The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the 27 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers at the Rivers House of Assembly can’t impeach Gov. Siminalayi Fubara, because they are no longer members of the House.

Mr Debo Ologunagba, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, said this at a new conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

Ologunagba said that the directive by the state APC chapter for the lawmakers to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor was in vain.
He said that the APC lawmakers had since vacated their seats at the House, by virtue of Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution.
“The lawmakers claiming to be APC members lost their seats after their defection from the PDP, the political party platform on which they were elected into the House.

“For emphasis, Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution provides that: a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if … (g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political Party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.

“It should be noted that Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution is self-executory. The import of this provision is that the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who defected, have vacated their seat by reason of that defection,” he said.

Ologunagba advised APC to come to terms with the fact that Rivers was home to PDP and that the people of the state were not ready to leave the party.(NAN)

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.”