The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BUHARI

  • Prepare for permanent change, Osinbajo urges Nigerians

    Prepare for permanent change, Osinbajo urges Nigerians

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday called on Nigerians to be patient with the Federal Government in order to bring about the desired permanent change in the country.

    He spoke with State House correspondents on his first day in office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to him, Nigerians must show understanding on what the government needed to do for the general good of the society.

    He said that change is not an easy task as he urged leaders to set examples for all citizens to follow in order to achieve the desired permanent change.

    He said: “Change is not going to be an easy process. So, there will be a great deal of patient that is required and understanding of what we need to do.

    “And we are going trying to bring about permanent change it also means that people are also going to change, that the people will also change.

    “But, I understand clearly that it is the leadership that must set the example and we are prepared to do that and we will do that,” he added.

    He said that the nation needed straightforward leaders like President Muhammadu Buhari, and assured of the readiness of the government to fulfill its campaign promises to Nigerians.

  • I met empty treasury – Buhari

    I met empty treasury – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday disclosed that he met virtually an empty national treasury on assumption in office on May 29.

    Apart from millions of dollars debts the country is owing, the President said it was a national disgrace that state and federal workers in the country are being owed backlog of salaries.

    Buhari spoke at a meeting with State House correspondents.

    He said: “I hope we are starting gradually. Treasury is virtually empty and debts running into millions of dollars. The fact that state workers and even federal workers have not been paid their salaries is such a disgrace for Nigeria.

    “I think Nigeria should be in a position to even pay its workers, this bad management that we find ourselves in we really need your help to protect us from people before they match on us.”

    On his appointment of Femi Adesina, he said: “It is not by accident that I got the best of you to be the special adviser. He is one of the 15 aides I had to get clearance from the Senate to appoint. I brought one of the best of you so that he can consistently defend me against you.

    “Whether my job is a difficult one or easy is up to him, but I’m here to thank you in advance for ‎what good and ill you are going to do to me.

    “I have to quickly come and see you and welcome you to this place. I hope ‎what happened of recent between the former president and one of you will not happen between me and you.”

    The Chairman of the State House Press Corps, Kehinde Amodu, thanked the President for finding it worthy to visit journalists on his first day in the Villa.

  • Buhari needs time – Bakare

    Buhari needs time – Bakare

    President Muhammadu Buhari needs sufficient time to study what he inherited before taking key decisions on ministerial appointments and others, the founder of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said.

    He urged Nigerians to give the President time to assess what he met on ground in order to make sound decisions that will take the nation forward.

    Bakare spoke with our correspondent last Sunday shortly before declaring open the annual convention of the Glory Christian Centre, Lagos.

    The theme of the convention was:  “One thousand times more opened.”

    The senior pastor of Latter Rain Assembly Ogba, Lagos, said: “I think it is good to give the new government time to settle down and time to assess what they have inherited from the Jonathan’s government so that they can sit down and begin to put the Nigerian house in order. And it’s good to give them time.”

    On why key appointments into the new administration were being delayed, he said: “That will take its time. Remember the President told the nation that he did not get the handover note until May 28.

    “So, his transition committee didn’t have anything to work with. Just few days back, it handed over the report in 8,000 pages reduced to about 800 pages.

    “It is when you have studied what was handed over to you that you begin to think of who to put where to help you.

    “And I can assure that behind the scene that a lot is going on in the engine room.”

    He said the new faces of the current administration might start emerging before the end of the month.

    Affirming that Buhari will deliver on his promise to change the nation, the former vice presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), added: “You have heard that we will have a lean, as against an over bloated government. All these things will take time. You don’t do these things in a hurry.”

    Questioned on whether he will accept the offer of a ministerial appointment, the fiery preacher simply said: “I will cross that river when I get to the bridge.”

     

  • Buhari orders removal of military check points

    Buhari orders removal of military check points

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday ordered immediate removal of military check points nationwide.

    This was disclosed to State House correspondents by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Ismail Aliyu, after about five hours defence briefing to the President at the State House, Abuja.

    He said the police will take over internal security.

    Aliyu maintained that the Boko Haram insurgency will soon be over.

    He said the Lake Chad Basin Commission nations are coming up with strategies to tackle the problem of insecurity.

    He said: “The President has instructed the Chief of Defence Staff to get the Chief of Army Staff and Inspector General of Police to remove all the military men along the road across the country.

    “The Nigerian Armed Forces are very ready, we have briefed him. One most interesting thing about it is that we are going out much happier because he has shown to us that he is still a soldier, he has updated and enriched our strategic plans.

    “The second item that was discussed is the movement of the command centre to the Northeast. We have briefed him on how far we have reached on that and he has given us some additional assignment, but very soon the centre will be on.

    “I also want to assure Nigerians that with what we have come out with from this meeting we are very enthusiastic that the issue of Boko Haram will soon be over.  He has given us hope that we will see peace and security in the very near future.

    On what will be done differently, he said: “Now we have come as a united front, we have Chad, Cameroon, Benin and Niger. We have all strategised and we are coming out with one type of strategy that we are going to address the Boko Haram with, unlike before.”

    He said discussion on change of service chiefs did not come up at the meeting.

     

     

  • Buhari, Service Chiefs meet at Villa

    Buhari, Service Chiefs meet at Villa

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday held a closed-door meeting with service chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The service chiefs arrived the State House few minutes before noon.

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

  • Buhari, Osinbajo resume at presidential Villa

    Buhari, Osinbajo resume at presidential Villa

    President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, resumed for work at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday morning.

    Since their inauguration on May 29, Buhari and Osinbajo have used the Defence House, Abuja, as their offices to allow renovation work at the Presidential Villa.

    The vice president arrived his office in the Presidential Villa at exactly 9.07am on Monday.

    Buhari reportedly resumed at his office about the same time or earlier.

    The exact time could not be ascertained as the distance between his official residence and office is not within journalists’ view.

    Osinbajo moved from his office to President Buhari’s office at 10:50am.

    Most staff of the State House also arrived early to their duty posts. The offices were opened as early as 8:00am.

  • Buhari moves into Villa

    Buhari moves into Villa

    Twenty three days after taking the oath of office, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday moved into his official residence, the Aso Villa in Abuja.

    Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo operated from the Defence House, Abuja after their inauguration to allow renovation of the facilities at the sprawling Villa.

    Military President Ibrahim Babangida built the complex and was the first leader to occupy the place after moving the seat of government from Lagos to the Federal Capital Territory in 1991.

    The movement of the capital to Abuja was proposed by the Murtala Muhammed military government in 1975.

    Aso Rock Presidential Villa houses the President’s residence and office. It is variously called Aso Villa, The Villa, Aso Rock and State House.

    The Aso Villa is located in the Three Arms Zone in the Central Business District of Abuja. The National Assembly Complex and the Nigerian Supreme Court are also located in the three arms zone.

    The Presidential Villa is built on the valley of the geographical feature, Aso rock, a 400-meter monolith.

    Apart from Gen Babangida, the other leaders who have occupied the place are: Chief Ernest Shonekan, the late Gen. Sani Abacha, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and now Buhari.

    The President’s wife, Aisha, moved into the official residence last Thursday before the President joined her.

    Buhari returned to Abuja from his home town, Daura in Katsina State on Saturday and officials began moving his  personal effects yesterday before he moved in.

    It is believed that the tempo of activities in government will increase this week as vital appointments are expected to be made.

    Already the president is being perceived as starting slowly in some quarters but the All Progressives Congress (APC) said he is taking his time to pick his winning team.

    Buhari’s spokesman Garba Shehu said the President did not move into the Presidential Villa on May 29 because it was not ready for habitation.

    He said the President chose to live in a rented apartment until the work was completed.

    He said: “They claim some renovation was going on; the place is being cleaned up for his occupation. The contractors are probably working at their pace.

    “I am not saying he’s comfortable where he is at his rented house, but he is operating from there at the moment and when the Villa is ready, he will move.”

    Shehu was also quoted as saying: “As far as the President is concerned, the place (his official residence) is not ready yet.

    “Workers are cleaning and refurbishing the place. Once the exercise is completed, the President will move in.”

  • Transition panel to Buhari: end fuel subsidy

    Transition panel to Buhari: end fuel subsidy

    President, Muhammadu Buhari has been advised by his transition committee to end a fuel subsidy and privatise Nigeria’s four refineries, sources in the All Progressives Congress (APC) told Reuters yesterday.

    The government heavily subsidises gasoline and relies on imports for the bulk of domestic demand due to an underperforming refining system.

    The subsidy, which was revealed to have paid out more than $6 billion in fraudulent claims in 2012, is proving to be increasingly costly.

    Buhari, who was sworn in as president three weeks ago, is considering the recommendations made in the strategy report produced by the 19-member committee led by retired technocrat Alhaji Ahmed Joda.

    “The removal of the fuel subsidy is one of the recommendations of the transition committee,” said a senior APC source, who did not want to be named.

    “The committee also suggested to Mr President that the four refineries be privatised so that the government stops wasting money on annual turnaround maintenance,” he said.

    A second APC source also told Reuters that these recommendations were contained in the report given to Buhari earlier this month.

    The prospect of the subsidy removal contributed to fuel shortages in the final days of Jonathan’s administration as gasoline importers went on strike saying they were owed money from the government.

    Last week, the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said its four oil refineries would resume production next month.

    The ailing refinery system generally runs well below capacity, sometimes at just 20 per cent, due to neglect and pipeline sabotage

  • ‘Nigeria lucky to have Buhari as president’

    ‘Nigeria lucky to have Buhari as president’

    A group, under the auspices of Think Nigeria Development Initiative (TDI), has said Nigerians should count themselves lucky to have President Muhammadu Buhari as their leader at this point in the nation’s history.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja at the weekend, convener of the group, Mr. Roland Ajie, noted that the emergence of Buhari as president has offered Nigerians a lifetime opportunity to get to the Promised Land.

    Ajie said: “The major development challenge that the nation has faced over the years is lack of visionary and purposeful leadership. We are lucky, once again, as a nation, to have a leader of a character of Muhammadu Buhari whose only interest is to develop Nigeria. If Buhari succeeds, we succeed as a nation.

    “We are confident that President Buhari will do his best to develop Nigeria given his integrity, pedigree and track record. But it is also important to note that the Nigeria project is not the sole responsibility of Mr. President. We must all join hands to support our leader to succeed.

    “If he fails, we would have failed as a people. And this is why we must all ensure that we support him to deliver on his campaign promises. The President needs the support of every Nigerian to succeed.”

    The group hailed Buhari’s resolve to fight corruption, which it said has destroyed the fabrics of the nation and undermined all development efforts.

    It advised the President to appoint only persons of integrity and sound character into his cabinet, adding that the President should choose appointees based on merit and deliverables and not on regional, religious or political affiliations.

    The TDI called on Nigerians, especially the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to support Buhari to put Nigeria back on the track of development.

  • Lawmakers urged to embrace Buhari’s peace move

    Lawmakers urged to embrace Buhari’s peace move

    The All Progressive Congress (APC) Chairmen Forum has urged aggrieved parties in the National Assembly leadership crisis to embrace reconciliatory moves by President Muhammadu Buhari and the party’s national leadership.

    The party chairmen, who issued a statement in Enugu at the weekend, signed by their publicity secretary and Enugu State Chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye, expressed concern over the crisis originating from the election of the leadership of the Eighth National Assembly.

    “We are urging all the aggrieved NASS members to embrace dialogue and the re-conciliatory move being championed by Mr. President, and the National leadership of our great party for the sake of national interest and APC,” they said.

    The chairmen added that they met in Abuja for four days to deliberate on the crisis, adding that “during the period, we engaged in a re-conciliatory meeting with the leadership of the party in an attempt to seek resolution to the dispute”.

    According to the statement, the meeting, which was presided over by the Forum’s Acting Chairman, Alhaji Umar Haruna Muhammed of Kano State, lauded the efforts of the President and the party’s leadership towards laying the crisis to rest.

    “We wish to align ourselves with the reconciliatory steps taken so far by Mr. President and the leadership of the party. We want to also call on all parties to cooperate with the party’s leadership and Mr. President in the reconciliation.

    “It is our prayer, therefore, that this matter would be resolved expeditiously in the interest of the nation,” the forum said.

    Stressing the need for “one harmonious and happy APC family”, the APC chairmen pledged their continued and unalloyed support to the Buhari administration and the APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun.