Joel Danlami Ikenya
Encyclopedia
Joel Danlami Ikenya is a Nigerian politician who was elected to represent the People's Democratic Party
People's Democratic Party
People's Democratic Party could refer to:* People's Democratic Party * Eelam People's Democratic Party * Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party * People's Democratic Party * People's Democratic Party...

 (PDP) as Senator for Taraba South in Taraba State
Taraba State
Taraba State is a state of Nigeria, named after the Taraba River which traverses the southern part of the state. Taraba's capital is Jalingo.-History:...

 in 2003.
He was reelected in 2007, then in 2011 made an unsuccessful bid for governor of the state.

Background

Joel Danlami Ikenya was born on 17 July 1962. He has an Advanced Diploma in Public Administration, and was an Undergraduate (Business Administration), at the Federal University of Technology, Yola
Yola, Nigeria
Yola is the capital city and administrative center of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Located on the Benue River, it has a population of 88,500 . Established in 1841, Yola was the capital of a Fulani state until it was taken by the British in 1901. Daytime temperatures can easily exceed during the dry...

 in Adamawa State
Adamawa State
Adamawa is a state in northeastern Nigeria, with its capital at Yola. It was formed in 1991 from part of Gongola State with four administrative divisions namely: Adamawa, Ganye, Mubi and Numan. It is one of the thirty-six States which constitute the Federal Republic of Nigeria.-Geography:Adamawa...

. He was a member of the Taraba State House of Assembly from 1992–1993, and again from 1999-2003.

Senate career

Joel Danlami Ikenya was elected to the National Senate for the Taraba South constituency in 2003 and reelected in 2007. He was appointed Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, and also sat on the Senate Committee on Appropriation which considered the 2008 budget.
In May 2008, Senator Ikenya was appointed to the Senate committee to review the amendment of the 1999 constitution.

Sports

In December 2007, Ikenya was appointed to a four-man panel set up by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri's Committee on Sports to take action in a crisis that was then rocking Nigerian football.
As a member of the sports committee, he blamed the Nigeria Football Federations for "ineptitude, corruption, inefficiency and total incompetence".
He also accused the federal government of wasting N1.24 billion on a bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, saying the money would have been better used in building sports facilities.

Political disputes

In June 2008, Senator Ikenya stated that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was the President of Nigeria and the 13th Head of State. He served as governor of Katsina State in northern Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 28 May 2007. He was declared the winner of the controversial Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May...

 had not been prepared for the job when he was hurriedly pushed forward by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, but expressed confidence that Yar'Adua would find his feet.
In December 2008, after the controversial dismissal of Nuhu Ribadu
Nuhu Ribadu
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is a former Nigerian government anti-corruption official. He was the pioneer Executive Chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , the government commission tasked with countering corruption and fraud...

, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud and money laundering...

, from the police, Ikenya said the decision was correct because Ribadu had let himself be used to track down opponents of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In August 2009, he was invited to a meeting to try to resolve a political feud between the former governor of Taraba State, Reverend Jolly Nyame, and his successor Danbaba Suntai
Danbaba Suntai
Danbaba Danfulani Suntai is a pharmacist who was elected as Executive Governor of Taraba State, Nigeria running for the People's Democratic Party in April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007....

.
Senator Ikenya was said to be a supporter of Nyame.

Trade

In March 2008, Ikenya called on the Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

ian government to reopen shops owned by Nigerian businessmen, citing the ECOWAS free trade zone agreement.
In May 2008, he was among those who rejected a proposal to appropriate N80 billion for import of rice, saying the money should be spent on agricultural improvement, and that Nigeria should learn from countries which were turning deserts to green areas.
In November 2008, he blamed the Nigerian Customs Service, Immigration Service and Nigeria Police Force for allowing counterfeit goods into the country, saying this had caused retrenchment of 75 per cent of workers in the manufacturing sector.
In May 2009, he said Nigeria would not be rushed into signing the Economic Partnership Agreement
Economic Partnership Agreement
An economic partnership agreement is an economic arrangement that eliminates barriers to the free movement of goods, services, and investment between countries. This agreement can be considered an intermediate step between free trade area and single market in the process of economic integration...

 aimed to liberalise trade between Africa and the European Union (EU), seeing a risk that they would flood the market with imports and destroy local businesses.

Finance and regulation

In June 2008 he was among those who successfully opposed introduction of a bill sponsored by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello
Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello
Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello was elected as a Nigerian Senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial District of Ogun State in April 2007....

for an act to establish the excess Crude Oil Fund, which would create an investment vehicle to bolster the country's financial strength in the future.

In June 2009, Senator Joel Danlami Ikenya urged stakeholders in the financial reporting sector to support the proposed Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Bill, which he said would improve accounting standards in the private and public sectors, and thus encourage investment.
In September 2009, he said he fully supported the Corporate Affairs Commission in its efforts to build zonal offices in all the states of the federation, rather than using rental premises.
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