Shehu listed the laws

Shehu listed the laws as  the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017; Anti-Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017;  Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Bill 2017; Proceeds of Crime Bill 2017; Public Interest Disclosure and Witness Protection Bill, 2017; and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2017.

On Jonathan’s assertion that his administration introduced the policies the Buhari administration has been using to fight corruption, the Presidency disagreed.

Shehu said, “Nigerians should dismiss Dr Jonathan’s hollow boast that he, not President Buhari, introduced schemes such the Biometric Verification Number, the Treasury Single Account and the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System. Of what use is the announcement of good policies without the will to implement them?

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The Presidency stated

Furthermore, the Presidency stated that Buhari introduced the whistle-blower policy to cut fraud and financial misconduct.

“Within six months of introducing this policy, over 5,000 reports were made through various channels, 365 actionable tips were received out of the 5,000 reports. So far more than N200bn has been recovery,” it added.

On the recovery made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Presidency said as of 2015, there was only N19.5bn in the recovery account.

“After one year of the new anti-corruption drive by the Buhari administration, this figure had gone up to N279 bn, and since then a lot more has been recovered”, it stated.

The Presidency further noted that Jonathan’s book really didn’t have anything to say about his achievements or those of the Peoples Democratic Party’s 16 years in office, hence the resort to making excuses.

The Presidency said, “As evidenced from a fleeting look at the book, the former President had nothing to say about his own achievements. If there was a recession, and yes we had a moment in it, was it due to one year of President Buhari’s government?

“In his efforts to blame everyone but himself for his failures, Dr Jonathan heaped the blame for the predictable economic recession on President Buhari, ignoring the seeds sown under him through mismanagement and the process set in firm roots for the decline of the economy. Evidently, he did nothing to avert the situation.”

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The President's visit

The presidential visit comes after months of deadly raids by the IS-affiliated jihadists on military bases, which have left scores of troops dead or missing in the volatile North-east.

In a posting on Twitter on Monday, presidential spokesman, Mr. Bashir Ahmad, said Buhari would attend the army conference in Maiduguri as well as address troops to boost their morale.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled his planned official visit to Benin, Edo State tomorrow, to visit Maiduguri, Borno State on Wednesday,” he wrote.

The president had severally noted that fighting terrorism had taken a global dimension, which necessitated international collaboration among states facing similar security challenges.

He had reassured Nigerians of his continued commitment to their security and of his efforts to sustain the momentum in the previous significant successes recorded against the terrorists, advising Nigerians against making a political capital out of the national tragedy.

Meanwhile, believing that the huge funds budgeted to wage war against Boko Haram terrorist group are not being properly utilised by the military authorities, the National Assembly has commenced investigations into alleged dirty deals by military high command.

THISDAY gathered yesterday that the leaderships of both the Senate and House of Representatives have directed their relevant committees to probe how the huge funds budgeted for the prosecution of the on-going war against terror in the last three and a half years has been spent.

From the House of Representatives, the Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Chukwuka Onyema, in a motion moved under matter of urgent national importance, urged that after the killing of 118 soldiers and their commanding officer, Lt. Col. Ibrahim Sakaba, with about 150 more soldiers and officers still missing, the house should extensively deliberate the issue.

While amending the motion, three lawmakers, Mohammed Sani Abdu, Isaac Gyang and Hassan Saleh, however, urged the house to investigate the funding for the military’s fight against the insurgency.

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Expressed worry over the killing of the soldiers

The Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who presided over the deliberations, expressed worry over the killing of the soldiers, noting that something must have gone wrong in Nigeria’s war against insurgency, especially considering that countries like Chad, Cameroon are securing their borders more effectively.

The lawmakers resolved that the probe, which is to be conducted by an ad hoc committee, should be constituted immediately to also look into the operational lapses that led to the killing of the soldiers by the insurgents.

The lawmakers also called on the military high command to release the names of fallen soldiers after due consultation with members of their families.

Dogara urged that there is urgent need to curb insecurity in the country, wondering whether or not the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), which comprises Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin Republics are still tackling the Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.

Abdu (Bauchi, APC) particularly called for the probe of the $1billion recently appropriated by the National Assembly to prosecute the Boko Haram insurgency.

Also contributing to the debate, Aliyu Magaji called for the immediate sack of the entire service chiefs, saying they have failed and wondered how long they would be there to be attending funeral services of soldiers.

Abdulsamad Dasuki, who chairs the House committee on Navy, claimed that the armed forces is not only technologically backward, it could only boast of about 200,000 soldiers, which he said is not enough to protect about 200 million Nigerians and its borders stretching from the Chad Basin to the Atlantic Ocean.

Dasuki, who also claimed that the service chiefs had failed to live up to expectations, insisted that Buhari has failed Nigerians on his promise to secure the country.

A ranking senator who spoke with THISDAY last night alleged that corruption among military high command might have compounded the security challenges in the North-east in the past few months.

He said in spite of the huge funds the present government had received to engage the terrorist group, it has not bought any ammunition in the last three years.

According to him, ‘’Our investigation has revealed that it was the several units of highly effective sophisticated weapons from Eastern Europe, which former President Goodluck Jonathan administration bought that the military is still using.

For instance, it was gathered that the former administration acquired 60 units of computerized T72 tanks, alongside 30 units of transports vehicles, which were said to have been deployed in various war fronts against the insurgents before now.

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What the source said

The source said that some of the equipment from Israel was received in August 2014.

Other arms acquired by the former administration include, 40 units of BTR, with heavy fire power capability; 100 units of D30-122 mm; two units of mi 35 hind; 50 units of tanks T72 combat; 20 BMP 1, 30 trucks Knaz 6X6; 20 tanks transporter 8X8; 40 truck Steyer 6X6; 25 BTR4/30mm; 100 81mm motar; 200 RPG G7; 100 122mm motar; 18D30-122mm; 100 120mm motar; 12 20 BM70 New and 10 units of Demining System anti-mine and others.

A lot of this military equipment were said to have been delivered to the Nigerian Army on January 27, 2014.

A defence source also told THISDAY that there are growing concerns over the application or otherwise of arms and ammunitions available to the military in view of the recent attack by terrorists at the 157 Battalion, Metele, Borno State that led to the death of 118 soldiers.

There are also issues concerning ‘’incompetence of commanders’’ and prevailing substance abuse within the ranks and file, factors that have affected the overall performance in the fight against insurgents.

For instance, going by the record of military purchases since 2015, the three services, army, air force and the navy, have boasted robust funding.

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, had said the federal government made purchases and conducted repairs of a total 49 aircraft, including the 12 Tucano Aircraft ordered from the United States to be delivered in 2020.

In the 2018 Budget, the military proposed N38 billion for the purchase of ammunition, jet fighters, amoured tanks, landing ships, patrol vehicles and boats among others.

Going by the record of appropriations since 2008, a total of N6 trillion would have been expended on defence by the end of the 2018 fiscal year.

A significant part of this budget was said to have been concentrated on the war against insurgency.

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I am just one Nigerian says Atiku

I am strongly of the view that I am just one Nigerian and one Nigerian cannot be as wise as all Nigerians. “That is why I will offer an inclusive leadership. Atiku Abubakar is 100% for 100% of Nigerians, 100% of the time. Too often, Nigerians have been promised better governance by those seeking their votes. “Such individuals have preyed on the legitimate desires of our people for their conditions to be improved, that they make all sorts of promises. “But it is one thing to promise and another thing to deliver. 

I am not one for making grandiose promises. Rather than promises, I believe in policies. A promise is an indication to do a future action. A policy is a plan to achieve future goals.

 “I believe in setting goals and coming up with realistic plans and policies to achieving those goals. To me, leadership is having the discipline to commit to one’s goals until they are a reality. “I have succeeded in running my private enterprises which now employ 50,000 Nigerians because I believe in policies and I have the discipline to stay with them until they become a reality.

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