President Muhammadu Buhari

Insecurity: UK to send advisors on community policing to Nigeria

admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 10:50:01 +0000

Insecurity: UK to send advisors on community policing to Nigeria

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Sunday, February 13, 2022

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Insecurity: UK to send advisors on community policing to Nigeria

The government of the United Kingdom says it will send advisors to Nigeria to share knowledge on community policing towards tackling insecurity in the West African country.

Vicky Ford, UK Minister for Africa, disclosed this in an interview with AriseNews on Sunday.

Ms Ford said: “What we know in UK and in Nigeria is that to keep civilians safe, you need to have effective, accountable, transparent community policing and that is part of the work that we would be doing through sending advisors to share experiences to help the Nigerian police forces adapt so that they will be able to respond to incidents in a more timely and more effective manner.”

She said this will also help the Nigerian police roll out community policing especially in areas that have seen conflict.

“These are areas Nigerians have identified issues that they would like help with and we can then bring in that support and share experiences,” Ms Ford said.

She said this is not the UK telling Nigeria how to do things but Nigeria identifying areas the UK can support them.

“The UK has a strategy across Africa to work with countries to form partnerships, to help create freer; safer; greener; more prosperous culture and we see Nigeria as an absolutely key partner in that,” she said.

According to Ms Ford, “Nigeria is really important for its own stability and also for the work they are doing for regional stability and security.

“Insecurity in Nigeria and West Africa also impacts security which is why we want to work with Nigeria as a trusted friend and partner,” she stated.

She said officials are already working together on issues of terrorist threats and how to share UK’s lessons on community policing to improve security across Nigeria.

Ms Ford also said the security partnership is not a financial deal when Arise correspondent asked if the intervention was paid for.

Commenting on the #EndSARS white paper issued by the Lagos State government, she noted that the white paper raised more questions than answers.

“Obviously the white paper raised lots of questions, it raised questions on the role of the federal police and that of the military and those are questions that the federal government needs to look at and address.”

She said the UK believes in the importance of transparency and accountability and would love to see that reflect.

“It is really important that civilians have the right transparency to understand when things have gone wrong, what has gone wrong and that people can be held to account if there has been situations where the police or other forces have not acted in a way that they should have,” Ms Ford said.

She added that the UK is watching closely to see that this happens.

Nigerian National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, two weeks ago, engaged his United Kingdom counterpart, Stephen Lovegrove, in a dialogue on a range of issues, including counter-terrorism, serious and organised crime, civilian policing and human rights.

Also, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, and the UK Chief of Defence Staff, Tony Radakin, held separate talks on military cooperation.

READ ALSO: Buhari approves N13.3 billion for take-off of Community Policing Initiative

According to a statement from the British High Commission, titled “Nigeria-UK hold Security and Defence Partnership Dialogue in London this week”, the dialogue, is taking place at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office headquarters at King Charles Street, London.

The three days-long dialogue was the first of its kind since both countries formed the ‘UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership’ in 2018.

The partnership signed between President Muhammadu Buhari and former British Prime Minister, Theresa May, was aimed at helping Nigeria end the Boko Haram and the Islamic States West Africa (ISWAP) insurgency that has lasted over a decade.

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Liberian President confers award on Nigerian Army officers

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 12:00:01 +0000

Liberian President confers award on Nigerian Army officers

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Liberian President confers award on Nigerian Army officers

President George Weah of Liberia has conferred award of “Distinguished Service Order of the Republic of Liberia” on some Nigerian Army senior officers at the nation’s 65th Armed Forces Celebration.

The Director, Army Public Relations Officer, Onyema Nwachukwu, a brigadier general, in a statement on Saturday, said the award was in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the Liberian Armed Forces.

Mr Nwachukwu said that the Liberian President made the presentation during the 65th Armed Forces of Liberia Day Celebration held on Friday at the Barclay Training Centre, Camp Johnson Road, Monrovia, Liberia.

He quoted President Weah as saying that the Liberian government gave the awards annually to individuals whose outstanding contribution had significantly impacted the growth and development of Liberia, its armed forces and humanity.

Mr Nwachukwu said the awardees also got a letter of commendation from the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia, Godfrey Odudigbo, for making Nigeria proud.

He said the award was conferred on the senior officers, who were seconded to the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) at different times, as part of ECOWAS Advisory Training Team.

According to him, the awardees contributed immensely to the building and restructuring of the new AFL.

“The officers who benefitted from the awards are, Col. Aminu Usman Gumel, Col. Gbenga Oyinwola, Col. Emmanuel Chukwu, Col. Ismaila Sule and Lt.-Col. Abdulkadir Abubakar.

“Other awardees were drawn from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and USA,” he said.

The army spokesperson said that Gbenga Oyinwola received the awards and letters of commendation on behalf of the recipients.

He said that Mr Oyinwola expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari and Chief of Army Staff, Faruk Yahaya, a lieutenant-general, for the opportunity to have served Nigeria in their various capacities.

“He stated further that the award will motivate the recipients to be more productive in their service to the Nigerian Army and the nation,” the spokesperson said.

(NAN)

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Electricity Regulation: Uganda is Africa’s best; Nigeria beaten by Ghana, South Africa — AfDB

admin — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 05:00:01 +0000

Electricity Regulation: Uganda is Africa’s best; Nigeria beaten by Ghana, South Africa — AfDB

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Electricity Regulation: Uganda is Africa’s best; Nigeria beaten by Ghana, South…

For the fourth consecutive year, Uganda’s electricity sector is Africa’s best regulated across a number of key metrics, according to the African Development Bank’s 2021 Electricity Regulatory Index. Other strong performers include East African neighbours, Kenya and Tanzania, as well as Namibia and Egypt.

Nigeria placed 23rd on the ranking, beaten by South Africa (10th) and Ghana (17).

The 2021 Electricity Regulatory Index, an annual report, covered 43 countries, up from 36 in the previous edition, and assessed their impact on the performance of their electricity sectors. The index covered 3 countries in the North Africa region; 14 in West Africa; 6 in Central Africa; 7 in East Africa; and 13 in the Southern Africa region.

“The unprecedented participation of so many countries shows the commitment to strengthen the countries’ regulatory environment with a view to improving the performance of the respective electricity sectors,” said Kevin Kariuki, the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth.

Among the 2021 report’s key highlights are that regulatory independence is one sub-indicator where African countries have room to improve: in 93% of sampled countries, governments, and stakeholders exercise influence over regulatory authorities. In terms of regulatory substance, participating countries scored lowest on adequacy of their tariff setting and frameworks, as well as licensing frameworks when compared with best practice.

According to the report, the average performance on economic regulation has continued to decline since 2018. A third of countries surveyed indicated they lack methodologies to determine tariffs; another 40% rely on tariff methodologies that do not include key attributes such as automatic tariff adjustment and tariff indexation mechanisms and schedule for major tariff reviews.

Wale Shonibare, African Development Bank Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulation, commended the top-performing country. “Uganda topping the rankings consecutively for four years comes as no surprise to many, as the regulator spends significant time on consultation and analysis, including regulatory impact assessments of key interventions and follow-through to ensure full implementation,” he said.

Outside stakeholders also viewed the report’s results positively. Abel Didier Tella, Director General of the Association of Power Utilities of Africa, said, “It is interesting that the utilities in most of the top-performing countries in the Electricity Regulatory Index are listed on their national stock exchanges, which requires compliance with transparency in information sharing and good governance practice.”

Since its launch in 2018, the Electricity Regulatory Index has highlighted aspects of electricity regulation that need reform, identified appropriate areas for intervention, and encouraged stakeholders to be proactive in addressing challenges. Since then, the index has been widely adopted by regulators and other stakeholders across the continent as a benchmark for the regulatory environment as well as for ongoing reforms.

Walking Back

The report comes as the Nigerian government faces criticisms over its apparent decision to influence the removal of the management of the privately-run Abuja Electricity Distribution Company.

The power ministry had on Tuesday said President Muhammadu Buhari demanded a new management for the firm, in which the government holds only 40 per cent equity. The company has been enmeshed in an ownership tussle that has negatively affected its operations for years.

On Monday, workers at the firm shut down electricity facilities, throwing the federal capital, Abuja, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Niger into darkness. They accused the company of failing to remit their pension contributions and other entitlements for nearly two years.
Other officials told PREMIUM TIMES that although the company has been making such deductions from staff’s salaries, it claims it is not financially strong to pay them to pension authorities.

The government’s intervention on Monday helped halt the strike, but analysts said the government lacked the powers to remove the management as it initially announced.

“The president has no such powers,” said Sam Amadi, a former chairman of the regulatory body, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. “Even if the federal government has a 40 per cent minority share in the assets, those shares are held for it by the Bureau public Enterprises that it has a position on the (firm’s) board. So the best we can do is to use the board membership to push policies to change.

“And the fact that the federal government has the power of sovereign doesn’t change the fact that the only way you can protect public interest in the sector is through the regulation, any other action will appear like nationalising back those assets.”

The government on Wednesday walked back its earlier announcement, saying that the decision to fire the management of the AEDC was taken by the company’s lender, UBA, which it disclosed had taken over AEDC after company failed to repay its credit.

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FG may impose state of emergency in Anambra – Malami

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 23:10:01 +0000

FG may impose state of emergency in Anambra – Malami

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Thursday, October 7, 2021

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FG may impose state of emergency in Anambra – Malami

The federal government has warned that it may be forced to impose State of Emergency in Anambra State, to ensure peaceful conduct of the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federal, Abubakar Malami, gave the warning when he fielded questions from State House correspondents at the end of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Wednesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that concerned parties in Anambra project including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had raised an alarm over the upsurge in cases of violent attacks on individuals and government facilities in Anambra as the governorship election in the state draws closer.

The minister, however, threatened that the federal government may declare a state of emergency if the security situation in the state did not improve.

According to him, the federal government has the responsibility to sustain the democratic order and will do the needful in terms of ensuring that the election holds in the state.

“When our national security is attacked, and the sanctity of our constitutionally guaranteed democracy is threatened, no possibility is ruled out.

“As a government, we have a responsibility to ensure the sustenance of our democratic order.

“As a government, we have a responsibility to provide security to life and properties.

“So, within the context of these constitutional obligations, of the government or the desire to establish democratic norms and order, there is no possibility that is out ruled,’’ he said.

He added that government would certainly do the needful in terms of ensuring that “our elections are held in Anambra in terms of ensuring necessary security is provided, and in terms of ensuring protection is accorded to lives and properties.

“So, what I’m saying in essence, no possibility is ruled out by government in terms of ensuring the sanctity of our democratic order, in terms of ensuring that our election in Anambra holds,” Mr Malami said.

“And you cannot out rule possibilities inclusive of the possibility of declaration or state of emergency where it is established, in essence, that there is a failure on the part of the state government to ensure the sanctity of security of lives, properties and democratic order.

“So, our position as a government is; election is going to hold, necessary security in terms of democratic order most certainly prevail for the purpose of this election.’’

(NAN)

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PHOTO STORY: Buhari presents Nigeria’s N16 trillion 2022 budget to National Assembly

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 23:10:01 +0000

PHOTO STORY: Buhari presents Nigeria’s N16 trillion 2022 budget to National Assembly

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PHOTO STORY: Buhari presents Nigeria’s N16 trillion 2022 budget to National Ass…

President Muhammadu Buhari has presented the 2022 budget estimate to a joint session of the National Assembly.

The president, in his presentation, is proposing a total expenditure of N16.39 trillion for the coming year.

This also includes spending by Government Owned Enterprises and Grants and Aid funded expenditure.

The proposed total expenditure for the coming year is put at N16.39 trillion with a crude oil benchmark price of $57 per barrel and a daily oil production estimate of 1.88 million barrels per day.

The exchange rate is projected at N410 per dollar.

The president earlier sought to increase the total expenditure from N13 trillion to 16.45 trillion.

But the National Assembly, on Wednesday, approved N16.39 trillion – in the revised Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

The president says the total projected revenue is put at N17.7 trillion.

Some reasons he gave for the increase are the allocation of N100 billion to the electoral umpire, INEC, for preparations for the 2023 general election, N50 billion to health workers for hazard allowance and other allocations to security agencies.

See pictures below:

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State of Emergency: Buhari, Obiano in closed-door meeting

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 23:00:01 +0000

State of Emergency: Buhari, Obiano in closed-door meeting

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Thursday, October 7, 2021

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State of Emergency: Buhari, Obiano in closed-door meeting

President Muhammadu Buhari has met behind closed door with Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting came barely 24 hours after the federal government threatened to invoke emergency rule as part of measures to address security challenges and safeguard electoral process in the state.

NAN gathered that the governor updated the president on the security situation in Anambra.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federal, Abubakar Malami, on Wednesday, warned that the federal government may be forced to impose a state of emergency in Anambra to ensure peaceful conduct of the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state.

NAN reports that stakeholders in Anambra project including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had raised alarm over the upsurge in cases of violent attacks on individuals and government facilities in Anambra as the governorship election in the state draws closer.

Mr Malami, however, threatened that the federal government may declare a state of emergency if the security situation in the state did not improve.

“When our national security is attacked, and the sanctity of our constitutionally guaranteed democracy is threatened, no possibility is ruled out,” Mr Malami said.

“As a government, we have a responsibility to ensure the sustenance of our democratic order.

“As a government, we have a responsibility to provide security to life and properties.

“So, within the context of these constitutional obligations, of the government or the desire to establish democratic norms and order, there is no possibility that is out ruled,’’ he said.

READ ALSO: FG may impose state of emergency in Anambra – Malami

“So, our position as a government is; election is going to hold, necessary security in terms of democratic order most certainly prevail for the purpose of this election.’’

(NAN)

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FEC approves N16.39 trillion proposed budget for 2022

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 07:40:01 +0000

FEC approves N16.39 trillion proposed budget for 2022

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Wednesday, October 6, 2021

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FEC approves N16.39 trillion proposed budget for 2022

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the 2022 Appropriation Bill for an aggregate expenditure of N16.39 trillion for presentation to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made this known when she briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the Council meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to her, the government will continue to borrow to fund infrastructure projects as it does not get enough from its revenues.

She noted that Nigeria’s revenues could barely accommodate services even as she emphasised that despite the concerns, its borrowings were still within acceptable limits

“If we just depend on the revenues that we get, even though our revenues have increased, the operational expenditure of the government, including salaries and other overheads, is barely covered or swallowed up by the revenue.

“So, we need to borrow to be able to build these projects that will ensure that we’re able to develop on a sustainable basis.

“Nigeria’s borrowing has been of great concern and has elicited a lot of discussions, but if you look at the total size of the borrowing, it is still within healthy and sustainable limits.

“As at July 2021, the total borrowing is 23% of GDP. When you compare our borrowing to other countries, we’re the lowest within the region, lowest compared to Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, the very lowest, and Angola.

“We do have a problem of revenue. Our revenues have been increasing. We just reported to Council that our revenues from non-oil has performed, as of July, at the rate of 111%, which means outperforming the prorated budget.

“But our expenditure, especially staff emoluments have been increasing at a very fast rate making it difficult to cope with funding of government.

“So, what we have to do is a combination of cutting down our cost, as well as increasing revenue to be able to cope with all that is required for government to do, including salaries, pensions debt service, as well as capital expenditure.”

The minister said that the Council noted the changes in the 2022-2024 fiscal projections based on implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and other necessary expenditures that should be accommodated in the 2022 Budget.

Key budget parameters

She also disclosed that the key assumptions and targets underlying the budget provisions included oil price – 57dollars per barrel; oil production – 1.88 mbpd; exchange rate – N410.15 to a dollar; Oil Revenue – N3.15 trillion and Non-Oil Revenue – N2.13 trillion.

Others she gave are: “Federal Government’s Independent Revenue of N1.82 trillion; Total Projected Federal Government Revenue of N10.13 trillion; Debt Service of N3.61 trillion; Statutory Transfers of N768.28 billion (including N462.53 billion capital component) and Personnel costs and Pensions of N4.69 trillion; (inclusive of N617.72 billion for the 63 GOEs).

“Overhead costs of N792.39 billion (inclusive of N451.0 billion for the 63 GOEs); and Capital expenditure (inclusive of capital component of Social Investment Programme, capital in Statutory Transfers, capital of 63 GOEs, Capital Supplementation as well as Grants and Donor funding) of N5.35 trillion(inclusive of N647.08 billion for the 63 GOEs).

“The resultant deficit of N6.258 trillion which will be financed by new borrowings of N5.012 trillion (of which domestic – N2.506 trillion and foreign – N2.506 trillion); drawdowns on Project-tied Multilateral/Bilateral loans – N1.156 trillion; and Privatization Proceeds of N90.73 billion,” she stated.

On the approved 2022 Appropriation Bill for an aggregate expenditure of N16.39 trillion for 2022, she gave the components as the adjustments to the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework 2022-2024; Statutory Transfers of N768.28 billion and Debt Service of N3.61 trillion and Sinking Fund for Maturing Debts of N292.71 billion Naira.

Other are Recurrent Expenditure (Non-Debt) of N6.83 trillion, inclusive of N350.0 billion for the recurrent component of Social Investment Programme; and Aggregate Capital Expenditure of N5.35 trillion, inclusive of GOEs’ capital expenditure, multilateral/bilateral loan funded projects, Capital Supplementation and Grants/Aid funded projects.

According to her, this represents 33% of the expenditure budget.

On special allocations for completion of legacy projects of the Buhari administration, the minister said: “The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has a provision of N388 billion; the Power sector has about N377 billion; the Ministry of Agriculture has N98 billion; the Transportation Ministry has N189 billion.

“So, all the major projects are being provided for. The target is to make sure that we have some of these key projects completed and commissioned during Mr. President’s tenure.

“Currently, agriculture sector contributes 23% of the GDP. We have record of expanding the agricultural value chain; we’ve had very little or no processing in agriculture until this administration.

“We now have a very large number of fertiliser blending plants, about 42, that are operating at full capacity. We also have a large number of rice mills that didn’t exist before.

“We have a lot of Nigerians that have taken up agriculture as a business, but apart from agriculture, the President is also rolling out rail lines, some of which had been started several years ago, have been completed.

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Debt: ”We borrowed our way out of recessions”- Buhari

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 07:30:01 +0000

Debt: ”We borrowed our way out of recessions”- Buhari

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Thursday, October 7, 2021

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Debt: ”We borrowed our way out of recessions”- Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that the government used borrowing to stimulate the economy as response to the two recent economic recessions the country experienced.

Mr Buhari in his budget presentation speech said the government had to use borrowing to ”spend its way out of the two recent recessions.”

The president, who laid the 2022 estimates before the joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday, said the country would not have exited the two recessions fast enough without resorting to borrowing.

“As you are aware, we have witnessed two economic recessions within the period of this administration. In both cases, we had to spend our way out of recession, which necessitated a resort to growing the public debt. It is unlikely that our recovery from each of the two recessions would have grown as fast without the sustained government expenditure funded by debt,” he said.

Despite the growing debt profile, the Buhari administration will borrow N5.01 trillion to fund the proposed 2022 budget.

According to the Debt Management Office, as of December 2020, the total national debt was put at N32.915 trillion.

Nigeria’s economy slipped into recession in the third quarter of 2020 after a negative growth of 3.6 per cent. The recession was exited after positive GDP growth in the 4th quarter of 2020.

In 2016, the economy had earlier fallen into recession following two consecutive quarterly declines.

According to the proposal presented by Mr Buhari, the budget has a deficit of N6.26 trillion which represents 3.39 of the estimated GDP.

This figure is once again above the three percent threshold set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

The government plans to fund the deficit through “N5.01 trillion, N90.73 billion from privatization proceeds and N1.16 trillion drawdowns on loans secured for specific development projects.”

Mr Buhari stated that the “debt level of the federal government is still within sustainable limits. Borrowings are to specific strategic projects and can be verified publicly.”

The president insisted that Nigeria does not have a debt problem but a revenue problem.

He said the government is setting a target to increase Revenue-to-GDP ratio to 15% by 2021, noting that a 15% Revenue-to-GDP will help to allay fears over Debt-Service-to-Revenue ratio.

READ ALSO: UPDATED: Nigerian economy enters second recession in five years

“Our target over the medium term is to grow our Revenue-to-GDP ratio from about 8 percent currently to 15 percent by 2025. At that level of revenues, the Debt-Service-to-Revenue ratio will cease to be worrying.

“Put simply, we do not have a debt sustainability problem, but a revenue challenge which we are determined to tackle to ensure our debts remain sustainable.”

The proposed budget has N3.61 trillion debt servicing proposal.

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Governor wants cattle movement from Sahel to other African regions restricted

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:40:02 +0000

Governor wants cattle movement from Sahel to other African regions restricted

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Sunday, October 3, 2021

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Governor wants cattle movement from Sahel to other African regions restricted

Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State has advocated for a permanent framework to limit the movement of cattle from the Sahel to other regions in Africa.

Mr Bagudu was speaking on Saturday while declaring closed the 2021 Pastoralists Week held in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was jointly organised by Dosso state in Niger republic, Alibori state in Benin republic and Kebbi State, Nigeria, alongside ECOWAS and national boundary authorities of the three countries.

The governor noted that any framework designed by the meeting would be accepted by the Nigerian government, as long as it was in the interest of unity and progress of West African countries.

Mr Bagudu, who is also the Vice-Chairman of Nigeria’s Food Security Council (NFSC) said: “Animal Husbandry is an important work in West Africa, and I am happy that we all appreciate the importance of this sector and I am glad that the CILSS is leading efforts to generate resources that will help us to develop the sector.

“There was a statement that about 300 million dollars funding has currently been mobilised by the CILSS and that is most important. What this funding can do, is to help us draw the attention of the world to the potentials in animal husbandry in West Africa.

“This is because it requires more than that to develop and we must have a way of communicating it to the ECOWAS leadership, perhaps the African Union (AU) leadership, that we need them to be unanimous in this area so that we can generate billions of dollars that can support the pastoral sector in West Africa,” Mr Bagudu said.

He noted that the pastoralism sector was full of hardworking people, looking for opportunities to cater for their children and give them a good education, as such any investment in the sector would yield the desired results, including better returns on investment.

“I believe that Nigeria, particularly President Muhammadu Buhari, will support us on this programme as quickly as possible, so that we can demonstrate how it will work.

“Even before then, the current protocol of West Africa, and the framework of operations, allows us to collaborate more and I propose that we send the recommendation to the appropriate authorities.

“So that Dosso, Alibori, Nigeria and Kebbi State, supported by ECOWAS and CILSS can create this framework, while we are waiting for our national leaders to endorse it and send it to other countries, so that they can come and learn from us,” he noted.

The immediate past governor of Kebbi State, Sa’idu Nasamu-Dakingari, urged Nigerian politicians and those of Niger and Benin republics to take the issue of pastoralists very seriously as it was not about land, “but the rain and climate change.”

Mr Nasamu-Dakingari explained that the expansion of land for farming had continued to pose serious challenges to pastoralists, who were always migrating during dry seasons from the Sahel to Southern regions, for pasture.

Earlier, Sekou Sangare, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Governor of Dosso in Niger Republic, Assoumana Ahmadou and the Governor of Alibori in Benin Republic, Ky-Samah Bello, appreciated the warm hospitality they had received from the government and people of Kebbi State.

They congratulated the Kebbi state governor, Abubakar Atiku-Bagudu, and the entire people of Nigeria on the country’s 61st independence anniversary, while calling for closer ties to deal with issues challenging pastoralism, insecurity, trans-human and cross-border cooperation.

On his part, Adeniyi Adedoyin, a deputy director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, suggested the need for a framework to track performance and \identification of animals, stressing that to practice ranching, Kebbi State could even start its own framework to test its workability.

Also, the Director-General of the National Boundary Commission, Adamu Adaji, represented by Hauwa Abdul-Ismail, commended the organisers of the meeting assuring that it had given the commission an opportunity to witness projects implemented by the Kebbi State government.

(NAN)

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PDP NEC meets on zoning, national convention Thursday

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PDP NEC meets on zoning, national convention Thursday

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Monday, October 4, 2021

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PDP NEC meets on zoning, national convention Thursday

Ahead of its national convention later in the month, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has fixed a meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) for Thursday.

This was disclosed in a statement by the party’s National Secretary, Umaru Tsauri, on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Tsauri said the 94th NEC meeting, which will hold at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, will discuss crucial matters.

“All members are enjoined to attend as the meeting will discuss crucial matters,” he said.

At its 93rd meeting on 9 September, the NEC constituted two committees, namely the national convention organising committee chaired by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State and Zoning Committee headed by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.

The convention committee has since created subcommittees to ensure smooth organisation of the event.

The Zoning Committee last Thursday zoned the position of the national chairman of the party to the north while the rest national officers’ positions will be swapped between the north and the south.

The decision was announced by Mr Ugwuanyi after at least three meetings of the 44-member committee in Enugu.

Although Mr Ugwuanyi said his team never considered zoning of the presidential or vice-presidential ticket, there is a high possibility that the party will zone the apex political seat to the south as it did in the past.

The outgoing national chairman, Uche Secondus, who has been barred by court to stop parading himself as the occupier of that office, hails from the south.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the decision of the committee will form a major agenda of the meeting.

It was learnt that the party is eager to resolve all contentious issues before holding the National convention slated for 30 and 31 October.

There are speculations that despite the zoning of the position of the national chairman to the north, the party may throw its presidential ticket open to all the zones in the country.

Although the mood of the nation favours power shift to the south, some PDP faithful still hold the view that for the party to snatch power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 2023 poll, it would be expedient to field a northern candidate given the region’s voting population advantage.

Meanwhile, the APC may field a southern candidate since President Muhammadu Buhari whose tenure expires in 2023 is from the northern part of the country.

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