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  • South-West will vote Jonathan in 2015 – Mimiko

    South-West will vote Jonathan in 2015 – Mimiko

    Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, on Tuesday expressed optimism that the Southwest will vote massively for President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.
    The governor said it is irrelevant if the All Progressives Congress fields a Yoruba as its presidential running mate.

    He spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after the launching of the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) and the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN).

    He said the Southwest voters are politically savvy enough to cast their votes based on issues instead of ethnic considerations.

    He said: “I am saying this with all sense of humility, of enlightenment especially in appreciation of issues of politics, in terms of long history of progressive political engagement, you give it to Southwest that they know their onions.

    “Don’t forget that even in 2012 when Mr. President did not have any governor in the Southwest, he won in all the Southwest states apart from one.

    “And I tell you, in the Southwest, we can sift issues from propaganda. We know the difference between propaganda and the real stuff.

    “What we have seen today is real stuff. Everybody that was at this presentation cannot but come to the conclusion that the transformation agenda of Mr. President in agriculture is working.

    “Again, this is real stuff, not propaganda. And I tell you, in the Southwest, this election will be about real stuff, it’s about issues not about propaganda.

    “I have no doubt in my mind that the Southwest will vote for President Jonathan to continue along this path of very useful engagement and productive governance.”
    Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, decried the frequent cross-carpeting of politicians who lose their aspirations for elective offices.

    According to him, such acts were inimical to the growth of democracy in Nigeria.

     

  • ‘Nigerians ready to vote out Jonathan’

    ‘Nigerians ready to vote out Jonathan’

    All Progressives Party (APC) National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed spoke on the Rockcity 101.9 FM, Abeokuta on preparations for next years elections and issues that will shape the contest.

    How prepared is the APC to take over the government at the centre in 2015, particularly with the menace of Boko Haram, which your party and the PDP have been pointing accusing fingers at each other as the master minds?

    I find that question very odd. somebody was voted as the president of this country and under our constitution that person is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and he swore that he will secure our lives and properties, so, if at all there is any threat to our security, it is that person who was elected as president and commander-in-chief that hasresponsibilities to protect me and you. When that person who has failed in that responsibility now gives us an excuse, that it is the opposition that is behind the insurgency, then it means two things, one, he has lost the moral authority to remain as president and commander-in-chief two, he has failed woefully in his responsibilities. If your house is on fire, will you be looking for who started the fire first before you make moves to put off the fire? We have lost 22,080sqkm of territory to Boko Haram, we have lost 15,000 lives, as we speak today some parts of our territory have been taken over with strange flags hoisted and all you are telling us that, it is the opposition. If it is the opposition, why can’t they arrest those suspected members of the opposition?

    Gen Obasanjo said the man never appreciated that Boko Haram is not a threat to his administration but a threatto the continued existence of Nigeria, he got it wrong, as a matter of fact, at the beginning, he thought he could benefit from the insurgency by saying “look at me o, because am a Christian, a minority” and so he didn’t pay attention to it. Anyhead of state would look at Boko Haram as a threat to the Nation, honestly, this thing about we pushing blames, we have no business with handling security, all we can do is to advise him. Look at what our governors in the north-eastern states are doing, of course we would not publicize it, I can tell you that there is no month that our governors don’t contribute to the war efforts.

    Why is the government still saying the APC has not been cooperating?

    Ask them, what sort of co-operation are they looking for, you ask for a state of emergency, you got it three times, yet casualties continue to mount. As a matter of fact, the Chibok girls were adopted during the state of emergency, the 60 children killed in Boni-yadi were killed during the state of emergency, the innocent killing of students in Potiskum was done during the state of emergency. It got to a point that we begin to doubt the sincerity of this government, all they are probably doing is to allow them capture as much territory and then turn around to say there won’t be an election in those areas because it is the PDP that stands to benefit if there is no election in the north-east region. What kind of co-operation does he want from our governors that they have not given him; on the contrary, he is the one who has abandoned them. Has he ever visited Chibok, Potiskum, Buni-yadi? Yet, he can go to Burkina-Faso; he can go everywhere, on the contrary.

    In what way is the APC different from the PDP in terms of agenda and programmes?

    Absolutely false, the APC  manifesto is a 45 page booklet, which we have tagged “relief, recovery and reform” I can tell you immediately what we intend to do under our government, we will create three million job within the first four years of government, we will provide a meal a day to the primary school students, we will give an unconditional transfer of money to all vulnerable Nigerians, we will pay post youth corps allowance, under our housing, we will build one million houses within a decade, there is poverty alleviation, create a social insurance scheme, we will co-operate with our neighbours to use military force to tackle Boko Haram, use military and non-military tactics. We are not like PDP.

    You have known Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for a while now. Is it true that he is an autocrat? References have been made to the way he selects candidates for elections.

    I served as his Chief of Staff when he was governor, and as the chief of staff, am the first person he sees officially in the morning and the last person at night, I was present at every organ of decision of government and I can tell you that, there are very few Nigerians that are as democratic as Bola Tinubu. Yes, he has a very strong will, I agree he has a very strong personality, I agree that he has his own ideas about certain issues but he has always impressed me as a person who will bow to superior ideas and arguments. Many of the people who talk about Tinubu have not worked closely with him. He is not an angel, of course there is no angel alive, I keep referring to this, that 80 per cent of those who served him, from 1999 till date are still with him,there are few leaders in Nigeria who has done this. If he is that autocratic, or self-centred, most of us won’t be around him. Those saying so are assessing him from far-off. Oh yes! He has taken decisions that have rattled a few people but for him one thing is permanent, the party and Nigeria.

    You were also at the thick of the crises that rocked the Afenifere and the AD, which led to some of you leaving to form AC. Was this as a result of Tinubu’s desire to form a political empire that made him to rebel and disrespect the leaders of the Afenifere?

    I think we should not try to re-write history. There was a crisis within the party and I say this with all seriousness, AsiwajuTinubu saw farther than most of the leaders at that time. What did he see? He saw that if we didn’t take time, we will play into the hands of the PDP and that was exactly what happened, under the guise of being Yoruba’s, we very foolishly in AD agreed not to field a candidate for the presidency, we adopted the PDP president and where did that land us? We lost five of the six governors of AD; we were humiliated in all the national assembly elections except in Lagos. It took us eight years to be able to recover a substantial part of that, now, it’s instructing that of all the governors of the AD then only Bola Tinubu survived, like they say, the rest I now history. He later became the rallying point to recover those lost areas working with the likes of GovOsoba, Niyi Adebayo, BisiAkande and co. Now if he has lost Lagos in 2003, there will be no rallying point for anybody, so it’s not correct for anyone to say it was his political ambition that led to the crises in AD, those who say that are being unfair to him.

    President Jonathan has been described as Nigeria’s best President since 1960. I think one should give it to him.

    I don’t know what you described as a good President, but am happy that Gen. Obasanjo came out with a verdict that he has performed below average and I share that opinion. This is not been sentimental or been in the opposition, you ask yourself, what happened to security under his government, did it get better? What happened to poverty has it reduced? Has it disappeared? Unemployment is it better, infrastructure! What happened to it? If your roads, power has improved, then this is a good government. No part of this country is safe, Boko Haram, kidnapping, armed robbery, the country has just been called as the third poorest country, we been told that our herd ship will increase with the devaluation of the naira, of course they throw figures at you, that they have done this and that, corruption has grown wings under this government. How then can a president like that come before you, what kind of audacity is that.

    (Cut in) Should Mr President be blamed for all these? There are institutions created to handle them. If they don’t do their job, should the President be blamed for it?

    We didn’t vote for any of them, we voted for the president, he is the chief executive officer of this country. If you have a factory and the factory is not doing well, are you going to blame the production officers,you will fire him? Those ones would say well, it’s not my fault, what you do is to fire them. It’s obvious that we are going through a very difficult time under him.

    Is it not obvious that at a point, the country may have to devalue its currency? We have depended on one product for too long and the states have not helped to energise the economy by finding ways to increase IGR and stop dependence on the federal allocations?

    Yes it’s true, we are a mono-economy, we rely heavily on oil, but we have enjoyed sixteen years unprecedented, uninterrupted boom in oil price, high price of crude, we should have spent that money to diversify our economy, we should spend that money to encourage industries to grow, we should have spent that money on infrastructure but what did we do, we wasted those opportunities. You know how many industries that have relocated out of this country because of power, it’s the failure of this government to diversify the economy that led to the collapse of our economy simply because price of oil has gone down, other OPEC members have not devalue their currencies. UAE (United Arab Emirates) makes the bulk of its money originally from oil but today, they rely on money from tourism and real estate then crude oil money because things work there. I remember that APC warned about two years ago, with the discovery on shale oil and gas, our oil will become uncompetitive, we warned that the cost of production is the highest in the world, we warned that the organised stealing of crude will bring dire consequences to the nation, and what did they tell us, they say we are alarmist, the minister said we are not broke and they are devaluing the naira, we are not broke, we will introduce austerity measure but don’t worry, it won’t affect you. To the argument that we could have done better but the states are not supporting them, I ask which state did they go to for anything and they deny them? Let them tell us that they came to an APC state to say they went to build an A-P-Z and we denied them because we don’t belong to same political party we won’t co-operate, they don’t have anything to say, they are incompetent, clueless and are corruption on its own .Unfortunately, we are all going to pay for this.

    The PDP has said that it’s a better party, at least, in the area of internal democracy. Is there any difference between APC and PDP in this regard?

    In our own party, we printed so many forms for anybody who want to be president; they printed only one form, what is the difference between us? What is happening in Cross-Rivers, what is happening in Akwa-Ibom, Lagos state,they have to repeat their congress. If anybody is talking about love of internal democracy, today, we have about five strong presidential aspirants campaigning; we didn’t say we have no form for them.

    People can see what is happening; we have a strong robust internal democracy, we have a code of ethics for all our aspirants, they must all agree that only one person will get it and whoever gets it, the others will co-operate. They should come and learn from us.

    Is it true that the APC has instructed its members in the Ekiti State House of Assembly not to cooperate with Governor Fayose?

    It’s a pity that we are never ready to face reality. When PDP decided to field Ayodele Fayose as their governorship candidate, knowing fully well that this is someone who has been impeached, knowing also that under our laws anybody who has been indicted cannot hold public office. Within ten years, they insisted, thinking they are the only one who has the capacity for violence, democracy is by numbers. This is not the first time in Nigeria that a governor will rule with, the minority in the house, 1979, Balarabe Musa of Kaduna state, his party, PRP, won on the terms of his popularity as a person but the NPN had the majority in the house, they refused to approve his list of commissioners and at the end, he was impeached, that’s democracy. Balarabe Musa did not seek to call the police and allow his minority to impeach the speaker; he did not use the police to chase the other people away. Anyway, what do you expect of a Fayose, a governor-elect who led people to beat up a judge, but let me tell you, what is happening in the country today, the impurity cannot happen without the support of the police. The police prevented the speaker of the House of Representatives from entering his office and said they were looking for hoodlums; did AminuTambuwal look like a hoodlum? He got down from the car and introduced himself, what did they do? They turned their back, and now they are saying what they did was ungentle manly and I say these people are heroes of democracy. If my house is on fire and my children and wife are in there, and I can’t get fire brigade to save me, I will break the door, that’s what they did.

    Should two wrong make a right? In Ekiti, events there will affect the “people” and “the people” are in the majority.

    Why are you not asking Fayose to allow democracy to work are you asking theEkiti lawmakers to go and waste their lives, or that they should roll-over and let Fayose trample on them? We are either a democracy or we are move out of democracy. There are other ways you can win over legislators, by persuasion I go back to history, 1979, NPN didn’t have a majority in the national assembly, they went into an accord and late UmehEzeoke became the speaker, Wash Pam the deputy senate president, even when that accord broke down, they remain the speaker, that’s what I call politics, not the gangsterism going on.

    Politicians have raised the tempo of the 2015 elections, in terms of utterances during campaigns and other things. Are you worried about the elections? Pre and post elections events?

    We are scared. Election is a process and what happens in run-off is always important, if not more than the election day itself see what is happening now, like the right of the people to be registered to vote, talking about being able to vote, talking about a level playing ground, government should be neutral in the process leading to election, unfortunately what we are witnessing today does not say so. Let me be specific, look at the collection of permanent voter cards exercise, it’s been bungled, it’s a fiasco and we begin to wonder if it is not deliberate because these are states that belong largely to the APC.

  • Jonathan charges citizens on volunteer service

    Jonathan charges citizens on volunteer service

     

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday said that volunteerism and citizens’ responsibilities were vital requirements in the transformation process in the country.

    The president made the statement at the 12th National Summit of Special Marshals of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Abuja.

    The News agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Jonathan was represented at the occasion by Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

    He called on Nigerians to be willing to volunteer themselves towards national transformation as exemplified by the role of special marshals.

    “Road safety is not a responsibility that should be left only to the regular marshals (FRSC officials) as it requires assistance, understanding and collaboration of all Nigerians.

    “Volunteerism and citizens’ responsibility are fundamental in the transformation process of our dear country,” the president said.

    Jonathan described the FRSC special marshals in Nigeria as the largest volunteer force in Africa.

    According to the President, the marshals had been playing crucial roles in the campaign to ensure the success of road safety in the country.

    Commending the FRSC for the good work it had been doing with of government’s its continuous support, Jonathan said: “I recommend on merit, the special marshal programme to other countries in African and beyond.”

    Also speaking at the occasion, the Corps Marshal, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said that the FRSC remained committed to safety on the nation’s roads.

    “The essence of this summit is to reflect on how the special marshals have contributed towards operational efficiency of FRSC.

    “It is also to make them more committed in their voluntary service to ensure safety on the nation’s roads,” Oyeyemi disclosed.

    Dr. Sini Kwabe, the National Coordinator of Special Marshals, urged members to be more committed to ensure safety on the roads.

    He called on people of integrity to volunteer themselves to the development of the nation by joining as special marshals.

    NAN recalls that the special marshals’ scheme was established in 1989 as a voluntary service to complement the activities of the FRSC.

    There are over 13,000 special marshals currently complementing 19,000 regular officers of the FRSC.

    The summit with the theme “Transforming Nigeria through Volunteerism: The Nigerian Special Marshals Strategy,” was attended by stakeholders in the road sector, members of the armed forces and Para-military agencies.

  • 2015: How far can Jonathan go in Southwest?

    2015: How far can Jonathan go in Southwest?

    President Goodluck Jonathan would need all the votes he can get in the southern part of the country to stand a chance of winning next year’s presidential election. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN x-rays his chances in the Southwest, which may turn out to be the President’s Achilles’ heels in the South. 

    The Southwest geo-political zone is probably the only part of the South where President Goodluck Jonathan would experience an uphill task in his bid to secure a second term during next year’s general elections. Against this background, Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been making frantic efforts to woo the people of the region, to ensure the party’s victory at the first balloting.

    Indeed, the PDP and its strategists in the Presidency are believed to be jittery over the realisation that losing the Southwest might cost them the presidential election. Similarly, the party is also apprehensive over its fate in the Northwest and Northeast zones.

    The PDP’s calculation, according to analysts, is that if the President defeats the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southwest and secures 25 per cent in all the states in the Northwest and Northeast, he could avoid the second ballot.

    In 2011, Jonathan polled 2,786,410 votes from the Southwest, the stronghold of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which is one of the opposition parties that metamorphosed into the APC. Despite the fact that the ACN fielded a presidential candidate, Jonathan came first in all the Southwest states, except Osun. A breakdown of the figure shows that he polled the highest vote of 1,281,688 in Lagos State; 487,758 in Oyo; 309,170 in Ogun; 135,009 in Ekiti; 387,376 in Ondo and 188,409 in Osun.

    Realising that he had neglected the zone, President Jonathan embarked on an image-laundering tour of the region, which climaxed at an event in Ile-Ife, Osun State, dubbed the Yoruba Progress Summit, where the President pledged that he would take proper care of the Yoruba, if re-elected next year. Jonathan said at the summit, which was held at the Oduduwa Hall of the institution, described the Southwest as a key part of Nigeria that his administration must work with.

    The summit was organised by the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), which is made up of some members of the Afenifere and Yoruba elders sympathetic to Jonathan’s administration. The President had earlier in the year  visited some traditional rulers in the zone, to seek their endorsement for his re-election bid.

    The question now is: on the day of election, how would Jonathan fare in the Southwest, which is an APC stronghold? Analysts are of the opinion that the factor working against Jonathan’s interest in the region is the perceived marginalisation of the zone under his administration. They argue that it will be difficult for Jonathan to replicate his 2011 feat in the Southwest, including Ekiti and Ondo states, which are governed by the PDP. The analysts are of the view that in spite of the massive support Jonathan received from the people of the Southwest in 2011, his administration  has not done much for the region.

    To a pan-Yoruba movement, the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG),  it is too late for President Jonathan to woo the Yoruba nation to back his re-election bid. The ARG Publicity Secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, described the summit organised by the YUF in Ile-Ife as an after-thought and a futile effort to sneak the President into Yoruba land through the backdoor.

    Famoriyo said: “For the past five years under his administration, the Yoruba people have been deliberately marginalised and skewed out of national reckoning, especially in terms of key appointments and opportunity to partake in key sectors of the economy.”We are surprised that President Jonathan believes the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, over which he has no control, is enough to atone for the deliberate marginalisation in key appointments, over which he has control.”

    The ARG scribe dismissed the summit by saying that it was conveyed by the people who are falsely parading themselves as leaders of the Yoruba people. “Those Yoruba persons posing as Yoruba leaders know that leadership in Yoruba land resides in treasured virtues of Omoluwabi and Afenifere philosophy, not necessarily in persons. Yoruba people know their leaders.

    “We dare say that more than any so-called leader at that event (Yoruba Progress Summit), those students who braved all the odds to tell Mr. President the truth, are the true leaders; irrespective of their origins. We salute the courage of those students who spoke truth in the face of oppression and we enjoin every Nigerian to replicate their courageous act,” the ARG spokesman argued.

    Civil Rights activist Moshood Erubami castigated President Jonathan for what he described as total neglect of the Southwest. Erubami said: “No real Yoruba man or woman who supports a pan-Yoruba political and developmental agenda will vote for Jonathan in the coming election, because the Southwest has not gained anything from his administration.

    The civil rights activist argued: “There is no tangible thing President has done since he took over from the late President Yar’Adua to warrant his being given a ticket to re-contest the election. Obviously, most of those who constitute the Yoruba elders in the current move to pacify the race to vote for him are enemies of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo during his lifetime and obviously it has continued after his death.

    “The frequent visits of these elders to the seat of power and the toothy smile usually on their faces when coming out of Aso Rock says it all that they are not true Awoists. Most of the Afenifere leaders in the group asking for Jonathan’s re-election are those who felt betrayed by the consistent Awoists who populate the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “We cannot therefore put the destinies of the Yoruba race in the hands of the present flock of the Yoruba elders who are friends of Jonathan, using crass opportunism to stay alive and think the task of restoring the Yoruba nation to its pride of place can be achieved. The task of bringing the race to its desirable height is too vital to be left in the hands of political jobbers. For real development to be achieved, these elders must first be rejected, displaced and replaced.”

    Curiously, the leaders of YUF rooting for Jonathan’s second term had earlier expressed disappointment over what they described as systematic marginalisation of the Southwest in federal appointments. For instance, a chieftain of the Afenifere who is also a leader of the YUF, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, confirmed that the Yoruba leaders had made representation to the President over the perceived marginalisation of Southwest by his administration.

    Okunrounmu said: “We (Yoruba leaders) had met with Jonathan to complain about the marginalisation of the Yoruba, but he has not done anything about it.  So, we have decided to pay him another visit. We have already made our intention known to the Presidency. We are now waiting for the President to give us an appointment.

    “We have the details of the situation which we intend to present to the President. It is as if the Southwest has been excised from the country. If you look at all the top political positions and appointments in the country, it is not hard to see that Southwest has been marginalised in this administration.”

    Another chieftain of the Afenifere, Chief Olu Falae, alleged that the President’s pattern of appointments with no consideration for the Yoruba suggests that he does not appreciate their contribution to his emergence as the President.

    Falae pointed out that the Yoruba were sidelined in appointments and control of political offices. He listed the topmost positions as that of the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of House of Representatives, Chief Justice of the Federation, Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, President of the Court of Appeal, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, National Security Adviser and Head of Service of the Federation.

    The former Secretary to the Federal Government argued that none of these offices was being occupied by a Yoruba, stressing that the absence of Yoruba in the power hierarchy had adversely affected the zone.

    Another Yoruba elder decried the Yoruba marginalisation by the Jonathan administration. He said: “the relegation of the Yoruba is not just in higher hierarchy of government but also in agencies, parastatals, and corporations. A situation where the total appointments for the entire Southwest fall short of those of certain states elsewhere in the country suggests either a deliberate effort to ignite ethnic resentment or a glaring outcome of total collapse of coordination in the machinery and records of government. Available data indicate that the Yoruba have lost more than half of their appointive positions since the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua. For instance, eight general managers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were sacked in October 2012, six of whom were Yoruba.

    Public affairs analyst, Bisi Akintunde said President Jonathan should not expect bulk vote from the Southwest in 2015. He said what happened in 2011 will not play out this time around. “Jonathan got sympathy votes in the Southwest not because of the PDP but because he came from the minority group that had never ruled this country. The same Jonathan has squandered that opportunity and relegated the Southwest to the background in the scheme of things.

    “Despite the goodwill the people of the Southwest accorded him in 2011, what did they benefit from his government? Jonathan should not be misled by the self-serving leaders of the PDP in the Southwest that the Yoruba would vote for him in 2015. The so-called leaders lack electoral value; some of them cannot win in their wards.”

    He described the Southwest as the traditional home of the progressives. “I don’t see a situation where by the Yoruba would for any reason this time around abandon the APC, which was co-founded by their leaders and other like minds across the country. Besides, the politics of the Southwest is based on principle and peoples interest,” he added.

    Akintunde said: “Whoever bothers to study the pattern of reaction of the electorate in the Southwest would agree that the zone is inhabited by independent-minded people, whose reactions to political issues are determined by several factors, including high-level of education and political sophistry and obviously reactions to matters pertaining to their political leaders and environment.”

    Former PDP National Vice Chairman in the Southwest, Senator Yinka Omilani aligned himself with the position of the Yoruba elders, who are insisting that President Jonathan has marginalised the region. He said: “I share their view. We don’t deserve it at all. The people of the Southwest voted massively for Jonathan in 2011. It is a general cake that has to be shared among those who contributed to the baking of the cake.

    “We went to Abuja on this issue. All the PDP governors and leaders were there to confront President Jonathan. He promised to rectify the anomaly after 2015 elections. Apart from the ministerial appointment, which is constitutional, what have we gained from Jonathan’s regime so far? We have nothing to show for the massive support he got from Southwest in 2011.”

  • TAN hails PDP on Jonathan

    The Transformation Ambassador of Nigerian (TAN), Bayelsa State chapter, has commended the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for adopting President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate in the 2015 election.

    The former Deputy Governor and state Coordinator, TAN, Chief, Werinipre Seibarugu, said Jonathan by the development had become the first Nigerian President to be returned unopposed.

    He said the automatic ticket which was ratified on Wednesday by the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) and other organs of the party was historic.

    Seibarugu, in a statement issued in Yenagoa on Thursday and signed by TAN’s Director of Media and Publicity, Chief Nathan Egba, commended the national leadership of TAN for mobilising people for Jonathan.

    TAN said: “We note that even though the voting of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, as Presidential candidate at the convention is largely formal, the TAN commend the delegates who participated in the process that returned the President unopposed.

    “We also commend the delegates for the trust in the Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu and National Secretary of the National Working Committee of the party as shown in the election at the convention.

    “We call on the delegate not to rest on their oars and that they should work to ensure the support shown is sustained and translated into votes during the 2015 elections.”

  • Jonathan’s support group in road crash

    A Hiace bus conveying 18 members of the Jonathan Support Group, under the aegis of Jonathan Shall Lead Again Movement (JOSLA), from Katsina to Kaduna en route Abuja, had a head-on with a Volkswagen golf car from the opposite direction at Giwa Junction in Kaduna State.

    The state coordinator of the movement, Ms. Queen Abueh, who was one of the passengers, had her hand amputated at a hospital in Zaria, Kaduna State.

    She and other passengers are receiving treatment at a private hospital in Kaduna.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Kaduna, the movement’s National Coordinator, Comrade Kingsley Okoruwa, described the accident as unfortunate and a setback for the group.

    He said: “We are gratitude to God that the 18 members in the bus are responding to treatment.”

    Okoruwa thanked Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema  for assisting the victims.

    The governor promised to settle the hospital bills of the 18 passengers.

  • Jonathan ready for debate with APC candidate – PDP

    Jonathan ready for debate with APC candidate – PDP

    President Goodluck Jonathan is ready for public debate with any aspirant that emerges as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh , stated this at a press conference at the party’s Abuja national secretariat on Tuesday.

    He said the debate will focus on a wide range of issues affecting the country, adding that the President would be ready for the APC candidate after the ratification of his candidacy on Thursday.

    The party spokesman said 3,073 delegates are expected to participate in the PDP convention where the President’s sole candidacy is expected to be sealed.

    Metuh said: “As a party, we are going into the conduct of our presidential primaries, in particular, with great excitement, knowing very well that we are keeping an appointment with the destiny of our nation as embodied by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who is both President of our nation and candidate of our party on the occasion of our presidential primaries at the Eagle Square.

    “The PDP is rest assured that we have a very good product to sell to Nigerians. We are confident that President Jonathan, as our candidate, is primed to win the 2015 presidential election based on his popularity deriving from his forthrightness, humility and steadfastness to the Nigerian project, coupled with his record of verifiable achievements.

    “We are today serving notice to the opposition APC to expect a crushing defeat at the polls. In view of our confidence, preparedness and the popularity of our candidate, we declare that the APC can put forth its two frontline aspirants in one bunch, namely Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as joint presidential candidates with their collective credentials and followership to face our candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “The President has been able to stabilize the polity by his pan Nigerian outlook and approach to governance. The stability of our nation has strengthened national unity. Today, he has been able to give every geo- political zone a sense of belonging in terms of infrastructure development, economic and human capital empowerment.”

    The party said no other leader had united the Nigerian people more than Jonathan had done, adding that the President has continued to act on the side of caution in the counter insurgency campaign.

    “President Jonathan has stabilise the economy. The rebasing of the economy has made Nigeria the largest economy in Africa and 26th in the world.

    “For us in the PDP, it is neither a matter of conjecture nor propaganda; we are certain that with the grassroots support and the love he enjoys from Nigerians across board, President Jonathan will secure an emphatic victory at the polls.”

  • Jonathan and the economy czar

    Their number is insignificant compared to the total figure of companies and businesses operating in the country. Still, they are known as the custodians of the Nigerian economy.

    They are the top 100 businesses in Nigeria out of the over 3.6 million firms and enterprises scattered in all tiers of the economy. Without them, the economy will crumble.

    Not only are they providing jobs; they also consistently fund the government through their taxes.

    The 100 companies, which are less than 1% of the companies in Nigeria, contribute about 20% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    No wonder President Goodluck Jonathan is looking up to them and other upcoming companies to move the Nigerian economy to the top 10 economies in the world in the shortest possible time.

    Unveiling the top 100 companies at a presidential dinner in the State House last week Monday, Jonathan said: “You are shining stars, the central component of our economy. It is companies like yours that bring government’s economic policies to life.”

    “This is because you are in the trenches every day, investing, expanding and ensuring that your businesses keep working. The entire nation and I are very proud of you.”

    You are all truly Nigerians; your achievements have been remarkable. You have shown boldness and vision in enterprise and confidence in this country.

    “Through your investments, you have contributed significantly to employment generation, wealth creation and our overall economic development.” he stated

    Speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, disclosed that the 100 companies were selected using simple criteria including turnover, which was extracted from their audited financial statements.

    The data, he said, was obtained from the Financial Reporting Council, Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

    The first10 of the top 100 businesses are ExxonMobil Nig (Oil and Gas), Shell Nig (Oil and Gas), Chevron Nig (Oil and Gas), Nigeria LNG, Total Nig (Oil and Gas), MTN Nig. (Telecomms), Dangote Group, Oando (Oil and Gas), Eni Agip (Oil and Gas), First Bank (Financial Services).

     

    Honour to whom it is due

     

    The government has been criticised in various quarters for the calibre of persons listed for some national awards. The critics had argued that there were more worthy and deserving Nigerians who have been left out of such awards.

    But this was not the case last Thursday when Prof. Niyi Osundare was conferred with the 2014 Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNMA) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The poet, dramatist and essayist beat 21 other nominees with every voice acknowledging him as the right choice among the lot.

    Conferring the award, President Goodluck Jonathan noted: “I have no doubt that Prof. Niyi Osundare, our awardee this year, meets our nation’s expectation.”

    “There is no doubt also that the knowledge, expertise and contributions of today’s recipient will be of immense benefit to our overall development agenda, in particular, the successful implementation of this administration’s transformation efforts,” he said

    It is hoped that all subsequent national awards will continue to be devoid of politics and other insignificant criteria and really go to deserving persons.

     

    Breaking records in a row

     

    The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke may be seen as one of the most controversial and highly investigated ministers to occupy the seat, but she somehow has broken records in the petroleum industry and other areas.

    The first record she broke was becoming the first woman Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and later the first woman on the board of the company.

    She was named as the first woman Minister of Transport in July, 2007.

    As if that was not enough, she became the first female minister to occupy the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in April, 2010 with all her predecessors been male.

    Apart from been the first woman to head any country’s delegation to the annual Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) conference in October 2010, she got elected as the first female President of OPEC on November 27, 2014.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan last Wednesday congratulated her on the feat.

    Speaking with State House correspndents on the latest position, Diezani said: “First of all, it wouldn’t have happened if the President had not had the courage to appoint a woman into the portfolio of Ministry of Petroleum Resources, which meant that I now headed the country’s delegation to OPEC.”

    “I must say that that was daunting thing, it happened about three and half years ago, I went into a body which is completely male dominated and mostly Arab dominated as well. But I have found that they have come to respect me and respect Nigeria’s voice over the last three years in OPEC very highly,” she said

    Only time will tell what records she will break next. Will she aim to achieve this feat in Bayelsa State Government House or aim to be the first woman Nigerian president?

     

  • Should lawmakers impeach Jonathan?

    Should lawmakers impeach Jonathan?

    Some lawmakers are gearing up to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan, with less than three months to the 2015 elections. Will they succeed? Lawyers air their views on the move. ADEBISI ONANUGA reports

    Should President Goodluck Jonathan remain in office? No, say some senators who are accusing him of gross misconduct.

    No fewer than 63 Senators are said to have signed an impeachment notice to be served on the President.

    Reports say once the primaries are over, the pro-impeachment Senators and their counterparts in the House of Representatives will meet to consider when to present the impeachment request to Senate President David Mark in line with Section 143 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution.

    A principal officer in the Senate reportedly confirmed that the pro-impeachment lawmakers have embarked on signature drive to get the required two-third stipulated in the Constitution for the exercise to scale through.

    The impeachment move is coming against the backdground of what some pundits described as undemocratic and unconstitutional acts by the President or agencies supposed to be subservient to democratic rules and constitutional authorities.

    Observers cited the recent use of police to prevent the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and other lawmakers from gaining access to the National Assembly. Some of scaled the gate to enter the place.

    Others are the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba’s refusal to recognise Tambuwal as Speaker; the desecration of the judiciary in Ekiti State and the police clamp down on the “Bring Back Our Girls” campaigners.

    The President has also, by his body language, allegedly backed the ‘impeachment’ of Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker by seven PDP lawmakers.

    Reactions to the impeachment plot

    Some lawyers are backing the impeachment move since to them, the allegations are weighty.

    They, however, warned against heating up the polity, especially with the election a few months away.

    Former Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Monday Ubani, said if the President has committed any offence which the National Assembly considers impeachable, then he should go.

    He added: “However, this is subject to the two basic tests. One is, can  both legislative chambers muster the requisite numerical strength constitutionally provided to carry out successfully the said impeachment? Two, is it politically expedient to carry out any impeachment of the President now that election is a few months away?

    “On the first question, I doubt very much the possibility of mustering the requisite numerical strength (in this case 2/3 majority members of both legislative houses) to impeach the President,” Ubani said.

    According him, opposition party members alone cannot impeach the President.

    “The second issue is: is it politically inexpedient to do so? The current Vice-President is from the Northern region and a likely successor to the office of the President in case of a successful impeachment.

    “Sinister meanings with demonic consequences will be the outcome of such a successful impeachment. The consequence of such act is better imagined than manifesting.

    “The people from the Southsouth and those presently benefiting from the present government from Southeast are likely going to fight dirty to ensure a reversal,” Ubani said.

    A member of the Ogun State Judicial Service Commission, Abayomi Omoyinmi, said all the impeachable allegations leveled against the President are real.

    He agreed with the lawmakers that the President has committed the offences, while there has been leadership failure.

    He noted that  the procedure for impeachment of the President could take months, adding that the illegal impeachment processes witnessed recently cannot be re-enacted with regard to the President.

    “The fact that the election is just a few months away should not stop the commencement of the process if the legislators are desirous and are committed to proving the allegations once the process gets started,” he stated.

    However, a constitutional lawyer, Sebastine Hon (SAN), faulted the timing of the impeachment.

    He said the cumulative period of four months stipulated for the various stages in the impeachment of the President under Section 143(2)(b), (3), (5) and (7)(,b) of the Constitution will not be met before the February, 2015 elections.

    This, according to him, then means that taxpayers money would have been spent on a phoney project.

    “It is, with due respect, wrongly timed and is capable of engendering unimaginable political consequences. Mind you, the President will not stand aloof and watch himself disgraced out of office. The ensuing political battle will splatter extremely foul water on our political and economic spaces, which are already at breaking point,” he said.

    Hon added: “Nigerians are already restive and have become marooned, no thanks to the recklessness and impunity of the political class and the downward spiral of oil prices, resulting to crushing poverty.

    “They are, therefore, not ready for any expensive political fight between the executive and the legislature in the name of impeachment of the President.”

    A Lagos lawyer, Olukayode Enitan, wondered why the lawmakers chose this period to try to impeach the President.

    According to him, most of the allegations are not new. “So why raise the issues now and as grounds for impeachment rather than election issues?”he asked.

    “If Jonathan should be impeached, who comes in? The VP Namadi Sambo.  Can you extricate him from what the executive has been doing? Never forget that it’s been said that a people get the government that they desire and deserve no matter what they say.”

    To Enitan, there has been a failure of leadership from this administration’s beginning. He said the non-release of the Chibok girls is  a  reflection of the lack of leadership, stating that the National Assembly is partly to blame for the continued captivity of the girls by the Boko Haram.

    He wondered why it took the Senators till now to see the fact that the award of oil pipeline protection contract to former Niger Delta militants meant a vote of no confidence on the police and other security forces of the country.

    He lamented that corruption is everywhere in the  country and while the Jonathan administration can be held to have been derelict in the fight against it, the National Assembly has also been complicit by being ineffective in its oversight duties.

    Former Welfare Secretary of the NBA, Ikeja Branch, Samson Omodara said while the National Assembly has reasonble basis to begin an impeachment process against the President if indeed he committed the alleged offences,  but he is worried about the timing. “The timing is politically in-expedient,” he thought.

    Lagos lawyer, Emeka Nwadioke considered the allegations against the President weighty on one hand and “tenuous and laughable” on the other, particularly the one dealing with corruption.

    The lawyer/publisher said the timing of the planned impeachment is manifestly inauspicious, especially in light of the terror war and the national economy, which are “on the precipice”.

    “If the lawmakers have condoned Mr. President for so long, and have to wait until the invasion of the National Assembly by a motley crowd of wayward policemen to recall that as many as 120 bills remain unaccented to while they have been rendered a toothless bulldog all this while, it is safe to say that most of the lawmakers deserve to be ‘impeached’ or recalled.

    “Nigerians are not amused by this fiddling with our collective intelligence. What is more, the impeachment process as provided by Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is not a tea-party; it can last for as long as almost four months.”

    He hoped that with the electioneering campaigns around the corner, the plan is not yet a grand design by the lawmakers to beef up their electioneering war-chest through ‘Ghana-must-go’ stratagems.

    Lagos lawyer, Adesina Adegbite said that the impeachment plot against President Goodluck Jonathan will die a natural death.

    Though the impeachment threat appeared to be yielding some result,  Adegbite, a former Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Ikeja Branch  contended that it was weaven to get the President’s support for the return ticket for some powerful PDP members in the Senate.

    He said that the impeachable offences compiled by some senators against the President, are all political gimmicks.

    “There’s no doubt that the President has failed in many respects and in a decent society the President would have voluntarily bowed out of office long before now. However, I can tell you straight away that the impeachment threat is only meant to achieve one aim, and that is  to get the President’s support for the return ticket for some powerful PDP members in the Senate”, he insisted.

    Hon said with the general elections imminent,  all hands must be on deck to ensure their success.

    Ubani urged the political elite to do everything possible to avert the predicted break up of the country by the United States.

    “It is a task we must all pursue  if we must have a country we can still call our own. This impeachment threat remains what it is; a mere threat, which may or may not be tabled at all, let alone debated upon.”

    Omodara advised the lawmakers not to heat up the polity.

    “Care must be taken by our political gladiators not plunge the nation into an avoidable calamity,” he said.

    Instead of an impeachment exercise that may not work, Enitan urged Nigerians to take a decision in February 2015 by vote Jonathan out.

    “If we are agreed that he (the President) is inept and unable to govern properly nor offer the type of leadership that we need at this point in our national life, then he must be voted out,” he said.

    Nwadioke urged the National Assembly to refrain from playing to the gallery or overheating the polity.

    “Let them face what is left of their jaded tenure and leave Nigerians to decide Mr. President’s fate in February,” he added.

     

  • 2015: FG will improve security in Northeast – Jonathan

    2015: FG will improve security in Northeast – Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said that Nigeria’s Armed Forces and security agencies will sustain and intensify ongoing operations against insurgents in the northeast to achieve significantly improved security ahead of the 2015 general elections.

    Speaking at an audience with the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Uriel Palti, President Jonathan said that Nigeria will also continue to work with neighbouring countries for the effective implementation of the regional security arrangements which were recently concluded to enhance multilateral cooperation against extremism, terrorism, insurgency and other cross-border crimes.

    According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, President Jonathan told the Israeli Ambassador that the Federal Government was actively and progressively enhancing the ability of Nigeria’s Armed Forces and security agencies to deal decisively with terrorists and insurgents.

    The positive effects of steps taken by his administration in that regard, he said, will become increasingly apparent very soon.

    The Israeli ambassador conveyed the condolences of thecountry’s Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netenyahu, to President Jonathan and the people of Nigeria on the loss of lives in recent terrorist attacks.

    He thanked President Jonathan for his recent visits to Israel.