Hope to pass proposal for the restructuring of the Federal Republic of Nigeria suffered a major set back as senators rejected two bills on the issue during the debate on the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution by the Senate on Wednesday.
The bills, which were part of areas presented for amendment in the constitution review, were Devolution of Power and deletion of Land Use Act from the Constitution.
The Land Use Act has to do with resource control, which has been the demands of the Southerners in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Senate adhoc Committee on Review of 1999 Constitution had presented 33 clauses for amendment, but the Senate passed 29.
In the report of the Committee on Amendment of the Constitution, all members of the adhoc Committee, which comprises of Southern Senators and Northern Senators, supported the removal of the Land Use Act from the Constitution and also Devolution of Power.
Almost all 51 senators that are members of the Committee appended their signature to the report.
However, trouble began with the proposal on Tuesday after the presentation of the report when Senator Danjuma Goje and Senator Adamu Ailero kicked against the proposal by the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
At the consideration of the report in the Senate on Wednesday, when lawmakers were asked to vote on Devolution of Power, 46 senators voted in favour of the bill, while 48 senators, in an electronic voting, kicked against the proposal.
On the deletion of Land Use Act from the Constitution, 46 senators voted Yes, while 44 senators voted No to the proposal.
Also, the proposal for 35 per cent Affirmative Action for women, especially in the political sphere, as regards appointments, was also rejected by the Red Chamber as 49 senators voted Yes, while 43 voted No.
The lawmakers also rejected a bill which seeks to guarantee a married woman’s right to choose either her indigeneship by birth or by marriage for the purpose of appointment or election.
See all the details of the amendments and voting:
Bill 1: Members of the Council of States
Yes – 93
No – 1
Abstain – 1
Bill 2: Authorization of expenditure
Yes: 93
No: 1
Abstain: 1
Bill 3: Devolution of Power
Yes: 90
No: 5
Abstain: 0
Bill 4: Financial Autonomy of State Legislature
Yes: 90
No: 5
Abstain: 0
Bill 5: Distributable account for Local Governments to have their own special account
Yes: 84
No: 8
Abstain: 1
Bill 6: Democratic Existence funding and tenure of LG council
Yes: 88
No: 7
Abstain: 1
Bill 7: State creation and boundary adjustment
Yes: 47
No: 48
Abstain: 0
Bill 8: Immunity for legislators for Acts in Course of Duty
Yes: 93
No: 1
Abstain: 0
Bill 9: Political Parties and Electoral Matters: Time to conduct Bye Elections and Power to deregister parties
Yes: 90
No: 0
Abstain: 0
Bill 10: Presidential Assent
Yes: 95
No: 1
Abstain: 0
Bill 11: Time frame for submission of names of ministerial nominees
Yes: 75
No: 19
Abstain: 0
Bill 11b: Submission of Ministerial Nominees with their Portfolios
Yes: 78
No: 16
Abstain: 1
Bill 11c: 35% affirmative action for women as ministers
Yes: 49
No: 43
Abstain: 2
Bill 11d: Submission of Commissioners Nominees with their Portfolios
Yes: 84
No: 7
Abstain: 0
Bill 11e : Submission of names of office of commissioners shall be attached with portfolio
Yes: 87
No: 8
Abstain: 0
Bill 11f: 35% Affirmative action for women as States Commissioners
Yes: 61
No: 35
Abstain: 0
Bill 12: Appointment of Minister from the FCT
Yes: 77
No: 12
Abstain: 3
Bill 13: Change of names of some LG councils: Ebonyi, Oyo, Ogun, Pleateau and Rivers.
Yes: 84
No: 2
Abstain: 2
Bill 14: Independent Candidacy
Yes: 82
No: 5
Abstain: 3
Bill 15: The Nigeria Police Force to become Nigerian Police
Yes: 87
No: 2
Abstain: 1
Bill 16: Restriction of the tenure of President and Governor
Yes: 88
No: 0
Abstain: 1
Bill17: Establishment of Accountant General of the Federal Government different from Accountant General of the Federation
Yes: 89
No: 0
Abstain:0
Bill 18: Separation of Office of the Attorney General from the Minister/Commissioner of Justice
Yes: 95
No: 1
Abstain: 1
Bill 19: Separation of Office of the Attorney General from the Minister/Commissioner of Justice
Yes: 95
No: 1
Abstain: 1
Bill 20: Submissions from the Judiciary
Yes: 95
No: 2
Abstain: 1
Bill 21: Determination of pre-election matters.
Yes: 97
No: 0
Abstain: 0
Bill 22: Consequential Amendment on Civil Defence
Yes: 97
No: 0
Abstain: 0
Bill 23: Citizenship and indigeneship
Yes: 49
No: 46
Abstain: 0
Bill 24: Procedure for Overriding Presidential Veto in Constitutional Alteration
Yes: 92
No: 4
Abstain: 0
Bill 25: Removal of law making power from Executive Arm.
Yes: 89
No: 3
Abstain: 0
Bill 26: Investment and Securities Tribunal
Yes: 76
No: 14
Abstain: 5
Bill 27: Reduction of Age for Election
Yes: 86
No: 10
Abstain: 1
Bill 28: Authorization of expenditure time frame for laying Appropriation bill, Passage etc
Yes: 94
No: 0
Abstain:0
Bill 29: Deletion of the National Youth Service Corps decree from CFRN
Yes: 88
No: 3
Abstain: 0
Bill 30: Deletion of Public Complain Act from CFRN.
Yes: 90
No: 1
Abstain: 2
Bill 31: Deletion of National Security Agencies from the CFRN
Yes: 92
No: 2
Abstain: 0
Bill 32: Deletion of land Use Act from CFRN
Yes: 46
No: 44
Abstain: 0
Bill 33: Deletion of State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from CFRN
Yes: 73
No: 19
Abstain: 2.
The recovery was sequel to a petition against the leadership of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiary, the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC).
The petition alleged that N40 billion had been diverted by the major oil marketers in connivance with the leadership of the NNPC and PPMC.
The EFCC, in a swift reaction, referred the petition to a special task force who swung into action by conducting discrete investigation.
Findings by the operatives of the EFCC revealed that the oil marketers were actually indebted to the Federal Government to the tune of N91,519,485,204.44 between 2010 and 2016.
Further investigation into the allegation also revealed that the oil marketers had continued to obtain petroleum products from the government without proper payment, in violation of the NNPC/PPMC credit facility regulations; a probe of which further led to the discovery of N258,928,926,351.93.
Following the latter discovery, the total amount of debt stands at N349,818,411,556.37.
Upon the conclusion of the preliminary investigation, officials of NNPC/PPMC and all the Managing Directors of the concerned companies which are NNPC retails, Conoil Plc, Total Plc, OVH Energy Plc, Oando Plc, Forte Oil and Gas Plc, Mobil Plc, MRS Oil Plc, and NIPCO Oil Plc were invited to the Kano zonal office of the commission where their statements were recorded following which the recovery process commenced.
EFCC said N328,988,296,990.6 has been recovered from the major oil marketers, and that the outstanding debt now stands at N20,765,919,869.48. – News Express
