The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sentry

  • The North-East governors and the daunting tasks before them

    The North-East governors and the daunting tasks before them

    Sentry

     

    THE governors in the North-East met during the week to find solutions to the myriads of problems  facing the region. But how far can they go?

    Their host, Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, minced no words on the challenges in the zone.

    Yahaya said in part: “The aim of this historic consultative meeting is to close ranks among our states and chart a way forward for the North-East sub-region; it will give us the chance to interface and dialogue on the ways to follow in order to attain our aspirations and objectives.

    “Over the last decade, the North-East sub-region has been in the news for various reasons. A devastating insurgency that kills thousands of people and displaces millions, debilitating climate change effects that endanger the livelihood of millions of people along the Chad basin and beyond, coupled with desertification with its attendant environmental damage has led to a systematic decline in the quality of life of our people, making the NE the most underdeveloped sub-region in the country.

    “As leaders, we have to take on these challenges with all sense of responsibility. More so because, the things that unite us are far more than the ones that divide us.”

    Nigerians await new ideas from the North-East because the peace of the zone will determine the fate of the country in the next few years.

  • Saraki’s latest headache

    Saraki’s latest headache

    By Sentry

    It is no longer news that the immediate past President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, is still under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). But if Saraki has any headache, it is about EFCC’s application before a Federal High Court in Lagos seeking permanent forfeiture of his choice assets in Lagos and Ilorin.

    If the assets are permanently forfeited, the ex-Senate President might soon be homeless. And ahead of the continuation of the hearing of the forfeiture application on April 17, the  EFCC may release more damning fact – sheet on Saraki.

    Read Also: Now that Saraki is begging Kwara Govt

    But the two-term Governor of Kwara State said he was not shaken. He challenged the EFCC to present concrete evidence on why he should lose the properties. He said he has nothing to fear.

    He said: “We hereby assure the associates and supporters of Dr. Saraki that he remains unflinching in his belief in the ability of the Nigerian judiciary to always do justice to all persons and at all times. We believe that justice shall prevail in this case, as well.”

    Nigerians are watching who will blink first between the EFCC and Saraki.

  • FG searches for model to use for social media regulation

    FG searches for model to use for social media regulation

    Sentry

    A Pall of uncertainty is still surrounding the decision of the Federal Government to regulate the social media in the country. Even those in government are unsure of the model to adopt. But the regulation shelf is filled up with many options: Egypt, China, Singapore, South Korea, The European Union, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States.

    A top source in government said: “We have not decided on the model to adopt. Some wanted wholesale adoption of what is obtainable in a country; others have recommended a hybrid policy. But we cannot do without social media regulation.” The Minister of Information and Culture, AL. Lai Mohammed, however, said the government was pushing ahead with the regulation of social media.

    Read Also: Fed Govt: no going back on social media regulation

    He said: “We are also pushing ahead with our plan to sanitize the social media, working with stakeholders. By March 2nd 2020, we will inaugurate the stakeholders committee that will deliberate and recommend the way forward.

    “We are also planning a major international conference that will bring together the tech companies, media practitioners, policy makers and others as part of efforts to tackle this growing canker-worm

    “Last week, I met with representatives of Google and Facebook for the same purpose. The situation is dire, and no nation that values its peace, security and stability will allow an irresponsible use of the social media.”

  • NYSC discharge certificate scandal hits another govt official

    By Sentry

    The ghost of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate is still haunting the nation almost 17 months after it consumed a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.

    This time around, another female head of a money-spinning agency was unceremoniously removed by President Muhammadu Buhari, following intelligence report that she did not have NYSC discharge certificate.

    The erstwhile CEO, who claimed to have served in Kwara State, was discovered not to have participated in the NYSC scheme.

    Read Also: NYSC warns graduates, corps members against fake deployment

    The travails of the ex-CEO began in January this year when a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) raised the alarm that she did not present discharge or exemption certificate of the NYSC for screening. And when the top official was invited to show proof that she underwent the compulsory one-year programme in 1989/90, she only claimed she lost the discharge certificate.

    Security agencies were said to have dug deeper and uncovered that she skipped the service. Despite her closeness to the First Family, President Muhammed Buhari wielded the big stick.

  • Bayelsa governor under pressure to jettison Dickson’s policy

    By Sentry

    Barely a week after he assumed office, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State is under pressure to jettison a key policy of his immediate predecessor and godfather, ex-Governor Henry Seriake Dickson. The policy borders on the engagement of non-indigenes in Bayelsa State Executive Council.

    Sentry gathered that Bayelsa elders and opinion moulders have asked Diri to discard the policy in order to earn their confidence. Conversely, they have threatened to withdraw their support for the governor if non-indigenes are accommodated.

    Read Also: Douye Diri faces another battle with Timi Alaibe

    But liberal-minded Bayelsans who approved of Dickson’s policy have been trying to mediate because most of the affected non-indigenes are Ijaw from Delta, Rivers, Ondo and other states. They also claimed that since the non-indigenes were usually about 1% to 2% of political appointees, there is no basis for the furore.

    A few others said Bayelsa State does not have the manpower being offered by the non-indigenes. Some however said Dickson was only trying to live up to his dream of being a nationalist which is no longer applicable at the centre.

    The way and manner this issue is handled by Diri will define his future relationship with Dickson who staked everything to make him a governor.

  • Pedro sets ribs cracking as he claims new age at book launch

    Sentry

     

    THE high point of the public presentation of Prince Bayo Osiyemi’s book, The Charming Prince in Journalism and Politics, at the Sheraton Hotels in Lagos on February 4 was the launch of the book by a former Lagos State deputy governor, Otunba Femi Pedro.

    Pedro had stood in for National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the chief launcher of the book because the latter was “unavoidably absent.”

    With speakers having taken turns to admire the “boyish” looks of seventy-year-old Osiyemi at the event, Pedro also took some time to admire the author’s looks in spite of his advanced age.

    The former deputy governor then sent the gathering into rib-cracking laughter with his declaration that he had just found that he was much younger than the 65-year-old everyone thought he was.

    “I was going through some documents in my house recently, and I found one left by my father, showing that I am actually 40 years old; not 65,” he said.

    His comment threw the gathering into hysteria laughter, with some guests saying that no one wants to grow old, particularly when they are on the chummy side of life like Pedro.

  • Douye Diri faces another battle with Timi Alaibe

    By Sentry

    The drama in Bayelsa State is not yet over. Barely few hours after he emerged as the new governor of Bayelsa State, Sen. Douye Diri faces another battle, which may threaten his mandate.

    He has a new date with his arch-rival, Timi Alaibe, who has asked a Federal High Court to declare him as the validly nominated governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. Many in Diri’s camp have been begging Alaibe, a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to withdraw his case.

    Read Also: Diri takes oath as fifth civilian Bayelsa Governor

    But loyalists of Alaibe said their confidence has been buoyed by the nullification of the victory of the APC candidate, David Lyon, by the Supreme Court. They said since Lyon’s fate was sealed as a result of a pre-election matter, the new governor at best may be a caretaker.

    Alaibe’s camp is now banking on the Judiciary to restore the mandate of its candidate. They want Diri out.

    Nigerians are waiting to watch developments in the oil rich state.

  • 2023: PDP clings to any straw

    By Sentry

    The excitement at the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over alleged protest during President Muhammadu Buhari’s condolence visit to Borno State was nasty. It confirmed speculations that the party and its leaders/ members are ready to cling to any straw to bounce back to power in 2023.

    A few minutes after the slight protest under a pedestrian bridge, PDP members started tweeting the video in thousands amid celebration of likely electoral fortunes at the next poll.

    Read Also: Pondering on PMB’s successor in 2023

    But the analysis of the tape showed that the protest was restricted to the same spot contrary to the impression created that most residents shunned and stunned Buhari.

    The findings of security agencies may reveal more than meets the eye.

  • The unknown secret of Ex-EFCC boss Farida Waziri

    By Sentry

    In the last 10 years, no public officer has been despised more than a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, whose passionate ambition in life was to be a nun. She has been derided and robed in many names, including being labelled a jeweler, a fashionista, a fake Assistant Inspector-General of Police and “That woman”, which is the one she hated most.

    Farida’s traducers shielded her antecedents from the public to paint her black. It was at a greater cost she held forte in EFCC for three and a half years.

    Guests were, however  shocked at a book launch on Tuesday when a former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, revealed the most kept secret of Farida Waziri.

    Read Also: Why I sacked Waziri as EFCC chair, by Jonathan

    He said: “I had wondered why and how Farida thought of me as the chairman of her book launch. May be she recalled the memory of her attachment to us, as my wife’s Police ADC/ security aide.

    “We toured the country’s regions and states together and sometimes along with her colleague, Miss Kemi Olagbegi.

    I recall, they were very punctual, hardworking and dutiful. We saw signs that they will go far in their profession…”

    The unearthing of Farida’s secret of early exposure to power corridor by Gowon earned her more applause. An influential female minister was heard wondering aloud: “Why are they calling her names if she rose from a recruit to be an Assistant Inspector-General of Police and a lawyer?”

  • NDDC: The fear of forensic audit is now the beginning of wisdom

     

    Sentry

     

    ALL is set for the  forensic udit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) because the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has approved the lead Consulting Firm, which may coordinate other auditors. This development is already causing panic because it may make or mar the political future of some stakeholders in the South-South.

    Although President Muhammadu Buhari is interested in following the humongous allocations,  the aftereffects have created jitters in the spines of many.

    Not even the soothing words of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godswill Akpabio, could allay the fears of some past officers of NDDC.

    Notwithstanding, Akpabio said:  “The directives by President Muhammadu Buhari for the forensic auditing of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), is not to witch hunt anyone or group, but to ascertain what went wrong and put in place a governmental structure that will be result oriented”.

    “The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has assessed the firm and found them fit to be the leading Consulting Firm that will lead the appointment of other forensic auditors for the NDDC audit spanning between 2001- 2019. We have received the approval of BPP to now commence the exercise.

    “The next task is to work in collaboration with the ministry to bring in experienced and notable forensic auditors with international reputation, so that whatever report is produced will be accepted and enforceable within and outside the country.”