Speaker Dogara REJECTS N3b Padded-In Personal Projects

Leadership - Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has  turned down the N3billion assigned to him for zonal projects in the North-east in his capacity as a principal officer of the House, LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered yesterday.

This is coming just as the Speaker and President Muhammadu Buhari have agreed to work together to resolve the crisis arising from the controversy over the 2016 budget.

It would be recalled that the House, had in an executive session on Wednesday, delegated the Speaker to meet with President Buhari to identify areas of concern in the budget and find a way of resolving it.

Dogara, it was learnt, met with President Buhari who was represent by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that same Wednesday evening at the presidential villa, Abuja to address controversial issues about the fiscal document.

A source close to the Speaker told LEADERSHIP Weekend that Dogara had rejected the N3bn meant for his zone as principal officer ab initio, saying that the money should be used to finance other important projects.

The source who preferred not to be named in print also disclosed that the Speaker, at the meeting with Osinbajo who represented President Buhari  gave the President assurance that the lower chamber will work with the Executive to resolve all grey areas in the budget which was passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to him for assent.

Our source also disclosed that Dogara told the President that the N4 billion projects injected into the budget by the Chairman of the committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin for his Kiru/Bebeji Constituency in Kano state will be reallocated to other projects in the budget.

The House of Representatives had come under criticism for removing important projects such as the Calabar-Lagos rail project from the budget even though it maintains it was never among the projects submitted by the President.

The lawmakers were accused to have left the Kano/Lagos rail project untouched but also reduced the amount set for the completion of the Idu-Kaduna rail project which is said to have reached an advanced stage of completion by N8.7 billion.

Furthermore, the House was reported to have either removed or reduced provisions made in the areas of Agriculture and water resources aimed at diversification and moved the funds to provision of boreholes which had been provided for elsewhere.

But clarifying on the issue, the spokesperson of the House, Hon. Abdulaziz Namdas, at a briefing on Wednesday said, “We are not saying the Calabar-Lagos rail project is not good, we know it is a viable project. Our area of concern is what people are saying that it was in the budget and we removed it. That project was not among the projects submitted by Mr. President to the National Assembly”.

Budget Impasse: Saraki, Dogara Lampoon VP Osinbajo In Secret Parley Meeting, Vow Fight To Finish With Presidency

Controversy over the 2016 budget is far from over, as Senate President Bukola Saraki has moved against attempt by President Muhammadu Buhari to doctor the 2016 budget.

The Senate president has therefore insisted on overriding the president’s veto at the expiration of 30 days according to the constitution.

According to a source, Saraki has initially refused to attend a meeting with the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to solicit the assistance of the leaders of the National Assembly to include fresh details omitted by the presidency in the 2016 Appropriation Bill.

But after pleading from chief of staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari, to Saraki, he later attended the meeting where he reportedly told the vice president that, “You can’t strip us naked in public and then dress us in white robes behind closed doors.

“Sorry Mr. Vice President, we cannot help you; let us continue to follow the law and abide with our constitutional duties in the interest of Nigeria,” Saraki reportedly told Osinbajo in refusal to manipulate the contents of the 2016 budget through the backdoor.

Speaker Yakubu Dogara was also said to have re-echoed what Saraki said, noting clearly that the president and his top officials had repeatedly abused the fundamentals for any cordial relationship.

Saraki is facing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, for discrepancies observed in his asset declaration while he served as a two-term governor of Kwara State.

The trial is believed to be a political witch-hunt masterminded by the presidency and some elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, who were unhappy with Saraki’s emergence as Senate president.

President Buhari, a retired military general himself, was said to have described Saraki’s emergence as a “coup.”

Culled from Nigerian Pilot

Angry Reps Shout At Speaker Dogara, Jibrin For Sneaking In N40b To Personal Projects In Budget

The impasse over the 2016 Budget assumed a rowdy dimension in the House of Representatives with members demanding the resignation of the

Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin.

They were furious that Jibrin influenced the allocation of projects worth N4.169billion to his constituency outside what was budgeted by the Executive.

Also, members opposed allocation of N40billion( at N20b apiece) to those in the leadership of both the Senate and the House.

They specifically faulted the concession of projects of over N3billion to the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara out of the N20billion for the House leadership.

Amidst shouting match, the lawmakers said the House should do away with past practices of personalising budget.

It was gathered that  sensing likely protest at the plenary over the budget, the Speaker and his principal officers opted for an Executive session.

The Executive session began at about 11.30am on a sombre note with the Speaker offering some rapprochement in order to calm down frayed nerves.

A source at the session said: “After initial courtesies, the Speaker hit the point by claiming that everything being said about the budget remains hearsay because the Executive has not returned the Appropriation Bill.

“He quickly added a caveat by urging members to avoid anything which could affect the unity of the House.”

Lending weight to the Speaker’s plea, Hon. Monguno (Borno) urged members to “wait for reactions until the budget is returned.”

It was gathered that Dogara’s plea fell on deaf ears as members raised issues on the controversy surrounding the budget.

Some of those who spoke at the session on the budget included Nnana(Imo); Aliyu Sani Madaki( Kano); Prof. Mojeed Alabi(Osun); Douye Diri (Bayelsa) and Comrade Phillip Shuaibu( Edo).

Jibrin, who rose to defend the budget details, met more than he bargained for.

A ranking Representative said: “Most members were not persuaded by attempts by Jibrin to incite them against the Executive. They rose up and started shouting at Jibrin for not doing a diligent job.

“Some asked him whether it was the Executive that asked him to allocate huge projects to his constituency when there was no provision for these in the proposals of the Executive.

“Many  were yelling and demanding Jibrin’s immediate resignation for the ineffective manner the Appropriation Committee handled the budget.

“Even when the Speaker called for calm, they shouted that they “cannot defend  the indefensible in the press because Nigerians are angry against the National Assembly for playing politics with the budget.”

A lawmaker from the South-West said: “At the Executive session, members asked the leadership about the N40billion projects allocated to the principal officers of the Senate and the House. Each of the leadership of the two chambers will share N20billion projects.

“Members queried why N3billion projects have been allocated to the Speaker and why Jibrin favoured his constituency with N4.169billion projects.”

“The leadership said the N20b projects were captured under zonal intervention as it had been since 1999 but members said if others were doing it in the past, it should not be now.”

Some of the projects allocated to Jibrin’s Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency are:

• N100m for Town Hall
• Construction of roads in Kiru/Bebeji—N150m
• Solar street lights—N300m
• Badaf Road Construction—N405m
• Pedestrian Bridges —N200m
• Bebeji Earth Dam—N270m
• Empowerment items—N100m
• Entrepreneurship Development Training and Vocational Centre —N100m
• Rehabilitation of Gwarzo Kiru, Kwanar Maiyaki–N180m
• Rehabilitation of Sharada-Kwanar Dogara—N1.445billion
• Construction of solar powered boreholes–N150m
• Supply of tricycles, grinding machines and set of women salon empowerment kits—N200m
• Small irrigation scheme ins in Kiru—N100m

Findings revealed that at the end of the day, Speaker Dogara managed to douse the tension by begging members to sheathe their swords.

The Nation

2019 Presidency, Power Tussle Tears APC To Shred as 3 Main Groups Fight Dirty

The race for 2019 Presidency may have split the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) into three camps, battling for the soul of the party.

The three main camps are the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) caucus, defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) cum South-West caucus and new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) caucus.

Sources said there are other sub-camps and caucuses that are ready to align with the main three camps when need be.

The tussle in APC is said to be connected with the 2019 general elections and the body language of President Muhammadu Buhari regarding the presidential election, which is red years away.

Daily Sun gathered that so intense is the struggle that the three contending factions are scheming to produce chairman of the influential Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party. The BoT is an advisory organ but wields considerable influence in who gets what in any political party.

It was gathered that the struggle for control in the party started shortly after the presidential election on March 28, 2015. Some Buhari loyalists said as it was  time the president became the undisputed leader of the party, while others contended that he should face governance and leave party matters to the politicians.

Shortly after, some members of  CPC, Buhari’s former party, reportedly said it was normal to allow the incumbent the right of first refusal on a second term and that talks of 2019 should be jettisoned until the APC stabilises in government.

But, members of the defunct ACN and the nPDP believed the president should only serve one term; set the country on the right pedestal, fight corruption and quit the stage for a younger member of the party to take over and continue with the APC manifesto.

In the lead up to the national caucus, BoT and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings tomorrow, a major issue for resolution is the Senate leadership squabble which is still festering.

The attempt of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), chaired by the chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to get members in the National Assembly respect the party position failed miserably.

Senators jettisoned the party’s position and zonal arrangement for offices, while the House of Representatives worked out an arrangement that subsists today.

Inability of the party to have its way in the National Assembly was blamed on the chairman with some stakeholders calling for his removal which is allegedly being championed by a governor from the South-South where Oyegun comes from.

But, another source in the APC disclosed that, “even if Oyegun is kicked out, because of the zoning formula in the party, the South-South will still occupy the chairmanship position.”

Another knotty issue for the party’s NEC to solve would be who to succeed Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Mohammed, before his appointment as the Information and Culture Minister, was the party’s spokesman. He is from the North-Central.

His deputy, Timi Frank, is from the South-South; a situation which may have worked against him from occupying the position before now.

So, as the party convenes its meeting tomorrow, Daily Sun gathered that some members would seize the occasion to ask for “more political patronage.”

According to one of the chieftains of the party,  “some of us who worked for the party have not been compensated. Boards of federal agencies have been dissolved. This is the time to put loyal party members on these boards,” said an assistant to one of the party’s leaders.

“The slow pace of appointments and removal of PDP appointees in government positions are all to the detriment of APC members on the long waiting lists of some of our ogas.

The distribution of political patronage should have strong inputs from the party as a strategy for strengthening party loyalty and motivation of party faithful…” he added.

Meanwhile, APC National Auditor, George Moghalu has denied cracks in the party.

He said such speculation is a figment of the imaginations of mischief makers.

“Such speculations are figment of the imaginations of certain persons. As for the BoT chairman, I can tell you the decision of who becomes the chairman is an exclusive reserve of the members, and the person to emerge as the chairman will be known very soon when we organise the inauguration,” he noted.

Source: The Sun Newspaper

EXCLUSIVE: Buhari, Tinubu, Saraki, Others In All-Night Secret Meeting At Aso-Rock, See Photos

A high-powered meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was held yesterday night at the new Banquet hall of the presidential villa, Abuja. 

The meeting which is holding behind closed doors has President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Leader of APC and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as well as the caucus members of the party in attendance.

Also in attendance were many serving governors of the party and past state governors including Rabiu Kwankwaso of kano state who is now a serving senator. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara is also present just as the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar arrived the venue of the meeting after it started.

See More Photos:

The Use of Siren by Frank Ayade is a Blatant Illegality, By Barr. Okoi Obono-Obla

GOV. BEN AYADE OF C'RIVER STATE

It is a notorious fact that one Frank Ayade is the younger brother of Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State of Nigeria! Preposterously Frank Ayade is referred to by Governor Ayade as "Co-Governor"! 

I am not really bothered by which nomenclature, Governor Ayade elect to call or prefer to call his brother, Frank Ayade. But I am disturbed when Frank Ayade assumes the toga of the paraphernalia of a de facto Governor by making appointments, sacking these appointees and driving in a convoy of official motorcade escorted by siren blaring pilot vehicles! It is a blatant illegality for Frank Ayade to continue to perpetrate this Illegality in Cross River State. 

I remembered on the 15th September 2015, the Nigeria Police Force through it then Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole (Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police) warned that the Police would not hesitate to arrest any unauthorized persons found using siren. She then listed the categories of persons entitled to use siren thus:                                                       

President Muhammadu Buhari ; Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo ;The Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki; The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara;The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu;The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives,Yusuf Lasun; The 36 State Governors; All Service Chiefs (the Chiefs of Staffs of Air force, Army and Navy); Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase; General Officers Commanding; Deputy Inspector General of Police; Assistant Inspector General of Police and Commissioner of Police of States.

Under the Federal Highways ( Prohibition of Use of Siren) Act,2000, only two categories of persons and establishments can use siren in the Federal Highways. They are the following persons thus: The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ;The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ; The President of the Senate;The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chief Justice of Nigeria. 

Under the category of establishments that are entitled to use the Siren are thus: Federal Fire Service; Hospitals and Ambulance Service Providers ; the Nigeria Police and the Federal Road Safety Corps.So the use of Siren by Frank Ayade is patently illegal and indeed an aberration which the Commissioner of Police in Cross River State must an end to forthwith!

Okoi Obono-Obla