— Jan 22, 2016 5:07 am |
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The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee probing the
$470 million contract for the provision of closed circuit television
cameras (CCTV) in Abuja and Lagos has summoned the national security
adviser (NSA), General Babagana Monguno (rtd); minister of finance, Mrs
Kemi Adeosun, and governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr
Godwin Emefiele, among other top government officials, to shed light on
the matter.
Others invited to the public hearing holding next week are
Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase; Lagos State governor,
Akinwunmi Ambode; FCT minister, Mohammed Musa Bello; minister of
interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd); minister of
communications, Adebayo Shittu, and executive vice chairman of the
Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Garba Dambatta.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the CCTV contract was awarded to a Chinese
company, ZTE Corporation, by the Goodluck Jonathan administration for
the purpose of enhancing security in the nation’s capital, Abuja, and
commercial capital, Lagos, but the contract was not executed.
The adhoc committee chaired by Hon. Ahmed Yarima has also invited
stakeholders like ZTE Corporation of China and its managing director in
Nigeria; Nigeria Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT); BC-TEC
Engineering; NETLINK Broadband Networks Ltd; OPEN SKYS Services Ltd; LTS
Security and Communication Ltd; director-general (DG), Debt Management
Office (DMO); FIRS chairman; registrar-general, Corporate Affairs
Commission (CAC), and the DG Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP).
Similarly, two former ministers of police affairs, Malam Adamu Maina
Waziri and Dr Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, as well as two former permanent
secretaries in the ministry, Dr Tukur Ingawa and Bukar Goni Aji, along
with the ministry’s former project officer, Mrs Hannatu Batagarawa, were
also invited to appear at the public hearing.
Hon. Yarima told journalists in Abuja yesterday that the committee’s
mission was to recover public funds, adding that anyone found wanting
would be made to face the music.
He said the lawmakers believe there is continuity in governance and
that current government officials should have met the records of such
contracts, which was why they have been invited too.
Yerima added that the committee had already gathered all relevant
information on the matter and advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to
delay action on the outcome of their investigation.
Dogara Seeks Permanent Solution To IDPs Crisis
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara,
has stated that violence across the country must be put to an end if the
crisis of internally displaced persons is to be contained.
The Speaker said this yesterday when he received a delegation from
the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced
Persons led by its federal commissioner, Hajiya Hadiza Kangiwa, at the
National Assembly.
He told the delegation, “On the part of the House, we believe in
permanent solutions. There is this challenge: we need to tame the tide
of violence that resulted in the displacement in the first place. I
guess that is the biggest challenge we are facing. If we are able to
resolve that and they go back to their communities, then we would have
depopulated the camps.”
Dogara noted that until the issue of Boko Haram insurgency is no
longer viewed as a regional problem, but treated with the same national
gloves with which Niger Delta militancy was addressed, the solution may
not be near.
The speaker explained that in view of the recent challenges in the
world which have presented cases of challenges to authority and other
forms of rebellion, it had become imperative for government to be
proactive to issues related to addressing displaced persons who are
affected by such crisis, by making adequate provisions in catering for
their needs.
Dogara said, “Whether we like it or not, the problem of refugees and
internally displaced persons are problems that we cannot just wish away.
The world is changing in a fashion or in a manner that no one could
have predicted. Some of those things we thought were traditionally
impossible for Nigerians to do are now here with us; in those days we
used to say no Nigerian could blow himself up but we’ve come to see that
there are a lot of our citizens who are motivated to embark on such
missions.”
Calling for the commission to be proactive, he noted that “if care is
not taken, it is a problem which we may be stuck in for quite some
time. That therefore calls for deliberate planning and not just adhoc
measures on the part of government, which will not take us anywhere.”
The speaker also recounted his experience during his visit to an IDPs
camp in the FCT and encouraged the agency to provide basic facilities
to such camps such as schools, health and maternity services and potable
water.
Earlier, Hajiya Kangiwa had commended the National Assembly for its
efforts at providing durable solutions to the issue of IDPs and refugees
in the country, while advocating for the adopting of measures that will
decongest the camps.
The national commissioner said, “We are very encouraged by the way
the National Assembly – Senate and the House – are approaching this
durable solutions thing. By now, all of us have come to realise that
displacement issue is not all about emergency.”
She also commended the principal officers for their commitment, and
the speaker for his oversight trips to the camps which gave him
first-hand knowledge of what is on ground
Sources ; leadership
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