Fayose Kicks Against The Approval of $1 Billion By Buhari For Procurement Of Arms, Says It's Illegal

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Fayose Kicks Against The Approval of $1 Billion  By Buhari For Procurement Of Arms, Says It's Illegal

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has queried President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of $1 billion for the procurement of security equipment to fight Boko Haram insurgency.

He described it as pooling of public funds for the purpose of funding President Buhari’s reelection as well as the coming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States.

The governor demanded to know whether the $1 billion was from the Excess Crude Account (ECA), adding that, “it will be illegal and against the principle of federalism that operates in Nigeria for the President, who is the head of just one of the federating units to approve spending of fund belonging to the three tiers of government without the consent of heads of other federating units.

In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, and signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose asked: “When did the National Assembly approve the spending of the $1 billion? Or can the President spend $1 billion belonging to Nigerians without the approval of the National Assembly?”

He said “Nigerians required explanations from the federal government as to where the $1 billion will be sourced because the President lacked power to unilaterally spend money from the Excess Crude Account.

“Not even when there is a pending suit by Ekiti State Local Council Chairmen, challenging the powers the 36 state governors to purportedly execute the constitutional duty of the Federal government without their consent.

“Another question the federal government must answer is; which insurgency are they buying arms worth N370 billion to fight? Is it the same Boko Haram that they told Nigerians they completely defeated?

“Since they said they have defeated Boko Haram, and later told Nigerians that they had ceasefire agreement with the insurgents, what else do they need a whopping sum of $1 billion (over N370 billion) for; if not to fund the 2019 elections?

“Also, up till now, the government is yet to give satisfactory explanations as to the abduction and return of the Dapchi School Girls. With the hurried approval of $1 billion, is it not being reinforced that the Boko Haram insurgency has become a source of looting public fund by this government?

“It is on record that Transparency International (TI) once said in its report that some top military officials in the country were feeding fat from the war against Boko Haram by creating fake contracts and laundering the proceeds in the United States, United Kingdom and elsewhere.”

The governor reiterated his challenge to the federal government to make available to Nigerians, how the money released by international donors for the fight against Boko Haram was spent.

He said; “Like I have maintained, they are building a very huge financial war chest towards the 2019 elections and our treasury is daily being looted to achieve this. One of such means is the $1 billion approved by the President, purportedly for the procurement of arms to fight a Boko Haram insurgency they claimed to have defeated.”

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Oyo State Govt Sets Up Special Security Task Force To Tackle Incessant Kidnapping In The State

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Oyo State Govt Sets Up Special Security Task Force To Tackle Incessant Kidnapping In The State

Oyo State Government on Wednesday said it has set up a special security task force to prevent further cases of kidnapping, particularly in Oke-Ogun geopolitical zone.

Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun who made this known while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, disclosed that adequate security measures had been put in place following the spate of kidnappings in the area.

He explained that after various meetings held with farmers, herdsmen, traditional rulers, security agencies and other stakeholders, the Governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi set up the taskforce to look into the spate of kidnappings, maiming and crisis between the herdsmen and farmers in the Oke-Ogun Area.

Arulogun while declaring that the taskforce has visited the zone to ascertain the present situation of things in the area, said that the government had mandated security agencies in the state to beef up security around the state and improve on their intelligence gathering, stating that these efforts had been yielding positive results with the arrest of some suspected kidnappers by the security agencies.

He said that the increase in surveillance by the security agencies has doused the tension in the area, assuring that the state government will continue to provide adequate measures to ensure that lives and properties are secured in the state.

Arulogun said “The security situation in the State is not as bad as being portrayed by some mischievous individuals. The breach was more from external than internal persons. Our administration is known for peace, safety and security. This is evident in the 4-Star rating as a Well Qualified State to help foreign and domestic investors given by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC). Also, the state was adjudged as the 4th best investment friendly state and one of the only five states that attracted investment to the country in the last quarter of 2017 by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

“It is based on the peaceful cum secured environment that new businesses are springing up with a renaissance of the night economy in the state and government is getting a lot of investment requests. We cannot allow anything to disrupt the peace in the state and that is the reason the Governor setup a taskforce to address the issue of Oke Ogun in addition to the existing security apparatus.

“The security agencies in Oyo State are living up to expectation and we should all join hands with them to ensure that security is not breached in the state. We should commend them for their improved intelligence as well as pro-activeness to ensure that the state is not turned to crisis torn state. On our part, government will not renege to provide adequate security for its people and support all the security agencies to perform their duties well.”

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Yoruba Elders Urge Buhari To Sack Buratai, Other Service Chiefs

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Yoruba Elders Urge Buhari To Sack Buratai, Other Service Chiefs 

 

The Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sack all the service chiefs.

The council hinged their reason on the service chiefs’ alleged inability to effectively curtail killings in different parts of the country.

According to them, the recurrent massacre in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states have lent credence to the accusation by a former Minister of Defence, Theophilus Danjuma, that the military was colluding with killer herdsmen to embark on ethnic cleansing.

The YCE stated this in a communique issued after their Expanded National Executive meeting held in Ado Ekiti on Thursday in honour of its late President, Chief Idowu Sofola (SAN), who died last Friday.

The communique was signed by the YCE Secretary-General, Dr. Kunle Olajide and the chairman of the Ekiti Council of Elders, Prof. J. O. Oluwasanmi.

It partly read, “The Yoruba Council of Elders calls on Mr. President to relieve the present security chiefs, some of whom are already overdue for retirement of their position and immediately reconfigure the security architecture of the country to reflect the federal character clause in our constitution.

“Most Nigerians have lost confidence in the security chiefs especially the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, whom the President has publicly acknowledged as disobeying his instructions.

“The President must shed and toga of Baba go-slow and act promptly on this matter to once again inspire the confidence of Nigerians in his administration.

“A military which publicly claimed to be neutral where the law of the land is being violated and innocent citizens are mindlessly murdered by armed herdsmen is definitely partisan and can no longer be trusted to protect all Nigerians.”

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Insecurity: Ohanaeze Blames Northerners For Security Challenges In Nigeria

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Insecurity: Ohanaeze Blames Northerners For Security Challenges In Nigeria

 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo has revealed that dominance of Northerners in security agencies is to blame for lingering insecurity in Nigeria.

The group in a statement by its Spokeman, Prince Barr Uche Achi-Okpaga said Nigerians are being killed because there is no cross-fertilisation of inter-regional security initiatives at the top levels, adding that all security agencies are headed by Northerners.

The statement reads in part, “Now every security agency is headed by the North, every military and para-military agency is headed by the North. Every anti-graft agency is headed by the North and virtually Fulani.

“Why on earth would they not be sentimental? Are they not human beings? That is why we have severe insecurity all over the place because, at the top security echelon, there is no cross-fertilisation of inter-regional security initiatives. So, today, in a bid to sustain northern political hegemony, we are playing politics with security and Nigerians are killed in their tens and hundreds incessantly.

“Until we restructure to address these imbalances and shelve the Federal Government of many items on the Exclusive Federal list and assign them to the states, Nigeria will remain like a stationary machine; all motion, no movement.

“If we restructure Nigeria today, all the increasing agitations for self determination from Biafra, Ijaw, Oduduwa among others will subside appreciably.

“Every day we cry of lopsided appointments, but it has continued unabated”

Further speaking, Achi-Okpaga said its interest is not Igbo presidency but in good governance.

“Our interest is not on lgbo presidency but on good and purposeful, devolution of powers and respect for the lives and dignity of all individuals and tribes in Nigeria.

“We have reiterated this severally that, by the current political architecture in Nigeria, Igbo Presidency without restructuring means little or nothing at all. Any quarter that intends to use 2023 lgbo presidency to assuage or hoodwink us is on a wild goose. “

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