Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • Nigerian Opposition Figure Sells $100m Intels Shares, Blames Buhari-led Govt for Woes

    Nigerian Opposition Figure Sells $100m Intels Shares, Blames Buhari-led Govt for Woes

    Former Vice President and co-founder of Integrated Logistics Services Nigeria Limited (Intels), Atiku Abubakar, has finally sold his shares in the company through a series of transactions executed by Guernsey Trust in an open-secret deals that began in December 2018 but reached its climax last year.

    With the transaction over, Atiku accused the President Muhammadu Buhari administration of displaying rare greater urgency in the last five years in destroying legitimate businesses that are employing thousands of Nigerians because of politics.

    It was gathered that the former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sold his shares in Intels to Orleal Investment Group, the parent company of Intels, for various amounts totaling over $100 million.

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    The money was paid to Atiku in three instalments – $60 million, $29 million and $24.1 million.

    With this transaction, the former vice president has divested from Intels, Nigeria’s undisputed largest logistics company which provides comprehensive integrated services for the nation’s oil and gas industry.

    Confirming the development, Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, said it’s true that his boss “has been selling his shares in Intels over the years.”

    According to him, “It assumed greater urgency in the last five years, because this government (President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration) has been preoccupied with destroying a legitimate business that was employing thousands of Nigerians because of politics.

    “There should be a marked difference between politics and business.

    “Yes, he (Atiku) has sold his shares in Intels and redirected his investment to other sectors of the economy for returns and creation of jobs.”

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    Intels spokesman, Tommaso Ruffinoni, also corroborated Ibe’s statement, saying Atiku gave the company a goodbye kiss in December 2019.

    The spokesperson added that with Atiku’s exit, two of his children working in Intels, Adamu Atiku Abubakar and Aminu Atiku Abubakar, have left Intels.

    The former vice president in 2015 described Intels as his most successful business, but the story changed in the last five years as the Buhari administration allegedly moved to stifle Atiku as the symbol of opposition in Nigeria.

    It would be recalled that Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) purportedly cancelled its 17-year-old contract for pilotage monitoring with Intels without any cogent reasons.

    The Buhari administration had in October 2017 directed NPA to terminate the boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement that the agency has with Intels, arguing that the contract was void ab initio.

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    Riding on the present administration’s disdain for Atiku, NPA accused Intels of refusing to remit to the Federal Government service boat pilotage revenue in the firm’s custody, which amounted to $207.646 million (N78.905 billion) as at September 30, 2019.

    NPA explained that the money was aside from service boat pilotage revenue for January 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020, amounting to $97.029 million, which added up to $307.675 million (N115.775 billion) in the custody of Intels.

    But, the then Atiku’s Intels denied all the allegations, saying NPA was owing it to the tune of $895.8 million cumulatively.

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • #LekkiTollGate: Withdraw Army from Streets, Use Dialogue – Ex-President Obasanjo tells Buhari

    #LekkiTollGate: Withdraw Army from Streets, Use Dialogue – Ex-President Obasanjo tells Buhari

    Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has appealed to the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government and citizens alike to eschew violence and embrace peace and dialogue to resolve issues surrounding the #EndSARS agitation.

    The appeal was given on Wednesday in video recording and a letter that is now widely circulated on the internet.

    Obasanjo, who was once a military Head of State condemned the shooting and murder of unarmed peaceful protesters and said the use of brute force has never been effective in suppressing public anger and frustration.

    In his appeal to President Buhari, Obasanjo Calls for the withdrawal of men of the Nigerian army from the streets.

    “It is clear that Mr. President and his lieutenants did not exhaust the opportunities for dialogue with the protesters before resorting to the use of force.

    “It is worse that there is denial of wrongdoing in spite of overwhelming visual evidence. Great harm has been done buy it can be stopped before it completely spirals out of control”.

    He asked Buhari to act now before it is too late.

    ”This time demands leadership and mature leadership at such”, he wrote.

    Video:

    Read his full statement:

  • Buhari Congratulates Obaseki as PDP Tells President to Sustain His ‘Newfound’ Democratic Credentials

    Buhari Congratulates Obaseki as PDP Tells President to Sustain His ‘Newfound’ Democratic Credentials

    President Muhammadu Buhari congratulated the winner of the Saturday Edo State governorship election, Godwin Obaseki, and urged him to show grace and humility in victory.

    The President commended the election process in Edo State which led to Obaseki’s victory as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    This was coming as the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) celebrated the party’s victory and congratulated the people of Edo State on the re-election of their choice leader.

    Obaseki Wins Edo Guber Poll, Defeats Ize-Iyamu

    The party implored Buhari to sustain his “newfound spirit of ensuring that the people are allowed to freely choose their leaders at all elections.”

    PDP described the victory as historic, noting that it served as a strong, viable and unambiguous lesson to leaders, saying Ondo State governorship election is the next target of the party.

    Speaking on the outcome of the election as announced by INEC, Buhari said: “My commitment to free and fair elections is firm, because without free and fair elections, the foundation of our political and moral authority will be weak.

    Atiku Celebrates Obaseki’s Re-election, Describes Victory as Independence from Godfatherism

    “I have consistently advocated for free and fair elections in the country because it is the bedrock of true democratic order.

    “Democracy will mean nothing if the votes of the people don’t count or if their mandate is fraudulently tampered with.”

    The President, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, commended the people of Edo State, the parties, candidates and security agencies for conducting themselves responsibly.

    Also, speaking on its victory at Edo State guber poll, PDP commended the courage of the people of the state for resisting what it described as antics of the enemies of democracy.

    PDP said: “Our party celebrates the resilience and courage exhibited by the people of Edo state in resisting the antics of the enemies of democracy, who, as vote buyers, patrons of lions and tigers, as well as beguilers, attempted to take over the political space of Edo state.

    Edo Guber Poll: Tinubu, Obaseki taunt each other

    “We rejoice with the Edo people for helping to reset the political culture of our nation by casting their votes, protecting the votes, ensuring that their votes counted and following it, ‘bumper-to-bumper,’ to the final point of declaration.

    “Our party commends traditional institutions, faith-based organizations, youth groups, market women, artisans, community associations, trade unions, traditional leaders and other stakeholders in Edo state for standing up for their state during her critical moments.

    “On account of the reverberation of this victory across the length and breath of our country, the PDP implores President Muhammadu Buhari to continue in this newfound spirit of ensuring that the people are allowed to freely choose their leaders at all elections.

    “Our party states this in our belief that in spite of his administration’s failure in other spheres of life as well as in previous elections, if Mr. President can continue to toe this new line of allowing for electoral uprightness, history will be beckoned to be kind to him.

    Edo: PDP Supporter Boasts Obaseki’s Achievements Will Be Rewarded At Saturday Poll

    “To the ‘political godfathers,’ this election must serve as a loud lesson that power belongs only to God, which He confers through the people; and that no matter how an individual strives to lord it over others, the will of God, through the people, will always prevail.

    “Our party also notes the efforts of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Prof. Yakubu Mahmood in ensuring that Edo election was conducted in a manner that was largely adjudged to be free, fair, transparent and credible. Nigerians hope that what we have witnessed in Edo state will not be an off-season procedure in the commission. We demand that this credible process applies to all our elections.”

    The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, applauded “the use of virtual portal by INEC to upload results directly from the polling unit, the base of our election, which made it impossible for electoral violators to hijack this electoral process.”

    “It is our hope in PDP that this new found image of INEC will gather more thresholds in future elections, particularly the October 10, 2020 Ondo governorship election.

    “We however call on INEC to strengthen its processes, particularly in the area of card readers, to forestall the type of delays witnessed in accreditation of voters.

    “Our party also notes the improvement in the activities of our security agencies compared to past elections. We hope that our security organs will continue in this stead in future elections.

    “The Edo election has indeed shown that credible elections are possible in our country if we play by the rules,” the party said.

    PDP also applauded the international community for their keen observation of the electoral processes as well as profiling of those who are bent on undermining our democracy and making free and fair elections appear impossible in Nigeria.

    “We urge the international community and all lovers of democracy not to relent in providing necessary advisory to our leaders on the conduct of our elections,” the party noted.

    PDP restated its support for the actions taken so far by the United States and the United Kingdom in restricting electoral violators from visiting their countries, urging “them not to restrain on further sanctions against such individuals for their sinister roles in our elections.”

    The party also appreciated the Chairman of its National Campaign Council and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, for providing the right leadership that led to the victory in Edo State.

    It commended the party National Chairman, Uche Secondus; Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Chairman of South-south PDP Governors’ Forum and Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa; as well as all PDP governors, National Assembly caucus, elders, leaders, critical stakeholders and teeming members of the party for their efforts in this election.

    Edo Guber Poll: Oba of Benin Tasks Obaseki, Ize-Iyamu on Peaceful Election

    PDP appreciated the candidate of APC, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, “whose participation in this election helped to deepen our democracy and enabled the people to make their choice. We invite him, in the spirit of sportsmanship, to congratulate his brother, Governor Godwin Obaseki and join him in the onerous task of leadership in the general interest of all Edo people.”

    The party thanked the media, the civil society groups and all Nigerians across board, for showing more than a passing interest in ensuring that the wish ofThe the people of Edo State for a credible and transparent election prevailed, saying: “We do not take your efforts in this regard for granted.”

    PDP assured of “a continuous partnership with all critical stakeholders in our collective desire to recreate a nation that will continue to be our pride.”

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • PDP Replies Presidency, Advises Buhari to Heed Wise Counsel

    PDP Replies Presidency, Advises Buhari to Heed Wise Counsel

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has, again, cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari to come down from his high horse and listen to advice from eminent Nigerians, who have been advising him against allowing the country to tumble from the cliff under his watch.

    PDP said the Buhari Presidency “is worsening the sorry state in which it has plunged the nation by choosing to haul insults on Nigerians including former president like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and other well-meaning leaders, who are patriotically calling on his administration to end its divisive, suppressive and insensitive style of leadership that has ruined our nation.”

    The opposition party implored Buhari to pause, think of Nigeria and her people and heed wise counsel to save our nation from an imminent collapse, which his alleged idling administration has foisted on the people.

    “From its reactions to patriotic counsel, it is clear that the Buhari Presidency has become bereft of the fundamentals of governance as well as overwhelmed by its own failures and burden of guilt for the disunity, bloodletting and anguish that have enveloped our nation in the last five years.

    “It is incontrovertible that the Buhari administration is leading Nigeria into a failed state, where citizens are not guaranteed of their safety; cannot afford the basic necessities of life and where governance has been crippled by incompetence, unbridled nepotism, promotion of injustice, executive high handedness, abuse of human right, disobedience to court orders, brazen violation of constitutional provisions, acute corruption and violent muscling of elections.

    “Under Buhari, all sectors of our national life are in shambles; the productive sectors have been crippled; the nation has been pushed into the reverse gear; bandits, insurgents and marauders are freely ravaging communities and our citizens live in constant fear and extreme poverty.

    “Indeed, never in the history of our nation has the situation been this pathetic.

    “While President Buhari recedes in the comfort and safety of the Presidential villa and reneged in his promise to lead from the front, Nigeria is being pushed to the fringes by marauders who are pillaging our citizens in various parts of our country, including Mr. President’s home state of Katsina.

    “Furthermore, it smacks of shamelessness for the Buhari administration to be talking about corruption in PDP’s subsidy regime, when it has been caught neck-deep in unprecedented oil corruption that had ruined our economy, turned our nation into the poverty capital of the world and put our citizens in a dire strait.

    “Nigerians know it as a fact that before he was elected President, General Buhari, as he was then known; a former minister of Petroleum Resources, had publicly told Nigerians that subsidy was a fraud and that it never existed. Five years down the line, trillions of naira have been discovered to have been stolen under the subsidy regime of an administration over which he presides.

    “Today, life has become traumatising for Nigerians as resources from the sale of crude oil have either been wasted or stolen by officials of the Buhari administration.

    “Furthermore, it is undebatable that the biggest achievement of constitutional amendment in modern administration of our country is the entrenchment of a credible electoral process, which enabled President Buhari to win election in 2015 from an opposition standpoint. Unfortunately, this noble achievement is being washed away in five years under the watch of President Buhari.

    “It therefore amounts to pretending to sanctimony for President Buhari to be preaching on term limit, whereas, his administration has done everything possible, broken all known democratic norms and rules to debase credibility in our elections,” PDP said, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • Buhari Constitutes UNILAG Visitation Panel, Suspends Babalakin, Ogundipe

    Buhari Constitutes UNILAG Visitation Panel, Suspends Babalakin, Ogundipe

    President Muhammadu Buhari Friday constituted a Visitation Panel to look into the crisis at University of Lagos, NTA News has reported.

    The President, who is the Visitor to the university, among other decisions mandated the panel to submit its report within two weeks.

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    Members of the panel include: Prof. Tukur Sa’ad as the Chairman; Barrister Victor Onuoha as a member, Prof. Ikenna Oyindo member, Prof. Ekanem Braide, member, Prof. Adamu Usman, member, Chief Jimoh Bankole, member; and Barrister Grace Ekanem as Secretary.

    NTA report added the Pro-Chancellor, Wale Babalakin, SAN and the Vice Chancellor, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, have been “suspended” from office as they are both to recuse themselves from performing their functions in office during the period of the visitation.

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    Buhari also directed the Senate to convene an urgent meeting and appoint an Acting Vice Chancellor for the university, a directive which practically sacked the Acting Vice Chancellor, Theophilus Soyombo, who was appointed by the Babalakin-led Governing Council.

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • Sanity, Transparency, Accountability Will Return to NDDC, Buhari Assures

    Sanity, Transparency, Accountability Will Return to NDDC, Buhari Assures

    President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday broke silence over the ongoing unfolding drama over the probe of the budgetary allocations to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    Speaking for the first time on the attacks and counter attacks between and around persons, institutions, and the commission, Buhari expressed his strong determination to get to the root of the problem undermining the development of the Niger Delta and its peoples in spite of enormous national resources voted year after year for this singular purpose.

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    The President directed that there should be better coordination among security and investigating agencies with the National Assembly to ensure that his administration’s effort to bring sanity, transparency and accountability to the management of the large amount of resources dedicated to development of the Niger Delta sub-region is not derailed.

    According to him, auditing firms and investigative agencies working in collaboration with National Assembly Committees to resolve the challenges in NDDC must initiate actions in a time-bound manner and duly inform the Presidency of the actions being taken.

    The President also directed timely sharing of information and knowledge in a way to speedily assist the administration to diagnose what had gone wrong in the past and what needs to be done to make corrections in order to return NDDC to its original mandate of making life better for people in Niger Delta.

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    Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the administration wanted to bring about “rapid, even and sustainable development to the region.”

    The President gave firm assurance that his administration would put in place a transparent and accountable governance framework, not only in NDDC but in all other institutions of government.

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • Jonathan Appointed ECOWAS Special Envoy to Mali

    Jonathan Appointed ECOWAS Special Envoy to Mali

    Former president Goodluck Jonathan has been appointed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a Special Envoy to lead the sub-regional body’s mediation mission in Mali.

    Jonathan’s appointment was communicated to him in a letter signed by the President of ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou.

    “Given your position as the former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the great role and contributions your tenure offered to the maintenance of peace, security and stability in our region, I have the honour, in consultation with the Chair of the Authority, H.E. Issoufou Mahamadou, President of the Republic of Niger, to communicate to you, the decision to appoint you as ECOWAS Special Envoy for the socio-political crisis in Mali,” the letter read.

    The former president is to engage in consultations with all relevant stakeholders involved in the ongoing dispute in Mali to ensure that a common ground is found in the search for peace.

    As a Special Envoy, Jonathan is to facilitate dialogue with all principal stakeholders in Mali, including President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, opposition leaders, civil society as well as religious organisations, towards resolving the worsening socio-political situation in the West African country.

    Speaking ahead of his scheduled departure for Bamako tomorrow, the former president promised to do his best to ensure that the mission achieves the desired result.

    He also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the support of the Nigerian Government, including providing an aircraft and other logistics needed to make the assignment successful, said a statement by Jonathan’s Media Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze.

    Jonathan had led peace missions to many crises-ridden nations in the past. He’s expected to deploy his enormous goodwill within the continent to facilitate the process of restoring peace in the troubled nation.

    Mali has been hit by protests, sparked by the outcome of parliamentary elections in March and April, perceived discontent over the government’s handling of the country’s jihadist insurgency and worsening economic situation.

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • APC Crisis: My relationship with Tinubu remains as strong as ever – Buhari

    APC Crisis: My relationship with Tinubu remains as strong as ever – Buhari

    Idowu Sowunmi

    Hours after the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, commented officially on the crisis rocking the ruling party, President Muhammadu Buhari said he’s in touch with the former Lagos State governor.

    The President, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, explained that he has a wonderful relationship with Tinubu and there’s no cause for alarm.

    The statement titled: “President Buhari and Tinubu Still Together, Analysts Need to Get Their Facts Right,” struggled to put paid to the seemingly disagreements between the two personalities.

    “The very essence of the requests put to the Emergency National Executive Committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by President Muhammadu Buhari, which were unanimously approved aim to pull back the party, faced with an existential crisis from the brink of collapse, follow the constitution and take everyone along.

    “While this action has been widely accepted with great relief by lovers of democracy and the rank and file of the membership, we are concerned that political vulturism masquerading as ‘smart analysis’ is selling the commentary that this is a Buhari-Tinubu ‘showdown.’ Nothing can be farther from the truth.

    “To put the records straight: In the formation of this great party and giving it leadership, President Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who are reckoned as the founding fathers of the APC are both inspired by democratic norms, national interest and not at all by partisan motivations. These are the qualities that have made them move past cynical distractions.

    “They are in touch with one another. Their relationship remains as strong as ever and between the two of them, only they know how they manage their enviable relationship.

    “Try as hard as they could, the opposition parties have used all their intellectuals and their supporters in the media to break this relationship and have failed. And they won’t.

    “For President Buhari who has received much of the cynical commentary, Nigerians know him as someone who will not do anything with bad intentions. Neither will he do anything out of partisan motivations or for himself.

    “This whole exercise, that should lead to massive reform and overhaul of the leadership of the party, as he said in that brilliant speech, was ‘to save the APC from the imminent self-destruction. We have to move ahead. We have to take everyone with us and ensure that the party is run in accordance with democratic norms and with consensus. We have to work for the benefit of the country.’

    “The leaders of the party, who have received two successive massive mandates to govern the country and a majority of the states should be judged by how this exercise turns out in achieving these objectives, not cursed at the mere commencement of the process,” the statement said.