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Tag: Obasanjo

  • Kalu: Obasanjo most corrupt President

    •Defies Fayose, storms Ekiti for Buhari

    Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu yesterday defied the order of Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose not to come to the state to campaign for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He slammed ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo for his attacks on Buhari by advising him not to seek re-election.

    Kalu said Obasanjo lacked the moral standing to stop Buhari from contesting the 2019 presidential poll, describing him (Buhari) as the most selfless leader.

    The ex-governor, who urged Nigerians to ignore “frivolous letter writers like Obasanjo”, said Buhari deserved to be re-elected because he was revamping the economy, which had seen the foreign reserves rising from $23 billion to $47 billion.

    He said the President had done well in tackling insurgency in the Northeast, considering the successes recorded by the military against Boko Haram terrorists, unlike what happened during the Goodluck Jonathan presidency.

    Kalu led a peace advocacy team to Ado-Ekiti in his capacity as the acting chairman of the Advisory Board of the National Movement for the Re-election of President Buhari.

    He was received by All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains led by a governorship aspirant and former Speaker, House of Assembly, Mr. Olufemi Bamisile.

    Kalu addressed a crowd at Bamisile’s home in GRA, Ado-Ekiti.

    Slamming Obasanjo, he said: “Nigerians should tell former President Obasanjo to stop writing frivolous letters.

    “Let me tell you emphatically that President Buhari will contest again. Don’t listen to letter writers like Obasanjo. He has been President twice, so he should keep his letter in Otta for himself.

    “If anyone will caution President Buhari, it should not be Obasanjo.

    If you check your records very well, he remains the most corrupt President ever. He came into office with less than N20,000 and built the multi-billion naira Otta Farm, Library Project and  Hilltop Mansion.

    “This is why I am in Ekiti to tell our people not to listen to Obasanjo. He met the economy in a comatose. Today, President Buhari has raised foreign reserve from $23 billion to $47 billion, while the menace of Boko Haram has been defeated.

    “Some people are out to destabilise his government. We want Nigerians to embrace love, peace and show understanding.”

    Kalu had been banned by Fayose from coming to Ekiti to campaign for Buhari.

    The governor said in a statement that Kalu was not welcomed in the state.

    But the former Abia State governor advised Fayose to stop “manifesting thuggery, which is not expected of somebody holding such an exalted office.”

    Addressing a crowd, Kalu said he was surprised that Fayose, who was in Abia State last week, could tell an elder statesman and a law-abiding citizen not to visit Ekiti State.

    He recalled that he hosted Fayose in his house for about three months after he was impeached on October 16, 2006 by 24 of 26 members of the House of State Assembly.

    Kalu said: “My attention was called from Ondo State on Saturday that Governor Fayose said I should not come to Ekiti. Fayose is my boy; he can’t stop me from coming. He is my boy and he knows he can’t stop me on anything.

    “Governor Fayose was in my house for 90 days after he was impeached. He is my friend but he has gone beyond his limit by saying a bona fide elder statesman like me should not come to Ekiti.

    “Fayose was in my state, Abia, last week. Nobody said he should not come, so I have declared war on him. Even if I sleep on the floor, I will still defeat Fayose on any issue.”

    He enjoined Ekiti delegates to vote wisely, by voting for an aspirant who has the political network and dexterity to defeat Fayose.

    “You need to work very hard because President Buhari doesn’t believe

    in rigging. I am ready to support whoever you bring as a candidate for the July 14 election, because I am part of you.

    “If I am to choose for you, I will choose Bamisile, but this lies on Ekiti delegates. However, as a national leader of APC, I am ready to support whoever you bring up.”

    The former governor promised to work hard to ensure APC wins the poll, so that the battle can be easy for the party in next year’s presidential election, “when Buhari will be seeking re-election.”

    Ex-governor seeks monarchs’, indigenes’ support for President

    Ex-Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu has urged traditional rulers in Yoruba land and their subjects to support President Muhammadu Buhari to get a second term.

    Kalu, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke at the weekend at the palace of Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo.

    He was visiting the monarch in continuation of his peace and advocacy trip to the Southwest.

    Kalu urged Nigerians to support the APC government.

    He promised to empower 2,000 Ondo indigenes through the Orji Uzor Kalu Foundation.

    The former governor said beneficiaries of the programme would comprise 1,000 male and 1,000 female petty traders.

    He praised the support of the traditional institution for the APC government, urging monarchs not to relent in supporting the Federal Government.

    According to him, President Buhari has done well to develop the nation, especially his fight against corruption and rehabilitation of federal roads.

    He said: “Federal roads across the country are being rehabilitated by the government. Nigeria has a good image at the international community, unlike what happened before the inception of the Buhari administration.”

    The APC stalwart advised traditional rulers to pray for the President and his administration.

    He enjoined Nigerians to pray for peace and unity.

    Kalu said no human being was perfect, stressing that Nigerians should tolerate one another and ensure peace reigned.

    Oba Kiladejo described peace as an important factor needed for development.

    He hailed Kalu for moving round the country to preach peace and unity.

     

  • Obasanjo to ICAN: you’ll incur govt’s displeasure with planned index

    THERE appear to be no break in  former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s unceasing attack on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    Obasanjo yesterday warned the Chartered Institute of Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) that it risks incurring the “displeasure of the authorities” with its planned assessment of public finance in Nigeria through  “accountability index”.

    Obasanjo said God knows what to do concerning those desirous of “running the country aground” with their “impunity”.

    He spoke yesterday in Abeokuta when ICAN President Isma’la Zakari visited him.

    Zakari, who was in the Ogun State capital, ahead of the investiture of Atilade Bolarinwa as the 15th chairman of ICAN, Abeokuta District, told the ex-President that the institute would publish its first accountability index report in September.

    Obasanjo, who threw his weight behind the plan, declared that Nigeria must be sanitised with right leadership and good governance mechanisms.

    He noted that the step, if taken conscientiously and with neutrality, could earn the accounting body an international acceptance.

    The former president, however, warned that it would elicit the displeasure of “Nigerian authorities” at home.

    Obasanjo said: “We don’t even look at ourselves and that is the unfortunate thing. We should look at ourselves and say yes, where did we go wrong? And have the humility to say wherever we have gone wrong, we are ready to make amends.

    “We go on with impunity upon impunity as if we have created ourselves and we have created the country. My prayer is that those who try to run this country aground with impunity, we leave them in the hands of God and God in His infinite mercies knows what to do.

    “We cannot go on with impunity and think that it will all be well. So, your idea about accountability index must be welcome by all men and women of goodwill in this country.

    “If you can do it, it will serve a very useful purpose. But I must also warn you: if you are succeeding in that, if you will do it conscientiously, neutrally and it will have the acceptance internationally, you will incur the displeasure of the authorities in Nigeria.  Because you will step on toes and once you start stepping on toes, you know what that means.”

    Zakari said the accountability index was launched last year as part of ICAN’s efforts to encourage accountability, improve quality of governance and compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 as well as tackling corruption in all tiers of governments by engaging professionals in public sector.

  • Anti-Buhari campaign: Obasanjo under fire

    Like he did with his Special Statement in which he announced the formation of a third force – the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stirred a fresh controversy by campaigning against returning President Muhammadu Buhari to office next year, reports TONY AKOWE. 

    For the second time in two months, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stirred the hornets’ next with his scathing criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari’s style of administration.

    Those who reacted to the former leader’s latest outburst said he lacked the moral latitude demarket the Buhari administration.

    The former President was quoted as describing the Buhari government as a failure which should not be reinforced, but voted out of power.

    Obasanjo had knocked Buhari at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State while hosting a joint delegation of Nigeria Young Professional Forum (NYPF) and New Nigeria 2019 at the weekend.

    The former president called on Nigerians not to reinforce incompetence next year by voting out the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

    He described the current administration as a failed government judging by the results of the last three years and the numerous excuses of the government for its non-performance.

     

    Yesterday’s lawless leaders

    are Buhari’s critics, says Kalu

     

    Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu berated the critics of the President, describing them as persons who never obeyed the law when they were in power.

    Faulting Buhari’s critics, he said notwithstanding the cynical and vitriolic attacks against him, the President deserves a second term in office to complete his good projects for Nigeria.

    He spoke yesterday during a visit to the Alake of Egba Land, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo at the Ake Palace in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    Kalu, who is the coordinator of National Movement for Re-election of Muhammadu Buhari, declared that the President has done well to merit another term of four years in office.

    The former governor’s comments came barely 24 hours after former President Obasanjo took a swipe at the Buhari-led government for allegedly being ineffective, incompetent and reeking of failure.

    According to him, Buhari has unfinished job to do and needs another tenure to complete it thoroughly.

    Kalu said: “The greatest challenge of our country is leaders not obeying the law. When they are leaders, they don’t want to obey the law; when they go out of leadership, they criticise everybody who wants to obey the law. This is the problem of the country.

    “We have had leaders who disobeyed every law of the land. We’ve also had leaders who were reckless when they were leaders and when they go out, they call people all kinds of name. We have also seen leaders that have never seen anything good in other people’s leadership, they only know about themselves.

    “So, we want to thank you for the support…I know you are close friend of President Muhammadu Buhari and I want you to maintain that friendship; don’t allow anybody to distract you whether people from here or from my area, stay in course.

    “President Buhari has not finished the job he came to do. If God gives him good health and long life, he has not finished. He has to go for another four years to be able to finish.

    “Despite people who are criticising and these people also took no criticism when they were in office. Despite the people who are writing letters; these people we also wrote letters to them, they didn’t reply to our own letters.”

    Kalu, who lauded his host for his sterling military career, numerous community services and contributions to nation-building, declared that  Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable.

    He urged the Alake and members of the Egba Traditional Council not to relent in their support for the president.

    Kalu said: “In any democracy, there must be people for and against. We are for Buhari, some people are against and we wish them well. And we want to thank you for the key role of peace that you and other traditional rulers have been playing. Nigeria unity is non-negotiable.

    “We are for oneness of this country, we are for leaders who are sincere to lead us well, we are for leaders who are equally committed to the rules and tenets of democracy, “ he said.

     

    Why Buhari deserves

    another term, by Alake

     

    In his remarks, Oba Gbadebo hailed the former Abia governor for his message of love and strong belief in Buhari’s capacity to deliver good governance for the country.

    The Alake described Kalu as a great and detribalised Nigerian, whose tenure as governor was marked with monumental development of the state.

    “As a key stakeholder of the Nigerian project, your patriotic contributions to nation-building are commendable.”

    The monarch, who noted that the nation’s Presidency remains the birthright of every Nigerian, promised to support Kalu whenever the nation beckons on him to contest as president.

    According to him, there is great hope for Nigeria when somebody from the Southeast could be mobilising support for a president who hails from the North.

    The Alake pointed out that giving Buhari a second term in office would enable him to consolidate on the achievements already recorded by the present administration.

    Said the monarch: “So, I am part of your team in campaigning that he be given a chance for another four years because those who made the tenure to be four by two know that while you are formulating your policies while you are thinking of what to do, you need time to now expect everything you have put in place in the first four years to germinate and to bring benefits to the people.

    “And we know what happens in Nigeria; there is always policy somersault. If a person goes after four years, virtually everything he has done will be turned over by whoever comes after; he won’t want the person that has come to get the credit for what he is going to sit upon. So, he would rather have it killed than to go ahead and implement.

    “So, as you are going around the country, we pray that God will be with you. That this effort you are putting in for the greatness of Nigeria, some other people will do the same thing for you because the headship and Presidency of this country is the birthright of every Nigerian and I pray that in your own time too, people will go round and solicit support for you. You have proved to be a great Nigerian totally devoid of tribal sentiment.”

     

    He’s speaking for himself,

    says APC NEC member

     

    A member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Committee (NEC), Alhaji Nasiru Danu, said Chief Obasanjo was not speaking the mind of Nigerians in his assessment of the performance of President Buhari.

    Danu told newsmen at the Abuja national headquarters of the APC that the former President was merely playing politics and should therefore not be taken seriously.

    He said the fomer President was however entitled to his opinion.

    His words: “The truth is that everybody can have his opinion on an issue, but to me, this is a successful administration. Buhari never promised to be a miracle worker. In three years, the success of this administration in the economy and security are obvious.

    “There is no nation that can progress or have meaningful development with the past levels of corruption. When somebody says he is a failure, failure in what? Are we talking about the railways connecting the country? The Port Harcourt – Maiduguri or Lagos-Kano rail line? The Mambilla project? Or the Second Niger Bridge, among others.

    “In security, compared to what we had before, there are improvements. Before Buhari, we were having attacks even in Abuja, not Maiduguri. But, you can see the successes clearly. This is an election year. People are entitled to their own opinion. Obasanjo is an elder statesman and he is entitled to his own opinion. That is not the opinion of Nigerians.”

     

    ANN backs ex-president

     

    But Obasanjo got an ally in the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) in the campaign against President Buhari.

    In a statement in Abuja by the Chairman of its Board of Trustees (BOT) Adekoya Adebola, the ANN corroborated the former president’s stance and called on Nigerians to ensure that next year’s presidential election is a test of competence and not sentiments or political blackmails typical of previous elections.

    Adebola said that despite the noise of economic and political progress being made by the ruling party, the economy was still struggling without a clear strategic direction by Buhari to revamp the ailing economy inherited from its predecessors.

    Adebola said in the statement: “The reality is, ‘how can we explain the continuous insecurity and the ravaging killer herdsmen?’ Even when the core of the government focus is to deliver security, but since inception of this administration, the country has witnessed more of security breaches and senseless killings in virtually every part of the country with no one apprehended, arrested or prosecuted.

    “How can we explain the failure in fight against corruption even when the reason Nigerians voted for this government was essentially because of the stealing that was going on in government? And right now, the same is the order of the day in the nose of the current government. Monies are swallowed by monkeys and snakes; questionable list of looters. The list can go on and on,” Adebola said.

    The chairman stated that in view of these blatant failures, therefore, Obasanjo’s assertion was not out of scope. He urged Nigerians to come out en masse in 2019 to vote out an incompetent APC and Buhari government.

     

    Obasanjo’s plot to discredit PDP

    will fail, says party chieftain

     

    A chieftain of the local chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alexander Mwolwus yesterday took on the former President, whom he accused of plotting to discredit the opposition party for his personal interest.

    But, Mwolwus, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Pankshin that Obasanjo’s pronouncement was “very unfortunate and selfish in nature’’.

    He described PDP’s apology to Nigerians through its National Chairman as “a right step in the right direction’’, saying, “only great men own up to their mistakes.

    “If PDP had apologised willfully, having owned up to its mistakes, I shouldn’t be castigated for that because every human organisation has its own limitations.

    “Even though OBJ’s plots to discredit PDP for his own political party, he seems to have missed it and not knowing what he is doing.

    “He is the most ungrateful Nigerian leader, who never knew how PDP was formed.

    “But all the same, his party will not be anywhere close to having the confidence of Nigerians if that is the way he wants to go drumming for support to it.

    “Obasanjo was never a member of the PDP but out of sheer pity and magnanimity, the party brought him out of prison and made him president on a platter of Gold.

    “We made him who he is today, yet, he has the guts to spit and shout against us.’’

    The PDP chieftain accused the ex-president of introducing corruption and corrutpting the National Assembly with his failed third-term ambition.

    He urged Nigerians not to be bothered by the game plans of the APC and Obasanjo, but should keep faith with the PDP, which he said had realised its mistakes and offering to give them a purposeful leadership in 2019.

     

    Nigerians’ destiny not in

    anybody’s hand, says Keyamo

     

    Human rights crusader and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Festus Keyamo said that those playing God in determining the tenant at the State House in Abuja, would be shocked next year.

    The lawyer said Nigerians will determine who leads them with their ballot.

    Keyamo said: “Since 1960, a few people have always determined who would govern all of us. They’re the ones now writing letters and inciting the people. Next year would be a defining moment as the people of this country will truly determine their own fate and put these self-conceited leaders to ultimate shame.

    Let’s remember that during d first four years of Obasanjo (1999-2003), he kept blaming the ‘rot’ the military left behind as the reason for his abysmal performance and begged Nigerians to be patient with him.”

     

    He’s part, parcel of the problem

     

    A former General Secretary of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Kayode Ogundamisi, accused Obasanjo of playing the Ostrich.

    He described as immoral for the former President to pretend as if he was not part of those who created the mess being cleared by the present administration.

    Ogundamisi said: “Obasanjo has a reputation as a rabble rouser. He loves attention and reads the mind of the Nigerians. He plays it just as he did during the civil war when the Biafran side had already been secured by Nigerian fighters. Obasanjo posed himself as an opportunist and claimed victory.

    “Over time in our history, Obasanjo has tried to play himself up as hero of the people when he is actually part and parcel of the problem. He is actually one of the problems because he gave the country a sick Yar’Adua and incompetent Jonathan that led us to an old Buhari who seems to be ineffective. Nigerians should be wary of this latter-day hero who should be dumped into the dustbin of history.

    “Yes, the Buhari government has not performed to expectations, but who is Obasanjo to tell us when he is part of the problem? What he is saying is not new. If Obasanjo is not happy, he would say it, especially when his interest is at play. As a kingmaker, he wants to be relevant. If attacking Buhari makes him relevant, he would ignore the positives of the Buhari government and emphasise on the negative.”

     

  • Presidency react to Obasanjo’s assessment of Buhari’s administration

    The Presidency on Monday night said the administration of President Muhammad Buhari would not join issues with former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his comments on Buhari administration.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obasanjo had on Monday while addressing a group of youths who visited him at his country home Abeokuta described the Buhari administration as a failure.

    Obasanjo also asked the All Progressives Congress (APC) -led government to stop complaining about the challenges it met on the ground.

    “What we have now is failure. Never  you reinforce failure, let failure be failure… Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.’’

    However, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, who responded to Obasanjo’s comments in a telephone interview on Channels Television on Monday, said the assessment was not new.

    “Already, the statement issued few months ago by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, in response to the earlier criticism made against the government by Obasanjo had adequately addressed the issues raised’’.

    He maintained that the APC-led Federal Government would keep making reference to the failures of the past administration with a view to guiding against such mistakes in future.

    According to Adesina, the Buhari administration has successfully tackled mismanagement of the nation’s economy, as Nigeria now has more savings in its foreign reserve than ever before.

    NAN recalls that the former President had earlier issued a 13-page statement, criticising Buhari’s performance and concluded that Buhari should not seek re-election in 2019.
    NAN, however, observed that the Obasanjo’s 13-page statement attracted mixed reactions from cross sections of Nigerians, including politicians and opinion leaders from within and outside the country. (NAN)

  • Obasanjo seeks grand coalition to take power in 2019

    FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday sustained his attacks on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, giving tips on how to get it out of power next year.

    Obasanjo, who is the arrowhead of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), spoke while meeting two groups – Nigeria Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) and New Nigeria 2019 – in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    Describing the APC and PDP as “leprous hands”, Obasanjo said the two major political parties cannot take Nigeria to an enviable height.

    Obasanjo added that for the task of wresting power to succeed in 2019, “all hands must be on deck”, warning that failure to take necessary action would also mean a people willingly falling victims of their dislikes.

    He said when a country has an incompetent government in place, everybody is a victim.

    But Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said the former President’s claims are not a reflection of the reality of Buhari’s performance.

    He said the President would not take up issues with Obasanjo adding that all he said were in his statement which Minister of Information Lai Mohammed had responded to.

    The Egba chief explained that what obtains today in Nigeria with Buhari’s administration is “failure”.

    According to the ex-President, a strong popular grassroots movement is needed in Nigerian democracy to bring about the change, sustainability, stability and development.

    He called on Nigerians, who are desirous of change in leadership to remain focused and united, lest people he called “power addicts” divide them based on “gender, age, tribe, religion and region”.

    The former president said: “The point is this: the way to wrest power is to know that those that are there, you have to carry them along so that they will willingly (yield space)…so that they will not be frightened and they will not be intimidated.

    “But this time, for us to make it, we need all hands on deck. You see, I have publicly said and I mean it, that as a party, neither PDP nor APC can get us there as they have been.

    “Never mind about reforms and apology and all that. And yet we have to get there. I asked one of the foundation members of PDP, the PDP when we started, was it a grassroots party? He said it was an elitist party.

    “Really, we have never had the so-called grassroots party. Even Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), which we could say is the nearest, was not grassroots enough.

    “And I believe strongly that we must have a strong popular grassroots movement to bring about the change, sustainability and stability that we need in our democracy and development.”

    Obasanjo added: “I am happy to meet with you. But don’t take anything for granted. There will be a lot of work that we have to do.

    “What those I call power addicts would want to do is to divide you based on gender, age, tribe, religion and region. You have one commonality – interest of Nigeria.

    “And it doesn’t matter where you come from. We had that interest. The truth is this: when you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims.

    “And don’t let anybody deceive you. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today, if we have a competent and effective and performing government.

    “As I said, stop giving excuses; we met challenges. If there are no challenges, then we wouldn’t need you to come. You come in because you know there are challenges and then giving us excuse that you have many challenges, that is why you haven’t achieved results.

    “And then you still want to go. The first lesson I learnt in my military training is never reinforce failure. What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure. Let failure be failure.

    “And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you don’t like because it’s only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like. And if you don’t see what you should see and you don’t do what you should do, you will be a victim of what you don’t like.

    “But let us bring together all these movements because we are pursuing the same thing. If we allow ourselves to be taking piecemeal, it is finished. Now, if we are together… Yes, I said you cannot take PDP as it is and APC as it is; but they are not all made of evil people.

    “There are good people. I said PDP is leprous hand, APC is leprous hand, but there are some clean fingers in them. So, let’s take those clean fingers in them and graft the clean fingers in our own.

    “That is the way to go and if we go that way, we will get there, we will move together, and we will move fast and we will move far.”

     

  • How to wrest power from Buhari, APC, others in 2019 – Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday revealed how a national grassroot movement could galvanise the force that would wrest power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 if he elects to run.
    Obasanjo who is the arrowhead of the over three million member Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), said the way to accomplish it is to understand those currently in power,  and by not “frightening” and “intimidating” them while working to also make them yield power “willingly.”
    Obasanjo made this known while meeting the two groups – Nigeria Young Professionals Forum(NYPF) and New Nigeria 2019 in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
    The groups, led by Moses Siasia and China Anyaso, had visited him at his Olusegun  Obasanjo  Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta
    in  consultation on the state of the nation with assurance of their preparedness to respond to Obasanho’s  clarion call for a popular movement to rescue Nigeria.
    Describing  the APC and PDP as leprous hands, Obasanjo said the two major political parties  can’t take Nigeria and Nigerians  to an enviable height.
    He added that for the task of wresting power to succeed in 2019, “all hands must be on deck,” warning that failure to take necessary action would also mean a people willingly falling victims  of what they  don’t like.
    He said when a country has an incompetent government in place, everybody is a victim, explaining that what obtains today  in Nigeria with Buhari’s administration  is “failure.”
    According to the ex – President, a strong popular grassroots movement is badly needed in Nigeria democracy to bring about the change, sustainability, stability and development.
    He suggested that a coalition all the movements in the country and poaching of the uninfected members of the leprous APC and PDP to join the mass coalitions, would bring about the needed change in leadership in 2019.
     “The point is this: the way to wrest power is to know that those that are there, you  have to carry them along so that they will willingly(yield space).. so that  they will not be frightened, they will not be intimidated.
    “But this time, for us to make it, we need all hands on deck. You see, I have publicly said and I mean it, that as a party, neither PDP nor APC can get us there as they have been.
    ” Never mind about reforms and apology and all that. And yet we have to get there. I asked one of the foundation members of PDP, the PDP when we started, was it a grassroots party? He said it was an elitist party.
    “Really, we have never had the so-called grassroots party. Even NEPU which we could say is the nearest, was not grassroot enough.
    “And I believe strongly that we must have a strong popular grassroots movement to bring about the change, sustainability and stability that we need in our democracy and development.
    “I am happy to meet with you but don’t take anything for granted. There will be a lot of work that we have to do.
    “What those I call power addicts would want to do is to divide you based on gender, age, tribe, religion and region. You have one commonality – interest of Nigeria.
    “And it doesn’t matter where you come from. We had that interest. The truth is this: when you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims.
    “And don’t let anybody deceive you. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.
    “As I said, stop giving excuses; we met challenges. If there are no challenges, then we wouldn’t need you to come. You come in because you know there are challenges and then giving us excuse that you have many challenges, that is why you haven’t achieved results.
    “And then you still want to go. The first lesson I learnt in my military training is never reinforce failure. What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure. Let failure be failure.
    “And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you don’t like because it’s only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like. And if you don’t see what you should see and you don’t do what you should do, you will be a victim of what you don’t like.
    “But let us bring together all these movements because we are pursuing the same thing. If we allow ourselves to be take piecemeal, it is finished. Now if we are together… Yes, I said you cannot take PDP as it is and APC as it is; but they are not all made of evil people.
    “There are good people. I said PDP is leprous hand, APC is leprous hand, but there are some clean fingers in them. So, let’s take those clean fingers in them and graft the clean fingers in our own.
    “That is the way to go and if we go that way, we will get there, we will move together, and we will will move fast and we will move far,” Obasanjo said.

  • 2019: Buhari ‘ll defeat Obasanjo, IBB, others, says Presidency

    Should President Muhammadu contest in 2019, he will defeat the former leaders who are asking him not to seek reelection, presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said yesterday.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.) have advised the President not to seek reelection.

    Obasanjo has launched the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), which he described as a third force to the two dominant parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Although the President has not declared his intention to contest, but the popular thinking is that he will.

    Shenu, fielding questions from reporters yesterday, said the President “richly deserves a second term in office.”

    He added that rather than asking Buhari not to contest in 2019, the former leaders should contest against him next year.

    “My response to them is that if they like they can come and contest against President Buhari. He will defeat them, all of them,” Shehu said

    On the belief by some Nigerians that President Buhari should not be talking of re contesting when there is hunger in the land, he said: “With all the noise the PDP is making, even during their tenure, did they give breakfast, lunch and dinner to every citizen? Is there any country in which someone does not go hungry?

    “I am not saying it is perfectly in order but they are just politicising these issues. This is a government that has removed this country from the shame of food importation.

    Every state of the country now is into rice production, and we are feeding not only Nigeria but West Africa.

    “And the government is working on having respectable prices for food items,food inflation is coming down grossly. Everyone complaining of hunger should go and work. And you know that this is the only government that has introduced social investment schemes.  We pay out now for the poorest of the poor; the least they wll get is N5,000.and a lot of these jobs that are being created are from loans with little or no interest from the Central Bank, Bank of industry, Banks of Agriculture, Development Bank  and the rest.

    “So, there is a lot going for people who really want to go out there to work, especially in agriculture.”

    Shehu also faulted those saying it was a weakness for the President not to be able reshuffle his cabinet since 2015.

    He said: “The President is the one who wears the shoes; he knows where it pinches. If the President hasn’t sacked his ministers, it means that he wants to continue to work with them.

    “Maybe those agitating for the sack of the ministers are also looking for a chance to come in to replace those who are there, in that case, then they are driven by selfish motive.

    “As President and commander-in-chief, he reserves the right to hire and fire. The fact that he hasn’t done that does not mean that he does not have the power to do that. I am sure if he wants do it, he will do it at his own pace and time but people who want to become ministers, how many minister can we even appoint in this country?

    “I think people should just be busy; let them go and start farming instead of sitting down to speculate whether they can be made minister or not.”

    Shehu rated the administration high on infrastructural development.

    According to him, no past administration invested so much in capital projects like this.

    “From day one when he took power, the President gave a target of not less than 30 per cent of annual appropriation devoted to infrastructure development. Without infrastructure we cannot lay the foundation for growth.

    “When this administration came to power, between 95 and 96 per cent of public expenditure was going into overhead cost, leaving only about five or six per cent for infrastructure. The allocation of 30 per cent under this administration has led to tremendous  improvement in the provision of infrastructure so far  in the country. Now there is a lot of work going on, building new rail lines and the rehabilitation of the old rail system networks. Roads are being done all across the country, you only need to drive around to see for yourself.

    “The amount of work this administration has done on roads, like the expressway from Enugu to Port Harcout, has not been done in the eight years of previous administrations. We are hoping that within this year before the next election Lagos -Ibadan will be completed. It’s a lot of money; we are doing it. Government is laying the sod now for the construction of a six lane road from Abuja to Kano.

    “So there is so much that is going on in terms of that. We are doing power; you know that this administration has doubled availability of power in the country. When we came in, it stood at about 3,000 megawatts. We have hit 7,000 megawatts and we are doing more. So it depends on what you are looking at.

    “This is a government that has spent N1.3 trillion  in capital expenses under 2016 budget and has also spent as much as that under the 2017 budget and it’s almost closing on records for last year which was N1.3 trillion,” he said

    Asked if the farmers/ herders crises had not rubbished the administration’s goal of securing lives and properties, Shehu said “The problem between farmers and herdsmen predate the independence of Nigeria; if you read history you will see that farmers and herdsmen had fought for space in this country; even when British colonial rulers were here. So, this is not something new.

    “I am not saying it is welcome but I think it is over amplified now. There is a media spotlight on it because the opposition cannot engage Buhari administration on any other issue other than this lacuna that they have found.

    “They cannot discuss the war against corruption because that’s a very uncomfortable area for them. They don’t want to discuss issues of infrastructure with Buhari; they don’t want to discuss economic diversification in which this administration has achieved a lot of success. Today we have 12 million rice farmers in this country; six million new jobs are being created in other sectors by agriculture alone, food import has gone down by 95 per cent, we are feeding ourselves.

    “This year the government is planning a ban on rice importation. So we are doing so well moving from over reliance on oil to Agriculture and manufacturing.

    “Therefore, I am not saying that it is okay that the farmers and herdsmen are fighting but we are doing a lot. You can see that the recent activity, especially the military operation now in the North Central section of the country, has led to the recoveries of large quantities of weapon illegally held by militias and even herdsmen.

    “So something is being done about it. I know by the time this is done with, I don’t know what else the opposition will be talking about.” he said

    Speaking on the assertion in the social media that President Buhari is shielding herdsmen from prosecution and begging them to accept amnesty, he said: “Well, I hope you also realise that the social media has brought a lot of good things to the world and it has also brought a lot of problems not only in Nigeria but everywhere in the world.

    “Nations of the world are talking about regulations and control. This is happening in Germany, in the UK even the US you see that a lot these technology companies are being fined for infringements that they cause.

    “It’s always been heard that the default position of the social media itself is to be negative, so people have turned out to ignore grand reality and project images that are very negative. Otherwise, I wonder , this is an administration that has done extremely well and to a President who has sworn to an oath to defend the constitution and protect every life and property, it is very unfair and uncharitable to say that he will shield anybody, and, in any case, the President controls only one layer of authority; what are the governors doing, is the social media also saying that the governors are protecting the herdsmen from the law, are they saying the local governments are also protecting them?

    “You see, it has to take everyone at various levels of authority to shield somebody from the law in those circumstances, and the President himself, his passion is for the country, this is a President whose passion is not even for the office, even when everyone is asking him to go for a second term he is keeping quiet because his focus remains the nation and the problem of the country.

    “Whoever is peddling these rumours that Boko Haram is being granted amnesty and so on I would ask them, who doesn’t want to make peace with the enemy? In any case as it is proverbially said, all wars end up in the boardroom. You can defeat people technically in the field but at the end you must come to the conference room to resolve all issues.

    “So, if Boko Haram would lay down their arms and stop fighting and stop preaching that negative ideology, the country should be able to embrace them, welcome all of them so that they continue to live normal lives and be useful to the nation.

    “What that means is that we will be saving cost, saving lives that are being lost through bombing, killing of service personnel and we will be saving money that we are using to procure weapons so that such money can go into services and infrastructure and welfare of the citizens of this country. It is a win -win situation,” he said.

     

  • 2019: Buhari will defeat Obasanjo, IBB, others, says Garba Shehu

    The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, has said that Buhari will defeat all the former Presidents and heads of state, who recently asked him (Buhari) not to re-contest in in a presidential election.
    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida, are among Nigerians who have told Buhari to forget recontesting the number one seat next year.
    Garba Shehu, who said that Buhari richly deserves a second term in office, said that rather than asking Buhari not to contest in 2019, the former leaders should come out and contest against Buhari next year.
    Reacting to the call by the former leaders urging Buhari not to contest, Garba Shehu said “My response to them is that if they like they can come and contest against President Buhari. He will defeat them, all of them.”
    On the belief by some Nigerians that President Buhari should not be talking of recontesting when there is hunger in the land, he said “With all the noise the PDP is making, even during their tenure as President did they give breakfast lunch and dinner to every citizen? Is there any country in which someone does not go hungry?
    “I am not saying it is perfectly in order but they are just politicizing these issues. This is a government that has removed this country from the shame of food importation, every state of the country now is into rice production, and we are feeding not only Nigeria but west Africa.
    “And the government is working on having respectable prices for food items, food inflation is coming down grossly. Everyone complaining of hunger should go and work. And you know that this is the only government that has introduced social investment schemes, we pay out now for the poorest of the poor, the least they will get is N5,000.and a lot of these job that are been created are from loans with little or no interest from the central bank, Bank of industry, Banks of Agriculture, Development Bank  and the rest.
    “So there is a lot going for people who really want to go out there to work especially in Agriculture.”
    He also faulted those Nigerians who believed that it was a weakness for  the President not to be able reshuffle his cabinet members since 2015.
    He said “The President is the one who wears the shoes, he know where it pinches. if the president hasn’t sacked his ministers, it means that he wants to continue to work with them.
    “Maybe those agitating for the sack of the ministers are also looking for a chance to come in to replace those who are there, in that case then they are driven by selfish motive.
    “As president and commander in chief he reserves the right to hire and fire. For the fact that he hasn’t done that does not mean that he does not have the power to do that. I am sure if he wants do it, he will do it at his own pace and time but people who want to become ministers, how  many minister can we even appoint in this country?
    “I think people should just be busy.  Let them go and start farming instead of sitting down to speculate whether they can be made minister or not.” he said.
    Mallam Shehu also rated the administration high on infrastructural development.
    According to him, no past administration has invested so much in capital projects like the current administration.
    He said “Thank you for this opportunity and I want to say that  the records are there for everyone to see that no government, no past administration in Nigeria has invested as much as we have done or let me say we are currently doing in infrastructure development.
    “From day one when he took power, the president gave a target of not less than 30% of annual appropriation devoted to infrastructure development. Without infrastructure we can not lay the foundation for growth.
    “When this administration came to power, between 95 and 96 percent of public expenditure was going into overhead cost leaving only about five or six percent for infrastructure. The allocation of 30 percent under this administration has led to tremendous  improvement in the provision of infrastructure so far  in the country. Now there is a lot of work going on, building new rail lines and the rehabilitation of the old rail system networks, roads are been done all across the country, you only need to drive around to see for yourself.
    “The amount of work this administration has done on Roads i.e the expressway from Enugu to PortHarcout has not been done in the eight years of the previous administrations. We are hoping that within this year before the next election Lagos -Ibadan will be completed, it’s a lot of money, we are doing it Government is laying the sod now for the construction of a 6 lane road from Abuja to Kano.
    “So there is so much that is going on in terms of that. We are doing power, you know that this administration has doubled availability of power in the country when we came in its stood at about 3,000 MWatts, we have hit 7,000 MWatts and we are doing more so it depends on what you are looking at.
    “This is a government that has spent N1.3 Trillion  In capital expenses under 2016 Budget and has also spent as much as that under the 2017 budget and it’s almost closing on records for last year which was N1.3 Trillion.” he said
    Asked if the farmers/ herders crises have not rubbished the administration’s goal of securing lives and properties, he said “The problem between farmers and Herdsmen predates the independence of Nigeria, if you read history you will see that farmers and herdsmen had fought for space in this country even British colonial rulers were here so this is not something new.
    “I am not saying it is welcome but I think it is over amplified now, there is a media spotlight on it because the opposition cannot engage Buhari administration on any other issue other than this lacuna that they have found.
    “They cannot discuss the war against corruption because that’s a very uncomfortable area for them, they don’t want to discuss issues of infrastructure with Buhari, they don’t want to discuss economic diversification which this administration has achieved a lot of success, today we have 12 million Rice farmers in this country, six million new jobs are been created in other sector by Agriculture alone, food import has gone down by 95 Percent, we are feeding ourselves.
    “This year the government is planning a ban on rice importation. So we are doing so well moving from over reliance on oil to Agriculture and manufacturing.
    “Therefore, I am not saying that it is okay that the farmers and herdsmen are fighting but we are doing a lot. You can see that the recent activity especially the military operation now in the North Central Section of the country has led to the recoveries of large quantities of weapon illegally held by militias and even herdsmen.
    “So something is being done about it. I know by the time this is done with, I don’t know what else the opposition will be talking about.” he said
    Speaking on the assertion in the social media that President Buhari is shielding herdsmen from prosecution and begging them to accept amnesty, he said “Well, I hope you also realize that the social media has brought a lot of good things to the world and it has also brought a lot of problems not only in Nigeria but everywhere in the world.
    “Nations of the world are talking about regulations and control, this is happening in Germany in the UK even the US you see that a lot these technology companies are been fined for infringements that they cause.
    “The thing is that there is a tendency to see things from a negative point of view when your point of view is shaped and colored by the social media
    “It’s always been heard that the default position of the social media itself is to be negative, so people have turned out to ignore grand reality and project images that are very negative. Otherwise I wonder , this is an administration that has done so so extremely well and to a president who has sworn to an oath to defend the constitution and protect every life and property, it is very unfair and uncharitable to say that he will shield anybody, and In any case, the president controls only one layer of authority, what are the governors doing, is the social media also saying that the governors are protecting the herdsmen from the law, are they saying the local government are also protecting them?
    “You see it has to take everyone at various levels of authority to shield somebody from the law in those circumstances, and the president himself, his passion is for the country, this is a president whose passion is not even for the office, even when everyone is asking him to go for a second term he is keeping quiet because his focus remains the nation and the problem of the country.
    “Whoever is peddling these rumours that Boko Haram is being granted amnesty and so on I would ask them who doesn’t want to make peace with the enemy? In any case as it is proverbially said all wars end up in the Boardroom. You can defeat people technically in the field but at the end you must come to the conference room to resolve all issues.
    “So if Boko Haram would lay down their arms and stop fighting and stop preaching that negative ideology , the country should be able to embrace them welcome all of them so that they continue to live normal lives and be useful to the nation.
    “What that mean is that we will be saving cost, saving lives that are being lost through bombing, killing of service personnel and we will be saving money that we are using to procure weapons so that such money can go into services and infrastructure and welfare of the citizens of this country. It is a win -win situation.” he stated

  • 60 Years After:  Obasanjo extols leadership virtues of late Adegoke Adelabu

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has extolled the leadership virtues of a late politician, and a first Republic Minister of Social Services, Chief Adegoke Adelabu, describing him as a uniquely detribalised Nigerian.

    Obasanjo, who spoke yesterday in Abuja at the 60th anniversary memorial event in his honour, said the late politician was part of the architects of the independent Nigeria.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adelabu, popularly known as “Penkelemesi’’, won a seat in the House of Representatives in 1954, before becoming a federal minister.

    NAN also reports that he died in a  motor accident on March 25, 1958.

    According to Obasanjo, “Adegoke Adelabu was a reality; he was outstanding. He was uniquely Yoruba, uniquely Nigerian, uniquely African and uniquely a member of the human race’.

    “He was years ahead of his time and age. In his life time, he was talking about United States of West Africa, ECOWAS came many years after.

    “In his life time, he belonged to political party that had its base outside the defunct Western Region where he came from. He was not a tribal baron.

    “We are still struggling to reach the pinnacle of Adedibu’s politics of not being swayed by linguistic, tribal, regional, sectional interests, but what is best for Nigeria, Africa and humanity’’

    Obasanjo however urged the current crop of Nigerian politicians to draw lessons from Adedibu’s nationalistic spirit, healthy politics and social forthrightness.

    The Minister of Communication, Alhaji Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, said that, “Adelabu’s contribution to nation building was yet to be equaled by any political leader in Nigeria’’

    Chief Mbazulike Amechi, a contemporary of the late politician and a fellow First Republic Minister,  described Adelabu as a nationalist and a devout Muslim.

    Amechi reminded the gathering that “Adelabu continued his politics of principle, loyalty and dynamism and his popularity spread through the country like a wildfire.

    “In spite of the betrayal of the other elected members of the Assembly from Ibadan, he still remained the leader, accepted leader of Ibadan people,’’ he said.

  • Obasanjo okays Anchor’s policy on job loss

    •Firm partners OOPL

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has thrown his weight behind the Anchor Loss of Employment Insurance Scheme (AnchorLoEIS).

    Obasanjo okayed the product when Anchor Insurance Company Limited executives visited him at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    In a statement, the company’s Head, Brand & Corporate Communications, Jamiu Osoba, said: “While introducing the members of the delegation, the General Manager, Retail and Micro Insurance, Uzoma Ofurum, introduced the product to the former president.

    ‘’Seeking to know the benefits of this unique insurance product, the former president was informed that it is developed to cushion the effect of the sudden loss of employment with the payment of salary income to policy holder for 24 months after loss of job.

    “Having been made aware of the product’s benefits, the former president thereafter endorsed AnchorLoEIS.’’

    Obasanjo said he would be in the forefront of the product’s promotion. He advised Nigerians, especially the employed to take the insurance policy to protect them against job loss.

    He urged the company to develop new products, especially policies for the elderly and unemployed.

    Meanwhile, Anchor has partnered   the OOPL Wildlife Park’s (WLP’s) “Adopt an Animal” programme by adopting a Lion tagged “Anchor Lion” in the wildlife.

    Ofurum said: “With this partnership, the company has created the opportunity to contribute to the conversion of local animal species and encourage their reproduction and preservation of wildlife, which in its stead, will further encourage local tourism.

    ‘’Obasanjo while receiving the delegation announced the plan to insure the animals in the Wildlife Park against the third party liabilities as it is essential to protect the visitors to the park from any unanticipated eventualities.

    ‘’Just in case somebody puts his hand in a lion cage or a lion breaks out. It is very important to have insurance despite all the barricades and cages we have in the park.’’

    The company’s Executive Director, Business Development & Marketing, Mr. Augustine Ebose, who led the delegation, lauded the former president for sanitising the financial industry through recapitalisation and the Local Content Act enacted during his administration.

    “The industry was undertaken by foreign underwriters on behalf of the local insurance companies due to lack of financial capacity before recapitalisation and enactment of local content law during your administration.

    “But the Local Content Act brought a rise in the industry and we are now underwriting about 75 per cent of local content. As one of the major service delivery companies in the industry, we want to thank you for this because we are your product,” Ofurum added.