Plenary proceedings of the House of Representatives for Tuesday, October 11th, 2022

After leading the opening prayer and the National Pledge, the Deputy Speaker approved the votes and proceedings of Thursday, October 6th, 2022.

ANNOUNCEMENT

The presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Wase announced the appreciation of the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila to the honourable members over the national honours he was conferred with by President muhammadu Buhari today. He said the Speaker thanked his colleagues for all the support he has been given over the years without which the recognition would have been possible.

The Deputy also informed the members that the debate on the 2023 Appropriation Bill was supposed to commence today but because it was not listed on the Order Paper, the debate would begin tomorrow (Wednesday).

He urged members that wish to contribute should indicate and put their names on the register with the Chairman, House Committee of Rules and Business.

Also, it was announced that free eye screening for willing members would commence on 13 October from noon.

PRESENTATION OF BILLS

Federal College of Education, Nduo Eduo, Eket, Akwa Ibom State (Establishment) Bill, 2022 (HB. 2085) (Hon. Peter Akpatason) – First Reading.

2. Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (HB. 2086) (Hon. Dachung Musa Bagos) – First Reading.

3. Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (HB. 2087) (Hon. Babajimi Benson) – First Reading.

4. Regulation of Wire, Oral and Telecommunication Bill, 2022 (HB. 2088) (Hon. Babajimi Benson) – First Reading.

5. Defense Logistics Bill, 2022 (HB. 2089) (Hon. Sulaiman Abubakar Gumi) – First Reading.

PRESENTATION OF REPORTS

Rep. Dennis Idahosa moved a motion for the presentation of the Third Sessional Report of the Committee on Legislative Compliance from 1 June, 2021 – 30 June, 2022”.

ORDER OF THE DAY

BILLS

1. Leader of the House, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa presented for third reading, A Bill for an Act to Provide for Establishment of Service Compact Management Agency (Servicom) for the Effective Management, Execution and Enforcement of Service Compact with Citizens, Setting, Control, Implementation and Enforcement of Service Charter and Standards, the Identification and Facilitation of Resolution of Service Failures and Enhancement of Citizens Service Rights and Responsibilities in Nigeria; and for Related Matters (HB. 558).

Bill voted on and read for the third time.

2. Leader of the House, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa presented for third reading, A Bill for an Act to Establish Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria for effective Regulation, Registration of Members and Determination of what Standard of Knowledge and Skills to be Attained by Persons seeking to become Registered Members, and Qualification to Practice as Forensic and Investigative Professionals; and for Related Matters (HB.791).

Bill voted on and read for the third time.

3. Leader of the House, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa presented for third reading, A Bill for an Act to Provide for Establishment of National Religious Harmony Commission; and for Related Matters (HB. 1103).

Bill voted on and read for the third time.

4. Leader of the House, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa presented for third reading, A Bill for an Act to Establish Agency for National Ethics and Values Compliance to Provide for the Functions and Powers of the Agency, the qualifications and procedures for the appointment of the Chairman and Members; and for Related Matters (HB. 242).

Bill voted on and read for the third time.

5. Leader of the House, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa presented for third reading, A Bill for an Act to Establish Chartered Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria and to make Provisions, among other things, for Membership and Control of the Profession of Public Administration; and for Related Matters (HB.329).

Bill voted on and read for the third time.

6. A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency Act, 2007; and for Related Matters (HBs. 622, 1123 & 2055) (Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Hon. Abubakar Yahya Kusada and Hon. Samson Okwu) – Second Reading.

Bill stepped down by the leave of the House.

7. A Bill for an Act to Establish Federal College of Education (Technical) Ogoja, Cross Rivers State; and for Related Matters (HB.2047) (Hon. Jude Ogbeche Ngaji) – Second Reading.

Bill stepped down by the leave of the House.

8. Rep. Olusola Steve Fatoba moved for the second reading of A Bill for an Act to Establish Federal College of Nursing and Midwifery Ado, Ekiti, Ekiti State; and for Related Matters (HB.1904)

Bill voted on and passed.

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MOTIONS

9. Rep. Abubakar Hassan Fulata moved a motion for Re-Committal of Bill.

Debate

Rep. Fulata- The House recalls that the Customs and Excise Management Act (Repeal and Enactment) Bill, 2021(HB. 1729) was passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to the President for assent;

Notes that some observations in Clauses 4(b), 7(2), 7(3), 10(1)(a), 10(1)(b), 12, 14(1)(g), 16(3), 17(4), 18(1), 18(3), 18(6)(c), 111(3), 165(5)(a), 170(1)(a), 171, 175(1)(2), 180, 181, 184, 189, 194, 279, 181 and the Schedule had arisen that requires further legislative action;

Appreciates the need to recommit the Clauses for reconsideration in order to achieve the intent of the enactment;

Resolves to:

Rescind its decision on the Clauses of the Bill as passed and commit same to the Committee of the Whole for reconsideration.

Motion was voted and adopted.

10.. Rep. Awaji -Inombek D. Abiante and Rep. Dumnamene R. Dekor moved a motion for a Call to Investigate the Recruitment, Staff Quota and Promotion Process at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC

Debate:

Rep. Abiante – The House notes that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is primarily charged with the responsibility to maintain peace and order, protection of public infrastructure and rescuing of the civil population during an emergency;

Also notes that recent reports indicate that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has not been observing the Principles of Federal Character in its recruitment processes thus, marring the Corps with irregularities, racketeering, favouritism and nepotism as well as securing convictions for erring officials;

Aware that the recent recruitment exercises by the NSCDC were marred with favouritism and abuse of Federal Character Principles, where the management team used their position and influence in high places of authority to recruit family members, as reported that a recruitment exercise was done without advertisement with over 90 employment letters returned to the headquarters from Imo State as those who were to receive their letters did not show up and that those slots were reported to belong to Rivers State indigenes;

Cognizant of the fact that in 2021, the Joint Committee on Security and Public Service of the Bauchi State Assembly led by Honourable Sabo Bako Sade recommended outright rejection of the Recruitment exercise as being fraudulent, which resolutions the Bauchi State House of Assembly adopted and communicated same to the NSCDC headquarters;

Also cognizant of the judgment of the Sokoto State High Court which sentenced two officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mainasara Malami and Emmanuel Salihu, respectively to fourteen years imprisonment for defrauding four persons of l.9 million, under the pretence of securing jobs for them.

Worried that this ugly precedence has become a frequent occurrence in the NSCDC and currently, indigenes of other states are being employed, promoted and allocated in the place of the quota for Rivers State indigenes.

Resolves to:

Mandate the Committees on Interior, Federal Character and Public Service Matters to investigate recruitment, staff quota and promotion exercises carried out by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps over a period of 10 years and report back within six (6) weeks for further legislative action.

Motion was voted on and adopted.

11. Rep. Mark Terseer Gbillah moved a motion for a Call to Investigate the Statutory Functions of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in the Areas of Revenue Allocation, Data Collection and Verification, Provision of Indices for Disbursement to States by the Accountant General of the Federation and Alleged Infraction of Administration of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Debate

Rep. Gbilah-The House notes that paragraph 32 of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Section 6 of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act, 2004 outline the powers of the commission which amongst others include “review, from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities” paragraph 32(b) of Part 1 to the Third Schedule to the 1999 constitution (as amended) further states that “provided that any revenue formula which has been accepted by an Act of the National Assembly shall remain in force for not less than five years from the date of commencement of the Act”;

Aware that in performing its statutory mandate the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission is responsible for the provision of a horizontal and vertical revenue allocation formula, the collection, verification, maintenance and usage of data utilized for the computation of indices for disbursement of revenue from the federation account with regards to the horizontal and vertical revenue allocation formula and indices for disbursement of 13% derivation funds by the Accountant General of the Federation. This data is required to be obtained from the 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas of the federation by RMAFC;

Worried about Nigeria’s current utilization of the same vertical and horizontal revenue allocation formula and allocation principles instituted during a military regime three decades ago in 1992 when 6 States and 185 Local Government Areas were created and Nigeria’s population rose from 88 million to over 200 million, and the current national clamour for restructuring, devolution of powers and true federalism amid the obvious changing realities of insecurity and socio-economic hardships across the country contrary to the above mentioned statutory provisions including Section 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended);

Also worried that RMAFC’s new proposal to the President in April 2022 for a revenue allocation formula is for vertical revenue allocation alone and is alleged to have utilized the over thirty (30) years old allocation principles and recent data that is inaccurate and unverified with no consideration being made at the moment for the more contentious horizontal allocation formula which determines the actual impact on the lives of Nigerians in the federating units and which is also alleged to currently being implemented with inaccurate and unverified data from which flawed indices are computed and utilized by the Accountant General for revenue disbursement other allegations are that the actual indices utilized by the Accountant General for revenue disbursement to the states are sometimes at variance with those provided by RMAFC because of inducement from the states;

Also aware that the last time RMAFC claimed to have undertaken a comprehensive review of the vertical and horizontal revenue allocation formula which entailed collection and verification of data from the 36 States and 774 Local Government Areas of the federation was in 2012, which exercise was fraught with speculations about the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the exercise considering allegations that several states were not visited at all because of the lack of RMAFC’s capacity to do so. Consequently, there are doubts about the comprehensiveness of the recent exercise embarked upon by RMAFC in 2021 (almost 10 years later) that culminated in the submission of the new revenue allocation formula proposal to the President in April, 2022;

Concerned that the inability of RMAFC and the Presidency to provide a new and acceptable vertical and horizontal revenue allocation formula for adoption and enactment by the National Assembly at the intervals envisioned by the constitution appears to have resulted in the administration of the Federation Account by the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF), RMAFC and other Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) members in breach of statutory provisions of Section 162(3)(4)(5) and (7) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which implies that infractions have been committed and might require appropriate sanctions;

Also concerned about allegations that certain states unduly influence RMAFC and the Accountant General of the Federation to their advantage in the provision and utilization of data and computation of indices and the utilization of indices for revenue disbursement respectively and the agitation by several states in the country about being shortchanged in revenue allocation considering the present realities in their communities and the significant deduction from remittances to the Federation Account by certain agencies of the Federal Government (which RMAFC has statutory power to obtain related information from) under the guise of “cost of the collection” which does not appear to be statutory or properly monitored and determined by RMAFC and the National Assembly;

Resolves to.

Mandate Committee on Finance to investigate:

(i) the accuracy of data provided to RMAFC by the 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas of the federation that was used to compute the indices utilized for vertical and horizontal revenue allocation including 13% derivation from 2012 to 2021 and the current nature of maintenance of this data;

(ii) the indices computed for each of the 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas of the federation by RMAFC from 2021 to 2021 that were transmitted to the Accountant General of the Federation for revenue disbursement to the states from 2012 to 2021 including the parameters utilized to compute the indices;

(iii) the indices utilized by the Accountant General of the Federation for revenue disbursement to the 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas of the federation from 2012 to 2021 including details of the actual amounts disbursed to each state for this period;

(iv) the actual amounts disbursed to the 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas of the federation from 2012 to 2021 from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Finance;

(v) allocation principles utilized by RMAFC in the proposal of new vertical allocation formula and consider efficacy and suitability of same in line with current and changing realities and the proposed principles for a new horizontal allocation formula;

(vi) total remittance to the federation account by related agencies of the Federal Government from 2012 to 2021, the “cost of the collection” deducted for the entire period, statutory backing for same and utilization from 2012 to 2021;

(vii) the violation or otherwise by the Federal Ministry of Finance, CBN and other members of the FAAC in the administration of the federation account considering provisions of Section 162(3)(4)(5) and (7) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and report back within 8 weeks for further legislative action.

Motion was voted on and adopted.

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE (Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase chaired

12. Rep. Peter Akpatason moved for the consideration of A Bill for an Act to Repeal the Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap. C45, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and other Customs and Excise Legislation and Enact the Nigeria Customs Service Bill, 2022 to Provide for the reform of the Administration and Management of Customs and Excise in Nigeria; and for Related Matters (HB 1729).

Debate

Deputy Speaker Wase explained that the bill has been previously passed but was not assented to after some questions were raised by the Attorney General of the Federation. According to the Deputy Speaker, the areas of observation were noted and corrections made. It is for the House to clean it up, he noted.

Summary of voting.

All clauses apporved.

13. Rep. Peter Akpatason moved for the consideration of A Bill for an Act to Establish National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund (NYSCTF) for the purpose of providing a Sustainable Source of Funds for the National Youth Service Corps, Skill Acquisition, Training and Empowerment of Corps Members, Training and Retraining of the Personnel of the National Youth Service Corps, Development of Camps and NYSC formations and Facilities therein; and for Related Matters (HB. 1795).

Rep. Toby Okechukwu seconded.

Synopsis

Rep. Akpatason said the establishment Bill was meant to provide sustainable and suitable means of funding the NYSC.

Rep. Nkem Abonta sought to know the deficiency the Bill seeks to cure.

Deputy Speaker Wase responded that the Bill has gone through the due legislative process and was adopted on the floor of the House. What is left, according to him, the intention was to secure proper funding for the scheme and the benefiting young Nigerians serving the country.

Rep. Toby Okechukwu pointed out issues concerning the youths should be handled with all seriousness while stressing that the areas of observation that led to the refusal of the President to assent to it must be thoroughly examined to avoid it being rejected again.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole said though the areas of contention have been cleaned up, the Bill should be stepped down to enable a further scrutinization of the previous errors against the corrections again.

Bill stepped down by the leave of the House for further legislative action.

14. Rep. Peter Akpatason moved for the consideration of A Bill for an Act to Provide for Ease of Doing Business to ensure Transparency, Efficiency and Productivity in Nigeria; and for Related Matters (HB. 2015).

Rep. Toby Okechukwu seconded.

Synopsis

Rep. Akpatason said the executive Bill seeks to ease the process of doing business in Nigeria with accountability and transparency.

Summary of voting

Clauses voted on and approved: 1-69

HOUSE IN PLENARY

The House reverted to plenary and adopted the report of the Committee of the Whole following a motion by Rep. Peter Akpatason and seconded by Rep. Muhammad Monguno.

ADJOURNMENT

The House at 4.19 pm adjourned plenary till Wednesday, October 2022 by 11.00 am following a motion for adjournment by Deputy Majority Leader, Rep. Peter Akpatason and seconded by Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Toby Okechukwu.

Courtesy:

Media Unit, Office of the Speaker, House of Representatives.