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Reps In Rowdy Session; As PDP Crisis Polarises House …Decry Low 2013 Budget Implementation

Published

10 years ago

September 18, 2013

It was a rowdy session as the House of Representatives resumed plenary yesterday.
Members engaged in a shouting match when the letter from the New Peoples Democratic Party requesting to visit the House was read.
The letter was signed by the factional PDP’s National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
For about 30 minutes, pro-Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and pro-Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje members of the House elected on the platform of the PDP engaged in fisticuffs.
They screamed on top of their voices and in the process, the Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, was thrown into confusion as key members made their way towards him to offer advice.
To douse tension, Speaker Tambuwal announced that Alhaji Bamanga Tukur also wrote to visit the House but withdrew it later.
Tambuwal said: “There was a communication from our leader, Bamanga Tukur, to address the PDP caucus, but he withdrew his letter this morning and that was why I couldn’t read it.”
A PDP member representing Rivers State, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, moved a motion under point of order.
Chinda said, “we are united.”People watching what happened on the floor will misinterpret it to mean that we are divided.”
The lawmaker was of the opinion that various publications at recent were meant to cause ill feelings amongst members.
Consequently, he moved a vote of confidence on the Speaker and it was overwhelmingly passed.
After the vote of confidence was passed, Tambuwal read his speech titled: “We Must Remain Focused.”
It reads in part: “Most of our people still can’t afford to live decently. They still can’t afford quality education for their children or good healthcare for their families. They still don’t have those basic needs of life – from clean water to adequate security and regular power supply that other nations take for granted. This means there remains a whole lot more to be done.
“Recently, the polity has witnessed sustained heat generated by both inter-party and intra-party squabbles. This is not all together unexpected given the approach of 2015. What is worrisome however is that these squabbles have further exposed the weaknesses of intra party democratic culture and inter-party intolerance. These are viruses, we must resolve to dispense with in order to sanitize the political space.
“I wish to caution that we exercise the highest restraint to the obvious distractions that the approaching 2015 is bound to bring so that we do not lose our focus in the diligent pursuit of our mandate. The proper timing for 2015 will surely come and at that time, we shall do the needful.
“We also hope to amend the Electoral Act again to see how we can ensure that no one takes unfair advantage of the existing loopholes to rig elections. The fact is that until we can ensure that each vote counts in this country, the people will always be taken for granted by their leaders. We therefore want to produce a solid Electoral Act, comparable to any in the world and able to stand the test of time.
“Budget implementation still remains a sore point of governance. The level of implementation of the 2013 capital appropriation is way below expectation given the early submission by the Executive and equally early passage by the Legislature. We have consistently advised that the procurement process be employed in a value added manner rather than the slavish adherence to and unproductive worship of procedures. It would appear that not much progress has been made in that regard.
“So far by the information and statistics at our disposal there would appear to be no justification for this state of affairs. However in order to be comprehensively guided, all the Committees of the House will proceed on one week of oversight to Ministries, Departments and Agencies at the end of which they shall submit their reports to the Committees on legislative Budget and Research and that of Legislative Compliance, then, the two Committees will collate same and submit a joint report to plenary for consideration. This report will guide the House in the consideration of the 2014 budget proposals.
“In an Interim Report to Leadership, the Ad hoc Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) reported that public hearings on the bill had been successfully conducted in the six geo political zones and Abuja. The importance of this bill to the economy can not be overemphasized, accordingly the committee is hereby directed to expedite work and submit it’s report to the House soonest.”
Tambuwal told the Baraje group: “As politicians and leaders, we are deeply concerned about developments in the country in recent weeks, especially the face-off within our party. This development once again expose our vulnerability and the status of the culture of intra-party democracy and tolerance.
“Political parties and the political structure means that democracy can only flourish when there are strong political parties and well developed institutions and firmly entrenched democratic culture. It is important also that, as politicians, we constantly remind ourselves that the democracy we preach belongs to the entire Nigerian people and not politicians alone.
“Indeed, all Nigerians fought to install this democracy and many paid the supreme price with their lives in the process, therefore, we must not by our actions thwart the supreme sacrifices made by our heroes past with levity.
“While acknowledging that political parties are vehicles through which we pursue our ambitions and aspirations we must all conduct ourselves strictly within the confines of our Constitution.
“I wish to caution that Nigerians need peaceful atmosphere to conduct their lives and business endeavors, I make bold to say that we, card-carrying members of political parties form not more than 25 percent of the population of this country.
“We must therefore, abstain from heating up the polity unnecessarily, we must not take the rest of Nigerians for granted. We should not over reach our goodwill and over task which the goodwill of Nigerians imposes on us.
“Let us therefore make conscious effort to allow national interest take the driving seat and not our personal ambitions.”
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, in Abuja yesterday decried the low implementation level of the 2013 capital budget.
Tambuwal, who made the remarks in an address of welcome to members from the seven-week recess, said that the budget implementation still remained a sore point of governance in the country.
“The level of implementation of the 2013 capital appropriation is below expectation given the early submission by the Executive and early passage by the Legislature.
“We have consistently advised that the procurement process be employed in a value added manner rather than the adherence to and unproductive worship of procedures,” he said.
Tambuwal said that in spite of the early passage of the budget by the National Assembly, not much progress had been made in that regard.
“So far by the information and statistics at our disposal, there is no justification for this state of affairs,’’ he said.
The speaker said that based on the poor state of implementation of the budget, all committees of the House would proceed on oversight to all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi (2nd right), with the G7 governors and Senate President, David Mark (5th left) in a group photograph, during a courtesy visit at the Senate in Abuja, yesterday.

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Again, RSG Begins Unveiling, Flag-Off Of Nine Key Projects, ’Morrow

Published

1 year ago

December 8, 2021

The Tide

The Rivers State Government has rolled out the drums to herald another phase of official commissioning of key projects embarked upon by the Governor Nyesom Wike-led administration in the state.
A statement by the state government said that the process is in continuation of the commissioning and flag-off of projects by Governor Nyesom Wike.
It indicated that Rumuola flyover would be commissioned tomorrow, while the GRA flyover would be commissioned on Saturday.
The also stated that the government would commission the Ezimgbu Road on Monday, December 13, 2021; with another commissioning of Tombia Road Extension scheduled for Tuesday, December 14, 2021.
The statement said that the governor would commission the Safe Home, Borikiri, Port Harcourt on Wednesday, December 15; while on Thursday, December 16, 2021, the governor would commission the Odokwu internal roads.
Also, the governor would continue the flag-off of key infrastructure projects with Chokocho-Igbodo Road slated for Monday, December 20, 2021; Oyigbo-Okoloma Road on Wednesday, December 22, 2021; and Magistrates’ Court Complex, Port Harcourt on Thursday, December 23, 2021.

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Wike Justifies N7bn Libel Suit Against THISDAY

Published

1 year ago

December 1, 2021

The Tide

Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, yesterday, appeared before the state High Court in Port Harcourt, to testify as a witness in an N7billion libel suit against THISDAY Newspaper.
Wike said he was in court to seek justice and clear his name as a person from the malicious publication by THISDAY Newspaper, which portrayed him as deceitful, untrustworthy person, who exerts subterranean influences on judicial matters and over court sittings in Port Harcourt.
It would be recalled that Wike had in August, 2020, slammed a N7billion suit being damages for libel written and published in THISDAY’s Tuesday, June 23, 2020 edition captioned, “With Wike, Obaseki Meets His PDP’s Waterloo; Almost.”
The defendants in the suit are THISDAY Newspapers Limited, Leaders and Company Limited, Davidson Iriekpan, Chuks Okocha and Adibe Emenyonu.
Wike, while testifying as witness in suit No. PHC/1505/CS/2020 before the court presided over by Justice A. Enebeli, asserted that the defendants maliciously and falsely portrayed him as an unreliable friend/person.
“When you say somebody cannot be trusted; that cannot be a fair comment. When you say somebody is influencing the Judiciary, that cannot be a fair comment”, the governor said.
In his written statement on oath, Wike had stated that the defendants had accused him of influencing the decision of the court sitting in Port Harcourt that granted an injunction restraining Godwin Obaseki from participating in the primaries of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State in 2020.
He stated that the defendants maliciously accused him of undemocratically exerting influence on the primaries process of PDP in Edo State in aid of his ally, Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, who was the beneficiary of the court order restraining Obaseki from participating in the PDP primaries.
The governor, who told the court that he was not even aware of the aforementioned suit by Ogbeide-Ihama against Obaseki, said the publication was reckless, false and without regards for the truth.
According to him, contrary to well-known journalistic tradition and practices, the defendants did not investigate properly to ensure the information they relied on was accurate.
“They did not seek to verify the facts from me or in any manner oblige me with the opportunity to state my own side of the story before proceeding to make the false publication” the governor argued.
Wike stated that the defendants further denigrated him before the entire world as a fake democrat, who engages in meddling in the internal affairs of All Progressives Congress (APC) in order to get at his political foe, Chibuike Amaechi.
The governor explained that he was not a member of the APC and has had no hand in the internal crisis which has bedevilled the party both in Rivers State and all over Nigeria.
“By the letter of Messrs E.C. Ukala and Co., Solicitors, under the hand of Emmanuel C. Ukala, SAN, dated 23rd June, 2020, the defendants were given opportunity to retract, and recant the publication as well as to offer apology for the false publication but the defendants spurned the opportunity and ignored the letter completely.”
The governor, while responding to claim by lawyer to the defendants, Turudu Ede, SAN, that the essence of the lawsuit was to intimidate and harass his clients, said the whole essence of the suit was to get justice and clear his name as a man of substantial character, honour and repute.
“The essence of the suit is to get justice since they (defendants) refused to retract the publication or apologise. So, I sued them to clear my name.”
Speaking to journalists outside the court, one of the lawyers to Wike, Mr. Mark Agwu said his client was in court to seek legal redress.
“To challenge him as a person, it means you have made him untrustworthy, a deceit, a cheat, an influencer of the court, because the publication they made was that he had a role to play in influencing the outcome of that Federal High Court case. Nobody will take that lightly, and especially for a man who believes in the rule of law”, Agwu added.
The court adjourned the matter for further hearing to 12th, 13th and 14th of January, 2022.

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$130m Fraud: Rivers Sues Saipem SPA, Saipem Contracting Firm, Others

Published

1 year ago

November 26, 2021

The Tide

The Rivers State Government has charged two construction firms, Saipem SPA and Saipem Contracting Nigeria Ltd, to court over an alleged conspiracy to cheat and with intent to defraud the state of the sum of $130million, being advanced payment for the construction of the OCGT power plant in Port Harcourt.
In a 16-count criminal charge filed by the Director of Public Prosecution, C.F. Amadi for the Rivers State Attorney General, the state alleged that after collecting the said sum as advanced payment between 2011 and 2018, the defendants have not kept their obligation under the contract.
Others charged alongside the companies were Walter Peviana; Kelechi Sinteh Chinakwe; Giandomenico Zingali; Vitto Testaguzza and Davide Anelli, who are directors and officers of the companies.
The defendants are charged with various offences ranging from conspiracy, cheating and obtaining credit by false pretence, contrary to Section 518 (6) and (7) and punishable under Section 518 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37 Vol. 2 Laws of Rivers State of Nigeria, 1999, section 419A and punishable under Section 419 (A) (1) (b) of the Criminal Code, Cap 37 Vol. 2 Laws of Rivers State, amongst others.
Already, the Rivers State Government has issued a fiat to the law firm of Godwin Obla (SAN) to prosecute the matter before the state High court.
The defendants are equally charged for the offence of false Statements by Officials of Companies contrary to and punishable under Section 436 (b).
The prosecution specifically accused the defendants of obtaining credit of $130million by false pretences or other fraud contrary to Section 419A and punishable under Section 419 (A) (1) (b); obtaining credit of $20,467,942.00 by false pretences or other fraud contrary to Section 419A and punishable under Section 419 (A) (1) (b), obtaining credit of N7,000,000,000.00 only by false pretences or other fraud contrary to Section 419A and punishable under Section 419 (A) (1) (b).
They are charged for obtaining credit of N318,640,173.54, by false pretences or other fraud contrary to Section 419A and punishable under Section 419 (A) (1) (b); attempt to cheat $97million contrary to Section 508 and punishable under Section 509; attempt to cheat $15million contrary to Section 508 and punishable under Section 509; conspiracy to receive a credit of $97million by false pretences contrary to Section 518 (6) and punishable under Section 518; cheating $11million contrary to Section 421 and punishable under Section 421; cheating contrary to Section 421 and punishable under Section 421; cheating N110, 097, 416.51 contrary to Section 421 and punishable under Section 421; cheating by collecting sums attributable to shared facilities already paid for in AFAM Phase I in AFAM Phase II contrary to Section 421 and punishable under Section 421.
Obtaining N20, 467, 942 contrary to Section 421 and punishable under Section 421; obtaining credit of $60,168,936.00 by false pretences or other fraud, contrary to Section 419A and punishable under Section 419 (A) (1) (b); obtaining credit of $1,512,034.00 by false pretences or other fraud contrary to Section 419A and punishable under Section 419 (A) (1) (b) all of the Criminal Code Law of Rivers State, Cap 37 Vol. 2 Laws of Rivers State of Nigeria 1999.
According to the Proof of Evidence attached to the charge and the statement made by the Head, Power Generation/Mechanical of the Rivers State Ministry of Power, one Mr Temple Azunda M., the facts constituting the case in hand are as follows:
Saipem SPA and Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited and other officers of the duo, herein the Defendants, are Italian companies which services have been retained by the Rivers State Government, herein RSG, in several projects, prominent amongst which is the AFAM Phase II Power Plant Project.
By an initial tripartite agreement made on the January 20, 2010, the RSG under the auspices of the Rivers State Ministry of Power entered a contract with Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, Saipem SPA for the construction of the OGCT power plant in Port Harcourt at a total cost of $119million consequent upon which the Rivers State Government made advance payments, in instalments, to Saipem Contracting Nigeria Ltd and Saipem SPA amounting in total to a sum of $130million in all which the Defendants have acknowledged receipt of.
The Defendants were to be given an initial mobilization of 20per cent of the total contract sum which the RSG paid.
It was part of the initial agreement – and indeed a condition sine qua non – that, to access the 2nd tranche of payment of 25per cent from the Rivers State Government, the Defendants would mandatorily have installed the Gas Turbine into the foundations as referenced in ATTACHMENT 1 to VO 007 which states that:
CONTRACTOR shall be entitled to a payment corresponding to 20per cent of the VO No. 007 LS PRICE upon mobilisation to site and commencement of bush clearing activities at SITE.
Upon commencement of bush clearing activities at the site, the contractor shall issue the invoice relevant to the above payment and the owner shall pay such invoice within 14 days from its issuance.
The parties agree that no deduction for recovery of advance payment shall apply on the payment due to the contractor for invoices issued by the contractor in accordance with this paragraph.