Nigerian Newspapers
Arunma Oteh: Whose battle are Reps fighting? (2)
By CLEM AGUIYI SMS Only: 08034747898 Email: [email protected]
When I penned my last week episode entitled Arunma Oath: Whose battle are the Reps fighting? wherein, I expressed my disappointment with the House of Representatives for trampling on the very essence of its existence; democracy, freedom of expression and rule of law, by the way and manner it allowed itself to handle the unfortunate disagreement between Ms. Aruman Oteh and Hon Haman Hembe, Chairman, House Committee on Capital Market which lead to the deletion of the SEC from the 2013 Appropriation.
I further held the view that the House should reverse itself in the interest of the nation and also because it has no power under the constitution to abdicate any of its responsibilities, which include approving appropriation for all legitimate commissions or agencies of government. The House can tinker up or down with a budget estimate, downsize, right size or oversize them, but never to return zero appropriation. Such arbitrariness is without any known precedence in democracy.
What the House had done with SEC can only be likened to former President Obasanjo’s crude and unlawful withholding of the Lagos State Government subventions simply because he disagreed with the then Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu over the creation of additional local governments or what are now development centres in Lagos State.
The Supreme Court rightly ruled against the former president. Expectedly, my position elicited mixed reactions from my friends in the House; a handful reacted angrily to my position without making any attempt to defeat my position with any sound logic, but to my relief several others called and gave my article a ‘high mark’ for ‘telling things the way it is’. The Senate already recognised this dangerous folly and took the distinguished step of reversing itself, remaining the House leadership.
In washing its hands off the call for Oteh’s sack based on the spurious allegation that she is not qualified for the job of DG of the SEC, and the House ploy to procure her said sack via blackmail and muscling of the Presidency, the now repented Senate through its spokesperson said ‘we have no problem with Arunma Oteh’s ‘competence or qualification’ or the SEC performance, their problem is with the House of Representatives. Why is the House leadrship denying the facts of Oteh’s qualification? Is it that they never had the opportunity to see through her star spangled resume?
Why is the House holding to such a bizarre fantasy that Oteh is not qualified just to denigrate her? Why must this beautiful and intelligent woman be crushed and destroyed at all cost? Why kill a fly with a sledge hammer? Why? With the new position of the Senate, it is apparent that the House cannot muster 2/3 of votes in the Senate for the needed concurrence to override the president’s veto of the bill with regards to the SEC appropriation .
The external connection and influence fuelling this saga cannot be ruled out. Let me warn that we do not want to live in a country where an arm of government can be bought over by powerful interest groups to do their selfish bidden at the detriment of the common good of all. Many believe the House is merely acting out the script of a powerful interest who are not sparing costs to pull down lady Oteh. Ordinarily, this highly cerebral and high achieving lady and the House Committee on Capital Market ought to be on the same side getting accolades and kudos for turning the capital market around for good.
Under Oteh the market is riding high, investor’s confidence has rebounded, things are looking up and getting rosier but Oteh and the House had to quarrel because they operate based on two different ideologies, one visible and the other invisible. Oteh is ostensibly being persecuted to deny her the honour of basking in the glory of the successes being recorded in the capital market under her watch.
Those in the know say that the zero appropriation to SEC in the 2013 budget were all part of a larger plan to destroy the Capital Market and reversedyer gains. If true, this defeats the vision of the ‘Nigerian project’ to build a nation united by democracy, pursuit of economic development and good governance according to the rule of law etc. There are people even among the Reps leadrship who think the House was misled and needed to revisit the SEC saga, but will not speak out for fear of group harassment and intimidation.
They recall what happened to Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe for daring to be independent minded; how the Senate leadership under. Senator Anyim Pius Anyim in excessive display of its power labelled Chief Nzeribe a trouble maker and suspended him indefinitely from the Red Chamber thus ending his political career. They also reminded me of how the House leadership under Hon Dimeji Bankole shut the door on Dino Melaiye for opening his mouth too wide.
To those that live in such fear I say ‘do not be afraid’. The quarrel between the SEC and the Committee on Capital Market was an unfortunate one but there are good lessons to learn from it; All Nigerian democratic institutions require strengthening ; the Legislative, Executive and the Judiciary. In the case of the Legislature, we require men and women knowledgeable enough and willing to promote rule of law. The same applies to the Executive where massive corruption must be eliminated.
The Judiciary must be strengthened to withstand pressure and must not become part of the impunity of the post military era. Interestingly, thesedays, every discourse on Oteh’s saga turn itself into a conversation on the political future of Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker, House of Representatives whom majority of my readers regard as disciplined, intelligent and highly revered.
They held without exception that Tambuwal looks good enough for A higher job, a viable and across the board acceptable candidate from the North. So far, no one has accused him of tribalism or being a religious bigot; he is liked by the moderate North and hugely acceptable in the South much more than a Buhari or Nuhu Ribadu. In spite of Tambuwal’s good credits, we the people insist that he needs to be reminded that the witchhunt against lady Oteh may permanently dent his reputation and risk everything he has accomplished so far, for, according to Barrister Mrs. Lillian Okeke, ‘the infamy and tragedy of the action against Oteh is that our revered Hon Aminu Tambuwal is presiding over the House.
I bet whatever modest achievement he may have made as speaker of this parliament, whenever the history will be told Aruma saga would have marred his record’. And for High Chief Eze Ike, Omereoha 1 of Amiri Oru. JJ Ibeka et al; ‘ it’s important that Mr Tambuwal, is reminded that this singular witchhunt of Arunma Oteh could derail his future political ambition.
This memo is directed to Rt Hon. Aminu Tambuwal because the preponderance of public opinion rests the lifting of the siege on the SEC squarely on his shoulder as the Speaker of the House. He has the responsibility to engage his colleagues and guide them away from their current ‘barrack culture’ disposition, an essentially authoritarian approach to political issues that was inimical to political compromise and rule of law.
He is duty bound to find a way of reaching political compromise on this matter because our continued failure to find a political solution to this matter and the uncertainty of how and when we can reach one is the worse risk we are taking on the capital market and the economy. The Arunma Oteh that I know has the highest regard for the House as an institution. She has her unqualified respect for members and the House leadership. She is at all time willing and ready to subordinate herself as a public officer to the House of Reps Constitutional Oversights. She understands and accept that legislative oversights is a positive role with regards to the Capital Market management and operation.
She knows her onions and ready to role her sleeves to work the work to get our capital market on the right footings. The deliberate misinformation that she is not qualified for the job of DG of the SEC counts for nothing especially when her credentials which is in the public domain is placed side by side with the extant law specifying the required qualification needed for the position of the DG of SEC.
The House must get off the high horse and face the reality; the President will not and cannot sack Oteh based on lies and outright mischief, her credentials are not the real bone of contention; the blind pursuit for vendetta against an ordinary citizen by the whole institution of the House is lowering the estimation of the House in the eyes of the people; the House must also accept that it is acting beyond its power by deleting SEC from appropriation especially in the face of the fact that the so called resolution calling for her sack based on qualification is without basis and counts for nothing.
Another intriguing aspect of these whole saga is that while Oteh endures the orchestrated spurious attack on her person and her hard earned reputation, the civil society organizations, human-rights group, the often vociferous Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, CAN as a body, intellectuals, professional organisations such as the Nigeria Bar Association and NUJ and mostly the free print press and independent electronic media has remained voiceless and powerless, while maintaining a deafening but unfair silence.
I nevertheless have my hope that people with conscience both inside and outside the House will rise to resolve this matter. What Tambuwal and his Honourable House leadership does in fixing the Reps on this issue is their business. But as a man with eyes trained on history, I will urge him to listen to the voice of the people. For lady Arunma Oteh, I will say; ‘you are not alone’ , ‘I am with you, the people are with you, God, thy Rock is with you, do not be afraid! Follow on twitter @myclemo
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•Deploy more personnel as army chief vows to wipe out terror group
•Security beefed up at N’Assembly
Deji Elumoye and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, is under a massive security cordon following threats of attacks by insurgents and the increasing wave of banditry in the contiguous states of Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger States, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.
There has been a wave of kidnappings in the outskirts of the federal capital, notably Pegi, Tuganmaje and Kuje among others, which the police have battled in recent times.
The security situation in and around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was heightened by the pronouncement of the Niger State Governor, Mr. Sani Bello, that Boko Haram fighters who he said sacked 50 villages in the state and hoisted the terror group’s flag, were about two hours drive away from the FCT.
Security has also been beefed up at the National Assembly as operatives, yesterday, thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The deteriorating security situation nationwide prompted the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, to warn that the 2023 general election may not hold, demanding the declaration of a state of emergency as well as the convocation of a national conference.
However, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, yesterday restated the Nigerian Army’s determination to annihilate Boko Haram.
But the Governor of Katsina State, Hon. Bello Masari, cautioned against declaring a state of emergency, saying doing so isn’t the solution to combat the security challenges facing the country.
The security of the nation’s airports was also in focus yesterday as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said there was no threat to them.
THISDAY’s investigations showed increased presence of troops, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel and intelligence operatives at the three strategic entrances to the city notably, Keffi, Zuba and Gwagwalada.
More checkpoints were also mounted around Gwagwalada and Keffi.
THISDAY also observed increased intelligence deployment at the entrance and the borders of FCT with contiguous states.
Beyond the borders, there were more deployments and police patrols inside the city and increased intelligence deployments as well.
Security sources told THISDAY: “There are deployments here and there but they are routine. Alertness is key to a secure environment.”
It was also learnt that security agencies were involved in frenzied meetings throughout yesterday.
The meetings, coordinated by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff under the new joint operational strategy of the armed forces, were aimed at coordinating a joint response to possible threats of attack to the FCT.
“I understand the security teams have been meeting for some days now and if you look around you, you will notice that there are increasing patrols and numbers of security personnel. The threats are not been taken lightly,” a source said.
National Assembly workers, lawmakers and visitors also had a harrowing experience accessing the legislative complex due to heightened security in the area.
Security operatives thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja, impeding both human and vehicular traffic.
The Sergeant-at-arm of the National Assembly and other security agencies supervised the operations, leading to huge traffic build-up inside the complex.
Legislative staff, visitors and lawmakers were seen patiently waiting for their cars to be searched so that they could go ahead with the business of the day.
Some staff and visitors at some point got tired of waiting and were seen alighting from their cars to trek from the gate to the complex.
Meanwhile, the ONSA has said there is no threat to the nation’s airports.
A statement by the Head of Strategic Communication, Mr. Zachari Usman, said the reports of threats to the airports were an internal correspondence of security threat assessment misconstrued as security threat to the airports.
PDP Demands State of Emergency
In a related development, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday demanded the declaration of a state of emergency, warning that the 2023 general election might not hold if the federal government failed to tackle insecurity.
He called on the federal government to summon a national conference to address the spike in insecurity.
Secondus added that the national caucus of the party will meet today to discuss the state of the nation.
Addressing members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, Secondus said: “We are worried Abuja is not even safe. It is no longer politics. We got alert of plots to bomb and burn down our airports.
“We urge the federal government to declare a national state of emergency in security. There is the need to call a national conference to discuss the insecurity in the country.
“There may not be any election in 2023 in Nigeria due to insecurity. This government must listen to the people. The Buhari government should call a national confab to discuss security and state of the nation. It is no longer politics. This time we are not playing politics. Let’s keep politics aside and move the nation forward.”
He said the country had been grounded, regretting that there had been no matching response from the federal government.
Secondus said in the past, terrorism in the North was confined to the North-east, but with the report of Boko Haram occupying villages in Niger State, terrorism had spread to the North-central
“Herdsmen are also menacing in the West; gunmen causing havoc in the East; and the militants in the South; all killing, looting, raping, maiming and burning down homes. The situation is bad; Nigerians all over are living in fear,” he said.
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the problem of Nigeria was outside of the PDP headquarters, while pledging the support of the Senate to the declaration of state of emergency in security.
Abaribe said he deliberately decided not to speak on the floor of the Senate but to allow the APC senators to speak so as to avoid being accused of giving a partisan colouration to the issue of insecurity.
He stated that only electoral reforms would give victory to the opposition party in the 2023 general election and ensure a democratic defeat of the APC-led federal government.
Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, commended the NEC and the PDP leadership for their collective efforts at resolving the House leadership crisis.
The NEC meeting adopted the position of Secondus, calling on the federal government to convoke a national conference to discuss the state of insecurity in the country, according to a communiqué read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
Army Chief Vows to Wipe Out Boko Haram
The army yesterday reiterated its commitment to wipe out Boko Haram.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, told reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State that Boko Haram had been defeated in many encounters and would continue to be defeated until it’s annihilated from Nigeria.
“We will take on Boko Haram decisively, and we are committed to the focus of the operations, which is the total annihilation of Boko Haram from Nigeria,” he said.
The COAS, who was visiting the headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri for the fifth time since his appointment four months ago, said the visit was to boost the morale of the troops, reassure them and listen to any issues affecting them.
Earlier, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Farouq Yahaya, lauded the visit, which he said had continued to boost the morale of the troops.
“We are honoured, we are grateful, we are encouraged by those visits. You provided us guidance, logistics and other things we required. We are most grateful for those visits,” Yahaya said.
State of Emergency Won’t Solve Security Challenges, Says Masari
Katsina State Governor, Hon. Aminu Masari, has, however, said declaration of a state of emergency won’t solve the security challenges facing the nation.
Masari, who spoke yesterday with journalists after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the State House, Abuja stated that he was against the recent call by the House of Representatives for the declaration of a state of emergency in the security sector as it would not solve the problem.
According to him, declaring a state of emergency will not achieve the desired effect as the security structure and personnel to be used to execute the emergency are already overstretched in a bid to safeguard lives and property.
Sourced From: THISDAYLIVE
Tribune Online
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 62 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 165,110. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “55 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; Lagos-21, Yobe-19, Ogun-6, Akwa Ibom-3, Kaduna-2, Plateau-2, FCT-1, Rivers-1.” YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE COVID-19: Nigeria Recorded […]
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Tribune Online
Sourced From: Tribune Online
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
The people of the South East region have been urged to explore the power of negotiation and mutual settlement in the face of ongoing killings and security challenges in the zone because the east can not afford another war at present.
Stakeholders from the South-East geo-political zone made the remark on Thursday, at the unveiling of the book, “Igbo, 50 years after Biafra,” written by Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Drainage Services, Joe Igbokwe, held at Ikeja G.R.A.
Speaking at the unveiling of the book, the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Cutis Adigba,
urged the people of the South-East to learn to build bridges across the country, so that they can realise their ambition of producing the next president of Nigeria.
Adigba urged leaders from the zone to discourage the move and agitation by some youths in the South East to go to war and secede out of Nigeria.
Also read: Banditry: Disregard viral video, Niger State gov’t urges residents
He said that Igbo have always found it difficult to rule Nigeria because they refused to build bridges across the six geo-political zones that made up Nigeria.
While describing the agitation as uncalled for, Adigba noted that after two decades that Nigeria returned to civil rule, the Igbo has predominantly identified with only one political party.
He maintained that remaining in one party can not advance the cause of the people of South East and cannot make them realise their objective of producing an Igbo man as president.
He maintained that the publisher of the book, Igbokwe played politics outside his state, so that the Igbo race can be integrated with one another race.
Adigba said the failure of the Igbo to reintegrate with other ethnic nationalities politically was responsible for the retrogression of the race in Nigerian politics.
Igbokwe, also addressing guests on the occasion, maintained that the Igbo are not advancing politically because they refused to be integrated into National politics, lamenting that, despite their success in business, they are not successful in playing politics at the national level.
Corroborating Dimgba, Igbokwe noted that there was the need for the Igbo people to stand up and build bridges so that their objective of producing the next president of Nigeria could be realised.
According to him: “I have decided to raise my voice, I hope my people will hear me while trying to quell the effect of the war, our people are spoiling for another war, mayhem is being unleashed in Igbo land, and there is palpable fear.
“Those who could speak have lost their voice, mindful of the consequences of their actions, I am calling on all Igbo leaders to speak up because all actions carry consequences, consequences of the silence will be too dastardly to sustain.
“Those silently supporting the wild wind should be careful or else they hand over to their children,” he said.
Igbokwe urged those spoiling for war to jettison their plan and embrace dialogue, urging them to learn from the South West region that despite the challenges faced after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election, they did not go to war, and the region had the opportunity of producing two of her sons for presidential position in 1999.
“You have to build bridges to become president of Nigeria, but it is unfortunate the Igbo are burning bridges.”
Speaking at the event, Chief Uche Dimgba who is the coordinator of Igbo in All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos, described Igbokwe as “a Frank, fearless and reliable leader, who based his views on issues and stand by his opinions, and we the Igbo have confidence in him and believe he can lead us aright.”
“He is a leader we Igbo believe in and we will follow him. If he can serve all the governors produced in Lagos State since 1999, he is a better man to follow because he possesses all the experience that can be of benefit to Igbo both at home and in the diaspora.”
The post Attacks on S’East: We must explore all options of negotiation — Stakeholders urge Igbo appeared first on Vanguard News.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
The government said that no worker should stay back beyond 6:00 p.m. within premises of buildings undergoing construction.
The post Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
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Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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