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Buhari to N’Assembly: We Must End Insecurity in Nigeria Now
President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration is ready to use everything within its powers to end insecurity in the country and bring perpetrators of criminal activities to book.
The president stated this at a Presidential Dinner with the 469 members of the National Assembly, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, on Tuesday.
According to him, insecurity, manifesting as insurgencies, banditry, kidnapping and urban crime of all sorts is the single most difficult challenge facing the nation.
He expressed concern that insecurity had inhibited government’s ability to build infrastructure, provide the much needed social services to the people, and to attract investments that drive innovation, create industries, and provide jobs and create wealth.
‘‘Some of the people who perpetuate these various manifestations of insecurity do so for profit, others, in the name of discredited ideologies.
‘‘Whatever their motivations may be, their actions are an existential threat to our country.
‘‘In the circumstances, we must do everything within our power, without consideration of distractions, to put an end to their activities and bring them to book.
‘‘We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from this objective, or waver in our commitment, and I am confident that together we will triumph in our present efforts,’’ he said.
Buhari also used the occasion to hail the ninth National Assembly for discharging their legislative duties with maturity and competence, describing the legislature as ‘‘full partners in national development’’.
He particularly commended the minority parties in the legislature for their cooperation and support for government programmes.
‘‘Our ability to govern in the best interests of the Nigerian people depends to a great deal on effective collaboration and partnership between the Legislature and the Executive.
‘‘The obligation to check and balance each other is not an invitation to conflict, and it should not be characterised by quarrelsome disagreement when consultation, engagements and compromise have proven time and again to be a more effective approach.
‘‘In the ninth Assembly, you have distinguished yourselves by your conduct in office, by the scale and quality of your legislative interventions, and by your capacity for engaging with the difficult questions facing the country with maturity and competence,’’ he noted.
The president listed some legislative accomplishments of the ninth Assembly ranging from returning of the budget cycle to January to December; the amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA); the Nigeria Police Act; the Finance Act; and the Deep Offshore Production Sharing Contract Act, among others.
He, therefore, commended the leadership of the National Assembly under Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila for their dedication through challenging times.
‘‘You have also succeeded in overcoming the political and other obstacles that have for two decades, inhibited the much-needed reforms of our Oil and Gas industry, resulting now in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
‘‘I congratulate you all, and thank you for your contributions to the difficult, yet necessary task of nation building,’’ the president told the legislators.
He noted that the executive and legislature came into office at a time of significant challenges for the country.
‘‘Overcoming these challenges require that we finally confront long ignored questions of economics, politics, law and history that are often at the root of our national problems.
‘‘This moment in history requires us to make hard choices, take difficult decisions and act with diligence and patriotism to ensure that our country can survive and thrive long after we have all left.
‘‘What this means in effect is that our jobs will not get any easier. However, the objectives we seek, and will work together to achieve, deserve our best efforts regardless the sacrifice,’’ he said.
The president further noted that it was appropriate to jointly review shared commitments, to identify what had been achieved, and what is still left undone.
‘‘This way, we can prioritise activities and allocate the resources necessary to ensure that in the lifetime of this Assembly, and of the administration, we can complete the work we have started, and leave behind a record of achievement that will stand all of us in good stead in the assessment of history,’’ he said.
The president said he looked forward to continued collaboration and partnership between the Executive and Legislative arms of government.
He said they must work together to achieve a shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous country.
Earlier in their separate messages, the Senate President Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila thanked the president for promoting the principle of partnership between the National Assembly and the Executive for the general good of the society.
They also expressed the readiness of the national assembly to ensure speedy passage of 2022 Appropriation Bill when submitted by the president in September.
The President of the Senate particularly advocated for more allocation of resources to the security sector to tackle the nation’s security challenges.
(NAN)
…Residents hail Governor for restoring power after 10 years blackout
Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, has said the forthcoming governorship election offers the people of the state an opportunity to use their votes to cement continuity of good governance and defeat politics of retrogression.
Governor Oyebanji also urged the electorate to cast their votes massively for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the January 2027 presidential election in appreciation of his immense support for the government and people of Ekiti State.
The Governor who is the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the June 20 governorship election in Ekiti State said no Nigerian leader has done as much as President Tinubu had done for Ekiti State, hence the state must contribute a high tally of votes that would contribute to his re-election.
Oyebanji who spoke on Thursday while addressing rallies in Ekiti East and Ayekire Local Government Areas in continuation of his campaign tour round the state, said frequent changes of ruling parties at election cycles negatively affected the growth and development of the state.
Oyebanji also restated his call for peaceful and violence-free election. He enjoined APC members not to be provoked into violence before, during and after the election for the victory to be sweet and remarkable.
The rallies which were turned into carnivals by party members and residents saw the Governor receiving a rousing welcome in Omuo Ekiti and Ode Ekiti, the headquarters of the two council areas in appreciation of the projects implemented and restoring electricity to the axis after a blackout of over ten years.
The Governor told the crowd that his administration has succeeded in fulfilling promises made to the people of the two council areas including putting an end to more than ten years of blackout expressing readiness to work harder to consolidate on the gains achieved if he wins re-election at the polls.
He spoke just as residents of the community through their spokesperson thanked the Governor for restoring power supply in several communities in the area, after over ten years of blackout. They said the restoration of power supply has boosted local economy of the communities.
A massive crowd of party supporters, community leaders, teachers, local government workers, artisans, market women and non-indigenes welcomed the Governor during the rallies and pledged their support for his re-election on June 20.
Speaking in Omuo Ekiti, Oyebanji identified lack of continuity in good governance occasioned by the single term syndrome, said the forthcoming election offers the people of Ekiti an opportunity to elect a governor back-to-back and put a stop to retrogression caused by instability in governance.
He said: “In less than a year, Ekiti State will clock 30 years since it was created and no government has won election back-to-back. If one government comes, it will introduce some policies within four years and when another government comes, rather than building on what is on ground, it will introduce something new and the state will have to start all over again.
“The problem of Ekiti State development has been lack of continuity in good governance, so June 20 offers us a platform to change that narrative once and for all. On June 20, Ekiti will rise up as a mass army to say enough is enough.
“Through our votes for APC, we must say no to politics of retrogression, to politics of underdevelopment, to politics that does not advance the cause of women, to politics that will take ten steps forward and 50 steps backward, all those will stop on June 20.”
The Governor further emphasised the need for a high voter turnout at the Ekiti poll in favour of the APC which he believes would rub off positively on the fortunes of the party in neighbouring Osun State where another governorship election holds in August.
According to him, an impressive showing for the party in both Ekiti and Osun States would set the stage for an overwhelming victory for Tinubu at the January presidential poll saying “the governorship poll results in the two states should prepare the groumd for the re-election of the President.
Two prominent party leaders in Ekiti East, Senator Biodun Olujimi and Rt. Hon. Femi Bamisile canvassed support for re-election of Oyebanji on the strength of the impact of his administration in the axis.
Olujimi, the immediate past Senator for Ekiti South Senatorial District urged voters in the axis to repay the good done by the Governor on election day and be faithful to the covenant to re-elect him back to office.
Bamisile, the incumbent member of House of Representatives for Ekiti South Federal Constituency 2, said the Governor has become an adopted son of Ekiti East who must be re-elected because he has done well for the people.
A youth leader, Mayowa Ogundana, commended the Governor for creating jobs through the Bring Back the Youths into Agriculture with many beneficiaries in the area and also reconnecting communities back to the national grid after over ten years of being in darkness.
Oyebanji also met with traditional rulers in the two local government areas and used the forum to solicit their support for his aspiration and administration.
The Governor was joined during the campaign by his Deputy, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye; Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Adeoye Aribasoye; Deputy Director of the Campaign Council / Senator representing Ekiti South , Senator Yemi Adaramodu among others.
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