Politics
Fubara Urges FG’s Action Against Crude Oil Theft
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has urged the Federal Government to ensure sanity and reduce economic sabotage to the barest minimum in the oil and gas sector by locating and clamping down on the cartel engaged in crude oil theft.
Governor Fubara gave the charge while addressing the Joint Presidential Committee on Crude Oil Theft on facility visit to the Niger Delta, who paid him a courtesy call in Government House, Port Harcourt, on Saturday.
Governor Fubara said the clamp down on this powerful cartel and their syndicates will address the depletion of national resources and huge revenue losses as a result of illegal bunkering activities and pipelines vandalism.
The Governor faulted the placement of surveillance roles and oil pipelines security in the hands of individuals, noting that the approach has remained counter-productive, while recommending a more wholesome approach in which all critical stakeholders, including host communities, will be involved in the security of oil and gas assets to achieve positive results.
He said, “We’re one of the first States that was able to break the rank of illegal bunkering. My predecessor had a special team; he funded them and he fought the cabal. We’ve sustained that committee; we’ve been giving the necessary support to security agencies and it has been yielding results. What brings all these is unemployment and poverty.
“The big people in this business aren’t from here, they are those in Abuja who have licence to operate. If they are not encouraging it, I don’t think it will thrive. We need to work, not just on the locals, but also see what we can do to really clamp down on those big ones that sit in Abuja that are also part of this.”
Governor Fubara who restated the commitment of the Rivers State Government to fighillegal bunkering activities in the State, called on relevant agencies and stakeholders to join the fight against economic sabotage.
He decried the neglect of critical infrastructure in Rivers State, citing the deplorable state of the East-West Road which is yet to receive any attention from the Federal Government despite its strategic importance to the economic development of the country.
In his remarks, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who led the delegation thanked the Governor for the audience, stating that the team was on a facility visit of the Niger Delta to ascertain the state of activities in the oil rich region.
He said beyond the resources in the region, the Niger Delta deserves peace and a better standard of living, and assured the commitment of the Federal Government towards the challenges of insecurity in the region.
Also speaking, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Bagudu said the team had the marching order of the President to visit facilities in the Niger Delta and work with the states to promote peace in the region and ensure that national assets are protected.
On Friday, Governor Fubara condemned the recent robbery attack and molestation of students at the Rivers State university, assuring that proper investigation will be done on the matter to bring the perpetrators to book.
Speaking to newsmen at Government Secondary School, Eneka, shortly after the inspection of ongoing projects in parts of the state ahead of the celebration of his 100 days in office, Governor Fubara frowned at the security lapses in the institution which paved way for the attack.
He said, “I heard what happened in the Rivers State University this morning, it’s not an issue that we should be talking about in this jet age, people invading campuses to molest students; we aren’t going to treat it with kid gloves, it’s something that I’ve to take seriously. I’ll be there to see what the school authority is doing about the security of the students.”
Addressing the students community during a solidarity visit and fact-finding on the unfortunate incident in the school, the Governor who empathised with the victims, assured them of proper medical attention, stating that the security of the students would not be compromised.
Governor Fubara, who inspected projects in four local government area of Eleme, Oyigbo,Tai and Obio Akpor in company of the Commissioner for Works, Dr Alabo George- Kelly, and the Commissioner for Education, Prof Chinedu Mmom expressed satisfaction over the pace of work done by the contractors handling the various projects.
He said the old Bori road connecting Ogoni, Andoni and Opobo will be flagged off for reconstruction during his 100 days in office celebration.
Projects inspected included Comprehensive Secondary School, Alesa Eleme in Eleme LGA; Botem, Gbeneue, Horo Road in Tai Local Governent Area; Government Secondary School, Koroma, also in Tai LGA; Okoloama-Afam Road in Oyigbo LGA and Government Secondary School, Eneka in Obio /Akpor LGA.
By: Beemene Taneh
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.
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