Politics
Avoid Politics Of Big Men, Utomi Tells Nigerians
The Convener of Big Tent Coalition of Political Parties, Prof. Pat Utomi, has urged Nigerians to move from politics of “big men” to politics of big ideas and issues for greatness.
He made the call at a Town Hall Meeting held in Lagos, on Saturday.
Utomi, a former presidential candidate, said the existential challenges facing the country spurred some idea-driven leaders to convene meetings to restore the nation to its pride of place among comity of nations.
He said: “We need a political class that adopts simple life. Our country must be ready for this change.
“It must be a time of healing and building. Our country must be healed from the damage of our recent history. We must build afresh.
“It is a time we look through the windshield and not looking at the rear blue mirror most of the time, because by focusing on yesterday, we are getting away from tomorrow.
“What matters is that this country still has the potential for greatness. Nigeria is a country of enormous potential, yet it is being crippled by the kind of politics that we have.”
He stressed that if Brazil, which initially looked hopeless, could bounce back to build a new society, there was hope for Nigeria.
Utomi added: “If Brazil can come back to life, Nigeria surely will surely rise again.
“To get Nigeria to rise up again, we must begin to remind ourselves that it is about what individuals can do, to give to build a great new tomorrow for Nigeria not what about what he can get.
“We have a duty of care to our country that we need to do something in response to this existential challenge that is facing us.”
The political economist said the big issues before the coalition were the problem of poverty, unemployment, power failure, rising debts, energy and climate change among others.
In his remarks, the Senior Pastor of the Trinity House Church, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, said it was time for all like-minded, idea-driven Nigerians and humble elites to converge and chart a new path for the development of good and credible individuals for governance.
Ighodalo said: “We have spoken enough, it is time for Nigerians to move. We have complained enough, we are not complaining any more. Nigeria is a great country.
“All we are looking for now are serious and sincere people who are really interested in Nigeria to come forward and offer themselves to play a role in whatever capacity.
“Some of us will run for offices, some will support, some will fund, finance, some will do the leg work. We will all work together.”
The cleric urged Nigerians to get it right in the 2023 general elections to build a country of everybody’s dream.
“The Year 2023 is very critical and Nigerians cannot afford to get it wrong. Every single sacrifice that we need to make individually and collectively to get it right, we must do it and get it right. Nigeria truly can be great. It has all the parameters to be great,” he added.
Other individuals at the meeting were Prof. Bayo Olukoshi, Prof. Leslye Obiorah, Prof. Jibril Ibrahim, Prof.Ugo Nwokeji and Prof. Sam Guobadia, among others.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.