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Apprehension in Senate, as Saraki announces emergency committee reshuffle




Apprehension in Senate, as Saraki announces emergency committee reshuffle
Chairmen of the standing committees in Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber, the Senate, have initiated moves to ensure that their currrent positions are secure.

On the other hand, those who feel left out when the committee heads were announced in late 2016, are not leaving anything to chance.

The fresh apprehensions and lobbying are coming on the heels of an announcement made by the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, that the leadership would carry out a ‘clean up’ exercise that will likely lead to a major rejigging of its standing committees.

At the moment, the Senate has a total of 68 standing committees. Saraki said the exercise would go a long way in assisting the Red Chamber in cleaning up its committee system.

The clean up, according to the Senate President, would be done before members of the upper legislative chamber will proceed on its end of session holiday later in the month.

Saraki made the revelations when he responded to an observation made by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who had complained about the structure of committees of the Senate at the moment and had described it as “very unhealthy.”

Ekweremadu drew his observation from the report presented by the Senate committee on Tertiary Education, during which he noted that out of the 22 members of the committee, only 12 signed the report.

He said that it was unusual and unwieldy for the Senate to continue to tolerate the development. “We must ensure that senators are placed in the number of committees they can handle,” he said.

Responding, Saraki said: “I agree with you. We are going to clean it up before we go on recess. We have discussed this at the leadership level and we are going to do something about it to ensure that the right thing is done.”

It was learnt that the Senate leadership had become uncomfortable with a development where many lawmakers forced themselves into membership of committees they were not originally posted to.

The last time the Senate reshuffled its committees was in 2016 when many Senators who hitherto were not accommadated in ‘juicy’ committees, were appointed as chairmen.

The committee system was subsequently in January, 2017 slightly adjusted when the Senate created three new committees and reshuffled the chairmanship of two others.

The development then brought the number of committees in the Senate to 68.

In the heat of the crisis generated by the emergence of Saraki and Ekweremadu as leaders of the Senate, the Unity Forum Senators, made up of anti-Saraki lawmakers, had demanded a reshuffling of the committees membership for peace to return to the troubled assembly.

In the ensuing exercise, Saraki’s most outspoken critic, Kabiru Marafa, was appointed chairman of the Petroleum (downstream) Committee. He was chairman of the Committee on National Population.

Also, Oluremi Tinubu, a key member of the anti-Saraki Unity Forum, was named chairperson of the Committee on Environment.

Previously, she headed the Committtee on Women Affairs.

Suleiman Hukunyi, another critic of the senate president, was put in charge of the Committee on National Identity.

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https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/apprehension-senate-saraki-announces-emergency-committee-reshuffle/amp/

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Obasanjo, Jonathan for probe over East-West Road


The Senate has commenced investigation into the 675km dual-carriageway East-West Road which has gulped N726 billion and is yet to be completed. The Senate also urged the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA and Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to intervene in the rehabilitation and directed the Ministry of Niger Delta to ensure the completion of the East/ West Road particularly the section that links the multi-national investment within the 2017 budget year.

It also mandated its Committee on Niger Delta to investigate the contract and report back within four weeks.

According to the Senate, the abandonment has disrupted economic activities in the country, noting that the road project was awarded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 at the value of N211 billion, but the project could not commence in 2007 as arranged because it was not included in the 2007 Appropriation Act, adding that during the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua, nothing much was achieved as a result of lack of engineering drawings for the project.

The senators have, meanwhile, said that former President Goodluck Jonathan after the production of engineering drawings revalidated the contract sum from N211 billion to N726 billion and rewarded same to several contractors in 5 sections(I-V).

The resolutions of the Senate were sequel it a motion by Senator George Sekibo (PDP, Rivers East) and co- sponsored by 23 other senators.

According to him, the East-West Road links other parts of the country to multi-billion and multinational investments including Port Harcourt Refinery 1 and 2, Indorama Petrochemicals, Notoire Fertilizer Company, NAFCON, federal ocean terminal 1 and 2, Onne/Ikpokiri Oil and Gas Free Zone, as well as the Nigeria Naval College among others. He said that thousands of heavy duty vehicles ply the section of Aba/Eleme Road Junction to Onne Road on daily basis. He was worried that a portion road that is less than seven kilometres stretch which is the bad section could delay a traveller for more than four hours. Speaking in the same vein, Senators James Manager, PDP Delta South and Magnus Abe, APC, Rivers South East said that was unimaginable how such a major road would be abandoned to cause hardship to the people, wondering that no budgetary allocation was made in 2017 Appropriation Law on the completion of work on the road. Also in his remarks, Senator Kabiru Marafa, APC,Zamfara Central added a prayer that the Senate should investigate the award of the contract, just as Senator Magnus Abe who seconded the additional prayer, stressed the need for the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC to be commended for road construction in the area and asked that the Senate investigate the award of the contract under review. On his part, Senator John Enoh, APC, Cross River Central said that the Executive branch should explore alternative funding arrangement to complete the project, just as Senator Clifford Ordia, PDP, Edo Central supported Enoh, suggesting that the Executive branch should explore alternative funding to complete the project.





https://nationalaccordnewspaper.com/obasanjo-jonathan-probe-east-west-road/