Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has made it clear that the government which he and President Muhammadu Buhari run does not regret the fact that it concentrates more on the welfare and well being of the poor Nigerians than any other category of the citizenry.

He insisted that the sole concern of the government is that the resources of Nigeria must be used for the man and woman who need it the most, which explains the focus of the administration’s entire economic policy on the poor.

Professor Osinbajo, who spoke today, Tuesday, while monitoring the ongoing disbursement on the N10,000 collateral and interest-free loans under the Trader Moni Scheme in Dutse, Jigawa State, stressed that the government had, in the past few years, tried to give hope to the common Nigerian through the various schemes for women, men and youths, regardless of their backgrounds.

“Mr. President’s sole concern is that the resources of our country must be used for the man and woman who need it the most; the people in our society who are working hard; the farmers, the traders, and all of the young people who need jobs. That is the focus of Mr. President’s entire economic policy. It is on giving the common man hope so that they can live decent lives; they can provide shelter for themselves, feed and live well.”

The Vice President looked back at the past Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government which he said, embarked on “mindless stealing of resources,” saying: “if the money of our people was not stolen, there would be enough for us to do what we want to do. The money that we make as a country must not be stolen by a few people.”

He said that despite the challenges associated with the fall in oil prices, President Buhari is still committed to giving hope to the poorest Nigerians hence, the implementation of the various components of the Social Investment Programmes.

“Under the Trader Moni Scheme, we are giving 2million people across Nigeria, N10,000 collateral-free loans with the possibility of increasing the amount within six months.

“Here in Jigawa, we have given 30,000 petty traders and only today, we gave extra 2,000 to 5,000 traders, and all together, we have given about 35,000 people the loans in Jigawa alone.

“We also have the Market Moni scheme which is another initiative for traders that are bigger than the petty traders and we start from N50,000 to N350,000.”

The Vice President said that Jigawa State has the highest number of beneficiaries nationwide in the area of Conditional Cash Transfer scheme.

“This is the state where we have given the largest number of people; we have given 37,000 beneficiaries in this state, and every month these people receive the transfers.”

The Conditional Cash Transfer is a N5,000 monthly provision for the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians.

The Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim has reacted swiftly to the Presidential approval of the adjustment of salary structure for his officers, by insisting on getting the best from them in terms of securing the country from criminals.

He warned that he “will not tolerate any lapses, dereliction of duty and other unprofessional conducts from any officer in the discharge of their official responsibilities.”

He directed Commissioners of Police and their supervisory Assistant Inspector Generals of Police to educate their Personnel on the newly approved Rank Salary Structure Adjustment.
The police boss said that training and Seminar have been held for Officers in charge of the Mechanized Salary Section, Police Accountants and Auditors attached to all Police Formations across the Country on the modalities for implementation of the newly approved Rank Salary Structure Adjustment.

The Inspector General directed that the entire personnel of the Force must should re-double their efforts, be more dedicated and committed to duty to reduce crimes and criminalities in the Country to the barest, “and reciprocate the President’s good gesture to the Force, as to whom much is given, much is expected.
“The renewed commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to reduce crimes and criminalities in the Country remain unequivocal and unwavering.”

Workers in Ekiti State have narrated, in a petition to the State House of Assembly on how the immediate past Governor of the State,Ayo Fayose was dolling out the sum of six million naira monthly to labour leaders for nearly four years and that as at the time he left office, the amount had risen to N264 million.
Acting under the aegis of Ekiti Workers Rescue Team (EWRT), the asked the Assembly panel to summon the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Chairman, Mr. Ade Adesanmi and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Mr. Odunayo Adesoye, to explain how they spent the cash from 2015.
In the petition dated 23 November 2018, a copy of which was made available to our reporter today, Tuesday, the EWRT claimed that N6 million
given to the labour leaders monthly did not reflect in the union’s bank accounts.
The EWRT regretted that, “the wicked conspiracy and unholy alliance” between Fayose and the labour leaders accounted for why they could not fight for workers’ rights during the last administration.
The group told the Assembly panel that this constituted a moral burden to the labour leaders, who instead of agitating for payment of arrears of salaries and allowances under Fayose, consistently commended him when workers were dying.
The petition which was addressed to the House Committee Chairman on Public Accounts, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan was signed by EWRT Chairman, Mr. Ojo Ayodeji and Secretary, Mr. W.A. Ajayi.
Attached to the petition was the Auditor General’s Report for the year ended, 31 December 2017 which showed that the TUC received N1 million monthly and the NLC got N5 million monthly under Fayose as “running grants.”
The Auditor General in the report recommended that, “trade unions irrespective of their closeness to government should not be treated as government offices.
“The unions are umbrella bodies for workers whose responsibilities are to see to the welfare of their members. Also, members pay dues for the running of their respective bodies. It is tolerable if such bodies enjoy occasional assistance when the need arises.”
The petition read in part: “The huge sum had been released on monthly basis to these comrades without a corresponding deposit in the unions’ bank accounts.
“The release was meant for just one purpose-to pay them back for supporting and cooperating with the government of Ayo Fayose to impoverish the workers of Ekiti State.
“One would have scored the government that approved the release of this magnitude of public funds to industrial unions high and termed her as workers friendly if the purpose is for the betterment of the entire workforce.
“But in contrary, it was meant for sharing into individual pockets of about six people. There was no single record of physical projects embarked upon by these labour merchants for the period of about four years.
“We are protesting and reporting officially to this highly esteemed committee to wade in by investigating and ensuring justice while the perpetrators refund the money to the last penny back to the coffers of Ekiti State for the betterment of the public in general and its workforce in particular.”
Reacting, Adesanmi who said he has not received a copy of the petition, denied collecting any largesse from the Fayose administration.
Adesanmi said that unionism is not under the jurisdiction of the House of Assembly, arguing that any complaints against labour leaders are taken to the national secretariats of their unions.
“They (EWRT) are just chasing shadows, they are a group of former labour leaders who served out their terms and nobody chased
them out of office.
“They had raised several allegations including the claim that I received N15 million for my father’s burial. All that they are saying now is not true, not at all, not at all.
“You can do your own findings from the Office of Establishment under which supervises labour matters.”