TheNewsGuru

Tag: Governors

  • 2019: APC Governors keep sealed lips after meeting with Buhari

    Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, declined comments on the outcome of the meeting.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the governors kept sealed lips as they came out of the Council Chamber where they met with the President for over an hour.

    However, one of the governors was caught saying that they were directed not to speak with journalists over issues discussed at the meeting.

    The meeting could not reach consensus on some of the issues discussed including the challenges facing the APC national executives over tenure elongation.

    The governors, who appeared divided over the issue of tenure elongation for the APC national executives, had met briefly among themselves before the arrival of President Buhari for the meeting.

    Recall that President Buhari had at the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on March 27, said the tenure elongation of the party’s executives was illegal and unconstitutional.

    The APC National Chairman, Mr John Odigie-Oyegun had earlier on Tuesday (Tuesday) inaugurated a committee to advise the party on the way forward following President Buhari´s recent opposition to the tenure extension.

    The NEC had extended by a year, the tenure of Odigie-Oyegun-led executives and others across all levels of the party starting from June.

    The president said the decision was unconstitutional and already causing acrimony within the party.

    He said: “In particular, I think it is important for me to speak quickly on the contentious issue of the tenure of our National and State Executive Officers.

    “As we all know, a motion was moved at the last National Executive Committee meeting of February 27, 2018, to the effect that when the tenure of the current executives expire in June this year, they should be allowed to continue for one year.

    “This motion was duly carried by a majority of members present at the last NEC meeting, even though some of our party members have since spoken up very vehemently against it. Others have even taken the matter to court.

    “On my own part, I have taken some time to review and seek advice on the resolution. And what I found is that it contravenes both our party Constitution and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’’

    TheNewsGuru.com gathers that the meeting between the APC governors and the President would be reconvened next week at the same venue.

    Governors at the meeting include Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Jubrilla Bindow (Adamawa), Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Abdufatah Ahmed (Kwara).

    Also in attendance are Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Tanko Al- Makura (Nasarawa), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Abubakar Bello (Niger).

    The rest include Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun).

    Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari and Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe were absent at the meeting while Gov. Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi State was represented by his deputy.

     

  • 2019: APC Governors meet Buhari in Abuja today

    Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are billed to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari in their bid to pressure the president to seek re-election in 2019.

    The meeting which has been fixed for 2.p.m, may also deliberate on some national and party issues including the President’s disapproval of tenure elongation for APC national executives.

    Recall that the governors had on Feb. 22 met behind closed doors, after which the President pledged to address the nation on whether he will seek re-election in 2019.

    The Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, who spoke to State House correspondents on the outcome of the February meeting, said the president was to address the caucus of the APC on the matter.

    “We discussed so many issues that affect the nation, our party and Mr President’s ambition to run for 2019 elections.

    “Anyhow, Mr President in his usual manner has requested that we give him time and that he will address the nation and the caucus of the party very soon.

    “So we should be full of expectations that Mr President will make officially known to Nigerians his intentions.

    “But we hope that his response will be in line with what the governors are thinking,’’ Okorocha said after the February meeting.

  • VAIDS: Governors, others mount pressure on Buhari to extend deadline as amnesty ends today

    As the tax amnesty under the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) ends on Saturday (today), some private sector players are said to be lobbying President Muhammadu Buhari to extend the amnesty period.

    An official at the Presidency, who craved for anonymity confided in newsmen on Friday that governors and company owners had called the President and Vice President to push for the extension of the programme.

    “We are expecting Mr President to make an announcement on the tax amnesty deadline by this weekend.

    “To be frank and honest, nobody knows whether the President will decide to extend it or not, but there has been calls by state governors and key private sector players calling for the extension.

    “However, it still remains unclear if the President will take the recommendation to extend it by another three months, since he had been advised otherwise by the Minister of Finance and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) chairman,’’ the source said.

    Meanwhile, the Adamawa state Commissioner for Finance, Mr Mahmoud Yunusa said that many of the states were in support of extending the tax amnesty past the March 31 deadline.

    “It should be extended because people are just beginning to buy into the programme. We see people coming up willingly to declare their assets and it shouldn’t end soon.

    “Nigerians deserve more time and I believe that some of them are still collating their assets to know their worth before doing so.

    “Also, some haven’t declared because they operate businesses without any formal documentation, so it will take time before they get their books in order.

    “So it’s my opinion that extending it for another six months would ensure better success,’’ he said.

     

  • Governors to connect South East states with 430km ring road

    The South East Governors have undertaken to construct a ring road that will cover a total area of four hundred and thirty kilometers.

    Addressing journalists at the end of one day meeting of the Governors in Enugu, chairman of the forum and governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, said the ring road would connect all the states of the South East with a view to promoting economic development of the south easts states and for ease of transportation system in the region.

    Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, his counterpart in Ebonyi and Abia States, Dave Umahi and Okezie Ikpeazu were present at the meeting while Imo State Governor, Rocha’s Okorocha was represented by his deputy Prince Eze Madumere.

    Umahia further hinted that they took presentation for gas Pipelines in the South East and advised the consultants to follow up details of implementation especially as it relates to right of way.

    The Ebonyi State governor further told newsmen that the meeting which lasted for several hours commended presentation on Aba Independent Power Project by Prof. Bart Nnaji and asked him to liaise with the Secretariat for further implementation with the presidency.

    According to him, the forum directed the five South East States Chairmen of traditional Rulers Council to be invited for amicable resolution of their crisis in their next meeting .

    On the burial of the former Vice President of the country, Dr Alex Ekwueme, Umahi said they expressed deep appreciation to the governors and people of the South East for the able way they worked together to give the icon a befitting burial.

    “ the south East Governors Forum at its meeting discussed extensively on possible strategies to economic development of the south East and at the end of the meeting resolved as follows

    “: to undertake the construction of ring road covering a total area of 430kms, that would connect all the states of the south east , to promote economic development of the south east States and for ease of transportation system in the region” he said.

     

  • Resign if you can’t pay salaries, TUC slams debtor governors

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on Saturday advised state governors who could not address workers’ problems to resign.

    The TUC President, Mr Bobboi Kaigama, said in Lagos that workers could no longer vouch for state governments that non-payment of salaries was as a result of lack of funds.

    He said that the non-payment could be due to corruption.

    Kaigama made the TUC’s views known while addressing journalists after the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

    He said that it was only the Lagos State Government that had been regularly paying workers’ salaries and allowances.

    “All the other states have one issue or the other in terms of salaries or benefits of their workers.

    “ You will discover that it is 13 months’ arrears of gratuities or pensions that have not been paid.

    “In some cases, it is the contributory pension deductions that have not been remitted or promotions arrears and death benefits not been paid,” he said.

    He advocated a return to regional government, saying that state governments were failing in their responsibilities.

    “The trust we have in state government has eroded.

    “If it is for the purposes of payment of salaries and infrastructure development such as provision of health facilities, roads, rail transportation and others, we are better off with regional government,’’ Kaigama said,’’ he said.

    The union leader noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved bailout funds and budget support funding to enable states to settle workers’ salaries, to no avail.

    Kaigama said that accountability in Nigeria was weak, and called for the strengthening of anti-graft agencies.

    On national minimum wage, Kaigama said that state governments should be determined to pay the wage when approved.

    He also called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the power sector due to its deteriorating condition.

    ”No nation can develop without power,” he said.

    The labour leader urged the government to arrest and prosecute killers of innocent Nigerians in the guise of herdsmen and militia in different parts of the country.

  • Killings: Buhari must ban governors’ daily loyalty visits to Aso Rock – Shehu Sani

    Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani on Saturday condemned some state governors for embarking on loyalty visits to President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock at the expense of the security of lives and properties of residents in their respective states.

    The outspoken lawmaker therefore urged President Buhari to henceforth ban the governors from embarking on such visits.

    Sani made this known in a statement on Saturday.

    His comments came as some state governors are being criticised for visiting Aso Villa even in the midst of violent crisis rocking their states.

    Recall that some some APC governors also on Friday stormed the Daura home of President Buhari on a ‘solidarity visit’.

    Sani said the new ‘political culture’ of governors visiting the villa, while their states are in crisis, is political and should be banned.

    “The new sycophantic political culture of Governors leaving their duty posts, in their respective states, almost on a daily basis to climb the Rock of Aso in order to pledge loyalty, leave their citizens in the hands of moribund and powerless deputy governors and at the mercy of well-armed killers.

    “President Buhari must ban state Governors from the daily ritual of visiting the villa while their homes burn,” he said.

    Sani also lashed at northern leaders for their ‘cowardice’ in the face of the crisis.

    “The silence and cowardice of the Northern political elites to the mass killings going on in the North is out of fear that they can be labelled or blackmailed as being anti Government,” he said.

    He bemoaned the current security situation in the country, ”where lives are no longer cherished.”

    “We have become a nation in perpetual mourning and ceaseless funeral mass. In Nigeria today, blood is becoming cheaper than water and petrol. The most tragic of all tragedies is when tragedy becomes a routine in our daily lives.”

  • APC governors storm Daura for meeting with Buhari

    Governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have arrived President Muhammadu Buhari’s hometown of Daura, Katsina State.

    According to speculations making the rounds in the media, Buhari is likely to inform the governors of his intention to seek reelection or not in 2019.

    Buhari had arrived Daura yesterday after inaugurating a project in Kaduna state.

  • Herdsmen/farmers clashes: Governors, not I have powers to create cattle colonies – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday denied reports that the Federal Government has concluded plans to create cattle colony across the nation.

    The president insisted that governors and not him have the powers to give lands for grazing reserves.

    Buhari spoke at the South-South interactive meeting of Buhari Support Group in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. He said the Office of the President under the 1978 Land Use Act has no control of lands in states, except in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

    Represented by his Special Adviser in National Assembly Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, Buhari noted only state lawmakers can create reserve through legislation after assent by governors.

    Enang said: “There is no law in Nigeria now before the President to sign to create grazing reserve because he does not have land to give.

    “Therefore, the President does not, cannot and will not give land to any herdsmen for grazing reserve because he is not the governor of the state.”

    He explained: “When Nigeria was one entity, there were cattle routes, which ran from Lake Chad Republic to the Atlantic Ocean.

    “When she became three regions, there were cattle routes in each of the regions. When it became a state, each of the states made laws as to how to graze animals.

    “When it became a problem in 1978 under Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State in March 28, the Land Use Act was made.

    “Under the Land Use Act, the President of Nigeria has control of land in Abuja only. Under the Act, each state governor by sections 1(2) of the Act said that lands in each of the state of the federation in the covered area shall be vested in the governor of that state.”

    He added: “Furthermore sub-section 1 (2) (b), said lands in the rural areas shall be vested in the Local Government Chairman of that local government.

    “Then in section 6, the Act stated that it shall be within the competence of the Local Government Chairman to give land for agricultural purposes including grazing purposes and sub-section 51 defined grazing purposes to be the purposes of planting grasses for animals.

    “Going by this, the President of Nigeria is not in any way planning to give land to Fulani herdsmen anywhere in Nigeria, because by the provision of the Land Use Act, the President controls no land in the country, except in Abuja.”

    He assured the lingering East West road project would be completed before the end of the year to give way for kick off of the other phases of the project.

     

  • Herdsmen, farmers crisis: Osinbajo, governors, security chiefs meet in Abuja

    Herdsmen, farmers crisis: Osinbajo, governors, security chiefs meet in Abuja

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday met with seven state governors to discuss finding long lasting solutions to the recurring herdsmen/farmers clashes in the country.

    Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, chairman if the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari said the meeting is a fallout of a committee put in place by the National Economic Council, NEC, during its last meeting.

    The Thursday meeting was held inside the conference hall of the vice president at Aso Rock villa, Abuja.

    “This committee is a NEC committee established by the Vice President so that this issue of herdsmen/farmers clashes will be put to rest,” Mr. Yari said.

    Mr. Yari said the farmers/ herders issue is a long standing problem in some states such as Zamfara since 2007.

    He said most governors “have been battling with it.”

    “Now the states and federal government under the leadership of the Vice President, agreed to have a small committee at NEC so that the situation will not get out of hand, so that it won’t be looked at as an ethnicity crisis or religious crisis,” he said.

    Mr. Yari told reporters that Thursday’s meeting set up a subcommittee headed by governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, while Plateau and Adamawa governors are members.

    He also said ”more persons will be brought to join the committee from other hotspot states – Benue, Taraba, Adamawa and Zamfara, where there is crisis so that they can interface with the Miyetti Allah and other groups to see how we can reduce this to the barest minimum.”

    Speaking further, Mr. Yari said he cannot say if the problem would be solved immediately because “some of them have taken this as a money-making venture, some are criminals who hide under this to perpetrate this act.

    “As government we have to take all the measures despite the fact that the Army, Police, all the security agents are on the field at the respective places, yet, we have to form this committee to interface with those actors so that this matter can be reduced to the barest minimum and possibly wiped off,” he added.

     

  • Farmers/herdsmen clashes: Osinbajo, nine governors form committee to tackle menace

    As part of deliberate attempts to end the farmers/herdsmen incessant clashes that have cost several lose of lives and properties across the country, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and nine state governors have constituted a committee with the mandate to end the killings.

    The Vice President is chairman of the committee.

    This was one of the decisions reached at a meeting of the National Economic Council held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday.

    The Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting presided over Osinbajo.

    Ganduje named members of the committee to include governors of Kaduna, Zamfara, Taraba, Benue, Adamawa, Edo, Plateau, Oyo, and Ebonyi states.

    The governor said the committee would collaborate with the Federal Government in addressing impunity regarding killings and violence.

     

    Details later…