The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PRESIDENCY

  • Presidency to Buhari supporters: Ignore Saraki’s crude speeches

    The Presidency on Thursday appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari’s supporters to ignore the crude speeches coming from Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
    Saraki is one of the Presidential aspirants under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, urged the Buhari supporters conduct themselves and put across their points of view in a decent language.
    He said “The Presidency wishes to react the crude speeches hitting the news from Senator Bukola Saraki who recently joined the Peoples Democratic Party with the sole ambition of running as the president of Nigeria.
    “In response the condemnable and extremely derogatory speeches by the PDP aspirant, we urge all Buhari supporters to display restraint in language and conduct and to always put across their points of view in a decent language.
    “Throughout his political career, Senator Saraki has shown that he is a very dangerous person who can go any length to promote his personal interests.
    “The language of his campaign is such that cannot be used against a domestic help.
    “Is he just knowing that the President lacked vision? This is someone that the Senator had worked with very closely for more than three years. Amazingly, he never said all that he is now saying against him.
    “Rather, his word for and on the President were always respectful and reassuring. That’s the man he called “My Father,” about him “there is no cause for alarm…a President who is healthy, witty and himself.” What then changed, all of a sudden?
    “Is he saying these blatantly false and crude things against the President because he is gunning for the same office? Could it be that he is targeting President Buhari because the party he just joined does not have any real issues to highlight?
    “Be that as it may, our appeal to our supporters is to ignore Saraki and any such politicians bent on lowering the quality of political discourse. Let them drown in their own waters.” he added

  • You are well prepared for Presidency – IBB tells Saraki

    Former President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida has said that Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki is well prepared for the Presidency of the country.
    Babangida stated this when the Senate President paid him a courtesy visit at the former military leader’s Uphill residence in Minna as part of his nationwide tour to seek support of PDP supporters and delegates for his nomination as the Presidential candidate.
    Giving Saraki his support and blessing, Babangida said that with Saraki’s experience as a governor, legislator and Senate President along with his objectives for seeking election, there can be no better candidate than him.
    “You have the right objective for a campaign for leadership in this country. You are much more than prepared because you have been a governor in a state, a legislator and a Senator. You have been holding the Senate for the past three years very well and the Senate have been working very well under you. “
    Babangida applauded the objectives of Saraki which include unity, economic development and security.
    “You spoke of three important things that are very dear to me and those of us who fought to keep this country together, the issues which are unity, economic development and security. The security of this nation is a no go area,  the security of the people and property are uppermost in your mind along with the well being of ordinary Nigeria. With these, I can say you have the right objectives for leadership of this country. “
    Babangida gave Saraki his blessings and support saying he is willing to offer him advice anytime he seeks of it.
    “You have my prayers and my support for these three reasons you have enumerated. I hope you keep to your objectives and hope the people will listen and believe you because the objectives are for the good of this country. I wish you well. “
    Earlier, Saraki said that the nation is at a crossroad and is disunited,  stressing on the need for the nation to have a President based on his capacity to lead the nation.
    He noted the need to put the nation in the right direction, give people a sense of belonging and address the security and socio economic challenges bedeviling the nation.
    Saraki then promised to take the nation to enviable heights if elected as President.
    “I promise you that I will work for a Nigeria that you will be proud of, that you will say that your efforts and sacrifices have been worth it.  A government that will know that there are leaders and elders and a government that will consult and bring everybody together, a government that will work hard to make sure that the country prospers.”
    While meeting with PDP delegates at the party’s Secretariat in Minna, Saraki said that Nigeria needs the kind leadership which he can provide and he has put himself forward to offer the leadership. 
    According to him, Nigeria needs a leader that can give them a sense of belonging and a leader who understands how the executive and legislature operates and how they can work together.

  • Presidency to HSBC: ‘We want our stolen assets back, not doomsday prophecy on 2019’

    The Presidency yesterday berated the global banking giant, HSBC, for allegedly actively supporting those who looted the nation dry.

    The organization recently projected that a second term in office by President Muhammadu Buhari would stunt the Nigerian economy. But responding to the bank’s claim in  a statement yesterday, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said what killed the  economy in the past was the unbridled looting of state resources by leaders.

    He alleged that such looters were actively supported by the bank.

    “A bank that soiled its hand with millions of US dollars yet-to-be-recovered Abacha loot , and continued until a few months ago to shield the stolen funds of one of the leaders of the Nigerian Senate has no moral right whatsoever to project that a ‘second term for Mr. Buhari raises the risk of limited economic progress and further fiscal deterioration’,” the SSA said.

    He added:”rather, we ask them to heed President Buhari’s constant refrain: return our stolen assets, then see how well we will do.

    “From the facts available to our investigation agencies, HSBC’s put down on President Buhari is no more than an expression of frustration over the administration’s measures put in place which have abolished grand corruption, the type which this bank thrives on in many countries.

    “They may also just be out to discredit the President out of the fear of sanctions and fines following the national assets that are stolen.”

    With the coming of President Buhari, Garba said, corrupt individuals, banks and other corporate entities that aided corrupt practices are under investigation for various offences.

    He said that for many of them, including their friends in the media, they would rather have President Buhari out of their way, for business as usual to return.

    He went on: “Our investigation agencies believe that HSBC had laundered more than USD 100,000,000 for the late General Sani Abacha in Jersey, Paris, London and Geneva.

    “Among these accounts on the records are: AC: S-104460 HSBC Fund Admin Ltd. Jersey ($12,000,000); AC 37060762 HSBC Life (Europe), U.K ($20,000,000) and AC: 38175076 HSBC Bank Plc. U.K ($1,600,000).

    “The bank is also suspected in the laundering of proceeds of corruption involving more than 50 other Nigerians, including a serving Senator as earlier indicated.

    “In a book, Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation, published in 2017, Jack Bernstein told the story of global money laundering highlighting the unenviable place of the HSBC.

    “This is a bank that states and federal authorities in the U.S. forced to pay $1.92 billion to settle charges of money laundering; fined $1.2 billion in Hong Kong for “systemic deficiencies” in bond sales and was made to pay $100 million in currency rigging settlement as reported by The Telegraph of 18th January, 2018.”

     

  • Presidency faults National Assembly on INEC’s budget

    CONTROVERSY over the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) budget is not over yet.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, said the National Assembly Joint Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had no final say on the source of funds for the 2019 general election.

    The National Assembly Joint Committee on INEC on August 30 recommended that INEC’s N143 billion for the elections should be funded from service-wide votes under the special intervention programme (recurrent).

    Committee Chairman Suleiman Nazif had said that the recommendation was to ease the consideration and avoid increasing the size of the 2018 Expenditure Framework.

    But in a chat with reporters in Abuja yesterday, Senator Enang said the lawmakers’ recommendation could not be final, as the whole process would have to be approved by the lawmakers at plenary.

    He said: “The call is inchoate because it can only be complete if it is presented to the plenary.

    “When the committee was considering it, I asked if there is the budget of the Office of the National Security Adviser, DSS, Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Immigration Service and others.

    “Is your committee going to consider these budgets? They said no. That those other ones will be considered by other committees.

    “If they are not considering the budget of other agencies, the question of where to source the money has not even arisen.

    “Until each of the other committees considers the budget of these other agencies and recommend it to the house and the house sits to consider it, only then will the question or otherwise arise.”

    The aide noted that the National Assembly acted in error to have asked the joint committee to sit when the source of funding for the election had not been determined.

    Enang said: “The question of sourcing of funds, what should have been done first is to source for money before it can be appropriated by the committee.

    “It should have been the appropriation and finance committees sitting and either amend this or decide if we will take money from somewhere else.

    “The President has said he does not want to increase the size of the budget because the budget already is a deficit budget and a great part of it is going to be funded from borrowing.

    “He is saying, look at the money within the budget you have done thus far and I am suggesting that you take it from this head.

    “You are not bound to take it only from that head. You can take from that head and from any other thing, which you may have forgotten but does not reduce the project of the executive.

    “So, until all these are done and the source of the money gotten, nothing has been approved.”

    The electoral umpire had adjusted its budget for the 2019 elections from N189 billion to N143 billion in line with the recommendation of the National Assembly committee.

    On August 27, the committee recommended N143 billion for approval for the commission’s preparation ahead of the general election.

    It was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s request on July 11 when he sought the legislators’ approval of N242 billion for the elections.

    Specifically, he said N164.10 billion of the funds was urgently needed to enable INEC begin preparations for the elections, while the balance of N78.34 billon would be provided for in the 2019 budget.

    In his letter of request, the President explained that the urgently needed N164 billion would be allocated as follows: INEC, N143.51 billion; Office of National Security Adviser, N3.86 billion and Department of State Services (DSS), N2.9 billion.

    Others are: Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, N1.85 billion; Nigeria Police Force, N11.46 billion and Nigeria Immigration Service, N530.1 billion.

    The President recommended that the money be vired from the 2018 budget, especially from the N587 billion, which he said was inserted by the lawmakers into the budget, raising it from N8.6 trillion to N9.12 trillion.

  • PDP alleges round-tripping in Buhari’s N45m nomination form

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Presidency of round-tripping the N45 million claimed to have been contributed by a group to buy the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential nomination form for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    According to the opposition party, President Buhari’s inability to explain the registration status, membership and source of funding of the group has exposed the charade in the said endorsement stunt.

    Read Also:PDP governors disagree on consensus presidential candidate

    A statement by the spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the Buhari Presidency failed to realise that such stunts have become out-worn and cannot sway opinion in a country with citizens as enlightened as Nigerians.

    “Most Nigerians already know how some officials at the Buhari presidency, made up of corrupt individuals, racketeers and certificate forgers, hurriedly assembled the group and mobilised them with N45 million for the APC presidential nomination form, which was hiked to scare away other contestants.

    “How members of the group were settled for the stunt as well as the issues and disagreements that arose from the deal are also known to many Nigerians.

    “What Mr. President’s handlers are hiding from him is the fact that Nigerians do not believe the falsehood that a set of individuals, facing the challenges of abysmally low purchasing power, put together a wholesome N45m to buy him a form.

    “Nigerians are still waiting for him to make public the proof of registration, membership, list of individual contributors and amount contributed by these shadowy individual members.

    “We also challenge President Buhari to make public the official correspondences of the 12 million members of the Rice Farmers Association, members of the Fertilizer Producers Association and the members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association who, he claimed, offered to buy nomination form for him”.

    The opposition party described as unpresidential, the outbursts credited to President Buhari against those who left the ruling APC for other political parties, calling them as “weak and selfish”.

    The PDP said the verbal attack against the defectors was unwarranted for politicians who chose to abandon the ruling party.

    “Finally, the PDP counsels President Buhari to forget the idea of painting himself as a lover of youths and asking for funds from them, as his “lazy youth” comment and talking down on young persons not to contest against him in the 2019 election, amply conveyed his disdain for the Nigerian youths”, the statement added.

  • TraderMoni: Petty traders not required to show PVC – Presidency

    Petty traders are not required to tender their Permanent Voter Card (PVC) before benefitting from the TraderMoni scheme, the presidency has said.

    Mr Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, made this clarification on Sunday in Abuja.

    Akande, who gave an update on the microcredit scheme, explained that to qualify for the TraderMoni scheme, no documentation of any kind was required.

    He spoke against the backdrop of claims about PVC was a requirement for the loans.

    The spokesman said the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration would intensify its efforts to empower more Nigerians economically as it continued to inaugurate the Trader Moni N10,000 collateral-free loans to petty traders across the country.

    “The petty traders are not required to show PVC, or any document for that matter, they are only expected to show they are petty traders and this is why the enumeration is done in the markets and wherever the traders ply their trades.”

    He also explained that those who questioned the timing of the loans had forgotten that the credit scheme was part of the Social Investment Programme (SIP) of the Buhari presidency, and had commenced since 2016.

    The media aide said that Trader Moni specifically was conceived in 2016 and wondered if the initiative aimed at empowering traders would be suspended just because some people would insinuate motivations.

    According to him, the petty traders whose trades and lives are being positively impacted as they receive the N10,000 are telling a different story from those making political insinuations as it is their stories that inspire the presidency.

    “Nigerians already know that the Buhari Administration is one that is projecting the interests of the common man, Nigerians who are at the lower rungs, and this is not a new perception at all.

    “This week, the interest-free loans, which have now been launched in eight States including the FCT, would be extended to more States including Oyo, Cross Rivers, and Kaduna States,’’ he said.

    The micro-credit scheme has been introduced in the following States—Lagos, Kano, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Osun, Abuja, Kogi and FCT.(NAN)

  • Presidency defends Kyari over contract scam allegation

    *Says allegation hinged on fiction

    THE Presidency yesterday dismissed corruption allegations against the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.

    A national newspaper had claimed that Kyari demanded bribe as a condition for the award of a contract.

    Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, said the publication was improbable and outlandish as Kyari had no “private meetings with the person making those allegations.”

    He added:”What is even more surprising is the decision by the newspaper to run the cooked up lies despite obvious loopholes in the story, such as the Bureau of Public Procurement’s denial that a major source for the story was a member of their staff.

    “With a slew of crucial elections ahead, some politicians and their media agents appear to be working together to build pressure on the Buhari administration by wielding non-existent scandals against it.

    “We equally note that the supply of 15 Hilux vehicles for the Presidency was an unlikely contract to have been awarded, as it did not exist anywhere in the 2016 and 2017 budgets.

    “Checking the appropriation for 2016 and 2017, that request is not even there. How could Abba Kyari have asked for money to award a contract that did not exist anywhere at all?

    “In addition to that, the amount allegedly given in bribe was also suspicious, as the office of the presidential aide had been known in the past to receive imprest of N200 million and above every month, with no one expected to give account.

    “It was only since Abba Kyari occupied that position that things changed.”

    According to him, it is difficult to make a case of N29 million bribery against an official who spurned a monthly payment of N200 million to his office, which he didn’t need to account to anyone.

  • Buhari not power drunk, says presidency

    The presidency said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari was not power drunk.

    A statement by the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, reacted to allegations by former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar.

    But the presidency agreed that President Buhari was uncompromising against corruption.

    The statement reads: “Former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar was quoted by a foreign news medium as accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of being “very uncompromising, also power drunk; (and) who will not be ready to leave power without a fight.

    “Rather than use the name of President Buhari to buoy his bid to get the presidential ticket of a party, whose flag has been flying at half mast since it got trounced at the polls in 2015, the former vice-president needs to be told that President Buhari is truly uncompromising, but only when it comes to looting the common patrimony of Nigerians and squandering their riches.

    “President Buhari is uncompromising in the quest to restore probity and accountability to public office. He is uncompromising in cleaning the rot Nigeria was consigned into pre-2015, thus the war against corruption is being fought without fear or favour. The President is resolute in the determination to ensure that Nigeria is no longer a mono-economy, depending only on oil.

    “Yes, President Buhari is single-minded in effecting change in every area of Nigerian life. So, Alhaji Abubakar is right, if that was what he meant by the President being “uncompromising.”

    “But power drunk? No! And being a man “who will not be ready to leave power without a fight?” Never! Not President Buhari, who has demonstrated in many ways that he is a committed democrat, though also a retired military general. He has no apology about that. Through a sterling military career, he served Nigeria with his heart and might, before venturing into partisan politics.

    “President Buhari, in many ways, has wielded power with decency, and as a means of serving the people, rather than for personal ends.

    “If there’s one person not intoxicated by power, it is President Buhari, and millions of Nigerians know this. That is why they will invest him with power again next year, knowing that he won’t misuse or misapply what has been entrusted to him.

    “Former VP Abubakar may want to borrow a leaf from the decorous language used by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, in answering his recent statement on the restructuring debate. That is the hallmark of statesmen, and not crying wolf where none exists, which is what the allegation of being uncompromising and power drunk truly is.

    “President Buhari is actuated by service to country, and nothing else. So, there couldn’t be anything like “not ready to leave power without a fight.”

    “Indeed, the insinuation of a fight is the mindset of a man who is either undemocratic, or has seen defeat staring him, and his party, in the face.

    “Let the former vice-president rest assured that there will be no ‘fight’ over power in Nigeria. Not under President Buhari’s watch. The people don’t want a fight. It is some political leaders we must beseech to eschew pugnacity and mind their language.”

     

     

  • Buhari not sympathetic to killer-herdsmen, says presidency

    The presidency yesterday dismissed as wicked and unfounded, the conclusion by a media house that President Muhammadu Buhari is sympathetic to the activities of violent herdsmen.

    According to the report, the President has been indifferent to the killer-herdsmen’s atrocities.

    But a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, rejected the allegations of the media house.

    He said: “We reject The Punch’s September 4, 2018, editorial, which alleged that President Buhari had sympathy for criminality perpetuated by a misguided group.

    “The editorial was not only disrespectful of the President and his office, but was also reckless, thoughtless, inflammatory and totally irresponsible.

    “It is steadily becoming clear from the views, news and opinions of this newspaper that it will explore every opportunity and twist every fact to declare every Nigerian and ECOWAS member with Fulani blood a terrorists, who must be stripped of their rights as citizens, or worse subjected to ethnic cleansing.

    “We believe and strongly insist that criminality perpetrated by some miscreants should not be used to demonise other responsible and decent members of the same ethnic group.

    “The collective demonisation of any ethnic group because of the misguided behaviour or conduct of criminals is improper and no responsible government will ever do so.”

    Shehu went on: “The editorial is, therefore, sheer blackmail and mischief designed to push its own sinister and unpatriotic agenda disguised as free speech.

    “By inciting the people against an ethnic group because of the criminal activities of a few is unhelpful and deleterious to peace.

    “Rather than proffer solutions, the editorial only regurgitated simplistic narratives of complex national issues, deliberately neglecting the broader and unbiased understanding and interpretation.

    “After the highly biased and misleading editorial, the newspaper could not but come to terms with the established fact that climate change and criminality remained key drivers of the farmers-herdsmen conflict.

    “Currently, a massive and fierce military operation is going on in Zamfara State to neutralise the activities of bandits, who have been sacking communities and killing innocent people, and the security outfits have been deployed to safeguard lives and property.”

    The President’s commitment to the security and well-being of all Nigerians, he said, is unwavering and total, and no criminal group, herdsmen or ethnic militias, will be spared the wrath of the law.

    He added: “In its attempt to build a case against the President and tarnish his hard-earned reputation, the newspaper misquoted and removed from the actual context words attributed to him, one or two of which we wish to clarify here.

    “In pointing out that some Nigerians, who dare the desert and the Mediterranean in order to migrate illegally to Europe have to blame themselves, the President had a context, following severe warnings by local authorities that were clearly being ignored.

    “The unfortunate Nigerians were always lured into harmful and unsafe journeys, with high likelihood of death or slavery.”

     

     

     

  • Buhari ‘ll sign Electoral Act Bill, says Presidency

    The Presidency yesterday allayed fears over the Electoral Act Bill.

    Ahead of the expiration of the 30 days constitutional provision for the Presidential to assent. It said: no cause for alarm.

    The Bill was transmitted to the President for his assent on August 2, after the corrected version was passed by the National Assembly on July 24.

    The 30 days expires on Sunday.

    If the President fails to assent the bill or returns it to the parliament at the end of the 30 days, the National Assembly may override his veto.

    But the Presidency is sure that it will not get to that level.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, said: “We will do the needful before the Bill expires.”

    Enang, who recently dismissed the allegation that the President again refused to sign the bill, explained that it was being studied by the President’s team.

    He had said: “The final clean copy of the Bill which was received by President Muhamamdu Buhari on the 2nd of August, 2018, is still undergoing thorough scrutiny by the President.

    “Mr President has not vetoed the bill. What some people are not aware of was that when the second copy was received after the initial rejection, it was discovered that there were typographical errors which the National Assembly needed to correct and they did it and sent it back on the 24th of July and this is still being studied before presidential assent.”

    Enang added: “It is good for people to cross check their facts first before feeding the public with the wrong information. As you know, the President embarked on a 10-day leave soon after we submitted the Bill to him, so we should wait.”

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmoud Yakubu had declared that the Bill will not be used for the 2019 February general election unless it was signed into law at least six months before the election.

    The Bill contains relevant provisions that are expected to guide INEC in the conduct of the 2019 elections.