President Muhammadu Buhari’s new appeal to the Senate to reconsider a request for approval to obtain $29.9billion loans for infrastructure which was denied last week may have to scale another hurdle.
The Nation , citing sources said Buhari has secured an understanding with the Senate president Bukola Saraki that the request will be reconsidered when re-presented, with details, expectedly this week.
But senators are pressing that the request should be taken for public hearing before approval.
The public hearing clause is one of the conditions most of the senators have given Saraki before approving the loans.
It was unclear yesterday whether the Senate President will accede to this condition.
A source in the National Assembly said: “We are amenable to the re-presentation of the request for the loans by the President. The law or our Standing Rules allows it.
“Most of us have however told the Senate President that we should subject the request to public hearing because the debts will be paid back in 20 years by the next generation.
“Also, if ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo could secure debt relief of over $30billion, Nigerians need to be part of this latest decision to incur $29.9billion.
“Some of us feel that if we throw the request open, we may get alternative ideas from Nigerians.”
In a related development, the
Guardian reports that Senators’ anger at the non-implementation of the controversial N100 billion constituency projects is a reason the 2017 budget may suffer a delayed passage.
The paper recalled that last week, senators refused to take even a formal look at the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEFFSP) sent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
It said constituency projects are tasks marked for execution by federal lawmakers every budget year. Constituency projects are viewed by the senators as their ways of giving back to the electorate. Lawmakers also use them as a campaign pitch for a fresh term.
But the management of the projects, however, has been abused in the past. Many constituencies are littered with uncompleted jobs. In some cases, projects were never even executed.
This year, many lawmakers are furious that they were persuaded to pass the 2016 budget on the strength of a promised execution of the projects, which, two months to the end of the year, remains undone.
In other news, judges could find themselves in trouble if they fail to conclude criminal cases assigned to them within set time as stipulated in the new national judicial policy inaugurated by the national judicial council in Abuja on October 24.
The new directive is to guard against instances before when criminal cases, involving politically-exposed persons or other influential Nigerians, dragged on for over a decade.
The Punch reports that the new NJP requests federal and state judiciaries to set targets for the completion of various categories of cases, including criminal matters.
Accordingly, sub-section 2.5.2 of the policy provides that judges must be made to provide reasons for failure to dispose of criminal cases within the target time.
This directive, captured under the policy on judicial performance in section 2.5 of the NJP, seeks to focus on “strategies to strengthen judicial performance through constant monitoring and evaluation and through continuous monitoring and assessment of the adequacy of the facilities available to judges for efficient performance.”
Meanwhile, the federal government plans to forestall further increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, (PMS) also known as petrol, by undertaking a review of the pricing template for the commodity.
Vanguard reports that the minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, stated this during a grand award ceremony organised by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) branch of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Abuja.
In news about the counter Boko Haram war, the Nigerian Army has been mourning the death the slain commanding officer of 272 Tank Battalion in Maiduguri, Lt. Col. Muhammad Abu Ali who died fighting the insurgents.
According to the Sun , a statement by the theatre command centre of operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, said Ali, nicknamed, Sarkin Yaki (Chief Warrior) was the commanding officer, 272 task force battalion at Mallam Fatori in Northern Borno.
The command said the officer died in confrontation with suspected Boko Haram terrorists, who attacked 119 battalion, Nigerian Army location at Mallam Fatori on Friday, November 4, in a failed attempt to capture the town.
The statement added that the slain officer was “a source of inspiration to us and millions of Nigerians, praying for the speedy end of the insurgency.
Credits: Vanguard, The Punch, The Sun.
The Nation , citing sources said Buhari has secured an understanding with the Senate president Bukola Saraki that the request will be reconsidered when re-presented, with details, expectedly this week.
But senators are pressing that the request should be taken for public hearing before approval.
The public hearing clause is one of the conditions most of the senators have given Saraki before approving the loans.
It was unclear yesterday whether the Senate President will accede to this condition.
A source in the National Assembly said: “We are amenable to the re-presentation of the request for the loans by the President. The law or our Standing Rules allows it.
“Most of us have however told the Senate President that we should subject the request to public hearing because the debts will be paid back in 20 years by the next generation.
“Also, if ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo could secure debt relief of over $30billion, Nigerians need to be part of this latest decision to incur $29.9billion.
“Some of us feel that if we throw the request open, we may get alternative ideas from Nigerians.”
In a related development, the
Guardian reports that Senators’ anger at the non-implementation of the controversial N100 billion constituency projects is a reason the 2017 budget may suffer a delayed passage.
The paper recalled that last week, senators refused to take even a formal look at the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEFFSP) sent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
It said constituency projects are tasks marked for execution by federal lawmakers every budget year. Constituency projects are viewed by the senators as their ways of giving back to the electorate. Lawmakers also use them as a campaign pitch for a fresh term.
But the management of the projects, however, has been abused in the past. Many constituencies are littered with uncompleted jobs. In some cases, projects were never even executed.
This year, many lawmakers are furious that they were persuaded to pass the 2016 budget on the strength of a promised execution of the projects, which, two months to the end of the year, remains undone.
In other news, judges could find themselves in trouble if they fail to conclude criminal cases assigned to them within set time as stipulated in the new national judicial policy inaugurated by the national judicial council in Abuja on October 24.
The new directive is to guard against instances before when criminal cases, involving politically-exposed persons or other influential Nigerians, dragged on for over a decade.
The Punch reports that the new NJP requests federal and state judiciaries to set targets for the completion of various categories of cases, including criminal matters.
Accordingly, sub-section 2.5.2 of the policy provides that judges must be made to provide reasons for failure to dispose of criminal cases within the target time.
This directive, captured under the policy on judicial performance in section 2.5 of the NJP, seeks to focus on “strategies to strengthen judicial performance through constant monitoring and evaluation and through continuous monitoring and assessment of the adequacy of the facilities available to judges for efficient performance.”
Meanwhile, the federal government plans to forestall further increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, (PMS) also known as petrol, by undertaking a review of the pricing template for the commodity.
Vanguard reports that the minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, stated this during a grand award ceremony organised by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) branch of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Abuja.
In news about the counter Boko Haram war, the Nigerian Army has been mourning the death the slain commanding officer of 272 Tank Battalion in Maiduguri, Lt. Col. Muhammad Abu Ali who died fighting the insurgents.
According to the Sun , a statement by the theatre command centre of operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, said Ali, nicknamed, Sarkin Yaki (Chief Warrior) was the commanding officer, 272 task force battalion at Mallam Fatori in Northern Borno.
The command said the officer died in confrontation with suspected Boko Haram terrorists, who attacked 119 battalion, Nigerian Army location at Mallam Fatori on Friday, November 4, in a failed attempt to capture the town.
The statement added that the slain officer was “a source of inspiration to us and millions of Nigerians, praying for the speedy end of the insurgency.
Credits: Vanguard, The Punch, The Sun.
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