TheNewsGuru

Tag: DG

  • Photos: Suspended NIA DG, Ayo Oke denied access to VP’s office

    Photos: Suspended NIA DG, Ayo Oke denied access to VP’s office

    Shortly after announcing his suspension from office as the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), by President Muhammadu Buhari, Amb. Ayo Oke was pictured trying to get through to the Vice President’s office but was denied entry by security operatives.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that this was after the just suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Engr. Babachir Lawal also met with the Vice President in his office.

    Oke, who noticed the presence of State House correspondents, however turned back and attempted to pass through Vice President’s exit gate.

    He was prevented from going out through that point by security officials; the security also stopped the DG from passing through the service chief’s gate.

    The NIA boss later left the Presidential Villa without seeing the Vice-President.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Buhari on Wednesday ordered the immediate suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr David Lawal and the Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Amb. Ayo Oke, pending the outcome of investigation of allegations levelled against them.

    Media and Publicity Special Adviser, Mr Femi Adesina, said the president ordered an investigation into the allegations of violations of law and due process made against the SGF, Mr David Lawal, in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE).

    The President also ordered a full-scale investigation into the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, over which the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has made a claim.

    Photos: Suspended NIA DG, Ayo Oke denied access to VP's office

    “The investigation is also to enquire into the circumstances in which the NIA came into possession of the funds, how and by whose or which authority the funds were made available to the NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds.

    “The President has also directed the suspension of the Director General of the NIA, Ambassador Ayo Oke, pending the outcome of the investigation,’’ the statement added.

  • We will implement import duties payment soon – Customs CG

     

    The Controller-General of the Nigerian Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd) has said Customs will implement the recently suspended import duties payment after consulting widely with relevant stakeholders in the industry.

    Ali said in an interview in Abuja on Friday that the policy is not all about the revenue it will generate for government, but also for security reasons

    ”We want to ensure that we capture virtually all vehicles and tie vehicles to ownership because of the criminal nature of things happening in this country.

    “Somebody can pick your car and go and commit armed robbery or another offence because we do not have the data, we cannot trace the car to the owner. But if every car is tied to the owner, it would make crime detection easier.

    “I can tell you today that there are cars on our streets that have not been registered and there are people with different number plates in their houses. They just attach the number plate on any car they decide to drive and zoom off. This is simply not right.

    “For those of us who have lived in the United States of America, your plate number is your identity. Once they compute your plate number, everything about you will be reflected there. That is the position we want to be in this country.

    “We are consulting and we want to get to that level. We just create the level that capturing the data will be easier for us. The issue of verification is necessary because of the security situation in the country.

    “Also, there is the revenue aspect. You will not deny that we need all the legal money that we need in this country today. It is going to be tasking on us all, but the payment of dues in some country is necessary.

    “We need to understand that some countries survive on tax. It is only in Nigeria that we shy away from paying our dues and people question why they should pay.”

    He further explained that in enforcing the policy, “the Customs will not be as hard as people think.

    “We are human beings. In fact, when the policy came up, I had to go back and look at my own cars to make sure that I am not driving a car that has the wrong papers, while I am expected to enforce the same law on violators.

    “This is what we want people in Nigeria to begin to understand. Yes, we regret the hardship, but honestly, for us to be able to move forward in terms of our security, we must grow a level higher in this country. We cannot attain any level without hardship.

    “It may tamper with our ways of doing things, but in the long run, we shall all be better for it. So for now, you know we have suspended the policy.

    “We are asking for feedback, we will look at the policy and refine it and then we see how best we can apply it without causing hardship to Nigerians. So we have not put a date to it yet. We are still consulting. When we do, we will let Nigerians know.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Senate recently issued an instruction to the Customs boss to stop the implementation of import duties payment till further notice.

    This caused a huge controversy between the Senate and the customs boss who insisted on going on with the implementation.

    He however suspended the policy after intense consultations and debate in the Senate.

  • NYSC to establish skills acquisition centres nationwide – DG

    NYSC to establish skills acquisition centres nationwide – DG

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says it will soon establish skills acquisition centres in the six geo-political zones to train corps members in various trades.

    “The idea behind the establishment of the centres is to give all corps members the training to become self-reliant after their service year,” NYSC Director General, Brig.- Gen. Suleiman Kazure said.

    He told the 5,000 corps members deployed to Katsina State on Saturday in Katsina that the skills acquisition centres would be established with the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Industry.

    Kazaure urged the corps members to concentrate and learn the necessary skills during training on entrepreneurship and skills acquisition.

    “The NYSC wants you to start your own businesses or trades immediately after service year instead of waiting for the jobs that will take years to get.

    “We don’t want our ex-corps members to be roaming the streets of Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos, Enugu and Port Harcourt looking for white collar jobs.

    “The truth of the matter is that the white collar jobs are in short supply and only lucky ones among you will get the jobs,” he said.

    The Director General called on the corps members not to be arrogant while undergoing training, as it would offer them opportunities to become millionaires in their chosen trades.

    Kazaure warned them against embarking on unnecessary journeys, as anyone found would be sanctioned according to the rules of the NYSC.

    He appealed to them to respect the culture and tradition of the people of the state, assuring them that Katsina State is one of the most peaceful states in the country.

     

     

  • We’ll adopt organic budget law in 2018, says DG, Budget Office

    The Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze, has said the Federal Government has concluded plans to adopt the organic budget law in 2018 to speed up its implementation.

    Akabueze made this known during a monthly Lunch Time Reform Seminar on Thursday in Abuja with the theme; “Development in the Nigeria Budgeting System’’.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that an organic budget law is an act specifying the schedule and procedures by which the budget should be prepared, approved, executed, accounted for, and final accounts submitted for approval.

    He said that the process would specify a calendar that would bind the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the National Assembly to perform adequately as it related to budget implementation.

    “There is an organic budget law in process which will specify a calendar. That calendar will bind the president to present the budget to the National Assembly by a particular day.

    “It will also bind the National Assembly to approve that budget by a particular day and the president to sign and allow sufficient time for the National Assembly to be able to override the presidential approval.

    “And the whole goal is that by the Jan. 1, 2018, we should have that budget. We are working with the budget reforms committee of the National Assembly.

    “We have also agreed that it is a necessity, so we are all committed to do this.’’

    Akabueze explained that a more stringent evaluation had been put in place to monitor the amount of resources available for Ministries, Department and Agencies of government (MDAs).

    He said this would help to reduce the gap between what was budgeted for and what the people received at the end of the year.

    According to him, a greater use of technology is involved in the preparation of the 2017 budget and as such has made it possibly to standardise items of procurement.

    “ This is another form of reforms, it is a continuous process and we hope that year after years, there will be improvement that we can report on.

    “If ultimately, the budget implementation is improved, it will be for the benefit of all as we said earlier that the budget is not just the collection of numbers.

    “It is a tool for delivering in government socio- economic growth and that is for the citizens.

    On his part, Dr Joe Abah, Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms said that the seminar was timely as it would afford the opportunity for the public to be abreast of the country’s budgetary control.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Abah said that the country was beginning to have standard prices for things to reduce excesses in governance.

    “The objective of this seminar is to bring people driving reforms to come and face the public and the people who are supposed to implement the reforms so that they can ask difficult questions.

    “And to get to move on some things, we have been complaining that the budget implementation for 2016 has not been available and through this seminar, we have heard that it will be available tomorrow.

    “This is one of the key achievements that it provides. More and more, we are having standard prices for things.

    “The more we get standard cost for vehicles and stationeries, the less the discrepancies will be.’’

  • NAFDAC secure conviction of 8 drug offenders in 11 months- DG

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has secured no fewer than eight convictions of drug offenders from February, this year, to-date.

    The acting Director-General of the agency, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, disclosed this in Sokoto on Wednesday.

    Oni also stated that 52 other drugs suspects were being prosecuted in various law courts across the country.

    She asserted that the Federal Ministry of Justice was taking the right steps to ensure the speedy prosecution of the suspects.

    Oni appealed for more funds to make the agency more effective and efficient, saying that their staffs were vibrant, robust and productive.

    According to the NAFDAC boss:“We need more funds to provide more vehicles and equipment for our laboratories and other needed logistics”.

    “The Nigerian drugs manufacturing processes should be improved and encouraged to produce quality products, to reduce importation.

    “Nigeria should be a producing nation, rather than being a heavily consuming nation.”

    Oni further urged Nigerians to key into the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, hence we need to always learn do the right things.

    She lamented that drug abuse has become a common and very serious public health issue, especially among the youth.

    Gov. Aminu Tambuwal, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Bashir Garba, stated that the state government had set up a high-powered, inter-agency task force to curb the menace of illicit drugs and other unwholesome substances.

    “Drug abuse has now regrettably extended even to matrimonial homes, with some couples being drug abusers.

    “The state government will support the agency and its sister agencies, to curb the menace.

    “Gov. Tambuwal is equally concerned with the menace and is determined to do everything humanly possible to counter it,” he said.

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, represented by the District Head of Hamma’ali, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, commended the agency for organizing the event.

    Abubakar pledged the support of the Sultanate Council to ensure that the menace was eradicated or drastically reduced.

     

  • Mahler, WHO third Director-General, dies at 93

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday expressed sadness over the death of Dr Halfdan Mahler, its Director-General, between 1973 and 1988, who died on Wednesday at the age of 93.

    The world health body said in a statement that Mahler would be missed for his contributions toward the development of primary healthcare services.

    “WHO is saddened by the death of Dr Halfdan T. Mahler as the WHO’s third Director-General.

    “Mahler will be remembered as a champion for primary healthcare.

    “He played a key leadership role shaping the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration that defined the Health for All by the Year 2000 strategy.

    “Under his leadership, WHO and UNICEF jointly produced the report “Alternative Approaches to Meeting Basic Health Needs in Developing Countries’’, which examined the success of primary healthcare in various countries,” it said.

    The body said that Mahler began his career at WHO in 1951 as senior officer for the National Tuberculosis Programme in India.

    Mahler also served the organisation as the Chief, Tuberculosis Unit in Geneva; Director, Project Systems Analysis and as the Assistant Director-General.

    After his retirement from WHO in 1988, Mahler directed the International Planned Parenthood Federation until 1995.