The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • Oyinlola asks Buhari to quit as ten more parties adopt Atiku

    Former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to quietly back out of the 2019 presidential race to avoid a crushing electoral defeat.

    Oyinlola spoke in Abuja on Monday while receiving the chairmen of 10 political parties that have adopted the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as sole presidential candidate.

    The former Osun governor, who is the chairman of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), a coalition of 37 parties in alliance with the PDP, said with the addition of the 10 new entrants, the Coalition now has 48 political parties under its umbrella.

    At the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the new entrants, held at the Yar’Adua Centre, Oyinlola announced that six other political parties have applied to join the Coalition and that their applications were being processed.

    Addressing a gathering of politicians at the event, Oyinlola said developments in the country in the past three and half years clearly indicated that President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were least prepared for leadership.

    Read Also: Oyinlola resigns as NIMC chairman, writes Buhari

    He enjoined parties in the Coalition to be strategic in approach and work hard for the victory of Atiku, reminding them that they were working against the re-election of an Army General (Buhari).

    Some of the new entrants to the Coalition include in the Save Nigeria Congress(SNC); United Patriots (UP); Reformed and Advancement Party (RAP); Alliance for Social Democrats, (ASD); We the People Nigeria (WPP) among others.

    Commenting on the exit from the Coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Oyinlola said the SDP failed in its bid to push certain agenda down the throat of the Coalition.

  • Special military parade for Buhari’s 76th birthday

    Towards marking President Muhammadu Buhari’s 76th birthday, there was special military parade in his honor on Monday.

    The parade by 203 members of the guards brigade was held at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa.

    The various military display started when the President arrived the venue around 12.22p.m with the rendition of the National anthem.

    Read Also: Police kill two kidnap, robbery suspects in Sokoto

    It was the first elaborate ceremony marking his birthday since the inception of the administration in 2015.

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

  • Buhari summons sub-regional leaders again

    President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned another Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to address prevailing security challenges in the sub-region.

    President Buhari stated that the meeting, which is a follow up to a similar one held in N’djamena, the Chadian capital in November, was convened for the adoption of a report of the LCBC security and defence committee on the Boko Haram insurgency.

    According to the Nigerian leader, time has come for the evil of Boko Haram to be brought to a definitive end, and expressed the hope that the Saturday’s summit would take the right decisions in this regard.

    “This is a fight to the finish. We must, and we will, by the grace of God, wipe out terrorism from our sub-region.

    The president observed that their participation in today’s summit was a clear demonstration of the collective resolute commitment of the sub-region to the fight against the common enemy, Boko Haram, and the restoration of lasting peace and security to the sub-region.

    He said, “Your Excellencies would recall that during our Summit in N’Djamena, the need to overhaul our current strategy and concept of operations in the fight against the Boko Haram Terrorists took the centre stage of our discussions.

    “This was necessitated by the resurgence of attacks, particularly on the military, and the abduction of civilians for ransom across our borders by Boko Haram with the support of international terrorists who have infiltrated our sub-region.

    “Our meeting today will consider the report of the Committee we set up during our last Summit on the way forward.’’

    President Buhari thanked the Committee for meeting the deadline assigned to it and expressed the hope that their recommendations will bring a new dynamism in the fight against Boko Haram and their international affiliates.

    He noted that the Lake Chad region had suffered decades of neglect and poor infrastructural development, saying that the Boko Haram crisis in the last eight years had worsened its already bad situation.

    Read Also: 2019: Buhari must be defeated, says Jerry Gana

    “We must take cognizance of the fact that sustainable growth and development of the sub-region is dependent on the quick attainment of peace and stability in the area.

    “We must put an end to the crisis in the sub-region to enable meaningful development for its people.

    “We must remain resolute and committed in our collective efforts at attaining peace as well as eradicating terrorism and violent extremism from the sub-region,’’ he added.

    The time has come for the evil of Boko Haram to be brought to a definitive end. I am sure that this summit will take the right decisions in this regard.

    “This is a fight to the finish. We must, and we will, by the grace of God, wipe out terrorism from our sub-region,’’ he added.

    The president maintained that while executing the war against the Boko Haram terrorists, “we must not be oblivious of the fact that military may not provide the desired results alone.’’

    NAN

     

  • NASS workers strike threatens 2109 budget presentation

    The presentation of the 2019 Appropriation Bill by President Muhammadu Buhari is under threat as National Assembly (NASS) workers are to commence a four-day warning industrial action from tomorrow, it emerged on Saturday.

    President Buhari had written to the leadership of National Assembly that he would be presenting the 2019 budget proposal to the joint session of the National Assembly at 11am on Wednesday, 19th December, 2018.

    The workers had to be placated last Tuesday by the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives to shelve their initial strike action after denying lawmakers access to the chambers while paralyzing all official duties that day.

    On the same day, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Muhammed Sani-Omolori in response to the workers demand, in a statement  heaped the blames on the Ministry of Finance that despite being on first line charge, inadequate release of budgetary  allocation makes it impossible for the implementation of the new salary regime for the workers, among other demands.

    The workers union, Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) however made a U-turn Saturday following the discovery of over N10b in the National Assembly’s Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) accounts.

    Read Also: NASS bye-election peaceful in Kwara

    The union, according to a source, who pleaded not to be named said it has become obvious that the management had no intention of fulfilling the agreement after a CBN letter dated 21 November, 2018 to the Clerk requesting confirmation to two external auditors, N10,455,891,967,43 in National Assembly’s T24 account number 0020168142065 (Statutory transfer).

    Signed by two CBN Directors, the National Assembly was asked to confirm if the information was in agreement with its records, while asking to provide further information that may assist in reconciling the differences, she added.

    However, in a leter to its members on Friday, the union said after its emergency meeting of 14th December, 2018, it has been decided that a warning strike would commence on Monday, 17th December, 2018.

    “By this notice, be kindly informed that the entire members of PASAN shall stay off their respective duties on the mentioned dates,” the memo stated.

    As at the time of filing this report, phone calls to the National Assembly’s Spokesman, Rawlins Agada and his House of Representatives counterpart, Abdulrazak Namdas over the development proved abortive as their lines were not available.

  • Christmas: ‘201 FRSC mobile courts to begin sitting Monday’

    The 201 mobile courts set up by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), nationwide to prosecute traffic offenders during the yuletide season, will begin sitting on Monday,

    Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, Corps Marshal of the FRSC, disclosed this on Saturday in Ibadan during his visit to Oyo State, in an effort  to ensure free flow of traffic nationwide during the yuletide season.

    The Corps Marshal said all his personnel would be mobilized to ensure motorist obey traffic rules and urged road users to comply with traffic regulations so as not to spend their Christmas and New Year in prison custody.

    He called for maximum punishment for any motorists that assault any of his personnel, saying 71 of his officers were assaulted by motorists from January till date as a result of malicious behaviour of some road users.

    Oyeyemi advised motorists to cooperate with FRSC personnel as we move towards the end of year 2018.

    He said the commission has been able to bring down the  number of road traffic crashes to single digit in 2018 compared to 2017, saying this was an indication that an appreciable achievement had been achieved.

    Oyeyemi said the FRSC was embarking on critical assessment of key federal roads nationwide in which Lagos-Ibadan Express way tour-gate, Iwo road express way were among in order to ensure free flow of traffic during yuletide period.

    “I am satisfied with the level of operation so far and we are complying with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure free flow of traffic and reduce road crashes.

    Read Also: FRSC to drivers: Drive safely, arrive safely

    `I have set down full enforcement to ensure removal of obstruction from high ways, proper manning of all diversion areas so that we don’t experience gridlock and rescue team fully activated among others,’’ Oyeyemi said.

    Oyeyemi urged road users to plan their journey and not to be in haste to complete the journey of four hours in two hours, saying most federal roads were now undergoing repair and motorist may not spend the normal time they spent when traffic was light.

    He promised prompt response of the commission whenever there was traffic obstruction or road crashes and appealed to motorists to cooperate adequately.

    Oyeyemi also urged the FRSC personnel conduct themselves in a professional manner.

    NAN

  • 2019: Buhari must be defeated, says Jerry Gana

    The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Professor Jerry Gana, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari must be defeated in the 2019 presidential election.

    Gana, who spoke in Abuja on Friday shortly after an Abuja High Court affirmed him the authentic candidate of the SDP, said with him as the presidential candidate of the party, Buhari’s days as President are numbered.

    Joining calls by other opposition candidates for Buhari to sign the amended Electoral Bill, Prof Gana said every Nigerian, particularly the President, should be interested in processes that will guarantee free, fair and credible elections.

    Hinting that his campaign would be issue based, Gana said his party would unveil a five-point agenda next week, adding that he would initiate moves to reconcile with the Donald Duke camp.

    Read Also: Jonathan, Gana, others pay tributes to Dickson’s mother

    A court in Abuja had on Friday, voided the candidature Duke and declared Gana the presidential candidate of the SDP, declaring his victory at court as victory for the party and for democracy.

    “We are not going to victimise anybody because this victory is not for Jerry Gana but victory for everybody”, he said.

    The candidate expressed his readiness to abide by the Peace Pack already signed by other presidential candidate, saying that he was ready to go along with processes that will guarantee peaceful elections.

    Prof Gana restated his commitment to the decision by the SDP to pull out of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP).

  • Nigeria saves $1bn through crude oil, refine products exchange

    Nigeria has so far saved over $1 billion through the application of the Direct Sales, Direct Purchase (DSDP) agreement, the architect of the system, Engr. Salihu Garba Aliyu has said.

    The DSDP, a swap agreement first signed in May 2017 by which crude oil is exchanged for equivalent amount of refined petroleum products, has been credited with making petroleum products regularly available apart from saving costs that came with the Oil Processing Agreement (OPA) that it replaced.

    Salihu Aliyu, a staff of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) till he resigned recently and is now the Adamawa Central Senatorial candidate of the Alliance National Party (ANP), said in an interview with journalists in Yola, “With or without politics we’ve been empowering youths. I can give you the ones we took to NNPC on what they could do regarding direct sales and direct purchase system. I was the architect of the system. This was the initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari to give us value for value with exchange of oil for products. With goods worth $100 dollars you get equal value of products, unlike the system that preceded this regime when they would take our crude oil to refine and return to us the worth of products my be 50 percent less and the balance would go to private pockets.

    “When this government came, they said ‘we must block these leaks. We need value for value.’ So we designed the DSDP and we were asked to automate and run the system. In the first eight months of running the system we saved $500 million for government. The savings of the DSDP to date is over $1 billion. I designed the system, and the boys we took from Adamawa State here, I trained them, I showed them what to do to make the system excellent. This is a feat which the foreign firm that the NNPC employed were unable to achieve.”

    Read Also: Nigeria exports N7.3trn crude oil in six months

    He said this is the kind of empowerment that he in his private life had begun to give to youths, especially in ICT and technology and which he intends to improve on if he gets elected senator.

    He explained, “We have empowerment on ICT, empowerment on software. Software ICT is the in-thing. We are no longer in industrial age. We are in technology era when wealthy people are owners of technology. The Ali Baba’s of this world, owners of face book: these are people who make good money providing technological solutions. We want to train and empower our youths to see the global cake and how they can eat from it.”

    He disclosed that he would on Saturday, December 15, start a solar energy system design training for youths, explaining, “We want to teach the trainees how to gather the requirements, assemble and install the system, how to power a borehole, how to light up a farm that has no connection to electricity grid. Or if you are in town and you want 24 hours of electricity, how do you go about it? And so on. That’s the training we are starting with, which involves 20 youths drawn from the local government areas in my constituency and from organisations like the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI). Other forms of training for more youths will follow.”

     

  • Why PIB is delayed – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said that reforming the Petroleum Industry was necessary to unlock numerous untapped potentials for the nation and that he will not be in a rush to carry out reforms.
    According to him, the reforms in the industry must be well thought out and must have the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians as its core objective.
    Buhari, who was responding to one of the demands made by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), had received the award of Grand Comrade of the Productive Workers of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Union, presented by its National President, Comrade Williams Akporegha, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
    The President also said that his administration was prepared to respond to any acts of hostility and sabotage of the nation’s oil assets in the Niger Delta region.
    Stressing that the Petroleum Industry reform was necessary to unlock numerous untapped potentials for the nation, he assured that whatever reforms taking place in the sector must be for the overall interest of the country.
    He said “Such reforms cannot and must not be rushed, if we must get it right. We are still suffering from the effects of many legacy policies that were rushed and passed without fully appreciating the consequences the provisions embedded in them.
    “Whatever decision we take now will impact either negatively or positively on generations to come. The Petroleum Industry Bill was conceived to ensure Nigeria’s future generations are positively impacted by its oil wealth it was never about shod term gains.
     “I want to assure you that dialogue on the Petroleum industry Bill is still on-going. At the end, we will have a bill that the nation will be proud of.”
    On security in the Niger Delta, he said, “I am sure you will all agree that pipeline vandalism has declined. We have, and will continue to promote peaceful engagement with the communities while at the same time maintain our readiness to respond to any hostile acts of sabotage.”
    He commended the union for their support to government which he said has contributed to the continued uninterrupted supply of products to consumers across the country in the last three years.

    Read Also: Women support Buhari for 2019

    Urging the oil sector trade body to continue on its patriotic path, he assured of his government’s support to the course of Nigerian workers at all times.
    Speaking on the demand of the union to fix the nation’s refineries, President Buhari said the Public Private Partnership approach adopted to rehabilitate existing refineries has taken longer than expected.
    He said, “However, I am aware that the NNPC has concluded the process for selecting the private sector partners that will rehabilitate the refineries. I am informed that they are working out finances and hopefully, work will commence soon.”
    The government, he said, will also support innovative ideas that will bring new refineries investments into the country.
    He said “As one of the architects of the Nigeria Contents Monitoring and Development Act, l am sure NUPENG members appreciate that a key principle of this act is the indigenization of certain processes and production functions. Indigenization means local value addition leveraging local resources where possible.
    “The Act specified minimum local content requirements, including manpower, for all projects and contracts in the oil and gas industry. The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board is fully empowered to ensure compliance. l will direct the Hon. Minister of State Petroleum Resources to review the issues you have raised and take appropriate action to ensure compliance with the Act by operators in the industry.
    Before conferring the award on the President, Akporegha, whose leadership was inaugurated last April, commended Buhari for his unparalleled strides in checking corruption, bridging the gap between the rich and poor through Trader-Moni and school feeding, and in infrastructural projects like roads, which NUPENG members are now enjoying.
    He however noted that the non passage of the PIB has posed a problem to the petroleum sector, adding that there was the need for government to check continued importation of petroleum products, as refineries have not been working, thus leading to redundancy of NUPENG members while the nation suffers foreign capital flight.
    He said, “You administration’s practical steps in bridging the wide gap between the rich and the poor in the country through various initiatives such as Trade Moni, support for farmers, embargoes on luxury/ostentatious goods, TSA, school feeding etc have gone a long way in alleviating poverty in the country.”
    The NUPENG also lamented the non-implementation of Buhari’s Executive Order on local content and employment of Nigerians in the oil sector as multinational firms are still not appropriately employing Nigerian graduates.
    The delegation further appealed to the President to direct security agencies to intensify surveillance and protection of oil pipelines and other infrastructure, and concluded by wishing  Buhari victory in 2019.
    “In recognition of your unparalleled commitment and devotion to a new Nigeria that adequately protects and provides for the citizenry and earns global respect and recognition, the entire rank and file members of the Union confer on you as part of NUPENG 40th Anniversary celebration, the award of Grand Comrade of the Productive Workers of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry,” Akporegha stressed.
    Among those who attended the event were the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu; Minister of the Interior, Abdurahman Danbazzau; Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.

  • Reps threaten to shun Buhari’s budget presentation

    Even as President Muhammadu Buhari conveyed his intention to present the 2019 Appropriation Bill to the joint session of the National Assembly next Wednesday, 19th December 2018, members of the House of Representatives have threatened to boycott the presentation.
    Buhari made known his intention  through a letter dated 12th December, 2018 and addressed to Speaker  Yakubu Dogara.
    The Speaker read the content of the letter received today on the floor.
    However, the House is yet to make a commitment on retrieving the President following a purported statement attributed to the Minister of Budget and National Planing, Udo Udoma that the budget has not been presented because the executive was waiting for the legislature to give it a date for such.
    Adamu Chika (APC, Niger) in a point of order said the Minister lied on a national television against the parliament and demanded an apology over the statement.
    Mark Gbillah (Benue) in his contribution backed his colleague’s assertion  that “It is a statement he (Udoma) made categorically.
    “He lied against this honourable house on national television. I want to join my colleagues to request a formal apology on TV, else we will refuse to attend that budget session with Mr. President,” he added.
    On his part, Mike Adeniyi (Ogun) said, “The executive arm has always portrayed the parliament in bad light. The Minister must come and apologize. If not, the President will come to meet an empty house”.

    Read Also: Buhari laments loss of Ikedife

    To counter his colleagues, the Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila pointed out that the Minister appeared to have been found guilty by his colleagues even before being given a fair hearing.
    He said: “The Minister called me this morning; he was alarmed and upset and shocked.
    “He said he was just reading something in the papers ascribed to him and that he never said such a thing and he is writing a rejoinder as we spoke.”
    “So I think we should tarry a while because you are accusing someone of lying. Let us not turn this house into a partisan House”.
    Muhammad Soba would have none of that excuse  accusing  of Gbajabiamila of  sycophancy, saying, “We have seen how sycophancy has been taken to the next level. That is the APC government for you”.
    In his ruling, the Speaker pleaded that the Minister be given some time and a benefit of the doubt of the story would be denied by the Minister.
    “But if we don’t see the  rejoinder, then we have an issue because we will not allow this institution to be blackmailed. If nothing is done, we will take a concrete action on it,” he said.

  • Adamu to Obasanjo: You are pushing your luck too far

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, on Wednesday said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is pushing his luck too far over his constant attack of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Adamu who represents Nasarawa West Senatorial District called attention to what he described as Obasanjo’s “indecorous” and “undignified” criticisms of President Buhari.

    He noted that while Obasanjo was entitled to criticize and also campaign against the reelection bid of President Buhari, he should not be “pedestrian in doing that.”

    Chief Obasanjo was reported to have said that contrary to insinuations, he could not be neutral in the choice of who emerges as president of Nigeria in the 2019 presidential election.

    Read Also: Obasanjo is confused, says Presidency

     The former President was also reported to have said that he would not sit on the fence when he needed to be active for people to know where he stands in the best interest of the country.

    Chief Obasanjo is said to have insisted that “only a fool will sit on the fence or be neutral when his or her country is being destroyed with incompetence, corruption, lack of focus, insecurity, nepotism, brazen impunity and denial of the obvious.”

    Senator Adamu who reacted to the comments credited to Obasanjo said that there was no doubt that “Chief Obasanjo is pushing his luck too far by using indecorous language in criticizing the President (Buhari).

    The Nasarawa West lawmaker noted that “After all, what was his (Obasanjo’s) record in Office when he ran this country first from February 1976 to October 1979, and subsequently from May 1999 to May 2007?”

    Adamu asked, “Would there have been the desperate and notoriously corrupt bid for a third term in office that was witnessed by Nigerians, if he had a good record by then?”

    According to Adamu, under Obasanjo’s watch, most of Nigeria’s strategic investments were sold without much to show as returns to the nation.

    He said, “What happened to all our steel rolling mills and other strategic investments that were sold by (former Vice President) Atiku (Abubakar) under Obasanjo’s supervision?

    “What about the $16 billion spent under his watch supposedly for electricity? Where is the electricity today? He also acquired stupendous wealth during his second coming as president. How did he acquire that? Could that have come from his salaries as president from 1999 to 2007?”

    The former Nasarawa State Governor s insisted that no Nigerian of repute who knows Obasanjo’s antecedents will be surprised at his current criticism of President Buhari.

    “He had done it to Alhaji Shehu Shagari shortly after he handed over to him. Obasanjo criticized Babangida when he was in power; he did same to Abacha. And so, nothing is surprising,” Adamu said,

     The frontline campaigner for President Buhari reelection said that “ordinarily, we wouldn’t have bothered about Obasanjo’s criticisms given what is already out in the public space about the morally questionable happenings within his household.

    “But he is going off the tangent of fair comment in this circumstance, and I believe eminent citizens of this country need to call him to order before some of the young people he thinks he can fool start casting slur on him”.

    Adamu noted Obasanjo needed to learn some lessons in decorum from past leaders like General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, as well as Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar.

    For the lawmaker, it is an abuse of rights for someone who is regarded as a statesman to be indecorous in his language.

    He said, “Like I said, he is entitled to criticise Buhari and even campaign against him.

    “Nobody can deny him that right. But must he descend to this ridiculously undignified level for him to be heard?”

    “It is unacceptable for someone whom the youths of this country should look up to for inspiration to stoop so low in his language”.

     Adamu who said that Nigerians “cannot be fooled” by Obasanjo’s “grandstanding in an effort to cover up his misdemeanors.”

    He stressed that the unprintable words that the former president had used to tar former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the book “My Watch” are still fresh in the minds of Nigerians.

     Chief Obasanjo, he said, “should go back and make peace with his Creator before turning round to dish out some homilies to citizens of this great country.”