Senate President
White House does not rule out Haiti request for U.S. troops
The United States is still reviewing a request for troops made by Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph to help secure key infrastructure after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Monday. Psaki said Haiti’s political leadership remains unclear and that it was vital for the country’s leaders to come together to chart a united path forward. Moise was shot dead early on Wednesday at his Port-au-Prince home by what Haitian authorities describe as a unit of assassins formed of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans. Haitian police said on Sunday they had arrested another key suspect. The death of the president has plunged the troubled country into deeper turmoil, and U.S. officials traveled there on Sunday to assess the situation and ...
PIB: IPMAN commends National Assembly for inclusion of PEF
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has commended the National Assembly for the inclusion of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund in the newly passed Petroleum Industry Bill. The Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Yakubu Suleiman, gave the commendation on Sunday in a statement. Suleiman said the legislative arm of government had demonstrated that it was sensitive to the yearnings of majority of Nigerians for a permanent solution to the energy problems in the country. He said the entire content of the bill as passed by the Senate would serve as a catalyst for the inflow of the much desired foreign direct investment to boost the economy. He said: “The much awaited Petroleum Industry Bill has come to ease Nigerians of the pains that necessitated the call for the Bill in the ...
Senate vows to expose MDAs refusing to account for public funds
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that the upper chamber will publish the names of government agencies that have refused to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to defend the interrogations of the Auditor-General for the Federation in the 2015 report. Lawan made this known in his remarks after the Senate considered the report of the Committee on Public Accounts on the annual report of the Auditor-General for the Federation on the accounts of the Federation for the year ended 31st December, 2015. According to the Senate President, any public official that refuses to account for public funds at their disposal must be shown the way out of office. He said, “This is one of our major responsibilities as a parliament, to hold the executive to account. “[And] whoever is given t...
2023: Yahaya Bello’s presidential posters flood Abuja
Presidential campaign posters of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, have flooded major streets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. This is the latest in a series of presidential campaign posters on the streets of Abuja in recent weeks. Other 2023 presidential hopefuls whose campaign posters have adorned the streets of Abuja are the APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President Bukola Saraki. Bello’s posters had various inscriptions such as, “2023 Presidency: Yahaya Bello for a generational change,” Yahaya Bello for President 2023″. Some were pasted on electric poles, roundabouts, overhead bridges, among others. They were sighted around the Ministry of Justice; the Federal Secretariat; NICON Luxury; Sheraton Hotel, street leadi...
Senate reassures Nigerians on PIB, electoral, constitutional amendment bills
Senate President Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan said on Friday that the Senate was closer to passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, and the Constitution Amendment Bill, assuring Nigerians that the bills will be passed between now and July year. Lawan who stated this while interacting with journalists to mark the second anniversary of the 9th Senate stated that it was a mark of excellent effort that the ninth senate would soon be ready to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) after twenty years of failed attempts. “This should happen this June, and it should increase accountability, probity, efficiency, equity and justice in that vital sector of our economy. “Our determination to pass the bill is additionally in line with our resolve to be a result-oriented parli...
Ex-Senate president urges Nigerian government to review suspension of Twitter’s operations
Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has reacted to Federal Government’s suspension of the operations of the micro blogging and social networking service, Twitter. Newsmen report Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, had announced the “indefinite” suspension in a statement on Friday by his spokesman Segun Adeyemi. Reacting, Saraki noted that Twitter has become part of the daily lives of youths and also a source of income and livelihood for many youths. He further called for a review of the suspension. “No sir! This should not be the response from the president of a nation with a vibrant youthful population for whom #Twitter is part of their daily lives and a source of their income and livelihood. This must be reviewed,” Saraki tweeted. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to...
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 ...
Workers Day: Senate president urges labour to consider higher national interest always
Ahead of the May 1 Workers Day celebration, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Friday, Senator urged organised labour to always look at the larger picture and consider higher national interest in their responses to government policies and actions. Lawan stated this on Friday, while commemorating this year’s workers day celebration coming up today (May 1). In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi, the Senate President assured workers that “the National Assembly believes in the well-being and welfare of the workers and will always provide legislative support for every effort to tackle their challenges and improve the work environment.” Recalling that the Nigerian workers across the generations have continued to drive economic productivity, nation-building and democra...
Senate passes amended AMCON bill, empowers agency to seize debtors’ assets
The Senate Wednesday passed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Amendment bill after considering the report of its Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions. The amendment bill passed by the upper chamber empowers the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria to, among others, take possession, manage or sell all properties traced to debtors, whether or not such assets or property is used as security/collateral for obtaining the loan in particular. It also empowers the corporation to access the Special Tribunal established by the BOFIA, 2020 for dealing with financial related matters. Presenting the report, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Uba Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) said the Committee engaged with stakeholders such as AMCON, Federal Ministry of Finance, ...
Senator Saraki urges Nigerian government to seek help over escalating insecurity
Former President of the Senate, Sen. Bukola Saraki, has advised the Federal Government to seek help wherever it could to address the escalating insecurity in the country. Saraki, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said that calling for help in the present situation of the country was not a sign of weakness. He said he was worried over cases of violence, kidnapping and terrorism recorded on Monday in Anambra, Kaduna, Yobe, Niger, Lagos states and many parts of the country. The ex-senate president reiterated the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to convene meeting of all those who could help in finding solutions to the problem at hand. ”The people include former presidents and heads of state, serving and former chief justices, serving and former presiding officers of the National Assembly...
Senate president urges Nigerians to pray for leaders to overcome nation’s challenges
Senate President Ahmad Lawan has called for prayers for the leaders in government as they tackle the various challenges facing the nation. According to his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi, Lawan made the appeal on Saturday at the launching of Pataskum Emirate Central Mosque Appeal Fund at Potiskum, Yobe State. The Senate President who announced a donation of N20 million to support the project said “every time leaders need prayers, particularly from the followership. “Our leaders, particularly our President, Muhammadu Buhari, may God grant him good health, God has given him the leadership of this country through you. “He is trying his possible best for you and we too that are part of his leadership, we are trying our best to ensure that things are okay for Nigeria. “I will therefore t...
2023: APC disowns viral zoning arrangement
The national caretaker/extraordinary convention planning committee (CECPC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has disowned a zoning arrangement list in circulation on the social media. The zoning arrangement for major national elective offices and for positions in the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) allegedly emanated from the party leadership. By the arrangement, the presidential ticket is zoned to South, Vice President – North, Senate President – South, Deputy Senate President – North while Speaker – North and Deputy Speaker – South. For the National Working Committee zoning, the list showed that the north will produce the National Chairman, National Secretary – South, National Treasurer – South, Financial Secretary – North, Legal Officer – North and Welfare Officer –...
