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The House of Representatives is in the process of reconstituting its
standing committees. Just before members went on a three week Easter
break which ends tomorrow, the leadership directed the Selection
Committee to begin the process of reconstituting the committees, which
will be finalised upon the resumption of the House.

The deputy speaker,
Usman Nafada, who presided over the last plenary session before the
break, said the Selection Committee needed to return to work earlier to
enable them fill the vacant chairmanship slots.

Although, he did
not name the committees affected, no fewer than seven committees are
currently without chairmen, including Works,Power, Lake Chad,
Women in Parliament, Privatisation and Commercialization, Cooperation
and Integration in Africa and Information and National Orientation.

Their chairmen
were either removed by the leadership over certain allegations or lost
their seats following the nullification of their elections into the
House. One committee chairman died.

Therefore, barring
any hitches, new chairmen for those committees will emerge tomorrow or
at the most, in the next few weeks. But there are indications that
several other committees will have their leadership reshuffled.

The last time a
major reconstitution of the committees was carried out was in October
2008, some 11 months after the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole and Mr
Nafada assumed office – exactly 40 days after 69 of the former 72
committees he inherited from former Speaker Patricia Etteh, were
dissolved and about five months after he initiated the process of
overhauling them.

Unlike Ms. Etteh,
who gave all her 72 committees except one (Public Accounts) to PDP
lawmakers to chair, Mr Bankole gave more committees to the opposition
parties, namely ANPP and AC.

But regrettably, that was where the excitement ended.

Since then, not
many of the 84 committees have impressed the Speaker himself, let alone
Nigerians and other watchers of the legislature. To be sure, this is
not due to paucity of funds but, largely, because of the unpreparedness
of the committee members and leadership to do the job they were elected
to do.

Committees are the
engine rooms of the legislature. What ministries and ministers are to
the executive arm of government is about what committees and their
chairmen are to the legislature. Committees not only consider bills or
resolutions committed to them by the whole House, they oversee
departments and agencies of the executive and play a major role in
allocating funds to such agencies.

When created, a
committee’s leadership is allowed to, in turn, create subcommittees or
ad-hoc committees to ease its duties. A committee or subcommittee
chairman is usually seen as a ‘bride’ of any official of the executive
arm. He can use that position, if he chooses, to secure contracts,
employment space for his constituents or other benefits from a
government agency.

Hence, the
reconstitution of committees by the leadership of any legislature is a
serious exercise. But a common feature of the exercise is the attendant
anxiety among lawmakers who want to be chairmen or deputy.

Some do not just
want to be chairmen, they want to head what are usually regarded in
parliamentary parlance as “juicy committees.” Such juicy committees
include Petroleum Resources, Education, Interior, Communications,
Aviation, Transport, House Services, Agriculture, FCT, Defence, Power, Justice/Judiciary, Appropriation, Finance, Niger Delta/NDDC, Works, Banking and Currency, Foreign Affairs, Police Affairs, Gas, Rules and Business.

Do it right

The Selection Committee whose membership are the principal officers
(10 in all), have been meeting. Already, there are reports of intense
lobbying. Interestingly, the lobbying is not limited to thecommittees whose
chairmanship seats are vacant. There is a growing anxiety in the House
since Mr Nafada dropped the hint of filling the vacant committees.

Even the perceived arch enemies of the leadership, particularly of Mr Bankole, are reportedly falling
over themselves in a bid to retain their chairmanship and deputy
chairmanships. Those sacked are also in desperate bid to return to
their committees. Some have allegedly threatened to unseat the Speaker
if they do not get what they want.

Experience has
shown that the desire of these lawmakers is not to serve the Nigerian,
but merely to line up their pockets with publicmoney. The general
elections are around the corner and those legislators who want to
return to the House or are aspiring to higher offices need money. Those
who already know that they are not returning, probably by virtue of the
internal arrangement in their constituency or because they have fallen
out with their godfathers, are also hoping to make enough to live the
good life before other political opportunities come.

Composition of the last committee was everything but thorough. It is understandable, because of the need for the Speaker to provide “job for the boys”
who brought him to power. He, particularly needed to compensate members
of the Integrity Group. But it is important that Mr Bankole gets it right this time. It is time to think Nigeria. The buck stops on his table. Therefore, one thing Mr Bankole should do is to put round pegs in round holes.

Mr Bankole should
also disband committees such as Lake Chad, Urban, Emergency, HIV/AIDS,
Poverty Alleviation, Women In Parliament, Donor, Constituency Outreach, Special Duties and Rural Development and make them subcommittees of other major committees. They are not serving any purpose.

Considering the lapses observed in
conduct and operation and with the introduction of a new system of
matriculation examination, the Universal Tertiary Matriculation
Examination (UTME) says it is no longer desirable for universities to
continue to organise the Post-University Matriculation Examination
(Post UME), the registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation
Board (JAMB), Dibu Ojerinde, has said.

The JAMB official, who spoke in Abuja
during the inspection of the UTME examination, said that since students
are writing examinations for admission into six different higher
institutions, it would be a great burden to maintain the Post-UME. He
also said there are too many lapses in the operation and conduct of the
post UME examinations.

Post UME screening was introduced by
several universities to test students who have passed the JAMB
examination. It is often conducted by the institution into which the
candidate is seeking to gain admission.

“As of now, government says there must
be a screening, so we would still comply with the directive. However,
the problem is that now we have six institutions of choice for the
candidates; are they going to go through six institutions for
screening?” Mr. Ojerinde said.

Exam still relevant

Minister of
Education, Ruqayyatu Rufai, however said the post UME exercise, despite
obvious failures in the screening exercise by some tertiary
institutions, still remains relevant and will continue until a
standardised system is adopted for admitting candidates into higher
institutions.

“The Post UME issue
is something we have to deliberate more on and make changes where
necessary, but as at now, post UME would continue because after this
examination being taken by the students now; they will go to their
various universities,” said Mrs. Rufai. “We are actually planning to
look at its uniformity, standardising it to ensure that a person that
sits for post UME in any university can use it in another university;
but that arrangement has not been concluded yet.”

Mrs. Rufai restated
the federal government’s resolve to carry out a national examination
summit to tackle the challenges encountered by examination bodies like
JAMB, NECO and WAEC, among others. She noted that there should be
uniformity in public exams to make them stress-free for both the
examining bodies and the candidates.

Immediate action needed

The JAMB boss, Mr.
Ojerinde, said the Post UME has created questions about the board’s
capability to conduct free and fair examinations.

He described as
unfortunate the exorbitant fees charged by various institutions, which
refused to abide by the federal government rule that the post UME
charges must not exceed N1000. Some charge as much as N20, 000, he
explained.

However, the
registrar admitted it would not be easy to scrap the exam. “We have
made the mistake of introducing post UME, that’s my opinion,” he said.
“Nobody can just wake up one day and stop it easily until everybody is
convinced that the job going on in JAMB is okay.”

New Exam

Saturday’s
inspection revealed that about 10,000 Nigerian Security and Civil
Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel, as well as 5,100 handheld scanners and
detectors were deployed to all the UTME exam centres nationwide to
provide security.

Officials from the
ministry of education and its parastatals, as well as the media and
other independent observers, were on hand to witness the exam.

A total of 1,375,642 candidates are reported to have registered for the examination.

The Nigerian Police
Force should be commended for reducing insecurity to the barest minimum
during the recent local government council poll in the Federal Capital
Territory, the Police Service Commission has said.

The commendation of
the force was contained in an interim report on the election released
by Chairman of the PSC Strategy Committee, Otive Igbuzor and made
available to our correspondent.

The commission also
commended the Federal Road Safety Commission, the Nigerian Security and
Civil Defence Corps and the Nigerian Prisons Service personnel for
ensuring a secured election atmosphere during the poll, conducted on
10th April, 2010.

The PSC said the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) duly accredited it to
monitor the conduct of police officers during the election as part of
its statutory responsibility of holding the police accountable.

The monitoring team
was made up of four persons led by Mr. Igbuzor. Other members were
PSC’s Director, Ben Iwambe; Deputy Director, Jibrin Saeed and Kingsley
Oghoro.

The team visited
three area councils namely: AMAC, Gwagwalada and Kuje, prior to which
it had given out three telephone numbers through which members of the
public could channel complaints on the performance of police personnel
with regard to the election to the commission.

Commendation for conduct

“The Police Service
Commission commends the Police officers that participated in the FCT
Area Council election for their professional conduct,” the report said.

“In particular, we
commend the FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. John Haruna for his prompt
response to deployment issues. The Commission will learn from the
monitoring of the gubernatorial election on 6th February, 2010 and the
FCT Area Council election on 10th April, 2010 to make a comprehensive
plan to monitor police conduct during the 2011 general elections.”

Some of the
observations of the commission include: security presence in all parts
of the FCT including the Nigeria Police, civil defence, FRSC and
Nigeria Prisons Service no police presence at the commencement of
distribution of materials.

The residents of FCT conducted themselves in very peaceful manner during the elections.

There were between three to twenty police officers in each polling unit visited, with support from other security agencies.

The police officers were generally courteous, approachable and
co-operative, with their name tags and numbers displayed on their
uniforms.

The security of the
nation must remain the first priority of all ministers, Aliyu Mohammed
Gusau, the National Security Adviser to the Acting President, has
warned. Speaking at a Security Awareness seminar for ministers held in
Abuja over the weekend, Mr. Gusau, a retired General, cautioned that
the ministers must be conscious of the security implications of the
decisions they take on behalf of the country.

The one-day seminar
took the new ministers through other relevant matters such as foreign
intelligence activities and threats to security, security of
information, documents and the operations of government and enhancing
personal protection, security and safety. Other discussions centred on
the anti-corruption campaign of the government, crime and society, as
well the current challenges of law enforcement.

The session was
moderated by both the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
Yayale Ahmed and the Head of Service, Steve Oronsaye.

According to
Adebisi Adekunle, Chief Press Secretary to the National Security
Adviser, Mr. Gusau had reviewed the nation’s security and warned that
ministers must be at the frontline of efforts to restore sanity and
stability while increasing public confidence in the ability of
government to function as expected.

Security and human development

Stressing that the
enhancement of human development is a key security objective, Mr. Gusau
stated that, “Nigeria is rated low in human development index issued
periodically by international institutions. Public officials have to be
conscious of the impressions we convey by the way we value or
depreciate the worth of the average Nigerian. The carnage in Jos and
the summary killing of Boko Haram suspects by the police showed the
world that Nigerians do not value themselves.” He added that the
prevalence of polio, guinea worm, malaria and other disease which have
been eradicated in other parts of the world has brought into question
the commitment of our government to human development.

Mr. Gusau said the
country’s poor educational system as well as indices of high
unemployment level, poverty, low food security arising from the
country’s inability to feed its people and decaying infrastructure have
all undermined the nation’s security.

Threatened by crime

On crime control,
the security adviser told the ministers that “the security of lives,
properties and livelihood is threatened by crime.” He said the crime
situation in the country is so high that law enforcement agencies
appear overwhelmed by the sad situation.

He lamented that,
“Very little attention is paid to the prevention of crime. Proactive
security measures assist to prevent crimes. Good laws and efficient
penal system will deter criminals and reduce crimes. It seems our
current legal system promotes crimes.’’ The judicial arm of government
did not escape his criticism. He said it is difficult to prosecute
offenders because of lengthy delays in court processes while “criminals
go in and out of prison at will, becoming serial offenders.’’

Corruption as a threat

Stating that corruption is an economic crime that threatens the country’s survival, Mr.

Gusau said it is
endemic because the current anti-corruption campaign has been largely
considered to be ineffective and selective.

“This is because
it penalizes a few unfortunate individuals, while society sees many
they consider guilty enjoying their loot in freedom. Some of the
agencies involved in anti-corruption have credibility problems, their
leaders being accused of wrong-doings.” On the banking sector, he said
the situation reflects the double standards critics perceive in the
administration of justice; every bank seems to be doing the same thing,
yet only a few got penalised.

“The fragility of
the economy further dictates that offenders be interdicted without
damaging the sector”, he said. However, he lamented that the on-going
intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria, “seemed to have damaged
economic activity in the banking sector to the detriment of the larger
society.” Charging the ministers to be conscious of the impact of
public policy on the nation’s security, Mr. Gusau said, “I want you to
always remember that national security interests are paramount and must
be respected. Public policy can have significant impact.” He said it is
therefore important for certain public policies to have security input
so that policies which may be considered controversial are implemented
with adequate preparation by security agencies.

Charging the
ministers on the need to carry the people along in policy planning and
implementation, Mr. Gusau said that to do otherwise would have serious
consequences both in the short and long run.

Late
Polish President, Lech Kaczynski and his wife, who died in a Plane
crash last week were yesterday buried at the Wawel cathedral, the
coronation site of virtually all of Poland’s monarchs despite protest
and online petitions by some Poles against burying the Kaczynskis’ in
such a hallowed spot.

After a solemn
mass, two gun carriages carried the coffins of Mr Kaczynski and his
wife Maria, draped in the red-and-white national flag, through the
streets to their final resting place in Wawel cathedral located high
above Poland’s ancient capital.

Tens of thousands
of Poles chanted “Lech Kaczynski, we thank you” and waved flags and
banners of the 1980s anti-communist Solidarity movement which the
combative nationalist and devout Roman Catholic once helped to build.

Their coffins were
then laid to rest in the cathedral’s crypt – a hallowed spot for Poles
usually reserved for their kings, leading poets and national heroes.
Some Poles have staged protest rallies and joined petitions on social
media site against the decision to bury Kaczynski at Wawel, saying he
did not deserve such an honour.

Mr Kaczynski, his
wife and 94 other senior Polish political and military officials died
when their plane crashed in thick fog near Smolensk in western Russia
on April 10 while flying to the Katyn forest to mark the 70th
anniversary of the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals
by Soviet secret police.

“President Lech
Kaczynski’s testament must be fulfilled through rapprochement and
reconciliation (with Russia),” Acting President,

Bronislaw Komorowski told mourners in Krakow’s mediaeval St Mary’s Basilica.

The leaders of
Poland and Russia attending the funeral said on yesterday that the
death in a plane crash in Russia must serve as a catalyst for
reconciliation between the two Slavic nations.

Russian President,
Dmitry Medvedev who braved the closure of Europe’s air space caused by
a volcanic ash cloud to attend the funeral in Krakow while speaking to
Polish television, said “in view of these heavy losses I believe we can
make serious efforts to draw our nations closer together, to develop
economic relations and find solutions to the most difficult problems,
including Katyn.” The Kremlin leader’s presence was ironic in view of
Kaczynski’s frequent criticism of what he called Russia’s “imperialism”
towards ex-Soviet republics such as Georgia. In his five years as
president, Kaczynski never visited Moscow.

Other mourners included the presidents of Germany, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Georgia.

U.S. President
Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President
Nicolas Sarkozy were among those forced by the ash cloud to abandon
plans to attend Kaczynski’s funeral.

The funeral crowned
a week of unprecedented national mourning for the Kaczynskis and the
other crash victims which had more than 180,000 people queue in Warsaw,
day and night to view the coffins at the presidential palace which has
been on display on public display since Tuesday and also at the city’s
cathedral.

Kaczynski was a polarising figure whose support levels had fallen to
about 20 percent before his death. He had been expected to lose a
presidential election due in the autumn and now expected to take place
on June 20.

A self-proclaimed
anti-corruption crusader, Emmanuel Nwachukwu, has asked a Federal High
Court in Abuja to compel the Code of Conduct Bureau to investigate and
prosecute a former Comptroller of Customs, Rasheed Taiwo Owolabi, for
allegedly failing to declare his assets after retiring from the Nigeria
Customs Service.
In an application
for judicial review filed through his counsel, Amobi Nzelu, on Friday,
Mr. Nwachukwu asked the court to compel the Code of Conduct Bureau, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Inspector General
of Police, and the Nigeria Customs Service Board to investigate Mr.
Owolabi for several offences including non-declaration of assets,
illegal acquisition of wealth, and abuse of office.
Mr. Nwachukwu has
also asked the Nigeria Customs Services Board to investigate the
certificate, purportedly acquired from the University of Paris, which
Mr. Owolabi presented during his employment, as well as the retired
officer’s National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate.

He has
asked the board to withhold all of Mr. Owolabi’s entitlements until the
determination of the case.
Mr. Nwachukwu told
the court that he had written to several anti-graft agencies asking
them to investigate Mr. Owolabi for the offences listed in the
application, but so far none of them has responded to his letter.
Mr. Nwachukwu
accused Mr. Owolabi of acquiring stupendous wealth while he was serving
in the customs. He listed some of the properties allegedly owned by Mr.
Owolabi and reminded the court that the EFCC has the right, under the
Act establishing it, to investigate those assets.

Embattled officer

This is not the
first time the retired customs officer has found himself tangled in the
judiciary. Mr. Owolabi joined the customs service in 1980 and was
retired in 2009. He has, however, sued the customs board and the
present comptroller-general, Abdullahi Inde Dikko, challenging his
January 2010 retirement.
In March, Mr.
Owolabi went to the Federal High Court in Abuja to seek reinstatement
to his office, demanding N500 million in damages for what he called his
“unlawful and illegal retirement.” The retired officer claimed he was
not due to leave office until 2015 and called for payment of all his
salaries, emoluments, and entitlements from the time he was retired
until his due retirement date.

The Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA) has called on Europe-bound passengers to
exercise patience with airlines in the country over delays in their
flights.

This is coming after European authorities shut down their airspaces, due to the recent volcanic ash experienced in Europe.

“Disruptions to
flights are likely to extend for up to one week as airlines attempt to
move delayed passengers and return to normal flight schedules,” said
Harold Demuren, director general of the NCAA, over the weekend.

Endangering aircraft

Mr. Demuren
disclosed that the authority is aware of the hazards of flying in an
airspace with particles of ash, adding that the microscopic particles
have the tendency of endangering aircraft engines as well as human
lives.

“Civil aviation
has become increasingly aware of the dangers of flying through
microscopic fragments of rock and pumice that make up ash clouds,” he
said. “Jet engines are highly complex machines designed to function in
environments free of debris and corrosive gases, and the effects of
volcanic ash have severely endangered safety on some flights.”

The authority’s
boss said the European airspace was shut down to flight operations
because of the particles, stressing that regular operations will
commence when the ash dissipates.

He, however,
advised intending passengers to liaise with their airlines to confirm
the status of their flights and any special arrangements made for
passengers whose trips have been interrupted.

Arik suspends flights

Still as a result
of the volcanic ash over European skies, Arik Air, an indigenous
carrier involved in domestic and international air transport business,
in a statement, announced the suspension of flight services to London
Heathrow.

According to the
airline, it will not operate its flights into London Heathrow since
there is no improvement in the weather conditions in the United
Kingdom, adding this is in compliance with a directive from UK Air
Traffic Control Services (NATS) and for safety reasons.

Arik, however,
advised all its customers who had been booked on any of the airline’s
flights to London Heathrow from either Lagos or Abuja to contact its
call centre or re-book their travel date and check the status of their
flight before leaving for the airport.

According to the
carrier, passengers holding confirmed travel tickets could re-book for
next week or a date of their choice within the next two weeks at no
additional charge, subject to availability of seats.

“Once normal operations are restored in London Heathrow; Arik would
request for extra flights, again subject to approval,” said the carrier.

The former
presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP),
Muhammadu Buhari, is to lead stakeholders from the north finding a
national secretary and filling other key positions in the newly-formed
Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The SDP has already appointed Pat Utomi as its protem national chairman.

Olawale Okuniyi,
the secretary of the Mega Summit Movement (MSM), which helped create
the new party, said on Sunday that though Mr. Buhari belongs to the
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), he will help lead the movement
following the exit of former vice president Atiku Abubakar from the
group.

Mr. Abubakar has rejoined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“In spite of the
exit of former vice president Atiku Abubakar from the process, General
Muhammadu Buhari will lead key stakeholders from the northern axis to
endorse all nominations for the three geo-political zones of the
north,” Mr. Okunniyi said in a statement.

A new alternative

He said the party,
which comprises largely social democrats in the country may round off
its nationwide consultations this weekend in Abuja in readiness for its
launch. He said the party has intensified its final consultations with
key stakeholders and allies in order to get the best programmes and the
most competent hands.

Mr. Okunniyi also
said state and local coordinating teams will be announced at the end of
the party’s nationwide consultations, so that people can join the party
at the local levels. He asked all aspiring stakeholders in the 36
states and the FCT to immediately contact the national secretariat of
the SDP for further briefing.

He assured
interested members that the party’s registration is already before the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He said women and
Nigerians in Diaspora would all be given a fair deal in the new party
structure.

The party chief said the MSM would align itself with the labour
movement in its buildup “to give the nation a formidable
mega-alternative similar to what happened during the third republic
when the labour movement, through its political commissions,
progressively facilitated the formation and success of the SDP led by
MKO Abiola and others.”