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TRENDING STATEMENT OF A MAN PURPORTING TO BE ADDRESSING THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF WORKS MISGUIDED, SELF SERVING AND VICIOUS PROPAGANDA TYPICAL OF A PROXY SPEAKING FOR NONCONFORMING CONTRACTORS.
The attention of the Honourable Minister of Works, *His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON* has been drawn to a trending statement of a man purporting to be addressing the Honourable Minister of Works over the state of roads in Nigeria and which was credited to the Chairman, House Committee on FERMA, Hon. Engr. Aderemi Abasi Oseni. The Honourable Minister views this unprovoked attack as an inconceivable embarrassment demeaning to his person and the Federal Ministry of Works as neither he nor his Permanent Secretary was in such a meeting where the said Chairman of House Committee on FERMA was said to be addressing the Honourable Minister of Works.
2. In a news conference dated 28th October 2024, the Honourable Minister stated that it was no doubt akin to darkening counsel without knowledge for the Honourable Chairman, House Committee on FERMA to vilify him over the bad state of Federal roads inherited from previous administrations numbering over 2,604 without deferring to the records of various interventions made by the Renewed Hope administration which have made a great difference in the public transport trajectory of Nigeria. The Honourable Minister has however chosen to refrain from joining issues with the said House Committee Chairman on FERMA because of the respect he has for the hallowed institution of the National Assembly, the Senate President and the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives. He said, “For the respect of Mr. Speaker, and of course the Senate President and the National Assembly that I belong to, I will refrain myself from joining issues with him. He said, I have failed, and if a blind man is to assess you, your guess is as good as mine because if he has no knowledge of anything, then his knowledge becomes his god so I will not join issues with him.”
3. He views the action of addressing him as if he was before the House Committee on FERMA as deliberate, ill-motivated, misguided, self-serving and nothing but a vicious propaganda typical of a proxy representing the interest of nonconforming contractors who have constituted themselves into adversaries against the Federal Ministry of Works for insisting on best practices in project pricing, variation on price and foreign exchange differentials. There is no doubt that the vituperations of the House Committee Chairman on FERMA were from the abundance of his heart, but to say that all the roads across the country have failed for the failure of the Honourable Minister of Works to address the existing road with the resources approved or for his failure to deploy the N300 billon supplementary fund approved for him or that he is concentrating his energy on the less priority issues shows that the House Committee Chairman on FERMA either has little knowledge of the volume of road infrastructure deficits inherited from successive administrations and cost requirements for road construction or that he deliberately refused, ignored and neglected to appreciate the Renewed Hope administration’s intervention milestones or he is playing to the gallery on the prompting of the nonconforming contractors. He said,” And let me say to him that the projects Mr. President inherited were a total of 2,604 projects. As of May 29, 2023, the total cost was N13 trillion. That’s what the President inherited and a debt to contractors of N1.6 trillion. And when you look at the variation by the reason of the subsidy removal, by the reason of the floating of the dollar, you’ll find out that if you review all these projects, you will see that you will get over N19 trillion for the total ongoing projects. Mr. President did what no other President has done. He manifested all the projects in the 2024 budget with the hope to give him time to look for resources, including loans, to do these projects. I wasn’t in that meeting where the Honourable House member was said to be addressing me, and there is no way I was going to complain of resources to fix our roads because Mr. President has given very special attention to the Federal Ministry of Works. He has paid so much attention to the sufferings of Nigerians vis-a-vis the road situation, and the ministry is not the only ministry in Nigeria. Mr. President has a lot of other challenging situations and competing demands, yet he has given priority attention to the Ministry of Works”
4. He noted that the utterances of the Chairman, House Committee on FERMA were no doubt aimed at inciting the public against the government that brought him on board as it is a common sense that a person of his level and profession ought to know the method statement required of road construction. He said, “There is no way you expect some projects that have lasted 20 years, 18 years, 17 years to be done in one year. And if he says he’s an engineer, he should try and understand the processes that are involved in the Ministry of Works. It’s different from his procurement of fertilizer with his constituency project. They are two different things. You have to go to the field, you have to measure the project, you have to design it, and you have to do in-house procurement to look at it.” He further said, “The method deployed in the construction will require you to do earthwork, to compact etc and if you don’t give it one month and you start to put stone base and asphalt, it will fail. So, those times that you are preparing the sub-grade, the sub-base, the base course before the pavement,what do you call it? It is not valued by people like him as progress made”
5. Furthermore, the Honourable Minister views it as a gross violation of parliamentary procedure for the Chairman of the House Committee on FERMA to invade the legislative powers of the Senate and House Committees on Works which have been carrying out oversight functions on the Ministry and are conversant with the achievements and challenges of the Ministry. He carpeted the Chairman of House Committee on FERMA for acting outside the legislative competence of his committee. Highlighting the modest achievements of the ministry across the six Geo-Political zones, the Honourable Minister thanked the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,*His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR* for the unprecedented attention he has given in bridging the funding gap on the inherited projects. He said, “What we did is that we used over 90% of these funds to keep all the inherited projects alive as directed by Mr. President because a project has to be alive and in the budget before you can look for funds to assist it to be completed. That’s what we’ve done, and so for those who are bitter that we have no projects to award to them, this is the reality.” He further said, “ Over 2,600 projects plus 330 supplementary projects plus the new projects in 2024 is not a tea party. It requires commitment, and it requires dedication, which we are doing. We work on Saturday, Sundays, and Public Holidays, and somebody will say we are giving attention to less priority issues without mentioning those less priority issues that we are giving attention to.”
*
Results from the 30 local government areas in the 2026 Osun State governorship election show that Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party (AP) recorded victories in 19 councils, ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO), who won 11 local government areas.
The local government results indicate that Adeleke polled a cumulative 511,067 votes, while Oyebamiji secured 444,815 votes across the state.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, garnered 17,180 votes from the 30 local government areas.
Adeleke won Boluwaduro, Ede South, Ife North, Ilesa West, Ifedayo, Ife Central, Orolu, Osogbo, Oriade, Odo-Otin, Ife East, Ifelodun, Iwo, Ede North, Ila, Aiyedire, Egbedore, Aiyedaade and Ejigbo local government areas.
Oyebamiji emerged victorious in Ilesa East, Boripe, Irepodun, Obokun, Atakunmosa West, Irewole, Atakunmosa East, Isokan, Ola Oluwa, Ife South and Olorunda local government areas.
Based on the collated local government results, Adeleke leads with victories in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, while the APC candidate secured 11 councils.
Accord won 19 out of the 30 LGAs: (Boluwaduro, Ede South, Ife North, Ilesa West, Ifedayo, Ife Central, Orolu, Osogbo, Oriade,
Odo-Otin, Ife East, Ifelodun, Iwo, Ede North, Ila, Aiyedire, Egbedore, Aiyedaade, Ejigbo)
APC won the remaining 11 LGAs (Ilesa East, Boripe, Irepodun, Obokun, Atakunmosa West, Irewole, Atakunmosa East, Isokan, Ola Oluwa, Ife South, Olorunda).
Here are the Osun 2026 Governorship Election Results of the 30 LGAs: GeographicReference
Boluwaduro LG
Accord: 7,118 votes
APC: 7,050 votes
ADC: 179 votes
Ede South LG
Accord: 26,188 votes
APC: 6,219 votes
ADC: 390 votes
Ife North LG
Accord: 13,879 votes
APC: 9,613 votes
ADC: 333 votes
Ilesa West LG
Accord: 16,196 votes
APC: 12,756 votes
ADC: 673 votes
Ifedayo LG
Accord: 7,427 votes
APC: 6,836 votes
ADC: 115 votes
Ilesa East LG
APC: 16,208 votes
Accord: 12,280 votes
ADC: 504 votes
Ife Central LG
Accord: 21,171 votes
APC: 15,913 votes
ADC: 747 votes
Boripe LG
APC: 19,963 votes
Accord: 12,448 votes
ADC: 379 votes
Irepodun LG
APC: 15,713 votes
Accord: 14,504 votes
ADC: 249 votes
Obokun LG
APC: 16,120 votes
Accord: 12,023 votes
ADC: 205 votes
Orolu LG
Accord: 12,352 votes
APC: 10,622 votes
ADC: 236 votes
Osogbo LG
Accord: 36,480 votes
APC: 30,474 votes
ADC: 1,503 votes
Oriade LG
Accord: 21,343 votes
APC: 14,863 votes
ADC: 423 votes
Odo-Otin LG
Accord: 18,003 votes
APC: 15,435 votes
ADC: 377 votes
Ife East LG
Accord: 27,201 votes
APC: 18,600 votes
ADC: 935 votes
Ifelodun LG
Accord: 21,107 votes
APC: 18,396 votes
ADC: 509 votes
Atakunmosa West LG
APC: 10,037 votes
Accord: 7,479 votes
ADC: 213 votes
Iwo LG
Accord: 27,085 votes
APC: 19,660 votes
ADC: 588 votes
Ede North LG
Accord: 35,427 votes
APC: 10,283 votes
ADC: 307 votes
Ila LG
Accord: 16,211 votes
APC: 12,934 votes
ADC: 259 votes
Irewole LG
APC: 29,972
Accord: 10,934 votes
ADC: 275 votes
Aiyedire LG
Accord: 11,073 votes
APC: 9,910 votes
ADC: 148 votes
Atakunmosa East LG
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APC: 9,936
Accord: 7,872 votes
ADC: 333 votes
Egbedore LG
Accord: 19,278 votes
APC: 11,194 votes
ADC: 363 votes
Aiyedaade LG
Accord: 16,681 votes
APC: 15,719 votes
ADC: 331 votes
Isokan LG
APC: 14,063 votes
Accord: 13,765 votes
ADC: 384 votes
Ola Oluwa LG
APC: 10,782 votes
Accord: 10,063 votes
ADC: 213 votes
Ife South
APC: 14,678 votes
Accord: 13,507 votes
ADC: 290 votes
Ejigbo LG
Accord: 18,458 votes
APC: 16,195 votes
ADC: 5,053 votes
Olorunda LG
APC: 24,671 votes
Accord: 23,514 votes
ADC: 666 votes.
President Bola Tinubu has approved a Federal Government delegation led by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to represent Nigeria at the maiden Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference in Toronto, Canada.
The delegation includes Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang and Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal.
The conference, themed “Invest Nigeria, Thrive Abroad,” is scheduled to hold from August 12 to 15 in Toronto.
The development was announced in a statement issued by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, on X on Friday.
According to the statement, members of the delegation also include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole; and Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Revenue Service, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Nigeria Export Promotion Council and the National Information Technology Development Agency are also expected to participate.
The statement said Canadian officials expected at the conference include President of the Treasury Board of Canada, Shafqat Ali; Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Graham McGregor; Ontario lawmaker Deepak Anand; Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown; Councillor Rod Power; and Ontario Minister of Women and Economic Opportunities, Charmaine Williams.
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Quoting the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the statement said, “The calibre of officials attending the conference demonstrates President Tinubu’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation between Nigeria and Canada through trade, investment and diaspora engagement.”
It further quoted Dabiri-Erewa as saying the event “is more than a conference” and is designed as “an outcome-driven investment platform” that will connect international investors with “investment-ready” opportunities across key sectors of Nigeria’s economy while strengthening bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
According to the statement, the conference is being organised by NiDCOM in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, the Canadian High Commission in Abuja and other stakeholders.
It said discussions will focus on agriculture, technology, manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, healthcare and the digital economy.
Newsthumb reports that the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference is the first investment-focused forum organised by the Federal Government through NiDCOM to promote economic partnerships between Nigeria and its diaspora community.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest recipients of diaspora remittances, with annual inflows amounting to billions of dollars.
…says action could undermine public confidence in electoral process
…insists anti-graft agencies must remain independent but avoid actions suggesting political interference
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately take steps to vacate a court order freezing the bank accounts of the Osun State Government, saying the timing of the action, just days before the state’s governorship election, could create the impression of federal interference in the electoral process.
The President said although he respects the constitutional independence of the anti-graft agency and had no prior knowledge of its action, he was compelled to intervene in the overriding public interest to preserve public confidence in the credibility and fairness of Nigeria’s democratic process. NigerianBusiness Coverage
The EFCC had on Wednesday froze the accounts of the Osun State Government, placing a Post No Debit (PND), on its First Bank account, alleging fraudulent handling of N11 billion ecology funds, intervention funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
However, in a personally signed statement issued from the State House, Abuja, President Tinubu disclosed that the EFCC had obtained the court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government.
He said he was “deeply embarrassed” by the timing of the development, explaining that actions taken by federal institutions are often attributed to the President, regardless of whether he authorised them.
“It has come to my notice that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) obtained a court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government. I must state that I feel deeply embarrassed not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action.
“This is so because every action taken by an institution of State, especially at the Federal level, is always credited to me, as the President, even when I may not have had any prior knowledge of the action”, the President said.
Tinubu reiterated his long-standing policy of allowing anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to carry out their statutory responsibilities without political interference, stressing that he had deliberately refrained from directing the operational activities of the EFCC and other investigative bodies since assuming office.
He said, “since assuming office, I have consistently maintained that anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies must be allowed to discharge their statutory responsibilities independently, professionally, without fear or favour, or political interference.
“I have therefore deliberately refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC or any other investigative or prosecutorial agency because I firmly believe that strong democratic institutions, operating within the confines of the law, are indispensable to democratic good governance and the rule of law”, he said.
The President maintained that institutions established by law should be allowed to exercise their powers independently and without requiring presidential approval for routine operational decisions.
However, he said the circumstances surrounding the EFCC’s action required presidential intervention because of the proximity of the Osun governorship election.
“As President, I am committed to allowing institutions of State to function and take any action they consider necessary in the interest of proper governance without the need for any prior approval. Indeed, that is why institutions are set up by law with clearly defined powers.
“While I am yet to be fully apprised of the facts which informed the action of EFCC in approaching the court to obtain the said order freezing the Osun State Government account, I am not in the slightest doubt that the timing of the action of EFCC is inauspicious, and therefore I feel compelled to intervene”, he said.
The President warned that no action by any federal agency should create the perception that the Federal Government was attempting to influence the outcome of the forthcoming governorship poll.
“Osun State is only a few days away from its gubernatorial election. Therefore, nothing ought to be done to give an impression that the EFCC or indeed any other agency of the federal government is being used to interfere with the election”, he stated.
Tinubu said preserving public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process was paramount, adding that he was duty-bound to act in the national interest.
“Based on the foregoing premise, I am duty-bound to issue a directive on this issue in consonance with the overriding public interest in preserving public confidence and the integrity, credibility, and fairness of our democratic process”, he said.
The President consequently directed the anti-graft agency to immediately reverse its legal action against the Osun State Government.
“Accordingly, I have directed the EFCC to immediately proceed to the court to vacate the order and discontinue whatever action it has instituted against the Osun State Government in this regard”, Tinubu declared.
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