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N579bn Not Enough For Nigeria Army To Fight Terrorists, Others —- COAS Yahaya Tells Senate

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The Nigerian Army on Wednesday appealed to the Federal Government to exempt it from the annual envelope budgeting being adopted by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Farouk Yahaya, made the appeal when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Army to defend the 2022 budget.

Yahaya told the panel that the sum of N579bn approved for the Nigerian Army for the 2022 fiscal year was grossly inadequate to fight terrorism and banditry in the country.

He said, “In preparing for the year 2022 budget, the Nigerian Army proposed the sum of N710bn.

“However, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning budget ceiling reduced it to N579bn.

“This reduction would impede the capacity and tempo of the Nigerian Army in carrying out its constitutional duties particularly the ongoing war against Boko Haram terrorists and other criminalities across the country.

“The National Assembly should prevail on the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning to exempt the Nigerian Army from the current budget ceiling or envelope allocation system.

“I therefore passionately appeal to this (Senate) committee to impress it on the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning to begin the release of the year 2022 Nigerian Army capital budget from the First Quarter 2022.

“This would help the Nigerian Army to rehabilitate dilapidated accommodations in over 138 barracks and training facilities across our units, and formations as well as procure the needed equipment and platforms to prosecute the war against terrorism and other criminalities across the country.”

The army chief urged the Senate panel to approve the sum of N642.7bn as the Nigerian Army personnel emolument for the 2022 budget.

He also requested the approval of N29.6bn as overhead cost and N37.6bn as capital expenditure.

He assured the panel that the Nigerian Army was committed to securing the territorial integrity of Nigeria from any violation.

Yahaya said, “The timely and complete implementation of the 2022 budget will thus enhance the fulfillment of the Nigerian Army’s constitutional mandate and thus engender peace for the socio-economic development of our country Nigeria.”

He said the COVID-19 pandemic affected the global socioeconomic activities including that of Nigeria, adding that the attendant negative consequences allowed insecurity to fester.

The army chief also said he recognized the need to boost the morale of the soldiers and that he had been doing so regularly.

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BREAKING: Court Finds Natasha Guilty Of Contempt, Fines Her N5 million

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday convicted the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for contempt over a satirical apology she posted on her Facebook page on April 27.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering judgment in the suit filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan challenging her suspension, began with the contempt application submitted by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Akpabio, in his application, argued that the senator’s social media post breached an earlier court order that restrained all parties from speaking to the press or posting on social media about the matter.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel contended that the post was unrelated to the court’s order on her suspension but was about a separate matter involving sexual harassment claims against the third respondent (Akpabio).

However, Justice Nyako ruled that after reviewing the post and the application before her filed by the third respondent, she was convinced it was connected to the suspension case before the court and therefore declared the plaintiff guilty of contempt.

The judge directed Akpoti-Uduaghan to publish an apology in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page within seven days. She also imposed a fine of N5 million.

 

More to come…

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BREAKING: Court Orders Senate To Recall Suspended Natasha Akpoti

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate exceeded its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her to be immediately recalled to the Red Chamber.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering the judgment, described the suspension period as “excessive” and lacking a solid legal basis.

The court stated that both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the Senate relied on, do not specify a maximum suspension length. Therefore, their application in this situation was considered overreaching.

The judge noted that since the National Assembly is only mandated to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for about the same length of time effectively silences an entire constituency, calling it unconstitutional.

“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.

However, the court agreed with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on a different issue, ruling that his decision to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from speaking during a plenary—because she was not in her designated seat—did not violate her rights.

Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary should not interfere in what he described as an “internal affair” of the legislature, saying fundamental rights and representation fall squarely within the court’s jurisdiction.

In a separate twist, the court imposed a monetary penalty on Akpoti-Uduaghan for violating an earlier court directive that barred both parties from making public comments about the ongoing legal proceedings.

The fine amounts to millions of naira.

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COALITION: We’ll Register New Party As Backup To ADC — El-Rufai

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A leader of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and an important figure in the opposition coalition, Nasir El-Rufai, stated that a new political party would be registered as a backup for the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

El-Rufai explained that the new party would serve as an alternative option to guard against potential infiltration by the All Progressives Congress, APC, into the ADC.

The opposition coalition had chosen the ADC as its platform on Wednesday.

However, El-Rufai noted that there is a possibility the APC could spark a crisis within the ADC by turning old members against the new leadership.

He revealed this during an interview with Radio France International (RFI) Hausa Service on Wednesday night.

“Those who refuse to join the APC face threats of investigations by agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), or Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“The opposition parties’ alliance in the ADC is temporary, and we may register a new party as a second option, which we will move to should the ADC be instigated into crisis by the government,” the former Kaduna governor stated.

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