Abuja Reports
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News Headlines
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Written by Administrator
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By Habib Yacoob & Tordue Salem ABUJA
SPEAKER Aminu Masari of the House of Representatives blocked, yesterday, a move to re-open on the floor of the House, impeachment process against President Olusegun Obasanjo. Representative Bashir Nadabo (ANPP Katsina) had sought to re-open the matter when he raised Order 5, Rule 2 of the House with a view to reminding members about the impeachment move initiated by some Reps last year. At that time, the brains behind the impeachment had gone as far as collating signatures of those in support. The leadership of the House then stepped in and constituted a committee headed by the House Leader, Alhaji Abdul Ningi to look into the alleged offences of the President. Although the committee is said to have completed its assignment, it is yet to submit its report. And as the House resumed sitting yesterday after the Christmas/Eid-el-Kabir/New Year break, Representative Nadabo asked the House to compel the committee to submit its report to enable members deliberate on it. Responding, Speaker Masari said the matter would not be discussed as it was not in the records of the House and that the issue was dismissed in the executive session.
€œTherefore, this issue can only be raised in an executive session Alhaji Masari said. But Nadabo insisted that based on the House Rules, he had the right to raise the issue as member. Chairman of the House Committee on Business and Rules, Mr. Eta Inang contributing said the order cited did not cover Nadabo since, in his words, the issue was not of privilege to the member. Nadabo said the pro-impeachment legislators had gathered more than 40 signatures and €œwe have got very solid assurances that by Wednesday next week, we are going to have about 130 members and we present the impeachment thing.
To commence an impeachment process, one third of members of the House (or 130 of the 360 members) must indicate by signing. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of fears that the April general elections might be postponed, Speaker Masari, yesterday, asked members to be vigilant so that they would not be caught unawares. Masari, who gave the advice, while addressing members of the House, on their resumption from a three-week break, said they could not afford to lax in their legislative duties particularly with the approach of the general elections.
€œAs you are aware, this is the last lap of our legislative term ending May 29, 2007. And this is the magic year 2007 when we are going to hold presidential, gubernatorial, national and state assembly elections, he said, adding: €œThis imposes on us serious legislative responsibilities. We have a duty to be vigilant so that any possible hitch requiring legislative intervention may be promptly addressed. Africa and indeed the world wait on Nigeria.
Though the speaker commended the efforts of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) so far, he charged it to abide by the provisions of the constitution and the Electoral Act. Reviewing the activities of the House since it s inauguration on June 3, 2003 to December 20, 2006, Masari said it had not done badly. He said within this period, about 299 bills were introduced, while 133 were passed and 161 motions and 224 petitions received and considered respectively. The Speaker explained that the House had contributed immensely towards the social, political and economic development of the country, promising that it would do more before the end of its tenure in May this year. Masari said to members;
€œI remind you again that this is 2007, pointing out that it was essential that they put God first in whatever they set out to achieve Wednesday, January 17, 2007 Vanguard Newspapers, Lagos
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News Headlines
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Written by Administrator
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Residents of ex-servicemens village, popularly called Ngwa Mada, at Asokoro, Abuja ha-ve moved their belongings to the Abuja-Keffi expressway to escape the bulldozers sent to level the entire village by the FCDA authorities.
The residents complained that no prior notice of the demolition was given to them.
Seven bulldozers sent by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and two tents meant to accommodate policemen in the team were already on ground last Saturday morning for the exercise, City News gathered.
At 6am Saturday, people, mostly women and under aged children, were seen sleeping on cartons and mats by the roadside.
the victims said they moved their property to the roadside when they sighted the bulldozer demolishing houses in the community last Thursday.
They also complained that they had no where to relocate.
There is no money with us to look for another house, they said.
When the bulldozers came into the community last Thursday morning, one of the policemen went about the village harassing residents. His ungentlemanly acts infuriated a female resident, who in turn slapped him, City News heard.
€œThe ladys action angered other members of the demolition squad who imme-diately started demolishing houses, Jasper Adi, a resident of the area, said.
Adi said the elders of the village met the leader of the demolition squad to seek an ample time to pack, but the request was turned down.
€œThe elders then went to see the commanding officer of Mogadisu Barracks who came to the community to appeal to the FCTA officials that the residents be given a respite to move their belon-gings before the demolition, he said.
The intervention of the army officer made them defer the demolition until today, he said.
The residents complained that neither their houses were marked nor any notices given by them by the FCTA as it is usually the tradition.
The FCTA officials only visited the village in Sept-ember and October last year to enumerate the houses with FCDAs numbers, they said.
Mama Naomi, a caterer at mammy market, told the City News she came to the old soldier village this morning and found her property outside.
€œI will return to Nasarawa state, she said.
City News gathered that a woman returning from a journey last Friday morning fainted when she met her children with their property by the roadside.
Suzzan Abul said she was at the Wuse market trading when information reached her that the ex-servicemens village was about to be levelled.
€œI rushed back to save my property, which were packed to the roadside, she lamented.
Mrs Abul, who has two under aged children staying with her at the roadside, said she had no money and where to go. €œWe slept by the roadside with our children, the she said. She said her husband is in Benue state.
At the entrance of the vil-lage, two soldiers were seen collecting a fee of N50 from vehicles that came to pack the property of residents. Each van charged between N7,000 to N8,000 to carry property from the village to Mararaba. Other farther areas attacked a fare range of between N15,000 and N20,000.
Landlords were seen rem-oving zincs and other valuable building materials from places of worships and priv-ate residents, while merc-hants who deal on such materials purchased them at very low prices.
Food vendors also made brisk business as those who slept by the roadside depe-nded on their food for brea-kfast, lunch and supper.
Emmanuel I. Dekuku said he had no alternative than to look for money and return to his hometown in Benue state.
The victims on the roadside were beaten hard by the heavy downpour of last Sat-urday afternoon till 6.30pm.
Daily Trust
Abuja 30th October 2007
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News Headlines
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Written by Administrator
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The residents complained that no prior notice of the demolition was given to them.
Seven bulldozers sent by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and two tents meant to accommodate policemen in the team were already on ground last Saturday morning for the exercise, City News gathered.
At 6am Saturday, people, mostly women and under aged children, were seen sleeping on cartons and mats by the roadside.
the victims said they moved their property to the roadside when they sighted the bulldozer demolishing houses in the community last Thursday.
They also complained that they had no where to relocate.
There is no money with us to look for another house, they said.
When the bulldozers came into the community last Thursday morning, one of the policemen went about the village harassing residents. His ungentlemanly acts infuriated a female resident, who in turn slapped him, City News heard.
€œThe ladys action angered other members of the demolition squad who imme-diately started demolishing houses, Jasper Adi, a resident of the area, said.
Adi said the elders of the village met the leader of the demolition squad to seek an ample time to pack, but the request was turned down.
€œThe elders then went to see the commanding officer of Mogadisu Barracks who came to the community to appeal to the FCTA officials that the residents be given a respite to move their belon-gings before the demolition, he said.
The intervention of the army officer made them defer the demolition until today, he said.
The residents complained that neither their houses were marked nor any notices given by them by the FCTA as it is usually the tradition.
The FCTA officials only visited the village in Sept-ember and October last year to enumerate the houses with FCDAs numbers, they said.
Mama Naomi, a caterer at mammy market, told the City News she came to the old soldier village this morning and found her property outside.
€œI will return to Nasarawa state, she said.
City News gathered that a woman returning from a journey last Friday morning fainted when she met her children with their property by the roadside.
Suzzan Abul said she was at the Wuse market trading when information reached her that the ex-servicemens village was about to be levelled.
€œI rushed back to save my property, which were packed to the roadside, she lamented.
Mrs Abul, who has two under aged children staying with her at the roadside, said she had no money and where to go. €œWe slept by the roadside with our children, the she said. She said her husband is in Benue state.
At the entrance of the vil-lage, two soldiers were seen collecting a fee of N50 from vehicles that came to pack the property of residents. Each van charged between N7,000 to N8,000 to carry property from the village to Mararaba. Other farther areas attacked a fare range of between N15,000 and N20,000.
Landlords were seen rem-oving zincs and other valuable building materials from places of worships and priv-ate residents, while merc-hants who deal on such materials purchased them at very low prices.
Food vendors also made brisk business as those who slept by the roadside depe-nded on their food for brea-kfast, lunch and supper.
Emmanuel I. Dekuku said he had no alternative than to look for money and return to his hometown in Benue state.
The victims on the roadside were beaten hard by the heavy downpour of last Sat-urday afternoon till 6.30pm.
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News Headlines
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Written by Administrator
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This disclosure was made yesterday in Abuja by the Country Director of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Mr. Pierre Pele, at a media briefing to commemorate the United Nations Week.
He cautioned that Nigeria and other African countries would be left behind in regards to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), except stakeholders and government work together seriously to meet the goals.
Pele, Nigeria is the third most infested state in the world after South Africa and India. There are over four million Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS and in 2005, over 300,000 Nigerians died of HIV/AIDS related illnesses. In Nigeria, there are over one million orphans whose parents died due to HIV/AIDS scourge.
According to him, the biggest challenge before this generation is the HIV/AIDS scourge, adding that the UN System was working together to provide care and support as well as reduce the vulnerability of individuals and communities to HIV/AIDS, and alleviating the impact of the epidemic.
The overarching goal of UNAIDS in Nigeria is to support the country to achieve the Millennium Development Goal number six on HIV/AIDS, he said.
The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Nigeria, Mr. Alberic Kacou, also stated that the theme for the UN week which is Make Poverty History: Achieve the Millennium Deve-lopment Goals in Nigeria was informed by both global and national issues.
In his words, In truth, some progress has been made, but not significant enough to arrest povertys relentless advance. The worst hit continent is sub-Sahara Africa, where most countries are unlikely to meet the 2015 target if present trend continues.
Kacou asserted that Nigeria was critical to Africas capacity to meet the MDGs.
Infact, Africa cannot meet the goals without Nigeria. The reason for this is simple. One, Nigeria is Africa s most populous country, with at least one in five Africans being Nigerian. Two, 54.4 percent of Nigerians living in poverty represents a staggering figure not only for the country, but also for the continent, he said.
He said the UN appreciated the efforts being made by the Nigerian government to reduce poverty and achieve the MDGs, but also cautioned that the reforms have to be sustained.
These reforms have to be sustained and a lot more still need to be done, especially in placing the MDGs at the heart of NEEDS II, continuing to emphasise and strengthen fiscal responsibility, building the capacity of governments across board to invest wisely for development, and strengthening institutions for the delivery of essential health, education and other social services, he noted.
He averred that We have just eight years left (to meet the MDGs) and it is a challenge for all to ensure we meet the goals before 2015. I think we need to be serious and work together in order to achieve these goals to reduce poverty.
From Funmi Peter-Omale and Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 10.19.2006
THISDAY LAGOS
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Commercial motorcyclists popularly referred to as okada riders yesterday blocked some major highways in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to protest their expulsion form the Federal Capital City.
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