TheNewsGuru

Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • Breaking: Buhari jets off to N’Djamena

    President Muhammadu Buhari departed Abuja on Thursday morning for N’Djamena, Chad to chair a consultation of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) to review the security situation in the region, and intensify efforts to end the insurgency.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports President Buhari convened the meeting in his capacity as Chairman of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the LCBC.

    He announced the consultative meeting while in Maiduguri during the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference, which was originally scheduled to hold in Benin, Edo State.

    “In my capacity as Chairman of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), I am convening a consultation of Heads of State and Government of the LCBC, for November 29, 2018, in N’Djamena, Chad.

    “The objective of the one-day meeting is to review the security situation in areas affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, as well as adopt measures to enhance the capacity of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to secure the region.

    “I have invited the presidents of the LCBC member countries: Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and the Central African Republic, to attend the meeting. Also invited is the President of the Republic of Benin, which also contributes troops to the MNJTF,” Buhari announced.

     

  • Breaking: Buhari consults LCBC over killing of soldiers

    President Muhammadu Buhari has convened a consultation meeting with Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), following killing of over 100 soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports President Buhari made this known while in Maiduguri for the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference, which was originally scheduled to hold in Benin, Edo State.

    “In my capacity as Chairman of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), I am convening a consultation of Heads of State and Government of the LCBC, for November 29, 2018, in N’Djamena, Chad.

    “The objective of the one-day meeting is to review the security situation in areas affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, as well as adopt measures to enhance the capacity of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to secure the region.

    “I have invited the presidents of the LCBC member countries: Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and the Central African Republic, to attend the meeting. Also invited is the President of the Republic of Benin, which also contributes troops to the MNJTF,” Buhari announced.

     

  • Breaking: Buhari reduces UTME, NECO, SSCE forms cost

    Breaking: Buhari reduces UTME, NECO, SSCE forms cost

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved reduction in the cost of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) form.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports President Buhari also approved reduction in the cost of National Examinations Council (NECO), Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and Basic Education Certificate Examination forms.

    Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu made this known while briefing the federal executive council, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday.

    He said the President directed the Ministry to look into the reduction following significant improvement in revenues being remitted to the treasury by the education agencies.

    The exam agencies are not meant to be revenue generating bodies, they’re only supposed to cover costs/operating expenses.

    The sharp increase in remittances by JAMB, from less than N60m in 2010–2016 to over N15 billion in 2017/18, has shown that the fees being charged could be reduced.

    With effect from January 2019 the cost of JAMB UTME form will drop from N5,000 to N3,500, while NECO will drop from N11,350, to N9,850.

     

  • Breaking: Buhari arrives Maiduguri amidst tight security

    President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived Maiduguri, where he is expected to declare open the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference, which was originally scheduled to hold in Benin, Edo State.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Buhari arrived at the Maiduguri International Airport, even as security has been beefed up in Maiduguri and its environs.

    This is the first time President Buhari will be gracing the COAS annual conference since assuming office in 2015.

    The COAS conference is used to review army’s activities, including operations and exercises with a view to improve on them.

    Buhari is expected to use the occasion to address troops on the frontline in the North East and assured the poeple of the region of his administration determination to prosecute and counter insurgency to a logical conclusion.

    The visit is being interpreted as meal booster for officers and soldiers in the aftermath of killing of over 100 soldiers at Metele in Northern Borno by Boko Haram terrorists.

     

  • PH to Maiduguri railway cost is one year budget of Nigeria, Amaechi tells Senate c’ttee

    Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has denied alleged the exclusion of Eastern rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri in the ongoing nationwide rail construction and modernisation.

    He made the denial when he appeared before the Senate Joint Committee on Land Transport, and Local and Foreign Debts, chaired by Sen. Gbenga Ashafa.

    Amaechi said contrary to the claim of exclusion, there was only delay in the execution of the project.

    He said the delay was due to bureaucratic bottlenecks caused by the Public Procurement Act.

    According to him, the Public Procurement Act is very tedious, stressing “it takes a long time to conclude the process”.

    Amaechi added that railway project was capital intensive, noting that the Federal Government did not have sufficient fund to implement the project across the country at the same time.

    He explained that following the paucity of funds, government decided to adopt a systematic approach in the project execution.

    He further explained that the government could only apply funds to projects as loans were approved.

    “The president insists on rule of law and the law passed by the National Assembly in terms of public procurement is very tedious and not easy to conclude; it takes a very long time.

    “We have met with the consortium handling the project for nearly two years.

    “Secondly, in that meeting we had in 2017, I reassured our people that they are not more Igbo than I am.

    “Let me make it clear, the country does not have the resources to do railway in every village. It is not possible. 2.7 billion dollars is one trillion Naira.

    “So, for the railway you want to do from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is about 12 billion dollars and that is one year budget of Nigeria.

    “Therefore, everything is done systematically. We cannot do all the projects at the same time.

    “What we are doing is as we get the loan approved, we execute the project. Currently, we are following due process for the one of South-East.”

    He also said:“Currently, we have placed an advertisement on the Eastern Rail lines.

    “Sometime in 2017, we placed an advertisement for rail from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri and that is what the law expects us to do. We cannot skip the law on construction of standard gauge.

    “Again, even the narrow gauge construction does not only concern the the South East.

    “The same narrow gauge trasverses Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.

    “I do not know what other thing the Senate expects from me on this project except to say that it is work in progress.”

    On the insinuation that General Electric (GE) had pulled out of the project, Amaechi explained that the company handed over the contract to another company because it was no longer in the transport business.

    “It (GE) handed over the job to another sister company in the consortium which is Trans-net.

    “We are at the verge of signing the contract agreement and it is when we finish signing the consortium agreement that we will begin to look for money to execute the project.

    “The total cost of the project is 2.7 billion dollars and it is a private partnership agreement,” he said.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa, urged the minister to ensure that no section of the country was excluded from the rail project.

    The Senate had mandated its committee on Land Transport as well as Local and Foreign Debts, to summon the minister.

    The joint committee was mandated to get clarification on the alleged exclusion of Eastern rail line in the nationwide railway projects across the country, captured in the foreign loan obtained by President Muhammadu Buhari for that purpose.

    Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia) had raised a similar motion at plenary in 2017.

     

  • Edo Assemble probes delay in opening hospital inaugurated by Buhari 2yrs ago

    Edo Assemble probes delay in opening hospital inaugurated by Buhari 2yrs ago

    The Edo Assembly has constituted a seven-man committee to investigate the delay in opening of the ultra-modern Central Hospital, Benin for use, two years after President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated it.

    The ad-hoc committee has Damien Lawani, (APC-Etsako Central ) as Chairman and Ojo Aisen, (APC-Owan West), Foly Ogedengbe (APC-Owan East) and Iyoha Osaigbovo (APC-Oredo East) as members.

    Others are Sunday Osazemwinde (APC- Ovia North East), Godwin Adenomo (APC-Ovia South West) and Monday Ehighalua (PDP-Esan West).

    The constitution of the committee followed a petition by a group of Civil Society Organisations known as “Talakawa’s Parliament” to the house.

    The group, led by Mr Kola Edokpayi, on Monday protested to the house of assembly, and presented its petition over the delay, saying the hospital had been taken over by rodents.

    It noted that the hospital built by the colonial masters was demolished to pave way for the construction of the new one that had not admitted a single patient even with the modern equipment.

    The Speaker, Kabiru Adjoto, said the terms of reference of the committee included inviting the contractors involved in the supply of the hospital equipment for interrogation.

    Adojo mandated the committee to also invite any other person that could give useful information on why the hospital was not functioning.

    “The committee is expected to submit its report to the house for consideration within two weeks,” he said.

    Meanwhile, a bill for re-enactment of a law prohibiting the existence and membership of secret cults in the state has been referred to the House Committee on Rules and Business.

    It was referred to the committee for further legislative inputs ahead of its consideration and passage into law.

     

  • President Buhari cancels ‘casual leave’

    President Buhari cancels ‘casual leave’

    President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled his planned five-day “casual leave’’ as a mark of respect for victims of Boko Haram attacks across the battlefields in the Northeast zone of the country.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the President had planned to spend the casual leave at his home country, Daura, Katsina State from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.

    The president, according to NAN, had earlier cancelled his official trip to Benin City, Edo, where he was initially billed to inaugurate the Edo-Azura Power Plant and grace the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference.

    NAN reports that already the advanced teams of the president, who left Abuja for Katsina and Benin on Sunday, had been asked to return.

    NAN gathered that the cancellation of the trips would also enable the president to continue his ongoing meetings and consultations with relevant security and intelligent community aimed at addressing the nation’s security challenges.

    However, the president is expected to declare the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference, which was moved from Benin City to Maiduguri, Borno, on Nov. 28 at the Government House Conference Hall (CGH).

    President Buhari’s aide on New Media, Alhaji Bashir Ahmad, had on Sunday confirmed this development on his tweeter handle.

    He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to declare the COAS Annual Conference on Nov. 28, 2018 at the Conference Hall CGH in Maiduguri, Borno state.

    “The conference was earlier scheduled to take place from 26 -28 November 2018 in Benin, Edo state.

    NAN also gathered that the shifting of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference from Benin City to Maiduguri might not be unconnected with the killing of Nigerian soldiers at Metele, a remote village bordering Nigeria and Chad.

    NAN learnt that President Buhari would use the opportunity of the COAS conference to address the Nigerian soldiers at the battlefields to further boost their morale.

    It would be recalled that President Buhari had on Sunday presided over a meeting of security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of the ongoing efforts to engage military and intelligence community towards addressing Boko Haram insurgency.

    In a tweet in Abuja on Sunday, the President’s aide on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, said all the service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim and the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi were part of the meeting.

    “All the Service Chiefs, I-G of Police and DG of DSS were at the State House this morning. As President Buhari said (Saturday) yesterday, in the coming days, he will be engaging the Military and Intelligence Chiefs in extensive discussions on the next steps we shall be taking,’’ Ahmad said in the tweet.

    President Buhari had pledged on Saturday to ensure that the loopholes, which led to the fatalities are blocked once and for all.

    On 18 November, the Al Barnawi faction of Boko Haram attack the 157 Task Force Battalion based at Metele in northern part of Borno state, killing scores of Nigerian troops.

    The military authorities are yet to give the specific number of casualties.

    Buhari in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu in Abuja on Saturday, reiterated his administration’s commitment to the security of military personnel and other citizens.

    “No responsible Commander-in-Chief would rest on his oars or fold his hands to allow terrorists to endanger the lives of military personnel and other citizens”, Shehu quoted the president as saying.

    “Our loyal forces have proved their strength over the terrorists and we are ready to give them all the needed support, in terms of equipment and manpower, to succeed in ending the renewed threat.

    “In the coming days, I am engaging the military and Intelligence Chiefs in extensive discussions on the next steps we shall be taking.”

    The President noted that fighting terrorism had taken a global dimension, which necessitated international collaboration among states facing similar security challenges.

    He, therefore, reassured Nigerians of his continued commitment to their security and of his efforts to sustain the momentum in the previous significant successes recorded against the terrorists.

    The president, however, advised Nigerians against making a political capital out of the national tragedy, saying “members of the armed forces are one family, commonly committed to the security and safety of all Nigerians.’’

    NAN

  • Buhari appoints 3 career ambassadors

    Buhari appoints 3 career ambassadors

    President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed three career ambassadors from Delta, Benue and Yobe states.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Senate President Bukola Saraki made this known during plenary on Tuesday.

    The Senate President read a letter from Buhari on the appointment of the three career ambassadors.

    Buhari had appointed UK Deputy High Commissioner, Ambassador Kabiru Bala as new Nigerian envoy to South Africa with concurrent accreditation to Swaziland and Lesotho.

    Ambassador Bala, who assumed office in the UK two years ago, received his letter of credence confirming his new appointment on Monday in Abuja.

    Sarah Sanda, the official spokeswoman for foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyeama, said that the new appointment will take immediate effect.

    A career diplomat, Ambassador Bala joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in 1999 and had at different times served in Brazil, Sudan, Gambia, the Netherlands and Thailand.

    He also served in the State House office of the chief of staff to the president, as well as state house protocol.

    Expected to fly out to South Africa immediately, Ambassador Bala will replace Ahmed Ibeto who resigned his appointment in July to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Prior to his appointment, Alhaji Ibeto had been the Deputy Governor of Niger State.

     

  • Breaking: Buhari approves enhanced salary structure for Police

    Breaking: Buhari approves enhanced salary structure for Police

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved Enhanced Salary Structure for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports President Buhari made the approval on Monday after meeting with Board of Police Service Commission at the State House, Abuja.

    The Board of Police Service Commission was led by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

    Buhari assured of his administration commitment to continue to give attention to the welfare and operational needs of the Police.

    He regretted the inability of the Police in carrying out its constitutional role as the frontline force in the prevention of crime, which he said had led to military involvement in the maintenance of law and order throughout the country.

    “From Taraba to Sokoto, to the South-South, people don’t feel secure until they see the military.

    “I am pleased to make the increase in salary and allowances in the hope that it will increase the performance index of the police and strengthen Nigeria’s internal security system,” the President said.

    President Buhari observed that the more efficient the police is, the more confident the government and citizens will be.

    “The military should be reserved for higher tasks. The police should be able to cope well with the challenges of armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom and such crimes.

    “In every town and village, there is the presence of the police. From all these places, they should be able to forward first class intelligence to you on which to act,” Buhari observed.

    He further observed that there is a need to amplify the question of more men of the police, “especially given the condition we are in – emergency in the North-East, pervasive insecurity and abduction for ransom and banditry in many parts of the country”.

    He congratulated the Police for the success recorded against what he described as criminals taxing people and stopping them from their farms.

    “We are expecting more from you,” the President told the police.

    TNG reports the Board of Police Service Commission, led by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, was on a “thank you” visit to Buhari following his approval of Rank Salary Structure Adjustment, by which salary, allowances and pension of policemen will be increased.

    Justice Clara Ogunbiyi (rtd), full-time Commissioner in the Nigeria Police Service Commission, who represented the Chairman, Musiliu Smith, had informed the President that the Rank Salary Structure Adjustment would enhance police welfare and morale.

    IGP Idris also assured that the police would redouble efforts, and also work to ensure free, fair and credible elections throughout the country next year.

     

  • Breaking: Buhari appoints Musa Abaji as new Supreme Court Justice

    President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Justice Musa Abaji as a new Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Senate President Bukola Saraki made this known while reading letters from President Buhari during plenary session on Wednesday.

    In one of the letters, Buhari said the appointment of Justice Abaji was according to the advice of the National Judicial Council.

    “In line with 1999 constitution upon the advice of the National Judicial Council, I hereby refer for confirmation the appointment of Justice Musa Abaji as the Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

    “While hoping that this is expeditiously considered by the Senate, accept the assurances of my highest regard,” the letter read.