Gist Arena

P resident Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of $1 billion for the procurement of security equipment to fo fight Boko Haram insurgents. Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of defence, disclosed this at the end of the security meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. He said the meeting was to review the security situation in the country. “I can inform you that of recent, our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, gave approval for the purchase of more equipment for the military, worth $1 billion,” he said. Apart from Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, all other governors gave the federal government to withdraw the money from the excess crude account. Fayose had said Ekiti share of the money should be released for the fight against “Hunger Haram”, arguing that the $1 billion would be used for the reelection of Buhari. Dan Ali also spoke about the specific issues discussed during the meeting. “This is a normal meeting of security agencies in

G overnors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have finally resolved their differences on the position of President Muhammadu Buhari regarding the extension of the tenure of party officials. The decision followed a second meeting between Mr. Buhari and the governors in his office on Wednesday. The president on Tuesday met with the governors over his decision to oppose tenure elongation for national and state APC officials. Mr. Buhari, last week, told a meeting of APC National Executive Committee (NEC), that its earlier decision to extend the tenure of the party’s officials by one year was against the APC constitution and that of Nigeria. Tuesday’s meeting deadlocked as the governors remained divided on whether to support the president’s new decision or not. The governors later met alone Tuesday night after which they returned to the presidential villa to meet with the president. Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of

T he Ondo State Government has established about 2,000 hectares of modern cocoa plantation to boost cocoa production and revenue in the state. Mr Adegboyega Adefarati, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, made the disclosure while speaking with the News men on Wednesday in Akure. Adefarati said the government had nursed 500,000 modern cocoa seedlings for the plantation, which he said could be harvested just after three years. The commissioner, who explained that work had also commenced at Ajugbere Forest in Owo Local Government area of the state, said the state government was looking for interested partners to assist the state in archiving its objectives. “Right now we are trying to cultivate a modern cocoa plantation, most of the trees we have now are old. “But what we are trying to put in place now is another variety of cocoa that can be harvest just after two to three years of planting. “The 2,000 hectares of cocoa plantation is capable of bringin

B ukar Must apha, the senator representing Katsina North, is dead. Mr. Mustapha was President Muhammadu Buhari’s senator as he represented the president’s senatorial district. He died after a brief illness on Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. The News Agency of Nigeria quotes Mr. Bukar’s elder brother, Umar Bukar, as confirming the news. Mr. Bukar’s death is coming less than a week after the deputy majority leader of the House of Representatives, Umar Jibril, died after a protracted illness. It also came about two weeks after another senator, Ali Wakili, passed away.