FOURTH REPUBLIC 107 8TH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THIRD SESSION NO. 17
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
NOTICE PAPER
Monday 23 October, 2017
NOTICE OF MOTIONS
1. Need to Rehabilitate Federal Roads Across the Country: Hon. Segun Alexander Adekola Hon. Afe Olowookere: The House:
Notes the dilapidated state of most Federal roads that link all parts of the Federation, a situation that is causing concern to the citizens;
Also notes that budgetary allocations for rehabilitation/maintenance of the roads are usually less than forty five (45) percent, whereas road infrastructure deficit was estimated in 2015 at N2 trillion;
Aware that the absence of a railway system makes road transportation the only available means of movement from one part of the country to another, in the process, exacting immense toll on the road network;
Observes that the zero budgeting system being executed by the Federal Government is hampering effective rehabilitation and construction of roads in the country given that there is no alternative means of funding of this critical sector;
Concerned by the absence of public private partnership scheme and the failure of successive Administrations to prioritize road construction and maintenance, such that practically all Federal roads like Owo-Ikare-Kabba, Ikare-Omuo-Kabba, Ipele-Kabba, Isua-Ibilo-Okene, Okene-Obajana, Abuja- Lokoja-Okene, Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Okigwe-Umuahia, Enugu-Awka- Onitsha, etc are at various state of disrepair;
Also concerned by the harrowing experience commuters are having on the roads in form of accidents and attacks by hoodlums who rob and kill at will on the roads;
Resolves to: [i] Urge the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on the dilapidated Federal roads in the country and initiate measures to rehabilitate them;
[ii] Mandate the Committee on Works to ascertain the status of Federal Roads across the country, the contracts awarded for their rehabilitation, the budgeted sums and states of execution from 2007 till date, and report back within twelve (12) weeks for further legislative action.
2. Need for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to Implement the 2017/2018 Dry Season Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) Programme: Hon. Munir Baba Dan Agundi Hon Muktar Dandutse: The House:
Notes that Nigeria is blessed with abundant arable land and water resources suitable for cultivation of varieties of crops such as rice, maize, wheat, sorghum, millet, groundnut, cotton, soya bean, beniseed, cassava, oil palm, cocoa, rubber, gum Arabic, horticultural crops and vegetables, all under both rain fall and irrigation and also the rearing of animals such as cattle, sheep, goat and production of fisheries and aquaculture; Also notes that farming has become the main occupation of majority of the citizens, especially those living in the rural areas and of recent, some urban dwellers as the country has a vast irrigable land that is suitable for irrigation farming coupled with available irrigation facilities from the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs); Further notes that the Federal Government established the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) as a vehicle to ensure the equitable distribution of farm inputs to farmers nationwide; Aware that the GES Scheme, based on its Implementation Strategies and Operational Modalities (ISOM), creates redemption centres (selling points) across the country close to the farmers to ensure the development and sustenance of the permanent input markets down to the grassroots where the targeted end user farmers reside; Also aware that the establishment of the GES Scheme ensured that procurement and distribution of farm inputs, elsewhere done directly by Government, has now been transferred to the private sector operators, and in the same vein, the beneficiaries of the farm inputs are not only known by names but by their respective chosen commodity value chains, while their locations and full biometric information are stored in the national database; Cognizant that the expected impact of the dry season farming, especially in the light of the country’s determination to actualize self-sufficiency in rice, wheat and maize production cannot be overemphasized as through its implementation, the nation will meet substantial part of its food requirements and have excess for export to earn the much needed foreign exchange; Observes that available information on the existing irrigable lands, their locations, sources of water and the optimum number of farmers that could utilize the existing irrigation facilities in the country show that there are 1,179,269.79 hectares of potential irrigable lands, 2,869 number of irrigable facilities that could be used by 1,142,087 farmers during the forthcoming 2017/2018 dry season farming out of the 14.76 million farmers in the database; Resolves to: (i) Urge the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to ensure the implementation of the forthcoming 2017/2018 dry season GES programme because of its importance to the nation’s desire to ensure self-sufficiency in major staple food crops; (ii) Also urge the Ministry to support farmers with the required input package for the forthcoming 2017/2018 dry season farming in order to bridge the production gap created by non-implementation of the GES programme during the 2017 wet season; (iii) Mandate the Committee on Agricultural Production and Services to ensure implementation. 3. Need to Enlighten Motorists on Taking Advantage of the Third Party Motor Vehicle Insurance Scheme. Hon. Francis Charles Uduyok Hon. Joseph Edionwele The House:
Notes that Section 68(1) of the Insurance Act of 2003 provides that no person shall use or cause any other person to use a motor vehicle on a road unless a liability which he may thereby incur in respect of damage to property of the third parties is insured with an insurer registered under this Act; Also notes that the third party insurance policy of N5000 is usually purchased under the Act by the insured for protection against another party’s claims that is known as the third party; Aware that motorists are systematically being denied information on the use of the N5000 insurance premium paid at the point of registering a vehicle or renewal of the particulars; Also aware that a lot of owners of accidented vehicles which were covered by insurance and ought, ordinarily to have been compensated did not receive any compensation and rather ended up bearing the costs of the repairs of their vehicles owing to the fact that majority of vehicle owners still do not know the real reason for the N5000 insurance policy they paid; as a result, the insurance companies are raking in a fortune without paying compensation to the insured; Resolves to: (i) Urge the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to initiate enlightenment campaigns on the rights of the insured under the Third Party Motor Insurance Scheme;
(ii) Mandate the Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters to investigate the operations of the Third Party Motor Vehicle Insurance Scheme in order to identify beneficiaries and constraints, and report back in twelve (12) weeks for further legislative action.
4. Need for the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) to Revert to the Metering Code of Nigeria: Hon. Solomon Bulus Maren: The House:
Notes that the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) had deployed smart energy meters which do not conform with the metering code specified at a voltage range of -40 percent to 10 percent (144v to 264v); Also notes that the smart meters are certified with voltage range of 70v to 24ov as was revealed by the verification test conducted by the Plateau State Ministry of Water Resources and Energy; Aware that those smart meters have been installed at the Federal Low Cost Rantiya Estate, Mazaram Top, Rayfield and DIY Bay; Also aware that the Nigerian Electricity Management Service Agency had confirmed to a request by the Plateau State Ministry of Water Resources and Energy that the smart meter voltage status does not conform to the Nigerian metering code or the best practices for this type of voltage profile; Concerned that the most important parameters for energy dispensing and utilization between the utility provider and the consumer have not been adhered to; Cognizant that if no steps are taken to reverse this trend, the Jos Electricity Distribution Company will continue to short change consumers since the meters are designed to read very low voltage of 70v whereas there are no appliances hitherto that could utilize current at such low voltage; Resolves to: (i) Urge the Nigerian Electricity Management Service Agency to direct the Jos Electricity Distribution Company to adjust the operation voltage on their new smart meters from 144 volts to 264 volts as is obtainable in the metering code of Nigeria;
(ii) Mandate the Committee on Power to investigate the matter and report back within three (3) weeks for further legislative action.
5. Call for Harmonization of Biometric Data of Nigerian Citizens: Hon. Ochiglegor Idagbo: The House:
Recalls that the issue of national Identity Scheme in Nigeria was first conceived in 1977 but was eventually executed almost twenty five (25) years later in view of the importance of biometric data in planning and development of all sectors of a country’s economy; Notes that several countries of the world like the united States, Canada, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, among others have achieved great outcomes in economic development and crime detection, prevention and fighting as a result of the harmonization of the Biometric Data of their citizens; Aware that the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Road Safety Commission, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the National Pension Commission, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Nigerian Health Insurance Scheme, the National Population Commission, Telecom Service Providers, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have all separately initiated their own biometric data gathering which has led to duplicity of efforts due to lack of coordination, thus leading to the storage of the same biometric data by multiple agencies; Observes that following the biometric data capturing exercise, some of those agencies have obtained biometric data records thus: (i) Central Bank of Nigeria/ Nigeria Inter – Bank Settlement System – 16 million persons; (ii) Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) - 60 million persons; (iii) Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) – 150 million persons; (iv) Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) – 5 million persons; (v) Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) – 20 million persons;
Recognizes that harmonization of Biometric Databases of the agencies of Government and private entities will help in saving about N40 billion in operational costs and citizens will not be required to have their biometrics taken over and over again by different agencies working for the same Government; Resolves to: (i) Urge the Federal Government to initiate measures for the harmonization of the Biometric Data of Nigerians captured by different agencies of Government; (ii) Mandate the Committees on Population and Governmental Affairs to ensure implementation and report back in six (6) weeks for further legislative action. 6. Need for the Federal Government to Concession Gele-Gele Seaport to Edo State Government and Declare it an Export and Import Free Trade Zone: Hon. Ehiozuwa Johnson Agbonayinma: The House:
Notes that Gele-gele played a prominent role in trade between the Portuguese trade and Benin Empire in 15th century during which commercial activities flourished so much that the Benin Monarch established an embassy in Portugal with a Benin Crown Prince as the first Ambassador, hence Oba Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin Kingdom is among those leading the quest for the establishment and concession of the seaport to Edo State; Also notes that from its history importance, the Gele-gele seaport will play a significant role in the economic development of Nigeria as Edo State is connected to various parts of the country, which makes it an economic hub transportation of merchandise; Aware that the establishment and the concession of the seaport to Edo State Government will not only provide for export free trade zone with enormous trading activities but will also lead to the creation of good road infrastructure and agro-industrial park and container terminals in the State, thereby urbanizing the predominantly rural communities in the state; Believes that the concession will put the seaport to optimal utilization when Edo State Government, in partnership with private investors, manage the seaport as this will boost revenue generation, create more jobs, boost economic activities in the State, assist in the decongestion of other seaports, attract foreign investments and ensure increase in time delivery and distribution of merchandise to consumer markets; Resolves to: (i) Urge the Federal Government to, as a matter of priority, establish Gele-gele Seaport and concession its management to Edo State Government and also declare it an export and import free trade zone; (ii) Mandate the Committee on Ports, Harbours and Waterways to ensure implementation and report back in twelve (12) weeks for further legislative action.