2023: I look forward to going back to my farm, says Buhari BY Segun Adewole

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has said he looks forward to taking charge of his farm in 2023 when his tenure ends. He, however, said he will do his best to advance the interest of the nation and its people before the time comes. Buhari said this while marking his 79th birthday in Istanbul, Turkey, where he is scheduled to participate in the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit, hosted by his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Recep Erdogan. This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu. Shehu quoted the President as saying, “I thought that being away from Abuja I will escape these things. The Guards Brigade had written to tell me what they wanted to do on this day. Now here you are doing this far away from home. “I look forward to the year 2023 when I finish, to go home to take charge of my farm. Between now and that time, I will do the best that is possible to advance the interest of the nation and its people, and carry out my duties as prescribed by the Constitution.” PUNCH.

UK resumes visa application processing from Nigeria By Vincent Ikuomola

The United Kingdom (UK) has announced resumption of processing of visa applications in Nigeria. The decision, which was announced through a statement, followed the Wednesday removal of Nigeria and 10 other countries from the red list. The statement titled: “UKVI lifts pause on processing visitor visa applications”, also contains information for non-visitor visa applications, including student and work visas as well. The statement reads: “In line with the lifting of red list restrictions – following the UK Government announcement that from 4:00am on 15th December, all countries who were on the red list will be removed – UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) will lift the pause on processing visitor visas in all countries previously on the red list. “Due to extremely high global demand, standard UK visitor visas are currently taking significantly longer than usual to be processed. UKVI are working hard to process visitor visa applications as soon as possible and sincerely apologise to all our customers affected. “Non-visitor visa applications (including student and work visas) are still being processed within published service standards and we are working hard to meet customer demand.” It added: ”Applicants will be contacted by the Visa Application Centre (VAC) when their passport is ready for collection. They should not visit the VAC until they have been invited to do so. “You are not required to book any travel before applying for a visa, or before a decision is made on your application. ”Those with an urgent need to travel to the UK for compassionate reasons will still need to apply for a visa in the usual way, including submitting biometrics at a VAC. Applicants should clearly explain the compelling or compassionate reasons for the visit in their application form and must alert the VAC staff during biometric submission. “If you have already submitted your visitor visa application, and you need to urgently travel to the UK for compassionate reasons, you can contact UK Visas & Immigration for help. Please note that this is a chargeable service for overseas customers. “Priority Visa (PV) and Super Priority Visa (SPV) services remain temporarily suspended for all visa routes in all countries coming off the red list. This allows UKVI to concentrate on assessing applications in date order for all our visa customers, and to deal equitably with the increased demand we are currently experiencing. This will be kept under review and we hope to be able to reinstate PV services in due course. “Students who may have planned to use PV services can speak to their course provider about options, including COVID-19 concessions or slightly later starts if necessary. However, students may wish to consider making their application early, rather than waiting for PV and SPV services to be resumed.”

Akande: I’ve never seen anything genuine in Obasanjo. By Olukorede Yisau

*'Ex-president did everything to bring my government down'

A former Osun State Governor and first National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Bisi Akande has said he has never seen anything genuine in ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. Akande, in his book, ‘My Participations’, narrated several instances of Obasanjo’s alleged attempts to bring him down. He added that even after he had been rigged out in 2003, Obasanjo did not relent in his effort to bring him closer to himself for the purpose of rubbishing him. Akande said during the centenary celebration of the Baptist Church in Abeokuta, Obasanjo announced that he was “an example of a prudent and honest governor”. “He said I was the most credible. That didn’t make me to have a change of opinion about Obasanjo. “I have never seen anything genuine about him despite his self-glorification,” Akande wrote. He claimed the ex-president’s nationalism and patriotism were fake, adding that his ambition to be the centre of Nigeria’s universe made him express constant hatred for the late Obafemi Awolowo. “It was this vaunting ambition that made him express constant hatred to the most altruistic and selfless leader of our time, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. “He continues to wonder till tomorrow why the Yoruba people, especially after his tour of duty as a two-time President, continue to elevate Awolowo to the highest pedestal while they have no respect for him. So, he would wonder to his grave! “In his detestations for Awolowo, he is ruled by a virulent inferiority complex, believing that he needed to do everything to supplant the greatness of Awolowo or undermine his legacies. “That was why he launched the Universal Basic Education in 1978, knowing that free education would be the core of Awolowo programme for the Second Republic. “That was also why he continued in this line during his two-term disastrous presidency. “For the reason that I was not dancing to his tune, Obasanjo did everything to depress and discredit my government and undermine us in Osun state. “Indeed, he wanted my government to collapse and once I had problem with Omisore, he adopted him as a willing tool and railroaded him into the Senate despite his detention for the assassination of Bola Ige,” he wrote. He accused Obasanjo of ordering that Osun State should be short-paid by N216 million monthly from the Federal Allocation.

‘Don’t set your house on fire over Tinubu’, Bode George asks Akande to withdraw book by Sodiq Oyeleke

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has asked a former Interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, to withdraw his book, ‘My Participation’. In a text of press conference obtained by our correspondent on Thursday, George warned Akande against causing trouble for himself because of the political ambition of Bola Tinubu, APC national leader. According to the PDP leader, the book written by Akande is malicious and offensive to Yoruba elders. While describing the book as “shameful” and “disappointing”, George said Akande must apologise to Yoruba elders publicly. He said, “Akande must apologise openly to Yoruba elders. The attitude that he displayed is not acceptable in a civilised society. Is it his legacy to dishonour Yoruba elders? “At his age, Akande should not set his house on fire because of Tinubu’s ambition. I felt very bad as a Yoruba man and as a Nigerian. He was maligned Yoruba elders and highly respectable people in the country. He was busy giving kudos to Bola Tinubu. Baba Akande is from Osun State and Tinubu is the only man that he could single out to praise. “From the reaction to his book, you must have heard what Baba Adebanjo said. How are we going to be regarded by others? Is that the right thing to do? Baba Akande should withdraw the book that he has authored. It is very shameful. He is older than me and I don’t expect an elderly person to behave in that manner. He must apologise to those he has offended.” PUNCH.

NCC: Tinubu’s alleged connection with Mafab ‘strange

The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has denied knowledge about alleged connection of Sen Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s to Mafab Communications Ltd, one of the winners of the 3.5gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auctioned on Monday in Abuja. The Commission in a statement, said in the course of its routine media review, yesterday, it became aware of publications in some online media channels alleging the involvement of the former Lagos State Governor in Mafab Communications Limited. “It bears restating that, consistent with the Commission’s long-established regulatory culture and tradition, the process leading to the auction of the 5G spectrum was open, fair and transparent in the most, as the public auction followed a rigorous due process and was witnessed by a cross-section of stakeholders as observers, including the media, the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) as well as civil society groups. “Mafab Communications Limited is a corporate entity duly licensed by the Commission to conduct telecommunications business. The company, which is in good regulatory standing with the Commission, currently holds international data access (IDA), inter-connect data exchange (IDE) and Value-Added Service (VAS) licences. “It is pertinent to state that the Information Memorandum (IM) for the auction of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum clearly set out eligibility criteria for participation of interested bidders in the auction, which included that new companies could participate in the bid. “Over the years, the NCC has had spectrum auctions and as an independent regulatory agency, has maintained an undisputable reputation of successful auctions based on openness, fairness and transparency, a fact widely acknowledged locally and internationally. NCC’s auction proceedings conform to international best practice, devoid of any undue influence or interferences whatsoever. “A higher standard of integrity and openness was emplaced in the 5G auction as the process was, for the first time, witnessed by the public both physically and virtually through a link provided by the Commission on its official website. “The Commission would like to assure Nigerians that, following the successful auction of the 5G spectrum, it is prepared to drive the implementation of the next phase of the deployment of the new technology, in line with the Federal Government’s approved plan, for the benefit of all citizens,” the statement explained.

FG officially asks UN to recover, return looted assets to Nigeria. by Okechukwu Nnodim

Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) Nigeria has submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption on the Use of Beneficial Ownership Information and Data Disclosure to identify, track, recover and return assets looted or stolen from developing countries. Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, announced this while addressing the 9th Session of Conference of State Parties in progress in Sharm EL Sheikh, Egypt. He explained that the draft resolution was submitted jointly with the support and partnership of five other developing countries, namely, Kenya, Pakistan, Peru and Saudi Arabia. A statement issued in Abuja by the Deputy Director/Head Communications and Advocacy, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Obiageli Onuorah, said Malami informed the UN Convention that Nigeria had put in place institutional structures and legislations to protect its resources. The minister conveyed Nigeria’s appeal to the Conference of State Parties of the UN Convention Against Corruption to consider the draft resolution on its merit in view of its strategic importance in recovering looted assets from developing countries. This came as NEITI announced that a National Beneficial Ownership Register would be inaugurated by the agency and the Corporate Affairs Commission in January next year. The NEITI boss explained that under the joint inter-agency collaboration with the CAC, the beneficial ownership register filled with facts, information and data on who owns what in the oil, gas and mining sectors would merge with CAC beneficial ownership portal that covered all registered companies in Nigeria. PUNCH.

Group accuses Obasanjo of raising tension, heating polity

The Save Nigeria Movement has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of inflaming passion and raising tension in the country through his recent statements. The group made the accusation at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, December 2021, urging the former president not to jeopardize the security of the country. Addressing journalists at the briefing, Rev Solomon Semaka, Convener of the Save Nigeria Movement, alleged that Obasanjo has decided ”to embark on another round of divisive consultations conversant with his character.” He continued: ”Media reports further indicate Obasanjo plans to co-opt past heads of state, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and some respected elder statesmen among which is a former federal commission, Pa Edwin Clark into the massive drive to divide the country. ”All these antics are in a bid to discredit President Buhari’s administration efforts having surpassed former president Obasanjo’s two terms in office both as military and civilian head of state. ”Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s antecedents are scary if allowed to fester. The Save Nigeria Movement is deeply concerned that Obasanjo would choose to inflame passions and raise tensions at this critical point in time when the federal government is consolidating on security. ”Former President Olusegun is urged to reconsider his personal agenda as it can only jeopardize national security. To this end, the Movement is suspicious of the former president and calls all Nigerians to speak in one voice against him. ”The Save Nigeria Movement is inclined to caution the former president to have a rethink if his personal intentions will not promote peace and unity in the country. ”This appeal is also a word of caution that should Obasanjo be bent on heating the polity and raising tensions, Nigerians will know who to hold responsible and demand the law to take its full course.” Rev Semaka said the group expects nothing but selfless service to the nation and moral support from people like former Obasanjo and not fanning the embers of disunity. He added that Obasanjo has no moral right to be dissatisfied with the modest achievements of the Buhari administration, ”especially when he could not do better when Nigerians gave him the opportunity twice as military and civilian head of state.” He further stated that ”Nigerians are proud of what President Buhari is doing to rescue the nation from the grip of people like Obasanjo who designated the country as a free zone for corruption for more than a decade. ”Nigerians from all walks of life are proud of the modest achievements recorded under the Buhari administration. From road infrastructure to massive social welfare packages and a historic recapture of territories hitherto held by insurgents and bandits. ”At least President Buhari has not mobilized soldiers to demolish communities and kill scores of innocent Nigerians like Obasanjo did in Odi, Bayelsa, and Zaki Biam, in Benue states respectively. ”President Buhari administration in all sincerity has admitted to challenges and taken steps to secure the nation, all the government needs now is wise counsel and moral support as opposed to acts that could jeopardize existing efforts in peace and security of the country. ”The whole world is watching and will join us in solidarity to hold anyone who would be responsible for acts that breach national security.” Vanguard