Abuja
Akpabio: Lawmakers Not Elected To Fight Executive
Akpabio: Lawmakers Not Elected To Fight Executive
Akpabio: Lawmakers not elected to fight executive. The Senate president reflected on the importance of cooperation between the National Assembly and the executive.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio says lawmakers were not elected to engage in confrontation with the executive but to foster policies that promote national development.
Mr Akpabio said this in an upcoming documentary to mark two years of the Bola Tinubu administration, according to a statement by presidential aide Bayo Onanuga on Tuesday.
The Senate president reflected on the importance of cooperation between the National Assembly and the executive.
He said, “When elected into the National Assembly, whether in the Senate or the House of Representatives, your constituents will not give you boxing gloves.
“It’s not a boxing tournament. You are there to work in a bipartisan manner for the interest of Nigeria.”
Mr Akpabio emphasised that the relationship between both arms of government had been cordial over the past two years, owing to a shared vision for the country’s progress.
“If you spend all your energy fighting the executive, who will work for Nigeria?” he asked.
He added that the current administration was unique in Nigeria’s history, with a president, First Lady, and vice president, all former senators.
Highlighting legislative priorities, Mr Akpabio said the National Assembly was working on a bill mandating ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to prioritise procuring locally assembled vehicles over imported alternatives.
“We have started the bill for enacting legislation to enable us first purchase automobiles from Nigerian companies before thinking of importing them,” he said.
“We lose billions of dollars annually importing vehicles and other items that can be produced locally.”
Mr Akpabio underscored the urgent need to revive Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, citing the collapse of the textiles industry and cash crops, such as cotton, groundnut and palm oil, which were once the bedrock of the economy.
“Over 50 textile companies have left Nigeria. The cotton industry collapsed. The groundnut industry collapsed. The palm oil industry collapsed. Look at countries like Malaysia that have leveraged palm oil to boost their economies,” he lamented.
Mr Akpabio praised the “Nigeria First” policy championed by the Tinubu administration, describing it as a “fantastic” initiative that deserved legislative backing.
He said discussions were ongoing with the Raw Materials Research and Development Council to promote laws ensuring Nigeria produced most of its consumption.
Mr Akpabio called for more support for local entrepreneurs, noting that even small-scale production ventures such as vinegar or bread could thrive in Nigeria’s vast consumer market.
He promised that the National Assembly would pass the necessary legal instruments to sustain this industrial renaissance and reduce the country’s import dependence.
Akpabio
Regarding checks and balances, Mr Akpabio refuted claims that the legislature was merely rubber-stamping executive decisions.
He noted that the National Assembly had occasionally rejected presidential nominees when necessary.
“People forget that we have made enemies by rejecting some of the nominees that the president sent to us. It’s not everything the president brings that he takes back the same way,” he said.
Mr Akpabio maintained that the assembly’s role was to scrutinise, amend, and support executive actions aligned with national interest.
“Our job is to make sure we cross the Ts and dot the I’s to assist the President in having the best for the Nigerian population,” said Mr Akpabio.
He assured Nigerians that the 10th National Assembly would continue prioritising pro-people legislation supporting the president’s bold reform agenda.
FCTA Confirms Antivenom Stock, Warns Negligent Hospitals, Gives Emergency Lines
FCTA confirms antivenom stock, warns negligent hospitals, gives emergency lines. The FCTA said all public hFCTA confirms antivenom stock, warns negligent hospitals, gives emergency linesospitals have sufficient antivenom after singer Ifunanya Nwangene’s death at FMC Jabi. Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe warned facilities to follow protocols or face sanctions, stressing that early treatment is critical.
FCTA
The territory has added 12 ambulances, improved ICUs, and centralized antivenom storage.
Residents are urged to use emergency lines 090157892931 or 090157892932.
FCT Police Warn NLC Against Planned Abuja Protest, Say Proscribed Groups Plot To Hijack
FCT Police warn NLC against planned Abuja protest, say proscribed groups plot to hijack. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command has warned the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against its planned protest scheduled for Tuesday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The NLC leadership had fixed February 3 for a solidarity rally along with members of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC) at the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) secretariat in Garki Area 11.
The NLC declared that the rally is to publicly affirm that “an injury to one is an injury to all”, adding that the Nigerian labour movement will not abandon its members.
On January 24, the labour body declared support for the indefinite strike by workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), describing the action as “necessary and heroic” in response to alleged violation of workers’ rights.
In a statement, Joe Ajaero, NLC president, said the labour union stood “in very strong solidarity” with FCTA workers under the aegis of JUAC.
Ajaero described the strike as “a necessary and heroic response to a vicious cocktail of neoliberal attacks, gross administrative impunity, and a systematic violation of the fundamental rights of workers by the FCTA management and its political leadership”.
However, in a statement on Monday, Josephine Adeh, FCT police spokesperson, said the command respects the constitutional right to peaceful assembly, but noted that intelligence reports indicate “plans by proscribed groups and other non-state actors to infiltrate and hijack the protest, posing a risk to public peace and safety”.
Adeh said in the interest of public safety, the organisers should consider rescheduling the protest to prevent any breakdown of law and order and to protect lives, property, and the rights of other residents.
Police
“The Command remains committed to safeguarding all lawful activities and urges residents to continue cooperating with security agencies to keep the FCT peaceful and secure,” the statement reads.
Meanwhile, the national industrial court has reportedly issued an interim order restraining the NLC, TUC and JUAC from embarking on the planned protest.
The court had earlier ordered workers on the payroll of the FCT administration to suspend the strike.
Emmanuel Subilim, the presiding judge, held that although the matter before the court amounted to a trade dispute, the defendants’ right to embark on industrial action was not absolute.
Akwa Ibom Indigenes Protest RMAFC Meeting, Warn Against Tampering With State’s Oil Wells
Akwa Ibom indigenes protest RMAFC meeting, warn against tampering with State’s Oil Wells. Akwa Ibom indigenes resident in Abuja on Tuesday stormed the venue of a meeting of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), where the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) on Disputed/New Oil Wells was sitting, to protest what they described as attempts to reopen a matter already settled by the Supreme Court.
The protesters cautioned that no individual or agency should tamper with Akwa Ibom State’s 76 oil wells, stressing that the ownership of the wells was conclusively determined in favour of the state by the Supreme Court in 2012.
They insisted that any move to revisit the issue through administrative or technical processes would amount to a disregard for the authority of the apex court and could undermine peace in the Niger Delta region.
Akwa Ibom State was formally represented at the IATC meeting by a high-powered delegation comprising leading legal practitioners, government officials and technocrats. Members of the delegation included Paul Usoro, SAN; Assam Assam, SAN; the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uko Udom, SAN; Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN; Emmanuel Enoidem, SAN; and a former Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom State.
Akwa Ibom Indigenes Protest RMAFC Meeting
Also on the state’s delegation were the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Emem Bob, Former Attorney General and Commissioner Justice, Barr. Ekpenyong Ntekim; the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Aniekan Umanah; Honourable Member representing Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency, Dr Patrick Umoh, among others.
The delegation is expected to present Akwa Ibom State’s position before the committee, reiterating that the Supreme Court judgment remains final and binding, and urging all relevant federal agencies to respect and uphold the ruling.
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