The Nation Newspaper

Tag: President Muhammadu Buhari

  • ‘Anti-graft crusade, Nigeria’s potent tool for positive image laundering’

    Nigeria’s former envoy to the Republic of Congo, Amb.Yerima Isa,  said on Friday that the anti-graft crusade of the present administration had redeemed the nation’s  image at the international scene beyond imagination.

    Isa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola, that the zeal and determination with which corruption was being fought, was a clear example of how such effort could serve as a potent weapon for positive image laundering.

    The former envoy appealed to Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari in the fight to salvage the country’s economy from collapse.

    He said that the benefits of the crusade were enormous as more foreign investors would be willing to invest in the country.

    According to him, the global community will equally treat Nigerians with a high level of respect.

    Isa recalled how in the past, Nigerians were seen as people without integrity who could not be trusted, with such thinking glaringly manifesting during a screening at international borders and ports.

    “It had been an issue of concern, especially for those of us who had been in Foreign Service, the way Nigerians were treated outside the shore of this nation.

    “The negative stories emanating from Nigeria had been of serious concern to us.

    “Today, the image profile is fast changing over there due to the heart-warming emerging stories about how the country is vigorously fighting corruption.

    “With this, many foreigners will like to invest in our country and the benefits of this fight are enormous.

    “I, therefore advise the Senate and other relevant institutions, to support our president in redeeming our image over there,” he said.

  • Buhari mourns Prof. Borishade

    Buhari mourns Prof. Borishade

    President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the family of former Minister of Education, Prof. Babalola Borishade, who died on Wednesday.

    Buhari, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, sent his condolences to the government and people of Ekiti State, professional colleagues, political associates and friends of the renowned academic and political strategist.

    According to him, Borishade’s antecedents in the academia and public service will continue to speak for generations to come.

    The President believed Borishade distinguished himself in patriotism by diligently serving as a minister in four ministries, and initiating laudable projects and regulating structures that have remained the reference points in all the institutions after many years.

    He recalled the unwavering support of the septuagenarian to the policy team of the All Progressives Congress and his contributions in ensuring victory at the polls for the party in 2015.

    He prayed that the almighty God will grant the soul of the departed former minister eternal rest, and comfort his loved ones.

     

  • Health challenges: Makarfi urges Buhari to hand over to Osinbajo

    Health challenges: Makarfi urges Buhari to hand over to Osinbajo

    . . . Blames sycophants for Jonathan’s defeat in 2015 poll

     

    The chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to hand over power to Vice President Yemi Osibanjo pending his full recovery from his undisclosed illness.

    Makarfi, who made the call in an interview with our correspondents in Abuja on Thursday, said if President Buhari is not fit enough to remain in office, it’s better to tell the Nigerian people and allow the Vice President to continue as Acting President and return to work after full recovery.

    The leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the President would be working from his official residence, after failing to attend the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting for three consecutive weeks.

    But Makarfi disagreed with the APC’s position, saying, “It cannot be okay and it can never be okay. My take is that if the President is not fully fit to stay in office, it is better that he tell Nigerians, so that the Vice President will continue to be Acting President, exercising the powers of acting president.

    “Then you run away from this kind of situation when we allow time for the President to fully recover and assume his mantle of leadership. Me as PDP person, as a human being, I will never wish any human being ill-will even if I disagree with you politically.

    “So it does not matter that it is APC that is the person that is sick. May prayer is that he is fit to serve his term. As a politician, I equally want him to finish his term. So when some people begin to insinuate things, of what interest would it be to PDP should the President be unable to finish his term.

    “We don’t wish him ill will, we want him to be well, we want him to be fit enough to be on seat when in 2019 we go for election and defeat the APC .

    “For a number of reasons, the PDP wishes the President well, for stability of this country, political stability and the fact that we want to defeat a sitting President. We don’t want any confusion politically in this country. It is not good for anybody and as a human being; I never wish anybody ill will irrespective of political differences”.

    Makarfi also reacted to the claim by former President Goodluck Jonathan that some prominent members of the PDP from Northern Nigeria, including the erstwhile party chair, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, betrayed him by working against his re-election in the 2015 elections.

    The Caretaker Committee chairman said Jonathan was betrayed by sycophants he surrounded himself with, coupled with the fact that the party leadership made many mistakes and failed to take wise counsel.

    Said he, “The PDP made many mistakes and I have said it before. Of course there were betrayers left, right and centre, even those of us who stood for other elective offices we can be talking that way.

    “We made mistakes; we were not listening to what people had to tell us. We were too comfortable, then of course sycophancy took over and when sycophancy takes over what would you end up with.

    “There were all kinds of betrayals. We have learnt our lessons now. I don’t want to cry over spilled milk. We should learn from the mistakes that we have made for not listening to the true voices of the people.

    “Going forward, we should try to avoid a situation where we would be saying someone betrayed us. No matter what, you will find Judases here and there and you cannot do away with them in life not even in politics.

    “And when they are in majority, you have to look at yourself as a party and the honest truth is that we made fundamental errors. And it created a fertile ground for that betrayal. I am not defending it because it ought not to have happened. And people would have been more patient but not everybody can be patient”.

    On the argument by some prominent Northern party chieftains that PDP would have won the 2015 election if the party had fielded a popular candidate from the North, instead of Jonathan, Makarfi agreed that the race would have been easier for the party.

    “Yes, the result would have been different, but even then, Jonathan as the candidate if the party had listened a lot more, and rejigged its campaign, its language and the message.

    “True or false, the votes difference was about two million. It would have been different even with Jonathan as a candidate. It is not just of him as a candidate, but communicating better and dealing with the right people could have made the situation different.

    “But that is history. So we should learn from the mistakes we have made. So you cannot entirely say because Jonathan was a candidate, of course it would have been much easier, but even with him as candidate, the characters fronting for PDP were not characters that could have won election for the party”.

    On the future of the PDP, in view of the party’s protracted leadership crisis, Makarfi said his group are waiting for the commencement of its appeal against the court backed National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff. The Supreme Court is to commence hearing in the matter on May 5.

    Asked what would be the fate of the PDP should his faction lose the case to Sheriff at the apex court, Makarfi said that would spell the death knell of the crisis-ridden opposition party.

    He continued, “If it happens that way, PDP would die. But those who would be working to kill PDP that way, I assure you they would end up being confronted with a bigger political force than the PDP itself.

    “Because politics is about people, there is no way, let me speak here for the North that I know so well; there is no way in the North with Sheriff at the helm of affairs of PDP that voters would on their own go and vote PDP. There is no way.

    “We have just seen it in a recent election in Delta State that they have turned their back against PDP because of Sheriff. And it may be so in many states of the southern part of this country.

    “These people are alive, they are politicians, they are active. Water will surely find its level. And consistently, we have been saying that we are not going to be caught unawares. We are not going to be caught without options.

    “We cannot boast of what the Supreme Court judgment would be but we are hopeful that they would do what is right. And in our opinion, what is right is upholding the Convention.

    “But should what we think is right not be in law right before the Supreme Court, so be it. We will decide our political direction in good time. And that political direction, I assure you, would be one that would be more potent than the PDP as it is.

    “Because PDP as it is, we know that we carry wounds, a lot of stigmatism, a lot of things and in an effort to kill a rat, you may let a lion loose because God  Almighty that created us loves us and He looks over everybody.

    “God wants something that is good for our people and there is no way you can deny whatever is good for our people no matter the intrigues you apply. You may think you are squeezing people one way, but you may be giving birth to something that you may not be able to squeeze.

    “Win or loose, members of PDP have a bright future. So I am saying PDP members should not be bothered because win or loose at the Supreme Court, they have a brighter political future. A decision will be taken at the appropriate time”.

    Describing what he described as Sheriff’s sinister antics, the party chief accused some prominent members of the ruling APC of foisting him on the PDP against the wish of the majority.

    Said he, “There are invisible hands that are hoisting him, and hoisting him purely with the view to destroying opposition and that is what he is basking in. Nigerians should wake up.

    “It is not about PDP, it is about development of democracy and the voice of democracy in Nigeria. And if it is PDP today, it will be another party tomorrow.

    “That is what we are standing on and that is what we are fighting for so that tomorrow whichever party may find itself in power will not be able to stop easily or decimate opposition in order to have an easy way.

    “You can take a horse to the river, you cannot force it to drink water.  And people will decide for themselves at the appropriate time”.

    According to him, PDP members across the federation would never remain in the party with Sheriff calling the shots, stressing that the party chairman has gone into financial deal with some APC governors with the sole aim of destabilising the PDP in their various states ahead of the 2019 elections.

    “Sheriff is busy factionalising the PDP across the states but we are not going to erect parallel structures in any state in deference to the Appeal Court ruling and in order not to further compound the problem.

    “He is doing this for the APC governors to win comfortably in their various states and he is being paid for the job. Sheriff has taken up a job to destroy the PDP for a fee and that is exactly what he is doing”, Senator Makarfi said.

    On the fate of the PDP in the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun States, Makarfi said voters in those states will never allow themselves to be without options.

    “You see, politics is local, those states are not sleeping. They have their eyes wide open; they would never allow themselves to be without options.

    “PDP men and women would never allow themselves to be without options, our prayer is that on May 4, all the motions filed before the Supreme Court would have been heard.

    “And if all this are heard, our prayer is that the Supreme Court would do justice in time. And mind you, within the week, even the INEC said this crisis in PDP is affecting its ability to properly plan for elections.

    “So this matter is more of elective matter than that of political party issue because every day there are elections and it is causing confusion in the land.

    “Our prayer is that the Supreme Court will do justice and in our opinion, justice is respecting what the overwhelming party men and women want and do it in good time.

    “Either way, whatever they decide, people would take their position as to what they are going to do and our prayer is that their decision will bring sanity in the land”, he stated.

     

     

  • Buhari committed to growing Nigerian economy – Ngige

    Buhari committed to growing Nigerian economy – Ngige

    Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige has said that President Muhammadu Buhari was irrevocably committed to growing the Nigerian economy through strategic initiatives that engage the nation’s huge population as a fulcrum.

    Speaking at the on-going 2nd Ordinary Session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment in Algiers, Algeria, Ngige said the recently released Medium Term Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) is a paradigm shift in this direction.

    He said the Buhari administration has demonstrated its capacity to exploit our huge population for wealth creation and economic growth, which explains the capacity shown so far for an early exit from the current economic recession.

    He said: “Our shift is the engagement of our large population in well-articulated diversification programme which has shifted attention to agriculture and mining, in a process intended to be driven by diverse skills acquisition and subsequent job creation”.

    Presenting Nigeria’s position entitled “Investment in Employment and Social security For Harnessing Demographic Dividend” Ngige said Nigeria was resolute in exploiting the untapped potentials of huge   population to grow the economy through dynamic micro-economic policies.

    According to him, “The focus of the present administration in Nigeria is to invest in our huge population through massive job creation, youth empowerment, social inclusion and strengthening of our educational and health system so as to achieve macro-economic stability and diversification.

    “This is a pathway to building a global competitive economy that can stimulate private sector investments, infrastructural renewal, a major pathway to spend out of recession and improved business environment”.

    He disclosed that concerted efforts were being made to increase access to decent work for Nigerians through the implementation of National Policy on Employment whose document was reviewed in 2016 while creating job and skills acquisition centres which targets the 774 Local Government Areas as operational base.

    The Minister said 15 obsolete and retrogressive labour laws some of which date back to the colonial era have been sent to the National Assembly for review.

    The Minister enumerated other government efforts towards exploiting Nigeria’s huge population for jobs and skills development to include a nation-wide stop-gap jobs for unskilled persons through interventionist schemes in agriculture and mining, skills development and competency upgrade, reduction of miss-match between graduate skills and demands in modern labour market as well as the N-power programme, noting that women constitute a large percent  of the beneficiaries of these different programmes.

    On Social security, the Minister said that beyond a National Policy on Social Protection and Social Security which was conceived to drive universal human rights, inclusiveness and wealth re-distribution, the National Social Insurance Trust Fund, the National Health Insurance Scheme, Pension Commission and National Social Investment Programmes were core government agencies effectively providing social protection for vulnerable persons within their respective purviews.

     

     

  • Ministerial nominee: Kogi APC wants Ocheni replaced

    Ministerial nominee: Kogi APC wants Ocheni replaced

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Kogi State Chapter has petitioned the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and other party elders calling for the replacement of the state’s ministerial nominee, Steven Ocheni with that of Alhj. Usman Naibi Maiyaga.

    In a four-page-petition released Thursday and signed by the State Chairman of the party, Alhj. Haddy Ametuo and 40 other party chieftains appealed to the Senate President to right the wrong done to Maiyaga, alleging that his name was wrongful substituted and replaced with that of Steven Ocheni as replacement for Late James Ocholi.

    “With utmost respect Sir, we the undersigned Executive Members of All Progressives Congress (APC), Kogi State chapter hereby officially write you over the malicious and wrongful substitution and replacement of Alhaji Idris M. Usman with the name of Prof. Steven Ocheni as the ministerial nominee representing Kogi State,” a statement in Abuja on Tuesday said.

    The statement said the state party unanimously distanced itself from Prof. Ocheni, stating that it was the collective resolve of the state party after the death of Ocholi for Maiyaga to be nominated after wide range consultations.

    According to the statement, after nominating Maiyaga which was supposed to be followed by Senate screening was replaced by Ocheni who was not even a party member.

    “We made further inquiries to that effect, we noticed that a few politicians from the state that are of course leading voices for our country’s democracy are indeed behind the unprofessional replacement of the people’s choice and mandate” the party said.

    The party in the statement condemned the nomination of Ocheni which it described as imposition even when he is missing in Kogi political firmament.

    While maintaining that Ocheni is not an APC card carry member, the party jointly backed Maiyaga for the exalted position, describing him as a good party man and grassroots moblizer who had been with them from CPC to APC.

    “Having been a founder/convener of kogi chapter of ACN, CPC AND now APC, 2007 governorship flag-bearer for ACN, 2011 Gubernatorial flag-bearer for CPC and 2015 Gubernatorial contender for APC kogi State who was later substituted by late Abubakar Audu also in 2015 presidential primary/main election coordinator of Buhari support in kogi state.

    “We choose him base on his credentials being a grass root disposition and capacity to preserve kogi state party structure came to limelight during the last presidential election in Kogi where we secure resounding victory for his excellency, president Muhammadu Buhari.”

     

  • ANEEJ to FG: Bring oil subsidy thieves to justice

    ANEEJ to FG: Bring oil subsidy thieves to justice

    The Executive Director, Africa Network for Empowerment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor on Thursday told the Federal Government that one of the ways to end oil subsidy corruption in the country is by bringing suspected thieves of the subsidy to justice.

    It was part of the recommendations that he made for ending oil subsidy in Nigeria in his book titled: “Fatality of Nigerian Oil Subsidy,” which was launched in Abuja on Thursday.

    He said for a country to make meaningful progress for the overall development of its people, it must sustain the fight against corruption and ensure transparency and accountable governance system.

    According to him, “In prosecuting the war against graft, it is important to ensure that those involved in grand corruption cannot continue with impunity. They must be brought to justice through active enforcement of anti-bribery laws, and/or that they face restriction ps on their ability to travel, invest or conduct business overseas. They should be immediately dispossessed of the proceeds of crime.”

    The Executive Director said that the citizens must report instances of corruption with the confidence that actionable information will be out to appropriate and effective use by law enforcement agencies and governments.

    The book which was launched by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Justice Reform, Barrister Juliet Nwagu, noted that digital technologies offer new opportunities to strengthening reporting mechanisms by expanding the ways citizens can report cases of corruption, efficiently pooling information from wide range of sources, and speeding up the authorities’ ability to analyze and act on complaints data.

    Continuing, the book calls on the “international community to explore the scope to use unexplained wealth orders and non-conviction based confiscation procedures. This has the potential to make it easier to confiscate the proceeds of corruption and return them to their countries of origin.

    “In Nigeria, the prices of conviction-based approach to fighting corruption is very cumbersome and takes a lot of time and resources, often providing an escape route for the corrupt.”

    One of the salient questions that the title of the book threw up was whether there is still oil subsidy in the country.

    In her remarks, Nwagu however, said that there should be a debate on whether there is still oil subsidy in Nigeria.

    “I can’t answer that question, I think the person who can answer that question is the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and of course the GMD of NNPC will be in a better position to answer that question,” she said.

    According to her, what is now critical is that Nigerian’s are not happy the way the oil and gas sector is managed but they have to ask questions. Nwagu revealed that government is looking into the improvement of the freedom of information act to enable the citizenry to ask questions about the things that bother them.

    She said people have to ask questions about the delay of the cases concerning oil subsidy theft.

  • APC Scandinavia hails Buhari’s anti-corruption Drive

    APC Scandinavia hails Buhari’s anti-corruption Drive

    Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Scandinavia have commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-anti corruption campaign which has exposed several public office holders.

    This is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by the Chairman, APC Scandinavia, Ayoola Lawal, in which he also commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Department of State Security (DSS) as well as the Ministry of Finance for the whistleblowing policy which has smoked out some of the biggest evil acts of corruption by our so-called leaders and politicians.

    According to Lawal in the statement, the huge amounts of money that are being recovered from different parts of the country is disappointing for any developing country like Nigeria.

    “Lawmakers ought to have come up with a concrete policy that will strictly convict offenders of public offices and for misappropriation of funds meant for public good. Also, anyone accused of corrupt practice should be made to step aside to allow investigation take place, properly.

    “No doubt that this country needs a lot of funding and investment to get it to where citizens desire for it to be, which is for it to favourably compete with western worlds. Sadly, elected and appointed opportunists have decided to fend for selfish selves at the expense of the general population.

    “It is rather unfortunate that such a potentially great nation like Nigeria has been left at the mercy of clueless, wicked and heartless individuals who care less about the suffering of the masses whose taxes they feed on and greedily syphon.

    “It is no more news that so many brave, intelligent and industrious men and women in Nigeria have been wallowing in abject poverty due to lack of employment, underemployment and or poor infrastructures that could enable entrepreneurial initiatives.

    “Now that the battle against corruption is real and ongoing, it is a call on the judiciary and the lawmakers to live up to the expectations of Nigerians by giving the appropriate support to the war against corruption declared by the Buhari-led administration.

    “The sentiments of affected colleagues should not stop lawmakers and members of the judiciary from dispensing fair judgments when the need be,” he said.

    The APC Scandinavia leader further urged Nigerians to support the fight by patiently following the revelations and exposing those that they know are part of the misappropriation of public funds or abuse of office.

    “Let the whistleblowing continue,” he said.

  • Buhari seeks Senate’s approval of $6.93bn borrowing plan

    Buhari seeks Senate’s approval of $6.93bn borrowing plan

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday requested the Senate to urgently consider and approve Federal Government’s 2016-2018 External Borrowing Rolling Plan of  6.93 billion dollars.

    The rolling plan, according to him, is to enable the government commence the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the North-East, provide for the poor and tackle rail projects across the country.

    The president made the request in a letter to the Senate dated April 21, 2017 and read by President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, at plenary.

    Buhari said “China Eximbank has approved our request for a loan to execute the Lagos-Kano railway modernisation project for a sum of 1.23 billion dollars.

    “The Chinese have also informed us that the approval of the Lagos-Kano railway modernisation project (Kano-Kaduna Segment) at1.15 billion dollars and the Coastal Railway Project at 3.47 million dollars are imminent,”

    He explained that the funds for the project were available under the China-Africa Fund but were limited, adding that loan applications from African countries were funded based on first-come-first-served basis.

    “Therefore there is an urgent need for us to sign these loans as soon as they are approved or we might lose out in the event that we delay,” the president said.

    “We are already in the process of completing the concession of the Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri Line to immediately link the eastern part of the nation.

    “We fully intend to source further concessionary funding to ultimately upgrade this critical line to high speed standard gauge line.

    “This project forms part of our overall plan to resuscitate the rail transport across the nation and thereby drive inclusive growth,” he said.

    The president said that the request was based on the need to consolidate the relative peace in the North-East.

    “The situation as you are aware has changed dramatically and introduces even more urgency to the situation in the zone than ever before.”

    He said that the capture and destruction of the stronghold of Boko Haram in the Sambisa forest was welcomed news.

    However, he added that the recent unfortunate incident of the bombing of an Internally Displaced Camp (IDP) camp by mistake, and with loss of civilian lives brought to the fore the  need to resettle the people.

    Buhari said to achieve that, there was need for urgent tackling of the identified projects in the spirit of reconstruction and rehabilitation, and also to create jobs.

    According to him, the World Bank has also approved a sum of 575 million dollars to assist the Federal Government in the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.

    “The fund is also to assist the Federal Government in the procurement of vaccines and other ancillary facilities for national routine immunisation to eradicate polio after the outbreak in the North-east in 2016.

    “ I am requesting your early consideration of the proposed World Bank-Assisted 500 million dollars loan to help expand the assistance and support to the poor and most vulnerable, especially in this difficult time.”

    The president said that given the current state of the economy and the need to adequately address infrastructural deficiencies, it was imperative for the legislature and executive to work together to get the economy out of recession.

    “Distinguished Senate, an expeditious consideration and approval of this request will go a long way in bringing stability to the North-east.

    “It will also make for improvement on the infrastructure and by extension, a great improvement in the economy and livelihood of our people.”

  • Minister refutes report on Buhari working from home henceforth

    Minister refutes report on Buhari working from home henceforth

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says he “never said that President Muhammadu Buhari is to work from home henceforth”.

    In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday,  the minister said the reporting in a section of the media of his post- Federal Executive  Council (FEC) briefing that  the President is to work from home henceforth is erroneous.

    The statement signed by his Special Adviser,  Mr Segun Adeyemi,  the minister said “the President only decided to work from home today, not that he has decided to work from home henceforth”.

    He said the headlines in a section of the media, ”Buhari to now work
    from home – Lai Mohammed,” is a misrepresentation of his statement at the briefing.

    Quoting verbatim the relevant section of his briefing, Alhaji Mohammed said: ”he (the President) wanted to rest today. .

    “He asked the Vice President to preside over TODAY’S meeting.

    “In addition, he also asked that all his files be taken home to him and he will be working from home today .” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Channels Television online report of the briefing quoted the minster correctly.

    The report on the website of channelstv.com has  the headline “Buhari to work from home today”

    The report quoted the minister: “The President sent a word that he wanted to rest today and asked the Vice President to preside over today’s meeting.

    “The president also asked that all his files be taken home to him and will be working from home today”.

  • It’s not compulsory for Buhari to preside over FEC meeting – APC governors

    It’s not compulsory for Buhari to preside over FEC meeting – APC governors

    Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the auspices of the Progressives Governors Forum rose from a meeting with members of the National Working Committee of the party Thursday night to say that it was not compulsory for President Muhammadu Buhari to preside over the Federal Executive Council meeting.

    The governors also resolved to conduct a fund raising exercise at a yet to be announced date to ensure that the activities of the national secretariat and other organs of the party that has suffered due to lack of funds function properly.

    Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai said the governors and the leadership of the party were not worried about the inability of the President to preside over the FEC meeting for the third time in a roll.

    The Kaduna governor said at 74, it was a normal thing for the President to have health challenge, pointing out that while the absence of the President from the meeting may not be unconnected with his health situation, they were “not worried about the development, it is not compulsory for the President to preside over every Federal Executive Council (FEC) that is why our constitution makes available the place of the Vice President.

    “Mr. President is 74 years old; at that age it is possible to have one ailment or the other, even I at 57 take medications for one ailment or the other. Our prayers is that the president gets better.

    “But the reason he has a Vice President is because of a time like this. It may not be as a reason of sickness that he didn’t attend FEC. He may have had other pressing issues to attend to. I have not had to chair every state Executive Council in Kaduna state because the deputy governor is there, if I have other issues of greater priority to attend to.

    “We are not worried yet or have any reason to be worried but I call on every Nigerian to join all of us to pray for the improve health of the President. It has improved in the last few weeks since he came back and we will continue to pray for his improve health.”

    On the decisions arrived at during the meeting, he said “The most important decision is that henceforth we will hold a meeting here at the National secretariat once every month.

    “This is with a view to increase the interaction, foster relations between the National and state branches of the party as well as work towards strengthening the party. We also took certain resolutions and the first is that the Progressives governors have committed to work acidulously at strengthening and rebuilding the party and ensuring reconciliation and unification of the party at all levels.

    “We have committed to providing the NWC all the support that they need. We will also engage in fund raising from our donors and sympathizers of the APC  to ensure that the National headquarters of the party and indeed all organs of the party have the wherewithal to continue with the difficult work they have been doing within the party.

    “The joint meeting between the NWC and the governors also resolved to that at our next meeting, we are going to look at the arrangements for the midterm convention and put in place the resources needed to ensure that the convention hold as required by our party.

    “The governors reinstate their loyalty to Mr. President, the Vice President and all the leaders of our party. We enjoin Nigerians to continue to pray for the improved health of the President.

    “We are proud as a party and as governors that the state governments under the APC have recorded progress in the last few months and the increasing performance of the federal government at the National level. The governors will continue to advance the course of good governance, fighting corruption, improving security in our country.”

    Four governors of the party, namely Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos, Rauf Aregbesola of Osun, Godwin Obaseki of Edo state and Jibrilla Bindo of Adamawa were absent at the meeting.