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Tag: APC

  • JUST IN: Senate suspends plenary, moves order paper items

    JUST IN: Senate suspends plenary, moves order paper items

    The Nigerian Senate suspended today’s plenary session over the death late Senator Ali Wakili, who won the Bauchi South Senatorial seat in the 2015 election on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    This is after the Senator Representing Lagos East Constituency, Gbenga Ashafa, had moved, seconded by Senator Emmanuel Paulker, for the approval of votes and proceedings of Thursday’s.

    Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, citing order 43 of the Senate’s standing order, moved Senate suspends plenary to honour late Senator Wakili.

    “On the 17th March, 2018 we woke up to the sad news of the demise of our friend, brother and colleague Senator Ali Wakili.

    “It is our culture in the Senate and National Assembly in general that when this kind of thing happens either in the Senate or House of Representatives, we observe a minute silence and adjourn plenary in honour of our late brother and friend,” he moved, and seconded by Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

    The Senate Leader also moved that all other items on the order paper be stood down to another Legislative day, which was also seconded by the Senate Minority Leader.

    In a short comment, Senate President Bukola Saraki reminded his colleagues of a valedictory service in honour of the deceased slated for Wednesday.

    “It is only proper that we pay our respects to him, his family, his constituents that he contributed to and the country.

    “The Upper Chamber would hold a valedictory session for late Senator Ali Wakili tomorrow. Please ensure that we are all dressed appropriately for that session tomorrow. I hereby adjourn the Senate till Wednesday the 21st of March 2018, 10am prompt,” he said.

    The plenary was adjourned at 11:08 a.m.

    TheNewsGuru reports late Senator Wakili was born in 1960 and attended the Lere Primary School in 1979.

    He attended the Government Secondary School Damaturu where he obtained his Secondary School leaving certificate.

    He attended the Bauchi College for Arts and Science in 1979, and obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Arts in 1982 from Bayero University Kano.

    He was enlisted in the Nigeria Customs Service after which he attended the customs training school Lagos in 1984 and the infantry training school Jaji in 1991.

    The late lawmaker retired from the service as a Comptroller of Customs.

    Senator Wakili was an active member of the APC caucus in the Nigerian Senate.

    He was the Chairman Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation.

    https://www.facebook.com/NgrSenate/videos/1645738572148145/

     

  • 2019: Sen. Sani speaks on crises in APC, other national issues

    Sen. Shehu Sani (APC-Kaduna) says the All Progressives Congress(APC) must put its house in order to emerge victorious in the 2019 elections.

    He disclosed this while speaking on Saturday at the 5th Olalekan Olomide Platform for Development held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Iyanganku in Ibadan.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, said the ruling party had been enmeshed in various crises at different levels since 2015, and such cracks need to be addressed for the party to emerge victorious in the 2019 election.

    “I believe that the reconciliatory committee led by the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has started a good job and I believe it can achieve a lot.

    “Some of the critical areas that need to be seriously addressed are the crises between senators and governors and the gap between the party and National Assembly (NASS).

    “There is also the seeming cold war between NASS and the executive,” Sani said.

    He said the APC must get its house in order for it to confront various challenges bedevilling the nation.

    Sani said the APC-led administration in the country had achieved some successes, particularly in the area of insurgency and the image of the country which is presently on the positive side.

    “On the economy, there is drastic reduction in corruption, but the mindless killing in some parts of the country is mind-boggling; this is a serious threat to the peace of our nation,” he said.

    According to him, the killing is unacceptable and the president must stand up firmly against it.

    The lawmaker described the South West region as the heartbeat of the APC, saying when the party suffers a stroke in the region it would lead to devastation.

    Sani categorically opposed the call for creation of state police.

    “Our crisis in Kaduna is an APC affair; the crisis got to this stage because our party failed to resolve it till it got to the stage of demolishing party’s secretariat.

    “Imagine, if such a governor is now given the right to create state police, what will be the fate of those who disagree with him?”

    The lawmaker said his recent revelation on the salaries of lawmakers was to save the dignity and integrity of the National Assembly that had been stained.

    He urged Nigerians to brace up and demand to know the running cost of the presidency and the judiciary for accountability.

     

  • Worrying APC, PDP boycott of council polls, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon

     

    In advance of the 2019 general elections, a trend has developed along with the rush to conduct local government council elections across the states: That’s the tendency of political parties to boycott those elections on rather nebulous excuses.

    For instance, of the elections conducted since late 2017 in eight states, four were outrightly boycotted by the two leading parties in Nigeria: the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

    While the APC spurned the elections in Ekiti (and withdrew midway into the balloting in Akwa Ibom), the PDP abdicated participation in Osun, Kano and Edo states. Already, the PDP is planning to ditch the council elections in Oyo in May. Ditto the APC in Rivers in June.

    The big question: Will the APC and PDP pass up the 2018/2019 elections in the states they snubbed during the council elections? For starters, will the APC evade the governorship poll in July in Ekiti, and the PDP doing the same in Osun in September?

    Perhaps, the implications of this trend are not lost on the Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who would rather the PDP abandon the rest of the elections in 2018 and 2019. He was reacting to PDP’s dumping of the March 3 council polls in Edo.

    To him, however low a political party rates its chances, participating in election is an “opportunity to mobilise and energise its followers,” failing which “the injury is to the boycotting party,” adding that, “from our history in this country, you do not boycott elections. If you do so, you are paying a heavy price for it and we wish it (PDP) luck. But I pray that they will boycott the others also.”

    Certainly, Chief Odigie-Oyegun isn’t “earnestly yearning” for the PDP to shun the polls in 2018 and 2019, but he’s only expressing indignation that a political party that prides itself as the “largest in Africa” could abandon elections at the grassroots.

    Ironically, in the rush to judgment, the APC chair failed to allude to his party’s pulling out of the council elections in Ekiti, not once but twice in two years – in December 2015 and 2017, respectively. And to think that the APC is the dominant political party in the country!

    It’s not unusual, though, for political parties to shun elections, especially at the national level, if they stand no chance of winning any seat that would qualify them to exercise political or administrative authority. This necessitates the calls to give recognition to parties, that so desire, to operate only at the zonal, state or council level.

    Political parties adduce various reasons for ducking council elections: from the seemingly genuine, such as having legal issues with the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), to the tenuous and downright ludicrous.

    For example, the Ekiti chapter of the APC withdrew from the December 19, 2015 council polls on the allegation that officials of the EKSIEC were card-carrying members of the PDP, and as such “they could not be trusted to conduct a credible election.”

    Then in last December’s polling, the party had recourse to its ongoing legal action against the EKSIEC, promoting that it could not participate in an exercise conducted by an “unlawful body.”

    In Edo, the PDP vowed non-participation due to “lack of confidence in the EDSIEC,” and urged voters to shun the exercise. It also challenged, at the state High Court, the “unlawful amendment of the notice of election, from 90 to 45 days, by the House of Assembly.”

    Even in council elections that are earmarked for May and June in Oyo and Rivers, the main opposition parties in the states have given notice of their opting out of the voting. What are their reasons?

    The APC in Rivers has cases against the leadership of the local government councils, which have run through the courts – High Court, Appeal Court and Supreme Court, and the “constitutionality of the RSIEC Law 2018” being litigated at a Federal High Court.

    So, in bowing out of the council polls in June, the Rivers APC, through its chair, Dr. Davis Ikanya, reminded the RSIEC chairman, retired Justice Chukwuneye Uriri, that there’s “no vacuum” in the local governments, as the councillors’ tenures had not expired.

    The Oyo chapter of the PDP is “boycotting” the May council polls on the advice of a chieftain of the party in the state, Prince Adeyemi Saheed Arowosaye, who alleged that “information available to me” indicated that “the state government has perfected plans to rig the election in favour of the ruling All Progressive Congress.”

    Actually, the fear of the controlling party, using its state governor and the SIEC to “manipulate” the system, is the beginning of wisdom for the opposition party to boycott council polls. Such abracadabra manifested in virtually all the states that had held elections in recent times.

    To quote former Senator Domigo Obende (Edo North), “Political parties do not want to participate in elections so that it will not look as if they were defeated. They want the easy way out and to say, ‘We did not participate in the elections; otherwise, we would have won.’”

    But the boycotters beware: Surrendering council polls undercuts a political party’s viability for the next big elections: State House of Assembly, Governorship, and National Assembly and Presidential elections.

    According to the chairman of the Edo chapter of the APC, Mr. Anslem Ojezua, the decision of a political party to boycott council elections “is as good as signing its death certificate.”

    So, haven’t the APC and PDP signed their “death certificates” in states they dodged council elections? Well, the Ekiti governorship in July and in Osun in September will likely show how wise both parties were in ditching the states’ council elections. Expedite

     

    * Mr. Ehichioya Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • Electoral Act amendment: PDP criticizes Buhari for withholding assent

    The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for withholding assent to the amendment of the 2010 Electoral Act that reordered the sequence of general elections in the country.

    The PDP in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it is no surprise that the President withheld his assent, “particularly given the tendencies he has continued to display as a politician”.

    “The PDP believes in democracy and subscribes to all its tenets including the respect for the powers of the National Assembly to make laws and to amend such laws as occasion demands.

    “In the light of this development, the PDP, and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians, now eagerly await the final decision of the National Assembly on this amendment,” the statement read.

    “As a party, we are not afraid of the 2019 general elections because we know that Nigerians have already rejected President Buhari and his dysfunctional All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “Against this backdrop, the PDP assures to provide all the members of our great party a level playing ground to choose a Presidential candidate in a National Convention that promises to be open, free, fair, credible and transparent.

    “We know that with the support of Nigerians, any candidate that emerges on our platform ahead of 2019 will clinically defeat President Buhari at the polls and lead our nation back to the path of progress, national cohesion and a vibrant economy,” the statement further read.

     

  • Why APC will take over Rivers in 2019 – Abe

    The senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has said that, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is stronger than ever before and doing well in Rivers State even as he expressed confidence that the party will take over the state and retain control of the Centre in 2019.

    Abe who stated this while appearing in a live Television Programme commended the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal administration for the development of infrastructure for Rivers people.

    The Senator said, “The APC government has done more for Rivers State than the PDP government ever did. Work has started on the Bodo-Bonny Road in the state; work is also on going on the East-West Road”.

    On the Ogoni Clean-up, the senator said “The President is committed to the Ogoni clean-up and he is working. This is the take-off point. The trust fund account is being opened and you have to finish all this process before you can accelerate. The PDP under the immediate past President had all the documents but put them in his locker.

    “The PDP government then had all the opportunity to implement the UNEP Report but they didn’t do it. They talked about it for years and nothing happened”.

    Abe further stated that APC in Rivers State is not dead but has done better than the PDP in terms of infrastructure and human capacity development.

    “I believe that APC is the only party in this country at this time that can solve the problems of Nigeria, unite the country and move it forward”.

    On the state of the international airport at Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Abe said that because of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to Rivers people, the government accepted to pay for a variation made by the contractor after the contract was been awarded by the PDP government.

    “Because of its commitment to the Rivers people, this government have not only paid up the variation but is committed to finishing the international airport this year”.

    On Governor Nyesom Wike’s position over the forth-coming visit to Rivers State by President Muhammadu Buhari , Senator Abe emphasized the need for the governor to be grateful for the President’s visit, stating that whenever the date is fixed for the visit everybody involved including the Governor will be duly informed.

    “Rivers State has been in the news for the wrong reasons of recent and I think the Governor should have been the happiest person to hear that the President is coming to the state to see those people who have lost their loved ones and empathize with them”.

    “It would be an opportunity for the Governor to find a way to work with the President to ensure that we have a better security but because of the undertone of the violence in Rivers State, I think that is why he finds the visit uncomfortable at this time”.

    Abe admonished Governor Wike to put the interest of Rivers State first and stop playing politics with the security of lives and property of the people as the level of violence, including gruesome killing of innocent people in the state is unacceptable.

    Recounting the genesis of the Rivers APC crises the former Secretary to State Government (SSG) said the Mini ster of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi formed his own group in the party making it difficult for APC members to meet together to discuss the affairs of the party.

    “Because some of us were advocating for some form of internal democracy within the party (APC) on the choice of candidates ahead of the 2019 elections, the Minister decided he was no longer going to carry everybody along but to form his own part of the party”.

    “This has made it very difficult for those with a contrary opinion to be able to meet in one place and discuss issues of the party. But, that does not mean the party is torn apart. We still have all our structures intact and means of communicating. We would continue to expand on those structures and enhance mutual communication within the party”.

    Abe maintained that in every political system, disagreements are inevitable and seen as instruments that strengthen democratic structures.

    “In any political system, disagreements are normal. In fact, every political system should expect some kind of issues because you have people with different needs, different ideas, different objectives coming together but the fundamental thing with Rivers APC is our agreement to take over Rivers State in 2019. We are united over it and have decided to solidly stand behind President Buhari and working together to ensure that he is returned as President. We have all agreed”.

    Abe noted that the party will continue to expand its structure as well as means of communication despite the internal disagreement in the party.

    “It is in the state that we have issues which are normal and unless we sit down on one table and allow the people to air their grievances, the crises will continue. After all, we do not have an alternative state secretariat, we have only one leader and that is the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotim i Amaechi”.

    “A situation where I have something that I don’t like or I have something I want to complain of or I see something that is wrong in the party and cannot articulate it in a place where other people can respond and reassure themselves that their interests were protected, the present crises will still cont inue”.

    For the reconciliation committee headed by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will work in Rivers because the problem in the State is not complicated. There are people who had their positions taken in a manner they consider outside the constitution of the party, there are people who feel threatened, there are people who feel excluded. It is just to create a platform where grievances can be discussed, reassurance given and the party will move forward.

    “The leader must acknowledge that we are all his supporters. We don’t have any problem with him. I say so clearly and conscientiously”.

    Senator Abe urged the leader to take advantage of the party structure which is intact and create a platform where people can discuss party issues without a predetermined answer to a question that has not been asked.

    Senator Abe whose recent thanksgiving in Port Harcourt, attracted over seventy percent of members of the National Assembly including the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki a nd four serving state governors in attendance said, he has no apology for inviting Governor Ezenwo Wike to the event.

    “I have no apology inviting the Governor. We need to understand what has happened over time in Rivers State. You have a state where people have been killed, beheaded and the polity had become totally overheated and I felt and still feel we should do as much as possible to bring down the political temperature and create an atmosphere where Rivers people can decide their fate. If we don’t do that the tension will escalate”.

    The Chairman on the committee for FERMA said there has been great improvement in the agency and attributed the success to the senate and the Managing Director Engineer Rafindadi whose dint of hard work has lifted the body to enviable levels in recent times.

    In his remarks on the sequence of election as reordered by the National Assembly, Abe said, “I support the president and I do so without reservations and without apologies to anyone. I think the President has done very well but there are things we can do better as a party”.

    “Our primary responsibility as leaders of APC is to come together, unite the party, solve whatever internal problems we may have, be it at the state or national levels. Face the elections and the repositioning of Nigeria which is what the President is committed to”.

    “There is a law that has been passed by the National Assembly. I don’t know if the President is going to sign that law or if he is going to veto it but if the President vetoes the law, I will not support any move to override the President’s veto because as a member of the APC, the President is part of the law making process. So, where he disagrees with something and he gives reasons for his disagreement, as members of our party, we should respect his views. If the President says it’s a law then, it becomes the law of the land and our opinion will become immaterial”.

    On his performance at the 8th Senate Abe attributed it to the dynamics of the National Assembly which according to him is different from the 7th Assembly.

    “My representation is stronger and we are working. I was out of the Senate for about two years. We had inconclusive elections and it took me almost two years to get back to the senate and by the time we came in as they say a lot of water has gone under the bridge. However, I promised my constituents that in this remaining year, we will try to do more than what we have done in the past years. We are working hard and will continue to work very hard”.

     

  • Secondus urges APC to emulate PDP in project executions

    Mr Uche Secondus, National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to emulate their PDP counterparts, who were busy developing their states through grassroots-oriented projects.

    Secondus gave the advice on Saturday at the inauguration of the 8.4 kilometres reconstructed Ughelli-Afiesere-Ofuoma road project in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta.

    The party chairman, while commending the developmental stride of the PDP state governments, urged the APC state governors to emulate them.

    He said Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta had impacted positively on the people through his people-oriented projects and urged the people to give him the maximum support.

    “Gov. Okowa has proven to be among the best governors in the country through the execution of developmental projects with direct positive impact on the lives of the people.

    “The only way to develop the Niger Delta region is through the construction of roads as demonstrated by the governor.

    “So, I will implore the people of Delta to intensify their support for Gov. Okowa for more development projects,” he stressed.

    In his remarks, Gov. Okowa said that the state government was linking up the entire state with the construction of roads, which would have a multiplier effect on the economy and also promote ethnic integration among groups in the state.

    He said that the government had a well mapped out policies and programmes, particularly in the health and education sectors, assuring the people that his administration was committed to meeting their needs.

    In his address of welcome, the Chairman of Ughelli North Local Government Area, Mr Godwin Adode thanked Gov. Okowa for the project, saying it would help to boost the economy of area.

     

  • Buhari needs Jesus Christ to revive dead APC in Rivers – Wike

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state says President Muhammadu Buhari will need Jesus Christ to revive deadAll Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.

    He said the federal governor has not briefed him on the planned visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the state. He also said he had no idea why Buhari is visiting the oil-rich state.

    Wike made these remarks on Thursday while Flagging off the reconstruction of Egbelu Street and construction of link roads in East-West in Rumuodara, Obio Akpor area of the state. Rivers is listed among the states Buhari would be visiting over recent killings in some parts of the country.

    While some communities in states such as Benue, Taraba, and Adamawa have been attacked by marauding herdsmen, resulting in the reported killing of over 200 persons, 22 people were murdered by a gang of cultists on New Year’s Day in Omoku Rivers.

    “I hear they say that the President is coming to our state. I have not been told the President is coming and why he is coming. He has the right to come to any state,” he said.

    “Maybe the President is coming to make sure that he will improve the fortunes of the APC that is dead in Rivers state.

    “Apart from Jesus Christ, we don’t know of anyone who has risen a dead thing. APC is a dead party in Rivers state. No matter how you fast and pray, it will never wake up.”

    He further said: “Let nobody bother him or herself that the President is coming for security reasons. We don’t have security challenges in the state.

    “We have never had herdsmen killings or crisis in the state, except when some criminals tried to disrupt the peace and they were checked. We resolved that challenge.”

  • Nigeria has become sick under APC-led govt – Lamido

    Nigeria has become sick under APC-led govt – Lamido

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Alhaji Sule Lamido has blasted the ruling party, the All Progresses Congress (APC) for poor performance over the past three years.

    Speaking in Calabar on Wednesday while paying courtesy visit to Governor Ben Ayade, Alhaji Lamido regretted that Nigeria now had more injuries than before.

    “In 1999 we won, we had stable economy, stable development but along the line, some people who said they are more Nigerians than others came around and formed All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.

    “The formation of APC was not based on genuine concern for Nigeria. It was based on lust for power and also to harass Nigerians.

    “APC was elected by defaults, blackmail and threat. APC was fraudulent”, he alleged, adding that in the North, “we were seen as infidel. Three years of APC governance, we have not only had Boko Haram problem but hunger Haram, harassment and killing.

    “We also had recession. We had more killings in Hausa communities, Benue, Rivers, Zamfara and others under APC government”.

    On corruption, he said those who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join APC were saints while those that remained were considered to be thieves.

    On economy, he said for 16 years PDP incurred debt of N9 trillion but in the three years of APC they incurred N20 trillion.

    “For 16 years, we incurred debt of N9 trillion but in the three years of APC they incurred N20 trillion.

    “This country belongs to all of us, but today Nigeria is sick, Nigeria has been hijacked, Nigeria is ruled with fear, intimidation and blackmail, if you talk, they go after you.

    “But thank God, today we are all willing to run away from this kind of governance. I am here to share with you this common concern.

    “Are we more united, more serious and are we more prosperous? Are we happier? We are not, that is the simple truth, the trust we have among ourselves is gone.

    “APC lacks the capacity to govern Nigeria, there is killing all over, we have to wake up because we are having global embarrassment.

    “Today, we have killing, nepotism, high handedness, corruption, so if this trend continues into 2019 and APC remain beyond that, this country will seize to exist,” he said.

    The Presidential aspirant told Governor Ben Ayade, “We have to decide on how to restore these past glory, restore our common unity.”

    “We have to remove these people, because APC has no idea to rule this country and they are bankrupt. The APC is using our projects to showcase themselves, our airport, our rails our road etc, we have to remove these people, they are liars” he emphasized.

    In a remark, Governor Ben Ayade regretted that Federal Government was not treating his people well, stressing “Our state does not benefit from NDDC projects; and we plead with the Federal Government to look into the plight of the people.”

  • Buhari-led govt concealed fraud in N24b monthly oil subsidy claim – PDP

    The Federal Government is trying to cover a “huge fraud in the presidency by declaring it spends N24 billion monthly (N774 million per day) to subsidise fuel in the country,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged.

    The party described the figure as “fictitious and cleverly fabricated to retire the already exposed stealing of trillions of naira by the presidency cabal and All Progressives Congress (APC) interests in secret oil deals.”

    PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement, yesterday, said: “It is duplicitous for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to claim a sudden surge in fuel purchase expenses at the same time the nation faced the harshest fuel shortage across the country, with Nigerians paying exorbitantly for the product.”

    According to the PDP, “The APC-led presidency is drawing its deceptive proclivity and concealment of fraud too far. And to think that such is hatched in a sector that is under the direct supervision of President Muhammadu Buhari as Minister of Petroleum Resources is most disheartening.

    “This is the same presidency that claimed to have abolished fuel subsidy payments and even accused the immediate past administration of alleged corruption in its subsidy management. It is, therefore, strange that the same government can pull out unimaginable figures and claim it is the cost of subsidy enjoyed by Nigerians.”

    The party further queried: “How come that with such humongous sums, Nigerians are still paying as high as N250 to N300 per litre on fuel in various parts of the country? We have since charged the Buhari-led presidency to come out clear on the administration of subsidy under its watch. The question is, why is the Federal Government cloaking the subsidy regime in secrecy, if not to conceal its duplicity?”

    The PDP said: “Nigerians need to know who in the presidency approved the spending of the said N774 million per day as fuel subsidy and who the benefiting companies are. Is the subsidy captured in any appropriation instrument of the National Assembly? What is the cost of landing imported fuel to the depots and at what exchange rate? Where are the details of the subsidy payout and the negotiating options and contracts?

    “In reeling out its figures, the presidency has forgotten that Nigerians are still waiting for its explanations on the leaked memo showing alleged corrupt oil contracts at the NNPC to the tune of N9 trillion ($25 billion dollars). The presidency has also refused to offer explanations on the alleged involvement of its officials in various sneaky oil subsidy deals and reported diversion of N1.1 trillion worth of crude, last year, to service APC interests.”

    As if finally out with a solution to fuel importation and the attendant subsidy payments, the NNPC has said it is targeting the reduction of capital flight in procurement and cost of producing a barrel of crude oil.

    Speaking in Abuja, yesterday, Group Managing Director (GMD) Maikanti Baru said the corporation is working smart to bring more money into the coffers of the federation.

    “The more we bring down the cost of producing oil and gas, the more money we bring into the pockets of federal, state and local governments. We are driving the Nigerian content agenda to essentially bring down cost. We have brought down the cost of production of a barrel of oil to about $20. Our target is $15. And we will continue to march towards that,” Baru said.

    The GMD, who was represented at the 2018 edition of Technology and Innovation Expo by Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Saidu Mohammed, disclosed that the corporation has domesticated engineering, procurement, construction and most of the major activities in the oil and gas industry.

    He said: “We have collaborated with the Nigerian Content Development Board. We have also got Nigerians who are innovative to go into fabrication. What we want to do is make sure that we domesticate the big chunk of where we spend the money, which is procurement. We have fabrications going on. We have also gone into the fabrication of vessels. What we are doing is to support all sorts of innovation.”

    Commenting on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna and Kano pipeline project, the GMD said the pipelines were fully domesticated in accordance with the local content policy of the Federal Government. He added that Nigerians would do all the pre-commissioning and commissioning services.

  • APC celebrates Obasanjo at 81, says his legacy inspires good governance

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), has said that the legacy of former President Olusegun Obasanjo had continued to inspire good governance on the African continent after so many years.

    Malam Bolaji Abudullahi, APC National Publicity Secretary, stated this in a statement on Monday in Abuja while celebrating the former president on his 81st birthday.

    He also said that the former president remained an influential voice in different facets of national life.

    ´´Our party joins family, friends, well-wishers and associates in celebrating the retired general, who has emerged as a bastion of democracy, good governance and development in Nigeria and beyond.

    ´´Chief Obasanjo has inspired a generation of Nigerians, notably in the areas of entrepreneurship, leadership and education, especially through his non-profit initiatives, the Africa Leadership Forum (ALF) and the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, ´´ he said.

    He also said that as a true Nigerian patriot and statesman, Obasanjo had over the years built solid bridges across political divides in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

    Abudullahi prayed God to enable Obasanjo age in health and wisdom, so that he could continue to contribute to the unending task of nation building.