Politics
10th NASS Loses Five Members In One Year
The 10th Nigeria’s National Assembly has recorded the death of five members since its inauguration in June 2023.
While the House of Representatives lost four members, the Senate recorded the death of one member.
There are 469 members of the National Assembly, comprising 109 senators and 360 House of Representatives members.
National Assembly members who had died in the last one year are Ekene Adams, Olaide Akinyemi, Isa Dogonyaro, Abdulkadir Danbuga and Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.
Their deaths have left a significant void in the legislative body and impacted the lives of their constituents.
Abdulkadir Danbuga
On October 11, 2023, a member, representing Isa/Sabon Birni Federal Constituency of Sokoto State, on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdulkadir Danbuga, passed on following a brief illness.
President Bola Tinubu, in a statement by his media aide, Ajuri Ngelale, said the lawmaker’s demise created a void in his immediate family and robbed the people of his constituency of quality and uncompromising representation in the House of Representatives.
“I offer my condolences to his family, constituents, and the people and government of Sokoto State. I also condole with the presiding officers of the House of Representatives and the entire membership over the devastating loss of an eminent colleague,” Tinubu was quoted as saying.
Isa Dogonyaro
Isa Dogonyaro, also a member of the House of Representatives, died on May 10, 2024, in Abuja following an undisclosed illness.
Hon. Dogonyaro represented Garki/Babura Federal Constituency of Jigawa State on the platform of the APC.
He was declared the lawful APC candidate for the House of Representatives in the 2023 general elections after a court sacked Aminu Kanta who was declared the winner of the primary election in the constituency. Until his death, Dogonyaro was the deputy chairperson of the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Control.
Ekene Adams
A member of the House of Representatives representing Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, on the platform of the Labour Party, Ekene Adams died on July 16, 2024, at 39 after battling ill health.
Until his demise, Adams was the chairman, House Committee on Sports.
Before he was elected a federal lawmaker, Adams worked in the sports sector. He was at different times the general manager of Kada City Football Club in Kaduna State and Remo Stars in Ogun State.
His demise was announced in a statement by the House spokesman, Akin Rotimi, who described him as “a dedicated public servant, passionate sports administrator, and kind philanthropist”.
Also, the National Chairman of LP, Julius Abure while mourning the death of Adams said the news of his death came to him as a rude shock.
Musiliudeen Akinremi
Still in July, a two-term member of the House of Representatives, Musiliudeen Akinremi, who was representing Ibadan North Federal Constituency, Oyo State, died in Abuja.
Akinremi, popularly called Jagaban, died at 51.
He served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Science Research Institutions.
Akinremi, a member of the APC, was elected in 2019 and won his re-election in 2023.
The lawmaker also reportedly died after battling a brief illness.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah
The National Assembly was on Saturday thrown into mourning with the death of the lawmaker representing Anambra South Senatorial District, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.
Senator Ubah, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Capital Oil, was said to have died in London, in the United Kingdom.
He would have been 53 on September 3.
Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, confirmed Ubah’s death to The Tide source on Saturday.
He was the founder of a Nigerian daily newspaper, The Authority. He also founded the Ifeanyi Ubah FC, a football club in the Nigeria Premier League, following its purchase as Gabros International Football Club. He also founded a foundation named after him; Ifeanyi Ubah Foundation.
In 2014, Ubah contested the Anambra State governorship election on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) but lost the race.
On February 24, 2019, Ubah was declared the winner of the Anambra South Senatorial election on the platform of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) but defected to APC.
Senator Ubah was married to Uchenna Ubah, a Business Administration graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, with whom he had five children.
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.