Coronavirus: Private Schools, Others To Benefit From Federal Govt Financial Assistance

July 16, 2020

Help is on the way for private schools, hotels, and road transport workers among others, as the Federal Government had factored them in the stimulus package it has put in place for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises to cushion the effect of coronavirus pandemic.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who made this known today, July 16 at the 2020 edition of the MSMEs Awards, which was held in Abuja, said that the support scheme had been covered by the government’s Economic Sustainability Plan.

Professor Osinbajo said that the survival fund would help provide payroll support to MSMEs with a minimum of 10 and maximum of 50 staff members, adding that the MSMEs that qualify for the fund will make their payroll available for verification by government.

“The target beneficiaries of this scheme will include private schools, hotels, road transport workers, creative industries and others. The verification process will be very rigorous and painstaking.

“In addition, we have an N200bn fund which will be made available to MSMEs in the priority sectors such as healthcare, agro-processing, creative industries, local oil and gas, aviation etc.

“This will be granted through a scheme jointly run by the Bank of Industry and Nigerian Export-Import Bank especially for export expansion.

“The CBN is also committed to creating an N100bn target credit facility for MSMEs. Already the recently signed Finance Act already made provision for graduated company income tax rates with zero rates for small companies and a rate reduction for medium-sized companies.”

Commission Queries National Assembly Clerk, Omolori, For Refusal To Retire

Editorial staff

July 16, 2020

The National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) has issued a query to the embattled Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Ataba Sani Omolori, for his failure to proceed on retirement. The query is dated today, July 16 and was signed by the chairman of the commission, Ahmed Amshi.

The commission had yesterday, July 15, directed that those who had attained the age of 60 or 35 years in service, including Omolori, who had put in 35 years in service, should proceed on compulsory retirement.

But Omolori had insisted that the retirement age for the National Assembly remains 40 years of service or 65 years of age.

He said that the resolution of the National Assembly which increased the age and years of service has not been amended and that the commission has no powers to intervene in the controversy.

The tenure of the clerk has generated controversy because of the implementation of the National Assembly Revised Condition of Service which took effect in 2019.

Based on the controversially amended conditions, the clerk and no fewer than 160 officers, who were to have retired from office, were expected to remain in office for about five more years, after the retirement age was raised from 60 to 65 years and years of service from 35 to 40.

Ahmed Amshi-led commission, however, ignored the amendment by the two chambers of the National Assembly in 2018 and asked all those affected to proceed on compulsory retirement.

Don’t Cause Frictions Between Executive, Legislature, Buhari, Senate Caution Ministers, Others

Editorial staff

July 16, 2020

Bother President Muhammadu Buhari and Senate President, Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, have cautioned ministers and other appointees of the President against causing unnecessary frictions between the executive and the legislature.

The two leaders, who met today, July 16, for about an hour at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, vowed to maintain the good working relation they have established immediately they assumed their functions last year.

Rising from the meeting which highlighted the recent events at the National Assembly, President Buhari made it clear to the ministers and other appointees that any disrespect to the National Assembly by any member of the executive branch will not be accepted.

He said that Ministers and all heads of Departments and Agencies should at all times conduct themselves in ways that will not undermine the National Assembly as an institution, its leadership and members.

The President and the leaders of the National Assembly recognized and acknowledged that the Executive and Legislative arms of government are essential partners in the fulfillment of their mutually aligned goal of improving the lives of the Nigerian people.

This was even as the Senate President said that though the legislature would continue to maintain the good working relations with the executive, but that it would not tolerate insubordination from any of the appointees of the President.

“The National Assembly will take exception to any attitude or disposition that is not in support of the harmony in the relationship between the two arms of government.

“If you are an appointee of the President, you are supposed to be reflective of the attitude of the President towards the National Assembly and the National Assembly will continue to emphasized on that”

Senator Ahmed Lawan said that the National Assembly will continue to ensure that the administration works for Nigerians, and that it try to enhance the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature to commit by working together.

“Both the Legislature and the Executive must at all times work in the interest of the people of this country. We cannot afford not to do this because essentially, government is for people to have service and the essence of this particular visit is to ensure that the Legislature, the National Assembly and the Executive arm of government, led by Mr. President, continue to work together to ensure that the relationship that we have, which has been working for this administration to deliver services to Nigerians is sustained.

“I believe the outcome of this meeting is going to improve the relationship between the two arms of government. I imagine that at the end of the day, the trajectory of ensuring very good and purposeful operational way of doing things between the two arms will continue.

“Mr. President has always respected the Legislature; he has always commended the National Assembly members for always being there to ensure that the requests by the Executive, in the national interest, are processed and we are sure that every member of the National Assembly has always been there to ensure that we do the right thing for this country.

“Mr. President is in full support of our position that this relationship must be sustained at all times for the benefit of the people of Nigeria.

“This National Assembly has been very supportive, very friendly with the Executive arm of government and there’s no doubt in my mind that the President has been quite supportive of the Legislature as well.”

He recalled that in the processing of the budget last year, the President made a very categorical statement that no minister at that time should travel out of Nigeria without going to the National Assembly to defend his or her budget.

“That had never been done before and that was in support and in almost every family engagement the President would commend the members of the National Assembly. So Mr. President is in full support of the National Assembly and what we do.”

According to the Senate President, the relationship between the current National Assembly and the Executive arm of government, especially the President, “is beyond one employee of the President.”

Scrap This Bureau Of Corruption Called NDDC, By Fredrick Nwabufo

Editorial staff

July 16, 2020

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been asphyxiated. It is out of oxygen. It now runs on the noxious gas of corruption; its usefulness outlived and outpaced by fraud and mindboggling moral and financial depravity. The agency is a convincing argument against the mushrooming of regional commissions which end up becoming cash machines of a few.

What is happening in the NDDC is a big whale feast — with indiscriminate and soulless butchering of the agency’s treasury. Nigerians in the Niger Delta asked for development, but they were sectioned to endure pauperisation and the purloining of their patrimony. They asked for guardians of the public till, but they were handed hunters of the common wealth.

The NDDC was established on June 5, 2000 as a response to the agitations of the Niger Delta for development. But despite the huge chest of resources allocated to this commission over the years, it has failed prodigiously to bring the barest minimum of development to the region.

With an annual budget of about N300 billion, the NDDC has nourished the flatulent entrails of the behemoth of sleaze while the region it was meant to take care of atrophied. There is perhaps no agency of the government that has remained unaccountable and opaque with its operations like this commission. The agency is the proverbial ‘’regional cake’’ where governors from the south-south and other interests ogle to take a slice.

The Niger Delta is one of the most disadvantaged regions in the country in terms human, infrastructural and material development. Less than 30 percent of the natives have access to clean water. Poverty blooms in the villages and creeks which are marooned from any form of modernity. The region plods away in illiteracy and disease as basic sanitary system, schools and health care are only a pipe dream.

This is a region which is the breadwinning spouse of the country. 90 percent of the country’s revenue comes from the region. Between 1965 and 2000, Nigeria earned over $350 billion from crude oil – according to the International Monetary Fund. Also, an audit report by Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in 2018 showed that Nigeria earned as much as $677.9 billion in 18 years, between 1999 and 2016, from the sale of crude oil. But why is the country’s goose hungry; raped and tortured?

I must say, the Niger Delta is a victim of its thieving elite who appropriate and expropriate resources meant for the people to themselves. The region must, as a matter of urgency, rejig and nozzle its agitation to the enemies within.

In October 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the commission from 2001 to 2019. He said the current fortunes of the Niger Delta do not justify the vast resources that have been funnelled into the commission. He was right.

“I try to follow the Act setting up these institutions, especially the NDDC. With the amount of money that the federal government has religiously allocated to the NDDC, we will like to see the results on the ground; those that are responsible for that have to explain certain issues. The projects said to have been done must be verifiable. You just cannot say you spent so much billions and when the place is visited, one cannot see the structures that have been done,’’ he said.

Really, the president’s decision to audit the NDDC is an intrepid quest. I doubt if any other administration took the initiative to look through the iron shield of the agency’s operations. But I am sceptical about the outcome of this adventure. My reason is simple. The current management of the NDDC overseeing the audit has been alleged to be flunkeys of Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta affairs, who himself has been accused of complicity in the contract fraud at the agency.

The allegations of Joy Nunieh, former acting managing director of the NDDC, against Akpabio are thick and cannot be discounted. Inasmuch as I think the audit process is already tainted, I believe it should be done still. But I strongly believe we need to reconsider the purpose of the NDDC. It has failed to achieve what it was set up to accomplish.

Do we keep feeding the beast?

Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist.

Twitter: @FredrickNwabufo

Ag. NDDC Boss Accuses Reps C’ttee Chairman Of Corruption, Reps Calls For His Arrest

Editorial staff

July 16, 2020

Corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is getting messier as the acting Managing Director Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, accused the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Commission investigating its activities, Olubumi Tunji-Ojo (APC-Ondo) of corrupt practices.

This was even as the House of Representatives Committee issued a warrant of arrest on the acting Managing Director, after he (the MD) and his team, today, July 16, walked out on legislators, which is investigating the alleged N40 billion irregular expenditure in the commission.

The resolution to arrest the acting MD was the sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Benjamin Kalu (APC-Abia) at an investigative hearing today

The acting MD, while walking out on the Committee, said that the NDDC will only respond and make presentations if the Chairman of the committee steps down.

Mover of the motion for the arrest of the acting MD, Benjamin Kalu, commended the committee members for the maturity exhibited following the provocations by the NDDC boss.

“I want to refer this committee as well as the invited guests to section 60 which says that, the Senate or the House of Representatives shall have powers to regulate its own procedure.

“It is within the parameters of the law that the house regulates its activities, this is a committee affair and not a personalized affair.

“I want to move that this committee invokes the provisions of section 89 of the Constitution and invoke our powers on a warrant of arrest to compel the agency to come and answer how they have administered the money appropriated to them.”

The committee passed a vote of confidence on the chairman, describing him as a man of integrity and a leader of high reputation.

Earlier, Tunji-Ojo said that the committee was mandated by the house to carry out an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds in the agency.

He said that documents from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation showed that the NDDC had spent N81.5 billion between January and May.

The chairman recalled that officials from the CBN and the OAGF had appeared at the hearing on Wednesday and confirmed the amount so far spent by the NDDC.

Buhari Vows To Cleanse NDDC Of Stinking Corruption

Editorial staff

July 16, 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to move fast and cleanse the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) of the stinking corruption that has bedeviled it over the years.

The President, therefore, directed security and investigating agencies working in conjunction with the National Assembly to bring sanity, transparency and accountability to the management of the large amount of resources dedicated to development of the Niger Delta sub-region.

Reacting to the unfolding drama, which includes attacks and counter-attacks between and around persons, institutions, and the NDDC, President Buhari expressed strong determination to get to the root of the problem undermining the development of the Niger Delta and its peoples in spite of enormous national resources voted year after year for this singular purpose.

According to the directive, auditing firms and investigative agencies working in collaboration with National Assembly Committees to resolve the challenges in the NDDC must initiate actions in a time-bound manner and duly inform the Presidency of the actions being taken.

The President also directed timely sharing of information and knowledge in a way to speedily assist the administration to diagnose what had gone wrong in the past and what needs to be done to make corrections in order to return the NDDC to its original mandate of making life better for people in Niger Delta.

He made it clear that his government will stop at nothing to bring about rapid, even and sustainable development to the region, stressing that he would put in place a transparent and accountable governance framework, not only in the NDDC but in all other institutions of government.

Court Stops Execution Of Judgement On Extension Of Igala Kingdom

Editorial staff

July 15, 2020

A Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja has granted the stay of execution of an earlier ruling on the matter between the Attah Igala and the Attorney General of the federation. The court also granted leave for the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Dr. Ado Ibrahim and Maigari of Lokoja, Ohimegye Igu Kotonkarfe as interested parties.

Recall that a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja had earlier in a judgement, ceded the overlordship of Ajaokuta, Lokoja and Koton Karfe under the Jurisdiction of the Attah Igala, Micheal Ameh Oboni.

Delivering his ruling for stay of execution today, July 15, Justice Gabriel Okwo, said that following the application by the people of Lokoja, Kogi and Ajaokuta LGAs wanting to join as interested parties, he has also granted the application.

Consequently, he granted leave for the Ohinoyi of Ebira Land, Ado Ibrahim, the Maigari of Lokoja, Alh. Muhammadu Kabiru Maikafi, The Ohi of Eganyi, and the Ohimegye Igu Kotonkarfe, Alh. Abdulrazaq Isah Koto to be joined as interested parties.

Justice Okwo consequently set aside the earlier Judgement to allow for the interested parties to join and file for an appeal on the earlier Judgement, maintaining that parties seeking to be joined have shown sufficient reasons to be joinders.

The Judge maintained that having shown grounds that the joinders rights has been infringed upon, the leave for parties to enter into appeal.

No Date Yet For School Reopening, WASSCE — Education Ministry

Editorial staff

July 15, 2020

The Federal Ministry of Education has said that date is not yet fixed for the reopening of schools across the country, even as it maintained its stand on the postponement of the country’s participation in the final examinations for secondary school students.

Speaking to newsmen today, July 15 shortly after the virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, Minister of State for Education, Chief Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said the position of the Ministry remained as earlier spelt out by the minister of education, Malam Adamu Adamu last week.

He said that the ministry is still consulting with Education sector stakeholders on what the best position should be, adding that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) had also started consultations with West African states on a possibility of shifting dates.

“We are still meeting with parents over the decision of the Ministry. What the Minister said reflects the true position of the Ministry; we are not confident yet that everywhere is safe, the numbers from the NCDC are still alarming and we have put this before parents and all the stakeholders in the the Education ecosystem, we are still meeting with them. In fact, there’s a stakeholders’ meeting convened for Monday.

“WAEC on its own part is also negotiating with other West African countries to look at possible shift in date. Once they are through with that meeting and hopefully when we are through with the consultation with stakeholders, if there’s any change in the Ministry’s position, we will communicate, but as it stands, the position of the Honourable Minister, as communicated to you last week, remains the position of the Ministry until further evidence to the contrary or further agreements that may alter those arise.”

NNPC Gives Conditions For Relocation Of Tank Farms, Petroleum Products Depots

Greenbarge Reporters

July 15, 2020

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has advised against a swift relocation of tank farms from their current locations along Ijegun, Kirikiri areas in Lagos and other parts of the country in order to avoid a dislocation in the supply and distribution chain of petroleum products across the country.

The corporation made the submission today, July 15, at a hearing by the House of Representatives’ Ad-hoc Committee on Relocation of Tank Farms in Residential Areas of Ijegun, Kirikiri.

A statement by the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, quoted the Managing Director of the corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, as saying that NNPC is not averse to the relocation of the petroleum products tank farms and depots sited in residential areas but would want some time to achieve the full rehabilitation of the refineries and the completion of the Dangote Refinery to enable the nation exit fuel importation before their relocation.

The GMD, who was represented by the corporation’s Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya, told the committee that the tank farms and depots are a major artery for receiving and distributing imported petroleum products to all parts of the country and that their abrupt relocation would could trigger a crisis not only in the Downstream Sector but also in the nation’s economy in general.

“We are not opposed to the yearnings of the communities or the relocation of the tank farms and depots, but we want it to be done in phases because of the huge financial commitments by the stakeholders. If they are relocated abruptly, even the banking sector would be affected because of the loans they granted for the establishment of the depots.”

Speaking earlier while inaugurating the Committee, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajiabiamila, said that the Ad-hoc Committee was set up to investigate the concerns expressed by the residents in order to have a fair assessment of the situation.

Gbajiabiamila, who was represented by the House Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Tobi Okechukwu, acknowledged that tank farms and depots are a critical component of the Downstream Petroleum Sector and assured that the House would look at the issue wholistically and make a decision in the public interest.

He decried the inability of the NNPC to distribute petroleum products through the pipelines due to incessant vandalism which has made products distribution by tankers over long distances a hazard to the society.

The committee was set up sequel to petitions by the residents of Ijegun, Kirikiri and others areas in Lagos State on the dangers posed by the operations of depots and tank farms to their respective communities.

The Committee is chaired by Hon. Sergius Ogun.

National Assembly Clerk Clashes With Commission Over Retirement Age

Editorial staff

July 15, 2020

Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Barrister Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori is on a collision course with the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) over the retirement age of staff of the National Assembly.

While the NASC put the approved age for retirement at 35 years of service or 60 years of age, Sani-Omolori insisted that it is 40 years in Service or 65 years of age whichever comes first.

Sani-Omolori, in a statement today, July 15, titled: “Retirement age for staff of the National Assembly is 40 years of Service or 65 years of age whichever comes first” said the NASC does not have the powers to set aside the Revised Conditions of Service as passed by the 8th National Assembly.

Sani-Omolori said: “The attention of the National Assembly Management has been drawn to a Press Release dated 15th July, 2020 signed by the Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission, informing the general public that the Commission has approved the retirement age of staff of the National Assembly as 35 years of service or 60 years of age whichever comes first.

“The Management of the National Assembly wishes to inform all staff and the general public that the extant regulation as contained in our Revised Conditions of Service duly passed by both Chambers of the 8th National Assembly puts the retirement age of staff at 40 years of service and 65 years of age whichever comes first.

“The Resolution of the 8th National Assembly on the Conditions of Service of Staff has not been rescinded nor abdicated by the National Assembly, who under the authentic National Assembly Service Act 2014 as passed is empowered to review any proposed amendment to the Conditions of Service by the Commission.

“Therefore, the National Assembly Service Commission does NOT have the powers to set aside the Revised Conditions of Service as passed by the 8th National Assembly.

“The Management had maintained a studied silence in deference to the leadership of the 9th National Assembly who is looking into the position being canvassed by the Commission.

“It is therefore intriguing that the National Assembly Service Commission has unilaterally gone ahead to take a ‘’decision’’.

“Management urges all staff to disregard the press release by the Commission and go about their lawful duties.”

However, the Chairmen of the NASC, Ahmed Kadi-Amshi had in a statement titled: “The National Assembly Service Commission approves the retirement age for the staff of the National Assembly Service as 35 years of Service or 60 years of age which ever comes first” said that the commission has approved the retirement of all staff that have attainted the age.

Kadi-Amshi said: “Pursuant to its mandate as provided in the National Assembly Service Act 2014 (as amended), the National Assembly Service Commission at its 497th meeting held on Wednesday 15th July 2020 has approved the retirement age of the staff of the National Assembly Service as 35 years of service or 60 years of age whichever comes first.

“To this effect the Commission has approved the immediate retirement of staff of the National Assembly Service who have already attained the retirement age of 35 years of service or 60 years of age.

“Retirement letters would be issued to the affected staff accordingly.”

The Revised Conditions of Service for Staff of the National Assembly approved by the 8th National Assembly has been a subject of controversy.

About 150 directors, including the CNA, Sani-Omolori were said to have benefited from the additional years afforded by the Revised Conditions of Service.

The House of Representatives had in a statement recently said it stands by the resolutions of the 8th National Assembly on Revised Conditions of Service.

However, the Commission insisted that the amendment of the Conditions of Service by the 8th National Assembly, did not follow due process and therefore, they are null and void.

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