₦airaland Forum

In what it described as a reaction to public outcry against a breach of the constitution, the House of Representatives yesterday reversed its earlier decision to grant powers to President Goodluck Jonathan over funds of states and local governments under emergency rule. Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states are currently under emergency rule.

Consequently, the lawmakers revoked section 3(2)(e) of the harmonised, adopted and National Assembly-approved Emergency Powers Regulations that give the president power to use state and local government funds for security purposes, and urged the Senate to give it force of law by concurring and adopting the amendment.

The decision was sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi (PDP, Taraba) where he argued that empowering the president contravenes the 1999 Constitution (as amended), against several Supreme Court decisions and negates the whole intent of amendments on the Emergency Proclamation in ensuring democratic structures are in place during the period of emergency rule.

“The conference report actually negates everything else we have done. That single amendment negates all others that we have done”, El-Sudi said while drawing attention to the indirect withdrawal of administrative powers from the governors of the states who would have no funds to carry out their duties if the presidency failed to release them.

“On one hand, we said administration remains with governors and, on the other, we say fund lies in the hands of the president; how will the governors administer the states?” he queried.

He noted that Nigeria operates a federalism: “The federal government has no stake in issues of money of states and local governments and, therefore, the president cannot withhold the funds. The issue of budget or funds belonging to the state is a constitution matter. And the money is not just lying there idle; they have a budget they need to pursue.”

The lawmaker also pointed out that the constitutional responsibility of the federal government is to provide security for the lives and property of its citizens without recourse to state funds and that the president can explore the option of a supplementary budget to fund the emergency rule.

In his ruling on the motion, speaker of the House Hon. Aminu Tambuwal appealed for support from his colleagues for the motion, saying that he would never support an institution of arrogance that does not correct its mistakes.

“Attention has been drawn to the constitution provision of our earlier decision,” he said, adding that there have been reactions about the impropriety of the act. “If we take a decision clearly against the constitution, and attention is drawn, we will not lose anything to do the correct thing. We will reject any provision that is against the constitution,” he said.

But three lawmakers opposed the motion based on the submission of one of them, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) that the cited reasons for the amendments apply to normal situations and not to an emergency one as is the case.

“There should be a balance between the lives of the people there and the funds we are talking about. No money is equivalent to one life, so if money will allow for protection, we should not hesitate,” he said.

The motion was approved by 194 lawmakers against 3.

Refreshed fear and apprehension have gripped residents of the northern Nigeria city of Kano, especially, non-natives with the latest killing of two Igbo business men based in the state.
The incident which occurred last weekend at Baban Layi, Kurna Asabe area of the city has interrupted relative peace gradually returning in the city.

Ibe Ugwuanyi (30), a Vulcanizer and Eke Osita Joseph (35) an Electronics dealer, were both shot at close range by two unknown gun men who stormed Osita’s electronics shop at about 7:30 p.m. and delivered several bullets on the two friends and brothers.

The duo hailed from Nsukka in Enugu state and were said to be very close allies.
On the fateful day, Ibe who had his shop on Ibadan Road, Sabon Gari, Kano went to Baban Layi, Kurna Asabe to visit his fellow tribesman and businessman, Joseph for a private business discussion and to watch movies as he always does at the close of the day’s business, one of their relatives told Pointblanknews.com.

According to another source, while discussions were in progress, two gunmen from nowhere stormed the shop, while they were both discussing and watching movies and opened fire on both Ibe and Joseph, killing them instantly and escaped the scene.

Their remains have been deposited to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for autopsy.
In contrast with speculations that the gruesome murder of Ibe and Osita was yet another case of terrorist attack, Kano State Police Command spokesman, Magaji Musa Majia told Pointblianknews.com that from information gathered so far, it could be a case of assassination.

We believe it could be a case of assassination arising from a business deal. It does not look like a terrorist attack; but investigation is on top gear to ascertain the real cause of their death. We have spread our drag-net and in no distance time, our detectives will come up with a useful result.

I seize this opportunity to call on all residents to remain calm and law-abiding. We all have a duty to cooperate with security agencies to fight crime and criminal activities. There is no need to panic because the police remain committed in protecting lives and properties of Nigerians, Magaji stated.

Minna – Niger state governors Dr. Babangida Aliyu has carpeted the senate president David Mark on his call for the banning of the Almajiri system saying, the solution to the system is not the banning because you don’t ban a culture without having a replacement.

Speaking when the Senate Committee on Education paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Minna, Monday, the governor said many vital issues like their religion, culture and settlement have to be taken into consideration before thinking of banning the system.

“It is not just something you just wake up and say ban. It is the same thing like the Normadic schools introduced by the federal government some years ago and because we did not pay attention to their culture and religion, major problems started coming up and this is why the programme is not succeeding,” he noted.

According to him, “If we can have a way where the federal, state and local governments can come to the aid of these people by absolving them and their teachers into normal school system so that people will not think we want to kill their religion by banning what they consider their culture and that is why we have to think deeply about that.” He also kicked against the building of Almajiri schools pointing out that this will not solve the problem because it will look to them as if they are being stigmatized.

“I agree that there is the need to do something about the Almajiri system but I feel that with the way we are doing it now by just building Almajiri schools, it will not solve the problem. They must be treated as citizens and not to make it look like a stigma and we have to sit down and look at these and it is not the question of banning but a question of what do we do to make sure they are all absorbed into the formal school system,” the governor remarked.

Governor Aliyu also took a swipe at the nation’s school curriculum and called for its immediate review.

According to him, “certificate does not make a man; certificate does not do the work but it is the person who does the work and this is why we need to pay less attention on certificate which many students are now desperate to acquire but rather pay attention on what they can produce.”

Chairman senate committee on education senator Uche Chukwumerije has earlier spoken on the need for all tiers of government in the country to pay special attention more on education pointing out that Basic education is the foundation to the transformation of any nation.

He said the committee has been highly impressed from its record about the tremendous monumental growth in the number of schools, number of classrooms and the tremendous steps being taken in the area of manpower in Niger state since 2007, which he said has led into rendering of quality education in the state.

The committee members were in Niger state as part of their oversight functions to some federal Education establishments in the state.

Embattled Governor of Rivers state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has said his suspension from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, was done in haste and outside the confines of the law.


Amaechi who spoke Monday at an Interactive Session in Port-Harcourt said, hence the allegations cited were already in the law court it was illogical for the National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP to sanction him to that extent.

Reacting through the state Commissioner for Information, Mrs Ibim Semenitari in Port Harcourt on Monday, Amaechi said “We are concerned, as we believe this is political witch hunt. It is worrisome”.

“The reason given is the suspension of the Obio/Akpor council. This is purely a legislative matter and done in accordance to the laws of local government councils in Rivers State,”Amaechi stated.

He described the action of the NWC as laughable.

The Governor who said his problem with the party executives at the national level started when he dissolved the local councils in the state said, efforts were underway to re-consider the decision when an order came from Abuja to re-instate the chairmen.

“Today, they called an emergency NWC meeting of the party by 7am when people are trying to bath and go out. Now if our party obeys rules. Law and order, (right?) the matter is in court. Can the house do anything? When the matter is in the court, can anybody do anything? The problem is, after we have a problem, do we want to obey the law?”

“Whether we are going to do that is in the powers of the state assembly. I know the powers of the assembly. I was a Speaker and I used it. If the House of assembly therefore decides to suspend the council chairmen, that is not governor Amaechi”.

On the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, elections which took place over the weekend, he said, he contested and won just as he advised the parallel Chairman of the NGF, Jonah Jang to concerntrate his energies on other things.

“If they all join hands to fight me and I still won, they should do what? Join me to thank God. Because what it means is that god has spoken and don’t go against God’s will. If you go against God’s will, it will not go well. You it happened when I was in Ghana. For ten months, I fasted and I prayed…..They should allow democracy to reign”.

“I had an engagement with the Inspector-General of Police on the state police issue and he said Governors will abuse the powers of the state police. Who is abusing police powers now? If you said you don’t want to privatize the police, (because the police has been privatized) and allow the police to be for the benefit of the public. And imagine if you and I cannot go to court to seek protection, where else can we go to? If you go to court and they said they give you protection and someone said, ‘to hell with the Court’ where will you go to? Are we under military regime?”, he stressed

A veteran journalist and indigene of Borno State (name withheld) who is taking refuge in Kaduna following the grounding of commercial activities as a result of the ongoing war between the military and the insurgent Boko Haram group yesterday alleged that some members of the Boko Haram group were fleeing the state en masse to neighbouring states of Kano and Kaduna.

The veteran journalists who landed in Kaduna on Monday midnight told our correspondent that he and other members of his family had to leave the town in view of the hardship being experienced.

He said, “it seems the military is winning the war, they military has capture most of the local governments in northern Borno who were under the control of the insurgent group.”

“They members of the Boko Haram group are leaving the state en masse to Kano and Kaduna states. The security operatives need to tighten their intelligence units, because once the come into the state, they melt or mix with the people here and it would be difficult to fish them out.

“I saw some of them inside the bus i boarded from Maiduguri to Kaduna, some of them alighted in Kano, while some are in Kaduna now.

“It is very unfortunate that some of the bus drivers conveying these insurgents are bribing the security agencies on the road.

“The security operatives at the check point don’t even check the buses once they collected the money. And a good number of them are in Kano and Kaduna, while some are fleeing to Bauchi State too.

“They people are moving through the road linking Damaturu-Bauchi-Kano and to Kaduna.

“The security need to be very strategic, they should do their work diligently, they should not be corrupt, they should search the people properly, there should be proper screening for the people moving out of Borno and Yobe states, because what i saw on the road when we were coming to Kaduna is alarming,” he added.

Speaking further, he said “The recent declaration of the State of emergency in Borno State is very unfortunate because lives are no more the same like what was obtainable before.”

“No commercial activities again in Maiduguri, no academic activities in the area, people have fled Maiduguri; there is nothing going on in the town. No school, no banking, no communication network. The town is grounded,” he said.

The Northern State Governors’ Forum (NSGF) on Saturday in Minna said it was in support of the state of emergency rule imposed on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in the North-East.

Forum Chairman and Niger Governor, Babangida Aliyu, disclosed this in a statement by Danladi Ndayebo, his Chief Press Secretary, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The NSGF however expressed the hope that the imposition of emergency rule would complement Federal Government’s offer of amnesty earlier made to members of the Boko Haram sect.