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FG is in Support of Restructuring, Says Osinbajo

Published

6 years ago

June 22, 2018

Eric

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the present administration is not opposed to restructuring as being canvassed in many quarters.

He said the administration was in support of any form of restructuring that would benefit Nigerians.

Osinbajo stated this while addressing traditional rulers from Ekiti State at the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, on Wednesday.

His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, made the transcript of the Vice-President’s speech available to journalists on Thursday.

Osinbajo said Nigeria needed peace more than any other thing at this time.

He berated those who he said derived satisfaction in ethnic and religious politics in order to divide the country.

He said Nigeria was better off as a united country.

The Vice-President said, “I want to say that this country is strongest, this country is best when we are one, when we are united. It is a united country that can make a difference. We are fully in support of any form of restructuring that will benefit the people of our country.

“That is why, for example, the President just signed this into law, a bill which enables Houses of Assembly to be autonomous; so that their finances are autonomous. This is some form of devolution of powers.

“We are also keenly supportive of anything that gives a measure of independence for states so that the states can realise their own potential and do very well for themselves in every way. The President is keenly supportive of all of those things.

“So, for us, unity is important, peace is important.”

Osinbajo noted that there was nothing politicians would not say especially as the nation approaches elections.

He, however, said the present administration was committed to keeping the nation as one and ensuring that no life was lost during electioneering.

“As we approach the elections, people say all sorts of things even in order to win elections, in order to gain ascendancy.

“There is nothing they cannot say or do; there is no type of statement that cannot be made.

“But we believe very strongly that keeping our country together, keeping our people as one, and ensuring that no life is lost in the process of the elections is so important to us,” he added.

Osinbajo said President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to the development of all the states of the federation irrespective of the political party in charge of the states.

He said that was why Ekiti State had been benefitting from the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme despite being a Peoples Democratic Party state.

He cited the N-Power programme under which he said 3,339 young graduates from Ekiti State had been employed.

He said the beneficiaries had been assisting the state as teachers, extension workers and health workers.

Osinbajo disclosed that additional 8,600 graduates had been pre-selected and would be engaged at the end of this month, therefore bringing the number of beneficiaries in the state to 11,000.

The Vice-President added that 10,664 beneficiaries from the state had also received micro-credit from the Federal Government of Nigeria under the SIP.

Another 10,688 people, he said, were benefitting from the Conditional Cash Transfers in the state by receiving a monthly benefit of N5,000.

“These have been done, as I said, because the President’s view is that we must not play politics with the health and welfare and prosperity of our people. No politicking.

“That is why despite the fact that this is not an APC state, all of these benefits have been given to these people, the indigenes of this state because they are Nigerians,” he said.

Osinbajo expressed the belief that if the candidate of the APC, Kayode Fayemi, was elected the state governor in the July 14 governorship election, the state would be better for it.

He said the country needed devoted and serious-minded people to be in the saddle.

“I want to say that nothing comes easy; you need people who are devoted, people who are serious-minded, dedicated to the work of improvement and development. That is what our country needs today.

Meanwhile, a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba, President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, John Nwodo and Niger-Delta Activist, Anko Briggs, have taken a stand for restructuring.

The Punch

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

1 week ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”