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Tag: Jonathan

  • Jonathan disowns comment on 2019 elections

    Jonathan disowns comment on 2019 elections

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has debunked an online report which claimed that he spoke about 2019 elections during a meeting with his kinsmen in Otuoke, Bayelsa State.

    A statement issued by Jonathan’s media aide, Mr.Ikechukwu Eze, dismissed the claim as lies, stressing  that the former President was neither in his home state on the stated date nor met with his “kinsmen who paid him an end of year visit” as claimed in the report.

    It reads: “Our attention has just been drawn to a fabricated online publication alleging that the former President Goodluck Jonathan made comments on the 2019 elections, while hosting his kinsmen in Otuoke last Tuesday.

    “Those reports are false and bear no truth whatsoever. The former President was not in Otuoke on Tuesday, neither did he make the comments attributed to him. In fact, he has only just returned to his community to spend Christmas having been away for two weeks. So he could not have been hosting anyone there last Tuesday.

    “Of what good is it to our national development efforts if some people spend so much energy spreading falsehood about fellow citizens and our nation?

    “The former President wishes his fellow compatriots a merry Christmas and prosperous New Year in advance, and advises all to always channel their efforts towards working to attain the nation of our collective dreams.”

  • Buhari orders probe of nine Jonathan’s varsities

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday ordered the probe of all projects executed by the nine new universities set up by ex- President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    He said the probe will eliminate wastages, ensure transparency and accountability in the management of resources.

    The President stated this at the maiden convocation ceremony of one of the universities, the Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI), Ebonyi State.

    He warned that his administration will not condone corruption in the federal universities.

    Represented by the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Rasheed Adamu Abaubakar,  Buhari remarked that universities must set example in good governance and financial management.

    He said, “No room for corruption in the academic sector. Very soon, we will tour all projects executed by our new federal universities to ensure that funds allocated to them are judiciously utilized.

    “Our universities must be example in good governance and financial management. So, no room for corruption in the academic sector.”

     

  • Otuoke residents appeal to Bayelsa Govt. to repair road

    Otuoke residents appeal to Bayelsa Govt. to repair road

    Residents of Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa, have appealed to the State Government to repair the Otuoke-Onuebum road which has been in a deplorable condition.

    The residents made the appeal in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Otuoke on Sunday.

    Mr Ologi Damiete, told NAN that the condition of the road had become worse since the last rainy season as vehicles now found it difficult to pass through.

    Damiete, a staff of the Federal University, Otuoke (FUO), appealed to the state government to come to the aid of the residents by fixing the road.

    “The condition of this road has become worse since the flood that submerged the whole community and there has not been any preventive measure to forestall future occurrence.

    “We are expecting the government to put necessary measures in place to guard against future occurrence.

    “Students of FUO have resumed for the new semester and they have been finding it difficult moving in and out of the community.

    “I am calling on all the relevant authorities to look into the matter because we has become unbearable. Our vehicles have been damaged because of the road,” he said.

    Another resident, Mr Oweifa Debekeme, urged the state government to make more efforts toward checking flooding in the state, pointing out that flood had destroyed many roads in the state.

    He said that the people were suffering and government had the responsibility to alleviate their agony by providing roads and other infrastructure for them.

    A taxi driver plying the road, Mr Babatunde Adeola, said the road was already in a bad shape before the flood destroyed it completely.

    Adeola called on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to also help repair the road to alleviate the plight of the people.

    He implored the Bayelsa Government to come to the aid of the people of Otuoke and Onuebum communities as well as students and staff of the university.

    He said the youths in the communities now help by sand-filling the bad portions on regular basis, adding that “commercial drivers now pay them for that”. (NAN)

  • Nobody asked me to concede defeat, says Jonathan

    Nobody asked me to concede defeat, says Jonathan

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said nobody outside or within the country asked him to concede defeat in the 2015 general elections to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He spoke at the second combined convocation ceremony of Bingham University, Nasarawa State.

    The former president and an ex- military head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon were honoured with a Doctor of Letters (Honaris Causa) by the university.

    Gowon was awarded the degree by the university, in “recognition of his commitment and selflessness to Nigeria, Africa and humanity, while Jonathan was honoured by the Senate of the university in recognition of “his self-abasement and prized patriotic humility and love for peace.”

    Jonathan said his calling of Buhari to concede defeat was done out of his personal principle that no blood of any Nigerian was worth his political ambition.

    This act, he said, had already started having effects on global politics as world leaders now willingly concede defeats to their opponents when they lose elections.

    The former president said: “It is my believe that no one’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian and I am fulfilled knowing that my conceding while the votes were still being compiled was borne out of my personal principle and conviction generating positive impact on other nations.

    “Let me make it very, very clear, nobody within or outside the country persuaded me to do that. I know it is the right thing to do. My ambition is not worth the blood of Nigerians. It was not just a political slogan.”

    Jonathan also said he convened the 2014 national conference to help unite the country and avoid the creation of tension and crisis in the polity, adding that his intention was to usher in “a polity that will bring unity to this country; a polity that will not divide us along tribal, ethnic, and religious line.

    “I have seen politicians whose children school and live abroad mobilize children of others as thugs during elections. They don’t care whether they die or not. This is against human dignity. And we should uphold our vows as a nation of great people who love and respect one another.

    “I believe in a peaceful Nigeria and since my award today is based on my commitment to peace, I have to spread peaceful message to my fellow graduands and indeed to the entire student body of this university. Because you know with this award today, myself and Gen. Yakubu Gown (rtd) are also alumnus of this university,” Jonathan said.

    He appreciated the University for the Award.

    Jonathan said he turned down international honours during his time as president because he felt such awards were better received after serving one’s nation.

    He said Nigeria as a country must overcome its economic and political challenges.

  • Jonathan extols Yakasai at 90

    Jonathan extols Yakasai at 90

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has described former political adviser to ex-President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, as a rallying point for national unity and inspiration for future leaders.

    Jonathan, who was represented by former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, at the 90th birthday celebration of Yakasai, in Kano, urged politicians to emulate the elder statesman, who he said stood for the truth, no matter whose ox is gored.

    Jonathan said: “I grew up knowing you as a forthright and broad-minded statesman, who freely express his mind, even if such convictions are likely to hurt your personal interest or affect views of those you call your friends.

    “Although you are a well celebrated northern leader and founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), your world view has been manifestly liberal, guided only by those concerns that promote unity, integration, progress and prosperity in the land.

    “I have no doubt you will continue to serve as a source of inspiration and a testimony to the fact that honesty, selflessness, and love for one another, are tenets we all need to imbibe to build the nation of our dreams.”

  • Probe: Youths accuse Fed Govt of disgracing Jonathan

    Probe: Youths accuse Fed Govt of disgracing Jonathan

    Hundreds of Igbo youths protested yesterday in Enugu the probe of former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.

    The youths, led by the Coordinator of Concerned Igbo Youths, Comrade Victor Ezenagu, said the probe, which led to the freezing of her accountý, was a calculated plot to humiliate ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The protesters marched to the Enugu office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), where they submitted a petition to the Southeast Head of the commission, ýMr. Johnson Babalola.

    ýIn the petition titled: Unjust Prosecution and Desperate Plan to Humiliate Former President Goodluck Jonathan, the protesters called for the de-freezing of Mrs. Jonathan’s account.

    Ezenagu said: ý”ýWhile we salute the commitment of the present administration towards fighting corruption, we, however, express our disaffection with the manner the war is being prosecuted by the commission under your watch. Some of the actions of the commission in recent times leave no one in doubt that certain persons have clearly been singled out to be humiliated.

    “A case in point is that of former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC. We see the freezing of her personal account and prosecution as an attempt to discredit former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “It is quite condemnable that having sacrificed his ambition for the sake of Nigeria’s future, Jonathan’s family is being visited with such cruelty from the commission. We say this because Mrs. Jonathan is not the first person to have occupied the office of First Lady in Nigeria. Yet, none of the other former occupants of that office is under probe, let alone trial.

    “…It is also not out of place to state that the current administration is indirectly prosecuting and persecuting Jonathan. But to unleash such an action on a man who willingly conceded defeat, even when he was being urged to fight on, has grave implications.”

  • PDP greets Jonathan at 59

    PDP greets Jonathan at 59

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership has congratulated former President Goodluck Jonathan on the occasion of his 59th birthday.

    A statement yesterday by the spokesman of the Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, credited the former president with laudable legacies and achievements in academia, politics, governance and social life.

    The party described Jonathan’s legacy as indelible and worthy of emulation by well-meaning people.

    The statement said: “You are a shining light during and after office as one of the Heads of State in Nigeria and Africa in general, who willingly conceded power to the opposition in the interest of peace and democracy.

    “Your Excellency sir, in less than two years of leaving office, Nigerians are yearning and crying for your return…

    “Your Excellency, the harvest of your electoral reforms for free, fair and credible electoral and democratic processes for which the All Progressive Congress ( APC ) is the primary beneficiary, have been eroded and quickly replaced with inconclusive elections, electoral apathy, voter inducement, intimidation, harassment and unfair incarceration of judges and squeezing of opposition at all levels.

    “We pray the Almighty God to bless you with good health and many more years of service to your home state, Bayelsa, Nigeria, Africa and the world in general. We wish you 59 hearty happy cheers.”

  • Thank God Jonathan lost 2015 election Niger Delta leader

    Thank God Jonathan lost 2015 election Niger Delta leader

    In the face of the growing criticisms against the present administration’s handling of the economy, the  Chairman of the Niger Delta Nationalities Forum in Lagos, Mr. Seigha Manager, has given the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government a pat in the back. He said  the president is doing his best in spite of the fact that things are terribly hard.

    In a chat with The Nation, Manager noted that if Jonathan had won the election in 2015, he would have been in a big mess with the current oil price. “I doubt if he will not be stoned by Nigerians and even Niger Deltans if the economy could be as bad as it is now. If he had won he would not have left as a great leader that he is today. So, I thank God that he lost the election and it is Buhari that is presently in office and those who believe in him are still hopeful,” he said.

    Manager also lauded Federal Government’s decision to dialogue with leaders of Niger Delta region saying: “The dialogue is extremely necessary and even overdue. President Buhari is right in dialoguing with the leaders but for not doing this since 2015, I feel very strongly that he is overwhelmed by the undue pressure and misinformation from either his party or overzealous folks, otherwise as a former head of state, and a former Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) chairman, he should be the most qualified, most guided and most experienced leader to handle the Niger Delta crisis with utmost care.

    To bring about lasting peace in the Niger Delta region, Manager said: “The president should look into the issue of amnesty programme and give it everything he can. He should bring in more restive youths into it and pay them their stipend as and when due. Although we talk of the infrastructural development and all sorts of development in Niger Delta, the one that is immediate and can affect the lives of the youth is the amnesty, which is the only successful interventionist programme in Niger Delta. The president should ensure that they are not only trained but counselled at the end of the amnesty programme to be able to fit into the civil society.

    “As for other interventionist agencies like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Niger Delta Ministry, the president should make up his mind either to fund them properly or scrap them completely. If he is unable for whatever reason to fund the agencies properly, he should scrap them rather than create the impression that there are so many interventionist agencies in the region and that the government has done so much for them even when they are not properly funded.”

    Aside from the amnesty programme, Manager also asked the Federal Government to take another look at allocation of oil blocks. “The allocation of oil blocs and wells to Nigerians without recourse to the Niger Delta people is another issue. The richest woman in Nigeria cum Africa is from the southwest and her source of wealth is oil. The richest man in Nigeria cum Africa is from the northwest and his wealth is largely tied to oil exploit.

    “Oil bloc allocation is the prerogative of the president of Nigeria at any point in time and when he allocates, until such allocation is changed by law, it remains so. We are grateful to the late General Sani Abacha, who created Bayelsa State and allocated oil blocs to three deserving Nigeria citizens from the Southeast, Northeast and South-south (Niger Delta).

    “These three oil blocs are OPL 244, OPL 245 and OPL 246. OPL 245 was allocated to a Niger Delta citizen and the only one I know to be so. While the other two have enjoyed peace and tranquility in the hands of their owners, that of  the Niger Delta citizen, OPL 245, is akin to a bird standing on a tiny rope. Neither the bird nor the rope has seen peace till date.

    “It is the only oil bloc that every passing regime has poked into simply because the allottee is a Niger Deltan. It is the only oil bloc that has been allocated, cancelled, later returned to the allottee and then is under probe at any given time. All of this is happening because the allottee is from the Niger Delta, yet the owner does not fall in the bracket of rich persons in Nigeria not to talk of Africa. There are other issues like that.”

    He further said: “Recall that Senator Ita Enang once stated on the floor of the Senate how about 85 percent of oil blocs are allocated to northerners and others to the exclusion of Niger Deltans. I am not aware if that situation has changed. Yet, it is the only oil bloc allocated to a Niger Deltan that has become a source of dispute and sought after by others. That is the height of injustice against the Niger Delta people. This is not only wicked but also evil and shameful. President Buhari as a man of integrity must intervene in this matter.

    “These are the things that bring restiveness to the Niger Delta. Therefore, I am appealing to Mr. President and even the National Assembly members, whom we know that as at today, have constituted committees again and again to probe this particular oil bloc, to please sympathise with us in the Niger Delta and allow us to have some peace. Let the Niger Deltan who owns the oil bloc own it for good, while the president looks into other issues. But, in all of this, we are watching the role of our legislators.

  • Fed Govt owes Jonathan, Obasanjo, IBB, Shagari, 10 months salary allowances

    Fed Govt owes Jonathan, Obasanjo, IBB, Shagari, 10 months salary allowances

    Another shocking picture of the economic recession was painted yesterday.

    Former leaders – Goodluck Jonathan, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida and Shehu Shagari have not been paid their salaries and allowances since January.

    Members of the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, who visited the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), were shocked by the news.

    Paucity of funds due to non approvals by President Muhammadu Buhari was blamed for the inability to pay the entitlements of the former leaders.

    Payment schedules were said to have been sent to President Buhari for approval to access funds from the Service Wide Vote to pay the outstanding allowances.

     The SGF, Mr. David Lawal Babachir, attributed the failure to pay to lack of funds in Service Wide Votes for salaries of former presidents.

    Babachir told the committee members: “There is a department responsible for payment of former Presidents. At present, funds are not available in Service Wide Votes to do that. We are aware that there was a protest in Bayelsa State that former President Goodluck Jonathan was not paid, but we have explained that he is not the only one affected.

    “Others affected are Inter Religious Council, traditional rulers council and so on. For some reason, we have been writing and writing, but there has been no response. And there is presently no money to pay them.

    “The budget for this year’s Democracy Day was N33 million and we had to do it on credit; we are yet to pay. There are lots of retreats which ought to be organised but there is no money to do any. The last time we got any release was in August.”

    The Senator Tijjani Kaura (APC, Zamfara North)-led committee members frowned at the non-payment of the former presidents’ entitlements.

    They canvassed a joint action by the Office of the SGF and the committee to resolve the “most unfortunate” problem.”

    The lawmakers also emphasised the need to draw the attention of the Budget Office and Ministry of Finance to the development.

    Vice Chairman of the committee, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, described the non-payment of former presidents as abnormal.

    Hunkuyi said: “What we have seen here is an abnormality. Before referring any matter to the National Assembly, it is a function of the executive to appropriate funds. Therefore, the SGF should understand that there is something wrong in this office that must be addressed.

    “There is no way you can run the expenses of this office without cash backing. We definitely have to draw the attention of the Budget Office and Ministry of Finance to the problems.”

    Former Sokoto State Governor Senator Aliyu Wamakko, a member of the committee also criticized the non-payment of former presidents by the office of the SGF.

    Wamakko said: “We can understand if former President Goodluck Jonathan has not been paid because he just left office. But for someone like Shagari, who lives from hand to mouth, it’s something I can’t understand. This development is really unfortunate;  it doesn’t indicate seriousness, and it doesn’t indicate fairness.”

    The SGF who laboured to calm the lawmakers, said: “When I got into this office, there was a lot of money in this account, but there was no Treasury Single Account.

    “Before the government left office, they jacked up salaries. We told former Presidents Jonathan and Obasanjo that they cannot earn twice what the others were earning. So we told them we wanted to review it, and we did. So they now earn what the others earn as well.

    “When I came into office, there was N1.5b in the account. We had payment of all liabilities which came to 700 million. Then we wrote to the President to return what was left to the TSA. That was how we came back to a zero balance.

    “It is painful to me because as a person I know all of them (ex-presidents) personally. Now, why have we not been able to get the money? We requested for a budget of N700 million, complaining, but the President has his way of doing things.

    “Look around, you’ll see government vehicles breaking down every now and then. Really, I know the challenges the Budget Office is facing, but the truth is, the funds are not just there. In any government, there are certain agencies that must be served first before others. So we have agreed on that. However, we will lean harder on the finance ministry to see that the situation is turned around.

    “As SGF, I’m getting embarrassed and demeaned by chasing money coming from demands. All MDAS come to me for things to be done, and it is not quite easy, but we will try our best.

    “Last year, these political appointees had nothing. As to assistance, we really need assistance, if not but to retain all what we have budgeted for.”

    Babachir urged the National Assembly to intervene by approving funds proposed by his office in the 2017 budget to be submitted soon.

    “What is in our budget, we need your help to defend it. This is part of the change agenda, so we must learn to sew our cloth according to the material,” he said.

    The committee faulted the office of the SGF over replication of 2016 budget details in its 2017 budget proposal.

  • ‘Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan blew over N70trn oil money in 15 year’

    ‘Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan blew over N70trn oil money in 15 year’

    •NEITI boss seeks prudent expenditure

    Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Executive Secretary Waziri Adio said yesterday that the administrations of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan blew over N70 trillion earned from sale of crude oil and gas between 1999 and 2014.

    Adio said this in his office when the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs visited him during an oversight function.

    He insisted that unless the country developed a prudent way of expenditure, it was likely to be in difficult times in years to come.

    The NEITI boss noted that it was unfortunate that despite the huge earnings from sales of crude oil over the years, the country was unable to account for over $100 billion in the excess crude account.

    Adio urged the Federal Government to develop a saving culture that would ensure a slash on government’s spending.

    He said: “Let me inform the committee that we discovered that between 1999 and 2014, the country spent over N70 trillion it received from oil and gas alone. That is a whole lot of money. What is sad is that it was spent without the country being able to show anything for it. I think it is quite unfortunate.

    “For the sake of emphasis, however, I think if previous administrations had developed a culture for prudent management of resources, Nigeria ought to have over $100 billion saved in the excess crude account.

    “So, going forward, it is necessary for government to think about saving a lot more, and do all it can as well to cut down on wasteful spending, if the nation must make progress.”

    On the challenges confronting the agency, Adio told the committee that the country risked suspension from the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), if the agency failed to complete its audit report by a given deadline, which comes up in December.

    The NEITI boss decried the paucity of funds in the agency due to late releases by the Ministry of Finance.

    He blamed lack of funds for the inability of the agency to conclude work on its audit report to the EITI.

    He noted that should Nigeria be suspended from the world body as a result of the agency’s failure to meet the December deadline, the development would be an embarrassment on the image and reputation of the country.

    Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North), noted that the committee would require the effort of NEITI to close the communication gap between the agency and the upper chamber with a view to ensuring effective collaboration.

    He said that NEITI is the second agency of government among other that has not received its capital releases adequately.

    He described the development as “a misnomer”.