The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BUHARI

  • Amnesty: Buhari won’t forsake Niger Delta – Dokubo

    Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Prof. Charles Dokubo, said on Friday that a terminal date for the Presidential Amnesty Programme was not a card on President Muhammadu Buhari’s table.

    Speaking at a foundation laying ceremony for a vocational training centre of the Amnesty Programme at Gelegele, Edo State, Dokubo gave assurance that President Buhari would not leave the Niger Delta behind in his determination for transform the country.

    “Our people should know that they are all part of the Amnesty Programme which was set up by the late President Yar’Adua, who brought the demands and aspirations of the Niger Delta people to the bare. He knew that for a long time we had not gained from whatever was produced in the country. So this was the vehicle to achieve the two aims of peaceful development and economic enhancement of our people. And President Buhari has promised that this programme will not end.

    “He said he will never leave the Niger Delta people behind because without Niger Delta it will be difficult to maintain Nigeria. So let us know the role we are going to play in the country. But the only way we can walk tall is to make proper use of the Amnesty Programme; brother helping brother, sister helping sister, husband taking care of family, so that we can all become one large family in the Niger Delta. I have come here to put my footprint on this soil, and then as I go, nobody will forget me here because whatever programme I carry out, I will never forget Gelegele.

    “The people of Gelegele must benefit from this project. Their children will be sent to school and there will be peace in the community. Amnesty is a programme by the federal government to assist those of us who need help in different parts of the Niger Delta. Nobody owns it; you own it. I was just appointed to administer the programme, and each one of us here has a role to play in the amnesty programme and also to benefit from it”

    The ground-breaking ceremony for the Amnesty Programme Vocational Training Centre (VTU), Gelegele, preceded the launching, earlier on the same day, of a vocation training centre at Kaiama, Bayelsa State, which was completed, fully equipped by Prof. Dokubo within a short period in office.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Buhari’s statement on postponement of elections by INEC

    STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT BUHARI ON THE POSTPONEMENT OF GENERAL ELECTIONS BY INEC

    I am deeply disappointed that despite the long notice given and our preparations both locally and internationally, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the Presidential and National Assembly elections within hours of its commencement.

    Many Nigerians have traveled to various locations to exercise their right to vote, and international observers are gathered.

    INEC themselves have given assurances, day after day and almost hour after hour that they are in complete readiness for the elections. We and all our citizens believed them.

    This administration has ensured that we do not interfere in any way with the work of INEC except to ensure that all funds were released to the commission.

    We now urge INEC to ensure not only that materials already distributed are safe and do not get into wrong hands, but that everything is done to avoid the lapses that resulted in this unfortunate postponement, and ensure a free and fair election on the rescheduled dates.

    While I reaffirm my strong commitment to the independence, neutrality of the electoral umpire and the sanctity of the electoral process and ballot, I urge all political stakeholders and Nigerians to continue to rally round INEC at this trying national moment in our democratic journey.

    I, therefore, appeal to all Nigerians to refrain from all civil disorder and remain peaceful, patriotic and united to ensure that no force or conspiracy derail our democratic development.

    I have decided to move back to Abuja to ensure that the 14.00 hrs meeting called by INEC with all stakeholders is successful.

    Muhammadu Buhari

    Daura, February 16, 2019

  • Buhari or Atiku?

    As Nigerians go to the polls today to elect a President and National Assembly members that will preside over the affairs of the nation for the next four years from May 29, it is all too easy and tempting to assess the country’s evolving democracy from an overly pessimistic, even cynical, purview. Despite the plethora of parties and candidates, the election is a straight contest between the incumbent All Prospective Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Many consider this a dismal scenario. They contend that we are most likely set to vote mechanically without choosing, as the late Professor Claude Ake would put it, since there appears to be no genuine alternatives to select from.

    Apart from their organizational spread and relative structural solidity, it is argued that the two dominant parties are neither ideologically nor philosophically dissimilar. Again, there are those who would prefer any of the nearly half dozen younger, more articulate as well as rhetorically and sartorially seemingly more appealing candidates to the two leading septuagenarians contenders, President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who they dismiss as both unsuited to offer visionary, effective and competent leadership at this time.

    Furthermore, the nature of our politics is still seen, to some extent rightly, as  characterized, largely, by a vicious struggle for power by all means and at all costs mostly for self-serving pecuniary ends rather than altruistic, developmental motivation.  Yet, there is still, in my view, justifiable reason to take a more optimistic view of the country’s unfolding political development. The intensity of the political campaigns across the country suggests that no longer can the political class take the electorate for granted. No more can incumbency breed complacency. 2015 remains a lesson to everyone. Despite his age and the acute illness he went through early in his administration, President Buhari campaigned in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Atiku has also run an energetic and exhaustive campaign nationwide.

    Issues of performance and merit have also been significant in the run up to the election and will have an impact on the likely outcome. The speed with which the PDP has bounced back as a force to contend with in this contest, despite its devastating defeat as the party in power at the centre in 2015 and the resultant exposure of its morally repugnant entrails as a result of Buhari’s anti-corruption onslaught, is partly due to the perception of the APC’s performance in the last three and a half years. There has no doubt been a gap between the high expectations of change that the APC aroused during its campaign in 2015 and the party’s actual performance in power leading to some degree of frustration and disappointment among many of its hitherto enthusiastic supporters.

    However, an appreciable number of the electorate is also perceptive enough to assess the performance of the APC against the backdrop of the utter lack of vision, sheer incompetence and monumental corruption of the preceding 16 years in power of the PDP particularly the incredibly perverse six years of President Goodluck Jonathan. No one realistically expected the APC to magically correct in four years the cumulative rot and decay of over and one and a half decades that it inherited from the PDP.

    It is indeed significant that, despite the country earning less revenue from oil as a result of the sharp drop in oil prices under the APC compared to the PDP years, the Buhari administration in three and a half years has achieved more in infrastructure renewal across the country, diversification of the economy as well as massive investment in social intervention projects to benefit the poor on a scale unprecedented in this dispensation. Not surprisingly, therefore, the APC administration’s inexcusable unforced errors are insufficient to prevent what many analysts predict will be its inevitable victory in today’s elections.

    There is no reason whatsoever why either Buhari or Atiku should be offhandedly dismissed as being less capable than any of the other light weight candidates intensely admired in some politically ineffectual elite circles. Both men, no matter their limitations, are the two most exposed in terms of the management of public affairs over a wide scope and range of all candidates on the ballot. They have continually been in the public arena for the better part of the last four decades and their strengths and weaknesses well known.

    Some of the other bright candidates in other parties who clearly can make no impact in this election can always work towards the future. The enterprise of party formation, building and organization is no tea party. It is hard, back breaking work. In politics, it is unrealistic to expect to climb a tree from the top.

    The choices we have before us in this election realistically are Buhari or Atiku. Some cast their lot with Atiku on the basis of perceived competence and ability to run the economy efficiently. He and his running mate, Peter Obi, are successful businessmen. They have promised to bring their private sector acumen to public sector governance and create millions of job even though they have not told us how. Atiku had ample opportunity to display his ability in this regard as Vice President to General Obasanjo. In the first term before things fell apart between the two, he was practically in charge of the economy as his boss gallivanted the globe as an international salesman for Nigeria. Our best memory of that period is certainly not of creative and dynamic economic management. It was of the flawed privatization process characterized by sleazy opacity and debilitating cronyism.

    Others contend that Atiku has a penchant for attracting talent to work with him as well as having an expansive, pan Nigerian network of associates that will enable him run an inclusive administration in sharp contrast to Buhari’s unattractive insularity. Yes, the capacity to attract and utilize talent is good. But that is if a leader does not at the same time espouse as well as embrace lax ethical values that necessarily erode the gains of merit and expertise. In the same vein, an urbane outlook and cosmopolitan reach can become an albatross if at the same time a leader’s philosophy of governance sees nothing wrong in ‘enriching his friends’.

    Rules, standards, processes and procedures will necessarily suffer and good governance will be the ultimate casualty. In any case, if Atiku promises to offer ‘amnesty to looters’ if they invest their stolen money in the economy, does it mean that those from whom tremendous amounts of looted money and other assets have been recovered by the Buhari administration will be free to get their money back as long as they reinvest the money in the economy to create jobs? Will such investment be to make profit and further enrich the repentant looter or will it be an act of philanthropy?

    Again, Atiku has received enthusiastic endorsement from self-styled ethno-regional representatives of dubious electoral value because of his new found love with the idea of restructuring Nigeria. Restructuring means different things to as many individuals and groups as clamor for it. What does it mean to Atiku? It is difficult to say. The government in which he served as Vice President for eight years vehemently obstructed every attempt by the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration in Lagos State to deepen federalism in Nigeria through judicial activism.

    In any case, there is a schizophrenic twist to Atiku’s current stance on restructuring. He waxes lyrical about his commitment to restructuring in the Southeast, Southeest and South-south but is curiously silent on the issue in the north. Is it therefore illogical to include that it may all be a vote harvesting gimmick after all, especially as a President cannot singlehandedly pursue and achieve a restructuring agenda without his party controlling an emphatic majority in the National Assembly?

    Buhari is non pretentious. It is not in his character to pander to populist gestures even if it will win him or his party plaudits. His inflexibility on principles he strongly believes in can be irritating, even annoying at times. The APC administration’s commitment to fighting corruption and enthroning greater accountability, transparency and efficiency in governance is a good starting point. As it achieves greater organizational cohesion and ideological clarity as well as hopefully establishes better dominance in the National Assembly in the next four years, the APC administration will be in a better position to pursue the federalist strand of its progressive agenda. This is different from the PDP, which even has no mention in its manifesto of the restructuring promise that its candidate has been so vocal about at least in the South.

    Much ado has been made about a few memory lapses on the part of Buhari during the campaign. But he at least has had sufficient presence of mind to have kept his eyes firmly on the ball of fighting corruption, recovering looted property and raising the standard of ethical rectitude in our public life. That is the critical thing. Buhari has had the presence of mind and character to keep a firm lid on the public coffers and preventing the kind of crazy dollar rain witnessed under Jonathan in the run up to the 2015 election even though as the incumbent that would have given him a substantial advantage over the opposition.

    Buhari does not pretend to be an extrovert or to have an armada of friends. All those are of course quite admirable attributes. But Buhari’s high standard of integrity, no matter his personal failings as a human being, will determine my vote today.

  • Buhari urged justify integrity through credible polls

    A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to put his integrity to work by being faithful to his promise to ensure free, fair and credible Presidential and national assembly elections on Saturday.

    He said the President must also demonstrate his strong resolve for a united Nigeria and prove to the whole world that he is really in charge of affairs in the country by working his talks as contained in his nationwide broadcast on Thursday.

    In a statement made available to The Nation, Frank said: “It is good that President Buhari has once again pledged to ensure that the elections are free, fair and credible. That is what Nigerians and the world expect of him at this time save for the fact that those who are out to frustrate and rig the elections on his behalf are people he supervises directly.

    “If the President is serious with his promise, let him stop the security agencies, especially the police, military and the DSS from intimidating and harassing Nigerians especially opposition party leaders as we count down to the first election tomorrow.

    “If the President is serious with his promise, let him stop illegal arrests and disruption of voting anywhere across the country by security agencies.

    “If the President is serious on his promise to guarantee a credible election, let him withdraw his men mounting undue pressure on INEC officials to help him win re-election by fraudulently allocating unearned votes to the APC.

    “If the President is serious, let him warn the Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, all National Commissioners of INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioners, staff and all adhoc staff of the agency to abide by their oath of office which is to put Nigeria first above personal and selfish gain during these elections.

    “If the President wants Nigerians and the world to take him serious, let him stop the evil being plotted to disable GSM and internet signals nationwide in order to frustrate voters and election observers from communicating, sharing information and comparing notes.”

    He urged the President to emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan whose commitment to democratic ideals led to a highly acceptable electoral outcome in 2015 and a peaceful transmission of power to the then opposition APC.

    He insisted that Nigerians will only believe his “free and fair elections’ promise if the election is conducted in an atmosphere devoid of intimidation, harassment, violence and rigging by the APC, INEC and security agencies.”

  • Nobody will unseat me – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has said that nobody will unseat him.

    He made the remark in a short interview published by CNN Africa on Friday.

    The President also dismissed suggestions that he has no stamina to run the country for another four years.

    He said he would do his best to curtail the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast while thanking Western countries for their support for the nation’s military.

    The short interview went thus:

    They say you don’t have the stamina for another term. What’s your response?

    “Well, I have done it. So, they can give you another answer.”

    You are ready to take this country forward for another four years?

    “Yes. I’m ready for it”.

    Boko Haram, terror groups are still wracking parts of this country, killing Nigerians. What is your plan to stop that?

    “Well, my plans is that, as I mentioned to the general public now, they used to hold 17 local governments. We have in this country constitutionally, 774 local governments.

    “They used to hold 17. They are not technically holding any local government now but they are indoctrinating young men and women, especially girls, wrap them up with explosives and let them explode it on soft targets, churches, mosques, market places, motor parks and other places.”

    Will military be able to stop this terror?

    “Of course, we are doing our best. And we thank the foreign countries, Europe and United States for training our armed forces and going to the front to see how they are performing after their training.”

    One final question. This is a vibrant democracy, you came in, unseating the incumbent. Are you worried the same could happen to you?

    “No. Nobody will unseat me.“

  • 2019 Election and national values (2)

    I received several private communications since the publication of the first part of this piece last week. It is not unexpected because of the passion that this election has generated for politically conscious citizens. Today, I will address a couple of the most fervent reactions.

    A respected elder asked whether we have any national values and, if not, what leg does my position have to stand on? And a professional colleague of many years challenged my claim that political preferences are reflections of moral values. For him, preferences are merely likings. Just as my preference for vanilla cake does not reflect any deep-seated moral value, so my preference for Buhari or Atiku carries no moral connotation.

    My response to the first reaction is that a nation without core national values cannot expect to survive, talk less prosper. Core values cement the various building blocks of the nation, preventing them from collapse.

    Fortunately, our national values are succinctly articulated in the holy book of the republic. Chapter 2 of the 1999 constitution declares: ”The motto of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress (15 (1)). “The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power (15 (5)). And more clearly, Article 23 states that “The national ethics shall be Discipline, Integrity, Dignity of Labour, Social Justice, Religious Tolerance, Self-reliance and Patriotism.”

    A lot is packed into the quoted statements of our national values. But if we truly see ourselves as a nation, what these statements require of us can be attained. And part of what it requires of us is to choose leaders who embody the national ethics as our constitution stipulates, or who, at least, aspire to attain its requirements. An undisciplined person or one who lacks integrity, doesn’t appreciate the dignity inherent in labour, is intolerant, corrupt, and therefore, unpatriotic, is a clear opposite of what our national values prescribe. To that extent, he or she cannot be trusted to lead.

    To suggest that our preferences in national election for the choice of national leaders is a simple expression of taste is to trivialize the significance of this vital aspect of democracy. Therefore, I stand by my position that this election and its outcome, would be an expression of our national values.

    Now, what I just stated in the last sentence is deliberately ambiguous. The first arm of the ambiguity is that national values could mean those expressed in the constitution as our national ethics. Certainly, there could be a coincidence of the outcome of our preferences and our stated national values. If we choose candidates who have integrity, are incorruptible, appreciate the dignity of labour, and are champions of social justice, then, our preferences and our national values are in sync. And the election would be regarded as an expression of our constitutionally mandated national values.

    Second, however, we could make our preferred choices based on individual value systems without respecting our constitutionally mandated national values. If I prefer a kidnapper as president, it means that kidnapping is not in conflict with my values. If majority of my fellow citizens also prefer a kidnapper as their president, then we would elect a kidnapper as president. And while our constitutionally mandated national values would be diametrically opposed to this outcome, there is a sense in which we could still say that our choice reflects our national values, where national values here simply mean a summation of our individual values.

    What I am suggesting here is that our individual values may be opposed to the national values articulated in our constitution. When this is the case, and the majority have values that diverge from constitutionally articulated values, the outcome of elections reflects that divergence.

    Let me put the foregoing in context. Four days ago, a Twitter subscriber posted a thread which describes the findings of a US Senate Committee on the investigation of former Vice President Atiku, the PDP presidential candidate. The findings include an allegation of money laundering and deposits of various dollar amounts in US banks. They are enough to raise eyebrows.

    However, what caught my attention was the reaction from other Twitter users. I quote here one which speaks to my point: “Yes, we know that Atiku is a thief. But we still prefer him to a 100 times Buhari’s Integrity.” Another challenged the writer to set up her shop with EFCC and it won’t deter them from their choice of Atiku. Of course, there are also others who insist that Atiku cannot be trusted with the presidency because of this question of integrity. When minds are made up this way, and question of ethics plays a back role in the choice of leaders, then, a nation gets the leader it deserves on account of the diverse values of her citizens.

    There is another level to this issue. Where there is an assortment of national values, citizens may decide to emphasize one or the other based on what they think are national priorities at any point in time.  For example, an individual may believe that social justice is the most important national value and then choose a candidate or vote against another because they are judged to be right or wrong on issues of social justice. Thus, those who accuse President Buhari of favoring the North in his appointments may close their eyes against the national value of a corruption-free society, which he has championed with fervor.

    We should note, however, that voters have other considerations that may not be as expressly specific to national values but are still tangentially related. Since 1999, the development and maintenance of national infrastructure has suffered gravely in the hands of successive PDP governments. There were abandoned road construction contracts from Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to Shagamu-Benin roadway. Railroads were neglected. Airways was scrapped. The power sector was ignored despite a purported investment of sixteen billion dollars. PDP was voted out in 2015 based on citizens’ disenchantment with its record in the destruction of the economy and national infrastructure.

    Buhari administration apparently came in with a strong determination to impress the citizenry with its investment on infrastructure as well as the diversification of the economy in favor of mining and agriculture. In these areas, it has a record of achievements that it has been highlighting in its campaign for reelection. I just saw an impassioned commercial by an APC lady supporter on road construction across the country. For comical effect, she referred to Buhari’s magnanimity in rehabilitating even the road at the backyard of a former president who didn’t care for it when he was in power. Could that be Baba Obj? Ouch!

    The questions, then, are these: value voters have a choice to make in this election. If not all, which of our core national values do you prioritize? Discipline or something integrity? Dignity of labour or a society without the burden of corruption? Religious tolerance or social justice? Do you place value on using the resources of the country for the betterment of the lives of her people or for benefitting a few special interests? Do you prefer to reward failure and impunity or selfless efforts that yield abundant success for all? Then, just go ahead and vote your value and your conscience.

    Remember, however, the words of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, which I have paraphrased here: “Elections belong to (you), the people. It is (your) decision. If (you) decide to turn (your) back on the fire and burn (your) behind, then, (you) will just have to sit on (your) blisters.”  There are good reasons to choose wisely. It is unwise to get fooled twice.

    As I was finishing this piece, Opalaba, my friend, called. He had also read the last piece and was concerned about my “philosophical twist and turn” as he put it. Call a spade a spade, he shouted. “In any case, as for me and my household, for what PDP did to this country for 16 years, I will never vote for any of its candidates. Never. Do you hear me?” And he hung up.

    Happy voting.

     

     

     

  • Tinubu seeks three million votes for Buhari in Lagos

    •Urges party members to ensure APC’s victory

    All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday urged members of the ruling party to work hard to deliver at least three million votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in tomorrow’s poll.

    Tinubu gave the challenge at a parley with party members and supporters at a stakeholders meeting in Ikeja.

    The party leader, who spoke mainly in Yoruba, said the APC in the state could not afford not to deliver on the promise of overwhelming votes for the President.

    Tinubu said the President trusted in him and party members to win resoundingly in the state, urging party faithful to do their best to meet and exceed expectations.

    Reiterating his commitment to Buhari’s re-election, the party chieftain said he would give his all to ensure Buhari’s victory.

    He said: “I want you our party members to go all out and vote massively for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “You must deliver at least three million votes or more to the president to show that the whole state is firmly for him.

    “I have been made the co-Chairman of the APC presidential campaign committee because of the trust the President reposed in me and party members to always.

    “We should justify that trust and give our best for Buhari and Osinbajo on Saturday”,he said.

    Tinubu urged party members to mobilise other members and residents within their neighbourhoods to vote for the President.

    He challenged all members to ensure that APC wins in all the polling units across all the wards.

    The party leader said election co-ordinators had been appointed to mobilise votes for APC across the state, and urged them to deliver on the assignment.

    Tinubu said party executive members were automatic co-ordinators in their respective areas, urging them to get results.

    He promised that all members would be compensated based on the results they delivered in their respective areas.

    Tinubu urged members to shun electoral malpractices as the party was not known for such.

    He also urged party members to eschew all acts of violence  but conduct themselves peacefully ,during, before and after the election.

    He expressed confidence that the president would not only emerge victorious in the election, but would win resoundingly.

    Tinubu said the governorship candidate of the party in the state, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, would take the state to greater heights and urged residents to vote massively for him on March 2.

    Tinubu urged the APC members to stand with Sanwo-Olu the same way they supported him during the last primaries.

    The party leader said issues concerning the primaries had been resolved, promising all those who could not get tickets would be compensated with appointments.

    Tinubu commended the state Deputy Governor, Mrs. Idiat Adebule for her loyalty to the party, saying that attribute was expected of every party man.

    The party leader said the deputy governor stood with the party when it mattered, urging women in the party to follow her example.

    He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) represents ineptitude and urged Nigerians to reject the party at the polls.

    Speaking, Sanwo-Olu said the APC was passionate and committed about a better and greater Nigeria and Lagos.

    He urged residents to vote massively for Buhari on Saturday and him on March 2 for the delivery of more democratic dividends.

    Former Minister of State for Defence Musiliu Obanikoro, former Lagos Transportation Commissioner Kayode Opeifa and Southwest Women Leader of the party, Mrs Kemi Nelson were some of the prominent party personalities at the meeting.

    Also at the meeting were: members of the party’s Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), including Dr. Abayomi Finnih and Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi.

  • Southwest youth commends Buhari

    The South West Youth Forum (SWYF) has give it backing to the President Muhamadu Buhari -led administration in the country.

    The coordinator of the forum Biola Ottu-Coker said it the group resolved to support the President in view of its achievements in infrastructure and economic development.

    He said the problem of Nigeria is not the political parties, but individual players, who are found of changing parties. He said they do it for primordial and  selfish interest.

    Ottu-Coker added that corruption had eaten deep into the fabric of the nation so much so that if fail to kill corruption, corruption will kill the nation.

    “The achievements of the Buhari’s led administration in the country, for instance on the three points programmes on security, economy and fighting corruption are making great impact.

    “On infrastructural development; the   just completed Ibadan-Lagos –Abeokuta rail-line which past administration failed to accomplish for years is another emphatic demonstration of the Federal government’s commitment, to building a better Nigeria.”

    He said the realities is that Buhari had fulfilled his campaign promises given the exemplary leadership and  bold performance.

    “Mr. President is leading the corruption fight by example which is the height of leadership. The administration might have little shortcomings but interestingly such problems are being addressed   with renewed vigor and commitment.

    “We therefore, considered it needless to call for its sake,  we condemned in its totality the purported endorsement of Atiku, the Presidential candidate of the PDP by the Afenifere group.

    “We applaud the endorsement of Buhari by the Afenifere being anchored by Pa Ayo Fasanmi and acknowledged that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu remained a leading voice of Yoruba.

    “We commend his patriotism and forthright leadership that remains  unparallel in our present political history. We condemned the use of youth to perpetrate electoral malpractice or political violence by selfish politicians,” he said.

     

  • Christians, artisans back Buhari, Osinbajo

    The Concerned Christians Initiative (TCCI) and 16 other groups comprising of Artisans, tailors, market  women and others have drummed up  support for  President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Lagos.

    The TCCI which welcome  Osinbajo to the Palace of Anyangburem of Ikorodu, said artisans and other less privileged have benefitted imensely from the adminisration.

    The VP patiently listened to their questions and answered them all. The VP urged them not to relent in performing their civic responsibilities.

    Osinbajo warned that Christians would fail to positively influence the country unless  they committed themselves to living like the biblical salt of the earth.

    Osinbajo  was the guest minister at a special service of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)’s The Open Door Parish, Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos. The Vice President’s longtime friend Aina Ololade Salami, the Pastor-in-charge of the parish hailed

    Speaking on the topic  The church and the destiny of the nation, Osinbajo berated Church leaders who, through their teachings, “sometimes give the impression that there is no need for hard work.”

    He urged Christendom to remember the biblical command for people to pray for their leaders, like the Israelites prayed for Esther before she met the Persian King Ahasuerus and saved her people from genocide.

  • Keep public trust, Buhari tells public officials

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Katsina warned public officials, particularly those elected and appointed into office, to keep public trust or leave.

    He spoke at the palace of Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, as he arrived to an epic reception in his hometown for the grand finale of the APC presidential campaign rally before the elections on Saturday.

    The President had earlier visited all the other 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said: “Those who betray the people’s trust, we will not spare them; they would be fished out and dealt with.”

    President Buhari told the emir and members of the Emirate Council that the promises he made before his election in 2015 have been met, adding that with certainty that all he needed was a second term and would not ask for more.

    “There is hope in the future of this great country,” the President said, appealing to all Nigerians to ensure a peaceful conduct of the election.

    The President highlighted his administration’s achievements in infrastructure development including improved power supply, as well as  empowering artisans, craftsmen, tailors, barbers and battery chargers to increase output and better their own lives.

    “The local production of rice and the increased agricultural production have helped the country to achieve food self-sufficiency,” he said.

    The President thanked the people of his home state for the “unprecedented” turnout of men and women from both rural and urban areas and the intensity of support shown by them.

    The President said it was humbling to see a mammoth crowd line the streets of Katsina and fill the Karakanda Stadium to see and listen to him give a scorecard of his stewardship in the last three and half years.

    In his remarks, the Emir of Katsina noted that the massive support, enthusiastic following and the hero’s welcome received by the President was a clear testimony of the people’s approval for his leadership, personality and integrity.

    He said no other major political figure in Nigeria was anywhere near the President in popular acceptance, adding that honesty can never be defeated.

    The Emir pledged 100 percent Katsina support to the president’s re-election.