Tinubu approves free 2-month ride on Abuja Rail Mass Transit – Wike

By Philip Yatai

President Bola Tinubu has approved a two-month free ride on the Abuja Rail Mass Transit, also known as Metro Line, Mr Nyesom Wike, Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has said.

Wike made the disclosure in Abuja on Thursday, during the Ministerial Sectoral Update on the performance of Tinubu’s administration in the last one year.

He said that the metro line would be inaugurated May 27, by Tinubu, and thereafter, opened for public use for free in the first two months.

He explained that although the building of the Abuja Rail Mass Transit system was commissioned by the immediate past administration, the services were not rendered to the public.

The minister said that the current administration had rehabilitated the system and would be inaugurated for commercial operations.

“So many people have said that the government has commissioned it before. We are not talking about commissioning of buildings; we are commissioning the commercial operations.

“We have commissioned it before, but was it in use? Why was it not in use? he asked.

“So, those of you saying it was commissioned, please don’t make a mistake, what was commissioned was the building, and we are not commissioning the building.

“What we want to commission is the commercial operation and we are going to allow free rides for two months. That is a renewed hope agenda,” he said.

The minister also said that there was no access road to all the train stations, a development he said had impeded the commercial operation of the metro line.

He added that rejuvenating the rail transport system was in line with the directive of President Tinubu, who said he wanted to ride on the metro line.

“To the glory of God, on Monday May 27, Mr President will ride on that metro line.

“So, when Mr President rides on Monday, you will take your turn on Tuesday. It is for you and not for Mr president,” he said.

He said that all access roads to all the stations have been constructed, including car parks where passengers would comfortably park their cars, travel, come back and carry their cars home.

Wike added that the Tinubu administration had equally reduced the contract for the training of the manpower for the operation of the train from 128 million dollars to 75 million dollars.

This, he said, had saved the government 53 million dollars. (NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

FCT: 120km rural roads will be ready before December – Wike

By Philip Yatai

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says 120km roads across the six Area Councils of the capital will be completed and inaugurated before December.

Wike stated this in Abuja on Thursday, during the Ministerial Sectoral Update on the performance of Tinubu’s administration in the last one year.

He said, “As I speak to you today, before December this year, we are going to commission not less than 120 kilometres of road in the six Area Councils of the FCT.

Wike described the feat as simply taking governance to the doorsteps of the people, particularly those in rural areas.

He added that taking governance to the people was also a demonstration of good governance in line with the “Renewed Hope” agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

“People say government, what is government when people don’t have impact?

“People only hear about the government on radio, people only hear about the government on television.

“Now they are seeing the government and saying oh! You mean this is what government is all about?

“The government can come to our areas, speak to us, ask us of our problems and the government tells us that we are going to this, and they are doing it?

“That is what is called government,” he said.

The minister said that the government goes beyond merely announcing the minister of FCT on radio when the people do not know him.

He said that to address such, he had visited all the area councils, sat with the community people, and asked them about their challenges for the government to address.

“This is the first time a minister can go to the Area Councils and sit down with the people, talk to them, and let them know what the government is doing,” he said. (NAN)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

Wike pledges to end harassment of motorists by touts

By Philip Yatai

Mr Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has pledged the commitment of the FCT Administration to end harassment of motorists by touts in the name of revenue collection.

Wike gave the assurance in Abuja on Thursday, during the Ministerial Sectoral briefing on the performance of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in the last one year.

He said that the FCT Administration had reached an agreement with all the Area Council Chairmen to empower FCT Internal Revenue Service to collect all revenues.

He explained that after the collection, the area councils would be given their share, stressing “that is the only way we can have decency in revenue collection in the territory.

“That way, we will reduce touting, harassment and double taxation. After all, the law allows the area councils to take 10 per cent of FCT IGR.

“One of the things in a city is that, everybody wants to survive. So, you find some of these elements from time to time.

“But bear it in mind that, it is part of our responsibility. We are going to rid them off, but it cannot be done immediately,” the minister said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that motorists in the FCT were being harassed by touts who claimed to be working for a ministerial taskforce against illegal parking.

Others claimed to be revenue collectors from AMAC.

The touts usually force themselves into private vehicles and forcefully remove the car keys from ignition in the name of illegal parking or other purported  infractions.

Edited by Rotimi Ijikanmi

First Lady urges APC women not to misuse mantle of leadership

By Joan Nwagwu

The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu has advised the All Progressive Congress (APC) Women in leadership positions not to misuse the mantle of power against their sisters.

Tinubu said this during a symbolic presentation of textile materials in commercial quantities to support businesses of women in politics on Wednesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the gesture is part of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) on Social Investment Programme.

Tinubu, represented by the Wife of the Vice-President, Hajiya Nana Shettima, said that it was imperative not to misuse the mantle of leadership against fellow women.

“I want to encourage us all to be resilient. For those that are in the mantle of leadership, they must not misuse it.

“What I mean is that let us be our sisters’ keeper, let’s embrace one another. Let us not just put the blames on one.

“No matter what, let us appreciate one another, it is easier to destroy than to build for sure, we all know it takes a long time,”she said.

On the presentation of the fabrics, she urged the women to accept the little package with an open heart, adding that by the grace of God there would be more of such programmes.

She, however, called for support and understanding for the office of the First Lady.

“Her Excellency is compassionate and in this one year of this administration, she has travelled across the federation due to her pet projects.

“She is someone who is truly committed and wants to put a smile on the faces of the downtrodden,” she said.

Tinubu, while commending Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, National Chairman of the party, said that he was gender friendly.

According to her, Ganduje has given a lot of opportunities to the women in the country, and urged them not to misuse such opportunities.

Earlier, Ganduje said that there waa no doubt that the RHI project was also part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.

“We are not surprised to see the First Lady coming up with this important programme to support the Mr President agenda,”he said.

Ganduje commended women for their unwavering support to national development.

He said that there was a need to increase women participation in politics, adding that as a party they were already discussing it with the chief executive of the states.

“This is by starting with the grassroots politics, women participation in the local government administration, is the first step for them to be interested and are accepted as well.

“So, this programme which is financial inclusiveness for women has to be promoted,” he said.

He urged the beneficiaries to be honest, transparent, committed and be nationalistic for the good of the country.

Also, Mrs Mary Alile, APC National Women Leader commended the First Lady for her commitment and unwavering support for the welfare of women in Nigeria.

Alile described the gesture as remarkable and true inspiration to all women in the country. (NAN)

Edited by Rabiu Sani-Ali

By Ismail Abdulaziz
President Bola Tinubu has continued to put in place measures aimed at reshaping the economy of the country since assuming office in May 2023.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja, on the anniversary of the administrations in office.

Ngelale said that the measures taken so far are legendary because they are what past governments refused to take and one that would ensure continuity and outlast the administration.

‘’Nigerians understand that this president, in his first days in office, dealt with the reform of the fuel subsidy regime, dealt with the reform of the financial markets, particularly with respect to the unification of the foreign exchange rates.

‘’He put an end to the type of incessant and really ravaging, round tripping we were seeing within the sphere of the Central bank of Nigeria. But then again, of course, sometimes when you stop the bleeding, it’s not seen as an achievement.

‘’But there’s a reason many others refused to do what this president has now done. This is why the president has been roundly commended, not just locally but internationally for the reforms he has put in place,’’ he said.

The presidential adviser said Tinubu  was not unaware of the impact of the reforms on the lives of the citizens and has embarked on a broad scope of economic intervention to alleviate the plight of the citizens.

He said one of such measures was the Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprises (MSME) interventions and capitalisation including the N200 billion for all segments of the business population operating in the country.

‘’Specifically, N50 billion in grants. These are not loans. This is not money our people will pay back, but N50 billion in grants being paid to over one million Nano businesses equitably distributed across all local government areas of the federation.

‘’Approximately 1,290 Nano businesses have been given N50,000 grant through that scheme per local government. In addition to that, you have the N150 billion in the form of single digit interest rate loans being provided to hundreds of thousands of MSMEs across all states.

‘’Again, equitably distributed N75 billion being given in loans of up to N1 million, whereas another N75 billion is being given to large scale manufacturers. These are industries that are employing up to 1,000 Nigerians per industry.

‘’We are giving them loans, single digit interest rate, with a moratorium of about five years at about N1 billion each. So the interventions of business have been very important,’’ he said.

The presidential spokesman said Tinubu did not also leave out the development of infrastructure across the country in various sectors.

He said that these investments were aimed at having a ripple effect among people that operate along the value chain segments of such infrastructures.

Ngelale explained that the past one year has also seen significant interventions in the area of accelerating power performance especially with the Siemens Energy agreement and others in the provision of off grid power.

He said that Siemens was into the end to end modernisation of the nation’s power transmission grid to ensure enhanced quality and quantity of power supply to corporate and individual consumers.

‘’A situation in which disadvantaged Nigerians are losing their appliances, microwaves, television sets, refrigerators, freezers, because of this kind of equivocating power current. You recognize that this thing is actually costly to Nigerian families, and it has to be resolved.

‘’So sometimes you would even find that when you have this kind of equivocating power supply with the damage that it does to appliances and the like, and obviously the pocket of our people, what you end up finding is that they actually just want to turn the lights off.

‘’So the Siemens deal with the issue of quality of supply, ensuring that when Nigerians receive their light, whether it’s 6 hours, 12 hours or 24 hours, that whatever they’re receiving is quality electricity supply,’’ he said.

Ngelale added that the president has dedicated one billion dollars for the off grid power through capital formation and mobilisation from multilateral institutions dealing with the supply of off grid solar home systems.

He said that this would be allocated to primary health facilities, rural communities, and rural farms in order to cut about 50 per cent of post-harvest loss in the country because the produce could not reach the markets. (NAN)
IS\YEE

(Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

FG inaugurates Renewed Hope housing delivery portal

By Angela Atabo

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has inaugurated the Renewed Hope Housing Delivery Portal to grant access to 100,000 houses across Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates web portal, where Nigerians can apply, including those in Diaspora is: https://renewedhopehomes.fmhud.gov.ng

While inaugurating the portal on Tuesday in Abuja, Dangiwa said the ministry, inline with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda,  promised to break all  barriers to home ownership for Nigerians.

He said  that the innovative platform provided an online, transparent, easy-to-use, integrated web-based application for sale of homes under the Renewed Hope housing  Programme of the ministry, earlier inaugurated by the President.

He recalled that in December 2023, the ministry signed an MoU with a consortium of developers led by Continental Civil to deliver 100,000 housing units nationwide.

He said the platform,being inaugurated, was a key part of the partnership.

“I want to take this moment to commend the consortium of developers for their ingenuity. Nations grow when the private sector is properly engaged.

“This is our strategy, and we plan to continue encouraging those who have real value to add to our efforts to deliver the Renewed Hope Vision for Housing delivery.

“The housing platform will also provide the necessary data that we need to achieve our goal of implementing a demand-driven strategy for housing, by helping us to ascertain  the nature of housing needs for different locations and demographics nationwide,” he said.

Dangiwa said that any moment, the ministry had estates in 12 locations and three cities across the country.

He said the estates are sited in Yobe, Gombe, Ebonyi, Abia, Nasarawa, Benue, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Katsina, Sokoto, Oyo and Osun and the  cities are in Abuja, Kano and Lagos.

Dangiwa said  the platform also integrated features that offered flexible payment options, including both one-time payments and instalment plans, catering to different financial situations.

He  said the platform would  provide easy access to mortgage plans, allowing homebuyers to check their eligibility and apply from anywhere in the world.

He added that the platform supported equity contributions for mortgages, streamlining financial planning for buyers.

The minister said that buyers could also apply for  release of up to 25 per cent of their Retirement Saving Account (RSA) balance for additional financial support.

Dangiwa charged all Nigerians to take advantage of the platform to apply for the houses, adding that “with the platform, you do not need to know anybody to own a home. It is transparent, and the criteria are open to all.

The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Marcus Ogunbiyi ,said that over the years, the ministry had been delivering houses manually but decided to break new grounds to go digital.

The development, Ogunbiyi said, was to reduce human contact by making the houses available to the masses and not by the influence of who they were connected to.

He said that such influences had been tackled with the platform, so all Nigerians needed to do was to apply only and if they qualified, the house would be given.

The Director ICT, in the Ministry, Amiolemem Marcus, said  the Renewed Hope Platform is a state-of-the-art web portal designed to enhance  delivery of houses to revolutionise the real estate and mortgage sectors in Nigeria.

Marcus  said that key features and benefits of the website included its user-friendly interface, simplified registration, search, and application processes for homebuyers and developers.

He said its comprehensive modules included : onboarding, pre-qualification, credit checks via collaboration with credit bureaus, banks statement analysis, product application, property listing, mortgage application, and payment gateway features.

Marcus added that it has a real-time tracking, so homebuyers could monitor the application progress and property development milestones among others.(NAN)

Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Rotimi Ijikanmi