Politics
New Ministers, Expectations And The Nation
The Acting, president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Tuesday April 6 inaugurated the newly reconstituted Federal Executive Council after the confirmation of the ministerial nominees by the Senate.
The new ministers took charge at a period Nigerians considered as very critical to the progress, advancement and socio political transformation of the country.
The ministers include Shekh Ahmed Abdullah – Agriculture, Awodele Najeem Adewale – (state) Agriculture, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze – Aviation, Jibril Martins Kuye – Commerce & Industry, Josephine Tapgun – state Commerce & Industry, Prof. Rugayatu Rufai – Education, Abubakar Mohammed Culture & Tourism, Bala Mohammed – FCT, Olusegun Aganga – Finance, Odein Ajumogobia SAN – Foreign Affairs, Suleiman Bello – state Health, Prof. Dora Akunyili – Information & Communications, Labaran Maku – (state) Information & Communications.
Others are Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) – Justice, Emmanuel Iheanacho – Interior, Humphrey Abah (state) Interior, Chukwuemeka Wogu – Labour & Productivity, Musa Mohammed Sada – Mines & Steel Dev; Elder Peter Orubebe – Niger Delta Affairs, Mrs. Deziani Allison – Madueke – Petroleum Resources, Adetokunbo Kayode – Defence, Murtala Shehu Yar’Adua – (state) Defence, Nuhu Somo Wya – state Power, Adamu Waziri – Police Affairs, Muhammed Abubakar – Science & Tech, Ernest Olulabode – Special Duties, Yusuf Sulaiman – Transport, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi – Youth Dev. Josephine Anenih – Women Affairs, Shamsudeen Usman – National Planning Ibrahim Isa Bio – Nat. Sports Comm. Sanusi M. Dagash – Works, Chris Ogiemwinyi – (state) Works, Nduese Essien – Lands, Housing & Urban Dev., John Odey – Environment, while the Acting President heads the Power ministry considered very critical towards achieving the administration’s goal of increase power supply generation in the country. For Nigerians, the new ministers have a lot of challenges to tackle before the 2011 general election.
However, the challenges before the Acting President and the Federal Executive Council are quite daunting and require patriotism, commitment, transparency and courage to deliver the much-needed goals of the administration within the short period left for this administration.
Perhaps the Acting President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan captured the concern of Nigerians when he told the new ministers to see their assignment as a sacred commitment to serve the nation without fear or favour.
He further charged the ministers to be transparent, accountable and act at all times with good faith in the interest of the nation and Nigerians.
But the Rivers State Chairman, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), N.N. Naazigha-Lue has spoken of the need for the Acting President and members of the Federal Executive Council to courageously face the monumental problems facing Nigeria and proffer solutions to them.
Such challenges as the Niger Delta problem, power generation, rising crime rate, unemployment, religious crisis, electoral reforms including the war against corruption are considered crucial issues to be addressed.
Comrade Naazigha said that “if the Acting President and the Federal Executive Council can sincerely address these myriad challenges, then Nigerians can be better off in terms of better standard of living.”
Already, Jonathan has designed a performance benchmark agreement for the ministers to evaluate their performance and goals delivering in accordance with the policy thrust of his administration.
Barrister Cornelius Dibia says the respect for the rule of law is being abused by the federal government.
According to him, agencies of government like the EFCC should be given the necessary support to intensify the war against corruption and prosecute cases pending in court with all seriousness by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
Meanwhile, Dickson Effiong of the University of Port Harcourt, tasks the new foreign minister, Odein Ajumogobia to positively project the image of the country within the comity of nations.
Dickson also reflected on the recent comment by the Libyan’s leader, Muhammed Gaddafi that Nigeria should be split along religious lines, saying it is a direct interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation and therefore violates the necessary African Union charter protocol. Going by the seriousness of Gaddafi’s comment, Dickson said the federal government should intensify efforts at ensuring the political stability of the nation even as it works towards restoring confidence of Nigerians in the administration and the Nigeria project.
Nigerians are also expecting the ministers of Petroleum Resources, Police Affairs, Works, and Information and Communications to play critical role in the development of the nation. According to Ben Nwakama Osa, senior lecturer at the Abia State University (Port Harcourt Study Centre), the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke should rise to the challenge of making petroleum products available through the collaborative efforts of the independent marketers.
The university don said that the incessant petroleum scarcity leading to long quenes at the various filling stations should not be the order of the day in Jonathan administration.
Osa stated that the nation’s refineries must be resuscitated to a functional capacity by the minister.
Also speaking, Dr. Suany Obilor of the Mercy’s Clinic, Port Harcourt advised the Minister of Police Affairs to immediately address the deteriorating security situation in the country, adding that “a situation where armed men and kidnappers have taken over does not augur well for the security of Nigerians”.
The medical practitioner told the minister to face the challenge of his new assignment with determination to stem the tide of insecurity prevailing in the nation.
Nigeria’s deplorable road conditions across the nation need to be fixed. According to Engr Saka Tetenwu, the roads are now death traps to travellers, and Nigeria can not afford to waste her citizens.
The Minister of information and communication has the onerous tasks of adequately publicising and informing Nigerians on government programme and polices.
Certainly, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Time is not on the ministers’ side. They have the onerous task of making the remaining part of this administration a transformatory period. They must fulfil the social and moral contract with the people.
Tough national assignment, no doubt! All the ministers must stand on the side of history to give a new meaning to good governance. Nigerians do not expect anything less than a functional road network, improved agricultural production, addressing some of the major challenges in the oil and gas industry to boost national economy and fast-tracking rural development.
By and large, the size of the portfolio is not important to deliver quality services. What matters most is the contribution of each of the ministers in moving the nation forward. The ministers have the opportunity within the little period left to see what positive impact they can bring into the system or be messed up at the end of the day.
Philip-Wuwu Okparaji
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.