Thursday, December 27, 2018

PRESS RELEASE BY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION

ETISALAT AND KEYSTONE BANK SHARES: PUBLIC ALERT ON PLANS BY PDP AND ATIKU TEAM TO RELEASE A SERIES OF WILD, UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT.

With the latest refrain of the PDP linking some phantom shares in Etisalat and Keystone bank to the ‘family’ of the President, we have it on good authority that the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and his party are set to release a series of wild, unsubstantiated allegations against the President and Vice President including their friends and family members, in the next few weeks. With the latest revelation that the said shares are rather linked to relatives of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, it has became a case of the thief calling the farm owner the thief, as the Yorubas would say in a popular proverb. These impending wild allegations would naturally border on corrupt practices without any evidential basis. The purpose is to attempt to dent the greatest forte of the President and Vice President going into 2019 elections, which is their personal integrity. The latest tactics of the main opposition is premised on the following grounds:

a) Since their stuttering campaigns started, they have felt the pulse of Nigerians and realized Nigerians have not forgotten their misdeeds of 16 years whilst in office.

b) They have decided to run a campaign of “we-are-all-corrupt” rather than defend their sordid records of merciless looting of the public purse, which has brought us to where we are today.

c) The aim is to push Nigerians to equate an Alhaji Atiku Abubakar with President Muhammadu Buhari on matters of corruption. They want to deceive Nigerians to think that the 2019 elections is really a choice between two “corrupt” persons

d) By repeating the lies a million times, they aim to get Nigerians to begin to give some serious thought to the lies. This is how the “Jubrin from Sudan” story started, before even some well-exposed and educated Nigerians were nearly converted on that issue.

e) Their latest desperate diversionary tactics is because even the most uneducated Nigerian has now understood that all the issues upon which the main opposition is campaigning are self-indicting issues, especially on the Economy and Security. The foundation for the challenges in these sectors, are firmly rooted in their 16 years of disastrous governance. President Buhari has just started a re-building process.

Nigerians should therefore brace up for six weeks of despicable lies from the pit of hell against the President and Vice President, to try to suggest to Nigerians that the President and his deputy are part of the league of looters to which they belong. But Nigerians should understand that the choices before them have never been this clear: It is between a fugitive from the law in America and a President who has never been accused of stealing anything in his entire life and is respected both locally and internationally; It is between a man who claims he wants to ‘get Nigeria working again’ yet has always refused to pay his taxes AS AT WHEN DUE and a man who has NEVER cheated the Nigerian State. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has since kept an ominous silence over this damaging allegation of irresponsible and deliberate tax evasion that is now before a court of law.

Whilst the President and Vice President are prepared and willing to answer any genuine inquiry raised about their stewardship, Nigerians should always ask the critical questions as to “where”, “when”, “how”, names, dates, addresses, etc in respect of any allegation raised by the opposition before giving any credence to it. This is because as the Atiku Campaign continues to fall apart on a daily basis, we may hear such desperate allegation from them that President Buhari has sold the buildings in Aso Rock to the Israelis or Americans!!!

Nigerians should tell Alhaji Atiku Abubakar that it is too late in the day to impugn the integrity of Mr. President, or to “package” himself before Nigerians as a honest man. Nigerians only need to read the book by his former boss, ex President, Olusegun Obasanjo titled, “MY WATCH”.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar must bear the cross and tar of corruption alone (as pronounced by the Congress in America and his former boss). He should not drag President Muhammadu Buhari into that room of moral debauchery with him.

Thank you.

FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN, FCIArb (UK)
Director of Strategic Communications (Official Spokesperson)
President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organization.

HOW AFRICA, EUROPE CAN COLLABORATE TO TAP BENEFITS OF DIGITAL ECONOMY, BY VP OSINBAJO AT EUROPE-AFRICA FORUM



*Urges Nigerians to keep faith with nation in Vienna meeting with Diaspora community





Africa and Europe must work together to advance and harvest the economic benefits of digital economy, and at the same time prevent a counter-productive widening of the digital gap, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.



Prof. Osinbajo stated this today at the Africa-Europe High-Level Forum in Vienna, Austria, which had in attendance other African and European Heads of States or Government.



The meeting organized by the European Union and African Union, held in Vienna, Austria on Monday, December 17, and Tuesday, December 18.



Speaking on the forum’s theme ‘Taking cooperation to the digital age’, the Vice President noted that investments in digital technology can make important contribution to growth and development by fostering productivity gains from continuous innovation.



He said, “Given our fast-growing population in Africa, we are, of course, keen to work together to boost the job creation potential of new technologies rather than concentrating on jobs destined to disappear in the digital age. Faster growth, sustainable development and job creation are also vital for reducing irregular migration from Africa to Europe. In our globalized world, people can see disparities in standards of living across regions quite easily. This means there must be increasing openings for entrepreneurship and jobs in home countries for those who would otherwise embark on risk journeys in search of opportunities. In Nigeria we are taking urgent and practical steps to provide such opportunities for our rapidly increasing youth population.”



Prof. Osinbajo also highlighted the strides made by the Buhari administration in developing Nigeria’s technology sector through supporting public-private sector initiatives and the advisory group on technology and creativity.



Noting that the advisory group has been working to build an ecosystem for funding, training, infrastructure and intellectual property protection, the Vice President added that the country’s Social Investment Programme has been leveraging on technology tools to drive it in its bid to improve the economy and lives of Nigerians.



He said, “Under our social investment programme, 75,000 young people are being trained in coding, software development, hardware maintenance, animation and data management, and we’re set to train another 200,000 young men and women. Similarly, we have established 8 technology hubs to support tech startups across our six geopolitical zones and two major cities of Abuja and Lagos.



“We’ve encouraged partnership to establish venture funds to support innovation and are now engaged in talks to establish a $500 million innovation funds with bilateral and multilateral partners.



“We’ll be deploying digital methods and tools on a larger scale to expand learning opportunities for younger Nigerians, as conventional education through brick and mortar institution can no longer be viable given the huge numbers and limited resources. Already, 200,000 out of our 500,000 young graduates in our N-Power scheme have tablet devices, which we use for on-the-job training and further skills acquisition. This experience will guide our efforts as we seek to expand digital literacy at earlier stages of education.



“Similarly, our education curriculum is being reworked to emphasize Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. The Arts have been included because of the growing recognition of the strengths of our country, especially in the arts, music, film and literature.”



Prof. Osinbajo also highlighted the growth in e-commerce in Nigeria, with references to leading e-commerce platforms that have leveraged on technology to grow their businesses.



He said, “Financial technology is being used in our efforts to rapidly scale up financial inclusion. Working with our banks, TELCOs and FinTech companies, we’ve used digital tools and platforms to provide interest-free micro loans to up to 1.3 million Nigerians and about 300,000 received Conditional Cash Transfers by the same means. We hire, pay and train online 500,000 young men and women in the largest post-tertiary direct jobs programme in Africa. Through participation in this scheme, present and future beneficiaries would be brought into databases for unique biometric identification.



The Vice president also thanked European countries for their support, while calling on other EU member states to partner with Nigeria and Africa to impart skills, raise resources, promote investment and provide infrastructure to build a digital economy.



“I’m optimistic that our efforts would attract strong support and active engagement of our partners in the European Union. Indeed, already, we have some good examples of that in the African Digital leaders Training programme, which is a partnership between Ventures Platform of Nigeria and Enterprise Lithuania with funding from the European Union. This innovative programme would provide digital skills training for 50 young Nigerians in Lithuania, while at the same time, relieving temporary labour shortage in that country. A reintegration component is also built into the package.



“We have a moment in the history of Europe-Africa relations that can yield tremendous mutual benefits. Let us seize this moment,” he said.



Several African and European Heads of Government attended the High-Level forum. They include the Austrian Federal Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz; the Prime Ministers of Netherlands, Mark Rutte; Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki; Hungary, Viktor Orban; Czech Republic, Andrej Babis; and deputy Prime Minister of Ireland. African Heads of Government at the meeting include the President of Rwanda, who is also the Chairperson of the African Union, Paul Kagame; President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo; Egypt’s Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi; Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta; and Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar, among others.



Earlier on Monday night, Prof. Osinbajo had an interactive session with the Nigerian community in Austria during a town hall meeting.



At the meeting attended by leading members of the Nigerian community in Vienna, the Vice President commended the work of Nigerians in Diaspora, noting that that the Nigerian community was adding value to the country.



Prof Osinbajo said, “We very strongly believe that our country can do much better than where we are, we have practically everything that it takes to make the country work. In fact we have more than what it takes to make the country do exceedingly well; there is no question about that. But corruption has been the major problem in the country.



Adding that Nigeria must tackle "the monster of corruption,", the Vice President added, “there is no country in the world that can survive when its resources are stolen the way our resources were stolen. It doesn’t really matter how you slice it or describe it, so long as a few people can take government or public resources and do with it as they like, they are not likely to be able to do the basic.”



He also urged Nigerians to continue to support the work of the administration in making the country better through provision of more infrastructure and tackling grand corruption, among other development initiatives.



“Today our country earns 60 per cent less than it earned five years ago, but we have spent N2.7 trillion in two budget cycle in infrastructure, that is the highest in the history of our country,” he said.



In attendance at the town hall meeting were the Nigerian Ambassador to Austria, Amb. Vivian Okeke; the Nigerian Ambassador to Hungary, Dr. Eniola Ajayi; leaders of Nigerian communities in Austria, and other senior government officials.





Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity

Office of the Vice President

18th December, 2018

BMO DISMISSES AMNESTY’S REPORT AS MISCHIEVOUS, HATCHET JOB

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has accused Amnesty International (AI) of carrying out a hatchet job for the opposition in the run up to the 2019 general elections.

This, it says, is obvious with the release of a report titled ‘Harvest of Deaths’ which focused on Herders-Farmers clash in the last three years, but which was tilted to make it look like the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari did little or nothing to stem the tide of violence.

BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that AI was out to send out subtle message to eligible voters in a report that was expertly made to appear balanced.

“It is also suspicious that Amnesty International went to great lengths to establish what we have always known- that herders’ communities had also been victims of a mindless orgy of violence over land and grazing routes.

“Could it have to do with the fact that the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is also a member of the same Fulani ethnic stock like the President?

“But it is mischievous to create the impression that the conflict is either a three-year old conflict or that it was worse in the last three years.”

BMO also questioned the real intention of Amnesty International in releasing its report barely two months to the election.

“If the rights’ watchdog meant well for Nigeria, it should have released the report at a time some Nigerians felt that it was a one-way attack by Fulani herdsmen on innocent farming communities because of the ethnic identity of President Buhari.

“This would have served to correct that impression, but not at a time of relative peace in virtually all the states listed in the report.

“Could it be that Amnesty is bent on stoking the dying embers of the conflict in those states?

“Or why has a group that is meant to be interested in peaceful co-existence not opted to focus on what the government had done right to manage the century-long conflicts between farmers and herdsmen.”

It added that the report is on one hand a continuation of Amnesty International’s gripe against Nigeria in recent times, and on the other hand an affirmation of what its management has always said in spite of information to the contrary.

“The report is a product of a pre-conceived notion which AI just used witnesses to back up. For instance AI’s country Director Osai Ojigho had in a February 2018 interview in 'The Cable' claimed that ‘despite the fact that this has been going on for a long time, can we point out one or two cases where people have been arrested, persecuted and fully went through the course of the law to ensure justice’.

“If it operated with an unbiased mindset, Amensty would have known that a 15-year-old Fulani herdsman, Haruna Usman was sentenced to death for killing a farmer in Kogi in 2017; just as another court in Adamawa handed down the death sentence to five young men for killing a herdsmen also in 2017.

“All these happened before Ms Ojigho’s interview where she was emphatic that there had been no arrests and prosecution of people on both sides of the conflict”.

“The report gave chilling account of how people including two catholic priests were killed in Benue state but was silent on the prosecution of the suspects in a report that painted a picture of little or no arrest or prosecution.

“More surprising is that the AI report conveniently left out the fact that security forces arrested and are prosecuting six suspects including the commander of the state Livestock Guard Tahaku Aliyu in connection with the April 24, 2018 killing.

“The Police made the arrests within a few weeks and as at May 31, the suspects were facing trial but Amnesty International conveniently omitted it from a report which concluded that security agencies and the government are not doing enough to prosecute suspects.

“In addition, the Police have recovered 9,657 illegal firearms and ammunition from suspected militias, armed herdsmen and farmers in a nationwide mop-up exercise.

“The Army, on its part, launched full scale military operations in Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Kaduna and Niger states which led to the death of scores of militant herdsmen and several arrests.”

The Pro-Buhari group consequently urged well-meaning Nigerians to view the latest report with suspicion, especially as the government is not only taking steps to mop up illegal weapons, but is also putting in place confidence-building mechanisms that have significantly reduced tension in the affected states.

GROUP SAYS AMNESTY’S REPORT IS INCITING, INCHOATE AND MISLEADING

…Title of report is a mockery of the dead

A political group in Nigeria has described an Amnesty International(AI) report on the farmers - herders clashes in the country as inciting, inchoate and misleading, stressing that the agency was by its report rejoicing and glorifying violence in Nigeria.

The Initiative to Save Democracy (ISD) stated that the report failed to consider a broad and historical view of the crisis, but deliberately limited the scope of its report from January 2016 to 2018 to pull the wool over the eyes of unsuspecting readers.

President of the group, James Akinloye said that by considering only these two years the content of the report was inconclusive and thus misleading as the herders - farmers clashes predates the period under review and readers would be deliberately misled to think the crisis started only within the last three years.

The group went further to state that the title of the report HARVEST OF DEATHS was a clear indication that Amnesty International had ulterior motives and was seeking to incite violence in the country.

“To title a report Harvest of Deaths is not just insensitive but also wicked. It is an attempt by Amnesty International to push for unrest in the country at a time when the country is already enjoying relative peace. The content of the report only seeks to open healing wounds. No responsible agency fighting for human rights titles its report Harvest of Death. Such a nomenclature is a mockery of the dead to start with.

“It is also ill-timed. Two months to an election is not the time to put out a report on a very sensitive subject- matter except one has a motive that is egregiously wicked and prejudiced,” Akinloye said.

The ISD noted that the release of the report two months to an election suggests either sponsorship of its activities by members of the opposition party or an outright intention by the Amnesty International to influence the voting posture of Nigerians during the elections.

Akinloye argued that where a foreign body does a thing like this, it is investigated for election interference and a possible ban from the country.

He went further to note that: “the Amnesty report deliberately omitted a very significant arrest in the herders - farmers clashes; that is the arrest of Aliyu Tashaku who was the mastermind of most of the killings in Benue state which were masqueraded as clashes.

“The report falsely kept rehashing that government had not acted or arrested any persons, while failing to acknowledge the arrest of several Fulani herdsmen who were involved in killings and were being tried in courts in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa and Plateau States. This reveals the bias of Amnesty International and its agenda to plunge Nigeria into violence. It also failed to acknowledge the role of several militia groups in the region, many of whom had been arrested by government security agencies.”

Mr Akinloye stated that in the last 4 months most of the communities in the North Central had been experiencing relative peace due to the efforts of the government including the bringing to justice of perpetrators of the heinous killings.

He further noted that the killings fell by over 90% in Benue State after the arrest of Alhaji Aliyu Tashaku who was reported to have been behind most of the killings in the state.

ISD noted that the government had done a lot and Nigerians were not blind to their efforts, it further called on the security agencies to increase their efforts to ensure a more peaceful country.

Mr Akinloye also added that the security agencies should, while investigating the many claims of Amnesty International, also investigate the body itself as it may be financed by persons seeking to distabilise the country

--

7 BOGUS CLAIMS PETER OBI MADE AT THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE – The 7th Is The Most Hilarious

Peter Obi is not just intellectually deficient - all bombastic and no substance - he is also poor with figures.

Here are 7 notorious claims which he made during the Vice Presidential Debate which are outright FALSE!


1. CLAIM BY PETER OBI: There are about two million vehicles in Nigeria.

FACT: False. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria has a total vehicle population of about 11,547,236 as at the third quarter of 2017. The number of cars in the South West axis alone is far more than 2 Million.

2. CLAIM BY PETER OBI: African trade today is less than 9 percent.

FACT: False. According to Afriexim Bank, Intra-Africa trade is around 15 percent. In 2016, intra-African exports made up 18 percent of total exports according to Brookings Institution.

3. CLAIM BY PETER OBI: Oil gives you 80% of foreign exchange earnings.

FACT: False. As at 2017 NBS figures showed that Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings from oil the oil sector stood above 90%.

4. CLAIM BY PETER OBI: Total loans from the banks in Nigeria is N19trn and only 0.5% goes to SMEs

FACT: FALSE. According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) money and credit statistics, banking sector credit to private increased to N22.72 trillion at the end of October 2018, compared with N22.56 trillion it stood at the end of September 2018.

5. CLAIM BY PETER OBI: Apple Inc’s market cap is bigger than the economies of Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt.

FACT: This is not true. Apple’s market cap today is $788.57 billion. The economies of these three countries are bigger than Apple.


6. CLAIM BY PETER OBI: Nigeria has fallen on the global competitive index from 124 to 127.

FACT: False. According to the latest (2018) World Economic Forum report, Nigeria rose on the index by 10 places. Obi’s claim was true in 2016.

7. CLAIM BY PETER OBI: The number of people living in poverty has grown by 6% every minute.

FACT: If this wild assertion were to be expounded, according to Peter Obi 6% of Nigeria’s population at 180 Million people, that is 10,800,000 people, become poor every minute. That means before the debate ended - an hour after he made that assertion - 648,000,000 persons had become poorer. (That is more than 3 times the population of Nigeria.) And by the next day, 15,552,000,000 - over 15 billion - people would have been poorer. That is about two times the world’s population.


Asides cooking up figures, Peter Obi must also be good at creating poverty.

VP OSINBAJO FLOORS PDP CANDIDATE IN VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE



NIGERIANS ON SOCIAL MEDIA MOCK OBI'S FALSE NARRATIVES



Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has shown a gulf of class between him and other Vice Presidential candidates when he blew his compatriots away with his insight on constitutional, economic, security and social development issues.



Osinbajo who is seeking reelection in office alongside incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, riveted his class as the best Vice President in Nigeria’s history.



Osinbajo a proficient orator and inarguably Nigeria’s favourite Vice President proved that he was no fluke as he displayed his dexterity, aura and finesse at the Vice Presidential debate which held at the Transcorp Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.



The debate organized by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) had four other Vice Presidential candidates in attendance, Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ganiyu Galadima of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN); Khadija Abdullahi-Iya of Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) and Umma Getso of Young Progressive Party (YPP).



Stating categorically how the ruling government will take Nigerians to the next level when re-elected, Osinbajo noted that the government will continue to build on infrastructure and human capital development.



“What we intend to do is to build on what we are doing and that is why we are talking of the Next Level. We have moved 24 places up on the Ease of Doing Business,” the Vice President said at the debate.



“We need to improve power transmission, we need to improve our rail and road infrastructure to boost our economy, the Vice President explained.



He also stated that, “foreign Investment will come when we create an environment for local industries. We are also looking at the taxation regime and will continue to ensure that small and medium businesses continue to thrive.”



He however drew the biggest cheer of the debate when he replied Peter Obi, the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP insinuated that the ruling All Progressives Congress had left its shop and was chasing thieves.



In response, Prof Osinbajo said, “If you allow criminals to steal all the inventories in the shop, there will be no shop. That’s the problem and the World Bank said that corruption is the major impediment to Nigeria’s development.



Speaking on power, Osinbajo said, “I think the common denominator between the two countries you mentioned is the strong infrastructure,” the VP said referring to the mention of China and South Africa, adding that,



While under President Buhari, power generation capacity has climbed up to a high of 7,000 MW, the Vice President pointed out that “Our nation in the past 16 years has suffered a major infrastructure deficit. So, we don’t have rails, roads. When we came into power in 2015, power was 4,000MW in 16 years,”



“So, you need strong infrastructure. No one can argue about it. The second thing is you cannot have a strong economy if you allow the type of grand corruption that has taken place in Nigeria in the last 16 years.”



The Vice Presidential Candidate of the PDP was observed by many, especially on social media, to have been economical with some of the data he churned out. He had claimed that Nigeria had over 2 million cars, however checks from data released by the National Bureau of Statistics show that in the third quarter of 2017 alone, there were over 11.5 Million cars in the country.



Social media users took on this issue and have made posts calling out the Vice Presidential Candidate.



After the two hour, 30 minutes debate, the Vice Presidential candidates were awarded certificates of participation after which they took a group photograph

PRESS RELEASE





POWER SUPPLY: FG WORKING WITH ALL STAKEHOLDERS TO SOLVE GENERATION, DISTRIBUTION CHALLENGES

· Says Government has, through both policy and direct interventions, demonstrated its commitment to power generation, transmission and distribution

· Cites the N72 Billion Distribution Expansion Programme, other policies by the government as clear demonstration of that commitment

· “Government will not separate itself from the problem and, as I said at the Dialogue, I am involved to do what the law allows me to do” - Minister



Contrary to the rather sensational headline stories in some national dailies, the Federal Government is working assiduously with various stakeholders in the Power Sector to solve the challenges hindering power supply especially along the Generation and Distribution value chain of the sector.



Some national dailies, especially the Vanguard, which Friday published a front-page sensational headline story of remarks made by the Minister at a Media event, have alleged that the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, had on Wednesday, at the monthly Nextier Power Dialogue in Abuja, absolved the Federal Government of any blame in the challenges confronting power supply in the country.



But in a statement Friday, in order to set the records straight over his remarks at the Power Dialogue, Fashola said the government has, through several policy initiatives since inception and, especially in the last few months, demonstrated its commitment to the enhancement of power generation and distribution citing the recent approval of a N72 Billion Distribution Expansion Programme by the government as a clear demonstration of that commitment.



Fashola said the Government, as a 40 per cent shareholder, had to make the approval in order to enhance the distribution of power across the country pointing out that although operationally there is 7,000 Megawatts of electricity ready for deployment, the operation was still constrained at the distribution end.



The Minister said the concern of government was to correct the anomaly created by the distribution constraint adding that to ensure that the intervention achieved maximum benefit for the people, Government, working with the Distribution companies (DisCos), first obtained the data of the priority areas of need within their franchises with which it put together the programme to enable the DisCos maximally evacuate available power for distribution to consumers.



He said although the power sector Operation was now largely in private hands, Government was still playing a leading role in both enhancing the distribution of grid electricity and increasing access to electricity across the country, especially the rural communities adding that it was also ensuring, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), that power supply gets to consumers at very reasonable costs and without exploitation.



Recalling the policy outline laid by his Ministry at inception which set out a roadmap to first get incremental power and then go to steady power and then to uninterrupted power, Fashola declared, “I think that if you followed the policy outline that set out that roadmap, we have delivered what we promised in terms of our first leg of incremental power. We have increased the power on all sides”.



Other policies which government has initiated in recent times to drive access to electricity, the Minister said, include the Mini-Grid/Off-Grid policy by which government has decentralized power supply, allowing individuals and organizations to invest in power generation and supply up to a certain limit, Eligible Customer Policy that enables big consumers to buy power directly from Generation Companies (GenCos) and Meter Asset Provider (MAP) policy enabling business men to invest in meter supply, adding, however, that all the policies are subject to the regulation of NERC.



On the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) of the administration, the Minister, who noted that the document was articulated as means to address some post Privatization challenges in the sector and improve power supply, said the PSRP was a document that sought to articulate all of the problems that were being reported about the Privatization adding that all the problems arising from privatization were documented in the PSRP Document.



Such issues, he said, include those of generation, transmission, energy theft and tariff issues among others adding, “All the problems that were in the Sector we sat down and documented them as a programme. Everything that we learnt was a problem, we took it down as the Power Sector Recovery Programme. And then we proposed solutions to each problem and we assigned a department, Ministry, Agency of Officer who was responsible for solving a particular problem”.



On the involvement of the World Bank, Fashola explained, “As we were doing it, the World Bank wrote to us and said we had to undertake reforms in this Sector to make it work and when we presented what we were undertaking to them, they said “what we were going to recommend to you was not as extensive as what you have agreed voluntarily to undertake yourself. If you are going to do this then we will put money behind it”.



The Minister, however, said PSRP was not all about the World Bank loan adding, “The World Bank loan is just a component of the PSRP. We couldn’t reach a conclusive negotiation because some Departments felt that additional provisions had to be made. That was a sticky point”.



“However, of the basket of issues in the PSRP, people seem to have identified the World Bank Loan as the be-all-and-end-all of the PSRP. Certainly not and it is not off the table”, he said adding that while the loan from the World Bank was still there, there were loans for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for expansion from the same World Bank and loans from the African Development Bank (AFDB) for Rural Electrification.



According to Fashola, “World Bank alone doesn’t have all the money that we need. So addressing the liquidity problem is coming through; it does not mean that PSRP is not working. Indeed it has delivered and that is indeed why I could report today that we had an 18 per cent growth contribution to the GDP. It is because the PSRP is working.



“The PSRP has not gone idle. We are ticking the boxes. There was no Chairman for the NERC, now there is a Chairman, problem solved; there was MDAS Debts owed, I think over N70 Billion, we verified N27 Billion, that was part of the PSRP and it was paid; there was a Transmission Expansion Programme, Transmission has gained more than Distribution, that is progress”, the Minister said.



The Minister said Transmission now has a 10-Year Expansion Plan just as 3,000 Megawatts have since been added to what was on ground when the administration took over. He said the new big problem that has now emerged was that of how to sell was has been generated.



Recalling that when he took office there was a view that the privatization was not working and should be cancelled, Fashola, who advised that cancelling contracts would not benefit the country, declared, “PSRP is working, Transmission is improving, there is still Energy theft issue, there is no plan or document that is cast in stone. And we expect that at a time, we would sit down, take off what we have done and write a second edition and move on”, he said.



And throwing more light on the remarks he made at the Nextier Dialogue, especially with reference to the allegation that he absolved the Federal Government from blame with regards to challenges in power supply, Fashola, who recalled that the remark was in response to a specific question posed by a participant during the Interactive Session concerning the supply of transformers, reiterated that all the assets that the Ministry of Power used to control for power distribution have been sold by the last administration and pointed out that the people now operating the Generation and Distribution segments of power sector are privately owned companies.



The Minister, who noted that his role was more of policy making, pointed out that Government’s continued intervention in the sector was because of its concern adding that there was need for consumers to be well enlightened on where to go when they have problems such as transformer supply, as, according to him, “The Ministry does not supply transformer anymore”. He, however, added “Government would not separate itself from the problem and, as I said at the Dialogue, I am trying to get involved to do what the law allows me to do”.



The Minister, who expressed dismay at the propensity of some sections of the Nigerian Media to sensationalize issues, recalled his reference to the 3rd Quarter Report of the National Bureau of Statistics, at the same Dialogue, which revealed that Electricity made the highest contribution of 18 per cent to the 1.8 per cent growth in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) wondering how many newspapers and social media platforms reported that aspect.



He also recalled the “Thank You” visit of the Gora Community of Nasarawa State to his office earlier in the week to express their gratitude to the Federal Government over the provision of Solar Power to their Community saying such testimonies to the growth in electricity supply and increase in accessibility to the rural communities should make headlines in the media instead of deliberate representation of facts.

HAKEEM BELLO

SPECIAL ADVISER,

COMMUNICATIONS

TO THE HON. MINISTER

14TH DECEMBER, 2018

BUHARI ADMINISTRATION’S MULTIBILLION-NAIRA SOCIAL INVESTMENT PLAN AIMS TO REDUCE POVERTY – OSINBAJO



*Plan follows India’s path



*VP presents Nigeria’s Vision to Accelerate Human Capital Development by 2030 at extended NEC



*Commends governors for working together across party lines







“Nigerians everywhere deserve to live healthy, educated and productive lives, regardless of where in Nigeria they live or whatever other peculiarities they may have. By the sheer nature of our constitutional arrangements, the Federal Government must work with State governments and State governments must work with each other. The only way to succeed is by recognizing that this is a joint responsibility.

I have no doubt at all that we are on the right path. But we must stick to this path. We cannot afford anything that will slow us down or take us away from these commitments that we have started to implement. We owe it to all of our people, young and old, male and female; especially the poorest and most vulnerable amongst us, to improve the quality of their lives, and the quality of healthcare, education and the jobs that are accessible to them.” – Vice President





SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE EXTENDED NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL’S NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT, AT THE BANQUET HALL, STATE HOUSE, ABUJA, ON FRIDAY, 14TH DECEMBER, 2018.





PROTOCOLS



About nine months ago we convened a similar gathering here at the State House, along with some of our most supportive partners and philanthropists, to discuss this very fundamentalissue of Human Capital Development.

The debate that followed made it very clear to all of us that this (human capital development) is perhaps the most important issue in our country today. In any event, what can be more important than the well being of the people we serve?

As a government, we are fully aware of this, and are committed to ensuring that we positively transform the Nigerian experience as it relates to the quality of life and well being of our people. Excellencies, your attendance here today, despite the heightened political activity as the general elections approach, is clear evidence of your commitment above all else to jointly cracking this fundamental problem.

There is no denying the fact that Nigeria has struggled with debilitating levels of poverty for several decades, in spite of our huge potential and huge earnings, especially from oil. Indeed,the last result of the poverty study undertaken by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2012 showed that 112 million Nigerians were living in extreme poverty.

When we came into office in 2015, three things were very clear: one, that we needed to movevery quickly and ambitiously to respond to issues of poverty, malnutrition, disease and illiteracy.The second was that there would be no quick fixes or miracle cures. It would be a long and painful journey out of the status quo. And we would need to be patient and consistent in the implementation of all our interventions. Three, just as we are reaping presently the consequences of neglect and sometimes poor decisions that have been taken in the past, we can change the consequences that await us in the future by changing the decisions that we take now in the present, and by ensuring that we make the right decisions.

These realisations have guided us over the last three years, even as we have developed a vision for a Nigeria that is healthy, educated and positioned to fully unleash its development potential.

This is what informed the creation and implementation of our Social Investment Programme, which is now the largest of its type in Africa; a multi-faceted intervention simultaneously targeting poverty, hunger, unemployment, financial exclusion, and the absence of skills needed for our large youth population to thrive in the 21st century. Every country that has taken significant numbers of its population out of poverty, at least in the last three decades or so, hashad to put in place a robust Social Investment Policy, such as we have at the moment. That includes India, Brazil, etc. India, which had the largest number of poor people in absolute terms did exactly what we are doing today; microcredit for the bottom of the rung on the commercial value chain, compulsory government jobs programme, school feeding, conditional cash transfers or just simply cash transfers. All of these are things other nations of the world that are committed to taking their people out of poverty have done, aside from several other steps that they’ve taken.

But since that March meeting, the Social Investment Programme has seen a significant expansion. We have added more than 2 million children to our School Feeding Programme. We now have in excess of 9 million school children being fed every day across 26 States.

N-Power, our jobs scheme for unemployed graduates and non-graduates, has more than doubled since then. We now have more than 500,000 beneficiaries of the N-Power programme all across the country in every single local government. And our TraderMoni Microcredit scheme for petty traders excluded from formal lending opportunities has now benefited well over a million petty traders. MarketMoni which started earlier, and obviously didn’t receive as much publicity, has also taken almost 400,000 beneficiaries.

In terms of healthcare, we have also recorded some landmark achievements: the setting up of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, with seed funding of one per cent of our Consolidated Revenue Fund, as outlined in the National Health Act. I am pleased to say that Nigeria, for the first time, is complying with the stipulations of the Act since it was signed into law in 2014.

The Vision to accelerate Human Capital Development by 2030 has, as you’ve already heard, and if you look in particular at page 18 of the document, is all set out there. All what we have listed there are basically efforts and input of some of what I’ve just referred to now, of efforts that we’ve made. Ultimately it is the outcomes that are important. We must be able to show that all of what we are doing and investing is producing tangible results in the quality of lives of our citizens.

The end goal is a country where it is not a miracle for infants to live beyond the age of 5, where our children are in no danger of malnutrition, where every child is guaranteed access to quality basic education, where a basic minimum package of healthcare benefits is guaranteed to every citizen and no one is shut out on account of the fact that they cannot afford it.

Nigerians everywhere deserve to live healthy, educated and productive lives, regardless of where in Nigeria they live or whatever other peculiarities they may have.

By the sheer nature of our constitutional arrangements, the Federal Government must work with State governments and State governments must work with each other. The only way to succeed is by recognizing that this is a joint and several responsibility.

This is not and should never be a platform for blame-games and buck-passing. In the past, these have not worked, and will not work now. Nothing short of concerted collaboration is required from all of us, across all tiers of government and with the partnership and support of the private sector, traditional and religious leaders, community leaders and the international community.

There is much learning to be shared and exchanged, to ensure that we are not repeating mistakes that have already been made, and to ensure that we are allocating resources in maximally efficient ways.

Very importantly, there is the work of communication, of carrying Nigerians along, of carrying our citizens along, of making the vision clear and repeating it as often as possible, and making it simple, easy to understand, and transparently showing how the resources – which belong to them – are being deployed to work for their benefit. We must never underestimate the importance of communicating and ensuring that we get the best buy-in from the citizens on behalf of whom we are holding public office.

Last, but not the least is the importance of collecting credible data to support our programmes and policies, and to accurately measure their impact. What cannot be measured, it’s always said, cannot be managed. The wisdom of these words should always stay with us.

We must find ways of improving also the quality of the data we collect and the timeliness. And we must resist the temptation to play politics with these statistics, or be overly defensive when they don’t cast us in very good light. The lesson is to listen to what the data is telling us, and to vigorously look for ways to respond with policy interventions.

I have no doubt at all that we are on the right path. But we must stick to this path. We cannot afford anything that will slow us down or take us away from these commitments that we have started to implement.

We owe it to all of our people, young and old, male and female; especially the poorest and most vulnerable amongst us, to improve the quality of their lives, and the quality of healthcare, education and the jobs that are accessible to them.

I must commend your Excellencies for the patriotic cooperation across party lines in resolving many of our nation’s problems. I recall the summit of the National Economic Council on security, the summit on education, and now on Human Capital Development. All of these contributions that you’ve made and all of the time and resources that have been spent have been done with complete patriotism, and this is the way that we should go.

We have made our commitment and we pledged our support. Now is time to get the job done. It is now my very special pleasure to present Nigeria’s Vision to Accelerate Human Capital Development by 2030.

I thank you for listening.



Released by:



Laolu Akande,

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity,

Office of the Vice President

14th December, 2018

FG Calls Fake News, Hate Speech Biggest Threat To 2019 Polls, Seeks
States' Support

The Federal Government has said fake news and hate speech constitute
the biggest threat to the 2019 general election, and appealed to
states to join in the ongoing campaign to sensitize Nigerians to the
dangers posed by the twin evils.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the
assertion in Kaduna on Thursday, during the official opening ceremony
of the 47th National Council on Information (NCI).

''With the 2019 general elections just a little over 60 days away,
there is no issue that is more relevant to the election than the issue
of fake news and hate speech,'' he said. ''This issue transcends
political party lines, religion, ethnicity, and even nationality. Left
unchecked, fake news and hate speech constitute the biggest threat to
the forthcoming elections.''

Alhaji Mohammed said fake news has the capacity to alter the course of
elections and create legitimacy problem for the winner, citing as an
example a report that said fake news helped to depress Hillary
Clinton's votes during the 2016 US election, in addition to tainting
the victory for the winner.

He also said hate speech was a catalyst in the 1994 genocide in
Rwanda, which left at least 800,000 people dead.

The Minister said while the Federal Government has been unrelenting in
calling attention to the dangers posed to the nation's peace, security
and democracy, including through the launch of the National Campaign
Against Fake News on July 11 2018, it cannot do it alone.

''The campaign against fake news and hate speech is not just a
responsibility of the Federal Government. It is for all tiers of
government. Therefore, I expect that the Honorable Commissioners who
are here, and those who are not, will launch the campaign in their
various states.

''The media will bear the brunt, if the people lose confidence in them
because of fake news. This is why the media must lead this campaign,''
he said

Alhaji Mohammed described as 'very fitting and most timely' the theme
of the meeting, which is 'Tackling Fake News and Hate Speech to
Enhance Peace and National Unity'.

He urged the participants at the meeting to 'brain storm and evolve
policies' that would comprehensively address the
menace of fake news and hate speech.

Commissioners of Information from about 20 states are among the
participants at the three-day meeting, which was declared open by
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, represented by his Special
Adviser on Media and Communication, Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye

Segun Adeyemi
SA To Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Kaduna
13 Dec 2018

PICTURES
PIC 1: The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
(middle), in a group photograph with State Commissioners for
Information and other delegates to the 47th National Council on
Information in Kaduna on Thursday

PIC 2: The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
delivering a keynote address at the 47th National Council on
Information in Kaduna on Thursday

MEDIA ADVISORY ON EXTENDED NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL



In line with the Buhari administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) for inclusive growth human development nationwide, there will be an extended session of the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.



The extended National Economic Council, comprising of Governors of all the States of the Federation, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, will focus on the Human Capital Development Programme of this administration hinged on “investment in our people.”



The Human Capital Development Programme’s is hinged on 3 main thematic areas i.e. Health and Nutrition, Education and Labour Force Participation, while the programme has identified 7 outcome areas and a considerable number of interventions designed to drive change nationwide.



The extended National Economic Council will be holding on Friday as follows.



Date: Friday, 14th December, 2018

Venue: Old Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja

Time: 9:00 am.



Media personnel are advised to arrive early for the event for security formalities and collection of media kits.

There will also be interviews with partners at the end of the session.



Arukaino Umukoro,

Special Assistant to the President,

Communication Projects,

Office of the Vice President

13th December, 2018

ATIKU’S ASSENT TO PEACE PACT, AN AFTERTHOUGHT - BMO

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has described the belated signing of the Election Peace Pact by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as an afterthought.

Atiku had failed to honour the invitation earlier extended to him by the National Peace Committee led by the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO noted that Atiku had no intention of signing the Peace Pact as he and members of his party intended to push out fake news and hate speeches, promote violence and ultimately disrupt the 2019 elections, threats the Peace Pact was being signed against.

“We recall that in September, Atiku had said that if he did not get the Presidential ticket of his party he would unleash crisis in the party. Before then, his party PDP had in July said that it would boycott the 2019 elections and would reject the results of the elections. This tells us that Atiku and his party already had a mindset of sponsoring chaos during the 2019 elections and were unwilling to have anything to do with peace, not to talk of signing a Peace Pact.”

The group noted that Atiku Abubakar had come under serious international pressure and chiding hence his signing of the Peace Pact, albeit reluctantly.

The group added that Atiku and the PDP’s excuses were flimsy and unbelievable, as, all over the media, the news of the signing of the Peace Pact was everywhere and his saying that he did not get any invitation was a lie that even a child would not believe.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has shown leadership by signing the peace pact despite the absence of Alhaji Abubakar. We observe that this example shown by the president is consistent with his approach in the previous presidential elections that he had participated, especially in 2015 when he also signed a peace accord with former President Goodluck Jonathan.”

“The president has by signing the peace accord demonstrated that he cherishes peace and that his government is committed to free and credible elections in 2019.”

“We also appeal to the Committee to further extend it good work to the various states as they are critical to the existence of peace in the country. We believe that if different contestants for political offices in states are brought into the peace accord, it will go a long way to promote peace and development in the whole country.”

The Buhari Media Organisation called on the political class to emulate the example of President Muhammadu Buhari who has through his actions demonstrated the need for all Nigerians to work for peaceful coexistence among all Nigerians, especially as we approach the 2019 general elections.

Should government stop working because of election? By Zainab Adewale-Cole

It’s something we have become accustomed to in Nigeria, months before any election, the government stops in its strides and all energy is channeled towards the election. For 16 years, when PDP ruled Nigeria, unwritten bank holidays were awarded to civil servants and in some cases, contractors.

Government projects almost always came to a halt as everyone looked in the direction of the cookie jar. Its that time in every four years when Nigerians get to enjoy the largesse that has eluded them in the last three and a half years. It is the national cake and here’s an opportunity to stake a claim, who dares pass up on that.

But in the last few months, the script has been rewritten, the narrative is changed and so is the body language. The people who have mastered making big money once every four years have to town with their propaganda machinery and the expectation of response appears to be pissing them off.

Away from the shenanigans, let’s x-ray the government of the day and their reaction to the 2019 election. Like every beer parlour politics, some Nigerians have hammered the government for two things. First, for refusing to campaign like they had expected. These people generally expected the ruling campaign to begin massive campaign rallies across Nigeria, once the campaign season opened on 18 November but they were taken off guard when President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo continued their obligations to the people.

The VP have made two campaign stops, one in Abuja and the other in Lagos, but it was no more than door-to-door campaign. It cost him, his principal and their party, no dime. Yes, I mean no dime at all. While Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have embarked on three campaign rallies, the ruling party is acting like its unaware of the season we are in, the question is why should it bother.

The government pretty much believes that the work it has done in the last three and half years will speak for it at the polls, this is not to say they will not campaign at all. But what is most staggering the chatter that the government should stop working.

How can a responsible government stop work because election is around the corner? For example, many people especially the opposition have labelled TraderMoni a vote buying scheme because the Vice President is still embarking on monitoring and on the-site assessment of the scheme but they don’t see the ongoing construction of rail and roads as vote buying, they don’t see the bridges that are constructed as vote buying.

The truth is that Nigerians can’t tell the difference between a government dedicated to achieving its goals and the government that plays politics with everything including our livelihood. PDP insinuating that President Buhari not campaigning means he wants to rig the election is a big joke. It only exposes how PDP has operated over the years and how they expect others to behave.

I think Nigerians should open their minds and understand that no reasonable and responsible government will halt activities for its selfish gains. The government owes it to us to keep working until it hands over to a new government and wins a re-election. In any case, Babatunde Fashola has continued to boost electricity in Nigeria, not minding the forthcoming election.

Let’s hope this is the start of greater things to come for Nigeria.

NIGERIA AN INVESTMENT DESTINATION OF CHOICE WITH INCREASING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, VP OSINBAJO TELLS GERMAN INVESTORS

*Says diversification of Nigeria's economy on course

*VP makes compelling pitch for investment in Nigeria, excites German investors at Business Dialogue

Nigeria is a leading investment destination for potential and serious investors, and the business opportunities are abundant and increasing, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, today at the first Nigeria-German Business Dialogue in Germany.

He made the disclosure today at the Adlon Kempinski Hotel in Berlin, where the Vice President spoke on the abundant investment opportunities available in Nigeria, as the special guest at the well attended forum with German investors, international business people and diplomats

According to him, "Given the economic and trading developments in other parts of the world, Nigeria has become an investment destination of choice."

Referencing a recent McKinsey report, the VP pointed out that, "consumer spending in Africa was $1.4 trillion by 2015, with Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa accounting for more than half of that total. There is also increasing economic opportunities in Nigeria because of deliberate actions by our government to diversify the economy and improve the business environment."

While applauding the existing relations between Nigeria and Germany, the Vice President noted that Nigeria is a natural partner of Germany, which is also the largest economy in the European Union, and also its most populous country.

He said, "Both countries are potential locomotives of growth, trade and investment between Africa and Europe, and this is undoubtedly why there have been a significant exchange of high-level visits between both countries, including, most recently, the visit to Nigeria by Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of August earlier this year.

“It is encouraging that there are significant economic ties between Nigeria and Germany. Germany is a significant exporter to Nigeria, which is its second largest trading partner in Africa. Recent reports show that German investment in Nigeria contributes as much as $1 billion in turnover annually.

"This is good, but we must agree that there is scope for even deeper collaboration given that Nigeria’s GDP is close to $500bn.”

The Vice President told the gathering that the various investment opportunities strengthen the resolve of the Buhari presidency's strong commitment to the diversification policy; because of abundant untapped resources in some critical sectors of the economy such as agriculture, mining and technology.

Citing areas investors could tap into, Prof. Osinbajo remarked that, "agriculture perhaps presents one of the best investment opportunities in Nigeria. Only three years ago we were importing 5 million dollars worth of rice daily. Today we produce locally 10 million metric tonnes of paddy rice annually. And we are importing only two percent of our rice consumption now."

He pointed out that, "investments in milling capacity has risen astronomically since then, with one investor putting a million tonnes of milling capacity into the market. Carlos Farms, a Mexican fruit and vegetable investor, had initially planned to grow bananas and pineapples for export; until he discovered that he was making more money selling his bananas locally at $3 dollars a kilogramme, for what he would have been paid only a dollar per kg in Europe."

“With a substantial percentage of the world’s arable land and over half of that uncultivated, it is becoming clearer that the world will be looking to Africa, and Nigeria in particular, as its food basket. Just to take China’s demand alone, China has 27% of the world’s population, but only 7% of the worlds arable land for agriculture. China needs 2 million tonnes of hybrid Soya beans per annum for livestock feed and vegetable oil. But we have not met that demand."

The Vice President added, “Sesame seed is also in high demand; about 2m tonnes per annum is the demand from China, Vietnam, Japan and Arab countries (Sesame seed oil and the cake are used for confectionaries). That demand is largely unmet. China also requires over 2.3m tonnes of cassava chips and cassava products for industrial starch and ethanol."

Prof. Osinbajo also stressed that, "Africa has also not been able to meet China’s demand for cocoa. How about goat meat? 120,000 carcasses of goat meat are required weekly in different Arab countries. There is still a major gap in supply here as well. Most of Vietnam’s demand for over 2.5 million tons of cashew is unmet.”

“So, Nigeria’s role as food provider to the world and, especially in the next few decades, is clear. It is difficult not to be tremendously successful as an investor in agriculture in Nigeria. At the same time, major business groupings are making serious investments across the agricultural value chain; in rice milling, animal feeds and fertilizer production, amongst other things."

The Vice President also pointed out that diversification of the Nigerian economy is also reflected in the manufacturing sector, in mining and oil and gas. According to him, "Our plans for manufacturing are based on ensuring that the sector can source its inputs and materials locally where possible, but also through imports when necessary, including by ensuring that the sector has access to foreign exchange.”

“A number of Special Economic Zones are being built in Lekki (Lagos State), Aba (Abia State) and Kano, which will serve as hubs for manufacturing activity, while Small and Medium Enterprises will be linked to them through a deepening of the manufacturing value chain."

On the huge investment in the mining sector, Prof. Osinbajo observed that the sector, "which has suffered great neglect with the advent of the oil boom is being revived. One heart-warming development is that with the priority given to the revitalization of the mining sector, a nickel deposit was found in Kaduna State which has been described as ‘world class and highly unusual’.

He further stated that “we are also diversifying within oil”, while adding that Nigeria is already exporting urea since it is producing more than enough for its domestic needs and in the very near future.

“Thanks to the Dangote Group, we expect to have an additional petrol refining capacity of 650,000 barrels a day alongside one of the largest petrochemical facilities in the world,” Prof. Osinbajo noted.

The Vice President also availed investors of opportunities in the service sector, with particular reference to the hospitality sector and budding tourism industries. He stated that, "about 1.8 million international travellers spend two nights on average at Nigeria’s estimated 10,000 hotel rooms yearly. This generated about US$210 million in revenue for the industry in 2017, which barely reflects on Nigeria’s US$500 billion GDP size."

"Nigeria’s hotel industry alone is projected to grow by double digits by 2020, as the sector bounces back post-recession to one of the fastest growing in the world, and the possibilities for investors is significant," he stressed.

Investors who spoke earlier expressed delight and confidence in the growth capacity of the Nigerian economy and the ongoing impact of the economic blueprint of the Buhari administration. The Chairman of the German-African Business Association, Dr Stefan Liebing, acknowledged the huge investment potential of Nigeria and hoped for improved relations between the two countries.

Some of the German companies that attended the dialogue include Airbus Defence and Space; Mota Engil; Petkus Technologies GmbH; Mobisol GmbH; Deutsche Bank AG; KFW; Bundestag; Siemens Nigeria; Commerzbank AG; Deutsche Welle, etc

Present at the business dialogue were Nigeria's Ambassador to Germany, Amb. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar; Ambassador to France, Amb. Mrs Modupe Irele; Ambassador to Italy, Amb. Yusuf Hinna; Ambassador to Switzerland, Amb. Baba Madugu; Ambassador to Belgium, Amb. Ahmed Yinusa; Deputy Ambassador to Germany, Amb. Shakirat Ogundero; Chairman of German-African Business Association, Dr Stefan Liebing; and a host of other German and Nigerian business leaders.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity)
Office of the Vice President
10th December, 2018

THERE IS NO PROGRESS WITHOUT SACRIFICE SAYS OSINBAJO



“There’s no country that can make progress, without sacrifice and that is the lesson that President Muhammadu Buhari is teaching us. We must make some sacrifices.”



“They said the man will die, he’s about to die, he’s dead, the man is back. The fear of Buhari makes some people desperate even sometimes crazy. Because today, they say he is now Jubril from Sudan. If you can’t discredit him, then they say he doesn’t exist!”



REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE FORUM THEMED: NIGERIA, ON THE RIGHT TRACK BY NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF BUHARI SUPPORT GROUPS AT NICON LUXURY, ABUJA ON THE 4TH OF DECEMBER, 2018.



PROTOCOLS



Come February 2019, the APC will by the grace of God, win the general elections. We will return President Muhammadu Buhari as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for a second term. The election will be a historic one; it is a battle between those who want our country’s resources to be used for our country and her people and those who want to privatize the commonwealth. The man who stands between the forces of retrogression and the forces of progress, the future of our children, is the man called Muhammadu Buhari.



No matter what anybody says, no matter how they choose to describe it and hide it and colour it, the issue in Nigeria has always been Muhammadu Buhari and the simple reason is not because he’s a perfect man, he’s not. It is because he is an honest and truthful man, that’s all.



The problem of our country is not necessarily about great plans, it is not about money, and I’ll point that out in a few moments. It’s not about how good our plans are, it’s not about how much money we earn, it is about whether, firstly, the President is honest and truthful. If the Nigerian President is a truthful man, even if he doesn’t do anything in the office, you will save 50% of Nigeria’s resources just because he’s an honest man.



Buhari is a man who wants to use the resources of this country for the common man. Between 2010 and 2014, that was the previous government, our nation earned the highest amount ever in the history of the country from oil alone, the sum of USD383billion. That is the highest amount of money that our nation has ever earned, even in a five-year, six-year period, which is the highest in the history of this country. Oil was selling between a $100 and $114 per barrel.



That is why you ask yourself, so where are the roads, where is the railway? Where are the projects that ought to have been done? Where is the infrastructure when you earn the highest amount of money?



In this Abuja, if they were throwing all the money that was earned to complete the Abuja-Kaduna railway, then it would have been better. We had to come and complete it. It was our government that completed it. It was started years ago, 2005, we had to come and complete it.



When we came into office, we were earning $30 a barrel, with less than 1million barrels a day, sometimes from 2million barrels a day at $100 to $114 a barrel, yet with all that money - 383USD billion, no infrastructure What happened?



When we came into office, just as Ashiwaju has said, look at the number of states that owed salaries despite the amount of money earned. The President insisted we must assist the States to pay those salaries.



He said, and many of us will remember that; ‘look, I have never been a businessman, I’ve always earned a salary in my life and I know how painful it is when a person does not get his salary and I’ll not allow that to happen’. So, we supported the states, all the states to pay their salaries. We supported and we did so three times consecutively so that they would be able to pay their salaries. I think only Lagos state turned down the loan because they had enough money at the time.



We have been earning about 60% less than the previous government. Yet in the past three years, we have spent N2.7trillion on infrastructure, the highest in the history of the country.



How can you earn less and spend more on infrastructure? If you don’t steal the money, you can earn less and spend more. The simple reason is that by using the Treasury Single Account, by insisting that money meant for infrastructure will go to infrastructure, President Buhari has been able to do much more with so much less. So today, we are doing major roads in 36 States in Nigeria. Every State has a major Federal road project ongoing. We’re doing the Lagos - Kano railway, starting from the Lagos port, all the way. We’re going to complete the Ibadan leg of it by January 2019. And then we’re taking it all the way to Kano.



We’re doing the Warri - Aladja, in fact, we completed the tracks for Warri Aladja. And right now, we’re doing the coaches for the Warri Aladja rail. Warri - Aladja by the way, has been there for 35 years budget after budget. They’ve been doing it for the past 25 years and yet, they never did it. Now, we’ve completed it.



Mambila plan took 40 years; it has been there, lasting 40 years. I’m sure that all of us who are close to 60 or over know we’ve been hearing Mambila for years and years. For the first time, Muhammadu Buhari is doing that project, he is putting the resources into it and we will by the grace of God, complete that project.



When you look at all of the rail projects, Port Harcourt - Maiduguri, you see that there’s no country that can make progress if you do not have the infrastructure. If you don’t have railways, if you don’t have roads, if you don’t have dams, the sort that we’re talking about, you can’t increase power.



There’s no country that can make progress without sacrifice. And that is the lesson that President Muhammadu Buhari is teaching us. We must make some sacrifices.



Look at how $383 billion was blown in 4 years. They’ll create an illusion that there is money but after that, when we came into office $29billion was what we had in our external reserves after all of that earning. Today, we are at $41.99billion despite earning 60% less.



We are feeding over 9.2million children every single day in 26 States as part of our School Feeding Programme. We are giving 2million petty traders the TraderMoni loan. You see the way they’re getting very angry with TraderMoni, but when you take care of the poor people, only those who are wicked and evil will complain.



The petty trader is at the bottom of the rank in our commercial value chain; he is the most hardworking. Some of them, their inventory is not up to N2,000. I met a woman who was selling her pomo here in Nyanya market, all her pomo in a bucket, I asked her how much the pomo was and she said “maybe its about N3,000.” All the pomo in the bucket, about N3,000, then I asked her, ‘how do you do make profit?” She didn’t even answer me, she just pointed to another woman, whose pomo was in a little bowl, to show me that “look, I’m a big player here, there’s someone earning less than N3,000.” That is the kind of thing that we see, so the government decided with the approval of Senate at the time, because these days I hear the Senate President complaining about TraderMoni, they approved at the time.



A very important part of our programme is that we must give credit to traders, to those doing small businesses so they can improve their businesses, employ more people, and they also can prosper and our nation can prosper. This is the reason why we’re going around doing the TraderMoni and also what we call MarketMoni all over the country. There are 2million petty traders and we’re going to continue to do so because our people deserve a better life.



We’re employing 5000 graduates under the N-Power programme, each of them have a tablet; in that tablet, we have all the training materials; training for entrepreneurship, because some of them are teachers, some extension workers in the farm, some public health workers.



There was a government that tried to recruit less than 1000 people and look at the tragedy that occurred. We have recruited 500,000 people using an online medium, young Nigerians in every single Local Government and we manage the payments every month, I even send instructions to them monthly. This is the kind of thing that our country needs; you need to go the way of technology, and that is exactly where the President is taking us.



We’re giving about 300,000 of the poorest Nigerians N5000 every month under our Conditional Cash Transfer. I’m sure many of us have seen the testimonies of these people. How is this possible? Buhari is the gatekeeper, he has stopped grand corruption and that is why with less money, we’re doing 5 times more.



But that is also why there is a gang up by the discredited elite against him and they have their collaborators everywhere. They prayed for him to die, he didn’t die; the man came back alive and is stronger by the grace of the almighty God. A 75-year-old man, strong, able, sharp in his head. I keep reminding people that it was under Buhari that the three refineries in Nigerian were built, the 3,500 kilometres of pipelines were built. All these people complaining today have not added a single one to those refineries, except the one extra refinery. These three refineries were built when he was minister.



They said the man will die, he’s about to die, he’s dead, but the man is back. The fear of Buhari makes people desperate even sometimes crazy. Because today, they say he is now Jubril from Sudan. If you can’t discredit him, then they say he doesn’t exist!



They were all alive and well when a good and true man of God, Pastor Adeboye, went to London, prayed for him a day before he returned to Nigeria. How will one Jubril sit in FEC meetings with all of the memos, engage every single memo, including the memos he’s presenting, how will he consult with his ministers, and even I speak to him almost every day and not know?



But we must not just assume that these people are just crazy, we must go beyond that. We must recognize that their strategy is very simple, if you tell a lie often enough, after a while people begin to believe. That is what they are trying to achieve. Buhari is not only alive and well, he will by God’s grace, live long and well after his second term in office.



People are afraid of this man, every day of their lives, they are looking for a way of getting rid of him for the simple reason that he stands between them and the national treasure.



So, let me commend all of us members of The National Committee on the Buhari Support Groups. You are the vanguard of the battle for the soul of our nation, and we are going forward, we are going higher; we are going to the Next Level!



God bless Nigeria and God bless the APC!



Released by:

Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity

Office of the Vice President

5th December 2018

Atiku Policy Plan lacks remorse and people orientation - BCO

A policy group in Nigeria has picked some loopholes in Atiku Abubakar’s policy plan, noting that, it lacks remorse and is not people friendly.

The Economy and Strategy Team of the Buhari Campaign Organisation was reacting to the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate’s speech in Sokoto where he flagged off his 2019 campaign.

Mr Abubakar had claimed that he will run a people-friendly government but the group differed, stressing that his policy plan said otherwise when viewed in detail.

The group said it thought that Mr Abubakar’s policy document would blow the ruling APC out of the water because its ideas are already out there, and because the candidate had amassed enough resources to enable him employ pawns and foot soldiers that could run an effective media blitz.

“In the end, it was a non-event. To use a colloquialism it was ‘a damp squib’. If one wants to be kind, the best that can be said about the Atiku Policy Document is that it was rushed out to create a policy platform to mask the real intentions which is to regain power to continue business as usual,” the group said in a statement. Adding that, “Let us be candid, it is a wishy-washy, unimaginative and internally inconsistent document. In short it is ‘Disatikulated’.

“Given the relative although unlikely chances of the PDP of becoming the official opposition in 2019, it is important to quickly deconstruct its ideas and to do so by way of general comments and some more specific comments.”

The group noted that the document is not original and borrows liberally from other people’s policy documents from within and outside Nigeria. “As such, it is bland and unimaginative and does not specify how the things it hopes to achieve can be done in terms of resources and bureaucratic capacity of the country.”

“It is alright to propose implementing ‘pro-poor policies that will enhance their participation in economic activities and improve household incomes’ Anyone can say that. The issue is how? After all, we in the APC have shown what is possible with our ground breaking Social Investment Programme.”

The group explained that one of the most striking things about the Atiku Policy Document is that it is mostly bereft of people-oriented policies. “In its haste to pander to big business, our blinkered friends in the PDP completely relegate the issues around investing in the Nigerian people to talking about poverty alleviation.”

“Apart from showing ignorance about the latest thinking around the positive impact that tackling multi-dimensional poverty has on growth, for the Atiku people to be talking about mere poverty alleviation shows that they are completely insensitive to the needs of ordinary Nigerians.

“In case what we are saying is not clear, let us put it in other words. Nobody in serious international development discourse these days talks about poverty alleviation. The reversion to poverty eradication later on in the document does not help their case. It only underscores the sloppy preparation of the document.

“Another great drawback of the Atiku Policy Document is that it pretends as if the past never happened. It makes no atonement for past looting and misgovernance and goes on as if there was nothing untoward in its past.

“How can Atiku Abubakar talk about privatisation with a straight face? How can any PDP person fail to explain why huge funds were voted year after year for projects with no results to show? It is only here in Nigeria that a party boasts about projects it started but ‘Did Not Finish (DNF)’ which is the result given to failed athletes.

The group said it carried out a thorough analysis of the Atiku document and that it talks about increasing debt with a straight face.

“How about the huge debts left for the incoming APC government that were hidden away? These include the $6.8bn on unsettled JV cash calls or indeed the up to N2.2 trillion owed to States, contractors, pensioners, exporters etc. that created a huge debt overhang in the economy but were excluded from official debt figures? Even religions that offer forgiveness do so on the basis of repentance for past misdeeds,” the group said

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE

VP OSINBAJO LAUNCHES DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGN IN NYANYA, KARU, ROOTS FOR BUHARI’S RE-ELECTION
“Because of his honesty, zero tolerance for corruption, Nigeria’s future is secured

President Muhammadu Buhari’s honesty, integrity and performance in the past three years in office as evidenced in the ability of the administration to do more even when the country is earning less, set him apart from all other contenders for the exalted office.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, stated this today in Abuja when he commenced what seems an unusual approach to campaigns, adopting a door-to-door strategy in two Abuja suburbs of Karu and Nyanya.

The VP visited two homes: Alhaji S.K Ahmed’s family in Nyanya and the Jimiko compound in Karu.

No sooner the VP’s Coaster bus arrived in the communities than the people thronged out en-masse in both places, chanting praises of the President and singing party songs.

After meeting both families, Prof. Osinbajo addressed the mammoth crowd and spent time interacting with the excited people who thronged out in their numbers, often fascinated to see him unannounced in their neigbourhoods.

According to the Vice President “for the honest, decent and hardworking Nigerians, Mr President has devoted his life to ensuring that their lives are made better even when it is sometimes not easy to do so.

“All of us are going higher. I want you to believe that President Muhammadu Buhari is going to do even better. We have to create more jobs for all these young people. We have to give our market women credit so that they can do more business; our young people money so that they can do more business.”

Speaking on the President’s concern for the common man, Prof. Osinbajo said, “when he ask us to start the Trader Moni, he said, this is one way by which we can help people to start doing their own business.”

He said Nigeria’s future was brighter with President Buhari on the saddle, noting that no public funds would be stolen under his watch.

“So, I am here to say to you that the future of our country is great. All of you that are here, you are going to see a better Nigeria and that greater Nigeria can only come if the government is honest; If the government is not stealing our money.

“If the government is honest, it will build all the roads in Nigeria, for instance, like we are doing the Lagos-Kano rail and others, now. You can see that with little money we are doing much more because we will not agree to the stealing of our resources.

“We will go forward and we will move forward. It is a bit difficult now because we are building the foundation. When we came into office; We found no savings. Oil which was our biggest earnings, we had earned so much in four years but there was little to show for it. They didn’t build the railway, no roads. So, when we came we decided to first of all do the right thing,” he added.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
4th December, 2018

TRADITIONAL RULERS PLAY VITAL ROLES IN ENSURING PEACE, STABILITY IN THE COUNTRY, SAYS VP OSINBAJO

Traditional rulers play vital roles in ensuring peace and security in the country, and must continue to do so for the continued stability in the polity, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Sunday when he paid a courtesy call at the palace of the Emir of Keffi, Dr. Shehu Chindo Yamusu III, in Nasarawa State, where the Vice President was also a special guest of honour at the Keffi Polo tournament at the Keffi Polo Ranch in the state.

The Vice President noted that traditional rulers have earned their place as mediators in many aspects of national life and proved that they are important in the scheme of things.

He said, “Regarding the matter of the constitutional role of traditional rulers l happened to take the view also that there should be a much more defined role, whether that law is constitutional or merely by legislation. But l believe that traditional rulership in our country have earned their place as arbiters in so many different ways, in security and justice at the local level and even politically.

“I think it is an issue we ought to deliberate more upon and reach some kind of acceptable conclusion. And l feel very strongly that there should be a role, legal and constitutional role, for traditional rulers when it comes to that. I think it's a very good idea and l believe that for the peace and security of our country, the respect and regards for traditional institutions must continue, and that has accounted for the stability of our polity for so many years.

The Vice President, who was warmly received on arrival in Keffi, thanked the Emir for the warm reception and assured of Federal Government’s support in ensuring stability in the state.

“Keffi is our neighbour in Abuja and Keffi has maintained good neighbourliness by ensuring peace and security at all times and l can assure your Royal Highness that we are very prepared and willing to give all that you have asked,” Prof. Osinbajo said.

Later at the polo game at the Keffi Polo Ranch, the Vice President presented the President Cup to the winners of the Keffi Polo Ranch Open Tournament, Imani club. The theme of the tournament was “In support of Education.”

Accompanying the Vice President to the Emir of Keffi's palace was the Governor of Nasarawa State, Umar Tanko Al- Makura; Deputy Governor of Kano State, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Guwuna; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; and spokesperson of Buhari Campaign Organisation, Festus Keyamo.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
03rd December, 2018

PDP rascality, Vanguard unprofessionalism and 2019 election

On 28 November 2018, something happened in Nigeria, although it did not receive wide publicity it offered a splinter of hope in Nigeria’s media. At least 15 Nigerian news organisations joined forces to fight misinformation ahead of February’s elections in a collaborative first as the country’s main political parties trade accusations of fabrication and exaggeration in what was dubbed CrossCheck Nigeria.

The CrossCheck Nigeria project aims to get normally competing newsrooms to work together to investigate and disprove erroneous claims but the hopes that this collaboration will stand the test of time quickly faded when the political editor of Vanguard Newspaper, Emmanuel Aziken, wrote a news story titled, ‘Osinbajo camp sets post Buhari-era targets’.

Not only was it a poorly written article, it was one that lacked all what CrossCheck Nigeria stood for. To say the story was a fabrication is me being modest, it is beyond exaggeration. Any seasoned editor wouldn’t allow the article pass his desk, but in the case of Aziken, he put his byline across it.

His act was not only unprofessional but the clearest case of unethical journalism. For a journalist to allow himself to be used by the Peoples Democratic Party in such disgraceful manner beats me, but it’s not the first from both the PDP and Aziken, therefore Nigerians should expect many more from this combination.

The report which was published on the website of Vanguard was concocted from start to finish with no elements of facts or truth, not only did the editor claim that the Vice President was already strategizing 2023 but he also claimed that the relationship with the aides of President Buhari was strained.

But one thing he failed to understand is that he has already buried PDP before it died. His nonsensical article means that the PDP has no chance in the 2019 election, in fact, it means they have already lost the election, a good news for the ruling All Progressives Congress, if you ask me.

Put simply, it is a cock and bull story, of the type that even an intern should not be found writing, talk less an editor. It’s a ploy by PDP that is peddled by Aziken who the Vanguard should not put in charge of a sensitive beat like the Political Desk.

But on a second thought, the chemistry between the Vice President and President is great and a fake news by the PDP and Aziken cannot break it. The question of loyalty between the two of them cannot be mooted at all, if anything, it has been strengthened over the years.

The combination of the two is the best we’ve had in Nigeria for a long time now, and we are not ready to allow some miscreants break it up. As for Aziken, he obviously needs to approach Dayo Aiyetan, the executive director of ICIR and coordinator of CrossCheck Nigeria for a refresher course.

Nathaniel C. Adoji

BMO HAILS BUHARI ON NEW POLICE WELFARE PACKAGE

President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of increased wages and allowances for the personnel of the Nigerian Police Force will have a significant impact in improving the morale and attitude of the members of the Police Force.

Reacting to the increament, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) noted that this move will ensure a more secure polity.

“As a matter of fact, and across the world, the Police Force of any country is its first line of defence and thus, the well-being and welfare of its officers and men is critical to the discharge of their duties in ensuring a more secure country.

“President Buhari’s recent approval of an improved welfare package for the members of the Nigerian Police force is a commendable masterstroke that goes to the root of Nigeria’s internal security challenges.”

BMO in a statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, Chairman and Secretary respectively, noted that the President understood that an underfunded security apparatus like the Nigerian Police Force would result to poor character and poor performance by their personnel. It went further to highlight that the President was conscious of this and is making a concerted effort to fix it..

The group noted that already, members of the Police Force have been seen jubilating at this news.

“The increased wages as approved by President Buhari is a morale booster to our police personnel. With this we are sure to see improved character and attitude in our security personnel.”

The group pointed out that previous administrations had neglected the welfare of the police, forgetting that without a well-paid police force, Nigeria’s security could be compromised.

It went further to note that the President Buhari administration has shown, in just three years, unprecedented attention to the welfare of the most neglected Nigerians.

“Under the Buhari administration, over 295,000 poorest Nigerian families are now receiving monthly stipends to improve their disposable incomes and welfare, even while they are receiving trainings to improve their life skills. Over nine million children in our public schools are being fed. Over 1 million petty traders are receiving collateral free loans to boost their businesses.”

The group noted that President Buhari is fully committed to the welfare and well-being of Nigerians who have previously been neglected

SHOW PROOF OF DIVERSION OF DEFENCE SPENDING, BMO DARES PDP

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has challenged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to show proof that funds meant for defence spending are being diverted to the re-election campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The opposition party had accused the Minister of Defence, Brig-Gen Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd) of using funds meant for military equipment and welfare of soldiers to produce campaign materials.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO noted that the allegation is just another attempt by the opposition party to smear the image of the All Progressives Congress APC-led administration.

“PDP leaders know clearly that it is standard procedure all over the world to set aside funds in all ministries for publicity materials like the electronic device produced by the Defence ministry to showcase the achievements of the Buhari administration in that sector.

“So for these elements to use this as a basis for accusing the Ministry of diverting funds meant for procuring military equipment is a malicious and futile effort to drag this administration to the same level that their party left Nigeria.

“It is common knowledge that the PDP shared over $2billion meant for arms purchase among party chieftains, and with several of these people facing trial, the party felt it could score cheap political points by accusing APC and the President of what is clearly an immoral act.”

It said the Defence minister has a responsibility to showcase what he has done to justify spending three years in office as a political appointee and added that there is no way his action could be described as campaign funding.

“The minister may be a retired General but his current office is a political appointment which he attained as a staunch member of a political party and he has a responsibility to not only ensure a safer and more secured nation, but to also outline what he has been doing to attain the goal.

“It is disingenuous of PDP to accuse President Buhari of using Defence ministry as an ATM to fund his re-election campaign on the basis of a souvenir on security achievements shared at the launch of the Next Level campaign manual by Defence Ministry officials.

“We know that the party could not debunk the facts in the electronic device, so it has to resort to its usual practice of clutching at straws in a bid to remain afloat” BMO said.

The pro-Buhari group maintained that PDP leaders should bury their heads in shame for allowing the insurgency in North East Nigeria to fester to a level that terrorists once took control of a swathe of land the size of Belgium before they were pushed to the fringes of the Lake Chad by the Buhari administration.

Group insists Fani-Kayode is threat to national unity

* Says fake news and hate messages must be taken seriously by security agencies

A political group in Nigeria has reiterated its call that former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode be arrested for divisive messages peddled on social media.

The President of the Initiative to Save Democracy, ISD, James Sunday Akinloye, noted that hate must be erased from Nigeria’s politics especially hate messages and fake news.

He explained that if Nigeria’s democracy must grow, then certain persons must be used as example to other that there are laws regulating social media in Nigeria and that people cannot just concoct fake stories.

He noted that it has been four days since ISD petitioned the Nigerian Police and DSS to arrest Fani-Kayode but that there is still no action.

“We read with interest the response by South-South Political Vanguard describing our petition to the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services as a ploy to gain cheap political ploy but this is not true.

“We are dedicated to ensuring that Nigeria’s democracy is preserved and that certain persons who have evil agenda are brought to book by the law. There should be a reaction to every action, Akinloye argued.

He pointed to some messages on Twitter written and published by Fani-Kayode. “For example, days before President Muhammadu Buhari visited the United States, he urged President Donald Trump to subject President Buhari to a DNA test because he is Jubril from Sudan. How can anyone say that? he quizzed.

He then pointed to yet another tweet by the former campaign spokesperson for Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. In Fani-Kayode’s own words, “The man that is there today is Jubril from Sudan and not Buhari. Buhari is dead and he never came back from London. Only his body did. They invoked the spirit of Jubril and placed it in Buhari’s body. It is a common ritual amongst Satanists. Many lives were sacrificed in the process,” he tweeted on 5 April 2018.

Akinloye argued that the group has made photocopies of the hate messages and fake news which were peddled by Fani-Kayode and have attached it to a petition that will be taken to the police and DSS this week.

“It is important that we do not allow ourselves to be carried away by a response from a group that does not understand the gravity of fake news and hates speeches.

“First we think the Nigerian Police should arrest him immediately and then charge him to court. We have evidences of his cybercrime and the hate it has sown amongst young Nigerians in their formative years.

“We have hundreds of responses to some of his post which shows how it was shaping the ideology and philosophy of some Nigerians towards hate and divisiveness and we will not stand and watch kids who are just joining social media to be swayed by this kind of messages.

Akinloye noted that if the DSS and police refuse to arrest Fani-Kayode then his group along with others will stage a peaceful protest both in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

“If we must embark on a peaceful protest, so be it. Enough of hate speeches and fake news. Mr Fani-Kayode must understand that there are cybercrime laws and if you err, then you should be punished.

BMO LAUDS CUSTOMS FOR HUGE DRUG SEIZURE

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has commended the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) for its recent successes in the last few months, particularly its recent seizure of 40 x 40 feet containers laden with Tramadol and other dangerous drugs valued at N7.31 billion imported from India through the Lagos port complex, Apapa.

This latest seizure came less than a week after 23 containers laden with 581 million tablets of Tramadol were intercepted at the same port by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

BMO, in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, said there is no doubt that the commitment and determination of the Comptroller General (CG) Col. Hammed Ali (rtd) to confront smuggling activities headlong and repositioned the agency for upward growth is gradually yielding positive results.

The group also commended officials of Customs and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for acts of patriotism and heroism displayed during the exercise, particularly their rejection of huge bribes offered in local and foreign currencies by arrested suspects during the operation.


“We want to use this opportunity to call on other security agencies and other government departments to emulate what Nigerian Custom Service is doing under the leadership of Col. Hammed Ali (rtd). The CG is not only changing the rank and file of Customs, he has continued to demonstrate capacity for leadership, and determination to fight this ugly trend at our nation’s borders and for increasing growth in the agency’s revenues”.

WHY THE FOCUS OF BUHARI’S ADMINISTRATION IS ON WELFARE OF COMMON NIGERIANS, BY VP OSINBAJO

*Adds: “the money that we make as a country must not be stolen by a few people”

President Muhammadu Buhari’s sole concern is that the resources of Nigeria must be used for the man and woman who need it the most and this explains the focus of the administration’s entire economic policy, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

The Vice President stated this today while monitoring the ongoing disbursement on the N10,000 collateral & interest-free loans under the Trader Moni Scheme in Dutse, Jigawa State.



He explained that all the Federal Government had tried to do in the past few years was to give hope to the common Nigerian through the various schemes for women, men and youths, regardless of their backgrounds.

According to him, “Mr President’s sole concern is that the resources of our country must be used for the man and woman who need it the most, the people in our society who are working hard, the farmers, the traders, and all of the young people who need jobs, that is the focus of Mr. President’s entire economic policy. It is on giving the common man hope so that they can live decent lives, they can provide shelter for themselves, feed and live well.”

While recalling the mindless stealing of resources that characterized previous administrations, Prof. Osinbajo said, “If the money of our people was not stolen, there would be enough for us to do what we want to do, the money that we make as a country must not be stolen by a few people”.

He said despite the challenges associated with the fall in oil prices, President Buhari is still committed to giving hope to the poorest Nigerians hence, the implementation of the various components of the Social Investment Programmes.

He said: “Under the Trader Moni Scheme, we are giving 2million people across Nigeria, N10,000 collateral-free loans with the possibility of increasing the amount within six months.

“Here in Jigawa, we have given 30,000 petty traders and only today, we gave extra 2,000 to 5,000 traders, and all together, we have given about 35,000 people the loans in Jigawa alone.

“We also have the Market Moni scheme which is another initiative for traders that are bigger than the petty traders and we start from N50,000 to N350,000.”

Speaking further on the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme, the Vice President said, Jigawa State has the highest number of beneficiaries nationwide.

According to him, “This is the state where we have given the largest number of people, we have given 37,000 beneficiaries in this state, and every month these people receive the transfers.” The Conditional Cash Transfer is a N5000 monthly provision for the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians.

Continuing on the gains made so far under the Social Investment Programme in the state, he said “under the School feeding programme, 434,000 children are being fed every day as 4000 cooks have been engaged to prepare the meals while 14,368 graduates have been engaged under the N-Power job creation scheme.”

On the State Government’s efforts in empowering young people, the Vice President said: “it is a fantastic evidence of the concern and planning in taking care of those who need help the most.”

“Let me say to you that the Governor and the Government of this State are working in line with the vision of Mr. President. He has always been concerned about the common man.

“The State Government is supporting all of the Federal Government programmes, it has given out motorcycles to those supervising the various programmes, it has also given them 100 android phones,” the Vice President added.

After the courtesy call on the Emir of Dutse, on arrival in Dutse, the Vice President proceeded to Kasuwan Tipa market to monitor the ongoing disbursement of loans under the Trader Moni scheme, and later also went to the Dutse Modern Market.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also attended the 6th phase of the Jigawa State Youth Empowerment Scheme held at the Aminu Kano Triangle, Dutse, where he praised the State Government for the initiative.



Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity

Office of the Vice President

November 27, 2018

N540 Billion Recovered Through Whistle Blower Policy - Minister

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) has so far
recovered over 540 billion Naira through the Whistle Blower Policy.

The Minister disclosed this on Tuesday at the 71st General Assembly of
the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State.

“To this end, as at May this year, the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, through the Whistle Blower Policy, has recovered
over N527 Billion, $53 million, and £122,890,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed, who was represented by the Director, Public Relations
and Protocol, of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Mr.
Sunny Adejoh Baba, said the EFCC also successfully launched a major
onslaught on the seeming high–and–mighty in the society (including
senior military officer and their civilian accomplices), who had
soiled their hands with shady deals, leading to the recovery of choice
assets across the country.

He therefore enjoined the media to align itself with the policies and
programmes of the Buhari Administration, aimed at ridding the country
of the cancer of corruption, in order to free funds for development
projects, which will uplift the standard of living of the citizenry.

“This effort should not be seen as the sole effort of Mr. President or
the Government alone. The media has a duty to ensure that the
programmes of Government, meant to uplift the lots of the citizenry,
are projected as a national cause and not just as that of Mr.
President or the administration,” the Minister said.

Alhaji Mohammed, who said the BON General Assembly is taking place at
an auspicious time in view of the forthcoming general elections,
charged the broadcasting organizations not to yield their platforms to
the purveyors of hate speech and fake news.

He said the broadcasting outfits should instead promote the unity,
stability and the development of the country.

“Anything short of this would amount to a criminal abdication of a
sacred duty which could spell doom for our collective national life.
We have had enough sordid examples to learn from that we ought not to
allow a repeat at this critical time of our national development.

“It is therefore of utmost importance that the media and specifically,
broadcast media, do not allow itself to become a purveyor of fake news
and hate speeches,” the Minister said.

He restated the Federal Government’s commitment to allowing the press
to carry out its assigned watchdog roles, even as government expects
the press to be guided by national interest above every other
interests.

Alhaji Mohammed said the launch of the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in
Jos in April 2016 underscored the Administration’s determination to
democratize the right to know, the right to knowledge and the right to
be informed.

He noted that the changing media landscape and the advent of digital
technologies have fundamentally altered the nature and function of
media in the society, at times circumventing traditional media and
challenging its privileged role as gate-keeper of news and
entertainment.

The Minister therefore urged companies in the broadcasting value-chain
to take the advantage of the market and build local stations that
would not only create employment for a diverse segment of the
population, but would also lead to a transfer of technology and free
the creative dexterity of the young population.

Segun Adeyemi
SA To Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
27 Nov. 2018

Attack on 157 Task Force Battalion: President Buhari’s Reaction


Shortly after the 157 Task Force battalion came under intense enemy attack, the President activated multiple strategies in restoring the morales of the troops and assuring the citizenry of government’s resolve in dealing effectively with the crisis.

The President, was able to calm the citizenry and acted in the nation’s defence. In a statement released by his SSA Media & Publicity on November 24, he assured Nigerians that “ In the coming days, I am engaging the Military and Intelligence Chiefs in extensive discussions on the next steps we shall be taking”

After receiving situation briefing from the Minister of Defence, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces (CnC) on November 25, deployed the Minister of Defence in continuation on consultations with Ministers of Defence of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJF) Troops Contributing Countries (TCC) which includes Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin Republic, to the Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with the Chadian President and his Minister of Defence, to find a way of positioning members of the (MNJF) in routes used by BHT to attack Nigeria which borders Chad, as the recent attackers spoke French and Arabic languages.

It should be recalled that on September 2018 the Minister paid a similar meeting to Niger Republic and the outcome was a powerful cross-border strike that neutralised BHT members and their camps destroyed.

With preliminary intelligence from the Minister of Defence, Mr President summoned a meeting with all Service Chiefs for a review session on the Operation in the North-East.

On November 26, Mr President received another situational briefing from the Service and Intelligence Chiefs on the situations in the North East.


Nigerian Army’s Reaction


On November 23, the Nigerian Army responded to calm the nerves of the populace on the attack and reaffirmed the laid down procedures of contacting families of troops killed in action (KIA) before releasing their names or numbers of personnel KIA to the public.

The NA also denounced the false causality figure bandied and propagandistic videos shared in the media as fake new which is to be avoided.

In a show of resilience and strength, on November 25, the Chief Of Army Staff’s (COAS) annual conference to be declared open by the CnC, scheduled for Benin from 26-30 has been moved to Maiduguri - to hold on 28-30 of November 2018.

On November 25, the Ag GOC Operation Lafiya Dole visited troops of 82 Task Force Battalion in Ngwoshe, Gwoza - he commended their sacrifices and tasked the troops to consolidate on the efforts already realised.

The GOC assured troops of their welfare receiving the necessary support it requires from the COAS.

Nigerian Airforce Reaction


On November 25, the Nigerian Airforce deployed war helicopters to strike BHT members, locations, and vehicles linked to BHT attackers in last week raid on the military base at Metele in Borno State.

The Nigerian Airforce followed the trail of the terrorists and destroyed seven (7) vehicles including gun trucks and eliminated all BHT members in the convoy.

The Nigerian Airforce deployed the Mi-35M, multi-role combat helicopters which is known to deliver high-precision weaponry in destroying ground targets.

The Nigerian Airforce also embarked on a cross border airstrike in pursuit of where the terrorists hid stolen armoured tanks and destroyed them.

AFRICA IS ON THE RISE, SAYS VP OSINBAJO AT AFRICAN SECURITIES EXCHANGES AGM



***We are committed to an inclusive economy, conducive business environment and infrastructure


* **$500 million Innovation Fund underway


"What is required is the rigorous and unglamorous business of keeping to the vision of our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP."





The Buhari administration remains committed to a conducive and supportive environment, fiscal prudence and investing in infrastructure as fundamentals for businesses to thrive and ensuring macroeconomic stability, according to Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, SAN



Prof. Osinbajo, who stated this today at the 22nd African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) Annual General Meeting and Conference in Lagos, he noted: "what is required is the rigorous and unglamorous business of keeping to the vision of our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP."



"We also realize, of course, that a conducive and supportive environment is essential for businesses to thrive and have accordingly, invested heavily in infrastructure while working strenuously to make it easier to do business," the VP stated.

According to him, for economic stability to be achieved, it requires using resources more efficiently and effectively, as well as, tackling inequality of opportunity and outcomes.



He said, "our social investment programmes in school feeding, job creation and economic empowerment through interest-free micro-loans, will certainly promote social inclusion and help ensure the peace and security so vital for long-term investment and economic sustainability."



While commending the theme of the conference, "Champions on the Rise: Africa’s Ascension to a More Sustainable Future," Prof. Osinbajo said it is inspirational because it recognizes that Africa through its talents, businesses and commerce, is on the rise."



For Africa to rise, he cautioned that "all of us in African governments, private firms, market institutions must be the champions on the rise and we have a duty and responsibility to assure a sustainable future for this beautiful continent.

"Africa, as we all know, is the last frontier for virgin economic opportunities and, given recent positive developments in the continent, it is only a question of time before the abundant opportunities in the continent bring about major socio-economic changes.



"It is evident that the African Securities Exchanges Association has a key role in our continental quest for economic growth and development. This is not only because of the vital role that capital markets play in our domestic economies but because the Association reflects the right spirit of collaboration and partnership required of African countries and their economic institutions, to bring about a more vibrant, dynamic continental economy."



Continuing, the Vice President noted, "another key role that capital markets must play in this era is to assist technology start-ups to find the resources they need to promote and grow their businesses. We have an Advisory Group on Technology and Creativity here in Nigeria and one of the dominant themes in our discussions with the young entrepreneurs in these sectors is the lack of affordable and patient capital.



"We are accordingly working with the African Development Bank to establish a $500million Innovation Fund that will support activities in this sector. Given the size of our economy and the potential of the technology and creative sectors, I am hopeful that capital market operators will work towards innovative financing solutions to lend further support to these two sectors."



Noting that African companies that invest in the continent are expanding quite rapidly and the amount of intra-Africa foreign direct investment almost tripled in the decade till 2016, Prof. Osinbajo advised that these must also be innovative.



"They must innovate in response to new ideas and take advantage of unique features of the African economy. We must build on the great advances in FinTech like M-PESA, Paystack, Flutterwave and Eyo Owo, in Nigeria. Worthy of mention also are the insightful mini-packets for drinks, soap, milk, medicines, sugar and such likes that we find in the retail sector in many African countries," he added.



He congratulated the host of the AGM, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema and his team, on the completion of a productive tenure as President of ASEA, as well as the incoming President, Mr. Karim Hajji, CEO, Casablanca Stock Exchange, wishing him an outstanding successful tenure.



In his remarks, the outgoing President of ASEA, Onyema, highlighted the achievements of ASEA under his tenure and said the theme of this year's conference underpins the need for operators of African capital markets to fully embrace sustainable business practices, as well as the opportunities and risks presented by the fourth industrial revolution.



Other speakers at the conference were the Vice President and Treasurer, World Bank, Mrs Aruma Oteh, President of Council, The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the representative of the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, and representative of Minister of Finance, Mrs. Aisha Ahmed.



Others were CEO, World Federation of Exchanges, Ms. Nandini Sukumar and the incoming ASEA, President Mr. Karim Hajji.




Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President On Media & Publicity

Office of the Vice President

November 26, 2018

Group petitions DSS, Police to arrest Fani-Kayode over Fake News


A political group in Nigeria has petitioned security agencies over the continuous spread of Fake News by former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode, warning that, it is a security risk to the country leading up to the 2019 election.



The Initiative to Save Democracy warned that if Fani-Kayode and his kind are allowed to peddle false news it could lead unsuspecting Nigerians to believe that this news is true.



President of the group, James Akinloye who said he will drag Fani-Kayode to court, explained that people must be forced to face the consequences of their actions.



“There are laws in this country and if anyone thinks they are bigger than the law, then we have a problem. The law enforcement agencies should do their job and arrest the likes Fani-Kayode, Deji Adeyanju and others for their hate messages and fake news."



Quoting the 2015 Nigerian Cybercrime Act, Akinloye noted that Fani-Kayode had breached certain provisions and should be arrested and charged. “The Act forbids the distribution of racist and xenophobic material to the public through a computer system or network (e.g. Facebook and Twitter), it also prohibits the use of threats of violence and insulting statements to persons based on race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. Persons found guilty of this are liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than 5 years or to a fine of not less thanN10million or to both fine and imprisonment.”



Akinloye explained that the Act also outlaws cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying. Anyone convicted of these could receive a N2 million minimum fine and/or at least 1 year in prison. More severe offences could attract a penalty as high as a N25 million minimum fine and/or up to 10 years’ imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offence.



He explained that the group will petition Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms as deterrent to others who are emulating Fani-Kayode on their platform, stressing that, it is a national security risk. “They need to know how divisive his messages are, and they need to understand why his accounts should be deleted immediately.



“We have a fragile but steady democracy and we should protect it with all our hearts and this includes halting fake news and hate speeches. We have seen what these kinds of things can cause, and we do not wish it on our country."



Akinloye urged politicians to approach the election with maturity and caution, noting that, Nigeria belongs to everyone. “Who wants to rule over a country that is in turmoil,” he asked, “We should strive to ensure peace at all times.”

Anti-corruption war: Jonathan's absolute lies

In his memoir 'My Transition Hours' , which has been described as a glorified fiction, former President Goodluck Jonathan, tried to rewrite history and turn logic on the head when he claimed that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is not fighting corruption and that it has made corruption worse. But the facts of the matter do not agree with that assertion. Sometimes, if you don't quickly call a thief by his name, he will try to seize the initiative and call the property owner the thief.

~Over N794 billion, $261 million, £1,115,930.47, €8,168,871.13, and 86,500 CFA, have so far been recovered from people who looted Nigeria dry under Jonathan. Parts of the monies were used to fund critical infrastructure in the 2016 and 2017 budgets.

~Hundreds of properties such as filling stations, petroleum products, land, jewelleries, automobiles, real estate, vessels, hospitals, company shares and heavy machinery and broadcast equipment have also been seized from the same set of 'Jonathanian' looters between 2015 and 2018.

~Over 703 convictions of corrupt elements achieved by the EFCC alone in the last three years which is unprecedented in the country’s history.
 
~These convictions include graft cases involving former governor of Taraba, Jolly Nyame, and that of Plateau, Joshua Dariye, as well as Joseph Nwobike (SAN), all of whom were hitherto considered untouchable.

~The EFCC has also commenced extradition proceedings from UK for the fugitive ex-minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who under Jonathan's supervision smashed global records and set new landmarks in kleptomania. She has been implicated in some of the most ambitious cases in the global history of official graft, worth of hundreds of billions of dollars.  

~The present administration has also recovered some 322 million dollars Abacha loot which the Jonathan's administration could not recover because of its integrity deficit (of course the World Bank knew it would have been re-looted). The money is now being used to fund parts of the masses-friendly Social Investment Programme (SIP) of the present administration.

~The Whistle blower policy, a signature initiative of the Buhari administration has helped to recover over 500 billion naira from 'Jonathanian' looters.

~The implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Buhari administration is saving for the country about 24.7 billion naira monthly that would have been lost to the private pockets of unscrupulous government officials and their bank accomplices. Meanwhile, the Jonathan's administration could not implement the policy due to its lack of courage and romance with corruption.

~Over 200 billion naira has also been saved through the elimination of ghost workers from the federal government 's payment system.

NOWHERE IN HOUSE REPORT WAS CORRUPTION ALLEGATION LEVELLED AGAINST OSINBAJO– PRESIDENCY



*Recent attacks on VP contrived, Says Political Adviser



Nowhere in the House of Representative Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness report was there an allegation of corruption against the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and this is why claims against him from some quarters regarding the report are mere political contrivances intended to distract him.



This view was expressed by Senator Babafemi Ojudu, the Presidential Political Adviser, while responding to press inquiries about information circulating in the social media on plots to target the Vice President hatched at the meeting of a major political party abroad, regarding 2019 election.



“It is evident that the opposition are in search of company for their acts of grand corruption which brought Nigeria to its knees as of May 2015. They cannot find that company in the Vice President,” the adviser noted.



He continued: “first, there is nowhere in the politicized House of Reps report where the VP was accused of corruption or embezzlement of funds. I challenge them to quote any word or sentence that makes such an accusation.



“Even the House Committee Chairman has said there was no allegation of corruption against him. The only allegation is that he approved funds for the emergency operations in the North East from the consolidated Revenue Fund not budgeted funds. This conclusion we have proved to be false. The funds approved were from budgeted funds, specifically the Rice Levy,”



Sen. Ojudu said the recent NEMA probe report which social media account disclosed may have been authored at that meeting in a foreign country, was one of such efforts plotted to attack the Buhari administration by tarnishing the image of the Vice President.



“We have read reports in the media that the meeting in a foreign country of the major opposition party was centered on trying to attack the Buhari administration by targeting the Vice President using different tactics.



“It is now evident through the NEMA report, that the opposition is indeed making frantic efforts to tarnish the image of the Vice President,” he said.



He explained that even after Hon. Ali Isa, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness had publicly admitted that the Vice President was not mentioned in the report, the opposition still found it expedient to continue, baselessly, to attack the reputation of Prof. Osinbajo by claiming without proof or any shard of evidence that fraud was committed in the N5.8b Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East.



He asserted that the presidential approvals were well within lawful authority of the then Acting President.



“Let us remember that the approval granted by Prof. Osinbajo was in response to the threat of hunger and starvation based on information received from the United Nation World Food Programme in April, 2017. The organization had issued a warning that it would be reducing its vital support to about 1.8 million IDPs by as much as 85%, due to the corresponding reduction in funding by the donor countries. Around the same time, the United Nations Commission for Refugees in Geneva also warned of the growing risk of mass deaths from starvation among people living in the conflict areas.



“Besides, it is also important to note that the procurement process was not ignored in the release of funds, as alleged. Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act makes provision for emergency procurement, in which case the procuring entity is allowed to engage in direct contracting for goods and file a report thereafter with the Bureau of Public Procurement.




“Also, the BPP issued a ‘certificate of no objection’ to NEMA on the emergency procurement, and this addresses all issues relating to the alleged breach of due process,” Sen. Ojudu said.



The presidential adviser then added that the action of the opposition in the ensuing political drama indicates that the NEMA probe report is being politicized and is only a lame attempt at ruining the good works of the Buhari administration.



According to the Political Adviser, “the immediate past presidency have been unable to explain how in the years that Nigeria earned the highest revenue under its watch -$381B, when compared to any other administration since 1999, there is little or nothing to show for it.”



He said the Vice President will however not be distracted by the naysayers’ actions to discourage the Buhari administration from providing for the common man or to abandon the Social Investment Programme which it has budgeted half a trillion for in the past two years.



Sen. Ojudu added that the administration will continue to cater for Nigerians especially those at the bottom of the ladder, regardless of the antics of the opposition party.



“We know what is happening, but the administration will not be distracted. Our goals and objectives to put Nigeria on the solid path of greatness is now unstoppable and Prof. Osinbajo will not relent in that effort,” the presidential adviser concluded.

OSINBAJO WILL NOT BE DISTRACTED– PRESIDENCY


*Recent attacks on VP contrived, Says Sen Ojudu

Recent desperate attempts to smear the person and reputation of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo will not deter or distract him or the Buhari administration from the work of protecting and empowering every Nigerian.

This view was expressed by Senator Babafemi Ojudu, the Presidential Aide on Political Matters, while responding to press inquiries about information circulating in the social media on plots to target the Vice President hatched at the meeting of a major political party abroad, regarding 2019 election.

Sen. Ojudu said the recent NEMA probe report which social media account say may have been outlined at that meeting in a foreign country, was one of such efforts plotted to attack the Buhari administration by tarnishing the image of the Vice President.

“We have read reports in the media that the meeting in a foreign country of the major opposition party was centered on trying to attack the Buhari administration by targeting the Vice President using different tactics.

“It is now evident through the NEMA report, that the opposition is indeed making frantic efforts to tarnish the image of the Vice President,” he said.

He explained that even after Hon. Ali Isa, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness had publicly admitted that the Vice President was not mentioned in the report, the opposition still found it expedient to continue, baselessly, to attack the reputation of Prof. Osinbajo by claiming without proof or any shard of evidence that fraud was committed in the N5.8b Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East.
Giving more insights on the issue, Sen. Ojudu said, contrary to insinuations in some quarters, there were no violations in approval of N5.8b Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East and the then Acting President did no wrong in approving fund for the emergency intervention.

He insisted that the presidential approvals were well within the clear constitutional authority of the then Acting President.

“First of all, the action was in response to the threat of hunger and starvation based on strong warning received from the United Nation World Food Programme in April, 2017. The organization had issued a warning that it would be reducing its vital support to about 1.8 million IDPs by as much as 85%, due to the corresponding reduction in funding by the donor countries. Around the same time, the United Nations Commission for Refugees in Geneva also warned of the growing risk of mass deaths from starvation among people living in the conflict areas.

“Secondly, it is also important to note that the procurement process was not ignored in the release of funds, as alleged. Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act makes provision for emergency procurement, in which case the procuring entity is allowed to engage in direct contracting for goods and file a report thereafter with the Bureau of Public Procurement.


“Also, the BPP issued a ‘certificate of no objection’ to NEMA on the emergency procurement, and this addresses all issues relating to the alleged breach of due process,” Sen. Ojudu said.

The presidential aide said the action of the opposition in the ensuing political drama indicates that the NEMA probe report is being politicized and only a lame attempt at ruining the good works of the Buhari administration.

He said the Vice President will however not be distracted by the naysayers’ actions to discourage the Buhari administration from providing for the common man or to abandon the Social Investment Programme which it has budgeted half a trillion for in the past two years.

Sen. Ojudu added that the administration will continue to cater for Nigerians especially those at the bottom of the ladder, regardless of the antics of the opposition party.

“We know what is happening, but the administration will not be distracted. Our goals and objectives to put Nigeria on the solid path of greatness is now unstoppable and Prof. Osinbajo will not relent in that effort,” the presidential aide concluded

FACT SHEET ON EMERGENCY FOOD INTERVENTION FUND FOR NORTH-EAST



-In accordance with the National Disaster management framework, the function of the NEMA Governing Council which is chaired by the Vice President is as follows:


As chairman of the NEMA Council, the Vice President shall ensure that

(b) Subject to the provisions of the NEMA Act, make, alter and revoke rules and regulations for carrying on the functions of the Agency;

(c) Fix the terms and conditions of service, including remuneration of the employees of the Agency after consultation with the Federal Civil Service Commission; and

(d) Do such other things which in the opinion of the Agency are necessary to ensure the efficient performance of the functions of the Agency.

-There were no violations in approval of N5.8b Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East


-The presidential approvals were well within the clear constitutional authority of the Acting President.

-The action was in response to the threat of hunger and starvation based on strong warnings received from the United Nation in April, 2017.

-The procurement process was not ignored in the release of funds as alleged.

-Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act makes provision for emergency procurement, in which case the procuring entity is allowed to engage in direct contracting for goods and file a report thereafter with the Bureau of Public Procurement.



-In any situation where the companies were considered under emergency and alleged to have fake documents, the liability lies on the owners of the companies to prove otherwise.

-Still on alleged violations; NEMA wrote to BPP for “No Objection Certificate”. The BPP replied, confirmed that the situation was Emergency and did not fault our action in any way.

-On the issue of documentation of the companies, the submission to BPP was made with the available document submitted to NEMA during the procurement process.

-Prof. Osinbajo did not approve the release of N33 billion but N5,036,644,933.26, after excluding bagging costs and this was pursuant to the recommendation that bagging, transportation and other logistics were best handled by NEMA.


-The then Acting President personally supervised the process from planning to distribution. He held several meetings on strategies for distribution some of which were attended by representatives of the National Assembly like Senator Abdulaziz Nyako.



-Prof. Osinbajo subsequently accompanied by relevant stakeholders inspected the electronic truck-tracking unit established in Maiduguri for the purpose of monitoring the transportation and flagged off the food distribution on the 8th of June, 2017.


-No product or grain meant for the IDPs got rotten.

-Probably the Reps’ call for the resignation of the NEMA DG might have been as a result of their inability to corner contracts for themselves as allegations of contract award beyond the DG’s limit are false.

-The NEMA Act requires that the DG should secure an approval from the President, which he did before the award.

-The suspension of the six NEMA directors was based on the findings of the EFCC interim report on the agency.

-They were suspended to pave way for a smooth and full-scale investigation as there were findings that related to questionable transactions on accounts linked to them.

ATIKU’S CORRUPTION- NUHU RIBADU

“With its reputation on the rise, the EFCC then turned its attention to smugglers. Nigeria was losing millions of dollars to smuggling.”

“Some of the country’s crooked politicians had started amassing their immense wealth while working at customs, while others obtained foreign exchange at the cheap official exchange rate to finance fictitious imports”.

“One surprise raid in the port of Onne near Port Harcourt in 2004- the largest port in Nigeria- revealed that 80 percent of merchandise was smuggled in with the complicity of corrupt customs and other law enforcement officials.”

Following the raid, the EFCC, with the support of customs services, took over the operation of the port for three months to ensure proper procedures were followed. As a result, some 30 billion Naira ($200 million) of duties was collected, and valuable contraband seized and handed over to customs. Similar operations were conducted in other ports around Nigeria.

Excerpt from the book, My Story, by Nuhu Ribadu, published 2010.