Osun Assembly passes bill extending judges’ retirement age to 70

Osun State House of Assembly,  on Tuesday, passed a bill extending the retirement age of judges and other judicial officers from 65 to 70 years.

The bill is entitled: “Osun State High Court and Customary Court of Appeal Registrars, Secretary to the State Judicial Council, State Counsels in the Ministry of Justice, State Magistrates and District Customary Courts’ Presidents Retirement Age Bill, 2023.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bill was passed during the plenary session, held at the assembly complex in Osogbo, after passing the third reading.

Speaker of the assembly, Mr Adewale Egbedun, said that the final copy of the bill would be produced and forwarded to the Governor, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, for his assent.

Egbedun expressed appreciation to his colleagues for the conduct of the 2024 budget presentation and defence by various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the state.

NAN reports that the budget defence exercise, which lasted for 11 days, saw 90 MDAs appearing before the House Committee on Budget and Appropriation, chaired by Mr Saheed Fatunmise.

The last set of MDAs that appeared before the committee on Monday included: Osun Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Osun East, Osun West and Osun Central Education District Offices.

Others were: the Osun Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Osun Tourism Board and Osun Council for Arts and Culture.

(NAN)

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Tuesday, revealed the new principal officers of the 10th House of Representatives.

They include Julius Ihonvbere (APC – Edo, House Majority Leader), Halims Abdullahi (APC – Kogi, Deputy Majority Leader), Bello Kumo (APC – Gombe, Chief  Whip), Adewunmi Onanuga (APC – Ogun, Deputy Chief Whip).

Abbas also read a letter from the Minority Caucus which detailed the names of the principal officers.

The letter named Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Minority Leader), Aliyu Madaki (NNPP, Deputy Minority Leader), Ali Isah (PDP, Minority Whip), and George Ozodinobi (Labour Party, Deputy Minority Whip).

In a similar vein, Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the principal officers of the 10th Senate, whom he said emerged by consensus.

The new officers are Senator Opeyemi Bamidele from Ekiti State as Senate Leader, Senator Dave Umahi from Ebonyi State as Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State as Chief Whip, and Senator Lola Ashiru from Kwara State as Deputy Chief Whip.

Akpabio also announced the names of minority principal officers: Senator Simon Davou (Plateau North – PDP, Minority Leader), Oyewunmi Olarere (Osun West – PDP, Deputy Minority Leader), Darlington Nwokeocha (Abia Central – LP, Minority Whip), and Rufai Hanga (Kano Central – NNPP, Deputy Minority Whip).

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has announced the names of the leaders of the tenth Senate majority caucus.

The Ekiti Central lawmaker, Opeyemi Bamidele, was named the Senate Majority Leader.

The Senate President also announced Senator Dave Umahi ( Ebonyi South) as the Deputy Majority Leader; Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) as Chief Whip; and Senator Lola Ashiru (Kwara South) as the Deputy Whip.

Akpabio stated, “The All Progressives Congress caucus of the Senate after consultations, has emerged with their leadership which will be the fulcrum of commencing other businesses of the chamber.

“I’m happy to announce that by consensus, the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, will be the Majority Leader.

“Sen. Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) will be the Chief Whip of the 10th Senate; Sen. David Umahi (APC-Ebonyi), by your consent, will act as the Deputy Leader and Sen. Lola Ashiru (APC-Kwara) will be the Deputy Chief Whip.”

The Senate immediately dissolved into a closed session.