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*Kemi Ayelabola Sustains Tempo On Gender Equality For Women, Salutes Efforts Of Hon. Ogbara, House Leadership*

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Chairperson and Convener of Asiwaju Renewed Hope (ARH’23), Kemi Olokode-Ayelabola has added her voice to the call for gender equality for women, describing it as a moral imperative, as well as a key driver of sustainable development and social progress.

Kemi, a behavioral, developmental and child/young persons care professional currently based in the Republic of Ireland also commended the leadership of the House of Representatives, especially the Speaker, Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas (CFR) and the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu (CON) for their deliberate efforts to involve more women in critical decision-making, particularly in elective offices across the various tiers of government.

She further applauded the House leadership for the genuine commitment they exhibited at the international legislative dialogue on women and the constitutional amendment process in Nigeria, recently organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review.

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Similarly, Kemi equally gave kudos to the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Kafilat Ogbara for her immense contributions in making a case for the women folks towards societal cohesion, gender parity, political participation/leadership so as to engender national development.

Olokode-Ayelabola stated this in a statement she made available to the media on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 noting that there was urgent need for collaboration and collective action by all stakeholders in tackling legal, social, religious and cultural vices and other societal challenges, that serve as impediments to women’s participation and empowerment in every strata of life.

“I must commend Hon. Kafilat Ogbara, the Chairman House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, for revisiting all the gender-based legislations of the 9th Assembly on women’s participation in politics and other sectorial matters and this is essentially crucial to building a stable and peaceful society and developing policies that respond to the specific needs of women while also creating a place of pride and dignity for them in the society through right legal and legislative frameworks.

“There is, therefore, an urgent need for the women to be adequately represented in political and economic decision-making at every level,” she said.

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Continuing, “As Nigeria strives for gender equality, women’s participation in political leadership remains a critical focal point. Sadly women face pitiable challenges in the political arena, therefore necessitating tailored approaches to enhance their opportunities and ensure protection from discrimination must never be compromised.

“I once appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in March this year to step up the full implementation of 35% affirmative action of women in public governance and leadership; I have not backed out from this laudable advocacy and thankfully we have a compassionate and listening President who is already taking meaningful decisions in that direction and we must applaud His Excellency for that.

“We must however redouble our efforts to support women in decision-making roles, enabling them to effectively advocate for legislation and policies that advance the interests of women and girls. In alignment with these efforts, there should be legislative and constitutional reforms to ensure women’s equitable access to political spheres as voters, candidates, elected officials, political appointees and civil service executives as the case may be,” Olokode-Ayelabola stated.

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Senator Manu hosts Taraba Queens and Kings in NASS (Photos)

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The Senator representing Taraba Central, Manu Haruna on Tuesday hosted Taraba Queens and Kings in his office at the National Assembly Complex on Tuesday.

Miss Taraba Queen Grace Sunday, the 7th titleholder, and Miss Taraba Queen Comfort Williams, the 10th titleholder, led the newly crowned state kings and queens in paying a courtesy visit to the former Deputy Governor of Taraba State.

Grace Sunday on behalf of the team expressed their appreciation for the Senator’s support and dedication to youth empowerment and community development within the Taraba Central and Taraba at large.

Senator Haruna hailed their achievements and encouraged them to continue serving as positive role models for the youth of Taraba State.

See photos below:

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Reps Query Works Ministry Over N1.46bn Abandoned Road Project

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By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives has quizzed the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works, Dr Yakubu Adam, over the abandoned Gidanwaya-Guaran Dutse-Waman Rafi-Saminaka-Kano road project of which payment had been made in full to the sum of N1.46 billion.
This was the resolution of the Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday at it’s resumed investigation when the Permanent Secretary appeared before it, after failing failing to honour it’s for two consecutive time over the matter.
The Committee chairman, Rep  Bamidele Salam, stated that the money for the project was a loan by the Federal Government.
Salam said: “You were invited concerning an exercise that is about to commence which is the inspection of critical national assets especially roads that were constructed in the last five years.
“Information we received from the debt management office indicated the number of roads were even undertaken with loans taken by the federal government. But in particular, a particular road with the title Gidanwaya-Guaran Dutse-Waman Rafi-Saminaka-Kano road in Kaduna State awarded by the Federal Ministry of Works on the 5th of October 2022 and the sum of N1.461 billion to Messrs Jam Jam Dynamic Platform Limited.
“This road was supposed to be completed within 12 months. There’s an allegation that the road awarded in 2022 has not been started as we speak and there has been full payment of the sum by the Federal Ministry of Works to the contractor concerned.
“As a committee of equity, we believe strongly that we must give all parties fair hearing. You should provide information on the status of the road. We asked for certain documents to be provided and we expect that you would provide us with better insight so the committee can take a decision on the best way to ascertain the truthfulness of the claim that road has been done, while full payment has been effected to the contractor.”
In response, the Permanent Secretary said the amount was not for the entire stretch which is about 133km but a portion of the road.
According to him, the road was done in phases due to paucity of funds. He expressed surprise that the road had not been done.
Adam apologised for not honouring previous invitations, as be said he didn’t receive any.
The Committee ordered that the PS must come back on Monday and also directed him to submit all relevant documents related to the project by Friday, enable the members study the submission for a proper probe of the matter.
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CSOs knock Kyari over Warri refinery, plan 2 million man match in Abuja

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No fewer than 100 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), have appended their signatures to mobilise their members and shut down the corporate headquarters of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), for failing to activate the Warri refinery.

This was, even as, the organisations have passed a vote of no confidence on the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari, describing him as clog in the wheels of development of the energy sector of Nigeria.

The Coalition requested that Mr. Kyari, the NNPCL and its agencies should come out and explain to Nigerians how the 3 billion dollars spent on rehabilitation and activation of the Warri Refinery was spent.

Coming under the umbrella of Coalition of Civil Society Groups against Corruption in Energy Sector, the group said, as long as Kyari continues to decide what becomes the faith of over 150m Nigerians using petroleum products, and by extension, the fate of over 250m Nigerians who suffer the consequences of what happens in the energy sector; President Bola Tinubu will not achieve the desired revolution in the sector.

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Engr. Efe Irabor, the Spokesperson for the CSOs, via a statement on Tuesday, urged Nigerians to prepare for the worst, as Kyari did not have intention of rehabilitating and putting into operations, the refineries in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt.

Irabor recalled how the NNPCL moved to frustrate the Dangote refinery and the resultant effect on the market force, saying, if it was allowed to operate with its good intentions, and crude was willingly sold to it, the Dangote refinery would have crashed the fuel price and made life bearable for the masses.

“You will recall that sometime June, the Dangote Refinery said oil majors were blocking its access to locally produced crude and the regulator (NNPCL and NMDPRA) were allowing fuel traders import high-sulphur gasoil, thereby undermining its refinery.

“But when some lawmakers from the National Assembly visited the plant few weeks later, Alhaji Aliko Dangote insisted on a test of the gasoil from his plant with others sold in the local market. The result showed that Dangote Refinery’s diesel had a sulphur content of 87.6 ppm, whereas the other two samples showed sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2,000 ppm, respectively.

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“Meanwhile, the downstream regulator, NMDPRA had alleged that the gasoil processed by the Dangote Refinery was between 650 to 1200 parts per million of sulphur, thus inferior to imported products. Meanwhile, our findings revealed that Nigeria’s regulation allows for the sulphur content in gasoil to be about 50 ppm”, the Coalition said.

The statement also averred that the NNPCL planned to convert the refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri to blending plants, just to encourage cronies to continue importing products with high density of sulphur, not minding the environmental effects on the locals and the ripple effects on the masses who use these products.

“We shall rise against this act of irresponsibility. Nigerian refineries must be put into full functions. Kyari, the NNPCL, NMDPRA and all the concerned bodies should tell Nigerians how they spent over 3 billion dollars released to put the Warri Refinery into proper functioning. Anything short of full fledged refineries shall be resisted.

“In the coming days, we shall announce the date where we shall match, with each of the 100 groups mobilizing not less than 200 members, in a 2 million-man match to the NNPC towers and the National Assembly, to demand that the Warri Refinery be activated. To demand accountability from those who collected the money to fix our refineries and are now speaking English”, the Spokesperson added.

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It would be recalled that, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, had stated in February this year, that the Warri Refinery would be rehabilitated by the first quarter of this year.

Warri, one of Nigeria’s three refineries operated by NNPCL, is situated in Warri, Delta State, and was established in 1978. The other two are the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company in Kaduna State and the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State.

Warri Refinery is a complex conversion refinery that processes 125,000 barrels of crude oil daily. The facility houses a 1988-founded petrochemical plant that produces carbon black and polypropylene.

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