Lifestyle, Politics

Reps to dialogue with Buhari next week over ASUU strike – Gbajabiamila

No Comments

The leadership of the House of Representatives will be meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on the resolution of the ongoing face-off between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila who made the announcement after a meeting with stakeholders, said they’ll be sharing a report of its interactions with key stakeholders in the dispute and come up with recommendations that will enable the President to view the issues at stake from an informed second option.

Those who attended the meeting include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha; the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Sen Chris Ngige; Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan; the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Sylva Okolieaboh; the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze; the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, represented; as well as the Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, Ekpo Nta among others.

Also present was the delegation from ASUU led by its president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke.

Reiterating that the interest of the children that had been at the receiving end of the trade dispute should be paramount, Gbajabiamila appealed to both sides to give in and make concessions from their initial demands.

He said;

“We will put together our recommendations and our thoughts and take it to Mr. President, that’s why we are here to interface and look for solutions.

“Again let me repeat, we are running a government, nobody, no individual, no group, whether you are legislative, judiciary or whatever can be above the government, can be above the law.

“We can’t be against and I’m speaking specifically to ASUU, we did not say because the court has given judgment, that’s the end of our conversation. In spite of the court judgment, we are still looking for solutions, we didn’t even address it here, I don’t want to address it.

“Otherwise, we could’ve said, if government has given judgment, I don’t know if there’s a stay of execution, I don’t know.

“We are appealing to you, the Judiciary has spoken, the Executive has spoken, the Legislature is about to speak together with the Executive; everybody cannot be wrong and only one person is right.

For me I’m happy with the solution on UTAS, no victor, no vanquished, everybody is being carried along.“for the sake of emphasis, the House is pleading with you, let’s put all interest aside and look at the interest of our children.

“The white paper we told you we’ll get, the letter is here, it’s now waiting for the President’s final approval.

“On revitalization, I asked the DG budget here if provision has been made in the budget. We made a promise to you, and we are staying by that promise.

“Regarding the issue of UTAS, you said you haven’t seen the report; we have it here, so we’ve been working for you”.

Politics, Videos

Femi Gbajabiamila Dances ‘Buga’ In Surulere Speaker of the House of Representatives

No Comments

Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, danced to Kizz Daniel’s hit song Buga at a constituency meeting in Surulere.

In the video, Gbajabiamila encouraged those in attendance to vote in the upcoming election telling them to show their Permanent Voter’s Card saying, “Operation show your PVC la wa yi.’’

https://www.instagram.com/tv/ChaCvFpombE/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Politics, World News

Shame! – Oby Ezekwesili lampoons House of Reps Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, for posting photos from his class in Harvard.

No Comments

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has lampooned the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, for sharing photos of himself receiving lectures at the John F Kennedy School of Government at the Harvard Business School.

Gbajabimila posted photos of himself receiving lectures at the university on Tuesday, July 26, the same day members of the Labour union where engaging in a solidarity rally in support of the strike members of the Academic Staff Union of University ASUU.

Reacting to the photos, Ezekwesili described it as a ”shame”

See her tweets below;

Politics

Gbajabiamila charges Nigerians on nation-building, assures on gender bills

No Comments

The Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Saturday charged Nigerians on nation-building, stressing that everyone has a role to play in making the country great.

The speaker, who made the call in his goodwill message at the just-concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention, urged Nigerians to unite in their struggle to take the country to enviable heights.

He said: “Nation-building is a joint task, we all have a role. Since its inception, thus certainty has been the motto and guiding light of the 9th House of Representatives. We have kept with the Nigerian people by enacting legislation to improve the way we live and work, to create opportunities for commerce and wealth creation, fix gaps in our electoral process and strengthen our democracy.

Legislation such as the Petroleum Industry Act, the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Electoral Act and Police Reform Act, which for many years seemed impossible to achieve, have now become the law of the land.

We have passed most far-reaching amendments to our electoral system and delivered amendments to the constitution of our republic that have the potential to change our country for good and the next generation.”

Gbajabiamila also confirmed the intention of the House to revisit the gender bills in the coming days.

“All things being equal, we intend to revisit the issue of women inclusion in our constitution soonest. We must do this because our party is a party of inclusion,” the speaker added.

Politics

Femi Gbajabiamila suspends security aide who killed newspaper vendor.

No Comments

A newspaper vendor was shot by a policeman attached to the convoy of the Speaker House of Representatives , Femi Gbajabiamila, at the federal secretariat Abuja on Thursday.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has described the killing of a newspaper vendor in Abuja by one of the security details as horrible, saying he is distraught by the incident.

Gbajabiamila, in a statement he personally signed and issued in the early hours of Friday, said he did not know that someone was killed in the attempt to protect him until he arrived his destination.

The incident, which occurred at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, around 3 pm on Thursday, had caused panic in the area.

The victim, identified as Ifeanyi Okereke, was subsequently rushed to the National Hospital by his brother and some police officers, where he reportedly died.

It was learnt that the shooting happened when Okereke and other street vendors selling on the Shehu Shagari Way, Three Arms Zone, flocked around the convoy of the Speaker, who was said to be in the habit of giving out money anytime he passed them.

The Speaker’s statement read;
“A horrible incident has taken place. This evening as I left the national assembly, I stopped as usual to exchange pleasantries with the newspaper vendors at the corner. Many of them have known me since I first moved to Abuja and it was a friendly exchange.”

“Unfortunately, after the convoy set out in continuation of movement, unidentified men obstructed the convoy which got the attention of security men in the convoy who shot into the air to disperse them.”

“Some hours later, after getting to our destination, it was brought to my attention that someone was hit by a stray bullet, contrary to an earlier report by men in the convoy that they applied their security discretion to shoot in the air.”

“I have caused a report to be made to the local police station and an investigation has commenced.”

“In the meantime; the officer who fired the fatal shot has been suspended from the convoy pending the conclusion of the investigation.”

Gbajabiamila further wrote, “My value for human life and my respect for all people – irrespective of social-economic status – is what endeared me to these vendors and these are the reasons why I stop my convoy quite often to connect with them. For one of them to have been shot by my security detail is horrific and I cannot begin to imagine the grief and loss Ifeanyi’s family must feel on this sad day. No family should have to go through this.”

“I am personally distraught about this incident and my deepest sympathies go to the victim, his family, and Abuja vendors.”

Politics, World News

Femi Gbajabiamila calls for the improvement of federal character laws

No Comments

The speaker of the house of representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has stated that federal character should also include age, religion, gender and not just ethnicity.

Speaking at the Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) strategy meeting in Abuja on Saturday October 31, Gbajabiamila called for a legal framework that will change the federal character principle for appointments in the country’s constitution.

He said that the idea of making such appointments based on religion or the state of origin has not helped in the development of the country.

“I think we should consider an amendment in the constitution to the definition of federal character, because when we talk about federal character within the context of appointments, infrastructure and the rest of it in the constitution, federal character, as it is, is limited to where you are from, like your ethnicity.

“In other words, the constitution says that appointments and all those other things shall be based on federal character, and federal character as we know it now, we have the Igbo, we have the Hausa, the Yoruba. There should be a geographical spread.t

Gbajabiamila said that educating the youth should be the centre point for the development of the country.

“I do intend to reconvene the house to consider a couple of very important things that will affect Nigerians, like the electoral law, the PIB and more importantly, the bills that are already in the system concerning the development of the youth.

“I will speak with the clerk of the national assembly to quickly figure out how we can get a secretariat for young parliamentarians where they can sit and put heads together beyond the chambers of the house of representatives.” Gbajabiamila said.

Close Menu

Privacy Policy