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Tag: Babachir lawal

  • Ex-SGF, Lawal declares stand, says I joined politics with Buhari, leaving with him in 2023

    Ex-SGF, Lawal declares stand, says I joined politics with Buhari, leaving with him in 2023

    Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Babachir Lawal has denied reports of joining the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to settle scores with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the controversial Muslim-Muslim Presidency in 2023.

    Babachir Lawal in a statement made available in Abuja on Wednesday said he would go back to his farm and remain an elder statesman next year.

    In the statement, the former SGF clarified that his visit to former Vice President and currently Presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar to condole him on the death of his Personal Assistant was misconstrued as defection to the opposition party.

    Babachir Lawal’s statement read in part “It has just been brought to my notice that I have defected to the PDP. This is not true. This is fake news.

    “Just like other politicians including some in the APC, I visited VP Atiku yesterday to condole him over the death of his PA and I noticed some people took my pictures. I suspect this fake news must have originated from this episode.

    “Despite our being in separate political parties, Atiku and I are like brothers and I am always warmly received in his home.

    “I am still a member of the APC and have no plans to leave it for any other party. In fact, I am considering leaving party politics altogether so as to remain an elder statesman.

    “I had joined politics just because of President Muhammadu Buhari and will therefore have no further motivation to remain so after 29th May, 2023.

    “I find the pleasure and comfort of my farms more attractive and rewarding”, the statement said.

  • Babahir Lawal says Muslim-Muslim ticket dividing north further

    Babahir Lawal says Muslim-Muslim ticket dividing north further

    A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has accused the APC of plans to cause further division in Northern Nigeria through its Muslim-Muslim ticket.

    He said he and about 40 Christian leaders in the north are working to see that the ticket failed.

    Lawal spoke during an interview on Arise TV, monitored by our correspondent on Wednesday.

    He said, “The introduction of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the APC or same-faith ticket is a wicked plan to further create divisions within the north. We try as leaders of societies to live as brothers and sisters but this demonic proposition just came out of the blues.

    “For all lovers of unity in this country, in the north in particular where we are most affected, this ticket must never succeed. We will make sure we defeat it in such a resounding manner that nobody in his right senses will ever think about it again at least in the near future for our political journey in Nigeria. So we are set on it and we are determined to kill it (Muslim-Muslim ticket). Our people are mobilised, and our people are ready for the election.

    Also Read

    Babachir Lawal group advises Tinubu to make northerner his campaign DG

    “I and Dogara alone aren’t the only ones involved in this. Indeed, we are leaders of groups of about 40 leading Christian politicians in the north. We started work on this years back when we suspected that if a Muslim emerge from the south as the candidate for any of the political parties, there is a risk that what has happened will happen.

    “So, while we plan that same-faith ticket of APC should fail, we also believe that we should align with one of the leading political parties that has the chance of winning. Our strategy is that we will not just waste our votes because we want to protest the same-faith ticket of APC, we will like to partner with another group that is more sensible of the Nigerian situation and realised that Nigeria needs harmony, unity and peace.”

  • Babachir clarify visit to Wike, says everything is not political

    Babachir clarify visit to Wike, says everything is not political

    The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and the ex-Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, have clarified their visit to the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, stating that everything is not political and those insinuating anything outside this are free to continue.

    This was made known in a telephone interview with newsmen on Saturday.

    Babachir speaking said that any wrong impression about the visit should know that he worked with the governors while he served as the SGF.

    “We are free to visit anyone in the country. Those insinuating anything should know that I was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and I worked with all the governors.

    “So, we are free to visit anyone. Everything is not political and those insinuating anything outside this are free to continue,” Babachir stressed.

    Recall that Babachir and Dogara held a closed-door meeting with the governor at his private residence in Rumueprikom, Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    Speaking with journalists earlier in Port Harcourt, Babachir said their mission was a brotherly visit to the governor.

    He said, “We came to visit our brother. He (Wike) is our brother. So, every now and then, the Bible enjoins you to visit one another. That is what we just did.”

    Babachir added that the interaction with the state government had nothing to do with the meeting some northern leaders held in Abuja on Friday.

    “No, there are many reasons in the world for which you need to visit a brother. So, the visit has nothing to do with our meeting in Abuja,” he explained.

    Also, Dogara hinged their visit on the quest and search to build an all-inclusive Nigeria.

    “Everyone agrees with us that Wike is one of those indispensable political leaders. For us, it is a search to build an all-inclusive Nigeria.

    “So, we feel that as part of the agenda setting, we should meet with him and that is the reason why we are here. For the rest, whatever it is, maybe in the future, we can discuss that,” he stated.

  • Babachir Lawal group advises Tinubu to make northerner his campaign DG

    Babachir Lawal group advises Tinubu to make northerner his campaign DG

    The Tinubu Support Group under the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal has advised the APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu, to appointment a northerner as the Director General (DG).

    This was part of the recommendations made by the group’s members of Planning and Strategy Committee.

    This was contained in the recommendations contained in the committee’s report which it titled, ‘Report on the Actualisation of the Presidency of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the Coming 2023 General Election.’

    It also recommended the zoning of leadership seats in the National Assembly and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

    The committee’s 23 members signed the document with the exception of a former EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu.

    “It is advised that the DG emerges from the northern part of the country,” read part of the document.

    Related Story

    The report continues, “Qualities of a DG: seasoned and grassroots mobiliser; a good orator; must not be a contestant for any elective position in the forthcoming election to avoid distractions; a team player; non-confrontational; must be well abreast with national politics; passion loyalty and deep commitment for the project.

    “The committee further recommends in consonance with organogram as prepared by the Organogram and Technical Committee that gender balance should be strongly considered for the position of Deputy DG’s North or South.”

    “In response to addressing the key positions, their religion and the likely public backlash that might arise, these recommendations were given for balance: Also, our principal should hold consultations with religious leaders and stakeholders across the society.

    “President, South-West; Vice-President, North-East; Senate President, North-West; Speaker, South-East; Deputy Senate President, South-South; Deputy Speaker, North-East; SGF, North-Central; APC Chairman, North-Central; Chief of Staff (to the President), subject to Mr. President’s decision.”

    On the other hand, the apex body of the Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has denied endorsing Tinubu for 2023.

    The Secretary-General of the group, Okechukwu Isiguzoro said in a statement that What was misinterpreted as an endorsement was a clarion call for a change in the attitudes of the APC South East, governors and senators, whose activities de-marketed the South East in the APC primaries.

    He noted that Ndigbo was ashamed to admit that an APC South East Governor, who led APC to their defeats in Edo and Anambra governorship elections, spearheaded the aspiration of a North East aspirant against South East aspirants in APC primary.

    According to Isiguzoro, Ndigbo will officially declare openly the candidate who is entitled to Igbo votes in 2023, “but for now there is no endorsement of any presidential candidate.”

  • Afenifere snubs Tinubu for Obi as Babachir Lawal faults Shettima’s choice

    Afenifere snubs Tinubu for Obi as Babachir Lawal faults Shettima’s choice

    The leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Ayo Adebanjo, has declared his support for the 2023 presidential bid of the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.

    Adebanjo, who featured in an online radio programme, Yoruba Gbode, yesterday, said the ex-Anambra State governor would not disappoint Nigerians if elected the country’s president next year.

    He also expressed doubt about the ability of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Atiku Abubakar, to steer the country’s ship effectively.

    The Afenifere leader argued that Tinubu sold President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians in 2015 because of his selfish interest, adding that the ex-Lagos State governor would give continuity to incompetence if elected next year.

    Adebanjo has been unrelenting in his support for the South-East to produce Nigeria’s president in 2023.

    He said: “In my opinion, only Peter Obi can rule the country independently without the influence of these criminals in the government. Tinubu will only give continuity to Buhari’s incompetence.

    “We know Peter Obi very well , that’s why we endorsed him. He will not disappoint Nigerians, let’s put tribal differences apart and vote the right leader in.

    “Tinubu sold Buhari to over 200 million Nigerians for his own selfish interest of wanting to rule after Buhari. None of them loves Nigeria.

    “Easterners are also Nigerians, they deserve to rule. I am sure Peter Obi will not subject himself to the northerners like Tinubu and Atiku would do if elected.”

    2023: Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket ‘dead on arrival’ – Babachir Lawal

    Meanwhile, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has faulted the announcement of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    Lawal, in a note he personally signed yesterday, described the decision as a “disastrous error.”

    Mr Tinubu on Sunday had announced former Borno State Governor, Kassim Shettima, as his running mate in the 2023 presidential election.

    Both men are Muslims.

    Lawal, who backed Tinubu during the APC presidential primaries, said the choice of Mr Shettima was a sign that the APC presidential candidate has “been cornered by self-serving, hero-worshiping, lapdogs.”

    “The northern governors and some northern moslem elites must have persuaded him that they will never vote for a ticket that has a northern Christian on it. And he has agreed with them,” Mr Lawal said.

    “But if he thinks a Moslem-Moslem ticket will win him the northern Muslim votes, he should have a rethink. They will massively vote for one of their sons because it is in their nature to do so. Buhari, their first son will not be on the ballot in 2023. Atiku their second son will be.”

    Read Babachir’s full note below:

    I thought I will be able to avoid commenting on the disastrous error by my very good friend, Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his choice of a running mate.

    I will be the very last person to stand in the way of my very good friend Tinubu’s path to the presidency. This is because since 2011 my consuming passion has been for him to succeed Buhari as President of Nigeria.
    It will not be true if I say that I did not see it coming. I have often read his body language, picked up snippets from several discussions with his lapdogs (some of whom, sadly are Christians but most of whom are moslems) and I have conveyed my reservations to them against the pitfalls of a moslem-moslem ticket towards which I sensed they were drifting.

    As part of my obligation to him, a close friend, I had on many occasions argued the merits and demerits of both ticket permutations to him. I have done so in both verbal and written form and I have likewise, done so with some of his close respectable associates and friends. In all instances I had left him with the sole responsibility for his final decision arguing that in the end the consequences of the outcome of any bad decision will be his to
    bear. There might be some collateral damages though. I have also on several occasions passed on to him counsels and messages from some well meaning Nigerians intended to alert him on the possible outcomes of the Presidential ticket permutations.

    Tinubu is a very good man. He is a great listener. He has a very humble and friendly disposition to every one. He is very generous in both cash and kind, especially where it could advance his political interests. But I have realized that it is in the nature of power that sycophants and lapdogs have the most influence on leaders with such character traits. They will lie to him, malign and disparage others and generally do any thing to curry his favor and to also put well-meaning associates in bad light. I suspect this is what has
    happened to my friend. He has been cornered by self-serving, hero-worshiping, lapdogs.

    It never used to be like this. While in his hay-days in Lagos, he surrounded himself with smart, street-wise guys that could tell truth to power. He had Rauph Aregbesola, Yomi Osinbajo, Babatunde Fashola, Dele Alake, Muiz Banire, etc.The Lagos days were the days of think-tanks, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, principles and ideologies. But
    these people have since grown-up and moved up to establish their own systems living my friend stranded. Nature they say abhors vacuum.

    Welcome the Abuja equivalent. But the Abuja equivalent are people inflicted with the modern Nigerian diseases – religious bigotry, sycophancy and morbid tribalism. They are mostly political jobbers who are most times not averse to the application of diabolical means. Gone are the days of think-tanks, and strategic planning. Gone are the days of principles and ideologies. Try and call a meeting; they will not attend. Try and make a plan; they will sabotage it. Everything is ad-hoc, everything is chaotic because they excel in such environments. The result is that they have played on his longterm ambition to be President and have built it into a sort of desperation and a crescendo that easily justifies this satanic resort to a Muslim-Muslim ticket. This is the calamity that has befallen my
    friend.

    And why Kashim Shetima? He is an overambitious man who has a Machiavellian bent and has lots of money with which to procure a preferred-candidate status among Tinubu’s lapdogs. And as we are beginning to see, to also procure bogus supporters especially from among the Christian community to help launder his no-so-good image.

    But as a popular proverb goes: “Those whom the gods want to destroy they first make mad”. It appears that the gods want to destroy the APC and its Presidential Candidate and have chosen the instrumentality of the northern Moslem governors and their super ambitious tool and Kashim Ibrahim for this purpose. Alhaji Kashim Shetima is a Greek gift from the Northern governors to Tinubu. I advise Bola to make sure Kashima’s two hands are always in his plain sight and empty.

    True, based on the advise of his new friends, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made his choice. And I am sure he thinks he is ready for the out come of that choice. He has chosen to bring religion to the front burner of Nigerian politics. And being a Muslim he has chosen to take sides with his own religion. For all he cares, Christians can go to blazes with their
    votes. But he must also be told that there will consequences for this choice. Some of them are that Christians all over the country will revolt against the APC to put the chances of his election in serious jeopardy. It will also put the election of all Christians standing for elections in Christian dominated areas in jeopardy. This could result in APC being a minority party in both the National and State Houses of Assembly.

    Now tell me which Christian will vote for APC with the following contraption: Moslem Presidential Candidate (Lagos), Moslem Vice Presidential Candidate (Borno), Moslem National Chairman (Nasarawa), Moslem Deputy National Chairman (Borno), Moslem President (Katsina); Moslem Senate President (Yobe); Moslem Speaker (Lagos); Moslem Deputy Speaker (Plateau) e.t.c. APC the great! Wu na de try woh!

    The northern governors and some northern moslem elites must have persuaded him that they will never vote for a ticket that has a northern Christian on it. And he has agreed with them. But if he thinks a Moslem-Moslem ticket will win him the northern Muslim votes, he
    should have a rethink. They will massively vote for one of their sons because it is in their nature to do so. Buhari, their first son will not be on the ballot in 2023. Atiku their second son will be.

    Proof of a possible Islamic agenda was leaked when Governor Ganduje, the “Kadmul Islam”, gave advance notice that Tinubu had assured them he would be nominating a moslem as his running mate. For those who might not know, Governor Ganduje has a foundation called “Ganduje Foundation” which purpose according to its website is to “provide selfless service to humanity and Islam” but whose primary purpose it appears is the conversion of Christians to Islam.

    So if my very good friend Tinubu in a desperate bid to become President allows himself to made into a religious bigot or even a mujahideen, he is welcome. But it is a risk that will not play out positively for his presidential bid. But, were he to win and become President of Nigeria, it will be as a sectional President; an Islamic President. And he will surely face
    massive discontent and opposition even before taking off.

    Expecting Nigerians to ignore this crass insensitivity to the country’s diversity amounts to acceding to the perpetration of very grave injustice and discrimination against a huge segment of the society. No one who seeks to be president of Nigeria should ever deploy the tool of religious extremism and exclusivism as a tool to win elections. This is very very
    dangerous. And this is very sad.

    But, baring any last minute change of mind, Bola has made his choice. He should be bluntly told that in this choice Nigerian Christians clearly see a pending Islamic Republic
    of Nigeria in its infancy and are right to be severely anxious. There is gloom among the Christian community all over the country since Tinubu announced Kashim Shetima as his running mate. Are the generality of the moslem ummah happy with this? The answer is a resounding NO.

    How then do we respond? The decision as to how to respond to this deliberately senseless act of provocation is both corporate to each religious group and also personal to each voter that love peace, and hate injustice. Christians want to continue to leave peacefully with their moslem neighbors at home, at school, at the work place, in the markets and on the streets as we have always done or desired to do. And I am sure Moslems share this view too. No one person’s ambition to rule over us should be allowed
    to set us apart and at war with one another.

    Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should be compelled upon by whoever can do so to rescind this decision. President Mohammed Buhari should exercise his powers as the Commander-inChief and as the APC Leader to revoke this nomination of a VP by Tinubu. The APC National Chairman should refuse to sign the nomination forms if not rescinded.

    There is a story in the bible on how some people responded to similar provocation: “And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king,

    “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents” (1 Kings 12:16).

    I will love for Bola to be our next President. But I am afraid a Moslem-Moslem ticket will be “Dead on Arrival”. And the arrival date according to INEC’s election time table is 25th February, 2023. This ticket will drag down the whole APC members to the pit. We all should reject it.

    Engr. Babachir Lawal

  • 2023: Tinubu’s presidency will bring good omen – Babachir Lawal

    2023: Tinubu’s presidency will bring good omen – Babachir Lawal

    A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal, has said that the entrance of a former Lagos State Governor, Sen. Bola Tinubu, into the 2023 presidential race will “bring light at the end of the tunnel“.

    He said this on Monday in Abuja at a conference convened by the Support Groups Management Council (SGMC) of Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) to harmonise strategies and drum support for the actualisation of Tinubu’s presidential ambition in 2023.

    Lawal, who was the chair of the conference, said Tinubu was not only adequately prepared to be Nigeria’s next president, but would also emerge victorious regardless of the mode of primaries adopted by the APC to pick its candidate for the polls.

    He said delivering Tinubu as APC’s flag bearer for the 2023 presidential poll should be seen as a task for all the party’s members.

    “And this we will do, be it through consensus, indirect or direct party primaries, by the grace of God.

    “We are neither offended nor threatened by whichever method the party chooses to adopt for the emergence of its presidential candidate.

    “But of course, being democrats, we prefer a method that involves all the card-carrying members of the party in this process.

    “Our task, beginning from today, is to develop a smart strategic plan that we will faithfully execute to deliver Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu as APC candidate and thereafter deliver him as the landslide winner of the 2023 presidential election,” he said.

    The former SGF said Tinubu had no equal in terms of suitability.

    Lawal, while describing Tinubu as brilliant, tested and detribalised, said he was a proven excellent manager of both financial and human capital.

    “Above all, he loves Nigeria and has a clear vision of where the country should be and he knows how to take her there.

    “Let us work tirelessly, faithfully and earnestly give our country, Nigeria a bright and an economically prosperous future where people of every tribe and religion will feel free, safe, secured and loved.

    He expressed optimism that Tinubu would lead the country to a brighter future if he became president, adding that the APC would be the platform as the preferred option.

    Also speaking at the event, a former Governor of Borno, Kashim Shettima, asked President Buhari and the APC to see the presidential ambition of Tinubu as pay back time for what he did for the party in 2015.

    Shettima recalled that it was Tinubu that ensured the emergence of Buhari as APC presidential candidate that year.

    “In 2015, some aspirants with a very huge war chest were itching to cling to the ticket of the APC and like the Rock of Gibraltar, Asiwaju and his progressive team stood solidly behind the candidacy of Buhari,” he said.

    Shettima, who represents Borno Central in the Senate, however, said that power should shift to the South in 2023 for equity, justice, as well as fairness.

    He said that Tinubu should be given the choice of first refusal because he had sacrificed more for the APC.

    While dismissing what he described as mischievous fixation on Tinubu’s age and the conclusions that he was physically unsuitable for the office of the president, Shettima said the presidency was not an Olympic Games.

    “We are not here to prepare for the Olympics, but an institution that relies on the superiority of ideas to thrive,” he said.

    He said that Tinubu was a tested, accomplished and large hearted political leader who had invested his resources in building an extensive network of political mentees.

    This, he said, included Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing; Rauf Aregbeshola, Minister of Interior; Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture and Gov. Fayemi Kayode of Ekiti, amongst others.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference was attended by delegates of BAT Support Groups from across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

  • JUST IN: IGP orders immediate withdrawal of policemen attached to Babachir Lawal, Fani-Kayode, Afikuyomi, Christ Embassy, 46 other VIPs, organisations

    JUST IN: IGP orders immediate withdrawal of policemen attached to Babachir Lawal, Fani-Kayode, Afikuyomi, Christ Embassy, 46 other VIPs, organisations

    The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, has again directed that all policemen attached as personal security to notable personalities and organizations, be withdrawn with immediate effect.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the IGP had on October 21, 2020 in a wireless message, ordered that all policemen serving such purposes be recalled as part of efforts to reorganise and boost internal security nationwide.

    Those exempted from the order were those attached to Government Houses, the Senate President and the Speaker House of Representatives.

    However, despite the order then, it appeared policemen went on protecting those they were not authorised to.

    A letter with reference number CB: 4001/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL.116/32 dated November 4, 2020 and addressed to Commissioners of Police across the country, Police Mobile Force and the Special Protection Unit, listed names and organisations, whose police security should be withdrawn.

    According to the letter endorsed by the Principal Staff Officer to the IGP, DCP Idowu Owohunwa the withdrawal was with immediate effect.

    Some of the names mentioned include Emeka Offor, Femi Fani-Kayode, Amen Rochas, Magnus Abe, Babachir Lawal, Lado Yakubu, Yuguda Bashir, Uche Chukwu, Boroface Ajayi, Mutiu Nicholas, Tokunbo Afikuyomi, Edozie Madu, David Adesanya and Chris Giwa, among others.

    Organizations mentioned include Christ Embassy, Oriental Energy Resources, ECWA Academy, and Sunti Golden Sugar Estate, among others.

    The letter partly reads, “The attention of the IGP has been drawn to the fact that the police personnel attached to the corporate bodies and personalities are yet to be withdrawn despite extant directives to that effect.

    “In line with the subsisting order, the IG directs that you withdraw all the PMF, SPU, CTU, or conventional police operations attached to the affected companies or individuals in any of their locations across the country with immediate effect.”

    The IGP directed the senior officers in receipt not the memo, to submit a report confirming compliance not later than November 10, 2020.

  • Alleged N544m fraud: Court fixes May 23 for ex- SGF, others trial

    Alleged N544m fraud: Court fixes May 23 for ex- SGF, others trial

    An FCT High Court in Maitama, on Thursday fixed May 23 for the commencement of trial of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal and three others, over alleged N544 fraud.

    The former SGF was arraigned on Feb. 12 alongside Hamidu Lawal, a director in his company, Sulaiman Abubakar, staff in the company and Apeh Monday, managing director Josmon Technologies Limited

    Also joined are two companies, Rholavision Engineering Limited and Josmon Technologies Limited.

    The case before Justice Jude Okeke, was fixed for May 23 ,at the instance of the court with the consensus of all the counsel in the matter.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN ) reports that Lawal, was not in court but other defendants in the matter were,

    The defendants were dragged to court by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)on a 10-count charge bordering on conspiracy and unlawful award of contract to companies Lawal has interest at the sum of N544 million.

    Lawal was accused of benefiting illegally from the approval of N544,119,925.36 for the removal of invasive plant species and simplified irrigation.

    The EFCC alleged that Babachir Lawal being the SGF and Hamidu Lawal, director of Rholavision Engineering Limited and Abubakar, staff about March 7, 2016 at Abuja conspired to commit the offences.

    EFCC said the defendants fraudulently acquired a property, contrary to Section 26 (1) (c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

    It also alleged that Babachir Lawal knowingly held indirectly a private interest in the consultancy contract awarded to Rholavision Engineering Limited for the removal of invasive plant species and simplified irrigation to the tune of N7 million and N6.4 million.

    EFCC claimed that it was done through the Presidential Initiative for North East (PINE).

    It further alleged that on March 4, and Aug. 22, 2016 contract for removing evasive grass worth N272.5 million and N258.1 million respectively were awarded to Josmon technologies but executed by Rholavision.

    The offences are contrary to Section 12 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

    They all pleaded not guilty to the allegations against them.

  • No law says Osinbajo must succeed Buhari in 2023 — Babachir

    Babachir Lawal, a former secretary to the Nigerian government, has asked Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo not to expect preferential treatment on the question of who will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

    Lawal, a long-time associate of Mr Buhari, said the APC did not promise Mr Osinbajo its ticket for 2019, and no law compels the party to favour the vice-president.

    “It is not in the constitution, so it is not a principle,” Mr Lawal said while rejecting the zoning formula in an interview The Sun published Saturday. “Principle of what? It is not in APC constitution, it is not in the national constitution, it is not in the Bible, I don’t know whether it is in the Koran; I don’t know. So, I don’t see how it became a principle.”

    Mr Lawal said he was not opposed to southerners vying for the office, but neither should any interested northerner be disqualified as a consequence.

    “Being a cosmopolitan man, I know Igbos not less than 10 that can successfully run this country.

    “I know Yorubas that can do, I know Ijaws that can do, I know Hausas that can do, I know even Kilba.

    “Hey myself, my friend, I can be president of this country. I consider myself quite competent to do so from a small tribe of 300,000 people,” Mr Lawal told The Sun.

    Mr Lawal, a Christian from Adamawa, was the government secretary from 2015 until October 2017 when he was fired after a government investigation found him culpable of fraudulent diversion of funds earmarked for internally-displaced victims of Boko Haram.

    Although he was later charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the allegations, he has remained politically associated with the president since his dismissal.

    He has also remained a member of the APC, and played official roles as a top strategist in the party’s presidential campaign.

  • Alleged N544m fraud: Court grants former SGF Babachir Lawal, three others bail

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday granted bail to the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.

    Lawal and others are facing charges of corruption. The ex-government secretary was indicted for allegedly using his companies to get contracts worth millions of naira in the North-east without executing the contracts.

    He was removed from office after he was indicted by a Senate committee which investigated the management of funds meant to assist the Boko-Haram ravaged North-east.

    Since his removal in 2017 by President Muhammadu Buhari, many Nigerians have called for his prosecution.

    Lawal has since his exit been a major campaigner for Mr Buhari’s re-election in his home Adamawa State.

    Ruling on the bail application on Wednesday, the judge, Jude Okeke, said the crime for which the defendant is charged “is bailable.”

    As part of the bail conditions, the judge ordered that the defendants pay N50 million each with one surety in like sum.

    “The sureties must be residents of the FCT and must own landed property.

    “The sureties must also provide evidence of tax paid in the last three years.

    “Pending compliance to the aforementioned conditions, the applicants are to remain in the EFCC custody,” Mr Okeke added.

    The court further noted that each of the defendants is to deposit his international passport with the court pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.

    Okeke adjourned to March 18 for the commencement of trial.

    The EFCC had filed charges against Mr Lawal and Hamidu David, Suleiman Abubakar, Apeh John and two companies Rholavision engineering Ltd and Josmon Technologies Ltd.