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Tag: el-Rufai

  • Mimiko advises FG to prioritize maternal healthcare

    Mimiko advises FG to prioritize maternal healthcare

    Mimiko gave the advise while speaking with newsmen, on Friday, at the Chatham House in London after delivering a paper on “Improving Access to Health Services for All” using his Ondo achievement in maternal and child health as a case study.

    The former Ondo governor said funding will never be adequate in any human setting but with the right kind of leadership, the country can drastically reduce maternal mortality, which is about 19 percent of global maternal deaths according to the World Bank. “We must call a major stakeholders’ meeting where there will be an agreement on a universal health package that every state in the country can afford, and create an eligibility criteria for those who build on it so that they can be rewarded accordingly and eventually we will get there.

    As we do this, we prioritize safe motherhood and child health” he said. Mimiko also took time to demonstrate how his administration as Governor of Ondo state midwived a functional and effective healthcare delivery system, which attracted local and international recognitions as a proven method of reducing maternal mortality particularly with the introduction of his homegrown initiatives such as Abiye (Safe motherhood) program, Agbebiye and Orirewa that crashed the maternal mortality indices in the state.

    The former governor charged Nigerian leaders at every level not to see only physical structures as achievement saying that quality healthcare for women is a great empowerment tool “Safe motherhood is a gender parity tool, every woman wants good life.

    They will be empowered if they can have access to quality health without catastrophic spending. What will eventually drive universal health coverage in Africa is the political will and that is what will generate passion and it the passion that will attract donors from around the world,” Mimiko stated.

    Also present at the event were Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, stakeholders in the health sector from Nigeria and Africa who came to discuss how to optimize global opportunities in achieving Universal Health Coverage and Health Security in Nigeria.

  • Endorsement of El-Rufai a charade, says Sani

    Endorsement of El-Rufai a charade, says Sani

    The senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, yesterday faulted the reported endorsement of Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai for a second term by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Sani, who chairs the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, described the endorsement as a charade that cannot stand.

    The lawmaker said El-Rufai gathered his employees, aides and hangers-on to actualise his endorsement for second term.

    He alleged that because the chances of El-Rufai becoming vice-president, which he was aiming for while President Muhammadu Buhari was away on medical treatment, had failed with the return of the President, the Kaduna governor had taken up another project for Buhari.

    He said El-Rufai’s name dropping and mobilisation for President Buhari for 2019 was self-serving, adding that his loyalty to the President is questionable.

    Sani said: “The so-called endorsement of Governor El-Rufai by Kaduna APC amounts to endorsement of toxic waste.

    “El-Rufai simply gathered his employees, aides and hangers-on to endorse him.

    “He is a poisonous viper corrosive to the integrity and moral standing of the party in the state and the nation.

    “El-Rufai’s name dropping and mobilisation for Buhari 2019 is self-serving. His loyalty to Buhari is for political relevance and his allegiance to Buhari is for self-protection and preservation.

    “Now that President Buhari is back from health vacation and the chances of becoming a vice-president is zero, El-Rufai has taken up a new project for Buhari 2019.

    “El-Rufai’s obsession with Buhari is not about Buhari, but about himself. Buhari should protect his testicles from a man who always bends close to his knees.

    “Those who endorsed El-Rufai are marketing a bottled fart. A man who boasts of sending Yar’Adua to his grave should not be trusted by Buhari. The snake that killed the hunter can kill the charmer.”

  • Kaduna APC endorses Buhari, El-Rufai for 2019

    Kaduna APC endorses Buhari, El-Rufai for 2019

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and the lawmaker representing Kaduna North, Senator Suleiman Uthman Hunkuyi, at the weekend settled their differences.

    They preached unity and supremacy of All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The reconciliation took place at the Kaduna APC stakeholders’ interactive session, at Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Hall, Murtala Mohammed Square, Kaduna.

    Party executives from the 255 electoral wards, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly, as well as political appointees at the federal and state levels attended the event.

    The state Acting Chairman, Alhaji Shuaibu Idris, who presided over the meeting, thanked members of the National and State Assemblies, party executives at the state, zonal, local government and ward levels, former and serving lawmakers and appointees for standing by the party in overcoming threats to its unity and progress.

    He said party supremacy was non-negotiable, affirming that the party would discipline and sanction members found to be working against APC’s progress and unity.

    The acting chairman said the party would operate an open-door policy and embrace members who accepted its discipline and upheld its manifesto.

    El-Rufai said he and Senator Hunkuyi are family and nobody can separate them.

  • APC women endorse El-Rufai for 2019

    APC women endorse El-Rufai for 2019

    National, zonal and state women leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) and other stakeholders yesterday met in Kaduna and supported Governor Nasir El-Rufai ahead of 2019 general election.

    The women, who met at Arewa House, Kaduna, were in the city to deliberate on how to put some of them into political space before 2019, in order to have a good representation.

    Leader of the stakeholders, Hajia Binta Mua’zu, said to achieve this they sought and secured the support of the governor for the meeting, hence the early preparation to see how to fit-in, in men-dominated environment, especially in the North.

    The governor’s wife, Hadiza Isma El-Rufai, who was impressed with the large turnout of women, told the gathering that her husband would support women’s cause because without them, he would not have emerged as the governor.

    She said the best thing to do was to support her husband so he could move the change mantra beyond 2019, to enable women have the opportunity of fulfilling their ambitions.

    The facilitator and Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Hafsat Mohammed Baba, said there was no better time to mobilise women and reawake them, especially those with political ambition, than now.

    According to her, “we are here today to see how the women leaders and followers can come together and chart a way forward as regards the political sphere of our state. We need to be well represented so that our yearnings and aspirations for improved social well-being of our children can be well channelled.

  • I pray Nigeria oil dries up, says el-Rufai

    I pray Nigeria oil dries up, says el-Rufai

    • Kaduna Gov at Ibadan lecture says ‘free money’
    hinders Nigeria’s ability to think, innovate
    • Seeks state policing

    Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State believes the oil wealth accruing to the country constitutes a major obstacle to Nigeria’s ability to think and innovate its way out of underdevelopment.

    He wishes the oil wells and the ‘free money’ there from dry up so that the government and the people can get serious about making the country realize its full potentials.

    el-Rufai spoke yesterday in Ibadan at the 2017 Town Hall Meeting/ Founder’s Day Celebration in memory of renowned economist, Professor Ojetunji Aboyade.

    He also made a fresh case for state policing, and warned against allowing the federal character policy become an enemy of merit in appointments.

    The governor who was the special guest of honour at the event said: “Because Nigeria gets easy money from oil, the nation has lost its thinking initiative on how to develop other sources of revenue and diversify the economy.

    “We get easy money, we do not collect taxes and our taxes are six per cent of Gross Domestic Product; that is an average of 21per cent. We stop respecting the intellectuals that we have in our universities because we get easy money.

    “This is very sad, I wish the oil will dry up so that we can begin to use our brains because we have stopped using our brains and we have stopped respecting intellects because of easy money.

    On policing, he said: “It is obvious that Nigeria is severely under-policed, and will require more personnel, intelligence assets, better training, technology and equipment for its security agencies for the country to be a credible guarantor of security.

    “Even if these were to be available, it is also debatable whether a single centralised policing system, structure and staffing for 200 million citizens is viable in a diverse, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria.”

    He also addressed the issue of federal character, saying: “To complement the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals, we must have discourse around the imperative of a project dedicated to enabling equal opportunity so that the circumstances of a citizen’s birth don’t prescribe his or her ceiling in life.

    “How can we promote a national subscription to meritocracy? How can we ensure that the imperative of reflecting federal character does not become the enemy of merit and quality of appointments? Today, we don’t plan. We don’t have national plan and if we don’t plan, we are planning to fail.

    “Having suffered brain drain, how do we attract back our Diaspora and the brain-gain associated with it like the Chinese and Indians have witnessed? These are the questions a distributive mentality around easy oil revenues is dodging.

    “The earlier the oil dries up the better for our national ability to think, be innovative and respect intellect and academic achievement.

    el-Rufai spoke on “Public Policy research should promote national consensus.”

    In his presentation, the lead speaker, Professor Sam Olofin, explained that indeed the country is technically out of recession but that it requires sustained efforts for an economy to be progressive.

    He noted that many Nigerians are confusing the country’s underdevelopment with recession adding that with the reversal of the growing negative rate of the economy, the country is technically out of recession but that the positive growth must also be sustained and continuous so that it would rub on the overall economy.

    He stressed that if Nigeria doesn’t diversify its dependence on oil early enough, the country will remain an underdeveloped economy for a long time.

    Chairman of the occasion, Professor Oladipupo Akinkugbe, said Nigeria keeps chasing potential but that the country will have to get there fast and as early as possible.

    He lamented that many of the excellent ideas churned out by many research institutes are often allowed to gather dust. He said that if some of the ideas and recommendations made by many researchers over the years had   been implemented, the country would not be where it is today.

    The event which had the theme “Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria,” was  organised by the Development Policy Centre, Ibadan.

     

  • Beware of el-Rufai’s antics, Timi Frank warns Buhari

    •‘Kaduna governor is a serial betrayer’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Timi Frank yesterday warned President Muhammadu Buhari to beware of the antics of Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.

    The governor, he said, had a record of betraying his benefactors.

    In a statement in Abuja, Frank said the President must be careful in dealing with the  governor, pointing out that his claim of being a member of the “Buharist’s group” amount to disservice to some other Nigerians who truly love the President.

    Frank, who was reacting to a statement credited to the governor over comments attributed to the Women Affairs Minister Aisha Jummai Alhassan, declared what the Minister said was out of conscience, honesty and not disrespect for Buhari.

    The minister, he added, does not mean any harm.

    He said the President is a man of the people and knows those who are truly his own.

    The APC chieftain said el-Rufai knows nothing about loyalty because “a serial betrayal like this governor has no record of loyalty to anybody.”

    He dismissed the claim by the governor that his group was asking President Buhari to seek re-election in 2019, pointing out he lacks any electoral value and credibility.

    He said the antics of the governor was aimed at blackmailing the President into endorsing him for a second term bid or ask him run for the Presidency if the President refuses to seek re-election.

    Frank, who is the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, said: “When Nigerians were busy praying for safe return of Mr. President from his medical leave to London some months back, it was alleged that the likes of el-rufai were busy scheming on how to become the Vice President.

    “el-Rufai is known for singing sycophantic praises whenever he is in government. He did it to former President Olusegun Obasenjo and later abandoned him.

    “He did it to Atiku, who brought him to the limelight and latter became his enemy. He has even repeated this same act against President Muhammad Buhari, who el-rufai said that he would never become President.

    “The record is there for everybody to see. He will do it again once Buhari leaves government.”

    Saying Alhassan was right to have expressed her views, Frank added: “May be, El-rufai was expecting Mama Taraba to become selfish, self-centered, arrogant and turn Judas like him and turn her back against Atiku Abubakar who will always stand by her again and again politically.”

  • Beware of el-Rufai’s antics, APC chieftain warns Buhari

    Beware of el-Rufai’s antics, APC chieftain warns Buhari

    A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Timi Frank has warned President Muhammadu Buhari to beware of the antics of the likes of Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai whom he said has a record of betraying all his benefactors.

    In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, Frank said the President must be careful in dealing with the governor, pointing out that his claim of being a member of the “Buharist’s group” amount to deservice to some other Nigerians who truly love the President.

    Frank who was reacting to a statement credited to the governor over comments attributed to the Women Affairs Minister Aisha Jummai Alhassan, declared that what the Minister said was out of conscience, honesty and not disrespect for President Buhari, saying the woman did not mean any arm. 

    He said President Buhari is a man of the people and knows the people who are truly his own and when people are talking of loyalty, El-rufai should keep quite because he is not known to be one. A serial betrayal like this governor has no record of loyalty to anybody.

    He dismissed the claim by the governor that his group was asking President Buhari to seek re-election in 2019, pointing out that the governor does not have any electoral value and credibility to force the President to contest the 2019 elections, adding that “Buhari is in best position to take such decision by himself.” 

    He said the antics of the governor was aimed at blackmailing the President into endorsing him for a second term bid or endorse him to run for the President if the President refuse to seek re-election.

    Frank who is also the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC reminded the Presidency that “when Nigerians were busy praying for safe return of Mr. President from his medical leave to London some months back, it was alleged that the likes of El-rufai were busy scheming on how to become the Vice President.

    “El-rufai is known for singing sycophantic praises whenever he is in government. He did it to former President Olusegun Obasenjo and later abandoned him. He did it to Atiku, who brought him to the limelight, and letter became his enemy. He has even repeated this same act against President Muhammad Buhari, who El-rufai said that he would never become President. The record is there for everybody to see. He will do it again once Buhari leaves government. 

    “May be, El-rufai was expecting Mama Taraba to become selfish, self-centered, arrogant and turn Judas like him, and turn her back against Atiku Abubakar who will always stand by her again and again politically,” he said. 

    On the statement credited to the former Vice President which is generating reactions, Frank urged the President to look at the comments and the good intention aimed at adding value to his government and not otherwise. 

    Frank also recalled that the same El-rufai had late last year wrote a lengthy lamentation letter to the President which was later made public.

  • Governors, ministers want Buhari to seek re-election – El-Rufa’i

    Governors, ministers want Buhari to seek re-election – El-Rufa’i

    Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufa’I, said on Friday the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors and ministers have resolved to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to contest the 2019 presidential election.

    El-Rufa’i, who made this known to State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the governors and the ministers made the call as members of the “Buharist Group.”

    The “Buharist Group” is an association of APC governors and ministers, whose primary aim is to promote and defend the perceived socio-political interests of President Buhari.

    The governor dismissed the assertion that he was being groomed to replace Buhari in 2019.

    According to him, as a member of the “Buharist group’’ he has no presidential ambition as being speculated since he left the public service as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2007.

    He said: “My name has continuously been mentioned as a presidential aspirant s‎ince 2007 after my years in the FCT, there is nothing new about that.

    “What I want to say here very, very clearly is that I have never been a presidential aspirant. I have never even been a gubernatorial aspirant.

    “I am governor today by the grace of God because President Buhari called me and said go and run for Governor of Kaduna State.

    “As far as 2019 is concerned, my position is the President (Buhari) is looking very well, he is recuperating very fast. My hope and prayer is he will contest in 2019.”

    On the recent comments attributed to the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Aishat Alhassan, El-Rufa’i said Nigerians should not be surprised or shocked over her utterances, saying in the APC she was never in the Buhari camp.

    Aishat Alhassan had on Wednesday told the BBC Hausa Service that she would rather resign as minister than abandon former Vice President Atiku Abubakar “if he decides to run for presidential elections in 2019.”

    However, El-Rufa’i said Alhassan neither supported Buhari’s candidature during the APC National Convention nor voted for him during the party primaries.

    “This has always been her position because from time she has never supported Buharism or what Buhari stands for.

    “Being part of Buhari’s government is a different thing because government sets policies and if you are a minister you execute the policies. You can execute those policies while pursuing a different brand of politics,’’ the governor added.

    El Rufai, who said he was in the Presidential Villa to wish the President “very happy Sallah’’ and also join him in performing the Juma’at prayer, said it was the President’s prerogative to either retain or remove the minister from the cabinet.

    He said: “Look, you can retain a person in the cabinet even if he doesn’t support you but adds value to the country. Because this is a government, it is not a political group fighting for some political progress.

    “If Jummai Alhassan is coming as Minister of Women Affairs and adding value to the government and the people of Nigeria it is the President’s prerogative to retain her despite her political views.”

    NAN

     

  • Alhassan never supported Buhari in 2015 – El-Rufai

    Alhassan never supported Buhari in 2015 – El-Rufai

    Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai on Friday said that the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan never believed in the ideology of President Muhammadu Buhari before or after the 2015 Presidential elections.

    According to him, she did not even vote for President Buhari during the election.

    El-Rufai spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He explained that the President President only appointed her as a minister to as he considered every Nigerian as his son or daughter.

    He said “I just came to see the President and wish him very happy Sallah arrears, I wasn’t able to go to Daura. ‎Hours of works and interactions, today being Friday I happen to be in town and thought I should come see him, pray with him and wish him well.

    “The Minister of Women Affairs Jummai Alhassan has been in the Students Union. In the APC she was never in the Buhari camp, she did not support our candidates during the National Convention, she didn’t vote for Buhari during the Primaries. But out of largeness of the President’s heart and to encourage women……

    “Even though she was never a supporter of his politics or what he believes in, his ideology. He still believed that to encourage women in politics , what she has tried to do in Taraba earned her being nominated as a Minister. Many in Buhari camp did not support it but he overode everybody… he tries to consider every Nigerian his own son or daughter and he nominated here…

    “Her comments are not surprising, she has never been a supporter, she has never believed in Buhari ideology. So, I am not surprised… as a Nigerian, as an individual she has every right to express her views and support whoever she wants.

    “What I am saying is Nigerians should not be surprised or shocked. This has always been her position because from time she has never supported Buharism or what Buhari stands for. Being part of Buhari government is a different thing because government sets policies and if you are a minister you execute the policies. You can execute those policies while pursuing a different brand of politics.

    On whether she should be retained, he said that it is the prerogative of the President to decide on what to do.

    He said “It is the President’s prerogative. Look, you can retain a person in the cabinet even if he doesn’t support you if he adds value to the country. Because this is a government, it is not a political group fighting for some political progress. If Jummai Alhassan is coming as Minister of Women Affairs and adding value to the government and the people of Nigeria is the President’s prerogative to retain her in spite of her political views.

    “But if she is not adding value in spite of her political views she can be dispensed with…… people shouldn’t get worried about it.

    “I have worked closely with the President, I know him and I know how he thinks. He doesn’t take this things personally…. What is primary to him is Nigeria’s progress… that is what matters ultimately.

    Speaking on the call for On restructuring, he said “Well, I am chairing the APC ‎committee on true federalism, we met yesterday. We are going to start public hearings round the country from September 18. We have published call for memoranda and we have started receiving a lot of comments and memoranda particularly from young people who have never been part of this restructuring conversation, and we will go to every part of the country.

    “We’ll have 13 public hearings all across the country, and by the time we listen to Nigerians and synthesize their views we will …..write and make recommendations to our party how to operationise true federalism as we have promised in our constitution.

    “What is important for us ‎in the APC is to separate the signal from the noise. There is a lot of noise about…. there is a lot of opportunism, there are people that are restructuring their career, that is their meal ticket and we’ll put that as the noise.

    “But the signal is what nigerians say. What young people who’s country we are supposed to be restructuring for. One, we are encouraging young people through social media, through blogs to tell us what they think. Because this country is theirs. 80 percent of nigerians which below the age of 35, and whatever structure we design for Nigeria is for them. I have maybe a decade or two decades left, but these young people have years of their lifes ahead.

    “So, the Nigeria we are trying to creat is for them, and we want to hear them, we want to hear what they think, what else do they want.

    “And we are going to go round the country and we’ve set up virtually every social media platform‎. We have made available young people to sent us what they think on twelve key issues on the front burner regarding devolution, true federalism and whatever you call it.

    “And when we get that, we will compile that and publish what Nigerians have said, we‎’ll make recommendations to our party and move on from there.” he stated

    On posters suggesting him as possible replacement if President Buhari decides not to contest in 2019, he said “Look, my name has continuously been mentioned as a Presidential aspirant s‎ince 2007 after my years in the FCT, there is nothing new about that. What I want to say here very, very clearly is that I have never been a Presidential aspirant, I have never even been a governatorial aspirant.

    “I am governor today by the grace of God because President Buhari called me and said go and run for Governor of Kaduna state. As far as 2019 is concerned, my position is the President is looking very well, he is recuperating very fast. My hope and prayer is he will contest in 2019.

    “Everything that our group is doing, and we have a group. We have a Buharist amongst governors, ministers. Our group wants to ensure that President Buhari runs in 2019. If he chooses not to run he will tell us which direction to go.

    “We are Buharist, we don’t have any personal ambition, we don’t have any personal aspiration and we are waiting for him to decide. And every political effort we are making, every structure we are creating….. And we know many people that have already started campaigning, they want to tag some of us as part of the probem and we are ready for them.

    “But our political ideology is to support whatever President Buhari wants to support, that has not changed. And I want to assure you whatever names you hear, Nasir El-Rufai is not an aspirant for the presidency neither any of the governors that are known to be Buharists as well as some of the ministers that are known for from time.” he said

  • Boko Haram: Northern governors donate N360m to Borno

    Boko Haram: Northern governors donate N360m to Borno

    The governors of 18 Northern States on Wednesday donated the sum of N360 million to support Borno State government’s efforts  at rebuilding communities destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents.

    Governors Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina), ‎Nasir El-Rufai  (Kaduna), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) and Jibrilla Bindow (Adamawa) presented the cheque to Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, at the Government House in Maiduguri.

    They said each of the 18 states, excluding Borno, donated N20 million.

    The governors also interacted with displaced persons in one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state and paid a courtesy call on Governor Shettima.

    Masari, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said they were picked to visit Maiduguri and commiserate with Shettima and the people of Borno State over the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in the state.

    He said: “At the last meeting of the Northern Governors, it was resolved that a committee be set up to visit Borno. We were nominated as members of the committee. We are here to show sympathy to the good people of Borno and in solidarity with our brother, Governor Kashim Shettima. We are solidly behind him in this trying time.

    “We have also resolved to be more united than ever before. What affects any of us, affects all. Each of the 18 northern states is donating N20million totaling N360million. Some have already issued cheques while others are sending theirs soon. We will stand in solidarity with each other and do everything humanly possible to ensure that this kind of crisis that affected the northeast does not affect any other part of the north and by extension the country.”

    In his remarks, Governor Shettima hailed the support of his colleagues, saying their empathy has been a source of encouragement.

    He said: “As your brother and colleague in this state, one of the things that has kept me strong despite the calamity of Boko Haram, is the genuine empathy and encouragement I constantly receive from all of you.

    “Most Governors have solidly identified with us even when Borno suffered its most severe neglect between 2011 and 2014. It was at this period that Boko Haram took over most of our local government areas after very audacious and bloody attacks. They killed thousands, destroyed communities, abducted and raped our sisters and daughters.

    “They destroyed nearly one million residential houses; destroyed over five thousand classrooms and other school buildings. They destroyed over 200 healthcare centres and bombed water and electricity installations.”