₦airaland Forum

Russia: Saraki presides over session at IPU



The President of the Nigerian Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki on Monday, presided over a session at the ongoing 137th Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) in St. Petersburg, Russia

The session chaired by Saraki was a debate which focused on ending the grave humanitarian crisis, persecution and violent attacks on the Rohingyas as a threat to international peace and security.



The session also deliberated on ensuring the unconditional and safe return of the Rohingyas to their homeland Myanmar.

Saraki presided over speakers of parliaments from many countries who are participating in the 137th IPU.

Nigeria is one of the countries faces with humanitarian crisis with the North Eastern part of the country still suffering grave crisis as a result of the activities of the violent group, Boko Haram.

On Sunday, while making a presentation during a general debate, Saraki called for international conference on the North East and Boko Haram threat in Nigeria.

According to him, convening an international conference like the ones convened in London on Somalia and Syria, would go a long way in finding lasting solution to the problem in the region.

“Nigeria’s North East region has suffered terribly under the onslaught of Boko Haram insurgents.

“Two million Nigerians are internally displaced or have fled to neighbouring countries like the Lake Chad region, where 4.4 million people are threatened by food insecurity.

“Of the funds needed to address the problem, less than half has been raised. The United Nations has called the situation in the Lake Chad region the most neglected humanitarian crisis in the world.

“The 8th National Assembly is at the forefront of improved coordination efforts to overcome institutional and logistical impediments in the way of getting aid for those in need.

“We have reached an advanced stage in the plans for a development commission to tackle the crisis in the North East, incidentally the region with the highest poverty rate in the country.

“We have also made economic growth and greater investment the core of our legislative agenda.

“The sooner we deliver economic reforms and greater prosperity to all Nigerian, the sooner we can achieve a more inclusive society and minimize societal divisions and grievances,’’ he said.

The 137th IPU has as its theme: “Promoting Cultural Pluralism and Peace through Inter-Faith and Inter-Ethnic Dialogue”.
Saraki expressed optimism that the 137th IPU would offer a lasting solution to the growing world conflicts.

Initially, the organization was for individual parliamentarians, but has since transformed into an international organization of the parliaments of sovereign states

Sack Buhari, he is not qualified as Petroleum Minister, Agbakoba tells Court
dailytrust.com.ng


Dr. Agbakoba argued before the Federal High Court in Abuja that on the basis of section 138 of the Constitution disqualifying the President of Nigeria from taking any paid employment or holding executive office of Minister of Petroleum Resources, the President cannot hold office as Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Sack Buhari, he is not qualified as Petroleum Minister, Agbakoba tells Court
Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association ( NBA ), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has filed a claim against the Federal Government of Nigeria to determine the Constitutional qualification of the President of Nigeria to also hold executive office as Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Dr. Agbakoba argued before the Federal High Court in Abuja that on the basis of section 138 of the Constitution disqualifying the President of Nigeria from taking any paid employment or holding executive office of Minister of Petroleum Resources, the President cannot hold office as Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Dr. Agbakoba’s other argument is that in any event the President’s appointment as Minister of Petroleum Resources was not confirmed by the Senate of the National Assembly, as stipulated by section 147(2)of the constitution.

The Affidavit supporting Dr. Agbakoba’s claim states the determination of the questions in the claim are of vital national importance, in view of the governance chaos at the NNPC.

Dr. Agbakoba has requested the Court to return answers that the President is not validly qualified to be Minister of Petroleum Resources and in any event the President is also disqualified to be Minister of Petroleum Resources, not having been confirmed by Senate.​ No date has been fixed for hearing.

Buhari’s presidency: We’ve nothing to show for being in power –North
newtelegraphonline.com


The North has disagreed with those who have branded President Muhammadu Buhari a sectional leader, saying there is nothing in the region to show that he has favoured the area more than other parts of the country. Leaders across the North, who were in unison on the position, therefore, challenged those crying marginalisation to come out with verifiable statistics to show in which areas Buhari’s kinsmen have advantages over others in his administration.

President Buhari has come under fire over a statement credited to the President of the World Bank Group, Mr. Jim Yong Kim, last Thursday, that Buhari specifically requested that the bank shifts focus to the northern region.

But, a cross section of northern leaders and groups, in separate interviews with New Telegraph at the weekend, described insinuations that Buhari is favouring the North as unfounded.

According to majority of them, the North only has the presidency, while the South is holding power. Among those who spoke with our correspondents were Second Republic presidential adviser and Chairman of Northern Elders’ Council (NEC), Alhaji Tanko Yakasai; former governor old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa; elder statesman and chairman of Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Dr. Paul Unongo; Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed and leader of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yerima Shettima.

The groups were apex northern group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Arewa Youth Forum (AYF). ACF, which spoke through its National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, said the insinuation that Buhari is favouring the North against other regions is uncharitable and preposterous.

The group added that the cry of marginalisation is without facts and has caused mistrust among the people. ACF said: “President Buhari was elected as the president of Nigeria and not that of the North or South. In the last two years, he had presented national budgets to the National Assembly, which contained developmental projects for the entire country being his constituency.

“The budgets were passed into Appropriation Acts and implemented according to available resources, which Nigerians are fully aware of. It is, therefore, the considered view of the ACF that ascribing primordial considerations to projects to where the president comes from is preposterous and uncharitable.

“The claims of favouritism or marginalisation by one part of the country against the other, which have created unnecessary mistrust among the various components of the country is, in most cases, not based on facts, but rather on speculations.” AYF also insisted that the South has benefited more from the Buhari government.

The Arewa youths stated that the North only have the Presidency while the projects are in the South. “The South is in charge and any fair-minded Nigerian will tell you that. It is only in this government that someone from the South, Babatunde Fashola, is holding three ministries.

“Most of the projects executed in the last two years are in the South, the North only have the president and some appointees to show for it. Which project can anybody point at by this government in the North? Please tell me, I want to know,” ACF National President, Alhaji Gambo Gujungu, told New Telegraph.

Yakasai, who faulted those twisting President Buhari’s comments on World Bank’s support to the North-East, said the same thing was done by General Yakubu Gowon to the South-East shortly after the Nigerian/Biafran war He reminded critics of the president that in the two and half years of the present administration, the South has benefitted more than the North, adding that even the president clearly told the South-East leaders recently that their zone got senior ministers against most northern states, which have only junior ministers.

He said the comments of the president that the World Bank should focus more on the North-East was the right thing to do by every right thinking leader because the zone was totally destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents. His words: “When Gowon was Head of State, he took money from the national treasury to rebuild the South-East after the war, nobody called him a sectional leader, but today, for asking for the reconstruction of the North-East, Buhari is a sectional leader.

This is unfair. “Government then had money to rebuild the South- East, but in the case of Buhari, the nation has no money, so even the World Bank’s assistance is a loan payable in a long time and there is no crime in him wanting the ravaged North-East rebuilt.”

On the cry of marginalisation, Yakasai said: “I want you to ask those who are talking about marginalisation to tell us where and where they are marginalised. The North-West, where I come from, don’t have four senior ministers and, which government’s position is bigger than that of a minister? “Let me tell you, after the president and the vice president, minister is the next important position in government.

These people have four senior ministers and North-West don’t have four senior ministers. “On the issue of projects, let government tell us any project it has brought to the North that is more than those in the South.” Unongo, a Second Republic minister of steel, in his reaction, also dismissed the impression that Buhari is favouring the North, warning that such statement is capable of breeding disunity.

He said the Buhari administration has been fair to all the six geo-political zones of the country, adding that the zones still crying marginalisation are those agitating for disintegration, particularly the South-East. The NEF chairman said: “It is not possible to say that Buhari is favouring the North to the detriment of other regions.

The North occupies over 80 per cent of the total landmass of Nigeria and it has the population as well. If everything was given to the North proportionate to its size and population, it wouldn’t be so backward the way it is today.” Unongo further said that if any group is to protest against marginalisation, it should be his Tiv nation, which, according to him, constitutes the fourth largest ethnic group in the country, but has no representation in the national scheme of things despite voting overwhelmingly for the party in power. Junaid Mohammed, on his part, told those saying that Buhari is president of the North and not the president of Nigeria, to go to hell.

His words: “I believe in assessing a man, particularly a politician like Buhari, you assess him not only on what he says, but on what he does. If you look at the cabinet, it is clear that most of the important assignments (portfolios) went to the South, particularly the South-West. They have Finance, Health, Power/ Works/Housing and Communication.

So, for anybody who is rational, that statement made about Buhari asking World Bank to concentrate its activities in the North was false. “In fact, if you move ahead and you assess his words and deeds, you will find out that Buhari hasn’t done anything to advance the interest of the North in any way whatsoever.

The infrastructure projects that have been carried out in the last two and half years are the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway; the Second Niger Bridge at Asaba; the ongoing East/West Road; the rail project from Lagos to Calabar. Go and check them out.

These are the key projects of this administration and none of them is in the North. “For those who are using the mischievous report to say that Buhari is now president of the North and not the president of Nigeria, let them go to hell.

The facts are there and anybody who wants to check should go and check.” Also speaking, Balarabe posited: “This is a mere allegation by people from the South. I have not seen anything in the North to justify that assertion until we have figures. I believe the North and South-West are in this government together.

This government is a political conspiracy between the South-West and the North; that is the truth. But, as far as marginalisation is concerned, we can only talk with statistics.

“When people talk about appointments, I will appreciate if they line up the names and portfolios for us to see. I believe they cannot talk about marginalisation in economic matters or political appointments, when they cannot show us who and who is involved.” Also insisting that Buhari is not favouring the North, former Deputy National Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo, said there is nothing in the region to show that the president is disposed to the area.

“Buhari has done nothing to the North since he became president. Almost all the roads are bad, poverty is still there,” he said. He also disputed the appointments made by the president, saying: “Buhari has been taken over by the Yoruba. Most of the lucrative positions go to the Yoruba. Fashola has three ministerial positions.”

AYCF leader, Shetima, who described the criticisms against Buhari as blackmail against the North, said: “The president is on track, there is no big deal in what he said; we need to develop another part of this country that belongs to all of us. “What happened to the North-East can happen to any part of this country.

How could anyone be happy with the state of the North-East and the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)? We must do away with sentiment and rally round this government and international community to move our people out of this despicable situation. Enough of all these petty politics; let us face the reality the situation demands.”

Nigerian Army ends operation python dance in Southeast
nigerianeye.com


The Nigerian Army has declared that it has ended it’s operation in the Southeast.


General Officer Commanding (GOC), 82 Division Nigerian Army, Major General Adamu Baba Abubakar, speaking on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff. Lieutenant General TY Buratai formally declare the end of Exercise EGWU EKE 11.

​
The ceremony took place ​Saturday night ​in Sector 1 Tactical Headquarters at Umuahia, Abia State​, ​
with the traditional activation of camp fire to formally signify the successful completion of the exercise.

This was made public via a statement on Sunday by Colonel Sagir Musa, Deputy Director Public Relations 82 Division.

​The statement said General Abubakar commended all the officers, soldiers and personnel of paramilitary organizations that collaborated​,​ synergized​ and​ work​e​d commendably throughout the one month period for the ​e​xercise.

He ​noted that, ​the achievements recorded in the areas of attainment of the mission specific training objectives, improvement in peace and security, curtailing the menace of violent irredentist groups in the theatre of the ​e​xercise is remarkable​”​.

​R​epresentative of​ the ​Abia​ State governor​​, ​Eng​r Emmanuel Nwabuko expressed appreciation of the government and people of the State for the numerous achievements of Exercise EGWU EKE 11 in terms of improvement of peace, security and stability of the State.

He​ traced the collaborative relationship with the Nigerian Army to 2010-2011 ​”when ​kidnappers, armed robbers and other hoodlums paralyzed economic and social activities in the State​”.

“It was the army that rescued us. So, we are ready to always leverage on this relationship whenever the need arises,​” Nwabuko said.​

In attendance ​w​ere representative of the Chief of Training and Operations Army Headquarters, Brigadier General Ndalolo, Defence Headquarters Observer Team led by Commodore Shammah, Security Adviser to Abia State Governor, Captain (rtd) Idonsi Awa and the Commanders of 14 and 34 Brigades​, ​Brigadier Generals AK Ibrahim and IH Bature.

Others were the Commanders of 44 Engineer Brigade, 82 Division Garrison, and Supply and Transport Brigadier Generals – Mark Mamman, LA Adegboye and EA Anaryu respectively.

Oyegun: Akande’s Comment on APC Presidential Ticket His Personal Opinion

Ex-chairman’s remark that party’s presidential ticket is open to all unsettles South-west
APC Clash of interests polarises party’s panel on restructuring
Olawale Olaleye in Lagos and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said the statement credited to his predecessor, Chief Bisi Akande, that the party’s presidential ticket for 2019 election was open to all was his personal view.

Although Oyegun who had declared in May that the party would give Buhari right of first refusal for the party’s presidential ticket in 2019 was unperturbed byAkande’s remark when responding to a question from THISDAY on telephone last night, that was not the situation with some South-west leaders of the party, who were taken aback by the development, as they maintained that the former national chairman of the party spoke outside the agenda and resolutions of the zonal leaders’ meeting.



Akande had at the end of a stakeholders meeting of South-west APC last Thursday, involving governors, National Assembly members, ministers and other party members, held at the Agodi Government House, Ibadan, Oyo State, declared that the presidential ticket of the party was open to all in the 2019 general election.

Responding to a question about the position of the party on Buhari’s speculated second term ambition, Akande had stated thus: “He has not told us he is running in 2019. Anybody in our party is free to become the president of Nigeria as long as he indicates interest. We have a process through which a candidate will be selected. If he is lucky to get the ticket, then we have no option than to present him as our candidate.”

The meeting, which lasted four hours and held in the executive council chambers of the governor’s office, had in attendance Governors Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo State), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos State), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun State), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo State), former Governors Adebayo Alao-Akala, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Olusegun Osoba, Adeniyi Adebayo, Kayode Fayemi, who is also the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu, Minister of State for Niger Delta, Claudius Daramola, Senator Olusola Adeyeye, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Lasun Yusuff and House Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, among others.

Speaking last night, Oyegun, who was not keen on commenting, said there was really nothing to say as far as the reportage of Akande’s statement was concerned, because it was his personal position and he had a right to it.

“That’s his personal view. He said what he felt. There is really nothing to comment about – nothing. That is his personal view,” Oyegun said.

But THISDAY learnt last night that the statement had since unsettled the South-west APC as a majority of stakeholders, who attended the Ibadan meeting were dismayed that Akande would go completely off the thrust of the meeting and create avoidable controversy for the party in the zone.

A governor at the meeting, who confided in THISDAY, said those of them who were there felt so “thoroughly embarrassed” by the development that they had begun to ponder the need to come out to set the record straight as far as the essence of the Thursday meeting was concerned.

“That didn’t come up at our meeting at all. It was just a question asked him by a journalist and he answered off-the-curve. Everyone is angry now. The only thing we discussed was what was in the communiqué read by Governor Ajimobi and essentially the meeting was about restructuring.

“What we said at the meeting was that the word restructuring is not in our manifesto. What is there is that we would initiate a process that would lead to a bill or an act that will define the governance structure of the country. So, basically, we insisted we never used the word restructuring.

“So, that should be it as far as the meeting was concerned. But he really embarrassed us and we didn’t expect it from him, although it must have been inadvertently, because when he was asked after the interview, he said the question was on the spot and that he just gave an on-the-spot answer. Everybody is really angry now and sadly, he is President Buhari’s number one fan. So, I don’t know where this came from,” the governor said.

“He has a lot of respect for Chief Akande and they get along really well. But as it is, we may have to salvage this situation with one of us coming out to address the issue more pointedly,” he added.

In his reaction to the development, a chieftain of the APC and Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said regardless of Akande’s view on the party’s presidential ticket for the 2019 election, a majority of the state chapters in South-east have endorsed Buhari for reelection.

Okechukwu said Buhari had “more than a right of first refusal” as far as the 2019 presidential election is concerned.

“Well, Akande was our first interim national chairman and a highly respected elder of the party but Chief Oyegun is today our current national chairman of APC – substantive – so we align with Oyegun’s submission, because he is the current chairman.

“Even some state chapters of the party like Enugu, Ebonyi and Kaduna had endorsed the president for a second tenure. To be honest with you, the good luck is that his miraculous recovery has encouraged us to endorse him. He has more than a right of first refusal.”

Okechukwu, a close ally of President Buhari since his days in the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, spoke to THISDAY on telephone last night, noting: “From my understanding of what Chief Akande has said, I think he meant that President Buhari has not formally informed the party and it is only when he tells the party. I don’t think what he is saying is that the issue of the right of first refusal be discountenanced. For me, I am one of those, who is saying we should support him to finish what he is doing to set the nation on a solid foundation.”

Meanwhile, the restructuring committee set up by the party leadership may have run into operational difficulties.

At the heart of this brewing discontent, however, is the crisis of confidence amongst the committee members.

THISDAY has also learnt that when the committee tried to meet with the leadership of the National Assembly on the issues of restructuring, it was rebuffed following what a source at the legislature described as a rejection of the committee’s mode of operation.

According to sources, both the Senate and House of Representatives leaderships were not pleased with the manner in which the committee appeared to be taking positions on the issues they were meant to seek the opinions of even the ordinary party members.

Particularly disturbing to some members of the committee is the disposition of their chairman and Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasiru El-rufai, who has openly expressed reservations over restructuring and continued to preach the same message at the various public hearings organised by the committee.

A committee source also told THISDAY at the weekend that some of their members were getting increasingly uncomfortable with the governor’s posturing, which they claimed was tantamount to imposing his position and ideas on the others.

The source cited a recent statement credited to El-rufai at an interactive meeting with some APC youths in Abuja, where he allegedly told the audience that the agitation for the creation of more states was not an answer to the issue of marginalisation or perceived imbalance in the country.

He said such agitation amounted to enthroning injustice and akin to seeking to make unequal equal in a country that has unequal population and resource distribution.

“The greatest injustice is trying to make equal unequal and unequal equal. Things are not done like that. What do I mean by that? There are those who have said Nigeria and Unites States are same. It is just like saying everyone, who is six feet, five can play basketball.

“As human beings, we are equal but you cannot come and stand here and say we should create nine states in each zone. Nigeria is not equal likewise the population and resources. You can’t do that,” el-Rufail had said at the interactive meeting.

But while some members have shown that they are opposed to restructuring by openly speaking against it, other members are in support of the idea.

It was however learnt that the not-too-agreeable positions among the members are affecting the work of the committee as they are yet to sit down together to consider the feedback from the various zones of the country as mandated by the party.

“We are yet to receive reports from different parts of the country on the outcome of the zonal public hearing. Whatever the chairman of the committee and governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai has said with regards to restructuring is nothing but his own personal opinion. It does not represent the position of the committee, even as the chairman”.

Some of these committee members have also disassociated themselves from the governor’s recent statement made at the Chatham House in London, where he criticised those seeking a restructuring of the country.

One of the committee members went on to accuse the governor of using the platform to try to position himself ahead of the 2019 general election by making statements that are clearly outside the terms of reference of the committee.

“Not that the governor has no right to hold his personal view on the issue of restructuring but as the chairman of the committee, he should not be seen imposing opinion on the audience during the public hearing. The job of our committee is to listen and collate the views and positions of Nigerians on the demands for restructuring of the federation and to advice the party accordingly.

“At present, we have not received reports from various parts of the county; we have not even met to discuss the issues raised, so we still have works to do in that direction,” he said.

But a close source to El-rufai has dismissed an attempt by “faceless people” to shade the governor over a committee work that has not quite advanced in its operations, adding that there was no truth to the allegations so far raised against him.

“Why are they hiding if they have serious and genuine concerns? Why can’t they come to the open? At the very least, they could wait till the reports are put together and they would have the opportunity of authoring a minority report if they feel strongly about these allegations and accusations against the governor.

“But I find the allegations preposterous because a committee with other governors as members cannot claim the governor of Kaduna is imposing his views on them. That cannot be true. Are you saying the Kaduna governor will intimidate or shout down the Osun State Governor? Governor Aregbesola cannot be intimidated and that is the truth. So, I do not think it makes any sense debating with a faceless person.”

14 Ministers Intervene In Kachikwu-Baru Peace Deal
naijaparrot.com


No fewer than 14 ministers in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet intervened in the peace deal between Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) boss Dr. Maikanti Baru.

This development, according to The Nation, came after Ibe Kachikwu had gone to the Presidential Villa with a letter of resignation last Friday but shelved the move in the “larger interest of the nation”, The Nation reports.

The Presidency also ordered ceasefire between the Minister and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) boss Dr. Maikanti Baru.

A cabinet source also claimed that some ministers spoke with both parties to “arrest the North-South dimension” which the crisis was assuming.

The source said: “At least about 14 of us in the cabinet were so much touched and we decided to sue for peace. The way the Minister and the GMD embraced on Tuesday was an indication of the acceptance of our peace deal.

“We were concerned that the crisis was being turned away from the real substance to infantile assumptions as if any fraud was committed.

“At least, we have secured a commitment to ceasefire by both leaders, who are both internationally respected. In the last 72 hours, many interventions have occurred.

“The leader at the centre of it all is President Muhammadu Buhari who felt personally hurt and scandalised by the August 30 memo. The President was really very, very angry.

The source added: “It was not as if the President refused or decided to delay in responding to the Minister’s memo until it snowballed into a crisis.

“The truth is that Kachikwu did not route his memo through the normal official channel for fear of being hijacked or frustrated. He sent it through a presidential aide to ensure that the President got the memo”.