10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020 :Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 RETREAT—Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, (2nd left); Minister of State in the ministry, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu (1st left); Permanent Secretary, Works and Housing, Mohammed Bukar (2nd right), with Ag. Surveyor General of the Federation, Surveyor Taiwo Adeniran, at the day 1 of the 7th Edition of the retreat for heads of departments and chief executive officers of agencies of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, with the theme:"'Service Delivery for National Prosperity', at the Gombe International Hotel, in Gombe State, Friday. N5bn on exotic cars: SERAP sues Gbajabiamila, Reps By Olasunkanmi Akoni LAGOS—THE Socio- Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, and 192 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain and stop Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila and all members of the House from spending an estimated N5.04 billion to buy 400 exotic cars for principal officers and members. However, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit. SERAP is also seeking a court order to “restrain and stop the National Assembly Service Commission from releasing any public funds to the House of Representatives to buy 400 Toyota Camry 2020 model cars estimated to cost $35,130 each until an impact assessment of the spending on access to public services and goods like education, security, health, and clean water, is carried out.” Recall that the House of Representatives during an executive session held on 5th February 2020 reportedly passed a resolution that 400 Toyota Camry 2020 cars be purchased as official vehicles for 360 members and other persons, including top management staff, Chief of Staff to the two presiding officers, as well as some of their special advisers and assistants. In the suit number FHC/ ABJ/CS/205/2020, filed last Friday, on behalf of SERAP and the concerned Nigerians by their lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, and Opeyemi Owolabi, stated that: “Nigerians have a right to honest and faithful performance by their public officials including lawmakers, as public officials owe a fiduciary duty to the general citizenry. All those who L AGOS—THE National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Environment have disclosed that there are plans to sponsor a bill meant to prohibit the production of plastics with a view to preserving the environment. A member of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Tolulope Odebiyi, disclosed this in Lagos at the launch of the Maritime Action Plan for Marine Litter and Plastics Management in Nigeria hosted by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA. Odebiyi said the bill would be harmonised with hold the strings of political power over spending of Nigeria’s commonwealth have a duty to answer for their conduct when called upon to do so by Nigerians.” In a statement by Deputy Director of SERAP, Mr. Oluwadare, the plaintiffs also maintained that: “It is illegal and unconstitutional for members of the House of Representatives to choose to buy expensive and exotic cars while encouraging Nigerians to tighten their belts and to patronize Nigerian brands. It is also illegal for members to reject cheaper and equally reliable options.” According to the plaintiffs, “If the members of House of Representatives take their duties to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged among us seriously, including their duties to judiciously spend public funds, they would not have voted to spend over $35,000 per car, especially given the current economic and financial realities of Nigeria." The suit read in part: “Members of the House of Representatives are either unaware of the constitutional and statutory provisions on their fiduciary duties and judicious use of public funds or deliberately glossing over these provisions.” FG to stop use of plastic, plans bill to ban material By Godwin Oritse input from the Federal Ministry of Environment to make a holistic law that would impose tough sanctions on the production of organic polymers. Odebiyi said: “I am happy NIMASA has taken the lead in ensuring that our waterways and all our water bodies are clean, safe and a vital source of economic activity for us in this country. “I sponsored a bill with regards to plastic pollution and the proliferation of plastics in the country. The issue is getting to an alarming state. “NIMASA has taken the lead. But this is the back end of it. We also have to look at the front end. We are spending billions of naira tiding up the environment; we also have people making billions of naira contributing to this menace. That is where the bill is aiming. You cannot continue to generate pollution, clog our waterways, cause erosion, flooding and all kinds of things, and some people are making money, knowing well that their product is contributing to the pollution. “The Senate is much interested in this issue. We see the environment as a vital economic resource for us in this country. We will be working with NIMASA, Federal Ministry of Environment, and all the other agencies.” In his remarks, Director- General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, lamented that Nigeria was among the 20 countries generating more than 80 per cent of the landbased plastic wastes that end up in the oceans. Lagos streamlines offences to be prosecuted by Police By Henry Ojelu L AGOS—THE Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, weekend, said plans are underway to deploy district prosecutors to take over prosecution of cases from Police prosecutors who are not lawyers in Magistrates courts. Mr. Onigbanjo disclosed this at the weekend in his office at Alausa, Ikeja while speaking with newsmen on the report of the Advisory Committee set up to review prosecution of cases by the police in magistrate court. The AG said the district prosecutors would be deployed to Ogba, Ebute- Metta and Ikorodu Magistrates as a pilot scheme. He said: “We accept the recommendation of the committee to put in a filter mechanism. With immediate effect, we shall commence deployment of LASG shuts 329 health facilities over non-compliance By Olasunkanmi Akoni LAGOS—THE Lagos State Government, through the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, HEFAMAA, said a total of 329 facilities were shut down in 2019 for lack of compliance to stipulated standards. The Executive Secretary of HEFAMAA, Dr. Abiola Idowu, who disclosed this at the weekend, after a recent enforcement exercise carried out by the agency, said that 309 were shut last year, while additional 20 were shut in January 2020. Idowu warned that the state government would not tolerate any form of illegal health practices in Rewane to headline Rotary’s World Peace Day in Lagos L AGOS—TO commemorate the 115th anniversary of Rotary International, the organisation’s District 9110, which covers Lagos and Ogun states, has concluded plans to host the 2020 World Peace and Understanding day ceremony. Scheduled for Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, the event which has its theme as “Promoting World Peace and Understanding Through Food Security”, according district prosecutors in three pilot magisterial districts (Ebutte-Metta. lkorodu, Ogba) to vet charges and review case files presented by the Investigating Police Officers, IPO, and ensure it meets evidential threshold required by law. “We will meet with the Police to categorize the offences lay prosecutor will handle, while we will ensure adequate monitoring of such cases. “To demonstrate our commitment to collaboration and enhanced capacity of Police prosecutors, Mr. Governor recently approved the renovation of the library in State CID Panti, with equipped legal resources to assist them with research and deepen their knowledge of the law. “We will continue to collaborate with the Police and engage the Commissioner of Police to deliberate and find lasting results to issues as they arise. the state, saying, “health security is an integral part of public security which is the primary duty of the government.” She urged all health facility operators across the State to abide strictly by the standards of HEFAMAA to avoid being sanctioned. Idowu said: “I advise Lagosians to be cautious and desist from patronizing uncertified service providers and if you suspect a foul play or notice illegal operations in your community, do not hesitate to contact HEFAMAA for prompt action." Idowu, also, urged the populace to have confidence in the government’s ability to fulfill the mandate of accessible, affordable qualitative healthcare. to the District Governor, Jide Akeredolu, will have renowned financial expert, Mr. Bismarck Rewane as Keynote Speaker Ḋiscussants include Dr. Biodun Adedipe, Chief Consultant, Adedipe Associate Limited, Mr. Mezuo Nwuneli, Managing Partner, Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers Limited, Dr. Aliyu Samaila, Director, Agribusiness Feed The Future Nigeria and Navy Commodore Daniel Atakpa, blue economy expert.
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