Abuja – The speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, had hailed the appointment of the new Emir of Misau in Bauchi State Alhaji Ahmed Suleiman.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs Turaki Hassan, Dogara described the emergence of Alhaji Suleiman as the 11th Emir of Misau as a well deserved.
The Speaker called on the new Emir to emulate and build on the legacies of the late Emir Muhammadu Manga III.
He said the former monarch had worked all his life to ensure that peace and harmony prevails amongst the diverse people of his domain which remained one of the most peaceful in the country.
“May I enjoin your Royal Highness to emulate the legacies and strong foundation laid by the Late Emir to bear on your reign as well as make peace and unity the focal point of your stewardship as a royal father”, Dogara added.
While wishing the new monarch a peaceful and successful reign on the throne of his forefathers, the Speaker assured that the House under his leadership is committed to upholding the tenets of the traditional institution considering its immense contributions to peaceful coexistence and promotion of cultural values in the society.
He said the House will use the instrumentality of the constitutional amendment to provide a constitutional role for traditional rulers in view of the significant role they play in maintaining peace in their dormain and the country at large, as well as dispute resolution.
He said such role was provided for in the last constitution review in the 7th Assembly but was not assented to by former president Goodluck Jonathan.
However, the Speaker disclosed that following amendment to relevant House Rules on life span of unsigned Bills in the last Assembly, the House will reconsider the amendment and forward same to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent.
Meanwhile A member representing Amuwo, Odofin federal constituency of Lagos in the House of Representatives, Rep. Oghene Egoh recently called for a reform of the country’s judicial system in the fight against corruption.
Egoh who made this call in Abuja, also urged the federal government to ensure that there were adequate courts across the country to try corrupt officials.
According to him, that we don’t have enough courts to prosecute corruption.
He further expressed worry that certain court processes were hampering speedy dispensation of Justice.
“You take a case to court in April and they will adjourn it to September, before its gets to September they say they are on recess; a simple case can take years.
“We don’t have enough judges to handle the ordinary cases now we are going to put an avalanche of corruption cases on the courts right now; we don’t have enough judges.
“We have competent lawyers all over the place who we can pick as judges, so the presidency should look at it, pick enough judges to
prosecute corrupt people.
“Because EFCC can see people they want to prosecute, but there may not be enough court to prosecute them and this will cause a delay,”Egoh said.
He also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to be holistic in his fight against corruption.
According to the lawmaker, corruption has affected every sector and must be addressed holistically.
Egoh, who stated that the president must not be selective in the fight against corruption, also pointed out the need to strengthen the anti-graft agencies.
He said “ I want to appeal to Mr President to let his corruption fight be broadminded.
“If you say that because PDP members are corrupt and you want to start your corruption fight with them, don’t forget that few months before the election over five governors of PDP crossed over to APC.
“Almost half of today’s APC is made up of PDP members.
“Are you saying that once you cross over to APC you are no more corrupt, then what we need to do is let everyone in PDP de camp to APC
so that there is no need to fight corruption again.
“I want to appeal to him to extend the fight to every nook and cranny
of the country.
“Corruption is everywhere, it is in the universities, ministries, in
the oil industry, in the police force, everywhere there is corruption and this corruption had grown like that because nobody has tackled it
frontally.
“Now that President Buhari wants to tackle corruption let him be bold to make the anti-corruption fight affect everybody.
“Whether you are APC or PDP let it affect you; it will not be good for him to start with PDP, infact if I were him, I will start with my own house, I will start from APC,’’ the lawmaker said.
