- Obi failed as governor, don’t make him president – Tinubu tells Anambra residents
- Senate gives Pantami 48 hours to account for N13.9 billion
- Reps approve Buhari’s N1trn Ways and Means request
- I’ll reduce unemployment considerably in my first four years – Tinubu
- PDP sponsored thugs to attack Buhari in Kano – APC
Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:
Obi failed as governor, don’t make him president – Tinubu tells Anambra residents
Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Peter Obi, standard bearer of the Labour Party (LP), is a danger to those who will fall for his “misrule”.
Speaking on Tuesday at a rally in Awka, the capital city of Anambra, Tinubu said Obi lives in Lagos because he is “guilty” of not developing his home state.
The former governor of Lagos said residents of Anambra should not vote for Obi as president because he was “ill-equipped” to be governor.
“I know I can do these things because I made similar progress when governor of Lagos. Meanwhile, one of my opponents is a former governor of your state. But he does not live among you. He lives in Lagos,”
“I live in Lagos because I am pleased with the progress we made in turning Lagos into one of Africa’s biggest economies. My opponent, however, refuses to live among you because he feels guilty for not giving you the development and growth you deserved from him.
“Mr. Stingy refused to use the state’s money to help its people. He sacrificed your welfare and well-being so that he can boast that he saved money. But what good is saving money if you refuse to save your own people?
“That type of man is a danger to those unfortunate enough to be subject to his misrule. Such a man was ill-equipped to be your governor. Do not make him your president.”
Senate gives Pantami 48 hours to account for N13.9 billion
The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has been issued a 48-hour ultimatum to account for N13.9 billion Service Wide votes collected from 2017 to 2021.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Mathew Uroghide handed down the ultimatum at an investigative hearing on Tuesday in Abuja.
The directive followed the inability of the Permanent Secretary, William Alo to effectively defend the expenditure of a whopping N13.9 billion before the panel having appeared on behalf of the Ministry.
Alo could not produce documentary evidence, leaving the panelists bewildered about the impunity going on in the Ministry.
Midway into the investigation, the Permanent Secretary and the Director of Finance in the Ministry pleaded for more time to produce supporting documents.
The request infuriated the lawmakers who disclosed that the Committee battled to have the Ministry’s officials appear before it for the past four months.
Senator Uroghide said: “Based on records made available to the committee from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, a total of N13.9 billion was disbursed to the Ministry from the Service Wide votes for special capital projects execution from 2017 to 2021.”
The lawmaker stated that the Committee has written several letters of invitation but the officials keep reneging.
“Only for you to come here today along with the DFA of the Ministry to beg for more time which would not be granted beyond Thursday this week because the committee must submit report to the Senate on how your Ministry and many of the other MDAs are running away from explanations on spendings made from the Service Wide Votes,” he said.
Uroghide said an investigation by the committee showed that government officials spent Service Wide Votes recklessly and insisted that the Ministry of Communications must explain how the fund was spent.
The committee, however, granted the embattled Permanent Secretary another appearance before it on Thursday.
Reps approve Buhari’s N1trn Ways and Means request
The House of Representatives has approved the restructuring of N1 trillion to fund the 2022 supplementary budget.
The Committee of Supply on Tuesday approved the request for President Muhammadu Buhari to get the loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The approval takes the entire Ways and Means loan stock to N23.7 trillion.
The National Assembly had last year approved the N815 billion supplementary budget which President Buhari said will be funded by new domestic borrowing.
It would be recalled that President Buhari also requested the House to approve the securitization of N23.7 trillion ways and means.
However, the lawmakers are yet to approve the request, noting that the executive must submit more details to back the request.
The lawmakers subsequently adjourned to February 28.
I’ll reduce unemployment considerably in my first four years – Tinubu
Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that if he wins next month’s election, he will prune the high unemployment rate in Nigeria in his first four years as president.
He addressed party faithful and members on Tuesday at the U.J Esuene Sports Stadium Calabar during a presidential campaign.
“I will check youth unemployment in this country. I will reduce it by more than half if voted into power next month,” he said.
Tinubu promised to make Nigeria prosperous and everything humanly possible to turn around the nation’s fortunes.
“Our economy is unhelpfully designed to export raw materials and import increasingly expensive finished products.
“Crude oil still provides most of our foreign exchange. As agriculture remains our traditional backbone, we will continue to consolidate it.
“However, we must acknowledge the growing importance of our urban population,” he added.
Tinubu assured that Nigerian cities and towns will witness a level of industrial activity unprecedented in the nation’s history.
He said youths would become leading catalysts that drive economic resurgence.
He further pledged to adjust the allocation of revenue between federal and state governments so as to give states greater flexibility to foster grassroots economic development.
“Our government will give priority to encouraging industries vital to national development by growing our industrial base to provide jobs to an expanding urban population,” he assured.
PDP sponsored thugs to attack Buhari in Kano – APC
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of sponsoring thugs against President Muhammadu Buhari in Kano State.
APC said PDP committed a treasonable felony by sponsoring thugs to attack Buhari during his visit to Kano.
Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of APC, urged security agencies to investigate and probe the former ruling party over the attack on Buhari.
In a statement, Morka accused PDP of setting the most ignominious, debased, and virulent campaign records in the history of the country.
Morka said the “statement issued by PDP on President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent visit to Kano is nothing short of a confessional statement of conspiracy to commit felony. By actively instigating and sponsoring fringe violent anti-social conduct by paid urchins during the presidential engagement in Kano, PDP has crossed the line of fair campaign engagement into grievous criminality.
“This is unacceptable and demands urgent law enforcement investigation and prosecution of all participants in this high crime.”
