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  • Governors demand payment of Paris club refund balance

    Governors demand payment of Paris club refund balance

    Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), led by its Chairman and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz  Yari, on Tuesday  urged President Muhammadu Buhari to release the balance of their Paris exit refund balance in order to  capture it in their respective 2018 appropriation bills.

    A delegation of the 36 state governors were represented by one governor each from the geo-political zones.

    In the delegation are governors of Akwa-Ibom state Emmanuel Udom (S/south); Kwara, Abdulfatah Ahmed (N/Central); Rotimi Akeredolu (S/West); Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu (N/West); Bauchi, Mohammed Abubakar (N/East) and Ebonyi Deputy governor, Kelechi Igwe, who stood in for the S/East.

    On their mission to the President, Yari said “We are here on behalf of the 36 states governors and this is a result of the  collective decision to see the President after the National Economic Council meeting last month.

    Read: Enugu Govt. to explore new ways of encouraging investors

    “We are here to thank Mr President for his concerns about the state economy and situation by giving us several support ranging from bail out,restructuring our debt, London- paris club exit payment. We also told  him that we think that  it was because of his  decision he has  taken, in which many Nigerians are accusing him, this is the reason why we got out of recession. You know that the 200 million citizens residing in Nigeria are residing in respective  states.

    “These support is going down to them, when you are taking the indices from the grassroots. We thanked the president for that and at the same time,as a father,  we said to him ‘Mr President you remember that in 2016, we presented to   you the numbers of London and Paris exit funds which we agreed, and you directed we be paid 50% and 50% open reconciliation.

    “Reconciliation is on since 2016, we are hoping that both DMO, ministry of finance, AGF and our consultants are concluding this reconciliation by November.

    “So therefore we want to crave your indulgence so that we can  factor the numbers in our 2018 budget so that we can use it for projects and other recurrent spending according to the specification given by our respective House of Assemblies and that’s why we are here.

    “Mr President was prompt being that he has a representative in the National Economic Council that is the Vice President and Minister of Finance is away. We are going to work with the numbers  when he returns from his trip. We are going to follow up this meeting with him so that we can conclude  on what is going to be done next,” he stressed.” he said

    Read Also: Buhari, state governors meet in Aso Rock

  • Stop ‘shadow-boxing’ Yari, NGF tells EFCC

    Stop ‘shadow-boxing’ Yari, NGF tells EFCC

    The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has advised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and its Acting Chairman Ibrahim Mustafa Magu to stop “shadow-boxing” and leave Dr Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, governor of Zamfara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, to face his job.

    In a statement by Head, Media & Public Affairs, Nigeria Governors’ Forum Secretariat, Abulrazque Barkindo, the forum said Yari had for the umpteenth time told the commission that he neither owns a plot of land in Lagos nor owns or intends to build a hotel in Lagos.

    The statement reads: “Yari had denied any links with a $3million hotel in Lagos which some online media attributed to him and in fact sued the publications responsible for that insidious report for libel.

    “But for want of scapegoats in its battle against the National Assembly, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission continues to drag the governor’s name in the mud in a veiled effort to divert attention from the matters of the moment.

    “The NGF therefore urges the public to note that this is not about any missing funds anymore as the NGF would like to categorically emphasise that it did not, at any material time, receive any funds from the Paris-London refund on behalf of any states.

    “All states funds were remitted to them directly from the federation accounts by the Ministry of Finance. What the NGF received, it must be repeated here, was monies due to the consortium of consultants who verified the amounts due to all the states that were owed.

    “Furthermore, the NGF would like to state that its involvement with the Paris-London Club refund had saved the states colossal amounts of money individually and collectively because instead of the high percentages agreed upon by the individual states to their separate consultants, the NGF drew the percentages down to 2% which was paid to the consortium.”

    He said that before then states had agreed to pay consultants between 10 and 30 % as commission for recovering the over-deductions.

    “It is however understandable that in the absence of a fall guy, the EFCC has consistently maligned the person of the Zamfara State governor and Chairman of the NGF, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, even when the need to so do was untenable, ridiculous and absent.

    “The NGF is asking the commanding heights of the EFCC to instead look elsewhere for its real or imagined enemies and allow Yari Abubakar to face enormous task of governing his state and leading the governors of Nigeria,”  Barkindo said.

  • Governor Yari, NGF and outstanding leadership

    Governor Yari, NGF and outstanding leadership

    Recently, I read an article titled, “Governor Yari and his billionaire boys’ club”, written by a columnist, Niran Adedokun. This article is specifically authored to address the cursory observations, unfair assessments, subjective expressions, misleading accounts, ignorant remarks and the preposterous conclusion that have been noted therein.

    It is a matter of public records that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum was sharply divided into two factions before the emergence of Governor Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara State as the Chairman of NGF. The inauguration of new chairman did not automatically translate to a united NGF. What happened was that Governor Yari engineered and coordinated a reconciliatory process that has cemented the bond of unity among the 36 governors, beyond the barriers of political affiliations, religious beliefs and ethnic differences. It was that intervention that saved Nigerians from the tension that used to stem out weekly from the activities of NGF. Under the leadership of Governor Yari, the Forum has played remarkable roles in ensuring the sustainability of democracy as its unity has in turn led to stability in the polity and unity of the Nation.

    Under the leadership of Governor Yari, the idea of the NGF Leadership Academy, with the responsibility of building capacity of Governors and other public office holders, has received boost. In the drive aimed at diversification and job creation, the NGF has made agriculture a priority. The gains of its efforts on Agricultural Machinery Development with the China-Africa Machinery Company clearly confirmed the NGF has taken agriculture seriously. Nothing showed clearer that Niran Adedokun has paltry insight about the activities of the NGF than the fact that he tried to suggest the actual priorities of the NGF for the NGF.

    Does it not betray common sense for anyone to say the chairmanship of a man who is steadily navigating NGF on the path of progress is one of the most unfortunate contradictions of our current political experience? Niran Adedokun can choose to be ignorant by choice but, he cannot write away the achievements of Governor Yari, both as governor and chairman of NGF.

    Whereas, it is okay to compare the National Governors Association (NGA) in United States of America to the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF). Such comparison should be fair enough to reflect that while the NGA is 109 years old, the NGF is just 18 years old. As a Forum of just 18 years old, the NGF is doing pretty well.

    Due to his own interpretation of what Governor Yari said during the outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis in Nigeria, coupled with the governor’s statement that he will recruit more qualified doctors and nurses because the Zamfara State needed their services, the writer concluded that the governor’s concept of development is pedestrian.

    Perhaps, the writer is unaware that one of the reasons why the governor has embarked on the recruitment of doctors and nurses is because the governor has built more hospitals in the past few years. Even if the governor will not be commended for recruiting staff for newly-built hospitals, there is no justifiable cause to label him as pedestrian governor.

    On the issue of the meningitis outbreak, Governor Yari did not say God was punishing Nigerians with the virus. Though, he alluded to God’s power to inflict afflictions on sinners. It should be noted that the governor made his comment in Hausa which gave room for divergent and wide interpretations.

    Meanwhile, records showed that the virus affect 226 local government areas in 24 states. The Federal Government said the outbreak took the Nation by surprise and confirmed that there were limited stock of the vaccines around the world.

    When suspected cases of the disease were reported in Zamfara State, the governor did not fold his arms or wait unto Allah to halt the outbreak. The governor understood his responsibility and immediately took practical steps to curtail the outbreak. The Zamfara State Government worked in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to control and curtail the outbreak.

    Without delay, a committee-led by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Abdullahi Shinkafi was designated to create massive awareness on the disease. The committee did a fantastic job. 1,344 persons were immediately trained as vaccinators and deployed to the nooks and crannies of the State. I strongly believe that if the Type C meningitis vaccines were readily available around the world, even at exorbitant cost, the efforts of the Governor Yari-led administration would have saved more lives. Thus, the governor did what any responsible governor in Nigeria would have done.

    When few hours of downpour sacked residents of some communities in Lagos State and destroyed properties recently, would anyone have been reasonable to describe Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as a pedestrian governor?  Similarly, would it have been justifiable for anyone to label Governor Nasir El-rufai as pedestrian governor because thousands of persons have been reportedly killed in Southern Kaduna in the past few months? That article showed beyond any iota of doubt that the writer has a skewed mindset.

    Furthermore, to reecho an allegation that the governor built a hotel in Lagos while deliberately ignoring the published reaction that the governor has neither a plot nor hotel in Lagos, suggests a malleable writer on a commissioned mission.

    In the past six years, the people of Zamfara State can attest to improved socio-economic activities. The State has witnessed commendable progress in the sectors of healthcare, roads, education and agriculture and transformation of rural communities. People from within and outside the State have commended the governor for executing people-oriented projects.

    Last year, President Muhammadu Buhari visited the state to launch new special military formation that was established to address security challenges. He also commissioned road projects in Wanke, Zamfara State. Also, Senate President Bukola Saraki was in Zamfara State in January to flag-off the construction of the Dauran-Birnin, Tsaba Birnin and Magaji Kauran Namoda roads.

    Recently, Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde paid a working visit to Zamfara State to commission electrification projects at Adarawa, Garguwa, Rakuma, Rafin Dankure and Tsamiya. The minister also inaugurated water works at Garbadu and Mure areas of the State.

    It is also on record that the chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun recently inaugurated Semi-Urban Water Scheme Projects in Dauran and Kanwa communities in Zurmi Local Government Areas of the State. The inaugurated projects are parts of the 84 of such water projects the governor has constructed in the past six years. The APC chairman also commissioned hospital in Moriki community.

    The collaboration between the Zamfara State Government, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Presidential Committee on Malaria Illumination has recorded huge success in the fight against malaria. Also, the governor launched a special dry season rice production programme in Gummi Town on 28th of February. Under the scheme, 2150 hectares were allocated to 2150 beneficiaries for farming.

    Additionally, the governor has regularly organised trainings and workshops for teachers in the State. He also embarked on the recruitment of 1,000 teachers for primary education. The massive road construction ongoing in Zamfara has provided employment opportunities to over 1,000 citizens while the improved road network in the State has enhanced the capacity of the State in the area of food production.

    Finally, the governor that has these achievements to his credit cannot be labelled pedestrian governor by any standard. Adjectives like outstanding and exceptional are apt and appropriate. It is noteworthy that NGF is not a mere club of governors but forum for public policy discussions that is guided by the core mandate of promoting inclusive governance.

    The outstanding governor that leads the forum has exhibited the needed intellectual fecundity and unimpeachable capacity to lead the NGF on the path of steady progress.

    Written by Bayo Adekunle

    bayoadekunle04@gmail.com

  • No money is stolen from Paris Club refunds – NGF

    No money is stolen from Paris Club refunds – NGF

    The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on Monday said no money was stolen or embezzled from the Paris-London Club refunds to states or from any other source.

    The Head of Media and Public Affairs at NGF Secretariat, Mr. Abulrazque Barkindo, said this in a statement in Abuja.

    Barkindo denied allegation that the Chairman of the Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, was building a $3million hotel from money stolen from refunds to states.

    Barkindo said the false allegation gave cause for worry.

    He said, “The reports contain harmful, damaging and libelous insinuations which remain largely unsubstantiated, despite the fact that it attributed the leaks to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials in Lagos.

    “Governor Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar has said emphatically said he does not even own a plot of land in Lagos not to talk of a hotel.’’

    He said some EFCC officials in Lagos claimed that “they have found a hotel being constructed by Governor Yari with $3million he stole from London-Paris Club loan refund to Nigerian states.”

    He also quoted the report as saying that “apart from the $3million, Governor Yari also diverted N500 million from the Paris Club refund to pay off a loan.”

    Barkindo described all the claims as wrong, harmful, libelous and misleading disclosures.

    “Governor Yari is not building any hotel in Lagos nor were any money stolen or embezzled from the Paris-London Club refunds to states or from any other source,’’ the NGF spokesman added.

    NAN

  • Governors partner NCC to check multiple taxes

    Governors partner NCC to check multiple taxes

    The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, are currently exploring ways to check multiple regulations and taxation in the telecommunication industry, the Executive Vice Chairman, EVC, of Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has said.

    He said the development would not only improve service delivery and right of way but lead to the expansion of telecommunications infrastructures across the country.

    Besides the talks with the Governors Forum, Prof. Danbatta said other agencies of government are being carried along to improving relationship with telecommunications Service Providers who are often the victims of multiple taxes and regulations.

    Prof. Danbatta made the remarks in Abuja when he received the management team of ATC Wireless Infrastructure Company of Nigeria (ATC Nigeria) in his office.

    In a statement issued by the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs Tony Ojobo, Prof. Danbatta expressed concern over the issue of multiple regulations and taxes, saying the industry cannot grow as expected under the present circumstance.

    “So we have decided to engage all stakeholders especially other government agencies in order to cushion the pains operators go through,” he said.

    Danbatta said; “the NCC is particularly worried about the indiscriminate way base transceiver stations are sealed by agencies and some State governments and we have appealed to these agencies and the State Governors to show some understanding.

    “We are particularly in talks with them to understand the implications of these actions as they affect quality of service and other sundry matters, including power supply.”

    According to the statement, Prof. Danbatta implored ATC Nigeria to ensure regular power supply to the managed base stations in order to make a difference, considering the enabling environment created by government for businesses to thrive.

    The Chief Executive of ATC Nigeria, Mr. Gordon Porter said his team came to familiarize itself with the NCC management, said the statement.  “We are here to tell you what we do, how we do it and why we do what we do,” Mr Porter added.

    The statement further said ATC recently acquired 4716 cell sites from Bharti Airtel Nigeria and for the past 146 days it has deployed 1,000 generators and replaced 600 air-condition units.

    It added that so far over $11Million has been invested by the company on these towers with a view to improving quality of service very significantly.

     

  • Governors to meet Buhari over cash crunch

    Governors to meet Buhari over cash crunch

    Apparently overwhelmed by the current cash crunch arising from shrinking revenue earnings, governors of the 36 states of the federation have decided to meet President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss a way out of the crisis.

    Rising from a meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel on Wednesday, the governors announced that the meeting with the President would come up next week.

    Briefing journalists shortly after the meeting, the Chairman of the Forum, Governor Abdullaziz Yari of Zamfara State, said the governors will not seek bailout from the Federal Government to pay backlog of workers’ salaries owed by many of the states.

    Rather, Yari said the governors would demand from the federal government payment for the various federal projects executed by the states but which the Federal Government was yet to pay.

    “Instead of asking for bailout, let us look for how the federal government can settle that backlog for us so that we can move forward. Nearly all the states are being owed by the by the federal government.

    “Some of the states are being owed about N10 billion, some N20 billion with a state like Lagos being owed more than N50 billion. So, if we can get that done, then most of the issues can be resolved in earnest,” Governor Yari said.

    Lamenting the parlous state of the national economy, the governors observed that the problem of unpaid workers’ salaries was not peculiar to the states, saying that some federal government agencies also owed their workers.

    Yari expressed the optimism that the planned meeting with the President would provide a lasting solution to the cash crunch problem.

    “We discussed that extensively and we are trying to see that we find a lasting solution. We are seeing the President to sit down with him. As we are in a bad situation, the federal government is also in the same problem because some of the agencies have not paid salaries for six months.

    “So it’s not only states that are owing. It’s the problem of the entire nation, not only states. We are going to work in synergy and keep our fingers crossed. We will meet with the President so that we can get a lasting solution to this problem,” he added.

    In a communique released by the governors after the meeting and signed by Yari, the governors ratified Yari’s election as chairman of the Forum for a term of one year, renewable after expiration.

    They also planned a retreat at a future date to discuss how states can become more viable and identify means of improving governance.

    The Forum pledged to work with the President and support him in the running of the government.

     

     

  • NGF: the futility of impunity

    NGF: the futility of impunity

    The governors should never allow wrong impulses to destroy a worthy organisation

    The several months of rigmarole that stagnated the affairs of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) have given way to reason as the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) governors behind the pointless altercation have finally embraced peace. At its meeting attended by the sullen PDP governors, the forum, across political divide, belatedly adopted Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State as its authentic chairman, duly elected from its May 24, 2013 election. An unnamed governor reportedly moved the motion that the forum should agree that Amaechi won the 2013 election and this was unanimously adopted.

    At the election held in May 2013, 35 governors, with one absentee, voted to elect the first among equals. Amaechi scored 19 votes to defeat Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State who scored 16. But, in a condescending move in mockery of democratic values, the 16 PDP governors rejected the election result and subsequently formed a parallel PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF), with Jang becoming factional chairman. If indeed politics is a game of numbers, we reasonably concluded then in our editorial that arithmetically, 19 is more than 16 and that the PDP-16 were wrong in their dishonourable rejection of that free and fair NGF election.

     Our position that justice shall prevail in the NGF wrangling, no matter how long, came to pass with the mixed attendance across party divides, of the warring factions. The small but impressive attendance at the meeting validated the decision for Amaechi’s adoption. Amaechi attended the meeting alongside Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State; Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State. Other members of his group in attendance were: Kashim Shettima (Borno); Abiola Ajumobi (Oyo); Umar Ganduje, current deputy governor and now governor-elect of Kano State, and the deputy governor of Nasarawa State who represented Governor Umaru Al-Makura.

    The Jang group in attendance included Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State and also chairman of the now defunct PDPGF. Others were Isa Yuguda (Bauchi); Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Ramalan Yero (Kaduna); Usman Dakingari (Kebbi); Gabriel Suswam (Benue) and the deputy governor of Kogi State who represented his governor.

    It is gratifying that the NGF crisis is now finally over, even if in the twilight of this administration. However, such disgraceful conduct put up by the PDP governors, obviously with the mammoth support of President Goodluck Jonathan, really soiled the reputation of the factional PDPGF since they were perceived as democrats and believed to be democratically elected. It is good that new sense of reason has definitely put their contempt for representative values in context at the appropriate time.

    Despite subsequent media denials by Jang of his not adopting Amaechi at the recent meeting, which we considered to be an after-thought because he reportedly sent in an apology for his inability to attend the meeting, the truth remains that the Jang group at the meeting led by Akpabio actually did the needful, even though belatedly, meaning that they realised that what they did then was done out of malice and self-centredness, and not motivated by any principle.

    The NGF crisis marked, a long time ago, the beginning of the end of the PDP government at the centre and in most of the states lost by the party in the just-concluded general elections. The outgoing ruling party also lost it a long while ago in the court of public opinion, with its members’ random impunity and haughty disposition in power.

    If not for the warped federal structure that makes the component states in the country to rely on the central government for survival, the kind of unwarranted impunity in the NGF, a legitimate pressure group peopled by governors, would not have occurred. This is because President Jonathan recklessly deployed federal might to subvert NGF’s internal democracy and by extension, its general affairs. Now that the matter seems to have been resolved, we can only hope that such disruptive tendencies will not recur in the coming dispensation because it is not worthy of emulation. It is an object for the incoming regime if it truly intends to take the nation to the next level.

    We are happy that mathematics in Nigerian politics, through this warring NGF PDP members’ recant, has now regained its integrity. Jang should stop his delusion of grandeur that made him erroneously embark on spiritual hallucination when he went to church to do thanksgiving over an election that he lost but would not publicly admit. His group members’ capitulating presence at the meeting and their adoption of Amaechi as winner of that election shows the futility of impunity. What a lesson!

  • No reconciliation with Amaechi’s NGF, says Jang faction

    No reconciliation with Amaechi’s NGF, says Jang faction

    The Governor Jonah Jang led faction of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has denied reconciling with the Rotimi Amaechi led NGF.

    A statement yesterday by the Secretary and Administrator of the faction, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, quoted governors in the Jang faction as saying any such reconciliation attempt was futile.

    According to the statement, majority of the governors will be out of office in a matter of days and therefore should leave issues of reconciliation, reorganisation and a new chairman to the incoming governors.

    The statement further described the purported reconciliation as a selfish attempt by a group of governors to force new leadership of the forum on the in-coming governors.

    The faction noted that both the its chairman, Jonah Jang of Plateau State and his deputy, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State along with a majority of governors were visibly absent because they did not consider it a priority at this late hour to be part of “a selfish project”.

    Governors in the Jang faction, mainly of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  that attended Monday’s meeting of the governors, where the reconciliation was brokered were: Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Ramalan Yero (Kaduna); and Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi).

    Others were Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi; and Isa Yuguda (Bauchi).

  • Governors meet under one forum

    Governors meet under one forum

    Outgoing governors, re-elected ones and their incoming colleagues yesterday met in Abuja under an enlarged forum.

    It was the first time the governors would be meeting in their numbers after the May 2013 disputed election of the Nigeria Governors Forum where the Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Jonah Jang (Plateau) factions emerged.

    The meeting, which insiders said was a reconciliatory move by the governors, started at 8.30 pm at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

    Present at the meeting were governors of Rivers, Delta, Niger, Zamfara, Edo, Kwara, Osun, Kaduna, Borno, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue and Oyo.

    Others were Deputy Governors of Nasarawa, Imo and Kogi States and the Governor-Elect of Kano State.

    The meeting was still ongoing as at the time of filing this report at 10.05 pm.

     

  • Dickson kicks as NGF plans election of new exco

    Dickson kicks as NGF plans election of new exco

    THE Nigerians Governors’ Forum (NGF) may elect a new executive today in Abuja.

    The NGF has been bitterly divided after the elections won by Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi but opposed by a faction led by Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, who is also claiming victory.

    Outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan is believed to be behind the split because he did not want Amaechi to lead the body.

    Director-General of a faction of the NGF Ashishana Okauru, who said the meeting would hold, confirmed the likelihood of the election of an new executive

    “We would also try to explore the possibility of getting new leaders,” he said.

    Governors-elect will not participate, he added.

    But, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson is opposed to the meeting, saying the NGF should remain in abeyance as it has been since May last year to enable the incoming governors to participate in its activities.

    In an advertorial entitled: “Nigeria Governors’ Forum: my take”, Dickson said: “What is the hurry in summoning a moribund and divided NGF under its multiple leadership, especially in the dying days of its actors whose clash of egos and ambitions brought about the crisis in the NGF in the first place?”