We’ll reorganise security apparatus, revamp economy – Buhari – Newstrends
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We’ll reorganise security apparatus, revamp economy – Buhari

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4 years ago

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President Muhammadu Buhari may eventually bow to pressure as he has hinted of plans by his administration to restructure the nation’s security apparatus to tackle worsening insecurity.

He gave the indication in his New Year’s speech even as he promised to rejuvenate the economy this year and expressed the hope that the country would continue “to weather all stormy waters and emerge stronger and better where others have fallen and disintegrated.”

According to him, there will be a “re-energising and reorganising” of the security apparatus and personnel.

In the face security challenges, there have been numerous calls by influential groups and individuals including the National Assembly for the President to tinker with the security architecture in the quest to put an end to banditry, kidnappings and insurgency.

Buhari said, “The year 2021 will indeed be a year where we will work to reinforce the hopes of fellow Nigerians in the vision of a united and progressive Nigeria.

“Some of the key priority areas we would direct our attention and strengths to include: re-energising and reorganising the security apparatus and personnel of the armed forces and the police with a view to enhance their capacity to engage, push back and dismantle the operations of both internal and external extremist and criminal groups waging war against our communities in some parts of the country.”

The President recalled the abduction of the over 300 boys of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara inhis home state of  Katsina and praised the “professionalism” of the armed forces in rescuing them.

“We recognise that we rapidly have to move to a more proactive and preemptive posture to ensure that these sorts of traumatic incidents do not become a norm.

“Our administration is fully aware of the responsibility we have to protect the lives and property of all Nigerians, and we will not relent in learning and adapting to changing threats to our national security and civic wellbeing,” the President said.

He also said 2020 came with a lot of challenges, ranging from security and economic issues to “understandable protests that were mainly led by our youths”.

The protests, he said, “served notice to the demand for police reforms and accountability”.

Buhari said, “This government heard; this government listened and this government is committed to fulfilling the five demands of our youths, fully understanding that we all wish well for Nigeria.”

He reaffirmed his commitment to Nigerians, especially the youth, who he said need “collective encouragement and support”.

“In securing this nation we need to secure the future of our youth…In this regard, we will partner with the legislature to develop an enabling environment to turn their passions into ideas that can be supported, groomed and scaled across regions.

“This will create vast opportunities in fintech, agriculture, business process startups and in the entertainment industry,” he said.

On the anti-graft war, he said the executive would work with the legislature to enact laws that would strengthen the fight.

“On the part of the executive, we would ensure the diligent and timely prosecution of corruption cases, while appealing to the judiciary to ensure that corruption cases are dispensed with expeditiously,” President Buhari said.

He spoke of the need to keep the country safe from a resurgent cycle of COVID-19 as his administration finalises plans “to procure and efficiently and effectively distribute the COVID-19 vaccines”.

“I urge you all fellow citizens to observe strict COVID-19 prevention protocols,” the President added.

He also spoke on the plans to rejuvenate the economy, saying, already it was being diversified and infrastructure being rebuilt, adding that his administration was putting reforms in place in the power sector to significantly expand generation and distribution.

He said, “Our focus is on revamping the economy through the national economic diversification agenda that supports the primary goal of national food self-sufficiency.

“This has helped reduce the growing food-related inflationary figures and have in considerable measure positively impacted our food security status during the long months of the pandemic lockdown.

“As an administration, we are currently undertaking a series of special interventions designed to boost job creation and support the entrepreneurial drive of our youths.

“With the recent opening of our borders, we expect that the pent-up demand of legitimate cross-border and international trade will boost the fortunes of the many small businesses and agricultural enterprises that depend on Nigeria’s trade and commerce.

“The message to our West African neighbours is that Nigeria is once again fully open for those willing to conduct business in a fair and equitable way.”

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Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

Published

15 hours ago

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January 3, 2025

By

Peter Obi and Felix Morka

Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

One-time Anambra State Governor Peter Obi came under a scathing criticism yesterday from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over his assessment of the security and economic situation of the country.

At a news conference, Obi disagreed with the claims of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his New Year Day address which chronicled the feats attained by the APC-led administration.

Obi alleged that the political, economic and security situations in the country have worsened under the incumbent administration.

But the APC, through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka carpeted Obi, describing his assessment as jaundiced, misleading and an attempt to score cheap political points.

In a statement, Morka put a lie to Obi’s claims.

He noted that Obi’s assessment was at variance with all indicators that showed that the nation’s economy is rebounding in significant measure across all sectors.

Dismissing Obi’s claims, Morka said: “While Nigerians celebrated the New Year with hope for a more glorious 2025, Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, was seemingly stuck in replay of his jangling, gloom-ridden wish-list for our country.

“Obi’s new year message, in which he claimed that the political, economic and security situation of our dear country is worsening daily, is misleading and appears intended to score cheap political points.

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“This claim, at a time when all indicators show that our country is rebounding in significant measure across all sectors, casts Obi, squarely, as Nigeria’s leading doomsayer.”

Morka, who reeled out the achievements of the APC-led administration, said: “In reality, 18 months later, the economy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, has showed steady record of progress.”

He listed the landmarks as:

The ruling party further argued: “Despite these and other initial beneficial outcomes of ongoing unprecedented reforms, the administration is doubling its effort to ensuring that the reforms deliver their fullest benefits for the sustainable growth and transformation of our country.”

The ruling party said that the Presidential New Year message acknowledged that the “cost of food and essential drugs remained a significant concern for many Nigerian households. And to reverse this trend, Mr. President assured that his administration was committed to lowering food prices by boosting food production and promoting local production of drugs.”

The party also highlighted Tinubu’s resolve to crash the current inflation rate from 34 per cent to 15 per cent in the course of this fiscal year as a move to addressing the threat inflation poses to the country’s economy.

The statement further reads: “With the vigour in the administration’s war on corruption, evidenced by ongoing investigations and trial of  well-heeled Nigerians, Obi’s pontification on the urgent need to tame corruption is a clear case  of carrying coal to Newcastle.”

Faulting Obi, the party said: “It is a thing of irony that Peter Obi, who now arrogates to himself to be omniscient and philosopher’s stone, when it comes to our nation’s challenges, left no record of significant achievement, let alone transformation of any kind, in his eight-year tenure as Governor of Anambra State.

“Like his co-travellers in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Obi’s obsessive pessimism and endless but futile effort to incite public outrage against the administration is borne out of their realisation that President Tinubu is unwittingly cementing their ultimate political irrelevance by his visionary and full-throttle reform and transformation of the fundamental pillars of our national life.”

Appealing for citizens’ support and patience, the APC spokesman assured Nigerians that “under the banner of the Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA), President Tinubu is dutifully turning our nation’s fortunes around.

“He (Tinubu) deserves the support  and patience of Nigerians in order to consolidate on the deep economic foundation he has laid, and deliver a vibrant, prosperous new Nigeria for the good of all.  We urge Nigerians to remain confident of better days ahead.”

Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

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Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

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4 days ago

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December 31, 2024

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Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

Currency in circulation has reached an all-time high of N4.8 trillion as of November 2024, recording over seven per cent increase from the previous month.

Also, currency outside banks grew significantly in the same month hitting an all-time high of N4.6 trillion from the N4.2 trillion in the month of October.

These figures were contained in the money and credit supply data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The currency in circulation is the amount of cash–in the form of paper notes or coins–within a country that is physically used to conduct transactions between consumers and businesses.

It represents the money that has been issued by the country’s monetary authority, minus cash that has been removed from the system.

Similarly, currency outside a bank refers to cash held by individuals, businesses and other entities that is not stored in banks.

The currency outside the bank represents about 96 per cent of the currency in circulation.

Nigerians have in recent times been facing acute cash shortage with banks limiting daily withdrawal at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to N20,000 irrespective of the number of accounts held by an account owner.

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According to the latest data, the currency in circulation grew by seven per cent to reach 4,878,125.22 from 4,549,217.51 in October.

Currency in circulation has grown steadily in the outgoing year 2024 with over one trillion naira added to cash in circulation after starting the year with N3.65 trillion in January.

In February, the currency in circulation slightly increased to N3.69 trillion representing an increase of N43 billion or 1.18 per cent from the January figure.

March also saw an appreciable increase to N3.87 trillion while it further increased to N3.92 trillion in the following month of April.

The growth trajectory continued in May with the currency in circulation increasing slightly to N3.97 trillion, an increase of N42 billion or 1.07 per cent while it reached an all-time high of 4.04 trillion, an increase of 2.11 per cent from May.

The July figure also rose marginally with the currency in circulation settling for N4.05 trillion before growing to N4.14 trillion in August and N4.43 trillion in September and N4.5 trillion in October.

In the same vein, currency outside banks grew from N4.2 trillion in October to N4.6 trillion in November, showing increasing preference for other means of storing outside bank deposits.

Economist, Dr. Paul Alaje attributed the development to the expanding money supply, adding, “Money supply is expanding but this may not necessarily be in cash. As it is expanding, it will necessarily induce inflation. But you can’t blame the people. People must look for money. How much was bottled water last year, how much is it today? All of this will induce inflation. If you now ask, what is the cause of inflation? Is it money supply itself or a devaluation policy? It is a devaluation policy. Money supply is an offshoot. So the Central Bank is raising interest rates to actually reduce money supply but the more they try the more money supply expands.”

He stated that the floatation policy of the CBN has created inflation, adding, “It is like chasing one’s tail and I don’t know if you are going to catch it.”

Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

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Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

Published

6 days ago

on

December 29, 2024

By

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

President Bola Tinubu has been accused of not being forthright about the true state of Nigeria under his administration.

Former Jigawa State Governor and senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, Sule Lamido, made the accusation while speaking on the BBC Hausa programme Gane Mini Hanya.

Lamido criticized both Tinubu and former President Muhammadu Buhari for what he described as a lack of transparency in governance.

“Buhari’s and Tinubu’s governments are not being transparent with Nigerians unlike during the time when PDP was in power where everything was transparent and open to all Nigerians,” Lamido said.

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He accused the two administrations of relying on propaganda rather than providing citizens with accurate information.

Lamido also expressed concerns over President Tinubu’s recent loan requests, questioning the logic behind them. “If Nigerians are being told the truth then there is nothing wrong with that, but how would you budget N30tn, generate N50tn and then request loan when you have a surplus of N20tn,” he said, referencing last year’s budget.

He described the situation as “reckless” and “selfish,” adding, “This recklessness and clear-cut selfishness is not done anywhere in the world, but yet you find (some) Nigerians supporting it. Visit social media and see how APC is being criticised, being referred to as calamity, yet you find some protecting it.”

Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

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