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Tag: Yahaya Bello

Oyegun to Nigerians: Shun detractors of Buhari, APC

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Saturday called on Nigerians to shun those casting aspersions on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the party.

Oyegun made the call at a grand rally to welcome People’s Democratic Party ( PDP ) members who defected to the APC on Saturday in Lokoja.

The National Chairman said the President was God sent to heal the wounds of Nigerians adding that his administration has made tremendous improvement in the socio-economic and political development of the country.

He said that the administration has diversified the Nigerian economy from being oil-dependent to being an agriculture-based.

He said there was an ongoing expansion of the rail network and power generation has stabilised at 7,000 Megawatts from 3,000 megawatts at the inception of the administration.

“It is only the beginning of good things that are yet to come,” he said.

Oyegun urged Nigerians not to listen to detractors of the President but be patriotic and support him to achieve more and make life worth living for every Nigerians.

“Kogi will be one of the major sponsors on the day President Muhammadu Buhari decides to go for second term. They say we are quarrelling, they say we are fighting, but credible people are trooping into APC”, he added.

He advised Kogi people to support the administration of Gov. Yahaya Bello, saying the governor has positively affected every facet of the state economy.

“I am happy to be here today. I noticed one of the billboards when I was coming in saying, ‘A New Dawn for Kogi State’.

“Kogi People, I want to congratulate you for having an energetic governor in Yahaya Bello. This is a governor that is a good organiser, restless, energetic and full of ideas. I can feel a new energy in Kogi State”, Oyegun said.

Speaking Gov Yahaya Bello urged Buhari to run for a second term in 2019.

“We urge Mr President to run and fly in 2019. Twenty-four APC governors are ready to support you under the leadership of the National Chairman of the party, Mr John Oyegun.”

Bello welcomed PDP members from the three senatorial districts of the state who defected.

He said the APC was where they belonged in the first place adding, “come and sin no more.”

He urged those still in PDP to come back home.

Prof. Stephen Ocheni, Minister of State for Labour and Employment said the crowd was a testimony of the strength of the party in the state.

Mr Edward Onoja, Chief of Staff to the governor said the party started with nine members of the state House of Assembly and 100,000 members, but now has 19 legislators and 500,000 members.

NAN

February 18, 2018
Governors, NASS to interface on state police

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) is to nominate a team from their members to interface with National Assembly over the creation of State Police.

State governors and the federal parliament had agreed to allow states to have their police.at the closing of a two-day summit last week on national security organised by the Senate.

They had supported Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo who stated at the opening of the event that state police was “the way to go.”

The NGF meeting holding at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja on Wednesday night will raise the team.

Other issues on the agenda NGF’s meeting was the Recovery of stamp duties and Improving Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through harmonized motor registry/traffic management system by Dimensions Information Technology.

The meeting which started around 9pm is presided over by the NGF Chairman and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulazeez Yari.

Read Also: Governors back state police

Those in attendance as at the time of filing this report were, governors of Bauchi, Mohammed Abubakar, Borno, Kashim Shettima, Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu, Kogi, Yahaya Bello, Kwara, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Jigawa, Ibrahim Hassan, Ekiti, Rotimi Akeredolu, Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai, Nasarawa, Tanko Al-makura, Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, Edo, Godwin Obaseki.

The deputy governors in attendance are Benue, Benson Abounu, Ebonyi, Kelechi Igwe, Enugu, Cecelia Ezeilo, Plateau, Sonni Gwanle Tyoden, Osun, Titi Laoye-Tomori, Rivers, Ipalibo Banigo, Ogun, Yetunde Onanuga, Akwa Ibom, Moses Ekpo Ekiti, Kolapo Olusola, Sokoto, Ahmed Aliyu, and Lagos, Dr. Oluranti Adebule.

February 15, 2018
Senate confirms seven RECs, stands down one nominee

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed seven out of the nine nominees for the position of Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ).

They are Baba Yusuf (Borno), Dr Uthman Abdulrahman (Kwara), Mr Segun Agbaje (Ekiti) and Dr Cyril Omorogbe (Edo).
Others are Yahaya Bello (Nasarawa) Dr Emmanuel Hart (Rivers) and Mohammed Ibrahim (Gombe).

The confirmation followed a successful screening of the nominees at the committee level and adoption of report submitted during plenary by Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Sen. Suleiman Nazif.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari in December asked the Senate to confirm nine INEC RECs in line with section 154 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.

However, the nominee of Akwa Ibom, Elder Monday Tom was stepped down while that of Osun, Eric Olawale did not turn up for the screening.
Presenting the report, Nazif said of the nine nominees referred to the committee for screening, only eight showed up.

He said that the nominee for Osun did not communicate to the committee reasons for his absence.

According to him, Tom, the nominee for Akwa Ibom state was stood down for further legislative action.

“Other seven nominees were duly cleared by the relevant security agencies and the Code of Conduct Bureau,’’ he added.

In his remark, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki commended members of the committee for their diligence during the screening process.

NAN

February 14, 2018
I’ve tremendous respect for the Catholic Church – Gov. Bello

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state has expressed “tremendous respect for the Catholic Community”, saying he will not do anything to disparage any religious organization.

The Governor, who stated this in Lokoja through his Director General of Media and Publicity, Kingsley Fanwo, said the reports in the media that he disrespected the Catholic Community and it’s leaders was “another low by his detractors in their desperation to portray him as an irresponsible leader”.

“My statements to the Press were well documented. I was critical of corrupt leaders, who have been disconnected from the looting pipes. These are the leaders who are launching campaign of calumny against Mr. President.

“These categories of leaders belong to different faith and may attempt to mislead highly respected religious leaders into joining their antagonism towards the anti-corruption crusade of Mr. President. 2019 is a year of determination for our nation and I have no regret leading the charge for the re-election of Mr. President who had given hope to the hopeless in the society.”

Governor Bello charged religious leaders to join the President’s fight against corruption, insisting that no good religion has a place for corruption and corrupt people.

“The Catholic Church has done very well in promoting literacy and healthcare. I am quite familiar with a good number of Catholic Priests and I know their stance on the issue of corruption. Every church and religion must fight corruption because corruption oppresses the poor and destroy justice and fairness,” he said.

The Governor urged the Media to uphold the tenets of objective reportage in order to promote peace and security in the country.

February 10, 2018
2019: Buhari will win by landslide, says Yahaya Bello

Kogi governor, Yahaya Bello, is confident of a landslide victory for President Muhammadu Buhari at next year’s general elections.

Bello told State House correspondents after observing the Friday Ju’mat prayer at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that Buhari would be reelected regardless of the order of the 2019 elections.

Commenting on the proposal by the National Assembly that the elections into the Senate and House of Representatives should kick-start the polls, the governor said: “If you observed critically what happened in the last election, where Mr. President was elected along with other members of the National Assembly, then we called it Buhari Tsunami, where the good, the bad and the ugly were all put together and elected.

“It’s either going to be in their interest that the Buhari Tsunami will return them or everybody will be on his or her own. Let Buhari return and let Nigerians select the good ones out of the bad ones to return to the National Assembly.

“Whichever order is adopted for the coming general elections, I can assure you that Mr. President will win with a landslide and the good ones will return to the National Assembly.”

Bello urged Nigerians to give Buhari a chance to complete what he has started adding that he supports the Bola Tinubu-led committee set up during the week, by Buhari, to reconcile all aggrieved members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Whatever Mr. President believes in, his judgment and his wisdom, I believe in him. And I believe in his ability to bring all party members together,” he said.

Responding to the statement made by Catholic Bishops during their visit to the President on Thursday that many Nigerians are not happy with the government, the governor said: “It’s very true that Nigerians are angry but the question is: who are this category of Nigerians that are angry?

“The Nigerians that are angry are those who used private jets to cart away Nigeria’s money in dollars out of the country to South Africa. I’m sure you are aware that our money is still locked down there. Such money if you bring it into the economy, a lot of youths that are unemployed will surely be employed.

“And of course those that have looted the country dry and normally go to church and mosque to pay tithe are no longing doing so. Of course these are the people that are angry.”

“I think those that are benefiting from these crimes and criminality will be angry and they are Nigerians. So it is important to define the category of people who are angry.

February 10, 2018
2019: Buhari will win landslide – Yahaya Bello

Says Tinubu will reconcile APC

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello on Friday insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari will win landslide for a second term in 2019.

Speaking with State House correspondents after observing the ju’mat prayer at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he urged Nigerians to give Buhari chance to complete what he has started.

The governor also believed that the new Presidential All Progressives Congress (APC) reconciliatory committee headed by APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, will successfully reconcile all aggrieved members of the party.

Asked to speak on the National Assembly’s rearrangement of the election time-able, he said “I so much appreciate this. I think if you observe critically what happened in the last election where Mr. President was elected along with other members of National Assembly, then we called it Buhari Sunami, where the good, the bad and the ugly were all put together and elected.

“Its either going to be in their interest that the Buhari Sunami will return them or everybody will be on his or her own. Let Buhari return and let Nigerians select the good ones out of the bad ones to return to the National Assembly.

“Which ever order it comes this upcoming general elections I can assure you that Mr. President will win landslide and the good ones will return to the National Assembly.

On whether the lawmakers will be the losers of the proposed table time, he said “They have the choice to make and they have made their choice that the goodwill of Mr. President should not rob on the bad ones. Surely, the good ones on their own account will return to the National Assembly at the appropriate time.”

On Tinubu’s reconciliatory committee, he said “Of course. Whatever Mr. President believes in, his judgement and his wisdom I believe in him. And I believe in his ability to bring all party members together.”

Read Also: Bello appoints panel to probe suspension of LG chairman

According to him, Nigerians who are angry with the government are those involved in crimes, whose criminal activities have been blocked by the Buhari administration.

Speaking on the Catholic Bishops’ submission to the President that Nigerians are angry, he said “Yes. I followed it keenly and one of the key statement there was that Nigerians are angry. Yes, its very true that Nigerians are angry but the question is who are this category of Nigerians who are angry?

“The category of Nigerians that are angry are those who used private jets to cart away Nigeria’s money in dollars out of the country to South Africa. I’m sure you are aware that our money is still locked down there, such money if you bring it into the economy, a lot of youths that are unemployed will surely be employed.

“And of course those that have looted the country dry and normally go to the church and mosque to pay tithe are no longing doing so, of course these are the category of people that are angry.” he added

Nigerians involved in legitimate businesses, he said, are happy with the government.

“If you look at it critically, the farmers, those with real jobs are happy because the economy is improving. In no time we have come out of recession, our foreign reserve is increasing, no more bombing in Sambisa, no more bombing in the country, no more bombing in Emab plaza even as close as Abuja, no more bombing in Suleja and all over the country.

“I think those that are benefiting from these crimes and criminality will be angry and they are Nigerians. So it is important to define the category of people who are angry.

“I want to urge Nigerians to continue to appreciate Mr. President, pray for him so that the good work he has started he will complete it, so that Nigeria will be out of the woods.” he said

On the sale of some Kogi State assets, he said, that there was no need to keep assets in the name of keeping assets when they could be of more value to the people financially.

He said “Well, to them you call it important but to us it is not important. It is not important because they are tying down the capital and good money of the state that would have been used for other developmental projects.

“If you have an important project that is not adding values whatsoever to the lives of the people of Kogi State, and such projects can be converted and used to solve the problems that you are confronted with today. We are in deficit of road infrastructure; schools are in shambles, hospitals and the rest of them. So, why keeping an asset that is not yielding anything of value at all in the name of this is Kogi asset instead of use it for what will benefit the people more and add value to the system.

“You see, this is politics playing out but we will not be deterred by some uninformed so called elites that are here in Abuja making noise. Let them come to Kogi State and compare two years of my stewardship with previous administration, then they will know that they are completely off the track. I think the people of Kogi State are with me and appreciate the much we are doing.” he stated

February 9, 2018
Kogi ADP inaugurates online agricultural market place

The Kogi Agricultural Development Project ( ADP ) on Tuesday inaugurated an internet marketing platform to connect farmers in the state to the outside world to enable them to sell their produce.

The Managing Director of the ADP, Mr Oyisi Okatahi, said at the inauguration in Lokoja that the aim was to enable the farmers to sell their produce at good prices without the interference of the middle men.

Okatahi said the platform named: “Kogi Online Agricultural Market Place,” would also help the farmers to preserve their goods as the buyers could off-take the produce even before the harvest.

Read also: Kogi: PDP fault alleged planned sale of govt. property

He said that the agricultural market place could be accessed on “kogiadp.org,” pointing out that the platform was open to other farmers in the country.

According to him, the strategy is for the extension agents to help farmers list their farm produce online and get the best prices for them.

Okatahi said that the Gov. Yahaya Bello had given the ADP a marching order to implement a project that would benefit the people every month.

According to him, Bello’s administration is very committed to making Kogi the foremost agricultural state in Nigeria.

“We started in November 2017 with a programme, “Kogi Agricultural Summit” and in December followed with “Rice Processing at ADP Office.”

“In January 2018 we had “Cassava City” and now in February we are having “Online Agricultural Market Place,” Okatahi said.

The managing director advised youths in the state to key into the agricultural revolutionary programmes of the State and Federal Governments.

He said the programmes were sure ways of gaining employment rather than waiting for white collar jobs.

NAN

February 6, 2018
Revenue from cashew nuts will surpass crude oil – Kogi

The Logistics State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kehinde Oloruntoba has described the state as the highest producer of cashew nuts worldwide, producing over 100,000 metric tonnes out of the about 200,000 metric tonnes exported last year.

He disclosed this on Friday during an agriculture exhibition organised to mark the second year anniversary of governor Yahaya Bello.

He said cashew nuts from Kogi State has become a hot cake and highly valued on the international market and would soon sell more than crude oil, currently the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy.

The commissioner encouraged all to go back to the farm, adding that Vietnam, which is the major buyer of the cashew nuts from Nigeria, made over $3 billion from the produce last year.

He said that the state has no business being poor, being also the highest producer of cassava and coffee, but that previous administrations refused to harness the resources for the overall development of the state.

According to him, when Bello became governor two years ago, the agric ministry had no functional equipment, while the staff and farmers’ morale of staff and farmers’ morale were at the lowest ebb.

He said that the governor changed the story with the purchase of over 40 new tractors, establishment of 50-ton capacity rice mill at Omi dam and provision of incentives to farmers.

January 26, 2018
ASUU urges Kogi governor to recall sacked lecturers

…Wants Ambode to resolve LASU crisis

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to recall its 150 members sacked at the state university.

The union also implored the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to address the current crisis at the Lagos State University (LASU) before it escalates further.

Addressing journalists in Awka, the zonal coordinator of, ASUU, Owerri zone, Prof. Ike Odimegwu, said the union would no longer condone such embarrassing situations.

He said the Kogi governor should tread the path of honour and reverse his “unwarranted provocations.”

Odimegwu said: “As a union, we have demanded and still demand the immediate recall of the unjustly dismissed lecturers at kogi State University and the payments of all their entitlements.

He said the crisis in kogi State University had been a recurring incident due to inadequate funding and erosion of University autonomy and academic standards by the state government.

On LASU, the union urged Ambode to use his good office to arrest the ugly trend in the institution by directing the Governing Council and the university administrators to ensure amicable resolution of the crisis before it is too late.

January 26, 2018
Yahaya Bello will go, but scholarship will remain
SIR: I doubt if anyone with a modicum of conscience or education can give thumbs up to the government of Kogi State. The state especially under the current administration has consistently showed its incompetence – how grossly incapable it is to effect any worthwhile deliverables. In fact, I’m constrained to submit that it does not possess the conscience to get embarrassed even if the entire institutions in the state closed down throughout this sad, ignoble and unhappy regime.

They do not appear to possess enough dose of honour to process the implications of our collective disaffection and agitations. I stopped writing about them a long time ago because they won’t be around for ever, will they?

I will forgive Bello and his gang a thousand times, than accept the debasement of our scholarship. I often can’t easily let go each time any member of this community regales in unscholarly indulgences.

The tens of thousands of students who have taken a position over the protracted strike in the state’s tertiary institutions have been demonized in the most unfair and undignified manner.

What the older generation owes this demographic is an honest, a humble (not condescending) and consistent analysis, education and engagement. I think it’s important that our university teachers be reminded how strategic their profession is to the development of an informed and tolerant society. And it cannot be achieved through the paternalistic approach which unfortunately pervades the Nigerian campus space.

You see, scholarship got badly injured the moment our academics became too intolerant to opposing views. The arrogance that made transparency become a matter of convenience, is no less a trouble for progressive thoughts. College teachers now have a feeling that they owe no one any explanation for actions or decisions they take – much less the students (the very reason for their engagement/employment). It is on record that historic movements began on college campuses – probably by young and inexperienced people – which presupposes that the concept of tolerance, free speech and an operationalized understanding of education were in force.

Evidently, Kogi State University chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities (KSU-ASUU) does not deem it a matter of obligation to reach out to its internal and external publics particularly its students and their parents. Sadly still, pro – ASUU sentiments on various media platforms would rather decry the misguidedness of ‘our youth’ than engage with relevant information.

Teacher – student mutually respectful engagement is neither a concession nor condescension. It is a duty. And if you believe they don’t have sufficient intelligence to understand, perhaps it is time to interrogate what they are being taught.

We must fix this.
- Oshaloto, Joseph Tade
Igbaruku-Oke-Eri, Kogi State.
January 26, 2018