News

Edo Assembly Declares 14 Seats Vacant, Calls INEC For Fresh Election

Published

3 years ago

December 4, 2019

Editor

The crisis rocking the Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) took another dimension, Wednesday, December 4, as the State House of Assembly declared 14 out of the 24 seats vacant, calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct by-election within 90 days for the affected constituencies.

The House cited constitutional provisions that a member is given 180 days to be absent from sitting after which such member seat would be declared vacant.

The House, during its sitting on Wednesday, which also saw it passing the 2020 appropriation bill into law, also affirmed the removal of the chairman of Estako East Local Government Area, Alhaji Aramiyau Momoh.

Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Frank Okiye said 12 of the seats were declared vacant because the members-elect have not presented themselves for inauguration since the letter of proclamation of June 17, 2019, while two other members representing Oredo East and Owan East were declared vacant because the two members; Ekhosuehi Uyi and Barr Okaka Eric have failed to attend the sitting after the day of inauguration.

“12 out of the 24 members-elect who completed their screening and documentation process were inaugurated on June 17, 2019, out of which two of them have refused to discharge their legislative duties.

“They have refused to represent their constituents in the House invariably denying their constituents effective representation. At this point, I am declaring the seats of the 12 members-elect vacant in accordance with section 109 subsection 1F of the constitution,” he said.

Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Yekini Idiaye, representing Akoko Edo State Constituency I, listed the seats declared vacant as: Etsako West I, Etsako West II, Owan East, Owan West, Etsako Central, Etsako East and Esan Central.

Others are Uhunmwonde, Oredo East, Oredo West, Egor, Ovia North East I, Ovia North East II and Ovia South-West I.

He noted that the House has been inundated with petitions from members of the constituents of the affected lawmakers.

“Their constituents have been complaining and have come to us that they want their voices and concerns to be heard at the House. So, people who are willing to provide quality representation have to be elected to bring the matters of the distraught constituents to the floor for debate and legislation, where necessary.”

Reacting, the lawmaker elect for Uhunmwonde constituency, Washington Osifo, described the action as laughable, saying the issue is already in court and the House cannot take such an action which he said is prejudicial.

He said, “It is a laughing matter, it is a joking matter, the matter is before a court and when a matter is before the court such action is prejudice. We are challenging the illegal inauguration of the house and anything put on nothing cannot stand so Okiye is a man that is in search of identity, he is working with the governor in the pursuit of blind ambition, they have hit the rock.

“Information got to us as early as last week that he met a group who call themselves a union of PDP candidates who contested the election. He held a meeting with them and they agreed that they should write a petition to the house and it is on that premise they did what they did today. It also confirms what is been on the ground that the governor wants to hand over the state to the PDP”

News

Abducted Ondo Monarch Regains Freedom

Published

2 hours ago

December 8, 2022

Editor

The monarch of Oso Ajowa Akoko in in Akoko North-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Clement Jimoh, who was kidnapped, has regained freedom.

The traditional ruler, who was abducted in his palace, was set free by the bandits after he had spent seven days in their den.

According to a family source, the monarch was freed on Wednesday evening and he had been taken to the hospital where he was receiving treatment.

“Kabiyesi regained freedom yesterday (Wednesday) evening but he has been taken to the hospital for treatment,” the source stated.

Details later…

News

Withdrawal Limits: Senate Raises Concerns, To Debate New CBN

Published

11 hours ago

December 8, 2022

Editor

A file photo of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, during plenary at the upper chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja.

The Senate has raised concerns about the latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy on cash withdrawals.

Senate Minority Leader Phillip Aduda in a point of order during plenary on Wednesday called the attention of his colleagues to the new policy and demanded for caution as it will affect many Nigerians, especially small business owners.

In his response, Senate President Ahmad Lawan cautions the CBN not to approach the policy by jumping into it at once as many Nigerians will be affected.

He further noted that there is a need to engage the CBN in discussions to get more details of the policy and he directs the committee on banking to discuss this matter during the screening of the CBN Deputy Governors expected to hold before next week.

The Senate has set next Tuesday to debate the new CBN policy.

Under the new withdrawal policy, the CBN restricted the maximum cash withdrawal over the counter (OTC) by individuals and corporate organisations per week to N100,000 and N500,000 respectively.

The CBN stated, however, that withdrawals above the thresholds would attract processing fees of 5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively for individuals and corporate entities going forward.

In addition, third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for OTC payment while extant limits of N10 million on clearing cheques still remain.

The new withdrawal regime further pegged the maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated teller Machine (ATM) at N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.

News

IGP Launches Portal To Report Stolen Vehicles

Published

11 hours ago

December 8, 2022

Editor

As precautionary measures to tackle vehicle theft, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has launched a platform for Nigerians to report cases of stolen vehicles.

Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, said the digitalized platform – Central Motor Registry (CMR) – successfully completed and commissioned by the IGP is situated at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

He said the platform launch followed the “IGP’s quest to ensure a digital environment for policing the country for robust and more proactive measures in crime prevention, investigation, and prosecution.”

“The newly digitalized Central Motor Registry Command Centre will make it possible for members of the public to report vehicles stolen from as far back as 1st January, 2018, and yet-to-be-recovered to input the vehicle details on the online platform to serve as a reliable data point for the possible recovery of the vehicle,” he stated.

“The platform will also process motor vehicle information to support police operations and efforts toward enhancing national security.”

With the CMR having two Command Centres in Abuja and Lagos, Adejobi said 37 Information Centres are located across the Country and in the Federal Capital Territory, with 200 e-Enforcement Operational Patrol Vehicles with automatic number plate recognition on each vehicle as part of the first batch.

He also asked Nigerians and other residents in the country to take advantage of the platform at https://reportcmr.npf.gov.ng to upload their vehicle information on the website with effect from today 7th December, 2022, as a security step for preventing it from being stolen and re-registered.