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Tag: Hadiza Bala Usman

  • Akume hails Hadiza Bala Usman’s discipline, urges sustained service to nation

    Akume hails Hadiza Bala Usman’s discipline, urges sustained service to nation

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, on Tuesday described the life and public service record of Hadiza Bala Usman as a shining example of discipline, dedication and purpose, urging her to remain steadfast in advancing the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    Akume spoke in Abuja while delivering a goodwill message at the Hadiza Bala Usman @50 Governance Colloquium, held at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton, where he joined other dignitaries to celebrate the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination and Head of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU).

    According to the SGF, Bala Usman’s career in public service reflects uncommon discipline and commitment to national development, expressing optimism that her years ahead would be marked by even greater impact and service to Nigeria.

    He said her journey so far stands as a model of what principled leadership and consistency can achieve within the public sector.

    In a formal congratulatory message read at the event, Akume described her 50th birthday as a celebration of “a life dedicated to service, purpose and unwavering commitment to good governance and national development.”

    He noted that Bala Usman’s public career has been defined by dedication, courage and patriotic zeal, qualities he said have consistently shaped her contributions across various responsibilities she has held.

    “As Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination and Head of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU), you have continued to distinguish yourself through intellectual rigour, strategic foresight and an uncommon passion for translating policy intent into measurable outcomes,” the SGF stated.

    Read Also: SGF Akume: Benue celebrates stability, peace

    Akume said her leadership has strengthened the architecture of governance delivery, enhanced inter-ministerial coordination and reinforced a culture of accountability and results within government.

    He added that Bala Usman has remained innovative, focused and resolute in driving the Renewed Hope Agenda of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly through performance monitoring and policy coordination across ministries, departments and agencies.

    The SGF further observed that her journey, marked by service, sacrifice and steadfastness, has inspired many Nigerians, especially women and youths, to believe in the power of competence, integrity and purposeful leadership.

    He prayed that God grants her good health, renewed strength and wisdom, wishing her many more years of impactful service, greater accomplishments and continued fulfilment.

    The colloquium formed part of activities to mark Bala Usman’s 50th birthday and brought together senior government officials, policy experts and public servants to reflect on leadership, delivery and accountability in public governance.

  • Shettima to chair Bala-Usman at 50 governance colloquium

    Shettima to chair Bala-Usman at 50 governance colloquium

    Vice President Kashim Shettima will tomorrow chair the maiden Hadiza Bala Usman Governance Colloquium in Abuja.

    The event marks the 50th birthday anniversary of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU), Hadiza Bala Usman.

    The high-level governance forum, scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, is expected to draw senior government officials, policy experts and private sector leaders to deliberate on leadership, accountability, and results-based governance in Nigeria’s public service.

    Renowned public policy expert, Joe Abah, will deliver the keynote address on the theme: “Leadership, Delivery, and the Courage to Serve.”

    According to the organisers, the keynote will set the tone for a robust interrogation of the discipline, institutional coherence and accountability required to sustain public sector performance.

    The keynote address will be followed by a panel discussion featuring leading voices in policy formulation and institutional reform.

    Read Also: Shettima to chair Bala-Usman at 50 governance colloquium

    The panelists include Mr. Taiwo Oyedele (Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee), Dr. Muhammad Sani Abdullahi (Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, the Central Bank of Nigeria), Mr. Waziri Adio (Founder and Executive Director of Agora Policy and former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

    Also on the list of panelists are: Ms. Rinsola Abiola (Director-General of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre) and Dr. Habiba Lawal (a retired Permanent Secretary and former Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination).

    The planning committee said the colloquium would serve as a strategic platform to examine the dynamics of results-driven governance, sustainable institutional reform and the courage required to drive transformative change across Nigeria’s public sector.

    Bala Usman was appointed Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination in June 2023 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In her additional role as Head of the CRDCU, she coordinates government policies and tracks delivery of presidential priorities across ministries, departments and agencies.

    She previously served as Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kaduna State under Nasir El-Rufai before former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her as the first female Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), a position she held from July 2016 to February 2022.

    Beyond public office, Bala Usman is a co-founder of the global #BringBackOurGirls movement, which mobilised international attention for the rescue of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in 2014.

  • PSC will function unhindered, says Usman

    PSC will function unhindered, says Usman

    The Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, has promised to ensure that the Police Service Commission (PSC) does not experience any inhibitions in carrying out its constitutional mandate.

    Bala Usman gave the assurance when she led a delegation on an engagement visit to the commission’s leadership yesterday in Abuja.

    The presidential aide said the objective was to strengthen collaboration between the PSC and the Ministry of Police Affairs.

    She restated the commission’s role in delivering on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly in strengthening national security.

    “We will look at your mandate and ensure you are allowed to do your work. We will de-bottleneck the challenges and ensure the PSC stands alone and not as an attachment to any ministry,” Ms. Bala Usman said.

    Read Also: 10 States in Nigeria with costliest food prices

    PSC Chairman, retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Hashimu Argungu, decried what he called persistent interference in the commission’s affairs, which he said undermined its effectiveness.

    Argungu said inadequate funding was making it difficult for the commission to deliver on its statutory responsibilities of recruitment, promotion, and discipline within the police force.

    “The commission is grossly underfunded and incapable of efficiently executing its constitutional mandate. This situation is worsened by attempts from various quarters to hijack its functions and dilute its efficiency,” he said.

    The chairman said PSC remained committed to accountability and transparency in shaping a police force that is ready for 21st-century policing.

    He listed inadequate staff returns from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), institutional conflicts, limited nationwide presence, poor funding, and a public trust deficit as areas requiring urgent support.

    Argungu urged the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit to help protect the commission from undue interference and the power to carry out its duties independently.

  • Fed govt constitutes committee to harmonise sectoral policies

    Fed govt constitutes committee to harmonise sectoral policies

    The federal government has taken a significant step towards streamlining policy deployment and formulation by constituting a committee to review and harmonise sectoral policies.

    The committee, inaugurated by the special adviser to the president on policy coordination, Hajiya Hadiza Bala Usman, comprises representatives from the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, the Office of the Vice President, and other key stakeholders.

    Speaking to journalists after the inauguration ceremony, Bala Usman, who is also chairman of the committee, explained that the move aims to address the lack of interrelationship across sectoral policies and outdated policies within various sectors.

    She said it will work to enhance collaboration across sectors, review and coordinate sectoral policies, and engage with ministries and stakeholders to develop current policy deployment that aligns with the federal government’s eight presidential priorities.

    Bala Usman further said the committee will leverage subject matter experts across sectors and work closely with ministries and heads of agencies to achieve its objectives.

    This initiative is expected to enhance the federal government’s policy deployment and formulation, ensuring a more cohesive and effective approach to achieving its development goals.

    Details shortly…

  • Why BUA terminal was decommissioned, by NPA

    FRESH facts emerged on Monday on why the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), decommissioned BUA Ports and Terminals Limited, operator of Terminal B, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    Speaking at the quarterly stakeholders meeting organised by NPA in Port Harcourt, its Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman said the agency, as a responsible government organisation, took the step to save the lives and limbs of those working at the terminal.

    She said the decision was taken for health and safety reasons after receiving a letter from BUA on security challenges surrounding the quays wall at its terminal.

    She said the terminal operator wrongly served the NPA a contempt of court letter, arguing that the Agency has not violated any court order that restricted it from terminating the concession agreement it had with BUA by decommissioning the terminal.

    The MD wondered why BUA will want to continue operating from a terminal that it termed unsafe in a letter it sent to NPA.

    She said: “This morning, we have been served a contempt of court while arriving Port Harcout today. In November 2016, a notice of termination was issued to BUA Terminal for non-compliance with the port development plan. As part of the concession agreement, there are certain development that each terminal operator is supposed to do at their terminals. In line with the concession agreement, BUA was required to rehabilitate and reconstruct that particular terminal, but it did not do that for years.

    “When NPA did an inspection, their concession agreement was terminated for failure to adhere to that development plan.

    “However, BUA instituted a court injunction that prevented NPA from taking over the facility.  We got the injunction in January 2018. So between January 2018 to June 2019, BUA enjoyed using the terminal in totality with collapsed quay walls and berths. “We now received a letter from the same BUA, drawing our attention to the fact that the condition of the quay wall was deteriorating and not safe and it is at the point of collapse, and that they are very concerned.

    “As a responsible regulator we looked at the state of that quay, and wondered how BUA could have used it for one and half years in that terrible state. With safety issues uppermost, we had to decommission the BUA terminal based on health and safety reasons.

    “Now, the same BUA has gone to court to restrain NPA from implementing the decommissioning policy despite highlighting in their letter to us that the terminal is not safe. I am curious to what contempt of court this is all about. We are talking of an unsafe terminal.

    Read Also: NPA generates over $45.2M from Delta ports

    “They are drawing attention of the public and alleging unfair treatment, but we are questioning what unfair treatment is in issues that have to do with safety.  Do we ignore safety and allow BUA to continue to use a terminal that is about to collapse?

    “It is important to NPA that BUA notifies the stakeholders and the court that they wrote to NPA in that regards. They should stop attributing the decommissioning to termination issue because the rule in port operation business is safety first.

    “We should be responsible as private entities by adhering to what is required of us and go through due process. In addition, we have noted the fact that the quay walls along the Port Harcourt Port are weak and they are at the point of collapse.”

  • We are ready for Saturday elections, APC boasts

    The APC Presidential Campaign Council has said that only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can say whether the rescheduled Presidential election will go ahead as scheduled, saying the APC were ready for the election.

    Director of Contact and Mobilization, APC presidential campaign council, Hadiza Bala Usman who spoke after inspecting the election situation room of a civil society group, Yiaga in Abuja also seek collaboration between political parties and civil society group to monitor the workings of INEC and ensuring that electoral materials get to their destination on schedule.

    She said “It’s important for APC as a political party to engage with civil society, to see what civil society is doing to ensure a free and fair election. We are keen to have a transparent, free and fair election. So, we encourage observers, we encourage any form of interrogation of the process.

    “I am here to lend the voice of the APC to show encouragement to the civil society and to encourage them to ensure that whatever is happening at the polling unit are highlighted for the world to see and whatever incidences  happen are brought up for the necessary agencies to deal with. We want the security agencies to be on ground to provide the necessary support, where INEC is required to deploy additional input and we believe that such situation rooms are very helpful and necessary for such feedbacks

    Read Also: APC embarks on rally in Ikorodu

    This is an election situation room, would you have preferred something to the run up of the election?

    “With what has happened and with the postponement of the election, I think pre-election day situation room is important so that we can see where our materials are in the country? Have they started been moved to the necessary voting points? Are the right materials being deployed to the right places? So such pre-election situation rooms are important.

    It is important for us and the political parties, for APC and indeed civil society groups to put a spotlight on the election monitor to ensure that this postponement that happened will not be repeated again and for us to monitor and follow Election material. You are all aware that some of the critical errors around voter concern has to do with election materials, if the especially sensitive ones fall into the wrong hands. We are open to any form of manipulation and so, it’s imperative that we put a spotlight and follow the sensitive material, follow what INEC is doing.

    One of the presidential candidate is asking INEC to extend the rescheduled election beyond this Saturday, what is the view of APC?

    “Our view is that INEC knows what it’s doing and they the determinant of whether it is ready for Saturday. INEC conveyed to all Nigerians that it is ready to conduct the elections on Saturday. So we look forward to see what INEC will say next.  For us in APC, we were ready for the election on Saturday 16 and we are indeed ready for Saturday 23rd. We look forward to INEC briefing us as we requested on a daily basis to ensure that materials are deployed anf in the right place at the right time. Ad I mentioned earlier, INEC is the umpire, and will tell us whether there is any additional postponement. But we are ready for Saturday the 23rd of February.”

  • NPA Delta indigenes: support maritime operators

    The federal government has appealed to maritime- impacted communities in Delta state to support efforts to revive ports activities by not pressuring operators.

    The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, made the plea during the official handing over of ceremony of the Terminal B, Berth 4 of the Old Warri Port to Ocean and Cargo Services limited, a partner to maritime industry giant, SIFAX Group, at NPA, Warri on Monday.

    Bala- Usman, who was represented by the Executive Director, Marine and Operations of the NPA, Dr Sokonte Davies, concessioning of ports facilities was carried out to enhance productivities and attract more cargos to the hitherto abandoned ports.

    Appealing to the people in the host communities to the maritime environment, the NPA chief executive officer said the dividends of supporting the federal government’s initiatives in the maritime would be an enhanced economy for Warri and environs, the state and surplus of jobs for people from the communities.

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

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

    Read Also: Three feared killed, 20 injured in Delta clash

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

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

    Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) Alex Okoh, on behalf of the National Council on Privatisation, expressed satisfaction at the milestone event.

    He said that Ocean and Cargo Terminal Services Limited emerged the successful concessionaire for the transaction.

    He revealed the concession of Terminal B is for a period of 25 years at an annual lease fee of US$1,621,500.00 in addition to the entry fee and monthly throughput fee chargeable on volume of cargo handled

    According to him: “The objective of the government in Port concession is to increase efficiency in our ports, improve service delivery, upgrade and modernize facilities in ports, reduce cost of shipping and clearing of goods at the Ports and relive the government of the burden of financing the sector.”

    Group Managing Director of SIFAX Group Adekunle Oyinloye said Ocean and Cargo Services Limited was ready to deliver efficient services at the port and make the Warri Port a vibrant and enviable hub of maritime activities again.

  • NPA provides succour for displaced Bakassi returnees

    For the displaced people of Bakassi in Cross River State, it was another moment of respite as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), made donations of assorted food and household items to them at their primary school camp in Akwa Ikot Eyo Edem in Akpabuyo local government area.

    The NPA management also provided free medical services and drugs to the aged, women, children and others with different health challenges.

    The Managing Director of the NPA, Mrs Hadiza Bala Usman, who made the donation said the gesture was part of the NPA’s corporate social responsibility.

    The almost 2000 Bakassi returnees including women, children and the aged living in the dilapidated camp since 2013, since they were forcefully evicted from Cameroon following the judgement of the International Court of Justice that ceded Bakassi to Cameroon.

    Read Also: The thrills and frills of Bakassi IDP camp

    Usman, who was represented by the Manager of the Calabar Port,  Mrs Olufunmilayo Olotu, said they were moved by the dilapidated state of the camp, and promised that that the NPA will make the gesture to improving the lot needy in the state a regular one.

    Some of items donated included bags of rice and garri, tubers or of yam, noodles, vegetable oil, milk, salt among others.

    The leader of the camp, Chief Etim Okon Ene, who received the items was elated, and expressed gratitude for the donation.

    Okon Ene also expressed surprise that that the NPA responded swiftly to their appeal, despite the short notice.

    He requested for more assistance to his people, especially with the provision of farm tools and manures.

  • Re: Hadiza Bala Usman and the road less travelled

    SIR: The article with the above title written by Uba Sani in The Nation of Thursday November 9 refers. It is bewildering that the writer who claims to be an intellectual, would write that a private company that has a contract with a government agency should be governed by other policies other than the contract entered into by both parties.

    Because, when shorn of all its highfaluting grammar and sycophantic praise singing of Hadiza Bala Usman, the bottom line of his argument is that an agency that entered into a legally binding agreement can back out of that agreement on the strength of policy.

    The fact remains that, as the Supreme Court has made clear, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the only law that overrides all other laws, thus private and public contracts that do not violate the constitution should be honoured by both parties.

    Who helped the Nigerian Ports Authority generate the N118 billion revenue that it posted in the first quarter of 2017 if not INTELS that Sani now pooh-poohs? More than 50% of that amount was generated by INTELS.  Sani praises Ms. Usman for “freeing up of the nation’s seaports from the suffocating grip (as well as the whims and caprices) of a few powerful operators who have been enjoying operational monopoly under the less than transparent Exclusive Concession Agreement.”

    Here Sani, like most hatchet writers, contradicts himself in his hurry to spin a tale that will delight his puppet masters. He betrays the fact that he knows that there is indeed an ‘AGREEMENT’ between INTELS and the Nigerian Ports Authority. An agreement is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as a contract duly executed and legally binding.

    So if there is a legally binding agreement and one party feels that the agreement is not transparent, then why did he or it enter into the agreement in the first place? And if he or it wants to leave that agreement then why not follow the laid down procedure of doing so instead of unilaterally and illegally cancelling it?

    Sani has done Ms Usman a great disservice by projecting her as a budding dictator without regard to due process.

    The Attorney General of the Federation is not a court of competent jurisdiction and has no power to “adjudge as illegal” anything! Moreover, Attorney General of the Federation is the official lawyer to the government and the same government is a party to a disagreement with INTELS. It runs contrary to EVERY legal system on earth for a person to be a judge in its own case!

    As for the Treasury Single Account, trite wisdom indicates that such a policy should be binding on only Ministries, Departments and Agencies and not on private concerns.  But even this is a moot point because INTELS has bent over backwards to accommodate the government by stating publicly through its chairman that it is prepared to abide by the TSA policy.

    And finally, when Sani says “Facts making the rounds have shown that between January 2010 and September 2016, INTELS collected about $1.295 billion under the agreement. Out of this amount, INTELS remitted only $343.35 million to the NPA”; I challenge him to produce such ‘facts’

     

    • Mallam Abdullahi Umar,

     Kaduna.

  • Hadiza Bala Usman and the road less travelled

    I totally agree with the former Military Governor of Kaduna State, the highly respected Col. Dangiwa Umar (Rtd) that the surest way to stamp out corruption in our body polity is to give total and unalloyed backing to public office holders who insist that the right things are done at all times, irrespective of whose ox is gored. Even more precisely, I unequivocally concur with Col Umar that Hadiza Bala Usman, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) deserves not just our support but resounding applause as she continues with the unenviable task of stamping out innate corruption in the administration of the nation’s ports.

    From the very fist day she assumed office as the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza made no pretenses about her resolve to go to war with entrenched interests that have for years held the nation hostage at the ports; forces that previous administrations either colluded with or deliberately ignored, leaving our dear country reeling in colossal fiscal hemorrhage. In line with the strategic agenda of ridding the NPA of corruption and stemming huge revenue losses, she insisted from the outset on the dogged and uncompromising adherence to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the federal government. It is now well known that her administration uncovered and exposed the fact that about N11.2bn that belong to NPA were still domiciled in commercial banks in clear contravention of extant financial policy of the federal government. It was similarly discovered that about €6 million, being revenue generated by the NPA that should have been remitted into the Federation Account, were illegally held in separate accounts in a number of commercial banks while $23m was said to have been found in another commercial bank. Being a member of the presidential advisory committee on anti-corruption, Hadiza Bala Usman was expectedly resolute about redressing the inherited tardiness in the financial accounting processes in NPA. Of course the scattered funds of the authority have since been properly accounted for and turned over to the Treasury Single Account of the federal government. It is equally laudable that she has instituted measures to recover huge funds being owed the agency and has put in place an anti-corruption office at the NPA.

    Determined to wean NPA of its history of corruption, indolence, ineptitude and sharp practices, I am aware that the Hadiza Bala Usman administration now tracks the budget and finances of NPA using the instrumentalities of the budget tracking and transparency organization, making the NPA the first government-controlled revenue generating agency in Nigeria to open its books and accounts to the civil society and the public for monitoring and scrutiny. It is most gratifying that Hadiza Usman’s efforts are speedily paying off and this much is reflected in the NPA posting a revenue of N118 billion in the first quarter of 2017 alone. As learnt, the same agency generated less than N12 billion in the whole of 2015.

    Like most other observers of the new NPA management under Hadiza Bala Usman, I have since noted her resolve to improve the ease of doing business in the nation’s ports in line with global best practices and pursuant to the Presidential Executive Order to this effect. This explains why she and members of her team have since commenced the review of the Exclusive Port Concession policy of the federal government which is about 10 years old. A critical component of this review, as I have since learnt, is the freeing up of the nation’s seaports from the suffocating grip (as well as the whims and caprices) of a few powerful operators who have been enjoying operational monopoly under the less than transparent Exclusive Concession Agreement. This old system, lawyers (including the Attorney General of the Federation) believe clearly negates the globally acclaimed standards in a free market economy. Worse still, the new NPA management has said that verifiable facts have severally shown that this old system of monopoly and unfair benefit encouraged corruption and huge loss of revenue that is accruable to the federal government through the NPA. For example, we have been told that under the old order of monopolistic concession, some terminal operators were known to have colluded with some high-ranking, albeit corrupt, NPA officials to create a cartel that ensured that all oil and gas cargoes were directed to specific terminals under the exclusive concession agreement. However, with the termination of monopoly under the Exclusive Concession Agreement, almost 200 port operators can now compete favourably and fairly for cargoes to be discharged at their terminals. This, experts say, will help generate more income for the federal government and create more jobs for the teeming populace of our great nation, as more terminals will become functional at the ports.

    Given the above facts, the decision of the federal government to terminate a boat pilotage agreement between the Nigerian Ports Authority and Integrated Logistics Services Limited (INTELS) is highly commendable and should be lauded and regarded by all well-meaning Nigerians as a step in the right direction as the NPA continues to effect the long overdue reforms in the nation’s ports. It is however shocking and embarrassing that rather than commend the NPA management for the bold steps being taken to help generate desperately needed income for our nation, political motives are being imputed in the termination of the pilotage agreement between NPA and INTELS. This is extremely mischievous and most unfair to the dexterous management team at NPA under Hadiza Bala Usman. Aside the fact that the boat pilotage agreement between the NPA and INTELS which was signed in 2010 for a validity period of 10 years has been adjudged as illegal by no less a person than the Attorney General of the Federation, the agreement also negates the extant TSA policy of the federal government.

    Even more riling is the fact that INTELS has been defaulting in making remittances to the federal government. Facts making the rounds have shown that between January 2010 and September 2016, INTELS collected about $1.295 billion under the agreement. Out of this amount, INTELS remitted only $343.35 million to the NPA. At a time the federal government is resorting to huge borrowing to fund the national budget, it would have been scandalous to continue to travel this uncharted route with INTELS. As political jobbers seek to demonize Hadiza Usman and her team at NPA, all persons who love this country, irrespective of political affiliation ought to understand the urgency of rallying round this unusual amazon. In spite of the odds that seem to be staked up against the war against corruption in this country, I am convinced that progress is being made and much more would be achieved if the likes of Hadiza Bala Usman are given the requisite support to do even better.

     

    • Sani is Special Adviser to the Kaduna State Governor on Political and Intergovernmental Affairs.