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Gov Akeredolu, Uncommon Progressive Brand – Barr Alaba Ajipe

Editor — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 13:12:39 +0000

The leading Chairmanship Aspirant from Owo local government, Barr Alaba Eniola Ajipe has commended the steps taken by Governor Akeredolu by having no preferred candidate in the forthcoming local government election.

Ajipe stated this while addressing the All Progressives Congress members in Owo local government area of Ondo State.

He said Governor Akeredolu has assured all APC Chairmanship aspirants that he would not impose any candidate on the people, adding that there would be a free, fair and credible primary to pick the party’s candidates across the 18 local governments area of the state.

Ajipe said with the patronage of APC aspirants across the state, it shows the quality of acceptance of the governor and fair play of the State Chairman of APC in the state, Engr Ade Adetimehin, and his energetic Excos working day and night.

Barr Ajipe appealled to members of APC in Owo local government to vote him as Chairman the council, in order to properly compliment governor Akeredolu giant strides in Owo local government and to give sense of belongings to all and sundry.

With the achievements of Governor Akeredolu in the state, victory is guaranteed for the party. Ajipe said

The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC), had fixed December 1st, 2018 for the local government election.

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BARRIERS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY WITHIN NIGERIA FEDERAL SYSTEM

Editor — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 04:40:47 +0000

BARRIERS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY WITHIN NIGERIA FEDERAL SYSTEM

How local government autonomy can be achieved in Nigeria?

READ two things that State Govt are using to hold down the local government autonomy

The much agitated local government autonomy will be a mirage if state Independent Electoral Commission is not abolished.

The appointment of state Electoral officers by each state Governors must be expunged from the constitution to allow for local government autonomy.

Nigeria must also stop the state and local government joint account, since there was a time since the begining of 4th republic that local governments received their allocations directly from the Federation Account.

There is nothing better than for AKURE SOUTH local government to be autonomous

1. The state local government joint account

2. The existence in Nigerian constitution that the state Independent Electoral Commission

Until we amend those two provisions in our constitution, that is, to abrogate the state Independent electoral commission because as long as that exist, we cannot have a local government that will be autonomous

“The state government will continue to use that instrument to determine the party that win election in the state and you are aware that there has never be any state throughout Nigeria, may be APC or PDP controlled that has conducted local government election, that has not cleared will the election

“That is made possible by the State Independent Electoral Commission, because who plays the piper dictates the tune. Even in Lagos when an opposition party won, the election was declared for APC and that man had to go to court

“Realistically, I believe that local government should be autonomous because the 1991 to 1993 that I referred to, the local government in which I served then, was enjoying almost total autonomy because then, we were receiving allocation directly from the Federal account, we were responsible for the recruitment of the primary school teachers and our local government was responsible for the recruitment of the primary health care workers.

“Let me tell you, it was the golden era of local government because what we have today is not local government, it is just mere local administration

“There is different between local administration and local government. Today, no local government can do anything without taking instruction from the state

“They only do the script that was written for them by the State, throughout Nigeria, not limited to particular state.

“Another instrument is the local government State Joint Account. This is strange to Nigeria constitution. It an amorphous arrangement and it should not be allowed

– by Afe Olowokere, Federal Lawmaker representing Akure North/South Federal Constituency in Ondo state at the House of Reps, Abuja

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“We are not rubber-stamp legislature” – House of Reps tell Buhari about 2018 #budgetpadding

Editor — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 02:33:08 +0000

The leadership of House of Representatives, on Wednesday, vowed not to concede to plan by President Muhammadu Buhari to turn the legislative arm of government to rubber-stamp.

The House’s reaction came barely 2 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the N9.120 billion appropriation bill into law.

In his speech, Buhari had accused National Assembly of introducing 6,403 projects worth N578 billion after cutting 4,700 projects worth N347 billion from the budget proposal presented to the joint session of the National Assembly in November, 2017.

The President who argued that most of the newly introduced projects fall within the purview of States and Local Governments, were not “properly conceptualized, designed and costed” maintained that they will be difficult to execute, adding that

In his reaction, Abdulrazak Namdas, chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity however noted that the House and indeed National Assembly acted in tandem with relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which confer upon the Legislature, the power of appropriation.

“The House of Representatives is appreciative of President Muhammadu Buhari in signing the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law and wish to make the following observations:

“That the budget is usually a proposal by the Executive to the National Assembly, which the latter is given the constitutional power of appropriation to alter, make additions, costs or reduce as it may deem necessary.

“The Legislature is not expected to be a rubber-stamp by simply approving the Executive proposals and returning the budget to Mr. President. Therefore, the additions Mr. President complained of in his speech are justifiable.

“We are on the same page with Mr. President in his desire to return our budget cycle to January-December. By the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, the budget estimates should be with the National Assembly around September of the year.

“In the case of the 2018 budget, the estimates came behind schedule in November 2017, even though this attempt was seen as one of the earliest in recent years. Going forward, we urge the Executive to speed up the reporting time to the National Assembly by complying fully with the FRA.

“Besides, there were delays that should be blamed on the heads of MDAs. Mr. President will recall that he had to direct ministers and heads of agencies to go to the National Assembly to defend their proposals. This came after the National Assembly had persistently raised the alarm over the non-cooperative attitudes of these government officials. On this grounds, the delay in passing the budget cannot be blamed on the legislature,” he said.

While responding to allegations on the new projects, Namdas said: “On this aspect, we have to remind Mr. President that we are representatives of our people and wish to state that even the common man deserves a mention in the budget by including projects that will directly affect his life positively.

“Some of the projects designed by the executive, as high-sounding as their names suggest, do not meet the needs of the common man,” Namdas observed.

In response to the allegations on the N73.96 billion increase in the National Assembly’s Statutory Transfers, Namdas explained that: “before 2015, the budget of the National Assembly was N150 billion for several years. It was cut down to N120 billion in 2015 and further down to N115 billion in 2016. In 2017, the budget was N125 billion and N139.5 billion in 2018. This means that the budget of the National Assembly is still far below the N150 billion in the years before 2015.

“While we commend Mr. President for a good working relationship, we also wish to state that we have a job to do, which requires adequate funding as well. The additional costs and projects to the budget were done in good faith for the sole purpose of improving the lives of Nigerians.

“Finally, we welcome the proposal by Mr. President to forward a supplementary budget to the National Assembly to address other areas of pressing demands and commend the President and the entire executive arm for a cordial working relationship,” the Adamawa lawmaker stated.

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PMB to Nigerians: “Stop glorying thieves in public positions, they brought hardships on you”

Editor — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 02:53:41 +0000

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerians to stop glorifying thieves but should treat them with disdain for bringing hardships on others.

Buhari said this in a Sallah message made available to journalists by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, to mark the end of Ramadan.

“He (Buhari) also urged ordinary Nigerians to stop glorifying thieves by treating them with disdain for bringing hardships on others,” the statement said.

The President also thanked Nigerians for their patience with his administration, saying reforming a country that was pushed into near decay on account of corruption would come with teething pains.

He, however, assured them that their pains were temporary.

Buhari further told Nigerians that their sacrifices would not be in vain.

“These pains are temporary. The APC administration which I am privileged to lead is beholden to the ordinary Nigerians and will leave no stone unturned to make their security, welfare and happiness our priority,” the President said.

Buhari stressed the importance of putting the virtues of Islam into practice beyond the Ramadan season.

He said, “Religion should be the moral compass for all believers in their public and personal lives.

“If the people allow the teachings of their religions to influence their conducts, problems such as corruption, which diverts public funds to private pockets, would have been eliminated in the society.”

He regretted, however, that “selfishness and greed have overcome people’s conscience so much that they don’t have moral inhibitions in the pursuit of their greed.”

He added, “It is impossible to separate morality from religion, and removing this connection encourages corrupt leaders and other exploiters to commit atrocities against the society.

“I always wonder why any true believer, be they politicians, civil servants or businessmen, would seek to make profits from the misfortunes of others.”

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‘Financial autonomy granted by President Buhari to State Assemblies & Judiciary ’ll balance power’

Editor — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 05:38:44 +0000

In this interview with JUBRIL BADA spoke about financial autonomy approved by President Buhari among other issues of interest.

Excerpts.

Can we meet you sir?

I am lfedayo Gbenga Akinsoyinu. A member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), representing Ondo West Constituency II.

I’m the youngest ever serving member of State House of Assembly in the history of the state.. l have been in politics since 1989. Next year, l will be 30years in it. I was former Majority Leader of the House

In 1989, l was a councillor till around 1993 when the military struck. In 1999, l became a member of the House, except for 2003 and 2006, when l became Parliamentary Liaison Officer (PLO) to the late former Governor of this state, Dr. Olusegun Agagu at the State House of Assembly.

The financial autonomy given to the legislature and the judiciary, how will you assess this development?

It is long overdue. This is an essential components of the duties and functions of the legislators. It is part and parcel of the rule of law. There must be separation of power, though there is no water-tight seperation of powers anywhere in the World. But at least, the vote of the House of Assembly must be seperated from that of the executive arm of government so that each arm of government will have to run its own business using its vote.

Now, it is not just the Assembly alone that was granted autonomy, the judiciary was equally granted. I think it is a welcome development. It will enhance the development of the rule law and seperation of powers.?

Don’t you think that this development, granting of financial autonomy to the House of Assembly and the judiciary will create friction among the executive and the other two arms of government.

The senate has always enjoy financial autonomy. The House of Representatives has always enjoy financial autonomy except in extreme cases where the executive over stepped its boundary. The National Assembly has never threatened the executive except where it is glaring that the executive is overstepping its boundary. For example, see what is happening in Nigeria now. They are killing people everyday, the Inspector-General of Police was invited, he did not go and appear before the senate.

In a situation like this the president should not fold his hands and pretend as if nothing is happening. What I’m saying is that rather than concentrate absolute power unnecessarily in any arm of government, it should be balanced among the three arms of government so that each will operate within its realm of duty or schedule. I am sure financial autonomy can’t lead to impeachment. Then, don’t forget that even when there was no financial autonomy, the executive arm of government was riding rough-shed over the legislature.

Each time the House of Assembly want to buy cars, it will go and beg the executive. Everything , they have to beg. Then they are becoming like slaves.

Looking at the constitution, it is the legislature that makes law and executed by the executive. To that extent, I think it is a welcome development and think it will not have any negative effect.

This is a new experiment and innovation about to have initial problem, the problems with time everything will adjust.

The Not-Too-Young-To-Run bill was also among those signed by the President. What’s your take?

It is a welcome development. The way things are now, with my knowledge, the young ones are the best reservour of energy. What a 40-years-old man will do by exercising himself or running around with the duty in government, the 70 or 75-years-old persons cannot try it. I think we should encourage the young ones to vie for positions. I think it is a welcome development.

Are our youths really financially capable of vying for political posts?

For example, what is happening in Ekiti State now, Dr. Kayode Fayemi got elected maybe he is 53 or above now, he picked a 74-year-old man as his deputy. What l’m saying is that the young ones can contest. But behind them in the cabinet. They can have commissioners who are fairly advanced in age like 50s or 60s. So the energy of the young ones will balance the old ones. So, what the young ones lack by way of knowledge or experience, the old ones will prepare to compensate for it. What the old ones lack by way of physical energy, the young ones can be there too to bridge the gap.

What I’m saying in essence is that, the Not-Too-Young-To-Run bill has been passed into law, does not mean it is going to kill those at over 50 or 60 . It means that people, who are more than 40, 50, 60 or over will still contest. At the end of the day, those who emerged after elections will be a mixture of young, middle and old ages. Don’t forget that it is an experiment. We might not be there now, but by the time we are counting about ten years, we will blend properly.

Don’t forget that, what the law says is that, if you attain certain so so age like 25-30, you can become so so thing you aspirel . If you are above the age, it does not mean you cannot aspire.

Advice to Nigerian youths vis-a-vis their attitude to handwork, corruption, politics etc.

In 1989 when Gen. Ibrahim Babangida said youths about contesting should indicate. Interests he formed SDP and NRC saying that old should sit down. That was how I became councillor at the age of 29 . What I’m saying in essence, young ones should see it as a challenge and opportunity for them to come to the centre stage to manage the affairs of the country. They should not abuse the opportunity and not let the person who sponsored the bill and the president who signed it regret coming up with such law. The law came as a result of agitations from the young ones.

The issue of corruption is not peculiar to young ones alone, It is a kind of retrogression in our value system. It is not limited to the young and old ones alone. l will equally advise young ones to try as much as possible to shun corruption, sharp practices and uphold the core values and not cut corners and endure. Either you are young or old do not cut corners or engage in what will spoil family’s name. With the new law coming on board which is applauded by everybody, they should equally reciprocate by making sure they make best use of the law.

Renaming of Democracy Day to June 12, what is your view?

June12, either we like it or not, whether holiday is declared or not, it has remained a water shed in the political history of Nigeria because something fundamental happened on that day. Across all divides, million of Nigerians gave their votes regardless of religion, tribe, background and gave their mandate to MKO Abiola, but somebody along the line annulled the election. Beyond that, l don’t want to believe that they want to make it a political issue for 2019 to appease Yoruba people. Government should go beyond that.

The fundamental thing is restructuring, which we have been clamouring for. The VAT here we consumed fuel, patronize departmental stores, the tax generated from Southwest is more than what is generated up North. Come to the sharing, we do not receive more. It is not fair, the fundamental thing is to address the issue of restructuring. Let us go back to 1953 constitution, which talked about regionalism, that all regions compete among themselves. When we have regional government in those days, our welfare was improved because we did well in cocoa business. From the business, University of lfe, Cocoa House in Ibadan and all the rest were built.

In the East, rubber was a major income and able to build University of Nsukka among others. In the North, it was groundnut as a major means of generating income. It was called Groundnut pyramid, was used to build Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). Therefore, each region wanted to outshine one another. There was a competition among the regions to build hospitals, airports and have airlines as a result of this, there was a competition among them which brought about development among the regions then.

But, a situation whereby, states have to beg or wait for money from Abuja, such states become lazy. There are many states in the country now, that can never survive without the allocation from Abuja. If these states are allowed to stay on regional arrangement, whatever is available at each region can be turned to money for their developments, rather than depend on the Federal Government.

Restructuring is the main thing. It is beyond giving MKO Abiola award and declaring holiday for June 12. There is nothing special in the holiday declared. The best way to immortalise, Abiola is to emplace all those things he was fighting for which include justice, and transformation of Nigeria. What he could not achieve before his death, steps should be taken to achieve them.

Are you optimistic that the issue of restructuring will be materialised?

It depends on the president and power that be. If he wants to make it to happen, it will happen. He has started very well by even remembering late MKO Abiola. Since, Abiola’s death, no one remembered him. It is a good thing and right step in a right direction. As he has remembered Abiola by giving award, he must also declare Abiola and Kingibe as ex-president and ex-vice president respectively, and give their entitlements to their families. Abiola and SDP stood for restructuring and now people are clamouring for restructuring, he should implement it now.

What’s your view on to the payment of entitlement demanded by some Nigerians for the families of Abiola and Kingibe?

It might not be everything. It might be part of it as compensation to the families. The Abiola’s families have lost everything. They lost their bread winner, Abiola. They lost his wife, Alhaja Kudirat, Concord newspaper and his Airline business. l can’t imagine how they will recover from the businesses. Nigerians have forgotten the family. The family should be compensated.

Credit to HopeNewspaper

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Mimiko re-joins Labour Party amidst jubilations in Ondo City

Editor — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 05:27:46 +0000

The immediate past Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has formally declared for the Labour Party (LP).

During the event which took place yesterday in his home town, Ondo city, the administrative headquarters of Ondo West Local Government Area of the state, the former Governor said he rejoined the Labour Party because of his optimism that the LP has the interest to restructure the country if given the mandate.

Mimiko used the occasion to emphasise the need for restructuring of the political system in the country, saying that the move is a crucial step towards advancing development across all sectors in the country.

The ceremony which begun at about 10:30 in the morning was carnival-like as it featured a procession from the residence of the former Governor, located along Ondo/Akure highway and terminated at the Oba Adesanoye civic centre in the town.

Mimiko thanked members of the Labour Party, especially the National Officers for receiving him back to the party, while announcing his return back to the party amidst jubilations.

He was accompanied by his former aides, comissioners, chairmen of boards and parastatals, former Secretary to the State Government, as well as former local government chairmen from Idanre, Akure, Ondo East and West local governments among others.

The former Governor had earlier registered in his political ward 7, in the local government where he was presented with the membership card of the party by the State chairman of the party, Mr. Wale Gbakinro.

His arrival at the venue of the celebration, sparked jubilations as the former Governor was welcomed by several chieftains of the party including the National Chairman, Hon. Abdukareem Abdusalam.

Receiving the former Governor to the party, Abdulsalam described the event as a good one and a landmark achievement in the history of the Labour Party.

The LP National Chairman described Dr. Mimiko as a good politician whose eight years tenure as the Executive Governor of Ondo State witnessed tremendous achievements.

He used the occasion to mention some of the good projects executed by Dr Mimiko while in office, especially in the areas of health and education, which he said had made the state to be one of the best in the comity of states within the federation.

The Labour Party chieftain used the ceremony to congratulate the former Governor and his kinsmen over their decisions to pitch their tents with the Labour Party.

The programme held amidst singing and dancing was attended by several followers and loyalists of Dr Olusegun Mimiko, members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers ( NURTW) market women, members of the National Automobile Technology Association (NATA), students as well as members of the Commercial Motocylist Operators to mention a few.

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2018: Why Ekiti election CANNOT be rigged – INEC

Editor — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 04:08:55 +0000

The commission said the notion peddled in some quarters that the election will be rigged runs contrary to the reality on ground.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ekiti State, Abdulganiy Raji, gave the assurance in Ido Ekiti on Tuesday during a Town Hall meeting entitled, Vote not Fight. The meeting was organised to sensitise the youth ahead of the election.

The programme was funded by National Democratic Institute (NDI), United Kingdom Agency for International Development (UK aid) and United State Agency for International Development (USAID).

He said the election process had been digitalised and the voting exercise would be monitored electronically.

Mr Raji, represented by the Electoral Officer in Ido/Osi local government, Ajayi Olusola, said the commission had strengthened its system and made it technologically driven.

He said it would be difficult for anyone to tamper with the outcome of the election, given the security of the process.

“Go and get your Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). Your vote is your power and let me tell you that your votes will surely count,” he said.

“INEC is not partisan, we are fair to all parties. We are going to monitor the voting electronically. No one can rig election with the kind of ICT we have put in place and we are going to monitor the activities of parties to ensure that we have a peaceful poll.”

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Court Removes Kogi East Senator

Editor — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 04:05:30 +0000

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the immediate sack of a senator, Atai Aidoko, as the member representing Kogi East.

The court presided over by judge, Gabriel Kolawole, ruled that Mr Aidoko was wrongly presented as the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the December 2014 Primaries conducted by the PDP.

Following the presentation of Mr Aidoko as the party’s flag bearer, Mr Aidoko’s challenger, Isaac Alfa, began a legal battle for the nullification of Mr Aidoko’s election.

An appeal court had ordered parties to return to the trial court to allow it determine the rightful owner of the suit, thus rendering the seat vacant.

However, Mr Aidoko refused vacating the office and has appeared repeatedly at Senate plenaries since then.

On Wednesday, the court ordered the PDP and Mr Aidoko to pay Mr Alfa N750,000 each.

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Buhari assents bill restricting VP who completes president’s tenure to 1 term instead of 2

Editor — Fri, 08 Jun 2018 19:21:41 +0000

President Muhammmadu Buhari on Friday signed a bill to ensure that where a vice president succeeds a president and where a deputy governor succeeds a governor, he or she can no more contest for that office more than once.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, who disclosed this to State House correspondents, said: “And the fact is that having taken the oath as President once, and you can only contest for once again and no more. That is the intent of this amendment.”

He said Buhari also signed a bill that gives the Independent National Electoral Commission sufficient time to conduct bye-elections, saying “It has increased the number from 7 days to 21 days and generally widened the latitude of the Independent National Electoral Commission to handle election matters upon vacancy occuring.”

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Buhari signs into laws financial autonomy for state judiciary and state assemblies

Editor — Fri, 08 Jun 2018 18:34:12 +0000

President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to the Constitution Fourth Alteration Bill, which grants financial autonomy to the State Houses of Assembly and the Judiciary.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Ita Enang, confirmed this development to State House Correspondents in Abuja on Friday.

Enang explained that with the signing into law the Constitution Alteration Bill the State Houses of Assembly would now operate like the National Assembly where Federal Ministry of Finance automatically transferred budgetary allocation direct to the account of the NASS.

He said that the Judiciary in the states would also enjoy similar financial independence as their budgetary allocations would no longer go through the budgeting process of the executive arms at the state level, but would be transferred directly to the account of the judiciary.

“Therefore, upon this signature the amount standing to the credit of the judiciary are now to be paid directly to the judiciary of that state, no more through the governor and no more from the governors.

“And then amounts standing to the credits of the Houses of Assembly of the respective states are now to be paid directly to the Houses of Assembly of that state for the benefit of the legislature and the management of the State Houses of Assembly.

“This grants full autonomy now to the judiciary at the state level and the Houses of Assembly at the state level,’’ he explained.

He said: “Well, this allows the State Houses of Assembly to operate like the National Assembly does because the National Assembly does not get its money from the executive.

“It provides money in the statutory transfers which the Ministry of Finance will automatically transfer to the account of the National Assembly.

“Just like that of the (Federal) Judiciary, you see the judiciary sometime get N150 to N170 billion sometime a little bit about a N100 billion.

“It does not go through the executive and it does go through the budgeting process of the executive. It is transferred directly to the account of the judiciary, which is the head of courts.

“When the Houses of Assembly are doing their budgets, the amounts standing to the credit of the judiciary will now be among the statutory transfers which will be statutorily transferred to the heads of the courts.

“And then that of the State Houses of Assembly will stand transferred to the House of Assembly of the state.’’

According to Enang, the president also signed into law the Constitution Amendment No. 21, which relates to determination of pre-election matters.

He said the new bill had reduced the days and time of determining pre-election matters to ensure that pre-election matters in courts do not get into the time of election and do not pend thereafter.

“The relevant section of the constitution has also been amended by this Act therefore amending the constitution,’’ he added.

Besides, Enang said that Buhari signed into law the Act or Bill No. 16.

He said: “The intent of the Bill No. 16 is to ensure that where a Vice-President succeeds a President or a Deputy Governor succeeds a Governor he can no more contest for that office more than once more.

“The fact is that having taken the oath as president once and you can only contest for the office once again and no more. That is the intent of this amendment.’’

He said the president also signed the Bill No. 9 into law.

According to him, the Bill No.9 gives the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) sufficient time to conduct bye-elections.

He said with the president’s signature on the bill the days for the conduct of bye-elections had been increased from seven to 21 days.

“These four Bills added to the `Not Too Young To Run’ Act, have now been assented to by Mr President and they have now become laws.

“And then the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended is hereby further amended by the assents of Mr President to these bills today,’’ he said.

NAN

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