As exclusively reported by THISDAY yesterday, the Senate has confirmed that President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua will give his assent to the 2008 Appropriation Bill by weekend while a supplementary budget will be presented to the National Assembly later to address areas of differences between the two arms of government.
Also, as part of the truce reached at the last Tuesday�s night parley between the President and the leadership of the National Assembly, Yar�Adua successfully persuaded the House of Representatives to defer their invitation to Finance Minister, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman over the N103 billion capital expenditure allegedly made by the executive without appropriation. Full Story
Friday, April 11, 2008
N'Assembly Confirms Truce with Yar'Adua on Budget - This day
Budget: Yar'Adua Gives N'Assembly Conditions
As President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua and the leadership of the National Assembly meet this week over the 2008 Appropriation Bill, there are indications that the President may give assent provided the lawmakers address the areas critical to the attainment of the administration�s socio-economic goals.
President Yar�Adua withheld his assent from the harmonised Appropriation Bill following the failure of the National Assembly to furnish him with details of the budget as he had requested.
The President had opted for a detailed budget instead of the summarised document, as was the practice in the previous dispensation.
A Presidency source told THISDAY weekend that the President would use the meeting with the legislators to clearly raise his objections to the document sent to him for signing.
According to the source, �Yar�Adua�s grouse is that the National Assembly may not have taken into account some of the President�s priorities in line with overall national plan, macroeconomic stability and sector strategies, which made him to place emphasis on completing new projects rather than start new ones which could end up being abandoned. Full Story
Aviation workers issue ultimatum on airports privatisation - Business Day
Still worried that the proposed partial privatisation of the four international airports in the country will cause loss of job and disaffection, members of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) have given a 21 day ultimatum to the Federal Government.
The association has demanded that government reverses it intention to sell or privatise the airport across the country or be ready to face whatever action to be rolled out by them.This ultimatum is coming barely one week that the National Union of Air Transport Employees NUATE issued its own ultimatum.
It would be recalled that minister of state 1, transportation, Felix Hyat disclosed recently that the Federal Government was going to privatise the airports.
In the petition to President Umaru Yar’Adua signed by Benjamin Okewu and Sunny Aiyede President and secretary respectively, made available to Business Day, ATSSSAN expressed concern over the seeming threat that was being posed to security and safety of the aviation industry as a result of the proposed concessioning and selling of airports.
The petition they claimed became necessary on the premise of the grave dangers ahead of Nigerians in the aviation sector. Full Story
Business leaders decry budget delay - Business Day
Business leaders are concerned over the impact the delay in the signing of the 2008 budget would have on entrepreneurship and investment in the country. They are also worried about the open acrimony between legislators and the executive arm.
The fact that both arms openly traded divergent views on the version of the budget that was appropriate and acceptable has sent disturbing signals on the nature of the working relationship between both arms on crucial policy issues.
The compromise will eventually see the signing of the budget on Monday by President Umaru Yar’Adua. According Olusegun Adeniyi, presidential spokesman, the budget will be signed in its present state.
Subsequently, however, an amendment to accommodate the president’s stance will be forwarded to the National Assembly with a guarantee of prompt passage.
Despite the compromise position which business leaders consider belated, some damage has been done to the economy and the investment climate in the country, they said.
For Biodun Shenjobi, president, Money Market Association of Nigeria (MMAN), the development is disturbing. In his view, since virtually every business activity revolves round the budget, all most business plans are stuck until the budget is passed.
The impact is worst felt in the area of infrastructural development such as roads, among others since these are captured in the capital votes, he added.
Clinton Uranta, managing director, Niger Insurance plc said the situation has been very frustrating and has negatively affected the entire economy.
For him, since company budgets emanate from that of the country, many establishments have not been able to define their policy thrust for the year.
Uranta pointed out that following the delay, government has not been able to release the pension funds under insurers’ management and this has greatly inflicted injury on the life and welfare of pensioners.
He hopes that the presidency would sort its difference with the National Assembly and make sure subsequent years do not suffer similar delays.
Stakeholders on the power sector, who spoke on budget delay, said the power sector was not adequately provided for in the 2008 budget.
A chief executive of one of the new power stations, who spoke on condition of anonymity said President Yar’Adua has not made public his financial plans for the power sector.
He however, pointed out that if the budget had been passed earlier in the year, the president might have unveiled his plans for the power sector.
Operators in the oil and gas sector have also decried the delay in the passage of the budget.
A Shell source said the delay has made it impossible for the multinational companies to receive cash calls from the government.
He stated that government provided for payment of cash calls to the exploration and production companies, but regretted that the delay in approving the budget has affected early disbursement of the funds. Full Story
'Corruption's Nigeria's Biggest Devt Hurdle' Thisday
Analysts have identified official corruption as the single greatest impediment to Nigeria's rapid progress since independence in 1960. Elizabeth Donnelly, Africa Programme Coordinator of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), underscored this in a recent interview with Mike Sidwell of the Transparency Watch, which focused on Nigeria
Transparency Watch (TW): Is corruption evident in Nigeria and what are its effects? Elizabeth Donnelly (ED): I think most visitors to Nigeria come away with stories of their experience of corruption, whether it is being asked to pay an 'entry fee' at the airport, or to pay to pass a police roadblock. I think the most obvious way in which corruption is evident in Nigeria is the clearly staggering wealth of a handful of people in the face of the poverty of the majority.
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It manifests itself in other ways also, the regular power cuts and lack of infrastructure and basic services. Billions of naira are ploughed into promised improvements on roads, power supply and so on, but the tangible changes that these promises would deliver are often very slow in coming.
The effects of corruption in Nigeria are considerable. Of course Nigeria faces great challenges to its development, but the biggest hurdle is the corruption. Nigeria is not a poor country; it is not aid dependent and has all the components necessary to be more developed and more successful. Yet an estimated 70 million Nigerians live below the poverty line. There are however even more profound effects than those physical ones such as lack of basic healthcare and education.
Yar'Adua is Not Probing Obasanjo - Leadership
Uba Sani was the special adviser {public affairs} to former president Olusegun Obasanjo. In this interview, he discussed the unfolding political events in the country, the role he played during president Obasanjo's regime and the seeming current probe of the regime. He spoke with Iyobosa Uwugiaren..
In the last few weeks, the unfolding political events appear to be suggesting that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua-led administration is probing your former boss, former President Obasanjo. What is your take on that?
Those who are insinuating that President Yar'Adua is probing Obasanjo don't understand the true situation and the dynamism of politics. Because, so far there is nothing to suggest that President Yar'Adua is probing the immediate past president of the country. What has President Yar'Adua done that will make people think that way?
Looking at the on-going public hearing on power sector by the House of Representatives, is that not an indication that this government is probing Obasanjo?
No. You cannot connect what is happening in the House at present with President Yar'Adua. Under a democracy, the legislature has every right to conduct public hearing on any issue, in line with its oversight function and responsibility to determine the wrong or otherwise of government's policies and programmes. The legislative arm of government is different from the executive. I think we need to be very careful in drawing our conclusion. We should not be in a hurry in drawing our conclusion on the current public hearing because until now there is no logical reasoning or evidence linking Obasanjo to wrong doing, as far as the issues are concerned. Most of the people who have been linked to the issues have been invited; they have made their submissions; I am sure more people will be invited to give evidence or testify. So, let us wait for the outcome of the investigations; let's not rush into conclusion in saying that Obasanjo has committed the worst crime, concerning the matter. It may be Obasanjo today and it may be somebody else tomorrow. As a leader, there were many people who worked under Obasanjo; they had responsibility in taking certain decisions that were related to their ministries or agencies. Those who are trying to connect the public hearing with President Yar'Adua are not fair to him. And those who are also insinuating that Obasanjo has done something are not being fair to him because the House is still investigating the matter. Full Story
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Obasanjo and his critics 2 - Vanguard
Last week I argued that former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his critics are part of the hunchbacks that have been weighing the country down since the end of the civil war.
I also stated that unless these morally primitive men and others like them are rendered impotent in the geopolitical power equation of this country, our legitimate aspiration for a better future in Nigeria would be an exercise in futility.
Now, I wish to enlarge on some of the issues I broached last time in order to bring into bold relief the problem of mediocre leadership that has retarded Nigeria ’s evolution to a great country.
I would like to begin our analysis with Chief Obasanjo. Clearly if the former president is honest to himself, he must accept that his eight year tenure was characterized more by failures than by successes.
Taking the power sector first because the on-going probe by the House of Representatives committee on Power and Steel has thrown the sordid happenings in that sector from 1999 to 2008 to the front burner of public discourse, Obasanjo’s failure is heart-rending.
ow can 13.28 billion dollars be spent on power and yet the energy situation in the country presently is worse than what obtained during the much inveighed regime of late Sani Abacha? Can the former president, in moments of solitary silent meditation, sincerely accept that he did a good job in the energy sector? Full Story
Grange, Others As Casualties of Yar'Adua's Corruption War - Daily Champion
FOR obvious reason, a number of thoughts would be running through the mind of Prof. Adenike Grange now. Since last Tuesday when she and the minister of state in the ministry, Gabriel Aduku bowed to pressure and bade an unwilling farewell to the cabinet of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua over a N300m scam, Grange may have been inaundated with thoughts of how she could have avoided her unceremonious ouster.
However, no matter the plethora of thoughts that may be cruising through her mind, it is absolutely too late in the day for the woman. What would be troubling the former minister is not just that she was booted out of the administration in less than a year, but that she left the cabinet with her face down. Full Story
The Health Ministry scandal - Daily Sun
Last week, the Minister of Health, Professor (Mrs.) Adenike Grange, and the Minister of State in the health ministry, Mr. Gabriel Aduku, took a disgraceful exit from public office over alleged financial misconduct. The ministers were forced to resign their appointments by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on March 25, 2008, for flouting a Presidential directive which required that all unspent money from the 2007 budget be returned to the treasury, at the end of 2007.
Grange and Aduku were alleged to have joined four directors and eight other officials of the Health Ministry to share N300 million from the unspent funds through last minute contracts that did not follow due process and fraudulent " Christmas bonuses" for themselves. The Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Health were reported to have also got about N20 million of the looted funds for a capacity building trip to Ghana, although the House of Representatives Committee claims to have returned the money and put the trip on hold when it realized the funds were looted.
Ministry officials involved in the scam have been suspended from their duties in line with civil service regulations. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which investigated the scandal following a tip off by a disgruntled health ministry official, says it has established sufficient grounds for the prosecution of the two ministers. They are to be prosecuted by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa.
Full Story
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Two Parties Reject Ballot Papers - Daily Champion
AHEAD of tomorrow's governorship election in Kogi State, All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) and Action Congress (AC) have rejected the ballot papers, threatening to boycott the election if they were not changed.
Also, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 8, Mr. Tunji Alapini has declared Col. Suleiman Babanawa (rtd), Karimi Osama and Mr. Jeremiah Abu wanted for allegedly sponsoring violence and politically-motivated killings that engulfed the state in recent times.
Yar'Adua Fires the First Salvo? - Thisday
26 March 2008
Posted to the web 26 March 2008
Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo
Lagos
As President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua finally weighs in on the financial misconduct that has dogged the Federal Ministry of Health, which snags the Minister, Prof. Adenike Grange, the Minister of State, Chief Gabriel Aduku, and several directors of her ministry in the EFCC web, the question now is: has the President finally sighted the starting blocks for work to begin?
Precisely a fortnight ago, EFCC sources told newsmen that the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Professor Samuel Ogamdi, Director of Administration, H.B Oyedepo, and the Director of Finance were also guests of the anti-graft agency. Full Story
Yar’Adua re-appoints provost for Yola COE - The Tide
President Umaru Yar’Adua has approved the re-appointment of Dr Aminu Chiroma as the provost of the Federal College of Education, Yola, Adamawa. A statement signed by Malam Suleman Garba, Head Public Relations Unit of the National Commission for Colleges of Education, said the re-appointment took effect from March 2008. The letter signed by the Minister of Education, Dr Igwe Ajah-Nwachukwu congratulated the provost and wished him a successful tenure. Full Story
Playing Hanky-Panky With Budget 2008 - Leadership
It is totally disgusting that the National Assembly has continued to play hanky-panky over the 2008 budget proposal submitted to it since November last year by President Yar'Adua, for vetting.
By the provisions of s. 80 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, "No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an Appropriation Act or an Act passed in pursuance of section 81 of this Constitution". Section 80 (3) stresses that "No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly", while s. 80 (4) drives home the intendment of these provisions by stating that "No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly". Full Story
President Yar'Adua Tasks Petroleum Ministry - Nigeria First
28 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Abuja
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has directed the Ministry of Petroleum to hold talks immediately with ExxonMobil regarding the oil company's proposals to build a gas-to-gasoline plant in Nigeria.
The President was speaking when he received an ExxonMobil delegation, led by Mr. Rex Tillerson, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, at State House, on Friday, March 28. Full Story
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Probe into Nigeria’s Energy Contract ‘Opens a Can of Worms’; Obasanjo Should be Questioned
Abuja, Nigeria: A Nigerian anti-corruption committee has asked President Umaru Yar’Adua to order a full probe into the administration of his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo. The request follows revelations that energy contracts were rewarded to non-existent energy companies between 1999 and 2007. In response to the findings, the Obasanjo administration said it was trying to improve the poorly performing power industry. Full Story
Nigerian Group Calls for Wider Corruption Investigation - VOA
| Abuja 21 March 2008 |
Da Costa report - Listen (MP3)
A Nigerian anti-corruption committee has asked President Umaru Yar'Adua to order a full probe into the administration of his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo. The request follows revelations that energy contracts were rewarded to non-existent energy companies between 1999 and 2007. In response to the findings, the Obasanjo administration said it was trying to improve the poorly performing power industry. Gilbert da Costa reports for VOA from Abuja.
Contract Scam On Power Sector Worse Than Robbery - NLC
The Kaduna State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Danladi Bissalah, has said that the on-going revelations before the House of Representatives Committee Public Hearing on Power and Steel were more than day light robbery.
He insisted that a situation where billions of Naira had been spent without commensurate improvement in the power sector was not only tragic but criminally rooted. The labour leader, who spoke at the official inauguration of the multi-million naira office complex constructed by Nigeria Union of Teachers, (NUT) Endwell Scheme in Kaduna at the weekend, said that it is difficult to believe that contractors could collect funds without executing the project on which such money was made for.
Tribunal chairman promotion is the worst kind of corruption - Agoro (Story By Vanguard)
Dr Olapade Agoro is the national chairman of Conference of Nigeria Political Parties,CNPP, and the Presidential Candidate of National Action Council,NAC, under which platform he contested election alongside president Yar’Adua last year. The non-provision of Agoro’s picture and party logo has been blamed for his loss at the polls and Agoro filed a case at the presidential elections tribunal but his case never got listed nor got mentioned. His efforts to get justice so far has failed and in this encounter, he answers questions on the issues pertaining to the Presidential Elections tribunal. Read Full Story
Power committee turns pressure on Yar’Adua - BusinessDay
The power committee set up by the president Umaru Yar’Adua and given a month to submit its report, yesterday effectively put the ball in the court of the president to act on its recommendations as it turned in its report, two days ahead of schedule.
Business Day yesterday exclusively reported that the committee had completed its work and was to submit its report to the president , well within the time it was given.The committee hadindeed planned to do just this as it began its work, with sources close to it, at the time telling Business Day that completing its work in good time would give the president the impetus to act and not put it away on the shelf as it had been with past government practices.
Yesterday, both committee members and presidency officials kept sealed lips after the hour-long meeting with the president at the presidential villa, Abuja. Majority of Nigerians who have suffered untold hardship and industries that have continued to suffer major losses, as a result of the power crises, will now be looking to see the first action the president will take after yesterday’s presentation.
Read Full Article
Monday, March 3, 2008
Yar'Adua says some Nigerian major cities to have metrolines - afriquenligne
Lagos, Nigeria - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua said Saturday in Shang hai, China, that the Federal Government would soon embark on the development of m etro lines for some major cities in the country and would welcome Chinese technical a ssistance for the successful execution of the projects.
Speaking at the Shanghai Shentong Metro Company on the last day of his state vis it to China, President Yar'Adua said his administration was currently exploring o ptions for financing the project. Full Story
Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua has promised that his country's 140 million people will no longer suffer power outages by 2011. - Africa News
In addition, he said his administration would double the current power generation, estimated at below 3,000MW, within a year.
President Yar'Adua made the promises while addressing a gathering of Chinese investors hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Friday, as part of his visit to China. Full Story
Nigeria: Lawyers Divided Over Verdict on Yar'Adua - African Path
All Africa reports, "The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed the petitions of former Head of State and presidential candidate of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, and Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-president and presidential candidate of Action Congress (AC). Full Story
"Why we can’t fight Yar’Adua — Reps" - Vanguard
| Written by LEON USIGBE Abuja | |
| Sunday, 02 March 2008 | |
| ***Amid alleged moves to impeach Bankole for being pro-president AGainst the backdrop of the reported disillusionment of members of the House of Representatives over alleged lack of will by the speaker, Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole, to confront President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on policy issues and subsequent attempt to engineer his removal, some members of the House have posited that it would be counter-productive for the legislature to fight the president. Full Story |
Tribunal judgement: Postponing the evil day? - Nigerian Tribune
"This is not a serious country. We have a long way to go!”“What, just because the tribunal upheld Yar’Adua’s election and dismissed Buhari / Atiku’s petition? I think you are the unserious one. How else could it have gone? I think the judgement was sound, proper and welcome by most people.” Full Story
... Why Yar’Adua plans cabinet reshuffle - Nigerian Tribune
THE government of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is now set to take the fast lane in performance following its resolve to bring in fresh hands to galvanise its activities in a cabinet reshuffle which it is currently proposing.
The need for cabinet reshuffle by the president according to findings is necessitated by reported low performances of most of the current cabinet members, a development considered as inimical to the application of the president’s 7-point agenda.
Yar’Adua and PDP chairmanship: Between the devil and the deep blue sea - Nigerian Tribune
By Jackson Udom
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua This is truly a trying period for President Umar Yar’Adua. It is even more turbulent than what he faced during the temporarily settled legal enquiries into his emergence as Nigeria’s president via the pronouncement made by the Professor Maurice Iwu-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Monday, January 21, 2008
Imo agog as Yar’Adua Visits, today - The Tide Online
As President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua begins a one-day official visit to Owerri, the Imo State capital today, the state government says it has put in place modalities towards the success of the visit. The commissioner for information and strategy told newsmen in Owerri that the state government was ready to host the president. According to him, every thing had been put in place to make sure that the one day visit was successful. He commended the president for his policies which have endeared the state and its people to the government, stressing that the people were very happy that the president has brought Imo State into the coastal states committee. Full Story
"Leaders" Head for Davos Meeting on World Economy -
(oh what fun!)
The official theme of the meeting, The Power of Collaborative Innovation, appears intentionally vague.
The icy Swiss mountains are to host the world's business and political elite this week for their annual gathering in Davos, where the cooling temperature of the world economy is set to focus minds.
The Davos event, a unique spectacle of wealth, power and debate, begins Wednesday when chief executives and heads of state gather in the chic Alpine ski resort for five days of public discussions and private deal-making.
Started in 1971 and known as the World Economic Forum, the gathering provides a unique opportunity to gauge the mood and preoccupations of some of the world's most powerful people.
This year's invitation list includes 27 heads of state or government, 113 cabinet ministers and a smattering of stars from the world of entertainment, notably British actress Emma Thompson and singer and campaigner Bono.
Among the presidents, Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai, Israel's Shimon Peres, Colombia's Alvaro Uribe, Nigeria's Umaru Yar'Adua and his counterpart from the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo, are likely to draw particular attention. Full Story
UN concerned at removal of Nigeria anti-graft head - Reuters Africa
By Mark Heinrich
VIENNA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The chief of the United Nations crime office said on Monday he was concerned about the removal of the head of Nigeria's anti-corruption agency.
Antonio Maria Costa wrote to Nigeria's president on Jan. 7 saying the sidelining of Nuhu Ribadu could hobble the crackdown on fraud in Nigeria and send the wrong message to EU donors who poured $35 million into the project via the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
"The jury is still out. (But) there are reasons for us to be concerned about the removal of Mr Ribadu," Costa told Reuters in an interview at his Vienna office.
Costa, who is guiding an uphill effort to carry out the U.N. anti-corruption convention of 2003, said he would hold talks with Ribadu later this week.
Costa expressed doubt about a decision announced by Nigeria's national police chief to send Ribadu, a ranking police officer, to a one-year policy and strategic studies course at a remote institute in central Nigeria.
"Someone discovered in Ribadu's CV that he had not undergone formal police training, so they decided after five years (in office) that he had to get it. It looks like a decision taken at the senior bureaucratic level," said Costa.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua was elected last May pledging zero tolerance for corruption in a country internationally notorious for the scourge.
Costa said more and more of the world's political leaders were being elected on clean government platforms but were often thwarted by senior officials in the bureaucracy, judiciary and police who survived electoral changes. Full Story
Nigeria looks to oil to boost its regional power - Tiapei Times
Nigeria must address its domestic woes and win legitimacy at home before having a hope of fulfilling international ambitions
By Ike Okonta
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008, Page 9
Russia is not alone in seeing oil as a means to transform its global standing. Nowadays, the mantra of Nigerian President Umar Yar'Adua, who took power last June following controversial elections, is to transform the country into one of the world's 20 largest economies by 2020. Yar'Adua and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are struggling to stamp their authority on an unwieldy and restive country of 140 million people, and the government views rapid growth as a means to achieving that aim.
Nigerians can use a dose of hope. Olusegun Obasanjo, who became Nigeria's first elected president in 1999 after nearly two decades of military dictatorship, left vast swathes of the country trapped in poverty when he handed power to Yar'Adua.
With oil nudging US$100 per barrel and energy-hungry giants like the US and China beating a path to its door, Africa's leading oil producer wants to use petrodollars to cure the nation's economic ills and flex its muscles in the international arena.
While riding the crest of the last oil boom in the late 1970s, Nigeria's military leaders nationalized the assets of British Petroleum and became champions of pan-African cooperation, financing several African liberation movements. The interests of the West and Nigeria repeatedly clashed, but Nigeria always stood its ground.
Inept government and economic decline in the 1980s and 1990s obliged Nigeria's leaders to focus on problems closer to home, like the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. But old habits die hard. Full Story
'Are we Dangerously Intelligent? II: Umar Yar’Adua – The Unwilling President' - Nigerian Village Square
In The Beginning
When in 2006, at the peak of campaigning for the 2007 election, the dangerously intelligent cabal of Obasanjo and his dragons that surrounded him convinced and drafted a man – Yar’Adua - who was just content with managing the people and government of Katsina to run for president, I knew we were about to witness another era of unwilling presidency.
It was Leonardo da Vinci that said, “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” But Mr. President was never willing, he never had a vision for
I think the biggest question to all Nigerians at this critical stage in nation building should be; “Is being indifference part of being dangerously intelligent that we take the easiest way out or worse still join the dragons in the dance of shame?” Our greatest enemies are indifference, inaction, indecision and incompetence.
Just recently, Mr. President said that $10bn had been invested in the sector between 2000 and 2007 with nothing to show for it and that is why he is not prepared to inject money in the power sector “without a stable project management arrangement”. So he deliberately left out power project in the 2008 Appropriation Bill. I hope I didn’t get that right. What this means is that we have to buckle up for a year of darkness and inactivity at improving the power supply in the country. The national electricity supply is down to 2,000MW. The required nation-wide supply is about 30,000MW, and nothing is being planned till 2009? Beautiful nonsense! Full Story'Sex Scandal - Expel Obj From PDP - Isyaku Ibrahim' - Leadership(Abuja)
Posted to the web 21 January 2008
Christy Iliya
A founding father of the ruling PDP, Isyaku Ibrahim has urged the party to expel former president Olusegun Obasanjo from its fold.
Ibrahim hinged his stance on the alleged incest charge against Obasanjo. The former Nigerian leader was recently reported to have had an illicit affair with his son's wife.
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Ibrahim said Obasanjo lacks the moral basis to be the chairman of PDP's Board of Trustees since the "BOT is the soul and conscience of the party."
He said that unless the party expels Obasanjo, the electorate will wonder if the PDP is a morally decadent party that can not be trusted. "What are we teaching people by allowing such a character to remain in our ranks? The truth is that Obasanjo is a morally bankrupt fellow. I was never fooled by the man right from the 70's when I began to uncover his deceptive character. I have been vindicated several times."
He urged President Umar Musa Yar'Adua to address the issue "frontally". He said "if Yar'Adua claims he will fight corruption then this must be one of them, because this is moral corruption. He must deal with this."
'Niger Deltans Charged to Be Self-Disciplined- Orubebe' - Leadership(Abuja)
The minister of special duties in the presidency, Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe, has stressed that the main objective of his being in government is to complement the efforts of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in finding lasting peace in the Niger Delta and for the development of the country.
In a statement signed by his chief press secretary, Mr. Ekenwan Akwagbe, the minister appealed to youths in the area to take the issue of education seriously if they must enjoy the dividends of democracy such as securing job opportunities.
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Orubebe gave the charge during his Christmas visit to his village of
Tuomo in Burutu local government area of Delta State, reiterating the unflinching commitment of President Yar'Adua's and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, in ensuring massive infrastructural development, and creating employment opportunities for the teeming youths of the region. Full Story
Yar'aduanomics And the Poverty Question - Leadership(Abuja)
Posted to the web 21 January 2008
S. K. Mazawaje
Kaduna
One will be right by way of personification, to say that poverty and crime are twin brothers born of a mother whose name is unemployment. Some one once argued that, of all the evils known to mankind, worklessness is the worst. Unemployment is a direct source of poverty the worst affliction that man can suffer. This unemployment situation lowers self esteem and morale, it is indeed dehumanizing.
The level of poverty has since become a major bench mark for gauging the health of any nation's economy. According to Dudley Seers, a world renoun political economist, the questions to ask about a country's development are three, namely; What has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to unemployment? What has been happening to inequality? If all these three have declined from high levels, then beyond doubt, this has been a period of development for the country concerned". When you apply these standards or indices which are intertwined to the Nigerian situation, the answer becomes very obvious and does not need to be repeated, they have all been on the rise. Nigeria is currently facing profound socio-economic challenges, the most worrisome and distressing of them being wide spread poverty and high rates of crime especially armed robbery, corruption, murders, drug-related crimes and youth militant up-risings. Full Story
'Why I Shunned Yar'Adua - Buhari' - Leadership(Abuja)
Posted to the web 21 January 2008
Nasir S. Gwangwazo
Abuja
The presidential candidate of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the last general elections, General Muhammadu
Buhari (rtd), has given the legitimacy question dogging the Yar'Adua administration as a key reason for his rejection the presidency's recent invitation to him to be part of the meeting to discuss the problems facing the nation's electoral problems.
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President Yar'Adua had recently called a meeting of all stakeholders in the nation's politics to discuss distortions in the electoral system.
While leaders of some political parties, including those of ANPP, attended the meeting, the AC-led Conference of All Nigerian Political Parties boycotted it.
A Buhari-led faction of ANPP also shunned the meeting, which took place recently in the presidential villa, Abuja.
Giving reasons for not attending the meeting in an interview with the BBC Hausa service monitored in Kano last night, Buhari said he still refused to accept Yar'Adua's victory in the last general election.
"It is better for you to understand and agree that we are in court challenging the credibility of the 2007 election. Therefore, we cannot accept the person who was announced as winner and his entire government. Full Story
Nigerian inmates in Saudi cry for help from Yar’Adua
An appeal has gone to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to intervene in the case of the 13 Nigerians who are rotting away in a Saudi jail despite having completed their jail terms.
The jailed Nigerians, who thanked Yar’Adua for his concern for them, after reading about their plight in the Sunday Tribune of November 11, 2007, urged him to wade into the matter “urgently to prevent the Saudi authorities from executing us because three months after the president’s intervention, nothing has happened.
The 13 Nigerians involved are: Kazeem Afolabi, Abass Mojeed Akanni, Muritala Amoo, Nurudeen Sanni, Amin Gbenga Shobayo, Abass Azeez, Muhammed Abdullah Yusuff, Waheed Elebute, Saliu Amod Suberu, Hammed Abass, Nofiu Obadina and Nurudeen Owode Owoalade.
Source: http://www.uprotocols.com/wp/2008/01/21/nigerian-inmates-in-saudi-cry-for-help/
New British High Commissioner assumes duties - Vanguard
| Written by Chinyere Amalu | |
| Monday, 21 January 2008 | |
| ABUJA—Mr. Bob Dewar has assumed duties as the new British High Commissioner in Nigeria. Mr. Dewar, presented his credentials to President Yar’Adua on 18 January. He succeeds Sir Richard Gozney. Mr. James McLaughlin, 2nd Secretary (Political) British High Commission, said weekend that Mr. Dewar has been a career diplomat since 1974, and has spent most of his career in Africa. “His last job was as the British Permanent Representative to the African Union and Ambassador to Ethiopia. “Mr Dewar is married to Jenny who is with him in Nigeria and has one daughter, Jenny aged 19, and one son, Bob aged 12”, he said. Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4848&Itemid=43 |
‘Yar’Adua’s govt is on course’ - Nigerian Tribune
Professor Abdullahi Michael, a former governorship aspirant in Kogi State, speaks with Bode Adewumi on political developments in the state and other national issues. Excerpts:
That is a wrong assessment. We all know that what is happening at the EFCC is nothing unusual. We all know that the president has said he is ruling based on the rule of law, therefore, it will be wrong to say what he is doing right now negates the rule of law because they are still in line with the constitution. Us Nigerians are funny people and it makes me wonder at times. Are we saying Malam Nuhu Ribadu should remain permanently in EFCC? In any case, it was the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo that appointed him and ordinarily he ought to have left with the former president for obvious reasons. Full Story
Buhari Hails Election Tribunals
The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate in the 2007 presidential election, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has hailed the judgments of election tribunals across the country, saying that there may yet be hope for the country’s democracy.
Reacting to last Friday’s annulment of the election of Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, Buhari said the judgments delivered so far had given him and his party the confidence that unlike in 2003, the Judiciary would save Nigeria’s democracy.
The former head of state made the remarks in Birnin Kudu while fielding questions from journalists.
He was in the town to flag off campaigns for the local government elections in Jigawa State.
After comparing the performance of the Judiciary in the aftermath of the 2007 elections with what obtained in the past, he concluded that the Judiciary had done much better than it did after the 2003 elections.
Buhari, who is challenging the election of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in the 2007 presidential election, said: “Well, the Judiciary is the last hope and I will give you one or two examples to show why those of us who have been involved in the struggle since 2003 are hopeful. Full Story
Withheld N224bn NDDC fund has expired — Yar'Adua
Written by Emmanuel Aziken Sunday, 20 January 2008
An estimated N224 billion due to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) but held back by the immediate past administration has “expired,” President Umaru Yar'Adua has told Senators from the Niger Delta region.
This drew flak immediately from the South-South Senators who had gone for a meeting with the President last Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, blamimg it on the immediate past administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
The all-important talk was also attended by some senior administration officials including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Major-General Abdullahi Mohammed.
President Yar'Adua equally expressed his frustration at the militancy fanned by some youths in the region.
He lamented that continued violence was denying the region needed development, noting the increasing reluctance by many construction companies to take jobs in the region.
The expiration of the funds, the President said, was hinged on the administration’s policy of returning all unspent funds to the treasury. Full Story
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