President Muhammadu Buhari

PDP raps SGF Mustapha, President Buhari over coronavirus broadcast

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for not announcing the extension of gradual lockdown ease himself. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, had yesterday announced the extension in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States. The president was expected to address Nigerians on Monday as the cases of coronavirus surged sharply since the gradual easing of the lockdown kicked off on May 4. Aliyu Sani, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 announced on Sunday that the president will address the nation. It was expected to be the president’s third broadcast since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic but the Presidency stated that none was planned. Special...

Adams Oshiomhole swears in Waziri Bulama as APC acting national secretary

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, on Monday, swore in Waziri Bulama as acting National Secretary of the party. This is coming a few months after a crisis within the party’s ranks almost cost Oshiomhole his position. The Deputy National Secretary, Victor Giadom, had laid claim to the position after an Abuja High Court earlier granted an interim injunction restraining Oshiomhole from parading himself as national chairman. A truce was reached following the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The brief ceremony which took place at the APC National Secretariat, in Abuja was attended by some of the party’s leaders. Get more stories like this on Twitter

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...

Rivers monarchs accuse IGP of reversing presidential lockdown order

President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to reverse the order of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on the movement of agricultural produce, livestock, goods and services in Rivers State. The call was made on Saturday by the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, which noted that the IGP had set up a Joint Technical Task Force at the instance of the Federal Ministries of Agricultural and Rural Development, Defence, Environment as well as various security agencies, to ensure free and unhindered movement of food, livestock, agricultural inputs and others into the State. The State Chairman of the Council, King Dandeson Jaja, speaking on behalf of the council in Port Harcourt wondered why the IGP would unilaterally lift the ban on the Presidential order restricting interstate movement...

President Buhari gets Madagascar herbal formula

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday at the State House, Abuja, received Covid Organic, the Madagascan native formulation against the COVID-19 pandemic. Samples of the solution were delivered to him by President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau who brought them along as part of the traditional medicine shared to African nations by the government of Madagascar. According to a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) in Abuja, President Buhari however reiterated that he will listen to science before allowing traditional or any new medicines to be administered on Nigerians. He said his position on all such herbal or traditional medicinal postulates had remained the same. “We have our institutions, systems and processes in the co...

Nasarawa governor raises alarm over Islamic sect

Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has on Wednesday raised an alarm over the presence of Darus Salam sect in the state. Governor Sule, who attributed the recent kidnappings and banditry in the state to the dreaded Darus Salam group, appealed to the federal government for deployment of more security personnel to the state to handle the situation. Governor Sule who made the appeal when he visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa Abuja to brief him on security situation in the state called for the intervention of the federal government. He said that the Darus Salam Sect earlier dislodged from the state has now reassembled in Toto Local Government Area of the state kidnapping people and involving in banditry. He said: “We want federal government to intervene by providin...

Ibrahim Gambari an appointee of global standard ― APC governors

The forum of governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) have described Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari assumption of office as Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari as a challenge to appointees of the government. The former External Affairs Minister and former Nigeria representative at the United Nations replaced the immediate past occupant of the office, Mallam Abba Kyari who died last month due to health complications from COVID-19. Professor Gambari formally assumed office on Wednesday. The PGF in a statement signed by its Chairman and Kebbi State governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu said Professor Gambari’s rich credentials and vast international network were a challenge to those seeking appointments in government to “ai...

Ibrahim Gambari’ll give President Buhari’s administration a global appeal – ex-minister

Former Minister of State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s choice of Prof. Ibrahim Gambari as his new Chief of Staff will pave the way for the administration to be reckoned with internationally. Gbagi, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, described the newly appointed Chief of Staff as a man of character and excellence, whose outstanding academic accomplishments would stir the nation in the direction of meaningful progress. “When I heard about the appointment of Ibrahim Gambari as the new Chief of Staff, I was completely impressed by the President’s choice. “Without a doubt, he is a square peg in a square hole. In fact, while I served as a foreign officer in Hong Kong, he was my boss as the Foreign Affairs Minister at the time. “From my de...

House of Reps wants local airlines to evacuate stranded Nigerians abroad

The House of Representatives has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Federal Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Aviation to ensure that local airlines enjoy the right of first refusal, where Nigerians need to be evacuated. This was sequel to the unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Mohammed Bello (APC-Kano) and eight other lawmakers, at the plenary on Tuesday. While moving the motion, Bello said that the two ministries and the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID–19 had engaged foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerians stranded in Dubai, London and America, due to the COVID-19 currently ravaging the world. He listed the airlines to include Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways and Emirates. According to the lawmaker, the economic objective of Nigeria, under the 1999 Constitution, ...

President Buhari appoints new RMAFC scribe, CMD chief

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mohammad Bello Shehu as Secretary, Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for initial first term of five(5) years with effect from 19th March 2020. He also has approved the appointment of Mr Bitrus Danharbi Chinoko as the Substantive Director General of the Centre for Management Development (CMD) Lagos, with effect from 27th April 2020. Until this appointment, Mr Chinoko was in an acting capacity at the CMD. According to a statement by Director, Information Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey, the President congratulated the new appointees and urge them to bring their wealth of experience to bear on their appointments. Get more stories like this on Twitter

Fear of ‘One million boys’ turn landlords to night guard

Tebogo Letsie/Associated Press Perplexed after the order by President Muhammadu Buhari on a total lockdown of Lagos and Abuja amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, residents of Egan-Igando area of Lagos state, who had always maintained their crowd in major meeting points, had to come to skepticism on movements and trading system. Egan-Igando, an area under the Alimosho Local government of Lagos state, is a community that houses home based residents, several businesses, shops, religious organisations, market places and a district police station ; all which are filled up with people during the usual routine movement. Nearly a week into the lockdown, reports on the robbery attacks perpetrated by the ‘one million boys’ gang has gotten to community residents with every household ensuring...