News
NLC Vows To Resist Sale Of National Assets
NLC President Ayuba Wabba in response to Senate President Bukola Saraki’s suggestion that President Buhari should consider selling National assets in order to revive the deteriorating economic situation in the country has now come out to say that selling the Nation’s asset is not an option
He revealed this in a recent interview with The Nation Newspaper:
He Said: “First, most of our national assets they have sold under the banner of privatisation, non of them has succeeded. Many countries of the world has passed through this same period of recession and their approach to addressing the issue is not to sell their commonwealth, leaving them in the hands of a very few.
“As NLC, we are against the sale of those assets because we have tried it even in the power sector and the result is very obvious. Those people are looking for opportunity to buy those assets themselves. We are against it, especially selling them to individuals because of the gee viols effect of those assets that have been sold in the last.
“In the past, they were sold at give away price and people just amassed them for themselves.
“There can be a coexistence with people coming to invest side by side and for the government to strategically hold on to these assets. NLC is totally against the sale of these assets in the name of trying to address a short time need to address the challenges we are passing through. That is not what other countries have done.”
Wabba said should the government listen to the proposal and sell off the assets, organised labour will lock down the nation until the decision is reversed. “If they go ahead to sell the assets, we will protest. We have done that in the past,” he said.
“When it comes to selling off our national assets, if you remember, there was a time when they tried to sell the refineries when Obasanjo left office. We protested against it and that was how that decision was reversed. It is not as if these assets cannot add value, but because they have not been allowed to operate maximally.
“Take the refineries, for example. Our refineries are still among the newest in the world and so, if we add value to them, it is possible for the refineries to stop importation. It is because of inherent corruption that these refineries have not been allowed to work.
“Instead of addressing the corruption, what they did was to shift the to the larger Nigerian people without addressing the inherent challenges in the system.
“Our position is very clear and that is the fact that we are against their sales because they are for our children and generations yet unborn. We will be doing a lot of disservice if we sell such items. How are we sure that if we sell them, it will address the current challenges.”
He further said:“So, we must look at our fiscal policy, we must restructure our fiscal policies and try to work towards production and ensure that we are able to stimulate economic activities, considering the fact that a lot of savings have been made from recoveries made as a result of funds that were taken away as a result of corruption.
“These funds should be deployed immediately to stimulate economic activities. It is also very key to stabilise our power sector because no economy can move forward or engage in meaningful production without stable power supply. ”
News
Supreme court nullifies enforcement of National Lottery Act in 36 states
The supreme court has nullified the enforcement of provisions of the National Lottery Act 2005 in the 36 states of the federation.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, the seven-member panel held that the national assembly lacks the powers to legislate on issues pertaining to lottery and gaming.
In March 2005, former President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the national lottery bill into law.
The legislation provides the framework for the operation of the national lottery and the establishment of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission.
The commission is charged with regulating the business of lottery in Nigeria as well as establishing the national lottery trust fund.
In 2008, the Lagos state government filed a suit against the federal government on whether the control and regulation of gaming and lottery businesses in each state is under the exclusive list.
In October 2020, the Ekiti government joined Lagos as co-plaintiff in the suit.
In November 2022, the supreme court joined 33 state governments as co-defendants in the suit.
In the judgment, the apex court ruled that only state assemblies have the powers to legislate on lottery and gaming businesses.
The supreme court ruled that legislation cannot be enforced in all states, except the federal capital territory (FCT), since the national assembly is empowered to make laws for the country’s capital.
News
NASS amends NDLEA Act, okays life imprisonment for drug traffickers
The Senate has concurred with the recommendation of the House of Representatives to commute the death sentence penalty for persons found guilty of storing, moving or concealing hard drugs and other illicit substances to life imprisonment.
The alignment of the Senate with the House of Representatives yesterday was a sequel to the amendment effected on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act.
The amendment was considered at the plenary, presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, APC! Kano North, after majority of senators supported the harmonisation of the conference committee of the two chambers of the National Assembly on Section 11 of the NDLEA Act.
Recall that recently, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the NDLEA law to prescribe life imprisonment for drug traffickers but the Senate version of the amendment prescribed death penalty for the offenders.
In order to address the differences, both the Senate and the House of Representatives needed to hold a conference committee on the amendment where they will conclude on a final amendment to the section.
The then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Tahir Monguno, had told his colleagues that the Senate would adopt the amendment of the House prescribing life imprisonment for drug traffickers.
Monguno, who is the chairman of the conference committee, explained that if the National Assembly adopted the death sentence, it meant over 900 accused persons behind bar on drug related cases would be executed.
He, therefore, urged his colleagues to support the resolution in order to reduce the effect of drug consumption and trading in the country.
After the presentation, the Deputy Senate President put the resolution to a vote and majority of the senators supported it.
Senator Barau, thereafter, approved the amendments to include life imprisonment for drug traffickers.
With the amendment, the section now reads: “Anybody who is unlawfully involved in the storage, custody, movement, carriage or concealment of dangerous drugs or controlled substances and who, while so involved is armed with any offensive weapon or is disguised in anyway, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act, and liable on conviction to be sentenced to life imprisonment.”
News
‘He was never our member’ — IPOB disowns Simon Ekpa
The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) says Simon Ekpa, the controversial Biafra agitator, was never a member of the group.
IPOB said Ekpa was not a registered member of the group’s chapter in Finland and cannot be the leader of the group.
On Thursday, Ekpa, a Finland-based secessionist, was arrested by law enforcement agents in the northern European nation.
He was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.
Ekpa was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also arrested four other men over alleged terrorist offences.
In a statement on Friday, Emma Powerful, IPOB’s spokesperson, said Ekpa was a “destructive agent” paid to “infiltrate and destroy” the “peaceful movement” of IPOB.
Powerful accused the Nigerian and Finnish governments of shielding Ekpa from arrest.
“Simon Ekpa was never and is not an IPOB member, let alone being a leader in IPOB. IPOB has some family units in Finland, and Simon Ekpa is not a registered member of any IPOB unit in Finland or any other IPOB unit globally,” the statement reads.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu established IPOB as a peaceful movement to seek Biafra Independence via a supervised UN referendum.
“IPOB is a peaceful global movement that has never taken to violence or arms struggle in two decades of our self-determination struggle.
“It was unfortunate that some innocent Biafrans, being passionate for the restoration of the stolen sovereignty of the Biafran Nation, thought that Simon Ekpa was genuinely sympathetic to the Biafra cause.
“Sadly, they had to learn the hard way that he was a destructive agent paid to infiltrate and destroy the IPOB peaceful movement for Biafra self-determination. He recruited violent criminals to destabilize the South East Region in 2021.
“The Simon Ekpa-led group has no alliance, affiliation or relationship with IPOB family worldwide. He recruited his criminal gangs who have been terrorising the Biafran territory since 2021.
“The Nigerian government and politicians that contracted Simon Ekpa have been making strenuous efforts to tag the violent crimes of their agent on IPOB just to blackmail and demonise the genuine and peaceful Biafra self-determination struggle of the Biafran people led by the IPOB.
“On the purported arrest of Simon Ekpa, all IPOB members, Biafrans and lovers of Biafra freedom should remain calm and focused on our core objective which is the restoration of the sovereign state of Biafra.”
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