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•Buhari
Opposition accuses President of ‘demarketing’ Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday knocked the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration for wrecking the economy for “personal gain”.

He repudiated the party’s claim that he is “demarketing” Nigeria with his public speeches on corruption by former public officials, saying he won’t lie to cover up the truth.

“Nigerians will hear only the truth on the economy and the state of the nation from President Muhammadu Buhari”, the Presidency said last night.

It alleged that the Jonathan-led PDP government lied to Nigerians on the state of the economy which was found to be in dire straits contrary to that government’s claims.



“President Buhari will remain true to the virtues of honesty, integrity, sincerity, incorruptibility and plain-speaking which endeared him to Nigerians and made them prefer his leadership to that of a lying and deceptive PDP administration.

“The President will not, in the guise of ‘marketing’ the country, refrain from telling Nigerians and the world, the emerging truths about the abject state in which years of plundering by a PDP leadership has left the Nigerian treasury and economy.

“President Buhari will not in the name of ‘marketing’ or ‘attracting’ investors, follow in the footsteps of the ousted PDP Administration and its discredited officials who shamelessly lied to Nigerians and the world about the buoyancy and vibrancy of an economy they had bled dry for personal gain, when it was very obvious to the discerning, that the Nigerian economy was headed for serious trouble,” Presidential Spokesman Femi Adesina, said in a statement.

The Presidency condemned PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh’s statement that the President has been “demarketing Nigeria “with his public stance on corruption.

“We restate for the umpteenth time to Mr. Metuh and his ilk that their attempts to distract President Buhari from the job he has been elected to do will fail,” the Presidency said, adding: “It is most unfortunate that instead of showing some remorsefulness for the harm done to the nation by his party, and giving genuine support for President Buhari’s efforts to salvage and revamp the national economy, Mr. Metuh persisted in a vain attempt to remain relevant on the national stage by unjustly denigrating the President who continued to strive with all his might to alleviate and reverse the harm done to the nation by PDP misrule and corruption.”

Mr. Metuh’s antics, the statement said, were futile.

“President Buhari cannot be distracted by a broken record. If the PDP spokesman ever has serious matters to bring to our attention, we will be prepared to listen,” it stated

In his party’s statement Metuh claimed that recent statements on the state of the economy credited to President Buhari were capable of harming Nigeria’s image.

PDP observed that instead of making efforts to harness resources and grow the economy, Buhari has continued to scare away investors.

According to the opposition, the President has continued to apply himself perhaps unwittingly, to demarketing the nation through negative labelling of Nigerians and unwarranted unhealthy portrayal of the economy.

The party added that the President’s “unwary statements” have become very serious clogs in the wheel of progress, eroding the confidence of both domestic and international investors in Nigeria’s socio-economic system.

The statement reads: “It is worrisome that in the last six months, the President, instead of making efforts to harness resources and grow the economy, has rather continued to apply himself, perhaps unwittingly, to demarketing the nation and scaring away investors through negative labeling of Nigerians and unwarranted unhealthy portrayal of the nation’s economy.

“In the last six months, our President has only succeeded in discouraging foreign investors with his continued misrepresentation of our country as a business unfriendly environment, where most of the citizens are basically corrupt, dishonest, and cannot be trusted.

“Whereas we have restated our total support for the war against corruption, we insist that Mr. President’s unceasing blanket negative labelling of citizens, in a country where millions of honest and hardworking individuals/firms are genuinely contributing daily to the development effort, is indeed a disservice and injurious to the nation and the people.

“Furthermore, Mr. President’s recent announcement to the world that the nation, with its abundant human and natural resources, is broke and cannot pay cabinet ministers not only sends a discouraging signal to the domestic and international business community, but also exposes the ineptitude of the present administration to meaningfully and sincerely exert itself and work with industrious and innovative investors to create and manage wealth.

“We ask; how can any reasonable investor still have the confidence to invest in a country where the President himself continues to alert that his country reeks of corrupt people and that the government is broke to the extent it cannot pay cabinet ministers?

“Is the President not directly advising investors against having confidence in Nigeria and the system, and that they risk not being paid for jobs awarded by government at any level?”

Source www.thenationonline./news

igerians may face rougher times travelling on the country’s highways in 2016 as the House of Representatives Committee on Works said on Sunday that debts owed road contractors by the Federal Government still stood at over N300bn.

The committee noted that it was not surprising that many contractors had either abandoned their sites or were slowing down their pace, awaiting funding from the government.



The chairman of the committee, Mr. Toby Okechukwu, who stated this in Abuja, said funding remained the biggest challenge the road sector would face next year.

Okechukwu suggested that the situation called for both the government and the contractors to review their roles in the road projects.

He said, “We are talking about debts on road projects in excess of N300bn. The first challenge will be the funding of road infrastructure. Money owed road contractors should be looked into in terms of what did government owe and how did contractors perform or did not perform?”

In the 2015 budget, the government allocated what lawmakers described as “paltry” N11bn to the road sector.

The figure was said to make little impact in settling outstanding debts, let alone addressing the funding of new or running projects.

With dwindling returns from crude oil sales and less money at the disposal of the government, Okechukwu observed that government alone could no longer afford the required funding for road projects.

He said the situation called for a “review of the laws guiding road infrastructure” to increase private-sector participation in road projects.

“We should take a serious look at the issue of Public Private Partnership. In doing this, it should not be politically-influenced.

“PPP is a business idea that will be profitable to the investors. So, it is not likely that they will allow it to fail,” the lawmaker added.

Okechukwu stated that to make the situation worse for the road sector, there was no information on the 2016 budget with less than two months to the end of the current year.

For instance, he said the Medium Term Expenditure Framework expected to be at the National Assembly since September had yet to reach the legislature.

“This implies that the operation of the budget as it relates to the road sector will be affected.

“This will tragic for us, looking at how bad our roads are today,” he said.

Okechukwu also spoke on assets seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the course of investigations into corruption cases.

Rather than keep the “perishable assets” to waste or lose value, he suggested that they could be sold and the proceeds kept in deposit banks.

“Government can also re-invest the money in profitable ventures instead of keeping such assets to waste or lose value while the cases are stalled in courts for years”, Okechukwu said.

Source www.punchng.com/2015/11/3065

LACK of communication from the Senate to the Presidency on confirmation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial nominees is delaying the inauguration of the new Federal Executive Council, The PUNCH has learnt.

Though the Senate had announced the confirmation of 36 nominees as minister-designates, our correspondent learnt that the upper chamber had yet to officially communicate the confirmation to the Presidency.



The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, on Sunday confirmed that the Senate had yet to communicate to the Presidency on the matter because doing so would require a Senate plenary.

“The communication cannot be done until when the senators in plenary approve the votes and proceedings of the decision taken at the last week’s sitting of the Senate,” Enang told one of our correspondents on the phone.

Buhari had on the last day of September forwarded a list of 21 persons to the Senate for confirmation. He also sent another batch of 16 names on October 2 though he later withdrew the name of one of the nominees.

While the Senate had earlier confirmed 18 nominees at first, the upper chamber confirmed the remaining 18 nominees last Thursday at a time the President was attending the third summit of the India-Africa Forum in New Delhi.

Buhari returned to the country late on Friday and there have been speculations that he would inaugurate his ministers during the week.

Already, the social media have been awash with different permutations on how the President would assign his ministers’ portfolios.

Multiple government sources on Sunday said the government was not bothered by social media permutations and that it would be wrong for the President to work on social media reports.

“Remember that the President sent the lists to the Senate formally with top presidential aides delivering them to the Senate President. It follows that after the confirmation, the Senate leadership should also write back to inform the President that his nominees have been screened and confirmed,” one of the sources said.

When contacted on the telephone, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed to our correspondent that Buhari had yet to receive any communication on the nominees from the Senate.

He also confirmed that the President would wait for a letter from the Senate conveying to him the confirmation of his nominees before sweating in the ministers.

Shehu expressed the optimism that the confirmation would be communicated to the President this week.

He said, “As I am talking to you now, the President is yet to receive any message from the Senate that the ministerial nominees have been cleared.

“Maybe the Senate will do this when it resumes this week but it has not done so yet.

“It is only when that is done that the President can go ahead to swear in the nominees to become members of the Federal Executive Council.”

Shehu also disowned the list being published, especially in the social media, on the allocation of portfolios to the ministers-designate.

He said the list did not emanate from the Presidency though he said those behind the list had the right to speculate.

The 36 persons who have been confirmed by the Senate to be ministers are Senator Udoma Udo Udoma , Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau (retd.), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Hajia Amina Ibrahim Mohammed, Suleiman Hussaini Adamu and Ibrahim Usman Jibril.

Also cleared and confirmed as ministers are Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Abubakar Malami, SAN; Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, Mr. Solomon Dalong, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and Senator Hadi Sirika.

Others are Rotimi Amaechi, Adebayo Shittu, Bukar Ibrahim, Cladius Omoleye Daramola, Prof. Anthony Onwuka, Geoffrey Onyema, Dan Ali, James Ocholi, Zainab Ahmed, Okechukwu Enelamah, Muhammadu Bello, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, Aisha Abubakar, Heineken Lokpobiri, Adamu Adamu, Isaac Adewole, Abubakar Bawa and Pastor Usani Uguru.

As of Sunday, Dambazau, a retired soldier from Kano State, was being speculated to handle the defence ministry, while Amaechi, ex-Governor of Rivers State, was being tipped to be in charge of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, according to the speculation, will be headed by Audu Ogbeh, a one-time national Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party; and Ocholi will handle the Ministry of Justice.

For the education and foreign affairs ministires, Adewole, an outgoing Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan; and Fayemi, an ex-governor of Ekiti, were being tipped respectively.

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed, is seen as a natural candidate for the information ministry while the Group Managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Ibe Kachikwu, is said to be the junior minister in the petroleum ministry. Already, Buhari had said he would be the Minister of Petroleum.

Also Sirika is being tipped for the Minister of Aviation while the Ministry of Finance may have both Enelamah and Adeosun, among others.

Source www.punchng.com/2015/11/3014

Yeye people even this morning I was charge for what I did not subscribe to but if people are like me don't load for one week and see what MTN becomes.

Eleven civilians were killed in a Boko Haram suicide bomb attack Sunday on a Chadian army post at Bougouma in the Lake Chad region, the government said.

“Two members of Boko Haram were neutralised and a third blew themselves up, killing 11 civilians,” a Chadian government statement said, referring to the Nigerian jihadist group.

More details

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/11-killed-as-boko-haram-attacks-lake-chad/

Cho

Nigerians finally know the names of those who will form President Muhammadu Buhari's cabinet, after the senate approved the list of 36 nominees, five months after the president took office.
Mr Buhari, who was elected in March partly on a promise to tackle corruption and insecurity, vowed to select competent and clean individuals.
But when the much-anticipated list was released, many were disappointed, asking whether the wait had been worth it, and whether those selected were the best in the country.
Some say the list is full of old and recycled politicians who have been part of Nigeria's problems.
The youths who worked tirelessly during his campaign have also been disappointed because the average age in the cabinet is 52. Some women's groups have also voiced their anger that there are just six females on the list.
The 36 names approved by MPs - but yet to be given portfolios - include five former governors, nine lawyers, four former senators, three academics, two medical doctors, two retired soldiers and a clergyman.
The combination of experienced politicians and technocrats shows that the president was trying to balance his choice - rewarding party loyalists, while also selecting some professionals.
His hands were also tied by the constitutional requirement to choose at least one person from each of Nigeria's 36 states.
His supporters say the list shows he is committed to fulfilling his election promises, adding that age and gender do not matter at this stage because the country needs to be rescued urgently.
Here are seven interesting characters to watch in the cabinet:
Babatunde Fashola
Image copyrightReuters
Image caption
Mr Fashola earned a good reputation during his tenure as governor of Lagos
It is not surprising that Mr Fashola made the list.
His achievements during his tenure as governor of Lagos state - Nigeria's commercial capital - makes him a good asset.
He is credited with bringing an element of order to the chaotic city through massive infrastructure development that included demolishing illegal structures to pave the way for new road projects.
Nigeria in pictures: Lagos facelift
As a senior lawyer and experienced administrator, it won't be surprising if he is asked to head the justice ministry.
The president has promised to root out corruption and bribery allegations that tainted the image of Nigeria's judicial system.
Ibe Kachikwu
Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Mr Buhari's party uses a broom to symbolise cleaning up corruption
The former ExxonMobil executive vice-chairman was appointed by President Buhari in August to head the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), an organisation vital to Africa's largest economy but notorious for corruption and mismanagement.
Many analysts believe his appointment has started to yield results.
It is surprising that he has now been asked to join the cabinet and is very likely to be appointed a minister in the oil ministry.
This means a new NNPC head may have to be appointed.
Even though the president has said he will oversee the ministry himself, most of the work and reforms he plans to carry out will be handled by Mr Kachikwu.
It will be interesting to see how he will help Mr Buhari clean up the oil sector and recover the mind-boggling sums he said had been stolen.
Does Nigeria run better without a cabinet?
Buhari's to-do list
Is Buhari a changed man?
Amina Mohammed
Image copyrightAFP
She is a well-known technocrat within and outside Nigeria. She has more than 30 years of experience in the field of development, including as Nigeria's presidential adviser on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
She was credited with designing and developing several government projects aimed at reducing poverty.
Before joining the cabinet, Ms Mohammed was the Special Adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on post-2015 development planning.
Her eloquence and globally-exposed experience in development and management could be an asset to the government if correctly exploited.
Rotimi Amaechi

Image caption
Mr Amaechi is a chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress
He is the most controversial of all the appointees even though his inclusion did not come as surprise.
As President Buhari's campaign director, many Nigerians see Mr Amaechi's appointment as pay-back for the role he played in the president's victory during the election.
However, his choice has been heavily criticised after he was indicted by Rivers state's panel of inquiry for allegedly enriching himself during his eight-year tenure as the state's governor.
He denied all the allegations and said they were politically motivated. He also took the commission to court.
Opposition MPs tried to block his appointment but the ruling party used its majority to get him through.
Abdurrahman Dambazau
As Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff between 2008 and 2010, he led a successful campaign against militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
After he was sacked, the militants regrouped in 2011. Since then, thousands of people have been killed and the insurgency has spread to neighbouring countries.
Tackling the group is one of Mr Buhari's top priorities, so it will be interesting to see how Mr Dambazzau will tackle the conflict now, assuming he is asked to head the ministry of defence as expected.
Image copyrightGetty Images
Image caption
The militants have stepped up their attacks since President Buhari came to power
Kemi Adeosun
She is an economist and financial expert who was educated and worked in the UK before going back to Nigeria to serve as a commissioner of finance in the south-western state of Ogun.
Many expect her to be posted to the finance ministry.
During her presentation to the Senate, she said funds allocated for various projects are being diverted and identified ways to stop this happening.
She also said the country cannot afford to continue spending 78% of its budget on paying civil servants' salaries and other ongoing costs.
It will be interesting to see how the financial markets, investors and ordinary Nigerians will react to her appointment and whether she will be able to transform the country's struggling economy.
Audu Ogbe
Image copyrightAPC
As a veteran politician with four decades of experience, Mr Ogbe, 68, is known to be independent-minded and self-willed and has served in several previous governments.
Many remember him for his public row with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, when he was chairman of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
He was forced to resign from the position after accusing Mr Obasanjo of interfering in party affairs.
Mr Ogbe is an experienced farmer who is expected to be appointed to lead the vital agriculture ministry.
Nigeria has a vast tracts of land that analysts say, if used properly, could create jobs for the country's army of unemployed youths and reduce Nigeria's dependence on oil.
Nigerians will be hoping that he is able to bring this theory to reality.

source www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34538718

Good morning,
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Thank u true caller.

k

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Yet APC says they fight corruption no I never believe in APC I only hope in NIGERIA.

Next

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K

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K oo

K

;DD swear MTN are mad after all the money

Billygee2u:
I have no time to drag issues with a party die hard plebian

u are not even loving yourself why do u hate it soul!

Hmmmmm

K

Billygee2u:
no body will be surprised of the out come.
Buharidullardinhobabaonechance should stop deceiving himself with corruption war chanting,

u are yet to wake up

K

Loi ni

Good one

A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Thursday in Abuja reflected on the success of the 2015 general elections and advocated a thorough reform of the electoral process before the 2019 general elections.

Such reforms, he said, were necessary to correct recurrent mistakes and check excesses of politicians who he described as “a major threat to a free and fair election in the country.”



The ex-INEC chairman said Nigeria should implement the recommendations of the Justice Muhammed Uwais Electoral Reforms Committee.

“We must put the next four years to even better use by ensuring the implementation of those outstanding and very good recommendations of the ERC, which have not been acted upon; the completion of the outstanding amendments to the legal framework, as well as the bringing about of additional reform measures to deepen and consolidate our electoral democracy. I therefore urge that we must all, old and young, but especially the youths, embrace electoral reforms and demand for more,” Jega advised.

He stated that Nigeria ranked among countries in the world with a long history of badly conducted elections.

According to him, the 2007 general elections remains the worst election ever conducted in the political history of Nigeria.

Jega said this in a lecture entitled, “Electoral reforms in Nigeria: Challenges and prospects,” which he delivered during the maiden edition of the University of Abuja Public Lecture Series, where he also expressed optimism that the new INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, would do well.

He said, “It is not yet uhuru in terms of sustainable election in Nigeria, because there are still many outstanding challenges. There is need to reform the electoral process before the 2019 elections to consolidate democracy in Nigeria. As long as politicians continue to have this unwholesome mindset, efforts at electoral reform and deepening democracy would remain constrained.

“Given the fact that elections are the major pillar of leadership selection and governance legitimisation in liberal democracies, constant and unseizing effort for the reformation of the electoral process is an imperative in all countries that are democratising.

“It is especially necessary in countries in transition to democracy, such as Nigeria, where there is a long history of badly conducted elections; where elections have been bastardised, and where many voters have become despondent and have virtually given up hope of their votes counting in choosing their elected executives or representatives in legislatures.

“INEC faced perhaps its greatest challenge in containing the predisposition and reckless mindset of Nigerian politicians. From my experience, I quite often say that Nigeria has a special breed of politicians (Nee: ‘Militicians’). They generally tend to believe that political power through elections has to be “captured” and this has to be done by hook or by crook; and by any means necessary!

“Them, winning election is, literally “a do-or-die” affair. Any wonder then, that our political arena increasingly resembled a bloody battlefield, with maiming, killing, burning, and unimaginable destruction of lives and property. Navigating the ‘minefield’ of ‘do-or-die’ politicians as an impartial electoral umpire required nerves of steel, and we had to quickly have the requisite thick skin, as well as appropriate containment strategies.”

The former INEC boss said INEC was able to check politicians and navigate their ‘minefield’ through compliance with the laws and insisting on same and respect for due process, as well as being non partisan and transparent.

However, Jega said this had remained a formidable challenge for the future reformation of the Nigerian electoral process.

Jega insisted on a good legal framework as a necessary precondition for credible elections in line with international best practice.

Source www.punchng.com/2015/10/2309

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal will on Friday (today) decide on whether or not to quash the charges of false assets declaration preferred against Senate President Bukola Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

Saraki had filed his appeal before the appellate court to challenge the competence of the charges filed against him and the constitution of the tribunal, which he said comprised two members instead of the three provided for by law.

The judgment of the Appeal Court was earlier scheduled to be delivered on October 19, but it was on that day adjourned indefinitely because it was said not to be ready.

Following that, the Justice Danladi Umar-led tribunal adjourned the trial of the Senate President which was due to commence on October 21, till November 5, to await the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

The judgment will effectively terminate the Senate President’s trial before the CCT if the Court of Appeal rules in his favour on Friday.

The Justice Moore Adumein-led panel of the appeal court had on October 16 heard the appeal. Fresh hearing notice for the delivering of the judgment was issued late on Thursday.

Respondents to the appeal are the CCT, the Code of Conduct Bureau, in whose name the charges were filed, the Federal Ministry of Justice and a lawyer in the ministry, Mr. Muslim Hassan.

At the hearing of the appeal, Saraki’s lead counsel, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), urged the appellate court to “set aside the entire proceedings of the Code of Conduct Tribunal including the charges before it.”

He anchored his prayer on, among other grounds, that the CCT was not properly constituted to entertain the charges because it was made up of two judges instead of three provided for in Paragraph 15(1) of the Fifth Schedule to the constitution.

On that score, he argued that the Section 28 of the Interpretation Act relied upon by the respondents giving room for the tribunal to validly sit with its chairman and one other member, could not “water down” the provisions of the constitution.

He also argued that in the absence of the Attorney-General of the Federation no competent charges could be filed against his client.

He also contended that the CCB failed to confront his client with the allegation as a pre-condition for filing charges against him (Saraki).

But the respondents’ counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), urged the Appeal Court to dismiss the suit, on the grounds that it was based on “misconception and wrong interpretation of the law.”

He faulted Daudu’s prayer for the dismissal of the charge based on an alleged fact that the panel of the tribunal was not properly constituted.

On the issue of the tribunal not being properly constituted, Jacobs argued that two out of the three members of tribunal could validly the conduct proceedings by virtue of the provisions of Section 28 of the Interpretation Act recognised by the constitution in its section 308(4).

Source www.punchng.com/2015/10/2354

Madness

What

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