Exactly 49 years after his assassination, former Military Head of State, the late Gen. Ramat Murtala Muhammed, was on Thursday honoured by the House of Representatives with the observance of February 13 of every year as the Murtala Muhammed Day in the Green Chamber.
Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, who announced this at plenary on Thursday,
led the House to observe a minute-silence in memory of the late former Head of State.
Persecondnews recalls that Murtala was Head of State from 1975 to 1976 when he was assassinated in a bloody coup on February 13, 1976 in Lagos.
Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who was his deputy as the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, took over the leadership of the government and continued with many of his policies before handing over power to the civilian administration of the late President Shehu Shagari on October 1, 1979 at Tafawa Balewa Square on Lagos Island.
The House also announced a reshuffling of its standing committees and the creation of two additional ones.
According to Abbas, the newly established committees are the House Committee on the South West Development Commission (SWDC) and the House Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC).
Rep. Akin Adeyemi and Rep. Tunji Olawuyi will serve as chairmen of the South West and North Central Development Commissions, respectively, with Rep. Clement Akani and Rep. Donald Ojogo as their deputies, he said.
The Speaker said the formation of these committees was necessitated by the recent enactment of laws establishing the regional commissions.
“There is a need for effective oversight of their activities,” he added.
He also announced leadership changes in several existing committees: Rep. Isiaka Nasir Adegboyega will now chair the House Committee on National Planning, replacing the previous chairman, who has been appointed Deputy Chief Whip of the House.
Rep. Abiodun Akinlade takes over as Chairman of the House Committee on Agricultural Services.
Rep. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, Rep. Mustapha Ghali, Rep. Garba Saleh Zock, and Rep. Tajudeen Adesojee were appointed chairpersons of the Humanitarian Services, Ethics and Privileges, Culture, and Aviation Technology committees, respectively, he said.
Persecondnews recalls that the Senate did its own overhauling after resuming from a two-week recess on Tuesday, February 4, 2024.
During the plenary, the apex lawmaking body announced the appointments of new chairmen and deputy chairmen to oversee three key commissions.
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