•Says total deregulation will industrialise economy

Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja

With foreign/local investors’ concerns being addressed, coupled with the “audacious’’ efforts to boost oil production to about 2.7 barrels per day, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, yesterday, said Nigeria remains a titan of African energy – expecting $50 billion worth of investments in the sector before the end of the year.

The minister who spoke with journalists in Abuja, yesterday, said that the policy direction of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has in the last one year, revolutionised the oil sector, making it very attractive to both local and foreign investors.

Explaining that the quickest way to fix the nation’s socio-economic challenges was through the oil sector, the minister said the federal government was working very hard to use oil resources to industrialise the country.

“The ongoing reform in the oil sector is attracting investors; we have addressed their concerns; and we have regained their confidence. We are expecting about $50 billion worth of investment to come in before the end of the year, and once more investors come in, our oil production will increase.

“There are so many oil wells that were drilled and locked up; and part of my mandate is to open up those wells to boost our oil production,” Lokpobiri added.

While saluting the people of the Niger-Delta for maintaining peace in the region, the minister said the peaceful environment had also encouraged the improvement of oil production.

The minister also revealed that the federal government had made substantive gains in the war against oil thieves in the Niger Delta.

According to him, “The marching order given by the President to the Armed Forces of Nigeria, in collaboration with my ministry, the Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and other security agencies, to declare a fresh war on perpetrators of oil theft – to improve oil production and revitalise the nation’s ailing economy, is yielding good results.’’

He explained that President Bola Tinubu was leading the process of developing the oil sector and attracting investors to the country, stating that the success of the upstream sector was important to the success of the mainstream/downstream sector.

The minister stated that Nigeria relies so much on crude oil production, and appealed to the media to be part of the journey to develop the sector.

“The President means well for Nigerians; we can trust him to do things differently,” he said.

On the ongoing total deregulation in the oil sector, he said the country would be better for it.

According to him, “The current situation is no longer sustainable. Even if the federal government is willing to continue with it, we don’t have the money to do it. The NNPC cannot import fuel and sell at half price.

“The government needs funds to develop infrastructure and better the lives of Nigerians. The money for the subsidy will be deployed to other things like public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs creation.’’

Lokpobiri, explained further that total deregulation of oil sector was also expected to allow for more private-sector operators in the sector, saying that when the products are available, the price would find its level.

The Cybercrime Act should recognise the rights and freedom of Nigerians and theĚýmedia

Iyobosa UwugiarenĚý

The Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Kayode Egbetokun’s human rights record as Nigeria’s police chief competes in low ranking with the country’s darkest moments under military rule – in the estimation of both local and international human rights organisations.

Egbetokun’s recent validation of the arrest of journalists and deliberate attempt by the police under his watch to criminalise journalism practice, under the guise of enforcing the Cyber Security Act, has compounded his record. And it is a dangerous signal to Nigeria’s democratic space.

In the past few weeks there have been public uproar and international outcry against how journalists have been abducted and persecuted by the Nigeria Police Force, using Cybercrime Act as cover.

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the professional body of media executives and editors, recently warned the Nigeria Police against press freedom violation. The body also called for a proper understanding of the intention of the Cyber Security Act, declaring that the law was enacted as a legal framework for combating cybercrimes, and not for ‘’persecuting’’ journalists, who are performing their legitimate assignments in a democracy.

But in spite of the wide condemnations of the police’s actions, Egbetokun does not see anything wrong with what some human rights activists had described as ‘’criminal action and lawlessness’’ of his men.

To be sure, reacting to the issue in a public outing recently, the IG argued that unless journalists were asking to be treated as a special breed different from how ‘’other criminals’’ are being treated, there shouldn’t be any criticism of cases of official abductions and humiliations of journalists.Ěý

To the number one law enforcement officer in Nigeria, it was a standard practice and he couldn’t just understand the hullabaloo as everyone is equal before the law.

The consequence of IG’s reasoning is that his boys are now emboldened to commit more crimes against journalists and the media in the country.

Since the Cybercrime Act was enacted in 2015, several reports by the media rights groups indicated that at least 25 journalists have been arrested, detained and prosecuted under the law. Some of the journalists who have been prosecuted under the Act include: Aiyelabegan Babatunde AbdulRazaq, Oluwatoyin Luqman Bolakale, Saint Mienpamo Onitsha, Matthew Perekebuna, Daniel Ojukwu, Dayo Aiyetan, Nurudeen Akewushola and Segun Olatunji.

Sadly, the action of the police against these victims were predicated on groundless petitions by some political and business elites. For many Nigerians, especially human rights activists, it is a very sad narrative in the country’s democracy, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, whom many people believe fought so hard, along with other pro-democracy activists, for the restoration of democracy in 1999.ĚýĚý

From records available, the Nigerian government has joined authoritarian regimes and infamous governments using legislations to criminalise journalism and silence free speech. These laws often have vague or overly broad definitions of cybercrime, allowing authoritarian governments to prosecute journalists and whistleblowers for exposing corruption, bad behaviours, sensitive information or criticising governments for not acting in the best interest of the people.

For example, Egypt’s Cybercrime Law (2018) has been used to prosecute journalists for allegedly publishing false news or propaganda; Singapore’s Computer Misuse Act (1993) has been used to prosecute journalists and bloggers for unauthorised access or computer misuse; Malaysia’s Computer Crimes Act (1997) has been used to prosecute journalists and whistleblowers for unauthorised access or data theft, and Russia’s Cybercrime Law (2013) has been used to prosecute journalists and activists for “extremism” or “treason”.

However, the difference between Nigeria’s legislation/enforcement of the Act and others, is the method of abduction of journalists, the long detention and inhuman treatment they are subjected to.

From the media publications, especially online in the last few weeks, the Act is already having chilling effects on press freedom and investigative journalism, as journalists now avoid reporting on sensitive topics or criticising governments for fear of being prosecuted under cybercrime laws.

Online platforms are now being forced by security agencies to remove content deemed offensive, possibly limiting the capacity of journalists to publish critical reporting relating to good governance, corruption and abuse of public office.

More so, going by the experience of Segun Olatunji, a journalist who was recently tortured to disclose his source of information, the Cybercrime laws are making it difficult for journalists to protect their sources.

In other words, cybercrime law in Nigeria has become a weapon in the hands of powerful Nigerians to harass and intimidate journalists, limiting their ability to hold governments accountable, and creating a culture of fear.

In a country where general election are held every four years, the law will surely undermine the ability of democracy to promote transparency and accountability, and empower governments to silence political opponents and dissenting voices.Ěý

There is already huge fear in the land that the federal government is testing the law – with the purpose of using it to silence oppositions towards the 2027 general election.Ěý

With over 133 countries having cybercrime legislation, the main features of UK Act, the first country in the world to introduce the law, require minimum-security standards for consumer smart devices – manufacturers of consumer smart devices are required to implement minimum-security standards; default passwords must be changed, and manufacturers must publish contact details for security issues; retailers must be transparent about security updates and support, and the National Crime Agency (NCA) must work to improve the UK’s resilience to cyber-attacks.

In the law, the NCA encourages individuals to make informed choices in their use of technology; and the cybercrime legislation aims to secure computer material against unauthorised access and to tackle cyber-crime threats. There is nowhere in the section of the Act that targets journalists or the media.

Contrary to the misuse of the law by the Nigeria police, the spirit and intention of cybercrime legislation is to protect society from the harm caused by cybercrime, promote cyber-security, and ensure the integrity of digital technologies.

The intention and purpose of the law by those who initiated it, is to prevent and combat cybercrime, such as hacking, identity theft, and online fraud; protect security in the digital environment; promote international cooperation and information sharing in combating cybercrime, among others.

While the Nigeria police may be working very hard to undermine democracy and create a bad image for President Tinubu-led government, it is necessary and urgent for the President and all stakeholders in Nigeria’s democracy to ensure that cybercrime legislation aligns with human rights and democratic values. Its implementation must prioritise the protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms.

•Agency begins probe of contract awards in presidency, NASS, judiciary, othersĚý

•To arraign Hadi Sirika next week over alleged N8 billion fraud

Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, yesterday, went the extra mile to clear insinuations surrounding the impending trial of the former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, saying he personally spoke to the ex-governor and assured him requisite courtesies would be extended to him.

Olukoyede spoke in Abuja while briefing journalists on the innovation, restructuring agenda, and other developments in some sectors of the economy.

The EFCC chairman, who addressed extensively the ongoing trial of Bello, also said as a result of the commission’s reform agenda, it had created a Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department through which it flagged off a probe of the presidency, National Assembly, the judiciary, and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), among other agencies.

EFCC also scheduled to arraign a former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, in court next week, ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ gathered.

The EFCC chairman explained that the commission had not broken any law in seeking to prosecute Bello. He said the judgement of the Kogi State High Court only provided it with the lead to file the case at the Federal High Court.

He said Nigerians must come together to fight the scourge of corruption, and added that the commission gave the former governor a long rope in its investigations.

Olukoyede stated, “As the chairman, I personally called the former governor and gave him all due respect, including allowing him to be interrogated in my office, but the man declined.

“If I fail to investigate and prosecute Yahaya Bello, I would not have the moral right to prosecute others, including the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Willie Obiano, and the former governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed.

“The commission is monitoring all those involved in one way or the other in the Yahaya Bello saga. We are watching them and we will prosecute all of them at the right time. If they have immunity today, they will not have immunity tomorrow.”

He also spoke on the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department through which the commission had commenced probe of some government agencies.

Olukoyede said, “We have begun with the State House because we believe it is not a place we cannot go to. We met with the president recently, and he asked us to go and do our work. And we wrote to his Chief of Staff to furnish us with the process of awarding contracts and within a week, he replied.

“We also wrote to the National Assembly to furnish us with the process of awarding contracts and the cars they buy and, surprisingly, they replied. The same thing with the Chief Justice of the Federation.

“It is not about the investigations and the convictions we have secured but about the source of this crime. The more I prosecute people, the more I recover money, but the more we face this problem.”

While appealing to the media and civil society organisations to support the commission’s campaign against corruption, Olukoyede hinted that EFCC had recovered about N120 billion in the last six months, and was unrelenting in its activities.

He stated, “We will receive all the attacks, but we will never give up. We will continue to do our work until we are asked to step aside. My appeal is that we must see the need to work together.

“If EFCC fails, it is our country that fails. The fight against corruption is about all of us. A thousand EFCC cannot do anything if we don’t get the support of Nigerians.”

The EFCC chairman said having followed a particular trend in investigating economic crimes in the past, the commission was trying to ensure prevention as a way of tackling the crime.

He said if the country would not address the prevention of financial crimes, a thousand of EFCC and ICPC could not secure a reprieve for Nigeria.

“Gentlemen, if we don’t address our processes and procedures a thousand EFCC and ICPC cannot achieve,” Olukoyede stated.

He added that by blocking the leakages, the anti-corruption war would receive the needed bounce.

“On the first note, we have embarked on some restructuring. We must understand that we need to come together and fight this battle,” he said.

The EFCC boss also said his men would soon commence full probe into the activities of illegal miners, adding that it would prosecute all those involved in illegally carting away the country’s resources. He disclosed that some 40 trucks of illegally mined lithium had already been apprehended in Kwara State.

Olukeyede said the commission had also recovered the sum of N120 billion in the last six months, and would not relent in its activities.

Alleged N8bn Fraud: EFCC to Arraign Sirika

EFCC scheduled to arraign former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, in court next week, ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ learnt.

Sirika will face charges in connection with an ongoing investigation related to fraud and money laundering amounting to N8,069,176,864.00.

The former minister was at the Federal Capital Territory Command of the anti-graft agency around 1:00pm yesterday.

Upon his arrival, he was grilled by EFCC operatives over alleged fraudulent contracts he authorised for a company called Engirios Nigeria Limited, owned by his younger sibling, Abubakar Sirika.

Abubakar Sirika is a deputy director at the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

A source close to the investigation said Sirika was questioned with regard to ongoing investigations by the agency.

“We invited him to ask him questions in relation to our investigations. He will be charged to court next week,” the source said.

EFCC investigations showed that Sirika awarded contracts to his brother, Abubakar, knowing that the latter was a civil servant, a deputy director on Level 16 in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, where he had been working since 2000.

The first of the controversial contracts from the former minister to Engirios Nigeria Limited was on August 18, 2022 for the construction of Terminal Building at Katsina Airport, at the cost of N1,345,586,500.

The second was awarded on November 3, 2022 for the establishment of Fire Truck Maintenance and Refurbishment Centre at Katsina Airport, valued at N3.8 billion.

The third contract was on February 3, 2023 for the procurement and instalment of lifts, air conditioners and power generator’s house in Aviation House, Abuja, at the cost of N615 million.

The fourth was awarded on May 5, 2023 for the procurement of Magnus Aircraft and simulator for Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, at the cost of N2.2 billion.

The source stated that out of the total contract sum, the ex-minister paid out N3.2 billion to his younger brother’s Engirios Nigerian Limited, who upon the receipt of the payment, transferred it to different companies and individuals.

“There is no trace of work done on any of the contract items till date,” the source said.

Former Edo state Governor, Senator Adams Oshiomhole’s suspicious role in the unfolding political events within the All Progressives Congress may be the undoing of the party in Edo State – ahead of the state governorship election. Iyobosa Uwugiaren examines the issues.

There is a story in one of the credible online newspapers recently about the unsuccessful attempt by former Governor of Edo State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, to convince a highly revered Benin Palace to support the aspiration of the Edo Central to produce the next governor of the state.

His argument, according to the report, was that after eight years of the outgoing government of Godwin Obaseki, from Edo South, power should shift to other senatorial districts.

However, apparently shocked by  Oshiomhole’s ethnic disposition, the Palace was said to have reminded him that there was never a time the people of Edo South met to decide on the candidature of Governor Obaseki in 2017, saying it was the same Oshiomhole, who came to the palace some years ago and insisted that Obaseki was his preferred candidate, and subsequently worked him through the electoral victory. 

The Palace’s advice: Allow all sons and daughters of Edo State to aspire to the Number One political position in the state; and let the people decide who their next governor is.

However, despite the palace’s advice, recent questioning attempt by Senator Oshiomhole to play ‘’godfather’s role’’ in the process leading to the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) primary in Edo State may be an indication that he has not given up in his quest to realize his dream. And many political observers have warned that Oshiomhole’s desperation, if not checked, will be the undoing of the APC in the Edo governorship election slated for next few month.

What are the issues? In line with the party’s guidelines in electing its candidate for the election – recently released by the party’s national secretariat, state party’s leaders and stakeholders decided to set up an advice-giving meeting with the aspirants few weeks ago.

At the meeting, an insider said the 29 aspirants were urged to unite, talk to themselves and reduce the numbers of those eying the ticket to a manageable size.

And the self-styled leader of the party in Edo State, Senator Oshiomhole, was said to have took it upon himself to set up a six-man committee headed by the House of Representatives Leader, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, to have a conversation with the 29 aspirants, and make suggestions on how the numbers could be trimmed down.

However, in statement signed by some state party’s leaders: Dr. Atsikidi Leonard, Hon. Engr. Dako Elamai, Barr. Bayo Omo-Igeh, Hon. Besta Ozeoya, Chief Vincent Ifada, Hon. Martins Eromosele and others, they said  ‘’Edo people were shocked when the news broke out that this committee had initially recommended 10 names among the aspirants, and on meeting with Comrade Oshiomhole, it was told to further remove some names and reduce it to six.’

‘’We would like to state for the records that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole does not have the authority to constitute a screening committee as he is neither the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress nor a member of the NWC.

‘’Furthermore, only aspirants who have completed and submitted their forms can be screened by the committee established by the NWC for this purpose’’, the concerned members of the party added.

The argument by the concerned APC members was that members of the committee unlawfully assumed the functions of the NWC of the party and were ‘’unfortunately coerced’’ by Oshiomhole to submit a report in variance of their earlier recommendations, which was already in the public domain.

The APC members therefore called on the National Chairman of the APC, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, President Bola Tinubu, and other well-meaning party leaders across the country, to intervene and restrain Oshiomhole and his co-travelers.

Apparently sensing danger that the seeming unlawful act by Oshiomhole was capable of creating unhelpful political tension within the party, the APC’s national leaders quickly issued a statement, advising all the aspirants to ignore the former governor of Edo State.

What is clear – ahead of the party primaries in Edo State, is that the self-styled ‘’godfather of Edo State politics’’ has a subjective interest on who becomes the candidate of the party in the coming election. But, political observers in the unfolding political events in the state have argued that while Oshiomhole may be legitimately interested in who becomes the candidate of the party, all stakeholders should be committed to the ‘’principles of fairness, equity, and justice’’ in the process. And sincerely hope that the primary contest – the intra-party election, would be resolved fairly in the general interest of the APC members in Edo State.

From all indications, Oshiomhole appears to be building political structures of ‘’godfatherism’’ in the state and, fast gaining a peculiar name for himself: a prosperous and authoritative political figure, who crassly and unholy exerts political influence behind the scenes.

Like a true and definitive ‘’godfather’’, what has earned Oshiomhole the tag of political godfather over the years, was his access to Edo State’s wealth as governor of the state for eight years; and he is currently using his largesse in creating suspicious political networks through which he can influence political developments in the state.

But, like every other slow-thinking-political godfather – that Oshiomhole is, not many APC stakeholders in the state doubt if he will be able to shape who is nominated as the governorship candidate; or who wins in the coming governorship race in the state.

The former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, may be following the footstep of his colleagues within the political class.

But, one lesson the class has refused to learn is that ‘’godfatherism’’ is destructive to Nigeria’s democracy; but, unfortunately, it has endured completely unhelpful since the country returned to democracy in 1999.

Check the political space, politics is increasingly being personalized in Nigeria.

Many political experts have argued that democracy as the ethical and legitimate way through which any society can be administered, has been lacking in the country due to ‘’dirty politics’’ of self-centred politicians. And the danger in the politics of godfatherism script, which Oshiomhole is currently interpreting in the intra APC politics that negates peaceful coexistence, law/order, and all tenets of democratic process, may finally destroy the party in the state – if not checked.

For example, how will the APC – as a ruling party at the federal level, manage a situation where its first-eleven aspirants like Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Professor Osarieamen Osubor, Engineer Chris Ogiemwonyi, General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) and others, are excluded from contesting the primaries because of the selfish interest of one man?

Ask any rational political actor in Edo State, they will tell you that Ize-Iyamu remains the main issue in the state politics. And when making an allowance for the political benefits of having a strong support base among electoral voters, many political analysts believe Ize-Iyamu stands out, because he is indubitably a well-known name – not only among Edo State residents and electorates, but also among political leaders across the national political space.

There are many experienced political actors who have argued consistently in the last few days that Ize-Iyamu’s recognition and influence extend beyond the state, providing him a distinct edge over other contenders within the APC, if the ruling party is genuinely and seriously committed in securing victory in the upcoming Edo election.

To be sure, with a massive consistent, loyal political followers, the former Secretary to Edo State Government boasts of a strong local and diaspora support base of thousands of voters in each of his earlier electoral accomplishments, laying a very solid ground for his current governorship aspiration.

Alluding to the benefits of the APC having Ize-Iyamu as its candidate in the coming election, a political analyst, Dr. Kelvin Igabo, stated recently that the APC’s consideration of the Senior Pastor in the RCCG should extend beyond political dexterity, touching upon a crucial factor—credibility.

According to him, ‘’Pastor Ize-Iyamu brings not only a wealth of spiritual leadership but also a steadfast commitment to ethical governance; his wife, a respected Professor of Medicine in the University of Benin and Senior Pastor at RCCG, adds another layer of credibility to his candidacy.’’

Apart from Ize-Iyamu, Professor Osubor, Engineer Ogiemwonyi, and General Airhiavbere are also shining political stars in the APC. What should matter to the APC is a winning candidate in the coming governorship race in a complex and highly politically conscious state like Edo, and not many people believe Oshiomhole is working towards this goal.

•Assures Nigerians, foreigners of protection; highlights successes against terroristsĚý

•Seeks media support on development programmes

Iyobosa UwugiarenĚýin Abuja

The federal government, yesterday, said the accelerated consideration and approval of its N2.17 trillion 2023 Supplementary Budget by the National Assembly would guarantee the liquidity needed for critical interventions in road infrastructure, agriculture, student loan schemes, health, security, housing, social investment, among other critical areas of national need.

Addressing a press conference along with some senior presidential aides in Abuja, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, also stated that President Bola Tinubu was dedicated to ensuring the safety and well-being of all Nigerians and visitors to the country.

The Senate recently approved the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget for the 2023 fiscal year, as proposed by the president. However, the House of Representatives, scrapped the budgetary allocation of N5.095 billion for the purchase of a controversial presidential yacht in the 2023 supplementary budget.

Explaining the significance of passage of the supplementary budget, Idris said the action of the National Assembly would guarantee adequate funds for Tinubu’s interventions in critical sectors for the benefit of Nigerians.

He stated, “The president is pleased with the quick and decisive response of the National Assembly in passing the 2023 supplementary budget. Note also that work is ongoing on the 2024 Appropriation Bill, which is going to be the first full-year budget of the Tinubu administration.”

On security, the federal government’s spokesman said the security agencies had been very busy, doing their best to keep everyone safe.

He said, “I will highlight just a few of those successes in recent days: in various parts of Kaduna State, seven bandits were neutralised in various operations between the 1st and 3rd of November.

“In Kano State, on November 3, a joint operation by troops of the Nigerian Army and the Department of State Services carried out a dawn raid operation on terrorists’ hideout in Gezawa Local Government Area, successfully averting an imminent attack on Kano by insurgents.

“The operation recovered AK 47 Rifles, AK 47 Rifle Magazines, a Rocket Propelled Gun (RPG), RPG Bombs, Hand Grenades, Improvised Explosive Device (IED)-making materials, among others.”

In Katsina, the minister explained that the two National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted by bandits were successfully rescued, adding that the Nigerian Air Force had also been very busy, with several successful airstrikes on bandits’ and terrorists’ camps and hideouts in Katsina, Zamfara and Borno states.

According the minister, the Air Force has also recently taken delivery of four new aircraft, to strengthen the fight against banditry and terrorism.

Idris stated, “I have taken some time to outline some of these efforts to make the point that our security and intelligence agencies are constantly at work, foiling threats, and neutralising those who seek to undermine the security of the country. And for this reason, they deserve the full support of all Nigerians, the media included.

“Please, pay attention to what they’re doing, and give amplified coverage to their successes and gains. The bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, pirates, etc., are waging not only a physical battle but also a psychological one, trying to undermine our faith and confidence in our security agencies.”

He advised media leaders not to play into the hands of enemies of the country, through “reports that might be misleading or sensational or that undermines the morale of the security personnel”.

Idris also spoke on the recent United States travel advisory for its citizens in Nigeria. He said while the federal government understood the concerns raised by the U.S. government in its recent travel advisory, it was also imperative that the U.S. government did not generalise isolated incidents across the entire hospitality industry.

He stated, “We have consistently prioritised the safety and well-being of all visitors to our country. We have implemented comprehensive security measures, both at the federal and state levels, to ensure the safety of tourists and international guests.

“These measures include intense intelligence gathering, acquisition and deployment of additional platforms, training and re-training of personnel, cooperation with international law enforcement agencies, among others, to maintain a secure environment.”

The minister also spoke on post-oil subsidy removal economic interventions, saying the Tinubu’s administration has taken necessary measures to alleviate the pains being felt, and to cushion the effect of these foundational reforms being pursued.

He explained that the interventions were designed to serve as palliatives in the short and medium-term, while Nigerians wait to reap the long-term benefits of the reforms. He said the interventions included a provisional wage increment of N35,000 monthly for six months, to enhance federal minimum wage, without causing undue inflation, and establishment of an infrastructure support fund for states to invest in critical areas that would create an enabling environment for businesses

On the recent foreign exchange policy of the federal government, the federal government’s spokesman said the “deft moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria to clear the billions of dollars in inherited foreign exchange backlog is already having immediate impact on the exchange rate.

“We are confident that this is just the beginning. Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, the central bank is determined to focus on its core mandates of price stability and financial system stability, for the benefit of all Nigerians.”

Idris also said the federal government welcomed with great relief the resolution of the lingering $11 billion P&ID case in favour of Nigeria, and congratulated all Nigerians and Tinubu for their steadfast approach to the case, and for the positive resolution that ensued.

The minister stressed the need for the media to support Tinubu in his effort to develop Nigeria.

Iyobosa Uwugiaren

In what many people labelled as ‘self-praise’, the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari recently boasted that he never defaulted on his promise to boost the economy, ensure security and fight corruption, which were his campaign promises eight years ago.

The president had told those who cared to listen repeatedly that his campaign undertakings were based on enhancing the economy, improving security and anti-corruption fight, and claimed to have recorded huge success in the three fundamental issues. 

 â€œLet me remind us all that my campaign to become president in 2015 was built on the promise to improve the security; strengthen the economy and combat corruption.

 â€œIt is with immense gratitude to God Almighty that I make a bold statement that we have delivered on the three promises. At my inauguration, the country was practically under the siege of terrorism and other forms of insecurity,’’ the president reportedly said.

Buhari further claimed that under his administration, Nigeria rose from the brackish waters of near-economic collapse to become acknowledged as the largest economy on the African continent. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had re-echoed this message repeatedly.

But does the reality in the country tallies with the act of expressing commendation for oneself, which Buhari recently exhibited?

Taking over power on May 29, 2015 – after a controversial general election, the president rightly promised to overhaul the economy, curtail corruption and improve security in Nigeria. He also reiterated these promises, when he sought reelection in 2019. 

Though there were little successes recorded in the early years of his administration, not many security experts would disagree that the President would be leaving behind a frightening insecurity across the country.

Indeed, every part of Nigeria appears to have been turned into a killing field. 

The president had promised to grow the economy in 2015, but under his watch, the country witnessed two recessions: one in 2016 and another in 2020. Though the managers of the nation’s economy had attributed the second recession to the impact of the COVID-19, key indices currently show that the Nigerian economy is still very weak, almost two years after the global pandemic. Indeed, figures by global institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and National Bureau of Statistics indicate that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), measured quarterly and annually, are fast dropping yearly.

Under Buhari’s administration, the nation’s debts soared with a total debt stock rising from about N19.6 trillion to N91.9 trillion, from December 2015 to-date, according to Debt Management Office (DMO). And in share of global population living in extreme poverty in Nigeria 2016-2023 – recently published by a world economist, Doris Dokua Sasu, nearly 12 per cent of the world population in extreme poverty lived in Nigeria, considering the poverty threshold at 1.90 US dollars a day.

On its part, KPMG had stated that the Nigerian unemployment rate had increased to 37.7per cent in 2022 and would further rise to 40.6per cent, due to the continuing inflow of job seekers into the job market. The multinational consulting firm, in a newly released report tagged ‘KPMG Global Economy Outlook report, H1 2023,’ argued that unemployment will continue to be a challenge due to the slower-than-required economic growth, and the helplessness of the economy to absorb the 4-5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year.

Still on the economy, the ease of doing business is still very low in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy. The country is currently ranked 131 out of 190 economies in the world – according to the latest World Bank annual ratings. The devastating consequence is that investors, especially (foreign) multinationals, will rationally have to consider an extensive list of countries before Nigeria.

Buhari did also not deliver in his promise to fight corruption. As of 2015, Nigeria ranked 136 among the 180 countries watched by Transparency International (TI), an anti-corruption group.

But seven years after, Nigeria ranks 150 on Corruption Perception Index – in 2022. The TI recently furnished the world with fresh evidence that in spite of the affirmation by Buhari, corruption is still buffing up strong in Nigeria. In his several speeches, the President had promised to deepen the democratic space – by ensuring credible elections. However, there is a near consensus by both foreign and local communities that Buhari failed woefully to supervise free, fair and credible 2023 general election.  Several post-election reports by many credible groups, including Chatham House, confirmed that thousands of Nigerians were disenfranchised amid violence and irregularities.

INEC was significantly less prepared than it claimed with less than half of eligible voters participating in the elections – in spite of the commission’s N305 billion budgetary allocation.

At just 25.7 per cent, the 2023 general election recorded the lowest turnout in any election since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, despite being the most lavished. 

The INEC’s unreliable utilisation of technology in the use of a Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is still being penetratingly scrutinised and criticised. The commission failed to adhere to its statements and guidelines, which derive from its Electoral Act, 2023 that election results would be uploaded to its portal, using the BVAS directly from the polling unit in real-time for the public’s viewing. Unfortunately, Buhari didn’t see anything wrong with the discredited elections.

For the past eight years, Buhari has been under fire for his perceived nepotism. The popular view is that since 1960, Nigeria has never had a leader who was more sectional, narrow, parochial, and tribalistic like the outgoing president, who went on a global stage to divide Nigeria into ‘97 per cent and five per cent.’

In particular, Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, had insisted that Buhari’s administration was full of nepotism and corruption, saying that the situation had not augured well for the country.

Like many Nigerians, Kukah is sad that despite Buhari’s supercilious promises, he is leaving Nigerians far more vulnerable than when he came, stating that the corruption “we thought would be fought has become a leviathan and sadly, a consequence of a government marked by nepotism.’’

Indeed, Buhari is accused of putting power in the hands of people on grounds of blood relationship, as well as religious and ethnic affiliations.

Arguably, except those who aided his ‘criminal incompetence’ in the management of the affairs of the nation, the near consensus is that the eight-year of the outgoing president is a disaster. 

•FG hits opposition for downplaying president’s achievementsĚýĚý

•Describes Atiku as ‘worst offender’Ěý

•We’ve created 16,648 jobs in 2022, says water resources minister

Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Deji Elumoye in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, reiterated his commitment to handing over the leadership of the country to an elected president on May 29, 2023, saying his term in office would end on that day in line with the constitution of the country.

This is as the federal government has condemned the opposition parties over what it described as “increasing tendency” by some of them to downplay the achievements of the Buhari-administration, in their quest for power, ahead of the 2023 elections.

The government, which particularly picked on the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar identified him as ‘’the worst offender’’ in this regard, arguing that if anyone would accuse the APC-led government of doing nothing, it should not be Atiku.

At the same time, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has disclosed that in line with President Buhari’s directive to actively collaborate with the private sector to create a large number of well- paying jobs for the Nigerian youths, the ministry had increased the number of jobs created from 8,882 in 2019 to over 16,648 in 2022.

However, speaking yesterday while playing host to the Kingdom of Morocco’s Minister of National Education, Pre-School and Sports, Mr Shakib Ben Musa, as Special Envoy of King Mohammed the VI, at the State House, Abuja, Buhari reiterated that his term of office would end with the inauguration of a new president in May next year.

He promised to study the message sent from Morocco and respond accordingly, giving assurances that he would continue to cherish and strengthen the very warm and cordial relations between the two countries.

Accompanied by Mr. Moha Ou Ali Tagma, the resident representative of the Kingdom in Nigeria, the Special Envoy, restated to the resident, the friendship and solidarity of the King, the government and people of Morocco with Nigeria.

This, nonetheless, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who spoke at the seventh edition of the ‘PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023), which featured the Minister of Water Resources, Sulieman Adamu, yesterday, in Abuja, said during his recent campaign in Akure, Atiku was quoted as saying the APC had not done anything for Nigeria in eight years.

“What a preposterous statement from somebody, who should know! I guess we can excuse His Excellency, the former vice-president who, until recently, had fully relocated to Dubai, thus losing touch with Nigeria. And if anyone would accuse the APC-led federal government of doing nothing, it should not be Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“Why? Because for the 16 years of the PDP rule, eight of which Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was vice-president, there was no motorable road to the former VP’s hometown and indeed to key local governments in the Southern Senatorial zone that served as Adamawa’s food basket and economic nerve centre until the government of President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office.

“Today, gentlemen, the Mayo Belwa- Jada-Ganye-Toungo road has been constructed fully and it’s the road that Alhaji Atiku uses to get to his hometown of Jada. What about security? Before this administration came into office, all the five local government areas in Adamawa’s Northern Senatorial District were effectively under the control of the Boko Haram terrorists” the federal government’s spokesman stated.

Mohammed claimed further that all state institutions, the local government administration, the police, the judiciary, schools, hospitals and markets were under the PDP administration, while traditional rulers, including Emirs and Chiefs, were displaced with their palaces taken over by the terrorists as their headquarters.

His words: “The affected five local governments in the Northern Senatorial zone are Madagali, Michika, Mubi North, Mubi South and Little Gombi. In the Central Senatorial zone, two local governments were effectively under the control of the Boko Haram terrorists. These two local governments in the Central Senatorial zone are Maiha Local Government and Hong Local Government.

“Today, not an inch of these local governments in Adamawa, the home state of the former Vice President, is under the control of terrorists. All institutions of state have relocated back and are operational. All Emirs and chiefs have returned to their palaces. Schools and markets have opened.”

The Minister claimed that throughout that period, the former vice-president could not even go home, noting that when one of his right hand men, Mr. Adila, was killed by terrorists, Atiku could not even go to condole with the family of the deceased.

He said: It was that bad. Now that he can travel home freely, thanks to the Buhari administration, it is not sweet in his mouth to accuse the same administration of doing nothing. As they say, the bed wetter should not join those who are insulting the washer man.”

Explaining what the federal government had done to better the lives of people of the former vice-president’s state, the minister said in the area of Social Investment Programmes, there had been 29,641 beneficiaries, from Adamawa alone, of the N-POWER Programme of the Buhari administration.

According to him, “Under the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, some 162,782 pupils from Adamawa are benefitting from one meal a day. That programme employs 2,259 cooks in Adamawa and has covered 1,236 schools in the state. How many school children did the PDP feed in Adamawa or anywhere in the eight years that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar held sway as vice-president in Abuja? We are not done.

“Under the Conditional Cash Transfer, some 64,607 vulnerable people have benefitted in Adamawa alone, while Trader Moni and Market Moni have reached a total of 38,000 people in the state. In the area of infrastructure, some 8 roads projects totalling 714 kilometres are currently being rehabilitated or constructed in the state. That’s out of 43 road projects in the North East alone.

“These are not phantom projects. We have the full list of the roads and can make it available to anyone who so wishes. Similarly, the North East Development Commission (NEDC) has either completed or is currently working on 140 projects, including construction of classrooms, healthcare facilities and ICT training centres, in Adamawa alone,” the federal government explained.

The minister, however, said the irony was that someone, who held the number two position in the country for all of eight years but could not positively impact on his own hometown, state or region was now condemning an administration that has made it possible for him to even access his hometown, anytime he flies in from his new hometown of Dubai.

He boasted that the administration of Buhari has had a positive impact on all parts of this federation, saying no amount of fallacious soap box rhetoric could change this fact.

Adamu, on his part, while explaining the importance of the controversial National Water Resources Bill before the National Assembly, said the Bill was structured as a compendium of existing Acts to actualise Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) strategies as stipulated by the National Water Resources Policy.

“It is designed to provide the required instrument needed to support efficient management of the nation’s water resources and accelerate the contribution of the water sector to national development,” he stated

The water resources minister added that, the Bill, if passed into law, would also address the problem of proliferated groundwater exploitation without due consideration of its implication on the ecosystem.

*Outlines procedures for likely second voteĚý

*Assures all genuine registered voters will collect PVC

Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja  

Ahead of the 2023 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has decided to print 93.5 million extra ballot papers for possible presidential election runoff, along with the 93.5 million ballot papers needed for the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
The commission also explained that if the presidential runoff election happens, it would be carried out strictly in line with Section 134 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who was represented by the commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye, stated these at an interactive session with the media in Abuja yesterday.
To take care of probable presidential runoff election, Okoye said, in all, 187 million ballot papers would be printed by the Commission.

He said 93.5 million ballot papers will be used on the 25 February 2023 for the presidential election and the remaining 93.5 million ballot papers will be for runoff in a case where there is no clear winner. The National Commissioner argued that the Commission decided to print 187 million ballot papers for the presidential elections, as it would be difficult to engage printers at a short notice and also the issue of logistics.

Okoye said, “As of today, 18 political parties will participate in the 2023 general election and the law has outlined how candidates will emerge and how a presidential candidate will emerge in Nigeria. Because of the limited time on the Commission and by the law; in case a candidate does not emerge from the first ballot, the Commission prints ballots for run-off elections (second election) when we are printing ballots for the main election.

“This is because the law gives the Commission just 21 days within each to engage in reverse logistics and conduct a run-off election in case there is no winner.
He disclosed further that registered voters in Nigeria now stand at 93.5 million, noting that 9,518,188 new voters were added to the existing register of 84,004,084 voters.

Assuring that the processes and procedures as well as the preparations for the conduct of the 2023 general election were on course, he revealed that out of the 14 items in the INEC’s timetable and schedule of activities, it has implemented nine and all on schedule.
“We are comfortable with the level of our preparations and as the chairman of the commission has assured the nation, never again will scheduled elections be postponed or rescheduled on account of logistics and logistics challenges.
“If, for example, we are printing 93 million ballot papers for the first presidential election, we will also print 93 million for the run-off election – in case there is no clear winner in the first election.

“If at the end of the day, there is a clear winner in the first election, we will destroy the ballot papers for runoff election’’, Okoye stated.
Explaining the procedures for the runoff election, he said Section 134 of the Nigerian Constitution states that a candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where there are more than two candidates for the election, he has the highest number of votes cast at the election. And also, he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

He explained further, “In a default of a candidate duly elected in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, there shall be a second election in accordance with subsection (4) of this section at which the only candidate shall be the candidate who scored the highest number of votes at any election held in accordance with the said subsection (2) of this section.

“And one among the remaining candidates who has a majority of votes in the highest number of states; so however that where there are more than one candidates with majority of votes in the highest number of states, the candidate among them with the highest total of votes cast at the election shall be the second candidate for the election.’’

He said that the INEC is mandated to carry out this exercise within seven days, after the first election.
On the Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) collection, the commission said it had worked out, approved, and adopted the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the collection of the PVC.

“The Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu will in the next few weeks outline the fine details of the SOP. The commission will ensure the seamless collection of Permanent Voters Cards by all eligible registrants.
“We assure all Nigerians that the PVCs of those that registered between the 15th of January 2022 and July 31st, 2022, will be ready this month and the chairman will give the exact date for collection.

“All those that registered within this period as well as all those that carried out transfer and those that applied for replacement will get their cards. Nigerians will have sufficient time for PVC collection.

“No Nigerian that validly and genuinely registered will be denied the opportunity of collecting his or her Permanent Voters Card. We plead that Nigerians should not wait till the 11th hour before approaching our local government offices and the wards for PVC collection.’’
Reacting to many complains arising from the display of Voter Registers across the country, the commission said it would continue to be open and transparent in the management and running of the elections.

“The display of the preliminary register of voters for claims and objections at the registration areas end today; and all other activities relating to claims, objections and complaints will be entertained at the various offices of the commission in the 774 Local Government Areas of the Federation and on the Commissions website”, he said

He reiterated that the use of the BVAS and IREV were legal requirements, and the commission is irrevocably committed to their use in the 2023 general election.
Assuring that the commission was working hard to deliver free, fair, acceptable, and inclusive election in 2023, Okoye said INEC was working with the various security agencies in election security.

“We are mapping levels of threats and risks and sharing our findings with the various security agencies. The Commission has received assurances from the various security agencies that Nigeria will be safe for election as measures have been put in place to ensure a free and hitch-free election’’, he added.
The INEC said its allegiance would remain with the people of Nigeria, while seeking the cooperation and partnership of the media in the task of conducting an election that Nigerians will be proud of.

•Says government plans to open 2nd Niger Bridge before ChristmasĚý

•Declares NNPC has released N183bn from the N621bn road tax infrastructureĚý

•Lai Mohammed says history will be kind to president

Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Emmanuel AddehĚý in Abuja

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday said in spite of the shortfall in the federal government’s revenue, arising from weakness in the global economy that led to drop in oil revenue, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has been able to construct and complete over 8,352.94 kilometres of roads and created no fewer than 339,955 jobs between 2016 and 2022.

The minister also stated that the rehabilitation of 12 major roads – spanning 896.187 kilometres across the country – within same period has led to reduction of travel time by 56.20 per cent and added value to the people in the communities, where the roads pass through.

Fashola who stated this at a press conference to highlight the achievements of the Buhari-led administration in the areas of works and housing, which was attended by the Ministers of Information, Lai Mohammed and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello, also revealed that the federal government was expected to open the Second Niger Bridge to the public on or before Christmas this year.

But, he said for that to come to fruition, the ongoing flooding on the four-kilometre approach from the Asaba end of the bridge must recede to enable the contractor complete the link road to the bridge, which had since been completed and lit by the contractor.

Fashola explained that the Buhari’s administration had devised a number of initiatives to draw down funds for the construction of critical road infrastructure in the country and end the suffering of Nigerians on certain roads that were notorious for being in bad shape.

He listed the initiatives to include the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF); the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, Sukuk Fund; the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, Multilateral loans/grants and collaboration with other government agencies such as the North East Development Commission.

For instance, he said the PIDF assisted immensely in the construction of the rehabilitation, construction and  expansion  of Lagos-Shagamu-Ibadan Dual Carriageway Section I (Lagos-Shagamu) in Lagos State; rehabilitation, construction and expansion of Lagos-Shagamu-Ibadan Dual Carriageway Section II: (Shagamu-Ibadan) in Oyo State; construction of main works, including associated infrastructure for the 2nd Niger Bridge, and the rehabilitation of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway, Sections I, II & III.

“My presentation today – by going back to the change agenda, which we unfolded in the Ministry of Works and Housing in 2015 is part of the larger objective of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, to grow the economy through the revamping and expansion of the nation’s infrastructure on a scale that has not been seen in long while.

“In these last seven and half years, the administration has been very resolute in the pursuit of progressivism, which is globally recognised as the improvement of the human condition.

“Indeed, the Ministry of Works and Housing is present in all the states of the federation either through a road, bridge, National Housing Programme, federal secretariat or Special Intervention Project.

“If in 2015, the complaint was the neglect or lack of life defining infrastructure across the country and today these infrastructures are being completed or within the finish line,” Fashola added.

In the housing sector, the minister reported that the ministry was undertaking no fewer than 6,022 housing units nationwide, but has completed a total of 2,864 units in 35 states and the FCT and created 29,030 direct and 57,874 indirect jobs in the process.

In the same vein, the minister disclosed that he had signed no fewer than 6337 Certificates of Occupancy to Nigerians, who were granted federal lands and property but had not been issued with their titles for over three decades.

In that same area, the minister announced that a total of 2,731 allottees of landed property had been grated consent to transact business with their property attracting the sum of N2,210,577,837.95 to the federal purse.

Also, Fashola disclosed that as of December 2021, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) had released N183.1 billion under the road infrastructure tax scheme which was inaugurated last year.

In all, the minister said 8,424 persons had been employed under the initiative.

The minister added that the length of road covered during the period under review was 1,804 kilometres, with the southwest taking the lion’s share of N74.7 billion.

The North-central followed with N62.4 billion, South-south N37 billion while the North-east, North-west and South-east followed with N11.7 billion, N5.4 billion and N3.8 billion respectively.

In the North-central, 1,283 were employed, 493 were employed in the north-west while in the south east 616 persons were employed under the scheme. In the South-south, 1,964 were engaged while 974 were engaged in the South-west.

The NNPC had last year elected to fix some selected roads across the country to ease the movement of petroleum products.

The offer by the national oil company came after the announcement by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) that tanker drivers under the union would go on strike over increasing number of bad roads in the country.

Aside the demand for road rehabilitation, the union further stated that government had failed to enforce the installation of safety gadgets on tankers, which will protect the inflammatory contents of their trucks from spilling over when accidents happen.

The corporation noted that the thrust of the its N621 billion intervention was to make considerable funds available for the reconstruction of roads through it future tax liability.

Fashola explained that cumulatively, 339,955 jobs were created in the built sector for the past seven years.

The Minister of Information who coordinated the press conference, also explained that the administration had done well by implementing high impact projects that met the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians across the country in its quest to leave a lasting legacy, but lashed out at members of the opposition trying to downplay the achievements of the government.

 â€œIn the din of politicking, naysayers have attempted to play down the massive and unprecedented achievements of this administration. Some presidential candidates have even released a poorly-done photocopy of this administration’s achievements as their own blueprint.

‘’But the series we are starting today will leave them breathless as we cover all the achievements in the various sectors. Because we have so much to showcase, the frequency of these briefings will be high and this will run through the remaining part of our tenure’’, Mohammed said.

He added that despite attempts in some circles to downplay the achievements of Buhari administration, the federal government has no scintilla of doubt that history would be fairer and posterity would be kind to the administration.

As the campaigns for the 2023 general election kick off, there are still some unresolved electoral issues, Iyobosa Uwugiaren reports

In line with the 2022 Electoral Act and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Guidelines, the campaigns for the 2023 general election started last Wednesday, as 18 presidential candidates eye President Muhammadu Buhari’s plum position. In the next five months, over 95 million registered voters will choose Buhari’s successor among the candidates. Other candidates will also fill various positions.

INEC has said that the presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on February 25, 2023, followed by the governorship and state assembly elections on March 11, 2023.

Even though only the activities of four political parties: All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and their candidates have generated serious national conversations, there are also other parties in the race.

And amidst apprehension over the general election – occasioned by insecurity across the country, President Bihari, the security agencies and the INEC have continued to promise Nigerians and the international community that the elections would hold.

For instance, the Nigerian Guild of Editors Forum recently provided the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, a huge opportunity where he reiterated his determination to ensure that the fast-approaching 2023 general election would be the best.

Yakubu predicated his confidence on the Electoral Act and the genuine efforts being made by the commission, especially in the area of technological improvement.

Making a presentation at the forum organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in Lagos, Yakubu said that apart from being free, fair, transparent and credible, the 2023 general election would have additional features that would be verifiable – obviously making reference to the electronic transmission of results as spelt out in the Electoral Act.

It was also an opportunity the INEC boss used to dismiss the claim by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), through its spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, who raised the alarm over an alleged existence of fictitious names in the INEC voters’ register.

Ugochinyere had displayed an alleged fraudulent extracts from the national voters’ register, which he claimed were part of at least “10 million fake registrations’’ done by one of the political parties.

According to the claim, the names were sourced from both within and outside Nigeria, including Ghana, Cameroon, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Togo, Guinea, Gambia, Jamaica, Brazil and New Zealand.

The INEC chairman described the claim as total falsehood, wondering where they got the so-called register of voters – when INEC was still cleaning up the register and therefore does not have any valid voter register at the moment.

He is also not unmindful of the huge financial implications of the Nigerian election. According to him, the cumulative voter register of the other 14 countries in West Africa stands at about 70 million, far short of the over 95 million voters in Nigeria.

On the claim that there was a secret court action to stop the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the 2023 general election, the INEC Chair said the commission was yet to be served any court paper to that effect. But he was quick to add that should such case come up and the commission is served, there is enough legal leverage in the Electoral Act to nullify any such move.

The INEC boss said that no fewer than 1.4 million personnel (adhoc and regular staff) would be needed to conduct the 2023 election.

President Buhari’s recent comment on the forthcoming elections was even more reassuring. While receiving Letters of Credence from Ambassadors and High Commissioners of six countries at the State House, Abuja, recently, Buhari had expressed optimism that Nigeria’s current political transition period would produce “new crop of political leaders’’ after the general election in the first quarter of 2023.

“I am highly optimistic that we will conduct a good transition process at the end of which a new set of political leaders will freely emerge’’, he reportedly said.

He told the envoys that “you are assuming your diplomatic responsibilities in Nigeria, at very interesting political period as Nigeria’s national elections are due in February 2023. 

“I want to state again, as I did just a few days ago at the UN General Assembly, that we remain committed to free and fair elections”.

The president promised that the participation of citizens in democracy would continue to be encouraged through freedom of speech and robust political discourse, urging respect for divergent cultures and opinions, and upholding the unity of the country.

Buhari’s optimism about free and fair elections came at a time the security chiefs are also said to be working assiduously to address the insecurity issues, which some people feared might encumber the elections.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), had declared recently that the Buhari-led federal government was unwavering in its determination to bequeath a transparent election before exiting the seat of power.

Alluding to “the successes recorded in the recent elections in Anambra, Osun and Ekiti states’’, the NSA said it was a clear demonstration of the president’s commitment to bequeath a level playing field to all contestants and his determination to bequeath the legacy of a strong institution and values to our beloved nation.

But in spite of the assurances given by the president, INEC and the security agencies, there is still noticeable uneasiness in the land – with many stakeholders arguing that conducting general election in a volatile security environment, coupled with growing ethnic and religious suspicion among different zones, would be difficult.

Some members of the international community, who appear to be interested in the elections, have continued to insist that security remains the best priority for them in their engagement and partnership with Nigeria, adding that that would likely be of “increased importance’’ ahead of the 2023 elections.    

Apart from the challenges of insecurity, there is also the concern of the character and the antecedents of the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) recently nominated and sent to the National Assembly for confirmation by President Buhari.

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) – working to strengthen Nigeria’s electoral process, had called on Buhari to withdraw their nominations. The all-encompassing argument of the coalition is that the Buhari’s nominees failed the “constitutional test of non-partisanship and integrity’’; and advised the Senate to reject the nominees because they “fall short of the threshold of non-partisanship and impeccable character.”

The CSOs included: Yiaga Africa, The Kukah Centre, International Press Centre (IPC), Centre for Media and Society, The Albino Foundation, Elect Her, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Partners for Electoral Reform and Inclusive Friends Association.

The Senate had announced Buhari’s appointment of 19 RECs following the expiration of the tenure of the outgone RECs in 19 states. Of the 19 nominated RECs, 14 were new appointments, while five were reappointed.

The new nominees included: Pauline Onyeka Ugochi (Imo); Muhammad Lawal Bashir (Sokoto); Prof. Ayobami Salami (Oyo); Zango Abdu (Katsina); Queen Elizabeth Agwu (Ebonyi); Agundu Tersoo (Benue), Yomere Oritsemlebi (Delta); Prof. Yahaya Ibrahim, (Kaduna); Dr. Nura Ali (Kano); Agu Uchenna Sylvia (Enugu); Ahmed Garki (FCT); Hudu Yunusa (Bauchi); Prof Uzochukwu Chijioke, (Anambra); and Mohammed Nura (Yobe).

The reappointed nominees included: Ibrahim Abdullahi (Adamawa); Obo Effanga (Cross River); Umar Ibrahim (Taraba); Agboke Olaleke (Ogun); and Prof. Samuel Egwu (Kogi).

Speaking on behalf of the group, a Board Member of Yiaga Africa, Ezenwa Nwagwu disclosed that investigation and analysis by the civil societies revealed that some of the nominees put forward by Buhari failed the constitutional test of non-partisanship and unquestionable integrity.

According to him, evidence abound that some of the nominees are partisan, politically-aligned or previously indicted for corruption.

Citing Section 156(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which prohibited the appointment of any person who is a member of a political party as a member of INEC, the spokesperson for the coaltion, Nwagu, argued, “We contend that the appointment of these individuals as RECs will significantly undermine the neutrality and impartiality of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and it will increase mistrust in INEC and Nigeria’s electoral process.’’

He explained further that by the combined effect of Section 156 (1)(a) and Third Schedule, Part 1, Item F, paragraph 14 (1), these individuals are constitutionally prohibited from any appointment as members of INEC.

For the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mustapha Isah, vote-buying has become a threat to Nigeria democracy. “The Guild sees it as one of the manifestations of the weaponisation of poverty in the land.

“Poverty could make some Nigerians to offer their votes for sale for a paltry sum, not minding the devastating consequences on good governance. Why do politicians buy votes now? The answer is simple. Votes are beginning to count due to the reforms introduced by INEC’’, the NGE President had stated

While Isah expressed concern over the desperation of some Nigerian politicians, who may go to any length to manipulate the elections, he called on the INEC to take serious steps to safeguard the electoral systems.

For now, the race is on, and all eyes are on INEC, security agencies, politicians and the electorate.

Chief Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana, is a businessman and entrepreneur. He heads the Cubana Group, a diversified business organisation that has interest in entertainment, real estate, telecommunication among others. In this interview with Iyobosa Uwugiaren, he talks about how he is building a conglomerate that is fast becoming a household name in Nigeria

It appears there are so many things members of the public do not know about you. Apart from the fact that you are into show business, club’s ownership, and entertainment. What are the other things that you are doing that many of your fans do not know about?

I will say that I am a very restless human being. I work round the clock because at this moment, my success doesn’t depend on just me; it is not just about me. I have a lot of dependants, a lot of people I mentor, a lot of people I carry along and a lot of people I am directly and indirectly responsible for their daily survival. So, I have to work, and I have to make new inroads; break new barriers and be very adventurous in terms of new business ideas. So this year, if you have noticed, I have been more out there, doing certain things you did not know about me, because you only know about club business; my real estate, which became very pronounced this year and then Odogwu Bitters, because everybody saw me running up and down. Recently, I have been doing what I call the Cubana FMCG, which is Fast Moving Consumer Goods, where we gather a lot of products. We’re putting them under one umbrella and the products will be coming out very soon. I will be launching in October. I’m into construction, we are partnering with Axion, a Canadian company. It’s a building solution for block moulding, plastering, concrete mixing. So, we are into real estate full time, consumer goods, entertainment, hotel business and telecommunication. Recently we made a loud statement in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT), when we relaunched a global power bank and mobile phone accessories company, New Age Mobile Concept Limited. Cubana is a co-partner to the business, which I pride as among the leading mobile accessories merchandised companies in Africa, offering high quality mobile products. And a lot of opportunities are coming up day by day, and then we look at the ones that do not conflict with what we are already doing that will make us employ more people, closer to grassroots and make life better for Nigerians and humanity.

Members of the public believe that what brought you into the public space is the entertainment industry.  But there are other people who are involved in this business. Tell us what makes you unique.

First, if you are close to me or you know me from a distance, you know that I’m a people’s person. I like the well-being of human beings; I like to keep relationships. So, over the time, I have kept relationships with a lot of people I came in contact with. It doesn’t take you anything to be nice to people. Then somehow, they feel indebted to me and my business. I have been running this business for like 13 years – in October; and if you have noticed, I am doing a facelift on the Cubana Abuja because we are making it very big. For Ibiza, which is the mother of Cubana, it’s 16 this year, it was opened in October 2006. So, it’s not easy to run business successfully for just five years in Nigeria. I believe that because I am a people’s person, some of these things look easy. But they are not because we also do not rest on the job. We are making over the whole Cubana business, starting with Abuja; we are changing the face and you can see the Cubana Suites in Abuja that I am marketing. It has been there. This is the seventh year, but we have remodelled it and it’s looking like a new baby.

How profitable is showbiz in Nigeria?

It’s extremely profitable; it comes with its own headaches. But you must know how to run it, how to keep your eyes on the ball, and not to be carried away by the distraction. Again, in a business, you will lose a lot normally. But you will have to look at the business aspect of the thing; then you know the glam and the glitz aspect of it. When you are able to marry both, it’s quite an interesting and profitable business.

Some people believe that your clubs are some of the most expensive in the country. Why are they so; and what make them different from others?

I will use the word ‘exclusive’ because if you enter an airplane, the same plane you are flying N100,000 to London, some other person is flying for N500,000, some other person is flying at some point, N1.5 million and some other person is flying over N5 million. There’s first class, there’s business class, there’s premium economy and there’s economy. There’s Cubana; there’s the Bush Bar, the prices inside and outside are not the same because we try to look at the economy, the people’s wellbeing.  So, for beer for example, instead of drinking it for N5000 inside the club, at the bar, it’s the same beer, same premises, you can drink it for as low as N500. So, it’s now left for you to know where your pockets fit in. You choose, no imposition.

Give us more insight into the Cubana Group of Companies. I know you started in a garden many years ago in Abuja, and later Ibiza in Area 11, Abuja.

The Cubana Group started from a very humble beginning from a garden, then to Ibiza, with the primary objective of catering for people selling basic food, basic drinks and offering entertainment. You know life in Nigeria, sometimes entertainment plays a very important role in reducing the stress level. You will need to go there and ease your stress and then give us money to take part of the stress from you before you go back home. We started from the garden to the Ibiza and then the concept of Cubana came sometime in 1998. And I said having done this at the grassroots level, we needed to move to Wuse 2, which is a prime location in Abuja, even up till now and cater for the higher class. That was the first club ever we will build because Ibiza was a lounge. Ibiza was a lounge for dancing openly, and it was like a hit from day one. So, we designed it in such a way that it had VVIP upstairs and so many other features. And that’s how we metamorphosed from garden to Cubana. At a point, we had the challenge of insurgents in Abuja and became very low; then we decided to leave and moved to Port Harcourt and it became very lucrative at that point. So, we became an instant success in Port Harcourt and from there we went to Owerri, Imo State and it was amazing. Later the insurgency in Abuja increased because they were bombings, and if you noticed in Cubana, there was this barrier that you thought it was a water fountain, but it was iron cast because then they used to ram into buildings. So, after that UN building incident, people were not going out to public places. When the security situation improved, we came back remodelled and then it picked up; but then, having started growing in other places, we had our eyes fixed on other places and the target then was Lagos, but I didn’t want to go to Lagos unprepared because if I rushed in, I would rush out.

We got a place at Adeola Odeku and it became a hit too because it gave us global attention; Lagos is the centre of everything. We got one in Ikeja. So, we have two in Lagos, one on the Island and the other on the Mainland. Immediately we finished the one in Victoria Island, COVID-19 came and we realised that everything we had was just entertainment, and then we had up to four hotels in Abuja and we noticed that this thing grounded all my businesses. It was a natural occurrence, but with the kind of reasoning we had, there was no way we thought we will ever be stranded, because we focus our energies on areas that were doing well and balanced the business geographically. But when COVID-19 came, it became a war because all my businesses did not function for over one year. So, it took the grace of God for us to survive that period. So, I needed to diversify.

Recently, you came up with the idea of having a Golf City in Abuja. Tell us more about that plan.

The Golf City is an exclusive parcel of land in the heart of Abuja and because of my love for luxury architecture, it is designed to have a stream running inside it, hills, contours of the land and a lot of greens. It’s actually a golf course, an estate in a golf course and no estate has ever been built in a golf course as of today in Abuja. The idea is to bring nature closer to humans. So, it’s one of the most exclusive projects we have ever done and the reception has been quite encouraging. It’s almost sold out as at today. We are putting up some luxury apartments on 84 hectares, five-star hotel, helipad, playground for children, shopping malls, the golf course, worship centres, schools and different categories of buildings, from luxury to semi-detached to fully-detached to villas. So, it’s one of its kind.

When do you intend to have the city completed?

It’s in phases; and the first set of houses will be ready by mid next year. We have partners and we are in compliance with the master plan of the FCT.

Early this year, there was this Odogwu Bitters that came on board and it was everywhere. How did you come about that product?

Until after the burial of my mum, I didn’t know I was so loved. So, I was thinking that my businesses were too exclusive, but the love is much on the streets. How do I make these people have a taste of what Cubana has to offer? So, the idea of the bitters came through my friend, partnering with a business associate. This is my gift to my people; so that as low as N500, you can have a Cubana product for people that take alcohol. But we are also going into other ranges of Odogwu that are non-alcoholic. Some of them are health drinks. If you noticed, I personally took it to the streets in Aba, Mushin, Island, etc. The Ooni was very receptive. I saw a rich cultural display of the Yoruba people. The love was massive. Today, it’s like a national treasure widely accepted everywhere and it’s humbling.

How do you manage all these businesses? What’s making it grow? Is it the quality of workers, micro-management or what?

I think that every man is gifted from God. I think I am a good manager of humans and because I am a people’s person, I have come across humans who are next to God or angels. So, you place these businesses in their hands and also you ensure they see a future with you and they give you their all because I cannot do more than one business at a time. I need to drive these businesses through people. I also partner a lot of people, and if you look around, you just say, this one has a knowledge about water or bitters, take this share. So, they become part of the business. I only superintend. I don’t call them my workers; I call them my partners because they see it and everyone takes a part of the pie. You make sure their families are okay. Along the way, you might have one or two betrayals, but it won’t take the faith you have in other people.

A lot more people came to know you after the burial of your mum. That comes with its own burden. Tell us about that.

The burial made a lot of people misunderstand me. I never planned that burial to be that way, but I also saw the love people had for me. The one-year anniversary was few days ago; and a lot of things started popping up on Facebook: images, memories and everything. And I said, wow! Was this being a carnival? Because it wasn’t a political rally. I had a reflection of who I was before the burial, and who I became after the burial. It threw me to the open and a lot of people misunderstood me. Because if you noticed, throughout last year, I was in the news for some negative reasons, but then people began to understand me better. Some people felt I just sprang up from nowhere. But I know who I am, and I had to submit myself to every one – of those investigations and then today, you don’t hear anything about them anymore. In those trials and tribulations, I was focused. People started going to read about me and where I was coming from.

How do you manage the family with all these, especially your wife who might feel my husband is in a club and I don’t know what he’s up to out there?

I am one of the luckiest men alive because of the kind of wife I married. There must be peace at home before you leave, and I think when I wanted to get married, I made up my mind emotionally that I was ready and my wife was ready emotionally too. We met when I was at the garden as her husband, and she saw my beat and that has not changed. I have not given her any reason whatsoever to doubt me. I know that I am committed to her and the kids. So, it’s about my commitment to the marriage and her own commitment to the marriage. Everywhere, in the air, in the garden or anywhere, you send her a message and when she wakes up, she will see it. She will know that you are out there for them. She’s the one coordinating some of these businesses and most of these ideas emanate from her. But I’m the one in the field that people see. So, we have that mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual love that she tries to encourage me instead of doubting me. And I won’t also take undue advantage of her understanding. For me, it is a well-blended union.

You hinted earlier about how far you have come. Can you tell us where exactly Obi Cubana is coming from?

I knew quite early that I didn’t have any other option but to succeed. I come from a very humble family – although we never lacked anything as children of teachers. My dad was a school principal and my mother was a headmistress and we had the basic things. But the most important thing about life is contentment, not about what you have. You can have everything and still not be contented. So at every point in time we were taught contentment. I did not come from a poor family because poverty is a state of mind. So, I was contented with everything because I went to some of the best schools – including University of Nigeria, Nsuka, where I obtained a Bachelor Science Degree in Political Science. So the upbringing helped in shaping who I have become. I knew I needed to leave a footprint in the world, a positive one. That’s why I look restless in doing everything I have been doing. I do business, mentor humans, impact positively on the society, grow the economy and reduce unemployment and this is who I am.

There is perception out there that you are very flamboyant and you like exhibiting wealth in the public, which may have attracted some negative reports in the past. What defines your lifestyle?

I do not know what you mean by display of wealth because I am into show business. I live in a house. If I am in my office and we take pictures, if it wasn’t for social media, nobody will know. And then you post and the background shows something, it doesn’t mean I’m flamboyant. I see people flaunt their cars, their watches, cash etc.; but I don’t do that. But maybe because of the environment I take pictures or in a private jet just to promote the things I sell. You can’t be showing champagne in a mud house? It won’t work. Even Odogwu Bitters, I took Okada; but people don’t see that one. I was never thought to be flamboyant and everything I show is for a cause – because I have been into luxury entertainment. You look at Jay-Z, DJ Khaled, P Diddy, they do some things to be able to communicate with the people; their target customers and whatever I am showing, I’m trying to show them so as to survive and some of them are not mine. So, if I see myself in Transcop Hilton Hotel, I take advantage of the environment and post the things; it is not about my personal life. Nobody has seen my closet or my toilet. They don’t know how my room looks like, they don’t know how many pairs of shoes I have, I don’t show how many clothes I have or designer watches that I have; they can see my bar because that is what I sell. You can see the food I eat because I sell food. Nothing more.

A lot of people do not know the difference between Obi Cubana and Cubana Chief Priest.

Cubana Chief Priest is a different brand entirely. He runs the shrine club, etc. We were partners, he worked for me and when the time to leave came, he left and he’s doing quite amazing in his own field. This one is Obi Cubana. He’s different from Cubana Chief Priest, but we are friends and brothers and he’s like a son to me.

Where do you intend to be, talking about the Cubana Group in the next few years?

We are going global. I am looking at mentoring and developing some guys who are tech savvy. Guys who can develop phones for Africa and by Africans. I had over 3,000 entries. In the coming months we want to go into tech. This is because tech is the future; there are lots of Africans who have a lot in their head but they have no support. So, I’m offering my platform for them and even today I said anybody who has an entry should come because tech is limitless. It could be Wi-Fi, phones, funds transfer etc and I will set up an advisory board for this because it’s not good that you die with your dream. When you give them that platform you might just create an Elon musk in Nigeria.

You said earlier that you are loved by Nigerians. What are those things you have been able to give back to them?

We do a lot of charity; like when I told you about the tech and part of the profit is going to make cheap homes or free of charge because I want to give people shelter because many of them are going through hell. We want to have these homes for free – depending on what the needs are for them. Just basic shelter and we’re trying to do our own bit to support government as human beings. Whatever we are making from tech will go 100 per cent into charity. I want to build hospitals that will be funded from the proceeds of my business so that people can have basic healthcare and maternity care free of charge. Because if it is food, I have conquered that one myself. From my generation, no one will ever go hungry and part of the job that God gave us here is for us to take care of other people the way He takes care of us. So, I’m looking at the charity angle right now. I’m not good at dashing money or doing giveaway. Money that you give without guidance will finish like the prodigal sons. But just set up something that is basic.

 You have many followers among the youths. There’s so much youth involvement in crimes. What’s your message to them?

The youth of every nation is the future of the nation. I’m a role model to a lot of people, so I try to abstain from certain things because people look up to me. They have that love for me. I know the kind of messages I get in my DM, on my WhatsApp messages, Facebook and the rest. I know what I represent, what I want people to see me as. I tell people anything that gives you happiness as far as you are not hurting anybody, do it, anything you do to make money as far as it is legal, do it. Meaning that you can live the kind of lifestyle that Obi Cubana is living legally. In terms of drugs, it is a generational killer. we have seen cases of what it does to people and what it can do to generations. There is one Pastor Rapu who goes around picking these people up and you see the transformation when they get well.  Yet people still go about selling these drugs and people keep taking them. There are musicians who don’t smoke and yet they churn out melodious songs. The youths are the nation builders and we should not destroy where we live. Whether alcohol abuse, drug abuse or crimes, stay away.

Are you interested in politics?

I am interested because I have one vote and I am going to cast my single vote, but for running for political office, no. My elder brother has the APGA ticket for Idemili North and South Federal Constituency and I will be supporting him all the way. Me, personally, no.

Public Health experts see malnutrition as one of the major public health and development concerns, globally. In Nigeria, especially in Nasarawa, Kaduna and Niger, the situation is dreadful – as revealed at a stakeholders meeting in Abuja recently. Iyobosa Uwugiaren, who was at the meeting writes

The two-day review meeting on ‘’Allocation, Release and Utilisation of Nutrition Budget’’ – with key stakeholders from the legislature and nutrition line ministries in Kaduna, Nasarawa and Niger States, held between 28 and 29 June in Abuja, was timely and strategic.

Organised by Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) under the PINNS 2.0 Project, the strategic meeting was apparently designed to evaluate 2021/2022 nutrition budget performance and make a case for adequate fund provision in the 2023 annual budget/allocation. 

And at the end of the meeting, there was a resounding resolution by stakeholders on the need to set up nutrition departments and create other steps – as means to improving nutrition budget in the three states and the nation in general. 

Public health experts said that ‘’malnutrition is one of world’s major public health and development’’ trepidations. In Nigeria, the situation is said to be dire. To be sure, UNICEF said in its recent report that five in 10 children under five years old suffer from the effects of being malnourished.

 This, experts said, may have an all-encompassing impact on the lives, future and productivity of Nigerian children, if deliberate and sustained efforts are not taken urgently to address the situation.

The nutrition endemic in Nigeria has been attributed to poverty. And one of the concerns of poverty is the lack of access to nutritious food, which influences people to poor nutrition. By extension, poverty increases the chances of malnutrition. Malnutrition, in turn, tricks communities in poverty. And poverty and malnutrition are said to be intricately related.

Indeed, the recent report by the global institution, UNICEF, that malnutrition is a direct or underlying cause of 45 percent of all deaths of under-five children, makes the conversation at Abuja stakeholders meeting well-timed.

In the report, Nigeria has the ‘’second highest burden of stunted children in the world’’, with a national prevalence rate of 32 percent of children under five.

‘’An estimated two million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), but only two out of every 10 children affected is currently reached with treatment. Seven percent of women of childbearing age also suffer from acute malnutrition’’, the global organisation said.

The report also suggested that states in northern Nigeria are the most affected by the two forms of malnutrition – stunting and wasting, adding that high rates of malnutrition pose significant public health and development challenges for the country.

According to the report, stunting, in addition to an increased risk of death, is also linked to poor cognitive development, lowered performance in education and low productivity in adulthood – all contributing to economic losses estimated to account for as much as 11 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Also, The Global Nutrition Report – the world’s leading independent assessment of the state of global nutrition, data-led and produced each year to cast a light on progress and challenges – aims to inspire governments, donors, civil society organisations, businesses and others to act to end malnutrition in all its forms, also suggested that despite some progress, diets are not getting healthier and make increasing demands on the environment, while deplorable levels of malnutrition persist.

‘’The high human, environmental and economic costs of continuing our current trajectory are so significant that we will pay a far higher price if we fail to act. While COVID-19 is exacerbating the problem, this report shows that it is just one part of a much bigger picture’’, the report has warned.

The Report may just be referring to Nigeria, when it stated further that ‘’in the Africa region, no country is on course to meet any of the diet-related NCD targets.’’

To be sure, the current nutrition situations in Nigeria, especially in three states: Niger, Nasarawa and Kaduna, lead credence to the report – as it relates to Nigeria

Nutrition Situation in Niger, Nasarawa and Kaduna States 

Niger State 

The scope of nutrition challenges in Niger State – as presented by the State Nutrition Officer, Asmau Abubakar Mohammed, is alarming: Number of children exclusively breastfeed-6.2%; incidence of low birth weight (less than 2.5KG), 6.3%; number of children that are stunted (short for their age) 28.2%; number of children that are wasted (thin for their height) 5.0%; number of children underweight 14.2%; and infant mortality rate is 67/1000 live births.

Still on the scope of nutrition problem, the official said that under five mortality rate is 132/1000 live births; ANC attendance 67% while Health Facility Delivery is37%; complementary feeding – 72% but only 11% compliance with minimal diet required by age (IYCF); early initiation of breast feeding- 12%.

Although there are efforts by the state government to make interventions through the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition approach; micronutrient supplementation – with 25% children aged 12-59 months receiving deworming tablet in the past few months; 91% children aged 6-59 received Vitamin A capsules in the last 6 months(supplementation) and 43% pregnant women receiving iron and folic acid supplement, Asmau said there are still huge challenges.

Some of these challenges, according to the State Nutrition Officer, include, taboos, myth and misconception among the people; inadequate funding of nutrition activities from relevant MDAs; gender issues militating against accelerating nutrition result; uneven scale up of interventions in the state; insecurity in some part of the state and others.

Nasarawa State

In Nasarawa State, the poverty situation in the state – children from the poorest economic quartile have been shown to be four times more likely to be malnourished than children from the richest households as indicated in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, MICS, 2011

Also, Food Security-Available data shows that total average household expenditure on food for the period between 2009 and 2010 is about 65% (NBS, 2012), while agricultural production has remained small-scale at subsistence level and largely dependent on rainfall.

The State Nutrition officer, Halima Yusuf, who was present at the meeting suggested that investment in agriculture by the state government has not significantly contributed to reduction of under nutrition at the rate needed to meet the state development goals. He argued that the economic consequence of this state of food insecurity in terms of productivity loss, is huge and requires urgent attention

She explained further that malnutrition and nutrition-related morbidity have continued to be of public health concern in Nasarawa State, adding that malnutrition manifests mainly as ‘’under-nutrition, over-nutrition and micronutrients’’ – minerals and vitamins deficiencies.

According to the officer, the trend in under-nutrition among children under five has not shown significant changes as revealed by the Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey (MICS) 2017 and Nigeria Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHS) 2018.

Kaduna State

The situation in Kaduna State is not as bad as that of Nasarawa State. Presenting the State Primary Healthcare Board Report of Nutrition Program Performance & Activities Q1 2022, the State Nutrition Officer of the Kaduna State, Ramatu Musa, who was at the stakeholders meeting, submitted that the state nutrition situation is of ‘’public health concern.’’ She stated that malnutrition accounts for more than 50% of under-five mortality, citing the NDHS 2018 survey.

‘’Maternal – Infant and Young Child Nutrition (M-IYCN) practice have remained unsatisfactory with the rate of timely breastfeeding initiation as low as 35.9%; Only 27.2% of children exclusively breastfed and only 12.7% of children age 6 to 23 months were fed appropriately.

However, it is encouraging to note that the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children under five years dropped from 56.6%,41.7% and 57.6% (NDHS 2013) to 48.1%, 4.8% and 22.1% (NDHS 2018), respectively’’, she stated.

The presentation revealed that there was significant reduction in malnutrition death from 142 children in 2020 to 58 children in 2021. While new admission reduces from 24,061 children in 2020 to 20,334 children in 2021
There is decrease in the  number of death of children with SAM from 672 in 2017 to 58 in 2021

The data also indicated that there was significant reduction in cured rate from 58.9% in Quarter 4 2021 to 37.2% in Quarter 1 2022, linking it to the stock out of RUTF in the state.

Emphasising some of the state’s achievements, the officer stated that there are 255 health facilities currently providing Nutrition services; strengthen and increase food demonstration corners and food demonstration in 225 PHCs; approval and procurement of RUTF worth ₦87,400,000.00 from the PHC MoU and procurement, training and distribution of  100 phones tablets to 100 H/Ws for effective data collection(ANRiN)worth N6,116,000

In spite of these encouraging achievements, the Nutrition Officer admitted some challenges. They include, reduction in cured rate due to the stock out of Ready to use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), and low number of men reached with nutrition messages – despite the importance of the men in decision making. While only 120 out of 255 wards providing maternal – infant and young child nutrition and only 16 out of 23 LGAs providing CMAM services.

Regions with Worst Nutrition Problem

Apart from the three states analysed at the stakeholders Meeting, the Nigeria Demography and Health Survey, indicates that malnutrition is basically concentrated in Nigeria’s northern states. The proportion of stunted children is highest in the North-West at 59% and lowest in the South-East at 16%.

Looking at the states, stunting is most prevalent in Kebbi at 66%, Jigawa at 64% and Katsina at 61% and these are all North-West states. It is least prevalent in the South-East states of Anambra at 14% and Enugu at 14.8%.

In addition, the proportion of children who are wasted – where a child is too thin for their height – is approximately twice as high in the North-East at 10% and North-West at 9%. In the other zones, the percentage is at 4%-6%. This gap in child malnutrition between northern and southern Nigeria has been constant over time.

The Consequences

Medical experts are in agreement that malnutrition, in all its arrangements, inflicts excessively high costs – direct and indirect – on any nation. It is also said to expand the already thin and poor economy, and has significant economic consequences at the individual, household and community level.

At the individual level, experts are of the view that malnutrition leads to impaired physical development with a long-term effect on cognitive development, educational performance and economic productivity in adulthood and on maternal reproductive outcomes.

Malnutrition is also said to weaken the immune system, resulting in a higher risk of severe infectious diseases, including diarrhoea and pneumonia.

At the household level, nutrition expert said the economic consequences are the health expenses and the opportunity costs incurred in caring for sick children. The risk of chronic diseases goes up so more money is spent on medication and accessing healthcare services.

Having a huge number of malnourished children could lead to lost investments in human capital associated with preventable child deaths, experts have consistently argued.

In all, malnourished children frequently suffer from loss of physical growth and may not attain their optimal height. There is a body of evidence that shows associations between height and outcomes in the labour market. Indeed, the World Bank estimates that a 1% loss in adult height due to childhood stunting is associated with a 1.4% loss in economic productivity.

The thinking by experts is that the ‘’economic viability of a country largely depends on its human capital and optimal child nutrition’’ is key to harnessing this.

Concerned by the consequences of malnutrition, the stakeholders in a communique signed by 25 of them, including state lawmakers, permanent secretaries, directors and nutrition officers, they said malnutrition is a condition that occurs when people consistently do not consume or absorb the right amounts, types of food and essential nutrients the body needs. They attributed it to inadequate funding of proven high impact and low-cost interventions designed to reduce and eventually eradicate it.

Noting that political will has a lot to do with this driver – as it is a sensitive aspect of nutrition intervention that affects the nutrition specific intervention, the participants said that all gathered evidences from both primary and secondary data indicated clearly that nutrition is underfunded in comparison with the burden in the states.

To this end, the meeting noted that there is: low level of political will and commitment in some states; low performance of implementing the multi-sectorial strategic plan of action on nutrition; inadequate data on budget performance and ineffective mechanisms to track implementation of nutrition programs.

Other factors noted include, low level of collaboration among MDAs implementing Nutrition specific and sensitive interventions; inadequate human resources for nutrition at all levels; inadequate budgetary allocation and releases for nutrition activities; low acceptance of nutrition best practices due to myths and misconception 

Consequently, participants agreed that there is need for synergy with National Orientation Agency and the media platforms across all levels for advocacy in creating awareness for nutrition budget lines and advocacy to legislators to carryout oversight functions on the level of nutrition implementation

Some of the participants at the meeting include, Dr Hajara Ni’ima Kera, Director Public Health Kaduna; Jessica Bartholomew; State Coordinator Kaduna; Hon. Aminu Ahmad – Chairman Appropriation Committee Kaduna State Legislature and Hon. Aliyu Dogara Mohammed – Chairman Appropriation Committee Nasarawa State House of Assembly.

Others are Hon Mohammed Bashir Lokogoma, Chairman appropriation committee Niger State; Nuhu Usman Bunu, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources Nasarawa State, and Emmanuel Mamman Alidzi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning Nasarawa State.

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Malnutrition is one of world’s major public health and development’’ trepidations. In Nigeria, the situation is said to be dire. To be sure, UNICEF said in its recent report that five in 10 children under five years old suffer from the effects of being malnourished

Iyobosa Uwugiaren

Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has called on Nigerians to stand up and defend the country, saying under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, Nigeria has been witnessing unprecedented calamity second only to the nation’s civil war.

Speaking on “the state of the nation” in Abuja, last night, the ADC presidential candidate stated that, the streets of Nigeria flow with the blood of the innocent people as a result of the incompetence of Buhari’s administration in the past seven years, adding that, the terrorists Nigeria pampered today would destroy the country tomorrow.

“Many a mother is weeping. Many a wife in sorrow. Many families left to mourn quietly and helplessly. In all this, no one has lost his or her job. No minister, national security adviser or president has resigned.

“The shame of a nation! Who did this to us? We reduce the dead to nomenclature such as scores killed, dozens killed, hundreds killed. Don’t we know they have names?

“They had dreams, ambitions, aspirations. They had loved ones. What needs to happen before we know Nigeria is a failed state? Who needs to die again.”

Kachichuku asked: which school needs to be attacked, who to be kidnapped before Nigerians realise that this administration has nothing more to offer?

According to him, beyond  the killings and kidnappings, Nigerians also have to contend with a failed economy, adding that millions unemployed and underemployed, Yahoo and the trade in human parts had been accepted as industries in the nation.

“The naira is 612 to the dollar today. Our farms are untended as terrorists rape, maim and kill our farmers while our government looks the other way. Five months of fuel scarcity in some cities like Abuja, diesel at an all-time high of N800 a litre and the middle class, who are the engine room of every society, just wiped out overnight.

“Our children are at home as government and ASUU fritter away their future. I can spend the next 24 hours talking about the failures of this government, but they are all too familiar to us all,” he said, even as he advised Nigerians to stand up, speak with one voice, with strong determination and reset the country for the future generations, explaining that silence in the face of tyranny was not an option.

•Says he wanted to use his second tenure for implementation  

•Blames PDP-elected lawmakers

Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

For the first time since he left office in 2015, former President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, said his administration could not implement the 2014 National Conference report, because he was confident that he would win the 2015 presidential election and use the first two years of his second tenure to implement the report.

Jonathan, however, explained that with a new government, it would have been easier to achieve the implementation of the report, saying one of the problems of the country was that Nigerians liked playing politics with things that had very much to do with national interest.

The former president, whose speech, was delivered by a former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, was a guest speaker at a public presentation of a book titled: “The National Conversation”, authored by the former spokesman for the 2014 National Conference, James Akpadem and the Communication Strategist for the conference, Sam Akpe, in Abuja.

“When I contested the 2015 elections, my expectation was that I would win a second term within which period I would have worked for the implementation of the confab report. I felt that within the next four-year mandate, my first two years would have been dedicated to implementing a reasonable part of the recommendations.

“If we take politics out of our national calculations, we would all agree that with a fresh government, it would have been easier to achieve the implementation of the report. One of the problems of this country is that we like playing politics with things that have very much to do with national interest.

“We play politics with our security. We play politics with our economy. We play politics with almost everything. That, definitely, is not the way to go, if we must make progress in realising our national aspirations and goals.”

Explaining how his efforts to implement the report were frustrated, Jonathan disclosed that he was handicapped not only because of the political environment at the build-up to the 2015 general election at the time, but was also betrayed by members of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially, PDP-elected members of National Assembly.

The Jonathan administration had in 2014 organised a national dialogue to deliberate on and recommend ways to resolve some of the challenges facing the country, many of which were rooted in history and disenchantment in some sections of the country, and arguably multiplied by the failure of his administration.

According to him, “The essence of the 2014 Confab was to encourage a healthy conversation among the populace, address the queries agitating the mind of Nigerians and mend fences, where possible. As at that time, it was obvious that the ethnic nationalities were singing discordant tunes on the state of the nation and future of the country.

“The widening fault lines posed a clear threat to the stability and existence of our dear nation. In responding to the yearnings of the people, my administration inaugurated the conference to provide the opportunity for Nigerians to discuss their issues and agree on the way forward.

“My message to the conference was very clear; that they could discuss everything, save for the sovereignty of our great country, Nigeria. I believe, like most Nigerians, that we are better off as one united country.”

Jonathan argued that the ethnic diversity and population of the country could be deployed to enhance its economic development and relevance in the global scheme of things, adding that on the contrary, disintegration into smaller fragments would diminish the status of Nigeria and its standing in the world.

Expatiating further on why he could not implement the recommendations of the report as being canvassed by some people, he said his feeling was either those people did not understand the political environment at that time, the length of time it would take to implement the report of a conference like that or probably were just playing politics with such an important matter.

He said those knowledgeable about the processes of constitutional reforms would know that to implement the confab report, a number of alterations would be made in the constitution, which would require the involvement of the National Assembly and state assemblies.

Continuing, he said, “Such elaborate review couldn’t have been possible at that time, because by the time the report was submitted in August 2014, we were already on the verge of a general election.

“It is also important to point out that at that time, the speaker of the House of representatives, Rt Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who was a member of my party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had already moved out, with some members, to the opposition party.

“When you know that your parliament is under that kind of situation, it would have been imprudent on my own part to take such a precious document, which I consider as crucial to our development yearnings, to a parliament that would not give it due consideration.”

The former President added that the report and the outcome of the conference would continue to generate interest and debates with people approaching the discourse from the viewpoints of their beliefs, sectional sentiments, political orientation, and ideological persuasion.

Also, speaking at the event, former Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta Affairs, Ita Enang, said the Buhari administration must do everything possible to see to the implementation of report of the 2014 National Conference.

According to the authors, the book was written by the two insiders at the conference for people to understand the vision of the Confab, designed to give the people a bird’s eye view of the document at a time the country was preparing for the next general election.

*ĚýArgues southwest angling for power makes no senseĚýĚý

*Declares Nnamani, Onu are disadvantaged by age ĚýĚý

*Explains zoning is difficult after people had purchased forms Ěý

*Says bandits attacked Kaduna train because they thought they were delegates coming to collect dollar in Abuja
Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

With just a few days to the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), presidential hopeful and former Minister of State for Education, ĚýChukwuemeka Nwajiuba, has described the trio of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, ĚýBola Ahmed Tinubu, and Senator Ibikunle Amosun – all contenders for the APC ticket – as unsuitable for Nigeria’s current work plan.

Nwajiuba, however, described the three contenders to the office of president as nice people. But he insisted that it made no sense for anyone from the South-west to be pitching for the presidency of the country now, after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight years in office and Osinbajo about to serve out another eight years as vice president.

The former minister spoke exclusively to ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ in a presidential series interview.
He said former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani, and former Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, were patriotic Nigerians with good intentions, but maintained they were disadvantaged by their ages, as they were above 60 years.

On the question of zoning, which some have called an albatross in the party, Nwajiuba explained that it became difficult the moment everyone was allowed to purchase nomination forms.
He suggested that the reason bandits recently attacked a Kaduna bound train might be because they thought most of the passengers were delegates heading to Abuja to share from a dollar rain by aspirants, who had monetised the nomination process.

According to the Imo State-born lawyer, who resigned his ministerial post to contest for the presidency, “You may be a smart person in the 60s, but the knowledge of economy has moved beyond your era. You might have governed Lagos State before, but those people you trained are also doing fantastic.

“That, then, did not make the knowledge resident in only you. You could have great leaders like Asiwaju Tinubu or men like Ibikunle Amosun, even the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, who by their nature are very nice persons, they might not be suitable for the work plan now.

“There are those, who mean well but being challenged by the age factor, like the former senate president, Ken Nnamani. He is a lovely person, who has the interest of Nigerians at heart, but he may not be as strong as he used to be when he was in government. So, you must excuse him.

“The same thing applies to Ogbonnaya Onu, who also has the challenge of age. They are good men. We also have younger elements, like the governor of Kogi State, who, very agile in his 40s, but he has not garnered a nationalistic experience yet. He must be given room to grow. Ěý

“There are many constraints for different aspirants. We need somebody, who has the empathy, the energy, the enthusiasm, and exact understanding of the experiences and knowledge that are required.”
Still on zoning and why some of his former colleagues in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet opted out of the presidential race, Nwajiuba said, “Yes, maybe because they did not study the time frame very well. I don’t know whether they had certain other interpretations around it. Some may not have enough funds to pay for the forms.

“About 3,816 people contributed the money, which I used to buy my own form and I’ve published their names. People contributed between N5, 000 and N500, 000 each within two weeks across the country. So, if we are going to build a consensus around the 24 aspirants, we will then talk about the location.

“Nobody had zoned the positions before people started purchasing the forms. So, you cannot zone after they had purchased the forms. It is from the people, who are now available that you will look at what each aspirant is bringing to the table and how best would they solve Nigeria’s problems.”

Nwajiuba, who defended the decision by some northerners to join the race, said, “There are three people from the north, who purchased the APC presidential forms: President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello; and Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Mohammed Badaru. They all have the right credentials to be Nigeria’s president.

“They are men of foresight. They are from the North-east, North-central, and North-west. They are possibly in the contest to make a statement that if we are talking about national justice and fairness, we should only be thinking of the South-east. This is because it is the only zone in the south that has not produced president since 1999. Ěý
“However, for them to be seeing about eight people from the South-west suddenly laying claims to the same argument they had against the north makes it look very silly. This is because you cannot be accusing the north of something you are also perpetrating.

“Olusegun Obasanjo had been president for eight years; Osinbajo has been vice president since 2015. Why should the South-west say the north should cede power to the south and that they must be the beneficiary? How does that make any sense of any type? Ěý

“Yet they are asking the young patriots in the north to cede power to them. I am sure if the South-west pulls out of the presidential race, aspirants from the north would also rest their ambitions and allow the South-east to produce Buhari’s successor in 2023.”

Addressing allegations that he had not been going round to meet with delegates, probably, because he was complacent that Buhari already had his back, Nwajiuba said, “My job is how to organise the country. We have five delegates from each ward, including the chairman and the secretary. One of the remaining three delegates must be a woman. We were already a factor in every polling unit before the election started. That is how we think in modern times.

“If you like buy two aircraft and be crisscrossing the country, once you leave your destination, other people will go and dine there. That is not how politics is done. We don’t need to do dollar bazar on the day of the presidential convention.

“We don’t want the bandits to come and attack us, like they did the last time, when they attacked the train going to Kaduna, because the bandits thought they were delegates, who had come to Abuja to collect dollars. If we insist on bringing everybody here and cause a naira rain in Abuja, how will the poor people survive?”

*Ěý AGF withdraws from Kebbi governorship race
Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), yesterday said there was never a time he resigned from office.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige has also clarified that he did not write or tender any resignation letter.

Malami said he only stepped down his ambition to contest the governorship race of Kebbi State.
Malami was one of the 10 ministers whom President Muhammadu Buhari held a valedictory session for on Friday after they had declared interest in elective positions.

Other ministers at the meeting include Ngige; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Paulen Tallen; Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio; Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva; Minister of Science and Innovations, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; and Minister of State for Solid Minerals, Mr Uche Ogah.

There were reports that Malami had equally resigned.
But speaking with ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ in Abuja yesterday, Malami’s spokesman, Dr Umar Gwandu, said his boss never resigned as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

“He never resigned as the Attorney General of the Federation; he only withdrew his ambition to contest the Kebbi State governorship race,” Gwandu said.
Asked whether the minister still retains his office or not, Gwandu said, “Of course; he is still the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. He has not resigned. He withdrew his ambition to contest the 2023 Kebbi State gubernatorial election.

“Malami has the right to choose to voluntarily shelve his gubernatorial ambition. It is a matter of personal conviction and individual rights which didn’t violate any law.
“Right thinking members of the society accord respect to individual’s right to freedom of choice in matters relating to this,” Gwandu added.

According to the statement, “the decision is not only a demonstration of altruism and patriotism but of contentment, self-control, placidity and decisiveness in problem-solving at a time shrouded with confusing and competing for stimulus. It is a commendable posture worthy admiration coming from a paragon of virtue.”
President Buhari had last Wednesday ordered all ministers with political ambitions to resign.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Ngige has also denied resigning from office as minister. He dismissed the claim by human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) that he withdrew his resignation letter after the valedictory session with President Buhari.

In a statement issued by his Media Office in Abuja, Ngige said he neither wrote nor submitted a resignation letter.
He said Falana was embarrassing the public with fake news.

The minister’s statement read in part: “Dear Femi Falana (SAN), you conjured a resignation letter, hung it on Senator Chris Ngige and went to town with it. That is very bad. How a senior lawyer descended to this trade in falsehood and phantom benumbs!

“You went ahead to extrapolate legal opinion not necessary for reproduction here. However, the problem is that when there is so much haste to find fault and condemn, fidelity to facts and details is lost and society suffers on account of this. We pray you fall no further into this demeaning situation.

“Get your facts, right Sir.Ěý First is that the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige neither authored nor submitted a resignation letter to the president or ‘any other person authorised by him. Therefore, the resignation letter you referred to does not exist.

“The Circular of ĚýMay 11, Ěý2022, from the ĚýSecretary to the Government of the Federation, gave on or before Monday, May 16, 2022, as the terminal date for submission of resignation letters, not just for ministers but for all political appointees of the federal government,” the statement said. Ěý

ĚýThe statement noted that Ngige had an audience with Buhari on May 11, 2022, and followed it up with another on ĚýMay 13, 2022, adding that “in none of these occasions was a resignation letter tendered.”

The statement said that it was a well-considered decision for Ngige to withdraw from the 2023 presidential race in deference to opinion, arising from consultations with family, constituents, supporters and well-wishers who held the interest of the nation topmost.

The statement disclosed that Ngige did not fill or return the APC’s Expression of Interest/Nomination form.
“Though his supporters had taxed themselves to procure these forms for him, he did not fill and return them to the party.

The statement urged Falana to “affect the necessary correction within forty-eight hours as a check on the wrong impression your position has created before the public.”

•Funds may put party in vantage position against opposition

Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A conservative estimate by ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ has shown that the All Progressives Congress (APC) may rake in over N30 billion from the sale of nomination and expression of interest forms, giving the ruling party enormous firepower to face the 2023 general election.

“With a huge war chest expected from sale of forms, the ruling party will have a commanding advantage in the field if the resources are properly deployed,” a political analyst, who preferred anonymity, told ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ last night.

The presidential nomination form in APC goes for N100 million; the governorship form is sold for N50 million; Senate, N20 million; House of Representatives, N10 million; and House of Assembly, N2 million.

A rundown on the expected revenue from the electoral process shows APC may generate over N2.3 billion from the sale of presidential forms; N2.8 billion from the sale of governorship forms; and roughly N6.54 billion from the sale of senatorial forms. The party could make about N10.8 billion from the sale of forms to a minimum of three House of Representatives aspirants from each of the country’s 360 federal constituencies.  And it could generate about N7.93 billion from the sale of forms to a minimum of four aspirants vying for each of the 991 House of Assembly seats across the country.

ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ arrived at these estimates looking at the number of likely contestants in the various categories of elective offices.

So far, 23 presidential aspirants have indicated interest in the presidency under the ruling party and APC is expected to generate N2.3 billion from the sale of presidential forms. As more contenders join the race or drop out of the race, the figures would either go up or come down.

With governorship elections holding in 28 states next year, ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ estimated that there would be at least two aspirants from each of the states, and at N50 million per aspirant, the party stood to rake in N2.8 billion.

For the Senate, there are 109 senatorial seats in the country, and with at least three aspirants from each senatorial district, and forms going for N20 million, the party may rake in N6.54 billion. The 360 House of Representatives seats, with an estimated three aspirants per federal constituency, and the form going for N10 million, give the party about N10.8 billion.

In addition, with an estimated four people picking nomination forms to contest in the primary election for each of the 991 House of Assembly seats, at N2 million per form, APC is likely to rake in N7.93 billion.

Those that have either indicated interest in contesting the APC presidential primaries or picked their forms include the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Governor Muhammed Abubakar of Jigawa State, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, and former Senate President Ken Nnamani.

Others are former National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiohmole; former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi; Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige; Minister of Science and Technology, Dr, Ogbonnaya Onu; Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio; Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan; Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; Gbenga Olawepo; Ihechukwu Dallas; Chima Usman; Tein Jack Rich; and Pastor Tunde Bakare.

Political analysts believe with the ruling party raking in over N30 billion, it would be going into the election from a position of strength against the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is working hard to take power from APC.

National Chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, recently justified the high cost of the party’s nominations forms, saying the party has no regrets whatsoever fixing the presidential form for N100 million. Adamu explained that APC came up with the idea to discourage spoilers and unserious contenders from the race.

He said the party did its homework before arriving at the amount, adding that the cost has to be high because of the need to raise sufficient funds to conduct primaries and successfully prosecute the coming elections.

Adamu said the party was aware that some of the aspirants were not serious contenders but mere jesters out to cause problems.

A source told ĚÇĐÄĘÓĆľ that about 50 per cent of the presidential aspirants might have paid the mandatory fees and collected the forms, while others were believed to be looking for money to beat the deadlines.

The party had in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, extended the time for the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms for the 2023 general election to May 10 due to what an insider attributed to the “long holiday.”

In a revised timetable released by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, APC said the last day for the submission of completed forms and accompanying documents would now be May 11.

The Jigawa State governor was said to have told APC stakeholders in Dutse on Tuesday, “I will join the presidential race since everyone knows I’m a highly qualified person to do the job.” He reportedly said he was pressurised to contest for the presidential office by his colleagues.

There are also indications that the Kebbi State governor, Atiku Bagudu, may declare his interest in the presidency and pick his form soon.

•Malami’s ambition threatened 

Iyobosa UwugiarenĚý

The ruling All Progressives Congress’ (APC) new electoral guidelines released yesterday gives all political appointees aspiring to participate in its primary elections at all levels within five days to resign or forget their respective ambitions.

The new guidelines stipulate that political appointee should resign his/her position at least 30 days to the conduct of the party primaries.

Section 3(i) of the APC’s guidelines for the conduct of primaries, states: “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for the purpose of the nomination of candidates. 

“Any political office holder interested in contesting for an elective office shall leave Office 30 days prior to the date of election or party primary for the office sought.”

Consequently, this leaves some of President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointees such as the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and his Labour and Employment counterpart, Senator Chris Ngige and others – who are aspiring to contest the 2023 presidential election and other elective positions in the general elections five days to tender their resignation or forget their ambitions.

According to the APC primary election’s timetable, the presidential primary is scheduled to hold between May 30 and June 1.

Governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and state assembly primary elections of the APC, according to the party’s timetable, had been scheduled to hold between May 18th and 23rd, indicating that appointees for such positions, yet to resign as of yesterday, would have lost whatever was left of their chances to contest in the primaries.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami, had been reported to be interested in governorship position in his home state of Kebbi.

With the guidelines and timeframe for resignation, Malami may no longer have a chance to contest.

CICERO/Isssues

As the new National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, settles down for his huge tasks, his capacity to steer the affairs of a party with many entrenched and conflicting interests, will be tested before and during the party primaries, Iyobosa Uwugiaren writes

Against all hash and rash predictions by some political observersĚý about the national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party elected its national officers recently after a protracted delay.

The result of the murky process that led to the convention reflected President Muhammadu  Buhari’s earlier submission that his party would disappoint the opposition parties, which have predicted that the ruling party will be enmeshed in serious crisis after its national convention.

Glorifying those behind the success of the convention, the presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, said that the product of the convention was a victory for Buhari who had ensured ‘’unity across all party positions, as well as a victory for Nigerians and the electorate’’ who can now be assured of a smooth succession to new leadership in 2023.

Shehu explained that the convention’s outcome demystified “fake news” of division in the party when the hard reality of unity, cohesion, and indeed personal warmth between members of the party’s leaders – incoming and outgoing – was evident for all to see.

“Of course, the blame for this mind-set ought rightly to go to the opposition who in all these years had done the work to only divide the country, leading to all manner of separatist agitations.

“But this is not the wish, nor is it in the character of the citizens, as was clear for everyone to see at the Eagle Square’’, the presidential spokesman said.

He argued that when opposition’s ‘’fake news of disunity’’ was undone by the facts, some in the opposition could not help themselves but take to the newspapers and the airwaves to find another way to shore up their reputations; that some of the APC’s new leadership were once in the opposition.

Shehu asked, “Do the Scriptures not teach us of the virtue of sinners who repent and change their ways? What the scriptures say less is of sinners who repent, change their tune, and then choose to re-sin in full public view by returning to their former ways.

“Given that most important leaders of the opposition PDP first left the party before they returned to it, we might expect the media to ensure criticism of them is damning and absolute. It is incredulous that anyone would consider them trustworthy or acceptable candidates for any public office.’’

Buhari, who congratulated the Adamu-led 78-member National Executive Committee of the APC that emerged at the convention in Abuja, said that the unity of members put on display, puts the party on a firmer footing for victory in next year general elections.

“The APC Convention sets the scene for an APC victory in the presidential and general elections next year. It is a victory over naysayers, who believed the party was divided but are now disappointed,” President Buhari was quoted to have said in a statement by Shehu.

However, amidst celebration and self-praising by Buhari and other leaders of the party, political analysts have continued to postulate that the ruling party’s convention – where majority of the party members were denied the rights to elect their officials, hugely negated the principles of ‘’participatory democracy’’ – in which party members are provided power to make political decisions.

The argument is that the arbitrary sole decision of the president and a few governors throughout the process – in determining who gets what at the national convention, lacked legitimacy in any democratic space.

Indeed, knowledgeable political scientists have consistently argued that the temperament of any political party is that the majority carries the vote. This allows others to make input; and gives room for internal democracy. And the sound argument is that leaving the definitive decision concerning the affairs of the ruling party in the hands of the president and a few governors, gives a precarious sign that the APC, after all, does not care about about democracy.

The choice of the APC’s national officers at the last national convention was through consensus decided solely by President Buhari and the state governors elected on the platform of the ruling party.

Indeed, many aspirants, who picked forms to contest various positions spent their hard-earned resources and visited many states during their campaigns, were eventually forced, intimidated and blackmailed to set down for the ‘’unity list’’ – containing favoured candidates. And at the end of the exercise, the preferred candidates were announced as winners of the ‘’election,’’ with pockets of protest by the aggrieved aspirants.

However, with the national convention now over, many party loyalists believe that the stage is now set for the APC primaries later in the year, when the party’s new flag bearers will emerge.

‘’Now that the national convention has been concluded and a new party executives are in place, our focus is now on the task of putting up a unified and formidable structure ahead of the 2023 election.

 â€œWe believe that this has to be the first step in ensuring that our party counters the threat posed by the PDP and continue our winning streak at the centre, which began in 2015’’, Buhari recently tasked the newly elected executives.

 But analysts and political observers have suggested that the outcome of the convention is a sign of what is to come during the presidential primaries. In other words, the prediction is that the presidential flagbearer will also be picked through consensus , a decision that will, again, be left in the hands of a few leaders of the party.  

The newly elected National Chairman of the APC, Senator Adamu, recently received his staff of office from the outgoing Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) Chairman and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja, an indication that the party may have settled down for the challenges ahead of the 2023 general election.

Buni, in his handing over speech, commended APC’s new national and zonal executives as well as Buhari, who, according to him, provided the needed leadership and atmosphere for a ‘’rancour-free convention.’’

The governor of Yobe State, who had come under harsh criticism in the weeks before the convention, explained how his efforts in the last few months helped to reposition the party. He acknowledged there were still a lot to do to consolidate on the success recorded by the party under him.

“First, to sustain the gains and coming at a time when this party will soon start its nomination process, obviously the tasks before you are enormous.

“We have done our best from the registration, to the congresses, the ward, local government, state and up to the convention.  But that cannot be without problems here and there. By and large, we have succeeded’’,  Buni stated.

He admonished that a bigger and larger political party like APC  with ‘’over 41 million memberships’’, will always agree and disagree at some points, adding that human management – the ability to manage the situation, is what will be needed to keep the party ‘’together and stronger again, and again.’’

Apparently ready to hit the ground running, Adamu hinted that his first task in office is to strategise with his team, both at national and zonal levels, on how to win the 2023 general election.

He admitted that in spite of the fruitful outcome of the convention, enormous tasks remained ahead.

According to him, ‘‘I want to say on behalf of the new NWC that it is not going to be an easy time for us. We have a major event that is going to test the water, but how stable are we as a party now that the general election is coming?

“For me, by the time we start working, our main task will be how we handle the elections as a party. How will we win the general election? People are talking, saying the APC does not have an incumbent on the ticket.

“We will have the honour and the integrity and the legacy of the current president on the ticket. We will work day and night. We have less than 12 months to face the general election. So, everybody should buckle up.”

Adamu vowed to preserve the “APC’s winning streak’’; while appealing for openness and cooperation from the NWC and other leadership structures of the party. “Don’t begrudge me. If there is any issue, let me know”, he appealed to members of the NWC.

Like many party’s members, the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said that Adamu’s emergence as the new national chairman of the APC, was a testimony to the tremendous respect that he enjoys across the polity for his integrity, experience and leadership capacity.

“The unanimous affirmation of Senator Adamu’s candidature at the convention is a testimony to the tremendous respect that he enjoys across the polity for his integrity, experience and leadership capacity.

“I share this common belief in his suitability for piloting the affairs of our great party from this very important juncture’’, Lawan stated.

However, Adamu’s capacity for his new role will be tested before and during the party primaries, and ultimately during the general election.

Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja

Senators from the North under the auspice of the Northern Senators Forum (NSF) Tuesday expressed shock and outrage over the Monday night attack on Kaduna-bound train, asking the military to re-strategise in handling the security situation in the North West.

The forum’s chairman and former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, said the attack was a direct attack on the Nigerian state and its security forces.          

Wamakko, who is also chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence, said the loss of lives of innocent and defenceless Nigerians must be halted immediately.

The senators described the attack as “heinous and unforgivable” as they charged the security agencies to come together and pursue the criminals.

“It is devastating hearing about the outrageous attack, which was brought to the fore, yet again, the nature of the problem we are dealing with.

“It is sad that the precious lives of defenceless citizens get perished in the hands of callous and merciless terrorists,” Wamakko said in the statement released in Abuja on Tuesday.

“This is yet another wake-up call not only for our security forces, but indeed all Nigerians – to wake up and be more decisive in ending this menace.

“We condole with His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, the Kaduna State Government as well as families and associates of those who lost their lives in the attack. But as a tribute to those lost in the attack we must ensure that their lives do not go in vain by bringing the perpetrators to book.”