Tag: Ahmed Lawan

Categories
FEATURED STORIES POLITICS

Akeredolu to Adamu on Lawan consensus: We are grieving but we haven’t forgotten that power must shift to the South

Akeredolu

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has reminded the All Progressives Congress Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, that power must shift to the South.

He said although he and the people were grieving over the deadly attack on a church in Owo, they had not forgotten the need for power shift.

He said this to discredit Adamu’s choice of the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, as the party’s consensus candidate.

Akeredolu said in a statement on Monday: *My attention has just been drawn to the expensive joke purportedly enacted by the National Chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

“The speculation is rife that the Chairman took a flight of fancy and decided to make a pronouncement beyond his competence.

“He has, allegedly, made public his preferred choice as the candidate of the APC for the Office of the President in the next general elections.

“This alleged pronouncement runs contrary to the position of majority of Northern Governors in APC and their counterparts in the South. Our agreement is unanimous on this issue.

“The Office of the President should be contested for by qualified persons from the Southern part of the country if the move to get a consensus candidate fails. There has been no shift from this settled issue.

“Let it be known that the Chairman or anyone who holds a contrary opinion does so at a personal level. He is at best embarking on a frolic which reasonable people will consider dangerous.

“We are grieving but have not forgotten that Power MUST shift to the south. On this we stand.”

Categories
FEATURED STORIES POLITICS

Lawan as consensus candidate is Adamu’s personal opinion – APC’s NWC

Legislative aides key to assisting lawmakers fulfill mandate — Lawan
Lawan

The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) has said that the choice of the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, as its consensus presidential candidate is the personal opinion of the party’s Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu.

The NWC denied reports that it has endorsed Senate President Ahmad Lawan, as its concensus candidate for 2023 election.

Alhaji Sulaiman Arugugun, APC National Organising Secretary, said this when he spoke with newsmen after an NWC meeting in Abuja on Monday.
He acknowledged that Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the APC National Chairman briefed the committee on the issue, saying however, that it was not deliberated at the meeting.

“You can see that we are all just coming out of the NWC meeting and we were fully briefed by our national chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu.
“And he did briefed us that Sen. Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate is our concensus candidate for the APC national convention.

“That is the information he gave us, but it not an issue that was deliberated on the floors of the NWC.
“It was just an information he gave us and all of us are entitled to our opinions as democrats,” Argungu said.
The APC National Organising Secretary added that the decision was not from the party’s NWC, stressing that it was an individual decision that was never deliberated by the committee.

Arugugun said that the APC NWC was in agreement with Saturday’s resolution of the 11 Northern governors that the presidency must shift to the South in 2023 after the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 11 governors from the North had in a statement, announced their support for power shift to the South at the end of the tenure of Buhari.

The governors while urging APC presidential aspirants from the region to step down from the 2023 presidential race, said, ”the decision to support power shift to the South is in the best interest of the country”.
The Northern APC governors also commended their Jigawa counterpart, Gov. Abubakar Badaru, for withdrawing from the race ahead of the presidential primaries slated from June 6 to June 8.
The governors who signed the communique at the end of the meeting included Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State, Gov. Sani Bello, Niger; Gov. Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa and Gov. Umara Zulum, Borno.
Others were Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, Gov. Umar Ganduje, Kano State; Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi and former Gov. Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto; Gov. Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna State; Gov. Muhammad Yahaya, Gombe state, and Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara.

Buhari had at a meeting with APC presidential aspirants on Saturday, approved power shift to the South in 2023 poll

Categories
FEATURED STORIES POLITICS

Ice cream seller and tomato seller references: Shettima apologises to Osinbajo, Lawan

Shettima


I, hereby, tender my unreserved apologies to the Vice President and the President of the Senate for the unintended pains my jibes might have caused them and their families and supporters.

These are the words of the former Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as he apologises to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; and and the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, over the terms he used to describe them in his Friday’s interview with ‘Channels Television’, which many consider derogatory.

In a tweet on Sunday, he noted:
“My interview on Channels TV was taken out of context. When I appeared on Channels TV last Friday amidst the tension rippling through our political arena, it was to underline the promise of Tinubu’s presidential bid held for those yet to establish the certainty of the hurdle ahead of the convention.

“I never set out to denigrate the personality of any aspirant, and definitely not that of my dear friends and allies. None of them is an opponent, so their aspiration isn’t a threat to us.

Read Also
2023: What Buhari told Tinubu, Osinbajo, other APC aspirants at Aso Villa
Consensus: Tinubu, Osinbajo, other South-West APC presidential aspirants meet
Tinubu, Osinbajo, Fayemi, other South-West presidential aspirants meet today
“They appear so in the sprint to become the party’s presidential flag-bearer in the 2023 elections, but they are our allies in the marathon.

“My assessments of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, and Senator Ahmad Lawan, were well-intentioned. I never set out to subject them to ridicule but, rather, to stir up interest in the contrasting virtues of the cast of aspirants putting up a fight against my preferred aspirant, one most favoured and advantaged to guarantee APC’s victory in the forthcoming presidential election.

“The interpretations of my remarks on Osinbajo and Senator Lawan are, thus, being done literally and overblown. The interpretations of my remarks on Osinbajo and Lawan are, thus, being done literally and overblown.

“My words weren’t woven to portray them as unworthy aspirants, but merely to qualify them as non-threatening contenders. I, however, take full responsibility for my utterances and wish to appeal to our teeming supporters to neither take my words out of their metaphoric contexts nor interpret them as a measure and declaration of hostility towards my dear friends and allies.

“I, hereby, tender my unreserved apologies to the Vice President and the President of the Senate for the unintended pains my jibes might have caused them and their families and supporters.

“A divided house, even if in the assumptions and imaginations of supporters with a distant grasp of our relationships with other aspirants, is the last impression we wish to create among Nigerians. I want this to be taken as an appeal to our supporters across all political camps to build bridges and mend fences as the actual journey is just about to begin. Victory, for the discerning, has always been the first lap of the race.”

Shettima, a strong ally of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had described Osinbajo as a decent man who should be selling popcorn and ice cream.

He said, “Osinbajo is a good man; he’s a nice man. But nice men do not make good leaders, because nice men tend to be nasty. Nice men should be selling popcorn, ice cream.”

On Lawan, he argued that facts were clear that the senate president, who cuts the image of a tomato trader, lacks capacity to confront the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

“Go to Ohafia or Arochukwu and ask for Ahmed Lawan, the first thing that will come to their mind is that of a tomato dealer who is bringing tomatoes from Maiduguri. Go to any part of the south. Does the brand name sell?” he said.

Categories
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FEATURED STORIES

Increase in tariff: Senate tackles DSTV, others

The President of the Senate, Alhaji Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday at plenary constituted a seven-man ad hoc committee to probe the tariff hike by Pay-Tv service providers operating in Nigeria.

Senate also at the plenary directed all Pay-Tv service providers to immediately review downward their bouquet prices in view of the prevailing economic situation in Nigeria.

Lawan, while announcing the composition of the ad hoc committee, implored the members to carry out a comprehensive investigation into how other countries are billed by Pay-Tv providers.

The Deputy Whip, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi (APC Niger ) was appointed the chairman of the ad hoc committee.

Members included Senators Sulaiman Abdu Kwari, Oluremi Tinubu, Yusuf Yusuf, Lekan Mustapha, Chukwuka Utazi and Akon Eyakenyi.

Earlier, the senate in a motion kicked against the increase in tariffs by Multi-Choice Nigeria.

The motion entitled “Nigerians dumbfounded, outraged over Pay-Tv Tariff Hikes demand for Pay-Per-View subscription model”, was sponsored by Sen. Abba Moro (PDP Benue).

Moro explained with concern the uproar among subscribers over tariff hikes, price increases by Pay-Tv providers in their various bouquets.

According to him, the leading Pay-Tv service provider in Nigeria, MultiChoice Nigeria, had informed all DStv Compact subscribers on Aug. 22, 2020, to expect a 13.3 per cent price increase to N7,900 up from N6, 975 commencing from Sept 1, 2020.

Moro decried the hike in subscription fee for DStv Compact Plus by 9.8 per cent from N10,925 to N12,000, and DStv Premium from N16,200 to N18,400 indicating a 13.6 per cent hike.

According to him, MultiChoice Nigeria willfully and perpetually increases the cost of its bundles because there is no regulation whatsoever in the area of fixing rates.

“Note further that as usual, without taking cognisance of the economic situation in the country, MultiChoice has again raised the cost of its DStv and GOtv bundles, stating them as follows:

“DStv Premium (N21,000), Compact (N14,250), Compact (N9, 000), Confam (N5, 300), Yanga (N2, 950), Padi (N2, 150), Business(N2, 669), Xtraview PVR access fee (N2, 900).

“Those of GOtv are as follows; GOtv Max (N4,150), GOtv Jolli (N2, 666), GOtv Jinja (N1, 900), GOtv Lite (N900)”, he said.

He expressed concern that thousands of Pay-Tv subscribers in Nigeria have bitterly reacted to the development on different social media platforms, with many asking the Nigerian government to check the activities of Pay-Tv service providers in Nigeria, especially in the area of fixing prices.

He said among the complaints by Nigerian subscribers were the poor network service and epileptic electricity supply.

Moro said that Nigerians were demanding that rather than pay fixed rates monthly, Pay-Tv providers should introduce a subscription model which would allow subscribers to pay per-view.

This, he said, would enable them to match their television viewing to subscription, as it is with electricity and mobile telephone usage.

According to him, the pay-per-view that Nigerian subscribers are demanding is a flexible model plan of subscription which allows subscribers of Pay-Tv to pay-per view, without paying for services they did not use.

Accordingly, the Senate in its resolutions urged the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to direct all Pay-Tv providers to introduce a pay-per-view model of subscription as against the monthly prepaid model currently in place.

It also directed all Pay-Tv service providers in Nigeria to immediately review downward their bouquet prices in tandem with the prevailing economic situation in the country.

It also resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to carry out a full scale investigation on the pricing activities of DStv MultiChoice Nigeria to bring it in line with international practices.

Categories
FEATURED STORIES POLITICS

Sanwo-Olu is doing a wonderful job in Lagos – Senate President

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has stated that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State is performing wonderfully.

As a result, he believes, he deserved a second term, for the good work he had done in the state.
Lawan said this in Ikeja, at the 5th Town Hall Meeting and Empowerment Programme organised by the lawmaker representing Lagos West in the Senate, Sen. Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi.
He commended Sanwo-Olu for delivering the dividends of good governance to the people of Lagos state, hence, validating the state’s position as the economic and commercial nerve centre of the country.
The Senate President said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership across the country had watched with satisfaction the giant strides made by Sanwo-Olu, stating that without any equivocation, that the governor deserved re-election.
”We have been watching you over the past two and half years. You have been very wonderful. You have been consistent in terms of service delivery to the people of Lagos and indeed this country. You were focused,” he said.
According to him, the tremendous achievements the state recorded within a short period under the Gov. Sanwo-Olu’s watch needed to progress.
”One good term you’re doing deserves another term,” Lawan told Sanwo-Olu.
The Senate President commended Sen. Adeola for his contributions to the robustness of the Senate and his efforts to uplift his constituents, through regular empowerment.
Lawan called for more support for the APC, assuring that the ruling party was up to the task of defeating the opposition again.
On his part, Gov. Sanwo-Olu lauded Adeola’s empowerment programme, noting that some of the items, such as the ambulances and hospital equipment, would go beyond party affiliations, when they become operational.
He described Adeola’s efforts as complementing those of President Muhammadu Buhari and of the state government.
Sanwo-Olu said that his administration was committed to further develop Lagos State in all ramifications, promising that he would continue to carry out human-friendly projects that would have positive impacts on residents and by extension, Nigeria.

Categories
FEATURED STORIES NEWS & LIFE

Buhari @ 79: Lawan salutes President

Younger Buhari

As President Muhammadu Buhari clocks 79 on Friday, December 17, Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has extolled his virtues.

He says Buhari’s leadership is a blessing to Nigeria.

In a statement on Thursday, Lawan notes:
“Your leadership is a blessing to our dear country – Sen President Ahmed Lawan tells President Buhari
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has said that President Buhari’s leadership is a blessing to Nigeria.

“Lawan said this in a statement by his spokesman, Ola Awoniyi, while congratulating the President who turns 79 on Friday, December 17. The statement read;

“I join the multitude of fellow Nigerians and your other well-wishers across the globe in thanking Allah for His great gifts of good health and long life to you.???

“This benevolence of Allah has enabled Your Excellency to continue to provide purposeful leadership to our country in this time of unprecedented challenges across the world.??? You are a leader who has matched vision with courage and who is steadfast in his pursuit of the right cause and common good.

“Your Excellency, like most who have worked with you, I attest that you are passionate about the unity, security and prosperity of Nigeria.

“This attribute, with the focussed transformation of the nation’s physical infrastructure, social and economic reforms will enhance your legacy as a unique Nigerian leader.

“Mr President, your leadership of Nigeria is a blessing to our dear country as it offers our people and institutions confidence in confronting the current challenges and in laying the foundation for sustainable prosperity.”

Categories
FEATURED STORIES POLITICS

N13m a Senator gets is not salary, it’s quarterly allowance – Lawan

Legislative aides key to assisting lawmakers fulfill mandate — Lawan
Lawan

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has shed light on the controversial N13m that a Nigerian senator is said to be receiving.

According to him, no Nigerian senator gets N13m monthly as alleged, but the amount is what they get as quarterly office allowance.

He said a senator’s salary was N1.5m while while a member of the House of Reps got N1.3m.

Lawan disclosed this on Monday, in a paper presented at the First Distinguished Parliamentarians Lecture Series organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies.

He said, “The total salary of a member of the Senate is about N1.5m while that of the House of Representatives is about N1.3m.

“The quarterly office allowance for legislators is what is erroneously conflicted with a monthly income to create confusion and mislead the Nigerians.

“The average office running cost for a senator is about N13m while that of a member of the House of Representatives is N8m.”

Lawan’s lecture was titled, ‘The Legislature, Legislative Mandate and People – The Reality and the Public Perception.’

He said the N13m and the N8m quarterly office running cost for a member of the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, were the lowest of any Presidential democracy in the world.

The allowances as enumerated by him, cover costs of local/international travel, consulting of professional services, medical services, office stationeries/computers, consumables, books, newspapers, magazines, maintenance of motor vehicles and office equipment among others.

Categories
BUSINESS POLITICS

Lawan, Ikpeazu raise hope as Aba Shoe Factory is inaugurated

From Aba Automated Shoe Factory

Senate President Ahmed Lawan says the National Assembly will help Enyimba Automated Shoe Company (ENASCO) to get funding and patronage from government agencies.
Lawan made the promise on Thursday in Aba during the inauguration of the company located at Umukalika, off Obikabia Junction, Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia.

“This project, in addition to providing employment in local communities and in Abia directly, will produce more employment opportunities indirectly for the leather industry in Kano and other places in Nigeria.
“I believe that this project deserves every possible support from Federal Government agencies, the Bank of Industry and the Ministry of Industry.

“Indeed, the Central Bank of Nigeria must be looking in this direction so that you can expand.
“While we have 120 youths being employed here already, one year after, we should double and quadruple the number of youths being employed directly.
“That will require providing more resources for more production lines and I am sure that as one of you now, I belong to Abia myself, we are going to push for more support for this particular industry because it is a special one,” Lawan said.

In a speech, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu said with the inauguration of the outfit, the state was tying the loose ends of production and marketing of Aba products.
He said the country could revitalise its economy and be self-sufficient in what it needs by promoting and patronising Nigerian-made products.
He regretted that Nigeria remained the only country in the world that relied on thenimportation of staple food, which gulps about $22 million daily.

“The shoe business all over the world in 2020 was worth $250 billion and of this, Nigeria contributed $96 billion.
“I am seeking how we can get a greater chunk of this market share going forward.
“The penetration in the shoe industry today is about 2.5 per cent and it is expected to climb to about 23 per cent by 2026.
“We then asked what are we going to do to be part of this growing shoe ecosystem and our response is ENASCO,” Ikpeazu said.

Accordingnto him, the company hopes to push out 5,000 pairs of shoes daily from the date of its inauguration.
He said that in 2020 during the COVID-19 period, ENASCO received order to supply shoes to the same American shoe company that gets supplies from China because it (China) could not supply them.
He said that Abia was encouraged to play in the footwear ecosystem because it had the capacity to be a big player, if the government was committed to it.

Earlier, the Chairman of ENASCO, Mr Mac Atasie, said the company was the first world class automated shoe and leather products company in Aba with top of the range, end-to-end shoe product equipment and machinery.
Atasie said the vision of the company in the next five years was to be one of the most recognised leather product companies in Africa and the world.

Categories
HEADLINES NEWS & LIFE POLITICS

National Assembly budget is less than 1% of national budget – Lawan

Legislative aides key to assisting lawmakers fulfill mandate — Lawan
Lawan

Lasun Alagbe

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has tackled those saying national lawmakers get jumbo pay.

According to him, in the 2021 fiscal design, the money budgeted for the National Assembly is less than one per cent of the entire federal budget.

He, however, did not compare the lawmakers’ budget to what other institutions and sectors take.

There are reports that a Nigerian Senator takes home more than N14m per month.

Lawan made the observation in Abuja on Friday, during a retreat for the assembly.

He also warned against the scrapping of the Senate, noting that what people needed to do was to vote out the lawmakers if they found them wanting.
Banker in court for stealing N3.8m belonging to bank

Categories
EDUCATION NEWS & LIFE

Lawan sponsors weddings of 300 indigent people in Yobe

Senate President Ahmed Lawan

Abuja, Aug. 8, 2020 (NAN) President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan has sponsored the weddings of 300 couples in Yobe North Senatorial District.

Ezrel Tabiowo, his Special Assistant on Media, made this known in a statement, on Saturday in Abuja.

He said beneficiaries were drawn from Lawan’s senatorial district comprising six local government areas of Barde, Jakusko, Machina, Yusufari, Nguru and Karasuwa.

He noted that those that qualified for the gesture, were the intending couples who had attained marriageable age and with nobody or any means to finance their weddings.

According to him, he decides to foot the bills in response to the passionate appeal made to him by some parents during his previous visits to his constituents in Yobe North.

“The wedding which is to be organised in three phases with strict adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols, began on Saturday.

The first phase arrangement witnessed the marriage of 100 couples drawn from Barde and Jakusko local government areas in Yobe .

“The mass wedding which was flagged-off at the Barde Emirate on Saturday, had the intending couples joined as husband and wife, according to Islamic rites, in a ceremony that held at the Barde Central Mosque.

“100 couples from Nguru and Karasuwa local government areas of the state are also expected to be wedded in the second phase of the mass wedding programme.

“While another 100 would be drawn from Machina and Yusufari local governments for the third phase plan respectively,” he said.

He said the dowries of the first 100 couples were fully paid for by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who is the Sarduana of Bade Emirate.

He also disclosed that furniture and household items were also provided by the Senate President to the couples who were drawn from 60 wards within the six local government areas of Yobe North Senatorial District

Woman abandons day-old baby in uncompleted building in Yobe
Yobe