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Tag: PDP

  • ‘Nyako can’t be impeached’

    ‘Nyako can’t be impeached’

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State is divided over the plot to impeach Governor Murtala Nyako.

    A group within the crisis-ridden chapter has vowed to resisit the plot, saying that it is uncalld for.

    A PDP chieftain, Dr. Umar Ardo, who has opposed the governor for six years, is leading aggrieved members to challenge the basis for the plot. He told reporters in Yola, the state capital, that the state required peace and stability to grow.  The politician  advised the House of Assembly to support the governor to achieve greater success.

    Ardo described the impeachment as a waste of time, stresing that it will throw the state into political crisis. He said the plot is counter-productive because Nyako is about to complete his tenure.

    The politician urged the lawmakers to ponder on the implications, adding that the impeachment cannot be meaningful, if it paves the way for the deputy governor, Bala James Ngilari, to assume the reins.

    He reasoned that the plot is baseless at this time when the governor, who was the leader of the PDP), has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with a huge number of supporters.

    Ardo said, although the deputy governor has not defected to the APC, that is not enough to catapult him to the number one seat.

    He recalled that the House of Assembly had begun the impeachment of the governor July 2008, but the plan was dropped in controversial circumstances.

    He said the people were not carried along by the lawmakers when the pplot was dropped six years ago.

    Ardo, who is the former political adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, took a swipe at some PDP governorship aspirants warming up for the primaries.  He said they were building their ambitions without building the party.

    He advised the aspirants, including  Markus Natina Gundiri, an engineer, and Gen. Buba Marwa, a defector from the APC, to shelve their aspirations. He said they should toil for four years before aspiring for any elective position in the party.

    Ardo said: “ Markus Gundiri and Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa should not think of declaring their ambition now, but they should remain loyal party men for four years before they will think of contesting for the governor.

    “Iam advising them to build the PDP first before they start to reap from where they did not sow, if they want to be taken seriously. But, if they want to contest now, they will never get any weaver from the PDP.”

    Ardo contested against  Nyako in the last controversial PDP primaries. He challenged the outcome in the court. He urged members to learn from his steadfastness and resilience.

    He aslo warned the PDP lawmakers not to set the state ablaze over the impeachment plot.

    Ardo stressed: “Any attempt by the lawmakers to impeach Governor Nyako will be resisted by all stakeholders in Adamawa. Nyako’s impeachment at this period will destabilise the politics of Adamawa State and throw it into confusion.

    “If Governor Nyako is impeached, it will give one of the governorship aspirants and the deputy governor, Bala Ngilari, an added advantage.”

    The PDP chieftain  explained that, unless Nyako and his deputy are impeached, there cannot be any new begining in Adamawa State.

    He maintained that, since the House has dropped the impeachment process in 2008, there is no justification for it again.

    Ardo said: “We will never accept  the impeachment of Nyako because the Nyako\Ngillari Administration is the same. How can you impeach Nyako and leave Ngillari?’’

    He maintained that, if the intention of the House is to spare the deputy governor, it will not work.

    Ardo said the challege that will face the PDP in Adamawa State is the selection of a competent governorship flag bearer.

    He said many aspirants warming up for the election are not popular.

    Ardo added: “ Hon. Jerry Kumdisi recently joined the PDP. He is not qualified to contest under the platform of the PDP.”

     

  • APC, others to Jonathan: don’t plunge Nigeria into crisis

    APC, others to Jonathan: don’t plunge Nigeria into crisis

    •Groups ask IG to transfer OC MOPOL from Ekiti

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) and Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) yesterday led other groups and individuals in decrying the violence unleashed by the police on the party members in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Sunday.

    The APC alleged that indications showed that the police are acting out a script written by the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to foment trouble in the Southwest ahead of the 2015 general elections.

    Its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement issued in Lagos yesterday, blamed the Presidency and the PDP for the violence.

    Besides, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has been urged to redeploy the Ekiti State Mobile Police Commander, Gabriel Selenkere Michael, out of the state.

    A political pressure group, Ekiti Youth Emancipation Movement (EYEM) said Selenkere, by his attack on Governor Kayode Fayemi on Sunday, had demonstrated that he was out to either maim or assassinate the governor, hence the call for his redeployment.

    EYEM President, Mr. Taiwo Olatunji, in a statement, said: “Ekiti people no longer trust the OC MOPOL and are prepared to defend their governor against Abuja onslaught.”

    Also yesterday, the APC in Osun State said the killing was the actualisation of Vice President Mohammed Sambo’s promise to go to war in Ekiti and Osun states in order to seize political power in the two states.

    According to a statement by the party’s State Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, Sambo was still in Ekiti when police from Abuja allegedly shot the APC member and injured many others.

    “This callous and barbaric action of the police mobile unit, under the command of a Bayelsa-born officer, one Gabriel Selekere, signifies the Federal Government’s opening of a second war front in the Western part of the country, in addition to the war against Boko Haram in the North.”

    But Mohammed, in his statement, wondered why the police, who are paid by taxpayers to maintain law and order, would turn their weapons on the same defenceless citizens they are paid to protect.

    The statement reads: “But for the action of the police, led by the head of Mopol in Ekiti, Gabriel Selekere, the peaceful procession by the APC members would not have degenerated into violence, during which a harmless citizen was apparently shot dead by the police.

    “Our members were carrying brooms, not weapons, and were singing and dancing as they marched through the streets in the best tradition of political rallies. Their procession was peaceful and carnival-like until the police unleashed teargas and live bullets on them without provocation, killing one person and injuring many. Even the governor of the state was not spared by these trigger-happy policemen. This is unacceptable in any civilised society and must be condemned by all Nigerians,” APC said.

    The party, however, said it was not surprised at the ferocity of the attack by armed policemen on the peaceful members of the APC, as it fits perfectly into the desperation of President Goodluck Jonathan and his party to capture Ekiti State at all cost as a leeway to entering the South-west ahead of 2015.

    “The President, who said his ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian, has apparently forgotten he ever made such a comment.

    Otherwise, how does he explain the bloodied body of a peaceful protester who was apparently shot dead by policemen acting out a script? How does he explain that the blood-thirsty policemen, who behaved more like hooligans, were led by an officer (Selekere) who has consistently been hostile to the state governor?

    “Is it by coincidence that the killer policemen were led by no other than Selekere, who once unilaterally transferred all mobile policemen attached to the governor simply because he could not compromise them to set up the Governor, until he was overruled by the IG?

    “Is it also a mere coincidence that a new Brigade Commander,

    Brig.-Gen. Momoh, whom they believed to be pliable and willing to do their hatchet job, has been posted from Minna to Akure ahead of the Ekiti elections, to replace Brig.-Gen. A.B. Dikko who refused to be compromised and allow the PDP to rig the recent bye-election in Ondo State?

    “The Presidency and the PDP should know that Ekiti people will not allow a blood-thirsty and compromised Mopol Commander, a Brigade Commander or even the Presidency to pick their governor for them on June 21st. They will defend their votes to the hilt, whether or not the FG floods the state with security personnel in an attempt to intimidate and harass the people,’’ it said.

    APC said the orchestration of violence in Ekiti on Sunday, a day after President Jonathan hinted that he had deliberately stifled development in the state by saying he would develop the state once the PDP is voted into office, has shown that the Presidency and the PDP have no qualms about plunging the country into chaos just to realize their ambition of capturing the state and the region.

    “It is for this reason that we appeal to all the good people of Ekiti State in particular and all Nigerians in general to be vigilant in the days ahead. Whatever happens in Ekiti before, during and after the forthcoming election will be a barometer for measuring the desperation or otherwise of the Presidency/PDP ahead of the August election in Osun State and the general elections in 2015.

    “On our part, we will closely monitor and expose all the shenanigans of the Presidency and the PDP to set Ekiti ablaze, destabilise the Southwest and indeed plunge the entire country into crisis just because of an unbridled desperation for power. We urge our members in Ekiti to remain peaceful despite the provocation from the PDP and its cohorts,” the party said.

    The ARG, in a statement by its Programme Officer, Segun Balogun, said the police officer was alleged to have boasted that “he was carrying out orders from above”.

    The ARG said it had warned earlier that the President has a bounded duty to all Nigerians to ensure that the elections in Ekiti State and in all states of the federation are free and fair.

    “Our doubts regarding his capacity for fairness however deepened when Alhaji Namadi Sambo, the vice president, stated that his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was going to war in the Ekiti gubernatorial election.

    “Yoruba people would however not allow anyone, including the suppressive and oppressive central government, whose recent attack on the media nationwide, signals the return of the worst days of the Abacha military dictatorship, to subvert their will.

    “We stood in collaboration with other well-meaning Nigerians to see to the end of military rule in Nigeria. We will not under any circumstance allow the subjugation of any part of Yoruba land and space again. We demand free and fair elections, and we will join the good people of Ekiti State in resisting the planned subversion of their will,” the ARG stated.

    The CDHR also condemned the killing and use of state apparatus against APC members during their rally.

    CDHR urged the officer-in-charge and the Police Commissioner of the state to be brought to face the consequences of their actions against defenceless people.

    In a statement, the National Vice- President of the committee, Comrade Taiwo Otitolaye, said: “It is not surprised at the turn of events in Ekiti State over the governorship elections coming up on June 21, 2014.

    “The emergence of Ayo Fayose as the PDP candidate would have ordinarily thrown an atmosphere of violence to an average intelligent person, given Fayose’s antecedence.

    “We condemn the act of banditry, killings and the use of state apparatus against the All Progressive Congress members during their campaigns at Ado-Ekiti. This is the height of provocation and primitive acts of lawlessness in the polity.”

  • APC’s statement on Kano riot a blackmail, says PDP

    APC’s statement on Kano riot a blackmail, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday accused the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, of blackmailing his PDP counterpart, Mr Olisa Metuh.

    This followed the APC statement calling for the prosecution of Metuh for causing violence in Kano, after congratulating the wrong candidate for the position of the Emir of Kano before the official announcement.

    Metuh’s statement, which was loaded with invectives – his usual style – acknowledged that he “made an innocent mistake” over the incident.

    The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to an inciting and misleading statement by Lai Mohammed wherein he again exhibited his penchant for insane blackmail by calling for the arrest of the PDP National Publicity Secretary.

    “We are indeed shocked by this statement and wonder what sort of dirty individual that could be so unprofessional, unprincipled and unethical.

    “Indeed, it appears that lying Lai Mohammed has gone delusional and requires urgent medical attention. Has he become a low life who can go to any extent to score a cheap a political point?

    “It is public knowledge that we made an innocent mistake but immediately withdrew it and tendered an unreserved apology well before the official announcement of the new emir was made.

    “What does Lai Mohammed have to say to Mallam Lamido Sanusi Lamido himself who tweeted at about 8.59am that same Sunday that Alhaji Lamido Ado Bayero has emerged emir?” What does he have for credible electronic and print media organizations who broke the news of the emergence of Ado Bayero as emir upon which prominent Nigerians issued statements congratulating him.

    “We also wish to remind Nigerians of the endless personal attacks by Lai Mohammed on the person of the PDP National Publicity Secretary. In fact, we are aware of the well oiled machinery by the APC for continuous campaign of calumny to discredit and demonise the PDP National Publicity Secretary and other PDP leaders for no just cause.

    “Nigerians often wonder why the APC is seen as a religious, violent and ethnic party. They can now see that this also has to do with the character and content of their spokesperson.

    “Our final advice to Lai Mohammed regarding his incessant lies and insults is for him to seek professional help on his mental state before it becomes too late.”

  • Lagos 2015: PDP begins mobilisation

    Lagos 2015: PDP begins mobilisation

    Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and former Minister of Communications, Major General Tajudeeen Olanrewaju (rtd) has said that the troubled chapter required a strong leadership to make an impact in the next general elections.

    He spoke at this year’s Democracy Day Colloquium organised by the chapter in Lagos. Speaker at the event, which held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, also advised the party to embrace internal democracy, if it intends to make good its threat of winning the 2015 governorship election.

    The chairman of the chapter, Captain Tunji Shelle (rtd), called for unity and understanding, stressing that it is critical to political success.

    The colloquium was a platform for dialogue on governance in Lagos State between members of the PDP and civil society groups. Its theme was: “Fifteen Years of Democracy in Lagos State: What Level of Dividends?”

    Rights activist Yinka Odumakin, who was the guest speaker, said beating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos requires the right formula and a concrete agenda that can exploit the weakness of the ruling party. He said: “There is need for change in Lagos, but the change must be real change, not a cosmetic one.”

    Olanrewaju, who chaired the lecture, said the Lagos PDP must field a selfless leader, who should be ready to provide genuine leadership. He added that a strong leadership and responsible followership offered the best hope of political success.

    The former minister said the Lagos PDP has had its fair share of instability, rivalries, and internal dissent, which were exploited to the party’s peril and that it must stop behaving like a permanent opposition and see itself as a potential government in the making come 2015.

    Olanrewaju advised the state leadership of the party to reach out to residents in all the divisions that make up the state, particularly the low income earners.

    He said: “We cannot continue to do things in the same way and get a different result,’ he noted, adding that recent opinion poll indicates that 60 per cent of the registered voters in the state are undecided and that the PDP could work hard to bring this class of registered voters to its side.

    Prominent PDP bigwigs, including former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, and former Deputy National Chairman, Commodore Bode George (rtd), who were billed to grace the occasion, stayed away. The Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro was represented by his son, Gbolahan Obanikoro.

    However, the governorship aspirants in the PDP have not publicly declared their interests, unlike their counterparts in the ruling APC.

    Party sources aid that about five aspirants are warming up. They  are Obanikoro, Mrs. Remi Adikwu-Bakare, Chief Tunde Daramola, Mrs. Modupe Sasore, and Mr. Deji Doherty.

    The sources said that, although the Bode George camp has been wooing the Lagos politician,. Mr. Jimi Agbaje, he refused to join the party.

    Analysts contend that the events in the APC may shape the preparation for the election by the PDP.

    In the APC, 12 aspirants are warming up for the selection process.

    They are Akin Ambode, Obafemi Hamzat, Fowler Gbeleyi, Leke Pitan, and Ganiyu Solomon.

    Others are Yemi Ikuforiji, Gbolahan, Femi Gbajabiamila, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Muiz Banire and Gbenga Ashafa.

     

  • PDP, a party of wolves, says Atiku

    PDP, a party of wolves, says Atiku

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has reiterated his determination  to fight against oppression, impunity and and poor governance by the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, who described the  PDP as a party of wolves, lamented that the ruling party has destroyed the country. He spoke with reporters in Yola, the capital of Adamawa State, on partian issues, after witnessing the inauguration of a political association, the Atiku Support group,  led by a journalist, Alhaji Abdulrazak Namdas.

    He said, for the country to move forward, the oppression of the masses by the leaders must stop.

    Abubakar said the PDP has failed the nation and betrayed the confidence reposed in it by the people.

    The eminent politician refused to speak on his future ambition. But, he said the APC is determined to win power at the centre next year.

    He said the opposition party will put an end to oppression, bombings, kidnappings and insecurity, if voted into power.

    The Director-General  of the Atiku Support Group, Namdas, said the primary purpose ofthe group is to mobilise the people of Adamawa State to support the APC. He said the party will bring change to Adamawa and Nigerians in general.

    Namdas said the group believed in the ideas, vision and philisophy of the former Vice President.

    He added:  “The group is to propagate the ideals of the strongman of Nigerian politics, the former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is the pillar of democracy  and whose judicial travails has enriched Nigeria’s democracy.”

     

  • Edo lawmakers got N50m each to join PDP – Oshiomhole

    Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Monday said some members of the state House of Assembly who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got N50 million each to join the ruling party.

    Oshiomhole, who disclosed when he addressed different youths on peaceful protest to the Government House, however said government was undisturbed with “the shenanigans of the defected lawmakers.”

    He said, “I thank you for recognizing that we all went round to campaign for these people who have decided to sell their mandate for naira and kobo. What is sickening is that they are young men who should be anxious to break from the past.

    “However, because they believed they do not have any chance of being re-elected in February next year, because they have either done two terms or because of their poor performance, they know their constituency will not re-nominate them. They now decided to benefit from the desperation in different parts of the country to sell their mandate for N50 million each, collect advance payment of N35 million.

    “When I read this in the newspapers, initially, I didn’t believe. But going round, people tell me they are buying new vehicles, others are rebuilding their hotels. Suddenly money is flowing.

    “Obviously, I think it is important that if democracy is going to survive, each promise must be kept because in the last election, I had to go and do a television advert when the PDP people said this election is not Oshiomhole’s election, therefore vote for individual candidates, I went on television to say that a vote for these House of Assembly members is a vote for Adams Oshiomhole.

    “I had to do that because Edo people were not going to accept some of these people and I had to remind them that if they do not vote for them they would create problems for me. Now the vultures have come and they are offering money and people are collecting money and making all kind of excuses.”

    The governor declared “as far as I am concerned, there is no cause for alarm. A lot of these people cannot win election on their own merit in their own booth.

    “They were voted for as ACN with the broom. If you were voted for as ACN, with the broom, how can you now go and replace it with an umbrella that is torn and abandoned?”

  • Emir: PDP incited Kano violence – APC

    … Party seeks Metuh, others’ prosecution

    The All Progressives Congress on Monday accused the Peoples Democratic Party of inciting the violence that followed Sunday’s announcement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the new Emir of Kano.

    The party urged the Kano State Attorney-General to prosecute all PDP officials involved in the acts to destabilize the state.

    APC in a statement issued in Lagos by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the statement issued by PDP’s publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, congratulating one of the contenders long before the state government announced the new Emir was “premeditated and calibrated to incite violence.”

    The party wondered why a ruling party, which has access to Kano or any state government, would rush to the media to congratulate a contender who had not been selected, without even contacting the selecting authority to ensure the veracity of whatever news it may have heard.

    ”What is so urgent about congratulating the new Emir that could not have waited for a few hours for the appropriate authority to make an official announcement?” it queried.

    The party continued: “When the announcement was eventually made and the contender who had already been congratulated lost out, it is only natural that his supporters would feel shortchanged.

    ”It is therefore obvious that the PDP, through its National Publicity Secretary went out of their way to stoke the fire of violence in Kano.

    ”Since we live in a country which is being governed by the rule of law, the best option open to the  Kano State government is  for the State Attorney-General to immediately initiate criminal proceedings against PDP and its officials for incitement. Whatever explanations they have for their irresponsible and premeditated actions they should reserve for their defence in court.”

  • ‘PDP victory will be landslide’

    ‘PDP victory will be landslide’

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will win the June 21 governorship election convincingly, its former governorship aspirant, Prince Dayo Adeyeye has said.

     “The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will be so embarrassed that it won’t be able to go to the tribunal,” Adeyeye said.

    The Afenifere chieftain, who was nominated as minister by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, told PDP supporters during a meeting in Ado-Ekiti yesterday that no effort must be spared to ensure a resounding victory for the party.

    He charged leaders of his group, the Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement (PAAM), to go to their respective wards and make sure that they deliver their wards to the party.

    Those who attended the meeting included former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Sola Ajigbolamu, former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Afolabi Ojuawo, the only PDP member in the State House of Assembly, Dele Ajibola, former Commissioners, Bade Adara, and Dr. Gboyega Isijola among others.

    Adeyeye, who described the PDP governorship candidate, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as a honest and sincere person, added: “The only way to reward a man who was sincere to you is to also support him and make him victorious.”

    “Obviously, the masses of Ekiti State will liberate themselves from the APC deceitful government on June 21, 2014 by voting massively for the PDP such that Governor Kayode Fayemi and his APC won’t be able to challenge our victory in court.”

    He thanked President Jonathan for finding him worthy to serve in his cabinet.

    Yesterday, after the announcement of Adeyeye’s name at the Senate Plenary, his Ise-Ekiti country home was thronged by thousand s of PDP supporters, who came to congratulate him on the appointment.

    Also speaking, former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Sola Ajigbolamu hailed President Jonathan for the appointment, saying: “For the first time in recent time, Ekiti will be having a minister worthy to be called a minister.”

  • PDP plotting to impeach me – Oshiomhole

    PDP plotting to impeach me – Oshiomhole

    Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday confirmed plans by the Peoples Democratic Party to induce members of the state House of Assembly to impeach him.

    Oshiomhole specifically mentioned former lawmakers of the All Progressive Congress who recently defected to the PDP as those they (PDP) want to use to create confusion and chaos in the state.

    The governor spoke when he received youths under the aegis of Initiative for Youth Awareness, Migration, Immigration, Development and Integration.

    Oshiomhole said Edo people would soon understand the real issues behind the defection of some APC members.

    He noted that the lawmakers rode on his back to the assembly, saying they were not known in their neighbourhood.

    He lamented that the bane of Nigerian politics was such that those who never struggled for democracy took over the political structure of the country.

    The governor said, “They brought a lot of money from Abuja, paying assembly members whom we campaigned for. We marketed some of these people who are not known in their neighbourhood. They rode on my back to get to the House of Assembly.

    “Some of them cannot walk on their streets. They collected, as I read in the papers, huge sums of money for them to decamp, to mortgage, to put on sale the mandate that you all, in your respective areas, gave them on the basis of their promise that they will work with me to deliver the state.

    “They have become merchants of mandates. And I hear they want to bring more money to buy more people. Let them bring, but the day the devil rises to say that he will dare what God has willed, they will increase the fire power in hell.”

  • Comment

    Comment

    For Olatunji Dare

    Re: Matters Miscellaneous. Thanks for the indictments. I have been wondering where our press has been, no investigative journalism on this Chibok. None of them reported from Chibok. The press does not give the terrorism we are facing the coverage it deserves, especially the television houses. Most of what we know from local media are from newspapers but you cannot underestimate the power of images. When the foreign media showed us Chibok and the people, we could relate to them and the issues better. Everybody dropped the ball on this one. Thank you. Anonymous.

    Everybody knows that we are a nation of beggars. Every month we go cap-in-hand for our share of the oil money. Ibadan where I live has only one industry – government fuelled by oil money that trickles down to the rest of us. Even with the oil money, Osun State struggles to pay salaries – and Fani-Kayode talks about “give me Oduduwa Republic or give me death”. Claptrap! Please, give him death. Northerners and South-westerners are beggars. Please, stop whipping up nationalistic notions that will put us all in trouble. When “katakata” bursts, you, would have flown the coop leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. Anonymous

    Why the difference in body language is clear, while the leadership challenges faced by the US are external, Boko Haram is homemade like sharia to pull down the government. At last, Boko Haram and its sponsors, local and International, have bitten off more than they can chew like Bin Laden’s ill-advised attack on the World Trade Centre. Whether you accept it or not, JEG was at his best, we could not have had a better advocate in organising an international coalition against the international terror we are facing as a nation. Give JEG a break. From Fabian, Enugu,

    Your column would have greater credibility if it was running on a medium other than THE NATION, a hysterical partisan opposition mouthpiece. Why do you never address the truth? Is yours a case of the puppet and the puppeteer? Anonymous

    Re: Matters miscellaneous.   There was nothing wrong in the PDP postponing its Ekiti Governorship rally that was to take place on 22 May, 2014. If anything, it portrayed more sensitivity to deaths in Jos bomb blasts of the previous days! However, what does the public have to say of the APC that held its own on 21, May, 2014, having accused  its rival of insensitivity with the PDP’s Kano rally. Nigeria is a complex country where accusers of wickedness perpetrate same and rejoices in it. In Chibok’s saga and the allied unfortunate incident of bombings and kidnappings, we all have learnt lessons – Mr President, key governors, journalists, key ministers and law enforcement agencies plus the public. May God Almighty sanitise Nigeria, Amen. From Lanre Oseni.

    On Matters miscellanous, it is suicidal to compare the mode of governance in America with that of Nigeria. The only thing our leaders are good at is promoting corruption and poverty. This is our bane. Our leaders are also good at looking the other way when crisis knocks at the door. Our president and his likes are good at pumping millions of naira into fighting Boko Haram without success; this is too shameful. I am sure God will rescue us from all these problems very soon. From Ojo A Ayodele, Emure Ekiti

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    When did National Flag start bearing our Logo? Is it part of Reflections on May 29 or part of Nigeria’s present confusion? The patriots like you should always reflect the TRUTH for up-coming generations. From L.O .David, Abuja .

    I believe Jonathan meant well when he made those promises during his electioneering campaign of 2011. It is rather the obstructing challenges thrown up all over the place in his government that tend to make the fulfilment impossible. We don’t need extra-sensory perception to know this, if we are sincere. Nobody runs a race with his legs and hands heavily manacled and poisonous darts thrown at him from all directions and is still expected to perform maximally under that condition. Jonathan’s problem becomes more intractable and pathetic when even the very machinery he should have deployed to tackle the strange developments have themselves become part of the major challenges facing him alongside (conspirators). In this case, how then could he have easily banished the problems overnight as his critics would want us to believe, even with the entire state apparatus at his command. A tree definitely can’t make a forest. From Emmanuel Egwu 

    I read your piece Reflections on May 29. One point continues to baffle me, not just because you said it today, but millions of people hold that belief, which I consider flawed: that Abacha denied our esteemed MKO his mandate. The general truth is that IBB annulled that election, not Abacha. Secondly, no matter the sentiment, there was a Head of State in power when our MKO declared himself president in Lagos. That was treason. Abacha didn’t kill MKO. He even died before Abiola. Abiola attacked the wrong man. I think that, for posterity, it’s important that the right facts be put out there…always. It was never Abacha’s place to restore a mandate he didn’t steal to begin with. Anonymous

    Your article Reflections on May 29 would have won my heart except for your choice of words on the late Gen Abacha. Why mock the dead? The Yoruba respect elders and the dead. Please, retract your words. From Nurudeen Babatunde

    Fifteen years of our democracy is a waste. The common man on the street is dying of hunger while those in the corridor of power are living in affluence. Unemployment is on the rise; insecurity, stealing and politics of hate are now the language our leaders understand. Those who are celebrating Democracy Day are celebrating evil because, everyday, people are dying. A good leader celebrates good happenings not evil. From Hamza Ozi Momoh  Apapa Lagos.

    I started reading The Nation six years ago now, but the criticisms without giving a solution to the present administration is getting unbearable, I think it is a time to search for a newspaper that discharges its work without political sentiments. From George

    You are too humorous with your style of writing. ‘Ara’ [wonder] can never end in the bowel of “Alara”. At times, I wonder if you are the architect of the famous Awada kerikeri. You deserve ‘Awada’ award because you use your native intelligence to drive home your points. A country deserves the type of leader she gets. How come that OBJ is still relevant in our political history today? From Wole Adediran, OdeOmu, Osun State

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    Sir, this is journalism par excellence; balanced reporting. From Bayo Ogunsanya

    Oh my goodness! What an analysis, how i wish all our nationals  are literate and opportuned to read through the article. Keep writing as inspiringly as you can. The Abatis of this world and the rest of them at the presidency need the re-orientation. Thanks From Henny, Awka

    Why can’t you journalists write something good about your country and president, for once. My brother, we are wiser. Anonymous

    You seem to be reading my mind when you wrote your piece “Denial & the blame game”.  Kudos for calling a spade a spade. From Somnazu Francis, Asaba.

    It is not right to say we voted Jonathan into office when Obasanjo insulted us all by writing a public letter saying he put Jonathan there. Protests about Jonathan’s failures should be taken to Obasanjo’s doorstep having admitted to organising a charade that brought him to power in Nigeria. Anonymous

    You see this is Nigeria for the PDP. They always think they are on the right path since the birth of Boko Haram. They rely on negative information always and dump the positive information. Kashim Shettima was right by saying the Boko Haram are well equipped than the multi-million budget Nigeria soldiers are. It is a shame for us and our army. It’s also a shame for the PDP to rule this fine country again. We are watching and we will continue watching. From Tuta

    Mr. President, I want you to take heart. In due time, Nigeria will pass away from all the terror problem. Anonymous

    Had it been you have the power over military, we would have asked you to grant them power to act to end the Boko Haram conduct. From Oguamanam Evans .C., Imo State.

    The West and its allies carry a heavy moral burden as a hoard of stolen wealth. It’s time for BRING BACK OUR WEALTH!!- From h.s. faseesin  

    Well done for your analysis. The Presidency is not totally wrong to say, there is politics in Boko Haram. You remember during 2011 election, some politicians said, if they did not win, they would make the country ungovernable. It is what is happening now. Anonymous

    It isn’t proper to think that Jonathan should have approached the abducted Chibok girls issue exactly the same way President Obama or any other leader would, to live. Every leader has got his method. Besides, security matter isn’t one a leader should hastily dash to the stage to discuss just to impress it on the general public that something is being done. No, it has more to do with a behind-the-door action plan, which must be decisively followed with practical but silent implementations of the strategies adopted for effective result. In government, you have Secrets, Confidential Matters and Top Secrets the cases are usually treated accordingly. But, where the President has actually lagged behind on the issue, let our cooperation make up for that. As it requireds the votes of the people for him to become the president, so, too, it calls for the cooperation of the people for the President to succeed. From Emmanuel Egwu  

    It is, indeed, shameful that our government is playing politics with the lives of these VIRGIN ROSES.  Anonymous

    In your editorial of Friday, May 30, 2014, entitled: Denial and the blame game, you really exposed the progressive encumbrance to GEJ’s administration. That’s just an articulated summary of his (GEJ) inactivity and failure as could be seen in a speech by the Chairman of Nigeria Governors at an international conference at Port Harcourt, Rivers State, recently. How I wish other editors are like you to help deliver millions of ignorant and corrupt Nigerians with parochial vision. May God help us. Form Henry, Nsukka.

    Re: Denial and the blame game.  You have said it all. The menace of Boko Haram insurgents continue to devastate and give everyone sleepless nights and, so far, we have not been able to find a solution to the menace. They continue to kill, abduct and maim innocent souls, indiscriminately daily, and, nothing has been done to bring them to justice, other than play bitter and dirty politics against the opposition. It is surprising and irrational to read some time ago the accusation levelled by the Minister of Information against the APC of sponsoring Bring Back Our Girls campaign. This is the level to which the government has degenerated. They have been in power since 1999, and yet, there is nothing to show for it. Infrastructural development is still at zero level. How to stick to power perpetually and rig the forthcoming elections in Ekiti and Osun States are their pre-occupation at the moment. The Yoruba says: A king that rules in a town and there are peace and tranquility, is a king; his name will not be forgotten. On the other hand, a king that reigns and there are chaos and desertion, is a king; his name will not be forgotten as well. This is why all the security challenges are bad omen for the PDP-led administration and their name will go down in history as a bad government. From Princce Adewumi Agunloye.

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: Akpabio, Akpabio. As far as I am concerned that bill passed by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly regarding the governor and his deputy’s exit package was/is outrageous and selfish. Unfortunately, the house members also joined in the madness by their approval. I am always amazed what makes Nigerians roar in joy with this civil rule. And the NLC could not go on strike over this bogus retirement package. From Lanre Oseni.

    You say Akpabio’s pension law is okay, when last were primary school teachers paid? Do you know the level of poverty and hunger in the state? Anonymous.

    Nice article on the Akpabio pension issue, except to say, as you and I know, today is not the Sabbath Day; today is the first day of the week , Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, Saturday as ordained by the Holy Bible. Once again, nice work. From C. Ogwo, Esq. Umuahia. 

    You Yorubas are fighting tooth and nail to bring Jonathan’s government down because you are not in power. When you vote in the Hausa man, you’ll continue to agitate and form another NADECO. What a pity! From Fortune, Port Harcourt.

    Governor Akpabio is a wise man. He knows that outside the government house, life is hellish, especially when one has no other means of economic survival. To people like him, the future is for those who prepare for it. This is why he is not leaving anything to chance, even if it means creaming off the whole treasury of Akwa Ibom State to Secure his own tomorrow. This is the remarkable difference between the’ government’ of Sambisa Forest and what we have in Nigeria as democracy. In the former, funds are being judiciously used to achieve the purpose for which they are earmarked. That is why the leaders of that enclave could plan and unleash maximum terror on us all at will. But in the latter, they are criminally pocketed by an individual with legal backing. Anonymous

    To think that a man of humble beginning  like Akpabio  who should thank God for His grace to survive acute poverty in life would want to earn these unbelievable benefits is mind-boggling. Akpabio was just hustling to survive in Lagos when former Governor Attah took him and made him commissioner … Anonymous

    The fear of the unknown is the beginning of wisdom in Akpabio’s mind. If he has no skeleton in his cupboard, then, I must tell you, he is afraid of his shadow. Somebody who ruled for eight years as governor and deputy governor in Nigeria would still be hustling for allowance after leaving office; this is selfish. It is now clear to everybody that most of our leaders are self-centred. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

    Governor Akpabio should have continued to keep his good name as one of our performing governors; unfortunately, this issue of N100million medical allowance after leaving office for governors which is against the will of the citizens of the state who are suffering from hardship and neglect  is uncalled-for, the citizens should resist the scam. Are there no human right activists, NLC and TUC to protest against the backdrop of these bogus entitlements? From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    How much did Aso Rock bootlicker pay you. Your ilk are Nigeria’s problem. You are a ragtag hungry writer! From Dr Mike, Delat State.

    Your column of May 25 refers. Fifteen wasted years indeed. Fifteen years of uninterrupted democracy yes; but when are we having 15 days of uninterrupted power supply? Can anybody say? From Mark, Kogi State.