Tag: Reps

Indirect primaries: Reps spokesman explains why they allow clause

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir
House of Reps Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila

The Spokesman for the House of Representatives, Rep. Benjamin Kalu has said the house did not override President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill in the interest of nation building. Kalu made this known on Wednesday while briefing newsmen at the National Assembly Complex after the house amended the electoral act to allow for indirect primaries by political parties. The Electoral Act Amendment Bill passed by parliament in 2021 was declined assent by President Buhari. Buhari had cited the need to allow political parties conduct their…

Read More

House of Reps says DSTV price increase unacceptable, insists on Pay-as-you-go

Ishaku Yohanna

The House of Representatives says the increase in subscription by  Multichoice/DSTV, is unacceptable, insists on Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO). Rep. Unyime Idem, Chairman, House of Representatives Ad Hoc committee investigating the non implementation of PAYGO Tariff said this on Monday in Abuja. He said that given the current situation as occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic, Multichoice/DSTV should suspend the increase in the monthly subscription. Idem said that the house was of the opinion that MultiChoice, the owners of DSTV was not sensitive to the plight of Nigerians for increasing tariff of their various bouquets…

Read More

House of Reps move against SARS

Ishaku Yohanna

The House of Representatives on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 resolved to cut the excesses of the notorious Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, FSARS. The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, in his opening speech, had given a strong reprimand of the Police unit and also passed a Motion to investigate an alleged avalanche of their crimes against the citizenry. The lawmakers resolved to expunge section 215 (5) that indemnifies the police from individual responsibilities for their action. They also agreed to hold a public hearing for Nigerians to ventilate all the human rights travesties…

Read More

Chinese Loans: Reps move to amend Treaties and agreement Act, decry draconian clauses

Ishaku Yohanna

The House of Representatives has commenced moves to subject all agreements entered into by the Nigerian government with foreign countries or companies to proper legal scrutiny before they become effective in the country. The House is worried by the draconian clauses discovered in the Chinese loan agreements, especially those ceding sovereignty of the country. A bill to repeal the Treaties Act of 2004 and replace it with a Treaties Act 2020 which will make the Ministry of Justice a depository of all Treaties and agreement and subject them the approval…

Read More

PDP lambaste House of Reps for shutdown of corruption probes

Ishaku Yohanna

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday lambaste the House of Representatives for shutdown of all ongoing corruption allegation investigations in its chamber. The party described the decision to halt the sitting of various committees carrying out investigation on allegations of corruption against the executive arm of government as a deliberate design “to cover the stench of corruption oozing out of the APC administration.” In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party charged the Speaker of the House of Representative, Femi Gbajabiamila, to “stop circumventing the…

Read More

House of Reps suspends committee hearings

Ishaku Yohanna

The House of Representatives has suspended all activities by its committees including public hearings till September when the National Assembly resumes. The National Assembly has been on a two-month annual recess. Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, in a notice issued on Wednesday, asked the Clerk to the House, Patrick Giwa, to ensure that all clerks of the committees complied with the directive. The House, which is observing its annual vacation, is expected to resume plenary on September 15. Various Committees of the House with backlog of investigations and probes have been…

Read More

Reps Summon Amaechi, Zainab Ahmed, Pantami over 500 million dollar Chinese loan

Ishaku Yohanna

The House of Representatives has demanded appearances by the minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, those of Communication and Finance, Dr. Ali Isa Pantami and Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, to provide answers on the $500 million loan to be sourced from the Export-Import Bank of China for railway lines in the country. They are also to provide details on the agreement signed between the Federal Ministry of Transport and the CCECC in respect of some railway projects in the country. The projects involved are the Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan, Ibadan-Kaduna and Kaduna-Kano rail…

Read More

80,000 Nigerians held as sex slaves abroad, says Reps Diaspora committee

Ishaku Yohanna

The House of Representatives says 80,000 Nigerians are currently held as sex slaves and in forced labour across the world. During plenary on Thursday, Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora, Tolu Akande-Sadipe, said majority were in Lebanon, Mali and across the Middle East. She condemned the complacency of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Employment. Sadipe alerted that the Foreign Affairs Ministry, under the guise of diplomacy, was working to release alleged Lebanese trafficker, Wafic Mohammed Hamza. Hamza was apprehended by National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons…

Read More

Investigative hearing: NDDC management walks out on Reps, accuses Committee Chairman of corruption

Ishaku Yohanna

The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Daniel Pondei, has led a walk out on the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta. Pondei, who appeared with other management staff of the commission, accused the Chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, of corruption. He said because of that, his team will not speak before the committee. “We are not comfortable with the chairman of this committee presiding over a matter he has been accused of,” he said. He asked the committee chairman to…

Read More