The Nation Newspaper

Tag: President Goodluck Jonathan

  • ‘Why Southwest ’ll not vote Jonathan’

    ‘Why Southwest ’ll not vote Jonathan’

    All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Senator Babajide Omoworare (Osun East), who reflects on President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to the Southwest to woo traditional rulers, contends that the last-minute clandestine moves will not swing the pendulum of victory towards the direction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the polls.

    President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan visited Osun East (Ife Ijesa) Senatorial District on Saturday March 7, 2015. By the grace of God Almighty and the support of the good people of Ife Ijesa, I proudly represent that Senatorial District in the 7th Senate. I suppose the essence of Mr. President’s visit was to boost his electoral chances. Less we forget, the week before he visited my Senatorial District, he practically moved the seat of Federal Government from Abuja to State House, Marina, Lagos hosting some youths and was serenaded by pop stars etc. The President hosted General Adeyinka Adebayo, Chief Idowu Sofola SAN, Professor Adebayo Olateju and some other elders of Yoruba Council of Elders. He also visited Alaafin Oyo and Soun Ogbomoso, traditional rulers in South West Nigeria.

    The Chairman or President Jonathan’s Southwest Campaign Organization and governor of Ondo State Dr. Rahman Olusegun Mimiko CON has also tried very hard to galvanize support for Mr. President. He hosted Dr. Fredrick Fasheun, Dr. Gani Adams, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Senator Femi Okunrounmu et all; purportedly to appraise the recently concluded National Conference. It should be on record that Mr. President did not do any rally or canvas for votes. All he wants from South West is endorsement. Without being preemptive and imputing motive, I hope the  visits to South West will not be justification for electoral malfeasance.

    On Saturday August 2, 2014, a week before the State of Osun gubernatorial election, Mr. President visited Osogbo to campaign for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate. The city of Osogbo was locked down. Men from the Directorate of State Securities (DSS) covered their faces with balaclavas and shot sporadically into the air. The highlight of the visit was that when Mr. President was given the microphone to campaign, we expected him to inform us of what he has done in the State of Osun and what his presidency will, in the twilight of his government still has in the offing for the good people of the State of Osun. Alas, Mr. President said when next he comes he would tell us what they have done in Osun.

    Since that visit, President Jonathan has visited the State of Osun, by my estimate at least twice. He isnyet to tell us what he has done in my State. The last visit of Saturday March 7, 2015 was to my senatorial district. As usual, the City of Ile-Ife was locked down. Personally, I will remember this visit to my Senatorial District as opportunity for the Thugs of the PDP’s senatorial candidate to destroy APC Billboards. Yet, the President did not come to “turn the sod” for a new project, talk much less of “commissioning” a project. The truth is: there is none to commission. He came to visit our royal fathers, which is in order. What is not in order from my point of view is that one would expect Mr. President to remember the people I proudly represent on the floor of the Senate of the Federal Republic. If he is not starting a new project, he should even complete projects he promised to complete and not to just ask for our votes.

    In the past 6 (six) years, the people of South West Nigeria, particularly the people of the State of Osun and most especially, Ifes and Ijesas have not felt the presence and impact of the Federal Govenrment. The Ile-Ife Water Project that was abandoned in 2009 remains abandoned. The sum of about N4,000,000,000 (four billion Naira) is required to complete it and the Budget Office of Mr. President appropriated a paltry N5,000,000 (five million Naira) in this years’s budget, which is not enough to mobilize the Contractor to site. The counter-part fund of the State of Osun for the Ilesa Water Project in Kajola, a project also abandoned in 2009, is already available. The counter-part fund for the Federal Government in the sum of N2,400,000,000 (two billion four hundred million Naira) is not available. The meagre sum of N5,000,000 (five million Naira) is also appropriated in this years budget for this project. The dualization of Osu – Ife Road has been abandoned. The Omiokun Road project in Arubidi, Ile-Ife has just been commenced by the government of the State of Osun when the Federal Government failed to implement same. This same story will be told of the dualization of the Osogbo – Ilesa Road. The Ife Mini Stadium at Ita-Osa has also been abandoned. The President however, kept coming to South West without commissioning a project. The foregoing tales of woes is true about the entire South Western part of this great country. It is on record that His Imperial Majesty Ooni Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II reminded Mr. President of these outstanding projects and others, when he came last year August to campaign for PDP’s gubernatorial candidate.

    It is also unprecedented in the annals of Nigerian contemporary history that a geopolitical zone will be this jettisoned and abandoned like the Federal Government did the South Western part of this country, not only in the area of infrastruture development as gleaned in the foregoing but also in the area of filling political offices. Our supreme law has protected every geopolitical zone in Nigeria by providing for Federal Character in infrastruture development and appointments. Section 14 (3) of the Constitution of Nigeria provides: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies”.

    In this area, there has been gross injustice meted out to South Westerners; my geopolitical zone has been crassly short-changed and disgustingly marginalized. Let us even ask ourselves how the Yorubas have faired under President Jonathan’s government. A government that agency facted the afore-sited supposedly inviolable provision of the Constitution is definitely not a friend of Yorubas. This government cannot suddenly wake up from its slumber of almost six years and just fall in love us, because election is lurking. The President is from South South. From Mr. President’s geo-political zone, we also have the following: Petroleum Minister, the Director General (DG) of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA),  DG Security andExchange Commission, the Chairman Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Managing Director (MD) NDDC, the DG Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the Speacial Adviser (SA) to Mr. President on Millenium Development Goal (MDG), the Chief Economic Adviser to Mr. President, the SA Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation of Ministries, Depaprtments and Agencies (MDAs), Chairman Nigeria Port Authority, DG Directorate of States Security (DSS), , Chairman Poice Service Commission, the Chairman Federal Inland Revenue Service etc.

    The Northwest produced the Vice President as well as the Speaker House of Representatives. This geopolitical zone also prodused the Foreign Affairs Minister, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector General of Police, the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Registrar of Supreme Court,  the Comptroller-General of Customs, the Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission. The Senate President is from North Central, the Minister for Internal Affairs, the Comptroller General of Immigration, the DG Nigeria Health Insurance Scheme, the Auditir General of the Federation and the DG national Orientation Agency. The Chief Justice of the Federarion emerged from the North East with the President of the Court of Appeal, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Head of Service, the Chairman NIMASA, MD Nigeria National Petroleum Corporarion (NNPC), SA Political Affairs. The Deputy Senate President and the Deputy Speaker House of Representatives are from the South East, ditto Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Minister of Finance, the Chairman National Population Commision, the DG Budget Office, the DG Soverign Wealth Fund, the DG Debt Management Office, theh Comptoller-General of Prisons, the Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission ( NCC), the DG/CEO National Identity Management Commision, the Chairman/CEO National Electricity Reulatory Commision.

    When faced with the foregoing, it is ostensible that my geopolitical zone of South West has been abjectly neglected and politically undervalued. We are not unaware of the fact the whole of Nigeria has been grossly underdeveloped; the seemingly deliberate retrogression of the South West is unprecedented in the history of governence both in terms of infrastructure as well as human capital. It is on record that the people of South West voted for Mr. President en masse in 2011. The good people of South West will assess President Goodluck Jonathan on his performance in our region in the last six years; our assessment will not be based on desperate and empty promises. One wonders what these trips cost? It would have been better if such cost had been put to use to develop projects in South West. To enable us assess whether President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had been fair to us in South West, I use this medium to throw a challenge to the President’s handlers, let them reel out their achievements for Nigerians to juxtapose and judge. The Awujale of Ijebuland Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona was reported as corroborating my foregoing position when Mr. Presdient visited his Palace on Thursday March 12, 2015 by saying that “Ijebuland has not felt the impact of Federal Government and that Ijebu Sons and Daughters have not been given important appointments imto the quota arrangement of Nigeria.”

    It is therefore strange and curious that any freeborn Yoruba adult will adopt a President that has not done anything for his or her region. The All Progressive Congress presidential running mate is from this region, it is dubious that our elders who claim to be Awoists will not adopt the grandson-in-law of the late sage. Whether the people pandered as Yoruba Leaders that are endorsing President Jonathan actually have the mandate of Yoruba people to so do is another topic for future debate. Whether they even have the clout to deliver is another topic for intellectual polemic in future. What matters now is whether President Jonathan has reciprocated the over 2,700,000 (two million seven hundred thousand) votes cast for him by the Yoruba nation in 2011. What assurance do we have that the gargantuan maginalizatoion of Yorubaland by President Jonathan will not continue, if he is re-elected? Will the present and coming generation forgive those endorsing Jonathan when accounts are given in future? How will they be remembered by the unborn generation? Anybody campaigning for and endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan in the Southwest is patently on his own.

    We can not continue on this perilious path and mortgage the future of the next generation. The die is already cast, effort of this nature of unfruitful and unmeritorious trips to South West by Mr President is an attempt to reap where he did not sow. I sincerely advice Mr President to listen to the street, do away with praise singing and empty promises of shylocks around him whose major interest is financial exploitation. The wind of change (blowing across the Nation) is looming to all except the Court Jesters in the Presidential Palace.

    I do not believe in nepotism, ethnic jingoism and tribal chauvinism, in fact I owe full allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I abide by my Oath to protect, preserve and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic. Put siccintly, I am a patriotic nationalist. It is however a matter of duty for me as a Senator of the Federal Republic to protect the interest of those who voted for me in Ife Ijesa senatorial district, and the State of Osun as a whole. I also owe my Yoruba race to protect it from under development, systemic annihilation and calculated extinction. Lastly, as a matter of honour, I must uphold Section 14 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which from the foregoing has been serially impugned and successively assailed.

  • Grenell, the last scarecrow

    Richard Grenell, a spin doctor, would appear President Goodluck Jonathan’s last scarecrow, in a virago-like electioneering that started with hate; and is set to end with fear-mongering.

    So, why not end it in a final hysteria of putative Islamization, to give the doomed Jonathan campaign some satanic bounce?

    That appears the Grenell shot.

    But it is no cold comfort at all, that Mr. Grenell, reportedly a spokesperson of four US ambassadors to the United Nations, sounded so green — both in the rigour and logic of his write-up for Washington Times, and in his understanding of Nigeria’s culture and politics.  Might his paranoid piece, on the March 28 presidential election, be a happy result from the Jonathan government’s overseas PR?  Maybe!

    Titled “Nigeria on the brink”, and given its wish-washy logic, would it be fair to say Mr. Grenell is guilty of the famed American ignorance on just about anything outside their vast near-continent country?

    Or, if the writer’s sour grape about how a reported opposition PR consultancy contract, allegedly awarded Alex Axelrod, which allegedly drove the Obama government’s not-too-friendly attitude to Nigeria’s extant order, could this be Mr. Grenell’s counter PR consultancy, to help the nervy Jonathan government?

    These questions are imperative the way Mr. Grenell mixed up his facts, played around with outright fiction and half-truth, and came to the fantastic conclusion that a Buhari Presidency, should he win on March 28, would give ISIS and allied terrorists a bigger window to play in Africa via Nigeria!

    Blessed are those who live in blissful ignorance!  But cursed are those who, taking dubious contracts, build a dire scenario that exists only in their dollarized psyches!  Whichever of the two categories Mr. Grenell falls into, Hardball is not sure.  But the submission in his piece is the stuff of which concentrated mischief is made.

    Briefly, Grenell holds that Gen. Buhari is an alleged Boko Haram sympathiser.  How?  Because he had personally been named by Boko Haram as putative negotiator, with the Jonathan government.  But did Mr. Grenell know Gen. Buhari turned down that invitation?  Of course, that was not necessary!  The selective amnesia in the Grenell mind somehow also plagued Godswill Akpabio, the PDP governor of Akwa Ibom, who made the same mischievous charge at the PDP Governors’ electioneering sortie to Lagos!

    Another Grenell claim: “He [meaning Buhari] is not known to have openly condemned the group or offered any advice to the government.  Really — even after elements suspected to be Boko Haram made an assassination attempt on him?  But even assuming that Gen. Buhari has not “offered any advice to the government”, has his All Progressives’ Congress (APC) party not done so?

    And the charge that Buhari wanted Sharia implemented all over the country — is the writer diplomatically blind, deaf and dumb to the Buhari consistent refrain that Sharia could not be applied nationwide simply because it had to do with family and inheritance matters, among Muslims?  Perhaps Mr. Grenell has been too busy to know that, even as military Head of State, Buhari resisted Nigeria joining the Organisation of Islamic States (OIC)?

    Ambassador Grenell’s latest tar job is only a regurgitation of the PDP anti-Buhari Islamization campaign, that nevertheless floundered, simply because the General picked Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, a Law professor and Pentecostal pastor, as his running mate.

    So, Mr. Grenell’s disingenuous scarecrow practically calling on the Obama government to help rally Jonathan in the election (but how) is a laughable fig, founded on combative ignorance.

    Still, the Grenell vomit was sheer music to Jonathan sympathisers, the way they splashed it as front page advert in This Day on Sunday (March 22).

    Nice try!  But only Mars-living Nigerians would believe such nonsense.

  • Polls: Jonathan, Buhari in last minute battle for votes

    Polls: Jonathan, Buhari in last minute battle for votes

    •Security alert nationwide

    •President threatens prosecution of advocates of interim government for treason

    The two leading candidates in Saturday’s presidential race, President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday commenced the last lap of their campaigns, reaching out to the electorate in different parts of the country to canvass for votes.

    General Buhari spent time with groups of the physically challenged in Lafia, Nasarawa State to give them words of encouragement while President Jonathan inagurated a N2.5 billion fly-over in Kano and named it after the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero.

    He later visited Daura, Katsina State, Buhari’s hometown for a whistle stop.

    The various security agencies, meanwhile, are busy perfecting their arrangements for the elections.

    Reports from across the country said Nigerians have been stocking their homes with food items and other needs ahead of the elections.

    Buhari at the Lafia meeting with the physically challenged told them to refuse to be discouraged by their conditions.

    He promised to appoint a federal ombudsman for people with disabilities to combat discrimination against them.

    The Ombudsman, according to him, will take care of rehabilitation, employment of disabled persons and participating in public life, among other assignments.

    He narrated the stories of the late American President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Professor Steven Hawking, astrophysicist of Cambridge University, England both of whom he described as very outstanding people who not only fought incredible physical disability but became known throughout the world  “because of their determination, will power, incredible resolution.”

    Of  Roosevelt, Buhari said: “he was crippled in both legs with polio and throughout most of his adult life was consigned to a wheelchair and had to be helped to bathe, to get into bed, to get out of bed, to dress and to be wheeled into his office or to address a political meeting. Roosevelt won four consecutive presidential elections, led the Allied Powers in the Second World War to defeat Hitler’s Germany and imperial Japan.

    “His most significant achievement on the domestic front was to start massive public construction works to build roads, bridges, dams which employed millions of Americans and helped to alleviate the economic depression following the Great Crash of 1929. Roosevelt is regarded as the greatest American president of the 20th century. He overcame disability and proved to his countrymen and the world that physical challenges could be circumvented with the right spirit.”

    He said Hawking, on the other hand, was “just walking around in his university compound when he collapsed on the ground and had to be helped to his rooms. Eventually, he was diagnosed as suffering from a motor neuron condition.

    “In spite of this disability, can’t walk, can’t talk, can’t eat on his own, he wrote a masterpiece doctoral thesis and is now a professor in Page 1 astrophysics and is even improving on Einstein’s theories. He can only nowadays communicate by using a speech generating device operated by a small sensor in his cheek. He is completely physically incapacitated but because of his indomitable spirit, he keeps on living, teaching and engaging in research.”

    Buhari said physical disability, therefore, should “not be the end of our usefulness.”

    The APC in Yobe State yesterday held a grand rally in Damaturu, the state capital, to spread the Buhari- for- president message.

    Governor Ibrahim Gaidam said at the rally that Buhari was advised not to attend because of the insecurity in the area.

    The governor said contrary to rumours that he was not on good terms with Buhari, the insecurity of the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway accounted for Buhari’s absence at the rally.

    He said he was amused by the “fabrication of falsehood” by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party that Buhari’s absence at the rally was due to the alleged sour relationship between him and the APC presidential candidate.

    Gaidam said the APC standard bearer remained the candidate with proven integrity.

    “Buhari is a straight forward person, whom Nigerians will benefit from under his leadership,” he said,

    He called on Nigerians to come out en mass to ensure victory for the APC during the forthcoming elections.

    President Jonathan on a visit to Daura threatened that those advocating interim national government in the country would be arrested and prosecuted for treason if they did not desist.

    He paid a courtesy call on the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Farouk, and said he had built 28 Almajiri schools and a federal university in the state.

    He had earlier in the day inaguarated a N2.5 billion flyover built in Kano by the federal government, he promised that if reelected as president, he would correct everything that  has gone wrong in the country and the PDP.

    He said the decision to name the fly over after Alhaji Ado Bayero was because he “was not known for controversy, he never played with his throne.” He held that office with extreme dignity, he gave colour to that office. He brought dignity and respect to the office. He left us but we live to continue to remember him.”

    The election delay has hurt the economy, which has been battered by the global oil shock, creating investor uncertainty and an urgent problem for whoever wins.

    With tension building up ahead of the election credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s at the weekend downgraded the economy further into junk territory, blaming falling crude prices, political instability and Boko Haram.

    Security on polling day remains a major concern after the military authorities asked for the postponement of the elections from February to enable them deal with the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast.

    The opposition does not want soldiers deployed during the polls for fear that they may be used to rig in favour of the ruling party.

    Nnamdi Obasi, senior researcher at the International Crisis Group, said Boko Haram is still able to carry out its threat to disrupt elections, which it views as “un-Islamic”.

    “Its fighters may not be able to seize new territory but they could certainly still send suicide bombers to public places, including polling centres,” he told AFP.

    “In many parts of Borno State, the security situation is still tenuous and displaced persons have not returned or settled down well enough to participate in elections.

    “Elsewhere in the region, the polls will go but very much in an atmosphere of unease and insecurity.”

    Last Friday, suspected cultists unleashed terror on Port Harcourt killing no fewer than eight persons in different parts of the Rivers State capital.

    Five persons were allegedly shot dead by the cultists at a popular bar close to Amadi-Ama roundabout.

    A report said the incident occurred at about 11:30 p.m. Among those killed was a lady.

    Eye witnesses said that three corpses, which were not identified that night were kept outside the bar till morning, and expended bullets littered the vicinity of the drinking bar.

    The warning by Police Inspector General Suleiman Abba that voters should steer clear of polling booths after casting their votes has provoked sharp reactions from several quarters including the APC which asked Nigerian to ignore the warning which, according to it, is not backed by the law.

    The army and the police have stepped up security around the country with attention being paid to public buildings.  More than   68.8 million people are registered to vote in the elections.

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chair Prof. Attahiru  Jega said on Monday that 67.8 million cards or 98.5 percent of cards had been sent out – up from 66.5 percent a week before February 14 – but some 20 million had not been collected.

    A further delay has been ruled out, with Jonathan’s mandate due to expire on April 30 and a formal handover of power set for May 29.

  • Jonathan versus Buhari: The final permutations

    Jonathan versus Buhari: The final permutations

    In six days, Nigerians will file out for the long-awaited poll. The past six weeks has been dotted with intense bickering, lobbying, ‘naira and dollar rains’, and outright hate campaigns. Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation, Sam Egburonu, Associate Editor, Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo, Assistant Editor and Sunday Oguntola review the outlook in the 36 states and the FCT and project likely outcomes.

    This Saturday Nigerians will determine who will lead them in the next four years. Out of the 55,904, 272 eligible voters who had collected their permanent voter cards (PVCs) as at Friday, March 20, 2015, 31, 957, 327 will vote in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Before the February 7 postponement the momentum was clearly on the side of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. The six-week shift pushed through by the Presidency was supposed to enable President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) regain the initiative.

    However, certain unscripted interventions may have worsened the case of the incumbent in certain regions. First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan may have gravely damaged her husband’s chances in the North when she accused Northerners of poor family planning. She said: Wetin him dey find again? Him dey drag with him pikin mate…Old man wey no get brain, him brain don die pata pata. Our people no dey born shildren wey dem no dey fit count . Our men no dey born shildren throway for street. We no dey like the people for that side.”

    Not even the successful military campaign against the insurgents in the North-East has altered the dynamics of the race in the North. A status report on the presidential contest from state to state follows – beginning with those in the North.

    KEBBI

    The tide is much more in favour of APC because many stalwarts or match-winners of PDP have defected to the opposition. They include leaders like ex-FCT Minister, Adamu Aliero, Sen. Muhammadu Magoro, Bala Na’Allah, Suleuiman Mohammed Argungu and even APC governorship candidate, Sen. Atiku Bagudu.

    The signs of the APC increasing acceptance emerged when the outgoing First Lady, Zainab Dakingari, personally took on the former FCT Minister who handed her over to the governor.

    The depth of APC’s grassroots support was underlined by the action of an 80-year old woman came out openly to donate her life savings worth N1million to Buhari after waiting for nine hours to meet the former head of state.

    The situation has degenerated to the extent that angry citizens of the state now heckle Governor Saidu Dakingari at rallies. To win election, most candidates of PDP for National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections have refused to identify openly with Jonathan.

    A source said: “The PDP is having it rough because of the poor performance of the governor; imposition of candidates for elective offices; mass defection to APC by grassroots politicians; and lack of unity. With all these problems, APC is in the blood of everyone in this state.”

    Verdict: An 80-20 vote spread likely in favour of APC.

    NIGER

    Despite spirited moves to deny his association with the opposition and disparage Buhari at the PDP presidential campaign rally, Governor Babangida Aliyu knows the game is up for his party in the state. Even the manner in which Aliyu was panting and making unsolicited and irrelevant remarks suggested he was facing some electoral challenges.  PDP’s fortunes further slipped down with the defection of the Deputy Governor, Musa Ibeto to APC. This is in addition to the loss of Niger East Senatorial District by-election seat to APC’s David Umar. The National Assembly Election Tribunal declared Umar as the validly elected senator instead of Nuhu Zagbayi of PDP. The refusal of the governor to handover to his deputy while going for lesser Hajj has boosted APC’s chances.

    Verdict: A 60-40 spread in favour of APC.

    KWARA

    Kwarans are still celebrating the tumultuous crowd which welcomed APC’s presidential campaign train to the state. The crowd doubled a similar one for PDP. Rather than allowing campaign to move on smoothly, the PDP has resorted to violence with the attack on some APC leaders and members including the campaign convoy of the wife of APC presidential candidate, Mrs. Aishat Buhari.

    The presidency is covertly trying to woo the gamesmaster of Kwara politics, Dr. Bukola Saraki, to its side but with its recourse to media blackmail of APC leaders, the battle line is drawn. The only survival straw of PDP now is to reach out to the church and make it to believe that the general election is a religious war. The APC is trying to discountenance the propaganda.

    Verdict: APC to win the state in a 70 to 30 vote spread.

    BAUCHI

    The war between Governor Isa Yuguda and the FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, since the stoning of the presidential convoy in Bauchi has further polarised PDP in the state. The leaders are now working at cross-purposes in a political terrain that is not entirely under the control of PDP. At a point, the governor was accused of producing both the PDP and APC governorship candidates in a deft political move to win either way during the general election. PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, has been accused of not working hard enough for the victory of Jonathan. In fact, Mu’azu on Thursday was quick to tell party members that “…I do not see a landslide coming.” The state has always been a political stronghold of Buhari in the last 12 years.

    Verdict: APC to win by 70-30 per cent.

    SOKOTO

    Governor Aliyu Wamakko and the APC are gaining more ground in the state. Known as “Alu Sai Alu”, Wamakko strongest points are ability to relate freely with the poor at the grassroots; ability to deliver on his promises; and a performance which has overshadowed the records of his predecessors, especially ex-Governor Attahiru Bafarawa. The internal crisis in PDP has buoyed the governor and APC’s chances of  coasting home to success. As at press time, thousands of supporters of Deputy Governor Mukhtar Shagari had chosen to work for APC rather than the party’s governorship candidate, Ambassador Abdallah Wali.

    Verdict: APC victory in an 80-20 vote spread.

    KOGI

    A major headache of PDP in the state is the poor performance of Governor Idris Wada which has been attributed to inherited debts from the administration of ex-Governor Ibrahim Idris. The relapsing health challenge of the governor has slowed him down in gaining electoral advantage for the president. The non-payment of minimum wage to primary school teachers’ has pitched PDP against the masses. This is also creating electoral threat to the ruling party’s success. The PDP is sticking to old jokers of ethnic, cultural and religious prejudices.

    The fact that there is no governorship poll in Kogi State has made the battle very close between the PDP and APC. Also, the defection of major stakeholders in Kogi East and Kogi Central has given APC a slight edge above PDP. The stakeholders from Kogi East are Alh. Linko Ocheje (the strong man of Ankpa politics); Mallam Sani Egwu; Gen. Salifu Atawodi; Chief John Odawn (the long-serving state PDP chairman); Sen. Alex Kadiri; Sen. Yahaya Ugbane; Hon. Ikani; Hon. Gowon (IGN); Hon. Ismail Ina Hussein; Hon. Adejoh Akowe; Hon. Musa Idoko; and Hon. Aduku Ojodale.

    Those who left PDP for APC in Kogi Central are Sen. Mohammed Ohiare; Sen. Salihu Ohize; ex-Speaker Abdullahi Bello; Chief Michael Ozovehe;  Alh. Idris Ozi Shuaibu; Hon. Sule Kokori; Hon. Kabir Ajanah; and Hon. Bashir Sani Omolori. In Kogi West, some PDP chieftains who have defected to APC and other parties are  ex-Yagba West LGA chairman, Hon. Tunji Aro;  former Chairman, Yagba East, Hon. Abdulkadir Jimoh Salahudeen(a.k.a Erukutu);  former Chairman, Mopamuro LGA, Hon. Pedro Obadofin; Hon. Salifu Akawu Sule; ex-Chairman, Kotonkarfe LGA, Hon. Shaba Mohammed; and Commodore Foluso Daniels.

    Those trying to salvage PDP in Kogi State now are Sen. Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West) and the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), who can no longer afford to remain in the background as a technocrat. The rescue mission of the Minister to Kogi Central Senatorial District for the PDP has made the game difficult for APC in the area. Adoke had offset the SSCE fees of all final year secondary school students in the five local government areas in the district. Kogi is now 50-50. A top source said: “We are not voting for Jonathan because of his failure to fulfill any of the promises made to leaders of Kogi West/ Okunland, led by the late Chief S.B. Daniyan at his pre-2011 election meeting with them at the Presidential Villa.

    “Also, several critical PDP stakeholders have refused to defect openly to other parties and have vowed to give surreptitious support to the opposition to ensure the decimation of the PDP at the polls. And very much like Mr. President, Governor Wada has not been able to come to grips with his mandate, nearly four years in office.

    Verdict: Too close to call.

    TARABA

    Despite his bombshell against some ex-militants, a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, holds the ace for PDP victory in Taraba State. But APC and SDP are giving PDP some headache in the state. When the Acting Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Danladi, kicked off his senatorial campaign in Karim Lamido; he was greeted with chants of “Ba mu yi”. The yeoman’s job of Sen. Aishatu Alhassan (Sai Mama) has improved the prospects of APC. The religious factor is being exploited by PDP to secure its reign in the state. One thing is certain: Buhari will secure the mandatory 25 per cent of the total votes cast.

    Verdict: PDP to win

     KADUNA

    The disastrous campaign outing of the PDP presidential campaign train to the state indicated that the party is unpopular in the state. With some empty seats at the stadium and the shout of Sai Buhari,   President Jonathan and members of the PDP presidential Campaign team were rattled. Findings revealed that APC and Buhari are in control of the northern part of Kaduna like Zaria and Lere. The opposition has always controlled the Central Senatorial District too especially Birnin Gwari, Kaduna North, Kaduna South and Igabi.

    Disunity is the bane of PDP in the state with 80 per cent of supporters and loyalists of ex-Governor Ahmed Makarfi defecting to APC.

    The spate of killings in Southern Kaduna, the removal of the former GMD of NNPC, and the sack of a former chairman of SURE-P, Lt. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd) might make it difficult for PDP to retain its grip on the state.

    The anger in Southern Kaduna against the PDP is much and it will be difficult for Jonathan to assuage it. To add to the burden of PDP, the choice of the APC Deputy Governorship candidate, Arc. Barnabas Bala Bantex has made the ruling party in the state to run helter-skelter. Bantex is loved by the people of Southern Kaduna and he is said to be a rallying point for them

    Unfortunately for the President, he is being careful in directly intervening in the party’s affairs in Kaduna State because it is the domain of his deputy. The race appears headed towards victory for APC unless Vice-President Namadi Sambo overhauls his party’s campaign machinery.

    Verdict: APC to win 60-40.

    PLATEAU

    Unknown to many Nigerians, the race is tighter in Plateau State this time around between PDP and APC because of the manner in which the PDP primaries were rigged in favour of some candidates and the demand for power shift. The people of Southern and Central Plateau have rejected the imposition of another governorship candidate, Sen. Gyang Pwajok from Plateau North on them after eight-year tenure of Governor David Jang. Out of the 17 local governments in the state, Plateau North has six, South (six) and Central is left with five. Motivated by the urge for power shift, the people of Southern and Central Plateau have opted for APC leaving only Plateau North in PDP. The APC governorship candidate, Hon. Simon Lalong is from Southern Plateau and his deputy is the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof. Sonny Tyodem from Plateau Central. On its part, the PDP picked its candidate, Sen. Gyang Pwajok from Plateau North and deputy, U.G. Gomwalk from Kanke in Plateau Central.

    More PDP leaders and members have also moved over to APC forcing most political office holders from Plateau State, like the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, to relocate home to salvage the situation. Out of the 16 governorship aspirants in PDP, 13 defected to APC, two remain neutral and Pwajok is on his own. Though the defectors have succeeded in shaking PDP, the ruling party in the state has a narrow edge over APC due to the population advantage of Plateau North. Governor Jang has sustained religious and tribal politicking to checkmate the growing influence of APC in the state.

    Verdict: Battleground

     ZAMFARA

    Ex-Governor Sani Yerima and his political son, Abdulaziz Yari, have continued to enjoy more grassroots support in the state. They are having an easy ride because the politics in the state has followed the same pattern since 1999. The State Publicity Secretary of APC, Sani Ahmed Gwamna, said the party has no opposition in the state. “Everybody knows that since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999, PDP has never won an election to form government in Zamfara,” he said. The aloofness of the Minister of Defence, Gen. Aliyu Gusau, to the presidential campaign has foreclosed any good outing for PDP.

    Verdict: A 70-30 vote spread in favour of APC.

    ADAMAWA

    The centre no longer holds in Adamawa PDP to the extent that President Jonathan made an emergency shuttle to the state last Saturday. He got more than he bargained for when stakeholders only promised to vote for him during the presidential poll. Overwhelmed by the challenge at hand, Jonathan paid a nocturnal visit to ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar for help. Instead, Abubakar shunned his invitation to return to PDP.

    The party is locked in a cold war following the failure of its recent reconciliation over the choice of ex-EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the party’s governorship candidate. Ribadu’s olive branch is yet to be accepted by stakeholders who are embittered about the conduct of the party’s primaries in Abuja.  The PDP’s headache is how to heal all wounds and defeat the PDM candidate, Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Modibbo and the APC candidate, Sen. Jibrilla Bindo. It is certainly an open race in Adamawa where Buhari’s wife hails from. Adamawa is 50-50 for the presidential election.

    Verdict: Battleground

     BENUE

    More than any period in his political career, Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State is fighting for his own survival such that he finds it difficult to take the party’s governorship candidate, Terhemen Tarzor along. Suswam is in a cul-de-sac because of inability to pay workers minimum wage; owing of workers six months’ salaries; prolonged strikes in the state which led to closure of schools for eight months and a sharp drop in popularity rating.

    The defection of ex-Minister Samuel Ortom and Chief Barnabas Gemade to APC is still haunting the PDP. This development has forced Suswam to embark on aggressive dusk- to- dawn campaign. With a high prospect of winning two out of the three senatorial districts in the state, APC is giving PDP sleepless nights. The game remains 50-50 in the state because of ethnic and religious factors which Suswam may latch on. Otherwise in a free and fair atmosphere, it is APC’s.

    Verdict: Battleground

    GOMBE

    Notwithstanding the denial of security threats in Gombe State by Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo at the National Council of State meeting, the state is prone to political violence because the ruling PDP is feeling the competitive heat of the opposition. The formidable structure of ex-Governor Danjuma Goje, which produced the governor in 2011, is formidable to the extent that attempts were made to set Goje up on phantom security offences. The situation now is such that APC and PDP are in a 50-50 rating.

    Verdict: Battleground

    BORNO

    Despite insurgency, the  massive turn-out at APC presidential campaign rally in Maiduguri has destabilized PDP and Jonathan camp. The PDP’s woes in the state worsened on Wednesday when a Federal High Court in Abuja  declared Gambo Lawan as the authentic governorship  flag-bearer of the party in Borno State. Justice Ahmed Mohammed ordered the PDP to substitute the name of Alhaji Mohammed Imam with Lawan. The judgment was a setback for ex-Governor Modu Ali Sheriff whose candidate Imam was. A party source said: “We are in disarray; we were devastated by the judgment. Supporters of Imam will rather work for APC than Lawan.”

    Though the state is still one of those classified as facing security threats at the last Council of State meeting, it remains APC territory. The campaign so far has revealed that the PDP is depending on federal might to capitalize on the insurgency in the state to manipulate the electoral process. The APC relies on the integrity and achievements of Governor Kashim Shettima, despite all odds, to retain the control of the state.

    Verdict: APC to win by an 80-20 per cent vote spread.

     YOBE

    With two out of the three senatorial districts in its kitty, Yobe remains firmly hooked to APC because the state had pitched tent with the opposition since 1999. Ex-Governor Bukar Ibrahim, the political godfather of the state, has been the pivot. With the achievements of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, retaining the state is easier for APC. The PDP, which initially had challenges over the choice of its governorship candidate, Adamu Maina Waziri, is coming up stronger but is unlikely to displace APC. The decision of Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha, a former CSO to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, to lie low has diminished the electoral fortunes of PDP in the state. The permutations that Al-Mustapha will be an electoral asset have failed for PDP.

    Verdict: A 70-30 scenario in favour of APC is likely here.

    JIGAWA

    In spite of the ranting of Governor Sule Lamido against APC leaders, the opposition will win the presidential poll in the state. One of the reasons Lamido is begrudging Buhari is the fact that the latter controls large following in Jigawa State. Even under ANPP and CPC platforms, Buhari had always won Jigawa hands down in 2003, 2007 and 2011. Since January, the governor’s comments have given advantage more to Buhari than Jonathan. In January, Lamido told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that “I agreed like every other person that Buhari is an incorruptible, honest, clean and patriotic Nigerian. My concern has always been defectors who our party, PDP, had made ministers, governors, speakers and members of the National Assembly and left us after benefiting so much.” For the presidential race, Buhari is the man to beat in Jigawa. But the governor will cling to any straw to retain the state for PDP in other strands of election.

    Verdict: A 70-30 vote spread in favour of APC.

    KATSINA

    This remains an APC enclave because it is the home of Buhari.  During the week, many PDP members tucked their membership cards into big bags and burnt them. The elite forces are also overwhelmingly against PDP.  These are prominent Katsina sons seeking power shift, APC strong leaders, those who defected from PDP to APC, and the loyalists of ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua working for Buhari. Though the PDP is trying to survive, the people of the state will vote for APC because they want the presidency which they lost in 2010, due to the death of ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua, to return to the state. The removal of the Acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS), Mallam Kabir Mashi, at the prompting of some PDP stalwarts, is a minus for Jonathan in the state because it will lead to protest votes against PDP in some parts of the state.

    Verdict: APC likely to win the state in a 70-30 format.

    KANO

    This is still a tough terrain for Jonathan and the PDP. For almost a week, Vice President Namadi Sambo was in Kano to woo opinion leaders and voters. He got more than he bargained for during an interactive session with academic staff who gave the Jonathan administration a low mark.

    The Kwankwassiya political dynasty has successfully managed its succession plan which has given APC an advantage to consolidate. The commissioning of some projects in Kano State in recent weeks has added more pep to the score sheet of Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. The fresh call by the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to the NNPC account for the controversial $20billion oil funds might seal the fate of PDP in the state. But the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau is trying his best to salvage the PDP although he can only hope to secure the required 25 per cent of the total votes cast for the President.

    Verdict: An 80-20 per cent victory for APC.

    NASARAWA

    The combined forces of Governor Tanko Al-Makura and a former Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, ex-Governor Abdullahi Adamu have upstaged  the PDP and APGA in the state. Though the APGA governorship candidate, ex-Minister Labaran Maku is whipping up religious sentiments, the outcome of the marathon campaign tours of APC has shown that Al-Makura remains the candidate to beat. His selling point is what a source described as his “humility.” If there was any hope left for Maku, it was shattered by the Director-General of PDP Campaign Organization, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, who described the former Minister as an ingrate. The exit of Maku from PDP has altered the game strongly in favour for APC. Up till now, the PDP campaign in the state has no bite as if the party has resigned to fate.

    Verdict: APC to win

    FCT

    The PDP is leading because it controls the government machinery in the six area councils and it has the biggest war chest for campaign in the territory. The subtle wooing and recognition of traditional rulers has also made the party to penetrate the grassroots. The Vice Presidential Candidate of APC, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo went on campaign tour of the six councils about a week ago but the area is still leaning towards the ruling party.

    Verdict: It is still 60-40 in favour of PDP.

    ABIA

    In Abia State, President Jonathan and PDP are very hopeful of recording a landslide victory. This is because of his unshaken relationship with Governor Theodore Orji, who controls the party machinery. Aside the hope of utilising Orji’s incumbency factor, First Lady Patience Jonathan’s mother hails from the state and this has been used to mobilize support for Jonathan. Also, the PDP has managed to dictate the pace in Abia State politics over the years mainly because of Orji’s style of governance. Until recently, he has succeeded in rendering opposition parties redundant in the state.

    Even now that some of opposition parties are gathering steam, most of them like All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the PPA are campaigning for Jonathan.

    Our investigation confirms that while governorship and other legislative elections would be a close contest between the ruling PDP and the opposition, Jonathan is likely to win the presidential election here but not with 98 percent as was the case in 2011. In fact, most respondents are optimistic that APC’s candidate, Buhari may get 25 percent votes here unlike 0.31 percent he got in 2011.

    Verdict: PDP to win.

    ANAMBRA

    Anambra State is an All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)-led state but for the presidency, the state has consistently voted for PDP. In 2011, Jonathan, the PDP flagbearer got 98.96 percent of all the votes cast at the presidential contest.

    If not for recent political developments, one would have predicted the same trend, since APGA, as it did in 2011, has no presidential candidate but has pledged to queue behind Jonathan. But unlike what happened in 2011, APC’s Buhari will get reasonable votes from the state.

    As Ekwueme, a political father in Anambra State, pointed out, all is no longer at ease with PDP. The elder statesman said “Anambra and Igbo vote can no longer be taken for granted. This is even so as Senator Chris Ngige-led state APC has taken the state by storm thereby popularizing the opposition party there.  There is no doubt that APC is very popular in Anambra State and so Buhari seems poised to take advantage of it. Buhari’s major setback in this state and most of the other South-East states is PDP’s continuous campaign that the former Head of State hates Ndigbo and singled out Igbo leaders like Ekwueme, Sam Mbakwe and Jim Nwobodo for imprisonment.

    Verdict: Jonathan

    EBONYI

    Ebonyi State is a traditional PDP state which gave Jonathan 95.57 percent of its votes in 2011. However, some observers say it has become a major battle ground in this election.

    The ripple effects from the crisis in PDP, which culminated in the political coup that dislodged control of the party from Governor Martin Elechi is poised to change the state’s political game.

    It seems the only things that may guarantee Jonathan success here are Senator Pius Anyim Pius’ determination to market Jonathan’s ability to retain Elechi’s support for the presidency.

    Left to the supporters of the embattled governor, who have already moved over to Labour Party, both Jonathan and his party would have been humbled in this state. Many of them would have gladly released protest votes in favour of Buhari. This would have been most feasible because of the increasing strength of the rival APC in the state, where Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu’s influence has come to play.

    Verdict: Jonathan

    ENUGU

    Following alleged reconciliation of the Senator Ike Ekweremadu-led faction of PDP in Enugu and that of Governor Sullivan Chime, Jonathan’s supporters are optimistic he will easily win in the state, where he got 98.54 percent votes against Buhari’s 0.36 percent in 2011.

    While it may not be out of place for PDP to be optimistic in Enugu, insiders in the state’s politics said many interests have been hurt in the pre-election politicking. This includes but not limited to the bitterness of the Senator Ayogu Eze’s camp of the PDP.

    Added to this is the dynamic campaign of Okey Ezea-led APC, which is poised to serve as a boost to Buhari’s political fortunes in the state. With its Catholic dominated population, there is also the fear in the PDP camp that Father Mbaka’s recent sermon may sway precious votes to Buhari’s box.

    Verdict: Jonathan

    IMO

    Currently, Imo State is an APC state where Governor Rochas Okorocha’s influence is a major boost for General Buhari.

    But The Nation learnt that the PDP’s campaign has been tailored to diminish Buhari’s influence as he was lavishly described as an Igbo hater, who singled out Igbo leaders like Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe, for jail. The former governor of old Imo State is so adored in the state that this singular campaign may swing the presidency to Jonathan in the state.

    So, while APC seems certain to win the governorship election, the presidency may be too close to call or slightly in favour of Jonathan.

    Verdict: Too close to call

    AKWA IBOM

    As far as Governor Godswill Akpabio is concerned, President Jonathan can go to bed regarding the state. He has good reasons to be that optimistic. The state organised the most boisterous campaign event when the President’s team came calling. Almost everyone in Akwa Ibom attended the campaign.

    The state has also been a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winning every electoral office since 1999. Having been elevated contentiously to becoming the highest earning state from the federal allocation, Akwa Ibom indigenes will consider voting for Jonathan a favour returned.

    But it would be too simplistic to dismiss Buhari’s chances just yet. The APC has been making serious incursions in Akwa Ibom since Obong Umana Umana emerged its governorship candidate. His Uyo senatorial district has the highest voting population in the state and should be angling for their own.

    Observers however said the APC might not make much impact at the presidential elections, saying most Akwa Ibom voters will consider the ethnic and religious factors in the choice. Based on these and with an incumbent governor armed with heavy war chests, Jonathan is expected to carry the state easily. But Buhari may be in contention to win at least 25% owing to the Umana’s factor. The defection yesterday of former governor Victor Attah to APC could also be significant.

    Verdict: Jonathan

    CROSS RIVER

    The state should be an easy pie for Jonathan. He is considered a son of the soil and a friend of the state. The proximity of his native Bayelsa state will be an added incentive for voters to pick him in the state.

    The PDP has been dominant at all levels in the state since the return of democratic rule. An implosion during the party’s governorship primary that produced Senator Ben Ayade has been well-managed to the amazement of the opposition.

    Jonathan, seen as a fellow Christian and South-South brother, will certainly garner massive votes in the state. It is hard to tell how much weight the APC can pull to win votes for Buhari, a Muslim northern. It is even harder to contemplate him winning as much as 25% in the state. Given the ongoing scenario, Jonathan will carry the state without much ado

    Verdict: Jonathan wins

    RIVERS 

    If there is a state that can define this presidential election, it would be no other than Rivers. The two leading candidates have gladiators here, sparing no effort or design to make them win. On the side of APC is Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is Director General of the Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign.

    Amaechi, a dogged fighter, is a political veteran. He knows Rivers politics like the palms of his hands. He’s a two-time governor and an ex-Speaker. It has taken nothing more than sheer willpower and doggedness to fight a President and then defect to the opposition party without as much as scratch. For every weapon fired at him, Amaechi returns the salvo with ten deadlier canisters.

    The APC has gained much ground since the governor made it his new abode. The governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside, has a followership capable of intimidating even the bravest opposition.

    The party’s chapter has been giving the PDP a run for its money, insisting that Jonathan cannot win the state. APC’s chairman in Rivers, Davies Ikanya, said Jonathan had committed 25 grievous sins for which the state will never vote for him.

    The sins, according to him, include neglect, stalling of some projects envisaged to develop the state, lack of implementation of some projects, violence and corruption among others.

    The party has been mobilising against Jonathan and pushing Buhari’s candidature with remarkable results, going by attendance at rallies and campaigns.

    But the PDP is no pushover yet in Rivers. Not when its governorship candidate, Nyesom Wike, is still around. Wike has fought Amaechi to a standstill, using federal might and presidential connections. He also attracts crowds.

    Besides, First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is also from the state. She has been mobilising for her husband among her people. But many are not happy with her role in the standoff in the state. There may protest with votes against Jonathan at the poll.

    Being a cosmopolitan state with an incumbent governor rooting for Buhari, the APC presidential candidate may carry the state. Jonathan, on his own, will also make serious impact among voters based on ethnic and religious considerations as well as the influence of his wife.

    Verdict: Battleground

    EDO

    That the 2011 presidential election in Edo State was a stroll in the park for President Jonathan is stating the obvious. The president garnered 542, 173 votes as against 17, 795 votes for Buhari.

    The president’s victory in 2011 was largely due to the ‘home boy’ factor, coupled with the maximum support offered him by the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who mobilised the people in support of Jonathan.

    But next Saturday’s election in the state is likely to be a different ball game, as the governor has turned his back against the President. In the last couple of weeks, he has embarked on a vigorous campaign for the APC presidential candidate and other candidates of the party across the nooks and crannies of the state.

    While the Edo governor has intensified campaign for Buhari, no one seems to be doing same for the President, as the acclaimed leader of Edo PDP, Chief Anthony Anenih, appears to be spending more time in Abuja thus delegating the task of campaigning for the president to less influential party chieftains.

    During his campaign stumps across the state, the governor’s campaign message that the PDP-led federal government has neglected the state in terms of infrastructural projects has resonated well with the people, many of whom have keyed into the change mantra being propagated by the APC.

    The influence of traditional institutions – especially the respected Oba of Benin is also a factor to watch. Sources say a crisis of confidence has broken out among prominent Benin chiefs over who to endorse between the two major candidates.

    With just seven days to the election, what has become apparent is that Edo election would be a close call between Buhari and Jonathan who may still be counting on South-South solidarity to prevail.

    Verdict: Too close to call

    DELTA

    In spite of recording a landslide victory in 2011, President Jonathan and the PDP are not taking anything for granted.

    And this is understandable. The ruling party is facing some tough challenges ranging from gradual resurgence of the APC in addition to inter-ethnic suspicion and rivalry in the state.

    Indeed, if there is one factor that could impact negatively on the President’s electoral chances in the state, it is the alleged disenchantment of some ethnic groups including Itsekiri and the Urhobos against the Ijaws, the President’s ethnic group.

    For the Itsekiris, their grouses are legion. First, is the controversy over the site of the $16 billion Delta Gas City project at Ogidigben in Warri South local government area with the Ijaws claiming ownership of the land said to belong to the Itsekiri.

    The groundbreaking of the project suffered several postponements until a few weeks ago when the President visited Warri and reportedly appeased the Itsekiri with his commitment to the commencement of the project.

    But not a few however believe that the President’s fence mending was borne not out of genuine love for the Itsekiri, but to win their votes in the presidential election.

    There are also others who are not happy with how the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, was “shabbily treated” by the PDP in the run-up to the party’s senatorial and governorship primaries early this year.

    The governor’s desire to have his preferred candidate emerge as the governorship candidate not only failed, he was also compelled to step down for an Ijaw man, Senator James Manager, who is running for another term to represent Delta South in the National Assembly.

    Among the Urhobos too, there is a sharp division within the influential Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), the umbrella body of all Urhobos. Some of its leading lights are reportedly drumming support for Jonathan, while others have allegedly pitched their tent with Buhari.

    As the largest ethnic group in Delta State, the Urhobos have the numbers to determine where the pendulum of victory would swing in the election.

    Verdict: Slim victory for Jonathan

    BAYELSA

    Four years ago, the opposition was practically non-existent in Bayelsa, the home state of the President. The result of the 2011 presidential election proved

    But the situation is different today, thanks to the defection of notable politicians to the APC, including the immediate former governor of the state, Timipre Sylvia, a former senator, Fred Oboro, former Security Adviser to Sylva, Chief Richard Kpodo, former Youth Leader of PDP in the South-South, Mr. Godwin Sidi and a former Chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government, Timipa Orunemigha.

    Since his parting ways with the President and PDP, Sylvia has slowly but steadily positioned the APC as a viable opposition, a development the Presidency is not comfortable with.

    Sources say the former governor, who is also contesting for the Senate on March 28 against media entrepreneur, Ben Bruce, is determined to prove a point that he remains a factor in Bayelsa politics.

    But more worrisome for the President’s camp, is the threat by some loyalists of the incumbent governor, Seriake Dickson, not to vote for the President over what they perceive as the overbearing influence of his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, who has been at loggerheads with the governor.

    The homeboy factor in spite of the incursion of the APC, analysts argue, would come handy for the President when the chips are down.

    Verdict: Safe bet for Jonathan

    OSUN

    In Osun, which is firmly under the control of the APC, Jonathan will not have a good showing on election day. All through the electioneering campaign, the President found it difficult to get listening ears.  His visits to the state have receive no appreciable attention from the people considering the mammoth crowd that thronged the Osogbo City Sports Stadium to receive Buhari and his team twice when he visited the state in continuation of his presidential campaign.

    This will be no surprise in Osun where, in spite of his good showing in the region in 2011, the President still lost to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate by a wide margin. With Governor Rauf Aregbesola still in charge and the PDP declining in status by the day, Buhari is positioned to win massively in the state.

    Aregbesola’s convincing victory during last year’s governorship election and the rancour that saw PDP losing two former governors of the state, Isiaka Adeleke and Olagunsoye Oyinlola and former Speaker Olubunmi Etteh, to the APC in quick succession will also work against Jonathan.

    Verdict: APC 80%; PDP 20%

    EKITI

    Given current permutations in Governor Ayodele Fayose’s state after the six weeks shift in election date, President Jonathan may run away with a slight victory over Buhari. During the June 21, 2014 governorship election held in Ekiti State, the APC failed to retain the state. The surprise emergence of Fayose as governor is no doubt a boost for Jonathan and the PDP in the presidential election. If the preference of Fayose, an unrepentant Jonathan supporter is to count, then PDP will carry the day.

    Of course, the APC is not likely to go down without a good fight in the state given the fact that it is in the majority in the House of Assembly as well as National Assembly members in the state. The fact that it was in charge of the state for four years barely months back, is also an advantage for Buhari. In addition, the reconciliation of Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, gubernatorial candidate of the LP at the last election with the APC leadership will give PDP more troubles.

    But Fayose has shown that he’s willing to do all that in necessary to prevail. This may override all other factors and give the day to Jonathan in the state.

    Verdict: APC 40%; PDP 60%

    ONDO

    Few weeks back, the political drama that saw the massive decamping of major political actors from one political party to the other, which started in 2014 and continued into the new year, gave the impression that it may be too close to decide who wins in Ondo State. However, the unresolved intra party crisis that bedeviled the ruling PDP in the state following the entrance of Governor Olusegun Mimiko into the party may have given the APC a serious edge in the contest for presidential votes.

    In quick succession, the Mimiko camp lost the likes of Hon. Gani Daodu representing Akoko North West and East Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Hon. Gbenga Edema representing Ilaje Constituency II and Hon. Folasade Olasehinde representing Ose Constituency to the APC. More defections were to follow as Mimiko battled old members of his new party for control of party structure.

    Although the coming of Mimko into Jonathan’s party initially boosted the chances of the president in the state considering the fact that Ondo was before now a Labour Party (LP) controlled state, his unending face-off with leaders of the party made nonsense of the political gains of his defection.

    This argument is premised on the calculation that it was a united PDP, adequately supported by the then ruling Labour Party that gave Jonathan 85.66% of the total votes counted in the state in 2011. With the now ruling PDP torn to shreds and the LP no longer in Mimiko’s kitty, coupled with a fast growing opposition APC in the same state, pundits say Jonathan may not be able to win the oil rich state on March 28.

    Jonathan and Buhari will fight hard for votes in Ondo State. Given that Ondo is now a PDP state following Mimiko’s defection and its proximity to the President’s native Bayelsa State as well as the large presence of Ijaw speaking communities in the oil producing area of the state, he will have a good showing in the southern part of the state.

    But with Buhari running on the platform of the APC this time and the general feeling of marginalisation among the Yorubas, his performance in the mainland and other parts of the state will receive a serious boost from what it was in 2011. The situation in Ondo is such that Buhari may just enjoy a very slight victory over Jonathan in a close race.

    Verdict: Narrow victory for Buhari and APC

    LAGOS

    Although President Jonathan in recent weeks made tremendous effort at swaying the electorate in Lagos in his favor, not much was achieved by his political maneuvers. If anything, the President and his team gave the people of the state ample opportunities to critically examine why they should vote for any of the two leading candidates.

    Before now, Lagosians were disappointed that the President merely coming to Lagos when he launched his campaign, to attack personalities and not to discuss issues. The people, it appeared would have loved the President to tell the people about his achievement in office and how he intends to improve on the achievements.

    Not even the recent attempt by the PDP to discredit APC’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, appeared to have succeeded as polls continue to give the state to Buhari and his party. The near non-existing influence of Afenifere chieftains in the state is also a factor that made nonsense of the President’s effort to play the ethnic card in the state.

    Thus, contrary to the posturing of people like Bode George, the most popular position is that Buhari will outshine Jonathan at the polls in Lagos State. APC’s control of political structures in the state is massive – from state to local council levels. This gives it an unparalleled ability to turn out the votes on polling day.

    PDP’s attempt to play the ethnic card appealing to certain non-indigenous ethnic groups has been neutralized by APC getting its governors and leaders like Kwankwaso, Na’Abba and Buhari to speak directly with other ethnic groups whose numbers are equally large in the state.

    Another terrible miscalculation was the pro-Jonathan rally held in Lagos by the Gani Adams-led Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and other supporters of the president. The event turned into an orgy of violence with motorists being harassed by gun-totting OPC members and billboards of APC members being vandalized. Public reactions to the outing have been decidedly negative for Jonathan and PDP.

    By the time all of the above are placed side by side with the unending crises that have rocked the PDP in the state for years, Buhari is in pole position to prevail on March 28.

    Verdict: APC 75%; PDP 25%

    OGUN

    An array of PDP chieftains, including controversial Buruji Kashamu, former party boss, Joju Fadairo and Doyin Okupe, amongst others, are working round the clock to deliver the votes in the state to Jonathan. They are no doubt determined to beat the APC to second place.

    But matching the popularity of the ruling party and the wide acceptance of Governor Ibikunle Amosun is a huge task for Jonathan’s men. Consequently, Buhari’s visit to Abeokuta few days back was a huge success that saw the people of the Gateway State trooping out to see him.

    An earlier visit by Jonathan also saw a mammoth crowd but the frenzy that greeted the APC rally gave indication of where the votes may go. Amosun’s track record of achievements, especially in the area of urban renewal, which has seen the massive construction of roads and bridges will be an added advantage for his party.

    Also, the seeming ‘siddon look’ attitude of people like former Governor Gbenga Daniel, former Speaker Dimeji Bankole, Jubril Martins Kuye and a host of other aggrieved PDP leaders may work against Jonathan in the state unless something urgent is done.

    The indisputable political place of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and his unhidden opposition to Jonathan’s aspiration, which peaked with his card-tearing exit from the party few weeks back,  will also work in favor of Buhari and his party.

    Verdict: APC to win with 70% to 30% vote spread

    OYO

    In Oyo state, the tattered state of Jonathan’s party may aid Buhari’s victory. APC also controls the state government. Pundits also say that aside, Oyo is a core Yoruba state where the feeling of marginalisation is deep-rooted.

    Although the likes of Jumoke Akinjide, Jonathan’s minister from the state, and Senator Teslim Folarin, gubernatorial candidate, are of the opinion that the people will vote for the Presdient, indications that this may not be so are numerous. The daily defection of party leaders from the PDP, which started with the exit of former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala remains an issue. Although it is believed that Ladoja and Alao-Akala are working for Jonathan’s candidacy unofficially.

    With APC determined to hold on to the state, enjoying the support of all the first class monarchs including Alaafin of Oyo, Soun of Ogbomosho, Olubadan of Ibadan etc, Jonathan may find it difficult getting votes in Oyo.

    Verdict: APC 80% – PDP 20%

    CONCLUSION: General Buhari is projected to prevail in the North West, North East, North Central and South West, while President Jonathan would win in the South-South and South East.

     

  • Jonathan’s Abuja land grab violates FCT dream, says El-Rufai

    Jonathan’s Abuja land grab violates FCT dream, says El-Rufai

    Former Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Minister and All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for Kaduna State, Malam Nasril El-Rufai, has taken a swipe at President Goodluck Jonathan on the Abuja land grab.

    El-Rufai insists that the allocation of 95.88 hectares of land to President Jonathan in the Aviation Village amounts to “another violation of the Abuja dream.”

    The vast expanse of land was approved by the current FCT Minister, Alhaji Bala Mohammed, on March 8, 2012 to President Jonathan’s company registered as Ebele Integrated Farms Limited.

    But there have been widespread condemnations regarding the propriety and otherwise of a sitting president using the instrumentality of his office to effect the allocation of vast expanse of land to himself through the FCT Minister at the Aviation Village, Abuja, for farming purposes.

    Responding to some questions from The Nation on the matter, the former FCT Minister described the issue of the Aviation Village as self-explanatory.

    El-Rufai through an e-mail from his media aide, Samuel Aruwan, said there were no such provisions for the land located at the Cadastral Zone to be converted to farm land in the original plan and design of the FCT.

    He said: “Aviation Village is self-explanatory….it is part of Phase 5 of the FCT, meant to accommodate aviation company needs – hangars, fueling and maintenance facilities, housing and hotels.

    “There were no provisions for agricultural land in the city’s blueprint. Farmlands are located outside the City in places like Gaube, Kuje and Kwali. I am surprised that agricultural land is being allocated in the footprint of the FCT. This may be another violation of the Abuja Dream…..God Save us.”

  • Senate endorses $300m Diaspora bond

    Senate endorses $300m Diaspora bond

    The Senate yesterday gave President Goodluck Jonathan the nod to raise $300 million Diaspora Bond from the International Capital Market.

    This approval comes over one year after President Jonathan sought the approval of the Senate to raise the fund.

    The presidency increased the bond request from initial $100 million to $300 million.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Ehigie Uzamere, presented the report of the joint Committee on Local and Foreign Debt and Finance which recommended that the Senate should approve the request.

    The joint Committee was mandated by the Senate to consider the request for the increase in the amount from $100 million to a maximum of $300 million to be raised through the Diaspora Bond from the International Capital Market.

    Uzamere said that the Senate at its sitting on February 4, 2014 considered Executive Communication from Mr. President for an increase in the amount to be raised through the Diaspora Bond from the International Capital Market and referred same to the joint committee.

    He noted that the proposed increase in the Diaspora Bond is to fund critical infrastructure in the country.

    He added that the proposed increase is believed will accommodate a greater number of Nigerians in the Diaspora who have interest to invest in the development of the country.

    Uzamere informed the Senate that the provisions of Sections 41,42,44,and 47 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 prescribed conditions for borrowing and verification of compliance limit upon which approval of the National Assembly will be premised.

    He noted that based on the submissions by the Director General, Debt Management Office and several interactions the joint committee had, the committee observed as follows:

    That the $100million Diaspora Bond as passed in the Borrowing Plan 2012-2014 is too small considering the life of Nigerian Diaspora

    That the larger and present amount of $300 million is consistent with the Public Debt Management Strategy.

    That with the dwindling revenue from crude oil sale, it has become necessary to diversify sources of funding for government.

    That the Diaspora Bond is necessary to create more space in the domestic market for other borrowers particularly, private firms.

    That the Federal Government plans to utilise the proceeds of the Diaspora Bond in the construction of key capital projects in priority sectors of the economy including the second Niger bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and infrastructure for the Abuja Medical City.

    The joint committee concluded that the concept of raising funds through Diaspora Bond has been employed by several countries over the years with tremendous success.

  • Mbaka: Jonathan, his wife after me

    Mbaka: Jonathan, his wife after me

    Fiery Enugu-based Catholic priest Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka has accused President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, of being after his life.

    Mbaka, in a new video on Youtube viewed by The Nation yesterday, said his offence was his opposition to the President re-election. In the 21-minute sermon given during one of his preachings, Fr. Mbaka said the plot was recently revealed to him.

    The popular Adoration Ministries preacher said his support for Jonathan in the last six years did not attract death threats or condemnation from opposition politicians. He denied allegations that he received money from Mrs. Joanthan last during her visit to his church. Fr. Mbaka disclosed that Mr. Jonathan dropped money for him but he rejected the money.

    He said: “Do they think that killing father Mbaka will make Jonathan and his wife win the election? Is Mbaka their problem? And the other priest asked a question that touched me. All these while that Fr. Mbaka has been supporting Jonathan and his wife, did Buhari and his party make any statement that threatened him?

    For over six years, afterwards, I sent a letter to somewhere but I want to send this message to the atmosphere, let it now be known to the whole world that President Goodluck Jonathan and Patience are planning to assassinate Fr. Mbaka.

    “It is a known secret. However they are planning it, I do not know. Whomever they want to use, I do not know. They will not do it by themselves. They will use the unemployed people. The same people I am speaking for.

    “Just like in the days of Chimaroke, I came here one day announcing this type of thing. That they are planning to attack the ministry. People said it cannot happen. One night, 7th March, they struck.

    “I don’t why people are no longer afraid of God. And the other Priest said maybe it’s because they believe that the Bishops of the country joined them to threaten Fr. Mbaka onto sanction because he spoke against the ills of the government. Why should Jonathan’s name be mentioned?

    “Why Moses was asked by God to go and tell Pharaoh to ‘let my people go”, did Moses not do the work?

    Am just trying to warn any Pharaoh that ýis threatening to kill any Moses to remember what happened in Exodus 12. After the Passover the family of Pharaoh cried and the remnant of the tears got a conclusion in Exodus 14:27 in the middle of the Red Sea.

    ”Let them leave Mbaka alone. The so-called money they are boasting that they gave to Fr. Mbaka, I have severally here on this altar put my hands to tell the whole world that it is true if it is true.

    “Because Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President came with one little bag containing some money and the money was rejected.”

  • Jonathan releases N100m naira to social media to fight Tinubu

    •Sponsored street protests to start tomorrow

    ASIWAJU Bola Tinubu’s media office yesterday raised an alarm that President Goodluck Jonathan met with a select group of social media practitioners and unemployed youths to finalise plans on how to attack the former governor of Lagos State and All Progressives Congress (APC) National leader.

    The President approved the plan to mobilise street protests against Tinubu on tomorrow in Lagos. The protest will be the focus of the social media platforms, the office said.

    He summarily approved the sum of N100 million naira for the project. “A visibly angry Jonathan complained about the bashing he continues to receive from the social media, blaming the APC social media machine for his negative image.

    For the first time, the president is funding directly his social media plan but this one directed at fighting an individual, Tinubu, not to address national issues.

    We reliable gathered that Jonathan wanted street protests against Tinubu which can be fed into the social media in a desperate effort to tarnish Tinubu;s image.

  • Two weeks to polls: Jonathan’s campaign in disarray as Buhari surges

    Two weeks to polls: Jonathan’s campaign in disarray as Buhari surges

    • President sidelines Ahmadu Ali campaign committee
    • Eurasia group projects Buhari to win 60% of votes

    Things are not adding up for President Goodluck Jonathan  and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his re-election bid with the poll a mere 14 days away.

    Suspicion is rife within the party hierarchy, and leaders are pulling in different directions, according to presidency and party sources.

    So bad is the situation that the President’s campaign has split into five with the president himself taking his destiny in his own hand by personally criss-crossing the country to woo traditional rulers, opinion moulders, youth and women leaders with a view to salvaging the situation.

    Shortly after his nomination by the PDP for the race, President Jonathan set up a Presidential Campaign Council led by Dr. Ahmadu Ali to co-ordinate the campaign nationwide.

    But complaints and field reports reaching the president from the states convinced him that the council was far from effective.

    In came the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, who, sources said, began to ‘remote control’ the campaign council.

    Soon, four other main groups, all purporting to work for the president’s election emerged.

    These are: the PDP Governors’ Forum; the PDP initiative; and the strategic team being driven by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim/ ministers/ Chief E.K. Clark/ and other motley support groups.

    A party source familiar with the situation said: “The struggle for personal benefits has overshadowed the target of winning the election. Virtually everyone wants to make money from the campaign as if there will be no tomorrow or as if we are going to lose at the poll.

    “The president saw the gaps and decided to personally drive his own campaign.”

    The situation was not helped by poll results before the postponement of the February election that the President was heading for a humiliating defeat.

    He quickly took over the campaign and has been jetting round the country to prop up his image.

    “If the president tells you his experience in the last three weeks that he has been shuttling about, you will appreciate that he would have lost the February 14 election woefully,” was the way another source put it yesterday.

    Only last Thursday, the Deputy Director-General of the PDP Campaign Organisation, Professor Tunde Adeniran, accused the PDP of doing little to promote Jonathan.

    “If we continue to show this man has not done anything, others will capitalise on it. The party is not showing enough in this regard. The president’s achievement is undersold and in some cases not sold at all. In some places they ask, so Jonathan has done so?” he said.

    Within the last three weeks, the president has visited the Southwest, which he sees as the zone holding the ace in the election, at least four times to plead for support.

    During the first visit, he spent a whole week in Lagos meeting Obas, youths, market women and other interest groups. He also visited churches for prayers.

    On the second visit, he went to Oyo town to see the Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and Ile-Ife on the third visit where some Obas were gathered to pray for him

    He returned to the zone on Thursday to seek the support of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, who told him that he should not expect any Oba to campaign for him.

    “In Ijebu here, it is not possible for any Oba- not even in Ijebu, in Yorubaland- to go out and say vote for this, vote for that. That person is looking for trouble. But they should give them (the politicians) the opportunity to present their programmes so that the people can make up their minds on what to do,” the Awujale told him.

    Comments by the president’s wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, during campaigns are also believed to be alienating sections of the country from her husband.

    One of such was the statement she made recently in Port Harcourt that northerners are breeding children they could not cater for, hence the menace of Almajiris.

    “Our men no dey born shildren throway for street. We no dey like the people for that side,” she said in pidgin English.

    Apparently haunted by the statement, Mrs. Jonathan last week was absent at a women’s campaign in Minna, Niger State.

    Another was when she declared in Asaba, Delta State that the APC presidential flag bearer, General Muhammadu Buhari was “brain dead.”

    She was also in Benin, Edo State yesterday where she said that her husband must complete “our two terms” in office.

    Meanwhile, the Eurasia Group, the world’s leading global political risk research and consulting firm, has tipped the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, to win this month’s election.

    The firm projects that the APC flag bearer has a 60 per cent probability to beat President Goodluck Jonathan in the election.

    The firm’s Africa practice head and analyst, Philippe de Pontet, wrote yesterday that the electoral map is tilting to Buhari in swing regions in the Southwest and the Middle Belt.

    He said that with Buhari in the saddle, investors could expect business-oriented policies.

    He adds: “The election will still be difficult to call, but our expectation of a narrow Jonathan win was predicated on several factors that are losing some saliency late in the campaign.

    “Chief among them is the incumbency and financial advantages of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). While this still helps Jonathan, its impact is blunted by the intensity of support for Buhari, lackluster grassroots campaigning by the PDP, and new anti-rigging measures by the electoral commission.

    “New permanent voting cards and card readers will sharply reduce the level of rigging seen in 2011, when Jonathan beat Buhari in a landslide …

    “While we expected the electoral map to favour Jonathan, current trends suggest that the swing regions may side with Buhari, including the Christian-majority and heavily-populated southwest around Lagos. That could be the decisive demographic factor in the election …”

    A local think tank, the Centre for Public Policy Alternatives, gave Buhari a 58% to 32% lead in Lagos State, where Jonathan won the last election. Eurasia Group thinks Jonathan’s approval rating is below the 40% threshold under which incumbents have a hard time getting reelected.

    “Despite some important military gains against [the Islamic terror group] Boko Haram in the northeast, and a partial exoneration of its oil revenue management in a recent PWC audit, [Jonathan’s] Peoples Democratic Party is starting to look desperate. … [But] it is not clear … that Buhari has a strong economic policy orientation. This uncertainty is a chief risk for investors.”

    Jonathan is likely to contest an unfavorable outcome, especially a close election, and that could mean protracted violence.

    “The reason we aren’t upgrading Nigeria’s outlook to positive, however, rests in the potential for an oil disruption and the likely pushback to Buhari’s policy agenda in a highly polarized political climate. His victory is likely to unleash a resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta (Jonathan’s home region) that targets the oil sector. Former Delta militants have threatened to blow up oil pipelines, platforms, and personnel as in the past when they routinely took up to 500,000 barrels per day offline. There is likely some bluster in their threats …”

    – Read more in News Review on page 9-11

  • My husband must serve two terms, Patience Jonathan insists

    My husband must serve two terms, Patience Jonathan insists

    First Lady Patience Jonathan declared yesterday that nothing would stop President Goodluck Jonathan from completing “our two terms in office.”

    “Everybody is staying there for eight years. Now it’s our turn. We must complete our eight years,” she said at a women’s rally in Benin, Edo State.

    “It is in the constitution of this country. Two,  two terms. We will complete our two terms and hand over.”

    Taking a dig at the opposition, Mrs. Jonathan said: “I am a peaceful person and I preach peace anywhere I go. They are looking for a fight; they are looking for war. They are troublesome people. That is why they went and took expired drugs. Now they are crying. They are the people stoning people and nobody talked.”

    She said the opposition should expect what happens to those standing in the way of a moving train.

    In a veiled reference to the clash in the booking of the Ogbemudia Stadium for her rally and a separate event by the wife of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, she charged: “They are dragging stadium with me, but me I am ready to go to the street and do my campaign.”

    Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State had earlier given permission for her to use the stadium while Mrs. Buhari’s event was rescheduled for another date.

    Making a case for her husband’s re-election, Mrs. Jonathan said: “The president is building schools. That is why in the whole federation when he came in, he built university in every state; federal university so that our children can go and learn.

    “Goodluck has built uncountable hospitals, primary health centres. He equipped primary health centres, trained doctors and nurses

    “In Edo State, the federal university has been rehabilitated and well equipped for us. He gave our sons scholarships. Mr. President is ready to pay if you don’t have money to pay for your children.”

    She then returned to the APC, saying: “They were there years back. They have nothing to offer. Ask them: what did they offer us when they were there. They were in Aso Rock before (sic). What did they forget in Aso Rock that they want to go and take? Days are gone when old people will continue to dominate us.

    “I don’t have a budget, no constitutional rights. Will you now say I am corrupt? I am not holding your money. I don’t have budget attached to my office. Go and probe me and see if I have your money.”

    Mrs. Jonathan and her entourage arrived the rally venue at 1.30 pm about five hours behind schedule by which time many of the party supporters had returned home.

    At least two women and three policemen who remained   in the scorching sun fainted.

    They were, however, revived by medical personnel deployed at the stadium.

    The police arrested two young men who claimed to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party for allegedly pulling down campaign banners around the rally venue.

    The suspects  from Ward 10 in Egor Local Government area said  they pulled down the banners because they were not paid the mobilisation fees they were promised.

    One of them was heard crying and begging the policemen to “Please, let me off. I have no one to bail me.”