28012020

12 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020
Senate insists on
passage of PIB this year
By Henry Umoru
ABUJA —THE Presi
dent of the Senate,
Ahmad Lawan has assured
that immediately the Senate
resumes, the Constitution
review Committee
would be constituted.
It was contrary to insinuation
that the Senate would
deny its Deputy President,
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege
from heading the Constitution
review committee to be
set up soon.
Lawan said that Omo-
Agege will head the committee
as Chairman in line
with age long tradition of
the Senate and the House
of Representatives as far as
such committees are concerned.
He said, “The committee
will be constituted very
soon, either this week or
next week by the grace of
God because the time is ripe
for us to reconstitute the
committee so that the members
could start to work immediately.
We have referred
some bills to the them already.
“Traditionally, everybody
knows that since 1999 when
the constitution review committee
was formed in the
National Assembly. In the
Senate, the Deputy President
of the Senate usually
heads the committee while
the Deputy Speaker is usually
the chairman of the
Committee. We are going
to maintain the tradition in
the 9th Senate.
“We have a deputy Senate
President who is vast,
erudite lawyer who played
Okowa, Speaker receive
Mulade’s Coastal Devt
Agency Bill
By Emma Amaize
vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews
an important and significant
role in the 8th Assembly
as a member of the committee
on INEC and Constitution
review. So, we are
good to go by the grace of
God.
“Such insinuation is out
of place, it is traditional that
whenever a committee on
Constitution review is set
up in both the Senate and
the House of Representatives
for the Deputy President
of the Senate and
Deputy Speaker to head
them as Chairmen.
“The Senate will set up
the committee latest by next
week and the Deputy President
of the Senate, Distinguished
Senator Ovie
Omo-Agege will chair it.
He has the capacity , experience
and knowledge to
give the committee the leadership
required.”
On the hike of Value Added
Tax, VAT, Lawan said,
“The 2. 5 per cent increment
in VAT does not include
items that ordinary Nigerians
normally use. Many of
the items that would now
have additional 2.5 per cent
are luxury items that ordinary
Nigerians use. At this
point, we need resources to
provide basic social amenities
that average Nigerians
need.”
On set agenda as the Senate
resumes today, Lawan
said, “What we have in
mind and what we have
before us is what is so important
for Nigerians. First
and most importantly is to
look into the issue of security
that is more bedeviling
this country."
ASABA — GOVER-
NOR If- eanyi Okowa
of Delta State and the Speaker
of the state House of Assembly,
Sheriff Oborevwori,
have received a bill seeking
the establishment of the
Coastal Area Development
Agency, CADA.
The proposed bill initiated
by a community leader and
environmental rights activist,
who hails from Gbaramatu
Kingdom, Warri South West
Local Government Area of
the state, Mr, Sheriff Mulade,
was received at the
Delta State Government
House, Asaba, by the Speaker
and members of the Delta
State House of Assembly on
January 22, 2020.
The bill is in line with the
demands by Deltans from
coastal communities, who
wanted legislation to fast
track development of coastal
communities.
Mulade said: “The need
for such agency is now, especially
when we look at the
very slow rate of development
of the coastal areas
when compared to the hinterland.
“The state accepting the bill
in its creditable form would
promote the present government
and the history of Delta
State will be kind to them.
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Oshiomhole has no legal authority to
function as APC National Chairman
— Idahosa
By Gabriel
Enogholase
BENIN — A chieftain
of the All Progressives
Congress, APC, Mr.
Charles Idahosa, has again
insisted that the former governor
of Edo State, Comrade
Adams Oshiomhole,
has no legal authority to
function as National Chairman
of the APC.
Speaking with journalists
in Benin, at the weekend,
Idahosa, said Oshiomhole
having been suspended by
his ward, can no longer
show himself as the legiti-
mate chairman of the party
at the national level.
Idahosa, who is a former
political adviser to Oshiomhole,
warned that any action
taken by the embattled
national chairman “is null
and void because it is an
illegality.”
He said, “In the first
place, irrespective of your
position, you are a member
of the party and as President
Muhammadu Buhari
said in his speech when the
Caucus met; It is bottomup.
You have to be relevant
in your unit, ward, local
government and state level
before you can go to Abuja
to claim big titles.
“As far as we are concerned
in Edo APC, Oshiomhole
is no longer the
national chairman. The constitution
is very clear in Article
21 on how members of
the party can be dealt with
but because of the ignorance
of many of his followers,
they think that once you become
the national chairman
of the party, you are above
the law. Oshiomhole has no
legitimacy.”
Warning the APC of the
legal implication of retaining
Oshiomhole as the national
chairman, Idahosa
#Revolution Now: Jalingo in detention
for treason — Ayade
By Johnbosco
Agbakwuru
ABUJA — GOVER-
NOR Ben Ayade of
Cross River State, yesterday,
explained that Agba
Jalingo, a Journalist, is being
detained at the Afokang
Prison of the state for allegedly
plotting to topple President
Muhammadu Buhari's
government through
the #RevolutionNow
Movement.
Ayade said the journalist
problem was with the Federal
Government and not
the state government,” He
is in prison for treason.”
Jalingo, who is the publisher
of a privately owned
news website, CrossRiver-
Watch, was on August 30
charged with disturbance
of public peace and treason
by the Federal Government
for his alleged writing and
social media posts about
Ayade who is his kinsman.
The journalist led the
#RevolutionNow Protest in
Cross River State.
He was recently awarded
the Gani Fawehinmi
Award for Integrity and had
in an article he wrote in July
demanded the whereabouts
of the N500 million
approved and released by
the Cross River State Government
for the floating of
the Cross River Microfinance
bank.
By Festus Ahon
ASABA — FORMER
Governorship aspirant
in Delta State, Chief
Sunny Onuesoke has said
that Nigeria needs research
institutes and not new universities,
insisting that research
institutes were critical
to sustainable economic
growth and development of
any nation.
Speaking to newsmen at
His arrest, subsequent
incarceration and trial has
been condemned by individuals,
right groups and
civil society organizations
with Amnesty International
declaring him alongside
#RevolutionNow convener,
Omoyele Sowore and pro
democracy activist, Olawale
Bakare as prisoners of
conscience.
Ayade has been accused
several times of instigating
the arrest, detention and
trial of Jalingo, for treason
but the governor had on
many occasions denied being
involved in his ordeal.
PROMO: Generator
winners in the Glo
Recharge and Win Big
Promo popularly
known as My Own
Don Beta, on Monday
received their prizes
at Slaughter Market,
Trans Amadi, Port
Harcourt. From left,
Cynthia Mbagwu
(winner), Benjamin
Peterson (winner),
Lady Kate Ibekwe,
Head National Lottery
Regulatory Commission,
Port Harcourt,
Ogunkeyi Lucas
(winner) and Globacom's
Regional Manager,
South South, Mr.
Augustine Mamuro,
during the ceremony.
said, “He has been suspended
by his ward and the
party leaders there. These
leaders are not spirits; they
came out openly to endorse
his suspension. They are
not hiding and have not
denied saying so. However,
he decided to ignore
these leaders because he
has never respected the
party’s constitution.
“They are just postponing
the evil day because at the
end of the day, any action
by him or any action he
takes now as national chairman
is null and void because
it is an illegality. He
knows this but he is pretending
not to know. I only
feel sorry for the APC because
of the legal implication
in the future.”
The party chieftain also
blamed the suspended national
chairman for the crisis
in various states’ chapter
of the party, adding
“Oshiomhole’s supporters
say things like we should
respect him because he has
been winning elections, but
they are wrong because he
has nothing to do with the
party’s successes; in fact,
he created the problems.
“Even as governor and
national chairman he did
not win the presidential
election in Edo. Won’t you
win your state before going
to win other peoples’
states?
Research institutes’ll proffer solutions to our
economic backwardness, not universities
— Onuesoke
the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Lagos
after attending a one day
workshop on policy and
strategy for sustainable economic
growth, Onuesoke
said the role of research institutes
as development
driver could not be over
emphasized.
He said; “The growing
number of universities are
not what is needed now to
tackle the reality of under
development that is currently
staring at us on the
face.
“Despite having bulk of
universities across the nation,
the apparent gap and
weakness in our social-economic
life are left wide open
and this is due to absence
of research institute that
would have been able to fill
these gaps and proffer solutions
to our economic
backwardness.”