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ECHOES from one-day national dialogue on home grown Parliamentary System in Nigeria(Photos)

Published

1 month ago

November 18, 2024

Naijablitznews

… Nigerians are not inherently corrupt we can design our own system -Chinda

…I ‘m a refugee in my own country -Ita-Giwa

… let’s restructure our presidential system- Ex-Gov of Kano, Shekarau

…we made a fatal error adopting presidential system -Prof Abdullahi

By Emmanuel Agaji

Echoes from the one-day national dialogue on home grown Parliamentary System has continued reverberate one week after it was held in Abuja to drum support for it.

The Dialogue to ensure Nigerians savour its own home grown Parliamentary System entered a different level last Monday as dignitaries from all walks of life espoused different views on the subject matter at the Shehu Yar’Dua International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Panelist of men of substance from egg heads to former governors, clergymen , former speaker, serving lawmakers all gathered to find a common solution to governance shift that would adopt Nigeria’s peculiarities and take Nigerians to the promised land.

Ango Abdullahi:

Firing from all cylinders last Monday was a former varsity Vice Chancellor, Professor Ango Abdullahi who declared that Nigeria was too much in a hurry to dump the Parliamentary System after practicing it for just five years.

He noted that the then military made it clear that the constituent assembly was told Parliamentary system was a no go area.

The professor said it was a mistake to have gone ahead to adopt the US presidential system which “we’re greatly regretting now and a parliamentary system should be adopted to ease cost of governance.

Senator Shekarau:

Former governor of Kano State and leader of Northern Democrats, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau called for a structural adjustment of the presidential system we practice now to reduce cost of governance.

Senator Ita l-Giwa

In her short message, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa without minciing words declared that Nigeria is not moving ahead because of the bogus system “I am a refugee in my country today after the Bakassi issue and nobody is rehabilitating me.

Kingsley Chinda:

A co-convener and HoR Minority Caucus leader Kingsley Chinda as one of panelists gave a vivid breakdown on the way forward as the last panelist to speak.

“I think that restates the cliche by Alexander Pope referred to by His Excellency that for every form of government they must contend for whatever is best administered.

“But I think it’s not just those who administer the system, you must also have a system that is administrable in your own circumstances.

“And that is why today if you ask, some persons might even say that Nigerians are inherently corrupt but that is not the case.

He stressed further: “When we started we were not like this, so you ask the question where did we get it wrong?

“The only thing that we have seen is that the system we imported, the laws we have so much loopholes and it makes it comfortable for us public office holders to do things that we get away with easily.

“The former speaker talked about the issue of impeachment, removing a councillor under our present law is almost an impossibility and so the councillor knows, I’m not talking about members of the National Assembly, I’m not talking about the executive, the councillor at the ward level because you have to get majority signatures of voters and that will be confirmed by INEC, how do you do that? When even the voters register had more than 50% ghost names, so where are you going to get the 50% genuine persons and their signatures confirmed?

“So this system has inherent loopholes that will allow those who are administering it to go scotfree and we need to tighten it.

“Anothet reason why we say so is that the same Nigerian who takes pride in beating the traffic light, who takes pride with even the NEPA at home you would want to do a bypass, send that same person to Ghana, I’m not talking about the United States, send him to Ghana and there is a queue somewhere, he will line up quietly because he knows that the system is not the same thing he had at home.

” So some people talk about mindset change, yes you might think about mindset change but to me the person sitting behind, the children behind are the people that require a mindset change because we already know that what we are doing is wrong and when we go to a clime where they have a better and stronger system we behave ourselves, so what mind are you going to change?

“We need to change the system, we need to begin to provide stronger penalty for those who commit crime.

“I remembered once either in the 8th or 7th Assembly we proposed a bill for death penalty for public office holders that steal public funds, it did not see the light of day.

” I think that we should begin to take extreme measures that will discourage public office holders from doing the things that they do.

“And the current presidential system we practice is one that allows a lot of leverage, there are so many things that are morally wrong but legally they are right under our laws and so it becomes difficult to hold anybody culpable even where people criticise over such actions.

“And for us to move on, we must begin to look at our own peculiar attitudes and couch laws that will take care of them, that is the homegrown.

“Homegrown is not that we look at our culture, tradition and all that, no. What are Nigerians likely to do if you give them this opportunity.

“Let me use discretion, if you bring a public office holder in Europe and bring a Nigerian public office holder and ask them to exercise discretion on an issue, I’m sure that you will agree that the Nigerian public office holder will be looking at religion, tribe whilst taking that matter.

THE END

News

‘Putin waiting to meet me as soon as possible’ to end Ukraine war – Trump

Published

1 hour ago

December 23, 2024

Naijablitznews

The US President-elect took to the stage AmFest in Phoenix to talk about his contact with the Russian leader.

He told the crowd: “President Putin has said he want to meet with me as soon as possible.”

Trump went on to brand the war “horrible” and stated it needed to end. It is not known whether or not this meeting will take place in person. His comments at the event in the US come as Putin met with another world leader.

Putin held talks in the Kremlin today (December 22) with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency that the talks would focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries.

Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban visited Russia in July. Orban’s visit drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, hit out at EU sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.

News

JUST IN: Speed Darlington Granted Bail, Says Lawyer

Published

1 hour ago

December 23, 2024

Naijablitznews

Stanley Alieke, the counsel for popular controversial rapper, Darlington Achakpo, aka Speed Darlington, said the singer has been granted bail after nearly a month in police custody.

Alieke disclosed this on his Instagram handle on Monday.

“Apki has been granted bail by the court,” he wrote without including much information.

The rapper was arrested on November 27 while performing at a show in Owerri, Imo State.

His arrest was connected to an alleged abuse of Afrofusion star, Damini Ogulu popularly known as Burna Boy.

Darlington’s counsel, Deji Adeyanju also confirmed that Burna Boy was responsible for his arrest.

Darlington had taunted Burna Boy over his affiliation with the embattled United States rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs who is facing multiple charges for sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

This prompted his first arrest. On his arrival, Speed Darlington swore never to back down on calling out the Grammy award winner because of his association with the embattled Diddy.

Earlier, Darlington’s lawyer, Adeyanju said that the singer would be arraigned within 48 hours or be released on bail.

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“Our FREP application for Speed Darlington a.k.a has been granted by the court. He is to be arraigned within 48 hours or released. Issues around injustice may take time but justice will always prevail,” he wrote.

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Police Arrest Herbalist, 3 Others For Beheading Delta Resident, Dump Him In River

Published

1 hour ago

December 23, 2024

Naijablitznews

Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have arrested no fewer than four suspects for allegedly killing a man identified as Paulinus Okon over N30million business deal in Delta State.

It was learnt that the deceased was earlier declared missing and was later beheaded on the 8th of September 2024 at Otokutu area of the state.

Paulinus’ body was said to have been thrown into the river, while one of the suspects, a herbalist, took the head and buried it at his shrine in Otokutu.

The state Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda during a press briefing on Monday, identified the suspects as Okeimute Gaga, Efe Onoitiyi, Sunday Ikpeba, and a 30yrs old herbalist known as Lawrence Joseph.

The statement reads in part; “It involves the murder of one Paulinus Okon ‘m’ by his bosom friend One Efe Onoetiyi. Paulinus was reported missing on 8/9/2024 by his brother after he went out with his friend Efe Onoitiyi ‘m’ age 30yrs.

“The suspect Efe Onoitiyi who initially denied knowing what happened to Paulinus came to Paulinus’s house to ask his family of Paulinus, he was confronted that the deceased went out with him on that same date which he denied that the deceased did not go out with him.

“On a later date, Efe came back and demanded Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000) from the deceased’s brother that he would use the money to pay a herbalist who can tell them Paulinus’s whereabouts.

“Efe again came and informed the family that Paulinus was kidnapped and he collected a ransom of about twenty million, seven hundred and fifteen thousand naira (N20,715,000) from the deceased brother claiming that he was in touch with the kidnappers. When it became obvious that Efe had something to hide, he was arrested and the case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) State Headquarters, Asaba.

“On 28th November 2024, I directed the DPO Ekpan to take over the case and ensure that a discrete investigation is carried out to fish out those responsible as the main suspect Efe was not yielding.

“The DPO Ekpan carried out an intelligence led investigation that indicted one Okeimute Gaga ‘m’ aged 48yrs old. Okeimute gaga upon his arrest opened up and confessed that he could no longer hide what happened. Okeimute Gaga narrated how Efe brought Paulinus to Orere River in Otokutu and requested that they kill him.

“The suspect further stated that on the 8th of September 2024 himself, Efe and Sunday Ikpeba, and a 30yrs old herbalist known as Lawrence Joseph tied Paulinus Okon to a stake at night close to Orere River and beheaded him alive. His body was thrown into the river while the herbalist took the head of Paulinus and buried him at his shrine in Otokutu. The DPO Ekpan Police station led police operatives to the shrine in Otokutu where the skull of Paulinus was exhumed and recovered.

“During interrogation, Efe was asked why he killed his friend Paulinus, Efe stated that he saw a building for sale at a cost of thirty million naira (N30,000,000) which he advertised to the deceased and the deceased paid him Thirty Million Naira (N30,000,000) in three instalments, but instead of buying the house, he diverted the money for his personal use, bought two lands and was building a duplex for himself.

“He further stated that he did not know how to explain to the deceased that he had used his money hence he decided that killing him will save him the trouble. Efe and the three other suspects are in custody.”