Political analyst and Sunday Editor of The Nation Newspapers, Festus Eriye, joined by Senior Correspondent Dare Odufowokan to discuss how states will vote at 2019 governorship and state assembly election.
Tag: State of the Nation
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State Of The Nation: Akpabio’s strength overrated in Akwa Ibom – Eriye
Political analyst and Sunday Editor of The Nation Newspapers, Festus Eriye, joined by Senior Correspondent Dare Odufowokan to discuss the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senate President Bukola Saraki losing their senatorial seat.
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State of the Nation: Onnoghen suspension reinforces Buhari anti-corruption credentials – Eriye
…Buhari won’t perform poorly in Southeast
Political analyst and Sunday Editor of The Nation Newspapers, Festus Eriye, joined by Senior Correspondent Dare Odufowokan to discuss, Walter Onnoghen suspension, 2019 election, President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar chances at the 2019 elections.
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Baba Lekki speaks on the state of the nation
TO Ikotun-Langbasa on the northern outskirts of the metropolis for a most hilarious and outlandish interview on the state of the nation with Lambert Alekuso, aka Baba Lekki, failed lawyer, recovering anarchist, lapsed Mobolaji Grand Alliance stalwart and famed disciple of Harold Laski, the turbulent and iconic LSE star professor of the fifties.
It has been a dizzying time in Nigeria as the nation went into an ethnic tailspin with manuals of Siamese surgical separation flying all over the place and prospective pre-colonial kraals getting ready to address the United Nations. Baba Lekki has not been left out of the action. The old crook had disappeared briefly only to reappear slumming it out in a huge crater abandoned by NNPC. It was here that he was teaching locals on emergency drills after preparing his last testament. It was here that Okon caught up with the master rebel on a wet, rainy morning.
“Baba, which kind nonsense be dis one? You dey here dey smoke gbana when kontri dey kaput”, the mad boy screamed at the old man.
“Ha yeye boy, long time. I dey like kobiowu”, the old man replied with a miserly grin.
“Baba wereee! Which kind Yoruba nonsense bi kowukowu?” the crazy boy railed.
“Ha small kukuruku boy. Kobiowu na solid steel bar. You hit am na wahala. Him hit you na helele”, the old man crowed.
“Baba, if you no take time I go get dem Niger Delta boys who go finish dis Yoruba jibiti for una”, Okon railed.
“Ha Okon mewa babanla e won to be. He get time like dat when one man for dem village called Tonkere dey threaten Bola Ige. Him nickname be “Try and See” the old man shot back.
“Baba I no care about dat one. Dis kontri wan kaput,” Okon screamed.
“You see, Okon kontri be like dem Yoruba boy dem name Folorunso who dey climb palm tree with dem banana straw. Even God no fit save dat one. “ the old man snorted.
“Baba, wahala dey ooo. Even dem Evans come sue dem police”, Okon moaned.
“Ha, Okon, dat one na kata come meet katakata. Evans na Ivan the terrible or enfant terrible. There are thieves among emperors and there are emperors among thieves”, the old man sniggered.
“Baba, dis dem Biafra-exit I no understand at all”, Okon wondered aloud.
“Ha Okon dat one na Ibo confusion. Bia for Igbo mean come and exit mean go, so na come and go and go and come be dat one”, the old man replied with a scorning hiccup.
“Baba, where dem fit pack dem president jet?” the poor boy demanded.
“You park jet in a jetty”, Baba Lekki rumbled and then disappeared into the huge crater.
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Senate summons Adeosun, Emefiele over dwindling economy
The Senate Wednesday resolved to invite the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to brief it on the state of the country’s economy.
The invitation followed the adoption of a motion on “urgent need to address present economic state of the nation”
Senator Bassey Albert Akpan (Akwa Ibom North East) who sponsored the motion said that the motion is informed by the National Bureau of Statistics release last week bordering on the nation’s economic scorecard for the first quarter of the year 2016 for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation and unemployment.
He observed that the report depicted that the country’s economy plunged into recession with a decline of 0.3 per cent year-on-year in real term which is a drastic drop from 2.11 per cent in quarter four 2015 IN GDP.
He also observed that from the report, unemployment rate rose to 21.1 per cent in quarter one 2016 from 10.4 per cent in Q4 2015.
According to him, unemployment also increased to 19.1 per cent from 18.7 per cent in the same period while the rate inflation rose from 9.6 per cent in January 2016 to 13.8 per cent in April 2016 with attendant increase in prices of basic food commodities and services in the country.
Senator Akpan said that he is worried that the declining GDP and unemployment besides the current high inflation rate clearly shows that the economic policies of the country “are not achieving desired impact and requires an urgent review to avoid further plunge in our economy.”
The lawmaker said that he is further worried that the current economic contractions is the first major drastic slump since June, 2004, which according to the CBN is a 12-year-low when the World Bank’s position is a 21-year-low.
He recalled that the CBN, had in March, 2016 deployed a contracting monetary policy increasing bench mark interest rate from 11% and cash reserve ratio from 20% to 22.5%.
“The question is why contracting monetary policy instead of expansionary monetary policy of boosting economic activities at such a critical time as this,” he asked.
Senator Akpan noted that he is deeply concerned that the continued complacency of the current state of the economy if allowed unchecked will set the tone for a full blown economic recession by the end of June 2016 as already confirmed by the CBN in its Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Tuesday.
The Akwa Ibom lawmaker said that he is disturbed that the current economic situation in the country coupled with lack of required foreign exchange to boost import of raw materials for domestic industries will worsen the unemployment and poverty situation in the country.
He noted that considering the decline in oil production in the Niger Delta by 800,000 b/d vis a vis the benchmark production for 2016 budget of 2.2mb/d, owing to the vandalisation of oil pipe lines, in addition to the inability of non oil revenue collecting agencies to meet to meet revenue targets owing to the economic crunch.
Senator Akpan concluded that he is convinced that with the current economic slump, “meeting the key budgetary revenue projection of the 2016 budget is practically impossible and the need to have a rethink to avoid deepening budget deficit or poor budget implementation.”
He added that “whether we like it or not, no matter what we call it, the Naira was devalued Tuesday.”
The single prayer that the Senate should invite the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele to brief the Senate on the monetary/fiscal policies adopted to salvage the economic situation was unanimously adopted.
Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who briefly presided over the plenary, ruled out any debate.
Saraki said that since Adeosun and Emefiele would appear before the Senate in plenary, there was no need to pre-empt them.
Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) who seconded the motion said that it is obvious that the country has no economic blue print to drive its economy.
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Rivers killings shameful – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday describe as shameful the recent political killings in Rivers state as a result of the rerun elections ordered by the Court of Appeal, adding that more Nigerians have been killed in Rivers than another state in the country.
The President who spoke at the National Executive Council meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) revealed that the government has saved over N3 trillion through its Treasury Single Account policy, while that the list of money recovered by government through the ongoing anti corruption crusade will soon be made public.
The President also said it was regrettable that the nation failed to save for the rainy days when oil sold for above 100 dollars, pointing out that at the moment, about 27 states in the country are not able to pay the salaries of their workers as and when due.
Buhari who expressed sadness over the violence that characterized elections in the country appealed to security agents in the country to try and give Nigerians the confidence to go out and perform their constitutional responsibility without molestation, adding that even though the leadership of INEC has been changed, he has shown that he has a lot of respect for them and the security agents.
He said: “Of course, the leadership of INEC has been changed, but I appeal to the leadership of the military, security agents and INEC that what I want Nigerians to remember me for, even if I have to leave the Presidency tomorrow is that I respect them.
“I want all Nigerians to believe and hold their PVC as personal entitlement as Nigerians and use it the way the like, and vote for whoever they like at which ever election. If they voluntarily sold it, it is part of their right and so, let them sell it and remain at home and not participate in any election.
“But let the law enforcement agencies give them the confidence that nobody will come out who has money to hire thugs, give them drugs and stop them from exercising their fundamental right.
“I am afraid I did not succeed in the election in Kogi, Bayelsa, Rivers. I think that more Nigerians are killed or killed themselves in Rivers than in any particular state. At this stage of our political development, to remain brutal is shameful and as a government, I promise we will do something by the next general election.”
Speaking on the economy, he said: “the fall of oil prices after Nigeria has made itself a mono economy is a disaster. I wonder why people could not believe that in Nigeria; about 27 out of 36 states have difficulty in paying basic salaries of their workers.
“If from 1999, oil sold above 100 dollars per barrel with an export of about 2 million barrel per day, how come Nigeria failed to make some arrangement to cushion the effect of a probably volatile oil market? Again, it shows failure of the last administration.
“But we are now to pick the pieces as an APC government and so, there is no need complaining, but let us concentrate and see how much we can do with whatever remains of the economy.
“However, we realized that agriculture and solid minerals are two areas that can quickly come to help us to recover economically, at least in terms of employment and feeding ourselves and more importantly, saving the hard currency to make sure that what is left our industries remain open, employing Nigerians and producing goods and services which is very important.
“The policy we are trying to implement is TSA. When we insist that we have to know what comes in and what goes out for us to make a comprehensive amendment to the economy.
“If you go and see the Central Bank Governor, he will tell you that in the TSA, we have more than N3 trillion. Where would this money have been if TSA was not in vogue? I was made to understand that vouchers would have quickly been raised towards the end of the financial year and checks made. Whether they are going into projects or private pockets, nobody can prove it to you.
“But that money is there, it is identified, if is quantified and when the budget comes back eventually, the Ministry of finance will see how to allocate it to the rest of the country.
“We have tried to make sure that NNPC is reorganized, so that we know how much of our crude is taken, how much it is sold and to which account the money is going.
“But I tell you that up to the time we came, if anybody told you that he knows how much of crude is exchanges hands either on the high sea or reaching their destination and the accounts the money goes into, that person is not telling you the truth.
“We are getting the cooperation of countries that has received this crude. But we have to be sure of the facts in our hands before we start prosecution so that Nigerians will believe what we have been telling them.”
On the fight against corruption, President Buhari said: “I was telling a British team that came to supervise the training team they sent that when I was in uniform, we took the perceived corrupt ones and put them in safe custody and quietly told them they were guilty until they can prove themselves innocent.
“But now under multiparty democratic system, I see some of them ride flashy cars, some of them have built estates here, but they are innocent until we can prove them guilty. This situation is true and you don’t need to stress your imagination to find out.
“If you can find out, you discover that a level eight officer has five houses, while you, as a Permanent Secretary or Commissioner still living in a rented house. That is the credible thing to do now.
“We have to get credible evidence to carry our successful prosecution and get judgment from the judiciary. But effort is being made to give a list of recoveries in whatever currencies so far so that Nigerians will know that it is not all about long stories”.
While assuring Nigerians that the government was winning on war against insurgency, he said “we have made progress. It was a very courageous decision that the party took and executed by the Executive by removing most of the military hierarchy and appointing those to take over from them, acquiring some new hard and soft ware and raising the moral of the military to go secure the rest of the country which was then 14 out of 774 local government.
“I have said it often that as far as I know and the service Chiefs who are on ground, they are not holding any local government. But the still have some capability especially on soft target by using technology.
“For Niger Delta, the militants are sending some conflicting messages. Some have said they are ready to drop their arms and join the rest of the nation to build it. But part of them is still sabotaging installations which are making investments in that lucrative area of Nigeria difficult because nobody will submit his riches to financial institutions; get money only to suffer huge loss.
“So, the environment for investment is being sabotaged by our own selves, Nigerians. We are doing our begs with the military by trying to persuade them to join the rest of the country because in unity lies our strength.
Turning to the party, President Buhari said: “I will like you to continue to make sacrifice. I know you are being harassed since the election that they haven’t seen anything on the ground. Well, if you have any explanation that could be accepted, is that you have three more years to go.
“When we came in after 16 years if PDP, each government had 42 ministries. We reduced them to 24, removed 21 Permanent Secretaries. We sat down and reflected seriously. We were all in the process of taking over at a time of national budget.
“So, imagine the volume of work and with what happened in the National Assembly, the padding, it would appear that below the Permanent Secretaries, there are still a lot of bureaucracies that are still with them. So, you have to appreciate the position we are in.
“Having cut 42 to 24, correspondingly, the parastatals will be cut down to some size and realigned and the boards reconstituted. We gave a blanket order which we had to rescind when we said all boards are suspended or dissolved.
“We had to go back and lick our vomit in terms of university boards because we found out that according to their laws, they cannot choose Vice Chancellors unless the Boards seat down, interview prospective candidates who wants to be VCs. So, there is nothing wrong in saying sorry and going back on your decision. So, we said sorry and allow all the universities to continue with their boards. But for the rest, eventually, we will make it. So, please, try to bear with us as we reflect on where we found ourselves.
“For globetrotting, sometimes, you need to present your case on personal basis to your economic colleagues and neighbors. Nothing is better than personal touch and I believe that we are learning a lot and eventually, the nation will realized so, I don’t envy you on the harassment you are going through from your constituencies. Take it with a lot of determination and we will be all right God willing”.
National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun said naturally, this would have been the time to roll out the drums and celebrate loudly, adding that being a government and a party that is responsive, “we are very well aware of the hardships in the land and for that reason, it should be a period of introspection, a period for memories and a period for reminiscences.
“The problems we have are well known, of course originating from two well known factors, our squandered patrimony of course, the unfortunate coincidence of the collapse of the price of crude. Nevertheless, inspite of these hardships, our government has recorded strides that are worth mentioning, that are worth celebrating and that are worth noting.
“No question at all, that the vigorous and focused leadership provided in the fight against insurgency has yielded results that we all, as a nation, must be proud of. The insurgents have been deprived of the possibility of ever again, holding Nigerian territory and hoisting any of their dastardly flags.
“We have other issues like the TSA, and what it has done for our states even though temporarily and of course, Mr President’s shuttle diplomacy, which as we can see, is gradually beginning to stabilize. The oil market, the price of crude is gradually beginning to crawl persistently, slowly but upwards.
“It is true, these are hard times, but hard times create challenges. Challenges call for men and women to agree in leadership, united, focused, passionate in the policies that they stand for, which means that this party must rediscover itself, which means that this party must stand as one behind the success of our president and of the policies that we stand for and of the promises he has made to the Nigerian people.
“This also means that this is a time to stand together, which means that this is a time to rededicate ourselves and the party to the vision to which the people of this nation voted. We must leave this arena once more as a strong, united fighting force dedicated to delivering on the promises made by Mr. President to the Nigerian people.”
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Mark to Nigerians: Rise up against barbarism, insecurity
Former Senate President, Senator David Mark, has asked Nigerians to rise up against the increasing insecurity in parts of the country in order to stop the needless killings of Nigerians. .
Senator Mark noted that although insecurity has taken a global trend, Nigeria cannot afford to allow the challenge degenerate further to an intolerable level.
A statement by his media assistant, Paul Mumeh, said that the former Senate President spoke at the weekend in Ogume, Delta State after he was awarded a Doctorate Degree on Intelligence and Security studies (Honoris Causa) from Novena University at the institution’s convocation ceremony.
It said that the University also established a new faculty named Senator David Mark centre for Intelligence and Security studies for the study issues relating to insecurity and conflicts.
It quoted Mark to have said that “it is sad that hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost to conflicts and insurgency.
The former Senate President was also quoted to have regretted that “productive men and women who should ordinarily contribute to national development have been needlessly wasted. Hence we must all rise up to say enough is enough “.
It said that Mark expressed his pleasure with the establishment of the Intelligence and Security studies faculty named after him and requested that higher premium be placed on strategic research that will provide better understanding and knowledge of the security challenges facing the nation today.
It said that Mark tasked security agencies and scholars alike to take advantage of the intelligence and security faculty of the university to focus on research, teaching and learning in order to fashion out a blue print to navigate through the myriad of security challenges .
It said that the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Chris A. Okafor who presented the certificate to to the awardee, acknowledged the role Senator Mark played as the President of 6th and 7th Senate in bringing peace, stability and security to the National polity, which he described as unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.
It said that Okafor particularly extolled the wisdom with which Senator Mark piloted the affairs of the National Assembly stressing that “the David Mark Centre for Intelligence and National Security studies will work closely with the Distinguished Senator and some international partners from the Republic of China to fully train the undergraduates in personal and national security.”
It said that the event was attended by Delta state Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa, his cabinet members, former Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro; House of Reps Committee Chairman on Airforce, Rt. Hon. Samson Okwu; Rt. Hon. Ezekiel Adaji among others.
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State of the nation worrisome – Babangida
Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) Monday expressed concern over the state of the nation.
He said he was concerned over the biting effect of fuel scarcity and epileptic power supply.Babangida expressed concern when he paid a farewell visit in company of the immediate past military Head of State; General Abdulsalami Abubakar on the out-going Niger state governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu at the latter’s residence in Minna.
“I am as concern as you are. I urged Nigerians to support the incoming government on whatever measure it takes to provide solution. Government is doing all it can to make sure the problem comes to an end. We should endeavour to support them during this period.”
Asked why the problem is coming at this time of transition, Babangida said, the problem currently facing the country is prevalent to developing countries stating that all developing countries usually face these type of problems and it is the duty of the government to find a solution to the problems.
“Every developing country has one problem or the other, there have to be a government to solve the problem and the government is on ground.”
In his remark, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar appealed to the general public to sustain the peace being enjoyed in the country, while he charged the outgoing governor to assist the incoming government with his wealth of experience.
Governor Aliyu commended the two elder statesmen for their support throughout his stewardship.
He also advised the incoming government not to relent on sustaining the level of security attained in the state, particularly at this period when the menace of kidnapping had reached the state.
Aliyu debunked claims that the outgoing administration was responsible for the continued power outages and fuel scarcity in the country, insisting that “nobody can be heartless to arrange such thing.”
He attributed the fuel scarcity to the difference of exchange rate, saying, “when the agreement between the marketers and the government was signed a dollar was captured at N150 but now the exchange rate was around N200”.
On power, he said there was water shortage in the hydroelectric dams therefore forcing the drop of electricity generation.
“Nobody can sit down to create this type of problem unnecessarily; nobody can arrange such a thing. It will soon come to an end. The problem is not deliberate,” he assured.
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State of Nation address now mandatory
The Senate on Thursday made it mandatory for President Goodluck Jonathan to address Nigerians annually.
This followed the passage of a Bill entitled: “A Bill for an Act to make provision for the state of the nation address by the President and other matters connected therein 2013.”
The Bill also applies to any sitting Nigerian President after Jonathan.
The Bill was fashioned after what obtains in the United States of America (USA) where the sitting President presents a State of the Union Address to the Congress, annually.
The State of the Nation Address Bill suffered a setback in the Sixth National Assembly when President Jonathan refused to assent to it.
But the lawmakers have vowed o override the President if he fails to assent to the Bill this time around.
The Senate adopted the conference report of the Bill and finally passed the controversial Bill.
Senate President, David Mark, urged Jonathan to assent to the Bill so that its operation can commence this year.
Mark said: “2013 is the first State of the Nation Address by Mr. President and I hope that he will assent to it as quickly as possible.”
The final passage of the Bill followed the presentation of the report of the conference committee by the Chairman Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter- Governmental Affairs, Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta.