₦airaland Forum

Yes. It is in Exodus.

Exodus 22:18 "Do not allow a sorceress to live"

The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has called for the removal of age restrictions for holding political offices in Nigeria.

He said the electorate should be allowed to make their choice, based on their assessment of the competence of those who present themselves for elections.

Ekweremadu made the call on Thursday when he hosted members of the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ campaign championed by the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement in his office in Abuja.

He said, “We have just acknowledged the young man, Emmanuel Macron, who is now the President of France. We believe it can also happen here in our country; and we believe that with education and exposure, people can achieve a lot at a very young age.

“Therefore, while many Nigerians are calling for a reduction in the age barrier, it is actually my strong and personal opinion that there should be no age barrier in terms of running for political offices or holding executive positions.

“I know, and I believe, too, that sovereignty belongs to the people, and they exercise this sovereignty through the ballot box. If they desire to vote in a very young person, so be it. That is their choice, and that is what sovereignty is all about.”

Leader of the delegation and Programme Director of YIAGA, Miss Cynthia Mbamalu, solicited the Senate’s support for the Constitution amendment bill sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties, Senator Abdul-Aziz Nyako, which seeks to align the voting age of 18 years with eligibility to contest for political offices in Nigeria.

http://punchng.com/ekweremadu-seeks-removal-of-age-barrier-for-political-office

Lagos – A divorce-seeking housewife, Mojisola Ajiboye, on Thursday told an Agege Customary Court that her husband is not the biological father of her son. She gave the testimony in the divorce suit she filed against her estranged husband at the court.

The petitioner, a 30-year-old nurse, who resides at No. 46, Shiaba St., Agege , a Lagos suburb, said she regretted her seven-year marriage to Samson Nkanang, 33. She claims that the husband usually abandons her at home and travels on official trips without any form of care. “My husband is irresponsible and has turned me into a punching bag, I am no longer interested in the union; I want the loveless marriage dissolved,’’ she pleaded with the court.

The petitioner told the court that the petitioner whom she has been married to for over seven years is not the biological father of her son. “I was impregnated by another man during the period my husband travelled on an official trip,’ she said. The estranged wife urged the court to dissolve the marriage so that they can go their separate ways “Although l registered the child’s birth in the respondent’s name, he is not the father of my son,’’she said. Mojisola alleged that her husband is temperamental and constantly beats her over minor issues.

Samson , who admitted subjecting his wife to frequent beatings, however, denied the allegations of being an irresponsible husband and father. He told the court that he was on an official trip for two months in Akwa-Ibom when his wife told him she was pregnant. “On my return, I even had sexual intercourse with her severally in order for her private part to be opened according to the doctor’s report. “So I am amazed now that she claims I am not the biological father of my child.” The respondent said that on the child’s dedication day, he did all the necessary things as a father and even named the child. “Even my family and the petitioner’s family were all present and they all gave him different names,’’ he said. Samson said he has also been responsible for the upkeep of the three-year-old child and the mother till date.

He alleged that he has been getting strange phone calls from an unknown person threatening him to leave his wife alone. The husband pleaded with the court not to dissolve the marriage, saying “I am still in love with my wife.’’ Mr Philip Williams, the court’s President, advised the estranged couple to maintain peace and order. Williams referred the couple to forensic centre to affirm the biological status of the child and deferred the divorce suit indefinitely.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/05/husband-not-father-son-divorce-seeking-wife-tells-court-2/

I have been searching for the meaning of the word "HYPOCRISY"..... thank God, i just found it.....

President Muhammadu Buhari's speech in London.

"One of the major killer of our economy apart from corruption is Waste. Our scarce resources are being plundered away very carelessly and unnecessarily wasted. Let me give an instance, presently, there are more than 6 aircraft in the presidential fleet. What do you call that? Billions of naira is budgeted every year for the maintenance of these aircraft not to talk of operational cost and other expenses".

"You may want to ask what a Nigerian President is doing with so much aircraft when a Prime Minister of Britain fly around using the same public aircraft like an ordinary Briton. Go and check and compare with that of any developed country in the world, the office of the Nigerian President is a very expensive one in spite our high level of poverty and joblessness. Now, for me, when we come into office, all these waste will be blocked and properly channelled into our economy. We intend for instance, to bring back our National carrier, the Nigerian Airways. We shall do this by bringing all the aircraft in the presidential fleet into the Nigerian airway and within a year increase the fleet into about 20."

"What is the difference between me and those who elected us to represent them, absolutely nothing. Why should Nigerian President not fly with other Nigerian public? Why do I need to embark on a foreign trip as a president with a huge crowd with public funds? Why do I need to go for foreign medical trip if we cannot make our hospital functional? Why do we need to send our children to school abroad if we cannot developed our university to compete with the foreign ones? Why, and why must our people be servants to the foreigners in the midst of plenty?"

-----General Muhammadu Buhari speaking in London on Saturday, February 21, 2015.

Security alert...

BENIN—THE Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai, said, yesterday, that Wednesday’s bomb attack which killed 22 persons at a mosque in Borno State was another desperate move by the Boko Haram sect to create the impression that its killer instinct still exists.

Buratai, who stated this during his maiden visit to the 4 Brigade Command in Benin, Edo State, following his earlier visit to 2 Division in Ibadan, Oyo State, explained that although it was unfortunate that young and innocent girls were being used by the terrorists to perpetrate their crime, the attack was “not unexpected because they (insurgents) are struggling to survive” with their dwindling membership.

Dismissing reports that the insurgency had come to an end, he said, “That report talking about the end of insurgency was not properly carried in the media. I did mention that insurgency is a very difficult situation. It is a global phenomenon and we will continue to struggle to ensure that it comes to an end very soon. This does not mean that insurgency will just disappear.”

: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/boko-haram-desperately-seeking-relevance-buratai/

Saraki is showing the executive that he is not a learner when it comes to power game.

If they do not postponed the CCT trial indefinitely, he will still delay the budget of yams as another excuse may still be given on Tuesday why the budget of corruption will not be pass before the Easter break.

Anyway, i am enjoying the power game.

ABUJA— The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, described as erroneous claims by the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF) that it failed to remit N3.235 trillion to the Federation Account for the period ended December 31, 2014.

The NNPC, in a statement in Abuja, signed by its Group Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer (Finance & Accounts), Mr. Isiaka Abdulrazaq, disclosed that contrary to the reports by the AuGF, the amount owed the Federation Account by the NNPC, as at January 2015, was N326.14 billion, noting, however, that the amount was still being reconciled.

The NNPC also stated that it had a claim of N1.375 trillion against the federation as at 2009, which is currently being reviewed by the Federal Ministry of Finance’s appointed forensic auditors at the instance of the Minister of Finance.

The NNPC further denied transferring $235 million to an undisclosed escrow account, stating that it did not have any secret escrow account.

According to the NNPC, the alleged $235 million represents proceeds from the sale of gas feed stock to Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) that was used to repay part of the Modified Carry Agreement (MCA) loans, applicable royalty to Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

MCA loan

The NNPC said the MCA loan was contracted specifically to fund the development of upstream oil and gas projects which transactions were regularly reported to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) as part of the reconciliation of the revenues to NNPC, FIRS and DPR.

It said the MCA and all other alternative funding arrangements were annually appropriated by the National Assembly and were, therefore, fully disclosed to FAAC on monthly basis.

The NNPC also accused the Auditor-General of failing to abide by the established process of audit, by refusing to meet with it after the audit and for also failing to furnish it with draft copies of the report.

It said: “The best practice and established due process is that after any audit, there should be an exit meeting between the auditor and the auditee, where any outstanding issues are finally discussed and explained before the issuance of the audit report.

There was no such meeting and NNPC did not receive any draft report from the AuGF’s office for comments. “The NNPC wishes to state that in carrying out its statutory duties, it will continue to maintain the highest level of transparency and accountability.

Please be assured that NNPC remains available at all times to provide clarifications on these issues or any other matter relating to our responsibility to the Federation and the Nigerian people.”

The NNPC disclosed that the clarifications became necessary as it deemed it fit and important to correct any misinformation about the activities of the corporation as this will adversely affect its current and future financial and operational plans, if not corrected.

However, the NNPC explained that the declaration by the AuGF might have been borne out of misunderstanding of how revenues from crude oil and gas sales were remitted into the Federation Account.

Clarifications

Giving further clarifications of the amount, the NNPC said: “As part of its responsibilities, NNPC is allocated 445,000 barrels per day for processing into petroleum products for distribution to the nation. Any unprocessed crude is sold and the proceeds is used to pay for importation of petroleum products.

“The proceeds from the sale of these products are remitted to the federation account after deducting the cost associated with the supply and distribution.

“The total amount of subsidy that has been approved and certified by PPPRA for the period of January 2012 to December 2014 was N2.34 trillion. An additional N7.96 billion subsidy claim is still under reconciliation.

“Losses from crude oil and petroleum products, as a result of vandalism on its network of pipelines for the period of January 2012 to December 2014 were N202.68 billion. Petroleum Product Strategic Holding Cost and Pipeline Repairs and Maintenance Cost for the period of January 2012 to December 2014, amounted to N358.88 billion.


“Consequently, the figure owed to the Federation Account as at January 2015 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting report was N326.142 billion, which is still being reconciled and not the N3.23 trillion alleged by the AuGF.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/nnpc-faults-auditor-general-says-its-owing-n326bn-not-n3-24trn/

ABUJA — CONTRARY to its earlier promise to pass the 2016 budget today, the Senate, yesterday, gave next Tuesday as the day the document would be passed. The Red Chamber, which had also earlier assured that its Committee on Appropriation would lay the various reports of committees collated before it during yesterday’s plenary, could not adhere to the promise.

Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, told newsmen that the budget would be formally laid before Senate during today’s plenary, adding that the 2016 fiscal document would be deliberated and passed next Tuesday.

He added that after passage, the National Assembly would subsequently transmit the budget to President Muhammadu Buhari before proceeding on Easter break for onward presidential assent.

Ndume did not, however, disclose the day the two chambers of the legislature would begin the Easter break. Vanguard gathered that the two chambers have agreed on next Tuesday as day to proceed on the break.

Also speaking to newsmen on the issue, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity Affairs, Abdullahi Sabi, assured that the budget would be laid today, even as he evaded question on when it will be passed.

He said: “I want to assure Nigerians that the 2016 budget will be laid in the Senate chamber as promised by the Chairman of Appropriation Committee.

“We are not unmindful of the date set for the passage, but we want to give Nigerians a budget that is acceptable, implementable, and that will actually drive the key policies of this government with respect to the change agenda.

“All is almost set for the laying of the 2016 budget tomorrow (today) in the Senate. As we had promised Nigerians and with that, one or two processes that are required will take place and we will have our budget as promised.

“This has put to rest any suspicion of what is happening. I am here to inform you that tomorrow (today), God sparing our lives, the 2016 budget would be laid by the Chairman of the Appropriation Committee.


: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/senate-defers-passage-of-2016-budget-to-tuesday-2/

The House of Representatives has adopted a piecemeal approach to the fifth effort by the National Assembly to further amend the 1999 Constitution, the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yusuf Lasun, disclosed on Sunday.

The House, according to him, would jettison the practice in the past whereby all amendments proposed to the constitution were reduced to a single constitution amendment bill and forwarded to the President for his assent.

Lasun, who is the Chairman, House Ad Hoc Committee on Constitution Review, said the practice caused casualties for such proposals in the event the President withheld his assent to the single bill or the bill was not even passed by the legislature itself.



It will be recalled that in 2007, there were many amendments proposed in the second alteration bill, including a proposal for a tenure elongation that would have given former President Olusegun Obasanjo a third term.

When the bill failed to pass at the National Assembly on the account of the opposition to the third term proposal, all other amendments also failed.

Similarly, in 2015, the fourth alteration bill also failed along with many other proposals after former President Goodluck Jonathan withheld his assent to the bill.

Jonathan’s grouse was that the bill contained several proposals that would ultimately usurp the powers of the executive arm of government.

To avoid the pitfalls of the past, the Lasun-led committee has opted to treat issues separately and present the bills in piecemeal for the President to either sign or withhold his assent.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, Mr Wole Oladimeji, said in a statement in Abuja that the idea was a fallout of a series of meetings the committee had held to review strategies for the assignment.

He added, “The committee, which is chaired by Lasun, has concluded to review the constitution in piecemeal instead of codifying it in a single bill, which is easy to trash due to one or two errors.

“This new system will be embarked upon and before the end of the 8th Assembly, all the sections of the constitution that need to be amended would have been concluded and assented to by the President.

“The review exercise will be presented to the President in piecemeal manner and not in a single bill as was done in the 7th Assembly. In other words, bills on the same subject matter will be presented to the President as a single bill.

“So at the end of the day, the committee may come up with four or more bills to be presented to the President for assent.”

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are conducting separate constitution review exercises, but will later harmonise their differences before making any new amendments.

In 2010, the National Assembly voted N1 billion for the constitution review project and shared N500million apiece by the two chambers.

A similar budget was also expended between 2014 and 2015 in passing the fourth alteration bill, which Jonathan declined to sign before his tenure ended on May 29 last year.

It is not clear how much will be spent on the exercise by the 8th Assembly, coming at a period the country is facing financial stress.

http://www.punchng.com/no-more-single-bill-for-presidential-assent-reps/

Marriage is always a great risk.” Henry James, 1843-1916.

Political marriages variously called alliances, coalitions or accords are invariably the greatest risks of all. The “marriage” between the CPC and ACN which formed the nucleus of the APC reminds me of what happened to another marriage in Dorchester, Boston, USA in 1974. The two “lovers” desperate for marital bliss, but not financially strong individually agreed to pool their resources to make a go of their wedlock.

PDP-APC-logoOne Tuesday, after several years of living in penury, the two love-birds decided to play the State Lottery, but only the husband had money. Not really believing that they could win, he asked that the ticket be registered in the wife’s name.

On Saturday, the result was announced. The ticket had won the jackpot prize of several million dollars. Thereafter, the relationship in the household changed. The formerly submissive wife became the dominant partner – notwithstanding the fact that it was the husband’s dollar which brought the great fortune.

Former members of the ACN have my sympathies like that husband in 1974. Everybody knows that it was mostly ACN money, organization, media, publicity etc which formed the back bone of the APC campaign effort. But, the roles changed the minute Professor Jega pronounced Buhari elected. Into his laps and CPC’s have fallen all the benefits of the campaign. That explained why the first ten important appointments were unknown in ACN circles. Thereafter, ACN members can only accept whatever they are given. It is a matter of “take it or leave it”. It is not easy to eat humble pie. And, I knew it is only a matter of time before the frustration boils over. Furthermore, they know, and I know, that their position can only get worse within the alliance.

Defections from other political parties are swelling the ranks of APC; most of them on arrival will swear absolute loyalty to Buhari. The bank-rollers of the 2015 elections will not be needed in 2019. Incidentally, those who financed the APC campaign were not altruistic. They made an investment which they expected to yield positive returns. At the moment, they risk losing their investments after winning the election the way Buhari is going about running the government – like a religion. To win an election and lose your money at the same time is enough to make grown men cry. Let nobody tell us that the “investors” don’t want their money back. At least one APC Governor (name withheld) wants his.

In 2011, when it was clear that Malam Ribadu was going to lose the presidential election, a deal was struck and the allegation is that investors in ACN were refunded a cool N17 billion to allow Jonathan win in the South West. Surely, nobody asked or cared where the money came from in 2011. Hypocrisy has no better definition going by the self-righteousness demonstrated by some people today; as Buhari harasses the PDP.

I have an idea what will happen next; but let me keep it for now. But, the APC as we know it today will not be the same one contesting the 2019 elections. For that matter the PDP as we know it will not be a viable opposition party. PDP has been decapitated. They can’t even call a meeting anymore. Only a third political party will serve the purpose of providing the emerging APC a run for its money.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”

George Orwell, 1903-1950.

General Obasanjo (rtd) from 1999 to 2007 collected $13-16 billion from the Central Bank for power project. No power to show for it. They want Nigerians to forget their $13-16 billions. In addition, close to N8trillion was missing during the same period. Read my book PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED. You’ll be shocked.

GEJ, a bloody civilian, is daily insulted on account of alleged $2 billion arms deal. It serves Jonathan right. I asked and even begged him to probe Obasanjo. He lacked the guts to conduct an investigation which could have strengthened his hands as President, immortalize him and yielded trillions of loot. “I dey laugh O!”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/wanted-a-new-national-political-party-3/

The minister for justice just announced that judges found to be corrupt will be tried by this administration. This is problematic. Though this sentiment is much shared, it should not be left to the president and his administration to define “corruption,” or determine which judge is corrupt. For the avoidance of doubt the writ of this republic does not make the president the supreme authority of the land.

The constitution is the governing authority of this republic, and the president is, as are all Nigerians, governed by the Constitution. It would amount to overreach for the president to break the thin glass boundaries that established the separation of powers under the constitution. It would be power-grabbing, and the National Assembly and the courts must keep an eye on this president. In fact, it is about time that the National Assembly moved to reduce some of the powers granted the president, because one of the great sources of corruption in Nigeria is the enormous and almost limitless power granted the executive by this constitution designed by the military. Let me advert the minds of Nigerians to January 1, 1984: a military coup had just sacked the democratically elected Government of President Shehu Shagari. At the head of that coup was a tall, lean, unsmiling General, who came across as a Spartan, no-nonsense, missionary soldier, out to rescue Nigeria from political and economic collapse.

Shagari had just been re-elected in a very controversial election, which had the great Nnamdi Azikiwe spewing fire in his very prophetic, as it turned out, post-election letter to Nigerians, “History Will Vindicate the Just,” published widely in the Nigerian Press. It was clear that the election was riddled with irregularities. Yet, corruption in the politics of those years was the bread and butter kind. It was confined mostly in the political parties. The civil institutions were still intact: the public service; the judicial system; the entire bureaucracy of state governance which could put to check to the excesses of political leadership. And they were still all there in 1984. Then came Buhari and his dark-browed praetorian guard, sacking the civil government, and instituting a rule by decrees. The first order of business was to dismantle the credibility of the elected political leaders the soldiers had sacked. In very elaborate fashion General Buhari and his rubber-stamp Supreme Military Council authorized the arrest, detention, and prosecution of the discredited politicians. His Minister for Justice, Chike Ofodile quickly crafted decrees that established extrajudicial tribunals that evacuated the powers of the civil courts. Some of the trials were in-camera. But it soon became obvious that these arrests and detentions were skewered mostly against politicians from the South, particularly of the group that called itself the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) and by politicians from the Middle Belt. It might have been inadvertent, but the impression it created was of a partisan, regionalist witch-hunt of Southern politicians – some of them the most popular, and in fact, the more credible in their visible achievements in the four years between 1979 and 1983.

One of the most dangerous contributions of Buhari’s era as a military dictator was the erosion of the credibility, dignity and the aura of impartiality of the Nigerian judiciary, until then seen my Nigerians as the bulwark against tyranny; and most credible of the three arms of government, particularly with the sack of the parliament, and the seizure of executive power by military decree. The judiciary lost its independence.

Malleable and second-rate people were rapidly appointed to the bench. As the generation of solid jurists began to leave the scene by the attrition of time, a new generation of judges, the product of a corrupted judicature became more or less judicial executioners of the mandate of anyone in power. The corruption of the Nigerian judicial system, which had been subdued to military decrees began with Muhammed Buhari in 1984. The use to which he put the courts of the land was corrupt. This is the fear that President Buhari’s opponents are currently expressing in the current use of state power, in what is being increasingly seen as a partisan witch-hunt to suppress a political opposition. Again, the same method seems obvious: Buhari is arriving the scene of government again at a time when oil prices have dipped very dangerously, and perhaps more dangerously is that the era of hydrocarbon is rapidly coming to an end, which means, even more financial instability for nations like Nigeria that have long depended on oil to fuel their national economies. To all intents and purposes, as like in October 1984, Nigeria is broke.

Buhari has suddenly discovered that he is unable to meet the lofty promises of his campaign, and his political strategy now is to beat the drum of corruption ad nauseam, and blame his old political opponents for his own increasingly apparent inabilities to revive the economy, or lead. For a man who spent twelve years seeking the office he now occupies, this president does not seem to have any clear, alternative strategies, or able to deliver on the promises he made. Now, here is my worry: the arrest of the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, and his arraignment in handcuffs give negative optics to this government. Yes, Buhari claims to be fighting corruption, and Olisa Metuh is accused of receiving N400 million from Colonel Sambo Dasuki, allegedly from the $2.1 billion approved for the NSA for arms procurement, the question most Nigerians are now asking is: was Olisa Metuh awarded an arms contract which he didn’t deliver, or is it just about receiving money from Dasuki. Why lock him up, and bring him to court in handcuffs, when not even Sambo Dasuki was brought to court in handcuffs? Is this a ploy to intimidate, humiliate, and ultimately punish and silence the PDP’s spokesman who has so far been engaging the current regime and calling some oftheir assertions to question? Because even people like Falae received money, and have publicly declared that they’d not return it because it has nothing to do with arms procurement, and they have not been locked up or brought to the court in chains. While every Nigerian supports the president and his administration’s apparent resolve to investigate, prosecute, and retrieve Nigeria’s stolen funds from whoever embezzled such funds, we must continue to insist that unless it is all for show, the process must not degenerate into illegality of its own. It is both sad and distressing hearing distinguished scholars of the law like Itsay Sagay, and the Criminologist, Professor Femi Odekunle arguing in support of a “limited rule of law,” these days. It points exactly to what went wrong with Nigeria: a shiftless and inferior elite incapable of the hard, long view. If the argument were to be made about a limited rule of law, Abacha would have hanged Odekunle who was brought before a military tribunal accused with Diya of plotting a coup.

But in the convenience of his current elation, the good professor has forgotten. Buhari is not fighting corruption. He is enabling corruption by interfering in the judicial process. If he were fighting corruption he would have addressed the following questions: how did the system fail so much that Sambo Dasuki as the NSA could appropriate and dispose of state fund as though it were personal funds without oversight? What happened to the old system of financial control that required a vast and complex system of inter-departmental coordination?

What happened to the public tenders system? How come the police services, charged with crime prevention, did not anticipate and prevent this financial crime before it happened through its own police intelligence?

How come the EFCC is only just showing interest after the facts? How did the disbursement of this money escape the Federal Audit Department, the government’s official inspectorate arm, which ought to report all transactions and irregularities to both the National Assembly and the Executive, and if need be, to the police, in the event that any government agency is misappropriating state fund. What this president has been unable to do is understand that what happened here is beyond Dasuki, it is systemic failure. It is in part the result of some of the forces Buhari himself unleashed against the system in 1984. Corruption is not only the “looting” of public funds, it is the corruption of the institutions when they are turned to the private, and convenient tools of people in power – and they lose legitimacy and capacity.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/buhari-is-not-fighting-corruption/

History is not written in a vacuum, history is written in a political context. My advice to Nigerians is that we should not throw away history in the light of new evidence. Mark you! Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it. Always have at the back of your head that truth is a stranger to friction.

Adolf Hitler became the German chancellor and leader of Nazi party at the wake of 1933. Shortly after the resumption of office, Hitler began a campaign of calumny using the federal army to eliminate oppositions while at the same time, he Hitler threw his effort and sweat more by concentrating in expanding his evil empires annexing and annihilation's of independent nations. History had it that Adolf Hitler was rejected at the pool of elections three consecutive times before out of sympathy, clinched the chancery.

Hitler’s political opponents were arrested, tortured and imprisoned but sent to concentration camps. He then moved to form secret protection army called the DSS. Hitler therefore began to make his case to win and convince the traditional German army that he can be trusted despite the fact that Hitler was invited to lead the Nazi party by Mr. president Hindenburg. At the resumption of office, Hitler vowed to crush enemies of the regime whether at his left or at his right. Event started to take a new tone following the death of Hindenburg. The German army pledged their absolute loyalty to Hitler as the supreme commander of the German army. That coupled with the death of the fiercest German officer in the hand of Hitler’s hit squad. Rome posed the greatest threat to the regime. Now, Hitler has overwhelmed and uncontrollable power to rule at will.

I brought this scenario to fora so that we be able to know where we are and where we are heading to following the background in-dices of the great General of history. There can be no justice without truth and there can be no truth without underlying principles of Justice. President Buhari should know that “It takes so little to set our nerves on edge”

My brother everybody want corruption to be stopped, but nobody want his or her allies to be probed or prosecuted. If you do not support your allies to be probed, who is going to allow his/hers to be probed?

We can only stop corruption when we stop being hypocritical when our relative commit same crime...

Amaechi - innocent until proven guilty.

Fashola - innocent until proven guilty.

But:

Deziani - guilty until proven innocent.

Oduah - guilty until proven innocent.

What a hypocrisy!!!

The man take small resemble Babangida Aliyu former governor of Niger State in Fugliness....

Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday, said collaboration between the public sector, especially the National Assembly, and the organized private sector was crucial to the nation’s economic development.

Bukola Saraki
Bukola Saraki
Saraki said this while addressing Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, Kyari Bukar, who led other members of the board on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.

He said: “The truth is that if we are going to build a strong economy, we in the public sector cannot do it without strong collaboration from the private sector and the level of collaboration has to be at this highest level.

“It has to be at this level because we need to understand what the issues are and we need to be able to address them and buy into them as an agenda before us.”

He said the Senate was already looking at some laws that are relevant to economic growth with the aim of bringing them up to date, in view of present realities.

According to the Senate President, ”just today (yesterday), we were talking about the railway sector and we found out that we are looking at a law that was enacted since the 1950s.

“So, why are we surprised that we are not getting the necessary investment in the railway sector? And I am sure it goes across other sectors of the economy.

“We have identified the bills that will impact on our economy, growth and employment. We will fast-track them and try to pass them as soon as possible. That is the commitment we are giving you.”

Earlier, Bukar noted that most Nigerians were yet to fully comprehend the role of the legislature since it remained the newest among the three arms of government.

He said that NESG was willing to work with the National Assembly to establish a framework of continuous engagement with the citizenry and the private sector to get a better understanding of the nation’s legislative process.

He said: “One simple tool that can quickly be harnessed is that of Information and Communication Technology, ICT, to ensure public information of all bills and their status on the National Assembly website.”

He also urged the National Assembly to ensure that all obsolete laws in the country were repealed and re-enacted to enhance national purpose and development.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/nass-private-sector-partnership-key-to-economic-devt-says-saraki/

Akure — The election of a member of the House of Representatives representing Ilaje/Eseodo Federal Constituency, Hon Kolade Akinjo, has been nullified by the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ondo State.

Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Anthony Ogar, while delivering judgement hinged his decision on the fact that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the April 11 election was not qualified to fly the party’s flag for the election.

Akinjo was the candidate of the Labour Party, LP, before he dumped the party for the PDP together with the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, before the March 28 election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared him the winner of the March election having scored the highest number of lawful votes in the election.

But the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Lucky Ayedatiwa, approached the tribunal to change the outcome of the election asking for the nullification of the said election.

The tribunal in its judgment held that the PDP candidate scored the highest number of lawful votes and that the election was free and fair.

Justice Ogar however held that Akinjo was not duly nominated by the PDP for the election as he was still a member of LP when he contested the election under PDP’s platform. The chairman also said Akinjo’s nomination did not comply with due process and consequently nullified the election.

Justice Ogar then ordered for a fresh election for the federal constituency.

Meanwhile, the counsel to Akinjo, Remi Olatubora said that his client would seek justice in the Court of Appeal and was optimistic that the verdict of the tribunal will be upturned.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/tribunal-nullifies-ondo-reps-election/

ABUJA—Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, yesterday, tasked President Muhammadu Buhari not to limit his prosecution of corrupt public officials only to the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

He insisted that all those indicted in the $182 million Halliburton bribery scandal in Nigeria must be prosecuted like their accomplises in Britain and USA.

He spoke just as a former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs Farida Waziri, and former Supreme Justice, Hon. Justice G. A. Oguntade, called on Nigerians to support the anti-graft war declared by President Buhari.

They spoke at the public presentation of a book, “Nigeria: The way through corruption to the well-being of a people”, authored by Dr Abdullahi Shehu, an associate Professor of Criminology at the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, in Abuja.

Nnamani said every act of corruption must be punished in order to rid the country of the menace.

He argued that limiting prosecution to those who served under President Jonathan would be inappropriate in view of the enormity of the damage corruption has done to the country.

The former Senate President said many Nigerians trooped out to vote during the last Presidential election to confer legitimacy on the government of President

Buhari, because of his campaign promise to rid the country of the evils of corruption.

According to him, “To who much is given much is also expected. One of his electoral promises was that he was going rid the country of the cankerworm of corruption but when I read in papers that his searchlight would be beamed on those that participated in Government of President Goodluck Jonathan, which if it is correct, that will be inappropriate in my view.

“Key issues that brought us international disrespect such as Halliburton scandal cannot be swept under carpet. Some people have gone to Jail in Britain and United States of America on the same matter,” he said.

Nnamani, insisted that this international case that had given Nigeria bad image should not just be glossed over no matter those that are involved.

However, former EFCC Chairman, Farida Waziri, said for the anti-corruption to succeed, all Nigerians should support the efforts of the current administration of President Buhari who demonstrated political will to fight the battle.

She also called for general attitudinal change, saying corruption was not limited to looting of the public treasury.

The author of the book, Dr Abdullahi Shehu said he was inspired to write the book this time because of the urgent need to redeem the country.

He noted that corruption affects everybody even the dead and unborn and drains the resources of the nation.

Vice Chancellor of the National Open University, Prof. Vincent Ado-Tenebe said the book written by an experience author was an indication that there was hope for the future of Nigeria.

He noted that the book has drawn the attention of the nation to the need to go back to the drawing board in trying to rid the country of corruption.

He said the book has indicated clearly the need for dignity of labour, respect for culture and demonstrating integrity in whatever one does.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/halliburton-prosecute-those-indicted-nnamani-urges-buhari/

I think you lack respect @ funlord

Arrest all those who published that the Abuja bomb blast was because Deziani was arrested in London. All of them are possibly involved in a plot to kill Ndigbo by also unveiling the false tweeter prediction of the Abuja bombing using an Igbo name. Whereas the predictor's real name shows he is a northerner. The same tweeter account was used to publish many pro Biafra materials to make it look like the "Chima Okoro" is a Biafra activist and by extension hang the Abuja bombing on "Biafrans".

Permit me to also warn that most of the virulent pro Biafra accounts used at Facebook and twitter cannot even speak or understand Igbo. The peaceful agitation of Nnamdi Kanu and others is being manipulated by people seeking to fight a war against Ndigbo. The same people are mobilizing public opinion against Ndigbo to enable them execute another pogrom similar to 1966.

The media is a willing or unwilling tool. I have read reports like "Igbo lawyer sue Buhari" and I know where that is going. I also read comments and posts at Sahara Reporters on the Deziani matter and flinched at the orchestrated hatred against Ndigbo.

Deziani is an Ijaw woman by birth and Kola Aluko and others are not Igbo. No single Igbo person was allegedly accused yet all we read were threats and venom against Ndigbo. Nobody remembers that every past oil minister was accused. General Buhari was accused of stealing $2.8b while Tam David West was accused of taking bribe of gold wrist watch and convicted by a tribunal.

Why not wait for Deziani to be tried and sentenced before killing the people you want to kill? For now she is only being investigated for having £27k with her. The alleged £13b was merely an idle British journalist conversion of Sanusi's alleged missing $20b into British Pounds. Just convert twenty million dollars to pounds and you will see how gullible supposed educated Nigerians are.

Some of us know where all these are leading to and need the assurance of President Buhari that the lives and properties of Ndigbo remain safe.
One way of guaranteeing that is by asking the government's media operatives to start responding quickly to lies and propaganda being churned out by the super charged APC propaganda machine that has apparently been hijacked by shadowy individuals with evil objectives. Those who connected Abuja bombing to Deziani were same people who spread the "chimaokoro" prediction. Same people are all over Sahara Reporters raging against Ndigbo. Yet not even one government official came out to say "the two events are not connected as the UK investigation started in 2013".

Stop Rwanda from happening in Nigeria. Effective Law enforcement and crime prevention mostly rest on stopping "small" seemingly unconnected negative events.

cc: Lalasticlala

I support the immunity clause for Senate president, speaker house of assembly and Judicial head as this will stop interfere in activities of the NASS and judiciary by the executive. Alternatively, let all immunity clauses both on the president and the governors be scrapped.

Last week wanted to make some payment to my supplier and there was no bank that accept the foreign currencies not to talk of transferring them. I made an alternative arrangements before the money could reach the supplier. This is the situation of average business men in Nigeria at the moment.

Most of my friends have relocated back to abroad and many more are planning to leave this country. I myself and my family will be relocating back to abroad as i can never stay and watch what i have labored for all my life to vanish into tin air because of the CBN hash financial policies.

FORMER Militants in the Niger Delta under the Third Phase Group has called on the Federal Government to aggressively pursue development of the Niger Delta to forestall another crisis in the region. The former militants, who flayed the actions of former Presidential Adviser to the President on the Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, said that the call is timely as such failure in the past led to increase in militancy and unrest, which caused drastic drop in national earning.

They warned the current handlers to be mindful of what plagued the Kuku regime, claiming that the amnesty programme was a huge failure under its immediate past coordinator, Kuku.

The Ex-militants call was contained in a joint statement by National Chairman, Diepreye Ogbetebe; Vice Chairman, John Government; Secretary, Etarighobe Thompson and Delta State Chairman, Prince Ogor.

They spoke as another Niger Delta group, Egbema Voice in Warri North Local Government Area, Delta State, yesterday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call security agencies employing state apparatus to terrorize and harm the reputation of ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, to order.

The ex-militants said: “The Programme under Kuku specifically failed as a result of mismanagement of funds allocated for the programme by the Federal Government. Five groups under the third phase were marginalized and there were malicious diversion and deprivation of genuine and real persons that surrendered their arms and ammunition for which the slots were legitimately approved for.”

They also listed “incompetent, corrupt and unfair representation of Phase III by the so called self-imposed national leaders, deprivation/non-documentation of some of the ex-militants during the documentation exercise handled by inter-agency task forces in the various JTF barracks” as factors that hallmarked the past regime.

The group said that proper verification of arms and ammunition surrendered by various groups and war lords was not done before the allocation and disbursement of the 3642 slots to commence the Phase III of the programme.

“Despite the infinitesimal amount of the 3642 slots approved for Phase III, most of the camps that surrendered less than 20 guns were given up to 50 slots while some of the camps that surrendered above 50 guns were given three slots due to malicious diversion of slots,’’ they said.

Urging the current coordinator of the amnesty programme to look into the issues of ex-militant leaders and their foot followers in the Niger Delta region who were not documented, they said that such neglect was what led to frequent vandalization of pipelines and crude oil facilities in the region by various action groups in Ijaw and the rising Urhobo Gbagbako group.

They also called for immediate payment of all outstanding allowances to its leaders as well as train and engage them with gainful employments to reform and create a conducive environment for the nation.

Call security agencies to order

Meantime, the Egbema Voice, in a statement by Chief Wilfred Elebiri and two others, said: “In as much as we are not opposed to the anti-corruption crusade of this government, we sincerely and will wholeheartedly condemn and fight any person or group of persons that will use the state paraphernalia to intimidate and humiliate our High Chief or any Niger Deltan.”

It continued: “We are making the call because the man, High Chief Ekpemupolo has not done anything that warrants such barbaric action. He is a leader in the Niger Delta with strong followership and he is committed to the freedom, justice, fairness and equal rights. Therefore, we cannot sit and watch while these group of people, all in the name of political vengeance, bring the name of our brother and the people of Niger Delta to disrepute.”

It said the actions of the agents/agencies of the administration, so far, were merely to discredit any person or persons perceived to be on the other side of the divide, adding, “these actions are deliberately targeted at the peace-loving people of Niger Delta whose resources these oligarchy has been feeding on all along.”

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/develop-niger-delta-or-there-wont-be-peace-ex-militants-tell-buhari/#sthash.9fosMHcs.dpuf

A former Minister of Education, Alhaji Dauda Birmah, was at a time a presidential aspirant under the defunct ANPP. Birmah who later joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) regrets that the party should be held responsible for its misfortunes having shot itself on the foot.
In this interview, Birmah also justifies President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent appointments alleging that the north had suffered marginalisation in federal appointments under previous administrations.

What is your assessment of the Buhari administration after the first 100 days in office?

Well, my assessment is that Buhari has come in and he has seen the rot that preceded his coming and he is trying to see how to handle this rot, rot that has happened over a period of 15 years is not something you cure in 100 days or even in a thousand days.
Buhari has come on a change agenda and he is not expected to behave in a manner in which you will see things as business as usual.
He has to change things and he has to fulfill his promise of change to people and he is trying to understand the place and put fundamental changes in place because if you put a very heavy structure on a faulty infrastructure, the building will collapse.
So, I commend Buhari for what he is doing and I believe he is doing well and he is going to succeed.

But many Nigerians especially those from the South-west, south-South and South-East are complaining that the President’s appointments are lopsided. What is your take so far on the President’s appointments?

Well, during the 15 years preceding him, the north had been wailing and crying because the area was totally marginalized. Buhari is trying to rectify that marginalization of the north but I am not surprised that some people are complaining.
But 100 days are not enough time to judge and I believe when we go forward and the total picture is zeroed down, I think corrections are going to be effected and people will be satisfied that everybody has been taken into consideration.

Do you think that the government is doing enough in the fight against insurgency?

Since Buhari came there have been attempts to tackle insurgency because direct confrontation between the armed forces and the Boko Haram have failed. I believe that the previous government did not adequately tackle insurgency. Now the atmosphere is settling down and I believe we shall see the end of insurgency very soon.

The PDP appears to be facing leadership crisis. What do you think should be done to make it a winning party again?

I don’t want to delve into that because I have no stake in in the PDP. The last time I joined that party and when it came to election time I was not even drafted in to be a member of the campaign committee of my village, my ward, local government, state or at the national level.
I was totally ignored and not involved and therefore I do not believe I have any stake in PDP towards its revival. The PDP has shot itself in the foot and it has to bear the consequences and whatever happens to the party I am totally indifferent.
Recentely, Prof. Ben Nwabueze said that it is illegal for any president or governor to run a government without a cabinet. What do you think?
Well, Buhari has promised that by September his cabinet will be in place and we are in September. I believe he wanted to see the situation as it is before appointing ministers because he does not want to compound the problem by appointing the wrong people and to work with people who he does not understand. So, I believe he is in the right direction and I believe that September is going to be fine.

Do you think it is necessary to probe the previous government?

It is absolutely necessary to probe the previous government although I do not believe that probing and things like should be the essence of government. But right now, government is moving and there is greater sanity in governance. Do you believe now that we can have the type of electricity we have now if the government has not been doing anything?

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/buhari-using-appointments-to-correct-marginalisation-of-north-dauda-birmah/#sthash.wiCweVL4.dpuf

Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress have said they will not follow the example laid by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in declaring their assets publicly.

The governors, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH, said it is not compulsory for them to declare their assets publicly and that they would not be pressured to follow the president’s action.

According to them, there is no law mandating the governors to publicly state their worth in terms of property and cash.

Buhari and Osinbajo last week made a public declaration of their assets with the former stating that he had declared his assets four times since 1975.

The President had said, “I recall that in 1975 when the late Murtala Mohammed became the Head of State, we were lined up in the corridor – governors, ministers, members of the Supreme Military Council – and officials of the Ministry of Justice were brought and every individual was made to declare his assets.

“So right now, all heads of state and government, governors, ministers, and permanent secretaries will have to declare their assets because it is a constitutional requirement.”

However, one week after Buhari and Osinbajo declared their assets, the APC governors said they were only required to make details of their properties known to the Code of Conduct Bureau and not the public.

The Plateau State Governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, told one of our correspondents that it was not his responsibility to publish his assets, but that of the CCB.

While claiming that his assets declaration form is with the CCB, Lalong said that all that the law required was for him to declare his assets before the CCB, adding that the law did not mandate him to make them public.

He said, “I have declared my assets as required by the law and it is left for the Code of Conduct Bureau to publish it. I don’t think that the law makes it mandatory for me to publish my assets. Anybody who wants to know should approach the bureau for the form I filled and submitted to it.”

Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, will also not declare his assets publicly. He alleged that those asking him to declare his assets were the supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, who were bent on frustrating his administration as a result of the shock the party suffered during the last general elections.

Okorocha said, “I will not rule the people of the state by public opinion. There were no calls for declaration of assets during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.”

He advised Nigerians not to use the APC’s “change” promise against the party in whatever way.

Okorocha, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuamado, told one of our correspondents that the declaration of assets by Buhari was a welcome development, but added that it was an individual’s decision.

He said, “This is an individual thing. Governor Okorocha believes he is a second-term governor, he is not a new governor that should be declaring assets. Meanwhile, there is no law that says governors should declare their assets.

“When former President Goodluck Jonathan was in power, who talked about declaration of assets? What President Buhari has done is a good thing, but it is not mandatory.”

Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, also said he would be the last person to make details of his assets public.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Public Affairs,, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said, “My governor has said while it is constitutional for public officers to declare their assets, making it public is not a matter enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.

“Every public officer is bound to declare, but the idea of making it public is not in the constitution.”

A Government House source told one of our correspondents that the Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, was not ready for public declaration of his assets since he had sent details of his worth both in physical property and cash to the CCB.

The media aide to the governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, also said, “The constitution does not state that the governor should declare his asset publicly. I know that the governor has declared his assets to the CCB.”

The media aide said, “The governor has met all the necessary constitutional requirements.”

The Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, who spoke on behalf of Governor Ibikunle Amosun, stressed that public declaration of assets is not statutory.

Similarly, the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, said no law compelled him to declare his assets publicly.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ibraheem Dooba, said his boss has declared his assets as the law stipulates and has submitted his assets declaration form to the CCB.

“The governor said he declared his assets before being sworn in and no law compels him to make his assets public.”

Also, the Special Adviser to Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, Mallam Isa Gusau, said the governor had not held any discussion on the public declaration of his assets.

The same is true for the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.

His Director of Press and Publicity, Baba Dantiye, said in a text message to Saturday PUNCH that the governor had yet to discuss the matter with him.

In Nassarawa State, Governor Tanko Al-makura has remained silent on the issue of public declaration of his assets.

His Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Tukur Ahmed, also refused to speak for the governor on the governor’s asset declaration.”

A similar situation exists in Adamawa State where Senator Jibrilla Bindow holds sway.

The governors’ supporters, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it was not the requirement of the law for anyone to make a public declaration of his assets.

One of them said, “It is a personal decision of the governor to choose to make his assets and liabilities public.

“However, he has complied with the law by filling and submitting his assets declaration forms with the CCB.”

Attempts to speak with the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yohanna Mathias, failed as he neither picked his telephone nor responded to the text messages sent to him as of the time of filing this report.

Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, has also yet to publicly declare his assets.

His Senior Special Adviser on Media, Imam Imam, said he was in transit when one of our correspondents asked him when his principal would publicly declare his assets.

It was gathered that the Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, would not declare his assets publicly.

“Governor Ajimobi has already made his assets public through the Code of Conduct Bureau before the last general elections,” a government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents on Friday in Ibadan.

The source added, “Ajimobi made his assets known twice – in 2011 and 2015 – before the governorship elections which he contested and won. He did this because he has nothing to hide.”

His Lagos State counterpart, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, is also not planning to make his assets public.

A senior government official who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the governor had complied with what the law stipulates. He said, “There is no moral reason for the governor to make his assets public.

“He did not promise to do so during his campaigns. Buhari made it a campaign issue and he has fulfilled his promise.”

A social commentator and policy analyst based in Lagos, Dr. Anthonia Orji, said it was necessary for the governors to follow in the footsteps of President Buhari.

She said it would go a long way in telling Nigerians that their administrations embrace transparency.

She noted that the actions of Buhari and Osinbajo had in some way proved to Nigerians that the duo had no tolerance for corruption.

She said, “Fighting corruption starts with transparency and truthfulness. That is what Buhari and Osinbajo have done. They are telling the world that they have nothing to hide.

“They are not afraid to be questioned and criticised, which are good things for the country to move forward.

http://www.punchng.com/news/apc-govs-on-assets-we-wont-follow-buharis-example/

Article written by former presidential aide, Reno Omokri. Read below...
On July 17, 2012, a recently re-elected Governor Adams Oshiomhole visited Aso Rock Presidential Villa and on his way out he had a chat with State House Correspondents and said as follows “what the Edo election has confirmed is that when the President and Commander-in-Chief puts the country first and conducts himself as a statesman, not just as a party leader, credible elections are possible, because people were apprehensive that the Nigerian Army could be misused. But of course, I told them I didn’t think they were right, but the President’s clear directive was that the votes must count."

The former labour leader continued in his praise of then President Jonathan saying "We need to appreciate the President and encourage him to sustain this principle of truly reminding all of us, who hold political office, that we are at the mercy of the electorate, not of the Presidency. I think the President has done that. The President has demonstrated statesmanship. I think there is hope for Nigeria”.

Going by the statement he made above, many Nigerians were shocked to read his recent statement on August 23rd, 2015 where he said inter alia "if the Igbos were marginalized, it was President Jonathan and the PDP. If Nigerians know what these people did, they will stone them to death – jungle justice."

How is it possible that three years ago, Governor Oshiomhole saw President Jonathan as a well behaved statesman who rose above partisanship to put the nation first and then make a 180 degree turn to attack the same person and suggest that he be stoned by the public?

Anyone who knows Former President Goodluck Jonathan knows that the first description of him by Governor Oshiomhole is correct.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan is a man who does not lust for power and refused to reach out to grasp power even when it was within his reach in 2010 during the saga occasioned by the tragic illness of his boss, President Umaru Musa Yar'adua.

Jonathan demonstrated loyalty, patience and complete submission to the will of God and God elevated him.

When Dr. Jonathan lost the March 2015 Presidential election, he did not wait for the Independent National Electoral Commission to finish declaring results before calling then candidate Muhamnadu Buhari to concede.

As a result, for the first time in her history, Nigeria does not have any judicial challenge against the winner of a Presidential election.

President Jonathan is a man of honour who does not deserve the treatment being meted out to him by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

The Comrade Governor should come to an awareness that his party, the All Progressive Congress, is now in power. They are no more in opposition.

The Jonathan administration remains the only administration in Nigeria's history that promoted freedom of Speech by signing the Freedom of Information Bill into law so Nigerians could have access to any information they so desire.

Versions of the Freedom of Information Law are also in force in Western nations including the US.

Only on August 21st, 2015, an investigation by Leadership Newspapers (whose publisher is an APC chieftain and former Presidential Aspirant on the platform of the party) revealed that no US official ever told Governor Adams Oshiomhole or any other person that one minister stole $6 Billion under President Jonathan's watch and challenged the Comrade Governor to name the US official that said so and the minister involved.

Nigerians may read that investigative report here http://leadership.ng/news/world/455409/us-frowns-at-oshiomhole-over-comments-on-6bn-theft

Governor Oshiomhole may want to take advantage of the FOI law by ensuring that his aides use it to verify any allegation he may have before he going public with it.

For example, he could have accessed freely available information from the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, as to the total cost of the 2nd Niger Bridge and he would have established that the entire cost of the bridge was ₦108 billion. How is it then possible to pay a consultancy fee of ₦140 billion for a project of ₦108 billion as the comrade Governor alleged?

When the comrade Governor said that the Agricultural Transformation of the Jonathan administration was a hoax, did he know that the International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI, revealed in their annual Global Hunger Index that hunger in Nigeria reduced while Jonathan was President?

This fact was carried by no less a medium than Premium Times and most Nigerians would know that Premium Times would not publish anything good about the Jonathan administration if it was not true.

That report could be read here http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/146634-hunger-level-falls-nigeria-remains-alarming-africa-global-report.html.

Governor Oshiomhole should note that four years is not such a long time. Every time spent in distracting President Buhari from the task of governance by attacking ex-President Jonathan is borrowed from time that should have been spent in helping the new administration succeed.

You do not try to please a man who may be kind to you by demonizing a man who has been kind to you. When you do that, you are sending two messages.

First, you are telling the man who has already been kind to you that he was foolish for being kind to you. Secondly you are communicating to the man who may be kind to you that he will be foolish if he goes on to extend kindness to you.

I pray that my Christian advise does not meet with the bombastic response that previous attempts at engaging the Comrade Governor have received. I mean no harm as I only want to draw the attention of Governor Oshiomhole to the fact that no condition is permanent on earth.

http://lindaikeji..com/2015/08/oshiomhole-has-forgotten-so-soon-by.html?m=1

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo Friday appealed to the kingmakers of Ile- Ife to follow strictly the laid down rules and procedures for the appointment and selection of the new Ooni following the demise of Oba Okunade Sijuwade.

He also asked the kingmakers to allow God’s wisdom to prevail on them to choose a rightful and God fearing person that would replace the late Ooni.

Chief Obasanjo made the appeal when he visited the kingmakers at the Ooni’s palace to commemorate with the chiefs and the people of Ife over the death of Oba Sijuwade.

Specifically, Chief Obasanjo asked the kingmakers to be careful about the choice of the person that would occupy the stool saying that late Sijuwade while occupying the stool has taken the seat of Ooni beyond Africa.
According to him, the position of Ife in Nigeria today can not be wished away adding that Ife symbolised the head of Yoruba race both in Nigeria and diaspora.

The former president recalled that late Oba Sijuwade ten days before his death in his palace told him about the marginalisation of the Yoruba race.

“I was here in this palace ten days before the demise of kabiyesi and he told me how the Yoruba race is margnalised in the scheme of things. He also told me to ensure that the Yoruba race got its own share of things in the country,” he said.
The Obalufe of Ife, Gabriel Omisakin who received Obasanjo on behalf of other chiefs assured the former president the choice of the new Ooni would not lead to any crises.

He promised that the kingmakers would ensure that diligent, due process for the selection of new Ooni would be carried out to ensure that whoever emerge is the choice of the people.

He appealed to Chief Obasanjo not to be too far from the community in view of his position not only in Yoruba race but all over the world.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/ooni-before-his-death-spoke-of-marginalisation-of-the-yoruba-race-obasanjo/#sthash.RLm0KjDm.dpuf

ABUJA—Justice Audu Bako, a member of the panel hearing petition seeking to annul the election victory of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State, is dead.

Vanguard learned that Justice Bako died around 2p.m. yesterday at Primus Hospital, Karu, a suburb in Abuja, after a brief illness.
He was buried in his home town, Nasarawa, Nasarawa State, according to Islamic rites.

Bako was a member of the three-member panel of Yobe State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal that had, on August 12, heard how Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, traced the origin of N15 million that was lodged into the bank accounts of a Resident Electoral Commissioner.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/yobe-election-tribunal-judge-dies/#sthash.0I9wMtHn.dpuf