House of Representatives
House of Reps quizzes NDDC over N70.495 billion awarded contracts
The House of Representatives at the weekend flagged off its investigation into the N70.495 billion allegedly paid by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to 1,773 contractors as mobilization fees without resorting to site, between 2008 and 2012. Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Wole Oke who presided over the investigative hearing into the audit queries from the Auditor General for the Federation (AuGF) for the period under review, underscored the need for the NDDC acting Managing Director, Prof. Pondei Kemerbrandikumo to provide details of the projects and list of all defaulting contractors along with a statement of accounts showing the recovered funds as alluded to by the NDDC acting Director of Internal Audit, Mr Itu Eno Ubi who argued that only the sum of N19 bill...
No factions in Oyo APC – chairman
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State says there is no division within its fold. The party’s Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, said this in a statement issued on Monday in Ibadan. Recall that some members of the party had been parading themselves as a faction of the APC in the state. The APC in the state, which was recently thrown into mourning following the death of its leader, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi, had in 2018 witnessed internal wrangling. This had resulted in the floating of a splinter group, ‘Unity Forum,’ through which virtually all the aggrieved members left the party to join opposition parties in the build up to the 2019 general elections. Oke, however, warned those peddling rumours indicating existence of factions or warring groups in the party to desist from such acts. “These gr...
Festus Keyamo to appear again in National Assembly over 774,000 jobs controversy
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, will appear before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Labour on Tuesday to defend the 774,000 job recruitment across the country. The Minister is going on the invitation of the Joint Committee after the earlier meeting ended in shouting match. But Keyamo has made it clear to the lawmakers that he was sending a written submission on issues surrounding the programme ahead of his appearance to avoid a repetition of what happened during the last sitting. He also expressed reservations that he might not get a fair hearing from the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Labour, alleging that the Committee Chairman was the one at the forefront of insisting on controlling and dictating the execution of the programme...
National Assembly urges President Buhari to suspend plan to recruit 774,000 Nigerians
The Senate and the House of Representatives yesterday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the implementation of the plan to recruit 774,000 Nigerians for Special Public Works across the country. The position of both chambers of the National Assembly followed a sharp disagreement between the National Assembly Joint Committee on Labour, Employee and Productivity and the Minister for State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN, over the modalities for appointing the 20-member Selection Committee for the programme. Keyamo who had appeared at an interactive session organized by the joint committee opposed a resolution of the Joint Committee to resolve into a closed door session. The Minister said he rejected the lawmakers decision to quiz him behind closed doors because of the n...
Police bar APC’s acting national secretary from secretariat
The crisis in the All Progressive Congress (APC) continues to deepen as the Acting National Secretary of the party, Arc Waziri Bulama, was barred by armed policemen from entering the National Secretariat. Bulama while addressing the media on the event said; “I came here this morning to resume work and met policemen who said they have instructions from above to seal the secretariat. “I have called the commissioner of police and he said he is sending a senior Officer to see what is happening. “The workers of the secretariat are servicing over 16 million members of this party across Nigeria. They are like civil servants.” It was gathered that the APC’s Ag. National Secretary arrived the secretariat around 10:50 am in a black Toyota Land Cruiser Sports Utility Vehicle with registration number ...
Ex-convict arrested for impersonating late Abba Kyari’s widow
A 58-year old man identified as Mallam Aminu Ado, has been arrested by men of the Nigeria Police for impersonating the widow of the late Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, in a bid to swindle unsuspecting Nigerians. Spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, DCP Frank Mba, who paraded him before newsmen on Monday, June 22, said after the death of the former chief of staff, Ado who is also known as Al Amin Yerima, went on to impersonate the widow and reached out to prominent Nigerians asking for donations to enable him organize special prayers for the soul of the departed. “In the course of doing that some of the prominent Nigerians became suspicious and reached out to us. He has been cooperative with the investigation and held back no facts. He is 58 years old. He had also had a s...
House of Reps probes utilisation of N25 billion appropriation of refugee commission
The House of Representatives on Monday expressed displeasure over the failure of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP) to provide relevant documents on the utilisation of N25 billion appropriated between 2015 and 2019 fiscal years. Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Wole Oke, who presided over the investigative hearing into the 2015 to 2019 audit queries issued by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (oAuGF), stressed the need to investigate the efficiency of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) with a view to stopping the menace of ghost workers in all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). According to the documents presented by the Commission to the Committee, from the tot...
Nigerian government completes plan to start work on Lagos-Badagry expressway
The lawmaker representing Badagry Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Rep. Babatunde Hunpe, on Sunday assured residents of the town that palliative work would soon start on the bad section of Lagos-Badagry Expressway. Hunpe made this known in an interview with newsmen in Badagry. He said that the Federal Government had completed plan to start another palliative work on the affected portions of the expressway. “It gladdens my heart to inform members of my constituency that plan is already in a very top gear to commence another palliative work on the affected portions. “This is to ease movement of our people who use this road on daily basis. “With the present deplorable state of the road, especially from Agbara-Okoafo-Mowo-Ibereko-Badagry Roundabout and some parts of Gbaji ...
Rep. Cedric Richmond’s Smoothly Sidesteps Rep. Matt Gaetz’s MAGA Rage
Source: Pool / Getty Intense discussions between opposing elected officials isn’t a new thing but in the era of President Donald Trump, contentious disagreements are becoming the norm. An incident that occurred during a discussion between two congressmen, Rep. Cedric Richmond and Rep. Matt Gaetz, got especially testy but Richmond handled it quite smoothly. During a House Judiciary Committee session, Richmond, a Black Democrat representing Louisiana, took his turn to discuss the finer points of the pending Justice and Policing Act that the House of Representatives will soon vote on. Richmond expressed during his speaking time that the urgency for police reform as it relates to the effect it will have on saving Black lives was met with resistance as he yielded his time for an interjection. G...
House of Reps panel insists on NDDC probe of alleged misuse of over N40 billion
The House of Representatives has reiterated its resolve to probe into the allegation of mismanagement of over N40 billion by the interim management committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta development commission (NDDC). The chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, Mr Olubunmi Ojo made this known to reporters at the National Assembly complex in Abuja. The lawmaker denied the allegation from a member of the NDDC IMC that his committee , alongside that of the Senate benefited from a contract to the tune of about N3 trillion from the NDDC. Ojo who claimed that he, alongside members of his committee had received threat to their lives by militants maintained that no amount of blackmail will deter his committee from probing into the allegation of wrongdoings in the NDDC. According to him: “It’s unfortu...
Imo governor abolishes pensions, gratuities for former governors, speakers, deputies
Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has assented to a bill repealing the law that created pension allowances and gratuities for former governors, deputy governors, assembly speakers and deputy speakers. Signing the bill into law in Owerri on Friday, the governor noted that the erstwhile law runs contrary to the 1999 Constitution as amended, which stipulates that a pensioner must have worked for at least 10 years and must be up to 45 years of age. He regretted a situation where some of the beneficiaries of such payments also get a huge amount of money as salaries and allowances in other positions they occupied, such as serving as senators or members of the House of Representatives. He said: “Apart from the inconsistency of such a law to the provisions of the ground norm, which is the Consti...
Speaker Gbajabiamila inaugurates coronavirus committee, to interface with government
The House of Representatives on Tuesday inaugurated the 18 man ad-hoc Committee on Coronavirus pandemic. The committee has the task of working in tandem with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and by extension, the entire relevant machinery of the federal government to find a solution to the challenges posed by the epidemic. Performing the ritual at the national assembly complex, the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila charged the members to give utmost attention to the welfare of frontline workers. He said: “The 18 man Committee we have come to inaugurate reflects the intention of the House of Representative to engage the executive arm of government in a partnership that serves the best interests of the Nigerian people as we join hands to confront and conquer the most severe chal...
