Tag: Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday assured the international community that the military will recapture major areas currently under the control of the Islamic Boko Haram in the North East before the new dates for the 2015 general elections.

He gave the assurance during the annual Presidential cocktail for members of the diplomatic corps in Aso Rock, Abuja.

According to him Nigeria will recaptured 100 per cent all the areas under Adamawa and Yobe states.

For Borno State, he said that the government will also try to reclaim it 100 per cent before the election or at worst reclaim at least 70 per cent of the state from the insurgents.

He thanked the diplomats for their countries’ support to Nigeria on the insurgency in the North East and the improving bilateral trade with their countries.

He said: “So the adjustments, yes the Boko Haram issues are there and definitely more states though for now three states are in the enclave of Boko Haram, whereby conducting elections maybe difficult.

“This period will give them the opportunity to clean up the three states. If at all they cannot clean up the three states at least two states will be recovered completely and more local governments even from the remaining state, so that elections could be conducted even in Borno State.”

“Even if we don’t take over all the territories in Borno State, definitely in Adamawa and Yobe states, we will take over completely and even Borno State, the headquarters of Boko Haram, even if we don’t take over completely, at least 70 per cent of that state will be free for elections to be conducted. Because democracy can only be meaningful if people are allowed to select who rules them.”

He added: “We recognise the real threats terrorism poses to our nation’s development and national security. The Boko Haram insurgency has today become the biggest manifestation of terrorism not only in our country Nigeria, it has become a regional problem. The activities of Boko Haram has shown that no single country can effectively tackle terrorism and insurgency alone.

“For effective and successful containment of this challenge, it is through regional and international collaboration and cooperation. We are therefore forging collaboration with all our immediate neighbours, sub-regional allies and even partners beyond the region to deal with this mortal challenge to our security and development.”

He said that just like Nigeria dealt with the threat of Ebola, it is determined to decisively deal with insurgency and thereby securing the nation.

He said: “We are already beginning to turn the trend. Let me reassure you very clearly that we will surely win the war against Boko Haram. We are moving faster now. In n the next few weeks the whole world will know that we are totally committed and that we are in position to save our people.

“We are now in position to tackle the Boko Haram and especially with the position taken by the AU. Our neigbouring countries – Chad, Cameroon, Niger are also keying in. Before this time, Boko Haram would create problems in Nigeria and sometimes go to northern Cameroon to hide. At times, they would create problem in Cameroon and move into Nigeria.

“It was always difficult for Nigerian security personnel to move into Cameroon because there was no intentional agreement or binding force. But now the barriers had been handled and so we will move faster and in the next few weeks you will witness significant changes.

“You can’t talk about wiping terror because it operates differently. But when you talk of holding territories, we are more committed than ever before because of the level we have reached and the cooperation we are getting from neighbouring countries in terms of taking these territories back, so that these internally displaced persons can be relocated into their communities.”

On the election, he said: “The next issue that is very important now is the issues of elections. Of course, you are aware of the colourful campaigns, especially campaigns that are led by the key political parties: the PDP and the APC.

“There is so much of tensions, especially when elections (dates) were readjusted. Initially the international community thought that readjusting the elections would automatically means shifting the date for inaugurating the new president.

“We insisted that for one, INEC adjusted the dates in 2011, the adjustments is within the constitutional provision that in Nigeria, elections have to be conducted not less than 30 days to the inauguration of the president and not more than 150 days of the inauguration.

“Unfortunately this illicited some kind of controversy. Ordinarily, people suppose not to bother. But for one reason or the other, it illicited some kind of debates and some people started even doubting whether this administration is even ready to go on with these elections or whether another president will be inaugurated on May 29th.

“So let me use this platform to clarify this issue, that the adjustments are within the constitution and not just the electoral law. Elections will be conducted as scheduled by the electoral body, March 28th and April 11th. On 29th of May this year, the President will be inaugurated. You should convey this to your country. “

On the frequently asked question of whether the military will wipe out insurgency in six weeks, he said: “The security people are not saying that they will wipe out Boko Haram before elections will be conducted. But there are Boko Haram related security issues and there were other security issues that were noticed during the period of campaigns which if we don’t prepare properly and modify, the security architecture we normally use for elections, the country may go up in flames.

“In a situation where you have maybe 30 per cent of people having voters card to vote, that is some kind of security threat. As at the time INEC was to conduct the elections, in fact when we had the Council of State meeting, a state like Lagos, Lagos is the most important state in this country, though the seat of government is in Abuja but Lagos controls 52 per cent of our economy. So it is a key state.

“So as important as Lagos is, only 38 per cent of those who registered to vote got their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). And that points to some kind of dangerous signal which we must avoid.”

“So when they say security issues, it was not limited to Boko Haram, and the security people didn’t say they must wipe pout Boko Haram before the elections will be conducted. Even in 2011, there was Boko Haram and elections were conducted.

“So we will surely conduct elections as scheduled, I promise you. So communicate this to your home country as scheduled and on the 29th of May inauguration will take place to bring in the next president of this country.”

A social critic and activist, Pastor (Dr) Moses Iloh, has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to eschew  rigging in the coming presidential election.

In a statement marking his 85th birthday yesterday, the General Overseer, Soul Winning Chapel, urged the president to debunk through his actions the allegation that he wants to use the election postponement to perfect the strategy for massive rigging, sensing that the pendulum of electoral victory swings against him.

“It is necessary to warn the president against any temptation to use the postponement as a strategy to  perfect the arrangement to use the army and police for massive rigging of the election,”said the founder of the Eclectic Network, a socio      -political pressure group.

Dr. Iloh, a veteran labour leader who clocked 85 yesterday, was a Zikist and member of the NCNC and the Northern Elements Progressive Union led by Mallam Aminu Kano of blessed memory. He was also a  First XI member of the Plateau Highlanders in the 50s.

As a pioneer member of the Red Cross in Nigeria, Pastor Iloh had the historic role of lowering the British flag and foisting the Nigerian Red Cross flag for the first time during the hand-over transition from British Red Cross to Nigerian Red Cross at the Independence celebration in 1960.

Just close to his birthday, Iloh, a national executive member of the CAN and PFN, was honoured by the Bible Society of Nigeria with an award for service to God and humanity.

A PDP chieftain, Engineer Funto Savage, has described President Goodluck Jonathan as a good man who is surrounded by bad advisers and associates.

He, therefore, advised the president to warn his associates to change their war-mongering posture which is capable of breaking up the nation.

 Engineer Savage, who declined comment on who will win the presidential election between Buhari and Jonathan,  stated categorically that the PDP will win the gubernatorial election in Lagos state with equally impressive  showings in the polls for the Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly.

“The disagreement within the party doesn’t matter. It’s one of those things in a democracy. The beauty of it all is that at the end of it all, every hands are already on the deck for the PDP to have a landslide polls in Lagos State “, Engineer Savage further said.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday assured the international community that the military will recapture major areas currently under the control of the Islamic Boko Haram in the North East before the new dates for the 2015 general elections. He gave the assurance during the annual Presidential cocktail for members of the diplomatic corps in Aso Rock, Abuja. According to him Nigeria will recaptured 100 per cent all the areas under Adamawa and Yobe states. For Borno State, he said that the government will also try to reclaim it 100 per cent before the election or at worst reclaim at least 70 per cent of the state from the insurgents. He thanked the diplomats for their countries’ support to Nigeria on the insurgency in the North East and the improving bilateral trade with their countries.

He said: “So the adjustments, yes the Boko Haram issues are there and definitely more states though for now three states are in the enclave of Boko Haram, whereby conducting elections maybe difficult. “This period will give them the opportunity to clean up the three states. If at all they cannot clean up the three states at least two states will be recovered completely and more local governments even from the remaining state, so that elections could be conducted even in Borno State.” “Even if we don’t take over all the territories in Borno State, definitely in Adamawa and Yobe states, we will take over completely and even Borno State, the headquarters of Boko Haram, even if we don’t take over completely, at least 70 per cent of that state will be free for elections to be conducted. Because democracy can only be meaningful if people are allowed to select who rules them.” He added: “We recognise the real threats terrorism poses to our nation’s development and national security.

The Boko Haram insurgency has today become the biggest manifestation of terrorism not only in our country Nigeria, it has become a regional problem. The activities of Boko Haram has shown that no single country can effectively tackle terrorism and insurgency alone. “For effective and successful containment of this challenge, it is through regional and international collaboration and cooperation. We are therefore forging collaboration with all our immediate neighbours, sub-regional allies and even partners beyond the region to deal with this mortal challenge to our security and development.” He said that just like Nigeria dealt with the threat of Ebola, it is determined to decisively deal with insurgency and thereby securing the nation. He said: “We are already beginning to turn the trend. Let me reassure you very clearly that we will surely win the war against Boko Haram. We are moving faster now.

In n the next few weeks the whole world will know that we are totally committed and that we are in position to save our people. “We are now in position to tackle the Boko Haram and especially with the position taken by the AU. Our neigbouring countries – Chad, Cameroon, Niger are also keying in. Before this time, Boko Haram would create problems in Nigeria and sometimes go to northern Cameroon to hide. At times, they would create problem in Cameroon and move into Nigeria. “It was always difficult for Nigerian security personnel to move into Cameroon because there was no intentional agreement or binding force. But now the barriers had been handled and so we will move faster and in the next few weeks you will witness significant changes.

“You can’t talk about wiping terror because it operates differently. But when you talk of holding territories, we are more committed than ever before because of the level we have reached and the cooperation we are getting from neighbouring countries in terms of taking these territories back, so that these internally displaced persons can be relocated into their communities.” On the election, he said: “The next issue that is very important now is the issues of elections. Of course, you are aware of the colourful campaigns, especially campaigns that are led by the key political parties: the PDP and the APC.

“There is so much of tensions, especially when elections (dates) were readjusted. Initially the international community thought that readjusting the elections would automatically means shifting the date for inaugurating the new president. “We insisted that for one, INEC adjusted the dates in 2011, the adjustments is within the constitutional provision that in Nigeria, elections have to be conducted not less than 30 days to the inauguration of the president and not more than 150 days of the inauguration. “Unfortunately this illicited some kind of controversy. Ordinarily, people suppose not to bother. But for one reason or the other, it illicited some kind of debates and some people started even doubting whether this administration is even ready to go on with these elections or whether another president will be inaugurated on May 29th. “So let me use this platform to clarify this issue, that the adjustments are within the constitution and not just the electoral law. Elections will be conducted as scheduled by the electoral body, March 28th and April 11th. On 29th of May this year, the President will be inaugurated. You should convey this to your country.

” On the frequently asked question of whether the military will wipe out insurgency in six weeks, he said: “The security people are not saying that they will wipe out Boko Haram before elections will be conducted. But there are Boko Haram related security issues and there were other security issues that were noticed during the period of campaigns which if we don’t prepare properly and modify, the security architecture we normally use for elections, the country may go up in flames. “In a situation where you have maybe 30 per cent of people having voters card to vote, that is some kind of security threat. As at the time INEC was to conduct the elections, in fact when we had the Council of State meeting, a state like Lagos, Lagos is the most important state in this country, though the seat of government is in Abuja but Lagos controls 52 per cent of our economy.

So it is a key state. “So as important as Lagos is, only 38 per cent of those who registered to vote got their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). And that points to some kind of dangerous signal which we must avoid.” “So when they say security issues, it was not limited to Boko Haram, and the security people didn’t say they must wipe pout Boko Haram before the elections will be conducted. Even in 2011, there was Boko Haram and elections were conducted. “So we will surely conduct elections as scheduled, I promise you. So communicate this to your home country as scheduled and on the 29th of May inauguration will take place to bring in the next president of this country.”

President Goodluck Jonathan last night denied the allegation that he will not hand over power if he loses the March 28 election.

“I will conduct free and fair elections and if I lose, I will gladly go home. I still maintain this nation is more important than anyone. The insinuations that I will not hand over power are unnecessary and unfortunate,” he said.

Speaking during the Presidential Media Chat monitored on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Jonathan said even if the military failed to eliminate Boko Haram in six weeks, the May 29 handover date stands.

He said: “If in 2011, I said that I will conduct free and fair elections and if I lose, I will happily go home  and it should be recorded and as at that time no African sitting President had lost election but within this period a lot of African sitting presidents have lost election.”

“But I said I want to create the history to be the first African President to lose election but let the world know that the elections are free and fair.

“This nation is more important than anybody and I still maintain that if anybody who wants to hold this office of the President or any office at all and feels that he is more important than the nation, that is not quite right.

“If as at that time I said that I was ready to conduct free and fair election and if I lose, I will go, not to talk about now that Nigerians have given me the opportunity to be here for four full years.”

“So if the elections are conducted and I lose, of course, we will inaugurate a new government; there is no way I will say if I lose I will not hand over.”

According to Dr. Jonathan, the percentage of permanent voter cards distribution should be fairly high.

Despite the threat by ex-militants to go to war if Jonathan loses, the President assured that everything will be done to keep Nigeria one and there will be no war.

He also fielded questions on Boko Haram, saying the goal is not to totally eliminate the insurgency before the elections, but to make adequate security arrangement for the exercise.

He also dissociated himself from the plot to remove Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof Atttahiru Jega, before the elections, denying such plans.

Director-General of PDP Campaign Organisation Dr Ahmadu Ali on Tuesday said Jega should resign because he had allegedly bungled the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVC). Indeed, the PDP rejected the use of PVCs and called for the use of the Temporary Voter Cards (TVC).

The organisation’s Director of Communications, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, yesterday reiterated the call for Jega to resign.

A group, Goodluck Lagos Grassroots Project, has also been sponsoring advertorial in newspapers asking Jega to “come clean”, “resign” and not to “sabotage the election”.

The President’s supporters notably Chief Edwin Clark, Senator Femi Okunrounmu and Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, have also been calling for Jega’s sack.

But the President described the indications that he would direct Jega to proceed on compulsory leave as “stupid things”, adding: “It belongs to the garbage world.”

“I have not told anybody that I will remove Jega,” he said, adding that if there are obvious reasons to remove Jega, he would rely on “constitutional” provisions that empower him to remove whoever he appoints.

“I appointed him. If I feel he is not doing well, there are constitutional provisions on how to remove him, but I have not even contemplated it,” he said. “I have never thought about removing the INEC Chairman, though I have the constitutional power to do so.”

Asked if he has confidence in Jega, he said he wished the INEC chairman were seated by his side to answer the question.

“I wish Jega were here, I could have asked him to answer whether I have confidence in him. Yes, those who called for his sack may be close to me, but they express their own opinion. More than 80 per cent of those who sponsor messages on our behalf we don’t even know them. People use the rescheduling of elections to misinform Nigerians,” he said.

On the elections postponement, the president said he was not consulted before the decision by INEC was taken. He said people were not being fair to him by insinuating that the elections were postponed for sinister purposes.

He added that he sympathised with the international community who thought the postponement was to elongate his tenure as had been done by some African leaders.

“There were issues requiring the electoral body to adjust date. I do not decide date for elections. INEC works with security agencies and they need them to ensure peace and security. There are a lot of safety implications in conducting elections. I was not consulted and I don’t want to be consulted.”

The president said the postponement should not affect the electoral fortunes of a candidate, adding: “Election is like a tournament or soccer march. If FIFA says they will play it in March, April or May, the winning team will still win. So I don’t see a big deal about it.”

Besides, he said the issue of security was beyond Boko Haram as there had been utterances from politicians which no security chief would take lightly.

Denying that he influenced the shift to favour his party, Jonathan said: “I am not the CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) that wrote the letter (not guaranteeing security for the polls) ,” he said, adding that he was briefed on the security situation.

Jonathan expressed confidence that there would be improvement in the security situation in the Northeast.

He said the insurgency began with the killing in 2009 of Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf, yet elections were held in 2011, adding: “No one is saying they must wipe out Boko Haram completely, but what they want to do is to configure the security architecture.”

Jonathan said he was hopeful the military would reclaim the territories under Boko Haram control before the election, and that the May 29 handover date remains sacrosanct.

On the Chibok schoolgirls, Jonathan said: “I believe that in the next few weeks, the story will be better. We are working with our neighbours; we will comb the whole of that area. I am more hopeful now than before. It’s unfortunate that people play politics with the issue of Chibok girls. It’s not like that elsewhere. In other countries, political boundaries collapse in the face of terror attacks, not so in Nigeria.”

According to him, insurgency persisted because Nigeria did not get the required equipment needed to combat terror. “Our neighbours were not too committed, but now Chad and Cameroun have moved in, so there will be no hiding place for Boko Haram

The president, however, did not give any guarantee that the girls would return alive. “About 200 girls were kidnapped over a period and you want the president to tell you they will be rescued alive. Of course, we will recover them alive. I’m not God, but as President, I’m more hopeful now than before because of maximum coorperation we are getting from other countries,” he said.

Asked why he thinks the war against Boko Haram can be won in six weeks even though the war had raged for six years, Jonathan said new weapons, and support of neigbhouring countries would boost the Boko Haram. He said Chad waited for the African Union (AU) approval, which they recently got.

Jonathan also explained his statement that stealing is not corruption. He said he was in fact quoting a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher.

He said Musdapher explained to him that his analysis of corruption cases in Nigeria showed that most of such cases in the files before him were on mostly about stealing. He argued that referring to stealing as corruption minimises the crime.

“Ole (thief in Yoruba) should be called ole and given that treatment. It is not actually my quotation. I quoted the former Chief Justice,” he said.

On his supporters who threaten that Nigeria would boil should Jonathan lose, the president said some people get carried away, adding: “We will make sure things are done so that nobody goes to war.”

“That is one of the things the heads of security services need to re-examine, the security architecture and the elections. It is beyond Boko Haram. You would agree with me that that aspect of the attempt to pelt the presidential convoy by young ignorant people because I saw them myself is treason. So if people could instigate small children because that is what I describe as the key area of the whole political process. And some of the provocative statements that people make.”