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Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • FEC meeting helped me survive PEPT ruling – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he was not traumatised while the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal delivered it judgment on Wednesday.

    The judgement was delivered in favour of President Buhari as the winner of the February 2019 election against the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    Speaking while receiving governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Aso Rock, the President said that he was not traumatised as he was presiding over the Federal Executive Council meeting throughout the duration of the judgement at the Court of Appeal.

    He said: “On this judgement, again it was a fabulous coincidence that it came almost the same time the first Federal Executive Council meeting of this government was taking place. It lasted about the same time with the judgement.

    Read Also: Buhari, APC govs meet in Abuja

    “I thank God for that because I think would have gone into trauma or something. So I was busy trying to concentrate on the memo.

    “The first memo was on the budget and it took more than five hours. So, while you were doing your thing for nine hours, we were doing our for about seven hours here.

    “It is a very interesting coincidence and I thank God for it because I would have been in trauma or something of that sort.
    So thank very much for sharing the glory with us. What I will say to you congratulations the chairman of the party and the governors is that we make sure that we really institutionalized the party, so that when we leave the stage the party will continue to lead.”

    Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum and Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu said they were in the Villa to congratulate the President over the judgement.

    Those at the meeting included Governors of Osun, Plateau, Kano, Kebbi, Niger, Kogi, Yobe, Ogun, Jigawa, Borno, Lagos.

    Also at the meeting were the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.

  • Ex-Army General threatens to shoot Ikeja Electric staff

    A retired Army General armed with a pistol and a machete, on Thursday afternoon, threatened employees of Ikeja Electric (IE), who visited his residence on Fatai Animashaun Street, Magodo, in the course of their routine duty.

    According to the Head of Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Felix Ofulue, said: “The victims who are members of the Revenue Protection Team of IE were in Magodo Estate to re-certify and seal prepaid meters.

    “The objective of the task is to prevent the tampering of meters and ultimately, energy theft.

    “However, the irate customer who apparently misconstrued the intention of the team from IE, accosted members of the team, with his pistol and machete and in clear terms, threatened their lives.

    READ ALSO: Ikeja Electric begins e-bills for customers’ convenience

    “Despite the pleas and explanations by the team that they were on their routine duty, the customer was hell bent on maiming any of them that dared enter his residence.”

    This ugly experience depicts an unfortunate situation where people who should know and are expected to uphold the Law are the ones that are perpetrating and advocating mindless violence and lawlessness in our society, Ofulue added.

  • FG urged to key into global fight against microbes

    Vice-Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra state, Prof. Charles Esimone has called on the Federal government to key into the global fight against microbes to sustain the efficacy of available antimicrobials in order to curb the spread of ESBL-producing pathogen.

    He also called for more research and development of arsenal to fight microbes, noting that it would involve collective effort.

    Delivering the 49th inaugural lecture at the institution themed, ‘Our fight against unseen enemies – The microbes’, Esimone, warned that microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, algae, among others were capable of eliminating man from the surface of the earth if neglected.

    He regretted that microorganisms have killed billions of men over the centuries, underscoring the need to exploit microbes, which, he said, were originally created to add diversity to life, help man in his quest for longevity as well as to create wealth and enrich his food via fermentation.

    He identified over-prescribing of antibiotics, patients not finishing their treatments, over-use of antibiotics in livestock and fish-farming, poor infection control in hospitals and clinics, lack of hygiene and poor sanitation, and so on, as some of causes of resistance by microbes.

    “Microbes runs the world, and they run our lives; they are akin to demons and we must look for ways to subdue them by exploring and exploiting them for our good, especially in the food industry,” he said.

    Esimone, professor of Bio-pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Microbiology, recommended the development of effective vaccines more than any therapeutic agents; new presentation formats for drugs to replace the currently used bitter and sometimes nauseating medicines as well as using herbal drinks to replace herbal drugs.

    READ ALSO: Scientists use microbes to convert human waste into space food

    The VC further noted that microbes/microorganisms were ubiquitous, and can exist in the air, water, soil and all over the environment, remarking that it was impossible for man to eliminate microbes.

    According to him, microbes are frequently but not always ill-intentioned.

    “It can be likened to herdsmen that know no territory; it has staged a conquest in many human systems, establishing habitats in both likely and unlikely places including in the hair, mouth, ears, skin and fingernails.

    “Like the Israelites of old, humans are bounded by these extremely different and diverse microbial neighbours and as such, must learn to exploit them and subdue them.

    “Human skin alone is home to hundreds of microbial species, sometimes harbouring several strains of the same organisms. War with microbes rears up as different theaters all the time, from a small ear infection to conjunctivitis to a peptic ulcer, or a herpes condition”.

    He admitted that the emergence of microorganisms that are resistant to antimicrobial agents had become a global public health concern, regretting that mankind’s abuse of antibiotics contributed to such resistance.

    Earlier, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the university, Alhaji Azeez Oladotun Bello, said the lecture offered veritable platform to showcase the research work of the lecturer and relevance of their discipline.

    Bello, represented by Alhaji Bello Modibo, noted that the import of inaugural lecture cannot be over-emphasised, while commending the University for sustaining the tempo.

  • Buhari: ‘Victory not unexpected’

    The judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal upholding the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari was expected, the President’s Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Social Investment Programmes, Ismaeel Ahmed, has said.

    Ahmed, a member of the APC Board of Trustees (BoT) and a Director in the 2019 Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, noted that a genuine electoral mandate was given to President Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo in the February 23 poll.

    He said it reflected the mood and political reality in the country.

    Read Also: Buhari, APC women leaders meet in Aso Rock

    The Kano-born politician noted that from onset, it was obvious that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not have any strong point to back its claims.

    “A genuine electoral mandate was given to us in February, which truly reflected the mood and political reality in the country. We didn’t win in any state that we didn’t have a strong wind going into the elections.

    “As a matter of fact, we lost in states that we could have won, if we were to do what PDP was used to doing during elections. We wouldn’t have lost Abuja, or Oyo or Imo or Edo, where we had APC governors and a Federal Government.

    “This was an extremely fair contest with results that reflected the mood of the country at the time and we won squarely, as the courts have affirmed today. No one in this country can contest President Buhari’s appeal and popular support.

    “Many Nigerians do not just love President Buhari because he is loveable, but they cherish the qualities and charisma he brings to the table. He is a man of determination. He has an unassailable public profile that speaks humility and integrity. He is focused and has Nigeria’s interests at heart.”

     

  • My public greeting to Buhari better than night visits, says Wike

    RIVERS State Governor Nyesom Wike has said he congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal confirmed his victory because it is better to offer public congratulations than visit the President at night.

    The governor said unlike some governors of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who allegedly visited the President at night, he made his declaration public because it came from his heart.

    Wike spoke yesterday at the funeral service of Madam Blessing Awuse, the mother of Onha Sergent Chidi Awuse, at the St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Emohua.

    He said: “I am sure all of you are surprised that I congratulated President Buhari. Is it not good for me to congratulate him than to go to his house in the night?

    Read Also: Why I am yet to form my cabinet -Wike

    “So many PDP governors go to see him in his house in the night. I have never gone and I will not go.

    “We are the only state that the Federal Government refused to pay the money used to execute Federal projects because I don’t go to see him in the night. I won’t go. He is not my friend; he is not doing well. But he won in court, should I say that the court did wrong? No.

    “President Buhari, congratulations and carry Nigerians along. Unify the country; the country is too divided.

    “I am saying what is right. What I will do, I will do; what I will not do, I will not do.”

    Wike said politics is a game of interest, adding that Rivers indigenes in the All Progressives Congress (APC) were under obligation to attract Federal benefits to the state.

     

     

     

  • Federal Govt: Atiku gave false evidence at tribunal

    THE dust generated by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Wednesday victory at the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) is yet to settle.

    People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which lost along with its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, said “the victory will be short-lived” because the Supreme Court would quash it.

    But, APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole and the Federal Government said the PDP’s appeal will be an exercise in futility.

    Defeat awaits the PDP at the apex court, Oshiomhole added.

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who congratulated Buhari after the verdict, has explained his action.

    He said it was better to offer public congratulations than to visit the President at night.

    Wike said that unlike some PDP governors who visit President Buhari at night, he made his declaration public because it came from the heart.

    Also, Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the PDP and Atiku should be prosecuted for presenting “fraudulent evidence”, before the tribunal.

    Speaking on Thursday in St. Petersburg, Russia, he said the PDP and its candidate should apologise to Nigerians instead of appealing the verdict.

    The minister recommended the PDP and its candidate for prosecution.

    He said they deserved to be prosecuted for allegedly presenting fraudulent evidence before the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC), which on Wednesday threw out their appeal and affirmed President Buhari’s election.

    In a statement, the minister urged the PDP and Atiku to drop the idea of approaching the Supreme Court to seek redress.

    Mohammed is leading the Nigerian delegation to the 23rd General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

    The statement was signed by his media aide, Mr. Segun Adeyemi, and made available to reporters on Thursday in Abuja.

    It reads: “Instead of casting aspersion on the judiciary with their poorly-framed reaction to the ruling of the tribunal, the PDP and its candidate should be thanking their stars that they are not being prosecuted for coming to court with fraudulently-obtained evidence.

    “It is intriguing that a party that trumpets the rule of law at every turn will present, in an open court, evidence it claimed to have obtained by hacking into a supposed INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) server.

    “Don’t they realise this is a criminal act for which they are liable?

    “Instead of threatening to head to the Supreme Court, driven more by ego than common sense, they should be sorry for allowing desperation to overwhelm their sense of reasoning. Enough is enough,” Mohammed, who is UNWTO’s Vice President (Africa), said.

    The minister said Atiku and the PDP should apologise to Nigerians for wilfully distracting the President Buhari administration with a frivolous election petition, instead of appealing Wednesday’s ruling.

    He noted that while the PDP and its candidate reserve the right to pursue their petition to the highest level, “they would be better served by dropping their toga of desperation and realising that there is a limit to tomfoolery.

    “Nigerians are tired of this orchestrated distraction, and will rather wish that the opposition, having lost at the polls and in court, will now join hands with the government to move Nigeria to the next level.

    “This is more so that the judgement validating the re-election of President Buhari was unanimous that the petition lacked merit; that the petitioners failed to prove any of the grounds upon which their case was anchored and that President Buhari is eminently qualified to contest the poll.”

    The minister praised the tribunal for not only doing justice to the case, but for explaining, in painstaking details that lasted hours, how it arrived at its judgment.

    “We also thank Nigerians, who voted massively to re-elect President Buhari, for their continued support,” he said.

    Oshiomhole, who spoke with reporters at the State House in Abuja, expressed optimism that no surprise would come out from the Supreme Court since the judges “are most likely to rely on the Appeal Court’s ruling”

    Read Also: Buhari’s victory: SANs hail Tribunal’s verdict

    The APC chair accompanied APC women leaders from the national, zonal and 36 states of the federation to a meeting with President Buhari.

    The women were led by the APC National Women’s Leader, Hajia Salamatu Umar-Eluma, to congratulate the President on his victory at the tribunal and to thank him for appointing seven women into his 43-member cabinet.

    Oshiohmole said: “We as a party are confident that if it is within the Nigerian law for PDP to go even to the world court, we will meet them there. The Supreme Court of Nigeria is not that of PDP or the APC, the Supreme Court is governed by law and is to interpret the evidence before the Court of Appeal.

    “They are not at liberty to introduce new issues neither can they bring in new witnesses. So, if it is what I heard yesterday which I believe you also heard, thanks to the media, most Nigerians were detained for eight hours listening to arguments of the judges one after the other.

    “Even though we thought it was getting longer and longer, we realised that they tried to deal with the issues raised, even the ones you and I as a layman will consider consequential, they dealt with each of them, trashed them and arrived at a conclusion.

    “So, I don’t want to sound arrogant. Yesterday (Wednesday), I said that I hope this whole contestation is about Nigeria who actually won the election and both parties are committed to building Nigeria and is not about who should be given the key.

    “Now, this has been resolved and it is time to queue behind the winner and move on. Our winner is the best example that losing election is not tantamount to the end of your political life. He lost three and today he is the President.

    “But, when I see the arrogance with which they pronounce and they bring what I call television lawyers, who pronounced with some managerial finality as if they are judges even without any evidence before them, let me now say authoritatively, we are now ready to meet them.

    “President Buhari is now ready to meet defeated Atiku Abubakar at the Supreme Court and the APC is ready to meet the PDP at the Supreme Court and Adams Oshiomhole is ready to meet my brother Secondus at the Supreme Court and he will take second and I will take first, Isha Allah.”

    The APC chair insisted that they were not in doubt that victory would come their way.

    According to him, the “PDP just seems to blackmail every institution so that their candidate can become the president even if it is not the will of the Nigerian people”.

    Oshiomhole said the PDP and its presidential candidate “reduced the election to social media speculations and bringing sources that are laughable even at beer parlour conversations.”

    The PDP urged the APC not to rejoice yet over the Appeal Court ruling, which it believed would soon be upturned.

    Its spokesman, Kola Ologbodiyan, urged Mohammed to be cautious in celebrating the judgment, saying that “his gloating will be short-lived”.

    According to the opposition party, Wednesday’s ruling by the PEPC was a direct miscarriage of justice that cannot stand at the Supreme Court.

    The PDP said given the weight of the evidence against President Buhari and the APC, the Appeal Court judgment will be upturned by the Supreme Court.

    The statement by the spokesman said: “Those celebrating this attempt to corrupt our justice system as well as the brazen approval of a clear case of perjury are directly telling Nigerians something about their conscience and character.

    “Our party is not surprised that Lai Mohammed, speaking for the Buhari administration, came short of calling for the arrest and prosecution of opposition members for coming before the Appeal Court, a situation which exposed their belief that they own the court and can determine the position of the judiciary on any matter.

    “Notwithstanding, the PDP holds that Nigerians have seen the ‘several errors’ in the judgment delivered by the Appeal Court and have turned the verdict to a butt of jokes in public space.

    “We invite Lai Mohammed to tell Nigerians if his Law degree was awarded to him on the basis of a sworn affidavit and pictures of his classmates; or was his Call to Bar at the Nigerian Law School also based on presentation of pictures and affidavit?”

    The PDP accused the APC-led administration of manipulating the process, saying: “This is more the reason the PDP stands with Nigerians in heading to the Supreme Court to uphold justice in the matter and salvage our nation from this drift towards impunity, anarchy and lawlessness”.

    The party urged the minister to explain his role alleged N2.5 billion “fraud” at the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

  • NACA unfolds plan for $150m HIV Trust Fund

    THE National Agency for the Control of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (NACA) on Thursday unfolded plans to launch a $150 million Human Immune Virus (HIV) Trust Fund before the end of the year.

    Its Director-General, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, disclosed on Thursday that the agency was already putting modalities and structures in place for the trust fund to come to fruition. He told reporters in Lagos that the plan was in national interest, adding that the “fund will provide the seed money that can help Nigeria to cross the bridge when it gets there.”

    The DG, who was in Lagos to seal a deal with one of the top players in the private sector willing to buy into the initiative, took over the headship of the agency in July after Dr. Sani Aliyu resigned a year before the end of his tenure.

    Aliyu, who clarified that donor funds have not been exhausted and foreign donors have not called it quits, said the proposed trust fund would prepare the country for the ultimate ownership, management and funding of all activities geared towards the control of HIV/AIDS.

    Since the groundbreaking report of the national HIV/AIDS indicator and impact survey (NAIIS) was unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari in March, fears have been rife in the HIV community that international funders may leave for places where the deadly virus is yet to be kept at bay.

    But, Aliyu allayed such fears, alluding to the NAIIS report, which showed that HIV prevalence dropped from 2.8 per cent to 1.4 per cent among adults aged 15-49 years, a feat for which Nigeria was widely applauded. He said the estimate showed that there are 1.9 million people living with HIV in Nigeria, with over a million people currently accessing treatment to achieve viral suppression.

    The DG, who noted that the NAIIS findings have provided a reliable data to guide the future response to the epidemic, commended the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPAR) and Global Fund to Fight AIDS for helping Nigeria in its treatment and prevention services.

    Aliyu, who was the country director for the University of Maryland Programmes in Nigeria and assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland, said Nigeria had done very well in the fight to control the epidemic. He, however, added that it was not yet uhuru.

    Read Also: Overcoming HIV-related stigma

    Aliyu said: “Nigeria has done very well in trying to get HIV under control; it is not controlled yet, but we are on that path. Indeed the intervention that has been put in place in the last 15 years has worked very well. And the governors have also promised to dedicate 0.5 per cent of their allocation to fight HIV in their states so that we can have sufficient resources to continue with our HIV prevention and control services, including advocacy awareness, supply of test kits and strengthening treatment services to make sure that there are no gaps.”

    The DG also said Nigeria was currently funding the HIV prevention and treatment services in only two states, with the foreign partners footing the bills in the remaining 34 states and Abuja. Noting that there would be a shift in the ownership of HIV response activities in the country, the DG said: “Nigeria will eventually come forward to take ownership. That time is approaching because we are headed towards controlling the epidemic. Once the epidemic is controlled or as the epidemic shrinks, the money that foreign donors give to support the (fight against the) epidemic also shrinks. The goal is to sustain the services even after the donors have left. We will reach a time when Nigeria will be providing for 37 out of 37 states, instead of two out of 37 states”.

    He added: “We want to have the mechanism in place to ensure resources are available for continuity. Let me add that the donor agencies have not indicated that they will leave us before we have the epidemic under check, but everything has a lifetime. As we have gradual disengagement of donor agencies, we can have gradual takeover that will look seamless; without any disruption. We want to make sure we have enough structures in place to continue to provide the needed services for people living with HIV in Nigeria – for testing and protection.”

    The epidemiologist predicted greater HIV control, stressing that the NAIIS report had provided the information that guided treatment and prevention.

    He, however, cautioned that the country needed to embark on proactive measures so that there could be continuity when funding by foreign partners stops.

    Aliyu said: “We are on the way to having the epidemic under control. What happens after we have controlled the epidemic? What happens is that we will be required to sustain it. Sustainability means we are not getting new cases of infection or we are getting very few transmission is taking place or very few people are dying from HIV because they are getting good treatment.

    He added: “At that level, we will have one issue to deal with because the people taking the drugs must continue with their treatment. They must continue to get their blood tested for the virus. For Nigeria, the funding and support we are getting will not remain forever.

    “We and all the funders know that there is a level that donors will have to divert their resources to other places where the epidemic has not been controlled. Since our own has been controlled, they will want us to take responsibility. In taking that responsibility, that is where the issue lies.

    “My goal in the next four years is to make sure that that sustainability path is created and actualised. And for this, we are looking at bringing in the private sector to participate in supporting HIV services in Nigeria.

    “The private sector has a lot to contribute and has a lot to offer. And they are willing to contribute to help the government to control HIV; to help and partner with the government to sustain HIV control in Nigeria. Right now, we are partnering with the private sector to see how that is actualised before the end of the year. We want to launch what we call the HIV trust fund this year,” he said.

     

  • Why I entrusted women with nation’s treasury – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari says placing women in strategic positions of his government, like the financial sector, is to ensure effective management of limited resources, and promote a stronger sense of inclusiveness.

    The president gave the insight into his preferred choice for Ministers of Finance when he received a delegation of National, Zonal, State and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Women leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The delegation was led by the party Women Leader, Hajiya Salamatu Baiwa at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday.

    President Buhari added that he preferred women to oversee the economic and financial hub of the country, Ministry of Finance, as they could readily deploy their experience in aligning resources with the needs of the country.

    According to him, the nation also have many female technocrats with local and international experiences on economy and finance.

    “I am happy that I can defend myself very effectively on this issue. The APC party leader is my witness. Since the coming into power of this administration, I have handed over the treasury to women.

    “Even at household level, you hand over the money to women to manage. It can be taken to the level of managing the country’s treasury as well. I have consistently given it to women. It is strategic.

    “I am conscious of the leadership roles of women in the society and by my action i have justified my belief,’’ he said.

    The President reiterated that his administration would ensure inclusiveness for women and youths, especially in the second term, “by providing more access to facilities that would enable spread of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, and encourage more interest in agriculture”.

    He  said the traditional and subsistence style of farming should be replaced with commercialized and business oriented techniques.

    “We have to move away from the traditional ways of farming that were practiced in the pre-colonial and colonial era,’’ he added.

    The President said he instructed the ministers to work with traditional institutions to encourage interest in farming, with the Central Bank of Nigeria readily providing loans at low interest rates and longer periods of repayment.

    “On unemployment, I know there is no able bodied person that went back to the farm in the last three years that regretted the action,’’ he added.

    In her remarks, the APC Woman Leader congratulated the president for his victory at the polls and the tribunal.

    She commended the Buhari administration for its efforts in managing the affairs of the country, which provided the impetus for the vigorous campaigns.

    Read Also: Buhari, APC women leaders meet in Aso Rock

    Baiwa said women were particularly pleased and willing to vote for the President because the government deliberately formulated some policies to favour and empower women, like the social intervention Trader Moni.

    She said the APC had many resourceful and loyal women that would contribute to the success of the administration.

    She commended the President for giving women strategic positions in the government.

    “Our prayer is that God will give you the tenacity to overcome all obstacles,’’ the Woman Leader said.

    NAN

     

  • Polls: Buhari, APC ‘ll defeat Atiku, PDP at world court, supreme court – Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, on Thursday declared that President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) will defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, if they decide to go to the world court or Supreme Court to challenge the ruling of the tribunal on the last Presidential election.

    The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal had on Wednesday delivered judgment in favour of President Buhari as winner of February 2019 election.

    Oshiomhole spoke with State House correspondents when he accompanied APC women leaders from the national, zonal and 36 states of the federation to meet with President Buhari.

    The women leaders were led to the State House by women leader, Hajia Salamatu Umar-Eluma, to congratulate the President on his victory at Wednesday’s election tribunal.

    They were also in the villa to thank President Buhari for appointing seven women among the 43 ministers recently sworn in.

    Oshiomhole was optimistic that no surprise will come out from the Supreme Court as they are most likely to relying on the Appeal court’s ruling.

    He said “We as a party we are confident that if it is within the Nigerian law for PDP to go even to the world court, we will meet them there. The Supreme Court of Nigeria is not that of PDP or the APC, the Supreme Court is governed by law and is to interpret the evidence before the court of Appeal.

    ‘They are not at liberty to introduce new issues neither can they bring in new witnesses.

    “So, if it is what I heard yesterday which I believe you also heard, thanks to the media, most Nigerians were detained for eight hours listening to arguments of the judges one after the other. Even though we thought it was getting longer and longer but we realised that they tried to deal with the issues raised, even the ones you and I as a layman will consider it consequential, they dealt with each of them, trashed them and arrived at a conclusion.

    Read Also: Wike breaks ranks with PDP, congratulates Buhari

    “So, I don’t want to sound arrogant. Yesterday (Wednesday), I said that I hope this whole contestation is about Nigeria who actually won the election and both parties are committed to building Nigeria and is not about who should be given the key.

    “Now, this has been resolved and it is time to queue behind the winner and move on. Our winner is the best example that losing election is not tantamount to the end of your political life. He lost three and today he is the president.

    “But, when I see the arrogance with which they pronounce and they bring what I call television lawyers, who pronounced with some managerial finality as if they are judges even without any evidence before them, let me now say authoritatively, we are now ready to meet them.

    “President Buhari is now ready to meet defeated Atiku Abubakar at the Supreme Court and the APC is ready to meet the PDP at the Supreme Court and Adams Oshiomhole is ready to meet my brother Secondus at the Supreme Court and he will take second and I will take first, Isha Allah.”

    He insisted that they were not in doubts that victory will be theirs.

    According to him, the PDP just seems to blackmail every institution so that their candidate can become the president even if it is not the will of the Nigerian people.

    He said both the PDP and its presidential candidate reduced the election to social media speculations and bringing sources that are laughable even at beer parlour conversations.

  • Buhari, TUC executives meet in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met with the newly elected officers of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC).

    The meeting started around 12.30pm at the President’s office in the State House, Abuja.

    Mr. Quadri Olaleye of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), had recently emerged as the new National President of TUC.

    He had replaced Bobboi Kaigama after a consensus was reached at the end of the 11th Triennial Delegates Conference in Abuja.

    Mr Olaleye is heading a 14-member National Administrative Council (NAC) of the union, elected to pilot the affairs of the Labour Centre for the next three years.

    Other executives elected include; Innocent Bola Audu of Association of Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, as 1st Deputy President, Oyinkan Olasanoye of Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) as 2nd Deputy President; Hygenius Chika Onuegbu of Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, as 3rd Deputy President.

    Others are Muhammed Yunusa of Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations, Government Owned Companies (SSASSCGOC) as National Treasurer; Isaac Egbugara of Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association, CCESSA, as Financial Secretary, among others

    Also at the meeting with the President was the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige.

    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.