Nigeria Content Online

In the last one
week, there has been two oil spills in Qua Iboe, Akwa Ibom state; and
three oil spills in Bayelsa State. In both cases the federal government
has not moved to remedy the situation.

However, yesterday
in Abuja, far away from the spills, key players in the emergency
management sector in Nigeria held a conference to access the access
level of preparedness of the government to handle such emergencies. The
general consensus showed that they were not satisfied with their
performances, but they all blamed it on either lack of funds or
political will on the part of the government to properly handle
emergency situations. Participants at the conference, which was
organised by the senate committee on environment, called for a greater
political will and more funding by the federal government to emergency
management sector.

“We haven’t got a
plan yet,” the senate president, David Mark, said while declaring the
conference open. He added that the country currently have no plan for
emergency management due to lack of political will by the government.
He cited the long standing oil spillage and soil degradation in the
Niger Delta as examples. “We have all that it takes to handle
environmental problems but we do not have the will power,” he said. “It
is not enough to sign agreements and be signatory to international
conventions, but we need to start see how they can be translated into
practical realities. I think all the stakeholders need to come together
with a working plan that will address the problems of environment.”

However, he
expressed concern over series of seminars and conferences organized in
the country without meaningful results and saying it was time for
action and less of the speeches in conferences. “The issue here today
is when something suddenly goes wrong,” he said. “We must seriously
address how to coordinate activities of the response agencies to meet
the emergencies.”

Dire consequences

Grace Bent (PDP
Adamawa state), chairperson of the organising committee added that
developing countries like Nigeria suffer immensely from disaster and
uncontrolled emergencies

More than a
thousand women yesterday stormed the National Assembly to call for the
reinstatement of the female federal lawmaker who was physically
attacked during last week’s fighting at the House of Representatives.

The women, who
staged a protest at the Assembly, condemned the treatment of Doris
Uboh, the representative of Ika federal constituency of Delta State,
who was roughened up last Tuesday by her male colleagues and guards
during a violent session where lawmakers openly jabbed each other and
exchanged diatribes.

Ms. Uboh and 10
other members of a House group, nicknamed Progressives, were attacked
and later suspended from the chamber for leading calls for the removal
of the speaker, Dimeji Bankole, on allegations of corruption.

In a bizarre
episode that clearly discountenanced the touchy question of gender
violence and discrimination, she was dragged out of the chamber by a
number of male colleagues and guards, ripping some of her wears in the
process. She was later hospitalised due to an ear injury she sustained
in the incident.

The women group,
comprising of market women and groups from the Ika constituency,
flooded a part of the National Assembly yesterday, dressed in multi
coloured wears that bore inscriptions denouncing the violence and
calling for Mr. Bankole’s probe.

“Bankole, what
happened to the N9bn capital vote,” one T-shirt read, while another
said “EFCC must probe Bankole!” The calls re-echoed the demands of the
‘progressive’ group of lawmakers in the chamber, which is led by Dino
Melaye and received the support of Ms. Uboh, the only female member of
the chamber to openly do so.

The group canvassed
for two weeks, accusing Mr. Bankole of misusing the House 2009 capital
vote of N9 billion and asking for his removal.

At the chamber’s
resumption, where the issue was to be discussed officially, members of
the group were physically attacked by members loyal to the speaker, and
were later suspended for the rest of the year.

“For one year, it
means there will be no one to represent Ika in the House of Reps,” said
Nwadimeje John, who led a delegation of supporters from Delta State.
“We are asking the National Assembly to rescind that decision.”

Reversal of suspension

Members of the
Abuja Market Women Association, who led the protest and were barred
from the main complex of the National Assembly, asked for more than a
reversal of the suspension order.

“We want to see
Dimeji Bankole, if we cannot see him, let us see (Senate President)
David Mark. We want to talk with them,” said Felicia Sanni, the group’s
president general.

The group condemned
the violent acts that led to Ms. Uboh being hospitalised, asked for her
re-instatement, and also demanded investigations into the allegations
raised by the Rep group.

“The entire
Nigerian women were ashamed and surprised that this type of treatment
was meted on a woman by her male colleagues,” Mrs. Sanni said.

For hours, they remained and were stopped from gaining access to the main Assembly complex.

The chairperson, House committee on Women Affairs, Binta Garba, told
journalists later she was “advised” not to receive the protesting
women, and said the House has not been served any letter of the protest.

A move by some
lawmakers at the House of Representatives to investigate the alleged
unauthorized release of fund from the N10 billion earmarked by the
Presidency to celebrate the 50th independence anniversary of the
country, was defeated yesterday.

However, President
Goodluck Jonathan’s request for extra budget of N639.8 billion scaled
second reading in the House. House minority leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume,
had, while raising a point of order, asked his colleagues to probe the
controversial release of funds by the executive arm to celebrate the
nation’s independence anniversary without the approval of the National
Assembly. Mr Ndume, who relied on Order 8 (4) of the House Standing
Rules, argued that the privileges of the lawmakers had been breached
collectively because the federal government has started spending part
of the N10 billion earmarked for the event. He demanded for an ad-hoc
committee to halt what he called “a step towards unconstitutionality.”
When Speaker Dimeji Bankole, who appeared uncomfortable with the point
of order, put the question whether it should be considered or not,
members roundly rejected.

Moving on

The lower
legislative chamber also read for the second time the Supplementary
Appropriation Bill forwarded to it by Mr Jonathan and asked its
Committees on Appropriation and Finance to expedite action on the bill
and report back for final consideration tomorrow (Thursday). Mr
Jonathan had proposed a supplementary budget of N639.8 billion and a
request for the amendment of the N4.6086 billion 2010 Budget to address
shortfalls in the projected revenue and approved aggregate expenditure.
The proposal, he said, will cater for the recently announced civil
servants’ wage increase and the forthcoming 50th anniversary
celebration of Nigeria’s independence.

Development fund Of
the N639, 824, 478, 183 proposed, N507, 125, 967, 248 is for additional
recurrent (non-debt) expenditure while the balance of N132, 698, 510,
935 is for contribution to the Development Fund for additional capital
expenditure for the year ending 31st December, 2010.

The sum of N287, 324, 427, 248 is to take care of the recent
increment in the wages of civil servants with N187.195 billion for core
civil servants; N61.641 billion for wage increase for universities;
N22.933 billion for polytechnics, N28.247 billion for Colleges of
Education; N74.592 billion for medical professionals; and N12.714
billion is earmarked for payment of two months arrears to the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

An attempt by the
senate to debate a request from President Goodluck Jonathan for a
downward review of the 2010 budget suffered a glitch yesterday as the
senators could not debate the bill over disagreement on its content.

The senate, on
Tuesday failed to deliberate on both the budget cut and the
accompanying supplementary budget request due to some concerns on the
bill which could not be resolved before the plenary. Deputy senate
leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, who made the withdrawal request before the
senate, said the bills had “some concerns” which are yet to be
resolved. He, however, did not say what the concerns were. But sources
within the senate said they were not yet fully satisfied with the
planned deductions from some affected sectors. Mr Jonathan had, earlier
this month, urged the National Assembly to legalize a downward review
of the 2010 budget in the face of dwindling government revenue.
Discussions on the proposals may, however, continue today.

Slashing federal spending

The budget review
will slash federal expenditure and reduce the oil price benchmark by at
least $10. Part of the president’s recommendation to the lawmakers is
the reduction of the oil benchmark price, initially increased by the
lawmakers to $67, back to its original $57 per barrel. In a letter to
the lawmakers, dated May 29, 2010, Mr. Jonathan affirmed his earlier
position that the N4.6086 billion budget which he signed into law in
April 2010 was no longer feasible in the light of current economic
realities of the nation.

“Recent revenue
developments indicate significant shortfalls in both oil and non-oil
revenue, which may well continue for the rest of the fiscal year, with
adverse implications for the financing of the budget,” Mr Jonathan said
in the letter. “Given the recent drop in international oil prices from
the over $80 per barrel to under $70 per barrel, it is prudent to
revise the oil benchmark price to a more realistic level.” However, the
letter sent by Mr. Jonathan refused to name his preferred figures for
either the oil price or the total reduction in the budget. He, however,
is said to have called for a total reduction of 40% in the budget.

Supplementary bill

The president also
requested for fresh appropriation for “critical expenditure heads that
were either inadvertently omitted or under provisioned for.”
Accompanying the 2010 budget cut proposal is an additional
supplementary budget proposal to authorize the executive to access some
N639.8 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The bulk of the
supplementary budget, about N507 billion, is for recurrent expenditure
while the balance of N132.6 billion is for contribution to the
Development Fund for additional capital expenditure.

A large chunk of the N507 billion set aside for the recurrent
expenditure will be shared amongst the office of the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Information and
Communication Ministry, and the Ministry of Women Affairs to be used
for Nigeria at 50 celebration in October. The balance is intended to
apply to outstanding allowances of various government agencies.

Kano State Chapter
of the Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) has called on the
National Assembly to enact a stringent law that will impose heavy
punishment on convicted kidnappers in the country.

The state chapter
chairman, Ransom Sunday Bello, made this known while speaking to
newsmen in Kano yesterday on the increase of kidnapping and violent
crimes in the country. Mr. Bello said the association condemns in its
totality the threat and fear of people’s lives across the country. He
called on all Christians in the country, particularly those residents
in Kano to pray and fast for three days, beginning from today
(Wednesday) to Friday, in order to earnestly seek God’s intervention.
He described kidnapping as an evil act, said the Holy Bible totally
condemned it, while quoting from the Holy book…. “He who kidnaps a
man and sells him or if he is found in his arms, shall surely be put to
death.” “We urged lawmakers from the National Assembly to urgently
provide appropriate legislation, so as to nip the evil in the bud,
stressing that Nigerians now live in fear and threat to their peace,”
he said.

Kidnapping spree

The religious
leader lamented the spate of kidnapping in the country, stressing that
life is no longer sacrosanct where men, women, parents, relations and
children are now being kidnapped for ransom and this criminal act
should not be allowed to destabilize the peace in the state. He called
on the federal and state governments, as well as law enforcement
agencies to rise swiftly to this challenge by putting to an end this
evil, and also fish out the perpetrators of the crime, so that justice
can prevail.

The association also called on religious leaders in the country to
preach against this menace, as well as condemn the evil ace, so that
the public and the government can step up efforts to eradicate the
rampant cases of kidnapping. Mr. Bello therefore appealed to members of
the public with useful information on kidnappers and any other criminal
activity to furnish the police and other security agencies, so that the
state of insecurity in the country can be controlled. The association
commended the Kano State governor, Ibrahim Shekarau for his efforts in
sustaining relative peace in the state.

Police in Uyo, Akwa
Ibom State, yesterday, arrested scores of youth who had staged a march
in support of a governorship aspirant accused recently by the state
government of murder.

Truckloads of
security personnel disrupted a protest organised by the youth group and
sealed off the campaign office of James Akpanudoedehe, a former
minister of the Federal Capital Territory, who now seeks the state
governorship seat, arresting at least 30 of the men in the process.

The state police
commissioner, Walter Rugbere, told journalists the men will be charged
to court Wednesday for failing to secure permission for the procession,
and constituting “public nuisance.”

Mr. Akpanudoedehe
was arrested last week after the state government accused him of having
a role in the murder of a prominent politician who was gunned down in
the state a forthnight ago.

His arrest heightened tension in a state already fraught with rampant cases of kidnapping, murders, and overall insecurity.

The opposition
blamed the state governor, Godswill Akpabio, of running a highhanded
administration that brooks no dissent. But the state government had
always disputed this.

“By laying the
blame for Inyang’s murder on the opposition, even ahead of police
investigation, the state government is employing scare tactics and
wants to be the judge in its own case,” said Mr. Akpanudoedehe, days
after Paul Inyang, top PDP official, was shot dead while worshiping in
church.

Mr. Akpanudoedehe,
former minister, who is now seeking to become the state’s next
governor, said the administration’s policies have become more
intimidating, as more persons announced their decision to challenge the
re-election of the incumbent governor, Mr. Akpabio.

Inciting messages

The police said
yesterday’s arrest was to maintain peace that was threatened by
“inciting messages” displayed on the placards of the protesters, and
the harassment of motorists.

But reports from
witnesses said the protest by Mr. Akpanudoedehe’s supporters was
peaceful, and did not engage in forceful behavior such as harassment of
motorists, as claimed by the police.

The youths
reportedly converged as early as 6 a.m, marched through some of the
major streets in the capital city, including Oron Road, Ikot Ekpene
Road, Iboko Street, NEPA Line, and Abak Road.

They were later
stopped by a detachment of over 100 policemen deployed from the Police
Headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia, who arrived in two separate batches.

While one batch
reportedly pursued the demonstrators along the streets as they were
making their way back to the former minister’s campaign office, the
other batch was stationed outside the office.

The police admitted they shot several canisters of tear gas to help disperse the youth.

The House of
Representatives has ordered the immediate stoppage of another federal
aviation contract over allegations of over-bidding and breach of
procurement regulations.

The House Public
Procurement committee yesterday directed the Ministry of Aviation to
suspend a €17 million (N3.0 Billion) contract for the installation of
Aeronautical Information System (AIS) in airports, after lawmakers
questioned officials over the poor handling of the transaction. “I wish
to state here that the Minister of Aviation and the Director General of
the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) should suspend all
actions on the contract until they appear before us to clarify the
issues being raised by the contractor,” announced Yusuf Tuggar, the
house committee chairman on Monday.

Members accused the
officials of the aviation ministry, Nigerian Airspace Management
Agency, and the Bureau of Public Procurement, of flouting basic rules
and granting the contract to a company that tendered at the highest
cost for the execution of the project.

Inflated

The Minister of
Aviation, Fidelia Njeze, is expected to explain the ministry’s decision
in awarding the deal to a company that bid almost twice what was quoted
by another company.

Basic federal
public procurement rules state that contracts be awarded to companies
with lower quotations, except in special cases and even then clearance
for the award is supposed to be obtained.

In the AIS contract, Mocom/Skynet won the bid despite bidding €17.9 million, against the €9.5 million, bid by Avsatel GMBH.

The job is to set
up an AIS detection system-surveillance equipment in all airports
across the country. Further details and terms of the contract were not
made available, but the House committee chairman, said the contract
will be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

Contract flaws

This is the third
time in four months that a committee in the House of Representatives
has reported major flaws in a contract awarded for a major project in
the country.

A contract for the
construction of a new runway for the Abuja airport, was earlier
suspended by the House over allegations of over-costing. Lawmakers also
ordered inquiry into the costing of the expansion project of the Abuja
airport expressways.

In all three cases,
the lawmakers faulted the Bureau of Public Procurement for failing to
detect the over rated amounts, and approving the contract for execution.

For the AIS contract, the bureau spokesperson, NNebolisa Odizie,
said the decision was taken because of an “inadequate” technical and
financial evaluation submitted by Avsatel. He said the bureau abided
“strictly” by the advice of expert consultants in awarding the contract.