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Tag: BUHARI

  • Back APC to return to national politics, Buhari tells Igbo

    •Southeast rally for President in Owerri

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday urged the Igbo to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s general elections so as to “navigate your way into the centre of national politics.”

    He spoke at the mega rally at the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri, the Imo State capital, to generate southeast support for the APC.

    Leaders of the party across states in the region attended the rally organised by Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    Represented by Secrertary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha, Buhari said:  “What happens in 2019 will go a long way to determining the fate of the Igbo nation as it concerns the 2023 Presidency. So, it is important that they put away party sentiments in the overall interest of the Igbo nation and ensure that the APC gets a landslide victory in the Southeast”.

    The President emphasized that Nigeria needed focused leadership to overcome the plethora of problems created by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration. “Many people are running around to be the President of Nigeria but Nigeria is not a Banana Republic. What Nigeria needs now is a detribalised, honest, transparent and determined leadership and that is what President Buhari represents”.

    APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole led the dignitaries including Kano State Governor Abdulahi Ganduje, former Borno State Governor Ali Modu Sherriff and former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Silva.

    South East APC leaders in attendance include Senators Uche Ekwunife and Andy Uba, APC National Auditor George Moghalu, APC National Organising Secretary, Emma Ibediro, former governorship candidate Tony Nwoye, among others.

    Okorocha said what President Buhari is doing in the Southeast had endeared his administration to the people.

    He said:  “What we are celebrating here is the leadership of President Buhari. It is true that the Igbo made a mistake in 2015 but the Igbo believe in Buhari for 2019 and the Igbo are ardent followers”.

    The Imo governor also dismissed insinuations that the APC is fragmented in the Southeast, stating that, “nobody should use the current misunderstanding in the party to judge the performance of the party in the Southeast. There are similar misunderstandings in other zones as well”.

    The Southeast leaders noted that the region had benefited immensely from President Buhari’s administration in the last three years, more than what they got for the 16 years of PDP administration.

    They added that supporting President Buhari’s second bid would brighten the chances of the zone to produce the  President in 2023.

    They took turns to highlight some of the landmark achievements of the Buhari administration in the Southeast, with special emphasis on the ongoing constructionof the Second Niger Bridge and the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.

    Governor Ganduje acknowledged that the Southeast truly support the President’s reelection.

    He said “with what I have seen today, it is clear that the Igbo have made a u-turn in politics and they are now in the centre of politics in Nigeria. I am impressed with the massive support for the APC and Mr. President”.

    Mordu Sherriff said with the huge crowd, “I have seen with my eyes and confirmed that the Igbo are for Buhari”.

    Comrade Oshiomole said: “I am left with no doubt that the APC has taken over the Southeast and our opponents will not sleep today in Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Abia over what is happening here today.

    “I want to salute the determination of the Imo State governor. Today, he has shown who truly owns the land. I am truly impressed and I will tell the President that what I saw today is not a social media stunt but physical demonstration of support for the APC”.

     

  • Sign bill mandating early submission of budget, Dogara tells Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari should assent to the constitutional amendment Bill which provides for early submission of budget proposals to the National Assembly, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said.
     In his remark at the resumption of plenary Tuesday, Dogara said  any talk of an orderly appropriations process would be mere cheap talk as long as the Bill is not signed into law,
    “The President shall prepare and lay before each House of the National Assembly estimates of revenue and expenditure 90 days before the end of the fiscal year,,”  the Bill states.
    Other  constitutional amendment Bills transmitted to the President alongside the budget bill  have been assented to.
    “It is as a result of this that the National Assembly proposed an amendment to the section to require the President to submit the Appropriation Bill not later than 90 days to the end of the financial year.
    “The President has not yet signed this Bill which is so critical to an orderly Appropriations process. Let me use this opportunity to remind Mr President of the fact that if this Bill does not become law, any talk of an orderly appropriations process would be mere cheap talk.
     Dogara further said : “It is important to reiterate once again, that the National Assembly has the Constitutional powers, duty and responsibility to intervene in the budgeting process to ensure equity, federal character and even distribution of projects and amenities to all nooks and crannies of this great country as direct Representatives of the people.
    “It is also important to emphasise that the 2018 budget benefitted from active cooperation and consultation between the Executive and Legislature during the Appropriation process. No doubt, Nigeria’s budgeting processes is in need of further reforms and that is why the National Assembly took the bold initiative to introduce the Budget Process Bill that is expected to lay out, timelines that will guide the appropriations process from conception to passage.
    “But for this Bill to be passed, section (81) subsection (1) which gives the President power to prepare and lay before each House of the National Assembly, at any time, estimates of revenue and expenditure in the financial year must be amended.”

  • Killings: Nigerians losing confidence in security system – Dogara

    Nigerians are fast losing confidence in the security system of the country, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has said.

    The Speaker said that history will be hash to the present administration if it fails to stop the violence and mass killings of innocent Nigerians.

    Dogara,  who was speaking at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, opined that the achievement being recorded by the Buhari administration will not be remembered if the orgy violence and mass killings of innocent Nigerians continue unabated.

    His words: “History will have a harsh verdict for us as a Government if we fail to live up to this responsibility and it won’t matter if we succeed in other areas.

    “Unfortunately, the stark reality now is that our citizens are fast losing confidence in our security system.

    Read Also: History will judge us harshly if killings persist – Dogara

    “The stark reality now is that our citizens are fast losing confidence in our security system. This must not be the case. Before we ebb to the realm of anarchy, we must rise up as true representatives of the Nigerian people to salvage the situation and defend our hard-won democracy.”

    According to Dogara, the unresolved issue of rampant killing of defenseless people, including innocent and vulnerable children and women, in various parts of the country, calls for a sober reflection and more concerted efforts by the National Assembly

    “To exploit all our Constitutional powers and privileges to ensure the protection of lives and property in the entire country by the security agencies.”

  • Buhari, French President meet in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday met behind closed doors with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The meeting started at 4:34 p.m. when the French President arrived the State House, Abuja.

    Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, was among the top government officials that received Macron at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa.

    The two leaders posed for photograph shots at the entrance of the President’s office before the meeting started.

    There will be press briefing at the end of the meeting, which will include signing of some Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries.

    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

  • Buhari commends Nigeria-Kuwait relations

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday commended the cordial relations between Nigeria and Kuwait.

    He spoke at an audience with the outgoing Kuwaiti Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Abdulaziz Alsharrah, at the State House, Abuja.

    The President, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said relations between both countries are important not only at the bilateral level, but also as members of the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) where they shared a common interest.

    President Buhari, while thanking the outgoing ambassador for promoting good relations between Nigeria and Kuwait, said he hoped that the cordial relations would translate into more active cooperation between the two countries.

    Alsharrah, who thanked the government and people of Nigeria for maintaining good relations with his country, said there was still room to grow the relations.

    The envoy said he found his five-year tour of duty in Nigeria very rewarding and extended his country’s invitation to President Buhari for official visit.

  • Buhari gets Electoral Act Amendment Bill for assent

    THE controversial Electoral Act Amendment Bill has been transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent, it was learnt yesterday.

    This is coming ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    The amendments were passed by the two chambers last month after Buhari refused assent to the one earlier passed.

    Findings showed that the transmission of the clean copy of the Bill was done on Monday, June 25.

    It was also gathered that the controversial areas of the Bill, including reordering of the sequence of elections, were cleaned out of the Bill to enable the President to sign it.

    A competent source said the Bill was forwarded to the President for assent to beat the six months’ deadline required to conclude the amendment of the Electoral Act before the election.

    If signed into law by Buhari, the Bill will be known as Electoral Act 2018 (as amended.)

    The provisions of the Bill will serve as guidelines for the conduct of the 2019 general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    A major provision of the Bill is the recognition of the card reader for elections.

    The President had three months ago rejected the earlier Bill forwarded to him for assent.

    The President had in vetoing the Bill sent to him in February, this year, cited three reasons for his refusal to endorse the Bill.

    The new sequence of elections included in the Bill in section 25(1) which listed National Assembly election first, followed by governorship and House of Assembly Election while Presidential Election was placed last in order of elections did not go down well with the President.

    Buhari, in his rejection, said the inserted section in the Electoral Act violated the provisions of Section 72 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the INEC to fix dates of elections and see to its conduct in all ramifications.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC Senator Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North), who presented the report of his committee on the Bill, told his colleagues that the Bill was re-introduced following Buhari’s decision to withhold assent due to the following observations:

    “That the amendment to the sequence of the elections in Section 25 of the principal Act may infringe on the constitutionally guaranteed discretion of INEC to organise, undertake and supervise all elections in Section 15 (a) of the Third Schedule of the Constitution;

    “That the amendment to Section 138 of the Principal Act to delete 2 crucial grounds upon which an election may be challenged by candidates unduly limits the rights of candidates in elections to a free and fair electoral review process.

    “That the amendment to Section 152 (3)- (5) of the Principal Act may raise constitutional issues over the competence of the National Assembly to legislate over local government elections.”

    In line with the observations, Nazif explained that his committee resolved to:

    delete Sections 25 and 152 (3)-(5) in the proposed Bill based on the President’s observations; retain Section 138 (c) and (d) as contained in the Principal Act; further amend Section 49 by including a new subsection (3), which provides that ” Where a Smart Card Reader deployed for accreditation of voters fails to function in any unit and a new card reader is not deployed, the election in that unit shall be cancelled and another election shall be scheduled within 24 hours”; and amend Section 140 to include a new subsection (c), which states that “Where the election is postponed due to omission of a political party’s name or logo, the commission’s officer responsible for such printing of party names or logos commits an offence and is liable to a fine of Two Million Naira (N2,000,000) or imprisonment for two years or both”.

    Nazif added that although INEC had submitted its observations for consideration, the committee unanimously agreed to deliberate on the commission’s remarks in any subsequent amendment as the Senate and the House had already harmonised positions on the Bill.

  • Photos: Buhari departs Mauritania after AU summit

    President  Muhammadu Buhari departs Mauritania to Abuja after  the 31st Session of the African Union Summit which held in Nouakchott Mauritania.

    Accompanied by the Mauritanian Prime Minister Yahya Ould Hademineon President Muhammadu Buhari in a handshake with Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami as President Buhari departs Mauritania to Abuja after a successful outing at the 31st Session of the African Union Summit held in Nouakchott Mauritania. PHOTO; SUNDAY AGHAEZE.

     

    L-R; President Muhammadu Buhari accompanied by the Mauritanian Prime Minister Yahya Ould Hademineon as he departs Mauritania to Abuja after a successful outing at the 31st Session of the African Union Summit held in Nouakchott Mauritania. PHOTO; SUNDAY AGHAEZE.

  • Buhari seeks repatriation of stolen assets with minimal legal obstacles

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Nouakchott, Mauritania called on nations where looted assets are stashed to release them without the usually long technicalities involved in the process of repatriation.

    He made the call during his introductory remarks as the leader of the African Union theme of the year, Winning the Fight against Corruption, A Sustainable Path to Africas Transformation, shortly before the commencement of the debate on the African Anti-Corruption Year.

    A statement by Special Adviser on Media and publicity Femi Adesina, quoted the   President as saying:  “We must all collectively work to place high on the agenda the need for open and participatory government, as well as the repatriation of stolen assets without procedural technicalities and legal obstacles.”

    President Buhari also appraised the anti-corruption efforts of his administration so far.

    “During the last six months, we have engaged in multi-sectoral dialogue with a broad range of actors including parliamentarians, national anti-corruption agencies, civil society, media, youth and women groups and development partners. We have convened three (3) different regional Consultative workshops in line with my campaign programme in an effort to sensitize our people on the evil effects of corruption on our societies.

    “These workshops will be extended to other regional blocs as we continue the fight against corruption in a bid to transform our continent.” he said

    The President also informed the gathering of his intention to partner with the AU Chairperson to further push the frontiers of the anti-corruption battle:

    “I plan to convene the African Youth Congress in Abuja within the next quarter, and we will be working with the Chairman of the African Union, His Excellency, Paul Kagame and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, to organize an Interactive Dialogue on the theme at the next session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York during the high level segment.”

     

    Buhari urged member States to ratify the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption to take all necessary measures to sign and ratify it with a view to achieving its universal ratification during this calendar year as the Republic of Mauritius just did, becoming    the 40th State Party to the Convention.

    He thanked African Heads of State and Government “for the continued support provided to me in driving and amplifying the African Union anti-corruption agenda. Your unwavering support remains a strong source of strength and encouragement as we look forward to an even more vigorous second half of this year.”

    President Buhari said “the scourge of illicit financial flows continues to bite, eating back the gains and militating against the attainment of our aspirations under Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.”

  • APC youth group to Buhari: three things do to end killings

    THE Progressive Youth Caucus (PYC), a coalition of youth groups in the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to act fast in ending killings.

    Prompt action aimed at halting the killings, the group said, would help to salvage the country’s image.

    Its Chairman, Comrade Bamidele Olagoke, in a statement, urged Buhari to conduct a review of the country’s security architecture to enable him do away with non-performing service chiefs and heads of security organisation.

    Olagoke said the measure would also help to shore up positive perception for the country in the international community.

    The PYC cited the recent report by Amnesty International and the letter by the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, as clear indicators that the international community views the security situation in Nigeria as a threat to its sovereignty.

    The group insisted that the President should urgently heed the recommendation made by the National Assembly to modify the national security architecture.

    Olagoke said: “As young people in our party, the APC, we have observed with great worry the ongoing killings, robberies, abductions and other cases of insecurity that have transpired across the nation. We understand that there is a need to exercise extreme caution  when commenting on all matters of security’ However, the truth, as it stands, is that Nigerians no longer feel safe in their homes, on the streets and in their places of work.

    “President Buhari, as our President and the leader of our great party, must immediately heed the international community’s warnings and take drastic action to end the rampant bloodletting across our nation.

    “Amnesty International’s poser on the response time of our security forces should serve as a clear indictment on our police and other security forces that they are either incapable of dealing with the problems as it stands or just outrightly slow and insensitive to the carnage going on across the nation.

    “Right now, President Buhari should heed the earlier call of the National Assembly and now, the United Nations and Amnesty International.

    “Make our security forces more accountable and effective: If this means making drastic changes to the heads of the Police, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, this must be done.

    “Reassure the nation: Nigerians are in mourning. Mr. President should re-echo his pre-election commitment to the sanctity of human lives. We cannot continue to live in a nation where people are being killed and kidnapped on a daily basis.”

     

  • Buhari sympathises with Kaduna gas victims

    President Muhammadu Buhari has sympathised with victims of the Kaduna gas explosion.

    A statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the President’s heart is with the victims at their hour of distress.

    The statement reads: “The president is touched by the loss suffered by these hard working Nigerians striving to make a living through honest labour. As a human being, I fully understand the economic impact of this accident on them.”

    The president advised Nigerians to pay attention to safety procedures and precautionary measures in their business places.