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S/East Senators Appeals To Buhari Over Nnamdi Kanu’s Release
The South East Caucus in the Senate has called on the Federal Government to obey the ruling of the Appeal Court and discharge the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The caucus, comprising of eleven Senators, made the call in a statement issued and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday.
The Appeal Court last week acquitted and discharged the IPOB leader of terrorism charges leveled against him by the Federal government.
However, Kanu who was re-arrested from Kenya in June 2021, is still in the custody of the Department of State Services as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami insisted that he was only discharged but yet to be acquitted.
Following the refusal of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to release the separatist as ordered by the Appeal Court, the Senate caucus asked the president to keep the promise he earlier made to the Igbos and release Kanu.
“We should be mindful of our diversity and the strengths we as a country derive from there. This is the time to show magnanimity and statesmanship. The Appeal Court has provided the leeway for the authorities to walk the talk as ones desirous of preserving Nigeria’s unity and respect for her diversity.
“Accordingly, we as a Caucus and stakeholders in the Nigeria project appeal to Mr President, to remember the promise he made to a delegation of elders of Igboland sometime ago and release Nnamdi Kanu, especially now that the Appeal Court by that ruling removed the burden of interference from him. Going on Appeal would ultimately negate that kind gesture,” the caucus stated.
Those who signed statement include: Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Minority Whip), Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Majority Whip), Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senator Uche Ekwunife (Iyom), Senator Sam Egwu, Senator Stella Oduah and Senator Obinna Ogba, Senator T A Orji (Ochendo).
Others are: Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, Senator Onyewuchi Ezenwa, Senator Micheal Nnachi, Senator Rochas Okorocha, Senator Frank Ibezim, and Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Uba.
October 20, 2022
Insecurity: Opposition Senators Stage Walkout Over Call For Buhari’s Impeachment
Senators from opposition parties on Wednesday staged a walkout following a call to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari.
This followed mild drama that played out during the plenary in the upper chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Phillip Aduda, had raised a point of order asking the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to discuss the security situation in the country and the impeachment of President Buhari.
But Senator Lawan, who presided over the plenary, declined the request of the minority leader, saying the point of order raised fell flat on its face.
Angered by the action of the Senate President, all the lawmakers elected on the platforms of all political parties other than the All Progressives Congress (APC) took turns to walk out of the legislative chamber while the plenary was ongoing.
Senator Aduda later briefed reporters at the National Assembly complex on behalf of his aggrieved colleagues.
According to him, the opposition senators have issued a six-week ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the security challenges bedevilling the country.
They agreed to commence impeachment proceedings against the President should he fail to address the insecurity within the period given by the lawmakers.
The action by the opposition lawmakers is the latest in a series of concerns raised by various individuals and groups amid the rising spate of insecurity in the country.
Hours before the plenary, a human rights activist, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, criticised President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration over the manner in which it is handling the security challenges in the country.
Odinkalu, a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), decried the level of insecurity in the country, especially the renewed attacks by terrorists in recent times.
Although he acknowledged various critical roles of the President, the stressed that the country would be better secure with adequate coordination.
The former NHRC chief advised the President to delegate some of the roles, except that of a Commander-in-Chief.
“There is only one element in the job of the President that can never be delegated as long as the President is terrestrial, that is a Commander-in-Chief,” said Odinkalu when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“If the President is in the hospital and under life support, he cannot delegate the job of the Commander-in-Chief, and when the Commander-in-Chief is as lazy and uncaring as the one that Nigeria has, the country is exactly where it deserves to be.”
July 27, 2022
22 APC Senators Threatening to Decamp to PDP – Fani-Kayode Reveals
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has raised that alarm over planned exodus of some Senators from the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Fani-Kayode disclosed that 22 senators are threatening to dump APC for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
In a tweet, the former minister claimed that the senators are threatening to dump APC because they lost during the party’s primary election.
He urged the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu to immediately reach out to them and resolve the issue.
According to Fani-Kayode, the ruling party can’t afford to lose the 22 senators ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He wrote: “22 APC Senators are threatening to decamp to PDP because they have been denied the tickets to return to the Senate.
“This is serious and something must be done to prevent it. Many are concerned and we urge our able National Chairman National . Secretary to reach them. We cannot afford to lose them.”
June 22, 2022
Three APC Senators Dumps Party
Three Senators belonging to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have resigned their membership of the ruling party.
The lawmakers are Senators Ahmad Babba Kaita (Katsina North), Lawal Yahaya Gumau (Bauchi South), and Francis Alimikhena (Edo North).
Senators Babba Kaita and Alimikhena defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party while Gumau defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The notice of their resignation and defection was contained in three separate letters read during plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday.
Babba Kaita’s letter reads, “As Senator representing Katsina North Senatorial District, I write to formally notify you of my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC), and registration declaration for the Peoples Democratic Party.
“My resignation from the APC was born out of the marginalisation of critical stakeholders by the State Government and Leadership of the Party in Katsina State, where small people like me do not have a chance.
“I have since been joyful and graciously accepted into the fold of the Peoples Democratic Party in Katsina State.”
On his part, Senator Alimikhena, explained that his decision to resign from the APC was as a result of “continuing and multifaceted crisis that has bedeviled the APC”, especially in his Senatorial District, “that has created parallel executives that has undermined internal discipline, cohesion and focus.”
The defection by the three lawmakers reduces the total number of APC Senators from 70 to 67 in the upper chamber
June 21, 2022
Lawan reveals salaries of Senators, House Reps
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Monday, revealed the salaries and emoluments of members of the National Assembly to the public in Abuja.
Lawan also said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has surpassed his predecessors on assent to bills.
He stated this in a paper presented at the First Distinguished Parliamentarians Lecture Series organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies.
The President of the Senate said the monthly Salary of a Senator was N1.5 million while that of a member of the House of Representatives is N1.3 million.
He said the N13 million thrown into the public space a few years back as the monthly salary of a Senator was actually their quarterly office running allowance.
Lawan said, “The total salary of a member of the Senate is about N1.5m while that of the House of Representatives is about N1.3m.
“The quarterly office allowance for legislators is what is erroneously conflicted with a monthly income to create confusion and mislead the Nigerians.
“The average office running cost for a senator is about N13m while that of a member of the House of Representatives is N8m.”
When calculated by our correspondent, the N13m office running cost for a Senator amounts to N52m per annum while the N8m for a member of the House of Representatives amounts to N32m in a year.
Lawan’s lecture was titled, ‘The Legislature, Legislative Mandate and People – The Reality and the Public Perception.’
He said the N13m and the N8m quarterly office running cost for a member of the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, were the lowest of any Presidential democracy in the world.
The allowances as enumerated by him, cover costs of local/international travel, consulting of professional services, medical services, office stationeries/computers, consumables, books, newspapers, magazines, maintenance of motor vehicles and office equipment among others.
December 13, 2021
Senators vow to reject Water Resources Bill
Senators Tuesday vowed to reject a proposed Water Resources Bill when it is presented to the Senate.
The Bill which has already scaled first reading in the House of Representatives has continued to generate controversy.
There are however indications that the Bill would likely be presented to the Senate on resumption from their current break on September 15.
Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, told reporters in Abuja that even though the Bill is yet to surface on the floor of the Senate, it would not be allowed to see the light of day when it is eventually presented.
“We have not seen it in the Senate. When it comes we will reject as before,” Abaribe said in a terse text message in reply to an enquiry on the Bill by a reporter in Abuja.
On her part, Senator Biodun Olujimi, said Senators would not support any Bill that may be injurious to Nigerians.
Olujimi told reporters during an interview in Abuja that Senators would stand up against any legislation capable of disrupting the fragile peace in the country.
She said: “The truth is that I am not aware of that Bill at all. However, anything that will injure our people, some of us will never be part of it.
“We will speak up against it when the time comes because nobody would be allowed to injure our people.
“We will not allow any legislation to ruin the fragile peace that we have in this country.
“We will not allow our fragile peace to be destroyed as a result of any political, personal or ethno-religious reasons.
“We won’t allow it because we are one entity and we must fight for the people of Nigeria.
“The Bill which is currently being treated at the House of Representatives would require the concurrence of the Senate and when the time comes, we won’t let it just fly like that.”
September 1, 2020