₦airaland Forum

Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, has canvassed support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election in the February 16 presidential election.

Egbeyemi said Ekiti has a brighter future under the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government, which is executing key capital projects in the state for the benefit of the people.

The deputy governor, who spoke at a public forum in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, said the APC-led Federal Government was carrying out a rail line project that will connect Ekiti with Osun State.

A statement on Wednesday signed by his Special Assistant (Media), Odunayo Ogunmola, quoted Egbeyemi as assuring the people of more capital projects and empowerment programmes that will change their lives if Buhari is re-elected in the 2019 presidential poll.

He disclosed that Governor Kayode Fayemi was instrumental to the onclusion of Ekiti in the rail project noting that when completed, the project will boost the local economy and attract more investment.

The deputy governor also urged the people of the state to vote for all APC candidates in the 2019 general elections to help the party implement its manifesto for the benefit of the masses.

Egbeyemi said: “All I want you to do for us is to pray for this government and to support us. This is the first time Ekiti will be in connection with the federal government.

“By February, there is going to be an election and we want every Ekiti man and woman to support us by voting for Buhari.

“Once that is done, you have a man up there and he is one of the best. I don’t need to tell you that Kayode Fayemi is one of the closest governors to President Buhari.

“I want to tell you before March or April, you will know what will be coming to this state by the grace of God.

“The rail line that is coming from Osogbo, it was through the efforts of Kayode Fayemi that Buhari included Ekiti in the project.

“Ekiti was not in the project but Buhari said Ekiti must be included asking why Ekiti was not having rail line.

“There are more goodies that will come from the Federal Government but we must vote APC and ensure that Buhari returns for second term.”

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/12/why-ekiti-must-vote-buhari-in-2019-fayemis-deputy-egbeyemi/

The roster of teams that would be playing in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League is almost complete with more teams confirming their places on Tuesday night.

English teams, Liverpool and Tottenham, are among the teams that progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League after a dramatic night at Anfield and the Camp Nou.

Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s only goal of the night in the first half; but the Reds were almost punished for missing a number of fine chances.

Arkadiusz Milik had a golden chance to equalise for Napoli in the dying stages but Alisson produced an extraordinary save to confirm Liverpool’s 1-0 win.

With Paris Saint-Germain’s win in Belgrade, it meant Liverpool finish as runners-up, while Napoli will drop into the Europa League.

On their part, Tottenham got a crucial draw against Barcelona who fielded a weakened side at the Camp Nou.

The Catalans took the lead after a stunning run and finish from Ousmane Dembele. Spurs missed a number of clear chances through Heung-Min Son and Christian Eriksen but substitute Lucas Moura was on hand to tap in Harry Kane’s cross.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men picked up just one point from their first three matches but progress to the last-16 as runners up to Barcelona.

The draw for the knockout stages takes place on Monday.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/12/champions-league-liverpool-psg-qualify-for-round-of-16/

Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of spreading fake news.

He said this in reaction to the reports that the account of the PDP vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was frozen.

Shehu also commented on alleged raid of the residence of PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s sons by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The statement he issued Monday evening read, ‘The story about the raid ‘ordered by Buhari-led government’ on the home of PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s son and the fairy tale on the alleged blockage of the bank accounts of the running mate, [former] Governor Peter Obi and his family are both untrue, and should be dismissed as just another manifestation of the PDP’s growing expertise in fake news.

“Nigerians must be becoming wary by now, of a political party with absolutely nothing to offer in the coming elections and has instead, transformed into a knight in shining armor, slaying the truth. In this so-called transformation, PDP has changed into nothing but to a ceaselessly flowing stream of fake news.

“It is impossible to find in Nigeria today, anyone propagating fake news more than the PDP. Our advice to Nigerians is: Ignore them.”

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/10/presidency-speaks-on-freezing-of-obis-accounts-raid-of-atikus-sons-residence/

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu says the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to reject assent to the Electoral Act was in Nigeria’s interest.

Ibekaku-Nwagwu, former Special Adviser to Buhari on Justice Reform Sector, in a statement on Sunday, said that enforcing the amended act in the 2019 general elections could be a booby trap capable of discrediting the laudable work of the current administration.

Ibekaku-Nwagwu, who is the Enugu West senatorial candidate of the APC, noted that amending rules that would guide the conduct of an election less than three months could alter preparations made by the electoral umpire.

“The rejection of assent to the Electoral Act as amended by the president is a timely decision that smacks of courage and wisdom and saves the country from a possible political implosion.

“The decision also saves the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from a booby trap that would have put the commission in a very tight situation,” she said.

Ibekaku-Nwagwu said that Nigerians should discountenance whatever propaganda against the decision of the president and focus on the efforts to correct the mistakes of the past.

“The achievements of this administration speak volumes and that should remain our focus,” she added.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/09/electoral-act-why-buhari-declined-assent-ex-aide-ibekaku-nwagwu/

President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed why he refused to assent to the Electoral Amendment Act.

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 explained that passing the bill could cause “some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process.”

The President’s reasons for refusing to assent the Bill was contained in a letter transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara dated December 6, 2018 and was published by his Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, on Saturday via Twitter.

The letter reads 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/2018/12/08/electoral-act-buhari-finally-breaks-silence-reveals-why-he-refused-to-sign-bill/

South African Airways (SAA), is celebrating 20 years of non-stop operations between Johannesburg and Africa’s most populous city, Lagos, Nigeria.

Operations commenced on December 4, 1998 as SAA launched its first flight into Nigeria soon after the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between the two countries had been signed. It is also estimated that the airline has airlifted over 3 million passengers from inception. And has brought several aircraft onto this route. From the initial Airbus 300 series, which had to make a technical stop en-route in Luanda, to the Boeing 767 and the B747-400 and the Airbus A340–600, which was then replaced by the current state of the art Airbus A330-300 aircraft, it only got better.

Speaking in Lagos to celebrate the giant achievement by the airline, Group CEO of SAA, Vuyani Jarani, said the Nigeria/South Africa bilateral agreements had aided ease of movement of goods and people between both countries.

Jarani said SAA does not have a direct flight from Nigeria to the US but has a robust and efficient e-commerce platform for the Nigerian market.

Stating that they were working with the authorities for ease of visa procurement, Jarani said: “Nigeria/South Africa Chamber of Commerce have been partners for 20 years. We worked with them in terms of visa. Nigeria is a market that is profitable but we don’t take that for granted.”

On efforts made to bring back the SAA back to profitability, the CEO said: “In recent years, we have gone through difficult times but there are strategies developed to turn it around. We are coming with a new management and they are turning around the airline. We haven’t lacked strategy but it is execution and implementation that are the problems. We will continue to grow the willingness to execute these strategies. We are balancing scale and profitability.”

He therefore, assured that it would take them three years to return to profitability and that was from 2018 to 2021.

In his remark, SAA regional manager, Middle East, Africa, Aaron Munetsi, pointed out that there were challenges peculiar with the Nigerian market, which include fuel, visa and other factors.

Apart from fuel, Munetsi said, some environments were monopolistic, adding that there was the need for central African market policy that should be able to address issues of monopolists in any market that they were not able to operate effectively.

“We pay for fuel much less in the US than we pay in some oil producing African countries,” Munetsi observed.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/08/saa-celebrates-20-years-of-direct-service-to-nigeria/

Architect Audu Sule Katagum is the Deputy Governor of Bauchi state. In this interview with BODE GBADEBO, he bares his mind on the controversies surrounding the last governorship primaries in the state and the chances of the APC at the 2019 elections.



Recently, There has been a reconciliatory move by the national headquarters of the APC on the contentious primaries that took place in Bauchi. We want to know whether these issues have been resolved and if not, what is the government doing to stop possible implosion in the party?

First and foremost, I don’t really think there was any contention to the primaries as far as Bauchi state is concerned. Of course, for any election that you need, one person will only be the winner and on such cases, the loser will not agree because everybody wants to be a winner. Now, with regards to Bauchi primary election of the APC elective seats, we all know initially that, what the stakeholders of APC here in Bauchi wanted, was indirect primaries but at the end of the day, we had to talk to the leadership of the party at the national level and we conducted election as they directed us to do. In most cases all over the state we had to conduct election very late, in the evening and night in some cases and at the end of it, as far as the government is concerned, the rightful people won the tickets. For example, there were three other contestants for the governorship ticket and at the end of the day, there was no doubt His Excellency won. After the election, of course, there were a lot of issues including decamping. Some people decided to go to court but the government immediately set up a reconciliatory committee that sat down some of these people who lost out in the election and I believe we were able to convince more than half of them to understand the situation that only God gives whom he pleases. Some agreed to that, some wanted refund of their money while some wanted some other incentives from the government and I am happy to let you know that a lot of issues have been resolved. Some came back and agree to

assist the party while some decided to leave the party. We wish them well and we will face them in the general elections.



There are three prominent members of the party who are contesting the outcome of the party’s governorship primaries. Don’t you think that not reconciling with them mayt affect APC’s chances at the polls?

No. If you look at the primaries, the votes that were garnered by his excellency, the governor of Bauchi, was the highest. The three aspirants did not get more than one per cent of what the governor got. So, with regards to them becoming some sort of stumbling blocks to the governor’s chances, I don’t think so. In the first place, they failed to realise that the people of Bauchi state themselves are happy with their current governor and this issue of the primaries were conducted everywhere in Bauchi state fair and free. Like I told you earlier, the stakeholders of APC in Bauchi have chosen to do it by indirect mode as recommended by constitution of the party but a day before the exercise, we got a directive from the party headquarters in Abuja that we should do it using ballot boxes and the instruction given by the headquarters was that, if the committee that was to conduct the election comes, they should not even see the governor, because they don’t want any situation whereby the committee might be compromised by the state government and this was accepted by the governor. In fact, when the committee came and wanted to see him, he said ‘don’t see me, call all the other contenders let us sit down four of us’. And this was what happened. The people who were contesting the governorship also insisted that a certain group of people should conduct the election, that is the National Union of Teachers, which the governor conceded. The election materials were brought to Bauchi. All the contenders had their agents at the election office in Bauchi, they all verified that the election materials were not tampered with and each local government had agents of each aspirants, who escorted the same materials to each local government. So at the local governments, again they had their representatives, everybody saw what was brought in and at the end of the counting, nobody said anything. The governor garnered 75,000 votes while the highest among the rest was about 7,000 or 6,000. So if you look at the figures, I don’t think they will say they can constitute any hurdle to our re-election. We are just praying that they will come back and see reasons. People elected this governor in 2015 because they know what he was going to do and he has delivered on the promises he made to the electorate.



One of the states that Apc is banking on to win the presidential election is Bauchi State. do you think the APC and President Buhari still have that kind of support they onced enjoyed?

Look! Mr President is probably one individual that nobody can say something bad about him. As far as the general populace is concerned, especially in the North, nobody is blaming Buhari on what has happened. If you look at what has been happening all over Nigeria, nobody is saying it is the president who has done this. Honestly, all elections in Bauchi since 1999 have always been since he started

contesting election in 2003, Bauchi state is probably the state after Kano state that gives Buhari the highest votes and nothing has changed. I will show you, go into the towns, villages and talk of Buhari, he is the same, he is in the hearts of the people, nobody can change that, nobody can change that perception people have about him, especially in the North. This is a man of integrity, this is the man that we need to continue our leadership. So we clearly understand that what has happened in the primaries will not affect election of Mr President or thinking pattern or love the people of Bauchi have for him.



There is plan by the governor to give interest-free loans to small-scale business owners but some people believe it is a votes-buying plot. What is your take?

My take is that I don’t think the government want to use this as a political leverage and I don’t think His Excellency the governor of Bauchi state needs to do that. Like I said earlier, even from the primary election, we are going to be honest with ourselves, the governor has already made his mark in Bauchi, he has already proved that he is governor of the masses. Now on this issue of loan, this did not start with this administration, because the last government also gave such loans to business men and small market people in Bauchi and this offer actually came in as early as two years ago. The market people asked the governor for this kind of loan because Bauchi as you know we call it a civil service state and how do you improve economic activities or industry? They were able to present

their case to the governor as far back as two years ago but that time the governor told them ‘look, I don’t have the resources but I assure you we will look at it carefully and then by the time we are sure that it is going to be of economic interest, of course, we want to help all the marketers’. Now, every business man in Bauchi is benefiting from this loan. So, it is something that has been ongoing and this is the time that the government realise we can afford to do this right now and this is why it is coming right now. If you say it is a political move, I think whatever one does now till election will be considered a political move and I think it’s not really a bad idea to support the government to be re-elected to continue doing what we are doing now.



Bauchi state has been relatively peaceful under this administration. What is your magic wand regarding security?

Governor Mohammed Abubakar has a good relationship with the service chiefs in the state. Security is a major priority to this administration, he is always on top of things and there is a beautiful synergy between this government and the Police, Army and the Civil Defence Corps. So this good relationship has translated into a working cooperation. The governor is accessible to the service chiefs in the state to come to him any time there is any issue that requires attention. That is just the template and of course, he has been taking care of them.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/07/bauchi-people-will-vote-massively-for-pmb-katagum/

The Ogun State Government, through the Department of Trade and Investment, will today (Thursday, December 6, 2018) play host to a delegation from the UN-Habitat and the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) for the Validation of the Abeokuta Urban Master Plan and Guidelines for Urban Renewal.

Scheduled to hold at the Governor’s Office Press Centre, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the validation exercise is yet another testament to the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration’s efforts to put in place an enabling environment for investment to thrive.

In a statement, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade and Investment, Mrs. Hafsat Abiola-Costello, said the document was produced under the Global Future Cities Program of the UK-FCO and is aimed at carrying out targeted interventions to encourage sustainable development, increase prosperity and alleviate high levels of urban poverty by promoting socially and environmentally sustainable and resilient towns and cities.

Abiola-Costello indicated that the exercise is a continuation of the Strategic Development Phase and would focus on the Development of Public Transport Policy and Capacity Building, which has Abeokuta, the State capital as one of the 19 cities earmarked for implementation across the world.

The project, according to her, is to be implemented from the €1.2billion Prosperity Fund, launched by the United Kingdom in 2015, with €80million earmarked for the Global Future Cities, towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the state.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/06/ogun-to-validate-un-uk-urban-renewal-document-on-abeokuta/

Death toll rises to eight in Yobe Boko Haram attack

Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja and Bassey Inyang in Calabar

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed concern over reports of violence in four communities in Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State, which resulted in the loss of eight lives, injuries and displacement of villagers.This development is coming as the number of soldiers killed in a Boko Haram attack on a military base in Yobe State has risen to eight, security sources said yesterday.

No fewer than eight people were said to have lost their lives following ongoing communal war between Abanwan community and their neigbours in Orugbam, Biase LGA of the state.

The areas, which are under Erei clan, have common borders with Unwana, Ekoli communities in old Afikpo in Ebonyi State.

THISDAY gathered that the death toll increased from the initial three on Monday to eight yesterday as fighting between both communities continued.

Sources said fleeing residents from both communities, lamented that aside from the dead, houses and properties have been destroyed in one of the communities.

A source from Abanwan who pleaded anonymity, told THISDAY that he personally counted five dead bodies who were beheaded when crisis escalated between both communities yesterday.

However, he said no life has been lost in their village, adding however, that three people were injured on Monday when the Orugbam people attempted to overrun Abanwan.

The source confirmed that a detachment of anti-riot policemen have been deployed to restore calm in the warring communities.

“I personally counted five dead bodies that were beheaded today,” the source who spoke from Abanwan told THISDAY on phone. The source said as of yesterday evening youths in the community were keeping vigil to ward off any possible attack from Orugbam.

However, a source from Orugbam was quoted as lamenting that houses have been burnt in their community.

“As I speak with you, the Abanwan people are burning our village. We are on the run and only God knows when all these will stop,” the source who pleaded anonymity, said.

The state police command, while reacting to the clashes, said no live was lost, but admitted that four persons were injured, while several houses were burnt.

A statement signed by the police public relations officer for the command, DSP Irene Ugbo, said “that this information is not just fake, misleading, but a compendium of lies , mischievous and a calculated attempt to perpetually put the people of this extraction in total fear, confusion, and restlessness.

“That the command wishes to state that it was only four people that were injured and some houses burned down.

“The command, therefore, enjoin members of the public to go about their lawful businesses as collective effort is ongoing by the state government, police, and other stakeholders to restore lasting peace to this prolonged crises between this two sister communities.”

The statement urged members of the public to be mindful of the information they give out to the media so as to avoid the dissemination of fake and unconfirmed news.

THISDAY gathered that the conflict between both communities which has lasted for decades stemmed from the struggle over the ownership of a palm estate that lies between them.

Meanwhile, President Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, called for calm and restoration of peace in the affected communities.

The president urged the people of the areas to allow law and order to prevail.

According to President Buhari, “Our communities must be ready to live together in peace since no development can take place in an atmosphere of recurring violence.”

President Buhari, who commended the state government for the steps taken so far towards bringing peace to the areas, also lauded the State Police Command for speedily mobilising its personnel to the affected communities to contain t He urged all stakeholders to cooperate and ensure that lasting peace returned to the affected areas.

In a related development, the number of soldiers killed in a Boko Haram attack on a military base in Yobe State has risen to eight, security sources said yesterday.

Gunmen from Boko Haram faction the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the base last Saturday in Buni Gari village, 60 kilometres from Damaturu, the state capital.

Two soldiers and six insurgents were initially said to have been killed in the attack. But sources on Tuesday said eight soldiers were killed.

“The death toll is now eight. Six more bodies of soldiers were later recovered and moved to Damaturu,” a military officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP.

A civilian militia fighting jihadists in the area confirmed the recovery of six more bodies of soldiers.

“All the eight dead soldiers are now in the morgue at the Specialist Hospital in Damaturu,” said a spokesperson for the militia, who asked not to be identified for fear of sanction.

Military authorities were not immediately available to comment on the new toll.

The insurgents destroyed an armoured vehicle and stole a truck during the attack.

Sources said air support and reinforcements from a military base in the nearby town of Buni Yadi helped push out the militants from the base.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/05/buhari-kicks-as-communal-clash-claims-eight-lives-in-cross-river/

PMB Congratulates Victorious Super Falcons

Nigeria’s Super Falcons defeated South Africa 4-3 on penalties to claim the Africa Women Cup of Nation AWCON for the records of ninth times after a keenly contested 120-minute that ended in a goalless stalemate in Accra, Ghana.

In 20 years of its existence, reigning champions Nigeria have dominated AWCON to an embarrassing degree, with only Equatorial Guinea breaking their clean sweep on only two occasions

Opportunities were few and far between in a tight and cagey game in the Ghanaian capital. Both teams watched each other’s heels closely. Eventual Woman-Of-The-Match, Francisca Ordega on the Nigerian side, and top scorer Thembi Kgatlana on the South African side, came close with sweet touches in the closing stages of the first half, and just before interval, Rasheedat Ajibade should have done better as the ball spilled to her from a corner kick.

In the 48th minute, Ordega blasted a good chance over the bar, and 14 minutes later, Ngozi Okobi’s good move and pull –out was overhit. In the 75th minute, Ordega ran determinedly onto a brilliant pass from Okobi, but was scythed by goalkeeper Christen Swart. Zambian referee Gladys Lengwe awarded a penalty, but Oshoala screwed her shot and it went away.

Okobi and Ordega would miss chances late on, and substitute Nompumelelo Nyandeni came close with five minutes left but goalkeeper Tochukwu Oluehi, excellent throughout, was on call.

Oluehi would save from Kgatlana and Linda Motlhalo in extra time, just as Oshoala watched a good shot stopped by Swart.

In the shoot –out, Onome Ebi missed Nigeria’s first kick, hitting the upright, but after Alice Matlou and Ngozi Ebere netted, Lebohang Ramalepe booted her effort wide. Rita Chikwelu and Nyandeni scored, as did Chinwendu Ihezuo and Mamello Makhabane, but after Chinaza Uchendu found the roof in a cool manner, Motlhalo watched in agony as Oluehi stretched to stop her kick and hand Nigeria the trophy.

President Muhammadu Buhari has warmly congratulated the Super Falcons of Nigeria on their victory over the Banyana Banyana of South Africa in a statement by his special adviser media, Femi Adesina expressed particular delight at the discipline and commitment exhibited by the country’s senior women football team despite the stiff resistance of their South African counterparts.

Noting that the Super Falcons had earlier qualified to represent Nigeria at the FIFA Women World Cup tournament in France next year, President Buhari described winning the AWCON for the third consecutive time and ninth overall, as the “icing on the cake.”

Saluting the country’s female football ambassadors for doing their fatherland proud and showing clear dominance on the African continent, he urged them to approach the France 2019 competition with clear focus and determination to excel on the global stage.

President Buhari also commended the team’s coaching crew, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), Supporters Club and all football-loving citizens for adequately preparing and supporting the players, enjoining all stakeholders not to relent in rallying round the country’s football representatives going forward.

“I have never doubted the capacity of Nigerians to excel when given the right support,” he notes, while promising the Federal Government’s commitment to sports development as a unifying force.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/02/nigeria-retains-awcon-title-as-falcons-beat-banyana-banyana/

The Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has reacted to a statement credited to the Federal Government, informing the US to be cautious in granting visa to the PDP Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had during an interactive session with media executives in Abuja on Thursday said while the U.S. has the prerogative of whom to issue visa, it should be mindful of the timing, in order not to give the impression that Atiku has been endorsed by the U.S. government.

He was quoted as saying, “We understand and appreciate the fact that it is the prerogative of the U.S. to grant a visa to anyone who applies.

“However, we want the U.S. to be neutral and be wary of taking any decision that will give the impression that they are favouring or endorsing one candidate over the other

“Impression must not be created that the U.S. government is endorsing one particular candidate over the other.”

But, reacting, Shehu Sani described the advice as ‘unpatriotic and condemnable.

He tweeted, ”Telling a foreign country not to grant visa to your fellow citizen on the ground that he is a candidate;and with no ‘proven case of criminal offense ’ or breach of national or international law,is not just an unpatriotic act but a condemnable act. “

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/12/01/shehu-sani-reacts-as-buharis-govt-tells-us-to-deny-atiku-visa/

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has called on security agencies to go after those engaging in the buying of votes in the state.

Ortom made the call in a chat with newsmen at the Government House in Makurdi, on Wednesday.

He accused members of some political parties especially the All Progressives Congress (APC) of collecting permanent voter cards (PVCs) from unsuspecting members of the public and buying same under the pretext that they would be enrolled in the Federal Government’s school feeding programme.

The Governor said he has already alerted security agencies about the development even as he urged the Benue electorate to guard and protect their PVCs jealously and never allow anyone collect it from them in whatever guise.

“We have made a policy statement about that, urging people not to be deceived by that antics.

“Once you apply for loan or to be enrolled into the school feeding programme and you are qualified, you will be selected.

“So, it is not by any criteria and PVCs has nothing to do with criteria for selection of a food vendor or school feeding programme.

“You know that since my exit from the APC, the party is no longer on ground and of course they have no stronghold anywhere in Benue State again.

“So, they have continued to raise false alarm and lies about me.

“Go to the commissioner of police, he would tell you the person who was arrested buying PVCs.

“It was an APC member. So, none of our PDP members were indulged in going about distributing money and collecting PVCs from people,” he said.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/29/2019-gov-ortom-tells-security-agencies-to-go-after-vote-buyers/

The federal government has approved a reduction in the cost of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) application forms from N5,000 to N3,500 from January 2019.

It also cut the cost of Senior Secondary Certificate Examination handled by National Examination Coun-cil (NECO) from 11,350 to N9,850 and Basic Education Certificate also handled by NECO from N5,500 to N4,000.

These adjustments were disclosed by the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, yesterday after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the reduction was a response to pleas from parents, even as he pointed out that the examina-tion bodies were not revenue generating agencies.

He said, “Since the new administration came into office and a change in management and prudent management by JAMB, we have been able to see that most of what have been charged doesn’t have to be because a lot of it had been siphoned by corrupt officials.

“So, in answer to yearnings my parents, Mr. President directed that we look into the possibility of re-ducing the charges. Accordingly, from January 2019, JAMB fees will be from N5,000 to N3,500 for the UTME; Senior Secondary Certificate charged by National Examination Council (NECO) from 11,350 to N9,850 and Basic Education Certificate handled by NECO is reduced from N5,500 to N4,000.

“As I said, our concern is not to make money as such; we are not a revenue generating agency. Since we found that JAMB has been able to bring into government coffers about N8 billion, we said we should reduce the burdens on parents.”

Asked if the reduction was motivated by the 2019 elections, he said, “A good thing doesn’t have to have a reason. Whether it is because of election or not, I think parents deserve to have the fees re-duced. And I think there is no better time to do a good thing than now.”

On his part, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina , said the council also approved 11 ecological interventions projects for N9.600,415,324bn in Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Cross River, Adamawa, Bauchi, Jigawa, Niger, ABU Zaria, Kaduna and Abuja.

He gave the locations of the projects: jetty and shoreline protection facilities in Lagos; flood and ero-sion control in Oyo town, Oyo State; erosion control of flooded areas/road improvement in Owo, On-do State; erosion control of flooded areas in Akampa in Cross River; road and stem water defiance in Federal College of Education, Yola, Adamawa; road and bridges at Dutse Saki village in Buguru local government in Bauchi, and erosion control at Kazaure in Jigawa.

Others are: intervention at Main Campus Phase II, Site at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kadu-na; erosion and flood control at Kontagunra local government area of Niger State; gully erosion and road improvement at Army Post Service Estate, Kurudu, Abuja, and erosion and flood control at Asharawa Area Council in Phase II, FCT, Abuja.

During his briefing, minister of interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, said the council approved three in-dustrial wastes combined incinerators for environmental friendly destruction of counterfeit and sub-standard regulated products. It was approved for NAFDAC at the sum of N267,585,160.

FEC also approved a business plan for ECOWAS Biometric Cards intended to replace the current ECO-WAS Travel Certificate in a contractor-financed project that will cost N14.7 billion.

He explained that the project was a recommendation of West African regional leaders since 2016 as the ECOWAS travel papers can easily be faked. The biometric cards are expected to be issued to about 13 million persons over the next 19 years, he added.

“To make it easier for Nigeria, the project will incorporate her National Identity Number (NIN). It is hoped that the new cards will help safeguard Nigeria’s borders,” he said.

The minister of state for power, works and housing, Sulaiman Hassan, said council approved two memos for his ministry .

According to him, the first one is the furnishing of the federal secretariat complexes in three states of the federation – Awka in Anambra State, Gusau in Zamfara and Yenagoa in Bayelsa State, at the cost of N3.48 billion.

He said it is the duty of the Federal Ministry Power, Works and Housing to provide decent accommo-dation for federal agencies and other offices in various states of the federation to make their work easier for better results.

“So these complexes have been completed and ready for commission before the end of the year,” he said.

Hassan further noted that FEC also approved the rehabilitation of some bridges destroyed by insur-gents in the North East region at the cost of N813,458,132.

“The first is on the road between Maiduguri, Dikwa and Gamboru; second is at the famous Limankara, there is a bridge there that links Maiduguri to Dama, Goza, Hong and Yola, at the cost of N331.2 billion and the bridge in Gombe State at the cost of N304 million.

“The total cost of the bridges rehabilitation is N813,458,132. The contractor is the Army Corps of Engi-neers that has a limited liability company, Sappers Engineering Ltd. Why we gave to Sappers Engineer-ing is because of the security concerns; no civil contractor will want to go there due to insecurity,” he stated.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/29/fg-slashes-jamb-neco-examination-fees/

The Nigerian Army on Tuesday disclosed that its troops have killed a suspected teenage female suicide bomber at Gulak in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

The army, in a statement on its Twitter handle, said the suicide bomber was killed by the troops while she was trying to infiltrate the Dar community to detonate an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) vest strapped to her body.

“Troops of 143 Battalion deployed at a checkpoint in Gulak, Adamawa, neutralised a girl with Person-Borne Improvised Explosive Device, who tried to infiltrate Dar village to detonate her explosive vest in the early hours of Nov. 26, 2018.

“The gallant troops, in conjunction with hunters and vigilantes, immediately cordoned off the area and subsequently conducted perimeter patrol around the community to ensure the area is cleared and to also exploit the area for BHT activities,” the statement read.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/27/boko-haram-army-kills-teenage-female-bomber-in-adamawa/

Again, President Muhammadu Buhari has pulled rank on the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in his capacity as the party’s leader.

This time around, the president has insisted that aggrieved aspirants and members of the party have the right to seek redress in court if they feel deprived of their rights.

The president, who made his stance known yesterday in a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, was reacting to APC’s directive last week to all its aggrieved members, especially aspirants who lost in the primaries, to use the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism to seek redress, rather that dragging the party to court.

LEADERSHIP had last Tuesday reported that with the party’s warning to such aggrieved aspirants and members, who might test the will of the party on the matter, that severe penalties await them, the APC may have dumped its carrot approach in resolving the crises that arose from its primary elections across the country.

Specifically, the National Working Committee (NWC) had warned that full compliance to the directive was not optional, stressing that aggrieved members who took the party or any of its officers to court without exhausting the available channels of redress had already breached the spirit and the intendment of the APC constitution.

But in the statement issued by Adesina yesterday in Abuja, President Buhari overruled the party, saying if anyone is displeased with the way and manner anything has been done, and feels deprived of his or her rights, such a person is at liberty to approach the courts for redress.

Buhari said, “We can’t deliberately deny people their rights. We agreed that party primaries should be conducted either through direct, indirect or consensus methods, and if anyone feels unjustly treated in the process, such a person can go to court.

“The court should always be the last resort for the dissatisfied. For the party to outlaw the court process is not acceptable to me.”

This is not the first time the president has used his position as APC national leader to override the decision of the party.

Buhari had in March this year stunned the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party when he declared that the one-year tenure extension granted the John Odigie-Oyegun National Working Committee (NWC) and state chairmen of the party was unlawful.

Accordingly, the president, who apparently took the NEC members unawares with the sudden about-turn in his decision, asked the party to hold a national convention to elect its national leader as proceeding with the tenure extension would give opposition parties the opportunity to attack the party.

In the same vein, Buhari yesterday overturned the decision ascribed to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC last week in which it threatened to punish members across the country who had dragged the party to court over sundry issues.

Issuing the directive in statement issued last week by its national publicity secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC had said, “The party intends to activate constitutional provisions to penalise such members as their action is capable of undermining the party and hurt the party’s interest.

“We hereby strongly advise such members to withdraw all court cases, while approaching the appropriate party organs with a view to resolving any outstanding disputes. In addition to this, aggrieved members are urged to take full advantage of the reconciliation committees the party has put in place.

“APC members should understand that, as a progressive party that operates on the principle of change, it is not a matter of choice to keep to the rules.”

In a related development, President Buhari has advised party members to work with the reconciliation committees empanelled for the six geo-political zones by the APC, and not a purported presidential committee on reconciliation, stressing that the party is the only body authorised to constitute such committees.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/27/post-primary-crisis-pmb-overrules-apc-says-aggrieved-members-can-go-to-court/

Key supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the two major contenders in the 2019 presidential election yesterday gathered in Bauchi, Kano and Adamawa States to step up their campaigns ahead of the forthcoming general polls.

In Buhari’s camp were governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North East and North West as well as national leaders of the governing party who converged in Kano to receive decampees into the party fold and to mobilise massive support for the president in the next presidential election and, in Bauchi for the North East zonal meeting of the party.

Highlighting the salient qualities of Buhari and his achievements in office, the APC governors declared that they would garner bloc vote for the president to make the race a walkover for him.

In Kano, the APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State and his Jigawa State counterpart, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar canvassed support for President Buhari, stating categorically that there is no alternative to the president come 2019.

Specifically, the state governor, Ganduje, promised that Kano will not only give Buhari the promised five million votes but would ensure that before 12 noon on the Election Day he will win the presidential election.

He said the APC in Kano had a peaceful conduct of its primaries which brought back 70, 80 and 90 per cent of all the Senate, Reps and House of Assembly members respectively.

The governor explained that this was part of efforts to ensure sustainability and continuity in the nation’s legislative chambers for the good of the Nigerian State.

Also speaking in Kano, Jigawa State governor, Badaru, accused the opposition of putting Nigeria in the economic morass it was enmeshed in by looting the treasury for 16 years.

He said President Buhari met an empty treasury, with states having problems to pay salaries, while various projects were abandoned because the money had been siphoned.

On his party, the APC national chairman, Oshiomhole, who formally received into the APC fold the former governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, and his supporters, said people of same progressive political ideologies are returning to the party, while the corrupt ones are grouping into PDP.

He said that the APC is moving on the smooth path of the presidential campaign slogan of “Next Level”, stressing that “never again would this country be governed by opportunists who have in the last 16 years wasted the nation’s treasury, and the only way they will be permanently locked behind doors is by coming together of good people for the betterment of Nigeria.

“Today, our opponents in the PDP are crying even before the elections proper and want to write a letter of complaints to the United Nations. I wonder who will carry the letter for them forgetting that they introduced a do-or-die affair politics during Obasanjo’s tenure. Buhari is a gentleman who is highly respected across the globe, so he is bigger than rigging elections”, he added.

Oshiomhole who boasted that Buhari already has good 16 million votes after the primary elections said it is just a tip of the iceberg because Nigeria will never go back to the era of those who looted the treasury.

Oshiomhole described the likes of Shekarau and his followers as assets to Nigeria, thus making the election a walkover for Buhari.

In Bauchi, the state governor, Muhammad Abubakar, said the meeting would help in tackling APC’s internal problems, even as he urged those who lost in the primary elections to work with the winners to emerge victorious in the elections proper.

Abubakar appealed to the people of the North East to ensure the success of President Buhari and the APC in the general elections.

In his remarks, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, expressed optimism that the entire people of the North East and other states of the federation would vote for the APC because of the projects it had executed across the country.

The APC North East zonal vice chairman, Mr Mustapha Salisu, said that the meeting would enable all members of the party to share ideas on how to win the poll.

SGF Urges Members To Bury Grievances

Meanwhile, to ensure that APC’s house is in order, the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, has implored members of the party to bury their differences and work for the success of Buhari and the party in the 2019 general elections.

Mustapha who led the party’s North East leaders at a two-day meeting in Bauchi said that “grievance is an enemy of progress”, just as he admonished the APC faithful to work towards the successful outing for the party in the forthcoming general elections, adding that “we have to forgive and forget.”

He noted that the reconciliation committee set up by the national leadership of the APC would be the best solution to the crisis bedeviling the party.

Represented by the director-general, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr. Garba Abare, the SGF said that the committee came at a right time when the 2019 general elections were approaching.

OBJ Pushes For Atiku, Says He Won’t Disappoint Nigerians

Meanwhile, for Atiku’s loyalists who assembled in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, for his turbanning as the 7th Adamawa Waziri, the former vice president, who is the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is the man to beat.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who attended the event alongside other prominent Nigerians and PDP chieftains, stated that Atiku would not disappoint the citizenry if elected into office.

He spoke at the Lamido Fombina Palace, Yola, where Atiku was turbaned Waziri Adamawa by the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Aliyu Barkindo Mustapha.

Obasanjo, who recently ended his feud with Atiku that spanned through the period the latter served as the former’s deputy, said that the PDP standard bearer would bring honour and dignity to his office as president of the country.

At the Yola event, Obasanjo insisted that Atiku would not fail Nigerians if elected at the poll.

Lacing his speech with humour, Obasanjo praised Atiku for his strong business, cultural and political character, explaining that in their days at the presidential villa, the Waziri Adamawa never forgot where he came from.

Obasanjo said, “No matter the issues today, I know you will not disappoint. When we were in Abuja dealing with national and international issues, you did not take lightly the cultural heritage of your people.

“I am sure you will bring honour to this position and I want to thank you, Waziri for doing all of us proud.”

Revisiting his three-year stint at the Yola prison, which is close to the palace, Obasanjo hinted of his readiness to accept any traditional title from the Lamido Adamawa provided he is deemed fit for it.

He said, “I did not live in the palace but only a wall separated us. If you give me a turban, I will take it.”

President Buhari who was represented at the event by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Muhammed Bello, wished Atiku a successful reign.

Bello said, “The president sent me here as a show of the respect he has for you (Atiku) and the Fombina Kingdom. He wishes you and the entire Adamawa Kingdom good health and prosperity. The President wishes you a successful reign as Waziri Adamawa in peace and prosperity.”

The ceremony was attended by former President Goodluck Jonathan; ex-vice president, Namadi Sambo; Senate President Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives; Yakubu Dogara; governors Ibrahim Dankwambo, Seriake Dickson, Darius Ishaku, Abdulfatai Ahmed and Udom Emmanuel of Gombe, Bayelsa, Taraba, Kwara and Akwa Ibom States respectively.

Others were PDP national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin; former governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso; former Chief of Army Staff, General Kenneth Minimah (rtd) and one-time minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi.

http://mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/26/2019-northern-apc-govs-promise-bloc-vote-for-pmb/

Worried by persistent laying of siege on the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly by the police, the Senate, yesterday asked the security agency to immediately vacate the Assembly complex to enable the state lawmakers perform their legislative functions.

Senate resolution followed submission by Senator Albert Akpan (PDP Akwa Ibom North East) during plenary that the Assembly still remains sealed by the police for over 24 hours without clear reasons, thus preventing the lawmakers access to their offices and the chamber.

The police had besieged and consequently laid siege on the Assembly premises barely 48 hours after angry members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) protested the sacking of a lawmaker, Hon. Idongesit Ituen by a Federal High Court for defecting from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

Implementation of the court order by the speaker of House, Hon. Onofiok Luke, who also declared the seats of other four defected lawmakers vacant, however, contributed to the crisis.

But the Senate had on Wednesday mandated its Committee on Police Affairs to investigate the crisis and report back within two weeks.

Senator Akpan, however, rose again yesterday on the floor of the Red Chamber, lamenting that the police had not vacated the Assembly premises, preventing the lawmakers and other people from gaining entry into the complex.

He alleged that the invasion of the Assembly was aimed at impeaching the state governor, Mr Udo Emmanuel from office.

Senator Akpan said, “We have it on good authority that the intention of this invasion is to impeach the governor of Akwa Ibom State.

“There is no way in our history of our democracy that a five-member Assembly can impeach a speaker and thereafter go ahead to impeach a governor. Despite the directive of the Senate yesterday, the police are still within the premises of the House of Assembly.

“No member of staff, no indigene of the state, no member of the Assembly has been allowed entrance. We have it on good authority that the five members are on the verge of moving into the state House of Assembly to impeach the governor.

“I therefore call on my colleagues that what is morally wrong cannot be politically correct. We owe it as a duty to this country to ensure that the right thing gets done. An injury on Akwa Ibom State is an injury to Nigeria. I therefore call on the attention of this Senate that the police must be asked to vacate the state House of Assembly forthwith – without any further delay.”

However, Senator Ahmed Babba-Kaita (APC, Katsina North), argued that the police are occupying the Assembly premises not to aid the alleged impeachment of the state governor, but to maintain peace, law and order.

“We all know that there was a fracas there. If the other lawmakers go in there with their supporters there is going to be fracas in that place. It has happened in so many Assemblies, police are there to maintain peace.

“Let us find out what is the real issue there. We have to be careful with what you are doing,” he stressed.

In his remark, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, urged his colleagues not to trade the matter on a partisan level.

He said, “It is an action against the law that exists. The police can provide law and order without preventing lawmakers’ access to the chamber. It is bad for us to allow such to happen for police to seal for more than 24 hours. The police should vacate but still provide security.

“The Red Chamber thereafter resolves that the security agencies unseal the Assembly and allow lawmakers gain access to the Chamber, while they provide security.”

http://www.mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/senate-directs-police-to-vacate-aibom.html

Nigeria’s Super Falcons got their campaign for African title defense back on track with a 4-0 thrashing of their Zambian counterparts in their second group B match of the ongoing 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Gold Coast, Ghana, yesterday.

The Nigerian girls opened the floodgate of goals through Desire Oparanozie in the 41st minutes with a simple tap-in before Francisca Ordega increased Nigeria’s lead in the 69th minutes.

Rasheedat Ajibade scored one of the tournament’s most beautiful goals when she netted in the 75th minutes to put the game beyond the reach of the Shepolopolo of Zambia before Amarchi Okoronkwo netted the fourth goal for the reigning Africa champions.

A one goal defeat in their opening match against South Africa on Sunday had marooned the champions in third place on the Group B table, following Zambia’s 5-0 win over two –time champions Equatorial Guinea. But the Zambians could not hold a candle to the Falcons when the die was cast on Wednesday evening.

The scoreline was only two goals short of the 6-0 hiding the Zambians received from the Nigerians in Namibia four years ago, but that would not have been the case had reigning African Woman Player of the Year, Asisat Oshoala not, inexplicably, failed to put away any of one dozen gilt–edged opportunities that came her way.

After Oshoala failed to get enough purchase on her shot in the 9th minute, Captain Onome Ebi and Rita Chikwelu came close with headers, but Zambia also side –netted as a tight game played out at the Cape Coast Stadium.

Nigeria will be hoping to defeat Equatorial Guinea in their last group B match on Saturday to seal qualification to the knockout stages.

http://www.mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/awcon-2018-super-falcons-thrash-zambia.html

Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri has permitted the club’s executives to loan forward, Callum Hudson-Odoi, during the January transfer window, according to Sky Sports.

Premier League sides, Burnley and Southampton are both interested in signing the youngster.

Hudson-Odoi, who impressed during the Blues’ pre-season, is yet to feature in the Premier League this campaign for Sarri’s side.

Speaking about Hudson-Odoi back in August, Sarri said: “He is a very young player. We have to wait. In the future he will be a very, very strong player.”

Sarri’s men will tackle Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening in the Premier League fixture

The Stamford Bridge club currently sits on the third position on the English topflight league log with 28 points from 12 games.

The West London club are yet to lose a match this season in the Premier League.

http://www.mcebiscoo.com/2018/11/epl-sarri-finally-decides-on-callum.html

Femi Adesina, media adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, has insisted that his principal would rather lose the 2019 presidential election than rig it.

Adesina said this while speaking on Arise TV on Tuesday.

“I’m surprised that this president has been with you for three and half years and yet you do not seem to know him.

“If anybody would rig election or anything, it will not be President Muhammadu Buhari. He would rather even prefer to lose fair and square.

“He has even said it before that if the only thing he would leave as a legacy for Nigeria is free and fair election, he would do it. Forget that the election would be rigged, that will not happen,” he said.

Reacting to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) statement that Buhari’s ‘Next Level’ document “failed to articulate any solutions,” Adesina said: “PDP is down and will remain there for a very long time so I’d rather not talk about them.

“The Next Level is about deepening what is happening in the country. It’s about consolidating on what has been done and what is been done; its about making progress and advancing on what we are doing now. That is the sum total of it.

“A lot of Nigerians believe in what this administration is doing, they have faith, they have confidence, they have hope that the administration will take Nigerians to the place it deserves to be.

“The work in progress will continue and if you look at the documents that were released, you’ll see additional focal areas.

“So in the next dispensation and by the goodwill of Nigerians who will re-elect the current administration, these three focal areas (security, economy and infrastructure) will continue to receive attention and there will be additional ones as you’ve seen in the documents.”

http://www.ebiscoo.com/79/2019-buhari-would-rather-lose-election-squarely-than-rig-%E2%80%93-presidency#145

The Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has explained why President Muhammadu Buhari titled his campaign ‘Next level’.

Amaechi said the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration has lived up to the 2015 campaign promises by delivering on the change promised, hence the reason for the adoption of the ‘Next level’ campaign slogan.

Amaechi said this on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television programme.

The Minister explained further that the Buhari-led administration deserves to be trusted by Nigerians in 2019 due to the projects delivered during the three-and-half years of APC governance.

“What we are saying to Nigerians is that we will not lose focus. We are going to focus on infrastructure; we are dealing with roads, water, power, and railways. We are also improving our seaport.

“We are saying to Nigerians, trust us. We promised change, now there’s a huge change in Nigeria. We are not going back to the economy where people just cart away funds.

“This is the reason why President Muhammadu Buhari is embarking on a 2019 elections campaign called the ‘Next Level’.

“Few months after coming to government, we commissioned the Kaduna-Abuja railway, does that not deserve another trust. We are working on Lagos-Ibadan railway. Work is ongoing on the Lagos-Ibadan highway.

“Power has improved from 3,000 megawatts that we get it to 7,000 megawatts and we are discharging about 5,000 megawatts.

“We are working every day. It is work in progress, so Nigerians need to trust us for next level,” he said.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/2019-why-buhari-entitled-his-campaign.html

The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Saturday said that the Federal Government needed to address the current revenue allocation formula, to enable state governments pay the new minimum wage being requested by workers.
Fayemi spoke when he received the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Ayuba Wabba, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office, in Ado-Ekiti.

He said that Ekiti, which receives one of the lowest allocations in the country, would require extra N2bn monthly to be able to pay.
The governor, who noted that the N30,000 minimum wage was not a comfortable living wage for workers, said he was convinced that governors would pay if the Federal Government creates the enabling environment for them to do so.

He, however, suggested a collective approach by the labour leadership, the government and the general public.
Fayemi said the issue of affordability was key in paying the proposed minimum wage

The governor said Ekiti had always been paying above the national minimum wage as the state was paying N19, 350 as against the N18,000 minimum.
He, however, said that for Ekiti State to pay the new N30,000 minimum wage, it would need N2 billion in addition to the current wage bill of N2.6 billion, totalling N4.6bn.

This, he said, was the case in many other states, disclosing that Ekiti earns averagely N3bn federal allocation monthly.
“I am not holding brief for
the governors because I am the youngest among them, having only come to office barely a month ago.

”So, I cannot speak on what has transpired in your negotiation in the course of this tripartite committee,” he said
Fayemi said if he were, however, to put himself in the shoes of his colleagues, given the fact on ground in Ekiti, he believes it was only a question of affordability, ability to pay.

“As long as we have the revenue allocation formula that we have in the country, even in states where you have willing partners and comrades that are not going to contend the N30,000 figure, if nothing is done about current revenue allocation, this will be tough on states.

“In fact, this N30,000 is not even enough, Mr President, I don’t know anyone who can really live comfortably on N30,000, let alone the N18,000 we are currently paying.
“I think we need a collective approach to this beyond the game of numbers.
“The workers are very critical components to the productive base of our country, because it is the human capital and it has to be motivated human capital.
“It has to be an enthusiastic human capital that can deliver the goods to the populace,” Fayemi said.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/new-minimum-wage-fayemi-reveals.html

The Governor Nyesom Wike led Rivers State Government has said it would set up a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate “a large-scale fraud involving N36 billion spent by the administration of Chibuike Amaechi for the manufacturing of Auto Destruct Syringes for the state Integrated Medical Industries Limited.”

The decision was reached at the State Executive Council meeting held on Thursday in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The state executive council accepted the recommendations of a committee headed by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Ipalibo Harry-Banigo.

A statement by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Emma Okah, said the management of the company led by one Amenya Wokoma has been sacked.

The statement added that a new structure would be put in place pending the outcome of the commission of inquiry.

The statement reads, “The Council has also directed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to take over the ongoing prosecution of Amenya Wokoma for his role in the mismanagement of company assets worth billions of naira.

“The Auto Destruct Syringe factory was set up by the administration of Dr. Peter Odili and it began production in 2009.

“Following a convoluted quest for expansion, the state government under the leadership of Chibuike Amaechi inflicted the state with aggravated financial exposure which cannot be accounted for today as the company has gone aground and N36 billion investment went down the drain.

“A fraud of N36 billion is not a tea party and the state government will stop at nothing to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

http://www.ebiscoo.com/51/wike-probes-amaechi-over-n36b-used-for-syringe-production#115

A frontline Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has spoken against the choice of a Muslim by Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai as his running for the 2019 governorship election in the state.

Gumi pointed out that the state was not ripe for a Muslim-Muslim governorship ticket going by its culture and environment.

Gumi noted that such ticket could create more tension in the violence-prone state, and that people of other ethnic groups and religions should be assimilated and not pushed out.

‎The renowned cleric said there was the need for the minority indigenous people to be given political representation in any state, depending on their population.

“Everybody knows that it’s politically motivated. ‎Everybody knows that. What I’m saying and I specifically said is that you look at the time, the situation, the culture, the environment ‎before you make such a move,” he told Premium Times.

“What I feel is that it’s not yet the time. It is not right, ‎especially coming a week after some people who lost lives innocently. Somebody is killed on the road, why? Because of his identity.

“So, immediately after such a crisis, we don’t need another thing that will create animosity between people that are destined to live together- and I specifically said indigenous people.

“If we have indigenous people, we should do everything possible to assimilate them, integrate them, not to castigate them and put them out.

“They brought the argument that this thing is happening in Plateau and other states and I said yes, this is one reason why we should show them that we don’t take our behaviours and civilisation from barbarism. We have a standard.

“Not only in Kaduna. We are now looking for the right of Muslim minorities in Plateau, in Benue, in Nasarawa too, they should be fully integrated into the politics. If it requires to be a deputy governor, they should have to.

“So we should advocate for Muslims where they are minorities to have representation, depending on their population in government and not to deny people who are destined to‎ live together and show them they are outcast.”

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/2019-election-what-muslim-muslim-guber.html

Femi Fani-Kayode, the former Minister of Aviation has called on the National Assembly to impeach Vice President Yemi Osinbajo over
the abuse of the Public Procurement Act in the approval of N5.8billion as intervention funds for the North East in 2017.

The House of Representatives in its investigative report had indicted Osinbajo after its investigation into the fund disbursement.

Fani-Kayode in a tweet described Osinbajo as a cheap crook for giving illegal approval of NEMA finds.

The former minister urged the DSS to arrest and prosecute the Vice President for allegedly stealing and money laundering.

He wrote: “I call on NASS to impeach VP Yemi Osinbajo and on the DSS to arrest and prosecute him for misappropiation of public funds, diversion, money laundering, concealment and stealing.

“Given his illegal approval of 5.8 billion naira to NEMA, I have no doubt that he is a cheap crook.”

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/why-dss-should-arrest-osinbajo-fani.html

Real Madrid’s interim coach, Santiago Solari will become the club’s permanent coach until the end of the season according to papers filed with the Spanish football association, ESPN reported on Monday.

The 42-year-old Argentine has led the team to four wins in four games since replacing Julen Lopetegui at the helm of the European champions two weeks ago.

NAN reports that the Spanish rules prevent an interim coach from staying in charge for longer than 15 days, which expire on Monday (today), without being appointed on a permanent basis.

The Spanish Football Association, RFEF, told ESPN that Madrid had filed papers to hire Solari on that basis.

Solari has enjoyed the best start of any manager in the club’s history with victories over Melilla, Viktoria Plzen, Real Valladolid and Celta Vigo.

Lopetegui was sacked after a poor run of form that saw Madrid sink to ninth in the table.

After Sunday’s 4-2 win at Celta, the capital club are currently sixth, four points behind league leaders, Barcelona.

http://www.ebiscoo.com/14/real-madrid-finally-appoints-new-coach-on-permanent-basis

Arsenal goalkeeper, Bernd Leno has explained why his side played 1-1 draw with Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday.

Ivan Cavaleiro’s first half goal put the visitors in front before midfielder, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s late strike in the second half ensured Unai Emery’s side got a point at the Emirates Stadium.

Leno said the Gunners drew with Wolves because Arsenal’s players did not play well during the first half of the encounter.

“It was a hard game for us, in the first half we didn’t play our best and in the second half we had many chances and Wolverhampton had some chances as well,” Leno told the BBC.

“They were very deep and had fast players for the counter attack so it was very difficult for us.

“It was a difficult start because we conceded so it was easier for Wolverhampton to defend and they played on the counter so it was more difficult.”

Leno added: “I think that is just a statistic, we wanted to win, we just drew and it is a disappointment. It’s most important for us to win the next game.

“I think there was an injured player, he was on the floor for two or three minutes so maybe we could have got a few extra minutes but that was not the problem today.”

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/epl-bernd-leno-reveals-why-arsenal.html

Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, regrets buying Alexis Sanchez and believes the club made a mistake in not signing Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic.

Sanchez is believed to be unhappy at Old Trafford and looking to leave the club.

The Chilean has lost his place in the side to Anthony Martial and scored just one goal in all competitions this season.

Mourinho has been stumped by his sudden decline in performances, and The Times reports he has privately admitted that United signed the wrong winger.

The Portuguese coach still regrets the club’s failure to sign Perisic, with CEO Ed Woodward reportedly refusing to stump up an extra £5m.

Mourinho feels his side lack a brilliant crosser to exploit their height advantage and has been disappointed with Sanchez’s end product.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/epl-mourinho-regrets-buying-alexis.html

Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho has confirmed that he will still make use of the squad that defeated Juventus 2-1 in Wednesday’s Champions League clash, when they tackle Manchester City in the Premier League fixture on Sunday evening.

He also said that none of his players sustained injury against the Italian giants, adding that striker Romelu Lukaku could return to his squad.

Mourinho’s side defeated Pep Guardiola’s men 3-2 in their last encounter in the Premier League back in April.

Providing teams news ahead of his side’s clash with Man City, Mourinho told MUTV on Friday: “No new injures. So from Juventus we don’t bring important injuries.

“We have touches but I don’t think any player that was available for Juventus will be out.

“We have a chance – It is Friday morning now – that Lukaku could be back.”

The kick-off time for the match is 5:30pm.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/epl-mourinho-confirms-uniteds-squad-to.html

Zakari Sani, a captain in the Operation Whirl Stroke stationed in Benue, has been wounded in an ambush, alongside other officers, Defence Headquarters said on Tuesday.

In a series of tweets on its verified Twitter handle @DefenceInfoNG on Tuesday, the DHQ said that “a very courageous and hardworking officer, Zakari Sani, was ambushed alongside other soldiers in Benue, while on Operation Whirl Stroke.”

It noted that Sani was badly wounded and was evacuated to Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, where he was initially stabilised and later evacuated to Ceda Crest Hospital in Abuja, for higher management outside of the operations theatre.

“Ceda Crest Hospital is one of the best hospitals in the country as at today,” DHQ said.

“The team of doctors and other medical staff, including expatriates, are attending to the officer whose situation, though serious, is getting better by the day,” the tweet said.

The DHQ said that Sani has undergone several medical procedures which have helped to stabilise him further. It denied allegation that the wounded officer had been taken out of the country.

“Information given about Captain Zakari may be intended to ensure he gets the best of medical attention, but the narrative is not true.

“If he had been hurriedly taken out of the country without the stabilisation treatment according to medical advice, the outcome may not be certain,” it said.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/army-captain-others-ambushed-in-benue.html

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.

He gave the endorsement while receiving the report of the Tripartite Committee on the Review of National Minimum Wage at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari thanked the committee and restated his government resolve for better welfare for Nigerian workers.

His full speech below after receiving the report below:

“On 27th November 2017, I inaugurated the National Minimum Wage Committee with a mandate to recommend a new minimum wage for the workers of our country.

“This exercise became necessary for many reasons. The last review took place in 2011. We all know since then, the prices of key consumables have increased and the most vulnerable of our workers are struggling to make ends meet.

“Since 2011, many changes have taken place. Nigeria rebased its GDP to become the largest economy in Africa. We reported very strong GDP growth rates and exceptional performance of our capital markets. However, these reported successes did not flow into the pockets and homes of majority of Nigerians.

“In the last three years, we focused on correcting this deficiency. We are working to create a diversified and inclusive economy.

“We are pushing to clear pension arrears owed to our retired workers with the limited resources available to us.

“We supported State Governments to pay workers salary. And of course, we set up a committee in order to review the minimum wage of workers.

“In constituting this committee, we took into account the need for all stakeholders to be adequately represented – the government, the private sector and most importantly the workers. Our goal was to get an outcome that was consensual.

“From the onset, we knew the committee had a difficult task ahead of it. But at the same time, we were also confident that the patriotic and professional background of its members would produce realistic, fair and implementable recommendations that will be considered by both the executive and legislative arms of government.

“I am not surprised that the committee has worked for close to one year. I am also not surprised that on a few occasions, the debates got heated and sometimes, these differences came out.

“What is truly inspiring is that, in almost all instances of disagreements, the committee members always came back to the negotiating table with a common goal of improving the welfare of Nigerian workers. On behalf of all Nigerians today, I want to thank you for your commitment and sacrifice in getting us to where we are today.

“In the past few days, I have been receiving regular updates on your deliberations. And today, I am pleased that you have completed your work in a peaceful and non-confrontational manner. The entire nation is grateful to you all.

“The Committee Chairman highlighted some of the challenges encountered during your deliberations, especially as it relates to having a consensus position acceptable by all parties.

“I understand, on the government side, the concerns raised were around affordability – that today many states struggle to meet their existing salary requirements.

“On the side of labour, the points raised focused on the need for any increase to be meaningful.

“In a way, both arguments are valid. I want to assure you all that we will immediately put in place the necessary machinery that will close out these open areas. Our plan is to transmit the Executive Bill to the National Assembly for passage within the shortest possible time.

“I am fully committed to having a new National Minimum Wage Act in the very near future.

“Let me use this opportunity to recognise the leadership of the organized labour and private sector as well as representatives of State and Federal Governments for all your hard work. The fact that we are here today, is a notable achievement.

“As the Executive Arm commences its review of your submission, we will continue to engage you all in closing any open areas presented in this report. I therefore would like to ask for your patience and understanding in the coming weeks.

“May I therefore, employ workers and their leaders not to allow themselves to be used as political weapons.

“Thank you and may God bless our country.”

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/new-minimum-wage-full-text-of-what.html

President Muhammadu Buhari has responded to criticisms from the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over his WAEC certificate.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina speaking on Channels TV, described the issue as ‘dead’

Adesina said: “Critics will always try to poke holes in things even if there is nothing to criticize some people are so contentious so they would not be satisfied with anything from the presidency.

“For us in the presidency, the issue of Buhari’s WAEC certificate is dead, for those who do not believe you cannot convince them. If in 2015 15m people voted for the president despite concocted crisis a lot more will vote in 2019.”

Speaking on PDP statement describing the certificate as fake and an embarrassment to the nation, Adesina added that the opposition party had run out of ideas to criticize the presidency.

The presidential spokesman described PDP’s statement as ‘a storm in a teacup’

Adesina added, “I call it superfluity of naughtiness, a storm in a teacup which is coming from a party that has run out of ideas, it has nothing to offer Nigerians and if they don’t hang whatever they are saying around the president they have nothing to say.

“For us, the issue is there and we would not contend with anybody on it, there is no issue here with the President certificate, anybody that wants to continue to beat a dead horse is welcome. That WAEC issue is dead.”

DAILY POST recalls that the PDP on Monday alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari displayed the “highest form of corruption” by entangling himself in a “web of corruption by trying to launder his WAEC certificate scandal.”

PDP said instead of being “remorseful and apologizing to Nigerians,” Buhari was trying to deceive them about his ‘forged’ certificate.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/11/buhari-replies-critics-pdp-on-waec.html