One-minute-silence surge, Binance bribery allegation, cybersecurity levy, others dominate Reps’ proceedings

Multiple security motions, endless one minute silence ritual

Security challenges in Nigeria dominated last week’s plenary sessions in the House of Representatives as members from different constituencies presented motions calling for interventions in their constituencies.

From the killings in Enugu State to the herders invasion in Kogi State to the massacre in Kaduna State, lawmakers spent the most of the legislative hours deliberating on insecurity across various constituencies.

From Tuesday to Thursday, one-minute silence was observed by the House 10 times in honour of the dead victims of the attacks.

The breakdown shows that the lower chamber performed the ritual four times on Tuesday, two times on Wednesday and four times on Thursday.

The frequency of the ritual was highlighted by the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), who expressed concerns over the number of security-related motions and the number of times one minute of silence was observed by the House.

The lawmaker said the House cannot continue to observe moments of minute silence without any meaningful outcome.

Lawmaker calls for foreign mercenaries

An interesting dimension to the resolution of the lingering insecurity confronting the nation came up during the debate on one of security-related motions.

Ahmed Jaha, a lawmaker from Borno State, made a strong plea for the hiring of foreign military contractors to help in the fight against bandits, terror groups and others.

“In as much as a substantial amount of money is not going to be allocated or will continue to be allocated to security agencies, insecurity will never come to an end in Nigeria.

“From 2015 to 2023, more than N19 trillion was allocated to security and security-related sectors in Nigeria. Whereas, we have an alternative,” he said.

Mr Jaha’s suggestion is coming at a time when there is a strong debate over the possible location of United States and French military bases in Nigeria.

It is not clear what the position of the House on foreign mercenaries is as Mr Jaha’s submission was not debated.

Lawmakers fume over Binance bribery allegation

Issues around controversial cryptocurrency giants, Binance, featured prominently on the floor of the House in the past week.

On Wednesday, Kama Nkemkanma, a lawmaker from Ebonyi State, raised a point of privilege on a bribery-allegation made aginst the House by the Chief Executive Officer of Binance, Richard Peng.

In a now-deleted post on X, Mr Peng narrated the encounter of his team with the members of the House Committee on Financial Crimes.

He claimed that his team was approached by a man who demanded money to help get the company out of trouble with the Nigerian government.

Mr Peng said this unknown person approached the team immediately after a meeting with the committee.

Mr Nkemkanma, while presenting the motion, submitted that the embattled cryptocurrency platform is attempting to embarrass the House.

Speaker Abbas Tajudeen ruled that the clerk should coordinate a media campaign to refute the allegation.

Meanwhile, the House also resolved to launch another probe into the escape from custody in Nigeria of the Head of Binance Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla.

This resolution was sequel to a motion of urgent public importance moved by Dominic Okafor on Wednesday during plenary.

‘Cybersecurity levy not for bank customers’

The House also made a decision on the controversial cybersecurity levy which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently announced its implementation.

The intervention by the House followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by the Minority Leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda, on behalf of the leadership of the House.

In the motion, Mr Chinda said the CBN erred in its interpretation of the Cybercrime (Prohibitions) Act. According to him, bank customers are not supposed to bear the burden of the levy.

He listed some of the bodies that ought to pay the 0.5 per cent to include GSM service providers, telecommunication companies, internet service providers; banks and other financial institutions, insurance companies and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The position of the House was a product of a long meeting of the leadership of the House, which had on the previous day stopped Mansur Soro, a member of the House from Bauchi State, from moving a motion on the issue of the levy. Speaker Abbas Tajudeen explained that the leadership was planning to meet on the matter.

Consequently, the House resolved that the CBN should withdraw the circular on the implementation of the levy, and issue an appropriate one based on proper interpretation of the Act.

Lawmakers probe controversial Lagos-Calabar Highway project

The House also resolved to probe the controversial N15 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

The lower legislative chamber resolved that its Committee on Works and Public Procurement should investigate the details of the 700km highway to determine possible violations of relevant laws in the award of the contract.

The decision to probe the N15 trillion project stemmed from a motion of urgent public importance raised by Austin Achado, an APC member from Benue State.

While opinions are divided on the project, there are lots of questions Nigerians will be hoping to get answers to from the probe.

However, expectations should be measured because the House has a history of abandoning probes or not submitting reports on them.

House inundated with bills

During the week, a total of 80 bills were introduced in the House.

Twenty-eight of the bills were introduced on Tuesday, 31 on Wednesday and 21 on Thursday.

Member dies

On Friday, a member of the House from Jigawa State, Isa Dogonyaro, passed away after a brief illness.

Until his death, the lawmaker represented the Garki/Babura federal constituency of Jigawa State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He was the deputy chairperson of the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Control.

Mr Dogonyaro was the second member of the 10th House that died since its inauguration in June 2023. Abdulkadir Danbuga died in October 2023.

In line with its tradition, the House is expected to suspend all legislative activities on Tuesday in honour of the late lawmaker.