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Proposed Amendment Of Section 162: Group Blows Hot, Alleges Attempt To Sideline Ijaw, Others

Published

4 years ago

October 24, 2021

Our Reporter, Yenagoa

… Calls For Restructuring

Group knowns as Ijaw People Assembly, IPA, has described the proposed bill for the amendment of Section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, by 59 members of the House of Representatives from the North as an invitation to chaos, adding that this will eventual leads to collapse of the Nigerian economy.

The group alleged that the attempt is to strangulate and subjugate the Ijaw nation in particular and the other Niger Delta nationalities.

A bill purportedly sponsored by 59 members of the House of Representatives from the North is seeking to delete the derivation principle contained in Section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended had been circulating on the social media.

The sub-section 2, which deals with the management of the Federation Account, states that, “The President, upon the receipt of advice from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the National Assembly proposals for revenue allocation from the Federation Account, and in determining the formula, the National Assembly shall take into account, the allocation principles especially those of population, equality of states, internal revenue generation, land mass, terrain as well as population density.

“Provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than 13 per cent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account from any natural resources.”

But IPA, in a statement jointly signed its President, Ben Nanaghan, and Secretary, Dortimi Kester Tawari, of which a copy was made available to newsmen, noted that the proposed amendment is aimed at removing the 13% derivation principle for the Niger Delta.

The group, while further describing the proposed Bill as an attempt to internally colonize the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta in general, called for the immediate restructuring of the country.

“A restructured Nigeria or federation of sovereign nations will promote a productive economy and end the current monthly sharing (rentier) economy under some spurious formula which has encouraged laziness and unviability of states from which the said 59 members all hail from.

“The proposed amendment no matter the coloration is a subterfuge targeted at deleting the Principle of Derivation which as of today stipulates 13% of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account from any natural resources.

“The Niger Delta States, therefore, are the real targets of this inglorious and obnoxious attempt to amend the particular Subsection of the 1999 CFRN.

“The Ijaw nation being a host nation to oil and gas resources and assets, the IPA views this proposal as another form of internal colonization, an attempt to strangulate and subjugate the Ijaw nation in particular and the other Niger Delta nationalities.

“It needs to be mentioned that it is an invitation to chaos and eventual collapse of the Nigerian economy. The ljaw People Assembly vehemently oppose a system that will drag the ljaw Nation and the other nationalities in the Niger Delta into undeserved subjugation and retrogression.

“The ljaw People Assembly would rather demand an increased derivative of 50% for the Niger Delta States because when the Wazobia tripod was enjoying 100% derivatives for their hides and skins, tin, coal, cocoa, rubber etc, the Niger Delta was left behind as an undeveloped slavish territory.

“We do not oppose the legitimate exercise of rights of groups in a democratic setting if done within the limits of justice, equity and fairness nevertheless we let the 59 Honourable Members and their godfathers know that we read clearly the handwriting and understand the purport of the said amendment and would not fold our arms and hands in the height of any oppressive machination by anyone at this point of our history.

“Take notice therefore that we shall mobilize accordingly all resources to support the actions of the INC and undertake pushbacks we consider appropriate should the National Assembly (NASS) go ahead with this daylight naked dance in the market square,” the statement reads in part.

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Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

44 minutes ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

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Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

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49 minutes ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

“These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

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“Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP

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Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

Published

54 minutes ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

“In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP