By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja

Senators yesterday during plenary continued complaining about their renovated chamber, with the Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Ali Ndume at one point describing the reconfigured chamber as a Conference Room.Recall that a week ago, bickerings about sitting arrangements led to a rowdy session which lasted for about 15 minutes, eventually forcing the Senate into executive session.

However, issues over alleged inadequacies in the Chamber once again took center stage yesterday during plenary when Senator Ali Ndume, through Order 42 of the Senate Standing rules pointed out that what was supposed to be a Chamber had been turned into a conference hall, stressing that was unacceptable. ”Mr President, I rise to make disturbing observations on this supposedly renovated chamber through order 42 that deals with personal privileges.”Since day one, precisely last week Tuesday when we moved into this Chamber that is supposed to have been renovated, there have been complaints here and there.”First was on sitting arrangements, followed by the echoing of voices by microphones that are not even audible. No voting device and the required facilities are not yet provided.”We need to correct all these anomalies for the Hallowed Chamber to be what it is supposed to be,” he said.Aligning with Ndume’s observations, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio said the observations were well noted and the point of Order upheld.He however explained to Ndume that complaints on sitting arrangements among Senators have been sorted out 99.9%, reminding him that the contract for the renovation work was not done by the 10th National Assembly.”This is not our contract and not even the National Assembly contract but that of the Federal Capital Development Authority ( FCDA), the landlord of the National Assembly Complex.”Observations on inadequacies in the renovated chamber are welcome from time to time for required perfection but what we should be aiming at in the long run is for us, as federal lawmakers, to have proper autonomy on the National Assembly Complex and not continue as tenants of FCDA,” he said.

By Ubong Ukpong

Price Hike: Cement Manufacturers Shun Reps Panel *Get 14 Days Ultimatum to Appear or Face SanctionsBy Ubong Ukpong, Abuja Bua Cement, Lafarge, Ibeto and Dangote Cement, were among other cement manufacturers, that called the bluff of the investigative hearing by the House of Representatives into the sudden astronomical hike of cement price in the country.

Consequently, the manufacturers, alongside other institutions, were handed 14 days ultimatum to appear before the panel or face sanctions. The public hearing held on Tuesday, was organized by a joint Committee of the House comprising the Committees on Solid Minerals, Industries, Commerce, and Special Duties, following a motion adopted by the House on the matter.Speaking at the commencement of the investigative hearing, speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, said the exercise was not a form of a witch hunt, but a way of addressing the concerns in the sector and forestalling negative consequences on the nation.The speaker said the event is a fall out of the deep concern and care the parliament has for the people they represent and the need to have a transparent engagement with all critical stakeholders in the cement industry, especially the manufacturers with the sole view of informing Nigerians what is exactly happening within this sector, and possibly come out with resolutions as to how we can navigate through and out of this.The speaker said further that the unabated high cost of cement has impacted negatively not only on the built environment but also on the economy, adding that this is obvious because cement is the major component used for building and construction.He said It is public knowledge that the Housing deficit in Nigeria is over three million (3,000.000) and therefore the need for the government and the private sector to close the huge gap in the price of cement must be affordable and within reach.He said: “While one may attribute the rise in prices of cement and of course other commodities to the exchange rates, it is commendable that the policies of this administration of the renewed hope mantra have started yielding fruits, as Naira has gained remarkable strength to a dollar in the last three weeks.He assured that the parliament is working hard in putting the right legislation to help promote and encourage industrialization as well as small and medium enterprises in place, we are equally open and willing to work hand in hand both with manufacturers and the end users, this, in our belief, is the surest way to improve on the quality of life and standard of living of the citizens.“We are equally leaving no stone unturned to put the right laws in place that could help checkmate the avoidable excesses that brought us to where we are.”

Chairman of the House Committee on Solid Minerals, Hon. Jonathan Gaza Gbwefi said there was the need to de-emphasize the notion created by some Companies that committees of Parliament have no powers to invite private outfits to appear before it.He said: “It is on record that there is no Order of the Courts presented restraining the Committee from exercising its functions under section 88(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.“The committees of parliament have always set up Public Hearings to extract evidence from the Public to guide it in taking decisions on matters that have direct bearing on the citizens such as this.“However, an entity recognised as private under the law does not oust in entirety the Powers of the Committee to investigate its affairs especially when the attainment of the objectives of said entity heavily relies on the Resources of the populace.“Let me also reiterate the objectives of the Legislative Powers and Privileges Act sections 4,5,6 and 7 on the Powers of committees to invite, investigate and summon any person to extract evidence on any matter, whether it’s public or private. Most especially when the matter affects the citizens and the people for which they represent”.The lawmaker said that a recent review of cement prices in other countries like Kenya, India and Zambia for 2021 alone shows that Nigeria has the highest price of cement using the official exchange rates for each Country.He said: “Nigeria’s price of cement doubles that of India at a difference of 69%, similarly the price is 29% higher than that in Kenya and 39% higher in Zambia. Hence the need for us to come together and find out why. In order to bring succor to our citizens while protecting investors alike.“Our concern is for all legitimate businesses especially cement production Companies in Nigeria to thrive and deliver their objective and services to the people in such a manner that can foster development.“It is against this backdrop that I beckon all stakeholders once again to feel free and interact with the members of the parliament as this discussion may be what the sector has been longing for, to unlock the potentials and prospects of the future.”

From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja

Thirteen aspirants of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) has rejected the purported endorsement of one Mr Enemona Anyebe as the consensus candidate for Chairmanship position in Kogi State.Our Correspondent reported that, a committee comprising of former governors, party leaders, had endorsed Mr Enemona Anyebe as the consensus for the PDP Chairmanship position in Kogi StateSpokesperson, forum of Kogi State PDP Chairmanship aspirants, Aruwa Ismaila, while briefing Journalists in Lokoja on the development, said the purported endorsement of one Mr Anyebe as the party consensus candidate for the office of the State Chairman was a blatant false, misleading and only existing in the imagination of their sponsors.

Ismaila, who spoke on behalf of 13 aspirants vying for the State Chairmanship position in Kogi State said “It has therefore become imperative to issue this rebuttal so that the unsuspecting public and particularly our PDP supporters and members are not misled, misguided and be sold a dummy.”We state that, at the scantly attended meeting of Kogi East critical stakeholders held at Lokoja on Monday 29” April 2024, the Elders Review Report on Zoning which was presented on their behalf and for which none of the 6 Elders attended was outrightly rejected especially on the issue of the Elders going outside their mandate to source for and nominate one Mr. Anyebe from Olamaboro.”We the chairmanship aspirants spoke through our spokesperson Mr. Ismaila Aruwa, who was at the meeting and advocated for outright rejection of the Review report which even fell far short of the initial Zoning committee report led by Hon. Tom Zakari. Our position has NOT changed.”We hereby profoundly and vehemently reject the Elder Review Committee Report. It should be noted that at no time between 29th April to 1st May, 2024 was any meeting held to the knowledge and or in consultation with the Aspirants to solicit for our views and or our input on the zoning issues.”We the aspirants have not delegated our position to any Elder to Canvass on our behalf nor are we ready to do so going forward.A consensus candidate can only be arrived at by all 13 Aspirants discussing and agreeing with each other and not the Elders.”According to the spokesperson, the leadership of PDP in Kogi State under Senator Danjuma La’ahas Chairman and Senator Philip Gyunka as Secretary has not put in place or activated any process among the 13 Aspirants for the purpose of arriving at a consensus Candidate.”The purported endorsement of Mr Enemona Anyebe as the party consensus Candidate is an affront on the Kogi State PDP leadership and a benign attempt to overreach their mandate and authority and such is hereby outrightly rejected.”It is to be noted that one of the sponsors of Mr. Enemona Anyebe, Chief John Odawn called a meeting at Egume and told PDP supporters that a vote for Dino is a wasted vote and that they should all rally around the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate. It is no surprise therefore that he finds it more convenient to sponsor one of his surrogates who is ‘Anti Party Personified’ to be PDP State chairman.”By this, the party is already compromised ahead of 2027. We cannot continue on the same path of impunity and imposition that has led the party to disastrous electoral losses over the past 12 years dancing to the whims and caprices of our leaders and expect a different result.”On the issue of the so called Mr. Enmona Anyebe who never showed interest in the contest for state chairmanship, and did not participate in the screening and personal presentation processes before the zoning committee in Lokja on 20 January, 2024, his purported candidature is dead on arrival for 2 reasons.

” Firstly, Like Prince Obajeh argued vigorously at the Elders Review meeting, PDP is not Father Christmas that you give out what was not asked for; it is a recipe for outright failure. Secondly, Mr. Enemona Anyebe’s candidature is fatally and constitutionally prohibited since he is under a disciplinary sanction on three levels for persistent anti party activity” he stated.The aggrieved 13 aspirants however, resolved that, the leadership of the party should create a level playing ground for all the aspirants vying for the PDP Chairmanship position in Kogi State.”The leadership of PDP in Kogi State should take steps to disqualify Mr. Enemona Anyebe was not constitutionally qualified to seek to contest for office of state chairman, being party office and for not being among the 13 Aspirants previously cleared and cannot be smuggled in through the back door.”Consensus is about agreement by the 13 Aspirants to support one of their own. If No Consensus is reached among the 13 Aspirants,the party should take steps to create a level playing ground for all 13 Aspirants to go to the field and subject themselves to the decision of the 738 delegates elected for that purpose in 13″ July, 2024. This is the only path for our electoral success such that whoever emerges becomes the candidate of all” he added.