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Jonathan: Ex-Ministers Warn Buhari
L-R: Deputy General Manager, Consumer Affairs, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Mr Imamuddeen Talba, General Manager, Finance and Management Services, Mr Mustapha Bukar, Deputy General Manager, Public Affairs, Dr Usman Abba-Arabi, and Deputy General Manager, Enforcement Unit, Mr Chijioke Obi, at a public consultation of the commission’s draft regulations on feed in tariff, smart metering and capping on estimated billing in Abuja, recently.
Ministers, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan have told President Muhammadu Buhari to stop unwarranted attacks on the former president.
They have also asked Buhari to show respect to Jonathan in his actions and utterances as a former president of Nigeria, who paved the way for his emergence.
The ministers made the call in a joint statement released in Abuja yesterday.
The former ministers maintained that it was wrong for the Buhari administration to cast aspersion on Jonathan and the ministers who worked under him, deliberately discrediting the monumental achievements and the innovative measures it adopted to tackle corruption in the country.
The former officials in a joint statement released in Abuja on Sunday and signed by former National Planning Minister, Dr Abubakar O. Suleiman pointed out that while Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress had the right to chart their path, they considered the vilification of the Jonathan’s administration as ill-intentioned, unduly partisan, and in bad faith.
They said it was also wrong for the new administration to portray each and every member of the Jonathan administration as corrupt and irresponsible.
The former ministers who boasted that they served Nigeria diligently and to the best of their ability, pointed out that the results of their sweat was what Nigerians were enjoying under the Buhari administration and should be so applauded rather than being vilified.
They insisted that contrary to the claim by the APC, Jonathan did not encourage corruption but rather devised means and measures to stamp out corruption within the context of the rule of law.
While calling on Buhari to carry out the probe of whoever he wants to probe, the ministers advised that such inquiry must however follow due process and respect for human rights.
The statement said: “We, the ministers who served under the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, have watched with increasing alarm and concern the concerted effort by the Buhari administration and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to condemn, ridicule and undermine the efforts of that administration, in addition to impugning the integrity of its individual members.
But in a swift reaction, the presidency yesterday responded to the ex-ministers’ allegations, saying that President Buhari has highest regards for former presidents.
In a statement, Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said the president also has the highest regard and respect or former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), on Sunday, took a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari, for his decision to restrict the period covered by the ongoing corruption probe to 2007.
In a statement by its President, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, the IYC, said President Buhari’s decision seemed to create the impression that he is shielding his friends and associates from the investigation.
It added that the decision would only portray the President as someone who lacked courage to revisit the big corruption scandals that took place between 1999 and 2007, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo ruled the country.
Eradiri challenged the President to either extend the probe to 1960, when the country became an independent nation, or at best, 1999, when the country returned to democracy after years of military rule, to revisit some of the corruption scandals in the country.
He stressed that a genuine probe should indeed concentrate on the Obasanjo administration, which failed to procure arms and ammunition for the military in spite of huge budgetary allocations to the defence sector.
The IYC leader said the President’s probe would have made more sense if it had included the eight years of the Obasanjo administration rather than announcing the probe of the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
He noted that the Boko Haram insurgency would have been nipped in the bud if the government in power then, had equipped the military to carry out their statutory responsibility of securing the country.
He cautioned that the plan to avoid probing the Obasanjo administration would send out the wrong signal that the probe was designed to protect some of the people, who committed grave economic crimes against the country, which should be of concern to him.
Eradiri added, “We find it pertinent to react to recent media reports that our dear President, Muhammadu Buhari, has ordered a probe of weapon procurement for the military from 2007 to date.
“While we are not against any effort of the President to investigate previous administrations and indeed take steps against the scourge of corruption in the society, we hereby state without equivocation that the period covered by this probe is suspect.
“It would have made a lot of sense for somebody, who is genuinely interested in revisiting alleged cases of malfeasance, which had held our nation back, to either commence such an investigation from 1960 when the country became independent or from 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy after years of military dictatorship.
“We hold that this is unfair and that the tenure of Chief Obasanjo is being exempted because of the role he played in Buhari emergence as President.
“In fact, if there is somebody that should be probed, it should be Chief Obasanjo, who lacked foresight and failed in the critical job to adequately arm our military, in spite of the huge funds appropriated for defence under him. If he had done so, the menace of Boko Haram would have long been dealt with in the early stages. It took the administration of Goodluck Jonathan to buy the weapons we need.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
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RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.