Tag: FG

FG To Enforce Mandatory Use Of National ID By January 2019

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The Federal Government, FG, has approved the mandatory use of the national identity number starting from January 1, 2019.

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) made this known on Wednesday in a statement signed by its Head, Corporate Communications, Loveday Chika Ogbonna.

“Federal Executive Council has approved the immediate commencement of the implementation of a strategic roadmap for Digital Identity Ecosystem in Nigeria at its meeting, held on Wednesday, September 12th, 2018 and chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.“According to the Director-General/CEO of NIMC, Engr.

Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, the FEC approval of the Identity Ecosystem will bring into full force the implementation of the provisions of the NIMC Act 23, 2007, which include the enforcement of the mandatory use of the National Identification Number January 1, 2019 and the application of appropriate sanctions and penalties on defaulters as provided under Section 28 of the NIMC Act and Regulations,” The statement reads.

Meanwhile, NIMC had refuted reports that it’s suspending the issuance of the National Identity Cards for the next three years.

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ARREST OF JOURNALIST: An Embarrassment To The Nation, Affront To FG – Luqman Soliu (RIFA President)

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ARREST OF JOURNALIST: AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE NATION, AFFRONT TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (FG)

On Tuesday August 14, 2018 it was learnt that The Nigerian Police through the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) invited Premium Times editor-in-chief; Mr Musikilu Mojeed, the newspaper education correspondent; Ms Azeezat Adedigba and the security correspondent; Mr Ogundipe Samuel over a purported fraud allegation.

However, information from the Force was said to have revealed that police actually invited and detained the three journalists because of the alleged critical reportage of the Inspector-General of Police activities. Nonetheless, two of the journalists were reported to have been released leaving only the security reporter in Police custody.

In the meantime, Nigeria 1999 Constitution provides in Section 4 that “(1) The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice. (2) It is hereby, accordingly, declared that: (a) sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority; (b) the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government: and (c) the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. 17. (1) The State social order is founded on ideals of Freedom, Equality and Justice. (2) In furtherance of the social order- (a) every citizen shall have equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law; (b) the sanctity of the human person shall be recognized and human dignity shall be maintained and enhanced; and 22.

The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people”.

With the Constitutional provisions above, it is crystal clear that citizens are not supposed to be incarcerated unnecessarily in a democratic setting which was built on freedom of citizens. It should be noted that some professions are naturally endowed with confidentiality of their information. Media, researchers, security outfits and auditors or investigators who engage in fact finding, are by ethics, required to always protect the source of any information brought to their attention in the course of their study. Therefore, RIFA is perturbed that police could be intimidating fellow citizens on their professional callings.

Will it be right for police to be disclosing their source of intelligence report in the open?
Senator Saraki has been invited on several occasions by the Nigerian Police which he has failed to honour the Force yet he is a free-man. The journalist arrested dutifully honoured the law of the land by going to the Police as against what Dr Saraki and co did to Nigeria Police when they ignored it. Yesterday, some people are at the helm of affairs and tomorrow another set of people would be there.

Incarcerating helpless Nigerians would mock our nation as a banana republic which fails to follow the authority in the land. Regrettably, the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo gave an order on FSARS human right abuse and same day the allegation repeated itself at the Police headquarter.

Is this not a mockery of the Presidency and a signal of worse human rights abuse afterwards? RIFA calls on the Inspector-General of Police to order the release of the detained journalist without further delay as it does the nation no good if Police and the media entered a collision course.

Luqman Soliu
President,
Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA)

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FG To Give Loans To Two Million Traders Without Collateral (SEE FULL DETAILS)

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The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated a new initiative to empower two million petty traders across the country between now and the end of the year.

The initiative called the Trader Moni is meant to further enlarge the present administration’s financial inclusion agenda for all Nigerians regardless of social class and economic status.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

Read the Full Statement Below:

In a determined and significant bid to further enlarge its financial inclusion agenda for all Nigerians regardless of social class and economic status, the Buhari administration has launched a new initiative under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment
Programme (GEEP), called the TraderMoni, which will empower two
million petty traders between now and the end of the year.

The scheme, which was launched last week in Lagos, would grant a minimum of 30,000 loans in each State of the federation and the
Federal Capital Territory.

All together, the 2 million mark is expected to be attained on or before the end of this year, with petty traders in Lagos, Kano and Abia States set to be the first round of beneficiaries to draw the collateral free loans.

In addition to the 30,000 loans per State, States with larger populations like Lagos and Kano are expected to get more than 30,000 loans. Across the country, especially in the pilot states, about 500,000 potential beneficiaries have so far been enumerated.

In order to identify the beneficiaries, no less than 4,000 enumeration agents have been engaged by the Bank of Industry which is deploying the new scheme.
TraderMoni is designed to help petty traders expand their trade through the provision of collateral free loans of N10,000. The loans are repayable within a period of six months.

Under the scheme, beneficiaries can get access to a higher facility
ranging from N15,000 to N50,000 when they repay N10,000 within the stipulated time period.

The goal of the Buhari Administration is to use the TraderMoni to take financial inclusion down to the grassroots, the bottom of the ladder, considering the contribution of petty traders to economic development. The Federal Government is also aware of the fact that many of the petty traders don’t have what the commercial banks require to grant them loans.

This administration is keen to ensure that such traders at that level are able to build their businesses and grow.
TraderMoni was launched last Tuesday in five markets in Lagos
State, with tens of thousands beneficiaries already.

The Lagos markets already reached are Mushin, Ikotun, Agege, Ketu, and Abule Egba markets.
The scheme will soon be taken to other states in the country, with Abia and Kano states next in line.

Beneficiaries are already heaping praise on the Buhari administration for this initiative that will improve their businesses.
A trader in one of the Lagos markets, Anna Enwerem, thanked President Buhari for the initiatives.

“I sell clothes. This N10,000 would do a lot for me and my children. I like this programme so much. I will pay the loan before six months’ time. Before I didn’t believe it, but now that I have received my money I believe,” she said.

Similarly, Chief Mrs Mufiat Adewumi, a market women leader in Lagos, said it will help ordinary Nigerians who cannot have access to commercial banks’ credit facilities because they don’t have collateral, “We are happy about the TraderMoni because this is what we have been expecting for long, that the Government should assist the masses, especially the traders. We thank the Federal Government so much.”

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity,
Office of the Acting President,
12th August, 2018

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FG Bans Importation Of 10-Year Old Haulage Vehicles

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The Federal Government has placed a ban on importation of haulage vehicles that are 10 years and above old from the date of manufacture. The ban is expected to take effect from 1st of January 2020.

Vanguard learnt that the measure was one of the resolutions of the stakeholders’ forum organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, for haulage operators following the recent road traffic inferno on Otedola Bridge in Lagos where over many lives and properties were lost.

 

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FG Dismisses Global Report On Nigeria’s Poverty Level

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The President Muhammadu Buhari-led
administration has disclaimed reports that Nigeria
is the poverty capital of the world.
The Federal Government Wednesday dismissed the Brookings
Report on Nigeria as the new global headquarters of poverty as it
now has the highest number of poor persons in the world.
Findings by the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy
organization based in Washington, DC, America, published a week
ago indicated that Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with
the largest number of extreme poor in early 2018 with six persons
becoming poor every minute.
The report said, “At the end of May 2018, our trajectories suggest
that Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty
compared with India’s 73 million. What is more, extreme poverty in
Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in
India continues to fall”,
But responding fielding questions from State House
correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC,
meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the
Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Industry,
Trade and Investments, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, argued that the
indices used for the report may have been complied when Nigeria
was in recession .
His words:
“I think first, we need to understand when we get these reports,
there are reports that are lagging in indicators which means,
people are reporting on history. There are reports that are leading
indicators which means that they are forward looking and of
course, there reports that capture generally what you do which is
current. “They are actually dealing with what is current. So, when
you get reports from Brooking institutes or all sorts of people, you
need to look at the context. Somebody may have written a report
when we were in recession.
Remember that if you are in a recession, what it means is that
even though, your population is growing, people don’t stop
procreating, your growth fact, which means that in theory
depending on how they run those numbers, you will be going the
other way. “There is absolutely no question that there an urgency
to create employment in Nigeria. And it has to be a collective
responsibility.
What I can tell you, with certainty based on ones background in
business and economics, is that if we complete the things on
infrastructure and you implement these reports we are doing, that
is what I mean by a leading indicator, poverty will go down. There
is no magic to it. But you have to do it first, you have to put in
the infrastructure, you have to implement the economic
programme which is what will create the opportunities, they don’t
drop from the sky.
So, I think we should roll up our sleeves as a people and do the
work because, if we don’t do it, our people continue to bear
children obviously, they would get poorer. “So, I don’t think we
should kill ourselves that poverty is something just happen. I think
it comes out of the urgent need we have as a country which is
why we are focusing as a government to make sure that we create
the enabling environment, the infrastructure and the things that are
required to create opportunities for our people and I believe that
will happen in the process of time.”

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Angry Olamide Comes Hard On FG, Politicians

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I Sang At Last Election Doesn’t Mean I Won’t Say The Truth – Angry Olamide Comes For FG, Politicians

 

Popular Nigerian rapper, Olamide, has taken to his verified Twitter page to narrate his frustrations about how things are going in the country under a government he sang for during the 2015 general elections.
The Lagos-based rapper who wrote in pidgin wrote on how, now that the World Cup is over, Nigerians need to ask politicians what their plans are for the country.
He wrote; “Naija una try no cry abeg … Dj soon all done promise free show .. homecoming quills way .. World Cup is over let’s face the politicians Wetin be their plan as we de move fwrd so … dem say we carry World Cup for poverty how far na ???”

Writing further, Olamide then asked the politicians to state their plans for the populace anytime they come out to campaign, adding that the people will then state what they want hereby making sure everyone is happy at the end of the day.
He wrote; “Moving fwrd ema state agenda yin we go de tick am together as una de do am one by one like ambode.. come with ur plans, we state our needs,we meet in the middle and every1 is happy.”
Olamide said that not all Nigerian presidents are wicked. The problem lies with contractors who are given projects to do in the budget.
He wrote; “If dem done release budget we want de get notification and who dem award the contract to so when dem no do d work we fit locate dem go house make turn de start like this . Make we de see road… no be so all d president wey done come n go mumu n wicked reach!”
Baddo also wants bad SARS officers to be retrained. “And ah beg make dem educate the bad eggs for sars or make dem go de do farming.. we can’t rely on oil money only .”
Many were surprised that Olamide came out to speak out against the government seeing that he is close to the ruling APC. He explained that he will always say the truth.
“I sing for last election no mean say I no go talk when the people no de happy . Everyone is important and should be heard,this is democracy ji masun.”

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See Nigerian’s Reaction After FG Declares June 12 Democracy Day

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Mixed reactions has trailed President
Muhammadu Buhari’s decision that the nation’s
Democracy Day will, henceforth, hold on June 12
of every year as against the current arrangement
where the ceremony holds on May 29.
Buhari also resolved to honour the winner of the annulled June 12,
1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, with the highest
national honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic.
The President disclosed these in a statement he personally signed
and made available to journalists.
He said he reached the decisions after due consultations. Apart
from Abiola, Buhari said he would also honour his running mate,
Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, and the late human rights activist, Chief
Gani Fawehinmi, with the second highest national honour, the
Grand Commander of the Niger.
He said their investiture would take place on June 12.
The statement read, “For the past 18 years, Nigerians have been
celebrating May 29, as Democracy Day. That was the date when,
for the second time in our history, an elected civilian
administration took over from a military government. The first time
this happened was on October 21, 1979.
“But in the view of Nigerians, as shared by this administration,
June 12, 1993 was far more symbolic of democracy in the Nigerian
context than May 29 or even the October 1.
“June 12, 1993 was the day when Nigerians in millions expressed
their democratic will in what was undisputedly the freest, fairest
and most peaceful elections since our independence.
“The fact that the outcome of that election was not upheld by the
then military government does not distract from the democratic
credentials of that process.
“Accordingly, after due consultations, the Federal, Government has
decided that henceforth, June 12 will be celebrated as Democracy
Day.
“Therefore, the government has decided to award posthumously
the highest honour of the land, GCFR, to the late Chief MKO Abiola,
the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 cancelled elections.
“His running mate as Vice President, Ambassador Babagana
Kingibe, is also to be invested with a GCON.
“Furthermore, the tireless fighter for human rights and the
actualisation of the June 12 elections and indeed for democracy in
general, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, is to be awarded the
GCON.
“The investiture will take place on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, a date
which in future years will replace May 29 as a National Public
Holiday in celebration of Nigeria’s Democracy Day.”
The late Abiola died in detention while struggling to actualise his
mandate as contained in the annulled election.
Afenifere hails decision
The Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, hailed the declaration
of June 12 as a national Democracy Day, noting that this was
what it had been clamouring for over the years.
The group urged the Federal Government to go a step further by
recognising the late Abiola as a former elected President of
Nigeria.
Afenifere’s spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin, stated that the
government should demonstrate that its decision was not a
political gimmick by ensuring that “the spirit of June 12 prevails”
in the forthcoming elections.
He added, “Though the GCON is the highest honour in the land, we
want Abiola to be formally recognised as a former elected
President of Nigeria.
“It is true that this decision is coming on the heels of another
election in February 2019, the true test to demonstrate this is not
a gimmick is to allow the spirit of June 12 to prevail in February in
terms of free and fair elections where people can freely elect their
leaders like it happened on June 12.”
Asked if he believed the decision was meant to buy popular
political support, Odumakin noted, “That’s why I said another
election season is here and promises and decisions made in an
election year are subject to different interpretations, but, like I said,
we accept it.”
Buhari’s move commendable – Okurounmu
In his reaction, Senator Femi Okurounmu, a former Secretary-
General of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, said the
move by the President was highly commendable.
Okurounmu, who represented Ogun-Central Senatorial District from
1999 to 2003, said the move had also put former President
Olusegun Obasanjo to shame.
The Afenifere chieftain said all pleas to Obasanjo to honour MKO
Abiola and declare June 12 a public holiday during his eight-year
tenure were ignored.
He, however, said the Yoruba people should not be carried away
by Buhari’s announcement given its timing, which is barely eight
months to the Presidential election.
Okurounmu said, “It is a commendable act, and we appreciate him
for that. Recognising the late MKO as the real winner of that
election is long overdue. For us, June 12 had always been the
authentic Democracy Day. May 29 was an insult to the Yoruba
people. It was a mockery of the Yoruba.

“We appreciate him for honouring Abiola but we must not fall into
any trap. Buhari is desperate for Yoruba votes. He knows he has
lost the South-West and that is why he is doing this. This was
how he lured us in 2015 with the help of Bola Tinubu. We must
not fall a second time.
We are grateful to President Buhari – Ogun
In a statement signed on Wednesday night by the Secretary to the
Ogun State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, the state said, “We
are grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari for this recognition of
an illustrious son of Ogun State and an icon of our democratic
struggle, Chief MKO Abiola.
“President Buhari has shown with this action that he is a man that
believes in justice and giving to every person his or her dues.
“Although this posthumous award may appear to some people to
have come late, we thank the President. We urge all lovers of
democracy and goodwill to continue to support the ideals for
which Chief MKO Abiola lived and died for.”
Action smacks of desperation, hypocrisy – PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party, however, said the national honour
to be conferred on Abiola by Buhari smacked of hypocrisy and
political desperation ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
PDP said that President Buhari’s action merely sought to use the
name and person of Abiola to gain a political capital and was not
out of genuine reverence and recognition for him.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday and signed by its
National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, the party
recalled that President Buhari, who was serving in the military
administration of General Sani Abacha during the travails of Abiola,
did not associate either by words or actions with the late winner
of June 12 election.
Ologbondiyan further stated that history did not record President
Buhari as sympathetic to the Abiola’s family when his wife, Kudirat,
was gruesomely murdered by the agents of a government which
President Buhari served.
He said, “It is, therefore, a sign of political desperation for
President Buhari to seek to use Chief Abiola’s name as a tool to
sway Nigerians in less than 12 months to an election where he
(President Buhari) is seeking a second term.

“It is also shocking that the respectable grave of Abiola can be
dishonoured by granting a posthumous award on him along with
someone who denounced the June 12 mandate and preferred the
company of his (Abiola’s) traducers.
“Even those who now masquerade as change agents were
opposed to the naming of the University of Lagos after Chief
Abiola.

“If President Buhari genuinely wants to honour Chief Abiola, he
should do so by ending all anti-democratic proclivities of his
administration and allow for the rule of law and respect for our
constitution.”
“The PDP, therefore, urges President Buhari to shed his desperate
actions in his quest to win the 2019 presidential election as
Nigerians can no longer be deceived by such antics.”
Honour long overdue – Akelere
The late MKO’s former personal assistant, Lisa Olu Akerele, has
described the honour done the late politician as “a welcome
development long overdue.”
He stated, “Mr Kola Abiola, myself and other well-meaning
individuals have been campaigning underground for years for this
honour to be done.
“The good thing is that it has taken a former soldier like President
Muhammadu Buhari to right the wrong done by a misguided
soldier like Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.”

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FG Bans Shisha Smoking In Public, Police To Commence Arrest Of Shisha Smokers

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The Nigerian government, on Monday, June 4,
declared the banning of the use of flavoured
tobacco, especially shisha, in public places, and
directed security agencies to arrest anyone found
inhaling the substance.
While speaking at the 2018 World No Tobacco Day celebration,
Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on Monday in Abuja, said
the Federal Government has banned the use of flavoured tobacco,
especially Shisha, in public places, and directed security agencies
to arrest anyone found inhaling the substance.
According to New Telegraph, the minister who spoke during the
event with the theme, ‘Tobacco Breaks the Heart Choose Health,
Not Tobacco’, explained that evidence has shown that for every
$1 gain from tobacco business about $3 was expended on
healthcare cost.

Worried over the increasing rate of tobacco-related deaths in the
country and the world in general, a work plan was developed and
launched by the minister on the National Tobacco Control (NTC)
Act, which could be implemented by stakeholders before the
approval of the NTC Regulations, to curb the use of tobacco
products in the country.
“The work plan outlines education, enforcement and monitoring for
compliance including the ban on sale of tobacco products to and
by anyone below 18 years of age; ban on tobacco advertising,
promotion and sponsorship of any kind; ban on smoking in public
places; and ban on sale of tobacco products in piecemeal quantity
but in packs of 20 sticks for cigarettes or 30g for smokeless
tobacco.
“The FMOH is also looking beyond the work plan as we are
developing a comprehensive 5-year National Tobacco Control
Strategic Plan that will provide the roadmap for complete tobacco
control. In addition to this, the FMOH participated actively in the
review of the Nigeria Industrial Standard for tobacco products
convened by Standards Organisation of Nigeria in collaboration
with Consumer Protection Council (CPC).

“A key outcome of this review was the ban on all characterizing
flavours including the addition of menthol into tobacco products.
This decision is to protect our children from getting enticed by
flavoured tobacco products. Let me stress that the ban on
tobacco products with characterizing flavours is still in place and
the ban includes shisha because it has flavour. I therefore urge
the CPC and the law enforcement agencies to intensify arrest of
defaulters,”he said.
According to him, there were more than 1 billion smokers globally
and more than 7 million people were killed annually by tobacco. Of
this figure, he said more than 6 million die from direct tobacco
use, and close to 900,000 die from exposure to second-hand
smoke.
“Data from 2014 WHO – NCD Global Status Report showed that
heart related diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory
disease killed 38 million (68%) persons out of the 56 million global
deaths recorded in 2012, and sadly, more than 40% of these
deaths occurred before the age of 70 years. It is generally agreed
that tobacco will kill more than 50% of its users when used
exactly as recommended by its manufacturers.
“Globally there are more than 1 billion smokers, and more than 7
million people are killed by tobacco annually. Of this, more than 6
million die from direct tobacco use, and close to 900,000 from
exposure to second-hand smoke. I must add that the low and
middle income countries including Nigeria bear nearly 80% of the
global burden.
“This indeed calls for increased awareness on the impact of
tobacco use and exposure to second-hand tobacconpro on
cardiovascular health,” he added.
Adewole who exposed plans of tobacco producing companies to
hide under the guise of non-governmental organisations on a
Smoke-Free World to partner with thee public to further project
their businesses, advised Nigerians to be careful in entering into
partnerships they weren’t sure of.

“May I inform you that we are not oblivious of the conscious
efforts by the tobacco industry to project their business above the
health of the public. In view of this we are duty-bound to protect
Government Laws, Regulations and Policies from commercial and
other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with
the WHO FCTC Article 5.3 and the NTC Act 2015. Recently, Philip
Morris International (PMI) under the guise of the ‘Foundation for a
Smoke-Free World’ is persuading the public to partner with the
Foundation.
“May I caution in strong terms that all Ministries, Departments,
Agencies, Academia, Professional bodies, Non-Governmental
Organizations and members of the public not to accept support
from or enter into partnership agreement with this Foundation or
any tobacco industry or their front groups as this might lead to
irreconcilable conflict of interest. If the tobacco industry means
well they must stop manufacturing tobacco products,” he added.

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