National News

Lawmakers at ECOWAS Parliament Still in Fight Over Employment of Staff

Published

3 years ago

October 9, 2022

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Lawmakers at ECOWAS Parliament Still in Fight Over Employment of Staff

By Michael Mike

The controversy surrounding the recent employment by the Economic Committee of West African States (ECOWAS) is not over yet as lawmakers at it’s parliament have rejected a motion to present the outcome of the Ad-hoc committee setup to review allegations of nepotism in the exercise.

The lawmakers registered their protestation against the committee headed by Nigerian Senator Ali Ndume, at the plenary session of the 2nd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament, in Lome, Togo while alleging that the Speaker of Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis constituted the review committee without recourse to parliament.

The lawmakers noted that it was against the rules of parliament for the recruitment exercise to have gone ahead after it was voted to be suspended in the last parliamentary session when allegations of favouritism were raised.

Hon Awaji-Inombek Abiante who moved a point of order said that the report of the Ad-hoc Committee as set up by the Bureau was given the mandate to work without recourse to its adoption by the Plenary as such was illegal in its entirety.

This position was supported by Nigeria’s Senator Smart Adeyemi, who drew the Speaker’s attention to the adverse implication of the exercise.

Adeyemi said, “when actions are taken that are not in conformity with the spirit and the content of the documents that are supposed to guide us I think Mr. Speaker let us accept that something was done wrong. We should be courageous to say that, but for you to say that you prefer the decision that was not in conformity with the law, as an infringement to the modalities of the Parliament, in fact, the contrary is the case, if we go ahead to accept what is not properly done then the integrity of Parliament itself will be questioned.

“It means that as we are here, somebody can take a decision on our behalf without consulting us. Mr. Speaker with due respect to your position, I personally like you, I respect you, but this decision is not in intent and spirit of the document before us.”

Another lawmaker, Hon. Samson Ahi from Ghana argued that the formation of the Ad-hoc Committee was against the rules of parliament.

He said. “I just want to find out from you Mr. Speaker, are you saying that with the consultation of the Bureau you constituted an Ad-hoc Committee and after that, you gave them a mandate to work without the approval of the entire house, is that what you are saying?

“My understanding is that you can constitute the committee, alright, but it is subject to the approval by the entire members before they can legally work. If you and your Bureau can constitute a committee and they start working without recourse to members before you present your report, then I think there is something wrong with what you have done.”

Also, Nigeria’s Hon. Abdullahi Kamba noted that the Bureau has no right or powers to take the decision and that they should have reverted back to Plenary to form an Ad-hoc committee.

He said: “Not them as the Bureau forming the Committee, it is wrong, and for that matter, I hope that whatever report the Ad-hoc committee has should not be read here, we should form the committee today so that they can start work.”

Responding to the backlash, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Senator, Ali Ndume said “I am standing here because of the Ad-hoc committee that was formed and vested with powers to investigate on the matters raised by our high Commissioner from Nigeria and also the First Deputy Speaker on the purported irregularities in recruitment which was suspended.

“Our mandate as at that time and now did not lift the ban for the suspension that was the decision that was taken at the Plenary.

“On behalf of the other colleagues that undertook this Ad-hoc job, we didn’t look for the job. In fact in my own case I was in my local government because we were on recess and I was mourning my father; then the Speaker called me to say that there is an issue that came up that is eating the system which was true as at that time and that he needed some members as a committee to immediately look into the matter and report. “

He added that: “We have a mission but now I am embarrassed by the observation of abnormalities. I am not looking for this job and I am sure our other colleagues are not looking for this job. I am also sure that even if a new committee has to be formed it has to be members of this ECOWAS, and I don’t think they are looking for the job either and I don’t think any of us cannot do this job.

“I was thinking that members will hear me out or hear the committee or even adopt if there is abnormality because I know the situations where normally if the head of the institution takes a decision that decision is not questioned, but it looked into with the view of ratifying it.”

Ndume said: “Distinguish colleagues, I don’t want it to put my personal interest but because of the interest of the workers, if not I will not present the report, I will not continue with illegality, you have to decide.”

The Speaker of Parliament, Tunis moved that the recruitment process be suspended indefinitely, a decision which seems to have infuriated Senator Edwin Snowe from Liberia who walked out of the plenary in protest of the deferment.

Shortly after the session, at a press conference, the Speaker of ECOWAS parliament accused lawmakers in the parliament of mischief and a deliberate misrepresentation of facts in order to garner the sympathy of constituents.

He said: “You will recall that in the last session in Abuja, Honourable Members raised the issue of recruitment in the ECOWAS Parliament, in fact the impression at that time was that there were a lot of malpractices regarding the recruitment exercises.

“When I got the information, I decided to set up an independent Ad-hoc Committee, headed by a very senior senator from Nigeria, Ali Ndume, to look at the whole situation and to determine whether in fact Nigerians were marginalized, and whether the process was transparent in line with our Supplementary Act in the staff regulations, and any other issues that may arise from their investigations.”

“They submitted their report to me and I called a Bureau meeting. We looked at the report, we adopted it by law and based on the fact that the committee found out that there was nothing wrong in the recruitment exercises, we decided to go ahead to discuss it, to now consider the Advisory Committee Report. The Advisory Committee is provided for in our Staff Regulations, their responsibility is more or less to look at shortlisting and interviews for staff members. The composition of that particular committee is clearly indicated in our Staff Regulations and how to determine who will be a member is already stated in the Staff Regulations. So it’s just a question of looking at the positions, like if they said the Director of Finance is a member, you look at the Parliament who is the Director of Administration you put the person there. It’s all clear in the Staff Regulations.

“By law and in line with the Supplementary Act we have done our part, but of course because the issue of recruitment initially came up from the Plenary I decided that the Chairman should also report to the Plenary for information purposes only, because the Law does not in any way require Plenary to deal with recruitment issues.

“If you look at the recruitment issues, a reference is made to the head of the institution, which is me, I am the Speaker. I am wearing two hats, one as the Head of Institution and the other as Speaker. So as Head of Institutions I can take decisions with regards to that, but then, I can say because colleagues in the Plenary actually raised the issue I needed to be very clear in my mind and to the public, that in fact the process was transparent and it was all done in line with the Law.

“What I am about to tell you especially for our Colleagues in Nigeria, because this is were there was a huge publicity about malpractices in the ECOWAS Parliament, I want the public to know that the Senator Ali Ndume report which will be given to you clearly exonerated the Parliament that from G to P4 Recruitment as ongoing at the ECOWAS Parliament is transparent and in line with the Staff Regulations and the Supplementary Act, that is very important I want the public especially our Nigerian Public to know, that there we no malpractices. Number two, that Nigerians were not marginalized at all in the whole process.

“As a matter of fact, out of ten positions from the report now that has been submitted to us by the Advisory Committee, 5 of them went to Nigeria, 1 to Sierra Leone, 1 to Senegal, 1 to Guinea Bissau, 1 to Niger and 1 to Ghana, and it also important and very important to inform the general public that 70% of this new recruitment came from the internal staff, that means people who have already been serving the ECOWAS Parliament,” the Speaker explained.

The speaker equally alleged that another reason for the row in parliament was because lawmakers are protesting a new administrative rule that takes away the prerogative to buy air tickets from lawmakers themselves and vested it in administration.

He noted that: “When I came to Parliament in 2018, we used to buy our own tickets then the Parliament would refund. They gave us a threshold for a return ticket, then in 2019, that is before I took over as Speaker, that changed completely because of an audit report which I don’t know the details of because by then I was not the Speaker.

“From then, tickets for MPs were not going to be bought by the MPs. When I took over in 2020 that’s what I inherited, but then in the last two years I have been Speaker there has always been agitations from Honourable Members that we should go back to what was obtained in 2018, or before I joined Parliament that MPs should be buying their own tickets.

“I have been resisting it for some time and resisting because I am one person that always believes in what the rule says.

“The reason why I had decided to encourage the idea of MPs buying their own tickets is because I looked at the budget circular, but then from the figures I saw the Parliament was spending more on tickets for MPs, and we were talking about cutting down cost.

“It will only be proper for me to toe the line of MPs for me to say let us try again this idea of buying our own tickets and see what will come out of it. But I must make it very clear, these are not just proposals, the law as it stands right now, is that Parliament was supposed to buy it.

Lawmakers at ECOWAS Parliament Still in Fight Over Employment of Staff

National News

NDLEA Launches Alternative Development Project to Shift Cannabis Growers to Legal Farming

Published

2 days ago

January 27, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

NDLEA Launches Alternative Development Project to Shift Cannabis Growers to Legal Farming

By: Michael Mike

The National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has launched an Alternative Development Pilot Project aimed at ending illicit cannabis cultivation by providing affected communities with sustainable and legal livelihood options.

The initiative was unveiled on Tuesday in Akure, Ondo State, at a town hall meeting attended by national stakeholders, international development partners, traditional rulers and community leaders.

The project is designed to replace illicit drug farming with profitable food and cash cropu production, while reducing drug-related insecurity.

Speaking at the event, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd), said the programme represents a shift from confrontation to cooperation between law enforcement and farming communities involved in illicit crop cultivation.

According to Marwa, the Alternative Development Project will help break the long-standing cycle of poverty, insecurity and environmental damage associated with cannabis farming, while supporting Nigeria’s food security goals under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He explained that drug cultivation often benefits criminal networks rather than host communities, leaving behind degraded farmland and social instability. “The kingpins prosper elsewhere, while the farmers are left with poverty and insecurity,” Marwa said, adding that the new approach prioritises empowerment over enforcement.

The NDLEA boss stressed that participation in the programme is voluntary and targeted only at communities willing to abandon illicitu cultivation. He assured residents that the initiative is not a trap to arrest farmers, but a genuine effort to help them transition to lawful agriculture.

Marwa noted that alternative crops such as Artemisia annua, which has medicinal and commercial value, could generate higher income than cannabis while contributing to public health and economic growth.

The Ondo State Governor, Dr. Lucky Ayedatiwa, welcomed the pilot project and pledged the full support of his administration. He said the state government would provide land, seedlings and other agricultural inputs to ensure the success of the initiative.

Ayedatiwa also urged young people to reject drug abuse and embrace legitimate opportunities offered through the programme, describing youths as key drivers of development.

International partners, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and development agencies from Europe, expressed support for the project, which aligns with global best practices on crop substitution and sustainable livelihoods.

Traditional rulers in the state also backed the initiative. Speaking on their behalf, the Olowo of Owo Kingdom and Chairman of the Ondo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye III, called on youths to embrace the programme, warning of the social and legal consequences of drug cultivation.

The Alternative Development Pilot Project will begin in three communities in Ondo State, after which its impact will be assessed and recommendations made to the Federal Government for nationwide expansion.

NDLEA Launches Alternative Development Project to Shift Cannabis Growers to Legal Farming

National News

VP Shettima To Launch Fresh Women, Youth, Children Learning, Empowerment Fund

Published

2 days ago

January 27, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

VP Shettima To Launch Fresh Women, Youth, Children Learning, Empowerment Fund

… As Nigeria co-hosts Africa Social Impact Summit, policy engagement in Abuja

By: Our Reporter

All is set for the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, to launch a fresh learning fund and empowerment platform targeted at unlocking the potential of Nigerian children, women, and youth.

The event is billed to hold on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

This initiative, convened by the Office of the Vice President in collaboration with Sterling One Foundation, the United Nations System, and other ASIS partners, will form part of the outcomes of the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS) 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement.

ASIS is a premier platform for accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through innovation, financing, and partnerships.

The high-level engagement with the theme, “Scaling Action – Driving Inclusive Growth through Policy and Innovation,” will bring together over 200 senior leaders from government, private enterprise, development institutions, civil society, and the diplomatic community.

Key highlights of the engagement include the launch of flagship, policy-backed initiatives, notably the Business Coalition for Education (BCE) and the Nigeria Foundational Learning Fund, designed to accelerate foundational literacy and numeracy, while addressing the country’s out-of-school children challenge.

Also to be launched on Wednesday is the Women and Youth Financial and Economic Inclusion (WYFEI) Nigeria, the country’s flagship platform for advancing women and youth economic empowerment through compact-based delivery, co-investment frameworks, and performance accountability.

This will make Nigeria the implementation platform of the African Union’s WYFEI programme.

WYFEI will also be launched in other countries after Nigeria.

Speaking ahead of the engagement, the Vice President noted that Nigeria is poised for a prosperity-filled future through the government’s sustained and effective mobilisation of funding, support, and expertise, both internationally and locally.

“Nigeria’s future prosperity depends on how effectively we mobilise the private sector, development partners, and public institutions around shared national priorities. This engagement marks a critical step toward delivery-driven partnerships that unlock the full potential of our women and youth, strengthen human capital, and accelerate inclusive growth,” he said.

On her part, Mrs. Olapeju Ibekwe, CEO of Sterling One Foundation, explained that the ASIS 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement represents a pivotal shift from conversation to national execution.

According to her, the high-level meeting will deliberately align policy, innovation, financing, and frameworks that enable solutions to scale—delivering real impact for millions of Nigerians, while positioning Nigeria as a leader in Africa’s sustainable growth agenda.

The event will also feature the adoption of the WYFEI Nigeria Declaration, a national statement of intent to be endorsed by government officials, CEOs, and development partners, committing to coordinated action to unlock Nigeria’s women and youth dividend.

Senior government officials, chief executives, development partners, investors, and civil society organisations will converge on Abuja to advance results-driven partnerships for inclusive growth, foundational learning, women and youth empowerment, and national development delivery for Nigeria.
End

National News

Nigeria, Italy Set to Strengthen Bilateral Ties, Tackle Migration, Security Challenges

Published

2 days ago

January 27, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Nigeria, Italy Set to Strengthen Bilateral Ties, Tackle Migration, Security Challenges

By: Michael Mike

Nigeria and Italy have expressed renewed commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, with a focus on addressing irregular migration, insecurity, counter-terrorism, and expanding economic cooperation.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, made this known in Abuja on Monday during a courtesy visit by the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Roberto Mengoni.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu described Italy as one of Nigeria’s key strategic partners in Europe, noting that although diplomatic relations between both countries span more than six decades, there is yet to be a formal Nigeria-Italy Bi-National Commission, calling for the establishment of such a framework to deepen structured engagement and cooperation.

According to the minister, sustained high-level diplomatic engagements between both countries have continued to highlight shared priorities in sustainable development, food security, climate action, and economic growth.

She said ongoing consultations between Nigeria and Italy also reflect a common commitment to addressing global and regional challenges, including climate change, irregular migration, and security threats.

The minister urged for continued collaboration of both countries in combating illegal migration, human trafficking, and transnational crimes, while calling for stronger Italian involvement in Nigeria’s ongoing economic reforms. She identified renewable energy, agribusiness, and infrastructure development as critical sectors for enhanced cooperation.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu also sought Italy’s technical support for Nigeria’s industrialisation drive, stressing that improved mobility between both countries would stimulate trade, investment, education, and cultural exchange.

She emphasised the need to improve visa processing systems, noting that more efficient procedures would ease movement, reduce delays, and strengthen economic and diplomatic relations.

The minister also called for the creation of effective trade facilitation mechanisms to allow Nigerian agricultural and manufactured products access to the Italian market, thereby reducing transit costs and improving supply chain efficiency.

Describing migration as both a challenge and an opportunity, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Nigeria and Italy are working together to curb irregular migration while expanding legal migration pathways. She explained that bilateral cooperation includes repatriation agreements, voluntary return initiatives, and reintegration programmes for Nigerians returning from Italy.

She also highlighted joint efforts to dismantle human trafficking networks operating between both countries, with special emphasis on protecting vulnerable groups. According to her, vocational training and small business development initiatives are being implemented in high-migration areas to address the root causes of irregular migration.

“With Nigeria’s large youth population, we are deeply concerned about the safety of our young people,” the minister said. “We are seeking effective ways to combat irregular migration, especially as Italy remains a major destination for Nigerian migrants.”

She added that Nigeria is exploring youth-focused initiatives to address unemployment, youth restiveness, and online radicalisation, while appealing for support in building capacity to counter violent extremism.

Earlier, Mengoni reaffirmed Italy’s interest in strengthening relations with Nigeria, describing the country as central to Italy’s Africa cooperation strategy.

He said his mission to Nigeria would prioritise expanding diplomatic and business ties for the mutual benefit of both nations.

“We now have the momentum to engage Nigeria more deeply and enhance cooperation. Italy does not believe in imposing policies on African countries but in building partnerships,” Mengoni stated.

Nigeria, Italy Set to Strengthen Bilateral Ties, Tackle Migration, Security Challenges