Buhari absent from FEC meeting again, seeks rest

For the second time in 21 days, President Muhammadu Buhari, was again, absent from the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which held yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Seeking more time to recuperate, Buhari directed his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to preside over the gathering. The president’s absence from the FEC meetings has generated public interest leading to speculations about his health because that is where the developmental agenda for a given time is set by the government.

But apparently to douse the anxiety over the non-appearance of the nation’s number one citizen at major events lately , the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, later spoke to State House correspondents.

His words: “We just concluded the FEC meeting. I am sure you noticed that the president was not there. He was not there because he asked that he be allowed to rest and asked the vice president to preside.
“And he will be working from home. He has asked that all his files be taken to him in the house. He will be working from home today.” In the meantime, the president has sought the approval of the National Assembly to take two separate loans totalling $12.912 billion to fix the railways, reconstruct the North East and expand the social safety net programme of his administration.

Mohammed noted that Osinbajo would later brief the president on the outcome of the deliberation.At yesterday’s meeting, only a handful of ministers assembled alongside the vice president in the Council Chambers venue awaiting the Buhari’s arrival to no avail.

A security official was seen standing behind the president’s exalted seat but vacated the area later when it became apparent that the president would not be presiding.

At exactly11:00 a.m., ‎Osinbajo opened the meeting with the national anthem which was followed by prayers and the proceedings proper.

The gathering did not hold last week. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had blamed this on the inability to circulate relevant documents to members due to the Easter holiday .

Also three weeks ago, Osinbajo presided over the meeting because, of what the presidency termed, Buhari’s engagement with other pressing state issues at his official residence.In an interview with newsmen, Mohammed had maintained that it was not unusual for his deputy to preside over the council.

He had noted: “It is not unusual, even if the president is hale and hearty and everything is going on well, for the vice president to come and preside over meetings of the Federal Executive Council.

“The fact that the president is not in the office does not mean that he is not working….‎so, the fact that you did not see him does not mean that he is not working at all.

“Understandably, that has sparked a lot of controversies. I just want to make this clear, the president is in town. He is attending to other issues. The president looked at the agenda, it was a very light agenda and decided that the vice president should preside.

Get free 100 Swisscoins »»»

“It is not unusual for the kind of interest that is shown especially given the fact that the president was away for a while on medical treatment. We are not surprised that people will be wondering is he ill again?”

Yesterday’s deliberation, however, led to the approval of ‎N3.8 billion for the lease of fast-going vessels to enable the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (MIMASA) to optimally perform its duties on the high sea in the next one year.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, who made the disclosure to newsmen, added that the council sanctioned the release of N358 million for the procurement of 56 land patrol vehicles for the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

Also N5 billion was approved for the construction of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ‎ headquarters.The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, said government would deploy a team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health personnel in Sokoto and Zamfara states to curb reported cases of meningitis.

He confirmed that 813 deaths cases have so far been recorded since the outbreak of the contagious disease in parts of the country. Adewole hinted that the “cases will drop with the commencement of rainfall.”

The new move comes five months after the Senate declined a $29.96 billion loan request. The first proposal is for a facility of $5.851 billion from the China Exim Bank. The second involves securing $6.926 billion from the World Bank.

Prior to the presentation, it was learnt that the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and principal officers of the two chambers, with the exception of the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, had met with the president some weeks back on the issue.

According to the breakdown, the Lagos-Kano railway modernisation project and Lagos-Ibadan segment will take $1.231 billion.Those of Lagos-Kano and Kano-Kaduna segments take $1.146 billion, while $3.474 billion is billed for the Coastal Railway project, Lagos-Calabar segment. The three components are part of the loan request from Chinese bank.

Part of the $6.926 World Bank facility will be used to finance projects in the Boko Haram-ravaged North East and provide social inclusion and welfare advancement project.


Polio eradication support and routine immunisation project get $125 million.Also, community and social development project would get $75 million, while states’ health programme investment projects take $125 million, just as $100 million goes to education programme investment projects at that tier of government.
Youth employment and social support projects also get $100 million while $50 million is earmarked for the Fadama 3 Project. The lawmakers had noted then that they rejected the earlier loan request because a breakdown was not attached.

Reading the letter on the floor, Dogara said it behooved the lawmakers to expeditiously approve the request since the funds available under the Chinese-African fund were limited and loan applications based on first come, first serve.

Get free 100 Swisscoins »»»

Drama in Aso Rock as Buhari suspends, probes SGF, NIA DG

Click here to get 100 free swisscoins

• APC, NASS, Ozekhome laud govt’s action
• Exercise, an afterthought, says Fayose
• Wike welcomes probe of $43m in Lagos home

There was a mild drama at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday following the announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari suspending the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal and the Director General (DG) of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayo Oke.

A statement by the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said both officials remained suspended until they were fully investigated. Lawal is being probed over allegations of an award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE). Oke, on the other hand, is facing scrutiny for his agency’s role in the $43 million and other local currencies found in an Ikoyi, Lagos apartment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

By the suspension of these officials, the government seems to have affirmed its commitment to its anti-corruption agenda. But how the matter is finally resolved will determine the strength of the resolve of the government to beam the anti-corruption searchlight on its officials.

Shortly after the announcement, State House correspondents sighted the axed officials being driven into the Villa. However, it could not be established whether Lawal had prior knowledge of the presidential directive as at the time of his suspension, but he was seen by newsmen after a closed-door meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

When reporters sought his reaction after the meeting, the suspended SGF queried the source of the report. The following conversation ensued:
Newsmen: Your suspension has just been announced. How will you react to the development?
Babachir: Who announced it?
Newsmen: The Presidency
Babachir: Then ask them. Why are you asking me? Who is the Presidency?
Newsmen: Have you been informed of the suspension?
Babachir: By who? About what. What about you? Have you been informed?
Newsmen: Yes sir.
Babachir: By who?
Newsmen: By the Presidency sir.
Babachir: I have not seen it. I should have been given... I have not seen the press release so I cannot comment on it.
Newsmen: It is currently trending online. Are you doubting the authenticity of the statement?
Babachir: I have not seen it.
Newsmen: Tell us the outcome of your meeting with the Vice President sir.
Babachir: I am always here. I always meet the Vice President. I used to come here even before I was made SGF.

Apparently looking bemused, ‎he thereafter walked away and was chauffeur-driven out of the Presidential Villa. In the same vein, Oke, who arrived at the seat of power shortly after Babachir left to seek audience with the Vice President, could not gain access as he was barred by the security agents at the entrance to the Vice President’s ‎wing of the Presidential Villa.

Oke, who later made another attempt at the security gate accessing the forecourt linking the entrance to President Buhari’s office, was again denied access, as the remote controlled gate remained firmly shut.

Hitherto, the NIA boss enjoyed the privilege of gaining access to the President through the gate along with the service chiefs, National Security Adviser (NSA), Inspector General of Police (IGP), DG State Security Service (SSS), Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister. The suspended NIA boss was forced after being denied access to drive out of the presidential villa looking dejected. He was, however, sighted about 45 minutes later being led to Prof. Osinbajo’s office by the Vice President’s Chief Security Officer.

Consequently, a three-man committee, headed by the Vice President with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice as well as the National Security Adviser as members, has been raised to investigate the allegations. It has two weeks to submit its report.

By the new development, the most senior permanent secretary and officer in the SGF and NIA offices are to act as heads while the investigation lasts. Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has backed the President over the decision.

Its spokesman, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi in an interview with The Guardian, said there was nothing abnormal with the measure. His words: “The action by the president is part of the normal procedural thing to do. If someone is being investigated, it is normal that that individual is required to step aside to allow the investigation to be concluded. It also demonstrates the resolve by the president to entrench transparency and accountability. This is my interpretation of what happened.”

Besides, the National Assembly and famous constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, lauded the exercise. The Senate communicated its satisfaction in a statement yesterday by the chairman of its ad hoc committee on the humanitarian crisis in the North East, Shehu Sani.

“It is commendable that the president has taken the Senate committee report and recommendations seriously. The sword of truth is not just cast and sharpened for the neck of foes but also for those of friends,” he added.

In their commendation messages, Representatives Aliyu Magaji Dau (APC Jigawa) and Johnson Agnayinman (APC Edo) noted that the action sent a signal that nobody was above the law.

They, however, called for restraint so that fair hearing for the affected officials would not be compromised. Describing the axing as “good riddance to bad rubbish”, Ozekhome held that the measure was indicative that President Buhari was beginning to listen to the voice of reason on the need to entrench good governance in the polity.

“The suspension of the N250 million grass-cutting SGF and the N15 billion Osborne Road warehousing NIA DG, NIA is good riddance to bad rubbish. I am sure the government is beginning to listen to my critical but patriotic voice. We cannot continue to be a laughing stock in the international arena,” he stated.

But Governor Ayodele Fayose considered the exercise as an afterthought. In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor queried: “Would the president have set up a probe panel if these scams were linked to anyone in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or those members of his party that are not in his good books?”

He added: “Most importantly, what business does a presidential committee have with an investigation into crime? Are they telling Nigerians that they have lost confidence in all the intelligence and investigative agencies of the government, including the EFCC and DSS?”

Click here to get 100 free swisscoins

Buhari’s men have buried their loot in Aso Rock – Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has alleged that some people close to President Muhammadu Buhari have buried their loot in the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Fayose stated this in response to Lai Mohammed’s statement, where he claimed that looters now bury stolen funds in cemetaries and deep forests.

In a statement issued by the Governor’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, Fayose slammed Mohammed for playing on the intelligence of Nigerians.


“Looters in the Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency, especially those being compensated for funding the election of the president in 2015 bury their own loot in the villa with presidential protection.

“Should it be wrong for other supposed looters that do not have presidential protection like the All Progressives Congress (APC) looters to bury their loots in burial grounds probably for spiritual protection?

“Nigerians can no longer be fooled with stage-managed loots recoveries, with no traceable owners (looters), especially when the loots are traceable to close associates of the president and his cabinet members.

“Obviously, this so-called anti-corruption war has become a laughing stock with N49 million found in Kaduna Airport, N448 million discovered in a shop at Victoria Island, Lagos and N13 billion found in Ikoyi, Lagos neither having owners nor the identities of owners of the property where the money was found known,” the statement read in part.


Fayose also claimed the recovered monies either belonged to those around Buhari or that the government planted them “to sustain its fake anti-corruption fight”.

“It is either the money belongs to members of Buhari’s government or it is being planted by the government to sustain its fake anti-corruption fight in the minds of the people.

“Enough of stage-managed and fake anti-corruption war aimed solely at opposition figures, especially presidential hopefuls in the 2019 election”, he said.