A couple of months to the end of their tenure, members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives, especially those who lost their re-election tickets, are not leaving any stone unturned in a bid to get their last share of the national cake from the Presidency.
In fact, it was by a stroke of luck that a physical combat was averted yesterday between House majority leader Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola (Ogbomoso North/Ogbomoso South/Orire, Oyo State) and another member, Hon Gerald Irona (Oguta/Ohaji-Egbema/Oru West, Imo State).
LEADERSHIP reports that while the former won her re-election ticket, Irona lost at the primaries.
Trouble started when Irona moved menacingly to accost the House leader at her allotted seat, accusing her of deliberately excluding him from an invitation sent to the House of Reps PDP caucus members to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan, but he was quickly thwarted by the deputy leader, Hon Leo Ogor, and other members seated close to her.
The development temporarily stalled proceedings and forced an abrupt hour-long closed-door executive session to settle the matter.
And while some members continued to pacify the aggrieved lawmaker, Irona threatened at the top of his voice to embarrass the House leader, accusing her of premeditated disregard.
“I don’t like it. This is not the first time you have done that to me. Stop it or I will embarrass you,” he burst out, alleging that his non-invitation was a deliberate act by the House leader to scheme him out of the party’s affairs.
But the remote reason for the altercation, it was further gathered, was the reported disbursement of a largesse allegedly extended to the PDP members in the House who attended the meeting with the president at the villa on Sunday evening.
However, when contacted in her office, the House leader told newsmen that the issue had nothing to do with money arising from their meeting with the president.
“lt was a simple matter of non-receipt of the SMS for the caucus meeting. He (Irona) complained to me earlier and I asked him to bring his phone number which I left with my aide who handles such matters.
“And even, I did not get the SMS that he sent out, and I had to call his attention again – and he said it was a network problem. I asked him to re-send them because members were calling me to say they heard about the meeting but did not get any notification. So, it wasn’t only him who did not get the SMS,” she explained.
Uproar over AIG Mbu’s conduct
A motion calling for condemnation and disciplinary action against the recent conduct of the assistant inspector-general of police in charge of Zone 2, Lagos, AIG Joseph Mbu, turned the plenary of the House of Representatives rowdy yesterday.
The motion, which was moved by Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki (APC, Kano), asking that Mbu should be relieved of any role in the conduct of the 2015 general elections for conduct allegedly unbecoming of a police officer, was hinged on the recent utterances and actions of Mbu, which he said were at variance with the constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act.
Hon Madaki remarked that the constitution guarantees immunity to state governors and their deputies and, therefore, no authority or person, including courts of law, had the right not to accord governors such privileges.
He noted that Mbu allegedly directed all officers and men in his command to disregard any immunity being enjoyed by any governor, an action, he said, amounted to a violation of the constitution.
“The House is concerned about the statement allegedly made by Mbu that if one police officer is killed during the 2015 elections, between 20 and 100 citizens would be killed in return. The House notes with regret the statement by Joseph Mbu, AIG, which was widely reported in national dailies and which amounted to a violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999,” Madaki said in the motion.
The session, however, went rowdy when Hon. Linus Okorie (PDP, Ebonyi) raised a point of order to challenge the motion on the ground that Mbu was unavailable to defend himself.
Members thereafter engaged themselves in shouting match and would not let Okorie continue his speech.
In a bid to calm the situation, deputy speaker, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, who presided, called for a voice vote on the matter, which was too close to call, and he consequently referred the motion to the Committee on Police Affairs for investigation.
LEADERSHIP recalls that Mbu had, while speaking during the inauguration of the Olorunsogo II Power Station by President Goodluck Jonathan in Ogun State at the weekend, said: “I still stand by what I said – and what I said is very clear: that if any violent group attacks my policemen, my policemen should attack them violently.
“If any violent group attacks a law-abiding citizen in a bid to cause injury or cause harm, the police should repel and save that law-abiding citizen because we have the powers to do so.
“If hoodlums or touts decide to be lawless – carrying knives, carrying illegal firearms and shooting at my policemen – if they shoot at my policemen and they are 100 or 200, my policemen will not be looking at them; they will reply in self-defence.”
Cybercrime bill for second reading
The House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed for second reading a cybercrime bill which empowers security agents to intercept and record electronic communications between individuals, in order to facilitate a criminal investigation.
The Bill was sent to the National Assembly early last year by President Goodluck Jonathan. Majority leader, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, led debates on the cybercrime bill.
According to the bill, “electronic communication” that could be intercepted include communication in electronic format, instant messages, short message service (SMS), e-mail, video, voice mails, multimedia message service (MMS), fax and pager.
However, there are some restrictions: an ex parte order of a court is needed before a law enforcement officer conducts a cybercrime investigation.
Under a sub-heading ‘Interception of electronic communications,’ section 22 of the bill says, “Where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the content of any electronic communication is reasonably required for the purposes of a criminal investigation or proceedings, a judge may on the basis of information on oath:
“(a) Order a service provider, through the application of technical means to collect, record, permit or assist competent authorities with the collection or recording of content data associated with specified communications transmitted by means of a computer system; or
“(b) Authorise a law enforcement officer to collect or record such data through application of technical means.”
In the bill’s punitive provisions, service providers that refuse to release subscriber data requested by the security agencies are liable to N10million fine, while each of its directors, managers or officers shall be liable to three-year jail terms, N7 million fine or both.
The bill imposes at least a 10-year jail term or N20 million fine for any person convicted for producing and distributing child pornography.
It specifies 10 years in jail, N15 million fine, or both, for paedophiles.
Leading debate on the bill, Akande-Adeola said the bill would ensure the protection of critical national information from criminal hackers and infiltrators as well as promote cyber security and the protection of computer systems and networks, electronic communications, data and computer programmes.
According to her, cybercrimes have become phenomenal in global socio-economic lives as well as a tool for international terrorism and money laundering.
Akande-Adeola said the absence of a coordinated legal or regulatory framework for cybercrime prohibition, detection, investigation and prosecution in Nigeria had made the country a hub for cybercrime.
LEADERSHIP recalls that an Israeli company, Elbit Systems, announced in 2013 that it had won Nigerian government’s $40 million internet monitoring contract.
Rep seeks military briefing on Abubakar Shekau’s true identity
A federal lawmaker, Hon. Benjamin Aboho, yesterday called on the military to brief the House of Representatives on the true identity of the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.
Aboho (Benue/PDP) told lawmakers at yesterday’s House plenary that President Goodluck Jonathan’s bid to capture Shekau before the March 28 elections contradicted an earlier claim by Nigeria’s military that it had killed the sect’s leader during a shootout.
There has been no official retraction by the military, Aboho informed lawmakers.
But as House members voted for the motion to be taken yesterday, the deputy majority leader, Leo Ogor, halted further debate on the motion through a legislative technicality.
The presiding deputy speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, ruled that the motion would be debated today.
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