Senate Rejects Buhari’s Request To Borrow $30 billion

The Senate has rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for authorisation to borrow about $30 billion. (pictured above) Senate President Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate president Ike Ekweremadu.

The president, last Tuesday, forwarded a request to the National Assembly to approve external borrowing plan of $29.960 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018.

He made the requests in two separate letters to the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.

Mr. Buhari said the external loan, the biggest in Nigeria’s history, will fund targeted projects cuts across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation.

#BBB NEWS| Proposed Pension, Immunity For Saraki, Dogara Provocative – Falana, SERAP

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN); a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Niyi Akintola, and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, have condemned the proposed life pension and immunity for National Assembly leaders.

While SERAP and the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders described the proposed life pension and immunity for Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, as self-serving and despicable, Falana called it “insensitive, irrational and immoral.”

Akintola said the call for such incentives for the National Assembly leaders was unreasonable.

Falana and Akintola called on Nigerians to rise against the proposal.

The immunity and life pension for the presiding officers were proposed by some senators at a retreat on constitution review organised by the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Constitution Review in Lagos on Saturday.

#BBB NEWS| Senate President Bukola Saraki Repaid Personal Bank Loans With Kwara’s Funds – Code Conduct Bureau

The Code of Conduct Bureau has said there is evidence that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, while governor of K‎wara State between 1999 and 2007, obtained huge bank loans and paid back the loans with funds belonging to the state.

The bureau alleged that Saraki used the bank loans running into billions of naira to acquire landed assets in Lagos, Abuja and London.

The Bureau said it gathered the information from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which conducted investigations into various petitions written against the Senate President between 2010 and 2012.

‎The CCB’s position is contained in a counter-affidavit deposed to by one of its operatives, Peter Danladi, in opposition to a fresh motion filed by Saraki to challenge the validity of the 13 counts of false assets declaration instituted against him before the tribunal.

#BBB NEWS| Code Of Conduct Trial: Senate President Bukola Saraki Meets Tinubu At VP’s Office To.....

Embattled Senate President Bukola Saraki arrived at the VP’s office in Abuja today accompanied by former Vice President Abubakar Atiku to beg for forgiveness from the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress Bola Tinubu.

While Saraki arrived the VP’s office in the company of Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, Senate Majority Leader Ali Ndume and several senators while Tinubu was accompanied by Chief Bisi Akande and some APC governors and senators.

State House reporters were warned not to report the meeting as Chief Akande claims it is a meeting of top party leaders trying to settle a serious crisis.

#BBB NEWS| Armed Forces Remembrance Day: President Buhari, Osinbajo, Saraki, Others Honours Fallen Heroes [PHOTOS]

President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice president Yemi Osibanjo, participated at the wreath laying ceremony to mark the end of 2016 Armed forces remembrance day celebration on Friday, January 15, at the National Arcade, Eagle Square Abuja.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN) Mahmud Mohammed  and Minister of Defence, Dan Ali Mansur were among government officials present at the ceremony.

See more photos after the cut..

#BBB NEWS| Saraki’s Corruption Trial: Supreme Court Orders Delay Of Proceedings At The Code Of Conduct Tribunal

A panel of Supreme Court judges led by Justice John Fabiyi has asked the Code of Conduct Tribunal to delay proceedings in the corruption trial of Nigeria’s Senate President Bukola Saraki.

The justices sitting in Abuja gave the hint after the Federal Prosecutor Rotimi Jacobs made a commitment before the court to stay proceedings at the CCT  to enable the apex court to accelerate hearing of the appeal.

The Supreme Court justices accepted Mr. Jacobs commitment and agreed to expedite Mr. Saraki’s appeal at the court.

#BBB NEWS| Saraki Lacks Legal, Morality Standing To Screen Ministerial Nominees — Ex-Presidential Candidate

A patriarch of the Aladura Church, Olapade Agoro, has said that Senate President Bukola Saraki lacks the legal and moral authority to preside over the Senate’s screening of ministerial nominees.

Mr. Agoro, the chairman and former presidential candidate of the National Action Council (NAC), also stated that it was “an absurdity, abnormality and shame of the principle of rule of law” that the Senate President “currently standing trial for wrong doings bordering particularly on corruption before two legally constituted bodies, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), would still be seen parading the corridors of power overseeing the conduct of ministerial nominees screening.”

In a statement released today, the NAC official said Mr. Saraki’s behavior was a “charade of shame and hopelessness the type never to be seen allowed in decent societies of the world but ever brazenly allowed only in Nigeria.” He added that Mr. Saraki’s continued role was “a slap in the face of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government anti-corruption change slogan.”