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Tag: BUHARI

  • Buhari’s victory testament of level of acceptance, says IYC

    The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari following his victory in the just-concluded election.

    The umbrella body of Ijaw youths in a statement by its Spokesman, Daniel Dasimaka describes President Buhari’s victory as a testament of the level of acceptance he enjoyed in different parts of the country.

    He, however, urged the President to reward the efforts and support he received from the Niger Delta by developing the region in his second term in office.

    Prior to the election, Dasimaka issued a controversial IYC statement endorsing the candidature of Buhari and gave reasons why the region should vote for him.

    Dasimaka said beyond the endorsement, the like minds in IYC worked to garner votes for the President following their conviction that he meant well for the region.

    He said: “We congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari and urge him to treat his victory as a victory for all Nigerians and to see the entire country including regions and state where he did not win as his constituency.

    “We call on the President to effectively utilize and build on the massive support he and his party received from the Niger Delta in general and the Ijaw nation in particular on his race to reelection by developing the region and Ijaw land.

    “This victory affords President Buhari the golden opportunity to write his name in the sand of time in the Niger Delta by completing projects like the East West road, Ogoni Clean up, Brass LNG and Petrochemicals, Brass Fertilizer, Train 7 of the Bonny LNG, Bodo-Bonny Road, stopping of Gas Flaring and the transformation of flared gas to Power, among others.

    “The Ijaw youths pledge to continue to work with President Buhari to deliver this on his development plan for the Niger Delta by maintaining the peace in the region”.

  • Buhari’s victory a watershed, says Bello

    Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has lauded the people of the state, for voting to return President Muhammadu Buhari into office.

    The governor on Wednesday during a state wide radio broadcast described Buhari’s second term victory at the last Saturday presidential and National Assembly as a watershed moment.

    He expressed sadness over the loss of lives and pockets of violence recorded during the exercise, saying those behind it will be brought to justice.

    According to him, “The reelection of Mr. President along with his able running mate, His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, marks the watershed moment of the 2019 general elections, and in particular, the presidential and National Assembly Elections.

    “I thank the great people of Kogi State for their massive turnout and peaceful conduct. This amply demonstrates your commitment to the democratic process characterised by free and fair elections.

    “We have done our best to complement your aspirations by placing the credibility and integrity of the electoral system above any desires to win every contested seat, and by all available means.

    “Despite initial teething pains and some malignancy in the campaigns, we did our best to provide the secure and conducive atmosphere needed by our people to exercise their franchise freely. In the end, the good people of Kogi State spoke loud and clear that despite any shortcomings, government at state and federal levels have acted substantially in line with their mandate.

    “The voice of the people is the voice of God. Our people have resoundingly insisted that while change must now make way for progress, the All Progressives Congress still remains their preferred driver for the journey ahead.

    “As a government, we have been forced to function with only one federal legislator in the entire state, so the outcomes of these elections are a great victory and a precious gift to us by you. By your votes, you have improved our abilities to function well as a government by giving us a majority of the elected federal legislators. It will now be easier for what belongs to us to be harnessed in Abuja and brought home for the benefit of our communities.

    “I am saddened by the pockets of violence which marred the elections in some constituencies and led to loss of lives and properties. I am particularly pained by the death of Mr. Daniel Usman who came out to exercise his civic duty to vote only to have his life cut short by a stray bullet at Anyigba. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and to all those who may have suffered unjustly in any other manner.

    “Most significantly, I also give them my word that we will ensure they get justice by getting to the roots of the problems and bringing all perpetrators to book. We will ensure that legal action is taken against individuals and institutions which prevented or disrupted the conduct of elections in some polling units across the state.

    “Our stated objective of zero tolerance for crimes and insecurity remain intact, thus we cannot condone such recklessness or neglect to punish them.

    “As we prepare for the state Assembly Elections on March 9, we again urge our people to troop out en-masse and cast their votes. It will help the conduct of government business greatly if our people can also help us again by voting people at all state constituencies who will not delay or totally derail the business of government with unnecessary party politics. Nevertheless, we reiterate that our primary commitment is for everyone to come out and vote their choice without any form of duress.“

  • Full text of Buhari’s acceptance speech

    STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI ON THE OUTCOME OF FEBRUARY 23, 2019 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

    My Dear Nigerians,

    First and foremost, I give thanks to Almighty God Who has spared our lives to witness another victory for Nigerian democracy and victory for our party APC.

    2. I thank the millions of Nigerians who voted to re-elect me as your president for the next four years. I am deeply humbled and profoundly grateful to you for judging me worthy of continuing to serve you and for your peaceful conduct.

    3. In particular, I would like to thank Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for his masterful leadership as Co-chair of the Campaign Council. I would like to also thank the Party Chairman Adams Oshiomhole, the Director General of the Campaign Council Rotimi Amaechi, all members of the Presidential Campaign Council and other various Support Groups.

    4. My grateful thanks to all those who contributed to the logistical expenses of the campaign in such a vast country like Nigeria.

    5. I also thank the millions of volunteers, self-appointed overseers, canvassers, agents, escorts and sentries who sacrificed so much of their time and resources to ensure the success of these elections. I do not have the words adequate to thank them.

    6. Although Saturday’s elections were relatively peaceful, troublemakers in a handful of states attempted to disrupt an otherwise orderly process. Security agencies will bring to justice all those arrested in the process.

    7. I am very sad at the grievous loss of lives during these elections. Security agencies will step up their efforts to protect voters in the forthcoming State elections.

    8. I would like to commend our security agencies, as severely overstretched as they are, for handling the difficult task of securing the country during the election period.

    9. I will like to make a special appeal to my supporters not to gloat or humiliate the opposition. Victory is enough reward for your efforts.

    10. We give thanks also to our Domestic and International observers for contributing to the success of our elections and for their interest in our country and our developing democracy.

    11. The new Administration will intensify its efforts in Security, Restructuring the Economy and Fighting Corruption. We have laid down the foundation and we are committed to seeing matters to the end. We will strive to strengthen our unity and inclusiveness so that no section or group will feel left behind or left out.

    12. I thank you for your support and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • Akeredolu hails Buhari’s victory

    Ondo State governor, Olurotimi Akeredolu has joined millions of Nigerians to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Akeredolu in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary(CPS) Segun Ajiboye, said Buhari’s victory in the keenly contested presidential election signified the acceptability of his leadership by the majority of Nigerian citizens.

    The governor noted that the victory belongs to all Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic and religious beliefs.

    He was optimistic that the next level promised the Nigerian citizens by President Buhari will indeed take the country to unprecedented heights.

    Read Also: Orji Kalu congratulates Buhari on his re-election

    Akeredolu hailed stakeholders including local and international observers, security agencies, social commentators and members of the media organisation who in one way or the other played a role in ensuring the peaceful conduct of the election.

    He particularly commended the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC) for conducting a free, fair and credible presidential election accepted by observers and international community.

  • Orji Kalu congratulates Buhari on his re-election

    Dr Orji Kalu, the senator-elect, Abia North Senatorial District, said President Muhammadu Buhari deserved his re-election as he has taken Nigeria to enviable heights since he assumed office on May 29, 2015.

    In a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, Kalu commended the achievements of the Federal Government under Buhari, describing them as unbeatable and remarkable.

    While acknowledging the goodwill of the president, the former governor of Abia, called on politicians to emulate his worthy qualities.

    Orji further urged Nigerian leaders to join hands with Buhari in rebuilding Nigeria.
    According to him, the future of Nigeria is bright under the current administration.

    He said: “The well-deserved victory of President Muhammadu Buhari did not come to Nigerians as a surprise because of the laudable achievements of the Federal Government.

    Read Also: Buhari thanks Tinubu, Oshiomhole, other Nigerians for victory

    “President Buhari has in the past four years taken Nigeria to enviable heights.

    “Nigeria has taken her rightful place in the comity of nations since President Buhari assumed office.

    “The All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government has the welfare of the masses as a priority.

    “With the victory of President Buhari in the poll, it is obvious that Nigerians are happy with the President,’’ Kalu said.
    While commending the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders for ensuring free and fair elections, Kalu urged Nigerians to sustain their support for Buhari and the APC.

  • Buhari…the President-elect

    INEC Chairman Yakubu declares winner at 4:39am

    Muhammadu Buhari has won the presidential election.

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu at exactly 4:39am declared Buhari winner of last Saturday’s election.

    The President won 15,191,847 votes to retain his job. His closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 11,262,978.

    Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate won in 19 states. Atiku won in 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Buhari will collect his Certificate of Return at 2pm today.

    The commission adjourned its collation and announcement of results at the International Conference Centre, Abuja at 12.16am after taking the results from Rivers State —the last to come in. It adjourned till 3am.

    Yakubu said the commission wanted to beat its 2015 record when it concluded the process at 4am.

    Buhari, who was at the  APC Presidential Campaign Council secretariat this morning, thanked Nigerians for giving him the opportunity to continue to serve.

    With him were: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, party Chairman Adams Oshiomhole, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Rotimi Amaechi, among other party leaders.

    Yesterday’s collation opened with Niger State, which went to the APC with 612,371 votes. PDP scored 218, 052.

    There were 2,375,568 registered voters across the 15 local government areas of the state and 911, 964  voters were accredited. The state recorded a total vote of 896,976 and 851,937 valid votes. Forty-five votes were rejected; 71,200 were cancelled.

    In Jigawa State, Buhari scored 794,738 as against Atiku’s 289, 895 votes.

    With 27 local government areas, Jigawa had 2,104,889 registered voters; 1,171,801 were accredited to vote; 1,149,922 voted. Of the votes, 1,106,244 were valid and 43, 678 were rejected.

    The APC candidate also won in Kaduna State with 993,445 votes as against PDP’s 640, 612.

    Atiku fought back in Anambra State, garnering 524,738 votes as against APC’s 33,298.

    He won with a slim margin in Oyo State where the PDP polled 366,690 as against APC’s 365,229.

    Atiku’s home state, Adamawa, gave the PDP 410,266 votes.  Buhari got 378,078.

    The 21 council areas in Adamawa had 1,959,322 registered voters; 874,920 voters were accredited. There were 811,534 valid votes; 49,222 were rejected.

    The President won in Bauchi with 798,428 votes. Atiku scored 209,313. Valid votes were 1,024, 307; 37,648 were rejected. Votes cast stood at 1,061, 955

    The APC beat the PDP in Lagos State with 580,825 votes; PDP scored  448,015.

    The ruling party also secured victory for his candidate in Ogun State where it scored 281,762 as against PDP’s 194, 655.  The registered number of voters in the Gateway State was 2,336,887; 613,399 were accredited and 605,938 voted.

    Edo State, with 18 local government areas and 2,150,127 registered voters, went to Atiku with 275, 691 votes. Buhari scored 267,842 votes.

    For the poll, 604,915 were accredited. There were 560,711 valid votes. The rejected ballot stood at 38, 517, leaving  the total vote cast at 599, 228.

    The number of votes that were cancelled in 48 polling units stood at 42,176.

    In Benue State, PDP got a narrow victory margin over the ruling party with 356,817 votes as against APC’s 347,668.

    Edo, with a voter population of 2, 391,276, has a total vote cast of 763,872. The valid votes were 728,912. The rejected votes were 34,960 and 122,989 votes were cancelled in 172 polling units.

    Atiku won Imo State with 334,923 votes as against Buhari’s 140,463 votes.

    There were 2,037,569 registered would-be voters; 585,741 were accredited to vote. The valid votes were 511,586 and 31,191 votes were rejected. The number of votes cast stood at 542,777; 63,048 were cancelled in 97 polling units in 12 council areas.

    Plateau State also gave its vote to Atiku who scored 548,665. Buhari scored 468,555.

    The state had 2,423, 381 registered voters and 1,074,042 were accredited.

    The valid votes were 1,034,853 of which 1,063,862 voted. The number of rejected votes stood at 28,009.

    Kano went to Buhari who scored 1,464,768 against Atiku’s 392,593.

    The Northwest state, where 5,381,581 were registered to vote, recorded the highest turnout with 2,006,410 accredited voters.

    The votes cast were 1,964,751. The valid votes were 1,891,134. The rejected votes were 73,617 and the cancelled votes were 43,900, across 69 polling units.

    Katsina, Buhari’s home state, also went the way of Buhari, who scored 1,232,133 against Atiku’s 308,056.

    It has 3,219,422 registered voters and 1,628,865 were accredited for the election.

    The total valid votes in Katsina is 1,555,473 and 1,619,185 cast their ballots.

    The rejected votes were 63,712 and the cancelled votes stood at 12,027.

    Taraba went to the PDP with 374,743 votes as against APC’s 326 996 votes.

    The total registered votes were 1,777,105. The accredited voters stood at 756 111.

    The valid votes were 712 877 and 28,687 were rejected.

     

  • Buhari tops with 15.19m

    Atiku gets 11,262,978

    Muhammadu Buhari has won the presidential election – going by the figures released this morning by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The President won 15,191,847 votes to retain his job. His closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 11,262,978.

    Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate won in 19 states. Atiku won in 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The commission adjourned its collation and announcement of results at the International Conference Centre, Abuja at 12.16am after taking the results from Rivers State —the last to come in. It adjourned till 3am.

    INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said the commission wanted to beat its 2015 record when it concluded the process at 4am.

    Buhari is billed to read his acceptance speech at the APC secretariat today.

    Yesterday’s collation opened with Niger State, which went to the APC with 612,371 votes. PDP scored 218, 052.

    There were 2,375,568 registered voters across the 15 local government areas of the state and 911, 964  voters were accredited. The state recorded a total vote of 896,976 and 851,937 valid votes. Forty-five votes were rejected; 71,200 were cancelled.

    In Jigawa State, Buhari scored 794,738 as against Atiku’s 289, 895 votes.

    With 27 local government areas, Jigawa had 2,104,889 registered voters; 1,171,801 were accredited to vote; 1,149,922 voted. Of the votes, 1,106,244 were valid and 43, 678 were rejected.

    The APC candidate also won in Kaduna State with 993,445 votes as against PDP’s 640, 612.

    Atiku fought back in Anambra State, garnering 524,738 votes as against APC’s 33,298.

    He won with a slim margin in Oyo State where the PDP polled 366,690 as against APC’s 365,229.

    Atiku’s home state, Adamawa, gave the PDP 410,266 votes.  Buhari got 378,078.

    The 21 council areas in Adamawa had 1,959,322 registered voters; 874,920 voters were accredited. There were 811,534 valid votes; 49,222 were rejected.

    The President won in Bauchi with 798,428 votes. Atiku scored 209,313. Valid votes were 1,024, 307; 37,648 were rejected. Votes cast stood at 1,061, 955

    The APC beat the PDP in Lagos State with 580,825 votes; PDP scored  448,015.

    The ruling party also secured victory for his candidate in Ogun State where it scored 281,762 as against PDP’s 194, 655.  The registered number of voters in the Gateway State was 2,336,887; 613,399 were accredited and 605,938 voted.

    Edo State, with 18 local government areas and 2,150,127 registered voters, went to Atiku with 275, 691 votes. Buhari scored 267,842 votes.

    For the poll, 604,915 were accredited. There were 560,711 valid votes. The rejected ballot stood at 38, 517, leaving  the total vote cast at 599, 228.

    The number of votes that were cancelled in 48 polling units stood at 42,176.

    In Benue State, PDP got a narrow victory margin over the ruling party with 356,817 votes as against APC’s 347,668.

    Edo, with a voter population of 2, 391,276, has a total vote cast of 763,872. The valid votes were 728,912. The rejected votes were 34,960 and 122,989 votes were cancelled in 172 polling units.

    Atiku won Imo State with 334,923 votes as against Buhari’s 140,463 votes.

    There were 2,037,569 registered would-be voters; 585,741 were accredited to vote. The valid votes were 511,586 and 31,191 votes were rejected. The number of votes cast stood at 542,777; 63,048 were cancelled in 97 polling units in 12 council areas.

    Plateau State also gave its vote to Atiku who scored 548,665. Buhari scored 468,555.

    The state had 2,423, 381 registered voters and 1,074,042 were accredited.

    The valid votes were 1,034,853 of which 1,063,862 voted. The number of rejected votes stood at 28,009.

    Kano went to Buhari who scored 1,464,768 against Atiku’s 392,593.

    The Northwest state, where 5,381,581 were registered to vote, recorded the highest turnout with 2,006,410 accredited voters.

    The votes cast were 1,964,751. The valid votes were 1,891,134. The rejected votes were 73,617 and the cancelled votes were 43,900, across 69 polling units.

    Katsina, Buhari’s home state, also went the way of Buhari, who scored 1,232,133 against Atiku’s 308,056.

    It has 3,219,422 registered voters and 1,628,865 were accredited for the election.

    The total valid votes in Katsina is 1,555,473 and 1,619,185 cast their ballots.

    The rejected votes were 63,712 and the cancelled votes stood at 12,027.

    Taraba went to the PDP with 374,743 votes as against APC’s 326 996 votes.

    The total registered votes were 1,777,105. The accredited voters stood at 756 111.

    The valid votes were 712 877 and 28,687 were rejected.

    THE FINAL SCORES

    STATES                 APC       PDP

    Abia                     85,058      219,698

    Adamawa          378,078      410,266

    Akwa Ibom         175,429     395,832

    Anambra             33,298      524,738

    Bauchi                798,428      209,313

    Bayelsa               118,821      197,933

    Benue                 347,668      356,817

    Borno                  836,496        71,788

    Cross River        117,302      295,737

    Delta                   221,292      594,068

    Ebonyi                  90,726      258,573

    Edo                     267,842      275,691

    Ekiti                    219,231      154,032

    Enugu                   54,423      355,553

    Gombe                402,961      138,484

    Imo                   140,463        334,923

    Jigawa                794,738      289,895

    Kaduna              993,445      649,612

    Kano                1,464,768      391,593

    Katsina           1,232,133      308,056

    Kebbi                  581,552      154,282

    Kogi                    285,894      218,207

    Kwara                308,984      138,184

    Lagos                  580,825      448,015

    Nasarawa          289,903      283,847

    Niger                  612,371      218,052

    Ogun                  281,762      194,655

    Ondo                  241,769      275,901

    Osun                   347,634      337,377

    Oyo                     365,229      366,690

    Plateau               468,555      548,665

    Rivers                 150,710      473,971

    Sokoto                490,333      361,604

    Taraba                324,906      374,743

    Yobe                   497,914        50,763

    Zamfara             438,682      125,423

    FCT                    152,224      259,997

    TOTAL:        15,191,847  11,262,978

     

  • Beautiful boys and Buhari

    IT would be astonishing if last week’s piece attracted no flak from certain quarters. Predictably, it did, thus affirming my claim that contemporary journalism suffers the affliction of too many con men mitered like the proverbial beautiful boy.

    The latter’s claim to repute is a fanciful, militant disposition to the truth; craven masochism encroaches upon their puffed torso, leaving it a bloated sac of tissues and intumescent flesh.

    Like tree bugs, they fed on and profited off Nigeria’s dysfunctional systems, under previous regimes. Post Goodluck Jonathan era, for instance, most of them played agent provocateur, specialists at ‘damage control’ for corrupt oil magnates, and looters in public and private offices, facing litigation or scandalous expose of their corrupt acts.

    They waded and bathed in the splash of filthy lucre as their ‘clients’ let loose a dam of crud and corruptive tokens.

    During the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s locust years, such characters ‘smartly’ established, media consultancies, online media, farms and poultries, boutiques, private schools, hotels as their Plan B, in the event that they lose their jobs in the fast-dissembling media industry.

    Many, who couldn’t survive the rigours and ethical demands of mainstream journalism waited in the wings to play pall bearers of good, old journalism; like ghostly bats and owls, they are still keeping vigil, betting on traditional journalism’s death watch.

    Left to them, Muhammadu Buhari is ‘bad market.’ If he weren’t, he would understand the expediences of government as a market place, and like his predecessors, enhance tyrant transactions that favour predator nations and conglomerates over home-grown, innovative, enterprising firms.

    If he weren’t bad market, he would understand the expediency of ignoring the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and BVN policies, among others, that Nigeria’s filthy rich billionaire thieves, might continually plunder the public till in connivance with government officials, to enrich their offshore accounts.

    Like their patrons, these shady characters, masquerading as ‘journalists/media consultants,’ make unrealistic demands of Buhari; they want him to make N1 equivalent to $1, and Nigeria, agriculturally self-sufficient, all within a period of four years. They want him to eradicate corruption, except in government circuits and resolve in four years, the devastation the PDP inflicted on Nigeria in 16 years. They also want the ‘money to flow.’

    “Buhari is bad market. Who needs the TSA, of what benefit is it when boys are not smiling?” says a supposedly influential journalist/media consultant, in his acerbic outburst to last week’s piece.

    His type is to journalism, what the so-called Dying Slave is, to the uncompleted tomb of Julius II. Their epic gaffes exemplify the soul’s struggle against the body; leg flexed, desire aflame, will-succumbed and currency-activated, they serve as the proverbial beautiful boy to a predatory ruling class.

    The lyricism absent from political cult music attains musicality when fused with their greed. As the PDP era ended, so did the gaudy promiscuity of this supposedly chic set.

    Today, while the crème of their breed comprising bank chiefs, corrupt civil servants, pipeline vandals, and oil thieves, recoil from public arena in fear of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the errand boys of the crew, that is, the rogue journalist/media consultants, have emerged from the woodwork, like patrician harlots loitering on dark streets, hawking their services to passers-by.

    They have evolved from half-clad harlotry into complete nudity. These days, they wear their nakedness, like a fine garment, even as their fabricated repute engorges at full mast, like a eunuch’s limp member.

    This minute, they manifest on Nigeria’s psyche, like disgruntled Sirens, with battered hindquarters and lips rimmed with the previous night’s fleshy spoils.

    “Oh, those happy locust years,” they whine, reliving when oil thieves were feted as oil magnates; when hired assassins, political thugs and pimps were paid off with lucrative oil deals transacted in the tenor of rogue black ops.

    They lust for the ‘good old days’ when the presidency’s concubines were compensated with oil blocs, that they might answer as one of Africa’s richest magnates. They cry for the luxurious epoch when the presidency bribed terrorists to strike and withhold attack, as expediences dictated.

    Their disposition is quite wrong. But it is understandable. By their patronage of deep pockets, they are frozen in a moral void; they are mentally and emotionally stuck at age 13. But unlike medieval Greece’s beautiful boys, they aren’t society’s martyrs, nor are they victims of nature’s tyranny.

    They are victims of extreme self-love, which is yet another facet of their moral turpitude and promiscuity. Promiscuity in the beautiful boy is an illness, a leakage of ethics that often aggravates his identity crisis.

    By their lack of professional and personal ethics, they rupture the ritual integrity of press personae. Journalism, no matter how minimalist or innovative, is never simply news reporting. Like art, it is always a ritualistic reflection of reality and surgical reordering of society.

     

    Every subject honoured by journalism should be deserving of nobility. Thus this minute, I ennoble Buhari and place him far above his rivals, not because he is a perfect human being. He isn’t.

    He is inherently flawed and these past years, he has conducted himself in a manner deserving of reproach, on a few occasions. But his unsullied integrity, seeming incorruptibility and pedantry at sanitising public office, however, ‘far-fetched’ or ‘selective’ makes him worthy of praise and deserving of a second term.

    Journalism’s beautiful boys would contest this. They would claim, for instance, that PDP’s Atiku Abubakar is Nigeria’s next best messiah and that projecting his candidacy, was their most heroic act to date. I would argue otherwise.

    If journalism truly involves binding the humane to tyrant nature, to dull its tyranny, the journalist should conduct himself, like a clinical surgeon; cutting and grafting, lacerating and sewing, in moments of perceptual flurry and stillness, to rid society of its tumourous burdens.

    Surgery is at the heart of journalism. Surgery as compulsion and surgery as stasis.

    The contemporary journalist, who merely twaddles across a page, to fulfill errant lusts and shards of political correctness, is forever beholden to untameable aspects of his persona, and uncontrollable facets of reality.

    When the journalist plays beautiful boy, he suffers a reduction of self; his elocution of feigned courage turns bestial acquiescence into an ecstasy of ethical bondage.

    His predisposition to life in a moral void leads to perceptual dystopia, where decadent personae subsist, eyes open, mentally alert and compliant with the hyper-states produced by superimposition of material over mind, and elevation of filth as journalism’s altarpiece.

    Where the journalist persists in this charred crimson territory, his descent is assured. Journalists adapting to ‘market need’ make heroism out of decadence too. Such characters live to glorify errant lusts above noble ideals and deeds. They talk a good game, thus they could be mistaken as heroes.

    They would clothe Atiku Abubakar as a hero, and the PDP, as a party of saints, simply because Buhari is ‘bad market.’

     

  • Buhari wins by landslide in Borno

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday announced the official result of last Saturday’s presidential election in Borno State with President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winning by a landslide.

    The state’s Returning Officer (RO) for the presidential poll, Prof. Saminu Ibrahim of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, announced the results at the collation centre of Kashim Ibrahim Collage of Education in Maiduguri, the state capital.

    Read also: Court remands UNILAG students for allegedly raping 17-year-old

    He said President Buhari scored 836,496 votes over his closest rival, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who got 71,788 votes. A summary of the results is as follows:

    APC’s Buhari = 836,496

    PDP’s Atiku  = 71,788

    Total valid votes for Borno = 919,783

    Total rejected votes for Borno = 35,419

    Total votes cast for Borno = 955,202

     

  • Buhari pays surprise visit to APC Situation Room

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday night paid a surprise visit to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) Situation Room in Abuja.

    The President’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, who made this known on his twitter handle, said the President visited the Situation Room to show appreciation to the work being done by the staff.

    He posted: “President Buhari pays a surprise visit to the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) Situation Room.’’

    Ahmed, who later spoke to News Agency of Nigeria on the visit, said the President appreciated the efforts of the staff, who were mostly volunteers, for monitoring the ongoing collation of results of the elections.

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    Buhari had earlier pledged not to comment on the process of the collation of results of the presidential and National Assembly elections in which he is seeking re-election on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The collated results of the elections so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja had indicated that the President has taken an early lead over his main challenger, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).