National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie Oyegun today, marked his 76th birthday, with President Muhammadu Buhari felicitating with him. President Buhari described the celebration as worth it, saying that Oyegun is celebrating remarkable life of service to his people and country. He commended the exemplary patriotism, selflessness and dedication to the progress and well-being of Nigeria which Chief Oyegun has demonstrated throughout his long and very successful career as a top civil servant and political leader. President Buhari also salutes Chief Oyegun’s integrity, wisdom, hard-work and visionary leadership which, contributed in no small measure, to the successful formation of the APC and the party’s historic victory in the last general elections. The President prayed to God to grant the APC National Chairman continued good health and many more years of worthy contributions to national development. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has regretted that over the years, the increase in the number of young Nigerians with educational attainment has not matched the quality needed for job market. He said: “although educational attainment by Nigerian young people has increased significantly in the last decade, the relevance of curricula, quality of education and the fit with skills required by the job market, still remains a challenge for us as a country.” President Buhari, who addressed Nigerian youth today on the occasion of the 2015 International Youth Day further regretted that unsuitable qualifications has limited the young peoples’ employment prospects and potential to contribute to national development. He assured the youth that his new administration is poised to providing an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive so as to ensure greater opportunities for jobs to be created for young people. “This, we believe, will assist in reducing criminal activities and terrorism. We have resolved to provide adequate infrastructure and strengthen our job creation institutions in order to increase opportunities for our young people. “For Nigeria to sustainably create jobs and ensure growth, we will pay special attention to the growth of our Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. This can be achieved through boosting the intervention funds as guaranteed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.” President Jonathan said that in order to ensure that young people are healthy, skilled and educationally empowered, “we will strengthen our academic and vocational training institutions as well as significantly improve our healthcare delivery system.” He promised the youth that the concept of “Change” for his government is not just a political slogan, but the beginning of a new era desired by the majority of Nigerians. “The youth must therefore be vanguards of this change and at the same time be the change that they wish to see. “To this end and knowing that sustainable development cannot take place in the absence of peace, we must all work together towards the actualization of sustainable peace and harmony to enable this administration to build an enduring legacy.” He stressed that his government is committed to fulfilling all the campaign promises even as he asked for cooperation and patience of Nigerians. The President seized the opportunity to pay tribute to all the young people who played significant roles in making the 2015 General Elections a model for democratic governance in Africa. “The role you played, individually and collectively, in not only being peaceful members of the electorate but also galvanising the social media platform and mobilizing your peers to make the right choice. “Your role contributed in no small measure to having a credible election in an atmosphere that was hitherto tense and volatile. The outcome is today being celebrated worldwide. Your role is greatly appreciated.” President Buhari said that they had written their names in history and would be remembered as true heroes of the Nigeria democracy and as architects of change. [myad]
The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has said that it has no plan to give automatic ticket to Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State in order to enable him run for a second term in office in the November governorship election.
The National Organising Secretary of the party, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, made this known today at a news briefing in Abuja shortly after the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) met to deliberate on the governorship election in Kogi State.
Mustapha said there would be a primary election in September where the party’s candidate is expected to emerge, adding that the party wants to be just and fair to all aspirants who might be interested in contesting the Kogi State governorship election in the party.
Mustapha said the PDP has fixed September 10 for its governorship primary.
The party’s decision not to give Wada automatic ticket is coming on the heels of accusation from its workers at the national secretariat that the NWC members have traded and conceded the governorship position to the incumbent governor.
Specifically, the workers had accused the NWC members of asking the governor to give them N1 billion to enable them hand over the ticket to him.
But the NWC members denied the accusation.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed Kogi governorship election for Saturday, 28th November. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has received with sadness news of the transition of one of Nigeria’s foremost traditional rulers, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II. In a statement today from the Villa, Abuja, President Buhari condoled with the late Ooni’s family, his friends, associates and subjects, as well as the government and people of Osun State on the departure of the First Class Monarch. The President described late Ooni as a revered traditional ruler who will be long remembered and celebrated for his worthy service, over more than three decades, as the Chief Custodian of the traditions of the Yorubas and his invaluable contributions to the sustenance of the cultural heritage of his people within and outside Nigeria. He said that Oba Sijuwade’s place in posterity has already been assured by his long and worthy service to his people and country. He said the late Monarch had made notable contributions to the development of his community, state and country as a leading businessman, administrator and inspirational traditional ruler. President Buhari advised the Ooni’s family, friends, associates and subjects to be consoled by the knowledge that he lived a very fulfilled life, and has left worthy legacies for his successors to build upon.
Meanwhile, Osun State Government has, today, formally announced the passing away of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, two weeks after the news of his death came to public knowledge.
The State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, made the announcement at the Government House shortly after he was briefed by the High Chiefs of ile-Ife led by the Obalufe, High Cheif Folorunso Omisakin who is next in command to the late Ooni.
It would be recalled that on Tuesday, 28th of July,2015, the news of the death of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade came to public knowledge from London but was on the following day described as a mere rumour by the high chiefs of ile-Ife.
Since then, Journalists have been hanging around to know the veracity of the information going by the status of the monarch in the country.
But today, various traditional rites to announce his passing away were held including cutting of trees in the palace and Isoro Procession to a place called Enuwa and Some other important places. [myad]
At least four people were confirmed dead and six wounded when a US-based Bristow Group helicopter plunged into Lagos lagoon. The helicopter belongs to Bristow, a Houston, Texas-based firm that charters helicopters to oil and gas companies.
Reports had it that the helicopter came down behind a police station in the Oworonshoki area in the north of the Lagos city.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), two persons were still missing.
“Four dead bodies (have been) recovered so far,” said Nema spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye, adding that the wounded had been taken to two hospitals, where their condition was not immediately clear.
An eye witness said that the ill-fated helicopter made a loud noise before nose-diving into the water near the 12km Third Mainland Bridge, the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland.
Texas-based Bristow’s fleet of around 500 helicopters services the global energy industry and it has transportation operations in Nigeria and most other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world.
Spokesman of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Yakubu Dati said that the nationalities of those involved in the accident are yet to be ascertained.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said the helicopter was en route from an offshore oil rig when it crashed near Third Mainland Bridge, between Victoria Island and the mainland. [myad]
Barely two weeks after eight executive directors were sacked in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), 38 other top management staff have been laid off in the ongoing reorganization of the federal government’s oil company.
With the development the Corporation now has only even as it appointed four new Group Executive Directors to man the four new Directorates that have been approved by the Presidency.
Announcing the restructuring, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, General Manager, corporate affairs said in a statement: “the new Group Managing Director, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed that the new appointments are in line with the Federal Government’s aspiration to transform the Corporation into a lean, efficient, business-focused, transparent and accountable national oil company in keeping with international best practices.”
“The appointments which were approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, include Dr. Maikanti Baru, Group Executive Director, Exploration & Production; Mr. Isiaka Abdulrazaq, Group Executive Director, Finance & Services; Engr. Dennis Nnamdi Ajulu, Group Executive Director, Refining & Technology; and Dr. Babatunde Victor Adeniran, Group Executive Director, Commercial & Investment.”
“A new Company Secretary/Legal Adviser and Managing Directors have also been appointed for the Strategic Business Units. They are: Chidi Momah, Group General Manager, Company Secretariat & Legal Adviser; Mrs. Esther Nnamdi Ogbue, Managing Director, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC); Engr. Chinedu Ezeribe, Managing Director, Warri Refinning & Petrochemicals Company (WRPC); Mr. Babatunde Bakare, Managing Director, Nigerian Gas Company (NGC); Mr. Inuwa Ibrahim Waya, Managing Director, Hyson; Mr. Abubakar Mai-Bornu, Managing Director, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC); and Mr. Ladipo Fagbola, Managing Director, NNPC Retail.”
“Others are: Mr. Rowland Ewubare, Managing Director, Integrated Data Services Ltd (IDSL); Mr. Modupe Bammeke, Managing Director, NNPC Properties; Mr. Abdulkadir Saidu, Managing Director, Duke Oil; and Mr. Dafe Sejebor, Group General Manager, Nigerian Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).”
“The Corporation also retired 38 Top Management Staff reducing the number from 122 to 83.”
“Also in line with the aspiration to reposition the Corporation, 12 personnel have been recruited from the private sector into the Top Management cadre to jump-start a new business outlook to enhance the operational environment as a profit-driven business as against the current civil service orientation.” [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed worry over the fate of several children languishing in different Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP’s) camps across the country, even as he directed the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs to intensify efforts to re-unite families whose members are currently scattered in different camps. President Buhari, who expressed particular concern about the well-being of children in the camps, said that appropriate mechanisms must be put in place to ensure the proper up-bringing of the children so that they don’t grow up to become another national problem. The President, who spoke after receiving a briefing from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Special Duties, Dr. Jamila Shu’ara, also called for a follow-up on the supervision and audit of constituency projects. Officials of the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (MFCT) also briefed President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa today. At the end of the briefing, Vice President Osinbajo urged the MFCT to explore alternative sources to boost its revenue base and reduce its dependence on the currently lean resources of the Federal Government for the development and maintenance of infrastructure in Abuja. “With the coming of the FCT Internal Revenue Board and property taxation, you must be able to generate substantial income to take care of your needs,” the Vice President told the Permanent Secretary of the MFCT, Mr. John Chukwu and other officials of the Ministry. He praised the Permanent Secretary and his team for a “very comprehensive, very detailed and adequate reporting” on the activities of the Ministry. The Permanent Secretary said that all are now set for the introduction of a new tax regime in the Federal Capital Territory. “The property tax and the tenement rate will be collected together and a sharing formula has been devised between the Ministry and the council areas in order to avoid multiple taxation,” he said. [myad]
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has directed the Chairman, Police Service Commission, Mike Okiro, who was appointed by the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to refund the sum of N133 million to the Federal Treasury through the ICPC recovery account at First City Monument Bank.
This was the balance of the N350 million he was said to have received from the Federal Government for staff trainings and physical monitoring of police personnel during the last general elections.
The ICPC also ordered the workers of the commission who were paid 2-way return ticket and Airport taxi fares to location within the Federal Capital Territory and States with close proximity to Abuja during the monitoring exercise to refund to the treasury monies, amounting to N11.75 million.
“Consequently, this commission hereby directs, as follows, that the total balance of N133,413,845.99 from the N350,000,000 2015 Election monitoring exercise domiciled within FCMB be remitted to the Federal Treasury through the ICPC Recovery Account No. 1012929790 at Zenith Bank Plc,” it said.
The anti-graft agency said these in its report of investigations into allegations of graft leveled against Okiro by a PSC worker, Solomon Kaase, who petitioned the ICPC in May, 2015 over alleged moves by Okiro to swindle the PSC to the tune of N275 million.
He alleged that the retired Inspector-General of Police claimed that the money would be used to train 900 PSC workers when the total number of the workers of the commission is 391.
Though the ICPC confirmed that the PSC has only 391 workers contrary to 900 claimed by Okiro, it did not indict him over the discrepancy.
It said: “Investigation findings revealed that the commission budgeted for training of 900 staff and to conduct training in Abuja, Lagos and Kano.
“However, the entire staff force was not more that 391 and that is the figure actually trained in a programme held in Abuja only. The Commission accepted the explanation that due process could not be adhered to strictly because of time constraint.”
The report signed by the ICPC Chairman, Ekpo Nta and dated August 6, 2015, said investigation revealed that the commission paid Daily Travelling Allowances to all staff including those based in Abuja that participated in the training programme held within Abuja.
“Air ticket and DTA were paid to management staff and others who monitored elections within Abuja and its environs; even at locations were Airports do not exist such as Lokoja and Minna,” the report which was addressed to the commission’s Permanent Secretary, stated.
The ICPC observed that the PSC chairman collected money for two conferences that ran simultaneously in Dublin and Orlando, Florida, noting that he did expend the ticket fare for the Dublin trip.
The agency however said Okiro had written to the Presidency to expend the ticket fare for Abuja-Orlando-Abuja on another trip coming up by October, 2015, stressing that it (ICPC) should be informed if the request was turned down. [myad]
Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi, has expressed the readiness of his administration to key into the programmes of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to enhance the well-being of women and children in the state. Governor Umahi spoke when the Resident Representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Nigeria, Mrs. Ratidzai Ndhlovu paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House in Abakaliki yesterday. He appreciated the enormous benefits the state had derived from the programmes of the agency and reiterated the determination of his administration to tackle issues militating against maternal and child health care delivery. The governor stressed his resolve “to ensure that no woman dies during child birth under his watch” even as he regretted the volume of fake and adulterated drugs in circulation across the country. He appealed to the agency to continue to supply genuine drugs to the state. He stressed the importance of power supply as major part of primary healthcare delivery and called on the agency to include the provision of electricity in its core mandate to assist in the preservation of drugs and the conduct of laboratory tests required for the treatment of diseases. Governor Umahi said that his administration attached great importance to primary healthcare, prompting his appointment of three special assistants on Primary Health for each of three senatorial districts in the state. According to him it is meant to have closer touch with the people to ascertain their health and social needs and report back to government for prompt attention. Earlier, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Population Fund, Ndhlovu, had said that she was in the state to renew the agency’s commitment to strengthen its partnership with the state on top priority areas of maternal health, family planning, institutional delivery, fistula care, etc. She said that the agency’s vision was to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every child birth safe and a world where the potential of every young person is fulfilled. The UNFPA chief added that in the agency’s present programme circle which started in 2014, “women issues are our core mandate, girls issue are our core mandate, and young boys issue are our core mandate to ensure women don’t die while giving birth.” Mrs. Ndhlovu called on the state government to key into the UNFPA Government Cash Counterpart contribution towards the programme development aimed at uplifting the state. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has described how political and economic parasites invaded Nigeria and milked its resources with impunity, even as he vowed that his administration is irrevocably committed to doing all within its powers to break the vicious cycle of corruption, unemployment and insecurity in Nigeria. “As Petroleum Minister under General Olusegun Obasanjo (when he was military Head of State) in the 1970’s, I could not travel abroad until I had taken a memo to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) asking for estacode. Now, everybody does what he wants. That is why security-wise and economically, we’re in trouble.” President Buhari who spoke when he had a meeting today with members of the National Peace Committee, led by the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, stressed that not too long from now, the prosecution of persons who have stolen national resources will begin. “Nigeria has to break this vicious cycle before we can make progress. My administration is diligently getting facts and figures pertaining to the nation’s stolen funds, before proceeding to the prosecution of identified culprits.” He said that the Federal Government, under his leadership, would make those who have stolen the national wealth to be charged to court in a matter of weeks so that “Nigerians will know those who have short-changed them.” He stressed that they will not only be asked to return the stolen funds that have been stashed in foreign banks, but will also ensure that those who stole the funds are put on trial in Nigeria. “We have really degenerated as a country. Our national institutions, including the military, which did wonderfully well on foreign missions in the past, have been compromised. But we are doing something about it. The military is now retraining and morale has been resuscitated.” The President said that as part of its actions to address the national problems it inherited, his administration is reorganising Nigeria’s revenue generating institutions, adding that a single treasury account had been established for all Federal revenue to ensure greater probity, transparency and accountability in the collection, disbursement and utilisation of national funds. General Abubakar and members of his committee advised the Federal Government to be guided by the rule of law in its fight against corruption. Members of the National Peace Committee who accompanied General Abubakar on the visit were Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Others were Justice Rose Ukeje (rtd), Professor Ameze Guobadia, Vanguard Newspaper Publisher, Sam Amuka, Dame Priscilla Kuye, Senator Ben Obi, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, and Dr. Arthur-Martin Aginam. The National Peace Committee, formed before the 2015 general elections, was granted permission by the President to transform to a National Peace Council. [myad]
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