By Okoi Obono-Obla

Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State deserves unreserved commendation for his rare candour and statesmanship. In an era where opposition politics in Nigeria has been reduced to perpetual wailing, cynicism and playing to the gallery, Bala Mohammed has risen above partisanship to speak truth to power in the most patriotic sense.

Despite being the National Leader of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and a key pillar of his party’s presidential ticket, Governor Mohammed did what very few Nigerian politicians dare to do: he publicly appreciated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his bold, courageous and transformative reform agenda.

This is leadership. This is maturity. This is putting Nigeria first.

President Tinubu has done what others feared to do. He has brought a semblance of order and transparency to the opaque, previously cabal-infested oil and gas sector. Where subsidy fraud bled the nation of 5% of GDP annually and enriched a few, the President stopped the bleeding. He has introduced unprecedented transparency in the petroleum value chain, from crude production to revenue remittance.

His tax reforms are equally historic. For decades, Nigeria operated a chaotic, multiple-taxation system that stifled business and encouraged evasion. Today, under Taiwo Oyedele and the Presidential Tax Committee, we have a streamlined, pro-growth tax reform that protects the poor and compels the rich and corporations to pay their fair share. Revenue generation has surged, and as Governor Mohammed rightly observed, states are now receiving far more resources to drive grassroots development than ever before.

The security intervention in Bauchi – the deployment of a high-powered military contingent and the establishment of two battalions in Alkaleri and Tafawa Balewa when bandits nearly overran the state – shows a President who does not discriminate by party affiliation. That is the hallmark of a national leader.

It is time for the rest of the opposition to learn.

The ADC, NDC and other opposition elements must desist from this infantile, bitter and bad opposition politics of playing sour grapes. You cannot wish Nigeria to fail simply because you lost an election. You cannot condemn every policy, even those clearly yielding positive results, to remain relevant. Nigerians are wiser than that.

Governor Bala Mohammed has shown the way: when the government does well, say it. When reforms work, commend them. Opposition is not about blind hatred of the President.

In this spirit, the APM presidential candidate, Governor Seyi Makinde, should follow the honourable path his party’s National Leader has laid. If Bala Mohammed can see and commend President Tinubu’s good work, then the logical, patriotic, and statesmanlike thing for Makinde to do is step down so President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can complete his bold agenda of resetting and rebuilding Nigeria.

Nigeria needs continuity, not disruption. It needs reformers, not pretenders. Bala Mohammed has demonstrated statesmanship. Others should emulate him.

By Isa Abdul

The construction of an alleged mortuary close to public school and residential buildings has been protested against by the residents of Agbeji Community in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The protesters who carried placards on Tuesday cite health and environmental concerns, even as the landowner insists he has the right to develop the property.

One of the protesters, who spoke on camera said they are not against someone’s business but their worry is the location of the mortuary near residential buildings and a public school.

But the landowner who identified himself as Alh. Rilwan Okobomude, disagrees, insisting the property is his and that he has the right to develop it, while pledging to comply with relevant regulations.

In an interview with News Central, monitored in Abuja, the land owner talked about building the mortuary for the hospital.

But it is not clear why he’s building a mortuary before the hospital.

–Erring contractors to be hunted by EFCC

By Isa Abdul, Abuja

Contractors who collect mobilisation payments but fail to move to project sites will soon be hunted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is the fresh threat from the Federal Government.

Issuing the threat on behalf of the federal government on Wednesday in Abuja was the Minister of Works, David Umahi, who said the government would no longer tolerate contractors who sit on public funds or give greater attention to state government projects after receiving money for federal jobs.

Umahi issued the warning while briefing journalists, noting that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission would be utilised to recover public funds from erring contractors.

He added that the government had rescoped and re-phased several projects to make them more realistic and improve their execution, but contractors who had received funds would be expected to deploy the money to the sites. In his words:

“With all the money that the contractors have in their hands, they must exhaust it to earn more money. So, we have rescoped the project; we have rephased it.

“From next week, any contractor that has got their money and is not on site, we are going to call for the EFCC so that we can recover the money. I have noticed that contractors handling federal projects, some of them are more serious with state projects than they are with the Federal projects. But I have made you know a commitment that (situation) that must stop”

He said contractors would no longer be allowed to use political connections or lobby stakeholders to escape their contractual responsibilities.

“We put up announcements to ensure that this thing ends up. So, instead of doing your projects, you are calling stakeholders to intervene. So, if you have the money of the Federal Government, no matter who is behind you, you will either meet us with the EFCC or you meet us in your bank to recover the money.”

Umahi also announced a tougher monitoring regime, involving the EFCC, ICPC, civil society organisations and student groups. Announcing the strange perspective, Umahi said:

“So, it’s going to be aggressive: site visitation and supervision. We’ve alerted the EFCC, ICPC, and civil society organisations. Students are doing their own.”

He listed several projects that he said had either been completed or were nearing completion, including 70km of the Kano-Maiduguri Road, the 43km Keffi-Mararaba Road, 15km Lafia bypass and the 7.9km Bonny Island Road.

Others include the Obajana Junction concrete pavement on the Lokoja-Benin corridor, Danbatta-Demesu Road, Gombe-Bauchi Road rehabilitation, Azare axis linking Jigawa and Bauchi, Apapa five-span bridge, Eke-Obinagu 23-span flyover in Enugu, the 75-metre Tizm Bridge and the 24km Sagamu Interchange-Iperu Junction Road.

The minister also defended the Federal Government’s infrastructure record in the South-East, saying the region was now receiving significant Federal projects compared with previous administrations.

He maintained that the volume of projects in the South East now demonstrate the integration of the South-East into the national development agenda under President Bola Tinubu. In his words:

“Have I not run through all the projects that the President is doing in the Southeast? Have I not told you that the present administration has fully integrated the people of the Southeast?

“I was a party chairman. I was a deputy governor. I was governor. And no single project of the Federal Government came to the Southeast. And today, we are having a barrage of projects.

“We may not be the first, second, or third in terms of the volume of projects in the regions. But we are not the last. And if we are not the last, it’s something that will beat our chest. That says, apparently, right, that the President has done what other previous administrations could not do.

“And that is full integration of the people of Southeast. This is very important. And so when I talk, I talk with facts.”

He urged people in the region to support a new relationship with the Federal Government, calling for cooperation across political and regional lines.

The minister added the government’s increased infrastructure spending would only produce the desired results if contractors executed projects for which public funds had been released.