₦airaland Forum

BMO BLASTS PDP OVER UNFOUNDED CLAIMS ON JUNE 12

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of embarking on a fruitless ego trip with its criticism of the Federal Government’s decision to schedule some Inauguration Day ceremonies for June 12 2019.

The group described the opposition party as mischievous for suggesting that President Muhammadu Buhari would be inaugurated for a second term in office on the day, as opposed to May 29, which the Constitution recognises as the inauguration day for a new political dispensation.

BMO said in a statement signed by Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that it was amused that a party that outrightly refused to recognise the sanctity of June 12 for 16 years now wants to be seen as the defender of Nigeria’s democratic culture.

“Here is a party that is today speaking on what it described as sanctity of a day that it has the temerity to term as ‘our Democracy Day’. Yet, it was in total control of the Executive and Legislature at the centre for all of 16 years during which it had three different Presidents but failed to do anything to accord official recognition to a day that it now agrees is important in the annals of Nigeria’s political history.

“We are indeed shocked that the party whose members were the biggest beneficiaries of June 12 sacrifice now remembers that Moshood Abiola ‘stood and died for democracy’, but did everything possible to stop him from being immortalized while it rode roughshod over Nigeria and Nigerians.

“It is therefore nothing more than an ego trip to nowhere for PDP to criticise the federal government’s decision to move some second term inauguration ceremonies to June 12 and yet seek to claim the day as ‘our democracy day’.

“But we need to let opposition elements know that whether inauguration ceremonies are held on May 29 or June 12, the President did enough in his first term to earn the trust of the majority of Nigerians that cast their ballots on February 23,” the group said.

BMO also accused the PDP leaders of attempting to revise recent history with their claim of a stolen mandate which it insisted only existed in the imagination of their members and a group of political elite that is used to living off government patronage.

“We wonder how long PDP would continue to live in a fool’s paradise with its constant refrain of a stolen mandate in an election that all its key campaign spearheads lost in their polling units, just like their presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was unable to muster enough votes in his immediate constituency in Adamawa State to defeat President Buhari.

“Many of their allies across the country, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the factional Afenifere leadership were also roundly rejected in their polling units, wards and states by the mass of Nigerians who were clearly averse to a return of the rapacious PDP years.

“We at BMO again want to remind the party and its leaders that the February 23 Presidential election conferred 100% legitimacy on the President for a second term with a margin that is more than the combined population of Swaziland, Equatorial Guinea and Mauritius.

“We are convinced that the Presidential election Petition Tribunal would consign their claim, which is predicated on fake INEC server result, to the dustbin of history where it rigthly belongs."

The group also expressed hope that the next set of National Assembly members would take the necessary legislative action to establish June 12 as the National Democracy Day.

President Muhammadu Buhari will not relent in his efforts to ensure that Leah Sharibu regains her freedom soon even as she marked her 16th birthday in Boko Haram captivity, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said.

The group says it finds nauseating and regrettable, a false narrative of the Buhari administration’s disinterest that is being circulated by some individuals.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said that it is disheartening that some people are giving the impression that the President was not concerned that Leah remains in captivity 420 days after her schoolmates were released by their captors.

“It is a regrettable fact that it is more than one year since Boko Haram fighters held back Leah Sharibu after releasing 109 other students of Government Girls Science Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe State who were abducted on February 19, 2018.

“It is also on record that the insurgents freed the other girls following the Federal Government’s intervention while Leah was held back for her alleged refusal to renounce her Christian faith.

“We hail her perseverance and strength of character at such a young age and as she marks her 16th birthday, we are reaffirming what Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said about a month ago; President Buhari has not abandoned Leah and the others still being held by Boko Haram.

“We recall that as at when the President assumed office for the first time in 2015, 276 school girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State had almost spent one year in Boko Haram custody after they were abducted from their dormitory on April 14, 2014.

“But in line with his pre-election promise, he has so far succeeded in bringing back 107 of the girls even after groups like the Amnesty International had given up hope on the release of the girls on the grounds that they may have been sold off,” it added.

BMO expressed surprise that some Nigerians had even insinuated that the President was not keen on Leah Sharibu’s release because of her Christian faith.

“Nothing can be more preposterous like the suggestion that President Buhari had not been concerned about Leah’s plight because of her refusal to renounce her faith.

“All the abducted Chibok girls were Christians but it took a President who knows that he is the President of both Christians and Muslims to ensure that the first set of the school girls-21 in all-were released on October 13 2016, which was more than two years after the abduction that shook the world.

“President Buhari also approved negotiations that led to the release of 82 others from their Boko Haram captors about seven months later in May 2017. All those girls that have now been re-integrated into the society are Christians, so there’s no reason for the President to refuse to push for the release of the lone Dapchi girl still in custody on the basis of her faith.

“We make bold to say that just as the President has not forgotten Leah, he would not abandon the remaining Chibok girls as well as other Nigerians who are still in the hands of the insurgent group.

"And as Garba Shehu assured in the statement last month, on behalf of his Principal, there is progress on efforts to get the lone Dapchi girl out of captivity, we also know that President Buhari will not rest until Leah and others held against their will by the insurgents are reunited with their families".

BMO urged Nigerians and concerned members of the international community to exercise a little more patience and allow the Buhari administration to complete what it had been working on since the Dapchi abduction.

Buhari Heaps Praises On Osinbajo For Driving FG’S Social Investments Programmes

President Muhammadu Buhari has heaped praises on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for driving Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) and for drawing the government closer to the people.

It was a rare public demonstration of the President’s affection and endorsement of his deputy, and he spoke generously and ex tempore, straight from the heart.

President Buhari spoke Monday night at the breaking of fast at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, when he hosted top government officials on Monday.

He said the programmes driven by Prof Osinbajo have been “very successful”. According to the President, his deputy was ahead of him in pushing for the programmes as he was initially reluctant.

He said programmes like TraderMoni, MarketMoni, School Feeding Programme and other SIPs have reduced poverty and out-of-school pupils in Nigeria since implementation began.

“When I drive around the country, what upsets me the most is the state of poor people in this country. You see young people, the almajiris with torn clothes and plastic bowls. They are looking basically for what to eat.

“The question of education is a luxury. I think that the Nigerian elite are failing because I think we should have a programme that will at least guarantee some basic education for people no matter how poor they are.

“So, I welcome the Vice President’s initiative on feeding in schools. If you check in some of the communities the attendance in schools has improved because a lot children can get at least one good meal a day. But culturally, some elites are merciless; they don’t care about other people.”

He added that, “This MarketMoni, I have warned the Vice President that I don’t want him to be mobbed. The way women in the markets move to welcome him.

“These are very good initiatives, I must admit that they endeared many people to our government. The free meals, the N5,000, (Conditional Cash Transfer), N10,000, (TraderMoni) are fantastic programmes and I must admit that the Vice President did it and they have been very successful,” he said.

He then charged Nigerians to embrace peace and unity during and after the Ramadan. “For the remaining (I don’t count because it is still long before Ramadan ends) weeks, I wish you and your families a very good Ramadan, and may God give us the strength to last through,” President Buhari said.

Prof. Osinbajo, who spoke on behalf of the members of the cabinet, said that regardless of ethnic and religion affiliations Nigerians must continue to be their brothers’ keepers and must work towards building a united nation.

“I think is auspicious that this particular (end of) Ramadan falls at the eve of the new term in office.

“So, it is an opportunity for us to remind ourselves over the core mandates which is the welfare and security of majority of our people,’’ he said.

FG COMMITTED TO SPEEDY, JUST RESOLUTION OF GBAGYI-ARMY LAND DISPUTE – OSINBAJO ASSURES

*VP meets Gbagyi traditional & political leaders at Presidential Villa

*Meeting with military authorities forthcoming

Federal Government is committed and will adopt all necessary measures that will lead to the amicable and just resolution of the land dispute between indigenous people of Abuja and the Nigerian Army, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this today during a meeting with a delegation of Gbagyi leaders comprising political office holders, traditional and youth leaders, at the Presidential Villa. He disclosed that a meeting with the military on the matter would also be held soon.

Last week Tuesday, on his way to the airport to launch the Homegrown School Feeding Programme in Ekiti state, the Vice President ran into some protesters at Goza village. The protesters who had mounted a road block were surprised when the Vice President came out of the car and abandoned his convoy to engage with the angry youths. It was during the interaction that the VP promised to meet the group and work on a resolution, culminating today’s meeting.

Prof. Osinbajo while noting that he had personally briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter and his encounter with the protesters, also conveyed the President's concern on the matter to the delegation with assurances for a just resolution.


According to the Vice President, “what is very important now is that we do not allow a situation where things are not done according to the law, that we do not allow a situation where due process is not followed. It is also important that this issue is resolved amicably and justly."

The Vice President then directed officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) present at the meeting to produce a comprehensive report on the disputed land.

Earlier, Sen. Philip Aduda, the Senator representing the FCT at the National Assembly, dismissed the claim by the Army authorities that the land was allocated to it and appreciated the intervention of the Vice President.

Also, the Secretary, Area Councils Services Secretariat, Sen. Isa Maina said the FCT authorities in an effort to address the issue has already proposed to allocate a n alternative plot of land to the Nigerian Army in Kwali.

He claimed that contrary to the directive by a Presidential Committee (set up to resolve the matter) that all parties involved in the matter maintain status quo, the Nigerian Army has proceeded to construct structures on the disputed land.

On his part, the Emir of Jiwa, His Royal Highness Idris Musa said the indigenous people of Abuja are not against the Nigerian Army in any way but want a just and amicable resolution of the matter.

In the same vein, the representative of the youths, Mr Dalhatu Musa who had spoken last week for the protesters when the Vice President interacted with them on his way to the airport noted that the youths wanted due process to be followed in the resolution of the land issue.

He commended the intervention of the Vice President and appealed to him to also look into other issues affecting the indigenous people of the FCT.

Those present at the meeting include the senator representing the FCT in the National Assembly, Sen. Philip Aduda; the Secretary, Area Councils Services Secretariat, Sen. Isa Maina; Chairmen of AMAC, Abdullahi Candido; Bwari Area Council, Mr. Shekwogaza Gabaya and Abaji Area Council, Abdulrahman Ajiya; Emir of Jiwa, HRH Idris Musa; the Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Yunusa Adamu and youth leaders from the affected communities.

The disputed land covers over 7,000 hectares cutting across Gwagwa, Idu, Zuba and Giri communities in the Federal Capital Territory.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
13th May, 2019

THE COMMON MAN REMAINS OUR FIRST PRIORITY, SAYS VP OSINBAJO IN BAUCHI

*Speaks of forthcoming expansion of Buhari's Social Investment

*How State Govt mobilized people to tap into the Programmes

The successes recorded in the deployment of the Social Investment Programmes across the country and the planned expansion of the schemes in the Next Level reveals the Buhari administration’s commitment to the welfare of the common man, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this over the weekend during his engagements in Bauchi including the commissioning of the Bauchi state Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Shared Facility for soap and groundnut oil making clusters, the launch of a rural electrification project covering 22 villages and other projects executed by the state government.

The MSMEs Shared Facility project is an initiative of the Federal Government under the National MSMEs Clinic in partnership with state governments to provide equipment and other facilities in clusters for use by individual MSMEs who are not able to acquire such equipment and facilities on their own.

According to Prof. Osinbajo, “President Muhammadu Buhari has always been committed to the welfare of the common man and that is why one of the major programmes of the Federal Government is the Social Investment Programmes.

“All of the schemes – the N-Power, the School Feeding Programme, the Conditional Transfers, the GEEP schemes and the MSMEs clinic, are the President’s own way of saying that the first priority of our government is the common man - those who cannot take care of themselves or those who are struggling very hard to do so.”

Speaking specifically on the impact of the Federal Government’s SIPs in Bauchi State, the Vice President said the state government had done well in ensuring that the people were properly mobilized to participate in all the schemes hence the impressive figures recorded by the state in the various components of the SIPs.

“I recall that when we started the SIPs, the very first state that efficiently used our portal under the N-Power job scheme was Bauchi state.

“The state governor made sure that several young men and women of Bauchi state were able to use the portal and to the surprise of many, some of the largest number of persons who were registered on the portal were from Bauchi state.

“Today, under the N-Power, Bauchi has 13, 075 beneficiaries, & 972 under N-Build. Under the Homegrown School Feeding Programme, 618,124 pupils are fed every day here in Bauchi.

“In addition to that, we have farmers benefitting from our SIPs. Currently, we have about 9,799 farmers who have been given micro-credits to support their works. Under the TraderMoni,
Bauchi has one of the largest figures in the scheme with 39,000 beneficiaries. We have done conditional transfers to 23,000 persons under our Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme,” the Vice President added.

Prof. Osinbajo also lauded the launch of the Bauchi Health Contributory Scheme and the Health Trust Fund, describing it as “historic and commendable”.

He said the state government had scored an important point by taking on the responsibility of providing for a contributory scheme for its citizens and also a health trust fund.

According to him, “modern way of funding health care is by either creating a contributory scheme or by having in place a trust fund. The launch of these schemes here in Bauchi is a landmark development in the social and economic development of the state.”

Earlier on arrival in Bauchi state, the Vice President proceeded to Ningi Local Government Area where he commissioned the Burra electrification project executed by the state government.

In a short remark, the Vice President commended the state government for the project, noting that it was in line with the agenda of the Buhari administration, and assuring the people of the area and the state of more such infrastructure projects by the Federal Government.

While in Bauchi, the Vice President also continued his Family Chat engagements with Nigerians with a visit to the family of Mohammed Musa Usman – one of the outstanding MSMEs identified during the clinic organized in Bauchi in 2018.

Previously a scrap collector, Alhaji Usman now makes Suya grilling machine using scrap metals and makes belts and shoes using abandoned tires. He currently employs seven persons.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
12th May, 2019
Copyright ©️ 2019, Office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, All rights reserved.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday was in Bauchi, Northern Nigeria to commission projects built and completed by Governor Mohammed Abubakar.

Amongst other projects commissioned, the Vice President visited Barra, in Ningi Local Government Area of the state where he commissioned an electrification project that will power 22 villages in the environs.

He was accompanied by Governor Abubakar who stated that the contract for the project was awarded at the cost of N589.79 million.
Also present was Federal Inland Revenue Chairman, Mr. Babtunde Fowler.

Giving the vote of thanks, the Emir of Ningi, Alh Yunusa Danyaya, commended the federal and state governments for citing various projects in the area.
Danyaya called for the creation of Burra Local Government Area out of the present Ningi Local Government Area of the state.
He also called on the Federal Government to allocate more projects to the area, considering its high population.

The Vice President who was overwhelmed by the outpouring of joy and support from the Emir and people of Bauchi also commissioned a shared facility for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and the Bauchi State Health Contributory scheme.

He also had his unique Family Chat in the home of Muhammed Musa Usman, one of the outstanding MSMEs entrepreneurs identified during the MSME Clinic organized in Bauchi State in October 2018.

During his chat, he lauded Mr. Usman who previously was a scrap collector, now makes Suya grilling machines from scrap metals.

He also makes belts and shoes using abandoned tires. He currently employs seven people on his books and is looking to expand his business to further support his community.

The Vice President assured the people of Bauchi that President Muhammadu Buhari will make good his promise on making Nigeria a better place for all.

He said the Federal Government will continue its people-oriented policies and will ensure that Nigeria works for Nigerians.

The visit coincides with a dusk to dawn curfew imposed on four communities located on the outskirts of Bauchi metropolis following breach of the peace in those areas.

Recurring civility of Buhari’s Star Boy, Osinbajo wins more converts

By Tope Templer Olaiya

There’s presently no challenger; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is the undisputed poster boy of Buhari’s first-term presidency. And by each passing day, the Professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) carves a niche for himself through his conduct and carriage of rising above the ashes of a floundering administration to earn the sobriquet, Star Boy.

Long before President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated his cabinet in November 2015, one man had been primed to take that space, the former governor of Lagos State. Babatunde Raji Fashola, a.k.a. Eko oni baje, was propelled then as the poster boy of the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC) that won the hearts of many during the 2015 elections.

And when the cabinet was unveiled with the president assigning three heavy portfolios – power, works and housing – to Fashola, the coast was clear for the Lagos ‘golden boy’ to transit from APC’s poster boy to Buhari’s actualizer, but it is another Lagos ‘golden boy’ that has taken the shine and grabbed the medal of this administration’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He is by popular acclaim the Buhari administration’s ‘Star Boy,’ the poster boy of efficiency, commitment, honesty and loyalty.


Both friends and foes, young and old are left enamored by the vice president’s exemplary and humble lifestyle, especially his ebullient spirit and ability to maintain uncommon composure in the face of threats and barrages of attacks.

Tuesday’s incident was unscripted. It was the latest of the vice president’s recurring civility and addition to his expanding crest lined with badges of honour. Angry youths of Gbagyi village in Abuja had blocked the busy Umaru Yar’Adua expressway connecting the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to protest against the alleged land grab by the Nigerian Army.

The vice president was heading to the airport on his way to Ekiti State to launch the Homegrown School Feeding Programme when he ran into the protesters at Goza village. The protesters blocked Osinbajo’s motorcade and all entreaties by his security aides to appease the youths failed. They were only disarmed and placated when the Star Boy seized the moment, alighted from his bulletproof Mercedes Benz to engage with the angry youths, by proposing to meet with their leaders on the matter and intervene with a view to finding an amicable solution.

Instantly, the people ended the protest and opened the highway for free passage. Still not done, the vice president didn’t order his convoy to squeeze through the congested road, he waited to ensure cars ahead of his convoy went on first and then got back into his car to continue his trip to the airport. Deservedly, the once incensed youths now formed a guard of honour that stretched several miles to bid him goodbye.

That was a simple but classic act of courage and leadership, which has never failed the vice president in the last four years, especially at critical periods when he mounted the saddle as acting president.

Acting otherwise with an excessive show of force would have been expected but out of character for Osinbajo. A similar incident with a different outcome occurred in December 2015 when the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, ran into the annual procession of the Shiites Muslim sect in Zaria, Kaduna State.

The ensuing clash turned violent, leading to the deaths of over 300 sect members and incarceration of the sect leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife since then. It is, therefore, left to be imagined what would have been left in the wake of such obstruction if it had been the motorcade of the president and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Osinbajo left that rowdy scene, arrived in Ekiti, performed his official function but what makes the man so much loved still trailed him to Ekiti when he visited the man who served as official driver to Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The senior citizen, Pa Olajide Olabode, aged 87 and his family was visibly elated and felt honoured.

Apart from serving as official driver to the late sage, he also functioned in same capacity and had the privilege to interact with the former governor of Western Region, Oba Adesoji Tadeniawo Aderemi, who was also the Ooni of Ife; the former Premier, Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola and the first Military Governor, Western Region, General Adeyinka Adebayo. Pa Olabode was also the chauffeur of visiting head of states that included Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.

Before then, Osinbajo had sat on a school bench to eat with pupils of St. Michael’s African Primary School, Ado-Ekiti after the launch of School Feeding Programme.

Long before the TraderMoni social intervention scheme was launched that would see Osinbajo visit major markets across the length and breath of the country, he had also being a crowd’s man. Osinbajo in 2017 had almost caused a scare in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, when he went for a state visit.

On arrival at the airport, then acting president Osinbajo had inspected the guard of honour mounted by troops of the Army, Navy and Air Force before proceeding to the palace of the Obong of Calabar for a brief interaction. On the way, a visibly elated Osinbajo stopped his motorcade along the IBB Way to meet the cheering crowd, especially pupils of Federal Government Girls College, Calabar, who trooped out to catch a glimpse of his motorcade.

He not only walked a long distance just to shake hands with the crowd, an elderly woman from the throng forced her way to Osinbajo bringing freshly harvested vegetables to present to the vice president in a tray. That gesture melted the heart of Osinbajo who couldn’t help but reward the old woman with a tight hug.

Ever since then, the vice president has always been greeted by a mob wherever he goes, a situation even his security details sometimes find difficult to control.

As a polemicist, Osinbajo enjoys sermonizing. He likes to espouse on issues. As a university lecturer and senior advocate, he is in his elements when engaging on issues to win diehards to his side. As a vice president, he has taken his long years of scholarly antecedents with measured steps to tackle the matters of state that begged his attention.

He won hearts, even from unexpected quarters, and somewhat courted some enemies, with his swift response to the blockade of the National Assembly by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) during one of his stints as acting president last year.

While some of the president’s appointees have riden roughshod in their line of duty with no respect for democratic norms and ethos, Osinbajo had stood at variance from such malfeasance like a rare breed cut out from a refined piece. That was what Lawal Daura, the sacked director-general of the DSS, tried to display when he ordered his operatives to take over the National Assembly. He had a mission, to prevent the leadership of the National Assembly from holding their scheduled meeting. But Osinbajo aborted the Daura coup.

It would also be recalled that while Buhari was away on his routine medical trips, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) staged a public show. It demanded a referendum on Biafra. Osinbajo, also acting president at that time, handled the situation with the maturity it deserved.

“Nigeria’s unity is one for which enough blood has been spilled and many hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost. Many have paid for the unity of this country with their lives, and it will be wrong of us, as men and women of goodwill in this generation, to toy with those sacrifices that have been made.

“The truth is that many, if not most nations of the world are made up of different peoples and cultures and beliefs and religions, who find themselves thrown together by circumstance. The most successful of the nations of the world are those who do not fall into the lure of secession, but who through thick and thin forge unity in diversity,” he said.

Osinbajo, subscribing to this civilised tenets of democratic form of government, weaved through the thorny issue of self-actualisation, but once he reverted to his nominal role as vice president, the cart soon turned and a crackdown was ordered on the unarmed and defenceless members of IPOB, codenamed Operation Python Dance. Many lost their lives in the process.

But the vice president is not all out for the show. He brings his intellectual rigour into governance. Last week, the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, though started late due to other state assignments he anchored in the absence of the president, went on late into the night on Thursday. That was not his first time; last year when he had cause to take charge of FEC meeting, the ministers were forced to deliberate for seven long hours.

His forward thinking approach to governance has been the soothing balm in moments of crisis. Once on a tour of duty in Rivers State in 2017, Osinbajo declared that the federal government would work with illegal refineries and help convert them to modular refineries.

His approach to the Niger Delta challenge is an approach of intelligence and diplomacy, which has achieved more in the restive region than the president’s ‘command and obey’ tactics. The man approached the region with compassion and understanding, not with threats and bluster.

He physically visited and toured the region, not to canvass for votes, but actually to get a firsthand on-the-spot assessment of the issues befuddling the Niger Delta. What was the result of his avowed civility, oil production continued to rise and militancy waned.

He is an efficient technocrat in politics. Little wonder he is regarded across combustible and corrosive party lines as Nigeria’s most effective No. 2 citizen ever. He gets the work done. He is down to earth. His brainpower and people management skill more than compensate for what he lacks in a towering physique.

Where many are announced by raw physical presence only, Osinbajo only needs to speak to announce his presence: very articulate, never caught unprepared in situations needing empirical validation; always thinking on his feet and hard as granite under the harmless exterior. And when situations demand it, he is never short on quotable riposte like his anecdote of the looted empty shop and needless security over it during his sparring session with Mr. Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the vice presidential debate.

Again, Osinbajo does not strike one as an individual who has been changed by the power of his office. He is still the same good old ‘Jebby’ that his friends called him in the formative years. He appears more comfortable with being called ‘Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’ than being tagged with the awe-inducing ‘His Excellency’ label that tends to create a distance between the leader and the led.


Nigerians won’t forget in a hurry other few incidences where the vice president has shone brightly standing the middle ground between the government and the governed. In February 2017, there had been a mass movement of Nigerians mobilized for a nationwide anti-government protest tagged #IStandWithNigeria.

The protest was championed by music star, Tu Face Idibia, but he later succumbed to threats by the police not to lead Nigerians out on the protest. The rally lost a bit of momentum when the Afro-pop singer pulled out, citing security concerns, but his call to action had received widespread popular support and several civil society organisations keyed into it.

Yet at such difficult moment when responsibility fell on his shoulder to keep the country together in the midst of economic crisis skyrocketing prices of food items, then acting president, Osinbajo, received the protesters in Abuja and said: “We hear you loud and clear, those who are on the streets protesting the economic situation across the country and even those who are not, but feel the pain of economic hardship, we hear you loud and clear. You deserve a decent life and we are working night and day to make life easier.”

That statement, which was also posted on his social media handles, poured cold water on the fire the mass movement was generating.

It was a masterstroke that even disarmed a regular critic of the Buhari presidency, Reno Omokri. He had said then: “The man speaks to Nigerians as a leader should. He does not talk at us like the president. He talks to us. I may have issues with what he says sometimes but I am still impressed by his conduct and courteousness in office. Even if you do not like him, you must respect Vice President Osinbajo.” Was

Osinbajo averts impending unrest, calms FCT protesters

…Plans to meet with village heads to resolve crises

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday averted what was an impending civil unrest when he alighted from his convoy to assuage protesters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

The Vice President who was headed to Ekiti state for the launch of the National Home Grown School Feeding scheme ran into the protesters who had barricaded the road, he alighted from his car and had a chat with the irate youths who began chanting his name soon as he was identified.

The protesters comprising mainly of young men and some women from Gbayi village were protesting at Gossa, the alleged invasion of their land by the Nigerian Military, urged the Vice President to intervene in the issue.

Responding to their plea, the Vice President assured them that he would meet with the village leaders to find lasting solution to the problem at hand.

He urged the youth to seek more diplomatic ways of solving issues. He assured them that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is dedicated to the people and that the dividend of democracy will be enjoyed by all.

The protesters said if they had known that the Vice President was going to ply the road they would not have acted in the manner which they did.

Thereafter, the youths once again began to chant his name and then made way for the Vice President to proceed to the airport.

Speaking to the media, a protester who identified himself as Danlami Abdulgafar praised Prof. Osinbajo for his humane nature. He said the Vice President understands and relates with the plight of ordinary Nigerians.

“Imagine that all Nigerians politicians are like Prof. (Osinbajo), this country would have succeeded since the 70s. He came down from his vehicle and he addressed us, in fact we were happy that he accorded us so much respect.

Another protester, Gwatana Muktar said if it were to be any other politician they would not even listen to the person. “You know during campaign he visited almost all the villages and we saw him first hand. He is a very humble man and God will continue to bless him,” he said.

Atiku on UAE watchlist- Security sources.

Security operatives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are keeping a close tab on a former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar who has been in the Middle East country for several weeks now.

This follows a leaked report of a meeting with individuals believed to have close links to key leaders of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) a group formerly known as Boko Haram which is waging a bloody insurgent warfare in Nigeria.

The leaked report seen by our correspondent referred to the meeting as "Doomsday Activate" and was strictly between the former Presidential candidate of the country's main opposition leader, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ISWAP facilitators in Abu Dhabi.

“The men who have the ears of the new ISWAP leader Abu Abdullah Idris bin Umar (a.k.a. Umar al-Barnawi) were flown in from Senegal on a private jet into the UAE last Wednesday for the meeting that began on Thursday night and ended on Friday afternoon, last week.

“This meeting was held in a hotel different from the one where the ISWAP allies were lodged,” it added.

It was against the backdrop of the meeting that security operatives began tracking the movement of the Nigeria’s former Vice President who had been in the Emirates since the February 23 Presidential election he lost to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.


It is not known if the Nigerian authorities had reached out to their UAE counterparts but both countries have a number of agreements including one on tackling terrorism and illicit flow of funds signed by President Buhari and Crown Prince Zayed Al Nahyin in 2016 which the security sources say has been triggered.


A Middle East security analyst said: "Nigeria and the UAE have no fewer than 9 agreements including the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that have boosted bilateral relations between the countries on Buhari's watch and are been pursued with serious interest by the two sides.


“There is a good working relationship between security operatives in the two countries which has recorded a number of success stories that can’t be revealed because of the security nature of the issues and the individuals involved.”

A UAE foreign affairs spokeswoman declined comments but SITE,a website known for tracking global terror activities confirmed in an email that security operatives have indeed placed the Nigerian politician on its watchlist.

The action by the UAE security agencies also comes at a time the Nigerian army raised the alarm about efforts by some individuals and groups to escalate the security situation in the country with a view to derailing the inauguration of the President for a second term in office on May 29 2019.

The army spokesman Colonel Sagir Musa had said “These persons and groups are making concerted efforts to further induce ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists and bandits with funds and other logistic supports.


He had added that "their body language and unguarded utterances seems to imply tacit support for the criminals. For example, credible source has shown that some individuals are hobnobbing with Boko Haram terrorists, while others are deliberately churning falsehood against the security agencies with a view to set the military against the people and the government".


It would be recalled that since the 2019 general election, there had been a spike in insurgent attacks in the North East region of Africa’s most populous country where ISWAP still operates on the fringe of the Lake Chad region.

ATIKU’s SERVER GAMBIT
by Faith Edet Bassey, a legal practitioner

I really wonder for how long we have to deal with dishonest leaders. Leaders who lie without remorse, who cheat the people, deceive the people and relentlessly play on their intelligence.

When Alhaji Abubakar Atiku started yelling that he had been cheated on the Monday following the Presidential elections, I thought, well, perhaps he must have a point. Then he said the results he was getting from the field showed he was ahead while the results being announced on TV and radio by the returning officers showed that he was losing by an ever increasing gap as the results came in.

Then he said he was going to prove that the elections were rigged by showing that the INEC server( not Website, which is accessible to all) contained results showing he won the elections by 1.6million votes. As to how these results got to the INEC server, he offered that the Smart Card Readers transferred the results from the polling units electronically to the server.
Atiku is clearly playing games with our intelligence. His ploy is simple. Tell a lie, make it as confusing as possible, a lie around technology always works best .
But this is so irritating because it is so obviously a lie.

In the petition before the tribunal, he says that the results on the INEC server showed that in Lagos State he had 1.1 million votes! and Buhari had 1.3 million votes. I voted in Lagos, the entire Nigerian Press and all the social media operate in Lagos. Minute by minute they posted the results on line. The total votes by all the media for both Buhari, Atiku and all other candidates was 1.05 million votes. It seems only Atiku had a record of this fantastic result!

I am a lawyer, I am not a SAN like his lawyers but the Electoral Act makes no provision whatsoever for transmission of election results electronically. The relevant provision clearly prescribes a process of filling and verifying forms at every stage from local government collation to State collation and then the National collation centre at Abuja. Section 73. Of the Electoral Act says , “Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Commission shall issue and publish, in the Gazette, guidelines for the elections which shall make provisions, among other things, for the step by step recording of the poll in the electoral forms as may be prescribed beginning from the polling unit to the last collation centre for the ward or constituency where the result of the election shall be declared’.

And section 74. says, ‘Every Result Form completed at the Ward, Local Government, State and National levels in accordance with the provision of this Act or any guidelines issued by the Commission shall be stamped, signed and countersigned by the relevant officers and polling agents at those levels and copies given to the police officers and the polling agents, where available.’

So the law expects that the results would be collated manually, entered and signed on forms provided by law. In any event, the Card reader is only configured to verify the authenticity of PVCs not to collate and transmit results. Those who designed the process may have known that electronic transmission would result in these types of scams, a candidate who claims he accessed the INEC server! If he could access it he could tamper with the figures. Thank God that we have hard copies of all the results and the law only allows proof by hard copies.

The same Atiku argues in his petition that Card readers were not used in many States. Yet his ‘server results’ show results from every State except Rivers State. In every State there is a total number of accredited voters and scores for both Buhari and himself. How were the results electronically transmitted in States where Card Readers were allegedly not used?

It is incredible that a man who wants to lead this nation sees nothing wrong in barefaced deceit and astonishing lies.

This is just so insulting!Why do we have these sorts of characters inflicted on us?

Osinbajo is the Honest Intellectual, a Blessing to our Nation, Nigerian Youths restpond to Pa. Ayo Adebanjo

By Prince Adetayo Adekunle

Chief Ayo Adebanjo’s obsession with his supposed “son” is no longer news. But the Chief’s predilection to regurgitating lies and misleading claims is why we can no longer keep quiet.

Although we can wonder how come he enjoys bullying the VP. But we know that his allegiance and loyalty in the last several years have been to political leaders who looted our country dry and those who did absolutely nothing to advance Restructuring when they held sway. So we must remind Nigerians.
As a Yoruba man who is well schooled in customs, norms and mores, engaging an elder in public glare is not an easy path to thread.



However, it is apposite to state the existence of an old Yoruba axiom which holds that *”an elder who ties maize to his backside risks being turned into an object of mockery by chickens “*

For Pa Ayo Adebanjo to say that he doesn’t recognize President Muhamadu Buhari as the country’s President elect is not only laughable but even pathetic. May be the Chief is about to abandon his claims to being a democrat, otherwise how else can we interpret this rejection of the democratic choice of the Nigerian people?

Worse still, to describe “his supposed son”, the erudite Professor of Law, authority on Law of Evidence, Life Bencher and Senior Advocate, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as “a disgrace and a dishonest intellectual” on the basis of what he terms denial of restructuring is utterly reprehensible. This obsession with the VP is not what noble elders are known for. And I say that with utmost sense of responsibility.



If Pa Ayo Adebanjo is not suffering from selective amnesia as well as senility associated with old age, he ought to know that Mr. Vice President has never denied that the country needs restructuring.

Responding to a question at a public forum hosted by the Sigma Club, University of Ibadan on Saturday, 27th October, 2018, Prof Osinbajo asserted as follows:

*”I am not a latter day convert to restructuring. I am an active practitioner of restructuring and I have gone to the Supreme Court about 13 times to test restructuring “*.

In all of the cases pursued by HE Prof Yemi Osinbajo as AG Lagos, the then government led by Pa Ayo Adebanjo’s newfound bedfellow, the Jada born Atiku Abubakar and his principal, Oloye Olusegun Obasanjo opposed every step along the way.

Conversely, the Buhari/Osinbajo led administration signed a constitutional amendment granting financial autonomy to State Judiciaries and Houses of Assembly – an amendment that suffered several abortions under the misrule of Pa Ayo Adebanjo’s friends.

Conclusively, Pa Ayo Adebanjo is urged to speak like a true Yoruba elder and Afenifere that he claims to be and not seek to denigrate the highest political office holder from the Yoruba race on the altar of crass opportunism, bitter opposition politics and chronic jealousy.

Prince Adetayo Adekunle
For and on behalf of the Coalition of Nigerian Youth Stakeholders

angels09:
According to public debt office DMO. This must be stopped. No completed projects... nothing to show for it

$70billion Naira!

ABUJA, MARCH 14, 2018 – Nigeria’s total national debt grew to 21.7 trillion naira ($70.92 billion) at the end of December 2017, the director-general of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office told a news briefing on Wednesday. It was 17.36 trillion naira at the end of 2016.

http://govandbusinessjournal.com.ng/nigerias-total-debt-rose-to-21-7-trillion-naira-at-end-of-2017-dmo-says/

If you read and believed this trash, you need God's intervention.
Sieve information before you are drawn to wail over falsehood.

Nigerians does not need people like you to tell us about what Nigeria needs.
How does this kind of article make it to the headlines?
This is awful. Who is that goat with a goat opinion?

Let us make reference to section 171(1) of the Constitution which empowers the President to “appoint persons to hold or act in the offices which this section applies and to remove persons so appointed from any such office’’ did not provide any time limit within which such appointees will cease to act (as in the case of Magu) other than to say such appointee can be removed by the President at his discretion and nothing more. It does not also state that such appointee shall cease to act if the Senate rejects his ‘confirmation’ if any such confirmation is envisaged therein at all.

This position of the Constitution is further underpinned by the provisions of section 11(1) of the Interpretation Act, Cap. 123, LFN, Vol. 8, 2004, which states thus:

"Where an enactment confer a power to appoint a person either to an office or to exercise any functions, whether for a specified period or not, the power includes-

Power to appoint a person by name or to appoint the holder from time to time of a particular office;

(b) Power to remove or suspend him;

Power, exercisable in the manner and subject to the limitations and conditions (if any) applicable to the power to appoint-

to reappoint or reinstate him;

to appoint a person to act in his place, either generally or in regard to specified functions, during such time as is considered expedient by the authority in whom the power of appointment in question is vested.

(2) A reference in an enactment to the holder of an office shall be construed as including a reference to a person for the time being appointed to act in his place, either as respects the functions of the office generally or the functions in regard to which he is appointed, as the case may be."

It is also worthy of note to point out that section 153 of the Constitution does not list the EFCC as to make the appointment of its Chairman subject to the provisions of section 154 of the Constitution which requires confirmation by the Senate. These sections of the Constitution are therefore totally inapplicable to the EFCC and the appointment of its Chairman because the position of the law is that the express mention of a thing means the exclusion of that which is not mentioned.

It is apt at this juncture to quote from the treatise of Abraham Lincoln, constitutional lawyer and 16th president of the United States of America, on ‘Constitution, Freedom and Liberty,’ who declared: "don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties."

Ibrahim Magu’s continued occupation of the office of the Executive Chairman of the EFCC in an acting capacity after the Senate ‘confirmation rejection’ vis a vis the above constitutional, statutory and judicial position of the law is absolutely legal and therefore gives the lie to the misleading propaganda of the opponents of the anti corruption struggle in our polity. It is also indisputably clear from the foregoing provisions of the law that the President can choose to allow Ibrahim Magu to continue piloting the anti corruption drive of the EFCC in an acting capacity at his own discretion.

FarahAideed:
The only word Buhari knows how to pronounce even though he doesn't understand it's meaning is corruption and he like to pronounce it because he loves the way that word just makes gullible Nigerians lose their sense every time it's mentioned. .Truth be told corruption is part and parcel of Human culture and .ca never be completely eradicated but only controlled to a point where it doesn't give undue advantage to any person or group in a system ..

You'd appreciate the intervention of this Govt against corruption more if you had plates begging to eat even if it's for a day. It seems like you didn't see what was already happening before Buhari came to power. We were already sinking in deep wickedness as ordinary civil servants below level 12 were looting hundreds of millions. That is absolute wickedness and foolishness!