These are the stories that drove the conversation today:
The opposition People’s Democratic Party has berated the Presidency over its claim that former President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the delay by President Muhammadu Buhari in forming his cabinet nearly six months after he was inaugurated as President in 2015, describing it as the height of hypocrisy.
According to a series of tweets by the PDP using its verified Twitter handle late Monday, the reasons President Buhari could not form his cabinet, five months after his inauguration, is primarily due to sheer incompetence, lack of preparedness and the fact that he was overwhelmed by the complexity of the office of the President of Nigeria, adding that the then head of the Transition Committee, Ahmed Joda, had also in May 2015 publicly dispelled these claims by Buhari as false and diversionary, when he said that the committee got all the cooperation it needed from the Jonathan administration before the May 29 handover date.
“Nigerians may also recall how President Buhari refused to hasten the formation of his cabinet following his widely condemned view, in September 2015, when he mooted that minister were mere ‘noise makers.“President Muhammadu Buhari had, again, expressed his personal unwillingness to appoint ministers when, in an interview with France 24 TV in France, said that the absence of ministers was not affecting governance in Nigeria,” it added.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday resolved to admit President Muhammadu Buhari on the floor of the house to present the 2019 Appropriation Bill to the joint session of the National Assembly.
The motion to enable the president to perform his constitutional function was passed, following the adoption of a motion by the Leader of the house, Femi Gbajabiamila (APC-Lagos), at the plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Yussuf Lassun.
The President had on Dec. 13 written to the house to grant him a slot to present the 2019 budget estimate.
Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the National Assembly’s approval for refund of N488.7 billion to State Governments for projects they executed on behalf of the Federal Government.
As contained in a letter read by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, at Tuesday’s plenary, the president said his decision was because the approval violated the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, noting that whereas the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a total of N487.8 billion for the purpose, the National Assembly jerked up the figure to N488.7 billion, making it N890 million higher than that approved by FEC.
The president added that a review of the NASS’ approval, communicated through a July 27, 2018 letter, also revealed discrepancies in the number of states submitted by FEC and those approved by the lawmakers.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),Paul Usoro (SAN), was on Tuesday arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Federal High Court, Lagos, for an alleged N1.4billion fraud.
Usoro however pleaded not guilty to a 10-count charge of fraudulent conversion of N1.4bn said to belong to the Akwa Ibom State Government, as his arraignment followed Justice Muslim Hassan’s rejection of his application for the case to be transferred to Abuja.
The case was consequently adjourned to February 5
The Federal Government has re-arraigned the Governorship Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Sept. 22, 2018 Osun governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke on a seven-count amended charge on examination malpractice.
Adeleke and the other defendants – his brother, Sikiru Adeleke, Alhaji Aregbesola Mufutau (Principal, Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Ojo-Aro Osun), Gbadamosi Thomas Ojo (School Registrar) and Dare Samuel Olutope (a teacher), pleaded “not guilty” to the seven count charges following which the prosecuting counsel, Mr Simon Lough asked the court for a date to commence trial.
Adeleke and the four other defendants were first arraigned on a four-count charge before Justice Edward Ekwo in September.
And stories from around the world:
US President Donald Trump is backing down on his threat to shut down the government after Democrats refused to grant him the funding to build the wall he wants on the border with Mexico.
The White House has identified other funding sources for the project, says spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. (BBC)
The British government said on Tuesday it would implement plans for a no-deal Brexit in full and begin telling businesses and citizens to prepare for the risk of leaving the European Union without an agreement. (Reuters)
Fighting between Yemeni pro-government forces and Houthi rebels in the city of Hudaydah has reportedly subsided, after a ceasefire came into effect overnight. (Al Jazeera)
Japan on Tuesday approved plans to convert two ships into aircraft carriers — the nation’s first since World War II — as it tries to counter growing Chinese military power in the region. (AFP)
The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey said on Tuesday that a new Syrian Constitutional Committee should convene early next year, kicking off a viable political peace process. (Reuters)
