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Reps Speaker, Abbas Unveils134 Standing Committees
By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja
House of Representatives Speaker, Rt. Hon Tajudeen Abbas on Thursday, announced a long list of 134 Standing Committees of the 10th House, as the House adjourned sitting for six weeks, marking the end of the legislative year.
The Speaker named Hon.
Abubakar Bichi Appropriations Committee Chairman, Hon. Babajimi Benson, Defence Chairman, Hon. Regina Akume, National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).Hon. Muktar Betara was appointed FCT Chairman, Yusuf Gagdi Navy, Idris Ahmed Wase, Federal Character, while Hon. Bamidele Salam was appointed Chairman, Public Accounts Committee; Wole Oke, Judiciary.
Others are Hon. Adamu Tanko – Diaspora; Hon. Okonta Chris – Climate Change; Hon. Chris Ogene – Renewable Energy; Hon. Bello el-Rufai – Banking Regulations; Hon. Ibrahim Bukar-Ibrahim – Rural Electrification.
“Today will equally mark the commencement of committee activities in the 10th House of Representatives as we formally unveil and inaugurate the newly constituted Standing Committees of the House for members to begin to respond to the yearnings of our Constituents through the discharge of our Constitutional obligations,” Hon Abbas said.
He said that the House, since its inauguration on June 13, 2023, has made remarkable progress in solidifying its presence and fulfilling its duties.
“The House has also set up ad-hoc committees to investigate gas flaring and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on personnel recruitment and employment racketeering. The House has screened and confirmed the newly appointed Service Chiefs. The Committee on Legislative Agenda is concluding its assignment. All these signify the seriousness we have attached to the confidence the people reposed in us. The inauguration of standing committees today, not only marks the completion of the initial phase of settling down but also underscores our dedication to efficient governance.”
The Speaker said “Pursuant to Section 62 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers us to work through committees, I am glad to inform the House and the general public that the Selection Committee which I chair, has concluded the constitution of Committees for the House. The Selection Committee relied on the capacities, experiences, knowledge, competencies, skills and legislative interests of members in assigning colleagues to different committees. This, we did, to ensure that we have round pegs in round holes. Indeed, we had to cope with the onerous task of assigning members to the different committees based on the criteria listed earlier.”
He noted that he was not unmindful of the fact that despite the painstaking efforts of the Selection Committee in setting up these committees, not everybody will be satisfied in terms of choice of committees.
“I particularly carry a very heavy burden to appreciate members for their unanimous endorsement of my aspiration to lead this House. However, it is practically impossible to make every member a Committee Chairman or Vice Chairman. But, let me remind you that there are limitless opportunities within the House, and I assure you that we will provide these opportunities for every member desirous of service to so do. While the outcome may not be perfect, favourable and satisfactory to all, I have no doubt that the Selection Committee has done what could be considered to be in the best interest of the House and nation. It is, therefore, proper and fitting, at this juncture, to express my gratitude to members of the Selection Committee for their sacrifices and commitment to the constitution of the committees we are inaugurating today,” the Speaker said.
He also advised the members that no committee is more important than the other.
“My dear Colleagues, you would recall that the leadership of the House has consistently assured members of its resolve to be fair to all, irrespective of political leanings and affiliations. There are no grade ‘A’ nor the so-called ‘juicy committees’ as some erroneously often think. Every committee of the House enjoys equal status, powers and privileges as mere working groups to discharge the mandate given to us by our constituents. The committee system, aptly described as little legislatures by Woodrow Wilson, plays a crucial role in legislative bodies worldwide. Indeed, it serves as the fulcrum of the Legislature due to its central role in performing the bulk of legislative responsibilities and tasks. This system involves dividing the Legislature into smaller component units or working groups, which aims to enhance efficiency, improve productivity, facilitate legislative oversight of other branches of government, promote citizens’ participation in legislation, and enable detailed scrutiny of legislative instruments such as Bills and Motions,” Hon Abbas said.
The Speaker also noted that all members of Committees have equal status and must be carried along as such.
“Committee Chairmen are only administrative heads who must ensure the involvement of every member in the activities of Committees. The principle of teamwork should guide our engagements in these committees. Committee Chairmen must ensure that there are functional secretariats for their respective committees. This is very crucial as the House is redefining legislative work at the Committees. All Committees are now required to submit regular reports of their activities to the leadership of the House on a quarterly basis. Investigative hearings, public hearings and reports from oversight functions have to be submitted to the House in plenary for further legislative action. Accordingly, the Committees should draw up their work plans and submit same to the Leadership of the House,” He said.
He said that the House has developed a Monitoring and Evaluation framework for the performance assessment and review of committees.
“Accordingly, Committees will be regularly evaluated using the benchmark set out in the evaluation framework. Committees which fail to meet 70% in the evaluation will be reconstituted. In essence, there shall be no room for redundant or non-performing committees. In light of this, therefore, a Committee on Monitoring and Evaluation is one of the Committees being inaugurated today. This Committee is comprised of all the Principal Officers of the House and will be Chaired by my humble self.
“Owing to the high turnover in the Legislature witnessed in the last general elections and the coming on-board of these new committees, there is an urgent need to build the capacity of Chairmen of Committees and their Deputies to prepare them for the onerous task ahead. It is in this wise that I call on the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) to immediately design a capacity-building programme that will equip the leadership of our committees with the requisite knowledge and skill on committee management, oversight function, investigative hearing, public hearings and useful knowledge in this regard.”
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281 Inmates Missing from Custodial Centre after Borno Flood
By David Torough, Abuja
Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has declared 281 inmates missing from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Maiduguri, Borno State.
NCoS said this followed an evacuation after the flood that engulfed the state capital.
A statement onby the Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Mr Abubakar Umar yesterday in Abuja said seven other inmates had been recaptured.
Umar said that the service was in custody of the details of the missing inmates, including their biometrics.
“The flood brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the medium security custodial centre Maiduguri (MSCC) as well as the staff quarters in the city.
“Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.
“However, it is important to note that the service is in custody of their details, including their biometrics, which is being made available to the public.
“The service is working in synergy with other security agencies as both covert and overt deployments have been activated to look out for them.
“Presently, a total of seven (7) inmates have been recaptured and returned to custody, while efforts are on ground to track down the rest and bring them back to safe custody.“While this effort is on, the public is assured that the incident does not impede or affect public safety,” he said.
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NNPCL Lifts Petrol from Dangote at N898 Per Litre
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
After controversies, trucks from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) yesterday lifted petrol from the Dangote Refinery.
NNPCL revealed that Dangote Refinery sold the fuel at N898 per litre.
The national oil company began loading yesterday after moving about 300 trucks to the 650,000 capacity refinery Dangote Refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.
Its spokesman, Olufemi Soneye was quoted as saying, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today [Sunday].
”“The claim that we purchased it at N760 per liter is incorrect.
“For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per liter.
”At least, over 70 trucks had loaded at the time of this report.
This marks an end to the month-long debate over the quality and sale of the Dangote petrol.
Speaking to newsmen at the refinery, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin described the commencement of the petrol lifting moment of pride to every Nigerian.
He said, “My President has been showing presentations that 52 years ago, we were trying to see how to solve the problem of PMS supply and the queues. Now, after 52 years, we have a solution.
“And the solution is local production of PMS and it is from a Nigerian oil company. And as EPC contractor, it was constructed by a Nigerian company.
“So, it’s a matter of pride that a Nigerian oil company, constructed by a Nigerian-owned company, is able to generate PMS from the local crude and daily will not only to meet the entire requirement of Nigeria, but can also have surplus to export. So, it is a time and moment of great pride to every Nigerian.”
Edwin said 44 percent of the PMS production from the Dangote refinery can meet the requirement of the entire country.
“If you look at the refinery as a whole, PMS alone, every day, 650,000 barrels of crude if we’re processing, we can generate more than 54 million litres of PMS.
“And, of course, the refinery has the capacity to produce various other products too. 44% of the production can meet the entire requirement of the country, 56% of the production has to be exported. “So, it is a huge refinery. So, it is not only going to be doing import substitution, but it is also going to make Forex generation through export revenue.
“The gantries are actually 86 and they can load 86 trucks at a go,” he said.
Last Friday, in Abuja, a member of the Presidential Committee on the Sale of Crude Oil and Refined Product and Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji confirmed that the NNPCL remains the sole buyer of petrol from the Dangote refinery while willing off-takers are free to lift diesel and other products from the refinery.
According to Adedeji, the NNPCL would further distribute to other independent marketers after lifting from the refinery.
He said the nation’s oil company will commence the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira from October 1.
COVER
CBN Issues 30-day Deadline to Payment Service Providers on PoS Transactions
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new directive to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), requiring them to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale (PoS) transactions.This move is aimed at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria.
The directive issued on Wednesday aims at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria following CBN’s initiative to diversify the Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) structure, which previously operated through a single aggregator. In a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the CBN Payments System Management Department, the apex bank mandates that all PoS transactions from merchant and agent locations—whether physical or electronic—must now be routed through any CBN-licensed PTSA.The directive is part of efforts to decentralize PoS transaction routing and address concerns over the centralization of such transactions under a single entity.In Aug. 2011, the CBN initially granted a PTSA license to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc to serve as the sole aggregator of PoS transactions.However, to promote competition and enhance service delivery, the CBN awarded a second PTSA license to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL) on April 19.This development aims to reduce the dependence on a single aggregator for the management of PoS transactions, promoting transparency and operational efficiency in Nigeria’s growing electronic payments landscape.