The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • Wike dissolves Rivers Executive Council

    The Rivers Executive Council has been dissolved, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    Gov. Nyesom Wike announced the dissolution of the State Executive Council on Wednesday during the Valedictory Session of the executive council.

    Wike said he would continue to promote Rivers first at all times, adding that the interest of state was ahead of all other considerations.

    He thanked members of the former state executive council for their contributions to the development of the state.

    He said: “It has been a rewarding experience and I am quite impressed that one worked with these persons of capacity.

    “All the achievements we recorded were made possible because you worked.’’

    The governor said that some of the members of the dissolved executive council would make it back to the new executive council.

    Deputy Governor, Ipalibo Harry Banigo, also commended the governor for providing purposeful leadership that helped to transform the state.

    She assured the governor of her unflinching support, adding that she would always work for the success of his administration.

    Read Also: Why Wike declared war on me, by GOC

    Former Commissioners, Attorney-General, Dr Zaccheus Adango, former Head of Service, Rufus Godwins, former Secretary to the Rivers Government, Sir Kenneth Kobani, former Chief of Staff, Chukwuemeka Woke, separately praised the governor for developing the state.

    Kobani moved the motion, seconded by former Commissioner of Transport, Mr Michael West, for the dissolution of the State Executive Council.

    High point of the valedictory session was the presentation of special congratulatory card to the governor by former members of the council.

  • Buhari shocked by Katsina killings

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday received reports of killings in Katsina State with shock, assuring government will restore peace and stability in the polity.

    The President directed Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu and Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin to constitute an assessment team to intervene immediately in the state and bring a feedback.

    President Buhari, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, also specifically instructed the security chiefs to find out how the operation was carried out by the perpetrators, not minding the Holy month of Ramadan and put in place structures to prevent future occurrence.

    Read Also: Buhari directs Ministers to hand over by May 28

    The President, who has been briefed on the criminal and political intents of the attacks in Katsina and other parts of the North, described the carnage as senseless.

    He admonished that all those instigating violence in the North and other parts of the country will be exposed and made to face the wrath of the law.

    The President commiserated with the Governor and people of Katsina State over the losses.

    He prayed that Allah will comfort those who have lost loved ones.

  • Buhari presides over valedictory FEC

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday presided over the valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council meeting.

    The meeting started around 11.03am with the rendition of the National anthem as the President arrived the Council chamber of the State House, Abuja.

    Opening Muslims prayer was said by the Minister of Environment, Suleiman Hassan while Christian opening prayer was offered by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru.

    Read Also: I’ll step up action against drug traffickers – Buhari

    The meeting immediately went into closed doors meeting after the prayers.

    It was learnt that journalists would be invited in to cover the valedictory session proper.

    New hands are expected to be injected into the next cabinet as the inauguration of the second term administration of President Buhari comes up on 29th May, 2019.

  • Activists seek probe of alleged licence scam at NBC

    A civil society organisation (CSO) with focus on the fight against graft, the Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe allegations of licence racketeering at the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

    In a statement yesterday by its Chairman, Alhaji Toyin Raheem, the group said information at its disposal indicated that the embattled Director General of the NBC, Mallam Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, allegedly allocated six radio licences to his private company.

    CACOBAG said: “We are again compelled to draw the attention of President Buhari and the Nigerian public to our disturbing discovery of how the DG of NBC surreptitiously allocated six slots of radio licence to his private company, Word Sound and Vision (WSV) Multimedia Limited, to himself, in the recent allocation of radio and television broadcast licences to private operators in the country.

    Read Also: Alleged N2.5b fraud: NBC DG Kawu charged

    “Information at our disposal indicate that Kawu, who is currently being prosecuted with others in court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over a N2.5 billion fraud case, gave himself, through his private company, six prime radio licence slots in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and two in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

    “We believe this is totally unacceptable in a country governed by rules and regulations. This is an abuse of office and a display of sheer greed and racketeering. It is appalling that in a country of over 200 million people, an individual could take advantage of his privileged position as the Chief Executive Officer of a public agency to allocate six prime slots of radio licence to himself.

    “There is also a clear case of corruptly enriching himself by selling and substituting licences to companies and people who never applied for them.

    “We are, therefore, calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and ICPC to begin immediate investigations into these infractions.

    “In this same country, when a Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) was accused of non-declaration of his assets, he was suspended from office. We wonder why Kawu, who is facing trial on charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy, is still allowed to be the DG of NBC. We, therefore, call on him to step down from his position until his innocence is established.”

    The CSO also urged President Buhari to direct the EFCC and ICPC to probe its allegation against NBC and its leadership.

    “While we call on President Buhari to immediately direct either the EFCC or ICPC to launch an investigation into this embarrassing development to protect the integrity of the administration as one with zero tolerance for corruption, we assure the public that our private investigation into this matter is already yielding some more shocking discoveries about the level of corruption some officials of this administration are involved in,” CACOBAG said.

    “We urge Nigerians to stay alert and join the vanguard to rid our nation and our public offices of corrupt officials,” the statement added.

     

  • Breaking: Buhari returns to Abuja

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday evening returned to Abuja from Saudi Arabia.

    His plane touched down around 6:30 pm at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

    Top government officials were on ground to receive him at the airport.

    The President had left Nigeria last Thursday to Saudi Arabia to perform the Muslim Umrah.

    The visit was also to honour the invitation from King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, the ruler of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to perform the Umrah.

    He was accompanied by his close personal aides to the Umrah.

    Read Also: Buhari, Tinubu meet in Saudi Arabia

    The President is expected to preside over the valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday.

    The session is the last meeting the President will be having with members of the outgoing cabinet as his second term is scheduled to be inaugurated on the 29th of May 2019.

    While some members of the outgoing cabinet may be reappointed, others will give way for fresh hands in the next dispensation.

  • NASS transmits proceeds of crime bill to Buhari for assent

    If all goes well, the fight against corruption will soon receive a boost as the Proceeds of Crime Bill has been transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent by the National Assembly

    The bill, which was transmitted on Monday, is considered as one of the key Legal instruments in the fight of the present regime against corruption.

    According to the Chairman House of Representatives Committee in Financial Crimes, Hon. Kayode Oladele, the Proceeds of Crime Bill, 2017, is a 12- part bill which makes comprehensive provisions for the confiscation, forfeiture and management of property derived from unlawful activities.

    When the President assents the bill, it will be a landmark in the effort to stem the tide of corruption in the country, he said.

    The Proceeds of Crime Bill, 2017 (HB 872) was read for the First Time on Tuesday 7th December, 2016. And on Wednesday 18th January, 2017, the House referred the Bill to the Committee of the Whole for consideration, pursuant to Order Twelve Rule 16 of the House of Representatives Standing Orders.

    While speaking on the objective of the bill during the second reading of the bill, the Oladele had said

    “This important Bill before us for consideration today, among other things, seeks to provide a legal and institutional framework for the recovery and management of proceeds of crime or benefits derived from unlawful activities as well as harmonize and consolidate existing legislations on the recovery of proceeds of crime and related matters in the country.

    ” Even though we have in existence extant laws such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004,  the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, 2004, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2003,  Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, 2004, Recovery of Public Property Act (Special Provisions) Act, Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act and some other penal laws on asset recovery in the country, there is no legal and institutional framework in place to handle civil forfeiture.

    Read Also: Buhari, Tinubu meet in Saudi Arabia

    “The absence of civil forfeiture law in the country makes mockery of the fight against corruption, as criminals in the country are not deterred because of the realization that they will not be denied the benefit of their loot, whether they are caught or not.  This proposed legislation, is targeted at addressing this obvious lacuna in our law.”

    The lawmaker noted in a chat on Tuesday the inherent benefits of the bill. He said:

    “The Bill when passed will among other things, reverse the ugly trend associated with non-recovery of looted funds, consolidate the legal framework regarding forfeiture in the country and ensure the confiscation and civil recovery of proceeds of crime as well as facilitate the repatriation of stolen funds from abroad;

    “Nigeria will achieve a milestone in its action plan to tackle corruption and it will provide complementary and collaborative roles between the agency and other law enforcement agencies, as the bill seeks to harmonize all existing laws on asset recovery in Nigeria.

    “With this legislation in place, Nigeria will join the league of other nations like the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand, etc with similar legislation, which has proved effective in their respective jurisdictions.”

    The lawmaker further said that the passage of the bill is critical “to the sustainability, administration and implementation of government action plan targeted at the recovery and management of proceeds of crime in Nigeria, thereby substantially reducing her corruption records and stigma in the community of nations.”

  • ICT and the poverty question

    Sir: If there is one thing deemed worthy of  commendation by a great number of  President Muhammadu Buhari’s followers in spite of his perceived cracked veneer of integrity in some quarters, it is saying the truth about the state of the nation, even when it is self-indicting regardless of the feeble attempts by his spin doctors to murder and bury truth.

    Buhari had on Monday last week lamented the degree of grinding poverty in Nigeria, stating that the elite, including himself had failed to put certain programmes that could guarantee basic education for all irrespective of their level of poverty.

    It was not his first moment of uncomfortable truth. In December 2018, Buhari informed Nigerian governors that the economy was in a bad shape, charging them to come together, think and rethink on the way forward at a time his handlers were busy reeling out “impressive” statistics about how well the economy was doing.

    Indeed, poverty crawls on all fours here. Also, it is hard to contest the fact that there is a wide gulf between our current economic realities and where we ought to be as a country. Ours is a classic case of a people surrounded by drinkable water but still thirst.

    Despite our enormous endowments, Nigeria’s economy has remained petro-centric for decades, leaving  the agriculture and solid minerals sectors, which were hitherto the mainstay of the economy sidelined and locking up the opportunities they can provide to better the lives of Nigerians.

    Beyond the lamentation about an economy in a tailspin and the heavy concentration of the wretched of the earth in the most populous black country in the world, the current government must demonstrate the political will to transform Nigeria from a mono-cultural economy to a truly heterogeneous economy by developing the right strategy to boost the revenues generated from other sectors of the economy, creating new avenues for economic growth and providing opportunities to liberate a good number of Nigerians from the dark cell of  poverty. Dishing out handouts will not cut it.

    It is true that the current government has shown some commitment in its drive to revive the agriculture sector but it can do more. With the advancement in technology changing the way we live and the black gold gradually losing its relevance, there cannot be a more auspicious time than now to invest heavily in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)  to lift Nigerians  out of poverty and change the sad narrative associated with our economy.

    Today, the first five most capitalised companies in the world – Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook- are technology companies. The African continent is the next frontier in terms of market size and opportunities. But the full potentials of the continent have not been deployed in terms of its ability to leapfrog ICT capabilities.

    Truth be told, a lot of state actors are still oblivious of the capabilities of ICT. It is evident in the paltry investment in ICT infrastructure. With a population of almost 200 million people and broadband penetration of about 33 percent, opportunities for investment, innovation and growth abound in the ICT sector.

    The growth of ICT and its contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can be increased if there is a realisation by the Nigerian government and other African governments that every 10 percent growth in broadband penetration leads to 1.38 percent growth in GDP and also reduces youth unemployment.

    It is time and Nigeria and other African countries removed their economies from being heavily dependent on export of oil and raw materials. We can draw inspiration from the Indian model and how the ICT industry has developed into a $100 billion industry per annum for that country.

    Nigeria can borrow a leaf from countries with a digital focus like Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco and South Africa. In Rwanda, for instance, President Paul Kagame is directly promoting the digital growth of the country, especially broadband. Government policies to promote the technology and communications sector are also stimulating entrepreneurial creativity and growth across the economy.

    The earlier we realise that the fastest way to lift our economy and our compatriots out of poverty is to embrace ICT, the better for all of us. We must begin to develop local capacities and come up with innovations to solve problems around the world. 

    • Ladesope Ladelokun,

     ladesopeladelokun@gmail.com

  • Buhari, Tinubu meet in Saudi Arabia

    President Muhammadu Buhari and the National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday met in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

    Also at the dinner meeting were Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar and Emir of Kazaure, Dr. Najib Hussaini Adamu.

    Speaking after an Iftar dinner meeting, Asiwaju Tinubu appealed to elderly Nigerians to avoid inflammatory statements that could undermine peaceful co-existence among the nation’s diverse communities.

    He said all citizens should consider the enormity of challenges facing the nation, and support the President.

    Tinubu also urged Nigerians to rally round President Buhari to solve the problems and stabilize the polity.

    Read also: June 12: Tinubu seeks urgent legislative action

    Tinubu, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said that, “The President worked hard and will continue to do so to ensure peace and stability in the country, which are important for the economy to make progress. These are the key pegs of his agenda. Let us all come together to support him.”

    Alleging that the Peoples Democratic Party was reputed for “saucy and distractive statements’’, he urged Nigerians not to be angry with the opposition party, but assist them to overcome their “colossal defeat” in the February 2019 elections.”

    He said, “Don’t blame them. They are handicapped by the traumatic feelings of the colossal loss of the election. You should help them to manage the trauma.”

    Tinubu commended President Buhari for the recognition of June 12th as the nation’s Democracy Day.

    In his remarks, Sultan Abubakar pledged his support to the success of the President’s administration.

    The Sultan led prayers for President Buhari’s second term in office, and for the nation to overcome current challenges.

    Other guests at the Iftar dinner were: Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Justice Isa Dodo, Malam Mamman Daura, Isma’ila Isa, Mr Wale Tinubu and Mr Hakeem P. Fahm, the Commissioner of Science and Technology, Lagos State.

  • North Central youths demand SGF position

    The youth caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North-central zone wants President Muhammadu Buhari to cede the position of Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF) to the zone as a reward for their loyalty to the APC.

    The youths also want the leadership of the APC to ensure equity in sharing of National Assembly leadership positions among the six geo-political zones.

    Zonal youth leader of the APC in the North-central, Terver Aginde, said that haven lost out in the race for speaker of the House of Representatives, the government should compensate them with the position of the SGF having given the party the second highest figure during the last election.

    Read Also: Ganduje trains 300 youths on automobile mechanic

    Aginde said there was also the need for the Adams Oshiomhole’s led APC National Working Committee to urgently call a NEC meeting to heal wounds and build a stronger and United APC.

    “We don’t see any reason for suspending people in the party. Instead, a NEC meeting should be called to review all that went wrong and find a lasting way of bringing the party back to its promises to Nigerians.”

    While pleading with President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that anybody to be appointed as Minister of Youths and Sport gets 2/3 endorsement from the party’s youth wing, Aginde said this is necessary so as to get the youths fully involved in APC administration.

    “APC is a national party and it should be given a national look by building a united Nigeria that will accommodate all the six geo-political zones, not minding religion or tribe,” the caucus said.

     

  • Buhari congratulates Super Falcons for winning WAFU Women’s cup

    President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the Super Falcons for putting up a superlative performance that saw them emerging as 2019 WAFU Women’s Cup Champions, with an unbeaten record throughout the tournament.

    President Buhari in a congratulatory message in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday, lauded the Falcons for their fighting spirit and resplendent skills evidenced in team work, discipline and focus, which enabled them to defeat the Ivorian Dame Elephantes at the finals of the championship.

    The President extolled all officials and management of the team, led by Thomas Dennerby, for their sacrifice, commitment and diligence in winning the championship.

    Buhari urged the officials and players to stay focused and unleash the same zeal that won the WAFU Women’s Cup Champions as they prepared for the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the eighth edition, holds from June 7 to July 7 in France.

    Read Also: FG’ll improve ease of doing business, says Buhari

    The Super Falcons had on Saturday won the 2019 WAFU Women’s Cup after defeating host Cote d’Ivoire 5-4 on penalty kicks.

    Both sides went into a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in the game played at the Stade Robert Champroux de Macory, in Cote d’Ivoire.

    NAN