Politics
Jubilations Trail Okorocha’s Victory
Practising journalists of Imo State extraction working in Rivers State , have joined the train to celebrate the victory of the Governor-elect, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, declared as governor last Saturday after the supplementary election held in four local government areas in the state.
The event, which was held at the secretariat of the correspondents’ chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), attracted journalists from both government and private media organisations in Rivers State. They called on the governor-elect not to disappoint the trust of the people by going the way of the outgoing governor ,Chief Ikedi Ohakim.
Speaking at the occasion, Vice Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Mr. Terver Akase praised the courage of the people of Imo State for voting and ensuring that their mandate was not stolen during the governorship election in the state.
Akase, who described Okorocha,the Governor elect, as one of the most privileged Nigerians to be alive and received encomium from his people expressed the hope that the governor- elect would take the state to a greater level within the next four years.
In his speech, Mr Francis Onyeukwu said the occasion was not the celebration of the downfall of the outgoing Governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim,but to appreciate the fact that the people’s votes had counted.
Onyeukwu noted that Governor Ohakim was not able to meet the aspirations of the people. “ the insecurity of the state was worrisome as it became impossible for indigenes living outside the state to go home”
In his speech, Mr. Chukwudi Akasike advised the governor-elect to sustain the philanthropic posture, which he had been known for and ensure that he brings the state back to its original glory.
Mrs. Ann Godwin urged the Governor elect to pay more attention on road projects ,stressing that this would improve the lots of the people.
Others who spoke at the occasion include, Ms. Clarice Azuatalam and Mr. Joe Ezuma who said the gathering was a show of happiness that the votes of the people of the state counted during the just concluded governorship election which will translate to freedom from oppression from the ruling class.
They challenged the governor-elect not to toe the line of Ohakim in order not to lose the love and trust of the people of the state.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has received a pat on the back from Imo indigenes residing in Rivers State for conducting “transparent” supplementary election last Friday.
The Tide reports that Imo electorate overwhelmingly voted for Chief Rochas Okorocha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance as a protest against incumbent Gov. Ikedi Ohakim of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Reacting to the outcome of the supplementary polls, an Imo indigene living in Port Harcourt, Mr Gozie Chigbu, told The Tide on Tuesday that INEC deserved commendation for conducting a free and fair election in Imo.
He said that President Goodluck Jonathan and Prof. Attahiru Jega, the INEC Chairman, had shown Nigerians that a credible electoral process was feasible in the country.
Another indigene, Mr Lucky Okafor, said: “In fact, everybody was confused in the process, but at last INEC had helped us out of the confused state of things.”
Okafor said Nigeria would soon become one of the leading democracies in the world because its political process had produced leaders such as Jonathan and Jega.
Similarly, Mrs Chiemena Eze told The Tide that Nigeria could become one of the best democracies “ if we can display enough patriotism and conduct free, fair and credible elections like the 2011 elections”.
She commended the president and the INEC chairman, saying that the duo had proved to the international community that “Nigeria still parades honest and sincere leaders”.
Another indigence, Mrs Nnenna Obi, said the Imo governorship election had proved to the entire world that “there is no imposition of candidates in these 2011 general elections in Nigeria”.
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.