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Tag: BUHARI

  • Imo shutdown as youths hold solidarity rally for Buhari, Nwosu

    Thousands of Imo youths yesterday held a solidarity rally in support of the reelection bid of President Muhammadu Buhari and governorship ambition of former Chief of Staff to the Imo State governor, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu.

    The youths adorning customized T-shirts embossed with Buhari’s and Nwosu’s pictures marched through major streets in the state capital, chanting pro-Buhari slogans.

    The rally resulted in heavy gridlock along major roads as vehicular and human movements  were grounded.

    Receiving the youths at his campaign headquarters, Nwosu, who is a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), assured the youths  that the APC led administration is doing everything possible to ensure that Nigerian youths are given opportunity to achieve their goals through the provision of sustainable employment.

    He commended the youths particularly for supporting the reelection bid of President Buhari, stating that it is the surest way to Igbo Presidency in 2023.

    The governorship aspirant also promised the youths that if elected governor, his priority will be to create wealth for the teeming youths and women in the state.

    He commended the youths for purchasing his nomination form and expression of interest forms, pledging that he will not disappoint them when he assumes office as governor.

    Nwosu who received intermittent ovation from the mammoth crowd also stated that the APC will retain power in the state in 2019, adding that none of the opposition parties has the capacity to unseat the APC in the state.

    According to him: “I want to thank the youths for your unflinching support for me and President Buhari and I want to say it again that the reelection of President Buhari is the surest and shortest route to Igbo presidency”.

    He continued: ” I want to assure that I will not let you down, my administration will create wealth for the youths and women and we will sustain the free education programme which has benefitted our people so much. I want to also appeal to you to extend the support to all other APC aspirants.”

    Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the Imo Youth Council, Hon Jeff Nwoha, said that Imo youths have come to thank him (Nwosu) for accepting the clarion call to join the governorship race.

    He said their decision to draft him into the race was influenced by the fact that he will sustain the legacies of the Rochas Okorocha’s administration, which they said has brought unprecedented development to the state.

  • Buhari delegates NEMA to declare ‘National Disaster’ on Flooding

    President Muhammadu Buhari has delegated authority to the Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Maihaja, to declare a “national disaster’’ in the event that anticipated flooding turns a reality in parts of the country.

    Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity in a statement in Abuja, said the President’s directive followed a warning by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency that Rivers Benue and Niger had almost reached levels that resulted in flooding in 2012.

    The 2012 disaster had led to lost of lives and destruction of property in some parts of the country.

    A letter to the Director-General, NEMA, titled: “Situation Report on the River Flood along the Banks of Rivers Benue and Niger’’, which was signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, said:

    “Delegation of authority to the Director General of NEMA to activate the Disaster Response Units of the military for possible search and rescue missions, and

    “The procurement and proportionate stocking of relief materials and health related items up to N3billion to provide for the needs of possible victims.’’

    The letter also instructed the head of the emergency agency to provide regular updates to the President.(NAN)

  • ‘Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade yielding results’

    Bayo Onanuga, the Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), says the anti-corruption crusade being championed by President Muhammadu Buhari is real and yielding results.

    He made the observation during the 6th Parliamentary Lecture of National Association of Oyo Students (NAOS) on Friday at Atiba University in Oyo, Oyo State.

    Onanuga said the feat was achieved through some measures evolved, among which was the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

    “Corrupt practices have become a difficult thing under the present administration with the introduction of TSA. TSA has gone a long way in blocking wastage and treasury looting.

    “Today, money goes into a single account and you have to write to demand money with verifiable facts to support that such was necessarily needed,” he said.

    The NAN boss said the anti-corruption crusade was not selective as speculated, saying officials alleged of corrupt practices were being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Onanuga faulted the claim that government had stopped corruption cases against some politicians who defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)

    According to him, “the anti-corruption must be collectively fought and won. The whistle blowing policy has also helped a lot in tracking corrupt practices.

    “The nation would be better for it, if the crusade is supported by all. Most of those attacking the president have been in office without such effort.”

    He charged the youth to support the crusade and embrace honesty as well as hardwork as a virtue, saying such orientation would engender the nation of their dream.

    Onanuga admonished them to take nation-building as a collective project, urging them not to relent in their effort to make the nation great.

    He said that the administration was committed to the course of taking Nigeria to the next level, adding such was evident in the giant strides recorded so far.

    He commended the youth for organising the programme to keep themselves abreast of happenings at the national scene.

    He urged them to always engage their representatives meaningfully on development issues, while ensuring the society got the best from them.(NAN)

  • Elders rally support for Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari got a boost on Friday as a group of octogenarians, Southwest Veterans and Concerned Patriotic Elders’ (SouthWest-V and PE), on Friday held a rally in support successes against terrorism and insurgency.

    The rally which started from Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos ended at Lagos Government House with scores of elderly Nigerians paying glowing tributes to the Nigerian Army and its leadership.

    Addressing the newsmen in Ikeja, the National President of SouthWest-V and PE, Elder Johnson Adebayo, said Buhari had conquered terrorism “like Moses did in the Bible”.

    According to him, the President has liberated several communities held by the insurgents in the same manner the Biblical Moses liberated the Israelites from their Egyptian captors.

    “We have seen a repeat of Moses’ leadership of the Israelites in their most difficult times reflected in the present leadership of our cherished country Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “He has played the role of the Chief armour bearer of the defeat of the enemies of Nigeria, as directed by God.

    “The idea of this elaborate thousand-man rally march from us, Nigerians of septuagenarian and octogenarian ages is to drum support for President Buhari’s rewarding leadership.

    “It is also our token of open appreciation of the Nigerian military for their courageous demystification of the formerly deified Boko Haram insurgents,” Adebayo said.

    The octogenarian also thanked Buhari for the various reforms introduced, saying they had reduced corruption in the public service to the barest minimum.

    “It has erased the bottlenecks strewn on the path of elderly citizens of this great nation in accessing their retirement entitlements.

    “Our President is leading Nigeria on a progressive path in many ways. Some of us are proud beneficiaries of his welfare schemes like the Conditional Cash Transfers to the elderly and less privileged Nigerians under his Social Investment Programme.

    “The school feeding programme for our children in primary schools across the federation is another unquantifiable assistance to the elderly.

    ” This has has lifted the burden of searching our pockets and bags every morning to find feeding money for our school children,” he said.

    According to him, the group cannot overlook President Buhari’s resuscitation of collapsed infrastructure in the country.

    “The railway is back; our refineries are back; textile and automobile industries are brimming with life now.

    “Youths are being empowered through N-Power jobs, and dilapidated roads we never dreamt of seeing their rehabilitation in our lifetime have come to reality.

    “We travel on it, but our old and tired bones do not get cracking with ache.”

    He also commended the Service Chiefs for their splendid day to day leadership of the military, resulting in the spectacular job of defeating Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria. (NAN)

  • Presidential contest: Buhari’s challenger steps down

    … says Buhari best President for Nigeria

    One of the Presidential hopefuls expected to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Abubakar Alkali on Friday announced his eventual withdrawal from the presidential contest, saying Buhari remain the best person to lead the nation post 2019.

    Dr. Alkali who announced his withdrawal at a news conference in Abuja also cited the huge cost of the Presidential nomination form as one of his reasons, adding however that he will not allow his dream for the country to die.

    While endorsing President Buhari, he said since the party has decided to give the presidential ticket to the President, he has no option, as a loyal party man than to abide by the party decision.

    He called on his supporters to join hands with the current administration to continue in its job of delivering on democracy dividends to Nigerians, while also asking the leadership of APC do something about the cost of nomination forms, saying such has deprived so many young aspirants with good ideal which would have better the nation.

    He said: “The purpose of this press conference is that i am here to announce my withrawal from the contest for the office of the president and the reasons for the withdrawal are not far fetched.

    “Majorly, one of the reasons is that the APC has picked president Muhammadu Buhari has its sole consensus candidate for the 2019 general election, and as a loyal party member, I have to go by the rule and dictate of the party and that is the why I am aligning fully and totally with the position of our great party, and I fully support the decision to pick Mr. President as a consensus candidate of our great party.”

    Speaking on the N45m cost of APC presidential nomination form, Alkali said that he and many others who had intended to contest the election could not afford the cost.

    “I also want to use this opportunity to say my mind regarding the cost of the nomination form which I will say its outrageous, which I believe will also say it is the reason I withdrew.

    “I think the cost of the form is outrageous and also do not depicts the ethics of our democracy. Actually, the cost of this form to me broke sincere and genuine aspirants from aspiring for the office and are not in tandem with the maxim of the NotTooYoungToRun movement, and a lot of the youths who have sincere concern for this country can not afford this outrageous cost. I appeal to our party, going forward to look at this issue very seriously.”

  • 2019 Election would be tough – Tofa

    A one-time Presidential Candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa, on Friday in Kano, said the 2019 General Elections would be tougher than that of 2015, in view of the current challenges confronting both the ruling party APC and the PDP.

    Tofa, however advised the leadership of the APC to brace up to the challenges, in order to ensure the total victory of the party against the opposition parties, who are also not leaving anything to chance.

    Tofa, who spoke as a Guest of Honour at the official launching of the APC Volunteer group, held at the Coronation Hall, Government House, Friday, said the APC at this time need to take appropriate measures to ensure that it emerges victorious.

    “I am part and parcel of the APC Volunteers and would like to see a situation, whereby the people, who agreed to work in principles and as a matter of personal sacrifice will do so without fear or favour.

    We are desperately in need of an association, like this, which we were unable to get but now we have a group that is all out to change the way things were being done in the past for the better”

    Tofa posited that, if we are divided, the possibility of actualizing this concept would not be achievable in our quest to bring about good governance.

    Earlier, the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje told the mammoth crowd that gathered at the launching of Volunteers that he is the number one volunteer, who believes in the new innovative ideas brought about by the founders of APC Volunteers, whose main objectives is to ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari and the current administration continued with the good work they started.

    ” I am very happy because all of you are happy, because you have seen that we have taken the route to modern democratic system. This occasion is the official launching of APC Volunteers Group, it is a new innovation by our great party in Kano, it is a new idea, in order to sanitize our system and give everybody a sense of belonging by abiding by the doctrine of democracy.

    “We abide by the rules and regulations of our politics, we abide by due process to ensure that this democracy is nourished , we build it so that it can be strong, like any developed democracy.”

    “We thank you very much for forming this association, which will guide the conduct of our primaries, as well as guide the conduct of our elections. And will also instill into our followers that you have value, your worth as a party faithful, it is not the amount of money we have but the amount of integrity that we have. This is what we mean by this important group”

    Read Also: Resources’ll be utilised for all Nigerians, Says Buhari

    “As Volunteers in the APC, we must work assiduously to ensure that there is credible free and fair primary elections in the APC at all levels and should be ready to face whoever is going to disrupt the process of election during the forthcoming general election”

    Ganduje noted that it is mandatory for the Volunteers to also match their words with action by protecting all the electoral boxes from the ward to the local governments levels or State INEC offices and wait till the votes are cast and results announced.

    In his remarks, the Coordinator of the Kano APC Volunteers and Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, informed the gathering that “ours is a voluntary service to the people and an effort to build up strong pillars which our next democratic steps will be based on.

    “Let me use the opportunity to call on you to make good use of this golden opportunity you found your selves by contributing your individual and collective quota in electing people of impeccable character, as we have seen in PMB and His Excellency, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje”

  • Insurgency: Octogenarians group commends Buhari

    The ongoing war against insurgency took an emotional twist on Friday after a group of octogenarians took to the streets of Lagos to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for decimating the Boko Haram insurgency.
    The groups during a rally which kick-started from freedom park in Lagos and ended at Alausa Govt House witnessed thousands of the elderly Nigerians paying glowing tributes to the Nigerian Army and it’s leadership.
    Addressing the rally, National President,
    Southwest Veterans And Concerned Patriotic Elders’s (SouthWest-V &PE), Elder Johnson Adebayo said President Buhari has liberated several communities held by the insurgency in same manner of the Biblical Moses liberated the Israelites from their Egyptian captors.
    He said, “We have seen a repeat of Moses’s leadership of the Israelites in their most difficult times, reflected in the present leadership of our cherished country Nigeria, by President Muhammadu Buhari. He has played the role of the Chief armour bearer of the defeat of  the enemies of Nigeria, as directed by God.
    “The idea of this elaborate, a thousand-man rally march from us, Nigerians of septuagenarian and octogenarian ages is to drum support for President Buhari’s rewarding leadership. It is also our token of open appreciation of the Nigerian Military for their courageous demystification of the formerly deified Boko Haram insurgents.”

    Read also: Buhari names new DG DSS

    Elder Adebayo  also expressed joy in the various reforms introduced by the President, stressing that the sanitizing reforms launched by President Buhari have reduced corruption in the public service to its barest minimum.
    He said, “it has  erased the bottlenecks strewn on the path of elderly citizens of this great nation in accessing their retirement entitlements.
    “Our President is leading Nigeria on a progressive path in many ways. Some of us are proud beneficiaries of his welfare schemes like the Conditional Cash Transfers to the elderly and less privileged Nigerians under his Social Investment Programme.
    “The school feeding programme for our children in primary schools across the federation is another unquantifiable assistance to the elderly, which has lifted the burden of searching our pockets and bags every morning to find feeding money for our school children.”
    According to him, “we cannot overlook President Buhari’s resuscitation of collapsed infrastructure in the country. The railway is back;  our refineries are back; textile and automobile industries  are brimming with life now.  Youths are being empowered through N-Power jobs and dilapidated roads,  we never dreamt of seeing their rehabilitation in our lifetime have come to reality.  We travel on it, but our old and tired bones do not get cracking with ache.”
    He also commended the Service Chiefs for their splendid day to day leadership of the military, resulting in the spectacular job of defeating Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria.

  • IYC rejects appointment of new DSS boss

    The Ijaw Youth Council ( IYC ) Worldwide on Friday rejected the removal of Mr. Mathew Seifa as the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS) by President Muhammadu Buhari, who replaced him with Mr. Yusuf Bichi.

    The youth body described the appointment as a true reflection of the President’s ethnic bias and nepotism, which it said had been on display since Buhari was sworn in on May 29, 2015.

    Secretary-General of the IYC, Mr. Alfred Kemepado in a statement in Yenagoa said: “We wonder why the President will appoint a man who had finished his term and retired about six months ago in place of a very qualified Matthew Seiyefa who was already doing a fantastic job for the government”.

    “We understand that the next most qualified people who should have been appointed are all from Southern Nigeria but because of tribalism and sectional interest, Buhari looked the other way and went to bring Bichi back from retirement‬.

    “We condemn the action of the President for his insensitivity, outright disrespect and disregard for people of the South. The provocative action has become obvious that Buhari no longer pretend about his dislike for the concept of ‘ A Nigeria for All Nigerians’.”

    The IYC scribe charged members of the President’s cabinet from the south to protest the appointment of the new DSS helmsman by walking out of the government adding that doing so would demonstrate their patriotism.

    “The removal of Mr. Mathew Seiyefa, who is by far more experienced and qualified for the number one DSS job should not be forgiven and forgotten. We call on people of the region not to consider the President as an ally when it comes to their development.

    “The President has shown disrespect and consistently assaulted our collective sensibilities even in the way he has treated members of his cabinet from our region”, he said.

  • Osinbajo to chair minimum wage meeting Tuesday

    *Ngige: Workers must smile before next election

    *Buhari to get report soon – Ama Pepple

     

    Towards resolving the minimum wage issue, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, will next week Tuesday preside over the Economic Management Team (EMT) meeting to be dedicated to the issue.

    This was disclosed by the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, at the end of meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari alongside the chairman of the negotiation committee, Ms Amma Pepple.

    According to him, they briefed President Buhari on Friday on the progress so far made by the committee.

    He said “Next week we have an economic management team meeting on Tuesday, specially dedicated to the issue of national minimum wage to be chaired by the Vice President. For anybody to say that this government is stalling or playing games will be uncharitable, because, we have done what we are supposed to do.

    “We have the interest of workers at heart, we have not retrenched anybody, there is no embargo on employment, there is no embargo on promotions, we are paying backlog of promotional arrears, we are backing backlog of transfers and repatriation and the rest of them and we are giving them houses under FISH and the rest of them.

    “So this government is a labour friendly government and we must put smiles on their faces before the next election…we are labour activists we don’t want to turn our backs on them.” he said

    Pepple, a former Head of Service of the Federation, said the committee will submit its report before the month ends.

    According to her, they need a definite figure from government.

    She said “Everything is on course but we need a definite figure from government and of course we have to carry the states along. So, we need those figures so that we can conclude on the figures we include in our report.”

    On how soon the new minimum wage will be ready, Pepple said, “This month. At least I expect our report will be ready this month. We are submitting our report to Mr. President this month.”

    Ngige on Thursday had accused the organised labour of blackmailing the government following a two-week ultimatum given for the conclusion of negotiation on the matter.

    Read Also: Osinbajo urges African leaders to put service above self

    According to him, the Labour leaders were unnecessarily blackmailing and intimidating government to pass a new minimum wage that it may end up reneging on.

    Ngige blamed certain factors such as inability of governors to provide their figures to be debated by the committee negotiating the new minimum wage as one of the reasons for the delay, just as he assured that government was still within the timeframe it promised to deliver on a new minimum wage and was not stalling the process as alleged by labour.

    According to Ngige, the organised private sector had initially proposed a figure of N42,000 but later brought it down to N25,000, taking into account the current economic situation, ability to pay and ability to enhance and create new jobs

    The organised labour had in May 2016 demanded a pay rise on the current N18,000 national minimum wage to N56, 000. Buhari had in November 2017 inaugurated the National Minimum Wage Committee with a mandate of arriving at a new national minimum.

  • Buhari promises new textile investments for South East

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja expressed optimism that new investment commitments coming into Nigeria’s textile sector, of which Aba is a major beneficiary, will be actualized within the shortest possible time.

    He gave the assurance while receiving traditional rulers from Abia State led by His Royal Majesty, Dr. Isaac Ikonne, Enyi 1 of Aba.

    The President also assured the monarchs that the issue of unstable electricity and other basic infrastructure in Ariaria market, a major trading hub in West and Central Africa, would soon be a thing of the past.

    In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, the President also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to rapidly industrialize the country through projects that promote import substitution.

    The President said the investments in the textile industry would create thousands of jobs for youths in Aba.

    He said ‘‘Just last week, I was in China to attend the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation. During that visit, I personally met with executives of one of the largest cotton and garment companies in the world who will soon establish operations in Aba.

    ‘‘This is following a joint effort of attracting this investor by both the Federal and Abia State Government.

    ‘‘The proposed investment will create thousands of jobs for the vibrant and creative youths in Aba.

    ‘‘I am very excited about this project. I have directed the Hon. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment to ensure this investment is actualised within the shortest possible time,’’ the President told the visiting royal majesty and his entourage.

    On Ariaria market, the President recounted that during his visit to Aba in 2015 as a presidential candidate, he was warmly received and walked through parts of the market where he observed the lack of electricity and other basic infrastructure for its over 40,000 shops.

    ‘‘As a government, we issued a presidential mandate to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and the Rural Electrification Agency to energise the market.

    ‘‘In June 2018, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission granted an electricity generation licence as well as a distribution licence for the market. This will enable the generation and distribution of 9.5 Megawatts of electricity within the market.

    ‘‘The project is moving smoothly and I have been assured the market will be fully electrified soon. We are working closely with the State Government, Local Government, Traditional Rulers, Market Associations and the community on this project to ensure this goal is actualised by the end of the year,’’ he said.

    On security, the President reiterated that the APC-led government would continue to do its best to maintain the sovereign integrity of Nigeria while protecting the livelihoods of its hardworking and honest citizens.

    He also underscored the need for elder statesmen, leaders, parents and patriots to continue to guide youths on the path of peace and prosperity while eschewing hateful and divisionary rhetoric.

    ‘‘We must not shy away from this responsibility. We only have one Nigeria. And we must ensure we hand over a better Nigeria to the next generation,’’ he said.

    Read Also: Imo shutdown as youths hold solidarity rally for Buhari, Nwosu

    Eze Ikonne lauded the President for successes recorded so far since he assumed office in 2015, particularly in the fight against corruption, agricultural revolution, infrastructure development and security.

    On infrastructure development in the South East, His Majesty said: ‘‘ Mr President, I thank you for the massive federal roads rehabilitation going on in the South- East; like the Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt expressway, Port Harcourt-Elele-Owerri road, Enugu-Onitsha expressway.

    ‘‘These roads were death traps for 16 years before you came into office, but today they are wearing new solid looks, though not completed but relief is already there with the level of work done so far.’’