Politics
Assembly Watch
Lawmarkers in the Rivers State House of Assembly last week rejected a bill seeking to establish Internal Revenue Monitoring Agency based on the fact that an earlier law had covered the subject matter.
The bill, which was to be pronounced dead was however saved from immediate death and allowed to be put into the House pigeon hole.
Leader of the Assembly, Hon. Chidi Lloyd, who had earlier supported the bill to cure the leakages in the system, however, relied on House Order 34, Rule 12 to make another contribution to the issue at stake.
He urged the Speaker to read the mood of the lawmakers and defer debate on the bill indefinitely until such a time when the Assembly’s Business and Rules Committee would deem it necessary to reschedule the bill on the order paper.
Speaker, Rt Hon. Otelemaba Amachree through a unanimous voice vote allowed the bill to roll smoothly to sleep as there was no opposition to that effect because even the sponsor of the bill was absent from proceeding.
Earlier, the lawmaker representing Eleme and Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. Josiah John Olu, said most of the sections contained in the bill were the same with the law recently passed by the Assembly and therefore urged the House to throw away the proposal.
To commence proceedings on Tuesday, Hon. John Olu, prayed God to grant the House members grace to carry out their functions to benefit Rivers people and equally asked God to touch the heart of the speaker to enable him make the lawmakers happy because the body was weak.
In another development, the repackaged Customary Court Law Amendment Bill was reintroduced to the House and given its first reading
The bill, which was earlier rejected by the House for structural defects, was sponsored by the lawmaker representing Etche Constituency II, Hon. Golden Chioma.
Presenting the bill, Tuesday, Hon. Chioma said the bill had been repackaged in line with the wish of the House and contains 18 parts with sections allowing the Customary Court to handle chieftaincy disputes, sharing of family property when a man dies without a will under the customary marriage.
Within the period under review, the Speaker read a letter from the Office of the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari requesting for a breakfast meeting with the honourable lawmakers.
He, therefore, directed the House Committee Chairman on Information and Training, Hon. Onari Brown to liaise with the Commissioner to arrive at a more convenient date and report back to him.
However, Tuesday’s sitting suffered a major set back as power failure hampered proceedings of the House for about one hour. The power outage came in the middle of the debate on the Revenue Monitoring Agency Bill.
The incident forced the Speaker to stand down the House for 30 minutes but only offered apologies on resumption to members.
Meanwhile, the much-expected first meeting between the Speaker of the Seventh Assembly and the House Press Corps scheduled for Thursday afternoon could not hold as the Speaker was said to be attending an emergency meeting.
Addressing press corps members who had waited for several hours, the Information and Training Committee Chairman, Hon. Onari Brown apologised on behalf of the Speaker and promised to facilitate the interface soon.
The former two-term governor went down memory lane to recall how they founded the APC but were used and dumped.
In his words, “…those calling on us to join APC, we have agreed to join the APC but on clear agreement that protects and respects the interest of my party, NNPP and my political movement, Kwankwasiyya. No state where you go that you don’t have NNPP and Kwankwasiyya. We have gubernatorial candidates, senatorial candidates and others.
“We are ready to join APC under strong conditions and promises. We will not allow anyone to use us and later dump us.
“We were among the founding fathers of the APC and endured significant persecution from various security agencies while challenging the previous administration.
“Yet when the party assumed power, we received no recognition or appreciation for our sacrifices, simply because we didn’t originate from their original faction.
“We are not in a hurry to leave the NNPP; we are enjoying and have peace of mind. But if some want a political alliance that would not disappoint us like in the past, we are open to an alliance. Even if it is the PDP that realised their mistakes, let’s enter an agreement that will be made public,” Sen. Kwankwaso stated.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has dismissed long-standing claims that he once sought to extend his tenure in office, insisting he never pursued a third term.
Speaking at the Democracy Dialogue organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Ghana, Chief Obasanjo said there is no Nigerian, living or dead, who can truthfully claim he solicited support for a third term agenda.
“I’m not a fool. If I wanted a third term, I know how to go about it. And there is no Nigerian, dead or alive, that would say I called him and told him I wanted a third term,” the former president declared.
Chief Obasanjo argued that he had proven his ability to secure difficult national goals, citing Nigeria’s debt relief during his administration as a much greater challenge than any third term ambition.
“I keep telling them that if I could get debt relief, which was more difficult than getting a third term, then if I wanted a third term, I would have got it too,” he said.
He further cautioned against leaders who overstay in power, stressing that the belief in one’s indispensability is a “sin against God.”
On his part, former President Goodluck Jonathan said any leader who failed to perform would be voted out of office if proper elections were conducted.
Describing electoral manipulation as one of the biggest threats to democracy in Africa, he said unless stakeholders come together to rethink and reform democracy, it may collapse in Africa.
He added that leaders must commit to the kind of democracy that guarantees a great future for the children where their voices matter.
He said: “Democracy in Africa continent is going through a period of strain and risk collapse unless stakeholders came together to rethink and reform it. Electoral manipulation remains one of the biggest threats in Africa.
“We in Africa must begin to look at our democracy and rethink it in a way that works well for us and our people. One of the problems is our electoral system. People manipulate the process to remain in power by all means.
“If we had proper elections, a leader who fails to perform would be voted out. But in our case, people use the system to perpetuate themselves even when the people don’t want them.
“Our people want to enjoy their freedoms. They want their votes to count during elections. They want equitable representation and inclusivity. They want good education. Our people want security. They want access to good healthcare. They want jobs. They want dignity. When leaders fail to meet these basic needs, the people become disillusioned.”
The dialogue was also attended by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Touray, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto diocese of Catholic Church among others who all stressed that democracy in Africa must go beyond elections to include accountability, service, and discipline.
The Rivers State House of Assembly yesterday resumed plenary session after a six-month state of emergency imposed on the state by President Bola Tinubu elapsed on Wednesday midnight.
President Bola Tinubu had lifted the emergency rule on September 17, with the Governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the state assembly asked to resume duties on September 18.
The plenary was presided over by the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, at the conference hall located within the legislative quarters in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
The conference hall has served as the lawmakers’ temporary chamber since their official chamber at the assembly complex on Moscow Road was torched and later pulled down by the state government.
The outgone sole administrator of the state, Ibok-Ete Ibas, could not complete the reconstruction of the assembly complex as promised.
Recall that on March 18, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers following the prolonged political standoff between Fubara and members of the House of Assembly loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
He subsequently suspended the governor, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and lawmakers for six months and installed a sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), to manage the state’s affairs.
The decision sparked widespread controversy, with critics accusing the president of breaching the Constitution.
However, others hailed the move as a necessary and pragmatic step.
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