nairaman66: So much for Cassava Bread.. Some bigot will convince me in the name of fresh air that this man is purposeful and he a sense of direction!

This is a hard slap in the face to the Nigerian People.. Mtcheeeeew

If only you knew how much Nigeria is losing by importing wheat flour and how if that foreign exchange is saved the good it will do to our economy in terms of creating job and re-distributing wealth you won't be making this Ignorant statement..

Your emphasis should be,if Cassava flour is replacing wheat let it be of high quality and also nutritious...

HNosegbe:
I decided to read the editorial for myself, and I came across an interesting part.



Paul Nwabuikwu did not address this part of the Punch editorial.

Looking at the years involved...did the alleged infractions occur under Okonjo's watch?

take dat: Hogwash! NOI is incapable of ever accepting her little failings and intolerant of receiving knocks from analysts or criticism from the media. Criticism is the grist of Democracy. Punch's editorial was premised on the submission of the Comptroller General of Customs. I am sure the posters above me did not read the editorial published by Punch before the ethnic solidarity.


"The Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Abdullahi Dikko, had stunned a Senate joint-committee that by September, the nation had lost N603 billion to import duty waivers, exemption of levies, concessions and import substitution schemes. Of this amount, N264 billion was lost to waivers on petroleum products import and N76 billion to manufacturers and assembly plants. Corruption and fiscal indiscipline have obviously sunk to an unacceptable level. Even more stunning was the feeble attempt by Okonjo-Iweala to defend the reckless abuse of waivers and other incentives as policies designed to help certain sectors and generate jobs."

http://www.punchng.com/editorial/jonathan-okonjo-iweala-and-waivers/


Its become a crime for challenge Okonjo and speak against the waste in the system , why? Because of her academic excellence, and academic excellence does not make one a good manager of the economy. Her hallmark is singing aloud tunes that are discordant with the reality on ground. I trust the 'Ethnic Gangs' to label Punch a Yoruba party in a bid of defend NOI.

You just only succeeded in attacking Okonjo Iweala's Personality rather than addressing the issues..you accuse others of not reading Punch Editorial and I ask,did you even read Okonjo's rebuttal?

Yes,revenue have been lost(Which Okonjo admitted) but what is the basis for punch to throw up words like corruption and Fiscal discpline have sunk to abysmal level..

Okonjo Iweala has clarified that these waivers are not granted to individuals but on sectoral basis and also presented a case of balancing short-term goals with long-term projections.Are these not valid points?

Oh..I see Saharareporters suceeded in adding a spin to it and expectedly the dogs are already feasting

Collosal and epic failure

.

Yeah..abati beat Sahara reporters to this..before they start speculating nonsense...

Realdeals: 1 million daily Its not true, the wagon that coveys fuel from Lagos to Kano travels once a week.

How many wagons are in that coach?..do you know the capacity of each wagon?..how sure are you about the once a week trip?

The Federal Government has said the ongoing reforms in
the transport and other sectors of the economy are yielding positive results, especially in the rail sector where over one million litres of fuel are being transported on a daily basis just as 200 communities have been connected by rail.

This was disclosed yesterday in Abuja by the Director
General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr. Joe
Abah, during the inauguration of the 24-man steering
committee on Public Service Reforms by the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius
Anyim.

According to Abah, "the reforms in critical sectors like
power, agriculture, ports, transports, pensions, electoral
system, judiciary, rule of law among others, were already
yielding visible results.

"The trains are back for the first time in 30 years, 30,000 passengers have been moved in two months, over 200 communities are now connected by rail, while one million litres of fuel are now being moved daily by rail."

He added that the reforms had resulted in airports being refurbished for the first time in decades, NAFDAC
laboratories accredited to the highest international
standards, stability of electricity in the country approaching realisation, fertiliser fraud drastically reduced and improvement of more than 1,664 kilometres of key roads.

The Secretary of the newly constituted Committee also
listed the mandate of the committee to include providing
technical leadership for reform at the level of planning,
design and implementation; and initiate action on reform at the different fronts, monitor and evaluate implementation of the reforms for impact and effectiveness.

He said they were also expected to generate feedback
information to guide periodic review; interact/dialogue with donor agencies/stakeholders and inform the Federal
Executive Council (FEC) on reform implementation efforts
on a regular basis, and brief the National Council on Reform quarterly."

Anyim while inaugurating the committee, said the absence of the Steering Committee on Reforms had limited government's capacity to provide coordinated technical leadership and effective monitoring and evaluation of all public service reforms efforts.

According to him, this was why President Goodluck
Jonathan deemed it fit to reconstitute the committee to
give the reform of public services "the impetus that it
needs".

He said: "President Jonathan has underscored the
importance of public service to his administration's
transformation agenda, especially as it is often through the public service that a government can directly touch the lives of its citizens. The proper role of the state must be to improve the lives of citizens by delivering, or ensuring the delivery of efficient and affordable services to all.

"The electoral system is now more credible, trains are
running again for the first time in decades, the power
sector has finally been unbundled after various previous
attempts, the banking industry has become more
professional and we are witnessing massive infrastructural development across the country.

" In terms of its direct impact on the lives of citizens, these reforms are perhaps unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. They go to the root of the problems that have
slowed our development. There is now a need to ensure
that these efforts are properly coordinated and
communicated so that citizens can continue to derive the
maximum benefits of the transformation agenda," he
added.

The SGF insisted that lessons must be learnt from what
has worked well, as well as what has not worked and
ensure that reforms are wider and deeper.

"The work of this committee is strategic, important and
serious. It will require the dedicated efforts of all concerned and I expect that wherever possible, all members will attend all meetings in persons," he said.

The Committee is made up of the SGF as Chairman, while
members include Head of the civil service of the
Federation, Economic Adviser to the President, Chairman,
the Federal Civil Service Commission, Chairman, Federal
Civil Service Commission, and Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.

Others are Chairman, Police Service Commission,
Chairman, Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons
Board, Permanent Secretary, General Service (OSGF);
Permanent Secretary, Finance; Permanent Secretary, State House, Permanent Secretary, FCSC and Permanent
Secretary, Career Management Office (OHCSF).

Also in the Committee are Permanent Secretary Interior;
Permanent Secretary Justice; Permanent Secretary
Information; Clerk, National Assembly, Chief Registrar,
Supreme Court and Chairman, Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission.

Others are Accountant-General of the Federation, Auditor-
General of the Federation, Director-General, National
Pension Commission, Director-General, Bureau of Public
Enterprises, Chairman, Public Service Negotiation Council
and Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms as
Secretary.

www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-over-one-million-litres-of-fuel-now-moved-daily-by-rail/164922/#.Uo2iU81s_7I.twitter

Not surprised..Rochas is a well known scam artist

Happy birthday my president..the lord shall perfect your greatness and fulfill everything that concerns you and your plans for this great nation..Under your watch it shall be forward ever backward never for this country!

Princess2be: Has it reached the stage where
the president is afraid to go and
present a national budget to our
national assembly due to security
issues? May God help us.

Some opposition lawmakers and those loyal to the G-7 governors are planning to boo him...

Meanwhile according to ChannelsTV..the president has sent a letter to the NASS which was read by the Senate President.In the said later,he asked that both Chambers of NASS meet to harmonize their position on the Oil benchmark before he can present the budget

The federal government has approved the construction of
additional rail lines to be linked to all oil depots in Apapa,
Lagos.

The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Idiris Umar disclosed
this while speaking at a ceremony to commission twenty
pressurized oil tank wagons acquired by the Nigeria
Railway Corporation, in Lagos.

He said that, “The Federal Executive Council has since
approved an addendum for all the loop lines and sidings
including links to the oil depots in Apapa. In addition, an
addendum has also been approved for the upgrade of
Signaling and Telecommunication system from Lagos to
Kano.”

He noted that the acquisition of the oil tank wagons was a step in the right direction as it demonstrates Nigeria
Railway’s commitment to giving quality and value-added
service to the Oil and Gas sub sector.

According to him, “Following the rehabilitation of the
Western Line: Lagos – Kano, the necessity to acquire
various categories of rolling stock became more imperative.

Therefore the procurement of these pressurised Oil Tank
Wagons will help ease traffic congestion, reduce accident
and wear and tear of our roads. Upon commissioning these 20 Tank Wagons, we will invariably be taking out about 30 Oil Tankers per trip off our roads,” adding that, order has been placed for the manufacture of two additional locomotives, two power cars and five additional 68-seater Air-conditioned Passenger Coaches to be delivered in 2014.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director of
Nigeria Railway Corporation, Engr. Adeseyi Sijuade said,
“The procurement contract for the tank wagons comprises the manufacture and delivery of the tank wagons together with spare parts, and one year’s worth of consumables. It also includes testing· and commissioning on delivery, and training of NRC engineers in utilization and maintenance for the purpose of providing haulage services to oil marketers.”

www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/fg-approves-construction-rail-link-oil-depots/

gregtochi: Hmmmmm!

Tell me now, who is the thief??

Is NOI making spurious and unverifiable claims here, or is it that the people who reported the missing fund didn't get their facts right.

Either way, something is amiss.

IMHO, either NOI and FG is lying or someone is out to malign the FG.

Time will tell.

The Senator that made the allegation exhibited crass Ignorance and its surprising it is coming from someone who should know that Sure-p funds is shared by all tiers of govt.

For the records,Sure-p is shared in the ratio FG 41% and 59% for states and LGs...
www.sure-p.gov.ng/index.cfm/faqs/
do the maths and you will see that not only is Okonjo Iweala correct,common sense vindicates her position too

THE Minister of Finance, yesterday, denied Senate
allegation that N500 billion was missing from the SURE-P
funds.

A statement signed by Paul Nwabuikwu, Special
Adviser Media to the Coordinating Minister of Finance said
“contrary to some recent media reports, there is no missing N500 billion from SURE-P funds. The claim is completely false.

“The total expected funds for SURE-P from subsidy savings for the Federal, state and local governments is N816 billion from February 2012 to December 2013. (Please note that SURE-P started in February 2012.)

“The Federal Government portion managed by the Kolade
Committee for the period February 2012 to September
2013 is N300 billion after deductions for Stabilisation and
other Special Accounts.

“As Dr Christopher Kolade confirmed to the National
Assembly recently, this is the amount which SURE-P at the Federal level has received from the Federal Government. The balance of N500 billion went to the states and local governments which also have their own SURE-P programmes. This is the amount that is wrongly described as missing”.

www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/missing-n500-billion-sure-p-funds-okonjo-iweala/

Wsdm: It is their time let them enjoy.
But why is academic excellence not celebrated in Nigeria as we use to see in other issues?
Things like; local government chairmen hosting all those that graduated excellently in academic pursuit from their local government areas.
All you hear is a president with PHD hosting and giving millions to footballers or giving out grants to nollywood while totally abandoning the nation's graduates.

There is something called Presidential Scholarship for Innovation and Development(PRESSID) started by GEJ...go find out about it!!!

take dat: Are you talking or typing? Would they be asking for how the account is being managed if they were carried along? Bottom line, there should be a sort of synergy to reduce these accusations. Slow your rolls, you are always muddling up issues in a bid to defend the Government.

I think tharqa's post was quite self explanatory..maybe you need to explain how he muddled up issues

Sincere 9jerian why you d torment this men like this na

Under GEJ NRC is growing from strength to strength...

For my fellow Comrade Garri to endorse this...shows something good is actually happening

Why can't the so called Justice and Equity Organization come out and defend its members..why is APC and some fictitious sources doing so..yeye the smell

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is set to
commission another 20 units of new light oil tank wagons
today.

The tank wagons to be commissioned by Idris A. Umar, the minister of transport, will complement and enhance the movement and distribution of petroleum products across the country by rail.

According to the suppliers, China Shanhaiguan Bridge
Group Company Limited and Westgate Project Limited,
these wagons specifically developed for Nigeria have
advanced technologies and serviceable parts and
materials.

The tank wagons also have the following performance
parameters: loading capacity of 40 tons with total 45,000
litres volume, tare weight of 22 tons; axle load of 16.5 tons and a maximum speed of 100km/hour. It is fitted with type C13 nuckle coupler and air brake system.

According to Adeseyi Sijuwade, managing director of NRC,
some of the benefits of these tank wagons include healthy and safe protection measures and systems; non-spillage of contents in case of accidents; fire and other hazards prevention system and controls as well as pressure gauge to determine condition of oil contents at all times.

businessdayonline.com/2013/11/nrc-commissions-additional-20-light-oil-tank-wagons/

Lamido name the minister and the company involved now or forever remain silent

Yea..when they ask how many people have GEJ convicted because of terrorism..I will simply refer them to this...

Democracy and rule of law in action!!

Garri the 1st: Political fight against corruption....

So its now a witch-hunt abi?...Just the way you dare GEJ to arrest Tinubu and we point you guys out that you will be the first to cry its witch-hunt..I guess he and his empire is gonna be the next

Thanks @ maasoap for speaking out and saying the truth..dude you have earned my respect on this forum..you are truly a progressive

He was reported to have stated publicly
” I can never forgive Babangida. He represents
everything evil”.

A man who reportedly made the statement above and now suddenly Changes because of his desperation for power has no iota of integrity...

And for some of you referring to GEJ's statement about IBB,at least he is not unstable like Buhari and has always made his stance on IBB clear and without any equivocation.The question is what did Buhari see in IBB that now made him do a u-turn

From time immemorial, I have had series of issues with our self-appointed, self-anointed Twitter activists. It is that they suffer from some acute selective myopia. They only see what they want to see. if they see white and it doesn’t suit them, they call it black. And vice versa.

This hypocrisy has made me to more often than not
discountenance their opinions as unworthy of attention.
Many times i have been vindicated. It seems i have been
vindicated once again.

Not long ago, our twitter activists told whoever cared to
listen that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is evil and
that in fact, the PDP umbrella is like an enclave of evil. To
them, the PDP’s Wadata plaza is a conclave where evil men meet to ‘discuss’ how to finish Nigeria and also drink
peoples’ blood. Furthermore, they have always said that
anyone from the PDP is irredeemably bad. That even our
Lord Jesus cannot deliver them.

Then the All Progressives Congress birthed and starred
many PDP stalwarts. The former PDP men in the APC are
Tom Ikimi (remember the man who counted the 2003 PDP presidential primaries votes and was saying “Obasanjo,Obasanjo, Obasanjo, Rimi, Rimi, Obasanjo, Obasanjo”. The moment the man crossed to the APC, the twitter warriors declared that he was born again. He had been washed clean of his sins, they opined. Also remember Ifeanyi Araraume, Midget El-Rufai and many others?

Well, this is a story for another day. I will dwell on this topic at the appropriate time. What has however choked, miffed,and stiffled me to a state of emotional imbalance is their u-turn on the evil genius himself: Ibrahim Badamosi
Babangida.

Before going into the main body of this piece, let me take you way down memory LANE. Babangida and Buhari used to be friends until Babangida booted Buhari out of Dodan barracks via a bloodless coup in 1983. He locked Buhari up for a while and show him small ‘pepper’. Ever since then, these two men had become irreconcilable. In fact, when Tunde Idiagbon who was Buhari’s deputy died in the early 2000′s , Babangida and Buhari meet in Ilorin during his burial. Buhari would still not greet Babangida. He was reported to have stated publicly ” I can never forgive Babangida. He represents everything evil”.

Fast forward 2011, Buhari became the arrowhead of the
Opposition while Babangida joined the ‘evil PDP’. That was it! According to our twitter activists, Babangida represents darkness while Buhari represents light. And since light and darkness cannot go together, they do not see Buhari teaming up with Babangida.

Fast forward 2013, there was a merger of many parties
into the APC. Buhari who still wants to be Nigeria’s
President before he kicks the bucket has deemed it fit to do away with morality. He has decided to team up with ‘evil men’ all to actualize his ambition. All of a sudden, Buhari started ‘rolling’ with the likes of Tom Ikimi, Audu Ogbe, Araraume and so on. In fact, he has been leading the train of APC toasters to the states of the G-7 Governors (PDP whores) to woo them over to the APC. To refresh your memory, these G-7 Governors are PDP members.

Our twitter warriors saw all these happening and chose to
look away. One of them once tweeted “There is nothing wrong in Buhari wooing the PDP Governors. Once the Governors get to APC, they would become ‘born-again’. I laughed hysterically at the extent of the person’s advanced hypocrisy.

Now, let me take you guys back memory lane again. Circa December last year, a very popular twitter activist tweeted
“Whoever is seen in alliances and dalliances with
Babangida should never be trusted. Such a person is a sell-out”. The twitter activist got many RTs and more followers.

Then?
On Wednesday the 13th of November, the saintly and
never-do-bad Muhammadu Buhari led his team of APC
evangelists to wins souls for ‘Christ’. This time around,
they went to meet the devil himself who resides atop a hill in Minna. They begged and cajoled him to join the APC. For the first time in ages, Buhari heartily hugged Babangida.Infact, he was all over him.

The reaction on Twitter was spontaneous. Our twitter
activists hailed the move as legendary. To them, no soul is
too evil for Christ to redeem. According to them, Babangida is only evil because of the PDP. He would become transformed and transfigured once he joins the APC.

I however have a lot of reservations. But i would keep the
reservations for my next article. However, the point i have
brought fore in this piece is this : Our Twitter activists are
hypocrites of the highest apogee. And Muhammadu Buhari is just a power thirsty, Power hungry, person who can sell his soul all for power. Yorubas have a saying “Nitori ofe je malu. ofe pe malu ni brother” (You cannot say because you want to eat a cow call the cow “Uncle Cow”). Buhari has shown that he is not better than the average Nigerian politician.

Great men all have one thing in common: Integrity. I am sorry but Buhari lacks this.

As for our Twitter activists, keep doing what you have
being ‘paid’ to do. Not everybody gets carried away by
your half-witted, populist and sensational tweets. You can
fool all the people some of the time or all the people some
of the time. but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

www.ynaija.com/ayokunle-odekunle-dear-twitterati-is-that-not-your-buhari-standing-with-ibb/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Orlando Owoh:
Imagine what is being said at a campaign rally. When we react, they say we disrespect the President. Thunder fire una.
The President may be telling us what we don't know - there are people in Anambra State with private jets we may not know.

Why take out one part of his statement and try to make it bad...Did you even bother to know the follow-up to that statement?

@ OP no source?

Conditional Yes

Lauded by many, loathed by countless Nigerians, the
privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria,
PHCN, may continue to generate reactions and comment
until when the new owners prove their worth.

The Federal Government once again took a “giant stride”
towards the refurbishment of the power sector by fully
handing over the electricity company to private firms with
the mandate to provide uninterrupted and quality power
supply in the country.

It could be recalled that a partial takeover started in 2005
when the Government fully controlled National Electric
Power Authority, NEPA, sold a percentage of the company
to private individuals. This was due to the high level
corruption that ravaged the sector where it exposed its
abysmal performances to the discontentment of Nigerians.

Major effort to sanitize the sector proved abortive, even
after partially handing over to private hands. As a matter of fact, power output dropped drastically as megawatts
dropped on a daily basis.Black-outs were the order of the day, businesses collapsed,and sounds of generators became common in many vicinities. Rumors also abounded about top managers in PHCN who were alleged to sabotage the energy sector by promoting and dealing in the business of sales of generators.

It is believed that private investment yield more output
compared to government-controlled organisations which
are usually in the hands of nonchalant personnel. But
perhaps, only if the investment is fully privatised would the desired impact be felt.

Probably in view of the above negative scenarios, President Goodluck Jonathan must have realised the need to finally relinquish the sector to the hands of private investors who have skills, expertise, competence and financial muscle to rescue the sector from further collapse.

It was therefore not surprising when the National Council
on Privatisation, NCP, chaired by Vice President Namadi
Sambo approved “core investor” sale strategy for the
privatisation of the 11 distribution companies created out
of the PHCN.

Recently, President Jonathan handed over the share
certificates and licenses to 14 new core owners of the
PHCN successor companies with an assurance that things
can only get better in the power sector.

President Jonathan described the process of
the privatisation as most transparent in the history of
privatisation in the country and that government is
working out modalities to tackle the challenges such as the payment of severance allowances to the PHCN staff.

Five generating companies and 10 distribution companies
received share certificates from President Jonathan who
also promised that the physical hand over of the assets
would be undertaken soon. He added: “Going forward, this administration is committed to providing all elements are necessary for our private sector partners to succeed in
providing Nigerians with uninterrupted power supply.

To start with, the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company,NBET, the off-taker, has been provided with a capitalization of over $750 million, positioning it to carry out its mandate without financial constraints.”

It is also gratifying to note that the government has
promised that PHCN workers would get their full
entitlements. This will surely prevent any attempt by
labour to derail the process.

In partnership with the labour unions, the government
should be able to come up with an outcome that is
beneficial for all stakeholders. Labour leaders are therefore urged not to nurse a feeling of displacement, but dwell on the tremendous possibilities partnering with the government through the reform process and urge them to continue in this spirit for the greater good of all Nigerians.

Some pundits believe that means of production is still
being controlled by corrupt politicians. Thus, it is another
stratagem to milk the economy. Be that as it may,
economists have it that, fixing electricity could reduce
business costs by up to 40%, add 3% to GDP and cut mass unemployment, which is the major nucleus behind security issues around the nation.

More so, the issue of kidnapping will be reduced to the
barest minimum as close circuit cameras will become a
common sight on our major streets. This will help
checkmate all sorts of social vices and delinquent acts
commonly found due to blackouts on our streets.

Without doubt, if the takeover is genuine which I think it is, local businesses, local industries will spring up; local raw materials will be harnessed to the optimum.

Apart from the fact that it will reduce unemployment, it will boost the economy as locally manufactured products will take over the imported ones. The economy will be streamlined and self-sufficient. Rather than channel a large chunk of the budget on importation of products, the government will generate revenue from tax levied on such local industries. In a similar vein, the revenue can be diverted towards creating better road network, thus locally manufactured product will be accessible in most, if not all parts, of the country.

Though it will not be out of place to nurse the fear of
increase in the electricity tariff, the new power owners
should assure and ensure that consumers will enjoy better and affordable services.

Thus, when cost of production is minimal as a result of
constant power supply, output will be optimum, and
individuals and industries will afford to pay the new
electricity tariff.

Moshood Isa, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Garki, Abuja

www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/power-sector-reforms-killing-many-birds-one-stone/