Headlines
Tinubu Slams Obasanjo for Endorsing Obi, Says Former Leader Wicked, Cannot Show the Way
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, slammed former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his recent endorsement of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
According to him, Obasanjo who he claimed does not know the way cannot show others the way.
Tinubu spoke during the party’s presidential campaign rally at the University of Benin Sports Complex in Benin City.
Recalling what Obasanjo did to his administration as the Lagos State Governor, the former governor said, “Obasanjo seized our salaries, local government monies. Do you call that person a good or a wicked man?
“So, if he says he endorsed somebody, is it not poison that he is giving to you?
“One who doesn’t know the way cannot show the way. He is endorsing Obi but he doesn’t know the road.”
Tinubu appealed to Nigerians to vote for him, assuring them that he will bring prosperity, create jobs and secure Nigerians when elected.
He said he was familiar with the route considering his records as governor of Lagos.
He said, “I know how to perform. I did it in Lagos and I will do it in Nigeria. I will bring an economic hub to Edo State, give skills to the boys, start credit lending, empower small-scale industries so that they can be able to be on their own and get rid of estimated billing.
“We will turn this state into an energy state. We will turn the so-called yahoo boys into experts in the manufacturing and creation of chips. We will bring long-term reforms.
“We can break the shackles of poverty, ignorance and homelessness. We will do it together. We have the knowledge and the brain. Trust me, I am an expert in finding the way where there is no way. I found a way to tame the Atlantic Ocean and turned it into a money-making machine. I found a way to stop the killing drainages to channelisation and prosperity. I have done many things. I have the power of thinking and doing.
“If you want prosperity, elect me. If you want skills to become rich, elect me. If you want security, elect me. If you say I should retire, you will retire knowledge, diamond and gold.”
In his remarks, a former National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, solicited votes from Edo residents, saying that the former Lagos State governor has good track record and was instrumental in the fight against a single-party system.
The Punch
A former President of the Senate, and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of pushing Nigerians into poverty.
Wabara said the economic policies of Tinubu’s administration have worsened hardship across Nigeria.
He spoke during the board’s emergency meeting in Abuja on Thursday, saying: “The skyrocketing cost of living, coupled with poorly implemented economic reforms, has pushed millions into deeper poverty.”
Wabara stressed the importance of prioritising party unity and collective progress over personal ambitions.
“We cannot afford to let personal ambitions or differences overshadow our shared vision for a better Nigeria,” he added.
The Federal Government has fired some civil servants with degrees from private tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo, according to The Punch report.
The directive affected federal workers who graduated from the institutions from 2017 to date.
The Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, confirmed the development to one of our correspondents on Wednesday.
In August, the Federal Government announced that only eight universities had been accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in Togo and Benin Republic.
This followed an undercover investigation report in which a Daily Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic in two months and used it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
Following the report, the government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo.
The Federal Government also set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers.
The then Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, revealed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo and such certificates would be cancelled.
Mamman explained that the revelation was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by the investigative committee instituted to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria.
He insisted there was no going back on the Federal Government’s decision to cancel the about 22,500 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in the two francophone countries.
Mamman maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not harsh as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such tertiary institutions dent the country’s image.
He said, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.
“The fake universities capitalised on the gullibility of Nigerians patronising such fake schools. The Federal Government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, would fish out those in the government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”
Although the exact number of affected civil servants could not be ascertained, it was gathered that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Cabinet Affairs) had issued a memo to all the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to implement the order.
A source, who pleaded anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, told The Punch that the sacking of the affected workers was based on the inter-ministerial committee’s recommendation.
The official stated, “There was a letter from the SGF cabinet affairs directing all ministries, departments and agencies of government to identify and terminate the appointments of workers employed with certificates obtained from the private universities in the Republic of Benin and Togo from 2017 to date.
“The decision is part of the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate the certificates of people who graduated from the universities.”
Our correspondent also gathered that some agencies like the National Youth Services Corps have commenced the implementation of the directive.
The NYSC Director of Information, Caroline Embu, confirmed to our correspondent that five members of staff had been sacked in line with the SGF’s directive.
She said, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the office of the SGF. No more.”
