Presidency
Presidency: Why 2020 budget was increased despite drop in revenue
File Photo The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), Umar El-Yakub, has said the decision of the Presidency to increase the 2020 Budget despite drop in revenue was meant to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation’s economy. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Friday signed the Appropriation (Repeal and Amendment) Act, 2020 into law. The revised budget provides for aggregate expenditure of N10.81trn, which is an increase of N216bn over the level of expenditure initially proposed in the 2020 Appropriation Act. El-Yakub, in an interview with State House correspondents, attributed the increase to the government’s decision to prioritise infrastructure projects that would reflate the economy. He said, “One needs to und...
Ibrahim Magu failed to account for interest on N550 billion recovered loot – panel
Voice of Nigeria A prior presidential panel, which investigated the suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, indicted him, a report has alleged. The report noted that the embattled EFCC boss had been unable to account for the interest generated from N550bn cash recovered from 2015 to 2020. The panel is separate from the panel led by a former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, which is currently probing Magu and other top officials of the agency. The chairman of the previous committee was Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim and the members were DIG Anthony Ogbizi; a member from Federal Ministry of Justice; Mualledi Dogondaji from the EFCC; Hassan Abdullahi from the DSS; an unnamed member from the Office of the Accountant General of the...
Presidency: Ibrahim Magu’s probe shows anti-corruption fight is real
The Presidency on Saturday said those who hold the belief that the ongoing investigation of the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, is an indication of the administration’s failing anti-corruption fight have missed the point. It said rather, the development was a further proof that the fight is real and active. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement titled “Presidency’s statement on the suspension of Mr Ibrahim Magu.” This is the first time the Presidency will react officially since Magu’s travails started on Monday when he was arrested and brought before the Justice Ayo Salami-led presidential panel. The statement read, “Those who see Magu’s investigation, as a signal ...
President Buhari begs Nigerians to be patient with government on insecurity
President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with his government as everything is being put in place to tackle headlong the insecurity in the polity. The President has also approved joint military, police operations to tackle insecurity in North West. President Buhari also called for calm in his home state of Katsina, assuring that security agencies were working to bring the current wave of banditry and killing to a halt. The President in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in Abuja, Tuesday, observed that violent reactions to the security by citizens could distract the plans already laid out by security agencies, assuring that security forces were capable of stemming both terrorism and banditry. The President ...
President Buhari, Borno governor meet over killings
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, met behind closed doors with the Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting was meant to address the recent killings recorded in the state. The state government had last week confirmed that 81 people were killed in an attack that was carried out on Gubio Local Government Area of the state. Seven persons, including a village head, were also said to have been abducted by the insurgents. In condemning the attack, the Presidency, in a statement by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had given an indication that the President would be meeting with the state governor on the matter. Shehu had said the President, who was expecting a detailed briefing by the state governor o...
Loans request: Nigeria now on the auction market – PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alarms that with the volume of foreign loans being accumulated by President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC), our nation and her people have been placed on the international auction market. The party said President Buhari’s moves to take a fresh $5.513 billion (N2.1 trillion) loan in addition to an earlier $22.79 billion (N8.5trillion), the size of 2020 budget, without operable repayment plans, will totally compromise the fiscal integrity of our nation and open her up for economic annexation by foreign creditors. This is in addition to N850 billion from the capital market. It is more alarming that the Buhari government, in this fiscal year, cannot muster the capacity to harness the huge resources available in our country to generat...
FBI chief orders internal review of Michael Flynn investigation
European Photopress Agency Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said on Friday he has ordered an internal review of the investigation into President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn. In a statement, Wray said he ordered the FBI’s inspection division to conduct an after-action review of the Flynn investigation to “evaluate the relevant facts related to the FBI’s role in the Flynn investigation and determine whether any current employees engaged in misconduct.” The review is also aimed to “evaluate any FBI policies, procedures, or controls implicated by the Flynn investigation and identify any improvements that might be warranted,” said the statement. “The after-action review will complement the already substantial assistance t...
Presidency: No discrimination against any state
File Photo The Presidency says no state will suffer any such discrimination in dealing with security and all other matters on account of their political differences with the government at the centre. Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement issued to announce a massive plan by the Ministry of Defence to launch “Operation Accord” in the North West and North Central States. Shehu said the plan, whose arrangements had been concluded, was a major military exercise aimed at flushing out insurgents from the contiguous states of Kaduna, Niger, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and parts of Kebbi State. He said while Tuesday’s Senate resolution was “perfectly in order”, it was important to state that, in his duty as Commander-in-Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari had already approved th...
Presidency: Nothing wrong with taking more loans
There is nothing wrong in taking more loans to finance specific projects, the Presidency said on Sunday. It urged those criticising efforts in borrowing to develop the country, to desist. Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said Nigeria has more capacity to accommodate loans. He spoke while featuring on Southwest Political Circuit, a popular political interview programme on Ibadan-based radio station, Fresh F.M. Adesina called from his Aso Rock office to take questions on aspects of COVID-19 management and economic issues. He said that there was no need for Nigerians to raise concern about the country’s rising debt profile because the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is applying loans to the specific projects they are meant for. Although he pointed out that the huge debt, which th...
