₦airaland Forum

The allegations Bayo raised in his article was laced with roadside talks and had no substance of proof that linked the VP to the alleged Alpha Beta issue. As Attorney-General of Lagos State under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Osinbajo led significant reforms that improved the Lagos judiciary, which has been widely commended, up till this day. The VP’s diligence and dedication to public causes has not waned, just as his integrity and character remain exemplary and consistent. The reference to “Ade Ipaye, then Lagos State Attorney General now Osinbajo’s chief of staff, turning down the said FOI request because it did not apply to the states” also does not hold water as it proves nothing.

The author of the headlined article, Bayo Oluwasanmi, appears to be a tired opinion writer. Or else, how can one describe Mr. Oluwasanmi’s recent article, which was published by Sahara Reporters on Monday, 17th August 2020, other than that from a writer with a penchant to pen the ridiculous laced with mischief and obvious bias

The said writer wanted to give readers on the platform something to chew about, but he did not have anything of substance to write about, but regurgitated old articles and false allegations against the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. This is not the first time Bayo has authored spurious articles against Osinbajo, only this time, the emptiness of his missive was so loud that it was negligible. Even readers could tell its sorry rustiness from the debunked claims it rehashed. However, for the sake of setting the records straight, the said article needed a response.
Osinbajo’s loyalty to the service of his fatherland is something that has garnered praise from far and near, even from President Muhammadu Buhari himself. Trying to twist that for the aforementioned article failed woefully. As his deputy, it is expected that Osinbajo should stand by the President. What exactly is Bayo driving at? Also, the writer calling the President is ignorant and illiterate is reckless to say the least. No illiterate would have been able undergo academic and military training in Nigeria and the UK and then rise to become Major General in the Nigerian army.

In an attempt to generate clicks for Sahara Reporters, Bayo used the lies woven around RUGA and Alpha Beta as catch phrases on the headlines. Again, to set the records straight, the PUNCH report (July 13, 2019) which he claimed was an exhaustive investigation failed the major test of an informed investigative piece as it failed to prove the allegation against the VP.
When the said PUNCH story was published, Ocean trust Limited, the company that was reportedly linked to Alpha Beta Consulting Limited, debunked the allegation. It also wrote PUNCH asking them to retract the story in its entirety as it was false. The firm also emphasized that the Vice President was no longer involved in the activities of the firm since he resigned his membership of the firm after he was elected into office in 2015 “in line with international best practices.” So Osinbajo was no longer a partner and was not involved in the operations of Simmons Cooper as a shareholder. In other words, the VP had no link whatsoever in the allegations involving Ocean Trust Limited and Alpha Beta.

The author’s attempt at mischief by quoting a Presidency aide on Osinbajo’s assets declaration form was obvious. Even if Simmons Cooper was listed as a company in which Prof. Osinbajo had a stake in his 2015 asset declaration form, it is on record that Osinbajo had resigned his position as a partner upon assumption of Vice President in 2015.
Also, there is no connection in quoting an interested party who alleged that Alpha Beta owed the federal government N100bn in unpaid taxes spanning over 10 years. The writer went on to resurrect spurious allegation that was already deadwood on arrival. It was a waste of opinion space.
The allegations Bayo raised in his article was laced with roadside talks and had no substance of proof that linked the VP to the alleged Alpha Beta issue. As Attorney-General of Lagos State under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Osinbajo led significant reforms that improved the Lagos judiciary, which has been widely commended, up till this day. The VP’s diligence and dedication to public causes has not waned, just as his integrity and character remain exemplary and consistent. The reference to “Ade Ipaye, then Lagos State Attorney General now Osinbajo’s chief of staff, turning down the said FOI request because it did not apply to the states” also does not hold water as it proves nothing.
It obviously seemed that Bayo had a severe writer’s block, where writers are saturated to a point and are at a loss as to what to write about. After all, he rehashed old and discredited allegations, that if they were humans, they would have been tired of being over flogged needlessly by the likes of Bayo and Osinbajo’s misguided critics who keep failing at their mischievous rantings against the Vice President.
Under the Buhari administration, it is clear that issue bordering on corruption are not swept under the carpet, as was done in previous administrations, where endemic public sleaze and corruption thrived unabated. The administration’s fight against corruption is still ongoing, after decades of endemic corruption, it would take more than a few years to fix our society and rid it of the endemic monster. Apparently, that is lost on Mr. Oluwasanmi. Unlike his claim, history would be kind to Osinbajo and President Buhari for taking significant steps in improving the nation’s infrastructure, fighting corruption, restoring public confidence in government projects and pursuing the welfare of the citizenry.

http://saharareporters.com/2020/08/18/re-osinbajo-pastor-ruga-and-n100bn-alpha-beta-scam-fejiro-johnson

*Our children must know where they are coming from… Vision is important, so too is memory”

Though the reintroduction of history into the curriculum of primary and secondary schools across the country last year by the Federal Government received commendation from many, the decision was not just borne out of the need to restore the subject in schools but in recognition of its contribution to the socio-political, economic and cultural development of Nigeria, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Monday at the inauguration of the Nigeria History Fund by the James Adekunle Ojelabi Foundation. The fund is dedicated to, among other things, supporting history students with a scholarship scheme.

According to the Vice President, “when the Federal Government decided to reintroduce history into the curriculum across primary and secondary schools last year, it was a decision borne out of the recognition that first our children must know where they are coming from and have an understanding of the life that preceded them.

“History is far too essential for us to deprioritise. It encourages us as individuals to not restrict ourselves to thinking in the short-term, but to remember that we too are living histories.”

Continuing, Prof. Osinbajo said “…we cannot sure-footedly chart a course forward without understanding where we are coming from. Vision is important but so too is memory. Nation building requires us to develop both faculties of imagination and remembrance. Indeed, this stewardship of national memory is a cardinal civic obligation.

“The future of a Nigeria that works for all of us, regardless of religion or ethnicity, depends on full and accurate knowledge of our histories.”

Speaking on the role of history in harnessing Nigeria’s rich cultural diversity, Prof. Osinbajo said the nation’s diversity as a unique strength for promoting national development would not be realized without a thorough understanding of its different cultural practices and social norms which are embedded in history.

He said: “We are blessed to belong to a nation that possesses such a rich history of art, technology, trade, metallurgy, political administration among many fields of human endeavour but this bountiful inheritance is often underexplored and underappreciated.

“History is a vast reservoir of cultural, spiritual and social capital waiting to be mined by a generation that will not neglect the ancient landmarks of our odyssey as a people.

“Whilst our ethnic diversity is a great strength, one of the biggest challenges to nation-building is this same ethno-religious diversity which can also engender detrimental social conflict.”

Describing the Nigeria History Fund as a befitting tribute to the late historian, James Adekunle Ojelabi, the Vice President said “as black people, as Africans, as Nigerians, we must reclaim our histories and nurture academic environments that make that possible.”

Commending the late historian, Prof. Osinbajo said “…as someone for whom so much of his life was dedicated to ensuring that the stories of our past were given the attention they rightfully deserve, supporting history students with a scholarship scheme is a thoughtful tribute to his legacy. I am also delighted to hear that the fund will keep conversations alive about the importance of history for modern day Nigeria.”

In his remarks, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo of the Trinity House, Lagos, who was Guest Speaker at the occasion, underscored the importance of history in the development and affirmation of people and their communities.

The event which coincided with the first anniversary of the James Adekunle Ojelabi Foundation featured presentation of awards to deserving individuals, including notable historians, like Prof. Bolanle Awe, Prof. Banji Akintoye among others.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
17th August 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has given an assurance that Nigeria is making progress to reverse the United States suspension of the issuance of “immigrant visas” to Nigerian passport holders.
The President stated this on Thursday while receiving the report of the committee on Citizen Data Management and Harmonization chaired by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.
President Buhari in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, expressed delight that two out of the six areas of concern raised by the United States had been fully addressed.
The committee was set up in February this year to address issues that led to the U.S temporary visa restrictions on Nigerian passport holders.
The suspension, which came into effect on February 21, 2020, does not apply to other U.S visas such as those for official, business, tourism and student travel.
Commending the committee for its patriotic diligence in carrying out the assignment, President Buhari assured Nigerians and the international community of the timely implementation of the committee’s recommendations after due consideration.
‘‘I also note the progress made by Nigeria towards the removal of the visa restrictions as two out of the six areas of concern raised by the United States had been fully addressed, two are substantially satisfied while some progress is being made on the remaining two.
‘‘I am delighted that this progress, especially the uploading of Lost and Stolen Passport and Travel Documents has been acknowledged by the United States Government,’’ the President said.
The committee had among other things recommended the establishment of a National Criminal Information Management, fashioned after the INTERPOL model, and a National Criminal DNA Laboratory, to aid criminal investigation, administration of criminal justice as well as sharing of relevant information.
President Buhari noted that the implementation of these and other far-reaching recommendations as articulated in the Report will fully address all outstanding issues that led to the visa restrictions.
‘‘An effective Citizen Data Management System is critical for socio-economic planning, improved service delivery and good governance, as well as national and global security. It also has the over-arching benefit of enhancing integrity of the nation’s citizens’ identity instruments for the purpose of information sharing.
‘‘Accordingly, the Committee’s recommendations on the strategies for harmonizing existing databases, improving the infrastructure for the National Identity Database as well as a review of the supervisory mechanism of the National Identity Management Commission would be given serious consideration.
‘‘The implementation of the recommendations as estimated by the Committee would require enormous resources. In this regard, an Implementation Committee would be constituted to further study the recommendations and develop a workable implementation plan,’’ President Buhari said.
The President also pledged Nigerian Government’s commitment to sustaining the follow-up for the removal of the visa restrictions by the United States and developing a credible harmonized National Identity Data Management System.
President Buhari recalled that the Federal Government’s response to the temporary visa restrictions placed on Nigerian citizens by the United States in January this year, led to the setting up of the Committee to review the restrictions and develop systems and processes that would address the security concerns raised.
‘‘In consideration of the fact that the concerns raised cast doubts on the credibility of the nation’s citizen identity data management system, the scope of the Committee’s assignment was expanded to include strategies to harmonize the various citizen identity data held by different Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
‘‘I have gone through the highlights of the Report and must commend the Chairman and members of the Committee for painstakingly carrying out the assignment in spite of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘‘The recommendations as highlighted are capable of addressing the concerns raised by the US Government as well as lead to the development of a reliable national citizen identity data management system.’’ he said.
In his remarks, Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Committee on Citizen Data Management and Harmonization, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola recalled that the body was set up on February 3, 2020, to among others, review the visa restrictions imposed by the U.S and develop systems and processes that would address the security concerns raised.
Another mandate, the Minister said, was to review the status of Nigeria’s numerous citizen identification data, including biometrics, held by different ministries, departments and agencies, and propose strategies for the harmonization of same.
He happily reported that Nigeria had fully satisfied two of the six areas of concern raised by the U.S, two others substantially satisfied, and progress being made on the remaining two.
“It is our hope that the findings, strategies and implementation plans proffered, if fully implemented, will expedite the lifting of the visa restrictions while bequeathing to the nation an enduring identity management system,” the Minister said.

https://www.channelstv.com/2020/08/13/nigeria-is-making-progress-to-reverse-u-s-visa-restrictions-says-buhari

VP adds: “With tech innovation, democratization of law and justice now on fast-track”

Technology and the innovations it entail has defined a new way of life, taking technology away from the realms of luxury into the arena of everyday endeavours whether in the professions or in matters of lifestyle generally.
 
In fact, the advance of technology is now fast-tracking the democratization of law and justice in Nigeria, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
 
Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Thursday in his keynote at the Virtual Law Pavilion Technology Conference with the theme “A New Paradigm in Justice Delivery”. Also at the event, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed; the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Paul Usoro, SAN, and others addressed the theme of the 2020 Legal Tech Conference.
 
According to him, “No one believed the day would come when the Supreme Court would, as it has now done, endorse Virtual Court Proceedings. Or that the day will come when e-filing of court processes will be considered medically safer than physical filing of court processes.
 
“Today, even judges, especially older ones, will of course prefer virtual processes to in-person proceedings. Technology and the fourth industrial revolution, are no longer luxuries but they are the inevitable substructure of our new way of life.
 
“For the administration of justice system, change has surely come and I am personally excited to see how easily our entire judicial system is willingly adapting to innovation.”
 
Speaking further on the impact of technology, the Vice President said with technology and innovation, the democratization of law and justice is now on fast-track.
 
According to him, “Tech companies must now innovate even more. We must now have purpose-built virtual-proceedings software that take into account the various needs of trials and other court proceedings.
 
“There will be opportunities for retraining of judicial personnel, lawyers, and paralegal staff, the new normal calls for new skills and new ways of doing old things and doing away with many old habits.”
 
On the need for the entirety of Nigeria’s justice sector to embrace “the new normal”, the Vice President said though no one had predicted that a time would come when authorities would endorse virtual court proceedings, the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the adoption of technology for all court processes.
 
Referring to the Chief Justice of Nigeria at the event, the Vice President noted that “already, my Lord, the Chief Justice has set the example of adaptation to the new paradigm.”
 
Prof. Osinbajo urged lawyers and stakeholders in the justice sector to be prepared for the times ahead by finding alternative and better ways of delivering legal and associated services.
 
He said “the next few years will see even more changes. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a bigger role in our court systems, I am told that Law Pavilion is already pioneering an AI-Powered-Speech-to-Text- Transcription System to replace writing in long hand and even the traditional slow stenographic recording.
 
“There is also the AI-Powered Document Review System that helps judges quickly extract authorities and laws cited in any legal documents, outlines and analyses the principles relied upon automatically, in seconds. This is aside from the comprehensive court proceedings software that they have now perfected.”
 
Continuing, Prof. Osinbajo said “…nothing can ever be the same again. Legal practice is also in a flux. Artificial Intelligence will make research a million times faster, the lawyer may no longer be required for several categories of legal advice.
 
“There are already apps updated to the latest positions in legislation and case law. The lawyer must become a multi-disciplinary, multi-tasking tech savvy person of affairs,” recalling a description he gave to students of law at a recent function.
 
He restated the commitment of the Buhari administration to support technology companies to drive the gradual shift of systems, in the country, to the ‘new normal’.
 
In his contribution, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed said the judiciary which plays a crucial role in the economic development of Nigeria, must embrace changes within the environment so that it will continue to remain relevant in the scheme of things.
 
The Legal Tech Conference is organized by the Law Pavilion in partnership with TELNET Nigeria Ltd. The conference is a 2-day virtual event featuring other speakers including Supreme Court Justice, Olukayode Ariwoola; Ondo State Chief Judge, Olarenwaju Olutoyin Akeredolu; Borno State Chief Judge, Kashima Zannah; Ekiti State Attorney General and Justice Commissioner, Olawale Fapohunda; and Mr Dapo Akinosun, Partner, SimmonsCooper, amongst others.
 
 
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
13th August, 2020

https://www.yemiosinbajo.ng/technology-no-longer-a-luxury-its-our-new-way-of-life/

Osagyefo98:
This man should stop intimidating the press

You call that intimidation?

We won’t vote for an Established Thief. Atiku is only interested in selling our treasuries again.

Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo SAN has demanded a daily newspaper, The  Sun Newspaper to retract a false story it published, calling on his probe over an accusation that he(Osinbajo) and the Accountant General of the Federation(AGF) withdrew N10 billion from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the Federal government.
On August 9, 2020, The Sun published as story titled: “Ex APC Spokesman asks Buhari to probe Osinbajo, AuGF over alleged N10bn withdrawal from TSA.”  The story emanated from a former Deputy National Secretary the ruling party, All Progressives Congress(APC), Mr Timi Frank, who alleged that the duo of Osinbajo and the AuGF withdrew the sum of N10 billion from the TSA.

In a pre-action notice letter wtitten by Osinbajo’s lawyer, Mr Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa SAN, the vice president gave The Sun Newspapers a seven day ultimatum to retract the news story and tender apology, or face court action.
The letter with Ref: A&C/RC/L-15/08/2020, and dated Wednesday, August 12, 2020 was addressed to the Publisher of the newspaper.
It reads:

PRE-ACTION NOTICE – DEFAMATION OF HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON IN YOUR PUBLICATION OF AUGUST 9, 2020

We are solicitors to His Excellency, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN (‘our Client’), on whose instruction we write, in respect of the above subject matter. Our Client has informed us that on or about August 9, 2020, you caused to be published in your newspaper (The Sun) an article titled: “Ex APC Spokesman asks Buhari to probe Osinbajo, AuGF over alleged N10bn withdrawal from TSA.”
2. In the said article, which was published to national and global audience both in print and on your online medium, you made and/or repeated several defamatory statements of and concerning our Client, including the following –

(i) “Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, on Sunday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently constitute a panel of inquiry to investigate the illegal withdrawal of N10 billion from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).”
(ii) “Frank in a statement in Abuja, said such a panel must of necessity be given a clear mandate to unravel the involvement of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and the Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF), Anthony Ayine, in the brazen illegality.”

3. By publishing these statements online within an hour of the purported Timi Frank interview, and obviously without making any attempt to check or verify their authenticity of these unsubstantiated allegations. The above words, in their natural and ordinary meanings, meant and were understood to mean that:
(i) The sum of N10 billion naira had been illegally withdrawn from TSA of the Nigerian Government.

(ii) Our Client was involved in this “brazen illegality” and steps must be taken to unravel his involvement.
4. As you are well aware, our client is a public officer entrusted by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the high office of Vice President, a role that requires explicit and implicit trust from his colleagues in public service and from members of the general public. The ill-considered publication of the above stated libellous statements without due care to investigate or verify the truth, is mischievously calculated to erode that trust. This is more so as the bank statement attached to the Jackson Ude Tweets, from which the story was concocted, clearly indicates a transfer by the duly authorised Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) into Federal Government’s own Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), rather than a withdrawal as alleged.

5. For more than four decades, our Client has built his reputation as a distinguished scholar, legal practitioner and clergyman. In recognition of his distinction in legal practice, our client was elevated to the highly coveted rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2002. Prior to becoming the Vice President in 2015, he had meritoriously served as a distinguished Attorney General of Lagos State for eight years. In his decades of private and public service, his integrity and incorruptibility has never been found wanting.
6. Contrary to your assertions in paragraphs 2 and 3 above, our Client affirms that –

(i) There was never at any time, any illegal withdrawal of N10 billion naira, or any amount at all, from the TSA in which he (our Client) was involved.
(ii) He is not corrupt and he does not engage in illegal conduct.
7. Furthermore, the above words and their apparent or intended meanings are false, malicious and defamatory of our client in all material particulars and they constitute and were published mainly to ridicule our Client. By the publication of the words complained of, our Client has been greatly injured and maligned in his status, reputation, office, integrity, calling, profession, career, calling and business and he has been brought into irreparable scandal, odium, ridicule and public contempt. The said malicious and libelous publication was deliberately published and circulated by your company with the full knowledge and/or awareness of its consequences and implications on the feeling, integrity, character, office, business, status and reputation of our Client.

8. Since your publication aforesaid, our Client has been inundated with several telephone calls, visits and enquiries from his friends, family members, colleagues, supporters and sympathizers, home and abroad. The said publication was published, sold (for N300.00) in the open market and on the streets throughout Nigeria and beyond, and it was similarly published on your website:http//www.sunonline.com.

9. This publication falsely portrays our Client as a very corrupt public officer who regularly, furtively and illegally steals billions of naira from the public treasury. By so doing, it has wrongly exposed our client to utter contempt and ridicule in the estimation of right-thinking members of the society. Your unfounded and malicious publication also violates sections 391 to 395 of the Penal Code Act as well as section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act.
10. Accordingly, we have our Client’s instructions to demand the following from you:
(i) An IMMEDIATE RETRACTION of the libelous publication and an express and unambiguous APOLOGY, to be published in your newspaper and on your website, with the same or greater prominence, circulation and distribution, and also to be published in at least three national newspapers, preferably but not limited to The Punch, Thisday and Daily Trust.

(ii) A WRITTEN UNDERTAKING, not to publish any similar or further libel of and concerning our Client.
TAKE NOTICE that if after seven (7) days of your receipt of this letter, you fail, refuse and/or neglect to comply with the above demands, we shall proceed to execute our Client’s further instructions to institute an action in court against your company.
While thanking you for your kind consideration to act promptly, please accept the best assurances of our esteemed regards, always.
Yours faithfully,
EBUN-OLU ADEGBORUWA, SAN

https://thegavel.com.ng/2020/08/12/n10bn-tsa-fund-osinbajo-demands-retraction-of-false-story-from-sun-newspaper/

Reverend Ladi Thompson, the founder and Senior Pastor of Living Waters Unlimited Church has said that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is a vessel prepared by God unto honour.
In a message posted on his Facebook page, the international coordinator of “Macedonian Initiative” said that there are many Osinbajo’s that will come after the incumbent Vice President.
“Prof Yemi Osinbajo goes beyond being an individual, he is a prophetic dart thrown into the fray for the light to begin to shine,” Rev Thompson said.

He added that, “At this point in time you need to rise above politics, pettiness, ethnic and tribal inclinations and all the silliness that anyone may choose to inject into this narrative, but if you know the man, you know him.

He then stated that, “He is a vessel prepared onto honour , he’s just a prototype, there are thousands of Osinbajo’s who are coming up after him and this nation is going to be the most righteous that you have ever heard of, watch as we begin to unravel the end times of the end times.
“Nigeria is going to take its place where God has wanted it to be all along, now let me just close this by saying something this; recall the Bible verse that says: “He came unto his own but his own did not recognize him”.
“Many are yet to realize that, Professor Osinbajo is actually a living sacrifice. He’s a living sacrifice and when all these modern gospels and all these funny games that are being played have been brushed into the dustbins of history and the eternal gospel resumes in Nigeria, many of you who are sitting out there who have already known it in your heart will receive the boldness to stand up for righteousness.”

https://www.chronicle.ng/2020/08/osinbajo-living-sacrifice-ladi-thompson/

WE at the Buhari Osinbajo Solidarity Front have now come to the conclusion that there is some hidden agenda being perpetrated by Messrs Jackson Ude, Rudolf Okonkwo and Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere on behalf of a veiled paymaster against the person of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

The case is easy to figure out. Ude published a series of tweets yesterday Saturday August 8 2020 and within the hour, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, using the auspices of the Coalition for United Political Parties, CUPP, has issued a Press Release not only lapping on the spurious claims of Ude, but also going further to question the integrity of a man many will swear by his character, sterling reputation and integrity.

And once Ugochinyere signed the statement (titled "Allegation of how VP Osibanjo, Auditor-General illegally drew N10b from TSA:-CUPP wants Auditor-General arrested immediately and calls on Vice President to step aside and clear his name," Ude's discredited online portal was the first to publish the CUPP commets. In fact for the next several hours and at the time of going to press, no reputable online news portal or newspaper has published Chinyere's irresponsible and reckless release.

Those serious news media may have a point. All of Ude's previous claims against the Vice President has been discredited and debunked wholesale one by one.

Ude says Magu gave VP N4B and that Magu made such a confession at the Presidential Investigation Panel on EFCC. Magu came out openly that not only is the story not true but that even the name of the VP did not feature in the panel. The Panel itself has reportedly stated categorically that the report is a wild imagination.

Ude claims that the VP'S daughter bought an Abuja property for N800m but the landlord in a signed public statement says he has not sold his property and that the VP'S daughter is a tenant. The landlord in doing so references public records available for scrutiny.

Again Ude claims that the EFCC Secretary worked with the Simons Cooper law firm where VP was a partner before he resigned to take the oath of office, insinuating that VP planted him in EFCC to cut deals. But the law firm has come to assert that the said Secretary never worked in nor even visited Simons Cooper!

Weeks ago, Rudolf Okonkwo, aka Dr. Damages, ran a similar video clip attacking the Vice President baselessly and carelessly basing all his conclusions on a news report that had already been shown to be inaccurate and wrong in its reporting. Without as much as do his own investigation Okonkwo happily repeated a fake story and joined in the smear campaign against a truly honest public official.

The despicable antics of Ude, Okonkwo and Ugochinyere is only comparable to the crazy and wild claims of IPOB's Nnamdi Kanu who kept claiming blindly and insanely that the Vice President was either detained in the Aso Villa or has infected COVID-19 and all other sorts of his now infamous, incredible and devious lies against the Vice President and his family.

All of this ludicrous pranks seem to point only in one direction: a hidden agenda by a veiled individual who like a masquerade is the actual perpetrator causing all of the attacks, smear and campaign of calumny against Prof Osinbajo, an forthright man who is only determined to serve this country with all his heart.

As members of the Buhari Osinbajo Solidarity Front, BOSF, we like to serve notice that we have now become sufficiently aware of all these underhand and deceitful plans and dishonest plots by a certain political figure against the sitting Vice President whose only offense is that "he is the likely formidable candidate for the office of President come 2023." BOSF may be compelled soon to unveil the masquerade in the market place!

Their latest wicked lie that the VP and the Auditor General "connived" to withdraw N10B from the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government is not only absurd in the most extreme sense, but also practically impossible. Auditors do not withdraw or disburse money they only check on disbursements and financial records.

Even the Vice President does not have any authority to withdraw money from the TSA. Both Ude and Ugochinyere have demonstrated an embarrassing level of ignorance of how public accounts are managed and this is only the reflection of their motivations. They have not acted in any public interest of any kind. They have only shown themselves as blind hireling of the veiled masquerade.

In any case the Special Investigation Panel (to which Ude refers as being disbanded because of the "connivance" was actually dissolved and rightly so by President Muhammadu Buhari because it was acting way beyond the reach of its powers and mandate, becoming an instrument of harrassment and extortion.

A Special Investigation Panel is only to investigate specific cases referred to it. That’s why mandate is required for the SIP to handle any investigation. It’s not like the Police, EFCC, ICPC or even Code of Conduct Bureau which have general powers. The purpose for the SIP was not to create yet another EFCC or ICPC but to have a Panel that can quickly deal with important issues that cannot wait on queue.

The then Chairman of the SIP who is now being investigated by the ICPC just seized the opportunity to start extorting money from all sorts of people under the pretense of investigation. Any reasonable government would not tolerate such a covetous conduct.

BOSF will like to alert Nigerians and all people of goodwill that the concerted plot to smear and tarnish the reputation of the Vice President has become a cottage industry of sorts and we are seeing all manners of merchants and traders running up and down desperately seeking to misinform, malign and mislead.

Finally the strategy of this callous cohort is the same as that of Paul Joseph Goebbels, the German Nazi politician and Hitler's Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945--keep inventing and repeating false corruption claims against the Vice President in the expectation that this would bring about a shady cloud on the integrity of a well known man of upright character and forthrightness. They will fail. We urge members of the public to be wary of all this shenanigans and demand for the truth without which they should ignore that masquerade and his outriders.

Signed:
Olawale Badmus (Liberty)
Convener, Buhari Osinbajo Solidarity Front
Sunday, August 8th, 2020.

More Pictures

For the first time HE Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo is leaving Aso Villa since Covid19 emergence, and Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo pay a condolence visit to H.E. Mrs Florence Ajimobi and The Ajimobi Family on the loss of their patriarch, former Governor of Oyo State Senator Abiola Ajimobi.

Today in Ibadan with @dolapoosinbajo to pay a condolence visit to Mrs. @florenceajimobi and the Ajimobi Family on the loss of our dear egbon, the former Governor of Oyo state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi @abiolaajimobi.

My Dearest Egbon,
Dolly and I are here to celebrate your memory again today. We remember you always and bless the Lord for the great and impactful life you lived. Your memory is blessed forever.

We thank God for his great mercy at the end of your life. What a great and mighty God.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDo7gENgoRv/?igshid=1jehq8808k3ss

Over the years, our society has thrown up many Associations to endorse unpopular decisions or celebrate political rogues. Two of such Associations were; Nzerebe's Association of Better Nigeria (ABN) and Kanu's Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha. Like many of such group, the two cases cited above, were promoted by political psycophants, who were out to praise- sing, to milk the government of the day.

Osinbajo Grassroots Support Group is being promoted by a few Nigerian youths, who are conscious of the decay in our society and the need to promote heroes of this generation to change the wrong perception about our dear country.

To this end, having studied and followed up the growth trajectory of the current Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, we have settled for him as our role model and dedicated a day for him annually to celebrate him and all that he represents.

This is necessary to achieve two things; to encourage those who follow such path and to let the world know that Nigeria is not about scarmers and corrupt practises alone.

At this jucture, we want to appreciate and thank *President Muhammadu Buhari,* for identifying and fishing out Osinbajo as his Chief Marketing Officer and Brand Ambassador. The President has simply demonstrated that indeed, value attracts value.

Thank you Mr. President for discovering such a great talent. It takes a great man to identify another great.

However, we want to point out that in and out of government, we shall continue to celebrate this colosus annually. We believe his birthday belongs to him, his friends and family, while the day we have chosen belongs to us, not to celebrate his birth but his values and virtues. Our own Osinbajo Day is unique to us to celebrate, among other things; his brilliance, his hardwork, his attribute of loyalty as well as his family values and the fact that he is detribalised.

Dear compatriots and good people of Nigeria, time to reposition our Nation is now. Of course, we can't reposition without first identifying and marketing our good products. This, to us is the first stage to changing the narrative about the Nigeria Project.

Who says we can't polish our batterred image? Who says we can't throw up more heroes than the ragamurfins who are daily denting our image within and outside Nigeria through their scrupulous Let us fish out more Buharis, more Osinbajos, more Soyinkas in our midst and celebrate them, rather than doling out chieftancy titles to rogues and treasury looters. The future is indeed bright, if we can act now.

OSINBAJO GRASSROOT ORGANIZATION

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE

OSINBAJO TO PRIVATE SECTOR: LET’S IMPLEMENT ESP TOGETHER

*Adds: “Govt cannot do it alone, public-private sector collaboration crucial

As the Federal Government consolidates efforts designed to ward off a deep recession and effect significant changes in the economy, opportunities abound across different sectors in the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) for the private sector to lead the charge for Nigeria’s economic growth and development, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo made the call on Friday at the virtual edition of the Presidential Policy Dialogue of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

The Vice President said the ESP which is now being implemented by the Buhari administration is driven by the desire “to adapt to the challenges and make required changes in order to come out stronger than before”.

According to him, “I take this opportunity to encourage the private sector to be proactive in leading the charge against recession and poverty in our country. The Federal Government is not under any illusion that it can do this on its own. The opportunities that now exist in the short term in agriculture, infrastructural development, housing construction, in renewable energy, digital technology development, mining, financial inclusion, healthcare and pharmaceutical manufacturing, call for the private sector to take the bull by the horns and make them a reality.

“The priority of the Federal Government in response to the economic challenges caused by COVID-19 is to ward off a deep recession by an admixture of stimulus measures to support local businesses, retain and create jobs and ameliorate the circumstances of the most vulnerable.”

Continuing, the Vice President said though the stimulus package is just about 1.5% of GDP, it is the best the government could do given existing realities in the economy.

He said “government developed the Economic Sustainability Plan with a stimulus package of N2.3trillion to give fillip to the economy across various sectors. The size of this stimulus which is just about 1.5% of national income is not as large as we would have liked it to be but it was the best we could do given existing fiscal and monetary constraints. Based on the assumption of the price of crude averaging out at $30 per barrel throughout the year, we anticipate an economic growth of about -0.59% in 2020.

“You would already be familiar with details of the Economic Sustainability Plan. In essence, it is intended to boost production, prevent business collapse, and provide liquidity. It will also promote the use of labour-intensive methods and direct labour interventions in key areas like agriculture, light manufacturing, housing construction and facility maintenance while increasing infrastructural investment in roads, bridges, solar power, and communications technologies. It is intended to do all this while extending protection to the poor and other vulnerable groups in our society.”

Speaking further on the plan of government to address the disruptions on the economy by the COVID-19 pandemic and the role that the private sector can play, the Vice President said, “these opportunities are the building blocks that will enable our medium-term goals to be achieved and make our long-term goals achievable.”

According to Prof. Osinbajo, “this is a drive we hope to continue into the medium term as we build up the economy over the next few years. We do need foreign direct investment to complement our domestic efforts but it is the success of our own investments that will attract such inflows. Investors are already aware of Nigeria’s huge market and its great potential, but they will only ‘want in’ when government by its own positive interventions and the private sector by its success stories show them what is possible to do here.

“No doubt, the task ahead is challenging. Nevertheless, government is focused on doing its bit so I call on the private sector to play its part and join us in this noble venture. We know that this will be a difficult year but expect that with our combined effort growth will resume to the order of about 3 percent by the end of next year. We can do this working together.”

On the Ease of Doing Business reforms of the Federal Government, the Vice President maintained that the commitment of the Federal Government to providing an enabling environment for business to thrive remains strong.

“In this regard, we have made some strides in improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), a lot has been achieved to fast-track processes, reduce bottlenecks and improve transparency across Government MDAs.

“As a result, we have moved 35 places upward in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings. We have continued to scale up our business reform initiatives across regulatory agencies.

“Of course, there is still a lot more to be done. Our aim is to continue to improve our national ranking in the World Bank Doing Business Index Ranking to below 100 in the coming years. It is also very important to reduce the harassment and extortion of businesses by various government agencies,” the Vice President added.

In his remarks, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, said the current focus of the Federal Government in the manufacturing sector “is on prioritizing local production especially in the importation of machinery that utilize local materials.”

Earlier, the LCCI President, Mrs Toki Mabogunje commended the Federal Government’s “spirited effort” regarding its managing of the Nigerian economy, adding that members of the chamber and private sector players are willing to collaborate with the Buhari administration.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
7th August 2020.

OSINBAJO TO YOUNG NIGERIANS: REVERSE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC THROUGH INNOVATIONS

*VP details FG’s economic response to pandemic at Law Students Townhall Meeting
*Adds: “Today’s lawyer must be multidisciplinary, multi-tasking, digitally strong men or women of affairs

KEYNOTE REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE VIRTUAL LAW STUDENTS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA TOWNHALL MEETING ON THURSDAY, 6TH OF AUGUST, 2020.
Let me just express my sincere thanks to the Law Students Association of Nigeria for the very kind invitation to be here today and to speak to you on this very important subject. I was specifically asked to speak within the context of this summit on the topic ‘How we can build the right mindset for a better Nigeria, post COVID-19’.
I must say that amidst the very depressing forecasts pervading the airwaves, it is a major task to talk about how exactly to get to the right mindset. But one thing that is clear is that the forecasts are quite bleak. And I don’t think there is a way of diminishing some of the economic forecasts and even some of the forecasts regarding what the social situation may be.
We are faced with a two-fold global crisis. First is a health crisis and then there is an economic crisis and the combined effects have resulted in possibly the greatest socio-economic crisis in recent history. We are convinced that this is the case, there are many who would say that nothing like this has ever happened to the world.
The crash in global oil prices is particularly a problem for us, the Nigerian government because revenues have plummeted, foreign exchange earnings, in particular, are very depressed on account of the fact that the prices of our major source of forex which is oil, are much lower than ever before. So, we are looking at a 40% loss in revenue than what we had projected. Even what we had projected in itself, we were going to have some difficulty funding it, but now there is a 40% loss in revenue.
So, we see the impending slowdown in the economy shrinking our GDP.
However, I think that where the needle will ultimately fall will depend on how well we respond to these crises; how well we work within the current circumstances; and how well we manage to adapt to these changes, as opposed to wallowing in trepidation and worry.
Because we don’t realistically know when this pandemic will end, speaking of a ‘post-COVID Nigeria’, is not actually of much use. The better approach, in my view, is to ask ourselves where the opportunities in this global crisis lie.
I think it was John F. Kennedy, who said, “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity”. Although I am told that linguistically, this isn’t completely true, there is a valuable lesson here for how we must reset and what our attitudes ought to be in times of crisis.
The good thing about this particular crisis is that no one has been this way before and everyone is searching for answers. So, there are no experts. No one can say ‘I am an expert on how to resolve socio-economic crisis in a pandemic. All over the world, people are literally scrambling for answers. Even in the most developed economies of the world, they are still scrambling for answers. So, I must say to you that there is no minimum age to seek the solutions to the problems of these times. And you are certainly welcome to begin to think through what the solutions should be and how we should be responding.
As a government, this reality dawned on us much earlier on. And faced with the prospect of unprecedented unemployment figures and business closures, we had to get creative about solutions: to build resilience into our economic growth structure and to take bigger and bolder steps in our approach to creating wealth and opportunity.
So, for about two months, at the direction of Mr President, I led an inter-ministerial team mandated to look specifically at how to resolve some of the issues around the pandemic, its impact and draw up a response plan.
That response plan is what we call the Economic Sustainability Plan and we have a committee called the Economic Sustainability Committee which is to implement this pIan and I also have the privilege of chairing this committee. What we tried to do in the Economic Sustainability Plan was to design strategies that will save jobs and create new opportunities. And we looked at certain broad areas. We looked at mass housing and mass agriculture where we are focused on using local resources and innovation.
The whole point of mass housing and mass agriculture is that this will provide jobs. They provide jobs for small groups of engineers, architects etc. And of course, local production of some of the raw materials will also be an advantage. We are looking at both mass agriculture and mass housing as opportunities to create significant numbers of jobs.
We have also looked at technology as a major opportunity for providing several jobs. We also considered the huge deficit in our power sector at the moment especially the deficit in the availability of power to millions who have never been on the grid and have never had power. So, we focused on renewable energy and solar power in particular because high radiation, as you know, is a resource that we have in abundance. We thought that this crisis will be an opportunity to do something more significant about solar power – to provide solar power through the private sector, and second to increase local capacity to assemble, to repair, and to service solar equipment.
So, Solar Home Systems which is part of the Economic Sustainability Plan will power up to 5 million Nigerian households, who previously had no power. The systems will be provided by local private solar companies who have also worked out digital metering and payment methods.
So, to give another example of the sort of things that we are trying to encourage, Nigerian companies such as LifeBank and 54gene have been making waves in health technology for some time now. However, it has taken a global pandemic as we have now, for the government to develop truly collaborative solutions building on existing work that they had already done.
So, 54gene and LifeBank are both running NCDC-licensed COVID-19 testing centres across the country. LifeBank is also delivering emergency oxygen equipment and working with the government to create a database of available ventilators and respirators across the nation.
The infectious disease centres that we have both government and private sector, have come together to build some of them. Many of them will outlast the pandemic and thus, ensure that we have durable healthcare infrastructure provided for our future.
We might not have experienced the depth of such collaboration had it not been for the urgent needs created by this crisis. Today we have well over 54 testing centres across the country, we are converting the testing machines that were used for Tuberculosis and the machine used for testing AIDS, changing the cartridges and introducing the reagents for testing COVID-19, so there is a lot of innovative solutions going on at the moment.
The thing that we will always keep in mind is that this is a huge country. So, sometimes when things are done, you hear people say ‘I don’t even know that things are being done.” So, you will always have a situation where it will never seem like it’s covering the entire country.
I give you another example. When we decided that we were going to provide micro-credit for two million traders across the country, in fact we did, eventually, over two million. So, in a country of this size, many will even say, we didn’t get anything.
So, every time you think, in terms of solving the problems of Nigeria, we have to think in terms of scale, scale is it. You can do 200,000 of anything and it won’t make a difference in Nigeria. So, scale is very important as you think through solutions.
As you are also thinking of solutions, in innovative ways, I feel that one of the things that you must be thinking about is how to ensure that you are thinking on scale.
One of the things that we experienced in the 1990s was mobile phones. In the 1990s, mobile phones were limited to more affluent who could afford them. The unmet need that existed amongst the rest of Nigerians then was seen as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to introduce business models that would make owning mobile phones affordable for the average Nigerian.
So, today, it has not only connected us with the rest of the world, and provided millions of jobs in the process, but it has even become a medium for us to effectively engage other industries such as mobile banking and the likes. Because there was a need, there was a problem with the telephony system in Nigeria, entrepreneurs got into it, thinking people got into it and today we have mobile phones and we have one of the largest in terms of mobile phone ownership across the world- something in the order of 114 million mobile lines in Nigeria and that is increasing practically every day.
This is a story of innovation and I just mentioned that because at the moment, we are also at a turning point with new opportunities to turn under-consumption into thriving business models, if only we effectively innovate.
We are seeing some of this emerge already and I can refer to a few examples to demonstrate a real basis for hope. The closing of schools, for example, with the lockdown has forced us to get creative about how we can replicate learning environments outside of the classroom. So, we have a lot of Edtech startups like uLesson – one of the new startups, leading the way, merging online and offline features to ensure the provision of a learning experience that spans the digital divide. Those kinds of innovations are crucial.
E-learning isn’t new, many of us are familiar with e-learning but the challenge in Nigeria is how do you do e-learning on scale especially when you don’t have broadband technology across the country. So, there is a need to take e-learning offline, there is a need to take e-learning so that it can be used on our devices without necessarily having access to broadband all the time and there is a need to do it on scale.
So, the challenges we have are slightly different from the challenges more developed economies may have. We have millions of people who need to access education. The real question is how do we get this education across to them, especially without in-person learning and where you may not have broadband technology?
Some have done well with the use of radios and many are using all sorts of offline type devices. For those without, we know already that states are incorporating radio, TV lessons, and some schools are even delivering work to their students by WhatsApp. With regards to accessibility to the internet and technology as a whole, there are abundant opportunities, in my own opinion, for what can be done.
But these are broad areas that we must all be thinking about. And as I said, no one can say I am too young to think about this. All over the world, the solutions are thought through and being implemented by young people. It is very difficult to find a 63-year old man like myself that will say I have discovered a new app that can teach law to law students across the country without the use of broadband technology.
But perhaps of importance to us as lawyers or lawyers in the making is what these times mean for lawyers and where the opportunities lie. And I think we have to think through this especially like yourselves who in the next couple of years will be out there in practice. A few examples will tell you that you are living in the most interesting period in the history of our profession.
So, the Supreme Court has recently endorsed virtual court proceedings. This means that there will be plenty of opportunities for new technologies adapted to the dynamics of the courtroom. You can share documents on Zoom but for courtrooms and for practice, you need more nimble technology to tender documents or cross-examine a witness from a remote location on a bundle of documents. So, Zoom will not be the best technology for court proceedings although it is being used now but it is not the best technology because sometimes you have a bundle of documents to tender and that may be difficult. So, there is room there for innovative technology that will be suitable for use in the courtroom and I know that there are so many ideas that people are coming up with but there is plenty of room for thinking that through.
We also have to think about what the new rules for protocols will be. Virtual court proceedings are not the same as in-person or live court proceedings. When you are sitting in your office, conducting a case, the record-keeping will be totally a different issue. What will the protocols be for cross-examination, for making submissions? How does the judge look at the question of demeanour. It is a bit more difficult to look at people’s demeanour when you are using virtual processes such as we are using today. So, we need to be able to define what the rules will be.
What sort of pre-trial advice do you give clients now? When witnesses are giving evidence from outside Nigeria, maybe from the US, from Greece, which is possible now if we use virtual court proceedings. In the past, a witness had to be physically present in Nigeria, but now with virtual court proceedings, a witness can sit in Denmark and give evidence in Nigeria.
So, the question that will arise is, what are the jurisdictional problems? Do we need to change our rules as regarding jurisdiction? Can the witness truly without being present in Nigeria, give evidence? How do we assess that in terms of current legislation?
How about the future of the law firm itself? We know that the law firm is one of the busiest places you’d find. Lawyers are always seen cramping all over the place but the workplace is changing. With COVID-19, most law firms are working off-site and working from different other locations. What will remote working mean for a law office? What sort of technology will work best? We, lawyers, deal with documents all the time; we are forever re-drafting, sending drafts back and forth. What technology will be nimble enough to handle all of that traffic? I think there is plenty of room for us to do so much around that area.
What are the changes required in employment laws and in the practice of remote work? Everybody is working from different locations, are employment laws fit for purpose today? Or do we need to change something around it? These are the kinds of thoughts and ideas that we have to be thinking about.
How about cybersecurity in this new world where sensitive documents will be constantly moving around on the internet? How do we ensure that documents going back and forth are safe?
I want to say that innovation is itself, a mindset, and this is the only mindset that is going get us through this time of crisis in a manner that puts us ahead, rather than behind. Innovators, by their very nature, build much out of seemingly little and I believe that there is a bigger lesson here for all of us that we can make a difference ourselves.
I must say for lawyers, especially the young law students listening, I believe there is already a paradigm shift in the very concept of who a lawyer is today.
In my own day, a lawyer was a person who understood the law, read the law, citing the sections, he was more or less a legal technician.
Today, a lawyer that would be fit-for-purpose must be multidisciplinary, multitasking, digitally strong man or woman of affairs. By that, I mean that a lawyer can no longer be a legal technician.
He must be a person capable of understanding the broad dimensions of everything; business, technology, the environment and various things that are at play today.
Such a person is comfortable in the board room, he is also comfortable talking to people who want to sell music on digital platforms, or advising on the regulatory environment for FinTech companies. Such a person is not restricted to “all I can do is go and argue a motion in court”.
So how do you prepare yourself, aside from your regular law curriculum for this new world? I think you must educate yourself in new ideas, read widely, take up the enormous resources available online on practically any field of human endeavour.
You must be intentional about understanding technology, information systems and artificial intelligence. This sort of radical versatility is the new normal, you can’t be a lawyer such as we were. You are in a completely new world.
If I come to you and I say that I just recorded a new gospel song, and I need advice on how to sell, smartly, you the lawyer ought to be able to tell me that there are jurisdictional issues; I know the copyright issues that are involved in this, I know if we have to market and how it will be done, the exposure needed. There are a variety of questions that a lawyer today must be able to answer.
I think it is a brilliant challenging new world that we have out there and I am sure you young people know that the days ahead are exciting, we are in the best moment in history, you have all the resources. I always say that never listen to the people who tell you of ”the good old days”, they have memory loss. There is no such thing as good old days, today is the very best day possible.
Every generation has its own challenges; the next 20 years, there will be different sets of challenges. You can’t say that my father told me that when he got out of school, he didn’t need to look for work. You’d need to ask him how many people were in Law School at the time? In my set, we were only 300 in the entire country. If I come out of school and say I found a job, so what? Today, there are thousands of people but there are also thousands of opportunities and the world is open.
In my day, I couldn’t seat in my office and talk to you, I didn’t have a mobile phone and even our regular phones were not working.
So, the days ahead are exciting and I hope this interaction will be one that will give you greater insights into the opportunities they are and I noticed that there are going to be many speakers even from the private sector.
I thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity and to say that I wish you all very well and I hope we get another chance sometime soon to talk again.
Thank you and God bless you.

https://www.yemiosinbajo.ng/vps-remarks-at-the-virtual-law-students-association-of-nigeria-townhall-meeting/

*COVID-19 VACCINE: HEALTH & SAFETY OF NIGERIANS IS BUHARI ADMINISTRATION’S PRIORITY — VP OSINBAJO*

_*Pfizer says supply to Nigeria is priority in Africa_

The Federal Government intends to examine every possible option in the development and distribution of a vaccine against the COVID-19 disease, and the health and safety of Nigerian citizens is the priority of the Buhari administration in that matter.

This was disclosed earlier today by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, during a virtual meeting with representatives of the BNT162 COVID-19 vaccine candidate on the progress of the vaccine development around the world, including Africa.

The meeting was attended by the Health Minister, Dr. Osagie Ehanire and the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib with representatives of Pfizer and Biotech, the international pharmaceutical firms promoting the BNT162 vaccine candidate.

According to Prof. Osinbajo, the interaction between the FG and the promoters of the vaccine candidate “is an important conversation and it is important for us that we are prioritized-as the largest country in Africa-in the distribution of the best COVID-19 vaccine when it’s eventually ready.

“Our priority is the health of the Nigerian citizens. We continue to engage and intend to look at every possible option -from all manufacturers- of a good vaccine. We want to do the very best for our people in this regard.”

During the meeting the Vice President asked several questions about the the COVID-19 vaccine candidate including how quickly can Nigeria get the vaccine once it’s safely ready.

Responding, the Pfizer Country Manager and Representative in Africa, who spoke for the promoters, Mr. Subair Olayinka disclosed that “Nigeria will be priority,” for the vaccine supply to Africa.

Although the vaccine trials are not going on in Nigeria currently he said the trails are ongoing in parts of the African continent and it would be entering the third phase, having concluded the first two phases successfully.

Also speaking the Health Minister noted that the FG would consider quality, appropriate volume and how well and quick a vaccine can be delivered to Nigeria in deciding which manufacturer to make the supply.

*Laolu Akande,*
*Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity,*
*Office of the Vice President.*
5th August 2020.

The Buhari administration’s New Vision for the Niger Delta brings together a robust set of promises, solutions, targets and initiatives aimed at ensuring that the people of the Niger Delta benefit maximally from the oil wealth in the region.
Tangible results of the New Vision so far include:
• Take-off of the Nigerian Maritime University in Okerenkoko, Delta State. The University was granted approval in January 2018 by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to commence undergraduate degree programmes effective 2017/18 session, and commenced academic activities on April 12, 2018.
• President Buhari approved 5 billion Naira in take-off grant for the Maritime University.
• The Maritime University commenced full academic activities for the 2017/2018 academic year with a total of 370 students spread across 13 undergraduate programmes in three Faculties approved by the NUC, namely: Transport, Engineering and Environmental Management.
• Ogoni Clean-Up: Setting aside of US$170m seed funding for the Ogoni Clean Up, in an Escrow Account established for that purpose. The Escrow Agreement Signing Ceremony took place in April 2018.
• The Clean-Up commenced in January 2019, with the handover of the first batch of sites to the selected remediation firms, after a painstaking procurement process.
• In the first phase, a total of 21 sites has so far been handed over to contractors by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) under the Federal Ministry of Environment for ongoing remediation works and restoration of the environment. The Ogoni clean-up is the first of its kind in the history of Niger Delta.
• 36 news sites have been added to the ongoing cleanup to make a total of 57 sites being remediated in Ogoni land.
• As part of the clean-up efforts, HYPREP recently announced a bidding process for six competent water companies to be engaged in the first phase for the provision of potable water to several communities across the four Ogoni LGAs
• Approvals for the establishment of private-sector-led Modular Refineries across the nine States of the Niger Delta – the first three Refineries have now been completed, while construction is ongoing on others (Ikwe-Onna Refinery, Akwa Ibom; aAzikel Refinery, Bayelsa; and AIPCC Refinery, Edo).
• The 3 Modular Refineries now completed are: Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (NDPR) Modular Refinery, Rivers; OPAC Modular Refinery, Delta; and Waltersmith Refinery, Imo.
• With three modular refineries ready for commissioning and more to be completed soon, it is to the credit of this administration that the establishment of modular refinery in Nigeria is gradually gaining traction.
• Infrastructure projects include the ongoing construction work on the 34-kilometres Bonny-Bodo road. When completed, the Bonny-Bodo road (and bridge), which was flagged off in October 2017, would connect several major communities and boost socioeconomic development in the region.
• There is also the Itakpe-Warri rail line project, which is now complete and ready for commissioning. The rail line would handle passenger, commercial and freight services.
• The FG’s Presidential Amnesty Programme has engaged ex-militants and youths in the Niger Delta in formal education, vocational skills acquisition and empowerment schemes.
• The Federal Government is also in the process of developing sea ports in the region, including Warri, Ibaka deep sea port, among other development projects like the establishment of Export Processing Zones to boost economic activities.
• In June 2020, the Federal government approved the refund of N78 Billion to the Rivers State government for the money spent on the construction of federal roads in the State. The approval for the refund was made at the third virtual Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. This is proof of the Buhari government’s commitment to the region’s infrastructure development.
• (PDP) Governor of Rivers State, Gov. Nyesom Wike, thanked President Buhari and Vice Presidnt Yemi Osinbajo, SAN for the refund.
• Gov Wike said, “Let me also through you thank the vice president, His Excellency professor Yemi Osinbajo GCON as well as other members of the Federal Executive Council for the support they provided for our request.”

• “Mr President has by this remarkable and heart-warming gesture shown not only your love for the Government and people of Rivers State, but also demonstrated expressly that you are indeed a President of every state of the Federation and Nigerians.”
• The Federal Government (and the VP) has continued strategic engagements with stakeholders and people in the region to ensure that the peace and stability is maintained.

http://bosf.ng/fact-sheet-president-buhari-administrations-vision-for-the-niger-delta/

An American woman has accused former President Goodluck Jonathan’s special assistant on New Media, Reno Omokri, of impersonation and identity theft.
Mr. Omokri had used the now infamous moniker, Wendell Simlin, in his attempt to link the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi, to the terrorist group Boko Haram.
Back in February 2014, Mr. Omokri wound up in a scandal after digital footprint of an article that tried to link the spike in Boko Haram attack to the suspension of Mr. Sanusi as CBN governor was traced to him.
Mr. Omokri allegedly used the pseudonym, Wendel Simlin, in the article circulated to bloggers and journalists but the document digital signature was identical to previous documents Mr. Omokri had sent to PREMIUM TIMES.
The Califonia- based woman, Deborah Campbell, told Sahara Reporters in a series of emails and telephone conversation that her son, based in Hercules, California, is the real Wendel Simlin.
She explained that she is married to Mr. Omokri’s brother-in-law and that the president’s aide exploited the relationship to perpetrate forgery.
“I am the true Wendell Simlin’s mother here in the States. Appalled to find out my son has been a victim of identity theft, judging from the articles I recently read in your newspaper. Reno met my son after I married his wife’s brother,” she said in an email.
“There are pictures on my facebook of Reno’s wife, kids and my ex-husband Godwin Melle. He is Reno’s wife’s brother.”
Mr. Omokri, who was based in the United States before coming to Nigeria to work for Mr. Jonathan, may be soon be facing criminal charges as Ms.Campbell has promised to involve U.S. authorities if her son’s name is not cleared.

Mr. Omokri could not be reached to comment for this story. Calls to his known telephone number did not connect, and he is yet to respond to a text message sent to him.


https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/174113-wendell-simlin-american-woman-accuses-reno-omokri-identity-theft.html

Contrary to news trending on the social media, an employee of Shoprite has debunked the claims that shoprite is leaving Nigeria. Mr. Adeyinka saka while responding to a tweet, said the megastore is to be sold to an indigenous retail company.
“Don’t get it twisted Sir, I am currently working as a store manager in one of the stores at Ikeja City Mall.
“It is being taken over by an indigenous retail coy. Nobody is losing his/her job however, there will be a change in management,” Saka said.


On Monday, the Shoprite Holdings Limited, said in a statement that it will auction off its outlets in Nigeria.

The statement partly read:

“Following approaches from various potential investors, and in line with our re-evaluation of the Group’s operating model in Nigeria, the Board has decided to initiate a formal process to consider the potential sale of all, or a majority stake, in Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Shoprite International Limited.

“As such, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited may be classified as a discontinued operation when Shoprite reports its results for the year. Any further updates will be provided to the market at the appropriate time.”
https://www.kakaakinews.com/2020/08/03/shoprite-is-to-be-taken-over-by-nigerian-company-saka/

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PRESS STATEMENT

VP OSINBAJO REMEMBERS AYO FASANMI:

“A FORTHRIGHT SERVANT OF THE COMMON MAN HAS PASSED ON”

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has described the late Senator Ayo Fasanmi, a founding leader of the Afenifere as a true patriot, a forthright servant of, and interlocutor for the common man...”

Prof. Osinbajo issued the following statement on Thursday on learning about the news of Pa. Fasanmi’s transition.

“We received the news of the passing of Senator Ayo Fasanmi, with deep sadness and much grief.

A founding leader of Afenifere, a true patriot, a forthright servant of, and interlocutor for the common man has passed on.

A man of deep conviction who remained loyal to the end to compatriots and colleagues in the progressive tendency from the Action Group, AG, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, now enters into eternity.

We thank God for giving you to us for 94 years, your legacy of consistency in egalitarian beliefs, social justice and action lives on.”

’Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
30 July 2020

The Nigerian President is different things to different people, depending on the prism from which he is being considered. To some people, Muhammadu Buhari is a father figure. At 77 years old, he qualifies. To some others, he’s the greatest crowd pulling politician the country has seen for some time, and may yet see for a long time to come. True. And yet, to some others, he’s the strict man of discipline and integrity, who sets his face as flint against all forms of graft and avarice. Very true.

President Buhari is all these, and even more. But how does the international community see him? How do leaders of other countries, and people of weight and reckoning see the man who is a gift to the Nigerian nation?

For those of us who travel with the President round the world, it is sheer delight to see how the Nigerian Leader is venerated, and held in high esteem by the international community. Never to be forgotten are the words of the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, when he met with President Buhari at the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States of America, in September, 2019.

Inviting the Nigerian President to Euro-African Forum that his country was to host, de Sousa said: “Please come and declare the event open, even if it’s for half a day. We have been waiting for you to visit for three years. Many African leaders have come, but we want Nigeria.”

Truly, President Buhari is that Nigerian Leader that is in demand not just in the West African sub-region, where his colleagues virtually compelled him to be Chairman of Ecowas in July 2018, in Africa, where he was made Champion of Anti-Corruption by the African Union (AU), and in the uttermost parts of the world.

One of his earliest international visits was to America in July 2015, just two months after assumption of office for the first term. He was guest of the then American President, Barack Obama, who said of him during a bilateral meeting at the Oval Office:

“President Buhari came into office with a reputation for integrity and a very clear agenda, and that is to make sure that he is bringing safety and security, and peace to his country.”

In September of 2016, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, President Obama said of the Nigerian President again: “I am very pleased that we have been able to build a very strong working relationship with President Buhari, and he’s come in and initiated some very bold efforts at reform.
“On the security front, because of President Buhari’s leadership, he has been able to reform the Nigerian military.”

What of President Donald Trump, who succeeded Obama in office? At a meeting during an official visit by the Nigerian Leader in April, 2018, he declared: “I especially want to thank President Buhari for Nigeria’s partnership and leadership in the fight against terrorism. He’s been a real leader.”

And never to be forgotten is that meeting between Presidents Obama, Buhari, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, during the Nuclear Summit in America in May, 2016.
President Obama introduced the Nigerian President to Trudeau, saying; “Have you met President Buhari? He’s doing a good job.”

Every good Nigerian felt proud of his President round the world, at that endorsement.

Let’s go back in time to London, May 2016. The Queen of England had just turned 90, and after a thanksgiving service, she was in conversation with the then Prime Minister David Cameron, and Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. It was in the build up to a summit on corruption that London was hosting, and unknown to Cameron, a microphone was picking their conversation. He said: “Actually, we have got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain. Nigeria and Afghanistan- possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world.”

But the Archbishop interjected, talking of Buhari. “But this President is not corrupt.”
Another fine moment in praise of integrity.

President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China: “Under the leadership of Your Excellency, the Nigerian people have been committed to safeguarding the nation’s stabilization, development of economy, and elevation of livelihood and achieved gratifying outcomes.”

At another time, President Jinping said: “ President Buhari is as decisive in dealing with terrorism as China.”

Thabo Mbeki, former South African President: “Here you have a person whose principle and practice is hostile to corruption. His detention (in 1985) was not for corruption, but for standing against corruption.”

Dame Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth: “Nigeria’s effort to combat corruption has been awe-inspiring. Thank you, Mr President.”

And Rex Tillerson, then American Secretary of State: “President Buhari’s work has resonated across Africa with his recent recognition as the African Union’s anti-corruption champion.” That was in March, 2018.

How about a fellow African leader, Dr Hage Geingob, President of Namibia? “A brave son of Africa is here, who has declared war against corruption.”

Many other testimonials trail President Buhari from different parts of the world, but this piece won’t be complete without mentioning the inspiring words of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, about Nigeria’s exploits against the global plague, Covid-19. And it was all under the leadership of President Buhari.

“Nigeria is a developing country that has shown a remarkable capacity to respond to the Coronavirus... I was quite impressed to see, for instance, Nigeria putting in place and immediately establishing a hospital. And I saw difficulties in countries that are much more developed to do quickly the same.”

Of a truth, Nigeria is blessed to have President Buhari at a time like this. His footprints are surely already left on the sands of time. Indelibly.

...................................
PRINCE JULIUS ADELUSI-ADELUYI: CELEBRATING AN AFENIFERE AT 80
His reputation had preceded him for many decades before I got to meet Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi one-to-one, sometime in 2008.

He had been many outstanding things, recorded many firsts, and established a reputation as man for all seasons. Founder of the first company (Juli Pharmacy) promoted by a Nigerian to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. First Governor of Rotary Club covering the entire country. When he decided to add a law degree to his original calling as a pharmacist, he came first in law school, despite not being exactly a young man then. First pharmacist to be named Minister of Health in the country. And for me, who lived in Usi-Ekiti when my father was principal at Notre Dame College in the early 1970s, the first Ekiti man who wouldn’t eat pounded yam three times a day. In fact, he does not like pounded yam at all.

That day we first met at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, where we had both been invited to the front table during a book launch, I branded the renowned pharmacist in my mind as an Afenifere, though I don’t know if he’s actually a member, or active in the Yoruba socio-cultural and political group, which goes by that name.

Who can you really call an Afenifere? Anybody that looks out for your good, and wants to promote it, not necessarily a politician.

As we sat together, Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi extracted my life history from me within minutes. When I told him I was Executive Director in charge of Publications at The Sun Newspapers, he was astounded.

“Executive Director? But you are too young to be one,” he exclaimed. I laughed, and told him many senior positions I’d held before then. Editor of National Concord. Visiting member of the editorial board at Nigerian Tribune. Editor of Daily Sun for five years.

Prince wondered how it all happened, with what he called my “boyish looks.” I told him it was photo trick, and that many decades were already tucked in my belt.

That was how a father-son relationship started, which has seen me visiting his home many times, and meeting his dear wife, Julia, who never ceases to “load me with benefits” each time I’m leaving. Incidentally, both don’t look their ages, and carry on like boyfriend and girlfriend.

When Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi turned 70, I wrote a piece celebrating him in Daily Sun. All too soon, it’s 10 years after, and he turns 80 on Sunday, August 2, 2020. Hearty congratulations to this caring soul, who is always asking after your family, your welfare, and the next steps, when you finish what you are currently involved in. An Afenifere, if ever there was one.

On that very first meeting, as we departed the NIIA after the book launch, he pulled me aside, and in a conspiratorial tone, asked:”And how are the girls,” with a wink. I got the hint, and responded: “No away games sir.” We both laughed.

Anytime we meet today, whether in Abuja, or at his Lagos home, he never forgets that question, and the wink. And I try to assure him that I try to be just like him. We laugh.

In his early life, the Ado-Ekiti Prince had been a broadcaster at WNBS/WNTV. If you hear him speak today, you will know that what is bred in the bones cannot go out through the flesh. Urbane in all ways.

I’m glad President Muhammadu Buhari has celebrated “the accomplished pharmacist, lawyer and boardroom player” with a personal letter, as he turns 80. May we have more men in this mould. But sadly, they don’t seem to make them like this anymore.
Congratulations, Prince. In okun o, as the Ekitis would say.

*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity

PRESS STATEMENT
 
*PARTIAL RISK GUARANTEE NOT AN ISSUE IN AZURA-EDO IPP CONTRACT, SAYS PRESIDENCY*

*P&ID had no guarantee, yet Nigeria was liable

*Presidential Adviser lists consequences if Buhari administration had cancelled agreement in 2015

*Nowhere in all agreements is Nigeria liable to pay $1.2b
 
Over the past week, there has been an unnecessary controversy about the Azura-Edo Independent Power Project (IPP) especially the concerns about who signed the transaction documents and who did not sign, thus ignoring the consequences of backing out of the agreements by the Federal Government.

The Azura-Edo IPP is a functional 461MW power plant. It is owned by a group of investors led by an internationally reputed firm - Actis and includes the Edo State government as part of the investment consortium. Today, the plant supplies over 8% of the power on Nigeria’s National Grid. Clearly, the controversy as to who signed the agreements has no real basis, if indeed the only quest is for the plain truth.
 
Since the Buhari government had chosen not to repudiate the deal, it went ahead to issue the required legal opinion and signed the World Bank guarantees that had been initiated in April 2014. In fact the main Power Purchase Agreement was signed in 2013.
 
If at the point the Buhari government came into office, it repudiated the contracts, what would have happened?
First, because there was already a valid and binding contract between the Federal Government and Azura-Edo, that would have led to an international case similar to the P&ID scenario.

In the P & ID case, the Federal Government was sued for breaching the terms of a contract to build a gas processing plant. Despite the fact that no part of the plant was ever built and no government or World Bank guarantees were given, the Arbitral Tribunal found Nigeria liable in the sum of $9.6 billion. So, clearly, guarantee is not the issue at stake here.
 
The second consequence is that we would simply not have, today in the country, a 461 MW power plant in Nigeria, with a significant contribution to our national grid.

Third, it would definitely have affected our credit rating and credibility as an investment destination. Some of the most reputable international banks and investors that were involved in the project include Development Finance Institutions of the US, UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Again, laying out the facts already stated in previous communication about this matter, there is no doubt at all that the binding agreements which brought about the plant were signed in 2013 and 2014. On April 22, 2013, the Power Purchase Agreement was signed.

This is the contract that contained the Take or Pay clause, which is now the crux of the manufactured controversy. That clause is however standard in PPAs. What it says is that government will pay for the energy produced by the plant, whether it uses it or not.

Without that assurance, nobody would invest money in such a huge power plant. Large infrastructure projects are executed using project finance principles and debt, guarantees of repayment are always needed to reach financial close.
 
On October 22, 2014, the second agreement was signed. That is the Put Call Option Agreement (PCOA), which establishes the formula for determining the amount payable by government, if it has to take over the Plant. The PCOA for power plants is actually a novel approach pioneered in Nigeria. It ensures that unlike other contracts where a contract default would trigger penalties alone, in the case of Azura a default would allow Nigeria to purchase the asset. This ensures that the country has a contingent asset alongside a contingent liability. The PCOA approach has now become standard in West Africa and is being adopted across the developing world.
 
Apart from these signed contracts, Nigeria as host country, also made a commitment to back up the transaction. The Ministry of Finance issued a letter of support to the World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) in April, 2014.
 
Those who argue that the signing of the World Bank Guarantees makes the Federal Government under Buhari responsible for contracting Azura need only to look at the two basic transaction documents.
 
Another curious mischief in this controversy is the assertion that Nigeria will become liable in the sum of $1.2billion if it defaults on the Azura contract. Nowhere in any of the documents signed from 2013 to 2015 is any such figure mentioned. The only possible payout indicated in any of the agreements is in case the put and call option is activated. In that event, the cost of the plant would be worked out using a formula and become due for payment, but at least Nigeria will get in return a functional 461MW plant.
 
We have challenges in our power sector that the Government is actively working to mitigate, making the Azura contract a scapegoat is not the answer.


Engr Ahmed Rufa’i Zakari
Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure

29th July 2020

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT BUHARI TO MARK EID PRAYERS WITH FAMILY AT HOME

President Muhammadu Buhari will observe the Eid El-Kabir prayers with his family at home, just as he did during the Eid El-Fitr a little over two months ago, in line with advisories from the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA and the Presidential Task Force, PTF on COVID-19.

In wishing all Muslims a safe and happy Eid, the President reiterated the protocols as issued by the PTF that large gatherings, as much as possible, should be discouraged. Where small groups choose to hold the Eid together, face masks are absolutely necessary, as is social distancing. Advisedly, such prayers should hold outdoors and worshippers are encouraged to bring their own prayer mats.

In order to stop the spread of the disease, the President will not be receiving Sallah homages by religious, community, party and government leaders and urges all citizens to observe the occasion as advised by state and local authorities.

He once again wishes all citizens a safe and happy Eid.

Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President.

As reactions continue to trail the reported Senate debate about the Azura-Edo Independent Power Project (IPP), management of Azura Power West Africa Ltd – the plant’s parent company, have said the contract for the project signed with the Federal Government between the periods of 2013 and 2014 was binding and in force at the time the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed in April 2013.

This clarification is coming against the backdrop of reports that an indemnity agreement signed in 2015 was what effected the PPA. Differing on that score Azura management said PPA signed in 2014 was legally enforceable then.

The company also stated that the terms of all the agreements signed for the project are not inimical to the development of the country, as erroneously alluded to in some media report.

The company’s position is contained a statement released on Monday July 27, 2020, ostensibly to properly situate the debate about the signing of the contract and the conditions therein.

According to the management, “in the preceding weeks, a number of media outlets have published articles mentioning the Azura-Edo IPP. As the facts and dates cited therein are occasionally incorrect or misleading, we thought it might be helpful to issue a brief guide to the project’s chronology.”

The company said what the Buhari administration did in 2015 was to execute the legal opinion but added that without it the PPA was already in force.

Re-emphasizing the company’s position on the matter in an interview on popular television station, the Managing Director of Azura Power West Africa, Mr Edu Okeke insisted that negotiations between government representatives and other parties in the contract started long ago and culminated in the signing of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in 2013 which was later amended and signed in 2014. He said by then the agreement had legal force and was already in effect in all considerations.

According to him, “the journey for Azura started a long time ago, this is something the founders and promoters started in 2009. After the feasibility study was completed, the negotiation with the Nigerian government started in 2010. That was a very long process because before then, Nigeria had not had an Independent Power Plant. It was always being built by the government.

“To get that process going, a lot of parties had to be involved, it was about the Nigerian government, it was about lenders – most of the lenders were development financial institutions from different parts of the world. That negotiation took quite a long time, also the World Bank was actively involved, and it culminated to the signing of the PPA in 2013 and this was later amended and signed in 2014.

“The process started after the signing of the contract in 2014 and it ended some time in December 2015. In the process also, part of the conditions precedent was, getting a legal opinion. So, government being a continuum, the Buhari administration continued with the process that started long before it came into office, they saw the merit of the project and executed the legal opinion and that led to the financial closing in 2015.”
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/07/our-agreement-with-fg-in-2013-was-already-binding-then-azura/

Documents available shows that the agreements were signed in 2013 and 2014. There is deliberate misinformation here.

A break down of the Economic Sustainability Plan for easy comprehension. The ESP has 3 pillars.
1. Real Sector Measures,
2. Fiscal and Monetary Measures and
3. Implementation

Re: Senate Targets Osinbajo, Fashola, Others Over Multimillion Dollar Power Deal

Dr. AHMED RAHMAN, ABUJA

On Tuesday July 21, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Gabriel Suswam, presented a report on ‘Addressing Nigeria’s Power Sector Problems’ for debate at Plenary. As may be expected, the report recounted many of the well-known woes and inadequacies of the Nigerian Power Sector. At the same time, it tried to ascribe reasons to them.

In the course of that, the Senator dwelled on the Azura Power Generating Company and what the transaction was costing the Federal Government.

As may be expected, most papers reported it the next day, but of all of them, the approach taken by the Daily Sun stood out.

Here, we shall take a look at the key contents of the Daily Sun report and place them side by side with the facts on record.

1. In its screaming headlines, the newspaper proclaimed that “Senate targets Osinbajo, Fashola, others over multimillion dollar power deal.”

Fact: Senate has not said or implied that it was targeting anybody. None of the Senators present at the session mentioned anything suggestive of such targeting. One cannot but wonder where the Sun got its conspiracy theory from.

2. The Daily Sun reports that “Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Babatunde Fashola and others who were part of the team are believed to have erroneously signed an agreement that was not in favour of Nigeria.”

Fact: Neither Vice President Osinbajo nor Mr. Fashola signed any such agreement. They were not even in office when the Azura agreements were signed. Records show that the Power Purchase Agreement or PPA for the transaction in question was signed on April 22, 2013, during the tenure of the then President Goodluck Jonathan (see below first page of agreement with date shown, as well as the signature page).

It must also be pointed out that the Take or Pay Clause in the Power Purchase Agreement, which obliges Government to pay for power declared available by the company, whether or not it is taken by the Government-owned Transmission Company, is fairly standard, especially where, as in this case, the plant is a huge one requiring enormous set up cost.

3. The Daily Sun went further to say, “The Presidential Power Reform Transaction, which was headed by Osinbajo when the deal was struck obligated Nigeria to pay between $30 million and $33 million monthly to Azura for power for powers generated, even if not “dispatched.”

Fact: Again, this is completely false. Osinbajo was not even in office when the agreement was signed, as far back as in April 2013. The clause which talks about monthly pay is called a ‘Take or Pay Clause’, and in fairness to the government that signed it, that clause is quite typical in Power Purchase transactions.

Nobody would build a power plant, which is a very costly and capital intensive venture, and no lender would put money in one, unless someone had committed to pay for the power. At any rate, much of that monthly payment goes straight to Nigeria Gas Company, Nigerian National Petroleum Company and other gas suppliers who make the power generation possible in the first place.

In Nigeria, the company that takes power from electricity Generating Companies is the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company or NBET for short, which happens to be 100% government owned, hence the commitment to pay for the power was made by the Nigerian Government. It is NBET that buys power from generating companies like Azura and sells to distribution companies. In 2013 when the deal was struck, it clearly appeared to be a good deal for Nigeria, which was desperate for power and feverishly seeking the establishment of power plants.

No one quite envisaged the current situation where electricity generating companies are kept idle because when power is produced, the Transmission Company may not be able to wheel the electricity fully for distribution to customers. It is no longer news that even when the electric power is made available for distribution, the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) at times reject it because they have failed to improve their networks and to meter their customers. The fear of the DISCOs is that they might be unable to deliver the power to customers or to collect tariff. On their part, Customers are reticent to pay because service is appalling and most of them feel cheated by estimated billing.

It should be noted also that payments made to Azura is by no means all for nothing. Azura’s over 80% of Azura’s power is currently being transmitted and distributed, while the rest is being used by the Transmission Company of Nigeria to stabilize the National grid.

4. “Part of the deal the Federal Government had during the power sector reforms was that the investors will have the legitimacy to pull about $1.2 billion from the country’s foreign reserve.”
Fact: No investor can just pull out $1.2 billion or any amount from Nigeria’s foreign reserve like that. There was a Put/Call Agreement signed with Azura as far back as October 22, 2014, whereby Nigeria reserved the option to buy over the assets or the company to give up the assets and seek payment, if Azura defaults (see below first page of agreement with date shown, as well as the signature page).

However, the amount to be paid can only be determined when the option is exercised and nobody can simply pull out money from our foreign reserves just like that.

With the agreement having been signed before the inception of this administration, the questions one may ask are “who profits from claiming that it was done by Osinbajo and Fashola? What is the motive behind this mischievous falsehood? And in their desperation to attack these gentlemen, why are they willing to rubbish a company that produces nearly a tenth of our nation’s power with such uncommon transparency and professionalism?

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PRESS RELEASE

“WE WILL RISE FROM DESPAIR, PAIN OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC” – VP OSINBAJO

Though the Coronavirus pandemic has caused unprecedented hardship and disruptions to economies across the world, God willing, Nigerians and indeed all people around the world will survive the despair, pain and other consequences associated with the disease, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

The Vice President gave the assurance in a message sent to the 11th Synod of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Abuja Diocese, themed: Building a Sure Foundation. The Synod had started on Saturday, July 25 at St James' Church, Asokoro, Abuja.

According to Prof. Osinbajo, “Everything around us has been shaken and is being shaken by the greatest global threat to mankind in a century. We are in the midst of the greatest economic slump in history, every region of the world is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown in growth. It is my firm belief that, by the grace of God, very soon, this pandemic will be defeated.”

Speaking further, he said Christians must, however, put their hopes in Christ Jesus, noting that only in God’s name, can the present situation be overturned.

Recalling the depth of the crisis on the Nigerian economy and society, the VP said "there was a day in April when oil, our precious oil was selling for less than the cost of production. No one was even willing to buy. Suddenly all we took for granted, from air travel to hugs and even handshakes, have become neither safe nor advisable.

"Our own economy faces its worst period in history. We are earning 40% less than we should because oil prices have fallen and few today can afford to pay taxes.

Continuing he said “the sum and substance of what I am saying is that these past few months have shown us that human ingenuity and planning cannot even assure us that we will live to see the next day. Any hopes built on the foundation of human understanding and effort is a shaky and unsure foundation and is bound to fail when the storms and the turbulence come.”

BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:

REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON THE OCCASION OF THE 11TH SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION), ABUJA DIOCESE, ON SUNDAY JULY 26TH 2020

Let me say how very honored I am, to be invited to another Synod of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Abuja Diocese. I am profoundly grateful to our new Primate, His Eminence, the Most Revd. Henry Chukwudum Ndukuba, Archbishop Metropolitan, Primate of All Nigeria and Bishop of Abuja.

I say our Primate because I am one of your congregants having been born of Anglican parents and raised in the church. My father until his death served in various lay capacities in the Diocese of Lagos and Diocese of Remo and my mother remains a committed member of the St. Jude’s Church, Ebute Metta.

Your Eminence, I have earnestly looked forward to meeting you personally since your investiture in March. Certainly, this Synod would have afforded me that special opportunity, but the realities of the "new normal" in the Covid-19 pandemic, dictate the maintaining of some form of social distance.

It is my firm belief that, by the grace of God, very soon, this pandemic will be defeated, and I would have the privilege of that personal meeting with you.

The selection of the theme of this 11th Synod, "Building a Sure Foundation", is certainly divinely inspired. Everything around us has been shaken and is being shaken by the greatest global threat to mankind in a century.

We are in the midst of the greatest economic slump in history, every region of the world is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown in growth.

There was a day in April when oil, our precious oil was selling for less than the cost of production. No one was even willing to buy. Suddenly all we took for granted, from air travel to hugs and even handshakes, have become neither safe nor advisable. Our own economy faces its worst period in history. We are earning 40% less than we should because oil prices have fallen and few today can afford to pay taxes.

The sum and substance of what I am saying is that these past few months have shown us that human ingenuity and planning cannot even assure us that we will live to see the next day. Any hopes built on the foundation of human understanding and effort is a shaky and an unsure foundation and is bound to fail when the storms and the turbulence come.

But there is a sure foundation, one that never fails. One that cannot fail because the cornerstone and the rock on which it stands is the creator of life itself, the one who made all things on earth, beneath the earth and in the heavens - Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Indeed scripture reminds us of the futility of trying to lay any other foundation. 1Cor 3:11, reminds us “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” That foundation; because it is based on the righteousness of the son of God and not our own righteousness or effort; because it is based on His grace, his love for us; because it is given to us as a gift from the owner of life, cannot fail us.

So, in these uncertain times those who know Him, those who know the Lord Jesus Christ, will do great exploits. We will rise above every challenge because we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and his promise to us is contained in the words of the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 3:10 where it says, “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them…"

So, I say to you it shall be well with you. And for your sakes, it shall be well with our nation and the world. We will rise from the despair and pain of this pandemic, from the tragedies of insecurity and the deprivations of our economic circumstances to a bright new day of abundance, prosperity and joy in the mighty name of Jesus.

Once more I congratulate your Eminence, our Primate, and their Lordships, Archbishops and Bishops present, all members of the clergy of the Anglican Communion, and friends from other denominations on this auspicious occasion of the 11th Synod and I pray that the almighty God will bless and prosper the Church of Nigeria Anglican communion and you all in Jesus mighty name, Amen.

Released by:
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
26th July, 2020

https://www.yemiosinbajo.ng/11th-synod-of-church-of-nigeria-anglican-communion-abuja-diocese/

Fresh facts emerged on Saturday that the suspended Secretary to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Oluyede, has never worked in the law firm of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo called SimmonCoopers.
He had also worked for several years prior to the establishment of SimmonCoopers, according to a document sighted yesterday by The Nation.

It was gathered that Oluyede had worked as a consultant and managed corporate intelligence portfolio before joining EFCC.
Social media reports had claimed that the EFCC Secretary was unduly favoured by Osinbajo to be appointed to the position.
But the document seen by The Nation showed that the claim was “not only false but also discreditable to the person of Ola Olukoyede.”
The document said: “Oluyede has never stepped or walked into the office of SimmonCoopers all his life, not to talk of working for the law firm.

“In his career profile and curriculum vitae, which he submitted to the Senate during his confirmation hearing in November 2018, Olukoyede worked for a finance and investment company Ecodev Investment as an investment officer for about five years before he started his law career with Legal Research and Corporate Development Projects (LRCDP Consulting)  as a research partner.
“At LRCD, he acted as a consultant and managed corporate intelligence portfolio with a number of high profile organisations in clientele, including financial institutions and law enforcement agencies from 2002.”
The document gave more insight into the antecedents of Oluyede as an expert on anti-corruption strategies.
It added: “In 2008, he established Global Compliance (GRC) a governance, risk and legal consulting outfit as a managing partner where he led and managed as an attorney, Investigation and Civil Litigation of fraud and corruption on international aid projects.
“He has also been involved for several years even preceding the establishment of SimmonCoopers partners, in the development and implementation of strategic policy documents for operations, legal and administrative units of various anti-corruption agencies, including EFCC, as a trainer and consultant.
“Also in the same year 2008, he established his Law practice, Ola Olukoyede & CO, from where he joined EFCC.”

https://thenationonlineng.net/efcc-secretary-never-worked-in-osinbajos-law-firm-investigation/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT PRESS RELEASE*
 
*OSINBAJO TO YOUNG NIGERIANS: COVID-19 PANDEMIC OFFERS YOU OPPORTUNITY TO PROFFER SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS NOW AND COMING YEARS*

As the world grapples with the fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic, young Nigerians should seize opportunities of the moment to change the course of human history, do things never done before and become problem solvers, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
 
The Vice President stated this on Saturday at the virtual valedictory service for graduating students of Edgewood College, Lagos.
 
According to Prof. Osinbajo, “No matter how you look at it, you are unique. The game changed in your generation, you are certainly a class of game changers. The point with any opportunity is that it must be seized if you are to benefit from it, which is why you must never take your place in history for granted. There is always a divine reason for it.”

Historically, he said “circumstances have moved you ahead. No one has been here before. None of your parents or mine can tell you how life would be in or after a global pandemic. We know some but not nearly all of the challenges and all of the opportunities that will come with it. And if you tell me that you would have to wait until you get into University and even graduate before you start to answer those questions then you are missing the opportunity that history is offering you.”
 
He further explained that when an opportunity to make history comes, it is often disguised as a challenge, a draw back or even a tragedy, adding that an opportunity often “hardly ever looks like the next great leap of mankind.”
 
The VP said young age is a profound advantage in a time of uncertainty such as now and that such times also offer opportunity. In his words, “there is no qualifying age to be a problem solver, an entrepreneur, a great poet, an inventor, or an author. Age doesn’t matter. You must from now begin to examine the solutions to the problems that we face and will face now and in the coming years.”
 
*BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT’S REMARKS:*
 
*REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE VIRTUAL VALEDICTORY SERVICE FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS OF EDGEWOOD COLLEGE, LEKKI, LAGOS, ON SATURDAY JULY 25, 2020*
 
First, let me commend the vision and dedication of the founder of Edgewood College, for conceiving of and delivering this unique centre of education which combines a strong commitment to developing God fearing and selfless leaders with a dedication to offering the best in the sixth form education blending both local and the UK curricula.

To the staff of the College, it is to your knowledge, and expertise and your experience that our most important national resources, these young people are committed year in, year out. And you must be doing many things right to have received the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards, top in 2017 and the awardee of the high achievement in Cambridge A level Law in 2018. Congratulations and very well done.
 
For parents and guardians of the members of the graduating class, we all join you in rejoicing today and in thanking God for this great gifts of success and accomplishments.

And to the graduating class of 2020, my very special and warm congratulations. I have a short message for you, it is tilted “The Class of Game Changers”.
 
Every generation is gifted by God with a unique set of circumstances that give them an opportunity to distinguish themselves, to make history, to do something never done before, to positively alter the trajectory of the story of mankind. That opportunity usually comes disguised as a challenge, a drawback, even a tragedy; it hardly ever looks like the next great leap of mankind that it really is.
 
The generation that should take advantage may sometimes even miss the opportunity, because as human beings our inclination is to look back rather than ahead. We seek comfort in the familiar things, the known course of events, we want progress but we still want things to be the way they were.
 
But worse, we miss the moment because the opportunities no longer knocks, it sounds more like a whisper, barely audible because there is so much noise all around us, which is why I have named your class, the class of 2020, the class of game-changers.
 
You are the first set of students of this college to graduate in the midst of a global pandemic. You are also the first in the history of this school and in many parts of the world to have a virtual graduation. One thing I can say is that you are certainly the first school in Nigeria to have a serving Vice President keynote your graduation and certainly the first to have that done virtually.

So, no matter how you look at it, you are unique. The game changed in your generation, you are certainly a class of game changers. The point with any opportunity is that it must be seized if you are to benefit from it, which is why you must never take your place in history for granted. There is always a divine reason for it.

So, what should you do as a game changer? I think one of the critical things to recognize is that you cannot stand on the queue anymore.

Historically, circumstances have moved you ahead. No one has been here before. None of your parents or mine can tell you, how life would be in or after a global pandemic. We know some but not nearly all of the challenges and all of the opportunities that will come with it. And if you tell me that you would have to wait until you get into University and even graduate before you start to answer those questions then you are missing the opportunity that history is offering you. Age, your very young age is a profound advantage in a time of uncertainty and opportunity. There is no qualifying age to be a problem solver, an entrepreneur, a great poet, an inventor, or an author. Age doesn’t matter.
 
You must from now begin to examine the solutions to the problems that we face and will face now and in the coming years. Meeting virtually such as we are doing now was made possible by the inventors of Zoom a virtual meeting application, many more such applications, even better ones are waiting to be developed. You don’t have to be a technology geek to be an innovator, you can identify the problem, write up the solution and someone else develops the app. Some of the greatest and most useful inventions were made by young men and women before they even left high school.
 
At 15, Bill Gates had gone into partnership with his friend Allen, to develop Traf-O-Data, a computer program that monitored traffic patterns in Seattle, Washington State in the US. George Westinghouse invented the Rotary Steam engine at 19, the television was first conceived by Philo Fansworth, he was 14.
 
Timilehin Daomi, before he was 16 living in Ikorodu, there in Lagos State, had made prototypes of a vacuum cleaner, a pumping machine, a digital microscope and last year or about two years ago, a prototype of hydraulic-powered collapsible 4th Mainland Bridge for Lagos State.

Aghogho Ajiyen, a young man in Oghara, in Delta State and Ayoola Olaolu in Ikorodu, have been making prototypes of airplanes, drones and flying cars. Emeka Nelson in Anambra State developed a water-powered generator.

Sooner or later, these innovators will define enterprise, our economy, digital technology, in our country and perhaps around the world.
 
But those gifted in the arts and humanities must also take advantage of these times. Pablo Picasso, the legendary artist, had painted the La premiere communion’ when he was 15.
 
Amanda Gorman is the first youth poet laureate in the US. She took the hopelessness of the pandemic and the black-lives-matter protest to write a poetic masterpiece titled ‘Fury and Faith’. She wrote these words that must now be etched in our hearts as we face these uncertain times, and I quote the words that she wrote in that poem: “…whether we prevail in these times is not determined by all the challenges present but by the change that is possible...”

Arinze Ifeakandu was shortlisted for The Caine Prize for his book ‘God’s Children Are Little Broken Things’. At 22, he is the Caine Prize’s second youngest ever person to be shortlisted. And the list of these young achievers goes on.

The sum and substance of what I am saying is that, you leave high school at a phenomenal moment in global history, nothing will ever be the same again. Believe it or not you have spent the last one or two years here at Edgewood College, being prepared for this moment and for this season.
 
You have all that it takes to create a new narrative in the arts, in entertainment, in science, in innovation, in medicine, in business or the digital economy. Yes, you are still headed for University but whoever told you that you can’t distinguish yourself even as an undergraduate?
 
One last word that I must leave with you is that, never be foolish enough to imagine that anything happens without the Almighty God, all good and perfect gifts come from Him. Some of the smartest people that you will come across in the best universities in the world, will tell you that there is no God. Remember the words of scripture, “the fool says in his heart that there is no God.”
 
Some will say but life itself is about luck, chance, they might even refer you to the scripture that says, in Ecclesiastes 9:11, “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.” But the question that you must always ask is, who controls time and chance? They are controlled by the Almighty God.
 
So, I pray for you, that you will excel in all you, do, that you will be a source of pride and joy to your families and this nation, and that God will help you always in Jesus name. All will be well with you in Jesus mighty name.

Congratulations again, and God Bless you.

*Laolu Akande*
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
25th July 2020

STOP THE SOUR GRAPES!

RE: OSINBAJO DECEITFUL CAMPAIGN IN OKEOGUN

Dear Barrister Waheed Olatunde Lawal,

I read your op-ed on the above subject with amusement.

Just like every other human being, H.E. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is not without his weaknesses. But to say that he is a political scammer is, in my humble opinion, uncharitable and exposes your own flaws in a very damaging way. It reflects the depth of your own questionable imaginations and interrogates your motivations, raising serious doubts about your real purpose.

If I may ask:

1. Have you reached out to him privately using the same means deployed during the campaigns?

2. Considering the fact that only 14 months have been spent out of 48 months, don't you think it's too early to throw away the baby with the bathwater?

3. Do you have concrete evidence to ascertain that the VP has refused to grant audience to our respected traditional rulers/thought leaders from OkeOgun?

4. Are you aware how many of the Oke-Ogun leaders are in touch with the Presidency and the VP on some of the issues?

5. Can you assert boldly that the VP is not working at the FULFILLMENT of some of the promises?

6. Why do you author such a demeaning article about a distinguished public officer when in fact the last thing on record is the mutual goodwill that was exhibited between the good people of OkeOgun and the VP as you rightly showed during the election?

7. What is the real point of trying to mess up that cordial relationship now?

8. Is it that you feel left out personally? Can you not accept that the collective interest of the good people of Okeogun is way higher and deeper than your own selfish calculations?

9. On whose authority are you acting besides what seems a personal irritation?

Comrade Barrister, let us engage constructive engagements over and above destructive ones please. OKE OGUN will not lose out of its support for Buhari/Osinbajo now and in the future.

There is a lot that will still happen. Cool down, Barrister!!

Be rest assured of my regards.

Prince Adekunle Adetayo

Osinbajo for President... And so what?
“Gbogbo iwa aisododo, ese ni." (All unrighteousness is sin).

This biblical quote came to my mind while reviewing the level of our hypocrisy in Nigeria few hours ago.

At every forum, we complain as if we are not comfortable with recycling leaders. We advocate for young leaders but our advocacy is just a lip service.

In the last few months, my feeling towards the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has moved from ADMIRATION to SYMPATHY.

Though I admire him for his brilliance and humble disposition, I don’t envy him as the current Vice-President. I tell anybody who cares to listen that he’s the most vilified Vice-President Nigeria has ever had.

At least, we still remember how powerful Atiku was as Number Two and I remember, though faintly, how colourful Alex Ekwueme was as deputy to Shehu Shagari.

In a terse statement issued few days ago, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo's spokesperson stated in clear terms that Osinbajo’s focus is currently on building the economy and enhancing the welfare of the people and not by the distractions surrounding running for 2023 presidency. For me, I ask, why not? Honestly, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't run but even before he has made up his mind, some people are bent on blackmailing him into submission or tarnishing his image beforehand.

Unfortunately, they appear to be winning.

What exactly do we want?

We dont want Tinubu because he has advanced in age.

We don't want Osinbajo because of what again?

We dont want Kinsley Mogalu because of what?

This is the same way we killed Awo's Ambition, We frustrated Zik, We betrayed Abiola, Okadigbo died an angry man. Let's stop deceiving ourself jare we know who we want.

Osinbajo’s challenge can be linked to two things: he's not a professional politician like many of his traducers and some people still believe he came from nowhere; probably to 'reap' where he did not sow.

Some people just don’t like the man’s face; they can’t explain why. Some pass comment as if he’s not qualified for the position he occupies. It’s nothing but jealousy.

When Jonathan was there, some people just didn’t want him because of his background. Oga Jona was neither a son of a first republic minister nor related to any of the Generals.

Now, because it's believed that Osinbajo has no political structure and as a result, he could be tossed here and there.

To me, this is most unfortunate and reason professionals will always run away from seeking political office.

To them, it is for those who can survive nights of long knives...

For those who really understand the tea leaves, those who are trying to smear the VP here and there may be self-subverting because indirectly they are making 2023 to be about Osinbajo and lifting his profile even though it's the opposite they desire. We shall see.

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE

OSINBAJO WELCOMES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY’S SUPPORT FOR ESP, COVID-19 RESPONSE

As the Federal Government kick starts the implementation of the National Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP), a move from the international community to support the successful execution of programmes encapsulated in the plan is welcomed and appreciated, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

The Vice President stated this at a virtual meeting held earlier today with representatives of the international community from the United States (US), the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK), agencies of the United Nations, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Industry, Trade and Investment Minister, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, a member of the Economic Sustainability Committee was also in attendance.

Prof. Osinbajo who applauded the commitment of the international community to support Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic also noted that the country will take advantage of the crisis to effect significant changes in the critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.

According to him, “I thank you for your generous comments about the Economic Sustainability Plan. We intend to implement that as closely as possible. We hope that when we get to some of the more technical aspects and full implementation, we will then be able to work with you and see in what areas you will be in the position to assist.

“We also look at the pandemic and post-pandemic period as a time when we can make some useful changes. We really are working towards ensuring that we take full advantage of the crisis. There is no question at all as to our determination to ensure that we are able to quickly surmount the challenges.

The Vice President also restated the government’s condolences on the recent killing of five aid workers on Wednesday in Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents.

Earlier in his remarks, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of the United Nations System in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon who led the delegation said Nigeria’s response to the pandemic is well planned and articulated, noting that interactions between with the Federal government and stakeholders would aid a smooth implementation of the plan.

Kallon and other members of the delegation commended the development and approval of the Economic Sustainability Plan, offering to assist in its implementation.

According to Kallon “we want to support the vision of (Nigerian) government in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Economic Sustainability Plan gives us the opportunity.”

“He added that members of the delegation will see how the international community can support the Nigerian government “with what you are doing.”

He disclosed that the delegation want to ensure there is an international alignment in support of the Nigerian government’s response.

Aside Mr Edward Kallon, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of the United Nations System in Nigeria, other representatives of foreign governments and international agencies at the meeting include, Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria; Ambassador Ketil Karlsen, Head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Ambassador Catriona Laing, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria represented by Mr John Primrose, the Acting British High Commissioner to Nigeria; Mr Chris Pycroft, Head of the Department for International Development (DFID) in Nigeria; and Mr Mohamed Yahya, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nigeria.

Others include, Mr Kurt Cornelis, Head of Cooperation, European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, the Country Director of the World Bank in Nigeria; Ms Jesmin Rahman, Resident Representative and Chief of Mission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Nigeria, among others.



Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
23rd July 2020