*Kormo Bachama, Chief Kwamoti B Laori honored for courageous leadership by Pene-da-Bwatiye Jos Branch*

  

During the end of year cultural festival last Friday, Pene-da-Bwatiye, Jos Branch honored the Federal law maker for demonstrating uncommon courage in leadership as representative of the people. 

The Branch leadership used the occasion to applaud the phenomenal contributions of the law maker in areas of human capital and infrastructure development, which they described as unprecedented and worth commendation. 

The event which took place at Peace Island Jos was graced by prominent Bwatiye Chiefs including Chief Clement Minakaro, the District Head of Lafiya and representative of the Hama Bachama and Hama Bata, Chief Peter Clement (Ramo Bachama), Chief Salvation Philip, Chief Dr. Misouno and other notable Bwatiye sons and daughters too numerous to mention.

Highlight of the event include, presentation of Awards, display of various Bwatiye Cultural heritage, dances, poems, dishes and a boat ride to spice the occasion.

 *Kbl media* .

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*REP. KWAMOTI RECEIVED DG NILEST, PROMISES MORE PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH EMPOWERMENT.*

The member representing Demsa /Numan/ Lamurde Federal Constituency  received the DG Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST) Zaria, Prof. MK Yakubu in his office at the national assembly. 

The law thanked the DG for his support in ensuring the establishment of NILEST Extension Service Center in Numan and for the successful training of youth on footwear production and leather technology  recently held in Numan.

The DG appreciate the Law maker's commitment to youth empowerment and promised to cooperate with him towards ensuring that more equipment is provided for the center to commence full academic programs in the near future.

The DG applauded Rep. Kwamoti for providing a conducive atmosphere for the newly established service center in the Northeast to thrive, promises more robust partnership in the future.

Highlight of the occasion is the presentation of Certificate of Occupancy of the land allocated for the proposed permanent Site of NILEST in Numan.

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*REP. KWAMOTI EMPOWERS CONSTITUENTS ON FOOTWEAR AND LEATHER PRODUCT MANUFACTURING*

 

The visionary silent achiever and member representing Demsa/ Numan/ Lamurde Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Rt. Kwamoti B Laori has sponsored the empowerment of youth across his Constituency on footwear and leather goods manufacturing.

The training which lasted for a week was facilitated by Staff of the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology Zaria at the temporary Site of the Institute's Extension Service Center Numan established by the Law Maker.

At the graduation ceremony, the graduate Trainees among them Diploma, NCE and B.Sc. demonstrated the skill and knowledge acquired and the pledged to use it to create wealth and employment for the teaming youth.

In his remark, Hon Kwamoti charged the graduates to be different by ensuring the utilization of the knowledge, equipment and opportunity given to them to carve a nitch for themselves.

He charged the graduate trainees to strive to gain mastery of their skill while assuring continuous support to make them successful entrepreneurs capable of competing globally.

In his remark, the Adamawa State Hon. Commissioner for Entrepreneurship Development, Hon. James Iliya, while thanking the law maker for the initiative also promised to monitor the beneficiary to ensure they put the skill and equipment given to them to good use. Also assured to support the beneficiaries to be established. 

Beneficiaries received certificates, Start up equipment and cash to enable them establish their business on a good note. 

Highlight of the event include the presentation of gift of shoes to Rt. Hon. Kwamoti by the Trainees in appreciation of the rare opportunity afforded them.

Dignitaries who graced the occasion include the Majority Leader, Adamawa State House of Assembly, Hon. Kate Mamuno, State Commissioner of Entrepreneurship Development, Hon. Wenakam Wesley, Council Chairman of Demsa LGA, Prof. Dishi Khobe, Advisor to the Governor of Adamawa State, Permanent secretaries, party stakeholders too numerous to mention.

The event was garnished by a cultural dance display by the Bwatiye Cultural dance troupe.

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NEED TO CONSTRUCT THE SECOND LANE OF NGURORE BRIDGE IN ADAMAWA STATE, NORTHEAST-NIGERIA TO PREVENT AN EMINENT DISASTERBY RT. HON. KWAMOTI BITRUS LAORI

 

The House:Notes that Ngurore bridge is a single lane bridge constructed in the mid1970s on Gombe -Yola Federal highway, about 29Kilometers or 18Miles to Yola, the Adamawa State capital city;Also Notes that the single lane Ngurore bridge is an important bridge in the Northeast that is relied upon to by commuters from the East, South and northeast states like Borno, Gombe, Taraba states to connect the Adamawa state capital, Yola; Aware that the single lane bridge has served many decades, with the increasing population of humans and vehicles, heavy trucks, machines and equipment using the bridge, coupled with environmental factors, there is no doubt the bridge has witnessed some level of dilapidation affecting the wear and tear that would require regular maintenance which cannot be achieved due to lack of an alternative. I am afraid the already overstretched single lane bridge may suffer great damage or collapse, due to too much pressure that may not allow it last the full life span its designed to;Worried that on several occasions, commuters from across the country who tried to connect Yola, the Adamawa State Capital by road from the east and south have suffered untowardly in Ngurore bridge on account of gridlock caused by trailer trucks competing to pass on the bridge.  This has not only increased travel hours and halted economic activities but also caused great loss for businessmen and women;Further worried that being the only bridge that links the 9 Local Government Areas in the Southern Senatorial District of Adamawa to the state capital, patients with critical medical conditions from my constituency of Demsa/Numan/Lamurde, seeking emergency medical attention in facilities in Yola- often get stuck on the bridge for long hours. Sadly, many a times, on account of such delays and complications arising from it, many patients have given up without reaching the hospital due to lack of an alternative bridge lane;Concerned that if nothing is done urgently to construct the second lane of Ngurore Bridge to ease pressure on the single lane also allow for maintenance, it may result in disaster for the people of Adamawa State, the northeast and indeed Nigerians who depend on the bridge for transportation of their agricultural produce and livestock as well as commuters and traders who daily ply the road for their socio-economic activities and livelihood;Resolves to:Urge the Federal Ministry of Works to assess and include the construction of a bridge in Ngurore to serve as alternative to the existing single lane bridge;Urge the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to regular assess and maintain the single lane Ngurore Bridge to save it from collapse;Mandate the Committees on Works and FERMA to ensure compliance.          

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*Reps of Taipei Trade Office in Nigeria Andy Liu hosted a dinner in honor of Rt. Hon. Kwamoti B Laori and friends.*

 

The member representing Demsa/Numan/Lamurde Federal Constituency and Chairman House Committee on Cooperation & Integration in Africa, Rt Hon Kwamoti B Laori, Hon. Amos G Magaji, Chairman Committee on Health Institutions and Colleagues were hosted to a dinner by the Representative of Taipei Trade Office in Nigeria, Mr. Andy Liu and his wife Yolanda Chen.

The Taipei Mission in Nigeria was established in April 1991 in furtherance of trade relations between Nigeria and Taiwan.

Taiwan and Nigeria both members of the World trade Organization (WTO) are working on linking their import and export banks for the purposes of trade facilitation.

The Taipei Trade Office serves and protects the interests of Taiwanese expatriates in Nigeria and some ECOWAS members States, promoting economic, trade, cultural, educational, scientific, financial, and other exchanges and encourage cooperation between Taiwan and these countries.

Taiwan exports various tangible and intangible products to Nigeria. Some of the tangible products include auto parts, ITC products, discs and tapes, machinery and parts, screws, bolts and nuts, polymers of styrene, plastics, iron and steel products, yarn and fabrics, motorcycles, bicycles and frozen sea food. The intangible products include sharing its developmental experiences with relevant authorities and scholars in Nigeria.

Some of Nigeria's major export to Taiwan includes; crude oil, natural gas, solid minerals, Sesame, and cashew nuts.

The dinner afforded the member opportunity to build friendship and strategic partnership towards improvement of trade relations and other exchanges that would benefit his Constituents, to create employment opportunities for Adamawa State, Nigeria and indeed the African continent.

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*Rt. Hon. Kwamoti B Laori Receives Kenyan High Commission and Paliamentarians on Study Visit to Nigeria*

 

The member representing Demsa/Numan/Lamurde Federal Constituency and Chairman Committee on Cooperation and integration in Africa today received his Kenyan Parliamentary Committee Counterpart led by Hon. Farah Salah Yakup (MP) in the House of Reps, National Assembly Abuja.

The 6-Man Kenyan parliamentary delegation were on a 3- Days study visit to Nigeria. The members took turns to engage their Nigerian counterpart on wide range of issues touching legislations and economic policies that promote cooperation and integration in Africa; challenges and ways of overcoming them were also discussed.

During the interface, challenges confronting sub-regional structures such as the ECOWAS and the East African Community (EAC)were reviewed based on shared experience with the view to strengthening them.  

Other members of the Kenyan Parliamentary Committee are Hon. Beatrice Chepngeno Kemei, Hon. Peter Kalerwa Salasya, Hon. Rael Chepkemoi Kasiwai, Hon. Peter Ochieng Orere and Mr Jimale Mohammed who served as Clerk/Secretary . 

During the visit to the National Assembly the delegation were accompanied by the Kenyan Acting Head of Mission, His Excellency, James Ngongesa and Rose Chemas, Counselor at the Kenyan High Commission in Nigeria.

The visit afforded committee members opportunity to share their legislative experiences in a mutually beneficial manner. 

Below is the full text of the welcoming remark presented by Rt. Hon Kwamoti B Laori while receiving his guest.

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*Rep. Kwamoti B Laori Distribute Palliative to Constituents in his Numan Constituency Office.*

The Member representing Demsa/Numan/Lamurde Federal Constituency and Chairman House Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa has flagged of the distribution of food items to palliate the suffering of his constituents occassioned by the removal of subsidy on petroleum products across the country.

Moved by compassion and love for his people, the Hon. Member represented by Hon. James Iliya, the Adamawa State Commissioner for Entrepreneurship Development used the occasion to appreciate his Constituents for their resilience in the face of harsh economic realities of the day. 

Hon. Kwamoti appealed for continuous support and prayers for all those in authority and the government as they strive to deliver good governance and democracy dividends to the people in such a time as this in the nation's history. 

The member, while  appreciating the credibility of Members of the Distribution Committee, drawn from the 3 Local Government Areas, urged them to be fair to all, targeting the most vulnerable persons and households across the Wards and Polling Units within his Constituency; ensuring they receive this palliative, however small. 

In their separate remarks, the Wakili Numan, Chief Richard Pwavi Timor, Hon  Dr. Dishi Khobe, the Council Chairman of Numan LGA, Hon. Christopher Sofore and his Lamurde Counterpart Hon. Bulus Daniel thanked the law maker for his uncommon show of compassion and for always responding to the plight of his Constituents, especially in times of need.  

The Distribution Committee Chairman, Hon. Ambule Gibson assured the people of the committee's readiness to ensure the items reaches the target beneficiary; he further stated that all logistics have been provided by the law maker which made their work easier.

The committee chairman thanked the Hon. member for the confidence reposed in them to ensure fair distribution of palliative to Constituents in this critical moment.

Items distributed includes Bags of Corn, Bags of Rice, Bags of Garri, Cartons of Spaghetti, Macaroni, Noodles, Vegetable oil, etc.

Some of the beneficiary present at the brief occasion were full of appreciation, they prayed God to bless the Hon. Member and help him to succeed in all his endeavors both now and in future.

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*House of Reps Ad-Hoc Committee Investigating Ijebu-Igbo, Ita - Ibadan Road Visits Construction Site.*

 

The House of Reps Ad-Hoc Committee investigating the alleged failure of construction and rehabilitation of Ijebu-Igbo Ita Ibadan Road, led by Rt Hon. Kwamoti B Laori, have visited the affected sites for an on-the-spot assessment to aid the committee's investigation. 

During the inspection visit, Rt. Hon. Kwamoti bemoaned the widespread of uncompleted  road infrastructure projects across the country and applauded the 10th Assembly, House of Reps' commitment under the able leadership of Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas to address it.

Rt. Hon. Kwamoti  could not hide his disappointment as to why such an high impact road project is allowed to suffer such unnecessary delay in completion, further prolonging the plight of commuters, especially, in the affected States of Oyo and Ogun and the entire Southwest sub-region of Nigeria. 

While in Ogun State, the committee chairman, Rt. Hon. Kwamoti B Laori led other members of the committee on a courtesy visit on HE Dapo Abiodun, the Governor of Ogun State. 

The Ogun State Governor, visible elated, warmly received the committee,  assures them of safety and wished the committee well in their national assignment. 

On his part, the chairman of the committee, assured the State Governor of the committee's readiness to thoroughly investigate the failure of construction and present a credible report to the House of Reps. for consideration as soon as possible.

 *Hon. Karewa Batal, Aide to Rt. Hon. Kwamoti B Laori.*

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Drama in N/Assembly as Construction Firm Accuses Lawmaker, Ministry of Works Officials of Inflating Road Project from N9 Billion to 54 Billion

 We will get to the root caus e of road project failure in Nigeria – Hon. Kwamoti Bitrus Laori

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

There was a mild drama in National Assembly during an investigative public hearing when a construction company accused Hon. Tolulope Akande Sadipe and some officials of the Federal Ministry of Woks of hijacking an ongoing project and jacking up the price of the contract sum from N9.8 billion to N54.3 billion.

During the sitting of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the alleged failure of 

construction and rehabilitation of Ijebu-Igbo Ita Ibadan Road, the Executive Director of DC Engineering Ltd, Engr. Ade Adedeji said the 41 KM road project was awarded to the company in 2018 at the sum of N9.8 Billion and the contract was supposed to be completed within two years but it took the Federal Ministry of Works 5 (five) years (2018 to 2023) before it was able to pay 15 percent mobilization fund of N1.3 billion

Hon. Kwamoti Bitrus Laori, Chairman of the Adhoc committee (m) and other Members during the investigative hearing

He said the slow pace of the work was due to lack of release of fund. According to him, the 15 percent mobilization fees was paid in several installments until about few weeks a ago that the last installment of the 15 percent was paid

Engr. Engr. Ade Adedeji, Executive Director, DC Engineering Ltd and others during the hearing

Engr. Adedeji said his company has approached the Ministry of Works to review the contract sum from N9.8 Billion to at least N14 billion due to the high cost of materials, but the ministry of works refused. Adedeji said they were surprised to notice that the same ministry that refused to review the contract upward to at least N14 billion, re-awarded the same contract to AREATECH Construction Ltd at the sum of N54.3 billion without the termination of their contract.

The Director of Highways South, Federal Ministry of Works, Engr. Adedamola Kuti who represented the ministry in his presentation before the committee said the ministry has terminated the contract of DC Engineering since September 2022. He was however silence why they refused to review the contract sum upward to at least N14 Billion as requested by the DC Engineering but went ahead to re-award the same contract to another company, AREATECH Constitution Ltd at the sum of N54 billion.

When asked to provide the details – letter of termination of contract with DC Engineering Ltd, certificate of no objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to AREATECH Construction Ltd and Federal Executive Council’s approval letter, he merely promised the probe panel that he will go and come back.

However, a letter from BPP dated May 10, 2023 and addressed to the Solicitor of DC Engineering and sighted by our correspondent cancelled the said certificate of no objection issued to AREATECH Construction Ltd on the ground that a contract cannot be re-awarded to another contractor without first terminating the initial contract. The BPP also urged the Federal Ministry of Works to collaborate with the DC Engineering Ltd for the contract review.

In the submission of the Solicitor, Tolu Babaleye & Co on behalf of the DC Engineering Ltd, the company alleged that the activities of Hon. Tolulope Akande Sadipe, a member representing Oluyole Federal Constituency of Oyo State have been frustrating the efforts of his client to execute the project.

“Our Client is also very much aware of the activities of Hon. Tolulope Akande Sadipe, a member representing Oluyole Federal Constituency whom our client informed us has turned to a torn in its flesh and who has been promoting AREATECH Construction Ltd as contractor to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for the contract to be re-awarded to the said company for a reason best known to her.

This vexed issue is known to everyone in the ministry especially two particular directors working hand in hand with them and all attempts have been made to re-award the contract for the sum of 54.3 billion Naira from the initial contract of 9.8 billion Naira to AREATECH Constitution Ltd whom we understand had signed an agreement with the ministry and had submitted advance payment guarantee from its bank.

“This is a big distraction to our client. Please note that our client wrote for an upward review of this contract sum to an amount far below 54.3 billion Naira but the request was ignored and yet some people in the ministry wanted to re-award the job to someone else for 54.3 billion Naira all in a desperate attempt to defraud the Federal Government of Nigeria.,” the Solicitor to DC Engineering Ltd said in statement submitted to ad hoc committee.   

Responding to the allegation of Hon. Sadipe’s involvement in the contract, the Director of Highways South, Federal Ministry of Works, Engr. Adedamola Kuti denied having any deal with Sadipe but he admitted sending her a congratulatory message after she emerged victorious in the last general election.

Hon. Sadipe also denied having any relationship with the contractor, AREATECH Construction Ltd threatening law suit over allegation against her.

The Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, Hon. Kwamot Bitrus Laori said the committee is not witch-hunting anyone but to ensure they get to know the cause of failure of the road project and the way forward. He allayed the fear of the DC Engineering Ltd, that the company will not get justice from the probe panel since Sadipe is also a member of the parliament and a mover of the motion resulting to the setting up of the ad hoc committee.  

Hon. Laori said though the committee was set up at instance of the Sadipe’s motion, she is not a member of the committee and she has been excluded from all the committee’s activities except her invitation to respond to allegations against her.

On Engr. Adedamola Kuti’s position that the contract of DC Engineering Ltd with Federal Ministry of Works has been terminated in September 2022 and that the company is owing the ministry, the committee was thrown into a confusion when the Executive Director of DC Engineering Ltd, Engr. Ade Adedeji said the ministry had just paid some amount of money to them about two weeks ago as part of 15 percent mobilization fees.

When Hon. Laori asked the host communities of the said project to clarify which company is now handling the project or whether no contractor is on site, the Chairman of Olojuoro Road, Joint Communities Forum, Oluyole LG, Oyo State said “We are not aware of any contractor on the site apart from DC Engineering Ltd. Their equipment as at July, 2023 were on the site doing ‘palliative work’. I called it palliative work because it is only the critical aspect of the job we wanted them to do they are doing because there is no fund according to them to do everything.”

Our correspondent learnt that the present Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi in a recent meeting with the contractors and some top officials of the ministry warned against sharp practices and shady deal. Umahi also allegedly told all the contractors to come forward with the certificate of no objection with the view of raising standard of the road project to a better and high quality one. Engr. Kuti also confirmed the meeting of Umahi with contractors and top officials of the ministry but did not give any detail about it.

The representative of the Public Complaint Commission, Hon. Asuwaju Folawuyo Bello, (Commissioner Oyo State) blamed the mess of the Nigerian Roads on the activities of the Ministry of Works officials. Bello who said they have received several complaints over the said project, expressed dismay on how a project that supposed to be completed within 24 months (two years) will take Federal Ministry of Works five years to pay only 15 percent of the contract sum.

The ad hoc committee chairman, Laori directed the Federal Ministry of Works and all other relevant parties to submit the required documents to the committee secretariat before or on Monday 11 September, 2023.

The committee then adjourned sine die..   

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