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  • IPPIS: COEASU lauds Tinubu, calls for decisive action against saboteurs

    IPPIS: COEASU lauds Tinubu, calls for decisive action against saboteurs

    The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has applauded the decision of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu to exempt public tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    The union said this was one of the best decisions taken so far by the president since he assumed office.

    In a statement by COEASU president, Smart Olugbeko, the union said by this development, the College of Education (COE) system in particular, and the tertiary education sector in general, have been delivered from the backward bureaucratic bottlenecks, encumbrances, and corrupt practices associated with the centralized pay system.

    The statement reads: “We commend President Tinubu for hearkening to the voice of reason and taking decisive action. This action has further shown that Mr President is not just a listening leader with a great passion for fairness and smooth-running of the Nigerian education sector, he is also in charge of his administration.

    Read Also: Tinubu will make Nigeria safe, says Information minister

    “We equally commend the Honourable Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, who brought the attention of President Tinubu to the obnoxious IPPIS and its damaging effects on the education sector.

    “Our exemption from IPPIS has restored normal procedure for staff recruitment as it will stop the donation of staff by some opaque stakeholders. Now, the Governing Councils and Provosts will be able to perform their constitutional roles as the managers of their respective institutions; they will be able to effectively exercise their statutory control over staff recruitment, promotion, and discipline and payroll administration.”

    He further emphasised that the action has also ended the frustrations imposed by intractable errors of IPPIS against individual staff, such as short-payment, regular pay omission, withholding, and/or delay in remittance of third-party deductions, to mention just a few.

    He stated: “Our Union has consistently put up a strong opposition against IPPIS as a fraudulent and ineffective platform. Sadly, such a platform with its obvious lapses was allowed to wreak havoc on the education system for such a long time. It will take a long time before our institutions can be completely healed of the injuries caused by IPPIS.”

    Olugbeko also explained that more than seventy lecturers who embarked on sabbatical leave between 2020 and 2022 were not paid salaries throughout the sabbatical leave while some were paid for a few months.

    He added: “Also, many lecturers are still being owed salaries and IPPIS could not explain the reasons for the omission. All efforts to make IPPIS effect payment to these lecturers yielded no result.

    “However, by the history of our long-drawn struggle against the problematic pay platform, we are sure that certain persons in critical ministries whose parochial interests have been wounded by the President’s action will play sabotage by putting up measures to ensure that our institutions have a problem accessing their funds, leading to shortfalls and inability to pay salaries promptly to seek selfish vindication for IPPIS.”

  • Tinubu will make Nigeria safe, says Information minister

    Tinubu will make Nigeria safe, says Information minister

    The Federal Government yesterday reassured Nigerians that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would make Nigeria safe.

    It also restated that Tinubu’s reforms would begin to yield results next year.

     Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris gave the assurance at a news conference on the President’s achievements in Abuja.

    Idris said: “President Tinubu’s dedication to addressing insecurity and creating a safer nation is steadfast. The reforms implemented in this regard will contribute to restoring peace and security, fostering an environment where citizens can pursue their aspirations without fear.

      ”You are aware that our country faces challenges of insecurity particularly the menace of banditry, kidnapping, and insurgency. “In the face of these threats, President Tinubu has demonstrated commitment to securing the life and property of every Nigerian.

    “Recognising the urgency of the situation, President Tinubu has made the fight against insecurity a top priority of his administration as contained in the Renewed Hope Agenda.

     ”President Tinubu is working tirelessly to ensure that our security apparatus is well-equipped, motivated, and strategically positioned to protect our nation from external and internal threats.

     ”From the various reports we are getting from our security agencies, it is evident that Nigeria is winning the war against terrorism, banditry, insurgency and other forms of criminality. 

    “For instance, the Southeast has been stabilised with the degrading of the operational capacity of IPOB(Indigenous People of Biafra) and the Eastern Security Network(ESN). 

    “In the Northeast and Northwest, the Nigerian Air Force has been very busy, with several successful airstrikes on bandits’   terrorists’   hideouts in Katsina, Zamfara and Borno states.” 

    He solicited the support of the media for  ”our Armed Forces, who are working day and night to keep the country safe.”

    Idris added that  the reform of the various sectors of our economy was already  ”sowing the seeds of transformative change, and as we enter 2024, we can anticipate the fruits of these efforts beginning to blossom.”

     ”These reforms are not instantaneous miracles but deliberate steps towards building a stronger and more prosperous Nigeria.

    “As we look ahead, let us embrace the spirit of hope and resilience. Change takes time, but every step forward is a testament to the progress we are making as a nation.

    Read Also: Tinubu expanding horizon of entrepreneurship in Nigeria – Alake

    “The journey towards a better Nigeria is a collective endeavour, and your support and optimism are invaluable in this transformative process,” Idris said.

    The minister also told reporters that the current scarcity of Naira in the country was not a deliberate policy by the government to inflict hardship on Nigerians.

    He expressed optimism that the crunch, which has affected cash transactions by the public, especially in this Yuletide, would ease by the beginning of next year as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would circulate more notes.

    Idris said: “Our government is aware that there is this cry by Nigerians about the scarcity of Naira notes and CBN is already working in that direction.

    “New notes and more will be produced and Nigerians will have more Naira to spend. It is not a deliberate policy to stifle Nigerians or to take Naira out of Nigerians during the Godwin Emefiele days as CBN governor).

    “That is not the case. It is a process perhaps that the CBN is undertaking that has created a temporary shortfall and we are hoping that as we go into the New Year, we’ll see a more robust supply of the Naira notes.”

  • Tinubu in Lagos for Christmas holiday

    Tinubu in Lagos for Christmas holiday

    President Bola Tinubu yesterday arrived in Lagos for the Christmas holiday. 

    He was conveyed to the state by an Air Force One plane which landed at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja at 3.50 p.m.

    The President, who disembarked at 4 p.m, was welcomed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, members of the State Executive Council (Exco), and heads of security agencies.

    Read Also: Yuletide: Don’t think of vacation this season, we’ve burden of Nigerians on our shoulders, Shettima tells NEC

    He exchanged pleasantries with the people and left for Dodan Barracks. 

    President Tinubu was accompanied by his Principal Private Secretary, Hakeem Muri-Okunola. 

  • Save us from untimely death, pensioners beg Tinubu

    Save us from untimely death, pensioners beg Tinubu

    The Nigerian Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme (NUPCPS) has cried out to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save them from untimely death, following non-payment of their pensions.

     It said pensioners across the nation died daily as a result of the challenges they faced.

     NUPCPS cited the example of a 60-year-old pensioner who died on Tuesday, but looked like an 80-year-old man due to suffering.  

     Speaking during the inauguration of the Executive Committee of NUPCPS, PHCN Oyo State Contributory Unit, in Ibadan, NUPCPS Secretary General, Michael Borokini, said: ‘’I wish you could look at my people now;  we have some people that are not as old as me, but look as old as my father because they say money answers everything.

    Read Also: Tinubu expanding horizon of entrepreneurship in Nigeria – Alake

    “I have somebody here today who left as a senior manager at the point of retirement. If he goes on a good day, his pay should be N400,000 in a month, yet he is earning N100,000 in a month. That is a great plight. We are being shortchanged and being denied our rights.

     ‘’The government should please rise to our challenges.”

     The Southwest Chairman of NUPCPS, Chief Joseph Oyadiran, urged the new leaders not to victimise those who did not support them but court their friendship, calling on members to have faith in their new leaders and pray for them in order to succeed in their new roles.

     Mr. Bola Adeyemi, trustee 1, PHCN Contributory Branch, said: “We have passed through a lot of travails, but we thank God that we have triumphed. Since we left in 2013, we were like orphans”.

     The new Chairman, Alhaji Mukaila Adedapo, said with God on their side, the new executives would work together and hard to achieve the desired goal.

  • Tinubu’s intervention in Rivers crisis constitutional, says Basorun

    Tinubu’s intervention in Rivers crisis constitutional, says Basorun

    All Progressives Congress (APC) elder Olorunfunmi Basorun has said that President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in the protracted Rivers State political crisis is constitutional. 

    He described the President as the father of the nation who should be concerned about crisis in any part of the country. 

    Basorun, Third Republic Secretary to Lagos State Government, objected to the positions taken by two eminent lawyers-Chief Edwin Clark and Femi Falana- saying that they could be misleading. 

    He said:” President Tinubu has acted as father of the nation by intervening in the Rivers crisis. His action is not unconstitutional. It is super-constitutional. Also, the defectors who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot lose their seats.”

    Basorun, who spoke on phone, said there is no President who will close his eyes when a unit of the federation is on fire.

    He said:”In recent times, members of the public, particularly people in the legal profession, have been commenting on Rivers State. In my opinion, they seem to be misleading the public with the opinion they have taken. I doubt if Nigerians can be taken for granted. 

    “As an individual, I take exception to the positions taken by the lawyers. I want to remind us that recently, there was an imbroglio in Ondo State  between the governor and his deputy. President Tinubu intervened and as at today, the matter has been resolved. 

    “The president intervened, not because he is a member of the APC, but as president of Nigeria, the father of the country and number one citizen, who sees all Nigerians as his own people, irrespective of political parties. That was why he intervened. I believe he can still intervene if there are other issues that undermine the unity and peace of this country.”

    Basorun, a lawyer and member of the APC Governance Advisory Council (GAC) in Lagos State, lamented that the disagreement between the godfather, Chief Nyesom Wike, and the beneficiary, Governor Siminalayi Fubara,  led the latter to deploy caterpillar to demolish the House of Assembly. 

    Taking exception to Falana’s remarks that Tinubu’s intervention was unconstitutional, he queried:”Where is it in the constitution that the president should keep quiet when the country is burning. I don’t know the part of the constitution he was quoting.  

    Read Also: Prioritise your health, strengthen bonds with loved ones, God – First Lady tells elderly Nigerians

    “It is super-constitutional for Tinubu to intervene in any part of the country. Tinubu only intervened to restore peace.”

    Basorun also disagreed with the view that the 27 members of the House of Assembly who had defected should lose their seats. 

    He said:”They don’t have to lose their seats. There is dispute in the party. Wike and Fubara are in PDP. They are quarrelling. That is a local one. At the national level, there is leadership crisis. The party has problem. There are disputes here and there. Therefor,  their seats cannot be vacant.” 

    Basorun disagreed with Clark, who rejected the eight-point resolutions,  saying that the sections of the constitution he quoted were not relevant to the event. 

    He said at over 90,the elderstatesman should promote the cause of peace and not condemn the resolutions. 

  • PH Refinery: Tinubu is a promise keeper, says FNM

    PH Refinery: Tinubu is a promise keeper, says FNM

    The Future Nigeria Movement (FNM) has described President Bola Tinubu as a promise keeper for reopening the Port Harcourt refinery.

    The leader of FNM, Livingstone Wechie, said the turnaround was hitherto used by some agents of the federal government to siphon billions of dollars, saying that Tinubu ended such practice by ensuring its completion.

    He said: “The news of the coming back on stream of the Port Harcourt Refinery is very cheering, particularly with the reported completion of the mechanical phase of the turnaround maintenance that had been a running conduit to fleece public funds in billions of dollars.

    “President Bola Tinubu during his campaign promised to remove the Petroleum subsidy and he actioned it on his first day in office in line with that pledge. In the same spirit, he promised through his Petroleum Minister of State for Petroleum that the Port Harcourt Refinery will be resuming production by December 2023 and we are seeking proof of that.”

    Wechie appealed that the development should be extended to the Warri and Kaduna refineries and should also help to crash the prices of petroleum products.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Tinubu arrives Lagos for Christmas

    He said: “The demand is that this development which should extend to the Warri and Kaduna Refineries should result in the crashing of the prices of Petroleum products and the surplus availability to ease the excruciating hardship the subsidy removal has brought upon Nigerians and the Nigerian economy.

    “Future Nigeria Movement therefore tasks the federal government to ensure that this should be made to rebound Nigeria’s current teeth-gnashing economy and the foreign exchange.

    “The significance of a viable economy like ours should mean that a strong and functional public owned Petroleum Refinery should not only strengthen the dying Naira and restore her lost value, it should also make the product very cheap and always available within a healthy competitive market.

    “This is the palliative and the only way to control the monstrous market forces that manipulate the prices to the advantage of private operators and the expense of Nigerians.”

  • Travellers to Tinubu: extend 50% transport fare slash to Delta

    Travellers to Tinubu: extend 50% transport fare slash to Delta

    Travellers plying the Warri-Lagos and Warri-Abuja routes have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to extend the slash in fares to Delta state.

    They decried the routes’ exemption from the federal government’s 50 percent slash on bus fares.

    It should be noted that the Warri-Lagos and Warri-Abuja roads are busy routes, used by many Nigerians for business and personal purposes on a daily basis.

    A traveller, Tare Peanock, who spoke with The Nation in Warri, on Thursday, December 21, lamented that Warri to Lagos and Warri to Abuja are not included in the list of the 28 routes to enjoy the 50 per cent fare subsidy.

    Commending the federal government for the initiative, he said, “This will no doubt ameliorate the huge cost of transportation usually associated with the Yuletide season. We appeal to our kind president to please extend the gesture to Delta state citizens by also subsidizing the fare from Lagos to and fro Warri.”

    A passenger on his way to Lagos from Warri, simply identified as Lucky, expressed disappointment that she could not benefit from the slash in bus fares.

    Read Also: Supreme Court: Tinubu seeks Senate confirmation of 11 Justices

    Lucky said: “I was so hopeful going to the park this morning, only to be told the President’s gesture did not extend to this part. We are urging him to include these Warri routes so that we can also benefit from it.”

    Recall that President Bola Tinubu had approved the 50 per cent slash in price of inter-state transport companies, stating that the Federal Government would pay 50 per cent for their passengers during the end-of-year celebrations on Wednesday, December 20.

    The president also gave his approval to Nigerians who wanted to go to different regions of the nation to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve with a 100 per cent rail fare reimbursement.

    However, the Warri to Lagos and Warri to Abuja roads were exempted from the chosen routes to gain from this subsidy, as disclosed in a recent post on X by Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s special assistant on Information and Strategy.

  • Road users in Imo hail Tinubu over 50% transport fare discount

    Road users in Imo hail Tinubu over 50% transport fare discount

    Interstate commuters and transporters in Owerri, Imo state, on Thursday, December 21, commended President Bola Tinubu for a 50% road transport fare discount for yuletide travelers.

    The Nation correspondent who monitored the federal government directive around the state capital, gathered that the transporters, however, claimed that they are yet to receive a directive for the implementation of the government’s directive.

    At the terminals, some of the officials claimed that they had not received a directive for such a discount.

    Sunday Onuowo, manager of Chisco Motors on Egbu Road, Owerri said: “The company management has not given us any order or directive for such a discount.”

    Uche Ezeh, a cashier at the company commended the federal government for such a gesture saying, “It is a good development and many people have given the president thumbs up.”

    He said however the Owerri office has not received any directive to start the implementation.

    Uche said: “We have heard that, even some Federal Road Safety Corp officers came to us to inform us that they were asked to get routes and forward to the government, but we have not been directed to start discount.”

    The passengers said they were still buying their tickets which are sold between N18,200 and N20,000.

    A passenger at Chisco Motors who is travelling from Owerri to Lagos, Bukola Kola, said he paid the normal fare of N18,000.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Tinubu arrives Lagos for Christmas

    She said: “I am going to Lagos but the motor companies have not started giving us the discount as directed by the federal government, we are still paying the high fare of N18,000. If the government can implement it, it is a good development and a pass mark for the administration of Tinubu.”

    At ABC Motors, a manager who pleaded anonymity said that only the headquarters can give such a directive. “We read about in the newspapers but nobody has asked us to start the discount.”

    Also, a man at the Young Shall Grow alone Egbu road who did not want his name mentioned, said the directive is for passengers travelling from Lagos to Owerri not from Owerri to Lagos.

  • Tinubu’s reforms deserve applause, says group

    Tinubu’s reforms deserve applause, says group

    Scholars under the aegis of ‘President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) Group on Thursday, December 21, lauded the Commander-in-Chief over his simple reformist policies in the education sector. 

    They noted that the steps can tackle intractable challenges, particularly in the higher education sub-sector, in the last few months.

    In their letter to the President by the group signed by its Convener, Prof. Yemi Oke of the University of Lagos, and its Education and Training Committee Chairman,  Prof. Olusegun Awonusi, thry hailed the resuscitation of the ‘Education Loan’ for students. 

    According to the group, “The establishment of the Education Loan Bank or Board for needy and poor students will create access for them to get the much-needed fund to finance their tertiary education. 

    It added: “It will assist the public universities and other higher institutions to charge fees commensurate with quality education and also help the institutions’ financial base to discharge their responsibilities.”

    The group also praised President Tinubu over the removal of higher institutions from IPPIS, recalling that it negatively impacted the performance and growth of universities. 

    It stressed: “With the abrogation of the policy, staff that go on sabbaticals can find avenues for collaborative research and lectureship in sister universities. Universities too can promptly attend to the needs of staff and students which need urgent attention, without sacrificing transparency. This will have a salutary effect on the evolving university autonomy plans.”

    On the decision to pay Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members part of the outstanding salary arrears during the prolonged strike, the group said the move will motivate the lecturers to double their efforts in teaching and research, and bring succor to their families. 

    Read Also: Shettima reiterates Tinubu’s commitment to poverty reduction

    The scholars urged the Federal Government to direct the universities to pay the four-month outstanding salaries to the lecturerd.

    The gtoup added: “We wish to appeal that although the four months arrears of the withheld salaries have not been paid despite having been approved for payment by Mr. President, it may be politically expedient to direct the Governing Council of the respective public universities to pay them now that they are off the controversial IPPIS. 

    “It will be a gift laden with massive goodwill for us your diehard academics.

    ,”We assure Your Excellency of our continuous support and relentless efforts as a hub of conscientious, patriotic Nigerian intellectuals and professionals volunteering time, skills, and intellects toward actualizing your 8-point Renewed Hope Agenda and a Nigeria of endless possibilities under your leadership.”

  • Policy interventions: Tinubu running govt. of unity, stability – Maharaj Ji

    Policy interventions: Tinubu running govt. of unity, stability – Maharaj Ji

    Founder of One Love Family, Satguru Maharaj Ji, has described the President Bola Tinubu-led administration as government of unity and stability owing to some interventionist policies it has implemented so far.

    Maharaj Ji stated this at a news conference to mark his 76th birthday on Thursday in Ibadan.

    According to him, the present administration’s policy interventions on agriculture, education and economy, among others have shown that Tinubu is truly a nationalist.

    Maharaj Ji, however, urged Tinubu to take more practical steps in the areas of education and agriculture.

    He particularly urged the president to ensure that the incentives being given to farmers got to real farmers in order for the country to attain food sufficiency in no distant time.

    “Those given incentives should also be effectively monitored to achieve result, and I am sure doing so will encourage more people to go into farming.

    “I believe government has taken bold steps and he (Tinubu) needs prayers of all Nigerians for us to be out of the mess we have found ourselves,” he said.

    Maharaj Ji said that it was too early for Nigerians to expect things to come to normal within seven months of assumption of office of Tinubu, based on the situation he met the country.

    “I think it is too early to assess the performance of President Tinubu’s administration in the last seven months of coming to power, considering the situation we found ourselves before his administration came on board.

    “You can see now that we have a leader we can trust. Let us, therefore, give the president a chance for things to work well,” he said.

    The spiritual leader called on Tinubu to investigate the sale of some national assets, including Nigerian Airways, Ikoyi Hotel and Ajaokuta Steel Company as well as individuals who had embezzled the country’s funds to serve as deterrent to others.

    Read Also: Maharaj Ji to Timi Frank: Stop ‘unguarded’ statements against Tinubu

    He also noted that Nigeria’s constitution was not working as expected because those saddled with the implementation were sentimental in carrying out the assignment.

    Maharaj Ji called on Nigerians to constantly monitor the executive, legislature and the judiciary so as to put them on their toes, for things to work out effectively in the country.

    He said that the problem currently facing Nigeria was that money approved and budgeted for were oftentimes not being monitored and judiciously utilised.

    Maharaj Ji, however, expressed the hope for a better Nigeria in 2024.

    “I pray and believe that something good will happen in Nigeria in 2024,” he said.

    The spiritual leader expressed joy and happiness for clocking 76, saying that some were not lucky to attain the age while some were not blessed with such good health. (NAN)