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Senate Reviews CCB Act …Bill Passes Second Reading …Tasks FG On Chibok Girls’ Rescue
L-R: Director-General Oganiru Enugu State Investment Summit, Mr Ike Chioke, Chairman United Bank For Africa, Mr Tony Elumelu, Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu and Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, during the 2016 Oganiru Enugu State Investment Summit in Enugu onTuesday
The Senate, yesterday, passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the Act establishing the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and its tribunal.
Leading debate on the bill, which was read for the first time on Tuesday, the sponsor, Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP Delta-North), said that the amendment would redraft section 3(d) of the Act.
Nwaoboshi said that the procedural codes that were being employed by the bureau’s tribunal were not provided for in the nation’s Constitution.
Senators who contributed threw their weight behind the amendment of the Act. Sen. Dino Melaye (APC Kogi-West) said that the amendment was very apt as it had become clear that the CCT was delving into criminal trials.
Melaye urged all senators to support the amendment, stressing that it was justified. Other senators who contributed included Jubrin Barau (APC Kano North), Sam Anyanwu (PDP Imo East) and the Minority whip, Biodun Olujimi.
Olujimi said “we are licensed as senators to look at Acts and Laws to see how we can make them better: there is no doubt that this Act needs amendment.
“We do not want the Act to be used inconclusively; this is a straight forward thing, it should go to the committee and we conclude.’’
However, Sen. Yahaya Abdulahi (APC-Kebbi North) while supporting the amendment, expressed reservations over the timing in view of ongoing trial of the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, at the CCT.
He said that although the amendment was apt, the perception of Nigerians, especially with regard to the timing should be taken into consideration.
“But for the credibility of this senate I think we should re-examine the timing of this,” he said.
In his remark Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, said that the amendment had nothing to do with the trail of the President of the Senate at the CCT.
He said that Saraki’s trial had already started before the amendment bill was introduced, adding that they had no link.
“This bill will not affect the proceedings at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
“We should not be afraid to do the job which the Constitution has given us.
“We support the CCB and the CCT but we must make sure that in doing their work, there must be fairness and respect for human rights.
“We must at all times be courageous to do our work,” he said.
The lawmakers voted for the passage of the bill for second reading and it was referred to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions and its Judiciary and Human Rights counterpart.
The committees were directed to submit their reports in two weeks The CCB amendment bill was laid on Tuesday alongside seven other bills among which is the amendment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
Meanwhile, the Senate, yesterday, resolved to invite the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno and other security chiefs to brief it on their efforts to secure the release of the Chibok school girls.
The upper chamber also commended the Bring Back Our Girls group for their doggedness in the campaign for the release of the Chibok girls.
It asked security agencies to do everything humanly possible to ensure the release of the girls.
The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) and three others entitled “Abduction of Chibok school girls-two years after.”
The motion elicited angry reactions from Senators who felt that two years was long enough for the government to have recovered the school girls.
Senator Melaye lamented the plight of the girls and their parents.
He insisted that the Federal Government cannot be said to have succeeded until the girls are rescued.
He said: “We cannot succeed as a government until those girls are released. Getting back the over 200 Chibok school girls into the society is important and a must for our security agencies.
“The abduction of over 200 girls by Boko Haram has wrongly affected us as a people as could be seen in the international condemnation of the government’s slow reaction to this unprecedented outrage committed against Nigerian womanhood. Never before has such criminal viciousness been perpetrated on Nigerian womanhood.”
Melaye noted that yesterday “made it 730 days, 17520 hours and 1,051 minutes that our Chibok school girls have been under captivity. It will be recalled the night of 14-15 April, 2014, 276 girls were kidnapped from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, the responsibility for the abduction was claimed by Boko Haram. Luckily, 57 of the school girls managed to escape making 219 still missing.”
He said that outside propaganda videos created by the Islamist militant group, none of the girls has been seen and the families of the missing girls have been traumatized because of their daughters.
Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, in his contribution said that Melaye and some other members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) used the abduction of the Chibok school girls to win last year’s general elections.
Akpabio wondered why those who led protests against the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan to rescue the girls have suddenly kept mum.
He said, “I remember in 2014, Dino Melaye used to wear T-shirt and he led the protest to ensure that the abducted school girls were released.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
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RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.