The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BUHARI

  • Akume: keep faith with Buhari

    Senator George Akume (Benue North-West) has called on the people to keep faith with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    Akume, in a Democracy Day message by his media aide, Torhile Uchi, said the APC-led Federal Government is on track in fixing the economy and return the country to the path of greatness.

    He urged his constituents to celebrate democracy despite the challenges of nationhood as there is no alternative to democracy.

    The former governor also advised APC supporters not to be deceived by opposition elements as the party will win all the elections in 2019.

     

  • Osun Secretary to State Government rallies support for Buhari

    The Secretary to Osun State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, has urged Nigerians to continue their support for President Muhammadu Buhari to enable him address the multi-faceted challenges facing the country.

    Adeoti, who is an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, blamed the socio-economic crisis on the 16-year misrule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In a statement on Democracy Day by the Director of Media and Publicity of his campaign organisation, Mr Kayode Agbaje, the governorship aspirant said PDP should bury its head in shame and apologise to Nigerians for policies and programmes that plunged the country into crises.

    He said: “The PDP members ought to have buried their heads in shame in view of the numerous anti-masses programmes and policies foisted on Nigerians during their 16-year misrule, which resulted in the current harsh economic crisis among Nigerians.”

    Adeoti advised the electorate to turn deaf ears to the political propaganda of the opposition, especially those in the PDP condemning President Buhari’s laudable programmes and policies.

    The Osun SSG urged Nigerians to remain steadfast in their optimism for better days ahead.

    According to him, what the political class needs from Nigerians is fervent prayer and support for positive change.

    Adeoti admonished Osun State residents yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to do so and those who have not registered to go to the nearest Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) registration centre in their local government areas to register.

  • Buhari to Super Eagles: Make Nigeria proud in Russia

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday charged the Super Eagles to make the country proud at the 2018 FIFA World Cup starting on June 14 in Russia.

    Buhari spoke while receiving the team at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja.

    He said: “We look up to you to make us proud.”

    Noting that Super Eagles is one of the least experienced teams in the tournament, the President urged the players to take advantage of Nigerians’ support.

    Buhari reminded the players they carry the emotions of 180 million Nigerians each time they go out to the pitch to play.

    According to him, nothing unites Nigeria more than football.

    The Captain of the team, Mikel Obi, said: “All we have to do now is to go out there and make the country proud and come back with the trophy. ”

     

  • Buhari: vote for candidates of your choice

    President Muhammadu Buhari last night advised Nigerians to vote for candidates of their choice in next year’s general elections.

    He gave the advice while breaking fast with members of the judiciary led by Supreme Court Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

    He said: “Let them vote for anybody they want across ethnicity and religion and impose their decisions on them. I think that is what I am calling on and I am begging the governors to please continue with voter education so that people will take their permanent voter card seriously and make sure that they don’t lose them.

    Recalling his political trajectory for the umpteenth time, He said: “I find it necessary to invite you because I don’t normally see you, I have to repeat what I said having heard what you said. I mentioned that when I was in the military and much younger, we believed things were going wrong and so when I came I took from the president downwards, to Kirikiri (prison) against your advice and told them that they are guilty until they prove themselves innocent.

    “I decided to put on agbada and come back, I tried three times and then fourth time I eventually made it. Thanks to God and thanks to technology because this permanent voter card and card readers are fantastic.

    “Now with technology, it has been made easy. That is why I keep appealing to the governors to embark on voter education, to please tell the people that their voter card is their national card so to speak.

    Speaking on behalf of the judiciary arm of government, former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Alpha Belgore said he had always respected the President as a person.

    He said: “He loves this country very much. Because of that, what he need always is to have very good people around him. The economy is down all over Africa so if we have any other problem now, it’s just a child’s play with what is happening in other countries.

    “I pray that this country will continue to develop under you. God will continue to guide you right and the country will be very very strong. We are holding another election next year.” he stated

  • Court orders Buhari to probe N481b budget padding claim

    A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered President Muhammadu Buhari to probe allegations of padding and stealing of about N481 billion from the 2016 budget by some principal officers of the National Assembly

    Justice Mohammed Idris who gave the order also instructed the President to direct Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN), and/or appropriate anti-corruption agencies to immediately commence the prosecution of indicted lawmakers.

    Justice Idris issued the order in a judgment delivered on Monday in a mandamus suit filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

    The defendants in the suit are the President and Malami.

    The suit was filed last year after the organisation  received “credible information from multiple sources that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have completed investigation into the allegations of padding of the 2016 budget, completed their reports, and indicted some principal officers of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

    The organisation also claimed to have found out that the accounts of some of the principal officers containing allegedly illicit funds were frozen, and that the case files for the prosecution of those indicted were ready.

    The suit claims that “Unless the principal officers indicted in the alleged padding of the 2016 budget are prosecuted and any stolen public funds recovered, the Federal Government will not be able to stop padding of future budgets. Alleged corruption in the budget process will not just melt away or simply evaporate without addressing the fundamental issue of impunity of perpetrators.

    “Addressing alleged corruption in the budget process by pursuing prosecution of indicted principal officers of the National Assembly will provide an important opportunity for the Federal Government to reignite the fight against corruption and fulfill a cardinal campaign promise, to show that the Federal Government works on behalf of the many, and not the few, as well as jump start economic activities and break the back of the recession.”

    Justice Idris, ordered the President to “direct the publication of the report of investigations by security and anti-corruption bodies into the alleged padding of the 2016budget.

    He held that President Buhari in the exercise of his executive powers; has a duty to ensure compliance with the provisions of Article 22 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and that the President is “expected to use his executive powers for the public good of Nigeria.”

    Article 22 of the African Charter provides that, “All peoples shall have the right to their economic, social and cultural development with due regard to their freedom,” and that “States shall have the duty, individually or collectively, to ensure the exercise of the right to development.”

    Justice Idris also granted an order directing the President to “urgently halt alleged attempt by some principal officers of the National Assembly to steal N40 billion of the N100 billion allocated by his government as ‘zonal intervention’ in the 2017 budget.”

    The court also ordered the President “to closely monitor and scrutinize the spending of N131 billion (accrued from increased oil bench mark) allocated for additional non-constituency projects expenditure, to remove the possibility of corruption.”

    It was the contention of the court that “SERAP, being a human rights non-governmental organisation has sufficient interest in the way and manner public funds are being utilized in this country.”

  • Ayade to Buhari: Endorse African Trade Agreement now

    Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the African Trade Agreement.

    Ayade made the call in Calabar when the Nigeria Office Trade Negotiations (NOTN) in the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industries and Investments held its fifth national stakeholders sensitization forum on the African Continental Free Trade Area.

    The governor commended President Buhari for not signing the agreement in Kigali, Rwanda, last month and urged him to expeditiously endorse the agreement as the country has much to benefit from the pact.

    “This is the time for Nigeria to exert her ‘giant-hood’ in all spheres in Africa since there is an unfair global trade against many African countries.

    “The President should proceed immediately to sign that agreement. We stand to gain much. The success and wealth of Africa lie on Nigeria’s shoulders.

    “We should not necessarily intervene militarily but economically and commercially in many African countries. There is so much wealth in Africa and Nigeria and time has come to harness them to enable us stand tall and proud,” he said.

     

     

     

  • Operators in power sector must live up to expectations – Buhari

    The President stated this in his broadcast to the nation to mark the 19th year of Nigeria’s nascent democracy and the 3rd anniversary of his administration in Abuja on Tuesday.

    He said that the country had recorded impressive improvement in power generation and distribution in the past three years.

    He, therefore, charged operators in the system to enhance their services, especially in distribution capacity, service delivery, collection efficiency and metering to eliminate contentious estimated billing.

    “In the area of power generation, Nigerians from all parts of the country continue to report better power supply and less use of generators.

    “This underscores the effectiveness of the methodical plan to deliver incremental and uninterrupted power supply to our homes, markets, offices and factories.

    “The country achieved 5, 222.3 MW representing the highest peak of power generated onto the national grid and delivered to customers in December, 2017.

    “With new facilities, repairs and rehabilitations by the Government and private investors, generation capability now exceeds 7,500 MW,’’ the president said.

    In transportation, Buhari said that the sector had continued to undergo series of reforms in order to sustain the international best practices and ensure safety and security.

    According to him, the nation’s major airports have witnessed reconstruction of runways, installation of navigational equipment and new international terminals.

    He said that the new terminals were due for inauguration in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu.

    The president expressed the hope that Bilateral Air Services Agreements between Nigeria and the governments of other countries would significantly open up new flight routes.

    He said: “As a result of strict regulatory and compliance policies, Nigeria retained her Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 status, after a routine international audit.

    “Recently, a new Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility with capacity for aircraft C-checks and other comprehensive levels of maintenance was established in Lagos.

    “This will save the country an estimated 90 million dollars annually.’’

    Buhari stated that giant strides had been recorded over the past three years to improve road transport infrastructure in all geo-political zones of the country.

    He added that railway sub-sector had also received tremendous attention as government was committed to the goal of linking all state capitals by rail network to ease the movement of goods and passengers. (NAN)

     

  • Insurgency degrading accounted for Chibok, Dapchi girls release – Buhari

    He said that the routing of the terrorists also accounted for the release of no fewer than 16,000 other persons from their captivity.

    Buhari stated this in a broadcast to mark the 19th year of Nigeria’s democracy and the 3rdanniversary of his administration in Abuja.

    He said that before the inception of his administration, Boko Haram had held large areas of land spanning several local government areas in the North-East.

    He, however, stated that the areas hitherto occupied by the insurgents had been recovered and authority of government re-established.

    The president said that his administration was pained over the loss of lives and properties occasioned by “the carnage of insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country”.

    He assured Nigerians that the Federal Government would not rest until all criminal elements and their sponsors were brought to justice.

    He revealed that government was boosting the capacity of security agencies through recruitment of more personnel, training and procurement of modern equipment, enhancement of intelligence gathering and boosting personnel morale in the face of daunting challenges.

    On the conditions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Buhari disclosed that the Federal Government had improved the mechanism for the distribution of basic aid, including foods and essential commodities.

    He said that the distribution of the items was being done through various strategies in collaboration with local and international organizations at the IDPs’ camps.

    “In order to minimize the impact of the insurgency on IDPs, government has established camps and has improved the mechanism for the distribution of basic aid, foods and essential commodities.

    “Efforts are in process for resettlement of IDPs in their communities by providing schools, hospitals, clinics, water and sanitation to facilitate quick return to economic activities.

    “Government is similarly implementing de-radicalization and rehabilitation programmes to facilitate sustainable peace and development,’’ he said.

    The president, however, deplored the unfortunate incidents of kidnappings, herdsmen and farmers clashes in several communities which had led to high number of fatalities and loss of properties across the country.

    He re-assured that the security challenges were being addressed and that identified culprits and their sponsors would face the full wrath of the law.

    According to him, the three tiers of government are presently engaged with communities and religious organizations to restore peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

    Buhari commended members of the Multinational Joint Task Force drawn from Niger, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Nigerian security agencies in collaboration with the International Community assisting in the fight against insurgency in the North East.

    “I also commend the gallantry of members of our Armed Forces and other security agencies that have continued to provide security for lives and properties across the country.

    The president also noted that state and local traditional authorities had been helping with much needed intelligence in the fight against insurgency in the country.

    He remarked that the Niger Delta had enjoyed relative peace through social inclusiveness and cooperation of the “elders and the good people of the region.’’

    Buhari reaffirmed that his administration was committed to implementing the comprehensive peace, security and development plan for the region.

    “The environmental clean-up of the region which commenced with the launch in Bodo, Ogoni, in June, 2016 is progressing satisfactorily.

    “Furthermore, farming assets are being revived and investors in cocoa and palm oil plantations are showing serious interest,’’ he added. (NAN)

     

  • Buhari to sign “Not Too Young to Run” Bill into law 

    To give opportunity for Nigerian youths to vie for various political positions, President Muhammadu Buhari will soon sign the Not Too Young To Run  bill into law.

    The signing ceremony, he said, would be done in the presence of some youths in the next few days.

    The President stated this  in his address to the nation on Tuesday morning in commemoration of the 2018 Democracy Day celebration, which was broadcast live.

    The #NotTooYoungToRun Bill seeks to alter the Section 65, 106, 131, 177 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) to reduce the age qualification for the office of the President from 40 years to 30 years; Governor 35 to 30, Senate 35 to 30, House of Representatives 30 to 25 and State House of Assembly 30 to 25.

    The Bill also seeks to mainstream independent candidacy into Nigeria’s electoral process.

    29th May is marked every year as Democracy Day since the year 1999.

    The President said “In few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill.”

    READ ALSO: 16 States passed ‘Not Too Young To Run Bill’ so far

    He noted that today marked the 19th year of Nigeria’s nascent democracy and the 3rdAnniversary of this administration.

    FULL TEXT OF THE SPEECH FOLLOWS:

    “I am thankful to Almighty God for bringing us thus far.  This administration came at a time that Nigerians needed Change, the Change we promised and the Change we continue to deliver. We have faced a lot of challenges on this journey and Nigerians have stood by us in achieving the three cardinal points of this administration namely; Security, Corruption and the Economy.

    “The commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day is a celebration of freedom, a salute to the resilience and determination of Nigerians and a recommitment by Government to keep its promise to lead Nigeria into a new era of justice and prosperity.

    “Public safety and security remains the primary duty of this Government. Before this Administration came into being 3 years ago, Boko Haram held large areas of land spanning several Local Governments in the North East.

    “Today, the capacity of the insurgents has been degraded leading to the re-establishment of authority of government and the release of captives including, happily, 106 Chibok and 104 Dapchi girls, and over 16,000 other persons held by the Boko Haram.

    “In order to minimize the impact of the insurgency on Internally Displaced Persons, Government has established secure IDP Camps and has improved the mechanism for the distribution of basic aid, foods and essential commodities using various strategies in collaboration with local and international Organizations.

    “Efforts are in process for resettlement of IDPs in their home communities by providing schools, hospitals, clinics, water and sanitation to facilitate a quick return to economic activities. Government is similarly implementing de-radicalization and rehabilitation programmes to facilitate sustainable peace and development.

    “The unfortunate incidences of kidnappings, herdsmen and farmers clashes in several communities which have led to high number of fatalities and loss of properties across the country is being addressed and the identified culprits  and their sponsors shall be made to face the full wrath of the law. All the three tiers of Government are presently engaged with communities and religious organizations to restore peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

    “I want to commend members of the Multinational Joint Task Force drawn from Niger, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and our own country in collaboration with the International Community who are assisting in the fight against insurgency in the North East. I also commend the gallantry of members of our Armed Forces and other security agencies that have continued to provide security for lives and properties across the country.  State and Local traditional authorities are helping with much needed intelligence in this fight against insurgency.” he said

    According to him, his administration is pained over the grievous loss of lives and properties occasioned by the carnage of insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country.

    He assured Nigerians that his government will not rest until all criminal elements and their sponsors are brought to justice.

    He added “Government is boosting the capacity of our security agencies through recruitment of more personnel, training and procurement of modern equipment, enhancement of intelligence gathering as well as boosting their morale in the face of daunting challenges.

    “The Niger Delta Region has enjoyed relative peace through social inclusiveness and cooperation of the Elders and the good people of the region. Government is committed to implementing the comprehensive peace, security and development plan for the region. The environmental clean-up of the region which commenced with the launch in Bodo, Ogoni in June, 2016 is progressing satisfactorily. Furthermore farming assets are being revived and investors in cocoa and palm oil plantations are showing serious interest.

    READ ALSO: 16 States passed ‘Not Too Young To Run Bill’ so far

    “The second primary object of this Administration is to fight corruption headlong. Like I have always said, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will destroy the country. Three years into this Administration, Nigerians and the international community have begun to applaud our policies and determination to fight corruption. We are more than ever before determined to win this war, however hard the road is. I therefore appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to continue to support us in this fight.”

    Various policy measures, he said, are already in place to stem the tide of corrupt practices, which are yielding remarkable results.

    Some of these key reform policies, he said included :

    “a.  The Treasury Single Account (TSA) has realized Billions of Naira being saved from maintenance fee payable to banks.  N200 Billion has also been saved from elimination of ghost workers in public service.

    “b.  The Whistle-Blowing Policy has helped to recover over N500 Billion;

    “c.   The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit set up with a mandate to validate controls, assess risks, prune personnel costs, ensure compliance with Public Financial Management reforms has helped to identify and remove over 52,000 ghost workers from the Federal Government MDAs Payroll;

    “d.  The Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) aimed at expanding tax education and awareness has offered the opportunity for tax defaulters to regularise their status in order to enjoy the amnesty of forgiveness on overdue interest, penalties and the assurance of non-prosecution or subject to tax investigations.

    “e.     The Sovereign Wealth Fund project portfolio has been expanded with an injection of US$650 million so as to strengthen its investment in local infrastructure, power, health, re-construction of Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, East West Road (Section V) and the Mambilla Hydro-electric Power project as well as the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge.”

    According to him, the fight against corruption through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has resulted in recoveries of Billions of Naira, and forfeiture of various forms of assets.

    “This alongside other efforts has improved Nigeria’s international image and regional cooperation.

    “We have retained the services of one of the world’s leading assets tracing firms to investigate and trace assets globally. This is in addition to the exploitation of provisions of existing Treaties, Conventions as well as Bilateral Agreements with Multilateral bodies and Nations. Nigeria has also signed Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements to ensure that there is no hiding place for fugitives.

    “This Administration has therefore focused on revamping the ailing economy it inherited in 2015.   In 2016, Government executed an expansionary budget and developed the Strategic Implementation Plan.  For the first time, 30% of the budget was earmarked for capital expenditure which represents an upward review when compared with the 2015 budget. The SIP was followed by the development of a comprehensive medium term plan – the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017 – 2020.

    “The broad strategic objectives of the ERGP were to; Restore and sustain economic growth; Build a globally competitive economy; and Invest in our people.  The implementation of the ERGP has started yielding results. The National Bureau of Statistics reports that  the economy grew by 1.95% in 1stquarter 2018, which is a good performance when viewed against -0.91 in 1stquarter 2017 and -0.67% in 1st quarter 2016 respectively.

    “Our foreign reserve has improved significantly to 47.5 billion USD as of May, 2018 as against 29.6 billion USD in 2015.  The inflationary rate has consistently declined every month since January, 2017.

    “Recently, Government conducted Focus Labs in three key sectors of the Economy namely, Agriculture & Transport, Manufacturing and Processing as well as  Power and Gas. These have yielded significant prospects for investments and Job creation to the tune of US$ 22.5 billion with a potential for creating more than 500,000 jobs by 2020. These investment generation initiatives are expected to increase capital inflows in the form of foreign direct investment. There is a high prospect that the cumulative investments from this first phase of the Labs will hit US$39.2 billion by 2025.

    “Under agriculture, Nigeria continues to pursue a strategic food security programme built around self-sufficiency and minimization of import dependency. As a result, rice importation from other countries has been cut down by 90% which has a direct impact on foreign reserves.

    “The Social Investment Programmes (SIP) has been created as a means to graduating our citizens from poverty through capacity building, investment and direct support. The major strategic objective is to restore livelihood, economic opportunities and sustenance for the poor across the country. The SIP programmes and projects include:

    “a.              Home Grown School Feeding Programme – About 8.2 million pupils are currently being fed from 24 States of the Federation with over 75,000 Catering Staff engaged under the programme.

    “b.              The Conditional Cash Transfer has so far recorded over 297,000 caregivers and being trained by 2,495 Community Facilitators in 21 states. Less privileged Nigerians are now being paid N5,000 monthly stipend in 9 pilot States of Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Osun and Oyo. Eventually the scheme will cover all the 36 states of the federation including the FCT.

     “c.               Under theGovernment Enterprise Empowerment Programme – About 264,269 loans had been disbursed to 4,822 societies in the 36 States and FCT, while another 370,635 are awaiting release of funds.

    “d.              N-Power Job creation Scheme – is targeted at providing jobs for unemployed young graduates and has so far recruited 200,000 youths while the next batch of 300,000 have been selected, verified and would soon be deployed across the 36 States and the FCT. Furthermore, 20,000 non-graduate volunteers have also been selected to kick off the N-Build programme in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council and the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria.”

    In the area of power generation, he noted that Nigerians from all parts of the country have continued to report better power supply and less use of generators.

    This, he said, underscored the effectiveness of the methodical plan to deliver incremental and uninterrupted power supply to our homes, markets, offices and factories.

    He said ‘The country achieved 5, 222.3 MW representing the highest peak of power generated onto the national grid and delivered to customers in December, 2017. With new facilities, repairs and rehabilitations by Government and private investors, generation capability now exceeds 7,500 MW.

    “This Administration is committed to lawful interventions to ensure the operators of the distribution business live up to expectations especially in the areas of distribution capacity, service delivery, collection efficiency, and metering to eliminate contentious estimated billing.

    “The Transportation Sector continues to undergo a series of reforms in order to sustain the international best practices and ensure safety and security. The nation’s major airports have witnessed reconstruction of runways, installation of navigational equipment and new international terminals due for commissioning in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu. Bilateral Air Services Agreements between Nigeria and the Governments of other countries will significantly open up new flight routes.

     “As a result of strict regulatory and compliance policies, Nigeria retained her Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 status, after a routine international audit.  Recently, a new Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility with capacity for aircraft C-checks and other comprehensive levels of maintenance was established in Lagos. This would save the country an estimated $90m annually.

    “Giant strides have been recorded over the past three years to improve road transport infrastructure in all geopolitical zones of the country.

    ‘The Railway Sector has also received tremendous attention as this Administration is committed to the goal of linking all State capitals in the Federation by rail network to ease the movement of goods and passengers.

     “The Education Sector especially at tertiary level has continued to witness expansion in order to improve access to higher education by millions of youths in Nigeria. Over the last three years, Government has approved the establishment of 1 new Federal Polytechnic, granted licenses for the establishment of 4 State and 14 private-owned Universities as well as 12 private Polytechnics.

     “Government has also continued to support the implementation of various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of Basic Education delivery. Thus, it has ensured proper funding at the Basic Education level with the disbursement of N42.2 billion UBE Matching Grant to 26 States and the FCT, N851.5 million Special Education Grant disbursed to 23 States and private providers of Special Education and N2.2 billion Teachers Professional Development Fund to 33 States and the FCT.”

    According to him, the Federal Government has continued to support fiscal sustainability at the sub-national governments through the implementation of the Budget Support Facility which was accompanied by the 22- point Fiscal Sustainability Plan.

    “Thus, bailouts funds were made available to States to ease their fiscal challenges and other obligations including payment of salaries.

    “In addition, a total of 73 Ecological Fund projects for the control of gully erosion in different communities across all geopolitical zones have been completed in the last three years and are undergoing commissioning while 53 other projects are ongoing. The execution of these projects has generated 357 skilled jobs and 1,350 unskilled jobs during this period.

    “It is pertinent to also make mention of the immeasurable contributions of the Nigerian woman to national development and advancement of democracy, over the last three years. The government and people appreciate you all as mothers of our great country.”

    As the nation marks the democracy day, he urged Nigerians  to avoid hatred and intolerance.

    “We can only achieve our objectives in an atmosphere of harmony and peaceful co-existence.

    “Finally, the up-coming months will usher us into another season of general elections. Let me use this opportunity to urge us all to conduct ourselves, our wards and our constituencies with the utmost sense of fairness, justice and peaceful co-existence such that we will have not only hitch free elections but also a credible and violence free process.” he stated.

  • Full text of Buhari’s Democracy Day broadcast

     
    ADDRESS BY MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA IN COMMEMORATION OF

    THE 2018 DEMOCRACY DAY CELEBRATION,

     

    My Dear Nigerians!

     

    Today marks the 19th year of our nascent democracy and the 3rd Anniversary of this administration. I am thankful to Almighty God for bringing us thus far.  This administration came at a time that Nigerians needed Change, the Change we promised and the Change we continue to deliver. We have faced a lot of challenges on this journey and Nigerians have stood by us in achieving the three cardinal points of this administration namely; Security, Corruption and the Economy.

     

    2.     The commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day is a celebration of freedom, a salute to the resilience and determination of Nigerians and a recommitment by Government to keep its promise to lead Nigeria into a new era of justice and prosperity.

     

    3.     Public safety and security remains the primary duty of this Government. Before this Administration came into being 3 years ago, Boko Haram held large areas of land spanning several Local Governments in the North East.             

     

    4.     Today, the capacity of the insurgents has been degraded leading to the re-establishment of authority of government and the release of captives including, happily, 106 Chibok and 104 Dapchi girls, and over 16,000 other persons held by the Boko Haram.

     

    5.     In order to minimize the impact of the insurgency on Internally Displaced Persons, Government has established secure IDP Camps and has improved the mechanism for the distribution of basic aid, foods and essential commodities using various strategies in collaboration with local and international Organizations.  

     

    6.     Efforts are in process for resettlement of IDPs in their home communities by providing schools, hospitals, clinics, water and sanitation to facilitate a quick return to economic activities. Government is similarly implementing de-radicalization and rehabilitation programmes to facilitate sustainable peace and development.

     

    7.     The unfortunate incidences of kidnappings, herdsmen and farmers clashes in several communities which have led to high number of fatalities and loss of properties across the country is being addressed and the identified culprits  and their sponsors shall be made to face the full wrath of the law. All the three tiers of Government are presently engaged with communities and religious organizations to restore peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

     

    8.     I want to commend members of the Multinational Joint Task Force drawn from Niger, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and our own country in collaboration with the International Community who are assisting in the fight against insurgency in the North East. I also commend the gallantry of members of our Armed Forces and other security agencies that have continued to provide security for lives and properties across the country.  State and Local traditional authorities are helping with much needed intelligence in this fight against insurgency.

     

    9.     This administration is pained over the grievous loss of lives and properties occasioned by the carnage of insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country. I wish to assure Nigerians that we will not rest until all criminal elements and their sponsors are brought to justice. Government is boosting the capacity of our security agencies through recruitment of more personnel, training and procurement of modern equipment, enhancement of intelligence gathering as well as boosting their morale in the face of daunting challenges.

     

    10.   The Niger Delta Region has enjoyed relative peace through social inclusiveness and cooperation of the Elders and the good people of the region. Government is committed to implementing the comprehensive peace, security and development plan for the region. The environmental clean-up of the region which commenced with the launch in Bodo, Ogoni in June, 2016 is progressing satisfactorily. Furthermore farming assets are being revived and investors in cocoa and palm oil plantations are showing serious interest. 

     

     

    11.   The second primary object of this Administration is to fight corruption headlong. Like I have always said, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will destroy the country. Three years into this Administration, Nigerians and the international community have begun to applaud our policies and determination to fight corruption. We are more than ever before determined to win this war, however hard the road is. I therefore appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to continue to support us in this fight.

     

    12.   Various policy measures already put in place to stem the tide of corrupt practices are yielding remarkable results. Some of these key reform policies include:

    a.  The Treasury Single Account (TSA) has realized Billions of Naira being saved from maintenance fee payable to banks.  N200 Billion has also been saved from elimination of ghost workers in public service.

     

    b.  The Whistle-Blowing Policy has helped to recover over N500 Billion;

     

     

     

    c.   The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit set up with a mandate to validate controls, assess risks, prune personnel costs, ensure compliance with Public Financial Management reforms has helped to identify and remove over 52,000 ghost workers from the Federal Government MDAs Payroll;

     

     

    d.  The Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) aimed at expanding tax education and awareness has offered the opportunity for tax defaulters to regularise their status in order to enjoy the amnesty of forgiveness on overdue interest, penalties and the assurance of non-prosecution or subject to tax investigations.

     

    e.     The Sovereign Wealth Fund project portfolio has been expanded with an injection of US$650 million so as to strengthen its investment in local infrastructure, power, health, re-construction of Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, East West Road (Section V) and the Mambilla Hydro-electric Power project as well as the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge.

    13.   The fight against corruption through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has resulted in recoveries of Billions of Naira, as well as forfeiture of various forms of assets. This alongside other efforts has improved Nigeria’s international image and regional cooperation.

     

    14.   We have retained the services of one of the world’s leading assets tracing firms to investigate and trace assets globally. This is in addition to the exploitation of provisions of existing Treaties, Conventions as well as Bilateral Agreements with Multilateral bodies and Nations. Nigeria has also signed Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements to ensure that there is no hiding place for fugitives.

     

    15.   This Administration has therefore focused on revamping the ailing economy it inherited in 2015.   In 2016, Government executed an expansionary budget and developed the Strategic Implementation Plan.  For the first time, 30% of the budget was earmarked for capital expenditure which represents an upward review when compared with the 2015 budget. The SIP was followed by the development of a comprehensive medium term plan – the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017 – 2020.

     

    16.   The broad strategic objectives of the ERGP were to; Restore and sustain economic growth; Build a globally competitive economy; and Invest in our people.  The implementation of the ERGP has started yielding results. The National Bureau of Statistics reports that  the economy grew by 1.95% in 1st quarter 2018, which is a good performance when viewed against -0.91 in 1st quarter 2017 and -0.67% in 1st quarter 2016 respectively.

     

    17.   Our foreign reserve has improved significantly to 47.5 billion USD as of May, 2018 as against 29.6 billion USD in 2015.  The inflationary rate has consistently declined every month since January, 2017.

     

    18.   Recently, Government conducted Focus Labs in three key sectors of the Economy namely, Agriculture & Transport, Manufacturing and Processing as well as  Power and Gas. These have yielded significant prospects for investments and Job creation to the tune of US$ 22.5 billion with a potential for creating more than 500,000 jobs by 2020. These investment generation initiatives are expected to increase capital inflows in the form of foreign direct investment. There is a high prospect that the cumulative investments from this first phase of the Labs will hit US$39.2 billion by 2025.

     

    19.   Under agriculture, Nigeria continues to pursue a strategic food security programme built around self-sufficiency and minimization of import dependency. As a result, rice importation from other countries has been cut down by 90% which has a direct impact on foreign reserves.

     

    20.   The Social Investment Programmes (SIP) has been created as a means to graduating our citizens from poverty through capacity building, investment and direct support. The major strategic objective is to restore livelihood, economic opportunities and sustenance for the poor across the country. The SIP programmes and projects include:

    a.              Home Grown School Feeding Programme – About 8.2 million pupils are currently being fed from 24 States of the Federation with over 75,000 Catering Staff engaged under the programme.

     

    b.              The Conditional Cash Transfer has so far recorded over 297,000 caregivers and being trained by 2,495 Community Facilitators in 21 states. Less privileged Nigerians are now being paid N5,000 monthly stipend in 9 pilot States of Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Osun and Oyo. Eventually the scheme will cover all the 36 states of the federation including the FCT.

     

    c.               Under the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme – About 264,269 loans had been disbursed to 4,822 societies in the 36 States and FCT, while another 370,635 are awaiting release of funds. 

     

    d.              N-Power Job creation Scheme – is targeted at providing jobs for unemployed young graduates and has so far recruited 200,000 youths while the next batch of 300,000 have been selected, verified and would soon be deployed across the 36 States and the FCT. Furthermore, 20,000 non-graduate volunteers have also been selected to kick off the N-Build programme in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council and the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria.

     

     

    21.   In the area of power generation, Nigerians from all parts of the country continue to report better power supply and less use of generators. This underscores the effectiveness of the methodical plan to deliver incremental and uninterrupted power supply to our homes, markets, offices and factories.

     

    22.   The country achieved 5, 222.3 MW representing the highest peak of power generated onto the national grid and delivered to customers in December, 2017. With new facilities, repairs and rehabilitations by Government and private investors, generation capability now exceeds 7,500 MW.

     

    23.   This Administration is committed to lawful interventions to ensure the operators of the distribution business live up to expectations especially in the areas of distribution capacity, service delivery, collection efficiency, and metering to eliminate contentious estimated billing.

     

    24.   The Transportation Sector continues to undergo a series of reforms in order to sustain the international best practices and ensure safety and security. The nation’s major airports have witnessed reconstruction of runways, installation of navigational equipment and new international terminals due for commissioning in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu. Bilateral Air Services Agreements between Nigeria and the Governments of other countries will significantly open up new flight routes.

     

    25.   As a result of strict regulatory and compliance policies, Nigeria retained her Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 status, after a routine international audit.  Recently, a new Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility with capacity for aircraft C-checks and other comprehensive levels of maintenance was established in Lagos. This would save the country an estimated $90m annually.

    26.   Giant strides have been recorded over the past three years to improve road transport infrastructure in all geopolitical zones of the country.

     

    27.   The Railway Sector has also received tremendous attention as this Administration is committed to the goal of linking all State capitals in the Federation by rail network to ease the movement of goods and passengers.

     

    28.   The Education Sector especially at tertiary level has continued to witness expansion in order to improve access to higher education by millions of youths in Nigeria. Over the last three years, Government has approved the establishment of 1 new Federal Polytechnic, granted licenses for the establishment of 4 State and 14 private-owned Universities as well as 12 private Polytechnics.

     

    29.   Government has also continued to support the implementation of various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of Basic Education delivery. Thus, it has ensured proper funding at the Basic Education level with the disbursement of N42.2 billion UBE Matching Grant to 26 States and the FCT, N851.5 million Special Education Grant disbursed to 23 States and private providers of Special Education and N2.2 billion Teachers Professional Development Fund to 33 States and the FCT. 

     

    30.   The Federal Government has continued to support fiscal sustainability at the sub-national governments through the implementation of the Budget Support Facility which was accompanied by the 22- point Fiscal Sustainability Plan. Thus, bailouts funds were made available to States to ease their fiscal challenges and other obligations including payment of salaries.

     

    31.   In addition, a total of 73 Ecological Fund projects for the control of gully erosion in different communities across all geopolitical zones have been completed in the last three years and are undergoing commissioning while 53 other projects are ongoing. The execution of these projects has generated 357 skilled jobs and 1,350 unskilled jobs during this period.

     

    32.   It is pertinent to also make mention of the immeasurable contributions of the Nigerian woman to national development and advancement of democracy, over the last three years. The government and people appreciate you all as mothers of our great country.

    33.   My dear country men and women, as we all celebrate our democratic experience, let us resolve to avoid hatred and intolerance; we can only achieve our objectives in an atmosphere of harmony and peaceful co-existence.

     

    34.   Finally, the up-coming months will usher us into another season of general elections. Let me use this opportunity to urge us all to conduct ourselves, our wards and our constituencies with the utmost sense of fairness, justice and peaceful co-existence such that we will have not only hitch free elections but also a credible and violence free process.

     

    35. In few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill