Briefly
Bayelsa lawmakers on war path over House committees l\tike Odlegwu, Ven agoa
I
NDICATIONS emerged on
Tuesday that members of the Bayelsa 5l:ate House of Assembly ",-ere at daggm drawn over lhe constitution of standing commltlee5. II was team! thai the peaC1! which reigned dunng the inauguration of the foulth legislative assembly by Governor T'imipre Sylva has been shattered as the lawmalum; \Ilere said 10 be in $ftious disagteemenl 0\I'eI" mem~ip of various
Angaye
of
hijad.ing
the
seledion process in an attempt
10 satisfy hl5 selfish mlere5l. And when the hou5e reconvened on Tuesday. J une 28, 10 adopt the lisl of the slanding aJrnmittees. our
correspondenlwhomonilored the session reported that the business of Ihe day ended up In II war of l.O.'(Irds.
Just as 8inabo was reeling oul the "limes of each of the committee members, YOU$OlI ,
who represents Brass II Con51ituency, interupted him and obserYed thallhe content of the list was noi based on a unanimous decition by membeT1i ollhe oommiHee. · 1 am suppa;ed 10 be a member o f the 5eledion committee. But I am not aware how these names were seleded. I am sure most members of the committee were nol involved in the seledion. The Ii5t cannol
sland: he said. Al l efforls ~ Angaye 10 explain thai lhe committee collectively lTKlde the selection were unsuccessful as Yousou stood his ground. insisting Ihal lhe 1l55ignment was the handr.vorkof Angaye and few others. Angaye had arg.Jl!d thai Yousou's opposition of the namesonlhelistwasbetause o f his personal inlerests, but another member of
selection committee, Mr. Igrubia Warman, confirmed that the list did not haw any inpul from m05t members of the committee. He said' "'Yousou was right The group mel and selected the chairmen 01 o thl"!' committees. We. then agreed that we will meet 10 select the members. But we did nOi know how Ihe members were selected. I
the';.~~~~~~Iru~th~.";'~~,
committees.
"The battle for supremK}' was said to haw started when the Seledion Committee headed by the ~aker of
the
House
of Assembly.
~"" Nestor Binabo \.\,'M Inaugurated and its members 1.I.'ef1! mandated 10 select cnaifpersons and members of other committees
Binabo
"'as
said to have
asked his deputy Speaker and VICe-Chairman of the commiU~. Mr Ani Ang<1ye. to lead other 5election committee members throu gh the task of consti tuting the committees. Angaye and his coIle3gues \\''i!nl a head to select la ....makers inlo 24 standing committees. including Appropnation. Finance and Economic: Public Service and Establish ment Local Governmen t and Es!abli~ltnent: Anti NDDC and Corruplion: S pecial Projects cnmmi lt~s But other members o f the committeE'. including Ihe MaJOriIy Leader of the House. MI Anl<llayou Vousou. were said 10 have disagreed wilh Angaye 0\IeT modalities 10 be usa! in cart}1ng out lhe assignment They reporledly accused
• L·R: Chancellor, Conuenonl Unl~ Bisllop David Oyedepo. Chairmott. Association o/Vice·Chancellol$, Nigeria Uniuersilifo:s, Pro(. IsllOq Oloyede.· wife 0/ the Chance//o(, fuilh: and VIa·Chonce/lor, Prof. Aiu Obayan. during AVCNU's ron/erence in Ota. Ogun Sl.al.e. .. on Tuesdcq.! Phao: OIatUlljf Obosa
Fuel subsidy: Ignore governors, Labour advises Jonathan Mus la"ha Salihu, Kan o
N
1GER1ALabou rCongress has condemned calls ~ theNigeriaGovernOr5' Forum Ihtlt subsidy on petroleum products must be removed befOll! the imp!errnmlation 01 Ihe N 18.0X! minimum ....'age in the country. The NLC ~so "'arned President GoodJuck Jonalhan not to allow himself to be UI· lIdvised by the goveTl'IOB
over the issue The Sakato state chaptl"!' of the congress. led by Its auditor. A1haji Abubakar Tambuwal, gave the warning yesterday ill a n lnteracilve session with journalists. The Governors FoI1JIn , through il5 chairman, Governor Rotimi Amaechi. had recently asked President Goodluck Jooalhlln 10 remove petroleum subsidy 'Of" the implementauon or
the minimum ....age 10 be effectIVe Amaechl, who is ~so Ihe Riven Stale GOWfI)Or, insisted that unless tllis is don e and channeled to the federation account. most 0 / the §fates would be able to implement the new minimum "-age of NIB,OOO 1icM_. Tambu""'al ",amed thai any attempt to Wltkdra\V fuel subsidy as a yardstick to implement the
Minimum wage: No plan to sack workers - Kano Muslap ha Sallhu lind Mudi /lga Aile
HE Kano Slate Governmenl has denied rumours thai il is; about to la~'Ol/ hun(heds of cNil servants to enable it to pay the new minimum wage of NIB.OOJ In a statement ~ the Public Relations Officer. Ofnce of the Kano Stale Head of Civil Service, Alhaji Muslilpha Ibrahim. in Kana. lhe government de5cribed the rumours as the handiwork of mischief makers. TIle statement WM ~ieved to be a reaction to a report published ~ a IllItional n£\~JX"I (not 11-1£ PUNCH ) whieh credited the Office of the Head of Service with Information that a mass sack was looming. The Head 01 Servtee, Alha)1 Minjibir.
T
hO\.lle\'er. affirmed thai. there was no Irvth in the report and tha, since he resumed office as the Head of Service In the slate. he has neither granted an interview 10 any journalist. nor hM he lISSigned his; public relations officer 10 speak OIl his behalf on Ihe issue. Meanwhile. Ih. Ri ve r Stale Governor, Uyel Imoke. has said the sla te is set to pay the NIB. 000 minimum wage and thtlt it will continue with the annual five per cent salary inclement for dvd servanl5. Imoke disclosed th is "'hen the leade~hip oI lhe Nigeria Labour Congress. led ~ its President. rolr Alxlulwahed Omar, paid a courtesy visit 10 his office in Calabar on Tuesday. The governor explained that the state had In the last fOUl years been increasing
civil servants salaries annually and was of the view Ihat if the new minimum .....age was implemented. there musl be the normal increment must continued While COngfalUlalmg Omar for his vktory to serve another term as NLC president. Im0k2 said labour
in the state has enjoyed a cotdial relationship with government The governOf" said th is was because of Its bellef that the civil service .....as lhe engine room o f governmen t and lhat it must M motIVated to ensu re fuU productivity for government to realise its vision.
new minimum wage would be counter·prodUdNe as it would pitch Ih~ workers againstlhe governments. Tambuwal who 15 also chairman, Agrkullul'l.! and Allied Empl~ Union of Nigeria. Sakato State chapter said the lao that most ....:orkers in Ihe country are currenUy living below poverty level is obnoxious and unacceptable ConsequenUy, he urged the siate governments 10 find other means 01 implementing the new minimum u:age aimed al improving the living standard of Nigerian \OiOfkers He equally protested the planned introduction of new elechicily tariff In lhe country with effect from rtm of July, .saying. ~this will further compound the cunenl hardship being laced ~ Nigerians .~
Firm donates N46m patrol vans to police Emmanuel Obe, Awka
I\. Lagos·based
company, IntemaliOOllI Umited. on Tueg;iay boosted the crime fighting capacity of the police in Anambra State wilh the donalion 01 severo palmi VlIIl! equipped with communicCltion gadgets. 1llI! chairman and dllel executive officer o f the company, Chief Ugoc;hukwu Nsofor, handed over of the
l'iKunech
"
headquarteR, NsolOf said the move was his company' 5 response to an appeal by the police for WPpoft. He added Ihal it was lhe duty of every Nigerian dtllen 10 join hands with the police to rrghl crime ·so lhat we all can live in peace.M Reading to Ihe gesture, the Commissioner of Rllice. Anambm State Comnland. Mr Muhtari Ibrahim. thanked Kunech fOi the gesture and pointed out that lhe police
active support of from lhe community "ThIs si ngular donation will spur the command to action to\\'ard~ stemming the lide of the twin evil 01 violent alma of armed robbery and kidnapping: Ibrahim 53id. 1be commissioner a1so 53id Ihe police direly needed information on suspicious movements and aimilllli hideouts ~ ElIch of the vehide5 and the filted communication
Climate change HE fdo Siale Governmenl and the United NatioM Institule of Training and Research are collaborating on athrl!i!-day SoCnsiUsation workshop, 10 check the effects 0 1 dimale
T
"'.-
Tngged 'Workshop on Olrrlate Change in the Niger Delta: Ihe effo rt is aimed al addressing critical challenges posed by climate change: in Ihe region. While disclosing the plan in Benin. Regional Coordinator lor UNITAR. Jide Fajoyomi. said the workshop Wlls signiflCanl, "e:spe(011y In the Nige r Delta region, bealuSoC o f Its peculiar environmental challenges." which he noted has been attribUled to glob<ll warming Giving reasons for the choice of Edo. as hosl state lor the worlcshop, Fajoyomi sard. "&10 Slate. whldl situates in the epicentl"!' 01 the Ntger Delta region, IS highly vulnerable to Ihe impacts of climate change. particularty In the areas of human seltlemenl. agriculture. land use. ",'aler resources. health. energy. coastal restlUrces. transport, commerce and industry thai affect the livehhcxxa of tM majofily or Ihe people. Mit is evident thai ullle§! sufficient attention is paid 10 the impacts of climate change. and 10 building adaptlveslrateg;~, resi lience and coping mechanisms, the vulnerability of Ihe slale ....ill Jeopardise the lor>g term dl!lleiopmenl of the region "
Teachers' employment C OO
SllIte ~. L..Acsams Oshiomhole has sclld employment inlO Ihe stale te;,ching service u.iU no longer be aUlomatic_ The governor. while addressing a group of Univmal Basic Education teachers said prospective tutors must hena>forth. show competence beyond p<tper qualdk:ation The teacher! were al the Governmenl House. Benin 10 proCest lheir non absorption into the slate t!!aching service commission In response. Oshiomwhole said. "The governor does not have a guaranteed job. theA!lore nobody can have one, You must go through propI!T interview, The system must M convinced thai you have whal It takes to be a good leacher " Continuing, he said. "TIle system must go th rough progres!IVe change 10 ensure lhat eduCiltioo is rl!!;tOl'l!rl to