Politics
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THREATENS TO SUE 16 STATE GOVERNORS OVER REFUSAL TO DISTRIBUTE EMPOWERMENT EQUIPMENTS.
Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has threatened to take legal action against states that have refused to distribute empowerment sewing machines donated by the Federal Government to women nationwide.
She added that her ministry would retrieve such machines from the states since they were yet to put them to use.
The minister made the threat on Tuesday in Abuja, while addressing Commissioners for Women Affairs in the 36 states at the opening ceremony of a two-day capacity building workshop.
The workshop aimed to enhance leadership and management competencies to enable effective team leadership and strategic decision-making.
The workshop was organised by the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development (MBNCWD) in collaboration with UN Women and the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria.
Kennedy-Ohanenye said that the machines were distributed by the Federal Government to promote entrepreneurship and socio-economic development of women in the country.
At a media conference in April, Kennedy-Ohanenye listed some of the equipment distributed, including industrial sewing machines and accessories, sets of rice milling machines, garri processing machines, and fish grilling equipment and their accessories.
Other items were industrial button hole holding machines, heavy industrial irons, tapping machines, Steam Pressing machines, sewing machines for stretches and stitches, Cloth cutting machines, fish smoking machines as well as fish rearing buckets.
“It is unfortunate that, to date, I have not received videos of these machines being used, which is the main reason they were given to Nigerians.
“We don’t want to maintain them and we don’t want them to work.
“I want to officially announce today that the following states have received empowerment sewing machines: Anambra, Kano, Rivers, Imo, Lagos, Oyo, Katsina, Gombe, Kebbi, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Niger, Bayelsa, Benue, Jigawa, and the FCT.
She warned that if the machines are not operational within a month, by September 13, she would take legal action against the states.
“I will retrieve the machines and take them to people who need them.
“It is unacceptable to leave equipment idle while people suffer. This has been holding women back, and we won’t set a bad example,” she said.
The minister noted that commissioners for women affairs in the listed states have yet to identify operational co-operative societies to receive the machines.
However, she commended Benue for promptly distributing the machines, citing video evidence of people using them within 48 hours of receipt.
Kennedy-Ohanenye emphasised that procuring equipment to empower women was a better use of the ministry’s funds than spending on ineffective programmes.
She urged them to immediately begin the use of the machines, assuring them that there were already markets for the items to be produced.
Chairman, Policy Manifesto Committee of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, John Odigie-Oyegun, says former president Muhammadu Buhari gave him the shock of his life, six months into his administration as Nigeria’s leader.
Oyegun made this disclosure on Friday when he featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.
He revealed that as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, he went to tell Buhari that he was not delivering his election promises to Nigerians but that the late president told him he would not rule with strictness, but rather wanted to show Nigerians that he is a true civilian president.
The former APC National Chairman lamented that it became business as usual, from there.
“I was national chairman of the APC. Six months or less into our assuming office, fairly alarmed, I went to the late President Buhari for a one-on-one talk. I said Mr President, this is not what the people were expecting. They wanted a bit of the old president Buhari.
“And he explained to me, Mr Chairman, I have learned my lesson. I was shocked. And don’t forget at that time, a lot of prominent Nigerians took their holidays abroad, just to be sure and see what this new sheriff in town will be.
“Buhari told me he wants to now show the people that he’s a true civilian president in Agbada. And by the time we finished the conversation, I said Oh God, we are finished. Because, if he’s not ready to be strict, what’s the point?
“Weeks later, months later, years later, I was proven correct. And of course, it became business as usual, only that they are a new set of tenants in Aso Rock. That was a shocker,” he said.
Former lawmaker, Dino Melaye Esq, has raised concerns over the Senate’s reported rejection of the electronic transmission of election results.
The move, according to Melaye, is a clear endorsement of election rigging and an indication of a sinister plan to rig the 2027 elections.
In a statement on Friday, the former lawmaker criticized the Senate’s decision, stating that it undermines the credibility of the electoral process.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC chieftain, also stated that the move opens the door for electoral manipulation and fraud.
He further warned that the rejection of electronic transmission of results is a step backwards for democracy in Nigeria.
Melaye called on lawmakers and citizens to stand up against “this blatant attempt to undermine the will of the people and ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent”.
Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has said Nigerians have every reason to be mad at the Senate over the ongoing debate on e-transmission of election results.
Ezekwesili made this known on Friday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’ monitored by DAILY POST.
DAILY POST reports that the Senate on Wednesday turned down a proposed change to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill that aimed to compel the electronic transmission of election results.
Reacting to the matter, Ezekwesili said, “The fundamental issue with the review of the Electoral Act is that the Senate retained the INEC 2022 Act, Section 60 Sub 5.
“This section became infamous for the loophole it provided INEC, causing Nigerians to lose trust. Since the law established that it wasn’t mandatory for INEC to transmit electoral results in real-time, there wasn’t much anyone could say.
“Citizens embraced the opportunity to reform the INEC Act, aiming to address ambiguity and discretionary opportunities for INEC. Yet, the Senate handled it with a “let sleeping dogs lie” approach. The citizens have every reason to be as outraged as they currently are.”
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