The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BUHARI

  • ‘Buhari committed to private sector driven economy’

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is committed to a private sector driven economy, the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex A. Okoh, has said.

    He called on local and international businessmen to take advantage of the government’s open door policy to establish businesses in the country.

    Okoh, who spoke at the handover of the Terminal ‘B’ Warri Old Port to the concessionaire- Ocean & Cargo Terminal Services Limited –on Monday, said Nigerian ports are the main gateway to the country; and are key to the Federal Government’s objective of diversifying and growing the economy.

    He said the objective of the government’s concession, is to increase efficiency at the ports with the ultimate goal to modernise the ports to make them more competitive.

    Okoh, in a statement issued by BPE’s Head of Public Communication, Amina Othman Tukur,  said the concession is for a period of 25 years at an annual lease fee of $1,621,500, in addition to the entry fee and monthly throughput fee chargeable on the volume of cargo handled.

    He assured that the implementation of the covenanted development plan for the Concessionaire would be closely monitored by the relevant government agencies, including the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), BPE and Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to ensure compliance.

    NPA Managing Director, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, represented by the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Sokonte Davies, said the concessioning of ports’ facilities was carried out to enhance productivity and attract more cargos to the hitherto abandoned port.

    She appealed to the people in the port community to support government’s initiatives aimed at developing the maritime industry, saying the port concession would enhance the economy of Delta State and create jobs for people in the host communities.

    “We, therefore implore the communities, in making the government’s efforts a success; they should work positively with the concessionaire; the communities should try not to put any pressure on them because pressures can shut the business down.

    “But if the communities support them, they will see that as activities increase and vessels come, it will increase the engagement of young men and women and even several other people.

    “The communities will be positively impacted because the economy will grow and it will have positive effect on every area of life of the people.

    “We are using this opportunity to appeal to the host communities to help this one to work. It is working in other places, don’t let yours be different”, he added.

  • ‘Buhari will win Southeast’

    Anambra South Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Andy Ubah is confident of President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in Saturday’s election.

    He urged Igbo to vote for Buhari as voting against him would not stop his victory.

    Ubah, who addressed party faithful yesterday at a rally in Nnewi, urged them to resist the mistakes of 2015 when the party did not get enough votes in the Southeast.

    Read also: NJC issues fresh query to acting CJN

    He said: “It is obvious that President Muhammadu Buhari will be re-elected on Saturday. Whether you vote for him or not, he will win.

    “It is unfortunate that in 2015, only 10 million votes were recorded for Buhari in the Southeast. But this time, I want Anambra South alone to give him not less than 1 million votes.”

  • Buhari’ll win with or without your votes, Ubah tells Ndigbo

    The senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra South, Senator Andy Ubah, has stated President Muhammadu Buhari will win Saturday’s poll with a landslide with or without the votes of Ndigbo.

    He said it was better the Igbos cast their votes for Buhari as voting against him would not stop his victory at the poll.

    Addressing party faithful on Wednesday at a rally in Nnewi, Ubah said the people of the zone should resist the mistakes of 2015 when APC was not voted for in the South East.

    He said Ndigbo should have nobody to blame if they were not seen to have massively voted for Buhari and every other candidate of the party in the zone.

    According to him: “It is obvious that President Muhammadu Buhari will be re-elected on Saturday. Whether you vote for him or not, he will win.

    “It is unfortunate that during the last election in 2015, only 10 million votes were recorded for Buhari in the South East.

    Read Also: Attack on Buhari, Osinbajo treasonable, says Falana

    “But this time around, I want Anambra South alone to give him not less than 1 million votes.”

    Candidate representing Nnewi North/South and Ekwusigo Federal Constituencies, Engr. Jude Onyeka said voting all APC candidates would guarrantee a team that would bring democracy dividends to the zone.

    On his part, National Auditor of the party, Chief George Muoghalu asked party supporters not to be confused with money or any other gratification.

    Other chieftains at the rally were the party’s deputy governorship candidate in 2017 in Anambra, Dozie Ikedife jnr, Nnewi North chairman, Tony Atuenyi as the host, Engr Forth Dike, J.C.Okeke, Omo Okeke, among others.

  • Attack on Buhari, Osinbajo treasonable, says Falana

    Lawyer and activist, Femi Falana (SAN) has said that the stoning of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo by supporters of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) during last Monday’s campaign of the All Peoples Congress (APC) in Abeokuta was treasonable.

    Reacting to the ugly incident Wednesday, Falana expressed regret that the Police has not arrested anybody in connection with the attack on the President, his Vice and other leaders of the APC.

    He said Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State cannot absolve himself of the blame as the chief security officer of the state.

    He regretted that governor Amosun visited Abuja several times before last Monday’s campaign with the governorship candidate of the APM, Adekunle Akinlade, the President welcomed them to the villa.

    He said the governor ought to have been told long before the campaign that his activities were anti-party.

    The lawyer also blamed the various security agencies in the state for the incident noting that they did nothing to prevent or stop the attack on the President.

    He said the security agencies, despite knowing that it was APC rally allowed another party and its supporters to infiltrate the venue.

    Read Also: 2019: Police will be professional, unbiased – IG

    Falana contended that this ugly situation persisted because Police and other security agencies that should be alive to their responsibilities did nothing about it.

    He recalled that in 2007, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo openly canvassed support for Dr Olusegun Agagu against Dr Segun Mimiko.

    He also recalled that some time ago, supporters of former Oyo state governor, Chief Rasheed Ladoja and Alao Akala clashed and six people died, the Police did not arrest nor prosecute anybody over the incident.

    Falana lamented the spate of disrespect and other acts against the person of the President of the country by the opposition, describing it as an insult against his office.

    He recalled that during presentation of the 2019 budget, when the president was booed by some members of the National Assembly, the only thing he said was that ‘the world is watching’, noting, “here in Abeokuta, he kept quiet and allowed the situation to degenerated”.

    He said when the President was attending rally of the APC, similar incident happened in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and Imo State in particular where the state governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha was campaigning for Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) gubernatorial candidate, nobody was cautioned.

  • Okorocha to Ndigbo: vote Buhari or forget 2023

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has told the Igbo to vote President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday or lose the chances of clinching the Presidency in 2023.

    He insists anything short of reelecting Buhari will mean that Ndigbo will have to wait until 2031 to take a shot at the Presidency.

    He argued further that the Igbo will exercise the right of asking for the Presidency in 2023 by voting for the President.

    The governor, who spoke while addressing crowd at zonal rallies in Okigwe zand Owerri zones respectively, to mobilise votes for the President, regretted “some Igbo politicians are campaigning to deceive the Igbo again as they did in 2015”.

    He added such external forces are positioning men like Senator Hope Uzodinma against the Igbo interest.

    According to him: “Some people especially our brothers are campaigning now against President Buhari saying he is Boko Haram that he is a herdsman and so on.

    “You can remember in 2015, I was telling the Igbos to cast their vote for Buhari because he will win with or without the votes of the Igbo.

    “I was called all sorts of derogatory names. Some said I was going to Islamise the whole Igbo. Is Igboland Islamised today?

    “Igbo today are playing politics with the mindset of a trader, thinking only of the immediate benefits unlike other tribes that are playing real politics.

    “My people listen to me and listen real good, whatever I tell you to do, do it as it will profit us. I am telling you today that Buhari will win.

    “On Saturday, if Igbo supports Buhari and Buhari wins, in 2023 Ndigbo will have the right to demand for Igbo Presidency.

    “Those who love Igbo nation must vote for President Buhari because if we miss this chance we may not get the presidency even by 2023 or 2027 or 2031.

    “The time is right for the Igbo nation to play the right politics so as to have a clear chance by 2023”.

  • APC chieftain takes Buhari’s message to Tompolo’s turf

    The people of Gbaramatu Kingdom, one of the largest Ijaw kingdoms in Delta state, have been charged to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday to reap the full benefits the federal government has to offer.

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta state and coordinator of the Delta South Canvassers for Buhari, Chief Michael Johnny, who gave the charge to the people of Gbaramatu in Warri on Wednesday, said it is time for the people of the state to move away from playing opposition.

    Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West council area of Delta state is the home base of former warlord and leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo.

    Speaking to his people during the meeting in Warri, Jonny, who is also a member of Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, said a vote for Buhari will bring more development to the kingdom, which was neglected by past PDP governments.

    “Being a member of Presidential Campaign Council of Buhari Support Groups Committee, I know that President Muhammdau Buhari will win the presidential election, I respect the fact that Gbaramatu indigenes are in different political parties but my concern is that in the next democratic dispensation come May 29, the Gbaramatu people cannot afford to be in opposition,” he said.

    He however assured that there will be peace in Gbaramatu kingdom before, during and after the elections, urging the residents to vote for Buhari and APC on Saturday, noting that Buhari is a friend of Gbaramatu kingdom.

  • Photos: Buhari, Atiku sign peace accord in Abuja

    President Muhammadu Buhari and the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday joined other candidates to sign the second 2019 National Peace Accord in Abuja.

    The Presidential election comes up on Saturday 16th of February, 2019.

    Buhari and Atiku called for free, fair and non-violent elections.

  • Buhari expected in Katsina for APC grand rally Thursday

    President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the APC Presidential Campaign Team are expected to storm Katsina on Thursday for the Grand Finale of the nationwide Campaigns which kicked off Late December last year in Uyo Akwa Ibom state.

    The Secretary to the Katsina State Government and Chairman Katsina State APC Council, Alhaji Mustapha Inuwa, who made the above disclosure on Wednesday during a stakeholders meeting called to appraise preparations for the rally at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential loge in Katsina, said Preparations are being finalized to ensure a hitch-free reception to the President and his entourage

    He reiterated the assurances by the state to deliver 2.8m votes to the President in Saturday’s elections and expressed optimism that President Buhari will be re-elected on Saturday, February 16

    He said’’ the stage is set to receive Mr. President, every arrangement have been concluded including logistics and security, some of the citizens living far away from the city center have already started arriving and are prepared to spend the night at the stadium which will be flung open as early as 6am’’

    Meanwhile Ahead of Saturday’s presidential election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Lawal Shuaibiu, led group, Forward for Buhari, has embarked on street-to-street campaign in Katsina State for the APC Presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

    Speaking to newsmen shortly before flagging off the street to street campaign, Shuaibu urged the people of the state to vote not only for the President but all the candidates of the ruling party as they have been tested and trusted to serve them very well.

    He said the campaign train which has renowned author, Mohammed Sule; one time national chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdukarim Dayyabu, among its top dignitaries, stormed Katsina Street since Monday with scores of grassroots mobilizers in several buses.

    While lauding Governor Aminu Bello Masari for graciously accepting to use the machinery of youths’ mobilization in the state to support the purpose of the visit, the APC boss maintained that the group believed the nation could go forward to the next level under Buhari’s presidency.

    Read Also: Buhari, Atiku, others sign second 2019 National Peace Accord

    Shuaibu said: “We move with youths, we meet people, we talk to them at motor parks, in the markets and on the streets. We sample their opinions with regards to re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari. And we also embark on voter education because one of our mandates is to insist that as long as you love Muhammadu Buhari, as long as you want to vote for Muhammadu Buhari, then you have to vote Muhammadu Buhari’s party from to down.”

    According to him, they will also embark on issues of enlightening voters on the laudable projects, both on-going and completed, of Buhari administration.

  • Buhari, Atiku, others sign second 2019 National Peace Accord

    *Buhari: Let’s pray for our country

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari and the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday joined other candidates to sign the second 2019 National Peace Accord in Abuja.

    The Presidential election comes up on Saturday 16th of February, 2019.

    Buhari and Atiku called for free, fair and non-violent elections.

    While stressing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies have given their words in readiness to conduct free and fair elections, he urged the youths not to allow themselves to be used for violence.

    Noting that there is fear towards the election just like any other elections, he urged Nigerians to pray for Nigeria as it goes into the elections.

    The President also said that the only real party is Nigeria and that elections are only important to the extent to which they make Nigeria strong.

    Atiku again appealed to INEC and the security agencies to ensure free, fair elections.

    He recalled the words of former President Goodluck Jonathan where he said that his ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.

    Atiku said that the Nigerian democracy should emerge stronger than the 2015 general elections that was adjudged the freest and fairest in the country.

    The former Vice President specifically appealed to President Buhari for everyone who casts his or her vote to have confidence that the votes will count.

    “We must abide by the will of the people,” he stated.

  • Buhari never called for violence in Zamfara, says Keyamo

    The Director of Strategic Communications for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN), has absolved President Muhammadu Buhari of inciting violence in Zamfara State.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, Keyamo said: “Typical of the Peoploes Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku’s campaign team, they have continued in their favourite pastime of peddling falsehood, scaremongering and misinformation.

    “This time, the candidate of the main opposition himself, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, sensing a comprehensive defeat this Saturday and out of frustration, threw caution to the wind in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on February 11, when he alleged that President Buhari called for violence when he campaigned in Zamfara State.

    “Nothing can be farther from the truth. The Hausa word the President used in Zamfara, which has been taken out of context, is “fitna”. Incidentally, all our Hausa language scholars have said the word means different things: it means distress, trial, affliction or temptation. It can also be used to describe rebellion or uprising.

    “In this case, President Buhari was actually weighing in on the joke told very often of recent in the North that due to the rice boom, farmers have embarked on pilgrimage and the marrying of more wives.

    “So, what the President meant was actually a joke deliberately taken out of context: he simply told the crowd to ensure they eat very well because of the rice boom before they can contemplate giving in to those temptations.

    “Even in some private meetings with our campaign team, the President has always commented on this joke. Sadly, out of desperation, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has decided to peddle falsehood.

    “We urge Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to realise that it is God Almighty that gives power and takes power. He should not use his palpable desperation to return to power (in order to sell Nigeria to his ‘friends’ and make them rich) to set this nation ablaze by outright falsehood.”