News Post

The Upper Legislative Chamber on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 considered and passed into law two Bills. The legislation read the third and passed include:

1) Nigerian Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency (Establishment, etc.) Bill, 2017, sponsored by Sen. Sam Egwu (Ebonyi North). The passage of Bill was sequel to the presentation of the Report of the Bill for consideration before the Chamber by the Senate Committee on Industries led by Sen. Buhari Abdulfatai. The Chamber resolved into the Committee of the Whole; where it considered and approved all the clauses of the Bill, schedules, short and long titles as well as memorandum of understanding as recommended or amended. Afterwards, the Bill was read the third time and passed.

2) National Sports Commission (Establishment etc.) Bill, 2017, sponsored by Sen. Obinna Ogba (Ebonyi Central). The Bill was passed into law following the presentation of the Bill’s report by Sen. Ogba before the Senate for consideration and passage into law. The Chamber resolved into the Committee of the Whole where it considered and approved the all the Bill’s clauses, schedules, short and long titles, memorandum of understanding as recommended or amended. Thereafter, the Bill was read the third time and passed.

Similarly, the Red Chamber also deliberated upon and passed four Motions. Among the Motions passed by the Chamber include:

1) Worrisome dimension of Cyber-crime and Insecurity: Urgent need for concerted efforts to secure the Nigeria’s Cyberspace, sponsored by Sen. Buhari Abdulfatai (Oyo North). The Senate noted that the positive posture of ICT revolution is being dampened by malicious activities of criminal elements in society which invade the cyberspace, presenting risks to businesses, national economies and security such as malicious use of the social media, identity theft, electronic fraud, data damage or alteration, espionage, etc. The Motion scaled through with two resolutions below:

i) Urge the National Security Adviser to alert all security agencies and financial institutions in the country about the current and threatening dimensions of cyber-attacks.

ii) Mandate the Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber-crime to immediately convoke a National Stakeholders Conference on Cyber-Security with a view to stimulating a collective reflection among relevant stakeholders and articulating a national and broad-based approach to keeping the country ahead of the challenge.

2) Calabar Football Viewing Centre Tragedy, sponsored by Sen. Gershom Bassey (Cross River South). The Senate noted with great concern the death of several youths in Inyangassang Community in Atimbo area of Calabar on 22nd April, 2017 after a high tension cable that belongs to the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) fell and electrocuted them at a Football Viewing Centre. The Motion sailed through with three prayers below:

i) Observe a minute silence for the seven (7) persons who lost their lives in the tragic event.

ii) Urge the Electricity Distribution Companies to carry out regular checks and maintenance of installations so as to forestall tragedies such as this.

iii) Mandate the Senate Committee on Power and Steel Development and Metallurgy to invite the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency and the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the accident and report its findings and recommendations to the Senate.

3) Urgent need to investigate the alarming rate of rape and sexual assault against women, children and vulnerable people across the country, sponsored by Sen. Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South). Accordingly, the Red Chamber noted the frightening increase in cases of sexual violence, notably rape where more than half of the victims are close family members. Sen. Na’Allah added that in most of these cases, the perpetrators are usually familiar neighbours, employer of labour and close family members. The Motion was passed with four resolutions below:

i) Urge the Inspector General of Police to investigate and prosecute cases of sexual abuse, violation and violence in line with the provisions of the extant laws of the Federation.

ii) Mandate the Senate Committee on Health, Women Affairs, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to engage relevant stakeholders with a view to resolving these issues.

iii) Further ask the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NABTIP) and Para-Military Agencies to establish functional help desk to provide assistance and support to victims as well as handle such cases.

iv) Urge all Heads of Courts to revisit the sentencing policy on all sexual offences and domestic violence to address the seriousness it deserves.

4)  Non-Usage of Coin Currencies in Nigeria and its negative effects on the country, sponsored by Sen. Bukar Mustapha (Katsina Notrth). It sailed through with three prayers:

i) Urge the CBN to intensify its sensitization campaign and other efforts at bringing back coin into circulation in our markets.

ii) Urge the CBN to design our coins to cater for the highly repetitive transactions of our economy.

iii) Urge the CBN to convert the lower currency notes into coins to be used side by side with the notes in order to facilitate retail transactions in the country.