Network for Best Practice and Integrity in Leadership (NEBPRIL), has called on the National Assembly to lead a patriotic initiative, hinged on fiscal discipline, prudent budgeting, and reinvigorate its oversight functions, to put Nigeria on the path of speedy post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

This initiative, the Civil Society Organisation (CSO), said included suspension of constituency projects for a period of one year; strengthening oversight mechanisms to ensure blockage of avenues of wastage; application of NASS legislative powers on budgeting to redirect subsidy removal savings to invest in healthcare and education e-learning infrastructure and capacity building; the two sectors the pandemic has exposed their grave inadequacies and pathetic fragility.

NEBPRIL also urged NASS to vote against the executive’s recently proposed “Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency Bill” as well as the proposed 365-day 60th Independence anniversary celebration, describing them as ludicrous in the face of current gloomy economic condition in Nigeria.

It said that the “dwindling economic condition makes it imperative for government to begin to devise creative means to manage scarce resources and make conscious efforts to block every avenue of possible wastage.”

In a letter to both the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, titled ‘The Legislature, budgeting and Oversight in post-covid Nigerian economy “, and signed by its chairman, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, a former deputy spokesperson of the House of the Representatives in the 7th Assembly, NEBPRIL said, “Records show that Nigeria was paying an average of N 11 trillion annually for petroleum products subsidy;

“Now that government has stopped subsidy payment, NEBPRIL requests that NASS applies its legislative powers on budgeting, to ensure that the huge savings from this new policy, is warehoused as special fund and invested in tackling headlong, the crisis in healthcare infrastructure and capacity building in the sector over the next three years.

“That e-learning infrastructure and e-teaching capacity development, in our educational sector, which were brought to the fore by Covid-19 pandemic, receive special budgetary attention from the subsidy removal savings, in order to align with the new development, occasioned by the pandemic.

“That National Assembly, in a gesture of goodwill, leading by example and in appreciation of the current economic exigency, should consider the suspension of constituency projects for a period of one year, starting from the 2021 budget; the allocation for the projects (intentioned to impact on constituents across the nation), should rather, be redirected for the same purpose, but in providing specific, purpose-driven, legacy critical health infrastructure, across the six geopolitical zones; that would be attributed to NASS, as its post-covid special contribution in bringing solution to the health sector.

“NEBPRIL also implores NASS leadership to take deliberate steps to reinvigorate and strengthen the legislative oversight functions and activities, going forward, to reflect the current realities, in order to ensure that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are made more accountable, and that rules of public service are upheld, in line with their mandates and rules of engagement.

“NEBPRIL urges NASS to vote against the proposed “Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency Bill”, recently approved by the Executive, as it largely amounts to unnecessary duplicity and waste of scarce resources, especially coming at a time of crushing economic condition; as a result of covid and other adverse economic indices. Nigeria cannot therefore afford to enable a policy that would inflict more strains on her scarce resources. At best, such agency should function as a department under the Ministry of Finance or Budget and National Planning.

“We also request that NASS votes against the proposed extravagant 365-day celebration of Nigeria’s 60th Independence anniversary, by the federal government. We regard such obscenity as inappropriate, poor judgement and a shocking contradiction to President Muhammadu Buhari’s earlier stance that the celebration would be low key, as a result of gloomy economy and current covid realities.

“As a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), that advocates democratic accountability and integrity in leadership, we consider the National Assembly as a partner in progress in pursuit of the overall good and interest of the people, in the true principles of democracy that prioritize the genuine welfare of the people.”

Mr Izuchukwu Onwughara, the Project Coordinator, Nigeria Environmental Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), in Abia has  advised the government, groups, communities and individuals to adopt proactive measures in tackling flooding.

Onwughara in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) stressed the need for a proactive approach in flood management as “an efficient way to prevent the devastating impact of flooding”.

He said that the warnings issued by Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMeT) were based on empirical data and called for urgent action by Nigerians.

“NiMeT has given seasonal rainfall predictions for 2020. I urge people to take the warnings and precautions seriously because neglecting them would be at our own peril.

“We should transit from reactionary approach to preparedness because being able to prepare is a better response to flooding and its adverse effects.”

Onwughara advised property owners and developers to raise the foundation of buildings in flood-prone areas, desilt drains and avoid building on waterways to prevent flooding.

He also urged people to create green areas, describing the measure as another effective strategy to prevent flooding.

According to him, green areas will provide a terminal point for storm water and prevent surface runoff.

Onwughara called on relevant agencies to collaborate in the fight against flooding by ensuring that proper and approved building designs were used for town development.

He said that NEWMAP had commenced public enlightenment campaigns on the dangers of flooding and ways of preventing it, as well as collaborating with the Abia government to tackle flooding.

“We are trying to take stormy water away from low flood plain by using a tunnel to move the water to Aba River. This is the state government’s Umuagbai-Uratta project aimed at flood mitigation.

“We have also commenced a solid waste management programme aimed at helping in solid waste disposal because solid waste clogs drains,” Onwughara said.

Also, the Executive Secretary of Abia State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr Sunday Jackson, said the agency had begun sensitisation of the people to create awareness to the looming flood disaster in the state.

Jackson told NAN that Abia was one of the 28 states on flood red alert as predicted by the Nigeria Hydrological Agency Services and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMeT).

He said that more than 60 communities that were flood-prone in the state would likely be affected by the downpour envisaged to happen between September and October across the federation.

He listed Umunneochi, Osisioma Ngwa, Obingwa, Isiala Ngwa, Umuahia North and Umuahia South, Ukwa East and Ukwa West as the Local Government Areas that were at high risk of flooding.

He said: “Based on the predictions, SEMA and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had embarked on sensitisation in the seven local government areas to prepare them against the impending disaster.”

Jackson said that communities in those areas were being sensitised to be aware and observe the safety-net that would curtail impact of the disaster when it occurs.

“We are also emphasizing seriously that residents of these highly prone areas should evacuate from such places to safer areas,” he said.

NAN

For Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, his purported suspension from the All Progressives Congress (APC)is joke taken too far.

His reaction comes as the National Working Committee (NWC) moved to douse tension in the crisis-ridden party in the State.

In a statement on Friday, same day a faction of the party suspended Fayemi, his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, said, “The All Progressives Congress as a party is governed by laws. Members of the group cannot hide under their recent suspension to announce a dubious suspension they lack the locus to handle.

“While one would have dismissed their claims as another failed attempt to polarise the party in the state, it is also important to put it on record that the action of the group smacks of criminal impersonation as none of those who signed the purported suspension letter were executive members of the party at ward, local government or state level.

“The action is but a joke taken too far as they never had such power they want to arrogate to themselves while they were members of the party, much less now that they have been suspended.

“Governor Fayemi however remains unperturbed by these antics of the suspended members.

“Well-meaning members of the public as well as members of the APC are urged to disregard the news of the purported suspension as it only exists in the imagination of members of the group.

Recall that Fayemi and the Paul Omotosho-led State Executives Council were suspended for alleged anti-party activities by a faction.

A day earlier, the Omotosho-led State Working Committee Senator Babafemi suspended Ojudu and 10 others following report of the Patrick Ajigbolamu-led eight-man disciplinary committee set up to probe allegations of anti-party activities levelled against them.

In a disclaimer, the NWC said the suspension of Governor Kayode Fayemi and others is a nullify.

It said in a statement by Yekini Nabena, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary 
said: “The attention of the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to a purported and widely-reported “suspension” of the Governor of Ekiti State, H.E. Kayode Fayemi as well as an earlier reported “indefinite suspension” of some other party members in the state.

“The actions are a nullity as the Party’s National Secretariat is yet to receive communication from the state chapter on the purported “suspensions”. We strongly advise all members to adhere to our Party constitution.

“Governor Kayode Fayemi remains the leader of the party in Ekiti State.

“In line with the mandate of the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led APC Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary National Convention Planning Committee and the President’s admonition to party members to ensure and support ongoing amicable and rancour-free settlement of internal party disputes, we call on our esteemed party members and leaders in Ekiti State to be duly guided.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Architect Paul Omotosho-chaired APC Ekiti State Working Committee is the authentic, valid and duly recognised Executive as no factions or divisions exist in the State Chapter”.

Jihadist fighters linked to the Islamic State group on Friday killed several security personnel in an ambush on the convoy of the Borno State governor, the Agence France Presse (AFP) reported Friday night quoting sources.

Sources told AFP that eight policemen, three soldiers, and four members of a government-backed militia were killed in the attack on vehicles carrying Borno state governor,  Babagana Umara Zulum near the town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad.

The insurgents opened fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades as the convoy was passing through a village close to the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force, a military coalition of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameron

“The governor escaped unhurt but 15 security men on the convoy were killed in a fierce battle with the terrorists”, one source said.

Zulum was on an assessment tour of Baga in preparation for the return of thousands of residents displaced from the town by the jihadists in 2014, the sources said.

The governor flew on a helicopter into the garrison town of Monguno, 60 kilometres (40 miles) away, and headed to Baga in a convoy under tight security, one of the sources said.

All three sources were talking on condition of anonyonimity.

The IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group maintains most of its camps on islands in Lake Chad and the region is known as a bastion for the jihadists.

The militant group has recently intensified attacks on military and civilian targets in the region.

In July Zulum’s convoy came under gun attack from ISWAP outside Baga, forcing him to cancel his trip to the town.

By AFP

From Chuks Moses, Awka

Policemen of the Umunze Division early Saturday morning, in collaboration with local vigilance group have arrested a 26 years old man, Chisom Ogum, of Umuomaku Community in Orumba South LGA of Anambra State for allegedly killing his 70 years old father.

The young man was reported to have run amok in a circumstances yet to be ascertained, attacked and killed Christopher Ogum aged 70years, with a shovel and instantly buried him in a shallow grave.

He made a dash for it, but was apprehended, beaten, and battered by an angry mob, which forced him to exhume the corpse from a shallow grave.

According to a release by the Anambra Police spokesman, Superintendent of Police Mohammed Haruna, detectives visited the crime scene, photographed the deceased victim and took it to the mortuary for autopsy after a medical doctor at Umunze general hospital certified him dead.

Recovered also was the offensive weapon used in perpetrating the crime.

The case, he disclosed, has been transferred to the State Criminal investigation Department (CID) Awka for discreet investigation, after which he will be prosecuted.

In a determined effort to offer Nigerians an effective option to petrol, the Federal Government will focus on developing Compressed Natural Gas otherwise known as auto gas, which is priced significantly lower than PMS.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, stated this during a virtual interactive session hosted by the Africa Report magazine on Thursday.

Answering a participant’s questions regarding the removal of petrol subsidy, the Vice President said “we have experienced a severe downturn in our finances over the years, so at 60 percent less revenue, we are in a position where sustaining fuel subsidies is practically impossible simply because we do not have the resources.”

According to him, “what we have decided to do is to focus on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which is about half the price of petrol today. So, if we use CNG for our cars and for our buses, it will cost between N78 and N80 or so per liter.”

Under the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP), the Federal Government’s objective is to promote domestic use of CNG and support the creation of 1 million jobs by maximizing the domestic use of CNG while reducing reliance on refined petroleum products like kerosene and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Responding to a question regarding increase in taxes, the Vice President noted that the administration has no plans of increasing taxes, stating that “our position really is that, this is hardly the time to raise taxes”.

According to him, “It is even more difficult for people to pay taxes now than ever before, I mean, given the state of affairs, but this is why we’re doing everything now.

“We are trying to ensure that businesses survive this period by providing as much support as we can, and by relieving them of as much burden as possible and ensuring that they are able to get some moratorium so that they can at least continue to run their businesses and by all the other interventions and support that we are giving, we hope that those interventions will help businesses.

“Our approach is first to ensure that we save jobs. If we save jobs and save businesses, and then do the best we can in agriculture, the housing scheme and all of that, we will actually be able to improve spending and if we are able to improve spending, taxes will definitely improve, and if businesses survive, taxes will improve. So, those are the sort of projections that we are looking at.”

It would be recalled that the 2020 Finance Act exempts businesses generating less than N25 million in annual turnover from Companies Income Tax. Also, businesses with a turnover of between N25m and N100m will only pay 20% Companies Income Tax instead of the 30% which was the former applicable rate.

The Vice President had recently said it is the plan of the Buhari administration to put money in the hands of Nigerians.

Addressing concerns raised about electricity tariffs, the Vice President said the era of subsidizing petrol and electricity was over, noting that government has adopted measures of addressing the situation.

His words: “What we are trying to do is to ensure that we are able to reform the electricity industry. The industry is privatized except for the transmission sector. But what we have seen is that the distribution companies (DisCos) are just not able to meet their targets or to even provide electricity on any kind of stable basis now.

“The DisCos have been hankering all these years for a cost-reflective tariff and government has been paying the subsidy. In fact, in the past few years, we have spent about N1.3 trillion on subsidies for electricity. Again, here is a situation where that is completely unaffordable.

“We want to ensure that new companies come into the market. So, that will be decentralized completely. This way, in several parts of our country, we can have micro-grids, small grids, and all of that. We are doing 5 million solar connections as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan. We think that, with all these, we can electrify our country within a short period of time.”

The Vice President added that the overall target of government in the Economic Sustainability Plan is to save existing jobs and revamp businesses by improving the spending capability of Nigerians through the various initiatives in industry, agriculture, mass housing, and the solar connectivity projects.

Over 1, 200 persons on different platforms across the world, participated in the virtual event tagged by Africa Report, the organisers as Digital Dialogues.

As Nigeria celebrates 60 years of nationhood this week, the Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese of the Catholic Church, Rev Father Hassan Kukah, has lamented the crass nepotism and poor governance which have culminated in the country’s political stagnation and economic retrogression, and advocated a review of the nation’s leadership recruitment system.

Kuka, who decried what he called “diminishing involvements of the elites in governance in the face of massive hemorrhage of Nigerian intellectuals and best hands outside the country”, urged the elite and intellectuals to get involved in politics and take back leadership from mediocre.

Delivering a paper titled: “Sixty Years of Nigeria’s Journey to Democracy: Hopes and Impediments” as part of lectures organised by the Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria,(ARCAN), he said contrary to the practice in Nigeria, alumni of the best universities in the world today are governing various countries.

“At independence, Nigerians had high hopes. We expected more than what we have now. Nigeria has never been as sad, as cynical as divided as frustrated as we are now. The nation is full of ethnic jingoism and cultural arrogance. Political power has been so privatised along ethnic lines. Despite the fact that we gained independence without bloodshed, 60 years after, blood now flows on our streets. We didn’t prepare for this.

“We have had too many accidental leaders, people who are not mentally prepared to govern; people who do not have the requisite education and lack the capacity to lead and manage diversity are the one governing the nation. We cannot succeed as a nation this way.

“Most of British leaders are products of Cambridge and other top universities, and that explains why they are doing well, but no such can be said of Nigeria. We must insist that anybody seeking public office possess requisite education,” he said. Kukah identified justice, representation, equity and freedom as four pillars of democracy, stating that “When we want to identify what has gone wrong with our democracy, we must look at the corrosive influence of military rule. It is not enough to say soldiers tried.

Yes they may have tried, in the same say that even if the church becomes active in politics they may try to govern, but that is not what that institution was made to achieve. In the same way the military was never, even at the best of times to achieve he principles of democracy.

“So we must correlate our political stagnation, our democratic decay with these excesses that were imposed into the system and this is why we are finding it increasingly difficult to produce an acceptable constitution because the military came with a Messiah complex but was never able to achieve the goals it set for itself.

“Just to tell you how far we have travelled, and it has not been very far, today, after many years, since 1966 we have been under a form of military rule, because our President is a retired General, and you cannot expect either himself or former President Olusegun Obasanjo to suddenly put on agbada and hold the constitution and expect that over 40 years of military discipline ingrained in them to suddenly disappear.

And that is while (either President Buhari or former President Obasanjo) are finding it with severe difficulty to manage diversity which are the key ingredients of democracy. In the military they say you are either for us or against us, like Obasanjo said eloquently, we do not accept 99 per cent loyalty. You can’t speak like that in a democracy.”

Father Kukah, who relieved found memories of Nigeria’s independence as a flagwaving pupil in the primary school then, said clearly Nigeria has not got to where it expected when it started this journey, and to identify what went wrong it must appreciate the context and not just the concept of democracy.

“It is important we reflect on our democracy and by extension the country, regarding where we are now and where we are expected to be. Reflecting on the lofty dreams of our founding fathers to build a just and equitable nation where no man is oppressed can be attained.

“Many forms of government have been tested, but it is true that very few of these systems of government meet the need of the aggregate number of people, especially as it affects the pursuit of happiness.” He said happiness of the citizens was central to the United States such that its declaration of independence in 1776, happiness speaks to the foundation of the new government and adoption of democracy, giving them the right to vote out a government that failed to meet their inherent needs.

Quoting from the American independence declaration, he said: “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

“We hold this truth to be self-evident that all men and women were created equal and were endowed by the creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these are rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, derive in their just power from the consent of the governed.

“Whenever any form of government is destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organising its power in such form that they shall see mostly likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

The Bishop therefore, queried: “Is anybody worried therefore, that Nigerians are exploring alternatives, asking for restructuring, Republic of Biafra and other agitations, seeking a new nation or wanting to go separate ways? It is because intrinsically, they look at the mirror and can see serious and sever constraints and obstacles to pursuit of happiness in the country.”

He said neither the government nor religion defines happiness for the people, but the structures like constitution and other rules put in place by government are important only to the extent that they make the pursuit of happiness a reality.

He urged Nigerian leaders and all to refocus on the dreams of the nation’s founding fathers and learn from President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Speech which has become the cornerstone of democracy that states: “It is for us the living, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which those who died fought for,…It is rather for us to be dedicated to the great task before us.”

He said we need to build on the opportunities available now, beause the rest of th world is not going to slow down to accommodate our waywardness, hoping that October 2021 will see us a better nation, better prepared to hold hands together and be a great country.

He warned that in this knowledge age where millions of Nigerian youths have become very educated, the nation must prepare for a storm Chairman of ARCAN, Ambassador Dapo Fafowora, said though Nigeria had high hopes in 1960, such factors as military coups, inherent internal conflict, communal and ethnic and religious clashes, pervasive corruption, increasing poverty and massive mismanagement of the economy have concertedly crippled national development.

“When the British Union Jack was lowered in 1960, we had high hopes. But by 1962, Nigeria was in trouble with the political crises in the Western Region when the government at the central sacked the regional government and imposed emergency rule. And so began the chains of crises since then. However, we should still be optimistic” he said.

In his remarks, Ambassador Godknows Igali said with the evolution of democracy in Africa, the continent needs a reconstruction of democracy to produce a sort of tradodemocracy, akin to the Ubuntu philosophy in South Africa.