Lawan wants budget laid before N/Assembly in September
Senate President Ahmad Lawan has reiterated his appeal to the executive arm of government on the need to be on the same page with the National Assembly to reverse “the undesirable trend of the current budget cycle in Nigeria.”
Lawan was quoted in a statement by his spokesperson, Ola Awoniyi to
The Federal High Court Abuja, on Thursday, granted the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to freeze two bank accounts linked to a 26-year-old Nigerian student based abroad.
According to the EFCC’s Counsel, Richard Dauda, in an exparte application number: FHC/ABJ/CS/921/2019, the commission is investigating a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) received from the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) against the suspect, Mr Damilare Oluyemi.
“The investigation revealed that the suspect in the case under investigation is a student who was involved in suspicious transactions between May 11, 2018 and June 6, 2018 amounting to 133, 955. 00 dollars and 40, 000 pounds,” he said.
He said investigation further revealed that the suspect had “substantial amount of funds in his Access Bank and Guarantee Trust Bank accounts which have not been touched.
“A copy of the statements of Access Bank and GTB of the suspect is attached and marked as Exhibit EFCC 1 and EFCC 2 respectively,” he said.
Dauda told the court that all effort made to invite the major depositor, Lucy Otubo, has proved abortive.
He said available intelligence report suggested that Otubo had relocated to Turkey and frequently carried out transactions on these accounts.
The counsel said the commission had been making efforts to ensure that the fleeing suspect was tracked and possibly deported back to Nigeria to aid further investigation but efforts so far made had not yielded positive results.
He urged Justice Taiwo to grant the commission an order to freeze Oluyemi’s accounts for a six-month period.
Justice Taiwo, however, held that granting a six-month period for freezing the accounts would be too long.
The judge, who ordered that the two bank accounts be frozen for 40 days pending the conclusion of the commission’s investigation, said the owner of the accounts must be put on notice through his banks on the freezing order within 14 days. have spoken at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his return from the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia yesterday.
“We need to work for a budget that will be passed by the National Assembly by December. That requires that we work assiduously with the executive arm of government, to have the budget laid before the National Assembly by the end of September, and for the National Assembly to lock up the whole of October this year for budget defence, so that it can be processed and passed before we go on Christmas break. It is doable, it is achievable and attainable.
“I’m sure if we are able to achieve that, Nigeria’s economy will witness a boost. Businesses in Nigeria will have something predictable to work with. I believe that together with the executive arm of government, we should be able to do this, as this is fundamental to us in the National Assembly, and I’m sure the executive arm is also looking forward to that,” Lawan said.
He said, with the recent constitution of the relevant parliamentary committees, the ninth National Assembly is now more prepared and ready to work for Nigerians.
Lawan was full of gratitude to God for the opportunity to be part of the over 60,000 Nigerians that participated in this year’s Hajj.
“We prayed for our country to achieve optimal security, to have stability, peace and progress.
“We prayed for the National Assembly too. It is our prayer that the ninth National Assembly will be one to work for Nigerians and for the benefit of those who voted for us,” he said.