No hope of recovering Bakassi, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria will abide by the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Bakassi Peninsula.

Speaking on Wednesday during an interactive session with Nigerians living in Cameroon, Buhari said his administration will ensure the faithful implementation of the Green Tree Agreement, which regulates the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon.


The oil-rich territory, which was under Cross River state, was transferred to Cameroon on August 14, 2008.


“Since Nigeria allowed the case to go to court (ICJ), and we lost, we have to abide by it,” Femi Adesina, his spokesman, quoted him as saying in response to a question on the issue.
Buhari added that his administration had yet to articulate a foreign policy for Nigeria beyond what was captured in the manifesto of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).


He promised to make Nigerian embassies more efficient in terms of relations with other countries and urged Nigerians in the Diaspora to be law-abiding in their host countries.


According to Adesina, Buhari assured about 40,000 Nigerian refugees in Cameroon, who fled as a result of Boko Haram insurgency, that his administration will ensure their safe return and rehabilitation.


Buhari also assured Nigerians in that country that he would do everything possible towards bringing positive change to Nigeria.


“Despite the numerous challenges confronting us, the future of our country is bright. You all know very well that your fellow Nigerians are resilient, hardworking and patriotic.


“These qualities have always seen us through our most difficult national challenges and they will do so now. We are determined to end this callousness against our innocent citizens.


“The defence of the territorial integrity of Nigeria and the protection of lives and properties of Nigerians and all those who live in the country are out top priorities. We shall explore all reasonable options to enable us to bring this rebellion to an end.”
Buhari is expected to return to Nigeria on Thursday.

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Banks ‘seize’ indebted states’ NLNG dividend

Abdulaziz Yari, governor of Zamfara state, says some states were deprived of their share of the $2.1 billion Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) to help states solve their indebtedness to their workforce.

Speaking with state house correspondents after a meeting with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, he said the states in question lost their funds to the banks they were owing.


“What I’m saying, no money is released yet but I think the NLNG money that was given, some states, their own was taken by the banks because it is due for them to pay some certain repayment of loans, which they cannot. So, therefore, automatically, that has to go there,” he said.


“But I think the CBN governor is negotiating with the banks on how we are going to share in case… Now, we have agreed that this bailout or intervention funds are coming so that they will know the purpose, [that they] were made for the states, to rescue them to ensure that they pay staff salaries in their respective states.


“But for sure, some other governors reported that money went to their accounts; it was taken by some banks because of their outstanding loans.”


Yari talked down the significance of the economic crisis in many states, saying the governors deserved to be bailed out by the federal government in the same manner the banking industry had been, in the past.


“As I have been saying, the bailout has been made in the banking sector and bailout has been made in the downstream sector of the economy,” he said.


“So, now, if states are in trouble as we all agreed that yes, there is a problem, some states cannot pay salaries, if the federal government says okay, we are going to make some kind of adjustment to states to get out of their problems, if you call it bailout, it is okay. If you call it intervention, it’s okay.
“But the reason why I think so many governors don’t talk about the issue of bailout, they are thinking as if money is going to be created for governments or for governors to go and continue, as we have prescribed, they were somehow reckless. You get the point?


“So, the actual thing is we have a problem and there are no two ways about it. The federal government has to come to the rescue of the states or else, you have a failed state. The federal government cannot fold its arms and the states will be in trouble.”

Airforce ‘block’ fuel supplies to Boko Haram

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has blocked the fuel supply route of Boko Haram insurgents along the nation’s border with Cameroon.

Dele Alonge, NAF’s director of information, confirmed this in a statement on Wednesday.
Alonge said airforce personnel seized over 4,000 drums and jerry cans of petroleum products in an operation conducted on
Tuesday.


“Items suspected to be supplies meant for BHT (Boko Haram Terrorists) were confiscated from the smugglers in Pepe, Dashin-Hausa, Belel Bilachi, and Konkul villages located along the Nigeria-Cameroon Borders on Tuesday, 28 July 2015,” the statement read.


“The NAF was able to achieve the recent feat through its air patrol activities, covering both land and water, along the Nigeria-Cameroon boarders.


“The NAF has continued to identify and destroy BHT camps and resupplies by employing surveillance and combat aircraft. Intelligence gathered revealed that these efforts have greatly strained the supply efforts of the BHT.”

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Senate to screen service chiefs Thursday

The senate will screen the newly appointed service chiefs on Thursday in line with a constitutional requirement, Bukola Saraki, senate president, said on Wednesday.

President Muhammadu Buhari had written to the senate seeking confirmation of the appointment of the service chiefs.


In a letter read by the senate president on the floor
of the senate on Tuesday, Buhari said he was seeking the approval of the senate to comply with the extant laws of the country.


In compliance with section 18 (1) of the armed forces Act (CAP820) laws of the federal republic of Nigeria 2004, I hereby forward the names of the underlisted officers for the kind confirmation of the federal republic of Nigeria,” he wrote.


The service chiefs to be screened are Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin, major general and chief of defence staff; Yusuf Tukur Buratai, major general and chief of army staff; Ibot Ekwe-Ebas, rear admiral chief of naval staff; and Sadiq Baba Abubabar, air vice marshal and chief of air staff.


The service chiefs were appointed on July 13.

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PDP: PMB’s choice of Daura as DSS DG ‘ungodly’

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused Lawan Daura, director-general of the Department of State Service (DSS), of being a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing his appointment as “ungodly and unacceptable.”

Speaking at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Uche Secondus, acting national chairman of the PDP, alleged that Daura was a critical intelligence stakeholder for the APC during the presidential campaigns.

He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rein him in, alleging that the DSS under Daura was hounding electoral officers and members of election petition tribunal in PDP states.


The National Working Committee (NWC) brings to the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari to some disturbing development in the polity which, if not nipped in the bud, might significantly affect our democracy and stability as a nation negatively, and that is the growing and unwarranted intrusion of some over-zealous security operatives on issues bordering purely on politics,” he said.


“In particular, the NWC wishes to draw the attention of the president to the continued intimidation, harassment as well as the hounding, arrest and detention of electoral officers and members of election tribunals by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and other PDP states.


“The NWC notes that this unfortunate development has been the case since the appointment of the new director general of the DSS, Alhaji Lawan Musa Daura, whom we learnt was a critical intelligence stakeholder of the APC as a card-carrying member of that party during the campaigns. This is ungodly and unacceptable.


“We do hope that in his new job, the director-general of DSS is not mixing issues on the APC presidential candidate and the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, hence the need for Mr President to rein him in as the development is capable of eroding the cherished independence of the judiciary and the electoral commission, a sine qua non for a virile democracy, which guarantees our unity and stability as a nation.”


Secondus also  President Buhari to reconsider the appointment of Amina Zakari, acting chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), saying she is not suitable for the position because of her blood relationship with him.


“Similarly, we urge Mr President to take a critical look at the issue of the appointment of Amina Zakari as acting chairman of INEC for which our party has several times raised some salient issues on why she is not suitable for that position. It is incontrovertible that Mrs Zakari, by virtue of her blood relationship with Mr President, cannot preside over the affairs of an Independent National Electoral Commission,” he said.


“Nigeria belongs to all of us irrespective of political, religious and ethnic affiliation and as a responsible political party we shall not fold our hands and watch while our nation drift along dangerous line.


“Furthermore, the NWC commends and congratulates the PDP caucuses in the senate and the house of representatives on the smooth emergence of the minority leadership in the national assembly. We note that the process was without any interference whatsoever from the leadership of our great party in keeping with the dictates of the independence of the legislature.


“Finally, the NWC deliberated on the state of the party in Ekiti state and resolved that it only recognises the state Exco led by Chief Idowu Faleye. The NWC however summons all critical stakeholders in the party administration in Ekiti state to a meeting with the national leadership on the issues in the state chapter.”

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