Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo being welcomed by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon.

Yakubu Dogara while Senate President, Sen.

Bukola Saraki looks on during the Parade of Honour for the Late Former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

HIGHLIGHTS:
 Rising Violence, Killings, Indications Nigeria’s Security Architecture Faulty
 It Is Political Malpractice For Parties To Govern Without Manifesto - Dogara
 Lawmakers Ask FG To Give13% Derivation To Oil Producing States From $1 Billion
Approved For Fight Against Insurgency In North East.

Rising Violence, Killings, Indica-
tions Nigeria’s Security Archi-
tecture Faulty - Speaker Dogara
Speaker Yakubu Dogara has said the violence, un-
lawful killings and general feeling of insecurity go-
ing on across the country are indicative that there
are problems with the nation's security architecture
that require solutions.
He, therefore, urged the Nigeria Police to focus on
its primary responsibility of curbing crime, terrorism
and violence in the country, starting from the re-
cruitment process of its officers and men, in order
to give Nigerians respite from incessant security
challenges.
Hon Dogara made these statements when he re-
ceived a delegation from the Police Service Com-
mission (PSC) who paid him a courtesy call in his
office.
He said, over the years, various Acts of parliament
have set up other security agencies that have taken
up roles hitherto carried out by the Police, leaving it
now with the responsibility of curbing crime and
violence.
Hon Dogara noted that law and order are central to
successful democracy and since no democracy is
stronger than the total architecture that secures the
order on which that democracy is built, citizens can-
not even begin to enjoy the benefits of democracy
if there is no peace.
Lawmakers Ask FG To Give13%
Derivation To Oil Producing
States From $1 Billion Approved
For Fight Against Insurgency In
North East.
The House of Representatives has urged the Feder-
al Ministry of Finance to ensure that13% of the 1
billion dollars approved by the National Economic
Council on 14 December, 2017, to fight Boko Ha-
ram insurgency is deducted and paid to the oil pro-
ducing states in Nigeria in compliance with section
162(2) of the 1999 Constitution.
The lawmakers also mandated the Committees on
Finance and Legislative Compliance to
ensure compliance with the resolution, which was
contained in a motion sponsored by Hon Ken
Chikere.
The House noted the proviso to Section 162(2) of
the 1999 Constitution which sets13% of the pro-
ceeds of the oil producing states in Nigeria as deri-
vation fund payable to the benefitting states of
Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo,
Abia, Imo, Ondo, Anambra and Lagos.
It said it was aware that the 13% derivation fund
payable to oil producing states had not been de-
ducted and paid to them from the $1 billion before
or after the approval of the said sum to fight Boko
Haram insurgency.
The legislators argued that if the 13% derivation
fund is not deducted from the $1 billion and paid
to the oil producing states, it would amount to
double contribution from them and also a breach
of section 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution and Sec-
tion 1 of the Allocation of Revenue (Federation Ac-
count, etc.) Act, Cap. A15, Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria, 2004.
The lawmakers, however, agreed that more funds
should be expended in tackling the insurgency so
that the already spent funds and efforts in the war
against Boko Haram will not be a waste.
It Is Political Malpractice
For Parties To Govern
Without Manifesto - Dogara
Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, has said it is an act of malprac-
tice when political parties fail to implement the
promises contained in their manifestos when
they get into power.
This is just as he stated that any political party
that fails to embrace and implement reforms to
institute internal democracy risks extinction.
Delivering remarks at a retreat on 'Dynamics Of
Managing Political Parties', organised by the Na-
tional Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies in
Abuja, the speaker said in an attempt to either cap-
ture or hold on to power, some political parties
make unrealistic promises to the people and end up
not implementing them during governance.
According to him, “it is a political malpractice for an
elected government to govern without reference to
the manifesto that was placed before the voters
which essentially formed the basis of their election.”
He noted that for political parties to effectively
play central role in democratic representation, they
must be managed and operated in such a manner as
to establish trust among the electorate but regretta-
bly, in Africa, and Nigeria in particular, political par-
ties are weak, lacking not only a stable and function-
ing party apparatus, but also a clear programmatic
appeal.
Regularise Appointments Of
Teachers Employed By F.G.C
PTA, House Tells Federal Minis-
try of Education.
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives
have expressed concern over the Federal Min-
istry of Education's refusal to regularise em-
ployment of teachers engaged and paid by
Parents Teachers Association of Federal Gov-
ernment Colleges across the country.

The House, in a motion sponsored by Hon.

Nkole Uko Ndukwe, explained that the PTA
had to engage and pay teachers for the gov-
ernment schools due to lack of teachers for
such core subjects like Mathematics, English
Language, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, etc, for
up to sixteen years on meagre emoluments of
between N20, 000 and N30, 000 per month
without any indication that the federal govern-
ment would regularise their appointments.

It added that it is becoming increasingly diffi-

cult for the association to continue to shoulder
the burden of paying the salaries of those
teachers who are far more in number than the
regular teachers, and added that it was wor-
ried that given the magnitude of the teaching
responsibilities they bear, the college will be
forced to shut down if those teachers are
eventually frustrated out by the refusal of the
government to regularise their employment.

The House, therefore, mandated its Committee

on Tertiary Education and Services to interface
with the Federal Ministry of Education with a
view to ensuring the appointments of the
teachers are regularised.
Reps Urge FG To Start Issuing
Five Years Multiple Visa To
United States Applicants,
Others.
The House of Representatives has mandated its
Committee on Interior to interface with relevant
government agencies with a view to review the
length of the visa issued to American applicants
from one year to five years in order to encourage
the flow of foreign investments, open up the econ-
omy and build local base for businesses in the
country.
This was sequel to a motion raised by Hon. Ehiozu-
wa Johnson Agbonayinma on the floor of the
House.
Leading debate on the motion, Hon Agbonatinma
explained that Nigeria’s visa issuance procedures
and rules approves only a maximum of one year
single entry visa for American and other applicants,
whereas the American government issues a maxi-
mum of up to five years multiple entry visas to Ni-
gerian applicants.
He added that a review of the nation’s visa policy
will likely lead to an increase in the number of
American, Asian and European investors visiting the
country for businesses and also increase the pres-
ence of tourist, thereby boosting the economy.
Furthermore, the lawmaker disclosed that an esti-
mated one million Nigerians and Nigerian-
aAmericans live, study and work in the United
States, with Nigeria having the highest population
of African immigrants in the country.
He stressed that it is imperative for Nigeria to sus-
tain the cordial relationship by reciprocating the
good gesture of the United States by reviewing her
visa issuance policy from a single one-year entry to
up to five-years for American visa applicants and
those of other countries.
Lawmakers Seek Special Budget-
ary Intervention For NAPRI-Zaria
To Address Recurring Herdsmen/
Farmers Clashes.
In a bid to facilitate a quick resolution of the current se-
curity impasse in the country caused by activities of killer
herdsmen, the Committees on Agricultural Colleges and
Institutions, Agricultural Production and Services and Ap-
propriations have been directed to package a special in-
tervention for NAPRI in the 2018 budget to enable it pro-
duce more of its developed high energy, high vitamin
and high protein grass species that can be multiplied to
feed much more than Nigeria's current national cattle
population all year round.
The decision was contained in a motion moved by Hon.
Dennis Nnamdi Agbo, whose resolution the House
adopted.
The House that the devastations caused by herdsmen
have presented serious security challenges in our recent
national experience, and resulted in loss of numerous
lives, maiming of people and wanton destruction of
properties across several states in the countrt, with avail-
able security reports indicating that the company of cat-
tle herders might have been infiltrated by criminal ban-
dits and terrorist elements with a clearly sinister agenda
of destabilising the nation.
It said it was convinced that granting attention to provi-
sion of essential pasture and feeds for cattle (by modern
breeding practices), is the key to effectively terminate the
avoidable and tortuous mobility of the herdsmen and
their cattle stock, adding that this task can effectively be
handled by the National Animal Production Research In-
stitute (NAPRI) at Shika-Zaria, was established in 1976 as
the foremost Animal Production Research Institute to
provide technical support and extension services in ani-
mal husbandry in Nigeria, if properly funded.
The House stressed that the agency will be useful in the
quest by many state goverments, and can provide sup-
port services to cattle breeders and support farmers who
want to embrace modern farming methods, adding that a
determined resolve of government to go in the right di-
rection will encourage investments and emergence of
support farmers that will greatly transform the cattle
breeding value chain nationwide, in line with global best
practices.

Complete Otukpo-Ajaokuta
Railway Project To Boost Food
Availability, Reps Tell Execu-
tive
The House of Representatives has said the com-
pletion of Otukpo-Ajaokuta Railway Project will
boost availability of food in the country, as well
as contribute to the growth of the economy by
accruing funds through facilitation of trade in the
country.
To this end, the lawmakers have asked the exec-
utive to ensure that the project is captured in the
2018 budget.
A Hon. Hassan Omale sponsored motion threw
up the matter in the chambers of the House,
where it was stated that the railway project run-
ning from Otukpo in Benue State to Ajaokuta in
Kogi State was started by the administration of
President Shehu Shagari and abandoned, even
after the construction of the railway bridge from
Itobe-Ajaokuta.
The lawmakers said that rail transportation is
about the earliest, cheapest and fastest means of
moving people and goods from one point to the
other, and given that the people of the area are
predominantly farmers, their produce would
have been easily moved to the cities to make
food more available, earn revenue, boost eco-
nomic activities and advance the diversification
of the economy to agriculture.
Return Unutilised Land To Host
Communities, Reps Tell Military
Authorities.
The House of Representatives has urged the
Federal Ministries of Power, Works and Housing
and Defence, in collaboration with the states
ministries of land, to work out modalities for the
return of expanses of unutilised lands to host
communities for productive utilisation.
The resolution was part of a motion sponsored
by Hon. Afe Olowookere on the need to return
unused expanse of land acquired in the 70s by
the then federal military government, measuring
about (¼) one-quarter of the land area of the
cities, for purposes of establishing military bar-
racks.
It stated that at the time those lands were ac-
quired, the communities affected could not raise
any voice of opposition in spite of the economic
deprivation the action constituted considering
the draconian
nature of military rule but since the acquisition,
none of those lands has been put to maximum
use by the military, but rather, more than 80% of
the land has not been occupied, as seen in the
Owena Army barrack in Akure, Ondo State; Ala-
mala Army barrack in Abeokuta, Ogun State;
Ojoo Military Cantonment in Ibadan, Oyo State
and the Abuja acquisition that covers Giri-Zuba-
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The House said it was informed that some com-
mandants of those barracks have, using agents,
turned to emergency landlords/land owners and
are now giving out the periphery of the lands to
people that desire land for economic ventures
on an annual rentage and are raking in for them-
selves, colossal amounts of money, while proper-
ties of those tenants are usually destroyed in the
event of default in payment of rents.

Tax Default: Licensed Lottery
Operators To Face House Probe
The House Committee on Governmental Affairs
has been directed by the House to investigate
the activities of licensed lottery operators from
2000 to date with a view to ensuring that tax de-
faulters among them are made to pay promptly.
The House said that out of the twenty-one (21)
licensed lottery operators in the country, only
about two or three have successfully paid their
fees and other taxes to the federal government
over the last few years, thus leading to the coun-
try losing millions of naira in revenue.
The lawmakers added that those lottery opera-
tors have been defaulting in payments of all their
fees to the commission for more than 10 years
now, with the nature and type of games being
played, the list of winners and total amount gen-
erated questionable.
The House recalled that the acting director gen-
eral of the commission had himself disclosed that
since his assumption of office about four months
ago, the operators have not met their obliga-
tions.
State Of Nigerian Prisons To Be
Investigated By Lawmakers
...to also cover upliftment of prisoners' fundamental
rights.
The House Committees on Interior, Human Rights,
Federal Judiciary, FCT Judiciary and Police Affairs
will conduct an investigative hearing on prison re-
forms in order to identify the specific challenges in
terms of infrastructure, administration of criminal
justice system and other factors that could facilitate
the decongestion and reform of the prison system.
Sequel to the adoption of the resolution of a mo-
tion sponsored by Hon. Olufemi Fakeye, the House
noted that the level of congestion in Nigerian Pris-
ons has become so alarming that they no longer
serve as correctional facilities for reformation of
inmates.
The legislators expressed concern that information
by the Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action
(PRAWA), in partnership with the Nigerian Prison
Service (NPS), show that only 21,354 inmates
(comprising 21,009 males and 345 females) were
convicted offenders, while the remaining 46,756
inmates (comprising 45,765 males and 991 fe-
males) were still awaiting trial in prisons with high
congestion, exposure to risks of epidemics, jail
breaks, lack of inmates reform, transmission of bad
habits and crime techniques by hardened criminals,
anti-social tendencies and moral decadence rang-
ing from homosexuality to other forms of human
abuse through illicit relationships.
They also concern that the courts have continued
to send accused persons to the already overcrowd-
ed prisons, even when their offences could have
been otherwise handled in line with the provisions
of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015
and lamented that the objectives of the Criminal
Justice System, the primary purpose of governance
under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive
Principles of State Policy in the 1999 Constitution
as well as the Fundamental Rights of Nigerians and
several treaties to which Nigeria is signatory would
be negated if the poor state of the prisons is not
urgently addressed.

Rep Dorothy Mato Issues
Disclaimer On N150million
Lawsuit Against Dogara
Hon. Dorothy Mato representing Vandeikya/ Kon-
shisha Federal Constituency of Benue State, has
issued a disclaimer dissociating her from a lawsuit
filed against the Speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara.
The lawsuit, filed in the Federal High Court Makur-
di, Benue State, demands a compensation of N150,
000 Million as reparations for the delay in swearing
the lawmaker into the House.
The suit was reportedly filed by Mr. Mike Utsaha
Esq, on behalf of a Fidelis Ahamgba, who claims to
be a constituent of Mrs. Mato.
Reacting to the lawsuit, Lynda Adzuanaga, a legis-
lative aide to Mrs. Mato, said they have no personal
contact or relationship with the petitioner who, in
turn, has never reached out or sought the opinion
of the lawmaker.
She further described the lawsuit as a joke based on
mischief, stating that the petitioner ought to have
contacted the member for clarification, rather than
embarking on a fruitless journey.
According to her, “it is pertinent to set evidential
background to clear the air on this matter. The rea-
son for the delay in swearing-in Honourable Mato
was premised on legal action filed by the same le-
gal practitioner on the same subject matter against
the Speaker and the Honourable Dorothy Mato in
August 2017.
“Also, the spontaneous intervention by Hon. Mato
and the Executive Governor of Benue State, Samuel
Ortom who reached out to the lawyer to withdraw
the matter which they did.”
Ms. Lynda also added that Mrs. Mato has been
sworn as a House of Representatives member and
has since settled into her new role, enjoying a good
relationship with her colleagues and the tremen-
dous goodwill of the Speaker.
Committee on Nigeria-Saudi Arabia Parliamentary Committee on Industry (2018 Budget Defence with
Friendship and Hajj Affairs in Session SMEDAN

Committee on Tertiary Education in Session