National Assembly
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...
774,000 jobs: National Assembly can’t suspend selection process – minister
The Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo (SAN), says members of the National Assembly cannot stop the selection process of the 774,000 Special Public Works Programme jobs. He stated that the Joint Committees on Labour of both the Senate and the House tried to “control the programme as to who gets what, where and how”. The minister insisted that he would not surrender the programme to the lawmakers’ control “since their powers under the constitution does not extend to that”. He, therefore, directed the state selection committees to proceed with the recruitment process. Keyamo, in a statement issued after his meeting with the NASS committee ended in a fiasco on Tuesday, said, “There was a misunderstanding between us when they questioned why I did not privately submit the programme to ...
President Buhari, governor, Victor Giadom, NASS leaders attend APC NEC
The controversial National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has kicked off at the Council chambers of Aso Rock president villa, Abuja. The NEC meeting which is expected to resolve controversies over the leadership of the party is being attended by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. It was also gathered that at least, 10 governors are already seated for the meeting as at the time of writing this story. Some of the Governors already in for the meeting include Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Atiku Bagudu, the governor of Kebi governor, Yahaya Bello of Kogi and the Governor of Osun State. Also leaders of the National Assembly who are members of APC NEC are also in attendance. Factional Ch...
ICPC tracks 67 constituency projects in Nasarawa
File Photo The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Wednesday said it has started tracking 67 selected constituency projects in Nasarawa State. Mr Clement Obaniyi, the commission’s Commissioner in Benue, also overseeing Nasarawa and Plateau, told newsmen in Makurdi on Wednesday, noting that the projects were 2016 constituency projects of National Assembly members in Nasarawa State. Obaniyi said that the selected projects ranged from construction of boreholes, HIV campaign projects, provision of buses/cars, erosion control and flood, electrification, dams and road construction. He added that the projects were selected for tracking by a team from Budget Office of the Federation, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, ICPC, National Instit...
Aviation stakeholders decry use of foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerians
Stakeholders in the aviation industry on Monday kicked against the continuous use of foreign airlines by the Federal Government for the evacuation of Nigerians in spite of domestic capacity to carry out the exercise. They expressed their displeasure in a chat with the Aviation Correspondents in Lagos, saying the situation was creating wrong impression about Nigeria and safety of its carriers. Speaking, Capt. Nogie Meggison, Executive Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), said the continuous use of foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerians by the government was contrary to its own directive that only indigenous carriers should be used. Meggison said that the onus still lies on the government to do the right thing by protecting its own carriers, as COVID-19 fears had forced government t...
Senator: NNPC’s audit report underscores readiness for transparency
Sen. Bassey Akpan, Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream, says the published Audited Financial Statement of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is an indication of its readiness to ensure transparency in its operations. Akpan made this known while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday. “The recently published audited financial statement of the NNPC, also goes a long way to underscore the readiness of the new management under the GMD, Malam Mele Kyari, toward pursuing transparency, good governance and also accountability in the industry. “Nobody used to know what happens in the NNPC; but I think we are beginning to see results, and we can actually attest to the fact that this is in line with the new spirit. “I must commend President Muhammadu Buhari for the trust an...
Governor Wike slams NGF as toothless bulldog
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike on Monday slammed the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) for not standing up for embattled Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki. He said the NGF had become a toothless bulldog as it has lost focus on its role in defending the rule of law. Wike said the Forum used to be non-partisan and a powerful voice on national issues. He noted that since the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over the NGF in 2015, governors have been turned to beggars. The governor spoke at a media parley held at Government House in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. He said: “Before 2015, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum used to be very powerful as symbols of their respective states but APC killed it because they were protecting the interest of the ruling party. “It is quite unfortunate ...
Minister: Nigeria working on plasma of recovered coronavirus patients for treatment
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on Sunday said the Federal Government is working on research, using plasma from the blood of recovered Coronavirus (COVID-19) patients to treat people infected with the virus. Ehanire said this while answering questions from journalists in Abuja on the possibility of using plasma of recovered COVID-19 patients to treat serious cases. The minister, who spoke at a news conference to commemorate the World Blood Donor Day (WBDD), said some research institutes were already working on the new research. According to him, plasma of patients recovered from COVID-19 is called Convalescent plasma. “It is believed that persons who suffered COVID-19 and have recovered will have antibodies inside their plasma, which can be used to treat others. “It can be used...
Senate calls for quick diversification of economy, frowns against high cost of oil production
The upper chamber of the National Assembly has called on the federal government to quickly diversify the economy, following the high cost of oil production without commensurate result. Berating the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the high cost, which resulted into marginal profit of just $3 per barrel for the country, the Senate noted that the high cost of oil production in the country is higher than other oil producing nations. This development was noted when when officials of NNPC appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance. The Senate also noted that the high cost of oil production which is $21.2 per barrel, almost equaling $25 per barrel oil price benchmark fixed for the N10.509 trillion 2020 revised budget. The upper chamber expressed its displeasure when the Ch...
Loans request: Nigeria now on the auction market – PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alarms that with the volume of foreign loans being accumulated by President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC), our nation and her people have been placed on the international auction market. The party said President Buhari’s moves to take a fresh $5.513 billion (N2.1 trillion) loan in addition to an earlier $22.79 billion (N8.5trillion), the size of 2020 budget, without operable repayment plans, will totally compromise the fiscal integrity of our nation and open her up for economic annexation by foreign creditors. This is in addition to N850 billion from the capital market. It is more alarming that the Buhari government, in this fiscal year, cannot muster the capacity to harness the huge resources available in our country to generat...
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...
