₦airaland Forum

ivandragon:
the FG can deploy over 30,000 fully armed security personnel to rig elections in peaceful states, but cannot send them to quell BHTs.


while there are no easy fixes, what stops the FG from deploying 15,000 fully armed security operatives to that location for a 1 week operation to rout out the terrorists?


if 15,000 security operatives descend in that location, I am certain that they will be able to clear that area within 72 hours then put measures in place to ensure the terrorists do not return in force...

Rem22:
No,But Atiku seems to be desperate

Rem22:
Don't be surprised these aforementioned People invited ISIS to reinforce Boko Haram ,So that there would be terror in the Land all just to discredit the Sitting Government.PDP is indeed sponsoring those attacks

Evablizin:
Wow. Thank God for his life.




Obi is now a man.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina has said his principal would rather lose the 2019 presidential election than rig it.

The presidential spokesman said this during a programme on ARISE TV, yesterday.

In his comments concerns raised ahead of the 2019 elections, Adesina assured that the process will be free and fair.

“I’m surprised that this president has been with you for three and a half years and yet you do not seem to know him. If anybody would rig election or anything, it will not be president Muhammadu Buhari. He would rather even prefer to lose fair and square.

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

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

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

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

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

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

In his comments on the alleged indictment of Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, and the leadership of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) over the N5.8 billion fund released for internally displaced persons (IDPs), Adesina said: “It is more of a political thing rather than something grounded in facts and truth.”

JasonScoolari:
Well, I was the former Chairman of VAN, Delta state, (2004-2008) appointed as the South-South coordinator from 2008-2010, I was called again to serve in the capacity of National publicity secretary of VAN From 2010 to 2014 before being elevated to the VAN Ambassador to South Africa.


These are the work of my "Hands"

Economists and corporate governance experts are united in their submission that alleged infractions in disbursements of N5.8b by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), at the instance of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, was a reflection of poor corporate governance, weak accounting and financial controls in government.

They are also worried that the weighty scandal, which holds grave consequences for the entire country received the kind of shoddy investigation it did in the National Assembly.

Furthermore, they also maintained that the emergency expenditure, which was allegedly to provide relief “to save the lives” of some internally displaced Nigerians in the North East, was equally reflective of the fact that corruption has remained elevated in the public service because the government has refused recommendations and modern recipe offered by professional bodies on how to curb corruption in public life.

A former chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mr. Fred Okonta, who described as “lip service,” the current administration’s anti-corruption fight said the alleged “massive fraud is a reflection of the quantum of graft still ongoing in the public sector brought about by weak accounting and internal controls system. And this is being promoted by several factors including the lethargic nature of public officials to new ideas from professional bodies on how to curb the menace.

“Every year, ICAN for instance after its annual conferences, makes recommendations to the Federal Government through its president, but hardly would such recommendations be implemented because some officials ostensibly benefit from the loopholes that we identify and try to block.

“Again, there are no sanctions to serve as deterrence for to keep others from committing the same infractions. Hardly has any chief executive been punished for lifting their fingers against what belongs to the public. Therefore, this lack of political will to punish corrupt officials is serving as a motivation to others to perpetrate greater crimes. This phenomenon is going to continue until Government musters the political will to punish those who steal from it, by making sure that they are made to refund all they have stolen, and thereafter sent to jail, including even those that are in the good books of the administration,” Okonta stated.

A governance and macroeconomics expert, who is the Chairman, Society for Analytical Economics, Prof. Godwin Owoh, said the allegations against Osinbajo were so weighty, and laden with grave consequences for the entire country to have received the kind of shoddy investigation in the legislature. According to Owoh, even though Section 88 of the Nigerian Constitution vests the legislature with the power to oversight/investigate, “the House of Representatives Committee has done a shoddy job because, in my view, what we have so far has not indicted anybody and no prosecution body has enough evidence to prosecute anybody with what they have thrown up, whereas, their investigation is supposed to be so thorough to the extent that we should not require anybody to be petitioning the EFCC or the Police to investigate anybody. Their investigation should rather represent the people ‘s petition.

“For instance in this case, it is not enough to say certain companies received the funds meant for the IDPs. Who are the owners of the companies? That should be made open because that is the import of Section 88 of the Nigerian Constitution, which empowers them to expose those who are corrupt. The legislature must list all the beneficiaries because that is what the Constitution means when it said they should expose those that are corrupt. It means the NASS should go to the markets and announce their names; go from house-to-house and announce their names everywhere so that it can serve as a deterrence, and can also fire up the prosecuting agencies and the judiciary that we are ready to fight corruption.”

Economist and public affairs commentator, Mr. Odilim Enwegbara, who differed from Owoh’s submission that the NASS’ investigation was not conclusive enough to prosecute anyone, said Osinbajo should be held culpable for the diversion and alleged sharing of public funds.

He accordingly advised the National Assembly to begin impeachment processes against the professor of law.

“I disagree completely with the claim that the investigation was not comprehensive. It should be the vice president, who while defending himself in his impeachment proceedings that should state why he spent funds outside appropriation, including how he conducted the procurement. He should be the one to say that even though procurement process was not followed, here are what he did in terms of procurement and disbursement, and how he ‘transparently’ conducted the exercise.

“If every citizen, politician and philosopher king like Prof. Osinbajo is this reckless with public funds and ignores the Fiscal Responsibility Act and set rules, it could be the reason why we have a highly corrupt nation. I think that there should be a full-blown hearing, where Osinbajo must appear before a joint House/Senate Impeachment Committee to defend and justify his actions before the public, so that Nigerians should know what transpired,” he submitted.

When The Guardian sought clarification from the Office of the Vice President on what contracts the different companies got, and whether they delivered on them, the Senior Special Assistant Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande simply responded: “Ask NEMA my bro.”

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked Osinbajo to refund the N5.8b he approved and released “illegally to NEMA to provide food and general welfare for the IDPs.”

The party in a statement released by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, Saturday, advised Osinbajo to “seek forgiveness and make restitution for allegedly entangling himself in corruption and sharp practices, instead of his lame effort at concealment in the N5.8b North East Intervention Fund scandal.”

The PDP noted: “It is heart-rending that Prof. Osinbajo, despite his sanctimonious posturing is being fingered in the frittering of the N5.8b meant for the purchase of food and general welfare of suffering Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northeast.

“Prof. Osinbajo should know that he has come to the end of the road and that Nigerians have completely lost faith in him, since the House of Representatives exposed his complicity in this unpardonable debauchery against weak and vulnerable citizens.”

The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Malam Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, has called on the EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to ensure that all those found wanting in the relief materials scandal are immediately prosecuted.

Rafsanjani, who described the outcome of the probe by the Ali Isa-led House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness as a welcome development, said the House has suddenly woken up from slumber to exercise its oversight function on NEMA.

As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifts the ban on campaign for the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections today, the main political parties are rolling out activities to mark the beginning of electioneering. While the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has promised that his party will reverse the dire economic fortunes of Nigerians if voted into power next year, President Muhammadu Buhari is set to roll out his achievements in the last three and a half years in office.

Atiku stated his desire to end hunger, starvation and bad governance by the APC yesterday at his residence in Yola, the Adamawa State capital. He called on the electorate to vote PDP at all levels of government during the 2019 general election, saying only the party has the capacity to rescue Nigerians from their current suffering orchestrated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Besides, in a manner reminiscent of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2011 presidential election declaration, Atiku will kick-start his campaign through an address to the Nigerian people on Facebook at 12 noon on Monday, where he will launch his policy document. This was disclosed yesterday by his campaign organisation.

In a related development, Buhari will today in Abuja present his scorecard to the country to try to prop up his second term bid. The presentation is part of activities leading to the formal campaign flag-off for the 2019 presidential election. It will involve interactions by Buhari with a select group representing major segments of the Nigerian society to showcase his achievements in office in the last three and a half years.

Atiku explained that the PDP was ready to rescue Nigeria’s economy, restore its glory and project the country as the giant of Africa. He said he would unveil his mission plan in Abuja and Nigerians will see PDP’s strategy for ending hunger and bad governance in the country.

According to the former vice president, his mission plan will give the country hope in security, economic development, education, employment, and stability.
He said, “We are committed to change the narratives of this country from bad to good and give hope to our youths, women and the older age groups of this nation.

“With all sense of belonging, we don’t have any country elsewhere. If we don’t put our country in order, who will put it for us? It is time to make a difference.”
Atiku’s campaign organisation said his decision to begin his presidential campaign with the launch of his policy document was to reiterate his commitment to run an issue-based campaign.

A statement by the organisation said Atiku’s address would present his vision for Nigeria and his action plan to achieve it as encapsulated in his policy document. It said the document would be promptly uploaded on the former vice president’s website (www.atiku.org) for all Nigerians to access at no cost.
The statement said, “The intention is to take our policy directly to Nigerians and to register the belief of Atiku Abubakar that it will take the collective efforts of every Nigerian to rebuild the country. That is why we want Nigerians to access the policy directly and ultimately take ownership of it.

“Our campaign offers a simple message: united, the people of Nigeria can begin anew, creating a prosperous and secure future and a better life for every Nigerian.
“On the first working day of the campaign, the PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will put forward his plan to get Nigeria working again.

“We have chosen to do this by having the PDP presidential candidate speaking directly to the Nigerian people on Facebook. This medium came about as part of the telecommunications revolution that he helped start as Vice President in 1999-2007.”
Atiku explained that his policy document focused on creating jobs, ensuring security, growing business, developing power and water infrastructure, agriculture, education, and women empowerment.

He added, “Our policies outline the goals and methods for developing and revitalising Nigeria as the foundation of our campaign.
“This policy document is being launched to encourage a dialogue with the people of Nigeria, inviting everyone to join us in helping to get Nigeria working again.”

The former vice president said he looked forward to conducting vital discussions as he travels across the length and breadth of Nigeria, meeting and talking with stakeholders: famers, small business people, workers, students, mothers, and children.

Atiku, who was received at the Yola International Airport by his supporters, said, regarding his homecoming, that they had gone to Port Harcourt for the PDP presidential primaries and conquered and there was need to come home to brief the stakeholders of the state on their success. He said Adamawa people should be grateful to the Almighty God for selecting their son to run for the country’s presidential seat, saying he will be victorious come 2019 by God’s grace.

Buhari to List Achievements

Meanwhile, following allegations of non-performance, especially from the main opposition party, PDP, Buhari and his party will use today’s scorecard presentation to try to be preempt the opposition, which plans to start its national campaign on Monday.
According to the official invitation for the event, signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, it is expected to commence by 4.30 pm.
Both Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osibanjo will host the event.

Christened, “The Next Level – the Achievements and Projections of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration,” the event would be a self-appraisal for the president and his campaign team before going out to face Nigerians.

Spokesman of the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, told THISDAY yesterday evening that the president will formally present his three and a half years scorecard to Nigerians as a mark of honour before going ahead with campaigns for re-election.
“The president believes it is important to first tell Nigerians what he has achieved. We feel it is not proper to kick-start the campaigns without telling people what you have achieved so far,” Keyamo said.

He explained that the party was mapping out series of activities to usher in the presidential campaign.
Keyamo said, “To kick-start that, we are having an event tomorrow at the banquet hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja ostensibly to tell people what we have achieved in the last three and a half years. That event will also present the next level of our intervention. That was not done in the past but we want to start it by showing what we have done first.”

A statement issued yesterday by the Buhari campaign organisation, signed by Keyamo, said, “As campaigns for the Presidential and National Assembly elections officially kick off tomorrow, President Muhammadu Buhari has decided to first showcase his achievements and projections for the next four years to Nigerians before the official flag-off of the campaigns. The event for this presentation is tagged ‘THE NEXT LEVEL’, which will take place at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa on Sunday, November 18, 2018, from 5pm to 8pm. It would be broadcast live from different TV stations and will be a precursor to the official flag-off of the campaigns.

The Department of State Security Service, DSS has submitted a report of its findings on its investigation of the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) for review, Saturday Sun reliably gathered in Abuja yesterday.

The embattled party chairman was recently summoned for interrogation by the leadership of the secret police following allegations financial inducement and compromise in the conduct and outcome of the recently held APC primaries. The party leadership was accused of collecting bribes in millions of dollars to favour particular aspirants who eventually emerged as candidates particularly in Imo and Ogun states among others.

After being granted bail, Oshiomhole traveled out of the country and returned on Friday last week and thereafter granted media interviews to deny the allegations against him. Some of his friends and supporters have fingered some aggrieved APC governors like, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun; Rochas Okorocha of Imo; and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo among others as the brains behind the DSS probe, an allegation the governors have equally denied.

A reliable government official familiar with the probe told Saturday Sun in Abuja yesterday that the DSS has since submitted the report of its findings to AGF Malami for review and appropriate legal advice.

According to the source, “I’m aware the Minister of Justice, is on the case. He may take it over or die naturally. The outcome of the review of the DSS investigative report by the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation in few days ahead, will decide Oshiomhole’ s faith.”

When Saturday Sun contacted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC late yesterday to confirm whether it has also gotten a copy of the report for further investigation, the anti-graft agency through its spokesman, Tony Orilade said the Commission is not investigating Oshiomhole on the bribery allegation.

“We, therefore, don’t have a say as to the status of the allegations or the stage the investigation is at the moment, if at all there is such. If and when we are availed with such petition of financial impropriety, the EFCC, being a responsible anti-graft agency, will surely do the needful,” the agency’s spokesman stated.

Efforts to speak with the AGF on the probe report up till 9:30pm yesterday proved abortive as his phone numbers were switched off while text messages sent to him were also not replied.

It was however gathered that some of the aggrieved governors are still pressing on with their plan to oust the party chairman, a plan President Buhari and some other APC leaders may not be favourably disposed to because of the instability that will cause three months to a general election in which the president is standing for re-election. One of the governors accused of being behind the plot had told Saturday Sun the allegation is baseless. “No doubt, we have been having meetings with the president but our visits have nothing to do with Oshiomhole’s probe. We are only interested in securing the president from some deadly traps because what is happening now is of serious concern to the president. For instance, if we allow them to undermine Amosun in Ogun, fine, Amosun may lose but the president will also lose. This is their game plan. That was the same mistake President Jonathan made and we are trying not to allow President Buhari fall into the same trap”, the governor had stated.

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti had also dismissed the allegation against some of them as baseless. “We have nothing to do with his ordeal, nobody should link us to it please”, he stressed and pleaded to be left out of the conversation.

Jacqueline22:
Lol
U hate the name

shine96:
Thank you pastor for your 20,000 naira, but Wetin 20k go do in this age and times?

Jacqueline22:
B for buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday came under attack over their separate remarks on the growing calls for the restructuring of the country.

Groups that faulted latest comments credited to Buhari and Osinbajo on the calls include the opposition Peoples Democratic Party; a Yoruba organisation, Afenifere; the Ohanaeze Ndigbo; the Yoruba Council of Elders; and the Transparency International.

Buhari had during an interactive session with Nigerians living in France on Monday taken a swipe at advocates of restructuring, saying they were lazy and let loose.

The President had claimed that those calling for restructuring had been doing so without defining what the restructuring should be.

Osinbajo had also while delivering a lecture to mark the 40th anniversary of a Lagos social club, Association of Friends, in Lagos claimed that the idea of geographical restructuring which is the common notion about restructuring “is not achievable.”

Buhari had said, “There are too many people talking lazily about restructuring in Nigeria. Unfortunately, people are not asking them individually what do they mean by restructuring? What form do they want restructuring to take?

“Do they want us to have something like the three regions we used to have? And now we have 36 states and the FCT. What form do they want? They are just talking loosely about restructuring.

“Let them define it and then we see how we can peacefully do it in the interest of Nigerians.

“They are just saying they want Nigeria restructured and they don’t have the clue of what the form the restructuring should be.

“So, anybody who talks to you about restructuring in Nigeria, ask him what he means and the form he wants it to take.”

But the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, told one of our correspondents that the latest statements credited to Buhari and Osinbajo further confirmed the present administration as a government of deceit and disagreement.

The party chairman said, “Recall that the ruling party itself set up a committee on restructuring. What came out of the committee after the governors and other members of the committee went round the country, collating views of innocent Nigerians who never knew they were being deceived by this deceitful government? Nothing!

“Now, the Vice-President is saying he is in support of state police which his boss has rejected. You can see that the Vice-President is on his own. The disunity in this government reminds us the seed of discord the government has planted in Nigerians.

“But in the real sense of it, does he (Vice-President) support state police? Can he be taken seriously? Let Nigerians decide.”

Also, the Afenifere’s spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, in an interview with one of our correspondents also said the statements credited to Buhari and Osinbajo meant they were either slow at learning or they were being mischievous.

He said advocates of restructuring had over the years made the issues very clear on what the call was all about.

He added that the development had made it important that future Nigeria’s Presidents and Vice-Presidents should study hard so that they could understand issues around them.

Odumakin said, “…It is strange that these people have been here all these years and they are saying those who are talking about restructuring did not define it or that they are talking loosely.

“It is either these people are slow at learning or they cannot understand issues around them. We have made the issues very clear on what the call for restructuring is about.

“We have said Nigeria was a federal state at independence but the military came and distorted it and that we should go back to federalism; that we cannot have a country like Nigeria and maintain one single police and we will say we have security; that there should be state police.

“We have spelt out all we meant by restructuring over the years. So for the President and Vice-President to say they do not understand what we are talking about is either they are slow at learning or they are being mischievous.”

In the same vein, the spokesman for the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Uche Achi-Okpaga, in an interview said Buhari’s statement was meant to divert attention.

Achi-Okpaga expressed surprise that while Buhari and other APC stalwarts were talking about restructuring ahead of the 2015 presidential election, the President became “completely ignorant and bereft of the tenets of restructuring” shortly after he was inaugurated as President.

He said, “During the electoral campaigns of 2015, restructuring was glued to the lips of the President and other APC stalwarts and foot soldiers. However, no sooner was he sworn in than he became completely ignorant and bereft of the tenets of restructuring.

“In the heat of the impasse, the APC, as a party, set up a committee on restructuring headed by Governor el-Rufai of Kaduna State. The committee ticked good on restructuring and sent her report to the presidency.

“Instead of dealing with the document the President sent the report to the dustbin as it never saw the light of the day and turned around to state that those clamouring for restructuring, including his party that so recommended, are parochial.”

Also, the Secretary-General of the Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr Kunle Olajide, in an interview with one of our correspondents said it was worrisome that the two key leaders of the ruling APC could claim ignorance of what restructuring was about after their party had earlier set up a committee on the matter.

He wondered if the country was dealing with a case of memory loss.

Olajide insisted that the positions of advocates of restructuring were clear and unambiguous.

He said, “I was surprised after reading the responses of the two leading figures in the APC and present administration on restructuring agitators. It is worrisome that an APC figure could come out to claim ignorance of what restructuring is all about. Are we dealing with a case of amnesia here?

He said, “I appeal to them to take a second look at the el-Rufai committee report on restructuring. It is their party that set it up and they should come up with how it will be implemented instead of talking about what restructuring means. Our position is clear and unambiguous on it.”

Nigeria not ripe for state police –TI

Meanwhile, the Transparency International on Tuesday said Nigeria was not ripe for state police.

The TI Head in Nigeria, Mr. Musa Rafsanjani, said this in an interview with one of our correspondents.

He said, “Even if Nigeria will have a state police, it is not yet time to hand over the entire security of states to the hands of these governors, some of whom cannot even pay workers’ salaries.

“The implication of having state police is that the entire security now rests on the states. We think that issue of security is so serious that we cannot give it to states which do not have infrastructure yet even in the areas of health and education.

“At the federal level, you still find overzealous policemen and police officers acting on the instructions of certain political office holders. When this impunity now flows down, what are we going to have? Most of the state Houses of Assembly have been undermined by the governors and the houses are not able to perform their constitutional responsibilities.

“We think that as good as the proposal of state police is, we cannot at this time hand over the security of the country to governors who have proved to be incompetent and nonchalant about the wellbeing of people and workers in their states.”

The House of Representatives’ ad hoc Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness has dismissed the denial by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo that he is not culpable in the alleged N33bn embezzlement in a presidential intervention programme for the North-East.

Chairman of the committee, Mr Ali Isa (APC, Gombe State), who addressed journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, insisted that Osinbajo, being the chairman of the programme and the one who issued directives leading to the release of funds, had questions to answer.



The House of Representatives had indicted the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mr Mustapha Maihaja, over alleged embezzlement of funds in excess of N33bn under his watch.

Osinbajo was also indicted for allegedly approving N5.8bn North-East Intervention Fund, which the House claimed was illegal.

Osinbajo had dismissed the allegation, stating that the government was obliged to make an emergency response to the humanitarian crisis in the geopolitical zone.

Speaking on Tuesday, Isa however said, “We are talking about the N5.8bn and N3.1bn. On this issue of the releases, the approval was given by the Vice-President; he was the Acting President then. And the money was removed from the Eurobond. In our submission (report), there was nowhere the committee mentioned either Vice-President or Prof. Osinbajo. But what I also know is that he is the Chairman of the Governing Council of NEMA. So, if he knows something that I don’t know, his office may be able to respond to some of the issues.”

Asked to state if Osinbajo had questions to answer based on the evidence before the committee, Isa said, “Yes of course, he has questions to answer. There are a lot of issues that have been raised. Even during the investigations, you are aware that the committee sent an invitation letter to him, but later on he directed someone to represent him, who was the DG (of NEMA). So, definitely, there are a lot of issues.”

He added, “The Director of Finance and other (members of) staff of the agency suspended after testifying before the committee, we were informed that the governing council of NEMA that had not been in existence for a number of years was hurriedly inaugurated my the Acting President, and the same people were suspended to jeopardise the House from getting some of the information.”

Isa denied that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, or any leader of the lower chamber had vested interests in the probe. He noted that the panel chose to broadcast its investigative hearings live as the executive also allegedly sponsored media adverts to fault the exercise.

Isa also raised a series of posers, which he challenged the Presidency to respond to.

He said, “Is it true that they voted N1.6bn for flood intervention fund in June? If they say yes, is it true that some states got their intervention in March and April 2017? Is that right? These are the issues. Is it true that Chinese government also donated 6,779 metric tons of rice, which is about 165, 000 bags of rice? Is it true that the rice arrived in Lagos from June 2017? Is it true that it took them about nine months to start clearing the items? If they feel it is right and that is how they run their government they can also enlighten Nigerians more.”

The lawmaker showed journalists a letter by the former Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, directing the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to release N5.8bn to NEMA and other five companies.

He said, “One, this money was released from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, from the Eurobond approved by the National Assembly. As the approval stated – it is not from me, it is from her (Adeosun), the Minister of Finance, it is herein stated that his money should be paid directly to the said companies without signing any agreement with the companies, without giving them award letter, without any procurement process. Money was paid into their accounts.”

Showing another document, the lawmaker said, “This is also an approval from the VP to the Minister for the release of the said money. And when the committee tried to find out about what happened with the procurement, everybody transferred blame.

When we asked the Accountant General, ‘before you made the payments, can you provide some details about that,’ he directed that he should ask NEMA to give us copies of award letters.

“When we asked NEMA, NEMA said we should ask the governing council; that it was directed by the governing council, that they were only paid over N800m and the other N5bn was paid directly to the companies on the directives from ‘above.’”

Osinbajo however on Friday faulted the report in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande.

Akande explained that the period in question was a time when Internally Displaced Persons and their host communities faced severe food shortages throughout the North-East, as a result of successive poor harvests and abandoned farmlands, minimal cross-border cash crop trade and lost economic opportunities.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

South-West governors are divided over the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshimohole, The PUNCH has learnt.

All the six governors from the zone are members of the APC.

Our correspondents learnt that while some are committed to ensuring Oshiomhole’s removal as a result of the crisis generated by the party’s recent primary elections, others are against the alleged move.

Those against Oshiomhole’s removal are said to be the governors in the camp of the party’s National Leader who is also a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

They include the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode; Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola; and Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi.

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; and Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, have been at loggerheads with Oshiomhole over the failure of the party’s National Working Committee to endorse their preferred candidates in both governorship and National Assembly primary elections.

The two governors, in a last-minute move, had met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday.

They were however joined by Fayemi, an indication that the Ekiti State Governor may be on the same page with his colleagues from Ogun and Ondo.

However, a source close to Fayemi said the former minister did not have issues with the Oshiomole-led National Working Committee.

The source however said that both Amosun and Akeredolu reminded him that the former governor of Edo State could have moved against him if he (Oshiomhole) had been in office when the primary election that produced him as the APC governorship candidate was held.

The source added that both Amosun and Akeredolu played major roles to ensure that the rules were not bent when there were moves to change the mode of the primary that produced Fayemi midway.

The source also said that the two governors of Ondo and Ogun states also decided to seek the intervention of Fayemi because of his closeness to the President.

The source said, “You are aware that there were moves to change from indirect to direct primary when hoodlums hijacked the first process of the APC governorship primary where Fayemi was leading.

“Perhaps, this would have been successfully done if Oshiomhole were to be in office. We know those behind the plot then. The same set of people may have been the ones working against the interest of both Amosun and Akeredolu.

“Don’t forget that Amosun and Akeredolu also played major roles in the campaigns and election of Fayemi. While there were those who merely sang songs at the party’s mega rally where the President was present, these two men campaigned vigorously for the APC and Fayemi. Therefore, the governor might as well consider it immoral to abandon them when they are facing issues in their states.”

A Presidency source also said it was clear that the issue had divided the governors.

He said, “We all know the position of Governor Amosun and Governor Akeredolu as far as the crisis and the fate of the national chairman is concerned.

“Despite their calls for the removal of the party chairman, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has made his position clear that Oshiomhole goes nowhere. With Tinubu’s position, you will expect naturally that Ambode and Aregbesola won’t join Amosun and Akeredolu in this journey. You also expect Ajimobi not to join the fray.

“I am not too sure of where Fayemi belongs, especially because he visited the President with Amosun and Akeredolu but it is clear that meeting was against Oshiomhole and the NWC.”

A source close to Aregbesola who spoke on condition of anonymity also agreed that there was no way the governor will be part of a meeting “that will be against Asiwaju or his interest.”

Ziggylady:

ABUJA – Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Yekini Nabena has warned Nigerians not to be taken in by promises of eldorado by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Atiku Abubakar especially regarding his pledge to reduce the pump price of fuel to N90 per litre if elected as president.

Nabena in a statement Sunday in Abuja said the promise sounds like a cheap political gist designed to hoodwink unsuspecting voters ahead of the 2019 election.

“A perusal of well entrenched and verifiable market fundamentals clearly indicates that the promise is virtually anchored on fiction and limited knowledge of the petroleum industry.

The fact as we speak is that at a petrol cost under recovery fluctuating between N60-N70 per litre propelled by vaunting crude oil price of around $81 per barrel, the only way the bogus promise could be possible albeit unreasonably, is through the re-introduction of the PDP styled subsidy payment schism which almost bled the nation to death.

“It is shocking to note that at a period when the nation is looking ahead to embrace the eventual deregulation of the downstream sub-sector of the oil and gas industry to allow for equitable private sector participation and break the seeming NNPC monopoly of fuel importation, the PDP is plotting a reversal of the spiraling wheel of progress.

No doubt if the PDP had been clairvoyant enough in its long years’ of rulership to fix the local refineries and make them work for the benefit of Nigerians, the country would have reaped bountifully from the gains of higher price of crude oil while optimizing the benefits that comes with local processing of its God given natural resource”, he added.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

vedaxcool:
Bleaching mumu, if they had given you automatic ticket it m and they are strong since you didn't get their ticket now you mouthing off like a pained loser. Please face your PRP. PMB will never abuse democratic process for ingrates like yourself. If weakness means following due process and allowing the will of the people prevail I prefer it to your arrant foolishness.

Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central, says governors under the All Progressives Congress (APC) have no respect for President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking on the ongoing crisis rocking the ruling party, Sani said National Leader, Bola Tinubu had done his best to resolve the crisis that forced him out of the party but that Tinubu did not achieve much because he is not from the north.

The Kaduna lawmaker claimed President Buhari and the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole were too weak and have succumbed to the powers of the governors.

Sani in an interview with The Nation said: “I must be very frank with you, Tinubu has done his best but there is a limit to what he can do.

“He isn’t from the North and has a lot of issues to attend to but what was very clear, I won’t rain insults on the President or Chairman of the party, but what I would say is that their weaknesses, their vulnerability, their failures have been evident in the very sense that they were helpless in the face of firepower by the state governors.

“The Buhari administration is now run by invisible forces and has disconnected from the vision it started with.

“If you look at his attitude to governance and his philosophy of being for everybody and nobody has led the party nowhere and it is also leading the party nowhere

“If you are a leader, you cannot preside over a nation by body language or side language. You have to take decisions, you have to be decisive. You don’t also have to depend on the decisions of others but you can consult others for the decisions which you are going to take.

“The governors under the APC today don’t respect President Buhari; they have no respect for him and they don’t share what his philosophy is all about.

“While the chairman of the party sees the need to preserve the loyal band within the party, the governors don’t see the need for it. They want to plant their stooges. As far as I am concerned, the seat that I occupy, the Kaduna Central senatorial seat, Nasir el Rufai is putting a stooge there to keep the place for him so that after he is out of government, he can also be a senator.

“The governors see senatorial seats as places they should preserve for their future and that’s why you find some people going to the national assembly without standing up to do their work as parliamentarians, because they were there standing in for somebody.”

DAILY POST recalls that Sani sometime last month resigned his membership of the ruling APC and joined the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) due to injustice in the party.

Aggrieved governors in the ruling All Progressives Congress are wooing members of the Senate who lost tickets at the primaries in their plot to remove the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.

It was reliably gathered on Friday that the aggrieved governors, seeking the removal of Oshiomhole for not allowing them to have their way at the primaries, were mobilising fellow aggrieved senators who failed in their senatorial and governorship bids.

A senator, who confirmed the development to one of our correspondents, however, disclosed that the APC lawmakers would prevent the governors from “using” his aggrieved colleagues to hatch the anti-Oshiomhole plot.

No fewer than four APC governors have openly expressed their grievances with the party chairman on how he handled the primaries in their respective states.

Oshiomhole had insisted on the decisions by the APC National Working Committee on candidates despite the pressure mounted by the governors, especially through the Presidency.

Speaking with SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday, a senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the lawmakers were also mobilising the chairmen of the state chapters of the APC.

The source stated, “I can tell you that there is an attempt by the disgruntled governors to rake in as many members of the National Executive Committee as possible, to force a meeting by NEC and pass a vote of no confidence in Oshiomhole. But I can also tell you that we have made our moves to counter that.

“As I speak to you right now, the entire South-South and South-East’s chairmen, who are members of NEC, are resolute that the attempt (by the governors) will not see the light of the day.

“You saw the last communique they issued the other time; the one from the South-South chairmen? I was the brain behind it. We have also done the same thing with the South-East. We have those zones – excluding Imo State in the South-East – locked down in support of Oshiomhole.

“In addition to that, we have also reached out to the majority of the chairmen in the North and the South-West. Apart from two states in the South-West – that is the chairmen of Ogun and Ondo – all others in the South-West are fully with us. In the North, the zone is being coordinated for us by the chairman of the chairmen, who is the Chairman of Borno State chapter. Apart from Zamfara, we have almost all other chairmen in the North.”

Responding to a question on whether more governors were seeking Oshiomhole’s removal apart from Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Rochas Okorocha (Imo) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), who had openly declared their disenchantment, the lawmaker said, “Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) too.”

He added, “They know that they don’t have the backing of the Presidency. Anyhow you look at it, Oshiomhole enjoys the support of Mr. President (Muhammadu Buhari). The reason why some of us are resolute in our support for Oshiomhole is because although he is not a perfect man, he is trying to implement the promises that he made to all APC senators with a presidential backing; and getting them implemented, he has incurred the wrath of some of these governors who are not on the same page with the senators. It is the same with the House of Representatives.”

The lawmaker criticised the governors for allegedly demanding too much from the APC leadership. He cited the examples of Okorocha in Imo and Amosun in Ogun who got senatorial tickets and still insisted on determining the governorship candidates to succeed them.

“Now imagine someone like Senator Lanre Tejuoso (Ogun-Central). This is a man who has been loyal to Mr. President. When we needed him most, he was with us to prevent the veto and override of Mr. President, to ensure that Mr. President was not impeached.

“We also needed his vote and he gave his vote to us on the issue of elections sequence that was targeted at Mr. President, to take the president to the back of elections timetable. We had him supporting us. But now, all of a sudden, the guarantee he would have needed to return to the Senate, he is now deprived of,” he said.

The Majority Leader of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, who dismissed the alleged alliance between aggrieved governors and senators as speculative, said removing Oshiomhole wouldn’t solve the APC’s problems.

“I don’t think there is any truth in it because disagreements are normal in political parties and organisations. And leadership requires that when there are disagreements, the parties involved come round a table and discuss to find a way forward,” Lawan stated.

The Majority Leader said whatever the situation and no matter how bad it was, leaders of the APC and “those who may not have been favoured by the current situation “would discuss the issues and resolve them.

He added, “There are so many issues up for discussion and I don’t believe that there is any particular effort to just get the national chairman of the party removed because of the situation today. My instinct tells me that my party – a very progressive party – will not be going for that kind of thing, just removing the chairman because that will not address the issues.

Also speaking with one of our correspondents, Secretary of the Parliamentary Support Group, a body of the APC lawmakers in the National Assembly loyal to Buhari, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, vowed that the attempts by the governors to sack Oshiomhole would be resisted.

“Some of us are standing by Oshiomhole because he is standing by us. Majority of us have so far succeeded (in getting tickets) but a couple of them failed,” Omo-Agege said.

When asked to confirm the alleged alliance between aggrieved governors and senators, the lawmaker said, “Yes, you can say so. Our preference would have been that all the senators, to whom promises were made, were returned but we know that Oshiomhole has bent backward to accommodate most of us except a couple that he was not able to.

“Oshiomhole should know that he has the backing of the APC Senate Caucus at all times.”

State chairmen working towards Oshiomhole’s removal

Meanwhile, the chairmen of the APC in the 36 states of the federation are said to be working with some top leaders of the party to remove Oshiomhole following the crisis that arose from the last primaries of the party.

It was gathered that the chairmen, some of whom have been in Abuja for up to a week, might call for an emergency National Executive Committee meeting of the party next week to carry out the plot.

However, a source told SUNDAY PUNCH that the plan might not succeed as the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had begun moves to foil the plan.

The source added, “Tinubu does not want Oshiomhole removed; so, he too is moving up and down to protect him (Oshiomhole). One of his moves is his private visit to the President recently.

“This may stop the plot of the chairmen because his visit to the President was not unconnected with the Oshiomhole issue.”

Uneasy calm at APC headquarters

Also, it was gathered there was an uneasy calm at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on the face-off between the national chairman and some governors.

It was gathered that although there was discontent among members of the National Working Committee, there was no indication that they were mobilising to remove Oshiomhole.

A member of the NWC who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH on condition of anonymity on Saturday, said, “Of course, there are issues and I heard, like everyone else, that some governors want to remove the national chairman if they get the chance but I am not aware of any plan yet to convene a NEC.

“You need to give at least one week notice to convene an emergency NEC and I am not aware of any emergency to warrant calling for one now.”

Another one, who pleaded anonymity, said, “I am not aware of any plan to convene a NEC. There are procedures for doing such things, and to the best of my knowledge, the process has not been initiated.”

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a response to a question on any plan to convene the NEC of the party, said, “Not to my knowledge.”

Speaking on the crisis within the party, he said, “We don’t take our internal issues to the media because we have a robust internal conflict resolution mechanism and we are deploying it to resolve them.”

Oshiomhole had told a news conference in Abuja on Friday that only “two or three out of the party’s 23 governors” had problems with him.