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Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • What Atiku stands for, by campaign organisation

    The Atiku Abubakar campaign organisation has responded to a question raised by the spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena on Atiku’s scorecard in public office.

    In a statement on Tuesday, the campaign organisation listed a number of what it described as bold strides taken by the former Vice President while in public office.

    The campaign group said as Vice President (1999 to 2007) and chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Atiku superintended over the GSM revolution that saw Nigeria go from 50,000 to 100 million GSM lines.

    The organisation said the GSM revolution added 500,000 direct jobs to the Nigerian economy and attracted $27 billion to the GDP.

    The campaign group also credited Atiku with what it described as the successful privatization of many public enterprises that hitherto consumed government resources without yielding profits.

    “A further achievement of the former Vice President is initiating, starting and completing several road projects all over Nigeria, including roads in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina.

    “In return, we challenge President Buhari and the APC to mention three projects that they have initiated, started and completed in the last three years.

    “We ask President Buhari how many loopholes in public expenditure has he plugged? The spectacular failure of the 419 Nigeria Air is still fresh in the memory of Nigerians.

    “We wish to remind APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, that Atiku Abubakar is not like President Buhari who has never run a successful private business throughout his life.

    “Unlike Muhammadu Buhari, Atiku Abubakar is an expert job creator who has founded many successful and thriving businesses, including the American University of Nigeria, Yola; a Microfinance Bank that has moved 45,000 families out of poverty; and Rica Gado, a livestock feed company that has significantly reduced instances of herdsmen/farmers clashes by providing a business-friendly solution instead of asking Nigerians to give up their lands for cattle ranching or face death, as the Buhari government did.

    Read Also: Buhari campaign team confused, says Atiku camp

    “Unlike President Buhari, Atiku Abubakar does not believe Nigerian youths are lazy. How could, when 25,000 out of his 50,000 employees are youths?

    “Now we urge the Buhari Presidency and the APC to mention even one successful private endeavour that the President has successfully run. And by private enterprises, we are not referring to 150 cows that never increased in number, year in year out”, the Atiku group added.

    The campaign organisation stated that it listed only a few of the “booming” commercial enterprises founded by Atiku, adding that no other candidate is as poised Atiku Abubakar to get Nigeria working again.

    “Nigerians want jobs and Atiku means jobs. It is no surprise that that is one thing the APC do not want to talk about, seeing that they have lost 11 million jobs in the last three years”.

    The Atiku group dismissed accusation of by the APC that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was desperate, saying it’s obvious who is desperate between Atiku and President Buhari.

    The group said, “Our response to the APC is to ask who is desperate between a Muhammadu Buhari who said, ‘If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood’, and an Atiku Abubakar who said ‘love and peace should not only be preached, but must also be put into practice for the sake of sustaining the peace in our land.

    “It is left for Nigerians to judge, but even a blind person can see that Nigeria has been ‘soaked in blood’ ever since she was unfortunate enough to have fallen under the rulership of a man whose words are destructive and never productive”.

  • 2019: Disregard unfounded rumours, Group urges Buhari

    A group known as the Integrity for North-West (INW) on Tuesday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to disregard unfounded rumours and propaganda designed to hit up the polity and disorganize his political consolidation in the Zone ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    In a Press Statement signed by the spokesman of the INW, Comrade Isah Bulama, and made available to journalists, the Group insisted that, “no amount of propaganda and blackmail will stop the people of North-West from ensuring that our own President Muhammadu Buhari and the progressive governors in the Zone from being re-elected in office come 2019 general elections.”

    According to Bulama, “the recent trends in the political landscape of the country have opened a lee way for political fugitives to use all the weapons in their arsenals, including blackmail to hit up the polity.”

    Read Also: Buhari, Amosun meet in Aso Rock

    Making reference to a story titled “Nigerian governor caught on video receiving $5m bribes,” published by Daily Nigerian, an online news portal, INW, described it, “as a calculated attempt by those who lost out in the just concluded primary elections  to cause confusion.”

    INW further challenged Daily Nigerian, “to be bold enough to come out with empirical evidence and name the said governor it is referring to.

    “Nigerians are aware of how fraudsters and desperate politicians can clone video clips in their bid to achieve their unpatriotic agenda.
    “We urge President Muhammadu Buhari; and indeed, discernable Nigerians to disregard the fictitious story of Daily Nigerian. We also advise political destitute who orchestrated this blackmail to face the realities on ground.

    “Finally, we declare our continued support to the Change Agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, as we declare our unalloyed support for his merited re-election come 2019 general elections.”

  • Adeyemi College graduates 12,628

    The upgrading of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, to a University of education status is now 90 percent completed as the enabling law for the institution passed by the senate is expected to be buttressed by the House of representatives.

    The Outgoing Provost of the College, Professor Olukoya Ogen, announced this at a news conference to kick start activities for the institution’s 34th Convocation ceremony.

    Professor Ogen appealed to the House of representatives to fast track the endorsement of the bill for the upgrading of the college to a university to enable President Muhammadu Buhari assent to the enabling act.

    The provost disclosed that 12,628 graduands would bag Bsc, NCE and Diploma certificates during the Convocation that covers five years from 2012 to 2017.

    Ogen enthused that ACE emerged best College of Education in Nigeria last in 2016 and currently the best in west Africa, noting that uninterrupted academic programmes of the institution makes it the best for years.

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    Some distinguished Nigerians including a professor of ICT, Victor Mbarika, the Ondo state governor’s wife, Mrs Betty Akeredolu, Professor Toyin Falola and the TETFUND Executive Secretary Dr A.B. Baffa, High Chief Olabanji Akingbule, the Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Frederick Obateru Akinruntan, Prof Babatunde Babawale and Bashorun Sehinde Arogbofa among others will be honoured with awards of lifetime achievements and fellowship awards.

    Some of the programmes lined up for the Convocation are: Novelty football match and Music Concert ,Convocation Lecture titled “Educational Wealth” by Professor Toyin Falola of the University of Texas, Inauguration of capital projects and conferment of Degrees, Fellowships and Award of Certificate among others.

  • SERAP to Buhari: ensure speedy trial of ‘corrupt past governors’

    THE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami to without delay take over corruption cases involving  former and serving governors.

    The organisation regretted that the trial of several former state governors accused of corruption and money laundering have continued to linger in different high courts.

    It noted that some of the grand corruption cases involving former governors started in 2007 are yet to properly begin.

    “Should the Attorney General not take over the cases of corruption against all past corrupt governors as requested, SERAP would, on account of the public interest involved, and to ensure that no further time is lost in the completion of these cases, consider appropriate legal action to compel the authorities to discharge their constitutional duties, consistent with the basic tenet of the rule of law, the concept of equality and the cause of justice”, it warned.

    In a letter to the President, dated October 5, 2018 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Timothy Adewale, the organisation expressed conEconomic cern that the continuing delay in the prosecution of former governors suspected of committing acts of grand corruption to logical conclusion has sent a negative message that the governors are untouchable.

    “The delay is also contributing to perception among Nigerians that many of these influential and powerful past governors are being protected by the power and political set up,” it stated.

    According to the organisation, “instructing the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to take over and directly and expeditiously prosecute all cases of grand corruption involving former governors, would be entirely consistent with his duties under the Constitution, and contribute to upholding the majesty of law and vindicating the rule of law.”

  • Buhari to Nigerains: I won’t disappoint if re-elected

    Text of President Muhammadu Buhari after being affirmed as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate at the party’s national presidential convention in the early hours of yesterday at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

    I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the chairman and members of the convention committee for planning and conducting this convention. The same appreciation goes to the chairmen of national and state executive committees of our party. Thank you very much for doing a difficult job well.

    I would like to pay tribute to Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande the first chairman of our great party and to Chief John Odigie-Oyegun who led the party until this year and all the APC governors.

    The result of the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress this time is different because I am the only candidate. I thank all other eligible candidates who deferred to me in the interest of our party unity and over-all national stability.

    Fellow party members, it is with a deep sense of humility that I stand before you today to accept the nomination of our party, the APC to be its candidate and flag-bearer in the 2019 presidential elections.

    As I stand today before you, there is no honour greater than the confidence given to me by all of you when you affirmed my nomination. I thank you for your support. I thank you for your guidance. I thank you for staying committed to the CHANGE agenda.

    I accept this honour as a tribute and mark of confidence to carry the responsibility as we all join hands to continue the good work of the APC government to 2023 and beyond.

    We are very proud of our record from 2015 to date. We have arrested and checked the slide to anarchy on the security and economic fronts.

    Boko Haram is reduced to dastardly attacks on soft targets. Normalcy has returned to much of Northeast and neighbouring Northwest states.

    Our currency has stabilised. Our reserves are now $44 billion, a lot higher than we had in 2015. Power generation capacity has reached 8,000 megawatts against less than 4,600 when we came into office. As we invest in new power generation infrastructure we are strenuously working to address the legacy deficiencies and challenges of transmission and distribution networks across the country.

    We are executing Independent Power Projects (IPPs) in nine Federal Universities to deliver uninterrupted power supply and we intend to expand to a total of 37 universities

    We have revived most of our capacity to produce fertilisers locally.

    The Federal Government, through its Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) and other incentives, has empowered more than two million farmers to go back to the land.  We now produce 80 per cent of our rice requirements. Many farmers who nearly lost hope are now millionaires.

    We have introduced primary school feeding programmes to encourage attendance and enrolment. We also have introduced the conditional cash transfer to help small and medium businesses, the men, the women and young people who drive our economy.

    We have repaired and are repairing major arterial roads and starting major railway projects with the aim of linking the 36 states with efficient road and rail transportation systems.

    We are attacking corruption head-on. With international support we are recovering Nigerian stolen assets and applying them to infrastructural developments.

    Today, the corrupt are facing the wrath of law and leakages have been generally blocked.

    We can be proud of our achievements. CHANGE has come.

    Ladies and Gentlemen and fellow Nigerians, think, how much PDP governments earned between 1999 and 2015… Think, what they did with it. Infrastructure down!

    Security down! Eighteen local government areas under the control of a hostile army of insurgents! Reserves depleted! Bankruptcy around the corner… What did they do with your money?

    Internationally, Nigeria is now respected. My inter-action with foreign heads of state and government has been very encouraging. The international community is very supportive of our efforts to put our country in order.

    Ladies and gentlemen and members of the APC, I thank you deeply for your support and confidence in me. I will not let you, or the people of Nigeria down. On to victory in 2019!

  • Buhari fetes orphans’ dancing group

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday morning had breakfast with Xplicit Dancers, a group made up of young boys and girls, who are orphans, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The group was in Abuja to show its dancing prowess at the National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held at the Eagle Square on Saturday.

    In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the group’s coordinator, David Abraham,   said: “This is like a dream, from which I don’t want to wake.”

    Xplicit Dancers are young boys and girls, who engage in vigorous and scintillating dancing to entertain their audiences.

    At the breakfast,  President Buhari said: “I am very impressed with your performance. It must have taken a lot of discipline and training. To dance with such dexterity is fantastic. I congratulate you.”

    The young dancers, aged between 11 and 27 years, are mostly orphans taken off the streets, and brought up at Explicit Home of Favour Initiative, Ibadan, Oyo State.

    The father of the home is David Abraham, a graduate of Business Administration.

    His wife, Oluwakemi, serves as mother and they jointly run the registered welfare home.

    They have two biological children of their own.

    “I still feel this is a dream, and if it is, I don’t want to wake from it,” Abraham, in his 40s, told the President.

     

     

     

     

     

  • 2019: Buhari, Atiku set

    The 2019 battle for President began in earnest yesterday as the standard bearers of the major parties –President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – threw darts at each other.

    Atiku, who floored 11 others at the PDP shadow poll in Port Harcourt yesterday, said Nigerians were yearning for the return to power of the PDP barely four years after it was swept away by the APC.

    But APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole said his party was ready for the opposition and that it had done a lot to gain the confidence of Nigerians.

    Oshiomhole spoke in Abuja on Saturday night during the affirmation convention of the APC where Buhari’s candidature, which was brought about by direct primaries across all the wards in Nigeria, was ratified.

    Accepting his nomination as PDP candidate yesterday, Atuku said: “We cannot afford to fail Nigerians at this very historic moment, because Nigerians are yearning for the return of PDP to power. They have now compared the administration of PDP and that of the All Progressives Congress (APC). They know that under PDP, they had years of prosperity, of unity, of security and of development. They have seen the gross mismanagement of the government of the APC.

    “Therefore, we have a wonderful opportunity to return PDP to power in this country. History has beckoned on all of us at this point in time, to make sure that PDP is returned to power.

    “We have enumerated a number of challenges facing this country. What we should now do in the next phase of our campaigns is to proffer solutions to these challenges that we have identified to be afflicting our country and its people. I, therefore, implore all participants, whether at local government elections, state elections or national elections, to make sure that we proffer solutions to these challenges that we have identified.

    “It is just not enough to say that APC has failed in all ramifications, but we should, as a political party, proffer solutions to the challenges that we have identified. This as a party, is going to make us completely different from the clueless government of the APC. By the time we start electioneering, I believe that Nigerians will yearn for the return of PDP, if we do so.”

    Atiku, who was vice president between 1999 and 2007 under President Olusegun Obasanjo, added: “On a personal note, I would not have been standing where I am standing today (yesterday), if my former boss, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, had not made me his vice-president. Under his tutelage, I learnt quite a lot. The experience I got is going to definitely impact on how eventually we govern this country. I wish to pay my personal tribute to him.”

    Oshimhole, at the APC convention in Abuja, said “The other party is choosing its candidate in Port-Harcourt. We will look at the records of the opponent; we will look at his pedigree; we will challenge them on their track records,” he said, adding: “We are going to take the records of our opponent and compare them to President Buhari’s record. After today’s convention, we are ready for 2019 electioneering campaign and we believe that we have a lot to disclose to Nigeria.”

    President Buhari dismissed the performance of the PDP in office in his acceptance speech at the convention. He charged Nigerians to think of how much the PDP Government earned between 1999 and 2015  that it was in power and what it did with it.

    The President recalled that under the PDP government, infrastructure and security was down while 18 Local Government in the Northeast were under control of Boko Haram.

    He said under that government, the country’s reserves were depleted and bankruptcy was around the corner, adding that Nigerians should ask the PDP what it did with the national treasury.

    Buhari added that Nigeria was now respected internationally, stressing that the international community was very supportive of the APC-Government’s efforts to put the country in order.

    President Buhari highlighted the achievements of his administration, saying it checked the slide to anarchy on the security and economic fronts.

    He added that Boko Haram under the government had been reduced to attacks on soft targets as normalcy had returned to much of Northeast and neighbouring Northwest states.

    The President also noted that the country’s currency had stabilised while its reserves was now $44 billion, a lot higher than it was in 2015 when the APC Government came into power.

    “Power generation capacity has reached 8,000 megawatts as against less than 4,600 when we came into office.

    “As we invest in new power generation infrastructure, we are strenuously working to address the legacy deficiencies and challenges of transmission and distribution networks across the country.

    “We are executing Independent Power Projects in nine Federal Universities to deliver uninterrupted power supply and we intend to expand to a total of 37 universities,” the president said.

    Buhari added that the government, through its Anchor Borrowers Programme and other incentives, had empowered more than two million farmers to go back to agriculture.

    He explained that the country now produces 80 per cent of its rice requirements as many farmers who nearly lost hope are now millionaires.

    Buhari said the APC-led Federal Government had also introduced primary school feeding programmes to encourage attendance and enrollment and had introduced the conditional cash transfer.

    This, he said, is to help small and medium businesses, men and women and young people who drove our economy.

    He said the government had repaired and was repairing major arterial roads and starting major railway projects with the aim of linking the 36 states with efficient road and rail transportation systems.

    The president maintained that the Government was attacking corruption head-on, with international support, saying that it was presently recovering Nigeria’s stolen assets and applying same to infrastructure development.

    “Today the corrupt are facing the wrath of the law and leakages have been generally blocked. We can be proud of our achievements, change has come,” President Buhari said.

    Oshiomhole dismissed claims by the PDP that the Federal Government was being selective in its anti-graft war, pointing out that if the President was selective in the anti-corruption fight, one of its senators would not be serving a jail term now.

    He also said that the complaints by opposition figures that the President Buhari-led administration was being heavy-handed should be ignored.

    He also dismissed claims of security breaches against the Buhari government, saying the PDP government was guilty of that accusation as it was used to harassing perceived political opponents.

    He said: “A sitting governor then, I was denied the use of a public airport. Mr President, sometimes I feel you are too mild. I was under threat of impeachment. I had to remove the roof of my State House of Assembly in order to survive.

    “One of your predecessors used seven people to remove a sitting governor. I am, however, not in anyway suggesting that you do the same.”

  • How Buhari, Atiku ‘ll slug it out, by Bakare

    Save Nigeria Group (SNG) convener Pastor Tunde Bakare yesterday assessed next February’s presidential election which he described as “the battle of the eagles” between President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

    Bakare said with Atiku’s emergence as the Peeoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer, the 2019 election will be keen and interesting.

    Bakare, Senior Pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, told reporters in Ikeja, Lagos after making a speech on Nigeria’s 58th Independence in his church that with Atiku, the race will be “more robust”.

    “It is not going to be an eaglet versus an eagle but an eagle versus eagle: an old eagle versus new eagle and probably both of them old eagles.

    “I wish President Muhammadu Buhari the best in 2019.

    “He has the power of incumbency and he will do his best to win the election, but Atiku is not going to take ‘no for an answer when the two forces collide in the election,” he said.

    Bakare said Atiku, just like Buhari, had the experience, the exposure and the acceptance expected of the country’s president.

    He, however, pointed out that having those qualities alone would not translate into victory for him, as the electorate would decide the parameters on which to elect the next president.

    “I can’t say Atiku will win or lose. You see, I am not advocating for him. Among all the aspirants who contested the PDP’s ticket with him, he is perhaps the most cosmopolitan; he is a Wazobia man.

    “He was Vice-President for eight years, and he inherited something from late Yar’Adua that he has held on to so effectively.

    “He has been a businessman with a business acumen and he has the exposure.

    “But you see, that is not what qualifies you to win. A lot comes into play; so, again, I can not say whether he will win or lose,” he said.

    Bakare said for the PDP to win the 2019 elections, the party would need to demonstrate to the electorate that it is regenerated and “show repentance for the years of the locust they engineered”.

    He added that the opposition party must convince Nigerians that they would not return to corruption, which he said was the way of life during its rule, to win the confidence of the electorate.

    On the chances of APC, Bakare said though the government was trying its best, there was the need for them to do much more to win the next election.

    He said the country was facing a lot of challenges which the government needed to offer solutions to, in order to fast track the pace of development.

    The cleric said that performance and policies, and not necessarily incumbency factor, would guarantee victory for the APC in 2019.

    The SNG Convener said his comments about Buhari’s administration from the beginning, should not be interpreted to mean he was attacking the government, but just raising issues needing attention.

    “I didn’t take any swipe at the administration of President Buhari.

    “What I have always said is that despite the acclaimed progress in the country, Nigerians are not feeling the impact in their homes.

    “That does not mean the government is not working. Look at the groanings of the people, the government still has to do a lot more before the 2019 elections.

    “They have to work harder to assure Nigerians that they are really up to the task of listening to their yearnings and aspirations.

    “The purpose of government is the welfare and security of people.Take that from the equation, then governance means nothing,” he said.

    Bakare said the emergence of many political parties was good for democracy and freedom.

    He, however, said many of the parties were pretenders and they would need to “rise above the cacophony of noise” they were making to make impact in the elections.

    The SNG Convener said he had a presidential ambition but would not contest against President Buhari.

    Bakare, who did not say when he would contest, however, said he would be the one to succeed the president.

    In his speech on the Independence titled “The Road to 2019: Quo Basis Nigeria”, Bakare said Nigeria had the potential to be great with the right leadership and positive attitude of followers.

    He said 2019 presented another opportunity for citizens to realise the destiny of the country by participating in the process and voting right.

    Bakare urged citizens to vote according to their conscience and elect leaders that mean well for the country.

     

  • President to primary losers: emulate Ambode

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has advised politicians to learn from several aspirants like Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, “who despite his loss, didn’t abandon the All Progressives Congress (APC) for another party.

    He congratulated winners of APC primaries across the country.

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President urged losers to demonstrate sportsmanship by accepting the outcomes without bitterness or resentment.

    “In every competition, someone has to win and someone has to lose, but those who lost should not abandon the party or lose their enthusiasm for the party’s advancement.

    “The larger interest of our party is greater than our individual ambitions, and we should therefore work together for its success, despite our losses.

    “In politics, we shouldn’t lose hope permanently because tomorrow could present another opportunity for us to contest again and win.”

    He advised the losers of the primaries “to always put the party first because we are in it together to serve the country, and I am always proud of our members, who demonstrate sportsmanship and a good party spirit”.

    The President also enjoined the winners “to show grace in victory instead of mocking the losers, as such action is capable of destroying party unity and cohesion. The tent is large enough for us”.

    He added that “those elected should see their positions as a public trust instead of abusing their mandates to amass personal wealth at the expense of the ordinary voters, who voted them into power”.

  • 2019: Buhari’s endorsement celebration of success – Shittu

    Mr Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications, has described the just-concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) National Presidential Convention as a celebration of success of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 14, 842, 072 members of the APC had, at the convention in Abuja, affirmed President Buhari as the standard-bearer of the party for the 2019 presidential poll.

    Shittu, a legal practitioner, in an interview with NAN said the occasion was a representation of festival of triumph.

    “I see this really more as a festival of success and triumph for the presidential candidate of our party, Muhammadu Buhari.

    “Undoubtedly, he has distinguished himself as one Nigerian leader who is passionate about development of the grassroots and about incorruptibility.

    The minister said Buhari “has remained the glue that brings together the party itself  in spite all the disparaged tendencies within the party”.

     

    Read also:Buhari to Nigerians: I will not let you down

     

    “I am happy and I congratulate myself that I belong to this one party which has the quality of leadership of Mr President’’.

    “As an insider, I can say that I have seen it all and I can conscientiously say that on the three points of this government’s campaign; on issue of fighting corruption, fighting insurgency and repairing the economy.

    “ Mr President has scored more than 70 per cent without doubt because on each of these agenda, we can see visible results across board.

    “On the issue of corruption, through the introduction of Single Treasury Account (TSA), a lot of government money is being protected.

    “This government also introduced the whistle blowing policy through which so much money has been recovered, among others,” he added.

    He said the diversification of the economy, the NPower Programme to mention but a few, had helped to create more than 8 million jobs in the country