Tinubu: Private sector should drive economy; speaks on power, insecurity, electoral violence, his identity – Newstrends
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Tinubu: Private sector should drive economy; speaks on power, insecurity, electoral violence, his identity

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2 years ago

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  • Delegates aides to speak at Chatham House conference

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday was a guest at the Chatham House, London, where he highlighted his plans for Nigeria if elected president in 2023.

He also spoke about his true age, identity, electoral violence, diaspora voting just as he delegated some members on his entourage to respond to some questions posed to him by the audience at the forum.

His lecture was titled: “Nigeria’s 2023 election: Security, economy and foreign policy imperatives.”

The former Lagos State governor expressed his commitment to the sanctity of the ballot box, saying the next crop of leaders should evolve from free, fair, democratic and transparent elections.

He said, “I stand firmly against all forms of electoral violence and intimidation. Having spent most of my career in the political opposition, I have long fought against electoral malpractice and any attempts to extinguish the legitimate choice of voters. I will continue to do so.

“I urge all my fellow contestants in this election to do the same. Let the sovereign will of the people decide the path of our nation. And let this election be determined by voters making their choice freely rather than the domineering intimidation of the troublesome few.”

Insecurity

Tinubu, who lamented that insecurity had persisted despite the progress made by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, said if elected, he would tackle the crisis so that Nigeria could also effectively provide security support for its neighbouring nations.

He said, “The challenges which have manifested themselves with regard to our national and regional development and security trajectories are very well-known to all of us here: radical extremist violence, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, human trafficking, trafficking in weapons, trafficking in drugs, climate change and resource-driven conflicts etc.

“Mostly manifesting initially as national problems, these challenges evolved over time into trans-border and multinational challenges.

“We see the thousands of people who have been internally displaced at home or forced into refugee camps abroad. With farming activities disrupted, we have seen shortages of basic food items and food price inflation that are further undermining human security.

“To respond meaningfully to the discontents and to redress the many dislocations arising from them, we must begin by reminding ourselves of that old dictum: Foreign policy is but a continuation of domestic policy.

“As a first step, we must recalibrate domestic policy in order to revamp the foundation on which our quest to pursue human security rests.”

Power outage

Tinubu identified regular electricity as the key to economic revitalisation and industrial growth, promising to improve the framework already in place for boosting energy generation and distribution.

He said, “Fixing the perennial riddle of energy supply is another priority. There is no version of the world where Nigeria’s ambitions for itself can be achieved without solving the problem of how to provide energy to homes and businesses across the country.

“It is time to recognise that the centralised approach to energy policy and infrastructure is not an optimal arrangement and is unlikely to improve by mere tinkering around the sides.

“The Federal Government as regulator and operator, and price fixer is a broken model and one that we fully intend to fix if elected.

“We have privatised power distribution in Nigeria and generation to a certain degree. What we need to do, going forward, is to improve the enabling environment and further reform the legal and regulatory framework to attract more private investments in the sector as we have experienced in the telecom industry.”

He also spoke on his plan to reposition agriculture as a strong tool for economic development, saying, “The present administration has invested heavily in agriculture, providing loans and expanding the country’s total acreage of cultivated land.

“We will build on this, but our focus will be on using technology and expertise to accelerate growth and development by providing the critical infrastructure necessary to achieve the commodity transformations in the agriculture value chain.”

He added, “Roads, rail, access to ports, and storage infrastructure are what we require to radically transform the agriculture sector and increase its value to the nation.

“Providing these will be the areas of our focus so that the full potential of our agro-economy can be achieved, and we can reap the benefits in jobs, improved economic opportunities and increased prosperity.”

Private sector-driven economy

Tinubu promised to engage the private sector to drive economic development.

He said, “My belief that the private sector is the fulcrum of economic progress is evident and documented.

“However, fundamental flaws with the basic design of our national economy imperil the private sector from playing the role it ought to and adding the value it is capable of.

“In this instance, the government must act as a catalyst. We shall do this on all fronts. We will address the conflict between monetary and fiscal policies.

“Budgeting will be based on the projected spending levels needed to push real annual growth rate above seven per cent while reducing the unemployment rate so that we can double the economy in ten years.”

On his age and identity, Tinubu said his birthday was March 29, 1952, adding that his records are with his alma mater, Chicago State University, United States, and Mobil Oil, where he worked as treasurer.

He said, “At the time of birth, I was born march 29, 1952 in the family record.

“I have good exposure in life, my record is consistent. For the school and university I attended, the records are there. The transcript is also there.

“I’m not claiming another father. I am Tinubu and Tinubu proper. If they want DNA, they can as well request that. Chicago State University where I graduated has attested to that (education).

“I’ve received my original replacement certificate from them. Deloitte trained me, and Mobil Oil has also attested to my record. I got to the pinnacle of my career. Who among them can brag about that?

“You want to wrestle with the pig, you need to live with dirt. I got into politics knowing that it is muddy water, one has to live with the dirt.

“I see myself as a marketable individual. They want to use me to make money, and I say no.”

Tinubu, who said that Nigerians in the Diaspora should be entitled to vote, however noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was yet to give an assurance that the electronic transmission of election results is reliable.

During question and answer session, he asked Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, and his former commissioners in Lagos, Dele Alake and Wale Edu, to respond to questions that fell within their areas of core competence.

El-Rufai, who answered questions on security, stated that banditry, terrorism, separatism, and oil theft require a new approach including increasing the number of security operatives.

“The numbers must change and the Bola Tinubu administration already has a blueprint which is embedded in our action plan to address this.

“We will scale up the numbers of the armed forces. We’ll ramp up not only the numbers but the training and the equipment,” the Kaduna governor said.

Alake answered the question of how Tinubu plans to lift Nigerians out of poverty if elected and also curb oil theft in six months. “The key to his policy for increasing economic growth is to enable the private sector to make the investment that will increase productivity, grow the economy, create jobs, and reduce poverty,” he said.

Gbajabiamila responded to the question on the strategies of Tinubu on defence; the APC national women’s leader answered the question on healthcare delivery, and how to convert brain drain into a gain for the country, amongst others.

Tinubu was accompanied to the London’s forum by key party stalwarts such as Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy Dele Alake, one-time Lagos State Commissioner for Finance Wale Edun and National Women Leader Dr. Beta Edu shed light on Tinubu’s manifesto, ‘Renewed Hope for 2023,’ particularly those aspects related to their areas of competence.

Others are Governors Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Ben Ayade (Cross River), Abubakar Badaru, (Jigawa) and David Umahi (Ebonyi); former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, ex-Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole; Deputy National Women Leader Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim, former Lagos State Deputy Governor Chief Femi Pedro, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, Senator Fatai Buhari and Senator Adeola Olamilekan.

Also on his entourage are Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, former Ogun State Deputy Governor Segun Adesegun, Hadiza Bala-Usman and Alhaji Mutiu Are.

 

 

 

 

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How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu

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52 minutes ago

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January 1, 2025

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and ex-President Muhammadu Buhari

How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu

Babafemi Ojudu, a former Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, has claimed that ex-President Muhammadu Buhari did not endorse the presidential aspirations of his former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, or his political ally, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on Edmund Obilo’s State Affairs podcast on Monday, Ojudu stated that Buhari withheld his support from Osinbajo, despite the latter’s qualifications, and also refrained from backing Tinubu.

According to him, Tinubu managed to secure the presidency by “outmaneuvering” Buhari in various ways.

Ojudu, who previously worked in Osinbajo’s office, expressed confidence in his former principal’s ability to lead, asserting that Osinbajo could have delivered a more effective administration than the current leadership.

His words: “I knew Osinbajo was going to lose the primary, I saw it coming.

“Because of the system we operated and still operating, I kept saying at our meeting that all of the efforts we are making like traveling around, convincing people, and addressing delegates is only 40 percent.

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“60 percent of it lies in Buhari’s hands unless and until Buhari mobilizes people around him, the governors, his aides, we are going nowhere.

“I used to refer to Buhari as a one-man majority and he never mobilized his team towards Osinbajo and I think Tinubu outsmarted him in so many different ways.”

Speaking further, he likened the failure to elect Professor Yemi Osinbajo during the last presidential election to missing a second chance at the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

“I supported Osinbajo to be president. I was convinced because having seen him up close,” Ojudu said.

“The way he worked, his philosophy, his breadth of knowledge and the kind of patriotic verve in him I just think that he was the best person at that time to govern Nigeria that I have seen up close to be on the part of danger.

“Osinbajo would have been good for this country. For me, it is like losing Awolowo for a second time because he was at Awolowo’s level in terms of capacity, ability, dedication and commitment.”

During the APC primary in the buildup to the 2023 elections, Bola Tinubu secured 1,271 votes to clinch the party’s presidential ticket, while former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi garnered 316 votes. Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo received 235 votes, finishing third, while Senate President Ahmed Lawan obtained 152 votes.

How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu

(Vanguard)

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Seyi Tinubu death threat: Court fixes Jan 6 on Olamide bail application

Published

17 hours ago

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December 31, 2024

By

Olamide Thomas

Seyi Tinubu death threat: Court fixes Jan 6 on Olamide bail application

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, fixed Jan. 6, for ruling in a bail application filed by Olamide Thomas, who allegedly threatened Seyi Tinubu with death threat on social media.

Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the date after T.J. Aondo, who appeared for Thomas, and the lawyer to the prosecution, Victor Okoye, made their submissions for and against the bail application.

Upon resumed hearing, Okoye told the court that the matter was slated for the hearing of the bail application and that he had filed and served his counter affidavit on the applicant’s lawyer.

Moving the bail motion, Aondo said the application, dated Dec. 20, was served on same date.

He said it was brought pursuant to the 1999 Constitution and Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

The lawyer said the application prayed the court for an order admitting Thomas to bail pending the hearing and determination of the charge before the court.

He urged the court to admit his client to bail on liberal terms, assuring that she would not jump bail.

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But Okoye, who said a counter affidavit was filed on Dec. 30, prayed the court to refuse Thomas bail application.

Okoye equally urged the court to discountenance the exhibits attached to the bail request.
He argued that the documents were extracted from the internet in contradiction with Section 84 of the Evidence Act.

He further argued that any newspaper publication sought to be rendered in court ought to be certified by the National Library.

“We submit that those printouts are not worth admitting as evidence,” he said.
Okoye also argued that Thomas claimed that she was suffering from an ailment without attaching any medical report.

He urged the court to discountenance the submission.

But Aondo interjected, arguing that Okoye cannot orally speak on Thomas ill-health, having failed to state this in their counter affifavit.

The senior lawyer also argued that the entire affidavit filed by the prosecution did not meet the requirements of Section 115 of the Evidence Act.

He cited Paragraph 17 of the affidavit which he said equally fell short of Section 115 of Evidence Act.
He said the prosecution argument cannot stop the court from exercising its discretionary power under Section 6(6) of the constitution to grant his client bail.

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He said the power of the court to admit the defendant to bail cannot even be premised on her production of medical report, citing Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
Also citing a Supreme Court decision on the admissibility of newspaper publications, Aondo argued that an affidavit presumed to be on oath is already certified.

He said the prosecution did not raised any issue on whether Thomas will not escape if granted bail.
Aondo, therefore, prayed the court to exercise its discretionary power in favour of Thomas.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until Jan. 6, 2025 for ruling.

The judge, who hinted that the case file would be remitted back to the chief judge after the ruling, said his duty as vacation judge would end on the date.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Thomas was, on Dec. 20, arraigned and remanded at Suleja Correctional Centre after she pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge preferred against her by the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police.

Thomas was arrested on allegations bordering on harassing and threatening Seyi Tinubu; the I-G, Kayode Egbetokun and the Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a viral social media post

In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/636/2024 dated and filed on Dec 18 by the police team of lawyers led by A.A. Egwu, Olamide was sued as sole defendant.

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NAN reports that in count one, Olamide was alleged to have, sometime in 2024, knowingly and intentionally transmitted communication in the form of video recording through computer system or network on her social media platforms wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language.

In the video, she was alleged to have stated “that Mr Seyi Tinubu would die this year, and misfortune and calamity had befallen the Tinubu family, with intent to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr Seyi Tinubu.”

The communication was said to have placed Seyi in fear of death, violence or bodily harm.
The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.

In count two, the defendant was alleged to have intentionally transmitted communication in the form of video recording wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr Egbetokun.

The communication was said to have placed Egbetokun in fear of death, violence or bodily harm.
The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.

In count three, Olamide was accused of intentionally transmitting or causing the transmission of communication in the form of video recording wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language, stating that the children of Adejobi would all die before his eyes.

She was quoted to have also said that “he (Adejobi) will bury all his children in a single day, with Intent to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi.”

The communication was said to have placed Adejobi in fear of death of his loved ones.

The offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024

Seyi Tinubu death threat: Court fixes Jan 6 on Olamide bail application

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Kwankwaso says no power-sharing agreement with Atiku, Obi

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2 days ago

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December 30, 2024

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Kwankwaso says no power-sharing agreement with Atiku, Obi

Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 elections, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, has reacted to speculations of power-sharing agreement with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Kwankwaso spoke in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, monitored in Abuja, on Monday.

He said he had not held any discussions with either of the two politicians in recent times.

According to him, he chose to remain politically neutral until the end of this year in order to allow governments at all levels to concentrate on the task of governance without any form of distraction.

He accused the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of trying to use manipulative tactics to secure northern votes in future elections.

The former Kano State Governor explained that any future political arrangement must take into cognisance historical facts and must be put in context.

Kwankwaso said, “For me to accept any arrangement, we have to go back to history; I understand PDP in totality.

“I know their plan is to procure a party or be beating around the bush in other parties, bring us together, and make northerners vote for them.

“But what we are asking them is what have they done to the North? These are the kinds of things that will come into play. But in my mind, we have witnessed the worst of humiliation from these people.

“We loved this party; we wanted to rejig it so that we could prosper, but they made us to leave by force. Kwankwaso left, Peter Obi left, Wike left and others too, there is no estimate to those who left. Yet, they are the same people coming now to the fore expressing interest to be made president.

“This is appalling; maybe they are remorseful, or they are thinking they want to seek forgiveness or something related to that, but we have really been humiliated by those people.”

He further said, “I heard from a source that PDP brought in scholars—about 45 of them—and claimed there was a consensus that Atiku will rule for four years, I will rule for another four years, and Peter Obi will rule for eight years. This is a complete lie and has no basis in reality.”

He expressed disappointment that elder statesmen in their 70s and 80s would be among those spreading such mischievous falsehoods.”

Kwankwaso quipped, “Such deceit is part of what led me and others to leave the PDP. These actions have destabilised the party

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