SERAP asks Akpabio, Abbas to slash ‘self-serving’ N344.85b NASS budget – Newstrends
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SERAP asks Akpabio, Abbas to slash ‘self-serving’ N344.85b NASS budget

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Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Senate President Godswill Akpabio

SERAP asks Akpabio, Abbas to slash ‘self-serving’ N344.85b NASS budget

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to reduce the National Assembly budget of N344.85 billion to reflect the current economic realities in the country and cut the cost of governance.

SERAP urged them to ask President Bola Tinubu to present a fresh supplementary appropriation bill, which will reflect the reduced National Assembly budget for approval.

The organisation also urged them to publish details of the National Assembly budget of N344.85b, including the proposed spending details of N3 billion for the Senate Car Park and N3 billion budgeted for the House of Representatives Car Park.

In a letter at the weekend, signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said passing appropriation bills that are inconsistent with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution is a fundamental breach of the constitutional oath of office by the lawmakers.

It added that the arbitrary increase by the lawmakers of their own budgetary allocation, if not cut, would have significant fiscal consequences, and exacerbate the country’s debt crisis.

According to SERAP, the unilateral and self-serving increase by the lawmakers of their own allocation also offends the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances and the notion of the rule of law.

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The body said: “The increase in the National Assembly budget has raised serious questions in the minds of the Nigerian people about how the lawmakers are spending their commonwealth.

“The National Assembly ought to be more responsible to the public interest and more responsive to it. The National Assembly has a constitutional responsibility to combat waste and abuse in its own spending if it is to effectively exercise its oversight functions and hold the government to account.”

Cutting the N344.48 billion National Assembly budget, SERAP said, would be consistent with lawmakers’ oath of office, and the letter and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution.

“Cutting your budget would promote efficient, honest, and legal spending of public money. It would serve the public interest and restore public confidence in the National Assembly,” the organisation notes.

SERAP also urged Akpabio and Abbas to clarify the details of the N8.5 billion budgeted for ‘National Assembly liabilities’ and to disclose the nature of any such liabilities and how and why they have been incurred.

The body lamented that the N344.48b National Assembly budget, which is an increase of about N147b, is the highest-ever budgetary allocation to the National Assembly.

SERAP asks Akpabio, Abbas to slash ‘self-serving’ N344.85b NASS budget

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Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

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Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo

Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has directed the immediate freezing of all state-owned bank accounts.

In a statement issued on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, the governor stated that the accounts would remain frozen until further notice.

He instructed commercial banks, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to comply with the order immediately or face severe consequences.

The statement reads: “All state bank accounts with commercial banks have been frozen. Commercial banks must comply with this order and ensure that not a single naira is withdrawn from government coffers until further notice.

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“Heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies must ensure full compliance without delay.

“Following necessary investigations and reconciliations, the governor will take appropriate action and decide on the way forward. For now, this order remains in effect.”

Okpebholo also directed relevant agencies to revert the name of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges to its previous title, the Ministry of Works, a change made during the Godwin Obaseki administration.

“It is odd to name a government institution the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, especially when not a single bridge was built by the previous administration — not even a pedestrian bridge.

“In the coming days, we will examine further actions taken by the previous administration and make decisions that serve the best interests of the state,” the statement added.

 

Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

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Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

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Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi has criticized the widely discussed two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling it a “deception.”

His remarks followed a recent summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh, where President Bola Tinubu and other leaders condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and urged an end to hostilities.

In an interview with Daily Trust at his Kaduna residence, Gumi argued, “This Two-State Solution is a deception. No Israeli will allow a Palestinian to survive, and Palestinians will never allow Israel to survive.

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The only solution is to dissolve the two states and create a democratically electable region.”

Gumi commended the OIC’s support for Palestine, noting that Muslims and Arabs worldwide increasingly see the treatment of Palestinians as “genocide” and accuse Israel of human rights abuses.

He also called for a return to the pre-1948 structure, where Palestinians, Jews, and Christians lived together, suggesting a single, inclusive state that allows peaceful coexistence.

“When I hear people talking about Two-State Solutions, I know they are just deceiving themselves,” Gumi added, advocating for a unified region where people of all faiths can live together, similar to the multi-faith coexistence seen in countries like the United States.

 

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

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Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

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Olusola Ebiseni

Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

The Labour Party candidature of Olusola Ebiseni for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State has been nullified.

The nullification follows the sacking of Ebiseni by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday.

The governorship election of the southwest State will hold on Saturday, 16 November 2024.

The judgement disqualifying Ebiseni was unanimously delivered by the three members of the panel and read out by the chairman of the panel, Justice Adebukola Banjoko.

The judgment granted the prayer of the Labour Party who preferred the case against Ebiseni.

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Justice Banjoko held that, “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others is allowed.”

Justice Banjoko further stated that the Certified True Copy of the judgment would be provided to the parties involved in the appeal as soon as possible for their review.

Recall that Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to accept and recognize Olusola Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the November 16 Ondo State governorship elections.

Justice Nwite confirmed that the second primary election conducted by the Labour Party, which resulted in Ebiseni and Awude being selected as candidates, was valid and should be upheld by INEC.

However, the appellate court has now overturned the judgment of the trial court’s judgment.

 

Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

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