The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Muhammed Buhari

  • Boko Haram now engages foreign fighters, says Army

    The Nigerian Army on Thursday said the increasing threats caused by the Boko Haram Terrorists was largedly due to the fact that the terrorists now engaged foreign fighters to prosecute the war for them, asserting that the group had been degraded.
    It also confirmed that the terrorists now use drones against defensive positions of troops especially in the last two-three months.
    Brig. General Sani Usman made the disclosures in a statement he signed on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai following President Muhammed Buhari’s visit to the threatre of war in Maiduguri.
    He said within the past three months Nigerian troops have come under series of attacks by Boko Haram Terrorists, resulting in the death of a total of 39 personnel, while 43 were wounded in the cause of defending their fatherland.
    His words: “In the recent weeks, Nigerian troops deployed in the North East of Nigeria under Operation LAFIYA DOLE have come under series of attacks by large numbers of Boko Haram Terrorists. Specifically, the Nigerian Army troops deployed at KUKAWA, NGOSHE, KARETO and GAJIRAM came under attack at different times within a 2 week period from 2 – 17th November 2018.
    ” Each of these incidents were successfully repelled and several members of the terrorists were killed. However, a total of 16 personnel were killed in the course of these attacks while 12 soldiers were wounded in action and are receiving treatment at our military medical facilities.
    ” As you are all aware, Nigeria is contributing troops to the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) which has its headquarters in N’djamena, in the Republic of Chad. One of the Nigerian battalions (157 TF Bn), deployed under the auspices of the MNJTF was attacked at their Base on the outskirts of a town called METELE on 18th November 2018.
    “During the attack, the troops were forced to withdraw and several casualties were recorded. As at date 23 personnel were killed in action and 31 personnel were wounded in action and have been evacuated to several medical hospitals within Borno State.
    “The Nigerian Army commiserates with the MNJTF at this difficult time and wishes to state that all necessary support will be rendered to the MNJTF to reverse this resurgence of the Boko Haram Terrorists.

    Read Also: Boko Haram: Nigeria, Chad Defence ministers to meet

    ” The Nigerian Army wishes to further commiserate with the families of the gallant officers and soldiers that paid the supreme price in the course of defending their fatherland. The sacrifices of these fallen heroes will not be in vain. We also wish all those wounded in action speedy recovery and assure them of our continued support and care.
    ” The incident of 18th November 2018, happened at a time when the Nigerian Army was planning to hold the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference for 2018 in Benin City, Edo State. On account of this incident, the Conference had to be moved from Benin City to Maiduguri to enable the Nigerian Army leadership get closer to the troops on the ground and to better appraise our activities, assess our performance and identify our shortcomings as an Army.
    ” We are also sensitive to the fact that the nation is approaching an election year and thus we must be prepared to assist in providing security for the peaceful conduct of elections.
    “Let me at this juncture assure all Nigerians and indeed the international community that the NA will work optimally, in conjunction with other security agencies to provide a secure environment for peace and unity in Nigeria.
    ” Since 2015, the Nigerian Army in conjunction with sister services and other security agencies have systematically degraded the capabilities and capacity of Boko Haram terrorists and many successes were achieved.
    “However, in the last 2 – 3 months, we have noticed daring moves by the terrorists, increased use of drones against our defensive positions and infusion of foreign fighters in their ranks. These potent threats require us to continually review our operations.
    ” At this point permit me to implore all of us to spare a thought for the brave men and women of the Nigerian Army who paid the supreme price for the security of Nigeria. The Nigerian Army will continue to support the families of these brave officers and soldiers and pray that their souls rest in perfect peace. Let us also not forget the men, women and children who have been killed or affected by the atrocities of the terrorists. It is for their sake that this war against terror must be won.
    ” The Nigerian Army wishes to express its gratitude to the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) who has visited the troops including some of the wounded officers and soldiers in the hospitals.
    ” Finally, the Nigerian Army, wishes to reiterate and pledge its total commitment to the defence of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We wish to reassure all Nigerians of the commitment of the Nigerian Army to defend our country at all costs. We shall also continue to remain apolitical, professional and responsive in the discharge of our constitutional roles”.

  • Atiku to pay his company workers N33,000 minimum wage

    The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has decided that workers in companies owned by him be paid N33,000 minimum wage.

    The directive was issued to heads of business units of companies owned by the former vice president, according to Muhammad El-Yakub, the Managing Director of Gotel Communications, a radio and television broadcasting company owned by the former vice president and located in Yola, capital of his home Adamawa State.

    The fresh policy comes against a recommendation now before President Muhammed Buhari for Nigerian civil servants to be paid N30,000 monthly minimum wage.

    The Gotel Communications MD said the implementation of the payment of N33,000 monthly salary would  start after a meeting with union officials.

    Read Also: Atiku welcomes agreement to pay

    “Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the Wazirin Adamawa, has ordered the implementation of N33,000 new minimum wage to workers in all of the businesses owned by him. The directive is with immediate effect and will be implemented across all the businesses owned by the former vice president,” Muhammad El-Yakub said.

    Apart from Gotel Communications, Atiku owns the American University of Nigeria (AUN) which has primary and secondary arms, Adama Beverages Ltd which produces table water in bottles and sachets and various brands of bottled juice, and Rico Gado, a livestock feed manufacturing company.

    The lot, all based in Yola, are additional to Atiku’s companies in other parts of the country, most notably Intels Nigeria Ltd (based in Onne, Rivers State) which provides logistics services for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

    For a rough idea of how many people work for him, Atiku Abubakar had said in a tweet four years ago that he employed about 50,000 people in his companies in Nigeria.

  • Reconstruct Lagos-Badagry-Seme Expressway, lawmaker to Buhari

    A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Setonji David, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari, to reconstruction the Lagos-Badagry-Seme Expressway.

    David, representing Badagry Constituency II in the Lagos State House of Assembly, made the plea following the President’s visit to the area on Tuesday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that President Buhari flew to Seme for the official handover of the new Economic Community of West African States Border Posts in Badagry to his counterpart in the Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon.

    The president was accompanied by the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and other officials to inaugurate the upgraded border posts.

    David told Our Reporter that residents of the area were going through hardship because of the collapse of the international road.

    “I think the visit of President Buhari to Badagry should renew his commitment to completely reconstruct this very important road.

    “It is an embarrassment and our people are suffering.

    Read Also: I’ll campaign for Buhari, Sanwo-Olu, says Ambode

    “Apart from the plights of transport workers and commuters in the area; the nation is making huge money from the borders, hence the more reason for reconstruction of the road. This road is a gateway to our country.

    “I am optimistic that President Buhari will include the repair of the road in the 2019 Budget so that people in this area can enjoy a new lease of life,” the lawmaker said.

    David, also the Chairman, House Committee on Urban Development and Physical Planning, urged the government to consider the tourism potential in Badagry for national growth and development.

    “Badagry is the next tourism destination for Nigeria. It is a tourism destination throughout and outside Nigeria.

    “We are trying to prevail on the government to repair our roads. Badagry should be the next stage of development in Lagos State,’’ he said.

    David advised residents of the area to be hopeful that the Buhari-led administration would reconstruct the road.

    The lawmaker commended Ambode for his efforts to alleviate the sufferings of users of the road.

  • ANA commend Buhari on June 12, Abiola

    The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos Chapter has commended the posthumously national honours conferred Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (MKO), that late human rights activist, Chief Ganiu Okikiola Fawehinmi (SAN) and Babagana Kingibe.

    While noting that the annulment of the June 12 Presidential election, won by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (MKO) under the then Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1993, which was adjudged the freest in the history of Nigeria, was of great impediment to national unity and peace within the polity, it described the move of President Muhammed Buhari in resuscitating of the issues of June 12 and efforts to right the wrongs of the era as a step in the right direction.

    “The announcement of June 12 as the new democracy day as against May 29 is courageous and symbolic of empathy with an average Nigerian who have lost faith in the nation’s leadership particularly, at the centre, as well as in our electoral system since the annulment of the June 12 election in 1993 by IBB and the eventual murder of the symbol of the epoch-making electoral exercise.

    “We recall, with nostalgia, the philanthropic gestures and display of love for education and the arts, and we regret the absence of Chief Abiola, especially as the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos Chapter, prepares to host an international convention, after over 30 years, in October.

    “We can imagine the kind of support ANA, Lagos, could have received from the late chief, Concord Group of Newspaper and Concord Airline, among his inheritances which were scuttled and destroyed by the military government of General Sanni Abacha, apart from the dear Kudirat Abiola which was equally wasted in the struggle to recover the mandate from the military.

    Read Also: The Epetedo declaration by MKO Abiola

    The group, in a statement in a release signed by the Chairman, Publicity Sub-Committee, ANA 2018 International Convention, Feyi-Abiodun Samson Oyeniyi, also called for the Investigation of the mysterious murder of late Dele Giwa, a renowned journalist and Funsho Williams, while recalling the courage displayed by Prof Humphrey Nwosu and Prof Atairu Jega during the 1993 and 2015 elections.

    “Furthermore, we urge the federal government to remember to honour, in whichever befitting ways, several others, who though, were part of the fights to install this presently evolving democracy, who may not be as prominent as Chief M.K.O Abiola, Gani Fawehinmi, Prof Wole Soyinka, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Femi Falana, among others, but whose efforts cannot be discarded as they were ingredients for the realisation of a done dream for a democratic nation,” it stated.

  • NANS lauds Buhari’s commitment to human rights

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to human rights and investigation of human rights abuses in the country.

    NANS National Public Relations Officer (PRO), Bestman Okereafor, gave the commendation in a statement on Tuesday in Enugu.

    Our reporter recalls that the commendation was a fall out of Buhari’s strong comment against human rights abuses and explanation on how far his administration had embarked on investigation of human rights abuses during his interaction with President Donald Trump of U.S.

    NANS implored  the presidency and security agencies to ensure freedom from oppression, equity and social justice for all Nigerians regardless of religion and tribe.

    “NANS appreciates President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to the principles of human rights as well as the promotion and protection of people’s freedom, even in the process of fighting terror, as stated recently during a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House.

    “President Buhari’s commitment to ensuring that all documented cases of human rights abuses are investigated and those responsible for violations held accountable for their actions is laudable,’’ he said.

    The PRO, however, call on security agents to intensify efforts aimed at tackling insurgency and armed herdsmen, who had been terrorising and wreaking havoc in some parts of the country.

    NAN

  • Shame on those wishing Buhari dead- Adesina

    Shame on those wishing Buhari dead- Adesina

    Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina has decried false publications about the death of President Muhammadu Buhari who is London for follow up treatment.

    In a article titled “The learnt Nothing, and forgot nothing” Adesina said it is wrong for any group of people to wish the President dead and clone websites of international media houses to announce the falsehood.

    “Why do some people want their own President dead? Why do they want the eclipse of a man who is actuated by nothing other than love for his country? Why have they constituted themselves into enemies of national progress, haters of all that is good?
    ” But must any human being be hateful to the point of wishing another person dead, and indeed broadcasting a death that never happened? Shame. Shame upon evil wishers, purveyors of lies and wickedness. Do they have blood running in their veins at all? Do they realize that wishing another person dead, is sin before God?,” Adesina wrote.
    Below is the full text of the article:
    THEY LEARNT NOTHING, AND FORGOT NOTHING
    By FEMI ADESINA
    They showed their pernicious hands again last Sunday, and have been on the prowl since then, roaring like a lion, seeking who to devour. Purveyors of death they are, and they have killed President Muhammadu Buhari many times over, cloned the websites of international media houses to announce the hoax, but their wishes did not become horses, so they remain stranded, with nothing to ride.
    Between January 19, this year, when the President first proceeded on vacation, and March 10, when he returned, they had announced his demise many times. They even created apocryphal images and footages to back up their inhuman claims, but God showed them He was the ultimate. The Real Deal, the Special One. President Buhari came back alive, and disclosed that he would still return to London at a later date for medical follow-up. He eventually left on the night of Sunday, May 7.
    They saw the Deux ex machina, the Invisible Hands of God, between January and March, but they are so steeped and marooned in unbelief, evil wishes and malediction, that they have started all over again. Last Sunday, they cloned popular websites for the umpteenth time, using them to announce the figment of their diseased imagination. They learnt nothing, and forgot nothing from the immediate past experience. And you begin to ask yourself, just as the Good Book also asked:”Why do the heathens rage, and the people imagine vain things?” Why do they arrogate to themselves the power that belongs only to God? “I can kill, and I can make alive,” says God in His word. But these purveyors of hate possibly don’t know God. That is why they declare a man dead, when God has not said so. Once has God spoken, and twice have I heard it, that power belongs to God.
    Millions upon millions of Nigerians love President Muhammadu Buhari. They love his simplicity, his forthrightness, incorruptibility, love of country, and many other virtues. And they are praying. Bombarding Heaven with petitions. Baba o, Baba o, Baba o. Olorun da Baba si fun wa, Baba o, Baba o, Baba o. Olorun da Baba si fun wa. Oh God, spare our Baba, the father of the country. Spare him for us, O Lord we pray. And Heaven is listening to the supplications. We await the full manifestation.
    Millions of us can follow Baba blindfolded into battle. We love him that much, and it is within our rights. But have you seen a man ever loved by everybody? Show me. Even if you feed an entire city daily, some people still won’t like your guts. So, those who are not Buharists have a right to their convictions. But must any human being be hateful to the point of wishing another person dead, and indeed broadcasting a death that never happened? Shame. Shame upon evil wishers, purveyors of lies and wickedness. Do they have blood running in their veins at all? Do they realize that wishing another person dead, is sin before God? Yet they go to churches, mosques, and other worship houses. Who are they worshiping? The Unknown God.
    Why do some people, a tiny but vocal minority, wish the President dead? Do they know that if God wills, the man they wish dead could outlive them by many years? There was a lady who was very active on social media in 2015, before the presidential election of that year. She was in the league of anti-Buhari elements. Oh, he was too old. Oh, he was sickly. Yes, he would soon die. The lady was rabidly pontifical in her convictions, parading herself as someone with a charmed life, who would live forever. And then, it happened! Sometime last year, she died! When I saw the news online, I just shook my head, and prayed for the repose of her soul. I did not gloat. No need to. Not in her wildest imagination could she have thought that she would pre-decease President Buhari. But who has the final say? Jehovah has the final say. The breath of man is in his nostrils, and God can decide to extinguish his candle at anytime. Jehovah has the final say. It is not by age, not by how healthy you seem, or how sickly you are. It’s a lesson some people have not learnt. They learn nothing, and forget nothing.
    Back to the earlier question. Why do some people want their own President dead? Why do they want the eclipse of a man who is actuated by nothing other than love for his country? Why have they constituted themselves into enemies of national progress, haters of all that is good? Why do they prefer the dark jungle of infamy to the light of a clear and bright day, signposted by freedom from rapacity and lootocracy? Who then are these enemies?
    “Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent, those that seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as Ministers or VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds.”
    Those were the words of Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, after the country’s first military coup in 1966. You may like Nzeogwu, or you may not, depending on how you view his actions and inactions. But you can hardly deny the veracity of what he said. And 51 years later, the words still ring true.
    The enemies of Buhari are the political profiteers. To them, political office is not about service, but about making profit. Ordinary people can go to hell, and stay there. Personal profit is the name of the game.
    The swindlers, too. Enemies of righteousness and transparency. They swindle man, and even try to swindle God. Of course, they wouldn’t want a new sheriff in town. They’d rather shoot him, and sing the reggae song:”I shot the sheriff…”
    Those that seek bribe and demand 10 percent. Enemies. Only that they are not satiated by 10 percent again. They take the entire 100 percent, and leave the country prostrate. But when a Daniel comes to judgment, and hurls them before the law, knowing neither friend nor foe, they wish that he dies. Gerrout, so that business as usual continues, they shout.
    Those that seek to keep the country divided permanently. Evil souls. They use all the fault lines. Religion. Ethnicity. Language. Everything. We saw it all in the 2015 elections. They cashed in on all things that divide us as a people. But Nigerians were resolute for change, and they got it. But did those people give up? Did Pharaoh desist from pursuing the people of Israel? Hell, no! Till he ended in a watery grave. The stubborn fly follows the corpse into the grave.
    For the greater part of this year, President Buhari has been away from home. But whether present or absent, he still looms large. The mere fact that his shadow hovers over the land riles evil workers to no end. But what can anybody do? Jehovah has the final say.
    The old order is giving way for a new one in Nigeria. In just two years, the back of insurgency has been broken, corruption is taking a shellacking, and the comatose economy is turning round. Despite it all, some people still wish the President dead. Sad and sorry. But thankfully, they don’t have the final say.
    However, if they refuse to repent, we can repent on their behalf, lest judgment comes speedily on them. How dreadful it would be.
    Lord, we are sorry,
    We’ve turned around and gone astray,
    Your trust for us we have betrayed,
    Your power we don’t recognize
    Your Lordship we have all despised,
    We cannot pretend
    We all now repent
    Forgive us Lord we pray
    Bring down your glory…
    May God bless Panam Percy Paul, who sang the song. May God accept our repentance on behalf of evil wishers. May God spare our President, and restore him to full health.
    Baba o, Baba o, Baba o, Oluwa da Baba si fun wa.
    Lord, please spare our President. Spare him for us, to the glory of your name. Let those who learn nothing, and forget nothing, be purged of all evil. Let them turn new leaf.
    Amen somebody!

  • Will Paradise be postponed, again?

    Will Paradise be postponed, again?

    I have been thinking of the year 2020.

    This must seem capricious, given the exigencies and the sheer volatility of the moment.   Need I recite the litany that everyone knows so well?

    Twenty-wetin’?  I can almost hear the reader gasp in disbelief.  Twenty-wetin’?

    But those who are not too far gone in their cynicism, especially those among them who have also been paying close attention to what some of the best authorities have been saying, will have no difficulty apprehending  that the year 2020 must now be the focus of the national policy dialogue.

    To cite just two of the best authorities aforementioned:  The World Bank Group said six weeks ago that the recession had bottomed out and would end soon.  And only last week, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, drawing on a report from the Central Bank of Nigeria, said the recession was fast tapering off and would end by June.

    Let nobody call this optimism unfounded.  At the height of the recession, the government’s main problem was how to find the money to pay all the bills.  Now the money has been pouring in from sources expected and unexpected in such abundance that the problem now is how to spend it.  The wheel has turned full circle, from the oil-boom days of General Yakubu Gowon’s regime.  The good old days are about to return, even if only slowly

    Then, an acute shortage of foreign exchange, the U.S. dollar especially, virtually grounded manufacturing. Now, there is so much foreign exchange in supply that the banks which used to hoard them and sell to buyers at rates that it would be polite to call usurious, are literally begging customers to come buy.  But takers are few and far between.  They are stuck with a glut.

    Only three years now stand between our exit from the one and our entry into the other; between a desultory 2017 and a 2020 full of the great expectations encapsulated in Vision 20:2020

    Here is the first of several Vision Statements, formulated in 1999:

    By 2020, Nigeria will have a large, strong diversified, sustainable and competitive economy that effectively harnesses the talents and energies of its people and responsibly exploits its natural endowments to guarantee a high standard of living and quality of life to its citizens, The Statement continued.

    The whole thing had begun life as Vision 2010, in the time of the debauched dictator Sani Abacha. He inaugurated the Vision 2010 Committee in September 1996 and charged it to produce a report no later than September 1997. The Committee was chaired by Ernest Shonekan, whose tragi-comic pretence of being head of state Abacha had tolerated for 83 days before summarily kicking him out back in 1993.

    Its remit was, first, to determine why, some 36 years after independence, national development lagged         far behind Nigeria’s vast potential and, second, to envision where Nigeria should be in 2010, five decades  after attaining sovereign rule.

    In reality, the whole thing was to provide a setting for Abacha to transform himself into a civilian president, under a new Constitution that would grant him two six-year terms.   He did not live to pursue his scheme

    On taking office in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo exhumed the Vision 2010 document, dusted it up, breathed new life into it and projected it as the blueprint for catapulting Nigeria to the league of the 20 biggest economies in the world by the year 2020.  His bid to amend the constitution to allow him a third term —to implement Vision 2020, among other projects — crashed on a procedural vote on the floor of the Senate.

    On succeeding Obasanjo, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua  more or less embraced Vision 2020, renamed Vision 20: 2020, but his mantra was The Seven-Point Agenda.  Until he died two years after taking office,  it was hard to tell which was goal and which was mechanism: The Vision, or The Agenda

    Among its specific targets:  By 2020, a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of not less than $900 billion and national per capita income of not less than $4,000 per year, and generation of 60,000megawatts (mw) of electricity by 2020.  These targets, Vice President (as he then was) Goodluck Jonathan said while launching the Vision Document, might even be achieved earlier.

    In fact, Jonathan could hardly wait until 2020 for Nigeria to be counted in the league of world’s 20 largest economies.  His administration re-calibrated the economic data and came up with the finding that Nigeria, not South Africa as was generally supposed, had far and away the largest economy in Africa, and the 16th largest in the world.  And as if the Vision was not sufficiently freighted already, he grafted an Industrial Revolution on it.

    Given present realities, it seems clear that the targets set out so clearly and eloquently in all the Vision documents are unlikely to be achieved.  When 2020 comes three years hence, will Paradise be postponed again?

    That won’t be the first time.

    Most of the good things in Vision 20:2020 and its antecedents were supposed to bring should have become commonplace some 17 years ago, in 2000, the magical year that marked all at once the end and the beginning of a decade, a century and a millennium, a conflation that occurs only once in a thousand years.

    That was the year Paradise was going to be regained.

    There would be education for all, health for all, shelter for all, water for all, transportation for all, food for all, clothing for all, shelter for all,  and money for all. There would be absolutely no need to worry about admissions into schools and universities, for there would be enough places for everyone.  Hunger would vanish from the land, and so would homelessness and disease.

    When they were peddling these nostrums in the 1980s, the target year of 2000 seemed quite safe.  Almost like a thief in the night, it came and went.  But the Paradise it promised never came.  In Nigeria, it was postponed, until 2020.  And now that 2020 is nigh upon, and with everything indicating that the targets are unlikely to be achieved, will Paradise have to be postponed again, perhaps to 2030, 2040, even 2050?

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020)  two years late in the making, treads basically the same paths and promises the same outcomes as the Vision Documents I have here examined, though couched in far less portentous tones.  One can only hope that it will fare better than what came before.

    A much earlier Paradise envisioned in the Second National Development Plan (1970-74) launched shortly after the end of the civil war, a time of giddy optimism when Nigerians thought all things possible and petrodollars poured at a rate that overwhelmed the national exchequer, should not pass unremarked.

    The goals of the Plan were to establish Nigeria firmly as

    • a strong, self-reliant nation;
    • a great and dynamic economy;
    • a just and egalitarian society;
    • a land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens, and
    • a free and democratic society.

     

    It hardly got off the drawing board.  Less than a decade later, President Shehu Shagari was setting up a Presidential Task Force, supervised by one of the most influential members of his cabinet, to import rice.

    Some five decades and several Vision Documents later, how to produce enough rice for Nigeria’s teeming population lies at the heart of the national policy dialogue, and the prospect of generating enough electricity recedes with each passing day.  Toothpicks remain high on the import list.

  • How Buhari sealed SGF Lawal’s, NIA DG’s fate

    How Buhari sealed SGF Lawal’s, NIA DG’s fate

    President Muhammadu Buhari suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director-General Ayo Oke after two meetings with his kitchen cabinet, The Nation learnt last night.

    There were indications last night that the Presidency may not recall the officials. Besides, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited the wife of the suspended DG for questioning.

    But some members of the kitchen cabinet are opposed to the grilling of Mrs. Folashade Oke by EFCC since the President has raised a three-man committee to investigate the DG.

    They said the presidential panel should complete its assignment before the EFCC moves in.

    The suspension of the two officials was to enable the Federal Government investigate alleged infractions against them before a formal acceptance of their resignation.

    Babachir will be probed over alleged N200million contract awarded to a company, Global Vision Limited, allegedly linked with him by the Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE) for the clearing of “invasive plant species” (weeds) in Yobe State.

    Oke is being investigated for alleged $43.4million operations cash, which was found by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at apartment 7B in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi,

    Lagos.

    The President wielded the big stick after two meetings with members of his kitchen cabinet on Tuesday night and at about 11am on Wednesday, a source told The Nation.

    At the Tuesday night meeting were the President, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN) and Chief of Staff Abba Kyari, who has just returned from a medical trip overseas.

    The Director-General of the Department of State Security Service (DSS), Mr. Lawan Daura, who was to be part of the meeting, could not make it because he was in transit from Saudi Arabia where he had gone for lesser Hajj( Umrah).

    But on Wednesday morning, the DG, DSS was part of the second session.

    According to sources, the meeting went through the EFCC Interim Report on the $43.4million; a fresh security report on the PINE contract in which the SGF was implicated; the Senate Report on PINE and available options.

    A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The meeting was painstaking in looking at issues against the two officials, especially allegations bordering on compliance with due process and financial regulations and alleged abuse of office.

    “The outstanding records of the DG of NIA made the meeting solemn but it was decided that there should be no scared cow. The implication of the wife of NIA DG on how the safe apartment was secured to keep the $43.4million was found to be ‘abnormal’.

    “Non-disclosure of the cash to the President after almost two years in office was also said to be unexplainable.”

    “As for SGF Babachir Lawal, fresh security reports available to the President decided his fate. Some decisions taken by PINE under his watch were faulted by the meeting.

    “The President strongly felt the two officials crossed the line and he said the excuses were unacceptable.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “At the end of it all, the meetings were caught in-between investigation and immediate resignation of the SGF and NIA DG.

    “Some of those at the sessions wanted the NIA DG to proceed on pre-retirement leave because of the sensitive nature of the operation of the agency.

    “As a matter of fact, the DIG had personally submitted a letter for leave of absence to the President to allow unfettered investigation. Oke said he was more interested in the survival of the intelligence system than his personal survival.”

    After weighing the options, the meetings strongly recommended investigation into the alleged infractions against the officers to ascertain what went wrong, unmask other accomplices and learn some lessons for the future.

    The source went on: “The Presidency was of the opinion that there might be more to the $43.4million haul. It described the covert operations as suspicious with the immediate administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan rated as complicit.

    “The suspension of the officers was designed to allow the conduct of the investigation into the activities of the two officers before a final decision is taken.”

    Asked why the President acted decisively on the cases, the source said it was because of the reasons as follows:

    •   need not to compromise of the anti-corruption agenda;
    •   public opprobrium on  the grass cutting allegation against the SGF and the $43.4million cash haul;
    •   perception that the government is weak in taking decisions against its officials; and
    •   the need to respect the decision of the Senate on the SGF to pave the way for the ongoing mediation between the Executive and the Legislature

    The two officers were caught unawares by the news of their suspension.

    Another source said: “As a matter of fact, there was no formal letter of suspension served on the SGF and the DG of NIA before the announcement was made.

    “They were both in office when the news was broken to them by their friends and associates. So, they later heard it on radio and television.

    “The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo however had audience with the two officers where he explained why they had to go on suspension.”

    The highly-placed source believes that the government may not recall the suspended officials. They might either be retired or asked to formally resign from office, he said, pleading not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

    He added: “If there is any strong reason to prosecute them, affected officials, the government will do so, depending on the recommendation of the three-man panel headed by the Vice President.

    “Already, the Presidency is sourcing for their replacement. Some candidates have been pencilled down. As for NIA, the suspended DG will soon be 60 and his tenure will end in November. Technically, he is expected to proceed on pre-retirement leave from August.”

    Amb. Arab Yadam (Plateau State) is said to have taken over as the Acting DG of NIA.

    Yadam is said to be the senior Deputy DG among Oke’s two deputies.

    Also, it was learnt that Dr. Habibat Lawal (Bauchi State), who is the most senior Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, has stepped in as the Acting SGF.

    Meanwhile, there was disquiet in the Presidency last night following the summoning of the wife of the DG of NIA by EFCC.

    The anti-graft commission has invited her for interrogation over the $43.4million recovered from Apartment 7B in Osborne Towers. Her company was alleged to have acquired the apartment for the NIA.

    But some government officials were said to be opposed to the invitation of Mrs. Oke since a presidential committee was already in place.

    “Some government officials felt the presidential committee should complete its assignment before EFCC steps in.

    “They said it will be improper and untidy for a presidential panel to be investigating and EFCC is doing the same thing. “This development is causing some disquiet in the Presidency,” another source said.

  • FG to represent $29.9 bn loan request with detailed information, says Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed on Wednesday said that President Muhammadu Buhari would reapply for the approval of $29.9 billion loan.

    The first request for external borrowing to fund critical infrastructural projects in the country between 2016 to 2018 was rejected by the Senate on Tuesday.

    But briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council, (FEC) meeting, Mohammed said that lack of detailed information frustrated the approval of the first request sent to National Assembly.

    According to him, the government would provide the necessary information which the Senate needed for the approval.

    The minister also maintained that the disagreement between the legislative and executive arms of government were not unusual and that it was in the interest of Nigerians.

    “It is not unusual for the government and the Senate to have some disagreements, they want more information.

    “We will give them all the information they need and we are sure that by the time we finish they (lawmakers) will approve the request.” He said

  • Buhari, Tinubu arrive Emir of Borgu’s palace

    President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu arrived the late Emir of Borgu’s palace on Sunday at 2:12 p.m.

    The late Emir of Borgu, Alhaji Haliru Dantoro Kitoro III (Mai Borgu), who was a former Minister and ex-senator died on Friday in a German hospital at the age of 77.

    Tinubu, who is the Jagaban of Borgu, joined other well-meaning Nigerians to bid the late Emir farewell.