The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PRESIDENCY

  • Maina saga, a minus to PMB’s presidency

    SIR: Ex- chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina was fingered in grand corrupt practices in the Police pensions and declared wanted by the anti-graft agencies in 2013. He later fled the country for the fear of prosecution. Surprisingly, Maina was secretly recalled into the federal Civil Service, promoted and appointed Acting Director, Human Resource in the Federal Ministry of Interior under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Since the secret recall of the wanted Maina became public, government officials have been trying to offer one alibi or the other to absolve their individual agencies, forgetting the ultimate burden rests on the government. The office of the Head of Service, rather than answer the question directly resulted to rhetoric. Its Director of Press asked if Maina was at any time dismissed from the Federal Civil Service and concluded that Maina breached no known Civil Service rules. But the Head of Service failed to tell Nigerians how a civil servant who absconded for over three years and never reported for duty returned to receive a reward of promotion.

    For the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, the posting and discipline of civil servants is an exclusive function of the Head of Service and Federal Civil Service Commission. While I agree with Dambazau but as a cabinet member and former Chief of Army Staff, he failed in his duty to Nigeria. He betrayed Nigeria by not reporting Maina, a wanted person to the anti-graft agencies. Here, Dambazau failed a country he is under oath to serve.

    It is saddening to remind us that the fight against corruption is one of Buhari’s pet projects. The fight is no longer a patriotic duty but a political tool in the hands of the governing party and friends of the government. In all truth, Maina is a MINUS to the Buhari presidency.

     

    • Orshi Daniel Ayoh,

    Abuja.

  • Attack on APC govt: Presidency hits back at Jonathan

    Attack on APC govt: Presidency hits back at Jonathan

    The Presidency responded to the dismissal of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as a failure by former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying that the former president has no moral ground to criticise Buhari.

    Receiving a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairmanship aspirant in the forthcoming national convention of the party, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Jonathan had said the All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by Buhari had not recorded any achievement after two years, adding that the ruling party was feeding Nigerians with lies and propaganda.

    “Those who are giving us some kind of names, what have they done?” Jonathan queried, saying that the Buhari government had taken propaganda and lies to professional level.

    The former President recalled that his administration was “severely criticised for increasing the pump price of petroleum from N67 to N97 at a time that global crude price was going for over 100 dollars.

    “The pump price was later reduced to N87 when the price of crude oil dropped and they attacked us that it was supposed to be lower.

    “Those who criticised my administration are not talking again now that the global crude oil is about 53 dollars per barrel and the pump price of petrol is N143.”

    But the Presidency yesterday explained to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan why the generality of Nigerians accepted the increase of petrol price from N89 per litre to the current N143 in good faith.

    The Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said it was all down to the integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “When petrol went to N145 under PMB, Nigerians held their peace, unlike when they shut the country in 2012. The difference is trust. Simple,” Adesina tweeted yesterday in response to Jonathan’s statement on Thursday.

    An APC chieftain, Mr.Osita Okechukwu, also advised Jonathan to quietly retire to any part of the country he chooses and stop challenging the APC and the Buhari government to a public debate.

    Okechukwu, who is the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), told The Nation on the phone that the Jonathan Administration failed the nation, leaving major infrastructure to decay while public funds were freely looted.

    He challenged the former President to point to any project he was able to complete during his six years in office as President.

    Okechukwu said: “The President was very clear that the man (Jonathan) left almost an empty treasury, which is why we have a huge infrastructure deficit.

    “The world knows that almost all the infrastructure that Jonathan inherited went bad. We are challenging him to show us one project he completed.

    “Is it the Green Field refineries? He told us on May 13, 2010 that he was going to build three green field refineries at $23 billion.

    “The contract was awarded to the Chinese under Public Private Partnership. One was to be located in Bayelsa, one in Lagos and the other in Kogi State.

    “We challenge him to show us the three green field refineries or tell us where the money he voted for the projects is. I am talking about a time when our Excess Crude Account was in the excess of short $17 billion.

    “The Chinese came back and told him they were going to contribute about 80 per cent of the three green field refineries. We have not seen any of them.

    “If we had seen the three green field refineries which he publicly announced, the billions we lost in importation of refined petroleum products and the gross unemployment engendered by the looting of that fund would have been avoided, and that is what we are talking about.

    “Before and during his regime, there was money voted for the cleaning of Ogoni environment that was degraded by oil spill.

    “It is the Buhari regime that started that project now. Did he do anything there? Did he complete the East/West Road? That is a road that covers the nerve centre of the Niger Delta where he comes from.

    “If there is any project that he promised to implement and he did, he should tell us.

    “Don’t forget that the average price then was about $100 per barrel. I don’t see how he can be calling for a public debate, because I am talking of just one region.

    “Even the development he did in the Nigerian airports, is it commensurate with the amount of money voted or the amount of money borrowed? He said he did this or that. Is it commensurate with the amount of money voted?

    “If I were in his shoes, I would retire to the village or any city of my choice and keep my cool, because if he talks of a debate, we will bring out what happened during his time.

    “The fact that his wife was coming to claim $15 million, saying it was out of her hand work as First Lady and permanent secretary in Bayelsa State. Is it that other Nigerians are not working hard to be worth $15 million? So, let us not go into his matter.

    “We are not talking of Diezani who was Minister of Petroleum under his government, who failed to do anything to develop the Niger Delta and rather resorted to illegal accumulation of wealth.

    “I have great respect for him as a former President and being gracious enough to accept his defeat. But if he wants to open the vault, then we can go back and open the Pandora box for him. So, let us leave it at that.”

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State expressed disappointment at the statement made by Jonathan.

    Spokesman for the party, Abayomi Adesanya, believes Jonathan has not recovered from the shock of his defeat in the 2015 election.

    “For the avoidance of doubt and for clarification that is known to the public though, Jonathan plunged Nigeria into this present quagmire of unprecedented corruption and economic crisis,” Adesanya said.

    “If I were Jonathan, I would keep quiet and beg for forgiveness from Nigerians and God, rather than making uncomplimentary comments about the present government.”

  • Nigeria will be restructured —Presidency

    Nigeria will be restructured —Presidency

    The Presidency said yesterday that it was not opposed to calls for the restructuring of the country.

    It, however, said that the restructuring of the country would not be done in a way that it would cause its disintegration.

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, made the clarification at the 8th Annual Lecture Series of The Change We Need Nigeria Initiative in Abuja.

    Describing the theme of the lecture, Disintegration or Restructuring: Which Way Nigeria?, as topical, germane and current, Adesina said restructuring is not an exercise that is new in the life of the nation, adding that President Buhari is not opposed to it.

    He said: “When we talk of restructuring, we don’t necessarily need to accompany it with disintegration, because we can talk restructuring without falling apart.

    “In the history of Nigeria, there was a time the various people and communities lived in this space that is today called Nigeria. And then the colonial masters came, formed what is called the Northern Protectorate and the Southern Protectorate. That was a restructuring of what had subsisted.

    “And then in 1914 precisely, the northern and southern protectorates were amalgamated into one country. That was another restructuring. Did it come with any sabre-rattling or did it send the country into tailspin? No.

    “And then we got to a point when we had regionalism in the country. The regions were formed and we began to grow. That was another restructuring. It happened almost altruistically and each region began to walk at its own pace.

    “Eventually, independence came, we had parliamentary system at the beginning and we continued to grow. Today, we have a presidential system of government. That is another form of restructuring: from parliamentary to presidential.

    “And then there was a time we had a unitary system when the then Gen. Ironsi tried to formalise through the unification decree.

    “We have a unitary system which to a large extent still subsists in the country; it is a form of restructuring. Don’t forget there was a point in this country we had diarchy—President Babangida was at the centre and the civilian governors were in the state; another form of restructuring. Did we disintegrate? No, we didn’t.

    “Nigeria has always restructured. There was a time we had 12 states, and then at a point it became 19 and then to 36 states. That is restructuring.

    “Why then must restructuring be accompanied with sabre-rattling? ‘It is restructuring or disintegration,’ that is what I disagree with.

    “Restructuring will come. This country will be renegotiated, restructured, but then, we will not disintegrate.

    “I begin to get suspicious at times that is this call for restructuring another form of opposition? When you find people who have been in power for 16 years now being champions of restructuring, I begin to suspect that restructuring is becoming another form of opposition in Nigeria.

    “Nigeria will eventually be restructured. This Government is not opposed to restructuring but the government is opposed to anything that will splinter the country.

    “We will get to where we are going on restructuring and Nigeria will remain one, united, indivisible entity. That is my thought.

    “And from the first paper I have heard, I know this issue will be dissected properly today, and at the end, we will come up with something that is pragmatic, something that is not emotive, something that is not knee jack, something that can take this issue and clamour for restructuring forward.”

    The Spokesperson of Afenifere Group, Yinka Odumakin, stressed that Nigeria as it is today, is in terminal crises.

    He said: “Nigeria is currently careering dangerously to the edge of the precipice because we have erected our super structure on a wrong sub-structure. This is at the core of the call for the restructuring of the country so that we can return to the spirit of federalism in the 1960 and 1963 constitutions that our founding fathers negotiated.”

    According to him, the expression ‘Nigeria’s unity non-negotiable’, which is always used to reply calls for restructuring, have missed the whole concept of nationhood.

    “There is nothing that is settled in the life of any nation. A nation is like any living thing that grows and therefore a daily dialogue.

    “It is therefore my considered view that the whole idea of non-negotiability of Nigerian unity only developed on the strength of keeping the rents from oil from Niger Delta and proceeds from Lagos and VAT. It has nothing to do with the love of the union beyond reaping without sowing.

    Stressing on the need to restructure in order to avoid disintegration, he said that Nigeria will blossom and prosper when the rights of the nationalities within it are recognised.

    The government, he said, should desire to build a centre that coordinates rather than being overlords.

    He said: “Our exclusive list must become leaner. We need a central government and federating units that are coordinates and not a colonising centre and vassal states.

    “The resources that are under the soul of each section of the country must belong to it and agreed percentage should go to the government of the federation. We must move away from a rental and indolent economy to a productive economy where every section of the country becomes a productive centre.

    “We have the capacity to generate a N50 trillion economy annually as against the current N6 trillion we are killing ourselves over.

    “We would have no choice than turning our huge population to human capital as against beggars and destitute who are just numbers.

    “This is the spirit of the over 600 resolutions reached at the 2014 National Conference which had the best of Nigerians.

    “But if we remain obstinate and refuse to address the structures of Nigeria, we risk the fate that befell the USSR, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. They have all disappeared from the World map. Let that not be the fate of Nigeria,” he said

    The Lead Discussant at the event and General Overseer of the Charismatic Renewal Ministry (CRM), Dr. Cosmas Ilechukwu, blamed the military over its incursion into Nigeria’s politics.

    He said: “The aftermath of the military incursion into political leadership is value somersault, cultural disorientation, economic bastardization and political rascality.

    “Nigerian military laid the foundation of most of what has become our governance culture today. They introduced executive impunity that shows no regard for the pronouncement of legitimate courts of law or to the court of public opinion,” he added.

    Stressing that Nigeria has been held captive under an obnoxious unitary system of government for 51 years, he called for immediate convocation of a Constituent Assembly as a way forward.

    Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, who was represented by Hon. Godwin Adindu, disagreed with the position that the opposition parties are behind the calls for restructuring.

    “Nigeria needs it, and that is the position of my governor,” he said.

    Besides supporting creation of state police, he urged the Federal Government to convene a meaningful and open dialogue.

    On her part, Hon. Nkoyo Toyo said that the calls for restructuring are not peculiar to Nigeria.

    According to her, the country as it is now is only working for few people.

    Noting that restructuring is a complex process, she said that it would be too much for National Assembly to handle, saying that a body should be established to handle it.

  • Buhari’s discussion with World Bank boss twisted — Presidency

    Buhari’s discussion with World Bank boss twisted — Presidency

    Did President Muhammadu Buhari ask the World Bank to concentrate its Nigeria  intervention effort in the north?

    The Presidency said yesterday that he did not.

    Media reports had quoted   the World Bank Group President,  Jim Yong Kim, as saying in Washington DC, on Thursday that   Buhari requested a concentration of the bank’s intervention efforts in the north.

    Reacting to the reports yesterday, Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina,said the Jim’s statement was deliberately twisted by those who he  said specialise in such acts.

    He labeled such people “ignorant and mischievous” who are out to make  it seem that Buhari’s position was a calculated attempt to give the North an unfair advantage over other parts of Nigeria.

    Adesina said the President, since his inauguration, had been seeking international support for the rebuilding of the North East which was ravaged by years of insurgency.

    He said what Buhari did in calling attention to the plight of the people of the region was what a leader should do.

    His words: “Those who specialize in a deliberate twisting of information have wailed and raged endlessly on the news item credited to the World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, who disclosed in Washington DC, United States of America, that President Muhammadu Buhari had requested a concentration of the bank’s intervention efforts in the northern part of Nigeria, particularly in the north-east.

    “The ignorant and mischievous people, who twist everything for their vile purposes, are making it seem that it was a calculated attempt to give the North an unfair advantage over other parts of Nigeria.

    “The truth of the matter is that President Buhari, right from his first week in office in June, 2015, had reached out to the G-7 in Germany that Nigeria needed help to rebuild the North-east, which had been terribly devastated by insurgency. He said the country would prefer help in terms of rebuilding of infrastructure, rather than cash donation, which may end up being misappropriated. In concert with governors of the region, a comprehensive list of needed repairs was sent to the G-7 leaders.

    “Also, during a trip to Washington in 2015, and many other engagements that followed, President Buhari sought the help of the World Bank in rebuilding the beleaguered north-east, which was then being wrested from the stranglehold of a pernicious insurgency. It was something always done in the open, and which reflected the president’s concern for the region.

    “Those ululating over the disclosure by the president of the World Bank should be a bit reflective, and consider the ravages that the north-east has suffered since 2009, when the Boko Haram insurgency started. Schools, hospitals, homes, entire villages, towns, cities, bridges, and other public utilities have been blown up, laid waste, and lives terminated in excess of 20,000, while widows and orphans littered the landscape. The humanitarian crisis was in monumental proportions.

    “President Buhari simply did what a caring leader should do. He took the battle to the insurgents, broke their backs, and then sought for help to rebuild, so that the people could have their lives back. Should that then elicit the negative commentary that has trailed the disclosure from the World Bank? Not at all, except from insidious minds.

    “President Buhari has a pan-Nigerian mandate, and he will discharge his duties and responsibilities in like manner. Any part of the country that requires special attention would receive it, irrespective of primordial affinities, which narrow-minded people have not been able to live above. This president will always work in the best interest of all parts of the country at all times. Let ethnic warriors sheathe their swords.”

    In a  series of tweets earlier in the day,the Presidency said:

    1/ Northeast Nigeria has always been a priority for President @MBuhari, right from when he campaigned to be President.

    — Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) October 13, 2017

    2/ From the start of the Administration,Pres @MBuhari has consistently highlighted the need for Int’l support to secure & rebuild the N/East

    — Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) October 13, 2017

    3/ The Northeast has featured prominently in all of the President’s engagements with the International Community.

  • $25b deals row: Presidency, NNPC board call for ceasefire

    $25b deals row: Presidency, NNPC board call for ceasefire

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) boss Dr. Maikanti Baru have been advised to stop their bitter row over the award of $25b contracts – one week after it all began.

    The Presidency and the NNPC Board ordered a ceasefire, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    As the row grew, some observers thought the minister would throw in the towel. But Dr Kachikwu is believed to have ruled out resignation from the cabinet because of his “deep respect for President Muhammadu Buhari, who he insisted is a clean leader”.

    Kachikwu, who was said to have gone to the Presidential Villa with a letter of resignation last Friday, has shelved the move in the “larger interest of the nation”.

    As part of the peace deal, there are moves to urge the Senate to have a “second opinion” on its decision to look at the disputed contracts.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said he did not sign contracts worth N640billion while the President was on medical leave.

    Some government officials and NNPC board members have met separately with Kachikwu and Baru on the need to “reconcile” and save the oil industry from unnecessary tension.

    An NNPC board source said: “We are now trying to de-escalate  the crisis of confidence between the Minister and the GMD. We do not want tension within the system again.

    “Some of us have met with the two leaders in the oil industry on the need to reconcile and sustain the gains in the sector.

    “This is why we do not want  Kachikwu either sacked or dropped from the Federal Executive Council(FEC). The issues raised by both parties can be addressed without further problem.

    “We are hopeful that the crisis is resolvable, going by the responses of the Minister and the GMD.”

    A cabinet source also claimed that some ministers spoke with both parties to “arrest the North-South dimension” which the crisis was assuming.

    The source said: “At least about 14 of us in the cabinet were so much touched and we decided to sue for peace. The way the Minister and the GMD embraced on Tuesday was an indication of the acceptance of our peace deal.

    “We were concerned that the crisis was being turned away from the real substance to infantile assumptions as if any fraud was committed.

    “At least, we have secured a commitment to ceasefire by both leaders, who are both internationally respected. In the last 72 hours, many interventions have occurred.

    “The leader at the centre of it all is President Muhammadu Buhari who felt personally hurt and scandalised by the August 30 memo. The President was really very, very angry.

    The source added: “It was not as if the President refused or decided to delay in responding to the Minister’s memo until it snowballed  into a crisis.

    “The truth is that Kachikwu did not route his memo through the normal official channel for fear of being hijacked or frustrated. He sent it through a presidential aide to ensure that the President got the memo.

    “Kachikwu perfectly laid ambush for those denying people access to the President by beating them to their game. Even after the memo was received by Buhari, he took steps to address it by sending it to the GMD officially for his response.

    As at press time, there were indications that Kachikwu might have abandoned his plan to quit the cabinet.

    A source said: “As a matter of fact, Kachikwu had gone to the Villa last Friday with a letter of resignation but he shelved it because of his deep respect for President Muhammadu Buhari, who he insisted is a clean leader. He loves Buhari and the President also gave him much latitude like a son.”­

  • Presidency backs Baru

    Presidency backs Baru

    • NNPC on oil deals: no process breached

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu’s future was hanging in the balance yesterday.

    President Muhammadu Buhari is said to be weighing options on Dr Kachikwu’s fate, following his allegations against Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru.

    Specifically, Kachikwu alleged that Baru

    • awarded $25b contracts unilaterally;
    • ran a bravado management; and
    • made appointments without consultations.

    It was learnt that having found Baru not guilty of corrupt practices, the Presidency gave the GMD the clearance to release a fact-sheet in the matter to the public.

    Kachikwu is said to be consulting his associates, stakeholders and colleagues on his next move. He has been cautioned against any act capable of being seen as confrontational, according to a source, who pleaded not to be named because of “the sensitivity of the matter”.

    Kachikwu’s associates, it was learnt, cited the travails of ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources Prof. Tam David-West’s rough deals with the military administration of ex-President Ibrahim Babangida.

    One of the alternatives being suggested by his friends is the possibility of voluntary exit from the cabinet “to preserve his integrity”. It was not clear last night the step Kachikwu would take after it was clear that the Presidency might have backed Baru.

    The GMD of NNPC described the $25billion contract figure raised by Kachikwu as “humongous” because “no money was lost and no process has been breached.”

    The President, The Nation learnt, felt scandalised by “unfounded allegations of corruption bordering on phantom $25billion contracts”.

    The allegations allegedly attracted concerns from other nations and some oil producing countries.

    President Buhari, who is said to have felt hurt, by the development, “refused to act on the spur of the moment because his image and the reputation of his administration were involved”.

    A top government source said: “The Presidency directed the GMD of NNPC to provide facts and figures, which it got from Baru.

    “Thereafter, the NNPC Act, the NNPC Handbook and Public Procurement Act were consulted on the responses of Baru to find out if infractions were committed by the corporation.

    “Having been convinced that there were no infractions, the Presidency then directed NNPC to lay the cards on the table for Nigerians to see and judge.

    “What was uppermost in the responses of the GMD was the fact that ‘there was no evidence of sharp practices, bribery, looting of funds and diversion of transaction cash’.

    “The allegations of Kachikwu were rated as ‘wild, intentional and political in nature’ against the administration he is serving.”

    It was learnt that the President met with Kachikwu last Friday to “be fair to the Minister and for record purposes”.

    A Presidency source, who  spoke in confidence with our correspondent, said: “The President has not spoken on the next action. No one knows his mindset.”

    Yesterday’s statement by the NNPC, which  was described as  an “assault” on Kachikwu by some of his associates, fuelled minister’s thoughts on his Option B which he did not state.

    Some of Kachikwu’s confidants have, however, cautioned against any “hasty” decision, given the travails of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West, during the military regime of ex-President Ibrahim Babangida.

    A highly-placed stakeholder said: “I am aware that the minister has been holding consultations and telling some vital players in the oil sector what transpired.

    “Of importance to him is the allegation of alleged plot to sabotage the government of President Buhari with the leakage of the August 20 memo. He has maintained his innocence that he did not leak the letter.

    “But it is tragic that no one believes Kachikwu’s story anymore in the Presidency.”

    The GMD yesterday dismissed the allegations of award of contracts without regard to due process as “unfounded” and “unfortunate”.

    He described the $25billion contract figure raised by Kachikwu as “humongous” because “no money was lost and no process has been breached”.

    He explained that as a former chairman of the NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee, he would be the last person to breach the procurement process by disregarding extant laws and rules.

    The GMD said the NNPC Act and the Public Procurement Act vested procurement powers in the NNPC Tenders Board, the President and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), depending on the cost threshold.

    He said the NNPC Board had no role whatsoever in the process.

    He said: “I know for those of you who are following what we are doing here, you know that there’s no money lost and no process has been breached.”

    Baru made his views known while receiving the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Francis Johnson, PENGASSAN members and members of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

    The leaders of the unions were on a solidarity visit to Baru.

    The unions’ visit came on the heels of the controversy sparked by Kachikwu’s letter to the President alleging non-adherence to due process by the Management of NNPC in some contract administration.

    Baru said: “Our contracting process is perfect and we will continue to follow the process. The NNPC Board has no role, I repeat, has no role as far as the contracting process is concerned.

    Baru said the NNPC Tenders Board was made up of the GMD as Chairman and the Group Executive Directors as members.

    On the crude term contract and the DSDP agreements, he said: “These are not contract as such; they are essentially pre-qualification of off-takers of crude oil and in the case of DSDP, of those that will take crude and give us products in return. So there is no value to them.

    “But humongous figures have been put forward mainly to incite the public, it is most unfortunate”.

    On the allegation of lop-sided promotions, the GMD asked the union leaders if their members felt disenchanted to which the unionists chorused a resounding “no”.

    He urged the union leaders to enlighten their members on the facts and encourage them to go about their duties without distraction.

    Comrade Johnson said the unions’ support for the GMD was based on his ability to walk his talk since assuming office last year.

    “The National body of PENGASSAN and all the NNPC in-house unions are here today to show our support for you. You have brought stability to the NNPC and we are happy today that staff morale is high. You were Chairman of NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee for over five years and that was what informed your appointment as GMD of NNPC. Today, all the bullets you are taking are on behalf of members of staff. We will continue to pray for you, God will continue to guide and shield you,” Comrade Johnson assured.

    The PENGASSAN President called on Nigerians to be cautious of their comments on the controversy, adding that any wrong information was capable of discouraging investors from the oil and gas industry which is the highest foreign exchange earner.

    The NNPC Group Chairman of PENGASSAN, Comrade Sale Abdullahi, who also spoke during the visit to the GMD, stated that their concern had to do with the need to protect not only the GMD but the NNPC as an institution.

    He noted that Dr. Baru had streamlined the processes and procedures in the Corporation leading to the full restructuring which was beginning to yield positive results.

    “Today, the GMD and NNPC Management receive input from staff and this gesture by Dr. Baru has given members of staff a sense of belonging. Today, our input are being implemented and we are highly motivated,” Comrade Abdullahi stated.

    Supporting these positions, the Group Chairman of NNPC NUPENG, Comrade Udofia Odudu Benjamin, said the unions would continue to pray for divine guidance for Dr. Baru and the entire NNPC management

    Earlier, the Chairman of NNPC Corporate Headquarters Chapter of PENGASSAN, Comrade Mathew Duru, reiterated the continued support of the unions for the Dr. Baru-led management.

    “We just want to tell the GMD from the bottom of our hearts that we are with him and the Top Management; that we are behind the GMD who has done very well in turning the fortunes of the Corporation around”, the union leader said.

    He said since Baru assumed office, he had succeeded in clearing the air of uncertainty that prevailed in the corporation because of visionless reforms that left NNPC on the brink of collapse.

    He also said the GMD succeeded in resolving the NNPC Pension challenge that had led to disenchantment among staff.

    He added: “We are with you. We want to let you know that you are not an orphan.”

     

  • Presidency hails Reps for defending Nigeria’s unity

    Presidency hails Reps for defending Nigeria’s unity

    The Presidency on Tuesday commended members of the House of Representatives for standing firm in defence of Nigeria’s unity.

    In a statement issued, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters (House of Reps), Rep. Abdulrahman Kawu, thanked members of the lower chamber for the motion they passed to reaffirm the need for unity of the nation.

    “I use this opportunity to commend the 360 members of the House for unanimously passing a resolution to work for the unity of Nigeria in the face of daunting challenges and threats by certain groups, who are bent on causing disharmony and dis-unity among Nigerians.

    “Indeed, there is no better time to come out with such a strong position like now.”

    He expressed delight that the lawmakers’ resolved to work with Mr President for one Nigeria so as to take the country to the next level of development.

    “I wish to assure the lawmakers, under the leadership of Mr Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, that Mr President remains resolute and committed to bringing the change he promised Nigerians in different facets of our lives, thus, he needs the support of the House to achieve this.

    “It is our hope and belief that the House would continue to work hand-in-hand with the Executive to achieve the laudable programmes of this administration.

    “We thank members of the House for their support and cooperation since their inauguration on June 9, 2015″, Kawu said. (NAN)

  • ‎ Saraki wrong on IPOB’s comment – Presidency

    ‎ Saraki wrong on IPOB’s comment – Presidency

    The Presidency has faulted the statement credited to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, that the Nigerian Army lacked the powers to declare the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist organisation.

    The Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution, Okoi Obono-Obla, said the army’s decision was in order.

    He queried the legal right of the Senate president and the entire legislature to declare as illegal, any action taken by the executive or any of its agencies.

    Obono-Obla, who drew a distinction between proscription and declaration, said the Attorney General of the Federation would soon apply for IPOB’s proscription in court.

    The presidential aide, in a statement on Tuesday, argued that the army, being an agency of the executive arm of government, acted within its powers by declaring IPOB a terrorist group for operational convenience.

    He said: “The military, as part of the executive branch of government, has the right to declare that IPOB is a terrorist organization for the purpose of quelling the threat posed to national security and corporate existence of the country by the unwholesome and nefarious activities of the organization.

    “So, there is nothing absolutely wrong or unconstitutional for the military, for operational reason, to declare IPOB a terrorist organization.

    “Declaration of IPOB as a terrorist organization does not amount to proscription of IPOB. Proscription of IPOB will surely be in accordance with the procedure and processes underlined in the provisions of Section 2 (1) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011.

    “It provides thus: ‘Where two or more persons associate for the purpose of or where an organization engages in:

    *(a) participating or collaborating in an act of terrorism;

    *(b) promoting , encouraging or exhorting others to commit an act of terrorism ; or (c) setting or pursuing acts of terrorism, the judge in chambers may, on application made by the Attorney General, the National Security Adviser or Inspector- General of Police,  on the approval of the President, declare any entity to be a proscribed organization and the notice should be published in official gazette.’

    “The military never proscribed IPO, but only declared it a terrorist organization, because of the way and manner it has been carrying out its activities.

    “These include pelting stones and cocktail Molotov bombs on convoys of military vehicles, burning of police stations, killing of police officers, attacking and threatening Nigerians living in Abia State, who do not subscribe to its separatist and militants ideology, creating the Biafra Security Service and Biafra National Guard.

  • Presidency: military deployment in Southeast not invasion

    Presidency: military deployment in Southeast not invasion

    The Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecution, Okoi Obono-Obla has described as uniformed the argument that the military deployment in the South-east amounted to an invasion of the region.

    He argued that the President, by authorising such a deployment, acted within his powers as provided in the Constitution and was bound to do so in the face of the threat to national security constituted by the activities of members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Read:Army to launch Python Dance II in South East Friday

     

    Obobo-Obla, in a statement yesterday, cited Section 8 (1 – 3) of the Armed Forces Act to justify the deployment. He added that the decision of the Federal Government was also supported by the provision of Section 217 of the Constitution, which allows the use of the armed forces in the face of insurrection and in aid of civil authorities to restore order.

    He said: “It is axiomatic that Abia State constitutes part and parcel of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the President, Commander–in-Chief; President Muhammadu Buhari, has the power to deploy the Armed Forces to any part of the territory that constitutes the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to maintaining and securing public safety and public order.

    Also: IPOB: South East governors wade into agitations, initiate dialogue to end crisis

    “It follows that by Section 8 (3) of the Armed Forces Act, the President, in exercise of his powers to determine the operational use of the Armed Forces, direct that the deployment of any branch of the Armed Forces for the purpose of maintaining and securing public safety and public order.

    “This is precisely what the President did when he deployed the Armed Forces to the Abia State of Nigeria to maintain and secure public safety and public order. Put differently, the President can, in certain circumstances, deployed the Armed Forces of Nigeria to perform police duties.

    “Examples of the use of the Armed Forces to maintain law and order sometimes in this country abound; so why are detractors of the Federal Government suggesting that the deployment of the Armed Forces to Abia State or the South East region amounts to invasion?”

    Citing the provisions of Section 217 subsections 2 (a) (b) (c) of the Constitution, Obono-Obla argued that “grammatically or literarily or contextually the description or branding of the deployment of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to Abia State to maintain public safety and public order as invasion, in the face of threat by IPOB, is absolutely wrong.

    “The pertinent question is, what is an invasion?  An invasion is a military offensive in which large parts of combatants of one geo-political entity aggressively enter territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a territory, forcing the partition of a country,” Obono-Obla said.

  • Presidency lashes Ezekwesili over IPOB, others

    Presidency lashes Ezekwesili over IPOB, others

    The Presidency has advised the Co-convener of the #BringBackOurGirls Group, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, to demonstrate a great sense of responsibility in the face of national security challenges posed by the IPOB propaganda, which it said was designed to cause civil unrest.

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Malam Garba Shehu said “a prominent influencer like Dr. Oby has a moral and patriotic duty not to give ammunition to any violent group that seems determined to pursue its separatist agitation through reckless and destructive methods.”

    He explained that, “while it is convenient for the civil society activist to condemn the military and the government of President Buhari, Mrs. Ekekwesili didn’t find it appropriate, even once, to criticise the dangerous and violent propaganda being propagated by the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Oby, as they call her, tweets on everything. Why was she silent on this one?”

    According to him, the attacks on soldiers and policemen by IPOB supporters “was most irresponsible, indefensible and reckless” and that nobody in her position “should elevate mobs to the status of rock stars for the sake of playing to the gallery.”

    The presidential media aide said while the military are taking all precautions to observe the rules of engagement, “there is a deliberate sinister agenda by IPOB to provoke the soldiers into killing innocent people in retaliation so that Nnamdi Kanu would use the pictures of the victims for international propaganda by the accusing the government of ethnic cleansing against the Igbos with the sole purpose of gaining sympathy.

    “A president who has put put the nation’s cash cows, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Petroleum in the hands of the Igbo; who has given four out of five states in the subregion senior cabinet posts in his administration, including Foreign Affairs; and Industry, Trade and Investment, and is constructing the Second Niger bridge after years of deceit and false starts cannot be called a hater of the Igbo.”

    The statement warned that the politicisation of the ongoing military exercise in the subregion, itself in line with similar exercises in the five other geopolitical regions is inimical to the military readiness of the armed forces and the much-desired improved civilian-military relations in the country.

    Garba also wondered why Mrs. Ezekwesili “retreated to the background or lost her voice while IPOB supporters were violently molesting, harassing, attacking and jeopardising the lives of indigenes and non-indigenes.”

    He challenged Mrs. Ezekwesili to explain to Nigerians where the constitution of Nigeria, and international human rights law support the killing and molestation of innocent people in the name of advocacy for self-determination.

    According to him, “her hypocritical and timid silence while Kanu’s IPOB supporters were engaged in lawlessness and recklessness in violation of his bail conditions is a burden on her credibility as a national crusader, who should be courageous to condemn criminality. This art of using a raincoat while taking a bath is nothing short of self deceit.”