statutory powers as the Liquidator of failed banks under section 62 (1)(d) of the NDIC Act, 2023, noting that; “This is another follow-up action sequel to the disposal of physical assets and chattels belonging to the defunct bank at its leased locations nationwide”.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Director, Communication and Public Affairs Department, Bashir A.

Therefore, the auction of the landed assets shall be by competitive bidding in sealed bids scheduled to take place at the six (6) selected locations of the Corporation across the country, for the affected 36 branches of the failed bank beginning from Wednesday 4th December 2024.
“Buyers who wish to participate in the auction are expected to follow laid down guidelines purposely aimed at ensuring transparency, fair competition, equity, and accountability to enable recovery of commensurate values from the exercise. This is critical for the payment of liquidation dividends to eligible claimants.

The Corporation shall give preference to financial institutions who are willing to buy at the highest auctioned value to allow for the continuation of provision of banking services to the Nigerian public at the designated locations”, adding; “This is desirable towards bolstering financial inclusion as envisaged by the financial system regulatory authorities.

“However, Corporate bodies and Private individuals willing to compete are equally eligible to compete in the process without prejudice, the auction shall be open and competitive to all bidders.

Furthermore, bidders will be allowed to inspect the properties and chattels across all locations one week before the date of disposal.”

Importantly too, the statement said; “All interested parties are to make available 10% bid security of the value of their sealed bids to be dropped in the bid box provided at the specific centre out of the six locations of the Corporation as contained in the published advertisements.

“All interested bidders are advised to submit their bids only at the designated NDIC offices covering their choices amongst Abuja, Lagos, Bauchi, Kano, Enugu, and Port Harcourt.”

Meanwhile, the Corporation has vowed that there would be no hiding place for debtors of the defunct Heritage Bank whose financial obligation portfolio is in the region of over N700 billion.

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Naira slumps in parallel market

Published

3 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Naijablitznews

The Naira experienced a slight depreciation yesterday, slipping to N1,740 per dollar in the parallel market compared to its previous rate of N1,735 per dollar on Tuesday.

According to data from FMDQ, the indicative exchange rate for the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) strengthened, rising to N1,645.4 per dollar from Tuesday’s rate of N1,689.88 per dollar. This marks an appreciation of N44.48 for the Naira.

The market also saw a significant increase in dollar trading activity, with turnover climbing by 122.5 percent to reach $236.84 million, up from $106.44 million the previous day.

As a result, the gap between the parallel market and the NAFEM exchange rate widened, now standing at N94.6 per dollar, up from N45.12 per dollar recorded on Tuesday.