₦airaland Forum

OgologoDimkpa:
[s]Yeah, we'll not travel
Thieifnubu dynasty and whatever it represents must be voted out of power
in lagos state.

People are wiser!

Sai JK[/s]

Bags Igbo chieftaincy title

Considering the proximity of the April 11 governorship election to the Easter celebration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje has appealed to Ndigbo in the state not to travel out for the occasion.

Agbaje spoke after he was conferred with a chieftaincy title of “Ezi Nwanne Ndigbo 1” (beloved brother of the Igbo) promising that the state would be a home to all tribes where no one would be discriminated against. Conferring the title on Agbaje in his palace at Surulere area of the state, Eze Cyril Anomneze, described Agbaje as a true friend of the Igbo people.

“Ndigbo will be part of the incoming administration of Jimi Agbaje in Lagos State. Ndigbo will work assiduously to accomplish a landslide victory for both Mr. President and Jimi Agbaje,” he said.

Eze Anomneze, while praying for Agbaje, said Igbo people saw him as their standard bearer in the governorship race. Present on the occasion were several titular heads, including the President-General of Igbo associations in Lagos, Chief Ebere Ubani.
Bags Igbo chieftaincy title

Considering the proximity of the April 11 governorship election to the Easter celebration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje has appealed to Ndigbo in the state not to travel out for the occasion.

Agbaje spoke after he was conferred with a chieftaincy title of “Ezi Nwanne Ndigbo 1” (beloved brother of the Igbo) promising that the state would be a home to all tribes where no one would be discriminated against. Conferring the title on Agbaje in his palace at Surulere area of the state, Eze Cyril Anomneze, described Agbaje as a true friend of the Igbo people.

“Ndigbo will be part of the incoming administration of Jimi Agbaje in Lagos State. Ndigbo will work assiduously to accomplish a landslide victory for both Mr. President and Jimi Agbaje,” he said.

Eze Anomneze, while praying for Agbaje, said Igbo people saw him as their standard bearer in the governorship race. Present on the occasion were several titular heads, including the President-General of Igbo associations in Lagos, Chief Ebere Ubani.

Explaining why the Ndigbo honoured Agbaje with the title, Anomneze said: “The conferment of Ezi Nwanne Nidigbo (is) in recognition of his readiness to partner the Igbo nation on assumption of office.”

The governorship hopeful was dressed with the insignia of office, including the titular staff, beads and robe.
Explaining why the Ndigbo honoured Agbaje with the title, Anomneze said: “The conferment of Ezi Nwanne Nidigbo (is) in recognition of his readiness to partner the Igbo nation on assumption of office.”

The governorship hopeful was dressed with the insignia of office, including the titular staff, beads and robe.

anepete:
I am a kogite like. I want to tell u categorically that Buhari cannot win 5% kogite vote

anepete:
Fayo scarry go. The man with ĺion s mind we ek oteke to will follow you any where you go if u like join APC C ekiti sons and Daughter will follow you .Take Jonathan s transformation to Ekiti for free .carry gooooo

anepete:
Fayo scarry go. The man with ĺion s mind we ek oteke to will follow you any where you go if u like join APC C ekiti sons and Daughter will follow you .Take Jonathan s transformation to Ekiti for free .carry gooooo

anepete:
Fayo scarry go. The man with ĺion s mind we ek oteke to will follow you any where you go if u like join APC C ekiti sons and Daughter will follow you .Take Jonathan s transformation to Ekiti for free .carry gooooo

To this end, the APC spokesperson said the government plans to use some political parties that he said, are satellites of the ruling PDP, to push for the postponement of the elections again.

“The plot is to get the parties to address a press conference to say the elections should not hold in the North-east until September 2015 because of the ongoing counter-insurgency battle there.

eaglechild:
APC is waiting for you.

Just cross over and you will become a saint.

by Segun Odeleye-Abakaliki

The deputy governor of Ebonyi state, Dave Umahi, was not the preferred candidate of the outgoing governor, Martin Elechi, to succeed him as governor. Elechi wanted former health minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu.

However it was Umahi who got the ticket by a series of political alignments with influencers in the state who felt sidelined by the governor and had an ally in the PDP national leadership.

Now, Umahi is the PDP candidate, while the governor has thrown his weight behind the Labour Party candidate, Edward Nkwegu.

Yesterday, the deputy governor addressed party supporters and journalists, saying that the governor was wrong to want to give the PDP ticket to someone else after all the contributions, investments and sufferings he endured for the PDP in the state. He said that he wanted to succeed Gov. Elechi because it is his turn to chop.

“Anybody that is saying I should have surrendered is just making a prayer for himself because how would I have suffered for the party, how would I have invested, and you say I no go chop? E no good. They say na where somebody dey work, na there e dey chop; that’s why they call it workshop,” said the deputy governor, whose comment drew noisy reaction from the huge audience.

The opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the Nigerian government of planning to deposit a large sum of money into the bank account of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, in order to frame one of its leaders, Bola Tinubu.

The Spokesperson of the APC, Lai Mohammed, who addressed a press conference Wednesday in Lagos, made the claim.

APC said the goal of the plot was to use that as a reason to sack Mr. Jega so that he will not preside over the rescheduled elections slated for March 28 and April 11.

“There is a plot to transfer a humongous amount of money into the bank account of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and then claim that the money came from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC in order to justify the ongoing plan to sack Prof. Jega so he won’t organize the elections,” he said.

He also said that beyond Mr. Jega, there are plans to credit the bank accounts of some key national institutions in the country with huge amounts of money purportedly from the APC, ostensibly to compromise those institutions.

Mr. Mohammed added that despite repeated claims to the contrary, the government is truly working hard to truncate the conduct of the elections.

To this end, the APC spokesperson said the government plans to use some political parties that he said, are satellites of the ruling PDP, to push for the postponement of the elections again.

“The plot is to get the parties to address a press conference to say the elections should not hold in the North-east until September 2015 because of the ongoing counter-insurgency battle there.

“The intention is to make sure Jega’s tenure expires before the polls, so that they can appoint a malleable card-carrying member of the PDP as INEC Chair to conduct the polls,” he said.

He also said there is a plan to use the security agencies to intimidate key opposition leaders as well as the Nigerian Communications Commission and telecommunications service providers to disrupt voice and data transmission, especially in APC strongholds, on Election Day.

He said top on the list of the security agencies to be used against the opposition is the State Security Service, SSS, which will be used to compel all Resident Electoral Commissioners in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory -Abuja to hand over the names and telephone numbers of all INEC’s regular and ad hoc staff who will conduct the elections, as part of the Jonathan Administration’s rigging plans.

“It is no longer news that a signal has been sent to all state commands of the DSS (SSS) to get the list of all INEC Returning Officers and Adhoc Staff before March 10th.

“There is also the ongoing illegal recruitment of over 500 new cadets into one of the country’s security outfits, 50 per cent of whom are from the home state of the outfit’s top brass, in violation of the provisions of the Constitution, especially as the recruitment does not reflect the Federal Character,” he said.

Mr. Mohammed said nocturnal meetings are being held between various heads of national security agencies and the leadership of the PDP to undermine the coming elections; adding that the Presidency has retained the services of two Israelis and a Belgian who are currently holed up in the Aso Rock Villa to hack and corrupt INEC computers on election day, with the trio having already been paid 25 percent of their contract fees upfront.

Another accusation from the APC is that there is an ongoing effort to compromise the card reader, which Mr. Mohammed said, the Jonathan administration sees as inimical to its rigging plans.

“Huge funds are being provided for retired and serving security personnel to buy up PVCs, with the hope that they can be used once the card reader is compromised,” he said.

He recalled a case in court that sought to declare the use of the card readers in the forthcoming elections unconstitutional.

“In the days leading up to the elections, the Jonathan Administration is planning to give the opposition the Ekiti treatment by massively arresting key opposition leaders, with a view to destabilizing their ranks, putting them away and paving the way for a free rein of their rigging agents.

“Towards this end, thousands of signed blank detention orders have been procured.

“As part of the plan to implicate our leaders, illegal substances may be put into their checked-in luggage during local and international flights. That is why we are calling on our leaders to travel only with their carry-on baggage,” Mr. Mohammed said.

He also said the detailed plans by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration and the PDP are part of the massive intelligence the APC are receiving daily from “patriotic” Nigerians, within and outside the government, who, he said, are eager to see the conduct of a free, fair, credible and violence-free elections that will catapult Nigeria to the league of truly democratic nations.

“We have decided to share the information we are receiving with Nigerians because we believe that no power is strong enough to stop a people who are determined to effect change in the way and manner they are being governed, and that the ultimate power resides in the people.

“We have no doubt that the information will fortify the local and international observers who are coming for the elections, in addition to enhancing the vigilance of the citizenry before, during and after the polls,” he said.

temitemi1:
[s]What will happen if he doesn't conduct the election GEJ till 2019!!![/s]

AS the wild plot to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, thickens, the Nigerian people and the international community must hold President Goodluck Jonathan responsible for the political backlash such baleful action may provoke. If allowed a free rein, the only outcome that can be expected from Jega’s removal is chaos, which will further thicken the air of uncertainty that has been hanging so precariously over the 2015 elections and Nigeria’s future.

Nigerians must stand resolutely against this sickening abuse and misuse of power. They should rally round Jega as he passes through these troubling times, because, with him, it will never be business as usual again for election riggers. The international community must be ready to apply sanctions against the Jonathan government if it scuttles the democratic process. This is one issue where law and common sense should be on the same page.

Jega was appointed on June 8, 2010 and confirmed by the Senate on June 24, 2010. By law, his five-year tenure ends on June 23, 2015. But his traducers want him out by all means by March 24, insisting that he must be forced to go on a three-month terminal leave.

Started first as a muffled rumour, the calls for Jega’s sacking have snowballed into an open campaign of calumny. Jega has been accused of incompetence and collaboration with the Northern Elders Forum to produce a president of Northern descent. On account of these allegations, the antagonists of the INEC boss say he should be replaced. Though at the last presidential media chat on February 11, Jonathan denied any plan to remove the INEC chairman, media reports, however, keep exposing his government’s intrigues to send Jega packing before the polls. The latest of such extremely hazardous moves is the plot to provoke a crisis within INEC.  

The signs definitely do not bode well for Jega and the country. At a time when the electoral umpire should be focusing his attention on giving the nation credible elections, he is being confronted with all manner of avoidable distractions and mischief. It is obvious what these Jega-must-go campaigners have in mind – an outright scuttling of the elections. The INEC boss has already reached a stage where he has to go ahead with the elections, otherwise the country is likely to be thrown into a constitutional crisis. Having been in charge of affairs up to this last minute, it is only reasonable that he should carry out the task conclusively. He should not resign.

Notably, the problem with Jega started when the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, at London’s Chatham House, called for the postponement of the elections, even when the INEC boss had repeatedly promised that he was on course to delivering free and fair elections. Just immediately after, there were also stories that he would be sent on compulsory retirement leave, to quietly ease him out and pave the way for a pliable person to take over. So rife was the speculation of his planned ouster that the INEC chief had to come out to clarify the situation by saying that he was not a civil servant and was thus not subject to terminal leave. Jega also refuted all the allegations against him, challenging his accusers to produce a strand of incriminating evidence. None came.

Unfortunately, the President has not done much to allay the fears of Nigerians. When he was pointedly asked the question during his last media chat, which was an opportunity to lay the matter to rest, he only alluded to the fact that he had the power to fire Jega because he was the one that appointed him! So, his later assurance that the INEC boss would not be fired was not reassuring enough. While the Nigerians who are dubiously calling for Jega’s head can be pardoned on the grounds that they are only exercising their constitutional rights to freely ventilate their opinion, Jonathan has notably not come out clearly to dissociate himself from such calls.

In a country where such tales had in the past come out to be true to the last letter, it is not surprising that Nigerians are taking the bizarre and macabre drama unfolding about Jega very seriously. That the elections were shifted for six weeks is an ample indication that whatever starts as a rumour or kite flying in Nigeria has the capacity to become a reality.

Jega has to stand firm and refuse to bow to intimidation. All the innovations he has introduced in the course of these elections have shown that he is about to put Nigeria, once and for all, on the path of developing a culture of free and fair elections. The introduction of PVCs and card readers will for the first time ensure that the votes of Nigerians count. It will ensure that rigging is substantially reduced, if not totally eliminated. And, with about four weeks left before the first round of elections, it is obvious that PVC distribution will reach an acceptable level in all parts of the country. What else does Jonathan want?


It is so dangerous for a government to brazenly convert and abuse state institutions for purely selfish political end the way Jonathan administration has been going about these elections. It is worrying that the President has grown too accustomed to getting his way. But Jonathan’s moves to stop Jega from conducting the elections have crossed the line from hardball politics to wilfully and mischievously igniting a political crisis. He must be stopped.

lilflipnerd:
NIGERIA na ur sureP abi
Otueke ya