Senate Flays Judges’ Arrest By DSS …Confirms 13 NDDC Board Members,Rejects Four

The Senate, yesterday, condemned the action of the Department of State Security (DSS) for the “invasion of the homes, arrest and detention” of some judges at the weekend.
The Senate also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call all security agencies to order and direct the full observance of the rule of law in the discharge of their duties.
The Senate reached its resolution following a motion by Senator Joshua Lidani, (Gombe South) calling for the condemnation of the action of the DSS.
Recall that in the early hours of Saturday, operatives of the DSS arrested senior judicial officers including John Okoro and Sylvester Nguta of the Supreme Court and a former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Innocent Umezulike.
Others are Nnamdi Dimgba and Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja; Kabiru Auta, from Kano; Muazu Pindiga of Federal High Court in Gombe.
The judges were, however, released late Sunday.
The Senate, therefore, frowned at the action of the operatives of the DSS, stressing that it went against the rule of law.
It, therefore, mandated its Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to review all existing laws that deal with the security agencies and bring them in line with the tenets of democracy.
The committee was charged to report to the Senate in four weeks.
The Senate also backed the Federal Government’s efforts to fight corruption and to sanitise all sectors including the Judiciary.
The Senate said that the action of the DSS was wrong as it did not confer with the NJC which is statutorily responsible for disciplining judges and other judicial workers.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said that the Senate was totally in support of the fight against corruption, especially in the judicial system.
“We must eradicate corruption in all spheres of our society and this is a matter that we must continue.
“I think the National Assembly has been playing its role to continue to support government in its fight against corruption.
“We must ensure that this fight against corruption is within the rule of law, any act of anti corruption action that goes against the rule of law does not help the corruption fight.
“That is why this action as has been seen in this manner is condemned by the Senate and all agencies of government must ensure that they act within the rule of law,” he said.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Ibn Na’Allah, said that Nigerians supported the change agenda because of the promise to fight corruption.
He said that the Assembly was committed to support the Federal Government to fight corruption but stressed that it must be done within the ambit of the rule of law.
He said that the NJC should have been left to do its job adding that the senate should be careful in condemning the DSS.
Similarly, the House of Representatives, yesterday, ruled to probe the arrest of the judges but equally backed the motion of the upper chambers in refusing to summon the director general of the State Security Service.
In a motion brought by Honourable member representing Rivers State, Chinda Ogundu, the House named a committee to investigate weekend’s raid by the Department of State Security Service (DSS), on some judges’ homes across the country.
Meanwhile, the Senate was yesterday, divided over the confirmation of nominees from President Muhammadu Buhari into the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
It would be recalled that the President communicated to the Senate on Wednesday, 28th September, 2016, wherein he requested that the Senate do confirm the nomination of former Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba as chairman, Nsima Udo Ekere as managing director and 17 others as executive directors and members of the NDDC Board.
Presenting the report on the floor of the Senate, the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Niger Delta, Peter Nwaoboshi, said his committee conducted an open screening for the nominees on Tuesday, 4th October and Wednesday, 5th October, and was guided by the Act establishing the NDDC and other relevant laws.
He, however, stated that the nominee from Imo State, Senator Osita Bonaventure Izunaso wrote a letter to the committee to decline his nomination.
According to the report, Osita submitted that he would not accept the offer of President Buhari as he was not from the oil-producing area, but from Orlu West LGA of Imo State.
The committee chairman also explained that the nominee from Abia State, Hon. Donatus Enyinnah and that of Ondo State, Olatokunbo Ayotunde Ajasin, could not scale through as the committee received litany of petitions from their respective states.
According to the chairman, the duo are not indigenes of oil-producing areas of their states and their nominations negate section 2, subsection 1(b) of the NDDC Act of 2000.
Another nominee, Mr. Igo Weli, was not screened as the committee could not be convinced over his constituency.
The letter from President Buhari had nominated Weli to represent Niger Delta in the commission but the committee argued that all states from the Niger Delta have been adequately represented and would amount to duplication of nomination.
Some senators, however, objected to the recommendations of the committee that the Senate do reject the nominees from Abia, Ondo and that of Niger Delta.
The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano Central ) argued that the Senate should not disqualify the nominees on the basis of their local government of origin as the law did not specifically define what it means by ‘oil producing area’.
According to them, the law says ‘oil producing area’ and not oil producing local government area; therefore, anyone from the state where oil is produced, is qualified to be appointed into the NDDC Board.
Senator Eyinanya Abaribe (Abia South), Senator Hope Uzodima (Imo West) and Senator Paulker Emmanuel (Bayelsa Central), however, stood their grounds in firm support of the recommendations of the committee.
After a heated debate, the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, threw the matter for voice vote, and the report of the Niger Delta Committee was adopted.