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Tag: BUHARI

  • Call ex-militants to order, Buhari’s campaign team tells Jonathan

    Call ex-militants to order, Buhari’s campaign team tells Jonathan

    •Kuku defends Bayelsa meeting

    The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to call to order ex-militants, who have declared war on the nation on his behalf.

    The ex-militants last Saturday at a meeting in Bayelsa State, the president’s home state, threatened to go to war, if Jonathan did not win the February 14 presidential election.

    In a statement, APCPCO’s Director of Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the ultimatum from the ex-militants was irresponsible and a barbaric threat to the sovereignty of the nation and against the spirit and letter of the non-violence pact to which the president was a signatory.

    The APC presidential campaign said the declaration of war against the state was causing panic and concern among Nigerians who are already embattled by so many challenges, particularly insecurity.

    Shehu reminded Jonathan that as commander-in-chief, it was his primary responsibility to ensure the protection of the citizens and their property.

    He added that such open declaration of war by the ex-militants and several other acts of violence must be denounced by the president in the interest of democracy, unity and stability of nation.

    Shehu said those beating the drums of war needed to change to peace beats so that the citizens, especially the youth, would be encouraged to show that the sustenance of the country’s democracy “is better achieved through the ballot and not the bullet”.

    The APC campaign called on Jonathan to make good on his declaration that his “re-election is not worth the blood of any Nigerian by calling these war-mongers in his domain to order”.

    The organisation maintained that the latest threat was not an isolated act, adding that the threat on General Muhammadu Buhari by Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose and the attacks on the party’s offices and rally in Rivers State were pointers of a coordinated insurrection against the APC ahead of next month’s general elections.

    According to him, “it is disconcerting that the president has not immediately addressed such treasonable actions by persons, who in the past, have taken up arms against the nation, “and whose amnesty is dependent on their good behaviour and complete disarmament.”

    “The president needs to remember that he took an oath, as commander-in-chief, to protect Nigeria against all threats, external and internal. In this case, his silence could be misconstrued as an implicit approval of this declaration of war, seeing as the meeting of the warlords and subsequent declaration of war were from his own backyard, his home state.

    ”The first step the President needs to take, to show seriousness in dealing with this issue is to dismiss from his government, his Special Adviser on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku who presided at the meeting at which this obnoxious resolution to dismember Nigeria was taken,” the statement said.

    But, defending Kuku’s presence at the meeting, his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Daniel Alabra, said: “It was a peace meeting called by Bayelsa State and held at the Government House. Kuku was only invited to that meeting just as Asari. Whatever Asari said after the meeting was his own opinion.

    “The meeting was not called to threaten anybody or section of the country or the country.

    “It was called in respect of the tension rising in the Niger Delta concerning the attack on the president in the North during his campaign. His campaign buses have been burnt; he has been stoned.”

  • Buhari promises Igbo youths one million jobs

    Buhari promises Igbo youths one million jobs

    The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, has promised to create one million jobs for Igbo youths by revamping coal deposits in Enugu State for the generation of electricity and for export.

    He spoke at the weekend at the Enugu West APC zonal rally at Orie Awgu Market in Awgu Local Government.

    The presidential hopeful, who was represented by the state Chairman of the APC Presidential Campaign Committee, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said coal would be revamped to generate electricity to serve the Southeast and boost its economy.

    He promised to award the contract immediately he was sworn in, to avoid the mistakes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which squandered the over N2 billion voted for 3D Seismic Study for coal to power project, between 2012 and last year.

    Gen. Buhari said: “We are banking on huge coal deposits at Amasiodo, Inyi and Leje axes of Enugu coal belt. We will award contract for the mining and construction of coal-fired-power-plant.

    “We believe coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in Enugu State and Enugu coal is one of the most qualitative coal brands in the world, which means while some are used to generate electricity, some will be exported.

    My objective is to create one million jobs directly and indirectly, from the coal project, as ancillary projects will follow.

    “I want to emulate the Taichung Coal-Fired-Power-Plant in Taiwan, the largest coal power station in the world. Coal supplies 46 per cent electricity in the United States and over 60 per cent electricity in China. It is callous to abandon such a golden treasury.”

    The Vice Chairman, APC Enugu East, Anike Nwoga, said he hoped that Gen. Buhari would win the election.

    He urged those who attended the rally to be part of the victory party by voting for him.

    Said he: “Many of you are Catholics. Did you hear what Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka said? Every patriot must vote for APC. If you go to the North, people in the region are supporting him. People in the Southwest are also poised to vote for Gen. Buhari.”

    At the campaign, three senatorial candidates from other parties endorsed the APC standard-bearer as their candidate.

    They are Chukwu Ijeoma of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mabel Onwukwe of the Labour Party (LP) and Nwabuike Oliver of the Advanced Congress of Democrats.

    Others at the rally were the Chairman, APC Enugu West, A.C. Ude, Director General of Buhari Campaign Organisation in Enugu State, Ejike Eze and the APC senatorial candidate in Enugu West, Luoisa Achieze.

  • ‘Buhari not too old to be President’

    ‘Buhari not too old to be President’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is not too old to be President, the party’s Lagos State chapter has said.

    In a statement by its spokesman, Joe Igbokwe, the party said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its members have indirectly been campaigning for the APC through their utterances and actions.

    “In their futile bids to stop candidate Buhari they have angered Nigerians who now feel that the man is being persecuted for nothing,” Igbokwe said.

    APC Lagos faulted PDP’s claims that Gen. Buhari is too old and unfit to be president.

    “Now look at this: President Robert Mugabe is still ruling Zimbabwe at the age of 90 even though this is not a good example.

    “Beji Caid Essebsi has just been elected at 88 as the president of Tunisia. Anerood Jugnauth is the Prime Minister of Mauritius at 84.

    “Karolos Papoulias is the President of Greece at 85. The late President Mandela started ruling South Africa at more than 75 years old. Eamon De Valera ruled Ireland at 90. Shimon Peres ruled Israel at 90.

    “Arthur Pasizade is the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan at 79. Raul Castro is the President of Cuba at 83. Paul Biya is the President of Cameroon at 81. I can go on and on.

    “Candidate Buhari has been campaigning throughout the country while the death wishers think he has cancer. This is no longer politics but wickedness.

    “Again this stupid and wicked attempt to belittle the image of candidate Buhari has backfired and consequently pushed more votes to the man,” Igbokwe said.

    The party spokesman said the call by the National Security Adviser (NSA) Colonel Sambo Dasuki for the postponement of next month’s elections shows that the “PDP and the President handlers cannot think and have run short of ideas.”

    Igbokwe said: “Millions of Nigerians think PDP is jittery and afraid of the impending defeat, possible humiliation and collapse of the party.

    “The NSA and PDP have been pushing millions of sympathisers to APC without knowing it.

    “To suggest that presidential elections should be shifted means a third term agenda for President Jonathan and these people do not see that Nigerians hate the idea which is unconstitutional.”

    According to Igbokwe, PDP treats its supporters and members with scorn and levity. ”Arrogance, overzealousness and inability to manage success have ruined PDP and made millions of its supporters to look for shelter in APC.”

    Igbokwe said despite the threat of some Southsouth leaders, many now feel Nigeria can do without oil.

    “In fact they believe that disappearance of oil will make us to reason, think, plan and dream big,” he said.

    The APC spokesman said the controverial advert sponsored by Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose could have put the nation in jeopardy “if it was not well managed by eminent Nigerians.”

    “It was a day Fayose took primordial sentiments and ethnic preoccupation to a frightened dimension. It could have been worse…”

  • K1: why I’m donating to Buhari, Ambode’s campaign

    K1: why I’m donating to Buhari, Ambode’s campaign

    In furtherance of his support for the APC, Fuji musician, King Wasiu Ayinde, aka K1 The Ultimate, was the cynosure of all eyes, last Sunday, as he donated some Public Address Systems to each of the 377 Wards in the 57 Local Government Councils and Local Council Development Areas (LCDA) of Lagos State. The artiste, who also gave out 300,000 wristbands with the imprints of Gen. Buhari and Ambode, told journalists that it was the least he could do to support the two APC candidates, as a party member.

    What informs the donation of these items?

    I am a party man, and in the last 16 years, I have been part of good governance in Nigeria.  So this is not really too much to be given out to a party that I believe so much in. I believe so much in the All Progressives Congress; it is a party of the people. My relationship as a democrat has been for over 40 years. This is what I believe in, regardless of anything.

    Why the choice of APC?

    I am a Nigerian. I have the right of affiliation, so that is where it started, and it doesn’t change for me.

    Why the choice of these items; why not something other than wrist bands and Public Address Systems?

    In the first instance, we are talking about the grassroots. When you are being asked what you were doing; ensure you do something that touches the grass root. This public address system is meant for the world; it is a public address system that has the capacity to run for over 48 to 72 hours without electricity, meaning that it would be very effective in the rural areas. If you can charge it for just an hour or two, then you can use it for the next 72 hours. Each system comes with a microphone, not only that, it can be used as a DVD, depending on the format of information you want to pass across to the people.  If the governor wants to make a statement or give any information, it reaches out to the people fast, clearly and soundly too.

    Is this kind of gesture going to continue?

    This is not my first donation to the party, and by extension, to good governance. As a democrat, I have always made myself available, lending my voice and music to good courses. During the last election, I know what I did. During every election, I try as much as possible to reach out to people. I am a beneficiary of good governance myself, and everybody knows that.

    How much of these have you been able to impact on your colleagues?

    This is a matter of choice, and it is about me. I don’t want to speak for anyone. I can’t force anybody; not even my children. This is democracy where people have every right to do what they choose. As I am saying mine, others might be saying theirs as well. This is just about me.

    Can you tell us how much you spent on these items?

    Unfortunately, that is also personal to me. I don’t need to say it for any reason. Not even to earn applause. Sometimes it doesn’t make meaning.

    What would you want the people to know about the coming elections?

    Every Nigeria should know that this coming election is very important in many ways.  Nigeria is not enjoying the benefit of good governance as passionately as expected. If you take a look at Nigeria over 30 years back, then you will know that the rate at which people move out of this country to either work or live abroad is crazy, and this is simply because there is nothing for people to do at home. Majority of the people are not truly enjoying good governance, and we should not shut our mouth to this. I don’t know of any other, I’m a global tour musician and I see many people outside the country that when you ask them why they are living abroad, they will tell you it is because they have nothing really good to do at home. They will tell you they will rather be here (abroad) sweeping the floor than being a thief back home. You can imagine that it is as bad as that. The people are not enjoying, the education system isn’t functioning well; you can imagine a situation where by nothing works. And if they say something is working, let them (the ruling party) show us what has worked. I am speaking this time around as a Nigerian, who has seen things clearly in the last 40 years. I have been a party member for a very long time, I had been voted as an executive of the youth wing of a party in Nigeria, when I was barely 17 years old. My history as a politician is something that has existed for a very long time.

    As a global person, one of your contributions to global tourism is Ori Omi project that you’ve been doing in US. We see a lot of waters in Lagos as well are you thinking of doing this kind of project in Lagos?

    Before we started those ones you mention, we have been doing it in Lagos here. We used to do it from Mile 2 to Apapa. In the late 80s and 90s that is what we do; we do go from Mile 2 to a Badagry. All we are saying is that, when everybody knows that things go well in Nigeria, nobody would want to take those brilliant ideas abroad. The security situation in Nigeria is nothing to write home about. If Nigeria has a security situation where by they can ‘close their eyes’ and walk the streets 24 hours nonstop; if they can walk without molestation, then you will see that those beautiful things people go abroad to enjoy will be established here and Nigerians will stay to enjoy them as well. Who wants to go on the water here when there is no electricity and security?

    Doesn’t it bother you that some people may feel you have been paid to support the APC?

    Definitely, I am blessed with my job. How could anyone look at me; a 58-year-old man, and say I have been paid? If I don’t know what bites so hard in the society at 58, why will I be able to go out and talk? When I made my album in 1984, I sang about poverty, lack of electricity and so on. That was a long time ago. Definitely, these problems have existed for long; they are only getting worse by the day. So, would anyone say that I was also paid back then to sing against vices in the society? As musicians, we are not destabilizing the nation, we are only crying out loud to make the country better. If you go to Benin Republic, you would know they are enjoying the benefits of good governance. People living over there don’t waste money on power generating sets, the way we do here in Nigeria. And they are not really a rich country, as the only thing they do is business, with just one Port.

  • Student group supports Buhari, Ambode

    Student group supports Buhari, Ambode

    A coalition of Nigerian students under the aegis of APC Campus Connect has called on students and youths across the country to come out en masse and vote out the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) government.

    They said the Federal Government had only brought them pains, hardship, suffering and unemployment.

    Representatives of the group, which comprisesgraduates and undergraduates from Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education and the University of Ibadan (UI), among others, visited the Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola on Education, Fatai Olukoga at his office in Ikeja.

    They declared their  support for APC’s Akinwunmi Ambode for governor and General Muhammadu Buhari for President in next month’s elections.

    Opeyemi Eniola, who coordinates the group, said they were campaigning for a change for the better through APC.

    Olukoga expressed delight about the youths’ initiative, saying: “What Nigeria needs now is a change from bad to good, from darkness to light and to achieve this, the electorate should wipe out PDP in governance in totality. Enough is enough and Mr. President should know that we are no fools”.

    He chided President Goodluck Jonathan over what he called the insignificant reduction in petrol price from N97  to N87 per litre, saying it was merely a political gimmick and an insult on Nigerians.

    Olukoga warned government not to take Nigerians for a fool with the hypocritical reduction which, according to him, came few weeks to the presidential elections.

    He said: “The reduction is not proportional to the reduction in the prices of crude in the international market. In fact, if this administration is serious at all, the fuel price should be brought down to N67 per litre. From the foregoing, it is evident that the President, government and the PDP lack integrity because they talk from two sides of their mouth and I want to advise the electorate to be wary of any hypocritical carrot they dangle before them at this time.”

  • Buhari momentum surges towards coronation

    Buhari momentum surges towards coronation

    There is not one unbiased analyst who does not expect that as things stand in the 2015 electioneering, the APC candidate, Gen Buhari, would be crowned on February 14. The tide began to turn in favour of the general when the opposition managed a flawless presidential primary last December; and the tide became a mighty wave when, against all expectations, they again managed to select as running mate Prof Osinbajo, a law teacher of great repute, in a political masterstroke seldom seen in these parts. In rally after rally, the APC presidential candidate has attracted waves and waves of crowds on fire for a ticket that has somehow inexplicably become chic and sexy. Few people, except perhaps elitist critics, are interested in what Buhari and his running mate have to say, whether their programmes and manifestos promise the right things, or whether what they promise even angels would not struggle to implement.

    But the phenomenon is not quite as inscrutable as circumstances make it. The PDP has tried to sully Gen Buhari’s reputation by alleging perjury against him, suggesting he did not have a school certificate as he claimed.  It has attempted to whip up emotions against him using some of his policies and actions as head of state in the 1980s. And it has tried to draw a wedge between him and the Yoruba using the animosities, prejudices and bigotries of the past, and projecting upon his idiosyncrasies a dismal future for Nigerians under his presidency. None has worked for the simple reason that the PDP misjudges the mood of the moment, the spirit of the time.

    First, the PDP and Jonathan sympathisers are unable to appreciate that the leitmotif of this election is the incompetence of Dr Jonathan, his failure as a leader, his weakness in tackling the grave security challenges  facing the country. The election is thus not really about Buhari, what he can do or won’t do, what certificates he brandishes or does not hold, what acts of cruelty he performed in the past or acts of kindness . The election is strictly speaking about Dr Jonathan, by what margin to repudiate him, and about how to punish him for the humiliation and disgrace he has brought upon the country locally and internationally.

    The PDP is already distressed. The more they abuse Gen Buhari and paint him as a monster, the more the crowds at his rallies swell. Though unfortunately the northern yokels have begun to stone Dr Jonathan, perhaps in anger, it is obvious that the president will be extremely lucky to get any sizable vote anywhere in the North, notwithstanding Governor Sule Lamido’s wailing last week that the president’s northern supporters were being stigmatised and intimidated. Nor is it likely that the even more discerning Southwest would leave a ticket on which their erudite son, Prof Osinbajo, is perched to vote for a president who in fact and by his own admission is a woeful failure. Increasingly too, parts of the South-South, a significantly larger part of the North-Central, and parts of the Southeast have begun to swing towards the Buhari column.

    It is doubtful whether there is any magic by which the coronation of Buhari could be avoided next month. It will happen not because the voters happily trust Gen Buhari, but because they heartily distrust and loath Dr Jonathan. The elections, I think, are already lost and won. It would indeed be risky to try to procure a different outcome by the shenanigans the ruling party is accustomed to.

  • Polls: PDM endorses Buhari

    Polls: PDM endorses Buhari

    The Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has thrown its weight behind the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari in next month’s elections.

    The party’s national executive committee in a communiqué at the end of a meeting in Abuja last week ,described General Buhari as one  candidate equipped to  save Nigeria “from imminent collapse and give it a new lease of life.”

    It asked Nigerians to “reject desperate politicians who have been given a chance to prove their worth but failed,” pointing out that “Nigeria’s democracy has come to stay and would not be undermined by the desperation of those who are afraid to lose election in February 2015.”

    It said: “NEC observed that of the available presidential candidates, two clearly stand out and the two represent a clear contrast and reference point for making a clear and informed choice.

    “Of the five critical issues which NEC believes constitute the nation’s top and urgent priority at this material time, namely, unity, security, job creation, fight against corruption and the economy, it is the opinion of NEC that the incumbent who has been at the helm of affairs of the nation in the past six years had failed.

    “In contrast, his opponent had a track record of achievement in these areas as a former Head of State and Executive Chairman of Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund. NEC believes it is time for Nigerians to give him a chance.

    “In view of the foregoing, NEC unanimously resolved to support the candidature of General Muhammadu Buhari for President of Nigeria and called on all members and supporters of PDM across Nigeria to vote for him in the presidential election of February 14, 2015.”

    It condemned the call by Governor Bala Ngilari of Adamawa State  for the postponement of the forthcoming elections in his State and “wondered why it is the Governor of Adamawa, not Borno State, who is making such a call.”

    The communiqué was signed by the PDM National Chairman,Alhaji Bashir Ibrahim and the Secretary,Mr.Ifeanyi Igwe.

  • Buhari’s wife leads APC Women Presidential Campaign Council

    Buhari’s wife leads APC Women Presidential Campaign Council

    The wife of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in next month’s polls, Mrs Aisha Buhari, will lead the party’s 56-member Women Presidential Campaign Council to be inaugurated today in Abuja.
    The alternate chairperson of the campaign council is Mrs Oludolapo Osinbajo,wife of Buhari’s running mate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
    The wife of the governor of Nasarawa State, Mrs Mairo Al-Makura, and Mrs Adejoke Adefulire, the deputy governor of Lagos State, are to serve as Vice Chair (North) and (South) respectively, according to the secretary of the council, Dr Nasir Ajoge Sanni.
    The zonal leaders are: Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed (North Central), Mrs. Nana Shettima (North East), Mrs Hadiza Abdul-Aziz (North West), Mrs. Nkechi Rochas Okorocha (South East), Chief Abiola Fashola (South West) and Mrs Judith Chibike Amaechi (South South).
    Similarly a total of six zonal groups, one each for the six geo-political zone, have been named with Mrs. Toyin Saraki as team leader of North Central, while North East has Aishatu Dukku as team leader. Mrs Kemi Nelson is expected to lead the South West team, while Hajiya Binta Muazu will lead the North West team.
    Mrs Nkechi Okorocha will lead the South East team and South South will be led by Mrs Judith Amaechi.

  • 10 things you didn’t know about my father – Halima Buhari

    10 things you didn’t know about my father – Halima Buhari

    In an interview on Kayode Ogundamisi’s blog, Halima Buhari, daughter of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate speaks of her father.

     

    What type of father is he?

    · He is very realistic and tells you exactly how it is.

    ·He likes cracking jokes.

    ·He is very caring and sensitive to our feelings.

    · He does not coerce us to do anything we don’t want to do.

    · He is very understands unlike what people believe.

    ·He has a very soft side.

    What type of grandfather is he?

    ·He cares a lot about his grandchildren and plays with them even more than he does with his own children.

    ·He is very fond of his grand children.

    ·He gives them all sorts of funny traditional names.

    What kind of president will he be?

    This is a democratic era, not 1983 – the military regime, so he will certainly be more tolerant and passionate about leading Nigeria and getting it out of every mess that it has seen, the corruption and insecurity which is making thousands of Nigerians lose their lives and is affecting everyone in one way or another.

    He will tackle it and make sure he gets his job don

    Link- VIDEO: The Buhari Nigerians Dont Know – Halima Buhari Speaks.

  • Principal gets death threats for releasing Buhari’s results

    Principal gets death threats for releasing Buhari’s results

    Barely 24 hours after releasing Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s 1961 West African School Certificate (WASC) results, the Principal of the Government College, Katsina, Mallam Isyaku Bello, has been receiving death threats.

    The source of the threats could not be ascertained last night.

    The principal was summoned by his employers, the Katsina State Ministry of Education, in connection with the release of the results, sources close to Mallam Bello said last night.

    The embattled principal was said to have explained that he needed to defend the integrity of the college (formerly Provincial Secondary School, Katsina) and not Gen. Buhari.

    Bello made distress calls to his friends and relatives, The Nation learnt.

    One source said: “Some forces were unhappy with the issuance of results to Gen. Buhari and they have been threatening the principal. They have been calling him names, abusing him. Some were actually threatening to deal with him.

    “They told the principal that he ought to have left Buhari to his fate instead of releasing his results.

    “Faced with pressure, the principal has reached out to friends and relatives on the threats. He explained that he did so to protect the integrity of the college and not anybody’s.

    “We hope that no harm will come upon the principal, who was just doing his job.”

    It was unclear as at press time last night whether Bello had reported the threat to the police or not. He did not pick his calls and messages to his telephone were not replied.

    A highly-placed source in APC Presidential Campaign Council confirmed the threats.

    He said: “This is an unfortunate development if it is true that the principal is really being harassed for doing an official assignment.”

    But another source said: the Katsina State Government actually consented to the release of the results by the Ministry of Education in view of the sensitive nature of the issue at hand.

    A government source said: “Since the WASC results of Buhari had become political, the position of the government was that the principal ought to have cleared the air after all Buhari is a citizen of the state.

    When contacted, the SA Media to Governor Ibrahim Shema, Mr. Lawal Ahmad Matazu, said:  ”Is that so? I’m hearing it for the first time from you. I will find out. Thanks.”