POLITICS
Tiv Professionals Petition Gbajabiamila over Nigerians in Diaspora’s Petition Rejection
By Terseer Evelyn, Abuja
A group, OnTiv Professionals has petitioned the Speaker House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila over the refusal by the House Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase to hear a petition filed before the House r by the Mutual Union of the Tiv in America (MUTA).
In a petition, dated March 15, 2021 and signed by its President, Aza Emmanuel and General Secretary, Donald Andoor, the group said it was disappointed over the way and manner Hon.
Mark Igbilla, who presented the petition on the floor of the House was shut out by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, who presided over the plenary sitting of the House on March 10, 2021.“As the presiding officer, the Deputy Speaker is duty bound to be impartial and fair. But the Deputy Speaker in this particular case was undemocratic and dictatorial as he shut out Hon. Mark Igbilla, from presenting a petition from his constituents. His undemocratic approach invariably shut out the lawmaker and by implication the entire constituents thereby depriving them of their rights to fair hearing.
“In fact, the Deputy Speaker has no right to audit petitions brought by members, under the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives (Ninth Edition).
For avoidance of doubt, the Standing Orders states under “Petition” sections “2, 3 and 4” as follows:
“A member presenting a petition shall confine himself to a brief statement of the parties from whom it came, the number of signatories attached to it, the material allegations contained in it, to reading the prayer of such petition.
“No debate shall be allowed on such petition, but it may be read by the clerk if required.
“All petitions shall be ordered, without question being put to be laid upon the table, such petitions shall stand referred to the Committee on Public Petitions,” the petitioners said.
It added that: “In spite of these clear provisions, the Deputy Speaker chose to play god by stopping Hon. Gbillah, representing Gwer East/Gwer West Federal Constituency of Benue State from submitting a petition on behalf of his constituents, who happen to be in the diaspora.
“Hon. Wase as presiding officer has no powers to decide which petition or the residence of who can submit a petition to the parliament.
“Any Nigerian or group of Nigerians, whether residing in the country or abroad have absolute rights to petition Nigeria’s parliament. Even non-Nigerians who are aggrieved can petition the parliament.
“From the Standing Orders of the House, Hon Wase has no right and power, whatsoever to stop a fellow lawmaker from presenting a petition on behalf of his constituents.
The group contended that a petition was not a motion and there was nowhere in the House Standing Orders or in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where such powers were given to a presiding officer to reject a petition, the group added.
It said Wase’s action as a ranking member of the House with vast legislative knowledge was a personal sentiment or deliberate injustice, and calculated attempt to marginalise the Tiv ethnic nationality and Benue State for reasons best known to him.
The Group then urged all lovers of democracy to condemn what it described as legislative impunity and rascality exhibited by the Deputy Speaker.
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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