Headline

Senate Passes Witness Protection Bill

Published

3 years ago

March 30, 2022

Senate, on Wednesday, passed the Witness Protection and Management Bill, 2022.

The passage of the bill was sequel to the consideration of a report by the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, in his presentation, said the bill was read for the first time on February 23, 2021, and a second time on January 25, 2022.

According to the lawmaker, the bill seeks to provide for the legal and institutional framework for the protection of witnesses and related persons in respect of disclosures made for the public interest.

“It also seeks to provide support, management and protection of witnesses, which will be implemented by all public institutions vested with powers to investigate an/or prosecute criminal cases: .

“This programme is a universally accepted concept for the protection of witnesses, who are willing to provide information and evidence for the purpose of enhancing the justice system and whose lives are threatened as a result thereof.

“Therefore, the need to have this legislation in place, cannot be over-emphasised as it will give the needed impetus and credence to the current anti-corruption drive of this administration”, he said.

The report on the Witness Protection and Management Bill was passed by the Senate after a clause-by-clause consideration by the Committee of the Whole.

In a related development, a bill to amend some provisions of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act 2015 has scaled second reading in the Senate.

The bill which was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), seeks to regulate, control and limit any threat to public health, or the environment from the commercial handling of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Nigeria.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, referred the bill after consideration to the Committee on Environment for further work.

The Committee was given four weeks to report back to the chamber in plenary.

The Senate on Wednesday also stepped down consideration of a report on a bill to establish the Federal Polytechnic Orozo, by the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND.

The bill was stepped down due to the absence of the Chairman, Senator Ahmad Babba-Kaita, who was billed to present the report for consideration.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has referred two confirmation requests by President Muhammadu Buhari to the relevant committees for legislative input.

The confirmation of Dr. Hale Gabriel Longpet as Resident Electoral Commission for the Independent National Electoral Commission was referred to the Committee on INEC to report back in two weeks.

Also referred to was the President’s request for the confirmation of four nominees as Executive Commissioners of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission to the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream).

The nominees include Dr. Nuhu Habib (North West, Kano State), Commissioner, Development and Production; and Dr. Kelechi Onyekachi Ofoegbu (South East, Imo State), Commissioner, Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning.

Others are Capt. Tonlagha Roland John (South-South, Delta State), Commissioner, Health, Safety, Environment and Community; and Jide Adeola (North Central, Kogi State), Commissioner, Corporate Services and Administration.

The nominees are expected to appear before the respective Committees for screening.

The Committee was given four weeks to conclude work on the screening exercise and report back to the chamber.

Headline

Peru Anti-government Protesters Clash With Police

Published

17 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Hundreds of anti-government protesters clashed with police in the Peruvian capital Lima on Saturday, throwing stones and sticks as officers fired tear gas on the demonstrators, AFP journalists reported.

The protest, organized by a youth collective called “Generation Z”, is part of growing social unrest in Peru against organized crime, corruption in public office, and a recent pension reform.

“Today, there is less democracy than before. It’s getting worse… because of fear, because of extortion,” said 54-year-old protester Gladys, who declined to give her last name.

Around 500 people gathered in the city center, under heavy police presence.

“Congress has no credibility, it doesn’t even have the approval of the people… It is wreaking havoc in this country,” said protester Celene Amasifuen.

The clashes broke out as demonstrators tried to approach executive and congressional buildings in Lima.

The radio station Exitosa said that its reporter and a cameraman were hit by pellets, commonly fired by law enforcement.

Police said at least three officers were wounded.

Approval ratings for President Dina Boluarte, whose term ends next year, have plummeted amid rising extortion and organized crime cases.

Several opinion polls show the government and conservative-majority Congress are seen by many as corrupt institutions.

This week, the legislature passed a law requiring young adults to join a private pension fund, despite many facing a precarious working environment.

AFP

Headline

Fresh World Trouble Looms As Netanyahu Tells Western Leaders ‘There Will Be No Palestinian State’

Published

17 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said there would be no Palestinian state, in a message addressed to the leaders of Britain, Australia and Canada after they recognised Palestinian statehood.

“I have a clear message for those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on October 7: you are granting a huge reward to terror,” he said.

“And I have another message for you: it will not happen. No Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River.”

Britain, Australia and Canada on Sunday became the first tripartite Western nations to recognise a Palestinian state.

Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens Monday in New York.

“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a message on X.

“Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on X.

This comes after decades of requests for sovereignty from the Palestinian side.

Portugal was also to recognise Palestinian statehood later Sunday, as Israel came under huge international pressure over the war in Gaza triggered almost two years ago by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Headline

Badenoch Slams UK’s Palestine Recognition Decision As ‘Absolutely Disastrous’

Published

18 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch condemned the Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led United Kingdom’s decision to formally recognise the State of Palestine.

PUNCH Online reports that Britain, alongside Australia and Canada, on Sunday recognised a Palestinian state in a seismic shift in decades of Western foreign policy.

Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens Monday in New York.

However, the decision triggered swift Israeli anger and condemnation from the opposition.

Reacting in a statement on her X on Sunday, Badenoch described the move as “absolutely disastrous.”

She argued the move rewards terrorism with no conditions, and the decision would be widely regretted.

She said, “Absolutely disastrous. We will all rue the day this decision was made. Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas.

“It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.”

The Winchester opposition leader accused Labour of pandering to its “hard left” rather than fixing Britain’s pressing domestic problems.

“It is because Labour cannot fix the big problems in our society that they focus on discredited student union campaigns to appease the hard left.”

Listing examples of Labour’s failings, she said, “They cannot fix the NHS, so they push assisted suicide. – They cannot create jobs for young people, so they give them votes at 16.

“They cannot sort out immigration, but they will recognise Palestine instead. And so on. This is the same man who paid £35bn of reparations to Mauritius along with the surrender of the Chagos islands.”

Badenoch also criticised what she described as the prime minister’s lack of judgment.

“Everything we are seeing is a consequence of a Prime Minister who has no plan for the country and no judgment.

“He will spend the next four years delivering the hobbyhorses of the Labour left to stay in power and leave a HUGE mess for us to clean up.”

Earlier, Starmer announced the recognition of Palestine in a post on X, saying the move was intended to provide a two-state solution.

He said, “Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine.”