Pres Buhari says VP Yemi Osinbajo remains in charge as he continues his rest in Abuja

President Buhari who arrived Nigeria from London today, has asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to continue piloting the affairs of the nation as he needs more time to rest. He said this when he met with Osinbajo, his cabinet members and some governors at the state house this morning.

Osinbajo presides over first FEC meeting as Ag. President

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is currently presiding over first meeting of the Federal Executive Council in that capacity.

Osinbajo assumed the position of acting President last Thursday when President Muhammadu Buhari proceeded on a short vacation.

The President who is expected to undergo medical checkups in London, United Kingdom, is expected to resume work on February 6.

The council meeting which has almost all ministers in attendance started at about 10.02am with Osinbajo’s arrival.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali; and the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; took the opening prayers before the meeting went into closed door.

Osinbajo, Odigie-Oyegun, others arrive Edo for Oba ’ s coronation

 

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has arrived Benin, the Edo State capital, for the grand coronation ceremony of the new Oba of Benin Kingdom.

The crown prince of Benin Kingdom, His Royal Highness, Eheneden Erediauwa, would formally receive his staff of office from Governor Adams Oshiomhole as the 39th Oba.

Prof. Osinbajo arrived at the Benin airport at about 10:46am, under tight security.

He was accompanied by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, and other members of the presidential entourage.

The Vice President was received by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; governor Oshiomhole, the governor-elect, Godwin Obaseki; the Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire; and the senator representing Edo North, Francis Alimikhena.

Other dignitaries who have arrived for the ceremony are  the Governor of Gombe, Dr. Ibrahim Dankwambo; his Imo State counterpart, represented by the Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere; the Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, and the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote.

Although the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, were not sighted at the airport, it was learnt that they had arrived earlier with their entourage.

It was also gathered that the crown prince had yet to leave the Usama palace for Urho-Okpota as of the time of filing the report.

FG lists conditions for assets sale

The Federal Government has given conditions that must be met before the sale of certain national assets.
Top among the conditions is that government will insert repurchasing clauses in the assets sale agreements.
A top government source who declined to be named disclosed this to Daily Sun.
The National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had, last Thursday, endorsed government’s plan to sell off some national assets as part of the solution to get Nigeria out of recession and revamp economic growth.
According to the source,  government has also ruled out outright sale of assets.
“The federal government has no plan to sell-off its shares outrightly in the LNG where it owns 49 per cent shares and the balance 51 per cent owned by private foreign interests.
“Government doesn’t own the entire gas company and will certainly not sell-off its entire shares but is open to the possibility of selling its 49 per cent ownership by five per cent or thereabout.”
On the repurchase clause, the source said: “Just as in other potential asset sales, there would be a repurchase option that guarantees the federal government’s opportunity to buy-back any such assets if circumstances change anytime in the future.”
Though a list of national assets to be sold is  yet to be drawn-up, the source said that there is also a clear decision not to sell any critical asset of the country.
“Some of the intended sales could be in form of time-bound leases, advance renewal payments on leasing licenses and concessioning which would attract buoyant signature fees. If we even want to sell  certain assets, while our target is to get foreign currency, specifically dollars, the option would also be opened to Nigerians at some point to buy limited shares through the Nigeria Stock Exchange.”
The source disclosed that one of the concessioning deals almost completed is the East-West lines of the Nigeria Railways, with the General Electric (GE)-being the concessionaire. He also said the firm will invest $2 billion in the Nigerian economy including refurbishment of the single-gauge lane of the lines that have been left idle for years.
GE under the deal, the source added, is expected to hire back some of the laid off staff of Nigeria Railways and also open a Transport University in Nigeria while building/assembling train coaches in Nigeria.
Under the deal,  the Federal Government would also receive a signature fees in foreign currency as it would in other assets that might be concessioned.

Nigerians will see true change by 2018 – Vice President Osinbajo

Yemi Osinbajo

According to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the full impact of a positive change of government may not materialise until 2018, although the Federal Government is committed to ensuring the current hardship faced by Nigerians is alleviated.

Mr. Osinbajo, during an interview with journalists after a church programme in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital,  said the Muhammadu Buhari administration is “focused and determined to ensure this country is put on the right track.”

He said the government was aware a lot of Nigerians had become sceptical of the ‘Change’ mantra of the administration.

“There are lots of people who will say where is the change they promised,” he said. “People will condemn and shout, but we are very focused, calm and extremely confident that God is on our side and this country will not be the same.”

He, however, indicated that the full impact of the change may take a couple of years, until 2018.

“In another couple of years, we will see the difference,” he said.

“All of us have a part to play in the change. Nigerians must be patriotic in our dealings and daily activities. We should be committed to the nation,” said the vice president whose administration has come under heavy criticism from Nigerians for the handling of the economy.

Mr. Osinbajo also said pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta is the major cause of Nigeria’s current economic recession.

He said vandalisation has led to the loss of about 60 per cent of oil revenue, government’s major income source.

“One of the key reasons why we are in recession is the fact that we lost about 60 per cent of our revenue due to the vandalisation of the pipelines on the Niger/Delta and we lost almost 40 per cent of the gas,” he said.

The Vice-President, however, expressed optimism that Nigeria would soon overcome the challenge of vandalism

“Once we are able to resolve that, we would at least be able to earn more revenue,” he said.

Mr. Osinbajo’s optimism might be related to the fact that the Federal Government recently commenced negotiations with militant groups in the Niger Delta.

The Niger Delta Avengers, the main group responsible for most of the vandalism, recently announced a unilateral ceasefire, agreeing to conditional talks with the government.

On Sunday, Mr. Osinbajo also said the best way for the government to fully revive the economy was to diversify into agriculture and solid minerals.

He said work has begun in those two sectors and results would be gradually achieved.

The vice president said government was concerned about the number of unemployed youth.

He said the government would soon commence the implementation of the 500,000 job opportunities for volunteer corps as well as implement the planned micro credit facilities to a minimum of one million market women and artisans.

Mr. Osinbajo alluded to corruption as another major reason the country was facing its current economic challenges.

“These are challenging times. It is very obvious and we know the reasons,” he said.

“It is high level of corruption and we have dealt with that. We are controlling government expenditure. Once you can control corruption, we are out of it.”

Mr. Osinbajo, a Redeemed Church Pastor before his election, said he believes Nigeria “is one that God has a hand in its affairs.”

“In fact, the reason why President Buhari is in office is because God has a plan and hand in this nation; that this nation will be governed properly; that stealing of resources will stop; that we focused on issue of development.”

Osinbajo: Nigeria’s Economic Recession Is Inevitable

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday reviewed the state of the economy and explained that the prevailing recession was necessitated by the loss of 60 per cent of the nation’s revenue in the first quarter of the year to the violent activities of militants and economic sabouteurs in the Niger Delta.

But he gave assurances that the recession would be short-lived because the federal government was putting in place some mechanisms that would aid the quick recovery of the economy.

The vice-president, who spoke at a convocation in Ede, Osun State, enjoined Nigerian youths to multitask in order to break even.

Osinbajo’s assurances of a quick return to better days was echoed in China by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, who restated the federal government’s resolve to restructure the economy, saying that its policies focused on diversifying revenue sources would help the economy speed up the recovery process.

Explaining Nigeria’s sharp fall into recession, Osinbajo explained that there was no way the country could have avoided the recession since it had in February lost 60 per cent of its revenues to the activities of saboteurs.

He also identified pipeline vandalism coupled with the errors of some past leaders as some of the reasons for the current economic situation in the country.

The vice-president enjoined youths, especially young graduates to be diligent and take advantage of various international trading platforms to improve their status.

Also speaking at the convocation, a Global economic analyst, Mr Dick Kramer, in a lecture entitled, “Nation Building and Nigeria’s Economic Challenges,” said the country was in recession because it had failed to build a strong private economy over the years and also failed to create an economy based on industries.

While noting that the global economy had been relatively weak in the last 18 years, Kramer said Nigeria needed a new long term economic plan which must entail fostering an effective public/private partnership.

Also a former Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), called for serious investment in the education system in view of its impact on the socio-economic development of the country.

Speaking in China, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Enelamah, said the federal government was taking advantage of the difficult economic conditions arising from the sharp fall in oil prices to restructure the economy.

He said China would continue to be an important partner in Nigeria’s ongoing quest for sustainable growth and development.

The minister spoke during a panel discussion at the Second ‘Investing in Africa’ Forum, which took place in Guangzhou, China, and was organised by the government of China’s Guangdong Province, the China Development Bank, and the World Bank Group.

Enelamah said: “Our principal economic policy direction in Nigeria is to diversify the economy, away from the longstanding traditional reliance on oil exports. We are taking steps to structurally transform the economy, so as to restore growth and create jobs.”

He listed some of the steps the government was taking to include: “Strategically aligning monetary, fiscal and structural policies, to engender much-needed investors’ confidence; creating a private-sector driven Presidential Council on Ease of Doing Business that will initiate and implement far-reaching business environment reforms; repositioning the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council to enable it effectively fulfil its core mandate, among others.”

According to the minister, the NIPC would provide the needed incentives and ‘aftercare’ services to investors, as well as proactively create regular opportunities for investors’ engagement.

The minister highlighted a number of “strategic” sectors for intending and potential investors in Nigeria to include: Agriculture and Agro-Processing, Automotive, Infrastructure (Roads, Rail, Ports and Power), Real Estate, Pharmaceuticals, and the Digital Economy.

In his closing remarks, Enelamah praised the ongoing cooperation between China and Nigeria on the part of both governments, and also the private sector.

Enelamah said: “The China miracle is one that provides very many useful lessons from which Nigeria can borrow, and is borrowing. Nigeria will continue to work hard and in close partnership with China for mutual benefits, growth and development.”