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JUST IN: Reps, Benue gov clash Over Insecurity as NASS resumes today

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As the National Assembly resumes from its long recess today, the House of Representatives and the Benue State Government have disagreed on the reasons for the spates of killings in the state in the past few months.

While the Deputy Spokesman of the House, Philip Agbese blamed Governor Hyacinth Alia for what it called his abandonment of the state anti-open grazing law for the increase in the killings of innocent citizens in recent times, the governor fired back, accusing Agbese of knowing next to nothing about how laws are suspended in state legislatures.

Attacks in Ukum and Logo Local Government Areas of Benue State in the past three weeks have left no fewer than 56 persons dead, with Gov Alia last week, appealing for Federal Government’s intervention to stem the tide.

Recall The two chambers had on March 27 proceeded on break to mark the Eid-el-Fitr and Easter celebrations and fixed Tuesday, April 29, 2025, as the resumption date. However, the Workers’ Days celebration on May 1 led to the extension of resumption by an additional week.

While on break, bandits in a senseless campaign of violence killed innocent Nigerians in Plateau, Benue and Zamfara States, culminating in calls for President Bola Tinubu to cut short his vacation in France to return home to lead the fight against insecurity from the front

The Deputy Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Philip Agbese, said the leadership of the House is committed to speaking against all forms of criminality in the country, particularly the killings of defenceless Nigerians and destruction of their property.

He said, “As we resume tomorrow (Tuesday), we are prepared to tackle squarely the issue of insecurity across the country. We are tired of observing one-minute silence in honour of the dead all the time.

Like the Speaker, the Right Honourable Tajudeen Abbas always says, the life of every Nigerian is very important to the 10th National Assembly.

“To bring these issues to the attention of the government through urgent public importance is not a question we should be asking ourselves now.

We want to see action, we want to see Nigeria secure so that everyone can move freely without fear of being attacked or killed.

“During our sectoral engagement with security chiefs not long ago, they promised action, and we saw a reduction in these attacks. But that was then.

“Things have worsened again, and we cannot continue. We hope to engage them again, and if we are convinced that they don’t have fresh ideas on how to address the challenge of insecurity, we will recommend to Mr President to relieve them of their duties and appoint fresh hands to step in.

”Agbese also commended the leadership of the House, saying, “Since we came on board in June 2023, Speaker Abbas has continued to prioritise the well-being of Nigerians, and as part of this parliament, we are not prepared to rest yet.

Nigerians expect more from us and we can’t afford to let them down. What we must do as parliamentarians is to speak up when things are not going well.

“Killing Nigerians in their homes, farms or wherever should not be condoned. We are hopeful that as we resume our duty, we will lend our voices to the call for the safety of Nigerians wherever they are and that those tasked with maintaining peace and order, as well as the protection of lives and property, will step up their game and make this country secure for us all.

”On the incessant killings in Benue State over the past few months, Agbese who represents Ado/Ogbadigbo/Okpokwu Federal Constituency of the State, blamed the governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia for his handling of the state anti-grazing law.

He said, “Before his (Gov Alia) election, there was an anti open grazing law in place. He completely abandoned that law and was busy claiming that there were no issues in Benue.

The governor kept referring to the ECOWAS Protocol which guarantees free movement of people and goods within the West Africa sub region.

“Truth as that may sound, the ECOWAS Protocol does not make room for reckless human transit without documentation, and this is what some of us pointed out to the governor.

“Before now, when herders came into new settlements, the law required them to give information about themselves to the locals.

They were known to the people, but Gov Alia came and changed everything. At a point, he said there was no problem in Benue. We are happy that he is beginning to realise that this is not the way to go.

Meanwhile, Mr Agbese has called on Gov Hyacinth Alia and his Zamfara State counterpart, Dauda Lawal, to appear before the House Committee on Public Petitions as directed by the Committee Chairman, Mike Etaba last week.

Last week, the committee summoned the two governors, along with the leadership of their Houses of Assembly to appear before them on Thursday, May 8, to explain why their functions should not be taken over by the House of Representatives.

According to the statement, the invitation, “Was sequel to a petition written by a civil rights organisation, Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law, urging the House to take over the functions of the two Houses of Assembly.

”The Committee insisted that its intervention is necessary “To ensure that the rule of Law is upheld at all times. The parties have a wonderful opportunity to state their cases clearly so that Nigerians can know what is going on.

Anarchy would never be given any space in our polity.

”Reminded that the State Assemblies have denied receiving the House summons, the Benue lawmaker urged them to move away from technicalities and appear before the Committee to enable Nigerians to hear their own side of the story.

“We can’t be hiding under needless technicalities all the time. If Nigerians are aware that there is a summon for the governors and State Assemblies to appear before a Standing Committee based on a petition, we expect the parties involved to appear before the committee.

“The National Assembly has the power to take over the functions of State Assemblies in line with the provision of Section 11 (4) of the Constitution. They should appear and let Nigerians know why that should not happen,” he said.

When asked if there will be consequences if they fail to appear, Agbese said, “Let us not discuss that yet. Let’s hope they will appear.

Thursday is not today, and I sincerely hope they will be here. There is no reason to think otherwise,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia has asked the deputy spokesman of the House of Representative, Philip Agbese to go for further study on what democracy entails.

Responding to the allegations by the house deputy spokesman that the governor abandoned the anti open grazing law of the state leading to reckless attack on Benue communities.

The governor who spoke through his Technical Adviser on Communication, Media and Publicity, Solomon Iorpev said that in a democratic system, there are processes to repeal existing laws.

He said, “I don’t like to respond to those who do not know their right hand from their left hand because it’s only in a military regime that you hear about suspension of laws without following due process.

“But in a democratic system, you should know that there must be processes to suspend existing laws and since he (deputy spokesman) does not give evidence to that, it means the he doesn’t know anything about democracy.

Iorpev added that the governor had at several fora, reiterated his stance on the full enforcement of the anti open grazing law in the state.

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Court to Decide on Motion to Restrain NASS from Ibas’ Budget

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, fixed July 18 for ruling on a motion seeking to restrain the National Assembly from approving budgets or appointments of the Rivers State Government under the current Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd).

Ibas was appointed as Rivers’ Sole Administrator by President Bola Tinubu following the six-month suspension of Gov. Siminalayi Fubara.

Justice James Omotosho fixed the date after counsel for the applicants, Ambrose Owuru, and the defence lawyer, Mohammed Galadima, presented their arguments for and against the motion for interlocutory injunction.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1190/2025, was instituted by some indigenes of Rivers and a group, the Registered Trustees of Hope Africa Foundation.

Other plaintiffs are King Oziwe Amba, Chief Julius Bulous, Chief George Ikeme, Chief Amachelu Orlu and Prince Odioha Wembe.

They had dragged the National Assembly and the Clerk of the National Assembly to court as 1st and 2nd defendants.

The applicants sought “an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants “from further interference, approving, supporting and engaging in any legislative activities, including approving, appointing or budgets of Rivers State Government.”

They argued that this was in furtherance of the alleged illegalities and unconstitutionally forwarded proposed state budget by Ibas, “arising from the unconstitutionally prohibited ‘voice vote’ not provided for under the constitution pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit by this honourable court.”

NAN observes that while the main suit was filed on June 19, the motion for interlocutory injunction was filed on June 24.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Owuru, while arguing the motion, prayed the court to restrain the defendants from further acting on any requests from the emergency government in the state pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Owuru contended that the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers was without the required legislative approval because the voice votes adopted by the National Assembly in approving the emergency rule were unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs stated, in a supporting affidavit, that since they filed the suit, the activities of the defendants “have centred on approvals of illegal appointments and budget made and forwarded by the illegal administrator foisted on the applicants’ Rivers State in the midst of protests and rising restiveness in the state.“

The respondents, in spite of all the illegality and unconstitutionality of the foisted state of emergency on Rivers outside the clear provisions of the 1999 Constitution prohibiting state of emergency in any part of the federation, failed to invite or request such within a reasonable time.

”The respondents have engaged in constituting committees to run and spend funds of the applicants’ Rivers.”

They said, unless the court grants their application, the defendants would continue in “the illegalities and unconstitutionality of their invented ‘voice votes’ in place of the actual constitutionally approved two third votes to support the state of emergency in Rivers State.”

According to them, the grant of this application will protect and preserve the applicants’ legal rights to be governed by an elected government of their choice in the present democratic setting in Nigeria.

In his counterargument, lawyer to the National Assembly and its clerk, Galadima, urged the court to reject the motion for interlocutory injunction, arguing that it was without merit.

In the affidavit filed by the defendants, they argued that the facts deposed to in the plaintiffs’ supporting affidavit to the motion “are contrived falsehood and calculated misrepresentation of the facts as they occurred.”

They argued that there had never been any illegality in their actions and that there is no breach of the constitution as alleged by the applicants.

The defendants also faulted the plaintiffs’ claim that the emergency rule was a violation of their fundamental rights to be governed by a democratically elected government.

The National Assembly and its Clerk said they would be seriously prejudiced by the grant of the motion as it would create pandemonium and confusion in governance in Rivers.

They added that the grant of the motion would not be in the interest of justice.Justice Omotosho fixed July 18 for the ruling.

NAN reports that the Senate had, on June 25, passed the 2025 budget of Rivers, totaling ₦1.485 trillion, following the third reading of the appropriation bill on the floor.

NAN

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Breaking: Ganduje appointed chairman of FAAN board

Ganduje recently resigned  as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on health reasons.

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Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has been appointed Chairman of the Board of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Ganduje recently resigned  as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on health reasons.

The announcement was made during the formal inauguration of newly appointed FAAN board members in Abuja.

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FG unveils special passport office for top officials to eliminate delays

Tunji-Ojo applauded the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) for its professionalism and commended the collaboration with Iris Smart Technologies, which provided the digital infrastructure for the new front office.

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The Federal Government has commissioned a specialised Passport Front Office dedicated exclusively to senior public officers and other designated dignitaries, in a bold move to streamline travel documentation for Nigeria’s top government officials.

The facility, unveiled in Abuja by Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, is designed to eliminate longstanding delays and inefficiencies that have plagued passport processing for high-ranking officials.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Tunji-Ojo highlighted the challenges previously faced by top government personnel, many of whom were forced to abandon official duties to queue for hours at standard passport centres.

“Before now, many top-level public servants had to abandon their official duties and endure long queues at standard passport offices.”

“It became clear that for us to serve the nation more effectively, we must also serve those tasked with its leadership more efficiently”, the Minister said.

Tunji-Ojo applauded the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) for its professionalism and commended the collaboration with Iris Smart Technologies, which provided the digital infrastructure for the new front office.

He said that the facility represents a new benchmark in excellence and is expected to significantly cut waiting times, improve access, and raise the overall quality of passport service delivery.

(BusinessDay)

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