Politics

PDP will salvage Nigeria in 2023 – Obaseki

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The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, said on Wednesday the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would salvage the country in 2023.

Obaseki stated this when he received members of Atiku Support Group led by Chairman of Daar Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, at the Government House in Benin.

He said the PDP would not allow Nigeria to remain in the wilderness.

The governor said: “If Nigeria is going to be salvaged, PDP has to step into the throne to salvage this country politically. The stakes are too high; we cannot allow Nigeria to continue the way it is going.

“Our great party must come to the rescue and take over the reins of power in this country. What we see ahead is not pleasant at all. I just pray that God Almighty sees us through next year, financially, so that we can even have presidential elections.

I don’t just see how we can continue to be deceiving ourselves. We try to prevent the country from growing by limiting and restricting imports, coming with all forms of phantom excuses to limit people from buying and importing what they cannot produce and need to live.

“On the other hand, they are restricting foreign exchange availability. They are just throwing millions of Nigerians into poverty.

My commitment today is to our great party, the PDP. I accept the responsibility of leading our e-registration process. We have done a very successful pilot in Edo, which I am hoping that the new committee will adopt so that we can roll out and build membership across the country. The soul of our democracy is making sure that we build our party like institutions.

“Atiku Abubakar is a Nigerian that is committed to this country; his achievements are visible. So, he is eminently qualified to contest the position of President of Nigeria and as you know, at the end of the day, power ultimately comes from God.”

In his remark, Dokpesi commended the governor for his efforts at developing the state.

He said: “The way and manner that people are suffering across the country is not acceptable. We have never been so divided as a nation; everybody now refers to us as the poverty capital of the world. All the indices clearly show that we are a failed state.

“Even in Abuja, we are afraid of the possibility of invasion by Boko Haram, bandits, and unknown gunmen. The All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government, without mincing words, has failed totally in fulfilling the promises they made in 2015.”

Politics

Why I don’t have a cabinet yet – Obaseki

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The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Wednesday explained why he yet to constitute his cabinet over six months after he was sworn in for the second term.

The governor, who spoke with State House Correspondents after a meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the delay in putting together a cabinet was caused by the ongoing restructuring in the state’s civil service.

Obaseki said he had consulted leaders at wards and local government levels on the appointment of officials for the state government.

He said: “Well, you see I spent the first four years as governor. So, I know what the challenges of governance are. We spent the last six months trying to restructure the process of government, particularly the civil service. This is because no matter how great a cabinet is, if the government and the functions of government are not operating properly, the executive cannot function optimally.

So, the last six months, we have tried to redefine the structures of governance, working through every layer of the civil service, define the roles, the responsibilities, trying to understand the resources available, and put in place key performance indicators and scorecards for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

“And this we did, such that the civil servants have no excuse to say they couldn’t do what they should do because of political interference.

“So, we have tried to keep politics out of government in the last seven months to redefine the processes, structures, and the service delivery criteria for the government.

“Now that we have done that, we hired a whole crop of civil and public servants. We have about 1500 of them and we are introducing technology.”

Politics

Obaseki lied – FG denies printing N60 billion for states

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The federal government has denied claims by Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki that N60 billion was printed in March to support allocation to states.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, while answering questions from state house correspondents on Wednesday, described Obaseki’s comment as untrue and sad.

During a recent Edo transition committee stakeholders engagement, Obaseki had lamented over Nigeria’s debt, saying that the country is in huge financial trouble.

“When we got FAAC for March, the federal government printed additional N50-N60 billion to top-up for us to share.

This April, we will go to Abuja and share. By the end of this year, our total borrowings is going to be within N15-N16 trillion. Imagine a family that is just borrowing without any means to pay back and nobody is looking at that, everybody is looking at 2023, everybody is blaming Mr. President as if he is a magician.” he had said in a viral video.

However, debunking his claims, Ahmed said Nigeria’s debt is still within sustainable limit and efforts are on to improve revenue generation capacity.

She said; “The issue that was raised by the Edo State Governor for me is very, very sad. Because it is not a fact. What we distribute at FAAC is a revenue that is generated and in fact distribution revenue is a public information. We publish revenue generated by FIRS, the customs and the NNPC and we distribute at FAAC. So, it is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC, it is not true.

“What we need to do as I have said several times is to improve our revenue to enhance our capacity to service not only our debt but to service the needs of running government on day to day basis. “So our debt currently at about 23% to GDP is at a very sustainable level. If you look at all the reports that you see from multilateral institutions.”

Politics

Certificate forgery suit filed by APC against Obaseki begins

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, will begin hearing in the certificate forgery case filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, today, Monday, November 16.

The APC had instituted the case in July, 2020, asking the court to quash the nomination of Obaseki by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the September governorship poll which the incumbent won, defeating Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the APC.

The APC has engaged the services of a top legal team of five Senior Advocates of Nigeria led by a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Akin Olujimi.

Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed had fixed today after a request by Olujimi and an APC chieftain in Edo State, Edobor Williams, with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, joined in the suit marked FHC/B/CS/74/2020.

The plaintiffs are praying the court for an order disqualifying Obaseki on the grounds that he supplied false information on oath to INEC, an act they say is contrary to Section 31(5) and (6) of the Electoral Act, 2010.

In June, the University of Ibadan had confirmed that Obaseki was a product of the institution while the Registrar of the institution, Olubunmi Faluyi, said the Edo Governor gained admission in 1976 and studied Classics, and graduated in 1979 with a Second Class Honours, Lower Division.

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