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Tag: Osinbajo

  • Why Nigerians must embrace compulsory health insurance scheme – Osinbajo

    The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday advocated compulsory health insurance scheme for citizens to enable all to access quality and affordable health care services.

    He advocated this at the “Civic Innovation Lab: Launch-pad for social innovators’’ in Abuja.

    Osinbajo noted that the present National Health Insurance Scheme although useful, was unable to pull resources together to cater for the health needs of others not yet enrolled.

    He said government was investing in education and health care and had supported states with N1.91 trillion.

    He, however, added that while such sector funding lay in the states only a functional and all-embracing national health insurance scheme could provide adequate health care for citizens.

    The vice president also advocated that undergraduates should be exposed to internships in government administration to enable them to acquire the experience for future leadership roles.

    He also said it was difficult to find role models in governance but said there was the need for the nation to agree on a set of values which could direct the course of governance.

    He said that one thing the nation needed to get right was integrity as with integrity more than 50 per cent of the nation’s problems would have gone.

    According to him, the nation is endowed with enormous resources and creativity which could be harnessed for the country’s good with leadership that had integrity.

    The vice president noted that people went into politics with the notion to use it to make money by stealing adding that by and large such objective affected everything, including political judgment.

    He stated that most of the problems in the country centered on corruption due to lack of integrity and called for change of attitude.

    “If 70 per cent of our resources went into where they were supposed we would not be where we are today,’’ he stated adding that no society could survive on the greed and theft of others.

    He said “integrity pays and is the only thing that works for progress.”

    He stated that those who could be trusted were more easily open to having business deals with others adding that integrity was a business issue rather than a moral issue.

    “I think that many people understand that Nigerians are one of the most creative people in the world; many people know that we have one of the best minds but people are worried when it comes to integrity issues,’’ he said.

    Osinbajo stated that the most difficult lesson he learnt since becoming the vice president was that it was difficult to get things done in the our environment.

    “I think there is a huge gap in a stated objective and getting it done’’ and the reason for that is because we are not paid on timelines, efficiency or productivity in a positive sense.

    He noted that the people who work around him, being young people, had brought in more efficiency than others.

    Osinbajo admitted that youth employability was a major challenge but the problems had to do with the kind of training people got.

    According to him, many suffer the double jeopardy of the training being inadequate as well as advanced technology including the artificial intelligence that had taken away a lot of jobs.

    He described the scenario as complicating but added that the advantage the youth had was that technology could help much in unraveling the problem.

    He said that the government’s N-Power was basically to engage graduates without jobs and to train them in employability task skills.

    “The best type of investment we can make is to push people to that kind of training in spite of your academic qualification,’’ he said adding that in self-improvement a lot of collaboration was needed.

    He said there was the need to change the way of teaching in institutions to embrace creative reasoning, collaboration, the use of technology and others.

    He noted that there were few platforms for people to interact with government adding that the civic lab was an excellent example of bringing people with innovations that had social relevance to have link with the government.

    He said that government had interest in the civic hub to also find out how to resolve problems in the system.

    He said that the administration recently organised the Aso Villa Demo Day as an innovation challenge for the youth adding that another one involving students across the country had begun.

    Osinbajo stated that besides, government would open innovation hubs in six Nigerian universities beginning with the University of Lagos, to enhance creativity in partnership with the private sector.

    He added that an innovation hub existed in Yola, Adamawa, aimed at solving the humanitarian challenges in the North East.

    Osinbajo advised the youth to focus on self-development and strong values noting that with that they could stem the mediocrity seen in government.

    He advised the youth to deemphasise tribe or religion as such things did not help to develop the country in any way noting that agreeing on certain values would offer mentorship to the youth.

    The vice president said that efforts should be made to educate the young people adding that it was also the highest investment the youth could make on others.

     

  • Osinbajo: Beyond Politics of PDP, Corruption – Ken Tadaferua

    Ken Tadaferua

    Permit me to jump start this essay with this fairly long caveat: I am under no illusion whatsoever that former President Jonathan and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, were not horribly corrupt. Neither will I attest that any head of states, leaders of political parties and military in power, prior and post Jonathan (the current Buhari government and All Progressives Congress party) can be adjudged corruption free

    Indeed, corruption has become to insidious, so pervasive, so systemic, it has metastasized into a horrific culture across all strata of the Nigerian society. The vermin has so permeated the moral arteries and veins of society that most folks pointing a finger of corruption at others end up with three of their own fingers pointing accusingly back at themselves.

    That said, I will proceed to my core purpose: To put in perspective, Vice President Oluyemi Oluleke Osibajo’s persistent no-holds-barred excoriation of the PDP as the bastion of corruption peculiarly under President Jonathan in public fora over the past three years.
    Is not Osibajo’s outrage over many allegations and some proven cases of PDP corruption justified? Of course, it is. Any sane mind ought be offended and scandalized by the sheer scale of reported wanton treasury looting by that party’s leadership.
    Osinbajo is therefore irrefutably right in his outrage. But as a politician and a leader of a political party, the All Progressives Congress, is he conscious of the moral of three accusing fingers pointing back at the accuser? To successfully fight corruption, it is imperative that all must come to the table with equity and integrity.
    This is more so, as Osinbajo (61) is a legal luminary, being a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), professor of law, former law lecturer, master of law graduate from the prestigious London School of Economics etc. Even more so, as he is an ordained pastor of The Reedeemed Christian Church of God. If credibility and sincerity of purpose is expected of this man with his towering pedigree, that expectation can never be said to be too much.
    It is an expectation that puts on Osinbajo’s shoulders the burden of integrity and hope by not a few souls. It importantly therefore behoves on Osinbajo to be perceived as a nonpartisan technocrat patriotic to the national cause than the archetypal Nigerian politician driven by selfish political gerrymandering and party exigencies for the short term purpose of winning elections. One must admit that this may not be an easy task for Osinbajo who today is swimming in the same foamy waters with political barracudas.
    Still it is only right to expect much of this brilliant mind. One expects that he ought be measured, balanced and equitable with the facts in his public pronouncements on corruption. If not, he stands the risk of losing credibility as a respected legal mind and pastor. I believe he is currently standing on the precarious edge of a deep credibility deficit sinkhole. He therefore needs to stand back to review his strategy on corruption for these five reasons:
    One. Although it is beyond debate that the Jonathan/PDP government was corrupt, when Osinbajo repeatedly harps on this well worn fact, not a few minds wonder if Nigeria’s corruption conundrum is resolved by just this broken record singsong. One wonders too, if Osinbajo’s reduction of the debate on corruption to one party and government is not minimizing or trivializing the neutron bomb impact of corruption over the decades in Nigeria. If Osinbajo’s purpose is purely political seeking to effectively destroy a rival political party, then he is not sincerely fighting to decimate corruption. He ought do better.
    Two: While lambasting the PDP’s corruption, Osinbajo appears hard put to criticize corruption in his party, the APC. Is that all PDP stalwarts who joined the APC are not corrupt? Or that corruption is not thriving under the APC government? That all government tiers from federal, state to local, ministries, departments and agencies, the army, police, customs and the private sector have become corruption free under the Buhari/APC government? That clearly cannot be. Indeed, Transparency International reports in its three years of rule, corruption has worsened under the APC. Osinbajo’s narrative should not merely focus on the PDP but expanded to cover the global menace of corruption in the country. This will require courage and integrity that deals in the hard truths and facts of our sad corruption reality.
    Three: To maintain the high professional dignity and well manicured integrity Osinbajo garnered before loping into politics, he must research his statistics and facts, subject them to comparative analyses and report them with equity based on historical and national realities. But I do believe that Osinbajo ignores this broad brush of intellect and facts for opportunistic and narrow political gains. Let us, in this regard, look at some data, Osinbajo crunched recently in his dogged PDP tar brushing.
    He said though Nigeria earned between $100-$114 per oil barrel between 2011 and 2014, the PDP investment in capital was abysmal, spending only N139billion on five ministries (works, housing, power, transport, agriculture) in 2014. On the other hand, oil price in 2017 was between $50 – $60 per oil barrel yet the APC poured N560 billion on the same five ministries in 2017.
    What Osinbajo did not say is how the APC raised the N560 billion capex. Was it anti corruption savings? Or from the huge foreign debts it has accumulated in three short years? Osinbajo ignored the side of the balance sheet which shows that the APC has uploaded more debt in three years than in all of PDP’s 16 years in power. Has the corruption from high oil prices in 2014 been replaced with the corruption of high debt burden? Three years in power but where are capital projects completed by the APC only a year to the end of their tenure? The Osinbajo report is not balanced. It is jaundiced. It does not sit well with integrity.
    Four: As a legal mind of no mean repute Osinbajo knows the importance of researching and establishing a strong prosecutor case within the shortest possible time to win court convictions. But as the Vice President bandies fraud and corruption allegations like confetti, instead of convictions, he is losing the tough prosecutor image and increasingly donning the magisterial toga of a comedy judge in a highfalutin sitcom political/media trial.
    For three years and counting, Nigerians have been repeatedly reminded how the PDP pillaged the Central Bank of Nigeria, collecting $289 million two weeks to 2015 elections, N10 billion in November 2014 for PDP Presidential Primaries and another N60 billion for campaigns at a latter part of 2014. Our ears are full of the loud braying about returned loots. What is hardly heard are reports of convictions. The key suspect in these cases, the trial of the PDP national security adviser is stalled for the most mysterious reason. The NSA wants an open court trial. But the APC government prefers a secret trial. The NSA remains in detention. Osinbajo keeps spewing corruption data. It is a stalemate. And Osinbajo’s credibility is at stake.
    Five: It is imperative to re-establish that one’s expectation of Osinbajo, the highly cerebral law professor and respected pastor, goes beyond the regurgitation of the crass joke which our leaders call anti corruption war. I had thought that Osinbajo will bring to bear, his wide research capabilities, deep power of intellect and strategic thinking to deal with the corruption morass.
    I expected he would commission a wholesome study of our endemic corruption affliction. That he would help put together the brain power to provide in depth solutions to these questions: Why is corruption so prevalent? Why is corruption so easy in high places? How can corruption be stamped out?
    For instance, I believe strongly that our deeply centralized and militarized unitary system of government is a major reason for easy corruption in government. A system that shares free money to hundreds of economic and political units every month, every year, for decades breeds complacency, indolence, cronyism and stealing. It attracts thugs, rogues, incompetents and criminals to government. It kills productivity and growth.
    Imagine the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, just doling out billions to rogues in power. In 2014 as it was with the late Sani Abacha collecting billions from the CBN without controls or public knowledge. Imagine the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, that octopus of corruption run with structures and reporting lines, so opaque and limited to men of political power, so that the President can singlehandedly approve oil blocks and multibillion dollar deals on his whim. Sharks and barracudas swim all over the NNPC gobbling up oil acreages, lifting crude oil illegally, importing tonnes of refined oil products, winning major contracts hardly executed. Nigeria has been losing trillions of dollars over the years to these corrupt structures and systems that our leaders make short work of.
    Has this signature corrupt structure and systems of the NNPC changed? No. Instead it is reinforced by a President doubling as oil minister and all by himself, signs opaque multimillion dollar oil contracts. Has the CBN changed? No. Look at all the hundreds of ministries, agencies and departments littering Nigeria, collecting free monthly allocations and signing corrupt contracts and deals. Has any one of them changed? Show me one, just one of the MDAs where corruption is not raging up until today. Not one.
    We have a major epidemic of corruption on our hands and teeming with stinking corruption vermin. And somehow, we think the plastic public upbraiding of the PDP so as to win elections is our most pressing anti corruption war strategy?
    It is great to have Vice President Osinbajo bellyache about PDP corruption. But is it not sanctimonious to neglect the mushrooming corruption in all spheres of our lives? The PDP is corrupt propaganda was a winning strategy for the APC in 2015. It still sees it as a tantalizing winning formula. Maybe. Maybe not.
    I would not write this about Osinbajo if I do not think that he is uniquely gifted
    and positioned to take the anti corruption war beyond merely knocking the PDP for election purposes. I think he needs to worry about the corrupting economic and sociopolitical structures and systems under which corruption hS mushroomed in decades and seek change to the structure. He should worry about the foolish, wanton sharing of free oil money entrenched in the constitution through the Federation Account, that veritable cesspool of legalized corruption. He should worry about the CBN and NNPC and about the President as minister of oil, signing multi billion dollar deals singlehandedly? He should worry about the absolute lack of productivity and lack of transparency by state governors who every month collect and steal federal allocations (plus intervention funds plus Paris Club refund) yet owe workers and reduce their states to massive refugee camps. He ought be championing the cause of the restructuring of this debased polity to kill corruption and enthrone positively competitive productive wealth creation. There is so much to be done.
    Osinbajo can lambast, as much as he wants, the PDP for its well known corrupt ravages. He can also avoid talking about corruption in his party, the APC. He may get political mileage with this strategy and perhaps even win the next election. But let him be sure that posterity will judge him harshly, if as technocrat, law professor and pastor first, before being a politician, he fails to employ his many gifts to confront corruption devoid of political partisanship, with integrity, truth and a global strategy. One that diligently examines the multifaceted faces of the corruption that has permeated, like dry, dusty, Sirocco winds, our homes, schools, offices, legislature, courts, everywhere.
    Osinbajo ought take the lead to address the nagging questions of a rogue national political structure. There is much to be done beyond the shameful you-be-thief, I-no-be-thief mudslinging with the PDP and beyond the regular police work of investigate-arrest-prosecute-convict corruption suspects, which this government has sadly turned into full blown statecraft with all the trimmings of a circus. One that showcases night raiding of suspects, smashing of doors at gunpoint by masked security men, pictures of bags of mountains of cash and massive media trials. Fighting rampaging corruption in Nigeria really has to be more than such foolishness.
    When a headmaster’s own personal children are dirty and wayward with his school unkempt, it is the height of hypocrisy for the headmaster to publicly upbraid parents whose wards uniforms are stained and rumpled. Thus a good starting point for our cerebral Vice President and respected pastor will be the biblical injunction: “You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5). From there, Osinbajo can move on to more realistic, wholistic, structural, systemic resolution of the corruption conundrum confounding our country.

  • Looters’ list not complete without Buhari, Osinbajo, Tinubu’s names – Fani-Kayode

    A former Minister of Aviation and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Femi Fani-Kayode has described as incomplete the fresh names of looters released by the Federal Government on Sunday.

    Recall that Fani-Kayode is number 18 in a list of 24 individuals accused of having looted the treasury under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed released the list on Sunday. He released the first part on Friday.

    However, in a statement released on Monday afternoon, Fani-Kayode said although he received funds in his capacity as director of publicity during the reelection campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the money was not passed to him by any government official.

    “I wish to make it abundatly clear that this is nonsensical and utterly shameful and I hereby reiterate the fact that I am totally innocent of any wrongdoing,” the former minister said of the list. ”

    “The Federal Government claims that I “looted” 800,000,000 naira from government coffers. This is false.

    “I did not receive and neither was I ever given one kobo by any government official, government agency or government parastatal during President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.

    “The money that I received was given to me by the Director of Finance of the Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Mrs. Esther Nenadi Usman, before the election in 2015 and it was specifically for the conduct of the Presidential election.

    “I was Director of Media and Publicity of the Campaign Organisation and it was used specifically and solely for the running and conducting of the media and publicity aspect of the election.

    “Meanwhile I reject the false label of “looter” and I hereby return it to sender.

    “I also deny all the charges that have been leveled against me by the EFCC, I hereby restate my innocence and I shall continue to vigorously defend myself and my good family name in the court of law.”

    Read Fani-Kayode’s statement below:

    PRESS STATEMENT

    RE: “LOOTERS” LIST

    It has been brought to my attention that my name was placed in what the Federal Government of Nigeria describes as its “looters list”.

    I wish to make it abundantly clear that this is nonsensical and utterly shameful and I hereby reiterate the fact that I am totally innocent of any wrongdoing.

    The fact of the matter is that no “looters list” is complete without the names of Muhammadu Buhari, Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Amaechi, Tunde Fashola, Bola Tinubu, Lai Mohammed, Adamu Abdullahi, Dambazau, Kayode Fayemi, Babachir Lawal, Maina, Maikanto Baru, Burutai, all APC Governors and other key members of the Buhari administration and the APC.

    The Federal Government claims that I “looted” 800,000,000 naira from government coffers. This is false.

    I did not receive and neither was I ever given one kobo by any government official, government agency or govermment parastatal during President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.

    The money that I received was given to me by the Director of Finance of the Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Mrs. Esther Nenadi Usman, before the election in 2015 and it was specifically for the conduct of the Presidential election.

    I was Director of Media and Publicity of the Campaign Organisation and it was used specifically and solely for the running and conducting of the media and publicity aspect of the election.

    Mrs. Usman, who was Minister of Finance during the Obasanjo government, was neither a member of the Jonathan government and neither did she manage, handle or touch any government funds in her capacity as Director of Finance of the Jonathan campaign.

    The money she made available to me came from a private company account which was used to house contributions made to the Jonathan campaign by party supporters after a series of fundraising event.

    These were private funds and not public funds and neither can anyone expect us to have run an election in 2015 without any money. You do not run election campaigns with sand but with money.

    It is common knowledge that the Buhari campaign in 2015 was funded by moneys that can be traced directly to the state governments of Rivers state, Lagos state, Kano state, Ogun state and a number of other key APC states yet not one of those involved or that governed any of those states at the time have been questioned, arrested or prosecuted by the EFCC or the Federal Government.

    It is also common knowledge that President Buhari himself was offered and received several benefits and received money from the office of the former National Security Advisor, Col. Sambo Dasuki, yet nothing has been done about this.

    From the foregoing, it is clear that the Buhari administration’s so-called war against corruption is selective and punitive and it is nothing but a vicious media trial and politically-motivated witch hunt.

    It is nothing but a squalid and mafia-like attempt to muscle, discredit, demonise and sillence key members of the opposition. It is slanderous, malicious and unjust.

    If not for the fact that the Buhari administration is an irresponsible, weak, desperate and corrupt government that has no confidence in itself and no sense of decency how can they declare people that have not been convicted by any court of law as “looters”.

    Not only is this a violation of the constitutional provision that says that an accused person is deemed innocent until they are proved guilty by a duly constituted court of law but it is also highly prejudicial to the criminal cases that they are or may be facing.

    Apart from that it is a crude and sordid attempt to intimidate the judges and influence the outcome of the cases which are before them and also to compel them to give the judgement that the government wants. This is not only unacceptable but it is also shameful.

    It is a clear violation of the concept of separation of powers which gives the judiciary alone the power to determine the guilt or otherwise of an accused person.

    It is trite law that only a court of law can declare a man guilty or declare him a thief or a looter and not Buhari and his government.

    How can anyone get a fair trial in a country when the government has already pronounced them guilty before the world?

    You cannot be the investigator, accuser, prosecutor and judge in your own case. This is a basic principle of criminal and constitutional law which appears to have been lost on President Buhari and his cohorts.

    I don’t blame him: I blame Vice President Osinbajo who, as a Professor of Law and a learned SAN, should know better and who I am reliably informed is the co-ordinator of all these politically-motivated, baseless and malicious corruption cases which are being conducted against opposition members by the EFCC.

    He is the one that has been saddled with the shameless responsibility of manipulating the prosecutors, emboldening false witnesses, attempting to pressure the judges and attempting to send innocent men and women who are members of the opposition to jail.

    One day, whether he believes it or not, there will be a reckoning for his wickedness just as there will be one for Buhari and his entire government. God will see to that and He will judge and punish them.

    Meanwhile I reject the false label of “looter” and I hereby return it to sender.

    I also deny all the charges that have been levelled against me by the EFCC, I hereby restate my innocence and I shall continue to vigorously defend myself and my good family name in the court of law.

    I have no doubt that in the end my innocence will speak for me, God will vindicate me and He will expose my accusers for the heartless monsters that they really are.

  • Nigeria on path of resurrection, progress – Osinbajo

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday in Abuja, assured Nigerians that Nigeria was on the path of resurrection and progress, as Christians the world over celebrate this year’s Easter.

    Osinbajo gave the assurance when he spoke with journalists shortly after the Easter Sunday Service at the Aso Villa Chapel, to mark this year’s Easter celebration.

    According to him, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ implis that the country is moving out of its present challenges to a greater hope and peace.

    He said, “the resurrection of Jesus Christ is also a strong and powerful message to the nation.

    “The message is that, our nation is on the path of resurrection, it is on the path of progress, it is on the path of elevation.

    “We are moving out from all our challenges and we are going to a place of greater hope, peace, prosperity and abundance for all of us.”

    The Chaplain of the Aso Villa Chapel, Pastor Seyi Malomo, who delivered a sermon on: “The Temporary Hour of Darkness”, also assured that “Nigeria is going to rise again”.

    He said that the resurrection of Christ signified that darkness could only reign but for a while.

    ”Darkness only reigns for a while, no matter the problem we are facing, just as Jesus only laid in the grave for three days, all these will be over,” he said.

    He called on all Nigerians to emulate the life of Jesus Christ who sacrificed his life for the salvation of mankind.

    He said: “In terms of sacrifice, we have to emulate the life of Jesus Christ. He sacrificed for mankind. And we are liberated and celebrating because he paid the sacrifice.

    “We are all called to do our role in giving that sacrifice that will bring the liberation and the greatness of our nation.”

     

  • PDP to Osinbajo: ‘Name corrupt people in our party or keep quiet’

    The Peoples Democratic Party, Kola Ologbodiyan, has accused Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo of not being bold enough to mention names of those he claimed stole public funds.

    Mr. Ologbondiyan said the vice president was only fond of bandying figures he cannot trace to a personality in the PDP.

    His reaction followed Mr. Osinbajo’s speech at the colloquium organised to mark the 66th birthday of a leader of the All Progressives’Congress (APC) in Lagos on Thursday.

    Citing differences in cash releases to three ministries as example, Mr. Osinbajo said the looting that took place in the last five years of PDP administration cost the nation dear hence, he would continue to talk about corruption in PDP’s administration.

    “The corruption of the previous five years destroyed the economy,” he said.

    While featuring on a programme on Channels Television, Thursday evening, Mr. Ologbondiyan cautioned the vice president to either “keep quiet” or present a list of PDP members who amassed wealth through illegal means.

    “We want to caution the Vice-President that he should stop bandying figures. Anytime the Vice-President has the opportunity to face the camera, he begins to announce figures that he cannot support,” he said.

    “Our advice to him is that as a professor of law, he knows the pathway to follow when you accuse somebody of corruption. We challenge him to stop bandying figures but he should mention names of those who he claimed corrupted themselves. And if he cannot mention their names and he cannot charge them to court and he cannot cause their arrest and he cannot even list these people, he should keep quiet.”

    “Why can’t they come out and say in the last three years, we have done these, we have done that? All they do is to come back and say the last 10 years of the PDP, last five years of PDP. Is that what Nigerians are asking?

    “As far as we are concerned in PDP, until the Vice-President comes out clean and says that your party members by so names corrupted themselves to the tune of so amount, you don’t expect us as a party to begin to respond.”

    Mr. Ologbondiyan said the APC government has not been able to convict any PDP member as the party is only engaging in ‘media trial.’

    He said the APC’s ascent to power was financed with stolen public funds.

    “Don’t forget, the PDP established all the anti-corruption agencies in the cpuntry. Name it; EFCC, ICPC and whatever agency you think about. They were established by the PDP. PDP remains the only party in our modern democracy that have tried its members for corruption charges.

    “Our people challenged the government of which Prof. Osinbajo is Vice-President that the corrupt money they are looking for is what they spent to bring them into government that is the position of PDP.

    “If they are searching for corruption money, if they are searching for people who stole money, they should look inwards, that the position of PDP.

    “If they are current members of the rebranded and repositioned PDP, declare them so, but if they are hiding under villa protection and you are busy going around villages and towns announcing that PDP stole money, you are being unfair and you are not acting like a man of God. That is the position of PDP,” he said.

  • We’ll keep talking about corruption perpetrated under Jonathan, PDP – Tinubu, Osinbajo

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have said they will continue to talk about the corruption perpetrated under the sixteen-year rule of the Peoples Democratic Party and that of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in particular.

    They stated this on Thursday at the 10th Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos, where the 66th birthday of the former governor of Lagos State was commemorated.

    Osinbajo, who described corruption as an existential problem for Nigeria, said, “The corruption of the previous five years destroyed the economy.”

    “They say don’t talk about it. What should we talk about? If we are not talking about it, then what is the lesson to Nigerians?” Tinubu said.

    Tinubu also noted that the party under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari won’t be derailed in its ultimate task of fixing Nigeria.

    Tinubu while giving his speech lambasted past leaders and political parties who according to him had all the resources to fix the country but preferred to waste and loot it dry.

    In an obvious reference to a letter written by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him not to seek reelection, the APC leader said President Buhari won’t be derailed by such ‘political letter writers’ who had had their chances of fixing the country but ended up messing it up than they met it.

    “We want to thank Nigerians for their patience for the past few years that the APC assumed power. The challenges are more than we imagined but we are more determined to surmount them. We won’t be derailed by those who now specializes in writing political letters as if they were not part of those that plunged us to our current sorry state. I won’t talk about that letter thing today. I shall find time to attend to it because I am happy that you have given me the best birthday present ever,’ Tinubu said to the admiration of participants at the event.

  • 2015 elections: Omokri dares Osinbajo to publish proofs Jonathan spent N150bn in two weeks

    2015 elections: Omokri dares Osinbajo to publish proofs Jonathan spent N150bn in two weeks

    Reno Omokri an Aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has dared Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to publish proofs to back the allegation that the former President’s administration shared about 150 billion Naira before the 2015 elections.

    Professor Osinbajo made the allegations while speaking on issues of corruption and past failures of governments at the 7th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum in Abuja.

    “Oil Prices were at an average of 110 dollars a barrel and only 99 billion Naira was spent on power, works and housing and in one day, 100 billion Naira was issued, and people essentially shared it and when we talk about our economy we talk about it as if it’s a normal thing, its abnormal,” the VP stated.

    Omokri who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Tuesday, however, stressed that the comments were “completely false” as no such money was shared.

    “The allegations that the Vice President has made are “completely false”. Saying that 143 billion was spent on capital expenditure in three years under Jonathan is a big lie,” he stressed.

    Speaking further, he poked holes in the anti-corruption fight of the Buhari administration, saying that despite its claims of winning the war, corruption had manifested itself more in the current administration than any other.

    “Every human institution has corruption but the Muhammadu Buhari administration has said that they are fighting corruption, if that is true, how come Nigeria made their best improvement in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index in 2014 under President Good Luck Jonathan when we moved eight places forward from 142 to 136 and then, how come Nigeria has made her worst ever performance in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index under President Muhammadu Buhari when this year we have moved 12 places backwards from 136 to148,” he questioned.

  • We’ve shared N1.9trn to states from Paris Club refund – Osinbajo

    The Federal Government said on Tuesday that it had so far shared N1.9 trillion among states as support from the Paris Club Refund.

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, made this known in his address at the ongoing fourth edition of the Ogun Investors’ Forum in Abeokuta.

    The theme of the programme, which is scheduled to end on Wednesday, is “Consolidating Gains and Accelerating Growth.’’

    Osinbajo said that the Muhammadu Buhari -led administration had continued to extend equal and unbiased support to states of the federation regardless of party affiliations.

    He said it would be difficult to point to any government that had been more supportive in the development of the ambitions of states as the present administration.

    The vice president recalled that no fewer than 26 of the 36 states in Nigeria could not pay the salaries of their workers when the present administration assumed power in 2015.

    Osinbajo explained that the federal government, however, came to their rescue by extending funds to them.

    ” We have been sensitive, attentive and responsive to their needs while our programmes and policies have been developed with the states in mind.

    ” The Anchor Borrowers Programme has continued to provide cheap credit to small holders farmers across the nation.

    “The President’s Fertiliser Initiative has ensured that farmers across Nigeria have direct access to fertiliser.

    “We have continued to feed about seven million primary school pupils in 21 states of the country.

    ” The Budget Support Facility to states has gone a long way in cushioning the shock experienced by the federating units which resulted from the sharp drop in prices of crude oil in 2016.

    ” So our support to states has remained unprecedented in the history of administration in Nigeria,” he said.

    Osinbajo explained that the present administration had been able to reverse the trend of corruption that existed in the country when it assumed power in 2015.

    He added that the present administration had also reversed the trend of underfunding of infrastructure with a total of N1.3 trillion allocated to capital projects in 2017, the highest in the country’s history.

    ” We have continued to block leakages and had increased funding of core sectors like agriculture and transportation by as much as 400 per cent.

    “External reserves are in highest level in five years while inflation rate has dropped for 13 consecutive months.

    “We have done all these and more inspite of the fact that we now earn 60 per cent lesser than Nigeria earned in 2014 and thereby show that we can achieve more with less revenue with prudency and sincerity of purpose,” he said.

    Osinbajo also commended Gov. Ibikunle Amosun for the transformation that his administration had brought to Ogun.

    He acknowledged that Ogun remains the industrial hub of Nigeria and encouraged it to explore increased collaboration with neighbouring Lagos State.

  • Alleged embezzlement: Osinbajo has consistent reputation for lying – Jonathan

    Immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday responded to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s claims that his (Jonathan) administration squandered public funds few weeks to the 2015 general elections.

    The former President’s reaction was contained in a statement by his former spokesperson, Reno Omokri. The former president also confirmed approving the statement.

    Recall that the Vice President had on Monday said N100 billion and a separate $289 million were embezzled by officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, a few weeks to the 2015 elections.

    The vice president, who made this revelation while speaking at the 7th Quarterly Business Forum (QBF) held at the State House, Abuja, said the economic woes being faced by Nigerians today were caused by the corruption of the former administration.

    He also alleged that the strategic alliance contracts signed by Jonathan’s government with the NNPC and NDPC were used to embezzle money by the promoters.

    However, in a swift response, Jonathan’s former spokesperson, Reno Omokri on Tuesday, challenged Osinbajo to publish evidence that the former president shared the alleged amount before the election.

    He also accused Osinbajo of repeatedly lying, saying the “vice-president has again surrendered his lips to Satan to be used to spread slander and lies”.

    “Nigerians may recall that lying is the most consistent achievement of Professor Osinbajo’s almost three years as vice-president,” he said.

    “On this most recent allegation by vice-president Osinbajo, let me state categorically that former President Jonathan did not share 150 billion two weeks to the 2015 election.

    “If professor Osinbajo has proof that former President Jonathan did so, then we challenge him to publish his proof. He is a professor of law and ought to know that he who alleges must prove.

    “Again, it is a lie from the pit of hell that the Jonathan administration spent only N14 billion on agriculture and N153 billion on infrastructure in three years as alleged by the fallacious Osinbajo.”

    On infrastructure, Omokri said the Jonathan government performed far better than the way it is assessed by the present administration, adding that in less than three years, the present government has borrowed more than PDP borrowed in 16 years.

    He said, “The Jonathan administration budgeted and spent over $10 billion on infrastructure in the 5 years between May 6, 2010 and May 29, 2015.

    “The Buhari administration, which in less than three years has borrowed more money than the PDP borrowed in 16 years cannot point to even one major project they have started and completed.

    “Both president Buhari and vice-president Osinbajo keep accusing the Jonathan administration of being corrupt and claim that they run an anti-corruption government,” Omokri said.

     

  • Reveal running costs for Buhari, Osinbajo, ministers, Okupe urges Sagay

    Former presidential spokesman, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has challenged the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, to carry out his threat to reveal details of the running costs of the principal officers of the National Assembly.

    He, however, added that Sagay should also include that of President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, ministers, special advisers to the President, and other top government functionaries, including himself.

    Okupe, in a statement on Tuesday, also said failure by Sagay to give correct figures of the running costs of all top members of the Buhari government and the leadership of the federal parliament within 24 hours will affect his credibility.

    Okupe said, “I find the threat by Professor Sagay on allowances and running costs of the leadership of the National Assembly very interesting. It will aid our fight for transparency in public affairs.

    “However, he should not be selective. For us to take him seriously, he should include details of the running cost of the office of the President, Vice President, mnisters, special advisers, heads of government agencies, parastatals and even himself. Afterall, all the salaries, allowances and running cost come from the same public coffers.”

    Okupe also challenged Sagay to disclose how much he is paid, and how much he spends on his numerous trips within and outside the country from funds donated by international agencies.

    He said, “For Prof. Sagay to say that the country would explode if he gives out certain figures is inciting, considering the current volatile and tensed situation in the country.

    “It will also be interesting if Sagay can tell Nigerians the achievements of his committee in the last 30 months that it has been spending government money.

    “With the Corruption Perception Index rating recently released by Transparency International, it does appear that Sagay’s committee has neither helped Nigeria nor the President who set up his committee and funded it with tax- payers’ money.

    “Sagay should sit down with members of his committee and develop position papers and policies that will actually help the anti-corruption war and make it more effective.”