As part of activities during his visit to Kano State, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will on Thursday meet with a section of the over 11,000 beneficiaries of the Federal Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) MarketMoni in Kano to assess the impact of the scheme.
The GEEP MarketMoni is a Federal Government Social Intervention Programme (SIP) that provides loans of up to N300,000 to people with the greatest difficulty accessing credit.
The scheme is executed by the Bank of Industry (BoI) and it impacts traders, market women, artisans, and farmers in the 36 states, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to BoI Executive Director, Toyin Adeniji, the programme is aimed at reinvigorating the economy at the base of the pyramid, the hotbed of Nigeria’s financially vulnerable.
“GEEP MarketMoni is unprecedented in Nigeria’s history, granting interest-free credit facilities to existing microenterprises of market women and traders, artisans, enterprising youth and agricultural workers. It is critical to the Federal Government’s objective of inclusive growth,”Adeniji said.
To benefit from the scheme, applicants just need to apply through their registered Market Associations and Cooperatives, have a Bank Verification Number (BVN), and a mobile phone. The loans range from N10,000 to N300,000, tied to applicants’ BVNs, and are expected to be repaid within a 6-months period without interest.
According to BoI Group Head (Microenterprise), Uloma Ike, over 11,861 people have benefited from the GEEP MarketMoni loan scheme and over N583 million has been disbursed so far in Kano State alone.
“The beneficiaries and representatives of various market associations whose members have received loans will be able to interact with the Vice President, talk about the scheme and the impact of the loans on their businesses. It will also be an opportunity for the Vice President to experience first-hand, the impact of the programme which today has touched the lives of thousands of beneficiaries nationwide”, Ike said.
“We are looking forward to a robust discussion with the Vice President at the upcoming MSME clinic in Kano. At the event, attending beneficiaries will receive their disbursement certificates,” she added.
Besides the Vice President, other dignitaries expected at the Kano event include the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, and Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment Programmes, Maryam Uwais.
The GEEP MarketMoni interactive session has been previously held in several states across the country. Two of the most recent are Onitsha, Anambra State on April 11, and Akure, Ondo State on May 3, 2018.
In Anambra, over 2,000 traders and artisans met with the Vice President, the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais, and the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah.
Top-performing GEEP beneficiaries in Anambra were selected to display their products at the exhibition grounds and interact with the Vice President.
In Ondo State, the Vice President interacted with several trade associations including market women.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said the Federal Government had invested about $10 billion in infrastructure development in the last three years.
He said the investment which focused on roads, power and a new national rail network, was unprecedented.
Osinbajo spoke in Abuja at the opening session of the Direct Investors Summit Nigeria, organised by Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).
He said: “We have in the last three years invested close to $10 billion an unprecedented sum in infrastructure since 2016.
“Our focus is on roads, power and a new national rail network; all of which will help guarantee increased access to markets and reduced operating costs for businesses.’’
According to him, the inspiring news is that the country has emerged from the recession and is determined more than ever to make up for lost time and missed opportunities.
He said the focus on agriculture had attracted billions of dollars in investments in the last three years in rice mills, sugar plantations, fertiliser blending plants, among others.
“Nigeria’s foreign reserves are now almost $50 billion, up from $30 billion when we assumed office.
“Our Sovereign Wealth Fund has in the last two years seen its first new inflows since it was established in 2011.
“We have grown our taxpayer base by five million new taxpayers; from 14 million in 2016 to 19 million today, as part of efforts to diversify Nigeria’s revenue base,’’ Osinbajo said.
He said the country’s opportunities were premised on a number of strategic endowments, including its population which was Africa’s largest, and half of the entire West Africa.
The vice-president said Nigeria has one of the most youthful populations in the world with 50 per cent under the age of 20 and 75 per cent under 35, an incredibly energetic and entrepreneurial people.
“It is easy to see why any global company serious about its future just has to have a plan for Nigeria, as many opportunities still abound.
“Last December, a cereal factory opened in Lagos to manufacture Kellogg’s, the result of a partnership between the American company and Tolaram, a Singaporean conglomerate.
“Although the Kellogg Company is over 100 years old, that factory was its first investment in Nigeria.
“Barely half a year later they are already talking about expansion plans, as the new factory has already hit maximum capacity.
“There are also many successful partnerships between the public and private sectors.
“The best example is Nigeria LNG, a Nigerian run company that liquifies Nigeria’s natural gas for export all over the world and helped Nigeria earn her place as the fourth largest LNG exporter in the world.
“The company is majority private-sector owned by three multinational oil companies, while Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation holds a minority stake,’’ Osinbajo said.
He said the biggest priorities and commitments, as a government, had been the creation of an enabling business environment.
He described the environment as one in which property rights and the rule of law were respected and markets took the lead, while government efficiently fulfilled its role as protector and enabler.
ing and potential investors to have equal access to the information.
He said the commission also launched an online, multilingual, investors guide with the kind of basic information about starting a business, labour laws, taxes and land that investors needed to better understand Nigeria.
VICE President Yemi Osinbajo has denied claims that the killings in Benue State were the outcome of a planned agenda to eliminate the people.
Osinbajo, who is in Benue State on a two-day working visit, made the denial on Tuesday during a stakeholders meeting at the Benue People’s Government House, Makurdi.
He said: “Even though I don’t really believe that there is any ethnic cleansing agenda in the Benue killings, I sincerely share in your pains. Every pain and anger you express are justified and right.
“Anyone who has lost someone is expected to be sad. When people are killed the way people have been killed either by herdsmen or anyone, it is the duty of government to protect the people and the only way we can prove that there is no agenda is to protect the people, which is what we are set out to do.
“Like the governor rightly observed, we have beefed up security with the intention that people return home soon. People have to be restored to what they were doing.
“It is important that places that were destroyed have to be rebuilt. We need to ensure that children who are out of school return to school. Farmers who have lost their produce need to be given money through the Anchor Borrowers Programme to go and improve on what they were doing.
“All of these are the obligations of government and I will ensure they are done because I have been asked to specifically deal with these and it means I will regularly visit Benue until the mission is accomplished.”
Osinbajo also dismissed the religious colorations attached to the killings, saying “persecutions have always been with Christians and it is the duty of Christians to stop it”.
“The gospel of Jesus cannot be killed by anybody; it is not fragile or written on a piece of paper,” he explained.
He said the recent recruitments into the various arms of the security agencies were aimed at providing effective security protection to the people, especially communities under frequent attacks.
The vice president also condoled with the Catholic Church for the attack on its priests and worshippers at Saint Ignatius Parish Mbalom, where 18 people including two catholic priests were killed by suspected armed herdsmen.
Governor Samuel Ortom called on the Federal Government to fish out the killers of the two priests and their parishioners that were murdered in cold blood by gunmen.
He also called for more humanitarian aids to the state to handle the displaced people who were living in inappropriate sanitary conditions.
Maj-Gen Lawrence Onoja called for the establishment of “Middle Belt Reconstruction Commission” to tackle the most of the challenges the state faced, especially in agriculture.
He called on the Federal Government to arrest the killer-herdsmen and provide protection to farmers to enable them return to their farms.
Catholic Bishop of Gboko Diocese, Most Rev. Williams Avenya, regretted the attacks on innocent citizens and called on the government to encourage the ranching of livestock as a panacea to the bloodbath in the Benue valley.
Speaker, Benue House of Assembly Terkimbi Ikyange called on the government to encourage the adoption of the Anti-Open Grazing Law by all states to end the acrimonious relationship with herders.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the killings in Benue is not a function of ethnic agenda.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting with the Benue opinion leaders on Tuesday night at Government House Makurdi, Osinbajo said:
“Even though I don’t really believe that there is any ethnic cleansing agenda in the Benue killings, I sincerely share in your pains. Every pain and anger you express are justified and right.
Anyone who has lost someone is expected to be sad. When people are killed the way people have been killed either by herdsmen or anyone, it is the duty of government to protect the people and the only way we can prove that there is no agenda is to protect the people which is what we are set out to do.
According to him, Securities have been beefed up with the intention that people return home soon. “People have to be restored to what they were doing.” He said.
“It is important that places that were destroyed have to be rebuilt. We need to ensure that children who are out of school return back to school. Farmers who have lost their produce need to be given money through the Anchor Borrowers Program to go and improve on what they were doing.
“All of these are the obligations of government and I will ensure they are done because I have been asked to specifically deal with these and it means I will regularly visit Benue until the mission is accomplished.
•Amaechi: Buhari changing Nigeria from rent culture to productive economy
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) Focus Labs has identified more than $22.5 billion in private investments from about 164 projects.
These have the capability to unlock the Nigerian economy, he added.
Prof. Osinbajo spoke at the ERGP Focus Labs Open Day at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
The Vice President said the identified projects are expected to create 513, 981 jobs by 2020.
He added that the outcome of the six-week Focus Labs, which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on March 13, showed that $10.9 billion of investments “are what we call ‘Most Ready’ projects, that is we are almost sure to unlock these projects and accelerate their delivery by the private sector.
“These projects are forecast to create more than half a million new permanent jobs for the people of Nigeria up till the year 2020, demonstrating the far-reaching impact of the ERGP Focus Labs in unleashing a brighter future for our country,” he said.
He said the focus labs were designed to accelerate the implementation of the ERGP and that during the six weeks, participants of the labs, made up of both public and private sector representatives, rigorously drilled down the issues with the projects presented, and brain-stormed on how to resolve these issues, and the bureaucratic reforms needed to fast-track development.
The vice president restated the government’s commitment to ensure the completion of the ERGP.
“Given the overwhelming interest of the private sector in this initiative, and the clamour for more Labs, we are very clear in ensuring that the ERGP Focus Lab would not just be an isolated episode,” he said.
Osinbajo said the Central Steering Committee, which he chairs, would continue to meet regularly to address bottlenecks the hinder seamless business operations, while a standing committee of permanent secretaries in about seven ministries, supported by private sector experts, has been mandated to ensure that the key implementation decisions made during the Lab are followed through to implementation.
Minister of Budget and National Planning Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said the focus labs were conducted in three sectors: agriculture and transportation; manufacturing and processing; as well as power and gas.
“Our target is to mobilise at least US$45billion or its equivalent in Naira,” he said.
Udoma said over 300 participants from 180 organisations were involved in the three labs, including relevant ministries, government agencies, authorities and private sector companies, for six weeks with 67,200 man hours completed.
He said 10 financial institutions, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the World Bank, the International Financial Corporations (IFC), the Bank of Industry, among others, were engaged during the focus labs.
Udoma said the labs could be replicated in the 36 states.
Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi said the administration should be commended for changing the economy from a rent culture to a productive economy.
According to him, importation has been reduced drastically, encouraging more production of farm products.
Amaechi said: “The ERGP was an eye opener on what drives the economy, when we talk about ERGP, it is not only about economy growth but sustenance of the economy growth.
“I continue to argue with my friends in politics, when they say we have caused hunger and I say no, we have rather brought food and I ask them what offence has President Buhari committed.
“And they will say no money in circulation, investors ran away and I tell them, they are not correct, that the only offence Mr President has committed is that:
“He is changing the economy from a rent culture to a production economy; the direction we are going now is to take away that rent culture to a productive economy.”
“We banned the importation of tomatoes to encourage those producing tomatoes in Kano and that makes it my responsibility to ensure that the narrow gauge line from Kano to Lagos functions properly, “ he said.
Amaechi said that the narrow gauge lines would begin properly in 2019, stating that the main agreement cost $45million for the interim phase and $2.7billion for the entire project.
He said that transportation alone would contribute $3.52 billion, which in turn would create 18,366 jobs in the staple and cash sub-sectors toward the overall ERGP investment.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbe said that ERGP focus labs had helped agriculture in the area of exportation and farm management.
He said previously Nigeria was importing agricultural products that they could have been exported; saying that in the last two years, agriculture export has increased to 180 per cent.
According to him, rice importation was brought down to 95 per cent even though there are still challenges with smugglers.
Ogbe said private investment in agriculture was the way to success, adding: “Government cannot own a farm, if they do, they will fail woefully.
“The key challenges facing agriculture today are access to credit, access to land, land analysis, land management, and security on farms.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the government launched the ERGP in 2017 to restore growth and provide strategic economic direction for the country from 2017-2020.
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has said the Federal Government reconises the importance of improved security in boosting Nigeria’s tourism potential.
He said this while performing the grand opening of The Dome entertainment centre in Abuja on Friday.
Prof. Osinbajo said the government acknowledges the importance of peace and security within the nation so as to encourage tourism as a means of developing the economy.
He congratulated the Chairman of The Dome, Mr. Obiora Okonkwo, on the achievement of revamping the facility to a world-class standard.
The vice president said entertainment and tourism were clearly new money makers for Nigeria.
“This is like Dubai, for example Dubai produces just about as much oil that we produce on a daily basis yet oil is just 20% of Dubai’s entire revenues, most of it is in some form of tourism or entertainment or the other 80%.
“I’m quite certain that this is just the beginning for the dome entertainment center and that we should really expect a lot more. Nigerians are doing great things in the entertainment industry, whether is music or film,” he said.
Mr. Okonkwo expressed his gratitude towards the invited guests for honoring the invitation and assured that the entertainment centre would contribute to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
He said: “I am glad people responded to our invitation,” he said. “I am grateful for the VP who has agreed to come. It shows the strong importance they attach to the creative industry and the strong meaning they give to the term ‘diversification’ of the economy because I believe that this industry can offer a whole lot to the Nigerian GDP of properly supported, if the opportunities here are harnessed.
“Abuja holds a whole lot of international conferences and these people usually come with a lot of resources. It’s only when you provide a place for them to spend it that you extract the VAT that will in turn get to the government. We must not allow anything of this nature to pass us by.”
The remodeled entertainment center consists of diverse facilities like the renowned Camelot Spa, the Francis Hotel, a bowling alley and arcade, Bodytrust Fitness Center, and Noni’s pizza parlor.
The event attracted many national and international personalities from countries including South Africa and India, such as members of the UN, Nigerian artist Flavour, South African singing group Mafikizolo, the top six Big Brother Naija housemates, and Miss Africa 2017.
The Federal Government will rebuild damaged communities in Benue State, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.
He said the gesture will give a new lease of life to the affected communities.
Osinbajo, who arrived in Makurdi yesterday on a two-day working visit, spoke while inspecting Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps at Abagena, Daub in Makurdi and Guma local government areas.
He said the National Council of Food and Security would be responsible for the rebuilding of such communities.
According to him, an assessment of the communities had been made and N10 billion had been earmarked for the project.
The vice president assured the IDPs that government will not renege on its responsibility of providing security to them.
He, however, listed security, rehabilitation and restoration of farmlands as the three things that the government has plans to provide.
Osinbajo assured those who were not farmers living in such communities of government’s assistance to enable them resume their livelihood.
He also pledged government’s assistance to schools and promised frequent trips to the state to ensure the completion of the projects.
The vice president said the government had concluded plans to provide soft loans to farmers, women and traders to enable them “pick up the pieces of their lives”.
Governor Samuel Ortom commended the Federal Government for the deployment of additional troops to the state to combat the herders’ attacks.
He appealed for more deployments to enable the IDPs return to their ancestral homes.
The Executive Secretary, Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Emmanuel Shior, said there were eight IDP camps in the state with175,070 inmates comprising 56,671 women, 37,949 men and 80,450 children.
Responding, two of the IDPs, Angela Igbe and Jerry Bem, appealed to the Federal Government to provide adequate security to enable them return to their homes.
They lamented the termination of their academic programmes due to the attacks, adding that some of them were about to write SSCE examinations when the herders struck and ended their dreams.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday listed six obstacles facing Nigeria and other nations seeking to repatriate looted funds and confiscate assets of corrupt elements.
He also said developing countries lose $1trillion annually to corporate transgressions, adding that the private sector’s complicity in corrupt practices is significant.
In Osinbajo’s view, the procedures to obtain Mutual Legal Assistance to confiscate and repatriate proceeds of corruption need to be reformed.
To Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland, the world is facing a Tsunami of corruption.
Osinbajo and Scotland spoke at the opening of the eighth Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa, hosted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja.
Osinbajo said the procedures for repatriation of stolen funds and proceeds of corruption are complex.
He listed six major obstacles which have made the implementation of Mutual Legal Assistance among countries difficult. The challenges are:
absence of a legal basis for cooperation in some countries;
differences in legal and procedural frameworks;
language barriers;
bank secrecy;
jurisdictional issues; and
lack of funding.
Osinbajo said: “Dismantling the conspiracies that facilitate export of stolen assets is probably as important as the theme of this conference,
“Partnering towards Assets Recovery and Return”.
“Recovering stolen assets not only accomplishes the goal of restitution, it also serves as a potential deterrent to future corruption.
“Article 51 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption states unequivocally that return of assets is a fundamental principle of the Convention, and mandates States Parties to afford one another the widest measure of cooperation and assistance in this regard. Similarly, Article 16(1) (c) of the African Union Convention for Preventing and Combating Corruption obligates States Parties to adopt such legislative measures as to enable repatriation of proceeds of corruption.
“The effective implementation of these Conventions depends to a considerable extent on the willingness, cooperation and the assistance of States in the areas of mutual legal assistance (MLA), law enforcement cooperation, asset recovery and return, and technical assistance. “Regrettably, the procedures to obtain Mutual Legal Assistance to seize, confiscate and repatriate proceeds of corruption are often complex and problematic, and in urgent need of reform.
“The absence of a legal basis for cooperation in some countries, differences in legal and procedural frameworks, language barriers, bank secrecy, jurisdictional issues, a lack of funding are some of the obstacles standing in the way of effective mutual legal assistance. I’m pleased to note that there is evidence of a renewed commitment to collectively identifying the most effective means of overcoming all of these existing legal and technical obstacles to asset recovery and return. “
Osinbajo also said developing nations had been losing $1trillion annually to corporate transgressions, adding that the private sector had been complicit in corrupt practices.
“The 2014 report claims that developing countries lose $1trillion annually to corporate transgressions, most of it traceable to the activities of companies with secret ownership,” Osinbajo said.
•SAYING NO TO CORRUPTION: From left: Former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar; former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki; Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Economics & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu and former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon at the Eighth Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa in Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN
He went on: “Another report that may enjoy a major mention here is the 2015 report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa. Chaired by our guest of honour, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the panel stated in its report that Africa had lost over $1 trillion over a 50-year period and that Africa loses more than $50 billion annually to illicit financial flows. Most of these illicit flows are perpetrated in the extractive sector and through companies with hidden ownerships.
“The cost of corruption therefore imposes on all African countries and governments a moral obligation to fight it with vigour and political will, by strengthening all institutions and systems involved in law enforcement as well as in promoting a culture of transparency and accountability.
“While public sector corruption is the usual focus, the private sector’s complicity is significant, as when large multinational corporations engage in tax evasion or transfer pricing.
“But it is the complex web of public-private collusion and connivance that results in proceeds of corruption ending up in foreign countries and especially in their financial institutions and systems.”
He said anonymous corporate ownership serves as a vehicle for masking conflict of interests, corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, and even terrorism financing.
Osinbajo said: “If nothing else, the Panama Papers clearly illustrated the global scale and spread of this problem. So this is a global challenge and nothing less than a truly global approach will be needed to tackle it.
“This is why we salute the United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark for leading the way in establishing public registers of the real, human owners of companies in their countries. We call on other G8 and G20 countries not only to follow suit but also to initiate actions to end corporate secrecy in some of their dependencies.”
Osinbajo explained the condition attached to the return of $320million Abacha loot to Nigeria by Switzerland.
He said: “The GFAR saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and the Government of Switzerland for the return of an additional USD$320 million of the Sani Abacha loot. Included in that agreement is the commitment that the funds would be invested in one of the Nigerian Government’s flagship social investment programmes – a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme targeted at the poorest and most vulnerable households in the country.”
The Vice President asked Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa to collaborate to fight corruption and asset recovery.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Scotland said the world was facing a Tsunami of corruption.
She said globally about $800billion to $300 trillion had been lost to money laundering globally.
She said Africa loses $148billion to corruption per annum.
She said: “Globally, we are facing a Tsunami of Corruption. In 2015, UNODC estimated that the amount of money laundered globally each year is 2 – 5% of global domestic product or between $800 billion and $200 trillion.
“It is estimated that corruption costs the African continent over $148 billion per annum.
“You, the heads of anti-corruption agencies, will be seeking to meet this challenge. You are leading the fight against this Tsunami.
“You are the early warning mechanisms, the rapid responders, mobilisers; you put in place necessary, critical measures that enable us to build back better.
“I would like to share a few of the inspiring stories on how you and the continent are beginning to win the battle against corruption.”
Here in Nigeria, over $3billion of ill-gotten gains have been recovered.
“I would like to put on record my deepest admiration and gratitude for all anti-corruption agencies gathered here today, including those at the forefront of cases I have just highlighted.
“It is prescient that we are gathered here in Abuja at the invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria, which under the excellent and forthright stewardship of its Acting Chair, Mr Ibrahim Magu continues to effect real change and deliver positive results.
“I also want to recognise and applaud the distinguished efforts of Professor Bolaji Owasanoye and his team at the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption in promoting the reform agenda of the government on the anti-corruption effort.
“We also owe His Excellency President Buhari immense gratitude for his wisdom and leadership.”
Acting EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu said President Muhammadu Buhari had kept his promise to fight corruption.
Magu said: “There are leaders of States today, who are not assertive on matters of state policy; you can hardly say with any conviction that such and such is the position held by such leaders on issues of national or international significance.
“You cannot however say that of President Buhari, who from the very beginning, even while he sought political office, publicly requested to be judged by his anti-corruption credentials than on any other.
“Very early in the life of his administration, the president declared that: ‘The institutions of State dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference.’
“I can confirm to you, Madam Secretary and my dear colleagues, that the promise has been kept.
“The fact that the fight against corruption is central to the administration of President Buhari is not accidental. That is what has defined the entire public lives of our first and second citizens and we are extremely lucky at this time in the life of our nation to have the most committed anti-corruption administration led by the President piloting the affairs of Nigeria.
“I dare say there has never been a better, more focused and committed team as far as anti-corruption is concerned, anywhere in Africa, than the current leadership in Nigeria.”
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday left Abuja to attend the inauguration of President Julius Bio in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, in a statement said Osinbanjo is expected to Abuja later in the evening.
Bio won the country’s presidential run-off election on March 31.
NAN reports that the presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Gambia have been confirmed to attend the ceremony.
Also on the lineup is a list of Nollywood stars from Nigeria, among them Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Mercy Johnson, Osita Iheme of Aki and Paw Paw fame as well as John Okafor, better known as Mr IBU.
The Nigerian music sensation, Davido, is also billed to attend.
The new Sierra Leonean First Lady, Fatima Bio, who is herself into showbiz, is thought to be the host of the artists whom she has worked with in the film industry.
There will be government delegations from other countries outside Africa, notably the U.S. where President Donald Trump last week named a delegation headed by the head of Peace Corps to fly to Freetown to partake in the event.
The inauguration comes a little over a month after Bio was sworn on to office following his electoral victory on March 31.
The occasion also coincides with the 56th birthday anniversary of the President.
Leaders of APC in Imo State on Thursday met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential villa behind closed doors without Gov. Rochas Okorocha.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okorocha was not in the meeting although he was at the VP’s wing of the Presidential villa at the time.
The APC leaders at the meeting included State Party Chairman, National Organising Secretary, Deputy Governor, Senators Benjamin Uwajumogu and Ifeanyi Ararume and some commissioners.
Okorocha and the APC leaders had been at loggerheads over the result of the May 2 ward congresses held in the state, with the governor claiming that the congresses did not hold.
Okorocha had met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura and now the Vice President pushing for the cancellation of the congresses.
After the meeting, the APC delegation had initially declined to speak with State House Correspondents, but changed their mind when they saw Okorocha telling the correspondents that a new date for the congresses would be announced by the party.
“There will be new Congress; there was no Congress at all in Imo State, and it is very clear that even the supporting documents and videos show that there was no Congress.
“INEC has confirmed no Congress, security agencies have confirmed no Congress, the party leadership has confirmed no Congress, and the party chairman has spoken no Congress.
“Nobody came to the field, the result sheets was missing and it was traceable to the national organizing secretary’s house (Sen. Izunaso) and all of a sudden the chairman of the panel disappeared from his house at 6pm in the evening.
“How could there have been Congress? The matter is being investigated by the security agencies”
Continuing, the governor asked: “If all these have been established why did you (the APC chieftains) have to come with your delegates to see the VP?’’
The governor stated that he was not part of the delegation but came for a different thing all together.
“I didn’t come for this meeting,’’ he said.
However, Mr Theodore Ekechi, the spokesman for the Imo APC delegation and a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy said the meeting with Osinbajo was very eventful.
“We are grateful for the opportunity and privilege to tell the other side of the story.
“I think by our presentations we have successfully deflated all the lies that have been peddled all over the country and within the state.
“I think by our presentation today, we have been able to state clearly that Congresses clearly and really held.
“What did not take place in Imo state last Saturday was simply that we resisted the temptation, the intimidation, the blackmail to write the results of the congresses in the Government House, Owerri.
“What did not take place last week is that we said the old has passed away and things are going to be done anew in Imo State.
“In other words, not one man determines the results of the congresses in the 305 wards of the state. It is very clear that APC has returned to the owners of the party, that is the people,’’ he stated.
Ekechi continued: “You saw all those who came with the Governor, his son-in law and newly recruited commissioners.
“But here you are, this is Imo State, here we have the deputy governor of the state, the only elected senator of the south east under APC, former speaker house of assembly, Imo state, another former speaker house of assembly.’’
He also mentioned Ifeanyi Ararume, the immediate past Secretary to the State Government and immediate past chief of staff, and two former commissioners for information and strategy.
Others were the State Party chairman and his deputy, the 25 local government chairmen of the party in the state.(NAN)
