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Former Public Servant In South Africa Gets 10 Years Jail Term For Stealing

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handcuffs and bars
Picture of handcuffs and bars
handcuffs and bars
Picture of handcuffs and bars

 

Former project manager in the Land Affairs and Rural Development Department, Patrick Masoka, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The former project manager was sentenced in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court for stealing a farm and livestock belonging to the Shabalala clan in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal.

Masoka, then a senior official in the land and claims branch of the Land Affairs Department, was found to have operated criminally by the Special Investigations Unit’s (SIU) forensic investigators.

SIU head Andy Mothibi welcomed the sentence meted out to Masoka.

“This sentence should and will definitely serve as a serious deterrent to would be thieves in the public service.

“Masoka wronged the society by stealing. He also wronged his family and deprived them of the material support he provided when he was employed,” said the SIU head.

Mothibi said stealing by officials from the public purse affected those in need of services.

“Citizens in need of government services suffer immensely when some public servants double up as criminals during the course of their employment in government departments.

“The SIU is poised to strike heavily on government officials found stealing government resources,” he said.

Mothibi urged the SIU forensic investigators to boost their efforts and work collaboratively with other crime busting entities.

The SIU head said this will ensure that offenders who steal from society are promptly brought to book and removed from the system before they deplete government resources.

“Dubious public servants; state owned entities officials and the private sector officials who think devising devious schemes to defraud government and the society, must know that there will be no place to hide when we investigate their malfeasance as the SIU,” said Mothibi.

SAnews.gov.za

Feature: South Africa Prepares For Digital Revolution

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Digital evolution
Digital evolution
Digital evolution
Digital evolution

 

Government leaders, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) doyens, academics, researchers, exhibitors and industry geeks with an interest in all things technological, recently converged in the sunny, seaside city of Durban.

Their mission? To ponder the way the Fourth Industrial Revolution will reshape the way governments all over the world work, writes Nosihle Shelembe.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World Conference 2018, held for the first time on African soil, gave governments and industry leaders an opportunity to explore challenges, partnerships, solutions, investment opportunities and best practices for socio-economic development through ICTs.

South Africa, as the host, had the added advantage of positioning the country as a leader in Africa in the ICT development space.

The conference supported the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 call to support the continent’s  accelerated growth, technological transformation, and for the attainment of a well-developed ICT and digital economy.

This goal is aligned to South Africa’s very own National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 vision of transforming the country into an inclusive and innovative digital and knowledge society. This, through the promotion of leadership and partnership, to tackle the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

South Africa used the opportunity to promote its business, scientific and academic research projects and showcased its innovation.

The conference attracted more than 3100 participants from 94 countries. Among these were over 200 ICT leaders from 74 countries, including 33 ministers, and 125 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from emerging and developed markets alike.

The event brought together an impressive line-up of top-level government representatives, influential industry leaders – from established players to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and from emerging and developed markets.

The conference was hosted for the first time on the continent in order to increase the participation of other African countries, thereby increasing the possibilities of investment in ICT on the continent.

One of the strategic values in hosting the conference was that government, together with its sponsors, provided support to over 50 Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) to exhibit at the conference. The entrepreneurs were mentored on how to pitch their ideas to investors.

“The SMMEs we supported as government and our partners to showcase their work will not only be known at this conference… global businesses are looking at those technologies. This is a huge marketing opportunity for them,” the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele told SAnews.

More money from honey

One of those businesses that exhibited its technology at the conference was Beedale, a family business that developed an application that informs the bee farmer when the honey in the hive is ready. This application is linked to a bee box.

Member of the family business, Nicky Worthmann, says beekeepers generally get one reaping of honey from one box per season.

“With this technology they can get up to three just by knowing when the honey is ready to take out of the bee box,” Worthmann says.

This technology will result in bee farmers saving money as they will no longer need to travel to check on whether the hive is ready.

The application also has a temperature probe, demonstrating how technology can be used to improved agricultural production, because if the temperature drops, the bees can get sick or they can fly out of the hive, leaving the box empty.

Beedale also wants to put a QR code at the back of the honey bottle to inform consumers which farmer produced the honey and the types of flowers that were in season when the honey was produced.

Worthmann says being at the conference has been a great opportunity as potential investors from Malawi and Zimbabwe have expressed interest in the application.

Incubation programmes to assist SMMEs

Noting the talent of SMMEs who exhibited their products at the conference, Minister Cwele says the technologies that emerged at the conference will make it easier for South Africa to be at the forefront of the digital economy and digital revolution.

In an effort to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs to thrive, the department and its partners intend to set-up Tech SMME Incubation centres at the Dube Trade Port in KwaZulu-Natal and at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria.

The incubation centres will assist SMMEs to develop their business ideas from an infancy stage. The businesses will be offered support and guidance as they produce new technologies.

Incubation programmes are aimed at improving the early-stage survival and long-term growth prospects of SMMEs, to ensure that they remain sustainable.

“These centres will be hosted in an environment which will enable the building of solutions, and the ability to transform innovative ideas of SMMEs into real projects. The facility will grow into a space that allows sponsored SMMEs to build and stage their ideas,” says the Minister.

SMMEs using the facilities will be contracted on an agreed timeline to get their ideas to prototype level.

“Through various partnerships, the department and Cisco hopes to develop current and cultivate new SMMEs in the ICT space and help them enter, grow and compete in the market,” the Minister says.

Forum to bring it all together

In preparation for the digital revolution, South Africa has committed to train women, children, people with disabilities and SMMEs.

These programmes include digital literacy training for 100 women per province.

In October, the department will launch a multi-stakeholder consultative forum to devise a strategy towards collaborating for the programme.

The objective of the multi-stakeholder forum is to determine how best to ensure that opportunities and facilities are widely commuted, accessible to SMMEs, women and youth-owned organisations.

It’s also aimed at addressing gaps identified by government to bridge the digital divide, transform the industry and close the growing unemployment gap.

As of 2019, government will train one million young people to be data scientists until 2030.

Bridging the digital divide

The South Africa Government has emphasised that the digital revolution must respond to the needs of the developing world by assisting it to overcome unemployment, as well as bridge the digital divide.

According to the Minister, government through the SA Connect programme, is making progress in the rollout of broadband.

“Broadband Infraco continues to bring fibre closer to small villages which makes the 3G and 4G network work much faster. The fibre also makes the Wi-Fi networks work faster,” he says.

The department together with National Treasury as well as the Development Bank of Southern Africa are looking at affordable and sustainable Public Private Partnership models in an effort to get funding to rollout the programme throughout the country.

“We are not going to have the R88 billion we need to rollout this project throughout the country so we are going to have to do it in partnership with the private sector,” the Minister says.

Great strides have also been made in the implementation of the e-government services which will see citizens waiting for shorter periods in queues.

The service intends to simplify government procedures, improve access to information by citizens, and improve service delivery, as well as strengthen accountability and transparency.

In addition, government has finalised consultations with the telecommunications industry and other stakeholders to ensure that allocation of spectrum reduces barriers to entry, promotes competition and reduces costs to consumers.

Government has decided to accelerate the licensing of the radio frequency spectrum in the 2.6Ghz, 700Mhz and 800Mhz bands to hasten the growth of mobile communications.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is now preparing to licence available high demand spectrum.

Furthermore, South Africa has begun work in preparation for 5G spectrum licensing as part of its efforts to build a smarter digital economy.

The various initiatives by government demonstrate a commitment to meet the demands of the digital revolution and build an inclusive economy.

Nigeria 2019: APC Governors Promise Free, Transparent Primary Elections

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APC Logo
APC Logo

… Majority Adopt Indirect

APC Logo

Governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have promised to support the party’s leadership to ensure free and transparent primary elections to elect the party’s candidates for the 2019 general elections.

Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, made the promise while speaking with newsmen at the end of a closed-door meeting of the governors held in Abuja.

The meeting discussed the mode of primaries to be adopted to pick the party’s candidates for all elective offices for the 2019 general elections.

Okorocha, however, said that most of the APC-controlled states had resolved to adopt indirect primaries to pick the party’s candidates,assuring that all aspirants would be given equal opportunity.

“We have adopted both direct and indirect primaries, and most of the states are going for indirect primaries, but for the President, it is going to be direct primaries.

“We just held a meeting with the party’s National Chairman and we have resolved that in support of the party, we are going to have free and fair primaries.

“Everybody will be given equal chance to participate in the primaries which will be transparent, free and fair,” he said.
Okorocha assured that both the Progressive Governors Forum and the APC National Working Committee(NEC) were working to ensure victory for the party in the 2019 general elections.

Also speaking, Gov. Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State, explained that it was not possible for all the party members to agree on a particular mode of primaries.

He said there would always be some that would disagree, but that the decision of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) was that if majority of the State Executive Committee members decided on any mode of primaries, they should go head; it would not matter if one or two members disagreed.

“And in Kaduna State where I am the Governor by the grace of God, the majority of the State Executive Committee members decided on indirect primaries. If one or two members don’t agree, that’s off, that is not the decision of NEC,”he said.

Mr Adams Oshiomhole, the APC National Chairman, stressed that the task before the party ahead of 2019 general elections was clear.

“We have a tradition as a progressive party to submit ourselves to the dictates of our party and we believe in internal democracy because we are democrats and democracy must begin from within the house before we can do it outside.

“All of us, Governors, National Working Committee and even the President, agreed that this is the way to go and that is what we are going to do,” Oshiomhole said.

Speaking on the alleged crises in the APC, Lagos State chapter, Gov. Ambode and the party’s National leader,Bola Tinubu, Oshiomhole said the state was at peace.

“I think our party in Lagos is at peace, there are conversations going on at the ward level across the 8,500 wards or there about and across the country.

“Conversations are going on within the APC family,conversations are going on in each of the 774 Local Governments and across the country.

“Our party members are negotiating, they are persuading, they are doing compromises, and they are competing, because we are progressing,”he said.

He maintained that across the 36 states of the federation and at the federal level,activities in the APC were at their peak.

Nigeria To Advance Research On Earthquake Mitigation – Official

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Earth Tremor
Effect of Earth Tremor in May 2016 in Ikara Town of Kaduna State, Nigeria
Earth Tremor
Effect of Earth Tremor in May 2016 in Ikara Town of Kaduna State, Nigeria

 

Federal Government on Thursday in Abuja said it would advance research activities to mitigate any earthquake hazard in the country.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu  made this known when he received the report of the Technical Committee on Earth Tremor from its Chairman, Prof. Seidu Muhammed.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on Sept. 7, some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were woken up by earth tremor that shook some parts of the city.

The minister said that research activities were crucial to societal value as evidence for readiness and mitigation of earthquake hazard.

“We will keep on carry out research to ensure our nation is secure by taking proper proactive and not reactive measures to address challenges that can hinder efficient forecasting, detection and monitoring of earthquake in Nigeria.

“There is urgent need to establish the Nigerian standard for the seismic building code which I think Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NIBRRI) should be able to handle for the nation,“ he said.

Onu said that he would submit the technical report to the President Muhammadu Buhari immediately for appropriate and urgent actions.

Earlier, the Chairman of the committee listed the recommendations of the committee to include procurement of more seismometers, ground-based magnetometers and GPS sensors/equipment for the enlargement and networking of the Nigeria National Network of Seismographic Stations.

“Further detailed seismotectonic study using state-of –art equipment of the area and by extension, the entire country is recommended.

“Also, detailed Seismic Hazard Assessment for the entire country is very necessary.

“An integrated study should be carried out to properly delineate the fault systems in the area while ensuring buildings should be constructed with the right engineering design and materials on approved sites.

“Infrared satellite technology space magnetic data for earthquake monitoring are showing more prospects. It is advised that this technology must be adopted and funded.

“Others are to monitor, identify and catalog earthquakes locations to improve on future forecasts in time, and releasing of Ecological Fund urgently for Earthquake Monitoring and Hazard Assessment in Nigeria,’’ he said.

According to him, the committee further recommended that there is need to regulate exploitation of ground water resources of Abuja via indiscriminate sinking of boreholes as it was the primary reason for recent Abuja tremor.

“Base on the results obtained using the probability of recurrence theory; we confirmed that the probability of recurrence in the very near future is fairly high in Nigeria.

“Government should fund the training of geophysicists, geologists, engineers, technologies and researchers to participate in earth science research to improve understanding of Nigerian and West African geophysics and tectonics dynamism.

“The Federal Government should empower relevant research agencies mandated to carry out studies on the remote causes of the tremor and proffer solutions,“ he added.

Muhammed said that more than one million earthquakes occurred daily but very few were either observed or recorded, adding that available seismic records from 1919 to 2018 showed that Nigeria has experienced seismicity (tremor) in the past.

According to him, Nigeria is now prone to seismic hazards following recent earthquake occurrence in Kwoi, Kaduna State(2016); Saki, Oyo State (2016) and Igbogene in Bayelsa State (2016).

“The latest occurred in Sept. 7 in Abuja with Mpape as epicenter. Though these earthquakes may have been of low-magnitudes, it is now certain that earthquake occurrence has become a potential hazard to the nation, “ he said.

Nigeria: Federal Government Donates House To Late Ocholi’s Family

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Late James Ocholi
Nigeria’s late Minister of State for Labour and Employment, James Ocholi.

 

The Federal Government on Thursday redeemed its pledge to donate a house to the family of late Minister of State for Labour and Employment, James Ocholi.

The donation was made by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.

Mustapha, represented by  Olusegun Adekunle, the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, said the presentation was to fulfill one of the promises government made to the surviving children of late Ocholi.

According to him, “It is a promise kept”.

He said that the government made three promises to the family during the burial ceremony namely; scholarship for children in school, employment for the graduates and acquisition of a befitting house in Abuja.

He said that he promises were made by the president in recognition of the diligent service to the country by the late minister.

He said that the house “is a four- bedroom terrace house in Flower Gate Estate, along Apo Resettlement, Abuja.’’

Receiving the document of the property on behalf of the family, Mr Aaron Ocholi, son of the late minister, commended the government for keeping to its promise.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports James Ocholi died in March 2016 with his wife and son on the Abuja-Kaduna express way in a ghastly accident.

The presentation of the house documents was made in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) not at the location of the house.

2.7 Million Nigerian Women Engage in Abortion — Expert

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pregnant woman
pregnancy
pregnant woman
pregnancy

 

A Public Health Scientist, Mrs Suzanne Bell on Thursday said the abortion rate by women of reproductive age in Nigeria has risen between 1.8 and 2.7 million.

Bell, who made the disclosure at a dissemination exercise of the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA 2020) on Thursday in Abuja, said that the rise was as a result of unintended pregnancies.

The event with the theme, “Measuring Performance, Informing Policy and Empowering Communities’’ was a collaboration of the Centre for Research Evaluation, Resources and Development ( CRERD) and the Bayero University, Kano.

According to Bell, majority of these abortions were considered unsafe, hence the need for increased awareness and access to family planning, to protect the lives of women.

“In 2018, PMA 2020 conducted a survey to produce updated and expanded estimates of abortion-related indicators.

“The survey results provided new insights into the characteristics of women who have abortions and the pathways leading to abortion within or outside the healthcare system.

“In Nigeria, most public tertiary facilities provided post abortion care (92 per cent) and safe abortion services to save a woman’s life (81 per cent); lower level public facilities and private facilities were much less likely to do so.

“In 2017, the annual incidence of likely abortions in Nigeria was 41.8 per cent per 1000 women aged, 15 to 49, which is nearly 1.8 million abortions.

“When including information related to the experience of respondents closest confidants, the rate of likely abortions in Nigeria rose to 2.7 million.’’

Bell said that women living in rural areas, women with no education and women who are poor were the most likely to have had the least safe abortion.

She further said that six out of 10 abortions were considered least safe and 11 per cent of women experienced complications for which they sought post abortion care at a health facility.

Earlier, Dr Elizabeth Omoluabi, Principal Investigator, PMA2020, said that one out of every four children were unintended, giving rise to some of the abortions committed by women.

Omoluabi, therefore, called for the empowerment of women to have family planning before marriage in order to reduce the abortion rate.

“The 2018 survey conducted revealed that there has been steady rise in family planning due to awareness on its need.

“19 per cent of Nigerian women are now using modern contraceptives as shown by the survey.

“In our survey, we used three instruments which include household, female respondent and service delivery point questionnaire to carry our survey.

“The impact of quality data in planning is important and hence the data will help us to plan to save the lives of Nigerian women.’’

She added that the PMA2020 in its survey was able to use innovative mobile technology to support rapid- turn around surveys to monitor key indicators for family planning.

Also, Dr Ghaji Bello, Director- General, National Population Commission (NPopC) pledged the continuous support of the commission toward the country’s family planning data.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PMA2020 is implemented by local universities and research organisations in 11 countries.

PMA2020 Nigeria is led by the (CRERD) and Bayero University, Kano, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health.

The survey has been carried out in the states of Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, Nasarawa, Anambra and Taraba.

Nigeria 2019: Speaker Dogara Submits PDP Nomination, Expression Of Interest Forms

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Dogara & Forms
Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara submitting his House of Reps Nomination & Expression of Interest Forms for 2019 elections to the PDP National Organising Secretary, Col. Austin Akobundu

….”We were treated as strangers in APC”

Dogara & Forms
Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara submitting his House of Reps Nomination & Expression of Interest Forms for 2019 elections to the PDP National Organising Secretary, Col. Austin Akobundu

 

By Joseph Edegbo

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that he left the All Progressives Congress (APC) because the party was not committed to keeping the promise it made to Nigerians at both state and federal levels.
Speaking when he submitted his nomination and expression of interest forms at the PDP secretariat on Thursday in Abuja, Dogara noted that the APC’s initial agenda of bringing positive change to Nigeria had been thwarted by “the rebelliously wayward sense of entitlement of some people.”
Denouncing the notion that he left for PDP because he was not sure of securing a return ticket in the 2019 elections, Dogara said he was moved to defect because he could not continue to function  within a system that his conscience was not in alignment with and where he was not welcome.
He added that he was one of the drafters of PDP’s first constitution, and that the party is a place where he feels the dream of making Nigeria better for all can be achieved.
 Dogara said, “For some of us who are here who are wondering, because it has been said that I cannot move from where I was to, perhaps, any other political party, that discussion has been ongoing, so today’s event marks the end of all speculations .
“To begin with, I was a founding member of this party, which is what a lot of people do not know. I worked with Professor Yohanna Madaki of blessed memory, as a junior counsel, and we helped to put together the first PDP Constitution. For anybody who doubts that, I have the rough working sheets with me today, I can produce it.
“So, this is home to me but on account of certain developments, I had to leave the party for another party for Nigeria’s nationhood, then believing that we were teaming with spirited people to build a new Nigeria.”
Going further, he explained that in his home state Bauchi, the party has failed to deliver on all the promises made by him and others who campaigned across the state for the governor to be elected.
The speaker stated that only those who have lost their conscience will support the current order in Bauchi State because APC has not fulfilled a single promise made in 2015, with the situation on the national scene not much different.
“Well, I do not want to be a prophet of lamentation. I am not known to be lamenting too much but everybody know where we are, particularly in Bauchi State, all the stakeholders are here. It will take someone who has lost his conscience to still support the order that is in the state. I was part of the people that built the APC in the state, I went round the state campaigning for the APC and I can tell you that we have not fulfilled a single promise that we made.
“Nationally, we all know what is happening. I will speak to that, maybe, in another occasion I will tell my story in a way devoid of sentiments, so that the people can clearly understand the reason why I am taking this decision that leads me to the PDP today, and I will certainly do that. But permit me to say that in the APC that we are leaving, they are not all devils, there are wonderful people in APC but they are equally some people who have what I will call a rebelliously wayward sense of entitlement and these really are the problems with the APC.
“When it serves their interests, they say the party is supreme, when it doesn’t serve their interest, they castigate the party, including the leadership of the party. These are people who are the lords of the family; they do what they will while others are required to do what they must and in such environment, really, I am disabled. We have a lot of bouncers in the party, these are the bouncers. For me, I knew that I was in a situation where I had a very seared conscience. Even when a lot of people were happy with me, but I can tell you that I would rather be hated for who I am than be loved for who I am not. So, I have decided to come back to my original roots because the truth is that we went back to the APC, after the general elections, there was never an occasion in which we were not reminded that we do not belong. When there are discussions, you will hear reference to the fact that those who joined us from the PDP are our problems. So, that discussion will end as from today.”
He dared anyone who has boasted of retiring him from politics to meet him on election ground at Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency.
“So I have decided to join the brothers and sisters of this great party, the PDP, so that we can chart a new frontier in our state, Bauchi, and chart a new frontier for our dear nation, Nigeria. This, we will do, with courage, with commitment, with passion to build a Nigeria that works for all of us, all of us.
“That is the challenge that is before us. So, I am here, not because as others have said, they have denied me ticket to contest in APC. That is what they will say, but it is not true and I am really not  bothered at this moment about contesting elections. What bothers me is the state of my state, the situation in which our people are and the state of this country and so, even if you give me a ticket to work in a situation where my conscience is not totally in alignment with, to be candid, I cannot function effectively.
“So, I am here with the nomination form, which is for those who said they will retire me from politics, to show that boldly that this is where I am. Those who said they will  retire me from politics, I am waiting for them at the constituency and in case they do not know, it is Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa.”
The speaker was accompanied by Senator Bala Mohammed former FCT minister, Senator Abdul Ningi, Senator Adamu Gumba, 20 Bauchi PDP LG chairmen, scores of House of Reps members, and hundreds of his supporters and constituents.

Nigeria 2019: Tambuwal Promises to Unite Nigeria, Tackle Insecurity, Poverty

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Aminu Tambuwal
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Nigeria.

… Why I forfeited my second term as a governor

Aminu Tambuwal
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Nigeria.

 

A presidential aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has taken his campaign to the south west geo-political zone with a promise to provide purposeful and visionary leadership that will unite the country.

Tambuwal, who is also the Governor of Sokoto state, told PDP supporters and delegates at the Osun state party secretariat on Wednesday evening that there is the urgent need to provide a credible alternative that will oust the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government of Muhammadu Buhari which has failed in all ramifications.

“This country is at a cross road. We need leaders that can bring people together and reunite us, bring the country together and secure it.”

Tambuwal, who is also the immediate past speaker of the House of Representatives said: “ We need to also provide jobs for our teeming youths and women; there is a lot of poverty all over the land.
We know how PDP left the economy of this country and we know what is happening today. Don’t mind what they are telling you is just simple lie. The economy is not doing well. The fight against corruption is selective and indeed there are no jobs for our people. So have they not failed on their promises to our people?”

“I assure you that this ticket by all standards and by all measures is not going to be compared to that of Muhammadu Buhari. We have understanding of the dynamics of the Nigerian state, there is no part of this country that I have been to. We shall promote national unity and harmony”

He told the delegates that “I have a very good understanding of what it takes to provide leadership in Nigeria. I have the energy, the capacity in terms of experience I have been a member of the National Assembly for 12 years four of which I was the speaker, and I am now governor of Sokoto state I have garnered enough executive experience to pilot the affairs of this country. Not only that I have been very close to Nigerian judiciary I have been a lawyer who has practiced in many courts in this country so I have understanding of the workings of both the executive, legislature and the judiciary.

“We will provide leadership in such a way that every Nigerian will be proud of the country. The security of this country has never been this bad, we shall also work to ensure that every Nigerian live in peace and harmony.”

Responding, an elder statesman and PDP stalwart, Shuaibu Oyedokun who is also a member of the party’s BoT described Tambuwal as a legislative wizard, dynamic and patriotic person.

“He respects elders said the saddest day in his life was when Tambuwal left PDP and that one of his happiest day was when he heard that Tambuwal has returned to PDP. And that he came back stronger,” he said.

In Ibadan, Oyo state, governor Tambuwal told PDP delegates and journalists that he took the decision to forfeit his second term as a governor under the APC because of his commitment to the unity and development of Nigeria.
Why I forfeited my second term as a governor.

“Yes, I am serving my first term as a governor of Sokoto state with the probability of winning a second term by 60-70 percent but because of my patriotism and commitment to the development of this country, I decided to not only volunteer but also heed to the calls of Nigerians not just to run for the presidency but also leave the APC which had majority in the north west and that is not a small decision that I decided to take because of my commitment to the unity of this country because things are not going well in Nigeria and we are all aware of it and we need to do something. It is for us to rally round and effect a change of government at the centre and that is my motivation.”
He acknowledged that Nigerian security services cannot protect the country because they under staffed and ill-equipped.

He promised to embark upon massive recruitment of capable hands in all the security services and overhauling and total reform of the military and the Nigeria police.

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