Tag Archives: Won’t

INEC Won’t Postpone Ondo Governorship Election

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has no plan to postpone the Ondo State governorship election scheduled for Nov. 26.

The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, disclosed this to newsmen while responding to calls by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some other registered political parties that the election should be postponed.

Oyekanmi said that INEC had already gone far with preparations and there was no any occurrence that warranted the commission to shift the Saturday election.

“INEC has no plan and does not intend to postpone the election.

“Preparations for the Ondo Governorship election started since March and 12 out of 14 activities planned for the poll have already been carried out.

“Besides, the grounds for postponing any election are enshrined in the Electoral Law and certainly, such calls for postponement is not one of the grounds.

“The 13th activity which is the Stakeholders’ Forum will hold on Tuesday in Akure, Ondo State. The Commission therefore will not postpone the election.”

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Gabon: France Says It Won’t Meddle In African Politics

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France Foreign Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, has warned that the country’s day of meddling in African countries’ politics were over. Ayrault said this on Friday in Paris, as Gabon its former colony counted the cost of riots that followed a disputed election.

“We are Africa’s partners but we do not want in any case to intervene in countries’ internal affairs. That would be disrespectful of Africans, they don’t ask for it. “France acts only when countries requested Paris’ help,” he said.
Alain-Claude Nze, Gabonese Government Spokesman, told French television that the government expected France to help ease tensions and bring both sides to a peaceful resolution.

Bongo’s allies also expressed anger over a French Socialist Party statement declaring that early results showed challenger Jean Ping to be the winner. They accused it of failing to respect the sovereignty of a country where 14,000 French citizens live, and which hosts a French military base with 450 troops.

They said it harked back to the era of La Francafrique, when Paris played puppet-master in African countries decades after post-colonial independence, propping up leaders like Bongo’s father in exchange for pushing business to French firms.

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http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/gabons-election-turmoil-france-says-it-wont-meddle-in-african-politics/

We Won’t Force Land Owners To Surrender Them For Grazing– FG

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The Federal Government at the weekend said that it would neither force people to surrender land nor seize anybody’s land for grazing purposes in the country.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said this when he received in audience a delegation from Oyo State Government led by the Special Adviser on Projects to Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Tolu Shadipe, in his office. Specifically, the minister stressed that government was not going to seize anybody’s land or force people to surrender land for ranches, disclosing that about 6,000 applicants had so far indicated interests in cattle breeding improvement programme in the country.
This is even as he explained that the focus of the present administration was on the sustainable development of agriculture to save the country from the present economic woes and assured that the Federal Government would continue to develop a strong partnership with state governments. Ogbeh also assured Oyo State Government of President Buhari-led administration’s support in the state’s efforts to optimally develop its agricultural potentials, while urging the state government to leverage on the abundant rainfall in the state to develop ranches for the cattle breeding improvement programme.
He said: “I think ranching is something that can be controlled and it is something that can be carried out in Oyo State by farmers who want to do so and for that we can give some supports”. The minister also advised the state government to expand its cocoa production with the newly improved variety of cocoa with 18 months maturity date, noting that Nigeria, being one of the leading countries in cocoa production after Ivory Coast and Ghana, should take its rightful position. According to him, the FMARD has mapped out various initiatives and programmes such as the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise (LIFE) project to support state governments, thereby creating jobs and wealth for mostly women and the youths across the country.
Ogbeh explained further that Oyo State, being the hub of poultry business in West Africa, should intensify efforts in expanding the business frontiers to take advantage of opportunities of the implementation of the school feeding programme, which would require a child eating 2 to 3 eggs per week, to boost the state’s economy.
On Federal Government’s plans to enhance agriculture nationwide, the minister said that the Buhari-led government would collaborate with state governments to expand the irrigation systems, noting that Kano and Oyo states, given the fact that they have the highest numbers of dams would benefit maximally from the irrigation projects.

Credit: NationalMirror

APC Won’t Lose Senate Leadership To PDP- Oyegun

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The national chairman of All Progressives Congress, John Oyegun, on Wednesday said the ruling party would never allow opposition Peoples Democratic Party to take over the Senate leadership should Bukola Saraki be removed as a consequence of his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

In an interview, Mr. Oyegun hinted that the APC did not mind losing the seat of the senate president should Mr. Saraki be removed from office.

“Well, I don’t think we will lose that position,” Mr. Oyegun had said, “But sometimes, for change to take place, there is price you have to pay. So losing the position may be sacrifice for change.”

Apparently amid criticisms from party leaders, Mr. Oyegun told journalists at the party’s secretariat on Wednesday that he was misunderstood.

“That misunderstanding is still on?” he rhetorically ask the journalists.

He said, “Let me put it simply. There were basically two points that I was making. Number one, as a party of change even as a party, we cannot interfere in a judicial process that is ongoing. That was clear. And when they asked about the senate, I said under no circumstance can we compromise on the leadership of the senate.

“We are the majority party and the issue doesn’t even really arise but unfortunately the way it was put, the misinterpretation has been a little bit too intense and that is clear. It just doesn’t arise at all. The issue, the argument and the rest doesn’t arise. If somebody wants to theorise and postulate, that’s a different matter. It doesn’t arise.”

Credit: PREMIUMTIMES

Why I Won’t Sign 2016 Budget In A Hurry- Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday explained why he would not hurriedly assent to the 2016 passed by the National Assembly.

He said he would critically review the document before assenting to it, according to a statement by Femi Adesina the special adviser to the President on media and publicity.

Speaking at a meeting with the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, in Washington DC, President Buhari said in view of the controversial alteration and padding of the budget proposals, he needed to review the appropriation bill to be certain that its contents tallied with the authentic budget proposal presented to the National Assembly.

“Some bureaucrats removed what we put in the proposal and replaced it with what they wanted,” Mr. Buhari said. “I have to look at the bill that has been passed by the National Assembly, ministry by ministry, to be sure that what has been brought back for me to sign is in line with our original submission.”

Declaring that his administration will continue to vigorously prosecute its war against corruption, President Buhari sought and received an assurance from Mr. Kerry that the United States Government will facilitate the repatriation of all stolen Nigerian funds found within the American banking system.

“It will greatly help our country if you assist us to recover all our stolen funds which we can establish to be within your financial system,” the President told Mr. Kerry.

Responding, the Secretary of State said that he has been told that the stolen Nigerian funds were in “billions of dollars”.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Why I Won’t Privatise Healthcare Institutions- Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration will not privatise healthcare institutions in order not to exclude the poor and the vulnerable from accessing healthcare services.

The president said this at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday while receiving a team led by Professor Olu Akinkugbe and constituted by the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library to develop an agenda for the health sector in the country.
Buhari stated: “Privatisation aims at maximum profit. It then excludes the poor and the vulnerable from accessing healthcare. But we have to look after the poor.”
Buhari stressed the need to be careful and take a look at the state of development of the country before considering the option of privatising healthcare institutions.
The president recalled that the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) which he headed in the 1990s had developed institutional strengthening in which the PTF supported pharmaceutical companies with resources to encourage local production of drugs.
Earlier, Akinkugbe said the team’s agenda for the health sector include proposals on healthcare financing, developing health intelligence/observatory to pre-empt epidemics, simultaneous focus on primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare, preventing labour unrests in the health sector, facilitating access to essential drugs through local production and the drug distribution system.

Credit: dailytrust

Why We Won’t Reabsorb 250 Dismissed Soldiers- Army

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The Nigerian Army on Tuesday said it would not reabsorb the 250 soldiers dismissed last week for failing to join their colleagues posted to the north east.

The Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Sani Usman, said the soldiers were dismissed over gross acts of indiscipline, cowardice, and absence without leave.

“The attention of the Nigerian Army has also been drawn to a set of 250 protesting dismissed soldiers in Nigerian Union of journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, Kaduna, pleading through the media to be reabsorbed back again into the Nigerian Army,” Mr. Usman, a colonel, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“They were part of the 2,023 dismissed soldiers last year that were earlier reinstated back into the Service by the present Chief of Army Staff. However these set of soldiers (the 250) absconded for more than one week when they were told that they were to move to North East on the 6th of January 2016.

“They started coming back when they realised that others were moved to units other than the theatre of operations in the North East. Please note that all efforts were made to make all the reinstated soldiers comfortable and integrate them back into the system.

“The protesting soldiers are the few who are recalcitrant to military duties and discipline. They are simply not interested in army job but want to earn salary. No one should listen to them as they are not patriotic at all.”

Mr. Usman said the army had been tolerant with the soldiers’ acts of indiscipline and unprofessional conduct.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Defeating You Won’t Be Tough, Buhari Tells Niger Delta Militants

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President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to deal decisively with the seeming resurgence of oil theft, vandalism of pipelines and insecurity in the Niger Delta.

Declaring that the Nigerian Armed Forces had already dealt “deadly blows” on Boko Haram, Mr. Buhari said the activities of oil thieves and vandals would soon be brought to an end, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on Tuesday.

“The oil thieves and abductors are a less problematic target. We will re-organise and deal with them,” he was quoted as saying.

Credit: PremiumTimes

We Won’t Submit To Buhari’s TSA– N/Assembly

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National Assembly yesterday said it would not be part of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) being implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce the level of corruption in governance.
President Buhari had during  last Wednesday’s media chat, said he was having challenge with the National Assembly over the TSA.
“We are having problems with them (National Assembly) on TSA. We have to have a closed door session with them,” the president said during the media chat.
TSA was introduced by the federal government to reduce the level of corruption in governance.  Buhari shortly after assuming office directed all federal government agencies to key into the new system.
But both upper and lower chambers yesterday said they would not be part of the TSA, saying it amounted to, “surrendering of their autonomy to the executive.”
In an interview, the spokespersons of the senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said they were in total support of the TSA but that they would  not be part of it.
“There is no any trouble on TSA, it is as an executive programme and we cannot surrender our autonomy to the executive. Submitting ourselves to the TSA, is surrendering our autonomy to the executive. We are on the first line charge as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Why should we give you our funds to put in the TSA and then we will be subjected to your own control, is that autonomy? That is just the issue; we’ve given our total support to the TSA programme. As far as we are concerned, we cannot subject ourselves to it because it amount to mortgaging our autonomy.
“Our autonomy is guaranteed by the constitution and how our money should be paid is also guaranteed by the constitution. Are we saying our autonomy should be jettisoned? Are we a revenue generating arm? Are we saying that the constitution should be jettisoned, because somebody wants to do TSA? Are we going to put the Constitution aside and follow somebody’s wish? What we are following is constitutional,” he said.
He said the senate would continue to follow due process in discharging their constitutional functions, saying “if you are following due process, you are promoting accountability and by so doing, you are promoting good governance.”
On the pledge by the Senate President Bukola Saraki to make the budget of the National Assembly public and transparent, he said, “when our budget is out, you will see the difference from previous ones.”
Credit: DailyTrust

Why All Ministers Won’t Get Portfolios- Buhari

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Buhari thanked Saraki for the Senate’s clearance of his nominees, adding that he followed constitutional provision in picking his team.

The Constitution, he said, stated that there must be a minister from each of the 36 states.

“That was why I limited the number to 36”, the President noted, adding:

“The Constitution said there must be one member of the cabinet from all the states but the Constitution did not say I must have 36 ministries.”

He said the country could not afford a large carbinet because of the prevailing economic realities.

The economy, he said, had been battered, explaining that he was being factual by saying it as it is and “not to scare investors as the opposition is claiming”.

“Any investor who is interested in investing in Nigeria will know about the economy. So, when I talk about the position of the economy, I am also looking for investors,” Buhari said.

Credit: NationOnline

I Won’t Resign For Gbajabiamila, Lasun Vows

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The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yusuf Lasun, said on Tuesday that he would not resign for Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila having been duly elected by members to occupy the position.

He spoke in Abuja amid speculation that he had come under pressure from some forces in the All Progressives Congress in the South-West, asking him to step down for a former Minority Leader of the House, Gbajabiamila.

But Lasun, who was accosted by journalists at the National Assembly as he stepped out of a committee room, reacted, “That is a speculation; why will I resign?

“I went through an election on the mandate of the Speaker (Mr. Yakubu Dogara).”

Credit: punchng

APC Won’t Zone Senate President, Speaker- Akande

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The former interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bisi Akande has said that the party will not use zoning to choose the next Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He noted that zoning is not part of the APC as it is not in the party’s constitution.

Akande, who spoke on Tuesday in Lagos, said it was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that brought zoning into Nigeria’s polity.He stated that the party will not copy the style of the PDP.

He rejected the notion that the party was standing in the way of any qualified senator in its fold to contest the position of Senate President.

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