Sambo submits handover report to Buhari’s c’ttee

Abuja — The Vice President Namadi Sambo, yesterday, submitted the handover note prepared by the transition committee of the Federal Government to the president-elect’s committee with a promise that he and members of Federal Executive Council under President Goodluck Jonathan were open to questioning.

Sambo handed over the report to the  Ahmed Joda-led Buhari’s transition committee.

According to Sambo, the report chronicled the activities of President Jonathan from 2011 till date.

His words: “The handover notes of the Federal Government of Nigeria of this administration between 2011 and 2015 have been properly articulated and printed.

“The Permanent Secretaries of each ministry have signed each page of this report to authenticate it and it is our pleasure to present it to you and pray that it will guide you, guide the incoming administration towards the achievement of positive objectives, development and progress of Nigeria.

“I want to add that all of us are always available, after this report between now and May 29, anytime you need to meet with us, we are ready to come and sit and clarify.

“All the Ministries, Departments and Agencies will also be ready to meet with you, give you any additional clarifications that you would want to have on this report that we are presenting.”

While promising to  study the report before final submission to the incoming Buhari’s administration, Joda noted that it appeared everything has been captured in the report.

“It is my honour and my privilege to receive this comprehensive set of report from the government transition committee which was chaired by the Vice President.”

 

Sambo submits handover report to Buhari’s c’ttee

May 29 Transition: We don"t need exorbitant ceremony - APC

ABUJA -The inauguration of the president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari would not be showy, the chairman, All progressives Congress, APC Transition Committee Chairman, Chief Timipre Sylva said Wednesday.

Speaking to Journalists in Abuja, Sylva cited the dwindling economy as the reason for the decision.

Though he was not categorical about the number of Heads of States anticipated to grace the occasion on May 29, Sylva however said that a number of them would come.

He said: “There are no challenges, we are planning very well and I think we are going to give Nigerians a compact inauguration. We are not going to be flamboyant. We think that this country cannot afford a flamboyant ceremony this time because the economy is not in good shape right now. So we are actually planning to give Nigerians a sanitized and compact event which will be a source of pride to Nigerians.

“We have not gotten all the confirmations but we have already gotten from some countries.

He also dismissed the insinuation that there may be rift between the incoming and the outgoing government.

“There is no problem, it is just politics. What happened is that they were on the wrong side and they lost. We are on the right side and we won. And so, the government will have to continue and just like we were there when they were governing, they also have to be there when we are governing the country”, he said.

On the allegation that he was carrying a corruption baggage and as such was not qualified to be in Buhari’s cabinet, Sylva who was also the former governor of Bayelsa State expressed shock that his detractors had already convicted him before the court would give their judgement on the matter.

He said he was innocent of all the charges, believing that the courts would eventually quash the charges.

“I will be shocked to hear that. Maybe, those peddling the allegation are the courts and they have already convicted me. We have courts in the land and you know that PDP is the party of impunity. Today if I pick you up and I charge you to court on charges of corruption, does that convict you? It is only the court that can convict you and that is why we have rule of law.

“A situation where people just pick you up and say you’re corrupt just to persecute you, does not augur well for our democracy. I have been vindicated politically and I will be vindicated by the court also because I ran the best government in Bayelsa state, a better government than what the outgoing President ran in Bayelsa state. I can assure you that I am going to come out clean at the end of the day from the charges against me.

“You can ask them why they are charging me for an offence while they have discharged my accountant general and my commissioner of finance, what does that tell you? It means that, this is just mere persecution because no governor can access fund unless through his accountant general or commissioner of finance. Both of them have been exonerated that means there is actually no crime at all.”

 

May 29 Transition: We don"t need exorbitant ceremony - APC

Buhari gets handover notes on May 28

The President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, will get his handover notes from President Goodluck Jonathan on May 28.

He will also be conducted round the Presidential Villa, Abuja alongside the Vice President-elect, Yemi Osibajo, by the outgoing President on the same day.

These were parts of the transition programme that was approved on Tuesday at a meeting of the Council of State presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Buhari gets handover notes on May 28

FG plotting to sabotage handover, APC alleges

The All Progressives Congress on Thursday accused the Goodluck Jonathan administration of plotting to hinder a smooth handover of power on May 29.

Lai Mohammed

It alleged   that it was becoming apparent that the outgoing government would not fully cooperate with the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari, despite its public posturing in that regard.

The party, in a statement   by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, described as an act of hostility, the “unnecessary vituperation against the incoming Buhari administration by the Jonathan government.”

It said the “unnecessary vituperation’’ was   not just because of the terms of reference of the Buhari transition committee, but a part of an orchestrated plot to sabotage the incoming government.

The APC therefore rejected what it referred to as the continued blackmail by the government and wondered whether the concession of defeat by the President to Buhari had now become a shield for all its wrongdoings.

It said, “We are sick and tired of being blackmailed by the Jonathanians. Gen. Buhari won the March 28 presidential election fair and square, having satisfied both constitutional and other statutory requirements.

“We have no apology for our victory and the concession of defeat – while it may have increased the political stock of   President Jonathan – has by no means diminished the historic and emphatic victory of Gen. Buhari and the APC.”

The APC said that while the outgoing government had earlier issued a memo to all ministries, departments and agencies to make sure their handover notes were ready by April 20, it   reversed itself and said that the handover notes would not be ready until May 14.

The   statement added, ‘’With the new date, the Buhari transition committee will have little or no time to take a thorough look at the handover notes or seek clarification on knotty issues, effectively handing it (Buhari transition committee) a fait accompli as far as the handover notes are concerned.

“This does not augur well for a smooth transition and gives the impression that the outgoing administration is trying to hide something. By its dilly-dallying on the date for the readiness of the handover notes from the MDAs, the administration’s posturing that it is ready to hand over has been exposed as nothing but a smokescreen.”

The party also described as “illogical and strange,” the claim by the government that the President-elect was trying to set up a parallel government simply because he had set up his own transition committee and given it terms of reference.

The APC wondered how   those terms of reference had become the concern of the outgoing Federal Executive Council.

It added, ‘‘In case the Federal Executive Council has forgotten, Gen.   Buhari   was declared the winner of the March 28   election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.   Gen.   Buhari is therefore today the President-elect and the APC the incoming government. It is therefore illogical to accuse the President-elect and the incoming government of setting up a parallel government.

‘‘It is either the outgoing FEC has something to hide or is bent on sabotaging the incoming government. There can be no other reasons for the misplaced aggression that was exhibited in that ill-intentioned, unprovoked and vitriolic statement from the Jonathan government.’’

The party said that in order to put the matter beyond doubt, it had decided to publish in full, the terms of reference in question so that Nigerians can judge for themselves whether there is anything suggestive of intimidation or running a parallel government in them.

APC warned the Jonathanians not to overstretch the goodwill which the President had earned by his gracious concession even before INEC officially declared Buhari as president-elect.

‘‘Are they now saying that because the President conceded defeat, the incoming administration can no longer ask legitimate questions or seek clarifications that may arise from the handover notes? the party asked.

It gave the terms of reference for the Buhari transition committee as follows:

• To develop a clear framework for liaison with the outgoing administration for purposes of a smooth handover/take-over.


• To receive handover documents from Ministries, Departments and Agencies and itemise the most important or most urgent issues confronting the incoming government.


• To review and make preliminary assessment of the balance sheet of government with particular emphasis on:

(a). The status of assets and liabilities of government.

(b). Cash flow position of the government.

(c). Quantum of public domestic and external debts of government and their deployment.

(d). Government’s outstanding contractual obligations and its ability to meet such obligations.

(e). Status of implementation of capital projects.

• Undertake a preliminary assessment of the security challenges facing the country and the:

(a). Counter-insurgency measures taken by the government thus far.

(b). Counter policy measures being implemented in the Niger Delta to deal with unrest and major economic crimes in the area. In particular, the status of the amnesty programme.

(c). Readiness of the Police and other national security and intelligence agencies in addressing threats to law and order.

• Provide a brief overview of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Nigeria Customs Service   and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.


• Suggest “quick fixes” which will result in tangible, visible and practical measures so that CHANGE will be seen after 30 days; after 100 days and after six months of the administration taking office.


• Make any other observations which in view of the committee would be helpful to the transition and take-off of the new administration.

Efforts made to get the Presidency’s reaction to the claim by the APC that the Jonathan government was planning to hinder smooth handover of power on May 29 did not yield any positive result.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, could not be reached as of 9pm when   this report was filed.

FG plotting to sabotage handover, APC alleges

President Jonathan transition committee trickish - APC Pres. Camp Council

Director, Media and Communication of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Garba Shehu, has described the transition committee, set up by President Goodluck Jonathan, as trickish.

The committee set up by Jonathan, who lost the March 28 presidential election, is expected to meet with the one to be set up by the President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), ahead of the May 29inauguration of the new administration.

But Shehu, in an opinion article, which he released on Sunday, said Jonathan’s committee was constituted by “the worst of our prejudices.”

He warned the Buhari-led INCOMING administration to be careful about its choice of people who would constitute its own version of the committee.

He stated, “The President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has earned an incredibly high amount of goodwill following his acceptance of the outcome of the election, which itself had the effect of de-escalating tensions not just among Nigerians but all over the continent.

“But the President’s committee on transition and handover looks to be a trickish one. It seems to be like one drawn to ‘massage’ the numbers and ensure safety for ‘team Jonathan’.

“Some names on that list have certainly made the eyes pop out of their sockets. In the President’s list, you have men and women who reflect the worst of our prejudices; men and women who have made themselves the mouthpieces for everything regressive.

“This is one reason why President Buhari and his party cannot be too careful on choosing who they will give their part of the assignment to. There is no room for complacency in doing this either. Nothing that puts the new government at a risk should be allowed to happen.”

Shehu, who warned that politicians should be excluded from the committee to be set up by Buhari, insisted that the committee should be peopled by technocrats.

President Jonathan transition committee trickish - APC Pres. Camp Council