Boko Haram Now Limited To Sambisa Forest - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari says the military has made huge progress in the war against insurgency.

Buhari said on Monday that the military has gained so much ground that the militants are now restricted to Sambisa forest.

"If you really bother to find out, a lot of progress is being made," he said.

The president had in August given his new service chiefs three months to end the insurgency.

Boko Haram terrorists have killed about 15,000 people and displaced many more during six years of insurgency.

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Immigration Revokes Former Governors, ex-Ministers Passports

The Nigeria Immigration Service has revoked all passports issued to former governors and ministers while they were in office.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Comptroller General of the service, Martin Abeshi on Monday.

The Service also directed all former federal and state law makers, their aides and retired heads of government agencies to return their passports.

“These categories of persons are hereby informed that these passports which were previously held by them have been revoked and should return them to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters Sauka Abuja with immediate effect.

“Failure to comply with this directive will amount to an offence under the Immigration Act 2015. Such unauthorised possession will be impounded at our control posts on arrival or departure, ” the statement said.

To stem the rampant abuse of the documents, the presidency had in August directed the NIS to withdraw all diplomatic and official passports from persons not entitled to them.

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Governors, Ministers, Perm-Secs Should Declare Assets - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that it is a constitutional duty for heads of state and government, governors, ministers and permanent secretaries to declare their assets.

He said this in Accra, Ghana on Monday while fielding questions from journalists.

He noted that he has declared his assets four times since 1975 and urged Journalists to use the relevant laws to dig up his four separate declarations.

Buhari challenged the newsmen to do investigative journalism rather than harass him over his declared assets.

"Right now, all heads of state and government, governors, ministers, permanent secretaries will have to declare their assets because it is a constitutional requirement.

“In Nigeria, it is a constitutional issue and that is why I am blaming you gentlemen of the press. If you really want to do investigative journalism, you don’t have to worry me at this stage; I have declared my assets four times.

“When I was governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of Petroleum and as a member of Supreme Military Council, I declared. When I was Head of State and now as a President, I also declared.

“I have declared my assets and all that I have four times, and you (the media) have the right to go and demand for my declaration. Instead, I am being harassed, " he said.

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RSMs Get 50k Cash Gift From Borno Governor

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State on Monday offered a cash gift of N50,000 to each of the RSMs at the ongoing 2015 Regimented Sergeant Majors Conference taking place in Maiduguri.

Governor Shettima who was the special guest of honor at the event said that he was happy that Borno State was chosen to host the RSMs whom he described as the "heart of the barracks."

Earlier, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai had said that the current counterinsurgency operations in the northeast had exposed some flaws in the Nigerian Army.  He said that the flaws were in the areas of discipline, regimentation, professionalism and general conduct.

Given this scenario, Buratai said that his focus is "to restore the long cherished core values of the Nigerian Army through discipline, regimentation and professionalism.

“It is my belief that the attainment of these three cardinal objectives will refocus the Nigerian Army towards a more responsive force that is ever ready to defend the territorial integrity of our nation and effectively undertake all tasks as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He described the RSMs “as the most important link between the officers and soldiers as well as the custodians and repository of unit regimentation. "

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Expect My Ministers This Month - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that he will keep his promise to name his ministers this month.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adeshina said that Buhari gave the assurance in Accra on Monday during a joint press conference with Ghana's President John Mahama.

Reacting to a question on the appointment of ministers, President Buhari said,

“After I was sworn-in,  I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so.”

Since assumption of office on May 29, Buhari has been working with directors and permanent secretaries amid concerns in some quarters that his non appointment of his cabinet has been slowing down the country.

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Lack of Vision, Capacity Killing Civil Service - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the decline of Nigerian civil service over the years on the inability of past administrations to articulate a clear vision and develop the requisite capacity for its implementation.

The president spoke through a paper read on his behalf by Vice president Yemi Osinbajo at the launching of capacity building programmes for public servants, Structured Mandatory Assessment-based Training Programme (SMAT-P) and Leadership Enhancement And Development Programme (LEAD-P) at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“Here, we’re launching capacity building initiatives designed to strengthen the leadership at all levels in the service and build a new performance management system. But the fundamental questions are: what is the ethos, the ethical and ideological world view that the service is to deliver? To what purpose do we deploy leadership skills and for what ends? How can we measure performance when the objective itself is unclear?

“Without clear answers to these questions, the service will grope in the dark and take the government and people along with it on a blind-leading-the-blind voyage. So, what sort of country do we envision?

“We want to build a nation with the citizen as its reason for being and thus its sole focus and responsibility. The citizen regardless of station in life must be respected by the governing authorities and treated with dignity. Flowing from these is the imperative that our society must be governed by the rule of law administered by a trustworthy, fearless, impartial and efficient judiciary, " he said.

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Power Sector Probe Begins Tuesday

The probe by the Senate into allegations of sharp practices in the power sector will begin on Tuesday.

The Clerk of Senate Ad hoc committee on Power, Cletus A Ojabo said the probe will take the form of investigative hearing cum interactive session.

According to Ojabo, the probe will focus on funds appropriated for the power sector and the unbundling of the PHCN.

The committee which is headed by Senator Abubakar Kyari is mandated to look into allegations of malpractices in the power sector beginning from 1999.

At the inauguration of the committee three weeks ago, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki had charged it to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the goings on in the entire power value chain.

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