POLITICS
10th Senate ‘ill Work to Restore Renewed Hope of Nigerians, Says Senate President
The new President of Senate, Sen.Godswill Akpabio says the 10th Senate will work to renew hope of Nigerians via people oriented legislations, given the current state of the nation.
He said the senate would also ensure improved revenue stream and proper oversight of MDAs to reduce waste of resources.
Akpabio said this shortly after his election as President of the 10th Senate.
According to him, the country is at a crossroad, grappling with lots of challenges.
” We have just Inherited an economy that requires renewal , revitalisation, I want to thank our President, Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for steps taken so far that has given a lot of hope to the entire Nigeria Federation and West African sub region.
”He said the senate would try its best to make laws that would ensure foreign direct investment into the country .
He said the Senate would pay attention to issues relating to persons with disability and the vulnerables via engagement of legislative action that would bring about empowerment to stop youths from been recruited into banditry, unknown gunmen, Boko Haram among other vices.
“We will pay attention to insecurity to ensure that our roads are free for people to travel to any parts of the country.
“We will expand legislations to improve the revenue stream of the country, our current president has a track record to improve revenue of the country.
“We are here to do our national duties. This Senate is about Nigeria and Nigerians, so long as the policies that comes to this chamber is about empowering Nigerians,we shall dwell and deliberate on them.
“We will work closely with the executive while maintaining the independence of the legislature.”
Akpabio said he did not believe in politically motivated infrastructure, saying that the 10th Senate would ensure serious oversight functions on MDAs.
This, he said was to discourage waste of resources of the country.
“We will put members of the executive on their toul, particularly the ministers, when they are appointed, we will follow project by project and will do our best in terms of appropriation.
“We will make efforts to assist the President ensure that we produce what we eat for the prosperity of Nigeria.
“We must tackle issues that relates to lean sources of revenue, we must emphasis economic viability, social acceptability, tackling environmental issues and therefore bring about sustainable growth.
“We will provide the required legislative framework and legal environment that will enable President Bola Tinubu anchor the policies of government.
“For the 10th Senate we are going to hit the ground running and make sure that our constituents are proud of us.”
The Sebate President urged the lawmakers to support good policies and programmes of Federal Government.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for removing fuel subsidy, saying that Nigeria must begin to produce its own fuel and encourage production of diesel.
He said the dreams , aspirations and wellbeing of Nigerians would be at the heart of legislative activities of the Senate and urged Nigerians to pray for the lawmakers.(NAN)
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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