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Tag: Sack

  • Killings: Miyetti Allah rejects calls for sack, replacement of service chiefs

    The umbrella body of the Fulani social-cultural organisation in Nigeria, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has rejected calls in some quarters for the sacking and replacement of the service chiefs because of the gruesome and persistent killings going on in some parts of the country.

    The Secretary-General of the group, Saleh Al-Hassan, said this during an interview on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Monday.

    A large section of Nigerians, including the National Assembly and governors, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the service chiefs for failing to protect the lives of Nigerians.

    However, Al-Hassan said those calling for the sacking of the service chiefs “are corrupt politicians.”

    He said, “We have documented 411 innocent pastoralists killed just in southern Kaduna for nothing. We have documented all the crises but because we want peace and want to promote the culture of peace and forgiveness hoping that our neighbours will continue to allow us to do our business.

    “But the issue of arms and light weapons is a security one. I believe they (security agencies) are on top of it. With the arrests they are making, we must acknowledge the efforts security agencies have put in trying to contain criminality in this country.

    “That is why people calling for the removal of service chiefs are either the corrupt politicians or the ones working for them. We should not fall for that gambit.”

    Al-Hassan also rejected suggestions that herdsmen from other countries should be prevented from grazing their cattle in Nigeria.

    He said the ECOWAS “free trade protocol guarantees free movement,” adding that herdsmen do not recognise international boundaries which he described as “colonial creations.”

    Al-Hassan added, “You cannot just opt out of a protocol that is integrating the African continent. The pastoralist movement is not for picnics. They go there to access land resources. Also, these boundaries that you have are colonial boundaries.

    “Some of them (boundaries) don’t mean anything to the herders. So, what we need to do is to domesticate the ECOWAS protocol, begin to enforce it and then we create grazing reserves for trans-human pastoralists.”

    He said the solution remains ranching which must be partly funded by the government and supported by all Nigerians.

    Al-Hassan lamented that every attempt by the Buhari government to establish ranches had been rejected by selfish politicians.

    He said, “Policies aimed at solving these problems are strongly resisted. Attempts were made to put up a commission for grazing reserves to see how it can be done but it was shut down at the National Assembly. The minister of agriculture has been trying all his efforts to see that solutions are brought to the table but people read political motive to it and killed the policies.

    “Today, we have a national livestock development plan that is well articulated but the same people saying we should ranch our cows are now saying they will not accept ranches so what are we talking about? So, we must understand the socio-political undercurrents.”

    He lambasted Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State for initiating the anti-grazing law, adding that most of the arrests by security agencies showed it was Ortom’s men that were carrying out the killings.

    Speaking at another event in Abuja, Alhassan said the security agencies must identify the perpetrators and sponsors of the killings in Plateau State, noting that corrupt politicians were behind the massacre.

    At a colloquium organised by the Citizens Communication and Advocacy Centre, the Secretary-General of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore said that the National Assembly was laden with corruption and the legislators had not taken sufficient steps to address the farmers-herders’ crises.

    The topic of the colloquium was, “Understanding democracy as instrument of development, integration and national cohesion.”

    Alhassan said the association did not believe in the call for the sacking of the service chiefs, noting that the association usually shared “critical intelligence” with the agencies.

    He said, “The spate of insecurity in this country is worrisome to anybody that loves this country and I think our security agencies should be up and doing. They should be able to identify the perpetrators and their sponsors and then ensure that justice is meted out to them. We must watch closely our politicians, their utterances and their body language because some of them are the ones promoting violence we are having in this country.

    “We are not responsible for the killings in Plateau State. There are crises between farmers and herders all over the country, particularly in the North-Central geopolitical zone. We must recognise that it is a crisis that borders on land resources and we are calling on the government to put mechanisms in place for sustainable management of the land resources.

    “But first, our security agencies must be supported to identify the perpetrators and the promoters of this violence. We must closely monitor some of these evangelicals that preach hatred in churches and mosques and desperate politicians that are facing corruption charges. We must be able to get all of them and watch them closely so that they don’t set this country ablaze. They are the drivers of the conflict.

    Alhassan, while faulting calls for the sacking of the nation’s security chiefs, argued that corrupt politicians were behind the campaign.

    He said, “Most of these politicians own armed thugs and militias across the state. The government should also find those behind the importation of large arms into the country. Who are the people importing these arms?

    “We need to overhaul the security architecture of the country but the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police are doing their best. We should not listen to what desperate politicians are saying. It is the corrupt political elite who are creating crises in this country.

    There are attempts by our group to assist the security agencies. We have been partnering the security agencies in terms of giving them critical intelligence where we suspect there are cattle rustlers and criminals.

    “The calls for the removal of the service chiefs are empty calls. Desperate politicians and politicians facing criminal charges are the ones making that call.”

  • Delayed accounts: CBN threatens to sack CEOs, chairmen of defaulting banks

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed that henceforth the CEOs and chairmen of any bank which fails to publish its annual account 12 months after the financial year end will be removed from office.

    This directive is contained in the CBN’s Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade and Exchange Guidelines for Fiscal Years 2018/2019 released at the weekend. It was signed by CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.

    The policy aligns with the provisions of the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 1991, which require banks to, subject to the written approval of the CBN, publish their audited financial statements- financial position and comprehensive income- in a national newspaper printed and circulated in Nigeria not later than four months after the end of each financial year.

    Besides, to allow the implementation of consolidated supervision, the CBN directed all banks, discount houses and their subsidiaries to continue to adopt December 31 as their accounting year end.

    ”The CBN will continue to hold the Board Chairman and Managing Director of a defaulting bank directly responsible for any breach and impose appropriate sanctions, which may include barring the Managing Director or his/her nominee from participation in the Bankers’ Committee and disclosing the reason for such suspension.”

    “It will also include suspension of the foreign exchange dealership licence of the bank and its name sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (in the case of a public quoted company) and removal of the Chairman and Managing Director/CEO from office if the accounts remain unpublished for 12 months after the end of the bank’s financial year,” the report said.

    One Systematically Important Bank (SIB) with offshore subsidiaries in three countries has failed to publish its financial statement for the past three years. Its last published financial statement was for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015.

    Also, based on the new CBN’s policy on financial account publication, any bank that fails to publish its 2017 financial statement by the close of business today will be sanctioned by the regulator.

    The new CBN policy spells out borrowing terms and liquidity positions for commercial, merchant and noninterest banks. It says the minimum liquidity ratio for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks should be retained at 30, 20 and 10 per cent, subject to review from time to time.

    “In the 2018/2019 fiscal years, discount houses will continue to maintain a minimum investment of 60 per cent of their total liabilities in government securities. The ratio of individual bank loans to deposits is retained at a maximum of 80 per cent. The Net Open Position (NOP), long or short, of the overall foreign currency assets and liabilities taking into cognisance both on and off-balance sheet items will not exceed 10 per cent of shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses,” it said.

    It said the aggregate foreign currency borrowing of a bank, excluding intergroup and inter-bank (Nigerian banks) borrowing, will not exceed 125 per cent of shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses. “Banks are expected to hedge borrowing using financial market tools acceptable to the CBN; borrowings must be subordinated debts with prepayments allowable only at the instance of the bank and subject to prior approval of the CBN; and all debts, with the exception of trade lines, will have a minimum fixed tenor of five years,” it added.

    On discount window operations, the CBN specified that all eligible markets players may borrow funds from or lend funds to the CBN on short-term basis, to meet their temporary shortage of liquidity occasioned by internal or external disruptions or deposit their excess funds, respectively. “The window, through the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) and the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) will be accessible at a stipulated time at the end of the business day to enable the institutions square up their positions overnight at appropriate rates tied to the Monetary Policy Rate,” it said.

    It advised banks to seek profitability by driving down cost and charging competitive rates instead of charging excessive rates of interest. Therefore, banks are expected to develop and implement a Risk-Based Pricing Model in line with the provisions of CBN.

    The CBN will continue to maintain and upgrade the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System for settlement of inter-bank fund transfers and time-critical payments and categorise banks into settlement and non-settlement banks for the purpose of clearing and settlement.

    The settlement banks are to participate directly in the clearing houses and receive their net clearing position in their settlement account with the CBN while non-settlement banks receive their net clearing position through the settlement account of their settlement bank.

    “Any bank applying for direct participation as a settlement bank will be required to possess the capacity to provide the required clearing collateral of N15 billion, subject to periodic review. Such lender will also have ability to offer agency facilities to other banks and to clear and settle on their behalf and have adequate branch network, in all the CBN locations,” it said.

    On capital adequacy, the CBN said the minimum ratio of total qualifying capital to total risk-weighted assets will remain at 10 per cent for regional and national banks, and 15 per cent for international banks in the 2018/2019 fiscal years.

    ”Not less than 66.67 per cent of banks’ capital will comprise paid-up capital and reserves. Banks will also maintain a ratio of not more than one to ten (1:10) between adjusted capital funds and total credit net of provisions. They are encouraged to maintain a higher level of capital commensurate with their risk profile. Banks and banking groups are required to comply with the appropriate guidelines for the measurement and calculation of capital requirements.”

    The differences resulting from the comparison of expected losses determined under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) with all losses determined under the prudential guidelines will continue to be adjusted under the statement of changes in equity, through the non-distributable regulatory reserve.

    The CBN said it will continue to enforce the stipulated penalties for noncompliance with regulatory guidelines, as well as the provisions of the CBN Act 2007 and the BOFI Act 1991 (as amended), in the 2018/2019 fiscal years. “Any financial institution that fails to comply with extant guidelines and other directives that may be issued by the CBN will be sanctioned accordingly,” the CBN said.

     

  • Trump hails sack of FBI deputy chief, Andrew McCabe

    U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed the firing of outgoing FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe by Attorney-General Jeff Sessions two days to retirement after two decades of service to the bureau.

    McCabe announced his retirement from the bureau abruptly in January and it was to take effect on Sunday.

    His dismissal, just days before he was set to retire, puts his full pension and benefits package in jeopardy and is seen as an inglorious end to a career of almost 22 years with the bureau.

    Trump responded on Twitter just after midnight on Saturday, calling McCabe’s firing “a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy.”

    He tweeted: “Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy.

    “Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy.

    “He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!”

    Sessions, in a statement, said an internal FBI investigation recommended dismissal over McCabe’s alleged “lack of candour” about contacts he had with a former Wall Street Journal reporter in 2016.

    Sessions said he accepted the recommendation that “concluded that Mr McCabe had made an unauthorised disclosure to the news media and lacked candour – including under oath – on multiple occasions”.

    “Based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department’s senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately,” Sessions said.

    Sessions also said in explaining his decision that: “The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability.

    “As the OPR proposal stated, ‘all FBI employees know that lacking candour under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand’”.

    However, in a statement issued immediately after his termination was announced, McCabe said the decision was politically motivated.

    He said: “The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicised, public servants are attacked.

    “And people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people.

    “Here is the reality: “I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey.

    “The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey’s accounts of his discussions with the President.

    “The OIG’s focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn.

    “The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens”.

     

  • Buhari threatens to sack heads of 50 govt agencies, others, over failure to defend budget before NASS

    Indications emerge on Saturday that President Muhammadu Buhari may sack chief executives of federal parastatals and agencies that fail to appear before the National Assembly to defend their budgets.

    The president reportedly made his position known during a meeting he had with the leadership of the National Assembly at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday evening.

    A source who was at the meeting confided in newsmen that Buhari took the decision after the federal lawmakers succeeded in convincing him that they should not be blamed for the delay in passing the appropriation bill so far.

    The source said the lawmakers told the President that out of about 60 government parastatals and agencies, only about 10 chief executives had appeared before them to defend their budgets.

    The federal lawmakers were also said to have reported some ministers who they claimed had not been cooperating with them to the President.

    The source mentioned the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; and the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, as some of the ministers whose cases came up at the meeting.

    The source, however, did not disclose the response of the President on the ministers’ cases.

    The source said, “You know that the budget delay, by popular sentiment, is being blamed on the National Assembly. They defended themselves very well before the President that ministers and chief executive officers have not been coming to the National Assembly to defend their budgets.

    “They cited some ministers like the Minister of Power, Works and Housing that he has not gone to defend his budget up until now. I am sure you have also been following the exchanges between them and the Minister of Solid Minerals.

    “The President was extremely unhappy with what he heard. His directive to the SGF was that they should start fishing out chief executives who fail to defend their budget, because he was told that out of about 60 of them, only about 10 have appeared. He has asked that ministers should supervise them. It is a serious issue.

    “He made it clear that by the time people are being sacked, there will be sanity.”

    When asked if a new deadline was set at the meeting for the passage of the appropriation bill, the source said the National Assembly would wait for the MDAs to comply with the President’s directive, after which the bill would enjoy speedy processing.

    At the end of the meeting on Thursday night, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, had told State House correspondents that Buhari had directed all ministers and parastatals to appear before the National Assembly to defend their budgets.

    Mustapha said, “The President gave them (the lawmakers) update on security, economy, job creation, processes in the National Assembly especially with regards to the budget and the need to conclude on it.

    “Mr. President has given an instruction that all ministers and parastatals should ensure that they appear before the National Assembly to defend their submissions so that we can get this out of the way.

    “You know this is a very dynamic year and there are preparations for elections and we are having quite a lot of security challenges and so if we don’t appropriate, where will the money come from?”

    Meanwhile, another source in the Senate who had details of the meeting also told one of our correspondents that Buhari invited the NASS leadership to know what had been responsible for the delayed passage of the appropriation bill.

    Buhari was said to have been shocked when he was presented with facts on the low turnout of heads of the MDAs at the budget defence sessions held by Senate and House of Representatives’ Committees.

    The source said, “Leaders of the National Assembly discussed the budget with the President. The President did not have full information that officials in the executive have been responsible for the delay. He thought the National Assembly was frustrating the passage but they told him they were not.

    “The National Assembly leadership showed him the list of MDAs that have yet to come forward for budget defence or provide details of their budgets to the relevant committees. He was informed that about 70 per cent of the MDAs had not been cooperating with the legislature. The President was surprised.

    “This is why the President ordered the SGF to issue a memo to all the MDAs, asking them to comply with National Assembly’s demands within one week. He wants everything to be sorted out within the time frame.”

    The legislature and the executive have been passing the buck on which arm of government is responsible for the delayed passage of the budget, which President Muhammadu Buhari laid before a joint session of the Assembly on November 7, 2017.

    On Monday, the Senate had said it was still uncertain when the 2018 Appropriation Bill would be passed by the National Assembly.

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, had said, “The budget process is on and I cannot tell you this is the specific day it is going to end. All I can tell you specifically is that we are working very hard on it and we want to assure Nigerians that at the end of the day we will have a budget that will serve the purpose of Nigerians.”

    Recall that the Senate had on February 14, 2018, asked 63 agencies and parastatals under the Federal Government to submit details of their proposed 2018 budgets within one week or risk sanctions.

    The upper chamber of the National Assembly had said that while Buhari had complied with the law by laying the 2018 Appropriation Bill along with details of estimates before the lawmakers, agencies of the government had disregarded the law.

    On February 28, the Senate had told Nigerians to blame members of Buhari’s cabinet and the ministries, departments and agencies for the delay in the passage of the appropriation bill.

    The lawmakers alleged that ministers and heads of Federal Government departments and agencies were allegedly frustrating legislative work on the budget proposal with their foreign trips and non-cooperation with the lawmakers.

    But the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze, had denied the allegation, saying the National Assembly already had enough details to work with and pass the appropriation bill.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, also disclosed that the meeting was on the budget, security and other national issues.

    He said the National Assembly leadership also gave the President their opinions during the interaction.

    Saraki said the legislature was working on the budget, noting that some agencies had yet to defend their budget. “We are hoping that with this, they will come and defend their budget,” he said.

  • Vote of no Confidence: In saner climes, Fayemi would have been sacked by now – Reps

    Sequel to passing vote of no confidence, the House of Representatives on Thursday said it will no longer address the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, as ‘honorable minister.”

    The lawmakers also noted that in other climes, passing a vote of no confidence in a minister was enough grounds for the President to sack him, adding that the House did not need to stress it.

    In a resolution in Abuja, the House observed that Fayemi’s decision to engage PricewaterhouseCoopers, a “globally discredited” firm, to conduct a technical audit on Ajaokuta Steel Company, meant that he was bent on concessioning the firm.

    To stop Fayemi, the House proposed to amend the Privatisation Act immediately by expunging ASC from the list of public assets in the schedule that can be privatised or concessioned by the Federal Government.

    It also sought to further amend the Act by removing the powers of the National Council on Privatisation as the authority to decide on which firms should be on the schedule.

     

  • NJC recommends sack of Abia Chief Judge, warns others

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has the sack of Theresa Uzokwe, Chief Judge of Abia State and Obisike Oji of Abia State High Court.

    The council said it recommended Ms. Uzokwe’s sack following the recommendation of two panels that investigated allegations against her.

    According to a statement by its spokesperson, Soji Oye, the NJC also issued “stern warnings to Justices S. E Aladetoyinbo and Olusola Ajibike Williams of FCT and Lagos High Courts.”

    The council also set up a “committee to investigate a Supreme Court Justice and two (2) State Chief Judges.

    Read Oye’s full statement below

    • NJC recommends the compulsory retirement of Hon. Mr. Justice Theresa Uzokwe, Chief Judge Abia State and Hon. Justice Obisike Oji of Abia State High Court.
    • Issues stern warnings to Justices S. E Aladetoyinbo and Olusola Ajibike Williams of FCT and Lagos High Courts.
    • Sets up Committee to investigate a Supreme Court Justice and two (2) State Chief Judges.
    • Appoints sixty (60) Judicial Officers for twenty-four (24) States.

    The National Judicial Council under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Mr. Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, GCON, at its 85th Meeting which was held on the 14th of March, 2018, recommended the compulsory retirement of Hon. Mr Justice Theresa Uzokwe, Chief Judge, and Hon. Mr. Justice Obisike Oji of Abia State High Court of Justice, to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State. The Council also issued stern warnings to Justices S. E. Aladetoyinbo and Olusola Ajibike Williams of the FCT and Lagos State High Courts.

    1. Hon. Mr Justice Theresa Uzokwe was recommended for compulsory retirement following the findings of two investigative committees set up by the Council. The committees investigated petitions against her by Umeh Kalu, SAN, Attorney-General/Commissioner for Justice of Abia State, alleging illegal constitution and working with a parallel Judicial Service Commission instead of the one constituted by the State Governor and confirmed by the House of Assembly.

    Hon. Mr Justice Uzokwe was also found to have misconducted himself in Suit No. HU/131/2005, wherein he delivered judgement in the sum of N825, 000 (Eight Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Naira) only in favour of a Litigant, but subsequently signed a garnishee order of N109, 612, 500 (One Hundred and Nine Million, Six Hundred and Twelve Thousand, Five Hundred Naira) only.

    1. Hon. Mr Justice Obisike Oji was earlier queried by the Council for allowing himself to be sworn-in as acting Chief Judge, and thereby colluding in, and aiding an unconstitutional process. His reply was unsatisfactory and the Council recommended his compulsory retirement.
    2. The NJC reprimanded, seriously warned and placed on the Watch List Hon Justice S. E. Aladetoyinbo of the FCT High Court for impropriety in a case between U.L.O. Consultants Ltd v BIL Construction Nigeria Ltd, sequel to a petition by one Uche Luke Okpuno. Council would have sanctioned the Judge more severely but had to take into account the fact that aspects of the case are appealable.
    3. Council also seriously warned Hon Justice Olusola Ajibike Williams of the Lagos State High Court for grave errors of judgment in her level of involvement in a family business. Council found that the Judge, as a judicial officer, should have been more circumspect and conscious of her office. Council’s sanction was as a result of a petition by Chief Ladi Rotimi-Williams, SAN.
    4. Council at the Meeting also considered various petitions written against thirty-one (31) Judicial Officers and resolved to empanel three (3) Investigative Committees against one Justice of Supreme Court and two (2) State Chief Judges.
    5. Petitions against various Justices were dismissed either for lack of merit, lack of evidence of misconduct, being sub judice or that the subject of such petitions were matters for appeal. The dismissed petitions were against Hon. Mr. Justices Abdu Aboki, Theresa Abadua and Ahmed Belgore all of the Court of Appeal; Hon. Mr. Justices J. T. Tsoho, Ayo Emmanuel, Sabiu Yahusa, Zainab B. Abubakar, B. O. Quadri of the Federal High Court; Hon. Mr. Justices A. N. Ubaka and B. B. Kanyip of National Industrial Court; Hon. Mr. Justices Bello Kawu, S. C. Orji, A. N. Talba of the FCT High Court; Hon. Mr. Justice K. C. Nwankpa of High Court Abia State; Hon. Mr. Justice D. A. Onyefulu of High Court Anambra State; Hon. Mr. Justice W. I. A. Effiong High Court Akwa-Ibom State; A. M. Ikpambese, High Court Benue State; Hon. Mr. Justice G. E. Gbemre, High Court Delta State; Hon. Mr. Justice A. O. Onovo, High Court Enugu State; Hon. Mr. Justice Idi Apollos, High Court Gombe State; Hon. Mr. Justice G. O. Ogunsanya, High Court Ogun State; Hon. Mr. Justice A. B. Abdulkarim, High Court Osun State; Hon. Mr. Justice K. A. Ojiako, High Court Imo State and Hon. Mr Justices A. M. Lawal, L. A. Okunnu and L. B. Lawal Akapo, High Court Lagos State.

    Council decided to advise Hon. Mr. Justice J. E. Ikede of Delta State High Court and Hon. Mr. Justice Yusuf Halilu of FCT High Court to be more careful in the course of their judicial duties.

    1. Council decided to refer a petition by Prince Adesina Okuneye against Hon. Mr. Justice Mwada Balami of the FCT High Court to the Police to investigate the allegation of N5, 000,000 (Five Million Naira) bribe to the Judge for granting bail to an accused person. Council decided that the petition should be put in abeyance until the outcome of the investigation by the Police.
    2. Council at the Meeting also recommended sixty (60) Judicial Officers to Governors of twenty-four (24) for appointment as High Court Judges, Sharia Court Kadis and Customary Court of Appeal Judges.

  • Tillerson unaware of reason for sack, did not speak to Trump – Official

    United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is unaware of why President Donald Trump has asked him to resign and did not speak to him about it, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Steve Goldstein said in a statement on Tuesday.

    “The Secretary did not speak to the President and is unaware of the reason, but he is grateful for the opportunity to serve, and still believes strongly that public service is a noble calling,” Goldstein said.

    Trump, however, said that he and Tillerson disagreed on many things, including the Iran nuclear deal, following the announcement of the top diplomat’s departure from the high-ranking position.

    “We got along actually quite well, but we disagreed on things. When you look at the Iran deal, I think it’s terrible, I guess he thinks it was okay.

    “We wanted to either break it or do something and he felt a little bit differently.

    “So we were not really thinking the same,” Trump told reporters.

    Trump added that he made the decision to fire Tillerson by himself.

    Trump announced that Tillerson was leaving and will be replaced with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo.

    “Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service!” Trump wrote in a Twitter message.

    A White House official said Trump wanted to make the change at the State Department ahead of expected talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and trade negotiations.

    Trump reportedly asked Tillerson to resign on Friday while the secretary was in the middle of a diplomatic trip to Africa.

    Tillerson cut his trip short by a day and returned to Washington, DC on Monday.

    Trump plans to nominate Gina Haspel, the CIA’s Deputy Director, to take over for Pompeo.

    Haspel would become the first female director in the history of the intelligence agency.

    Haspel served as a clandestine officer with the CIA in 2002 in Thailand and oversaw the torture of two terrorism suspects and destruction of videotapes documenting that torture, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.

    Both Pompeo and Haspel will need Senate confirmation before starting their new positions.

  • KOWA faults Buhari’s reinstatement of NHIS boss, demands ‘immediate sack’

    The National Executives of KOWA Party on Friday condemned President Muhammadu Buhari for reinstating Prof. Usman Yusuf as the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

    The party further demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari should do the needful by sacking the reinstated NHIS Executive Secretary immediately.

    At a press conference in Lagos, the party criticised the federal government’s anti-corruption drive and accused its officials of nepotism.

    “Our desire for an egalitarian society where all persons and people in Nigeria will be treated equally irrespective of colour, race, ethnic or religious affiliation have been completely eroded under this deceitful government of APC,” the party said.

    “More clearly in the books of the cabal in the presidency is a special status accorded the people of the Northern zone especially Katsina state which has made them more Nigerian than any other state, tribe or geo political zone in the country, this maladministration which is ready to cripple the brotherliness and foundation of common unity of our pre and post-independence dream must not be allowed to fester than necessary.

    “It is against this backdrop that we speak to Nigerians on the recall of the suspended executive secretary of the NHIS, Mr. Usman Yusuf back to office despite the baggage of allegations against his official conduct while he held sway as the boss of the agency.”

    Recall that Yusuf was reinstated as the NHIS boss by President Buhari after his suspension from office last year by the Health Minister, Isaac Adewole, following allegations of gross misconduct.

    On Thursday, NHIS workers staged a protest at the premises of the agency’s headquarters in Abuja after Mr. Yusuf reportedly returned to work.

    The KOWA party stated that the revelations that led to Mr. Yusuf’s suspension last year were “too gruesome” to be ignored.

    “At first on assumption of office, Yusuf engaged in a war of attrition with major stakeholders in the NHIS, with various groups alleging that his leadership of the agency has been faulty and designed to undermine the workings of the Scheme.

    “The Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN) has accused the suspended NHIS boss of doctoring and altering the rules and regulations of the NHIS scheme in a bid to siphon public funds into private pockets through the use of unqualified consultants as insurers and mandated all HMOs to pay N7.2 million each into the company`s account.

    “Yusuf’s thinly disguised arrogance surely bespeaks a mindset never seen in public service at that level in recent history.”

    The party further stated that other officers suspended alongside Mr. Yusuf were not reinstated.

    “In 2016, Femi Akingbade, the former acting executive secretary was suspended by this same government based on petitions received which till date was never investigated, and the man not indicted.

    “When Yusuf was suspended, eight other senior officers of NHIS were suspended, till date, none of them have been recalled, yet the presidency asked Usman Yusuf to resume back to duites because he is a kinsman to PMB, this is an act of favouritism and nepotism.

    “The eight suspended officers are Femi Akingbade – zonal GM, South South, Mr. John Okon – General Manger, Finance Account, Yusuf Fatika – General Manger, Human Resources and Administration, Shehu Adamu – Assistant General Manager, Audit, Mr. Vincent Mamdam – Assistant General Manager, Head Insurance, Mr. Safiyanu Attah – Senior Assistant Officer, Marketing, Owen Udo Udoma-Senior Manager, Contribution Management and Innocent Abbah- Senior Assistant Officer, Planning Research and Monitoring.

    In line with the tenets set forth by the ideals of the country’s leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, on the principles fair play, transparency, rapid targeted development, acts devoid of corruption and elimination of all primordial sentiments, which hitherto had almost torn the seams of our national existence.

    We thus bring to the attention of the government and general public the nepotistically inimical and criminally oriented acts currently being machinated and executed by the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari. Corruption is one of the burning issues in Nigeria; it cuts across various strata of governance.

    According to the party, the NHIS was riddled with corruption during Yusuf’s tenure and the president ought to have constituted a new panel to investigate him if he was dissatisfied with the Health Minister’s recommendations.

    “With immediate effect, we call for the immediate sack of the recalled NHIS Executive Secretary, Usman Yusuf and his immediate handover to the anti-corruption agencies with the sole aim of charging to court to recover all the looted funds traced to him and his cronies.”

     

  • We won’t sack you, Dickson assures Bayelsa teachers

    Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State on Thursday assured teachers on its payroll that the state government wouldn’t sack them.

    Instead, Dickson said the government would train and retrain the teachers for greater productivity.

    A statement signed by Dickson’s Special Adviser on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, said the governor gave the assurance when he inaugurated the Governing Councils of Isaac Jasper Boro College of Education, Sagbama, and the Bayelsa State College of Health Technology, Otuogidi, at the Government House in Yenagoa.

    But the governor said only teachers with fake certificates or persons, who refused to be at their duty posts to work had reasons to be afraid of sacking.

    He enjoined the chairmen and members of the new governing boards to engage only people who should be in the institutions.

    Dickson stressed that his administration would not tolerate the previous practice in the state where unborn children, octogenarians and retirees were dubiously included in the payrolls.

    He said the government would provide grants to all state-owned tertiary institutions with effect from this month to beef up their infrastructures and enhance their revenue generating capacity.

    He said: “You are self-accounting and self-governing but we will give you grant as you have proposed. We expect you to sit down with your management and get only those staff that you need to run effective courses and programmes. Indeed, the only constant factor is the academic factor because they are academic institutions. You need more academic staff.

    “The former ways of opening gates of employment to everybody, including unborn children, people who stay away in Lagos and are collecting money, people who are as old as 80 years or more, who should have retired has to stop. You have to save that money for your institution.

    “You must take firm decisions as a council. This year will witness a lot of training by all cadres of public servants, especially teachers. Our policy is not to sack any teacher unless they don’t go to work, unless they have fake certificates, or they have committed any other acts of misconduct.

    “Our policy from this year is to ensure that teachers go through the period of training and retraining. There is already a bill before the House of Assembly that would mandate certification for all teachers in all schools in this state.”

    The governor also mandated the newly inaugurated boards to strengthen the capacity of the two institutions.

  • El-Rufai’s incessant sack of civil servants will increase crime rate in Kaduna – PDP

    …backs ongoing teachers’ strike

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday said it was in support of the current indefinite strike by public school teachers in Kaduna State.

    The State Chairman of PDP, Mr Felix Hyat made the declaration in a statement signed by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr Abraham Catoh in Kaduna.

    He faulted the state government on its threat to sack teachers that joined the strike, stressing that strike was “a legal means for all civil servants to seek redress on the injustice presently meted out on them.’’

    According to the PDP chairman, the sack of the teachers was callous, insensitive and meant to increase the level of unemployment and poverty in the state.

    “The incessant sack of civil servants in the state, if allowed to continue unabated, would definitely lead to high rate of crime, social vices and would dampen the morale of civil servants in the state,” Hyat added.

    The PDP chairman also faulted the provision of N1 billion in the state 2018 budget to construct new legislative quarters after selling the ones on ground by the government.

    “We condemned this act in its entirety, for it is another ploy to fleece the resources of the people of our state of their collective commonwealth.’’

    Hyat also accused the state government of undertaking “fictitious projects and consultancy contracts’’ with no bearing or direct impact on the masses.

    On security, the state PDP chairman said Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i has demonstrated “ineptitude and lack of capacity to curb the insecurity challenge bedevilling the state.’’

    According to the chairman, the PDP would “reinstate all unjustly sacked civil servants’’ if elected in 2019.

    He advised the electorate to use their permanent voter card to vote out the APC government in the state in 2019.

    Reacting to the statement, the State APC Director, Media and Publicity, Mr Manasseh Istifanus said the party would not exchange words with the PDP.

    He, however, said the sack of teachers and other civil servants was part of ongoing reforms in the civil service.

    According to him, the state government would replace the over 21,000 teachers sacked with 25, 000 qualified ones that would add value to the education sector.

    On the N1 billion budgeted for the building of legislative quarters by the government, Istifanus dismissed the claim as mere “concoction’’ by the PDP.

    He stressed that the government had considered so many factors in arriving at the number of civil servants being disengaged, so as to rejuvenate and inject vibrancy in the state civil service.