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Tag: Shehu Sani

  • Sagay slams Sani over ‘deodorant’ comments

    The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), on Wednesday faulted a statement credited to the Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, saying the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is treating corruption in government with “deodorant.”

    Sagay said Sani’s comments were a political statement.

    He accused the Senator of fighting his own political “battles” which influences his views.

    Sani had dismissed as “false” President Muhammadu Buhari’s claims on a Senate report indicting the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, of corruption.

    Speaking at the Senate on Tuesday after Senate President, Bukola Saraki, read Buhari’s letter absolving Lawal of fraud, the Senator suggested the President’s defense of the SGF smacked of double standards.

    Buhari had reacted to the Senate’s demand for Lawal’s sack and prosecution, having accused him of corruption in the handling of a grass cutting contract awarded by the Presidential Initiative on Northeast (PINE).

    The President in his letter said he could not act as demanded by the Senate because the report of the Senate Ad hoc committee was signed by three of nine members.

    He also said the SGF was not given fair hearing.

    Sani, who chaired the ad hoc committee and presented the interim report last December, said seven members, not three as claimed by the President, signed the report.

    He also said Lawal was invited to appear before the committee, adding the SGF’s secretary received and acknowledged the invitation.

    Sani said advert was placed in three newspapers for Lawal and other parties involved in the matter to appear before the Senate committee.

    “Corruption in the judiciary and others is treated with insecticide while corruption in the government is treated with deodorant,” Sani said.

    But, Sagay said while he does not have much facts regarding the allegations against the SGF, he should be given a fair hearing by the Senate before being condemned.

    “With regards to the SGF, I don’t really know much about that. My own view is that they should give him a hearing and if at the end of it, they consider that he’s liable, then they should come to the conclusion and condemn him if they want. But they should give him a hearing. That’s all,” Sagay said.

     

     

  • SGF: Presidency lied in Buhari’s letter to Senate- Sani

    SGF: Presidency lied in Buhari’s letter to Senate- Sani

    Senator Shehu Sani, Chairman of the Senate ad-hoc committee on “Mounting humanitarian crisis in the North-East”,  has faulted the letter written to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari on the resolution for sack of the Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachair David Lawal.
    Responding to the letter in which President Buhari turned down the call for Lawal’s resignation,  Sani  said that he was shocked that President Buhari could be misled to write such a letters and described it as “the funeral service for anti-corruption fight” in the country.
    Senator Sani  while defending the report of his committee said “it is shocking to me that such a letter can come from the Presidency with such misinformation and outright distortions.
     
    “They lied by saying that the committee didn’t invite the SGF. The committee invited the SGF and the letter was acknowledged by the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the SGF
     
    “To make sure that we buttress our point, we made a paid advert in three or four national dailies:
     
    ” This one was published on Dec. 2, 2016 and the SGF is clearly mentioned as one of those that is expected to come and appear before the National Assembly.
     
    “If they have the intention of simply reaching a pre-determined conclusion by covering up on the issues raised by the committee that is one thing.
     
    “Secondly, issues were raised that only three members of the committee signed that interim report, that was also a second lie coming from the Presidency.
     
    “I have a copy of the interim report which was initially signed by seven members of the nine members of that committee and I am going to submit it to the clerk of the Senate.
     
    “Even if it is nine and then three people signed, we still have a quorum, but here I have seven people.
     
    “I will say also that I listened to the list of the names that were read and they omitted the chairman which is myself.
     
    “I know I am not very big in frame but I believe my name shouldn’t have been omitted.
     
    “This shows clearly how the SGF and his minions in the Presidency misinformed the President to sign this letter.
     
    “Secondly I will say this clearly, this letter is a funeral service for the anti-corruption fight.
     
    “Mr Senate President when it comes to fighting corruption in the National Assembly and the Judiciary and in the larger Nigeria sector, the President uses insecticide and when it comes to fighting corruption within the presidency, they use deodorants.
     
    “I stand by the report of that committee and it is very clear to us: if we can allow this committee’s report to be shredded into pieces then I think it would be in order for us to open all the 138 prisons in this country for all the convicts and awaiting trial inmates to go Scot free.
     
    “As far as I am concerned, on behalf of myself and the committee, what we did was a thorough job, we invited all the companies concerned, we invited the SGF and he sent us the Secretary of the Presidential Initiative on the North East.
    “The secretary testified under oath that he is competent enough, he came with tons and tons of documents which we went through and then we came out with our report.
     
    “It is unfortunate that we have a political atmosphere where you have a saintly and angelic presidency and a devilish and evil society.
     
    “We must in every respect fight corruption within the kitchen as we do in the veranda; if we don’t do that then we are being hypocritical.
     
    “This letter does not in any way reflect the spirit with which we espoused as a people fighting to cleanse and fumigate this country of corruption.”
     
    Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi told reporters after the plenary that the “Senate stands on its resolution on Lawal.”
     
    Abdullahi said that President Buahri’s letter absolving the SGF did not in any way change the position of the Senate.
     

  • Southern Kaduna has become a slaughter house – Sani

    The Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has lamented that Southern Kaduna has become a slaughter house where human lives have become so easy to destroy.

    This came just as the Catholic Church alleged that the renewed attacks have claimed 808 lives in four local government areas of the state.

    At least 1,422 houses, 16 churches, 19 shops, and one primary school have been destroyed, the church added.

    Sani, who paid a solidarity visit to his colleague representing Kaduna South, Senator Danjuma La’ah, however called for the establishment of security presence in all the villages and towns, as well as civilians joint task force to protect the communities.

    He said, “The way out of this mess is the need for security presence in all the villages and towns in Southern Kaduna. There is also need for civilians JTF where the communities will be fully involved. They will fund and support the JTF to protect their own communities.

    “It is unfortunate that Southern Kaduna has become a slaughter house and a cemetery, where human lives have become so easy to destroy.”

  • APC North-West ‘quashes’ Shehu Sani’s suspension

    APC North-West ‘quashes’ Shehu Sani’s suspension

    The North West chapter of the All Progressives Congress has quashed the suspension of Senator Shehu Sani by the Kaduna State chapter of the party.
    The party said “every disciplinary measure should strictly follow the Constitution of the party.”
    Sani, who has been embroiled in a bitter row with Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai, was suspended twice by a faction of party loyal to Mr. el-Rufai.
    But speaking at the party’s zonal meeting in Dutse, Jigawa State, yesterday, the north-west national vice chairman, Inuwa Abdulkadir, said arbitrary actions by party leaders in states against members were invitation to anarchy.
    He said intra-party wrangling has threatened the foundation of the party, as such, misunderstandings should be discussed openly to foster harmony and growth in the party.
    “We should do all we could not to depart from the winning formula of our party in 2015,” he said.
    Mr. Abdulkadir urged all the warring factions in Kaduna State to respect the reconciliation committee of the party headed by the chairman of north-west governors’ forum, Aminu Masari, for the good of the party.
    The governors of Kano, Umar Ganduje; Katsina, Bello Masari; Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal; Kebbi, Abubakar Bagudu; and Jigawa, Abubakar Badaru, attended the meeting.

  • Thugs attack Shehu Sani’s Kaduna office

    Thugs attack Shehu Sani’s Kaduna office

    •Senator blames attack on El-Rufai’s men •You are being childish -Governor’

    Barely four days after the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State suspended the Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani indefinitely, some hoodlums yesterday afternoon attacked his constituency office on Junction Road, in Kaduna North local government. They allegedly carted away mobile phones and other things from the survivors of the attack.
    According to Senior Special Adviser (Political) to Senator Sani, Suleiman Ahmed, the onslaught was in continuation of attacks on the family house of the law maker at Tudun Wada Kaduna.
    He said, “They are just jealous of senator’s political achievement. The Senior Special Adviser on Politics to the Governor, Uba Sani is behind all these things. But then, that will not deter the senator from listening to the people and put their interest above the party’s or personal interest.
    “They started on Friday. They laid siege on the senator’s family house on Friday before Police came and dispatched them using teargas. This Saturday (yesterday) afternoon again, they attacked his constituency office around stadium roundabout. I was informed that the attackers, who were armed stormed the office where some people were having meeting and destroyed what they could and collected their phones and all that. We have called the police to put the situation under control.”
    As at the press time, police spokesman in the state, ASP Usman Aliyu, could not ascertain the level of damage but unofficial sources said that Police have taken over the building to calm the situation.
    However, Senator Sani, who has just returned from a foreign trip, confirmed the attack via his social media pages.
    He wrote, “Some few minutes ago, I received a report that some heavily armed thugs raided and attacked my constituency office located at Stadium Roundabout by Constitution Road, Kaduna. They unleashed terror on my social media team who were meeting in the office. They vandalised the office in their violent act.
    “We have the lead and the information that thugs were fully recruited and paid by political appointees of Governor Nasiru El-Rufai. We have the names of the political appointees and we have the names of those they are funding. Right now their details have been given to the DSS and the police for investigation.
    “Two days ago, attempt to burn down my family house in Alkalawa Road, Tudun Wada Kaduna by sponsored thugs, was thwarted by vigilant residents and neighbours, which led to the brief deployment of policemen in the area.
    “I wish to state it categorically clear that I hold Governor El-Rufai personally responsible for whatever happens to me or any of my family members or supporters. After the use of financial inducement on APC excos in the state to silence Sani in the name of suspension which never worked, they have now taken the road of violence.
    “The governor of the state or his desperate political appointees should know that we can never ever be silenced or intimidated. I call on my supporters never to take the road of violence or retaliation.
    “We are men of ideas, of ideals and of peace. Those who take to the road of violence have no place in a democratic society,” Sani stressed.
    Meanwhile, Special Adviser on Political Matters to the Governor, Uba Sani, told Shehu Sani to stop blaming his woes on El-Rufai’s government.
    He advised the Senator to stop what he called his political tantrums and grow up, or at least try to match the dignity, refinement and decorum expected of a Senator.
    Uba Sani said that Shehu Sani has reached the career limit that chicanery and thuggery can facilitate and he should desist from blaming his woes on the state government.
    According to Uba Sani :”It has become imperative to set the record straight. Everyone knows that it is Shehu Sani that has spent 18 months attacking the Governor personally and opposing every government policy.
    The government has ignored his tantrums, while the party has acted to uphold discipline. Shehu Sani should keep the government out of his woes.
    “We are beneficiaries of democracy and we champion an open society. We respect democratic values and will never resort to unconstitutional means of settling differences. He should be careful not to make wild and unsubstantiated claims.” Uba Sani maintained.

  • Shehu Sani hails school’s curriculum

    Shehu Sani hails school’s curriculum

    Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Senator Shehu Sani has hailed Benson Idahosa University (BIU) for including practical skills and field trips in its curriculum. Giving the students local and international exposure, Sani said, would improve their knowledge of diplomacy and politics.

    He spoke during the visit of members of the BIU Young Diplomats Club to the National Assembly in Abuja.

    The students are of the Department of International Studies and Diplomacy.

    Sani said: “I am of the opinion that BIU is doing better than some of the so-called big universities from what I have seen. When students from other schools come here, I ask them questions and discover that many of them, who study International Studies and Diplomacy, have not gone out of the country.”

    Sani applauded the department for giving its students needed exposure, as he advised other universities to emulate BIU. He said the visits would help broaden students’ knowledge and intellect.

    Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nnena Ukeje, also met with the students, speaking extensively on changing nature of diplomatic relations. The lawmaker advised the students to use the opportunity to have practical experience on International Studies and Diplomacy.

    Hon. Akpatason Ohio Peter, representing Auchi Federal Constituency, supported the students with N50,000 and encouraged them to study hard.

    The Young Diplomats Club members observed proceedings in the National Assembly. At the House of Representatives, their presence was formally announced by Speaker Yakubu Dogara. The students left the National Assembly to visit embassies.

    The Young Diplomats Club was established to serve as a platform for career and academic training and exposure for students of International Studies and Diplomacy of the university.

  • How we negotiated Chibok girls’ freedom, by Shehu Sani

    How we negotiated Chibok girls’ freedom, by Shehu Sani

    A key player in the negotiation that led to Thursday’s release of 21 of the Chibok schoolgirls spoke yesterday on the effort that went into the deal.

    Vocal civil liberty activist,Senator Shehu Sani drafted the master plan for the negotiation and facilitated the involvement of Switzerland in the talks as well as  the Internantional Red Cross in transporting the girls to safety.

    He told The Nation yesterday that with the confidence built on both sides,it might not be long before the remaining girls joined their families.

    His words: “I  believe  that this government has achieved what has never been achieved and there I have the  confidence that the other girls will also be released through the same process that was taken for these ones to be released.

    “ The confidence has been built on both sides and the parties have agreed to do more.  I can tell you that there was no prisoner swap.  There was none.”

    Explaining his role in the release of the girls,Sani said : “Well I actually did not take part in the negotiation but I was the one who drafted the master plan for the negotiation, and I was also the one who invited the Swiss and the RCRC into it, and I was also the one who linked the Swiss  with the person who negotiated .

    “This  master plan started from 2014 but it was followed through with the effort of the person who negotiated ,who happened to be Mustapha Zanna, a lawyer in Maiduguri.  I was the one who brought Mustapha  Zanna in with Switzerland   and the RCRC.

    “So this effort ,this success , could be said to be  the joint  effort of  Mustapha Zanna,Switzerland  RCRC and the Department of State Security (DSS).

    “But I was the one who drafted the master plan  for this.  The reason for bringing Swiss into it was because we needed to have a different country that would offer guarantee to both  the insurgents and the government because previous talks crashed because there was lack of  trust between the government and the insurgents.

    “But now, we needed a country that would offer guarantee to both sides.  Switzerland offered to assist after I had  encountered fellows from some of  the countries which we had contacted.  “Swiss offered to facilitate the negotiation  and I linked them up to the negotiator and the master plan was for the government and the insurgents to negotiate.

    Continuing,Sani said: “The agreement was reached through  Mustapha Zanna and  the Swiss offering the guarantee. RCRC was not part of the negotiation team. All they did was to ensure the implementation of  the rescue of the girls.

    “This is why you see some accusations and counter accusations between the government and the RCRC.”

    Asked how he was involved in the 2014 process when  he wasn’t sure that his party (All Progressives Congress)  would form the government, Sani replied:  ” I was the one who took  (former President  Olusegun) Obasanjo to Maiduguri to go and work out the possibility of  ending  the insurgency.

    “It is simply my patriotic zeal to contribute to ending the insurgency.  The last government was not as committed as this government as you could see many of them turn the issue of the insurgency into a big business.  But this is a new government that kept its own promise of addressing  this very problem.”

    On how the girls should be handled now that they are out of captivity,the snator said: “These girls need a lot of psychological rehabilitation for the trauma which they have passed through for  all this period of time.

    “If you live with the insurgents, you need to b rehabilitated to lead a normal life again. They have been filled with different ideas, so we need to detoxify their minds for the very fact that they felt abandoned; some of them have been brainwashed and indoctrinated.  This is why we need to de-worm them.  It is very necessary.

    “We should all help the parents of these girls to be able to cater for their daughters because at the end of the day, no matter what we do to these girls, they will still need to go back to their homes.

    “ It will not be unwise  for every state of the federation to at least name one street  in honour of these girls so that next generation will not forget  the names of these girls who have fallen victim of insurgents.”

  • ‘Future of the economy is production, export’- Shehu Sani

    ‘Future of the economy is production, export’- Shehu Sani

    Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna state said the future of Nigerian economy is no longer depended on oil but making all effort to begin production and exportation as the economy is moving with speed towards exportation.

    The Senator disclosed this during a visit with local investors to the  Executive Director/CEO Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC in Abuja, stating that individuals with entrepreneur spirit should begin to think of what they can do by way of production and exportation so the government will assist them.

    He said, “Nigerian entrepreneurs should gear towards producing and packing goods that will attract foreign currency. The key to Nigeria diversification is export.

    “When we are going into the field of export we are going into a very competitive field of political economy. As much as we are diversifying we have to harness our potentials and use it to better the economy. NEPC is the brain box of the economy so we have to work closely with the council.”

    The Executive Director/ CEO Nigeria Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Segun Awolowo said oil cannot drive the GDP because it is only 10%, what will drive the economy effectively is agriculture which the government is seriously venturing into.

    “For diversification to be effective our products must be competitive enough to compete with other products in the international markets and that is what we at the council are working towards. We have to make agriculture work by paying more value to agricultural products

    “Agricultural products constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s non-oil exports. The shares of these products both processed and unprocessed in total value of non-oil export is as high as 70%.“

    Awolowo said good market penetration and effective packaging on the part of the exporters as well as adequate financing from banks and government among others would be keys to achieving export competitiveness.

     

  • I’m Buhari’s fan, not a sycophant- Shehu Sanni

    The Senator representing Kaduna Central, Sahehu Sanni, on Friday rubbished as sycophancy, threat by the Kaduna State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to expel him from the party for criticizing the new price of fuel introduced by the Federal Government.

    He accused Governor Nasir El-Rufai of engineering the sack threat, and declared that he was in no way intimidated by the threat.

    Sani, who has been having a running battle with the governor over what he termed anti people policies, said he remained “a 100 percent supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, but he is neither a sycophant nor a hypocrite who will not speak his mind when there is the need to do so.”

    Reacting to the threat through his Special Adviser on Politics and Ideology, Suleiman Ahmed, the senator described the threat as mere hallucination, dismissing the state APC as a tool in hand of the governor.

    He added:“It will be interesting for the general public to know that even the so-called state headquarters of the APC is a building owned by a top PDP chieftain in the state.

    “The press conference and threat of expulsion made by one Tanko Wusono of Kaduna APC against comrade Senator Shehu Sani for objecting to the increase in pump price of petroleum products stands unambiguously condemned. Kaduna APC as it exists today is simply an extension of El-Rufai’s government.”

     

  • Ethnic champions are threatening Nigeria’s unity—Shehu Sani

    Ethnic champions are threatening Nigeria’s unity—Shehu Sani

    Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, Mallam  Shehu Sani said Friday that ethnic champions with passion for violence were  threatening the corporate existence of the nation.

    Such people, according to him, must not be allowed to truncate the existence peace in the country.

    Senator Sani who represents Kaduna Central in Senate said in a statement that all those responsible for Thursday’s clash at the popular Mile 12 market in Lagos should be brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others.

    Sani who commended what he described as the accommodating spirit of Lagos appealed to Governor Akinwumi Ambode to take steps to protect the lives and property of non indigenes resident in the state.

    He added; “The wanton killings and destruction of properties is an unacceptable crime and barbarity. The architect and perpetrators of the mayhem are enemies of peace and harmonious coexistence,” Sani said.

    “It’s unfortunate and lamentable that the monster of inter ethnic violence continue to rear its head at a time when the nation is on a change train on a journey to the future.

    “Ethnic champions with passion for violence poses a serious threat to our peace and freedom and their isolated activities has a potential for a wider conflagration.

    “Hausa/ Yoruba centuries of peaceful coexistence, cohabitation, commercial and family ties must not be allowed to be destroyed by the violent activities of a few.

    “Nigeria should be home for all. For it to be home for all, our ethnic differences should be a variety of beautiful flowers and not an array of swords. Ethnic chauvinists and jingoists are inimical to peace and national unity.

    “The spirit of nationhood is nurtured in the safety, comfort, convenience and respect for every citizen’s constitutional right to live in any part of his country, in peace. We must as patriotic citizens harness our diversity for the prosperity of our nation and our people and stem its exploitation against our March to the future.”