House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara (middle) exchanging pleasantries with French Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb.

Dennys Gauer ( left ) while

Chairman, Foreign Relations, Hon. Nnenna Ijeoma Ukeje ( right) looks on during a courtesy visit to the Speaker by a delegation from the French Ministry of
Foreign Affairs at the National Assembly

HIGHLIGHTS:
 Refining Crude Locally Permanent Solution to Embarrassing
Fuel Scarcity - Speaker
 President Macron To Address Joint Session Of National Assembly in July

 Dogara Urges African MPs to Protect Democracy

 Lawmakers Urge Executive To Implement National Broadband Plan

Refining Crude Locally Perma-
nent Solution to Embarrassing
Fuel Scarcity - Speaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu
Dogara, has advocated for local refining of crude oil
to make fuel available and easily accessible to all Ni-
gerians, saying every other measure to put an end to
the recurring problem of fuel scarcity will work tem-
porarily.

The Speaker made this known when he received the

executive members of the Petroleum and Natural
Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN),
in the National Assembly.

Hon Dogara said while consultation is ongoing on the

part of leadership at different strata, the results will
only achieve temporary relief until refineries are func-
tioning enough to refine crude locally to meet the
demand of Nigerians.

The speaker also called for capacity building for pe-

troleum sector workers to enable them discharge
their responsibilities to yield optimal results.

While thanking PENGASSAN for taking the right path

by engaging with legislators on areas of concern on
developments in the petroleum sector, he noted that
dialogue between citizens in the form of associations,
unions and civil society groups, and the legislature,
will deepen the process of democracy by making the
government more responsive to their demands.

Hon Dogara also assured them that the House and

the Senate are jointly working on the remaining com-
ponents of the Petroleum Industry Bill to ensure that
their passage are expedited, while advising them to
take the opportunity of the joint public hearing of
both petroleum committees of the National Assembly
to make their input to the Bill.

Earlier, president of PENGASSAN, Comrade Francis

Olabode Johnson, commended the House for its ef-
fort at ensuring accountability and transparency in
the oil and gas industry, as well as the National As-
sembly for passing the PIGB.
President Macron To Address to further deepen relations with Nigeria, especially
in areas such as youths development, culture and
Joint Session Of National As- creativity.
sembly in July Responding, Speaker Yakubu Dogara said that
members of House of Representatives and, indeed,
President Emmanuel Macron of France is billed to
the National Assembly, will want to listen to the
visit Nigeria in early July and will seek to address
French President who he described as a man of our
the joint session of the National Assembly, Ambas-
generation.
sador of France to Nigeria, Mr. Denys Gauer, has
said.
Hon Dogara said President Macron has brought a
lot of youthful zest, dynamism, charisma and appeal
Speaking when he paid a visit to the Speaker of the
to French politics and the lawmakers would be
House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, at
pleased to yield the floor to him.
the National Assembly, Mr. Gauer said the French
president has interest in the future and develop-
While commending the French government for as-
ment of Nigeria.
sisting Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram ter-
rorists, the speaker pledged that the House will give
He revealed that Mr. Macron had worked in the
expeditious passage to bilateral agreements that will
French embassy in Abuja for six months during the
be signed between Nigeria and France during Mr.
early period of his career and that whereas relations
Macron’s visit.
between the two countries in the last few years
have centred on security, he hopes to use the visit
Dogara Urges African MPs to
Protect Democracy
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yaku-
bu Dogara, has counselled lawmakers in Africa to
protect democracy by ensuring that the will and as-
pirations of citizens are priority in dispensing their
duties, saying it will be dangerous to take the prac-
tice of democracy for granted.

The Speaker said this when he received a parliamen-

tary delegation from the National Assembly of the
Republic of Niger, led by Hon Sanousi Mousa Ma-
reini.

He added that for democracy to be sustained, it

must work for the people and urged them to ensure
that they are active in their government by serving
as checks through their legislative oversight of the
activities of the executive to ensure that it delivers
on the promises of democracy which is freedom,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

He went further to add that when a parliament isn't

functional, the benefits of democracy cannot be en-
joyed by the people, citing a case with poor legisla-
tive oversight in states in Nigeria, "where democracy
is weak because the parliaments are a bit weak."

Hon Dogara said this emphasises the need

for autonomy for state legislatures to empower
them more to properly conduct oversight over the
executive, which the National Assembly has already
granted.

Parliament Calls On FG To Create
Databank Of Moribund Industries
With A View To Salvaging/
Resuscitating Them.
Sequel to a motion raised on the floor of the House
of Representatives by Hon. Abubakar Husaini Moriki,
the House has called on the federal government to
carry out a survey of moribund industries/companies
across the country with a view to creating a databank
on moribund industries/companies (both publicly
and privately owned), and proffer mechanism for re-
suscitating them.
The House noted that from the early 1960s to the
late 1980s, the Nigerian economy was booming, due
mainly to the government industrialisation policies
such as the indigenisation exercise and import substi-
tution policy etc, which then encouraged the estab-
lishment of public and private industries and as a re-
sult, a lot of Nigerians were gainfully employed and
their standard of living was relatively high.
The lawmakers economic down turn and other global
and national factors resulted in the closing down of
many industries and companies with its attendant
economic consequences such as growing unemploy-
ment, increased criminality and social discontent
which was hitherto never experienced.
They added that the economic recession experienced
by the country brought to the fore, the dire need for
diversification of the economy by reviving the mori-
bund industries and focusing attention to the non –
oil sector which remains one of the surest ways to
reposition the country on the path of sustainable
growth and development.
Lawmakers Pass Vote Of No
Confidence On IGP Idris Ibra-
him
...call for his replacement.
The House of Representatives has called for
the replacement of the inspector general of Po-
lice with a more professional officer, while con-
demning the police public relations officer for
calling the governor of Benue State a drowning
man.
The lawmakers, sequel to the adoption of resolu-
tions of two separate motions sponsored by Hon
Mark Gbillah and Hon. Danburam Abubakar Nu-
hu, said the conduct of the police in recent times
has shown unprofessionalism and unwillingness
to act when necessary.
Hon. Mark Terseer Gbillah,while moving a motion
of urgent public importance, noted the deroga-
tory statement made by the police PRO against a
governor of a state where he asked the governor
to resign and also described him as a drowning
man and the seeming unwillingness of the IGP to
recognise and enforce a constitutionally enacted
law by the legislative arm of government.
In his own motion on the need to curb thuggery
in political activities in Kano and Nigeria in gen-
eral, Hon. Danburam Abubakar Nuhu stated that
the inspector general of police has showed bias-
es in performing his functions, with the police
force now being used as a tool to pursue political
interests.
In contributions to the motions, which were
keenly and exhaustively debated, the lawmakers
spoke from different experiences and came to
the conclusion that the Nigeria Police Force, as
presently constituted, has displayed lack of ca-
pacity to carry out its core function of protecting
the lives and property of all Nigerians, irrespec-
tive of who they are.

Lawmakers Condemn Manipu-
lation Of Justice System
By AGF/EFCC
Lawmakers in the House have condemned the ma-
nipulation of the legal system by the attorney gen-
eral of the federation (AGF) and the acting chairman
of the Economic and Financial crimes Commission
(EFCC) over the handling of the case of Code of
Conduct Tribunal (CCT) chairman, Justice Danladi
Umar.
It has, therefore, mandated the House Committee on
Judiciary to interact with the AGF to ensure that san-
ity is brought back to the case.
House minority whip, Hon. Yakubu Umar Barde, had
moved a motion of urgent public importance on the
need to ensure sanity in the administration of the
justice system in the fight against corruption in Ni-
geria.
He noted that the attorney general of the federation
and minister of Justice, EFCC and CCT are indispen-
sable in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, but
recent turn of events where the EFCC, which had
cleared the CCT chairman of corruption is now
charging him with the same offence, while prosecut-
ing cases before him, calls for concern.
House Asks Presidency To
Include Kaduna and Plateau
States In Farmer/Herdsmen
Clashes Visitation Panel List
Following a motion moved by Hon. Sunday Marshal
Katung to protest the exclusion of Kaduna and Plat-
eau States in the list of states affected by farmers/
herdsmen clashes to be visited by a panel constitut-
ed by the National Executice Council (NEC, the
House of Representatives has asked the presidency
to include the two states.
Hon Katung had argued that it was a gross error to
not include the two states where the clashes started
from. He added that the devastation it left behind
in the affected communities are still visible for all to
see, with homeless people who were displaced from
their homes scattered all over.
He, therefore, sought the inclusion of the two
states, saying failure to do so would mean treating
the problem from the surface and not the root as
well as passing a signal that all hope is lost for the
communities who have been hopeful of a lasting
solution to the problem.
The lawmaker, therefore, called on the executive to
correct itself by including Kaduna and Plateau States
in the visitation panel's list. The motion was ap-
proved by the members.

He said the development gives an impression that

the justice system is being manipulated and given
the circumstances, judgments by the CCT may be
rendered null and void by the Court of Appeal based
on credibility of the trial judge, thereby frustrating
the course of justice. He also described as disturbing,
the fact that the AGF seems to be instrumental in
this "unwholesome saga".
NCS Border Surveillance Op-
eratives To Face Parliamentary
Probe
The House Committee on Customs and Excise has
been mandated to investigate alleged unwarranted
killings and shooting of people which has caused
fear among the populace and ascertain whether
the agency's financial operations are in line with
financial regulations.

The lawmakers also urged the federal government

to put in place measures to ensure regular moni-
toring of surveillance operatives of the Nigeria Cus-
toms Service to avert unwarranted shooting of in-
nocent citizens.

These were part of resolutions passed by the

House when it adopted a motion moved by Hon.
Wole Diya on the subject.

The House noted recurring allegations that some

officials of the Service routinely engage in corrupt
activities aimed at self-enrichment to the detriment
of enhancing the revenue base of the nation, aid
and abet smuggling, especially those dealing on
rice who pay their ways into the country, only for
the same customs officials to start chasing traders
who bought those bags of rice for sale, at times
raiding markets or mounting road blocks for the
exercise, rather than preventing the smuggling of
the products into the country, in the first place.

The legislators also expressed concern over inci-

dents of random, indiscriminate shooting of Nigeri-
ans by surveillance operatives of the Customs Ser-
vice at various land borders in the guise of curtail-
ing smuggling activities across the country, while
stressing the need to revamp the Customs Service
for more efficient and effective operations and to
conform to international best practices.

A Dependent Legislature
Cannot Do The Work Of
Democracy– Speaker Dogara
...Says prolonged military exposure responsible for
misconception surrounding legislative duties
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yaku-
bu Dogara, has said that state Houses of Assembly
which are excessively dependent on governors can-
not deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
Hon. Dogara who made the remarks at the ninth
meeting of clerks of the National Assembly and state
legislatures in Abuja, described lack of independence
of state legislatures as “cancerous tumour on our de-
mocracy”.
The Speaker also pledged the commitment of the
National Assembly to deepening democracy and
stressed the importance of capacity building for par-
liamentary staff, especially due to the high turn over
rate of legislators.
“The National Assembly is more than committed to
deepening our democracy and the independence of
the Legislature at the State level is key to this effort.
Although negative responses from State Legislatures
on this subject in the past have been a source of dis-
appointment, it must be understood that even this is
a consequence of the dependency virus.”
“You cannot have an effective Legislature without an
informed, experienced and strong bureaucracy more
so that the turn-over rate of members of on the
Legislature in Nigeria is too high while the same
cannot be said of the bureaucracy. As a corollary, an
underperforming parliament must necessarily have
an underperforming bureaucracy at its base. That is
why it is absolutely important to regularly bring
yourselves together in this kind of atmosphere to
help sharpen each other, push the frontiers and in-
vent new vistas of Legislative governance.”
Speaking further, he described excessive depend-
ence on the Executive as a “cancerous tumour our
democracy” and said that this has adverse effects on
the people.
“A dependent Legislature, one that relies on the Ex-
ecutive for crumbs cannot do the work of democra-
cy. No wonder democracy has been the casualty of
the over dependence of State Parliaments on the
Executive. Anywhere in the world where democracy
suffers, it’s always the people that ultimately pay the
price.”
“Until State Legislature possess the capacity to ef-
fectively oversight and make the Executives at State
levels accountable to the people, the mass of our
people will continue to totter on the hinges of the
promise of democracy”, the Speaker said, calling for
better oversight at state level.
He added that prolonged exposure to military rule
had led to the role of the Legislature being greatly
misunderstood.
“I had noted on previous occasions that the Legisla-
ture as an arm of government is grossly misunder-
stood in the polity owing to the near mortal casual-
ties it suffered in the era of systemic disruption aris-
ing from relentless military interregnum.”
He commended the efforts of parliamentary staff
and urged them to make good use of the oppor-
tunity to compare notes on areas of common inter-
est as managers of the Legislature in Nigeria.
 BUDGET DEFENCE FOR SECURITY AND NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN SESSION

INVESTIGATTIVE HEARING BY COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING ON ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING

ON PUBLIC PETITIONS IN SESSION AND CYBER SECURITY COALITION
Lawmakers Urge Executive To Im-
plement National Broadband
Plan
The House of Representatives has urged the federal
government to speedily implement the National
Broadband Plan (2013-2018) to trigger similar revolu-
tion witnessed in the mobile phone segment in other
sectors.

The lawmakers noted in a motion moved by Hon Ser-

guis Osei Ogun, that in 2012, the Federal Ministry of
Communications Technology set up a presidential
committee on National Broadband Plan, whose report
presented a five year broadband plan (2013-2018) to
make broadband available to all Nigerians.

They said that due to the non-implementation of that

plan, the nation’s Submarine Cable System is still
hampered by gross underutilisation, even after
a $1 billion investment and other investments by sev-
eral billions of dollars by government and private op-
erators, including the Nigerian Telecommunications
Limited (now Ntel), South Atlantic 3(SAT3), Fibre optic
cable of over $600 million, MTN’s West African Cable
System’s (WACS) worth $ 650 million, ACE Cable by
Dolphin Telecoms worth $ 700 million, $300m by
MainOne and Globacom’s Glo cable, also worth $
800 million. Speaker Dogara Mourns
The House added that if the target of a five-fold in-
Otei Oham
crease in broadband penetration by 2017 is achieved
as proposed by the National Broadband Plan, the In- Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yaku-
formation and Communications Technology (ICT) sec- bu Dogara, has expressed deep shock and sadness
tor has the potentials to contribute over 30% to the over the untimely passing away of Mr Otei Oham,
nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) within four who was one of the two Guardian Newspaper's cor-
years, drive economic growth and increase GDP respondents covering the House.
by 1.4 percent.
He described the late Oham as a professional jour-
nalist, who though soft spoken and friendly, did not
compromise when it came to objectivity in his re-
ports of the activities of the House.

While expressing condolence to his family, the

Guardian Newspaper, and the House of Representa-
tives Press Corps, the Speaker prayed God to grant
his gentle soul eternal rest and the family the forti-
tude to bear the irreparable loss.