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BREAKING: Tinubu nominates Balarabe to replace El-Rufai as minister

Published

7 months ago

October 3, 2023

Abbas Balarabe

BREAKING: Tinubu nominates Balarabe to replace El-Rufai as minister

President Bola Tinubu has nominated Abbas Balarabe as a ministerial replacement for the former Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

The replacement was conveyed in a letter read by the Senate President, GodsWill Akpabio, at the plenary on Tuesday.

Balarabe’s name was read alongside Dr Jamila Ibrahaim and Ayodele Olawande as Minister of Youths and Minister of State for Youths respectively, who were earlier nominated by the president.

The PUNCH reports in August that El-Rufai’s name was missing from the list of the ministerial nominees confirmed by the Senate.

The Senate after the screening exercise which took place about them a week approved and confirmed a total of 45 out of the 48 nominees sent by President Bola Tinubu.

A couple of petitions including those sent by Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West) were presented against the former governor during the screening.

The lawmaker representing Kogi West, during the ministerial screening, moved against the former Kaduna State governor.

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Karimi, after El-Rufai’s presentations, stood up and told the chamber that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna.

He said, “Your performance in any office you find yourself in the country has been outstanding. In the Bureau of Public Enterprises, your record is there, in FCT as a minister, your record is there, and as two-time governor of Kaduna state, you did well.”

News

Canadian mayor praises Lagos under Tinubu at event honouring Peter Obi

Published

42 mins ago

May 6, 2024

Trends Admin

Canadian mayor praises Lagos under Tinubu at event honouring Peter Obi

The Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, has expressed his admiration for Lagos State during an event organised to honour Peter Obi, the Labour Party flag-bearer in the 2023 presidential election.

Brampton is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, with a high population of Nigerian immigrants.

While speaking at a recent town hall meeting hosted by the Coalition of Nigerian Canadian Interest Groups based in Canada to honour Obi, Brown recounted how he fell in love with Lagos when he visited in 2007.

The period of his visit coincided with the time President Bola Tinubu was in office as the governor of the South-West State.

Brown was seen in a video shared on Saturday, May 4, 2024, by Wale Adedayo, a user tweeting as @Mario9jaa, addressed the cheering audience.

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Brown was blown away during his visit to Lagos

“I went to Nigeria in 2007. I went to Lagos and I fell in love with the country. Two years ago, I went back and once again, I toured the country. Anytime you visit Nigeria, you’re saying to yourself, ‘When can I go back?” the impressed mayor said.

He also mentioned that he was “blown away” by the strides of the nation’s movie industry, popularly referred to as Nollywood.

“There’s a lot of love for Nigeria in my city,” he added.

Similarly, a member of the Provincial Parliament in Brampton North, Graham McGregor, also disclosed in a tweet on Sunday that “In Brampton, we’ve got one of the fastest growing Nigerian-Canadian communities. I’ve spoken with a few people here that are from Brampton and we’ve got a lot of exciting things going on.”

McGregor stressed the importance of creating an “open, inclusive, welcoming economy for everybody. And to the connections we’re building here with the Nigerian-Canadian community, we want to make sure Nigerians are part of it.”

Canadian mayor praises Lagos under Tinubu at event honouring Peter Obi

News

Fubara: I have moved on with governance despite political pressure

Published

2 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Trends Admin

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara

Fubara: I have moved on with governance despite political pressure

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has asserted that despite the political turmoil in the state, his administration remains steadfast in providing focused leadership and governance.

During a recent meeting with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, led by Chairman Hon. Mike Etaba, at the government house in Port Harcourt, Fubara emphasized that, as far as his administration and the people of Rivers State are concerned, there are no significant political issues to address.

Reflecting on the challenges posed by the political crisis, Fubara drew inspiration from a movie he watched, “Devil’s Advocate,” where he cited a quote by Al Pacino.

He said, “As far as we are concerned, there are no political issues. I saw a movie many years ago, entitled, ‘Devil’s Advocate.’ I believe some of you must have seen that movie too.

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“One of the starring characters, Al Pacino, said that pressure makes some people retreat or fail, and to others, it makes them focus on succeeding. We have chosen to be focused under this pressure.

“That is why we are moving ahead, making a positive impact on the lives of our people. Governance is about the people, not about self.

“Governance is about touching the core needs of those we are leading, and by the special grace of God, we are doing it.”

“Yesterday, by the special grace of God, we observed the credit line of over 3,066 persons empowered. You can imagine what that will do for the economy of the masses and the state. That is touching the lives of our people. It does not support them for selfish reasons. It does not give a contract because I want somebody to fight somebody in my community. No. This is empowering the economy of the masses and the state.

“Our focus is that, no matter what anybody is doing anywhere, we will not lose focus. We want to leave here better than we met it. And we want to also leave here without fear of anything.”

Fubara: I have moved on with governance despite political pressure

News

FG begins disbursement of N50bn grant to small business owners

Published

2 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Trends Admin

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite

FG begins disbursement of N50bn grant to small business owners

The Federal Government, FG, says it has started disbursement of N50,000 grants to nano business entrepreneurs.

Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, Minister for Industry, Trade, and Investment, verified this over the weekend, stating that no fewer than 200,000 small business owners have received the payment.

According to her, 800,000 others will receive their incentives before the program ends on May 31.

This will raise the total number of beneficiaries to 1,000,000 Nigerians, split across 774 local government areas.

She explained that about 3.6 million applications were received out of which the beneficiaries were selected randomly from among those who met the conditions.

The minister said N50 billion is available in the 2024 budget for disbursement.

The programme is one of the palliative measures announced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a broadcast on July 31, last year to cushion the pains of petrol subsidy removal.

The President, in the broadcast, said: “Our administration recognises the importance of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and the informal sector as drivers of growth. We are going to energise this very important sector.”

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In the broadcast, the President also announced that 75 manufacturing firms will be given N1 billion single-digit interest loans each to reflate their businesses.

Dr. Uzoka-Anite, in response to enquiries by our reporter, said: “The application portal was closed at midnight on April 17. The portal had to be closed due to an overwhelming number of applications totalling over 3.6 million.

“The Bank of Industry is ensuring transparency and accountability in the N50 billion disbursement using NIN, BVN and bank account details for verification to prevent duplication.

“They will also perform physical enumeration to re-verify information, including taking photographs of beneficiaries.

“The time frame for disbursement is the end of May 2024. The requirement for determining the beneficiaries is not based on particular criteria. The goal is to reach 1,290 beneficiaries per local government area across the country totalling one million people.”

On why many of the beneficiaries have not been reached, she explained: “We acknowledge that some of the beneficiaries are getting alert while others are not.

“The disbursement is subject to verification of NIN, which became mandatory after the initial application phase which required only BVN.

“The selection is random and without human intervention from those who have passed their NIN and BVN verification.