N’Assembly restricts visitors to senators, Reps

New security measures introduced by the management of the National Assembly have tightened access to senators and members of the House of Representatives.
Our correspondent learnt on Tuesday that beginning from June 28, visitors to the National Assembly would be required to fulfil some tough conditions before they would be allowed access to their lawmakers.
Findings showed that one of the conditions required would be filling the visitor’s form days before a scheduled visit.
According to the requirement, a Senator or member of the House, expecting a visitor has to give the name of the visitor, and the purpose of the visit to the security department of the legislature prior to the visit.
“Each of the 109 senators and each of the 360 members of the House has been given 50 forms in compliance with this latest security requirement.
“A visitor, whose name is not submitted ahead of time to the security department, will not be allowed access to see any lawmaker”, a National Assembly official told The PUNCH in Abuja on Tuesday.
The forms are to be replaced whenever a lawmaker exhausts his stock.
The Sergeant-At-Arms to the National Assembly, Col. Emeka Okere (retd), confirmed the development when he was contacted.
Okere said the information on the forms would be used to track the movement of callers to the National Assembly, as there would be records on who visited whom and for what purpose.
“It is for their own safety (lawmakers) and security; besides, we believe that our legislators should be given enough space to do their work.
“We are going to be a little tough this time around; the era of people flooding the National Assembly for no clearly defined reasons, we want to stop it”, Okere added.
He claimed that the new measure was not a direct response to the spate of bombings in the country “but something we had already worked out before the recent security threats.”
However, he admitted that the bombings had made the need to “further strengthen our existing security arrangements and operations.”
Okere said that the National Assembly had hired the services of “ballistic or bomb experts” to assist the legislature in putting measures to check-mate likely security breaches.
As part of the measures, Okere said access to the public arcade at the National Assembly had been restricted.
Until now, the arcade had been converted to a car park for visitors and members of staff, thereby defeating its primary use as a venue where legislators receive complaints from members of the public.
“Criminals and all sort of people started hiding at the arcade; in the process, they were stealing things as was evident in the cases of reported car theft,” he added.
By John Ameh                               Courtesy Of: Punch

N’Assembly raised 2011 budget for political reasons – Okogu

The Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu, on Tuesday described the increase in the initial 2011 budget passed by the National Assembly as being mostly constituted by constituency projects which the lawmakers included in the budget to score political points.
Okogu said this in his presentation entitled, ‘Performance-based budgeting in the public sector’, at the 9th Nigeria Development Forum, organised by the African Centre for Resource Studies in Lagos.
The D-G said, “What is the difference in the budget we presented and the one they initially passed? A lot of the projects that were added were their own constituency projects.
“It is not that it is bad but how do you expect the Federal Government to go and put borehole in your village. That’s not the responsibility of the Federal Government. The state and the local governments have that.
“Though, politically it is good, you can show that in your village. But you have to think about it beyond yourself.”
He noted that before the 2011 Appropriation Act was finally amended, the National Assembly had passed a budget which required a domestic borrowing of N1.33tr instead of N865.24bn proposed by the by the Federal Government.
Okogu said, “We proposed a budget of a certain amount; the revenue was N3.348tr expected. What the National Assembly passed even with this was N4.97tr having a deficit of N1.6trn and asking us to go and borrow N1.33tr to plug the difference. We said at that time that the budget was not implementable.
“So we did an amendment proposal under which we said, let the total spending be N4.485tr.”
Okogu explained that the amended budget resulted in a deficit of N1.136tr and domestic borrowing of N852.03bn while the one initially passed by the National Assembly resulted in a deficit of N1.624tr and required N1.33trn domestic borrowing.
He said he was compelled to make “clarifications on the problems and issues on the 2011 budget” having been inundated with questions over the 2011 budget.
The Chairman, Federal Character Commission, Alhaji Mohammadu Ari-Gwaska, who also chaired the occasion, in his response, said his commission was ready to assist the Budget Office of the Federation to carry out the monitoring of budget implementations at all levels of governments.
Okogu, who had earlier indicated that he made contributions to the drafting of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, added that his office introduced the performance-based budget to the nation’s budgeting strategy in 2008.
By Ade Adesomoju                          Courtesy Of: Punch

NURTW: We will step on big toes – Panel

The five-man judicial commission of enquiry, established by the Oyo State Government to investigate the protracted crisis in the state council of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, has expressed its readiness to step on ‘big toes’ if that will put an end to the crisis in the state.
The committee’s Chairman, retired Justice Olagoke Ige said, this at its inaugural sitting in Ibadan, the state capital, on Tuesday.
He said NURTW clashes had caused embarrassments to both the state government and its citizens hence the need not to spare any effort that could bring lasting peace to the state.
He added that the era where people were put in perpetual fear as if the state was in a state of anarchy must end, saying “enough is enough.”
He said, “We have caused public notices to be issued calling for memoranda from all the interested parties including the Students’ Union.
“People with useful information about the activities of the NURTW particularly on the day of the clash are at liberty to appear and testify.
“Please be assured that we will do justice to all the parties in this assignment. This is a fact finding commission and before us here, no one is on trial. We shall give all parties fair hearing in the presentation of their cases.
“All of us have a stake in good governance and peace of this state. There cannot be any meaningful progress in the society where either lawlessness, brigandage or anarchy is the order of the day. There must be an end to the menace.”
Ige expressed the readiness of his committee to conclude its assignment within the two months time frame given by the state government.
Meanwhile, the state House of Assembly has commended the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, for the steps taken so far to curtail the NURTW mayhem in the state capital.
The House specifically commended him for proscribing the union and the setting up of the commission of enquiry.
The resolution was made at the Tuesday sitting of the House following a motion of urgent public importance moved by a member representing Egbeda State Constituency on the platform of the Accord Party, Mr. Ibrahim Bolomope.
By Olalekan Adetayo                                       Courtesy Of: Punch

Ministers: Jonathan sets fresh hurdles for nominees

There were indications on Tuesday that President Goodluck Jonathan had added new conditions to the set of criteria that must be met by ministerial nominees before their names could be forwarded to the Senate for screening.
Investigations by our correspondents on Monday showed that one of the fresh conditions is that nominees must have a minimum of higher national diploma or a first degree.
A Presidency source, who made this known to THE PUNCH added that the President had also pegged the age limit of the would-be ministers at 65.
Loyalty to the Peoples Democratic Party by its members whose names are on the lists sent by their state chapters is also to be highly considered by the President before their names could get to the Senate.
Our source, who asked not to be named because of the confidentiality of the list, added that the records of performance of the nominees were also a key factor.
He explained that Jonathan introduced the criteria to prune the number of nominees from some states, particularly where final selection had been difficult because of disagreements by interest groups.
The source said, “Some nominees, who have less than HND or first degree would be weeded out. If the educational qualification for National Assembly members could be raised to a National Diploma, nothing stops qualification for ministers to be raised to HND or a first degree.
“You will recall that the last National Assembly in amending the Electoral Act set National Diploma as the minimum qualification for any Nigerian aspiring to contest election into the Federal legislature.
“The President is appointing dynamic Nigerians, who are not more than 65 years. But there are a few nominees, who made the list based on their merit.”
Investigations showed that the lists from the state chapters of the PDP included persons nominated on merit, but who have exceed the 65 years age limit.
It was gathered that PDP members, who at a time left the party but later returned were not being considered.
Our correspondents learnt that the yardstick affected mostly loyalists of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who had defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria and returned to the PDP in 2010.
A member of the PDP’s National Working Committee, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the issue of party loyalty, said, “We want members who have remained loyal to the party, not those who at a slightest chance leave us when their personal ambitions are not realised. This is to discourage defection from our party and make our members to remain loyal.
“Also, any man or woman, who is on the list must not only be responsible, but must be morally upright. The State Security Service has been directed to dig into the personal lives of nominees.
“We do not want people with questionable character. Former political office holders on the list must have record of performance.”
It was also learnt that nominees would be investigated to find out whether or not they had corruption cases against them.
Investigations showed that those who were nominated by godfathers but indicted for corruption, would also be weeded out of the list.
Besides the criteria, some nominees were considered on the basis of their contributions to the presidential campaign of Jonathan.
The ministerial list was originally scheduled to be ready last week so that the Senate could cut its vacation short and consider it ahead of its June 28 scheduled resumption.
But difficulty encountered in taking care of the interests of various groups delayed the final compilation of the list.
It was gathered that although more than 15 nominees had been screened by the State Security Service, the Presidency was still working on names from some states.
But as the President set the fresh criteria, interest groups on Monday besieged Abuja to ensure that their nominees made the final list.
It was gathered that rivalry between two groups in Lagos State PDP headed by an ex-convict, Chief Bode George, and a former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, has heightened as they lobbied to make the list.
The two groups had last month submitted different lists to the President as a result of the crisis that had hit the state chapter of the party since 2010.
Investigations, however, showed that Jonathan had dumped the lists of the two groups and picked nominees from the state based on merit.
It was also learnt that Jonathan and some governors differed on some nominations. An example is the case of Rivers State, where the President and Governor Rotimi Amaechi were said to have disagreed on the nomination of a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Chibudom Nwuche.
The President was said to have preferred the former speaker, who is believed to be opposed by the state government.
The nominees whose names were reported on Monday to have been forwarded to the SSS included the current Managing Director of the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; a former African sprint queen , Mary Onyali-Omagbemi; daughter of an ex-Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide, Jumoke .
Others are former a Transport Minister, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman; former PTDF Executive Secretary, Alhaji Yusuf Abubakar; Alhaji Nuhu Zagbayi, Acting PDP National Chairman, Dr. Haliru Mohammed, and the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali.
Reacting to his nomination, Mohammed said that he was prepared to face screening committee of the SSS and the NIA.
The acting PDP chairman said in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Monday, dismissed insinuations that he had turned down the offer to serve in Jonathan’s administration and that he had nominated his wife to take his place in the cabinet.
He said, “I cannot say I have been nominated. It is one thing for your name to be on the list and it is another thing for the name to get to the Senate.
“I have not gone through the screening with the SSS. I will be there if I am invited to go through the screening.”
By Niyi Odebode and Fidelis Soriwei                               Courtesy Of: Punch

‘President won’t intervene in Bankole’s trials’

President Goodluck Jonathan may not intervene in the corruption trial of immediate Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, finding by THE PUNCH has revealed.
Bankole, who was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja last Friday, is being prosecuted for the inflation of contracts and securing loans totalling N40bn to increase the allowances of 360 members of the lower legislative chamber.
Reports had claimed that Jonathan was under pressure from the leadership of the National Assembly and other prominent Nigerians to intervene in the trial of the former Speaker, and his erstwhile deputy, Alhaji Bayero Nafada.
However, a source in the Presidency told our correspondent that Jonathan believed that the law courts had the final say on the cases against Bankole.
The source , who did not want his name in print, added that Jonathan also believed that the nation’s anti-graft agencies needed a free hand to be able to perform their duties creditably.
He said, “The President will not intervene in the cases, he won’t. They are corruption cases instituted by the EFCC in courts; the President does not interfere in the activities of the EFCC or in law suits.
“As a rule, the President does not intervene. It is a judicial process, a matter that is entirely within the jurisdiction of the courts.
“The President believes the courts have shown themselves capable and competent enough to discharge their mandate.
“The law will take its course, the President won’t intervene.”
The source noted that the President, in his inaugural speech, had vowed to consider ‘common good’ in making every decision, stressing that intervening in Bankole’s trials would make nonsense of his pledge.
Jonathan had on May 29, 2011 declared, “The bane of corruption shall be met by the collective determination to rid our country of this scourge. The fight against corruption is a war in which we must all enlist, so that the limited resources of this nation will be used for the growth of our common wealth.”
However, feelers from the National Assembly showed that its members, including the immediate ones, were uncomfortable with Bankole’s travails in the hands of the EFCC.
The new speaker, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, had, in company with the President of the Senate, David Mark, met with Jonathan a couple of times in the Presidential Villa.
The pressure on Jonathan is partly informed by the feeling that an intervention from the President will reinforce the goodwill between the Executive and the Legislature.
It was learnt that the National Assembly and other prominent Nigerians mounting pressure on Jonathan to intervene in the former Speaker’s case preferred a political solution to the matter.
Some view Bankole’s trial as his price for allegedly supporting the rebellion in the House that led to the emergence of Tambuwal as Speaker instead of Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, the ‘anointed’ candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the post.
Under Bankole, the House amended its rules against open voting in the speakership balloting, which worked in Tambuwal’s favour and emboldened PDP lawmakers to vote against Akande-Adeola.
Others have added that a power sharing arrangement where the senate presidency, speakership of the House of Representatives and the position of vice-president are all in the North should be a source of concern for national stability.
Bankole was arrested on June 5, 2011, the eve of the inauguration of the seventh National Assembly.
Three days after his arrest and interrogation, the EFCC filed a 16-count charge of contract inflation amounting to N894m against him.
In the suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja by its counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo, the commission said Bankole and other principal officers of the House ‘now at large’ hiked the cost of vehicles, television sets and office equipment purchased by the House in 2008.
The commission said the action contravened some sections of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007, which carried a five-year prison term on conviction.
Just as he was granted bail by the FHC, the EFCC arrested him again and slammed a 17-count charge against him for breaching public trust by approving the allowances and running cost of members of the House in violation of the approved Remuneration Package for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the extant Revised Financial Regulations of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 2009.
By Ihuoma Chiedozie, Abuja                         Courtesy Of: Punch

Forgery: Court adjourns Igbeke’s trial

A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday fixed July 20 to take the plea of the Senator representing Anambra North Federal Constituency, Alphonsus Igbeke, over a forgery allegation.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Igbeke is standing trial for allegedly forging sensitive documents, belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Justice Adamu Bello, adjourned the case after he gave the prosecution approval to arraign the accused.
The proceeding was halted when the Prosecutor, Mrs. O.O. Fatunde, announced that the accused was absent in court.
Justice Bello, however, ordered the prosecution to ensure the presence of the accused in court on the next adjourned date.
Igbeke is facing a two-count criminal charge, filed against him by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, through the Director of Public Prosecutions.
It was alleged that Igbeke, who is fighting to be returned as the validly elected candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the recently-concluded elections in Anambra, had forged the party’s primaries result sheet for the zone.
The prosecutor submitted that the action was a violation of section 1 (2c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act 2004 and punishable under section 1(2) of the same Act.
The charge read, “You, Alphonsus Igbeke (male) at about January 21, 2011 in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria, did make a forged document described as the Senatorial Primary Result sheet for the Peoples Democratic Party of Anambra North Zone, knowing it to be false to wit:
“You falsely represented the votes scored by the aspirants as follows: John Emeka Jnr—156; Chief A. Igbeke—1,173; Chief Denis Odife—15; Uzoka Okwudili—34; Celestine Ughanze—297 and Chief Tony Nnacheta—25.”
By Agency reporter                            Courtesy Of: Punch

Oyo, Osun meet over LAUTECH crisis

Hope of an end to the protracted ownership crisis between Oyo and Osun states over the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology appeared on Monday, when both states directed medical students and lecturers of the institution to return to the university’s teaching hospital in Osogbo.
Oyo State Governor, Chief Abiola Ajimobi, and the Deputy Governor of Osun, Mrs. Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, were at the meeting held at the executive chamber of Oyo State Governor’s Office, Ibadan, on Monday.
Both Ajimobi and Laoye-Tomori agreed that medical students and their lecturers should return to LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, preparatory to the upcoming medical examination.
At a news conference held recently, several medical students of the university, some of whom had spent more than 10 years in the pursuit of a six-year medical course, called on the governments of the two states to ensure that they did not miss this year’s examination.
Immediate past governor of Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, had ordered all medical students of the university to leave the teaching hospital in Osogbo for the Ogbomoso campus of LAUTECH.
But the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria faulted the move by Alao-Akala, saying only the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, remained the accredited and recognised hospital for teaching of medical students.
Alao-Akala insisted on the resolve of his administration to solely take over LAUTECH from Osun State during the administration of ousted Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
By Tunde Odesola and Olelekan Adetayo                                    Courtesy Of: Punch