Presidential Villa roundup from Aug. 12 to Aug. 18, 2018

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo continued to take charge of activities at the presidential villa as President Muhammadu Buhari enjoyed his vacation in London.

In one of such activities the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, released a statement on Sunday Aug. 12, announcing the Federal Government’s new micro credit for petty traders known as ‘TraderMoni’.

According to the statement, “two million Nigerians across the country will get the collateral free loans, as each state and the FCT will get a minimum of 30,000 beneficiaries.”

On Monday August 13, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo chaired a meeting of the Economic Management Team, where issues relating to the economy especially the implementation of the 5th National Action Plan (NAP 0.6.) were discussed.

Though no official statement was issued at the end of the meeting, the implementation of the 2018 budget and other key economic programmes of government were discussed.

Also on Monday, the Acting President met behind closed doors with the Minister of Sports to discuss the leadership crisis at the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) with a view to averting the impending FIFA sanction.

Later on Monday evening, the Acting President attended the 50th birthday celebration of Pastor Paul Enenche, the founder of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, held at the church’s permanent site in Abuja.

In his brief remarks, Prof. Osinbajo prayed for the sustenance of the good works of Pastor Enenche and urged other leaders to emulate his exemplary qualities.

Acting President Osinbajo was in Zamfara State on Tuesday August 14, on a one-day working visit to inaugurate projects executed by the state government.

In his remarks, Prof. Osinbajo said the Buhari administration would continue to secure the country, upgrade its infrastructure and ensure that the wealth of the nation was not hijacked by a greedy few.

According to him, “the Buhari Administration will continue to work to secure the country, upgrade its infrastructure, and ensure that the wealth of the country is not hijacked by a greedy few, but is instead used for the benefit of everyone, with special emphasis on the least-privileged”.

He also called for unity among Nigerians, noting that progress cannot be realised in a state of acrimony, primordial divisions, and prejudiced thinking.

During the visit, Prof. Osinbajo inaugurated projects executed by the state government some of which include; the upgraded 150-bed General Hospital in Bakura town.

Other projects are the Water Works project at Gamji village, and a 12.8 kilometer road project in the same community, as well as a Modern Primary School in Talata Mafara among several other projects.

Also on Tuesday, the Acting President in statement released by his media aide, Mr Laolu Akande, ordered for a complete overhaul of the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

According to the statement, “Following persistent complaints and reports on the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) that border on allegations of human rights violations, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to, with immediate effect, overhaul the management and activities of SARS.

“He (IGP) will ensure that any Unit that will emerge from the process, will be intelligence-driven and restricted to the prevention and detection of armed robbery and kidnapping, and apprehension of offenders linked to the stated offences, and nothing more.”

Also in a statement on the same day, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, congratulated the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen, on his conferment with the 2018 Michael Hill Prize by the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law (ISRCL) in Montreal, Canada.

Prof. Osinbajo noted that the award was in recognition of Onnoghen’s commitment to the development of the country’s judicial system.

On Wednesday August 15, the Acting President met with the two factions of the leadership of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), in his bid to end the lingering leadership tussle rocking the football house.

The Acting President later chaired the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), held at the State House Council chambers.

The meeting approved among other things, N15.73 billion for the road project linking Umana Ndiagu-Agba-Ebenebe-Amansii-Awka-Umumba road section two in Enugu, Enugu State.

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola who disclosed this to newsmen after the council’s meeting explained that the project which was initially awarded at the cost of N10.3 billion in 2012 but later reviewed upwards was to serve six different communities.

Also on Wednesday, Prof. Osinbajo received, on a courtesy visit, the management of NetDragon Websoft Holdings, a Chinese-based digital technology company, led by its Chairman, Mr Dejian Liu and the Vice Chairman, Dr. Simon Leung.

In his remarks, the Acting President said, In line with the present administration’s agenda on technology innovation, the Federal Government is committed to deploying digital technology in scaling-up training of teachers.

Prof. Osinbajo chaired the meeting of the National Economic Council held at the State House Council Chambers on Thursday August 16.

At the end of the meeting, the council resolved among other things to pursue the decentralisation of policing as one of the solutions to the security challenges affecting the country.

A statement released at the end of the meeting stated: “Short of constitutional amendment, the Federal Government and State Governors have resolved to explore how the operations of the Nigeria Police can be decentralised in order to improve the level of policing and security in the country.”

On Friday August 17, Acting President Osinbajo visited the site of the building collapse in the Utako area of the FCT.

He described the collapse of the four-storey building as an unfortunate incident, and assured that that all the relevant public agencies are on ground to ensure rescue operations are effectively carried out.

Read also: Presidential Villa roundup from Aug. 5 to Aug. 11, 2018