Officials of Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, inspecting some seized drugsThe National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has expressed its determination to soon conduct raids on some gardens in Abuja, the nation’s capital notorious for harbouring addicts and peddlers.
The Federal Government of Nigeria, tired of funding power in the country and still not getting good results, may back down on privatization of the sector soon.
The position of the government, which emanated from a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) today, January 23, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, was backgrounded on the government’s complain that despite the privatization, it has pumped N1. 7 Trillion into the sector in the last three years.
Briefing newsmen shortly after the meeting at the presidential Villa, Abuja, Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State said that the way the privatization was done is an issue to many, adding: “what we have agreed on is that there are fundamental problem in the electronic supply industry, and that you cannot privatize an industry and then over three years since privatization, you pump in N1.7 trillion of government into it. That is not privatization.
“The federal government has supported the electricity sector with N1.7 trillion in the last three years and this is not sustainable. So, solutions must be found. Those solutions are not going to be nice. They maybe painful but the only way to solve the structural problems in the industry is to take some very difficult decisions.
“There are many issues including the ones you have observed in Kano DISCO. Our hope is that when we must have presented our report, we would have identified issues and isolated these issues and would present options to the government that would will have costs and benefits, because, we cannot continue to spend N1.7 trillion every try years. The question is if we continue like this are we going to get electricity?
“We can also look at other options and have cost and benefits attached to it for the consideration of the economic council of government.
“So, my appeal is that let’s not be quick to pass judgement. Right now we are listening to all the stakeholders. Of course, there is a lot of blame game. At the end of the day, we must have an honest conversation as Nigerians and know that unless we fix electricity we cannot make progress.
“And this electricity is required not only in the cities but in every home, every rural area. How do we fix the structural problem in the industry so that it doesn’t cost the government this much to cover the whole of the country.
“Today, there are 80 million Nigerians that do not have access to electricity. We cannot continue like this.
“So, we will ask all these questions, look at everything you have observed and even those that you have not observed. But we want to listen to Nigerians and get their own views and incorporate those views in every solution that we proposed.”
Vice President, Prof. Yemi OsinbajoControversies over the proposed Southwest security network known as Amotekun may have been laid to rest today, January 23 as the federal government and the concerned governors resolved to structure it along community policing system.
Rising from a meeting today at the presidential Villa, Abuja, the governors of the six states in the Southwest and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, stressed the need to provide legal backing to the Amotekun.
The meeting, which was also attended by the nation’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami as well as the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, was, according to a presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande, very fruitful.
“Unanimous resolutions were made on the way forward.
“Having regard to the need for all hands to be on deck in addressing the security concerns across the country, it was agreed that the structure of Amotekun should also align with the Community Policing strategy of the Federal Government.
“It was also agreed that necessary legal instruments will be put in place by each of the States to give legal backing to the initiative and address all issues concerning the regulation of the security structure.”
Answering questions from newsmen after the meeting, the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu confirmed that Amoketun will be structured along community policing system and that a legal framework will be made to accommodate it.
He said that those at the meeting agreed on the way forward, adding that the most important one is that “we are going to have legal framework to back this Amotekun. And this legal framework is going to be one which we all are going to look at and will be sure to go without any hinderance.”
Governor Akeredolu also confirmed Amotekan will be part of the Federal government’s community policing.
“In essence really, it is about community. So, we are going to work together to see the community policing and Amotekan work in a way.”
CBN-Office-AbujaThe Management of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the redeployment of Yusuf Philip Yila, a Director with the Bank and the Managing Director, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB), to the position of Director in the Development Finance Department, with effect from Friday, January 24, 2020.
Yila succeeds Dr. Mudashiru Olaitan who retires from the bank on January 26, 2020, having reached the statutory retirement age.
Born on November 20, 1972, Yila, joined the services of the Central Bank of Nigeria in June 2011 from Oando Plc where he was General Manager Operations for the downstream business. He holds a Bachelors of Engineering Degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) and is an Alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School, Boston. He has also attended several executive courses at Oxford, Harvard Kennedy and Northwestern University. He is married with Children.
Other movements announced by the management include the redeployment of Mr. Kofo Salam-Alada from the Consumer Protection Department to the Legal Services Department as well as the movement of Mr. Samuel Okojere from the Payment System Management to the banking Services Department, to replace Mr. Dipo Fatokun, who retired from the services of the Bank in December 2019.
The CBN Management also approved the appointment of Mr. Clement Buari as Director, Strategy Management Department; Haruna Mustafa, Director, Consumer Protection; Bello Hassan, Director, Other Financial Institutions’ Supervision Department; Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji, Director, Trade and Exchange Department and Mr. Musa Itopa Jimoh as Director, Payment System Management.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abubakar Abdullahi Kure has also been appointed Director and Acting Managing Director of the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank.
Minister of Justice, Malami AbubakarAttorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has insisted that Operation of Amotekun, a security outfit launched by Southwest governors, is illegal.
Malami, in a statement today, January 23, by his Special Assistant on Media, Umar Gwandu, said that no amount of sentiments would make the Federal Government abandon the path of rule of law in governing the country.
Malami’s statement comes a day after a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, called for dialogue, saying that Amotekun is not dangerous to Nigeria’s unity.
The AGF also addressed human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, who told Southwest governors to ignore Malami and make laws to back Amotekun.
“No amount of effort to hide the truth will work. People could be carried away by sentimental or emotional inclinations, but truth remains apparently palpable. The bottom line is that the current Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not accommodate formation of regional security architecture,” the statement said.
“This is a fact which is indisputable and undeniable. Mr. Falana was prevaricating and circumlocuting using evasive techniques when he was asked by the media to justify the presence of lacuna within the law which could establish or protect the concept of regionalism in any operation in the country.
“This arrangement called Amotekun is not backed by any law neither at the State nor at the Federal Government level. Amotekun, therefore, remains unconstitutional and illegal as already indicated.
“The Federal Government appreciates that legally-minded Nigerians have started to eschew emotions by offering legal comments on the matter as against being carried away by other inclinations.
“The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is committed to the rule of law and a constitutional democratic Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The General President for the affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, Sheikh Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz Al-Sudais has invited the wrath of Allah on those he called bandits that have been trying to tamper with the two monuments.
According to a statement from Riyadh, the country’s federal capital, Dr. Al Sudais insisted that those who are exposing the two Holy Mosques either by theft or assault are bandits that are spreading corruption on the earth.
He enphasized that “whoever tries to breach the security of the Two Holy Mosques will find strict deterrence that pre-empting his attempts, and will lead to complete failure.
“Allah willing, and by His power – then by the vigilant of the loyal security forces of this country, who we have witnessed on their sacrifices with several gaps of this blessed land.
“The Two Holy Mosques have sanctity, so whoever wants to corrupt them or was subjected them in any way will suffer of his inevitable fate, because Allah Almighty guarantees their protection.”
Dr. Al-Sudais was quoted as saying that the state would continue to take care of the Two Holy Mosques and their great islamic monuments, adding: “we will continue to maintain and restore them, and established exhibitions for them.”
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has said that he and other supporters of his predecessor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso left him because of what he called his ‘selfishness.’
The governor, who formally welcomed some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that apart from being selfish, Kwankwaso is also an unrepentant person.
“It is natural to be a bit selfish but I have never seen anyone as selfish as Kwankwaso. It was such that he imposed his whims and caprices on all and exploited (all) for his personal benefit, as against the collective interest of all.
“All of us seated here were with him in the past and we made him what he is politically but had to withdraw from his persistent self-conceit.
“We had initiated reconciliations in the past but Kwankwaso is not the repentant type, it is either his bid that is done or he destroys everything.”
Chairman of the PDP in Kano, Rabi’u Sulaiman-Bichi, was part of the defectors alongside many Kwankwasiyya supporters, local government coordinators and former commissioners who served under Kwankwaso.
Governor Ganduje called on them to join hands with him in developing the state.
He assured them that they would be carried along in the development of the state.
“Those who took us to Election Petition Tribunal, to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, had only exercised their constitutional rights, as simple as that, hence our decision to invite the opposition to come and join hands with us for the development of the state.”
Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke has appeared, along with six others over the controversial $1.09 billion settlement agreement on Malabu oil block.
Adoke who was arraigned today, January 23 at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Gwagwalada, pleaded not guilty to 42 counts of fraud and money laundering.
Other defendants in the charge are Aliyu Abubakar, Rasky Gbinigie, Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleges that Adoke was connected with the controversial $1.09 billion settlement agreement on Malabu Oil Block.
The former AGF had been away from the country for four years after being part of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The anti-graft agency accused the former justice minister of fraudulently allocating OPL 245.
Adoke was arrested on December 19, 2019, by the EFCC on arrival in Nigeria from Dubai.
Governorship aspirant for the Anambra governorship election, Chief Ugochukwu Okeke
has said that if elected, he will tap from the best brains in the state to run the first knowledge driven state in Nigeria.
According to him, Nigeria and the third world having missed the industrial revolution, would rely on Anambra state for new primary source of wealth creation.
Chief Okeke said that Anambra state is blessed with some of the finest brains in the information and technology world and that if he is elected, he will harness these brains to provide better life for the people of Anambra.
He said that there is no limit to human imagination even as he expressed joy that the state is richly blessed with men and women.
Chief Okeke said that the state must cheetah-pole-vault to reap the benefits of ICT and human resources that abound in the state.
Chief Okeke who plans to run on the ticket of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), asked his people to keep hopes alive in spite of the ruinous cloud of bad governance that has enveloped the state over the past few years, leaving critical infrastructure in tatters and rural communities in adverse neglect, that the state can still be redeemed.
“Perhaps there has never been anytime in the history of this state that the consequences of our decision to choose who to lead us as governor will be weightier, more dramatic and consequential. Our State is standing on the threshold of history, we are on the verge and all socioeconomic indicators have taken a huge plunge amidst the huge potentials our State is endowed with.
“We cannot afford to gamble with the choice of who picks the ticket of our party as the task of redeeming our State from the present quagmire is an arduous one. It therefore behooves on our party to build a workable consensus and effective synergy to tackle the chronic leadership failure that has befallen us.”
Six Legacies President Buhari Must Leave Behind, By Deen Adavize
There is no doubt that Nigeria was in dire need of a selfless and visionary leader to rescue it after decades of misgovernance. The masses who persistently craved for his presidency since he ventured into partisan politics in 2002 finally succeeded in a historic election that enthroned the former retired General, Muhammadu Buhari as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015. Of course, this explained why despite unbearable hardship that befell the country when he took over office about five years ago, most Nigerians remained resolute and virtually undeterred in tolerating the president’s continuous plea for patience and understanding. It is also obvious that because of the impressive goodwill towards the current administration, stringent measures and actions of the government that would have naturally ignited an unprecedented revolt against it, are being systematically suppressed by the resilient Nigerians who see every policy and program of the current government as necessary measure to correct the damage of the previous administrations. Prominence of such measures are, among others, the announced removal of fuel subsidies in 2017, the recent closure of Nigeria’s land borders, import-substitution, CBN charges on bank transactions and the recent proposed hike in electricity tariff.
As a matter of fact, similar measures have ignited yet to be quelled mass protests against governments across the world in recent times. However, while Nigerians should be commended for their exceptional endurance and unwavering support for the current administration, President Buhari must, without excuse, compensate the masses by leaving behind the following legacies for their costly sacrifices.
1. Completion of Ajaokuta steel complex, the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialization. While several insinuations have been raised about the inability of the successive governments to complete the steel plant, which ranges from international conspiracy to internal contradiction. However, President Buhari is seen as a man of integrity with an independent mind without political debt. It is generally believed that he is the only one who can defy all the impediments and resuscitate the steel complex. It’s gratifying to note that he has made a practical step for the first time to resuscitate it. A serious framework must, therefore, put in place as the federal government is set to finalize the agreement he recently reached with President Putin at Russia-Africa summit in Sochi, so as to accomplish this ambitious project before he vacates office in 2023.
2. Power is another area the masses are anxiously expecting him to improve. No doubt that Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief when he assumed office in 2015, hoping he would rescue the masses from the selfish few who sole darkness for the nation after spending 16 billion US dollars on power and eventually shared the sector among themselves while continuing to pump the nation’s wealth into it without visible results.
It is noteworthy that at the time President Buhari took office in 2015, the total power generation was around 4,027MW, while 3,948MW were been distributed according to NBS statistic. It’s surprising that about five years into his administration, the country is still struggling with a little above 4,000MW. According to Nigeria electricity system operator’s report released on 22nd January, 2020, the current peak generation is put at 4,429MW, even the national grid continues to collapse unabated. Though the government had earlier claimed that it has the capacity to generate 7,000MW, however, the reality on ground is that, the country is grappling with 4,000MW. Just recently, Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufai revealed that the Federal Government had pumped not less than 1.7 trillion naira into the sector in the last three years, yet electricity generation and distribution continue to plummet. This, indeed a step-forward-backward. Until government revokes the privatization of power sector, it will continue to sink money into the sector without visible improvement.
3. The president must ensure that he leaves behind efficient, effective, less corrupt civil service. While we acknowledge some far-reaching reforms in the civil service so far, the institution is still riddled with corruption. Contract inflation, secret recruitment, and nepotism are still looming large and threatening the institution’s core mandate of serving the engine room of government. Some bad eggs are still mounting strategic positions within the institution, sabotaging the government’s efforts at improving the system. These elements must be weeded out without prejudice if government really wants to sustain the momentum and accomplish the task of transforming Nigeria.
4. Refinery! When President Buhari won in 2015, he vowed to revive the nation moribund refineries. But it is surprising that about five years after he assumed office, the nation continues to import refined oil with huge subsidy payment to marketers while our refineries remained almost non-functioning. The current Group Managing Director has again reassured Nigerians of reviving it and the president’s recent trips to Russia and Saudi Arabia respectively invigorated our hope for another opportunity that, Nigerians, will soon wake up to receive a cheering news of our fully revived refineries so as to finally put an end to fuel importation and recurrent subsidy payment.
5. Our roads are overstretched, dilapidated while the rail lines built during the colonial era are in disarray. President Buhari had promised to revive it and link the nation with modern rail network. Available facts show that the president is trying to keep to his promise, but the pace of work is very very slow. The minister of transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has severally lamented it publicly, even as he sometimes described the situation as “embarrassing.” The president must redouble his efforts in connecting the country with modern rail networks to reduce the burden on our roads.
6. Another important legacy is to conduct a clean, credible population census for the country before he vacates office. It is generally agreed that a nation that plans on a pure estimate for a long period of time without accurate data is bound to fail. It’s really worrisome and utterly shameful that about fifteen years after Nigeria last conducted it even disputed headcount, the country is still referring to it as official figure and sometimes, government officials quoting external sources to represent our country’s demographic data. Little wonder international agencies are constantly dishing out figures for us to consume. It is high time the president conduct acceptable census forthwith for the nation.
As a matter of fact, there are several landmark achievements by President Buhari administration in numerous areas – from security to economy to national morality. But hate speeches and opposition propaganda have pushed the voices of reason into oblivion, making it difficult for government to discern constructive criticisms from reverberated vituperations. However, the President must take the pain to sieve out genuine voices as they serve as useful tool for governance.
While every right-thinking Nigerian must acknowledge the enormous challenges President Buhari administration inherited, it would be, however, unpardonable that if anything short of the aforementioned possible legacies after eight years of his uninterrupted leadership as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, his administration would be regarded as a near failure and, will be remembered as a government who basked on the immense goodwill of the masses and squandered it.