News
2018 Budget: Senate Moves To Expose Buhari …President Lacks Capacity To Implement Budget -PDP …Says APC Bent On Stifling Opposition

The Senate has disclosed that it has delegated its Chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje to hold a media briefing to clarify concerns raised by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2018 Budget.
The red chamber of the National Assembly assured that Goje would make revelations about contentious areas.
Chairman, Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, in a statement, yesterday, confirmed that the Senate was in agreement with the statement issued by the House of Representatives, in response to the issues raised by Buhari on the budget.
He said, “The leadership of both chambers have directed the chairmen of our committees on appropriations to provide item by item, detailed explanations on all points raised by the President for the benefit of members of the public.
“It should, however, be noted that the action of the National Assembly while working on the budget was informed by the provision of the Constitution on the need for inclusion, balance and the fact that the first responsibility of government is the security and welfare of all citizens,” he said.
Buhari had in his speech said, “the logic behind the Constitutional direction that budgets should be proposed by the Executive is that, it is the Executive that knows and defines its policies and projects.
“Unfortunately, that has not been given much regard in what has been sent to me. The National Assembly made cuts amounting to N347billion in the allocations to 4,700 projects submitted to them for consideration and introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting to N578 billion.
“Many of the projects cut are critical and may be difficult, if not impossible, to implement with the reduced allocation.
“Some of the new projects inserted by the National Assembly have not been properly conceptualized, designed and costed, and will, therefore, be difficult to execute.
“Such examples of projects from which cuts were made are as follows: The provisions for some nationally/regionally strategic infrastructure projects such as counterpart funding for the Mambilla Power Plant, Second Niger Bridge/ancillary roads, the East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Itakpe-Ajaokuta Rail Project were cut by an aggregate of N11.5billion.”
“Similarly, provisions for some ongoing critical infrastructure projects in the FCT, Abuja especially major arterial roads and the mass transit rail project, were cut by a total of N7.5billion.
“The provision for Rehabilitation and Additional Security Measures for the United Nations Building by the FCT, Abuja was cut by N3.9billion from N4billion to N100million.
“The above will make it impossible for the Federal Government of Nigeria to fulfill its commitment to the United Nations on this project.
“The provisions for various Strategic Interventions in the health sector such as the upgrade of some tertiary health institutions, transport and storage of vaccines through the cold chain supply system, provision of anti-retroviral drugs for persons on treatment, establishment of chemotherapy centres and procurement of dialysis consumables were cut by an aggregate amount of N7.45billion.
“The provision for security infrastructure in the 104 unity schools across the country were cut by N3billion at a time when securing our students against acts of terrorism ought to be a major concern of government.
“The provision for the Federal Government’s National Housing Programme was cut by N8.7billion.
“At a time when we are working with labour to address compensation-related issues, a total of N5billion was cut from the provisions for Pension Redemption Fund and Public Service Wage Adjustment.”
Similarly, the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari should be ashamed that he signed the 2018 budget in June, instead of blaming the National Assembly for performing its constitutional duties.
This was as he wondered that, “The previous budgets that he agreed with the National Assembly, what did he do with them? Where are the impacts of 2016 and 2017 budgets?”
The governor described those presenting the President as the only one who is right and knowledgeable about national issues, as his greatest enemies.
He said; “In the mindset of President Buhari and his men, all Nigerians are wrong except him. That is the reason he feigned ignorance to the fact that the law did not say that the legislative arm of government must pass the budget as presented by the executive.”
In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti, yesterday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said, “President Buhari has become what can be termed as blame specialist who will always blame his failure on other people.
“As a military Head of State, he blamed former President Shehu Shagari’s government. Since he assumed office, he has been blaming his predecessor. And now that he can’t get ordinary budget passed by the National Assembly for over six months, he is blaming the legislative arm. When is he going to be man enough to stop his blame game?”
The governor reminded the President of the 2016 ruling of Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja in which he declared that the National Assembly has the power to add, reduce, and review the budget, pointing out that the judge said categorically that the National Assembly can increase, or review upward, budget estimates laid before it by the executive.
“Trying to use the National Assembly as scapegoat for his failure is a disservice to the principle of separation of powers, checks and balances,” he said.
While calling on the President to govern the country and stop blaming others for his inadequacies, Fayose asked; “The budgets that the National passed in 2016 and 2017, what did he do with them? What impact did the budgets make on the lives of Nigerians?
“Why can’t the President just go ahead and implement what the National Assembly appropriated and present supplementary budget later instead of trying to label the legislative arm as the reasons for his government’s failure?”
The governor said Nigerians were tired of President Buhari’s repetitive speeches and unfulfilled promises, adding that, “The masses want the president to create jobs and make life more abundant for them.
“As at today, everything is wrong with Nigeria under President Buhari. The country is not secured as armed bandits and killer herdsmen have taken over everywhere. Nigerians are no longer free to move even within a state not to talk of from one state to another.
“Therefore, he should stop the blame game and get serious with governance so that Nigerians can at least attach one major achievement to his tenure as President.”
However, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West, yesterday, took a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that he should stop playing to the gallery and milking the naivety of the masses on the issue.
Melaye, in his reaction to President Buhari’ s lamentation and outright displeasure on the 2018 Appropriation bill before he finally signed it into law, said that the President should halt what he described as his chicanery and smear campaign of the National Assembly.
In a statement, yesterday, which he made available to Journalists, Senator Melaye who noted that the National Assembly is not a department of the Presidency, said, “I notice that President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to whip up sentiments against the National Assembly again by alleging that the 2018 budget was padded.
“What the President is authorised to do constitutionally is to present the National Assembly with a bill. A bill is a work in progress and not the finished work. The reason the Constitution directs the Bill to be submitted to the National Assembly is that it expects the National Assembly to vet it and make inputs into such a Bill before passing it as the Appropriation Act.
“The National Assembly is not just expected to rubber stamp whatever Bill the President presents. If this was the norm then there would have been no need for the Constitution to direct that the Bill be submitted to the National Assembly in the first place.
“Mr. President should therefore refrain from playing to the gallery and milking the naivety of the masses on the issue.
“In any event, he reserves the prerogative of refusing to append his signature to the Bill passed if it meets with his displeasure. He is also free to return the Bill to the N/A unsigned with a note indicating his areas of disaffection.
“Therefore Mr. President should halt his chicanery and smear campaign of the National Assembly.
“I also ask, in the last three years of this administration: What has been the percentage of implementation of capital budget?
“The powers and authority of the National Assembly cannot be eroded by the presidency. The National Assembly is not a department of the Presidency.”
Meanwhile,the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s submission that the 2018 budget would be difficult to implement “is a clear admission that he lacks the capacity and competence to run a development-oriented economy as desired by Nigerians.”
The party, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja, said the President’s action was an indication that “the economy is in very bad hands.”
He said, “President Buhari, in picking holes on items that would directly impact on economic productivity, infrastructural advancement, rural development as well as those that would provide urgent palliatives to the plight of Nigerians, shows his aversion to developmental economy as well as insensitivity to the welfare of our citizens.
“In fact, President Buhari, in his comments on the budget has further de-marketed our economy before international investors, thereby worsening our woes as a nation.
“How on earth can a President, if indeed he loves the people, quarrel over budgetary items seeking to cushion the biting effect of the economic recession, particularly for the poor, who are the direct victims of the harsh policies of his incompetent administration?
“Furthermore, President Buhari’s resort to blaming the National Assembly for his inability to exert himself as a leader and ensure smooth implementation of the budget, further shows that he cares little about the actual needs of the people, having holed himself up in the comfort, security and pleasures of the Presidential Villa.”
Ologbodiyan urged the National Assembly to ensure strict implementation of the 2018 budget.
President Buhari had last Wednesday lamented that the 2018 Appropriation Bill which he signed into law would be difficult, if not impossible, to implement because of the alterations members of the National Assembly effected on the document he submitted to them on November 7, 2017.
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Working Committee, NWC, yesterday alleged that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has commenced “desperate clampdown” on perceived opposition leaders.
PDP said the safety of its members was no longer guaranteed.
In a statement issued by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party insisted that Nigeria has “fallen into perilous time” under Buhari’s government.
The statement recalled that the party had earlier alerted the nation and the international community that the “enemies of our democratic process and adversaries of our unity and harmonious living as a nation have commenced a desperate clampdown on opposition leaders”.
“Today, our dear nation, Nigeria, has finally fallen into a perilous time! There are fears and trepidation everywhere. The safety, personal freedom and well-being of Nigerians, particularly, opposition members are no longer guaranteed.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC), having realized that they stand no chance in the 2019 general elections, are now deploying all wicked machinations to cause confusion, heighten political tension, hounding and arresting of opposition leaders, making spurious allegations and attacking influential Nigerians, including former heads of state, all to instill fear on the polity.
“Having failed in their corruption smear campaign against the PDP and many notable Nigerians, the APC and the Presidency cabal have now devised a devious machination to rope in, frame up, implicate and ultimately incarcerate marked opposition leaders and other dissenting voices over fabricated security charges.
“Part of this design, as already exposed by the Special Adviser to President Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Arise TV, is to link such opposition leaders and dissenting voices with the widespread killings in various parts of the country, while forgetting that President Buhari had earlier blamed the attacks on invaders from Late Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, while his Director General of State Security Services (DG SSS) blamed it on herdsmen from neighbouring countries.”
Similarly,the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the umpteenth time has accused President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of deliberate moves to stifle opposition ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The party also said it has uncovered fresh plot by government to pick up opposition figures on phoney charges all in a bid to boost its chances at the polls.
Addressing a world press conference, yesterday, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan also alleged that a former Head of State was also on the radar of the Buhari Presidency for daring to criticise the leadership style of the first citizen.
“The APC, having realized that they stand no chance in the 2019 general elections, are now deploying all wicked machinations to cause confusion, heighten political tension, hounding and arresting of opposition leaders, making spurious allegations and attacking influential Nigerians, including former heads of state, all to instil fear in the polity.
“Having failed in their corruption smear campaign against the PDP and many notable Nigerians, the APC and the Presidency cabal have now devised a devious machination to rope in, frame up, implicate and ultimately incarcerate marked opposition leaders and other dissenting voices over fabricated security charges,” said the publicity scribe.
The party also noted that “part of the design, as already exposed by the Special Adviser to President Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Arise TV, is to link such opposition leaders and dissenting voices with the widespread killings in various parts of the country, while forgetting that President Buhari had earlier blamed the attacks on invaders from Late Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, while his Director General of State Security Services (DG, SSS) blamed it on herdsmen from neighbouring countries.
“The wicked clampdown has started. Only yesterday, we were made aware of the arrest and detention of former Benue State governor, Hon. Gabriel Suswam, who has been kept incommunicado without access to his lawyers, while the Federal Government is not forthcoming with the details of the reasons behind the arrest and detention,” he said, adding “his arrest and detention is intended to put him out of circulation, so that he will not take part in the mega meetings of our party planned for the North-Central states.”
Ologbondiyan added that Nigerians were already aware of the alarm raised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo of alleged plots by the Buhari administration to frame, arrest and detain him indefinitely on trumped up charges, ostensibly following his criticisms and open rejection of the administration for its failures and misrule.
He added: “The world is also aware of the numerous alleged plots by the APC and its Federal Government to frame up and humiliate Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, Senators Dino Melaye and Shehu Sani, as well as Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike and his Ekiti State counterpart, Governor Ayo Fayose.
“Also, there are concerns about the safety of former Chief of Army Staff and former defence minister, Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (rtd), following the fear expressed by Governor Wike that Gen. Danjuma’s life might be in danger after his comments in March, this year, on possible complicity of the state in the killings in Taraba State,” he said, stressing that “Only Wednesday, an explosive device was discovered at the Ebonyi state PDP secretariat, either planted to blow up our secretariat and kill our members or to set up our leaders,” Ologbondiyan further stated.
He called on Nigerians to remain resolute and charged President Buhari to ensure that the 2019 general elections pass the credibility test.
News
Shettima In Ethiopia For State Visit

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
News
Tinubu Orders Civil Service Personnel Audit, Skill Gap Analysis

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.