Legislature is a major building block of democracy. KUNLE ODEREMI takes looks at the two-day retreat held for senators, especially on the review and resetting a pragmatic plan of action based on national needs.

CONSTITUTIONAL democracy such as the one existing in Nigeria rests on a tripod: executive, legislature and the judiciary. Even though by the principle of the separation of powers, they are required to act independent of one another, such independence is never absolute to guarantee seamless running of government.  The constitution states their individual powers and limitations; the legislature ensures checks and balance on the executive through oversight functions.

But the National Assembly tends to come more under public scrutiny and searchlight because of the express mandate of the members from well-defined and delineated constituencies. This calls for pragmatic programme of action by the legislature, retooling and review of such agenda in order to be sync with the yearnings and aspirations of the citizens, who constitute the popular sovereignty. 

A couple of days ago, a three-day retreat for senators in the 10th Assembly held in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. It provided the opportunity for the upper chamber of the National Assembly to rest the needle for a new dawn. Beyond conviviality, the forum afforded all the principal officers and other persons to dissect and design, a realistic and progressive agenda. Thus, the Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele proposed strategic collaboration between the Federal Executive Council and National Assembly as one of the strategies to squarely tackle protracted national challenges. The success of the 2023 retreat was underscored by the fact the participants engaged frank discourses under the theme, “Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms in Nigeria.” The retreat explicitly delved into diverse issues that placed Nigerians under undue socio-economic burdens in the last two decades.  Conscious of the contemporary realities in the country, the participants were focused in the quest to address nagging national challenges. For the president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, it is a forum for building capacity, which every legislator requires to function effectively.

Facilitated by the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies, Akpabio set the stage for the retreat, where resource persons freely shared divergent views about many challenges confronting the federation and proposed convergent strategies, which they believed, would restore stability in the country’s macro-economic environment and promote peaceful coexistence if each arm of governments pursues its goals with political will.

Capacity building is just one of the rationales for the parliamentary retreat, according to Akpabio. Besides, the senate president observed that the retreat was designed to develop pro-people legislations that could promote enduring peace; guarantee sustainable development and deepen peaceful co-existence, among all Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnic nationalities and religious leaning.

Thus, apart from senators, members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) attended the retreat to underline apolitical inclination. The list included the Chief of Staff to the President, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Olawale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu and deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State Akon Eyakenyi.

All guest speakers and resource persons were unambiguous on the socio-economic realities in the country. So, the preponderance of their submission was  the significance of developing creative legislative frameworks in response to the socio-economic realities.

A number of issues emerged based on the submissions and conclusions of the participants. One of such questions was if the retreat was sufficient to activate the consensus, especially at a time of global crises that directly impinge on domestic economies and politics? In his presentation, the Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele set the agenda on how to transform this consensus to reality in nearly all sectors of Nigeria’s economy.

Similarly, for guest speakers, legislative intervention is critical to every initiative directed at making Nigeria an investment destination or ensuring stability in all parts and sectors of the federation. But Bamidele specifically recommended a forum where the executive and legislature would always meet to perfect institutional approaches to addressing  vicious challenges that threaten Nigeria. He further delineated the need for such regular sessions, an initiative comparable to quarterly executive-legislative parleys that successive governments in Lagos State have embraced since 1999.

Can such an initiative work at the federal level? Bamidele did not specifically refer to the case of Lagos. But he suggested that such sessions should be held quarterly or biannually. Also, they should be tailored practically at discussing and perfecting coherent and logical responses to a myriad of socio-economic challenges that complicate the conditions of living and undermine the unity of Nigeria.

On this account, Bamidele explained the imperative of holding regular executive-legislative sessions, which other speakers agreed, would open a new vista of strategic collaboration in the overall interest of Nigeria and her teeming population. First, according to him, such sessions will give the National Assembly and Federal Executive Council room to work out modalities of mainstreaming Tinubu’s eight-point agenda into the programmes of the National Assembly.

Second, the Senate Leader believed, such sessions will speed up the process of developing and initiating innovative legislative frameworks that can aid delivery of enviable public services within a short period. Bamidele’s argument is pure and simple. He simply argued that actualising Tinubu’s eight-point agenda “entails the collective responsibilities between the two arms of government rather than unilateral roles of the executive.”  As he stressed, this calls for strategic collaboration between ministers and chairmen of all standing committees in the Senate and House Committees. It also calls for legislators to have strategic sessions with the permanent secretaries and chief executives of key federal parastatals with a view to devising approaches to the implementation of the eight-point agenda in national interest.

He clearly mapped diverse challenges that currently beset Nigeria. From the food crisis to intractable insecurity, chronic inflation, Naira devaluation and political instability, Bamidele explained how the eight-point agenda painstakingly sought to address all these challenges. He also explained how legislative interventions “are critical to seamless actualisation of the eight-point agenda.”

Bamidele suggested key areas where the executive and legislature should leverage strategic collaboration “to break the vicious cycle of economic doldrums and political contradictions that have been the woes of Nigeria.” The areas include the need to review the Land Use Act, 1979; strengthen the National Directorate of Employment; embrace true fiscal federalism; diversify the country’s economy and standardise social investments.

Like other senators at the retreat, the senate president utterly agreed with Bamidele on the need to set a common forum for lawmakers and members of the Federal Executive Council, where they would discuss issues of strategic national interest and work out innovative legislative frameworks to those issues that threaten the country’s collective interests. It is time, according to him, to culture a strategic collaboration.

Beyond creating an executive-legislative forum, Akpabio specifically explained the place of the Senate, indeed the entire National Assembly, in establishing “an environment that can guarantee investments and promote harmony among citizenry.” For him, this can only be achieved through enacting innovative legislation and carrying out oversight functions purely in the national interest.

Akpabio was not the only functionary that shared this sentiment. Also, Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Abbas  Tajudeen and  Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin shared the same conviction. Collectively, they emphasised the need not just to betray the expectation of the people that voted them into offices, but rekindle the hope of all Nigerians irrespective of their political leanings.

Nearly all key speakers agreed to this collective aspiration, which they all argued, should be vigorously pursued in order to evolve a new nation. But Akpabio argued that such an aspiration would not be a mere mirage if the National Assembly fails to work with key functionaries in the FEC with a view to mainstreaming Tinubu’s eight-point agenda into the legislative programmes.

With the depth of engagement at the retreat, Edun concluded that a great future “is awaiting Nigeria, though her present challenges may be daunting.” Now that a new vista for strategic collaboration has been opened, Edun observed that both arms of government “are under obligation to work out collective responses to hydra-headed challenges that confront us as a people of common destiny.”

Edun thus acknowledged the centrality of legislative interventions to the implementation of the eight-point agenda. For him, the agenda is well defined and will be wholeheartedly pursued in the overall interest of the people. However, the minister emphasised the role of the National Assembly in implementing the eight-point agenda, which was at the core of Bamidele’s proposal for strategic collaboration between the executive and legislature.

From food security to poverty eradication; growth, job creation; access to capital; inclusion; rule of law; and fighting corruption, Edun agreed that the time has come for both arms of government to synergise on how to methodically and systematically pursue the eight-point agenda in order to bring about desirable outcomes across all sectors.

But does this quest for strategic collaborations suggest the erosion of legislative independence? Stakeholders at the retreat largely disagreed on its possibility of eroding the independence of the National Assembly. Collaboration between both arms, they all admitted, may not in any way turn the legislature to a willing tool in the hands of the executive. Rather, it offers a platform for mainstreaming campaign promises into legislative programmes in the interest of all Nigerians, whether the poor or the rich, the middle class or the vulnerable.

Nigeria’s National Assembly – the 10th since independence – was inaugurated on 13 June 2023. It has two arms: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The 109 senators and 360 representatives were elected on 25 February 2023.

Godswill Akpabio was elected Senate president and Tajudeen Abass House of Representatives speaker. Its primary responsibility is lawmaking for effective administration of the state. In Nigeria, the power of the National Assembly’s two houses to legislate is enshrined in section 4 of the 1999 constitution. The constitution also enables the National Assembly to scrutinise and monitor executive activities. Sections 88 and 89 of the constitution set out its the oversight powers. Overseeing the executive requires a determined and strong legislative institution committed to its constitutional responsibilities. All the issues are within the oversight competence of the National Assembly.

Effective oversight of executive actions is a necessity to boost the fortunes of the nation and rekindle the hope of citizens that entrusted the National Assembly with their collective power for the promotion of their interests. Since the Fourth Republic began on 29 May 1999, Nigerians have been waiting in vain for the assembly to fulfill this role. The previous nine legislatures have failed as the central institution of the government. That’s because politics has been about personal power and financial gain.

Under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government from 1999 to 2007, the National Assembly was unable to assert its relevance. The executive sought to cage and control its activities, against the principle of separation of powers. The corruption scandals in the legislature since 1999 have dented the assembly’s integrity as the conscience of the public. The failure of the legislative assemblies since 1999 to do what the constitution expects of them has resulted in the country’s people being unable to meet their basic needs. When other institutions of the government fail in their responsibilities, the legislature cannot afford to fail its principal, the people. Nigeria’s 10th Assembly can make a difference.

[Tribune]

Debt and stock market players in West Africa plan to complete the harmonization and validation of regulation for trading and settlement of securities by June, Lamido Yuguda, chairman of West Africa Securities Regulators Association, said at a conference in Lagos.

The rule will facilitate the establishment of a common market in the region for the issuance and trading of financial assets across member countries, Yuguda, who’s also the director-general of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission, said.

The capital market regulators’ umbrella body was founded in 2015 to foster market integration in West Africa.

[Bloomberg]

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday presided over emblem appeal launch for 2024 Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

Naija News reports that the emblem launch was held at the state house, Abuja.

Speaking at the launch, Tinubu commended troops of the Nigerian armed forces for security “this great nation.”

He said: “Our foremost objective is to provide a conducive environment free from threats and criminality to enable all who reside within our borders to thrive and live in peace.

“For this reason, we owe a debt of gratitude to our gallant troops who have risen to the challenge of securing this great nation.”

He stated that the armed forces remembrance day embalmed remains a symbol of remembrance and a beacon of hope for a peaceful future.

“It is also our humble way of appreciating the veterans and the families of their fallen colleagues,” Tinubu said.

“I wish to call on all Nigerians and non-Nigerians residing in the country irrespective of their political affiliation or religious beliefs to adorn the emblem with pride and identify with those who laid down their lives for the peace and security of our dear nation,” the president added.

[NaijaNews]

The Bayelsa Gubernatorial Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged its supporters not to be deterred by the delisting of its candidate for the Nov. 11 poll, Chief Timipre Sylva.

This is contained in a statement issued in Yenagoa by Mr Perry Tukuwei, the Director of Media and Publicity of the Council on Wednesday.

“The Bayelsa APC Gubernatorial Campaign hereby urges our dear people of Bayelsa not to be deterred with recent happenings in the polity as we match towards the victory post at the Nov. 11 Governorship Election.

“We are clearly miles ahead with a well thought out Renewed Hope for Bayelsa agenda as well as resounding successes recorded in campaign activities across communities culminating in the decision by people of the state.

“To look the way of Chief Timipre Sylva and Joshua Maciver as the next Governor and Deputy Governor respectively.

“Our dear people of Bayelsa, do not fear. Do not be discouraged. We are on course with no distractions,” he said.
He added:“Our lawyers are very well on top of the situation as we expect victory at the Court of Appeal. We will win.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday published the list of candidates for the election without the name of the APC candidate in compliance with the ruling of a Federal High Court that disqualified him from the election.

The APC had filed an appeal challenging the court decision and applied for a stay of execution of the judgment pending the outcome of the appeal.

[Newsguru]

Adeola Alli can be described as a pharmacist and visionary healthcare advocate who has made remarkable strides in bridging the healthcare gap in Nigeria.

With a fervent commitment to improving access to medication, she has dedicated her career to innovative solutions to access medications for individuals in Nigeria to avoid unavoidable loss of lives.

She identified a gap in Nigeria’s healthcare system when she encountered challenges in sourcing specialized medications for her child.

Her mission, therefore, is to provide access to medicine and healthcare solutions for the long-term survival of Africans and hopes her business success will be an inspiration to young women on the continent, skeptical of entering the technology industry.

Adeola founded OneHealth after bringing over 15 years of business expertise in the pharmaceutical and business sectors. She has garnered recognition and support from various influential organizations.

Early life and Academic background 

She has a Master of Pharmacy from the University of Manchester and an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa (IE) Business School and studied Business/ Managerial Economics at Harvard Business School.

She has served as a pharmacist in various positions at Well Pharmacy in the UK and Concord Pharmacy and CVS Health in the US after obtaining pharmaceutical licenses from both the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Foray into Pharmacy

Adeola’s career in pharmacy kicked off at Well Pharmacy (formerly known as The Co-operative Pharmacy) in 2009, where she began as a pre-registration pharmacist. By 2012, she had become a pharmacy manager.

Her journey continued as she joined Concord Pharmacy for a year, before making a significant move to CVS Health in 2015, where she dedicated 2 years and 6 months of her professional life.

About OneHealth

The genesis of OneHealth is a story deeply rooted in Adeola’s personal experience. It all started when Adeola and her family relocated to Nigeria.

It was during this transition that she faced a significant challenge, the unavailability of specific medications for her son who had suffered from infant Asthma.

This personal struggle gave birth to OneHealth. Adeola vividly recalls,

• “OneHealth started with my inability to get some medications for my son, and then I had to order it and have it shipped to Nigeria. Then I realized that for people who have these conditions long-term, it could be a huge challenge if one could not access their medications when they needed them.”

This moment of realization marked the beginning of a mission to bridge the gap in healthcare accessibility in Nigeria.

As a mother of three children, Adeola’s deep care for their well-being was a driving force behind her commitment to making a change believing that everyone, irrespective of age or status, deserves easy access to specialized medications when needed.

Initially, OneHealth took the form of a physical pharmacy but evolved to meet the growing needs of the community and went digital to reach a wider audience.

The business empowered Adeola Alli to harness the potential of technology in ensuring timely and appropriate access to essential medications.

Achievements

Adeola has been acknowledged by Google for Startups Accelerator Africa and has been selected as one of the esteemed recipients of the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.

Additionally, OneHealth secured funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its participation in the Investing in Innovation initiative.

Her passion for healthcare and entrepreneurship led her to participate in Nigeria’s First Digital Startup Accelerator Program, an initiative hosted by Forbes and powered by the Global Startup Ecosystem in 2020.

Her dedication to innovation was further highlighted when she became a Startup Lab Finalist for the Global Health Summit in 2020 and a featured speaker at the prestigious Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit in 2021.

Moreover, Adeola’s commitment to advancing healthcare through technology and innovation is evident in her involvement in a Microsoft Accelerator program through OneHealth.

She has also been a prominent speaker at notable events such as the Africa Digital Health Summit and the Cyber for Health Care conference by the Cyber Peace Institute.

Adeola Alli continues to lead OneHealth towards transformative impacts in the healthcare industry.

Adeola, in her personal life, enjoys networking, and fitness and cherishes the moments she spends with her friends and family.

[Nairametrics]

In the early afternoon of September 11, 2023, my brother, Ademola Akinbola and I settled down to a business lunch at one of the restaurants at the Ikeja Shopping Mall (Shoprite); before long the topic drifted to our days at the PUNCH newspapers. When the decision was made to divert and elevate the PUNCH newspapers from its trademark entertainment newspaper (“the lively paper for lively minds”) to a serious- and business-oriented newspaper (now “the most-widely-read newspaper”), Akinbola and his friend, Orezina Agbodo (God rest his soul!) and other brilliant minds like Weneso Orogun, Arc. Tunde Imolehin, and Town Planner Moses Ogunleye (Property Desk) were some of the pioneers that I gathered as editor of the newspaper to blaze the trail. To them and their colleagues I remain eternally grateful for the success we made of the endeavour.

There is no discussing PUNCH without mentioning the name of Chief Olu Aboderin, the co-founder of the newspaper with his friend, Sam Amuka, now the founder and publisher of Vanguard newspapers. Neither Akinbola nor myself met Aboderin at the PUNCH; he had transited before we got there but we saw his larger-than-life photograph in the Boardroom and heard endless stories of him from our “seniors” at the newspaper. Immediately Olu Aboderin’s name was mentioned, an elderly fellow sitting quietly at the next table turned in our direction. “Did I hear you mention Olu Aboderin?” he asked and before we could answer, he apologized for barging into our discussion but hinted that it was impossible for him to hear Olu Aboderin being discussed and keep quiet. We worked at THE PUNCH, we told him, but never met Olu Aboderin there. And so began a long story of the humanism of Olu Aboderin, some of which we had heard from our “seniors” at the newspaper.

And then tears began to roll down the cheeks of this elderly man as he regaled us with more and more stories of Olu Aboderin and The PUNCH newspapers. “Pardon me”, he said again as he wiped tears. “I cannot discuss Olu Aboderin without shedding tears”. By this time, we had taken a closer look at him. Lo and behold, he turned out to be the one and only Dr. Ola Balogun, film producer extraordinaire! Dr. Ola Balogun is a pioneer Nigerian film maker who directed a long list of feature films over the past five decades, ranging from “Amadi”, “Ajani-Ogun”, “Aiye”, “Ija Ominira”, “Black Goddess”, “Orun mooru”, and “Cry Freedom” between 1974 and the present, in addition to a host of documentary films that were shot in several countries, including Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Mozambique, the United States, and France.

Since that chance meeting, I have hooked up with Dr. Ola Balogun and we have traded banters as well as exchanged posts. What you are about to read is one of them. Titled “the Lagos State Government US$100 million Epe film studio: Another major scam in the offing”, it is a warning to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to look carefully before he leaps and learn from the mistakes of those before him. It reads:

“The recent announcement by the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that his Government has decided to begin work very soon on a film studio project known as the African Film City to be located in Epe at a whopping cost of $100 million dollars sounds eerily similar to an identical announcement that was made by Mr. Donald Duke during his tenure as governor of Cross River State, when he launched the ill-fated Tinapa film studio, which was supposed to form part of a giant complex of shopping malls, hotels and entertainment centres in the neighbourhood of Calabar at an overall cost of US$450 million! Then, as now, a shadowy Hollywood-based film company was announced as the overseas partner of the grandiose film studio project but nothing was ever heard again of the alleged Hollywood partner once funds had been disbursed! The sad epitaph to this ill-conceived film studio project (built without consulting film makers) is that only a single feature film was ever made in what eventually became a phantom film studio that has lain abandoned in ruins ever since!

In retrospect, the bogus Tinapa film studio can best be described as emulating a long series of monumental scams that have been carried out over the past four decades under the pretext of establishing a film industry in Nigeria. This series of scams can be traced back to the bogus launch of a non-existent film laboratory that was inaugurated in Port Harcourt with great fanfare by General Olusegun Obasanjo just before he left office as military Head of State in 1979. This supposed film laboratory, allegedly constructed at a cost of several million dollars, vanished without trace directly after it was inaugurated without ever processing a single foot of film!

Following this bare-faced scam, a Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation succeeded in convincing the Federal Government that the best way to establish a film industry in Nigeria was to establish a film laboratory in Jos, Plateau state. This film laboratory was accordingly built and was equipped at a cost of several million dollars but, not surprisingly, it ceased to function almost directly after it was commissioned, having only processed a single film by Brendan Shehu himself entitled “Kulba na bama” to justify the humongous expenditure.

Closer to us in time, the Lagos State Government under the leadership of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode announced in May 2017 that it had commissioned a total of four stage and movie theatres located in Igando, Oregun, Epe and Badagry. The four theatres (were) built at an undisclosed sum believed to run into several billions of Naira. The Oregun theatre was commissioned with fanfare by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 24, 2019 while the one at Igando was commissioned by Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode himself on May 15, 2019, followed by the one at Epe a few days later. The theatre located at Badagry was never formally commissioned!

Out of the four theatres, only one is currently known to be functioning as a venue for the screening of mostly non-Nigerian films while a second one is said to have been sub-let to a church entity for religious services! The theatre located at Oregun has never functioned at all! In each of these ill-fated ventures, the same pattern can be observed whereby individuals in government, under cover of wishing to benefit the Nigerian film industry, colluded with unscrupulous partners to launch sham projects at gigantic sums of money, with no benefit whatsoever accruing to the people.

Will the proposed $100 million Lagos State-funded Epe film studio turn out another one in the long list of scams perpetuated under the pretext of providing support for film production? Ironically, the much-neglected truth is that sprawling buildings and expensive equipment do NOT constitute what is required to set up a film industry, as can be observed from the examples of the British Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, la Cinémathèque Française, the Australian Film Corporation and other similar entities that have been set up in various countries all over the world for the purpose of providing support for home-based film industries. Rather than film laboratories and empty buildings, what is, in fact, required is a transparent process whereby film budgets are made available in a non-commercial context to fund the production of high-quality films”.

It may be too late already for Gov. Sanwo-Olu to back out of this film project but it is not too late for him to take advice and ensure that he does not fall into the same pitfall as his predecessors. From the long list of examples given by Dr. Ola Balogun, it would appear as if the film project has become a low hanging fruit for those intent on defrauding the government. I deliberately edited out names of individuals and organizations fingered by Dr. Ola Balogun as participants in what he described as bare-faced scams in which millions of dollars that could have been better utilized elsewhere went down the drain.

Gov. Sanwo-Olu owes it a duty to guard against a recurrence. To be forewarned, they say, is to be fore-armed. Or else, he may, even after his exit from office, begin to do what the then governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, does today whenever his Tinapa project is mentioned. Tinap gulped huge sums of money. Tinapa held out so much promise! In fact, it was one project that gave so much visibility and recognition to Donald Duke. It will not be out of place to describe Tinapa as Donald Duke’s signature project; but where is Tinapa today? Where are the resources pumped into it? What really went wrong?

Some have said that poor or wrong conception killed Tinapa. Donald Duke himself says politics killed it. Whether poor or wrong conception or politics, none must be allowed to kill Sanwo-Olu’s Epe film project! These are no times to fritter scarce resources. Our leaders must take pity and have mercy on suffering Nigerians! E s’aanu wa! E s’aanu aje!

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu has distanced himself from the alleged campaign of calumny against the minister of state for Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkiriuka Onyejiocha.

Kalu said this in a statement by his chief press secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu, in reaction to a press conference addressed national coordinator of Progressive League of APC Youth Voters, Usman Shuaibu in which the allegations were made.

The deputy speaker said he shares a healthy and robust relationship with Onyejiocha both as a sister and worthy partner in the government of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Were it not for purposes of protecting the unsuspecting members of the public who may inadvertently be hoodwinked by a tirade of spurious narratives, the office of the deputy speaker would never be bothered about making a rebuttal.

“What rather comes to mind is that the press conference was misdirected or at best, done without the consent of the minister who obviously would be embarrassed by it because it has the imprints of a people on a mission to infamy and perfidy.

“But the fact that Onyejiocha has not yet disassociated herself from the press conference leaves a huge worry and casts aspersions on her person as to what manner of a minister would be creating an impression of someone deliberately courting trouble where none exists.

“From what is conceivably right and true, Onyejiocha is a sister whose integrity would be brutally assaulted by a group that chooses to drag her name to raising false accusations,” he said.

According to the statement, except on issues of collective patrimony in Abia State or of national significance in APC, Kalu does not share a direct political affinity with Onyejiocha so as to be engaged in a feudal struggle.

It said both officials hail from different political constituencies and so, there is no basis for a political war at all.

“Kalu’s passion is to engender a new paradigm shift in political leadership especially as it affects the youth of this country.

“Besides, at the moment, Onyejiocha as a minister functions under the executive arm of government while Kalu is preoccupied with legislative duties at the National Assembly.

“With these obvious distinctions, it then beats an imagination that Kalu from Bende Federal Constituency, unusually preoccupied with a plethora of national engagemets would effortlessly pick up a quarrel with his sister from  Isukwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency.

“It will suffice to say that the office of the Deputy  Speaker sees this as a false alarm and deliberate plot to cause a disaffection between a brother and his lovely sister.

“Recall that Kalu has used every opportunity to seek support for Onyejiocha,” the statement reads further.

[Leadership]

The Federal Government has warned that any officer whose records could not be verified on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) will be delisted on Friday.

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, said this in a statement, on Wednesday.

The statement signed by Mohammed Ahmed, Director, Communications, in her office, said the two-week exercise which will end on Friday, October 27, 2023, was put in place as an act of magnanimity for officers who did not take part in the earlier verifications.

He recalled that the Federal Government commenced the implementation of the IPPIS in 2007 with a view to attaining transparency, accuracy, safety and reliability in the management of Personnel Records, while also curtailing avoidable excesses in personnel costs.

“In 2013, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), being the repository of official records and information on all Public Servants, was saddled with the responsibility of cleansing the record on the Payroll.

“Leveraging on technology, the Office opened a verification portal in April, 2017 and directed all public servants to carry out online update of their records. The office carried out aggressive sensitization and publicity via the official, conventional and social media. An initial period of three months was given for compliance, which was extended to one year, May, 2018, to enable all officers update their records. This was the first phase.

“Sequel to another wide publicity accompanied by numerous pre-verification sensitization visits by IPPIS staff to Ministries, extra-ministerial Departments and Agencies (MDAs), nationwide, the second phase of the exercise, the physical verification, commenced in 2018. In this regard, 500 staff from the OHCSF were trained and deployed, in well communicated and coordinated phases, to the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT between 2018 and 2019 to enable officers carry out the physical verification in their states and save them from traveling to Abuja,” Mohammed said.

He said having committed substantial financial and human resources over a period of seven years to verify the records all civil servants on the IPPIS platform, the office was left with no option than to suspend the salaries of those who failed to participate in the exercise with effect from September, 2023.

He said, “Consequent upon this, some of the erring officers besieged the OHCSF with pleas to be given the last opportunity to comply. The portal was therefore, magnanimously reopened from October 3-13, 2023 for them to update their records.

“The officers were then asked to come to Abuja for the physical verification exercise as the office had already committed and exhausted the budgeted funds and unable to further deploy staff to the states for the exercise.

“Adequate arrangements were put in place for a smooth exercise in designated areas of the FCT, however, the officers’ impatience and lack of orderliness in the first two days made the exercise rowdy. This has been duly addressed and the two-week exercise, scheduled to end on Friday, October 27, 2023, is progressing very well.”

He insisted that the aforementioned officers are the architects of their inconveniences for not being compliant with official directives.

He said, “However, the verification of records of all Civil Servants will be finalized at the end of the ongoing exercise and any officer whose record could not be verified will be delisted from the payroll of government.”

[DailyTrust]

The Nasarawa State University lecturer, Dr Comfort Adokwe, who was abducted on Sunday, has been released.

DAILY POST reports that Adokwe, a lecturer in the Faculty of Administration at the university and a Deputy Director, Gender Studies, of the school, was abducted on Sunday night by gunmen from her residence in Angwan Jaba in Keffi.

Speaking with DAILY POST on phone, Timothy Adokwe, brother to Comfort, confirmed the release.

“Yes, she was released around 8:30,” he said.

He said the kidnappers initially demanded a N100million ransom.

He confirmed that the family paid an undisclosed amount to secure her freedom.

Timothy, however, lauded the military and the Department of State Services, DSS, for their involvement in the release of his sister, saying that though they could not go closer to avoid any harm to Comfort, they monitored via satellite.

“Actually, the police were not there, but the military and the DSS were involved, but at the outskirts because they tried to monitor from their satellite and know the location, but you know, they can’t just enter directly,” he said.

Adokwe said his sister has been taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical checkup, adding that she is okay and has reunited with her husband and daughter.

He urged the government to ensure development reaches some areas dominated by kidnappers.

He said the VC of the university who was kidnapped in the past was rescued from the same location.

[DailyPost]