The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fed Govt

  • Fed Govt to establish special courts for hate speech

    •IG gets order on community policing

    Surveyors of hate speech are likely to face special courts like kidnap and terrorism suspects, the Presidency gave the indication yesterday.

    It was one of the resolutions at last week’s retreat on National Security according to the communique made available by media adviser to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande.

    Akande said the Federal Government would help states to develop a template on how such special courts would be established and managed.

    He said the retreat expressed concerns about the delay in the criminal justice system and the NEC concluded that prompt action by law enforcement agencies was imperative.

    “NEC members urged prompt action in the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of terrorist acts, kidnapping and purveyors of hate speeches. To facilitate this, the designation of special courts was also advocated and the consensus was that judicial and executive arms of the federal and state governments would be working together to establish such courts,” he said.

    He said the retreat which was convened to review current security challenges across Nigeria featured presentations on national security situation, terrorism in the northeast, herders/farmers clashes, ethno-religious crises, regional agitations for secession, hate speech, kidnapping and security challenges in the Niger/Delta.

    He said the NEC recognized the herders/farmers conflict as a problem of land use,p which had “however taken an ethnic and religious coloration” and agreed that both the Federal Government and sates needed to properly define the problems and eschew the ethno-religious construction “of what is otherwise an economic challenge.”

    He said the council observed that it would be useful to bring the different groups of herdsmen and the farmers together to meet and work out some of the issues affecting them.

    The retreat also demanded that community policing model be immediately enforced ahead of the required constitutional amendment for state police.

    It was agreed that policing the country and the entire law enforcement generally could not effectively continue without devolving policing and law enforcement out to the states.

    Akande said Osinbajo directed Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris to initiate community policing in line with the provisions of section 215(3) of the 1999 constitution as amended and section 10(1) of the Police Act.

    “According to section 215(3) of the Constitution, “the President or such Minister of the Government of the Federation as he may authorise in that behalf may give to the Inspector-General of Police such lawful directions with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order as he may consider necessary and the Inspector-General of Police shall comply with those directions or cause them to be complied with.

  • ‘Fed Govt not eager to sell refineries’

    The Federal Government is not ready to sell or concession any of its four refineries in whole or in part, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr Ibe Kachikwu said yesterday.

    He said ths is because the refineries were yet to return to optimal level, operating below their capacity level, despite several years of turnaraound maintenance by the government.

    Kachikwu spoke at the 2017 edition of the National Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) Conference in Lagos.

    The theme of the conference is: ” PICB: Prospects and Challenges to Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.”

    Represented by the Deputy Director, Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR) Olumide Adeleke, Kachikwu said the intention of the Federal Government to carry out the turnaround maintenance on Warri, Port Harcourt 1 &2  and Kaduna refineries years ago, was not sell them, but to prepare them for improved processing of crude oil into petroleum products.

    He said: ” We sought externally for resources to finance the rehabiltation of the  existing refineries, which was a very tall order, telling someone to invest $1billion in the refineries rehabilitation, with no equity, and wait for incremental volumes of refined products to recoup their investment.

    According to him, the actual rehabilitation work would be carried out by the original refinery builders (ORBs), with financers funding the repair work, and a joint management team comprising ORBs, Financiers and NNPC, to steer the operation of the refineries over a period of 5-6 years to bleed incremental liquids for recouping investments.

    Kachikwu said the government had not done the valuation of the refineries, let alone thinking of selling them.

    On modular refineries, he said only two of between agency 40 and 50 companies, which got the licences to operate the refineries had shown considerable interest in the project, adding that majority of them were yet to realise the task involved in setting up refineires in the country.

  • Fed govt committed to SMEs’ growth, says minister

    • BoI to expand lending windows

    The Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar, has restated the Federal Government’s support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) because of their impact on economic growth.

    Speaking at the African SMEs exhibition in Lagos, Abubakar said the focus of the exhibition, Promoting SMEs for sustainable development and economic growth, tallied with the plan to ensure that skilful entrepreneurs were actively engaged in one economic venture.

    The government, according to her, is harnessing efforts to design and sustain viable initiatives, which can solve the problem of unemployment, while shoring up the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    “The future of SMEs in the continent is bright, but we must all do our part to make sure we achieve this. This expo will no doubt, stimulate and attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into the African business ecosystem, which will in turn promote investment and trade,” Abubarkar said.

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) announced that it would have dedicated N1.2 trillion to SMEs’ development by 2019, noting that the bank would leverage on its partnership with commercial banks to bring its risk assets from the current N600 billion to N1.2 trillion.

    BoI Managing Director Mr. Olukayode Pitan, represented by the Executive Director, SME, Waheed Olagunju, said the bank  budgeted about N310 billion for SMEs’ development with an average of N60 billion yearly.

    He said SMEs’ major challenge  was not finance, but the dearth of feasible business models and bankable proposals. According to him, Nigeria does not lack the funds to support SMEs.

    Pitan listed other challenges holding SMEs down to include lack of skilled manpower, inability to meet the requirements of financial institutions, and SMEs’ vulnerability to shocks, among others.

    He, however, said despite the challenges, there were a number of successful SMEs that prove that it is possible to promote SMEs and run them viably and efficiently.

    “At BOI we lend to SMEs at single digit, because we are able to mobilise resources from national and sub national sources, and the tenures are quite generous. Because of our branch network, we are also able to work closely with the SMEs,” Pitan said.

    The BoI boss, however, explained that the projects the bank supports are those that have considerable developmental impacts by way of job creation; projects supported by women and projects that are environmentally sustainable as well as those that rely on local content by way of their raw materials.

    “We are making a lot of progress in terms of supporting SMEs. We have come up with lots of innovative schemes to reach the entire country,” Pitan said.

    He however, noted that the bank’s Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio has consistently been at four per cent, which is below the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) threshold of five per cent.

     

  • Fed Govt donates rice to WFP

    The Federal Government has donated 5,000 metric tonnes of rice to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

    This will help feed nearly half-a-million internally displaced people in the conflict-ravaged northeast of the country, where the threat of famine persists.

    WFP has begun moving the first batch of the rice – and expects a further 2,000 metric tons of millet pledged by the Nigerian authorities.

    “As a responsible government, the Federal Government, in recognition of the efforts of humanitarian actors and the need to ensure food security for the people affected by insurgency in the north east, has not only approved the distribution of 35,905 metric tonnes of grains to the people, but has also approved the release of 5,000 metric tons of rice for distribution by World Food Programme (WFP) in some communities affected by insurgency,” said Director-General,  National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja.

    Since its launch last year, WFP has expanded its offer of food, nutrition and cash to reach more than a million people monthly. Having overcome a funding challenge, it has set its target at 1.36 million people during the pre-harvest lean season, the hungriest time of the year.

    “This donation once again testifies to the quality of relations between WFP and Nigeria,” said Ronald Sibanda, WFP’s interim country director. “Our partnership with the Government’s specialised emergency agencies, both at the federal and state level, have been crucial in allowing us to assist those who need it most.”

    As part of a $100 million contribution to WFP’s Nigeria response, the US will cover the associated costs of getting the donated rice to those displaced in the hardest-hit states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

    Nigeria’s crisis has spilled over borders, leaving millions in the broader Lake Chad Basin region uncertain of where their meal is coming from. Experts have warned that without sufficient and timely humanitarian assistance, northeast Nigeria risks tipping into famine.

    WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in about 80 countries.

  • ‘Fed Govt adopting whistleblower policy to tackle illegal recruitment, others’

    THE Federal Government is adopting the whistleblower policy to tackle illegal recruitment and improve budgeting.

    The adoption followed the success of the policy in recovery of stolen funds.

    Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun broke the news in Abuja yesterday at a seminar on: “The whistleblower policy and its implication for public servants”. It was organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR).

    According to Mrs. Adeosun, “we are revising our procedures for approval of recruitment, which will improve our budgeting and control.”

    She stated that government’s “work is to analyse trends and take corrective actions. For example, many of the salary, tax and pension under remittance cases shared a common thread. Several cases where institutions were found to have insufficient funds to meet there obligations often had illegal recruitments, which bloated the wage bill and agencies responded by part-paying or short-paying salaries, whilst applying to the Federal Government for salary shortfall payments.

    The minister noted that “in many cases where revenue has been diverted to accounts outside TSA, we have reviewed our reconciliation and receipting processes. So, the information being provided is useful in driving process improvements.”

    Adeosun stated that much of the success of the whistleblower policy has relied on the decision of the whistleblower to do the right thing.

    She revealed that “of the 365 actionable tips we have received, over half of them have come from public servants touching on issues such as contract inflation, ghost workers, illegal recruitments, misappropriation of funds, illegal sale of government assets, diversion of revenues and violation of TSA regulations, among others.”

    In reviewing the information, she said the Federal Government has received and noticed “that certain type of tips are recurring, for example; 39 per cent (144) of the actionable tips relate to misappropriation and diversion of funds/revenue, 16 per cent (60) relate to ghost workers, illegal recruitments and embezzlement of funds meant for personnel emolument, 15 per cent (56) relate to violation of TSA regulation, 13 per cent  (49) relate to contract inflation/violation of the procurement act and failure to carry out projects for which funds have been released and nine  per cent (34) relate to non-remittance of pension & NHIS deductions. Others include concealed bail-out funds and embezzlement of funds from donor agencies”.

    Overall, Mrs. Adeosun said the volume of tips received “has been greater and of higher quality than expected when the programme was first adopted. We continue to receive information everyday with total communication reaching above 5,000 in July through our various reporting channels.”

    Adeosun assured civil servant, who “have information about a possible misconduct or violation that has occurred, is on-going, or is about to occur, we implore you to come forward and report it”.

    “You can submit your information anonymously and confidentially through the online portal, by email or by phone and if you choose to disclose your identity, I assure you that it will be fully protected.”

     

     

     

     

     

    “All information you provide will be reviewed, analysed and referred to be treated either administratively or criminally, through the investigative agencies.

    “If for any reason after a civil servant has made a disclosure, you feel that you are being treated badly because of your report, you can file a formal complaint through the same confidential channels and the matter will be dealt with immediately with the seriousness it deserves,” she said.

  • Fed Govt accuses lecturers of bad faith as ASUU begins strike

    Fed Govt accuses lecturers of bad faith as ASUU begins strike

    ‘It’ll be total, comprehensive, indefinite’

    Situation on campuses

    University teachers are set for major strike, it was announced yesterday.

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said the strike “will be total, comprehensive and indefinite” to press home lecturers’ demand for improved welfare and working conditions.

    ASUU National President Dr. Biodun Ogunyemi said the union took the decision after a nationwide consultation with its members at an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) on Sunday.

    According to him, there will be no teaching, no examination and no attendance of statutory meetings of any kind in any of the union’s branches during the strike.

    He said ASUU must make the Federal and state governments to implement the provisions of the 2009 Agreement, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of 2013 and the understanding reached in November 2016 in order to lay the foundation for a university system capable of producing a country of our dream.

    Dr. Ogunyemi said: “The foundation of development of any nation lies on its attention to education. No nation can grow beyond the level of its educational development. Any genuine move to transform Nigeria into an economically viable and politically stable country must begin with a firm commitment to an all-round transformation of the country’s education.

    “ASUU has been vociferous on the primacy of the university education system because it is the repository of ideas for invention, innovation and national transformation.

    “Consequently, based on a nationwide consultation with our members, an emergency meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU rose on Saturday, 12th August, 2017 with a resolution to embark on an indefinite strike action starting from Sunday, 13th August, 2017.

    ”The nationwide action is total and comprehensive. During the strike, there shall be no teaching, no examination and no attendance of statutory meeting of any kind in any of our branches.

    ”Lastly, we call on all patriots to prevail on owners of public universities to be alive to their responsibilities. Indeed, ASUU struggles should be Nigerians’ struggles.

    The ASUU president also accused the political class of paying lip-service to addressing the rot and decay in Nigeria’s university education.

    According to him, Nigeria is beginning to lose the little gains it had achieved through the struggles of the union, labour movement, the media and other patriotic organisations at salvaging the country’s crisis-ridden public universities.

    ”It is, however, disappointing that despite prime importance of university education, the political class in Nigeria has continued to pay mere lip-service to addressing the rot and decay in the sub-sector.

    ”As things stand, the country is beginning to lose the little gains achieved through the struggles of ASUU, the labour movement, the media and other patriotic organisations at salvaging our crisis-ridden public universities.”

    The Federal Government said yesterday that negotiations were ongoing between it and the union on the issues arising from the 2009 agreement and the MoU of 2013.

    The Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Chinenye Ihuoma, said:

    “If it is on ASUU, just know that the FG/ASUU renegotiation 2009 is ongoing with the government team under the leadership of Dr. B. O Babalakin (SAN).”

    Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu, in January inaugurated a 16-member team to renegotiate the 2009 agreement.

    The committee, headed by  Babalakin, was given the mandate to dialogue with the ASUU, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Associated & Allied Institutions (NASU) to ensure sustainable peace and industrial harmony in tertiary institutions.

    The ASUU president said the Wale Babalakin-led committee  lacked the powers to resolve the issue as there were unimplemented items in the 2009 agreement.

    He said government had ignored the system, stressing that the political class had also shifted attention to sending their wards to private universities and universities abroad, leaving public universities to collapse

    ”Among the issues in current disputes involved in the 2009 agreement and 2013 MOU are funding for the revitalisation of public universities and earned academic allowances.

    ”Others include registration of Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO), University staff school, fractionalisation and non payment of salaries,’’ Ogunyemi said.

    But the National Parents Teachers Association (NAPTAN) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) faulted the strike. Both organisations said they were not consulted before ASUU declared the strike.

    NAPTAN National President Haruna Danjuma said given the kidnapping of some ASUU members at the University of Maiduguri, the authorities had not done enough to guarantee security of workers and students.

    He said: “Though we were not consulted by ASUU, as parents, we have been in consultation with them to find a lasting solution to their demands.

    “We were shocked by their (ASUU) decision. We parents are not 100 per cent in support of the strike; but in a situation where it involves lives of students and lecturers, we shall not keep our eyes closed.”

    “I understand that students of Bayero State University are meant to start their exams today (yesterday), but with this strike, it no longer looks feasible.

    “As parents, we are concerned about the wellbeing of our children from primary up to university levels.

    “Let government call a roundtable discussion to stop this strike now before things get complicated.”

    CAN National President Rev. Samson Ayokunle said CAN was unhappy about the situation.

    Speaking through his spokesperson Bayo Oladeji, he urged the Federal Government to immediately begin talks with the union.

    He said: “As far as we are concerned, ASUU did not consult us and I do not think they consulted other stakeholders, such as parents and students, before declaring the strike.

    “To us, this is unfortunate. The Federal Government too has not helped matters by playing into their hands. From time to time, we have witnessed situations where ASUU embarks on strikes only for government to beg them to resume with a promise to attend to their demands, but in the end, nothing will happen.

    “Our children are now spending between seven to eight years in universities before they graduate and CAN is not happy about the situation.”

     

  • MASSOB to Fed Govt: we’ll shake Nigeria if Kanu is arrested

    MASSOB to Fed Govt: we’ll shake Nigeria if Kanu is arrested

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday warned the Federal Government that re-arresting pro-Biafran Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, will lead to an unprecedented crisis in the nation’s history.

    Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was arrested and detained by the Federal Government for alleged treason in 2015.

    He was granted bail earlier this year with some conditions, including the restriction not to be seen in a crowd of more than 10 persons.

    The government also said he must not address a meia briefing or grant interviews.

    But Kanu has serially flouted the conditions.

    He also backed a one-day sit-at-home protest by = Southeast and Southsouth residents to press home their demand for secession of Biafra to be carved out from the area two regions.

    The sit-at-home protest was largely successful, especially in the five Igbo-dominated states in the Southeast.

    But it has heightened the already charged political tension across the country.

    Various groups, including the Arewa Youth Assembly, have urged security agencies to arrest Kanu for inciting statements calculated to overheat the polity.

    In a statement by its factional leader, Uchenna Madu, MASSOB warned that the country may not recover from the crisis the action will generate, if Kanu is re-arrested.

    The statement said: “MASSOB warns that any attempt or plan to re-arrest Kanu will be thoroughly and massively resisted. We can never tolerate it. It is an insult and embarrassment to our inalienable rights. We shall collapse Nigeria, if he is arrested.

    “Now that we know that our consistency and exposure of the hidden truths is dangerously frustrating, disorganising and killing their age-long agendas against the people of Biafra, we shall never relent or surrender.”

  • N249b: Fed Govt stops case against banks

    N249b: Fed Govt stops case against banks

    •Banks seek compensation 

    THE Federal Government yesterday applied to discontinue its suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos seeking $793,200,000 (about N249,659,700,000) from seven banks, which it claims they hid for “unknown government officials”.

    Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George SAN, who brought the notice of discontinuance, said the government had decided to explore an “out of court settlement” with the banks in the public interest.

    The banks are: United Bank for Africa Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, First Bank Ltd, Fidelity Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Ltd and Sterling Bank Plc.

    Last July 20, the government accused the commercial banks of hiding $793.2m in contravention of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.

    Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami (SAN) through Akinseye-George, sought and obtained an interim order directing the banks to remit the $793.2m to a designated account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Justice Chuka Obiozor, who granted the ex-parte application, adjourned till yesterday for the banks to show cause why the interim order should not be made permanent.

    However, at the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, Akinseye-George notified the court of the notice of discontinuance dated August 7, pursuant to Order 50 Rule 2 Subsection 1, Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules of 2009.

    He said he had been instructed by the AGF to discontinue the case in the overall interest of the public.

    “We have decided that the matter is better resolved through other means apart from litigation. We are all Nigerians and we all meant well for the country.

    “The rule, under which the application was brought, allows the withdrawal of the suit without seeking the court’s leave.

    “The rules also allow the withdrawal of the suit not later than 14 days of serving the defendants. We are still very much within the 14 days, pleadings have not been concluded while issues are yet to be joined.

    “For these reasons, I enjoined the court to strike out the suit,” Akinseye-George said.

    He added: “It is not out of weakness that the Federal Government is withdrawing this case. The banks are corporate citizens and we are interested in the well-being of everybody.”

    However, lawyers representing six of the banks, except Skye Bank Plc, which had no legal representation, accused the government of unjustly damaging the banks’ reputation by making a false allegation.

    They urged the court to dismiss the suit instead of striking it out, noting that any case struck out could be re-filed while a case that is dismissed could no longer be re-filed.

    UBA’s counsel Dr. Ajibola Muraina said the government served him the notice of discontinuance only after he had filed all necessary court papers.

    He contended that issues had already been joined and as such the proper thing to be done by the court was to dismiss the suit and not to strike it out.

    He asked the court to award the cost of N10 million as damages against the government.

    Muraina urged the court to direct the publication of the notice of discontinuance in all national dailies.

    The lawyer’s submission was adopted by other defendants’ lawyers, namely, Seyi Sowemimo (SAN) for Fidelity Bank; Abimbola Akeredolu (SAN) for Sterling Bank; N. A. Oragwu (Diamond Bank); E.A. Okorie (First Bank) and Babatunde Ogungbamila (Keystone Bank).

    Akeredolu contended that the Federal Government decided to withdraw the case having realised that it was filed in error.

    Ogungbamila, however, insisted on a cost of N20 million, saying his client had suffered a substantial damage to its reputation.

    But Akinseye-George countered that the parties had yet to join issues because the Federal Government had yet to respond to the court processes filed by the banks.

    He added that the government came to court early enough before the maturation of time for the court to hear arguments on the substantive suit.

    Akinseye-George argued that the banks were not entitled to any cost because they did not file any affidavit to particularise the nature of the damage they claimed to have suffered.

    He urged the court to discountenance their arguments and strike out the suit rather than dismiss it.

    He emphasised that the suit was not being withdrawn because it lacked substance or was baseless but because it was in the overriding interest of the public to withdraw it.

    Justice Obiozor adjourned till today for ruling on whether the case would be struck out or dismissed.

    According to court processes filed by the government on July 20, $367.4 million was allegedly hidden by three government agencies in UBA; $41 million was kept in a National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) fixed deposit account with Skye Bank.

    The documents stated that $277.9 million was in Diamond Bank, $18.9 million in First Bank, $24.5 million in Fidelity Bank, $17 million in Keystone Bank, and $46.5 million in Sterling Bank.

     

  • Fed Govt endorses health insurance for Nollywood

    as a result of death of Nollywood actors from chronic diseases, the Federal Government has endorsed a Healthcare and Life Insurance Scheme for Nollywood practitioners.

    At the recent launch of the Nolly Health Insurance which comprised Life Insurance and Pension scheme, the Managing Director, Nigerian Film Corporation, Dr Chidia Maduekwe, commended the initiative.

    “On behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the launch of the unified Health/Life Insurance and Pension Scheme (LIPS) is a thing of joy and it gladdens my heart to be associated with it,” said Maduekwe.

    The Lagos State’s Acting Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Adebimpe Akinsola, also said the scheme was long overdue in view of the health challenges which had claimed many lives in the industry due to lack of fund for medicare and commended the leadership of the movies and creative industry for the laudable programme.

    Speaking, the managing director, Nigerian Guild of Actors, Fred Amata, charged participants to take advantage of unity of purpose to ensure the success of the scheme, as it has potentials to ensure well-being of the practitioners in the industry.

    Dr Olasimbo Davidson, the managing director of Pinewood Medicare, a preferred provider of health insurance, lamented that only two per cent of Nigeria’s population could afford pre-paid health coverage.

  • FG warns against attacks on law enforcement agents

    THE Federal Government has declared that it will no longer tolerate the spate of lawlessness and attacks on law enforcement agents.

    Acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation Dr. Habitat Lawal gave the warning at a management strategic session of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Abuja.

    A statement by FRSC Corps Public Education Officer Bisi Kazeem quoted the Acting SGF, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary (General Services) in her office, Dr. Ugo Roy, as reminding security agencies of their duty to ensure that citizens obey the laws.

    She said the citizens, on their part, must submit to rules and regulations, and realise that the law enforcement agencies are there to secure their lives and property.

    The statement said: “This nation can longer tolerate flagrant disobedience to laws, assault, maiming, killing as well as abduction of security operatives.

    “If the rate at which citizens contravene laws and regulations is not checked, then the nation may lapse into dire strait.

    “It is, therefore, the duty of all security agencies, including the FRSC, to ensure that the citizens of this nation adhere to rules and regulations.

    “All security agencies must collaborate while Nigerians must equally realise that the agencies are on duty to protect their lives and properties.”

    The SGF, who supervises the FRSC, spoke against the backdrop of recent attacks against personnel and facilities of the Corps in parts of the country.

    Over 10 cases were recorded in July alone, prominent among which was the shooting of two FRSC officials by security operatives attached to the Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly in Aba.

    The acting SGF urged the FRSC management to rise up to the challenge by being firmer in enforcement of the law and with its commanding officers and the rank and file.

    Dr. Lawal enjoined the Corps to work closely with the federal and state ministries of justice to ensure that traffic law offenders were prosecuted.

    “FRSC must remain diligent, firm and fair in the discharge of its duties. You must not allow the so-called ‘sacred cow syndrome’ to tarnish your good image.

    “You must also put in place checks on field operatives so that they stay within operational procedures and guidelines,’’ she added.

    She stated that the Federal Government was aware of the challenges facing the corps, and was working towards solving them in addition to remaining solidly them in the discharge of their duties.

    The Corps Marshal Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi said the forum was in continuation of the interaction between the management and commanding officers towards actualising the 2017 strategic goals of the Corps.

    The session, he explained, was an opportunity for management and officers to share ideas and experiences, and review their operational activities in the last one year to chart the way forward.

    On the spate of attacks on FRSC officials, Oyeyemi urged the commanding officers to be more vigilant in their commands and expand the frontier of their collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

    Oyeyemi thanked the Federal Government for its sustained support to the Corps as shown in the reduction of road accidents in the last seven months.