News

Office of the Speaker Deserves GCON – 10th HoR

Published

2 months ago

October 2, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

…as lawmakers reject CFR honours on Speaker Abbas

By Gloria Ikibah

The 10th House of Representatives has protested the decision by President Bola Tinubu’s decision to confer a national honour – Commander of Federal Republic (CFR) on Speaker Tajudeen Abbas during his Independence Day national broadcast on October 1, 2024.

The House also urged President Tinubu to confer on the office of the Speaker, the National honour of “Grand Commander Of the Order of the Niger” (GCON) insisting that the office of the Speaker is higher than that of the Chief Justice of Nigeria who is to be conferred with GCON .

This resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion by the Deputy Spokesperson of the House, Rep. Philip Agbese and 248 others on the “Multi-partisan motion on the inappropriate discrimination against the House of Representatives and the presentation of the chamber as inferior to the Senate”, on Wednesday at plenary.

In his lead debate, Rep. Agbese, explained that the National Assembly is constitutionally established as a bicameral legislature comprising two equal chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives, as stipulated in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), with both chambers operating within a framework that ensures the legislative independence and equality of each.

The expressed displeasure at the development, as he argued that the “National Honours Act of 1964 does not explicitly prescribe the conferment of specific honours, such as the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) for the President of the Senate or the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and that these distinctions are rooted in customary practice rather than statutory requirement.

“Worried by the growing trend where the President of the Senate is referred to as the “Chairman of the National Assembly,” which inaccurately implies a hierarchical structure between the two chambers, contrary to the Constitution, and undermines the authority of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Neither the institution nor the Standing Orders of both chambers recognise the position of a Chairman of the National Assembly, his title has no legal basis and undermines.

“This discriminatory practice was once again evidenced during the recent conferment of National Honours on the leadership of the National Assembly by Mr. President. While expressing our gratitude to Mr. President for recognising and honouring the leadership of the National Assembly, we note that the conferment of the title of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on the President of the Senate and the conferment of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy President of the Senate perpetuates the inappropriate subordination of the Speaker to the President of the Senate.

“Notes that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is lower in protocol ranking than the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was also awarded the title of GCON, further exemplifying this culture of discrimination against the leadership of the House;

“The Constitution, in promoting a balanced and equal bicameral legislature, clearly provides that bills passed by one chamber must be concurred with by the other in the same form for them to become law, thus affirming the equal status of both chambers as essential components of the legislative process”, the motion reads.

Also speaking on the motion, Sada Soli insisted that the Speaker is the fourth citizen so should be honored with GCON instead of CFR.

He also questioned why the Chief Justice of Nigeria will be honored with GCON while the Speaker, CFR,.stating that it is a mismatch.

“We know the President is a listening President. We know the President is not shy. He does not shy away from going back to correcting the problem. Mr Speaker, the House of Representatives should holds the honour of GCON”, he said.

On his part, Babajimi Benson (APC -Lagos) said that the move was an injustice to the institution of the House of Representatives, adding that though it has been going on for too long, it remains an institutional error.

“The House further note that the honour of GCON is not restricted to any particular office or individual but can be awarded to any distinguished Nigerian deemed deserving by the President, as evidenced by the recent conferment of GCON on Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala by former President Muhammadu Buhari, this House acknowledges the flexibility inherent in the National Honours system and the prerogative of the President in the allocation of such distinctions”.

In his remarks, Minority Whip, Hon. George Ozodinobi said: “I wouldn’t be talking from the standpoint of opposition. But I am indeed saddened that each regime that comes, they keep on repeating what their predecessors did. I think something that is very constant, they say, is change.

“I wouldn’t want to say that the president is a listening president. There are indications to show that he is not. But I am thinking that what he has already pronounced needs to be changed before it is confirmed.

“Because we can’t continue to be repeating the mistakes of the past. So he has every opportunity to respect the 360 members of this House who have also fought so hard to bear the responsibility of certain policies of this Government. We are the people that have already tried to calm the entire country down with our number.

“We need to be respected in that form. As other people argued, we are not talking for the person who is sitting as the Speaker. We are talking for the institution”, he said.

Rep. Dominic Okafor strongly opined citing the provision of Section 47 of the 1999 constitution, said: “I want to read out now, which states that there shall be a National Assembly for the Federation, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. He never said that one is superior to the other.”

Minority Whip of the House, Rep. Ali Issa, said that section 4 of the Nigerian constitution clearly stated the creations of the National Assembly, and clearly specified that the National Assembly is comprised of 109-member Senate and 360-member House of Representatives.

“So, the section of the constitution did not give any other chamber or did not mention that a chamber is higher than any other chamber.

“Mr. Speaker, my honorable colleagues, the present Minister of Special Duties is a former member of the House of Representatives, and I believe in his time he will not allow this mistake to continue. While I advise our relevant committees to invite the Honorable Minister of Special Duties and ensure that this amendment or this correction is done, and also they have to report back to this House within seven days, I move that with immediate effect we mandate the relevant committee to invite the Minister of Special Duties with all the relevant committee members that are in charge of this award, and also they should make the necessary corrections with immediate effect. The issue is about the House of Representatives.

“It is not about Mr. Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, but it is about the House of Representatives. Putting the House of Representatives Speaker, the same with the Deputy Senate President position, would not be acceptable by this House chamber. So I call on Mr. President and all the relevant leaders to quickly intervene and make these corrections.”

In his intervention, Hon. Cyril Godwin argued that the National Honours Act of 1963, Section 1, Subsection 3 stated that: “Subject to Article 2 of this warrant, the numbers of persons appointed to the different ranks of the orders in any calendar year shall not exceed 8. In the case of Grand Commander, which is what is in contest here, in the case of Grand Commander, 2 as respect to the Order of the Federal Republic and 10 as respect to the Order of Niger.

“What it simply means is that for GCON, for every calendar year, it shall not exceed 2 in line with the National Honours Act. So if the Senate President has been given 1, it therefore means we are going to ask in our resolution as well, that the CJN shall relinquish his own for the Speaker, not necessarily Tadu Jinn, but for any Speaker of the House of Representatives, until we amend this Act. You cannot exceed 2 in line with this Act.

“In terms of the number, we are raising our issues in terms of criteria. It has nothing to do with the Act.

“If this is what is stated in the Act, it is for the people who are doing that to consider. And the Order of Protocol that we are referring to was approved by both chambers to place us to where Mr. Speaker is. And so if you are asking, and if you are doing, just like it is automatic for Mr. President, the moment he assumes duty as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President they have, it is automatic.

“It is not also out of order to have the Speaker and the Senate President in the other category automatically. Please, my brother, I think it is time for us to respect the institution to do the right thing that will promote us and give us our placement in the community. Thank you very much.”

While speaking, Majority Leader, Hon. Julius Ihonbvere who doubles as Head of Government Business in the House, said: “Ordinarily, I should be speaking to defend the government. But I also have a responsibility and duty to correct the government when it is doing something that is not right. Fortunately, we have a government that listens and a President that listens.

“I want to especially appreciate my colleagues. Without party restriction or consideration or any consideration whatsoever, I have unanimously agreed that there are several amendments we need to make both in the Constitution and in the Honours Act in order to correct historical injustices and administrative miscarriage of responsibilities. It is clear that we are not just talking about the current occupants of these positions.

“No. We are talking about putting things in the right perspective. And what is good for the goat is also good for the ram. I used that because my people understand that better than goose and gander. Mr Speaker, even when you look at it that the Speaker of the House gets the same honour as the Deputy Speaker of the Senate, there is a miscarriage there. They are not on the same level.

“In fact, the honour given to the Deputy Senate President is higher than that of the Deputy Speaker. So if we are going to deal with it holistically, the Senate President and the Speaker should have exactly the same thing. And the Deputy Senate President and the Deputy Speaker of the House should have the same.

“And we should amend the motion to say we are calling on the government not to just take the light and pride of correcting this error now, but to go back into the past and also correct it to other Senate Presidents, Speakers, and Deputy Speakers and Deputy Senate Presidents so that we can at least set a path of fair play, of social justice, of fairness to one another, and give honour to whom it is due.

“Finally, Mr Speaker, because I know the media will say look at them, instead of talking about food, instead of talking about strike, instead of talking about roads, we are not talking about titles for ourselves. Some of us, and many of us already have enough titles.

“We are talking about the respect for the institution. We are here for four years, we don’t know who will be here tomorrow. We want to receive the real message and talk about other issues.

“So, I want to appeal that the issues here, they have to do with history, with tradition, with correcting past injustices and miscarriage of recognition and constitutional order of things. Mr Speaker, I believe it is not too late to do this. We have a job to do to build consolidate and enshrine the equality of both houses. Very clearly, but we also have a job to do to assist the government to do the right thing when they need to do the right thing.”

The House unanimously adopted the motion and resolved to call attention to the ongoing discriminatory practice of referring to the Senate as the “upper chamber” and the House of Representatives as the “lower chamber,” as well as portraying the Speaker as subordinate to the President of the Senate. Such references undermine the equal status of both chambers as established by the Constitution and diminish the standing of the House of Representatives in the legislative process.

Affirm that the House of Representatives is an independent and equal chamber of the National Assembly, and the Speaker is a co-head of the legislative arm of government alongside the President of the Senate. (Power of the purse)

Recognise the Speaker of the House of Representatives as co-chairman of the National Assembly in all respects, and request that all references to the leadership of the National Assembly reflect this equality.

The House also resolved to call on all government institutions, officials, and the media to take cognisance of language and titles that suggest a hierarchical structure between the Senate and the House of Representatives or their respective leaders.

The House constituted an ad-hoc committe to liaise with the Presidency and propose amendments to the National Honours Act of 1964 to appropriately recognise the Speaker of the House of Representatives as co-head of the National Assembly and, accordingly, confer the national honour of GCON upon the Speaker, ensuring parity in recognition with the President of the Senate. This should be accomplished before the formal decoration by Mr. President.

The House urged rge Mr. President to uphold the spirit of bicameral equality as enshrined in the Constitution when making decisions and recommendations that concern the leadership of the National Assembly.

The House also directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to ensure that all communications, orders, and publications from the National Assembly henceforth refer to both the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate as co-heads of the National Assembly.

News

Auditor General Uncovers N3403 Financial Infractions In MDAs

Published

10 minutes ago

November 19, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Office of Auditor General for the Federation (OAuGF) has said it uncovered financial infractions amounting to N3.403 trillion in several government Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) for the financial year ending December 31, 2021.

The alleged infractions reported in 28 audit issues are contained in the 2021 audit report of non-compliance/internal control weaknesses in the MDAs for the 2021 financial year.

The report was submitted to the National Assembly via a letter, dated October 15, 2024 by the Auditor General for the Federation (AuGF), Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira.

It said N2.902 trillion of the amount was incurred through the failure of eight agencies to recover outstanding government revenue with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc failing to recover N2.896 trillion.

In a letter addressed to the Clerk to the National Assembly, Chira said the infractions were part of what he called cross-cutting issues which he said were the same non-compliance/internal control weaknesses that were identified in at least four MDAs of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) covered by the Auditor-General for the Federation’s Annual Report on Non-compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in MDAs of the FGN for the year ended December 31, 2021.

The AuGF said the attention of the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly had been drawn to the issues through recommendations, including sanctions, with a view to stemming the tide.

He said the issues were treated in details under each MDA.

Chira explained that the essence of putting the issues together was to further assist the Public Accounts Committees and other stakeholders to see, at a glance, the amount the report sought to help the Federal Government recover from a class of issues, tagged: ‘Cross-Cutting’.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Nation, said N7.386 billion was discovered as part of irregularities in the award of contracts by 32 MDAs with the Rural Electrification Agency, Abuja, having the highest infraction of N2.118 billion while the NSPMC had the least amount of N11.7 million.

The report alleged irregular payment of N115.675 billion by 64 MDAs with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, Abuja, having the highest infraction of N96.2 billion while the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Kaduna, had the least amount of N1.323 million.

The AuGF said N167.592 billion was found to be for contracts that were not executed by 31 MDAs in the year under reference with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading paying N100 billion, while the National Centre for Women Development paid the least amount for unexecuted contracts to the tune of N2.171 million.

The report said six MDAs failed to deduct Withholding Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) amounting to N129.341 million as the accruing taxes to the government, with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) failing to deduct the highest tax amounting to N90.58 million, while the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment came last with N623,162.80.

It added that 21 MDAs failed to deduct N2.636 billion as tax from payments to several beneficiaries, with the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Pic (NSPMC) leading the pack with N41.009 billion, while the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta in Lagos, had the least amount of N617,427.66.

According to the report, 11 MDAs failed to remit N11.561 billion tax deducted from tax payers to the relevant tax authorities, with the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc (NSPMC), failing to remit the highest amount of N10.393 billion while the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina, failed to remit N1.371 million to come last.

The report also said that the sum of N8.312 billion was paid out by about 40 MDAs without supporting documents to back up the payment, with the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), being the biggest culprit with N1.529 billion while the, Federal College of Land Resources Technology, Owerri, has the least amount of N1.992 million.

It also alleged that eight MDAs misapplied N663,854,877.01 in contravention of extant laws, with the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, spending about N253,532,050.49 of the money, while 24 other MDAs awarded contracts worth N20.334 billion without following due process; the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc (NSPMC) was said to have awarded contracts valued at N14.136 billion without following due process.

According to the report, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) failed to recover about N69.928 billion as tax liabilities from 26 of its outstation offices within the period under review, while items valued at N968.908 billion were taken from the store by 29 MDAs without ledger charge with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Lagos, alone accounting for N125 billion of the items.

The audit report also said in 2021, 15 MDAs carried out extra-budgetary expenditure amounting to N15.786 billion with the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), accounting for N8.86 billion of the amount.

In addition, it said six MDAs carried out virement of about N2.63 billion without approval, with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) accounting for N1.9 billion of the amount, while about N122.5 billion was left unaccounted for by 19 MDAs, with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc failing to N111.601 billion of the amount.

The report also said about N6.602 billion was generated internally by 29 MDAs but not remitted to the appropriate authority, adding that the National Pension Commission withheld the highest amount of N4,429,550,386.58, while 35 MDAs circumvented the procurement process that caused the loss of N1,948,132,710.98.

It accused nine MDAs of paying external solicitors about N243,932,964.27 engaged without the Attorney-General’s Fiat with the Bureau of Public Procurement having the highest amount of N112,261,659.00, while another 5 MDAs paid some unspecified third parties about N439,688,368.76 without the attorney general’s approval.

Five MDAs reportedly awarded contracts valued at N2.407 billion and above their approval threshold with Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, having the highest amount of N1,065,614,232.70, while the workers and unauthorised persons in five MDAs illegally held on to government vehicles valued at N747,749,365.06, with the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) Plc, Abuja, having the highest amount of N413,343,623.00.

Other infractions reported by the AuGF include denial of access to documents with expenditure amount to N21,480,891,930.77 by 11 MDAs, unretired cash advances in 30 MDAs amounting to N1,300,643,209.41 and payment without vouchers amounting to N1,135,025,464.67, with the Federal Ministry of Works (Housing Sector) having the highest amount of N1,076,662,242.61.

The Nation

News

Why British High Commission installed London phone booth at Lagos Airport

Published

17 minutes ago

November 19, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The British High Commission has installed a replica of the London phone booth at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) to mark the kick-off of its ‘JollofandTea’ campaign in Lagos.

The commission’s Head of Communications, Ms Aseosa Uwagboe, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the campaign was to support cultural and creative ties between the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

She said the campaign included a physical activation of iconic British phone booths designed to showcase United Kingdom and Nigeria links across a variety of areas such as art, fashion, sports, education and transport.

According to her, the rest of the phone booths will be launched in other popular locations in Lagos and Abuja.

“We are so excited to be here today to launch the first phone booth for Jollof and Tea. This is our new campaign to support the link between the UK and Nigeria, from our education to obviously transport.

“We are so excited to be working with the airport to have this done today. We really encourage everyone to find our booths located around Lagos and Abuja,” Uwagboe said.

Explaining the reasons behind the drawings on the booth, she said:

“We really want people to enjoy and have a feel of the booth when they come across one, and if you have a look, you will see some of the iconic transport mediums in Lagos or Nigeria.

“Specifically, we have the Third Mainland Bridge, the underground as well, just to show the different connections between our countries.

“We encourage people to find the booths around Lagos and Abuja. Tag ‘JollofandTea’ when you share on your social media handles and follow the UK in Nigeria,” she said.

On the partnership with the MMA2, the Acting Chief Operating Officer/Head of Aeronautics at Bi-Courtney Aviation Services, Mr Remi Jibodu, said that it would promote the culture of both countries.

According to him, the installation creates an opportunity for people in terms of history to be able to know the kind of relationship that both countries have.

He also described it as a very strategic positioning for Bi-Courtney, being the foremost airport in Nigeria, that has a mix of passengers.

“For us, it is one of those things that we like to have in terms of collaboration. We have a cross mix of people who come here, that is why we refer to MMA2 as more than a terminal,” Jibodu said.

The JollofandTea campaign was launched on Nov. 4 by British Deputy High Commissioner Jonny Baxter.

Baxter had said that the campaign was designed to showcase the partnership between the United Kingdom and Nigeria, particularly in the creative and cultural sectors.

According to him, it will help to raise awareness about the existing connections between the United Kingdom and Nigeria and take farther ongoing efforts by both countries to strengthen people-to-people links.

Source: nairametrics

News

Don Jazzy Spend 2 Billion Naira On Luxurious Cars At Once + Video

Published

23 minutes ago

November 19, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The identity of the “very special client” mentioned by M_jautos has finally been revealed. On July 5, 2024, we reported about a notable Nigerian client who purchased all brand new SUVs worth 2 billion Naira in a single transaction. That special client is none other than Don Jazzy.

Michael Collins Ajereh, known professionally as Don Jazzy, is a well-known Nigerian record producer and singer. He founded the record label Mavin Records in 2012, which has signed notable artists including D’Prince, Rema, and Ayra Starr.

Recently, a popular Nigerian car dealer based in the United States, Mr. Jay Autos Ltd., shared on Instagram the latest SUVs en route to Nigeria’s port. At that time, no name was mentioned; however, Don Jazzy later took to his own page to congratulate himself on a lineup of these high-end vehicles. The collection includes a 2024 Rolls Royce Phantom Mansory, a 2024 Land Rover Range Rover Autobiography LWB, and a 2024 Cadillac Escalade 600 Premium Luxury Edition.

Watch video below:

According to M_jautos, the total worth of these SUVs is 2 billion Naira, as revealed by the auto dealer in the comment section. When one of his followers commented, “Over 1.8 billion right there,” Mr. Jay Autos Ltd. replied, “It’s up to you, sir.”