President Muhammadu Buhari addresses the guests
during the Democracy Day Lecture held at the
International Conference Centre in Abuja
…Says FG’s Focus Lab yields $22.5bn investment, job creation
…Saves N700bn from TSA, Whistle blowing policy
ABUJA – PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that the
rampaging killer herdsmen and other criminal elements
terrorising all parts of the country will be fished out and be
made to face the full wrath of the law.
The President also said his administration was on track and
yielding positive results with the recent Federal Government
conducted Focus Lab in three key sectors of the economy such
as the Agriculture and Transport, Manufacturing and Processing
as well as the Power and Gas yielding significant investments
and job creation to the tune of $25.5 billion and a projection of
$39.2 billion in 2025.
President Buhari who disclosed this in his nationwide broadcast
to commemorate the Democracy Day and his administration’s
third anniversary on Tuesday, also enthused that the
conscientious implementation of the Treasury Single Account,
TSA and the Whistle Blowing policy of the government has have
save the country about N700 billion.
He said those behind the killings in the country and their
sponsors would not be spared in federal government’s
determination to punish the criminals.
President Buhari further said that his administration was pained
by the grievous destruction of lives by insurgents and other
criminal groups in different parts of the country, insisting that
his administration would not rest until they are brought to
justice.
According to him, the government was strengthening the
capacity of the security forces to deal with the high level of
insecurity in the country through training and purchase of
equipment and commended multi-national joint task force as
well as the international community which assists the country in
the fight against terrorism.
He assured that public safety remained the cardinal focus of his
administration, stressing that efforts towards that had yielded
results as evidenced in the government reclaimed territories
occupied by Boko Haram before the advent of his government.
Besides, he said that it was his administration’s commitment in
ensuring the protection of the citizenry that led to the rescue of
some of the Chibok and Dapchi girls as well as 16,000 other
captives of Boko Haram.
He said, “The unfortunate incidences of kidnappings, herdsmen
and farmers clashes in several communities which have led to
higher number of fatalities and loss of properties across the
country is being addressed and the identified culprits and their
sponsors shall be made to face the full wrath of the law. All the
three tiers of Government are presently engaged with
communities and religious organizations to restore peaceful co-
existence among Nigerians.
“I want to commend members of the Multinational Joint Task
Force drawn from Niger, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and our own
country in collaboration with the International Community who
are assisting in the fight against insurgency in the North East. I
also commend the gallantry of members of our Armed Forces
and other security agencies that have continued to provide
security for lives and properties across the country. State and
Local traditional authorities are helping with much needed
intelligence in this fight against insurgency.
“This administration is pained over the grievous loss of lives
and properties occasioned by the carnage of insurgency and
other forms of criminality in the country. I wish to assure
Nigerians that we will not rest until all criminal elements and
their sponsors are brought to justice. Government is boosting
the capacity of our security agencies through recruitment of
more personnel, training and procurement of modern equipment,
enhancement of intelligence gathering as well as boosting their
morale in the face of daunting challenges.”
The president said the war against corruption being fought by
the government had secured the applause of both Nigerians and
the international community, promising that the administration
was determined to win the war.
He also stated that the federal government had so far deployed
strategies to fight the war against corruption and that it was
reaping the benefits from the efforts such as the N200 billion
saved through the elimination of ghost workers as well as N500
billion recovered through the whistle-blower initiative.
He said, “Various policy measures already put in place to stem
the tide of corrupt practices are yielding remarkable results.
Some of these key reform policies include: The Treasury Single
Account (TSA) has realized Billions of Naira being saved from
maintenance fee payable to banks. N200 Billion has also been
saved from elimination of ghost workers in public service.
“The Whistle-Blowing Policy has helped to recover over N500
Billion. The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit set up
with a mandate to validate controls, assess risks, prune
personnel costs, ensure compliance with Public Financial
Management reforms has helped to identify and remove over
52,000 ghost workers from the Federal Government MDAs
Payroll;
“The Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS)
aimed at expanding tax education and awareness has offered
the opportunity for tax defaulters to regularise their status in
order to enjoy the amnesty of forgiveness on overdue interest,
penalties and the assurance of non-prosecution or subject to
tax investigations.
“The Sovereign Wealth Fund project portfolio has been
expanded with an injection of US$650 million so as to
strengthen its investment in local infrastructure, power, health,
re-construction of Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway,
East West Road (Section V) and the Mambilla Hydro-electric
Power project as well as the construction of the 2nd Niger
Bridge.
“The fight against corruption through the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt
Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has resulted
in recoveries of Billions of Naira, as well as forfeiture of various
forms of assets. This alongside other efforts has improved
Nigeria’s international image and regional cooperation,” he
added. said mechanism for the distribution of foods and other
basic AIDS to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and efforts to
resettle them in their various communities with necessary social
amenities including schools and hospitals are being put in
place.”
He noted that the Niger Delta region had enjoyed relative peace
through what he described as social inclusiveness and
cooperation of elders as well as those he described as good
people of the region, assuring that the government was
committed to implementing thorough peace, security and
development plans in the region. He added that the Ogoni
clean-up launched in June 2016 was equally on course.
The President said that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan
(ERGP) was launched to restore and sustain economic growth,
saying the plan had started yielding fruits with the recent
National Bureau of Statistics reports which showed that the
economy grew by 1.95 per cent in the first quarter of 2018.
Describing the growth as a good performance when compared
to -0.91 growth recorded in the first quarter of 2017 and -0.67
per cent in first quarter of 2016, he said the country’s foreign
reserve had improved significantly from $29.6 in 2015 to $47.5
billion as of May, 2018 while inflation has been declining every
month since January, 2017.
He also said the recently conducted Focus Labs in three key
sectors of the economy including agriculture and transport,
manufacturing and processing and power and gas had yielded
prospects of $22.5 billion investments and potential for creating
over 500,000 jobs by 2020.
“These investment generation initiatives are expected to
increase capital inflows in the form of foreign direct investment.
There is a high prospect that the cumulative investments from
this first phase of the Labs will hit US$39.2 billion by 2025,” he
added.
On the pursuit of food sufficiency by his administration he
enthused that it resulted in the reduction of rice importation to
90 per cent and Social Investment Programmes (SIP) which he
said aimed at restoring livelihood, economic opportunities and
sustenance for the poor across the country.
He highlighted SIP programmes and projects executed so far to
include:
feeding of 8.2 million pupils in 24 states of the federation with
over 75,000 catering staff engaged under the programme as well
as Conditional Cash Transfer which he said culminated in over
297,000 caregivers being trained by 2,495 community
facilitators in 21 states.
He also spoke on N-Power job creation platform which he said
had provided jobs for 200,000 youths while the next batch of
300,000 have been selected, verified and would soon be
deployed across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT.).
On power generation, he said the country now distributes 5,
222.3 since December, 2017 while power generation capacity
now exceeds over 7,500 megawatts. He also spoke on
investment in railway and education.
“Government has also continued to support the implementation
of various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of Basic
Education delivery. Thus, it has ensured proper funding at the
Basic Education level with the disbursement of N42.2 billion
UBE Matching Grant to 26 States and the FCT, N851.5 million
Special Education Grant disbursed to 23 States and private
providers of Special Education and N2.2 billion Teachers
Professional Development Fund to 33 States and the FCT,” he
said.
