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  • Governors, judges, ministers, others to earn more than Buhari, Osinbajo

    Governors, judges, ministers, others to earn more than Buhari, Osinbajo

    •Perm Sec, Special Adviser , Speech Writers too

    MONTHLY PAY

    •President ( N585, 784.10)
    •Vice President; (N505,262.08)
    •Senate President (N724,570.72)
    •Deputy Senate President (N673,507.00)
    •Senator (N1,063,860)
    •Speaker (N412,851.66)
    •Deputy Speaker (N381, 172.40)
    • Representatives (N794, 086.83)
    •  Governor (N648,580.62);
    • Deputy Governor (N616,062.69)
    • Minister/SGF/ HOS (N650,136.65)

    With a 50 per cent cut in their pay, the President and Vice-President are to earn less than the Chief Justice of Nigeria, ministers, High Court judges and others.

    According to a document obtained from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the President and the Vice President are now ranked as 15th and 17th in Remuneration Package for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders.

    This is the first time that the President and Vice President will slump in the pay ranking.

    The President has said that he will not force other office holders to cut their salaries.

    The monthly pay is as follows: President ( N585, 784.10); Vice President; (N505.262.08); Senate President(N724,570.72);  Deputy Senate President (N673,507.00);  Senator (N1,063,860); Speaker, House of Representatives (N412,851.66); Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives (N381, 172.40) and member, House of Representatives (N794, 086.83).

    The pay highlights for others are Governor(N648,580.62);  Deputy Governor(N616,062.69); Minister/SGF/ HOS/ Chairmen of constitutional bodies(N650,136.65); Minister of State/Member of constitutional bodies(N628, 056.91); Special Adviser , including other categories, such as speech writers (N590, 957.81); Directors-General/ Auditor-General/ Permanent Secretary/ Accountant-General/ Executive Secretaries/ Chief Executives of Parastatals, Agencies and Government Companies/ INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners(N617, 881.68); and Chief Justice of Nigeria(N560,662.16).

    Others are Supreme Court Justices/ President, Court of Appeal(N908, 273.66); Justices of Court of Appeal/ Chief Judge , Federal High Court/ Chief Judge FCT/ President, National Industrial Court/ Grand Khadi FCT Sharia Court of Appeal/ President, FCT Customary Court of Appeal/ Chief Judge of a State/ Grand Khadi/ State Sharia Court of Appeal/ President, State Customary Court of Appeal(N731, 657.66).

    The list includes Judge of the Federal High Courrt/ National Industrial Court/ FCT High Court/ State High Court/ Khadi FCT Sharia Court of Appeal/ Judge FCT Customary Court of Appeal/ Khadi State Sharia Court of Appeal/ Judge State Customary Court(N661,735).

    It could not be immediately ascertained from RMAFC why the monthly pay  of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives is low compared to the Deputy President of the Senate and other members of the House.

    A source simply said: “I think the Speaker and his Deputy enjoy many perks in office  than many political office holders.

    “Do not forget the fact that we are still using the 2009 Remuneration Package initiated by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

    But RMAFC recommended eight ways to check leakages and wastes in government.

    The eight points are:

    •Eliminating or limiting the number of Personal Assistants

    •Reducing frivolous local and foreign trips

    • Checking  purchase of vehicles far in excess of what is approved for official use

    •Reduction of large use of motorcades by officials in excess of what is either specified in the remuneration package or compared to what is practiced in other parts of the world

    •The present state of the economy calls for caution and belt tightening measures

    • The 3-tiers of government to put in place adequate expenditure management and control system

    •Necessary to diversify the economic base of the nation in order to generate more revenue at the Federal, State and Local Government Council levels

    •Federal, State, LGA to focus more on the provision of Capital Projects/ Infrastructure rather than recurrent expenditure.

    The agency said: “The commission, based on its observations concluded that apart from the reduction in allowances, there are other areas of leakages and wastages in revenue at all the tiers of government that must be addressed in order to ensure increase in revenue and its judicious management

    “That there is non-compliance with the provisions of the remuneration packages such as contained in either the Report of the Commission or the Act itself. Such violations by the three tiers and arms of government include arbitrary appointment of high number of Personal Assistants which is adding more cost to the running of government at the various levels. It is difficult to determine what value they add to service delivery or to governance.

    ”The commission advised that all these illegal appointments by the 3-Tiers of government be stopped and officers concerned be relieved of their appointments.

    “Also, all the three tiers and arms of government should eliminate or limit the number of Personal Assistants to reduce cost of governance.

    “That there are too many frivolous local and foreign trips by Political Office Holders throughout the country. The commission is advising that it is necessary to reduce local and foreign trips and the size of entourage on such trips when absolutely necessary in order to save cost.

    “That there is acquisition and use of assets such as motor vehicles far in excess of what is approved for official use. For example,  Government Parastatals and Agencies purchasing project vehicles and eventually handing over same to their parent ministries as a way of circumventing the remuneration package.

    “The commission strongly advised all tiers of government to issue circular to all government ministries, parastatals, agencies to desist from buying vehicle under the cover of PROJECT VEHICLES to their parent ministries.

    “Similarly , the commission also observed the practice of buying fleet of cars in the name of Committee Vehicles. This practice negates the whole idea of monetisation, principle of modesty in governance and the spirit of remuneration packages particularly in the legislative arm throughout the country.

    “Therefore under the current economic downturn of the nation, this practice has to stop and vehicles procured in this manner have to be sold and proceeds should be used to provide buses for the common citizenry.

    “That there is a large use of motorcades by officials in excess of what is either specified in the remuneration package or compared to what is practiced in other parts of the world. The commission views this as a complete violation of the Remuneration Package because it has significantly increased the overhead cost of governance.”

    Disturbed by the high cost of governance, Yar’Adua had mandated RMAFC to review the Remuneration Package for political, Public and Judicial Office Holders to save cost.

    In the document made available to The Nation, RMAFC  gave the background to the review under Yar’Adua.

    RMAFC said: “The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in pursuance of its constitutional role of determining the remuneration appropriate Political, Public, and Judicial Office Holders as enshrined in Sections 70, 84, 111 and 124, as well as Paragraph 32(d) of Part One of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had, in the year 2007, reviewed the remuneration package for the Office Holders in the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary at the Federal, State and Local Government levels.

    “The recommendations of the Commission for the Executive at the Federal level and the FCT Area Councils as well as the Judiciary (Federal and States) were passed into law by the National Assembly as “Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2008”.

    “The various State Assemblies also passed their respective remuneration laws based on the salaries and allowances as determined by the Commission in its Remuneration Report of February, 2007.

    “The Remuneration package came into effect on 1st February, 2007. However, the Commission received a letter from Mr. President dated 10th February, 2009 on the need to review the 2008 Amendment Act, in view of the impact of the current global economic crisis and financial meltdown on the Nigerian economy particularly, the dwindling Government revenue.

    ”In line with its normal practice, the Commission commenced the review exercise by obtaining clarifications from appropriate authorities and holding interactive and consultative sessions with Stakeholder with a view to obtaining the inputs to guide the Commission to arrive at a fair remuneration package.

    “Specifically, the Commission inter- alia held consultations with the Senate, the House of Representatives, representatives of the Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies, representatives of the media, civil societies and labour, the Judiciary, the National Economic Management team, and representatives of Chairmen of Federal Executive Bodies. The Commission would like to note the true national spirit of collective sacrifice displayed by majority of the Stakeholders during the consultations.

    “In addition, the Commission obtained data on some current economic indicators and key macroeconomic variables such as inflationary rates, cost of living, exchange rate, Gross Domestic Product, crude oil production, international oil prices, accruals into the Federation Account etc., which were considered critical to the review exercise.

    ”Based on the provisions of paragraph 32(d) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the -999 Constitution and Section 148 (2) (c) of the same Constitution, it is the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission that has the power to determine, fix, review upward or downward the remuneration package of Political, Public and Judicial office holders whether elected, appointed or both including the Legislature at the Federal, State, and Local Government levels.

    “ However, the Commission took into consideration the provisions of Sections 84 (3) and 124 (3) of the 1999 Constitution both of which provide that “the remuneration and salaries payable to the holders of the said offices and their conditions of service, other than allowances, shall not be altered to their disadvantage after their appointment.

    “These provisions are however not applicable to the legislature at the fFederal, state and local government levels. Nevertheless, the commission in order to be fair, equitable and just to all beneficiaries of its remuneration package, decided not to review the basic salaries, but rather to confine itself to the allowances and other benefits of political, public and judicial office holders, including those in the legislature.”

     

  • Wage crisis: checklist for governors

    SIR: Events of recent past where majority of you are finding it difficult to fulfill financial obligations especially salaries have brought to the fore what we have always known but refused to acknowledge that governorship is a serious business with huge management challenges. Governing is not about collecting money from the centre every month and sharing. Governorship is not all about consumption; it is about generating income, maximizing available resources and minimizing waste. Governorship is not about propaganda on radio, television and print media, it is real business, it is about verifiable achievement.

    If you must stop being “feeding bottle” governors the time to start work is Now!

    Gather all the brains you can find in your states and elsewhere. Do a thorough analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities available to you and what ever threats you might have.

    Dust the documents your forebears who fought for the creation of your state used to justify their demand. Those documents copiously stated all the resources available to justify its creation. You must tap on those resources NOW.

    When you have done this please put in place as a matter of urgency an action plan to improve on your Internally Generated Revenue.

    Farming is generally our number one occupation – Encourage, assist and drive it.

    You must encourage industries in your state and entice new ones to come in.

    You must ensure that exploitation of available minerals in your state is done legally and desired income accrues to you.

    Create tourist friendly environment to attract visitors to your state all year round or at worst on specific occasions.

    Good schools that will attract parents across the country should be built – Encourage your rich entrepreneur to embark on such projects.

    People will pay taxes if they earn income regularly and you are able to show some level of transparency in ALL you do.

    Reduce cost of governance, long convoys, senior assistants, personal assistants, assistants to PA and so on and so forth must STOP.

    Frivolous expenditures that have to do with anything religion by the state must be avoided. Government has no business with sponsoring pilgrimages for Muslims and Christians

    Above all, note that nothing can be achieved if you are corrupt – Avoid corruption. Nothing will work if you are greedy – Shun it. Nothing will work if you lack integrity – Cultivate it. Nothing will work if you don’t want to be accountable to your people – Learn to.  You will not succeed if you are lazy because this business is not for a lazy man – Get up!

    Excellency is not an automatic title my brothers; you will have to earn it and my hope is that at the end of the day, I and the good people of your states can address you whole-heartedly as “Excellency”…….

     

    • MSB Mahmud

    Lagos

     

  • Workers to governors: don’t blow N713b bailout cash

    Workers to governors: don’t blow N713b bailout cash

    NLC, TUC, others hail Buhari

    APC, PDP clash

    WORKERS were yesterday in high spirits over President Muhammadu Buhari’s N713.7 billion bailout for states to pay outstanding salaries.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),hailed the president’s action.

    The NLC urged Buhari to ensure that the governors spend the money on salary arrears.

    It warned against “a situation that the governors that could not manage their allocation properly will be rewarded by being given special recognition”.

    The General Secretary of the Congress, Dr. Peter Ozon-Eson, said: “Our appeal is that Mr. President should please prevail on the governors to ensure that when they get these sharing they should not again blow it on other things. The first priority must be defraying the arrears of salaries and pensions of pensioners who have not been paid for 11 to 12 months. ”

    Ozon-Esson, who is also the NLC chief economist, said the congress was happy about the Federal Government’s intervention, recalling that the congress presented the debt profile to the Presidential Transition Committee.

    In the three-pronged bailout plan is the N413.7billion special intervention fund, the N413.7b ($2.1b) Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) proceeds and a N300b Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention loan.

    Federal workers who are being owed are also to benefit from the plan.

    But labour officials warned the state governments against misapplying the cash.

    Deputy President of the factional NLC Comrade Isah Aremu said: “President Buhari has been very vocal since he assumed office in making a case for workers to be paid as at when due.

    “President Buhari once said that it is a disgrace that Nigerian states could not pay salaries. So, what he has done now is that he has commendably walked his talk. He has also shown that if there is a will, there will always be a way.

    “Now, the defaulting governors must learn from the President’s approach – that you don’t have any excuse not to pay workers’ salaries. He has shown that no reason can justify why workers are not paid.

    “The governors must also prioritise their needs henceforth in a way that workers are given priority and not rely on the President to give them bailout from the Federation Account”.

    Aremu said labour was happy that Buhari already living up to his mandate, adding that what is important now is for it to be sustained.

    He called on the Federal and state legislatures to rise up to the challenge of making good laws and exercising their oversight functions creditably.

    The National Union of Pensioners (NUP) urged the Federal Government to include state pensioners as beneficiaries of the bailout.

    The General Secretary, Elder Actor Zal, said:”While we commend the historic effort of the Federal Government, it is equally instructive that we demand the bailout to include the payment of pension arrears in all the states of the federation.”

    According to him, pensioners are owed arrears of pensions and gratuities for many months in many states.

    Zal urged Mr. President to instruct the governors to use this fund judiciously and ensure that all pensions’ arrears are settled without further delay.

    He went on: “Consequently, we appeal to the Federal Government to do same to all pensioners in the country who are being owed backlog arrears of their pensions. Especially, the 42 months arrears of the 33% pension increase, gratuities and death benefits of federal pensioners across the country.

    “ The Federal Government should release the N218 billion needed by Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) to clear all those backlog of unpaid pension at once.”

    Kogi State NLC Chairman Comrade Onuh Edoka praised the initiative and expressed the hope that the state governments would not misapply the fund.

    He said other entitlements being owed the workers over the years should be paid.

    “When we are talking about salary indebtedness other entitlements of the workers, such as leave bonus, which is an equivalent of one month salary, and arrears of promotion owed to workers, should be considered.

    “Those are all indebtedness to workers in the case of the fund for bailout, which is coming and which the state governments are supposed to consider.

    “In essence, Kogi is owing more than one month salary, considering the other entitlements that are supposed to go to workers.

    “First and foremost, the organised labour in Kogi are indeed grateful for the bailout. And we promise to put up a committee, which will be led by the NLC in Kogi State to liaise or facilitate that the indebtedness to Kogi workers are paid, and we are equally appealing to the state government to judiciously utilise the fund for what it is meant for, or any attempt to divert to any other purpose will lead to industrial crisis in Kogi State.

    “However, we have no doubt in the ability of the governor as a God-fearing governor, that he will use the money for the purpose meant for, as to sustain the industrial peace in the state before now.”

    The Kwara State chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) also hailed the plan. The Chairman of TUC in the state, Comrade Olumoh Kolawole thanked the president for coming to the rescue of the governors. He was optimistic that the state governments will use the funds judiciously.

    “I believe and hope that all the state governments, including Kwara State that is owing workers two months salaries, will use the monies as expected,” Kolawole added.

    The Ondo State Chairman of the NLC, Mrs Bosede Daramola, described the step as “a welcome development” which has brought relief to workers in the public sector.

    Mrs Daramola urged the affected governors to pay their “pauperised workers” as a matter of urgency, especially those in need of medication.

    The NLC chair warned the governors not to divert the money on projects.

    She called for the payment of salaries, allowances and other entitlements to workers and pensioners.

    The leader of the Trade Union Congress in Osun State, Comrade Akinyemi Olatunji, urged the government to spend the money to offset the workers’ salary arrears.

    According to him, the cash is for workers’ salaries.

    Olatunji advised the state government to look inwards and design a strategy to increase its internally generated revenue‎ (IGR) to forestall salary delay, adding that the bail out is only a short term measure.

    He expressed gratitude to the President for coming to the rescue of states.

  • Some governors haven’t declared assets, says Conduct Bureau

    Some governors have failed to declare their assets, more than one month after taking office.

    Chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Sam Saba, yesterday expressed worry about the delay.

    He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he had no problem with federal lawmakers over assets declaration.

    “Let me say that we really don’t have problem with members of the National Assembly as far as assets declaration is concerned.

    “Also, the president and the Vice-President declared their assets before they took oath of office in compliance with Schedule 7 of the Constitution.

    “The people we are having problem with now are some governors, but I cannot be categorical in terms of statistics except I confirm,’ he said.’

    Saba said he had demanded to know the number of governors that had declared their assets from state directors of the bureau.

    The CCB boss then blamed the delay by some governors to declare their assets to their failure to study the constitution.

    He said: “the governors are not even supposed to start work as political office holders until they declare their assets.

    “It is provided in Section 185 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

    “It reads that; a person elected to the office of a governor of a state shall not begin to perform the function of that office until he has declared his assets and liabilities.’’

    Saba said that in spite of the fact that the section made assets declaration prelude to taking oath of office, some governors took over office without declaring their assets because of ignorance.

    “It is not like they are not willing to declare, but because of the erroneous impression that they have up to three months within which to declare their assets and liabilities.

    “But the issue is that they are supposed to have declared before being sworn in as governors.’’

  • Governors and the Unoka syndrome

    Our nation is awash with public debtors. They include the Federal Government, state and local governments. The creditors are also many. Topping the list of individual creditors, you have civil servants, retired and serving. The debtors like the famous Unoka of Things Fall Apart has lost any sense of shame. Some owe two, some five, some 11 months. The list of the debtors keep growing by the day, and the debtors instead of being ashamed, have become emboldened, andnow, theymerely look their creditors in the face, and remind them, that they are several other creditorslike them.

    Owing workers have become trendy, with the governors indifferently comparing notes, as to who is owing morethan the other. Some have even declared that they have no idea how they can get out of their indebtedness, reminding their creditors to be patient, as they would give priority to those who have shown understanding, when they decide to pay their debts. The state governors, as part of their defence, remind theirworkers that even the federal government is also owing workers, so why should they be ashamed. They put a bold face to their insolvency, as they remind their creditors that if they must pay, they will first pay those that have not taken up arms against them.

    The debtor-governors behave like Unoka. Unoka was the father of Okonkwo of The Things Fall Apart, the literary classic by Chinua Achebe. According to Achebe, Unoka “was lazy and improvident and was incapable of thinking about tomorrow. If any money came his way, and it seldom did, he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine, called round his neighbours and made merry. He always said whenever he saw a dead man’s mouth he saw the folly of not eating what one had in one’s lifetime. Unoka was, of course, a debtor, and he owed every neighbour some money, from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts”.

    Many of our governors, serving and erstwhile, are no different from Unoka, the character depicted by Achebe in his famous novel. Many of them when ‘money came their way’ went into a spending spree. Some bought private jets, without any thought about cost of maintenance. Many spent the state money cruising the world; others engaged in one fancy project or another. Nearly all of them spared no thought about saving the freebies, which oil money is. Their happiest moment is when the oil money is rolling in. Like them, Unoka’s “happiest moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their instruments, hung above the fireplace. Unoka would play with them, his face beaming with blessedness and peace”. With the free money gone, many of the governors like Unoka, have lost their peace and composure.

    With the creditors at the gates, harassing and haranguing the governors for their salaries, theyput a bold face to their insolvency. Again, according to Achebe, when a neighbour, Okoye, whom Unoka owed, came calling for his money, the drama that played out is similar to what the governors are acting. There, as soon as Unoka understood, Okoye’s mission, he burst out laughing. He said to Okoye: “Look at that wall. Look at those lines of chalk; and Okoye saw groups of short perpendicular lines drawn in chalk. There were five groups, and the smallest group had 10 lines. Unoka had a sense of the dramatic and so he allowed a pause, in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily.”

    Continuing, Unoka said: “Each group there represents a debt to someone, and each stroke is 100 cowries. You see, I owe that man 1,000 cowries. But he has not come to wake me up in the morning for it. I shall pay you, but not today. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. I shall pay my big debts first. And he took another pinch of snuff, as if that was paying the big debts first”. According to Achebe, the creditor merely rolled up his goatskin and departed, just like the civil servants and the pensioners across the debtor states.

    There is another respect, in which many of the governors and their other public-compatriots-in-debts have exhibited the Unoka syndrome. It is the story of Unoka’s encounter with the Oracle of Hills and Caves. Unoka had gone to consult the oracle as to why he had a miserable harvest. Not long ago, the governors had gone to consult President Muhammadu Buhari, at Aso Rock, with tales of why they are unable to pay their workers’ salary. Many of them went with varieties of salacious tales of sacrifice, but of course, none was ready to accept culpability for their woes.

    According to Achebe, many years ago, Unoka had gone to consult Agbala, whose priestess was Chika. He (Unoka) said to her: “Every year, before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani, the owner of land…. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen…. Hold your peace screamed the priestess…. You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers. And when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm. You, Unoka, are known in all the clan for the weakness of your matchet and your hoe. When your neighbours go out with their axe to cut down virgin forest… you stay at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil. Go home and work like a man”.Our governors, please go and work.

  • Workers to EFCC: probe governors owing salary

    Workers to EFCC: probe governors owing salary

    The Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU) has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate former and serving governors for allegedly squandering resources.

    The union alleged that some of the governors used government money to finance campaigns during the elections, while the workforce was being owed salary for many months.

    The union, in a communiqué issued at the end of a one day meeting in Abuja, described as unfortunate a situation where some states and local governments  could not pay workers and other mandatory deductions for many months due to corruption.

    The union said it had become necessary for the anti graft agency to beam its searchlight into the activities of the affected governors.

    It alleged that some former and serving governors wasted the resources in paying for inflated contracts and other personal expenses including chartered flights, sponsoring of political campaigns, bogus security votes and payment of severance allowances.

  • Governors move to resolve leadership crisis in NASS

    Governors move to resolve leadership crisis in NASS

    The 22 Governors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), have decided to seek means of resolving the leadership tussle in the National Assembly (NASS).

    This is one of the decisions they took after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Wednesday.

    Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo told state House correspondents that the governors were worried by pockets of disagreement at the NASS.

    He said the state chief executives had resolved to ensure that party supremacy was obeyed in the choice of principal officers of both chambers of the NASS.

    He said the governors were elated by the steps already taken by Buhari to address myriads of problems confronting the nation but noted that in spite of that, the crisis in NASS was a distraction.

    “We are meeting with the President because we are not happy with what is happening within our senators in the National Assembly.

    “We thought we should rub minds with Mr. President and to commend him on the steps taken so far to address the issue of the economy of the nation which is totally in shambles.

    “The meeting we had with Mr. President this morning is more reassuring that there is light in the tunnel.

    “Despite this progress, we are worried by pockets of disagreement at the National Assembly.

    “We resolved that we came from a party and our party’s views should be respected and we feel there is need to invite our senators more into the matter and see what we can do,’’ Okorocha said.

    According to him, the situation in the legislature should not be a winner takes it all. “We should carry everyone along and accommodate others as suggested by the party.’’

    Also, Gov. Adams Oshiomhole of Edo said, “Senators should adopt the position of the party because we all got elected on the platform of the party.

    “We are not just a collection of individuals, we are a political party.

    “And when the party has spoken, you must listen; otherwise, if it was a game of individuals like golf, then individuals can go their way.

    “I think it is very clear at this point that the party has a responsibility to keep the system going.

    “So, we are progressive governors, we’ve listened to the President, we’ve discussed extensively and we are clear that the party must be supported by the senators.

    “This is the way it should be and we should start on working closely; we as governors listen to the party and we expect our senators to do same.’’

    Oshiomhole said the governors were going to call the senators and tell them; “this is it. And explain our reasons to them.’’

    He said the governors would not allow individual interests to override party supremacy.

  • Adopt APC decision, governors tell senators

    Adopt APC decision, governors tell senators

    Governors elected under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have urged Senators and House of Representatives members of the party to always abide by the wish party.

    Tension has been brewing in the Senate over filling of the remaining four key leadership positions of the 8th Senate.

    While the party is said to be backing Senator Ahmad Lawan from North-East as the Senate Majority Leader, Senator George Akume from North-Central as the Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Olusola Adeyeye from South-West as the Senate Chief Whip and Senator Abu Ibrahim from North-West as the Deputy Chief Whip, some APC senators have been opposing the arrangement.

    The Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, were elected against the wish of the party.

    Governors of sixteen out of the 22 states controlled by the APC, attended a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari over the issue among others at the State House Abuja from Tuesday night till the early hours of Wednesday morning.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, the governors insisted on the supremacy of the party’s position, stressing that they have never gone against the wish of the party as governors.

    Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole said: “Basically what we are saying is that the senators should adopt the position of the party. We were all elected on the platform of the party. We are not just a collection of individuals. We are a political party and when the party has spoken we must listen.

    “Otherwise if it was a game of individuals like golf then individuals can go their ways. I think it is very clear at this point that the party has the responsibility to keep the system going.

    “So we as progressive governors we have listened to the president and we have discussed extensively and we are clear that the party’s position should be supported by the senators. This is the way it should be and we should start on a note of working closely,” he said.

    Oshiomhole added: “We as governors, we listen to the party and we expect our senators to also listen to the party.

    “We are going to call them and tell them this is it and explain our reasons. We can’t continue to allow individuals to…it is about party supremacy, ” he said

  • Buhari, APC governors meet in Aso Rock

    Buhari, APC governors meet in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari and All Progressives Congress state governors on Tuesday night met behind closed-doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja .
    Buhari had earlier on Tuesday met with the 36 state governors.

    The Tuesday night meeting started few minutes before 11pm at the new Banquet Hall in the Villa.

    The meeting was still in progress as at the 11.29pm when this report was filed.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Buhari, governors in a meeting

    BREAKING NEWS: Buhari, governors in a meeting

    President Muhammadu Buhari and governors of the 36 states of the federation are currently in a meeting at the Aso Villa in Abuja.

    The proposed meeting between President Buhari and the state governors is expected to provide a solution to the problem of unpaid salaries as witnessed by some states in the country.

    As at the time of filing this report, the meeting has just begun.

     

    Details later …