The Minister of Works, David Umahi on Monday claimed that the National Assembly withheld N650 million met for road projects in the country.
According to Umahi, the projects were almost completed but the lack of funds is keeping the contractors on site.
The former governor of Ebonyi State during a press conference called on the lawmakers to release funds.
He further stated that the way Nigeria’s budgetary allocation was designed is not encouraging for contractors to complete road projects.
The minister noted that the release of funds to contractors on an annual basis made road projects linger as in most cases.
He said, “When you give a contractor N150m a year for N600m road project, he’ll pocket it while mobilising to the site without doing anything on the ground. When confronted, he’ll say he’s yet to get the material he requested for outside the country as the money was not enough.”
He encouraged Nigerians to plant cash crops across road corridors to prevent kidnappings.
Umahi said, “Nigerians must get value for their taxes, the road is everything, where we are having kidnapping is on the spot where roads are bad, we should remove the bushes and plant cash crop, it is ideal and acceptable and we should replicate it in all parts of the country. It’ll remove the kidnappings.”
Umahi said the construction of concrete roads would not be enforced on projects awarded already.
He, however, said contractors would need to give assurance that roads built with asphalt would last up to 30 years even though the concrete roads would last longer.
The Minister added, “We are not stopping asphalt works but it is not possible to be paying the job that we know will not stand for five years. Contractors hide under the funny excuse of overloading for the road not standing long.”
He said the operations of the Federal Road Management Agency would be reviewed to “ensure that any intervention in states would be done with the input of the state government to know the roads with top priority.”
The Labour Party (LP) has said it is ready for the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) to deliver its final ruling in its petition challenging President Bola Tinubu’s victory.
Naija News reported that the Presidential tribunal, on Monday, confirmed that September 6 had been chosen as the date to deliver the ruling on the petitions challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu at the 2023 presidential election.
In a statement on Monday, the Court of Appeal Registrar, Umar Bangari, confirmed the date for the much-anticipated verdict, adding that the court proceedings will be open to live broadcast by interested television stations.
Bangari stated that everything has been put in place to ensure a hitch-free delivery of the judgment in the three petitions.
He added that adequate security had been put in place and that only the invited members of political parties and the general public would be allowed into the courtroom to avoid congestion and security breaches.
Reacting to the development in a chat with Daily Trust, the LP National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, expressed optimism that the judgement would be in its favour tomorrow.
Ifoh stated that the wish of Nigerians would prevail and all the party’s prayers to the tribunal would be answered.
He said: “We are optimistic that the judgement would be in our favour and that all our prayers to the tribunal would be positive.”
Recall that the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), as well as their presidential candidates, had petitioned the tribunal seeking to nullify the election of President Tinubu the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 2023 presidential election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It would be recalled that after adopting the final written addresses of the parties involved in the suit, the five-man tribunal headed by Justice Haruna Simon Tsamani reserved judgment and said a date to deliver the verdict would be communicated to concerned parties and their lawyers.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has explained why they shunned the meeting with the Federal Government over increasing hardship and suffering across the country caused by the removal of fuel subsidy.
Naija News recalls that the NLC had refused to attend a last-minute reconciliatory meeting with FG before embarking on its two-day warning strike.
Speaking on the reason for shunning the meeting, sources in the NLC leadership told Vanguard that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong had held a media briefing where he allegedly castigated labour leaders.
This reportedly forced the NLC leaders to shun the meeting that would have been held at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Federal Secretariat.
The minister was said to have threatened the NLC leaders at his briefing, foreclosing any chance that NLC would honour the meeting.
One of the visibly angry NLC leaders told the aforementioned publication that they had to shun the meeting so as to avoid possible arrest.
His words: “We were scheduled to meet the Minister of Labour and Employment later today (yesterday), precisely by 3 pm but a few hours to the meeting, the minister called a media briefing where he castigated us and threatened us among other uncomplimentary words.
“Not that the meeting would have stopped the strike, but we intended to attend the meeting in the spirit of social dialogue. But as you are aware, the Minister of Labour, before the scheduled meeting, held a media briefing castigating and threatening us.
“You do not expect us to attend a meeting when we had been warned of a possible arrest.
“In fact, we thank the minister for putting us on notice of their plan. So, the right thing to do is to keep away from such meetings and avoid any possible arrest.
“What the minister had done was nothing short of industrial dictatorship and naked blackmail. The Federal Government had already taken decision on the proposed meeting, the minister was kind enough to hold a briefing ahead of the meeting to disclose part of the government’s decision.
‘’Well, like I said earlier, the strike goes ahead as planned. After Wednesday, we will determine what next steps to follow. The NEC’s communiqué was loud enough. We cannot continue as if we are living in a different country from our political leaders and their cronies.
‘’You cannot continue to beat us and say we should not cry. Everywhere you go in every part of the country; people are complaining of hardship and suffering without concrete efforts by government to lessen our pains. Instead, the government is unleashing more policies to send us to untimely death.”
Federal Workers Forum (FWF) has vowed to shut down Federal Secretariats across the country ahead of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), two-day warning strike.
The National Coordinator of FWF and former Trade Union Congress (TUC) Chairman, Oyo State Chapter, Andrew Emelieze disclosed this in a statement released on Monday.
The statement read, “We at the Federal Workers Forum are in full support of the call by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for a two-day national warning strike from Tuesday 5th to 6th September 2023 over issues of government insensitivity to the plight of workers and the citizenry at large.
“As federal workers, we are also badly affected by the economic crisis visited on Nigerians as a result of the hike in the pump price of petrol, all in the name of subsidy removal.
“We had earlier written to the federal government to adjust our wages automatically in line with the existing economic realities but that has fallen on deaf ears.
“It is over three months now that fuel subsidy had been removed and fuel has equally been increased twice by over 300%, with a price shift from ₦187 to over ₦620 but salaries have remained the same. Federal workers within this period have gone through excruciatingly tough times. It has been stories of mass suffering and life has been made almost meaningless to the federal workers.
“Everything has been nauseating and hunger is now a way of life among the federal workers. As a matter of fact, federal workers have been financially embarrassed as against the provisions of the general order of the federal civil service rules and regulations.
“Federal government workers are no slaves, we therefore query this pathetic situation and call on all federal workers to ensure that the two-day warning strike is successful.
“We call on the federal workers to ensure that all federal government Secretariat across the federation is shut down during the strike period. Workers are to also ensure that every other government office, department and agency is shut down nationwide.
“We call on all industrial unions, organising federal workers to comply with the directives of the NLC.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) is also called upon to ensure the success of this strike action.
“We urge the federal government to meet up with the demands of labour.
“We demand also that the government pay up all outstanding arrears of salaries, promotions, duty tour allowances (DTA) owed the federal workers and particular attention to the arrears of salaries of federal university workers in Nigeria.
“Henceforth, federal workers will no longer tolerate any oppression of federal workers anywhere and we shall not hesitate to join any workers group in solidarity strike when oppression is noticed; our attention here is drawn to the plight of our colleagues in the federal universities.
“We equally call on the NLC to pursue this struggle to a logical conclusion and stop this mass cheating of workers. The NLC must not disappoint Nigerians, the labour movement has our collective support.”
Popular human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has expressed concern about the attention the expected verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal is generating from Nigerians.
The lawyer stated that no election petition has attracted such a level of blackmail and intimidation of the judiciary since the colonial days as the 2023 tribunal.
Falana however pointed out that the verdict of the tribunal is not final and all stakeholders need to remember that the Supreme Court can still overturn whatever be the presidential tribunal’s ruling.
Naija News reports the lawyer made the submission on Monday during an interview appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
In his words, “We have been having election petitions since the colonial era, but none has attracted such level of blackmail and intimidation of the judiciary.
“I am worried that people give the impression that everything ends with the judgement of the Court of Appeal, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Any party that loses on Wednesday still has the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court. So, what is the basis for the cheap blackmail that is going on?”
The senior lawyer noted that regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s tribunal ruling, the heavens won’t fall and the judges must not be intimidated.
“As they say, even if the heavens will fall and the heavens won’t fall anyway, the judges must not be intimidated, they must give their decision regardless of blackmail or intimidations convinced that they can justify their judgment.
“That is what is required of them, to examine the evidence, apply the law and deliver a decision. One way or the other, some will lose, some will win; but those who lose in the case and are aggrieved will have another opportunity to approach the Supreme Court and demonstrate how the Court of Appeal has erred,” Falana submitted.
It would be recalled that the Court of Appeal on Monday confirmed that it will deliver judgement on the presidential election petitions on Wednesday, 6th September, 2023.
Former Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has warned the judiciary not to truncate the electoral process as it delivers judgment on the Presidential Election Petition.
Naija News reports that the elder statesman, while speaking during a state-of-the-nation press conference in Lagos on Monday, said the judiciary should never go through the route of announcing any of the 2023 presidential candidates as the winner.
Bode George said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) procedure was faulty; therefore, the judiciary should order a rerun.
He noted that pronouncing any of the candidates as President would redefine democracy in Nigeria as the government of the judiciary.
The PDP leader said, “Whoever that the tribunal eventually announces as the winner of the election, I am saying, if the judiciary pronounces anybody the President with the shambolic procedure from this election, it will be a shame on this country. The judiciary should never go through that route.
“The procedure is faulty, so they should direct the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to go back and do the election again. If it is one million times, go back and do the election. You see now that there is peace in Kenya because the Supreme Court said go back and do the election.
“Otherwise, if they pronounce Mr A or Mr B as the winner of that shambolic election, then democracy in Nigeria would be redefined as the government of the judiciary, for the judiciary and by the judiciary. Is that a democracy?”
Bode George also took a swipe at the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu‘s administration, saying it is hurting Nigerians.
He faulted the Federal Government’s method in the distribution of N5 billion palliatives to Nigerians, describing it as voodoo economics.
He said, “There is no individual in this globe called earth that knows it all. Who is the Chief Economic Adviser in the Villa? Is he a voodoo economist? Is he a medieval economist? Basic theory in economics says that when too much money is chasing a few goods, it causes hyperinflation. You gave N5 billion to states as palliatives, Who took that decision? Lagos has more than 22 million people, Bayelsa has about two million people and they have the same money.
“Kano with a huge population got the same with Jigawa. Is it money for the boys or money for the people? The whole world is now a global village.
“The moment Russia shut down their gas pipeline to Europe; they have all been in hell. What we are talking about here is the pain the people are passing through.
“In England too, there is pain and the people are shouting, doctors are on strike and the salary can no longer meet their daily needs. The cost of electricity has gone through the roof. But in Nigeria, what the hell are we doing here?”
The Ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives on the disposal of public property on Monday, commenced investigation into the Federal Ministry of Water Resources over its disposal of assets belonging to 12 River Basin Development Authority in 2018.
This came as the committee summoned six key agencies to appear before it to clarify the role they played in the sale of public assets at their disposal.
The invited agencies are the Nigeria Ports Authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Nigeria Customs Service, Anambra/Imo River Basin Development Authourity, Osun River Development Authourity and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
The Managing Directors of the River Basin Development Authority who showed up before the committee on Monday said the Ministry of Water Resources took charge of the disposal of the property because the agency had no governing boards in 2018.
The leadership of the RBDA also informed the committee that the ministry advertised and selected auctioneers who disposed off the assets, adding that it would in the place of the ministry to provide answers to some of the questions raised by the committee.
The Chairman of the committee and a member representing Owan Federal Constituency of Edo State, Julius Ihonbvere faulted the submissions of the MDs, stressing that the committee was left with no option but to invite the ministry.
“I want to assure you for now that we are not very satisfied and that is because you did not preside over this process. We are not satisfied with the disconnects in some of the documents; we will require that you come back after we deduce some of those documents directly from the ministry on behalf of your agencies. We will also invite the ministry to deal with us directly,” he said.
A 15-man investigative panel of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria has suspended four medical professionals from practising in the country.
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) made this known on Monday via its social media platforms.
The Medical and Dental Practitioners Investigation Panel is a court of first hearing in matters of alleged ethical misconduct that are properly brought before the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.
The panel consists of 15 members all of whom must be registered medical practitioners or dental surgeons.
The Professional Discipline (PD) department receives and processes allegations of professional misconduct against medical doctors and dental surgeons from members of the public as specified in the Standing Orders and Rules of Procedure of the MDPIP.
The Head of Department coordinates the activities of the department and serves as the secretary to the Investigation.
According to MDCN, the Medical and Dental Practitioners Investigation Panel has ordered the Interim Suspension from the Medical Profession in Nigeria, of the following registered medical practitioners: 1. Dr. Ejike Ferdinand Orji. 2. Dr. Richard Chukwujekwu Okoye. 3. Dr. Olalekan Olatise. 4. Dr. Buliaminu Adebayo Adigun.
Dr Richard Chukwujekwu Okoye is the director of the Save A Life Medical Center Limited who was said to have rejected an international offer to build a multi-billion naira medical empire in Nigeria.
Dr. Ejike Ferdinand Orji, was sentenced to one year imprisonment by Justice Adedayo Akintoye of the Lagos High court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square over negligence, causing harm and endangering the life of a 16-year-old patient.
The Medical Director of Excel Medical Centre Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos was arraigned alongside his wife, Dr(Mrs) Ifeanyinwa Grace Orji but was discharged and acquitted following an application by the Director of Public Production that the Lagos State government wishes to discontinue the case against her.
Dr Olatise Olalekan is a specialist and consultant nephrologist in Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre, and is a professional in kidney transplant and consultation services, dialysis and other medical treatments that relates to kidney disease.
Dr. Buliaminu Adebayo Adigun is a medical doctor at the Oyo Hospitals Management Board.
The above registered medical practitioners were ordered by the panel not to practise medicine in Nigeria “until the cases against them are determined by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.”
The tribunal noted that “that their suspension has been communicated to them and other relevant institutions to enforce the order.”
Farmers in Nigeria will be receiving 33,000 metric tonnes of raw granular potash, which will be used as fertilizers.
Granular potash or Potassium (K) is an essential element for plants that improves water uptake, carbohydrate storage and frost and disease resistance.
It also strengthens the standing power of cereals reducing the risk of lodging and counteracting the damaging effects of excessive nitrogen.
The decision to disburse the farm material led to the inauguration of two committees, namely logistics and blending by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari.
Kyari said it is part of the measures to address the food security emergency in the country in statement signed by the Chief Information Officer of FMAFS, Eremah Anthonia on Monday.
He said, “In a bid to address the emergency in food security, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security. Senator Abubakar Kyari, has inaugurated two committees namely logistics and blending.
“They will work out the modalities for utilizing the donated 33,000 metric tons of granular potash raw materials for subsequent distribution of the finished products to smallholder farmers to boost food and nutrition security.
“We will not rest on our oars until the cloud foisted by the high cost of food prizes is swept off the skies over Nigeria”.
The Agric Minister added that farmers need NPK fertilizer, which was the result of process of blending Urea, Limestone granules (LSG), Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Muriate of Potash (MOP).
He also noted that two of the raw materials (urea and limestone) can be found locally, while other materials were imported; the DAP is from Morocco while the Potash from Europe.
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He believes in integrity of judiciary
Spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, Ajuri Ngelale, says his principal is not worried about possible outcomes of the judgment of the presidential election tribunal.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Ngelale said Tinubu sees no need to threaten judicial officers regarding the election petition.
Earlier on Monday, the tribunal fixed September 6 to deliver judgment on the petitions challenging the victory of Tinubu in the February 25 election.
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have approached the tribunal to challenge Tinubu’s victory.
The presidential spokesperson said Tinubu is optimistic that the panel would deliver judgment based on the evidence presented.
He said the president has “confidence and faith” in the judiciary, adding that Tinubu is sure that his mandate would be affirmed.
“Unlike some political gladiators in the country, the president sees no need to threaten judicial officers,” he said.
“He sees no need to raise speculations against the integrity of judicial officers. He believes in the sanctity and integrity of the Nigerian judicial system.
“He believes the great men and women on the panel will make their decisions based only on the facts before them and not based on anything else.
“As a result of his confidence and faith in the judiciary, he believes that the mandate which Nigerians freely gave to him during the elections would stand. That is the position of the president.
“He will continue to ensure that no matter what the outcome of the judgment is, he does his part and ensures that our institutions continue to be respected, not just by him, but by all actors.
“He is not worried because he knows he won the election. We believe that we have presented the best case and the evidence is on our side.”
Some graduates of Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Edo State are currently in a state of confusion as the university has allegedly refused to issue them results since they graduated from the school in 2018.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the situation is affecting the mobilisation of the affected persons for the National Youth Service Corps.
While the school said the students might have had issues with some courses during their time in school, the affected persons claimed the school had been engaging them with promises that result backlogs would be cleared and students who were yet to be mobilised for NYSC would be settled.
While some pictures suspected to have been taken during such engagements were sighted by our correspondent, affected students said the stalemate had rendered them downtrodden and with a bleak future.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, one of the aggrieved students, Niyi Ajeboriogbon, said, “Every student has been dropping their results as against the claims made by the school spokesperson, including those who had extensions and wrote them the following year and passed all.
“For five years, we have not had our results. There is no mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps. We have engaged in dialogues with the vice chancellor and other key stakeholders in the school. There was no way forward.
“Our parents are already thinking that we didn’t go to school at all. When we met with the VC, he assured us that after five years, we would see our results. This issue is not peculiar to Political Science. I have friends in other departments that are facing similar issues.”
Another graduate, Christian Edokpolo, said, “I am frustrated and depressed. My family members are already questioning if I truly attended the school. My life is stagnant right now. I cannot get a job just because I am waiting for my results. We do not understand what is ongoing. What is the problem with our set? Is this not sheer wickedness?
“We have met with these people, yet nothing has come out of it. We do not owe school fees. Even some people they claimed had carryovers in some courses have cleared everything. We need concerned Nigerians to help us.”
Reacting, the institution’s Head of Corporate Communications and Protocol, Mike Aladenika, claimed the students affected had some outstanding courses they needed to clear, hence the reason for the results and mobilisation issues.
“If you had graduated and done all you were asked to do while you were a student, you would not have problems with your results. Some of the students who did not take cognisance of the deficiencies they had with their courses are the ones facing these challenges,” he said.
But when he was asked why the management was having meetings and promising the affected persons of the clearing backlog of results, Aladenika simply said, “If the issues were university challenges, graduates of other departments should be having similar challenges.”
The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was absent at a meeting called by the federal government to avert the planned two-day warning strike by the union.
TheCable understands only Festus Osifo, president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), showed up for the meeting slated for 3 p.m. but started at exactly 5:32 p,m.
On September 1, Joe Ajaero, NLC president, announced that the strike would commence on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Simon Lalong, the minister of labour and employment, appealed to the NLC to suspend the proposed warning strike over the impact of petrol subsidy removal on the masses.
Lalong said such a strike would be detrimental to the gains already being recorded by the new administration.
He said the leadership of the congress should give the government more time to address the issues being raised by NLC.
“In light of these matters, I would like to reiterate my appeal to the leadership of the NLC to suspend the warning strike and subsequent future actions to allow us to work together to amicably resolve these issues rather than embark on actions that would further worsen the conditions of the citizens of Nigeria,” Lalong said.
“I would request that the comrade leadership of the NLC give this government some time to settle and address the issues on the ground holistically.
“It should be realised that the cabinet of this administration was only recently sworn in by Mr President and all cabinet members have hit the ground running by receiving briefings from their MDAs.
President Bola Tinubu has expressed his readiness to incorporate technology into public service administration.
According to a statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Tinubu spoke on Monday while receiving Andres Arroyo, vice-president of Oracle, a computer technology company, at the State House.
The president noted that technology helps to ensure that data from public institutions are accurate and transparent as well as aid accountability.
The statement said Tinubu’s enthusiasm was spurred by a collaboration between the government of Nigeria and Oracle, seeking to reform the country’s civil service and data management sector.
The president said Oracle’s proven success in the automation of the Lagos payroll system during his tenure as the governor of the state would help to ensure enhanced ease of doing business and digital innovation.
He added that it would also lead to effective identity management, efficient payroll administration, and qualitative citizen-centred service delivery
“I have tested Oracle and it has worked for our success. In Lagos State, what we did in effective collaboration with you, has been copied across the states of the Federation,” the statement quoted Tinubu as saying.
“We can only build our institutions with accurate data and cutting-edge data management capabilities that are reliable and effective. We can only rely upon our human resources for excellent service delivery to Nigerians if they are well-trained and ready to learn.
“The transfer of knowledge is essential for our nation and the continent. In this government, we believe that the only way to build our country is a bottom-up approach and from one single sheet of paper, we can create an end-to-end solution for public administration that will rid our service of its worst tendencies in favour of effectiveness and reliability.”
The president also expressed concern about the country’s “bloated” civil service payroll at the national and sub-national levels, noting that the wage bill consumes a large proportion of the country’s revenue.
“Each time they give me the payroll number, I get so frightened. Where am I going to get the capital to develop the infrastructure we desperately require if the payroll of 1% – 2% of the population is consuming all the revenue?” the statement quoted Tinubu as saying.
“I think we need a tight technological control that can check and balance all necessary control points of our transaction processes. I’m looking forward to working with Oracle because I have the belief and confidence that you can do it as you have in the past.”
On his part, Arroyo, Oracle’s vice president, applauded Tinubu for putting the interest of Nigerians at the forefront of the collaboration.
He assured that the partnership would ensure a smoother operation of the country’s affairs while achieving macroeconomic visibility.