APC National Chairman, Ganduje Mocks Kwankwaso Over Alleged Failed Ministerial Ambition

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August 29, 2023

By Ayodele Oni

The bitterness generated by his defeat in Kano state during the last general election is yet to abate, as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, tackled the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, accusing him of lobbying to be the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.

Ganduje lost his second term bid to the candidate of NNPP on the election, a party which Kwankwaso co founded and contested for the presidential election.

At the early stage of the administration, Ganduje and Kwankwaso almost clashed at the seat of government when both of them met at Aso Rock during individuals visit to President Tinubu.

Ganduje, claimed that Kwankwaso supported the demolition of buildings in Kano to portray himself as a minister who will revive the master plan of Abuja.

The former governor of Kano State made the remarks at a meeting with some of his loyalists and party supporters from the state at the APC secretariat in Abuja.

According to him, his predecessor was desperate to become FCT Minister, but was denied the position by President Tinubu.

Ganduje added that the demolition of buildings approved by his administration was the only way Kwankwaso and Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, could express their frustration under the guise of sanitizing Kano’s master plan.

The APC chairman said: “Is it not the FCT minister position that he wanted? That was why he demolished buildings in Kano under the guise that he wanted to defend the master plan. If you ask him what the master plan is, he can’t tell you.

“All you will hear is, ‘We will reset the Kano master plan. We have promised Kano people that we will demolish houses even if they are 1,000-storey buildings’. Look, if an illiterate person does not know he is one, he is certainly blind. That is what befell him.”

NNPP Suspends Rabiu Kwankwaso As National Leader

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Akinwale Kasali

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August 29, 2023

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By Akinwale Kasali

Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, has been suspended by the Party as its National Leader.

The Party’s Board of Trustees, BOT, announced his suspension of Kwankwaso for Six Months due to alleged Anti-Party Activities.

Crisis has been brewing in the Party following the romance between Kwankwaso and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which did not sit well with the Party leadership.

The Crisis has now reached to a head with the suspension clamped down on its Presidential Candidate and National Leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

This follows the suspension of its national Publicity Secretary and Some Others earlier, a move rejected by its Board of Trustees.

The BoT also suspended the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and appointed new national officers headed by Dr Agbo Major as acting National Chairman and Mr Ogini Olaposi as acting National Secretary alongside others.

It was gathered that the suspensions were put to a voice vote by members of the party at its Special General Assembly, held at the Rockview Hotels in Apapa, Lagos.

It would be recalled that the NWC of the party on Thursday, Aug. 24, announced the suspension of the founder of the party, Dr Boniface Aniebonam and the National Publicity Secretary.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting in Lagos on Tuesday, Secretary of the BoT, Babayo Muhammed Abdulahi, accused Kwankwaso of hobnobbing with President Bola Tinubu, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party LP, Peter Obi, without the Board’s authorisation.

Abdullahi announced that Kwankwaso had been stripped of the NNPP National Leader status by the Board.

The Secretary of the BoT said the purported suspension of the NNPP founder was a flagrant gross violation of the party’s constitution.

He pointed out that Aniebonam had resigned as the BoT chairman and a new BoT Chairman, Dr Chief Tope Aluko was elected with Abdulahi as new BoT Secretary, while High Chief Tony Obioha was elected as BoT spokesperson.

Abdulahi said the pre-election Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Kwankwasia Movement, The National Movement (TNM) and National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) had been rendered void by the actions of the NWC.

Abdulahi said: “The purported suspension of the founder is a flagrant gross violation of the NNPP constitution such that it is tantamount to recklessness and irresponsibility on the part of the incompetent NWC.

“The BoT decided that material evidence in the public sector affirmed that Kwankwaso was involved in anti-party activities in various meetings, suggest political discussions with the President, Atiku and Obi without authorisation from the board.

”This has earned him six months suspension pending the outcome of investigation by the Disciplinary Committee.

“The BOT insisted that the avoidable violation of MoU between NNPP on the one part and Kwankwasia, TNM and NAGAFF on the other has no other choice than to withdraw from the partnership.

“It is therefore to state clearly that the MOU have been rendered void.”

Also speaking, the acting chairman said his team would hit the ground running by healing the wounds created by the suspended NWC members.

“It also stated that the party would remain the most ordinary friendly party in the country and urged other members that are displaced for one reason or the other to return to its fold.

“We don’t intend to shut anybody out or censor anybody but we want to ensure that we remain on track and maintain our people oriented ideology,” he said.

Ekiti First Lady Expresses Passion For Education, Plans Pet Project

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Ayodele Oni

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August 29, 2023

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Olayemi Oyebanji - Ekiti State First Lady

By Ayodele Oni

Wife of Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji, has promised to collaborate with the state chapter of the Non-Governmental Association for Literacy Support Services (NOGALSS) to strengthen the education sector in the state.

Dr. Oyebanji who gave the promise on Tuesday when she received in audience members of NOGALSS led by the state Chairperson, Alhaja Fausat Ahmed-Yusuff, also assured the association of her support to fulfill its mandate.

She said she is duty-bound to assist NOGALSS as a National Patron of the Association and as the First Lady of Ekiti State, noting that she is very passionate about issues that border on education being an academic and a scholar in Education Management.

Dr. Oyebanji expressed her readiness to share ideas with NOGALSS to move the body forward and urged for patience concerning some demands tabled before her which she said would be sorted out one after the other.

The First Lady assured the Association that she would liaise with the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Prof. Femi Akinwumi, on the issue of office accommodation and the collapsed classroom being used for adult literacy class in Ado Ekiti.

Dr. Oyebanji disclosed that she would need the partnership of NOGALSS for some of her programmes already in the pipeline which she would carry out in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

She said: “I am one of you, before I became First Lady, I was a National Patron of NOGALSS and I hope you know that. I have been going for meetings in places like Ibadan, Lagos whenever they have meetings.

“In the course of soliciting support for my husband, we met so many groups of which NOGALSS was one, we worked together and God helped us. I want to assure you that by the grace of God to do the best of my ability whatever I can do to support NOGALSS during my own time, I will support you.

“One as a National Patron of NOGALSS and two, as the First Lady of Ekiti State and as an educationist. Anything that has to do with education, I am very passionate. That is why you see me working with the Ministry of Education on girl-child education.

“I have programmes that I have lined up; I have a programme that I want to do with secondary school boys and girls because of my passion for education. By the grace of God, we are going to do many things together, we are going to collaborate.”

Speaking earlier, Ekiti NOGALSS Chairperson, Alhaja Ahmed-Yusuff identified the needs of the body to include an office accommodation, a bus for mobility, classrooms and vocation centres across the state, soft loans for members and starter packs for graduands.

The NOGALSS chief said the office accommodation with modern equipment and the bus would ease administrative works and enable officials to supervise and monitor centres across the state.

She advocated that NOGALSS be made part of decision making process in the area of adult and non-formal education in Ekiti State and annual subvention to aid its operations.

Alhaja Ahmed-Yusuff revealed that NOGALSS has over a thousand affiliate NGO groups in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory to serve as a liaison body for all NGOs with adult and non-formal education in the country.

CBN To Renew Currency Swap Deal With China

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Tosin Olatokunbo

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August 29, 2023

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The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, says the currency swap deal it signed with the Peoples Bank of China has not been abandoned.

The apex bank made the clarification in its response to suggestions that the CBN has not fully taken advantage of the agreement signed in 2018, which allows Nigerian and Chinese investors to pay for imports in both country’s local currencies.

Nigeria and China In May 2018, signed a currency swap deal valued at renminbi (RMB) 16 billion. Renminbi is the official currency of the People’s Republic of China, and means “people’s currency” in Mandarin. A yuan is a unit of the currency.

The issue became more controversial recently after Femi Falana, a senior lawyer and rights activist accused the apex bank of abandoning the agreement.

Falana claimed that despite the currency swap agreement, the federal and state governments, and business community have been “prevented from transacting business in naira and yuan

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, later wrote the CBN demanding an explanation under the Freedom of Information, FOI.

Reacting, the CBN said the agreement is progressive, saying it renewed the bilateral currency swap deal in 2021 after the first agreement expired to show its seriousness about.

The agreement is due to be renewed next year, according to the Folashodun Shonubi-led CBN.

According to the explanation provided by CBN, “The swap commenced in July 2018, expired in April 2021, and was subsequently renewed. The sum of CNY 15.00 billion was the overdraft amount usable within the year,” the apex bank disclosed this in a response dated August 8, 2023.

“Since its renewal, CNY9.00 billion had been drawn, CNY6.00 billion utilized and CNY3.00 billion outstanding, and out of the CNY6.00 billion utilized, the sum of CNY5.10 billion had been repaid, while the sum of CNY2.10 billion had not been utilized, leaving the sum of CNY900.00 million yet to be repaid. Furthermore, the next renewal is expected to take place in 2024.”

Economy: KPMG Issues Tinubu A Thumb Down

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Tosin Olatokunbo

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August 29, 2023

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KPMG has predicted that Nigeria’s economy would likely not grow beyond 2.65 percent before the end of the year.

The forecast, according to those watching is a vote of no confidence on the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and its administration’s efforts to turn the economy around.

The firm’s new forecast is coming on the heels of an earlier one where it said, the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, will experience growth of 2.85 percent in the year.

According to a report titled ‘Underwhelming Q2 2023 GDP Growth Recorded’, KPMG stated that the review came as a result of the current economic realities in the country, which include the government’s removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate of the naira.

The policies, the financial service firm said have affected the living standards of Nigeria apart from the fact that they have also hampered foreign capital investment in the country.

Therefore, “Q2 2023 GDP results are broadly in line with our earlier downward revision of 2023 GDP to 2.85 percent. Nevertheless, we are adjusting our 2023 forecast further downwards to 2.65 percent,” KPMG said.

The firm stated that it would be “challenging and unlikely” for the government to attain the growth rate of 2.85 it earlier forecast for the country.

KPMG cited factors that would hamper higher economic growth to include squeezes “in government’s investment, household consumption demand and firms’ costs of operations as well as reduced private investment as firms continued to adopt a wait and see approach, tweak strategies to cope with rising costs and reduced demand for their goods and services and struggled to find forex to operate.”

“These factors will likely constrain non-oil growth given that household consumption and private investment constitute the largest share of GDP.

“The impact of subsidy removal was evident in the biggest contraction in road transportation GDP since the new GDP series. Though subsidy was only removed in June 2023 representing one month impact of the three months of the quarter, road transport GDP contracted by -55.14 per cent in Q2 2023, representing the biggest contraction in road transport GDP in history.

“This contradicts the muted results recorded with respect to inflation for that same month which according to NBS was not expected to fully reflect on the CPI though methodologically, the Inflation rate in each sector is used to deflate nominal GDP for that sector.

“At the same time, there has been muted government capital investment in the economy in Q2 2023 and the first half of Q3 2023 so far, with new administrations at the Federal and State level settling down in Q3 2023.

“Furthermore, oil production has started Q3 2023 with a further contraction in July 2023 and if this trend continues for the remaining two months of Q3 2023, we will have a situation where non-oil sector growth and oil sector growth underperform,” KPMG stated.

Meanwhile, not a few Nigerians have criticized the economic growth figures usually bandied by the government and private firms, saying they have not translated into better living standards for the people of the country.

Over 140 million Nigerians are currently living below the poverty level, according to figures provided by the government agency, Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, NBS, despite all the figures that have been released in the past that the economy had grown.

Dangote Replies Umahi, Others Over High Cost Of Cement

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Tosin Olatokunbo

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August 29, 2023

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Dangote Cement has responded to complaints among Nigerians that its cement price is too high.

The company owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has been trenchantly criticized for selling a bag of cement at a higher price in Nigeria, while it offers the same product at lower prices in other West African countries.

For instance, reports surfaced recently that the price of a bag of Dangote Cement in Benin Republic is as low as N400 while in Nigeria the prices vary from N500 and above.

Last week, Dave Umahi the Minister of Works lamented the cost of cement in the country, saying imported cements are way cheaper.

The minister said he would dialogue with Dangote, the biggest producer of the product in the country, and other cement producers on how they can bring down the price.

He stated, “I’m going to be running figures with them (cement manufacturers) to check the cost of cement if we import it and the cost they are giving us here.

“A lot of contractors have complained that it is cheaper to import, but we are not allowed to import cement because we have to help the cement industries, but they also have to be reasonable with us if we are going to be patronising them.”

Responding in a statement on Monday, Dangote said the price of the product in Nigeria is not higher than what is offered in neighboring countries.

According to Dangote, “This clarification was made in view of recent misinformation that the company sells cement in Nigeria at significantly higher prices relative to other countries, particularly, the Republic of Benin, and other neighbouring countries.”

The company in its breakdown said the price of a bag of cement from its factories across Nigeria (as at 28th August 2023) is N4,010 in Okpella and N4,640 in Ibese, Obajana, and Gboko. Including transportation costs and the location of delivery, prices could range between N5,000 to N5,300 per bag.

The high cost of building materials, particularly cement in the country have hampered many Nigerians form owning their own homes, analysts say, adding that Dangote and other cement producers have ensured that its price remains high despite series of promises in the past to bring it down.

Tinubu Inherits Bad Economy From Buhari, Minister Laments

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Tosin Olatokunbo

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August 29, 2023

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Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Supervising Minister of the Economy has decried the parlous state of the economy inherited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Since he came to office in May President Tinubu has been struggling with how to fix the economy as Nigerians insist that their lives have been made worse in the last three months.

While some blamed Tinubu’s administration for the current state of the economy, not a few insist that his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari left things in a very bad shape before he left office on May 29.

President Tinubu and his predecessor, Buhari are both members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Notedly, critics of President Tinubu insist that the economic problems facing Nigerians have been made worse by some critical decisions taken by his administration, which, according to them include the removal of subsidies on fuel and the exchange rates of the naira.

The appointment of his cabinet ministers, some of them regarded as unqualified by his critics, has also been described as a false start by his administration in his quest to rejuvenate the economy.

But speaking after the Federal Executive Council, FEC meeting on Monday, Edun said his principal is trying to salvage the bad economic situation he inherited.

Lamenting, the minister said “Per capital has fallen steadily, inflation is at 24 percent, unemployment is high, you know they are rebasing the way in which it’s calculated. Either way, it is high and youth unemployment is even unacceptably high. These are the key metrics that we have met.

“We met a bad economy and the promise of Mr. President is to make it better.”

Meanwhile, not a few Nigerians insist that the Tinubu administration is already giving excuses why his government cannot deliver on the promises made to Nigerians.

Tinubu said before he became president that he was well prepared for the challenges facing the country because he’s the best man for the job.

He said: “There is no other one in the race hiding or open, I am the only one in the race and most competent and most qualified to be your president come year 2023.

“I am the only one who has been through the tutelage. I am the only one among them who has been consistent in one party. They are not stable. Some of them are rolling stones. I have been through the National Assembly.”

Nigerians are now asking what has changed, whether his government is already overwhelmed by the myriads of economic challenges facing the country after barely four months in office as President and Commander-in-chief.

OPINION: Reform, What Reform?

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The Source

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August 29, 2023

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By Steve Osuji

TINUBU IS A POLITICIAN, NOT A REFORMER: Some cheap talk has crept into the media space recently indicating that President Bola Tinubu is on some reform mission that would set things right in Nigeria in due time. But that’s a joke. We have gone through this route several times in recent history. This column can assert that this is mere cheap, foolish talk. The wilful imposition of suffering upon the populace by the impulsive removal of a tainted subsidy is being untutoredly referred to as ‘reform’.

It must be stated categorically that President Tinubu is not capable of instituting any reform in the true sense of it. With due respect to him, he lacks the intellectual capacity to initiate and see through any grand, sectorial or wholesale change in the polity or economy.

He is also ailing and therefore cannot bear such enormous physical exertions needed to drive any earth-shaking change to logical conclusions. Dare we also say that he cannot apply and channel the requisite funds to rig any mammoth change in the system. No, this guy is a politician not a reformer. As we all know, a true Nigerian politician would rather win the next election than complete a mammoth project!

Therefore, Tinubu cannot conceive it, he can’t do it and worse, he doesn’t have the opportunity of a serious party platform to support a large vision. Further, the cabinet he has just formed is a pointer that he has no such thing in mind. For instance, indulging a conclave of nine former state governors who were not remarkable in their small spaces cannot be bothered with any high-minded thoughts at a job they consider a retirement retreat. Isn’t it easier for the chief executive of a state to effect deep-reaching reforms in his domain? But apart from Dave Umahi, hardly any of the governors left their states vastly different from how they met it.

In fairness to Tinubu, no Nigerian leader has been transformational since after the Second Republic which was terminated by the Muhammadu Buhari coup of 1983. We saw Awolowo, Zik, Michael Okpara, Ahmadu Bello, Joseph Tarka breaking new grounds and setting major landmarks in the 1960s. We also note the indelible footprints of Sam Mbakwe, Lateef Jakande, Solomon Lar, Abubakar Rimi, among others. Those were big thinkers; and those were the last times we witnessed anything close to a reform.

But today, some of the forests in your state may well be farm settlements set up by Awolowo or Okpara which have been abandoned and overgrown. Another instance: Concorde Hotels built by Mbakwe, Presidential Hotels by Nwobodo, Gateway Hotels by Bisi Onabanjo in Ogun State, among numerous other examples, lay waste today. They cannot be managed by today’s governors.

REFORM AS MERE SLOGAN: Corruption has devastated the minds of today’s leaders and that’s why the country is in ruins. It wasn’t that the leaders mentioned above were saints or reformers in the truest sense of it but they were able to initiate big developmental plans and see them through to the end.

They planned ahead. We don’t see all that anymore. President Shehu Shagari sang about green revolution, some form of agricultural reform. But it was a mere song. Military President, Ibrahim Babangida spoke so much about economic reforms but he was only dancing to the drumbeats of the Bretton-Woods club. He was only being facetious – merely a devaluation of the naira without the concomitant productive activities, especially in the export sector. Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and even Buhari threatened to reform and transform but they were mere slogans. While Buhari was suffering acute inertia and couldn’t as much as form a cabinet, his people told us he was taking his time to reform the process of governance. But it turned out a ruse; for eight years Buhari couldn’t complete nary the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

So with Tinubu it’s the same default propaganda mode we have seen since 1999 that is playing out. Presidents saying things they either don’t understand or they have not given a thought to.

BE GOOD ON THE BASICS: If only our leaders can be good on the basics, (we aren’t even asking for brilliance), that would be good enough for us. Something as mundane as maintaining available infrastructure, delivering projects at international benchmark costs and duration. But for eight years, obdurate Buhari was like fish in water ( or fish out of water if you will). Like Tinubu today, he didn’t even know how to get started even on basic things. He didn’t know what to do nor was he much aware of what was being done.

It needs to be noted that Tinubu never promised Nigeria reform. Not by his manifesto nor his 7-point agenda. Even as he inaugurated his cabinet, he didn’t give them any specific, detailed charged nor deliverable targets. That would require some rigour and no such work has been done by anyone in his camp.

For instance, what exactly does he want to achieve in energy, education, health, agriculture sectors? That’s the best way to achieve some minor sectorial results.

Bola Tinubu — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

THE EUNUCH AND HIS BEAUTIFUL BRIDE: But Tinubu is like an eunuch who heralded his beautiful new wife with a grand ceremony. Even as people enjoy the lavish party their minds would stray to the question as to what happens when the party is over and everyone had gone home.

Like Buhari, Tinubu has hijacked the Oil Ministry, but what next? That sector requires a total revamp. State refineries need to be urgently brought back on stream and probably privatised; NNPC needs to be cleansed out and sanitised while the security architecture undergirding the industry must be reformed. It’s obtuse, if not stupid that a non-state actor is watching over a country’s strategic asset. Tinubu as oil minister can’t drive these changes and the twain of sub-ministers don’t seem to be possessed of required gravitas.

Two days ago we saw National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu leading a motley crowd of so-called presidential delegates to the Niger Delta. That is the silly style introduced by the semi-incapacitated Buhari. But it’s very laughable seeing a horde of officials milling around pretending to be President. Nobody is fooled or impressed. It’s either the President is at work or he’s not. The issues (oil theft, refineries and pipelines, stakeholders) around the oil delta require the presence of the president carrying out on the spot assessment, persuading, talking tough here and exuding the power and glory of the presidency. Not a job for a coterie of aides!

THERE’S NO ECONOMY HERE: Finally, the bane of Nigeria is that there’s virtually no economy going on here. Apart from our crude oil which is rapidly going out of use, we are not taking much else to the global markets – no products, no brands, no special services. It’s bizarre that we still import palm oil and maize. It’s even more so that if our Customs Service manages to block the smuggling of rice, frozen chicken and vegetable oil, there would be food crisis in Nigeria.

Can President Tinubu’s mind penetrate these outer reaches of the economy? If he does, is he thinking about them? Does he know what to do about them?

AGBADO AND CASSAVA REPUBLIC: Among cassava, rice and maize lie the jigsaw of Nigeria’s food economy. As reported in the last piece, the poultry sector is in trouble because there’s no maize to mill feed. Millers are begging for concession to import maize. This has been happening yearly for over a decade.

But between May 29 and today (late August), is time enough to revolutionised the maize and cassava production and value chain.

A wakeful President could have galvanize cooperatives and out grower groups upon inauguration and by now, we would have across the country, lush fields of flowering maize farms. Maize matures in 90 days and at least three cycles of harvest can be achieved in 12 months. Maize can also be inter-cropped with cassava for added value.

The point here is that this is a ripe low hanging fruit that would cost government little. Government only needs to guarantee off-taking of harvests at reasonable price. It’s a sure bet model that would be fuelled mainly by integrity of officials. The enormous benefits inherent in the maize and cassava value chain is a topic for another day. Suffice to say that our poultry industry would immediately blossom!

As Peter Obi has said ad nauseaum, an economy that’s not production driven is no economy.

Osuji is an accomplished Journalist and Columnist

Rejected Nominees: “There Are Plans To Attack LAHA & I” – Speaker Obasa; Warns “Those In Glass Houses Not To Throw Stones”

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Akinwale Kasali

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August 29, 2023

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By Akinwale Kasali

There is boiling crisis between Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lawmakers of the Lagos State House of Assembly and the 17 rejected Commissioner- Nominees.

The Lagos House of Assembly, a few days ago, rejected 17 out of 39 list of Commissioner-nominees, sent to it for confirmation by the Governor. Since then, crisis has been brewing.

Some members of the Assembly had, on the day the list was submitted, criticised it over its non- accommodation of some Local Government Areas.

While efforts are being made by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Lagos, to resolve the crisis amicably, speculations were strong on Monday of plans to attack the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and members over the rejection of the 17 Nominees.

In the Chambers of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday, the Lawmakers said the rejection of some of the Nominees of Governor Sanwo Olu was in tandem with the Constitution, which stipulates its responsibilities and, as such, would not succumb to threats and intimidations, including planned sponsored protests and analysis by some civil society groups, loyalists and some activists.

The Lawmakers who are aggrieved with the present situation also said it had refrained itself from revealing all that it discovered during the screening of the nominees while warning that “those who live in glass houses should be conscious not to throw stones.”

During the Plenary on Monday, Obasa disclosed that he had been reliably informed of the plan to attack him (Speaker) based on the decision of the House concerning the nominees of the Governor, particularly the rejected ones.

Obasa stressed that he had been inundated with calls from people and Members of the House.

The Speaker stressed that the House does not have any fight with Governor Sanwo-Olu or the Executive arm as projected by some people, who may not be aware of the actual reasons for the rejection of the nominees.

“There is this erroneous belief that we are waging war against the Governor. There is no basis for me and the House to fight the Governor. I will continue to say that the Governor is a brother and colleague in the Lagos project and service to the people of our State.

“The Governor and I have been around in the system for long. While he was Special Assistant, SA, to the former Deputy Governor, Femi Pedro, I was in this House as chairman, Committee on Rural Development.

“He was SA on Establishment and Pensions and I was chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts (Local Governments). While he was heading LSDPC, I was Chairman, Committee on Economic Planning and Budget. Then, I became the Speaker and when he became the Governor, I remained the Speaker. So it’s been a long journey together.

“But I wonder why anytime the House says no to a particular request of the Governor, it is taken by some people to mean there is a fight with the Governor. This House has passed so many resolutions that the executive arm refused to carry out, but people don’t see that as something to talk about and the House does not raise eyebrows. So I don’t know what brings the erroneous belief that the House is fighting the Governor, who is our brother and who we will continue to work with.

“However, we have a constitutional responsibility. Just as the Governor has the responsibility to inform the House about his nominees, the House has the responsibility to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ which we have exercised by confirming some and denying some and we have our reasons for saying ‘no’ to some of the nominees.

“The House, as a body, has refrained itself from exposing what it discovered during the screening exercise and we are not going to be forced to spill to the public,” Obasa said.

Concerning the rejection of Prof. Akin Ababyomi, former Health Commissioner, Obasa said considerations went beyond his efforts in the fight against COVID-19 which he described as an isolated issue in the challenged health sector of the State.

“Before Prof. Abayomi, there were Leke Pitan, Dr. Jide Idris and others. COVID-19 was an isolated case that was considered.

“Before COVID-19, we had Ebola which was also taken care of under Babatunde Fashola.

“Beyond all these, we are the representatives of the people, their mouthpieces, eyes and ears. The Health Sector of Lagos is not just about COVID-19. We have General Hospitals and other Health Care Centres around the State. What can be said about them?

“Before Engineer Aramide Adeyoye, we also had Engineer Ganiyu Johnson and Dr. Obafemi Hamzat as Commissioner for Works and under whom the Ikoyi-Victoria Island link bridge was built while Babatunde Fashola was Governor. Under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as Governor, there was masaive infrastructural development too.

“So we must stop making allusions concerning somethings we do not understand. They mentioned the former

Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotosho and his experience. But how about actions in office?” Obasa asked.

The Speaker added that as a politician whose party is in power, the priority of those in Government should be the interest of the people.

He urged those planning to sponsor actions against the House to realise that protests and sponsored articles would not make the House rescind its decision.

“The civil society that is threatening to protest should do so because it is a constitutional right. But we are not going to be threatened or intimidated. We have said no, but if there is a convincing or germane reason for us to reverse our decision, we will, but not by threats.

“It is because we are successful as politicians that is why the technocrats are being appointed. And to our own estimation, if they have not done well, we have right to say no and we have said no.

“We don’t want instigations and conflicts, the executive and the House are working together; we are brothers and colleagues; we will continue to work together but we need to caution fourth columnists not to instigate crisis. And those that are living in glass houses need to be careful,” he warned.

House of Reps Comm. Decries Mismanagement Of Billions On Mass transit Schemes

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Tosin Olatokunbo

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August 28, 2023

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The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the failure of Federal Mass Transit Schemes in Nigeria since 1999, has decried the serial mismanagement of humongous government investments in Urban Mass Transit Schemes to ameliorate transportation challenges, with resultant abysmal results.

The Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Afam Victor Ogene, in a statement in Abuja on Monday, August 28, 2023, warned that the Committee would get to the roots of the mismanagement of the funds that runs into billions of naira ploughed into the scheme by successive governments, without commensurate impact since 1999.

He expressed displeasure at the seeming reluctance by line ministries and agencies, in releasing documents relating to public funds expended on previous Mass Transit Schemes.

“This becomes important especially at this period of grueling multifaceted economic challenges that have heightened the sufferings of the people and lowered the living conditions of many,” he said.

Ogene, who represents Ogbaru Federal Constituency in Anambra state and who is also the Labour Party caucus leader in the House, disclosed that in 2012 alone, over N16 billion was released through The Infrastructure Bank (TIB), for the purchase of busses for Public Mass Transit, from the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programe SURE-P funds, under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, from the Public Mass Transit Revolving Fund, PMTF.

“A total of 1,179 vehicles were released to the beneficiaries under the scheme, with a repayment plan covering four years. But according to TIB, many of the beneficiaries defaulted and didn’t repay the loans.

“For instance, records show that as at December 2015, only two of the beneficiaries, ABC Transport PLC and The Young Shall Grow Transport Limited, liquidated their loans. Most of the beneficiaries are yet to pay as stipulated in the contractual agreements signed between them and TIB.

“Perhaps because they see the funds as usual government bonanza. But this is where they get it wrong because they can’t be living large with our collective scarce resources while the people suffer as a result of poor Mass Transportation. The Committee shall make the defaulters to account for every government money they have misapplied.”

The chairman of the committee also said that on October 4th 2016, the then Minister of Industry,Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah announced that the federal government had also set up a N25 billion revolving loan scheme to enable transport companies in the country purchase Mass Transit Vehicles.

Just a year ago, August 2022, the immediate past Minister of State for Transport revealed that the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, had approved the establishment of yet another Mass Transit Scheme, and a committee set up for its implementation.

In view of these developments, especially with documented abysmal results, Hon. Ogene said that his ad-hoc committee has been mandated to look into all these developments, with a view to finding out what went wrong. Who did what. And why the people are being made to suffer as a result of what may likely be individual, corporate or institutional failures.

The Committee’s brief covers road transport, waterways and rail transportation in Nigeria.