Headlines
Tinubu Set to Jet Out to France on Two Weeks ‘Working Visit’
By Eric Elezuo
The Presidency has announce that President Bola Tinubu will be departing Abuja to (Wednesday) for Paris, France, on a ‘short working visit’.
A statement to the effect, signed and released by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, was however silent on the shape of international relationship the working visiting the president was embarking on will take, but noted that Tinubu will use the ‘retreat’ to review his administration’s mid-term performance and assess key milestones, as well as review progress of ongoing reforms.
While acknowledging that the president will spend ‘about a fortnight’ on the trip, the statement added he would supervise administration while away.
The statement in details
PRESIDENT TINUBU TO EMBARK ON WORKING VISIT TO PARIS
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart for Paris, France, today on a short working visit.
During the visit, the President will appraise his administration’s mid-term performance and assess key milestones.
He will also use the retreat to review the progress of ongoing reforms and engage in strategic planning ahead of his administration’s second anniversary.
This period of reflection will inform plans to deepen ongoing reforms and accelerate national development priorities in the coming year.
Recent economic strides reinforce the President’s commitment to these efforts, as evidenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria reporting a significant increase in net foreign exchange reserves to $23.11 billion—a testament to the administration’s fiscal reforms since 2023 when net reserves were $3.99 billion.
While away, President Tinubu will remain fully engaged with his team and continue to oversee governance activities.
He will return to Nigeria in about a fortnight.
President Bola Tinubu has sacked the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari.
Tinubu also dissolved its board, removing the Chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on information and strategy, announced this in a statement on Wednesday.
Onanuga said Tinubu invoked his powers under section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 to carry out the sweeping reconstitution, citing the need for “enhanced operational efficiency, restored investor confidence, and a more commercially viable NNPC”.
He announced that Tinubu has now approved a new 11-man board, which has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.
According to the statement, “Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.
“Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu, North West, Yusuf Usman, North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG), who represents North Central.
“President Tinubu appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a Non-executive director from the South West, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the South East.
“Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.”
He added said that all the appointments are effective today, April 2.
President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that Americans want him to run for another term, a step banned by the US constitution but which he continues describing as possible.
“People are asking me to run,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the possibility of a third term.
“I don’t know. I never looked into it. They do say there’s a way you can do it, but I don’t know about that, but I have not looked into it,” Trump said.
Trump was asked about the prospect of a race pitting him against former president Barack Obama, who served two terms.
“That would be a good one, I’d like that,” Trump said.
“I’m not joking” about the idea of seeking a third term, Trump said Sunday in an interview with NBC News.
The 78-year-old Republican served from 2017 to 2021 and began his second term in the White House on January 20.
The first US president, George Washington, established a tradition by not seeking a third term after completing his second one in 1797.
But this tradition was not formally added to the US constitution until after World War II, with the ratification of the 22nd amendment in 1951.
It says no one can be elected president more than two times.
Publisher of The Boss Newspaper and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dele Momodu, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu not to “kill democracy in Nigeria.”
The appeal, which was made while Momodu was fielding questions during a live television show on Channel TV’s Morning Brief on Monday, was an aftermath of President Tinubu’s suspension of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and the state House of Assembly for six months due to a political crisis in the state.
The journalist expressed his concern over Tinubu’s decision, which he described the move as “worse than dictatorship.”
He added that he was disappointed by the president’s actions, especially given Tinubu’s past fight for democracy.
Momodu stated, “I think it is very unfortunate. I know President Tinubu very, very, very well. Though I’ve not been in the same party [with him] and all that, we were together in exile, and he fought gallantly for this democracy,” he said.
“So a lot of us, co-comrades at that time, are actually very embarrassed that we have a pro-democracy leader in government, and yet what we are witnessing is worse than dictatorship.
“I’m pleading with President Bola Tinubu, ‘Please don’t kill democracy in Nigeria.’ Everybody who loves him will tell him this. I don’t; I’ve not asked him for anything or anything, but we love him for his contributions to the motivation in the back, which is what is going down the drain.”
He also warned that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was trying to intimidate the opposition, urging Tinubu not to be misled by those around him, adding that he does not need to intimidate anybody.
“I’m saying it now openly to millions of Nigerians that people are deceiving President Tinubu, and he should not allow people to deceive you,” he said.
“He should just do his job. The only thing that can guarantee a second time is to do your job well. You do not need to intimidate anybody.”
