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Tag: Lai Mohammed

  • Propagate our achievements – FG urges Churches

    The Federal Government has appealed to Churches and other religious organizations to use their platforms to propagate the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari led Administration.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the appeal at his country home, Oro, near Ilorin, Kwara, when he paid a Sallah visit to the Parish Priest of St Andrews Catholic Church, Rev. Fr. Joseph Awoyale.

    He also urged the Churches to use their platform to correct the erroneous conception being circulated by naysayers that Farmerrs/Herdsmen were religious and ethnic induced.

    Mohammed said the clashes were neither religious nor ethnic but resulted from the heightened contest for increasingly-scarce natural resources like land and water, due to demographic, environmental and other reasons.

    On the progress made by the government, the minister said, “without any form of contradiction, no administration in the history of this country has achieved so much in so little a time and with so little resources in the area of infrastructure.

    “However, most of our detractors realising that they cannot fault us on this never talk about the projects rather they are inventing fake news to de-market the administration.

    “Also, governors that have not performed will like to heap the blame on the Federal Government.

    “But I challenge any of them to match what they have done in the area of infrastructure compare to the Federal Government intervention projects in the state.

    “Be rest assured that this administration is committed to infrastructural renewal of this country and we are leaving no stone unturned,” he said.

    The minister said that the administration was working to undo the 20 years of damage by the previous governments.

    “If a government comes in three years and able to revive, complete and make provision for abandoned infrastructure, it is only fair for the people to appreciate.

    Read Also: Buhari commends honest security men

    “Admit that the government has responsibility to provide infrastructure, we also expect some degree of honesty from the people and community.

    We want informed criticism of this administration and we believe that the Church is a better place because you control and influence many souls.

    We are not asking anybody to do us an undue favour.

    “Where we have performed, people should appreciate and accept it and if they don’t want to, they should stop spreading false information about this government.

    The minister stated further that the killings in some parts of the country, which were purely criminal and unacceptable, have been latched upon by many to divide the two religions.

    “Thank God the killings have now gone down drastically, thanks to the efforts of the security forces.

    “Today, the rhetoric coming out of religious organizations are divisive, incendiary and provocative. They are not healthy for peaceful co-existence and should be stopped forthwith.

    “Thank God that those who sought to give the clashes between farmers and herders in Benue and Taraba, among others, a religious coloration have failed. The clashes are neither religious nor ethnic,” he said

    The minister congratulated the Parish Priest and the church for attaining the centenary of Catholicism in Oro town.

    He said: “A hundred years in the life of any person or organisation is no mean feat, hence it is always worthy of celebration.

    “We have been invited to this celebration, which comes up in Oct 29 to Nov. 1 2018, and we will play our part in the celebration.

    He said the Catholic Church in Oro was a shining example of religious harmony and peaceful coexistence for, several years, making its premises available, free of charge, for the annual Ramadan lecture, which he organised.

    “Now, I am sure that, against the background of the acrimony and mutual suspicion that many religious leaders are promoting today, many cannot believe that a church will throw its gates open to a Muslim.

    “But that’s what this Catholic church did for many years Ramadan lecture held annually attended by chiefs of the town, 80 per cent of whom are Christians

    “The lesson from this is that the religious disharmony that is being propagated today by some religious leaders is avoidable, and that adherents of the two major religions do not have to be enemies,” he said.

    Responding, the parish priest, who said he is partly Muslim and partly Christian by parentage appreciated the minister for the visit.

    He commended the Buhari administration for reconstructing the Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa road which he said was hitherto a death trap.

    “We thank the administration for that and we hope and pray that they will do more for us it term of roads. I must say to you that we need those roads to be able to connect to villages and towns.

    “I tell people that a performing administration does not need to campaign. your programmes and achievements will campaign for you.

    Is it the N-POWER? A lot of people are benefitting from that, is it the roads? many are benefitting. We will just continue to encourage you to continue to work for a better Nigeria.

    Awoyale also hailed the government’s town hall meetings, which he said were bringing government closer to the people.

    NAN

  • ‘Whistle-blower policy has yielded N13.8b from tax evaders’

    The Federal Government announced on Tuesday that its whistle-blower policy has raked in N13.8 billion from tax evaders.

    It added other massive dividends of the policy include N7.8 billion, $378 million and 27,800 Pounds recoveries from public officials.

    Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed told reporters in his country home of Oro, Irepodun local government area of Kwara state.

    He added that “the fight against corruption has been unrelenting, without fear or favour. The administration has driven corruption under the table.

    Nigerians no longer celebrate the corrupt. Looters no longer sleep at night, as the long arm of the law closes in on them.

    “This administration has embarked on institutional reforms to curb corruption. The diligent implementation of the Treasury Singles Account (TSA) has plugged the loopholes being exploited to steal public funds.”

    Alhaji Mohammed urged Nigerians I want to be vigilant and not to yield the space to naysayers.

    He added the “gains of the past three years plus must be preserved. Nigeria must continue on its present trajectory to sustainable growth and development. Never again must we go back to Egypt.

    “The year 2019 is the year of decision for Nigeria. It is the year that the critical decision will be made as to whether Nigeria will continue along the path of development, in all ramifications (social, economic, political, etc), that this administration has embarked upon since 2015, or the country will retrogress and backslide to the throes of massive and primitive looting and lack of development.

    “As we approach this critical fork on the road, I have no iota of doubt that the good people of Nigeria will choose the path of development, having seen the commitment, sincerity and patriotism of this administration. It is clear, from all indications that Nigerians are not going back to Egypt. Because of the support of the people, our party will win, even with a wider margin, in 2019, thus sealing the fate of the naysayers.

    Read Also: Whistle-blower policy yields N123bn

    “The fear of this impending victory explains why they have been running from pillar to post, desperate to thwart the victory of the APC in 2019. They labour in vain.”

    Reeling out the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration, the minister said: “Never in the history of our country has any administration embarked on such a massive infrastructural development as this administration. The whole country is one huge construction site. Roads are being constructed in all the six geo-political zones. As you all know, I have been touring the various infrastructural projects of the Federal Government across the country, with the media. So far, we have inspected about 10 projects, including the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail project, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Oyo-Ogbomoso road, the Enugu-Onitsha and Enugu-Port Harcourt roads, the 2nd Niger Bridge, the Abuja light rail project and the Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa-Bida road.The Administration had built over 700km of roads and rehabilitated about 650km.

    “In the area of agriculture, it has been a huge revolution. Let’s take one of our national staples, such as rice, as an example. When we came in, there were 5 million rice farmers. Today, we have in excess of 11 million rice farmers. Our rice import has been cut by over 80 per cent. These didn’t happen by accident. It was a result of our Anchor Borrowers Programme. There are more millionaire farmers today than at any other time in the history of our nation. Today, Nigeria is closer to achieving self-sufficiency in rice than at any other time in the history of our country.

    “This administration has employed 500,000 unemployed graduate under its Social Intervention Programme (SIP). No government in our country’s history has ever done that. This Administration has been daily feeding 8.5 million school children in 23 states. That has never been done before in Nigeria. This administration has been proving 10,000 Naira every two months to over 300,000 families as social security for the most vulnerable. This has never been done before in Nigeria. This administration, realizing that SMEs are the biggest employers of labour, has been growing such enterprises at an astronomical rate through its Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme. This is unprecedented.

    “In the area of power, this administration has taken power generation to 7,000MW. This is unprecedented in Nigeria. Distribution is at 5,000MW. This has never been achieved before. Model houses are being built across the country as a prelude to a massive housing scheme.”

  • Buhari ‘ll not share money — Lai Mohammed

    Information and culture Minister Lai Mohammed says the Buhari administration is not interested in sharing  money, but to provide basic needs of Nigerians.

    Government,according to him,is  aware of complaints by some  Nigerians about lack of free money, and declared that  the administration prefers to invest in infrastructure that would have ripple effects on the economy than sharing money to people and political stooges like the previous administration did.

    “Yes, people are complaining of no money and high cost of living, but I want to tell you that it would have been worse today, but for the massive infrastructural development this government is investing on,” the minister said at Tatabu village near Mokwa in Niger State, while inspecting the reconstructed and rehabilitated Ilorin-Jebba- Mokwa Road project.

    The 93.6 km road project includes   the total reconstruction of Ilorin /Jebba Road and rehabilitation of failed portions from Jebba to Mokwa.

    The Ilorin-Jebba road is part of the Lagos- Algiers Road called trans Sahara road which cuts across the West and North Africa.

    In Nigeria, the road connects the South-West geo-geographical zone to the Northern part of the country.

    Mohammed said: “When people make these complaints, they easily forget that for 16 years, one political party was in power, sharing money when this road became completely failed.

    “APC, in three years, has fixed this road to this level. I think it speaks for itself.

    “Before now, it would take about five days for trucks to move from Ilorin to Jebba. Today, it takes only two hours.

    “Today, on this road, you can see free movement of goods and services which is the beginning of revival of the economy.”

    The minister added: “We are not a government that will share money like what others did which put the country in a mess.

    “This government believes in investing in infrastructure because if you get this right, it will translate to wealth creation.

    “Let us take for instance: if this road contract costs N10 billion and we share it to political stooges in this area at N1 million each, we will only give 1,000 people and there will be no road.

    “On the long run, those that we shared the money to will join in abusing the government for non-performance.

    “On our part, we will rather slowly and painstakingly revive our economy through infrastructural development and we have a lot of stories to tell on this”.

    Asked whether government would toll the road to raise money for its completion to Birnin-Gwari in Kaduna and for its dualisation, Mohammed said, not all roads could be tolled.

    His words:”This matter came up at the last Federal Executive Council meeting and we agreed that, not all roads could be tolled.

    “The idea of tolling roads is to recoup the expenses on the construction and make them sustainable.

    “A study is being compiled, and at the end of it, it will be decided on what roads to toll and which not.”

    The Federal Controller of Works, Kwara State, Mr Atitebi Wasiu, who conducted the minister and his entourage round the project, said the contract for the dualisation of the road had been awarded and work would commence in the next three weeks.

    “The dualisation is awarded to the same contractor from Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa at the total contract sum of N130 billion.

    “The Kwara State section of the dualisation is awarded at N80 billion, while the Niger State section is about N50 billion,” he said.

  • Buhari will not share money to stooges – Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said on Friday the President Muhammadu  Buhari’s  administration is not interested in sharing  money but to provide basic needs of Nigerians.

    Government, according to him, is aware of complaints by some Nigerians about lack of free money, and declared that the administration prefers to invest in infrastructure that would have ripple effects on the economy than sharing money to people and political stooges like the previous administration did.

    “Yes, people are complaining of no money and high cost of living, but I want to tell you that it would have been worse today but for the massive infrastructural development this government is investing on,” the minister said at Tatabu village near Mokwa in Niger State while inspecting the reconstructed and rehabilitated Ilorin-Jebba- Mokwa road project.

    The 93.6 km road project includes the total reconstruction of Ilorin /Jebba road and rehabilitation of failed portions from Jebba to Mokwa.

    The Ilorin-Jebba road is part of the Lagos- Algiers road called trans Sahara roads which cuts across the West and North Africa.

    In Nigeria, the road connects the South-West geo-geographical zone to the Northern part of the country.

    Mohammed said: “When people make these complaints, they easily forget that for 16 years, one political party was in power, sharing money, when this road became completely failed.

    “APC, in three years, has fixed this road to this level. I think it speaks for itself.

    “Before now, it would take about five days for trucks to move from Ilorin to Jebba. Today, it takes only two hours.

    “Today, on this road, you can see free movement of goods and services which is the beginning of revival of the economy.”

    “We are not a government that will share money like what others did which put the country in a mess.

    “This government believes in investing in infrastructure because if you get this right, it will translate to wealth creation.

    “Let us take for instance: if this road contract costs N10 billion and we share it to political stooges in this area at N1 million each, we will only give 1,000 people and there will be no road.

    “On the long run, those that we shared the money to will join in abusing the government of non-performance.

    “On our part, we will rather slowly and painstakingly revive our economy through infrastructural development and we have a lot of stories to tell on this.”

     

     

  • Lai Mohammed: Kwarans ready to wrest power from Saraki

    •Minister inaugurates road rehabilitation in Oro

    Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has said Kwarans are set to wrestle power from the Saraki dynasty in 2019.

    According to him,  Kwarans are now more united to rescue the state from grinding poverty and mis-governance.

    Mohammed, who spoke in Ilorin at a political summit, said in the new dispensation, every Kwaran will count and have a voice.

    He said: “The resources of Kwara will be used for the development of the state and its people. Never again will our people be turned to panhandlers; never again will our people eat crumbs from the master’s table.

    “Never before have we had an opportunity like this to take our state back from the rapacious few, who have held it by the jugular and prevented it from meeting the hopes and aspirations of its people.

    “From my consultations with stakeholders, I can say categorically that Kwarans have resolved to take their destiny into their hands, and take back what rightly belongs to them. This is unprecedented in the history of our state, and we must not waste this opportunity.

    “If we all remain united, we can’t and we won’t lose the battle for the survival of our dear state. All that is required is for us to subordinate our individual ambitions to the collective efforts, work to wrest our state from the hegemony of one man and his cohorts.

    “On my own part, I can say here, without equivocating, that I won’t be running for any office in the coming elections. For me, it is not about any clamour for office; it is about working with like minds for the greater benefit of our people. Make no mistake about it, the battle ahead will be tough; no one with power gives up easily.

    “But the power of the people supersedes all powers. That’s why I am delighted and encouraged that our people are united in their determination to rescue their state from the grinding poverty, monumental mis-governance and the state of funk that has enveloped it.

    “They say I do not like Ilorin people; but what they do not know is that no amount of cheap blackmail will deter us. The people of Ilorin should know who their friends are; I do not hate them.”

    The Minister yesterday inaugurated the rehabilitation of township roads in Oro, his home town.

    Mohammed said the project is the dividend of democracy to his people and an attestation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s committment to infrastructural development.

    He said: “We came to inaugurate the rehabilitation of Oro township road. When we said the contract had been awarded, some people were in doubt. We thank God that we are witnessing its inauguration today.”

    Mohammed appealed to the people, particularly the youths, to give the contractor the chance to deliver the project on time.

    “We appeal to you that no one should exploit the contractor by asking for money before working,” he added.

     

  • Lai Mohammed inaugurates rehabilitation of Oro township road

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Thursday inaugurated the rehabilitation of township roads in Oro, his home town in Kwara.

    The project awarded by the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing was initiated by the minister.

    Mohammed said the project is the dividend of democracy to his people and attestation to the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to infrastructural development and better life to Nigerians.

    “We came this morning to inaugurate the rehabilitation of Oro township road.

    “When we say the contract had been awarded, some people were in doubt. We thank God that we are witnessing its inauguration today,” he said.

    The minister appealed to the people, particularly the youth in the community to give the contractor the chance the deliver the project on time.

    “We want to appeal to you that no one should exploit the contractor by asking for money before working,” he said.

    He also called on the contractor to ensure that the locals benefit from the project by engaging them as workforce.

    Mohammed said the competent local sub contractors should also be given priority for supply of working materials.

    The Project Manager, Mr Niyi Afolabi, said the project starting from NITEL Junction road would involve drainages, construction of bridges and asphalting.

    “We are commencing work today. We are given six months to complete the project but we want to assure you that we shall deliver in four months,” he said.

    Chief Simon Olayemi, the Asanlu of Oro who spoke on behalf of the community appreciated the federal government for the project and the minister for facilitating it.

  • Defection nothing but storm in teacup – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday described the recent defection of some governors and lawmakers from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as nothing but a storm in a teacup.

    There have been rumours making the round about the defection of the Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Goodwill Akpabio, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC.

    Mohammed, however, told newsmen in Lagos that those who left the ruling party did so for personal interests.

    “I welcome it (defection of Akpabio) because all politics is local. All those who have left us did that for purely personal reasons.

    “Since they say politics is a game of number, of course we welcome gladly the defection of the minority leader. Like they say, it is one-one goalless draw.”

    On whether Akpabio was being positioned for the position of the Senate President, Mohammed said “that I don’t know”.

    Mohammed said that the recent defection of some governors, state and federal lawmakers to the main opposition party, PDP, was nothing to worry about.

    “There have been so much hype about this defection, and to me it’s nothing but a storm in a teacup. We must appreciate the fact that at the end of the day, all politics is local.

    “One should ask, what is the electoral value of these decampees? In other words, today in Sokoto State, what’s the electoral value of those who have decamped,” he asked?

    According to him, the foundation for the defection has been laid the moment Dr Bukola Saraki emerged Senate President against the wish of the party which affected the relationship between the executive and legislative arms.

    The minister said that since the day Saraki lobbied the opposition party to become the Senate President, the relationship between the executive and legislature had been turbulent.

    “In fact, we could not have suffered more as an executive in the hands of the legislature if a PDP person had been the senate president,” he said.

    On allegation of lopsided appointment of Kwara people in Buhari’s administration, Mohammad described it as unfounded.

    He said that no fewer than 24 indigenes of Kwara were given federal appointments of which he (Mohammed) only recommended two while the Senate President recommended 20.

    On those complaining of not being given juicy appointment, the minister said that people complaining were not ready to serve and turn things around but eyeing what to steal.

    “It is not true that a particular part of the country is being favoured against the other.

    “I challenge anybody to go to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and take out the list of appointees under this administration.”

    “You will be surprised that we have been fair to all,” the minister said.(NAN)

  • Lai Mohammed driver denies report of abandoning him

    Aliyu Omeiza, the official driver to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has denied social media report that he abandoned the minister on the road in Abuja and decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Wednesday evening, Omeiza said the report was fake because such incident did not happen.

    “It is a lie, Nothing like that happened. I drove my Oga to the Villa in the morning where he attended the Federal Executive Council meeting.

    ” We also went to some other places with all the security details before I closed for work.

    “I am not a politician, I do not belong to any political party, not to talk of decamping.

    “This is an example of fake news that Oga has been talking about,” he said.

    Omeiza who said he has been driving the minister for years said he has no reason to leave the minister because he has been so good to him.

  • APC stands to gain by Saraki’s defection – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has attributed the slow pace of development in the country on the National Assembly led by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

    The Minister made this known when he addressed State House correspondents on the defection of the Senate President and Gov, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara from All Progressives Congress (APC) to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Mohammed, who spoke at the end of Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the senate president had operated as being part of the opposition party right from day one as Senate President.

    According to him, APC stands to lose nothing with the defection of the Senate President and his loyalists as he has been in the opposition in the past three years.

    “If Senate President Bukola Saraki were not a member of the APC, the party and the government it leads could not have suffered more than they had already done, with regards to the delay in passing the budget, approving key appointments and so on.

    “In other words, Saraki has behaved all along as a member of the opposition, deliberately slowing down the progress of the APC-led federal government.

    “It is therefore neither a surprise nor a blow that he has defected.

    “Perhaps the only surprise is that when he eventually defected, it was a mere whimper. If we didn’t gain by having our member as Senate President, we stand to lose nothing by losing him,’’ he said.

    The minister further noted that the series of Federal budget passage delays as well as delays in confirming appointments sent to the National Assembly had worked against development in the country.

    He said that Saraki’s defection along with his loyalists from the APC was a welcome development and a great relief to the party.(NAN)

  • Saraki’s exit won’t affect APC in 2019 – Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said on Wednesday that the defection of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not affect the fortunes of the party in the 2019 general election.

    In a statement issued in Abuja, the minister said while the Senate President was a member of the APC, the party did not enjoy the benefit of his membership.

    He said: ”If Senate President Bukola Saraki was not a member of the APC, the party and the government it leads could not have suffered more than they had already done, with regards to the delay in passing of budget, approving of key appointments and others.

    ”In other words, Saraki has behaved all along like a member of the opposition, deliberately slowing down the progress of the APC-led federal government. If we didn’t gain by having our member as Senate President, we stand to lose nothing by losing him.

    ”It is therefore neither a surprise nor a blow that he has defected. Perhaps the only surprise is that when he eventually defected, it was a mere whimper!”

    Mohammed said the APC can only get stronger in Kwara State by not having double agents and fifth columnists as members.