Yeni Kuti, daughter of afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has revealed that the decision by her uncle, Dr. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, to announce that the late singer died of Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, AIDS, was initially rejected by them, the deceased’s children.
She said they later accepted for their uncle to make the announcement after series of persuasions from family members.
Yeni disclosed this in a recent chat with media personality, Chude Jideonwo.
The dancer said she later discovered that her uncle’s decision was the best because it put speculations about the cause of the death of the legendary musician to rest permanently.
She said, “Then, I didn’t think the decision by his brother [Dr. Olikoye Ransome Kuti] to announce that he [Fela] died of AIDS was the best.
“I remember we [Fela’s children] had a big fight with my uncle at a time. They had already diagnosed Fela with AIDS at the hospital.
“Uncle Koye wasn’t in town when the diagnosis came. And he came maybe about two days later…Then he called us, Femi, Shola and I, ‘you know what has happened, I’m going to announce to the press that he has AIDS.’
“We said, ‘No, way’. At that time, we still thought Fela would survive. We said, ‘look, it’s not your place to announce that Fela has AIDS, if Fela survives, let him.’ And he said, ‘Okay, you have a point.’
“But then, Fela now died. And he [Dr. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti] said he is going to announce that Fela had AIDS.
“We quarrelled with him. The whole family started talking to us, ‘it’s not good to lie, people are still going to discover.’ So, reluctantly, we agreed.
“But I have to say it now, I think it was the best decision that my uncle made. If he had not announced it, till now they [journalists] will still be doing underground ‘what killed Fela?'”
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has sent a message to Nigerian youths ahead of the swearing-in of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President.
In a lengthy statement via his Twitter handle on Monday morning, the LP flagbearer called on the youths to remain steadfast, calm, patient, and peaceful.
Obi remarked that he remains committed, and untiring in his determination to work with like-minded fellow Nigerians to end the curse of missed opportunities and squandered hope.
According to the former Governor of Anambra State, the journey to a new Nigeria may be long and difficult but it is worth it in every way.
He, however, asked Nigerians to work together to move the country from corruption and criminality to a center of productivity rather than aimless consumption.
He said: “I remain committed, and untiring, in my determination to work with like-minded fellow Nigerians to end the curse of missed opportunities and squandered hope that has become our lot here.
“I will never shrink from that original commitment, because I firmly believe that we must change from the present politics of criminality, and corruption, in order to make a new Nigeria possible.
“I call on fellow Nigerians, especially the youths to remain steadfast, calm, patient, and peaceful. Our journey may be long and difficult but it is worth it in every way.
“Victory is assured. We have to work together to move our beautiful country from corruption and criminality to a center of productivity rather than aimless consumption.”
Naija News reports that Bola Tinubu will be sworn in today as the 16th democratically elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at Eagle Square.
Less than 24 hours to the end of his administration, President Muhammadu Buhari through the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has constituted the boards of aviation agencies.
This was coming after almost a decade of running the agencies without boards.
Daily Trust reports that the Federal Government since the inception of the present administration has failed to inaugurate boards of six agencies in the industry despite that their Acts make the boards mandatory.
The agencies include the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the recently created Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
Stakeholders have consistently criticised the former Aviation Minister for allegedly running the agencies without statutory boards as stipulated by the Acts establishing them.
Daily Trust reports that the boards were constituted in the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari but their inauguration was stalled because, as was revealed at that time, the composition of the boards was not in line with the Acts establishing the agencies. They were never replaced since then.
Daily Trust reports that the boards were constituted in the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari but their inauguration was stalled because as was revealed at that time the composition of the boards was not in line with the Acts establishing the agencies. They were never replaced since then.
But on Sunday a statement issued by the Ministry of Aviation indicated that Buhari has approved the composition of the boards.
The statement signed by the Head of Press and Public Affairs in the Ministry, Odutayo Oluseyi indicated that NCAA is chaired by Mr. Lai Are with two institutional members representing Ministries of Aviation and Defence.
FAAN would be chaired by Capt. Fola Akinkuotu with five institutional members representing the Ministries of Aviation, Defence, Justice and Tourism and NCAT while Capt. Mukhtar Aminu and Mr. Chris Aligbe are members.
NAMA has Capt. Bashir Sodangi as Chairman with four institutional members representing Ministries of Aviation, Communications and Digital Economy, Transportation and Nigerian Air Force as well as two other members to represent public interest. They are Mr. Richard Aisuegbon and Suleiman Balarabe Ismail.
NSIB would be chaired by Engr. Ezekiel Danboyi Zang with six other members including Engr. Suraj Abdulwahab, Engr. Ita Awak, Mall. Nasiru Anas, Alhaji Sani Maida, Engr. Pantani Esugo and Lawrence Fubara Anga, SAN.
Dr. Imoro Kubor is to chair the NiMet Board with four institutional members representing Ministries of Aviation, Agriculture and Natural, Resources, Environment and Transportation with Dr. Adebayo Yinka and Prof. Aliyu Umar Tambuwal as members.
And lastly NCAT would be chaired by Capt. Jonathan Ibrahim with institutional members which include Ministry of Aviation, NCAA, Nigeria’s ICAO representative; Representative of the aviation sector, Engr. Bashir Saad; Hajia Binta Aminu Iya representing community; Representative of the College elected from the congregation who should be a non-teaching staff and the college registrar.
The statement added, “It should be noted that, in line with the recently promulgated and gazetted Acts of the Agencies, membership of their Boards are mostly institutional representations. The President therefore considered the requirements in approving the memberships and hopes that they will play the necessary roles in furthering the development of the sector as a new administration takes over.”
Lawyers Differ Over Courts’ N58 Million Fines Against Legal Practitioners Challenging Tinubu’s Inauguration
AdminThis week alone, three different courts in Abuja imposed fines running into millions on several applicants, calling their applications “frivolous” and “misleading”, and threatening to report them to the Nigeria Bar Association.
THE WHISTLER spoke to lawyers on the development and on the lessons to learn from it.
The Court of Appeal on Thursday slammed a N40 million fine on the 2019 presidential candidate of the Hope Democratic party , Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru over his application to stop the May 29 inauguration of Bola Tinubu as president pending the determination of his case.
The next day, Friday, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja presided over by Justice James Omotosho imposed a N16 million fine against Messrs Praise Isaiah, Paul Audu and Anongu Moses over their motion to stop Tinubu’s swearing-in until the Presidential Election Petition Court concludes sitting.
Earlier, same day, the Supreme Court criticized the People’s Democratic party for bringing before it a “misleading” application regarding Tinubu’s Vice-president-elect Kashim Shettima.”
It did not stop there, the apex court’s five-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro ordered the PDP to pay N2 million as fine to the respondents in the case.
All the fines were related to cases filed against President-elect Bola Tinubu whose swearing-in is expected to hold on May 29.
Reacting to the development, Dr. Joseph Nwadike Esq told THE WHISTLER in a phone interview that every judge or court has discretionary powers to award fines.
“That is their own discretion and reasoning. Maybe, in other times, the same court of coordinate jurisdiction or that particular court may also give a contrary decision depending on the parties at that court,” he said.
On the implication of such fines on lawyers, Nwadike says reports of such could intimidate lawyers from attempting to file an application.
“When developments like that happens, it becomes intimidating for one to start a suit because you may begin to think if you file a suit, that is how it is going to end.
“The lawyer will become intimidated even if he or she has a proper right to contest an issue in court.
“The implication is that it is going to cower down lawyers,” Nwadike added.
He explained that the penalty from the court will still not deter lawyers because a legal practitioner sees the law through his own perspective but it is left for the court to decide and say one’s perspective is wrong.
“Because the court interprets the law, it can say the word “and” means plus or minus or separately; when it gives such interpretation, the lawyer has nothing to do but to go on appeal.
“If it is a decision of the apex court (Supreme Court), the lawyer will have to appeal to God,” he said.
However, he was of the view that it is against the ethics of the profession for colleagues to try to mislead court or downplay what has already being settled by higher courts.
Citing the recent Court of Appeal judgement on Owuru, he added that “If truly, Supreme Court or higher court has decided a matter, it will be ridiculous for lawyers to bring it back again to lower courts.”
But sharing his understanding of the development, the Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER), Frank Tietie Esq, told THE WHISTLER on Sunday that fines or cost are awarded as a measure targeted at lawyers who operate below the standard stipulated by the judiciary.
“Incidentally , I have also been fined by a judge because in that case I went to ask for an adjournment when the court was ready to hear the matter while I said I was not ready; so the court imposed a fine of N10,000 to which I must pay.
“There is a reason. When a counsel displays a behaviour or carries out a behaviour that is below the expectation of a legal practitioner or does an act by filing a process that is considered below the dignity and expected minimum knowledge of a legal practitioner, it is proper for the court to slam punitive cost against the lawyers, it is not called fine.
“It is nothing new or strange, its a normal process because lawyers often times would do things that bring doubts to whether or not, they are actually legal practitioners especially the ones that have many years in their standing in terms of experience. Afe Babalola SAN has been fined before.
“It’s not a big deal, let’s not make any big deal out of it,” Tietie said.
He explained that while costs are backed by the inherent powers of the court, fines are defined according to a law made by the national assembly.
He further explained that where the law does not approve fines for certain behaviours, the court relies on its discretionary powers to impose cost against the lawyer or clients.
According to him, such cost is aimed at punishing behaviours not expected of a lawyer.
“It is called punitive cost.
“Court doesn’t have power to impose a fine, it is only the law that imposes a fine.
“Fines can be discretionary but where there is no law creating an offense and the court considers the behaviour of the counsel to be one requiring punishment, the court will impose punitive cost on either the client or the lawyer.
“And if the court is convinced that the lawyer did not properly advise his client, the court will now specifically mention that it is the counsel that must pay for not applying sufficient knowledge of the law in advising his client,” he said.
According to him, such costs reminds lawyers that there are consequences for operating below standard as a legal practitioner.
In a recent development, President Muhammadu Buhari has granted approval for the renaming of 15 airports in Nigeria as a tribute to notable individuals who have made significant contributions to the country.
The Ministry of Aviation, in a statement signed by the Head of Press and Public Affairs, Odutayo Oluseyi announced the approval on Friday.
The decision aims to honour prominent Nigerians who have played important roles in the nation’s development.
The airports that have been renamed include:
1. Akure International Airport, now named after Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu
2. Benin International Airport, renamed Oba Akinzua II
3. Dutse International Airport, now known as Muhammed Nuhu Sanusi
4. Ebonyi International Airport, renamed Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo
5. Gombe International Airport, now named Brigadier Zakari Maimalari
6. Ibadan International Airport, renamed Samuel Ladoke Akintola
7. Ilorin International Airport, now known as General Tunde Abdullahi Idiagbon
8. Kaduna International Airport, renamed General Hassan Usman Katsina
9. Maiduguri International Airport, now named after President Muhammadu Buhari
10. Makurdi International Airport, renamed Joseph Sarwuan Tarka
11. Minna International Airport, now known as Mallam Abubakar Imam
12. Nasarrawa International Airport, renamed Sheikh Usman Danfodio
13. Osubi International Airport, now named Alfred Diete Spiff
14. Port Harcourt International Airport, renamed Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo
15. Yola International Airport, now known as Lamido Aliyu Mustapha Airport
The renaming of these airports serves as a recognition and appreciation of the remarkable contributions made by these individuals in various fields.
The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi, has alleged that his identity theft encounter in the United Kingdom, UK, started in Nigeria.
Naija News reports that the former governor of Anambra State made the assertion while speaking as a guest on the Parallel Facts Media Twitter Space programme held on Sunday, May 28, 2023.
Recall that Peter Obi was detained for hours, and interrogated by the immigration officials at Heathrow Airport, UK on discovering his identity was duplicated.
However, Peter Obi, during the media chat with many of his supporters, said his identity theft encounter started in Nigeria.
According to him, the incident is still under investigation by the UK government and he is now extremely careful and managing the incident hoping that nothing goes wrong.
He said, “Thank God nothing happened. I have been managing it; I have been to the UK since then and they too are investigating because when I arrived I asked them and they said they were looking into it.
“That’s all I can say for now. I am also very careful, extremely careful. I’m managing it and I am hoping nothing goes wrong.
“But it i started from here; that’s all I can tell you. It’s something that started from Nigeria. I’m being careful about it.”
A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kano State, Engr Sabo Inuwa has said the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, is welcomed to join the APC if he wishes.
Naija News reports that Inuwa’s comment comes against the sideline of Kwankwaso’s alleged meeting with the President-elect, Bola Tinubu in France recently.
A development which has stirred a lot of disagreements within both the APC and NNPP.
Recall that this platform reported on Sunday that the NNPP played down reports that its flag bearer is planning to join the APC after a meeting with Tinubu, in Paris, France.
Speaking at a press conference, on Saturday, in Abuja, NNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, Major Agbo, stated that there is no reason to worry over the meeting between the duo.
According to the NNPP, Kwankwaso is a detribalised politician with friends across political parties.
However, as gathered from the Daily Trust, Inuwa, over the weekend told pressmen that the NNPP flag bearer is free to join the APC with his party structure if he desires, but care should be taken.
Giving his reasons, the APC chieftain said the ruling party must be careful not to make the same mistake the outgoing APC government in Kano made from the formation of the party, which he said saw the sidelining of members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
He said Kwankwaso’s purported plans to collapse the NNPP structure into the APC needs further and wider consultations.
Inuwa noted that “Whichever offer NNPP wants to join APC, caution is the word here and should be gauged against actual needs of APC, particularly at the National Assembly, where it has a clear majority in both the senate (59) and 168 in the lower chamber.
“As a grassroots mobiliser, my observations are hinged on potential crises that may engulf the APC, particularly in Kano and other states upcountry where it is strongest, in the event of missteps that can be costly and destabilising to a new Asiwaju government.”
Peter Obi, the presidential flag-bearer of the Labour Party (LP) has called on Nigerians to remain resolute amidst the tensed political situation in the country.
According to Obi, he is committed to the rule of law and currently in court to reclaim his alleged stolen mandate.
“We are currently in Court, the results are unpredictable but we need to remain on course and God who sees our pains, will see us through,” Obi declared while addressing Nigerians on Twitter space anchored by Parallel Facts on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the United States of America delegation for the inauguration of the Nigerian President-elect, Bola Tinubu has arrived in the country.
According to a tweet by the official handle of the US Mission in Nigeria, the team led by US Secretary for Housing, Secretary Marcia L. Fudge touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Sunday afternoon ahead of the inauguration on Monday, May 29.
As President Muhammadu Buhari hands over the reins of the economy to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the scorecard seems overwhelmingly negative.
Key macroeconomic indicators are all in the red, with most of them far weaker than what was handed over to the outgoing regime in 2015.
From inflation figures to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and exchange rates; from the money market performance through the entire financial markets and the real sector, the story is gory.
Headline inflation rose to 22.2 per cent in April 2023, the highest in 18 years. Buhari inherited a single-digit inflation rate at 9.0 percent in June 2015, and he is set to hand over to Tinubu a second-tier double-digit inflation which is still trending up as at the time of this report.
This reflects the steady rise in prices of goods and services under Buhari occasioned by a number of wrong-headed or badly implemented policies including foreign exchange restriction on 43 items, border closure, farmers/herders clash, post-COVID supply chain bottlenecks as well as the most recent Naira redesign debacle, among others.
Consequently, the average headline inflation in the eight years of Buhari tenure rose to 14.77 per cent, up by 447 basis points from 10.3 per cent in the previous eight years, 2007 to 2014.
Of course this escalated the misery index across larger section of the citizens.
The GDP numbers through the previous eight years before Buhari took over in the second quarter of 2015 had averaged 4.8 percent.
As of the time the Buhari administration took off in the second quarter of 2015, Q2’15, the economy growth rate had slowed down to around 3.57 percent due to the oil price crises that had started a year earlier.
However, the high expectations that the economy is going to be revived quickly vanished when the new administration slumbered in setting up the cabinet and the subsequent economic management team that was expected to steer the ship away from the troubled waters.
Consequently, this lethargy littered the entire spectrum of the subsequent years, bringing the GDP numbers to one of the worst in history recording two recessions and an average of 1.2 percent growth.
Tinubu is inheriting a sluggish economy.
Mirroring the steady rise in inflation under Buhari, the benchmark interest rate, the Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, rose by 500 basis points, bpts, to 18 per cent in March 2023, as the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, moved to curb inflation.
Consequently, the maximum interest rate rose by 137 bpts to 28.08 per cent at the end of March 2023, from 26.71 per cent at the end of 2015. The Prime Lending rate, however, dropped by 295 bpts to 13.9 per cent from 16.85 per cent.
Tinubu is inheriting a high cost economic environment.
In the eight years of Buhari, the naira depreciated by 245 per cent and 135 per cent in the parallel market and in the official market respectively.
While the official exchange rate rose to N465.13 per dollar on May 17, 2023, from N198 per dollar on May 31, 2015, the parallel market exchange rate rose to N748 per dollar on May 17, 2023 from N217 per dollar on May 31, 2015.
Consequently, the premium between the two exchange rates widened to N279.87 on May 16, 2023, from N19 on May 31, 2015, the widest in the history of the country’s foreign exchange market.
Notwithstanding the decline in net foreign exchange, the nation’s external reserves rose to $35.19 billion at the end of May 16, 2023 from $28.28 billion at the end of 2015, translating to an increase of 24 per cent during the eight years period.
However, discounted for the $30.97 billion increase in external debt during this period, the external reserves will decline to $4.22 billion, hence a decline of 85 per cent in the eight years of Buhari.
How Buhari’s deficit budgeting hands fiscal albatross to Tinubu
The deficit budgeting strategy of the administration of the out-going President has created a fiscal albatross for the incoming administration.
The Federal Government deficit in 2016 was slightly above N2 trillion, but this has risen to over N12 trillion in the current fiscal year.
This follows a consistent pattern of weak revenue generation at the backdrop of propensity to spend more than earnings.
With poor revenue records and expansionary budget outlays, Buhari has consistently borrowed to fund the government budgets since assumption of office.
The National Assembly has also encouraged the borrowing to fund budget deficit from both domestic and external sources.
By 2015, out of the $65.428 billion public debt of the nation, the Federal Government debt was $44.857 billion or N8. 836 trillion
It consisted of $10.718 billion external debt while domestic debt was N8.836 trillion.
But as of December 2022, the total public debt stock of the nation had risen to $103.110 billion or N46.250 trillion.
Analysis of the detailed debt stock as of last year end shows that the external debt stood at $41.694 billion or N16.703 trillion while states and the Federal Capital Territory external debt stood at $4.456 billion.
At $61.415 billion or N 27.548 trillion, domestic debt accounted for 59.56 percent of the total debt stock. Out of that figure the Federal Government owed $ 49.515 billion or N22.210 trillion while states and the FCT owed $11.900 billion or N5.337 trillion.
Tinubu inherits tottering capital market
Resilience
Elsewhere across the entire financial sector, the story is almost the same, except for some resilience in the capital market.
In the negative principally is the exit of foreign investors in the capital market responding to the adverse macroeconomic and policy environment.
Foreign investors’ participation which hitherto accounted for more than 60 per cent of transactions in the Nigerian stock market went south between May 2015 and 2023.
But the secondary market for equities defied these realities and surged by 52.8 per cent.
The NGX under Buhari administration, is, therefore, marked by significant periods of highs and lows.
When the President took over office in 2015, the market capitalization of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), formerly the Nigerian Stock Exchange, was N16.88 trillion (equities 69.1% or N11.66trn, bonds and others 30.9%).
By May 16, 2023, the market capitalization had risen to N60.05 trillion comprising equities (N28.523trn), bonds (N22.390trn) and Exchange Traded Fund, ETF (N9.137bn).
Notwithstanding this increase, the ratio of equities market capitalization to GDP remains paltry at about 15 percent, an indication that the capital market is not really integrated with the economy.
Also, the main performance indicator of the NGX, the All Share Index (ASI), advanced to 52,419.33 points from 34,310.37 points, representing a 52.8 percent increase.
However, the positive scores in the capital market in the past eight years include few new listings in the exchange.
2019, particularly, saw the listing of blue chip companies. As one of the settlement terms with the Federal Government for infraction, MTN was compelled to list on NGX. The listing encouraged Airtel Africa, another telecoms giant, to also list, thereby shooting up the market capitalization of equities to over N19 trillion. Prior to the listing of the two telecom giants, Notore Chemicals had listed in 2018. Since then, other major companies, including Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO), BUA Cement, BUA Foods and Geregu Power, the first energy company to access the stock market, were listed.
Under the Buhari administration, several elite products were introduced in an effort to deepen the market.
More so, the Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) segment of the capital market was revived and the products are now traded on the stock exchange. More Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and recently launched Exchange Traded Derivatives have emerged in the Nigerian capital market. With the rollout of Exchange Traded Derivatives, a critical financial market infrastructure, called Central Counterparty (CCP) for clearing, settlement and delivery, was set up by NGX and the FMDQ Securities Exchange.
In 2015, three new indices were launched, including the Premium Board Index, Pension Index and the Main Board Index.
During the eight years of Buhari, foreign investors’ confidence in the market took a nosedive. When he took office in 2015, foreign investors’ participation at NGX was 54%. But by the end of 2022, their participation, fuelled by foreign exchange (forex) scarcity and capital controls by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had fallen to 17 percent. This has kept many foreign investments trapped in Nigeria.
While there have been a number of new listings, the spate of delisting outweighed the former. While there were a total of seven new companies got listed, not less than 40 companies exited the market either through regulatory or voluntary delisting.
Since the 2008/2009 capital market crash, the primary market for equities has been dormant. Eight years of the Buhari administration failed to revive the primary market for equities. Other than the PO by MTN, there was practically no other equities public offering throughout the eight years of the President’s tenure.
Weak insurance sector
At the inception of the Buhari administration in 2015, the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, the regulatory body for insurance practice in the country, in collaboration with insurance operators, had set out to achieve some targets in the course of the administration.
The set targets include the insurance sector hitting a trillion naira mark in Gross Premium Written, GPW; enforcement of compulsory insurance; eradication of fake insurance; recapitalisation of underwriting firms; passage of the Consolidated Insurance Bill; regular payment of group life premium for civil servants; increase of third party motor insurance premium, etc.
However, the combined effects of adverse macroeconomic environment and rising poverty diminished the results of the efforts by both the sector regulators and operators.
In 2015, total industry Gross Premium Written, GPW, was N289 billion and, according to NAICOM, the GPW is highly inadequate to underwrite huge ticket risks such as oil & gas and aviation. The Commission, therefore, set out modalities to achieve one trillion GPW in the course of the administration.
However, by December 2022, industry GPW stood at N532.7 billion, a far cry from the N1 trillion projection.
NAICOM, in collaboration with industry operators, had put the machinery in place to enforce the compulsory insurances.
Insurance operators worry that insurance penetration will continue to be low if they remain within comfort zones without expanding the business to the nooks and crannies of the country.
Unfortunately, as this administration winds down, enforcement of the compulsory insurance policies is still a far cry from expectation.
According to experts, the insurance sector loses over N60 billion to fake insurance racketeers annually.
Although NAICOM has taken some steps to curb the spread of fake insurance policies, the menace persists albeit on a declining scale.
Before the administration came, the Consolidated Insurance Bill had been awaiting passage in the National Assembly.
In the course of the administration, the Bill continued to gather dust even as the sector made series of efforts to fast-track its passage.
The Bill is aimed to make insurance practice conform to the ideals of contemporary insurance practice as well as align the insurance sector with the powers of other financial regulators in the country.
Unfortunately, the Buhari administration did not do justice to the Bill.
On the positive note, the administration inherited non-payment of premium for compulsory group life for Federal Government workers from the previous administration.
The implication was that many government workers died in active service with no compensation from the group life insurance scheme, except where the government decides to pay compensation from its treasury.
The development elicited outcry from insurance stakeholders as they called on government to give more attention to group life insurance scheme, stressing that the scheme remains one of the ways the government can cater for workers’ risk liabilities.
However, the administration resumed payment of group life premium for civil servants.
Accordingly, the administration on annual basis pays premium of N5.4 billion for the group life cover.
The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says he visited the outgoing President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), last week and left the place so discouraged “that I need time to encourage myself in the Lord, my God.”
He explained that the discouragement he felt was the reason he turned down an invitation by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to inaugurate a road in Kaduna State.
The cleric and politician, during a webinar on Saturday, said he was putting the record straight, emphasising, “I didn’t go, I wasn’t there.”
He said this before delivering his speech on the Zoom programme titled ‘Building the New Nigeria: The Role of the Diaspora’ organised by the PTB4Nigeria In Diaspora Group.
“They wanted me to come and commission some road in Kaduna with my name written boldly on it. I see the road here, Isa Kaita Road, and they wrote on it (that) it was commissioned by Pastor Tunde Bakare on Friday, May 26, 2023. I wanted to share with you that I didn’t go, I wasn’t there,” Bakare said.
He read out a message he sent to El-Rufai through WhatsApp on Thursday explaining why he would not make it to the programme.
“Good morning, hope you had a good night’s rest. Sorry, I missed your call, I slept late last night, so I just got home. I would like to sincerely appeal to you to please release me from commissioning any road tomorrow (Friday).
“I’m so discouraged after I met with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), last night. I need time to encourage myself in the Lord my God.
“I’m not in the mood to discuss the cumulative effect of the past 13 years on me (2010 to 2013).
“I thank God for sparing my life and seeing me through it all. My confidence is in God alone and by his grace I will surely bounce back, and by his intervention, whichever way, Nigeria will still work in my lifetime,” he said.
He said he truly appreciated the invitation, “though last minute, to commission one of the many roads constructed in Kaduna during your tenure as governor.”
He said El-Rufai responded by saying “Na wa o, my Oga, what has he done to push you even to this state of mind? I’m sorry, sir, I understand if you’re unable to make it, we’re all struggling with the heartbreak of PMB.”
Bakare said he was not disappointed at all. “I know what God has said,” he added.
El-Rufai invited several dignitaries to inaugurate various infrastructure projects as part of the Urban Renewal Programme of his administration, on Friday.
The PUNCH reports that the former governor of Kano State, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Friday, inaugurated the new Ungwan Rimi Market and other roads in Kaduna.
Former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Bisi Akande, also inaugurated the expanded Bida Road.
Ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, who inaugurated the Raba link road, said the project was for the good and progress of the Kaduna people.
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A Senior Pastor of Awaiting the Second Coming Of Christ Ministry, Pastor Adewale Giwa, on Sunday, prayed for Nigeria not to witness another Buhari government, saying the outgoing government failed woefully in every sector.
Giwa who stated this on Sunday, while praying for the incoming government said Nigerians will not forget in a hurry what they went through under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The cleric likened the Buhari administration to another era of Sani Abacha, noting that eight years of Buhari has been characterised by marginalisation, nepotism persecution and killings across the country.
He called on Nigerians to pray for the incoming government of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, urging them to pray against moving from the frying pan into the fire.
“We must not move out of a house infested with ants into one infested with rats. Nigerians must pray and cry to God for divine mercy. It is only God that can turn the negative situation to a positive one.
“It is not an understatement to say that Nigerians went through hell under President Buhari’s eight years tenure.
“We all still remember what the late Sani Abacha did to Nigerians, the same way we will not forget in a hurry what we passed through in the hands of President Buhari.
“We have no power to punish Buhari and those who worked with him, but we can only ask God to forgive them and reward them accordingly.
He noted that the Buhari administration failed in its three pronged areas of security, corruption and the economy, and said that Buhari served Nigerians bitter pills in place of dividends of democracy he promised during his campaigns.
The cleric lamented over the state of hopelessness in the land and prayed that the country would not travel another miserable path as Tinubu would be inaugurated as the nation’s president on Monday (today).
“I am sure his conscience will continue to bother Buhari anywhere he is. President Buhari and those who served under the outgoing government have failed Nigerians and we pray this period never returned.
“Let us pray for the incoming government that God will support it and give it the Grace to do the right thing. He has a lot of plans, we just pray that all those plans will materialize and its impact on the people will be positive.
“He has promised to fix Nigeria and I just pray he will be able to do all those things he has in his mind to achieve,” Giwa stated.
Peter Obi, the flag-bearer of the Labour Party (LP), has said he would not be deterred by the inauguration of Nigeria’s President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu is expected to be sworn in as Commander-in-Chief and the 6th democratically elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on Monday, May 29.
While fielding questions on a Twitter space monitored by TRIBUNE ONLINE on Sunday, Obi said he is currently in Court to challenge the process that produced Tinubu as winner of the February 25 presidential poll.
According to him, he would not back down in the fight to secure “his mandate”.
“What we have done in the past one year is not the end.
“It is not the beginning or the last chapter. I assure you, what will happen tomorrow (Tinubu’s inauguration) will strengthen me and not dampen me,” he said.
The outgoing governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, on Sunday handed over to the incoming governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
The event took place at the Old Banquet Hall of Government House, Makurdi.
In his speech, Ortom said his administration was handing over N187bn debt which makes up of salary arrears, loan, contractual obligations and others.
The outgoing governor, who gave summary of contents in his handover note, said a total of N734.9bn acrued to the state through out his eight years.
He added that the expenditure gulped N735.6bn, admitting that debt situation of the state was on a high side.
He said, “This handover note contained not only structure but activities of my eight years administration. It has sectoral briefs of the agencies, ministry and departments.
“It contains three volumes; volume one is handover of all MDAs, volume two comprises policy document of my administration, (the Benue development plan) the part b is the comprehensive briefs submitted by ministries and agencies and part three contains highlightes of debt profile and pension.
“The revenue and income from all sources; federation account, Value Added Tax, grants, loans and others stand at N734.9bn as at the end of April while the expenditure stands at N735.6bn as at the end of April.
“The indebtedness of the state, which comprises salary arrears, pension, contractual obligations and others, is N187bn.”
The outgoing governor said, “The debt situation of the state might appear on the high side but government has taken significant steps to reduce this through debt swap with the Federal Government.”
Ortom informed the incoming governor to make use of the opportunities of funds that will soon be available to him, such as backlog of stamp duty and N61bn loan facilities from the Central Bank of Nigeria for a smooth take-off.
In his brief remarks, the incoming governor appreciated Ortom for the handover.
Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, has said the permanent secretary, directors and staff are the key to his success.
Abubakar spoke while responding to remarks from the Permanent Secretary, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, directors and others during a valedictory session at the ministry in Abuja.
Abubakar was deployed to Federal Ministry of Agriculture from Federal Ministry of Environment on September 1, 2021, following the sack of the minister, Alhaji Sabo Nanono.
“I started working with the minister of state, and discovered him to be a ‘gentle giant’. The relationship was almost immediate. We discuss ministry issues, Nigeria matters, including the world. “Our relationship is delicious.
“I have worked with three permanent secretaries, and among the three, Umakhihe is more straightforward, he can be stubborn, he is knowledgeable about his work, and protective of the directors and staff. We have built a relationship.
“Here, I found people that are diligent, willing to go the extra mile, believe in their work, and I did not find the assignment a stressful one.”
Earlier, Umakhihe noted the minister had been a man of discipline and focus, and had achieved greatly within two years of being deployed to the ministry.
He said: “… when you were posted here on September 1, 2021, my colleague in the Federal Ministry of Environment said you are a good man. Really I saw another humble personality.
“He has been the most gender sensitive minister and because of his inclusivity the ministry has received a lot of awards on this gender issue.”
On the minister of state, he said: “He is a gentleman and in my mind I christened him as ‘gentle giant’… This is the minister that is so passionate about this country on how this country can develop.”