Connect with us

Politics

Buhari Didn’t Get Everything Right – Adesina

Published

on

The Special Adviser on Media to former President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Femi Adesina, has said his principal actually felt that some things his administration did could have been done differently.
Adesina spoke in Osogbo, on Wednesday, at a programme tagged ‘Media Dialogue with Femi Adesina’ organised by the Association of Veteran Journalists in Osun State.
The ex-presidential spokesperson said before Buhari left office, he had a two-hour chat with him, during which he asked all manners of questions.
According to him, during the interview session, he asked his principal what his regrets were, and Buhari expressed regret that certain things should have probably been done in another way.
Although Adesina did not state Buhari’s regret, he however said “There is no living human being that will not regret certain things. It is one of the questions I asked the president.
“Before we left office, I sat with him for about two hours and I asked him every question under the sun and when we finished, he asked what I gave to Chief of Protocol that he gave so long a time with him. There was no question I didn’t ask him. There were things he (Buhari) felt could have been done better.”
Defending some of the actions taken by the administration, Adesina, who said naira redesign policy, though exposed Nigerians to hardship was no in totality a bad policy as it enabled the country to have reduction in crime, especially kidnapping and curbed manipulation in the 2023 polls.
He further said Buhari served the country diligently, but added that whatever inadequacies noticed in the manner his principal led the nation, could not be solely blamed on him.
“The policy (naira redesign) brought hardship to Nigerians. I had N20,000 which I stretched for almost two weeks. There was a day I had a full house and we wanted to cook breakfast but midway, the gas finished.
“When they came to tell me that the gas has finished, I didn’t know what to do because to fill that big cylinder, I needed N40,000 but I didn’t have it. I was special adviser to the president but I didn’t have the cash. One boy living with me had to bail me out to fill that gas which I refunded.
“So, it was everybody that bore that brunt. You will recall that even during that time, there was no kidnapping. I remember some people went to kidnap an APC chairman or is it secretary in Kano. After holding him for three days and nobody was calling to ask how much they will collect because there was no cash, they just slapped him three times and told him to go.
“Even kidnappers were out of business because there was no naira and do you know that we have a cleaner election because of that policy?
“Nine serving governors couldn’t go to the Senate. They contested but lost. Have you ever seen a governor who will contest an election and will not win? But because there was no money to spread around, they couldn’t win. The policy was not bad in its entirety. There were issues with it but it was not bad in its entirety,” Adesina concluded.

Continue Reading

Politics

Protest Rocks Kano Over Appeal Court Judgment

Published

on

Protests erupted in Kano city and its environs on Monday afternoon with the demonstrators denouncing the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal that sacked the state Governor, Abba Yusuf.
The Tide’s source reports that uneasy calm pervaded the state capital following a contradictory Certified True Copy of the Appeal Court that affirmed the prayers of both the appellant and the respondent in the contentious Kano governorship, though the judiciary had since cleared the air.
In what appeared like a coordinated action on Monday, huge crowd of protesters had stormed strategic positions in the city as it visited temporary hiccups on commercial activities.
Kano- Zaria Road, Maiduguri Road by Muhammadu Buhari’s interchange, and Kantin Kwari (Kano textile market) were taken over by hundreds of youths who called for justice for Abba Yusuf.
Some of the placard read: “Kano my city my state”, “Justice for Kano”, “ Justice for Abba”, “Abba’s mandate was stolen in 2019, we will not allow it happen in 2023″.
The protest came on the heels of discovery by the Police that “some faceless group are bent on unleashing violence in Kano”, stressing that the police were on top of the situation.
Cp Hussaini Gumel told newsmen in Kano on Monday that already 7 suspects had been arrested and would be arraigned soon.
Gumel revealed that “we have the understanding with the leadership of the contending political parties, and they have signed a peace pact. In view of that, therefore, any one found outside this arrangement will be treated as common criminal”.
However, normalcy had since returned to the ancient city following the peaceful protest that lasted several hours.

Continue Reading

Politics

NASS To Receive Tinubu’s 2024 Appropriation Bill, Today

Published

on

President Bola  Ahmed  Tinubu will today, present the 2024 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly.
Secretary, Research and Information of the National Assembly, Dr Ali Barde Umoru, confirmed this on Monday to journalists while requesting the list of those to be allowed into the chamber during the budget presentation.
This will be the first budget estimate President Tinubu will present to the National Assembly in person.
He had earlier transmitted two supplementary budgets, 2022 and 2023, to the National Assembly, which the parliament speedily approved.
President Tinubu had, weeks ago, also forwarded to both chambers of the National Assembly, the 20224-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) where the sum of N26.1 trillion was proposed as the total expenditure for the 2024 fiscal year.
The Senate, following the recommendation of its joint committee, which scrutinised the document, approved the MTEF/FSP.
It approved the N26.1trn proposed as the 2024 budget and other parameters as proposed by President Tinubu.
It approved the new borrowings of N7.8 trillion, pegged the benchmark of oil price for 2024 at $73.96, and oil production volume per day at 1.78 million barrels.
Other parameters approved are a GDP growth rate of 3.76%, an inflation rate of 21.40%, an exchange rate of N700 to $1 dollar, and a projected budget deficit of N9.04 trillion.

 

Continue Reading

Politics

Muslim Clerics Offer Prayers For Tinubu, Kwankwaso In Kano

Published

on

Over 1,000 Islamic clerics have offered special prayers for President Bola Tinubu and the NNPP national leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, for peace, progress and political stability in Nigeria.
Abdulmumin Kofa (NNPP-Kiru/Bebeji) hosted the ulamas at Kiru for the success of Governor Kabir Yusuf of Kano State at the Supreme Court, according to a statement by the lawmaker’s media aide, Sani Paki, on Monday.
During the prayer session, the clerics recited the Qur’an 1,101 times and prayed for peace, progress and political stability in the country.
Mr Kofa said his relationship with the president was no secret, noting that Mr Kwankwaso is his mentor. He said he would continue to support and promote a harmonious relationship between Messrs Tinubu and Kwankwaso.
Mr Kofa described NNPP as a promising party open to collaboration, alliance and merger with the APC and even with the People’s Democratic Party, Labour Party or any other party that showed interest, so long as it is for the good of Nigerians.
He also promised to deploy his modest political network to reach out to gladiators in Kano politics towards resolving all resolvable issues and to de-escalate the current tension in the state due to the Kano governorship seat.
Also, after the prayer session, the legislator hosted 5,000 primary school kids across his constituency, as he often does, and provided them with school kits.
According to the statement, Mr Kofa assured the pupils of the good plans of the federal and state governments, especially on free education and free school feeding programmes.

 

Continue Reading

Trending