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Tag: Presidential villa

  • Buhari to commission stadium, factory, road projects in Ebonyi

    Buhari to commission stadium, factory, road projects in Ebonyi

    Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi on Thursday said that all is set to receive President Muhammadu Buhari on working visit to the state.

    According to him, the President is expected to commission stadium, factory, and many road projects in the state.

    He spoke with State House journalists after meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He said “I am here to see some of the officials of the Villa because of the coming of Mr President to our state next week.

    “We are fully prepared for the visit. We pleaded with Mr. President for the visit and before then we have been preparing, we are fully prepared.”

    On the kind of projects the President will commission in the state, he said “We have quite a lot of projects that we have executed within this past two and the half years. We have three numbers of twin flyovers that is built across the African transahara Road running from Enugu to Cameroon passing through  Ebonyi State, so we have to build  three twin flyover to decongest traffic on that  road, each of the twin flyover is 700 metre length.

    “We have completed two and the third one is 80% done, Mr President will commission the two. We also have a mall what we call Ebonyi mall that is modelled after the famous Dubai mall. But a kind of microcosm of that microcosm.

    “And we intend for the President to lay a foundation stone of that mall which we will like Mr President to commission within the next 12 months.

    “Also we are building a tunnel that dovetails into a flyover that is parallel to the existing flyover, that particular junction that is called Akanibium junction, we want Mr. President to lay the foundation stone and that flyover bridge will be named after Mr. President and we are sure to finish that project in the next 12 months, Mr. President will also come back, he will be commissioning it when he comes back during his campaigns.

    Read Also: Buhari remains only credible candidate for 2019 Presidential election

    “So we will like to make them ready. So there is also a federal Road that is 14.5km that we got the consent of Mr. President to build and the road is fully done. We have 18.5km that is leading to the Federal University, we did that road with concrete and overlaid it with Asphalt, its fully ready.

    “We have 15.5km of Nigercem that road passes through the first cement factory in the country which is in Ebonyi State and it’s passes to Benue, we will build the 15.5 km in the axis of Ebonyi with concrete ,ready for Mr. President to commission. 23.5km of state road we built with concrete is ready for Mr. President to commission.” he said

    The governor added “We have 500 km of internal roads which we completed in Ebonyi is ready for Mr. President to commission. We have the stadium we remodeled, we have the best VIP stands in the whole country in our stadium is fully air conditioned and all the stands are fully covered. Mr. President will also commission that; we can go on and on.

    “We have a minimum of 30km of concrete Road in each of our local government; most of them completed some have attained 80% completion. We have quite a lot for Mr President to commission. We have mushrooms factory, Agric project that I want the president to commission. We have a launch of one man one hectare programme in Ebonyi, we want Mr President to launch it for us.”

    Asked if the President told him he was going to re-contest, he said “Well, any first term governor would want to go for second term and if what you wish yourself, you should be honest enough to wish another person the same. Since, Mr President is doing his first term and I am doing my first term, it’s my wish to re-contest and I will as well wish the president the same to re-contest.

  • Taraba Gov briefs Buhari on security, agriculture, others

    Taraba Gov briefs Buhari on security, agriculture, others

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met with Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Issues discussed at the closed door meeting included security and agricultural development in the state.

    Speaking with State House journalists at the end of the meeting  Ishaku said “I’m here in the villa to brief Mr. President on situation of things in Taraba State. I also reported to him security wise we have recorded few successes, peace in the state and we need to enhance it. Therefore, we will need his presidential support in that manner.

    “And to generally brief him on the success we are having on agriculture and to also appreciate him very much indeed about the award of Mambilla hydro-power project which is one of the biggest hydro-project in Nigeria.

    “It has stayed over 30 years on the drawing board until his administration. So that is a very big feat and I thought I should come and thank him and seek his audience when next I will come with Taraba people to thank him.

    “It’s a very good project for the country as a whole, 3.050 megawatts, for those of us who know what a megawatt is, it can do a lot in developing Nigeria.

    “I’m sure you are aware of our popular green house, last year we had 16,000 in the rice farm we want to quadruple that by this year and therefore we need assistance particularly to build channels where we can distribute water. Because the dry season farming is more popular than the rainy season, they harvested rice four times more and we want to enhance that.”

    He disclosed that the state has also gone into other crops cultivation including cocoa, beniseed and soya beans.

    “All these we are recording huge successes in the state.” he said

    According to him, the state has also recorded huge success in education and for the first time move from less than 28 percent on WAEC table to 67.3 percent last month.

    “When they graded the whole country, we were number 8th in the whole country and number one in the northern states. We have really pushed education very high and we intend to push it to an enviable height,” he said.

    On farmers/herdsmen clash, he said that his state is quite calm even as there is plan to introduce the anti-grazing law in the state next year January.

    He said that two panels were set up to sensitize the farmers and the herdsmen so that they both understand the benefits of the anti-grazing bill.

    “Because I still believe for the herdsmen socially and economically, that is the best thing that will ever happen to them if we can consolidate on that. The awareness is improving each day and people are beginning to know that these laws are done in good faith and are done to secure lives and properties of the people. We are sure that there will be not much hindrance to its implementation.

    On the kind of security assistance required from the Federal Government, he said “You know security is sole prerogative of Mr. President, it is his assignment. We state governments rely on the federal government for the soldiers, the police and all the security agencies and therefore you need the presidential directives to be able to enhance the security in the states, particularly my state where some of the soldiers have been withdrawn to other areas in the country which we will need them if possible to come back so that we will feel more secure and continue to live in peace.

    On what the President’s response was, he said “Positive.”

    Read Also: Buhari’s economic decisions long-lasting, says Fed Govt

  • Buhari, Quattara meet in Aso Rock 

    Buhari, Quattara meet in Aso Rock 

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed doors with the Cote d’Ivoire President Alassane Quattara at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

     
    The meeting started around 12:15 p.m shortly after the Cote d’Ivoire President arrived the Villa. 
     
    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.
    Details later…
  • Buhari, governors meet in Aso Rock 

    Buhari, governors meet in Aso Rock 

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met behind closed doors with some state governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The governors, who met with the President after the Friday jumaat prayer, were from the north.

    They included Nasarawa Governor, Tanko Almakura, Kaduna Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, Bauchi Governor, Mohammed Abubakar and Yobe Governor, Ibrahim Geidam.

    The governors left the Villa from the President’s official resident.

  • Group backs Buhari for 2019

    Group backs Buhari for 2019

    The Buhari Support Group on Friday met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Speaking with State House journalists at the end of the meeting, the group maintained that the critical to solving the problems facing the nation.

    The President, the group said, should be able to finish what it started by the year 2023.

    The leader of the Buhari Support Group,

    Abu Ibrahim, said “Well, we came here as members of the national committee of the Buhari support group. This is an amalgamation of about 189 different support groups that had worked for President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to win the 2015 general election.

    “We have been holding meetings, discussing the problems of this country, Nigeria. So, we thought it was high time we meet with the President to intimate him about the activities of the group.

    “We discussed with him about the plans to improve the situation in Nigeria. Mr President was very pleased with our programs.”

    On whether the Group was in the Villa to convince Buhari to contest the 2019 Presidential election, he said “Well, that didn’t come up actually. We only discussed the programs of the organization and problems of the group. But we didn’t go into the 2019 elections.”

    Asked if the group is going to encourage Buhari to run for reelection, he said “Of course l will. Because l believe in his philosophy and l believe he can solve the problems of this nation. He can ensure the Progress, stability and prosperity of this nation.”

    The Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, said that the group will continue to support the President and his administration as a group.

    He said “We will continue to identify with and support all the programs that this administration has set forward. And l believe that we have every justification to be happy because, the President campaigned on three major pillars of anti- corruption, fighting the insecurity across the country and revitalizing the economy of Nigeria.

    “It has been a very, very good journey so far and also believes that Mr. President and Nigerians have a future beyond 2019. What he has started, by the grace of God, he should be able to complete, up to 2023.

    On areas the President should improve upon towards 2019 elections, he said “Well, we have issues we think that the administration will be dealing with very successfully, now that we have economic recovery and growth plans which encapsulates everything we need to move Nigeria forward. Now that Nigerians have continued to show love for Mr. President, l believe that we are going to achieve those things that we set for ourselves at the moment.

    “I also believe that the future is bright and by the grace of God, by 2019, we would have achieved so much in this administration and Mr. President will have no option but continue the good work he has started,” he said.

     

  • Gov. Bello visits Buhari, says no pay for striking workers

    Gov. Bello visits Buhari, says no pay for striking workers

    Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi says his administration will implement the no-work-no pay policy following the decision of some workers in the state to sustain the strike they embarked upon on Sept. 22.

    Bello told State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday that a majority of the workers had resumed work.

    He, however, described those still on strike as “political civil servants’’, saying that the government would pay only workers that had resumed work.

    “Those workers that are on strike are political civil servants; the real civil servants are coming to work.

    “And we’re trying our best to keep up with the payment of salaries.

    “There is no denying the fact that the economy is biting hard everywhere and you will recall that I met four months’ salary backlog, which I cleared; and today we are up to date with salary payment.

    “We are owing August and September salaries as we speak.

    “We are up to date in terms of salary payment and those that come to work we shall pay.

    “And the no-work-no-pay policy shall surely apply to those that do not come to work.’’

    The governor pledged to maintain the periodic publishing of the state’s accounts.

    He said: “Very soon we are going to publish all the salaries that we have paid to workers since inception in newspapers for people to see.

    “All the noise about Kogi state government not paying salaries will be in the public domain.’’

    The governor advised people of the state to remain patient with his administration, saying: “Things are hard generally and we are trying our best (to make life easier for the people) and that is why we are transparent in everything that we do.’’

    It will be recalled that the organised labour in Kogi, had in September, directed workers in ministries, agencies and parastatals to commence an indefinite strike from Sept. 22.

    Mr Ranti Ojo, the Chairman of the state chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) gave the directive while briefing newsmen in Lokoja.

    The leadership of labour had explained that the strike was embarked upon because the state government had refused to invite workers for negotiation over their demands.

    They maintained that the strike was the only other option left for the workers to explore for negotiation with the government.

    NAN recalls that the Federal Government had also on Oct. 11, resolved to enforce the “No Work No Pay’’ stance as part of measures to restore harmony in the country’s public service.

    Read Also: Three NDLEA operatives killed in Kogi

  • Buhari, Nwodo meet in Aso Rock over Southeast problems 

    Buhari, Nwodo meet in Aso Rock over Southeast problems 

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met with John Nwodo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Speaking with State House correspondences at the end of the meeting, Nwodo said that the meeting centred on how to find solutions to the problems in the Southeast.

    He said “We had a frank and robust exchange, we discussed problems of the south east and as head of state he is the finale repository of an appeal for the resolutions of those problems. We went into great details about each of those problems and i have confidence that they will give it the attention there deserve.

    “We dealt with problems of development in the south east; basic capital projects which have for a very long time been neglected not just from this government but for a very long time, major arteries of federal highways in the south east have been in complete state of disrepair. Enugu-Onitsha, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Aba-Ikoyi Ekpene are virtually impassable.

    “We talked about the inland waterways and the dredging of the River Niger. We talked about the reticulation of gas pipeline on the south east. We export gas from the south east to the other parts of the country, but there is no reticulation of the pipeline and industrial clusters in the south east.

    “We talked about the only international airport we have in the south east which has very bad infrastructure in terms of the buildings that have ravaged by …

    “We got assurance from the president that he will deal with each of those problems.” he said

    On whether the issue of marginalization came up, he said “That was the opening line and that was why we single out these things. Like I have said these problems have been there overtime and we have had several presidents, it didn’t just happen in the last two years. But we expressed the desire that he should be able to address them.

    Asked if the president’s promises can be trusted, he said “There is no reason for me to doubt them because this is the first time I have had this interaction with him. I have the feeling that he spoke to us very frankly.

    When asked if the issue of the indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) came up, he said “We came here for the issues of developments in our place. We talked about IPOB as a symptomatic consequence of the continuous marginalization of the south east over a long period of time.

    “Understandably our children are restive and we want to make sure that the federal government is responsive to the issues that have cumulated in the quintessence of these agitations,” he said.

    On devolution of powers, he said “We did talk about the issue of devolution of powers, the constitution, the paucity of the states and local governments in our place and the president has asked that he be given time to look at this more holistically.”

     

  • Buhari, S/Court judges meet in Aso Rock

    Buhari, S/Court judges meet in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met with a delegation of the judges of the Supreme Court.

    The judges were led into the meeting by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

    The meeting, which began around 2:00pm, took place inside the Council Chambers of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.

    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filling this report.

     

     

     

    Details later…

  • FG okays N45 billion to clear Nigeria Airways workers’ backlog 

    FG okays N45 billion to clear Nigeria Airways workers’ backlog 

    The Federal Government has approved N45 billion to settle the outstanding payments owed the workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways.

    The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa.

    According to him, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has been given directive on the payment to workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways

    The workers had staged protests against the over 20 years debt owed Nigeria Airways

    Details Later…

  • IPOB: Osinbajo, Ikpeazu meet in Aso Rock 

    IPOB: Osinbajo, Ikpeazu meet in Aso Rock 

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday met behind closed doors with Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Ikpeazu arrived the Vice President’s office around 2:24 p.m.

    The activities of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) in recent times have been threatening lives and properties in the state and other parts of the country.

    That led to deployment of security personnel to the area and proscription of IPOB.

    The meeting between Ikpeazu and the Vice President was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

    Details later…