News

New Naira: Seven Notable Quotes From El-Rufai

Published

2 years ago

February 4, 2023

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has been firing from all cylinders, claiming some unnamed persons in Aso Villa were working against the All Progressives Congress’ victory during the presidential election.

The PUNCH reports that the governor on Thursday claimed that the said people were inciting voters against the APC.

Below are seven of his salvos:

1. Saboteurs will be unmasked, defeated

“Unmasking them is not as joyful as defeating them. They will be unmasked in time. But we have defeated them when they wanted their own people in the national working committee of the party.

“We have defeated them when they wanted their own anointed person to be the presidential candidate without due regard, due process or respect for those of us that are governors, that have slaved to put this party together, campaigned for it and delivered the election twice. We didn’t matter.’’

2. Saboteurs are political amateurs/lighter weights

“Meanwhile, none of them has contested an election as a councillor, and if they did, they won’t win. I have been elected twice with over a million votes in Kaduna State. I can claim to speak for the people.

‘’None of these people can. We will come to the unmasking stage, this is not the stage. The stage now is to draw the attention of Nigerians that they are elements that are doing this and they don’t mean well for our party, they want to incite voters against our party, so that we lose the elections.’’

3. Saboteurs, cabal misled Buhari

“Once Nigerians know that they will know where some of these funny decisions are coming from and when the election is done and settled by the grace of God in about three weeks, and I’m confident, we are not sleeping.

“We are going to work hard until (February) 27th when all the election results are out and by the grace of God, Asiwaju (Tinubu) is elected and other candidates of the APC; then we will unmask them.

4. Dummies to President

“This has been an ongoing issue and we just feel that some of these things that are being thought of and clothed with good intentions, and dummies being sold to the President so that the electorate will be incited; the people of Nigeria will be inflicted needless pain at the point in addition to all the other challenges that they are facing just so that they will revolt and say, look, we will vote for the other party. It is clear.’’

5. Case for old notes

He stated, “I have a map of Nigeria with blind spots where there is no network; PoS won’t work there. It is not everywhere that you have bank branches. It is not everywhere you have PoS working. So, let’s sit and look at this thing and find out the reasonable time it takes to do this.

“Even the Central Bank Act that gives the President the power to issue to the Central Bank directives with regard to currency redesign says that reasonable time must be given before the currency ceases to be legal tender.’’

6. CBN deadline unreasonable

“The question is: Is a few weeks a reasonable time in a country of one million square kilometres and over 200m people? How many bank branches are in Nigeria? How many ATMs?

“In Borno State, there are only two local governments out of 27 with a bank branch. In Yobe, only two local governments out of 17 have a bank branch.

“Even a cosmopolitan state relatively in the north like Kaduna has two local governments that have no bank branches and 10 with only one bank branch. So, everyone in that local government must come to that one bank branch? And this PoS that you are seeing in every street of Lagos; do you think you have PoS in every street of Kubau, Ikara and Makarfi which are local government headquarters in my state?’’

7. Atiku exploiting Nigerians’ hardship

“But this week, because of a mere extension of 10 days, he’s (Atiku) turning round to say don’t extend; it means there is something. He’s clearly benefiting from this pain Nigerians are going through every day till today.

“I have reports that people in Kaduna cannot buy food and they cannot sell because there are no currency notes around. But the presidential candidate of the PDP is saying don’t extend because he’s gaining from it. The incitement of people against the APC is in his view to his advantage and this incitement is stronger in northern Nigeria where Atiku is to benefit from,’’ he submitted.
PUNCH

News

Lagos Suspends BRT Lane Enforcement On Eko Bridge, Odo Iya-Alaro

Published

12 hours ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Government has temporarily suspended enforcement of the Bus Rapid Transit lane along the Eko Bridge and Odo Iya-Alaro corridor to ease growing traffic congestion.

This gridlock is a result of the ongoing structural rehabilitation on the Ogudu-Ifako Bridge expansion joint.

Special Adviser to the Lagos Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa announced the suspension on Wednesday, describing it as a strategic move to tackle gridlock in affected parts of the city.

“This remedial measure, conceived as a palliative response to mitigate commuter hardship, aligns with the Lagos State Government’s forward-thinking and adaptive transportation strategy under the THEMES Plus Agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, particularly within the framework of sustainable traffic management and infrastructure modernisation,” Giwa said.

He explained that the temporary suspension is a transitional and conditional measure aimed at absorbing the anticipated vehicular overflow caused by the partial closure of the Ifako-bound carriageway of the Third Mainland corridor.

“We are fully cognizant of the immense strain currently imposed on key ingress routes into the Lagos Mainland. Consequently, this tactical suspension of BRT lane enforcement is a calculated response designed to deliver immediate relief, reduce commuting time, and preserve the fluidity of vehicular movement throughout the duration of the bridge repairs,” he added.

According to him, the directive takes immediate effect and allows general vehicular access to previously restricted BRT corridors on Eko Bridge and Odo Iya-Alaro, particularly during peak travel periods.

He said this move is expected to expand available road capacity and ease traffic along critical routes.

Giwa, however, stressed that commercial buses and articulated vehicles must remain in compliance with existing safety rules and loading guidelines to avoid worsening traffic conditions or compromising public safety.

He also disclosed that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has been mobilised to strengthen its presence along the affected corridors.

“Enhanced personnel deployment and traffic equipment are now in place to ensure orderly conduct, prevent exploitation of the temporary suspension, and respond promptly to any emergent traffic disturbances,” Giwa stated.

News

Lagos Opens Teacher Recruitment Portal For Two Weeks

Published

12 hours ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Government has announced the reactivation of its teaching job recruitment portal to allow qualified individuals to apply for entry-level teaching positions.

In a notice issued by the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission on Tuesday, the portal will be open for applications from Tuesday, July 1 to Monday, July 14, 2025.

“The Lagos State Teaching Service Commission is set to reactivate its Recruitment Portal as a bold step towards improving access to employment opportunities, equity, and fairness.

“The job portal, which will be accessible for two weeks (Tuesday, July 1st 2025, to Monday, July 14th, 2025), is intended to provide a centralised platform where individuals can apply for State Teaching jobs at the entry level (GL 08) in their relevant fields,” the notice read.

The move, according to the Commission, is aimed at improving access to employment opportunities in the education sector while ensuring equity and fairness.

TESCOM urged interested applicants with a degree in Education or other relevant qualifications to visit the official portal https://tescomjobs.lagosstate.gov.ng and apply for teaching roles at Grade Level 08.

The notice was signed by the Chairman of the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission.

News

FG Unveils N50m Grant To Boost Student Innovation, Entrepreneurship

Published

13 hours ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has announced a N50m Student Grant Venture Capital Initiative to support scaling student-led enterprises in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

Alausa said the initiative aims to bridge the gap between academia and industry by turning homegrown research into commercially viable products and services.

The minister made the announcement on Wednesday in Abuja when he inaugurated the Research and Innovation Commercialisation Committee.

He said the scheme, which will be anchored by TETFund in partnership with the Bank of India, targets undergraduate students in 300-level and above with viable business models and innovations ready for market expansion.

According to the minister, the development is aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda of transitioning Nigeria from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-driven one.

“We have hundreds of thousands of young geniuses across our institutions. This fund is designed to unlock their potential and help them build globally competitive enterprises,” the minister said.

On her part, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, described the inauguration as a landmark moment in Nigeria’s education and innovation history.

“For too long, research in our tertiary institutions has been reduced to tools for promotion rather than solutions for development. This must change,” she said.

In his response, the Committee Chairman, Dr. Tayo Aduloju, described the RICC as “a matter of national urgency”, noting that Nigeria’s research investment as a percentage of GDP is among the lowest when compared to peer nations.