Troops of 25 Brigade operating under the aegis of Joint Task Force, North East, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) have neutralised four terrorists of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), recovering some arms and ammunitions in process.

Spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu in a statement on Thursday said the terrorists were neutralised along Damboa-Bulabulin-Maiduguri road on Wednesday.

“The terrorists who were on espionage along Damboa-Bulabulin- Maiduguri road ran into a fighting patrol team at Kukawa and were neutralised in the firefight that ensued with the troops,” the statement read in part.

Nwachukwu added that the troops recovered four AK 47 rifles and four Magazines, each loaded with 30 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition from the troops.

In another operation, troops of 195 Battalion, Sector 1 OPHK in conjunction with elements of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) at Dusman-Muna Garage, Borno State eliminated two ISWAP terrorists in an ambush operation conducted along with an identified ISWAP terrorists’ crossing point at Musari village.

The troops also captured and destroyed an ISWAP logistics vehicle conveying assorted goods and contraband items belonging to members of the terrorist group.

“Items recovered from the terrorists’ vehicle include two bags of Hemp (Cannabis Sativa), two bags of detergent, 120 packets of mosquito coils, l2 mosquito nets, and five textile materials. Other items recovered are two bicycles, two bags of beans, a bag of corn, and some quantity of fish,” the statement added.

The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya in response commended the troops for their operational exploits and urged them to maintain the aggressive posture in order to decisively root out the terrorists from their enclaves.

The Presidency on Thursday said President Muhammadu Buhari essentially considered “food security” and the “power problem” in the country before “relieving” the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Nanono; and his Power counterpart, Sale Mamman.

According to the Special Adviser to President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in an interview, food security and fixing the power sector are two of the things central to the President’s heart.

Buhari had on Wednesday sacked Nanono (Kano State) and Mamman (Taraba State). He had also redeployed the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abubakar, to the Ministry of Agriculture while the Minister of State for Works, Abubakar Aliyu, took over as Minister of Power.

The two dismissed ministers were in August 2019 sworn in as part of the over 40 ministers who make up the current Federal Executive Council.

Speaking on the television programme, Adesina said the redeployed ministers are not weak in their former offices but versatile hence the need for their redeployment.

“It could be that the President has seen that they were versatile and so they would do well in other areas within the cabinet. It does not mean that they were weak and that is why changes came from within. Don’t also forget that the President said new nominations will also be made according to constitutional provisions because the constitution prescribes that every state in the country must provide a minister.

“So, if the reshuffle has caused that a state or two doesn’t have a minister, then, there have to be fresh nominations into the cabinet,” he said.

The presidential spokesman also said that ministerial appointments are not chieftaincy titles and appointees should be ready to leave at any time the President feels they have delivered their best.

Throwing more light on the President’s statement that the cabinet reshuffle is a continuous process and more ministers would leave the government before 2023, Adesina said, “It could also mean that the President who appoints them can also say, ‘Thank You for your services; let me bring in fresh energy’.

“The President is the one who will determine that and what that is telling us is that national service is for God and for humanity; it is not for ourselves. When it is time for you to go, you go. It is not a chieftaincy title, it is not something that you hold for life and when it is time to go, you leave gladly.”

Adesina said his principal listens to the yearnings of the people in taking certain decisions.

When asked whether Buhari considered the epileptic power supply, food inflation, amongst other challenges Nigerians are grappling with, the presidential spokesman said, “Somebody gave me a document to give to the document on how to solve the power problem in the country.

“I took it to him and he collected it and he began to flip through it and as he flipped through it, he was saying, ‘If only we can solve the power problem’. He repeated it about three times and you know what I got from that? It was something central to his heart that if only this administration can solve the power problem and you know efforts that have been made.”

He also recalled, “There was a night when there was this talk about hunger in the land and I went to see him (Buhari) but before I finished, he said, ‘I know, I have constituents and I received feedback from them. I have people from my constituency who gives me real-time feedback, I know what is happening’.

“Of course, food security is central to the President’s heart,” he noted.

“No one government will solve all the problems in a country, a government will do its legitimate best in certain areas and it ends and another government will continue,” Adesina added.

According to a report released last month by the National Bureau of Statistics, food index increased by as much as 21.03% year-on-year in July 2021. Food items driving the current inflationary pressure in the country include bread, beans, cereals, milk, cheese, eggs, fish, soft drinks, vegetables, oils, potatoes, yam and other tubers.

The data also showed that some of the food prices soared by at least 60%, mostly attributable to the initial closure of land borders in 2019, the pandemic lockdown in 2020 as well as the banditry and kidnapping ravaging the country. Countless farmers have been slaughtered on their farmlands while others have been raped by marauders. Many farms have been abandoned due to the farmer-herder crisis in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari has finally received the much-awaited final report of the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The report was received by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami on behalf of President Buhari.

Handing over the report to Buhari, Thursday in Abuja, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio disclosed that the auditors have concluded the examination and documentation of a total 13,777 contracts for projects and programmes awarded to Contractors and consultants in all Niger Delta States from 2001-August 2019, at a total final contract value of N 3,274.206,032,213.24.

According to Akpabio, the name and identity of a vast number of beneficiary companies were also captured as well.

His words: “Via Field Verification, the Forensic Auditors established the exact status of all contracts for projects and programmes in all constituent states during the period under review classified into completed, ongoing, abandoned, terminated, taken-over and non-existence.”

The Minister disclosed that the auditors also focused on funding gaps, Irregularities, mismanagements and Due Process Violations/Conflicts of interest.

He went on: “A Personnel Audit and Review of the governance and organisational structure of NDDC was also carried out.

An operational guideline/Manual and a fit-for-purpose organogram that would aid the transformation of NDDC to a globally competitive development agency has been developed as well.

“Available financial records of the commission were analysed with the aim of establishing the total amount of funds received by the Commission from all sources, both statutory and non-statutory and the total funds and other resources paid to contractors as well as the total amount outstanding as debts with regards to such projects within the period under reference.

“The Auditors have also provided policy recommendations, in terms of measures that should be taken to ensure the prevention of such irregularities and mismanagement, going forward.

“With utmost respect Sir, I crave the indulgence of Your Excellency that

after my speech, the Lead Forensic Auditors will present to you a quick summary of their Findings and Recommendations.”

Nigeria’s federal and state governments have expressed overwhelming support for an initiative to create Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) – public-private partnerships aimed at developing priority value chains through developing infrastructure in rural areas, focused on finishing and transforming raw materials and commodities.

At a high-level briefing session held on Monday, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, who hosted the meeting, reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to put in place enabling policies and incentives to attract private sector investment in the zones, to ensure successful implementation.

“The federal government is committed to successfully implementing the programme to increase agricultural production, reduce poverty, and scale up job creation across the country,” Ahmed said.

The Nigeria Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone programme consists of four mutually reinforcing components – infrastructure development and agro-industrial hubs management; agriculture productivity and production; policy and institutional development; and programme coordination and management.

Ahmed said all 36 States in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory would be eligible to participate in the SAPZ programme. In addition to the Federal Capital Territory and 7 states – Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Imo, Cross River, Ogun and Oyo – participating in Phase 1, several other states have indicated interest in the SAPZ programme. These include Bauchi, Lagos, Niger, Jigawa, Ekiti, Lagos, Taraba, Benue, Sokoto, Ondo, Nasarawa, Gombe and Kogi.