Tag Archives: UTOMI

Utomi, Balarabe Musa, AYCF Task FG On Looters List

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A Political Economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, on Monday urged the Federal Government to expedite action in publishing the list of those who returned stolen public funds to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

 

Similarly, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) urged the Federal Government to ensure that the list was holistic.

 

It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said the CBN would soon publish the names of officials of the last administration that returned stolen funds.

 

Utomi told News Agency of Nigeria on telephone that it would be proper for the president to mention the looters as long as there were concrete evidences backing it up.

 

Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the National President of the AYCF said that it would be unfair to mention some names and protect others.

 
Yerima said that there was nothing wrong in mentioning the names of the looters but hoped that those names would be all encompassing.

 

“The CBN must be seen to be fair and must not shield anyone for any reason whatsoever,’’ he said.

 

 

According to Shettima, Nigeria will only have problems if the list is not holistic and does not include all found wanting.

 

 

The Founder of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, told NAN that government would win the confidence of the citizens by publishing the looters.

 

 

“It will be a good thing if the president will do so; he will win our confidence,’’ he said.

 

 

Musa, a former governor of old Kaduna State, urged the president to also investigate, discover and recover the looted funds from Abacha.

 

“We want to know the truth about it and know who collected the loot and where the funds have been transferred to. This is because we suspect that all those talks about Abacha’s loot may be false.’’

 

 

(NAN)

Buhari Is Free To Appoint All His Cabinet From One Village – Pat Utomi

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Former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP) and public affairs analyst, Professor Pat Utomi, has said President Muhammadu Buhari is free to appoint whoever he desires, as long as those appointed have the highest capacity to take the bull by the horn.
In his address, during an interactive session with Daily Independent recently, Pat Utomi who described the criticism as ‘small and petty’, said the president can make all his appointments from one village as long as those appointed can get the job done.

Utomi said: “Let’s get serious. Let’s get to move this country forward and away from all this small, petty issues. To me it is not an important issue and I don’t want to deal with it.”

“The President can appoint everybody from one village. As long as the people can get the job done, let them get it done. That is what Nigerians wanted and that is what they voted for.”

The Political economist also advised Buhari not to be biased in choosing his cabinet members but rather fish out qualified personnel.
The President has been perpetually criticized of appointing only his kinsmen into the presidential cabinet.Some persons from the South-Eastern part of the country believed that Buhari’s refusal to appoint anybody from the region was attempt by the president to punish the region for giving him the least votes during the March 28 presidential elections.

Utomi Advocates New Approach To Labour Relations In Nigeria

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Political Economist, Prof Pat Utomi on Friday said that there was need for a new approach to labour relations in Nigeria.

He also urged the incoming administration of Gen Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to radically slash the cost of running political offices in Nigeria.

Utomi made said this while speaking with newsmen in Lagos on the plight of Nigerian workers and the May Day celebrations.

He said that Nigeria, especially the incoming administration, should set a new agenda for labour in which the rules of the game was understood by all.

“We need a system of collective bargaining which entails appropriate wealth distribution for all.

“There should be an opportunity for workers both in the private and public sectors to recognise that the economy is a partnership that can create greater wealth when fairly distributed.

“International and domestic capital must respect the fair due to labour as a partner rather than see it as a threat.

“This is the fastest way to guarantee economic growth. Labour must get its fair due because it is the peoples’ sweat that creates wealth” he said.

He said that leadership must be cost effective and there was need for Nigerian leaders to do away with lavish comfort at the detriment of its workers.

“The President of Indonesia rides bicycle to work while the President of Uruguay uses a 30 year old Beatles.

“I am not saying that our President or leaders should ride bicycles or use Beatles. What I am saying is that there should be equitable distribution of wealth.

“Some of the state governments owing workers are busy chartering planes for their own comfort while their people toil in vain.

“We should care more about job creation so as to relieve the pressure on workers whose meagre salaries cannot even sustain their immediate families” he said.

He noted that fair distribution of wealth would make for posterity and greater opportunities for the nation.

Utomi, however, urged workers to be more diligent in their duties and assist government in creating wealth that can in turn provide more employment. (NAN)