₦airaland Forum

Nigeria MOU with General Electric on Narrow Gauge Railway Line Still On Course!

An international Consortium led by General Electric (GE) of the United States signed an agreement for the concessioning of Nigerian narrow-gauge railway network. The agreement was signed in April 2018 for $2 billion.

The Consortium comprised SinoHydro, a leading infrastructure construction services company and Transnet, a leader in transportation and logistics infrastructure management and APM Terminals.

As part of the agreement, 10 locomotives and 200 wagons would be supplied to augment the existing rolling stock in Nigeria. Overall, 200 locomotives will be supplied in the fullness of the concession. The agreement would cover 3, 500 kilometers of existing narrow-gauge truck, which connect cities in the North and the South.

However, General Electric has handed over the leadership of the Consortium to South Africa’s Transnet, a leader in transportation and logistics infrastructure management. This decision by General Electric is hinged on its decision to exit its transportation business.

Transnet Rail Engineering Company’s business includes “the maintenance, upgrade and manufacture of locomotives, wagons, coaches, rolling stock components and associated transport equipment. The company operates seven factories in South Africa.

Other members of the Consortium – SinoHydro and APM Terminals will jointly execute the Nigerian Railway concessioning project.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna-based Nigerian Railway Property Company Limited is continuously selling railways land, renting its landed property and allowing private developers take over its warehouses and staff quarters as part of its mandate.

The Nigeria Railway Corporation has a huge holding of landed properties (staff quarters, training schools, workshops, foundries, staff club houses, railway stations and the corridor for its tracks) across the country.

NEMA: Osinbajo saved thousands of Nigerians by approving N5.8bn - Adagbon



With international organistaions and local agencies running out of funds, and with food shortage at its crescendo, the acting President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo approved N5.8 billion for supply of food to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the NorthEast, thereby saving hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who were going to die out of starvation. The noble action of the Vice President has been misinterpreted in some quarters even though he acted within the ambit of the law. In this interview, Gloria Adagbon, a lawyer and human rights activist makes a case for the Vice President and warns against politicizing everything.



Why didn't the acting President involve NASS in the process before releasing N5.8bn?

Given that the law allows the Vice President to release such funds in an emergency, he seized the opportunity to do so. The national assembly has proven to be anti-progressive, it took them over six months to pass the budget, we could not let Nigerians die away while they padded the North East Emergency budget. The acting President needed to act and that was why he constituted the Presidential Committee which included Minister of fast Finance, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Minister of Agriculture, CBN governor, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, SSA to the President, Office of the Chief of Staff, SSA to the President Planning and Coordination among others. It was an emergency and it would have been suicidal to go through the national assembly, given their greed and self-centeredness. The process was transparent, FG bought local grains from Nigerian farmers and the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Military including the Air Force, were actively involved providing essential and logistical support. There is nothing clandestine by the process, it was there for all to see.



Why was procurement process ignored before money was released?

The procurement process wasn’t ignored or bypassed. Like I explained earlier, this is an emergency and the acting President needed to act fast. Waiting for the agencies to ponder over procurement would have translated to massive loss of lives. The VP was never going to allow that happen under his watch as Acting President. Section 43 of the BPP Act empowered him to approve the funds in an emergency, which was what he did. He acted in good faith and he saved hundreds of thousands of lives by doing this. We must understand that international organisations including the World Food Programme, UNHCR, International Committee of the Red Cross and others were involved in this process, this was carried out transparently and in order. The international aid agencies like WFP were already dealing with shortage of funds to provide humanitarian aid, as funding was cut down by about 85%. This necessitated urgent collaboration between the Government and NGOs, in order to save lives of Nigerian citizens



Why didn't the VP oversee and ensure the distribution of the rice donated by the Chinese govt?

You will recall that the acting President kicked off the multi-billion naira relief intervention plan for grain distribution in the NorthEast. At the time, about 1.8m people would be reached regularly and 40,000 metric tonnes comprising rice, maize, sorghum and soya beans grown locally by Nigerian farmers would be distributed. But to ask the acting President to monitor NEMA activities alone and leave other pressing issues in the country is ignorance on the part of such persons. Agencies were set up to be managed on day-to-day basis by persons that have been appointed and were qualified to do so. It’s not the duty of the acting President to micro-manage and monitor the delivery or distribution. Duties were delegated, and this was done appropriately.



What is the scope and job duties of the VP as NEMA chairman?

He has an oversight function he does not oversee the day to day running of the agency. It’s like asking the Chancellor of a university why some lecturers involve in sex for marks. This falls on the lap of the Vice Chancellor because he is involved in the day-to-day administration. It’s important to understand that the role of the chairman is somewhat ceremonial and that is why you will not find his picture or profile on the website of the agency. People demanding that he did not act as chairman are uneducated and mischievous, and if adults cannot understand the organogram of agencies, you fear for the kind of orientation of what they are passing on to the younger generation.



Why is the House calling for the reinstatement of the six NEMA directorsand sack of the NEMA DG?

This is the clearest case of corruption fighting back. The directors in NEMA were accused of corruption and financial misappropriation. EFCC found monies in their accounts that could not be accounted for, but instead of insisting that these directors be probed, House of Reps led by a certain Ali Isa jumped to their defence insisting that they be reinstated. The House had claimed that Civil Service Rule was grossly abused, and natural justice turned upside down even after the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita and acting EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu had appeared before the Committee to explain that their suspension was in order. EFCC explained that they were suspended in order to allow detectives unfettered access to vital documents. The directors knew what investigators would find and they immediately got corrupt lawmakers to make noise out of nothing. This is a shame and that is why this administration has insisted that if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us.



Did the VP release N5.8bn or N33bn?

The VP only approved N5.8billion as against the N33billion peddled about in the media by some unscrupulous persons. These are agents of fake news who are trying all they can to tarnish the blistering career of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo but unfortunately for them, Nigerians are wiser now. We know our left from our right and we can see clearly. If you have read all the reports from NEMA to the House of Reps report, you will find that the VP approved N5.8 billion which was very much in order. We must not allow agents of fake news to derail us in our fight against corruption.

Why VP Osinbajo's approval of North East Emergency Fund is legal, Constitutional by Akinloye James



Prof Yemi Osinbajo is an integrity and dignity personified vice president that has constantly been talking about the grand and massive corruption that occurred in the previous administration before the emergence of the Buhari Government.



His clamour for exposing these corrupt entities in the previous administration is topnotch hence, the malicious attempt to tarnish his image and the series of attacks against his person and office; a plot I learnt was concocted by the Presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party and his cohorts.



Contrary to the false accusations made by Femi fani-kayode on his Facebook page alleging that the Vice President was indicted by the House of Representatives for the misappropriation of 5.8bn NEMA fund, The House of Representatives said it did not indict the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in its probe report on the National Emergency Management Agency as reported in some quarters of media.



Chairman House Committee on NEMA and Disaster Preparedness Representatives, Isah J.C made the clarification while raising a matter of privilege on Tuesday at plenary.



Recall that Femi fani-kayode as described by Emmanuel Uchenna Ugwu is a nagging community irritant that has an extensive career in public nuisance.



That proposition emerged from a consensus acceptance that Femi fani-kayode displays the capricious behavioural pattern of a voracious substance abuser because his convulsive agitations rise and fall on the crests of depression and exhilaration.



Although,the HOR earlier stated in their report alleging that a sum of N5,865,671,939.26 was approved and released in June 2017 via a Memo raised from the Office of the Acting President, directing the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to so act.



The House Committee also concluded that the payment made was in contravention of approval of the National Assembly.



This conclusion is both false and misleading.



It is important to understand the context of the transaction. This was at a time when internally displaced persons and their host communities faced very severe food shortages throughout the North East, as a result of successive poor harvests and abandoned farmlands, minimal cross-border cash crop trade and lost economic opportunities.



There was an immediate need to distribute grains, including rice, maize, soya beans and sorghum, to Internally Displaced Persons through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The only way to obtain the quantity of grains required was to resort to the National Food Security Progamme (NFSP) earlier established by the Federal Government as a means of shoring up its strategic grain reserves.



It was in consequence of the Federal Government decision to urgently purchase the stored grains for distribution to Internally Displaced Persons that the CBN made the proposal for approval of 30,905.08 Metric Tonnes at N5,229,685,333.26. Of that amount, the then Acting President eventually approved N5,036,644,933.26, after excluding bagging costs.



This was pursuant to the recommendation that bagging, transportation and other logistics were best handled by NEMA.



NEMA also originated a request to the Acting President, dated May 25, 2017, requesting the sum of N829,026,456.00 for general logistics, branding & packaging, tracking, security, personnel, media & publicity and contingency costs of taking the grains from their respective locations in Kano, Kaduna, Funtua, Ibadan and Gombe to Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Jigawa States.



These presidential approvals were well within the clear constitutional authority of the Acting President, who needed to take emergency steps to forestall acute food shortages in the affected States and there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional about them.

The approvals were duly communicated by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of Central Bank, Director General of NEMA and the Minister of Finance for implementation.



On account of the emergency nature of the procurement, the House Committee’s assumption that the ordinary rules of procurement would apply was wrong.



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



It is crystal clear that there is no violation in approval of N5.8B emergency food Intervention Fund for North-East and one could easily deduce that Femi Fani-kayode's allegations is devoid of authenticity bearing in mind that he's bounded by obsessive rabidity.





Akinloye James is from the Initiative to Save Democracy Group

Principals are not even involved in the implementation and therefore we don’t even have a say.




Involve them, they will kill the programme.
So without their involvement the programme is success already.
Why the bitterness.

Like it or hate it the school feeding programme has become a great success.

Very unfortunate statement from the principals,so because the FG didn't not involved the school principals the programme has become failure.
The NHGSFP has proven to be successful that out countries are commending us for it

Osinbajo: As corruption fights back



Vice President Yemi Osinbajo's consistency in talking about and exposing the massive corruption that took place before the Buhari government came on board in 2015 is largely responsible for the coordinated attacks against his person and office in recent days.



Apparently, those fingered in the various graft cases are unhappy and have resolved to malign the Vice President through whatever means possible, including planting lies in the media just to discredit and portray Professor Osinbajo as corrupt, dishonest and untrustworthy. The grand plot is simply to divert attention from government's resolve to name and shame those who looted the nation's commonwealth.



So, Osinbajo, being one of the custodians of verifiable facts and figures about graft perpetrated by the last administration, has become their prime target. These guys are not comfortable with the way and manner the VP exposes all that transpired throughout the period the PDP was in power.



Unfortunately for them, the Buhari government, through statutory government agencies, has expressed its readiness to fight graft and ensure that those who shortchanged the country face the consequences of their actions.



The allegation of illegal authorisation of release of funds for emergency activities brought up by the House Committee on Emergency Preparedness against the Vice President is a deliberate plot to smear the name and integrity of the VP because Section 43 of the same Public Procurement Law they referred to made provision for the such swift response in the case of an emergency situation. Osinbajo who was then the Acting President had to make those approvals to respond to life-threatening, acute food shortages involving IDPs in the northeast.



The allegation that the contracts were not also fully delivered is also false because the monitoring process involved all relevant government agencies and reputable international NGOs and United Nations agencies.



This is a clear example of corruption fighting back. Given his background as a reputable lawyer, he cannot be ignorant of our procurement laws and approval for release of funds. So, the allegations are as baseless and hollow as they come.



Without fear of contradiction, though a human being, Professor Osinbajo is the wrong person to accuse of corruption in whatever guise. This is one big lie that cannot stand at all. Even his accusers know too well that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is a man of pristine character and integrity who is guided by love for God and humanity.



Like his boss, President Buhari, Professor Osinbajo has never been involved or mentioned in any corruption case since his foray into partisan politics. The records and facts are there for all to see. Undoubtedly, the VP maintains a clean sheet and record as far as public service is concerned.



Yunusa Abdullahi

House Of Reps Commitee Denies Indicting Osinbajo In NEMA’s Probe


The House of Representatives say it did not indict the vice president Yemi Osinbajo in its probe report on the national emergency management agency as reported in some quarters of media.

Chairman house committee on NEMA and disaster preparedness representative Isah J.C made the clarification while raising a matter of privilege Tuesday at plenary.

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PRESS RELEASE

N-POWER TO BECOME AFRICA’S LARGEST POST-TERTIARY JOB SCHEME, SAYS VP OSINBAJO AT ABUJA TOWN HALL MEETING

Adds: 1 Million beneficiaries targeted in next phase, FG committed to creating more opportunities for Nigerians to prosper

Following the successes recorded in the N-Power programme of the Buhari administration and the growing need for government’s direct intervention in job creation, the Federal Government will expand the N-Power scheme to accommodate 1 million beneficiaries in the next phase, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

The Vice President who stated this while responding to a variety of questions from Nigerians across different professions and persuasions, at a town hall meeting in Abuja yesterday, said the programme would become the largest post-tertiary job scheme in Africa.

According to him, “the idea of N-Power is supposed to be government’s own programme of direct employment and training. At the moment, we have taken up to 500,000 and in the next phase we are looking at another 200,000 and closely followed by another 300,000.

“In all, we will be employing up to a million, and that will be the largest post-tertiary job programme in the entire Africa. The reason why we have done this is because of the employment problems that we have, we may not be able to engage everybody but at least government must give some direct provision of jobs.”

Prof. Osinbajo explained further that though government could not pay more than the N30,000 currently paid to beneficiaries and also fix all the unemployment issues, it is working on creating the enabling environment to ensure that beneficiaries as well as other unemployed Nigerians become useful to themselves.

He said: “It is infrastructure that will create the opportunities to provide more jobs, especially through manufacturing and Industry.

“So, we are doing roads and rail, providing power; that is the way we can develop industry. We are energizing our markets at the moment, putting solar power in the markets. We have designated 300 markets, we have done Ariaria in the South East, Sabon Gari in Kano, Surat in Lagos, Isikan in Ondo, Gbagi in Oyo and we are expanding so that more people can work.”

On the need to engage more women in productive activities, Prof. Osinbajo said: “one of the ways the Buhari administration is engaging more women is through our GEEP loans.”

He said: “56% of our GEEP loans go to the women. So there is a lot of preferential advantage that we give to women and this is because women are effective managers of resources; they pay back these loans when they are given.”

Speaking on the misconceptions about the borrowing arrangements of the Buhari administration, the Vice President said, the country, under President Buhari, was not in a terribly bad debt situation as insinuated in some quarters.

According to him, very frequently you find people creating fear about the issue of debt and saying that this government has borrowed more than previous governments.

“I want to give you the facts and figures on the debt issue. The dollar denominated debts of Nigeria – that is the debts of the Federal Government, the States and Local governments.

“In 2010, Nigeria’s debt was $35 billion; 2011, it was $41billion; in 2012, it was $48 billion, in 2013, it became $64 billion; 2014, it rose to $67 billion; 2015, it fell to $63 billion; 2016, $57 billion; 2017, $70 billion; 2018, it is $73 billion. So, the difference between 2015 and now is $10 billion.

“One of the things that I always want you to bear in mind is that when oil prices are at their highest, between 2010 and 2014 that was when we had the sharpest rise in debts.”

Continuing on the debt issue, Prof. Osinbajo said “the other thing that I want us to bear in mind is what is called debt to GDP. Our debt to GDP is one of the lowest among the countries that are frequently compared to us. Our debt to GDP is 20%. When you compare it to other countries, you will see that Ghana is about 68% whereas Ethiopia’s is 48%. In terms of the size of our economy and debt, we are doing okay”

He, however, agreed that “Nigeria may have an issue with debt to revenue”, noting that “we are not collecting enough revenue compared to what we want to spend.”

“Are we collecting enough taxes? If you look at the FIRS figures, it says 914 Nigerians pay the self-assessed tax of more than N10 million. Of the 914, 912 live in Lagos and the other 2 live in Ogun state, no other Nigerian outside of Lagos and Ogun pay the self-assessed tax of more than N10 million. So, we are simply not collecting enough revenue,” he added.

The Vice President said the Federal Government in collaboration with the States was working on harmonizing tax collections in order to address issues relating to multiple collection of taxes.

He said: “this is a problem that we are dealing with all across Nigeria. It is one of the issues we are dealing with under the ease of doing business. We are addressing the sub-national. How we can harmonize taxes. The second phase of our ease of doing business is focused on the collection of multiple taxes; there is no reason why that should continue.”

On the ASUU strike, the Vice President said that government is engaging the leadership of the union, noting that “the next meeting is on Thursday, November 15, 2018”.

He, however, explained that “we are dealing with a population of about 200 million people who depend on a budget of about N8.6 trillion and of that amount, 70% of it goes to salaries and overheads, and it goes to less than 2 million people. It is impossible to answer to all of the monetary needs of people by the size of the federal budget”.

On healthcare financing, Prof. Osinbajo said the Buhari administration has done much even as it has earned 60% less than the previous administrations.

According to him, “the first thing to bear in mind is that health care financing has suffered over the years even when we were earning the most money, we were underfunding healthcare.

“In 2015 when we came in, the healthcare budget was N22.7 billion and as of today we moved that to N86.5 billion and we are earning 60% less. Education was N23 billion in 2015, now it is N102 billion. The issue really is one of government commitment. For the first time, in the 2018 budget, we are setting aside 1% of our consolidated revenue to the health sector.”

Earlier, the Ministers of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola; Industry, Trade and investment, Dr. Okey Enelamah; Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi; and Agriculture, Dr. Audu Ogbe, responded separately to issues relating to their various ministries.

The town hall meeting was organized by Act Now, a non-political group that works in promoting transparency and good governance as well as youth participation in governance.



Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity

Office of the Vice President

13th November, 2018

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PRESS STATEMENT

NO VIOLATIONS IN APPROVAL OF N5.8B EMERGENCY FOOD INTERVENTION FUND FOR NORTH-EAST

Our attention has been drawn to a report of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness issued on Thursday, November 8, 2018, particularly in respect of funds released for “emergency intervention of food security to the North-East” in June 2017, when the Vice President was Acting President.

In its report, the Committee alleged that a sum of N5,865,671,939.26 was approved and released in June 2017 vide a Memo raised from the Office of the Acting President, directing the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to so act. The House Committee also concluded that the payment made was in contravention of approval of the National Assembly. This conclusion is both false and misleading.

To start with, it is important to understand the context of the transaction. This was at a time when internally displaced persons and their host communities faced very severe food shortages throughout the North East, as a result of successive poor harvests and abandoned farmlands, minimal cross-border cash crop trade and lost economic opportunities.

On 15th April 2017, the United Nations World Food Programme (UN WFP), a major aid organisation and food supplier to the region, had issued a warning that it would be reducing its vital support to about 1.8 million IDPs by as much as 85%, due to corresponding reduction in funding by the donor countries. Around the same time, the United Nations Commission for Refugees in Geneva also warned of the growing risk of mass deaths from starvation among people living in the conflict areas.

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) moved urgently to prevent the looming disaster by establishing a strategic food intervention plan for the affected States. A Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Delivery to the North East was convened and the Committee met on the 13th of May, 2017 to kick off the process, with the then Acting President as Chairman. Other members of the Committee included:
(i) Minister of Finance;
(ii) Minister of Budget and National Planning;
(iii) Minister of State for Budget and National Planning;
(iv) Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;
(v) Governor of Central Bank;
(vi) Deputy Chief of Staff to the President; and
(vii) Senior Special Assistant in the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.

Resulting from the deliberations of this and subsequent meetings, the approval referred to in the House Committee’s Report was, in fact, based on a request raised by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria as facilitator of the National Food Security Programme, vide a letter dated May 25, 2017.

As explained in the said letter, there was an immediate need to distribute grains, including rice, maize, soya beans and sorghum, to Internally Displaced Persons through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The only way to obtain the quantity of grains required was to resort to the National Food Security Progamme (NFSP) earlier established by the Federal Government as a means of shoring up its strategic grain reserves.

It was in consequence of the Federal Government decision to urgently purchase the stored grains for distribution to Internally Displaced Persons that the CBN made the proposal for approval of 30,905.08 Metric Tonnes at N5,229,685,333.26. Of that amount, the then Acting President eventually approved N5,036,644,933.26, after excluding bagging costs. This was pursuant to the recommendation that bagging, transportation and other logistics were best handled by NEMA.

NEMA also originated a request to the Acting President, dated May 25, 2017, requesting the sum of N829,026,456.00 for general logistics, branding & packaging, tracking, security, personnel, media & publicity and contingency costs of taking the grains from their respective locations in Kano, Kaduna, Funtua, Ibadan and Gombe to Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Jigawa States.

These presidential approvals were well within the clear constitutional authority of the Acting President, who needed to take emergency steps to forestall acute food shortages in the affected States and there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional about them. The approvals were duly communicated by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of Central Bank, Director General of NEMA and the Minister of Finance for implementation.

On account of the emergency nature of the procurement, the House Committee’s assumption that the ordinary rules of procurement would apply was wrong. Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act makes provision for emergency procurement, in which case the procuring entity is allowed to engage in direct contracting for goods and file a report thereafter with the Bureau of Public Procurement.

It is also wrong to assume that taxes and interests accruable to government from these transactions in food items were deliberately ignored or waived by neglect. Of course, we expect that any loans advanced to any of the companies would be recovered with the agreed interests, and that any profits made by such companies would be liable to tax in the usual manner.

The suggestion that the grains were never delivered to the target States is also blatant falsehood. In actual fact, in order to ensure effective distribution of the grains, an Emergency Food Intervention Project Team was established, consisting of the Director General of NEMA and representatives of the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Department of State Security, Nigeria Police and the Presidency. The Committee also worked with respective State Emergency Management Agencies, as well as humanitarian agencies such as World Food Programme, International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Deliveries were publicly made directly to the intended beneficiaries. In fact, the then Acting President personally inspected the electronic truck-tracking unit established in Maiduguri for the purpose of monitoring the transportation, and flagged off the food distribution on the 8th of June, 2017. Besides, there was the integration of a robust monitoring and evaluation system into the operation in order to facilitate a transparent and accountable process.

Therefore, all insinuations on this matter regarding purported indictments and perceived violations of due process or the constitution are baseless and totally false. Such interpretations are flawed and should be utterly ignored.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President

Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the press. It is with great pleasure that I receive, and address you this morning. It was only last week Thursday that the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment Programmes addressed the press. So I guess it is safe to say that the National Social Investment Office is now in a relationship with the Press.

This morning, I won’t be rehashing all the updates the S-Ad released on Thursday last week. Rather, I would be focusing more on how the Social Investment Programmes are not just alleviating poverty, but creating wealth from the bottom-up across a value chain that is entirely local.

The Buhari-led administration embarked on an ambitious investment in the lives of the Nigerian people which it tagged the Social Investment Programme. It consists primarily of 4 units: The N-Power Programme which is targeted at unemployed young graduates; the Home Grown School Feeding Programme which seeks to feed all Nigerian children in public primary schools; the Conditional Cash Transfer which gives out 5,000 Naira monthly in cash to the poorest of the poor Nigerians in our innermost rural communities; and the GEEP – comprising of Market Moni and Trader Moni, which is giving loans of N50,000 to N100,000 Naira to artisans, market men and women, small businesses and the likes; and N10,000 to N50,000 to petty traders whose business capital, often times, isn’t even up to N5,000.

So far, these programs have touched more than 10 Million Nigerian lives directly. And we would be doing more.

The fundamental purpose of any Social Investment is to literally invest in the lives of the people, so that they may become productive and responsible for the ultimate well-being of society.

Nigeria is a peculiar country, with over 60 Million youth, out of a population of 180 Million, there is the question of what the future holds for these vast majority who face threatening challenges to their well-being, to their success, to their livelihoods, to their becoming anything worth considering in society.

The average Nigerian youth lives a life of uncertainty, and fear of the unknown. This is what our Social Investment Programmes seek to bridge.

Our Social Investment Programmes are providing the needed tools that empower Nigerians - not just the youth population, even though that demography remains the biggest percent of beneficiaries - to pursue their dreams and fulfil their purpose in life.

The N-Power and GEEP programmes are very relatable for the young population. Like I mentioned earlier, N-Power is a programme targeted at unemployed young graduates. It is a two year programme where young Nigerians within the ages of 18 to 35 are engaged as teachers in the various primary schools across the country lacking teaching capacity, or as health workers in the various primary health care centres lacking staff, or as agriculture extension officers - providing guidance and assistance to farmers in rural communities. While these young men and women in these programs provide key services to their immediate communities, they find themselves learning two key things: to become useful to society, and a partner for positive social change; and they train themselves and learn skills that would help them in many years to come. The N-Power beneficiary is paid a stipend of N30,000 a month. It may sound minute to some of you seated here, but there are stories across the country of how N-Power Beneficiaries have used this little stipends to change their lives.

While on a Listening Tour across the country last year, I had first-hand interaction with some of our N-Power beneficiaries, and their testimonies were nothing short of amazing. In Lagos State, there were two young ladies in particular that struck me, and I still remember their names. Temitope Akindilete, with no other source of income but the N30,000 monthly N-Power stipend was able to set up a catering service where she now employs people. Oreoluwakitan Aremu was able to set up a Tourism & Sustainable Development outfit, all from N30,000 monthly N-Power stipends. I can’t remember where I kept their complimentary cards, but I still have pictures of the cards on my phone here with me.

There is also the story of the Mr and Mrs Somade, N-Power beneficiaries who live in Ekiti State. They got married and had no jobs, both applied to become beneficiaries, qualified without any connections and have today started a beautiful family with their stipends.

If this isn’t wealth creation and empowerment, then what is? I understand that for most of you seated here, when you hear the word “wealth”, the image that comes to mind is the Dangotes, Otedolas and Indimis. But it starts from somewhere.

The GEEP - Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme - also known as Market Moni and Trader Moni, is a programme under the Social Investment Programmes which provides zero interest loans without collateral to small scale businesses. Young people are key beneficiaries. Their testimonies, just as we have on the N-Power programme abound as well.

A lot of us here if asked what we would do with N50,000 or a N100,000 would say the money seems too small to start something, or to even bolster what already exists. I mean, the N10,000 starting loan of the Trader Moni has been described as insignificant by some of you. But for the over 350,000 beneficiaries of the Market Moni loans, and over 800,000 of the Trader Moni loans, this seemingly little amount has been able to transform their livelihoods, improve their businesses and bring them to competitive standards in their small businesses.

There is the remarkable story of a ‘Mai Shayi’ in Kano State who is a beneficiary of the GEEP Loan. With a hundred thousand Naira, he has been able to expand his shed, get better chairs, cater for more customers, and get new burners. He is making 10 times more than he was making previously.

Yes, we in this hall here do not want to end up as Mai Shayis. But we must not forget that we are only a minute fraction of the bigger picture. Tens of millions of young Nigerians remain jobless, and even hopeless. The little things matter: opportunities and interventions no matter how little go a long way to change the lives of a teeming youth population.

The Home-Grown School Feeding Programme is also one of our programmes that is helping to create wealth in the rural areas. Last week, the Special Adviser reiterated that the School Feeding Programme requires about 6.8 million eggs, 594 cattle and 83 metric tons of fish to be supplied to the cooks, every week, for the purpose of feeding 9,300,892 children in 49,837 government schools in 26 States.

Try to imagine the impact of this demand among the rural farmers in the communities hosting these schools. People who normally focused on subsistence agriculture for the sole purpose of feeding their families, have expanded into commercialized farming to meet the needs of the School Feeding Programme. These same farmers have their kids in these schools, so that serves as added motivation to meet our demands of foodstuff because they know it is no gimmick. For some of them, their wives are cooks in the programme, preparing the meals for the school kids. I can see that the concept of “Home-Grown” just became clearer to some of you.

Concerning the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, we have been paying out 5,000 Naira to about 297,973 households in Nigeria monthly. This programme is currently being implemented in 20 States.

Of course, we have also heard that N5,000 is nothing and cannot aid in alleviating poverty. But the beneficiaries of this money will beg to disagree, and for obvious reasons. First, for someone who practically had nothing, and no hope of where any help was going to come from, to start receiving N5,000 monthly for about 2 years now, something has changed in that person’s life, and that change will be noticeable in the person’s purchasing habit.

And as you must know, we don’t just give them N5,000 and walk away. Our cash transfer facilitators in every ward where the programme is ongoing train beneficiaries to build their capacities and support them to become productive and take ownership of their lives.

Through the Conditional Cash Transfer, we are reaching the unreached and unbanked members of our society. These monies are given to beneficiaries as cash initially. Over time, mobile money agents come in, then beneficiaries are made to see the need to have bank accounts. Can you now see how the supposedly inconsequential N5,000 monthly stipend is opening up the most rural areas to banking and other economic activities?

These Social Investment Programmes have been running for over 2 years now, with a total sum of N500 Billion budgeted for it, with less than 50% of that figure appropriated between 2016 till date. Yet, look how far we have come.

And during the time, we have encountered hitches and challenges that have helped us to keep improving and expanding on them.

But what has ensured that our Social Investment Programmes, the most audacious social programme by any administration in Nigeria, continues to record success and grow the number of our beneficiaries is the process of implementation.

In conclusion, the President Buhari-led administration took into cognizance the poverty level of the country and is stopping at nothing to impact directly on the lives of those worse hit by the scourge through the Social Investment Programmes.

Yes, there has been hurdles and challenges. However, the Social Investment Programmes is living up to the purpose for which it was formed, and we will continue to invest more in the lives of the people.



Ismaeel Ahmed

SSA to the President

Social Investment Programme

Diversification of the economy: Tax as a pathway to economic growth


By Ayobami Akanji


Taxation is the price which civilized communities pay for the opportunity of remaining civilized - Albert Bushnell Hart

Nigeria has always been the victim, if she wasn't being suffocated to death by bad and directionless leadership, she would be exploited by tax evaders. Or a very matching combination of the two that either way, leaves her helpless.

She is always the victim, when a saviour comes to claw her from the jaws of those who've sucked her for breakfast, butchered her for lunch and planned how big a cut they will take from her shoulder for their dinner, you should be ready for one hell of a dog fight - they are regrouping again on how to devour her.

Tunder Fowler, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) exposed what really should make the heart of every Nigerian cringe. He said that over 6,772 billionaires, with between 1-5 billion naira in their accounts are defaulting in their payments of taxes, some of these billionaires actually live and do business here, making huge profits.

According to the FIRS, there are 31,395 records of companies and businesses obtained from 23 Banks with individual turnover of between N3 billion and over N5 billion who have not paid a kobo as tax in the last three years.

A patriot is the one that does whatever it is that will advance the interests of his country. A bad citizen only thinks of how his country can advance his own interests. The Buhari administration rode on the wave of resetting the country by doing things differently. Shrinking oil prices, debts servicing, recurrents expenditure and other commitments are limiting the scope of work the government plans to do. He has, as always, talked on diversifying the economy, making other aspects of the economy as viable as oil is. He has also committed to sourcing funds from places anew and one of such places is the tax.

It is important to note that Nigeria has one of the lowest tax to GDP ratio globally. Knowing the importance of tax in growing the economy and building the requisite infrastructure, in June 2017, then Acting President, Yemi Osinbanjo, signed into law, the Voluntary Actions Income and Declaration Scheme (VAIDS). Defaulting taxpayers were thus given a window to regularise their tax status relating to previous tax periods and to pay any taxes due. This is in exchange for, according to what they have on their website "forgiveness of overdue interests and penalties and the assurance that they do not face criminal prosecution for tax offences or tax investigations" .

Signs of successes have been apparent as, according to Fowler, government has recovered about 30 billion naira under this tax amnesty scheme. He also said, in his capacity as the chairman of Joint Tax Board, that the numbers on the national taxpayers' database has risen to over 19 million in 2018 from the 14 million it was in 2016.

What a bold step. What an achievement!

However, it is interesting to see the silent revolution going on to ensure a holistic diversification of the economy. One key source of revenue, which was not fully tapped in the past, but which the current leadership is ensuring from is unearthed and is fully harnessed for the benefit of all, is tax.

Conversely, the sum of N2.983bn has been generated from payments on demand notices placed upon property owners who are being assessed on their turnover. 653 out of 2,672 of such non-filers are now filing. A total of N47.5bn, $32.8m and N225 billion has been collected from 2016 till date.

Realising the efficacy of this scheme amongst other reasons that may include closing doors on impunity, the Buhari administration launched the Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme (VOARS). It is simply an order for Nigerians to do the right thing done all over the world; declare and pay tax on your Offshore assets.

It is very similar to (VAIDS) signed by the VP with the only difference being the offshore assets. The scheme was set up to regularise offshore assets and tax status, and also to ascertain their outstanding level of tax liability. With an assessment period of 30 years, it gives a 12 month window for tax defaults to come forward and clear the burden they've accumulated. During this window, defaulters that choose to voluntarily regularise their tax status for all the relevant years will pay a one-time levy of 35% of their offshore assets in lieu of all outstanding taxes, penalties and interest.

Another option readily available for those who want to voluntarily regularise their tax status is for them to access a specific government disclosure facility based in Switzerland. Those that comply will naturally enjoy immunity to prosecution and enjoy waivers on interests and penalties. Defaulters will be easily spotted out as the automatic exchange of information between Nigeria and foreign countries goes into full effect. They will also be obligated to pay 100% of all interests and penalties arising from the principal sum that has piled up for the period of 30 years. It's like a scheme designed to save defaulters from running into trouble and also to increase the revenue inflow to the government coffers for infrastructural development.

A government that has plans should have the necessary fundings to execute them, else they remain what they are - plans. Nigerians are advised to key into this scheme. Take advantage of this period of grace and wriggle out of the law's tentacles because when it comes knocking at your door, even if you don't open, it comes in and makes itself comfortable. The law always takes it course. God bless Nigeria.


Akanji is a political strategist and writes from Abuja, he tweets on @Ayooakanji

The Blueprint-

1. Spread negative and false news relating to the VP, Prof Osinbajo, who is the main poster child of the administration and the most vocal opponent of the PDP. His continuous branding of PDP as corrupt and our ideas in restructuring as insincere must be nipped in the bud. His visits to markets and the populist imagery he is creating must be tackled vigorously. We must put him on the back foot. It is important to destroy his character ahead of the elections because of the favourable perception that many Nigerians have of him, his capacity and the programs and also to reduce the South West support. His Christian character must be impugned and maligned seriously. He also seems to have a formidable backroom team that counters our media offensive. This must be weakened.

It is also important to address the danger that is inherent in the Social Investment Programmes that Osinbajo promotes. Recall how our effort to utilise our social media trolls 3 weeks ago to discredit the N-Power program backfired. We must devise measures to brand N-Power, Trader Moni and School Feeding as fraudulent and incompetent.


Tactics
* Opposition research to discredit him, his family, his faith and programs.
* Commission moles and other agents to dig up dirt on subject.
* Utilise the National Assembly to undertake series of investigations to discredit him and his programs (particularly the Social Investments Program).
* Create Core content for dissemination across channels which will include fake news and blown-up headlines to portray subject as corrupt
* Utilise our retained media to disseminate core content and messages in the next 6 weeks on mainstream, social media, WhatsApp and by SMS
* Send talking points to our spokespeople and all PDP ambassadors on the subject.
* Attack all media protagonists/ influencers including the likes of Omojuwa, Ogundamisi, etc
* Enlist more social media influencers for this effort.

2. Brand President Buhari and the APC as an Islamist party- Brand him as nepotistic and divisive. The PDP has to ratchet up fake news about the herdsmen crisis as an islamisation tool. This will be meticulously distributed in the North Central, South West, South South and South East.

Tactics
* Research to create more fearful, threatening and emotive narratives
* Create core content to include graphic videos and photographs to drive home the point
* Disseminate through church leadership, town union leadership, artisan and market associations leadership and other groups
* Utilise our retained media to disseminate core content and messages where appropriate.
* Send talking points to our spokespeople and all PDP ambassadors on the subject.

3. Poverty versus Prosperity Narrative- We must subliminally convey that PDP allows things to flow within the economy while APC has locked up the system. A key message is to say abundance in the system is better than scarcity. An aspect of this message is to say that corruption is not our main problem, rather it is the scarcity that APC has created.

Tactics
* Research to create more fearful economic narratives
* Create core content
* Disseminate through all media channels
* Disseminate through own union leadership, artisan and market associations leadership and other groups
* Utilise our retained media including influencers to disseminate core content and messages.
* Send talking points to our spokespeople and all PDP ambassadors on the subject.


4. Claims of Infrastructure Completion- We must keep saying we started and had almost finished paying for all the infrastructure they are laying claim to.

Tactics
* Create core content
* Disseminate through our media channels
* Utilise our retained media to disseminate core content and messages
* Send talking points to our spokespeople and all PDP ambassadors on the subject.

#FACTS


365 roads have been under construction nationwide since 1999

16 Years Under PDP
144 Roads were awarded

4 Years Under APC

121 were awarded under the Buhari-Led Administration

More to come as 2018 procurement is ongoing...
#GovAtWork #PMBatWork

BUHARI ADMINISTRATION’S PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES HAS BOOSTED DEVELOPMENT – VP OSINBAJO

*Says corruption must be tackled by all for country to make progress

*Urges religious leaders to continue to preach peace, work for the country's unity


The prudent management of resources by the Buhari administration has helped it achieve far more in terms of infrastructure and development than previous administrations, while it has invested heavily on social protection, the largest in the country’s history, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this at a public lecture organized by the Council of Chief of Imams, [url][/url]Ikeja Division in Lagos on Saturday.

The Vice President also stated the determination of the administration in its fight against corruption, noting that it was a major challenge which had slowed the country's development in the past.

He added that the Buhari administration has spent over N2.7 trillion on capital expenditure in the last three years, pointing out that it is the highest amount ever spent on capital in the history of Nigeria.

The Vice President listed some of the infrastructure projects to include, among others, the Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Railway, the Lagos-Ibadan Dual Carriageway and the Second Niger Bridge.

According to Prof. Osinbajo, the Buhari administration has been able to achieve this through prudent management of resources, despite earning 60% revenue less than the previous administration when the price of crude oil was high.

"Despite earning 60% less revenue, we are spending more on infrastructure in this government, from roads, rails to power," he said.

The Vice President also said that components of the administration’s Social Investment Programme have impacted the lives of millions of Nigerians.

He explained that through the N-Power Programme, 500,000 young graduates have been engaged by the Federal Government in different areas of public service.

He said similar successes have been recorded in the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme, GEEP (which includes the TraderMoni Scheme), the Conditional Cash Transfer, CCT, and the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, which currently feeds over nine million public primary school pupils in 26 states.

Speaking on the impact of the TraderMoni scheme - the N10,000 interest- and collateral-free loans to petty traders nationwide, the Vice President said two million petty traders nationwide will benefit from the microcredit scheme by the end of the year.

He adds, "If the N60 billion that was part of the sum looted from the nation's treasury in the past, was given out to these traders, 6m petty traders would have been beneficiaries."

Prof. Osinbajo said at the inception of the administration, over 23 states in Nigeria owed salaries of between three to 12 months, which necessitated the Federal Government giving the states bailout funds to pay their workers.

He said the Buhari administration was also confronted with the drop in Nigeria's crude oil production of 2.2 million bpd, coming down to around 1 million bpd as a result of the restiveness in the Niger Delta Region.

Speaking further, the Vice President stated that the struggle in Nigeria is that between good and evil, and not between religions.

“I want to say to you that it’s a battle between good and evil. What we are fighting for in this country is a battle between good and evil, it is not a battle between religions. Corruption is our major challenge. The people that steal Nigeria's resources are both Christians and Muslims," he said.

During the event, a public lecture titled: “The Role of Muslim Leaders in the South West Towards achieving Peaceful and Successful 2019 Elections," the Vice President highlighted some of the programmes and projects of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration since its inception in May 2015.

The Vice President advised the religious leaders to continue to admonish their followers to embrace peace and work for the unity of the country.

The first paper at the lecture was presented by Prof. Ishaq Lakin Akintola, the Director-General, Muslim Rights Concern, while Dr. Saheed Timehin, a senior lecturer at the Lagos State University, presented the second paper.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
11th November, 2018

There is absolutely something unique about Vice President Yemi Osinbajo's personality which endears him to many, especially the Nigerian youths. Given the way he freely interacts, relates and reaches out to Nigerians during most of his official outings, many see and regard him as a true friend of the common man.

President Muhammadu Buhari wasn't wrong, after all when he entrusted his administration's Social Investment Programmes in his care. His choice of Professor Osinbajo as the Chief implementor of the scheme tells of the importance government attaches to it. Such an important and very critical assignment of ensuring that every Nigerian, especially the common people directly feels the impact of governance requires the stamp of a man of impeccable character and integrity for it to succeed.

Professor Yemi Osinbajo has not only acquitted himself in the transparent manner he discharges his responsibility as the coordinator of SIP, but has displayed capacity, competence and transparency in the handling of the various components of the entire programme. The general consensus out there is that the SIP initiative which is principally targeted at empowering ordinary Nigerians is the most impactful, transparent and accountable social intervention programme ever introduced in our chequered political history as a country. Nigerians have since taken ownership of the various aspects of the SIP scheme which has for the very first time brought government closer to the people.

Vice President Osinbajo, like his boss, President Muhammadu Buhari, is so passionate about the welfare of Nigerians, which he says occupies a significant position in the overall programme of the President Buhari administration. The Vice President has continued to reiterate government's resolve to touch the lives of all Nigerians through faithful implementation of all government programmes and policies.

The truth is, Nigerians, especially the youth population are happy with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo's style of handling official matters. There is hardly a day that the Vice President isn't out there interacting with ordinary Nigerians on how best to meet their yearnings and aspirations. Apart from sitting to hold regular talk sessions with the youths, market women, artisans and petty traders across markets, Professor Osinbajo always welcomes suggestions, ideas, criticisms and opinions on how to achieve the Nigeria of our dream. One outstanding attribute of the Vice President is that he's a listening leader. He believes strongly in the fact that every Nigerian should have something to offer in our desire to develop our dear nation.

By now, Professor Osinbajo's security men have become so used to the huge crowd that often struggle to either see or have a handshake with him during his numerous official engagements. He's made himself very accessible and easy to locate. I've lost count of the number of youth-based programmes that Professor Osinbajo has graced and held frank discussions with young Nigerians. He's made it a point of duty to always honour such invitations himself, an indication of the fact he attaches much importance to issues that pertain to our youths.

Only recently at the 30th Biennial Conference of the Student Christian Movement of Nigeria held at the Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd, Enugu, he urged youths to see themselves as key players in Nigeria's march to greatness, adding that contrary to the belief that the young people were the leaders of tomorrow, the time for the youths to showcase themselves was now.

Even when he hosted a delegation of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Movement, sometime ago he charged them to remain steadfast and committed to the task of realizing our full potential as a country.

“My dear young people, we need your energy, passion, charisma and creative abilities in our march to greatness. The time has come for all of you be deeply involved in politics and governance".

Nigerians are always pleased to see the country's number two citizen daily visiting towns, villages and cities to explain government's programmes and policies to the masses across markets, bus stations, campuses and social gatherings. This is a complete departure from the way and manner officials of past governments treated us. We now welcome top government functionaries to our homes, not the other way round.

This is one task the VP is so passionate about. He clearly understands the fact that, it is the responsibility of elected and appointed government officials to keep the people abreast of developments, especially on issues of welfare and security.

It is our expectation that the Vice President, under whose office and supervision the SIP scheme is domiciled would continue to do his very best to ensure that the various components of the scheme like the N-POWER, Conditional Cash Transfer, MSMES Clinics, Trader Moni, Farmer Moni, Market Moni etc are meaningfully implemented in line with the change agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

NO VIOLATIONS IN APPROVAL OF N5.8B EMERGENCY FOOD INTERVENTION FUND FOR NORTH EAST

Our attention has been drawn to a report of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness issued on Thursday, November 8, 2018, particularly in respect of funds released for “emergency intervention of food security to the North-East” in June 2017, when the Vice President was Acting President.

In its report, the Committee alleged that a sum of N5,865,671,939.26 was approved and released in June 2017 vide a Memo raised from the Office of the Acting President, directing the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to so act. The House Committee also concluded that the payment made was in contravention of approval of the National Assembly. This conclusion is both false and misleading.

To start with, it is important to understand the context of the transaction. This was at a time when internally displaced persons and their host communities faced very severe food shortages throughout the North East, as a result of successive poor harvests and abandoned farmlands, minimal cross-border cash crop trade and lost economic opportunities.

On 15th April 2017, the United Nations World Food Programme (UN WFP), a major aid organisation and food supplier to the region, had issued a warning that it would be reducing its vital support to about 1.8 million IDPs by as much as 85%, due to corresponding reduction in funding by the donor countries. Around the same time, the United Nations Commission for Refugees in Geneva also warned of the growing risk of mass deaths from starvation among people living in the conflict areas.

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) moved urgently to prevent the looming disaster by establishing a strategic food intervention plan for the affected States. A Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Delivery to the North East was convened and the Committee met on the 13th of May, 2017 to kick off the process, with the then Acting President as Chairman. Other members of the Committee included:
(i) Minister of Finance;
(ii) Minister of Budget and National Planning;
(iii) Minister of State for Budget and National Planning;
(iv) Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;
(v) Governor of Central Bank;
(vi) Deputy Chief of Staff to the President; and
(vii) Senior Special Assistant in the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.

Resulting from the deliberations of this and subsequent meetings, the approval referred to in the House Committee’s Report was, in fact, based on a request raised by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria as facilitator of the National Food Security Programme, vide a letter dated May 25, 2017.

As explained in the said letter, there was an immediate need to distribute grains, including rice, maize, soya beans and sorghum, to Internally Displaced Persons through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The only way to obtain the quantity of grains required was to resort to the National Food Security Progamme (NFSP) earlier established by the Federal Government as a means of shoring up its strategic grain reserves.

It was in consequence of the Federal Government decision to urgently purchase the stored grains for distribution to Internally Displaced Persons that the CBN made the proposal for approval of 30,905.08 Metric Tonnes at N5,229,685,333.26. Of that amount, the then Acting President eventually approved N5,036,644,933.26, after excluding bagging costs. This was pursuant to the recommendation that bagging, transportation and other logistics were best handled by NEMA.

NEMA also originated a request to the Acting President, dated May 25, 2017, requesting the sum of N829,026,456.00 for general logistics, branding & packaging, tracking, security, personnel, media & publicity and contingency costs of taking the grains from their respective locations in Kano, Kaduna, Funtua, Ibadan and Gombe to Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Jigawa States.

These presidential approvals were well within the clear constitutional authority of the Acting President, who needed to take emergency steps to forestall acute food shortages in the affected States and there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional about them. The approvals were duly communicated by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of Central Bank, Director General of NEMA and the Minister of Finance for implementation.

On account of the emergency nature of the procurement, the House Committee’s assumption that the ordinary rules of procurement would apply was wrong. Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act makes provision for emergency procurement, in which case the procuring entity is allowed to engage in direct contracting for goods and file a report thereafter with the Bureau of Public Procurement.

It is also wrong to assume that taxes and interests accruable to government from these transactions in food items were deliberately ignored or waived by neglect. Of course, we expect that any loans advanced to any of the companies would be recovered with the agreed interests, and that any profits made by such companies would be liable to tax in the usual manner.

The suggestion that the grains were never delivered to the target States is also blatant falsehood. In actual fact, in order to ensure effective distribution of the grains, an Emergency Food Intervention Project Team was established, consisting of the Director General of NEMA and representatives of the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Department of State Security, Nigeria Police and the Presidency. The Committee also worked with respective State Emergency Management Agencies, as well as humanitarian agencies such as World Food Programme, International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Deliveries were publicly made directly to the intended beneficiaries. In fact, the then Acting President personally inspected the electronic truck-tracking unit established in Maiduguri for the purpose of monitoring the transportation, and flagged off the food distribution on the 8th of June, 2017. Besides, there was the integration of a robust monitoring and evaluation system into the operation in order to facilitate a transparent and accountable process.

Therefore, all insinuations on this matter regarding purported indictments and perceived violations of due process or the constitution are baseless and totally false. Such interpretations are flawed and should be utterly ignored.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
9th November, 2018

~Whoever desires equity must keep his or her hands clean. Peter Obi, PDP's Vice Presidential candidate, cannot be shouting transparency and accountability when he's got weighty corruption allegation of money laundering he's yet to come clean on.

~Peter Obi is yet to clear his name in the money laundering case filed against him in 2009 by two lawyers, Barristers Osuagwu Ugochukwu and Ogboli Charles.

~Records show that the lawyers had filed the application in the Federal High Court, Abuja on June 29, 2009.

~Obi was alleged to have authorised the movement of the sum of N250 million from Awka, the state capital, to Lagos on June 1, 2009.

~The money was said to be seized by the Lagos State Police Command and that two Special Assistants to the governor, Valentine Obienyem and Benjamin Uba, who were detained along with two mobile police officers in the process, confessed that the money belonged to the government of Anambra State.

~The applicants had earlier forwarded a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asking it to investigate the governor over the allegation.

~Reports revealed that equally to defend themselves in the case are the EFCC and the Accountant-General of Anambra State. While the former was sued for not taking any action on the petition 23 days after the submission, the latter was sued for allegedly violating the Public Holidays Act, CAP 378, LFN, 1900 and allowing government business to be transacted on a Sunday.

~Nigerians are asking Peter Obi to speak to them on this allegation. It is a universal knowledge that a corrupt person cannot fight corruption.

A policy group has dismissed reports that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was indicted by the House of Representatives over the crisis rocking the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA).

Global Economic Policy Initiative (GEPIn) president, Bernard Okri, noted that since the sack of six NEMA directors in April it had been monitoring the House of Representatives and its brazen support for the corrupt directors.

“We have watching keenly the probe of the suspended NEMA directors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the vested interests blackmailing and intimidating the current NEMA leadership, as reflected in the questionable intervention of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee.

“This is corruption fighting back but what is even more frightening is the fact that the Vice President has been dragged into this because he sits atop the NEMA board.

“It would be recalled that in April, this same House of Reps committee had invited the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita and acting EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu over the legality of the suspension of these directors.

“Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, head of the CSF had said that the Vice President and NEMA board members acted in line with Public Service Rules on the suspension of the Directors and staff of the agency.

“Similarly, the EFCC had in a report to the Presidency recommended the disciplinary measure to enable it to conduct unhindered investigation and have access to vital records.

“Since the suspension of these directors, the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness chaired by Ali Isa (PDP Gombe) has been looking for ways to remove the NEMA DG, Mustapha Maihaja, so they dragged the VP’s name into it.

Okri said the group condemns and frowns at the plots by “corrupt politicians” to drag the Vice President who chairs the NEMA Board into the obvious and unnecessary politicization of the EFCC probe.

“But to claim that the VP illegally approved the release of N5.8 billion in June 2017 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account to NEMA is a complete mischief.

“Only the President has the powers to approve monies, not the Vice President as alleged by the House of Reps in its report.

“Secondly, it is important to know that the monies allocated for NEMA in always imputed in the budget. The Federal Government does not release money indiscriminately.

“For me, this is the clearest case of corruption fighting back. The House of Reps should not drag the Vice President into its mess.

Okri noted that it was all stage managed particularly because of the way Premium Times reported the matter. “It’s ludicrous to publish an unconfirmed report with BREAKING. This is a case that has been ongoing since April.

“Where the reporters at Premium Times sleeping when this matter began? They are part of the corruption fighting back but we will not allow it. We will stand on the side of the truth.

GEPIn stressed that Nigerians connect with VP Osinbajo because he has built his career on integrity.

“We know Prof. Osinbajo as a man of integrity and leader with strong positive character and integrity. No one would be allowed to baselessly tamper with the good reputation he has painstakingly erected over the years.

Okri said the sacked directors, Akinbola Hakeem Gbolahan, Director of Finance and Accounts; Mr. Umesi Emenike, Ag. Director, Special Duties; Mallam Alhassan Nuhu, Director, Risk Reduction; Mr. Mamman Ali Ibrahim, Pilot in-charge Air Ambulance and Aviation Unit; Mr. Ganiyu Yunusa Deji, the Chief Maintenance Officer and Mr. Kanar Mohammed, the Director of Welfare should face the probe by EFCC.

“The directors are innocent until proven guilty but increasingly they are proving that they are guilty by lobbying politicians and the media to report fake news, they should know that the Buhari administration will not tolerate any kind of corruption.

The Social Investment Programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR Administration was set up to improve the living conditions of millions of Nigerians across the country. It has become important that every now and then, we update Nigerians on how far we have come in the last three years, including our success stories and our achievements. In the last three years we have heard thousands of testimonials of people’s lives being changed for the better, as a sign of success and deep penetration into our communities. We continue to see evident improvement in the lives of our beneficiaries.



It is not in doubt that the Social Investment Programme of this Administration is the largest, most ambitious, and I dare say the most successful attempt by any Government, to invest in our people, in Nigeria’s history.



Since inception, we have provided 500 Billion Naira for the programmes in the 2016, 2017 & 2018 Budgets, with close to N250 Billion, being 23.63% of the entire 3 years budget appropriated for N-SIPS having been released. For the 2018 budget so far, however, we have received 18% of the amount appropriated for all our progammes.



Our programmes have four components: The Home Grown School Feeding Programme, the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (which comprises the MarketMoni, the FarmerMoni and the TraderMoni), and the last, but not the least, the N-Power programme, (which also comprises the Technical Hubs springing up around the country, as well as the N-Power Stem Junior, about to commence).



Below is a brief background to each of the programmes and the successes we have achieved so far:



The Home Grown School Feeding Programme: Is a programme that is aimed at feeding young children in our public primary schools, with the aim of improving their nutrition, increasing school enrolment and reducing the incidence of malnutrition. So far, we are feeding over 9,300,892 children in 49,837 government schools in 26 States. Being a programme that also aims at empowering communities, we have also engaged 96,972 cooks with over a 100,000 small-scale farmers being part of the value chain, supplying locally sourced ingredients. It is noteworthy of mention that currently, public schools require 6.8m eggs, 594 cattle and 83 metric tons of fish to be supplied to the cooks, every week, for the purpose of feeding the children. These statistics do not take into account the boost that is evident in the production and supply of rice, wheat, soya bean, orange-flesh potatoes, fruit and vegetable farmers, to mention a few.
The Conditional Cash Transfer Programme: This programme is giving out 5,000 Naira monthly to 297,973 households in Nigeria. It is currently being implemented in 20 States. As a critical component of the cash transfer programme, we have trained almost 3,000 community cash transfer facilitators in every ward where the programme is ongoing, to build the capacities of our beneficiaries and support them to become productive and take ownership of their lives. The methodology of selecting our beneficiaries is deliberate, tried and tested to assure of credibility, as well as aimed at enabling the capturing of biometric data for financial and social inclusion. Beneficiary households are selected by the communities directly, with their household and community data being uploaded onto Social Registers by trained enumerators at State and LGA levels, as a means of ensuring that we continue to keep a keen eye on their progress, towards weaning them out of poverty.
The Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) comprises the MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and the TraderMoni. We are making available to micro-businesses credit facilities to improve their businesses through this scheme. It is managed by the Bank of Industry, who have the wherewithal to recover loans. We have so far reached over 1.1 Million Beneficiaries across the 36 States of the Federation, with N27.4 Billion in interest free loans, ranging from N10,000 Naira to N350,000 Naira disbursed so far. In particular, the aim of the Trader Moni programme is to take financial inclusion to the grassroots, considering the daily contributions of millions of petty traders to our economic prosperity and development. Indeed, especially because this category of citizens has hitherto had no access to credit to support their businesses, this is a deliberate effort at assuring of financial credit and a sense of belonging as an entitlement of these citizens, who are also Nigerians deserving of support.
N-Power: this programme is currently employing 500,000 youth graduates. It is the largest post-tertiary employment programme in Africa, where beneficiaries are paid a monthly stipend of N30,000 and deployed as volunteers into various sectors of need in the public space, such as health, agriculture, education and public finance. They are given devices to facilitate their service delivery, and as a continuous learning avenue. We have also supported 20,000 N-Power non-graduate volunteers, who have been trained in skill centres in every State, and given tool boxes to enable them apply their newly-acquired expertise in the building and automative industries. Both schemes have assured of volunteers in all the Local Government Areas of the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT.


It is important to note that in the majority of these schemes there are no third parties engaged to pay monies to beneficiaries. All monies are paid directly through their bank accounts, having been verified by their BVN’s through a close collaboration with NIBSS. The processes and strategies in place are carefully designed to create a level-playing field in selection and payments. If there are challenges to payments as in the remote areas where there is no banking infrastructure, our beneficiaries are paid by agents in their locations, which agents have been selected in an open and transparent process. We have improved on transparent and efficient payments by assuring of a technology aided back-to-back payment delivery, so we can see who is being paid in a timely manner, as payments are being effected in the field.



I should also mention that the design of the Nigerian Social Safety Net intervention is anchored on the development of the Social Register. This strategy of anchoring interventions from the Social Register and not from multi beneficiary lists has generated interest in other countries within the social protection space. One of such countries is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that is currently visiting our country on a study tour. The DRC is in the process of designing its Social Safety Net programme and the tour will afford them the opportunity for learning towards assuring of an appropriate design for their own context. In particular, the DRC delegation is keen on understudying the process of community-based targeting in building a credible social registry for their own interventions. The delegation which is made up of 8 government staff and 1 staff from the World Bank staff (based in the DRC) are also slated to visit our State project offices and implementation sites in the Federal Capital Territory and Kogi State. The delegation is led by a Cabinet Minister in the Government of the Congo.



We wish to reassure all Nigerians that we are working with credible local and International development partners and non-governmental organizations with the passion and avowed commitment to remain apolitical, towards assuring that we apply concerted efforts to alleviate poverty and unemployment. For us to be able to improve on our human capital indices in the various spheres, we must address our sundry challenges in a manner that remains objective and sincere, irrespective of ethnicity, religion and political affiliation. We must also remain continuously poised to address any concerns, as they emerge. We continue to encourage Nigerians, wherever they may be, to draw our attention to any problem they may perceive arising in their respective vicinities. The task to address poverty and unemployment should be a collective responsibility for all of us, even as we continue to apply ourselves to assure of a better Nigeria for the benefit of all our citizens, irrespective of class, location and political affiliation. Thank you.





Maryam Uwais MFR

Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments

Office of the Vice President

Truth is, Nigerians and more Nigerians have continued to hail the Buhari administration's well-thoughout resolve to meaningfully empower Nigerians through its Social Investment Programmes which have earned her accolades from within and outside Nigeria.

But the PDP is not happy that ordinary Nigerians are bidding farewell to extreme poverty courtesy of the SIP. The party is sad that the Federal government is addressing the needs of our fellow countrymen and women. The party is never used to empowerig the poor.

~PDP lawmakers are not happy because for the very first time the poor people are being factored into the distribution of our commonwealth through the SIP.

~ PDP lawmakers are not pleased because monies that would have ended up in their pockets were invested into the Buhari administration's Social Investment Programmes.

~PDP lawmakers are sad because the Federal government chose to be thorough and unbiased in the implementation of the Social Investment Programmes.

~ PDP lawmakers are angry because slots for would-be beneficiaries of various SIP schemes weren't alloted to anyone, not even heads of the implementing bodies.

~ PDP lawmakers are disgruntled because all SIP beneficiaries are selected via transparent means and not based on connections.

~ PDP lawmakers are sad because the Buhari SIP scheme didn't fail like the SURE-P programme of the previous government which was meant for the families and friends of top government functionaries.

~Senator Abiodun Olujimi's claims that SIP beneficiaries are selected based on party affiliation and connections are unfounded and baseless.

~The SIP is not only lifting Nigerians out of poverty but clearly addresses the core issues that confront the common man.

PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has throughout his campaigns so far accused the President Muhammadu Buhari administration of dividing the country along its fault lines and claimed that he is the one with the magic wand to bring everybody together and unite the nation.

The lie in the claims was however exposed recently with the choice of Peter Obi - who is arguably Nigeria’s most divisive, bigoted and sectional politician alive – as running mate. How can someone who has never hidden his disbelief in One Nigeria unite Nigeria?

~In 2011, Peter Obi as Governor of Anambra State deported 29 Akwa-Ibom State indigenes without any justification other than the fact that he didn’t consider it the duty of his administration to accommodate and care for people who are not of the Igbo ethnic stock.

~Traders and residents of northern extraction had a torrid time living in the state under Obi as state government officials constantly demolished their homes and mosques and barred them from moving round peacefully.

~Peter Obi once directed all non citizens of Anambra residing in the state to apply for official identity cards as requirement for living or doing business in any part of the state.

~Obi has also been named as a major sponsor of the secessionist movement – Independent of People of Biafra (IPOB) and has never hidden his solidarity with their agitations and support for their violent rhetoric/campaign.

~Obi’s Igbo irredentism was confirmed in August 2012 when his company, SabMiller introduced a new alcoholic drink called ‘Hero’ into the market. The logo of IPOB was (and is still) conspicuously placed on the bottle and can of the product, which has now become the most popular drink of the southeast people.

Peter Obi pontificates about like a saint; accusing others of corruption but this is a man who has a history of corruption cases against him.

~As Governor of Anambra State, he was alleged to have awarded several contracts to his political associates and friends without following due process. He puts his personal interest first and committed state's funds into business with persons and organizations where he clearly has interest.

~ Awarded contracts worth billions of naira without due process and competitive bidding. The contract for the construction of the State Secretariat Complex at the cost of over half a Billion Naira to Mr. Paul Enidom (Paul B. Nig. Ltd) his partner and business associate is a typical example.

~ Awarded contract for the reconstruction of the Governor’s office Complex, Awka, in the sum exceeding One Hundred Million Naira to one of his campaign managers and associates Mr. IK Nwandu.

~ Awarded contract to his kinsman, Mr. Anthony Akpulu, using Akpulu’s company, for the construction of buildings in the so-called Business Village worth over One Hundred Million Naira without due process.

~ Awarded contracts for the following: Construction of IGR Building, Purchase of twenty Refuse Disposal vehicle and Four Pay-loaders, Construction of New Office Building for Ministry of Lands, Purchase of 40 Buses, Construction of New Stock Exchange Building at GRA Onitsha.