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Tag: Osinbajo

  • Jonathan attacks Osinbajo: answer questions on your role in Nigeria’s biggest scam

    Jonathan attacks Osinbajo: answer questions on your role in Nigeria’s biggest scam

    Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to be more concerned over his indictment by the House of Representatives in the N5.8 billion he approved for the National Emergency Agency, NEMA, without due process, than focus on demonising his (Jonathan) administration.

    The Vice President had during a lecture entitled, “Restructuring and the Nigerian federation,” delivered as part of activities marking the 40th anniversary of Association of Friends in Lagos yesterday, accused the immediate past government of President Goodluck Jonathan, of throwing Nigeria into untold hardship, recession and debt.

    Jonathan’s however reacted through his aide, Reno Omokri, who described Osinbajo as not having the moral rights to indict the former President, noting that the latter had only recently been indicted by the House of Representatives for alleged corruption.

    The statement credited to Omokri reads: “How can Vice President Osinbajo, a man who had just been indicted by the House of Representatives in one of the biggest corruption scams ever in Nigeria’s history, have the gall to point accusing fingers at Dr. Jonathan, a man that is celebrated internationally for his efforts at achieving Nigeria’s best rating in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Rating when Nigeria improved 8 paces from 144 to 136 in 2014?

    “Having read through the sordid details of Prof. Osinbajo’s corruption as revealed in the indictment by Nigeria’s House of Representatives, it is easy to understand why Nigeria made her worst ever retrogression in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception under him this year, moving 11 paces backwards from 136 to 148.

    “On the issue of debt, the fact remains that in the entire 16 years that the Peoples Democratic Party governed Nigeria, the total amount of money borrowed was ₦8.06trn. These are facts sourced directly from the Budget Office controlled by the Buhari administration.

    “However, in only three years, the All Progressives Congress-led administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has borrowed a total of ₦10trn. With this fact in hand, where does Vice President Osinbajo have the moral authority to point leprous fingers at former President Jonathan?

    “The claim by Vice President Osinbajo that former President Jonathan left $63bn in debt is also a false claim. The Jonathan administration inherited $42.23bn in debt in 2011 which were debts borrowed by the states and the Federal Government.

    “Throughout the five years that he was President, former President Jonathan incurred the wrath of several state governments because his administration refused to guarantee their foreign loans.”

    He added, “On Tuesday, November 13, 2018, the Debt Management Office revealed that in just 2017 alone, the Buhari administration borrowed ₦2.4trn to fund their budget deficit. This is besides other loans that they took in 2017 alone. That money is more than the funds borrowed by the Jonathan administration in five years!

    “To show to Nigerians the profligacy and ineptitude of the current administration, I draw their attention to the fact that between July and August 2018, the Buhari administration claimed it had shared $322m Abacha funds recovered by the Jonathan administration to the poor. Then a week after it made that announcement, the Buhari government borrowed $328m from China.

    “The question is this, why would you share out $322m one week only to borrow the same amount next week? Why not use the Abacha funds to fund government activities instead of adding to the already strained debt burden?

    “These are questions that Vice President Osinbajo should answer rather than making false allegations against former President Jonathan.”

    The war of words between and among contending forces in the run up to the 2019 general elections is expected to gain momentum as parties jostle to win the minds of eligible voters.

  • N33bn NEMA fund: Osinbajo has case to answer, reps insist

    N33bn NEMA fund: Osinbajo has case to answer, reps insist

    The House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, whose report last week allegedly indicted Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, has said he has questions to answer in the probe into an alleged N33bn fraud in a presidential intervention in the North-East crisis.

    While the committee had indicted Osinbajo over “emergency intervention of food security to the North-East” in June 2017, when he was Acting President, the Vice-President had denied the allegation, stating that due processes were followed.

    ‎Chairman of the ad hoc committee of the House, Mr Ali Isa (APC, Gombe State), who addressed journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, however, insisted that Osinbajo, being the chairman of the presidential programme and the one who issued directives leading to the release of funds, “has questions to answer.”

    Details later…

  • Osinbajo reinstates support for fiscal federalism, state police

    Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has restated that he is an advocate of fiscal federalism, stronger state governments and state police.

    Osinbajo made this submission while delivering the 40th Anniversary Lecture of the Association of Friends on Monday in Lagos.

    The theme of the lecture is “Restructuring and the Nigerian Federation.”

    He reiterated his stance that good governance was what Nigeria needed rather than geographical restructuring.

    “I have been an advocate, both in court and outside, of fiscal federalism and stronger state governments.

    ” I have argued in favour of state police, for the simple reason that policing is a local function.

    “You simply cannot effectively police Nigeria from Abuja; only recently, I made a point that stronger, more autonomous states would effectively eradicate poverty.

    ” So, I do not believe that geographical restructuring is an answer to Nigeria’s socio-economic circumstances.

    “That would only result in greater administrative costs; but there can be no doubt that we need deeper fiscal federalism and good governance.”

    He argued that state governments had enormous constitutional powers which they should harness to better their fortunes.

    The vice president said that the Supreme Court held that states had a constitutional right to create local governments, pursuant to Section 8 of the Constitution.

    He said that the creation remained incomplete until the National Assembly, by resolution, amended the existing list of local governments to capture the newly created councils.

    Osinbajo said further that the apex court ruled also that with respect to federal land, the state had exclusive authority to grant authority to for building or developmental control permits.

    He said further that the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Lagos State Government as it struck down many provisions of the law that sought to give the Federal Government control over local government funding.

    Osinbajo said that pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling, Lagos State Government created, by State Law, Local Government Council Development Areas(LCDAs) to activate the newly created local government councils, until such a time the National Assembly would complete the process.

    He said that the Lagos State Government took the challenge which resulted in the state earning more Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) than 30 Nigerian states put together.

    Osinbajo said it was wrong to mix up all the issues of good governance and diversification of the economy with the argument on corruption.

    “Good governance involves inter alia, transparency and prudence in public finance.

    ” It involves social justice, investing in the poor, jobs for young people, which explains our School Feeding Programme, providing a meal per day to over nine million pupils in 25 states today.

    “Our N-Power is now employing 500, 000 graduates; our TraderMoni that will be giving microcredit to two million petty traders; our Conditional Cash Transfers giving monthly grants to over 400,000 of the poorest in Nigeria.

    ” The plan is to cover over a million households.”

    He said that in arguing for good governance, Nigeria’s greatest problem was grand corruption.

    The vice president described corruption as the unbelievable looting of the treasury by simply making huge cash withdrawals in local and foreign currencies–a travesty which President Muhammadu Buhari stopped.

    According to him, the restructuring Nigeria needs is the restructuring of governance in such manner as to eliminate corruption and create an enabling environment for growth and investments in infrastructure, education, nutrition and better sanitation.

    Earlier in his address, Alhaji Oluropo Owolabi, said that the topic of the lecture could not have come at a better time.

    He said that in recent times, restructuring had dominated the nation’s political discourse; hence the choice of the vice president, a professor of law for the lecture.

    Owolabi said that the association was borne out of a vision of some young men, eight of them who decided in 1978 to concretise their fledging relationship and dominance of social space into a sustainable institution.

  • Jonathan withdrew $270m from CBN in one day – Osinbajo

    …accuses ex-president of masterminding grand corruption while in office

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of ordering the withdrawal of $270million from the nation’s treasury in one day without executing a single contract.

    The Vice President who had at different occasions lashed out at the former Nigerian leader said he (Jonathan) masterminded grand corrupt practices while in office.

    Osinbajo said, for instance, he was shocked to find that in one day $292m (about N70bn) was moved out from the Central Bank of Nigeria, “without any contract or any real explanation”.

    According to him, ‘that dollar haul from the CBN left the apex bank dollar broke for two weeks’.

    He said it was unimaginable that despite earning $381bn from crude sale between 2010 and 2014 – the highest that the country had ever earned – the nation’s external reserves fell to $30bn by 2014 and the Jonathan administration left behind a debt of $63.806bn.

    Osinbajo said this on Monday in Lagos in a lecture titled, “Restructuring and the Nigerian federation,” which he delivered as part activities marking the 40th anniversary of Association of Friends.

    He noted that between 2010 and 2015, Nigeria’s debt jumped from $35,093.10bn to $63,806.53bn.

    He said, “What do these figures show? They show that when oil prices were at the highest between 2010 and 2014 the government was borrowing heavily.

    “From 2010 to 2014, debts moved from $35bn to $63bn. When we assumed office in 2015, the debt that the previous government left was $63bn.

    “Today, three and half years later, the debt is $73bn.

    “There are two reasons why despite high earnings we are poorer – the first is grand corruption and mismanagement of resources. And there is a difference between grand corruption and ordinary corruption.

    “Grand corruption is directly stealing from the CBN, directly taking money from the treasury without any contract, no pretences; there’s no caution, you just take money. That was going on and I will give you several examples.

    “When I got to the office as Vice-President, I couldn’t believe it. In one day, $292m was signed out and it disappeared. After that period, for two weeks, the Central Bank of Nigeria did not have cash dollar – $292m without any real explanation! We later discovered what became of the money.

    “On another occasion, N60bn was moved out ostensibly for security purposes; but we know what happened.

    “When you have a corrupt government, large sums of money which can be used for development is simply taken. If you are the President of Nigeria, you can literally say, ‘Go and bring money’.

    “Look at a sum of N60bn; when someone can take N60bn; and $292m, that’s almost N70bn. Today, our TraderMoni scheme is costing us N20bn, where we’re giving to petty traders a loan of N10,000 and when they pay back, we give them N15,000 and when they pay back, we give them, N20,000. But somebody will take $292m, almost N70bn. If you have N70bn, you will solve the problem of seven million of those petty traders. That’s the kind of thing we are talking about and the kind of contrast that we’re trying to draw.”

  • APC crisis: Buhari, Osibanjo, Tinubu, others meet to determine Oshiomhole’s fate

    APC crisis: Buhari, Osibanjo, Tinubu, others meet to determine Oshiomhole’s fate

    Sequel to the recent crisis bedeveling the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as a fallout from the just concluded primaries across the country and the intensified calls by aggrieved members for the national chairman’s resignation, a meeting of the leadership of the party have been scheduled to hold next week.

    The scheduled meeting, based on findings will permanent address and seal the fate of the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole.

    A prominent member of the party, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, confided in one of our correspondents, in Abuja, on Friday that as a precursor to this meeting, the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, and Oshiomhole, met in Paris, France, on Thursday. Tinubu had gone to France ahead of the President’s visit to the country.

    It was further learnt that the meeting between Tinubu and Oshiomhole centred on the growing plot by aggrieved party members especially governors to remove Oshiomhole from office.

    The former Lagos State governor is one of the party stalwarts backing Oshiomhole who is now under probe by the Department of State Services.

    An APC source said, “Tinubu and Oshiomhole met in Paris on Thursday over attempts by governors and some members of the NWC to remove the party chairman. You will recall that it was Asiwaju who paved the way for the emergence of Oshiomhole as the chairman when Chief Oyegun wanted a tenure extension.

    “Now that he has come under probe by the DSS and is being asked to step aside, he has run to Tinubu to save him. It remains unclear what their strategy will be to put a stop to the probe.”

    It was also learnt that some aggrieved governors had begun reaching out to members of the National Working Committee to ask Oshiomhole to step aside pending the outcome of the DSS probe.

    A member of the party’s NWC, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution said, “The fact that Oshiomhole is under investigation for allegedly collecting money from aspirants is bad for the image of the APC government which claims to be fighting corruption.

    “It is for this reason that the NWC members are being asked (by interested parties) to push for the suspension of the APC chairman pending the outcome of the probe. The President’s body language and actions in the coming days will determine Oshiomhole’s fate. For now, we are still considering it but we don’t want to make any hasty decision until we are sure that we have the President’s backing.”

    Another party source said high-ranking party leaders would meet “next week” to decide the best way to proceed without “further depleting the party’s public image and goodwill.”

    It was also gathered that President Buhari, who has taken charge of efforts to resolve the party’s post primary crisis, would be convening the meeting.

    Apart from Buhari, those expected at the Abuja meeting include: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Tinubu, pioneer Interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (as former chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party), and Prince Tony Momoh (former National Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change).

    The party source said, “The matter is receiving attention at the highest level. We cannot pretend, the situation involving our national chairman is already in public domain.

    “His invitation and subsequent interrogation by the Department of State Services, is an indictment if you ask me; but you cannot pronounce a man guilty without giving him the right of fair hearing.

    “The leadership meeting will take place because as you know, we don’t have a Board of Trustees in place. Mr. President as the leader of the party, who in fact, has personally taken over the process of dealing with the post-primary crisis, is convening the meeting to deal with all these issues.”

    In response to a question on whether there were charges against the party chairman, he said, “Our party has a constitution, I refer you to Article 21 which deals with the issue of party discipline. Go and read sub-sections i, ii and xi.”

    Article 21 of the APC Constitution (April 2014 As amended) which deals with the discipline of party members reads in part, “Subject to the provision of this Article and the right to fair hearing, the party shall have power to discipline party members. The power shall be exercised on behalf of the party by the respective Executive Committee of the party at all levels.

    “Offences against the party shall include the following: (i)a breach of any provision of this constitution; (i) anti-party activities or any conduct, which is likely to embarrass or have adverse effect on the party or put it into hatred, contempt, ridicule or disrepute; (xi) in cases of alteration of delegate lists, falsification of nomination results, and or tampering with the processes of internal democracy of the party, the offender shall be liable to expulsion from the party and be prosecuted.”

  • Osinbajo reacts to House report indicting him of acting illegally on NEMA funds

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has reacted to a report released by a House of Representatives committee indicting him for allegedly approving funds illegally.

    Recall that the House committee in its report accused the vice president of acting illegally in approving N5.9 billion for emergency operations of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) whose head was being investigated by the lawmakers.

    Osinbajo’s response is contained in a statement signed and released by his spokesperson, Laolu Akande on Friday.

    “These presidential approvals were well within the clear constitutional authority of the Acting President, who needed to take emergency steps to forestall acute food shortages in the affected States and there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional about them,” Akande wrote.

    Read the vice president’s full reaction to the report below.

    Our attention has been drawn to a report of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness issued on Thursday, November 8, 2018, particularly in respect of funds released for “emergency intervention of food security to the North-East” in June 2017, when the Vice President was Acting President.

    In its report, the Committee alleged that a sum of N5,865,671,939.26 was approved and released in June 2017 vide a Memo raised from the Office of the Acting President, directing the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to so act. The House Committee also concluded that the payment made was in contravention of approval of the National Assembly. This conclusion is both false and misleading.

    To start with, it is important to understand the context of the transaction. This was at a time when internally displaced persons and their host communities faced very severe food shortages throughout the North East, as a result of successive poor harvests and abandoned farmlands, minimal cross-border cash crop trade and lost economic opportunities.

    On 15th April 2017, the United Nations World Food Programme (UN WFP), a major aid organisation and food supplier to the region, had issued a warning that it would be reducing its vital support to about 1.8 million IDPs by as much as 85%, due to corresponding reduction in funding by the donor countries. Around the same time, the United Nations Commission for Refugees in Geneva also warned of the growing risk of mass deaths from starvation among people living in the conflict areas.

    The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) moved urgently to prevent the looming disaster by establishing a strategic food intervention plan for the affected States. A Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Delivery to the North East was convened and the Committee met on the 13th of May, 2017 to kick off the process, with the then Acting President as Chairman. Other members of the Committee included:

    (i) Minister of Finance;

    (ii) Minister of Budget and National Planning;

    (iii) Minister of State for Budget and National Planning;

    (iv) Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

    (v) Governor of Central Bank;

    (vi) Deputy Chief of Staff to the President; and

    (vii) Senior Special Assistant in the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.

    Resulting from the deliberations of this and subsequent meetings, the approval referred to in the House Committee’s Report was, in fact, based on a request raised by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria as facilitator of the National Food Security Programme, vide a letter dated May 25, 2017.

    As explained in the said letter, there was an immediate need to distribute grains, including rice, maize, soya beans and sorghum, to Internally Displaced Persons through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The only way to obtain the quantity of grains required was to resort to the National Food Security Progamme (NFSP) earlier established by the Federal Government as a means of shoring up its strategic grain reserves.

    It was in consequence of the Federal Government decision to urgently purchase the stored grains for distribution to Internally Displaced Persons that the CBN made the proposal for approval of 30,905.08 Metric Tonnes at N5,229,685,333.26. Of that amount, the then Acting President eventually approved N5,036,644,933.26, after excluding bagging costs. This was pursuant to the recommendation that bagging, transportation and other logistics were best handled by NEMA.

    NEMA also originated a request to the Acting President, dated May 25, 2017, requesting the sum of N829,026,456.00 for general logistics, branding & packaging, tracking, security, personnel, media & publicity and contingency costs of taking the grains from their respective locations in Kano, Kaduna, Funtua, Ibadan and Gombe to Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Jigawa States.

    These presidential approvals were well within the clear constitutional authority of the Acting President, who needed to take emergency steps to forestall acute food shortages in the affected States and there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional about them. The approvals were duly communicated by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of Central Bank, Director General of NEMA and the Minister of Finance for implementation.

    On account of the emergency nature of the procurement, the House Committee’s assumption that the ordinary rules of procurement would apply was wrong. Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act makes provision for emergency procurement, in which case the procuring entity is allowed to engage in direct contracting for goods and file a report thereafter with the Bureau of Public Procurement.

    It is also wrong to assume that taxes and interests accruable to government from these transactions in food items were deliberately ignored or waived by neglect. Of course, we expect that any loans advanced to any of the companies would be recovered with the agreed interests, and that any profits made by such companies would be liable to tax in the usual manner.

    The suggestion that the grains were never delivered to the target States is also blatant falsehood. In actual fact, in order to ensure effective distribution of the grains, an Emergency Food Intervention Project Team was established, consisting of the Director General of NEMA and representatives of the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Department of State Security, Nigeria Police and the Presidency. The Committee also worked with respective State Emergency Management Agencies, as well as humanitarian agencies such as World Food Programme, International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Deliveries were publicly made directly to the intended beneficiaries. In fact, the then Acting President personally inspected the electronic truck-tracking unit established in Maiduguri for the purpose of monitoring the transportation, and flagged off the food distribution on the 8th of June, 2017. Besides, there was the integration of a robust monitoring and evaluation system into the operation in order to facilitate a transparent and accountable process.

    Therefore, all insinuations on this matter regarding purported indictments and perceived violations of due process or the constitution are baseless and totally false. Such interpretations are flawed and should be utterly ignored.

    Laolu Akande

    Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President

    Office of the Vice President

    9th November, 2018

  • How Osinbajo is activating Buhari’s vote buying machinery ahead of 2019 elections – SMBLF

    How Osinbajo is activating Buhari’s vote buying machinery ahead of 2019 elections – SMBLF

    …Condemns assassination attempts on Ekweremadu

    The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum(SMBLF) on Wednesday accused the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of subtly luring voters for President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC at large ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    The group said the vice president was already engaging in “advance(d) vote buying” ahead of the 2019 polls.

    The group, which met in Abuja to deliberate on the state of the nation, noted that the Tradermoni scheme of the government was an avenue to corrupt the electorate ahead of the general elections next year.

    In a communiqué jointly signed by leaders of the zones, namely, Yinka Odumakin, South West; Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, South South, Isuwa Dogo, Middle Belt and Chigozie Ogbu, South East, the group demanded the stoppage of the scheme as it shames the anticorruption campaign of the present administration.

    “Meeting expressed utter disappointment in the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo for his continued corruption of the electorates in a funny scheme named ‘Tradermoni’,” read the communiqué.

    “We noted his odious outing with this corrupt act shortly before the Osun governorship election when he went to dole out cash to would -be voters and distributing forms in which beneficiaries were asked to fill in their PVC details and phone number.

    “A few days back, he took the perverse scheme to Lagos accompanied by the Governor of Lagos and the APC governorship candidate in Lagos state, an act that totally betrayed the political manipulation of the polity with pecuniary tools.

    “It is rather unfortunate that a Professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria is not ashamed to be doing this open ‘see and buy’ ahead of elections while he continues to preach virtues when convenient.

    “We demand immediate suspension of this scheme in the manner the VP is going about it presently as it shames the whole anti-corruption campaign of the administration. It is pure bribery of voters.”

    The Buhari administration launched a new initiative under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), called the Trader Moni, which it said, will empower two million petty traders before the end of the year.

    The scheme would grant a minimum of 30,000 loans in each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

    TraderMoni is designed to help petty traders expand their trade through the provision of collateral free loans of N10,000. The loans are repayable within a period of six months.

    Under the scheme, beneficiaries can get access to a higher facility ranging from N15,000 to N50,000 when they repay N10,000 within the stipulated time period.

    Meanwhile, the forum also expressed displeasure over the assassination on the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, and condemned the response of the police on the attack.

    Recall that the police said interim investigations show the attack was a case of burglary.

    “Meeting condemned the irresponsible response of the police to the recent terror visited on the home of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweramandu,” the communiqué highlighted.

    “Accounts by the DSP showed that police did not respond to (the) distress call and visited the scene of crime several hours after the attackers struck at his residence.

    “We were shocked to see police spokesman concluding the incident was a burglary attack within a few hours of little or no investigation in the order the current IGP dismissed the arsonist attack that claimed the lives of Kano REC and his family in 2015 as mere accident shortly after visiting the scene of crime.

    “With the invasion of the Senate months by security operatives and the sealing of Ekweremadu’s home the day (the) Senate President beat police cordon, the police are making inquiring minds to wonder if this was not a state terror.

    “We strongly advise the police to stop behaving like a partisan outfit and embrace professionalism in handling matters like this. We demand a thorough investigation of the incident.”

    The group also expressed its displeasure over the spate of violence going on in different parts of the country without adequate response from the state.

    “We are worried by the Killings in Kaduna, Plateau, Shiites in Abuja as well as kidnappings in Delta State and other parts of the country,” the leaders said.

    “We are not shy to say that the government has failed in its primary responsibility of securing the lives and property of citizens.

    “A Government that cannot rise up to the challenge of securing the polity is not fit to be in office.”

    However, efforts to reach the vice president’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, were unsuccessful as at the time of filing this report.

  • Banks must reform to survive fintech revolution – Osinbajo

    The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has stressed the need for banks in the country to carry out urgent reforms so as not to be caught off-guard by rising innovations in financial technology, insisting the effect of new innovations in fintech was inevitable.

    He stated that fintech, which is the new technology and innovation that aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services, would disrupt the financial space but that apart from reforms, banks could avoid being affected negatively if they also invested in fintech companies.

    In his address at the ongoing Africa Investment Forum, which was organised by the African Development Bank, in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Vice-President, however, gave the assurance that there would be effective regulation to protect consumers and the space.

    An online newspaper, The Cable, quoted him as saying, “Fintech companies, as you know, are challenging some of the old laws on banking and all of that. The major issue is that technology is clearly going to disrupt the financial space, and is doing so already, so banks have to reform.

    “They have to invest in some of the fintech companies themselves, and they have to see this revolution as inevitable. I think what we are seeing today is the reform around that space, and many of the banks are looking up and understanding that this is going to happen, and it’s already happening.”

    “I think the first thing is to allay the fears of the banks that their lunch isn’t being taken away. Banks, of course, are jittery about some of what is happening in the fintech space, but they need to be assured that this isn’t about taking away their lunch but that we cannot avoid what is coming to us now.”

    While allaying the fears of the banks over the future of their services, he pointed out that even though the quick convergence between technology and financial products was happening faster than many of the banks could cope with, the government would work with them to ensure the development of the sector.

    The Vice-President, who spoke alongside the President of host South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, and his counterparts from Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, and Guinea, Alpha Condé, on the presidential panel, added, “What we are saying is that payment system, lending, all sort of financial systems, even insurance are happening much faster.

    “So, we have to change regulation and we must ensure that we give space to these tech companies because what is happening is that there is a quick convergence between technology and financial products, so much faster than many of the banks are able to cope with.

    “What we are trying to do is work with the banking system, like the Central Bank of Nigeria. For example, we are sitting with the fintech companies, banks, and the telcos. The telcos are in this space now and many of them are challenging some of what used to be traditional banking businesses.”

    Meanwhile, in a unanimous decision, the Presidents in attendance and Nigeria’s Vice-President agreed on the need to remove every impediment to the slow rate of development on the continent.

    The President of AfDB Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, had in his opening address said the goal of the forum was to allow investments land smoothly on investment runways in Africa, adding that the forum was a 100 per cent transactional platform to develop projects, derisk deals, fast-track the closure of deals and improve the business environment for investments to thrive on the continent.

    He said, “Africa has massive infrastructure deficits, from ports to railways, roads, energy and Information Technology infrastructure needed to spur its competitiveness in global markets. The African Development Bank estimates the continent has a financing gap of $68bn to $108bn per year for infrastructure.

    “But it’s all about how you see it; a glass half empty or a glass half full. Let’s see it as a glass half full. That means Africa has an investment opportunity of $68bn to 108bn a year for infrastructure alone.”

  • Reps indict Osinbajo in N5.8bn NEMA scandal

    Reps indict Osinbajo in N5.8bn NEMA scandal

    The House of Representatives has indicted the governing board of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo over “illegal approval of N5.8 billion North-East intervention fund.”

    The members of the lower legislative chamber also recommended the dismissal of Mustapha Maihaja, Director-General of NEMA, over alleged fraud.

    At plenary on Thursday, the lower legislative chamber adopted a report of its committee which also recommended the prosecution of Maihaja.

    The ad-hoc committee was set up to investigate the NEMA DG over alleged corruption at the agency.

    The committee in its report accused the NEMA DG of “corruption and embezzlement of N33 billion emergency intervention fund” meant for the agency.

    The committee findings read: “On the emergency intervention of food security to the North-East to support the population ravaged by insurgency, a sum of N5,865,671,939.26 was approved and released in June 2017 vide a memo raised from the Office of the Acting President, directing the Hon. Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to so act.

    “The details further specified a directive to the Governor of CBN from the Ministry of Finance to pay the sum from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account which the AGF is to raise a mandate for. This is in contravention of approval of NASS on the issuance of Euro Bond from which the Hon. Minister authorized the payment.

    “Committee noted the flaws and infractions on the authorization granted and removal of such huge sum of money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account of the Federation in violation of the Constitution … due process was not followed as taxes and interest accruable to government were not deducted and remitted to the FIRS on the sums released and paid into the accounts of the different corporate entities shown above, this created colossal loss of revenue to the Federal Government.”

    It said out of about N5.8 billion, “NEMA got N829,026,456 for logistics and it claimed it spent it as follows, without satisfactory evidence”.

    The committee said it also discovered that the federal government “lost a total sum of over N33 billion as a result of mismanagement or outright embezzlement of funds occasioned by the actions or inactions of the Managing Director of NEMA, Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja.

    “It is hereby consequently recommended that the Director General of NEMA, Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja, be relieved of his duties by Mr President, Commander in Chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria and handed over to relevant authorities for prosecution.”

  • No state in Nigeria without ongoing FG project – Osinbajo

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Saturday restated that the Federal Government had achieved a lot in all sectors of human development and democratic process.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osinbajo spoke at the 2017/2018 Barewa Old Boys Association annual lecture in Sokoto.

    The vice president said that Policians had nothing to show for the lesson of the failure of the past administrations in the country as it happened.

    “There is a lot of impunity that have been defined to public office in Nigeria, especially grand corruption which had been sanctioned under the present administration.

    “I said grand corruption because our society had a problem of extended corruption affecting all government institutions and today has never been the case.

    “Nigeria had in the past faced so much challenges of corruption in public offices with a lot of government money being stolen by individuals which the present administration blocked such instances,” he said.

    Osinbajo added that the present administration under leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari had recorded tremendous success in the areas of security, agriculture, judiciary, legislature, among others.

    “There is not a single state in Nigeria that is not undergoing a measure of FG project under the ministry of power, works and Housing.

    “More so, clearly we have not done all we want to see, but if we are to ask our brothers and sisters from the North-East of what Boko-Haram seize 14 local government in their state, you will agree with me that they have seen some change.

    “If we are to ask the farmers enjoying the credit and support by the FG programmes and getting a more suitable supply of fertilizer, perhaps they may say that they have seen some change.

    “The over 500,000 graduates which have been employed under N-power programme, which is direct government employment, have been training in various fields to be useful for themselves.

    “Also traders who are getting direct credit from the government to support their small scale businesses, they may say that we have seen some change,” he said.

    The vice president further restated that the relationship between the executive and the National Assembly remained in good condition, as the executive had never stepped in to the affairs of legislative conduct.

    “There had never been any attempt under the present administration to stamp the legislature as was experienced in the past administration.

    “Moreover, Nigeria had five Senate Presidents between 1999 and 2007, which is very easy to forget. All of this and many more took place in very recent history.

    “So, you will agree with me that a lot had changed at least with regard to political understanding,” Osibanjo added.

    Earlier, the Emir of Gummi, Justice Lawal Gummi, presented a paper with a title “The challenges of Democracy to Judiciary: The Nigerian Perspectives.”

    “We are yet to cultivate the right attitude that is needed to stabilise the process for our advance in democracy.

    “The stunted growth that we are presently witnessing in our democracy is as a result of lack of discipline and non adherence to the basic tenets of democracy by our successive governments, over the years,” he said.

    Gov. Aminu Tambuwal and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, commended the vice president for attending the event and the organizers for the choice of the state.