Nowadays, one of the characteristics of NPF is having big belly like someone that swallowed football, just look at those two oga's at both ends; did they swallow NPF's allocation?
The presidency said it's not bothered by the alleged comment because its source is questionable.
The presidency has responded to a report that United States president, Donald Trump, allegedly described Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari as 'lifeless' after a meeting between the two leaders on April 30, 2018.
According to a report by Financial Times, sources revealed that Trump informed aides after his meeting with Buhari that he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again.
"The first meeting, with Nigeria's ailing 75-year-old Muhammadu Buhari in April, ended with the US president telling aides he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, according to three people familiar with the matter," the newspaper claimed.
The alleged comment has led to public ridicule of the president by Nigerians on social media and calls for the government to question the US government for an explanation. However, the presidency is unfazed by the comment because of its questionable source.
While speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, the president's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the government is not worried about the report which could be politically-motivated.
When asked about the alleged comment, he said, "Channels is a television station reputed for news and objectivity; if that came to you, that information, not ascribed to anybody, not verified, would you take it as authentic? If it's unverified as it came out, then the presidency has no comment on it. It does not pass all the tests of good journalism."
When asked if the comment impacts the president's public image ahead of the 2019 presidential election, Adesina said, "No doubt it won't because Nigerians ultimately are the ones that'll elect their president. No foreign power will determine who gets elected.
"That does not worry us. One because it's unsubstantiated, it's unverified. Anybody could have planted it. We know that in the jostle for power, people can do anything."
Buhari's medical problems
It's unclear why Trump would have allegedly described Buhari as 'lifeless' behind closed doors, but the 75-year-old president has a well-documented history of ill health over the past one year.
He was away in London for a combined 154 days treating an undisclosed ailment on two separate visits. In fact, when he left the US after meeting Trump, he was 'missing' for two days before his aides reported that he was in London for a 'technical stopover'.
A few days later, it was disclosed that the president saw his doctor during the stopover and had been asked to return to London for another four-day medical trip.
The president only recently just returned from London after he went away for a 10-day vacation during which time vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, was Acting President.
AngryNaijaMan: I see your point but I didn't like the press release PDP doled out yesterday. Imagine if it had happened to Jonathan.
Imagine what Lai Mohammed would have said if it had happened during GEJ's era?
As a matter of fact, I ain't peturbed that DT called PMB a lifeless president because, he, Buhari has said worse than this on international media house(s).
Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, says only God knows when Leah Sharibu, the kidnapped Dapchi girl, will be rescued.
TheCable had on Monday published a picture and audio of the teenager, who was kidnapped in February, begging the government for help.
Despite the release of the other Dapchi schoolgirls, Sharibu was held back by her captors for “refusing to renounce her faith”.
When asked to give a time-frame for Sharibu’s rescue, Adesina said God is the sole determinant of her return.
“For how much longer, I think that question can only be answered by God. I believe that God is interested in that young girl and will ensure that she is preserved,” Adesina said on a Channels TV programme on Tuesday.
“I think when that clip that we have is verified, at least one will be sure that it’s her and when that is determined, we should all be glad that she is alive.
“When will she return? By the grace of God, the government is working on it and we believe she will be back.”
Adesina said President Muhammadu Buhari had made a commitment to do anything to rescue the kidnapped girls even if it means paying for their release.
The presidential spokesman said: “One thing we should always remember, as Nigerians, is that early in the life of this administration, then it was Chibok girls, the president said that whatever it will take to get the girls back including paying, he would do. It’s on record.”
He, however, denied reports that the government paid a ransom for the release of the other 110 girls.
“That is not confirming that there was payment on Dapchi because the then DG of DSS was categorical the day the girls were brought back and it was in public glare that no a dime was paid for Dapchi girls. On Dapchi, there was no payment,” he said.
According to Adesina, reaching out to the Sharibu family is not “a presidency matter”.
“I expect that the Yobe state government is doing that. In Nigeria, they expect the presidency to do everything,” he added.
The immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, says Nigeria needs competent and assertive leaders and not necessarily strong leaders.
According to Jega, an incompetent leader who is strong will end up destroying institutions.
The former INEC boss said this at the 58th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Abuja on Monday.
He said, “What we require most are the competence and capacity of leaders to take decisions and be assertive in ensuring that those decisions are actually implemented. So, we have to be very careful in thinking that a strong leader can really help.
“Just like a weak leader can wreck an institution, a strong leader, who has just that power and courage, but lacks the capacity, ability and competence to lead, can also wreck strong institutions.
“Competence of leadership is a very important variable in bringing about the stable political transition, good governance and deepening of democracy.”
The former INEC boss, who superintended the 2011 and 2015 general elections, said politicians must stop treating elections as a do-or-die affair.
He recalled that a former President once said elections must be do-or-die, an incident he described as most unfortunate.
Jega also said there was a need for agencies of government to shun partisanship as this weakened institutions and eroded public confidence.
He added, “We must emphasise professionalism, impartiality and non-partisanship. This is because quite too often, you have good and strong institutions, but once partisanship is introduced and partiality become the norm, as many public institutions in this country, then those institutions would not be able to deliver effectively on their mandates.”
The former INEC chairman said there was a need for law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to be alive to their responsibilities, adding that the integrity of the electoral process must be preserved and protected.
Jega added “From my experience, I am convinced that electoral integrity is key to stable political transition and to ensuring that there is a framework for good governance and societal development. Electoral integrity is not just about the integrity of the election management body. It is also the integrity with which the key stakeholders engage with the electoral process.”
In his remarks, a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, lamented that elections in Africa are always characterised by violence.
He said even the recently concluded NBA election was not without its own controversies.
“The genesis of Africa’s political problems is the action of sit-tight leaders who do all they can to amend the constitutions in order to perpetuate themselves forever. These leaders manipulate very vital democratic organs particularly the legislature and even judiciary to suppress any dissenting voice,” he added.
The APC governors are said to be uncomfortable with the “combative, aggressive dictatorial” leadership style of Comrade Oshiomhole.
The governors are of the view that Comrade Oshiomhole has compounded the internal crisis in APC and may lead the party to a woeful outing next year if he is not curtailed.
Some people called Oshiomhole "The Undertaker", they might be right you know
According to our sources, in spite of monetary inducements and promises of automatic tickets, only about eight APC Senators out of over 50 are in support of the removal of the Senate President.
Senator Saraki’s management of the Senate since he took over in June 2015 is also working in his favour as he was said to have “carried along over 90 percent of the senators” irrespective of party affiliation.
So, Oshiomhole is hoping on eight senators to impeach Saraki? Oshiomhole be like pesin wey dey play for expressway.
But this Saraki sabi politics well, see as he dey dribble Buhari, Tinubu, and APC like Maradona.
Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Omololu Ogunmade and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Presidency and the United States Embassy in Abuja have refused to respond to a report in the Financial Times (FT) of London, where US President Donald Trump was reported to have described President Muhammadu Buhari as lifeless.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, told THISDAY Monday that the presidency would not react to such a comment.
Also, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to respond to THISDAY’s call and text messages, seeking the federal government’s position on the report.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama did not pick his call or respond to the text message sent to him. The ministry’s spokesperson, Dr. Tope Elias-Fatile, also did not reply his text message.
The FT while reporting the planned meeting between Trump and his Kenya’s counterpart, Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, billed for Monday, reported that Trump, after meeting with Buhari last April, the first with any African leader, told his aides that he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again.
The Monday meeting, which according to the report, is part of efforts by the Trump administration to foster stronger ties with Africa, it is hoped, would end US neglect of the continent.
Already, the White House said Uhuru Kenyatta’s Kenya was one of closest US security and trade partners in Africa.
“Donald Trump will welcome Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta to the White House on Monday for what will be only the second one-on-one meeting the US president has held with a sub-Saharan African leader since he took office last year,” the FT reported, adding: “The first meeting, with Nigeria’s ailing 75-year-old Muhammadu Buhari in April, ended with the US president telling aides he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, according to three people familiar with the matter.”
However, when contacted, officials of the embassy in Abuja declined comments on the issue. Calls to the spokesperson at the embassy, Russell Brooks, were not answered and another staff at the embassy who pleaded anonymity refused to also say anything.
On the Kenya’s president visit, the report said advocates of closer US-Africa ties hope the encounter with the much younger Kenyatta, 56, “will breathe fresh life into a relationship with a region that Washington is seen to have neglected as other countries, notably China, develop ever-closer trade and investment ties with the continent”.
It added: “Africa has never been high on his radar but if the big guy likes you he’ll find a way to make things work.”
Trump is widely criticised for not having an Africa policy. So it’s in his interest to have something from [meeting Kenyatta] he can present as a win.
President Fit and Lively, Says Media Organ
But the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) Monday said the president would not be distracted by the derogatory remarks credited to President Trump, but will remain focused on his mandate to deliver on his promises to the Nigerian people.
While describing Trump’s comment as disrespectful, the Chairman of the group, Mr. Niyi Akinsiju, and Secretary, Mr. Cassidy Maduekwe, said in a statement that whether it was indeed said or in fact unsaid, Buhari would in his character continue to remain focused on his mandate to deliver on his promises to the Nigerian people.
The group said: “President Buhari is fit and capable to run for the 2019 elections and oversee the affairs of the country for four more years, President Trump’s hate speech notwithstanding.”
They stressed that this was not the first time the US President was heard to make such derogatory remarks about world leaders, and thus Buhari would not be distracted by such.
They said: “We are aware that President Trump’s disrespect for World Leaders is not new; his comments on Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, calling him ‘meek and mild’; his reference to Germany’s leader, Angela Merkel’s actions as ‘insane’, or his outlandish Tweet at the UK’s Theresa May, and more recently, the alleged remarks he made after meeting President Buhari.”
Commenting on the development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said Monday that Buhari and his handlers had opened the nation up for international ridicule.
The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement in Abuja on Monday said such embarrassment is what a nation gets when “incompetent leaders, out of inferiority complex, resort to jumping around the world,” desperately shopping for endorsement from world leaders.
The party said Buhari had been seeking international recognitions that were not predicated on any achievements from his three years in office.
It charged the president to take a cue from Trump’s comment by settling down at home and discharge his responsibilities to Nigerians and humbly accept his failure.
According to the opposition party, “While the PDP has strong reservations on the reported comment by President Trump, for which we demand a response from the Buhari Presidency and the US White House, the party further holds that had our dear President not cheapened the exalted office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by his woeful outing during his visit to the United States, President Trump would not have had the opportunity to assess his level of incompetence and make such an embarrassing statement about our President.”
In its comment, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) said Trump’s comment was an affirmation of the widely held beliefs that Nigeria was running on autopilot and in danger of being thrown off the cliff by the crass incompetence of Buhari.
The national spokesman of CUPP, Mr. Ikenga Ugochinyere, described the statement by Trump as the last awakening call for Nigerians to go and collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to enable them elect a President in 2019 who understands what the issues are.
The Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, says it believes Nigeria needs a strong and healthier president to run its affairs for the next four years from 2019.
Yinka Odumakin, the National Publicity Secretary of the group, stated this on Monday against the backdrop of a statement credited to the U.S. President, Donald Trump, that his meeting with Mr Buhari sometime in April was “lifeless”
An article published in Financial Times said Mr Trump told his aides after the meeting that he never wanted to meet a person “so lifeless again.”
“The US President may have some issues, but on this one, he is right,” Mr Odumakin told PREMIUM TIMES on the phone.
He said Nigeria is certainly one of the important nations of the world and would not be doing well to have Mr Buhari, who has a history of medical vacation abroad, to manage her sundry challenges beyond 2019.
“Nigerian presidency is one of the most demanding in the world, and one of the most powerful presidents in the world and therefore, he needs to be extra fit, both physically and mentally to be able to cope with the demands of the office,” he said.
“If the health of our President is in such a state for the President of America to make such comments about his health, it shows clearly that if there is love for the country, the president should at the end of this four years, retire to his home and go and take care of his health and wanting to inflict another four years on this nation.”
Asked why he would trust Mr Trump’s judgement given the latter’s disrespect for leaders, Mr Odumakin said Nigerians did not need the U.S. president’s comments to know the true state of affairs with Mr Buhari.
He added that the various medical vacations to London clearly showed that there was something wrong.
Meanwhile, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has described Mr Trump’s “hate speech” as disrespectful.
The group also disagreed with critics that President Buhari was unfit to run for the 2019 elections and to oversee the affairs of the country in the next four years.
The chairman of the group, Niyi Akinsiju, said on Monday that it was not the first time the U.S. President was heard to make such derogatory remarks at world leaders, noting that Mr Buhari would not be distracted by the latest comments from the U.S. leader.
“We are aware that President Trump’s disrespect for World leaders is not new; his comments on Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, calling him ‘meek and mild’; his reference to Germany’s Leader, Angela Merkel’s actions as ‘insane’, or his outlandish Tweet at the UK’s Theresa May, and more recently, the alleged remarks he made after meeting President Buhari,” Mr Akinsiju said.
“It is indeed not the first time President Trump would be heard to lower the standards of respect for his colleagues on the world stage.
“We are not surprised; we know that this age-long character of the U.S. President would not change anytime soon. But it is important that we put it on record that President Buhari remains fit and sprightly, even for the next decade.”
Nigeria is the only country in the world that has a walking dead as a president.
Isn't it obvious bro? The worst part of it all is that we have one Sir-key and Butterflies who are working day and night to make sure that the same walking dead president is voted in again.
phase1: A friend in the Edo government told me he thinks Oshiomhole's yellow paw paw wife has refused to be impregnated by oshio because she is certain the offspring will look like an effigy moulded with dangote cement.
I never expected a certificateless man to act on a case of an aide who forged a certificate so, I ain't surprised that this case has been swept under the carpet.
My problem now is not about impeaching Saraki, but how to make Oshiomhole to be fulfilling his marital obligations in za oza room because, this Saraki's issue(s) might be depriving him erection and e no good
Politics › Re: Kemi Nelson Attacks Jumoke Okoya-Thomas With Thugs At APC Secretariat by BeeBeeOoh(m): 5:34pm On Aug 28, 2018
