The House of Representatives on Wednesday authoritatively mandated an investigation into the alleged failure of the Video Surveillance and Closed Circuit Television projects of the Federal Regime.
The contract for the projects, kenned as Public Security Communications System, was awarded in the “early part” of the administration of the tardy President Umaru Yar’Adua in the initial sum of $470m under a finance acquiescent between the regime and the China Export Bank.
The contract was awarded to ZTE Nigeria Limited.
In a resolution in Abuja, the House observed that though the projects had been consummated and handed over to the regime since 2012, “no malefactor activity has ever been detected through the security cameras.”
The CCTV can engender images or recordings for surveillance purposes, and can be either video, digital or still recording.
In most modern cities, the cameras are deployed in strategic locations to detect malefactions and malefactor activities.
The resolution followed a kineticism moved by a member from Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Saviour Friday-Udoh, who repined that the purport of installing the CCTV had been subjugated if they failed in detecting malefaction.
He apprised the House that the CCTV system was installed in major cities, including Abuja and Lagos.
He recalled that there were other contracts to install 2,000 digital solar-powered cameras, 1,000 each in Abuja and Lagos.
Friday-Udoh verbally expressed the contracts withal included the installation of 37 switch rooms; MW backbones; 37 Coalition Emergency Response System; 38 Video Conference Subsystem; 37 E-Police System; six Emergency Communication Vehicles; and 1.5 million subscriber lines.
The lawmaker noted that after spending such an abundance in a bid to contain the wave of insecurity in the country, the cameras had remained useless virtually two years into the completion of the projects.
His prayer, which the House unanimously endorsed, read, “Mandate the Committees on ICT, Public Safety and National Security to investigate the failure of the Video Surveillance and Close Circuit Television to detect malefactor activities in Nigeria’s cities and report back to the House within a fortnight.”
The House withal passed another kineticism bearing on security at the nation’s airports.
The kineticism sought to investigate the “pilfering of luggage” at the airports, particularly the international airports.
A member from Benue State, Mr. Hassan Saleh, who moved the kineticism, told the House that there had been many reported cases lately.
“This is causing earnest mortification to us as a country.
“Passengers often have their luggage tampered with at the airports and nothing is being done about it,” he integrated.
The session, which was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, passed the kineticism in a majority voice vote and referred it to the Committee on Aviation for investigation.”
Meanwhile, the upper federal legislative chamber, the Senate, has passed for second reading a bill which seeks to amend the Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Authority Act for more preponderant efficacy and efficiency.
The bill, which was subsequently referred to the committee on Trade and Establishment for further legislative work, was sponsored by Senator Odion Ugbesia.
Ugbesia noted that free zones all over the world had been instrumental in boosting industrial and economic magnification.
He verbally expressed it was in apperception of this that made the Federal Regime established the Onne Oil and Gas free zones.
He verbalized the zones had all along been providing more preponderant level of peregrine direct investment, technology transfer, manpower development, provision of employment opportunities and more preponderant economic self- reliance.
He verbalized, “Our Free Trade Zones are far from achieving the purport for which they were established and there are solemn doubts as to whether Nigeria has indeed benefitted from the Onne Oil and Gas free zone beyond the benefit accruable to an industrial area, which is the result of impuissant regulatory framework guiding the operations of free zones in Nigeria.”
He further explicated that the most captivating feature of a free zone anywhere in the world had been the tax holiday which investors relished as incentive and inspiritment for investment and that the amendment provided same.
The Senate withal on Wednesday approved the establishment of a College of Education for the Federal Capital Territory.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, while reading the lead debate verbally expressed it was a conference committee bill of both chambers of the National Assembly.
The bill verbally expresses the Minister of FCT will be the visitor to the college, and the minister will conduct visitation every five years, while the Governing Council will submit financial reports every year.
The Senator representing the FCT, Senator Philip Aduda, commended the conference committee of both chambers for a job well done.
He verbalized the school had been there but was without an enabling law to make it function efficaciously as a licit higher institution.
Senate President, David Mark, congratulated the FCT residents for the establishment of the institution.
