News
Dajoh steers Benue Assembly to higher pedestal in one year
By Titus Atondu, Makurdi
The 31 members of the 10th Benue State House of Assembly (BSHOA) have unanimously decided to cue behind the humble, vibrant and goal-getting Speaker Rt. Hon. Hyacinth Aondona Dajoh turn around the fortunes of the assembly for the overall good of the people and the state at large.
Hon. Dajoh who knows the road to the assembly made the disclosure while fielding questions from Nigerian NewsDirect, revealing that members have decided to give him their collective backing to deliver on their responsibility of quality legislation making for the betterment of the state and their constituents.
Contained in a text of an address by the Honourable Speaker, Hon. Aondona Dajoh and read at the plenary to mark the end of the first legislative session of the 10th Benue Assembly.
The Speaker also the vice chairman North Central, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria enumerated some of the modest achievements recorded in the assembly under his leadership to include; receipt of 27 bills were 18 of the bills were passed into laws while 6 of the bills are at various committee’s levels and 3 pending.
The house according to the Speaker also received 20 reports, out of which 17 of the reports were conclusively debated upon, the house received and deliberated on 52 substantive motions and adopted 95 major resolutions during the period under review.
The house also received 9 major communications including a request to confirm 17 commissioner nominees in the state executive council, 23 nominees for appointment as chairmen, local government caretaker committees and to approve the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), from 2024 to 2026.
Dajoh explained that it was instructive to note that the confirmation of the Governor’s commissioner nominee’s is a constitutional requirement without which the executive arm of government can not be properly constituted.
“To put the machinery of government in motion, the house expeditiously approved these appointments and that of Special Advisers to enable the Governor to have a formidable team to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of the state. In the similar vein, the house screened and confirmed the chairman and members of the State Independent Electoral Commission to set the stage for the conduct of local government elections and give impetus to the autonomy of the third tier of government in the state,” Speaker maintained.
The Speaker also revealed that the 2024 Financing and Appropriation bills were passed before the December 31, 2023 deadline as a mark of the 10th assembly commitment and support to the executive arm of government to succeed on her numerous responsibilities.
Some of the landmark legislations passed by the house according to Mr. Speaker include; A law to repeal the maintenance of former elected Governors of the state and their Deputies law, 2023, The Benue State Civil Protection Guard (Establishment) law, 2024 and The Benue State Youth Development Commission (Establishment) law 2024.
Dajoh explained that the repeal of the maintenance of former Governors and their Deputies law became necessary to ease the huge financial burden it heaped on the lean resources of the state as well as the Civil Protection Guards Establishment law, is a response to the state’s coordinated approach to permanently end insecurity in the state so that Benue farmers can access their ancestral homes to continue with their farming activities known for to feed the state and the nation at large.
The Speaker further explained that the passage of the law to establish the Youth Development Commission is in recognition of the importance of the youth in the society.
“It is meant to provide a platform by which the interest of the Benue Youth is projected and promoted through training, credit facilities and gainful employment. The objectives of the Commission when implemented will end youth restiveness and help to achieve the Rev. Fr. Alia-led administration’s dream of a peaceful Benue.”
He also disclosed the key motions moved by the house are motions to draw attention of the executive arm of government and the security agencies to the insecurity within and around Benue state on which resolutions have been conveyed accordingly.
“Closely related is the motion to give conditional acceptance to the Federal Government Proposed Resettlement Homes for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state. The importance of this motion is to prevent foreigners from hijacking the resettlement homes at the expense of the indigenous people,” the Speaker explained.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday, approved the appointment of eight new Federal Permanent Secretaries.
The appointment was contained in a statement issued by the president’s Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale
He said the permanent secretaries were appointed to fill in existing and impending vacancies of some states and geo-political zones in the top administrative cadre of the Civil Service of the Federation.
According to Ngelale, they were appointed after a diligent selection process by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The new Permanent Secretaries are, Dr. Emanso Umobong Okop – Akwa-Ibom, Obi Emeka Vitalis – Anambra, Mahmood Fatima Sugra Tabi’a – Bauchi, Danjuma Mohammed Sanusi – Jigawa, Olusanya Olubunmi – Ondo, Keshinro Maryam Ismaila – Zamfara, Akujobi Chinyere Ijeoma (South-East), Isokpunwu Christopher Osaruwanmwen (South-South).
“The President anticipates that the new Federal Permanent Secretaries will exercise absolute dedication, diligence, and fidelity to the nation in the discharge of their functions and ensure optimum service delivery to the Nigerian people”, the statement added.
Gov. Usman Ododo of Kogi says the choice of the state as a special agro-industrial processing zone by the Federal Government is a step in right direction.
Ododo said this when he hosted a delegation from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security on Friday in Lokoja.
He explained that his administration was ready to meet all requirements for the establishment of a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) in the state.
The project ,which is an initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Kogi government, is expected to attract significant foreign and domestic private sector investment into the state.
The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone is expected to process maize, cassava, rice, palm oil, cashew, sugarcane and fish, in line with the commitment of Gov Ododo to transform Kogi into an agro-industrial hub.
The governor said: “We have already allocated 254 hectares of land in Ukpake, AjaoKuta Local Government Area for the purpose of the special agro-industrial processing zone.
“Our decision to establish the agro-industrial processing zone in Ukpake was due to its strategic location and proximity to essential resources such as water supply, electricity, gas, a railway line linking Kogi and a number of states and the proposed international cargo airport in Adogo ,which is a few kilometers from the proposed site of the agro-industrial facility.
“We wish to assure you that Kogi government will do everything possible to provide the enabling environment for the selection of the state for the phase II of the project and its eventual take off.
“This is because it is in line with my administration’s policy on industrialisation and the strong will to guarantee food security in the state through investment in agriculture.
“We are also aware that such investment in agricultural value chain will increase productivity, provide access to market for farmers and provide job opportunities for the teeming population of the state.”
Ododo commended the African Development Bank for the initiative, which he said would enhance job creation and guarantee food security in Kogi and Nigeria ,at large.
In his remarks, Dr. Bashir Ibrahim-Gaya, who led the AfDB delegation, said the assessment tour was intended to verify the readiness of states to be selected in the phase II for the establishment of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone.
Ibrahim-Gaya explained that the SAPZs were being implemented in 18 countries across Africa, including Nigeria.
According to him, the phase I in Nigeria, covering seven states ,including the Federal Capital Territory, has commenced.
“Our team is here in Kogi to assess the state’s readiness as a possible beneficiary in the phase II of the project, ” he said.
In their separate remarks, the State Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Ashiru Idris and Commissioner for Agriculture,Mr Timothy Ojomah, assured of the political will by the state government to see to the realisation of the project in the state.
Ojomah said the proposed agro-industrial processing facility would be supported by adequate and reliable supply of raw materials and semi-processed agricultural produce from the state Agricultural Transformation Centres in Alape, Anyigba and Osara.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government (FG) to grant its demands for better welfare and administrative conditions in public universities.
The union made the request on Friday at a news conference held at the Abia State University (ABSU), Uturu.
The Zonal Coordinator, ASUU Calabar Zone, Mrs Happiness Uduk, said that the only way to avert the imminent nationwide strike was for the State and Federal Governments to meet the union’s demands.
Uduk said that the body had given a two-week ultimatum for its demands to be met, warning that failure to do so would result in an industrial action.
She regretted that the FG had yet to fulfill its commitments under the FG-ASUU agreement in 2009, leading to stagnation in salary scales and overall welfare improvements.
She said: “Government had an agreement with ASUU in 2009, which tells us that for 15 years running, ASUU members have been on the same salary scale, nothing has changed.
“We are requesting that government should complete negotiations it started with us more than 13 years ago, first with the Babalakin-led team, then the Munzali-led team, finally the Briggs-led team.
“These people had completed the negotiations and, if the negotiations had been completed and Mr President has the document, we don’t know why for a year now he has not called us to talk to us about it.
“So, government should as a matter of urgency address our renegotiation and take into account current realities, including inflation rate, exchange rate and whatever needs to go into that,” Uduk said.
She called on the Federal and State Governments to address issues bordering on revitalisation fund for public universities, payment of earned academic allowances and withheld salaries, high taxation and victimisation of ASUU members
She also said that ASUU strongly insisted on the removal of its members in federal universities from the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPIS).
Uduk further said that the high rate of taxation experienced by ASUU members was a result of “the introduction of an obnoxious platform” for salary payment.
“Whatever government has in mind with regards to that, it should use our University Transparency and Accountability Solution or any other platform that would originate from universities rather than the IPPIS,” she said.
She advised that the FG’s students loan scheme be replaced with grants which, she said, would alleviate financial stress on students and improve their academic pursuit.
Uduk called on the FG to stop the proliferation of universities and focus on better funding for the existing ones to improve overall standards within the existing institutions.
She also advocated for the quick resolution of the minimum wage debacle and introduction of a living wage that obtains in saner climes.
On Abia, the ASUU zonal coordinator called on the Abia Government to pay the 11 months salary arrears owed to lecturers in ABSU.
“We are not negotiating any part of that salary for anything because we have worked, taught students and examined them and some of them have graduated,” Uduk said.
She urged the Abia Government to discontinue the use of Treasury Single Account in the payment of ABSU lecturers’ salaries and address the recent inconsistency in the payment of salaries.
According to her, Government is owing April, May and June.
“Let the Abia Government leave payment in the hands of the university administrators and a platform that is consistent with the institution’s operations.
“But it can do its oversight as far as ABSU is concerned,” she said.
Uduk said that some ASUU members at the Ebonyi State University had been suspended for more than two years without salary.
“We call on the Ebonyi governor to look into the peculiarities of the problems in the state university and ensure that our members are reinstated forthwith,” she said.
Uduk said that the ongoing interface with stakeholders was to encourage Nigerians to appeal to the government to do the needful, “otherwise, in two weeks time ASUU will go on strike”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the union had earlier held an interactive session with critical stakeholders, parents, children and traditional rulers, amongst others.
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