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Buhari: Era of free money gone
By Isiaka Wakili
President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that the era of free money is gone in the country, saying there is no easy money to throw around.
The president spoke in Gusau, Zamfara State, yesterday while commissioning the Wanke- Danjigba-Kucheri-Kigama-Bilbis Road.
Buhari, who urged all Nigerians to think closely about the country’s situation, said:
“There is no easy money to throw around. We must go back to farming and livestock rearing so that we can develop the industries, we must put our hands on deck to ensure success of our mission in engineering Nigeria.”
The president emphasised that his administration would not relent in the ongoing anti-graft war, saying corruption had stunted the nation’s growth.
He said his government had no intention to humiliate or disgrace anybody, assuring that recovered loots would be put to public use.
“I also wish to reiterate to the people of Zamfara State and Nigerians in general the commitment of this administration to restore sanity in governance. We shall continue to prosecute the war against corruption. We do not wish or desire to humiliate or disgrace anybody, but we must recover stolen funds and put them to collect public use,” he said.
Buhari said since his administration was inaugurated on May 29, 2015, the journey to fix the country and restore the hope of the common man had begun in earnest.
He said the challenge of his government was translating the change promised into reality, noting that this could not happen without the culture of accountability and good governance.
“I assure all Nigerians that the grim economic situations are a passing phase which all societies go through,” the president added.
Buhari also stated that the security situation in Nigeria was improving, saying his administration’s commitment to securing the nation was already yielding results.
The president said the federal government remained committed to dealing decisively with all threats to national security from any quarters.
He said that was part of the reasons he was personally in Zamfara to flag-off the military operations aimed at routing out the menace of cattle rustlers and armed bandits, not only in the state, but in the entire axis of the North-west.
Restructuring: Osinbajo warns against disintegration
By Isiaka Wakili
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has again warned advocates of restructuring, saying Nigeria should not be restructured along ethnic lines.
His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, yesterday quoted him as saying this on a live television programme monitored in Abuja on Tuesday.
Osinbajo said: “Dividing Nigeria, going back to regions and all of those kinds of things, I do not believe in that at all. I don’t think we need to go back to regions. So, if there are people who believe we must structure ourselves again along ethnic lines, I don’t accept that is the right way to go.
“So, when you say restructuring, I’m sure that for many of us, there are certain aspects of this restructuring that you may agree with or that you may not agree with. But as a general position, Nigeria always needs to be re-engineered, we’ve to keep restructuring, re-engineering.”
Nigeria’s earnings drop by 40 percent – SGF
By Ismail Mudashir
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation(SGF), Mr Babachir David Lawal, yesterday said the country’s earning had dropped by 40 percent.
He spoke when he appeared before the joint committees of the Senate on Appropriation, Finance and Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions over the implementation of the constituency projects.
“I was discussing with the Minister of Budget and National planning on the earnings of the country. We are earning between 50 and 60 percent. That means there will be a shortfall of 40 percent in the projected revenue in the country’s budget,” he said.
While reiterating the commitment of the federal government to implement the 2016 budget, he said, “The body is willing but the soul is weak”.
“The daily crude oil projection of 2.2m at one time went down to 800,000 barrels and consequent upon this it will be difficult to implement the projects. It behoves all politicians to explain this situation to Nigerians,” he said.
To this effect, he said the release of funds for the execution of projects would be prioritized.
Reaffirming his statement on the constituency projects, he said the story published in Daily Trust was correct.
“Like the legislature, the executive is answerable to the electorate. Like the legislature, members of the executive canvas for votes. If the revenue of the government improves, the constituency projects would be implemented, “he said.
In his contribution, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, said the implementation of the budget should be done across board in the face of funding challenge.
“The budget you are implementing is a law, the fact that the president has assented to it shows that he has agreed with it, otherwise, he would have returned it to us. If in the course of implementing the budget, the need to review the budget upward or downward arises, let it be. If you felt that the constituency projects should not be there, formalize it, “he said.
Troops repel attack at Kangarwa, kill 25 Boko Haram militants
By Ronald Mutum
The Nigerian Army yesterday said troops of the 119 Task Force Battalion stationed in Kangarwa, Borno State, repelled an attack by Boko Haram militants late Tuesday.
A statement from army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, said the attack which started at about 6.30pm, was successfully repelled after about three hours of gun battle.
He added that while the militants were incurred tremendous casualties, one soldier died in the battle and 11 were wounded.
“It should be noted that the successful repelling of the attack was made possible by support from the Nigerian and Chadian Air Force fighter jets,” the army statement said.
FG owes non-oil exporters N123bn
By Chris Agabi
Exporters in the non-oil export value chain are groaning under the federal government’s inability to pay them over N123bn accrued incentives as at December 2015.
A delegation of the organized private sector in the non-oil export which visited Daily Trust in Abuja yesterday, said the backlog was crippling exports and investments in the non-oil sector. They called on government to pay so that jobs could be created and to help sustain and diversify the economy.
On the team were Mr. Ade Adefeko, the Chairman NACCIMA Export Group (NEXAG), Dr. Navdeep Singh Sodhi, a consultant to UNIDO, World Bank and Partner at Afroconsulting Trade & Services ltd and Mr. Jayeola Paul Olarewaju, the General Secretary, Organized Private Sector exporters Association (OPEXA).
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Dr. Sodhi said in the past 10 years, based on the government’s input, non-oil export companies had invested in value addition and processing activities but now, most of these investments are facing illiquidity crunch because the system of incentives – the export expansion grant – put in the place is no longer working.