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PRESIDENT TINUBU URGES GOVERNORS TO MEET TARGETS ON FOOD SECURITY; APPROVES IMMEDIATE ROLLOUT OF NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION AND HOUSEHOLD SUPPORT PROGRAMME

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President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate rollout of the National Construction and Household Support Programme to cover all geo-political zones in the country.

Items under the National Construction and Household Support Programme include:

(1) One-off allocation to states and the Federal Capital Territory of N10 billion for the procurement of buses and CNG uplift programme.

(2) Delivery of N50,000 uplift grant each to 100,000 families per state for three (3) months.

(3) Provision for labour unions and civil society organizations.

(4) Deployment of N155 billion for the purchase and sale of assorted foodstuff to be distributed across the nation.

Speaking during the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday in Abuja, President Tinubu urged state governors to work together to meet the needs of citizens, stating that he is willing to provide the needed support to ensure that Nigerians are relieved of hardship.

While emphasizing the urgency of boosting food production, the President noted that the Sokoto-Badagry Highway is a pivotal project as the states within this axis form the food belt of the nation, and with Badagry being an important artery for food export.

“Our states must work together to deliver on the critical reforms required of us to meet the needs of our people. Time is humanity’s most precious asset. You can never have enough of it. It is getting late.

“We are ready and able to support you in the form of the mechanization of your agricultural processes and the provision of high-quality seedlings.

“We are prepared to provide solar powered irrigation facilities to support our farmers across seasons, but we must now produce. We must produce the food our people eat, and it will require coordination and intentionality between members of the National Economic Council (NEC).

“There is nothing we are doing that is more important than producing high-quality food for our people to consume, buy, and sell. We create jobs in the production of it. And that is before we generate wealth by exporting the excess. It is not beyond us to achieve this for Nigerians.

 

“How much support do you need from me and in what form? I am prepared to provide it. But we must achieve the result. We must deliver on our targets at all levels. Please report back following your consultations and submit to my office within seven days,” President Tinubu said.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

June 27, 2024

Politics

Senate begins constitution review hearings in Lagos today

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Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), has announced that the Senate will today commence its public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution in Lagos.

Bamidele explained that the exercise will open up discussions on national issues, including proposals for the creation of 18 additional local government areas, the establishment of state police, and comprehensive reforms of the electoral system, among others.

As part of efforts to ensure inclusive participation, the Senate has also arranged for simultaneous public hearings to take place across other geopolitical zones of the country, excluding the North-West region.

The hearing scheduled for the North-West was postponed in respect of the passing of renowned Kano industrialist and philanthropist, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, who died on Saturday.

In a statement released yesterday, Senator Bamidele, who also serves as the Chairman of the South-West Zonal Constitution Review Committee, outlined the programme for the two-day hearing.

He emphasized that the forum provides Nigerians with a vital platform to express their views on critical issues shaping the nation’s governance framework.

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2027: Buhari’s loyalists move to stop Tinubu’s re-election bid

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As Nigeria inches toward the 2027 general elections, President Bola Tinubu is facing growing resistance from within his own political family.

This is just as key allies of former President Muhammadu Buhari, once united under the All Progressives Congress, APC, banner, are now aligning with opposition forces to stop Tinubu’s second-term ambition, Ekwutosblog has observed.

What started as quiet disagreements among key figures in the APC has now grown into open resistance, driven by some of the most trusted allies of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Prominent figures like ex-Kaduna governor, Nasir El-Rufai, former SGF, Babachir Lawal, as well as former ministers also in Buhari’s cabinet, Rotimi Amaechi, and Abubakar Malami, once pillars of the APC, are now rallying around a new opposition alliance, raising fresh questions about unity in the ruling party. A former National Chairman of the APC, John Odigie-Oyegun is also not left out.

This emerging coalition recently found a new political vehicle in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which has controversially adopted former Senate President David Mark as interim national chairman and ex-Governor Rauf Aregbesola as secretary.

The cracks within the APC are not new. Tinubu, who played a pivotal role in Buhari’s ascension to the presidency in 2015, now finds himself increasingly isolated from those he once helped empower.

The APC was formed in 2013 as a coalition of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Buhari’s CPC, and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

The union, though strategic, was always fragile. Buhari’s successful 2015 run, his fourth presidential attempt, was largely credited to Tinubu’s political machinery in the South-West and key alliances with northern heavyweights like El-Rufai and Amaechi in the South.

By 2023, however, the tide had turned. Tinubu, who described his presidential bid as a “lifelong ambition,” clinched the APC ticket against fierce opposition within the party.

He triumphed in a general election marred by currency redesign chaos, the controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket, and questions about his health and coherence on the campaign trail.

Significantly, he lost in all three ‘K states’: Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina, long considered strongholds of Buhari’s northern base, but still clinched the presidential seat.

The relationship between Tinubu and Nasir El-Rufai was always politically transactional.

After initially being nominated for a ministerial role in Tinubu’s cabinet, El-Rufai was dropped following a security report. Their fallout was swift and bitter.

“Forgive me for bringing this evil Tinubu to power in 2023. It won’t happen again in 2027. The guy is gone,” El-Rufai reportedly told a group of supporters in May, a quote that went viral on social media and emboldened anti-Tinubu elements in the North.

El-Rufai, a former FCT Minister and a strong critic of Asiwaju, has since defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he is reportedly helping midwife the broader coalition that includes elements from the ADC, PDP, SDP, and disenfranchised APC members.

Yet, while the coalition appears formidable on paper, with political veterans like Atiku Abubakar, Sule Lamido, David Mark, Tambuwal, Amaechi, and Babachir Lawal on board, questions remain about its cohesion and ideological clarity.

Even Dumebi Kachikwu, the ADC’s 2023 presidential candidate, has dismissed the coalition’s move as illegitimate, noting that they are working with a defunct leadership of the party.

“The coalition is dealing with people whose tenure expired in 2022. We are watching with amusement,” Kachikwu said in a statement.

Despite the opposition, Tinubu is no political novice. Dubbed the “master strategist” for his role in shaping the APC and delivering Lagos to the opposition in 1999, he has weathered countless political storms.

A senior aide to Tinubu, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the president is “unfazed” by the coalition and is already reconfiguring his alliances.

“Remember 2023? They said he wouldn’t survive the Muslim-Muslim backlash. They said he wouldn’t win the APC ticket. He did both. Don’t write him off,” the aide said.

Tinubu is also reportedly in talks with key northern traditional and political power blocs to rebuild trust, particularly in states he lost during the last cycle.

Also, there are claims in some quarters that Tinubu may likely drop his vice, Shettima, and settle for Rabiu Kwankwaso from Kano State.

With the PDP fractured and the APC facing a mutiny from within, 2027 could reshape Nigeria’s political order yet again. But for now, both camps are playing the long game.

Meanwhile, some loyalists of former President Muhammadu Buhari, under the aegis of the Forum of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), recently declared support for President Bola Tinubu.

Those who met in Abuja on Thursday and declared support for the president included the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr. Tajudeen Abbas (who sent in his apologies); Katsina State Governor, Dr. Dikko Radda; Niger State Governor, Umar Bago (who also sent in his apologies); Foreign Affairs Minister, Maitama Tuggar; former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura; former Katsina State Governor and ex-House Speaker, Aminu Bello Masari; and Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), General Buba Marwa (retd).

They said that while individuals have a right to pursue their political ambitions elsewhere, they do not have to do so under the cloak of “defunct CPC members.”

Answering a question about whether the bloc would still support Tinubu, one of the leaders, Hon. Farouk Adamu, expressed optimism that the president would be its candidate even in 2027.

“We are with Tinubu just like our leader (Buhari), and secondly, it is our conviction that Tinubu will continue to be our candidate in 2027,” he said.

The anti-Tinubu coalition believes it can recreate the 2015 miracle, when disparate opposition forces united to unseat a sitting president.

But Tinubu, whose political playbook remains unpredictable, might just have a few surprises left.

And in Nigerian politics, underestimating a master tactician often comes at a high cost.

List of Buhari’s loyalists, associates in ADC

Rotimi Amaechi

Abubakar Malami

Hadi Sirika – Buhari’s nephew

Rauf Aregbesola

Kashim Imam

Chief John Odigie Oyegun

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Amaechi blames Tinubu for poor state of economy

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The former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has questioned the whereabouts of the savings from the fuel subsidy removal and naira floating policies under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

Amaechi, who was a former Minister of Transportation under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, made this known during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday.

According to him, the Nigerian economy is dying under Tinubu.

Amaechi noted that the purchasing power of Nigerians has been watered down by the Tinubu government.

“You are making savings from the fuel subsidy and floating the naira; where is the money?

“You get N16,000, for instance; in Buhari’s government, that will get you ten times as much, for instance, let’s assume, today, you get 120,000. You can only get four tyres. Which do you prefer?” he said.

Amaechi is part of the opposition coalition alongside former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that moved to the African Democratic Congress on Wednesday.

Recall that in 2023, Tinubu’s administration announced the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira. Prices of goods and services in Nigeria skyrocketed because of the policies.

Meanwhile, Tinubu’s government has stressed that the cooling of inflation, which stood at 22.97 per cent in May, and the relative stability of the naira at the foreign exchange market (N1,525.83 per dollar as of Thursday) are indications that the country’s economy is on the right track.

In January 2023, before Buhari exited the seat of power, Nigeria’s headline inflation stood at 21.82 per cent, and the naira exchange rate to the dollar was around N745.

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