President Buhari ahead of his London trip received Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Zamfara Governor Abubakar Yari .
Tag: Bukola Saraki
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Photos: Buhari with Osinbajo, Saraki, Dogara ahead of London trip
Buhari and Osinbajo Buhari, Saraki, Osinbajo, Dogara, Yari -
Nigerian workers, pillars of the nation – Saraki
The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki has described Nigerian workers as the pillars and driving force of the nation in view of their invaluable contributions to national development.
Saraki made this known in a message signed by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja at the weekend to mark this year’s 2017 Workers’ Day celebration.
He lauded the resilience and commitment of workers in both the formal and informal sector describing their contribution to the nation and the economy as “priceless’’.
“From the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that contribute over 47 per cent to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), to the civil servants who are the driving force behind our government;
“All the way to the unregistered business owners who work to make a living for themselves and their families, every Nigerian worker in both the formal and informal sectors makes a priceless contribution to the sustainability of our nation.
“As we mark this year’s Workers’ Day, all Nigerian workers should be proud that their significant contributions keep this nation moving forward as they are the lifeblood of our country, an integral part of the fabric that makes up our society,” he said.
Saraki said that the Senate would continue to work to establish and enhance all legislations that would guarantee the safety and well-being of Nigerian workers.
He also emphasised on the need for government across all levels and participants in the private sector to work toward ensuring that workers received their salaries and pensions as and when due.
“As a result of globalization, the Nigerian workforce is no longer competing with itself. We are now competing with our counterparts from both developing and developed nations.
“With this in mind, it is necessary that all employers, those in the public and private sectors, work to continuously invest in the development of their employees,’’ he said.
Saraki said the upper chamber would continue to partner with Nigerian workers to enact legislation that would guarantee that they got their dues at the appropriate time.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Workers’ Day is observed May 1 each year to celebrate the achievements of workers. -
CCT: Prosecution to call Saraki’s account officer as witness
…Tenders Senate President’s statement
The prosecution in the trial of Senate President, Bukola Saraki said Thursday that it planned to call the officer in charge of Saraki’s accounts with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc as its next witness.
Saraki is being tried before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for alleged false assets declaration.
Lead prosecution lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) disclosed this at the resumption of proceedings yesterday after the prosecution tendered a statement said to be made by Saraki.
The statement was said to have been made to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2013.
The statement dated August 12, 2013, was tendered by the prosecution through its fourth witness, Alvan Gurummaal, a detective of the EFCC.
He was subpoenaed to produce the statement before the tribunal as he was said to be a party to the investigation of the case.
The content of the statement was not disclosed during proceedings.
Saraki has consistently claimed that he was not allowed to respond to the discrepancies notice in his assets declaration forms before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) referred him to the CCT for prosecution.
After the witness tendered the statement, which was admitted by the tribunal, Jacobs said he could not continue because his nest witness was not available.
Jacobs said the next witness, who is Saraki’s account officer at the Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, informed him that he(the witness) would be absent from the day’s proceedings because he has a medical appointment to undergo surgery.
He applied for an adjournment to a later date to enable him produce the 5th prosecution witness. He was silent of the proposed witness’ name.
Tribunal’s Chairman, Danladi Umar, acceded to Jacobs’ request for adjournment in the absence of opposition from the defence team.
He adjourn May 4 for continuation of trial.
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Witnesses’ absence stalls Saraki’s false asset declaration trial
The absence of prosecution witnesses on Thursday in Abuja at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) again stalled the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki.
The senate president is standing trial over alleged false assets declaration while serving as governor of Kwara.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the trial had suffered similar fate between April 18 and April 25.
Both adjournments, however, were at the instance of the prosecution team.
Saraki’s trial which began in September 2015 had suffered numerous setbacks, mostly at the instance of the prosecution.
NAN recalls that the prosecution shortlisted eight witnesses who would testify against the senate president in the 13- count charge of alleged false assets declaration.
Those to testify are Yahaya Bello, Michael Wetkas, Mustapha Musa, Nura Bako, Adamu Garba, Samuel Madojemu, Abdulrahaman Dauda and Nwachukwu Amazu.
Some of the witnesses were said to be DSS operators who investigated the four forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau by Saraki.
The prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) had asked for short adjournment to enable him produce his witnesses.
The Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar adjourned the matter till May 4 for continuation.
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Nigeria to exist recession third quarter, CBN Governor insists
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesdaysaid that the country would be out of recession in second or first half of the third quarter.Emefiele spoke after emerging from a closed session with Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, in Abuja.The CBN boss who said that the Senate President called them to brief and give update to Senate on foreign exchange market, noted that the country’s foreign reserve currently stood at $31 billion.He said that the increasing strength of the foreign reserve is giving the CBN the necessary fire power to play in the foreign exchange market.“You will all have observed that in the last two months, Central Bank has been involved in some form of intensive intervention in the foreign exchange market and this has fortunately resulted in a downward trend in the parallel market price of foreign exchange from as higher as N525 to as low as N370. Right now it hovers between N370 to N380.“I think it’s an opportunity for me to say that we are going to continue this intervention because the reserve looks very good as I speak to you our reserve stands at above $31 billion and that provides us enough of firepower or ammunition to be able to defend the currency and we will do so with all intensity to ensure that foreign exchange is procured by everybody.“You want to import raw materials, you will get foreign exchange, you want to import plant and equipment you will get foreign exchange, you want to pay school fees or you are a small business that wants to buy foreign exchange for you to import your small items you will procure foreign exchange.“And indeed we have started to see a downward trend even in prices and you have also must observe that inflation is also trending downward.“We are very much optimistic that by the end of the second quarter very latest third quarter we should be out of recession that we are in right now.“I think what is important is that last week we brought out an announcement which is meant to encourage our foreign investor community to get involved as well in the foreign exchange market.“It is the market or window that is opened for them to inflow their foreign exchange and come into the market on what we called a willing buyer, willing seller basis in which case there will be no form of any price intervention by anybody and indeed even including the Central Bank.“Indeed with the kind of firepower that we have we are also going to play in that market to ensure that as the prices move on based on the managed float regime that we run that we should be able to control the price based on willing buyer and willing seller basis.“And we believe on willing buyer, willing seller basis, foreign investors, exporter, non-exporters can come into that market and off load their capital and in doing so, we expect to see a lot of liquidity in that market and as we see much of liquidity in that market, we are very much optimistic that we are going to see high level of convergence we are hoping for,” Emefile stated.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, who was at the meeting, on his part said that the Senate is happy with the CBN policy direction.He said that the Senate would continue to support the apex bank in its policy direction to attract more foreign direct investment into the country.Senator Ibrahim said, “As usual the leadership of the Senate is always engaging the most important sectors of our economy. So, we had discussion with the Senate President and the Governor of CBN, and we were briefed just as he has given you the overview of the meeting. “That is what we are doing now. We will proffer more solutions which will result in more policy direction very soon because the major import of this kind of meeting is to attract foreign direct investment. So that the economy will be intact and intervention will be sustainable. -
Late Adeleke, a patriotic statesman – Saraki
Senate President Bukola Saraki on Sunday described the late Sen. Isiaka Adeleke (APC-Osun West) as a patriotic statesman.
Saraki, in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, said the death of the two-term senator was “a sad personal loss.’’
He said Adeleke, who was the first civilian governor of Osun, was an important figure in the 8th Senate.
Saraki also said: “My heart goes out to the family of Sen. Adeleke and the people of the great State of Osun.
“Adeleke was a leader in every right, a formidable colleague, patriotic statesman, good family man and complete gentleman whose contributions to the development of Osun State in particular and the nation in general will never be forgotten.”
The senate president described the late lawmaker, who served as Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, as a consummate reformer and courageous public servant.
He added that the late senator was a grassroots politician whose love for his people and commitment to national service remained unparalleled.
“From his track-record as a second term senator, it is clear that Adeleke was a man who his people trusted to carry out their mandate in the Senate.
“He was always passionate about his work in the legislature and showed competence, dedication and an ability to work with everyone to bring about the greater good.
“ He will be sorely missed,” he said.
Saraki commiserated with the immediate family of the deceased, the larger Adeleke family, Osun West Senatorial District, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola and the entire people of Osun as well as the 8th National Assembly.
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Saraki mourns Chanchangi
The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has expressed grief over the demise of Chairman of Chanchangi Airlines, Alhaji Ahmadu Chanchangi, 86, on Wednesday.
In a statement on Thursday by Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Saraki said Chanchangi, “an accomplished entrepreneur and philanthropist would be missed for his philanthropy, diligence, management finesse and humility.
“Chanchangi will be remembered as one of the nation’s great men, who grew from a humble beginning to become a highly-respected international figure through hard work,” he said.
Saraki commiserated with the immediate family of the deceased, especially his son, Mr. Rufai Chanchangi, a member of the 8th National Assembly, the people and governments of Kaduna and Taraba states.
While praying God to grant the deceased’s soul a place in “Aljanah Firdaus”, he called on his family to take solace in the fact that Chanchangi lived a “highly impactful life worthy of emulation’’.
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Be patient with APC government, Saraki urges Nigerians
Senate President Bukola Saraki urged Nigerians to have confidence in the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government in the country.
He assured that government was working hard to overcome the current challenged bedevilling the nation.
Saraki also called on the citizens to be optimistic and stay focused.
He enjoined Nigerians to continue to live in peace and uphold the unity of the country.
Senator Saraki spoke with reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital after his turbaning as Baba Adini of Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria.
On his Easter message he said: “My message is for us to live in peace and unity. I know that we will continue to make sacrifice, and we should be hopeful that the country will get better.”
” We should be hopeful that we will attain our promises with time. We just have to stay focused and determined and should not get distracted. I’m sure at the end of the day, we will get there.
“But the most important thing is that there must be unity and peace, and we must be able to come together and support government to be able to do our best. People should not give up. They should be rest assured that all is going to be well.”
Dr Saraki also made a case for the provision of funds in the constitution for the execution of constituency projects by lawmakers across the country.
He said such provision would allow the lawmakers to impact on the lives of their constituents. -
No apologies for calling for transparency of National Assembly – El-Rufai
…Buhari implementing issues in my memo, says el-Rufai
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai on Friday said that he has no apology for any National Assembly member offended by his call for transparency.
According to him, he has the right as a Nigerian to call for such transparency.
Speaking with State House correspondents after observing the Jumaat prayer with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he said that it would be in the interest of the lawmakers to make public their earnings in the face of the bogus salaries allegations.
He said “There is nothing like falling out with the National Assembly, first of all I am a state governor and do not have any direct relationship with the national assembly. They don’t legislate for me specifically. I don’t have any relationship that is negative or positive with the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly is the legislature of the federation and we have very good relations with the legislators. There are senators from my state and there are representatives and I meet regularly with those of them that are ready to meet with me. Here, beside me are Senators Abu Ibrahim and Marafa.
“If I have problem with the National Assembly they will not be standing beside me. So there is no problem. The issue is what I did last Friday was to ask the leadership of the national Assembly to fulfil the promise that they made themselves to publish the details of their budget and asking for that is my duty as a citizen. Every Nigerian is entitled to ask that question,” he said.
He went on “It is in the National Assembly’s interest to actually publish it because there are rumours of bogus amounts of money that they are getting which I do not believe is true. I think that the best way to kill that rumour is to publish the details of their budget but some people took exception to that call for transparency and I have no apologies because as citizens we have the right to demand for transparency for how resources are being spent.
“This one hundred billion or so budget of the National Assembly is money belonging to the people of Nigeria and every Nigerian has the right to ask and I am exercising that right as a citizen not even as a governor.”
He explained that he had no problem with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
“I have no problem with the Speaker. He is my kid brother, he respects me and I respect him, I have no problem with the Senate President, we worked together in the past and I am confident that we will work together in the future in the interest of Nigeria.
“But demand for accountability is not a problem and should not be construed to be undermining or any such thing. It is only someone who has something to hide that will do things like that and I don’t believe that the National Assembly has things to hide,” he added
The Governor also maintained that there is no rift between him and President Buhari.
He said “There is no strain in my ties with the President. The villa is a bigger place. Within the villa there are people that like me and there are those who don’t and it is normal. My relationship with the President has never been strained in anyway.
“I met with him last night, I did not talk about things like that but our relationship with him is like that of father and son and it is privilege for me. I told him I will come today for the Jumaat and I did.”
On how he was received by the President, he said “As usual with great warmth and graciousness and I am grateful for that.
Asked why he wrote such a letter to the President, he said that it was a well-meaning memo aimed at ensuring development of the country.
Even though he faulted those who leaked the private memo to the public, he said that most issues raised in it are already been implemented by the government.
He said “It was a private memo and it is not a letter. If you want to ask any question about it you ask those who leaked the memo because I wrote it seven months ago. I have written similar memos to the President in the past and none of them got leaked. He knows that he can count on me to give him my views of what is out there that he may not hear and to give him sound advice without any interest on my part.
“If anyone reads that memo he will see that there is nothing in the memo that has anything to do other than the success of Mr. President and progress of the country. That is my goal, my motive and I am driven by that. I stand behind the President to the very end.
On whether his views in the letter have changed since he wrote it, he said “Yes, I believe that since September last year when I wrote the letter, there have been significant improvement in the delivery of services at the federal level as I said some of our federal programmes have started
in earnest.“Social protection for instance, the N-Power, budget releases has been accelerated, this is an unprecedented move, the minister of finance has released up to about a trillion naira of capital budget. In September last year, little or nothing had been released and that was part of my concern, since then the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan has been done and published.
“At the time I wrote the memo there was no five year plan for the country, since then the government has moved ahead to change some of the appointees of President Jonathan in parastatals. This is something that we were worried about, many of us in APC felt that we were in office but not in power because the people that Jonathan appointed were still running most of our key agencies.
“From September till date even up until yesterday there has been significant improvement. So there is improvement and I believe that part of what I recommended to the President is being implemented, whether because of my memo or not, it is being implemented and the country is moving forward and I am grateful to God for it.” he said
On how he felt about the leakage of the letter in contrast with secrecy oath of office, he said “I am disappointed that a private communication to the highest office in the land can be leaked and it was leaked from the Villa, I am told by those that published it, but this is a fact of life. We live in an
age where anything you write or say can be leaked. It is ok, my intentions are clear, I have no ill motive but I wanted to communicate with the President what many Nigerians are talking about and what steps can be taken to improve governance of the country and move the country forward.“That was my motive and if tomorrow like I said I see anything that the President needs to know I will discuss with him and I will articulate and put it into writing and on the record for him to
have a reminder document to work on. I have no regrets and I have no apologies.”Against the belief that he was stopped for some months from coming to the Villa, he said that he was not stopped and that nobody can stop him.
He said “No, no one ever stopped me from coming to the villa and no one can stop me from coming to villa. As a governor I come here, I have blank cheques, no one checks me at the gate but I believe what the President needs is for those that love him to keep away from him and allow him to rest.
“The President needs quality time to rest because it is meeting too many people that strains leadership. I am a governor and I know that when I meet 10 people in a day I get really tired, it is not the paperwork, it is not really the memos approving them or asking questions that strain a leader, it is the stream of visitors.
“I do not want to contribute to the President’s problem by coming here every day. I am in touch with him, I know everything going on and I do not think I should add to his burden. Most of the time I come to visit the President I do not come to the office, I go to see him at home.
“I think and I appeal to all of us that love the President to please allow him some space so that he will recover. We need him and the country needs him, it is in our interest for the stability of the
country, we should just let him be. It is absolutely necessary lets us leave him to do his work in the privacy of his room or his office without strings of visitors. Visitors stress leaders,” he said. -
I can’t reverse Ndume’s suspension, Says Saraki
…Crisis inevitable for development, says Dogara
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Monday said that he has no power to reverse the suspension of Senator Ali Ndume from the Senate.
Ndume was recently suspended for six months by the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly.
Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Saraki said that the issue of Ndume’s suspension was beyond him.
He said “We should try and understand how the parliament works, I wish I had such powers these powers you give me I wish I had them, the President or Speaker is first among equals they are just presiding officers but unfortunately you know the legislative arm is the youngest people don’t understand, people give us this powers that we have, decisions that are taken in plenary is decision of all but I have a role to be able to convey the message.
“I will convey the message of the visit of the Governor of Borno and the Senate is one, we are all one family there will be issues like that, there is nothing that is sacrosanct or rigid.” he said
He also disclosed that the National Assembly is working hard on the 2017 Budget.
According to him, one of the reasons for visiting the President is to let him know how far the National Assembly has gone on the 2017 budget.
He said “We are on course as you note last week we did ask all the sub committees to submit their reports to appropriation all that has been done now, it’s now collation and review then hopefully it will be passed very soon.
On the suspension of screening of Resident Electoral Commissioners, he said “As I said this is a routine meeting, there are many things that is important but there are other things that is even more important to do which is the budget.
“We talked also about the INEC bill that we have passed I took the president through some of the areas, very important areas because you know the President over many years is somebody that has gone to many elections and seen, so that was something he was really excited about, some of the new amendments like electronic voting, talks about electronic process for collation, those are landmark achievements that we hope that very soon the House will concur and will all come here for the President to assent.
“Some of these other issues it will happen but I don’t think it’s a major issue, but we are still moving ahead and still consulting.” he said
On his views on the reconciliatory committee set up, he said “Good development, but like I said there will always be issues on one or two things, it doesn’t mean that it is the foundation of it, when you have an arm of government that has to do with confirmation there will always be, for example the NDDC bill we rejected 3 people from NDDC we keep on moving, we are all part of one government that is why despite all these, still major decisions are taken, like I said we did a critical amendments on INEC by Tuesday or Wednesday. For the first time in the history of the legislature, we are going to lay a report on the PIB for consideration, it has never happened, for the past 20 years it has not gotten to this stage, so its work in progress for the interest of Nigeria.
“Don’t let us get distracted by one or two infractions, it’s bound to happen, even America that we are copying even today as we are watching, see what is happening on the Supreme court these are things that happen on the part of democracy but I can reassure Nigerians that it’s just a drop in the ocean, it is not an issue that should stir the whole nation, be rest assured.
Asked if the relationship between legislature and executive is cordial, he said “It is cordial, you cannot examine it based on NDDC, based on EFCC, we have other issues, we have ministerial nominees that we are going to be working on, we have the budget that is more important, we have INEC, PIB we have so many important things and I think it’s a mixture of all that should guide us, don’t let us over heat on some of these issues.”
Speaking further on his visit to the Villa, he said “As you know this is a routine, it’s part of the consultation and collaboration that we observed that has helped in improving the workings together, it’s just a routine and review, most important issue now is the budget.”
Also speaking with journalists, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said that his visit to the seat of power was routine.
He said “It baffles me when people see you visit Mr. President they will think something is wrong, nothing is wrong, it is routine visits.
According to him, the face-off between the executive and legislature over the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, is not a crisis.
He said “You might look at it as crisis but I don’t look at it as crisis. You know I have always said this that as a government our value will be the problems we have solve.
“We can’t be remembered for avoiding, we can’t be remembered for running away from problems, it is only when we provide solution to some of the things you refer to as crisis and we look at it as opportunities to begin the new that people will now remember us for putting down enduring legacies.
“But when we run away from everything that appears to be trouble we will not make it.
Asked whether he has solved the problem from the meeting, he said “I tell you they will overcome it. I’m not in the Senate and I am not the Spokesperson for the Senate so the Senate will speak for themselves.
On whether the planned protest against the National Assembly was manipulated from outside, he said “I wouldn’t know, this is a democracy we are running and we have to open the space to civil society, to everyone who feel aggrieved to be able to air his grievances.
“So, if they have grievances against the institution of the legislature we will take it. You see the point is we should never run away from crisis, crisis are always wonderful opportunities for us to begin the new, for us to set new boundaries, for us to begin to examine things in a new way.
“So we should welcome crisis, they are the engines that always propel growth and progress. So if anyone think he has issues with the national assembly let him come and we will have the opportunity to explain, that is the beauty of democracy,” he said.