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Adamawa APC Suspends State Chairman

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Twenty-five members of the State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa state, Monday, impeached the chairman of the party, Ibrahim Bilal.
The executive members cited gross abuse of power, corruption, dereliction of duty, embezzlement, among other 23 allegations levelled against the embattled Chairman.
The SEC members also unanimously endorsed the deputy chairman, Samaila Taddawus as acting chairman.
This is contained in a press statement issued by the members of the State Executive Committee in Yola, Adamawa state.
While accepting his appointment as the acting Chairman, Taddawua, vowed to reconcile aggrieved members and refocused the party towards achieving overwhelming victory in 2023.
While passing a vote of no confidence on the chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Bilal, the SEC members said, “We the undersigned members of the state executive committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State wish to pass a vote of no confidence on the chairman of Adamawa State chapter of APC, Ibrahim Bilal, over gross misconduct.
“Our resolve to take this line of action follows the failure of the chairman to respond to the allegations of gross misconduct leveled against him as provided for in the constitution.
“We view his failure to respond to the weighty allegations as acceptance of guilt.”
The statement explained that, “On the 26th August 2022, twenty five members of the state executive committee, issued a formal complaint to three executive officers of the party over constitutional violations which constitute gross misconduct in line with the spirit of fair hearing as provided by the constitution.
“The persons involved are the chairman of the party, Ibrahim Bilal, the secretary of the party, Mr. Raymond Chidama and the treasurer of the party Alh. Yahya Hammanjulde.
“They were given seven day grace to respond to the allegations which elapsed on 1st September 2022.
“The secretary and the treasurer duly responded and made convincing submissions and hence cleared their names.
“But as at this day, the chairman of the party refused to respond to the grave allegations in other to clear his name. He has even refused to come to Yola from his Abuja base where he has permanently relocated.
The statement further adds that, “As a result of this gross failure, we hereby resolved to invoke article 21.5 (vi) of the party’s constitution which vested us with the powers to pass a vote of no confidence on him this day of September 2022.”
Outlining their grievances against the party chairman, the committee states that, “The chairman has through dubious means deceived the aspirants of the party and collected huge sums of monies from them running into hundreds of millions of naira.
“The chairman sold many vehicles belonging to the party and did not remit a dime to the secretariat.
“The chairman has shrouded the finances of the secretariat in secrecy and has been running the affairs of the party like a personal investment with no checks and balances and without auditing since he came on board.
“The chairman has converted some properties of the secretariat into personal use.
“The chairman collected huge bribes from the PDP to subvert the recent gubernatorial primaries of APC.
“He is living in stupendous opulence beyond his legitimate earnings enabling him to have a number of choice properties in Yola and Abuja.
“The chairman vehemently refused to create the necessary avenue for aggrieved parties to reconcile after the conduct of party primaries.
“The chairman blatantly refused to congratulate the winner of the gubernatorial primaries of our great party, Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani on time without any justification even though some party executive have prodded and advised him to do so.
“The chairman bought an eight seater bus at the cost of N29 million without consultation or due approval of the Executives or any organ of the party as stipulated in the constitution.
“The chairman in a very shameful manner unbecoming of a person holding such important position, threw caution to the wind and physically assaulted former Kebbi state governor, His Excellency Saidu Nasamu Dakin Gari.
“We have lost confidence in his stewardship on account of his abysmal conduct, disrespect for laid down constitutional provision, and impudence.”
The committee said the embattled Chairman has also been involved in, “Anti party activities in total contravention of party’s constitutional instruments which he used to partake in sublime misconduct by urging the people of his constituency not to vote for the candidate of APC Adamawa north senatorial zone, Sen Ishaku Cliff Abbo but urged them to vote Dr. Abdullahi Belel, the candidate of NNPP through his verified Facebook handle.”

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Reps Seeks To Retain Immunity For President Only

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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.

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Recall From NASS: INEC Confirms Petitioners’ Contact Details Receipt, Notifies Natasha

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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.

 

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Bill To Upgrade Lagos LCDAs To LGAs Pass Second Reading

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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.

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