Politics
Easter: Clerics Task Buhari On State Of The Nation
Having watched the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government’s sloppy response to several challenges bedeviling the nation and threatening its unity, top among which is insecurity, clerics, political elite and other stakeholders have called on the president to call time on his trance and stem the slide into anomie.
On the occasion of this year’s Easter celebration, they stressed that rather than let the nation remain at sea and allow insecurity to fester at a scale never witnessed before, the government must think out of the box for solutions, as well as procure a healing balm for a fractious nation.
Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Samuel Uche, specifically, called on President Buhari to brace up and arrest the ugly situation because “government would only be relevant if it is able to secure the lives and property of its citizenry.”
Uche urged the president to sit up and tighten the loose ends so that the worsening insecurity across the board would be arrested. “I know that the government has immense intelligence at its disposal and knows where these people are. So, it should not treat them with kids’ gloves; they should see them as criminals, terrorists and handle them as such,” he said.
Stressing the “urgent need to do something,” he noted that though President Buhari’s tenure would end pretty soon, his actions and inaction from now till he exits office would affect the political party that he represents. According to the Prelate: “Buhari’s failure is the failure of his party, and his success is the success of his party. If he loves his party, he should brace up and rewrite the wrong impression people have about him and his party. I am talking as a religious leader, not as a politician.”
Uche advised President Buhari to “sit up, be awake and alert to the mandate given. He should use it wisely and responsibly.”
Regarding the Easter season and what it embodies, Uche called on leaders and Nigerians to learn from Jesus Christ who showed love in all endeavours while also manifesting a very high level of servant leadership.
“Jesus cared for those He led, he was willing to make any form of sacrifice for the betterment of their lot to the extent that He was willing to die…” he noted.
For the Catholic Bishop of Oyo Diocese, Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, political leaders must also wake up and save the nation from complete collapse, adding that their insincerity and inaction have damaged all citizens.
In his Easter message titled, “Life Conquers Death: God Has Done His Part,” Bishop Badejo said: “All the betrayal, the rejection, oppression, the lies and wickedness of the powerful people will someday be defeated by justice and love. Light will win, darkness will fail.”
Badejo, however, urged Nigerians, especially Christians, not to lose hope amid the challenges confronting the nation while calling on leaders of the world to give up war and embrace peace.
“I say to all our governments and all leaders, your insincerity and inaction have done enormous damage to all, wake up and save Nigeria, this beautiful country and people from complete collapse. Make justice and peace to break out and save your name in history,” he said.
On his part, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, His Grace, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, observed that, without doubt, insecurity has worsened when one considers the brazen way the so-called bandits have been operating.
He lamented the effrontery of the bandits, who recently claimed that the government knew what they wanted and unless they were given, they would continue to make the country insecure.
While expressing surprise that government and security agents allegedly know the locations and phone numbers of the said bandits, Martins declared that the Buhari-led government and security agencies have failed Nigerians.
“The government is either overwhelmed or elements within it don’t want to deal with the problem. Nigerians should be told what the bandits want. It is worrisome that Kaduna State, which has many military formations and institutions is the epicentre of recent attacks. One wonders what agenda is behind this continued assault on innocent people in homes, on the roads, and even on the rails.
“Indeed, the elections are approaching and Nigerians should not simply accept broad promises of a better life. We need to ask for the details of plans that they have to deal with the economic crisis, the problem with the infamous oil theft, the insecurity problem, and the crisis in the educational sector. We need to know how they intend to solve the problem of borrowing more money and the like. Promises should be backed up with concrete plans for fulfilling them,” he said.
The cleric noted that since Easter is a sign of hope that good will always triumph over evil, the problems currently being faced as individuals, families, and as a nation would not overwhelm us.
Martins prayed that the light of the risen Christ overwhelms the darkness of evil in the country and charged Nigerians not to lose hope, but to keep praying while striving to do everything possible to deal with the challenges.
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.