The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on Saturday, said the federal government has created a N25bn youth fund as part of efforts to address the dissatisfaction of #EndSARS protesters and other youth-related restiveness in the country. The minister made this known at a stakeholders’ meeting with the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, in Kaduna on Saturday. According to Ahmed, the meeting was in line with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to ministers and governors to dialogue with stakeholders and the youths with a view to addressing their agitations. The minister, who explained that the youth fund would be increased to N75bn within a period of three years, explained that the fund aims to support youths to actualise their entreprene...
Bishop Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye, the Bishop and Diocesan Missioner and Lagos has condemned in very strong terms, the heartless shooting of defenceless, peaceful and unarmed protesters at Lekki, Lagos State on Tuesday 20th October 2020. The Bishop described the cruel shooting of unarmed protesters by troops of the Nigerian Army as “totally deplorable and an outrageous act of terror and wickedness against civilians who were peaceably organized and had, for many days, been peacefully protesting against poor governance, leadership, abuse of power and most especially, longstanding Nigerian Police brutality. He continued: “It is highly depressing that the same government which promised to reform the police and bring an end to police brutality ended up using the military against the people”. ...
A coalition of women groups, Mothers United and Mobilised (MUM), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a transparent panel of inquiry into alleged shooting of unarmed EndSARS protesters in Lekki on Tuesday. The coalition made the call in a statement issued on Thursday by its Convener and Co-convener, Dr Boluwaji Onabolu and Mrs Sonye Allanah, respectively. MUM is a group of Nigerian mothers from all walks of life, ethnic and religious groups, based in Nigeria and in Diaspora. The Mothers United and Mobilised said that the probe should unravel “who ordered the shootings, who carried it out and how are they being held accountable.” “We call on President Muhammadu Buhari as Father of the Nation to cease and desist from the use of live bullets and teargas against our children,...
Foremost rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has condemned what it called the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari over protests against operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, in the past two weeks. The group in a statement issued by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Thursday, claimed that “certain ethno-religious extremists have been paid by some government officials to stoke the embers of ethno–religious division to graphically paint the #EndSARS movements with ethnic and religious colourations.” The statement noted that youths of the country are angry “because the elders who have had access to public offices and those wielding political powers have continuously feasted on the comm...
The National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, says President Muhammadu Buhari is to announce a critical solution to the #EndSARS protest in a couple of hours. Monguno, who made this known at the end of the fourth National Security Council meeting, presided by the president in Abuja on Thursday said Buhari also directed all security agencies to always operate within the confine of legitimacy and legality. He said the president also urged the security agencies to always avoid anything that would aggravate the nation’s security challenges. He also stated that the president would soon come up with certain solutions to address the security challenges in the country, saying the president directed that government would also do all it could to arrive at ...
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, said he was yet to speak directly with President Muhammadu Buhari concerning the shooting of #EndSARS protesters in the State. Sanwo-Olu in an interview on Thursday said he called Buhari twice but he was at the Federal Executive Meeting, FEC, on Wednesday. The Governor stated that the Chief of Defense Staff called him on behalf of the President but did not disclose details of the phone call. He said, ”I have not spoken to president Muhammadu Buhari directly. I called the President twice but the first time he was not at the office. The second time he was at the FEC meeting. ”Although the Chief of Defense staff called me and acknowledge that the President received my message.” As of the time of filing this report, there have been calls for President ...
Newscom Former United States presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has made a public appeal to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari to end the killing of peaceful protesters. Her public appeal came in light of #EndSARS protesters who were attacked by security operatives during a violent crackdown in Lagos on Tuesday, October 20, 2020. As part of nationwide demonstrations over the past two weeks, hundreds of protesters have shut down the Lekki-Epe toll gate for over one week demanding comprehensive police reform. State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, imposed a 24-hour curfew on Tuesday afternoon after an uptick of violence from thugs who tried to hijack the peaceful protests. Scores of protesters refused to leave the toll gate despite the curfew which was originally set to commence at 4 pm...
YouTube A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Monday attributed the loss by the party during the September 19 governorship election in Edo State to the dynamic nature of democracy. While noting that the electorate voted en masse in line with their conscience, he added that impunity and imposition of candidate at the party’s primaries also contributed to the loss. In an interview with journalist in Benin, Oyegun commended President Muhammadu Buhari for not interfering in the process but allowed the people’s will to prevail. He also lauded Oba Ewuare II for his timely intervention at brokering peace between the major actors and stakeholders of the APC and the PDP. He said, “It is democracy within the parties and impunity within the parties,...
The Federal Government on Monday said that there are no plans to Scrap the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC in the Petroelum Industry Bill 2020 that has been transmitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari. Answering questions from Journalists in Abuja after an interactive meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly, Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, who allayed the fears of staff of the Corporation and Nigerians, said that the bill seeks for the commercialisation of NNPC and not outright scrapping. The meeting which was Presided over by the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, with the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and other Leaders of the National Assembly in attendance is aimed at discussing the deta...