The Lagos State House of Assembly has officially announced chairmen of the 32- man standing committee of the house, to effectively carry out their oversight functions and legislative duties, as Hon. Funmilayo Tejuosho turned down her allotted committee on account of perceived demotion.
The aggrieved lawmaker who could not hide her disdain for the committee she was to chair, raised an objection immediately after the Speaker Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa reeled out the list.
The 32- man committee is to be chaired by the following;
Selection--Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, Business Rules and Standing Order--Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, Ethics, privileges and Protocol--Hon. Rotimi Abiru, House Services--Hon. Makinde Rasheed Lanre, Public Account (State)-- Hon. Moshood Olanrewaju Oshun, Public Account (Local)--Hon. Bisi Yusuf, Agric--Hon. Kazeem Raheem, Economic Planning and Budget--Hon. Rotimi Olowo, Education--Hon. Lanre Ogunyemi, Science and Tech--Hon. Saka Solaja, Environment--Hon. Saka Fafunmi, Establishment, Training and Pensions--Hon. Dayo Famakinwa, Energy and Mineral Resources--Hon. Folajimi Mohammed, Waterfront Infrastructure Development--Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu, Transport--Hon.Fatai Adebola Mojeed, Physical Planning and Urban Development--Hon. David Setonji,Commerce, Industries and Cooperatives--Hon. Oladele Adekanye, Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and Job Creation--Hon. Moji Lawal, Works and Infrastructure--Hon. Abiodun Tobun, Wealth Creation and Employment--Hon. Sola Giwa, Finance--Hon. Yinka Ogundimu, Health--Hon. Segun Olulade, Home Affairs--Hon. Olawale Olayiwola Abdul Subour, Tourism,Arts and Culture--Hon.Desmond Olusola Elliott, Youth and Social Development--Hon. Adedamola Rasheed Kashumu, Judiciary, Human Rights,Public Petitions and LASIEC--Hon. Funmi Tejuosho,Lands--Hon. Bayo Oshinowo, Housing--Hon. Layode Lanre Ibrahim, Information and Strategy--Hon.Tunde Buraimoh, Central Business Districts--Hon. Victor Akande, Special Duties and Inter Government Relations--Hon. Sokunle Hakeem, Local Government Administration and Community Affairs--Hon. Alimi Kazeem.
Registering her displeasure over the treatment meted on her, Tejuosho lashed out, "I reject the committee as I now see there is no regards for me in this house".
The committee has 14 first time legislators as chairmen, three of which are Peoples Democratic Party members, many of those seemingly unfavoured few were wearing grumpy looks after the seating.
Acting Clerk of the Senate Adedotun Durojaiye is dead.
He died late yesterday according to sources. There was
no official confirmation as at last night.
Sources said the Lagos-born civil servant had been ill for
some time before he died at an Abuja Hospital.
He was promoted as acting clerk of the senate in April
2014. He was in charge of the inauguration of the eighth
senate and conducted the elections of principalofficers
on June 9 which produced Senate President Bukola
Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the Federal Government has approved the payment of 413 billion Naira to oil marketers as outstanding payment for subsidy claims.
According to the NNPC, the payment would ensure that there would be no scarcity of the product.
“It is our belief that with the outstanding payment due to Oil Marketers now assured, the marketers and other downstream players will join hands with the NNPC to guarantee that the nation remains wet with petroleum products all year round,” the Corporation said in a statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr Ohi Alegbe.
The corporation also stressed that it had injected additional volumes into the market, in order to ensure zero fuel queues ahead of the festive season and beyond.
This, the Corporation intends to achieve in collaboration with its downstream subsidiary, the pipelines and products marketing company and other players in the supply and distribution of fuel nationwide.
“Apart from increasing the volume of products distributed to stations across the country, inspection team from the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company have been commissioned to go round to ensure compliance with laid down rules regarding loading and product evacuation across board to eliminate hoarding and other vices detrimental to the free flow of products,” the NNPC said.
Nigerian ministers, who have been confirmed by the Senate, will begin a retreat on Thursday where the vision and ideas of the President will be discussed, a government official has said.
The event is being organised by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, David Lawal, and it is holding at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday submitted the list of confirmed and screened ministers to President Muhammadu Buhari.
After receiving the document, President Buhari gave the indication that some of the new ministers would have to operate without portfolio.
This is hinged on the fact that the Federal Government, according to Buhari, could not afford to have an elaborate federal cabinet.
“The constitution certainly said there must be one member of the cabinet from all the states. The constitution did not say I must have 36 ministries.
“I will exploit that detail because of the economic imperative to have less ministers,” he told the Senate President.
INDIGENOUS carrier, Medview Airline, yesterday announced it has received the nod of the United Kingdom (UK) and Nigerian governments to commence direct flight operations from Lagos to London.
News of the success in scaling through the hurdles of the UK and Nigerian aviation regulatory authorities to now commence direct commercial flight into Gatwick Airport, London, was applauded by the industry, given the huge benefits to Nigeria and hundreds of Nigerian passengers.
The first of such benefits is that the country will now have two indigenous airlines (the other being Arik Air) reciprocating the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA), which saw two British Airlines (British Airways and Virgin Atlantic) flying into Nigeria daily and making millions of dollars in airfare ticket sales. The other advantage is the competition on that route, which has already led to a slash in air fares as Medview charges a return ticket of N149,000 on the Lagos-London route as opposed to the existing fares ranging from N220,000 to N350,000 charged by the other airlines on their economy seats.
Managing Director/ CEO of Medview Airlines, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, at a press conference in Lagos yesterday announced Friday, November 20, 2015 as the date for the airline’s inaugural flight from Lagos to London.
“We have been working round the clock to secure all the necessary approvals needed to commence flight operations between Nigeria and UK,” Bankole said.
“I am happy to tell Nigerians that the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Foreign Affairs Ministries of the two countries have given Medview Airline all approvals required to operate direct flights between the two countries with our inaugural flight scheduled for November (Friday) 20, 2015 with a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft christened Abeke, which has a configuration of 30C/19Y seats,” he added.
Bankole said the airline’s entry into the Lagos-London route was one taken with a major aim of bringing down the cost of airfares for Nigerian passengers.
“The London-Lagos route has remained one of the busiest in the world, yet it remained the most expensive for Nigerians,” Bankole said.
“It is against this background that Medview Airline is entering the route as a Nigerian flag carrier to supply the missing link in reasonable fares and good customer service as our introductory fare for economy class is as low as N149,000,” he added.
Bankole said the airline was allocated slots to operate at the Gatwick Southern Terminal and would be operating four weekly flights (Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) out of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to Gatwick Airport.
He said the choice of Gatwick over Heathrow was taken given its low operational cost and the proximity to so many Nigerian passengers who would prefer to connect London to Lagos from Spain and other coastal European countries.
Fresh facts emerged yesterday over how much the two main political parties and their presidential candidates spent during this year’s election. The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Dr Goodluck Jonathan spent N11.7 billion.
Briefing journalists in Abuja on its findings of the ‘Monitoring of Campaign Finance and Use of State Administrative Resources for the 2015 Presidential Election,” yesterday, the Centre for Social Justice, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), also said while the APC candidate spent N2.915 billion, former President Jonathan spent N8.749 billion on campaigns expenses.
The NGO Lead Director, Eze Onyekpere, had while releasing the campaign expenses, noted that rallies/campaigns, billboards, media campaign, electronic media advertisements and print media campaigns accounted for the expenses. He said Jonathan spent N1.280 billion on rallies against the N671.062 million by President Buhari.
He said the amount Buhari spent on electronic media and print advertisements, totalling N1.064 billion and N579.647 million was far much less than the N3.988 billion and N2.475 billion Jonathan spent for the same purposes.
The NGO also claimed that Jonathan equally spent more than Buhari on billboards and media campaigns, arguing that while the latter spent N190.380 million and N410.050 million respectively, Jonathan spent N473.160 million and N532.100 million for the same purposes.
In its remarks on major findings, the NGO noted: “Money and administrative resources played an enhanced role in the 2015 presidential election. The poll appears to have been the most costly and keenly contested since the return to civil rule in 1999. The expenditure ceiling of one billion naira was largely ignored by the candidates whilst administrative resources were deployed by the two major contenders.
“Public financial resources were deployed in the election by the two political parties and candidates. The link between the rundown finances of states and the Federal Government, the inability to pay workers’ salaries at the state level and the 2015 elections was very clear.
“The context of the coming together of the opposition to form the APC which squared up against the PDP candidate provided a near level playing field in terms of access to resources for the candidates.
“Empirical evidence demonstrates that the celling of N1 billion was unrealistic and could not fund a winning presidential campaign, taking into consideration the expenses on advertisements in the media, hiring of staff and equipment, transport and cost of campaigns, etc,” the group noted.
“There is no justification for the ceiling considering the land mass of Nigeria and the fact that gubernatorial candidates are entitled to spend one fifth of the sum allowed for presidential candidates who cover 36 states of the federation.
“The ceiling has been static for a number of years when the currency has been directly and indirectly devalued. The ceiling fails to respond to changes in the nation’s economic circumstances,” the Centre for Social Justice
