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Tag: Jonathan

  • Malabu: Group vows to resist Jonathan’s appearance before Reps

    Malabu: Group vows to resist Jonathan’s appearance before Reps

    A group under the auspices of the Niger Delta Advancement Front (NAF) on Tuesday vowed to resist any attempt to make former President Goodluck Jonathan appear before the House of Representatives over his perceived role in the Malabu Oil deal.

    Wondering why the lawmakers singled out the ex- President, the group described the summon as a witch-hunt that must not be accomplished.

    The statement signed NAF National President, Dr. Ikiomasi  Wakama, in Abuja, said “As much as we believe in the unity of Nigeria, we must not also be the only ones to be paying the price because we can assure the National Assembly that we will resist every attempt to make Goodluck Jonathan appear before them.”

    The statement also classified the House summon as vilification of Jonathan, who did his best for the country.

    Wakama added: “It has come to our notice that the Nigerian House of Representatives, in a show of naked overzealousness and utter disrespect, is proposing to summon the immediate past President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR over his perceived role in the Malabu Oil deal involving the controversial OPL 245 oil field which was bought by Italian oil giant ENI and Shell in 2011.

    “We condemn in all fullness, the continued vilification of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the various attempts at undermining a good man who did his best for the country in service and strengthening our democracy and unity as a nation.”

    According to NAF, a Nigerian court had on January 26, given an order ceding control of OPL 245 to the Federal Government pending investigations on the $1.1 billion deal.

    The statement added that on March 17, an Abuja Federal High Court reversed its seizure of the oil block with the judge stating that the forfeiture order was irregularly filed.

    NAF said that in February this year, Italian Oil Company ENI’s Board of Statutory and Watch Structure had commissioned an independent United States law firm to carry out forensic investigation of the 2011 transaction between ENI and Shell and the Nigerian Government for the acquisition of OPL 245 license in Nigeria.

    The investigation, the group said, examined new materials and further information filed by prosecutors in Milan and Nigeria as part of closure of the investigation in December 2016.

    The group pointed out that the law firm however confirmed the conclusion reached by previous investigations in 2015, stating that there was no evidence of corrupt conduct in relation to the transaction and exonerated Jonathan.

    “So the question is “who is after Goodluck Jonathan?

    “Against this background, we therefore see a calculated grand plan of deliberate mischief from the Nigerian House of Representatives to continue to witch-hunt and malign former President Jonathan and his government on a matter that competent courts and international investigators have carefully studied and given a clean bill of health,” the group concluded.

     

  • Malabu Oil deal: MEND backs Reps’ summon to Jonathan

    Malabu Oil deal: MEND backs Reps’ summon to Jonathan

    The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has hailed the decision of the House of Representatives to summon former President Goodluck Jonathan on the controversial Malabu Oil deal.
    In an online statement yesterday by its spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, MEND accused former President Jonathan of having questions to answer in the oil deal.
    The group urged the Federal lawmakers to compel Jonathan’s appearance.
    It said: “We are compelled by natural justice, equity and good conscience to lend our voice to the most ignoble and despicable role played by the former President in the messy affair, which has tainted the image of Nigeria, locally and internationally.
    “Like millions of Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, who have keenly followed the OPL 245 saga, we have reasonable grounds to suspect that former President Jonathan may have indeed compromised his high office with regard to the matter, more especially, given the fact that key officials of his administration, including the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), have been indicted and charged before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
    “We are in full support of moves by the House of Representatives to summon the former President to appear before the House to give answers to the myriad of questions concerning his role in OPL 245.
    “Where he (Jonathan) refuses to honour the invitation, we urge the House to invoke its inherent powers to compel his appearance.”
    Also, the militant group said it was alarmed by reports of the planned relocation of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to Lagos, from Port Harcourt, in Rivers State.
    MEND said if it was true, the Anglo/Dutch oil giant (SPDC) should shelve the relocation plan.
    It noted that the move could reawakening restiveness in the Niger Delta region.
    MEND said: “Besides the massive loss of jobs, opportunities, taxes and other incentives the planned move (by SPDC) will cause in the medium to short term, it is (also) clear to all stakeholders, including the Federal Government, that such a move is ill-advised, especially against the backdrop of the recent directive from the Federal Government to the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to relocate to their areas of operation in the Niger Delta.
    “To be sure, the Niger Delta region is no longer hostile to the business interests of the IOCs, including SPDC, as peace has since returned to the region; following the enervating efforts of MEND, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the various state governments and the Federal Government. There is therefore no reason whatsoever for SPDC to relocate to Lagos.
    “We use this opportunity to warn that we shall reconsider the unilateral ceasefire of May 30, 2014, if SPDC relocates to Lagos.”
    While commenting on the sudden death of a Niger Deltan, Rear Admiral Daniel Teikumo Ikoli in Lagos on April 5, 2017, MEND described the ugly development as suspicious and unfortunate.
    It said: “Death is an inevitable end for all mortals, but our suspicion is fed by conflicting reports surrounding the circumstances of his (Ikoli’s) death.”
    The militant group called on the Nigerian military high command to initiate a thorough investigation into the remote and immediate circumstances surrounding the death of Ikoli, whom it described as one of the shining lights of the Ijaw ethnic nationality in the Nigerian Navy.

  • MEND backs Reps summon of Jonathan over Malabu oil deal

    MEND backs Reps summon of Jonathan over Malabu oil deal

    The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on Monday hailed the decision of the House of Representatives to summon former President Goodluck Jonathan on the controversial Malabu oil deal.

    MEND, in an online statement issued by its Spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, alleged that ex-President Jonathan received $200 million as kickback from the oil deal, while urging the federal lawmakers to compel Jonathan’s appearance

    It said: “We are compelled by natural justice, equity and good conscience to lend our voice to the most ignoble and despicable role played by the former President in the messy affair which has tainted the image of Nigeria, both locally and internationally.

    “Like millions of Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, who have keenly followed the OPL 245 saga, we have reasonable grounds to suspect that former President Jonathan may have indeed compromised his high office with regard to the matter, more especially, given the fact that key officials of his administration, including the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, have been indicted and charged before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    “We are in full support of moves by the House of Representatives to summon the former President to appear before the House to give answers to the myriad of questions concerning his role in OPL 245 saga.

    “Where he (Jonathan) refuses to honour the invitation, we urge the House to invoke its inherent powers to compel his appearance.”

    The militant group also said it was alarmed by media reports of the planned relocation of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to Lagos from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    If it was true, MEND urged the Anglo/Dutch oil giant (SPDC) to shelve the idea of relocating to Lagos, stressing that the move had the likely consequence of reawakening restiveness in the Niger Delta region.

    It added: “Besides the massive loss of jobs, opportunities, taxes and other incentives, the planned move (by SPDC) will cause in the medium to short term, it is clear to all stakeholders, including the Federal Government, that such a move is ill advised, especially against the backdrop of the recent directive from the federal government to the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to relocate to their areas of operation in the Niger Delta.

    “To be sure, the Niger Delta region is no longer hostile to the business interests of the IOCs, including SPDC, as peace has since returned to the region; following the enervating efforts of MEND, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the various state governments and the federal government. There is therefore no reason whatsoever for SPDC to relocate to Lagos.

    “We use this opportunity to warn that we shall reconsider the unilateral ceasefire of May 30, 2014, if SPDC relocates to Lagos.”

     

     

  • Ogbia Brotherhood mourns Obua, Jonathan’s former CSO

    Ogbia Brotherhood mourns Obua, Jonathan’s former CSO

    The Ogbia Brotherhood, a socio-cultural group of Ogbia people of Bayelsa across the world, has expressed dismay over the death of Mr Gordon Obua, the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obua, who hailed from Ogbia Local Government Area, died of heart attack on Thursday at the National Hospital, Abuja.

    Mr Fred Obua, a family member to the late CSO, who confirmed the death in a telephone interview with NAN on Friday, however declined further comments.

    He said: “I am on my way to Abuja as we speak in connection with Gordon’s demise, may be we can talk later,” Obua said.

    Chief Benson Agadaga, President of Ogbia Brotherhood, also told NAN that the news of Obua’s death came to Ogbia kingdom as a shock and had thrown the entire community into mourning.

    Agadaga said he was saddened by the development, given the fact that the deceased was much younger than he.

    “Even though I cannot say exactly how old he was, he was several years younger than me, and in our culture, the death of a younger person is usually very painful.

    “The CSO was like three years behind me and ex-President Jonathan in Secondary School, so his death to us is shocking and sad.

    “We had hoped that we can leverage on his wealth of experience that culminated to his becoming the CSO to the former president to develop the Ogbia kingdom, but unfortunately he died too soon.

    “The matter of life and death lies in the hands of God. We all have a space of time on earth and we take this as God’s making.

    “We are down cast by this, but we cannot question God. May his soul rest in peace,” Agadaga said. (NAN)

  • Jonathan, Wike, Fayose, Sheriff trade tackles again over pdp crisis

    Jonathan, Wike, Fayose, Sheriff trade tackles again over pdp crisis

    LEADERS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are still tearing at one another despite moves to ensure peace in the troubled party. Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike yesterday described court-backed National Chairman Ali Modu Sheriff as a mole of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The governor claimed that the Federal Government was sponsoring Sheriff because of the “destructive crisis that has engulfed the APC at the national level”.

    The governor spoke at the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt, the state capital, after receiving defectors said to be from the APC. His attack on Sheriff coincided with the chairman’s allegation that the governor gave former President Goodluck Jonathan N50 million to organise the botched PDP Stakeholders’ meeting.  Dr. Jonathan has denied the allegation, saying that he convened the meeting out of his genuine concern for peace to reign in the party.  Wike said: “Sheriff is a mole of the APC who is being sponsored by the Federal Government.  They are sponsoring Sheriff because of the crisis in the APC “.

    On the 2019 general elections, Wike said the alleged plan by INEC to rig in Rivers State would fail. He advised that only card readers should be used for the 2019 poll, adding that manual accreditation would lead to the manipulation of results. Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose said Sheriff has taken his desperation too far by accusing the former president of taking bribe. Fayose, in a message by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, stated: “If Sheriff has taken his desperation to serve his paymasters in the APC to the level of accusing Jonathan of being bribed to organise peace meeting for the PDP, there is no reason for any sane mind to continue to respond to the continuous advertisement of his political insanity.”

    Sheriff, who spoke through his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh at a news conference at the party’s secretariat, said Governors Wike and Fayose recruited Dr Jonathan into a fake peace effort pre-determined to scuttle the ongoing peace initiative in the party. “The result is that President Jonathan was lured into committing a serious breach of protocol that led to the failure of the exercise which was the intended outcome,” Sheriff said. According to him, Wike and the media chief, Dr Raymond Dokpesi, have already established their own political party.

    Their mission, he said, is to tie the PDP down with undue controversies. He said the party was worried that the amount of money Wike was spending on the crisis could smear the image of the PDP. “This money belongs to the people of Rivers State and it should not be misappropriated at the expense of the people to whom it rightfully belongs. “We, therefore, call on party leaders and Nigerians to refrain from accepting this money from Governor Wike in line with the spirit of our founding fathers,” Sheriff added.

    The party chairman restated his determination to go ahead with the plans to organise a convention for the party, saying preparations for a free and fair exercise were in top gear. Sheriff directed state chairmen of the PDP to send to the party secretariat the lists of all statutory delegates to the convention on or before April 27. He added that the National Executive Committee (NEC) would hold on May 3. Dr. Jonathan, who spoke through his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, dismissed Sheriff’s allegation that he collected N50 million from Wike.  “I don’t think anybody will believe that Jonathan collected money from anybody to organise the meeting. It was out of his genuine concern to bring peace to the party. “

     

  • Panel’s report indicts Jonathan, others in $1.1b Malabu Oil deal

    Panel’s report indicts Jonathan, others in $1.1b Malabu Oil deal

    The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the alleged corruption, malpractices and breach of due process in the award of OPL 245 has indicted former President Jonathan for his role in the contentious Malabu oil block deal. Dr Jonathan denies any wrongdoing.
    The report on the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, which comprises a large area of 1,958 square kilometers, including two deep water fields and reckoned to hold an estimated 9.2 billion barrels of crude oil, followed over three months of continuous investigation.
    The committee, headed by Hon. Rasak Atunwa, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Justice, believes the former president cannot claim ignorance of the facts leading to the payout of $1.1 billion on the Malabu deal which culminated in a huge revenue loss for the country.
    The committee recommended that the ex-president be given an opportunity to explain his role in the approval of the April 2011 Agreement which acted as a catalyst for the supposed “resolution” on which the $1.1 billion was paid.
    The committee also stated that since allegations against the ex-President are weighty, the House should invite him to appear before it to state his side of the story, especially if he approved the payment as claimed by some of the principal actors in the issue and also to clear his name that he received part of the payout.
    Dr Jonathan was indicted by the Southern Crown Court in the United Kingdom (case no 74/14) before Mr. Justice Edis on 23rd and 24th November, 2015, between Malabu Oil and Gas Limited (Applicant) and the Director of Public Prosecution (Respondent ).
    The original application, The Nation learnt, had been made following a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request made on 26th May, 2014, by Mr. Fabio de Pasquale, a Public Prosecutor of Milan (PPM).
    The former President was alleged to have received part of the $1. 1 billion paid to Malabu Oil. He denied ever receiving any cash.
    The UK court, in its judgement, said: “It is of note that Malabu had paid (if anything) only a very small proportion of the sum which it received for this licence. Therefore, a sum of approximately $1bn for exploration right of OPL 245 was paid, not to the Nigerian people for whom they belonged, but to Malabu.”
    The committee is also asking for the prosecution of former Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke for her role in the alleged fraud.
    Mrs. Alison-Madueke was recommended for prosecution on the premise that the transfer of the funds was approved through an escrow account allegedly opened by herself and former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke, through two Nigerian banks.
    Other people recommended for prosecution by the ad hoc committee include the former AGF Adoke, who allegedly crafted the agreement and also argued that the payment was in the interest of the Nigerian people; Mr. Abubakar Alleel, who was said to have acted as a conduit through which the money was disbursed; SHELL/ ENI/NAE for their role in the ‘fraud’ particularly as they were already facing investigations on the issue abroad, and Olusegun Aganga, former Trade Investment Minister.

    The committee wondered why the anti-graft agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), were not showing active interest in the oil giants as regards the Malabu fraud. The EFCC has already filed charges against former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Dan Etete, Adoke and others.
    It recommended the immediate prosecution of Shell/ ENI for criminal acts, inimical to the well-being of the economy as international prosecutors have declared that part of the $1.1 billion found its way to officials of the companies involved.
    Also indicted is another former AGF Bayo Ojo, (SAN), who is alleged to have benefited from the Malabu payment, and Etete.
    Many stakeholders are laying claim to being the authentic owners of Malabu Oil and Gas.
    They include Mohammed Abacha and Otunba Oyewole Fasawe and the Minister of Justice and Attorney – General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who insisted that investigation into the alleged fraud had not yielded any candidate for prosecution.
    The Nation learnt that though the chairman of the ad hoc committee, Hon. Rasak Atunwa, is out of the country, the report will be laid immediately after the House resumes from the Easter break for further consideration.
    The Jonathan angle, The Nation learnt, was responsible for the delay in the submission of the report as the committee members deliberated on how to go about summoning the former president.
    A source told our reporter that the event might be held behind closed doors when the ex-president eventually appears and the report attached as an addendum.
    Atunwa, had in a previous chat with The Nation said in an effort to recover $1.1 billion allegedly denied the country as revenue, his committee will focus on the international aspect of the Malabu Oil deal

  • Jonathan denies receiving $200m

    Jonathan denies receiving $200m

    THROUH his media office, former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday denied the allegation that he received $200 million bribe in the Malabu Oil deal.
    The allegation was reported by an online publication Buzzfeed and republished by some other newspapers.
    In a statement by Ikechukwu Eze, his media adviser, Dr. Jonathan dismissed the allegation as false and another in the series of fake news sponsored by those threatened by the former President’s rising profile in the international community.
    The statement reads: “Common sense should have shown the purveyors of the slander that the Malabu oil deal far predated the Jonathan regime and it would only make sense for him to be bribed if he had a time machine to go back in time to when the deal was struck.”
    According to the statement, the report relied on hearsay evidence from a man of questionable character who provided no substance to back up his false claim.
    It reads: “The man quoted by the report said he ‘assumed’ that Dr. Jonathan would be bribed. Since when has the assumption of a crook been enough to smear the reputation of a patriot and international statesman like Dr. Goodluck Jonathan?
    “The report also wrongly claimed that Jonathan and Etete had known each other for years, according to Shell staff, when Jonathan served as a tutor to Etete’s children while he was a minister. This claim is clearly ridiculous and nothing can be further from the truth.
    “In the first place, the former President couldn’t have been a ‘tutor’ to Etete’s children without first establishing contact with the family. This is because Jonathan met Etete who served as the Petroleum Minister in Gen. Abacha’s military regime for the first time under the succeeding civilian administration, when he was already the deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. Even then, the fact remains that ex-President Jonathan has never met any of Etete’s children.
    “Besides, Jonathan couldn’t have been anybody’s private tutor during that period, because he was already in the directorate cadre in Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) (now NDDC), having already left the academia, at the time Etete was a serving minister.
    “This story, coming so soon after the fake news that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan refused British help in rescuing the Chibok girls (a story that the British Government debunked) and that he plans to contest the 2019 elections (another lie), proves that these fallacious stories are deliberately contrived for reasons that are yet to be publicly disclosed.
    “It is instructive that this same old fable apparently intended to rubbish Jonathan’s name locally and internationally, is being recycled with more lies added to garnish the narrative, at a time the ex-President is making efforts to resolve the issues in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
    “Again, let us point out for clarity and for the umpteenth time that while he was in office and now that he is out of office, former President Jonathan did not open and does not own any bank account, aircraft or real estate outside Nigeria. Anyone with contrary information is challenged to publicly publish same.”
    Dr. Jonathan appealed to the media to report facts rather than innuendo and gossip, reminding the media that he signed the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act into law and that “it is only fair to use it to investigate allegations in order to establish the truth”.
    The statement warned that Dr. Jonathan cannot stop criminals from ‘assuming’, but that “he can and he will stop them from getting away with blatant lies.”

  • Jonathan finds his voice too early

    FORMER president Goodluck Jonathan’s recovery is amazing. About two years ago he had little cause for cheer and few words to mutter. Beyond the fact that he wisely conceded defeat in the March 28 election, and was praised by some, including yours truly, for doing so, there wasn’t much to lift his spirit. On a personal note he became the first incumbent president in these parts to lose a reelection bid. On a national scale, his failure at the polls captured a nationwide frustration with his many deficits while in office. Such a reality would silence anyone, anywhere. But there were other reasons Dr Jonathan kept mute. The Buhari administration came after prominent members of his government. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or EFCC, inspired by the new government’s anti-graft drive, put the heat on Dr Jonathan’s principal officers and soon started to publicise what it claimed were their stinking records in office especially what they allegedly did with public funds. Billions of dollars were quoted to have been either pocketed, mismanaged or simply wasted by these individuals. That was enough to keep the ousted commander-in-chief quiet. But there was yet another reason for Dr Jonathan’s low profile.

    There was some talk that perhaps it was unfair to merely go after these individuals without inviting their boss for a chat over some withdrawals which only he as the C-in-C could authorise. As yet, that invitation has not been extended to the former president, partly because, as some have reasoned, it would, as they say, heat up the polity, something the Buhari administration would not quite like. Part of that heat could come from some of Dr Jonathan’s diehard supporters, a good number of whom are believed to have the capacity to blow up a few things. Perhaps, this emboldened Dr Jonathan to come out of his shell and chalk up some courage to make public pronouncements as often as he pleased. He may also have been buoyed by some marginal calls to stage a comeback in 2019. Add to that the fact that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is also just as fractious as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which it knocked out of power.

    And throw in too the other little matter that the economy is not in the best of times, though it remains a subject of debate as to whether you should put the blame on Dr Jonathan for wrecking it or on President Muhammadu Buhari for not fixing the faults as quickly as he came in. Whatever the case, Dr Jonathan has since waxed lyrical, in my view too lyrical. He has been speaking here, there and everywhere. He has spoken to the British and to the Americans, to Nigerians and other Africans. His submission, in the main, is that he and his party did quite well, in fact creditably well, as he put it, and that he is not half as bad as being portrayed. For instance, he once said that he could not have handed over an empty treasury, as President Buhari has said repeatedly, asking where his successor got the funds to bail out cash-strapped states. But Dr Jonathan seemed to have ignored, or was probably unaware of, the fact that such funds could be sourced from anywhere.

    At his Abuja house in February, Dr Jonathan expressed his excitement at plans by some of his party members to regain power after a “temporary setback”, as he put it. While playing the unifier on Thursday before a divided crowd of PDP stakeholders in the same city, Dr Jonathan reportedly said Nigerians still believed in his party. He also credited his administration with “purposeful leadership” through which “we reformed our institutions, rebuilt the nation’s confidence, regained international goodwill and rekindled hope in our people.” Pray, what purposeful leadership was he talking about? Which institutions were reformed and what confidence was rebuilt when he held sway? What international goodwill was regained under him, and what hope was rekindled locally? So far, Dr Jonathan has been left alone by those who should have asked him a few questions, and who can begrudge him his peace? But it leaves me utterly breathless that a man who presided over such waste and plunder of such a consequential country as Nigeria has found his voice so early as to make such wild claims.

  • PDP crisis: Sheriff walks out on Jonathan, governors, others

    PDP crisis: Sheriff walks out on Jonathan, governors, others

    Ongoing efforts to find political solution to the festering leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suffered a huge setback on Thursday.

    The court backed National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, stormed out of a peace meeting convened by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The meeting which was chaired by Jonathan, had about four PDP governors in attendance, including the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin and other notable chieftains.

    Sheriff, who came into the Yar ‘Adua Centre venue of the meeting long after Jonathan, the governors and other prominent party chiefs had taken their seats, stormed out of the meeting at 4:25 p.m.

    The party chairman disagreed with Jonathan on the meeting, saying he (Sheriff) remained the most senior member of the PDP and as such, a meeting of that nature ought to have been convened by him.

    The visibly agitated Sheriff was more piqued by Jonathan’s refusal to allow him address the meeting in his capacity as the national chairman of the party.

    According to him, the meeting was at variance with the recommendations made by a reconciliation committee, headed by the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson.

    Speaking with journalists shortly after he stormed out the meeting with his team, Sheriff said he would not be party to any arrangement that seemed to deviate from the recommendation of the Dickson committee.

    He said, “We were here for PDP stakeholders’ meeting and the PDP has only one national chairman, which is Ali Modu-Sheriff. There is no PDP meeting that will take place under whatever arrangement that I will not open the session as national chairman. Today, I am the most senior member of this party.

    “I think Governor Dickson made a proposal for reconciliation. And we have accepted. Some people want to deviate from this programme, to bring agenda which was not part of it.

    “And as national chairman of the party, what I have told you people in my office when Dickson brought the report is the only thing that we have agreed at this moment. And I will not be party for anybody using me to do another programme. I’m not going to be part of it.”

    Asked if he had not disrespected Jonathan by storming out of the meeting, Sheriff said he respects the former President but that respect must be reciprocal.

    According to him, Jonathan should not have called the meeting without consulting him.

    He added: “Well, I respect him but calling for the meeting. He was a former President. But as of today, I am the most senior member of the party.

    “Therefore if I respect him, the respect must be reciprocated. You can’t call me for a meeting of PDP and say I cannot address the meeting as national chairman of the party.”

    Asked on the way forward, Sheriff said he was sticking with the Dickson recommendation, which proposed a national convention under his watch.

     

  • Kukah denies collecting money from Jonathan

    Kukah denies collecting money from Jonathan

    The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Hassan Kukah, has debunked the perception that he was close to former President Goodluck Jonathan for what he could get.

    “Despite my friendship with Jonathan over this long period of time, we never discussed a penny, we never discussed one dollar; we never exchanged a penny, and we never exchanged a dollar,” Rev Kukah said.

    In an interview in the current edition of The Interview, Kukah said those who thought they could smear him by warming up to President Muhammadu Buhari were responsible for fantasising his relationship with Jonathan.

    “Suddenly, journalists whom I knew were writing, hoping they would be given positions (by Buhari) and all those who were abusing me have gone full cycle,” he said.

    He went on: “Those who should be ashamed of themselves are those who took money from Jonathan, tonnes of it, and have decided to lie, buried under the table; they have decided to change course in the middle of the race. Those are the guys who you should be talking about.”

    In a statement, The Interview Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief, Azu Ishiekweme, said:“This is Kukah with his gloves off, anti-Kukahs of every stripe have their match in this issue.”

    The clergyman revealed that “certain people in the PDP” have been telling him that Jonathan should have had a long-drawn-out exit, like the disgraced Gambian President Yahaya Jammeh.

    He spoke about the continuing detention of the Shiite leader, El-Zakzakky, and the bill for a Christian court, expressing concern that “we are going back, we’re not getting better.”

    The edition also explores the love language of public figures, including advertising icon, Lolu Akinwunmi; journalist Funke Treasure-Durodola; the director of Leventis Food, Tasos Amanatidis; and author and celebrity, Teju Babyface.