Tell a Tale

The House of Representatives, yesterday, passed the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in a valedictory session to end the Seventh Assembly And as the Seventh Senate came to an end also yesterday, out-going Senate President, David Mark, has taken responsibility for any shortcoming by the upper chamber even as a political watchdog, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), rejected the 46 bills passed Wednesday by the Senate National Assembly. Mark also said his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not interested in any of the leadership positions in the eighth Senate. According to TMG, the legislators acted neither with recourse to due legislative process nor a sense of reflection about the implications of their action on the image of the country. And yet again, attempts by the seventh Senate to redeem the Fourth Alteration Amendment Bill met a dead end yesterday as it failed to override the President’s veto. The House had on Tuesday suspended the considera...

The Senate at plenary on Wednesday passed 46 bills earlier passed by the House of Representatives on a single day. While the entire Senate session lasted less than five hours, the lawmakers used about 10 minutes to pass the bills. The decision followed a motion moved by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Ita Enang (APC-Akwa Ibom North-East) and supported by eight others. The Senate equally approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to appoint 15 special advisers. Mr. Enang, in the motion, called on the Senate to invoke Order 1 (b) of the Senate Standing Order to adopt a special procedure on the bills. He explained that the motion was based on “mutual consent” and “legislative reciprocities”, as the House of Representatives was adopting a similar special procedure on bills transmitted by the Senate for concurrence. Mr. Enang called for the suspension of Order 79 (1) of the Senate Standing Order, which stipulates that all bills should go through fir...

The Senate on Wednesday passed the Sexual Offences Bill, 2015 which prescribes life imprisonment for rapists and those who have sexual intercourse with children under 11 years. The passage of the bill followed the report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Chaired by Umaru Dahiru (APC Sokoto-South). Presenting the report, Mr. Dahiru said the passage of the bill would give legal backing for the prosecution of sexual offenders. He said if approved, rapists and those who sexually abuse children would bag life imprisonment while other sexual offenders would also be sentenced to serve various prison terms. The President of the Senate, David Mark, expressed delight on the efforts of the committee to evolve a stronger law against sexual violations, “I want to particularly thank and congratulate Chris Anyanwu, the sponsor of the Bill for the passage for initiating the process of this amendment,’’ Mark said. Speaking to journalists after plenary, Ms. ...

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has denied putting forward any candidate for the Senate Presidency, reports   The Nation. The party noted that it is not behind the plot to present incumbent Senate President David Mark as a candidate for the Senate Presidency. Briefing newsmen at the end of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the party has no plan to take away the position from the All Progressives Congress (APC) which formed a majority in the Senate. He stated that the senators are matured with vast experience and can determine who leads them in the assembly without external influence. He denied that the issue of the election of Senate President and the deputy was discussed during the retreat organized for the party’s senators-elect. From News24