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The
bill seeking to establish the Maritime Security Agency has suffered
another major setback at the senate, after it was withdrawn by its
supporters over fears of clash of responsibility with the navy.

The bill is a
deliberate attempt by the federal government to establish an agency
that will be responsible for providing security, safety information and
communication facilities for all categories of players in the maritime
industry.

“The bill is
specifically fashioned to deal with the issues of security and safety
for all categories of users of the Nigerian maritime industry,” Teslim
Folarin, the senate majority leader who led debate on the bill said.
“It shall apply to any person, ship, aircraft or any other craft or
object in the internal and territorial waters of Nigeria. It should,
however, be noted that this bill does not contemplate or apply to
warship or military patrol ship.”

It was however
withdrawn after the senators claimed the objectives of the bill clash
with the constitutional duties of some already established military
organizations in Nigeria.

The bill had last
week suffered its first setback after the senators refused to consider
the provisions of the bill because it did not contain brief account of
the financial implications of setting up the agency. The agency is to
cost the federal government about N5.8 billion to establish.

Controversy

Lee Maeba (PDP River state) however alleged that the federal government has already earmarked N5 billion for the agency.

“This agency
already exists and is to spend N5 billion this year,” Mr. Maeba said,
adding that he had fact to back up his claims.

Umar Abubakar Argungu (PDP Kebbi state) countered Mr. Maeba’s claims, and insisted that the agency does not exist.

On Wednesday, the
bill had the missing financial compendium; but senators found fault in
its essence forcing the senate leader, Teslim Folarin, who led debate
on the bill to withdraw the bill entirely.

Successful bills

Meanwhile, the 2010 amended version National Health Bill was passed into an act by the senate on same day.

The amended health
bill redefines the roles of the National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control, and the National Health Insurance Scheme.

The bill also rephrased the clauses that defined the functions of both organizations.

A bill also seeking to establish the Nigerian Air Force Institute of
Technology to provide technical training for personnel of the Nigerian
Air Force and other arms of the Nigerian armed forces passed second
reading on the floor of the senate.

The
Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, yesterday played host to
the 5th simulation exercise of National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA) to prepare the organization and its relevant stakeholders for
disaster/emergency situations come 2011 general elections.

The exercise, code
named ‘Operation Itoju’ was conducted by the Armed Forces Simulation
Centre of the Command and Staff College Jaji.

Director general of
NEMA, Mohammed Audu Bida, said in Kaduna that as Nigeria gradually
moves towards the 2011 general elections, the agency has, as part of
the effort of the government to achieve zero crisis during the general
election, taken the step to ensure a holistic emergency preparedness
that will make for the safety of the generality of the citizenry during
the polls.

The agency gathered
all major stakeholders in emergency management, ranging from the armed
forces, paramilitary groups, Federal Road Safety Commission, Red Cross,
and others to a week-long exercise to simulate possible electioneering
crisis.

“NEMA’s vision is
to build a culture of preparedness, response and community resilience
to disaster in Nigeria,” said Mr. Bida. He expressed hope that the
exercise, coming at the heels of the 2011 general election, is meant to
achieve this vision.

The agency boss
also highlighted the intention of NEMA to use the exercise to test the
effectiveness of its recently adopted ‘Search and Rescue and Epidemic
Evacuation Plan,’ as applied to disaster relating to civil unrest.

S.A. Leks, the commandant of the Armed Forces Command and Staff
College, said training through simulation is a global trend that calls
for a practical involvement of the requisite experience and
professional competencies of all officers involved.

The Federal
Executive Council (FEC) has commended the efforts of the Central Bank
governor in reforming and repositioning the banking sector in Nigeria.

The commendation
came after a memo by the governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to the council
on the performance of the economy in the first quarter of this year and
the reforms instituted by the bank under his watch.

Briefing State
House correspondents after the council meeting in Abuja, Dora Akunyili,
the Minister of Information and Communication, said Mr. Sanusi told the
Federal Executive Council that there had been steady growth in Gross
Domestic Products (GDP) and a moderation in inflation, interbank rates,
and other money market, as well as lending rates, among other monetary
indices.

Mr. Sanusi was
quoted to have said that the CBN is delivering on its key mandate of
providing monetary and financial stability and that so far, the
implementation of banking reforms has engendered confidence in the
system.

Also today, the
Council approved N3.569 billion for the provision of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) enabled facility to 209 secondary
schools in the country.

Eight schools from the 36 states of the federation and four from the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will benefit from the Internet facility
to be provided by the Ministry of Information. President Goodluck
Jonathan presided over the Federal Executive Council.

A
landslide on the slopes of a volcano in eastern Democratic Republic of
Congo has killed 46 people and washed away more than 200 homes, the
U.N. peacekeeping mission said on Wednesday.

The landslide, on
the slopes of Nyrangongo volcano at Kibumba, in north Kivu province
where the army is trying to oust Rwandan Hutu rebels, was triggered
when rivers overflowed at the volcanic peak at the weekend, following
heavy rains.

“The record so far
is 46 people feared dead and more than 200 houses washed away,” said
Madnodje Mounoubai, spokesman for the U.N. mission MONUC, which has
recovered 14 bodies and is assisting in the rescue effort.

The volcano, which
overlooks the provincial capital Goma, is one of two active volcanoes
that have regularly erupted and spewed lava in recent years, killing
scores in 2002.

Contrary to the
widely held belief that the Reform Group’s candidate had the backing of
the presidency as the national chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic
Party ( PDP), the pendulum has changed in favour of a new candidate,
NEXT has learnt.

Chieftains of the
party and some National Assembly leaders met with President Goodluck
Jonathan early Wednesday morning, and settled for Fidelis Ozichukwu as
a replacement for the former chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, who retired
last week.

Mr. Ozichukwu was the former national vice chairman of the party in the south-east, and hails from Imo State.

Mr. Ogbulafor
resigned his chairmanship last week Thursday, following the N200
million fraud discovered in the contract award when he was Minister of
Special Duties in 2004. Now, he is facing a court charge over the
criminal offence.

Several names,
including the former senate president, Anyim Pius Anyim, and Alphonsus
B.C. Nwosu, were peddled as the contenders for the job.

The decision to
settle for the less controversial candidate, a source said, was to
avoid another round of rancour between the president and the governors.

The governors were responsible for the emergence of Mr. Ogbulafor,
as against the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo’s preference for Sam
Egwu, the former governor of Ebonyi State.

Civil society group, the Conference of Nigerian Civil
Rights Activists (CNCRA) on Wednesday charged President Goodluck
Jonathan to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
to make public its investigation into an alleged N2.3 billion car
contract scam in the House of Representatives.

The group, in a statement issued by its national
coordinator, Ifeanyi Odili, and his general secretary, Sina Akadiri,
said it was wrong for the anti graft agency not to make public its
report on the alleged scam.

Mr. Odili said the failure of the agency to pursue
the case to a logical conclusion showed that it was selective in its
anti-corruption crusade.

The leadership of the House were, in September 2008,
accused of inflating the cost of the purchase of Peugeot cars
distributed to committee heads. The House leadership, however denied
any wrongdoing in the matter.

Selective probe

Mr. Odili accused the anti graft agency of refusing to prosecute House members named in the alleged scam.

“Regrettably, the government has been selective with
the anti-corruption war by allowing corrupt high profile government
functionaries to go unpunished whenever they are indicted by the
anti-graft agencies,” he said. “By virtue of the EFCC act, any public
office holder indicted of corrupt practices shall be prosecuted without
recourse to any other authority of the federation.

To our chagrin and consternation, information at our
disposal indicates that EFCC had, for long, concluded its investigation
into the alleged scam and submitted its report to the late President,
Umar Yar’adua.”

Emulate Ogbulafor

“The action of EFCC of submitting report to the
presidency without prosecuting the offenders is a brazen act of utter
disregard to the rule of law and due process being championed by your
administration,” said the civil rights leader.

“The Presidency owes it a duty to, as a matter of
public importance, order the prosecutions of all the indicted public
officers, especially in the case of 2.3 billion naira car contract scam
in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly.”

The CNCRA also advised those involved in the scam to emulate the
national chairman of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Vincent
Ogbulafor who resigned based on allegations of corruption against him.

The trial of Temple Nwankawoala, a
police chief based in Benin, Edo State, on corruption charges, that
started three years ago, continued yesterday at a Federal High Court in
Benin.

Mr. Nwankawoala, a Deputy
Superintendent of Police (DSP), is being charged by the Independent
Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) for
demanding one million naira bribe from a suspect in a case he was
investigating, an act that is contrary to Section 28 of the ICPC Act
2000.

The police chief was investigating the
case brought by Monday Ebohinmen against his employer, Alex Okiye, over
the latter’s refusal to pay him his entitlement worth two million naira.

However, sensing that both parties were
about settling the dispute without him profiting from it, Mr.
Nwankawoala demanded a sum of one million naira from Mr. Okiye before
he could close the case.

“The DSP was alleged to have threatened
to arrest and detain the trailers which the respondent (Mr. Okiye) uses
for lifting fuel, being a petroleum dealer, as well as threatened to
arrest his staff working with the NNPC depot, if he failed to give him
the N1 million,” stated Folu Olamiti, the media consultant to the ICPC,
who explained that it was the persistence of the DSP for the money that
made Mr. Okiye report him to the ICPC.

“A string operation was carried out,
during which the suspect agreed to collect the initial sum of N500,
000, being part payment of the bribe of N1 million,” the ICPC spokesman
explained.

Carrying the loot

The police officer, who is on bail, was
arrested while transporting the initial sum, which was in N500
denominations, along with someone he had hired to help him carry the
money.

While explaining the reason for the
delay in getting a conviction, Mr. Olamiti stated that “the case, which
commenced on June 26, 2007, has suffered several adjournments.”

He, however, stated that “the
prosecution (ICPC) has closed their case after calling on all its
witnesses, while the defence (Mr. Nwankawoala), is yet to close its
case.

The Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole yesterday said members will
work hard to ensure that marriages to underage girls are stopped in the
country.

At a meeting with
members of the Nigerian Children Parliament in Abuja who came to
present their resolution to him, Mr Bankole, who did not mention any
names, said the House has received about eight petitions on the
controversial marriage of a 13 year old girl by a Senator.

“You see, this is
not the first time it is happening; it has happened so many times in
this country and it is not necessary members of the National Assembly,
but even with people from different parts of Nigeria and I say again
people from different parts of Nigeria. It is not peculiar to a
section. But this time around, we are not having it, we are not taking
it lightly. I know that about seven to eight petitions in the House are
calling that we investigate it. And when it comes to the floor of the
House, we will also look into it. I know that the Human Rights
Commission is working hard on this issue and we hope that maybe, for
the first time, people should put a stop to that kind of attitude.”

Mr Bankole said
that he has always passed on the resolutions of the Nigeria Children
Parliament to the appropriate quarters and assured that he would
continue to do so in the interest of Nigerian children.

Unhappy children

The Speaker,
however asked the young parliamentarians not to be discouraged if their
resolutions do not receive immediate attention, adding that from his
experience, not all resolutions passed receive quick treatment. “It is
not everything you asked for you that you get but you have to make sure
that you keep asking believing that one day the executive will listen
to you. Don’t ever stop; keep passing those resolutions. The history of
being Senate President or Speaker is not that of a pleasant one,” Mr
Bankole said.

On the recurring crisis in Jos, the Plateau State capital, the
Speaker said he has visited the city about four times to commiserate
with the families of the victims, some of whom are children. Earlier,
the Senate President of the Nigerian Children Parliament, Esther
Afolayan, called for an increase in the budgetary allocation relating
to children’s welfare while the Speaker of the Parliament, Emmanuel
Attah regretted the slow domestication of the Child Rights Act and
asked Mr Bankole to help.