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Tag: President Buhari

  • Insecurity: President Buhari summons service chiefs for emergency meeting

    Insecurity: President Buhari summons service chiefs for emergency meeting

    President Muhammadu Buhari called for an emergency meeting with all his service chiefs to address security issues on Thursday.

    This is coming two days after the Presidential Brigade Guards were attacked by terrorists.

    This development was made known by President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television.

    “Tomorrow the President has summoned another security meeting with the heads of the security agencies,” Adesina said.

    Recall that some senators from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party( PDP) have moved a motion to impeach president Buhari citing insecurity and incessant attacks by terrorists as the reasons.

     

  • Buhari appoints Dr Mohammed Degereji as provost FCE, Yola

    Buhari appoints Dr Mohammed Degereji as provost FCE, Yola

    Dr Mohammed Degereji, has been appointed as the Provost of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Yola by  President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The college Principal Information  Officer, Mr Bashiru Abdullahi made this known in Yola on Monday.

    According to Abdullahi, the appointment is for an initial period of four years and with effect from June 20.

    He said that prior to his appointment, Degereji served in key strategic leadership positions in the institution.

    “Degereji, a Chief Lecturer in the Department of Physics, displayed his versatility as a leader by successfully serving as the pioneer Director of the College Centre of Excellence as well as the Science Research Centre of the institution.

    “Until his appointment, he served as the Coordinator of the World Bank/Adamawa assisted programme for the provision of education for the out-of-school children under the auspices of Better Education Service Delivery for All (BBESDA).

    “He has a Bachelor of Science (Physics) from the University of Maiduguri and Masters Degree in Engineering on Electrical Power System from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi,” he said.

    According to Abdullahi, the new provost also holds a Doctorate Degree from the University of Leeds in the UK with a specialisation in Energy Physics.

    “Degereji is a member of several national and international professional bodies including NIM, WEC, IOP, NIO to mention a few.

    “ The provost is happily married with children,” he said.

  • President Buhari wishes VP Osinbajo recovery after surgical procedure

    President Buhari wishes VP Osinbajo recovery after surgical procedure

    Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has wished his deputy  ‘Yemi Osinbajo a speedy and full recovery after the latter went through a surgical procedure on Saturday to treat recurrent pain caused by a fracture in his leg sustained from playing squash.

    The president, in a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Saturday in Abuja, expressed glory to God for a successful surgery, and prayed for a “speedy and full recovery.”

    He commended the medical team at the Duchess International Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, for “their competence, and a job well done.”

    Buhari assured the Vice-President of the prayers of Nigerians, and that of his family.

  • President Buhari arrives Daura for sallah celebrations

    President Buhari arrives Daura for sallah celebrations

    President Muhammadu Buhari arrived at his country home, Daura, in Katsina State, for the Eid-el- Kabir, on Friday evening.

    Buhari flew into the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport, Katsina before a helicopter ferried him to his hometown in Daura.

    He arrived in Daura a few minutes to six in the evening to the warm embrace of the Emir, Alhaji Faruq Umar, and other important dignitaries in the town.

    According to sources, the President would be in Daura throughout the Sallah period where he is expected to join his kinsmen in celebrating the Sallah.

    He is also expected to use the Sallah vacation to attend to private matters.

  • Fake solider jailed for impersonating Buhari, Obasanjo to defraud

    Ikeja Special Offences Court on Thursday afternoon  sentenced a fake Army General Bolarinwa Abiodun, to seven years in prison for impersonation and N266.5 million fraud.

    Recall that the  fake soldier whose real name is Hassan Ayinde impersonated president Buhari by forging his signature and used it to perpetrate fraud.

    The convict also disguised as the Chief Of Army Staff to carry out the N266.5 million fraud.

    It was gathered  that Abiodun pleaded guilty to an amendment 13-count bordering on obtaining money under false pretenses and forgery after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission re-arraigned him on Thursday.

    Delivering judgment, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, sentenced Abiodun without an option of a fine, following his guilty plea.

    “The defendant portrayed himself to be an Army General who forged the signature of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and current President Muhammadu Buhari in defrauding and obtaining by false pretenses to the victim.

    “He so perfected the scam by the level of his education, that one wonders whether such an individual should be allowed to walk scot-free. It is so sad that people like this have given our dear country a bad name.

    “I hereby sentence you Bolarinwa Abiodun to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine.

    “The convict should pay N20 million to the victim and his First Bank Account with number 3050622693 used in carrying out the fraud be closed.

    “He is to also forfeit building at No. 1 Joke Ayo St., Alagbado.

    “His four vehicles, Black Range Rover, Black BMW car, Black Toyota Land Cruiser, and White Toyota Hilux with reg no Lagos KTU 985 ET which were recovered from him be forfeited,” the judge said.

    The EFCC counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, submitted that he forged the signature of Obasanjo and the signature of Buhari in defrauding his victim of N266.5 million.

    The prosecution counsel  submitted that the defendant forged a letter of appointment as Chief Of Army Staff, dated May 20, 2020, and purportedly said the document emanated from the Presidency.

    He also said that the defendant forged a Nigerian Army Identity Card with serial number 387140.

    The defendant was also said to have been in possession of a forged certificate of confirmation, dated Nov. 7, 2018, purporting same to have emanated from the Nigerian Army Headquarters.

    The prosecution said the offence contravened the provisions of Sections 1(3) and 6 of Advanced Fee Fraud and other Related Offenses, 2006 and 363 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

     

  • NFF President Amaju Pinnick, denies attacking Buhari, Dare

    NFF President Amaju Pinnick, denies attacking Buhari, Dare

    President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick on Tuesday expressed shock at a report in a section of the media, which claimed that he had attacked the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR and the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Sunday Dare over a perceived aspiration for a third term as President of the NFF.

     In a report apparently syndicated but poorly-articulated and highly unprofessional, the FIFA Council Member was alleged to be on a “spending spree” in the media to “tarnish the image of the Minister and also undermine Mr President’s authority to speak about Nigerian football,” without any instance given or any quote attributed to Mr Pinnick.

     “This is a clear case of a dirty campaign. I have never given any interview or motivated any media person to write anything about the President’s directives or to insult the Honourable Minister. As I speak, we are making arrangements to hold the Annual General Assembly once the court communicates to our attorney the Notice of Discontinuance of the two cases that have been delaying the convocation of the Congress.

     “I could have kept quiet over this kind of silly campaign but it is important to put the record straight and also, I have the highest regards for the person of His Excellency, President Buhari, the Government and its institutions. This is a hatchet job, and such can always happen in political times. The campaigners have failed woefully.”

     Pinnick, who is at the ongoing Women Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, said he is ready to return fire for fire with purveyors of falsehood and half truths, whether they operate day or night, or on legacy or social media.

     “It is time to give it in full measure to those who hawk blatant falsehood and spend their days and nights planning evil. It will no longer be business as usual.

     “President Buhari has remained an amazing father and lover of Nigeria Football and the National Teams. None of these dirty campaigns by disgruntled persons and haters can have any impact.”

  • Shiroro killings a direct assault on Nigeria – President Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned Thursday’s attack in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, describing it as a direct assault on Nigeria which will not go unpunished.

    In a statement by his media aide, Malam Garba Shehu, on Friday in Abuja, President Buhari paid tributes to the gallant men of the security forces who lost their lives in the process of defending the attack.

    The president said: “We honour our security forces, and particularly those brave souls who have given their lives fighting against the evil that is terrorism. They constitute the best that Nigeria has to offer and we remember each of them.

    “Sadly, Nigeria’s fight against terrorism continues. It is a battle that is taking its toll on all of us. But we shall not relent, nor shall we surrender.

    “We say it again that we have reduced Boko Haram to a shell of its former self. But terrorists are parasites. They thrive when the world is suffering.

    “This atrocity only serves to further strengthen us against them. Nigeria is united in obliterating these demons. Each day we grow closer to that goal.

    ”When they lash out during times of global suffering it is the act of a cornered animal, an act of desperation.

    “As always, their goal is the same: to sow fear and division amongst us. We will not let them.

    “Instead let us pray for the families and loved ones of those who sacrificed their lives in the fight against evil, and let us pray for the safe and speedy return of those abducted. We will do everything possible to ensure their return.

    “To the sadists, I say this. We are coming. No matter what rock you crawl under, what hole you sink into, what lie you hide behind, we are coming and we will find you. Shiroro will see justice. Nigeria will know peace.”

  • President Buhari to exceed number of foreign trips made in 2021

    Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari currently in Lisbon, Portugal for a state visit, has clocked his 12th international trip in 2022, in half the time it took him to make the same number of foreign trips last year.

    As at this time last year, the President had made only two international trips, but his travel circuit took a drastic turn in the last quarter of 2021 where he recorded eight overseas jaunts.

    According to Nigeria’s 2022 budget, Buhari will spend N1. 5 billion on his foreign travels this year, N200 million less than the N1.7 billion budgeted for his international journeys in 2021.

    However, the President has already reached the number of total foreign trips made in the whole of 2021 and is likely to make more international travels before the year ends.

    It would also be recalled that Buhari had announced several cost-cutting measures as a way of reducing the cost of governance and shoring up the country’s dwindling revenue.

    Yet, the President has embarked on 20 international trips between the last quarter of 2021 and the first half of 2022 cumulatively.

    The countries include: Addis Ababa, Belgium, Gambia, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, France, Kenya, Portugal, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and The United Kingdom (UK).

    The President made more than one trip to countries like Addis Ababa, UAE and the UK within this period and some Nigerians have dubbed him ‘minister of foreign affairs’ as a result of his frequent international travels.

    Earlier this month, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, accused Buhari of squandering taxpayers’ resources on meaningless, insatiable international trips.

    “The meaningless foreign trips of President Muhammadu Buhari which have no economic benefits are disturbing. These trips must stop as they are not exigent and are aimed at squandering taxpayers’ resources and for the President to find a phantom alibi for his monumental incompetence and rudderless political leadership style.

    “Buhari and his deputy have spent over N10 billion on foreign trips in the last seven years while the Academic Staff Union of Universities has perpetually been on strike, demanding their rightful entitlement.

    “It is more reprehensible that the President can be junketing many countries of the world while Nigeria faces educational, economic, energy, and severe security crises of all times,” HURIWA’s National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko said.

  • Nigerian Airforce and NASENI to Finalise Work on First Made-in-Nigeria Helicopter

    The Airforce Institute of Technology (AFIT), which is the research and development(R&Ds) arm of the Nigeria Airforce and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure(NASENI) under the Presidency have taken up the challenge of completing all works on the first Made-in-Nigeria helicopter initiated by NASENI which President Muhammadu Buhari had directed should be launched before the end of his administration in 2023.
    Recently, in order to fast-track works on the Helicopter Project, the President directed the relocation of the Project from NASENI’s site in Abuja to AFIT in kaduna, Kaduna State.
    The official handover of space and hangar(Helipad) including the runaway for test-flight of the Helicopter located in Airforce Institute took place today in kaduna.
    President Buhari is the Chairman of the Governing Board of NASENI.
    The President had directed NASENI to complete works on the helicopter project and to make it ready for official launching by him before the expiration of his tenure in 2023.
    NASENI in 2017 entered into technical agreement with Dynali Helicopter Company in Belgium for the actualisation of the project before the latest directive by Mr.President that the project should be expanded to include collaboration with AFIT and the subsequent relocation of the project for its continuation at the Airforce institute in Kaduna.
    While briefing the commandant of AFIT, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive of NASENI, Engr. Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna explained that part of the Presidential directives was that all NASENI projects in Aeronautics should be relocated to AFIT and to be included in the collaborations between the two institutions.
    In other words, in the wisdom of Mr President, both military science and knowledge by civilians should be harnessed for the benefits of the larger Nigerian society, going forward.
    In his response, the Commandant of AFIT, Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Aminu Yakubu said that the directive from the President “is a task that both NASENI and AFIT must carry out with all the resources that are required to bring the dream to pass”. “We are determined to collaborate to make the dream on the made-in-Nigeria helicopter become a reality”, he said.
    President Buhari’s directive also stated that AFIT shall provide space and helipad for the NASENI helicopter and to relocate the project to AFIT so that the two institutions could collaborate.
     Air Vice Marshal Yakubu said the collaboration between NASENI & AFIT was the clincher collaboration to launch Nigeria into relevance in the world of aviation with the proposed involvement in aircraft  design and development.
     The high capacity and manpower in this area have made the AFIT acquired experts about ten (10) Ph.Ds in aeronautics, he disclosed.
    The Airforce is at the verge of developing of unmanned aerial vehicles. AFIT has gone very far in the design and manufacturing of air vehicles, he said, stating further that the collaboration to produce the First made in Nigeria helicopter between the  two organisations was sacrosanct and therefore would be pursued with vigour in the days and months ahead.
    According to the terms of the collaboration, some NASENI technical staff will be resident in AFIT for adequate interface for the purpose of sharing knowledge and technical capacity.
     The handing over ceremony took place and the following items were handed over to the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI: the hangar, office space and  run-way, where on completion of the aircraft, the Made in Nigeria helicopter will embark on test-flight.
    The Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI who was highly elated by the development explained that the journey to seeing the NASENI first-made-in Nigeria helicopter is coming gradually to fruition.
    Speaking to journalists, Prof Haruna said the journey to produce the First made in Nigeria helicopter began in 2017 and therefore now gradually coming towards its desired target.

  • 2023: President Buhari donates Abuja campaign office to Tinubu

    The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has taken over president Buhari’s 2019 campaign office in Abuja.

    Findings show that president Buhari donated the campaign office to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to fast track his campaign process ahead of the 2023 general elections.

    House of Representatives and leader of the Tinubu Support Group, James Faleke confirmed the development to newsmen  in Abuja today.

    Faleke, who was Tinubu’s agent at the APC convention, disclosed that the campaign office, which was sited in the Central Business District of Abuja, is well equipped with Information and Communication Technology as well as a database, call centre among others.

    The lawmaker stated that the donated office has now been converted to Tinubu Campaign Headquarters, while other existing outlets would become annexes.

    The Buhari Campaign Office was the second space donated to the Tinubu campaign.

    Recall that Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, had also donated his presidential campaign office to the ruling party’s presidential candidate.