Anti-corruption: The Judiciary is my main headache - Buhari

President Buhari says that the judiciary is his main headache in his ongoing fight against corruption in Nigeria. According to a statement released by the special adviser to Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari said this while speaking with Nigerians living in Ethiopia during his visit to the country over the weekend.

'I’m not a thief, I have a lot to tell Nigerians' - Dasuki says, denies awarding fictitious contracts

Former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki has denied allegations that he awarded fictitious arms procurement contract to the tune of N300 billion while he was in office. In a statement he released this evening, Dasuki said he was not NSA as at when the fictitious contracts were said to have been awarded. His statement in part below

"In a theatrical manner, the Presidency fed the public with many allegations against my person and yet-to-be-named former public officers. 

To draw sympathy, the presidency quoted some absurd findings including extra-budgetary interventions; award of fictitious contracts; 53 failed contracts; payment for jobs without contractual agreements; non-execution of contracts for the purchase of 4 Alpha jets, bombs and ammunition. For undiscerning Nigerians, they may tend to assume that the allegations were true and pronounce the former National Security Adviser guilty as charged.

Why Buhari removed Ibrahim Lamorde as EFCC chairman

Yesterday,Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Ibrahim Lamorde was replaced with Ibrahim Magu and  a statement by president Buhari's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said, “Mr. Magu, who is an Assistant Commissioner of Police, is to take over from Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, who is proceeding on terminal leave ahead of the formal expiration of his tenure in February, next year,”

 According to the Nation,a Presidency source says Lamorde’s exit was conveyed to him early in the day but his exit was handled  with dignity by the President.A source, who spoke in confidence  said:

Demarketing Nigeria: Presidency replies PDP, says Buhari will never lie to Nigerians and the world

Earlier today, PDP national spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, released a statement saying that president Buhari is "demarketing Nigeria" to heads of other governments over his comments about Nigeria. Now the presidency has released a statement reacting to the statement. Read below..

Our attention has been drawn to the latest statement by the PDP spokesman, Olisa Metuh alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari is “demarketing Nigeria”.

We restate for the umpteenth time to Mr. Metuh and his ilk that their attempts to distract President Buhari from the job he has been elected to do will fail.

Buhari will pick his ministers from the 36 states - Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina says contrary to popular opinion, President Buhari will be picking all his ministers from the 36 states of the federation. He said this via his twitter handle this morning. 

Continue to see more of his tweets..

Presidency says, President Buhari won’t interfere in the probe of Obasanjo by the Senate

 President Muhammadu Buhari won’t meddle in the probes of past President Olusegun Obasanjo and the boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Lamorde, because of his respect for the principle of separation of powers, the Nigerian presidency has said.

 A senate committee probing the power sector has revealed how trillions of Naira was pumped into the power sector under Obasanjo without commensurate megawatt at the grid.

 Specifically, the permanent secretary in the ministry of power, Godknows Igali, had last Monday told the Senate ad-hoc committee probing the sector that N2.7trillion had been spent on the power sector since 1999.

Comply with directive on Treasury Single Account by Sept 15 or face sanctions- Buhari tells govt agencies

President Buhari has threatened to sanction Government Agencies that fail to comply with the Federal Government directive to remit generated revenues into the Treasury Single Account by September 15. This is contained in a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media & Publicity Femi Adesina today September 7th. 

The statement after the cut...

Adesina's appointment shows I had a good team - GEJ

Former President Jonathan says that the recent appointment of former Minister of Agriculture Akinwunmi Adesina as the 8th President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, is an attestation to the fact that he had a very good team during his administration. Jonathan said this in a congratulatory letter he sent to Adesina on his new appointment

"Given your exemplary record of performance, while serving as the Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in my cabinet, I have no doubt that you will deploy your energy and the bank’s resources to ensure that Africa experiences a new era of accelerated development.

You were not only a critical voice in my economic team, you also walked the talk, and earned the praise of our countrymen and women, by ensuring that Nigeria’s quest for self-sufficiency in food production became an achievable dream. I am particularly pleased with your emergence as the AfDB boss; a development, I believe, has come as a reward for having served your country meritoriously.  It also attests to the fact that my Administration had a good team that managed the affairs of the country.”the letter read

Buhari and Osinbajo have publicly declared their assets Nigeria’s

President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, have declared their assets and will make the documents public soon, as promised during the electioneering campaigns. 

A statement by the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu said “the documents submitted to the CCB, which officials say are still being vetted and will soon be made public, show that prior to being sworn in on May 29, President Buhari had less than N30 million to his name. He also had only one bank account, with the Union Bank. President Buhari had no foreign account, no factory and no enterprises. He also had no registered company and no oil wells”, the statement said. 

The statement further added that “the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) who had been a successful lawyer before his foray into politics declared a bank balance of about N94 million and 900,000 United States Dollars in his bank accounts”. 

Nigerian arrested with N1bn cash in Niger; Nigerien customs reject Nigeria’s request for seized cash

 The police in neighbouring Niger Republic have arrested a Nigerian carrying 4.6m Euros (N1.05bn) in cash. The man was arrested at the Diori Hamani Airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, en route Dubai in the United Arab Emirate.

 The Nigerien police said they suspected that the man was fleeing with the money in order to avoid being caught by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been prosecuting an anti-corruption campaign since assumption of office on May 29.

 They also expressed worry that there had been an upsurge in the number of Nigerians trafficking huge sums of money in cash through the neighbouring country.

 The police in Niger are already working on the suspicion that the money traffickers have accomplices in the country.

The change we promised will soon come to fruition - Buhari tells Nigerian students (photos)

President Buhari says the change he promised during his campaigns will soon come to fruition. Buhari said this when the members of the National Association of Nigerian Students NANS marched to the Presidential Villa to pledge their full support for his anti-corruption campaign earlier today. President Buhari spoke to them through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina ..

PDP Media Watchdog to President Buhari: Your appointments is Asymmetrical and Fraudulent

Below is a press statement from The PDP Media Watchdog

The PDP Media Watchdog has described the appointments so far made by President Buhari as fraudulent and asymmetrical, saying that the President's anti-corruption war is a charade and a deceit. The group while responding to the recent appointments as announced by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said that people's expectation of President Buhari to remove his ethnic and military mentality and embrace democracy may not come to pass after all.

"We mentioned this in our last statements that President Buhari and the APC is only making noise with corruption and probe to cover up their plans to derail this country. The President claimed to be fighting corruption but does not know that even lopsided appointment is also corruption. According to an English dictionary, corruption is defined as 'dishonest actions that destroys people's trust in the person or group' and in another definition, it says, 'corruption is the misuse of entrusted power (by heritage, education, marriage, election, appointment or whatever else) for private gain'

Economic diversification very high on our agenda - Buhari

Press statement from the presidency

President Muhammadu Buhari said Thursday in Abuja that Nigeria, under his leadership, will work more closely with other countries facing the challenge of falling oil prices to rapidly move away from dependence on crude oil exports for economic survival.

Speaking at an audience with the new Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Mr. Fahad Abdullah Sefyan, President Buhari affirmed his administration's commitment to faster development of Nigeria's non-oil sectors and the speedy diversification of the country's economy.

‘‘For more than 30 years, Nigeria has depended on oil as its major source of revenue at the expense of agriculture and the non-oil sector which could be the mainstay of our economy.

"As oil exporting countries facing similar challenges due to the down turn in the international price of crude oil, we should be working closer together.

Buhari reinstates Nigerian Port Authority MD sacked by GEJ

  

President Buhari has sacked the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero (left) and reinstated the one sacked by Goodluck Jonathan in April this year, Habibu Abdullahi (right). According to statement by Femi Adesina, Ado Bayero's sack is with immediate effect. He is to hand over the management of NPA and all government property in his possession to Mr. Habibu Abdullahi.

Buhari appoints Sagay as head of advisory committee on war against corruption

President Buhari has appointed a Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption headed by Professor Itse Sagay, a prominent professor of law and civil rights activist.

The Committee’s brief, according to the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, is to advise the present administration on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.

Other members of the Committee, which is also expected to develop comprehensive interventions for achieving recommended reforms, are:

(i) Prof. Femi Odekunle

Professor of Criminology, Ahmadu Bello University

– Member

(ii) Dr. (Mrs) Benedicta Daudu

Associate Professor of International Law, University of Jos

– Member

(iii) Prof. E. Alemika

Professor of Sociology, University of Jos

– Member

President Buhari approves actions to fast-track environmental clean-up of Ogoniland - Presidency

Press statement from Presidency:

In keeping with his avowed commitment to working for the development and well-being of all Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Abuja approved several actions to fast-track the long delayed implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland. 

The actions approved by President Buhari, based on recommendations to him by the Executive Director of UNEP, the UNEP Special Representative for Ogoniland, Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministries of Environment and Petroleum Resources, and other stakeholders, include the 

amendment of the Official Gazette establishing the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) to reflect a new governance framework comprising a Governing Council, a Board of Trustees and Project Management. The President further approved that the HYPREP Governing Council should be composed as follows:

No country can succeed alone in the war against terror - Buhari

Press statement from the presidency...

President Buhari has said that Nigeria and neighboring countries must stand together to defeat and degrade Boko Haram terrorists in the sub-region. Speaking late Wednesday at a state dinner at the Unity Palace in Yaounde, during his two-day working visit to Cameroon, President Buhari said countries in the sub-region cannot afford to falter in their resolve to get rid of the evils of terrorists.

``We recognize that none of us can succeed alone. In order to win this war we need the collective efforts of each one of us, standing together as a formidable force for good, to defeat and end these acts of terror against our people,’’ he said. The President told guests at the dinner hosted by President Paul Biya that the security situation in the region presented an opportunity for Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin to work together for their common security, peace and socio-economic development. 　

`` Let me assure all of my relentless pursuit of all possible means to safeguard Nigeria’s territorial integrity, protect the lives and property of our citizens as well as my commitment to continue to collaborate with Cameroon and our neighbors, within the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. ``The Federal government of Nigeria is committed to respecting international norms to resolve this matter and to restore normalcy to all the affected areas as soon as possible,’’ he said.

FG receives $2.1bn credit from World Bank to rebuild North East Nigeria

The Federal government has received a 2.1 billion credit facility from World Bank which will be used to rebuild the troubled North East zone in Nigeria. This was announced in a statement released by the Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, The statement below. 

The World Bank has unfolded a package which would see it spending up to $2.1 billion in rebuilding the badly devastated North-eastern part of Nigeria, ravaged for the past six years by the Boko Haram insurgency.

What Obama told Buhari during their meeting

See the tweet from the Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina, Clarifying president Obama opinion on President Buhari and Nigeria, . More after the cut..

President Buhari sacks all Service Chiefs

President Buhari has sacked all Service Chiefs. Their sack was made known by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina while he spoke to state house correspondents this afternoon.

The fired service chiefs include the Chief of Defence staff, and the heads of Army, Navy and the Air Force. More details later.