Senate cancels post UTME, extends JAMB’s validity period to 3 years

   

THE Senate Thursday passed into law that which would guarantee the validity of any admission offered by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB to any candidate for a period of three academic years from the date of the conduct of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Also, the Senate finally put to rest the controversy trailing the conduct of the Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (Post-UTME) by the Universities, thereby declaring it illegal and unconstitutional, just as the upper chambers said that with the decision, the question of who was in charge of admission has been answered.

Deliberating on the report by the Senator Barau Jibrin led Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, of a Bill for an Act to amend the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Act and other matters connected thereof, 2016( SB.245), the senators amended subsection (a) of section 5 to read as follows: ” 5(b) the Matriculations Examinations conducted by the Board shall be the sole examinations required for admission and entry into all Universities, ‘ Polytechnics (by whatever name called) and Colleges of Education (by whateVer name called), to the exclusion of any other institution or body.”

With the passage of the bill, it would now require the president to assent to the bill where it would then become a law and with the bill coming from the Executive, President Muhammadu Buhari may not delay in the signing of the bill into law.

It would be recalled that on Wednesday 1st June 2016, the Senate of Federal Republic at its sitting read JAMB Amendment bill 2016 (SB.245) the second time and referred same to the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tetfund. The purpose of the bill was to amend the JAMB Act to increase validity period of JAMB examination from one academic year to three academic years.

The Committee in considering the Bill, made reference to Votes and Proceedings and Verbatim reports of Wednesday 2nd March 2016, particularly to the contributions of Members regarding the financial hardship experienced yearly by parents/guardians in Sponsoring the candidates for JAMB examination.

On the three year validity of the result, the report said, ” Validity of Section 6: ‘ “6. (i)any examination conducted by the Board pursuant to the powers conferred by this Act shall be valid for a period of three academic years from the date of the examination. 

Please share this article.....

Attempt on Wike’s life by security operatives, a sacrilege – PDP

The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, has described as most sacrilegious, the
attempt by security operatives of the Department of
State Services (DSS) and policemen to shoot the State
Governor, Chief Barr Nyesom Wike for intervening in
the illegal move to abduct a Federal High Court judge
serving in the State in the early hours of Saturday,
October 8, 2016.
A statement by the State chairman of the Party, Bro
Felix Obuah and signed by his Special Adviser on Media
and Publicity, Jerry Needam said the unruly behavior of
the overzealous security operatives is the worst of its
kind in the history of Nigeria and is a cause for concern.
Though the target is to find reason to declare a state of
emergency in the State, Bro Obuah noted, the
President, the National Assembly members, Judicial
Officers, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and all
relevant authorities and stakeholders should be put on
notice on these acts of recklessness against Rivers
State as injury to one is injury to all.
There is no doubt that the Rivers State experience is
exceptional and the democratic abuse bysecurity
agencies and their political paymasters is aimed at
testing the mindset of the people and if left to stand will
definitely go round and translate into a national malaise,
the State PDP chairman lamented.

According to him it’s unheard of anywhere in the world
where legally constituted authorities like the DSS and
the Police will break into the residence of a legitimate
federal judicial officer of the status of a judge for the
purpose of arrest in the wee hours of the day,
citingorder from above as their reason.
“This is an act of brigandage and roguery, worse still
when a serving governor intervened, same security
agents cocked their guns against the State Chief
Executive/Security Officer in the presence of the State
Police Commissioner and Director of DSS. This, though
real is most unbelievable”.
The State PDP chairman however appealed to Rivers
people to remain calm in the face of the unprovoked
attack and siege being perpetuated by those opposed to
peace in the State so that they can have their way and
continue with their exploitation underdevelopment of
Rivers State.
“We are happy and grateful God is on our side. Each
time they come up with a new strategy to cause mayhem
they end up hitting the air because even the gods of the
land abhor their intentions.
Nonetheless, this particular sacrilege of attempting to
shoot our Governor will never be taken kindly,” Bro
Obuah said.

Governor Wike and the Law

In River State, the administration of justice is
undergoing historical overhaul. Governor Nyesom Wike,
who had himself experienced firsthand why justice is as
important as the law, if not more important, is ensuring
that justice is swift and smooth for all in the state.
His travails after the last general elections have
brought home to him the imperative of justice if
democracy is to take firm roots in the country.
But it also taught him a lesson. And that is – justice can
never be taken for granted. No one must assume he
would win a case because his case is good. It takes the
officers of the law to make a good case truly good. That
is why judges are a special group. They hold the scale of
justice, and can weigh you down or lift you up –
sometimes, sadly, just depending on their mood!
That is why a country needs to take care of the Bench.
The conflicting judgments from the courts in recent
months is clear testimony that the bench holds the ace
if democracy is to survive.
Governor Wike is keenly aware of this, and his
administration has found ways of helping the law deliver
justice. And one of the ways, as demonstrated recently,
is to make judicial officers comfortable enough to make it
difficult to pervert the course of justice. As a
demonstration of this, Wike gave out 57 Honda cars to
magistrates in the state. At the ceremony, the governor
said he gave them the vehicles to provide enabling
environment for the magistrates to “dispense justice
according to the law.”

Moving forward, Wike also acquired 4.1 hectares of land
at the Port Harcourt GRA for the construction of
suitable residential quarters for judges in the state. This
is aside other perks of office the Wike administration has
approved for judicial officers in the state.
At the ceremony, Rivers State Chief Judge, Justice
Adama Iyayi-Lamikanran, commended the governor and
said the gesture would enhance the dispensation of
justice in the state. She urged the magistrates and
other judicial officers to reciprocate Wike’s gesture by
putting in their best, while noting that providing such
enabling environment at a time of financial distress, was
a testimony to the governor’s belief in the law as a
means of attaining justice.
If truth be told, provision of cars or housing, or even
jumbo pay for judges would on their own lead to better
dispensation of justice. The Wike administration’s desire
to rid Rivers of cultism will only succeed with the
cooperation of judiciary and the law enforcement
agencies. Cult-clashes and other cult-related violence
have posed some security challenges for the state,
especially Port Harcourt.
It is heart-warming that the governor has demonstrated
exemplary determination to stem the tide and restore
sanity to the state. Towards this end, he has given the
necessary support to law enforcement agencies in the
state to enable them tackle the menace of cultism.
According to him, the protection of the residents of the
state is paramount for his administration.
At a function recently, he said: “I have provided the
required support and logistics to the security agencies
to tackle these cultists. Nobody remotely involved will be
spared. No cultist will go free.”
But that is only one part of the equation. The other
part is the prosecution of offenders. This is where the
judiciary is central and critical. Wike knows he needs the
courts to be swift and smooth in delivering justice.
The activities of the cult groups have usually
compromised security during elections and public events.
As a result, Governor Wike has come under tremendous
national pressure to stem the tide and change the
narrative, a call he has heeded with uncommon passion.
Nothing will demonstrate goodwill by the judiciary than
to rise up to the occasion by being swift, decisive and
impartial in handling cases relating to cult matters in the
state. The governor has lived up to his social contract
with the judiciary by looking to their welfare; therefore,
the Bench should shun any form of indolence.
River is a beloved state to many Nigerians. Now that
Wike has laid his cards on the table, those who would
play with him must demonstrate similar integrity and
resourcefulness. Justice must not be delayed or denied.
It is what Rivers need. It is what Rivers should get.

Police role in aborted arrest of judge in Rivers exposed

LAGOS—Vivid details of the role played by the police in
Rivers State during the aborted arrest of a judge of the
Federal High court in Port Harcourt, in the early hours
of Saturday emerged yesterday, after sources disclosed
that the Directorate of State Services, DSS, in the
state informed the Commissioner of Police about the
operation before it started.

It was gathered that the DSS in the state had earlier
called to inform the Commissioner of Police, Francis
Odesanya, that his men were going to effect the arrest.
The police boss reportedly complied accordingly by
directing his men to cooperate and give them all
necessary support.
According to police sources, it was in the early hours of
the morning and nobody would have been expected to
open his doors freely to visitors, so, the judge refused to
open his doors to DSS officials.
The source said: “The DSS office shares the same fence
with that of the judge. If they had wanted to accomplish
the arrest successfully without much fuss, there are
many options left for them.
‘’They should have either scaled the fence to enter the
compound or gone with the necessary instruments for
the operation.
‘’The governor arrived there with a retinue of members
of his cabinet and members of the House of Assembly.
While the DSS operatives were dilly-dallying, the
governor and his team started obstructing them.
“When the situation was getting intolerable around 1am,
the Commissioner of Police arrived the scene. He spoke
with the DSS boss and later went to persuade the
governor to allow them do their work advising that if
there was any breach, it should follow due process later.
‘’The commissioner of police reportedly insisted that the
governor should not obstruct justice. When the
governor refused to give way, the police boss ordered
his ADC to move away from the scene and he complied.
‘’The DSS attempted to move in but the governor, again
without his ADC and other policemen that accompanied
him who were obeying the Cp’s order, started
obstructing them.”
This, according to sources, was the stand-off until
around 4am when journalists and other interested
parties arrived.