News
FG Presents 2011 Budget Proposal, Tuesday
The long expected Appropriation Bill for the 2011 fiscal year will be presented to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan next Tuesday.
A statement read by Senate President, David Mark, during last Tuesday’s plenary session said President Jonathan sought the leave of the Senate to present the budget to the lawmakers on the said date.
As expected, the budget presentation is yet another task which may bring together the two chambers. But emerging signals indicate that the breach of confidence and the cold war that trailed the misunderstanding that erupted between Senators and members of the House of Representatives at the Minna Retreat for the Constitutional Review Joint Committee last year seems to have been finally laid to rest.
The indication came through the spokesman of the Senate, Senator Ayogu Eze who while fielding questions from journalists at a news briefing, said both chambers had regained each other’s confidence and are working together as one.
His words, “A lot of people have misunderstood the problem that occurred last year and no problem is forever, we had some little misunderstanding but I think we have put that behind us, you can see that most things we are doing we are working together as one body.
It is expected that in every organization, the junior colleagues should always listen to the senior both in their attitude and in their actions and I think that if the President has a desire to come and address the nation we should not deprive him of such desire.
“If what happened in Minna did not happen, we were running like one family and I think that we are confident that we have regained the confidence of each other and we are working together as a one National Assembly and really,” Senator Ayogu, therefore, indicated that this time, the issue of venue for the presentation would not be a problem as either of the chambers can join the other at any venue which has the required capacity.
“we don’t have any problem whether it is held in the green chamber or the red chamber. If the green chamber is the one that has all the accommodation to take all of us, we don’t have any problem with that,” he said.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Senator Eze, at the press briefing also confirmed that the senate would pass the amendments to the Electoral Act next week even with a lot of variations from the House of Representatives’ version passed Wednesday.
His words, “a lot of you thought that the passage of the Electoral Act by the House was also the passage by the Senate. I want to use this opportunity to clarify that we have not passed the Electoral Act in the Senate, we will pass it next week and then when we pass it, we are expecting that there will be a lot of differences between the version that we will pass.
“Some differences, not a lot between the version that we will pass and the version that will be passed in the House, and therefore, we are expecting that there will be a conference committee that will look at harmonising it speedily so that we can pass it before we proceed on holiday.
He went ahead to add that the difference in the versions of the two Houses does not mean disagreement between both Houses.
Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.