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Tag: Osinbajo

  • Nigerians among smartest in the World – Osinbajo

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, has stated that “the country is blessed with great talents and Nigerians are among some of the most creative and smartest persons around the world.’’

    He said this while receiving Africa’s first pilot to fly solo around the world, Capt. Lola Odujinrin who paid a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa. Odujinrin flew to 25 countries and made 35 stops in 9 months, making him the first African to attain the feat.

    According to Prof. Osinbajo, “your story is really fascinating and I am extremely proud of what you have done and more that you are a Nigerian and I am very sure that just as we took over the entertainment industry, we will certainly break new grounds.

    ‘This is the sort of things that people should hear especially young people. It is really inspiring and younger people must begin to learn from your experience and story, and am glad that you achieved this feat.

    “Also, the team is entirely Nigerian and that by itself is certainly a good thing and I am sure this portends even greater things for us in the future,’’ he submitted.

    Prof. Osinbajo said that he looked forward to supporting the pilot’s humanitarian project, which he advised to begin on an expandable note.

  • I’m not aware of any suspension, suspended SGF, Babachir Lawal declares

    I’m not aware of any suspension, suspended SGF, Babachir Lawal declares

    Vice-President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday met with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal, barely an hour after the announcement of his suspension by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the closed-door meeting is connected with the work of the Presidential Committee set up to investigate allegations of misconduct against the SGF.

    However, when accosted by state house correspondents on his suspension, Lawal said: “who announced it?”. When he was told that it was the presidency, Lawal replied “then ask them. Why are you asking me? Who is the presidency?”

    When told about the press release signed by President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina and Lawal said: “I have not seen it. I should have been given. I have not seen the press release, so I cannot comment on it.”

    The Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Amb. Ayo Oke, who was also suspended, was seen around the Vice President’s office immediately after the departure of the SGF.

    Oke, who noticed the presence of State House correspondents, however turned back and attempted to pass through Vice President’s exit gate.

    He was prevented from going out through that point by security officials; the security also stopped the DG from passing through the service chief’s gate.

    The NIA boss later left the Presidential Villa without seeing the Vice-President.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Buhari on Wednesday ordered the immediate suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr David Lawal and the Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Amb. Ayo Oke, pending the outcome of investigation of allegations levelled against them.

    Media and Publicity Special Adviser, Mr Femi Adesina, said the president ordered an investigation into the allegations of violations of law and due process made against the SGF, Mr David Lawal, in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE).

    The President also ordered a full-scale investigation into the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, over which the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has made a claim.

    “The investigation is also to enquire into the circumstances in which the NIA came into possession of the funds, how and by whose or which authority the funds were made available to the NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds.

    “The President has also directed the suspension of the Director General of the NIA, Ambassador Ayo Oke, pending the outcome of the investigation,’’ the statement added.

     

     

    NAN

  • Easter: Learn from Christ, show love to all, Osinbajo charges Nigerians

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday urged Nigerians to emulate the sacrificial love that Jesus Christ showed to all generations by preaching and showing love to all.

    Osinbajo gave the advice while speaking to newsmen shortly after the Easter Service at the Aso Villa Chapel.

    The VP had at the service preached on love to one another and said it was the foundation of the nation’s development.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Osinbajo’s sermon was entitled: `Revelations on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.’

    “It is a message for love for all; there is no tribe, no religion; regardless of faith, Jesus loves us. This is how we should relate with ourselves.

    “It is a pure love and I think that it is what everyone should bear in mind at this time,” he said.

    He reminded Nigerians to serve God faithfully to earn forgiveness and salvation in the hereafter.

    Osinbajo noted that spiritually, Jesus stood between hell and heaven, and serves as an intercessor for mankind.

    “All that is required is to believe in Him by acceptance of the commitment he made on the cross,” he said.

     

     

  • Buhari absent, Osinbajo presides over FEC meeting

    Buhari absent, Osinbajo presides over FEC meeting

    President Buhari is presently absent at the Federal Executive Council meeting holding at the state house Abuja. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is presiding over the meeting.

    This will be the first time President Buhari will be absent at the meeting since his return from his medical trip to the UK.

    Buhari’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, when reached said the president wasn’t at the meeting stressing that he (Buhari) is very well but decided to allow Osinbajo preside over the meeting. No official statement from the presidency yet.

    “As a president, at any time he can decide to give his Vice President the opportunity to preside any meeting he wants and this time around actually, he wanted his Vice President to Preside over the Federal Executive Council”he said

    On President Buhari’s health status, Ahmad said “He is doing fine”

  • Osinbajo fumes, says PDP on death row, APC gasping for breath

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said opposition party, People Democratic Party, PDP, is on death row while his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is gasping for breath.

    Osinbajo said this at the National Conference on Political Party Supremacy and the Dynamics of Parliamentary Autonomy put together by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, in Abuja.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Osinbajo was represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Political matters, Babafemi Ojudu.

    He tasked the institute to go into research and see how Nigeria can begin to build very strong political parties.

    In his words: “Today, we cannot talk of strong parties in Nigeria. The PDP is on death row, the APC is gasping for breath, therefore, it is very important that in building our party we must also look out for leaders that can work assiduously to mobilise people, leaders with conviction, leaders who are independent, leaders who are courageous, leaders who have capacity, and leaders who are disciplinarian.

    “If we have these leaders and we appoint them to lead our parties both at national level and at the local level, we can be talking of political parties that will deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.”

    Osinbajo added, “Concern should be directed at strengthening the political parties as things stand today our political parties are very weak.”

    He also disagreed with former Senate President, Ken Nnamani who stated that people have right under the constitution to move from one political party to the other.

    Osinbajo said, “If we keep jumping from one party to the other there will be no way we are going to strengthen the existing ones.

    “People should be able to stay in their political party, work at strengthening them and ensure that it even becomes a family culture whereby my son, my grand son, great-grand son will know themselves.”

  • Photos: Osinbajo inspects rehabilitation of Abuja Airport

    Photos: Osinbajo inspects rehabilitation of Abuja Airport

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is currently inspecting the ongoing rehabilitation work of the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport Abuja.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the airport was temporarily closed from midnight of Tuesday, March 7, 2017, to enable the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, carry out major rehabilitation on the runway.

    The Federal Government through the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has therefore given assurances that the airport will be reopened on April 19.

    See photos below:

     

     

     

     

  • Modular refineries: FG will prove sincerity to communities, ex-militants – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Thursday that the Federal Government would engage the Niger Delta communities on construction of modular refineries on the basis of trust.

    He said this during the inter-ministerial meeting on the Niger Delta in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    It focused on the implementation efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari’s New Vision for oil-producing communities in the region.

    Already states in the region are beginning to indicate interest to work with the Federal Government and the private sector to develop the modular refinery concept as a panacea for illegal refineries in the region.

    “We are saying there is a way out of violent agitation, but it is by creating opportunities and the environment where the people in the communities can benefit.

    “We will engage them on the basis of trust; we must prove to them that we are trust-worthy”, Osinbajo said.

    Issues of planning for the Maritime University, update on contractors in the Niger Delta returning to site and amnesty were also discussed at the meeting.

    The inter-ministerial meeting was attended by the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Mr Kingsley Otuoro and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani.

    Also in attendance was the Minister of State for Petroleum Resource, Dr Ibe Kachikwu and his counterpart in the Ministry of Environment, Malam Ibrahim Jibril.

    The MD of NDDC, Mr Nsima Ekere, the D-G of NIMASA, Mr Dakuku Peterside and the head of the Amnesty Office, retired Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh, were also in attendance.

    The Vice President also met with a delegation from the Gbaramatu Kingdom accompanied by a group of U.S. investors.

    The meeting, under the aegis of the Kingdom’s Oil and Gas Producing Trust Fund, deliberated on prospective investors’ interest in a Modular Refinery project in the community.

    At the meeting, the Vice President noted that the modular refineries to be established should be profitable and realistic in order to address critical issues bordering on the development of the region on a sustainable basis.

    He said the Federal Government was determined to address challenges in the Niger Delta in a comprehensive manner.

    “There are several things that we are working on now on the modular refineries and what government’s own participation is all about.

    “We are also trying to work out a template for implementing this decision on modular refineries.

    “But we must also structure this in a way that works for business or structure it in a way that is realistic and works, otherwise it will not last.

    “It is a business proposition first and foremost; it must make sense.”

    Osinbajo also said that the Buhari administration was determined to ensure that “we look at how we deal with the issues concerning the Niger Delta as enshrined in our new vision for the region.

    “It is a long term commitment; that is why we are looking at projects that will benefit the people of the region and the country at large”, he said.

    Osinbajo commended the Gbaramatu community for taking the initiative to support government’s actualisation of a plan for the region, saying “it should be one of the models of what we will be doing in the future.”

    Leader of the delegation and Bolowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Wellington Okirika said the community was committed to the actualisation of the 20,000 barrels per day from the Gbaramatu Modular Refinery project.

    Okirika said the project would ensure lasting peace and stability in the region and thanked the Buhari presidency for the Vice President’s visit to the Kingdom.

     

  • Attract investors to Nigeria to improve economy, Osinbajo charges ambassadors-designate

    Attract investors to Nigeria to improve economy, Osinbajo charges ambassadors-designate

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday urged the ambassadors-designate to use their positions to attract investors and enhance the Foreign Direct Investment of the country.

    Osinbajo made the call in Abuja at the closing ceremony of a five-day induction programme for the 45 non-career ambassadors-designate.

    He said that the present administration was determined to create a favourable environment for investors by making the process of doing business very easy.

    He said: “Use your position as ambassadors to serve and attract investors to the country.

    “We have been working on so many things on ease of doing business in the country.

    “One of the key measures is visa on arrival for investors, the implementation of which will attract investors to the country,” he said.

    Osinbajo said that another one was getting approval on doing business as well as the one stop shop policy of the government

    The vice president challenged the ambassadors-designate to be friendly in their relationships and be good image makers of the country.

    “We need to know that persons need to be served with dignities and respect, this is very important,” he said.

    The Vice President said that the government would work very hard to put in place all that would be needed to make the embassies what is expected of them.

    According to the Vice President, Nigeria is fortunate to have the crop of the ambassadors-designate to represent the nation in various countries across the world.

    “It is also an incredible opportunity and privilege to represent your country in various countries you will be posted.

    It is in my view a very wholesome responsibility and honour for you to represent your country and given opportunity to serve the nation,” he said.

    Earlier, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, urged the ambassadors-designate to attract investors into the mining sector of the economy.

    Fayemi said that the ministry had put in place measures to end the exportation of raw solid mineral by miners.

    He said that the move to end the era of exporting unprocessed solid minerals from the country was part of the ministry’s roadmap.

    He said that any miner ready to invest in the sector must be willing to set up processing plants in host communities in order to create jobs for the people.

    Fayemi said that whosoever that could not afford setting up a plant should collaborate with others.

     

     

    NAN

  • Buhari names Osinbajo as new NEMA Board chairman

    Buhari names Osinbajo as new NEMA Board chairman

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday approved the appointments of new executive management for the various federal government owned departments and agencies.

    The President named his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as the new Board chairman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

    This was revealed on Friday in a statement signed by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The President also approved the appointment Chief Duro Onabule as Chairman of the Board of the Nigeria Television Authority.

    Onabule was Editor of the defunct National Concord as well as Chief Press Secretary to former President Ibrahim Babangida.

    Others on the NTA management board are; Dr Steve Egbo (Administration and Training), Abdul Hamid Salihu Dembos (Marketing), Mohammed Labbo (News), Fatima M. Barda (Finance), Stephen Okpanachi (Engineering) and Wole Coker (Programmes).

    Adesina also announced the appointments of Aliyu Hayatu as Chairman of the Board of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), while Buhari Auwalu and Yinka Amosun, were appointed as Zonal Directors for Kaduna and Lagos stations, respectively.

    Other new appointees are: Nigerian Film Corporation, Dr Chika Maduekwe, General Manager, National Theatre and National Troupe of Nigeria, Comrade Tar Ukoh, Artistic Director, National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, Director-General; National Film and Video Censors Board, Folorunsho Coker, Director-General.

    The President also named Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja as the new Director-General of NEMA.

    Members of the NEMA Board are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. David Babachir Lawal; Captain Talba Alkali, representing Ministry of Transport and Aviation and Amb. Rabiu Dagari, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Others are Dr Ngozi Azadoh, Ministry of Health; Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, Ministry of Interior; Engr. Ajisegiri Benson Akinloye; Ministry of Water Resources, AVM Emmanuel Anebi; Nigerian Armed Forces; and AIG Salisu Fagge Abdullahi, Nigerian Police Force.

     

  • Osinbajo running government as directed by Buhari – Ojodu

     

    The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Sen. Babafemi Ojudu, on Monday said the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo is carrying on with governance as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari who is presently on a medical vacation in London.

    The president’s aid also criticized the trend in the social media of comparing President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

    Speaking with State House Press Corps, Ojudu said that without the President there could not be the Vice or Acting President.

    “I think it is thoughtless. I also see it as a ploy by the opposition to cause unnecessary division. It is a joint ticket. The President and the Vice President were elected based on the manifesto of the party.

    “Since they were sworn in they have been committed to implementing that manifesto.

    “The same people who are saying that now are the ones who are saying that we never had an economic team; we have no policy, that we have nothing.

    “It is now that the policies that we are implementing are maturing that they are seeing the result.

    “It is not a question of one person doing better than the other person.

    “There is nothing that has been done in this administration or since the Vice President started acting that is not something that started far back in the past.

    ‘’A good example is the Niger Delta initiative.

    “The President called the Vice President and gave him the mandate to go to the Niger Delta and meet with everyone who is a stakeholder there, the communities where oil is produced, all the leaders of the place, talk to militants and make sure to resolve this problem to the benefit of Nigerians.

    “We are losing 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, all the gas pipelines powering the turbines are being blown up and the President said that unless and until we solve this problem we will not come out of recession.

    “The VP took up the mandate and went to the Niger Delta.’’

    According to Ojudu, the Niger Delta dialogue is the initiative of the President, not that of the Vice President.

    He said it was mischief makers who did not wish the country well that are promoting that kind of divisive ideas.

    The presidential aide said that the Acting President was consulting the President almost daily in running the country.

    According to him, there are things that the Vice President needs to consult the President, especially on major decisions because he is acting.

    He noted that “the Acting President is in charge at present but the President is still the President no matter what’’.

    He said it was incumbent on the Acting President to call on the President where there were major issues to be decided on to get his opinion.

    He said the consultation did not also mean that the Acting President was not independent, adding that Osinbajo would ensure that the country was well administered.

    “Again one other thing you have to see is that if you give someone a responsibility, he must also be able to show to the President that the fact of his not being around he is not going to create any vacuum.

    “Even, he can then decide not to have a sleep at all through the time that the President may be away just to let him know that he is capable of ensuring that Nigeria goes on well while he is away.

    “And the President could also have given a mandate, `let nothing go wrong, I believe in you, I appointed you as my Vice President, you must make sure that you do this.

    “If you have somebody who is your boss and gives you an assignment, you want to impress him and you want to impress Nigerians as well.

    “That for me is what has happened, not in the sense that one person is better than the other, certainly not. ’’

    On the alleged propagation that the President was poisoned which appeared in the social media, the aide described the report as untrue.

    He advised the media men to be careful about the information they got from the social media as there was a fake factory for fake news in Nigeria.

    He said the publication about some imaginary money kept somewhere by the President which the alleged poison maker wanted to inherit was untrue.

    He noted that Nigeria had a President whom no one could question his integrity in all his public and private lives adding that none could succeed in tarnishing his image.