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Oshiomhole ‘Orders’ IGP To Seal Off Bauchi House Of Assembly
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adams Oshiomhole, has asked the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to seal off the Bauchi State House of Assembly.
Recall that on Wednesday, two factional Speakers emerged on the floor of the Bauchi State House of Assembly. , with 11 Lawmakers loyal to the Bauchi State governor, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, electing Hon Abubakar Suleiman Ningi as Speaker of the Assembly in the early hours of the day.
Later on, 20 Lawmakers in the 31-member Parliament elected Hon Kawuwa Shehu Damina as Speaker and Tukur Ahmed, the member representing Toro constituency as Deputy Speaker.
Findings revealed that 19 members were elected on the platform of APC while the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, has a member, Jamilu Umar Dahiru, the only NNPP member, representing Bauchi Central constituency.
Further checks revealed that the ruling party in the State, the PDP, has since poached two members increasing their members to 13.
Addressing the gathering of APC Lawmakers from Bauchi State led by factional Speaker, Honourable Damina who led his colleagues to the party National Secretariat to formally present their case, Comrade Oshiomhole said he has since briefed President Muhammdu Buhari on the need to forestall breakdown of law and order in Bauchi State.
Apparently faulting the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Habu Sani Ahmadu, whose men fired teargas canisters to disperse the 20 Lawmakers, the APC Chairman said it was a shame “if the police provide security for any illegal act.”
He disclosed that he has equally met with the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Adamu Mohammad, and would formally write a letter to demand that the State Assembly be secured and open only to the majority of the members of the House.
Addressing the lawmakers, Oshiomhole said: “I have briefed the President in full having met with you earlier when you shared with me the details. I have had a conversation with the Governor so I have all the facts. We members of NWC have met with the IGP after deliberating on the issues. We will prevail on him to ensure that the Police do not provide security for an illegal act. Because the worse form of robbery is political robbery, it is worse than robbing people of their property.
“There is no way the PDP can produce the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and other principal officers. If the Governor insists, then he is inviting trouble for himself. He should have said he is vacating the Government House, until the determination of his case. If he had submitted to the rule of law I don’t think Governor Bala Muhammed with all due respect, would have no choice than to submit himself and the PDP in Bauchi to rule of law.
“I assure you on behalf of APC that we stand by the statement we made yesterday that the purported election organised under cover with illegal use of the Nigerian Police to install a puppet against the wish of the majority of the members cannot stand and it will not stand by God’s grace.
“We will fight it to its logical conclusion and we will prevail on the Police to provide enforcement for the rule of law, we are not asking for any partisan support. The parliament must be secured because that is the business of the Police and security agencies to secure lives and property. The parliament is the property of the people of Bauchi State. They must ensure it is used for the purpose for which it was built, which is for which is law making not for the Governor to lock up the place.”
Commenting on a similar development in Edo State where nine lawmakers elected Speaker in a 24-member parliament, the former Edo State Governor disclosed that he is ashamed of development in his home State under Governor Godwin Obaseki.
“Unfortunately, the situation in Bauchi State House of Assembly. is also similar to the one that is happening in Edo State, I am ashamed to talk about it but there is nothing to hide. We have a similar situation in Edo, where in our own case we have 24/24 all of them APC but somebody wants a particular person as a Speaker, 19 out of 24 are opposed to this person. They then decided to carry six members into the house who were willing, while they invited the other ones as if for dinner only to arrive and be bundled into a vehicle, some of them in their short knickers to be inaugurated at 9.30 pm in the night.
“Yours was 6:00 am, Edo was 9.30 pm, all these are unholy hours. Those are nocturnal hours. The working hours for parliament are provided by the rules of the parliament. It is not up to anyone to change those rules only properly constituted parliament can change the rules as they are.”
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Resources Authority says it has commenced a clampdown on illegal LPG retail outlets in Akwa Ibom State.
The state Coordinator, Ikechukwu Eseka, disclosed this on Thursday while receiving the state commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Bakshar Hussaini, in his office on a courtesy visit.
He said, “We have started enforcement of LPG retailers embarking on illegal decanting of LPG, filling stations, LPG refilling plants and other illegal downstream operations in the state.
“We are currently working on the illegal proliferation of decanting of LPG in the state, Eseka stated, adding that gas is very volatile, and some of them are using gas that is not meant for the purpose.”
He said he has directed that gas plant owners should not load gas on people who don’t have licenses NMDPRA in the state, warning that “decanting of gas from cylinder to cylinder is an illegal activity which is punishable by law.”
He also called on marketers to register and renew their licenses before operating LPG in the state.
“We used the opportunity to talk on the aspects of the downstream which has to do with our enforcement, sealing of filling stations and those who are using diesel for industrial purposes that are yet to register with NMDPRA.
“We have also commenced engagement with individuals and organisations using storage tanks that are over 500 litres, to come and register with the Authority in the state,” he added.
Eseka thanked the Commandant for coming to re-strategise and collaborate with the Authority in the state.
Earlier, the State Commandant of NSCDC, Hussaini, explained that the purpose of coming was to collaborate with NMDPRA on how to checkmate indiscriminate decanting of LPG in the state.
“I know with the present situation in the country, a lot of them are going to cry and you have to use human face to handle their cases so that we don’t injure the government and the public themselves,” he said.
He lamented that some people used their houses to sell cooking gas which can cause environmental hazards to the public.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced plans to phase out the Permanent Voter Cards, PVC.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made this known at a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs, held at the INEC Conference Room, Abuja on Thursday.
This was part of the identified 142 recommendations released by the Commission which deals with the general state of preparedness, voter management, voter education and public communication, political parties and candidate management.
Other areas of recommendation include electoral operations and logistics management, election officials and personnel, partnership and collaboration, monitoring and supervision, election technology, voting and result management, election security, electoral offences and the electoral legal framework.
The Chairman said there are eight recommendations among the 142 which require legislative action by the National Assembly.
“The Commission also believes that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, the use of the Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVC, as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on Election Day should be reviewed.
He, however, said that those who already have the Permanent Voter Cards can still use them to vote.
He added, “But going forward, computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation. ”
Yakubu said this new development will save costs and further eliminate the issues around the collection of Permanent Voter Cards.
He also said the practice of buying up the Permanent Voter Cards from voters to disenfranchise them, would be reduced.
President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to present the 2025 proposed budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
The announcement was made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during a plenary session, revealing that the President has sent a communication to that effect.
“The president has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025m budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on the 17th of December, 2024,” he said.
The proposed budget, totalling N47.9 trillion, was earlier announced by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Bagudu.
NMDPRA begins clampdown on illegal LPG retail outlets in Akwa Ibom
Elections in Nigeria: There’ll be no more need for voter cards – INEC
BREAKING: Tinubu to present 2025 budget proposal to National Assembly Tuesday
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