The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • NMA extends ultimatum to FG over reconstitution of council

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), on Monday says it will extend the ultimatum given to the Federal Government to reconstitute the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) by two weeks.

    The NMA President, Dr Francis Faduyile, in a statement in Lagos, said that the extension was to allow government to complete the process of its reconstitution, which, according to him, has reached an advanced stage.

    NMA had on Sept. 7 issued a Sept. 30 deadline for the government to reconstitute the board of the MDCN.

    Faduyile said, however, that the association would not accept any further delay beyond Oct. 14, 2018.
    “We wish to state unequivocally, that the dissolution of the MDCN has caused a lot of damages to medical practice in the country.

    “The colossal damage brought about by the absence of the regulatory body is almost irreversible.
    “Nigeria perhaps could be the only country that allows the practice of medicine to go on without regulation, even for one day.

    “NMA further calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct that henceforth, the MDCN should never be dissolved, to safeguard the health of all Nigerians, “ he said.

    The NMA President urged Nigerians to resolve to contribute their quota sacrificially toward nation building as the country celebrates her 58th independence.

    He said that irrespective of the lapses and setbacks, there was still hope for a greater country.

    Faduyile said: “I therefore urge all Nigerians to keep faith with the government and diligently contribute their quota to the change mantra of the present administration.

    “Our religious and ethnic diversities should be a source of strength and unity rather than weakness and division.

    “This is the time for all Nigerians to meditate on the present state of affairs in the country and resolve to contribute their quota sacrificially toward our nation’s building. “

    According to him, efforts made to reposition the country has yet to bring desired results that will ease the sufferings of Nigerians.

    He said that 58 years after independence, the country was yet to make an impressive mark, accounting for its low ranking in the Global Human Development and Health Indices.

    “We also observed that the country has never lacked effective recommendations to mitigate our crippling socio-economic, political and developmental woes.

    Read Also: Independence: 50 CSOs trek 5Km for national unity

    “Rather, poor and lackluster implementation including absence of the needed political will, have been responsible for the uninspiring status of the nation in the global development circle.

    “In particular, the failure to fully implement the National Health Act 2014, which we believe will guarantee Nigerians Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

    “It is important to reiterate that UHC shall not only increase access to health care delivery but also make it affordable through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

    “Also, with the Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBSHIP) as an integral component and will be complemented by the Basic Healthcare Provision fund and other sources of fund from luxury items and taxes, “ he said.

  • Buhari back from U.S.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja from New York where he participated in the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

    He aslo attended other official engagements on the sideline of the UNGA73 between September 24 and  29.

    The theme for this year’s Session is: “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: Global leadership and shared Responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies’.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Presidential aircraft conveying the president, his wife, Aisha, and some members of his entourage took off from JFK International Airport on Saturday and landed at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja yesterday morning.

    Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari and the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, were among officials who welcomed the President at the airport.

    The highpoint of Buhari’s participation was his address on Tuesday to the General Assembly on the opening day of the General Debate.

    The President, in his presentation of Nigeria’s National Statement, sought global cooperation on security, anti-corruption, irregular migration, climate change, and UN reforms, among others.

    Buhari and his wife also attended a welcome reception hosted by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his spouse for Heads of State and Government and their spouses.

    The President and his delegation attended the high-level ‘Mandela Peace Meeting on Global Peace’ in honour of the centenary birth of late South African President Nelson Mandela.

    The Nigerian delegation also participated in a high-level meeting on the “Fight against Tuberculosis” organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    Nigeria currently ranks seventh amongst the high TB-burden countries globally, and second in Africa.  Mrs Aisha Buhari also delivered a statement at the event.

    The Nigerian delegation attended a high-level meeting on financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit.

    Others are the ‘Second Annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum, high-level Meeting on Action for Peace-Keeping’; ‘Commemoration and Promotion of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons’, high-level meeting on the ‘Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa’, and ‘Pathway to Localising a Global Agenda’.

    Also while in New York, Buhari had bilateral meetings with many African and world leaders including Bill Gates with a view to promoting national and African interests.

    Buhari also had interactive session with a selected group of Nigerian professionals based in the United States and Canada.

  • Presidential election: APC holds the ace

    Barring any unforeseen situation, President Muhammadu Buhari will be the flag bearer of the ruling APC in 2019 election. All attention is now shifted to PDP’s primary election to determine his major challenger. I am not taking other political parties and candidates outside the two major political parties into consideration here not out of disrespect but because no political party outside the two major parties as of today has the spread to win a national election. Also, most candidates presenting themselves as alternatives will hardly be able to muster enough votes to win councillorship seat from their wards.

    Back to the two major political parties and the quest to produce the next president. As at this period in 2014, the then sitting president and his party were losing almost all polls conducted online and offline. The failure of the administration was so glaring, especially in the area of corruption and security (Boko Haram). The economy had nosedived with the crash in oil price and analysts within and without were all warning of doom that lay ahead. The opposition party (APC), with well-oiled propaganda machine capitalized on the dissatisfaction to sell itself as a better alternative. The crack within the ruling party due to the ambition of various gladiators weakened it. All the opposition party needed was a strong candidate that could muster enough votes on his or her own and Buhari met the specification. Once these conditions were satisfied, it was a matter of waiting for the election day to kick out the PDP.

    As we approach 2019 elections, the PDP seems to be finding it hard to recover from the 2015 defeat. The media team of the party appears confused. The same failed strategy adopted in 2014: fake news, fear mongering and religious profiling appears to be the modus operandi. If these failed in 2015, why should it succeed in 2019? PDP has had 16years of governance they can tap from to show why they are better than APC but they will rather want us to believe that every project completed by Buhari was initiated by PDP. Aside lack of proper articulation of programmes by PDP, none of the candidates aspiring for PDP’s ticket today can boldly say that he/she can defeat Buhari even in his/her local government due to the fact that they are majorly from regions where Buhari has a cult like followership.

    Let’s now examine what Buhari brings to the table in 2019 election. It will be unfair to examine Buhari’s or APC’s scorecard without looking at the situation that was inherited. Buhari’s campaign in the build up to 2015 election was based on a tripod (economy, security and fight against corruption). Why did the campaign focus on these three issues? The economy was nose-diving at an alarming rate. States couldn’t pay salary. Reserve was dwindling at a rate faster than Usain Bolt. Inflation was rising etc. On security, Boko Haram was threatening to overrun the country. Nowhere in the country was secure. Attending places of worship or social function is a herculean task; security operatives will search you to the point of embarrassment. Any bag you carry is a suspicious item. Security check points on our roads will make you to believe that you are in Syria or Yemen. Herdsmen and rustlers were killing daily, kidnappers were having free rein and nobody seems to care because of bigger menace represented by Boko Haram. On corruption, it became a norm.

    Where are we today? To stabilize the economy after taking over, the Buhari administration had to focus on removing wastages by blocking loopholes, diversifying the economy to improve revenue from non-oil sector and to spend our way to prosperity by investing heavily in infrastructure. These efforts were at the onset of the administration hampered by dwindling revenue occasioned by drop in oil price and production. These factors forced the economy into recession. But for the discipline of the administration, Nigeria would have today been sharing the same fate with Venezuela, Argentina, Turkey and even Egypt.

    However, due to astute management, the economy has been on the rise in the last 18 months. This can be seen in drop in inflation for consecutive 18 months. Import bill is dropping while export is rising. We are witnessing an unprecedented investment in infrastructure across the country. Our foreign reserve has risen from about $29 billion when the administration took over to about $46 billion today. Recurrent bill is dropping due to weeding of ghost workers and pensioners. The naira was recently adjudged by The Spectator Index as the best performing currency against dollar in the last one year.

    We might not be at Eldorado yet, but when compared to where we were coming from, Buhari and APC have something to present to electorates. What PDP will present to counter this beyond the culture of money sharing is left for conjecture.

    On security, Boko Haram was holding unto 17 local government areas when APC took over and bombs were going off like fire-crackers across the country. Boko Haram has not been completely eliminated today, but they have been sufficiently degraded that an attack by Boko Haram is now regarded as unusual news. Armed herdsmen and rustler were neglected when Boko Haram held sway. They became the news as Boko Haram disappeared but the last few weeks have shown that even that is gradually becoming a history. The restive youths in the Niger Delta have been largely pacified and if the government can maintain the confidence developed, it would have achieved a lot in that regard. More can be done, but considering the immediate past, Buhari and APC government would be said to have achieved in this regard.

    On fight the fight against corruption, even the greatest critics of Buhari’s administration are not denying the effort of the administration to fight corruption; the argument has always been on the mode and reach. No administration has ever recovered looted fund as this administration has done. In the area of prosecution, this administration has filed more cases against corrupt individuals than any administration in history; the judiciary can help by being more proactive in the area of conviction. Three former governors have been convicted and they are all members of the ruling party. The Treasury Single Account (TSA) has curbed wastages from government coffers. Though the TSA was not initiated by this administration, the commitment and political will to see that it works from the administration is unprecedented.

    Barring any last minute changes, Buhari’s cult followership, social security schemes, infrastructural development and the degradation of Boko Haram will secure a minimum of 70% for APC in Northwest and Northeast. Northcentral may look like a battle ground but when the voting strength of Niger, Nassarawa, Kogi which appear secured for Buhari is taken into consideration, coupled with the fact that the opposition cannot in all honesty boast of being certain of winning any state except Benue in the region, the region can be called for Buhari at a minimum of 60 %.

    The Southwest is all for APC presently. Although Buhari didn’t get up to 10% of votes cast in any of the Southeast and South-south states in 2015 except Imo and Edo, 2019 will be different. APC has been waxing stronger in these regions since the 2015 election. Many bigwig politicians have moved into the party in the regions. In addition, various infrastructural projects and social investment programmes may sway a lot of votes. The PDP has also lost the instrument of coercion that was employed to dissuade people from voting for Buhari in these regions in 2015. When all of these factors are taken into consideration, Buhari should secure a minimum of 40% of votes from these regions on a worst case scenario. If the voting strength of each geopolitical zone is taken into consideration, Buhari/APC should win the 2019 presidential election by anything between 56% to 65%.

  • Politics of peace

    HOW a discredited former president, Goodluck Jonathan, promoted peace has been highlighted again as an enduring lesson for political players in this political season. Though the story has been told in various forms since 2015 when Jonathan conceded defeat to then-challenger Muhammadu Buhari, it has now been retold in a more clarifying form.

    Jonathan shouldn’t have lost the presidential election if he hadn’t lost his sense of reality.  He underrated the response of the electorate to bad governance. The wave of change under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) exposed how mind-boggling corruption corrupted the Jonathan administration. Jonathan’s 60th birthday last year was a time to think about the power of performance and the powerlessness of non-performance.  In the final analysis, democratic leaders are expected to pass or fail based on their performance and the evaluation of the electorate.

    Three years after Buhari’s historic victory in the 2015 presidential election, the National Peace Committee, on September 25, released an illuminating report titled “2015 General Elections: The Untold Story.”  The main point of the report is that the committee did not pressure Jonathan to concede defeat.

    According to the report, the committee had, in the evening of March 31, 2015, requested an audience with Jonathan at the Villa. The report said: “As it awaited confirmation for the meeting with the president, the committee chairman, General Abubakar, also put a call through to General Buhari, who informed him that President Jonathan had only minutes earlier called to concede the elections. He particularly asked the committee to please convey his good wishes to President Jonathan for his great act of statesmanship. Shortly after that, members of the committee, who were greatly relieved, headed to the Villa where they met privately with President Jonathan and thanked him for his great courage.”

    The report explained: “At this point, the Buhari Campaign team were yet to address the press on the historic development and as such, many Nigerians got the news of the concession from General Abubakar’s brief media scrum with State House Correspondents, which perhaps helps create the wrong, but widespread impression that the committee sat with President Jonathan at the Villa as the results came in and had directly prevailed on him to concede.”

    It is noteworthy that Buhari had also painted a picture of what happened.  He told State House correspondents during the activities marking his first anniversary as president in May 2016 that he was shocked when Jonathan conceded defeat so easily after the March 2015 presidential election.

    Buhari had said: “This is where I pay my respect to former President Goodluck Jonathan. This is actually privileged information for you. He called me at a quarter-past-five in the evening. He said, ‘Good evening, Your Excellency, sir’ and I said, ‘Good evening.’ He said, ‘I have called to congratulate you that I have conceded defeat.’ Of course, there was dead silence on my end because I did not expect it. I was shocked. I did not expect it because after 16 years; the man was a deputy governor, governor, vice-president and was president for six years. For him to have conceded defeat even before the result was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, I think it was quite generous and gracious of him. Gen. Abdulsalami recognised the generosity of Jonathan to concede defeat and said we should go and thank him immediately and that was the first time I came here.”

    The 51-page report also drew attention to another significant happening that puts Jonathan in a good light.  The report said: “A meeting with Jonathan was held at the Aso Rock Villa in the afternoon of Wednesday, March 25, 2015. At the meeting, he (Jonathan) raised some issues concerning the state of the nation, the threat of violence by the opposition (APC) based on allegations that he (Jonathan) and his party were planning to rig the elections. He (Jonathan) noted that he took very seriously the threat by leading members of the opposition to form a parallel government in the event that they didn’t win the elections, but that he chose not to react to such apparent treasonable acts in the interest of peace.”

    It is unclear why the committee released its report at this time, three years after the event.  But, ironically, it is a timely release. With the 2019 general election within view, the report is food for thought. By conceding defeat, Jonathan demonstrated a desirable spirit of sportsmanship. The report is a reminder that he could have chosen another path, with consequences for the polity.

    When Jonathan was honoured with an award, 2015 International Person of the Year, by African Sun Times, his critics trivialised the recognition.  Jonathan had said: “We proved that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian or any national of any country for that matter. That, to me, is a most worthy testimonial of the character of the Nigeria nation and the resilience of our people, which is why I dedicate the honour to them.”

    Politicians need to understand that politics is a stage and players will have their exits and their entrances. Whether they are exiting or entering, politicians must do so with a sense of what is sensible.

    It is commendable that the National Peace Committee has re-energised its efforts. It is a reflection of the political situation that General Abubakar told journalists  after the committee met  with the Independent National Electoral Commission chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, and the heads of security agencies in the country: “As you are all aware, we are approaching 2019 general elections and already you are very much aware of how politics has been heated as a result of which we decided to stop at nothing to ensure that there is peace in the country and that the politicians play by the rules of the game and also that security agencies and the INEC play their roles accordingly.”

    It remains to be seen whether the 2019 general election will be conducted peacefully; whether politicians understand that victory or defeat is not as important as peace.

     

     

     

     

     

  • 2,931,235 APC members endorse Buhari in Kano

    Ganduje to give him 5m votes.

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari scored a total of 2,931,235 votes in the just concluded All Progressives Congress (APC), Presidential Primary Election conducted at 484 wards across the 44 local Government Areas of Kano State.

    Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State, who is also the Chief Returning Officer for the election, announced the result that Buhari scored a total of 2,931,235 votes from party members, who participated in the exercise and all signified their interest for Buhari to return.

    Ganduje who was Impressed by the mass turn out of members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), reiterated its commitment to give President Muhammadu Buhari over 5 million votes in the forthcoming 2019 general election.

    He said, “With these figures of over five thousand votes from my ward, Ganduje ward of Dawakin Tofa local government, which only come from APC card carrying members, it is indicative to the fact that our promised over 5 million votes to our dear President in 2019 election is tenable and realizable.”

    “People should understand that, when the general election comes around apart from our APC members that would vote for the continuation of President Buhari regime, many more others who belong to other parties would join the queue.

    Read Also: Anambra APC adopts Buhari for second term

    Not only that, even those that do not belong to any political parties, but have their permanent voters card will opt for him also,” he maintains.

    Ganduje added that, the conduct of direct primaries was intended to provide enabling environment for maximum political participation, insisting that, “This also shows how we are solidly behind President Muhammadu Buhari in strengthening democracy at all levels.”

    “The turnout is encouraging. With this therefore I am calling on our people to come en mass and vote for Buhari come 2019 general election. Kano state is always ready to continue to support him,” Ganduje stated.

    He expressed his satisfaction over the peaceful conduct of the presidential primary election, as witnessed in all the 44 local government councils of the state.

    “Party leadership should be commended for the peaceful conduct of this direct primary election in our state, all in an effort to further deepen democratic process. This will go a long way in ensuring all Nigerians that our party is all out for strong internal democracy,” he explained.

    He also called on the party leadership to maintain the good tempo witnessed from the presidential primary election that took place across all the 36 states of the federation including the federal capital territory, Abuja. “I need to acknowledge and appreciate the good conduct of our party members during this election,” he said

  • Buhari secures 210, 201 votes in Bayelsa

    President will trounce opposition in 2019 says Lokpobiri

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari got 210,201 votes in the Presidential primary election of the All Progressives Congress held in Bayelsa State on Saturday.

    The internal poll, which held in 105 wards of the state, were conducted by party leaders, including former Governor Timipre Sylva, who relocated to the hinterland to deliver the President through direct primary.

    The leaders, who took charge of their various wards, ensured that the primary election was peaceful as party members lined up in an Option A4 method to cast their votes.

    The Returning Officer and Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the exercise was conducted according to the directive of the party.

    “I hereby certify that the total votes score by President Muhammad Buhari was 210,201. The result is authentic and legal as it met the rules and regulation that it must be done in all the units and wards of the state”, the minister said.

    Lokpobiri appealed to party members to display similar peaceful conducts in the remaining primary elections in the state.

    The minister said the 2019 Presidential election was already won by the President adding the Buhari would win by landslide.

    Read Also: Bayelsa partners Customs on cargo airport

    He said: “It is already won by a wide margin. APC has already recorded 18million membership across the country and more are joining.

    “More persons are also joining because of performance and credibility of the President. Before President Buhari took over, the rice was being imported daily at $6bn but now, there is no need to import rice because we produce rice locally. In Bayelsa, Ogunboss produces and bags good rice.

    “Before now, donor agencies had lost confidence in Nigeria, but with the credibility posture of President Buhari, the donor agencies have returned”.

    Lokpobiri also said that the APC was set to win the majority seats at the in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and the National Assembly.

    “The people of Bayelsa are only waiting to cast their votes for the party. The APC is already coasting to victory in Bayelsa”, he said.

  • Katsina PDP crisis deepens as Umar Tata joins APC

    The crisis rocking the Katsina state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party on Saturday took a deeper dimension when the leading guber aspirant in the party, Alhaji Umar Tata announced his defection to the ruling All progressive Congress, APC,

    Tata, who made the announcement while interacting with members of the social media at old government house, Katsina, said the PDP has been taken over by impunity, greed, and corruption thereby making it difficult for true democrats like him to thrive and realise their ambitions

    He said ‘’We are reaching out to our teeming supporters to intimate them of this development, and at the same time we have reached out to his Excellency Governor Aminu Bello Masari and President Muhammadu Buhari to work out a possible date for our formal reception into the new party’’

    ‘’We are teaming up with the ruling party to provide purposeful leadership and to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people’’

    ‘’it is rather unfortunate that the leadership of the PDP at the state and Zonal level have been gripped with greed and corrupt practices hence they sold out to a consensus arrangement. We wish them good luck’’

    Also speaking, the campaign director and personal assistant to Alhaji Umar Tata, Danja, said the social media groups of Alhaji Tata are currently working out an arrangement to team up with the Masari campaign organisation

    The Nation recalled that 5 out of the 6 aspirants who purchased their nomination forms to contest the katsina governorship seat in next year’s general election under the PDP announced their defection from the party, alleging impunity and the imposition of the 6th candidate, Alhaji Yakubu lado as the party’s consensus flag bearer for the election.

    Read Also: Katsina govt. to equip local vigilante groups

    A spokesman for the aspirants, Abdulrahaman Danja, told The Nation,exclusively over the telephone,that the candidates:Alhaji Umar Tata,Garba Faskari, Musa Natsuni, Aminu  Yar’Adua, and Sada Ilu kofar, have decided to leave the party and are currently negotiating with other parties to decide on which one they could pitch tent with.

    Danja further disclosed that the candidates were angered by the party leadership at the state zonal and local level to pick a consensus candidates ahead of the party‘s primaries slated to hold on Sunday September 30.

    He said  “We were preparing for the primaries coming up this Sunday only to read in the news that Yakubu Lado has been adopted instead as consensus candidate’’

    ‘’This high display of impunity by the PDP and we certainly are living and currently negotiating with another party to join, in the next few days we shall tell you our new party.”

  • Buhari has stabilized Nigerian economy – Presidential support committee

    The Presidential Support Committee, a group which claimed to be the umbrella body of all Support Groups campaigning for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the President has stabilized the Nigerian economy in the last three and half years of his government and therefore deserve the support of Nigerians to have a second term in office.

    The group also said that the policies of the government has improved the quality of life of the average Nigerian to the extent that no Nigerian is hungry at the moment except those who have refused to take advantage of the policies of the government.

    The group said that Nigerians who are hungry at the moment are those who prefer to lazy around and be spoon fed, waiting for handouts from government coffers instead of doing something meaningful to earn a living.

    Addressing a news conference in Abuja on while the President deserve the support of all Nigerians for a second term in office, National Coordinator of the group and former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Umaru Dembo said Nigerians should take advantage of the numerous programmes of the government to live a comfortable life instead of waiting to share government resources which is no longer available to share.

    He said “When President Muhammadu Buhari first came into power in 1984, the main focus of his administration was on eliminating corruption that had eaten deepinto the fabric of the nation, chafing at the very foundation of the country, destroying the national spirit of the very root of what sustain us as a country.

    “That administration made palpable and successful attempts to curb indiscipline. This was at a time when corruption had twisted and warped our collective purpose. People believed they could live above the law and did live above the law.

    Read Also: Buhari gets special honours in New York

    “More importantly they had no respect for the rule of law. The President Buhari led administration made profound moves coupled with a high level of commitment, to reverse this course to rescue and restore Nigeria to be In line with the dreams, mission, principles and vision of our founding Iathers.

    “When we returned to Democratic rule, we as a nation were looking forward to good governance and the end of dictatorship and a new dawn for the formation of a free press and the respect to every citizen of this great country.

    Keeping in mind that the greatest achievement of any government is the ”improvement of the quality of life of her people”

    “This massive corruption freely demonstrated during the previous administration was unprecedented and has never happened in the history of Africa, where the revenue generated from our abundant-natural resources was not invested in the Nigerian people, or the economy, instead these funds were redirected into personal accounts leaving our hospitals with inadequate and obsolete facilities to treat our citizens. Our institutions workshops/laboratories were left unfurnished and left with scanty and obsolete facilities during the past administration.

    “Because the past administration did not invest in the economy, the cost of living increased steeply, Our foreign reserves and internally generated revenues were depleted, looted and shared among members of the PDP, the consequences of this outrageous and uncontrollable act let to the great depression of our economy.

    “We have not completely recovered from it, but it’s a miracle about the extent the economy has recovered so far, following the strict measures and policies developed and applied. This administration needs more time to perfect her good works Just to flash our lights on some of the monumental achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The first thing to appreciate about the President Muhammadu Buhari led Administration is to appreciate the mindset of discipline and decency, that PMB-led Administration brings on board. Decency and discipline is the determination to do the right thing and to make things right.

    Nigeria used to be the country with the highest abandoned projects in the world estimated to be more than 15 million projects. When President Muhammadu Buhari came on board, his decision first was that all abandoned projects will be completed and that is how our journey to greatness began.

    For the past three and half years President Muhammadu Buhari has been able to build the Image of Nigeria across the World.

    Therefore, we the Presidential Support Committee having carefully studied and witnessed the overwhelming achievements of our President have decided to support him for his re-election bid and for the overall benefit of the Nigerian people. ‘

    We urge all Nigerians both at home and Diaspora to have faith and confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari

  • ‘We are dying of hunger’, Ondo Pensioners cry out

    Pensioners in Ondo state have pleaded with the labour leaders in the state to help them fight for their outstanding entitlements.

    The state NUP chairman, Chief Raphael Adetuwo, said the unpaid entitlements have subjected pensioners to untold hardship in the state.

    Adetuwo hinged their outcry on the recent directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to governors on payment of salaries and pensions.

    He added that old age hazards and poverty are bitter experiences among them.

    Read Also: My plan for Ondo North, by aspirant

    The senior citizen disclosed that pensioners are yet to be paid pension and gratuities since 2012, adding that the 33 per cent pension increase has not been approved by the state government since 2014.

    He said “15 percent pension increase paid to state pensioners in 2012 is yet to be paid to the local government pensioners including primary school pensioners

    “Arrears of monthly pension as a result of delay in the payment of monthly pension after retirement are yet to be paid since 2012. Gratuities to state pensioners who served Federal Government between 1972 and 1976 are yet to be paid.”

    The NUP chairman, who accused the state government of shirking away from those financial responsibilities, urged the labour leaders to come to their aid.

     

  • APC Primaries: Buhari scores 472, 344 votes in Sokoto

    The 2019 Presidential Aspirant, President Muhammadu Buhari has scored 472, 344 votes in the direct presidential primary election conducted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 23 local government areas of Sokoto state.

    Declaring the result on Saturday in Sokoto, the Chief Returning Officer, Sen. Aliyu Wamakko, said the exercise was hitch free and recorded massive turnout.

    Wamakko, who is the former Sokoto state governor, commended party loyalists on the peaceful conduct of the exercise, saying that the results were delayed in view of distance and terrains to the collection centre.

    Read Also: APC’s victory in Osun shows democracy at work, says Tinubu

    At the collection centre, which is the state party headquarters, Wamakko was assisted by state party chairman, Alhaji Sadiq Achida, Elders Committee’s Chairman, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi among others.

    He listed the scores from LGAs, Sokoto South 36, 710, Wamakko 31, 941, Shagari 21, 920, Tureta 8, 779, Sokoto North 26, 787, Silame 13, 205, Raba 14, 705, Kebbe 15, 932, Bodinga 22, 188 and Isa 25, 010.

    Others were Wurno 13, 243, Kware 17, 970, Binji 7, 478, Goronyo 20, 777, Yabo 11, 008, Tambuwal 23, 347, Tangaza 15, 079, Dange-Shuni 21, 024, Gwadabawa 26, 172, Illela 31, 692, Gada 27, 069, Sabon-Birni 31, 492 and Gudu 8,850.