Niger Top News

ABUJA – Following the decision of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, to commence full-blown hearing on the 13-count criminal charge against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, despite the pendency of the appeal before the Supreme Court, all his lawyers, this afternoon, staged a walk out on the tribunal.

The Akwa Ibom State  governorship tribunal resumed Thursday for the  adoption of final written addresses by parties.

How Rivers Senators Plan To Pull Amaechi Down At Screening
 Senator George Sekibo (PDP) representing Rivers East Senatorial District has thrown more light on how his former political godfather, Rotimi Amaechi would fail as the Senate begins screening of ministerial nominees on Tuesday next week.

The Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ogun state has sacked Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial district, Senator Buruji Kashamu a member of House of Representatives from Ijebu East /Ijebu North /Ogun waterside, Adekoya Adesegun and five members of the state assembly over non-compliance of electoral law.
The tribunal has therefore ordered a fresh election in the areas affected.
More Details soon

Abuja – As the deadline for compliance with the Treasury Single Account for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) ends on Tuesday, some members of the National Assembly have lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for introducing it.
The lawmakers said that full compliance with the directive would help in blocking leakages and ensure transparency.

ABUJA — President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, set up a 13-member panel to probe two of his predecessors, late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, on procurement of arms and ammunition for the Armed Forces.
 The investigative committee’s mandate is to identify irregularities and make recommendations for streamlining the procurement process in the Armed Forces.
 The committee, which was constituted by the the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (retd), on the directive of the President, is headed by AVM J.O.N. Ode (retd.) while Brig-Gen. Y. I. Shalangwa is secretary. Other members are Rear Admiral J. A. Aikhomu (retd.), Rear Admiral E. Ogbor (retd.), Brig-Gen. L.
 Adekagun (retd.), Brig-Gen. M. Aminu-Kano (retd.), Brig-Gen N. Rimtip (retd.), Commodore T. D. Ikoli, Air Commodore U. Mohammed (retd), Air Commodore I. Shafi’i, Col A. A. Ariyibi, GP Capt C.A. Oriaku (retd) and Mr. I. Magu (EFCC). A statement from presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, said “the establishment of the investigative committee is in keeping with President Buhari’s determination to stamp out corruption and irregularities in Nigeria’s public service. “It comes against the background of the myriad of challenges that the Nigerian Armed Forces have faced in the course of ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the northeast, including the apparent deficit in military platforms with its attendant negative effects on troops’ morale.

A public policy think-tank, First Sysco Consulting Group, has showered praises on former President, Goodluck Jonathan, for his successes in the restructuring of the agricultural and power sectors, among others.
The group, in a statement by its chairman, Chuma Igwe, said Jonathan’s moment of greatness in the country’s political history came when he called his then opponent, Muhammadu Buhari to concede defeat even while the results of the presidential election were still being collated by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
According to the group, “Jonathan’s action was neither spontaneous nor induced, but he merely walked-his-talk as he earlier assured.
“Therein lay the greatness of his action. Jonathan acted in line with his promise during the campaign period and in doing so averted the predicted doom and blood-letting that became the expected outcome of the 2015 election.
“Immediately Jonathan handed the national flag and the Commander-in-Chief’s Colours to Muhammadu Buhari on that faithful day, he stepped into a waiting vehicle to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport en route to Otuoke and into the ages.
“The only similarity to this monumental action can be drawn with the declaration of ‘no victor, no vanquished’ by the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon after the fall of Biafra.”

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor; Henry Umoru, Joseph Erunke, Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Abiodun Alade ABUJA— The rumbles from Tuesday’s election of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President continued, yesterday, with opponents and supporters of the nation’s new number three man stalking one another in furtherance of upturning or sustaining the new order.
 Senator Bukola Saraki was nevertheless conciliatory towards his antagonists in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as he dismissed insinuations of his imminent defection from the party. His insistence nonetheless, the bad blood flowing from Saraki’s upset of the APC’s official nominee for Senate President flowed into the Senate session, yesterday, as the different camps in the party squabbled over the legitimacy of the inauguration. Besides, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, yesterday, publicly snubbed a handshake from the Senate President at the swearing-in of 28 senators who missed the oath-taking on Tuesday.
 SARAKI'S FIRST PLENARY SESSION: Senate President Bukola Saraki (M) going in for his first plenary session as President of Senate yesterday. Behind him is Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
 Photo: NAN. SARAKI’S FIRST PLENARY SESSION: Senate President Bukola Saraki (M) going in for his first plenary session as President of Senate yesterday. Behind him is Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. Photo: NAN.
 The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in its own intervention, chided the APC over its threat of sanctions on the new National Assembly leadership, saying the ruling party had proved to all that it was not prepared for governance.

Last Tuesday’s humiliation of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and the ensuing bad blood has drawn assertions from its foes that the party was only formed to win power and not to govern.
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
Chief Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary tried to play down his enthusiasm over the distress of the ruling party yesterday.
“We want them to survive because the key to the stability of the country is in the survival of the party because they are in power,” Metuh said in a telephone discussion. That was a farfetch from the Metuh of before who before now had been severally quoted as describing the APC as group of power seekers only united by a common quest for power.
Last Tuesday as the power quest by the different tendencies in the party peaked during the National Assembly leadership contests, references to Chief Metuh’s questions on the survival of the ruling party inevitably came to mind.

Despite the controversy surrounding his emergences as the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki has brushed aside his rejection by the leadership of his party, the APC and unfolded his agenda for Nigerians. Saraki promised that that the new Senate and National Assembly would make laws that will enable the country to renew its infrastructure, reform the oil and security systems as well as boost agriculture.
 Similarly, Saraki assured that the new NASS would make laws that would lead to the creation of jobs and make doing business in Nigeria much more competitive. “In the coming days we shall be converging to hammer out an aggregate agenda that will help us focus and deliver on these minimum expectations,” the Senate President said. In a statement made available to Vanguard by his media aide, Bamikole Omishore, Saraki described his emergence as the 8th Senate President was a demonstration that Nigerians were united by a common desire to entrench democracy and allow its core principles to guide the conduct of the nation’s political affairs.
 “We have demonstrated that even though we may belong to different persuasions and parties, we are ultimately united by our common desire to entrench democracy and allow its core principles guide the conduct of our political affairs, “Saraki said. He said he believed strongly that the change that Nigerians yearned for would be made possible through the collaboration of the various arms of government. He said:
 “The change that our people voted for is a change from a life of poverty, misery and hopelessness to a life of prosperity, happiness and confidence in the future; a change from a pervasive culture of fear to a life of security and comfort; a change from impunity and elite arrogance to a life of accountability and respect for every citizen, regardless of tribe, gender, religion, region or political persuasion.
 “This is the change that all of us in this National Assembly must strive to bring about, if we must justify the privilege of representation conferred on us by our people. Nigerians want to see a proactive National Assembly that will devote itself to rigorous thinking, rolling up sleeves to forge a new and prosperous Nigeria.
“As the President of the 8th Senate and the Chairman of this National Assembly, I shall be guided by the enormity of the responsibilities that this moment imposes on us all. “As a first among equals, I shall strive at all times to be just, equitable and fair to all. I shall work with you all to build a National Assembly that will enjoy greater confidence and trust among the people that we represent.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed threats by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the new leaders of the National Assembly as empty boasts aimed to cover its naivety, inexperience and unpreparedness for governance.
 Saraki Saraki The PDP also admonished the APC to shed its arrogance, eat the humble pie and get more organized for governance adding that it lacks the capacity, capability and means to sanction duly elected leaders of the National Assembly. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh in a statement on Wednesday said the crass inexperience so far displayed by the APC is a pointer that it is not adequately equipped to handle the affairs of government at the center, noting that events would continue to prove the PDP right in this regard.
 “Nothing can be more astonishing than the whining by the APC that the PDP at the last minute expressed its preference for Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively after it had earlier stated that it was not interested the positions.
 This calls to question the capacity, experience and skills of APC leaders on political matters and we have no apology whatsoever for their naivety. “The APC is merely suffering the consequences of the greed, lust for power and inordinate ambitions of their leaders. They should note that Nigerians have since moved ahead with the new leaders in the National Assembly and stop wasting their energy on propaganda and blackmails to heat up the polity”.
The PDP further condemned Tuesday’s botched attempts by the APC to close the National Assembly and stop lawmakers from carrying out their constitutional duties, as well as the threats to the newly elected leaders as “totally against the tenets of democracy, the principles of separation of powers and independence of the legislature as enshrined in the constitution”.

President Muhammadu Buhari left Abuja, Nigeria on Sunday, to attend the G7 Summit that is scheduled to take place in Bavaria, Germany, from June 7 to 8, 2015. The G7 invitation was extended to President Buhari, by German Chancellor Angela Merkel even before he was sworn in on May 29th as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

President Buhari and his entourage which includes former Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola and Kashim Shettima -won't take part in the major G7 meeting as Nigeria is not among the G7 countries but will participate in other key side meetings.

The Bayelsa House of Assembly on Wednesday inaugurated the 5th State Assembly after the fourth held a valedictory session.
NAN reports that members of the outgoing Assembly took turns to speak on their experiences and expressed appreciation to their constituents.
NAN reports that the 4TH Assembly passed 50 bills in the past four years.
The Speaker of the 4TH Assembly, Mr Kombowei Benson, (PDP- Southern Ijaw Constituency I) re-emerged unopposed as the speaker of the 5TH Assembly in an election conducted by Clerk of the House, Mr Aaron Timiye.
Mr Abraham Agobere, (PDP-Brass Constituency III) emerged as the Deputy Speaker, while Mr Peter Akpe, (PDP Sagbama Constituency 1) got the position of Majority Leader.
Mr Tonye Esene was appointed Chief Whip of the Assembly.
Speaking shortly after the inauguration of the Assembly, the Speaker urged the members of the house to cooperate with other arms of government in the overall interest of the state.

The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approves the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint 15 Special Advisers.
The motion for approval of the request made in a letter by Buhari to the Senate on Tuesday was moved by Senate Leader, Senator Ndoma Egba and supported by Senator Ganiyu Solomon in accordance with section in accordance with section 151(2) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria constitution.
The Senators subsequently voted unanimously to approve the request when the question was put to vote by Senator David Mark, the President of the Senate.
The President had in the letter to the Senate on Tuesday said the 15 Special Advisers will help him to carry out his functions as President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces said his request was in accordance with the constitution of Nigeria.
However, the names of the persons to be appointed were not read on the floor of the Chamber.

Chairman, Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Mr. John Onyeakpa, was on Tuesday served with an impeachment notice.
Out of the 18 councilors of the council, 16 endorsed the move t0 impeach the LG chairman.
The resolution of his removal was signed by the Clerk of the House, Okoye Samuel.
The council legislators accused the chairman of mismanagement of public funds and gross misconduct.
Allegations leveled against the chairman also included that he received over N4.2m as refund of money spent during his inauguration.
The resolution of the House, dated June 2, 2015, was made available to newsmen by the council members.

CALABAR- SENATOR Ben Ayade, the Cross River State governor has scrapped the weekly Executive Council meetings where the governor and his deputy meet with commissioners special advisers and permanent secretaries to review the activities of government in the state. Senator Ayade during a closed door meeting with permanent secretaries in the state public and civil service Tuesday directed that in place of the weekly meeting, there will be a monthly interactive session in the executive Council Chambers.
 The governor in the meeting with the permanent secretaries also scraped the anti-deforestation taskforce put in place by his predecessor, Senator Liyel Imoke to checkmate the illegal logging of large forest reserves in the state for which the United Nations has granted 600 million dollars for the carbon credit accruing from the forest reserves.

The Osun State chapter of the Social Democratic Party has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to start his anti-corruption war in Osun by ordering a thorough investigation into the financial activities of the Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration.

The SDP said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo, the state capital, on Monday by the state chairman of the party, Mr. Ademola Ishola.

It said the President would be shocked at the level of financial recklessness in Osun State.

The party said it was ready to help Buhari to unravel several alleged financial recklessness engaged in by the All Progressives Congress administration in the state.


It said, “We did not find ourselves in this pitiable situation in Osun due to the dwindling revenue from the federal allocation alone, we are where we are today because of the reckless manners our finances had been handled in the last four years.

“Now that the new government is settling down for work, we want President Buhari whose party has been at the helms of affairs of this state since November 27, 2010 to help us look into how the over N350bn allocated to the state from the federation account had been spent.

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has raised alarm over attempts by the new occupant of Government House in Port Harcourt, Barr. Nyesom Wike to intimidate, threaten and blackmail officials of his (Amaechi’s) administration, including civil servants into making false, phony and bogus claims of alleged corruption and corrupt practices against him (Amaechi) and his wife, Judith; concocted claims that cannot be substantiated.

Amaechi also debunked claims by Wike that the seat of power in the State, Government House, Port Harcourt was vandalized and looted by him. He described Wike’s provocative utterances as another cheap smear campaign and ploy to siphon billions of naira from the State treasury under the guise of renovating a ‘vandalized’ and ‘looted’ Government House.

This is contained in a statement released on behalf of the former Governor by his spokesman, David Iyofor.