₦airaland Forum

PRESS BRIEFING BY SOUTH WEST PEOPLES ALLIANCE

Date: Friday, 9th August, 2019.

DON’T JUST PROBE OBASANJO ON POWER SECTOR MALFEASANCE, PROSECUTE HIM TOO

I warmly welcome everyone who has found it necessary to be here with us today. I most especially welcome the esteemed members of the press to this briefing.
Gentlemen of the press, I should start by stating that this conference has become necessary due to the conversation on probing the power sector started by the Young Nigerian Professionals who delivered a Press Conference on Sunday last week in the nation’s capital, Abuja, about the decision of the House of Representatives to probe the power sector spending in the country.
The group had called for unrelenting efforts by the House in that probe, while noting the necessity of accountability as a nation if we were to make any progress.
At their very auspicious conference, the YNP called on Nigerians to monitor the planned probe of all power contracts from 1999 to date, which the House of Representatives is about to kick-start, and ensure that the process is thorough and that all those culpable in the mismanagement of the funds earmarked for power in Nigeria are brought to justice.
Let me start by saying that we agree wholeheartedly with the body of young professionals on this issue. But we will like to take the discussion further by demanding for specific interrogation of key individuals in the whole power mismanagement saga. It's our belief that there are known actors that were responsible for overseeing the sleaze that took place in the power sector spending since 1999. The most prominent, as every Nigerian possibly knows, is former President Olusegun Obasanjo - who is reported to have spent a whopping sum of about 16 Billion Dollars on power, with nothing worthy or credible to show for it.
We would like to commend the House of Representatives for its decision to again re-investigate the power sector spending. It is our belief that what the House is set to do represents justice for the people of Nigeria who have had to bear the burden and pain associated with the poor power situation in the country. Until this investigation and other related efforts that ensure transparency and openness are undertaken, Nigeria cannot really move forward or record any significant progress.
The unearthing of the sleaze that took place in the power sector is key if we want to start a new footing that ensures proper accountability going forward.
While we are confident that the investigation by the House of Representatives would unmask the fraud that was committed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his cronies in the power sector; we demand that the House should, upon the completion of its investigation, endeavor to submit the name of the former President and his conspirators to the country’s anti-corruption agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), for full prosecution. The ultimate goal is not to undertake a futile 'name and shame exercise', rather we want to see a situation where all those involved would face punishment for their crimes against the country.
While he and his co-travelers must be made to return all stolen monies, we demand that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo live up to his avowed commitment to transparency by coming forward to explain his role in the alleged mismanagement of power funds; without directing all those who seek to hold him to account to a self-serving and delusional book whose account has not exonerated him of active involvement in the sleaze.
No doubt, only a comprehensive prosecution that is in tandem with justice will send a strong message to all those who have either managed or still managing our resources that Nigerians will no longer tolerate any corrupt act by anyone, no matter how highly placed. This is the only way we can sanitize the power sector and begin to reset the country.
Thank you.
Signed:
Oseni Owolabi Ajimomuya (Chairman)
Ismael Lanre Oguntoyinbo (Secretary)

Press Conference by Young Nigerian Professionals (YNP) On The Planned House Of Reps Power Spending Probe

Good day gentlemen of the press, and everybody here present.

We note that the Senate ministerial screening and the Police/Shi'te clash were two events that absorbed the attention of Nigerians last week, which took attention away from the resolve of the House to again reinvestigate the power sector spending. Hence, we convey this brief conference to remind the nation of the need to now refocus attention on the planned probe by the House of Representatives of all the power contracts by successive administrations.

Without accountability, without bringing those who brought Nigerians this low to justice, we cannot seriously move forward.
 
It would be recalled that Hon. Sada Soli, member representing Jibia/Kaita Federal Constituency of Katsina State, moved a motion entitled, ‘Need to review government expenditure on the power sector to ensure sustenance of the power reform programme in Nigeria.’ The motion was unanimously adopted by the House which resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to “carry out a comprehensive investigative hearing on how much money was spent on the power sector reform programme over the years without commensurate results and report back within six weeks for further legislative action.”
 
In the light of the above, we, the Young Nigerian Professionals, will like to demand for a thorough investigation this time around. We demand for an unbiased and transparent investigation into the power sector spending over the years; the sort that will bring anyone involved in any shady deals to book, no matter how highly placed or influential such persons or individuals are.

Considering that this will be a very comprehensive investigation, covering the $16 billion spent by the Obasanjo-led government between 1999 and 2007, the power spending of administrations of Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (late), Goodluck Jonathan and the incumbent Muhammadu Buhari; we are confident no one will hide under the excuse of being witch hunted.
 
Having had a similar investigative hearing by the House of Representatives in 2008 over the alleged $16 billion spending on power sector by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, we reiterate that only an open, transparent and painstaking investigation would unravel the mystery surrounding the huge investment into the power sector which has left Nigeria with more darkness.
 
With just a year to go before the 2020 target of a 40,000 MW for the country, based on the alleged investment in the proposed power plants, all those who have questions to answer must be brought forward to explain why the power generation target has remained unattainable despite the huge investments. We repeat that all those found culpable must be brought to book, no matter who they are.

Everyday, Nigerians suffer the absence of electric power supply; businesses have been forced to sustain themselves on diesel, and they have been most times forced to close shop, or send the burden to poor Nigerians; all these have been caused by deliberate sabotage, malfeasance and brazen theft of money meant for the power sector. It is high time that the books are opened, and the way and manner all funds allocated to this sector were spent are made public; while those who are found wanting face the wrath of the law.
 
We therefore totally support the resolve of the House of Representatives to investigate and uncover those behind the ineffective and corruption – ridden investments in the power sector. Our Forum will keep watch on the process of investigation by the House and follow it to its final conclusion.
 
 
 
Thank you.

Signed:

Charles Olufemi Folayan (Chairman)
Umar Sani Bello (Secretary)

THE YOUNGER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES OF 2019; A REVOLUTIONARY FAILURE.
By Olasoji Alabi

I am not much of a writer but I pass important political messages very quickly every now and then.
Moreover long write ups most times do not fufil its maximum objective of reaching as much people as one would want to reach due to the decline in the reading habits of an average Nigeria.

Would you blame them? It takes focused minds to be able to go through the patience of perusing written words. Happiness and focused minds have long been denied millions of Nigerians due to mismanagement by the same people that have since inception ruled us.

I saw a World Economic Forum report the other day showing the happiest people in the world and this rating was based on several variables. Ambience (which was stated as harmony with nature), income and a few other variables.

Surprisingly, these countries also pay very high taxes but this is only because they trust their government. They live in a free society, care for one another, have short working weeks, the children and teenagers are happy, they have good health systems and live healthily as well as freedom to make your own choices as an entity. We do not even enjoy one of these listed factors that could ensure we live like humans in our own country.

However, I had a dream, in my dream, I saw Nigeria becoming great. I saw Nigerians being truly happy. Not that kind of happiness pursued to get minds off to escape the very harsh realities of the nation.

In my dream I saw the norm of ineptitude, corruption, disregard for citizen's living welfare which have eaten so deep into our nation's systems crushed.

I saw the coming together of great young minds with whatever agenda they had individually, forgone to positively enhance the growth of our black nation Nigeria.

Should I be happy about these dreams? I ought to be but could never be when I see an entity like Bola Ahmed Tinubu gearing to be the president of sinking Nigeria in 2023.

Nigeria should be sad at how low we have come, where ministerial appointments have become strictly about compensation and not competence. Where we have close to 10 past governors that were maximally indicted by financial crimes agencies and also many ministers in the last term that did next to nothing and under performed. Where we have a House of Assembly we pay undeserved billions of Nigeria's money that should screen and scrutinize appointees to ensure we get the best hands and brains turn to a "bow and go" camaraderie committee. This is indeed sad.

I am surprised when fellow Nigerians believe what we practice in Nigeria is Democracy. What we have in Nigeria is an Oligarchy government. A government of just a few tyrants ensuring power does not truly become owned by the people. This is why they will continue to intentionally oppress Nigerians and do absolute nothing to curtail this poverty intrusion in our nation.

To all the new blood presidential candidates of 2019, believe me, you all have what it takes but you have failed your country and its people UNTIL you all do what should be done, forgo all personal agenda and build up a team that could set Nigeria on its right destined path. Nigeria's burden for the right leadership rests on all your heads. Yes, I will put the blame on you all because I see leaders in you all. One of the qualities of a leader is being able to see beyond what your people see and having the capabilities to take them there.

You new politicians deserving of being addressed as nation builders will have to unite with an oligarchy mind if and when you decide to truly take over from these pseudodemocrats to take Nigeria to where she truly deserves.

"Enu dun ro efo" is what my yoruba people say meaning it is easier said than done. Also, a critic is very good at everything except actually bringing to use his criticism ideas when provided with same platform that has several times suffered his criticism.

I am not a critic neither would I have been able to do even better than most of the young politicians if I was in their shoes but then, all we really want for Nigeria is a true place we all could proudly call home.

I truly and patriotically wish everyone of us hoping for a great Nigeria goodluck as I look forward to a revolutionary 2023 by these younger candidates of 2019.

On The Mischief And Misinformation Going Round That Youths Are Not Represented In President Buhari’s Ministerial Nominees.

The Ministerial Nominee from Gombe State, Isa Ibrahim Patami is 46 years old. Dr. Pantami is the immediate past Director General and CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The Ministerial Nominee from Oyo State, was born in Nigeria on May 29, 1966. Until his nomination, he served as the Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management) of the Nigerian Communications Commission.

The Ministerial Nominee from Zamfara State, Sadiya Umar Farouk, is 44 years and until his nomination, served as the Federal Commissioner of National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.

The hullaballoo about not nominating young people is a negative campaign laced with defamation and deception to ridicule #TheList.

These campaigners of calumny should rather look inward and applaud President Buhari for nominating these amazing young and vibrant people than causing disaffection amongst the young people.

All is set for the signing of electricity road map agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and German-based Siemens. The deal is the product of a meeting President Muhammadu Buhari held with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel on August 31, 2018.

The Global Chief Executive Officer of Siemens, Joe Kaeser, will meet with President Buhari today in Nigeria to sign a Letter of Agreement on the Nigerian Electrification Roadmap which was submitted to President Buhari last year November.

Several meetings have been held by power distribution companies, other stakeholders in the power sector and the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari. Such meetings focused on the key areas where the help of the German government is needed.

The partnership on the road map for power generation will aid the activities of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the eleven DisCos within the country, including software maintenance and support for four years, with a source claiming the project can be compared to that of Egypt megaproject.

“This project is similar to the Egypt megaproject and the Iraq electrification project recently awarded to Siemens,” the report quoted a source.

Siemens managed Egypt megaproject
The Egypt megaproject was handled by Siemens, and according to a statement on the company’s website, “Siemens successfully managed to boost Egypt’s power generation capacity by over 40% by connecting 14.4 gigawatts to the Egyptian national grid. This is enough power to supply over 40 million Egyptians with reliable electricity and provide a much-needed power to different industrial sectors.”

The leading supplier of systems for power generation has been in and out of Nigeria, holding several meetings and consultation, as well as electricity field observation dating back to October last year, a month after the meeting between President Buhari and the German Chancellor.

Why it matters: Nigeria has been struggling with power distribution, limited distribution networks, limited transmission line capacity, huge metering gap, and fall of gas supply, despite the privatisation of the power sector which produced six generation companies and eleven DisCos.

The roadmap by Siemens is expected to resolve these challenges. Part of the roadmap is a workshop facilitated by Siemens in October with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the TCN.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Young Stakeholders Forum has applauded the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, for appointing young people who are mostly under the age of 40 into his team.

In a statement earlier today from the office of the Speaker, Wasiu Olanrewaju Smart, 33, was announced as
Special Adviser on Political Matters; Badmus Olufunmi, 37,
Special Adviser on Special Duties; Hadiza Abubakar Talba, 30, Special Assistant on Employment and job Creation; Fatimah Kakuri, 32, Special Assistant on Gender Equality; Adaku Apugo, 33, Special Assistant on Inter-governmental Affairs; Hamza Baba Ibrahim, 39, Special Assistant on IDPs; Princewill Tabia, 30, Special Assistant on Policy and Inter-parliamentary and Adim Akpapunam, 24, Senior Legislative Aide.

Reacting to the appointments, the APC young stakeholders observe that Speaker Gbajabiamila has not only shown a commendable trust in the abilities of young people, he has also leads the way in utilizing the energy and versatility of young people to drive the vision of both the party and the government.

While reiterating its belief that age is not the only basis upon which young people clamor for leadership positions; the Forum expressed happiness that the Speaker has displayed an unmistakable understanding of the argument for a targeted and capacity-based youth inclusion.

While thanking the Speaker for his foresight and for providing learning opportunities for the next generation of leaders, the Forum tasks leaders of the party at different levels to take a cue from the Speaker and commit to a deliberate grooming of the successor generation.

The Forum, while praying God to endow all young people already appointed into government with the required wisdom to discharge their responsibilities; also tasks them to be good ambassadors of the youth constituency and to carry out their responsibilities with utmost loyalty and dedication.

Signed:
Abu Andrew
Secretary-General, APC Young Stakeholders Forum

My attention has been drawn to a statement circulating on various media platforms credited to me as saying that power must shift to the South West in 2023.

This is a misrepresentation of fact and identity.

The statement is said to have been made by the Secretary of Adamawa State APC, Ahmed Lawan, who incidentally bears similar name with me.

The public should please take note.


Signed
Senator Ahmad Lawan
President of the Senate
Federal Republic Of Nigeria

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot appreciate good governance because it spent its 16 years in government mismanaging the country and entrenching wrongdoing as the norm, according to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO).

The group, in a statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, its Chairman and Secretary respectively, stated that the PDP during the 16 years it ran the affairs of the country, up-ended normalcy and adopted irregularities as the norm, hence its inability to understand good governance under the President Buhari administration.



“We are not surprised to read the statement from the PDP throwing tantrums and accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) of everything possible and for anything happening in the country; the statements smack of the party’s inability to see and appreciate good governance and strong institutions.



“For instance, the investigation by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) of Senate President, Saraki Bukola is a simple case of an institution doing its work. If Saraki, a member of the PDP, has a case to answer, let him do so. An innocent man with no skeletons in his cupboard has nothing to fear. Nigeria has institutions with the mandate of investigating fraud and financial malfeasances. If they find a person to be a suspect in the breach of any of our laws in this regard, they would act accordingly, investigate and prosecute where necessary.



“It is unfortunate that the PDP is not used to seeing institutions working and is consequently confused by the sight of them working without being teleguided.



“President Buhari respects institutions and does not interfere with their work. He believes that institutions must be allowed to do their work and not be meddled with.



“The PDP is not used to this as, during its 16 years in government, it employed government institutions as tools for bullying critics and silencing opposition.”



The group stated that President Buhari would not bastardise government institutions, and because of his respects for our Federalism, he would not interfere with the domestic affairs of States.

“President Buhari respects Nigeria as a constitutional Federation, he would not be found interfering with how States run their internal and domestic affairs. Events that have taken place in Kano State are purely local and domestic, he may have his opinion on them but would not in any way tacitly or overtly interfere with the way and manner the State manages its domestic affairs.



“This is in sharp contrast with the PDP, who throughout its 16 years in power employed draconian and unlawful tactics to impeach Governors, destroy institutions and remove National Assembly leaders who were not in good terms with the party leaders.”



The group stated that the era of the PDP administration was one marked with the lowest levels of respect for institutions and provided the worst models of governance.



“With the unfortunate and chaotic manner the PDP ran Nigeria in 16 years, we are not surprised it is finding it hard to appreciate good governance and institution building.”

President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to re-appoint Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is a masterstroke that will further stabilise the economy.

According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), the manner the Stock markets and analysts responded positively to the news of a second five-year term for the CBN governor is an indication of the correctness of the decision.

BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that the positive comments that trailed the decision showed that the President did not make a mistake in extending Emefiele’s tenure at Nigeria’s apex monetary authority.

“President Buhari came into office about a year into Emefiele’s tenure as CBN Governor, and though he could have found a reason to ease him out of office after inheriting an economy that was near comatose, he gave the former Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank the opportunity to prove himself.

“And as if the leash that was holding him back was removed when the All Progressives Congress (APC) came on board in 2015, the CBN Governor spear-headed a number of initiatives to put the country on a path of sustainable economic growth after it momentarily slipped into economic recession.

“So by handing Emefiele a second term, the President has shown that what matters to him is performance, not ethnic or religious consideration, contrary to the picture that opposition elements had painted to undiscerning Nigerians over the years, and also in the run-up to the 2019 elections.

“We are not surprised at the deluge of commendations from respected economists and financial analysts because we know President Buhari as an individual that considers capacity to perform and that is why he takes his time before taking decisions,” it said.

On what Emefiele did to deserve re-appointment, the pro-Buhari group pointed at the success story of the Anchors Borrowers Programme as one of the CBN’s major milestones under his watch.

This, it said, paved the way for the agricultural revolution that has since led to the reduction in rice import and has put Nigeria on the path of self-sustenance in rice production.

The group added: “After years of almost total dependence on imported rice from Thailand, the country now has hundreds of thousands of rice farmers who have benefitted from CBN support in terms of cash and farm inputs.

“At the last count, the programme has since 2015 disbursed N174.4bn to 902,518 farmers through 19 financial institutions and has created 2.8 million and 8.4 million direct and indirect jobs respectively.

“The CBN also introduced the Real Sector Support fund; a facility meant to provide cheap funding at not more than nine per cent interest rate to new projects in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.



“And like many analysts, we acknowledge that the Bank’s decision to stop importers of 41 items from having access to foreign currencies went a long way in shoring up the value of the Naira at a time the currency was threatening to go as high as 700 to a dollar. Also, the country’s foreign reserve under Emefiele's watch has risen progressively, compared to the pre-Buhari era when it was on a regular decline.

“We at BMO recognise that the Bank’s monetary policies have also ensured that inflation has been relatively tamed and we dare say that now that it is down to 11.25% as at March 2019, and 11.23 projected for April, Nigeria could have a single digit inflation rate in a matter of months."

The group expressed hope that Emefiele would repay President Buhari’s good gesture by doing far more than he has done in the last five years.

PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT BUHARI'S 2ND TERM INAUGURATION WILL BE A LOW-KEY AFFAIR

Being Text of a press conference addressed by the Hon Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at the State House in Abuja on Monday, May 13th 2019


President Muhammadu Buhari's inauguration for a second term on May 29,
2019, will be a low-key affair, as a number of the events slated for
the inauguration will now be held during the first observance of June
12 as the National Democracy Day

The decision to have a low-key inauguration for the President was taken at the meeting
of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, 8 May 2019.

However, invitations have been sent to all world leaders
to attend the ceremonies marking the observance of the Democracy Day
on June 12.

Since the first observance of June 12 as Democracy Day falls into an
election year, and as a measure to sustain June 12 as Democracy Day,
the celebration of the inauguration and the advancement of democracy
in the country will now take place on June 12. The country can ill-afford two major celebrations within a
two-week interval.

Details of the events slated for the two ceremonies will
be unveiled at a world press conference slated for May 20th in Abuja

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PRESS RELEASE

GOVT MUST SUPPORT THOSE WHO FUNCTION AT BOTTOM OF PYRAMID SAYS OSINBAJO
REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE HOMEGROWN SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME IN EKITI STATE, MAY 7TH, 2019

I am truly pleased to be here this morning at the flagging off of the Homegrown School Feeding Programme of Ekiti State.

As we are all aware, the Homegrown School Feeding Programme is one of the four components of the Social Investment Programmes of the Federal Government. The others, as you’ve been told, are the N-Power, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, GEEP, which includes TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni and Conditional Cash Transfers.

The Homegrown School Feeding Programme is one where the Federal Government provides one balanced meal a day to children in government primary schools.

But why do we provide the meals?

The most important reasons are; children in their growing years must be well fed. We have in Nigeria, a significant malnutrition problem. When a child suffers from malnutrition at an early age, they may become mentally stunted for life.

Secondly, surveys show that learning outcomes are significantly improved when children are not hungry while in school.

Thirdly, practically everywhere, the Homegrown School Feeding Programme has led to increased enrollment in schools and more regular attendance of children in schools.

Why do we describe our own School Feeding Programme as Homegrown? It is because we get all the ingredients for the food we serve the children from farms in the State so that farmers are empowered and we also engage the cooks locally, especially women living around the school area.

Today as you’ve heard from His Excellency the Governor, Ekiti State becomes the 31st State in the National School Feeding Programme.

Every day now in 31 States, we feed 9,536,860 children in 56,604 schools; 101,913 cooks have been engaged and over 100,000 smallholder farmers linked to the programme, supply ingredients every week.

So every week, the School Feeding Programme procures, prepares and distributes 767 cows, 138,000 chickens, 7,260,862 million eggs, and 94 metric tons of fish.

Ekiti State clearly stands to benefit, both in terms of the health of the children in school, but also economically by virtue of the numerous linkages to jobs and opportunities.

From today as you’ve heard, 75,020 children in this State will be fed daily and over 2,000 cooks and support staff will be employed as part of this programme. All of them, of course, would be Ekiti State indigenes.

Let me commend the vision and farsightedness of Governor Kayode Fayemi, not just for ensuring the implementation of this programme, but also for supporting all the other Social Investment Programmes of the Federal Government.

Today, Ekiti State has 10,563 young men and women employed under the N-Power Programme, 9,760 beneficiaries of the MarketMoni loans and 43,701 TraderMoni beneficiaries.

In addition, there are 3,125 beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme. This is in addition to what the State Government is doing.

Governor Fayemi’s support is not surprising, because he is one of those who clearly understands the importance of these programmes in lifting millions of our people out of poverty.
In his first term in office, he was one of those who pioneered cash transfers to the elderly in the sum of N5,000 a month and several other schemes which are very similar to what we have under our Social Investment Programmes today.

A fundamental pillar of President Buhari’s economic thrust is that the millions who function at the bottom of the economic pyramid; the smallholder farmers, the petty traders, and artisans, including the unemployed, must be supported by the State and the government to improve their capacity to fend for themselves and their families and contribute to the socio-economic development of society.

It is this bottom-up approach to economic planning and policy that informs our consistency in asking the question, how many jobs will this create whenever government projects or programmes are proposed? Because it is important that government programmes and projects create opportunities, especially for those who are unemployed.

The Next Level means that we will increase the scope and numbers of these important programmes. We will increase the scope of the N-Power programme, we will be employing more people, more young men and women from this State, we will increase the scope of the TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni loans to beneficiaries in this State. We will also be increasing the number of those receiving cash transfers. That is the Next Level!

Once more, let me congratulate the Governor, government and people of Ekiti State on the launch of the Ekiti Kete Homegrown School Feeding Programme.

God bless Ekiti State.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Released by:
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
8th May 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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


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

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

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

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


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


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

Contrary to the fake news that Boko Haram members receive as much as $3000 daily as against what Nigerian troops receive, the true situation is that the insurgents are in disarray, lacking in supplies, foodstuffs and logistics.

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a press statement in Abuja said that the current unenviable state of the terrorist is due mainly to the renewed offensive by the Nigerian military.

In the statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Casidy Madueke, the group said reports emanating from the theater of war indicate that the terrorist have being decimated and incapable of committing atrocities like before.

“Obviously these deficiencies do not support the reckless views expressed in some quarters about the lucrative pay of the insurgents. A terrorists group that is buffeted with hunger and starvation can definitely not be in a position to withstand the unrelenting bombardment by the Nigerian military.

“We also note that based on the renewed firepower of the Nigerian military, the Boko Haram terrorists are now scattered and scampering for their own safety, as survival has become almost impossible. Dozens of the insurgents were recently killed by Nigerian troops within the Kimba-Sabon Gari-Damboa axis in Borno State.”

The group therefore commended the Nigerian military for their commitment towards eradicating the scourge of insurgency in the North-East of the country, in line with the policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

“Presently the Boko Haram Insurgents are suffering from the depletion of their number of fighters following the ceaseless bombardment of their enclaves by the Nigerian military, with the air support by the Nigerian Air Force.

“We therefore appeal to Nigerians to disregard the rumours being peddled about Boko Haram terrorist receiving mouth-watering pay. This is a huge joke taken too far by the unpatriotic sympathisers of the notorious sect, and meant to cause disaffection in the country. We also urge the military not to relent but to sustain their tempo of activities in the North East with the Operation Lafiya Dole.”

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar lacks pro-poor reasoning and thus cannot appreciate efforts at alleviating poverty through programmes that empower small-scale traders, like the Trader Moni Scheme, says the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO).

In a statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, its Chairman and Secretary respectively, the group responded to Atiku Abubakar's claim in his petition at the Presidential Election Tribunal, that the Trader Moni Programme amounted to vote-buying and lacked budgetary backing.

According to the group, the former Vice President, and one of the losers of the 2019 Presidential elections, is scornful of poor people, which is why he is inattentive to the fact that the programme was aimed at providing collateral and interest-free loans to small scale traders.

“Atiku's contempt for the poor renders him unable to understand and appreciate the Buhari government's policies and programmes aimed at making their lives better. It is not surprising, as Mr Abubakar spent the better time of his tenure as Vice-President making the lives of Nigerians miserable. As Vice President, he established his private University which no average Nigerian can afford, and at a time lecturers at public universities were on strike.

“Perhaps this despise has only worsened with the fact that the Nigerian masses overwhelmingly voted against him and his anti-poor policies in the recently concluded elections, while voting for President Muhammadu Buhari, a man who stands with and for them.”

The group highlighted that: “The Trader Moni Programmes are soft loans to small scale traders. They are expected to pay back. The 10,000 Naira is meant to provide extra capital for these small scale traders to expand on their small businesses, buy more goods to sell, and then pay back within six months. After repaying this N10,000, they are now entitled to N15,000, which when they repay, makes them eligible to N20,000, then N30,000, up to N100,000.

“Government had over time concentrated its efforts and policies on the welfare of the elites, the minority - who are already well to do - while neglecting the majority, poor Nigerians, by not creating policies that empower them directly and indirectly.”

BMO further noted that: “the President Buhari administration believes that the welfare of the poor is as important as that of the elites and thus they must be catered for as well.”

The group noted that with these facilities, low-income traders are able to access more funds to boost their capital and gradually expand their businesses, adding
that the Trader Moni Programme had received legislative blessing in the budget as it was under the Social Investment Programmes which had its budget presented and defended under that of the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

“Trader Moni is a part and parcel of the President Buhari’s administration’s Social Investment Programmes which has followed proper budgetary procedure in its implementation. In fact, the Programmes were approved by the Saraki and Dogara-led National Assembly, which hailed it as the largest form of social investment in the continent. It is thus a figment of Atiku’s imagination that the programme has no legal backing.

“But we are not surprised, Atiku is a master of badly scripted tales that have no place in reality.”

“A man who had told Nigerians that he wanted to sell NNPC - Nigeria’s major revenue source - to his friends -would find it hard to understand Trader Moni. His mind is engineered towards cronyism and satisfying his elite friends alone.”

The group went further to recall that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo was, a few days ago, in Anambra and Ebonyi States to monitor and assess progress of the Trader Moni Scheme in the two states.

“Is there any election coming soon, that the Vice President is going to purchase votes for? None! Atiku’s suggestion that the programmes are vote-buying schemes are not just baseless and unreasonable, they are cheap lies,” the group added.

President Muhammadu Buhari should get all the accolades for the release of a Nigerian, Miss Zainab Aliyu by the Saudi Arabian authorities, according to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO).

It will be recalled that Miss Aliyu, a student of Maitama Sule University, Kano was detained in Saudi Arabia where she had travelled to for the Islamic lesser hajj. The young Nigerian was alleged to be in possession of banned substances, an offence punishable by beheading in Saudi Arabia

In a statement by the Chairman and Secretary of the organisation, Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke respectively, BMO noted that barely 24 hours after the President issued the directive to his aides to ensure her release, Miss Aliyu was released. Investigation by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had earlier found out that she was innocent of the alleged crime, consequent upon which she was released to the Nigerian Mission in Saudi Arabia.

The group said the action of the President demonstrates that he considers Nigerians all over the world, irrespective of the place and status, as deserving of the welfare and protection of government, especially where their innocence is established.

“Times without number, President Buhari has demonstrated his leadership and steadfastness in responding to issues that affect the welfare and security of Nigerians both within and outside the country. It is therefore not a surprise to us that he quickly issued a directive to the Attorney-General to secure the release of Zainab Aliyu, immediately the matter was brought to his notice.”

While commending the President for his prompt intervention, the group calls for the immediate prosecution of members of the cartel that planted and tagged the banned substance in Zainab Aliyu’s name.

BMO describes the action of the cartel as the height of man’s inhumanity to man especially knowing that the result of their action is outright death.

“Apart from ensuring that every single individual involved in this heinous crime is given the maximum sentence prescribed by law, upon conviction, so as to serve as deterrent to others, the relevant authorities must extend their investigations to ensure that there are no other innocent Nigerians suffering similar fate in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere.

“It is barbaric that a group of people who know that countries like Saudi Arabia stipulate death sentence for any traveller found with banned substance, yet still went ahead to plant the substance in a bag that is not her’s, and tagged it to her name.

“It did not even matter to these people that the said girl is innocent. They were only interested in the benefit they would derive if the baggage had scaled through to its intended destination.”

BMO therefore called on Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of nationalism and let change truly begin with them.

“Apart from the evil of implicating a fellow Nigerian in crime she knows nothing about, it pays no one to involve in any form of crime, especially one in a foreign country where the penalty is capital punishment.

MTN LISTING ON NSE, ANOTHER BOOST FOR THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY - BMO



Telecoms giant MTN's willingness to transform from a private company to a publicly traded company will enhance both domestic and international investors' confidence in the Nigerian Stock Market.



According to BMO in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the decision by MTN to free up to 35% of its share holdings to Nigerian investors through listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange is a welcome and worthy decision by the international telecommunications giant. “This will not only empower domestic investors but will enhance the robustness of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, create new telecoms asset class and catalyze a telecom index for direct participation by investors in Nigeria.”



The Pro-Buhari group noted that Nigeria is undoubtedly the largest telecommunications market in Africa and has continuously rewarded MTN with high returns than in any of its operational jurisdictions across the globe. Despite some regulatory sanctions, MTN in 2018, recorded a 17.2% growth, it is just commendable that MTN has decided to share prosperity with Nigerians.



"By its recent transformation of its corporate nomenclature to MTN PLC, preparatory to being listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, MTN has not only shown commitment to the localization of the markets it operates in, but it has also reaffirmed its long term dedication to expanding investment opportunities to Nigerians. This will also serve as a strong impetus to international investors to direct investments to the country, as a result of the compelling optics of reliability and trade-worthiness so generated thereby," the group added.

NISER DG responds to Sahara Reporters story on fraud allegations.


Official statement and rejoinder to Sahara Reporters' false allegations leveled against the DG, NISER

It has come to the attention of the National Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) the report by Sahara Reporters, an Online Tabloid, published on the 23rd of April 2018, with spurious allegations leveled against the institute and the Director General by unknown persons.

It is pertinent to state that all of the allegations in the Sahara Reporters' publication are false and baseless, and should be disregarded by the public.

One wonders why Sahara Reporters would allow its medium to be used for such irresponsible journalism. Their reporter did not make a serious attempt at "hearing the other side" or investigating the real facts of the case before publishing unfounded allegations.

More surprising is that Sahara Reporters chose to drag the good name of Nigeria’s Vice President into this false narrative and biased reportage, simply as clickbait, and in bad taste.

In my position as Director General of the Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER), I am constrained to respond to these baseless charges.

As to the false allegations, these are the facts:

Unlike the baseless claims in the report, that the DG sold three 500KV electricity generators each valued at 30 million Naira for the sum of N700,000; as of today, the two working 500KV generators have not been sold and remain on the NISER premises.

In addition, the 500KV generator which was sold was purchased in 1987 (30 years old) and have not worked since 2011. The pre-auction valuation of all generators was done according to Federal Government guidelines by the Federal Ministry of Works. However, the auction price was N1.7 million not N700,000 as claimed by Sahara Reporters.

Other generators sold in the past year were sold as scrap. Three of which were purchased in 1993. One of these generators, which was donated as project equipment, was so old that no record of their dates of purchase existed. Total revenue realized from the 2018 auction of unserviceable equipment was N4.7 million and proceeds of the sale domiciled with the Federal Government.

The process of sale of these generators followed government procurement guidelines to the letter and at no time was the DG part of the procurement process. (I have deliberately recused myself from any procurement process within the institute to avoid any slight hint of favoritism or bias).

The Vice President did not and has never defended me in any case of corruption. The case in question was defended by Kola Awodein and co. Incidentally I was found innocent on all charges and discharged and acquitted by a tribunal of three serving judges. All allegations were found to have been fabricated by political opponents.

The N500,000 research fieldwork grant was not reduced to N50,000. This claim is false. After discovering incidences of abuse and data forgery, management put in place an arrangement where researchers now receive their grants in tranches. AT each point, the researcher must prove that he/she actually went out into the field to collect the data before receiving the next installment.

Researchers have not gone on international conferences only because of budgetary constraints. However, in 2018 researchers attended conferences in South Africa, Cote d’ivoire and Kenya all sponsored by the conference organizers. Furthermore, NISER has invested heavily in the retraining of research staff within NISER some of whom went on to support the Minimum wage macroeconomic modelling exercise.

No research professor has resigned his appointment in NISER (The claim in the report is a complete fabrication).

I did not refuse Sahara Reporter’s request for a discussion. I asked that the request be put in writing for record purposes and that my accusers be identified. Surprisingly, one hour 30 minutes after the reporter's discussion with my secretary (I never did speak to them), their article was published.


Background and context

For the records, NISER was established in 1950 (not 1906) as WISER (West African Institute of Social and Economic Development). At independence in 1960, WISER became NISER relocating to the university of Ibadan and later moved to its own premises in the early seventies. Government, recognizing the critical role that NISER was mandated to play in economic development, that the institution was in a state of disrepair and for some time had suffered neglect and underinvestment, determined to reposition the agency for the benefit of the country.

In July 2017, when I assumed office, NISER an institution set on a small campus akin to a university, lacked running water, had no internet services and was receiving 4 hours of power a day from the public grid. The institution had lost its position on the global Think Tank rankings. At a point in its history, NISER ranked in the top one hundred Think tanks in the world. Presently, it is not ranked in the top 100 research institutes in Africa and is not certainly recognized in the world.
Research standards had declined and output was so low that there were only 8 publications on the website in 5 years. My mandate was to reposition the institute, restore the standards of scholarship and reestablish its lost glory.

Our story of positive change and development:
Since I assumed office as DG we have, in spite of federal government budgetary and funding constraints, put in place running water, instituted High speed broadband internet services campus wide and put a generator in the central building where the accounts, administration director of research and the DG’s offices are housed. The proposed sale of the giant generators was part of an optimization program, meant to provide funds to power the research buildings in a sustainable manner since the institute could not afford to fuel such huge generators.

Research standards have been strengthened and are now being rigorously enforced, and strict criteria for promotion reestablished. Government has provided initial funding for the physical renovation of the campus to begin. This process is being conducted is strict adherence to federal government procurement guidelines.

It is clear that any process of change this ambitious is bound to have detractors. Those members of staff of the institute who were invested in the status quo will be aggrieved by the disruptions and will fight back.

The label that I am “Osinbajo’s man”, meant to disparage me, is one that I wear with great pride. It is a privilege and indeed an honour to serve under an administration that is led by a President and Vice President who stand for rectitude, integrity and vision and remain committed to making Nigeria better.




Dr. Folarin Gbadebo-Smith
Director General
Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research
April 25th, 2019

Buhari commissions state-of-the-art Yemi Osinbajo Primary School

President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned a state-of-the-art primary school that was named after Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Maiduguri, Borno state on Thursday.

The Yemi Osinbajo Primary School is one the completed projects by outgoing Borno governor, Kashim Shettima who has served two terms.

The President also commissioned a huge boarding primary school for children orphaned by Boko Haram. The school which is named after him is located at the Baga road by-pass in Maiduguri.

He also named projects after former Borno governors, Ali Modu Sheriff and Mala Kachallah.

Other projects commissioned by the President on his one-day visit include Industrial layout located in Njimtilo, Borno State University also located at Njimtilo and the Legacy Gardens Housing Estate named after Zanna Mustapha, a former late deputy governor of the state.

Others include ten Kilometres road In Pompamari, Aliko Dangote Mega Primary School and a General Hospital project.

After the commissioning, President Buhari commended Governor Shettima for the Mega Primary schools constructed for children orphaned by Boko Haram in the state and expressed hope that the orphaned children will surely get quality education and brighter future with the educational facilities.

“I am pleased to be in Borno state on a state visit. I sincerely appreciate the good people of Borno state and as well commend your loyalty and support at all times.

“Since my arrival in Borno state, I have commissioned different projects. I am highly impressed by Governor Shettima’s unique approach towards establishment of educational centers particularly at the primary level.

“As demonstrated by Governor Shettima, it is essential to give priority attention to primary school education in order to ensure formidable education at the tertiary level in line with international best practices.

“Borno state focusing on education is very imperative due to the peculiar security challenges posed by Boko Haram terrorists whose ideology is against girl child education.

“The terrorists in their crusades of malice against girl child education abducted Chibok Schoolgirls in Borno and Dapchi Schoolgirls in Yobe state and unfortunately, some of the girls are still in captivity but we won’t give up on them. As I have always said, as a Nigerian and as president, I assure all that we will do the needful to ensure that all Nigerians whose loved ones are in the hands of the Boko Haram terrorists regain their freedom”.

PRESS RELEASE

Minister Clarifies Statement On Cabinet's Valedictory Service, Dissolution

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said
the fact that the valedictory session of the federal cabinet will be
held on 22 May 2019 does not mean that the cabinet will be dissolved
on the same day.

Clarifying his earlier statement to State House correspondents after
Thursday's Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, the
Minister said it is the prerogative of the President to dissolve the
cabinet anytime he chooses.

''It is therefore inaccurate to extrapolate from my statement - that
the FEC valedictory session will hold on 22 May - to say that the
President will dissolve the cabinet on the same day. They do not mean
the same thing,'' he said.

Segun Adeyemi
SA To Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
25 April 2019

“2019 election was referendum on Saraki’s tenure as Senate President

No amount of political brinksmanship by Senate President Bukola Saraki can water down the damning verdict delivered by the people of Kwara State on his four-year stint as head of the legislative arm of government.
According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), this is clearer than any skewed self-appraisal Saraki may want to do to present himsel as "one of the best Senate Presidents in the nation’s political history" and, in the process, paint the Executive in bad light.
BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, that what Saraki got at the polls was instant judgement for his treachery to the All Progressives Congress (APC) throughout his tenure as Chairman of the National Assembly.
“We agree with the APC’s National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that the outgoing National Assembly leadership was antagonistic to President Muhammadu Buhari for the better part of its tenure.
“His predecessor David Mark was in that office for eight years and hardly was there a time he was openly confrontational against the late President Umaru YarAdua or former President Goodluck Jonathan of the same political party, except when he accused the Jonathan administration of shielding the former Pension Reform Task Team leader Abdulrasheed Maina from prosecution and issued an ultimatum to the then President to break all links with the controversial civil servant.
“Not surprising, Benue State people rewarded Mark with what looked like an indefinite Senate tenure in recognition of his contribution to an excellent Executive-Legislature relations, until he opted against a return to the upper chamber.
“This cannot be compared to the blatant rejection of Saraki and every single one of his minions who stood for different elective positions only a few weeks ago in a state that he had an almost total control of for about 16 years.
“If this is not a just reward delivered by his immediate constituents for his antagonistic and self-centred leadership of the Senate, we don’t know what it is, especially as even a neophyte knows that all politics is local,” it said.
The group noted that Saraki’s response to Tinubu’s position showed that indeed the Senate under him was bent on imposing a ‘noxious, reactionary and self-interested legislation on the nation.’
BMO said: “In an apparent bid to paint the Executive bad, Saraki, through his media aide, had argued that President Buhari sent only 11 bills to the National Assembly in four years.
“But he also shot himself in the foot, nay,7 feet, by admitting that only two of the bills had been passed as at April 22! Two Executive bills passed in almost 4 years while more than 200 private members bills were passed within the same period!
“At least 26 bills passed by the Senate were of course rejected by the President for several reasons. These include the Peace Corps Bill which several senators including the leadership were believed to have backed for selfish reasons.
“We also know that the President initially rejected the Electoral Act (amendment bill) because the lawmakers left out the Smart Card Reader, aside from the very many errors and the ‘landmines’, including electronic transmission of results so close to election date”.
BMO added that all these happened because the National Assembly in general and the Senate in particular did not have the benefit of a self-less leadership.
"Aside from indulging in subterfuge, the Senate had the misfortune of having a President who would readily abandon his duty post or shut down the upper chamber at his whims and caprices.
“At other times, he would prefer to play the role of a bagman to a failed Presidential candidate as they gallivant around the world cooking up what is now famously known as the Dubai strategy which ultimately collapsed and cost him his only claim to fame.
“So there was really no time for the Senate President to concentrate on the job, to the extent that under his watch, National Assembly staff shut down the Legislative complex on more than one occasion, and also threatened to prevent the presentation of the 2019 budget in December last year if their demands were not met.
“And when it was time for what turned out to be a referendum on the tenure of Saraki and his co-travellers in the Senate, the ever-discerning Nigerian voting public ensured that only one out of the multitude of senators who joined him to move to the PDP was re-elected".

WHY AISHA DESERVES PRAISE FOR BUHARI UNIVERSITY IDEA-BMO

Wife of the President Aisha Buhari deserves commendation in her bid to set up a university that would cater for the education of women and girls, especially in the educationally disadvantaged North Eastern region of Nigeria.



The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) believes the negative comments on the initiative could only have resulted from poor perception and mis-understanding of the objective behind the planned institution.



In a statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, its Chairman and Secretary respectively, BMO noted that those "persons and groups making derisive comments against the initiative of the Wife of the President, do not understand her motive, the concept of the university and the personality of the Wife of the President; and thus were spilling uninformed comments on a matter that required simple common sense.



“The Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari chose to set up a University which she has said would be named after her husband, Muhammadu Buhari. Some have mistaken this charitable venture to be as previous non-charitable endeavours by a former President and his Vice“.



“It is important to note that Mrs Aisha Buhari is embarking on this as a private citizen as she has no official capacity constitutionally recognised. She is using the goodwill of her position to pool resources to invest in education that would be affordable to Nigerians.



“Mrs Aisha Buhari would not be exploiting state resources to set up this university, she has no such funds as well to set it up. It would be funded, according to her, by donations.



“The Wife of the President is motivated to set this up by her innate charitable nature and selflessness. She is well known to be a philanthropist. Her pet project, the Future Assured has touched the lives of thousands of Nigerians across the country.”



BMO noted that this university, which targets women and the girl child, would be specialised in Science and Technology, and would, unlike those established by a former President and his Vice, be affordable and accessible to the everyday Nigerian.



The group noted that the Mrs Aisha Buhari has always been an independent minded woman, with a strong will and passion for what she believes in, and if she believes that an intervention in Education is necessary, and she is willing to pool resources to improve the lives of poor Nigerians, she should be encouraged.



“Mrs Buhari has a strong passion for women and girls. She is concerned about their education. She believes that all that is needed to give them the necessary education must be done, and she is doing that by seeing to the setting up of a university that would make access to education for them easier.



“President Buhari remains committed to the funding of public education in the country. And reports by some academics suggesting that his wife’s desire to set up a university suggests otherwise, is rather senile and illogical.



“The President Buhari administration has shown utmost commitment to funding education. The Tertiary Education Fund under President Buhari disbursed N134 Billion Naira in intervention funds, in 2018 alone, to universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.



“We have also seen the President Buhari administration disburse 20 Billion Naira to public universities for their revitalisation, in 2018. Another 25 Billion Naira would be disbursed in 2019.



“It is thus unfortunate for anyone to question the commitment of the Buhari administration to improving Nigeria’s academic landscape because his wife is seeking to establish a charitable university to be named after him.



“In fact, the efforts of Mrs Aisha Buhari are only in line with boosting more participation in the academic sphere and creating more avenues for learning for Nigeria’s population. This should be encouraged, not derided as some vested interests seem bent on doing".



BMO noted that efforts of the Buhari administration in improving learning conditions have seen to the significant decline in the number of out-of-school children from 13 Million to 10 Million.



It further stated that the efforts of philanthropists like Mrs Aisha Buhari are needed to further reduce this number to zero.

Leave Osinbajo Out Of Your Losses - ISD Cautions Labour Party

The Initiative to Save Democracy has asked the Labour Party, Ogun State Branch to leave the Vice President out of its loss and focus on more concrete issues as it presents it case to the State Election Tribunal.

Mr James Akinloye, the President of the Group in a statement shared to journalists condemned what he called “petty and unscrupulous comments” by the Chairman of the Labour Party where he claimed that the Vice President had a hand in the disbandment of the Justice Chinwe Onyeabo led Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in the State.

“I was dumbfounded to see such a statement credited to the Chairman of a party. It did not come from some local political tout who had remixed some beer parlour gist, but it came from a Party Chairman. That was low, petty and not the kind of discuss we expect in our political space.” Mr Akinloye noted.

“Such behaviour from a political party is simply irresponsible. It smacks of indecent communication and a lack of understanding of governance and politics.”

“The Initiative to Save Democracy notes that asides the fact that such is untrue, it smacks of ignorance of procedure. One which a Party Chairman should be well grounded on. It is imperative that our political party leaders are well grounded on the system, else how can they change it or improve on it.”

The group went further to state that such a claim by the Labour Party Chairman was an insult to the readers and fell far below reasonable arguments.

The group advised the Party and its leadership to focus more on presenting a robust case if it had any to prove its matter before the tribunal and stop feeding the public with fake news.

“The Vice President is not on that level. He is a renowned democrat, a technocrat per excellence, an academician, and a legal luminary. It is never in his character to stoop low to thwart democratic processes. Far from it - he has spent his career building institutions. Keep him away from your uncouth attention seeking comments.” The statement read.

PRESS RELEASE

FG Condoles With Kajuru Attack Victims, Assures of Stepped-up Security
Nationwide

The Federal Government has condoled with the families of the two
persons, a Nigerian and a Briton, who were killed in Friday's attack
on the Kajuru Castle Resort, a popular resort in Kaduna State, promising
that the killers will be apprehended and brought to justice.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information
and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, also assured that the security
agencies are doing everything possible to ensure that the three
persons who were kidnapped in the attack are released unharmed.

The Minister said the dastardly attack that led to the death of Ms
Faye Mooney, a British aid worker, and Mr. Matthew Oguche, a
Nigerian, while visiting the popular resort, is a setback to efforts
to promote tourism in the country.

''We commiserate with the families and friends of Ms Mooney and Mr.
Oguche, and wish to assure that the security agencies will leave no
stone unturned in their efforts to apprehend the killers and bring
them to justice,'' he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said the Federal Government has recently stepped up
efforts to stem the wave of violence and banditry in some parts of the
country, through better intelligence gathering and increased collaboration
by the security agencies.

He said the efforts have started paying off, as the level of violent
attacks, banditry and kidnappings is being reduced nationwide.

''The government will not relent until all parts of the country are
made safe for all, whether they are tourists, business people or
ordinary Nigerians who just want to live their lives under an
atmosphere of peace and security,'' the Minister said.

Segun Adeyemi
SA To Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
23 April 2019

CHOOSE EITHER THE COURT OR THE MEDIA FOR YOUR PETITION, BMO TELLS ATIKU...flirting with both is contempt of court

The Buhari Media Organization(BMO) has accused the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar of showing disrespect for the judiciary by prosecuting his election petition in the media, rather than at the Presidential Election Petition tribunal.

According to the group, this is targeted at whipping up unnecessary sentiment against the Courts.

BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that what the former Vice President has been doing is prejudicial.

"We have observed this pattern of disrespect for the judiciary by one of the losers of the 2019 Presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, who has embarked on a media hearing of his petition even after his lawyers went to court.

"Nigerians have regularly been fed with snippets from the 139-page document on the pages of traditional media and their online counterparts, to the extent that it seems like the Tribunal is about to take a decision.

"We consider it as a deliberate act of contempt for the panel and a disregard for the judiciary that should not be encouraged or tolerated.

"It shows that he is more interested in whipping up public sentiments through the media than prosecuting the case".

The group urged him to act in a statesmanly manner and allow the Election Petition Tribunal do its job rather than resort to self-help.

"If Atiku believes that his claims would be better served in the media we call on him to withdraw the petition and focus on prosecuting it in the media as he is already doing prejudicially.

"The alternative is for him to face his case squarely in court, except he does not trust the members of the panel," it said.

BMO noted that this is however not the first time that Atiku Abubakar would be taking steps that are not in line with the nation's law".

"Only a few weeks ago, the country was agog with reports of how the former Vice President engaged US attorneys with a view to lobbying the American Congress and the US President to recognise him as President of Nigeria.

'This happened just about the time his team of lawyers filed his petition, and alhough the Atiku camp and the PDP denied the deal, fact checkers have proved that there is indeed a contract between him and two US lobbyists.

"Many Nigerians have described the act as treasonable felony and desperation taken to ridiculous extent, but the latest act of leaking details of his petition to the media on almost a weekly basis shows the extent the former Vice President is willing to go", the statement added.

BMO to Christian leaders: Stop embarrassing Christianity

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has dismissed comments attributed to the National Christian Elders Forum on the conviction of Justice Walter Onnoghen by the Code of Conduct Tribunal as an embarrassment to Christendom. The goup said the infractions the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria was found guilty of were not done on behalf of Nigerian Christians.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said that Solomon Asemota’s claim that it was a jihad against Christianity amounts to an insult to all Christians.
“We are shocked to read a statement issued on behalf of the National Christian Elders Forum by a senior lawyer of Chief Asemota’s calibre, who was bent on whipping up religious sentiment against Justice Onnoghen’s conviction.
“It is a reprehensible attempt by a senior citizen, ostensibly on behalf of other elder statesmen of his ilk, to make it look like Christianity was the target of the conviction when it was clear that the law was followed to the letter.
“Where were the members of this amorphous group when the out-going CJN put up all sorts of obstacles to frustrate the system, including suspending the statutory meeting of the National Judicial Council (NJC) before his suspension from office by President Muhammadu Buhari on the basis of a valid CCT order paved way for the NJC to take up the matter?
“We know that Chief Asemota has enough clout to have an insight into the NJC’s recommendation on Justice Onnoghen, even though it has not been formally published, but the unchristian-like bitterness for the President would not allow him and his group to accept the truth.
“It is therefore an insult to the intelligence of all Christians in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country like Nigeria for an individual or group to seek to paint their skewed position as that of millions of people of the same faith,” it said.
BMO urged Nigerian Christians not to be conned by a group of political elites who have never seen anything good in the Buhari administration and are always looking at playing divisive politics.
The group said: “Playing up our faultlines as a nation is a wicked and regular past time of a group of elite that benefitted from the misdemeanours of the past. They did it in the run-up to the election but failed to get Nigerians to toe their line as President Buhari received a second term mandate with an overwhelming majority.
“Now they are bent on using the CCT ruling as a ploy to advance their private war against a President who had in several ways denied them the abuse of state privileges that they had taken for granted.
“When a group of elders insist we look at things that serve equity from a religious point of view, they are merely inciting the common Nigerians to rise and serve their own primordial selfish interests.
“We dare say that what the Tribunal found Justice Onnoghen guilty of are what Christianity abhors; desecration of the temple of justice, dishonesty, lies, and above all, abuse of office.
“People who claim to be elders of the Christian faith in Nigeria should be condemning such acts and praying for the former CJN rather than making comments that are embarrassing to the Church.”
BMO also urged Nigerians to be wary of more attempts by similar groups to play up divisive sentiments over the fate of the convicted former Chief Justice of Nigeria.

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

NORTHEAST BETTER OFF UNDER PRESIDENT BUHARI – PRESIDENCY

In an action that broke the old tradition of staying above politics, the Catholic Bishop of Yola Diocese, Rt. Rev. Fr. Stephen Mamza delivered a homily in which he spoke angrily against President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he described as “sleeping on duty as Commander-in-Chief.” This is not a fair comment.

There is so much that has changed in the past three to four years in and around Yola, and the Catholic Church in particular that a true assessment would show that but for the Change Administration of President Buhari, things would have continued the way they were, or even get worse. These could not have happened if a Commander-in- Chief was asleep.

Bishop Mamza was, and is still a strong member of the Adamawa Peace Initiative, API, composed of religious and community leaders which did the lovely work housing and feeding 400,000 displaced people from Northern Adamawa and Borno States in 2015. The API also did the extraordinary work of easing tensions between Muslims and Christians during that period and ensured that both groups did not turn on one another based on suspicion.

As widely reported by the local and international press, in the premises of St. Theresa’s Cathedral where Rev. Mamza ministered, there were more than 1,500 IDPs, mostly women and children on whom the church administered food rations and issued bags of maize, cooking oil and seasoning. We are truly touched and very grateful for the work that the Bishop and the others had done in that difficult period.

Now that Boko Haram has been degraded, the more than 400,000 displaced people absorbed by the Adamawa community have all gone back to Borno State and to those council areas in northern Adamawa.

In addition to the capital,Yola, the towns of Michika, Madagali and Mubi which had been occupied by Boko Haram during their military advances have since been retaken by the Nigerian military, whose personnel are also clearing litters of Boko Haram’s carnage and are, through the support of the administration as well as local and international partners, rebuilding roads and bridges, power lines, burnt schools, markets, destroyed churches and mosques.

Without an iota of doubt, the Northeast is better off with President Buhari than it was under the previous administration. That should explain the massive turnout of voters in the region, in spite of threats to life and property, to vote for the return of the President for a Second Term of four years.

Sadly, one of the realities of today’s Nigeria is that it easy to blame President Buhari for the violence all around us. Community leaders are too scared to blame the warlords and the sponsors of killings we live with because they fear for their own lives.

What is happening in several communities racked by inter-ethnic and religious violence is arising from the refusal of community leaders to point at known criminals in their midst for the law enforcement agencies to act against them. They rather blame President Buhari for their woes.

It is indeed an irony that in the week that Bishop Mamza was speaking, another Bishop with a known commitment to peace, and results to show for his work in neighbouring Plateau State, is being dispatched to go to Taraba, Adamawa and Benue States to work in collaboration with security agencies in mending broken inter-communal relationships.

This senseless violence can never be condoned by the administration and we sympathize with the families of those who lost loved ones as well as those injured. The administration’s intense security efforts and peace building will not only continue, but will expand in response to such explosions of violence in the country.

Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
April 22, 2019

MINIMUM WAGE: BMO HAILS BUHARI ‘PEOPLES PRESIDENT’

The Buhari Media Organization has commended the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign into effect the thirty thousand Naira minimum wage for Nigerian workers.



In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO noted that President Buhari has consistently shown that he is the workers' friend and that he cares about the welfare of the ordinary people. The group hailed Buhari :‘The Peoples Pressident’.



"The President's decision to sign the upward review of the minimum wage even after the election, shows that he isn't an ovation-seeking President, but rather a pragmatic leader who wanted to ensure that there is budgetary provision to accommodate the increase in the minimum wage."



The group thanked all those who ensured the tripartite structure of State, Federal Government, and Labour Union reach an agreement that would increase the purchasing power of the people.



"The impact on the economy is tremendous as it directly serves as a buffer against food inflation. Through the increase in the minimum wage, consumer spending increases.



"The economy is stimulated when workers’ salaries are improved and paid, an average Civil servant in Nigeria has about five dependents, so the trickle-down effect will reach their co-dependents", the group added.

PRESS RELEASE

Minister Woos Investors, Says Nigeria Economy's Outlook Positive

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the
Buhari Administration has laid the necessary groundwork for the growth
of the nation's economy, and urged investors to take advantage of the
government's efforts by investing massively in Nigeria.

The Minister, who made the call in London on Thursday, at a breakfast
meeting with investors, lawyers, the business community and diplomats
with ties to Nigeria, said the country - as the largest economy and a
political powerhouse in Africa - represents a highly attractive market
and investment partner.

''Not only is our administration positive about our economy's outlook,
but the $5 billion in foreign investment that we have secured after
the recent elections signals that you, the international community,
share our positive outlook and confidence in the administration's
policy,'' he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said in the past four years, President Muhammadu
Buhari has led the nation's economy from recession to growth through
his Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), in addition to
diversifying the economy.

''While there is no denying that oil remains an important part of the
economy, we have diversified, with real GDP growth being driven by the
expansion of non-oil activities,'' he said, adding that the service
sector, for example, is responsible for 54% of GDP and has become the
primary driver of growth for the economy.

The Minister said Nigeria's successful battle against insecurity and
corruption has made the country an advocate for transparency and
accountability in Africa, while further strengthening its economy.

On the recent general elections, he said the re-election of President
Buhari is a validation of the fact that Nigerians recognized the
change and transformation that the administration has brought to the
country.

He however described as disappointing and deeply irresponsible the
attempts by the opposition to discredit the election and undermine the
democratic choice of the Nigerian people, saying local and
international observers have described the elections as credible.

''We will not be distracted from our vision and we hope that the
opposition will join us in shaping a better future for Nigeria, for
the benefit not only of the people of Nigeria but the region and the
continent,'' Alhaji Mohammed said.

The event is part of the ongoing visit of the Minister to the US and
the UK to meet with the international media, opinion molders and think
tanks.

The Minister, who was interviewed by the BBC, VOA, SKY TV, Al-Jazeera,
Washington Post, Reuters, The Economist, Financial Times and the
Africa Report, among others, also met with the Atlantic Council, the
Council on Foreign Relations and the international not-for-profit
corporation FINCA, all in Washington, DC.

Segun Adeyemi
SA To Hon Minister of Information and Culture
London
18 April 2019

Atiku And Tale Of The INEC Server, By Dr. Baba Musa Ahmed

I have always wondered how Abubakar Atiku came to believe that he won an election that was monitored from polling booth to polling booth in Nigeria, by foreign observers, newspaper reporters, online news media, bloggers and all manner of busybodies in Nigeria, and he lost by 3.9 million votes!

I think I now have a few ideas as to why he thinks he could fool us with that funny story or why maybe he himself may believe the story. Some people took money from him and told him that they could hack the INEC server and put in figures for him. Simple.

Atiku’s main argument in his election petition is that INEC’s server showed that he won the election by 1.6million votes. He also gave the details of the purported results from the server.

He claims that card readers were used to send the results electronically to the INEC server! Everyone saw just how ridiculous the figures were. Fortunately for truth, the lawyers are not good at maths.

So his lawyers didn’t see from the figures that the total votes of President Buhari and Atiku added up exactly to the total number of accredited voters! Meaning that there were zero votes for all other candidates, zero cancelled or invalid votes in all of the polling booths all over Nigeria! This should ordinarily be enough to throw out the petition without more and show Atiku that he has been caught out in his scam or he has been scammed.

But the PDP and Atiku are accustomed to 419 and propaganda. They now say that they will call Microsoft and Oracle ( how about Google and Huawei?) to show that the INEC server actually made him the winner of the election! How can this make any sense?

Firstly, we were all at our polling units on Election Day. Card readers were used to verify our voters cards. Then we voted. Votes were counted manually (by hand in our presence ) and entered into a form by the INEC officials. The forms were then signed by party agents. This is the authentic result.

Most observers and online reports posted these results. I have not heard that anyone who was at his polling booth on Election Day saw any INEC official inputting results on the card readers andposting them electronically to a server!
What Atiku and his PDP fellow travelers want to sell to us is that after the votes were counted and declared, they were then entered into the card readers and posted electronically on to the INEC server!

Question is: who did the postings? Did the party agents see what was being posted by the INEC officials? If in fact the INEC officials secretly posted the results, how do we know if they were the same results properly counted at the polling booths? Or was the posting done after collation at the local government and State collation centres? If so, who saw this happen? Did the party agents see what was being posted? Every thing done by INEC at the State and National Collation centres were transparent, in full view of cameras and live television. So when and why were these postings done secretly?

The truth of the matter is clear for all to see. There were no electronic posting of results from polling booths or collation centres.

What happened could be either of the following: Atiku was tricked to believe that there was an INEC server that could be accessed or hacked to post results favorable to him. He must have paid a lot for it. The fake results were posted.
As of Monday when Atiku was seeing the authentic results as they were brought forward by Returning Officers, Professors from different Universities announcing, Atiku started to complain that the results he had were different from those being announced!

Or perhaps, Atiku is trying to save face after a bruising defeat. He wants to cast as much doubt as possible by inventing a tale, a ridiculous tale that there is an INEC server that only he has access to and not surprisingly it contains information that he won the elections!

The only question to ask him is how did you access the server? If you have exclusive access to it, then the integrity of the server is in doubt. It means you could change figures as you wish! All told this is just too silly . Dear Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, it is time to go home. Cameroun?

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE

HOMEGROWN SCHOOL FEEDING NOW IN 30 STATES AS FG TARGETS MILLIONS MORE FOR SOCIAL INVESTMENT SCHEMES
*Over 12m Nigerians currently beneficiaries of Programmes

*9.5 million pupils now being fed under School Feeding programme

*1 million poorest households to benefit from Cash Transfer

*Next Level: 10m Nigerians to benefit from GEEP schemes, with 1 million new additions to N-Power in the offing


In continuation of its efforts to invest in the country’s human capital development, the Buhari administration has continued to make significant strides through its National Social Investment Programmes (N-SIP).

President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s NSIP, is aimed at empowering Nigerians and improving their livelihood through several initiatives.

Millions of Nigerians nationwide are currently benefitting from the different schemes under the N-SIP, which is the largest social welfare scheme in the history of the country.

Through its Conditional Cash transfer (CCT) scheme, the administration is supporting the most vulnerable in society, while developing a skilled workforce for economic productivity by providing jobs for millions of Nigerian youths through the N-Power programme, and improving the learning and cognitive skills of Nigeria’s children through the Home-Grown School Feeding programme (NHGSFP).

Also, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) provide financial support through micro-credit schemes to small traders and businesses at the bottom of the financial pyramid. Beneficiaries include petty traders, women cooperatives, youths, famers and agricultural workers.

Subsequently, in the Next Level of the Buhari administration, about 10 million Nigerians are expected to benefit from GEEP, which includes TraderMoni. MarketMoni and FarmerMoni. While the Cash Transfer scheme aims to reach one million poorest households, one million new beneficiaries are expected to be added to the N-Power scheme, arguably the largest job creation and youth employment scheme in Africa.

The administration’s National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), which has a target of reaching 12 million pupils, is currently feeding over 9.5 million public primary school (classes 1-3) pupils with one free, balanced and nutritious meal a day in 30 states nationwide; while it has empowered 101,913 cooks in these states.

The 30 states currently benefiting from the school feeding programme are: Anambra, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kogi, Sokoto, and Nasarawa.

Others include Taraba, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Plateau, Delta, Zamfara, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Niger, Katsina, Ondo, Edo and Gombe.

The HGSFP has not only helped to increase enrollment rates of pupils in these communities, it is also effectively tackling early year malnutrition, while improving the cognitive skills of children.

The School feeding programme has also provided sustainable income for local farmers, cooks, which has increased growth and productivity in the local economy.

As of March; 297,973 Nigerians in 20 states (including the Borno IDP camps) are current beneficiaries under the National Cash Transfer Policy Programme (Conditional Cash Transfer), which started in December 2017; with over 5,000 savings groups and cooperatives formed as a result.

The following states are currently receiving payment: Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, and Taraba.

The Conditional Cash Transfer is designed to deliver timely and accessible cash to beneficiary households and so enhance their capacity for sustainable livelihood. The programme provides beneficiaries - poor and vulnerable households - with a monthly transfer of N5,000 with the sole aim of taking them out of poverty.

In the same vein, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), which has the MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and TraderMoni schemes, currently has a combined total of over 1.7 million Nigerians benefiting from these schemes.

So far, since after the national and state polls, 30,000 minimum beneficiaries have been added to the TraderMoni scheme, which provides interest-free loans starting from N10,000 to petty traders nationwide and is payable within six months.

In addition, upon repayment of the N10,000 loans, some beneficiaries in some states, including Lagos, Osun, Borno, Ogun and Benue, have now started receiving the 2nd improved interest-free TraderMoni loan of N15,000.

Managed by the Bank of Industry, GEEP schemes provide financial support through micro-credit schemes to beneficiaries which include petty traders, women cooperatives, youths, famers and agricultural workers.

In the same vein, the Administration’s N-Power scheme, which is designed to provide jobs for unemployed young graduates, and is arguably the largest job creation and youth employment scheme in Africa, has currently engaged 500,000 youth graduates deployed to provide public health services in teaching, health, agriculture and tax and monitoring; and a further 200,000 non-graduates in training or attached to organisations as interns.

N-Power beneficiaries across the 36 states and the FCT are provided with a N30,000 monthly stipend, in addition to technology devices with relevant content for continuous learning. Many N-power beneficiaries have gone on to become entrepreneurs who are building successes in their chosen vocations.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
17th April, 2019.