2019: Enugu APC endorses Buhari for second term

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State at the weekend endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office. This was announced by the state chairman of the party, Dr. Ben Nwoye, at a press briefing. He advised other presidential aspirants on the platform of the party not to be deceived adding that President Buhari has shown total commitment towards the development of the country.Read More

$2.1b Arms Scandal: Fleeing Ex-Governor Loses Choice Hotel In Singapore To Mistress

A run-away former governor has lost a choice hotel in Singapore to the latter day wife he used to launder his loot.

The ex-governor is currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly benefitting from the $2.1billion arms scandal.Read more

Also hanging on his neck is an allegation that he mismanaged N19.8billion public funds while in office.Read more

Lagos Completes Removal Of Dilapidated Fadeyi Pedestrian Bridge

The Executive Governor of Lagos State Akinwunmi Ambode Read more has completed the removal of the dilapidated and disused steel pedestrian bridge at Fadeyi Bus Stop along Ikorodu Road.

The removal of the bridge was completed 24 hours ahead of schedule, thus the State Government has lifted the partial restriction of movement in the Fadeyi end of the road.

Federal Government begins emergency rehabilitation of roads and bridges in Lagos

The Federal Government has begun emergency and remedial repair of some major roads and bridges in Lagos State, the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Mr Godwin Eke, said on Sunday.

Eke told journalists in Lagos that some of the bad roads required urgent attention and that the Federal Government was determined to make all federal roads across the country motorable.Read More

Lagos Lawmakers Move On, Remove Name Of Dead Member Hon. Alimi

In line with its rules, the Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday removed the identification tag of the late member, Mr Kazeem Alimi, from his seat in the chambers of the House.

The House resume from its nine-week break during which the lawmaker died.

Alimi died on July 18 at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) during a brief illness and was buried on July 19, two weeks after his 50th birthday.Read More

Controversy trails Uber drivers’ operations at Abuja airport

The operations of Uber drivers have come under attack at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, following resistance from the resident car hire service providers.

Uber drivers have been harassed continuously by the task force of resident car hire services at the NAIA for operating “illegally”.

PDP Chairmanship Bode George Will Not Step Down

 A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, said former National Vice-Chairman of the party (South), Chief Olabode George, remained the best candidate for the party’s national chairman.

Civic groups, experts react to 10 years tax incentive granted Dangote by Nigerian govt

Nigerians have reacted to the review of the five-year tax incentive enjoyed by Dangote group to ten years by the Nigerian government for the rehabilitation of some roads in the country.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, had announced the government’s decision while speaking at the Business day Road Construction Summit, held in Victoria Island, Lagos, last week.

Mr. Fashola revealed that the government had reviewed the five-year limit on tax order enjoyed by the group to a 10-year period to sustain private investment in road infrastructure, because it is a long-term asset.Read More

The 36 State Houses of Assembly Endorse Local Government Autonomy

The 36 State Houses of Assembly have unanimously endorsed local government autonomy for grassroots development in the country.

This was part of the resolutions adopted yesterday at the conference of Speakers of state legislatures of Nigeria in Yola, with all the 36 states Speakers in attendance.

The chairman of the conference, Hon. Ismail Abdulmumini Kamba, who is also Speaker of Kebbi State House Assembly, said public hearing on the autonomy will be conducted across the country for more inputs from Nigerians.

Kamba explained that far reaching decisions and inputs aimed at positioning the country is expected at the end of the public hearing.

He urged the National Assembly to hasten the transmission of the approved Bill on devolution of power to state assemblies for consideration, validation and adoption

He reiterated the commitment of states assemblies in pushing forward the idea of devolution of power for sustainable growth and development.

“The State Houses of Assembly are ready to push forward the idea of devolution of power in the country. We urged the National Assembly to hasten the transmission of the approved Bill to respective state assemblies for inputs and subsequent approval”, Kamba explained.Read More

Nigeria Won’t Make Progress without Restructuring: Tinubu

Lending weight to growing calls for restructuring of the Nigerian federation, national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said saturday in Lagos that the country’s development would remain an unrealistic hope under the current quasi-federal structure. Tinubu stated this last night in his keynote address at the 2017 Founders’ Day Dinner of King’s College Old Boys’ Association. He said the present system was overcentralising power at the expense of the federating units.

Tinubu said, “Many of the 68 items on the Exclusive Legislative List should be transferred to the Residual Legislative List,” explaining, “This would be in harmony with the 1963 Constitution, again an instance of reaching back to revive something old yet more likely to give us a better Nigeria. That prior constitution granted vast powers to the regions, enabling them to carry out their immense responsibilities as they saw fit.”The former governor of Lagos State called for a return to the ideals of the 1963 Constitution, which he said guaranteed fiscal federalism, regional autonomy, regional constitutions, and progressive competition among the federating units.

He faulted the approach of the federal government to the Paris Club refunds, saying it “has no right to withhold funds that constitutionally belong to the states.”

Represented at the dinner, where he was Principal Guest of Honour, by chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hydro-Carbon Pollution Restoration Project and former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Olawale Edun, Tinubu spoke on the topic, “A New Nigeria or A Better One: the Fitting Tools of a Great Repair.” He said the vestiges of the country’s military past were still been allowed to haunt its democratic future.

APC, which had promised restructuring and true federalism as cardinal principles in its manifesto while contesting the 2015 general election, has been widely criticised for jettisoning that promise since winning power. But owing to pressure from the public, the party recently set up a committee on restructuring headed by Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai to make recommendations on the hot issue. The committee has, reportedly, submitted its report to the APC authorities, but it has not been made public.

Tinubu, whose defunct Action Congress of Nigeria was a key proponent of restructuring and fiscal federalism before entering the merger that gave birth to APC, re-echoed his stance on the structure of the federation at the KCOBA dinner, lending a strategic voice to a growing demand.

Lamenting that Nigeria functioned as a unitary state, despite being constitutionally defined as a federal republic, Tinubu said, “We cannot become a better Nigeria with an undue concentration of power at the federal level. Competition for federal office will be too intense, akin to a winner-take-all duel. Those who lose will bristle at the lack of power in the periphery they occupy.

“They will scheme to pester and undermine the strong executive because that is where they want to be. The executive will become so engaged in deflecting their antics that it will not devote its great powers to the issues of progressive governance for which such powers were bestowed.”

He said if Nigeria continued in the current pseudo-federal path, it “will be in a constant state of disequilibrium and irritation. Such a situation augurs toward the maintenance of an unsatisfactory status quo in the political economy. It augurs against reform.” He stressed that the country must restructure “to attain the correct balance between our collective purpose, on one hand, and our separate grassroots realities, on the other.”

Under the 1963 constitutional order, he explained, regional autonomy was a major feature by virtue of the fact that the regional governments were closer to the people and had a better understanding of the material and intangible priorities of their populations.

The APC leader stated, “We must return to this ideal. Some items which should be left for the states to handle, such as police, prisons, stamp duties, regulation of tourist traffic, registration of business names, incorporation of companies, traffic on federal truck roads passing through states, trade, commerce and census, are now on the Exclusive List for the federal government.

“Regarding the all-important electrical power, while the federal government takes the lead, there is no logical reason to limit federating units to generate, transmit and distribute electricity only to areas not covered by the national grid.

“The states should be allowed to augment power generation so long as they do not undermine federal operations. For instance, a state may wish to develop an industrial park or housing estate either of which will require a boost in power generation.

“However, if the national government does not agree, the state will be foreclosed from projects that provide jobs and better living conditions to its people. This is not in keeping with the spirit of federalism. It is consonant with an undemocratic tradition that keeps us from approaching a better Nigeria.”

The former governor advocated a review of the revenue allocation formula to give more funds to the states. He said the Paris Club refunds belonged to the various state governments, arguing that the federal government “does not have legal basis for withholding the Paris Club refunds.” Though he said, “We all support propriety of expenditure,” and acknowledged that the sentiment behind the withholding “is understandable, if not laudable,” he insisted that the federal government “has no right to withhold funds that constitutionally belong to the states.

“The fear of possible misuse of funds is no reason to violate the constitution. Provide the funds to the states as legally required. Committed and fine governors will use the funds wisely. And the people will be better off. As to those who squander the money, there are appropriate ways to expose and sanction them.”

Tinubu said “to withhold the funds, no matter how well intended, is to undermine federalism and the rule of law. It will have adverse long-time consequences; as such, it is too high a price to pay.”

Tinubu canvassed compassion in governance and condemned the growing tendency towards the rule of the might. “It is a dark period the world has entered, where the lesson is the powerful do as they will and the weak suffer as they must,” he said, adding that the trend “holds nothing good for Nigeria. We must adhere to the values and policies that suggest tomorrow can be made a better place than today. I refuse to believe we have become such an untoward lot that the longer we live together, the more estranged we become.

“Just as we have gathered here today, we must gather about the national table to repair our political discourse. In this way, we begin the process leading to policies that bring civic kindness, generosity of spirit, sustainable growth, equality, and peace to every Nigerian who seeks these good things.

“These are the pillars of a better Nigeria. By the grace and mercy of our common Creator, we shall build such pillars so that we and succeeding generations may come to build even greater things upon them.”Read more

Ambode to unveil Awolowo’s statue

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, will on Tuesday unveil the new statue of the late sage and nationalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The imposing bust located on Obafemi Awolowo Way by the Lagos Television (LTV) junction in Ikeja, is a befitting replacement for the old one that was removed from the Allen Avenue round-about in Ikeja.

Standing at 20 feet, the new Awo bust will be unveiled by Governor Ambode alongside notable dignitaries across the state. The unveiling ceremony is also expected to be witnessed by members of the Awolowo family and Awoists across the country, with minimal traffic disruption between 11am and 12noon on Tuesday.

Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, in a statement on Saturday, said that Tuesday’s ceremony will reinforce Ambode’s commitment to acknowledging the contributions of patriots whose deeds and ideals were instrumental to making Lagos State in particular and the South-West region in general a formidable political and intellectual force within Nigeria.

”It has always been Governor Ambode’s desire to honour patriots and nationalists like Chief Obafemi Awolowo whose impeccable record and immense contribution to regional and national development inspired new generation of brilliant and forward-looking politicians like the governor himself,” the commissioner said.

He added that erecting the bust on the same road that was named after the former Premier of Western region several years ago and beside the television station that was the first to be owned by a state government “is a unique way to keep the Awo legacy alive in Lagos State.” Designed and produced by Hamza Atta, the Awo bust symbolises and projects his true value and reminds visitors and history enthusiast about the legacy of the foremost statesman.Read More