TheNewsGuru

Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • Dapchi abduction: Parents welcome negotiation option to rescue school girls

    Parents of abducted Dapchi schoolgirls in Yobe, on Tuesday, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for considering the option of negotiation against use of military force to rescue the girls.

    The parents, who spoke separately to News Agency of Nigeria in Damaturu, said the option gave them hope for safe return of the girls.

    Alhaji Bashir Manzo, chairman, parents association of the abducted schoolgirls, said “this is a welcome development and we are happy about it.

    “Use of force, as the only option, will result in death of many of the girls while negotiation provides for their safe return.”

    The chairman, who encouraged government to go for dialogue to hasten return of the girls, said “the fact that the insurgents provide room for negotiation gives us hope for safe return of our daughters.”

    Alhaji Baba Shehu, Secretary Dapchi Youth Development Association, also described the negotiation option as a healthy development.

    “Government should deploy resources at its disposal to take this advantage and ensure safe return of the girls” he said.

    Alhaji Ali Mohammed, a father of eight of the students, described negotiation as the only safe option for the insurgents to release the girls, saying he was happy “government has considered this option of negotiation”.

    Maryam Alkali, a mother, said every mother would appreciate the option that will bring the girls back home safely.

    “Let me state without fear of contradiction that every mother of the abducted girls will now have a strong hope for reunion with these girls” she said.

    Malam Mustapha Imam, another parent, said “If government had resorted to military option alone, it may jeopardize the safety of the girls, so the option of negotiation is a welcome development.”

    He however called on government to take strong precautionary measures in safeguarding every school in the country, especially those in the Northeast.

    “Government has to invest heavily on security, especially in equipment, manpower and intelligence gathering for improved security,” Imam said.

    President on Monday, while receiving US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said the federal government had considered the option of negotiation to rescue the abducted students.

     

  • Tight security in Jos as Buhari visits Plateau

    Security has been tightened up in most parts of Jos, Plateau State, ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s two-day working visit to the North-Central State.

    Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria, who went round the city, observed heavy security presence with fierce-looking armed personnel in areas considered as flash points.

    TheNewsGuru learnt that armoured tanks were positioned around many roundabouts in the city centre, while various teams of security personnel in siren-blaring vehicles were seen patrolling the city.

    Mr Terna Tyopev, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), who spoke to NAN, said that the strategy was to ensure “visibility policing” and facilitate quick response to distress calls.

    “The heavy presence of the security personnel is deterrent in nature; it will create fear among members of the public, particularly those with evil intention,” he said.

    Buhari, who is visiting Plateau for the first time since he became President in 2015, is expected to inaugurate some road projects and also launch the state’s tractor ownership scheme.

     

  • President Buhari presides, as service chiefs expected to brief FEC

    President Muhammadu Buhari is presiding over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) Meeting at the Council Chamber, State House Abuja today.

    Three ministries are slated to update the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on their activities since November, 2015, during the FEC meeting on Wednesday.

    Also in attendance at the FEC meeting are the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita.

    Others are the National Security Adviser, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno and the Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari and other cabinet members.

    TheNewsGuru learnt that service chiefs may also update the council on the successes and challenges in the nation’s security sector.

     

  • Plateau govt. declares public holiday for President Buhari

    The Plateau government has declared Thursday, March 8, a work-free day to enable residents welcome President Muhammadu Buhari on a one-day working visit to the state.

    Mr Izam Azi, Head of Service, announced this on Tuesday in Jos, after an emergency State Executive Council meeting.

    “The holiday will afford civil servants and other citizens the opportunity to give the President a rousing welcome,” Azi said.

    Meanwhile, Mr Yakubu Dati, Commissioner for Information and Communication, has said that there would be restriction of movement during the visit, especially around areas the President would inaugurate projects.

    Dati said that government had created alternative routes in affected areas, adding that security agencies would guide movements during the day.

     

  • President Buhari appoints Rector for Auchi Poly

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Dr Momodu Sanusi Jimah, as the substantive Rector of Auchi Polytechnic, in Edo state.

    A statement by Mustapha Oshoibugie, the Chief Public Relations Officer of the institution in Benin on Tuesday said that the appointment takes effect from Feb. 23 and for a period of four years.

    Jimah, until his appointment, was the acting Rector of the Polytechnic.

    He is also an Alumnus of the Polytechnic where he obtained the Higher National Diploma (HND) in Urban and Regional Planning in 1982.

    He obtained the Post Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning in 1997 and Masters in Business Administration in 2003.

    Jimah is a member of several professional bodies including Membership of the Nigeria Institute of Town Planners, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria and Fellow, Institute of Entrepreneurship of Nigeria.

    Other positions including; Dean, School of Environmental Studies; Director, Centre for Entrepreneurial Development; Director, Auchi Polytechnic Consultancy Services and Assistant Dean, School of Part-Time Studies”.

     

  • Buhari visits Taraba for security assessment [Photos]

    President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived at Jalingo, the capital of Taraba as part of his attempt to carry out on-the-spot assessment of the security situations in the state. The president arrived in the state on Monday, March 5 and was received by Governor Darius Ishaku if the state.

    The president is expected to carry out an on-the-spot security assessment as part of effort to stop the recent clashes between farmers and herdsmen.

    The president is also expected to visit Benue, Zamfara, Yobe and Rivers and also visit affected communities in the states.
    As earlier reported that a fresh violent ethnic clash on the Mambilla Plateau in Sardauna local government area of Taraba on Sunday, March 4, has reportedly led to the death of twenty people, while about three hundred cows have been rustled.

  • 2019: Enugu APC endorses President Buhari for 2nd term

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Enugu State Chapter, on Sunday, endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office as the 2019 General Elections draw close.

    The party equally passed a vote of confidence on the president and Dr Ben Nwoye, led executive committee of the party in the state.

    The unanimous decisions were taken during the state’s APC’s enlarged State Executive Council and stakeholders meeting held at the party’s secretariat in Enugu.

    Addressing the executive members and stakeholders, State Chairman of APC, Dr Ben Nwoye, said that the party would field candidates in all elective positions in 2019.

    According to Nwoye, the Lion Building (Enugu Government House) is our target, and in doing that, we must also make ensure that President Buhari gets the highest votes that will be cast in the state.

    “We have the power and all it takes to confront the PDP in 2019,’’ he said.

    He, however, cautioned against sabotaging the plans of the party by some members.

    “If there is anybody here who will support the election of a PDP candidate, this is not the place for you, you should leave us; what we want is purely candidates of APC extraction.

    “We must drop our egos and focus on winning elections in the interest of the party,’’ he said.

    Nwoye used the occasion to appeal for peace in the party and apologized to party faithful whom he might have offended during the crisis in the state.

    “I tender unreserved apology to those I may have offended by my words and actions.

    “By the same token, I have forgiven those who offended me through their conducts. These include those who filed false cases against me in the DSS, EFCC, courts, among others,’’ he said.

    In his remarks, the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria, (VON), Chief Osita Okechukwu, called on the party in the state and South East to support President Buhari for a second term in office.

    “We need to vote for President Buhari in 2019 because it is the closest possible gateway to Igbo presidency in 2023,’’ he said.

    “What the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership could not do for the South-East throughout its 16-year leadership was now being done by the APC government.

    “Ndigbo have hope in APC, if we support President Buhari to complete a two-tenure in 2023; Ndigbo will have golden opportunity to produce the president because equity and justice will be on our side,’’ he noted.

    The immediate past Governor of Enugu State, Mr Sullivan Chime, stressed the need for members to embrace peace; saying: “APC does not have the luxury of crisis’’.

    Chime applauded the decision of the APC NEC to extend the tenure of its national leaders noting that it would have been the opportunity for enemies to scatter the party.

    “As things are now, what is before us is more important,’’ he said.

    On the choice of the party’s governorship candidate, the former governor said it was necessary to choose credible candidates that would deliver.

    “I pray that we won’t have difficulty in choosing who will be our governorship candidate in 2019,’’ he said.

     

  • APC national leader letter to Buhari accusing NDDC board of administrative fraud

    A national officer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Yekini Nabena, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari to redress the injustice and illegality regarding the subsistence of the current Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    In an open letter to the president dated February 26, 2018, Nabena, who is a National Ex-Officio Member of APC from Bayelsa State, said the tenure of the Board formally ended last December and its continued stay was like allowing illegitimacy to run riot.

    The full text of the open letter dated February 26, 2018, reads:

    “Dear Mr President, Sir

    This is to humbly express my grave concern over the anomaly existing in the tenancy of the posts of Managing Director and Chief Executive of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as well as Chairman of the Commission’s Board. I have followed this case since late last year, when the tenure of the Managing Director and the Chairman officially ended and now feel constrained to write you, Mr. President, to highlight the aberration that abounds in their continued stay in office.

    The tenure of Nsima Udo Ekere as Managing Director and Chief Executive of NDDC has since elapsed. This is according to his letter of appointment from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, dated November 1, 2016, with Ref. No: SGF.55/S.2/C.3/IV/52, which was signed by the then SGF, Babachir David Lawal.

    The letter reads in part, “The appointment took effect from November 1, 2016 and you are to serve out the remainder of the term of office of your predecessor in line with Section 5(2) of the Act.”

    Ekere, from Akwa Ibom State, was appointed to serve out the tenure of fellow Akwa Ibomite, Mr Bassey Dan-Abia, who was removed following the dissolution of the NDDC Board by Mr. President in 2015.

    Similarly, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, from Cross River State, was appointed Chairman of the NDDC Board to complete the tenure of Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, who is from the same state. Ewa-Henshaw had been appointed for a statutory four-year tenure, which ran from December 16, 2013 to December 15, 2017.

    The Act establishing the NDDC provides for a rotation of its leadership among the nine NDDC states of Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Abia, Imo, and Ondo. In line with the law, states that produced officers of the dissolved board retained the slots, for the purpose of completing their tenures and maintaining equity in the leadership of NDDC.

    Mr. President, I wish to humbly point out that the headship of the NDDC Board ought to revert to my home state of Bayelsa, after Cross River, going by the existing statutory arrangement. Following the expiration of its tenure, the Ndoma-Egba Board ought to have left without much ado. The resort to sit-tight, crude propaganda and manipulation does not only display an arrogant contempt for the law guiding the Commission, but it also offends basic decency and public morality. In fact, it amounts to administrative fraud. Any further day the board exists is tantamount to allowing wilful iniquity and illegality to run riot. Moreover, the fact that they have been paying themselves all manner of allowances even after the expiration of their legal tenure is criminal.

    I urge you, Sir, to act fast to get rid of this anomaly.

    Besides the injustice to Bayelsa and the other states that are being denied their statutory slots, and the contravention of the law, the issue of the NDDC tenancy is given urgency by certain allegations and suspicions that have come to the fore, which border on the integrity and image of the present administration.

    Since last year, there have been claims about some underhand dealings by some senior officials of the government to illegally extend the tenure of the NDDC Board. Several groups and individuals have protested the alleged move to make the board stay longer than is statutorily provided. This situation certainly does not augur well for the administration and the change agenda.

    I am, therefore, calling on Mr. President to immediately dissolve the NDCC Board and reconstitute it in line with the law and the existing rotational arrangement that has ensured peace and equity among the NDDC states.

    I trust that you will act fairly on this matter.”

    YEKINI NABENA

    National Ex-Officio

    All Progressives Congress (APC)

    Abuja

     

  • APC national officer accuses ‘sit-tight’ NDDC board of administrative fraud

    A national officer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Yekini Nabena, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari to redress the injustice and illegality regarding the subsistence of the current Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    In an open letter to the president dated February 26, 2018, Nabena, who is a National Ex-Officio Member of APC from Bayelsa State, said the tenure of the Board formally ended last December and its continued stay was like allowing illegitimacy to run riot.

    Nabena said the tenures of the NDDC managing director/chief executive, Nsima Udo Ekere, and chairman of the commission’s Board, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, expired since last year, judging by the terms of their appointment and the law establishing NDDC, which explicitly stated that they were to complete their respective state’s tenure.

    While Ndoma-Egba was appointed to serve out the tenure of fellow Cross River State indigene, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, Ekere was chosen to complete the tenure of fellow Akwa Ibom citizen, Mr Bassey Dan-Abia, Nabena stated.

    Ewa-Henshaw and Dan-Abia were inaugurated in 2013 for a four-year term that ought to have ended last December.

    The APC leader said Ndoma-Egba and Ekere’s continued stay in office was fraudulent and a demonstration of contempt for the law.

    He alleged that Bayelsa State, to which the board chairmanship post ought to have reverted, and other NDDC states were being short-changed under the current situation.

    He also lambasted the managing director and the chairman for allegedly applying manipulative schemes to try to change the rules to give themselves more time in office.

    “The resort to sit-tight, crude propaganda and manipulation does not only display an arrogant contempt for the law guiding the Commission, but it also offends basic decency and public morality,” he stated.

    He stressed, “In fact, it amounts to administrative fraud. Any further day the board exists is tantamount to allowing wilful iniquity and illegality to run riot. Moreover, the fact that they have been paying themselves all manner of allowances even after the expiration of their legal tenure is criminal”.

    Nabena urged Buhari to quickly redress the anomalous situation by disbanding the NDDC Board and reconstituting it based on fairness in order to restore sanity to the commission’s leadership and save the image of his government and its campaign to bring about change.

     

  • Corruption index: SERAP backs TI, urges Buhari to take ranking as a ‘wake-up call’

    Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged “the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to see the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), published last week, as a wake-up call to renew its oft-expressed commitment and raise its game to fight both grand and petty corruption, as well as end the legacy of impunity rather than simply dismissing the survey as ‘fiction’.”

    According to Transparency International’s report, the perception of corruption has worsened under President Muhammadu Buhari. The report showed that the perception of corruption in Nigeria worsened between 2016 and 2017. But the presidency has criticised the global watchdog, saying that TI was publishing fiction.

    Reacting, SERAP in a statement today by its deputy director Timothy Adewale said, “While TI’s index only measures perceptions of corruption, their findings correspond substantially with the reality of impunity of perpetrators, as demonstrated by the low conviction rate, the authorities’ slowness to adopt and implement critical reforms, appearance of selectivity in the anti-corruption fight, apparent complicity of key officials and cover-up, as well as unaddressed alleged corruption against several state governors. The authorities should take the report seriously and use it as an opportunity to raise their game in their efforts to rid our country of corruption and underdevelopment.”

    The organization said that, “The government should make no mistake about this: Nigerians know corruption when they see it. Rather than simply criticising TI as publishing fiction or going after its board members, the government should accept the fact that its oft-expressed commitment to fight corruption has not gone to plan.”

    The statement read in part: “The CPI may not be perfect, and in fact no index is. The CPI may not show actual evidence of corruption in the country, but perceptions are commonly a good indicator of the real level of corruption. In any case, the devastating effects of corruption in virtually all sectors providing essential public services are too glaring for Nigerians to ignore.”

    “While the government may have blocked some leakages in the systems and reduced the level of impunity witnessed under the previous administrations, it has not done enough to address longstanding cases of corruption, and the appearance of selectivity in the prosecution of corruption allegations especially when such cases involve those close to the seat of power. Today, corruption still constitutes one of the greatest threats to the country’s sustainable and equitable development.”

    “Almost 3 years after taking office, and promising to fight grand corruption, no ‘big fish’ suspected of corruption has yet been sent to jail. The situation has not significantly improved, and it seems unlikely that many of those facing grand corruption charges will be successfully prosecuted. Nigerians need to see real commitment and heavy investment in promoting a culture of clean government, and total obedience to the rule of law.”

    “Possessing the political will to fight corruption is not in itself enough if it’s not sufficiently demonstrated. Buhari should take the CPI to heart and initiate and actively facilitate the passing of tough anti-corruption laws, strengthening the capacity and independence of anti-corruption agencies, substantially improving the criminal justice system, obeying decisions and judgments of our courts, and ensuring the passing of the Whistle-blower Bill.”

    “Buhari can’t fight corruption successfully without significantly improving on the tools used by his predecessor former President Goodluck Jonathan. The government should as a matter of urgency implement governance reforms to advance effective functioning of government institutions, strengthen the quality of democratic institutions and rule of law, and reducing corruption, if Nigeria is ever going to improve on its global anti-corruption ranking.”

    “Public officials still use political power to enrich themselves without considering the public good. Selective application of the law is a sign that the law is not being followed strictly enough, and that the fight against corruption is not maximally prosecuted.”

    “In several states of the federation, and federal ministries, corruption is taking place every day and every hour, especially in the power sector, the education sector, the water sector, the health sector and other important public sectors. Corruption continues to directly affect the lives and well-being of millions of Nigerians across the country, and to erode public trust in public institutions and leaders, threatening the foundation of our democracy.”

    “There is uneven implementation of the rule of law and democratic processes, limited citizen participation in policy processes, and deliberate disobedience of court orders and judgments, such as the judgment of Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court obtained by SERAP, which ordered the government to publish widely how recovered stolen funds since the return of democracy in 1999 have been spent.”

    “The best measure of a country’s progress toward transparency and accountability is a total obedience to the rule of law. The law ought to command the highest levels of respect by for example, the government immediately obeying orders and judgments of competent courts. The fight against corruption won’t succeed if the government continues to selectively adhere to law or refuse to rectify any disobedience. No country in which official position and orders claim a place in people’ s minds higher than the law can truly be said to fight corruption.”

    “Democracy works only if the people have faith in those who govern, and that faith is bound to be shattered when high officials and their appointees engage in activities which arouse suspicions of malfeasance and corruption.”

    The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is one of the most respected international measurement of corruption trends. It was established in 1995 as a composite indicator used to measure perceptions of corruption in the public sector in different countries around the world. The CPI draws upon many available sources which capture perceptions of corruption.