By Daniel Abia, P/Harcourt

Less than eight hours after his Chief Judge has been placed on investigation over alleged age falsification, the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has properly written to the state House of Assembly of his intention to present the 2025 budget.

On Wednesday, Fubara was locked out of the Assembly Complex for what the spokesman of the House, Hon Enemi George said “his inability to formally communicate the House”.

In a letter titled: Notice of Presentation of Rivers State 2025 Budget to Rivers State House of Assembly, and addressed to the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, the Governor recalled his first visit to the House.

“You may recall my failed visit to the Rivers State House of Assembly on Wednesday, 12th March, 2025 for the presentation of the 2025 Rivers State Budget in compliance with the judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

“As you know, the planned presentation of the said budget could not take place because my entourage and I were locked out at the gate and denied entry into the premises despite the prior delivery of a soft copy of the notice to you following the failure of the Clerk to accept the hard copy from us.

“Recall further that before this unfortunate incident, the House issued a 48-hour ultimatum to present the 2025 budget even when we were yet to be served with the certified
true copy of the judgement and accompanying enrolled orders”, he said.

Governor Fubara informed the Speaker in the letter that “we were simply complying with both the order of the Supreme Court and the request of the Rivers State House of Assembly when we came to present the 2025 budget on the 12th of March, 2025.

“The Supreme Court has directed that all arms of government should exercise their
powers and perform their duties within the ambits of the Constitution and ordinary laws of our country, and this we must do to end the lingering stalemate and advance the progress of our state and the well-being of our people.

“No matter the depth of our differences, we believe the interests of the State and our
people should take priority over political conflicts.

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“Against this background, it is my pleasure to again notify you, Mr. Speaker, of my desire and intention to present the 2025 Budget to the Rivers State House of Assembly on
Wednesday, 19th March, 2025 by 11.00 a.m. or any other date within March 2025 that you may
consider convenient”.

It is therefore left to be seen if the House will have the courtesy to respond to the letter giving the long time frame for thr presentation of the budget.

The post Fubara writes fresh letter for 2025 budget presentation to Rivers Assembly appeared first on Vanguard News.

A bill to amend the Electoral Act No. 13, 2022, to provide for early voting at elections passed its second reading in the Senate on Thursday.

The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act No. 13, 2022, to provide for early voting at elections, including criteria for eligibility, procedure at the elections, and other related matters, 2025”.

It was introduced by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’adua (APC-Katsina).

Leading the debate, Yar’adua emphasised that the bill aimed to enfranchise Nigerians who were denied the opportunity to vote on Election Day due to their duties, such as INEC officials, security personnel, journalists, and observers.

He noted that more than one million citizens who help ensure the success of elections were currently disenfranchised because they were deployed far from their registered polling units.

“This bill seeks to correct that by making provisions for early voting for such citizens,” the legislator said, arguing that excluding such individuals from voting undermined the integrity of the election process.

Yar’adua stressed that the bill would solve the disenfranchisement and enhance the democratic process by ensuring that all eligible citizens could participate in the electoral system, regardless of their profession or duty on Election Day.

Senator Jimoh Ibrahim (APC-Ondo) and Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Abba Moro, supported the bill, highlighting the importance of reducing barriers to voting and improving Nigeria’s electoral process.

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, who presided over plenary, referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters for further legislative action and to report back in four weeks.

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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced plans to abolish NHS England and bring the management of the health service under direct government control. In a speech outlining his vision for civil service reform, Starmer confirmed that the “arms-length body” responsible for overseeing the NHS will be scrapped in an effort to reduce bureaucracy and improve patient care. The decision, he said, would bring the NHS back into democratic control and ensure that funding is redirected to frontline services rather than administrative costs. I cant in all honesty explain to the British people why they should spend their money on two layers of bureaucracy,” Starmer stated. “That money could and should be spent on nurses, doctors, operations, GP appointments. He further emphasized that the move would allow the NHS to focus on cutting waiting times and improving healthcare delivery. So today I can announce I am bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms-length body NHS England. That will put the NHS back at the heart of government where it belongs, freeing it to focus on patients, less bureaucracy, with more money for nurses. An NHS refocused on cutting waiting times at your hospital. NHS England, which currently leads the National Health Service in England, is responsible for statutory functions, regulatory powers, and overseeing service delivery. However, Starmer argued that its existence results in unnecessary duplication of efforts. Addressing a cancer patient during a Q&A session following his speech, he pointed to overlapping administrative roles within NHS England and the Department of Health. If you can believe it, weve got a communications team in NHS England, weve got a communications team in the health department of the government; weve got a strategy team in NHS England, a strategy team in the government department. We are duplicating things that could be done once. By eliminating such redundancies, he said, the government could redirect resources to where they are needed moston the frontline. If we strip that out, which is what we are doing today, that then allows us to free up that money to put it where it needs to be, which is the front line, he added. Starmer also stressed that power should be shifted to healthcare workers rather than being tied up in excessive bureaucracy. We want to push power to frontline workers and away from the bureaucracy which often holds them up, he said.The post UK PM Keir Starmer to scrap NHS England appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.