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NASS leadership: Lawan, Omo-Agege, plotting to doctor Senate rules – group

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Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, are said to be plotting an arrangement to alter the standing rule of the Senate to enable a non-ranking member to emerge as new principal officers, including the Senate President in the 10th assembly due to be inaugurated in June.

The allegation is coming from a group known as Defenders of Constitutional Democracy (DCD), with the National Convener, Aliyu Abdullahi, warning of grave consequences in a statement in Abuja, adding that the move was bound to backfire as it was unconstitutional and alien to best democratic practices.

Abdullahi said: “We want to inform distinguished Senators-elect and indeed all Nigerians that we have uncovered an unholy, secret and insidious plot by the outgoing Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and his deputy, Ovie Omo-Agege to amend the Senate Orders and Rules, which provides that only ranking senators shall be elected as presiding officers.

“We have reliable information that the duo (Lawan and Omo-Agege) is working in cahoots to impose a puppet on the 10th Senate as Senate President. It is unthinkable that the Senate President and his deputy would want to indulge in such an act just to spite a particular Senator who has an overwhelming capacity and whose pedigree the President-elect is comfortable and willing to work with.

“We want to state categorically that this move cannot stand because it is a clear violation of section 311 of the 1999 (as amended, Fifth Alteration, No. 8), which has provided that only the standing orders and rules of a subsisting Assembly shall be used in the election of principal officers at the state and National Assembly.

“Recall that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fifth Alteration) (No.8) Act, 2023 alters sections 54, 96 and 311 of the Constitution to stipulate a quorum of at least two-thirds of members-elect for inauguration or first sitting of the Senate, House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly, respectively and also mandates the use of existing Standing Orders of each legislative house at the inauguration.

“As Defenders of the Constitution, we have already taken steps to seek judicial intervention by filing an originating suit at a Federal High Court. We are waiting for a date for the commence of proceeding. We warned that nobody should surreptitiously alter or produced any fake aspect of the Standing Orders without approval and adoption by members.

“The amendment to section 311 of the Constitution now provides that the Standing Orders of each house before its dissolution will be used for the first sitting of a new Assembly and may be modified within reasonable time after the inauguration and first session of the Assembly”

“Our dear Nigerians, this amendment has finally and effectively put a nail on the coffin of any amendment of the Standing Orders of the Senate before the inauguration of the 10 Assembly. Since the subsisting Orders provides for a ranking senator to be elected as president or deputy president of the Senate, there is no room for a fresh Senator-elect to emerge as senate president and we warn that anybody thinking of such should desist from forthwith because we will not allow such illegality to stand.”

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Obi to Nigerians: Don’t be despaired, your mandate won’t be lost

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The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi says he is aware of some evil designs against himself and his supporters in the coming months.

The former Anambra State governor disclosed this in a statement released on his verified Twitter handle on Monday, May 29, 2023.

The release of the statement coincided with the inauguration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria’s President at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

 

I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.

— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) May 28, 2023

See full statement:

For all Nigerians, this is a time for deep reflection. It is also a time to re-examine our assumptions, even as we reaffirm our hopes. Let us calmly review our aspirations, in order to recalibrate our expectations and pin down the causes of our missed opportunities and disappointments.

We stand at that critical moment in time when, as a people, we must collectively come to grips with the reality of our injured destiny as well as the reasons for that injury. It is for us to reassess our plight as a young democracy and identify clear pathways to a better and greater future for us all. As we await the verdict of the election tribunal, I urge all Nigerians to use this opportunity to renew their commitment to the Nigerian ideal. That ideal remains noble and worth every sacrifice we can make.

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Nigeria remains our only patrimony and it is a patrimony we must protect, rather than violate. We have no other nation but this, so let us remain committed to rescuing and rebuilding it.

The judiciary is part of the democratic enterprise and a critical governance tool for determining the propriety of the decisions and actions of every citizen and every institution of state. To that extent, and for that reason, I urge everyone to treat it with the respect and dignity it deserves.

We expect that the Nigerian judiciary will use the election cases now before it to reaffirm its independence and integrity. It has to do so, for all our sakes and for itself.

Nigerians must, therefore, remain peaceful and law abiding. No matter the depth of anyone’s reservations about what is going on in the polity today, no matter the real and imagined provocations, and no matter the disagreement out there, we should remember that this will not last forever.

I remain committed, and untiring, in my determination to work with like-minded fellow Nigerians to end the curse of missed opportunities and squandered hope that has become our lot here.

I will never shrink from that original commitment, because I firmly believe that we must change from the present politics of criminality, and corruption, in order to make a new Nigeria possible.

I call on fellow Nigerians, especially the youths to remain steadfast, calm, patient, and peaceful. Our journey may be long and difficult but it is worth it in every way. Victory is assured.

We have to work together to move our beautiful country from corruption and criminality to a center of productivity rather than aimless consumption.

I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.

These schemes will aim at degrading our support base and confusing the public. But, no evil campaign will alter the substance of my character; nor diminish my patriotic commitment to a better Nigeria. It is about the future of our youths. it is about ending the Years of Locust.

In all of this, I thank Nigerians, our great party (LP) and the media. The latter, as the Fourth Estate of the realm, has remained a trusted ally.

This Estate must continue to guide our people on the immense promise of a future in a new Nigeria.

God bless Nigeria and protect the troops keeping us safe in this season of vaulting insecurity.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. –PO

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Tinubu will unveil Ministers in two months *He’ll be different – Faleke

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James Faleke, lawmaker and Secretary of the now defunct All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), has revealed that President Bola Tinubu would unveil members of his cabinet within 60 days.

Channels Television, which quoted him as saying on Monday, at the inauguration of of Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as president and vice-president of Nigeria was underway at the Eagle Square in Abuja, said the President, would , unveil his cabinet as soon as possible.

Faleke, who promised that the new President would bring a different approach to power, was quoted as saying: “Of course, within 60 days, that’s what the law says. He can announce anytime but I just know he must do it within 60 days.”

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Tinubu: My stand on corruption, insecurity *How I’ll banish poverty in Nigeria

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Eradication of terrorism, waging war against corruption and battling the crippling poverty in Nigeria, would form the fulcrum of a new Nigeria President Bola Tinubu, says he would strive to put in place as his new government began hours ago after assuming the reins of power as the 16th President, after Muhammadu Buhari handed over to him at an elaborate ceremony at the Eagle Square, Abuja, on Monday.

Vowing to  defend Nigeria from all forms of terror, as well as end extreme poverty in the country, Tinubu, told Nigerians: “I will do that through job creation and food security and end to extreme poverty. I will ensure that corruption is tacked by strenghtening anti-corruption agencies.”

He also promised that his administration would discourage corruption through the introduction of a credit culture, stating: “Our government will continue to take proactive steps such as championing a credit culture to discourage corruption while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the various anti-corruption agencies.”

It was also on a day the President, who had during his presidential campaigns, promised Nigerians that he would remove subsidy on petroleum products, made good his words by announcing suspension on them, adding that the era of payments on fuel was gone, as the 2023 Budget made no provision for fuel subsidy “and more so, subsidy payment is no longer justifiable.”

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