A #thread

Been doing a little digging.

Turns out the very FIRST piece I wrote, for my Punch column, after PMB became President, and before I joined Govt (written and emailed to editor on May 31, 2015, EXACTLY 8 years ago today, and published June 1, 2015) was titled: 2/

It was a long argument revisiting ‘2012’, and saying that the conditions had changed somewhat to justify the removal of the subsidy, that PMB should remove it, but that the new government also needed to put in place a couple of things, as part of the subsidy removal package…

During the @MBuhari Administration, a total of 1,006 Foreign Nationals have become Nigerian Citizens by Naturalization or Registration. A modest number, but still the largest of any Nigerian Administration, according to the Minister of Interior, @raufaregbesola. "The bane of the smooth pathway to Nigerian citizenship however is the constitutional requirement of continuous residency in Nigeria for 15 years. This is a huge disincentive, considering that in the United States and most European countries, it is five years."—HM @raufaregbesola

Lots of misconceptions about Sea Ports in Nigeria.

Sea Ports in Nigeria can only exist in States on the Atlantic coastline, i.e. Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River.

Outside of these, only RIVER Ports exist.

There are no 'inland' Sea Ports.

1/ 2/

By reason of the limitations of geography, there are no Sea Ports OR possibilities of Sea Ports in the SE, NC, NW and NE.

Only the SW and SS have those possibilities. (Even in the SW, only 3 Coastal States).

The others have to make do with River Ports and Inland Dry Ports.

Still on Transition Matters - Governors Forum held valedictory meeting today in Abuja. Gov Tambuwal of Sokoto, who (as Deputy Chair) succeeded Gov Fayemi in Oct 2022, presided over his last meeting as Chair. There will be an election in the weeks ahead for a new Chair, 2023–2025. Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Traditions:

1. NGF Chair chosen by election or consensus among the 36 Governors

2. Chair since 2004 has always been a second term Governor.

3. NGF Chair elected from ruling party.

4. Chairmanship rotated between North and South.

FEC just ended. #FECbrief ongoing. HM @ProfIsaPantami announces approval of two @NgComCommission Memos, for provision of free broadband to 20 Nigerian airports across 6 geopolitical zones, 43 higher institutions (18 approved earlier), and 6 market/SME hubs. For @FMWHNIG: FEC Approval for Dualization of Akure—Ado Ekiti Road, in two sections (Ondo section and Ekiti section), completion period of 24 & 30 months.

(Recall that the Road is in the latest batch of those to be financed by @nnpclimited under #ExecOrder7)
#FECBrief

1/ Lots of opinions on Afe Babalola’s £10m donation to @KingsCollegeLon. Unfortunately no one seems to be reading press release in full: powerful point here, that without KCL’s “distance learning”, there’d be no “Afe Babalola” today. Now he’s expanding that opportunity to others. 2/ So lots of knee-jerk reactions that simply assume that £10m is being handed over to a UK institution to do as they please. No. Much of that money - and value - is coming back to Nigeria and Africa. You just need to read the statement to better understand/appreciate it:

Was searching for something online, and came across this Executive Order signed by @kfayemi as Governor of Ekiti, on May 12, 2020, capping "Right of Way" charges for laying broadband cables and telco infra in Ekiti at N145 per meter, in line with a NEC resolution (Image 3). So @followKWSG did even better than recommended -Gov @RealAARahman approved a RoW charge of N1 per meter, far less than the NEC resolution of N145 per meter.
See next tweet for what @GovKaduna did - they went even a step further (the Kwara Statement actually acknowledges this).

Gen Oladipo Diya died today. As Military Administrator of Ogun State (his home State) almost 40 years, he tried to bring some sanity to the over-the-top Owambeism of his people. Among other moves he passed a law to stop Ogun people from organizing funeral parties on public roads. There’s a reason why Owambe is a Yoruba word, folks. Shalla to my Ogun people for carrying the banner high.

PS. But partying’s not all we are known for in Ogun State. We’ve also produced every Southern Yoruba person who’s ever ruled Nigeria or been Number 2.

RIP Oladipo Diya.

Name of Labour Party Candidate for Surulere 1 Constituency (LAHA) in final INEC list is different from name of Candidate who was campaigning until the election.
It's honestly confusing. Were they deliberately fronting a 'celebrity' to attract votes for a less popular candidate? Anyone who knows what's going on there should kindly explain, thanks

However things go in Adamawa (and I'm rooting for a Binani win!), a woman is going to be Governor or Deputy Governor of the State. A historic first for the NE.

NB: NC and NW have already elected female Deputy Governors - Pauline Tallen (Plateau) and Hadiza Balarabe (Kaduna). Adamawa has already given us Binta Masi Garba:

—the only female Senator elected from Northern Nigeria in the 8th Senate (2015)

—1st female State Chairperson of a major political party in Nigeria

—1st Representative to represent two different States in NASS (Kaduna & Adamawa)

JUST IN: President @MBuhari has signed 16 Constitution Amendment Bills into Law. By this signing, State Houses of Assembly & Judiciaries now have constitutionally-guaranteed financial independence, while Railways have moved from Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List. Another landmark change: By virtue of the Presidential Assent, Nigerian States can NOW generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid. Wasn't allowed pre-amendment.

This is genuine, realistic Restructuring — through the Constitution.

The email quoted is very clear, to anyone who is able to read & understand English:

1. An offer of a donation was made to Oxford. Nothing there like “soliciting”

2. Oxford made it very clear they cannot accept a “personal” donation, or one appearing to be politically motivated.

https://twitter.com/cchukudebelu/status/1636301687102009345

As official emails go, that Oxford email is blameless. It was very carefully and precisely worded, and explained the circumstances under which they would consider a donation from a PEP. Also made it clear what the money would be used for - scholarships for students.

Nigeria's new Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2022—Enabling legislation for @NigeriaGov's Ease of Doing Biz reforms—has now been gazetted (Feb 17, 2023).
It was assented to by President @MBuhari in February 2023. A very important piece of reform legislation. Biz Environment reform is a journey, and @MBuhari has shown commitment to that journey, laying a solid foundation, through:
—Presidential Enabling Biz Env. Council (PEBEC)
—@bmenigeria
—Executive Order 1, 2017
—Companies & Allied Matters Act, 2020
—Business Facilitation Act, 2022

Project commissionings I’m looking forward to:

Completed:
Second Niger Bridge
Loko-Oweto Bridge
700MW Zungeru Hydro Plant
40MW Kashimbila Hydro Plant

Almost completed:
Lagos-Ibadan Exp
Apapa-Oshodi-Oworo Exp

In progress:
AKK Gas Pipeline
Abuja-Kano
Bodo-Bonny
Abuja-Makurdi This is exactly what @MBuhari has also been doing over the last couple of years, with #PIDFund #PPInigeria #ExecOrder7 #SukukBond #RailUPng etc etc

https://twitter.com/joebiden/status/1570792139717775360

"Compared to the heavy military & police presence on this road 6 years ago, there were only 5 military checkpoints from Gombe—Biu now... Travelling this road now... showed how much progress @HQNigerianArmy has made in fight against insurgency..." sunnewsonline.com/biu-bornos-cos…
#Thread "The last time this reporter visited Biu six years ago, Boko Haram was still claiming swathes of territory in Borno State. Though less active in this part of the state, there were occasional raids, which made travelling by road risky. But things have changed for the better."

I saw a Bloomberg correspondent tweeting that Nigeria has lost its leadership role in West Africa.

Not really surprised by that take (considering the source), but let me just explain—with 'receipts'—why it's BS.

#Thread Apart from the obvious fact that Nigeria remains by far the largest economy in West Africa, and that the economy of Lagos alone is bigger than that of any other West African country...

The only sellable thing for this presidential election is RECORD. Show us what you did in the previous political positions you held. What you innovated, implemented. The teams you assembled and empowered. The lasting legacies you left behind.

#Thread “I will, I will” or “This is how China /Bangladesh/ Indonesia did it” or “You will see when we get there” won’t quite cut it.

Show the past workings: what you did, the fresh thinking you brought, how you mobilized financing for it, who you assembled to help do it.

BAT talks a lot about his record as 2-term Governor of Lagos

AA talks a lot about his record as 2-term VP

Kwankwaso talks a lot about his record as 2-term Governor of Kano

But you have one man who prefers to say "I will, I will" as if he wasn't a 2-term Governor as well. @officialABAT’s FISCAL and JUDICIAL reforms alone as Governor of Lagos State put him in a class by himself. These are reforms that several other States have copied.

Tell us one significant, replicable governance reform the LP candidate introduced as Governor. Just one.

"I have a track record my competitors cannot match. We quadrupled state tax revenues, putting those funds directly to work through investing in public services and infrastructure." — @officialABAT "A legacy of technocratic governance was instituted [in Lagos State] by enlisting talent from the private sector." — @officialABAT

President @MBuhari and @OfficialAPCNg have delivered on the most ambitious, most-far-reaching, most consequential legislative agenda in Nigerian history; assenting to the following Bills:

(Not an exhaustive list, just some of the most important ones)

#Thread Electoral Act, 2022

Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provision) Act 2022 (aka 'Omnibus Bill')

Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022

Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022

Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022

The Presidential Executive Order on the Facilitation & Management of Presidential Transition, 2023, recently signed by President @MBuhari, provides for the following:

1. Establishment of a 23-member Presidential Transition Council (PTC), Chaired by the SGF

#Thread 2. Appointment of a Federal Transition Coordinator (FTC), who will double as Secretary of the PTC
3. Funding of PTC & subcommittees by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
4. Establishment of Ministerial Transition Teams (MTT) in each Federal Ministry