News
PDP Senators, Reps Caucus Harmonise Impeachment Moves Against Buhari …As APC Lawmakers Back Action
In what appeared to be a step further on moves to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari over endless attacks by terrorists, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers in the upper and lower Legislative Chambers, yesterday, met behind closed doors in Abuja.
Briefing reporters at the National Assembly, after the closed-door session, the Senate PDP Minority caucus, Senator Philip Aduda, stressed that the meeting afforded them to explain the scenario that played out in the Red Chamber, last Wednesday with regards to a “walkout” by senators.
Aduda said, in a bicameral legislature, as it was in Nigeria, there was a need for both Chambers to be on the same page for impeaching a president to work, hence, the minority caucus in the Lower Chamber was called for a proper briefing.
He said the opposition senators were not alone, disclosing that a good number of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) senators agreed with them, and promised to be bipartisan on the issue.
He said: “Members of the press, we are here this afternoon to brief you on the meeting we just have with members of the House of Representatives. The meeting was necessitated by the need for us to be on the same page on issues that have to do with the state of the nation.
“I believe you are all aware of what transpired yesterday on the floor of the Senate, and we saw the need for us to be on the same page with the members of the House of Representatives.
“Am sure members of the press must have interacted with some of our colleagues on the issue that happened yesterday to know that this is not about the PDP caucus alone.
“It was all a bi-partisan issue. We all agreed that security architecture is failing and there is a need to address it. We all agreed, to some people who don’t know, the issue is we agreed that we must issue an impeachment notice to Mr President because the primary responsibility of the government is to protect the lives and property of citizens.
“The issue of impeaching President Buhari was discussed at a closed-door session and to include other parties in the move.
“We now invited the PDP caucus in the House of Representatives so that we can brief them on the happenings so that they can understand what happened, yesterday.
“We are calling on the leader of the House of Representatives so that we can hear from them as well”, Aduda in said.
Reacting, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon Ndudi Elumelu, noted that the same feeling took place on the floor of the Green Chamber, adding that he personally drew the attention of members to the unsafe capital city.
While acknowledging the protest in the Senate, Elumelu maintained that they would concur with the position of the Senate in removing President Buhari from office.
The lawmaker drew attention to comments by President Buhari’s aide who described the impeachment move as “laughable”, insisting that when legislators resumed from long vacation amid persistent insecurity, they would resort to constitutional means to impeach President Buhari from office.
He said: “Of course, the Senate has been awash with what happened yesterday. Our colleagues in the Senate have to walk out in protest of the state of the nation as regards insecurity.
“Concurrently though, we didn’t do the way senators did it, but I drew the House’s attention to what is happening in Nigeria, particularly the FCT, Abuja.
“In FCT, few days ago, Kuje prison was invaded. This week on the road to Law School in Bwari, some very, very important persons in the armed forces were butchered in their youthful age by the insurgents.
“As if that was not enough, the Minister of Education gave an order that all schools in FCT be shut. Yesterday, the FCT Minister directed that all FCT schools should be closed and I gave a warning to my colleagues on the floor of the House that Abuja is no longer safe.
“If Abuja is safe, why should the minister serving under APC-led government instruct that all students should vacate?
“Why should FCT minister himself direct that all private schools be closed? Of course, this is a signal that Abuja is not safe.
“This is why our colleagues are calling for the impeachment notice to be put forth to APC-led government’s inability to safeguard the country which our founding fathers envisaged that nobody should suffer”, he said.
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.
News
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.