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Tag: Jonathan

  • Abia CAN hails Jonathan on anti-gay bill

    The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Abia State Chapter Bishop Goddy Okafor has lauded the courage of President Goodluck Jonathan to sign into law the bill that prohibits same sex marriage in the country.

    Bishop Okafor in an interview with our correspondent in Aba, said that gay practice was never supported by the major religions (Christianity, traditional and Islamic) practiced in Nigeria, describing people who are into the practice as being under a strong demonic influence.

    He said: “To us Christians, it is an abomination. That was the main reason the city of Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed by God. For us to begin practicing what we know that the creator of all the earth abhors is a rebellion against God’s word and going contrary to nature. If we must populate this earth, gay marriage should not be encouraged.

    ”If you are a man, go and look for a woman to marry. Make and raise children to give Nigeria a better future. If you are a woman, get ready, a man will come and marry you and not for you to begin to mess up with your fellow woman believing that it is just your way of life.

    “If all of us had maintained that, some of our children wouldn’t have been born. I want to thank God for the president for taking a courageous stand on what our people are not used to. The issue of gay marriage is completely strange to us here in Nigeria and must be stamped out from our dear country Nigeria.”

    Reacting on the recent cancellation of President Jonathan’s intended visit to Canada by Canadian authority and the effect it might have on Nigeria’s bi-lateral relationship with other European countries who have already expressed their displeasure over the president’s action, the CAN President said: “They are not God. Nigeria belongs to God and God will provide for Nigeria. We have always existed and the One who gave us life, the air we breathe has always been behind us. He is the sustainer of every human being on earth. So, if they feel that without them that Nigeria will be no more because they have withdrawn their support Nigerian people will die, they should go ahead and do that. That will not make us, Nigerians to accept what is not normal or strange to us as a nation.”

    Continuing, Okafor who is also, the Bishop of Peculiar People’s Church Int’l added, “For those who see that as an infringement, they need to know that this is Nigeria. They are not supposed to put their own convictions on the whole Nigerians. They need to know that yes, America, Canada, maybe UK might have adopted that, but it is not our way of life. If they want to practice that, they might as well, leave this country and go places where they would be accommodated for such. To accommodate them in Nigeria is totally unacceptable. “

    Abia CAN president while calling on Law Enforcement Agencies and the Judiciary to ensure that culprits were apprehended and punished accordingly vetoed the stipulated jail terms for the accused and people that abet gay practice in the country as was signed into law by the president, advising people addicted to gay practice to go to God in prayers in order to pray out themselves and be free from demonic possession.

    ”The 10 and 14 year jail terms for now are ok. The judiciary should be strengthened. When one or two persons are brought to justice based on this new law, others will learn their lessons. Our law enforcement agencies have a greater role to play here. So, they should stand up and do what they are supposed to do. Get people apprehended. Let the nation know that this law is in effect.

    ”People who are practicing it secretly should also secretly disengage from it. If they cry out to God in prayers for forgiveness, He will forgive them. If they meet a man of God to counsel and pray for them, they will be free from it. The problem with most people is that when they are suffering, they wouldn’t want any other person to know what they are passing through and thereby dying in silence. Let them speak out. Somebody will help them out.” Okafor advised

     

  • Jonathan and crisis of credibility

    Democracy, the world reigning god, makes only two major demands on its worshippers- respect for the will of the people and an abiding faith in the rule of law. Leaders who after swearing by its name betray these democratic ideals lose credibility. Tragically one thing that has been in short supply in successive PDP administrations since 1999 is credibility.

    And of all the challenges facing the current Jonathan administration, credibility appears to be the most daunting. When President Jonathan therefore says we should be ready to auction our generating sets, or that ‘Nigeria will export cars soon’, or that ‘the presidency is not behind the unfolding anarchy in Rivers’ or even when his chief of Defence Staff says ‘We will end Boko Haram insurgency by April’, they are received by Nigerians with scepticism.

    To be fair to the president, this credibility gap, as indicated above was inherited from 12 years of PDP periodic rigging of elections, disdain for the rule of law, and self-serving policy initiatives such as privatization, fuel subsidy, identity card projects and many others designed not for spreading dividends of democracy as claimed by the party, but for sharing the nation’s resources among members of the ruling elite.

    It was perhaps on account of these baleful legacies, coupled with what some considered as Jonathan’s below average performance as acting president and noticeable flaws in his character that accounted for the call for caution by perceptive journalists and analysts of our national affairs such as Sonola Olumhense and Haruna Mohammed. The former had warned that going by President Jonathan’s antecedents, he would certainly sell what is left of Nigeria to PDP if voted in while the later advanced seven reasons why we should not trust Jonathan. But instead of the president proving his detractors wrong, he has not only gone ahead to confirm their fears, he has through his continued assault on the will of the people and rule of law undermined the credibility of his own administration.

    For instance, those who in spite of PDP gave the president a landslide victory had expected an injection of young blood with fresh ideas as different from PDP buccaneers that had held the nation down for 12 years. But even where we had inspiring young people, they were recruited as square pegs in round holes to serve Jonathan and not Nigeria. For instance Dr. Reuben Abati who can at best be described as an adversarial cerebral journalist with popular following arising from his relentless attack on PDP and Obasanjo presidency for about 10 years would have been an asset to a government run by a Dr Olatunji Dare, his former boss at The Guardian or an administration headed by a Professor Pat Utomi his soul mate.

    He has been busy selling the president transformation agenda which to the opposition and a sceptical public has remained a mere agenda. Even when he is saying the truth about President Jonathan ‘he knows’, his past haunts him. Doyin Okupe who felt insulted to be called an attack dog (the role he played under Obasanjo presidency) has continued to make more enemies for the president as analysts had predicted. Most of pronouncements of Okupe, who is viewed as part of contract-chasing PDP crowd, is not only received with a dose of scepticism by the public, but chips away a portion of whatever credibility Jonathan administration has left.

    Not even the president’s commitment to free election sounds convincing anymore. The cynical public now believes the president’s concern is about his own election and those of his friends. We now know all the talk of providing level playing ground through the deployment of a large contingent of police and a battalion of soldiers to ensure the victory of opposition party candidates in Ondo, Edo and Anambra was not informed by a desire to deepen democracy. As the president’s godfather who should know better recently revealed, the president traded off the support for his own party candidates for future personal gains from those opposition but friendly governors.

    Of course, the ongoing assault on the governor of Rivers State only calls the credibility of the presidency to question. The police watched as five thugs attempted to impeach a speaker in an assembly of 32 members. The police give protection to supervising minister of education who is in Rivers State capital nearly every week end to mobilize ex-militants, thugs and his local council supporters who swear by the president’s wife name while disrupting pro state government organized rallies. And in the midst of unfolding anarchy in the state, the presidency has ignored the National Assembly resolution that police commissioner Mbu Mathew Mbu who acts as de facto governor of Rivers be transferred out of the state.

    The president’s war against corruption is received with cynicism not only by the Speaker of the Lower House who complained about the president body language or by ex-president Obasanjo who agonized over Jonathan’s lack of political will to fight corruption, but also by many Nigerians. Besides the president’s lack of discomfiture in the midst of alleged corrupt individuals, there is also the impunity with which those close to government engage in corrupt practices. It is unimaginable how officials of the pension unit in the office of Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF) would subject those who had served the nation meritoriously, some in their 90s to such hardship as asking them to queue up for verification every month just because the exercise provided an avenue to steal N400 million monthly.

    Apart from Sani Teidi Shuaibu, former director in the pension office who has since received a slap in the wrist from the courts, little has been heard of his former deputy Ukamaka Chidi, and 30 others charged with a 134-count charge of conspiracy, fraud and corruption, stealing about N60 billion, an act the Senate President, David Mark, described as a “monumental fraud” and a national disgrace and embarrassment,”

    Similarly the presidency has been silent on Abdulrasheed Maina, the chairman of Pension Task Force Team, (PTFT), and his committee members who were indicted by the Senate report for ‘fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation, misapplication, outright stealing of pension funds. etc. While Maina, according to Audu Ogbe, former PDP chairman, was cruising around protected by a contingent of police, the IG claimed Maina could not be found to face prosecution.

    The public scepticism about the president’s management of the economy was not helped by the controversy surrounding the$10.8 billion that was not accounted for initially but which Bernard Otti, the NNPC’s Group executive director of finance and accounts, now said was spent on ‘pipeline repairs, fuel subsidies and reserve fuel’. But as Sanusi the outgoing CBN governor has said, “No one has the right to retain money that should have gone to the federation account” and as echoed by Obiageli Ezekwesili, the former “Due Process Minister”, NNPC and Ministry of Petroleum have no FISCAL MANAGEMENT mandate: They MUST end OFF-TREASURY spending of PUBLIC FUNDS”

    If it appears President Jonathan only pays a lip service to fighting corruption, if his commitment to free and fair election is seen as self-serving, if his war against insurgency appears unwinnable, and if the national dialogue project like other government policy initiatives are received with cynicism, it is precisely because his government is haunted by crisis of credibility often associated with disrespect for the will of the people and disregard for the rule of law.

     

  • Abia CAN hails Jonathan on anti-gay bill

    Abia CAN hails Jonathan on anti-gay bill

    The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Abia State Chapter Bishop Goddy Okafor has lauded the courage of President Goodluck Jonathan to sign into law the bill that prohibits same sex marriage in the country.

    Bishop Okafor in an interview with our correspondent in Aba, said that gay practice was never supported by the major religions (Christianity, traditional and Islamic) practiced in Nigeria, describing people who are into the practice as being under a strong demonic influence.

    He said: “To us Christians, it is an abomination. That was the main reason the city of Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed by God. For us to begin practicing what we know that the creator of all the earth abhors is a rebellion against God’s word and going contrary to nature. If we must populate this earth, gay marriage should not be encouraged.

    ”If you are a man, go and look for a woman to marry. Make and raise children to give Nigeria a better future. If you are a woman, get ready, a man will come and marry you and not for you to begin to mess up with your fellow woman believing that it is just your way of life.

    “If all of us had maintained that, some of our children wouldn’t have been born. I want to thank God for the president for taking a courageous stand on what our people are not used to. The issue of gay marriage is completely strange to us here in Nigeria and must be stamped out from our dear country Nigeria.”

    Reacting on the recent cancellation of President Jonathan’s intended visit to Canada by Canadian authority and the effect it might have on Nigeria’s bi-lateral relationship with other European countries who have already expressed their displeasure over the president’s action, the CAN President said: “They are not God. Nigeria belongs to God and God will provide for Nigeria. We have always existed and the One who gave us life, the air we breathe has always been behind us. He is the sustainer of every human being on earth. So, if they feel that without them that Nigeria will be no more because they have withdrawn their support Nigerian people will die, they should go ahead and do that. That will not make us, Nigerians to accept what is not normal or strange to us as a nation.”

    Continuing, Okafor who is also, the Bishop of Peculiar People’s Church Int’l added, “For those who see that as an infringement, they need to know that this is Nigeria. They are not supposed to put their own convictions on the whole Nigerians. They need to know that yes, America, Canada, maybe UK might have adopted that, but it is not our way of life. If they want to practice that, they might as well, leave this country and go places where they would be accommodated for such. To accommodate them in Nigeria is totally unacceptable. “

    Abia CAN president while calling on Law Enforcement Agencies and the Judiciary to ensure that culprits were apprehended and punished accordingly vetoed the stipulated jail terms for the accused and people that abet gay practice in the country as was signed into law by the president, advising people addicted to gay practice to go to God in prayers in order to pray out themselves and be free from demonic possession.

    ”The 10 and 14 year jail terms for now are ok. The judiciary should be strengthened. When one or two persons are brought to justice based on this new law, others will learn their lessons. Our law enforcement agencies have a greater role to play here. So, they should stand up and do what they are supposed to do. Get people apprehended. Let the nation know that this law is in effect.

    ”People who are practicing it secretly should also secretly disengage from it. If they cry out to God in prayers for forgiveness, He will forgive them. If they meet a man of God to counsel and pray for them, they will be free from it. The problem with most people is that when they are suffering, they wouldn’t want any other person to know what they are passing through and thereby dying in silence. Let them speak out. Somebody will help them out.” Okafor advised

     

  • Jonathan for World Economic Forum in Davos

    Jonathan for World Economic Forum in Davos

    President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to leave Abuja today for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati said that Jonathan during the Forum will lead efforts to attract beneficial global participation in this year’s World Economic Forum on Africa which will be hosted by Nigeria from May 7-9 in Abuja.

    The President, the statement said, will be accompanied on the trip and supported by key members of the Federal Government’s Economic Management Team from the public and private sectors.

    The Nigerian Economic Summit Group is also scheduled to host special events in Davos aimed at boosting attendance at the economic forum in Abuja by leading players in the world’s political and economic affairs who meet in the Swiss winter resort annually.

    It reads: “The events which will include an African soiree for participants, and an interactive session with financiers and industrialists, will also seek to further promote Nigeria’s immense economic potentials with a view to attracting more employment generating investments to the country.”

    “The theme of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja – “Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs” is very much in tandem with the Federal Government’s economic priorities for 2014 as enunciated in this year’s national budget proposals.”

    “It is expected that the forum will bring regional, continental and global leaders together in Abuja to discuss innovative structural reforms and investments which Nigeria and other African nations can buy into to sustain their economic growth, create more productive jobs for their youthful populations and greater prosperity for all their citizens.” It added

    While in Davos for the 2014 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum which has “Reshaping of the World” as its theme, President Jonathan will also participate in a televised session focused on actions needed to ensure that the currently positive economic growth trends in Africa endure and yield greater benefits for all stakeholders in the well-being and development of the continent.

    The President will also have bilateral meetings with other participating heads of state and government including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and also receive the chief executives of leading international conglomerates with interest in Nigeria before returning to Abuja on Friday.

  • Jonathan okays N14b for 2014 Dry Season Farming

    Jonathan okays N14b for 2014 Dry Season Farming

    President Goodluck Jonathan has approved N14billion to support the 2014 dry season farming across the country.

    The president who made this known yesterday during the official launch of the Dry Season Farm Support programme at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, said  N9 billion was approved for the dry season farmers last year and that the support will continue to increase as more farmers key into the programme.

    He promised that his administration will work to ensure that the dry season food support programme becomes a national food policy.

    He said: “Our resolve to expand this dry season programme is strong and subsequently it has to come up in October so that they will get what they need before the commencement of the dry season.

    “To demonstrate this, I am today (yesterday) announcing N14 billion to support the dry season farming for 2014. Last year it was N9 billion, this year is 14 billion and as more states come on board we will continue to increase the amount of money.

    “We I’ll continue to work with farmers and that is why I am announcing today that the support will become a national policy. Our nation shall be green, our barns shall be filled and our farmers shall prosper.” he said.

    He however urged the ministry to move the launch of the dry season farming up to October or November as January is a bit late.

    He said the programme was launched in 2011 with the goal of adding an additional 20 million metric tones of food to the country’s domestic food supply in order to change the approach to agriculture.

    “As a nation,we must feed ourselves. A giant that cannot feed herself of course the weight of the giant will crush the weak legs if there is no food.”

    Jonathan said the country did not suffer from food crisis because the Growth Enhancement Programme (GES) has already reached about one million genuine farmers who have already harvested their crops before the 2012 floods.

    He noted that food stuffs like rice and other grains have been harvested and stored especially in states that were not affected by the flood.

    “High yielding seeds of rice including those that would tolerate flood as well as fertilisers that are provided free of charge to over 257,000 farmers in 10 leading rice producing states in the north, namely Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kogi and Niger states. Our farmers showed reliance, our food production from the impact of the flood I am happy and proud of farmers, they set a record by producing one million metric tones of paddy rice within one dry season. In total and across the country, our farmers produced  additional 15 million metric tones of food within two years and this is how it should be, this is the way to go” he said.

    Stressing that agriculture is no longer a developmental project in Nigeria, he said: “We no longer treat agriculture as a development programme, we now talk about wealth creation not poverty alleviation. We have changed our approach and that is why we are here today”.

    “We will continue to expand the GES to reach other farmers. It is our hope that we will reach 10 million farmers by the end of this year with improved seeds, fertilizers and other production input including farms machinery hiring centers. The ministry is working to establish centers where tractors can be addressed at reduced prices. We are working to improve the access of farmers to markets.”

    “Modern warehouses will be established across the country so that farmers can store their produce and the airport facilities will be expanded to be able to move the produce as they come.

    He vowed that the “loss of more than 50 per cent of persherable commodities must stop”.

    The President said he had been duly briefed that over 600,000 farmers have already registered to produce food in this year’s dry season representing an increase of about 1.5 per cent over the numbers who participated last year.

    Twenty more states, he said, have registered to participate in dry season farming in this year’s programme compared to last year.

  • Jonathan for World Economic Forum in Davos

    Jonathan for World Economic Forum in Davos

    President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to leave Abuja today for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati said that Jonathan during the Forum will lead efforts to attract beneficial global participation in this year’s World Economic Forum on Africa which will be hosted by Nigeria from May 7-9 in Abuja.

    The President, the statement said, will be accompanied on the trip and supported by key members of the Federal Government’s Economic Management Team from the public and private sectors.

    The Nigerian Economic Summit Group is also scheduled to host special events in Davos aimed at boosting attendance at the economic forum in Abuja by leading players in the world’s political and economic affairs who meet in the Swiss winter resort annually.

    It reads: “The events which will include an African soiree for participants, and an interactive session with financiers and industrialists, will also seek to further promote Nigeria’s immense economic potentials with a view to attracting more employment generating investments to the country.”

    “The theme of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja – “Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs” is very much in tandem with the Federal Government’s economic priorities for 2014 as enunciated in this year’s national budget proposals.”

    “It is expected that the forum will bring regional, continental and global leaders together in Abuja to discuss innovative structural reforms and investments which Nigeria and other African nations can buy into to sustain their economic growth, create more productive jobs for their youthful populations and greater prosperity for all their citizens.” It added

    While in Davos for the 2014 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum which has “Reshaping of the World” as its theme, President Jonathan will also participate in a televised session focused on actions needed to ensure that the currently positive economic growth trends in Africa endure and yield greater benefits for all stakeholders in the well-being and development of the continent.

    The President will also have bilateral meetings with other participating heads of state and government including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and also receive the chief executives of leading international conglomerates with interest in Nigeria before returning to Abuja on Friday.

  • Jonathan heads to Davos for WEF

    Jonathan heads to Davos for WEF

    President Goodluck Jonathan will leave Abuja on Tuesday for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he will lead efforts to attract beneficial global participation in this year’s WEF on Africa which will be hosted by Nigeria in Abuja from May 7-9.

    President Jonathan, who will be accompanied by key members of the Federal Government’s Economic Management Team from the public and private sectors, as well as the Nigerian Economic Summit Group is scheduled to host special events in Davos aimed at boosting attendance at the economic forum in Abuja by leading players in the world’s political and economic affairs who meet in the Swiss winter resort annually.

    According to a statement issued by the President’s media aide, Dr. Reuben Abati, the events which will include an African soiree for participants and an interactive session with financiers and industrialists, will also seek to further promote Nigeria’s immense economic potentials with a view to attracting more employment generating investments to the country.

    The theme of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja – “Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs” is very much in tandem with the Federal Government’s economic priorities for 2014 as enunciated in this year’s national budget proposals.

    The statement said it is expected that the forum will bring regional, continental and global leaders together in Abuja to discuss innovative structural reforms and investments which Nigeria and other African nations can buy into to sustain their economic growth, create more productive jobs for their youthful populations and greater prosperity for all their citizens.

    “While in Davos for the 2014 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum which has ‘Reshaping of the World’ as its theme, President Jonathan will also participate in a televised session focused on actions needed to ensure that the currently positive economic growth trends in Africa endure and yield greater benefits for all stakeholders in the well-being and development of the continent.

    “The President will have bilateral meetings with other participating heads of state and government including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and also receive the chief executives of leading international conglomerates with interest in Nigeria before returning to Abuja on Friday,” the statement said.

     

     

  • Tukur’s undignified exit

    Tukur’s undignified exit

    AFTER many months of dithering and pussyfooting, both President Jonathan and Bamanga Tukur have finally consented to the resignation of the latter as chairman of the ruling PDP. Sadly for the two gentlemen, neither of them benefits from a transaction that deprives both of them any honour. The manner of Alhaji Tukur’s resignation and its delay show the banality of his intransigence and the ignoble and mindless opportunism of President Jonathan’s politics.

    If he had left when the opposition against him rose to fever pitch, and if the president had not erroneously felt his re-election fortunes depended on the political survival of the party chairman, they would have prevented the mass gubernatorial and legislative defections the party witnessed recently. Perhaps, too, they could have avoided the intense acrimony the party is currently experiencing, acrimony that now seems quite impossible to mollify.

    It is a striking paradox that the intraparty bitterness and confusion the president struggled to avoid by lending his unthinking support to Alhaji Tukur have instead been exacerbated exactly by that support. Alhaji Tukur has belatedly resigned. It will be of no effect, for it is too little, too late. If anything, it will leave the president even more vulnerable in his party. By the time Alhaji Tukur resigned, the problem in the party had festered to the point that whether he resigned or stood pat, both options were sure to have the same deleterious effect.

  • …as Jonathan meets North-East governors in Aso Rock

    …as Jonathan meets North-East governors in Aso Rock

    Just about 24 hours after the resignation of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met with four governors from the North East geo-political zone at the Presidential Villa.

    The details of the closed-door meeting was unknown at press time, but it was not unconnected with the selection of Tukur’s replacement as the position was zoned to the North-East.

    To ensure that no vacuum is created, a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party has been fixed for Monday to ratify the new party chairman.

    The few names of the possible replacement from the zone include Transport Minister, Senator Idris Umar (Gombe); former Bauchi State governor, Adamu Muazu and Dr. Babayo Musa (Bauchi).

    The North-East governors who met with President Jonathan yesterday include Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe), Acting Governor Garba Umar (Taraba) and Bala James Ngilari (Deputy Governor Adamawa).

    Taking consideration of the unhealthy rivalry that took place between Tukur and Adamawa state governor, Murtala Nyako during Tukur’s tenure, it is speculated that no particular North-East governor wants his state to produce the new chairman.

    From this calculation and the lack of enthusiasm from the PDP governors from the zone,  Borno and Yobe state, which have no PDP governors may be favoured  to produce the new chairman.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting with the President, Governor Yuguda, who denied that they were in the Villa over the issue, also maintained that they are not against the chairman emerging from their states.

    He said: “Are we God? It is God that gives power. Supposing he gives somebody from my state, a PDP state, what will I do? I will follow him. Let us not go into that kind of imagination.”

    Yuguda, who was flanked by Dankwabo, Umar and Ngilari, urged Nigerians to be patient till Monday when the new chairman will emerge.

    “It is just mere speculation. It’s just speculation. We just came to say hello to the President and wish him a good Friday. Well, Monday is the day the NEC will decide who the chairman is going to be. So, let’s wait till Monday,” he stated

    On what kind of chairman the PDP needed in view of the crisis that accompanied Tukur’s tenure, he said that no matter who was selected, there would always be crisis but it is the ability to manage it that matters.

    He said: “Crisis will always be there. If there is no crisis, there won’t be managers anyway. So, somebody must be in charge to manage the situation. That’s why God structures leadership.

    “And even at the family level, you have a leader to manage problems and crisis. So, we cannot be insulated from crisis. It is a continuous thing. The capacity to manage it is what makes you a good leader.”

    On the high turnover of PDP national chairmen, Yuguda said: “Well, I have been discussing that with my colleague from Gombe and he gave me a very wonderful answer that we are on democracy learning curve.”

    “So, that’s the dynamics in democracy. So, we are learning. So, we will cross the line very soon, insha Allah,”  he said

    Responding to a question on members who defected from the PDP on account of Tukur’s style of leadership, he said now that the former National Chairman was no longer in office, the defectors are welcome back.

    “Wait for those who said he was their problem. He is no longer there. So, They are welcome,” he added.

  • Gang up against Jonathan, PDP will fail – Orji

    Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State said the current political gang up against Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan, ahead of the 2015 general elections would not succeed.

    Orji said this when he interacted with newsmen on the political manoeuvres by some past leaders to stop Jonathan’s second term presidential ambition in Umuahia on Friday.

    “There will be gang up but they will never succeed. The president remained focused,’’ he said.

    He explained that the party was getting stronger and stronger; there was a lot of re-engineering presently going on in the party.

    Orji expressed the hope that defectors from the party would soon return, adding that new members would also join the party.

    The governor commended the resignation of the former National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and described it as patriotic and a sacrifice to move the party forward.

    He also commended the immediate past Chief of Army staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, for serving the nation meritoriously.

    Orji said that the president had the prerogative to re-engineer his service chiefs ahead of 2015.

    “President Jonathan has done the right thing, we are nearing election and he has to put his house in order. The president has the prerogative to appoint whoever he likes,’’ he said.