₦airaland Forum

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a new policy which requires all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to submit their Yearly Travel Plans to the OSGF and/or the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation for clearance. The President, in a circular from the Office of the Government of the Federation (OSGF), said the directive is part of measures to curb leakages and ensure efficiency in the management of resources of the Government, which he said is for immediate implementation.

“Henceforth, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are required to submit their Yearly Travel Plans for statutory meetings and engagements to the OSGF and/or the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation for express clearance within the first quarter of the fiscal year, before implementation. “They are further required to make their presentation using the existing template and also secure approvals on specific travels as contained in the plan, from the appropriate quarters,” the directive as contained in a statement by Mr. Willie Bassey, Director Information OSGF, said.

The order said that the nature and frequency of travels, on all public funded travels (local and foreign), must be strictly for official purposes, backed with documentary evidence. “In this regard, all foreign travels must be for highly essential statutory engagements that are beneficial to the interest of the country. “Except with the express approval of Mr. President, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Chairmen of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Chief Executive Officers and Directors are restricted to not more than two (2) foreign travels in a quarter.

“Also, when a Minister is at the head of an official delegation, the size of such delegation shall not exceed four, including the relevant Director, Schedule Officer and one Aide of the Minister. Every other delegation below ministerial level shall be restricted to a maximum of three,” it said. It added that, for Class of Air Travels, the President has approved that Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants to the President, Chairmen of Extra-Ministerial Departments and Chief Executive Officers of Parastatals who are entitled, to continue to fly Business Class while other categories of Public Officers are to travel on Economy Class.

The directive said that travel days will no longer attract payment of Estacode Allowances as duration of official trips shall be limited to only the number of days of the event as contained in the supporting documents to qualify for public funding. It added that the Auditor-General of the Federation had been directed to treat all expenditures that contravene these guidelines as ineligible.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/breaking-mdas-now-to-submit-travel-plans-to-osgf-for-approval.html

Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume, told journalists in Abuja yesterday that from 2013 to date, s847 soldiers were killed by Boko Haram insurgents and buried in a particular military cemetery in Maiduguri, Borno State. He said the figure did not include other slain soldiers buried in other cemeteries in the state.

“So far, from the record we saw in the cemetery, I think we lost over 847 soldiers, by their record there and that is in that cemetery alone from 2013 to date, that is their record”, he said. He described the allegation of a mass burial by the army as unfounded. “Nigerian Army will never do that,” he said. Ndume said the 2020 budgetary allocation of N100bn for the Ministry of Defence was inadequate. “When you are in a war situation and you are budgeting N10.3tn and you are allocating less than one percent to defence, that does not show that your are serious about it. I was hoping that it’s 10 percent. “So far, the international community that is not affected has so far donated between $547m and over N140bn; while the Nigerian government is budgeting N38bn for North East Development Commission. “If more than half of the budget is given to security, it is worth it because without it, all these things that you are doing – infrastructure, hospitals – will not work.”

Ndume said the Senate would allegations that NGOs were providing information and logistics to the insurgents. “I have been critical about this and people have told me to be careful but it has come out now that one or two of the so-called NGOs operating there are actually aiding and abetting and supporting the insurgents, but we will do an investigation. “So far, we have evidence, we just want to make it credible. The evidence is there and the common questions are even there.

I have asked them before. When Chibok girls were released, we were very happy and jubilating. Some people went and negotiated for their release… “Dapchi girls were abducted, one was remaining, but you negotiated for the rest. Then what happened with the only one? They want to create problem? If I am the one negotiating and I have 100 Muslims that can be released, for that one Christian that will not be released, I’ll cut off the deal. “If you are giving me these children, give all of them to me, but if you are keeping one, keep all of them.

But nobody is talking. Everybody is just saying bring back Leah,” he added. Meanwhile, troops told Daily Trust that the figure of the slain soldiers was manipulated, claiming that over 2,000 soldiers were killed by the insurgents. They said this year alone, more than 100 soldiers had been killed in the northern part of Borno State. “If they say the figure is less than 900 soldiers that were killed in this operation, they are not fair to the families of the slain soldiers. In my unit that came to Maiduguri in the year 2012, only few of us are still alive, I am weeping within me. The casualty figure is more 2,000,” one of the troops said. Another soldier, who escaped Zari attack last August, said the insurgents killed more than 50 soldiers in that attack.

Army spokesman Colonel Sagir Musa neither answered phone calls nor replied text messages sent to him for a reaction yesterday. A security expert and former director at the Department of State Service, Mike Ejiofor, said if the figure of slain soldiers given by the Senate committee was anything to go buy, “Nigeria is in a full blown far.” The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said it was sad that Nigeria lost such a huge number of soldiers, saying the figure might be higher.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/boko-haram-847-soldiers-killed-in-borno-in-6-years-senate-cttee.html

Una talk say hunger no dey, which hunger again?

Happy birthday

Nigeria’s contributory pension industry has accumulated assets worth over N9.4 trillion as at August 2019. This was disclosed by the Acting Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Aisha Dahir-Umar, at the 7th Conference for directors of pension operators held In Abuja yesterday. The latest growth recorded in pension assets translates a growth of N700 billion in seven months from the N8.74 trillion recorded in January 2015 to N9.4 trillion as at August.

“The pension industry in Nigeria is leading the initiative for the attainment of one of our critical national imperative for socio-economic development, which is the formation of long term domestic capital. These pension assets are overwhelmingly invested in the national economy, with positive impact in all major sectors and a significant contribution to the GDP,” Dahir-Umar told the directors. The PenCom boss called the attention of the directors to the clamour for deployment of pension funds to support several new initiatives in both the public and private sectors. She said such clamours were inappropriately pursued by proponents as the Pension Reform Act 2014 only empowers PenCom to issue regulations on investment of pension funds and assets to guide the investment activities of the licensed operators.

“The law does not allow the regulator to approve any specific instrument for mandatory investment by operators. Regrettably, the Commission is increasingly being inundated with requests for clearance of several business proposals to enable Pension Fund Administrators finance the initiatives with pension fund,” she said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/pension-assets-hit-n9-4trn-in-august-pencom-says.html

Fire!fire!fire!fire! enemy die die die die.... end time pastor

The meeting of forum of chairmen of the 36 states of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, in attendance over the lingering crisis bedevilling the party ended in a deadlock, Daily Trust gathered.

The closed doors meeting, convened to review the 10-day ultimatum given to the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) by the chairmen was held on Sunday night in Abuja. The ultimatum given to the chairman of the party to address their concern elapsed on October 3, thus the Sunday review meeting. At the end of the meeting that lasted for many hours, the APC state chairmen refused to speak on the outcome of the parley, unlike when they met last month.

Daily Trust reports that in September, the forum gave the ultimatum at the end of their meeting. The state chairmen, in a communiqué issued and signed by their chairman and secretary in September, Ali Bukar Bolari and Ben Nwoye, who are also Borno and Enugu states chairmen respectively, protested against poor reward system in the party, abandonment of founding fathers, neglect of the entire party structure, and the failure to produce a substantive National Secretary after the exit of Mai Mala Buni, the present Yobe State governor. One of our correspondents report that when the SGF was leaving the venue of the meeting, the chairmen that saw him off wore a cheerful look. However, they were not willing to reveal the deal struck at the closed door meeting.

Efforts to get their chairman to speak on the outcome of the meeting failed as he did not pick his calls. Another issue worrying the party’s stakeholders is the refusal to convene a quarterly meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC), a decision making organ of the party. The meeting was held last 13 months ago. Crisis in states Daily Trust reports that the crisis rocking the party has worsened in many states with Katsina and Edo, where Buhari and Oshiomhole hail from, being the most affected.

In Katsina, the home state of the president, the crisis is between the governor, Aminu Bello Masari and a group he called, “Abuja forces” which he said are undermining his administration, using federal might and resources. It’s a similar scenario in Edo State, where Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the party hails from. The battle between the state governor, Godwin Obaseki and Oshiomhole, has tensed up the political atmosphere in the state, ahead of the 2020 governorship election in the state. It was gathered that Oshiomhole was shopping for Obaseki’s replacement ahead of the 2020 election.

In Zamfara, the dust that trailed the party’s primaries ahead of the 2015 general elections has not settled. The party had lost the state to PDP, following the internal wrangling that engulfed it. Despite the loss, two factions of the party still exist in the state. A former governor of the state, Abdulaziz Yari, leads one of the factions, while Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa, controls the other camp. Penultimate Sunday, Marafa in Gusau, said “I want to use this opportunity to reaffirm to the people of Zamfara and other Nigerians that I remain an APC member.

I want to inform Nigerians that APC in Zamfara remains divided. My faction is still intact and there is no going back.” Also, in Bayelsa, the party has been enmeshed in crisis ahead of the governorship election in the state scheduled for November 16, 2019, with two factions believed to be loyal to the party leader in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva and immediate past Minister of state for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri respectively suspending about 10 officials of the party including the chairman, deputy chairman, secretary and others. In Kwara State, the crisis in the state chapter of the party was blamed for the delay in the constitution of Kwara State Executive Council, months after Governor Abdulrak Abdulraham sworn. Though, the governor has sent his list of commissioner- nominees to the Kwara State House of Assembly, the storm is yet to be settled.

It’s not a genuine platform for governance – PDP The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the “violent attack” by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the embattled national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, is a confirmation that the ruling party was in shreds. The PDP, in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, alleged that the APC-led government has never been able to deliver good governance because of in-fighting. The opposition party alleged that the APC destroyed the nation, adding that it was not a vehicle for good governance. “The indisputable fact among Nigerians is that the APC has been torn apart.

The manifest greed and ravenousness of its leaders in addition to endless infighting over positions and looted resources have further exposed the party as a soulless mob’’, he said. Crisis may affect APC fortune in 2023 – Bako A political analyst, Dr. Abbati Bako, said the crisis if not addressed would affect the fortune of the APC come 2023. “The crisis within the APC is not unexpected because politics is all about competing values, interest and ambition.

Therefore, crisis is (naturally) expected to happen between now and the year 2023. But the point is the way the leaders and stakeholders of the party will use their expertise and experience to manage the crisis in the party before the elections of 2023. “Another issue is about the appointment of the Political Advisor to President Buhari, who can advise him on how to manage the crisis or control the damage between now and 2023. So, it is imperative for the party to advice the President to appoint a political advisor’’ Bako who is of International Political Resource Centre, Kano said in interview.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/apc-crisis-deepens-buhari-oshiomholes-states-worst-hit.html

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

He basically stated that he was getting married tomorrow so he didn’t have enough money for a wedding ring that he wanted to buy and he needed to pay for the wedding venue…

A Texas man has been arrested after his fiancée saw a social media post of him robbing a bank the day before his wedding so he could pay for the ring and the venue of his ceremony. Heath Edward Bumpous from Crockett, Texas was charged with aggravated robbery and booked into the Trinity County Jail for allegedly approaching a bank teller at Citizens State Bank in Groveton, Texas, informing them that he had a weapon and then demanding money which he was then subsequently given, according to ABC’s affiliate station in Tyler, Texas KLTV. “He basically stated that he was getting married tomorrow so he didn’t have enough money for a wedding ring that he wanted to buy and he needed to pay for the wedding venue,” Sheriff Woody Wallace said.

After receiving news of the robbery, Wallace immediately posted pictures of the suspect on the Trinity County Sherriff’s Facebook page in hopes that the public would be able to provide tips that would lead to the capture of the suspect. It was then that Bumpous’ fiancée saw the Facebook post and recognized him. “His fiancée, who he was supposed to marry tomorrow, was able to get in touch with him on the phone when she saw our post on Facebook. She knew it was him. She contacted him and asked him if he robbed a bank … she convinced him that she knew it was him. His picture was all on Facebook. He needed to turn himself in,” said Wallace in a video posted to his Facebook page.

Bumpous took his fiancée’s advice to heart and decided to turn himself into the Houston County Courthouse and confessed to his crimes. Wallace says that most of the money was recovered along with clothes that he threw out of the window of his vehicle during his escape and the gun that he had concealed with him as well. “He is now in custody. He has been charged with aggravated robbery. The district attorney has accepted the charges. It will go to a grand jury and he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Sherriff Wallace.

Culled from abc.go.com

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/man-robs-bank-a-day-before-wedding-to-pay-for-venue-ring.html

The Ambassador of Sweden to Nigeria, H. E. Carl-Michael Gräns said Nigeria economy will appreciate if women are allowed to participate in economic activities in the country. Speaking at an event to mark the International Day of the Girl Child with the theme, “ #GirlsTakeOver” organized by Plan International Nigeria yesterday in Abuja, Gräns said Mckezie had said Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could grow by 23 per cent by 2025 if women participate fully in economic activities. While calling for equal right for women in Nigeria, the envoy said its for this reason that his country has to introduce a foreign feminist policy tagged Right, Resources, Reality.

Speaking, the Head of Programmes & Business Development, Plan International Nigeria, Dr Oji Ogbureke said Nigeria has a high number of young people comprising about 60 million girls. “Girls everywhere are undermined and underestimated. But we are calling time on inequality. We are done with being silenced and ignored,” he said.

While noting that issues like child labour, rape, maternity mortality rate, among others are still high in the country , he said women participation in the economy dropped after the last election. He said Plan is working to ensure that by 2024 they would have reached out to 10 million of 60 million girls across the country to ensure that they will be active drivers of change According to him, they want participation of girls in decision making processes especially the ones that affects them, saying, we want girls to speak for themselves, become CEOs of their business, participate in economic activities and become active leaders in governments and parliament. Also, 13-year-old girl child advocate, Joy Alegbemi-Life, spoke during the event.

“My dreams is for a girl child to live in a world free of abuse and harassment, a place where girls will have zero tolerance for rape and molestation and come out to speak,” she said. She however, urged the government to bring Leah Sharibu back, so she can get back to school to strive to become what she wants to be in life.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/nigerias-gdp-will-appreciate-by-23-with-women-participation-in-economy.html

yes o! fear of cabals is the beginning of wisdom

9jii:
Yeah! Silence is d best answer....

baba bubu don kill country finish!

Investors in the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said they will continue to engage with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) after the regulator notified them of intent to cancel their licences over energy payment default. Abuja DisCo was among the eight DisCos whom NERC gave 60 days since last week to prove why their licences should not be canceled for not paying N30 billon energy debt. Daily trust however reports that the 11 DisCos are in cash crunch. They had requested NERC to implement over six tariff reviews which was yet to be done.

The Managing Director of CEC Africa, the core investor in AEDC, Engr. Emmanuel Katepa, confirmed the receipt of the NERC notice but expressed shock as the DisCo was already mediating with the Commission.

He said, “Yes, we did receive a letter from NERC earlier in the week, it is just a bit of a surprise because we are right now in the process of negotiating the few of the issues in the order that was given so we will continue that negotiation. “We will engage with the commission to deal with some of the matters that we have communicated previously with them,” he said. Engr. Katepa also spoke about the plans by AEDC to submit a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) which is required by the Commission in its ongoing major review of the Multi Year Tariff Order 9MYTO).

Katepa said, “We are in the process of getting ours ready, I believe within the next week we should have submitted it to the commission. It is currently undergoing review at Executive Management level. “We are making sure it reflects the current reality and not work on the basis of the conditions in 2013 and the parameters that were set then. It is important that we update those parameters to today conditions,” he said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/abuja-disco-to-engage-nerc-over-licence-cancellation.html

…says fake news may cause trouble in Nigeria

First Lady Aisha Buhari yesterday explained that she was away from Nigeria for over two months on her doctor’s instruction. She spoke to journalists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja when she arrived from the United Kingdom around 4:30am. She left the country early August to Saudi Arabia where she performed hajj before going to the UK. Mrs Buhari yesterday told journalists: “It has been a tradition for us. For like 20 to 27 years now, if our children are on holiday, we spend holiday with them. ”I never abandon my children and last year, I went to Spain and spent two months with Zahra when she gave birth. ”So, the same, this year’s holiday in U.K, I fell sick; so, I stayed back to see a doctor and the doctor advised me to stay back to attend to my health.

”From the U.K, I travelled to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and returned to England on doctor’s advice and they also advised that I should slow down my activities.’’ She cautioned Nigerians against spreading fake news, saying “The genesis of this fake news started when my husband fell sick and perpetrators of this act were showing fake ambulance, hospital and dead body suggesting that my husband is dead. “That time, I received so many calls from other first ladies and presidents of other countries to confirm; so I called the attention of NCC, NBC and the National Orientation Agency. Fake news will lead this country to something else if actions are not taken with immediate effect.’’

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-i-was-away-for-2-months-aisha-buhari.html

aayah oshio baba

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned Saturday evening’s attack on the Benin residence of the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, by political thugs. The APC National Publicity Secretary, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, who said though the APC National Chairman had called for calm after “the apparent attempt on his life”, appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammad Adamu and other relevant security outfits to investigate the incident and prosecute the sponsors and attackers.

“In Edo state, just as in any other state, everyone must be free to go about their normal and legitimate activities without harassment, intimidation, threat to life and property. “It is clear that the sponsors of the attack are bent on causing crisis in the state in pursuit of their desperate and unpopular political interests. Human life is greater that anyone’s political ambition,” Issa-Onilu added.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/apc-condemns-attack-on-oshiomholes-residence.html

hmmm

Chai

The Avocats Sans Frontieres France, popularly known as Lawyers Without Boarders, has alleged that over 69 percent of inmates in Nigeria’s prisons are awaiting trials. Head of ASF in Nigeria, Angela Uwandu, stated this in Abuja yesterday at the launch of SAFE project titled “Strengthening the National Actors’ Capacities and Advocating for Ending Severe Human Rights Violations in Nigeria”.

According to her, ASF is determined to provide legal aid for victims of human rights violation in Nigeria and address alleged extra judicial executions, torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention by security agencies.

The representative of the Inspector-General of Police, SP Kalu Chijioke, assured that the police would continue to be accountable and transparent in its dealings with cases of such.

Source: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/69-of-prisoners-awaiting-trials-in-nigeria.html

Since its inauguration in 2015, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has categorically proposed economic diversification as the way of ending Nigeria’s monolithic oil dependent economy. Though, the key focus then was on agricultural transformation, government has been looking for all means possible to increase its source of revenue. In an attempt to fulfill it’s promised ‘change agenda’, Buhari’s administration devised all means possible to source more money to be able to deliver its promises. Part of those measures was collection of heavy foreign loans. Though agriculture has not been doing so bad, it however failed to provide the outstanding alternative of revenue generation to support the monolithic oil-dependent economy that generates almost 90% of the country’s income.

For a government that has increasingly financed its fiscal deficit from borrowings, there is no doubt that it needs more innovative approaches to scaling up its revenue capacities to meet its growing funding commitments. It is against this background that on September 11, the Federal Executive Council agreed to an increase in Value Added Tax, VAT from 5% to 7.5%.

Addressing journalists after the FEC meeting in which the proposal was approved, Nigeria’s minister of finance, budget and national planning, Haj. Zainab Ahmed said the government proposed raising VAT to 7.5 up from the current 5%, noting that the current level is one of the lowest in the world. Zainab explained that the increase becomes necessary even though federal government only retains 15% of the tax, leaving 85% to states and local governments. She these two tiers of government therefore need the increase to meet the obligations of the new minimum wage. Although, even prior to the minimum wage, federal government argued that many of the 36 states struggle to pay the workers’ salaries.

VAT in Nigeria is a tax payable on goods and services consumed by individuals and business organisation. VAT is charged on most goods and services provided in Nigeria and also on goods imported into Nigeria except for medical and pharmaceutical products, basic food items, educational materials, commercial vehicles, agricultural equipment and other related goods and services. As Africa’s biggest oil exporter seeks to reduce its reliance on crude sales, president Buhari’s government has repeatedly said that it want to boost non-oil revenue, since oil sales make up 90% of foreign exchange receipt.

The decision of the federal government to undertake this increment was not unexpected as there had been murmurings in government circles on the need for an increase as a veritable way of meeting the expansive fiscal expenditure needs of the federal government that have ballooned over the last five years.

Consequently, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the apex bank in the country says the increase, upon implementation has the potential to increase fiscal revenue to support expenditure and reduce the budget deficit as well as government borrowing. In an interview with Reuters recently, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele emphasized that even with what he called ‘the little increase’, the increase may still not cover gap in the government finances. He said government has no any option, and that if the citizens say it should not borrow, then it should increase revenue.

Emefiele added that ”if government must raise revenue, and we think that this should be the only way through which the government can raise revenue to meet its obligations, I think it calls to a rationale that what we are saying is that it is the right decision to say that government has to increase VAT from 5% to 7.5%”. “Nigeria’s VAT rate even at 7.5% might still,be one of the lowest in the world. I appeal therefore to Nigerians to please understand “, the CBN governor added. However, since the declaration of the increase, series of reaction from different Nigerians continue to occupy Nigerian media space.

In a release by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP (the biggest opposition party in the country), an increase in VAT will only worsen what it called the country’s ‘decrepit economy’ and put more pressure on families and businesses, thereby resulting in increase in prices of goods and services. Economists believe that while an increase in VAT in an ordinary case would have been beneficial to Nigeria in the medium to long term. The current reason being proffered for this VAT increase is wrong and will lead to increased corruption and mismanagement, particularly at the state level since most of the money is not earmarked for capital projects or education.

Furthermore, it has been observed that the proposed increase will likely buoy and bolster the purchasing power of Nigerians by increasing the minimum wage, which on paper this government claims is the major reason for this increase to enable states pay for the increment, at best, the utilisation of funds at the state level is heavily mismanaged and the states stand to gain the most from this increase, because they already collect 50 % of all VAT collection proceeds.

Also, because VAT is basically imposed on consumption, it is pertinent to understand that the diminished scale of consumption in the Nigerian economy may affect the collection performance of VAT. From a simple economic point of view, any increase in VAT would disproportionately affect poor people. But even beyond that argument, the biggest challenge is that any increase in indirect taxes affects the price of goods and services.

This in turn would affect the country’s inflation rate. With an inflation rate of over 11 per cent, the outcome of the proposed VAT increase is very critical. To this note therefore, it is justifiable to conclude that the plan by the federal government to finance the increment in the wage burden through tax increment would force companies to raise prices significantly, ultimately placing the incidence of the tax increment on the consumers.

According to them, in effect, it could be seen as a fiscal policy designed to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’. We also expect the increase in minimum wage to be eroded by price increases of key household items, offsetting the expected improvement in purchasing power. The proposed tax policies will also pose a downside for foreign investments in the Nigerian industrial climate as well as growth of SMEs.

We believe companies who are unable to raise prices might lay off workers in a bid to manage costs, further impacting on the level of unemployment. The reality is that any increase in VAT will be counterproductive to the goals of reducing poverty and inequality, given the existing high economic disparity in the county where there is already a high cost associated with the poor accessing economic opportunities. But then again, VAT will inevitably affect everybody that spends money, both rich and poor.

It’s obvious that Nigeria’s inflation rate has remained in double figures for the last three years as against the CBN’s single-digit target, thereby resulting in increase in the cost of living in the country where most people live in less than one dollar per day. Yes, the Feder Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) were able to generate over N5.2 trillion in 2018 and are targeting N8.9 trillion this year, but, should that be at the detriment of the struggling Nigerians? What then is wrong the this administration’s change agenda of reducing poverty? Time alone shall tell.

Sani Ibrahim Paki writes from Kano saniibrahimpaki@gmail.com

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/vat-increment-robbing-peter-to-pay-paul.html

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, sitting at the Special High Court in Ikeja, Lagos on Thursday convicted and sentenced a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Clement Iloh, to five year jail term for stealing N14.1 million belonging to the defunct Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). Iloh was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2017 for allegedly awarding fictitious contracts to himself, using his personal company and friends while supervising numerous programmes such as the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

One of the charges read: “That you, Clement Illoh, a.k.a Clement & Bob Associate, on or about 28th January, 2015 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court whilst still a Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of N14,176,000.00 from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and you hereby committed an offence contrary to Section 279(1)(b) & 285(6) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State No,11,2011.” After over two years of trial, the court found Illoh guilty of the charges and convicted him accordingly. The judge also ordered him to pay back N14million to the Federal Government.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sure-p-ex-perm-sec-gets-five-year-jail-term-for-stealing-n14-1m.html

A former national chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr. Yunusa Tanko, has said some opposition parties in the country will merge and form a powerful force to clinch the presidential seat in the 2023 general elections. Dr. Tanko, a former presidential candidate and incumbent National Chairman of National Conscience Party (NCP), stated this to our correspondent yesterday in Abuja, shortly after marking the 25th anniversary of the NCP. He also demanded for proportional representation in government.

Tanko said Nigeria was likely to witness a stronger force different from the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) that would decimate the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic (PDP) in 2023, adding that some elements in the two big parties were likely to jump ship due to internal wrangling. “Of course, some political parties would merge to form a stronger force and that is the reason we are starting early to call for electoral reform so that before 2023, we would have been able to do a lot of work that is acceptable and promoted. “But the NCP is a brand of its own; it has a strong political ideology that is second to none. So we prefer alliance. But that does not mean that we can’t review it. That is why we are saying that for us to move forward, proportional representation is a better option for our electoral system. “We have watched with total dismay how our politics has taken a downward trend, from violence to money politics, intimidation to cross-carpeting among others,” he said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/mega-opposition-will-wrest-power-from-apc-in-2023-ipac-ex-chair.html

Today is exactly 2,000 days since the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014. The town of Chibok has never been the same since the infamous abduction of schoolgirls that attracted global attention to it over five years ago. While some of the schoolgirls have been found, at least 113 are still missing, and it is not yet clear if they are still alive.

It is also not clear whether they have been married off, or under whose custody they are, considering the changes that occurred in the ranks of the Boko Haram, the violent group that abducted them during the sole leadership of Abubakar Shekau. Hours after the abduction on April 14, 57 of the girls found their way back home, and some years later, a few others escaped captivity, while government negotiated with the abductors and freed over 100.

A group, the Abducted Girls Parents’ Movement for Rescue, in its relentless effort to secure freedom of the remaining 113 captives, has been reaching out to relevant authorities and non-governmental organisations that played one role or the other in the previous negotiations. Women leader of the group, Mrs Yana Galang, whose daughter is among the 113 still in captivity, lamented that concerned authorities are allegedly not much concerned about freeing their daughters. “We were frequently being invited to Abuja for talks while government was facilitating negotiations that led to the freedom of those over 100 girls,” she said. “But since a batch of 83 girls was released two years ago, nobody has ever contacted us again for any talks about rescuing the remaining ones,” she said.

“I have suffered a lot from insurgency,” Rachael Daniel, mother of Rose who is still in captivity, said. “My husband, Daniel, was first killed along Dikwa highway. And later, my daughter, Rose Daniel, 17, was kidnapped at GSS Chibok. “Life is frustrating; I think life is not fair to me; I am always depressed,” she said. Mr Ayuba Alamson doubles as a guardian of his abducted sister and spokesman for parents of Chibok girls. The sister, Hadiza Kwagui, was, however, among the first set of escapees while been led into Sambisa forest by their abductors on the fateful day. Mr Alamson expressed another form of grief and dejection suffered by the freed girls and their parents, following government’s alleged failure to fulfil its promise of sponsoring their education. His sister, Hadiza, sat for her secondary school examination, full of hope that government was sponsoring her higher education. “Unfortunately, since they wrote their WAEC and NECO at Bethel International School in Jos, they have been abandoned till date,” Alamson said.

According to him, “In fact, Hadiza is in the village now and some of her friends have gotten married out of frustration. Some of these girls are now farming in the village despite what we heard that they had been offered scholarships to study up to degree level,” he lamented. However, Yana Galang, who is the woman leader of the parents’ association of the abducted Chibok girls, thanked the federal government for securing the release of more than 100 of the abducted schoolgirls, but said those who are yet to see their daughters are still grieving. She said her daughter, Rifkatu Galam, is still with the insurgents, adding “My daughter was 18 when the abductors took her away.”

Life in Chibok Bad roads and multiple military check points make the journey to Chibok quite frustrating. Visitors are usually made to disembark from their vehicles and walk through road blocks as soldiers insist on identification and clear destination of visitors. A highly militarised town, Chibok is hosting the headquarters of the 28 Task Force Brigade, which controls a large security area that extends to Northern Adamawa along the Cameroonian border. The condition of the road worsens as travellers move closer to the town. During a visit by our reporter, the first check point had been taken over by flood. Near the checkout, a truck conveying water to soldiers got stuck in the mud and a military truck was dispatched to evacuate the content.

“Chibok is the centre of erosion due to neglect,” a resident of the town who identified himself as Sam, said. “We don’t have roads here despite the fame we enjoy,” he added. In March 2015, almost one year after the infamous abduction which was trailed by counter accusations over the authenticity of the incident, then Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala laid the foundation for new classrooms at GSS Chibok on behalf of then President Goodluck Jonathan, in an effort to rebuild the school destroyed in the course of the kidnapping. Soon after, controversy trailed the N500 million raised by the Jonathan government under the Safe School Initiative (SSI) for rebuilding the school.

This was followed by a petition to the EFCC by a non-governmental organisation which alleged that the money had been diverted. When our reporter visited Chibok recently and attempted to gain access to the heavily guarded school, he was advised to obtain written permission from the military high command. And when he approached the 28 Task Force Brigade in the town to see the commander, a soldier made series of phone calls to his superiors and then said there was nothing they could do because the school was under the custody of a different commander.

However, findings reveal that as at April 2016 which marked the second anniversary of the abduction of the girls, construction had not started on the site even though hundreds of blocks were piled in preparation for the project. But, by the end of 2017, the new structures built by army engineers at the site had reached roof level, giving hope to the community that lessons would resume any moment. In the interim, the Borno State Government had approved that lessons should resume at the Central Primary School, Chibok, where the secondary students share space with primary school pupils and students of Junior Secondary School, Chibok.

This was when it was evident that the project was far from completion. Under the arrangement which still persists, students of GSS Chibok and those in primary school take lessons in the morning while classes for JSS Chibok hold in the afternoon. In an interview, Bulama Madu who was the vice principal of the girls’ school when the attack took place until his retirement in 2016, called on the federal government to fast-track the project to enable the students return to the permanent site.

A parent, Lawal Zanna, who is the secretary of Chibok Girls’ Parents’ Association, said they are still in grief as 112 girls remained in captivity. “We have lost communication with the government. Nobody talks to the parents any more. After freeing 107 girls, government promised to secure the release of the remaining ones but nothing happened yet. “We have been waiting for years, some of the parents have died while waiting while many others are now ill,” he said.

About the rescued girls Daily Trust reports that many of the Chibok girls freed from Boko Haram were enrolled for a foundation programme at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, under a federal government sponsorship. Some of them were also reportedly ‘adopted’ by some people and taken abroad even though very little has been heard of them of recent. When contacted, AUN’s Communications Director, Daniel Okereke, said he did not have details on the status of the girls, adding that the officer in charge of the programme had travelled out of the country.

He promised to get back to our reporter but did not. However, an insider told Daily Trust that the girls were placed on a beginner course, saying some of them have been upgraded to intermediate and advanced classes depending on performance. It was however gathered that 13 of the girls have voluntarily withdrawn from the programme and went back home, a development which was confirmed by secretary of the parents association, Lawal Zanna, who said no reason was given for the withdrawal and that attempt to convince the girls’ parents to take them back was not successful.

Speaking on the Chibok girls’ issue, one of the leaders of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) movement, Florence Ozor, said the group’s commitment in respect of the girls has not changed. “It gets more depressing as the days go by without any word from the government about the abducted, including Leah Sharibu (who was taken away from a school in Dapchi, Yobe State) and others,” she said. “We still have our daily sit-outs at the Unity Fountain, and we still do our countdowns. BBOG has not in any way abated in its quests and will not stop until the girls are back,” she added.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/2000th-day-of-chibok-girls-in-captivity.html

The National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday said what the country had overcome in the past “had given us the confidence and courage to believe that we can achieve even more,” saying better days are ahead. In his message to commemorate the nation’s 59th independence anniversary, Tinubu also charged Nigerians to support one another and President Muhammadu Buhari in the journey of bequeathing “greater destiny” to Nigeria.

“Today, we celebrate the 59th birthday of our beloved nation. We stand today with our feet planted firmly in the present but with our gaze both on the past and toward our future. “Looking back at the last 59 years, we have faced steep challenges yet have marked great progress nonetheless. “What we have overcome in the past gives us the confidence and courage to believe that we can achieve even more as we cast our eyes to the future.

“This day that we mark is truly a day to celebrate the independence of a nation of resilient, strong and industrious people who have decided to join together in common purpose that each of us may enjoy a democratic prosperous and just existence. “As Nigerians, let us recommit our energies to building a better Nigeria and rededicate ourselves to the vision of our nationalists who saw greatness in this country and worked assiduously to advance it. “The journey to our greater destiny has begun and I enjoin you all to support one another and President Buhari’s administration in this journey.

“I ask you all to remain committed to our highest national purpose so that we may continue to strengthen our national institutions and our very country. “I congratulate all Nigerians on this 59th independence anniversary and urge you all to come along in the march to the Next Level,” Tinubu said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/nigeria-59-better-days-are-ahead-says-tinubu.html

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