News

Wike Issues Warning To Directors Over Delay Of Rural Development Projects

Published

11 months ago

February 21, 2024

Federal Capital Territory (FCT), minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has warned that he would not allow anyone to slow down the development of rural communities in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

The minister said any director who refuses to act on files that he has already approved, is a saboteur, warning directors in the Administration against sitting on files for weeks, saying once he has granted approvals, the bureaucracy should be able to do its due diligence within seven days and ensure the release of funds.

Wike gave the warning on Tuesday in Abuja during the flag-off of the 5-kilometre Naharati-River Ukya-Unguwan Hausawa road in Abaji Area Council of the territory.

The minister said: “I know that you had suffered quite a lot in the past and you want things to change immediately. I want to appeal to you to be patient. I will never associate myself with anything that will not work. As I tell you that things will turn around positively, be assured that they will turn around positively. The decisions taken by Mr President may not materialize immediately but just be calm. You will reap it.

“We had a meeting on Monday with the most senior director and I was telling them that woe unto that director who will keep a file, that I have approved, for weeks. Woe unto you because you are a saboteur. Once I approve, do the needful. You can take a week to do due diligence. You don’t need to take 20 days.

The contractors are humans. When the money does not get to them on time, they incur more costs and then they begin to seek variation even though they know that variation is not in my dictionary. So, I need the support of the bureaucracy so that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to the people”, he said.

Wike assured that all the rural roads being flagged off would be completed before the end of the year, noting that President Bola Tinubu has mandated him to ensure even development of the councils.

“Mr President has mandated me and the Minister of State to see that we come to the Area Councils for you to feel the impact of governance. We have talked about insecurity. If you don’t have good roads can you fight insecurity? One of the ways of fighting insecurity is to provide good roads so that security agencies can chase criminals and apprehend them. If you don’t have good roads you can’t go to the farms. This road also supports agricultural development.

“The president has told us that development should not only be concentrated in the city. One of the reasons for rural-urban migration is access to amenities and when you provide that in the rural areas, people will stay in their areas.

“Insecurity does not know any political party. Hardship does not know who belongs to which party. Therefore the council chairmen owe the people to provide good governance. They have all agreed with us to work with this administration to make sure that our people will not lose out and I want to commend them for that.

“All these projects we are starting will be completed this year. None will get to next year. We must make people have confidence in the government by fulfilling our promises. Be assured that these roads in the six Area Councils will be completed before the year ends.

All these we are doing have to do with the 2023 budget. We are going to flag off more roads in the 2024 budget. It is your right. We are not doing it we are helping you. No. Mr President came to you and sought your mandate, that he would touch your lives. He is doing that now”, he added.

Earlier, Chairman of the Council, Abdullahi Abubakar said the road will facilitate the movement of goods and services by supporting agricultural development.

While he called on the people to remain united in their determination to see the project through to completion, he expressed the support of his people for the administration.

News

Tax Reform Bills: Our Goal is to Boost Revenue and Encourage Investments — Deputy Speaker

Published

3 hours ago

January 24, 2025

Gloria Ikibah

…as he says IPOB leader, Kanu subscribing to peace

By Gloria Ikibah

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Benjamin Kalu has said that the major aim of the tax reform bills is to raise the revenue profile of the country and support locally and internationally investments.

Kalu who shared his perspective during a meeting on UK -Nigeria Strategic Dialogue with the Deputy Leader, House of Lords and United Kingdom Minister of African Affairs, Rt. Hon. Lord Collins of Highbury on Wednesday in London, said the existing tax laws are obsolete and needed to be twerked and streamlined in line with the global best practices and standards.

Naijablitznews.com recalled that the National Assembly is currently considering four tax bills aimed at reforming the fiscal climate for which the federal government is engaging the stakeholders to get their input.

The bills included the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, Nigeria Tax Bill, Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.

Kalu said that Nigeria is the right destination for investments and called on the UK business and the international community as a whole to increase their investment ratio in the country.

He said: “Our tax laws have been

obsolete. So, what we are trying to do now is to streamline them in line with global best practices.

“The aim is to drive revenue and also support some of the investors who have irregular tax laws affecting their revenue, streamlining them to know what they are paying for. Not multiple taxation on the same issues.”

The Deputy Speaker highlighted the legislative agenda of the 10th House, abd said that the Parliament has prioritized national security, law reforms, economic growth and development, social sector reforms and development, inclusion and open parliament, foreign policy, climate change and environmental sustainability for improvement.

Kalu who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review explained that certain key areas of reform has also been outlined in the Constitution review process.

According to him, these included increased women participation in politics with creation of special seats to increase the number of women in Nigeria’s National and State Houses of Assembly; local government reforms to improve the autonomy of local government councils and their ability to deliver on development; state policing to address localized security challenges in Nigeria; improved human rights to strengthen Nigeria’s compliance with international human rights standards by empowering relevant Committees of the House to exercise more oversight of the Police and our security services; supporting reforms to improve the judiciary and enable them to perform better.

Others, he said, are constitutional and electoral reforms through modernization of the electoral framework to ensue free, fair, and transparent elections, constitutional amendments to address systemic inefficiencies and promote good governance and pursuing more engagement with the civil society and stakeholders to build consensus on critical reform issues.

Deputy Speaker who expressed gratitude to the UK government and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for support to the parliament for relevant institutional development programs, training workshops and consultative sessions to better equipp the legislators also requested for expanded support on capacity building, expansion of public engagement mechanisms to strengthen transparency and accountability, security collaboration, human rights advocacy, support for electoral reforms to provide expertise and resources to enhance Nigeria’s electoral processes and ensure credible elections and parliamentary exchanges for Nigerian parliamentarians with the UK parliament.

He also said that the strategic partnership between both countries will ensure continued growth and jobs creation, enhanced national security, migration, justice and home affairs, technology, automobile manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture and food security.

“UK could do more with Nigeria knowing our history with the UK. Increase the frequency of trade missions to Nigeria like other nations because various opportunities are there beyond oil and gas; Green metals, etc”, he said.

Kalu also explained some of the policies of the President Tinubu administration especially in economic reforms including the removal of fuel subsidy, the intervention in the foreign exchange market, new regional development commissions, tax reforms, student loan, credit scheme and efforts to diversify the Nigerian economy from dependence on fossil fuels, climate change concerns, saying that the parliament is in support.

Beyond law making, the Deputy Speaker also hinted to his hosts his intervention in the security circles especially in the South East to arrest the escalating insecurity situation.

He said: “I adopted the non kinetic model in the south east Nigeria where civil war left marks that birthed conflicts and agitations which the barrels of gun over the years in form of military intervention failed to heal. Peace In South East Project- PISE-P became the new platforms for intervention”.

Responding to Lord Collins who intoned that “I think your approach is a correct one. The focus on peace, progress, is key. What you’re advocating is absolutely right”, Kalu said that the intervention was necessary to help to restore peace in the South East.

He said that the Leader of the Indigenous People’s of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has also subscribed to peace.

“In order to achieve the peace we are looking for in that south eastern region, we have to bring Nnamdi Kanu out of incarceration because a lot of criminals are leveraging his incarceration as a reason to commit various henious crimes and we cannot continue to allow that.

“While he is in court, what some of us have done has been to look for a political approach towards the resolution of the problem by appealing to Mr. President because you can’t coarse the President, you can’t force him. We want to use that approach to achieve peace in that area and the President that we have is a listening President. He is not averse to it.

“He’s opening up lines for conversations. And we are doing the conversation and he is watching and getting advice on how to go about it. I am actually one of those who approached him for his release. I am from the region and I know what that would do for my region. And I have visited him. And I asked him do you still want to continue with the agitations. That was before the President signed into the South East Development Commission (SEDC) and he, if the President signs it, it means he’s favorably disposed to rebuilding the south east that went through war and that’s the Biafra I am for. The Biafra I am looking for is good roads, hospitals, schools for our people. That’s it. The Biafra I am looking for is not to be President or take a State. It’s for that place to be rebuilt.

“Now that the President has signed it, if he comes out, he will join my peace advocacy which is Peace In South East Project (PISE-P), that he will be a Peace Ambassador, project peace and all those who are using his name to name to commit crime because there will be no excuse again”, he said.

In a similar meeting with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) led by Hon. Kate Osamor at Westminster on the sidelines.of the UK-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue, Kalu also urged UK Parliament to continue supporting the advancement of democracy in Nigeria.

Welcoming Kalu and his team of lawmakers from Nigeria to Westminster, Osamor who traced her roots to Nigeria assured that the United Kingdom remained a strategic partner to Nigeria on a number of fronts.

Osamor commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the establishment of the South East Development Commission noting that her familiarity with the post-civil war challenges of Nigeria gives her the confidence that the Commission was a great catalyst towards fostering greater integration in the South East region.

The British MP informed the Deputy Speaker of the CPA’s intension to visit Nigeria in March, 2025 for continued dialogue with various stakeholders on significant parliamentary issues.

News

Just in: Ex-FCT minister, Gen Jeremiah Useni is dead

Published

5 hours ago

January 23, 2025

Austin Ojomah

Popular former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lt. General Jeremiah Timbut Useni has died at 81.

According to family sources, he died on Thursday, January 23, 2025, in a protracted illness in Paris.

He was born on February 16, 1943. He would have celebrated his 82nd birthday on the 16th of next month.

The passage of the Useni was also contained in a statement by Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State l.

Hiis Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gyang Bere, endorsed the statement.

The governor described the demise of General Useni as a tremendous loss not only to his immediate family but also to the Nigerian Armed Forces, Plateau State, and the entire nation.

According to Mutfwang, General Useni’s exemplary leadership and steadfast commitment to service were remarkable.

He said his Useni’s death had left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s security and political landscape.

He noted that General Useni’s tireless efforts to promote peace and security, especially in Northern Nigeria and Plateau State, would forever be remembered.

Mutfwang recounted the career of the late General, whom he said served Nigeria with distinction in various capacities, including as Minister of Transport, Quarter-Master General of the Nigerian Army, and Minister of the FCT.

“After retiring from the military, General Useni transitioned into politics, where he continued his service to the nation. He served as Deputy Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and was elected Senator representing Plateau South Senatorial District in 2015 under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP),” he said.

Mutfwang hailed General Useni’s life of selfless service, noting his profound contributions to the military, politics, and his community. He emphasized that the General’s legacy of compassion, kindness, generosity, and dedication to the well-being of others will endure in the lives of those he impacted.“On behalf of my family, the government, and the peace-loving people of Plateau State, I extend my deepest sympathies to the President, the Nigerian Armed Forces, the immediate family, and all those mourning the loss of this distinguished elder statesman.

News

Ex- Lagos Speaker Obasa Returns to Abuja in Bid to Reignite Political Career

Published

11 hours ago

January 23, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The embattled ex- Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, made a quiet return to Abuja Sunday evening, fueling speculation about his desperate bid for reconciliation and a political lifeline.

Sources at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport confirmed to our correspondent that Obasa arrived under the cover of darkness, without the usual entourage of aides or security detail that once accompanied him during his tenure as the third most powerful figure in Lagos politics.

Obasa’s arrival in the nation’s capital comes on the heels of a failed attempt to meet with President Bola Tinubu in the United Arab Emirates. The ex-Speaker, who was impeached on January 13 after a majority of lawmakers voted to remove him, was reportedly hoping for an audience with the President to salvage his political future.

The former Speaker’s recent travels have taken him to multiple international destinations. On January 8, he flew to Atlanta, Georgia, with a group of loyal lawmakers and the ousted Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, alongside a woman known as “Madam Speaker.” However, sources reveal that Obasa left his supporters stranded in various locations around the globe as he sought to save his own skin, further alienating those who once stood by him.

Obasa’s impeachment, which saw more than two-thirds of the House vote for his removal, marked a significant shift in the Lagos Assembly. His successor, Rt Hon Mojisola Meranda of Apapa 1, was swiftly elected by 32 members, signaling the successful overthrow of Obasa’s political reign.

Obasa, the former strongman of Agege and Lagos politics is facing a plethora of challenges post-impeachment. He is reportedly seeking a reprieve from EFCC and ICPC investigations and hoping for a political compromise. His legal consultant has advised that his impeachment is constitutionally valid, urging him to accept the House’s decision and issue a public statement acknowledging the development.