National Assembly to abandon PIB

                                                                            David Mark and Aminu Tambuwal

The current National Assembly may abandon the Petroleum Industry Bill owing to the slow progress of work on it.

The PUNCH observed on Wednesday that it was becoming clear that the bill might be abandoned as senators and members of the House of Representatives have only 16 days to the end of the 7th National Assembly.

Findings showed that while the Senate is behind by not reporting the bill out of the committee stage, the House which started considering its own report last week, was being slowed down by disagreements among lawmakers over the many clauses in the proposed law.

For example, at the resumed consideration of the report by the House on Wednesday, members hotly disagreed over the funds oil majors were expected to share with the Federal Government for exploration activities in the River Basins.

Oyinlola’s lawyer loses practising licence over election case

                                                  Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Kunle Kalejaye

The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee has expelled a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Kunle Kalejaye, from further practising as a lawyer.

The LPDC disbarred Kalejaye after finding him guilty of professional misconduct. A five-man panel of the LPDC, led by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, conducted the investigation.

The LPDC found Kalejaye guilty of misconduct while representing the Peoples Democratic Party and its then candidate, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, where Oyinlola’s victory in the 2007 poll was being challenged by the then candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola.

Okonjo-Iweala, govs clash over $20bn ECA funds

                       Coordinating Minister for the economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Tuesday demanded an explanation from the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on how $20bn that allegedly accrued to the Excess Crude Account   was disbursed.

The forum, in a statement issued at the end of a four-hour meeting of the NGF which ended in the early hours of Tuesday in Abuja, said the sum was paid into the ECA between June 2013 and April 2015.

“In the light of the fact that funds in the ECA were last disbursed in May 2013, there is a need for the minister, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, to provide explanations for accruals to this account from June 2013 to April 2015 which is estimated at over $20bn,” the NGF said.

Niger lawmakers get N17m each, stop gov’s removal

                                                                     Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu

The impeachment plot against the Niger State Governor, Aliyu Babangida, may have been stalled as the members of the state House of Assembly pushing for the governor’s removal have been paid N17m each.

Our correspondent gathered that the lawmakers after receiving the N17m each were also promised by the state government that their other demands would soon be met.

Consequently, the lawmakers have decided to stop the impeachment move against the governor.

Though the Speaker, state House of Assembly, Isah Kawu, refused to comment on the issue when our correspondent sought his reaction to the development, sources at the assembly complex including lawmakers, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the development.

Police shut Anambra restaurant for serving human flesh

A restaurant in Anambra has reportedly been shut down for cooking human flesh and serving it to customers. The police were tipped off by locals who suspected something horrific was taking place inside the kitchen.

They raided the hotel restaurant to discover human heads which were still dripping with blood in plastic bags. A local priest who ate at the restaurant was alarmed at the price of meals there, let alone where the meat came from, BBC Swahili reported.

He was presented with a bill of N700.