The Nation Newspaper

Tag: President Muhammadu Buhari

  • China ready for Buhari’s visit

    China ready for Buhari’s visit

    President Muhammadu Buhari will pay a state visit to China between Monday to Friday next week at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced on Wednesday.

    “China and Nigeria enjoy a traditional friendship. This year marks the 45th anniversary of China-Nigeria diplomatic ties,” Lu said at a daily press briefing.

    During the visit, President Xi Jinping will hold talks with Buhari, and Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang will have separate meetings with him, exchanging views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern, Lu said.

    The two sides will sign cooperation agreements and jointly hold a forum on production capacity cooperation as well as a reception marking the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties, said Lu.

    Calling Nigeria “a major strategic partner of China in Africa,” Lu said the two countries have maintained frequent high-level visits, cooperated for strong results and maintained positive communication and coordination in international affairs over the past 45 years.

    “We believe President Buhari’s visit will give new impetus to the all-round development of the China-Nigeria strategic partnership of cooperation,” Lu said.

    Buhari will also visit Shanghai, an economic hub in east China, and Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province.

  • Buhari’s foreign trips in order, says Senator Nakudu

    Buhari’s foreign trips in order, says Senator Nakudu

    The Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Senator Mohammed Sabo Nakudu has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent trips abroad were part of the price Nigeria had to pay for the impunity and reign of terror witnessed in the country during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Senator Nakudu who spoke with The Nation in Abuja on Wednesday said the criticism against President Buhari on his foreign trips were based on ignorance as Nigeria would benefit more from some of the multi-national and bilateral agreements signed by the president abroad.

    He cited the agreement signed by the President with the Government of the United Arab Emirate, UAE, among others as example, saying in a short while billion of dollars starched away in that country would be repatriated into Nigeria.

    Senator Nakudu who represents Jigawa South-West in the National Assembly also defended President Buhari’s Ministers , saying it was unfair to described them as lacklustre since they have not even implemented any budget of their own on their assumption of office last year.

    He said the 2016 federal budget which focuss on the the diversification of the economy would address the problems of unemployment and poverty if faithfully implemented, stressing there is wisdom in the government action to improve revenue earnings from the minining and agriculture sectors.

    His words: “the 2016 budget is a clear intention of the government to do away with oil revenues and embrace agriculture and minining. The 2016 budget is geared towards providing the enabling environment for the economy to grow as can be seen from the allocations to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and with economc growth, the issue of poverty and unemployment will be reduced.

    “The budget is also farmers friendly because the present government has realized the importance agriculture can play in our economic life. However, it must be emphasized that success in agriculture cannot be achieved without the necessary support from all tiers of government as being done in developed countries.”

    Senator Nakudu who enjoined Nigerians to be patient with the administration as steps are being taken to right so many wrongs in the system, said it would take a systematic approach to rejuvenate the economy of the country.

    “The administration has prioritized the issues of corruption and insecurity. And we have seen the results of both. Insurgent activities have reduced drastically and people are now being careful and cautious in government offices. The administration is doing the right thing and I believe everybody who mean well for this country would key into that,” Nakudu stated.

  • NASS set to transmit 2016 budget details to President

    NASS set to transmit 2016 budget details to President

    Succour might soon come to Nigerians as the details of the 2016 budget is set to be transmitted to the President to facilitate his assent to the appropriation bill.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would not sign the appropriation bill unless the details of the budget are attached.

    Buhari has promised to go through the details” line by line” as soon as he receives it.

    The Chairman of the House committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmunin Jibrin Wednesday conveyed the details of the N6.06 trillion budget to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa at precisely 4:54pm.

    The budget has been plagued with controversy from the time it was submitted to the National Assembly.

    It was however passed on March 23 after an almost three months delay yet lack of details further elongated the delay.

    The details are expected to be picked from the office of the Clerk of the National Assembly by both Special Advisers to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang and his House of Representatives counterpart, Abdulrahman Ismaila Kawu.

    Jibrin’s counterpart from the Senate, Danjuma Goje was conspicuously absent. He was however said to have been sighted at the Code of Conduct Tribunal where the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki is undergoing trial for false declaration of assets.

    Jibrin while speaking with reporters as he left the CNA’s office said: “Yes we have just submitted the details of the 2016 appropriation bill to the Clerk of the National Assembly for onward transmission to the executive arm of government.”

    On it there were surprises in the details, he said: “Well I don’t know what you mean by surprises. Of course you know the challenges that the budget came with, again we have gone through that over and over.

    “But even with that, we were able to put all our hands on the table and we have been able to do a lot of cleaning up exercise and working 15,16,17 hours every day and yes we have done the very best we can.

    “But we continue to plead with Nigerians for their understanding. We do know what is going on, we share their pains. And we are also living in this country. We just want Nigerians to understand that this year, it’s a different budget. We have not had such a challenging budget before.”

    The lawmaker said like every other years the National Assembly has made its own inputs into the budget.

    “Of course you know we have worked on the details and when I was coming in, I tried to answer some questions whether there were inputs? Of course, there were inputs of lawmakers on the details.

    “You are faced with what the executive arm of government want or what the lawmakers want but the case of the appropriation committee is to find a middle ground between both.

    “But I think the budget we just signed off with my colleague in the Senate, to the best of our knowledge, is an implementable budget and to a large extent, we believe that it properly aligns with the policy thrust of the government.”

    On what was the next line of action, he said: “Of course, we have done our own part, the budget will be transmitted to the president and so we keep our fingers crossed.

    “The presidential advisers of the National Assembly will come over to pick the details, I have called both of them and there are aware that the details are ready.”

  • Buhari seeks dialogue to resolve political crisis in Burundi

    Buhari seeks dialogue to resolve political crisis in Burundi

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday urged the people and Government of Burundi to explore dialogue in resolving the current political differences in the country.

    He gave the advice while receiving the former Burundian President, Mr. Pierre Buyoya, at the State House, Abuja.

    According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, President Buhari said that Nigeria would continue to support peace processes in the continent through the African Union (AU), which had already intervened in Burundi.

    He said since President Pierre Nkurunziza rejected the proposal of a ‘‘stabilizing force from the AU, we can’t impose it on him, but we will continue to opt for dialogue.’’

    ‘‘Nigeria has been playing a key role in the continent through the AU. We participated fully in ensuring a truce in Mali, and we want citizens to enjoy the impact of the truce, although the terrorists are not helping matters.

    ‘‘Nigeria is always committed to regional and continental peace, and we will continue to do our best,’’ he said.

    The President told the former President of Burundi, who is the High Representative of the AU Mission to Mali and the Sahel, that he remained hopeful that there would be an amicable solution to the situation in Burundi.

    In his remarks, the former President commended Nigeria for the role it played in restoring peace to Mali, adding that the AU was working to promote security in the Sahel, particularly through fighting trans-border terrorism.

    He also urged Nigeria to use its clout to work for peace in Burundi, warning that the “country is gradually inching towards a civil war.”

  • We need to re-establish the integrity of Nigeria – Buhari

    We need to re-establish the integrity of Nigeria – Buhari

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari has stressed the urgent need to ensure that the potentials of Nigeria are harnessed and used for the good of the country.

    The president noted this on Monday when he received the President of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Dr Bernard Aliyu, at the State House, Abuja.

    He said: “Nigeria needs to work on her potentials, so that we don’t remain permanently at the level of potentials.

    “If Ethiopia is sustained largely by her airline industry, we have greater potentials here.

    “But we must move out, engage with the rest of the world, as we need to re-establish the integrity of this country.

    “We need to rebuild this country again.”

    The president recounted that for the greater part of the last 16 years, oil sold above 100 dollars per barrel, but expressed regret that the nation did not have much to show for it.

    “In the First Republic, more enduring infrastructure was built with meagre resources. But in the past 16 years, we made a lot of money without planning for the rainy day.

    “We showed a lot of indiscipline in managing our economy, and that is why we are where we are today.

    “But this time round, we’ll do our best,” he said.

    In his remarks, the Nigerian-born ICAO President, Aliyu, commended Buhari for strides on anti-corruption and urged Nigeria to pay more attention to development of civil aviation.

    “Civil aviation is a catalyst for economic development. The level of aviation development in any country mirrors the economic development of that country,” he added.

    The ICAO president pledged to support the development of the aviation industry in Nigeria.

    He, however, urged the country to improve on training and capacity development, aviation security, aerodromes and air navigation, runways, control towers and terminal buildings, among others.

  • Fuel scarcity is a gangup by oil marketers, says Rep

    Fuel scarcity is a gangup by oil marketers, says Rep

    A member of the House of Representatives, Olajide Olatunbosun (APC, Oyo) said Nigerians should direct heir anger to independent  oil marketer for the hardships they are currently going through due to fuel scarcity.

    He said the removal of petroleum subsidy in January was responsible for the refusal of the marketers to import fuel.

    According to Olatunbosun, who is a member of House Committee on Appropriation, the resultant hardship foisted on the country was meant to arm-twist the government into agreeing to their terms which may be inimical to the interest of Nigerians.

    While reacting to comments on President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic policy during the weekend in Abuja, Olatunbosun said the implementation of the Single Treasury Account (TSA) was the best to have happened to the Nigerian economy.

    He said: “In January, fuel subsidy was removed but there is a gang up to sabotage this government by some elements. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was to import 50 percent of our fuel consumption while the balance was to be given to independent marketers that have refused to supply the fuel.

    “In the past, they were importing it but this stopped suddenly. My understanding is that the stoppage of patronage they were getting from subsidy, which was a monumental fraud was the cause.

    “It means they were never in that business because they loved Nigeria and Nigerians in the first place, they were doing it solely for the ill-gotten wealth they get from the undue advantage they get through the subsidy but because there is no more free fund to get from the subsidy, they stopped importing the product.

    “Unfortunately, that was not communicated to Nigerians. I think there is a need to go back to the 2012 report of the House probe on the subsidy, those indicted should be prosecuted.

    “That forex scarcity was responsible for their inability to bring in fuel is a diversionary excuse because fuel importation is prioritized since it affects the economy directly”.

    The lawmaker further condemned unpatriotic Nigerians with domicilary accounts running into $20b saying it was a major cause of the falling naira and a struggling economy.

    Noting that the TSA has nothing to do with the issue of dollar exchange rate, Olatunbosun said, “I will rather say that it has helped us as a nation in a way. This is because when you have an economy being driven by ill-gotten stupendous wealth chasing the dollar, maybe by now we would be talking about N500 to a dollar.

    “The TSA is one good policy that has happened to our economy because there have been monumental leakages in all agencies of government, most especially those generating revenue.

    “Nigerians have about $20b in various domicilary accounts by individuals and corporate entities. That is over N1 trillion at N300, the size of our budget, and if it’s at N200 that’s I’ve N4 trillion, that is still huge.

    “All over the world I have never seen a nation where the citizens have such reserve of foreign currency. This is not America where the dollars us he legal tender, so why are keeping such a huge money in our dollar accounts?

    “The reason is simple, we don’t believe in our own country. Until that trend is reversed, it is going to be same song we will be singing about the state of our economy, that the naira is falling, dollar and other currencies appreciating he naira.

    “If I have my way, I will prostrate to these Nigerian and beg them to bring the dollars out. If we pump just $10b of that money  into our economy, one can only imagine the rippling effects on all facets of our economy”.

  • PDP failed to plan for raining day, says Buhari

    PDP failed to plan for raining day, says Buhari

    • Says Nigeria’s integrity needs to be re-established

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja said that the 16 years rule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) failed to plan for Nigeria’s raining day despite high revenue from oil during the period.

    He spoke at the Presidential Villa while receiving the President of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Dr Bernard O. Aliyu.

    For the greater part of the last 16 years, he noted that Nigeria’s oil was sold above $100 per barrel.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, however regretted that Nigeria did not have much to show for the high revenue.

    He said: “In the First Republic, more enduring infrastructure was built with meagre resources. But in the past 16 years, we made a lot of money without planning for the rainy day.

    “We showed a lot of indiscipline in managing our economy, and that is why we are where we are today. But this time round, we’ll do our best.” He added

    He harped on the need to ensure that the potentials of Nigeria are urgently harnessed and used for the good of the country.

    He added: “Nigeria needs to work on her potentials, so that we don’t remain permanently at the level of potentials.

    “If Ethiopia is sustained largely by her airline industry, we have greater potentials here. But we must move out, engage with the rest of the world, as we need to re-establish the integrity of this country. We need to rebuild this country again.” He said

    Dr Aliyu, the Nigerian-born ICAO president commended President Buhari for strides on anti- corruption, and urged Nigeria to pay more attention to development of civil aviation.

    “Civil aviation is a catalyst for economic development. The level of aviation development in any country mirrors the economic development of that country,” Dr Aliyu said.

    He also pledged to support the development of the aviation industry in Nigeria, urging the country to improve on training and capacity development, aviation security, aerodromes and air navigation, runways, control towers, terminal buildings, among others.

  • Fuel scarcity is sabotage – ASUU

    Fuel scarcity is sabotage – ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says the persistence fuel scarcity faced by Nigerians is part of the ongoing sabotage in the political system.
    ‎
    Dr Nasir Fagge, the national president of the union, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos after paying a courtesy visit to Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, the Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo.

    Fagge alleged that the fuel scarcity was created by some ‎group of people, who were used to stealing public funds.

    He said the saboteurs created the scarcity to build a brick wall for the present administration, for failing to pay subsidy on fuel.

    According to him, the government is supposed to consider and analyse all the problems that may arise before removing the subsidy.

    “All the problems arising now should have been envisaged and addressed before removing the subsidy.

    “Government is supposed to know that some people will try to frustrate its effort and should have pre-empt that,’’ he said.
    ‎
    According to the ASUU president, it is also wrong for political office holders to make unfulfilled promises to Nigerians about when the fuel scarcity will end.

    He advised government officials to always inform the citizens about the true situation of an issue‎ on regular basis, rather than toying with their emotions, only to apologise later.

    “How will a government official utter conflicting statements that the fuel scarcity will be resolved on April 7, but later said it will be in the second week in April. That is unfair.

    “Government officials should be held responsible for their promises and anyone who makes promise and failed to fulfill it should be eased out of the system,’’ he ‎said.
    ‎
    The ASUU president ‎ called on President Muhammadu Buhari, who doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to urgently save Nigerians from the current hardship the fuel scarcity had brought upon them.

     

  • Rivers Killing: Women group wants FG to question Wike

    Rivers Killing: Women group wants FG to question Wike

    Women Arise for Justice Wednesday called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to question the Governor of Rivers state, Chief Nyesom Wike, over numbers of people who lost their lives at the just concluded legislative re-run elections in that took place in the State.

    The women condemned the killings, calling for the arrest of those found guilty or associated with the violence.

    The group also wants the Federal Government to probe the abduction and the eventual killing of an army Colonel, Samaila Inusa, in Kaduna on Tuesday.

    The over 1000  women who  stormed the Presidential villa in Abuja during a peaceful protest said  all the  deaths, abduction, intimidation and destruction of properties were the product of the do or die politics that featured  during the last  Rivers state re-run election.

    The National  President of the group, Jummai Samuel Pukat who led the protest  said the Governor should be held responsible for all the atrocities since his body language and utterances directly constitute instruction to his political killers to deal with those not on the same side as him.

    According to her, “It was Governor Wike who threatened that there are areas that people from the federal level cannot access in the state. It was him who said anyone coming from outside Rivers State for the re-run must first write their will, which implies that he was confident of how to make sure federal agents do not make it out of Rivers state alive.”

    She said that all those who died in the Rivers State re-run must not die in vain, adding that those who lost their properties must be reassured that there is still a government and that it enforces the law.

    “Our sons, brothers, husband and fathers cannot be continually cut down in their prime with the federal government remaining indifferent simply because the murder took place in Wike‘s Rivers State.

    “We cannot wait until more governors join in this killing spree. We dare not contemplate what will happen if Wike’s approach to treating human lives becomes the new norm. As mothers we no longer have the ability to sleep at night when our loved ones have to undertake even the most basic assignment in Rivers State,” she said.

    Pukat said the deafening silence from the federal government has made Wike to continue insulting and assaulting our sensibilities with lies meant to shift the blame for the killings of others.

    She said history will not be kind to them if the memory of the dead is so desecrated with lies.

    “Our hearts bleed Mr. President. We are worried and confused and we ask if Rivers state is still part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” she added

     

  • Infographics: DisCos lament Army’s Debt

    The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANEDS) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene so that the three tiers of government could pay the N60 billion electricity bill they are being owed.

    The total amount of debt owed power distribution companies (DisCos) by ministries, departments and agencies at both the federal, state and local government levels is about N60 billion. As at December last year, the total debt was N58billion, but it has grown to about N60billion as we speak.

    Its Executive Director, Barr. Sunday Oduntan, who spoke in Abuja, said the Nigerian Army is the highest debtor.

     

     

    “A large part of this debt is owed by the military. The Nigerian Army takes pleasure in beating up our staff for unjust reasons and they don’t like to pay their bills. We won’t condone this anymore and we are going to take this case up with them, particularly the recent one that happened in Abeokuta.

    “The Nigerian Army keep oppressing us and often times they feel they are above the law, but this shouldn’t be. In Abeokuta, they beat up one of our official for unjust reasons and the same group of military men who did that have not paid their electricity bills since 2013.

    “The team in Abeokuta, which is the 351 Artillery Brigade, was led by one Major Musa and we use this medium to urge President Buhari to call the soldiers to order. They must know that they are not above the law.”