Details Of Osinbajo's Meeting With Governors, Ministers

National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday received the interim report on Forensic Audit of Revenue Accrued from Revenue Generating Agencies (RGAs) into Federation Account, Excess Crude Account and Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, made the disclosure to newsmen during briefing on the outcome of the NEC meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He ​said that Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, who chaired the Audit Committee, presented the report to the Council.

He stated that the acting President welcomed the Interim Report and noted that “Council will await the outcome of the final report and then discuss the Report’’.

The governor ​said Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, briefed Council on the balances in the Excess Crude Account; Ecological Fund Account; Stabilization Account and Development of Natural Resources Account as at July 13.

“I also want to brief specifically on the report we got from the Accountant General’s Office on the Excess Crude Account and related matters​”.​

“The balances as at July 13, 2017 are as follow: Excess Crude Account (ECA) has 2.303 billion dollars; Ecological Fund has 27.466 billion naira; Stabilization Account has 2.553 billion naira and the Development of Natural Resources Account has 77.922 billion naira​.​

Ikpeazu also disclosed that the Ad Hoc Committee on Ecological Fund submitted its final report to the Council, and recommended robust governance structure and stringent disbursement criteria to sanitize the management of the fund. 

The committee, which was headed Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State, recommended among others, that disbursement of the fund should be based on the following criteria; “Physical visitation by the Ecological office team and on the spot assessment and verification of the ecological disaster.

“Technical evaluation of the disaster by experts; “community involvement Prior to the disaster, there must be evidence of advocacy; evidence of existing prompt, emergency response mechanism in place before the disaster.

“Monitoring and Evaluation framework must be built into the application of ecological fund as a road map for measuring performance of the fund; a feedback team that will review the reports of the disbursement must be in place.

“Adequate publicity of ecological disaster to create awareness and consciousness in the citizenry to avoid future occurrence is necessary; evidence of cost estimate must be attached to application.

“Adequate justification for the project must be given; due process in vendor engagement must be followed; at all times, 50% of the FG share or N20 billion must be reserved for emergencies at the discretion of Mr President.

“Minister of Communicatio​n, Adebayo Shittu,​ presented a ​m​emo to Council on​ ​need for harmonization of the Right of way charges in respect of​ ​telecommunication and related public utility infrastructure on Local Governments, States and Federal Highways.

​”The memo spelt out roles/responsibilities of L​ocal Councils​, States and telecommunication operators in the management of Right of Way (ROW) issues.
“Council asked ​his Ministry to liaise with the States and relevant stakeholders for the smooth implementation of the ​ROW​ project.‎”

By Wale Odunsi

Happening Now: Osinbajo In Rare Meeting With Governors, Ministers And Heads Of Agencies

Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo is in a meeting with state governors at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Ministers and heads of some agencies are also in attendance in the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting Osinbajo is presiding.

The council is expected to take some “crucial economic decisions.”

The meeting is holding two days after the federal government paid another tranche of the Paris Club refund.

A total of N516 billion was released to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the first tranche.

By Wale Odunsi 

Osinbajo Warns Governors Against Politicizing Security

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday urged state governors to resist the temptation to play politics with security in view of the agitation for Biafra and the quit notice some northern youths gave the Igbo resident in the region. 

This was just as Osinbajo and the governors agreed at a meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja that Nigeria’s unity is sacrosanct.

Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi told State House reporters that the meeting agreed that “The unity of this country is sacrosanct. We agreed to address the issues of poverty and unemployment; we cannot play with the unity of this country.”

Speaking, while meeting with the governors, Osinbajo also asked them to eschew narratives that might originally be expedient and satisfying but deceiving and unhealthy in the end.

He said, “Sometimes, intentions are perceived on the account of the fact that they have wrong perception about a particular thing. I think it is in our place to ensure that we dig down the fact and ensure that people are given the fact and ensure that we don’t colour them with politics.”

The acting president also appealed to the governors to speak more forcefully against divisive speeches and promote the nation’s democracy.

Osinbajo, who said there were attempts to play up fault lines and create tension in the country, noted that conflagration and war, all over the world, starts with words.

The acting president stressed that the federal and state governments must ensure that Nigerians live peacefully anywhere in the country.

The governors in attendance include those of Sokoto, Kano, Osun, Oyo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Borno, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Benue, Plateau, Kogi, Edo, Lagos, Kebbi, Ondo, Imo, Taraba and Anambra States.

By Isiaka Wakili

Quit Notice: Osinbajo To Meet State Governors Tomorrow

Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, will meet with all 36 States Governors on Wednesday.

His spokesman, Laolu Akande, confirmed this in a statement Tuesday evening.

The meeting will hold at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Laolu said the parley will “conclude his (Osinbajo’s) consultative sessions over certain ethnic agitations and exchanges between some groups in the South-East and the North”.

Osinbajo had at difference times in the last ten days met with different stakeholders, leaders of thought, monarchs, elder statesmen, heads of security arms, among others.

Meanwhile, a Northern Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF), has warned the Nigerian Police to withdraw an arrest order on youths in the North who asked Igbos to leave the region by October.

He said the nation should be prepare for “crisis beyond control“if Arewa youths are taken out of circulation.

Similarly, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has warned Osinbajo against listening to stop listening to “evil counsel” by using threatening language on pro-Biafra agitators.

IPOB issued the warning while reacting to a statement credited to the Acting President that those agitating for secession will be dealt with.

By Wale Odunsi

APC Convention: Oyegun Overrules Governors, Insists Party Will Wait For Buhari To Attend

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has stated that the party will wait for President Muhammadu Buhari to return to Nigeria and be part of the planned convention.

His position contradicts the initial resolution of governors and the National Working Committee, NWC, ‎to send a delegation to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to present suggested convention dates for him to pick from.

Recall that Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, told newsmen after the meeting that “The issue of the National Convention was raised actually, as it was part of the decisions we took at the last meeting. Unfortunately like you realised, Mr. President is not here.

“But today, we all agreed that we have an acting President the same process should start again through the acting President.”

Lalong noted that though the President as leader of the party normally should attend but that in the present circumstances, the presence of the acting President will suffice.

Governors in attendance were Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Solomon Lalong (Plateau), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa) , Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi). Others include: Sani Bello (Niger), Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina), Sen. Atiku Bagudu and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara).

Others were Deputy governors of Kwara, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Nasarawa and Imo.

But speaking on Monday in Abuja on the midterm scorecard of the APC-led administration, Oyegun declared that the party’s midterm convention would have to wait until the president returns from his medical leave in London.

“The convention is an important activity of the party that the president should not miss. We will hold on so that he can be part of the convention”, he stated.

Oyegun further downplayed the impact of the ill-health of Buhari on governance in the country and the party.

“The thinking that ‘will he be president in 2019’ is really not doing any good, his need today is good health. When we get to 2019, it is for him to decide if he wants to run or if he doesn’t want to run and to consult the party on his decision.

“If he wants to run good and if he doesn’t want to run the country isn’t bereft, the party isn’t bereft of capable hands”, he said.

On Nigeria’s economy, Oyegun said government was working hard to end recession in order to reduce hardship the masses were facing, pointing outrenewed efforts to revamp the power sector.

On criticism by the People Democratic Party (PDP), he stated that while some problems that came in the way of rebuilding the economy were not foreseen, others could be traceable to the mismanagement of the past administration.

By Wale Odunsi