Rep member offers to quit over lack of public trust in federal legislators

A House of Representatives member, Adamu Chika, has given up the opportunity of seeking re-election, citing lack of public trust in Nigerian lawmakers.

The member, who represents Shiroro/Rafi/Munya federal constituency of Niger State, communicated the unprecedented decision in a letter to the Niger State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Mr. Shiroro confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES he wrote the letter, and said he stood by it.

In his memo, the first timer said given the low level of public trust in federal lawmakers, he would only be seeking National Assembly office again for “personal interest”.

“In line with the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad (SAW), that any person seeking to be appointed or elected into public office should be rejected, now that there is eroding public trust in legislators of the National Assembly, it is not worth the trouble to seek such office unless it is for my selfish and personal interest,” Mr. Chika wrote.

National Assembly members faces constant criticisms by Nigerians for their poor work ethics, unending corruption scandals and for the huge perks they receive.

Nigerians criticise the lawmakers for paying themselves millions of naira in quarterly allowances, and failing for years to disclose details of the National Assembly budgets.

Members are also accused of contributing very little to governance, with constant investigations and reports that are hardly implemented.

Mr. Chika serves out his four-year term in June 2019, and is constitutionally entitled to seek re-election. But the lawmaker says he will give up that opportunity.

He also drew the attention of the APC to the lack of cordiality between the government of Niger and federal legislators from the state.






“Though I have quite a number of reasons not to contest the upcoming election, I want to draw the attention of our great party APC in Niger state to the disconnect between the governance (sic) in the state and the membership of the National Assembly, the state assembly and other key stakeholders because there is an absence of synergy,” he wrote.

He said key APC leaders in Niger state were in pursuit of individual agenda and were at loggerheads with the ideals of the party.



He thanked the party for giving him the platform to serve.

HOUSE OF REPS ISSUE ARREST WARRANT AGAINST MAGU

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant against the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, for refusing to appear before it.

The committee had, several times, invited Magu to appear before it on a petition by former first lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.

It said that Magu should be arrested and presented before it on November 7, after his failure to appear before the panel despite several invitations.

Mrs. Jonathan had some of her accounts frozen by some banks following an investigation launched by the EFCC; but a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ordered that all her bank accounts should be unfrozen.

The former first lady consequently sent a petition to the House against the EFCC, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, among others, alleging harassment from them.

At the continuation of sitting on the petition in Abuja, the committee, which gave Magu up to October 4 to appear, lamented that the EFCC chairman was nonchalant concerning the matter.

The panel, chaired by Rep Uzoma Nkem-Abonta (Abia-PDP), said it had sent several letters inviting the EFCC chairman to appear before it and clear the air on the directive the commission gave some banks to freeze Mrs. Jonathan’s accounts.

A member of the committee, Rep Kingsley Chinda ( PDP-Rivers), consequently moved that a bench warrant be issued against Magu to appear before the panel on the next adjourned date.

All the members of the committee present at the sitting supported the motion.

The chairman of the committee then ruled that a bench warrant be issued against Magu.

Meanwhile, the committee has directed Mrs. Jonathan’s lawyers to sit with the management of Zenith Bank, Eco Bank, First Bank and Fidelity Bank to address the issue of the court order asking the banks to unfreeze her accounts.

The committee also discharged Union Bank as it fully complied with an earlier directive to unfreeze Mrs. Jonathan’s accounts. The committee had, a fortnight ago, directed all the affected banks to unfreeze Mrs. Jonathan’s bank accounts that do not have any pending court orders or official communication from the EFCC to do so.

'JIBRIN MUST APOLOGISE TO THE HOUSE BEFORE RE-ADMISSION' - HOUSE OF REPS INSISTS

The House of Representatives on Thursday insisted that the suspended former Chairman of its Appropriations Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, must apologise before he would be re-admitted to the House.

The Chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaq Namdas, who stated this during a weekly media session in Abuja, explained why Jibrin had not been re-admitted after spending a full legislative year on suspension.

The former appropriations committee chairman was suspended before the House went on the annual recess at the end of the 2016 legislative year.

On Thursday, Namdas said Jibrin had not completed his 180-day suspension. According to him, Jibrin must notify the House formally after the completion of the suspension.

He said he must meet other conditions listed by the Ethics and Privileges Committee of the House.

He stated, “I have also asked the Ethics and Privileges Committee Chairman about the issue and he said the 180 days suspension is not over.

“Jibrin will also have to notify the House. He will write an apology letter too. You know there are other conditions he will have to meet to complete the procedure.”

But on his tweeter handle, the suspended lawmaker wrote, “One year today of denying my constituents’ representation in the House and one year taken off my four years constitutional mandate, only in Nigeria.”

Also in a statement by his Media Aide, Godwin Onyeacholem, Jibrin said that he was ready “to make whatever sacrifice for the good of the House of Representatives and Nigeria as a whole, so that posterity will remember him on the good side of history.”

He also described Namdas’ comments as insensitive and insultive to the people of his constituency. He said the people of his constituency, Kiru/Bebeji of Kano State, had protested his suspension.

He stated, “It is somewhat weird that the official spokesman for the House claims that he does not know the exact date that Jibrin’s purported suspension would lapse. That in itself speaks volume of the subterfuge and sinister motives around the whole issue.”

The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, had on July 20, 2016 announced the removal of Jibrin as the chairman of the appropriations committee.

The former appropriations committee chairman, a few days later, accused Dogara and other principal officers of budget padding.

He released documents to support his allegations and submitted petitions to the Department of State Services, the police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Lawmakers Are Now Irritated With ''Change Of Names'' In National Dailies..

A mild drama played out on Thursday when members of the House of Representatives debated a motion seeking to curb the "high number" of change of names carried by newspapers in the country which they termed "a threat to national security."
The motion, sponsored by Rep Nuhu Danburan (APC, Kano), frowned at the number of pages on the national dailies that carry change of names of Nigerians.
read more