The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Jonathan

  • X-raying Jonathan’s form donations

    The cost of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Presidential Nomination Fee and Expression of Interest Form has been fixed for N22 million.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the sole candidate of the party, realised N99.915 million from donations and pledges, bringing the cash to over 354% of the amount needed to obtain the form.

    The donations, which came from individuals, associations and communities, warranted two statements to be issued last Wednesday from the office of the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

    The office had to update the first statement to capture the latest donations received after it was issued.

    While the N22 million donations from PDP governors is expected, but the motives for donations from widows and people with disabilities who need more financial and moral supports from the society, cannot be clearly placed.

    No doubt, this is just the beginning of more donations to come as the campaign begins in earnest.

    But what are the real motives behind the N99.915 million donations and pledges? Are they genuinely given out of love for Mr. President or as gratitude for the past or as part of a larger plan towards future selfish gain?

    Maybe the President needs to pause a little and really take a critical look at each of the donations ranging from N5,000 to N22 million in order to unveil the true motivations behind them.

    Those who donated  include: Mr. Kennedy Ikenna Odoeme – N5, 000, Mr Ezemagu Sunday Nnamdi – N10, 000, PDP Governors – N22 Million, Transformation Agenda of Nigeria  (TAN) – N22m, Ogbia LGA Stakeholders, Bayelsa state – N5m, Otuoke Community Stakeholders – N2m, Brass LGA Stakeholders, Bayelsa state – N50, 000, Bayelsa State PDP Stakeholders- N5m, Northern Youths Forum – N2m, Central Market Traders Union, Kaduna State – N1m, PDP Stakeholders, Zaria LGA – N500, 000, PDP Stakeholders, Yobe State – N500, 000.

    Others are PDP Stakeholders, Kaduna State- N2m, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore – N5m, The Goodluck Support Group, Gombe State – N1m, Adamawa State PDP Stakeholders – N3m,  Ebonyi State PDP Stakeholders- N2m, Kogi State PDP Stakeholders – N5m, Rivers State PDP Stakeholders – N5m, The 2015 Project – N1m, Team Goodluck, Ondo North Senatorial District – N5m, Middle Belt PDP Women Support  Group for GEJ 2015 – N500, 000, King David Generation Foundation, Jos – N200, 000,  Behwong Weneng Yere Duk, Jos – N200,000, Redemption 3 Youth Organization, Plateau State – N500, 000,  Plateau State Indigenes Association, Abuja – N300,000, Gombe Youth United for Goodluck Ebele Jonathan 2015 – N500, 000, Gombe Youth Vanguard for PDP- N500, 000, Yamahu/Deba Goodluck Support Group – N200, 000,  Coalition of Gombe Support Groups for Goodluck Ebele Jonathan – N2m, Hinna Youth Coalition for Goodluck – N500, 000, Nigerian Women Pray for Jonathan – N1m, National Association of Widows – N100, 000, National Council of Women Societies – N500, 000,  Female members of the PDP Board of Trustees – N500,000, Joint Association of Persons with Disabilities – N100,000,  National Association of Market Women – N500, 000, Community Awareness and Development Network – N1m.

    The Presidency also got donations from Presidential View And Endorsement Platform -N200,000, Association of South East Town Unions – N300,000, Goodluck Jonathan 2015 Online Group – 250,000, The Light Network for Jonathan 2015, Lagos State – N300,000, Igbo Speaking Community, Lagos State – N200,000, Oghareki Graduate Association for Jonathan, Delta State – N500,000.

    Another poser is where will the balance of the donations in excess of the cost of the form go to. Will it go to the motherless babies homes or be held back for the campaign proper.

     

    Avoiding NFF crisis

     

    Every deliberate efforts were made last Wednesday to show the neutrality of the Presidency in the crisis that engulfed the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    The occasion was the presentation of the African Women Football Championship (AWC) trophy and the victorious Super Falcons to President Gooduck Jonathan before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting.

    The crisis in the Nigerian football house that day had centred on the current President, Amaju Pinnick and the factional President, Chris Giwa, who had headed to a general law court, which was threatening sanctions from FIFA. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has jurisdiction over such cases.

    But by Thursday, Nigeria escaped the wrath of FIFA as Justice Ambrose Allagoa of the Federal High Court sitting in Jos struck out the suit filed against the NFF by Chris Giwa-led group.

    Pinnick, before the court struck out the case, was among the delegation that accompanied the Super Falcons to the Presidential Villa on Wednesday and seemed not to be given proper recognition as the head of the Federation that won the AWC trophy.

    He was first ommited when the master of ceremony, the Principal Secretary to the President, Hassan Tukur was making introduction of some of the delegation that came with the team.

    The NFF President or the name of Pinnick was also not mentioned among the group to present the AWC trophy to President Jonathan at the brief occasion witnessed by cabinet members.

    The master of ceremony had mentioned Sports Minister, Super Falcons’ Captain and the teams’s coach as those that will present the trophy to Mr. President.

    Probably because he is a native of Delta state, which is known as the ‘Big Heart’ of the nation and popularly referred to as ‘Delta no dey carry last’, Pinnick rose up and joined the group to present the trophy to President Jonathan.

    He did not fail to enjoy every bit of the ceremony as he posed with others for photo shots with the President and the AWC trophy.

     

    FCT Council of Chiefs, Area Councils endorse Bala Mohammed for longer tenure

     

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council of Chiefs and the six area councils last Wednesday were unanimous about improving development in the capital city under the Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed.

    Paying a courtesy visit to President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, they declared that they have never had it so good in the city than with Mohammed as FCT Minister under Jonathan’s administration.

    The delegation, including Chairman FCT Council of Chiefs, HRH Alhaji Adamu Baba Nisa, Sarki Jiwa, HRH Idris Musa, HRH Alhaji Mohammed Bada, Robochi, Kuje Area Council, Etsu of Bwari, HRH Ibrahim Yaro, Agura of Zuba, Mohammed Umar, Sakari of Karo, Emmanuel Shota,  FCT PDP Chairman, Y.Y. Suleiman, Senator Philip Aduda, Senator Jubrin Wowo, Chairman, Kwali Area Council, Hon. Ibrahim Daniel, Chairman Abaji Area Council, Hon. Yahaya Garba, among other demands begged Mr. President to continue to retain Mohammed as the Minister of the territory.

    While making his remartk, Alhaji Baba Nisa said: “Mr. President, we thank you very much for sending Bala Mohammed to be our Minister. If there is anything required of us, we will support him and support you because we want him to remain in the FCT. He has done a lot for us.”

     

  • Southeast roads and Jonathan’s re-election

    The Onitsha-Enugu highway is undoubtedly the worst among the so called expressways in Nigeria today. The tar on that road was completely excavated across several kilometers, more than two years ago, and it has now developed craters at several points. The abandoned road has also been made worse by erosion, which is a major challenge in the Southeast. Travelling on that road last week, I was amused that Anambra State which perhaps has the highest number of high-profile supporters for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan has been treated with such ignominy by the government they want re-elected, at all cost.

    In fairness to Anambra politicians, that mess called expressway, stretches all the way to Enugu State, forcing motorists to make a detour into the old Onitsha-Enugu road, starting from Awka to 9th Mile, since the Enugu State government had renovated her portion of the stretch, few years ago. Interestingly, the spate of abandonment of vital infrastructure and monuments in the south-east by the Jonathan administration, first hit me as I passed the Onitsha head bridge, where a perennial joke is played on the south-east, each time a new administration comes into power in Nigeria, in the name of an inland port. In fairness to President Jonathan, it was former President Shehu Shagari, who started that ridicule of announcing the development of a port, without dredging the waterway.

    Of course in vain did I stretch my eyes in search of the new Onitsha bridge, or any tale-tale sign of it, despite the President’s promise to the people when he came asking for their votes in 2011. As I peered into that ancient and combusting center of commerce, and arguably the host of the biggest market in West Africa, I could hear the regal voice of the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Ofala Okagbue, as he chided President Jonathan less than two years ago over his unkempt promises.  My sense of shame, as a south-easterner, ricocheted as I passed the residence of the late Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, where the abandoned mausoleum in his honour, confirmed irrevocably that the Azikiwe stunt in President Jonathan’s name which paid off handsomely in the last election was not borne out of any reverence, for that grand patriarch of Nigeria’s independence and statehood.

    Yet the south-east perhaps have their best chance under the current political dispensation to ensure budgetary provisions to completely repair the Onitsha-Enugu highway, among other abandoned roads in the region. As a senior friend pointed out to me as we remonstrated over the tragedy of the politics of Ndigbo, the south-east has prominent persons in President Jonathan’s government who should be held responsible for the abandonment of critical infrastructure in the south-east. He mentioned the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister for Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okojo-Iweala, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on works, Senator Anyogu Eze, the Chairman of the House of Representative Committee on Works, Honourable Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi, as the chief culprits.

    We both wondered how such high profile persons could be in their privileged positions and yet were unable to ensure that adequate provisions were made in the national budget for the rehabilitation of that import artery in the south-east. We also reminisced that former Governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi (Okwute) who is a strong supporter of President Jonathan, travels on that road, and yet despite the abandonment, is so vociferous in his unalloyed support for the reelection of President Jonathan, in 2015. We mentioned Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Chief Arthur Eze, and several other high profile Peoples Democratic Party bigwigs, who are very outspoken that south-east is securely in the pocket of President Jonathan, as far as the 2015 election is concerned.

    Knowing that President Jonathan travels for short distances in a Helicopter, maybe because the roads are not safe, it is possible that he will land in Onitsha or Awka for his reelection campaign and will be regaled with the falsehood that he is the best thing to have happened to Ndigbo in recent times. I can see President Jonathan in Enugu, dancing to the Atiliogwu dance towards his 2015 reelection campaign, dressed in native attires of Ndigbo, bearing falsely the name Azikiwe, and roaring kwenu, kwenu, in greetings, without knowing that those who travelled on the Onitsha-Enugu highway to attend the rally may be cursing him under their breath, unless of course they had been handsomely settled to attend the rally.

    Talking of settlement, it is interesting that the best know campaign organ for the reelection of President Jonathan, the Traders Association of Nigeria (TAN), sorry, the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) is also founded and headed by Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, who is from Anambra state. While many will rail at me or curse me, if I begrudge the business mogul for his ‘acumen and foresight’ in founding and promoting the prime marketing company for the reelection of President Jonathan in 2015, I am worried that he might have to lie to the President should any potential voter query the state of that road, during a campaign stop in his home state. Of course, many believe that reelection campaigns have nothing to do with performance in office.

    In years to come, Sociologists and Anthropologists will be required to unravel the reasons for the uncommon support south-east political leaders have extended to President Goodluck Jonathan starting from 2010 when political fortunes smiled at him, up to the present. On the part of President Jonathan, what is responsible for his shabby treatment of the infrastructure needs of the south-east, despite the harvest of unprecedented support that saved his presidency when it mattered most, may require psychoanalysis?

     

  • ‘Jonathan, PDP can’t get 240 Reps for Speaker’s removal’

    ‘Jonathan, PDP can’t get 240 Reps for Speaker’s removal’

    The Senator representing the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Magnus Abe, has said President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not be able to get 240 of the 360 members in the House of Representatives to impeach the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.

    He also declared that with the taking over of Mubi in the Northeastern part by Boko Haram insurgents, Nigeria is clearly at war, with a competent president needed to tackle insecurity.

    Abe, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), spoke yesterday at his Bera-Ogoni hometown in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, while sensitising members of the executives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 17 wards, on the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) between November 7 and 9.

    He urged other PDP leaders and teeming supporters of Fili in the area to embrace change.

    Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), said: “As we speak now (yesterday), the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, the Number Four citizen of this country, has joined our party (APC). He left the other party (PDP) for the same reason that we left and other people are leaving.

    “People are coming to APC, because there is no justice there (in PDP) and there is no integrity in what they are doing.

    “There is no honesty. Nobody is abiding by the rules that we all agreed on. When you leave, they begin to chase after you.

    “As Alhaji Tambuwal left PDP, they withdrew his security. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear. You can become a Speaker of the House of Representatives, once you are a member of the House of Representatives.

    “Nobody in Nigeria, no power in Nigeria can get 240 members of the House of Representatives to say that Alhaji Tambuwal is not their Speaker. Nobody can do it”, he said.

  • Jonathan to subject aspirants to test

    Jonathan to subject aspirants to test

    President Goodluck Jonathan may have jettisoned the internal democracy of the Peoples Democartic Party (PDP), by directing that only the aspirants, who are loyal to him, should be supported to contest the 2015 general elections.

    Aspirants are to undergo risk assessment and valuation, to determine their level of loyalty to the President.

    The development was made known in a statement by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs in conjunction with the Nigerian Economic and Political Action Committee (NEPAC), which announced the commencement of risk assessment and candidate valuation for aspirants jostling for offices.

    The assessment, tagged: ‘Presidential Support Base Programme’, would evaluate and shortlist aspirants on classified basis.

    NEPAC Director-General Dr. Godson Nnaka, in the statement yesterday, noted that the assessment would ensure that only those proven to be loyal to Jonathan are supported to win elections.

    “The objectives of this programme is to identify, evaluate and shortlist aspirants on classified basis, who, if supported, will maintain maximum loyalty and be part of a strong support base for President Jonathan beyond 2015,” he said.

  • 2015 elections will be violentfree –Jonathan

    2015 elections will be violentfree –Jonathan

    PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday reassured Nigerians that the2015 general elections will be devoid of violence. He said that his administration’s policy will create a strong foundation for democracy in the country and Africa in general. He gave the assurance in Lagos at a public lecture titled, “Industrial Relations, Labour Productivity and National Development”, organized by the Island Club to commemorate its 71st anniversary.

    The president was the guest lecturer of the event. He was represented at the occasion by the Vice President, Architect Namadi Sambo. Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, was equally represented by his deputy, Orelope Adefulire. Speaking, the president allayed the fears of Nigerians about the forthcoming elections, saying:

    “I want to assure everyone that it is a policy of this administration that we must have a free and fair elections. We must have elections that are properly conducted.

    The elections will give one man one vote, one woman, one vote and one youth, one vote. “We must ensure as Nigerians that we cooperate and say no to thuggery and strive to ensure peaceful elections. Mr President has said it several times that even his political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Therefore, this is our policy.

    That is what will create a strong foundation for democracy in Nigeria and in fact, Africa as a whole.’’ In his remark, the chairman of the club, Prince Ademola Dada said: “We identify with the strenuous efforts of the Goodluck Jonathan administration to entrench the tenets of democracy in the Nigerian polity.’’

  • Jonathan picks nomination form

    Jonathan picks nomination form

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday picked the presidential nomination form of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Jonathan, accompanied by ministers and some PDP governors, arrived at the party’s Abuja secretariat at 2. 05 pm.

    During a brief ceremony, the President thanked the leadership and members of the party for making him the party’s candidate.

    After collecting the form, the President said: “I could still have picked the form if they did not give me. But giving me the right of first refusal has attracted more people than ordinarily it would have had.

    “Mr. Chairman, I thank you and extend our appreciation to other great members of our party, especially members of the National Executive Committee who uniamously endorsed that decision.

    “Secondly, let me use this unique opportunity to thank the PDP Governors Forum for providing the N2 million for the procurement of the expression of interest form and the N20 million for the procurement of the nomination form.

    “Let me also thank members of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) for providing N2 million for the expression of interest form and N20 million for the procurement of nomination form.”

    Jonathan said youths, women and students from the six geopolitical zones also contributed to the procurement of the form.

    “I remain most grateful for their gesture and I thank them for beliving first in this country; secondly for believing in the PDP because they know that this form is for the PDP ticket, and lastly for believing in me.

    “What I can say is to reassure them that I will work will all Nigerians and I will always maintain that no matter how strong a President is all over the world, the President is only one individual and you alone can’t do anything; you alone cannot change the society.

    “For you to succeed, you work with people. So if you are succeeding, that means we have a team that is working to transform this country. So I will work with all Nigerians to make sure that we move our country to the next level.

    “I always say that the days we continue to say Nigeria is a potential great country are over. Nigeria is a great country. And we just demonstrated that in the way we collectively handled the Ebola case.

    “Let me again thank all of you who are here for this brief ceremony and reassure you that we will not let you down.”

    The party extended the deadline for the collection of expression of interest and nomination forms, which ought to have closed yesterday, till November 6. Two aspirants had complained that after paying for the forms, they were not given because the party said it had only one form.

  • Jonathan collects PDP form

    Jonathan collects PDP form

    Governance at the Federal level was brought to a halt yesterday as President Goodluck Jonathan went to pick expression of interest and nomination form  to seek for reelection.

    President Jonathan, who recently declared his interest to contest in the February presidential election, was at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters to collect the form.

    He was accompanied to the Wadata Plaza by most of the members in his cabinet.

    The ministers turned out in their numbers as they attempted to undue one another in a  loyalty game.

    Most of the ministers  had to cancel or move forward their scheduled meetings and appointments to be part of the event,  while activities at the ministries were paralysed.

    At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, had to cancel a  scheduled briefing with the Diplomatic Corps to be part of Jonathan’s train.

    The meeting was cancelled without any prior notice to the diplomats, who turned up for the meeting.

    The situation was the same in most of the ministries, where activities were brought to a halt.

  • Jonathan, Kano Emir meet

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met behind closed-door with the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

    Sanusi, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was at the State House with some elders and palace aids from the Emirate.

    Towards the end of his tenure at the CBN, Sanusi, who alleged that there were financial irregularities in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC’s) remittances to the federation account, was suspended by President Jonathan.

    At the end of the about one hour meeting yesterday, the Emir declined to speak with reporters.

    He was ushered by his royal guards into his antique right-hand drive Rolls Royce and driven away.

  • Pinnick praises President Jonathan for fatherly role

    Pinnick praises President Jonathan for fatherly role

    • Commends Vice President, SGF, Sports Minister, Giwa, others

    NFF president, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick, has heaped praises on the President of the Federal Republic, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR for his fatherly role in the promotion of peace within the Nigeria football family.

    Sports–loving President Jonathan’s latest glorious move was to call a truce meeting involving leading figures in Nigeria football on Wednesday, which effectively led to the resolution of a leadership crisis that threatened the very soul of the Nigeria game.

    “President Jonathan’s keen personal interest and fatherly role has enabled the eventual peaceful resolution of a disturbing crisis, and I wish to express the heartfelt appreciation of the entire Nigeria football family to His Excellency.

    “We are all very grateful to him as he has once more demonstrated his well –known love for our football and we can never thank him enough,” Pinnick said in Abuja.

    The NFF supremo also commended the efforts of Vice President Namadi Sambo, GCON, Secretary to Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, GCON, Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo, Ambassador Chris Giwa and others who played roles in quenching the leadership flame.

    “I want to assure President Jonathan and all top Government officials who played one role or the other in the resolution of the crisis that the NFF is now much stronger and able to confront the challenges of painstakingly developing the game to take our football to new heights.

    “The football family is also more united and we assure the Giwa group that we will sit down and see how and where they can make lasting contributions to the development of the Nigeria game,” Pinnick added.

    Nigeria has avoided a looming FIFA axe after the group led by Ambassador Chris Giwa opted to discontinue its case at the Federal High Court, Jos when hearing was about to resume on Thursday.

    The move has effectively killed off the court case and means the Amaju Pinnick –led NFF Executive Committee can continue to administer Nigeria football without any interference or hindrance, which was the demand made by FIFA in its letter of Tuesday, 28th October, 2014.

    The country has therefore beaten the deadline of mid –day of Friday, 31st October, 2014 (today) given by the world football –governing body.

  • Danagogo hails Jonathan’s intervention in NFF crisis

    Danagogo hails Jonathan’s intervention in NFF crisis

    Sports Minister and Chairman National Sports Commission, Dr. Tammy Danagogo has commended President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for his timely intervention in the crisis rocking the Nigeria Football Federation which he said will be resolved before the expiration of the deadline given by FIFA to avoid its hammer falling on the country.

    The minister said during the beginning of the retreat for the President Cup which he declared open in Abuja yesterday that the interest of the president in the sport which unifies the country led to the invitation of the warring factions in the NFF for a truce meeting which would lead to true reconciliation of the parties.

    “I can assure you that Nigerians will heave a sigh of relief as the president, who is a strong supporter of our national teams met with the warring parties and everything to ensure that Nigeria is not banned by FIFA will be done”, Dr. Danagogo said to a resounding applause from the audience at the ceremony at the Media Centre of the Abuja National Stadium.

    On the President Cup which is aimed at scouting for young football talents in the country, the minister reaffirmed his call on the committee to do a painstaking job by combing all the nooks and crannies of the country to fish out the talents, as he commended all the ex internationals who are part of the committee for being part of the programme.

    Present at the ceremony were the representatives of the Minister of Youth Development and the Director General of the National Orientation Agency, the Director General of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, NSC Director of Grassroots DEvelopment, Mallam Alhassan Yakmut who is also Chairman of the President Cup Organising Committee as well as former Super Eagles players like Peter Rufai, Taribo West and Tijani Babaginda.