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Tag: SGF

  • June 12: SGF unveils Democracy Day Exhibition

    Mr Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federal, on Friday unveiled the 2019 National Democracy Day Exhibition with a call on Nigerians to reawaken their consciousness on the country’s rich heritage.

    Mustapha, who made the call in Abuja during the unveiling of the exhibition with theme, “Unbroken Democracy”, urged Nigerians to appreciate the country’s rich human, capital and natural endowment.

    He called for collective efforts to exploit the resources with a view to moving the country on the path of prosperity, unity and progress.

    The SGF said that the unveiling of the exhibition was part of the activities lined up for the 2019 National Democracy Day celebration to showcase the political and cultural history of Nigeria.

    “The exhibition with the theme, unbroken democracy takes us back to memory lane on our political struggles and eventual freedom from the British Colonial masters.

    “I believe that this will reawaken the minds and consciousness of Nigerians to educate our young ones about the founding fathers of our great nation.

    “This indeed is timely as the 2019 celebration coincides with the 20thanniversary of Nigeria’s uninterrupted democracy since 1999.

    “It is also to consolidate on achievements recorded in strengthening and deepening our democratic experience since June 12, 1993.

    ”It is my sincere hope that this exhibition will bring to remembrance the birth of our political history and also serve as a uniting force for all Nigerians,” he said.

    In his remark, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the immediate past Minister of Information and Culture, said the exhibition was in arts, pictures and immersive digital environment.

    “This exhibition is aimed at strengthening and deepening understanding of our democracy as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Unbroken Democracy” of civilian administration.

    “ It is designed to provide insight into our political history with the aim of educating especially our youths and reawaken their consciousness about our political history.

    “It is my hope that this exhibition will give us an opportunity to appreciate the role of our nationalists, activists and the founding fathers of our democracy,” he said.

  • Tough decisions by Buhari will be in Nigeria’s interest – SGF

    The Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustafa, says the tough decisions President Muhammadu Buhari will take during his second term, will be in the interest of Nigeria.

    Mustafa, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Yola on Monday,as allaying fears expressed in some quarters following a statement by the president that his second term would be tough.

    Buhari won a second term of office when he defeated his main opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the rescheduled Feb. 23 Presidential election.

    He described the president as a good man, who had the trust of ordinary Nigerians and would like to see improvement in their lives, while the nation moved to the next level.

    “When we came to power in 2015 about 27 states couldn’t pay salaries; we had to take tough decisions like giving them bail-out and Paris Club refund.

    “These are tough decisions,” Mustafa said.

    He also identified the ban on rice and fertilizer importation as one of the tough decisions taken by the government and which yielded positive results by boosting local production, among other things.

    “By such tough decisions we are able to raise the number of rice farmers from 4 million to 12 million and we are about 98 per cent self-sufficient in rice.

    “Due to the establishment of many fertilizer blending plants after we banned the importation of fertilizer, the product is now available and the prize is going down,” Mustafa added.

    The SGF explained that anti-graft institutions such as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission as well as the Code of Conduct Bureau were being strengthened to tackle corruption.

    He said that the strengthening of such institutions, corruption would be nipped in the bud.

    “It’s better to prevent it (corruption) instead of spending a lot of money prosecuting corruption cases,” Mustafa said.

  • Alleged N544m fraud: Court grants former SGF Babachir Lawal, three others bail

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday granted bail to the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.

    Lawal and others are facing charges of corruption. The ex-government secretary was indicted for allegedly using his companies to get contracts worth millions of naira in the North-east without executing the contracts.

    He was removed from office after he was indicted by a Senate committee which investigated the management of funds meant to assist the Boko-Haram ravaged North-east.

    Since his removal in 2017 by President Muhammadu Buhari, many Nigerians have called for his prosecution.

    Lawal has since his exit been a major campaigner for Mr Buhari’s re-election in his home Adamawa State.

    Ruling on the bail application on Wednesday, the judge, Jude Okeke, said the crime for which the defendant is charged “is bailable.”

    As part of the bail conditions, the judge ordered that the defendants pay N50 million each with one surety in like sum.

    “The sureties must be residents of the FCT and must own landed property.

    “The sureties must also provide evidence of tax paid in the last three years.

    “Pending compliance to the aforementioned conditions, the applicants are to remain in the EFCC custody,” Mr Okeke added.

    The court further noted that each of the defendants is to deposit his international passport with the court pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.

    Okeke adjourned to March 18 for the commencement of trial.

    The EFCC had filed charges against Mr Lawal and Hamidu David, Suleiman Abubakar, Apeh John and two companies Rholavision engineering Ltd and Josmon Technologies Ltd.

  • NHIS crisis: Governing boards have no power to suspend CEOs of parastatals – SGF

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, on Monday said governing boards of federal agencies or parastatals have no power to remove Chief Executive Officers appointed by the President.

    He said such boards may, however “articulate infractions, investigate wrongdoing and make recommendations to government through the supervisory ministry.”

    Mustapha made the clarification at an induction programme for governing board members of federal parastatals, universities and medical centres organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, in conjunction with the Department for International Development, a United Kingdom government department responsible for administering overseas aid.

    The clarification came at the time the dust raised by the recent decision of the Governing Board of the National Health Insurance Scheme to suspend Prof. Usman Yusuf as the Executive Secretary is yet to settle.

    The chairman of the board, Ifenne Enyanatu, had on October 18 announced Yusuf’s indefinite suspension, saying the board consulted and got the approval of the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on the matter.

    Yusuf had however rejected the suspension, saying it is only the President that can suspend him.

    Although he did not specifically mention the NHIS saga, Mustapha said the Federal Government was concerned that most governing boards have not understood their roles in the corporate governance of the agencies they superintend.

    So far, he said the government has noticed some infractions on the side of such boards.

    He listed the infractions to include what he called the board chairmen’s undue interference in the day-to-day activities of their parastatals and agencies; blatant disregard for extant regulations guiding the conduct of board meetings; interference in the function of the CEOs; issuing directives to members of staff without recourse to the CEOs; imposition of disciplinary measures against the CEOs in flagrant violation of the laid down rules; and using labour unions as agents of distractions in the agencies.

  • 2019: We deserve more than SGF, South-West PDP tells Atiku

    The South-West Zone of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar, to give more key positions to the zone if he emerges as president.
     
    The South-West Vice-Chairman of the party, Dr Eddy Olefeso, made the demand in Lagos on Friday night, at a meeting of key members across the six states in the zone.
     
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the meeting, which lasted hours, had in attendance a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George; the current Deputy National Chairman (South),Chief Yemi Akinwonmi; and a former National Vice Chairman of the party, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo.
     
    Also present were former Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Sola Obada; a former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Alhaja Makanjuola Badru; and a member of the National Assembly, Sen. Abiodun Olujimi.
     
    The party’s governorship candidate in Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde; the governorship candidate in Ogun, Mr Ladi Adebutu; and a former governorship aspirant in Osun State, Chief Akin Ogunbiyi, were also at the meeting, among others.
     
    Olafeso said though the promise of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) slot by Atiku was a good development, the zone deserved more key political and government positions.
     
    The Vice-Chairman said that the zone had been schemed out in the power arrangement of the party for the past few years.
     
    Olafeso said for Atiku to give the zone a sense of belonging and compensate “for the years of abandonment”, he should zone key positions of the Chief of Staff to the President and Àttorney-General of the Federation to the South-West in addition to the SGF.
     
    He said the South-West had the second highest voting population in the country and would demand its fair share of political positions if PDP wins in 2019.
     
    “We have been denied for too long. In 2011, the country under the control of our party zoned the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the zone and it was taken away.
     
    “And from 2011 to 2015, we were left just like that and the reverberating effect of that abandonment is the reason why we are still having the hangover of neglect till today.
     
    “Now we are here again, the party is working with a zone with 14million votes, the second largest in the country. We refuse and we will not accept where we finish the job in the next election and for one reason or the other, we will not be considered.
     
    “We don’t have to wait till after the election before we say what we want. We want to let the party and our candidate know that certain positions are strategic to governance and we want them.
     
    “Yes, the SGF is great, but there is nothing wrong with having the Chief of Staff and Attorney-General on top of it to compensate us for the denials of the past, so that all of us can work as a united front.
     
    “We will continue to fight for it, we will speak with a loud voice. We give so much, so the zone deserves a lot,” he said.
     
    While congratulating Abubakar on his emergence as presidential candidate, Olafeso said the zone was pleased with the choice of Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, as his running mate.
     
    He said the country was faced with serious economic challenges, and Obi had the pedigree that could realise the party’s economic vision for Nigeria.
     
    Olafeso said the zone was concerned about the travails of former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over a case.
     
    He urged members of the party to stand with Fayose at his trying moment, saying the former governor was paying for being truthful and standing against injustice.
     
    “I was in the court the last time and I am glad to tell you that he has been granted bail.
     
    “We will do our best to ensure that he perfects his bail conditions and he is released soon,” he said.
     
    Olafeso also said he was confident that the verdicts of the Osun and Ekiti governorship elections, where the All Progressives Congress was declared winner in both polls, would be upturned at the tribunal.
     
    Olafeso urged members to be leave behind post-primaries disagreements and work together to ensure the party’s victory in 2019.
     
    He said the party had come out of its recent factional crisis to emerge strong, expressing the confidence that it would dislodge APC in 2019.
     
    Akinwonmi, on his part, said the party was working assiduously hard to wrestle power from the APC in 2019.
     
    He, however, said the party executive could not do it alone, calling on all members to do their bit to help achieve the electoral goal.

  • ‘Atiku will give SGF slot to South West’ – Campaign DG

    Chief Gbenga Daniel, Director General, Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, says the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) will go to the South West, if Atiku wins the presidency.
    Daniel, a former governor of Ogun, made the declaration in an interactive session with newsmen on Sunday in Lagos.
    Recall that the PDP had initially zoned its national Chairmanship to the South West, but later picked Uche Secondus from the South South.
    Also, Atiku’s running mate, Mr Peter Obi hails from the South East.
    “We need to understand that the candidate has control over who becomes his running mate during the election and who becomes the SGF if he wins.
    “The decisions on major offices are being given serious consideration and no zone or region will be marginalised.
    “The offices of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Reps will be decided after the polls and based on what plays out in both houses.
    “Aside from major slots, I think what is paramount to the people of the South West is restructuring of the country, which Atiku is very serious about.
    “So the issue for the South West is not personality or slot issue per say because personalities come and go but restructuring Nigeria is significant and more symbolic than zoned offices,” he said.
    On Atiku’s manifesto, Daniel said that it would be published as soon as the campaigns kick off.
     

  • #AdeosunGate: SGF submits credentials for screening, orders other top officials to do same

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, on Tuesday led political office holders and Permanent Secretaries in the Presidency to submit their credentials for scrutiny in the service-wide verification of personnel records.

    Speaking after he was screened, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation said the exercise was part of the implementation of the eight priority areas of the 2017 to 2020 Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP).

    He said it would enable government to maintain an accurate and up to date data of employees, which would enhance transparency in personnel emolument costs.

    He urged all office holders to participate in the exercise by presenting themselves and their documents for screening.

    The exercise which began on Monday, with the Federal Ministry of Information, Health, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and Ministry of Defence (MOD) is scheduled to run for two weeks.

    From July 23 to 27, it would be the turn of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, Accountant-General of the Federation, State House, Federal Ministry of Environment, Power Works and Housing and others. The verification would end on August 3, when officers would visit the Federal Technical College, Orozo, FCT.

    The SGF’s directive is coming after a top official of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is alleged to be involved in a certificate forgery scandal.

    Recall that an online news outlet, Premium Times recently exposed the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun whose NYSC discharge certificate was forged.

    However, both the minister and the presidency have kept mum since the certificate forgery became a public knowledge.

  • 2019: SGF disowns President’s aide, denies appointing Modu-Sherif as Buhari’s campaign chief

    2019: SGF disowns President’s aide, denies appointing Modu-Sherif as Buhari’s campaign chief

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, on Saturday, disowned the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Political Matters, Gideon Sammani, over the composition of the Buhari 2019 Presidential Support Committee.

    Sammani had, in paid adverts published in some national newspapers, named a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ali Modu-Sheriff, as the committee’s Director-General.

    The committee is different from the Buhari Campaign Organisation which has the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as its Director-General.

    But Mustapha, in a statement by his spokesman, Lawrence Ojabo, dissociated the Federal Government from the development.

    He described the publication as unauthorised and misleading.

    The statement read, “The attention of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has been drawn to documents in circulation in print and social media purportedly issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Political Matters in the Presidency, announcing the names of certain individuals and assigning them different roles under the Buhari 2019 Presidential Support Committee, as well as soliciting for support.

    “It has become imperative to clarify to all Nigerians and in particular to APC members that the said documents are unauthorised, misleading and should therefore be totally disregarded.

    “Appropriate administrative measures are being put in place to ensure that such lapse does not recur.”

    According to the statement earlier released by Sammani, the Sheriff-led committee has 35 members, 10 members of National Advisory Committee and five National Patrons with President Muhammadu Buhari as the Grand Patron.

    A popular Kano musician, Dauda Rara, was appointed as the National Director, Music, while a Nollywood actor and a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, is the National Publicity Secretary.

    The Chief of Staff to the Imo State governor and governorship aspirant of the APC, Uche Nwosu, will serve as the National Secretary.

  • SGF blames housing deficit on frequent change in policies

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha has blamed the 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria on policy somersaults by successive administrations.

    Mustapha stated this, while receiving delegates from the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), according to a statement signed by Andrew Uhwe, Director Press, OSGF, on Wednesday in Abuja.

    He urged the FHA members to come up with a comprehensive social housing roadmap to tackle the huge housing deficit in the country and entrench policy sustainability in the sector.

    “The provision of affordable and low-cost houses to citizens is a primary responsibility of the government because it is a social investment that should ease housing challenges.

    “But over the years this objective had not been realised because of policy somersaults by the successive administrations.

    “Since government is a continuum all developmental policies of the agency should be sustained and not discarded,’’ Mustapha said.

    The SGF reiterated the determination of the present administration to tackle the huge housing deficit, by ensuring that a million houses were built across the country every year.

    He applauded the productive efforts of Nigerians in Diaspora through their remittances to the economy.

    He added that these remittances could be invested in beautiful estates for those in diaspora to halt the problem of fraud and abuse of trust by their friends and relatives.

    Earlier, the Chairman of the Board, Senator Lawal Shuaibu said the visit was to brief the SGF on activities and challenges of the agency and to seek for support and intervention in key areas of concern.

    He stressed that in the 45 years history of the FHA government had made huge investment of over a trillion naira in housing projects.
    He lamented the challenge of poor budgetary funding and requested that states assist the agency with suitable lands where they could build and sell.

    He solicited for the amelioration of their estates ravaged by ecological problems requesting that the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government coordinates the diaspora city project.

    NAN

  • MUST READ: Inside the N64 million OSGF website

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha on Monday officially launched the redesigned and upgraded OSGF website, with a charge to web managers of government websites to ensure that the contents are continually updated and kept up to date.

    TheNewsGuru reports the website which costs the FG a whopping sum of N64 million, Mustapha is in commitment of the FG to the full operation of the Freedom of Information Act to engender transparency, openness, engagement, and popular participation of the citizens in the governance process.

    He emphasised that a major achievement in the redesign project was the revamped e-Participation platform for citizen participation and engagement in governance, which has been integrated with the website.

    The portal will allow citizens carry out the following: Request for information from Government; Submit an idea to Government; Lodge complaints to Government; Respond to Government; Report issues to Government; and Give compliments to Government.

    The FG scribe stated that the new website was in keeping with the need to lead Ministries Departments and Agencies’(MDAs) compliance with the dictates of Executive Order 001 on the Ease of doing Business, particularly relating to the directive for MDAs to host a functional website.

    He stressed that the functions and responsibilities of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) made it imperative for it to have a functional website that would deliver information about the structure, policy thrust and activities of the administration on a daily basis.

    According to the SGF, the upgraded OSGF N64 million website project therefore has the following three major components: Redesign and upgrade of OSGF website using newer technology platforms (Laravel and October CMS); Capacity development of Web Development Team (Webmasters), Web Content Providers for the Office, and Acquisition and installation of computer hardware.

    He stated that the OSGF obtained a Clearance Certificate from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for the project in line with the Agency’s Act 2007 and Local Content Guidelines as well as Federal Government’s Executive Orders 003 and 005.

    Mustapha disclosed that arrangements were being concluded to train nodal officers from MDAs who will manage the portal, while the OSGF will serve as the Coordination Center.

    Major highlights of the upgraded OSGF website include the following: Home Page; About Us; Offices; Agencies; News & Media; Resources and Contact Us.

    The SGF said the old OSGF website did not reflect the status of the OSGF and was characterized with the following limitations: The technology upon which the website was developed was old, hence limited features; Limited security features which made the website prone to hackers; Media files such as video clips were hosted on external server which is contrary to Government policies; The website did not comply with the standards of operationalisation of Executive Order 001; There was the need to train and retrain staff in this area, and there was also the need for acquisition and installation of computer hardware for the office.

    He commended the Permanent Secretaries for actively participating to ensure that their Offices contents were properly captured. He noted that all Offices were actively engaged in the process leading to the upgrade by their membership of the Web Content Providers Committee

    He added that the upgraded website has numerous resources that are available to the public for their consumption and the OSGF will not hesitate to publish any material that would assist the public and improve governance.