Red Chamber
Senate committee gets 14 days to process President Buhari’s N2.343 trillion loan request
The Nigerian Senate has given its Committee on Foreign and Local Debts 14 days within which to process President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for a fresh ₦2.343 trillion ($6.183 billion) for approval. Senate President Ahmad Lawan gave the directive at the commencement of Tuesday’s plenary session shortly after the Senate Majority leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, drew the attention of the Senate to the pending request. The Senator Clifford Ordia-led Committee on Foreign and Local debt had approved a total of $28 billion so far. The current request will take the total loan approved to $35.683 billion. Buhari had urged the Senate to approve N2.3 trillion ($6.183 billion) external borrowing. He said the loan was to finance the 2021 budget deficit of N5.6 trillion. The President indicated that the loan ...
Senators decry executive’s disregard for resolutions on insecurity
Federal lawmakers, on Tuesday, deplored the federal government’s continued disregard for Senate’s resolutions on the issue of national security. The Senators spoke while contributing to a motion on the recent kidnapping of students at the Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State. The Red Chamber had twice called for the replacement of the service chiefs. The lawmakers, in their various contributions to the motion, expressed deep frustration over the recurring issues of killings and kidnappings across the country and the inability of the security agencies to address the challenges. They insisted that the service chiefs had overstayed and should allow other officers with fresh ideas to take over. Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger) said, “Every day, people are dying and nothing ...
Senate summons minister, service chiefs over Kankara kidnapping
The Senate, on Tuesday, invited the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd.), service chiefs and heads of other security agencies to brief it on measure being taken to rescue the abducted students of Government Science School, Kankara Katsina State. This followed a motion by Senator Bello Mandiya (APC, Katsina South), who noted that the abduction is coming on the heels of yet to be resolved abduction of 270 girls at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in 2014, and abduction of about 100 school girls at Government Girls Science and Technical School, Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018. He expressed concern that like the other incidents of school children abduction that took place in Chibok and Dapchi, if no immediate action was taken to rescue Kankara School boys, their fate...
‘Electronic voting, best option for credible polls’
An Oyo State politician, Olayinka Oladimeji Segelu, has called for the adoption of electronic voting in Nigeria’s electoral process. Segelu, who aspired for House of Representatives in 2015, said the plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commence electronic voting with Anambra State governorship election next year was a good move. He said: “Honestly, the only way we can ensure transparency and reliability in the conduct of elections in Nigeria is to embrace electronic voting as it is done in some other countries of the world. “We must understand that establishing an independent body to manage and supervise elections is not enough to guarantee free and fair elections devoid of an efficient and reliable system. “To start with, the cost of adopting the electronic bal...
Senate faults minister for blaming legislature for bad roads
The Senate has described as, “fallacy of the highest order,” a statement credited to the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on the state of Nigerian roads. Fashola, according to the red chamber, had alleged that the National Assembly members should be held responsible for the poor state of the federal roads in Benue State. The upper chamber accused the Minister of trying to incite members of the public against the federal lawmakers by his allegation. The Senate stated this in a statement by its spokesperson, Dr. Ajibola Basiru, titled, “Senate debunks Minister’s claim on budgetary allocations to road construction,” issued in Abuja on Sunday. The red chamber said it took exception to the statement credited to Fashola, that the National Assembly should be held respon...
Senator Basiru: Senate has no plan to secretly pass social media bill
Senator representing Osun Central and Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, has said the Red Chamber has no plan to hurriedly pass the controversial Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation and Other Related Matters Bill 2019 into law. An online platform, SaharaReporters, has published that the Senate on its resumption on September 15 has sealed a plot to pass the Bill popularly known as Social Media bill for presidential assent. Sponsored by Senator representing Niger East, Sani Musa, the bill was unanimously rejected at the Senate Public Hearing. Reacting to the report at the weekend, Senator Basiru dismissed it as “false and a lie concocted by the medium to ridicule and tarnish the image of the senate.” The former Attorney General and ...
