₦airaland Forum

The Pan-Yoruba militant group, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), has alerted security agencies in the country of alleged moves by the pro-Biafran agitators to shift their campaign to Yorubaland for ulterior motives.
The OPC specifically called for increased surveillance on the organizers of ‘The World Igbo Day 2015’ proposed to be hosted in Yorubaland this Saturday alleging “ulterior motives” behind the hurried arrangement.

While expressing fears over the precarious security situation in Nigeria, the group urged the security agencies and Yoruba leaders of thought to guard against threat to peace in the South West zone.
In a press release from the National Coordinating Council of the OPC signed by Comrade Akinpelu Adeshina, copies of which were made available to journalists in Ibadan on Friday, the pan-Yoruba group stated that it was “compelled to make this call given the precarious and heightened security situation in the country and the world over.”

“We see the attempt to bring the World Igbo Day celebration – in whatever guise – which is normally celebrated on the 29th September annually to the Yorubaland as a mischievous and diabolically crafted attempt to cause chaos in and destabilize Yorubaland; and this we will repulse and reject with everything at our disposal,” OPC stated.

The statement read in part: “As much as we believe in the right of every person and group to self-determinatyion, we are of the firm belief that this particular event is mischievously conceived and earmarked to be hosted in any part of Yorubaland.
“It is true that the Yoruba are a liberal, peaceful and accommodating people, yet we are no foll and should not be treated as fools.
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“The South West part of Nigeria is the most secure and peaceful part of Nigeria today and should therefore not be turned into a theatre of war or avoidable crisis.
“For too long, the Yoruba have accommodated all other tribes and nationalities like good hosts. We have not minded the odium and other atrocities committed against our people, and on our ancestral land.
“During the last election campaigns, it was the height of all insults when the Igbos in Lagos derided and mudsling our highly revered traditional rulers, particularly the Oba of Lagos.
“Never in history has it been recorded that a Yoruba person or group crossed the Niger River into either the northern or eastern part of the country to go and vilify, desecrate or insult any of their paramount rulers for political or any other reasons.

“The leeway to do business and own properties which the Igbo and other nationalities enjoy in Yorubaland has not been reciprocated for the Yoruba elsewhere, thus it would only be fair to warn anyone or group that ‘if our relationship cannot be mutually beneficial, it should in no way be injurious to us as a people.
“The recent infractions of the Fulani cattle-herders in Yorubaland are the last slap to the cheek that we are ready to accommodate as a people.
“We have also not forgotten the attempt to overrun Yorubaland and turn it into the theatre of war during the Biafran attempt to cede from Nigeria.
“In conclusion, we call on all Yoruba elders, leaders of thought and the commoners to wake up to the realities of the day and stand up to be counted in this effort to maintain the continued peaceful and harmonious existence that has always been the pride of the Yorubas,” it said.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has assured Nigerians of better times ahead, saying they will soon get the change they voted for.

”This Government will not give excuses. The painstaking and methodical approach by the Buhari Administration, its deep analysis and understanding of the challenges and the recent inauguration of the cabinet will herald a new dawn,” the Minister said at a meeting with representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said that in the next few days, the Administration ”will start firing from all cylinders, starting with the unveiling of the 2016 budget”.
”Nigerians will witness measurable and impactful progress in all spheres of governance. We shall not abandon our social intervention policies such as one meal a day for school children and the payment of 5,000 Naira each to vulnerable Nigerians. We are committed to lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

On how the Administration will fund its programmes, in view of the drastic fall in the price of crude oil, the Minister said it would be through the diversification of the economy, plugging of leakages as well as exploiting and widening the country’s tax base without necessarily raising taxes.

”A comparative analysis between Nigeria and South Africa will drive the point home. In 2013, with a population of 160 million and GDP of $510 billion, Nigeria collected $30 billion in taxes, whereas South Africa, with a population of 54 million and GDP of $366 billion, collected $74 billion in taxes.

”In 2014, Nigeria, with a population of 170 million and GDP of $535 billion, collected $26 billion, while South Africa, with a GDP of $350 billion and population of 54 million, raked in $70 billion. From the figures, it is obvious that if only we can widen our tax base, we do not need to raise taxes to increase our tax revenue,” he said

The Minister commended the CSOs for the role they played during the last general elections, saying the organizations, especially those grouped under the Situation Room, contributed hugely to the success of the polls.

He said the Buhari Administration will carry the Civil Society along in its efforts to change, for the better, the country’s fortunes.

”That is why we have started our engagement with you this early. Therefore, this will be the first in a series of engagements with the Civil Society. We see you as credible, and we see you as patriots, who are genuinely interested in the welfare of the people,” the Minister said.

In his speech on behalf of The Situation Room, Mr. Clement Nwankwo urged the Federal Government to tackle growing national issues with the urgency that it deserves.

”Expectations are very high amongst Nigerians for the changes promised by General Buhari during the campaigns. The need to deliver on campaign promises is against the background of the complete lack of public trust in government and its institutions,” he said.

Mr. Nwankwo listed ”urgent symbolic steps and quick wins” to be urgently implemented by the government as including transparency and openness of loot recovered from officials of the immediate past regime, openness of the national budget, sale of some of the presidential jets, zero tolerance for impunity and the probe of the FCDA land swap.

omowolewa:
Hummm! Are you lalasticlala's brother

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has said that President Muhammadu Buhari was setting Nigeria on the path of anarchy by using his personal lawyer and member of All Progressives Congress (APC) who is the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to induce the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) decision on the inconclusive Kogi State Governorship election.

He accused President Buhari of “fraudulently using the AGF to carry out an act which amounted to amending the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria and the Electoral Act 2010 to advance his ambition and that of his party to turn Nigeria to a one party state.”

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose, who vowed to use all legal means to fight the kangaroo decision on the Kogi State election, noted that “only the Supreme Court can resolve issues not envisaged by the Constitution like the one that happened concerning the Kogi State governorship election.”

He added that “INEC further exposed its partisanship and undependability by relying on legal advice from the AGF, a man who has disobeyed the court severally and an interested party in the Kogi State election being a personal lawyer of President Buhari and a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

The governor said President Buhari and APC took to illegal amendment of the Constitution and the Electoral Act owing to the fear of facing a fresh election as a result of the malpractices perpetrated by the APC in the inconclusive election.

Governor Fayose noted that it was shameful that the first election held by the new INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu ended in controversy, adding that the manipulation of the Kogi State election and INEC illegal position on the substitution of APC candidate was a vindication of his earlier position that the INEC chairman was appointed just to do the biddings of President Buhari and his party.

The governor, who said the fact that Prince Abubakar Audu died in the early hours of last Sunday and his death was kept secret until later that day pointed to the sinister plot of the Presidency and the APC, added that, “Having manipulated the election substantially, what they plotted by covering up Audu’s death for hours against Islamic injunction, was to declare a dead candidate as elected governor of Kogi State so as to pave way for the emergence of his running mate as the governor-elect.”

He called on Nigerians to rise against what he described as systematic dictatorship, saying, “If all noble men should keep silent and get cowed by this rampaging beast that is ready to consume democracy and rule of law in Nigeria, ordinary Nigerians will sooner than later end up in the belly of the beast.”

He said he was aware of the various sinister plots against him by those he said were plotting to turn Nigeria to a one party state, but declared that “the Lord will consume anyone plotting against me as He has always done.”

Governor Fayose, who said only two options were available to INEC on the Kogi State election crisis, noted that; “INEC should either conclude the election with APC not having a candidate or hold a fresh election with APC nominating a new governorship candidate. Anything outside these two options will mean that the Supreme Court must intervene.”

According to him, “Section 33 of the Electoral Act only provided for substitution of a dead candidate before election, not during election. Also, the running mate would have become the governor-elect if the governorship candidate had been duly elected before he died. But in this case, the election was still in progress, meaning that Audu was a candidate like others when he died.

“Therefore, what INEC has done will mean that votes have now become an inheritance that the late APC governorship candidate, Abubakar Audu has willed to whoever that emerges as his substitute.

“It is like saying that Audu’s votes in the inconclusive election will now be inherited by another person. How logical is that?

“In a democracy, how can the Attorney General of the Federation and INEC turn themselves to the National Assembly that amends laws and the judiciary that interprets laws?

“The implication of all these is that it has become obvious that no one can get justice under this APC government and if this is the change they promised Nigerians, it appears that Nigeria is in serious trouble.”

sameer1212:
Damn! After reading your comment,I was eager to know the face behind it. fortunately its what I expected. An Old frustrated foool. Sir you look scary and ugly.

Dannyset:
Even at that, Jonathan and PDP will never be our option.