OSAS EMMANUEL
Members of the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-governmental Affairs have faulted the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, for failing to appear before the Senate to defend the budget of his office for the 2023 fiscal year.
The lawmakers complained that the SGF has consistently shunned invitations from the Senate since the inauguration of the 9th Senate in 2019, and again failed to appear for the last budget of President Buhari’s administration.
Some members of the committee called for the representative of the SGF, Mr. Morris Mbaeri, Permanent Secretary, General Services, to be sent back and return with Boss Mustapha at a later date.
However, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abba Moro, ruled that the Permanent Secretary be allowed to present the budget on behalf of the SGF.
The Committee also pointed that an additional N200 million for personal cost was added to the budget of his office when the office had not embarked on recruitment in the last five year.
In response, the Permanent Secretary explained that the new provisions were for new presidential aides appointed for president Muhammadu Buhari, officers promoted in the SGF’s office and grants for retiring staff.
The lawmakers also accused the SGF of not adhering to the principle of federal character in the nominal roll of the staff of his office.
The Committee, therefore, mandated the SGF to make available copies of nominal roll for the office of the SGF for proper scrutiny within two weeks.
In the 2022 budget presented by the Permanent Secretary, the lawmakers raised concerns that despite total sum of N150 million released to the office for projects, only 20 per cent has been utilised.
The representative of the SGF assured that procurement process is ongoing with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), and execution will commence before the end of the year.
Other issues raised include the rehabilitation of the Shehu Shagari complex, worth N400 million, with total monies released, but the office has utilised only seven million for the project barely two months to the end of the year.
Same goes for the digitisation of files and other records worth N64 million – total money released but not utilised so far.
After several hours, the Committee ordered the office of the SGF to make corrections of issues raised and submit clean copies of documents to the Committee for further consideration.
Warring Parties In Ethiopia Agree On ‘Permanent Cessation Of Hostilities’
The Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front have agreed to a “permanent cessation of hostilities,” the African Union (AU) High Representative for the Horn of Africa and former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo announced in a media briefing Wednesday night in South Africa.
The announcement at what an African Union mediator described as a “historic ceremony of the permanent cessation of hostilities,” follows AU-led negotiations in Pretoria which lasted over a week, and marks a significant step towards peace between the warring parties which have been locked in conflict for two years.
Additionally, there will be a “systematic, orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament, restoration of services, unhindered access to humanitarian supplies, protection of civilians, especially women children and other vulnerable groups,” Obasanjo said.
The agreement also offers the “assurance of security for all concerned within and outside Ethiopia.”
An AU high-level partner will be tasked with “monitoring, supervising and iiimplementation,” he added, without providing more details.
“This is not the end of the peace process but the beginning of it,” Obasanjo said.
In September, forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region said they were ready to observe an immediate ceasefire and accept an African Union-led peace process to end a conflict with federal forces that has stretched over nearly two years.
But hostilities escalated once more from the beginning of October.
On October 17, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said the situation was “spiraling out of control” and reiterated his calls for fighting to stop immediately in Tigray.
Tigrayan forces accept immediate ceasefire and AU-led peace talks with Ethiopia govt
“Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels. The social fabric is being ripped apart,” UN Secretary General Guterres told reporters.
Guterres emphasized the “horrific” toll being exacted on Ethiopia’s civilian population, saying that hundreds of thousands of people had been forced to leave their homes – many for the second time – since hostilities between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) resumed in August.
He also said the UN had received “disturbing accounts of sexual violence and other acts of brutality against women, children and men.” CNN previously reported on evidence of sexual violence being used as a deliberate weapon of war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.
Guterres said 13 million Ethiopians were in need of food and support in the regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar before the resumption of hostilities, which have disrupted the delivery of aid for more than seven weeks. In the case of Tigray, they have been suspended altogether, according to Guterres.
“The level of need is staggering,” said Guterres.
Then peace talks began on October 24 and marked the first time the two warring parties had met publicly since the conflict erupted. Talks came amid renewed intense fighting in Tigray during which Ethiopian forces gained ground.
