₦airaland Forum

sarrki:
Goodmorning bro

One who always want his or her govt to fail

Is called a sociopath

sarrki:
Am a patriot

I don't belong to any political party

After being stalled in the National Assembly for eight years, the Senate has commenced the process of breaking the monolithic hold of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on oil industry in Nigeria. The upper chamber yesterday passed for second reading, the controversial Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIB) 2016.

The Bill was first introduced to the National Assembly in 2008. The Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), Tayo Alasoadura (APC, Ondo Central), who led the debate on the Bill, said that his committee had taken steps to eliminate the encumbrances that frustrated the passage of the initiative in the past years. The bill seeks, among others, to create efficient and effective institutions with clear and separate roles for the petroleum industry.

[b]Alasoadura said the existing NNPC would be unbundled into two commercial entities limited by shares, which are, the National Petroleum Company (NPC) and the National Assets Management Company (NAMC).

According to him, the proposed NPC will operate as a commercial entity in order to ensure efficiency across the value chain while the NAMC shall ensure maximum value for the federation through prudent management of its oil and gas investment. He also noted that the Petroleum Minister, in the new bill, shall be responsible for policy formulation and supervision of the petroleum industry on behalf of the federal government while a commission to be known as the Petroleum Regulatory Commission (PRC) would be created and saddled with regulatory functions over the industry.

The PRC, according to him, shall be the industry regulator and watchdog, responsible for licensing, monitoring, supervision of petroleum operations, enforcing laws, regulations and standards across the value chain. He explained that the committee decided to split the document into different components, as a means of ensuring that the controversial elements in the bill did not stop its passage as the case was in the previous assemblies.[/b]

The lawmaker lamented that the failure to pass the bill by past assemblies had denied the country huge investment opportunities as well as kept the country in the limbo as the oil and gas leader in sub-Saharan Africa.

His words: “The current effort has adopted a method of splitting the PIB into logical smaller pieces for submission to the 8th National Assembly, a complete departure from all prior attempts.

This way, the individual elements can be expeditiously considered and passed one after the other and where amendments are required in the future, the relevant bill can be separately considered. Several senators spoke in favour of the passage of the bill. In his remark, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, commended his colleagues for their support for the bill and nonpartisan stance they took on the matter.

The Federal Government will appoint a transaction adviser next week as part of efforts to establish a new national carrier, an official has said.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said the new national carrier will ensure competition, cut in ticket costs and give Nigerians options to choose from.

Mr. Sirika, who briefed journalists after the Federal Executive Council meeting, said “….between now and Wednesday we will appoint transaction adviser for national carrier, once that is in place Nigerians will have options, they will be competition, good aircraft and this will bring the price down”.

The new national carrier, the minister explained, will be jointly run by the government and the private sector as an incentive for airlines flying the route.
Mr. Sirika also said the Federal Executive Council, FEC, approved about N3 billion for the completion of the rehabilitation work on terminal building phase II and international wing of the Port Harcourt International Airport.

He said that N1.6 billion would be expended on rehabilitation of the international wing of the airport while completion of work on the terminal building phase II of the airport would cost N1.4 billion.

According to him, the council approved the project as it is captured in the 2016 and 2017 budget.
“So, very soon we will complete that very important airport, especially the arrival, Port Harcourt airport has been tagged the worst airport in the world.

“But, by the grace of God and the wisdom of the council, it has been approved and will be completed.
“The upgrade and the rehabilitation of the terminal building, international wing of the Port Harcourt from N777, 726,669. 30 to N1,684,520,310.58.

“Second one, is the refurbishment of Port Harcourt airport terminal building phase II domestic wing from N746,830,782.12 to N1,411,662,855.67.’’
He stated that government had intensified efforts towards addressing the challenges of security and safety across the nation’s airports.

Mr. Sirika said his ministry would organise a stakeholders forum where issues concerning the aviation industry would be deliberated upon with a view to finding solutions facing the sector.
“By the end of November we are going to have stakeholders meeting and some of these things will be shown there.”
He stated that the parking space at the Port Harcourt and Abuja airports were being expanded to accommodate more vehicles.

“By the time it is completed, we would have a proper parking space which you will go and park for a fee.
“Once the airport is concessioned, all these will take shape and form that you will love to see.
“Just be patient, in the next 24 to 36 months most of these things will be in place,” he added.

The minister frowned at the activities of some air carriers “like Egypt Air, British Airways, Turkish Air who fly in here with undesirable aircraft while they put on other routes better aircraft despite the fact that the Nigerian routes pay them more.”

He, however, said that his ministry had been talking to them to ensure that they change their fleets.
“We have been talking to them seriously. We are ensuring that they change their fleets. However, some of them are constrained because of the infrastructure we have in place.

“For example Emirate, Emirate will love to bring the kind of aircraft they fly around the world but the apron in Abuja is not supporting that service.

“That is why the aircraft they take to Lagos is different from the one they take to Abuja. That inadequacies is also being addressed and once that is done we will have benefiting aircraft coming.”

He stated that the government was also addressing some of the challenges being faced by some foreign carriers who were threatening to close their offices in Nigeria.
According to the minister, government is now meeting 100 per cent of foreign exchange requirement of local airlines.

“You know that aviation is dollar denominated, you buy aircraft in dollar, you service in dollar, you train your crew in dollar, you do everything in dollar. And we simply do not have the dollar to pay these airlines.

“But now as we are talking, government through the Central Bank of Nigeria has made available $300 million out of the $600 million of the airlines funds stock in Nigeria to pay the airlines to demonstrate its commitment to the sector.

“And with devaluation, $600 million could be $1 billion. Gradually, we will clear everything and once that happen they are not going to go anywhere,” he said.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who spoke on the Senate’s refusal to approve a $29.9 billion loan request by the executive for infrastructure development, said the executive arm would continue to engage the National Assembly to enable them see reason for the loans.

“Of course, it is not unusual for the executive and the legislative to have disagreement,” he said. “They want more information and we will give them and we will continue to engage them.”

Jarizod:
[color=#679267]Old mama youngie..This woman no wan gree say she don old sha

Them laps tho [/color]

ABUJA – ATTEMPTS by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila for the House to upturn the recent amendment of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Code of Conduct Tribunal Act which had removed the powers of appointing Chairman of the CCT from the President met stiff opposition yesterday.

But the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara who presided over the plenary has told the Leader to come up with a substantive motion if he wanted the bill to be revisited so that members would be present and prepare to make contributions to it instead of being “ambushed”.

The Leader had in a Point of Order referred the House to Part 1 of Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, Section 15, sub-sections 3 and 4 and Section 17, Sub-sections 1 and 4 which had stated that it was the constitutional responsibility of the President based on the recommendation of the National Judicial Commission to appoint the Chairman of the CCT and members.

He said, “This House has always been the House of the people over the years, we have never been detached from the public opinion or public perception, we have always operated with one heartbeat of the nation.

“Mr. Speaker, it will not be under your speakership or our membership that this House will begin to lose integrity. Because apparently a couple of months ago, perhaps unknown to a lot of us, always 40 bills were presented to this House and one day, they passed to the Committee of the Whole.

“We did not pay particular attention to the contents and clauses but when we discovered subsequently that those clauses are a mere infraction of the Constitution, it behoves on us as a House to hold our breadth and look at the Constitution again.”

But Rep. Kingsley Chinda, representing Obiakpor Constituency of Rivers State, while relying on the House Order 9 Rule 1, sub-rule 6 interjected with Point of Order.

He explained that the House Rule stated that, “it shall be out of order to attempt reconsidering specific item upon which the House has arrived conclusion during the current session except upon a substantive motion.”

He further said that the proper way to follow the matter if the House should revisit it was by way of substantive motion and called that the motion by the Majority Leader should be stepped down pending when a substantive motion would be brought before the House.

Also supporting the position of Chinda, Rep Edward Pwajok, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, said that when a bill had been passed by the House and the senate and sent to the President for assent, it was a violation or an aberration to begin to revisit it when it had not been returned by the President.

But Gbajabiamila responded that the said bill was still within the National Assembly and had not been sent to the President for assent.

Ruling on the matter, the Speaker, Dogara said, “We all know the rules as aptly pointed out by Honourable Chinda. And the reason why it has to come by a substantive motion is to put it on notice so that members will not be ambushed.

“Nobody is saying we cannot reconsider it but let us follow the provisions of our rules so that members will have the ample time to go through with the reasons you are raising.

“So for us to suspend the rules to take this motion, it will be like an ambush, so it is better that all of us are well informed and it is tabled for debate.”

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

dayleke:
That bobo in the back sha,with the baseball cap.....
Look at his eyes.....,he don dey that level already ....
Happy sailing bro.....

Aufbauh:
Are you a flat headed moronic?

Aufbauh:
If not how do you know their list?

blackpanda:
Pls if u dont know what to type, just go back to bed ok.

blackpanda:
[s][/s]

Who is dis?? And wtf are u saying

blackpanda:
Some flatheaded moronic corruption specialist will soon rush here to celebrate

SamuelAnyawu:
Corruption Everywhere

The SGF who used over 270million to clear Grasses?

Or Buratai who bought houses worth billions of Naira in Dubai?

Indicting all Service Chiefs, but exonerating Dambazzau because he contributed to Your Electoral victory in Kano and now a Minister?


Buhari Fighting Corruption Indeed

Twenty-four hours after two Supreme Court Justices facing corruption allegation, Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta, stepped down from adjudicating over cases pending conclusion of investigation, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has blamed the executive arm of government for corruption on the Bench.

Okoro and Ngwuta, alongside five other judges, were arrested in sting operations on October 7 and 8 by the Department of State Services (DSS) on allegations of bribery and corruption. While the duo of Okoro and Ngwuta voluntarily recused themselves from judicial functions since their homes were raided, others were still at their duty posts adjudicating on cases before them.

However, Justice Mahmoud exonerated the judiciary and its highest organ, the National Judicial Council (NJC), from any guilt as he said the third arm of government should not be blamed for the endemic corrupt practices on the Bench.

Instead, he said blames should be put on the executive, as “the failure on the part of the executive arm of government to act upon recommendations by the NJC cannot be blamed upon the NJC.”

CJN said this in a letter dated October 26, addressed to a group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) that asked NJC to take over the alleged corruption case against the embattled judges from the DSS.

The letter, with reference No. CJN/Gen/MISC/ A37/Vol.XXI/8 and signed by CJN’s Senior Special Assistant, H. S. Sa’eed, was in response to SERAP’s request to Justice Mohammed, asking him to “take over from the DSS the cases of all the seven judges released by the DSS and refer the cases of those judges to anti-corruption agencies for conclusion of investigation and prompt prosecution.”

[b]CJN said: “While restating the willingness of the NJC to act upon any petition as well as commitment of the Nigerian judiciary to the fight against corruption, his Lordship opines that any significant involvement in the fight against corruption will be upon a similar commitment of the prosecutorial agencies to actively prosecute their cases expeditiously when information about same is received.

“It is necessary to restate that the NJC is a creation of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) being established under Section 153 with its mandate clearly set out in Para 21, Part One of the Third Schedule to the Constitution.

“This provision clearly stipulates at Para 21(b) and (d) that the Council may only ‘recommend’ to the President and the Governors, the removal from office of judicial officers and to exercise disciplinary control over such judicial officers, which in effect is the extent of its power to discipline.

Hence, the Council cannot, suo moto dismiss any judicial officer. “The NJC can also neither ‘hand over corrupt judges to law enforcement agencies for prosecution nor recover proceeds of corruption, as you have suggested, it can merely recommend to act upon its findings as it has always done.

“However, in exercise of its constitutional mandate, the NJC has enacted the Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2014 in order to ensure that petitions are received, investigated and addressed as appropriate. As SERAP’s own Report attests, 64 judicial officers have been disciplined within five years even preceding the institution of the new guidelines. Any failure on the part of the executive arm of government to act upon such recommendations cannot, therefore, be blamed upon the NJC.

“To be sure, every citizen of Nigeria inclusive of judicial officers, are entitled to the protection of the law and a key provision of the Constitution is the presumption of innocence, as enshrined in Section 36(5) of the Constitution (as amended).

I must also remind us that the seven judges, like all other persons, are entitled to a fair hearing as stipulated in Section 36 of the Constitution. As such, it would be presumptive and, indeed, pre-emptive to sanction the said judges without exhausting the proper procedure for their removal.”[/b]

naptu2:
Yeah. Search for "Lift Up Nigeria" or "The Way Forward".

femi4:
Na your type dey pay children school fees at age 70 when you should be enjoying your pension

Nigerian government officials have been raping and exploiting female Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in camps as a result of Boko Haram’s insurgency, a report by Human Rights Watch has said.

The Report published Monday morning accused the government of not doing enough to protect affected women or punish the officials involved.

The right group said it documented 43 cases of rape and exploitation of women and girls in several IDP camps in Maiduguri in late July. It added that the victims were displaced "from Borno towns and villages, including Abadam, Bama, Baga, Damasak, Dikwa, Gamboru Ngala, Gwoza, Kukawa, and Walassa."


According to the report “four of the victims were drugged and raped while 37 were coerced into sex through false marriage promises and material and financial assistance.”

Senior Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch, Mausi Segun said: “It is bad enough that these women and girls are not getting much-needed support for the horrific trauma they suffered at the hands of Boko Haram. It is disgraceful and outrageous that people who should protect these women and girls are attacking and abusing them.

A suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber was shot dead by soldiers in Maiduguri after he was spotted trying to creep into the same IDP camp that nearly came under attack by a female suicide bomber who killed herself and five others on Saturday morning, officials said.

The suicide bomber was shot dead by vigilant soldiers who opened fire on him causing one of the two bombs around his body to go off.

Saturday and Sunday’s incidents appear to indicate that the insurgents have made internally displaced persons, IDP, camps a major point of target.

A top leader of the Civilian-JTF, Alhaji Dan-Batta, informed PREMIUM TIMES on phone that “the male suicide bomber was seen loitering around the back perimeter fence of Bakassi camp at about 9 a.m. He was shot down before he could advance closer to the camp. One of the bombs he was carrying exploded, but another is still strapped on his body did not explode. The anti-bomb squad operatives are trying to defuse that one”.

No other person was reported killed or injured from the explosion.

The incident did not cause any panic in the Borno capital as many residents were seen going about their daily businesses.

Sunday’s blast came as the fifth in the series of bomb attacks around Maiduguri by the Boko Haram in the last three weeks.

Since the release of 21 of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls three weeks ago, Boko Haram insurgents have scaled up their hostility mainly using improvised explosives.

The federal government had said it will be going into another round of negotiations with the insurgents with a view to securing the release of more of the girls. Despite that, the Boko Haram have continued with their terror attacks.

Neither the military nor the police have issued any statement on Sunday’s incident at the time of filing this report.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has responded to the alleged ‘campaign of calumny against Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan’ by asking the Federal High Court to “dismiss her suit with substantial cost.”

Mrs Jonathan and her group Union of Niger Delta Youth Organization for Equity, Justice and Good Governance had accused SERAP in suit number FHC/L/CS/1349/2016 dated 6th October 2016 of “using online, print and electronic media to publish to the public unfounded and malicious allegations that she stole $15m (US) and ought to be prosecuted.”

But SERAP in a preliminary objection dated 27 October 2016 and signed by its executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni stated that, “Patience Jonathan’s claims cannot be maintained because they are brought on her behalf by a group that is unknown to law. Mrs Jonathan’s group is not a registered organization envisaged by law. This very point calls into question the legal capacity to file this suit against SERAP, and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain her suit.”

When the case came up for hearing before Justice C.M.A Olatoregun on Friday 28 October 2016 SERAP was represented by its lawyer Babatunde Ogala, former Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly’s Committee on Judiciary.

SERAP’s preliminary objections read in part: “Since the process of court has not been used bonafide and properly it is unnecessary to consider whether or not there is a genuine case on the merits. An abuse of court process is not the specie of sins called an irregularity. It is a much more fundamental vice which is deserving of the punishment of dismissal.”

“The suit as constituted discloses no reasonable cause of action against SERAP and as such unmaintainable. Mrs Jonathan and her group cannot and has not articulated what legal wrong SERAP has done or what legal dispute they have with SERAP. They have not shown that the matter is justiciable and that a dispute exists between them and SERAP. Mrs Jonathan’s case against SERAP is therefore a flagrant abuse of court process and as such must be dismissed.”

“The commencement of this suit through Originating Summons by Mrs Jonathan and her group is wrong and faulty. Originating Summons is absolutely inappropriate to commence an action where the facts are in dispute. It is evident from the processes filed by Mrs Jonathan and her group that this suit will definitely be disputed by SERAP.”

“No stamp and/or seal of the solicitors to Mrs Jonathan and her group is fixed to the Originating Summons and as such is incompetent and not cognizable by the court. A document filed shall be deemed not properly signed or filed if it has no fixing of the seal and stamp, and the court cannot consider such document.”

It would be recalled that one Union of Niger Delta Youth Organization for Equity, Justice and Good Governance suing for themselves and on behalf of Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan had sued SERAP on 6th October 2016 before the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Mrs Jonathan and her group had asked the court for “an order of interim injunction restraining SERAP from taking any further steps in further vilification, condemnation and conviction of the Former First Lady Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan, in all public media and in the use of the judicial process for that purpose by the extremely publicized pursuit of any application for the coercion of the Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute the Plaintiff/Applicant for owning legitimate private property, pending the hearing and determination of the Originating Summons.”

The suit is also seeking “an order directing SERAP to stay all action and to desist forthwith from proceeding against Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan, with any process whatsoever, pending the hearing and determination of the Originating Summons.

The suit by Mrs Jonathan and her group also claimed that, “The campaign by SERAP is in breach of Mrs Jonathan’s right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty under Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended). The action by SERAP seeks to coerce the Attorney General of the Federation to embark on a breach of the same right when the Attorney General is in a better position than SERAP and the Court to know whether or not there is any evidence of wrongdoing by Mrs Jonathan.”

“SERAP’s action is blatant misuse of the processes of this Court. SERAP therefore no longer deserves to continue as an incorporated entity and ought to be dissolved. It is just and equitable to dissolve SERAP in the circumstances of this case. Damages will not be adequate compensation for the irreparable damage Mrs Jonathan will suffer if the application is not granted. The Plaintiff undertakes as to damages in favour of SERAP in the event the instant application ought not to have been granted.”

“There has been a running battle between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Mrs Jonathan with respect to the release of her legitimately earned funds which were deposited in accounts opened in the names of certain companies by one of her husband’s aides without her authorization.”

“The funds in question were legitimate gifts from her friends and well-wishers over the last 15 years which she had been saving in order to utilize to upgrade family businesses and concerns which had been somewhat dormant by reason of the long period of her husband service as a public officer in Nigeria.”

“The gifts were given in small contributions by several persons some of whom she cannot even now recall over this period of 15 years sometimes in as small a gift as N250,000 Naira. In order to preserve the value of these funds which she did not require for any purpose at the time she changed them into foreign exchange and kept them as cash for a long period in her home safe in Port Harcourt and Abuja.”

“It was when the family home in Otuoke was burnt down by hoodlums under the instigation of political adversaries in 2010 that she began to think about banking these gifts which had now grown to large sums in United States Dollars. In 2010 she therefore summoned one of her husband’s domestic aids, Waripamo-Owei Emmanuel Dudafa to assist her in opening bank accounts into which the funds could be deposited.”

“Unknown to her the said Dudafa in a bid to be discreet about the owner of the funds decided to bank the funds in the names of companies owned by him. When she discovered this she was constrained to continue with the names of the companies when she was advised that it did not make any difference as to the ownership of the funds since the director of the company would appoint her as sole signatory to the accounts in question.”

“When in 2016 Dudafa was arrested and detained she had no fear for the funds as she realized that the funds could not be attributable to him once it was discovered that she was the sole signatory to the said accounts. It was therefore a rude shock to her when she discovered that a no transaction order had been placed on the accounts by the EFCC in the belief that the funds belonged to Dudafa.”

“She instructed her solicitors to further write to the EFCC to inform them that the funds belong to her and that they formed a part of her legitimate earnings over the last 15 years. It was this letter that was leaked by the EFCC to the media that became sensationalized and led to the plaintiff’s vilification and attack by ignorant persons who had no information about the matter.”

“SERAP is playing to the public gallery in order to gain the notoriety it has achieved over the past years. SERAP has done this mostly by intervening in high profile issues without regard to the rights of persons it claims to protect. SERAP jumped into the fray of ignorant accusations being made against Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan in the public media and has begun a campaign of calumny against her using online, print and electronic media to publish to the public unfounded and malicious allegations that she stole the funds in question and ought to be prosecuted.”

“SERAP has maintained this position, notwithstanding the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever by which Mrs Jonathan could be prosecuted for obtaining the funds through unlawful means. In furtherance of this campaign, SERAP, being in breach of its own objects for which it was incorporated, has continued to proclaim the guilt of Mrs Jonathan in the media and recently was widely reported in the news media to have commenced a self-serving action to attempt to coerce the Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute her.”

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Kosy79:
why nyash up na or u fink say I follow for cucumber team?


Udo do. Ana emekwa?

Kosy79:
hahahahaha
kikikikikiki
Nice respond from u *thump up*

mysticgal:
7 goals ko, 7 goals ni .....
You won't even see his shadows... Useless polish.
Meanwhile, Mourihno would not remove ibrahimovic and let martial play... The guy would now be doing like he knows what he's doing .

bettercreature:
Somebody must sack David Moyes before it's too late