President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, tasked the Federal Executive Council (FEC) with a marching order to roll out actions aimed at the revival of the economy and make life more bearable for the people.

He gave the charge to his ministers while presiding over his administration’s maiden FEC meeting, held at the Council Chambers of the State House, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Delivering his inaugural address to his 45 ministers, President Tinubu noted the urgency in the task before the administration as very enormous; requiring that all those charged with responsibilities must put in their best.

He noted that the administration’s priority areas had been set out in its economic programmes and tasked them to be prepared not to fail as there is no impossibility in the dictionary of service to the people, adding that failure would not be explained away under his watch.

“We must find a home-grown re-engineering of our finances, manage our resources and let the economy work for the people of this country. There are so many things some cynics will say are impossible, but in your dictionary of service, everything is possible and must be possible. We have the talents; we have the level of intellectual capacity to turn this country around.”

He assured the ministers that he would be willing to listen to their concerns, saying: “I am ready to listen. Like I said to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Sunday, I am ready even for corrections, only God is perfect. Don’t be afraid to make decisions. That’s the burden of leadership. I know some of you are still looking for offices. I believe the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief of Staff (CoS), and Head of Service of the Federation (HOSOF) will work as a team to settle you down quickly.”

Addressing newsmen at the post-FEC briefing, the ministers explained that the meeting centred around the plans of the administration to revive the economy.

Five ministers, including those of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun; Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Ali Pate; Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari; and that of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Anite; as well as the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, attended the briefing.

Edun said the Council agreed that the economy is not where it ought to be. He also said that FEC examined eight priority areas and identified targets to deliver in the next three years, adding that the President charged them to roll out policies and programmes to turn the economy around.

“Essentially, we went through an exercise of looking at where things stood regarding the economy, growth rate, exchange rate, inflation, unemployment and so on.

“The overriding conclusion is that we’re not where we should be and we also examined the President’s eight-point agenda, that is the eight priority areas for moving the Nigerian economy forward and for delivering to Nigerians and those are basically food security; ending poverty; economic growth and job creation; access to capital, particularly consumer credit; inclusivity in all its dimensions as regards youths and women; improving security; improving the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate; rule of law, and of course, fighting corruption.

“It is around those matrix that the plans and targets of what will be delivered in the next three years or so were identified, discussed and inputs were given by various ministers and we went away with the marching order to refine further the targets in particular and within weeks to start rolling out policies and programmes to turn around the economy and make things better for all Nigerians.”

Describing the situation with the economy inherited by the new administration, Edun said the Tinubu administration inherited a bad economy with an unacceptable high rate of unemployment, and with inflation standing at 24 per cent.

“Per capita has fallen steadily, inflation is at 24 per cent, unemployment is high, you know they are rebasing the way in which it’s calculated. Either way, it is high and youth unemployment is even unacceptably high, these are the key metrics that we have met,” he said.

He also said the Federal Government is not in a position to borrow money at this time, adding that emphasis is on how to create a macroeconomic environment where both local and foreign investors will invest and increase production.

“So, that is the plan. The expectation is that there will not be a reliance on borrowing. Rather, as revenues increase, as the benefit of removing fuel subsidy and the subsidy on the exchange rate, there will be more money for the government at all levels.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Anite, said the President plans to create 50 million jobs.

“In Mr President’s manifesto during his campaigns, he promised 50 million jobs and that’s our target. We will take it in phases; we are looking at different sectors of the economy that will contribute to this job creation, chief among them is the creative industry and the digital economy, and then the agric sector, agro-processing zones, and mining, oil and gas. So we’re very confident that we will achieve this,” she said.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu has directed the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to freeze the processing of visas for all government officials seeking to travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) without proof of direct participation in UNGA’s official schedule of activities.

The President’s directive is part of a broader effort to reduce the cost of governance in Nigeria. To prevent any sharp practice in this regard, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria is accordingly guided on official visa processing while Nigeria’s Permanent Mission in New York is further directed to prevent and stop the accreditation of any government official who is not placed on the protocol lists forwarded by the approving authority.

By this directive, all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies are mandated to ensure that all officials, who are approved for inclusion in the UNGA delegation, strictly limit the number of aides and associated staff partaking in the event. Where excesses or anomalies in this regard are identified, they will be removed during the final verification process.

The President further affirmed that, henceforth, government officials and government expenditure must reflect the prudence and sacrifice being made by well-meaning Nigerians across the nation.

HOWEVER, in spite of seeming measures by the administration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said “Nigeria is asphyxiating, in dire straits and fast grinding to a halt under the leadership of President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

The opposition party lamented that Nigeria is at the edge of the precipice because the Tinubu administration “lacks the acceptability and followership of citizens,” a situation the party noted has created an atmosphere and feeling of absence of governance in the country.

In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, PDP said it was alarmed that “there is a serious disconnection between the government and citizens arising from ill-planned and hasty implementation of policies that have brought excruciating hardship, horrifying insecurity and a general sense of apprehension that is already threatening the peace, unity and corporate existence of our nation.

“The administration’s lack of ingenuity, tact and sensitivity towards the wellbeing of Nigerians in the removal of subsidy and floating of the Naira inflamed unbearable high cost of living, crippled our national productivity, crashed millions of businesses and sparked massive job loss with attendant escalated poverty, hunger, insecurity and hopelessness across the country.

“The situation has snowballed into a dangerous loss of investors’ confidence with international companies exiting our nation and leaving millions of Nigerians stranded in the labour market with a crippling effect on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which are the real drivers of our national economy.

“The APC government continues to tout their fraud-prone palliative programme of miserable average 1,200 bags of rice to Nigerians in each state of the country. APC has expanded its capacity to deceive and defraud Nigerians through phony programmes, a situation that has heightened frustration across the country.”

The PDP added that it was distressing that the ruling party had turned a blind eye to the plight of Nigerians with no concrete commitment towards the safety of lives “despite the killing of over 500 Nigerians in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kaduna and other states, with many more abducted since May 29, 2023.

“The failure of the APC government to decisively act since the abduction of eight corps members who were on their way to Sokoto for their one-year mandatory national service is another ugly testament of the APC government insensitivity towards the security, safety and wellbeing of citizens.

“More disturbing is the recent downing of a Nigerian military aircraft with attendant loss of lives of our brave and gallant military personnel without corresponding reassuring statement from the APC government.

“Instead of protecting Nigerians, the APC government is desperate to plunge our nation into a needless war in Niger Republic over a conflict in that nation that does not constitute any threat whatsoever to our national interest,” PDP lamented.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday, demolished a multimillion naira duplex built on plot 226, in Wuse Zone 6, an unapproved land.

This was made known by the Director, Department of Development Control, Mr Mukhtar Galadima.

Galadima said that the building was illegally developed against all warnings, adding that his team had carried out extensive investigation to ascertain the original owner of the plot, given varying claims that were being put forth by the parties.

According to him, investigation revealed that the developer was not the owner of the plot, adding,”that is why we had to remove the building.”

He said the FCT Administration will not consider the status of any defaulting developer once development rules and regulations are violated.

Galadima said: “We demolished the duplex because somebody built it on someone else’s land without valid title and building plan approval.”

“We allowed the building to this stage before demolishing it because we had to follow all due processes,” he said as quoted by NAN.

Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-Cultural Association has announced the introduction of a security outfit to assist security agencies in curbing crime, including cattle rustling, kidnapping and rural banditry.

The pan-Fulani group disclosed this in a communiqué issued at the end of its yearly general meeting and Delegates’ Conference in Nasarawa State. Miyetti Allah also appealed to the Inspector General Police (IGP) to take proactive measures to protect Fulani pastoralists across the country from tribal hordes, ethnic militias and state-sponsored vigilantes.

In the communiqué, jointly signed by the National President, Abdullahi Badejo, and National Secretary, Saleh Alhassan, the group condemned the policies of some state governors “seeking to criminalise the economic livelihoods of pastoralists through the enactment of obnoxious laws – anti-open grazing law” as the most wicked act any government can do to the economic interest of Fulani. “Pastoralists unanimously condemn and totally reject the repressive and oppressive law and called on the National Assembly to come to their rescue,” it stated.

The group added: “Delegates called for the setting up of a National Truth and Reconciliation Commission to begin the process of total conciliation and national healing process in our rural communities.

“Security agencies should commence the process of detailed documentation of the violence against pastoralists, including the collection of exhibits and all relevant information to isolate the perpetrators of violence and arrest them to ensure justice.

”Delegates condemn all forms of violence, and support the peace-loving people to embrace the spirit of brotherhood and peaceful and harmonious coexistence in our communities.”

They also condemned the profiling of the Fulani race by the media, particularly social media, and urged the press to investigate the veracity of their stories before going to press or risk legal action.

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has come under fire from the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.

Ganduje in a viral video on Monday claimed Kwankwaso supported the contentious demolition of buildings in Kano.Ganduje spoke in Hausa to some of his loyalists and party supporters from Kano State who paid a courtesy visit to the secretariat.

In the two-minute, 28-second video, Ganduje stated that President Bola Tinubu was smart enough to see through Kwankwaso’s desperation to become the next Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

He added that the random demolition of buildings approved by his administration was the only way he and his political godson (Kano governor, Abba Yusuf) could express their frustration under the guise of sanitising Kano’s master plan.

“Is it not the FCT minister position that he wanted? That was why he demolished buildings in Kano under the guise that he wanted to defend the master plan. If you ask him what the master plan is, he can’t tell you.

“All you will hear is, ‘We will reset the Kano master plan. We have promised Kano people that we will demolish houses even if they are 1,000-storey buildings.’ Look, if an illiterate person does not know he is one, he is certainly blind. That is what befell him,” Ganduje mocked.

The video clip, which has since found its way to social media, has started generating debate among supporters of both candidates.

When contacted for reaction, the NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Major Agbo, pleaded to be left out of the personal conflict between the APC national chairman and his one-time ally.

He said, “Please leave us out of the Ganduje matter. Whatever he thinks he has against Kwankwaso is their problem. It doesn’t have anything to do with the New Nigeria People’s Party.

‘‘Also, the issue of demolition in Kano is the decision of the governor. The party has no role in it.”

But the spokesperson for the NNPP Presidential Campaign Council, Ladipo Johnson, stated that Ganduje is merely seeking relevance.

“Does anyone really still listen to what Ganduje says? The fact that he is the APC national chairman doesn’t mean that he is a rational human being. That is all I have to say.

“We are not going to waste our time on somebody who is inconsequential, no matter what the APC thinks they are doing. It is as simple as that,” he noted.

Prior to the unveiling of the ministerial nominees, there were high expectations that Kwankwaso, former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and some party chieftains from the opposition would feature prominently in Tinubu’s proposed government of national unity.

While Wike and a few others were shortlisted, Kwankwaso was not.

Following reports of planned looting of palliatives kept in warehouses, the Osun State Government has beefed up security around the storage facilities.

The state had received 3,000 bags of rice from the Federal Government and is said to be awaiting 14,516 more bags of rice and 3200 MT of maize before commencing distribution of the palliatives to vulnerable residents of the state.

The palliatives were released to states as part of measures by the Federal Government to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy removal on citizens.

The Osun Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, while reacting to the reported looting of Bayelsa State warehouse disclosed that additional security measures have been put in place to safeguard warehouses holding palliative for the state.

“We have put enough security measures in place, for those that may want to take advantage of the fact that we are still expecting another consignment from the Federal Government to loot the one we have at hand. We have informed security operatives and we have built more security around the places (warehouses) to make it impossible for anybody to loot the palliatives meant for the vulnerable in the society.

“We will still update the people of the state tomorrow on development over the palliative because we heard information that some consignment will be arriving today (Monday) so when we receive it, we are going to update the people on what is going on.”

House reserves right to expose reports on rejected nominees - says Speaker

The Lagos State House of Assembly has insisted on its decision not to confirm some of the commissioner-nominees sent by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for screening and approval.

The Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, who presided over the plenary during resumption of sitting, yesterday, said the lawmakers had concluded there is no going back on the rejected nominees despite pressures from different quarters to have the decision rescinded.

The lawmakers did not give reasons for the rejection.

It would be recalled that the House had, last Wednesday, confirmed 22 out of the 39 nominees sent by Sanwo-Olu and rejected 17.

According to Obasa, the confirmation of the 22 nominees followed a rigorous and detailed screening by an ad-hoc committee led by the Chief Whip of the House, Fatai Mojeed.

The Speaker commended the committee for its effectiveness and urged the confirmed nominees to always remember that they are in office to serve the people of the state and not individuals.

Obasa had maintained the lawmakers would continue to do their job, including their oversight functions, adding that the Assembly reserves the right to expose screening reports of the committee on the 17 rejected commissioner-nominees.

He warned those planning protests and sponsoring media articles to desist, saying the House would not be threatened over the issue.

Obasa said it was unfortunate that whenever the House refuses to be a ‘rubber stamp’ to a governor’s request, it would be interpreted that the lawmakers were fighting the governor.

“If anybody wishes to know the reasons for the decision, they should approach the House. However, we will not be forced to spill our observations,” he said.

Nigerian black-market speculators have defied the orders of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as they buy and sell the dollars far above the spread given to them in the new foreign exchange rule governing the Bureau de Change segment of the forex market.

Data gathered across different BDC markets in Abuja and Lagos showed that the naira traded between N915 to N920 per dollar depending on the seller.

The amount is far higher than the N772.12 traded at the Investors’ and Exporters’ Forex Window, renamed, the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market.

The prices across the two different forex segments are in defiance of the rules set by the Nigerian apex bank on August 17 which prohibit the BDCs from selling or buying dollars above -2.5 per cent or +2.5 per cent of the NAFEM.

The apex bank said, “In support of the drive to improve the efficiency of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, the Central Bank of Nigeria hereby announces the underlisted operational mechanism for the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market:

“The spread on buying and selling by BDC Operators shall be within an allowable limit of – 2.5 per cent to +2.5 per cent of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange market window weighted average rate of the previous day.”

The weighted average for the rate traded at the NAFEM is N772.965 per dollar as of the close of trade on Monday.

Going by the CBN operational mechanism for BDCs, the operators in the segment are supposed to exchange the naira at N792.28 per dollar.

However, the speculators are exchanging the currency at a 19 per cent spread as against the 2.5 per cent directed by the apex bank.

At least each speculator enjoys N147 to N142 arbitrage, THE WHISTLER can report.

Before the CBN came up with the policy, the naira had traded as high as N955, triggering concerns and doubts about the ability of the CBN to operate a managed float which it introduced on July 14.

JP Morgan Chase & Co in the past week released a report further exposing Nigeria’s vulnerability to Forex shock.

JP Morgan said the net reserves of Africa’s biggest economy fell to $3.7bn in 2022 from $14bn in 2021, a revelation that induced panic in the market.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has apprehended five individuals over allegations of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme using counterfeit letterheads from the Offices of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice.

The suspects are accused of exploiting these forged documents to unlawfully solicit funds from unsuspecting individuals.

In a statement released on Monday, EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren provided details of the arrest, which occurred on August 24, 2023. The suspects have been identified as Yakubu Mohammed, Bashir Ladan, Adamu Ibrahim, Steven Anom, and Mohammed Bello.

According to the EFCC, the suspects purportedly collaborated to fabricate imitation employment and recommendation letters, utilizing the falsified letterheads, and charging fees from unsuspecting victims.

First Bank of Nigeria has admitted that N68m belonging to Italy-based customer, Glory Omokaro was withdrawn from her account.

The bank admitted the fraud case on Monday after the victim reported the case to the popular Radio Programme, Brekete Family.

First Bank said, “We confirm the report of fraudulent activity on the account of one of our customers. This incident has been undergoing a very robust investigation since our receipt of the customer’s complaint with the goal of holistically unearthing what transpired and addressing the challenge, including satisfying the customer. Unfortunately, this has taken longer than anticipated.

“While the investigation is ongoing, we have repaired the customer’s account given the findings so far and our view that this is the best action in consideration for our customer. We regret any inconveniences this may have caused the customer and wish to emphasize that this incident is in no way reflective of the principles and ethics of our time-tested operations.”

Omokaro had traveled to Italy in 2005. She returned in 2013 to visit her family and opened a savings account with First Bank at the Ring Road Branch in Benin City, Edo State.

When she traveled back to Italy, where she was based, Omokaro deposited money into the First Bank accounts and was allegedly in touch with the branch manager, Mr Gabriel.

In 2018, during another visit to Nigeria, the victim subscribed to the bank application to enable her to track her transactions from Italy.

She also applied for a debit card, which she used to perform transactions during her stay. When she returned to Italy, Glory said her account was not tampered with until 2021, when her ATM allegedly expired.

Glory contacted the same bank manager, Gabriel, to help renew her debit card. According to her, the manager gave her the option of sending someone or coming in person to renew the card.

Glory said due to Covid-19 restrictions, she could not return. However, she returned in May 2023 and visited the bank branch to withdraw and also renew her card.

She was told in the bank that she had no money in her account with the bank.

“I met customer care and I was told that I only have N3,000 in my account and not N68m,” Peter Uvieruve, who spoke for the victim said.

She said she requested for the bank statement but the bank declined to release the statement to her.

She however, requested for the statement through a lawyer who wrote the bank. “The statement was released one week later,” Peter said.

“We discovered that on 13, October 2022, they moved N51.7m out of the account. They returned the money. We suspected that they were checking if she would complain. But she did not notice. After 24 days around November 2022, they withdrew three times from the account. The first was N9m, then N5m, N2m and another N2m until it was left with N3,000.

“We contacted, EFCC said they were only after Yahoo boys for now. We contacted the DSS and they declined. The lawyer also started behaving as though he was compromised,” he said.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, yesterday, declared that Nigeria was in a difficult economic situation. Shettima charged members of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms to develop a robust roadmap that would transform the economy and take the country out of the woods.

The vice president gave the advice, when he received in audience members of the committee led by the chairman, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, at State House, Abuja.

Shettima told the committee, “The task before you is enormous, I believe you have the best brains to come up with a robust roadmap that will reposition our economy, addressing some of the fundamental issues underlying our fiscal and tax policies. Fiscal and tax policies are key to the realisation of any nation’s economic development.

“I believe you will come up with a roadmap to salvage our nation, we are in a big mess, but I have confidence in your team. This is a great nation chained by poor governance, chained by many challenges and my principal is a man of courage and conviction, he is a progressive man in the Nigerian political space.”

The vice president noted that fiscal policy and tax reforms were a potent tool for resource mobilisation. He charged the committee to make recommendations that would be quick deliverables in view of the current economic realities.

While assuring the committee of the National Economic Council’s cooperation, Shettima said, “Our focus should largely dwell on domestic resource mobilisation, especially, with trends in the world today, even the biggest economies in the world are faced with this reality.”

Shettima said fiscal policy and tax reforms were critical in meeting national aspirations, and this was taking global dimensions, with global realignment of forces, like the emergence of BRICS and other geo-political unions.

He praised the composition of the committee, stating, “I think the composition of this committee bears testimony to the seriousness that the president attaches to your mandate. Honestly, I am proud of you. I am personally conversant with some of the members of this committee, who are men and women of impeccable character, high integrity, committed and patriotic.”

Earlier, Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Zaccheus Adedeji, revealed that the presidential committee would be interested in working with the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Shettima, “to ensure effective collaboration with the sub-national governments that are critical stakeholder groups in the task before the committee.”

Committee chairman, Oyedele, said members of the committee were “excited for this opportunity to help our country to redefine, redesign a new fiscal policy framework that is fit for our nation to thrive and deliver the Nigeria we want in order for our people to flourish in their endeavours.

“We are laser focused on our mandate as directed by Mr. President, which covers fiscal governance, revenue transformation and fiscal competitiveness and economic growth facilitation.”

He assured the vice president that the committee would engage with Nigerians both at home and abroad as well as with all segments of the society.

Oyedele also expressed the readiness of the committee to engage with sub-national governments through NEC in achieving its mandate.