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Tag: Osinbajo

  • APC crisis: There are disagreements, but no major problem – Osinbajo

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the issues of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will be resolved.

    Osinbajo said he does not think there’s a “major problem” in the party. He described the APC as a strong party that is committed to offering hope to the electorate.

    Laolu Akande, the vice-president’s spokesman, quoted him to have said this while fielding questions from journalists after the inauguration of President Maada Bio of Sierra Leone on Saturday.

    Akande quoted Osinbajo as saying, “in politics, as you know, there will always be tension, but the party is strong and the leadership and membership of the party are committed to ensuring it remains strong and continues to offer hope to the people.

    “I think a lot of the issues will be resolved as we go along.

    “This is the normal order of things; there will be disagreements, there will be those who may feel that they need certain preferences or certain things which may not have been done earlier on.

    “I don’t think there is any major problem.”

    Fatalities were recorded in Oyo, Lagos and Gombe states during the APC’s local government congress which held on Saturday.

    Days prior, thugs burnt the APC secretariat in Imo, forcing the postponement of the LG congress in the state.

    In Rivers, suspected thugs vandalised the high court, chased away judges, litigants and lawyers.

  • Nigerians now tax conscious – Osinbajo

    …says tax compliance index increased to 19 million in 2018 from 14 million recorded in 2017

    Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday declared open the 2018 edition of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) conference with a revelation that the nation had increased its tax net from 14 million in May 2017 to 19 million this year.

    Osinbajo, who was the Special Guest of honour at the event, stated that as at Dec. 2017, only 943 Nigerians paid self-assessed taxes of less than N1 million.

    “Earlier, I noted that as of May 2017, only 14 million economically active Nigerians pay taxes.

    “I am pleased to note that the number is now in excess of 19 million and still growing.

    “This means that efforts led by the federal Inland Revenue Service in collaboration with many of the states inland revenue services have already added more than five million new tax payers to the tax base.

    “But there is still a lot of work ahead of us; as Nigeria races to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of tax compliance we all have a role to play in this.’’

    The Vice President noted that tax issues were not exciting to anyone but added that it was an argument on whether one should pay taxes or enjoy dividend of governance.

    According to him, in reality it should not be debated as compliance and good governance should exist side by side as the head and tail of a social contract that binds citizens and government.

    He said it was difficult to explain the cynicism displayed by Nigerians about governance and about fulfilling their tax responsibilities.

    “Governments generally have the nonchalance of fulfilling their own part of the social contract.

    “But it is also a fact that when people pay taxes, they are more inclined to hold their governments to account.’’

    He noted that it was almost 300 years since “no taxation without representation’’ became the rallying cry for the U.S. covenant and one of the main triggers of their revolution that earned U.S. colonies at the time independence from Great Britain.

    Osinbajo noted that Nigeria had experienced the Aba and Abeokuta tax riots incidentally both championed by women.

    “The moral is a simple one that when citizens pay their full share of taxes they take more than a passing interest in how they are governed and how public funds are utilized and accounted for,’’ he stated.

    Osinbajo said that government had relied more in the past on oil revenues than on taxation adding that a decline in taxation depicted a decline in government’s accountability and ability to deal with the needs of the people.

    He said that poor tax management was one of the issues that increased corruption in the system adding that the fact remained that the tax payer was less tolerant of corruption than another who failed to pay.

    He stated that because what government spent was oil money and taxes of few persons a lot of people saw government’s money as belonging to no one.

    Osinbajo stated that the present administration was determined to change the state of affairs and also determined to restore the social contract between the government and the citizens by ensuring prudence in public expenditure.

    “We have aggressively expanded the implementation of the TSA and IPPIS both designed to ensure that public funds are transparently managed and spent.

    “In the process we have succeeded in proving that process reforms are only as good and effective as their implementation.

    “The TSA’s unified system of bank account domiciled in the CBN has proved to be far more transparent and cost effective than the old scenario where government agencies maintained thousands of accounts across many commercial banks because of the TSA the federal government realizes monthly saving of at least N4billion which could have gone on commercial bank charges alone.

    “The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) has also tightened controls on federal payrolls and pension systems elimination tens of thousands of ghost workers and saving us more than N200 billion that would have gone to these ghost workers,’’ he added.

    Osinbajo stated that such savings were instrumental to the huge government expenditure on infrastructure and human capital development than any previous government in spite of the recession and dwindling earnings.

    The Vice President referred to the tax innovation of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as Premier of the old Western region which enabled the administration to raise money for huge infrastructure, agriculture and free education.

    He, however, noted with dismay that the states in the western region besides Lagos did not earn enough taxes to pay salaries and any other major development effort.

    “Without federal allocation, most states cannot survive; Lagos state alone takes in as much Internally Generated Revenue as 31 states combined; it tells you how little the other states manage to bring in in IGR,’’ he noted.

    Osinbajo stated that the country’s tax-to- GDP ratio was at six per cent but with the reforms in the tax system might rise to 15 per cent in 2020.

    He said the administration had taken steps to curtail tax evasion by multi-national companies as well as prevent citizens from hiding their assets abroad.

     

  • Just in: Osinbajo stands in for sick Buhari, presides over FEC meeting

    The weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council is ongoing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is presiding over the meeting holding inside the Council Chamber.

    Osinbajo is standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari who is currently in London, United Kingdom where he is scheduled to meet with his doctor.

     

    Details soon..

  • World Bank officials to meet Osinbajo, Govs, Adeosun over projects in Nigeria

    World Bank officials to meet Osinbajo, Govs, Adeosun over projects in Nigeria

    A World Bank Mission, comprising of 10 Executive Directors, is expected in Nigeria on Wednesday to hold high-level discussions with the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN; Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and some Governors over the Bank’s projects in the country.

    In the World Bank Mission are the Bank’s Executive Directors for Switzerland, France, Italy, Nordic, Peru, Germany, South Africa (representing Angola, Nigeria and South Africa), Burkina Faso (representing Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa), Zimbabwe (representing Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa), United Kingdom and Indonesia.

    The delegation will discuss ongoing World Bank projects and the country’s development priorities with the Vice President, Minister of Finance and the Governors.

    The officials will also meet the organised private sector in Lagos as well as undertake a tour of LAPO Microfinance project in Lagos and Azura Power Plant in Edo State.

    The visit is expected to provide a first-hand impression of the challenges that both the Federal and State Governments face in implementing development projects as well as ensuring good governance overall.

    It will further enhance the goal of the Bank for member-countries and the effectiveness of the Executive Directors in providing the necessary support.

  • Osinbajo now EFCC, ICPC spokesman – Reno Omokri

    Former presidential New Media aide Reno Omokri has lambasted Vice President Yemi Osinbajo over his recent statement against the Goodluck Jonathan government.

    Omokri was responding to Osinbajo’s fresh statement, which is a follow up to his earlier claim that three persons under the Jonathan administration – Jide Omokore, Kola Aluko, former Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke – stole $3 billion.

    In a statement on Monday, Omokri said: “Even the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has conducted himself with more dignity than the Vice President and is allowing the agencies charged by law to fight corruption to do their jobs.”

    Omokri insisted that Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko were not members of the Jonathan cabinet neither did they hold any government office or position.

    He said although Diezani Alison-Madueke was a government appointee who has been charged to court, no-where has she ever been accused of stealing $3 billion.

    Omokri said: “When Vice President Osinbajo says “These cases of grand corruption and open looting of public resources pauperized Nigeria and left us with little or no savings”, he has forgotten that on October 28, 2017, he himself (Vice President Osinbajo) said “When we came in, we had a foreign reserve of $32 billion.”

    “If indeed former President Jonathan left the Buhari administration with “with little or no savings,” then from whom did they inherit the $32 billion in foreign reserves that the Vice President admitted to at the ‘Greater Nigeria Pastors Conference’ organised by the Berean Ministers Group?

    “Vice President Osinbajo is also challenged to boldly tell Nigerians how much was left by the Jonathan administration in the Sovereign Wealth Fund which the Jonathan government set up. While doing that, can he also tell Nigerians how much the Buhari administration met in the coffers of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Company’s account to be inherited by the incoming government.

    “The truth is that no matter how far and fast falsehood has traveled, it must eventually be overtaken by truth and this time, the truth emerged from the mouth of the accuser, albeit, in a Freudian slip.”

  • FG’s anti-corruption crusade receiving global applauds – Osinbajo

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said on Monday that the Federal Government’s efforts in fighting corruption and deepening good governance in the nation were being applauded worldwide.

    Describing corruption as a threat to the nation’s existence, Osinbajo insisted that the scourge was responsible for why the nation had no savings and invested only “very little” in infrastructure and jobs “in spite of record oil revenues between 2011 and 2013/14”

    Osinbajo, who spoke in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the five-day Open Government Partnership Week 2018, said that within the period, despite the billions of dollars reportedly invested in security, the Boko Haram insurgency did not abate.

    The period between 2011 and 2014 referred to by the Vice-President, stretched over half of the era of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration.

    The Vice-President has recently come under criticisms by the opposition for dwelling too much on the corruption under the previous administration.

    Osinbajo, while speaking on the topic, ‘The impact of Open Government Partnership to Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption Efforts’, said, “for too long, the resources meant for the majority have been sadly cornered by a greedy minority.”

    He said, “Our government came into office on the back of a three-pronged agenda: ensuring security, rebuilding the economy, and vigorously prosecuting the fight against corruption.

    “This last issue, corruption, has been an existential issue for Nigeria, threatening the very fundamentals of our existence.

    “It has ensured that, for too long, the resources meant for the majority have been sadly cornered by a greedy minority.

    “This issue of corruption underlines every aspect of our national life, from our security situation to the state of our economy.

    “It was the reason why, in spite of record oil revenues between 2011 and 2013/14, we saw no savings, and very little investment in infrastructure and jobs, and, in spite of the billions of dollars reportedly invested in security, the Boko Haram insurgency did not abate.”

  • N88bn misappropriated under Jonathan in a single day – Osinbajo

    N88bn misappropriated under Jonathan in a single day – Osinbajo

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said under former President, Goodluck Jonathan, US$289 million ( N88.1 billion) was misappropriated just in a single day.

    Osinbajo said the said amount which was released from CBN in cash on a single day, is enough to fund 244,000 N-Power graduates for a year, or pay for 1.2 billion school meals or complete half of Lagos -Ibadan or half of Abuja -Kaduna -Kano roads.

    He made the remark on Monday, while reacting to a report attributed to Jonathan’s media office on previous allegations.

    He said: “Grand corruption remains the most enduring threat to our economy. Three billion US dollars was stolen in what was called the strategic alliance contacts in 2013, three Nigerians were responsible, today three billion dollars is NI trillion and our budget is N7 trillion.”

    In a statement issued on Monday, Laolu Akande, spokesman of the vice-president, defended his principal, saying the alleged looting has been a subject of criminal investigation and trials even in the UK.

     

    Here is the full statement from Akande:

    We have read reports attributed to “a media office of former President Goodluck Jonathan”. It is clear from the foul language of the authors that the statement could not have come from the former President, but from the motley group of loud and rude characters whose brief seems to be to deny all and anything said against the former PDP government and to do so in the crassest possible language.

    The alleged spokespersons of the former president say that facts long in the public domain, some even being used to prosecute several corruption cases are lies and that those of us in government restating these well known facts are liars.

    They accused Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, of lying against the former President or his government citing their involvement in the stealing of three billion dollars, while speaking recently at The Platform event on the 1st of May.

    Just for clarity, I quote the Vice President, “Grand corruption remains the most enduring threat to our economy. Three Billion US dollars was stolen in what was called the strategic alliance contacts in 2013, three Nigerians were responsible, today three billion dollars is one trillion Naira and our budget is 7trillion! ….” (www.yemiosinbajo.ng/ how-young-people-outside- politics-are-boldly-building- the-nigerian-nation-by-vp- osinbajo/)

    Two issues emerge. First, no mention is made of the former President.

    Second, the story is not only true, it has been in the public domain for almost three years and it is the subject of criminal investigation and trials both here and in the UK.

    The spokespersons also say that the allegations of corruption against the PDP government are mere lies. For clarity, the facts are laid out as follows:

      1. As the Vice President said, $3B was stolen in the so- called NNPC Strategic Alliance Contracts. The three persons involved are Jide Omokore, Kola Aluko and the former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison- Maduekwe. The companies of both Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko lifted Nigerian crude oil and kept the proceeds. The total sums converted is in excess of three billion dollars including royalties, taxes and fees unpaid for the asset from which the crude was taken. The case is the subject of a trial in Nigeria, and criminal investigation in the US and UK, and the assets of all three individuals have been forfeited in Nigeria, the US and the UK.
      2. The criminal diversion and theft of sums in excess of $2.5 billion meant for purchase of arms to prosecute the war against Boko Haram: the first phase of the investigations revealed several sordid details, many of the assets of culprits have been seized from them and they are facing trial.
      3. The release of the sum of $289m in cash on February 25, 2015: Documents including cash vouchers indicate that the the sum of $289,202,382 was taken from the Joint Venture (JV) Cash Call Account No. 000-0000-11658-366 of the NNPC/NAPIMS with JP Morgan Chase Bank, New York, USA.
      4. N70 billion was released in parts from the national treasury between January 8 and February 25, 2015.5.In another illegal disbursement, 25th August 2014, N60B in cash in tranches of N40billion and N20billion: The sum was not tied to any project or procurement and was then shared between two security agencies under the supervision of the then NSA. Most of these sums ended up in the hands of senior PDP members some of whom have returned parts of the loot. Some are standing trial for these offenses. These facts are in the public domain.5. There was yet another set of illegal fund withdrawals under one week between January 8 and 16, 2015, where the sum of N1.5 billion was released in three tranches of N300m, N400m and N800m respectively. This money was released from the MEA Research Library Account .6. Another document showed that N10 billion was released to the Office of the National Security Adviser by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on September 15, 2014. The money was released in tranches of foreign exchange of $47 million, $5 million, 4 million Euros and 1.6 million Euros. A letter from the Office of the NSA in November 2014 further showed that the monies were released as ‘funds for special services’. This particular release of N10B was sourced in November 2014 from a N40 billion CBN released funds meant for Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR. Investigators showed that this money was released for the PDP Presidential Primaries.7. Lamido Sanusi, then CBN Governor, was sacked for speaking up about the over $20billion missing from oil proceeds8. These cases of grand corruption and open looting of public resources pauperized Nigeria and left us with little or no savings in the years when oil was selling at 100 to 114 dollars a barrel and we were producing 2.1 million barrels a day. When in 2015 oil prices went even as low as between 28 and 35 dollars a barrel and oil production fell to less than one million barrels a day we had no buffer, no savings, to tide us through.

    The amount released from CBN in cash on a single day, ie the US$289M ( N88.1Bn) is enough to fund 244,000 N-Power graduates for a year, or pay for 1.2 billion school meals or complete half of Lagos-Ibadan or half of Abuja-Kaduna -Kano roads.

    The vice-president also made the point that in 2014 with oil prices as high as 120 dollars per barrel, the total capital released for power, works, housing, defence, transport, agriculture and defence were just N152Billion for the whole year.

    By contrast, the Buhari administration committed N578Bn to the same ministries in 2016 with oil prices as low as US$28 per barrel as part of the strategy to end the recession. The government was able to do more with less by stopping grand corruption and impunity.

    Recently, the minister coordinating the economy in that administration has written a revealing book : Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines. Who knows, perhaps her stories too are all lies!

  • Osinbajo silent on thieving, corruption under Buhari-led govt – PDP

    Osinbajo silent on thieving, corruption under Buhari-led govt – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party has accused Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) of being a beneficiary of corruption stressing that he [Osinbajo] is silent on the several corruption happening under the Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

    It said that Nigerians, particularly the younger generation, were thoroughly disappointed in Osinbajo for allegedly allowing himself to be used to divert public attention from what it called the impunity and corruption that it alleged had saturated the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, that as “a professor of Law, and an occupant of the exalted seat of the Vice-President of our country, Osinbajo should know better than allowing himself to be used to bandy figures and make unguarded statements at public events.”

    He cited the comment made by Osinbajo at the APC ward congress in Lagos on Saturday, where he allegedly described everyone else as “thieves.”

    Osinbajo had claimed at the congress that unlike its predecessors, the present government would not steal government money.

    Ologbondiyan alleged that the Vice-President had refused to bring honour to his office with his utterances.

    He said, “We note that Vice-President Osinbajo has refused to heed wise counsel and accord respect to his office by desisting from such unguarded comments only because he has been sucked in and entangled in the propaganda, deception, impunity and sleaze that not only brought the administration to power, but have become its trademark in the last three years.

    “We specifically invite Nigerians to note that all the assertions by the Vice-President, especially on the performance of the Buhari administration as well as his allegations and bandying of figures against the opposition, have remained unsubstantiated.

    “Moreover, Nigerians have noted that Prof. Osinbajo, in his ‘sanctimony,’ has been silent on the exposed corruption under the Buhari administration, including the leaked memo detailing N9tn corrupt oil contracts at the NNPC, exposed sleaze in oil subsidy deals, diversion of Internally Displaced Persons’ intervention funds.

    “These include the probe of a misappropriated N18bn in the National Emergency Management Agency under his direct supervision as well as other looting in government agencies such as the National Health Insurance Scheme.

    “The Vice-President is also ominously silent about the prevailing high-handedness and human rights violations and the aloofness of government resulting in daily bloodletting in various parts of our country.”

    Ologbondiyan urged Osinbajo to take heed, retreat to the inner room, and conduct a soul searching.

    He said the Vice-President should also note that propaganda and false accusations were not only abhorred by the Holy Books, but would also not deliver the APC and “its incompetent administration from the resolve of Nigerians to kick them out, come 2019.”

    Responding, the Presidency on Sunday said the PDP was embarking on a shameless attempt to perfect denial and defection over the large-scale corruption that characterised the past administration in the country.

    It said the present administration would however remain focused and ensure that those who stole the nation’s resources under the last administration were brought to justice.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, disclosed this in an interview with one of our correspondents in response to Ologbondiyan’s accusation that Osinbajo is a beneficiary of corruption.

    He said the opposition party was making the unsubstantiated claims to confuse Nigerians and distract government from prosecuting its members accused of corruption.

    The presidential spokesman said government would continue with the compilation of looters’ list and also ensure that they were vigorously prosecuted.

    Akande said, “This is a shameless attempt by the PDP to perfect a strategy of denial and defection. Nigerians are well aware of their antics.

    “We are talking about an administration where a sitting Central Bank governor alerted the nation to a missing $20bn. Nigerians have not forgotten.

    “The attempt that the PDP is making is to deny and deflect. But we will stay focused. We are going forward in prosecuting all these criminal looting of Nigeria’s resources. We will not relent and we will bring them to account.

    “We have already been listing details of the looting and the looters. We will continue to do that and we will press charges against them in court vigorously until we bring justice to Nigerians because they deserve justice.

    “The second point is that the difference between us and them is that even though we are earning less, about 60 per cent less compared to the last administration, we are spending more on infrastructure. We have spent almost N1.3tn on infrastructure, the first time in this country. This is because we are not stealing like they did.

    “It is possible for us to have an ambitious social investment programme where we have spent about N200bn already in two years at a time we are earning less because we are not stealing the resources of the people.

    “They are bringing all these insinuations, innuendos, unsubstantiated rumour and beer parlour gists to confuse Nigerians. It is a waste of time. Let them know that we will pursue all these criminal allegations until people are convicted. That is the right of Nigerians and we will ensure that justice is brought to Nigerians.”

  • We are not thieves in APC – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Federal Goverment has confidence in the ruling All Progressives Congress because members are not thieves.

    Speaking Saturday at the APC ward congresses in Eti Osa Local Government of Lagos State where he observed the congress, Osinbajo said the present administration was different from the past ones because it would not steal.
    He assured all Nigerians that they would share in the benefits of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
    “We came to find out how things are going, to hear the good news that all our ward congresses are going on very peacefully without any rancour and problems.
    “We are confident in our party and the reason we are confident is that we are not thieves, we are different and we want to serve the people and the people know we want to serve them. And with everything we have, we would serve the people. We will make sure we provide everything necessary.
    “And I pray that everyone of us will all see and benefit in the goodness of this land. None of us would be left behind. We would all see the blessings together. Our party is a great party and it will become greater and greater still.
    “What we must achieve in Lagos and other parts of the country is that we must be the best, in everything we do we must be the best.
    In terms of progress, whatever we do must be the best, our schools, hospitals and roads must be the best. So we have to put in the resources. And we can do that, very very possible.
    “As I have been saying all over the country, the difference between us and any other govt is that we will not steal the money. We must be confident.
    “With the decline in the oil prices, we have been earning 60% less than the previous government, but God is helping us, we are getting more and more hopeful. With that, we would see the changes we hope for so that our children and ourselves will see the benefits.”
    Commending the party leaders in the area, Osinbajo stated: “ I have seen that we held this congresses peacefully. I am very happy to be here, to see that our party is making progress and is doing very well.
    “The Lord God Almighty will help us, He will help your children, we will see the goodness in this land, in our own lifetime we will enjoy, suffering must end, progress must continue.”

  • Killings: Osinbajo reinstates FG’s commitment to ensuring peace in Benue, others

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday said the Federal Government would not relent in its efforts at ensuring peace in crisis prone areas of the country.

    Osinbajo, who was represented by the Administrator, Aso Villa Chapel, Rev. Peter Ambi, said this during the National Peace and Leadership Summit organised by the Youth For Peace and Good Leadership Initiative International in Abuja.

    The theme of the Summit is `The Role of the Youth in Nation building’.

    He said peace was important for any peaceful development in the country, saying the killings in parts of the country must stop.

    “Nobody is happy about the killings in parts of the country, this administration is working to ensure that peace is restored to those communities.

    “The killings in mosques, churches and other public areas for one reason or the other must be stopped,’’ Osinbanjo said.

    He called on the youths across the country not to allow themselves to be used to cause havoc in the country, saying the youths should be peace ambassadors.

    The Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), 19 Northern states and FCT, Rev. Yakubu Pam, said the religious leaders are tired of conducting mass burials in affected areas in the country, saying there should be quick intervention.

    “ We need people with different and positive thinking and not people who think of vengeance,’’ he said.

    The National Chairperson of the Women Wing of CAN, Mrs Oyin Sowoolu, advised the youths to use their talents positively to move the nation forward, adding that the role of youths in the country should not be undermined.

    The Founder of the Youth For Peace and Good Leadership Initiative International, Mr Simon Dolly, said the purpose of the summit was to educate the youths as they were mostly the key actors of social vices in the country.

    Dolly said the youths should be able to complement the role of government in ensuring peace and contribute their quota in nation-building.

    He said the summit would be replicated in the six geo-political zones in the country, saying that the youths would be given certificate as peace ambassadors of Nigeria in order to encourage peace in the various areas.

    One of the youths at the summit, Stella Francis-Utah, said the youths needed to contribute to peaceful coexistence, adding that they should stop thuggery and any form of violence.

    The Youth For Peace and Good Leadership Initiative International is an NGO with the aim to promote peaceful co-existence and religious harmony in the society.