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Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • Buhari will congratulate me as President elect in 2019 – Moghalu 

    Former Deputy Governor Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Kingsley Moghalu said he is looking forward to President Buhari’s congratulatory call to him as President-elect in 2019.
    Professor Moghalu made the pronouncement on the heels of his Presidential ambition in 2019, saying that, there have been thousands of preventable job losses across the country in the past three years.
    The former CBN Deputy Governor blamed the sad situation to bad economic policies by the Buhari led administration.
    He shared his thoughts at a town hall meeting in Kaduna at the weekend, where he said he has all it takes to fix Nigeria.
    While blaming the present administration over the deteriorating insecurity of lives and property across the country, the Professor assured that things will be a lot better with him on the saddle.
    He noted that security of lives and property remains a constitutional task of government, saying that, President Muhammadu has failed on the assignment.
    He however promised improved health care for all Nigerians if elected President in 2019, faulting the nation’s health care as he assured that he has a team that can deliver an effective Primary Health Care programme.
    The citizenry in Kaduna state received his presentation with cheers and expressed belief in his positions, promising him support at the poll.

  • Tackle inflated contracts, budgets – Presidential aspirant tells Buhari

    A presidential aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed has identified the bogus annual budgets and inflation of government contracts by civil servants and politicians as the main bane of the unbridled corruption ravaging the country’s economy.

    Datti who stated this while speaking to reporters in Kano on how he intended to rule the country, said if elected, his administration would utilize billions of Naira saved from blockages to increase salary of workers, particularly teachers.

    According to him, “if this trend is not checked, the issue of fighting corruption by the Buhari administration will be a nullity because most of the people in this government are reaping tremendously from such anomalies.

     “This is what a responsible leader should be able to do. The President should announce to the world that he has banned the practice of inflating government contracts. I must emphasize that inflating government contracts give rise to poverty and laziness.”

    If elected Senator Datti said he would use, “the excess money generated from blocking inflated government contracts to double minimum wage of lowest paid civil servants such as teachers and security personnel

    “Any society in which the minimum wage of junior staff will not take him to the last day of the month, that society has a problem.”

    He also regretted that, “ninety nine per cent of Nigeria’s budgets are expended on inflated government contracts, as we are only getting about ten percent out of it, adding that, “most of the vices of insecurity, bad governance and poverty was as a result of the over five decades of inflating government contracts.”

    He also faulted Buhari’s government policy on foreign exchange, noting that, “if there is anything that is capable of tearing Nigeria apart, it is non-stability of the Naira. Every Naira that falls against the dollar is a threat to our living standard.

    “It is so unfortunate that we have have seen Naira falls from one hundred and eighty five to one dollar during Jonathan’s regime to five hundred and twenty in the beginning of this administration.

    “Because only family and friends of those in power recieve FOREX from CBN, and they are making two hundred Naira per every dollar sold. My fear is if Buhari return in 2019 the Naira may likely fall to seven hundred and fifty to a Dollar.”

    Senator Baba-Ahmed said he is aspiring to become president to save Nigeria from catastrophe, pledging that, “if elected, I will stabilize Naira through liberalizing foreign exchange and develop a strategic policy that will attract investors and Nigerians in Diaspora to send and invest more money into the Nigeria’s economy.”

  • Oyegun raises alarm over circulating fake news

     Canvasses support for Oshiomhole

     

    Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has alerted of subtle moves by some faceless individuals to pitch him against the current national chairman of the party Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

    Chief Oyegun said in a statement made available to The Nation in Abuja that since leaving office granted any media interview now has he said Oshiomhole was bringing more problem to the party.

    He said everyone who loves the APC should be doing every possible to support the efforts of the national chairman and the President to bring peace to the party.

    Chief Oyegun was quoted by social media reports to have said “When I was called up to handover to Adams Oshiomhole, I pleaded with the leaders of the party to look for someone else even if they don’t want me again. Nobody listened to me. I handed over to him a party fully intact and healthy. Under 4 weeks, Oshiomhole has used his mouth to destroy APC. Who do you blame?

    Read Also: ‘Oyegun’s action on Imo APC null and void’

    The statement signed by his Chief of Staff, Edwin Ikhinmwin said “Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has not issued any press statement or spoken to the press on the concocted statement credited to him.

    “We view this as part of the fake news being disseminated to magnify the ongoing challenges facing the Party and create new fissures between the former National Chairman and the incumbent, H.E. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to frustrate ongoing reconciliation efforts within our Party. The former APC National Chairman fully supports all efforts to reconcile and unify the party.

    “Chief John Odigie-Oyegun uses this opportunity to call on all Party leaders, members and supporters to embrace the ongoing peace talks led by President Muhammadu Buhari and the Party’s National Chairman to restore stability within the Party, so that we can position our Party as a unified and strong political fighting force going into the forthcoming General Elections in 2019”

  • Buhari lauds French commitment to regional peace, security

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja lauded the Republic of France for its commitment to strong regional cooperation in the fight against cross-border crime and terrorism.

    The President made the commendation at a farewell audience with the outgoing Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Denys Gauer, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

    President Buhari appreciated the roles and contributions of the French government to peace, security and stability in countries in the West and Central African region.

    He noted that Nigeria had placed the issue of combating terrorism in the region on international agenda and had received support and solidarity from France in the area of training, information, intelligence sharing, technical and equipment support.

    According to the President, at the regional level where Nigeria is conducting joint patrols with neighbouring countries under the Multinational Joint Task Force; France has continued to encourage regional cooperation among Nigeria’s francophone neighbours aimed at addressing the security challenges and humanitarian conditions in the area.

    The President also used the opportunity of the farewell visit to formally congratulate France for winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

    He said: The victory is very important and historic for the country and I think it has raised a lot of positive optimism for French citizens.’’

    While recounting the recent visit of President Emmanuel Macron to Nigeria, President Buhari said Nigeria and France would continue to maintain cordial relations and improve economic, cultural and political relations for the mutual benefit of citizens of both countries.

    The President also received the outgoing Finland Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury, during which he underscored the Finnish government’s support to gender and educational issues in Nigeria.

    In his remarks, the French Ambassador, harping on the positive trends in Nigeria’s economy, said more French companies had indicated interest to do business here.

    Read also: Police insists Saraki has case to answer

    He said the French Agency for Development (AFD) which opened an office in Nigeria ten years ago, had provided a total of two billion dollars facility for projects in the country.

    On cultural ties, Gauer said France had concluded arrangements to establish a cinema school in Lagos and some museums around the country in addition to formalizing an agreement on film production.

    The Ambassador said he would always keep fond memories of Nigeria and wished the country successful elections in 2019.

    In her remarks, Ambassador Suomela-Chowdhury told the President she enjoyed her stay in Nigeria and would continue to promote Nigeria-Finnish relations.

  • NEXIM approves N25bn loan in support of Nigerian exporters

    The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has approved the disbursement of loans totaling about N25billion in support of various projects in the non-oil export sector.

    This is coming after the review of applications under the Export Development Fund (EDF) at the meeting of the Board of Directors which held o Thursday.

    Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NEXIM bank Mr. Abba Bello said beneficiaries of the loan include “exporters of agricultural and value-added products, who submitted applications for stocking facilities and working capital to enable them execute their export contracts.”

    He stated that “these projects, which are distributed across the country with nation-wide impact, cut across various sectors/industries including Cocoa, Cashew, Sesame Seed, Gum Arabic and Leather products.”

    Abba Bello added that the loan “disbursements will commence immediately to maximize the benefits of the export season towards achieving the economic diversification objectives of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari under the Economic Recovery & Growth Plan (ERGP).”

    Read Also: NEXIM mulls factoring to boost credit to SMEs

    The total amount approved is expected to support about 15,000 direct and indirect jobs and facilitate foreign exchange inflow of about $100million from non-oil exports.

    It would be recalled that earlier in the year, the CBN established the N50 billion Export Development Fund, to be disbursed at single digit, which is currently being managed by NEXIM.

    Following the inauguration of the new Board in March, 2018, the Minister of Finance charged the Board to hit the ground running to ensure that the institution achieves its mandate of diversifying the foreign exchange earnings of the Nigerian economy.

  • Scores hold rally in support of Buhari in Kwara

    Loyalists and supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday staged peaceful rallies in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital drumming support for the relection of the president in 2019.

    The procession commenced about 10 am in front of the state stadium complex through Unity road along Ibrahim Taiwo road and ended in the Post Office area of the metropolis.

    The processors comprised motorcycle riders, artisans and students.

    They urged the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to publicly declare which political party he belong and also called for his resignation as the senate president.

    Addressing reporters, Spokesperson of the group George Towoju said: “The defection of some members of the National Assembly from the All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the desperate attempts of Nigeria’s Senator Saraki and his co-travelers to continue to embark on undeserving political negotiations and mortgaging the genuine interest of the masses for their personal and individual gains.

    Read Also: Kwara spends N6.5b on water project

    “Having found their political bargains as unwarranted, frivolous, condemnable, barbaric and uncharitable to the overall interest of the entire Nigerian population, it is the resolution of this great movement to pass votes of no confidence on the national assembly under the leadership of Senate President Bukola Saraki for their ill-political characters capable of initiating political disunity and derailing the executive arms of government from implementing masses oriented policies/programmes.

    “We hereby call on Dr. Bukola Saraki to make his political party membership known to Nigerians and resign his appointment as the Senate President with immediate effect in order to allow for better legislative process in the interest of the masses” He said.

    He urged Saraki “to desist from politics of deceit and assassination of character of constituted authorities in pursuant of cheap publicity, undeserving empathy from members of the public and international community as well as personal political gains.

    Towoju hailed President Buhari for his total commitment to the values of democracy, freedom of choice as well as total willingness to work with all members of the National Assembly, irrespective of their political party, for the benefit of the nation.

    He said “We also declare our total support to President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid and we call on men and women of goodwill and conscience to rally round Mr. President in order to salvage the nation from the current political turbulence and always stand by the oppressed so that we can together build a virile and prosperous Nigeria.”

  • PDP welcomes Ortom, urges others to return

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has welcomed the Benue State Governor, Dr Samuel Ortom, back to its fold and has urged all its members in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to return back to the party.

    Ortom had on Wednesday announced his defection from the APC to the PDP.

    In a statement on Wednesday by the spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party commended Governor Ortom for “showing patriotic courage and boldness” in the face of brazen dictatorship.

    Tye statement said, “The return of the Governor to PDP confirms the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari’s led-administration and the APC do not have the welfare of Nigerians at heart.

    “They have continually offered flimsy excuses over the mindless killings that have caused untold sorrows across the country, particularly, Benue State.

    “PDP recalls that the Buhari-led federal government has failed in its basic responsibility of protecting live, property and territorial integrity of our nation.

    “Painfully, Nigerians are being slaughtered in Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto, nearly on daily basis”.

    Read Also: Ortom finally dumps APC for PDP

    The party accused the APC-led administration of continually pleading for accommodation of persons who have been repeatedly fingered in killings in the Benue valley rather than take decisive and concrete actions to preserve lives of Nigerians.

    It hailed the governor for standing firm by the people of Benue State and refusing to mortgage their welfare to a government that has consistently demonstrated cluelessness.

    “We urge the governor to be rest assured that he will be accorded his dues and rights as a member of the PDP.

    “The return of the Governor Ortom to our party, which is a reflection of his people’s desires, further confirms the rejection of the Buhari -led APC administration by Nigerians.

    “It also buttresses the fact that PDP remains the viable platform for all Nigerians that are desirous of rescuing our nation from the gross misgovernance and authoritarianism exhibited by the APC-led administration”, the statement added.

  • Senator to Saraki, Dogara: Resign from APC now or risk expulsion

    Says plot to impeach Buhari slated to commence Thursday

     

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, on Wednesday asked Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to resign from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in their own interest.

    Ibrahim, a strong ally of President Muhammadu Buhari in the upper chamber, said that the failure of Saraki and Dogara to leave the party would lead to their immediate expulsion.

    The Senator who represents Katsina South Senatorial District also said that they have it on good authority that the plot to impeach President Buhari would have commenced today (Thursday).

    Ibrahim who appeared to have spoken the minds of other APC senators said that developments in and around the National Assembly have clearly shown that Saraki and Dogara could no longer be trusted in the fold of APC members.

    The lawmaker, also chairman of Buhari Support Group, spoke in Abuja.

    Speaking specifically about the defection of 13 senators and 37 House of Representative members from the APC, Ibrahim said that the defections were not only expected but did not come to him as a shock.

    Read Also: Police: we were not at Saraki’s home

    He said that he made the calculation and came to the conclusion that at least 13 senators will leave the APC.

    He noted that the only defection he did not anticipate was the Sokoto State senator, Abdullahi Danbaba.

    He said, “I know that those who take Saraki like god will go. This is because wherever Saraki goes they will go. But the mistake they have made is to realize that politics is local.

    “Nobody will say Isa Misau and Suleiman Nazif (two Bauchi State senators) were voted because of Saraki. They were voted because of Buhari. They will lose their seats. Saraki will not save them. They can’t even go to their constituencies.”

    On the speculation that some APC senators were quartered in a high profile hotel in Abuja on the night preceding Tuesdays Senate plenary to plot change of leadership in the Senate, Ibrahim said he was not quartered anywhere.

    He said, “I slept in my house. I was here in my office and left by 2pm. I was not quartered anywhere.”

    He was categorical that the alleged plot to impeach President Buhari “would have started on Thursday” (today)

    He said, “The impeachment of the president should have started Thursday. Everybody was planning. We know they were planning.

    “They realized and learnt that we know. They knew that if they had remained up till today (Wednesday) a lot of things would have happened.

    “We were planning. This is the National Assembly the only place political parties meet. We were planning.

    “Saraki and Dogara should resign today or the APC should send them away. They are no longer APC members.

    “The only reason why Saraki and Dogara have not left the APC is that they know that if they leave they will lose their seats. But we will force them to leave.

    ‘Left to me, I will recommend to APC to expel them. They are no longer needed in the party. We will be cured of cancer if they leave.

    “Me as Abu Ibrahim, I am asking Saraki and Dogara to leave APC today. I will meet Oshiomhole (Adams) to expel them. Let them leave APC, Saraki and Dogara should leave APC today.”

    Ibrahim insisted that the departure of Saraki and Dogara will not affect the electoral chances of APC.

    He noted that if Saraki leaves APC, the party may lose Kwara and Kogi States and no more.

    He continued, “My position is that Saraki and Dogara should leave the APC. We can no longer trust or discuss APC issues with them again. We cannot afford to continue to habour moles in our mist.

    “Let people be courageous enough and be honest to themselves. We will not miss them.”

     

  • FG wades into Oshiomhole, Ngige rift

    Ngige replies Oshiomhole: I’m not afraid of suspension

    The Federal Government on Wednesday said that the ongoing rift between the Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole and Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige will be resolved soon.

    This was disclosed by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Oshiomhole had threatened to expel Ngige from the party and cabinet if he fails to inaugurate the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

    Speaking on the rift, Mohammed said “What happened between the minister and chairman will be resolved.”

    Explaining further he said two weeks ago, the government launched a campaign against fake news saying it’s one of the most dangerous phenomenon we have today. .

    He stated “We don’t know who said what and until we know and the minister confirmed this statement credited to him, it’s difficult really to comment.

    “I can assure you if there is any problem between the party chairman and any of our ministers, it will be resolved.”

    Read Also: Ngige to Oshiomhole: be guided in your utterances

    On his part, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Ameachi denied report credit to him that he disparaged the party chairman.

    He said “How do you know it’s true, I saw in social media this afternoon where they said I said the chairman is a bad luck. I never said so. I have never said such a thing. They quoted me that I was attacking the chairman.”

    Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, Ngige said that he was not afraid of suspension in a party in which he is a founding member.

    He was responding to the threat issued by Oshiomhole, that if he does not inaugurate the board members of federal agencies and parastatal under his ministry in line with the President’s directives, he will be suspended or expelled by the party.

    When asked if he was going to comply and if he was not afraid of suspension from the party, Ngige said, “How? In a party that we formed and brought them in? The man is talking out of ignorance. I’m not afraid of suspension.”

    Ngige, had in his written response earlier, explained why the Board of NSITF was yet to be inaugurated. He said: “Our National Chairman, I am in receipt of a letter referenced APC/NHDQ/ GEN-S/28/018/003 dated July 11, 2018, which was sent from your office and received by me on July 12, 2018. Ordinarily, I would not believe the letter was from you except for the barrage of media statements that came before I saw the letter. I read the contents of this letter with both amazement and utter disbelief.”

    The minister said he had reconstituted three boards out of the four agencies and parastatals under his ministry, but has not been able to constitute the board of NSITF because of cases of financial malfeasance, which have put the agency under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

  • ‘Lawmakers’ defection not a threat to Buhari’s popularity’

    The Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO), has said the defection of some Senators and House of Representative members from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has not affected the popularity of President Muhammadu Buhari in next year’s elections.

    The National Coordinator, BCO, Danladi Pasali, said analysis of the defected lawmakers showed that most of them took the decision to save their political ambitions as a result of their grievances at the grassroots.

    Pasali said president Buhari was already popular among the masses with or without the lawmakers.

    He said no serious politician could dump the President or the ruling party at this particular moment.

    Pasali said: “All of those that decamped to PDP need Buhari in their political career more than the way Buhari needs them. Except few among them, the majority of them rode on the wave of popularity of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 to secure their mandates. So for us at the BCO, we regard this as great political miscalculation and suicide they committed.”

    Read Also: We did our best to stop defection – Buhari

    “We see this as a good omen. We as the BCO, we are celebrating. In most cases you can’t make progress if you have an enemy within, because he will pretend to be with you, but in reality he is using the relationship to bring you down.

    “We urged the President to be cautious of those types of politicians, because many of such people are still within the party, but Almighty God will reveal them one after another, very soon.

    “The true is that when somebody feels that he or she has followers, 2019 is coming, we know that as far as we are concern the issue of Kwankwaso and all of the affected lawmakers are nonentity. Look at the arithmetic on how Buhari was contesting elections since 2007, most of them were not with him but he always pooled millions of votes at elections because he is the man of the masses.

    “The masses of this country know what Mr President stands for, and they tested the good governance that they never witness before in terms of infrastructural development in the area of roads, rails, agriculture, health, educations and employment generation. These are the yardstick for economic prosperities not stealing money and share it to people without providing any goodies to the people as it used to happen during the PDP 16 years in office.”