Three suspected armed robbers were on Monday evening burnt to death by residents of Amana community in Obanliku LGA of Cross River state.

Members of the community teamed up, arrested the suspects and set them ablaze while the remaining gang members escaped.

An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said the gang has been terrorizing the area and its environs for long and they could no longer stand their attacks so they decided to mobilize.

“They have been causing serious havoc in Obanliku and its environs and we have been waiting for them and they finally entered our domain in Amana, we were able to clamp down three of them while five others escaped.

“We had to make sure justice was served because they have killed, maimed and raped us a lot of times in the community and we know that if they are handed over to the police they might go scot free after all said and done.

“We don’t want them to come back and continue their trade and as we speak we are combing the area for others because we know they have not gone far and we will be waiting for them also if they return to Amana ever again. We are really tired of their menace and we want this to be a lesson to all criminals that we will show no mercy if they are caught,” he said.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Irene Ugbo confirmed the incident and expressed disappointment, stressing that nobody has the right to take life no matter what has happened.

“I am aware of the incident in Amana Community in Obanliku LGA and we are on top of the situation but nobody has the right to take life. Life is too precious, for God sake we have laws and we live in a civilized society.

“We have been sensitizing people yet they have failed to listen to us because they feel they don’t get justice. But the act is barbaric, it’s archaic and very demonic, the public should desist from it because it is inhuman to do such.

“The public should learn to have confidence in the police because no criminal that will be kept after investigation without been charged to court, they should understand that life is precious and it belongs to God, they should stop jungle justice,” she warned

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/13/angry-residents-burn-three-suspected-robbers-death-cross-river/

The Senate Wednesday passed the South East Development Commission (Establishment) Bill 2018.

The proposed commission aims at enhancing the infrastructural development of the South East zone, which is grappling with huge ecological challenges.

It also seeks to act as a catalyst for the development of the commercial potential of the zone.

The proposed legislation requires the concurrence of the House of Representatives to become a bill of the National Assembly, and the president’s assent to become a law.

Senators Stella Oduah (PDP-Anambra) and Samuel Anyanwu (PDP-Imo) jointly sponsored the bill read in the Senate on June 22, 2016.

Its passage in the Red Chamber followed the presentation of the report of the Committee on Establishment and Public Service by its former Chairman, Sen. Emmanuel Paulker (PDP-Bayelsa), on the floor of the Senate.

The bill, after Paulker’s presentation, was considered clause by clause by the committee of the whole, and amendments made by the lawmakers were read for the third time and eventually passed.

In his remarks, presiding Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, commended his colleagues for a job well done.

In his words, “Every morning we pray that God should give us the grace to do only those things that will promote the peace and unity of this country.

“I believe that we have shown today that we are committed to the unity of this country, and it is this unity that will give us faith in this country.

“This faith will in turn help us to pursue peace and progress,” he said.

Briefing newsmen after plenary, members the South East caucus of the Senate, led by Sen. Enhinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia), thanked their colleagues and members of the committee for their efforts.

Abaribe, who spoke on behalf of the caucus, urged the President to sign the bill into law “as soon as we tidy it up and bring to him, in the interest of the unity and progress of Nigeria”.

“This will put to rest the long-drawn agitation in the South East, and the difficulties in the rehabilitation and reconciliation efforts that started at the end of the civil war.

“All things we see always will end up at the negotiating table, which is what we have done,” he said.

The lawmaker said he hoped the House of Representatives would give concurrence to the bill as it went in the Senate.

When established, the South East Development Commission would be the third zonal interventionist body in the country.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/12/breaking-senate-passes-south-east-development-commission-bill/

Former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has stated his concern about the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

In a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Kola Ologbondiyan, Atiku decried the industrial impasses between the Federal Government and labour unions in critical sectors in the country.

Reaction to the nationwide strike by ASUU, he lamented that the situation was altering the future of Nigerians youths and putting families under undue pressure.

“Atiku Abubakar, however, offers hope to the striking lecturers and other agitating labour fronts as he has already set out templates to handle all related issues and ensure an end to incessant labour crisis, ensure industrial harmony and greater productivity in all sectors, immediately he is elected into office as president,” the statement said.

The former vice president stressed the importance of education and youth development to national cohesion, stability, development and economic prosperity.

He stated that he had already ‘articulated a clear and practical roadmap’ towards resolving all issues hampering education in Nigeria in his policy document, which he said embodies the aspiration and wishes of all Nigerians in their overall productive ventures.

“Our candidate has made ample provisions for enhanced welfare packages, research grants, better teaching and learning environment as well as a strong synergy between the union and government towards a harmonious working environment,” the statement revealed further.

ASUU began the total nationwide strike in November protest the poor funding of Nigerian Universities, the alleged plot to increase students’ fees, as well as non-implementation of previous agreements, among other issues

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/12/atiku-promises-to-end-ASUU-strikes-incessant-labour-crisis-if-elected/

Nine more suspects are to be added to the nineteen accused persons standing trial for alleged murder of late Maj.-Gen. Idris Alkali (Rtd).

They all facing a two-count charge of culpable homicide and conspiracy.

The Plateau Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr. Gidelia Fomyol, told Justice Daniel Longji of the State High Court sitting in Jos, while taking over the matter from the police.

The police command’s legal office was formerly led by Mr P.A Achoba.

Fomyol who made an Oral application to the court on taking over, informed the court that the state Attorney-general, Chrisantus Ahamadu, had directed the state Ministry of Justice to take over the case as all charges labelled against the accused persons were state offences.

Counsel to all the accused persons, Mr Yusuf Garba and C.O Okoro, had no objection to the application which they said had a legal backing of section 211 of the constitution, 1999 as amended and section 120 of the administration of Criminal Justice law of plateau state.

The DPP also informed the court that the former prosecutors had informed him of an application to amend a charge in the case and will therefore need a short adjournment date to enable him study the case, and the application for amendment of a charge in the matter.

Justice Daniel Longji observed that the court will be proceeding on Christmas break from Friday and said he would need permission of the Chief Judge of the State to seat during the break.

Longji adjourned the case until Dec. 17, to enable the DPP prepare his case and listen to the application for the amendment of a charge in the case and the application for bail of the accused persons.

The suspects were arrested in connection with the disappearance and death of Maj.- Gen. Idris Alkali (rtd) have been paraded by the police in Plateau state.

Alkali was declared missing on Sept. 3.

He had left Abuja and was on his way to Bauchi, via Jos. He never reached his destination.

On Sept. 29, his car and other personal effects were found in a pond in Dura-Du community of Jos South Local Government Area of the state.

General Alkali’s car found in the pond at Dura. Four other cars also found inside it

On October 31, the body of Alkali was found in an abandoned Well at Gushwet in Shen community of Jos South LGA and was buried by the military on Nov. 3 in Abuja.

According to Tyopev, the 19 suspects paraded include the 13 earlier handed over to the police command by the military, while the remaining six were among the eight the police declared wanted in connection with the crime.

He said two among the eight suspects declared wanted are still at large.

“On Oct. 17, the military handed over 13 suspects to us in connection with the disappearance and death of Maj. Gen. Idris Alkali (rtd).

“After a painstaking interrogation on Oct. 21 we also declared eight suspects wanted. Six out of the eight reported themselves to the police, but two are at large.

“So, the 19 suspects paraded today consist of the 13 handed over to us, and the six that reported themselves to us, ” he said.

The PPRO said the suspects were interrogated and found to have strong links with the crime, adding that they would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

He said efforts are being intensified to ensure the two remaining suspects are arrested. (NAN)

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/11/9-more-suspects-for-trial-over-killing-of-gen-alkali/

The Presidential candidate of People’s Trust, PT, Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of playing politics with the nation’s stability through their handling of the Electoral Act.

Olawepo-Hashim, speaking on the heels of Buhari’s refusal to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill said the president had shown he does not want a free and fair election.

He said this at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos.

He regretted that since what he called the “garrison” election in Osun state and the unfortunate decline of assent to the electoral act, the APC has been trying to spread fear in the hearts of would-be voters that their votes will not count.

The presidential candidate further called on the electorate and Nigerians not to be discouraged from participating in the next polls as a result of the shenanigans of APC and PDP.

Olawepo-Hashim said: “The president is conducting himself like a typical Nigerian politician of the era of political decline, rather than behaving as a patriot that I have always thought he is.

“By his actions, he is simply saying let me benefit from the fraudulent process for my 2019 bid. You can push for the new law in 2023 when I will not be contesting.

“He said it is regrettable that with the spiralling poverty in the land, insurgency by Boko Haram, violence in the North East and North West, incipient Shite rebellion due to high handedness, massive insecurity and bloodletting in various states, Nigeria may be damaged beyond redemption in four years, should we all succumb to the plot for the APC to hand themselves a fresh term through a faulty process.

“In the task of nation building, political leaders sometimes have to rise above the fray and take decisions in the national interest, even when it does not seem to benefit from it. Some of us did this before.

“In 2000, when some of our colleagues wanted to change our two year tenure to four years, I led the opposition to this, even though I would have been a beneficiary of that exercise as a National Executive Committee, NEC, member.

“We are a party for the people and we shall stand by them all the time.

“The path of honour is for the president to commit himself to a transparent poll and ensure and ignore the counsel of palace courtiers and political war mongers intent on moving the country in the path of further destruction, God forbid.

“Next year is Nigeria’s hour of glory, and we will not allow anyone to prevent the glory of God from shinning on the nation. We have come a long way as a nation and Nigeria is no longer an entity that can be towed with, especially with the level of sacrifices our people have made”, he said.

Buhari had for the third time withheld his assent to the bill.

This was disclosed by his Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang.

Buhari in a letter transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara dated December 6, 2018, published by his Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, on Saturday via Twitter, explained that passing the bill could cause “some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process.”

The letter read partly: “Pursuant to Section 58(4) of the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to the House of Representatives my decision on 6th December 2018 to decline Presidential Assent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 2018 recently passed by the National Assembly.

“I am declining assent to the Bill principally because I am concern that passing the new electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general elections which commenced under the 2015 Electoral Act could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process.

“Any real or apparent change to the rule this close to the election may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process.”

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/10/electoral-act-apc-pdp-playing-politics-with-nigerians-olawepo-hashim/

Former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, has taken a swipe at his estranged political godson, Governor Emmanuel Udom.

Akpabio said he was “shocked that Emmanuel whom I brought from Lagos and installed as a Governor even though he was not a member of the party on whose platform he stood election and become Governor, could call a world press conference to insult me.”

According to him, the Governor never had a membership card of any political party neither had he contested for any election on his own before he (Akpabio) picked him up from Lagos and made him Governor.

Akpabio, a former Senate Minority Leader, said the All Progressives Congress, APC, would record landslide victory in the general elections in the State.

The Senator representing Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District stated this at an assembly to flag-off his senatorial election campaign and inauguration of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District APC Campaign Council at Ukana, his country home in Essien Udim Local Government Area of the State on Sunday.

He said, ‘’the electorate in the state would reciprocate the kind gesture of Mr. President Buhari by voting massively for him and all candidates of the APC in the state.’’

Taking a swipe at Governor Emmanuel over what he described as hypocritical campaign slogan tagged “only God”, Akpabio said God cannot be mocked, noting that, “Only God could have made it possible to make someone who was never a party member to become a governor.

“Only God could have made somebody who has never had a party card or know what is called ward to become a governor.

“Only God could have made someone who could not have stood election on his own even as a Councilor and win to be brought from somewhere and made Governor.

”Only God could have made a man who has never helped anyone to become anything to become governor.”

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/09/2019-election-how-gov-emmanuel-shocked-me-senator-akpabio/

On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, unveiled the campaign message direction logo for the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups (NCBSG) tagged “Consolidation 2019.” In this interview with LEADERSHIP Sunday, the NCBSG director of media and publicity, Otunba Abiodun Ajiboye, sheds light on the significance of the logo with the inscription: ‘Consolidation 2019.’

The NCBSG held a consultative forum in Abuja and the high point of that event the unveiling of the campaign logo of the Buhari support groups by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. But the logo seems to be different from the one launched recently by the Buhari Campaign Council, which is ‘Next Level’. Don’t you think there is a confusion here? First of all, let us not confuse ourselves; the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not confused in any way. We are one family. ‘Next Level’ is not a presidential campaign logo. Next Level is a book of a compendium of activities and projects of President Muhammadu Buhari.

That must be understood perfectly. ‘Consolidation 2019’ is a campaign platform, a messaging direction. This is the way we want the people to appreciate our incursion into 2019; our movement towards 2019. We do not want to confuse the public.

The message should be direct and understood. You probably would have wanted to ask what ‘Consolidation 2019’ stands for. If you study President Buhari in the last three and half years, you will notice that he is one person who believes that Nigeria must have a society, Nigeria must build a society, Nigeria must become a society of pride and integrity.

And if you want to build a society out of a country like Nigeria, you have to ensure that the foundation is proper and well laid. You will agree with me that overtime, the foundation of Nigeria has not been properly laid. That is a fact we all know. The lack of right foundation as a country is the reason why we have no electricity, good roads and infrastructure.

It is the reason why we have no infrastructure at all to ride on to ensure a virile society. What this administration has done is to lay a foundation for the country by encouraging local food production. A country that cannot feed itself cannot go into the future. The implication of not being able to feed yourself is that you import everything you eat, which was the situation with Nigeria about three years ago. If a country cannot feed itself, that country has no hope of development.

President Buhari said, ‘Look, don’t go on a fast-track when you have no stamina to run. Come back, get your stamina right and move’. So, he said Nigeria must be able to feed itself, and the consequence of that is that food production has been boosted by 90 per cent. Three years ago, 90 per cent of the food we eat in this country was imported.

Today, 90 per cent of the food we eat in Nigeria is being grown in the country. The foundation is laid. Rather than abandon all the infrastructural facilities and projects embarked on by the previous governments, Buhari saw the sense in continuing with them because doing so affords him the opportunity to lay a proper foundation in the rail and road network.

Now, if there is no proper road network, there can never ever be development. And you see that the previous governments had no serious intention to give us good roads. At that time, the national budget for road infrastructure was N18 billion.

The Buhari administration has reversed the trend. The budget of the Ministry of Works for roads has been increased to N360 billion. With that we can maintain roads and build new ones. If we continue like that for eight years, we would create infrastructural platform to build on. So, talk about power, by the end of 2019, Nigeria will have 10,000 Megawatts of electricity. We are now on 7,000 Megawatts. The Mambilla Plateau power project is in top gear.

If all these infrastructures come together, we would have built a foundation for Nigeria. That is what this administration would have done in the first four years. After that has been done, we will now move to consolidating on those projects, on those infrastructures, on those foundations we have laid and we will move to something else that will afford the people to live like proper people. It is after that that one can boldly say a society has evolved.

We will now see that even law enforcement will become better. Nigerians will behave better. Education will go right. Road network will be good. There will not be traffic gridlock on the roads, and people will not be wasting hours on the roads. So, this is why we said ‘Consolidation 2019’ is beginning of the journey to consolidate on the foundation we are laying now. If you check, the logo has trust in it. Buhari is the only president in this country that rides on trust and integrity.

I said trust and integrity because with what we earn in this country, if the leader is not a thief Nigeria will go far. Even if we earn more and we have a stealing leadership, we will crash. So, that is why we said, the communication direction of this message is ‘Consolidation 2019’. But the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is insisting that most of the projects APC is boasting about were initiated by them.

What is your reaction to that? What is wrong with completing what the previous administration started? Shouldn’t government be a continuum? I ask again, what is wrong continuing with what the PDP started if it is a good project? What is the usefulness of a project if it is not complete? Can anyone have a choice to live in an uncompleted building? Listen, Nigerians cannot afford to listen to the PDP. PDP never had good intentions for Nigeria.

They have demonstrated it; 16 years of catastrophe. In a normal society, the PDP should not talk at this point in time. It is unfortunate. Forget the PDP and let’s discuss progressive issues. There are campaign organisations scattered everywhere seeking to promote President Buhari’s re-election. Are you all in agreement? There are no various campaign organisations. The public is often confused because the internal workings are not very clear to them.

There is no official campaign organisation for the president as we speak because the Presidential Campaign Council has not been inaugurated. The minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has been appointed the Director General. Apart from that, nobody else has been appointed, as far as I know.

To that extent, there is no official campaign organisation yet. Now, the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups is a political platform of the president. May be I need to throw more light on how it all began. As at 2015, it was a movement. It was clear that Nigerians were tired of the PDP, and as a result, Nigeria has to move forward.

They voted massively for Buhari. The support groups were so instrumental and influential in the struggle to enthrone Buhari. Immediately after the 2015 elections, there was nothing to say thank you to them. A feeling of abandonment was rife. A certain gentleman and astute politician called Senator Abu Ibrahim, who is the chairman, board of trustees of the NCBSG today and a four term Senator from Katsina South, went to the president having understood the impropriety of abandoning the hand that propelled Buhari to power.

He said to the president, ‘Sir, these support groups are abandoned. Let us do something about them. And the president consented and told him to find a way of getting the groups under one canopy. Senator Abu Ibrahim went to town to look for these support groups wherever they were. He set up a small committee and saddled them with the responsibility of getting these support groups together.

The committee went around, got the support groups together and organised a meeting for them in Abuja. In that meeting, a name came up called National Committee of Buhari Support Groups (NCBSG). This is the group that will manage all other groups. After a while- that is 2016- the president fell ill and they all lost hope but the NCBSG continued to work. We launched our Lagos chapter in April 2017. We launched Kano chapter and other all over Nigeria.

We were working. We kept faith because we believe that God has a plan for President Buhari. Some were expecting him to die and they began to make plans but we kept on working for his re-election. Even though at that time he hadn’t declared but we believed that it is necessary for him to carry on.

As a matter of fact, the president told other support groups to go and join Abu Ibrahim’s group, which is NCBSG. Some came to join us while others were reluctant. We have well over 500 support groups now, registered with us. How have you been able to sustain your operations financially till now given that President Buhari is not the type that would dip his hands in the public coffers to give money to support groups? It is very simple. Buhari runs a government.

The political party has members; well spirited members at that. Nigerians donate. Buhari is not such that will give you money to do anything for him. We fund our activities from supports and donations from well-meaning Nigerians. More importantly, Senators Abu Ibrahim, Senate leader, Ahmed Lawal, and Senator George Akume have all pulled resources together to sustain the group.

A lot of sacrifice has gone into this work. People like us sacrificed because nobody is paying us. But we stayed committed because we believe in the course. Sustaining NCBSG till now took sacrifice. Campaigns are beginning to gather steam but your party is still suffering from the spill over-effect of the primaries. How hopeful are you going into election with some governors moving their supporters to other parties? Your observation is not right.

APC has 23 governors and if three of them are in crisis, are all of them in crisis? Is this number up to ten per cent? Have you seen any human organisation without any problem? Won’t you be worried if we have primaries and all the 23 governors are happy? That means something is wrong somewhere.

So, problems are synonymous with human organisations. However, I am not in the position to comment on issues that border on the party. I am concerned about NCBSG and president Buhari’s political interests. NCBSG is created to preserve the political legacy of President Muhammadu Buhari, and that we are doing.

The focal point of NCBSG is to ensure that President Buhari gets re-elected. But there had been accusations that most of his appointments have ethnic consideration. Some people are complaining that they have been impoverished under this government, which explains why the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, told Nigerians at a rally in Sokoto that they choose between poverty and prosperity.

Does this not bother you? In your own judgement, is there hunger in Nigeria now? Now, let me tell you something; I don’t want to talk about Atiku because there is no sense talking about a man who was vice president for eight years and whose principal could not vouch for him. There is nothing to talk about such a man.

We are talking about Muhammadu Buhari that has integrity. Can Atiku boast of any modicum of integrity? Nigeria cannot be led by a man that lacks integrity.

Take it or leave it, if Atiku comes to rule Nigeria, the country will go down in ruins. We know his antecedents. Let me go to the main issues. I want to cite an instance. I and some of my people went to Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State and he said he gave appointment to some young people to come and see him. They wrote him that they can’t come now, but that they will come in two weeks’ time because they are on the farm. Nigeria has never done so well in food production.

How can anybody say there is hunger in Nigeria? If you say food prices are high; that is understandable but to say there is hunger in Nigeria is misleading. When last did we see so much rice production and circulation in the market? The prices may have a problem because of economic mechanism. If the economic mechanisms are not right, there would be problem with prices. There is no doubt about that. Anybody who says food production is not domesticated is lying.

If we domesticate food production doesn’t that tell you that there is a future? Is the future not more important than now? What is the meaning of this fake news that Buhari is an ethnic person? How? Have you ever seen a man who will go through the rank, up to the rank of a General that can be an ethnic jingoist? That man would have worked every part of Nigeria. Can man who fought in the civil war be an ethnic jingoist? You see, the opposition will say anything to confuse the gullible.

’t you heard that they say the president is one Jibrin from Sudan? How can any reasonable person imagine that? How is it possible for a president to be sick in England? He will die, his body will be replaced in this world that we are? A full fledged country with embassies all around the world? Do you think the United Kingdom government will agree with that kind of conspiracy? It is sickening for anybody to conjecture such madness. It is even better for the slowpoke that conjectures the madness than the sane human being that believes this stupidity.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/09/pmb-needs-2nd-term-to-consolidate-on-his-achievements-ajiboye/

The body of the entertainment legend and pioneer in comedy and make-believe Industry, Pa Moses Adejumo popularly known as Babasala will be committed to mother Earth on Friday morning today, December 7, 2018. Baba Sala, died on Sunday, October 7 at the age of 81.

The one-week Burial program had gathered proteges of Babasala and members of entertainment industry In different fora. The Symposium held at the National Theatre last week Wednesday aimed at extolling the veteran’s contribution into the movie world did not get the much needed buzz and support from practitioners in world of entertainment.

The tribute concert held at LTV 8 Blue Roof hall last Thursday did compensate for the previous as an array of musicians, performers came to the hall to celebrate the man that had not gotten the much needed support from government and stakeholders on account of the decades old not-too-good attitude to the issues and personalities in the industry.

The industry that is self made and in need for the much needed Industry-driven policy.

King Sunny Ade, the burial commitee chairman led his colleagues and younger ones like Queen Ayo Balogun, Admiral Dele Abiodun and others. Dr Oyindamola Adejumo-Ayibiowu, the convener and gospel artiste attracted stalwarts like Bola Are, Victoria Olanrewaju aka Opelope Annointing, Dr Lanre Teriba and so many others to the tribute which was perhaps the biggest event that should gather Actors and entertainers but only a handful came.

Even the likes of Alibaba, AY and others comedisns aside Gbenga Adeyinka the 1st billed to attend did not show up displaying the disconnect between the old practitioners and new players of the million dollar industry. Moses Olaiya who is a pacesetter deserved more suppport even from the Oyo and State governments which didn’t come while he was alive but needed in death.

Pa Moses Olaiya who was also the spiritual head of Cherubim & Seraphim , Adasa in Ilesha is a story of a visionary and espoused resilience and innovation but cut short by pirates seen as sharks and harbinger in the film industry.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/08/babasala-buried-on-friday/

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, launched the African Development Bank’s $258million comprehensive multi-sectorial intervention aimed at bolstering rehabilitation efforts in north-eastern Nigeria.

Speaking at the event in Abuja, Osinbajo said “it has been gratifying to note how enthusiastically our friends and partners have rallied to our support, mobilizing resources to tackle the crisis in the north-east. We would like to express the profound appreciation of the Federal Government to the Bank for being a partner in progress with us. When the story of the region’s recovery is told, the work of the African Development Bank will occupy a well-merited and prominent chapter.”

Osinbajo also lauded the program as a landmark intervention in support of the region, which has suffered devastation from insurgency.

In his remarks, chairman of the Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) noted that given the growing traffic of displaced persons back to their home communities, the provision of essential services and job creation in safe locations will play a huge role in ensuring the sustainability of the post-crisis recovery.

State governments of the northeast will implement the Bank’s US$258 million programme with Nigerian Federal Government’s support.

In terms of impact, 14 million affected people including 2.3 million internal displaced persons (IDPs) will benefit from health, nutrition, education, water and sanitation services.

The programme is targeting 9,000 IDPs and heads of vulnerable households who will receive direct economic assistance, while 2,023 small and medium scale enterprises (79 percent women) will receive business development support.

About 2,900 construction artisans and mechanics in the informal sector will also get help to improve their productivity. The initiative envisages that 2,000 unskilled youth will be trained for employment.

The President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina represented by the Bank’s Senior Director in Nigeria, Ebrima Faal, highlighted the programme’s emphasis on inclusivity.

“It incorporates special gender considerations by ensuring that women are active participants in all stages of the project and providing training for women and youth entrepreneurs to increase their chances for employment and business opportunities,” Adesina said.

“The Bank has remained a strong partner of the Federal and State Governments in their efforts to restore livelihoods in the northeast. For instance, throughout the period of heightened conflict in the region, the Bank intervened with two critical programmes in Yobe and Taraba States. The experience gained and lessons learned from implementing these two projects are incorporated in the design of the current intervention,” he added.

For his part, the Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar, thanked the Bank for putting together what he described as the first integrated and inclusive plan for rebuilding of northeast Nigeria. The intervention seeks to reduce fragility aggravated by the Boko Haram insurgency by contributing to emergency transition, recovery and peacebuilding efforts. It focuses on three main components – service delivery, economic recovery and institutional strengthening.

It also includes support to ensure increased access of the poor and vulnerable to basic social services in water, sanitation, hygiene, health and education, as well as livelihood opportunities, food security and strengthened safety net systems.

Participating states include Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe and Taraba states.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/07/fg-afdb-launch-258m-intervention-fund-for-north-east/

The Inspector General of Police (I-G), Mr Ibrahim Idris, has kicked against plans by the senate to pass a bill subjecting appointment of Inspectors General of Police (I-G) by the President to senate confirmation.

Idris made his position known at a Public Hearing on a ‘Bill for an Act to Repeal the Police Act, 2004 and enact the Police Act, 2018.

He further kicked against proposal to empower the senate to remove the I-G whenever it deemed fit, saying such would politicise the force.

Equally, Idris moved against plans to reduce the number of Deputy-Inspectors General of Police (DIGs) from seven to one.

According to him, the reduction will make the job difficult for the I-G.
“The confirmation and removal of the I-G by the senate is not necessary. It will politicise the Police Force. It should be expunged from the bill and the tenure of the I-G of five years should be maintained.

“The appointment of the I-G in consultation with Police Service Commission (PSC) is appropriate. However, there should not be any confirmation by the senate. This is the desire and position of the Police Force.

“There should also not be one DIG. There should be seven as we have already. Having one will put too much pressure on the I-G instead of reducing the workload,” he said.

The Chairman, PSC, Mr Musiliu Smith, said plans to remove “Force” from the Nigeria Police Force should be done in accordance with provisions of the Constitution.

“I have few observations. One is the change of name from Nigeria Police Force to Nigeria Police. If the name has to be changed, it has to be done constitutionally.

“We met a police when all the training schools were working. We met a police where you could not be promoted without writing an examination.

“We met a police where every policeman lived in the barracks.

“Today, some policemen are given houses by criminals and drug bandits. That needs to change and then we should think of additional funding source for the police.

“In Lagos State, a governor came into office. He did not like what he met on ground. He invited some of us to change what was on ground,’’ he said.

Smith added: “That was what gave birth to Lagos State Police Trust Fund. We cannot tackle insecurity without this. Let us think of that.

“The yearly budget ritual cannot help us. It will not take us anywhere. If we want a highly motivated police force, we should adequately fund it.”

In his remarks, the President of the senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said the bill was meant to establish a cordial relationship between the police and the people.

Saraki, who was represented by the Deputy Majority Leader, Sen. Bala Ibn Na’Allah, said the police required urgent reform.

Na’ Allah, who is the sponsor of the bill, said “the bill will help to protect the police from politics and politicians.”

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Sen. Tijjani Kaura, lauded the bill.

He said “it seeks to reposition the police force to serve the people better.”

Kaura commended President Muhammadu Buhari for increasing the salaries of police officers and expressed optimism that with an enabling law, the police would be better positioned.

Other stakeholders at the public hearing were representatives of the Attorney General of the Federation, Nigeria Prisons Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Customs Service, traditional rulers among others.(NAN)

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/06/idris-kicks-against-senates-proposal-to-confirm-appointments-of-igps/

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to heed the advice of anti-democratic elements who are putting pressure on him not to give assent to the 2018 Electoral Bill.

Saraki in a statement in Ilorin on Wednesday signed by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuph Olaniyonu, urged the President to rise above petty politics and act without further delay in the best interest of the country and its democracy by signing the Electoral Bill into law.

Saraki noted that he had been inundated with telephone calls and discussions by members of the National Assembly who expressed concern about the delay in the signing into law of the Electoral Bill as the one month period provided by the law for the President to sign a bill presented to him by the National Assembly is about to expire in the next few days.

Saraki added that many of the legislators who contacted him were particularly disturbed that certain individuals who are said to be chairmen of political parties had approached the Federal High Court to stop the President from assenting to the bill.

He noted that the jaded tactic employed in the 90s to scuttle the return to democracy when groups like the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) went to court to frustrate the announcement of the results of the June 12, 1993 elections was now being adopted by some masked groups and individuals to stop the signing into law of the Electoral Bill.

Saraki urged President Buhari to dissociate himself from these ugly antics and sign the bill which he said has comprehensively addressed issues that usually clog the process of free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.

“It is the prerogative of the President to either sign a Bill into law or refuse it assent. He is free to exercise this prerogative the way he likes in this case. What I found surprising is a situation where some people now want to adopt a wrong tactic of abusing the court process to stall the matter. That will be unacceptable and I am sure our judiciary will rely on the lessons from the past and not allow itself to be used.

“We do not want the President to allow the setting of a bad precedent in which somebody will go to court in future to stop the passage of an appropriation bill or any essential law which will be important to the development of the country.

“My position remains that the President, his aides, the entire country and the international community are aware that all the concerns raised by the President on the past three occasions he withheld assent to the bill have been addressed by the legislature. We bent backwards on each occasion to accommodate the wishes of the President. We started work on this law since 2016 to prevent a situation where it would become part of the election controversies.

“Every sincere commentator, observer and analyst knows that what we have done with that bill is to raise the level of transparency, credibility and acceptability of our electoral process. We made sure that the law if assented to and honestly applied by INEC and all those concerned will give us an election that will be better than what we had in 2015.

“The President should know that the survival of democracy, its development and the future of Nigeria are far more important than the ambition of any individual or party. I am using this opportunity to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to put a stop to this uncertainty in the political process by signing without delay the 2018 Electoral Bill so as to allow INEC and the concerned parties know how to prepare for a credible process”, Saraki stated.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/05/electoral-act-saraki-takes-on-buhari/

•Navy promotes 87 senior officers

THE Army announced yesterday that about 230 senior officers have been promoted by the Army Council to their respective next ranks.

Also yesterday, Navy promoted 87 senior officers to their next ranks.

According to Army spokesman Brig. Gen Sani Usman, among those promoted were the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig.-Gen. Suleiman Z. Kazaure, who was promoted to the rank of Major-General.
Read also: Army: $1b approved to fight insurgency yet to be released

Brig.-Gen Usman, in a statement, said that 29 Brigadier-Generals were promoted to the rank of Major-Generals, 95 Colonels promoted to the ranks of Brigadier-Generals and 106 Lieutenant-Colonels promoted to the ranks of Colonels.

The promotion exercise, the Army spokesman said, is expected to re-energise the beneficiaries towards the discharge of their tasks and responsibilities.

According to a statement from the Director of Information (DINFO) Navy Headquarters, Abuja, Navy Commodore Ayo Olugbode, 10 Rear Admirals, 25 Commodores, 24 Captains and 28 Commanders benefitted from the new naval promotion.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/05/nysc-dg-229-others-promoted-by-army/

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has alleged that some Service chiefs in the country were making money from the war against Boko Haram insurgents.

The group expressed dismay that despite the huge funds being earmarked for the procurement of weapons to fight insurgency in the northeast,the government has failed to protect lives and property of its citizenry.

Ohanaeze, however, expressed shock over the massacre of Nigerian soldiers at Metele in Borno state.

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of Igbo body, Mazi Chuks Ibegbu, made this known in an interview with newsmen on Friday, in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to explain what has happened to the security funds and why the soldiers complain of lack of weapons and welfare.

He noted that,” The Boko Haram war is now a money-making venture for some government officials and top army officers.

“If Boko Haram is not completely defeated now by this regime , it will be a disaster for Nigeria in the future”.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/30/some-service-chiefs-making-money-from-war-against-boko-haram-ohanaeze/

A Federal High Court sitting in Gusau, Zamfara State, has sentenced the Chairman of the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Murtala Adamu Jengebe to 41-year in imprisonment.

Nigerian leading anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed this via its official Twitter handle, @officialEFCC on Thursday.

EFCC disclosed that a five-man panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Sokoto and presided over by Justice Hannatu Sankey sentenced Jengebe to a cumulative jail term of 41 years.

The tweets further reads: “Jengebe was convicted by the court after the appellate court found him guilty on the seven out of the 10 counts for which he was earlier acquitted at the Federal High Court, Gusau, Zamfara State.

“In the lead judgment of the Court read by Justice Habeeb Abiru, the earlier acquittal of the embattled Chairman by a Federal High Court in Gusau was set aside.

“The appellate court held that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt seven out of the ten counts of the money laundering charge brought against him by the EFCC.

“He was consequently sentenced to five years imprisonment on each of four of the counts and seven years each on three other counts respectively. However, the Court ordered that the sentences shall run concurrently.

“It would be recalled that on the 12th day of May 2017, the Federal High Court sitting in Gusau presided over by Justice Z.B Abubakar discharged and acquitted the convict on the 10 counts charge of Money Laundering but convicted him for engaging in private business while he was still in public service. An offence he was never charged for by the Commission.

“Dissatisfied with the judgement of the lower court, the prosecution approached the Court Of Appeal seeking it to set aside the judgement of the lower court.”

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/29/breaking-court-sends-subeb-chairman-to-41-years-imprisonment/

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on Wednesday night made history in their 2-1 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League fixture played at the Parc des Princes Stadium in France.

Juan Bernat and Neymar scored for the hosts, before James Milner pulled one back from the spot for the Reds ahead of the half time.

According to Metro UK, Liverpool’s defeat to the French Ligue 1 champions means it is the first time in the club’s history they would lose all three of their Champions League away games in the group stages.

Liverpool now need to beat Napoli at Anfield next month, to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Klopp’s men are third placed on the Group C table with 6 points from five games, while PSG are second placed with 8 points from the same number of games.

Liverpool will now tackle Arsenal this weekend at the Emirates in the Premier League fixture.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/29/champions-league-liverpool-make-history-in-2-1-loss-to-psg/

cc lalasticlala
Mynd44
Dominique

British development finance agency, the CDC Group plans to invest up to $4.5 billion across Africa over the next four years to boost ties with the continent, its chief executive, Nick O’Donohoe disclosed Wednesday.

With Britain set to leave the world’s biggest trading bloc in March, government officials have been touring Africa, hoping to bolster ties with main economies such as Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

O’Donohoe told Reuters that the CDC, which has invested nearly $400 million in Nigeria, had committed $25 million to a local private equity firm, Synergy, to support small and medium sized companies in Africa’s most populous nation.

CDC also provided a $100 million loan to Nigerian fertiliser company Indorama. O’Donohoe said the agency would like to invest more in infrastructure, power, manufacturing and agriculture.

“We are opening a new office to help originate more transactions in Nigeria,” O’Donohoe said.

CDC aims to open a regional office for West Africa in Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos early next year and establish a presence in Nairobi, while also expanding in Johannesburg and with representative offices in Abidjan and Cairo.

In August, British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Nigeria where she sought to build a new trading relationship and urged the West African nation to tap London’s financial expertise for its infrastructure projects.

“Part of the reason the prime minister came here was to try to focus people’s attention on the growth opportunity and the investment and trade opportunity in Nigeria and that, you can be cynical to say, that’s partly Brexit,” O’Donohoe said.

Earlier this year, Britain added the naira as a “pre-approved” trade currency for Nigerian firms buying goods in Britain, while also exploring ways to list naira-denominated bonds on the London Stock Exchange to help fund projects.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/29/cdc-to-raise-stake-in-nigeria/

The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi on Tuesday appeared before the Joint Committee of Land Transport and Local and Foreign Debts sitting in Abuja.

The Minister’s appearance was at the promptings of the Senate’s adopted motion which was moved by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu at last Wednesday’s plenary.

Ekweremadu had told the Senate that the railway development plan of the Federal government from Maiduguri to Port-Harcourt which was awarded to the General Electric, a Chinese subsidiary firm has collapsed.

Speaking, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Gbenga Ashafa clarified that, it’s not an investigative hearing, but an interactive one to enable the committee unravel the collapse of arrangements.

Ashafa said, the contractual arrangements of the Federal Ministry of Transportation with General Electric costing $2.7 billion was huge and the nation could not afford to lose sleep.

Senator Shehu Sani, a joint Chairman of the Committee reminded the Minister of the commitment he made when his Ministry applied for the loans that were approved for Lagos – Ibadan railway construction.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/27/transportation-minister-rotimi-amaechi-appears-before-senate-committee-over-2-7billion-railway-contract/

Popular musician-turned-human rights activist, Mr. Charles Oputa, popularly called Charly Boy, on Monday said the September 22 and 27 gubernatorial election in Osun State must be further probed to ascertain alleged connivance between Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

He said it was incumbent on every Nigerian to ensure that elections reflect the true wishes of the people, adding that the coming generations would ask questions on the role played by individuals in this generation to make sure elections are free and fair.

Oputa made the charge while speaking at a Colloquium organised by the Oodua Youth Development Initiative, in collaboration with Virtues Unlimited Restorative Justice Initiative in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

The convener of “Our Mumu Don Do” further alleged that some INEC officials connived with the ruling APC to work against the interest of the people in the state.

He identified lack of transparency, harassment of observers and press men, coupled with incidence of failure card readers failure as some of the issues that marred the exercise declared to have been won by APC.

He charged Nigerian youths to rise up in defence of true democracy, and support selfless leadership predicated on rule of law and natural justice.

Representative of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Lere Oyewunmi accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of tampering with card readers in favour of the ruling APC during the poll.

He said the card readers were preloaded with accreditation while features that identify the genuineness of voters’ cards were disabled ahead of the election.

Oyewumi called for public vigilance ahead of the 2019 general elections, while also advising political parties to engage well educated and politically motivated persons as party agents.

Other speakers at the event included representatives of the Coalition in Defence of Nigeria’s democracy and constitution, Dare Ariyo; Democracy and Good governance Department of the Justice and Peace Makers Centre, Festus Ojewunmi and Wole Oladapo of the Virtues Restorative Justice Initiative.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/26/osun-election-charly-boy-storms-osogbo-berates-inec-for-conniving-with-apc/

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is heavily weighed down by poor revenue and obsolete equipment, LEADERSHIP can authoritatively report.

A comprehensive investigation carried out by our correspondents showed that the once vibrant product and drug regulatory agency is reeling under excruciating financial burden which has seriously hampered its operations.

Apart from releasing funds for salaries, the federal government does not allocate funds to the agency for other recurrent and capital expenditures, top NAFDAC officials said.

Worse still, the National Assembly does appropriate funds through the yearly budget ritual for NAFDAC, thereby placing it as a revenue generating and self-sustaining organisation.

In separate interviews with LEADERSHIP, some senior NAFDAC officials painted a pitiable and pathetic picture of happenings in the agency that gained global limelight during the golden era of the late Professor Dora Akunyili as director-general.

One of the officials lamented that NAFDAC is facing serious Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) problem to the extent that it has no money to acquire key equipment to perform its regulatory functions.

According to him, NAFDAC solely relies on its IGR to cover overheads and uses the “leftover for fixing the old equipment.”

He said: “NAFDAC has been left to be self-sustaining and it shouldn’t be so. Even in the United States of America (USA), our sister agency is funded by the government and its budget is in billions of dollars. So, it is high time priority is given to NAFDAC.”

On budgetary allocation for the agency and the purchase of new equipment, the source said that “there is nothing like budget because the National Assembly does not budget anything for us. We usually have budget but it is not funded by the government, it is the money we generate that we use.

NAFDAC is charged with the regulation and control of manufacturing, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals and packaged water in Nigeria.

It also has the duty to check illicit and counterfeit products to safeguard the citizen’s health.

It was further learnt that even when NAFDAC prepares a budget of about N10 billion, it gets only a paltry N100million for the whole year.

On how the agency generates its revenue, the source said: “Our IGR comes basically from services that we render and key among them is products registration. These fees come from laboratory analysis, inspection and other charges imbedded such as inspection of products entering into the country.”

On the last time the agency acquired new equipment, the source said that equipment are constantly bought but on a small scale.

Two years ago, the Bank of Industry (BoI) came to NAFDAC rescue when it donated N40million equipment for analysing products to the agency.

Last week, NAFDAC boss, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, shocked the visiting members of the Senate Committee on Health in Lagos when she said that 80 per cent of the agency’s equipment is obsolete.

She said that the current sordid state of NAFDAC facilities was far from international standards.

Adeyeye said, “Most of our equipment are obsolete and you cannot use old equipment for analysis, so we need to re-equip. The World Health Organisation (WHO) came to inspect our facilities and they gave Yaba facilities almost zero per cent because the centre is too small and the equipment are not there.”

Lamenting that the agency gets very little support from government in terms of funding, Adeyeye said: “In 2017, we had a proposal of N6.1 billion, of which N164 million was appropriated and at the end only N82 million was released.

“In 2018, we had a proposal of N8.4 billion, of which N229 million was appropriated and only N22.9million has been received.”

“We requested for 50 operational vehicles to perform our mandate, till now, none has been released. We don’t have computers and we requested for 1,000 computers and we have not gotten any,” she lamented.

However, NAFDAC director, Special Duties, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh, told LEADERSHIP that the DG had adopted measures to keep the agency afloat.

Some of them include direct engagement of manufacturers abroad in the acquisition of vital equipment.

He said: “The advantage of dealing with these manufacturers abroad is that they come here to look at this old equipment and allow us trade-offs, that is what we are exploring because the equipment is very expensive.”

Jimoh appealed to the government to come to NAFDAC’s rescue because its activities affect most Nigerians.

In his contribution, the former chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Lagos State branch, Mr. Gbenga Olubowale said that NAFDAC regulates and controls the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled and packaged water, chemicals – generally referred to as regulated products.

Olubowale said that these are the products Nigerians consume daily, hence the need for it to be properly funded.

He said that a situation whereby almost 80 per cent of NAFDAC equipment is obsolete, would affect its smooth operation.

Also, the managing director, BIOFEM Pharmaceuticals Nigeria Limited, Femi Soremekun, said that the impact of NAFDAC using obsolete equipment to work has been pronounced when it comes to registration of new products and analysing products in the laboratory.

Soremekun said that the stakeholders always experience delay in the registration of new products due to obsolete equipment.

He appealed to the government to release more funds to the agency.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/26/nafdac-groans-under-poor-igr-obsolete-equipment/

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris has directed urgent recovery of two AK47 riffles and a Berretta piston allegedly snatched from a slain police officer and others by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in Nnewi during a protest last week.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Jimoh Moshood made this known in Awka on Sunday evening while parading 33 suspected members of IPOB arrested by the Anambra command.

Moshood said the IG has mandated that a thorough search be carried out and the snatched weapons recovered, while the fleeing members of the group should be arrested and prosecuted.

The FPRO said, “On 23rd November, 2018, there was intelligence report that members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) an unlawful Terrorist organization were sighted gathering in their hundreds with dangerous weapons near Teaching Hospital, Owerri Road, Nnewi about to cause disturbance of Public Peace and public safety in the Nnewi and Environs.

“Consequently, Police Patrol teams led by the Area Commander, Nnewi, ACP Nnanna Oji Ama mobilized to the scene to prevent them from causing breakdown of law and order and mayhem, and destruction of lives and property.

“The Police Team, while proceeding to the scene came under ambush from the IPOB members, in the process, a Police Inspector was killed, two (2) other Police Officers were seriously injured and one Police Patrol vehicle was set ablaze, and the proscribed IPOB members snatched and carted away two (2) AK47 Rifles and one Beretta Pistol with ammunition.”

The arrested suspects, aged between 17 and 65 years and hailing from states in the Southeast and Delta State, were accused of engaging in terrorism, despite the proscription of the group last year.

Meanwhile, a loud protest erupted among the suspects when accusations of killing a police inspector and snatching of arms were read to journalists by Moshood.

The suspects said they were mostly traders in Nnewi market who had finished their business for the day and were about to close shop before they were arrested long after the protesting members of IPOB had left.

One of the suspects, Evangelist Sunday Ilonze said he and his servant were arrested in his shop while trying to close for the day.

“I came back from a burial and didn’t even know what had happened during the day and was ordered by some gun-wielding police officers to go into the vehicle, but I refused because I am a law abiding citizen, but they brought me here,” he said.

Most of the suspects cried all through the parade, insisting that they were innocent and should not be allowed to suffer for a crime they did not commit.

Moshood however assured that a thorough investigation would be launched into the matter, and those found guilty would be charged for terrorism.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/25/police-parade-33-suspected-ipob-members-who-allegedly-killed-police-inspector/

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, about 5,000 members and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, have dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abia State.

The defected PDP members were led into APC by a former Speaker of the Abia House of Assembly and former Member of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Arua Arunsi.

Others who decamped alongside Arunsi included, a Special Adviser to the Abia Governor, Chief Ndukwe Orji Agu and former Member of the State House of Assembly, Agwu. U. Agwu.

Nkporo Ohafia is the hometown of the Abia deputy Governor, Ude Oko Chukwu.

Speaking at Nkporo in Ohafia local government area of the state, while declaring for APC, on Friday, Arunsi said it was the desire to develop Nkporo that motivated him and his supporters to join the APC family.

He said, “All our desire as politicians are to see that Nkporo Ohafia enjoy access roads and other democratic dividends.

“It is very unfortunate that all our sacrifices for PDP was not rewarded with democratic benefits.

“I’m confident that if the APC gets into power, Nkporo Ohafia will benefit from the developmental plan that Dr. Uche Ogah and the party will be bringing into the state”.

Earlier in his speech, the APC governorship candidate in Abia state, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, commended the PDP decampees for their courage to pitch tent with the APC and assured that the people of the state would witness unprecedented development in all sectors of the state economy if elected as governor.

Welcoming the defectors during the declaration ceremony, the State chairman of APC, Hon. Donatus Nwankpa, assured the new party members that they would be carried along in the affairs of the party in the state, reiterating that the party, APC, was determined to enthrone the needed change in Abia come 2019.

Nwankpa took a swipe at the Peoples Democratic Party-led administration in the state over alleged poor performances and vowed that his party will send the governor and the PDP packing from the state government house in 2019.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Abia state and the Director General of Uchechukwu Ogah Governorship Campaign Organization, Barrister Kelvin Ugboaja, on Friday, stated that the Peoples Democratic Party, will collapse before the 2019 general elections.

http://www.mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/2019-ex-reps-member-ikpeazus-aide-5000.html

The Presidency has rejected former President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim that there is more corruption in the country now than when he was in office.

A statement released yesterday by the senior special assistant on media and publicity to the president, Mallam Garba Shehu, described Jonathan’s assertion as absolutely untrue, adding that facts on the ground run contrary to his unfounded claim.

LEADERSHIP Friday recalls that former President Jonathan had launched his book, “My Transition Hours” in Abuja on Tuesday, a day that marked his 61st birth anniversary.

It is in the book that he claimed that there is greater corruption in the present regime despite priding itself as a corruption fighter.

But the statement signed by Shehu, the presidency countered Jonathan, noting that President Muhammadu Buhari, in pursuit of the war against corruption, has set a number of local and international records, one of which is to call judicial officers in Nigeria to account, the first to set such a record.

He noted also that this is the first time that top military commanders and service chiefs are brought to trial, and convictions achieved in court on account of corruption.

The presidential spokesman further pointed out that this is the first time a ruling party is convicting high profile citizens, including former governors belonging to the party.

Part of the statement reads: “This is the first time the international community is acknowledging the efforts of a government of Nigeria in this regard as manifested by the selection of President Buhari by the African Union as the Anti-Corruption Champion of the continent.

“For the records, this is the first time a ruling party is investigating ranking officers of the administration, including some at the very top.

“In addition to the many firsts recorded by President Buhari’s administration, the government has introduced a lot of changes, considering that the laws relating to the fight against corruption cannot reasonably be static.”

Shehu added that in line with its aspiration to be ahead of the growing sophistication of corruption and financial crimes, the Buhari administration has initiated new legislations and proposed amendments to different sections of laws.

He listed such bills to include: The Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017; Anti-Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017; Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Bill 2017 (NFIU);Proceeds of Crime Bill 2017 Public Interest Disclosure and Witness Protection Bill, 2017 and The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2017.

Shehu noted that with the support of relevant stakeholders, the NFIU Act has been passed and President Buhari gave his assent on July 18, 2018.

He further explained that the administration is currently working with the legislature for an expedited passage of the Proceeds of Crimes Bill to make the anti-corruption war more effective.

The presidential spokesman, therefore, urged Nigerians to dismiss Jonathan’s hollow boast that he, not President Buhari, introduced schemes such as the Biometric Verification Number (BVN), Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

According to him, of what use is the announcement of good policies without the will to implement them.

Explaining further, he said since President Buhari assumed office, Nigerians are witnesses to the huge success recorded through the implementation of the TSA where some government agencies that had over the years remitted peanut amounts or nothing at all are now periodically pumping billions into government coffers.

Prominent among these remittances, he said, are the ones made by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customers Service (NCS) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

While conceding that the BVN policy was introduced in 2014 under the Jonathan administration to ensure that all bank accounts have biometric identification of their owners, Shehu however pointed out that the former president lacked the will and capacity to enforce the implementation.

Noting that certain individuals are afraid of enrolling on the BVN platform as this will expose them and their corrupt actions, Shehu gave the assurance that the law would soon catch up on them.

Speaking further on anti-corruption initiatives of the Buhari administration, the presidential spokesman recalled that the introduction of the whistle-blower policy as a veritable tool against corruption as it gives individuals the incentive to expose corruption, fraud, bribery, looted government funds, financial misconduct, government assets and any other form of corrupt practice or theft.

According to him, within six months of introducing this policy, over 5,000 reports were made through various channels, out of which 365 were actionable tips, with more than N200bn recovered so far.

He continued: “As the minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said on Thursday, the former president does not have the facts to claim that there was any serious effort on the part of his administration to fight corruption.

“As at 29th May, 2015, when this administration came into office, the EFCC recovery account had only N19.5 billion as revealed by the minister of justice and attorney-general. After one year of the new anti-corruption drive by the Buhari administration, this figure went up to N279 billion, and since then a lot more has been recovered.

“Finally, as evidenced from a fleeting look at the book, the former President had nothing to say about his own achievements. If there was a recession, and yes we had a moment in it, was it due to one year of President Buhari’s government?

“In his efforts to blame everyone but himself for his failures, Dr Jonathan heaped the blame for the predictable economic recession on President Buhari, ignoring the seeds sown under him through mismanagement and the process set in firm roots for the decline of the economy. Evidently, he did nothing to avert the situation.”

Shehu reiterated that the recession in 2016 was caused by years of mismanagement and corruption in the 16 years of PDP rule.

“The country solely relied on oil, the price of which was as high as $140 per barrel under their watch. Government simply reticulated oil revenue through personal spending by corrupt leaders, wasteful expenses and salaries rather than investing in what would grow the economy. There was no investment in infrastructure as President Buhari is now doing in seaports, airports, power plants, railways, roads and housing.

“The oil windfall for the country was mismanaged, and Nigeria’s greatest opportunity for growth was turned into a tragedy. More worrisome, there were no savings. And to compound the problem and compromise growth of the economy, the previous government borrowed heavily, owed contractors and international oil companies. When President Buhari came into power in 2015, the country had accumulated debt, which took it back to the level it was before the Paris Club Debt forgiveness. Nigeria did not have fiscal buffers to withstand an oil shock when oil prices fell to as low as $28.

“The former president and his party have nothing to say about achievements,” he added.

http://www.mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/presidency-knocks-jonathan-over.html

The federal government says its revolution in agriculture, especially in the rice sub-sector, has cut down the country’s unemployment rate by 12 million jobs in just two years.

In a scorecard he presented yesterday in Abuja, in agriculture alone, President Muhammadu Buhari said that through massive rice production in the last two years, 12 million Nigerians have been gainfully employed.

Buhari disclosed this at the 4th Nigeria Rice Investment Forum, in a paper titled: “Effective Linkage of Actor and Effort in the Value Chain for Sustained Self-Sufficiency in Rice Production.”

Represented by the minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, the president said that for Nigeria to attain self-sufficiency in rice production, more people should be encouraged to go into farming.

He said that the present administration’s intervention in rice production had led to wealth distribution and a drastic reduction in rural-urban migration.

Most of the new entrants into the agriculture sector, according to Buhari were engaged in small and big rice mills, adding that plans were underway to ease the farmers’ access to more funds.

Buhari said: “The impact of our intervention in the rice sector has resulted into job creation, increase in wealth, while reducing migration from rural to urban areas. As of July this year, the number of farmers has increased by 12 million.

“The Rice Farmers Association (RIFAN) has five million members. The number of people working in the rice mills, small or big is over 1.7 million. These include harvesters, loaders, off loaders, transporters, distributors and markers,” he said.

The President however admitted that there are still hurdles to cross as he said: “Unemployment is one of our biggest challenges in the country. We want to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production and the fact that we are currently the largest producer of rice in Africa, followed by Mali is good news.”

Buhari told the audience that his administration had cut down rice importation by 90 per cent in the last three years, adding that “our milled rice is available in every store and supermarket in the country.”

He refuted reports credited to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that Nigeria imported three million metric tonnes of rice in 2018.

The President reiterated his administration’s commitment to improving the agriculture sector and creating more job opportunities for Nigerians.

In his keynote address, Ogbeh said that plans were underway to privatise the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) with 40 per cent of the shares going to farmers.

Ogbeh said that this would address the challenges faced by farmers through accessing loans at sustainable interest rates.

The ministered revealed that Nigeria has ordered for 10 more mills in order to boost rice production.

The chairman, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Business Group Nigeria, Mrs. Nike Akande, said that the cashless “Anchor Borrower’s Programme”, which is supported by the government, has boosted rice production.

She said: “Rice production has been boosted to the extent that we have met our target of producing more than eight million metric tonnes by the last dry season.

“We had expected to produce about 15 million metric tonnes in the just-concluded raining season, but unfortunately, floods ravaged about 70 per cent of our farms, under the Anchor Borrower’s Programme

“Despite the floods, we are expecting about eight million metric tonnes. Nigeria can be said to be comfortable with this figure, hence the current stable prices of rice in the markets, despite the floods,” she said.

Akande appealed to the federal government to give fresh loans to victims of the floods to enable them return to their farms during dry season.

According to her, “there is no doubt that the 2018 floods has negatively affected 365, 000 of our farmers, who are beneficiaries of the CBN Anchor Borrower’s Programme.

“We appeal for fresh loans to be given to them so that they can recoup their losses and pay the loan,” she said.

The forum which was organised by NEPAD and under the theme: “Consolidating Gains in the Rice Sector in Nigeria (Production and Processing)’’ brought together stakeholders in the rice value chain to brainstorm on the way forward.

http://www.mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/rice-production-creates-12m-jobs-in-2.html

A Kano High Court has fixed Thursday, Dec. 6, to rule on whether the state House of Assembly has the power to investigate the bribery allegation against Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje, NAN reports.

National Coordinator of Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria, an NGO, Mr Mohammed Zubair, had filed a suit challenging the court’s constitutional right to investigate the bribery allegation.

When the case came up for hearing on Wednesday, counsel to the Kano state House of Assembly, Mohammed Waziri argued that the Assembly had the power to investigate any person including the governor for the purpose of making laws and checking corruption.

He said even though the governor had immunity, it is not against the investigation to be conducted by the House.

Waziri, therefore, prayed the court to dismiss the application filed by the counsel to the plaintiff due to the fact that it was trying to usurp powers given to the House by the constitution.

However, in his argument, counsel to the plaintiff, Nuraini Jimoh said the House had the power to investigate the governor in view of the fact that it would conduct the investigation in order to expose corruption specifically mentioned by the constitution.

“What the House is investigating is no doubt a crime against the governor. But by doing so, they are exercising their powers to expose corruption,’’ he said.

In his submission, the third defendant, who is also the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ibrahim Muktar maintained that the House had no power to conduct criminal investigation against the governor.

According to him, the state Assembly has no trained experts or investigators to conduct the investigation, and as such assignment should be referred to the police or any relevant agencies.

“The House has no capacity to conduct criminal investigation and it will be to the detriment of the person being investigated because they lack the capacity to conduct the investigation,” he said.

In his ruling after listening to the argument of both parties, the presiding Judge, Justice, A. T. Badamasi fixed Thursday, Dec. 6, for judgment on whether the state Assembly had the power to carry out the investigation or not.

http://www.mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/ganduje-court-fixes-date-for-judgement.html

Arsenal manager, Unai Emery has finally decided to sell Egyptian midfielder, Mohamed Elneny, so as to raise funds to sign Villarreal star, Pablo Fornals, as Aaron Ramsey’s replacement at the club.

Ramsey will leave the Emirates at the end of the season after the North London club decided not to renew his contract.

According to The Sun, the Gunners plan to activate a £17.8million release clause for Fornals and will fund the move by selling Elneny.

The report claimed Elneny is out of favour under Emery and is yet to feature in the Premier League this campaign.

Fornals has been impressive in Spanish La Liga for Villarreal this term.

The 22-year-old has capped twice for Spain and Emery’s side are prepared to meet the player’s £17.8m release clause in his contract.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/epl-arsenal-coach-emery-takes-final.html

Senatorial Candidate of the United Democratic Party, UDP, for Abia North district, Chief Charles Ude, has called for the removal of the immunity clause from the constitution.

He said doing so would make it difficult for corrupt governors to personalise and divert funds meant for the development of their states.

Ude, who stated this weekend in an interview with DAILY POST in Abuja, was reacting to the Appellate Court’s reduction of jail terms for two ex-governors, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame.

Recall that Justice Stephen Adah in a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal reduce Dariye’s jail-term from 14 to 10 years. He was a two-term governor of Plateau state.

Similarly, Justice Abdul Aboki-led Appeal Court panel slashed Nyame’s sentence from 14 to 12 years. Like Dariye, he was a two-term governor of Taraba state.

Speaking, Ude faulted the delay in the prosecution and sentencing of the governors who both left office 11 years ago.

He regretted that though the jail terms were fair for the more than 20 charges brought against each of the governors, the people were denied prompt justice because of the immunity Dariye and Nyame enjoyed at the time when they diverted their state funds.

He insisted that without the immunity clause in the constitution, more governors would apply greater sense of responsibility in the handling of the people’s commonwealth.

“I hope the appropriate institutions will see the need, through Dariye and Nyame’s cases, to remove the immunity clause from our constitution.

“It will go a long way in making those who hold public offices as governors and president not to see the funds of their states as their own. It will promote some responsibility in governance,” he said.

Ude went further to fault the jail term reductions on the ground of the governors being ‘first time’ offenders, saying the law does not capture that idea in criminal cases.

He said: “If you look at the reduction of the terms given the analyses of the Appellate Court that they were first time offenders, you will but wonder.

“There is nothing like that in law in criminal cases. If it were murder trial would the Court have said the governors were first time murderers?

“Again, I think in a case of conspiracy a governor alone cannot to down. There should be other people involved but I wonder how they managed to let them off the hook.

“But for more than 20 charges against the governors, I think the jail terms were fair,” he concluded.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/why-governors-should-not-have-immunity.html

The Presidency has reacted to an alleged audio of Senate President, Bukola Saraki revealing how much he spent campaigning for President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2015 election.

Saraki had in the viral audio said he spent about N200m for campaigning for President Buhari in 30 states during 2015 election.

The Senate president lamenting in the audio also explained that he is angry with President Buhari because he was not compensated and has not benefited from the APC government since 2015.

He, however, promised that it will not be the same in 2019 as president Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Atiku Abubakar will make funds available and empower youths.

Reacting to the audio, Bashir Ahmad, Buhari’s Special Adviser on New Media in a post on Twitter agreed with all Saraki allegedly said.

According to Ahmad, the audio shows what opposition parties are fighting for ahead of 2019 elections.

“This audio will make you understand what those people are really fighting for. (fighting for themselves ONLY, not for you or for the country).

“Saraki has said it exactly the way it is, and he rightly put it in way that can be understood by all. The choice is all yours!

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/2019-election-presidency-reacts-to.html

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to name the value they added to Nigerians since coming to power in 2015.

The party also dared the President to name any tangible economic policy and any key development project initiated and completed in any part of the country by his administration to put an end to poverty or lift the faces of Nigerians since his assumption of office in 2015.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, threw the challenge on Thursday while receiving a coalition of youth groups from President Buhari’s home state of Katsina pledging support for the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

He said; “Nigerians were deceived to vote in President Buhari in 2015, thinking he was pro-poor and prudent, only for them to be confronted with the most corrupt, deceitful and incompetent administration which has no commitment towards fulfilling any of its campaign promises.

“President Buhari cannot boast of any development project initiated and implemented by him as a President. Instead, he has denied his promises and completely wrecked our once robust economy with his harsh, anti-people and restrictive policies.

“At the time the PDP handed over power to President Buhari, our economy was one of the fastest growing in the world; Nigerians had access to the basic economic empowerment, the private sector thrived; businesses were booming, foreign investors flooded our country, public servants were given a sense of belonging and purchasing power of citizens was high.

“Today, under Buhari’s anti-people administration, all the gains achieved by the PDP have been reversed. There is persistent bloodletting, acute poverty, hunger and grinding starvation in the land. Over 30 million Nigerians have lost their jobs and there is serious stress on families.

“While millions of Nigerians cannot afford the basic necessities of life, our dear President and his cabal swim in opulence and humongous corruption.

“Nigerians have not forgotten how the Buhari administration’s corrupt currency round-tripping led to the collapse of our naira with attendant hardship on our citizens. Our nation is now mocked as the world’s poverty headquarters.

“The question you must ask President Buhari is, what value has his administration added to the life of Nigerians, who voted for him in 2015. Instead, he has continued to deride our citizens as lazy and lovers of freebies, while describing them as “a very difficult lot” in his December 31, 2015 Presidential media chat.

“The fact remains that any leader or administration that holds citizens in disregard, as manifest in the Buhari administration, cannot in any way work for the welfare of the people

“The party urge all Nigerians to remain steadfast in rallying behind Atiku “in the collective quest to rescue our nation from the misrule of Buhari’s administration.”

In his remarks, leader of the group, Mallam Abubakar Shehu, said Nigerian youths were completely disenchanted with President Buhari and now looked up to PDP and Atiku for solution.

He assured the party of the support of youth groups in Katsina State in the 2019 presidential election.

http://www.ebiscoo.com/48/atiku-vs-buhari-pdp-challenges-buh

Controversial actor Uche Maduagwu has come for Banky W who recently joined politics and he is ready to contest for a seat in the house of representatives.

The actor blasts him in a couple of posts on his Instagram page for taking his wedding to South Africa.

He wrote,

“@bankywellington Tell Nigerians why you did your #CHURCHwedding in #SouthAfrica and not in #Nigeria, before we VOTE for you…��� Firstly, is it #TRUE before you got married to #beautiful @adesuaetomi that you allegedly said you’ll not do a BIG #wedding, but a small one?� If that’s correct, @bankywellington how big was your wedding ceremony?✈ Our WORDS matter a lot…

“That aside, by taking your church wedding to South Africa do you know you just added to the GDP of that #country,� i don’t even want to use my calculator to do the #mathematics of how much you spent, that alone created additional JOB to the #YOUTH of another country, so why should we vote for you?

“I’ve already gotten the ATTENTION of @chrissyteigen in 2017 in #America,� before some HATERS would say I’m looking for attention on #instagram, but we need to ask ourselves the RIGHT questions sometimes. @bankywellington if you couldn’t do your church wedding in #Naija which could have added additional #JOB to the labor #market, why should we #VOTE for you?�

“@bankywellington Will #Nigeria GROW if everyone takes their church Wedding to #SouthAfrica?���✈ Is #Calabar not #beautiful enough? You need our #VOTE, but by taking your church #wedding to South Africa,✈ didn’t it occur to you that you were creating more #JOBS for another #country indirectly?

“You need our VOTE in #Hope19, yet, you couldn’t even do a simple #Church wedding in #Naija,�� which would indirectly put #FOOD on the table of #youths through the provision of services like FOOD,� #DRINKS, logistics, #event planning,✏ live #Band,�� #photography, etc.

“@bankywellington if you weren’t seeking our VOTE, honestly, i wouldn’t raise this #topic, after all, its your #MONEY,� but now that you want to get our VOTE in #2019, kindly explain why you took your wedding to another #country when it could have created JOBS for youths in #LAGOS?�

“OK, let’s put that aside, @bankywellington #Charity, they say, begins at home, tell us, how many #SCHOLARSHIP or JOBS have you given to youths in your own #LGA in the last 2 years?�

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/why-should-we-vote-you-actor-uche.html

Ex-beauty Queen, Dabota Lawson has expressed regret over her marriage with estranged husband, Sunny Aku.

In a post on her Instagram page on Monday, the former Miss Nigeria, while lamenting decisions she made in life, said the only thing she did right was making the decision to keep her baby.

According to her, she regrets getting married to Aku in 2014.

The duo got married in 2014 despite a 35-year age difference between them.

Lawson wrote: “This weekend I spent a lot of time thinking and talking about past events in my life. My friends kept saying Dabota everything happens for a reason and you are who you are today because of all that has happened. But I said to them and myself NO!! I’m not so thankful, I wish I made better decisions and was careful before getting involved with certain things and certain people.

“I wish I could see the future of how some of my poor decisions will stay hunting me because they actually do everytime I win or do better it’s because I chose to and I took a right turn, not always because I’ve learned a lesson.

“The only thing I know is my mind and heart is just stronger, too strong for my own good, I’m almost not in touch with reality and strictly focused on pursuing goals and making sure everyone and everything around me is fine. I miss being carefree and the softness and innocence I used to have.

“I hate the fact that I have major trust issue and assume everyone has an ulterior motive around me. I mostly regret ever getting married in 2014 ( please keep all that lessons and whatever you think I got from it talk ) I hate the fact that I did ! PERIOD!

“The only I did right that keeps me going was making the decisions to go through with my pregnancy and have my child. My daughter is only thing I’ve done right in the world over 25 years of my life. That’s how I feel.”

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/i-regret-getting-married-in-2014-dabota.html

Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili, the presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) on Monday highlighted her economic philosophy, fundamental principles and concepts that will guide her government.

Madam Due Process as fondly called reeled this out while reading out her policy speech to the media in Lagos.

Ezekwesili, who was Nigeria’s former Minister of Education and Solid Minerals, expressed confidence that her proposal would lift 80 million Nigerians out of poverty.

She said: “My plan proposes a better future for Nigerians. It is a blueprint of possibilities and a pledge to Nigerians of what an ACPN government can achieve. Our program will provide hope, progress and prosperity for everyone.

“We will be radical but responsible. We will think big while living within our means. The overriding vision of an ACPN presidency shall be to build a new Nigeria that is prosperous, stable and harmonious.

“A strong belief in the dominant economic role of the private sector and a commitment of our government to launch vigorous market economy reforms. Through policy, effective regulation and catalytic public investment in the provision of basic services for people and businesses, we will accelerate and expand the sources of growth in the economy.

“A massive program of deregulation of the Nigerian economy to unleash the depth of competition and efficiencies necessary for higher and deeper economic growth and expansion of the economy. The division and rebalancing of roles between business and government will reduce opportunities of corruption and bottlenecks that limit the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy.

“A commitment to pursuing growth that is inclusive which is a necessity for lifting the poor to an improved state of well-being. Research has shown us that the poor are uplifted faster in a market economy cushioned by relevant safety nets.

“A dedication to improving the Productivity and Competitiveness of Nigeria and Nigerians in every sector of economic activity by removing barriers and providing a menu of sound policy measures.

“A deliberateness in easing the Doing Business environment not just for major businesses in Nigeria but for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, which are the lifeblood of our economy.”

http://www.ebiscoo.com/11/2019-oby-ezekwesili-highlights-her-economic-policies-plans#74