The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Osinbajo

  • We won’t force companies to list on NSE – Osinbajo

    We won’t force companies to list on NSE – Osinbajo

    The federal government will not compel any company to list its shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

    Osinbajo ruled out any direct government intervention in forcing private companies to list their shares, noting that the decision to list by private companies would remain decisions of their Boards of Directors and shareholders.

    The vice president spoke at the weekend during a working visit to the NSE in Lagos.

    Osinbajo interacted with market stakeholders and traders and performed the ceremonial closing of the market.

    But he said the government would consider incentives to encourage companies to list their shares on the NSE in recognition of the importance of the Nigerian capital market as a major driver of the national economy.

    Osinbajo said the government would work with the NSE to promote the Nigerian stock market given the role the stock exchange plays as an important driver of economic activities and investments.

    He noted that while the main focus of the government was to create a generally amenable operating environment for the private sector to thrive, government would also consider proposals from the Exchange on ways to encourage listing and support corporate growth.

    “We certainly want to encourage listing, and that’s part of why I am here, to promote interest in the market,” Osinbajo said.

    He said the government would work with the market stakeholders to determine possible areas of incentives and supports that could stimulate participation in the Nigerian market.

    “We will be acting a lot on the advice of the NSE council. Where the NSE council or the market makers think that there are things that may be done to make life easier in some way or to encourage listing in some way, we will be happy to listen to them,” Osinbajo added.

     

  •  I was nominated by Tinubu—Osinbajo

     I was nominated by Tinubu—Osinbajo

     Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) yesterday laid to rest speculations about his emergence as presidential running mate in last year’s  election

    He said in Lagos that he was  nominated  by the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    “I was nominated by the leader of our party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, under who I served as a commissioner in Lagos State,” Osinbajo said  at a colloquium on the state of the nation in Lagos organised by the Coalition of Nigerian Apostolic Leaders.

    His statement tallies with the earlier account of the event given by the Secretary to the Lagos State Government ,Mr. Tunji Bello.

    Osinbajo at the colloquium  also spoke of Federal Government’s determination to  intensify the battle against corruption which he called one of the key strategies for liberating the country from recession.

    Government,he said,would  revamp the economy through diversification, development of infrastructure and creation of a conducive atmosphere for the private sector to increase productive activities and boost employment opportunities.

    Osinbajo said: “The reasons for the recession are because of the drop in the production of oil and corruption. Other factors are the manifestation of the two problems.”

    The vice president, who explained that things were going to change overnight, said a lot of damage had been done to the economy. He noted the impatience of Nigerians, recalling that even the Isralites once complained to Moses to take them back to Egypt, the land of corruption, when they got to the Red sea.

    Urging Nigerians to have patience with the Federal Government as it intensifies its efforts at repositioning the economy, Osinbajo lamented that 15 billion dollars were lost to corruption through the defense contract under the last administration. He said the problem in the Northeast could have been averted, if the money meant for arms procurement had  not been stolen.

    The vice president explained measures adopted to boost revenue generation and prevent graft. These include the banishment of the menace of ghost workers and payroll fraud, the enforcement of tax compliance, the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the expansion of the Value Added Tax (VAT) coverage, the deregulation of the downstream sector and concerted action on the foreign exchange rate.

    He said the Federal Government will pursue the diversification of the economy through the development of agriculture to guarantee food sufficiency, job creation and export to attract earnings.

    On  the anti-corruption battle, Osinbajo said : “Allegations of corruption must be submitted to the right channels. The President does not interfere in the activities of the agencies. He has given the agencies concerned the independence to act, when a formal complaint is submitted. Where there are proven cases of corruption, the appropriate agencies will always act.”

    Osinbajo said Christians should not panic over speculations about  Sharia  bill in the National assembly.

    He said “The government should not be interested in any Sharia matter beyond what is in the constitution. If the government is interested, it is the Attorney-General that will submit the bill, following the decision of the Federal Executive Council.

    “Sharia is in the constitution; it is only applicable to Islamic marriage. You cannot change

  • Agencies lack capacity to deliver PPP projects, says Osinbajo

    Agencies lack capacity to deliver PPP projects, says Osinbajo

    The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) lacked the required capacity to deliver Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

    Represented by the Special Adviser on Economic Matters to the President, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, the Prof Osinbajo spoke at the Knowledge Sharing Forum on PPP jointly organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and the Ministry of Finance held at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    For the PPP programme to be effective, he said MDAs needed to have in-house workers with requisite skills in financial, legal, technical, procurement and project management areas to be able to deliver on projects.

    He said: “As things stand, there is very limited capacity within MDAs to deliver PPP projects. Yet at the minimum MDAs should have in-house staff with requisite skills in financial, legal, technical, procurement and project management areas to be able to deliver on such projects.

    “Capacity building efforts including training and availability of resource materials would be inevitable.

    “In the short run however, one tried and tested way is learning by doing which can be achieved by contracting consultants to assist but in a manner that ensures eventual transfer of knowledge to the public sector.  In particular, public servants have to be involved in actual transactions and negotiations.”

    Key factor for attracting private sector finance, he said, was a predictable and enabling policy, legal and institutional environment.

    He said the forum was another opportunity for a thorough analysis of policy, legal and institutional framework for PPPs, including assessing whether the current framework provides enough incentive for local and foreign investors alike.

    According to him, Nigeria clearly requires a PPP regime that matches its ambitions.

    “A closely related issue is whether we have the appropriate framework to enable the use of our very large and growing public pension assets estimated at about N5.3 trillion for the provision of infrastructure without putting these assets at risk,” he said.

    Noting that the number of PPP projects that have been concluded in the country so far was quite low, he said it was partly because of unwieldy project appraisal and approval processes.

    Prof Osinbajo said: “We have to find ways to help reduce the time frame for delivering projects while still ensuring that only those of very high quality are delivered. One obvious solution is improved coordination between the different parties and institutions involved in project delivery.”

  • Osinbajo receives U.S. congressional proclamation of honour

    Osinbajo receives U.S. congressional proclamation of honour

    Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has been presented with an honorary United States (U.S.) Congressional Proclamation to commemorate his visit to Texas and also honour the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    It took place during the gala/dinner event organised by the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN) in Houston, USA on Friday night.

    The event was attended by leaders of the Nigerian community in U.S. and American political leaders, including U.S. Congress Woman Sheila Jackson-Lee.

    Jackson-Lee presented the vice president with the honorary congressional proclamation.

    According to her, the U.S. Congress takes Nigeria as a very serious partner, which informed the reason it gave great support to the ongoing fight against Boko Haram.

    She said Nigeria was one of the countries that have their own caucuses among the elected representatives in the U.S. Congress, made up of both Democrats and Republicans.

    A statement by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, said Osinbajo reiterated his call on Nigerian elite to come together based on a common consensus to build the nation.

    He said: “Even in the midst of all the country is going through, there is a growing consensus by all and sundry on the need for good governance.”

    Explaining the need for a group of Nigerians committed to lifting the nation to rise up, he noted that this was important to counter and stop those working to pillage the country’s resources.

    Osinbajo pointed out that the administration “takes diaspora issue very seriously”, a reason, according to him, that the President appointed a Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora in person of former House of Representatives member, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

  • 800 herdsmen held over violent attacks, says Osinbajo

    800 herdsmen held over violent attacks, says Osinbajo

    Security agencies in Nigeria have arrested about 800 suspected violent herdsmen across the country, according to Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

    Osinbajo made this disclosure in Houston, Texas in the US on Friday at a Townhall event where he interacted with US-based Nigerians who asked questions at the event and also via the Internet, according to a statement issued by his spokesperson Mr. Laolu Akande.

    The Vice President fielded about thirty questions at the townhall event moderated by Mr. Rudolf Okonkwo of Sahara Reporters and Prof. Nimi Wariboko of Boston University.

    Asked about the issue of Fulani Herdsmen attacks in certain states across the country and what the Federal Government was doing to curb the problem, the Vice President said “the President has given firm instructions to the security agencies to arrest not only herdsmen who are attacking communities anywhere in the country but anyone of them or anyone at all in possession of firearms.”

    He added that “there are about 800 of suspected violent herdsmen in the country that are currently in custody.” The Vice President however decried the slow pace of the criminal justice system which is affecting the prompt trial of such suspects.

    Osinbajo reminded the audience however that the issue of killings by such violent herdsmen has been a perennial issue especially as grazing lands continue to disappear over the years and the cattle feed on peoples crops on the farmlands. He clarified that the matter just did not crop up when President Buhari assumed office.

    Vice President Osinbajo then urged against the tendency of interpreting the herdsmen issue as a religious issue, stressing that it is important for all Nigerians to refuse such divisive narratives and tendencies.

    He reminded his audience that there has always been conflict between herdsmen and communities across the country and that people should disabuse the notion that the problem has just started because President Buhari, a Fulani is currently at the helm of affairs in the country.

    Answering question on the need for community policing, the Vice President indicated that community policing via State Police is indeed a cardinal program of the ruling APC. However the party agenda cannot be introduced until there is an amendment to the nation’s constitution.

    Giving a scenario where a policeman from Bayelsa State for instance is working in Borno State where he cannot even speak the language or understand the culture of the people he is policing, he said that such situation is counterproductive.

    The current situation where police activities is controlled at the federal level sure has some limitations, he conceded adding that the “ the federal government is currently working to introduce community policing that would be in line with the constitution.”

    Commenting on the recent arrest of judges in the country, Prof. Osinbajo told said that impunity could be very dangerous in any sector and that the federal government is only exercising its executive function in attempting to check excesses.

    He pointed out that the important thing is that due process is being followed as the judges were released about 24 hours after their arrest and once they had given their statements.

  • Buhari boosting manufacturing, local production, says Osinbajo

    Buhari boosting manufacturing, local production, says Osinbajo

    •Innoson Group, Shangdong firms of China to partner in $1b foreign investment

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is embarking on  massive manufacturing and production of goods in the country.

    He said that the Federal Government will partner business interests that would facilitate the massive production plan.

    He spoke at a meeting in the Presidential Villa with a delegation from the Innoson Group and some Chinese business interests including Shangdong Broadcasting Group led by Chief Innocent Chukwuma, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Innoson Group.

    In a statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said: “Manufacturing in Nigeria is a primary objective of this government, it is a work we intend to do in the next few years to manufacture and produce in Nigeria as much as we can.”

    He said that the consideration of the initiative of Innoson Group to work with Chinese partners as a “strategic collaboration” was due to the administration’s commitment to spur manufacturing and local production in the country.

    Innoson Group is collaborating with three Chinese firms: Shangdong Broadcasting Group, and Shangdong Cable Interactive Services regarded as leading biggest TV operators, and Inspur Group, said to be China’s foremost leader in Cloud Computing solution suppliers and IT service provider.

    The initiative, the Vice President said  “is bound to yield very good fruits and do very well,” adding also that the timing is right “as we are at a point that we must engage technological solutions in our development plans.”

    Osinbajo also explained the importance of competition and competitive pricing in such an effort.

    “In all we try to do, we believe there must be competition, competitive prices and plans,” the Vice President noted.

    According to Chief Chukwuma, the Chinese firms have decided to invest about $1B in the Nigerian economy within the next 12-24 months.

    He listed the investments intended by the Chinese firms to include:

    • *a credit facility of $300m for local production and supply of 5-8 million Set-Top Boxes for the Digital Switch-Over in broadcasting in the country to meet a target date of June 2017.
    • an investment of $100m to establish technology-based Direct-To-Home Digital Bing Television Stations.
    • a further investment of $600m for Smart City CCTV camera and IT solutions for taxation, both using Cloud Computing, and E-Education IT solutions with big data centers in all federal universities and polytechnics in the country.

    According to the Chairman of Innoson Group, “every plan to make a success of all these projects have been concluded between our two parties.”

    The Deputy Minister of the Communist Party in Shandong Province and Chairman of the Shandong Broadcasting Group, Mr Liu Baoju, and Mr. Huang Gang, Senior Vice President of Inspur Group were among dignitaries in the business delegation at the meeting.

  • How corruption is perpetuated in Judiciary—-Osinbajo

    How corruption is perpetuated in Judiciary—-Osinbajo

    •Wants NJC to raise independent panel to probe corruption at the bench
    •Recalls how 91 judges were charged with corruption in China

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has identified 11 ways through which corruption is perpetuated in the Judiciary.

    He also says reforms in the Judicial arm demands that the National Judicial Council (NJC) should raise an independent panel to investigate allegations of corruption against judicial officers.

    Osinbajo’s views are encapsulated  in a seminal paper in Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report 2007: Corruption in Judicial Systems.

    He wrote on  “Sub-national reform efforts: the Lagos State experience” which The Nation obtained yesterday, a day after he said in Ado Ekiti that all the three arms of government in Nigeria –executive, judiciary and legislature are corrupt.

    In the 2007 paper, Osinbajo listed some of the most common methods of practising corruption in the Judiciary as follows:

    • Fabricating rulings in exchange for money
    • Blackmailing litigants into paying for, or excluding evidence
    • Making decisions based on instructions from local government, party or senior judicial officials, rather than the law or facts
    • Assigning, dismissing, delaying or refusing to accept cases, or refusing to properly enforce court decisions
    • Extorting kickbacks from intermediaries for passing cases to certain judges
    • Trading law enforcement services for personal gain
    • Taking bribes from the plaintiff and defendant (or their lawyers) or both
    • Manufacturing court cases
    • Embezzling court funding
    • Bowing to the demands of local officials, criminal networks, local clans, social networks or economic interests
    • Abusing the power of judges to order suspension of business operations, the confiscation of property, the eviction of tenants, or fair compensation and labour rights.

    The VP reviewed past efforts put in place to stem corruption in the nation’s Judiciary.

    His words: “Corruption is generally regarded as pervasive in Nigeria, affecting many of its institutions. The Judiciary is no exception.  The main forms of judicial corruption relate mainly to either pure bribery or, in sensitive cases, political interference from government or party officials.

    “The problem worsened during Nigeria’s 30 years of military rule, one of the worst features of which was the weakening of all the justice institutions.

    “In 1994, Gen. Sani Abacha’s regime established a panel of inquiry, headed by the renowned retired Supreme Court Justice Kayode Eso, to look into the activities of members of the Judiciary.

    “The panel recommended a series of reforms aimed at curbing judicial corruption. The panel also indicted 47 judges for alleged corruption, incompetence, dereliction of duty, lack of productivity or corrupt use of ex parte orders. The military regime failed to implement the recommendation of the Kayode Eso panel.

    “The civilian regime, which took power on 29 May 1999, set up another panel to review the work of the Kayode Eso panel. Following the report of the second panel, some of the indicted judges were either dismissed or compulsorily retired.”

    He also shared his thought on the disciplinary procedures for judges and argued that the National Judicial Council (NJC) does not have the final say.

    He added: “With regard to the discipline of judges, the reform policy dictated that every case of judicial corruption would be investigated and submitted to the NJC, which would then appoint an independent investigation panel to make recommendations.

    “Prior to the NJC’s creation in 1999, the JSC had been the sole adjudicator on disciplinary issues, providing an avenue for local interference in the process

    “It is important to note, however, that the NJC does not have the final say on the disciplining of judges. This lies with the governor or president as the case may be.”

    He recalled how 91 judges in China, including a Vice President of the High Court, two presidents of the intermediate courts and two presidents of the basic courts, were charged with corruption.

    He said:  “In the celebrated Wuhan Court bribery case, it appeared to be systemic and organized at all levels of the Judiciary.

    “In Wuhan, Hubei Province, 91 judges were charged with corruption, including a Vice President of the High Court, two presidents of the intermediate courts and two presidents of the basic courts

    “The ringleaders, two former Wuhan intermediate court vice-presidents, were ultimately convicted of corruption and sentenced to six and a half and 13 years in prison.

    “Ten judges under their supervision were also sent to jail and a 13-member group was found to have pocketed almost 4million Yuan (approximately $510,000). The investigation implicated more than 100 other judges and court officials, who were disciplined or reassigned to other courts. Finally, 44 lawyers were investigated and 13 were charged with robbery.”

  • Yoruba in the north laud Osinbajo, Tinubu

    The Omo Oodua Yoruba community in the northern states have appealed to Yoruba living in the north not to allow themselves to be used to foment trouble in the country.

    At the end of its one-day executive council meeting held in Jos yesterday, the group called for support for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. It called for caution and understanding in resolving the economic crises in the country, adding that disaffection cannot solve any problem.

    In a statement signed by the leader of the community, Chief Toye Ogunshuyi, President of the Plateau chapter Tunde Ladapo and woman leader Bunmi Owolabi, the community called on Yoruba “residing in the northern states not to join the bandwagon of those wanting to create misunderstanding and ridicule our leaders.”

    The Yoruba community in the 19 northern states and the federal capital territory called on their members to support the federal government “in the crusade to sanitise the economy and fight corruption and other ailments plaguing the nation.” It added that the cardinal objective of the community “is to foster, love, unity, patriotism and discipline amongst Yoruba race irrespective of political divide.”

    It appealed to all Yoruba at home and especially those in the Diaspora to come home and contribute their talent to finding solutions to the country’s current state of recession.

  • All arms of govt are corrupt, says Osinbajo

    All arms of govt are corrupt, says Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday returned a damning verdict on the three arms of government on corruption.

    The executive,judicial and legislative arms are all corrupt ,he said as he presided over the  4th convocation ceremonies of the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti.

    Osinbajo said it was for this reason that the Buhari administration is currently fighting corruption in the country.

    He said corruption has polluted every stratum of the society, bringing  along with it poverty and other social vices.

    “All the institutions of government, I mean the executive, legislature and the judiciary are corrupt. What we need is serious reorientation,” he said.

    “That is why the ABUAD is a great  university because it teaches learning, character and morality. So, value reorientation is a key weapon to fight corruption.

    “That was why the present federal government is intervening because if we refuse, every facet of the country will fail.  We must act fast and deal with the situation as quickly as possible.”

    He hailed  the founder of the university,Chief Afe Babalola , for his stand against corruption which encouraged  the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the emergence of Hon. Justice Emmanuel Ayoola as its first Chairman.

     The Vice President said: “My learned senior, Chief Afe Babalola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, appeared in a famous case in 2001 for the Federal Government in which he said that corruption is the greatest hindrance to our development.

     “I have great respect for Chief Afe Babalola because of his stand against corruption. Sometimes in 2001, Chief Babalola argued the case for the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) where he let the court realized that corruption is the greatest problem of our nation.”

    Osinbajo urged the graduands   to learn skills that will enhance their value and also develop and maintain integrity.

     He told them to  ” appreciate that this is the age of multi-tasking and multi-skilling . One must today learn to be a master of himself and you must be technology savvy in whatever you choose to do.

    “Talent is nothing if you are not diligent; integrity is important because lack of integrity may come back to haunt you because you may need the recommendation of somebody.”

     Osinbajo stated he never had misgiving for Babalola’s competence to run an all-inclusive university, on the strength of his achievements as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos between 2001 and 2008.

  • I was nominated for VP, says Osinbajo

    I was nominated for VP, says Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday night confirmed that he was  nominated for his present position in last year’s presidential election.

    Prof. John Paden claims in a book on the President, titled: “Muhammadu Buhari: Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria,” that Osinbajo emerged as vice president despite pressure against it by All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    But many Nigerians had faulted the claim as they insisted that Osinbajo was nominated for the position by Tinubu.

    Osinbajo, at a dinner organised in honour of outstanding ex-militants of Presidential Amnesty Programme at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, confirmed that he was actually nominated for the position.

    He said: “I was with a group of young men and women and one of them asked the question how I became vice president; I was never a politician or anything like that.

    “So, I tried to explain: it is quite simple that someone somewhere has to recommend you; somebody somewhere has to give you a helping hand. Whether to be a vice president or to be an aircraft pilot or to be an engineer, somebody somewhere has to give you an opportunity. I think that all of you that are here today are the beneficiaries of the opportunities that you have somehow received.

    “And this is why this event is so important. I think that it is one way we have to remind ourselves that we are bound as individuals to give opportunities to everyone.”

    He maintained that the people of the Niger Delta region would be at the end the losers of pipelines bombings and vandalism.

    According to him, there was no reason to continue the vandalism in the area.

    He said: “It is like a case of biting your nose to spite your face.”

    Osinbajo congratulated the ex-militants, who were trained as pilots, automobile and electric transformer technicians among other skills locally and in foreign universities.

    He urged them to  keep away from blowing up oil pipelines, stressing that it had large negative effect on them, their region, the country and even the generations yet unborn.