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2015 Polls: Nigeria Won’t Divide – Mark

RESA for Nigeria Eckankar, Ifeatu John Areh pointing to the Guest Speaker and RESA Eckankar, Maine Mike Deluca (right) Regional Seminar Cordinator for Eckankar Nigeira, Vincent Ochonma (2nd right) backstage Manager, Okwun Omeakwu (middle) during ECK Regional Seminar at Temple of ECK Port Harcourt, recently. Photo: Chris Monyanaga
Senate President, David Mark, yesterday assured Nigerians that the nation will not disintegrate after the February general elections contrary to predictions that the aftermath of the poll would determine the continued existence of the country.
Mark, who stated this in his welcome speech on resumption of plenary after the Christmas and New Year holidays, asked his colleagues to see the forthcoming elections as a national challenge by playing a major role to ensure a peaceful exercise.
He said, “Despite the much vaunted fear, apprehension and anxiety that our nation may not survive the elections by some dooms-day prophets, I personally remain optimistic that we have the strength of character, the political will, the perseverance and maturity to rise above all the challenges that lie ahead. We are all leaders and I know that we will work towards peace and harmony. Our nation will not disintegrate after the elections.”
He appealed to politicians and the entire political class, to support the Independent National Electoral Commission in its responsibilities without hindrance in order to achieve free, transparent and credible elections, and urged the INEC to take into account, “the wishes of a large body of internally displaced persons who have expressed their desire to have their votes cast and counted.”
He said, “The electoral season brings an unusual amount of scrutiny. We are in the fevered grip of elections but despite the pregnancy of expectation and the excitement being generated by the elections, we must always stick to the task of delivering democratic dividends to our people. Politicians must desist from provocative and inciting utterances. We may be in different political parties but we are not enemies. We must educate, caution and guide our supporters and followers. Election should be an asset to democracy but where it leads to violence or acrimony, it becomes a liability.
“We must, irrespective of party affiliations, do our best to ensure free, fair, transparent and credible elections. At the risk of stating the obvious, I would like to emphasize that for us to hold an elective office, there must first be a nation. I urge all my distinguished colleagues to continue to set example for conduct in the public sphere. I am disturbed and saddened by the war songs emanating from many quarters, particularly from highly placed Nigerians who are threatening fire and brimstone. Elections need not dissolve into theatres of war. It is my belief that war mongering will only result in a legacy that we will all regret,” he added.
Mark urged politicians to renew their priorities, listen to one another more attentively and remind themselves, ways that their aspirations and destinies were intertwined as a people.
He said, “The task before us is enormous but not insurmountable. My distinguished bosses, we are equal to it and we will rise to any challenge that lies in our path. It is my belief that together we can make Nigeria great. As we do our best to serve our country, we need to cherish the beauty in our diversity. Rather than dwell on what divides us, let us look continually at what unites us.”
He commended the senators for the stability which the Senate was enjoying in this 7th Assembly, and urged them to continue to work together for the progress of the nation.
Meanwhile, the next House of Representatives would be short of experienced legislators following their inability to secure tickets to return to the Green Chamber.
Speaker of the House, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal made this observation, yesterday in his opening speech when the House resumed from its Christmas recess.
It is perhaps this issue that informed the defection of five legislators to other parties other than those that granted them ticket to the House.
According to him, ”the return rate of many legislators after the party primaries was below expectation. The expertise of those who lost primaries to re-contest the House will be greatly missed.”
He also expressed worry that crucial bills such as the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the Electoral Act amendment bill and others are still pending.
Tambuwal also announced the defections of Eddie Mbadiwe (Imo) from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the ruling PDP.
The lawmaker cited as his reason the divisions in the party, which he said now have three factions.
The little known Social Democratic Party (SDP) gained three more members, two in Ogun State and one in Taraba.
Both Reps. Murtala Kayode Busari and Ibrahim Adeniyi, formerly of APC and Accord respectively, joined the SDP in Ogun State, just as Rep. Jerry Manwe left the ruling PDP in Taraba for the SDP.
In Niger, the PDP lost Ibrahim Gambo to the opposition APC.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

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
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

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.
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