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Tag: Jonathan

  • Fayose to Obasanjo: leave Jonathan alone

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has condemned former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s comments on former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    He urged Obasanjo to stop attacking Jonathan.

    Fayose was responding to Obasanjo’s comments at the 11th convocation lecture of the Ben Idahosa University (BIU), Benin, Edo State, where Obasanjo  reportedly  said Jonathan’s performance would haunt the Southsouth for a long time.

    The governor, miffed by Obasanjo’s latest invective against Jonathan, said the Otuoke-born leader “has since left office and should be allowed to live a private life devoid of mudslinging from elder statesmen, like Chief Obasanjo”.

    Fayose, in a statement yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, contended that the people of the Southsouth voted overwhelmingly for Jonathan in the March 28 presidential poll “despite the gang-up orchestrated by Obasanjo and his allies”.

    He said: “Most importantly, Jonathan’s performance as a democrat has been widely acknowledged locally and internationally, particularly by President Muhammadu Buhari, who had acknowledged the role he (Jonathan) played in arranging a peaceful and successful transition programme, thereby averting the feared crisis in the country.

    “This is in contrast to Baba Obasanjo, who tried third term when he was about concluding his constitutional two terms. And who knows if he would have tried fourth term, if he had succeeded with his third term agenda?

    “The reality is, assuming but not conceding that Jonathan performed below expectation, the democratic governance that he established in Nigeria is more important than any other performance that Obasanjo alluded to,” the governor said.

    Speaking further, Fayose urged Obasanjo to stop running other Nigerians down, saying; “We are all stakeholders in the country. It is wrong for any Nigerian, no matter how highly placed, to go about carrying himself around as the only honest and lover of the country.

    The governor said: “Since Baba Obasanjo has openly destroyed his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) membership card, he is free to go about seeking relevance in the All Progressives Congress (APC) without running anyone down.”

    Fayose said people living in glass houses should avoid throwing stones, adding that Nigerians know those involved in the Halliburton scandal and people who are yet to be cleared of their alleged complicity in the scam lack the moral rights to brand other people as corrupt.

  • Fayose to Obasanjo: Leave Jonathan alone

    Fayose to Obasanjo: Leave Jonathan alone

    Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has resumed hostilities with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, warning him to stop attacking the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    Fayose was reacting to comments credited to Obasanjo at the 11th Convocation Lecture of Ben Idahosa University, Benin, Edo State, where the ex-president was quoted as saying that Jonathan’s performance in office will haunt the South-South region for a long time to come.

    The governor, who was miffed by Obasanjo’s latest tirade against Jonathan, said the Otuoke-born former Nigerian leader “has since left office and should be allowed to live a private life devoid of mudslinging.”

    Fayose in a statement issued on Monday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, contended that the people of the South-South voted overwhelmingly for Jonathan in the last presidential poll “despite the gang-up orchestrated by Obasanjo and his allies.”

    He said: “Most importantly, Jonathan’s performance as a democrat has been widely acknowledged locally and internationally, particularly by President Mohammadu Buhari, who on many occasions acknowledged the role he played in midwifing a peaceful and successful transition programme, thereby averting the feared crisis in the country.

    “This is in contrast to Baba Obasanjo, who tried for third term when he was about concluding his constitutional two terms. And who knows whether he would have tried fourth term if he had succeeded with his third term agenda?

    “The reality is, assuming but not conceding that Jonathan performed below expectation, democratic governance that he established in Nigeria is more important than any other performance that Obasanjo alluded to.”

    The governor urged Obasanjo to stop running other Nigerians down, saying; “We are all stakeholders in the country called Nigeria. It is wrong for any Nigerian no matter how highly placed to go about carrying himself around as the only honest and lover of the country.”

    “Since Baba Obasanjo has openly destroyed his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) membership card, he is free to go about seeking relevance in the All Progressives Congress (APC) without running anyone down.”

     

  • Jonathan’s ex-Chief Security Officer detained

    Jonathan’s ex-Chief Security Officer detained

    The Chief Security Officer (CSO) to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Godwin Obuah, has been arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) for yet to be disclosed reasons.

    Obuah, a senior official of the DSS was taken into custody on Thursday, four days after he had been reporting daily at the Abuja Headquarters of the agency as directed.

    Online publications which broke the news yesterday suggested that his incarceration might not be unconnected with certain oil bunkering deals when he served at the Presidential Villa and alleged movement of security allocation from the seat of power in the dying days of the Jonathan Administration.

    These could not be officially verified last night.

    Obuah is said to be in solitary confinement in an underground cell at the DSS Headquarters.

    He is reportedly denied access to his family, doctor and lawyer.

    The Cable (online publication) said Obuah has also embarked on hunger strike to protest the condition in which he is being kept.

     

  • Buhari, Jonathan Obasanjo, others eulogise Asika

    Buhari, Jonathan Obasanjo, others eulogise Asika

    president Muhammadu Buhari, former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd.) were among prominent Nigerians who condoled with the family of the late Chief (Mrs.) Chinyere Asika.

    Asika, who died on May 3, was 75.

    Buhari, in a letter of condolence, said: “Chief (Mrs.) Asika leaves behind a rich legacy of dedicated service and outstanding achievements in public.

    “Her contributions to the development of Nigeria testify to her patriotism and enduring faith in Nigeria, like her husband, the late Dr. Ukpabi Asika, the former Administrator of the defunct East Central State.”

    To former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who appointed Asika as Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on NEPAD from 2002 to 2007, the deceased “stood shoulder- to- shoulder with other notable personalities in Africa and was well respected among her counterparts from within and beyond the shore of Nigeria.”

    Jonathan said: “Hers was, indeed, a life truly worthy of celebration.”

    Gowon described Asika as “an uncommon believer in Nigeria.”

    He recalled the contributions of her husbands, Dr Ukpabi Asika, former administrator of East Central State and the deceased to the post civil war reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation efforts of the federal government.

    According to him: “Ukpabi and Chinyere formed a solid Eastern team that strongly believed in Nigeria, much against the popular belief of their people.

    “Chinyere was strong-willed and she associated courageously and without reservations with her husband’s views on one nation for us all regardless of whether one was from the East, West or the North.”

    The lying-in-state holds on Wednesday, July 22 at her residence, 22 Niger Drive GRA, Onitsha while funeral and Internment will be at All Saints Cathedral Onitsha on Friday July 24.

  • Jonathan’s performance will haunt Niger Delta, says Obasanjo

    Jonathan’s performance will haunt Niger Delta, says Obasanjo

    Former President of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that the Niger Delta region will suffer for the actions and inactions of his successor, Goodluck Jonathan.

    Jonathan, who lost to President Mohammadu Buhari hails from Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta.

    Obasanjo spoke yesterday while responding to questions shortly after he delivered the convocation lecture of the Benson Idahosa University in Benin City.

    He explained that he couldn’t have helped Jonathan do his job as Nigeria’s President after helping him secured the presidency.

    According to him, “To become Head of State was because of my performance in the war front. If General Gowon had not sent me the war front, he would not know whether I could perform or could not perform. He sent me to the war front and because I performed, we both shared the credit but if I had failed, he would not have shared the condemnation with me. I would have been alone.

    “I believe that the opportunity that availed itself in 2010 was for somebody from the minority to become the President of Nigeria. We should never lose such opportunity. What he did with it is entire up to him. What he did or did not do with it will reflect for a long time in that part of the country. There is no particular person who got there without the people.”

    Meanwhile, the former President has said that educating the masses is the right tool to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.

    According to him, even if Nigeria wins the war against Boko haram insurgency on the military front, it still needs proper education of the masses to sustain the victory.

    He said Nigeria must give education the priority it deserves or the dream to have a great Nigeria would remain a pipe dream.

    The former President noted that the Nigerian government needs to combine the power of education and military in its fight against Boko Haram.

    Former President Obasanjo spoke in Benin City, Edo State, while delivering the 11th convocation lecture of the Benson Idahosa University.

    Speaking on the lecture, titled ‘Effective Educational System: A Panacea for Societal Development and Transformation’, Obasanjo said education remained the most powerful tool against the indoctrination of Boko Haram group.

    Obasanjo urged the government to be more truthful and appealing, as well as promote literacy in the North East.

    He said Boko Haram thrived in the North East because it is backwardness in education.

    According to him, “Do the needful to exterminate the scourge and social economic development of the area concern and talk with the group that is ready to talk.

    “Boko Haram thrives on indoctrination. Spreading hate messages to propagate its messages through popular media. If we are able to counter Boko Haram hate messages with education in our schools and the social media to dilute such messages and prevent people from being swayed by Boko Haram. The Nigeria airwaves and social media should also be accentuated with positive messages.”

     

    “We have to reverse the trend of educational backwardness of the North East because Boko Haram was a menace waiting to happen. Empowering the youth with skills and taking them off the yoke of unemployment and the promises of Boko Haram.”

    Obasanjo, who also blamed poor educational system for the massive youth unemployment in the country, said moulding of character was completely ignored by Nigerian tutors, noting that Nigeria depends on the power of education to resolve the massive youth unemployment, corruption, insecurity, infrastructural decay, as well as the poor state of the economy.

    Obasanjo was later honored with the Change Nigeria award of the university.

    Chancellor of the institution, Arch Bishop Margret Idahosa, praised President Obasanjo for honoring the school’s invitation, and described the former president as a close family member

  • Jonathan’s associate, others dump PDP for APC in Bayelsa

    Jonathan’s associate, others dump PDP for APC in Bayelsa

    •We’ll sweep Dickson out of office

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday suffered a major setback ahead of the December 5th governorship election in the state.

    The PDP lost hundreds of its members to the APC in a carnival-like reception ceremony held at the state secretariat of the APC in Yenagoa.

    Among those who abandoned the PDP were former political office holders, appointees who served in different capacities in various PDP administrations and past party executive members.

    Also former aides, whose appointments were terminated in controversial circumstances by the incumbent Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, were among persons who joined the APC.

    They were led to the APC by a two-time member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Warman Ogoriba, who was denied the PDP ticket in the last general elections.

    Pioneer Majority Leader of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Ayiba Glover; former Secretary of the PDP and close associate of President Goodluck Jonathan, Prof. Tarila; former PDP Secretary, Sokari Jackson; former Commissioner for Environment in Dickson’s administration, Mr. Sylvanus Abila and former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Charles Opuala were among the defectors.

    Others in the train of former political office holders who dumped the PDP are Gesiye Frank-Oputu, Abel Osuo, Nelson Belief, Samuel Boy, William Ofoni, Benjamin Yebouowei, Ayibakoro Nelson and Livingstone Egba among others.

    They were received by a former governor and leader of the APC in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, in the presence of former Ambassador Felix Oboro, former acting governor, Chief Nestor Binabo, APC state chairman, Tiwe Orunimighe and former deputy and acting governor, Chief Werinipre Seibarugu.

    Sylva, while handing brooms, the symbol of the party, to the defectors, said the APC had come to end divisions in the state.

    Describing the APC as one family, he said he was highly privileged to welcome two persons who became acting governors during his administration to the APC.

    He said the APC would use brooms too sweep Dickson and his PDP government out of the state, adding that the PDP was already dead and was waiting for its funeral.

    He said all the people who matter in the state and the masses had joined the boat of the party, which he said is sailing to the Creek Haven Government House.

    He said with the number of people joining the APC, there is no way the party will not form the next government on February 14, 2016.

    “The APC ship has started sailing and everybody is welcome. It is the ship of unity and if you don’t get inside, you will be marooned. The PDP is dead. This Dickson’s government is dead. It is only waiting for its funeral”, he said.

    Oruminighe, in his welcome address, said he had predicted at the early stages of the APC that the party would form the next government.

    He said the Dickson government was unfriendly and deceitful, questioning the rationale behind the government’s move to reconstitute the Bayelsa volunteers.

    “Dickson has been there since, but he did not talk about Bayelsa volunteer. Now that he wants re-election, he started constituting the volunteers. Don’t be deceived,” he said.

    Referring to the APC as the only platform available in the state, he said the party would eliminate the existing classification of the people into core and fake Ijaw, and assured the new members of a level-playing field, adding that all the privileges available to old members would also extended to them.

    He, however, warned that the supremacy of the party must be upheld at all times.

    Advancing reasons for their defection, Ogoriba said the APC is the light while the PDP represents darkness.

    He said the government of the PDP in the state was based on falsehoods and too many talks without action.

    According to him, the Dickson-led government has ridiculed the people of the stage by building a “monkey bridge and walkway” in the name of a flyover.

    He said while the PDP was claiming to be unruffled by the defections of its members, it was busy calling defectors at night for reconciliation.

    “The APC is a sweet party and we are happy we have been accepted into it. We will subject ourselves to all the authority of the party. We have not come with any ambition. We have come to strengthen the party. With our presence here, the PDP has murdered sleep.”

     

  • Niger Delta will suffer for Jonathan’s actions – Obasanjo

    Niger Delta will suffer for Jonathan’s actions – Obasanjo

    Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has said the Niger Delta region will suffer for the actions and inactions of the immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    Jonathan, who lost the March 28 presidential election to President Mohammadu Buhari hails from Bayelsa, a state in the Niger Delta.

    Obasanjo spoke while responding to questions shortly after delivering a convocation lecture at the Benson Idahosa University, Benin City.

    The ex-president said he couldn’t have helped Jonathan to do his job as Nigeria President after helping him to secure the position.

    He said, “I became the Head of State because of my performance in the war front. If General Gowon had not sent me to the war front, he would not know whether I could perform or not. He sent me to the war front and because I performed, we both shared the credit. But if I had failed, he would not have shared the condemnation with me. I would have taken that alone.

    “I believe that the opportunity that afforded itself in 2010 was for somebody from the minority to on his self esteem become the President of Nigeria. We should never lose such opportunity. What he did with that opportunity is entirely up to him. What he did or did not do with it will reflect for a long time on that part of the country. There is no particular person who got there without the people.”

  • Jonathan agonistes

    The Guilty are Afraid, James Hadley Chase, the crime thriller great, would have dubbed it, being the title of one of his ever-racy novels.

    But Hardball prefers Jonathan Agonistes — the agony of Jonathan — being the reported unease former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan feels, over reported plans to find where some US $2.1bn in oil money nestles.

    The Nation, in its lead story of July 15, reported:  “Jonathan kicks as Buhari plans US $2.1b oil cash probe” — with the accompanying rider: “Ex-President seeks protection”.

    Protection — why?  The story reported Jonathan to have made a save-my-soul (SMS) Abuja sortie; and literally plans a protest placard, to Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, chairman of the National Peace Committee, that did much to ease tension before, during and after the epochal March/April elections, after which President Jonathan and his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost power.

    The story said former President Jonathan craved “protection”, from the Abubakar committee, against any alleged “blackmail” from the new Muhammadu Buhari presidency, over possible missing money, from the ever-leaking oil purse.

    Already, Edo Governor Adams Oshiomhole has gone radical, daring Jonathan and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, his economy czarina, to speak up on how US $1bn allegedly disappeared from the Excess Crude Account (ECA), with Oshiomhole alleging Okonjo-Iweala illegally withdrew the money to fund Jonathan’s electioneering.

    The former president must have been unnerved that the hard-punching Oshiomhole was part of the quartet the National Economic Committee (NEC) set up to investigate how the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), they of opaque operations, spent N3.8 trillion in three years.

    But a closer look at the quartet would reveal an intricate balancing, between the two major political parties: Oshiomhole and Nasir El-Rufai (APC), counter-balanced by Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe). Alhaji Dankwambo, one of only two PDP governors from the North now; while Governor Emmanuel is a protégée of Godswill Akpabio, a rabid Jonathan supporter.  So, opposing partisan bile should cancel themselves out.

    So, why does Jonathan fear?

    As for the appeal to the Abdulsalami Abubakar National Peace Committee, nothing on the surface is wrong with it.  In a milieu that lays so much store by barking power, it is pleasing that quiet influence is weighing in.  Besides, Dr. Jonathan should do everything logical, lawful and legitimate to protect his name — and legacy.

    Where Hardball vigorously  disagrees is the reported allusion to post-poll but seeming pre-concession agreement, which appeared to have formed the basis of Jonathan’s acceptance of electoral loss.

    The Abubakar committee’s appeal to common sense and honour was laudable — even more so, as Jonathan bought into it; and accepted defeat in a poll he was clearly worsted.  He, other things being equal, could not have done otherwise, anyway.  With his defeat, his covenant with Nigerians, as president, had been shred.

    So, while applauding Jonathan for choosing the honourable path, that concession cannot — and will not — be a basis for perpetual blackmail, against positive action, especially where there are legitimate questions on his government’s handling of the economy, which put most of our people in ruin, are begging for answers.

    Jonathan should get his due honour.  But that should not shield him from flak, arising from the rot his presidency left. And certainly, the Abubakar committee must not be party to any illicit cover-up.  Every question must be put, and answer entered, in the public space.

    Nigeria is no medieval enclave where a few potentates enter a redoubt, and emerge (that word again!) to pronounce everything settled, even when their subjects have serious doubts. It is rather a 21st century democracy, where the citizens must press their rights to know.

  • Judge okays trial of Jonathan’s campaign supporters

    Judge okays trial of Jonathan’s campaign supporters

    THE Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Ishaq Bello, has granted permission to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to arraign for  the Chairman, Goodluck Support Group, Aminu Abubakar and his assistant, Okechukwu Geoffrey.

    The ICPC had earlier filed a three-count before the court, accusing them of conspiracy, extortion and blackmail.

    They were said to possess documents relating to some officials of Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, with the intent to implicate them by publishing and threatening them, if they did pay N50 million.

    When they were first taking before the court, the duo challenged the competence of the charge and the court’s jurisdiction.

    According to a statement yesterday by ICPC’s spokesman Folu Olamiti, the court granted each of the accused persons bail at N15 million and two sureties in the same amount.

    It then took arguments from parties on ICPC’s application for leave to arraign them and the accused applications challenging the competence of the charge.

    In a ruling last week, Justice Bello held that there was no basis for the charge to be quashed because the prosecution had diligently linked the accused  to the offences committed.

    The judge upheld the argument by the prosecuting lawyer, George Lawal, that the application seeking to quash charge be dismissed because the suspects have been linked with the alleged offences.

    “The charge clearly shows where the first accused (Abubakar) had a meeting with the officials of the Petroleum Ministry, where he demanded N50 million, went ahead with threats, and went into a meeting where he collected N5 million, even writing an undertaking”. Therefore, the issue of quashing the charge was not acceptable,” he said.

    The judge fixed October 21, for the arraignment of the accused.

    They will be arraigned on the three-count charge, brought under the Penal Code, for extortion and conspiracy to extort.

  • Jonathan caused PDP’s loss at poll, says PDP chief

    Jonathan caused PDP’s loss at poll, says PDP chief

    •Ex-President broke power shift pact

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has blamed the party’s defeat in the last presidential election on former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying the ex President broke the power shift arrangement agreed upon by the party.

    The party said it has learnt its lesson from the mistake, vowing never again to take the zoning arrangement enshrined in its constitution for granted.

    The party’s National Vice Chairman, South-south, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh states this in Abuja yesterday. According to him, Jonathan went against the zoning arrangement, a development that led to his rejection by the North.

    He added that that was the reason the North decided to vote President Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan, he said, failed to honour a gentleman’s agreement reached in 1998 to serve a single term.

    According to him, the agreement was for power to shift between the North and the South after eight years.

    “So PDP had the first shot, everybody cooperated, (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo became president. After eight years, it was the turn of the North to become president then problem started. Some people started toying with the idea of third term.

    “PDP said no, PDP members of the National Assembly and other parties said no it will not work; wonderful. The PDP had to produce a candidate and that is how (the late Umoru) ‘Yar ‘Adua came. Unfortunately, he did not survive so the North said look this presidency is our own, we have to utilise our allotted eight years and they were right.

    “Jonathan himself said he will do only four years. Emirs, leaders and stakeholders in the country accepted that Jonathan will do only four years so that the power can shift to the North. When time came, a lot of ‘Macapa’ dances started; people started putting pressure here and there and people started encouraging Jonathan to contest. Unfortunately, Jonathan didn’t have the nerves to say no, I will keep my agreement.

    “So, Jonathan contesting meant that zoning formula had been breached. The North didn’t take kindly to that; they said no, this is not what we agreed. Even the Christian North that used to be very friendly, especially the North Central said we had an agreement. Some governors about five of them left the party because of that because they saw what was happening. So it was this pressure that the North now agreed that they must take power back, that it was their turn.

    “Fortunately or unfortunately, only two candidates were presented at the election whether you like it or not; Jonathan and Buhari. Buhari is from the North, Jonathan is from the South. The south had done more than enough for the time been for the agreement of 1998/1999. So the North said look we are going to vote for our son whether he is good or bad,” he said.

    The PDP chief said the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government will not stand the test of time, adding however that the PDP would have no hand in APC’s affairs.

    Ojougboh also ruled out the issue of resignation or dissolution of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, saying they are to remain in office till March, 2016.