NEWS
Buhari, Osinbajo, Others Criticized For Accepting Severance Package
President Buhari and other political office holders have faced severe criticism from activists for accepting the severance package.
The activists argue that the decision is insensitive given the current hardships faced by Nigerians.
Many believe that President Buhari’s tenure has contributed to a rise in poverty, adding to the frustration and hardship being faced by the people.
Furthermore, the incoming governors will have to tackle challenges such as unpaid salaries and pensions, along with growing debts, further exacerbating the situation.
In response to the situation, Mr. Kolawole Oluwadare, the Deputy Executive Director of Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), emphasized that any exorbitant amount allocated as a pension would be seen as a direct insult to the Nigerian people.
“The law is clear. For the President, he is entitled to pension by the provision of the constitution but the quantum of the pension, which is a severance package, is what will now be considered appropriate or not. In the face of Nigeria’s growing public debt and growing poverty in the land, any amount that is considered too much will be an affront to the good people of Nigeria”, Oluwadare said
Expressing her firm disapproval, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, the President of Women Arise for Change Initiative and the Campaign for Democracy, asserted that this unacceptable practice must cease.
“There are multiple viewpoints to this sick culture. First, there is the angle of those who were not voted into offices. For instance, appointees should not get a kobo. Second, of those voted into office, the President and Vice President should be protected and granted a level of comfort after office because they must have taken decisions that might expose them to danger in their post-office life.
“The cost should be debated before approval. It is so obscene that people who had retired and collected benefits are again retiring as public office holders and yet collecting jumbo packages for lacklustre performances in high office.
“In the meantime, regular people who didn’t steal, kill or destroy are dropping dead in pension queues. And the pension is miserable. Yet they worked for 35 years or till they hit retirement age. But here comes someone who has been here for eight years. He gets rewarded afterwards till death. This nonsense must stop.”
Mr. Abiodun Bamigboye, the acting National Chairperson of the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) and Oyo State Coordinator of Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR), urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to speak out and not stay silent regarding this issue.
He called upon Nigerians to unite and collectively oppose the current situation, urging them to take a firm stance against it.
Bamigboye said: “It is not only wrong, it is condemnable. I think every well-meaning Nigerian must speak against it to ensure they drop such an anti-people plan. None of the political office holders deserve to earn a single Kobo after vacating their respective offices. These are the set of Nigerians who live in opulence.
“They receive huge salaries and allowances while in office. It is not like a normal civil servant that survives on poor pay, which is the minimum wage of N30, 000. If there are Nigerians who deserve a fat pension after leaving office, it should be the Nigerian workers who earn N30, 000 as minimum wage and not political office holders who are entitled to millions as salaries and allowances while in office.
“The huge amount of money further underscores that the interest of the poor working people is always the least on the priority list of Nigeria’s pro-capitalist government.
“If not, given all the crises people are facing in the country, it should be the last thing. As we speak, the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria, ASUU, demand has not been attended to. A few days ago, resident doctors just suspended their strike. Our refinery is comatose.
Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said: “They are living a life of opulence even as poverty is ravaging Nigerians. They seem not to bother about the degenerating state of families and individuals.
“They do not look in the direction of things that would make life convenient for an average Nigerian, they make life more difficult. “Generally, the leaders have pillaged the resources of this country too much for them to go away with it.
“They are supposed to return some of their earnings to the coffers of the federation instead of going away with a huge sum of money at the end of their lacklustre tenure. Unfortunately, the constitution provides them the power to exploit the weakness of the mass of the Nigerian people. “It is a lopsided distribution of this country’s wealth that widens the gap between the rich and the poor.
“Basically, they don’t deserve it at all. It is obscene and immoral. Even if the law gives them the opportunity, they should have been moralistic in their thinking and empathise with the average Nigerian to say that they have been impoverished while we were in office, we should not impoverish them further even after we exit office.” He added
In a worrying incident, a XEJET Airlines aircraft carrying 52 passengers veered off the runway at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Saturday, just 16 days after Dana Air was shut down by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities.
The Airbus, with registration number 5N-BZZ, departed from Abuja and landed in Lagos at 11:29 am.
However, it skidded off the runway of the domestic wing of the airport, prompting the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to shut down the 18/Left runway.
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) confirmed the incident and is investigating the cause of the skid.
No injuries or fatalities were reported, and an investigation is ongoing.
Details later……..
Senator David Umahi, the Minister of Works, has announced his firm commitment to face the House of Representatives’ scrutiny regarding the contentious N15 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway road project.
Umahi also revealed plans to broadcast the proceedings live on television, ensuring transparency and accessibility for all Nigerians.
Emphasizing the project’s integrity, Umahi affirmed that he and the Ministry of Works meticulously adhered to proper procedures, securing all requisite approvals and documentation prior to project initiation.
He said, “I am ready to face the National Assembly to defend the project. I will not want to say anything now till I meet with the Senators and House of Reps members. It will be live so you will also hear it. It will be live so that Nigerians will see it.
“When people say the project is on personal interest, there is a contradiction there. This is because Atiku Abubakar said the Jonathan administration wanted to do that project which would have cost about $12bn or so. So, whose interest was that administration promoting in trying to do that project?
“I have a design from the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission) on that project. The NDDC designs are quite bulky. When I was implementing this current project, I had to call for the design.
“There is no personal interest in this project. The idea of that project came from the ingenuity of Mr President (Bola Tinubu) when he was governor; he was the one who procured the right of way within the Lagos corridor and gazetted it.
“The reason for the project taking off now is all about how we can inject some activities into the economy. If we want to come out of inflation, we have to look at investments in infrastructure and that is what this project is addressing. It is addressing a lot of elements of return on investments. There is no personal interest associated with that.
“It is quite petty to ask why it is starting from Lagos and not Calabar. The name of the project is ‘Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road’ and not the other way around. This means there is a zero point, which happens to be at Ahmadu Bello Way, which coincides with the Eko Atlantic.”
On status of the project he opined “That is pure coincidence. We have started the project already and it is progressing. As of today, I can tell you that about 80 per cent of the first 1.3km is completed.”
The standoff between Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, intensified on Friday as police presence swelled at the House of Assembly quarters along Aba Road, Port Harcourt.
With approximately 30 officers securing both the primary and secondary entrances and an additional 25 patrol vans blocking other access points, the situation grew increasingly tense.
This development followed accusations by House Speaker Martins Amaewhule, who alleged Governor Fubara’s involvement in plans to demolish the legislative quarters.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara had made a surprise visit to the facility on Thursday afternoon, stating that he wanted to assess the premises following the appointment of a new Speaker.
He said, “Is the Assembly quarters not part of my property? Is there anything wrong in going to check how things are going on there?
“You are aware of the developments. We have a new Speaker, and I went there to see for myself how things are. There might be a few things I might want to do there for the good of our people.”
According to reports, after Amaewhule’s alarm, anti-Fubara lawmakers and certain All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains maintained a vigil around the estate until Friday.
Earlier, a Rivers court had restrained the Pro-Wike lawmakers from identifying themselves as legislators, declaring their seats vacant. Meanwhile, the ‘Sim Media Volunteers’ group, during a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Friday, urged the Inspector-General of Police to oversee police activities in the state and ensure adherence to rules of engagement.
Frank Kilsi, the Convener, expressed concern over the arrest and intimidation of the governor’s supporters by the police, warning that such actions could lead to anarchy.
Kilsi stated, “We call on the Inspector-General of Police to rein in his men and exercise restraint by stopping the unnecessary attack or wanton arrest on any of the governor’s supporters, as further harassment could lead to anarchy and breakdown of law and order that may not do our state any good.
“We, the youths of the state, under the aegis of SIM Media Volunteers do hereby emphasize the need for peace, justice and development in Rivers State.
“We implore all relevant stakeholders such as the citizens, political leaders, traditional institutions and law enforcement agencies, to ensure that the rights and freedom of the people are upheld and protected at all times.
“To this end, we would like to acknowledge and applaud the great youths of Rivers State for being peaceful and law-abiding even in the face of provocation”.
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