Senate suspends lawmaker who challenged adoption of electoral act amendment

 

The Senate on Tuesday suspended a senator, Ovie Omo-Agege, for accusing his colleagues of working against President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election plans in 2019.

Mr Omo-Agege in February accused his colleagues of working against Mr Buhari by adopting the amendment to section 25 of electoral act outlining a change in the sequence of elections.

Mr. Omo-Agege had said: “For some of you who are familiar with what transpired in the House of Reps, only 36 members were on the floor when this so-called amendment to section 25 of the Electoral Act was introduced. The position we took is that 36 people cannot determine the destiny of 360 people in the House (of Reps), which is now being carried over to 109 in the Senate. The least we are owed is for this so-called amendment to be deliberated upon and our rule is clear.

“We have 59 senators who are opposed to the inclusion of section 25 of the Electoral Act. If that division was allowed today, 59 senators would have voted to delete that purported amendment to section 25.

“You don’t make a law targeted at one person. The perception out there is that this Section 25 was included to target Mr. President.”

A week after, Dino Melaye, (Kogi-APC), drew the attention of the Senate specifically to the comments made by Mr. Omo-Agege on the election sequence.

The matter was referred to the committee on ethics and privileges to investigate.

Presenting the report on Thursday, the chairman of the committee, Sam Anyanwu, recommended 180 days of suspension.

He said the punishment was imperative because the senator took the issue to court after it was referred to the committee.

The days of suspension was however reduced to 90 on pleas by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Details later…

Nigeria records 456 road accident deaths in one month

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says 456 people died and 3404 others were injured in 826 accidents recorded nationwide in January.

The FRSC stated this in its CCC report for January signed by its Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi.

According to the report, the January accident figure represents a 4-per cent decrease compared with the previous month of December 2017, in which 864 accidents were recorded.

The numbers of accident-related deaths and injured persons also dropped by 18 per cent and 3 per cents, respectively in January compared with the previous month’s figures of 557 and 3,422, respectively.

On state basis, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which boasts of the best road network in the country, maintained its lead in the highest number of accidents with 92 cases.

Kaduna and Nasarawa states followed with 81 and 45 cases, while Bayelsa came last with no accident case in the month under review.

On the basis of route, the Abuja-Lokoja highway, witnessed the highest number of accidents with 47 cases, Kaduna-Abuja Road, 44 cases; and the Ilesha-Ipetu Ijesa Road in Osun least with five cases.

Speed violation and commercial vehicles remained the highest contributors to road traffic accidents in the country, according to the January report.

Out of 948 identified causes of accidents in the month under review, speed violation accounted for 426 cases, representing 44.9 per cent, followed by tyre burst with 73 cases or 7.7 per cent.

Others were: dangerous driving, 71 cases representing 7.5 per cent; wrongful overtaking, 64 cases or 6.8 per cent; and brake failure, 39 cases or 4.1 per cent, among others.

Bad road, which is generally believed to be the leading cause of accident on the nation’s highways, is on the ninth position on the chart with 15 cases or 1.6 per cent.

According to the report, a total of 1,285 vehicles were involved in the January accident cases out of which 757 were commercial, representing 58.9 per cent.

The other vehicle categories involved were: private, 510 cases or 39.7 per cent; government vehicles, 17 cases or 1.3 per cent; and diplomatic vehicles, one case representing 0.1 per cent.(NAN)

SOURCE: premiumtimesng.com

Nigeria’s population now 198 million – NPC

The Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Eze Duruiheoma, says Nigeria’s population consists of approximately 198 million people.

He disclosed this when delivering Nigeria’s statement on sustainable cities, human mobility and international migration at the ongoing 51st session of Commission on Population and Development in New York.

He disclosed that urban population within the country has been growing at an average yearly rate of about 6.5 per cent for over 50 years.

“Nigeria remains the most populous in Africa, the seventh globally with an estimated population of over 198 million.

“The recent World Population Prospects predicts that by 2050, Nigeria will become the third most populated country in the world.

“Over the last 50 years, Nigeria’s urban population has grown at an average annual growth rate of more than 6.5 per cent without a commensurate increase in social amenities and infrastructure.

“The Displacement Tracking Matrix round XXI of January 2018 identified estimated 1.7 million IDPs in over 321,580 households across six states of North-East Nigeria with 40 per cent residing in camp-like settings in urban areas plus 1.4 million returnees.

“The number of IDPs represented 4.5 per cent increase compared to the 1,702,680 identified in Round XX (Dec. 2017.

“In addition, the 2014 World Urbanisation Prospects report, predicts that by 2050, most of the population – 70 per cent – will be residing in cities.

“The 2010 human mobility survey report revealed that 23 per cent of the sampled population were of more females than males,” the chairman said. Source: premiumtimesng.com

He added that the population grew substantially from 17.3 per cent in 1967 to 49.4 per cent in 2017.

He also said young people of teen age and adolescent girls and boys, women of childbearing age and the people of working age were mostly involved in urbanization and migration among the population.

The NPC chairman, quoting a Nigerian Bureau of Statistics report, said unemployment was at an average of 18.4 per cent and as such, the nation’s cities hosted widespread poverty, under-employment and unemployment.

“Nigeria continues to commit to solving the challenges of insurgents in the Northeast, which has induced a high number of internally displaced persons.

“We are committed to providing adequate healthcare services, reducing maternal mortality, rebuilding safe schools and empowering our women, ensuring no one is left behind in terms of achieving sustainable development,” Mr Duruiheoma said.

Sourcepremiumtimesng.com

My advice is that government should plan ahead and also sustain their fiscal sustainability target.