The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • Buhari, Atiku supporters clash over calls for Privatization of refineries

    Supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar are currently engaged in a war of words over calls by the former Vice President for the privatization of some aspect of the nation’s oil and gas sector.

    While supporters of the President under the auspices of the Buhari Media Organisation described Atiku’s call for the privatization of the oil and gas sector, especially the refineries as callous and anti-people, the All-Atiku Support Group the criticism was a display of poor knowledge about modern economic management.

    The former Vice President who is one of the front runners for the PDP presidential ticket was quoted as saying that he would embark on privatization of the oil and gas sector if he is elected President in the 2019 elections.

    In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja and signed by Coordinator Austin Braimoh, and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the group says it finds unpalatable “the texture of this proposal at this point in the development trajectory of our country.”

    The group says it is “rather simplistic for any presidential contender with avowed love of the mass of the Nigerian people to join the advocacy for the sell-off of our national assets, especially the ones that most impact the standard of living of the huge population of Nigeria’s poor and struggling middle class.”

    The Buhari Media office said it was amazed that “an eminent Nigerian in the class of Alhaji Atiku would propose the privatisation of the oil and gas sector, inclusive of the refineries, when it is obvious that the privatisation of the refineries directly translates to increased price of petroleum products, especially the widely-used Premum Motor Spirit (PMS) with dire consequences on high transport cost aggregating in high inflation rates with massive decline in the standard of living of the people.

    According to them, it was obvious that Alhaji Atiku is merely amplifying the long condemned International Monetary Funds (IMF) recommendation for commercial pricing of petroleum products when, in fact, it is established that such products must be socially priced.”

    BMO says Nigerians have resisted “and will continue to resist the IMF and any of the Bretton Woods institutions’ intervention in policy reforms of the national economic template in the understanding that these policies are anti-people in orientation and outlook.

    “Our position is that any private entity that desires to own and operate companies in the oil and gas sector, especially in the refinery subsector, should go ahead and secure license and establish their own refineries. Businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has shown example in this regard with his 650 thousand barrels a day refinery in Lekki, Lagos State.

    “It is appropriate to question, at this point, the going status of the many public corporations sold off at highly undervalued rates to cronies and fronts of high government officials between 2002 and 2007 when Alhaji Atiku was the nation’s Vice President. Status reports on the various operations of these corporations indicate vastly diminished operations and viability.

    “Thankfully, we are already experiencing a revival in the oil and gas sector under the disciplined superintendent of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. The refineries are recording increased refining capacity while gas supplies to electricity generating companies have increased by more than 100 percent over the last 12 months.”

    But the Coordinator, Mr. Oladimeji Fabiyi All-Atiku Support Group described the criticism as a display of poor knowledge about modern economic management.

    Fabiyi said “What the BMO has done by its criticism of Atiku’s proposal is to further expose its lack of knowledge in the ways modern economies are run. As it is today, the NNPC is unprofitable, unwieldy and not accountable. Compared to its contemporaries like Petronas of Malaysia and Petrobras of Brazil which have since liberalized and modernized its operations, the NNPC still riddles in inefficiency and obvious lack of capacity.

    “There are clearly good examples of how liberalization of some sectors of the economy had benefitted Nigerians such as in the telecommunications industry and the banking industry. If the Obasanjo/Atiku administration had held on to NITEL, we wouldn’t have had the GSM revolution.

    “If our commercial banks were not recapitalized, we still would be having failed banks. It is important to note that similar groups to the BMO had opposed the banking consolidation and telecoms revolution as anti-people, but history has shown that they were wrong.

    “The trend the world over is for countries to liberalize the downstream sub-sector of the oil sector to improve efficiency and ensure product availability at all times. We are surprised that the BMO is ignorant of Saudi Arabia’s celebrated decision to privatize Aramco and raise needed cash to fund its social and economic services.

    “We know exactly who the masquerades are: they are the very people who feed fat on the misfortune that has befallen the refineries – largely as a result of the inaction of the government.

    “What will happen when the NNPC is liberalized is that the company will be more transparent and accountable and Nigerians can actually buy into the shares of the NNPC. Maybe, by that time too, we could have energy revolution.

    “Tying the proposal for the liberalization of NNPC to ‘amplifying the long condemned IMF recommendation’ smacks of illiteracy and a poor attempt to hoodwink Nigerians about the shadiness in the operations of the NNPC.

    “For an administration that campaigned heavily about jettisoning subsidy regime and ‘stabilizing global oil prices’ coming out to criticize a workable idea to liberalize the country’s oil and gas sector is unfortunate to say the least.

    “Today, this administration pays over N1.4 Trillion annually on subsidy on fuel consumption in Nigeria, a staggering 386% when compared to the figure of N774 million daily given in March this year. Till this day, ordinary Nigerians have no idea how much revenue the NNPC makes in crude sales and the NNPC continues to drench in corruption without transparency and accountability.

    “The contradiction inherent in the position of President Buhari on subsidy is evident for Nigerians to see.  After saying there was no subsidy, to making Nigerians buy fuel at the highest price in the history of this country without palliative or cushioning effects to Nigerians and now paying over 1 trillion naira on subsidy. This same contradiction attendant upon by shallow understanding of economics is what leaves Nigeria with a jumbled compassless economy devoid of defined ideology. The world has moved beyond indecision.

    “You can’t be going to the US to negotiate free market deals in the name of wooing investors while coming home to frustrate any genuine attempt to free the economy.  The most fundamental question is what has the Buhari administration done to the refineries? Three years down the line, Nigeria still imports fuel. And some people want us stuck to a past that does not work.  We need a present that can make Nigeria work again.”

  • Appeals panel upholds Imo APC congress

    …dismiss Okorocha’s Petition

     

    The Appeals Committee into the ward congresses of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo state has over ruled the state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and members of the state House of Assembly that ward congresses did not take place in the state.

    However, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said the party was yet to consider reports from any of the states.

    In a report submitted to the National Working Committee signed by the chairman of the three man committee, Senator Abubakar Tature and one other member, Ikenna Uzoka, the committee none of those statutorily qualified t9 petition the committee to complain against the conduct of the exercise did so.

    But the Speaker of the Imo state House of Assembly, Hon. Acho Ihim who led other members of the legislature in the state to the national secretariat of the party told newsmen that no congress held anywhere in the state, pointing out that since there was no congress, there was nothing for them to petition against.

    The state governor, Rochas Okorocha had earlier met President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo to protest alleged malfeasance during the last two congresses in his state and to demand its cancellation.

    The Appeal committee however rectified the ward and local government Congresses held in Imo state and dismissed the petition by aggrieved stakeholders on grounds saying the petitions submitted by them and the state governor lacked merit.

    Part of the report reads: “that the congress committee whose duty was to conduct the congress election affirmed that the election took place. That the state party chairman and his deputy affirmed that the elections were duel held in All the 305 wards of the state.
    “That the person’s who would have the right to petition over the conduct over the ward congress election are those qualified to contest the congress having purchased the forms.

    “That the petitions were written by unqualified persons and therefore would be construed as lacking the locus standing/basis to bring in any petition and that the video evidence by the petitioner was an incidence that took place in a private residence which was not which was not a ward congress voting venue.

    “Based on the evidence and careful consideration carried out by us as the appeals committee, we hereby hold that the ward congress of 5th May 2018were duely conducted and held in the 305 wards of Imo and APC ward officers were duely elected.”

    However, Speaker of the Imo state Assembly who led some members of the House of Representatives and 24 members of the Imo state House of Assembly to a meeting with the APC National Chairman, said they had come to the national headquarters of the party to protest the conduct of congress in Imo state.

    He said that they mobilized the 24 members of the State Assembly in order to show how serious the matter is to the party stakeholders in Imo state, adding that the lawmakers and governor still has implicit confidence in ability of the NWC to resolve the issues at stake.
    He said: “We are here to reaffirm that there was no Congresses in the 305 wards in Imo and we demand that a categorical statement be made by the party for a new date that fresh Congresses of the party will be held.

    “As for the discussions we had with the national chairman, that was an in-house thing but we have affirmed our stand with our governor, we are still standing with our governor.

    He is the face of the APC in the South East. Of course the young man has done so well that without him, there would have been no APC in the South East in the first place. Imo state in particular is the fulcrum of APC and it cannot be toyed with.

    “We demand that the constituted statement and announcement be made about the congresses that did not hold. The new date should be announced and the whole things should be ratified and there will be peace in the state.

    “The shenanigans that we saw can never be taken for congresses. We are taking this very seriously, and that is why honourable members of APC extractions combined with the house of representatives are here to affirm same, that there was no congress and we never take to have been held and we here are saying that we support his excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, ” he said.

    On the governor endorsing his son-in-law as the basis for the crisis within the APC in the state, he said: “You will agree with me that Uche Nwosu is qualified to hold Imo state.

    “One, he’s a bonafide citizen of Imo state of Nigeria and he’s of age, academically sound and the governor as a person endorsing his son-in-law, he has his preferences as a person, I have mine too and we all do. You too do. And as such, whoever you want to endorse, you too can endorse.

    “For us, for me and for the governor, we have endorsed the son, Nwosu as a person, aiming when the primaries come, people of Imo state will decide. If it goes to other candidate, so be it. It doesn’t imply that at the moment, you can’t do your own. Endorsement is not a special thing. That is it.”

     

  • God will decide Nigeria’s next President – PFN

    The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) on Wednesday said only God can determine who becomes the next President of Nigeria after the 2019 general elections.

    PFN Chairman in Ondo state, Rev Opayinka Kolawole who spoke with reporters in Akure, the state capital said for now, emphasis should not be placed on next year election, but how to curtail the spate of killings and insecurity in the country.

    Speaking shortly before the inaugurating the new PFN’s executive committee,the cleric lamented that the killings were not limited to Christians alone,but Muslims and other sects.

    He noted that the recent wake-up protests against arbitrary killings across the country initiated by the PFN’s leadership were successful, saying the process sent a wrong signal to the federal government on the need to find solution to the menace.

    The PFN chief said” we embarked on the protest peacefully with songs and intermittent prayers. It is like a spiritual warfare to let those in corridors of power know the implication of shedding innocent blood unnecessarily by the culprits.

    “We had carried out the exercise and thereafter made personal contacts, issued press statements, media interviews, messages on social media and others on diverse issues concerning  the attack on innocent Nigerians .

    “We are now watching, as our leaders continue to dialogue with those in authority, they are going back to the drawing board with relevant stakeholders to nip the dastardly act in the bud.

    On 2019 election, Rev. Kolawole said the Pentecostal and other churches have been praying to God to choose anybody after His own heart to govern the country as expected.

    He urged the present administration to face governance strictly rather than concentrating on 2019 general elections.

    The cleric expressed satisfaction that the recent protest had been impactful, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to set machinery in motion to tackle the menace.

  • ‘NECO scandal a desperate attempt to mess up Buhari’s administration’

    Anti-Corruption Crusaders of Nigeria  (ACCN ), an NGO, has described the recent corruption scandal rocking the National Examination Council ( NECO ) as a desperate attempt by disgruntled elements to mess up the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for its anti-corruption posture.

    It will be recalled that the Registrar of NECO, Prof. Charles Uwakwe and two other principal officers of the organisation were suspended and an investigative panel set up following allegations of corruption in the award of a N25 billion contract.

    Addressing a world press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, spokesperson of the Group, Comrade Christian Omale, urged the investigative panel to be very thorough, objective and fair in the discharge of its mandate.

    Omale said that although the Group was in support of the investigation, the panel should be impartial in the discharge of its mandate in view of the huge amount involved.

    He added that corruption should not be condoned especially in the face of the dwindling fortunes of the education sector in the country.

    He told journalists that it was strange that a Council under the supervision and watchful eyes of the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Assembly in terms of budgeting would mismanage such huge amount of money through contract awards.

    He assured that the Group would follow the case closely with a view to bringing justice to all parties involved, stressing that the era of frivolous allegations were over.

    “As our name implies, we are in support of the anti-corruption fight of the present administration and the setting up of the investigative panel to probe the alleged N25 billion contract award by some principal officers of NECO led by Prof. Charles Uwakwe.

    “We took it up as soon as the news of the suspension of these principal officers was announced and the huge sum of money involved considering the dwindling resources in the education sector.

    Read Also: Amaechi urges Nigerians to commend Buhari’s economic agenda

    “We know that N25 billion can go a long way towards resuscitating the ailing education sector.

    “However, we are still in doubt as to how such huge sum of money can vanish from the Council under the watchful eyes of the Federal Ministry of Education and National Assembly.

    “We all know the approval limit of serving ministers and chief executive officers of agencies and parastatals in the country.

    “We know that the number of candidates, who sat for the National Examination Council and how much the Council makes is in the public domain.

    “How then can a Council such as NECO award N25 billion contracts without approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC)?

    “How much is the budget of the Council as approved by the National Assembly?” Omale queried.

    He, therefore, called on the relevant agencies and other anti-corruption organisations to join hands in ensuring that justice prevailed in the matter.

    He urged the Federal Government and the panel not to hesitate to punish anyone found culpable in any campaign of calumny against the government.

    “The government should ensure that any officer found to be innocent at the end of this exercise is reinstated.

    “Doing so will be clear statement that this government actually put in place competent people to steer the affairs of the Council right from the beginning.

    “We are watching, as the case of the National Health Insurance Scheme is still fresh in the memories of a lot of Nigerians,’’ Omale stated.

    NAN

  • Buhari approves N10B for Benue, others

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a total of N10 billion for rebuilding villages and communities including farmlands that were attacked in Benue and other affected States.

    Vice President Yemi Osibanjo disclosed this at Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) in Abagena, near Makurdi Benue state .

    The Vice president is on two day officer visit to Makurdi.

    He said the President Muhammadu Buhari is much concerned that those displace should go back to camp immediately.

    He stated further that the government of Nigeria has a duty to protect the people and assured that Buhari’s led federal government will protect every Nigeria .

    ” I want you to have hope and confidence and most importantly to also know that we are not doing you a favour by promising to provide you with security, a place to live and school for our children, it is your right as citizens of this country.” Osibanjo said.

    In his brief remark Governor Samuel Ortom commended President Buhari and Osibanjo for their concern over the plight of the displaced .

  • PDP tasks Buhari on health workers’ strike

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has described the refusal by President Muhammadu Buhari to address the ongoing strike action by health workers across the country as a clear manifestation of insensitivity to the plight and suffering of Nigerians.

    Lamenting the anguish of hundreds of Nigerians who are abandoned and dying by the day in public hospitals as a result of the strike, the PDP accused President Buhari of not attaching any importance to issues effecting the average Nigerian.

    In a statement on Tuesday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said it’s the height of insensitivity for the President to be embarking on frequent medical tourism abroad while poor Nigerians in dire need of medical attention are left to suffer.

    Read Also: ‘PDP will defeat APC’

    The statement said, “As if that was not enough, upon his return to Nigeria, instead of summoning an emergency meeting of critical stakeholders to find solution to the problem, Mr. President abandoned the striking health workers and chose to organize and attend a political rally in Jigawa state for a doomed 2019 re-election bid.

    “Such aloofness by the government is directly responsible for the escalation of killings and bloodletting in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Kogi, Zamfara, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna states and other parts of the country, where marauders and insurgents are pillaging our citizens as if overlooking the plight of Nigerians has become a state policy.

    “In the PDP, the health, security and welfare of Nigerians remain pivotal to us and that is why we feel pained that compatriots are dying in their numbers because of the refusal of the Buhari-led APC administration to address the health workers’ strike.

    “The PDP, therefore, stands with Nigerians at this critical time. We identify with the sick and those who have lost their loved ones under this present circumstance and urge all public-spirited individuals, humanitarian organizations and the international community to come to the aid of our nation, since it has become clear that the Buhari administration has no agenda for the health sector.

    “Furthermore, while we plead with the health workers to be open to ways to solve the problem, we charge Nigerians to support one another and adhere to all health etiquettes to forestall an outbreak of epidemic and health crisis.

    “Finally, the world have now seen why Nigerians have reached a consensus not to allow this insensitive and anti-people APC administration to continue beyond 2019”.

  • PDP to Buhari, APC: ignore our request at your own risk

    Says We can’t be Intimidated

     

    The Kawu Baraje led new PDP that merged with other parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday told President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the party to ignore the letter containing their ultimatum for talks on the way forward at their own peril.

    The group said they were yet to receive any information from either the Presidency of the party in response to their letter, pointing out that they will be meeting in the next few days to decide on their next line of action which it said will be in the best interest of Nigeria and democracy in the country.

    The seven day ultimatum given by the group the party and President Muhammadu Buhari to invite them to a meeting elapsed on Tuesday without any positive response from the party as at the time of compiling this report.

    Spokesman of the group, Comrade Timi Frank who spoke with newsmen in Abuja while reacting to Monday’s counter letter to the leadership of the party by another group of ex-PDP leaders however however dismissed the Senator Abdullahi Adamu led Buhari Supporters in the group saying Nigerians should not take them serious as they were mere noise makers.

    Read Also: I won’t allow anybody to cheat Nigerians – Buhari

    Frank said they were not surprised at the decision of Senator Abdullahi Adamu and his group in opposing their letter to the party, saying the Senator was is known t9 have supported Abacha’s bid to succeed himself and former President Obasanjo’s third term bid.

    He dismissed the existence of a faction within the group saying over 95 percent of members of the group have given their leader, Alhaji Kawu Baraje the right to speak on their behalf, adding that Senator Abdullahi Adamu only joined them in the new PDP when it became obvious to him that they were meeting with the APC.

    He reminded the party that the same steps being taken to mend fences were taken by them while in the PDP, but were ignored, stressing that the singular mistake of ignoring them was responsible for the exit of the Jonathan government f and the coming into power of the APC.

    Frank said: “I want to use this opportunity to remind my party that this is same way we were trying to correct the wrongs of the Jonathan’s government while in the PDP, but they never listened to us. We told them why we were aggrieved. Our leaders moved round the states to talk to party members, to ask the government at that time to listen to our views, but at the end of the day, they refused, they ignored us, that is how we left.

    “When we left, we join the APC and that was how today, we are enjoying this so called change agenda we are talking about. So, if today, 95 per cent of us, who came from the new PDP are aggrieved and they felt they are going to undermine us, or they are going to ignore our group, so be it.

    “But at the end of the day, we believe we are going to take a decision that will benefit the Nigerian people because we believe that democracy should be all inclusive. Democracy should not be a situation where when you speak the truth, you will be harassed, you will be intimidated and so on.

    “Today, everyone that is being harassed within the APC, came from the new PDP. We have not seen anybody from the ACN or the CPC or the ANPP or the section of APGA that join us that is being intimidated or harassed. It is clear. So, we are not going to be intimidated.

    “We believe we are going to be doing the right thing. We believe we are going to do everything possible to rescue Nigeria the same way we rescued Nigeria from the PDP. So, if today, we decided to lay our complaints to the party and they feel it is not important for them to attend to our issues, we will leave them to God. God will someday judge.”

    While insisting that there was no faction within the group, Frank who is the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC said: “I am here to clarify issues and debunk some of the lies from some of our members led by Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, who were in my party secretariat yesterday to oppose the view of the majority, to oppose what our leaders have said. The chairman of our group, Alhaji Kawu Baraje was at the secretariat to submit a letter informing the party of our grievances as the new PDP that joined the merger that brought the APC into power.

    “In all of these, I want to make it very clear that we have no faction in our group. I saw in some of the papers that there is cracked in the new PDP. There is no crack as far as we are concerned. We only have one group, we have only one leader and that leader remains only Alh. Kawu Baraje and I can tell you clearly that without fear or favour.

    “I want to make it known to all of you that Alhaji Kawu Baraje is not alone in that letter. He has the mandate of over 95% of some of us that joined the new PDP into the APC that make new victories successful in 2015.”

    He emphasis that the participation of the new PDP in the affairs of the APC was responsible for the victory of the party in the 2015 general election saying “everybody knows that it was because of our participation to join the APC that practically brought the victory we are all enjoying today.

    “So, when people like Sen. Abdullahi Adamu who used to be one of us came up with some of his positions yesterday, he must have forgotten history and I want to make it known to you that whatever they’ve said to counter our move, are total lies.

    “Nigerians are there to testify. They said the new PDP group has benefitted massively from this government. That is one of their claims which is not true. But, I want to make it very clear that we are not here to respond to individuals, we are here to make it known that our letter is to the party. So, it is left for the party to either take it seriously or not. But I believe any serious party will take whatever position or decision we have brought them to look into.

    “Today makes it seven days from the day our group brought this letter to the party. But as it stands, we’ve not gotten any response yet from them. As we’ve said, whatever we must have said in that letter, it is not an empty threat. If they decide to ignore us, so, be it.

    “But at the appropriate time, we are going to respond and make our position known to Nigerians based on what we’ve said. It is not just a mere threat; it is not just a mere ultimatum. But I will tell you clearly that we are meeting with our leaders and we are going to come up with clear positions on our next step if finally they don’t attend to us.

    On the claim by the Senator Adamu led group that they have benefitted from the government, he said “I want go back to some of the benefits that they said our group has benefitted. The Senator and Jibrin said yesterday that we benefited by getting the office of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Some senators,  governors and so on.  For God’s sake, these are elected positions.

    “Nigerians are aware of how we succeed in getting the Senate President and the Speaker from the new PDP. They were not supported by our party, neither were they supported by the executive arm of government. We managed to get these two positions by the grace of God and by the support of Nigerian people.

    “We also got those positions through the support of senators and members of the House of Representatives that believed and had confidence in the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara and chose to stand by these two people because they believe these two people will take the party and Nigerians to the promise land.

    “So far so good, we are very happy with them, they’ve done very well despite challenges and the circumstances and hurdles they passed and they are still passing through till today.

    “So, nobody should give credit to neither the party nor anybody to say that they gave us anything from the new PDP. We fought to get these two positions and the senators, governors and others they talk about were elected from their various states.

    “They never got there based on the fact that the new PDP. They should be able to benefit from the APC because of their Labour because they contributed in bringing the change and government of today. Therefore, let’s reward them with these positions. So, this is not true.

    “The only two beneficiaries in our group is Rotimi Ameachi who finally became Minister of Transportation and Sen. Aisha Alhassan who is the minister for women affairs. These are the two people we can remember. So, I want to make it very clear that we are not going to be intimidated by anybody as long as the Nigerian people are happy with us.”

  • We’ll continue to support Buhari – APC Chairman

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Jigawa says its members will continue to support President Muhammadu Buhari.

    It’s Chairman, Alhaji Ado Kiri, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the president’s visit to Dutse on Tuesday.

    He said that APC members in Jigawa did not have any presidential candidate for the 2019 presidential election other than Buhari.

    “We are with Buhari and we will continue to be with him. We are satisfied with his war against corruption, terrorism, insurgency and other vices,” he said.

    According to him, the measures taken had in handling the problems, have brought relief to the people of the country.

    “We are also happy with the policies and programmes of the Federal Government in the economic and agriculture sectors, which made life meaningful for the people,” he added.

    The chairman also expressed satisfaction with the Social Intervention Programme (SIP) of the Buhari government, popularly known as ‘N-Power’ which he said provided employment opportunities for many youth in Nigeria.

    Kiri commended Buhari for visiting Jigawa, in spite of his tight schedules.

    “With this, we are elated; this demonstrates his love for us and we also love him like he loves us,” the APC chairman said.

  • Senate may pass 2018 budget Thursday

    Report of the 2018 budget has been finally laid in the Senate.

    Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriation, Sen Mohammed Danjuma Goje moved the motion for the Senate to receive the report.

    Senator Mathew Urhoghide seconded the motion. The 2018 budget may be passed on Thursday if the promise of the Senate Leadership is any thing to go by.

    The Senate and House of Representatives had promised to pass the budget on April 24, but failed to do so.

    There were equally assurances that the budget would be passed in the first week of May but it was not passed.

    The Senate had on several occasions accused Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of not keeping to appointments with the various standing committees to defend their budgets.

    Read Also: Senate receives report on 2018 Budget today

    Subsequently, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, on April 12, mandated the Appropriation Committee to tidy up reports on the budget latest by April 13.

    With this development, the January to December budget cycle would not be obtainable with the 2018 budget.

    Buhari had on Nov. 7, 2017 presented a budget of N8.6 trillion before a joint session of the National Assembly.

    The president who announced the 2018 budget as “Budget of Consolidation”, said the projected expenditure would drive rapid economic recovery.

    He said at the session that with a benchmark of 45 dollars per barrel at an exchange rate of N305 to a dollar in 2018, the budget would consolidate on the achievements of previous budgets to aggressively steer the economy to the path of steady growth.

  • Youths ask Buhari to end persistent strikes

    The Nigerian Youth Champions for Universal Health Coverage (NYC4UHC), a Civil Society Organisation, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to put an end to the incessant strikes in the country’s health sector.
    The group made the appeal in a statement issued by Ms Asma’u Rufa’i, Knowledge Management and Communication Coordinator, Commnunity Health and Research Initiative (CHR), an NGO, on Monday in Abuja.
    Rufa’i said the youth made the position during a retreat facilitated by CHR, where they urged Buhari to intervene and chart a way for solving the lingering crisis rocking the health sector.
    According to her, the group is urging the president to use the strike embarked by JOHESU to galvanise all stakeholders to a meeting to find a lasting solution to the protracted crisis.
    “The youth, therefore, called on President Buhari to ensure that Nigeria took concrete steps towards attaining UHC, a system that provides healthcare and financial protection for all citizens,’’ the official said.
    She quoted the Chairperson of the group, Ms Nita George, as saying that more patients on dialysis at public hospitals for kidney related illnesses are being discharged to suffer complications.
    “Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are being shut down, with many patients suffering from complications of diabetes, hypertension and other life threatening cases, who were on admission at the ICUs, being discharged without recourse to their predicament.
    “We believe that it is high time that the Federal Ministry of Health, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and relevant stakeholders should mediate and end the inter-rivalry among various health professionals in the country.
    “We are also calling on the Federal Government, Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and the National Assembly, to as a matter of urgency, call the various workers unions to order,” Rufa’i said.

    The statement also quoted Mr Salisu Musa, Director, Operations and Finance of CHR, as saying that the strike did not spare pregnant women with complicated labour as well as children and babies born with infection that need resuscitationhttp://Youths ask Buhari to end persistent strikes