The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BUHARI

  • Photos: Prince Charles, wife in Abuja

    R-L; President Muhammadu Buhari with Prince Charles during the Prince Courtesy Call at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday
    President Muhammadu Buhari discussing with Prince Charles with them the wife Camilla Charles during the Prince Courtesy Call at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday
    President Muhammadu Buhari, Prince Charles and the wife Camilla Charles during the Prince Courtesy Call at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday

  • Video: Buhari receives Prince Charles in Abuja

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday received British Royals Prince Charles and his wife, Duchess Camilla at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    News Agency of Nigeria reports that Prince Charles and members of his entourage arrived the State House at about 2.20p.m.

    Buhari, who welcomed the Prince at the fore court of the presidential villa, introduced some members of his cabinet and presidential aides to the prince.

    The President later went into closed door meeting with Prince Charles.

  • Buhari to receive Prince Charles Tuesday

    President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to receive Prince Charles and his entourage at the State House, Abuja by 2p.m Tuesday.

    The Prince last visited Nigeria in 2006 during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure.

    He is expected at the Villa with, Princess Camilla, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright and others.

    The Prince during his visit in the country is also expected to engage in peace-building activities including addressing the farmers – herders clashes.

    Read Also: Buhari, COCIN Executives meet in Aso Rock  

    The visit was aimed at strengthening the ties between Nigeria and Britain as members of the Commonwealth.

    Prince Charles took over as the head of the Commonwealth of Nations last April, succeeding his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

  • Buhari: we’ll sustain investments on infrastructure

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja reassured that his administration will sustain massive investments to upgrade and develop the country’s transport and power infrastructure.

    He spoke while  receiving  members of the Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria (ARCAN) led by Ambassador Oladapo Fafowora.

    The President, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, also told the retired ambassadors that Nigerians would never forget the “lost opportunity between 1999 and 2015”, when the nation had huge resources at its disposal.

    He said: “There is no part of the country I haven’t been to, having attempted to be President four times. I know the condition of our roads. The rails were literally killed, there was no power despite the admittance of some previous leadership that they spent $16 billion on the sector.

    “Today, we are getting our priorities right and we believe that of the three fundamental issues we campaigned on – security, the economy and fighting corruption, we have remained very relevant and Nigerians believe we have achieved something,’’ the President said.

    Buhari also used the occasion to appreciate the People’s Republic of China for financing some of the rail and power projects in the country through concessionary loans.

    “I will do my best to see that where there are possibilities of making a quick improvement on infrastructure, we will do it,” he said.

    The President took note of some concerns raised by the retired Ambassadors, including an appeal for the adjustment of their pension entitlements, retention of diplomatic passports for retired career ambassadors, allocation of land for ARCAN headquarters in Abuja and adequate funding of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, among others.

  • Why Buhari should have second term

    Sir: The 2019 general election is around the corner.  Nigerians will go to poll and elect new leaders that will steer the affairs of the country for another period of four years. President Muhammadu Buhari, having won his party’s primary election will fly its ticket. He face other candidates notably, Atiku Abubakar of People Democratic Party (PDP). Interestingly, if the performance will be used as a basis or criteria for re-election, he would win the election with wide margin. In the last three and half years in the saddle, President Buhari has achieved a lot in all aspects of human endeavours. In 2015 after he won the general election, Buhari was faced with multi-facet challenges. Crude oil prices had crashed in the global market with the price of barel of crude oil hovering around $30 which affected the revenue inflow of the country.  With a battared economy left behind by the former administration of President Godluck Jonathan, many states could hardly meet their salary and other financial obligations. Notwithstanding, the federal government rushed to the aid of those distressed states with bailout packages. This has assisted greatly in addressing the challenges of salaries payment.

    It should be recalled that the administration of President Buhari came to power on three promises namely: Securing the country, reviving the economy and fighting corruption. The administration deserves a pat on its back in the area of security. When Buhari resumed office in 2015, some local governments in Borno State were under the control of the dreaded Boko Haram group. The government did not only liberate those local governments from the grip of murderous group but also degraded them. Now, the menace of Boko Haram has been nipped into the bud courtesy of commitment of the present administration.

    In the area of economy, the Buhari administration has recorded significant feats towards numerous intervention programmes and policies. The school feeding programme has empowered millions of women. Besides the nutritional value of the meal served to the school pupils, millions of cooks eke out a living from it. The N-POWER is another programme designed to assist the unemployed graduates. Under this scheme, millions of unemployed youths were taken out of the labour market. These youths are posted to different ministries and government agencies to work. At the end of the month, they recieve monthly stipend of N30,000.

    This effort has reduced poverty to the barest minimum and stimulated growth.

    Worth mentioning is the fight against corruption.The last three years of Buhari administration has made life hard to corrupt individuals in the country. Besides, several measures put in place to ensure accountability such as BVN, TSA and staff verification that weeded thousands of ghost workers, the government has recovered billions of naira from the corrupt official of the last regime. It has also confiscated assets both at home and abroad worth billions of naira. Buhari’s second term will surely sustain and guarantee the continuity of these programmes and policies.

     

    • Aliyu Alto Trader,

     Daura,  Katsina State.

  • Buhari mourns Emir of Awe

    President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the Awe traditional council, the government and people of Nasarawa State on the passing of Alhaji Abubakar Umar II, the Emir of Awe.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, also extended his sincere condolences to the late Emir’s family and the people of Awe whom he led for many years with dedication and unrelenting commitment to peace and development.

    He believed that with the outpouring of grief in the state and beyond in the aftermath of the Emir’s demise, it is clear that the first class traditional ruler was well loved by his people, sacrificed a lot for their advancement and has left a legacy of hard work, peace building, selflessness and patriotism for his subject and admirers to build upon.

    The President prayed that Almighty Allah will receive Alhaji Umar’s soul and grant his people a worthy successor who will build on the commendable legacies of his life of service to community and country.

  • Buhari revives abandoned projects – Fashola

    Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, Minister for Power, Works and Housing says the President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration has created hope in the lives of Nigerians by reviving works on abandoned projects.

    According to the Minister, a number of projects were left uncompleted before the inception of the current administration in 2015.

    ” Buhari’s government revived the contract that were stopped.”

    Speaking to reporters in Sokoto on the sidelines of a 2-Day retreat organised for top officials of the three Ministries under his supervision, Fashola noted that the contracts were stopped due to paucity of funds.

    ” If a contractor does not get paid, there is no magic to getting the work completed. He will have no alternative than to stop.”

    The Minister explained that the current government has no alternative than to resort to the best option of borrowing to complete such projects of economic importance to the wellbeing and development of he country.

    Fashola said Nigerians should not blame the government on the slow phase of work rather should tailor their dissatisfaction against their representatives who were elected to serve them.

    ” They are guilty of the slow phase of work. They shut the NASS session for two months and delayed the passage of budget for close to 9 months.

    “You don’t expect the work that would have been done in decades to be completed within three and a half years”, he pointed out.

    He added that “we have to borrow through the Ministry of Finance and invest on road to enhance productivity, reduce journey, cost and time for business in order to generate income and wealth creation to payback the loans.

    He noted that a growing economy was a rewarding economy, pointing out that ” those who complain we borrow too much should tell us where else to find funds. We are not raising tax and if we do, they will still complain.”

    The Minister further defended the government on allegations that certain section of the country was suffering deficit of federal government projects especially in the Northwest saying that” no part of the country is not considered in the provision of infrastructure.

    ” We have considered and work on the Jega-Sokoto, Sokoto-Illela, UDUS road as well Abuja- Kaduna- Zaria-Kano and Jigawa roads respwctively in the Northwest.”

    He noted that road accidents and other risks would have been a thing of the past when such projects were completed.

    According to Fashola” the FRSC must also ensure the enforcement of traffic regulations especially speed monitoring and reckless driving among motorists particularly commercial vehicles.

    ” Though, records have shown that number of accidents, injuries and fatality are fast reducing monthly due to gradual change in our driving behaviours and our commitment to addressing the conditions of the roads”, he explained.

  • Amosun mounts last minute pressure on Buhari

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday made a last-minute shuttle to the Presidential Villa in his battle to get the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket for his preferred candidate.

    He was received by President Muhammadu Buhari. Governors Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) were with Amosun.

    It was learnt that the President made no firm commitment as Amosun, who holds a Senatorial ticket for Ogun Central, is weighing his options.

    Amosun’s  next moves remained unclear last night.

    The meeting was held at the President’s official residence in the Presidential Villa.

    The governors told the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that they were at the Villa to assure Buhari of their continued support ahead of the 2019 presidential election.

    Akeredolu said apart from assuring the President of their support, they also seized the opportunity of the meeting to “talk on some issues and put our feet on ground on the issues”.

    Amosun and Fayemi also expressed confidence that Buhari would win the 2019 elections.

    According to a source in the Presidency, the session was held not only because of Amosun but to “consider the larger picture of a likely loss of  Ogun State to another party in 2019.”

    The source said: “The session was used to review all the circumstances surrounding the primaries in Ogun State and the face-off between the APC leadership and the governor.

    “It was a follow-up meeting to separate intervention meetings the governor has had with the key strategists of the President and some members of the presidential kitchen cabinet.

    “Amosun actually sought a decisive intervention of the President to iron out all issues and mutual reconciliation.

    “The implications of backlash of the crisis in Ogun on the APC’s chances at the presidential and governorship polls in 2019 were also frankly highlighted at the session as the state ranks higher with Lagos and Oyo as those with huge votes.

    “The atmosphere was cordial and the President listened with rapt attention.”

    Asked of the outcome of the meeting, the Presidency source added: “There was no firm commitment from the President to Amosun. He only noted all arguments for and against Amosun and the stalemate in Ogun State.

    “I think the governors were not really there to back Amosun but to look at the larger picture of the political and voting situation in the South- West and the need to reconcile or re-unite APC leaders in the zone.”

    It could not be immediately ascertained if the President will accede to the governors’ request.

    “No one can say what will be the mindset of the President, “the source added.

    “ It is either Amosun accepts the verdict of the party or go all out to ruin the chances of APC in Ogun State to prove a point that he is a force to reckon with politically.

    “If Amosun plays a spoiler’s game, the APC may lose but he might be the greatest loser because he can sink into political oblivion.”

  • ‘Why Buhari didn’t need to present a certificate’

    Within the last few weeks, there were calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to present his certificate. That was before he was presented with an attestation.

    Many have contended as they did in 2015 that his failure to present his certificate disqualifd him from re-contesting in 2019.

    Our only guide is the Constitution and judicial authorities.

    Quickly, Section 131 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states: “A person shall be qualified for election to the office of President if- (d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent”

    Note the wordings of subsection D. It is not saying he must be able to furnish any authority with the school certificate. It is only saying, he must have been educated to school certificate level.

    The interpretation section, Section 318 (1) states: “School certificate or its equivalent means (b) education up to secondary school certificate…”

    You have also observed that that the interpretation section only says education up to secondary school certificate level. The section is not saying a certificate need be issued.

    My lord, Suleiman Galadima, JSC in Terver Kakih v. Peoples Democratic Party & Ors (2014) LPELR-23277 (SC) said: “…submission or presentation of certificate is not the requirement of S.177(d) of the Constitution as regards the Gubernatorial screening process.

    “The process of screening which the appellant and 4th respondent undertook, with the first respondent requires the candidate to fill in his qualification in the form and to swear to a verifying affidavit that the information contained in Form CF001 was true.

    “This takes away the necessity of presentation of the actual certificate to the 1st and 2nd respondents.”

    In Bayo v. Njidda (2004) 8 NWLR 544 at 630; (2004) FWLR (pt.192) 10 at 78, the Court of Appeal then the Apex and final Court on Election petition from National Assembly/Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Tribunal had this to say on the point: “In other words as regards a secondary school certificate examination, it is enough, in my view that one attended school certificate level i.e without passing and obtaining the certificate”

    Finally, by the combination of SS.117(d) and 318 (1) of the Constitution, it is not only by presentation of certificate to INEC that is the only proof for a candidate to be qualified, it is sufficient that the person/candidate is educated up to secondary school certificate level.

    You are free to disagree only with the relevant provision of the law.

     

    • Sanya is an Ibadan lawyer