President Muhammadu Buhari met with Security Chiefs, at the State House, Abuja.
The National Security Council (NSC) has taken measures to stem post election violence in the 2019 general elections.
The minister of Defence, Manir Dan Ali, who briefed news men shortly after a meeting of the Council, headed by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, Thursday, said that one of the area which the Council looked into and is concerned about is the post- election violence, “as desperate politicians may whip up ethno- religious sentiments to create security situation in the country.
“Also of concern is the proliferation and stockpiling of weapons by some disgruntled elements with a desire to take laws into their hands at the slightest opportunity.
“The council called for the concerted efforts of all security agencies to ensure that 2019 elections are hitch free and the need for continuous sensitization of the public by National Orientation Agency (NOA) and regular meetings of relevant stakeholders including INEC, international/ local observers and the media ahead of the elections.”
The minister said that the Council recommended deployment of security agencies to states to enable the elections to be conducted peacefully and to further doused tension created by the outcome of the political parties’ primaries and some desperate persons to sabotage the electoral process.
“The meeting also discussed attempt to put pressure on electoral body by some notable personalities through demonstrations which was brought under control by combine efforts of security agencies to avoid been hijacked by hoodlums and armed bandits.”
File photo of Vice President Osinbajo and Governor Bello shaking hands
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has assured the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello that there is no truth in the news making the rounds that the federal government is set to sell Ajaokuta Steel Company.
Osinbajo told a panicky governor who ran to the President Villa, Abuja today, Thursday, to find out the truth of the matter that the government regards Ajaokuta as a national asset.
Governor Yahaya Bello said that he had gone to confirm the true position of the Steel Company from the Vice President, being the Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC).
The governor said that Osinbajo told him: “there is nothing like that. He said there is no plan by the Federal Government to sell Ajaokuta Steel Company.
“The VP said Ajaokuta is an asset of the Federal Government and that they are looking into how best to make good use of that particular complex for the benefit of Nigerians at large.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has described an audio circulating in the social media in which the Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, purportedly made comments to the effect that, nothing will happen if former governor Ayo Fayose, dies in custody as fake.
According to EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren the fake audio tape did not disclose the place where the conversation occurred and the person that Magu was supposedly talking to.
“Members of the public are advised to disregard this disingenuous creation as it is the handiwork of mischief makers intent on distracting the Commission from the serious work of wrapping up the investigation into the corruption allegations against the former governor of Ekiti state.
“The audio recording is fake as the comments did not emanate from the Chairman of the EFCC. Purveyors of this fake news especially a former spokesperson of a leading political party are warned to desist”, Uwujaren said.
Wife of Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, Melania Trump escaped plane crash today, Wednesday, when it was forced to turn back when smoke appeared in the cabin.
According to her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, the US First Lady was on her way from Washington to Philadelphia when there was “a minor mechanical issue.”
Stephanie Grisham added: “everything is fine and everyone is safe.”
The airplane returned to Joint Base Andrews, an air force facility used by the White House outside Washington, DC.
CNN and other US networks said that reporters aboard the plane noticed smoke in the cabin and were told to hold wet towels over their faces if it got worse.
The smoke dissipated and the aircraft returned without further incident.
Mrs. Trump was on her way to visit a Philadelphia hospital specializing in the treatment of mothers with opioid use disorders and babies born with addictions to drugs they were exposed to while still in the womb.
The Presidency has thrown the issue of minimum wage to Nigeria’s civil servants and workers in other sectors to employers of labour, based on ‘ability’ to pay.
A statement by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, defined the proper meaning of minimum wage and concluded: “employers, whether in Private or Public Sector, can pay more than the National Minimum Wage based on “ability to pay.”
According to Garba Shehu, minimum mage may be understood to mean the minimum sum payable to a worker for work performed or services rendered, within a given period, whether calculated on the basis of time or output.
He explained that such might not be reduced either by individual or collective agreement, which is guaranteed by law and which may be fixed in such a way as to cover the minimum needs of the worker and his or her family, “in the light of national economic and social considerations that should be taken into account in determining their rates.
“In practice, National Minimum Wage in Nigeria is a conglomeration of total remuneration due to a worker and does not refer to only the basic wage.
“In other words, National Minimum Wage is inclusive of the basic pay and any other allowance due to a worker, and is hence, his or her remuneration.”
Nigeria’s Federal Government has approved the draft White Paper on the principle of no-work-no-pay rule for federal public servants that go on strike.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, approved the report, today, Wednesday, of the Technical Committee on the Industrial Relations Matters in the Federal Public Service.
Speaking to news men shortly after the FEC meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige said that one of the contentious issues in the draft white paper that of no-work-no-pay, which he said will henceforth apply.
This is because, he said, “that principle (of no-work-no-pay) is enshrined in that same section 43 of the labour act. That section says for the period a worker withdraws his services, government or his employers are not entitled to pay and the period for which they were absent will not count as part of his pensionable period in the public service.
“So, Council accepted it as a White Paper recommendation that should be gazette, because even the National Industrial Court has made pronouncement on that law and said that it is clear.”
Dr. Ngige said that the measures are being taken in realization that Federal Public Service in Nigeria has been bedeviled with all sorts of problems and conflict areas.
He said that over time, government has set up various Committees, brought out establishment circulars, brought out circulars from the various government agencies all in a bid to stem the tide of industrial disputes.
“So this Technical Committee which was inaugurated on the 21st of April 216 did their work and submitted to the Federal Executive Council in October 2017. The Federal Executive Council in turn empanelled a committee of ten which I chaired to do a government draft White Paper on those contentious areas that the technical committee had looked at.
“These contentious areas are the enforcement of Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act Law of the Federation 2004. This is the section that deals with lock out of workers by their employer with out declaring redundancy appropriately because the same establishment especially in the private sector workers are locked out by their employers. So the law there says that if you lock out your workers without passing through the normal channel, due process for the period of the lock out, the worker is assumed to be at work and will receive all remunerations and allowances and benefits accruing to him for the period and that period will also be counted to him as a pensionable period in computation of his pension.”
The minister said that another contentious area that has been reflected in the draft white paper is the of public servants remaining permanently in the executive bodies of trade unions, adding that government realized that some persons in the public service go into trade union executive positions, hold offices and they do that for life for as long as they are in the service.
“And in doing so, they will refuse postings and redeployment under the guise that they are doing trade union activities, government says no.
“You have to be a public servant first before you become a trade unionist. Therefore, if you are there, the public service rules should also be applied to you and in doing so, government says establishments will look at issues and give it a human face in order not to disrupt trade unionism and in furtherance to this, government has also said that there must be tenure stipulations because people stay there without tenures, many organizations give people union positions without tenure.
“Government says there is no office that doesn’t have tenure. Trade unions now should give us Constitution that must have tenure at least, a maximum of two tenures for any elective position.”
The third point which government looked at in the technical report, Ngige said, is the authentication of documents in collective bargaining.
“Often times in government circle we have gotten circulars that are fake being presented by people who come for collective bargaining agreements. Sometimes, even some parastatals can present something that is not really authenticated. Government, therefore, says all collective agreements must be authenticated by the rightful authorities and domiciled with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
“the next point is the issue of skipping. You all know about the history of skipping. The doctors want to skip, the doctors want to skip, the laboratory technologist wants to skip always especially in the medical sector. It has now spilled over into the general public service. Therefore government says Head of Service of the Federation must bring out a circular immediately to stop skipping arrangements.
“The next point is the issue of resident training for medical doctors. The medical training for resident doctors has been contentious. Some medical doctors come into the training and become professional unionists and stay there as permanent job. The residency training is actually not a permanent job as such, it is a conveyor built arrangements by which you stay and drop off another people come in so government has fixed a tenure for resident training, seven years within which you can pass all your exams. If you don’t pass all your exams after seven years, you are off.”
The minister said that the issue of inter professional rivalry in the health sector was also looked into, saying that government noted that this report has been there and has directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to process the report and its white paper that was done by the former committee in 2015 and then present it to government for deliberation and reprocessing.
“This is in a bit to stem the industrial crisis we have in the health sector.
“There is the issue of non government employees representing government and non public officers leading negotiating team with unions on behalf of government.
“There is a particular incongruous situation that has existed and has caused government a lot of problems. You sometimes see Chairman of a University Governing Council of Polytechnic going to lead government delegation and enter into agreement that cannot be implemented. So government realizes the problem it causes and now says in the white paper that will come out that non government employees will not lead government delegation. There are enough memory to be recovered in bureaucracy in any given MDA. Therefore, outsiders coming to lead government delegations will not happen.
“In the same vein outsiders also come in to lead trade union delegation conciliations and collective bargaining agreement is also to be stopped because often times, those people employed who are not elected officers of unions will come to negotiations and will never never look at things dispassionately. They want to impress their employers or they want to prolong whatever discussion is going on. So government want to put a stop to it.
“Again is the issue of abuse of private practice by health professionals in full employment in public health institutions. There have been a lot of hue and cries about doctors establishing private clinics, visiting maybe the health institution they are serving under once a week then spend all their times in the private clinics. There is also the case of laboratory technologists doing so, there is also the case of even teachers who own private schools, so government has said that a circular has to come out after a special committee of government has looked at this and given government full recommendations on how to curb that particular practice which had been causing a lot of harm especially in the public health institutions.
“There is also the issue of classification of research centres in the federal public service and the issue of directors general and Chief Executive Officers of Research Institutes remaining within research institutes after serving out their tenure.”
Immediate past Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has been taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which insisted that he has a case to answer regarding the N1.3 Billion, $5.377 Million he allegedly received from the Office of the former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki.
Fayose, who walked himself into the headquarters of the anti graft agency in Abuja yesterday, Tuesday with many of his sympathizers, was detained just as the supporters deserted him to face the charge of alleged diversion N4.685billion by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
EFCC source said that Fayose asked the detectives to allow him to rest, having worked hard for four years even as he denied all the allegations.
“He made a statement where he denied all the allegations and asked the commission to take him to court.
“So far, he has not responded to how he came about N1.3billion and $5.377million from ONSA. He has more issues to clarify; we are going to detain him.
“There are three teams handling the allegations against the former governor. There is a special team managing his suspended trial because he had immunity as a governor; a separate team for the N4.685b ONSA fraud and the third panel probes his just completed tenure.
“So far, he has not responded to how he came about N1.3billion and $5.377million from ONSA. He has more issues to clarify; we are going to detain him.
“There are three teams handling the allegations against the former governor. There is a special team managing his suspended trial because he had immunity as a governor; a separate team for the N4.685b ONSA fraud and the third panel probes his just completed tenure.
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has made it clear that Justice Uwani Abba-Aji whose name has been forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for confirmation as Justice of the Supreme Court has no known corruption case hanging.
Responding to a publication by the Civic Society Network Against Corruption urging President Buhari not to forward the Judge to the Senate for confirmation on account that he has a corruption case against him, the NJC said that Justice Abba-Aji has been sitting in Court and no Investigation Agency has filed any new allegation against him.
“In fact, his international passport had been returned to him and he had been travelling outside the country without any hindrance, signalling that the investigation agencies have nothing new against His Lordship.
“The law of the land remains that no one is to be punished except for an offence established by due process of law.”
A statement by the Director of Information, Soji Oye, said that in as much as the National Judicial Council would not join issues with anyone on this matter, it is necessary to put the records straight.
“Members of the public would recall that sequel to the request of the Attorney-General of the Federation, in 2016, Hon. Mr Justice Abba-Aji and seven (7) other Judicial Officers were directed by the Council to recuse themselves from performing their judicial functions pending their investigation by Security Agency.
“However, Hon. Mr. Justice Abba-Aji and five (5) others were recalled as only three (3) out of the Judicial Officers then under investigations were arraigned in Court.”
The Civic Society Network Against Corruption had objected to the name of the judge being forwarded for confirmation on the basis the report of an online newspaper of 16thOctober, 2016, which featured his name as one of the Judicial Officers under investigation for corruption by Security Agencies for accepting bribe from a Senior Lawyer who is currently facing trial at the Law Court.
The Civil Society group concluded by imploring President Buhari to withhold submission of Justice Abba- Aji’s name to the National Assembly until he is purged of the allegation of corruption.
However, the National Judicial Council re-affirmed its commitment to zero tolerance for corruption which is the stand of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the Council, Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen.
Politics is one interesting game in which one’s allegiance shifts along with one’s interests. Hence, it is said that in politics there are no permanent enemies only permanent interests. It is also in a similar vein that the great Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 19th century, is quoted as having said, “Finality is not the language of politics”.
The one reason we must not talk like God is because we are not God. Our beloved former President Olusegun Obasanjo professes to be God-fearing, and it is his avowed love for the Christian faith that informed his decision to pursue a doctorate in religious studies. He was alleged to have said that God would not forgive him if he were to support Atiku Abubakar, his erstwhile deputy between 1999 and 2007, to become President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In a most scurrilous assessment of Atiku, our erstwhile President has this to say:
“…What I did not know about Atiku which came out glaringly later was his parental background which was somewhat shadowy, his belief and reliance on marabouts, his lack of transparency, his trust in money to buy his way out on all issues and his readiness to sacrifice morality, integrity, propriety, truth and national interest for self and selfish interests…”
Just imagine a boss one had worked with writing what Obasanjo had written about Atiku on a former subordinate seeking employment elsewhere! Would it not have been a waste of precious time inviting such a person, even for an interview?
If all what Obasanjo wrote about Atiku were true, any knowledgeable individual would take them to be intrinsic to the essence of the subject. They are blemishes that can only be exorcised by means that are beyond the powers of ordinary human beings. A mere visit to Ota to seek the endorsement of Obasanjo and apologise for personal disagreements could not suddenly have erased blemishes that are traceable to a “shadowy” parental background-some kind of genetic attribute.
Those attributes of Atiku, presented as they were by Obasanjo, could not have made the former that great President the nation is now rooting for. In very sane societies, someone of that kind of character would have been quarantined in some kind of “political leper colony”. I know of societies where merely getting drunk or frolicking with a prostitute, even at a relatively young age, could mean some otherwise great political career is ruined forever.
Obasanjo, in now endorsing Atiku for President, could be said to be licking his own vomit. In what could be construed or misconstrued as an exaggeration of self-importance, Obasanjo has even promised that he would help in resolving issues, even if they were legal issues, that our “President-to-be” might be having with foreign nations. Indeed, there are no permanent enemies in politics only permanent interests. The fact that you may one day need someone to protect you from crimes you may have committed could be one reason why intemperate words should never be uttered or given a permanent berth in a book.
The 2019 presidential election should be quite interesting. With due respect to other candidates, this contest is between incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party. Ours is a two-party state; being able to speak great grammar, or being in possession of a chain of degrees from some exotic universities, cannot be a substitute to being a candidate to a political party whose networks penetrate the various divides. The election promises to be exciting, not least because of the fact that both Buhari and Atiku share the same identity. This will minimise the influence of religion and ethnicity in our electoral considerations. May the better candidate win!
Dr Anthony Akinola wrote in from Oxford, The United Kingdom.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has announced his first set of appointments a few hours after taking oath of office as governor of Ekiti State.
In a statement today, Tuesday evening, the governor named Abiodun Oyebanji as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) even as he announce the appointment of Biodun Omoleye as the Chief of Staff and Yinka Oyebode as Chief Press Secretary.
Oyebanji, a former University lecturer, had previously served as Chief of Staff during the administration of Otunba Niyi Adebayo, and was Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning during Fayemi’s first term.
Omoleye, a former University administrator and former Chairman of Ijero Local Government, had also served as Special Adviser in the Governor’s Office.
Oyebode, a seasoned journalist served as CPS to the governor in his first term.
He later served as Special Adviser on Media to him when he was Minister of Mines and Steel Development.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has described an audio circulating in the social media in which the Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, purportedly made comments to the effect that, nothing will happen if former governor Ayo Fayose, dies in custody as fake.
Wife of Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, Melania Trump escaped plane crash today, Wednesday, when it was forced to turn back when smoke appeared in the cabin.
Immediate past Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has been taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which insisted that he has a case to answer regarding the N1.3 Billion, $5.377 Million he allegedly received from the Office of the former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki.
As Obasanjo Licks His Vomit, By Anthony Akinola
Politics is one interesting game in which one’s allegiance shifts along with one’s interests. Hence, it is said that in politics there are no permanent enemies only permanent interests. It is also in a similar vein that the great Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 19th century, is quoted as having said, “Finality is not the language of politics”.
The one reason we must not talk like God is because we are not God. Our beloved former President Olusegun Obasanjo professes to be God-fearing, and it is his avowed love for the Christian faith that informed his decision to pursue a doctorate in religious studies. He was alleged to have said that God would not forgive him if he were to support Atiku Abubakar, his erstwhile deputy between 1999 and 2007, to become President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In a most scurrilous assessment of Atiku, our erstwhile President has this to say:
“…What I did not know about Atiku which came out glaringly later was his parental background which was somewhat shadowy, his belief and reliance on marabouts, his lack of transparency, his trust in money to buy his way out on all issues and his readiness to sacrifice morality, integrity, propriety, truth and national interest for self and selfish interests…”
Just imagine a boss one had worked with writing what Obasanjo had written about Atiku on a former subordinate seeking employment elsewhere! Would it not have been a waste of precious time inviting such a person, even for an interview?
If all what Obasanjo wrote about Atiku were true, any knowledgeable individual would take them to be intrinsic to the essence of the subject. They are blemishes that can only be exorcised by means that are beyond the powers of ordinary human beings. A mere visit to Ota to seek the endorsement of Obasanjo and apologise for personal disagreements could not suddenly have erased blemishes that are traceable to a “shadowy” parental background-some kind of genetic attribute.
Those attributes of Atiku, presented as they were by Obasanjo, could not have made the former that great President the nation is now rooting for. In very sane societies, someone of that kind of character would have been quarantined in some kind of “political leper colony”. I know of societies where merely getting drunk or frolicking with a prostitute, even at a relatively young age, could mean some otherwise great political career is ruined forever.
Obasanjo, in now endorsing Atiku for President, could be said to be licking his own vomit. In what could be construed or misconstrued as an exaggeration of self-importance, Obasanjo has even promised that he would help in resolving issues, even if they were legal issues, that our “President-to-be” might be having with foreign nations. Indeed, there are no permanent enemies in politics only permanent interests. The fact that you may one day need someone to protect you from crimes you may have committed could be one reason why intemperate words should never be uttered or given a permanent berth in a book.
The 2019 presidential election should be quite interesting. With due respect to other candidates, this contest is between incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party. Ours is a two-party state; being able to speak great grammar, or being in possession of a chain of degrees from some exotic universities, cannot be a substitute to being a candidate to a political party whose networks penetrate the various divides. The election promises to be exciting, not least because of the fact that both Buhari and Atiku share the same identity. This will minimise the influence of religion and ethnicity in our electoral considerations. May the better candidate win!
Dr Anthony Akinola wrote in from Oxford, The United Kingdom.