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Tag: Osinbajo

  • $25bn NNPC contract scam: Kachikwu’s memo misleading – Osinbajo

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday insisted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not award $25b contracts as earlier insinuated by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Minister of State for Petroleum ResKachikwu, in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari made the allegations, stressing that the contracts did not follow due process.

    However, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant, Laolu Akande, titled ”It is Important to set the records straight”, the Vice President noted: “Claims on social and traditional media that $25b worth of oil contracts were awarded by the NNPC or that $25b in NNPC funds is missing are both false.

    “No contracts were procured by the NNPC based on the leaked memo of the Petroleum Resources Minister of State, even though such impressions have been maliciously created in the past few weeks.”

    He said that a closer look at each of the said projects indicated clearly that “these are not procurement contracts”.

    He added “When I tweeted on Thursday morning last week, I had indicated that the Vice President, while acting as President approved Joint Venture Financing arrangements. But for some curious reasons, a few media reports used that tweet to report that I said the then Acting President approved N640 billion worth of oil contracts. Such reporting is both false and misleading and therefore ought to be completely ignored by all seekers of truth.”

    “What is more important is that when you look diligently at the referenced projects/transactions one by one, you will see, as NNPC has shown, that none of them was actually a procurement contract.”

    “Take both the Crude Term Contract and the Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) agreements, for instance; these are not procurement contracts involving the expenditure of public funds. Both transactions are simply a shortlisting process, in which prospective off-takers of crude oil and suppliers of petroleum are selected under agreed terms, and in accordance with due process.

    “It is therefore wrong and misleading to refer to them as though they’re contracts involving the expenditure of NNPC funds, or public funds of any sort. As you now know, the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Resources himself has in fact clarified that he meant to focus on administrative and governance issues, not red-flag any fraud – because no fraud exists in this matter.”

    For both transactions, Akande said it was not true and also inaccurate to attach $10b and $5b values on them.

    “Attaching monetary values to these contracts is an arbitrary act that completely distorts understanding of the situation.” he said

    According to him, Nigerians ought to be informed clearly that “whenever there is a monetary value on any consignment of crude oil lifted in this country by any firm, the proceeds go directly to the Federation Account and not to any company. In fact, the Buhari administration in the implementation of the TSA has closed down multiple NNPC accounts in order to promote transparency and probity.”

    Akande also explained that even in compiling the shortlisting for the prospective off-takers of crude oil and suppliers of petroleum under agreed terms, “there were public placements of advert in the mass media seeking Expressions of Interest (EoI). Bids were publicly opened in the presence of NEITI, DPR, BPP, Civil Society groups and the press. In some cases even, these events were televised live.”

    “For the sake of emphasis, let me state clearly that both the Crude Term Contract and the Direct Sale and Direct Purchase agreements are not contracts for any procurement of goods, works or services, and therefore do not involve the use of public funds. Instead, they are simply a shortlisting of off-takers. And unlike what has been reported in the media so far, it is important to set the records straight that the list of approved off-takers does not carry any financial values but simply states the terms and conditions for the lifting and supply of petroleum products.”

    He also disclosed that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Contract “is a contractor-financed contract which has not yet been finalized or awarded; it is still making its way to the Federal Executive Council, FEC.”

    He noted that there were also three presidential approvals given on Joint Venture financing arrangements, meaning loans to cater for cash call obligations. One of these was okayed by the President in 2015, and two by the then Acting President in 2017.

    Lastly, on the NPDC, he said there is no contract in the $3BN to $4BN range as reported in the media.

    “You can then see from the foregoing that the $25BN being bandied in the media does not exist. There is no $25BN missing,” Akande concluded.

     

  • We have attained 70 per cent success in ease of doing business action plan – FG

    The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council has completed a 60-day national action plan with 70 per cent of success and has started the second 60-day national action plan.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this in an interview after opening “The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum 2017’’ in Lagos on Saturday.

    He stated that the government had a lot of benchmarks and very aggressive timelines on what it wanted to do.

    “We are seeing a lot of progress on ease of doing business but it is an evolving work; but there has been a great deal of success.

    “We think the ease of doing business is entirely strategic to the successes of businesses and of cause the success of our own economy; so it is priority for us,’’ he stated.

    The Vice President observed that the only way to avoid lack of consistency in the agenda was to have governments that were serious in what it was doing.

    “As far as the government of Nigeria is concerned today we are very serious and committed to the programmes being implemented.

    “We have ensured that we have timelines, we have thresholds and set all types of the right parameters for doing what we need to do and we are doing it consistently.”

    While declaring the Forum open earlier, Osinbajo had asked the youths drawn from no fewer than 55 African countries to escape from the perceived failures of their past history and focus on the future for the continent’s prosperity.

    The Vice President’s remarks titled “The Tyranny of History’’ identified the problems posed by dependence on the past history of the continent.

    “Our past failures can become a barrier to progress and freedom,’’ he declared.

    Accordingly, he said that history of Africa should not determine the future because the present is better than the past.

    The initiator of the forum, Mr Tony Elumelu noted that the African continent was surrounded by poverty while the youth needed jobs to have economic hope.

    “There are so many uncertainties about the future and the continent has not made much progress in entrepreneurship.’’

    Elumelu said that between 2006 and 2016 capital inflows into the continent was nearly half a trillion dollars but did not change the basic human development index.

    He stated that the youth escaped to Europe in search of greener pastures through dangerous routes and some got drowned in the Mediterranean while the survivors were subjected to inhuman treatments.

    He urged the youth to take the initiatives to liberate and develop the continent.

    “Africa remains underdeveloped and a new development model is needed,’’ he said, adding that it informed the creation of the foundation with seed capital of $100 million for 10 years to assist entrepreneurs.

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Government alone cannot fund university education in Nigeria – Osinbajo

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said the private sector and alumni associations must take active part in the funding of university education across the country as both the state and federal government cannot handle the task alone.

    Osinbajo spoke at the “2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards and Celebration of UNILAG at 55’’ organized by the Alumni Association of the University of Lagos.

    “We must ensure that we continue in the great traditions of the University of Lagos.

    “This is why I am so excited to see a lot of very committed alumni who want to see to it that our university grows from glory to glory.

    “And it is important that we do so because just as the pro chancellor pointed out, government cannot support the universities to the extent that is required, or to keep them even at the current levels.

    “A lot will have to come from the alumni and the private sector.

    “That is how great universities all over the world are run.

    “And I am excited to see that our project today, the fund raising project, is one that has clearly shown the way to go with respect to developing our universities,’’ Osinbajo added.

    The Vice President acknowledged that the event was a special occasion for him “and I was determined to stay till the very end.

    “Because it is not often that one gets a chance to enjoy the company of many who have either been colleagues or seniors in the same university.

    “And in any event it is not often that one gets to celebrate the 55th anniversary of a great institution.

    “I want to say that UNILAG has proved time and time again to be not just a university of first choice but also the university of `firsts’; so many firsts in so many different areas.’’

    He said it was great to find that one of the awardees, Dr Daniel Olukoya, the Pastor and Founder of the Mountain of Fire Miracles Ministry, was the first to clone genes.

    “That was absolutely an outstanding thing.

    “The Pastor and Founder of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, (Pastor Enoch Adeboye) was also the first Nigerian to get a PHD in a Nigerian University in Applied Maths and Engineering.

    “And I think that there are so many other firsts but I know that the most important thing for us today is to ensure that those firsts do not become the last.’’

    Osinbajo congratulated the awardees because their achievements were worthy of celebration and such had indeed emanated from a great institution.

    “I would like to thank everyone, for those of us who have managed to stay to the very end and to hope that when we celebrate our 60th you will all be here.

    “And we will all be here to celebrate the 70th and 80th and 100th as well for the young ones amongst us,’’ he stated.

    The retiring Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Rahmon Bello also lamented the acute accommodation problem for students of the institution.

    According to Vice Chancellor, UNILAG has a student population of 58,000 but is faced with the highest challenge of accommodation as only 8,000 bed spaces existed.

    He spoke at the “2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards and Celebration of UNILAG at 55’’ organized by the Alumni Association of the University of Lagos.

    “Efforts need to be increased for accommodation of graduates and PG students,’’ he said and thanked the Alumni Association for embarking on a new 500-bed hostel.

    Bello noted that the university was a leading one in the country but needed to catch up with other institutions in the continent and the globe.

    Accordingly, he said the expectation was for the government to allow alternative sources of funding for higher institutions.

    The Chairman of Council and Pro-Chancellor of the institution, Dr Wale Babalakin also that the university system in the country was on a cross road as no Nigerian university was rated among the 80th best in the world.

    “We have to change the structure of our universities to give them the impetus to do more,’’ he said, adding that even the cost of training per student was very high.

    “The estimated cost of training an undergraduate is about N1.2 million per annum. UNILAG will require about N64 billion yearly to run while about N1.3 trillion is required by the FG to run universities per annum.

    “The fund cannot be provided by the FG alone and we have to devise creative ways to fund the universities,’’ he added.

    The Alumni President, Dr Sunny Kuku, in a welcome address said the awards took cognizance of those who contributed to the growth of the university in the past.

    Kuku added that the fund raising targeting N3 billion was to build a new hostel for N2 billion, assist faculty development and provide infrastructure in the Alumni secretariat.

  • NNPC contract: [Video] Osinbajo abetting crime, now has PhD in lying, says Asari Dokubo

    Former Niger Delta militant leader, Mujaheed Asari Dokubo, yesterday lambasted Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo describing him as a liar.

    Asari said the vice President now had PhD in lying.

    The ex-militant leader said this in a video he shared on ysterday in reaction to the NNPC contract saga.

    There have been conflicting reports of Osinbajo’s alleged approval of NNPC contracts worth over N600 billion while Buhari was away on medical leave in London.

    In a statement by his Media aide, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo had admitted that he approved some contracts for the NNPC but later clarified that it was loan agreements he approved not Oil contracts.

    Asari, in the video attacked Osinbajo, saying that he now “has PhD in Lying.”

    However, the Vice President in a swift reaction, denied approving any contract, saying what he approved for the NNPC were two loans.

    In what appeared to be a U-turn, Akande in a statement said Osinbajo made the clarification in view of media enquiries that followed NNPC’s claim that the contracts were indeed approved by him (Osinbajo).

    Akande tweeted: “In response to media inquiries on NNPC joint venture financing, VP Osinbajo, as Ag President, approved recommendations after due diligence & adherence to established procedure.

    The Vice President who was in Bonny Island where he flagged off the Bodo-Bonny Road, Rivers State, said he only granted loans and not contracts.

  • Count me out of 2019 Presidential elections – Osinbajo

    Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Monday refuted claims that he will contest 2019 Presidential elections.

    According to Reuters, Osinbajo said this when he was asked at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London if he had considered running.

    “None of that is on the cards,” the Vice-President reportedly said.

    It will be recalled that Osinbajo had earlier disowned a group known as Osinbajo Volunteers, which is campaigning for his election as President in 2019.

    His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, had asked Nigerians to disregard the group, adding that he had nothing to do with them.

    The group had noted that Nigeria now has a “leader who has a clue what to do and (how to) turn Nigeria the beloved to the land of our dreams.”

  • Why Nigeria’s economy is ‘working’ under Buhari – Osinbajo

    Why Nigeria’s economy is ‘working’ under Buhari – Osinbajo

    The Buhari Presidency is making specific efforts to enable the private sector thrive, specifically by undertaking extensive ‘ease of doing business’ reforms, in addition to on-going investment in infrastructure, says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    The Vice President stated this on Monday at the Financial Times Africa Summit holding at the Claridge’s Mayfair Hotel in London noting that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari in the past months has been working assiduously to improve macroeconomic conditions.

    “After a continuous slide in growth since 2014, the trend of growth in GDP has turned around with a modest growth of 0.55% in the second quarter of this year while inflation, though still somewhat high, has declined from its peak of 18.7% in January 2017 to about 16% today,” he stated.

    Speaking to a global audience made up of international business leaders, investors, public sector officials, media gurus and intellectuals, the vice president noted that “the outlook going forward is quite positive based on improvements in oil prices and production and the trend of leading indicators such as positive purchasing managers indices, a revived stock exchange and increasing foreign exchange reserves.”

    Highlighting some of the efforts of the Buhari Presidency in agriculture and power, the vice president drew attention to the significant progress achieved in the ease of doing business initiative of the federal government stating that “in the first stage, reforms were introduced under a 60-day national action plan focused on eight areas that make it easier to register businesses, obtain construction permits, get credit, pay taxes, get electricity, trade across borders, facilitate entry and exit of people and register property.”

    Continuing, Mr. Osinbajo said “practical examples of success include leveraging the use of technology to fast track business registration and payment of taxes, a functioning, tried and tested 48-hour electronic visa procedure, and an Executive Order mandating greater transparency and efficiency across all government agencies. The reforms have led to reduction in cost and time, as well as greater transparency for small and medium sized enterprises in particular.”

    “Following the 70 percent success rate achieved in the first phase of the ease of doing business reforms, we recently embarked on a second national action plan which will have 11 areas of focus and will run for 60 days from October 2017,” he added.

    The vice president equally noted that Nigeria is an investor’s delight because of the opportunities which the Nigerian economy offers, specifically emphasizing that “the opportunities are enormous indeed.”

    He added that the Buhari administration is “nevertheless determined and optimistic that Nigeria will along with the rest of the continent bring about an Africa that works for all its people and contributes to global growth and prosperity.”

    During his keynote address, the vice president observed that the theme ‘What Africa Works’, is appropriate and remarked that with Africa’s experience in the past few years, it is clear that “what makes Africa work, is what makes economies work anywhere; honest visionary leadership and good governance, letting the private sector and markets lead, diversification from resource-based revenues, developing the potential of the human resources available.”

    The law professor noted that Africa “can demonstrate with clear examples that what makes Africa work are the ingenuity and resilience of the people, especially its 70 percent youth population, leadership and good governance, allowing the private sector and markets to function, focusing on infrastructural development, and the incredible opportunities that abound.”

    The summit was also attended by a number of Nigerian dignitaries including Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, the Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Aliko Dangote; Yemi Cardoso among others.

  • Nigerians have accepted corruption as a way of life – Osinbajo

    Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has lamented the high rate of corruption in the country, saying Nigerians had accepted the menace as a way of life.

    Osibanjo spoke at the re-inauguration of Theseabilities Foundation in Lagos, yesterday.

    The Vice President also expressed displeasure over the way corrupt people were allowed to get away with their action in the country.

    Stating that the poverty level in Nigeria was the result of high level of corruption, Osinbajo said it was disheartening to see Nigerians accept the menace as way of life and go a step further to celebrate corrupt people.

    He said, “The reason corruption is so prominent in our society is because we accept it as a way of life, celebrate it and allow it to thrive.

    “With this kind of attitude, we can not take our rightful place in comity of nations because it is the major reason for poverty in our society.

    “We have capacity to fight it but if that capacity is privatized and some people take it away and use it for themselves we can not make progress.”

  • Osinbajo in London for FT’s Africa Summit

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Africa Summit, with the theme “What Makes Africa Work, ” taking place in London, from October 8 to October 9.

    The Vice President leaves for London today and is expected back on Monday, his spokesman, Mr Laolu Akande said.

    Akande stated that the Africa Summit hosted by the Financial Times (FT) of London is a global forum, reputed as one of the leading conferences in the world on African business and economic matters.

    He noted that the FT itself has had a relationship with the African continent that stretched back to 125 years ago.

    He said the summit would attract global leaders, economic experts, investors and intellectuals from Africa and around the world.

    “Osinbajo will discuss the increasing economic prospects in Africa and detail the progress of the Buhari administration, especially through the Federal Government’s medium-term Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), to the global audience.

    “The summit which will also include presentations from other leaders and speakers will feature first-hand experiences and interactions from government and business leaders in the continent while providing credible opportunities and encouraging foreign investments.

    “So far, the yearly event has become a platform for the dissemination of a more accurate and beneficial narrative of the improving economic environment in Africa,’’ Akande added.

  • We are working with neighbouring countries to tackle smuggling – Osinbajo

    The Federal Government has said it is partnering with neighbouring countries to ensure that the country’s porous borders are better policed to tackle smuggling and the influx of counterfeit products into the country.

    Vice President. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo said this on Thursday when a delegation of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, paid a visit to him Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Osinbajo said the collaboration will further promote the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products and boost the country’s manufacturing sector.

    The vice president said this when a delegation of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, paid a visit to him Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    MAN, led by its president, Frank Jacobs, presented the vice president a report on its advocacy campaign for patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products.

    Speaking further on the issue of checking smuggling and counterfeit products, the vice president said certain sections of the laws should be amended to attract stringent monetary penalties for defaulters, which would serve as deterrent and also to protect the quality of goods in the country.

    “More importantly, the whole issue is that we are able to police the borders. Last week, we had discussions with all the agencies connected; including the Customs, the Minister of Internal Affairs, NPA, and we were looking at how we can work with our neighbours, especially the Benin Republic, and our neighbours also in the North, to police our borders as much as we can,” Mr. Osinbajo said.

    The vice president reiterated that the major focus of the Buhari administration’s Ease of Doing Business reforms was to increasing patronage for locally manufactured goods, as well as to create an enabling environment for the private sector and businesses in the country to thrive.

    He said, “The whole point of the Executive Order on promoting “Made-in-Nigeria” products was to set the ball rolling, to create an environment for this sort of initiative, and I am extremely grateful to MAN for the work that it has done in bringing this to the fore.”

    Earlier in his remark, the President of MAN noted that the association’s advocacy campaign was not only aimed at improving the patronage of locally manufactured products by Nigerians but to also help create more jobs for Nigerians in the local manufacturing sector by reducing imports.

    The vice president noted that the federal government will consider the request made by the association for a 35 per cent margin of preference for Made-in-Nigeria products for government procurement.

    “I think that, in this particular case, the 35 per cent threshold is entirely reasonable. We should be able to do better than that in terms of driving government procurement,” Mr. Osinbajo said, adding that the country has a huge market for locally manufactured products, especially in the textile and footwear industries.

    He further said that government has ordered some of these products for the military and other uniformed agencies of government.

  • Osinbajo presides over NEC meeting

    Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo attended the National Retreat on revitalising urban water supply earlier Thursday morning, after which he presided over the monthly meeting of the National Economic Council, NEC.

    The information was contained in a tweet by the VP’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande.

    <blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>VP Osinbajo attends National Retreat on revitalizing urban water supply this morning &amp; then presides over monthly National Economic Council</p>&mdash; Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) <a href=”https://twitter.com/akandeoj/status/913341431460372480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 28, 2017</a></blockquote>
    <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>