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Tag: Kaduna State Governor

  • El-Rufai’s comment on Tinubu is height of ingratitude – Shehu Sani

    El-Rufai’s comment on Tinubu is height of ingratitude – Shehu Sani

    Chairman of Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts and Senator representing Kaduna Central, Senator Shehu Sani Wednesday took another swipe at Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai over his comment on APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu saying the comment was the height of ingratitude.

    In a statement made available to The Nation, the Senator said the contribution of the former Lagos state governor and the South West to the victory of the APC in the 2015 election was unparalleled, pointing out that without Tinubu, the victory over the PDP would have remained a mere dream.

    Sani described Tinubu as the lungs of the APC while President Buhari is the heart, adding that it was unfortunate that while el-Rufai smiles with Tinubu during the daylight he stings him at night.

    The statement reads: “The Memo written by Kaduna Governor which tends to belittle the contribution of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the South West is sad and unfortunate. It is perfidious and the height of ingratitude.

    “We must accept the stalk truth that without Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the principled position of the south West, dislodging Goodluck Jonathan and the then rulling PDP could have still remain a pipe dream, a hollow hope or a political mirage. Elrufai defecate on a broom that is supposed to clean the littered floor of the nation.

    “President Buhari is the Heart of APC and Asiwaju is the lungs. Tinubu contribution to the success of the Party is unequal. Elrufai smiles with Tinubu on broad daylight and sting him at night.He hugs Tinubu with a chest of hooks and shakes him with toxic palms.

    “Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu is a Man who built a castle for others to live and asked to appreciate the gift of a room in the boys’ quarters. Those who rubbished  a hunter who borrowed them his arrow to disable an antelope, will someday come back for same arrow to disable a lion

    “Tinubu honoured many official invitations to Kaduna unknowingly, he was backstabbed with an acidic memo. Tinubu has a history of been betrayed and has a history of overcoming betrayal.

    “The future of the APC is with Buhari and the South West. Without Buhari and the South West, the change train will derail and end in smithereens like the fate of Yoguslavia or Soviet Union.

    “President Buhari should be watchful of those who prey behind him and pray before him. Tinubu is an indispensable major component of change. My knowledge of Tinubu dates back to the NADECO days when we were in the trenches during the struggle against military dictatorship.

    “El-Rufai should publicly apologise to Tinubu and the South West for degrading their contribution to the liberation of Nigeria. To insult a man publicly and apologise to him privately is eat your cake and have it. Those heavily drinking from the liquor of power should know that they will later or lately have to drive back home.”

     

  • Calls for public scrutiny of NASS budget justified, says Shehu Sani

    Calls for public scrutiny of NASS budget justified, says Shehu Sani

    The Chairman of Senate Committee on Local and Foreign debts and Senator representing Kaduna Central, Senator Shehu Sani has said that call by Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai for the National Assembly to open their books for public scrutiny was legitimate and morally right.

    The human right crusader however asked the Kaduna state governor to tell Nigerians where he got the money he allegedly used to pay Fulani herdsmen to stop the carnage in Southern Kaduna.

    In a statement made available to The Nation in Abuja, Senator Sani said it was however unfortunate that apart from President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, none of the Change ambassadors was ready to publicly declare their assets.

    He said Nigerians are living in a period he described as “Felanistic times” where people blame each other for the wrongs of the society, adding that the leadership of the National Assembly was listening to the clamour, believing that the disclosure by Speaker Dogara was timely.

    The statement reads: “The call for National Assembly to open its book is legitimate and morally right. I believe the leadership of the Assembly is listening and the disclosure by speaker Dogara is timely.

    “The general public should not be deceived by Kaduna Governor Stunts and public presentation of his work of fiction he calls security vote. Whoever can believe that a state Governor lives on less than half a million monthly is either hypnotised, dazzed or high on an inebriant.

    “If you are convinced that Kaduna Governor transparently spent his security votes on CCTV camera, visit Kaduna if you will ever see one security camera. If you are convinced that the Kaduna Governor transparently spent his security votes on the police, please ask him from which of the votes does he pay the Herdsmen?

    “We live in a “FELAnistic” times where the Political elites are engaged “you be thief, I no be thief, you be robber, I no be robber, you be armed robber, I no be armed robber situation.”

    “The Nigerian public cannot know who is a saint or a sinner in power. It always has to take men out of power for the public to know what exist beneath the throne.

    “Nigeria’s lost wealth is not just in Swiss banks and dubai real estate; it’s not just hidden in cesspit holes and in dusty ceilings; it’s in the files of conduct bureau well protected by the law of secrecy.

    “Apart from PMB and VP Osinbajo, no other vendor of change is willing to publicly declare his assets. Everyman on the throne of power stands in the dock of history and posterity. If we don’t learn from the travails of men out of power, we will queue behind them in fate.”

     

  • No apologies for calling for transparency of National Assembly – El-Rufai

    No apologies for calling for transparency of National Assembly – El-Rufai

    …Buhari implementing issues in my memo, says el-Rufai

     

    Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai on Friday said that he has no apology for any National Assembly member offended by his call for transparency.

    According to him, he has the right as a Nigerian to call for such transparency.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after observing the Jumaat prayer with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he said that it would be in the interest of the lawmakers to make public their earnings in the face of the bogus salaries allegations.

    He said “There is nothing like falling out with the National Assembly, first of all I am a state governor and do not have any direct relationship with the national assembly. They don’t legislate for me specifically. I don’t have any relationship that is negative or positive with the National Assembly.

    “The National Assembly is the legislature of the federation and we have very good relations with the legislators. There are senators from my state and there are representatives and I meet regularly with those of them that are ready to meet with me. Here, beside me are Senators Abu Ibrahim and Marafa.

    “If I have problem with the National Assembly they will not be standing beside me. So there is no problem. The issue is what I did last Friday was to ask the leadership of the national Assembly to fulfil the promise that they made themselves to publish the details of their budget and asking for that is my duty as a citizen. Every Nigerian is entitled to ask that question,” he said.

    He went on “It is in the National Assembly’s interest to actually publish it because there are rumours of bogus amounts of money that they are getting which I do not believe is true. I think that the best way to kill that rumour is to publish the details of their budget but some people took exception to that call for transparency and I have no apologies because as citizens we have the right to demand for transparency for how resources are being spent.

    “This one hundred billion or so budget of the National Assembly is money belonging to the people of Nigeria and every Nigerian has the right to ask and I am exercising that right as a citizen not even as a governor.”

    He explained that he had no problem with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

    “I have no problem with the Speaker. He is my kid brother, he respects me and I respect him, I have no problem with the Senate President, we worked together in the past and I am confident that we will work together in the future in the interest of Nigeria.

    “But demand for accountability is not a problem and should not be construed to be undermining or any such thing. It is only someone who has something to hide that will do things like that and I don’t believe that the National Assembly has things to hide,” he added

    The Governor also maintained that there is no rift between him and President Buhari.

    He said “There is no strain in my ties with the President. The villa is a bigger place. Within the villa there are people that like me and there are those who don’t and it is normal. My relationship with the President has never been strained in anyway.

    “I met with him last night, I did not talk about things like that but our relationship with him is like that of father and son and it is privilege for me. I told him I will come today for the Jumaat and I did.”

    On how he was received by the President, he said “As usual with great warmth and graciousness and I am grateful for that.

    Asked why he wrote such a letter to the President, he said that it was a well-meaning memo aimed at ensuring development of the country.

    Even though he faulted those who leaked the private memo to the public, he said that most issues raised in it are already been implemented by the government.

    He said “It was a private memo and it is not a letter. If you want to ask any question about it you ask those who leaked the memo because I wrote it seven months ago. I have written similar memos to the President in the past and none of them got leaked. He knows that he can count on me to give him my views of what is out there that he may not hear and to give him sound advice without any interest on my part.

    “If anyone reads that memo he will see that there is nothing in the memo that has anything to do other than the success of Mr. President and progress of the country. That is my goal, my motive and I am driven by that. I stand behind the President to the very end.

    On whether his views in the letter have changed since he wrote it, he said “Yes, I believe that since September last year when I wrote the letter, there have been significant improvement in the delivery of services at the federal level as I said some of our federal programmes have started
    in earnest.

    “Social protection for instance, the N-Power, budget releases has been accelerated, this is an unprecedented move, the minister of finance has released up to about a trillion naira of capital budget. In September last year, little or nothing had been released and that was part of my concern, since then the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan has been done and published.

    “At the time I wrote the memo there was no five year plan for the country, since then the government has moved ahead to change some of the appointees of President Jonathan in parastatals. This is something that we were worried about, many of us in APC felt that we were in office but not in power because the people that Jonathan appointed were still running most of our key agencies.

    “From September till date even up until yesterday there has been significant improvement. So there is improvement and I believe that part of what I recommended to the President is being implemented, whether because of my memo or not, it is being implemented and the country is moving forward and I am grateful to God for it.” he said

    On how he felt about the leakage of the letter in contrast with secrecy oath of office, he said “I am disappointed that a private communication to the highest office in the land can be leaked and it was leaked from the Villa, I am told by those that published it, but this is a fact of life. We live in an
    age where anything you write or say can be leaked. It is ok, my intentions are clear, I have no ill motive but I wanted to communicate with the President what many Nigerians are talking about and what steps can be taken to improve governance of the country and move the country forward.

    “That was my motive and if tomorrow like I said I see anything that the President needs to know I will discuss with him and I will articulate and put it into writing and on the record for him to
    have a reminder document to work on. I have no regrets and I have no apologies.”

    Against the belief that he was stopped for some months from coming to the Villa, he said that he was not stopped and that nobody can stop him.

    He said “No, no one ever stopped me from coming to the villa and no one can stop me from coming to villa. As a governor I come here, I have blank cheques, no one checks me at the gate but I believe what the President needs is for those that love him to keep away from him and allow him to rest.

    “The President needs quality time to rest because it is meeting too many people that strains leadership. I am a governor and I know that when I meet 10 people in a day I get really tired, it is not the paperwork, it is not really the memos approving them or asking questions that strain a leader, it is the stream of visitors.

    “I do not want to contribute to the President’s problem by coming here every day. I am in touch with him, I know everything going on and I do not think I should add to his burden. Most of the time I come to visit the President I do not come to the office, I go to see him at home.

    “I think and I appeal to all of us that love the President to please allow him some space so that he will recover. We need him and the country needs him, it is in our interest for the stability of the
    country, we should just let him be. It is absolutely necessary lets us leave him to do his work in the privacy of his room or his office without strings of visitors. Visitors stress leaders,” he said.

     

     

  • El-Rufai to NASS: I don’t share public funds like you

    El-Rufai to NASS: I don’t share public funds like you

    Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai has fired back at the House of Representatives and its Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara over the National Assembly budget controversy, saying, he doesn’t share Kaduna State money like NASS shares public funds.

    The House of Representatives had on Tuesday descended heavily on Governor El-Rufai for challenging them to make their budget public, saying that what El-Rufai himself declared was not his security votes, but Kaduna State Security budget, daring him to publish his personal security vote like they have published the Speaker’s salary’s pay slip.

    Meanwhile, El-Rufai in reaction to the National Assembly members said, he does not have security votes; aside the security budget of the state he earlier published, which according to him is properly expended and accounted for.

    El-Rufai however faulted the legislators for what he called ‘unnecessary distraction’ to a simple request for a transparent National Assembly budget.

    In a statement he issued through his spokesman, Samuel Aruwan in Kaduna on Thursday, El-Rufai also faulted the salary pay slip of Hon. Yakubu Dogara, saying, “the figures in the pay slips presented for the Honorable Speaker are in stark contrast to the declaration by The Economist regarding the earnings of NASS members. One of the claims cannot be right”.

    Talking about security votes, El-Rufai said, contrary to general belief, he does not have a security vote. “The Kaduna State Government has presented details of its security budget. What was presented represents the only security vote for the entire government. As the figures show, there is no security vote for the Governor of Kaduna State.

    “This may be a shock to those used to the notion of security votes as barely disguised slush funds, but we do not operate such a system in Kaduna. Our budgets specify what is voted as assistance to security agencies, and its expenditure is properly recorded and accounted for. These are not monies given to or spent by the governor.

    “If the leaders of the NASS have security votes allocated to or personally collected by them, they might wish to disclose such. Our security spending does not operate like the NASS system of sharing public funds in such an opaque fashion that even NASS members do not know how their entire budget is broken down or what the leadership gets as its ‘running costs’.

    “The figures in the pay slips presented for the Honorable Speaker are in stark contrast to the declaration by The Economist regarding the earnings of NASS members. One of the claims cannot be right.

    “The House of Representatives has responded with predictable tetchiness to a simple and clear demand that details of the National Assembly budget be made public. It is inconceivable that an important institution, vested by the Constitution with representation, lawmaking and oversight powers, has for at least seven years ignored the imperative to set an example of transparency, despite being severally urged to do so.

    “Despite the rush to personal attacks on a matter of public policy, we cannot allow the enthronement of the republic of distraction. It is important that everyone who is interested in protecting and advancing democratic discourse should stay focused on the issue. It is strange that persons entrusted with high office will justify their abdication of the responsibility to be transparent in such cavalier fashion. We don’t believe that most of our esteemed legislators will construe a demand for transparency as aimed at undermining the National Assembly.

    “However, notwithstanding the intemperate response of the spokesman of the House of Representatives, the demand that the NASS budget be made public will not go away. It is not personal, and there is a strong civic constituency that is demanding it. The sooner all of us in public life recognized that the game has changed, and that segments of civil society and indeed everyday citizens of Nigeria, are much more aware, astute and advanced than the state of our politics, the better for our democratic health.

    “Since the NASS began conceiving its budget as a single-line item, how many legislators, not to mention other citizens, have seen the details of the budget? Can anyone recall seeing the spending patterns and details in any published audited accounts of NASS recently? By contrast, all state governments present their audited accounts to their state Houses of Assembly as required by law. The federal statutory agencies that NASS cites as not having their budgets reflected in the National Budget submit details of their budgets to the NASS for review and approval.

    “How, in the 21st Century, can we have any national institution that is comfortable with not being subject to any oversight, audit or external scrutiny. The constitutional principle of checks and balances was not introduced for purposes of idle luxury, but to ensure that every institution exercises its power in an accountable manner.

    “We reiterate our call for the NASS to download and analyze our budgets and actual spending which are all publicly available. In Kaduna State, the state government has been a net creditor to the local government councils, some of which cannot pay salaries without assistance by the state government. We do not retain local government funds nor impose contracts on them. Our policy announcements in this regarded were widely reported and appreciated.

    “The spokesman of the House of Representatives may wish to respond to what is written, rather than what is imagined. The KDSG statement of Monday, 10th April 2017, clearly stated that N100bn is bigger than the capital budgets of many states. That is a statement of fact.

    “In dragging the memo Malam Nasir El-Rufai submitted to President Buhari seven months ago into this matter, the spokesman of the House of Representatives betrays no recognition that it is the conduct of those that leaked private communication that bears condemnation.

    “When NASS hopefully eventually releases its budget details, the public will be hoping to see specifics on personnel costs, overheads and capital expenditure. Rather than restrict the budget details to only 2017, the current leadership of NASS should fulfill the obligations of transparency by releasing the breakdown of the NASS budget since 2015. That way, Nigerians, including members of the NASS, will get to know what the budget of that institution is.

    “The NASS leadership has been promising ad infinitum to publish the breakdown of the opaque, one-line budget. It should simply do so. Prompt release of the 2015 and 2016 breakdowns, along with the proposed figures for 2017, would be a good way to start.

    “As things stand today, even if Malam Nasir El-Rufai refrains from further commentary on this matter, the genie is already out of the bottle. The public will not accept a secretive NASS, or any other branch of government for that matter,” the Governor said.

     

  • Dogara releases pay slips, earns N346,577 monthly

    Dogara releases pay slips, earns N346,577 monthly

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara on Tuesday disclosed that he earns N346,577.87 monthly after deductions.

    He made this known in his three months’ pay slips released in response to the disclosure by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai who also released his monthly pay on Monday.

    A breakdown of the Speaker’s monthly pay as reflected in his pay slip below is as follows:

    Basic salary; N206, 425.83, Constituency allowance;  N175,461.96, recess allowance; 20,642.58. and pay as you earn; 55,952.50.

    Spk Pay slip2-1

     

    Spk Pay slip2-2

     

    Spk Pay slip2-3

  • Reps to El Rufai: Face your state’s security problems

    Reps to El Rufai: Face your state’s security problems

    The House of Representatives Tuesday flayed the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai to face the problem in his state and stop attacking the National Assembly.

    Reading from a prepared speech titled: “Mallam Nasir El-Rufai should concentrate on Kaduna State and stop undermining the National Assembly,” to reportersTuesday, Chairman House Committee on Media and Publicity Affairs, Abdulrasak Namdas said El Rufai is ignorant of the financial happenings in the National Assembly and that “We decided to respond only to correct some factual inaccuracies and set the records straight.”

    The statement reads as follows: “Nigerians may recall that the Rt. Hon. Speaker on Friday April 7, 2017 in response to calls by Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai disclosed that the leadership of the National Assembly had directed the bureaucracy and all other agencies under the National Assembly to make available details of their annual budgets beginning from 2017 budget which is still under consideration in the parliament.

    “Nigerians may further recall that the Rt. Hon. Speaker requested Kaduna State Governor, El-Rufai who is known for his consistent advocacy for openness in the budget of the National Assembly, to, in the spirit of good governance, transparency and accountability extend his campaign to other arms and tiers of government beginning from the Judiciary, to State Governments and Local Governments. The Speaker specifically urged Malam El-Rufai who has been championing this cause to impress on his colleagues (Governors) to disclose their Security votes and also publish what they do with local government funds under their jurisdictions.

    “Thus, the call by the Speaker was for Malam El-rufai to extend his advocacy on transparency and accountability to other arms and tiers of government in order to remove the lid of secrecy that has beclouded expenditures at the state level led by his colleagues especially on their security votes and not the states’ security budget. We note that what Malam El-rufai published was the security budget of Kaduna state and not his security vote expenditure as such.

    “We wish to advise the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to concentrate his efforts in Governing Kaduna State and stop undermining and distracting the National Assembly in playing its constitutionally assigned role in nation building. He launched an attack on the National Assembly on Friday, 7th April, 2017 and continued on Monday 10th April 2017.

    “We are aware that there are serious security issues he should be grappling with in Southern Kaduna and other governmental issues facing him. He should not give the impression that he has no challenging work to do in Kaduna State. These attacks are coming on the heels of his now famous letter to Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, where he made strenuous effort to undermine his government, by openly lampooning him when he has unhindered access to His Excellency, Mr. President. As a senior citizen, he has a responsibility not to unnecessarily overheat the polity with tendentious and unfounded outbursts.

    “The National Assembly Budget is not opaque. Since 2010 when the Constitution was amended and National Assembly was placed on the first line charge, its budget became part of Statutory Transfers, together with the Judiciary, INEC and others. You cannot find details of the Budget of the Judiciary and INEC in the National Budget. It exists elsewhere. Of course from 1999 to 2010, the details of the National Assembly Budget was contained in the National Budget.

    “The leadership of the National Assembly has already directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to publish details of the National Assembly Budget from 2017 and so to continue to repeat the same call made 3days earlier smacks of propaganda and cheap blackmail.

    “The Kaduna State Governor chose to give headings of its budget on security related matters. Maybe he will give further details of actual security expenditures at the appropriate time. He claimed that the State’s accounts have been audited. No grounds have been broken here. The response by the Kaduna State Governor completely missed the point. Mr. Speaker’s call was for El-Rufai to extend the campaign for openness and transparency to other arms of government, including the Governors’ expenditures on security votes and Local Government funds. He merely doubled down on his campaign on National Assembly Budget leaving out the other aspects of Mr. Speaker’s request.

    “The Kaduna State Governor claimed that “in 2016, the National Assembly budget for its 469 members was larger than the entire budget of several Nigerian States”.

    “This statement is patently misleading and a terrible display of ignorance and falsehood or a deliberate attempt to blackmail the parliament. For the avoidance of doubt, the National Assembly budget includes the salaries, allowances, expenditure and running cost of 469 members. It includes the salaries, allowances of about 3,000 Legislative Aides; it includes the salaries, allowances, equipment and maintenance of about 5000 staff in the Bureaucracy of the National Assembly.

    “The National Assembly has agencies too. The National Assembly Service Commission has a staff strength of about 500. The National Institute for Legislative Studies is also a parastatal of the National Assembly that serves as a legislative think-tank and a highly rated academic institution, which serves not only the National Assembly but also State Houses of Assembly and the international community. It is currently building its headquarters which is world class. It has to be funded. El-Rufai’s mischievous publication carefully ignores the fact that the Bureaucracy of National Assembly and its agencies and 469 members need travel and transport support. They require medical attention, offices, equipment and all the support available to others in the public service.

    “El-Rufai conveniently forgot that the National Assembly has buildings to build and maintain. He discountenanced the need for training and re-training of staff and even capacity building for members. The narrative is such that he excludes the need for National Assembly members and bureaucracy to attend conferences both local and foreign. Some of the most critical work the National Assembly does is Oversight. It costs a lot of money to conduct proper oversight of executive agencies to save money and ensure governmental efficiency for the Nigerian people. Public Hearings by the National Assembly and its Committees have become a regular feature of our democracy, because citizen engagement and consultation is cardinal for running a democratic government. It costs a lot of money.

    “It is most uncharitable to ignore the fact that the National Assembly is an arm of government, not a department in the Executive branch. The Budget of so many agencies in the Executive is higher than that of National Assembly, an arm of government. Such agencies as NCC – N102billion, CBN – N421billion, NPA – N250billion, NIMASA – N100billion, FIRS – N146billion, Customs – N81billion and NNPC whose budget runs into trillions are some examples. Indeed, the National Assembly Budget is about 2% of the National Budget.

    “Yes, the National Assembly has voluntarily agreed to publish its Budget from 2017, as a responsible and accountable democratic institution.  What happens to 98% of the National Budget should engage our attention too. We are sure that if 10% of the public scrutiny National Assembly receives is also devoted to those spending the other 98%, Nigeria would be better for it.

    “I am directed by the Hon. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, to also in the spirit of transparency release his pay slip for the past 6 months from October 2016 to March 2017, for your information.”

  • Meningitis: $1bn needed to vaccinate 21m persons – Minister 

    Meningitis: $1bn needed to vaccinate 21m persons – Minister 

    Northern Traditional Leaders and Governors on Tuesday moved to tame the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis outbreak in some parts of the region, as they held an emergency meeting on the scourge in Kaduna.

    Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole who spoke at the occasion said, one billion dollars is required to vaccinate 21m people in five meningitis endemic states.

    It was also disclosed at the occasion that, the outbreak had killed 489 persons in Sokoto, Zamfara, Kabbi, Niger and Katsina State, while 4,637 suspected cases have been recorded.

    According to the Minister, “Meningitis vaccination is very expensive, to effectively stop meningitis in Nigeria; we need to vaccinate 21 million people in the five states which will cost about $1 billion. We need Immunity Trust Fund to cater for immunisation, we need to put more money in health to build robust health system that is resilient. Nigeria would need to put more money on vaccine, Nigerian vaccine has been subsidised by Gavi, but in 2015 we said we are the largest economy in Africa, which means we can stand on our own. So by 20 25 Nigeria will need to fund its vaccines by itself.

    “The state governments also need to put in more money on health. We want the state governments to support us to revitalise the PHC for every political ward to have at least one PHC. We need to put people there, community health extension workers, and to invest in routine immunisation.

    “About seven million births are recorded annually; if we vaccinate all of them we would protect them from meningitis and other diseases.

    “North west is our emergency zone. We need to declare public health emergency in North West, where we have robust health system, meningitis will not be a problem. Surveillance aspect, early warning system is very important call us on time. We need to look at local production of vaccines to take charge of our destiny,” he said.

    Making presentation on meningitis, the National Coordinator of Nigeria Center for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu said the outbreak of meningitis started in Zamfara state in November 2016 but they were only notified on February 7, 2017 and they deployed along with other stakeholders a week later.

    “489 deaths have been recorded in Sokoto, Zamfara, Kabbi, Niger and Katsina State. And 4,637 suspected cases of meningitis have also been recorded”, said Dr. Ihekweazu.

    Speaking earlier, Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal described the meningitis as a dangerous epidemic, saying that his state had recorded over 1000 cases so far.

    According to him, “In Sokoto state, we had cases in about seven local governments. We had over 1000 cases reported and the state government had to mobilised with traditional leaders in the state and other stakeholders, particularly our development partners.

    “We had collaboration with the federal ministry of health, we received over 20,000 vaccines from the federal ministry of health and we are expecting about 800,000 more vaccines, our target is to have 2 million vaccines for vaccinations to cover most of the areas.

    “We have mobilised a team led by the commissioner of health. We have had challenges of drugs and challenges of health personnel as well”, he said.

    Also, Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai said that it was a matter of great sadness for governors to see the number of deaths recorded in their states due to meningitis.

    He lamented that, the North West zone has been battling meningitis epidemic for the past two months, saying it is a type of meningitis that health care professionals in their states were not conversant with the type C meningitis.

    “The action so far taken by the federal government has slowed down the spread. Here in Kaduna state, we have 17 suspected cases across the 11 local governments with one type C case and one death.

    “We have instituted measures, alongside the measures instituted by neighbouring states and with the proactive steps we have taken, we hope the epidemic will not occur in Kaduna state.

    “We have intensified surveillance and engaged in mass media enlightenment, while mobilising appropriate medicines and medical supplies in our hospitals across the state.

    “Your royal highnesses, I hope at the end of this meeting, you will take this battle with the same zeal you took in the polio eradication. This meeting is timely and hopefully we will come up with strategies to combat this epidemic,” said El-Rufai.

    The Convener of the meeting and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who was represented by the Emir or Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, said the meeting was timely and commendable. “Traditional leaders in coordination with stakeholders will do everything possible to assist in ensuring appropriate medical asistance promptly to avoid future outbreak of meningitis in the North.”

     

  • NASS budget lacks transparency – El-Rufai

    NASS budget lacks transparency – El-Rufai

    …Govs should publish salary, security votes, LG funds too – Dogara‎

    Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai on Friday hit hard on the National Assembly (NASS) members, saying their budget lacks transparency.

    This was just as he said the NASS, particularly the Senate, is seen as an opposition to the fight against corruption being championed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    El-Rufai stated categorically that the NASS is seen as one of the fighters of the war against corruption, stressing that though, he does not believe it is entirely true, neither does he believe that it is entirely false.

    The governor stated this in his goodwill message at the closing ceremony of the  5-day retreat ‎of the National Assembly management personnel held in Kaduna. 

    Dogara
    Dogara

    Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Yakubu Dogara in a swift reaction told the Governor to champion the campaign for transparency in the budget, saying that, he would like to see Governors publish their monthly salaries, allowances, security votes and local government funds.

    Governor El-Rufai who reacted to the paper presented by the Chief of Staff to the Senate President, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said he won’t be diplomatic like Baba-Ahmed, but blunt, because he doesn’t work for the National Assembly.

    According to him, “the National Assembly is seen as an opposition to the fight against corruption, the National Assembly particularly the Senate is seen as one of the fighters of the war against corruption and that image has to be worked on, now that we are going towards election year, the leadership and members of the National Assembly has to do something about the narratives.

    “I don’t believe that it is entirely true‎, I also don’t believe it is entirely false but it is important that the National Assembly do something about its image.”

    On the budget of the NASS, the governor noted that “no transparency in your (NASS) budget, nobody knows your budget, how much you get paid. Publications are made about your salaries and allowances that I don’t believe are true but cannot be defended because there is no transparency about your budget,  personal cost‎ and so on and so forth. I think you can do something about that to clear all the rumours and remove all the evil stories that are largely untrue,” he stressed.

    Speaker while delivering his address, however, told the Governor ‎that instructions have already been given to the appropriate quarters to publish the National Assembly budget.

    The Speaker who expressed reservation about joining issues with the Governor said, “you will have some kind of misfortune if you attempt to join issues with intellectuals like my Elder, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, but as intellectuals we expand issues and add to discussion, so I will like to challenge you to champion the call for transparency in budgeting and budgetary process of NASS to other arms of government.

    Most repeated words in the report include National Assembly, Budget, Corruption, Senate, NASS, etc.

    “We want to see Chief Executives of states published how they are paid, what they spend monthly as security votes, and also publish what happens to local government funds,” he challenged the governor.

     

    Similarly, the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan who represented the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki at the occasion said, the National Assembly fights corruption and support the fight against it at all levels of governance contrary to whatever belief of many. 

    He said: “In the National Assembly, we fight corruption through our support and as a matter of facts, the anti-corruption agencies are our creation and for our budget, it is always in the public domain.”

    He said, the legislature and Executive must work together to deliver on promises to Nigerians, adding that, Nigerians expect higher and better performances in terms of service, as legislators we are prepared to continue to support the administration of President Buhari either through the fight against corruption or in the confirmation of political appointees.

  • El-Rufai is after my life – Apostle Suleiman

    El-Rufai is after my life – Apostle Suleiman

    • ‘Gov training militia’

    Omega Fire Ministries (OFM) on Tuesday accused Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of masterminding the recent series of spurious allegations of infidelity against its General Overseer, Apostle Johnson Suleman.

    The spokesman of OFM and Suleman’s Communications Manager, Phrank Shaibu, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said that facts and available intelligence incontrovertibly point to the Kaduna Governor as the mastermind of the allegations.

    According to him, El-Rufai decided to sponsor the allegations as a strategy to silence Apostle Suleiman and to take revenge for the latter’s famed audacity of standing against the persecution and killing of Christians in Southern Kaduna.

    “It is clear that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is the mastermind of these allegations. The masquerade has been unveiled and is now dancing naked in the market Square. We don’t need to look any further for the source of the smoke,” he stated.

    •Governor El-Rufai
    •Governor El-Rufai

     

    Shaibu contended that apart from the initial suspicion by the church that the Kaduna Governor may be behind the evil plot, the latest so-called revelation by one Queen Esther, a supposed usher of the Omega Fire Ministries finally uncovered the lid as to who was sponsoring the myriad of allegations against the General Overseer.

    “When Festus Keyamo in his first letter to our pastor made allusion to Fulani herdsmen, we dismissed it as a coincidence. Then intelligence revealed that some persons are lodged in a hotel being trained on how to clone Apostle’s voice and crop videos.

    “The first question that crossed our mind was who was paying the bills, especially the huge media blitz that has trailed the spurious allegations. We did not have to wait for long before El-Rufai exposed himself. Indeed, he could not wait for long before coming out of the closet,” he revealed.

    The spokesman wondered why the said Queen Esther, who allegedly pleaded for the media not to reveal her real identity should give as a condition that the Kaduna State Government must guarantee her safety if the governor had no hand in the plot.

    “Why is the said Queen Esther asking for protection from the Kaduna State government. Is the government now the police or the Department of State Services (DSS)? Why did she not mention any other state? Is it not obvious that she is telling us what her sponsors are willing for Nigerians to know?” he asked.

    Shaibu argued that it was more than a coincidence that these allegations are coming up no soon after the Senior Pastor had an altercation with the same Kaduna State Government over the persecution and killing of Christians in Southern Kaduna.

    He, therefore, urged the security agencies, particularly the DSS to investigate El-Rufai’s involvement in the unfolding saga, particularly the possibility that he may be harbouring a private militia.

  • El-Rufai swears-in new Commissioners, Perm Secs, others

    El-Rufai swears-in new Commissioners, Perm Secs, others

    Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai on Wednesday, sworn-in four new Commissioners, eight Permanent Secretaries and two Chairmen Interim Management Committee of Giwa and Zangon-Kataf council areas.

    Speaking shortly after the swearing-in of the appointees, El-Rufai, said his government decided to bring new commissioners to energize the administration and to inject new blood in the system.

    The governor while commending the former commissioners for their service rendered to the people of Kaduna State explained that none of them were dropped or sacked but were deployed to handle other government functions.

    El-Rufai said: “I thank former commissioners for their service in our state. I want to make it categorically that, we didn’t drop any commissioner. None of our commissioner was dropped. Some former commissioners have been deployed to other functions of government. So, our team is intact. We are all together”

    “We carefully selected our team members. We decided to bring new commissioners to energize the administration and to inject new blood”

    “You are joining a wahala team and I sympathize with you because we work with little earnings. The permanent secretaries were chosen based on their competency and integrity. All the directors chosen to be permanent secretaries sat for exams and faced oral interview. So we have the best of permanent secretaries,” the governor said.

    The new commissioners sworn in were, Barrister Umma Hikima – Attorney General and Comissioner of Justice, Jafaru Ibrahim Sani – Comissioner for Local Government, Prof. Kabir Mohammed Mato – Comissioner for Agriculture and Forestry and Hafsat Mohammed Baba – Comissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development.

    While the new sworn in Permanent secretaries were, Barrister Abdullahi Sani – Permanent Secretary Cabinet Affairs and Special Services, Habiba Anana Shekarau – Permanent Secretary General Services among others.

    Others appointees were:” Bashir Umar Lere – Director General, Kaduna State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency,Abdullahi Bayero – Special Assistant,Abubakar Shehu Giwa – Chairman, Interim Management Committee, Giwa local government and John Hassan – Chairman, Interim Management Committee, Zango Kataf local government”.