The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called on the National Assembly and other stakeholders to expedite action on the bill to establish the National Electoral Offences Commission/Tribunal ahead of the 2019 general elections.

This is just as the Commission said it recorded 1,080 cases of electoral offences arising from the 2015 general elections and subsequent bye-elections.

He  stated that 124 of the cases were filed and 60 convictions secured in various courts across the country.

INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu broke the news yesterday in a memorandum he submitted to the Senate joint committee on INEC and the Judiciary.

Yakubu expressed dismay that reports of the Electoral Reform Committee (the Uwais Report) 2008, and the Post-election Violence (Lemu Report) 2011 have been left to gather dusts on the shelves.

According to the INEC chair, the two reports had recommended the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission/Tribunal to address all forms of electoral violence and impunity that have continued to undermine the stability of the nation’s electoral democracy.

Yakubu bemoaned the fact that though it has the powers to prosecute, INEC lacked the powers to effect the arrest of electoral offenders, a situation he said, has continued to hamper effective prosecution of offenders.

He said: “While the Uwais Report was transmitted by the executive to the National Assembly in 2010, the White Paper on recommendations of the Lemu Report directed the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minster of Justice to take steps towards the establishment of the Electoral Offences Tribunal.

“Nearly a decade later, there has been no legislative action on these aspects of the recommendations of the Uwais and Lemu reports, making the present effort by the Senate and the concurrent effort by the House of Representatives a welcome development.

“The failure to systematically and consistently enforce sanctions has encouraged impunity and the violence that often characterised electoral contest in Nigeria, thereby subverting the will of the people and undermining the nation’s electoral democracy.

“At present, INEC is saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting electoral offender. Section 150(1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) empowered INEC prosecute electoral offenders through its legal officers or any legal practitioner appointed by it without the powers to arrest and investigate thus depending on the police for this purpose.

“Without the capacity to make arrest and investigate violations, the prosecutorial role is severely hampered. INEC cannot effectively focus on this role given its other variegated responsibilities under the Constitution  and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended)”.

Chairman of the Senate committee on INEC, Senator Suleiman Nazif noted that over the years, statistics showed that the various electoral offences and crimes orchestrated by politicians have cast shadows over the nation’s electoral process.

“Subsequently, due to human dynamics, crimes and offences of election tend to evolve. Therefore, we must look beyond the usual offences and into new trends of wider social electoral offences and crimes that have evaded justice for too long’’Senator Nazif said.,

The Nation 

The United States Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, on Monday described the Boko Haram sect as a threat to other regions.

He also said US was collaborating with the Nigerian authorities in their efforts to rescue the schoolgirls abducted in Dapchi, Yobe State, recently.

Tillerson said this at a press conference he addressed alongside the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, after a meeting he had with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said, “I think it is also important to put this in a broad regional context as well. Boko Haram is a threat to other regions and this has been the subject of my meetings elsewhere and in Africa as well.

“In my discussion with President Derby in Chad earlier today (Monday), we spoke about the threat of  Boko Haram and I think it is important and it’s really been powerful.

“The collaboration between the joint task force which Nigeria is a part and Chad is a part, to respond to this threat of terrorism which Boko Haram is one of the organisations, there are other threats that the leadership of this country has to deal with.”

When asked the specific ways the US would assist Nigeria to rescue the abducted girls, Tillerson said the US respected the responsibilities of the government of Nigeria and the territorial integrity of the country.

That notwithstanding, he said the US government was supporting Nigeria, by providing capacity building with equipment and also training of the personnel of special operations and sharing intelligence to ensure that they had all the information available to carry out the recovery effort.

“So, the United States is ready to engage and coordinate efforts as well. But we have been supporting, equipping, training and when we can, provide information.

“I think that is the best way we have been helping the government of Nigeria to secure the release of the girls, which we hope, will be done in a peaceful manner.

“We hope that something can be worked out and they can secure the release of these girls quickly,” he said.

When asked why he advised African countries against Chinese loans, Tillerson clarified that his intention was not to stop Chinese investments from flowing to countries that need those investments.

He said he only cautioned the countries to look carefully, “that the implications of the level of debts, the terms of the debts, and whether the arrangements around the local financing are in fact creating jobs, local capacity or the projects being carried out by foreign labour being brought to your country, is the structure of the financing such that you will always be in control of your infrastructure?

“Are there mechanism to deal with the faults so that you do not lose ownership of your own assets? These are national assets whether they are ports, railways, or major highways.”

Tillerson said he had seen this occurred in other countries that were not so careful and “they got themselves in situation where they awfully  lost control of their infrastructure, lost the ownership and the operational relationship of it.

“And that is the precaution that we are talking about. That there are international rules and norms and financial structure to deal with unforeseen circumstances and I think we are just cautioning countries to look carefully.

“There are other alternative financing mechanisms that are available and I think in particular, if the government creates the right conditions around those infrastructures investments, there are also great potential for public-private sector co-investing in the infrastructure. And we are developing mechanism that will also create alternative opportunities financing offer.

“We have seen many around the world that did not work out so well and we are just saying as friends, be careful.”

Onyeama said everything was being done to secure the release of the Dapchi girls.

The minister said, “Fighting terrorism is a new challenge globally. When we talked of having  degraded Boko Haram, we were referring specifically to the situation that we were confronted with when the government took over.

“That was a situation where you had a classical military confrontation and Boko Haram was capturing territory, holding onto territory and hoisting flags. So, as a conventional military threat, Boko Haram has been completely degraded.

“Now, there is a challenge with regards to sporadic suicides and bombings and of course largely, there is kidnapping of the girls.

“We don’t by any stretch of the imagination minimise those but it’s really a different kind of warfare as it is and the government is sparing no effort in addressing that.”

When asked why things seem to be getting worse despite the collaboration with the task force and the US, Onyeama said that was not correct.

Punch 

House  Speaker Yakubu Dogara, has decried difficulties faced by Nigerians in accessing bank loans.

Dogara, made this known in his keynote address at a public presentation/launch of a book: Banking Reform in Nigeria  yesterday in Abuja.

He said  Nigerians were discouraged in managing their businesses as a result of their inability to access loans from banks.

” I have had cause to say this before, that unless you have assets or equipment, there is no way you can take loan, or access loans from Nigerian banks to do business.

“If you are not careful in taking loans from Nigerian banks, one will just end up in the poverty gap.

“I don’t think our citizens are supposed to do their businesses with money they already have in their pockets. Businesses elsewhere are executed by loans from the banking industry in those countries.

“I don’t know why the interest rate in Nigeria is so high. What is it that we can do to lower it so that our young entrepreneurs can risk taking money from our financial institutions in order to realise their dreams.

“That has been the challenge, from the point of view of the Executive down to the Parliament, the political will to address this has not been there,” Dogara said.

He therefore, called on all stakeholders to join hands in ensuring improved banking institutions for better development.

“And the answer has always been that just one opinion cannot solve the issue, all hands need to work at it.

The author of the book and a member of the House of Representatives Bode Ayorinde (Ondo-APC), said the whole essence of the book “is to improve the economy by making funds available at a better pricing for the development of the economy.

“What we are saying about reforming the banking industry basically is to expand financial inclusion and adjust the pricing of our lending.

“Seriously, as an author, l believe that the pricing of our lending is on the high side and is one of the major reasons for non performing loans,’’ he said.

One of the book reviewers, Mr Bismark Rewane, Managing Director, Financial Derivatives, advised that interest rates should be reduced as advised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He emphasised that the reduction in the rate was necessary in order to encourage small scale businesses and revive moribund industries.

The Nation 

The Senate has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission against being misguided on the extent of the powers of the National Assembly in the amendment to the Electoral Act 2010.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, while declaring open a public hearing on the bill seeking to establish the National Electoral Offences Commission on Monday, made reference to the controversy generated by the recent amendment to Section 25 of the Electoral Act, which seeks to re-order the sequence of polls during the general elections.

INEC had expressed its intention to challenge the amendment in court but later made a U-turn.

Speaking at the hearing conducted by the Senate’s Joint Committee on INEC; and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Saraki stated that the National Assembly had powers to legislate over the electoral body and other agencies of government.

Saraki, who was represented by the Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, also pointed out that the lawmakers could not be involved in any legislation that would violate the constitution.

“Of recent, there have been arguments on who has power to do what,” he said, adding that Nigeria had a lot of people who knew how to go to court to get all kinds of judgments.

“INEC should be cautious of who it is listening to. We would not sit anywhere this constitution will be violated. It is necessary we caution ourselves. We need this country, we love this country,” Saraki said.

The Senate President also decried that some political aspirants and parties were already campaigning when INEC had yet to declare electioneering open.

He said, “The Senate in particular would be very worried, if INEC begins to condone the actions of some political parties. You have not declared campaigns open, and some are already campaigning.”

Saraki asked INEC to exercise its powers and sanction such persons or parties.

The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in his presentation to the committee, disclosed that the electoral umpire currently had about 1,080 cases in courts relating to the 2015 general elections.

He added that the commission had received 124 case files of electoral offenders from the police, out of which 60 had been prosecuted.

Yakubu, who expressed support for the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission, stated that INEC could not effectively prosecute electoral offenders and focus on its enormous responsibilities simultaneously.

The electoral body’s tasks, he said, included registration and regulation of political parties as well as monitoring of parties’ congresses and finances.

The INEC boss, however, noted that the Secretary of the NEOC should be appointed by the commission and not by the President as being proposed.

He also warned against appointment of ex-officio members, while calling for a proper definition of “electoral offences.”

Punch 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday decried the low impact of commercial banks on the citizenry with no fewer than 40 per cent of the people under-banked.

He spoke at the public presentation of the book “Banking Reform in Nigeria: the Law, the Prospects and the Challenges’’ written by a member House of Representatives Bode Ayorinde, in Abuja.

”It is perhaps accurate to say that for most Nigerians, banks have not really significantly impacted their lives or livelihoods. First, the under-banked population is said to be in the order of about 40 per cent, which means that a significant number do not even have access to banking facilities let alone banking products of any kind. The majority of those who have bank accounts for a variety of reasons are not able to access personal loans, mortgage or business loans. This explains why financial inclusion has gained inclusive currency and resonance in the past few years.’’

According to Osinbajo, depositors give their hard-earned funds to the banks at single-digit interest rate but cannot get anything less than double-digits when they seek the same funds for their businesses or mortgages for homes. He noted that the practice occurred against the backdrop of what seemed to be regular declarations of hefty profits by banks. The Vice President stated that the issue was not just about safe keeping of funds especially for the poor and those in the rural areas.

He said everyone should have access to financial products designed for low income earners as well as for the SMEs. Osinbajo stated that when the administration started the conditional cash transfer scheme for the poor it experienced the banking problems first hand.

The Nation 

The National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Prince Uche Secondus, said yesterday that the purported nomination of Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, as the presidential candidate of the party was not true.

Secondus made this known while briefing newsmen in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital after a rally of the party.

He said even though he was not in attendance at the Gombe meeting, no such decision was taken by PDP governors and other party leaders in attendance.

On why himself and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike did not attend the Gombe meeting where the alleged endorsement was sealed,  Secondus said he was indisposed and that it was not only the Rivers governor that was absent.

There were suggestions that some PDP governors were rooting for Dankwambo as their preferred presidential candidate.

“Though I was not in Gombe meeting, it was false, don’t listen to APC false propaganda. There was no such nomination. I was not in attendance because I went for medicals, I am a human being; most governors were absent not only my governor,” he said.

DailyTrust 

As the anti-corruption war grinds on slowly, daily revelations of mass treasury looting continue keep the populace entertained. All these revelations are geared towards explaining why the Nigeria is in such dire economic straits.

The nation is heavily in debt, and yet has so little to show for it. This is because so much was borrowed and simply shared, or put in to projects which failed due to corrupt practices.

A large part of the money that the nation owes can be traced to private bank accounts held abroad.  Powerless to do anything about it in the face of selective prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the ineffectiveness of the snail paced legal system, citizens look on helplessly.

As if that isn’t bad enough, government at all levels believes that the best means of dealing with their poor finances is to further to tax citizens even though the stolen money was theirs in the first place!  Reprehensibly the people are being asked to pay more taxes at a time when notorious treasury looters are deified, flaunt their wealth and continue to hold top positions. 

In a nation where the leader of the major opposition party Uche Secondus described a self-confessed thief of public funds as a “great leader who must be celebrated”, it comes as no surprise that there is little enthusiasm for paying taxes.

When former US President Harry Truman left office, he walked out of the White House and took a bus home. He said “you can’t get rich in politics unless you are a crook”. In Nigeria all political office holders are rich because public funds are used to subsidize their opulent life styles. 

For example despite the nation’s dire financial predicament, there are several Ministers and 21 Senators who in addition to their salary also collect pensions as former Governors or Deputy Governors. Shehu Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central recently let the cat out of the bag over the obscene amounts paid to all Senators when he informed the nation that in addition to their legitimate salary and allowances of N700,000 per month, members of the upper legislative chamber approved for themselves an additional N13.5 million monthly in illegal allowances. 

The revelation has incited widespread anger amongst Nigerians who are increasingly pressurized to pay taxes in spite of the fact that there is no standard infrastructure, health service or educational system that justifies paying taxes for.

Nigerians know that their taxes are mainly used to pay for the extravagances of the political class. It’s important to debunk the myth that taxes are necessary for the operation of good governance. There are 10 countries in the world where no income taxes are paid by anybody, and over 70 countries where the minimum income tax rate 0% so that those citizens living below the poverty line aren’t required to pay tax. 

These nations which choose not to collect income taxes still have other methods of generating revenue and the most common denominator amongst them is that they are oil-producing nations whose national political philosophy has inculcated compassion for the underprivileged.

Although Nigeria has oil, the money either stolen, misappropriated or shared, and no such niceties exist. The super-rich pay virtually no taxes while those struggling to survive on a daily or monthly basis are hounded as a means of increasing internally generated revenue. Paradoxically the same government that claims not to have enough money, gives away billions of Naira annually in form of import duty waivers and tax breaks.  Naturally the beneficiaries are their acolytes. The public believe that it is unfair for certain well known “big men” to continuously benefit from duty waivers, and still get tax breaks for fixing roads used by their business, while struggling businessmen who provide their own electricity and water, as well as patch the roads in their areas are hounded for taxes. 

Bearing in mind the prevailing level of poverty and lack of infrastructure, the case for zero income tax in Nigeria is very strong.

This “out of the box” thinking is way beyond the capabilities of our leaders. It’s the sort of bold move that only progressive compassionate governments consider.

It would mean that those in power would have to severely moderate their lifestyles and citizens would be free to spend their money providing for themselves rather than for their leaders. Instead of looking inwards to save billions and make governance cheaper, political leaders expect long suffering Nigerians to continue paying for the inefficiency, incompetence and high-life. The revelations concerning the ridiculous amounts of money our Senators are playing with certainly do not inspire patriotic. It is fallacious to compare tax rates of different nations. 

Taxes should as far as possible be levied equitably according to ability to pay. In a situation where 75% of the population live below the international poverty line, why should they pay taxes?

Especially at a time that the nation cannot account for its oil revenues!  If truly Nigerians were exempted from paying income tax, it would make the massive theft of government money slightly more palatable. Very few people can be expected to be enamoured with paying taxes when the money will not be accounted for and nothing can be done about it. This is the reason why despite all the hype, VAIDS (Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme is a half-baked idea.

It is conceptualised by those who have used public money to insulate themselves from economic hardship, and have no idea of the contempt in which the general public holds political leaders. Taxation is the means by which government is supposed to raise money to provide standard services, and not money to subsidize their hedonism.

In a situation where these standard services have never been provided, budgets never adhered to, and misappropriation of funds is an on-going problem it’s sheer hypocrisy to expect long suffering citizens to voluntary agree to pay taxes which will be stolen or misapplied.

Governor Samuel Ortom on Monday welcomed President Muhammadu Buhari to Benue State for the first time since assuming power in 2015.

Ortom in a thought-provoking speech told the president that his people were tired of burying dead bodies, pleading that he should find a lasting panacea to the menace.

His full speech below:

On behalf of the Government and good people of Benue State, I welcome the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari to Benue State, the Food Basket of the Nation. As a helpless child in trouble looks forward to the rescue by a father, so the people of Benue looked forward to seeing you. Welcome sir. Benue people have always believed in you which is why we voted massively for you in the 2015 General Elections.

You are our father and we appreciate your visit here in the hope that our lingering challenges will be over. You are known as a man of integrity and uprightness and you have always fought for justice.

Your Excellency, on January 11, 2018, we buried 73 citizens, including women and children. All of them were brutally slaughtered in their sleep by armed herdsmen in the early hours of the New Year 2018. At least 65 more have been killed in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas after the mass burial. Just a few days ago, 26 of our men, women and children in Okpokwu Local Government Area were killed. Also over 5,000 people were displaced in Mbatoho Community in Makurdi Local Government Area. Attacks by armed herdsmen have continued in various communities in the State leading to the displacement of over 170,000 people. More than 60 percent of this figure are children who have been forced out of school. These and many others now live in the eight Internally Displaced People’s Camps scattered across the State namely: Abagana, Daudu1 and 2, Gbajimba, Tse Ginde, Anyiin, Abeda and Ugba. Their homes and farms have also been destroyed and taken over by armed herdsmen.

Mr. President, thank you for your response to these attacks. You quickly directed the Inspector General of Police to relocate to Benue and stop the killings. Issues of capacity and integrity may have accounted for the disobedience of your orders but you responded swiftly. At your directives, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) also distributed some Relief Materials to the IDP Camps. Given the enormity of the situation, this was like a drop in the ocean. Thank you for the deployment of the Police Special Forces which proved useful in reducing the attacks. Some of the gallant Police and Civil Defence Officers paid the supreme price in trying to keep the peace. Our sympathies go to their families and loved ones.

Your Excellency, we plead with you to take steps to reduce the suffering of the over 170,000 of our countrymen in the Eight Internally Displaced Camps. The Federal Government should compensate them and assist in the rebuilding of their homes as promised by the Committee on Displaced People headed by the Vice President. The Primary and Secondary Schools, Churches and Health Centres destroyed in several communities should be rebuilt for use again.

When I was sworn in May, 2015, one of the first things our Administration did was to organize an Amnesty Programme for youths who had armed themselves and were creating some security challenges in the State. The Amnesty was done in the open and over 700 weapons and thousands of ammunitions were returned. The Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the United Nations contracted the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) of South Africa to supervise the destruction of weapons and ammunitions surrendered by the over 900 persons under the Programme. The Amnesty Programme was our own way of telling everyone that we cannot condone lawlessness in the State. We set out to reform our youths and stabilize our rural areas as we promote agriculture. Our conviction is that the formation of militia does not bring peace. It only promotes lawlessness, impunity and instability. We have also eliminated thuggery in our Government. The challenge we have however, is about Terwase Akwaza, alias Ghana, the notorious gang leader who has been terrorizing Benue and Taraba States. He has been declared wanted and a bounty of N50 million has been placed for information on him. We hope that Exercise Ayem Akpatuma or its upgraded version will help us arrest and bring him to justice. Indeed we request that the exercise be upgraded to an operation with the capacity to chase away the invaders so that those who have been displaced can return to their homes.

Although concerted attacks on communities in the State commenced in 2011, between 2013-2017, Forty-Seven attacks were recorded and over 1,878 men, women and children were slaughtered in cold blood across 14 Local Government Areas of the State. Another 750 were seriously wounded while 200 were missing. Over 99,427 households were affected. We have lost an average of 47% of Internally Generated Revenues due to attacks by armed herdsmen in the State. This underscores the problem between herdsmen and farmers. It was clear to us that increased population, shrinking arable land, global warming and desertification as well as the need to diversify the economy through farming, all make open grazing unattractive.

Through consultations and research, we discovered that the global best practice for animal husbandry is Ranching. Top countries in the global cattle business such as India, Brazil, USA, South Africa; Kenya and Zimbabwe, are known to practice ranching. It takes proper care of Livestock to ensure quality meat and dairy products and minimizes cattle rustling. Your Excellency, this is the logic behind our popular Law, “Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017”. I urge anyone who has a superior method other than Ranching to bring it to the table. The Law duly passed by the Benue State House of Assembly reflects the wishes of the Benue people.

On 30th May, 2017, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore in a ‘World Press Conference’ held in Abuja, opposed the Ranching Law. They called on Fulani herders in all of West Africa to come into Benue to help them reclaim their land. In the same vein, Miyetti Allah Cattle Herders Association in their Press Conference declared that more blood will flow in Benue if the Ranching Law is not rescinded. Your Excellency, as a President that supports the Rule of Law, you will most certainly be offended by these Hate Speeches that may have crossed the red line. Your Excellency, how can a group claim responsibility for the killings that happened and are going about scot free? How can a group make public these inciting and criminal declarations in an organized society and are not arrested by the Police? Your Excellency, kindly order the immediate arrest and prosecution of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and Miyetti Cattle Breeders Association for carrying out their threats to attack Benue on account of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017.

Recent Security Reports before Your Excellency, indicate that the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) are accomplices in the massacres in Benue State. If these Reports on Benue and other parts of the country are true, they have enormous implications for national security. There may be a need to strengthen the enforcement of the ECOWAS Protocol by directing the Nigeria Immigration Service to do the needful.

Your Excellency, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not good time to tell you about our spectacular achievements in the area of education where over 711 Schools have been renovated and 16,000 Teachers retrained. We need not recount strides in the Health Sector where the moribund Schools of Nursing and Midwifery as well as College of Health Technology Agasha earlier closed down have been renovated, accredited and reopened. After 12 years instead of the normal 6 years in MedicalSchool, we graduated 152 students of the Benue State University Medical School. We wish to appreciate the partnership between Federal Government and our State in the area of Sustainable Development Goals as well as Universal Basic Education. We have empowered youth and women through effective collaboration with Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Industry. We have massive rural development in terms of rural roads, rural electrifications, bridges and Skills Acquisition Centers. We have also completed various projects in the areas of Water and Sanitation.

Your Excellency, to reduce the burden of the State Government, we ask you to take over the running of some institutions in Benue State. We plead that the Federal Government takes over Benue State University Teaching Hospital. Benue State is the only State that does not have a Federal College of Education and Federal Polytechnic. We request the take-over of the College of Education, Katsina-Ala and Benue State Polytechnic Ugbokolo by the Federal Government.

We also plead with you to direct the rehabilitation and dualization of Makurdi – Otukpo – Enugu Road; Makurdi – Gboko – Katsina-Ala Road and Gboko – Vandeikya – Obudu Road that are each in a terrible state of disrepair. The Makurdi – Agasha – Wukari Road will ease our communication with Taraba and Plateau States and a Bridge at Buruku on River Katsina-Ala will link other parts of the State and Taraba. These have large population of the State that is engaged in farming that has turned Benueinto the Food Basket of the Nation.

The people of Benue identify with the reconciliation efforts by Senator Ahmed Tinubu who is carrying out your mandate. The Benue people also appreciates Mr. President for the appointments made from the State, we still hope that more appointments will be made so as to cement the relationship between Mr. President, the Party and the State.

The issue of backlog of Salaries remains intractable. Part of the problem of Salaries was inherited from the past Government. In spite of your efforts with Bailout Funds and Paris Club Refunds which we appreciate, the challenge still remains due to the high wage bill in the average of N7.8billion which we inherited. We request for a grant or soft loan to be able to pay the arrears even as we have taken steps to stabilize regular salary payment with effect from January this year.

Your Excellency let me conclude by calling on the Federal Government and States, to support and promote the Ranching Law, so that together, we will stamp out the menace of herdsmen and farmers attacks and cattle rustling in Nigeria. There is no known better and credible alternative to Ranching.

Once again, welcome to Benue State.

DailyPost 

President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration has opted for negotiation, rather than military action to secure the release of hundreds of schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents.

The girls were taken away from their schools in  Chibok,  Borno State in April 2014 and Dapchi in  Yobe State last month. 

President Buhari said this yesterday at a meeting with visiting American Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. 

Buhari said Nigeria was working in concert with international organisations and negotiators, to ensure that the girls were released unharmed by their captors.

“We are trying to be careful. It is better to get our daughters back alive,” his spokesman Mr Femi Adesina quoted him as saying at the meeting with Tillerson.

He thanked the United States for the assistance rendered in the fight against insurgency. He noted that Nigerian forces are good, “but need assistance in the areas of training and equipment.”

Buhari promised that his administration would continue to do its best to secure the country, adding that he would be in Yobe State, from where Dapchi schoolgirls were abducted, later this week “as part of my condolence and sympathy visits to areas where we have had unfortunate events.”

Promises fair polls in 2019 

The president pledged to ensure free and fair polls in 2019. He recalled that the then American Secretary of State, John Kerry, visited before the 2015 polls, “and he told the party in government then, and those of us in opposition, to behave ourselves, and we did.”

Tillerson commended Buhari for his strides in the anti-corruption war, to which the Nigerian leader responded that funds recovered were being invested in development of infrastructure.

Tillerson said Nigeria was a very important country to the U.S, saying: “You have our support in your challenges. We will also support opportunities to expand the economy, commercial investments, and peaceful polls in 2019.”

Nigeria faces other threats - US 

Mr. Tillerson said apart from the Boko Haram insurgency, there are other threats Nigeria’s leadership has to deal with.  

Mr. Tillerson said this at a joint press briefing at the Presidential Villa with Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, after his meeting with President Buhari. 

He did not mention the other threats, but assured that the United States was ready to coordinate efforts towards tackling all the threats. 

Asked how the US would help in  rescuing the Dapchi schoolgirls and how soon the assistance would come, he said America respects the responsibilities of Nigerian government and the territorial integrity of the country.  

He said the way the US supported Nigeria was in providing equipment, training personnel of special operations and sharing intelligence to carry out the recovery effort.  

Tillerson stated: “But I think it is also important to put this in a broad regional context as well. Boko Haram is a threat to other regions and this has been the subject of my meetings elsewhere and in Africa as well.   

“In my discussion with President Derby in Chad earlier today (Monday), we spoke about the threat of Boko Haram and I think it is important and it has really been powerful the collaboration between the joint task force, which Nigeria is a part and Chad is a part, to respond to this threat of terrorism which Boko Haram is one of the organizations. There are other threats that the leadership of this country has to deal with. 

“So, the United States is ready to engage and coordinate efforts as well. But we have been supporting, equipping, training and when we can provide information. 

“I think that is the best way we have been helping the government of Nigeria secure the release of the girls, which we hope, will be done in a peaceful manner. We hope that something can be worked out and they can secure the release of these girls quickly.” 

Onyeama said he disagreed that things were getting worse despite the collaboration with the task force and the US.

He sayed though there were threats and the great damage being inflicted by the insurgents, the situation was asymmetric warfare requiring a lot of intelligence.  

“There are a lot of efforts and there has been a lot of success, really concrete successes that have been achieved. But clearly, there is still a lot that needs to be done which are why there are these investments. 

“Why it appears that these terrorists appear to be emboldened and stronger, when you see the attack in Burkina Faso, well these are soft targets and so difficult sometimes to prevent completely. 

“But with greater sharing of intelligence and I think there is greater cooperation now, with G5, Sahel, multinational joint task force have a presence here, we hope to turn the tide very soon,” he said.   

Asked why Dapchi schoolgirls were abducted despite the government’s claim of having degraded the insurgents, Onyeama said fighting terrorism is a global challenge.   

The minister dismissed the allegations that it took the government a week to acknowledge the abduction.   

“Fighting terrorism is a new challenge globally. When we talked of having degraded Boko Haram, we were referring specifically to the situation that we were confronted when the government took over. That was a situation where you have a classical military confrontation and Boko Haram were capturing territories, holding unto territories y and hoisting flags. So, as a conventional military threat, Boko Haram has been completely degraded.  

“Now, there is a challenge with regards to sporadic suicides and bombings and of course, largely, there is kidnapping of the girls. We don’t by any strength of imagination minimize those, but it’s really a different kind of warfare as it is and the government is sparing no effort in addressing that. 

“But it is a different challenge that requires intelligence and also understanding the environment that this kind of unlimited support for Boko Haram indoctrination of young children,” Onyeama said. 

DailyTrust 

Shehu Sani, the Nigerian senator who revealed that he and his colleagues receive N13.5 million as running cost monthly, has explained why he exposed his colleagues.

Mr. Sani in an interview with BBC said the payment is a ‘moral issue.’

“I decided to burst it open. It was a moral issue,” he said.

He said that the National Assembly is being run with little accountability about how the money is spent.

He wants the illegal payment to be scrapped so that the legislative arm of government will be attractive only to people who can contribute ideas.

“The National Assembly is one of the most non-transparent organs of government. It pricked my conscience and I decided to burst the bubble and open the National Assembly to public scrutiny.

“If the expenses payment system was ended then parliament would only be attractive to people who contribute ideas,” he told BBC.

Mr. Sani had in an interview with TheNews revealed that he and his colleagues receive N13.5 million monthly as “running cost”, aside a N750, 000 monthly consolidated salary and allowances which they also receive.

Mr. Sani’s revelation is the first by a lawmaker from the Senate since the clamour by Nigerians for a full disclosure of lawmakers’ earnings.

The revelation has sparked widespread anger among Nigerians who had always criticised the lawmakers for arbitrarily allocating jumbo pay to themselves.

The Senate on Sunday confirmed the payment but said the revelation is ‘nothing new’ as the information was already in the public domain.

The presidency is yet to react to the development.

PT