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The embarrassing errors in the 2016 Budget appeared to have claimed a first casualty on Monday as President Muhammadu Buhari sacked the Director-General (Budget), Mr. Yahaya Gusau. The President also approved the appointment of Mr. Tijjani Abdullahi to replace Gusau, who was appointed in August last year. These were contained in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Monday. Although no reason was given for the development, observers believed that Gasau was fired because of the various discrepancies that had been identified in the 2016 budget proposals currently before the National Assembly. A top government source, who confided in The PUNCH, said although Gusasu could not be blamed for the errors and padding of the budget, the buck stopped at his table as the director-general. The source stated, “His removal has to do with errors and discrepancies in the budget. I can assure you that more heads will roll.” The Preside...

Former President George W Bush has hit the campaign trail to boost younger brother Jeb's faltering presidential nomination bid. He met veterans and appeared at a rally in South Carolina on Monday, ahead of Saturday's primary election. George W Bush's legacy has come under fierce attack from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, has spent a lot of campaign cash but failed to make an impact. He is struggling to catch up with Mr Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who won the New Hampshire and Iowa contests respectively. Mr Bush's famous family has largely kept out of his presidential nomination battle and he insisted last year that he was running as his own man. But last week his mother Barbara Bush, wife of former President George HW Bush, spoke out in his support. And on Saturday, Jeb Bush defended his brother's presidency, saying he had built a "security apparatus to keep us safe". In a televised debate, bi...

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday said that although his former job was more rewarding financially, he decided to serve Nigeria for the love of his fatherland. Speaking in Abuja, Kachikwu who is also the Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), revealed that his acceptance to serve the country cost him “at least a million dollars every year.” According to him, all hands must be on deck to build enduring institutions that would secure the future of the country and improve on the standard of living of Nigerians. “I believe that this country needs help. I believe that it is about time we began to perform for the young and upcoming. I believe that the sheer capacity of this country is unimaginable. I do not know of any country in the world with our population, our resources, our intellect, our flamboyance, our family nexus, everything is together. “The call to public service for me was unique. I was Vice Preside...

The Nigerian government has fired the heads of the six information-related parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the disengagement during a meeting he held with the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on Monday . The Minister directed the disengaged Chief Executives to hand over to the most senior officials in their various establishments. He thanked them for their service to the nation and wished them the best of luck in their future endeavours. The affected chief executives are the Directors-General of NTA, Sola Omole; FRCN (Ladan Salihu); VON (Sam Worlu); NOA (Mike Omeri); NBC ( Emeka Mba) and the Managing Director of NAN (Ima Niboro). When contacted, Mr. Niboro confirmed he and ...

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia on Sunday said that fighters of the Boko Haram sect trained in his country before coming to Nigeria to carry out their heinous acts. According to Reuters, Mohamud said this while addressing a security conference in Germany. Reuters quoted him as saying that, “Without a stable Somalia, the whole region of the Horn of Africa will remain unstable and by and large, the African continent. There are proofs and evidence that (for) some time Boko Haram has been trained in Somalia and they went back to Nigeria. “The terrorists are so linked together, they are associated and so organised, (that) we the world we need to be so organised.” It was not clear from his comments whether he believed al Shabaab was still training Boko Haram fighters, who have pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Somalia has been plagued by political in-fighting, corruption and attacks by al Shabaab insurgents. The East African country ha...