POLITICS
Speaker Abbas Steps Down Recommendation Seeking to Release Nnamdi Kanu
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas on Thursday stepped down an amendment motion seeking to release Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
This followed a recommendation by Rep.Ginger Onwusibe (LP-Abia) following a motion by Rep.
Eze Nwachukwu Eze (PDP-Ebonyi) in Abuja during plenary.Eze had moved a motion titled “Need to Forestall Further Killings in Ebonyi Local Government Area, and the Rising Insecurityi in Ebonyi/Ohaukwu Federal Constituency, Ebonyi State.
But Onwusibe representing Isiala Ngwa North of Abia State had asked the House to amend the motion to ensure the release of Kanu so as to end the disturbing cases of killings in the south eastern part of the Country.
it would be recalled that Kanu had been in the custody of the Department of State Security (DSS) in spite ruling by the court to release the leader of the group
in his motion, Eze urged the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to consult with Political, Traditional and Religious Leaders in Ebonyi State and South East.
This according to him is to find a lasting solution to the Insecurity in the South East.
He also also urged the Acting Inspector General of Police to mobilise Armoured Personnel Carriers to strategic Points across Ebonyi State to forestall future attacks.
He further urged the Nigeria Police Force and other relevant security agencies to ensure effective policing of Ebonyi/ Ohaukwu Federal Constituency of Ebonyi, other States of the South-East and the entire country.
He also urged the Nigeria Police Force to engage in training of the vigilante group for intelligence gathering and effective community policing.
He asked that the House mandated the Committee on Police Affairs (lwhen constituted to make Budgetary provisions for the Nigeria Police force to acquire more combat Helicopters.
This according to him is to ensure proper surveillance of the South-East States and Nigeria in general.
However an amendment to the motion to include the release of Nnamdi Kanu was rejected and deferred by the Speaker who said the subject matter should not come under the motion on Ebonyi killings.
But Onwusibe said, the insecurity was as a result of the prolonged detention of Kanu, adding that the government should consider a way of releasing him so as to restore peace to the region.
However, Rep Ibrahim Halims, the Deputy leader of the House, rejected the amendment, saying, ” matters like that are always determined by court and not by parliamentary decision.”
In his contribution, Rep. Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Reps. said the motion moved by Onwusibe was to find an amicable way of resolving the issue with regards to Kanu.
He added that what the prayer of the amendment should read was to urge Mr president to use any other diplomatic or political approach to find a lasting solution on this issue.
According to him, those of us from the region know where the shoe is pinching us.
In his ruling, Abbas said “this is a topical issue, my ruling on this is that I will defer ruling on this at this particular time and I will invite both the minority and majority leaders
This according to him is to consult and see what the point of the law says before I make my own position known.
“So while I rule on other motions and amendment that have been proposed, that particular one is suspended for ruling next week after due consultation.”(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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