The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PRESIDENCY

  • PDP knocks Presidency over statement on Plateau killings

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has knocked the Presidency for blaming weekend’s killings in some Plateau communities on opposition politicians.

    The attacks, which were reportedly carried out by Fulani herdsmen, left about 100 persons dead, over 50 houses burnt and many persons injured.

    In a statement on Monday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP described the Presidency’s statement as extremely callous, inhuman and brazenly divisive.

    The opposition party expressed shock that at a time Nigerians expected the Presidency to take immediate steps to restore order, safeguard the lives of the people, exert justice and bring succor to victims, it chose to toe the path of divisiveness, which the party said, was capable of worsening the tensed situation in the land.

    The statement said, “It is unfortunate that rather than taking actions to get to the roots of killings and banditry in the land, President Muhammadu Buhari resorted to political colorations by engaging in his usual blame game of unnamed politicians.

    Read Also:APC convention a charade, mockery of democracy – PDP

    “It is equally disgusting that the Buhari Presidency relegated the main issue of the murder of our citizens and how to track down the perpetrators and bring them to book, thus confirming the fears of most Nigerians that this administration does not care about the lives of the people.

    “PDP insists that the basic responsibility of government, which is to ensure the safety and harmonious living of all Nigerians, ensure that our laws apply at all times and circumstances, without any fear or favour, has been completely abdicated by the Buhari administration, thereby leaving our people at the mercy of marauders”.

    The opposition party further stated that it’s shocking that the President, who is considered the father of the nation, had no soothing or reassuring words for the agonizing victims of the attack.

    The party said rather, the President has chosen to aggravate their pains with the unguarded comments attributed to him by his media aide.

    The PDP demanded an unreserved apology from President Buhari over the comments, which it described as manifest insensitivity to the plight of the victims of the Plateau massacre.

  • Presidency unveils six benefits of Buhari’s visit to Morocco

    The Presidency yesterday highlighted six benefits coming to Nigeria from President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Morocco.

    The president had visited the Kingdom of Morocco from June 10 to June 11, 2018 where he signed some memoranda of understanding and agreements.

    An article written by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, entitled ‘President Buhari’s visit to Morocco: Six Quick Takeaways’ said great benefits are coming to Nigeria from the agreements signed.

    He said “FACT: The Federal Government’s programme of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) of former agitators in the Niger Delta region of the country, as part of the Amnesty Programme, brought calmness to the country at its commencement. It floundered and wobbled due to irregularities until the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari put it back on track. Now there is peace once again.

    “Question: If the disarmament and rehabilitation of 30,000 ex-agitators could do so much for nation, how far would 18,000 skilled and unskilled new jobs go towards cementing that peace?

    “The jobs in view are calculated to come from the commitment to the Regional Gas Pipeline, which will connect Nigeria’s gas resources, those of some West African countries and Morocco, thereby fostering integration and development of countries in the West African region.”

    “Yet another important takeaway is the decision by the two countries to strengthen cooperation in the efforts to combat radicalisation and violent extremism in Africa and beyond.”

    “On the basis of their exemplary cooperation, the two Heads of State agreed to develop partnership in the field of agriculture, particularly through the signing of Cooperation Agreement on vocational training and technical supervision. This will involve about 80 Nigerians in varied fields of agriculture and the setting up of 20 farmers’ schools.

    ‘Broken down to specifics, the agreement promised that Morocco will support university education with scholarships of eight agricultural engineers per year,” he said.

    He went on: “In the same breath, the Kingdom of Morocco will support and provide technical assistance in setting up 20 farmer-field schools (FFS) for the training of Nigerian farmers.

    “The agreement concerning this sector is for a period of three years and may be renewed for a further period.

    “For Morocco, which has lately been making strong efforts to improve relations with neighbouring states and the rest of the continent since their return to the African Union, it is important that our two states have agreed to consult and coordinate on regional and international issues of mutual interest and concern, and to coordinate the positions of the two countries in regional and international organisations, including the African Union.

    “His Majesty King Mohammed VI congratulated President Buhari for his leadership in the regional initiative against terrorism in the Lake Chad region and commended his efforts in the fight against corruption and his role as the African Union anti-corruption champion.

    “Morocco has many economic strengths; including the world’s largest phosphate reserves and a diverse agricultural sector. On the basis of an agreement between Moroccan state firm, OCP, and the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), Nigeria has been receiving the needed phosphate for the local blending of fertilizer. So far, 14 of the county’s moribund fertilizer plants have resumed production.

    “Activities have been generated in the value chain in terms of transportation, labour engagements at the plants, including loading and offloading with more than 250,000 jobs created directly and indirectly.

    “The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative plans to make available one million metric tons of fertilizers, amounting to 20 million bags to farmers this year.” he stated

     

     

  • Presidency faults lawmakers’ claims on budget distortion

    The Presidency yesterday faulted the decision of National Assembly to distort the 2018 Budget after N270 billion allocation was made for their constituency projects.

    According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, while N100 billion was already provided for constituency projects in the 2018 Budget proposal, the executive also allowed additional N170 billion provision for the projects from the increased oil benchmark.

    He said “Sequel to the response of the National Assembly justifying its distortion of the 2018 Budget, the following clarifications have become necessary.

    “Throughout the budget consideration process the executive, through the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, was in touch with the National Assembly.

    “The executive was approached by the National Assembly who indicated that they intended to increase the benchmark price by US$5, from US$45 to US$50. Out of the US$5 increase, the National Assembly informed the Executive that they intended to utilise US$2 (amounting to about N170 billion) for projects selected by themselves.

    “They asked the Executive to suggest important projects that could be accommodated with the funds arising from the balance of US$3.

    “After some consideration, the Executive was of the view that an increase in the benchmark price of crude oil to US$50 was not unrealistic, and the President decided to accept this in the spirit of compromise required for a successful budget exercise.

    ‘The Executive had, in that spirit, suggested that from the additional funds arising out of the US$3 increase, $1.25 from the increase should not be appropriated as expenditure but utilised to reduce the deficit in the budget.

    “The Executive therefore restricted itself to submitting, for the consideration of the National Assembly, important items that could be funded from US$1.75 of the US$3 increase. NASS eventually raised the benchmark price to US$51, apparently to accommodate the additional allocations to Health and NDDC.

    “The Executive is therefore surprised that with an additional sum of N170 billion available for the National Assembly to spend on constituency projects, together with the sum of N100 billion already provided for in the Budget, that the National Assembly should feel it necessary to cut allocations to important national projects, and thereby distort the Budget in order to further increase their allocation for Constituency projects. How much is enough!” he added

    He said that the President’s position was clear from paragraph 12k of the President’s speech, where he said “About 70 new road projects have been inserted into the budget of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. In doing so, the National Assembly applied some of the additional funds expected from the upward review of the oil price benchmark to the Ministry’s vote.

    “Regrettably, however, in order to make provision for some of the new roads, the amounts allocated to some strategic major roads have been cut by the National Assembly.”

  • 2018 Budget: Presidency faults NASS over distortion

    The Presidency on Friday faulted the decision of National Assembly to distort the 2018 Budget after N270 billion allocation was made for their constituency projects.

    According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, while  N100 billion was already provided for constituency projects in the 2018 Budget proposal, the executive also allowed additional N170 billion provision for the projects from the increased oil benchmark.

    He said “Sequel to the response of the National Assembly justifying its distortion of the 2018 Budget, the following clarifications have become necessary.

    “Throughout the budget consideration process the executive, through the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, was in touch with the National Assembly. The executive was approached by the National Assembly who indicated that they intended to increase the benchmark price by US$5, from US$45 to US$50. Out of the US$5 increase the National Assembly informed the Executive that they intended to utilize US$2 (amounting to about N170 billion) for projects selected by themselves.

    “They asked the Executive to suggest important projects that could be accommodated with the funds arising from the balance of US$3.

    “After some consideration, the Executive was of the view that an increase in the benchmark price of crude oil to US$50 was not unrealistic and the President decided to accept this in the spirit of compromise required for a successful budget exercise.

    ‘The Executive had, in that spirit, suggested that from the additional funds arising out of the US$3 increase, $1.25 from the increase should not be appropriated as expenditure, but utilized to reduce the deficit in the budget.

    “The Executive therefore restricted itself to submitting, for the consideration of the National Assembly, important items that could be funded from US$1.75 of the US$3 increase. NASS eventually raised the benchmark price to US$51, apparently to accommodate the additional allocations to Health and NDDC.

    “The Executive is therefore surprised that with an additional sum of N170 billion Naira available for the National Assembly to spend on Constituency Projects, together with the sum of N100 billion Naira, already provided for in the Budget, that the National Assembly should feel it necessary to cut allocations to important national projects, and thereby distort the Budget, in order to further increase their allocation for Constituency projects. How much is enough!” he added

    He said that the President’s position was clear from paragraph 12k of the President’s speech, where he said “About 70 new road projects have been inserted into the budget of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. In doing so, the National Assembly applied some of the additional funds expected from the upward review of the oil price benchmark to the Ministry’s vote. Regrettably, however, in order to make provision for some of the new roads, the amounts allocated to some strategic major roads have been cut by the National Assembly”.

  • No evidence that Abiri is a journalist, only a guest of DSS – Presidency

    Presidency has dispelled insinuations that the arrest and continuing detention of Jones Abiri, who claimed to be a journalist, trampled on freedom of the press.

    The presidency said on Thursday that Abiri has not been able been able to prove that he is a bona fide journalist.

    Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), said in Abuja on Thursday said: “It is very uncharitable for anyone to infer that the President is in support of restrictions on freedom of expression and the media.’’

    “On the issue of the arrest and continued detention of Abiri, who allegedly parades himself as a journalist, by the Department of the State Services (DSS), it is instructive to note that the accused is a guest of the security agency because of his alleged involvement in militant and criminal activities.

    “Admittedly, the issue of Abiri had been brought to the attention of the Presidency by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

    Abiri is accused of being a Niger Delta militant by the Department of State Services (DSS).

    Abiri who claimed to be a publisher of the Atlantic Express, was arrested on July 21, 2016 in his Yenagoa office and has since been in the custody.

    He was accused of sponsoring the circulated hoax of a planned overthrow of President Muhammadu Buhari and destruction of pipelines belonging to oil multinationals.

    DSS had alleged that Abiri masterminded the vandalism and bombing of Agip Oil Company and the Shell Petroleum Development Company pipelines in Southern Ijaw and Brass on July 8, 2016.

    “As a true believer in the rule of law and the integral role of the media in a democracy, the Presidency did interface with the security agency involved in the matter and our findings confirmed that the suspect is in custody because of alleged involvement in pipeline vandalism and theft.

    “Abiri is not a registered journalist with any of the media professional bodies in the country.’’

    Shehu further stated that there was no evidence to show that Abiri belonged to any chapel or membership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) or payment of the union’s check-off dues.

    “Abiri’s stock-in-trade and notoriety in the liberalised Nigeria media industry include fronting as a spokesman for militants engaged in economic sabotage in the Niger Delta region,’’ he added.

    He said the administration would continue to promote the freedom and safety of journalists.

    He assured the world that the administration would do nothing untoward to damage the credibility it has demonstrated in promoting press freedom.

    According to the presidential aide, President Muhammadu Buhari is resolutely committed to the freedom of the press.

    He said the administration would ensure that media personnel in the country discharged their duties without let or hindrance.

    He, therefore, frowned at those individuals or groups insinuating that President Buhari was in support of restrictions on freedom of expression and the media.

    The presidential spokesman, however, maintained that the Buhari administration would continue to promote the freedom and safety of journalists.

    He reassured that the administration would also do nothing untoward to damage the credibility it had demonstrated in promoting press freedom since coming into power in May 2015. (NAN)

  • 2019: Makarfi to vie for PDP’s presidential ticket

    Former Kaduna State Governor and immediate past National Caretaker Committee Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi has declared his intention to contest for Nigeria’s presidency under the platform of the PDP.
    Makarfi  expressed optimism that his party will wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that APC has been working for the PDP by refusing to govern well.
    Makarfi who made the disclosure in an interview with journalists in Kaduna on Sunday said he has consulted widely and arrived at a conclusion that is was okay for him to contest for the Presidency.
    “I have been consulting across the country since I left as the chairman of the party. It is just consultations and not endorsement. But it gives you an opportunity to feel the pulse and it will tell whether to go forward or not to go forward. The consultations have been quite positive and I believe it is fair enough to come to the conclusion that one should join other equally capable party men and women who have shown interest in seeking the party’s nomination for the 2019 presidential election.
    “At this stage, it is to seek for the party’s nomination. The successful nominees will become the candidate that will stand for the election. But first thing first. If ones party does not put him forward, you can’t say you are contesting for presidency yet. At this stage, I have come to the conclusion that it is okay, based on the consultations that I have had.”
    The two term Governor and two term Senator from Kaduna State said he knows governance and has what its takes to govern Nigeria, after successfully governing a complex state like Kaduna for eight years.
    “I have known governance for sometimes at state level. I served Kaduna for three years as commissioner for finance and economic planning. I came in from the private sector. I have private sector experience, especially banking. I governed this complex state for eight years. I have legislative experience, having been in the senate for a two term of eight years. I got a bonanza when the party leadership fell on my laps, to know about managing political party.
    “If you cannot manage your party, even if you are elected, you will have problems governing. If you can’t manage the legislature and build cordial relationship such that key legislations that can take this country forward are passed, then governance becomes complex for you. If you cannot manage complex society such as kaduna, which is a mini nigeria, you cannot manage Nigeria. God has so designed that one has passed through all these processes.
    “These, to me, are advantages but of course it does not mean that it is a forgone conclusion. Somebody who may have not prepared himself in governance at all may find himself in government but the country will pay a price for that. I believe I have these advantages.
    “Managing complex security issues is not new to me. Managing complex people of societies is not new to me. If you look at it from that perspective, I am prepared for the job. I served as the Governor of Kaduna state where I was able to mobilise the citizens of Kaduna state, irrespective of where they came from in Nigeria, earned their confidence and they worked with me and supported me and we were able to restore normalcy that people thought was impossible.
    “If I am nominated and eventually gets elected, my philosophy will not be to go after opposition. It is to see how I will work with the opposition in any area for the good of all of us while maintaining our independent political opinion over any matter. That is how you can bring Nigerians together. And that is when people will not even have any need to cross carpet. If I get nominated and get elected and I find somebody in APC who can help me do what I want to do, I will look for you without demanding that you join the PDP. I will leave you to make that decision on your own, that is the kind of politics that I want to see happening in Nigeria.” He said.
    Speaking on the chances of his party, Makarfi said, the crisis rocking the ruling party is an advantage for his party, adding that the PDP need to thank APC for refusing to govern well and mismanaging its internal crises.
    According to him, “We must also thank the APC for working for us because they have been working for us. They have refused to govern well, they have been fighting each other. They are many things for which we can thank them. There is no way the executive and the legislature can work again as one . The is no way the party can be cohesive again. There are elements in government fighting each other and there is nobody to call them to order. We should not expend our energy when somebody is working for us.
    Makarfi however gave Buhari’s government a thumbs-up on the fight against insurgency, but said the successes recorded would have been overwhelming if the institutions of the government had work together.
    On the fight against corruption, the PDP Presidential aspirant said the fight was selective against the opposition. He however warned that the institutions of government should not be used to fight political opposition, as that will spell doom for the country.

  • Your children will be slaves

    Nigeria is filled with beautiful boobs, human mass with luscious glands for politicians to suck.

    Ask the presidency, your state governor, legislator, the itinerant lobbyist and power broker, and they would oblige you the adventures of their souls atop thickset spoils.

    To this conniving band, the electorate is simply a mass of organs by which they nourish their lusts. Nigeria is their jungle, an eden of boobs and wildlife. In this degenerate nirvana they inhabit, they survive by preying on an electorate afflicted with mouths like the parrot’s and the will of a catfish.

    When brackish waters recede, the catfish burrows deep into mud earth but that hardly prevents the fisherman from yanking it out of its filthy haven. Picture the electorate as catfish and the fisherman as the country’s ruling class. Nigeria becomes brackish waters and she recedes.

    Nigerians love burrowing into proverbial mud earth to evade negativity. They scurry deep into unlikely havens – ethno-religious bigotry and other sentimental foolery – to evade the violence of governance, savagely doled out to them by the ruling class.

    In the crevices of mud earth, they immerse in filthy fluid. They soak in shameful rivulets like sanitary towel and hope to emerge sparkling clean.

    It’s a familiar scene, a Nigerian reality that often resounds like the fable of doomed Odysseus and the labouring ships.

    At the backdrop of this shameful proceedings, the argument persists in academia, social and political circuits, that the future is blurry and bleak because of the youth’s absence in politics. But I maintain that by Nigerian standards, ‘the youth’  are in politics.

    ‘Youthful men and women’ in their 60s, 70s and 80s control the country’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and major opposition platform, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    To sustain their legacies, their clannish pride covet incestuous bond with self – nurturing, dark, chthonian parts of their innate nature. Hence Nigeria’s youthful-senior oligarchs impose their wards as successors and the country’s administrators even as they molest boondocks young in a never-ending cycle of sleaze and ethical pedophilia. But the latter are hardly the preys they are thought to be.

    They are willing participants in a dehumanising ritual of violence, biological and mental retardation. From the hopeless to the vain, the presumptuous and credulous, the country pulsates with nourishing boobs. Unlike the literal, fleshy sacs, often the delight of old and young, the Nigerian boob is neither pouch nor sac but human youth.

    It’s 2018, and the image persists of the nation’s youth as human assertions imagined in degenerate stillness, by specific and random politicians. Unlike the artist’s immobile masterpiece, sculpted in bronze and stone, the youth evolve like plasticine, easily malleable and amenable to devious politicians’ plots.

    As 2019 approaches, the country’s ruling class once again perfects its grand plots and counter-plots to exploit the youth, and preserve its ill-gotten wealth and tyranny. The youth predictably become willing pawns in the designs of the criminal ruling class.

    From the herdsmen murders in Benue, Boko Haram’s terrorism, Niger Delta militancy to random political killings and rumblings in Rivers, Taraba, the youth become the nub of discord and deathly rally ripping the country apart.

    Many have attributed the afflictions of the youth to the dominance of a predatory ruling class and tiring recalcitrance of the younger generation, to engage in communal and national politics progressively. Many more readily diagnose and attribute the youth’s afflictions to structural banes, and the perverse culture of citizenship by which they are weaned and ushered into adulthood.

    In the wake of plausible and often farfetched analyses, too many ‘patriots’ conveniently absolve themselves of blame. Some propound the tragic theory of Nigerians as being innately incapable of self-determination and self-governance. Many have recommended the American example, the British palliative, the Chinese abracadabra and Malaysian ingenuity to mention a few, as the ultimate measures to resolve the nation’s ills. How?

    These arguments have overtime, attained a language of their own and thus evolved as a dialect of dissent and exaggerated self-abnegation. The nation’s academic elite, political and economic ruling classes frequently marshal clashing precepts as solutions and justifiable putdown of the ruling class and the lower working class as their politics dictate.

    A more damning view identifies the electorate’s persistent ‘claims to victimhood and sense of entitlement’ as whiny and symptomatic of a dense and irresponsible citizenry. Between the conflict of hyperboles and sentimental vituperation, Nigeria suffers the affliction of intellectual miscreants and promising youth-turned-foetal-adults.

    The coordinated tragedies afflicting our consciousness daily, append the only real structure to our lives as impoverished Nigerians. From burdensome realities of fast slipping youth, recurrent rites of bigotry to the ethical quandary of coping with strict moral codes of adulthood and ideal society, our lives obscure in purpose and meaning.

    Thus the scorning of ethics by the youth for fast, illicit riches even as ripples of their actions keep hundreds of millions more in binds of despair.

    Consequently, the revolutionary dissent that sprouts from oppression is pitiless and unbending. It radically splits our world into ‘insensitive ruling class’ and ‘clueless lower class,’ ‘elite’ and ‘downtrodden,’ ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots.’ It fosters even more fragmented discord that continually pits Nigerian Christians against Muslims, Hausa against Igbo, Igbo against Yoruba, Yoruba against Ijaw.

    While this piece too may resound as hackneyed howl and lamentation, a regurgitation of towering monstrosities we have become, it need be said that our ultimate solution lies in our will to effect true change.

    None of the existing parties can foster a progressive nation. They are programmed to a recurring cycle of rebirth and self-destruct. In the vortex, they show occasional flashes of brilliance and daring against familiar odds. But it’s all smoke and mirrors.

    It’s about time the youth united to create and activate a party of true patriots, driven by men and women of unimpeachable character. The change Nigeria deserves is anathema to existent parties and ruling class. Real change requires neutering them in capacity and real time.

    To the youth, I say: “Failure to do this will sustain your status quo as slaves and your children as slaves to your oppressors’ children.”

     

  • June 12 annulment elite conspiracy, says Presidency

    The Presidency yesterday described the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election as a huge elite conspiracy.

    “The June 12 annulment was inspired and supported in spirit, cash and in kind by high-level citizens who saw an opportunity for themselves and cashed in upon it,” Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu, said.

    He explain this in  in a piece entitled “June 12 Tsunami and the ones who won’t forgive Buhari”. The election, which was believed to have been won by businessman Moshood Abiola, remains Nigeria’s freest and fairest ever. It was annulled by military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida for no clear reasons.

    President Muhammadu Buhari last week declared June 12 Nigeria’s Democracy Day instead of May 29 when it has been celebrated since the 1999 return to civil rule.

    Besides, the President awarded the late Abiola the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), which is usually  reserved for the President, his running mate Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, given the Grand Commander of the order of the Niger (GCON) and the late social crusader and a leading light in the struggle for the actualisation of the June 12 mandate, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), also granted a posthumous GCON.

    The investiture for the awards has been slated for tomorrow at the Presidential Villa.

    Although the Abiola and the Fawehinmi families have accepted the awards, some Nigerian opposition figures are reading political motives to the presidential action.

    Shehu wrote: “An old Chinese proverb says: ‘Do good, reap good; do evil, reap evil.’ This short proverb sums the intensity of attacks against President Muhammadu Buhari, not leaving the ratcheting up of violence in some states after a period of relative calm, in the wake of the political tsunami honouring the heroes of June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was annulled, thus preventing the widely-acclaimed winner, Chief M.K.O Abiola (of blessed memory), from taking office as the President of Nigeria.

    “Even at that time, it was pretty obvious that the unjust annulment was a huge elite conspiracy, well beyond the schemes and machinations for  which the then Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, had established a formidable reputation.

    “Beyond the coterie of two dozen or so military officials whose names have been documented as literally having had a gun to the head of their Commander-in-Chief in trying to induce the annulment, there were tens, possibly hundreds of co-conspirators who either forced the annulment in one way or the other, or joined the sustenance of the injustice done to Abiola and Nigerian voters which, from then evolved into an industry of a kind, supplying incomes and conferring privileges of state upon those in the plot.

    “Many have forgotten by now that an interim government was contemplated at that time and a number of retired army generals were on queue, having been invited to get ready to head it.

    “There was the foremost social scientist of the Yoruba stock who prophesied to the then rulers, on the day the announcement of election results was suspended that “the Yoruba will not be angry with the Head of State if he will go ahead to annul the election.” Then he did it.

    “In the media, there were many who conspired against the June 12, including the publishers who told their editors not to “lose your heads over this June 12. After all, was it not Abiola who thwarted the ambitions of …?”

    “In the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, where I was one of the three Vice Presidents at that time, rising to become the full occupant of the office a few years later, we had our own battles. For example, when Vanguard newspaper correctly quoted me as asking that Abiola be freed or, in the least be tried in court because detention without trial, even under the military was wrong, newspapers, both of them now out of print circulation, the “New Nigerian” (which still maintains an online presence) and “Today”, lambasted me for expressing that view. Their editors, themselves members of the executive committee of the NGE, said in a counter statement that those views were not of the Guild since, as they said, the organisation hadn’t met to take a position on the matter.

    “If you are counting the large number of Nigerians united by that annulment, and who must now be very, very angry with President Buhari for righting that wrong which nourished them, one must not leave out the men and women in the temple of justice who used one subterfuge or the other to keep June 12 buried and its biggest symbol, MKO Abiola, in detention until his end came (or was induced). Naturally, there is also the fear of the unknown. What will come after this?

    “Remember that since the incident took place, no past administration in 25 years has asked the question, why was the election annulled? Who annulled it? What were the consequences? Beyond Abiola and his late wife Kudirat, how many people did the nation lose? In terms of the economy, how much was lost? How much of a dislocation was it, socially, politically and internationally? Overall, how much damage did it cause the nation?

    “Now would there be an inquisition into all of the things that happened? I have not been briefed if there is going to be any. Neither have I heard of any discussions on this. I cannot, therefore, speculate.

    “Should anyone be afraid? Our very erudite and sharp minister, Lai Mohammed said no Nigerian should fear for their rights under President Buhari, unless they are guilty of wrongdoing. I haven’t still mastered the art of predicting army Generals, not even this one. On this question, only the President can say “yes” or “no” if there will be a probe as many have begun clamouring for.

    “Understandably, anger against the new Democracy Day and honour to Abiola in a few quarters, the intensity of attack on President’s person would mount as the momentum he gains becomes manifest, even as we recognise that the opposition had been gearing up for offensive towards 2019 elections.

    “In normal times, even before the shocking master stroke honouring Abiola, President Buhari is a leader who had not been in the good reckoning of a powerful, very vocal section of the country’s elite.

    “The reason is basically that they would lose when you put in place corruption-free governance, institute economic growth with special focus on farmers, and a strong drive for inclusiveness, particularly regarding women and marginalised sections.

    “The Buhari Administration has annoyed these groups by putting in place long neglected infrastructure, establishing a social welfare scheme, the Social Investment Programme targeted at the basic needs of the common citizens and has given the country a major jump in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings.”

     

     

     

    “Railways and federal roads are being rehabilitated and new ones, including a standard gauge rail,  are being put in place to bring better and more efficient transportation services. Power generation and distribution have more than doubled with many consumers reporting 16-17 hours and in some parts of the country, actually enjoying up to 22-23 hours of power supply a day.

    “Foreign relations have improved and the awesome investments in defence and security sectors are paying off through peaceful economic activity in the Niger Delta and the on-going restoration of normalcy in the northeast and north central states.

    “In trying to explain the gush of criticism and increasing resort to blackmail by those who have lost out under this honest man of humble origins, and frank dispositions, who has succeeded so far in running a clean government, it is important to note that these are qualities that only a few Nigerian politicians possess.

    “If you read the history of our country, hardly do we have the top elite joining hands for the good of the nation. While Buhari’s tsunami on June 12 has stoked the anger and the fear of this group, the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day and the conferment of National Honours on MKO, his running mate Ambassador Kingibe and the foremost pro-democracy activist, late Gani Fawehinmi, was, in another breath, greeted with great enthusiasm and warmth by Nigerians, most especially on the social media.

    “Barely after 48 hours, by my count, there were over 150,000 Tweets on Twitter Trend discussing the new presidential directive. Thankfully and expectedly, over 80% of these Tweets and reactions hailed Mr. President’s decision.

    “In what could be described as a twist, many of such applauses came from well-known opposition voices like Femi Fani- Kayode (@realffk) amongst others.”

    According to him, the story on Facebook was not an exception, as Nigerians were thankful to President Buhari for upholding Democracy and staging a surprise when it was least expected.

  • Presidency pushes for passage of water resources bill

    The Presidency has continued to push for the passage of the National Water Resources Bill 2018 which was stepped down at its third stage in the Senate in May.

    The senators had identified some contentious provisions in the bill, which sought among others, the exclusive control and management of rivers and lake resources by the Federal Government.

    The bill also sought to establish a regulatory framework for the water resources sector in Nigeria, to provide for equitable and sustainable development, management, use and conservation of Nigeria’s surface and ground water resources and for related matters.

    But the Presidency, through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, has faulted the senators’ rejection of the bill.

    At a media briefing in Abuja on Friday, Enang said the intent of the bill was misunderstood by the lawmakers, with some Nigerians making “negative comments” on it.

    Enang said: “The National Water Resources Bill 2018, which was forwarded to the National Assembly in 2016 as an executive bill, seeks to bring about conglomeration, amalgamation and consolidation of all the existing laws on control and management of water flowing from one state to the other.”

    He added that the intent of the bill was to make the Nigerian waterways practice in tandem with global practice.

     

     

  • Presidency explains Osinbajo’s refusal to fly in his chopper

    The Presidency yesterday explained why Vice President Yemi Osinbajo did not fly back from Gwagwalada in his chopper.

    It was reported that his chopper that took him to Gwagwalada developed problems at the end of his assignment and had to land few minutes after take off.

    But the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, on his Twitter account, said: “VP Osinbajo attended the graduation ceremony of Nigeria Customs Senior Course in Gwagwalada today (Thursday).

    “On his way back, it was decided, for technical reasons, not to fly the chopper that had brought him to the venue.

    “He drove back to the Presidential Villa and continued his schedule.”