POLITICS
Speaker, Kukah Task Nigerians on National Cohesion
Alhaji Abbas Tajudeen, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Bishop Mathew Kukah, Founder of the Kukah Centre, have urged Nigerians to work toward building a united nation.
The duo made made the call at the National Integration Conference with the theme: “Revisiting the National Question: Nigeria’s Elusive Search for National Integration”, organised by the Kukah Centre.
The conference, which was held in Abuja on Friday, was organised with support from Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
Tajudeen, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, said that Nigeria’s pluralism and its vast diversity in ethnicity, language and religion, remain a valuable asset to the nation.
He said that embracing and leveraging its pluralism would propel Nigeria towards a more unified and prosperous future where the collective strengths of its diverse population would be fully harnessed.
“Our diversity should be our strategic advantage, making us more resilient, innovative and cohesive as a nation.
“Our ongoing constitutional amendment process also aims to strengthen these mechanisms, promoting a more inclusive, fair and just society.
“As your representatives, we pledge to continue promoting policies that foster integration, celebrate our diverse heritage and build a stronger and more united Nigeria.
“I challenge us all, as a people, to reject bigotry of any kind and embrace tolerance, empathy, and unity,” he said.
Tajudeen said that by so doing, a Nigeria, where every citizen is valued and empowered, would be built.
“Let us work towards a future united by the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood in one strong, indivisible nation,” he said
Tajudeen spoke further: “Although Nigeria is a diverse country, the central challenge remains in balancing diverse interests in a way that promotes national unity while respecting the identities and rights of all constituent groups.
“The burden of fostering national cohesion and effectively managing diversity rest on leaders across all facets of our society. The challenge is for government, religious organisations, traditional institutions and families.
“Holding government accountable, promoting economic empowerment, inclusive governance and education are important tools in fostering national unity,” he said.
He called for the review of the primary and secondary school curricular to ensure that young Nigerians understood the various cultures and religions in the Nigeria.
Kukah, while stressing the urgent need for nation building, urged all Nigerians to stop the blame game and unite for the good of the country.
“Building our nation is not about apportioning blames. It is about the urgency of national integration.
“National integration doesn’t necessarily mean everybody must be the same. It is for us in Nigeria to understand the intricacies of managing diversity.
“National cohesion is important because without it, it is impossible for us to grow.
“This country is increasingly in recession. So, the urgency of national cohesion is a call that we must make and continue to make,” he said
Kukah said that anybody, who called himself or herself a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, should believe in the Constitution and build Nigeria.
Mr Annup Vyas, Head of Conflict, Stability and Security, FCDO, in a remark, said that as a partner in Nigeria’s democracy, UK is pleased to be supporting efforts to build a stronger and more resilient Nigeria.
Vyas said that integration and the democratic institutions that promote unity usually face many challenges.
He, however, expressed confidence that with the discourse and the important decisions that came from it, the nation had the potential to identify new ways to overcome such barriers .
“Unity, purpose and national cohesion can help unlock Nigeria’s potential and generate inclusive growth for all.
“So, I hope this discussion will pave the way for a brighter, more prosperous future for all,” he said. (NAN)
POLITICS
Rivers: Factional Speaker Accuses Fubara of Planning to Demolish Residential Quarters
Mr Martin Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor 1), the factional Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, has accused Gov. Siminialayi Fubara of planning to demolish the residential quarters of the state House of Assembly.
Amaewhule made the remark in Port Harcourt in reaction to the governor’s recent inspection visit to the assembly residential quarters.
Fubara had told newsmen during the visit that he wanted to acsertain the state of the facility for possible rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, Amaewhule described the visit as ‘unannounced and an invasion’ on the residential premises of Rivers assemblymen.
”His plan is to demolish the quarters the way he did to some parts of the state assembly complex in 2023,” he said.
The factional speaker said that the governor’s move was purely political because the Rivers assembly residential quarter was still the best in the country.
”The residential quarters were built by the administration of former Gov. Nyesom Wike in 2022.
”There’s nothing wrong with the buildings. They are in perfect condition. We have not called on the governor for any form of help.
“The governor’s undue interference is one that is unbecoming of a sitting governor who is supposed to uphold the sanctity of the law,” he said
Amaewhule further accused Fubara of always carrying out actions that were against democratic norms and principles.
”His actions show that he had declared war on all politically elected people in the state,” he said.(NAN)
POLITICS
Why Rivers Lawmakers can’t Impeach Fubara – PDP
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)
POLITICS
Complaints Linger over Renovated Chamber as Ndume Describes it as Conference Room
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.