©2022 DopeReporters. All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by multiplatforms
Senate spokesperson, Senator Yemi Adaramodu has dispelled impeachment rumours of Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, describing it as “unacceptable and unspeakable”.
Adaramodu stated this after the senate plenary on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, rumours on some social media platforms stated that the Senate president was set to be impeached and indicate that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) had taken over the National Assembly premises to prevent a plan to impeach the officers from taking place.
Senator Akpabio has since dispelled the rumours as ” fake news”
He said, “I don’t even know how to describe it.
“There is nothing near that and there will not be. We have agreed that this is an uncommon Senate and the Senate President is carrying his legislative duties
“There is no reason to even speculate that there will be a change of leadership.
“The idea has neither been generated or conceived anywhere.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum (NSF), Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, dismissed any attempts to link northern lawmakers with the issue.
Yar’Adua said members of the group were solidly behind the leadership of Akpabio.
“We in the forum are solidly behind the leadership of Akpabio.
“We are here to assure Nigerians that they should ignore the rumor and concentrate on issues that affect our nation rather than dueling on rumours”, he told Senate Correspondents.
Meanwhile, the Presidency also touched on the matter, dismissing as “baseless”, any claim of a plot to sack the leadership of the Senate.
In a reaction on Wednesday evening, the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Sen. Basheer Lado, spoke of the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to encourage a harmonious working relationship between the legislature and the executive.
A statement Lado issued, reads, “The attention of this office has been drawn to online reports that security agents have been deployed to prevent senators from carrying out their legislative duties, specifically in relation to an alleged impeachment of the Senate President. I wish to categorically state that these reports are baseless and should be disregarded as there is no discord within the rank and file of the senators. The legislative body remains united in its commitment to the advancement of Nigeria’s democracy.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in line with his dedication to a harmonious working relationship among the senators, recognizes the critical role of the senate in driving legislative progress. His Excellency remains committed to ensuring that this collaboration is based on mutual respect, dialogue, and shared goals for peace, progress and prosperity of all Nigerians.
“The senate continues to function freely and without interference, and any security presence within the National Assembly Complex is for the routine safety and protection of legislators and staff. I therefore urge the public to disregard such unfounded publications which could undermine the integrity of the legislature.”
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Hon. Philip Agbese, has asked President Bola Tinubu to immediately dismiss Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL), for stifling the economy’s growth due to the oil sector crisis.
Agbese also called on the President to sack Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and other inherited appointees.
The lawmaker representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo federal constituency of Benue State, who said this while speaking with journalists in Abuja, also expressed concern over the current state of the oil sector.
Agbese, a staunch supporter of Kyari, said his call to remove the NNPCL GCEO was not personal. He added that it was part of his conviction that Tinubu is the only one who can rescue the country.
He said the mismanagement and inefficiencies under Kyari’s leadership had led to severe setbacks in the industry.
The lawmaker said the incompetence and mismanagement displayed by these officials are significantly hindering Nigeria’s economic growth.
According to the lawmaker, NMDPRA’s lack of strategic planning and poor regulatory oversight have resulted in dwindling oil revenues and exacerbated the country’s economic challenges.
“The oil sector is the backbone of our economy, and its mismanagement has far-reaching consequences for every Nigerian.
“We are facing a dire situation where our oil production capacity is diminishing, and revenues are plummeting, all due to the incompetence and lack of effective leadership within NNPC and NMDPRA.”
A former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that, in addition to sound education in any field of endeavour, a Public Relations Manager must possess a brilliant mind, confidence, self esteem and aptitude in order to be successful.
The former minister identified other criteria for a spokesperson to be successful in the chosen career, either in the private or public sector, as loyalty, courage, integrity, commitment, focus and fearlessness.
Mohammed, who has spent about 30 years of his active working life as spokesperson, gave the recipe at a seminar organised by the Department of Mass Communication, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, in conjunction with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
Speaking on the topic: “Redefining the Role of the Spokesman: My Enduring Engagement/ Romance with the Practice of Public Relations”, the former Minister said with a successful three decades in the practice of public relations, he did not study Journalism or Mass Communication and never for one day worked for or in any media establishment in life.
“For the records, my first degree is in French from what is now Obafemi Awolowo University but in our time was known as University of Ife, and I later read Law in the University of Lagos and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar.
“Yet I have spent about 30 years of my active working life as spokesperson for one entity or the other.
“Either it is as Public Relations Manager for the then Nigerian Airports Authority {now called the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria} or the National Publicity Secretary of Action Congress, Action Congress of Nigeria or the All Progressives Congress or as Minister of Information and Culture, I have always played the role of a spokesperson,” he said.
According to Mohammed, self-esteem and confidence are indispensable tools for a public relations practitioner.
“He must not limit his role or function to press interventions, radio and television appearances, media monitoring, etc, but must see himself as a major stakeholder in his organisation.
“He must be willing and ready to use public relations as a tool to address challenges confronting his organisation,” he said.
Mohammed recalled in the 80s how he used his office, as the Public Relations Manager for the then Nigerian Airports Authority (now Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) to address the challenge of impunity and indiscipline in the system.
“For instance, one of the major challenges facing my organisation in the early 80s in particular was impunity and indiscipline, especially from the executive and legislative arms of government of the day.
“Some members of the National Assembly of that era had no respect for safety regulations and bye-laws of the Airports Authority.
“Some of them insisted on being driven to the foot of the aircraft for boarding. Some of them turned our runways into highways while some were furious and demanded the heads of the management of Nigeria Airways or any airport official who dared to challenge them.
“They threw tantrums if a flight departed without them, even when they arrived at the airport a full hour after their scheduled flight time.
“Recall this was a period when only the Federal Government-owned Nigeria Airways Limited was the sole operator in our domestic market.
“At a point in time as a result of the irresponsible behavior of this class of people, international aviation authorities threatened to blacklist our airports as unsafe.
“As the head of the public relations at the airport, I spearheaded the campaign of naming and shaming which didn’t go down well with our so called “big men”but which fortunately got the solid support of not only my management but that of the government of the day,” he said
The former minister added that loyalty, commitment and being focused helped him in redefining the role of spokesperson as the National Publicity Secretary of AC, ACN and APC.
“I breathed AC, I inhaled AC, I slept with AC in mind, I dreamt or had nightmares about AC. My whole world focus and entire being was AC. Any slight on AC real or perceived I saw as a slight to my person, and must be repulsed.
“My loyalty to my party transcended my loyalty to any person or entity. I easily sacrificed friendship and other relationships on the altar of party.
“The health, fortune, pains and survival of the party became inseparable from my own health, fortune, pain or wellbeing.
“I became obsessed with the party. I was acutely aware of the many predators that lay in wait to ambush it,” he said.
According to the former minister, as the spokesperson for the Federal Government, the turf is vastly different, so also are the rules and modus operandi.
He noted that as the spokesperson of the Federal Government, your allegiance and loyalty is now to the entire people and government of Nigeria and no longer just to your political party.