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Buhari not in charge of Nigeria, governance out of his hands – Babachir Lawal

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A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has said that there is no government without an inner caucus, and that governance is out of the hands of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Lawal said this when he appeared on Channels Television’s “The Verdict 2023”, on Friday night.

Speaking about the state of governance of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Lawal said things were out of the hands of the President.

He further stated that those in the present regime who had the ears of the President refused to carry out the expectations of the President or the public.

Lawal also said before the President’s election into office in 2015, he had shown a remarkable sense of leadership, while he previously held positions as governor of Borno State, Minister of Petroleum, and military Head of State, but had challenges with his “lieutenants”, and deciding who executed projects and orders when he came into power as President.

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“Things are out of his hands, there’s no running away from that fact. There are people that do not take the orders they are given. As soon as they leave where the order is given, they go and do different things. There is nothing like cabal. There is no government that does not have an inner caucus. There’s no government. There are people who have the ears of the President, to whom the President by functionality, their functions in government, ought to do things, but they are not doing what the President tells them to do, or what the President expects them to do, or what society itself expects them to do.

“I can tell you this, I know President Buhari very well, even long before he became President, and most Nigerians also knew him. And the expectation was that based on his antecedents as former governor of Borno State, former Minister of Petroleum, and then President, he had shown a remarkable sense of ability to rule.

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“By 2015, we were almost at the same level where we are this time around; people were fed up. But when he got in, I think the President had issues with his lieutenants, about who executes the orders he gives, and who executes the policies that he makes. And that is really my own side of things.”

Asked about his switch from his support for, and membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, to join the Labour Party which has Peter Obi as its presidential candidate, Babachir said: “I’ve seen the light; you can repent when you see the light. I’ve seen the light, I saw the light and I repented, I’m sorry. I did that before. The light is Peter Obi. The darkness is the old system that used to govern us, which is represented by both the PDP and the APC. No change. The same people, the same agbada, the same red face cap. The same people. So Nigerians have seen the light, not only me.”

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UK local election: Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting valid ID

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Former prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, was turned away from his local polling station after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.

 

Johnson had joined locals in South Oxfordshire on Thursday to vote in the police and crime commissioner election.

Polling officials however told him he would not be allowed to vote without providing his identity.

There are 22 acceptable forms of ID in the UK including passports, driving licences, blue badges, and certain local travel cards.

 

As prime minister in 2022, Johnson introduced the Elections Act which requires photo ID — a development that sparked intense criticisms from Britons.

Last year, the Electoral Commission warned that the new law could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including minorities and those with disabilities.

A spokesperson for Johnson confirmed he had forgotten the photo ID, but that he was able to cast his ballot after he returned with a valid ID.

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“Mr Johnson voted Conservative,” Sky News quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial rules which require photo ID in order to vote, so that ID cards of veterans can be added to the list of valid identification.

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Governors can pay N615k minimum wage if they get priorities right – NLC

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President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, says state governors can afford to pay the proposed N615,000 minimum wage if they get their priorities right.

Ajaero spoke on Thursday during an interview with Channels Television.

 

Recently, organised labour announced that the new minimum wage should be pegged at N615,000.

The proposal came amid ongoing minimum wage negotiations between federal and state governments on one hand, and organised labour on the other.

 

In 2019, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari pegged the national minimum wage at N30,000.

After the new minimum wage was announced at the time, it took some states forever to implement the increment.

 

Asked during the interview if organised labour’s proposal of N615,000 is realistic, Ajaero said the amount is the “most realistic” given the galloping inflation in the country.

 

The NLC president said organised labour considered factors like transportation, housing, and feeding before arriving at the sum.

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“If you are talking about being realistic, the N615,000 demand is the most realistic. Being realistic is not about slave wage,” Ajaero said.

 

“However, N30,000 is big money if inflation is brought down, and at a single digit.

“Look at the indices that create inflation. If you check them, you can talk about being realistic. All other factors in the country are going high and wages remain constant.”

 

Asked if states can afford the N615,000 proposal, the NLC president averred that it is not about ability to pay but the priorities of states.

“I think we need to understand the issues of ability to pay and not getting the priority right,” he added.

 

“Most of the states that have shown willingness to pay the current minimum wage are not among those getting the highest revenue.

“During the time of Muhammadu Buhari, some states were declared not having enough money to pay and he released funds for them to pay.

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“Those states still refused to pay. It is not the question of either the quantum of money that they have or not, it is what they decide to do with such money.

 

“If they get their priorities right, then a lot can happen.”

 

Organised labour has also threatened to embark on a strike if a new minimum wage is not announced before May 31, 2024.

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15-yr-old Kwara public school student scores 362 in UTME

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A student of a public secondary school, Government Secondary School, Omu Aran, Kwara State, Olukayode Victor Olusola, scored 362 marks in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, to be among the contenders for the highest scorers in the examination.

Though the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Prof. Isaq Oloyede, organisers of the exam, had said the Board would not announce the highest scorer to avoid last year’s experience of confusing claims, Olukayode’s score is celebratory, as it is among the highest in recent years.

He scored 95 marks each in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and 77 in English Language.

 

His exploit is coming against the backdrop of the poor performance of candidates in the exam in which 1.4 million scored less than 200 marks out of 400. The exam was taken by over 1.8 million candidates

Also, Olukayode’s excellent performance is coming at a time when confidence is greatly eroding in what public schools have to offer and some private schools are boasting of being the most expensive in the country.

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Olukayode was born in 2009 and hopes to study Electrical Electronic at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

 

His mother, Beatrice Tosin, while giving all the honour to God, also praised the studious and hard working nature of her child.

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