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Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • Flood claims 23-year-old sales lady in Onitsha

    A 23-year old lady, Miss Chukwusom Nwoko reportedly lost her life following a heavy rain in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of Anambra state.

    The rain which was said to have started shortly after the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the commercial city of the state, lasted over an hour.

    The Nation gathered that the deceased was returning home after the day’s business with two other colleagues of hers when the rain started.

    A resident of the area, who did not want to be mentioned, said they quickly rushed into a nearby shop within Ochanja market round-about to avoid being wait by the rain.

    “Few minutes after, the owner of the shop asked them to leave his shop, claiming he wanted to shut it as it was getting late.

    “The girls pleaded with him to allow them stay a little as it was still raining heavily but the man ignored them and was busy locking up his shop.”

    The man however alleged that two of the girls who angrily left had crossed the deep drainage with the aid of a plank used as bridge when the shop owner reportedly removed the plank.

    “The man raised the plank while Miss Nwoko, was on it and she fell into the deep gutter filled to capacity because of the heavy down pour.

    “On seeing that she has drowned, he briskly shut his shop and ran away before sympathizers and on-lookers who defied the rain to rescue the girl rushed to the scene,” he added.

    The Nation further learnt that the body of the deceased was later recovered and was taken to Borromeo Catholic Mission hospital morgue.

    Read Also: Gunmen kill Pastor in Onitsha church

    Speaking to newsmen, the father of the girl, Mr. Ndubuisi Nwoko accused the shop owner of killing his daughter.

    He said, “The man has just killed my daughter and ran away and he has not been seen up till now.

    “I have lodged the matter at Fegge police station and we have gone to the mortuary where the police took photograph of the corpse.

    “I want to see the killer of my daughter who is doing the business to keep her busy waiting for when she will get admission into tertiary institution.”

    The Fegge Divisional Police Officer, Mr Garba Rabiu, confirmed the incident, but said the suspect was still at large.

    “We are looking for the man, he has not been seen since the incident happened,” he said.

  • ‘Buhari’s victory will guarantee greater slots for Igbo lawmakers’

    A House of Representative candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next month’s general election, Engr. Jude Onyeka on Sunday, said the Igbo would have much to gain if President Muhammadu Buhari was reelected.

    He said APC victory at the polls would lay to rest all complaints of not having enough from the federal government.

    Speaking with journalists at his campaign office, Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area, Anambra state, Onyeka said the Igbo would not only have greater voice in the house, but would avoid past mistakes.

    The House of Rep hopeful who is contesting for Nnewi North/Nnewi South and Ekwusigo Federal Constituency, pledged to make a difference if elected.

    Read Also: People with disabilities endorse Buhari

    He said, “The Igbo will have a lot to gain, if they can vote APC all through especially for presidential and National Assembly in the five States of the South East to be part of the majority and have more voice and avoid mistakes of the past.

    “An APC president with majority of the APC lawmakers in the National Assembly from the South East geo-political zone like other zones will give the Igbo a strong bargaining power in national politics.”

    Predicting a landslide victory for the party, Onyeka said, “it would be a miscalculation if the Igbo could not avail themselves of the opportunity offered by the party to be part of the “envisaged” majority in the National Assembly.

    “Ndigbo stand to gain by supporting the APC in the upcoming elections. When you have a President who is an APC man and lawmakers of Igbo extraction who are members of the APC, for us there will be that synergy and cooperation.

    “Our voice will be our strength.  That will give us a better opportunity to demand and receive more infrastructural development and other democracy dividends with ease,” Onyeka said.

  • Buhari to Nigerians: I have fulfilled my promises

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday said he had fulfilled his campaign promises to Nigerians.

    The President, who spoke at a mega rally of the All Progressives Congress in Osogbo, Osun State capital, ahead of the February general elections, reminded Nigerians of the condition under which he came into office in 2015.

    Buhari spoke to thousands of the APC, chieftains and party supporters including the national chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former interim national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, Osun State governor, Mr. Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola, and his deputy, Gboyega Alabi, immediate past Osun state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, former governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transport, Hon. Rotimi Ameachi, and the national women leader of the APC, Chief Mrs. Kemi Nelson, among others.

    Buhari said his administration on assumption off office in 2015 met the terrorist group, Boko Haram, occupying seventeen local governments in Yobe and Borno States and other parts of the North East but said no single council today is in the control of the insurgent group, adding that “except where they have soft targets market places and motor parks.”

    According to him, his administration had significantly improved on agriculture.

    Buhari, who also said had done his best in fighting corruption, assured that whoever that is found to be corrupt will not be spared, adding that “they will be prosecuted and brought to justice.”

    Acknowledging people’s support for him, he expressed gratitude to the people for “trooping out and lining up the streets in the scorching sun to wave him and his entourage.”

    Asking the people to vote for him and his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in the February poll, he also appealed to them to vote for all candidates under the platform of the APC in the general elections, assuring that they would not let them down.

    Also, the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said those contending power with the APC never meant well for this nation. In their resolve, they are determined to draw us back but by the grace of God we are moving on and higher.”

    Earlier, the Osun State governor, Mr. Oyetola, advised the people of the state to return Buhari for the second term, saying his administration had done so much for the state in the area of social investment and youth empowerment, road construction, health, agriculture.

    The governor said votes for Buhari will provide an opportunity for the people of the state to continue to enjoy good and quality programmes of the Buhari administration.

    He advised the people not to allow corrupt politicians to over power in the interest of the future of the nation, saying “the APC is a party of today and the future.”

    In his welcome address, Chief Akande thanked President Buhari for his love for the people of Osun and Nigeria.

    Also, Asiwaju Tinubu said the People’s Democratic Party had deceived Nigerians for sixteen years and therefore must not to be allowed to return to power.

    Tinubu, who spoke in Yoruba language, said the PDP’s “misrule” had denied the youths and many Nigerians jobs.

    He pleaded with Nigerians not to allow the efforts of the progressives for 15 years to protect nation’s democracy go in vain, adding that Buhari had re-established importance of agriculture, which he said older Nigerian generation had utilized to train their children and contribute to the national development.

    He thanked Buhari for recognizing June 12 as Democracy Day, for honoring it symbol, late M.K.O Abiola, as also for putting many people from the South West in position of authority.

    Read Also: Imo AA to deliver one million votes for Buhari

    For Aregbesola, who only sang to pass his message across, he enjoined the people to vote for the broom symbol, which he said staid for progress and development.

    The APC national chairman, Oshiomole, who said the forthcoming general elections will be determined by the people, noted that “with the people’s enthusiasm today to identify with Mr. President is enough proof that all is well.”

    Meanwhile, President Buhari had earlier met with Osun State traditional rulers at the Government House, Okefia in Osogbo, the state capital, to solicit their support for his re-election bid.

    The President also called for the support of the traditional rulers for improved security in the country.

    He explained that his administration had made positive progress in the area of security, economy and  also fought bribery and corruption in the country.

    The President said his administration intervention in agriculture had made the country to achieve food security.

    Buhari said his administration wanted to engage more people in agriculture by providing soft loans to farmers.

    He said: “With our intervention in agriculture,  we have achieve food security. We now produce what we eat. I have also directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, not to provide foreign excahnge for anyone who want to import for into the country except those who want to invest in the country.

    “Since 2013 till date,  I always request to see the traditional rulers in any state I travel to because of their closeness to the people. And I always appeal to them to secure the society by securing their communities.”

    On the issue of security, Buhari urged the traditional rulers to  assist government to secure the society by securing their communities.

    The President said since the traditional rulers were closer to the people,  their support for improved security was important.

    Buhari appealed to the traditional rulers to ensure that their subjects eschew violence during the election.

    In his remarks, Gov. Adegboya Oyetola, said people of the state would vote massively for President Buhari come Feb. 16.

    Oyetola said in the same way people of the state voted for Buhari in 2015, they would repeat the same in Feb. 16.

    He commended the president for his support for the state.

    Oba Wahab Oyedotun, the Orangun of Ila,  who spoke on behalf of other traditional rulers, promised that they would deliver the state to  the President.

    Oba Oyedotun said the good work of the president was enough to ensure his victory .

    “Mr President, you dont have any problem in Osun,  you are winning. You dont need to campaign because tge good work you have done in the state and the country will speak for,” Oba Oyedotun said.

    In attendance was the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Adedotun, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Adewale Akanbi, the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrashed Olabomi, the Orangun of Oke-Ila, Oba Dokun Abolarin, the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Adekunle Magbagbeola, among others.

     

  • 2019: Ibadan stands still for Buhari , Osinbajo

    Ibadan, the Oyo state capital on Saturday stood still to receive President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who were in the state on a campaign tour.

    This is coming even as the President solicited for the support and understanding of the traditional rulers and people of the state in his bid to take the country to its next level of development.

    The two-legged event which started with a consultative meeting with traditional rulers from across the pacesetter state ended up with a presidential campaign rally at the famous Mapo Hall, Ibadan.

    No fewer than 103 traditional rulers from Oyo state led by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji and Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi met the President, the Vice President and other top party leaders at the consultative meeting which held at the House of Chiefs, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan.

    Addressing the traditional rulers, President Buhari who said he was in the state to meet the traditional rulers to thank them for the support his administration has enjoyed so far since assumption of office in 2015 recounting his attempts at winning earlier in 2003, 2007 and 2011 but not until 2015 when he won.

    Noting how his administration had faired since 2015, the President said the 16 years of the People’s Democratic Party’s rule could be likened to torment to the people with a dearth of infrastructures despite the availability of immense fund.

    The President added that his administration had laid the foundation for the development of the nation with physical infrastructures like the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the light rail from Ibadan to Lagos which was nearing completion among other projects in the pipeline.

    He said “I am here to warn you to please reflect on the conditions we met this country in 2015, where we are now and what we are able to do even with the little available resources to us. I keep on repeating this just as a reminder and I challenge any Nigeria to go to Europe, United States and Asia and check for the 16 years of PDP rule; I know you (traditional rulers) are supposed to be apolitical.

    “I challenge anybody to go and check, that for the 16 years of PDP, Nigeria was earning good money and the state of our infrastructure and of our people were worse when we came, the road, the rail were in decay and there was no power. Along the line, some of them admitted that they spent 16 million dollars on power and yet to no avail.

    “Once the roads are good, the rail is working and there is power, most Nigerians would mind their own business, they won’t even care about who is in government. But when there is no infrastructure, everybody will sit at home and curse the government.

    “I assure you that our plan is to secure the country and improve on the economy and things that will rub on the life of the people. You all know these things more than I do because you sit more around your people day-in and day-out.

    “So, please we need you and your constituencies, we appeal for your support and understanding. We assure you that we will not abuse the trust and we will not spare anybody who abuses the trust.”

    Read Also: ‘Lagos Ibadan standard gauge ready in Feb’

    Responding on behalf of the traditional rulers, the Alaafin appealed to the President to give Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state the needed support for him to emerge the next Senate president, saying the governor has indeed transformed the state from been known as a garrison command to a modern state upon the assumption of office in 2011.

    While addressing the thousands of party supporters who had thronged the Mapo rally venue, APC National leader and Co-Chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu warned the people not to be deceived with the lies of those he described as greedy looters.

    He pointed out that only the main opposition party is planning to rig election but that members of the ruling party must ensure that they troop out on February 16th to celebrate the final burial of the opposition and send some political opponents to their political retirement.

    Tinubu said, “Don’t let looters and greedy people lie to you and deceive you again. Have you been hearing that they have been threatening that they will rig the election? Will we still rig election with this huge population of supporters? Are they not the ones without members anymore? They are the ones without people. We are not going backwards again.

    “I won’t mention anybody’s name but I want to say that if they cannot vote or do politics again, let them go and throw in the towel. I implore you all to go out on the day of the election, don’t just say we have won already; you still need to go and vote because we need to prove that we have the number to win the election. President Muhammadu Buhari is the only choice.”

    He urged the people to keep their PVCs intact and ensure they vote all the APC candidates in the spirit of the true progressives.

    In his charge to the party members, APC National chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said the opposition killed themselves with their deeds in the last 16years.

    “All the things that they have done in their 16years rule is now standing against them. They are the ones dead and on the 16th of February we will bury them all. What killed them is your PVC. I can assure you that on February 16th, some of them will indeed die politically. I am so happy because we have done what is right.

    “I will tell you the difference between the progressives and the conservatives. In the past, the PDP philosophy is just about sharing the money. They only share what belongs to everybody to the rich. But now President Muhammadu Buhari has come in and said no more stealing from the government treasury to be shared by the rich for the rich.”

    “I hope you listened to Alhaji Abubakar Atiku interview in Lagos who said if you make mistake to elect ‘those who are dead’, that he will sell everything that is owned by the government and that he will enrich his friend. Does Atiku know you? Is he your friend?

    “He did not say he will enrich Nigerians, he did not say he will empower Nigerians, he did not say he will support the youths, he said he will enrich his friends. Are you going to vote for a man who has told you his agenda to enrich his friends?

    “The partnership between a trader who doesn’t care about who is stealing the good from the store and the man who says he will enrich his friends through public treasure is a partnership in death politically and I know that all of you in Oyo state on February 16 will open and shine our eyes to vote them out and vote Buhari in.

    Reacting to the sudden change of tune by Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to declare support to his former Vice as the PDP presidential candidate, the APC national chairman said, “you know in Yoruba land, we respect elders but when someone is old and also lies in the morning, noon and evening, such an old man doesn’t deserve our respect because respect begets respect.

    “So, that man who said Atiku is a thief. He said it in the morning, he said it in the afternoon and even wrote about it in his book and only came back to say he (Obasanjo) has forgiven him (Atiku), is he (Obasanjo) equivalent to Nigeria? I think that is very insulting for anyone who has been outsmarting as that old age cheating farmer, who has governed Nigeria for about eleven and half years to say that once he forgives, what was stolen, all Nigeria must forgive, is to assume that he is equivalent to Nigeria, that is not the tradition, even in Yorubaland.

    “So, I ask you all to recognize that it is not over until he is over, so, you come out and vote against privatisation of Nigeria. Vote against the auctioning of our national asset. Vote against the enriching of the friends of Atiku.”

    In his welcome remarks, the host governor Ajimobi said “I am appealing to you that this election is between the following: this election is between the progressives and the retrogressive, it is between development with healing and development with stealing.

    “It is between security of looting and security of saving. It is between integrity and decadence. It is between nobility of character and ignobility of character. It is between rectitude and dishonesty. It is between accountability and impunity. It is between corruptibility and incorruptibility. It is between APC and headache. It is between APC and dane guns, it is between daylight and darkness. It is between ‘we are dead’ and we are not dead.

    “And I want to say this, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo met Nigeria in bricks, in broken bricks, they have moved it to marble, the next level is granite and they want to move it to granite level.”

     

  • ‘Suspension of Onnoghen is okay with the masses’

    The Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the courage and political will to suspend Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

    Chief Edebiri said the action would go down well with the masses of Nigerians.

    Edebiri said Nigerians who have constituted themselves into professional supporters club of corruptive tendencies should have a rethink that the wealth of the country belongs to all Nigerians and not few of them who threaten to pull down the roof each time a member of their club is accused of any wrong doing.

    Speaking in a chat with newsmen, Chief Edebiri said the planned arraignment of Justice Onnoghen before the Code of Conduct Tribunal was a breakthrough in the fight against corruption in the country.

    Chief Edebiri lampooned those threatening to pull down heavens because of Justice Onnoghen and described them as poor students of history.

    Edebiri noted that Chief Awolowo was arraigned on phantom coup plot charges and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and his powerful political party, the Action Group did not pull down the roof.

    Read Also: How Onnoghen’s trouble started

    His word, “Are these people crying not aware that the Zik of Africa and the doyen of Nigerian politics and nationalism was in February 1953 charged before the Sir Foster Sutton Tribunal for alleged wrong doing regarding the finances of African Continental Bank founded by him.

    “Zik with all the powers and support of a solid ethnic group did not threaten to pull down the roof of the house. He submitted to the trial which found him guilty. Zik responded by resigning as the leader of government business in the Eastern region.

    “Those who hinged all their hopes on becoming the President of Nigeria through ‘Technical Knockout option (TKO) will not go back to the drawing table to strategize on how to win the people’s vote through lawful and constitutional means.

    “President Buhari has taken good steps. Justice Onnoghen is not the first VIP to be put on trial. Others have been put on trial and heavens did not fall. What is strange in the CJN being made to face trial.

    “Justice Onnoghen should face trial and if he is found innocent, he goes back to his work.”

  • PTAD to verify NNSL pensioners

    The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said that it has so far verified and pay rolled about 16,873 pensioners of defunct or privatized government companies, while the process of verifying others, including the defunct Nigeria National Shipping Line (NNSL) is being worked out.

    Executive Secretary of the Directorate, Barrister Sharon Ikeazor disclosed this in a statement in Abuja while reacting to allegations by some pensioners of the defunct Nigeria National Shipping Line that PTAD was frustrating the payment of their entitlement.

    She explained that when PTAD got approval to commence the verification of pensioners of the defunct NNSL, the leadership of the pensioners raised objection to the data received from the federal Ministry of Transportation stating that the salary structure of its Seamen was not capture.

    She said further that while PTAD is making arrangement for their verification along side others, it was yet to receive the salary structure of the Seamen from the Ministry concerned.

    The statement reads: “The attention of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has been drawn to a misleading statement allegedly issued by representatives of Ex-workers of Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) insinuating that PTAD had deliberately delayed their enrolment into the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) and thereby frustrating the payment of N3 billion pension arrears owed to its members. Nothing could be further from the truth.

    “To correct this false impression, we would like to state that the issue of enrolling pensioners of defunct/privatized agencies was part of President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s commitment towards lifting pensioners, who had hitherto been neglected for over a decade, out of poverty.

    “This policy saw to the enrolment of pensioners of Delta Steel Company, NICON Insurance, Nigeria Reinsurance, New Nigerian Newspapers and NITEL/MTEL, all agencies that were either privatized or liquidated by previous governments without contingency safety nets for the thousands of their hardworking Nigerian employees.

    “Plans are already underway for the verification and subsequent enrolment of qualified Ex-workers of Savannah Sugar Company, Aluminum Smelter Company, Nigerian National Shipping Line and others as approved by the Honorable Minister of Finance (HMF).

    “In the case of NNSL, the approval for enrolment was received in April 2018, several months after the first set of agencies was approved.

    “It is worthy of note, that the Directorate’s pre-verification exercise for pensioners is a long and painstaking inter-ministerial process that requires the collection of data and digitization of documents. Most significantly, it requires getting the authentic salary structure of the agency concerned, which in the case of NNSL wasn’t an easy feat.

    “When PTAD eventually got a response in that regard from the Federal Ministry of Transport, representatives of the Union, whom the Directorate had been actively engaging with all along, declared the document incomplete saying that it didn’t include the salary structure of its Seamen, though PTAD is yet to receive any formal information from Federal Ministry of Transport regarding that allusion.

    “It is important to state that, the Directorate has to date verified and put on monthly pension payroll, a total of 16,873 pensioners of seven (7) defunct/privatized agencies, and this is not including a total of 759 Next of Kins (NoK) of deceased pensioners of these defunct agencies that had equally been paid their departed breadwinner’s final entitlements.”

    She listed the companies as NITEL/MTEL 10,801, Delta Steel Company 3,593, NICON Insurance 949, Nigeria Reinsurance 292, New Nigeria Newspapers 507, Nigerian Defense Academy (Civilians) 79 and Federal Housing Authority 652.

    Ikeazor said “contrary to the unfortunate statement ascribed to certain representatives of Ex-workers of NNSL, preparation for the verification of all treasury funded parastatals, including NNSL, has been completed and the exercise will commence shortly across the country. The program schedule will also be released by the Directorate soon.

    “We therefore assure all pensioners that are yet to be verified that succor will soon come their way in conformity with the President’s commitment to improve the welfare of all Nigerian pensioners, especially those neglected by previous administrations.”

  • Onnoghen: Nigeria now a full-blown dictatorship – Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has flayed the Buhari regime for what he called the unconstitutional suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onneghen.

    According to Dogara, President Muhammadu Buhari has served the world with notice that Nigeria is now a full-blown dictatorship.

    The Speaker, in a statement he signed himself further stated:

    “This did not come as a rude shock except to those that have been blind to the gradual but progressive erosion of democratic values in the polity as President Buhari’s Government has never hidden its disdain for the rule of law.

    “We have watched in disbelief as the Government recklessly deploys institutional prerogatives; routinely flouts the rule of law; subverts and assaults democratic Institutions; refuses to accept opponents as legitimate; suppresses citizens civil liberties (especially those of opponents) and trample underfoot the media.

    “In short, the Government’s tyrannical and authoritarian credentials are loathsomely legendary.”

    Dogara noted that no provision in Sections 157 and 292 of the 1999 Constitution as amended supports the President in purporting to suspend the CJN or swearing in an acting CJN.

    “The whole idea of a limited government is that the President’s powers is limited by law and it is ultra vires his powers to act in the absence of explicit legislative authorization. That is representative democracy at its best which our 1999 Constitution as amended guarantees.

    “It is instructive to note that our Constitution does not contemplate or presupposes a situation whereby the Judiciary will have a suspended CJN and an acting CJN at the same time.

    Read Also: NASS don’t hate President Buhari – Dogara

    “Therefore, it is right to posit, as some have done that the President now has his own Chief Judge to do his bidding while Nigeria has a sitting CJN until he is removed in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

    “The awfully crude annexation of the judiciary by the President in violation of his oath of office and the Constitution cannot be for any other reason except, as alleged by so many, to prepare the judiciary ahead of time for the purpose of conferring some aura of legitimacy to the contraption that the 2019 general elections may after all become.

    “I therefore call on the President to remember that he has no better legacy to bequeath other than a good name: which cannot be achieved without honour, character and integrity.

    “Honour and integrity demand that he upholds his oath of office by reversing this assault on our Constitution and following the manifestly clear and unambiguous constitutional procedure for the removal of the CJN if he must be removed. Anything short of this demeans all of us.

    “To our citizens, we must now head the warning of the Irish lawyer cum orator, John Philpot Curran who said, “the condition upon which God had given liberty to man is eternal vigilance: which condition if he breaks, servitude is at once the consequences of his crime, and the punishment of his guilt”. Despotism can only prosper in Nigeria if good men and women do nothing.

    “I also call on all lovers of freedom and democracy all over the world to rise to the occasion and demand of this Government and the President to halt the march to anarchy and bedlam: which dictatorship promotes. The world has an experience in this and it must not allow this unmitigated disaster on Nigeria  before it acts to restore sanity.

    “As of today, Nigeria is now Germany in the wake of the 1933 Reichstag fire. Our democracy is on fire; ignited by the very people who swore to protect and defend it. That this fire must not convert the Chancellor to Fuhrer as it happened in Germany in 1933 depends on our collective response and that of the international community.

    “We must not bow our knees to dictatorship: not now, not ever again,” Dogara said.

  • South-South governors, IYC condemn suspension of CJN

    South-South Governors and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, on Saturday condemned the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), Walter Onnoghen.

    The Chairman of the South South Governors Forum and Governor òf Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, described the removal of Onnoghen as a sad day and a sad commentary on democracy in Nigeria.

    The governor in a statement signed his Special Adviser on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, said that the action was inimical to the desired stability of the nation and critical institutions of state.

    He said that Nigerians had a responsibility to be concerned about the electoral process and the critical institutions entrusted with the responsibility to safeguard democracy in the society.

    Dickson, who at the weekend received the Sun Newspaper Award for the Outstanding Politician of the year said that Nigeria would be heading in the direction of a shithole country if critical institutions of state failed to get it right.

    He lamented that the removal of Onnoghen from his exalted position showed in clear terms that democracy was under serious stress and test.

    He said: “Talking about the unfortunate development today, having read the details about it, and if the report that we are reading about it are anything to go by, then it is a very sad commentary on our nation’s democracy

    “It is a very sad day, for our nation’s democracy and for the stability of our nation, and the stability of the critical national institution of which the judiciary is primus inter pares.

    “We must be concerned about the process, the integrity of the national critical institutions that will safeguard and reinforce our democracy, seeing our democracy has come under very severe stress and test by what has happened today”.

    Read Also: ‘South-South is supporting Buhari’s re-election’

    He stressed that while the courts would make pronouncement on the legality or otherwise on the development around the CJN, he personally found the action condemnable

    “Is this action legal? I am sure the courts are there to make pronouncements on it one way or the order. However I have my views, and clearly I condemn it”, he said,

    He emphasized the need for due process and adherence to constitutional provisions stressing that countries are governed according to laws and mutual respect among the political class.

    The Governor said that there must be respect for processes in the Indepedent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies.

    He said: “We should stop demonizing, criminalizing one another, because it takes Nigerians to build Nigeria. We cannot demonize all Nigerians and expect to be a great nation or to be taken seriously anywhere

    “And I believe essentially that whereas there are serious issue to be dealt with, we are essentially a good and decent people and a great nation potentially”.

    Also, the IYC in a statement signed by its Seceratry-General, Alfred Kemepado referred to the action of the President as an act of state violence and dictatorship

    He said suspension of the CJN was totally unlawful and shameful adding that it was as an attempted coup executed by the President Buhari administration against the judiciary and the law abiding the citizens of Nigeria.

    He accused the Presidency of having a plot to instigate unrest and violence in the Niger Delta region and the South South of the country.

    He said the South-South  no longer strongly felt that they were part of Nigeria under the Buhari administration.

    Kemepado recalled that the Buhari administration earlier unjustly removed Mr. Matthew Seiyefa, who meritoriously rose to the rank of the Director-General, Department of State Service (DSS)

    He said: “This  is the time for youths of Ijaw land and the Niger Delta to show how lazy they are or how resolute they can be. The international community, especially the governments  of the USA, the UK and the EU should note this unwarranted state violence against the people of the South-South Nigeria.

    “We call on the government of the USA and the UK to extend the ban on visas to the children and family members of those who are bent on instigating breakdown of law in Nigeria”.

     

  • Buhari departs for Ibadan for APC `Next Level’ message

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday departed Abuja for Ibadan, Oyo State, to resume his re-election campaign after a day break on Friday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that before the break, the president and members of the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were on Thursday in Anambra and Enugu states to launch the re-election bid.

    Buhari had on Friday, during the break, signed the Executive Order 007 of 2019 on Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.

    The scheme was part of the administration’s commitment to the provision of critical road infrastructure across the country.

    He also swore-in the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko, to replace Justice Walter Onnoghen, who has been suspended pending final determination of the cases against him.

    While in Ibadan, Buhari would meet with traditional rulers at the Chiefs Secretariat before moving to the venue of the APC campaign rally in the state.

    The president and members of the Presidential Campaign Council are expected to address the rally and deliver the `Next Level’ messages to the people of the state.

    Buhari is also expected to take his campaign train to Osogho, Osun state, later in the day.

    NAN

     

  • Kano partners NGO’s to provide limbs to 190 amputees

    Kano state government has provided artificial limbs to 190 people with amputated limbs free.

    The state Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje disclosed this while supervising the exercise, organized by Kano state government in collaboration with Tolaram Foundation and JIBWIS, at Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital, Giginyu in the state capital.

    The Governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Alhaji Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, said  “the gesture will restore hope of living with minimal physical challenges”.

    Dr. Ganduje commended Tolaram foundation for its commitment to charity, assuring of the government’s support and cooperation for the successful delivery of the programme.

    The Governor also reiterated his administration’s resolve to continue to attach more priority to the health sector through, among others, equipping major hospitals with modern facilities, with a view to ensuring effective health care delivery system.

    Read Also: ‘Kano free of polio in 53 months’

    He, therefore, called on the clients to utilize the limbs provided to them well, as they would restore a significant part of their ability to conduct their day-to-day activities smoothly.

    Earlier in his remarks, the state commissioner of health, Dr Kabir Ibrahim Getso said Kano state in collaboration with Talaram Foundation and JIBWIS provided the intervention free to the clients with the amputated limbs in the state.

    On his part, the coordinator of the Foundation Dr Usman Idris Funtua explained that Kano state is one of the states in 19 northern states that have been sponsoring the programme.

    He added that the Foundation in its five years activities in the country had donated three thousand, seven hundred and ninety one prosthetic limbs to the amputies as Kano state benefited most in the programme.

    Some of the beneficiaries who had benefited from the programme in the state expressed their profound appreciation to the state government, Toleram foundation and JIBWIS for the gesture accorded to them.