The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Augustine Ehikioya

  • Fuel to sell for N145 per litre – FG

    Fuel to sell for N145 per litre – FG

    The Federal Government on Wednesday approved an increase of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) normally referred to as petrol to be sold not more than N145 per litre effective from 11th May, 2015.
    The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) is expected to accordingly announce the new price. Recall that the product was selling for N86.50 per litre.
    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu disclosed this to the State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
    He said that the decision was reached at a meeting of stakeholders presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and attended by the Leadership of the Senate, House of Representatives, Governors Forum, and Labour Unions (NLC, TUC, NUPENG, and PENGASSAN).
    The new pump price, Kachikwu said, was to ensure increased and stabilize quantity of the product in the country.
    The meeting also approved all oil marketers to import PMS into the country.
    He said: “Following a detailed presentation by the Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, it has now become obvious that the only option and course of action now open to the government is to take the following decisions:
    “1. In order to increase and stabilise the supply of the product, any Nigerian entity is now free to import the product, subject to existing quality specifications and other guidelines issued by Regulatory Agencies.
    “2. All Oil Marketers will be allowed to import PMS on the basis of FOREX procured from secondary sources and accordingly PPPRA template will reflect this in the pricing of the product.
    “Pursuant to this, PPPRA has informed me that it will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre.
    “We expect that this new policy will lead to improved supply and competition and eventually drive down pump prices, as we have experienced with diesel.
    “In addition, this will also lead to increased product availability and encourage investments in refineries and other parts of the downstream sector. It will also prevent diversion of petroleum products and set a stable environment for the downstream sector in Nigeria,” he added.

    Stressing that the government shares the pains of Nigerians, he said that the inherited difficulties of the past and the challenges of the current times necessitated the difficult decisions on the critical national issues.
    To cushion the current challenges, he said that the federal government has made an unprecedented social protection provision in the 2016 budget.
    He also stressed that improved supply and competition will drive down prices in the long term.
    According to him, the DPR and PPPRA have been mandated to ensure strict regulatory compliance including dealing decisively with anyone involved in hoarding petroleum products.
    He noted that the meeting reviewed the current exorbitant prices being paid by Nigerians for the product, which ranged on the average from N150 to N250 per litre in the black market.
    The meeting, he said, also noted that the main reason for the current problem is the inability of importers of petroleum products to source foreign exchange at the official rate due to the massive decline of foreign exchange earnings of the federal government.
    As a result, he said that private marketers have been unable to meet their approximate 50% portion of total national supply of PMS.

  • Buhari’s visit to China yields billions investment

    Buhari’s visit to China yields billions investment

    President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed satisfaction with the outcome of his working visit to China, which has yielded additional investments in Nigeria exceeding $6 billion USD.

    He believed that the several agreements concluded with the Chinese during the visit will have a huge and positive impact on key sectors of the Nigerian economy, including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation.

    According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, North South Power Company Limited and Sinohydro Corporation Limited signed an agreement valued at $478,657,941.28 for the construction of 300 Mega Watts solar power in Shiriro, Niger State.

    In the solid minerals sector, Granite and Marble Nigeria Limited and Shanghai Shibang signed an agreement valued at $55 million for the construction and equipping of granite mining plant in Nigeria.

    A total of $1 billion USD is to be invested in the development of a greenfield expressway for Abuja-Ibadan-Lagos under an agreement reached by the Infrastructure Bank and Sinohydro Corporation Limited.

    For the housing sector, both companies also sealed    a $250 million deal to develop an ultra modern 27-storey high rise complex and a $2.5 billion agreement for the development of the Lagos Metro Rail Transit Red Line project.

    Other agreements announced and signed during the visit include a $1 billion for the establishment of a Hi-tech industrial park in Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone in Igbesa, Ogun State.

    Furthermore, the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone and CNG (Nigeria) Investment Limited also signed an agreement valued at $200million for the construction of two 500MT/day float gas facilities.

    An agreement valued at $363 million for the establishment of a comprehensive farm and downstream industrial park in Kogi state was also announced at the Nigeria-China business forum.

    Other agreements undergoing negotiations include a $500 million project for the provision of television broadcast equipment and a $25 million facility for production of pre-paid smart meters between Mojec International Limited and Microstar Company Limited.

    About 100 Nigerian businesses and 300 Chinese firms participated in the Nigeria-China business forum which took place a day after President Buhari began his visit to China

  • Diversification of Nigeria’s economy requires urgency, says Buhari

    Diversification of Nigeria’s economy requires urgency, says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Guangzhou, China, said that his administration will take urgent steps to restructure Nigeria’s economy by encouraging new investments in mining, agriculture and manufacturing.

    Speaking at a reception in his honour by the Communist Party of China, President Buhari said that Nigeria will welcome the support of the Chinese government, foreign investors and local businesses for efforts to diversify the nation’s economy.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, noted that the diversification of the Nigerian economy was long overdue as continued reliance on crude oil exports had always made the economy vulnerable to shocks.

    ‘‘This time we will be more deliberate. The government and businesses will be involved,” President Buhari said.

    In his remarks, the Secretary of the Communist Party, who is also the Governor of the Guangdong Province, Mr. Hu Chinhua, pledged that the region will support the implementation of all the bilateral agreements reached with the Chinese government during President Buhari’s visit.

    President Buhari also visited the Sino-Singapore Knowledge City  in Guangzhou, which showcases advancements by China in medical, science and technological inventions.

  • Chibok girls constantly on Buhari’s mind – Osinbajo

    • Seeks collaboration with international partners on vulnerable people

    Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday cautioned against cynicism and hopelessness about the recovery of the 217 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram.

    According to him, their recovery is uppermost in the mind of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He spoke at a one-day Roundtable on Vulnerable People in Insurgency and other conflicts in Nigeria, a forum organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo explained that the recovery of the Chibok girls is of utmost importance to the extent that it dominated security meetings since President Buhari as a parent shares in their trauma.

    He said: “At any security council meeting that I have attended, the President in particular has always been concerned about the question of Chibok girls in particular. Of course it comes out of ensuring that apart from the international importance attached to it, he reflects on the abduction as if any of the girls is one of his own”.

    Describing as significant the day set aside to mark the anniversary of the kidnap of 217 Chibok girls in Borno State by Boko Haram terrorists, Vice President Osinbajo said, “it brings to fore some critical issues on the handling of the plight of vulnerable people notably the abduction of Chibok girls and the killings of Buni Yadi boys as well as the recent kidnap of three girls in Ikorodu, Lagos in a non-confict area”.

    He expressed government’s appreciation to local NGOs, CSOs and international partners and sought their continued collaboration and assistance in further addressing issues around the wellbeing of victims and the task of rebuilding the North East areas affected by insurgency.

    Noting that understanding fundamental problems of poverty, corruption and lack of education are interconnected, he said they are critical to fashioning out long term solutions to the plight of vulnerable people in the country.

    He noted that vulnerable people are exposed to the harshest conditions not only in conflict areas but in everyday life.

    According to him “interconnectivity of many issues like poverty, corruption and lack of education exposes the fact of vulnerability especially of women and girls in our society”, emphasizing that “the question of poverty and how poverty generally as an overarching issue exposes state system and institutions of state and make them impossible to solve most problems without addressing the fundamental questions first”.

    Underlining the role that government can play in solving the problem of poverty, the Vice President observed that past budgets have largely ignored this need, stressing that budgets should be tailored to provide for the poor people.

    “There is a sense in which we must pay attention to how we design government programmes, how we plan budgets, so that we take into account the great poverty of our people”, he said.

    He then disclosed that this concern is the reason why the Federal Government had N500 billion voted in this year’s budget for five different social intervention programmes including conditional cash transfer to the very poorest.

    On corruption, Prof. Osinbajo said the present level of systemic corruption in the country has made it difficult to deliver service to the people because funds meant for infrastructure and social upliftment of the people were diverted.

    He said that the society has to deal with the corruption saying “I believe we must deal with corruption, it is at the heart of what has gone wrong in this society. We must deal with not only individuals, but with corruption in a systemic fashion”, he said.

    Vice President Osinbajo, while emphasizing the importance of addressing vulnerability through quality education especially education for girls, assured of Federal Government’s continuing commitment in that sector.

    He however emphasized that States and Local Governments in the Federation must also ensure that quality education is given to their people.

    He said: “it is important in my view to have a lot more advocacy to reverse the situation where about 10.4 million children are out of schools.”

    He used the occasion to urge stakeholders to endeavour to do more in line with the theme of the Roundtable “Together We Can Do More”, stressing that all issues thrown up at the roundtable are critical towards having a holistic approach to addressing the plight of the vulnerable people across the country.

    At the Roundtable, one of the female survivors of the Buni Yadi attack in Yobe State, Fatima Alhassan, also spoke about what happened the day Boko Haram attacked the school.

    The Vice President at the end of the event spent time with the girl encouraging her that the Presidency will stay engaged on the issues and also in touch with her.

    Present at the forum were Ministers of Interior and Environment, representatives of National Security Adviser and Service Chiefs, Ambassadors of US, France and the UK High Commissioners to Nigeria, representatives of European Commission, relevant government agencies as well as NGOs and CSOs including the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG group.

  • Boko Haram: Presidency denies using UK’s aid to prosecute opponents

    Boko Haram: Presidency denies using UK’s aid to prosecute opponents

    The Presidency on Wednesday denied the allegations raised by one Con Coughlin in the April 12 edition of The Telegraph (London) paper.

    The article said that Nigeria is using the United Kingdom (UK) aid to persecute president’s political foes rather than to fight Boko Haram.

    Coughlin also wrote that “American officials are also angry that $2.1 billion of aid given to the Nigerian military to tackle Boko Haram has not been properly accounted for.”

    He also accused President Buhari’s government of attempting to cover-up the abductions of 400 women and children “abducted last year by militants from the Nigerian town of Damasak.”

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, however said that the allegations were false.

    He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a piece published on April 12, 2016, in The Telegraph (London) paper, by one Con Coughlin (identified as ‘Defence Editor’), and titled, ‘Nigeria using UK aid to persecute president’s political foes rather to fight Boko Haram.’

    “The piece is not only full of factual inaccuracies, it also betrays a shocking ignorance of Nigeria and the country’s ongoing war against terrorism.

    “Mr Coughlin’s editorial tactic is to quote unnamed “senior officials” and “Western diplomats” and “Western officials” and “political opponents” making fact-free and unfounded statements. It also appears that he sought out only those opinions which suited and reinforced his disgracefully false headline.

    “Nowhere in the piece is there anything that suggests he attempted to contact the Nigerian government for its own side of the story.

    On Coughlin’s remark on the $2.1 billion, Garba Shehu said: “It does not occur to him that the $2.1 billion he refers to was budgeted for and wholly spent by the government that President Buhari and his party defeated in the March 2015 presidential elections, and that one of President Buhari’s priorities has been investigating the misuse of those funds.

    “It also does not appear to occur to Mr. Coughlin that the “political opponents” he is falsely accusing President Buhari of “targeting” and “persecuting” are actually on trial on account of how they spent the $2.1 billion in question.

    “Mr. Coughlin is equally unaware of the fact that the investigating panel set up by Mr. Buhari to probe the $2.1 billion recently published a preliminary report that confirmed that much of that money was indeed looted or mis-spent by the accused persons, and that the government has started to recover the funds.” He added

    He said that Coughlin’s accusation of President Buhari’s government attempting to cover-up the abductions of 400 women and children “abducted last year by militants from the Nigerian town of Damasak” was absolutely untrue.

    He said: “The Damasak abductions he’s referring to, which were recently widely reported, took place, not “last year” as he says, but in late 2014, well before Mr. Buhari was elected President of Nigeria. (And, by the way, President Buhari came to power on May 29, 2015, not July, as Coughlin reports).”

    “A simple search by Mr. Coughlin of his paper’s archives would have revealed these facts. A simple fact-check by his copy-editors would have spared the Telegraph the embarrassment of publishing this drivel.”

    He also noted that there were several other inaccuracies and baseless statements in the piece.

    “But Mr. Coughlin is too enamoured of his anonymous sources to realize they might be misleading him, or be as ignorant about the situation as he is.

    “The suggestion that Boko Haram is going “from strength to strength” is an eminently laughable one; not even Nigeria’s opposition party would make such an absurd claim.

    As an indication of success against the insurgents, he said that schools in Borno State, shut for more than one year under the previous government have reopened since President Buhari took office.

    “The same applies to the airport in Maiduguri, shut down in December 2013 after a devastating Boko Haram attack on the nearby Air Force Base.

    “Thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have now started returning home. Last Sunday, El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club played its first game in its home base of Maiduguri in more than two seasons. Until now they had been forced to play home games outside the region, on account of security concerns.

    “There are several more examples of how the people of the region are finally getting a chance to rebuild their lives, as the Nigerian Armed Forces and a Multinational Joint Task Force continue their work of routing the terrorists.

    “Mr. Coughlin not only sounds like a spokesperson for the very people whose corruption and mismanagement allowed Boko Haram to bring Nigeria to its knees – and whose disastrous legacy President Buhari has spent the last one year redeeming Nigeria from – he is also guilty of failing to observe the most basic rules of responsible journalism.

    “Mr Coughlin needs a refresher course on responsible journalism as much as he needs a crash course on Nigeria. Until he submits himself to these, we’re afraid he will continue to embarrass not only himself, but also the revered British media institution that is the Telegraph.” He stated

  • North East rehabilitation to gulp $9 billion

    North East rehabilitation to gulp $9 billion

    The office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Monday maintained that an estimated sum of $9 Billion would be required to rehabilitate and reconstruct damaged infrastructures in the six North-East States of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

    Out of it, over $6 billion is immediately needed to commence the recovery of the northeast region of Nigeria.

    From a report of an exercise jointly carried out by the Federal Government, the United Nations, the European Union and the world bank after the completion of the 2-day validation and consensus building workshop at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja which the representatives of the six affected states of Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba to review findings and chart way forward, the office announced that the world bank has pledge to make available $800 million towards the rebuilding of the region.

    A statement issued on Monday by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said: “The joint efforts of the federal and state governments with the global partners would now be directed to prioritizing the needed interventions and projects, arranging their sequence and coming up with an action plan.”

    The statement quoted the Sector Manager, Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, Mr. Idrissa Dia as saying that the physical participation of the Bank at the validation workshop last week in Abuja is an affirmation that the global financial institution is encouraged by the initial feedbacks on the findings of the recovery and assessment.

    He also reaffirmed the Bank’s commitments and support towards the overall success of the planned interventions.

    Mr. Dia said the World Bank was set to mobilize other bodies in the World Bank Group and partners that might be interested beyond the existing donors on the project.

    “In line with the magnitude of the needs we are confronted with, we would like to also mobilize beyond the set of donors here,” he said.

    The European Union’s Acting Head of Cooperation, Mr Juan Casla expressed satisfaction with the findings of the assessment, saying with the leadership displayed in the process by the Federal Government, the different states and the international donor agencies, the EU was now ready to discuss the pledges it made and move forward with implementation in collaboration with other partners and the Government of Nigeria, both at the Federal and State levels.

    “These findings provide shared understanding between the Government of Nigeria and its humanitarian and development partners on a set of priotized, sequenced interventions and the EU as a member of the International partnership involved in this assessment is ever- committed towards ensuring the implementation of these findings,” Casla stated.

    Mr. Casla said from his experience in such interventions, he has seen that the team led by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on IDPs, Dr. Marian Masha has been able to put in place a thorough assessment in a complex and challenging situation in the North East.

    According to the UN representative at the event, Mrs. Jean Gough, the United Nations was pleased with the successes of the assessment, harping on the readiness of the World body to provide technical and other humanitarian support towards achieving the goals of the post-assessment phase of the planning.

    Further findings by the joint committee also revealed that the six states would need $6.4 billion to undertake recovery efforts to cushion the devastation inflicted on the North-East Region between 2011 and 2015.

    The assessments were carried out under the three main components of Infrastructure and Social Services, Peace Building, Stability & Social Cohesion, and Economic Recovery with focus on cross-cutting issues such as governance and accountability, citizen engagement, institutional capacity for implementation, gender, youth, human rights and de-mining.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on IDPs, Dr. Marian also disclosed that Borno state was worse hit by the crisis with a loss of $6 billion.

    The region, she said, suffered damages worth $3 billion in housing alone while it also suffered damages in terms of livestock which brought about the need to restore agriculture in the region.

    She said “what this process brings home is that it helps to create a platform to harmonise resources, to coordinate better, support and planning at the federal and state levels, and support also from international donors and partners.”

    Similarly, the Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA), a process that assesses the physical, social and economic impacts of the crisis in the North-East, made finding on the zone, revealing that Yobe and Adamawa states were next in devastation, adding that the destruction in other parts of the region is enormous but with less gravity.

    Dr. Masha said that no fewer than 20,000 lives were lost while 1.8 million people were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and the planned interventions are to be implemented over time, in view of resources that are available for its implementation.

    “Crisis recovery in the North-East is a priority of the Nigerian Government and this has been demonstrated by the ownership and leadership of the recovery assessment process, it has helped in securing the continued support of the partners, donors and other critical stakeholders.

    “The plan and implementation strategy are critical to the success of the recovery efforts.  It is not so much about the amount of financial resources that are available, but how we are able to utilize the resources and the capacity to put them to use”, Dr. Masha remarked.

    A Three–volume report of the Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) recommended a 2-phase strategic plan of two years for stabilization and a recovery phase of 2 years to restore the North-East to progress and development.

    The two phases of stabilization and recovery were fluid and would run concurrently, covering such areas as agriculture, housing, transportation and education over the period.

    These strategies according to Akande’s statement “would help reduce suffering in affected communities, restore a sense of normalcy and regain the trust of people in the region.

    The statement also “recalled that the Federal Government had in January unveiled this assessment programme, which is a joint, high-level collaboration between the Government of Nigeria and three global development partners – the World Bank, EU and the UN – aimed at supporting Government in its short and medium term efforts towards peace building and sustainable recovery in the North-East region of the country.”

  • PDP failed to plan for raining day, says Buhari

    PDP failed to plan for raining day, says Buhari

    • Says Nigeria’s integrity needs to be re-established

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja said that the 16 years rule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) failed to plan for Nigeria’s raining day despite high revenue from oil during the period.

    He spoke at the Presidential Villa while receiving the President of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Dr Bernard O. Aliyu.

    For the greater part of the last 16 years, he noted that Nigeria’s oil was sold above $100 per barrel.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, however regretted that Nigeria did not have much to show for the high revenue.

    He said: “In the First Republic, more enduring infrastructure was built with meagre resources. But in the past 16 years, we made a lot of money without planning for the rainy day.

    “We showed a lot of indiscipline in managing our economy, and that is why we are where we are today. But this time round, we’ll do our best.” He added

    He harped on the need to ensure that the potentials of Nigeria are urgently harnessed and used for the good of the country.

    He added: “Nigeria needs to work on her potentials, so that we don’t remain permanently at the level of potentials.

    “If Ethiopia is sustained largely by her airline industry, we have greater potentials here. But we must move out, engage with the rest of the world, as we need to re-establish the integrity of this country. We need to rebuild this country again.” He said

    Dr Aliyu, the Nigerian-born ICAO president commended President Buhari for strides on anti- corruption, and urged Nigeria to pay more attention to development of civil aviation.

    “Civil aviation is a catalyst for economic development. The level of aviation development in any country mirrors the economic development of that country,” Dr Aliyu said.

    He also pledged to support the development of the aviation industry in Nigeria, urging the country to improve on training and capacity development, aviation security, aerodromes and air navigation, runways, control towers, terminal buildings, among others.

  • Chibok girl: Cameroon begins treatment of suspected bomber

    Cameroonian health and security officials on Monday started treatment on an arrested suicide bomber who claimed to be one of the 219 missing Chibok Girls.
    The girl was found to be heavily drugged and bore several injuries on her body.
    The girl’s health condition had delayed her movement to the far north regional capital of Cameroon, Maroua, as earlier planned.
    Pictures of the arrested suspected bomber obtained by Nigerian officials indicated that the girl was likely a minor, between ages nine to 12 years.

    Her accomplice was about 30 years or more, and both spoke only in Kanuri language.

    Considering the well-known guidelines regarding the publication of photography of minors, the statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said that it has decided to forward the pictures of the suspected bomber to the Murtala Mohammed Foundation for verification by interested Chibok community stakeholders.

    “The Ministry of Women Affairs, the Nigerian High Commission in Cameroon and other agencies of government will continue to work together with other stakeholders to verify all the issues”, the statement said.

  • Ocholi’s driver may face prosecution

    Ocholi’s driver may face prosecution

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal on Wednesday could not rule out the possibility of the driver that drove the late Minister of State for Labour and Employment, James Ocholi, from facing prosecution for over speeding and not owning a driver’s license.

    Ocholi, his wife and son had died in a car crash on Sunday on Kaduna-Abuja road.

    An interim report of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) had claimed that the driver of the car, James Elegbede, was over speeding and had no driver’s license.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the SGF said that the final report on the accident will determine if Elegbede will be prosecuted.

    He said: “As to the issue of whether we would prosecute the driver, Yes, Nigeria is not short of laws, the problem is that Nigerians find it very difficult to obey the laws.

    “There is a speed limit in place and so if anybody chooses not to obey the traffic laws, of course, it is subject to prosecution by the agencies concerned. But as to this particular incidence, I think we will leave it until the final report of the investigation comes out.

    “But of course as we say accident is accident and nobody goes out deliberately to summersault and die, but as to allegations you claimed from the family, we are not aware and anybody who has anything to the contrary, that they didn’t die in an accident is free to report to the law enforcement agencies who will appropriately take it up.” He added

    He explained that the Federal Government did not extend automatic employment and scholarship benefits to the driver’s relative and other surviving victims because they are alive and still on government payroll.

    He said: “The government decided to give employment to the children of the late minister because he was the breadwinner and the children are now orphans. On the other hand, the driver survived and the government is taking care of their medical bills at the National Hospital and they are also government workers as some of them are policemen, SSS and others.

    “So they are on salary and are treated free, but God forbid that had any of them suffered the same fate as those who died, the President would have willingly included them in the list of beneficiaries,” he stated.

  • International Women’s Day: Buhari greets Nigerian women

    International Women’s Day: Buhari greets Nigerian women

    President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with all Nigerian women as they joined the rest of the world in celebrating International Women’s Day.

    The day was set aside by the global community to encourage and celebrate women’s social, cultural, economic and political achievements.

    According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, President Buhari reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the promotion of women’s rights and the well-being of women in all geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

    The President noted that the theme of this year’s International Women’s day, “Pledge for Parity,” is consistent with the promise by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to remove all impediments to the realization of equality by Nigerian women and he assured them that his administration will continue to do all within its powers to fulfill that pledge.

    Accordingly, President Buhari has directed the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to move quickly to identify critical issues militating against the well-being and progress of Nigerian women, with a view to rapidly devising adequate plans, programmes and strategies to address them.

    He wished all Nigerian women a happy International Women’s Day.