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Senate Proposes 376 New Agencies, Shuns Oronsaye Report

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The Senate has proposed the establishment of 376 new agencies and institutions despite moves by the Federal Government to restructure the public service in line with the Steve Oronsaye Committee Report on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commission.

The report recommended the scrapping or merging of some ministries, departments and agencies in order to reduce the cost of governance.

A white paper committee set up by the Federal Government to review the parastatals, agencies and commissions created since 2014 submitted a draft report in August.

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The Federal Government also in November last year, inaugurated sub-committees headed by former heads of service of the federation, Bukar Aji, Ama Pepple and Oladapo Afolabi , on the implementation of the Oronsaye Report, while the Ebele Okeke Committee was to draft a White Paper on the Ama Pepple Committee Report and harmonise the other committee reports.

READ ALSO: Senate, Reps Disagree Over ICT Bill

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, had said that the Federal Government would soon conclude the process of restructuring the public service.

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But findings by our correspondent indicate that the 9th Senate has passed a total of 1,070 bills, including 376 establishment bills for the creation of various institutions and agencies in spite of the economic challenges facing the country.

Some of these establishment bills have been passed while others have progressively moved to committee levels in defiance of the recommendations of the Oronsaye report.

The establishment bills include: the Federal University of Education Kontagora (Est. etc.) Bill, 2019 which was sponsored by Senator Sabi Abdullahi. The bill was read for the third time in December, 2019.

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Also, the Federal College of Education Illo Establishment Bill, 2019, sponsored by Senator Abdullahi Yahaya was first read in January, 2019 and passed for third reading in December, 2019, while the Federal Polytechnic Kabo (Est. etc.) Bill, 2019 sponsored by Senator Jibril Barau was first read in March, 2019 and passed for third reading in November, 2022.

Similarly, the bill to establish the City University of technology Auchi , Delta State was also passed for the first time in 2019, sponsored by Senator Francis Alimikhena was first read in October, 2019 and passed for the third time in April, 2022.

The bills also include the Federal University, Wukari (Est. etc) Bill, 2019, sponsored by Senator Emmanuel Bwacha. It was first mentioned at the Senate in October, 2019 and passed for third reading in January, 2022.

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The bill to establish the Federal University Gusau sponsored by Senator YaU Sahabi was first read in October 2019 and passed for the third reading in November, 2019.

A former Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun sponsored the creation of the Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Abeokuta. The bill was first moved in 2019 and subsequently passed in February, 2022.

The Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege equally sponsored the bill to establish the Federal Polytechnic Orogun, Delta State in 2019. The bill was reported out of committee in June, 2021.

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A former Majority leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, also presented a bill on Federal Medical Centre Igboho Oyo State in 2021 which was sent for concurrence to the House of Representatives in November, 2021 and passed in February, 2022.

Likewise, the National Commission for the Eradication of Child Destitution (Establishment) Bill, 2019 by a former Sokoto governor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko passed first reading in September, 2019 and passed third reading in June, 2022.

However, the Federal College of Education Usugbenu, Edo State (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 sponsored by Senator Clifford Ordia is currently awaiting Committee Report after scaling through second reading in November, 2019.

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The Bill for the establishment of the Federal College of Education Giwa Kaduna State, sponsored by Senator Uba Sani, scaled the third reading in July, 2020 after scaling the first reading on the floor of the Senate in October, 2019.

Also, a bill to establish a Federal Polytechnic in Aba proposed to the Red chamber by Senator Theodore Orji scaled the first reading in November, 2019 and passed third reading in November, 2020.

The PUNCH reports that most of the institutions were situated in the states and constituencies of their sponsors.

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These include the proposed establishment of the Nigerian Research Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Bakassi (Est) Bill, 2020 by Senator Gershom Bassey; the Federal College of Education, Mutum Biyu, Taraba State sponsored by the senator representing, Taraba Central, Yusuf Yusuf.

Also a bill introducing a Teaching Hospital Development Tax Fund by Senator Musa Sani passed the first reading in November, 2019 and scaled the last reading in October, 2021.

Senator Obinna Ogba sponsored a bill on the establishment of a National Sports Commission and the Federal University of Sports, Nkalagu, Ebonyi State.

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The Senate on June 21, 2022 passed into law four Bills to establish four Federal Medical Centres in four states.

READ ALSO: Why We Shifted 2023 Budget Passage – Senate President

The hospitals will be sited in Osogbo, Osun State; Onitsha, Anambra State; Gada, Sokoto State; and Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, respectively.

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Efforts to get the comment of the Senate spokesperson, Senator Basiru Ajibola, on Tuesday, failed as his line was unreachable. He had yet to respond to a text message sent to his phone as of the time of filing this report.

The list also includes Nigerian Transportation Accident Investigation Bureau (Est. etc.) sponsored by Senator Ibn Na’allah; the Lagos State Special Economic Assistance Programme (Establishment) Bill, 2019, sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu; and the National Religious Equity Commission (Est.etc) Bill, 2019, sponsored by Senator Stella Oduah which scaled first reading in November 2019.

Also, a bill to establish a Constituency Development Fund (Est. etc) Bill, 2019 , sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume was first read in November 2019.
PUNCH

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12 Feared Dead In Kenya Light Aircraft Crash

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A small plane travelling from Kenya’s coast crashed on Tuesday, according to the country’s aviation authority, with the 12 people on board feared dead.

The small plane was en route to Kichwa Tembo — a private airstrip located in the Maasai Mara National Park — from the tourist hotspot of Diani when it came down at around 5:30am local time (0230 GMT).

“The aircraft had 12 persons on board,” a statement from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said.

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It gave no further details, but said that government agencies were already on site to establish the cause of the accident.

READ ALSO:Putin Admits Russia Caused Azerbaijani Plane Crash

The Guardian reports that plane crashes are fairly common in Kenya in the last 18 months. On March 5, 2024, a mid-air collision between a Safarilink Aviation commercial flight and a 99 Flying School training aircraft occurred over the Nairobi National Park, resulting in two fatalities.

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The incident took place shortly after both aircraft had departed Wilson Airport. The collision involved Safarilink Aviation Flight 053, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 carrying 39 passengers and five crew members, and a 99 Flying School Cessna 172M.

AMREF Aircraft Crash

In August, a light aircraft belonging to the AMREF Flying Doctors crashed into a residential area in Mwihoko, Ruiru, Kiambu County, killing six people and injuring at least two others.

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The aircraft, a Cessna Citation XLS (registration 5Y-FDM), had taken off from Wilson Airport and was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, when it went down under unclear circumstances.

READ ALSO:Fire On Board Forces Lagos-Atlanta-bound Aircraft Diversion To Ghana

AMREF Flying Doctors CEO Stephen Gitau issued a statement confirming the incident. Mr Gitau noted that the aircraft departed Wilson Airport at 2.17 PM before crashing in Mwihoko. He stated that the organisation is “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”

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Foreign Couple Killed in Kenyan Plane Crash, Earlier in January, a light aircraft crash killed a foreign couple aboard. The accident involved a Cessna 185 aircraft that departed from Nairobi and was en route to Mbaruk in Nakuru County. It went down in the lakeside town of Naivasha at approximately 5:14 p.m. local time (1414 GMT).

At the time, Naivasha Police Deputy Chief Charles Mwai suggested that poor visibility due to fog in the area might have been a contributing factor. Aviation experts have been called to the scene to conduct an investigation.

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UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

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The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.

London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.

Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.

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His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.

READ ALSO:UK Police Hunt Asylum Seeker Mistakenly Freed For Sex Offence

Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.

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He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.

Kebatu is now expected to be deported.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.

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The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.

READ ALSO:Alleged Misappropriation: MFM Accuses UK Agency Of Discrimination

Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.

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A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.

The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”

He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.

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READ ALSO:UK Is A Home, Not Hotel, Kemi Badenoch Tells Immigrants, Starmer’s Govt

The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”

Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.

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He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.

He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.

AFP

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Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

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Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.

According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.

The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.

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READ ALSO:Madagascar’s President Denounces ‘Coup Attempt’ As Gen Z Protests Escalate

French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.

The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.

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Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.

READ ALSO:Madagascar Passes Bill To Castrate Child R*pists

It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.

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The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.

Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.

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