₦airaland Forum

PRESS STATEMENT

15 August, 2017.

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS IN OFFICE ARE UNDENIABLE - PDP

1. We have read comments made by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), Alhaji Bolaji Ojo-Abdullahi, Mallam Garba Shehu, Special Assistant to the President on Media, and other senior members of the Ruling Party such as former Governor, Segun Oni and Dr. Osita Okechukwu, the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria where they attempted to rubbish the comments made by former President Goodluck Jonathan that his Administration performed well during his term in office.

2. It is our firm belief that these statements were borne out of ignorance, lacking in depth and are devoid of the Sort of critical thinking that one would expect from highly placed government officials. However, these officials seem bent on continuing what has become an official position of the Ruling Party to reduce commentary on public issues, and indeed the art of governance to comedy.

3. It is shameful and embarrassing that having been in power for two and a half years, the Ruling Party is unable to point to cogent, convincing and data driven achievements. Instead, it has spent the bulk of its time designing and implementing a communication strategy around massive propaganda, half truths and outright falsehood in an attempt to continually deceive the Nigerian people.

4. For the sake of emphasis, we reiterate our position that the Administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan performed well during its term in office. There are no indices anywhere in Nigeria, or indeed in the world, by which the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari can be measured as performing better than any PDP administration since 1999.

5. For the avoidance of doubt, some of the achievements of our Party while in power include:

(a) As at May 29, 2015, Nigeria was the Largest Economy in Africa valued at over $500billion. A combination of the incoherent policies and incompetence of the Ruling Party have significantly shrunk the size of the Nigerian Economy since the Inception of the Current Administration.

(b) As at May 29, 2015, Nigeria was the No, 1 Destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa. Up to that point, investors responded to the policies designed and implemented by the Jonathan Administration by investing billions of Dollars in the Nigerian Economy.

However, since the Inauguration of the Buhari Administration, investors have voted with their feet having been discouraged by the inchoate and incoherent policies being implemented by the APC led Federal Government.

(c) The Jonathan Administration maintained a 'Single Digit Inflation Rate' for several years. Inflation stood at 9.6% at the Inception of the Buhari Administration. The incompetence of the Current Economic Management Team has resulted in inflation rising as high as 18.72% in January 2017 before settling at 16.1% in July 2017. This had led to the Skyrocketing of the Price of goods, services and food items thereby making staples unaffordable to millions of Nigerians.

It is not a coincidence that the last time Nigerians had to deal with the Current level of widespread hunger and lack was when President Muhammadu Buhari held sway as military Head of State between 1984 and 1985.

(d) The APC led Federal Government inherited an economy that had grown at an average of 7% per annum for the previous 10 years. Indeed, when President Buhari spoke at the Chatham House in February 2015, he admitted that the Nigerian economy had experienced growth for several years. At the time, several global economic experts projected Nigeria to be among the top 7 growing economies in the world in 2016.

However, the APC led Federal Government has managed to lead the Nation to 6 consecutive quarters of economic recession without a coherent, cogent strategy to bring our economy out of the woods.

(e) The Jonathan Administration is widely acclaimed for conducting free, fair and credible elections. Since the Inception of the Current Administration, Nigerians have witnessed widespread and blatant manipulation of the electoral process to suit the whim of the Ruling Party. Easy examples can be found in the refusal to postpone the Ondo State Gubernatorial Election even though valid reasons existed that warranted its postponement; and the postponement of the Edo State Gubernatorial Election for no justifiable reason when it became obvious that the Ruling Party was going to lose that election to enable it manipulate the process. Since the Inception of this Administration, the Phenomenon of "inconclusive elections" has become a regular feature of our electoral system.

(f) The Jonathan Administration had implemented an agricultural sector transformation programme that ensured a reduction of the National Food Import Bill by encouraging increased local production of staple food items. An example of the Results of this policy was the Reduction of the Price of a bag of rice from N14,000 per bag in 2012 to N8, 500 in 2014. The Price of a bag of rice currently stands at N18, 000 having peaked at N22,000 per bag in 2016.

The success of this programme ensured that the Massive flooding which hit many farming communities in the food production belts of the Country in 2012 did not result in famine and a radical increase in the costs of staple food items.

(g) The Jonathan Administration took an institutional approach to tackling corruption in the Country. In this wise, the Administration designed several technological tools to tackle corruption. These include:

• Treasury Savings Account (TSA)
• Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS)
• Integrated Payroll & Personnel Information System (IPPIS)

When added to other institutional anti-corruption tools like
the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission (ICPC), our Party instituted the existing institutional framework with which to fight corruption.

It is imperative to point out that, despite being in charge of the Executive and possessing a majority in both houses of the National Assembly, the Ruling Party has failed to add anything to or strengthen the Anti-corruption framework and infrastructure of the Country.

It is also incumbent on us to point out that the Current Administration has taken a pedestrian approach to fighting corruption by engaging in media trials rather than actively prosecuting cases in court. This approach has had an adverse effect on the Country with the Egmont Group, an international financial intelligence sharing anti-corruption body, using the Nigerian prosecution agencies penchant for sharing sensitive information with the Media as a basis for Nigeria’s suspension from the Group.

6. The list of achievements of the Jonathan Administration, and indeed past PDP administrations, are too numerous to mention and completely dwarf the wasted years of APC’s governance.

7. It is important to note that several senior members of APC who constantly feel the need to deride and denigrate our Party using falsehoods as a foundation were once members of our Party. It is important to point out, for instance, that Alhaji Bolaji Ojo-Abdullahi was a Minister under the Jonathan Administration, Chief Segun Oni was also a former member of our Party on whose platform he rose to become Governor of Ekiti State.

Having served in such offices, it does not lie in the mouth of such men to state that PDP failed Nigerians. If these men, and others of their ilk find it so convenient to deny their past, we wonder what they will say about the Present in the near future.

8. It is necessary to inform the Ruling Party that Nigerians are suffering under the Weight of the Anti-people policies they have been forced to live and do business under. As a result, the Ruling Party's days at the helm of affairs are numbered. The professional propagandists of the APC will realize too late that blaming the ills of the Country on past administrations while doing nothing about them for four clear years will not save them on the Day of Judgement. And the Day of reckoning is very much at hand.

God bless Nigeria! God bless the PDP!!

Signed:

Prince Dayo Adeyeye
National Publicity Secretary

The Northern Youth Coalition that recently handed a three-month quit notice to Igbos living in the northern region insisted on the quit notice.

The coalition gave the controversial ultimatum that has been condemned by may Nigerians on June 6, saying Igbos should leave the north before October 1.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday in Kano, the chairman of the coalition, Nastura Shariff, in the company of the National President of Arewa Consultative Youth Forum, Shettima Yerima, explained that the quit notice was just an aspect of many other demands they had made.

”We have never at any given time lifted that quit notice, because if we are to do so, it would have been after a meeting that would be called soon.”

Mr. Shettima had earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that the group would review its stance on the quit notice and make its position known after a meeting.

Thursday’s press briefing implies the group did not change its stance after its meeting.

Mr. Shariff said that apart from the quit notice, they had also written to the United Nations on the violent activities of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, urging them to declare him a terrorist and his agitation illegal.

He said they were still expecting a response from the UN which would guide their next move.

“That is why we told you that our quit notice still stands and our resolve that anybody who doesn’t want to stay in Nigeria should vacate our region still stands but we are not going to use force to actualize that. We will do it through peaceful means, this is because of the fact that one cannot be living with us and talking Biafra,” he said.

Mr. Shariff said it was sad that people focused more on the quit notice issued by them rather than on a “presented recorded video evidence where Nnamdi Kanu called for genocide like what happened in Rwanda.”

In his own remarks, Mr. Shettima said his members would continue to restrategize on how to ensure unity in the nation and “do away with all threats.”

He said the quit notice was still applicable and that they would be calling a World Press Conference on Thursday next week in Abuja to make their final stance known.

Mr. Shettima also noted that they had scheduled a meeting with the Northern wing of the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo in Kaduna soon to discuss ways forward out of the quagmire.

A lecturer at the Political Science Department of Bayero University Kano, Aliyu Jibiya, at the meeting said his group, Arewa Summit Development Initiative, was planning a one-million-man march to sensitise Nigerians on the problem of out of school children roaming the streets in northern Nigeria, popularly referred to as Almajiri.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/239119-quit-notice-igbos-stands-northern-youth-coalition.html

We are inviting the general public, members of the press and Civil Society Organizations to our peaceful Daily Sit-Out that is scheduled to take place as follows;

August 7th, 0900am at the Unity Fountain Abuja.

August 7th, 11am at the Abuja House, London, United Kingdom.

All participants are expected to be at the venue before 0900am in Abuja and 11am in London to demand for President Muhammadu Buhari’s return to Nigeria and to office or his resignation on the ground of incapacity to execute his functions as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

You would recall that the president has been away from the country on a medical tourism in the United Kingdom since May 7th, 2017.

In line with the provisions of Section 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, and in exercise of that right, we have therefore, written a letter to the Police and other relevant security agencies requesting for protection as we exercise our fundamental right as enshrined in the constitution.

God Bless Nigeria.

Signed:

Deji Adeyanju
National Co-Ordinator, Foundation For True Freedom and Good Leadership.

Ariyo-Dare Atoye
Convener, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution (CDNDC)

John Danfulani
Secretary, Concerned Nigerians.

http://www.signalng.com/daily-sit-demand-buharis-impeachment-resignation-begins-abuja-london-monday/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

And somebody from APDA will say PDP is dead, just wait till mid 2018.

yemmight:
Father of modern and electronic way of stealing government money. Even Iweala that did not steal during OBJ facilitated the stealing. Jonathan was a modern mistake Nigeria make.

himself and Ngozi are no longer in power, if you god abi na messiah get any issue against him, they should prosecute him.

Police na commissioned uniform thieves

BeardedMeat:
Very corrupt! I cant forget how Someone from the S/S who worked with him PTF those days usually had a good laugh with the much touted integrity of Mr Buhary. Why has the Efcc not zoomed in to investigate?

What did you expect from a man who keep saying Abacha is not corrupt

- Three policemen guarding an Abuja home of former president, Goodluck Jonathan have been arrested for alleged burglary
- The officers were alleged to have stolen items valued at several millions of naira from the Abuja residence of the former president
- The suspects allegedly stripped the house of all movable items, during a three months period beginning from around March 2016 The Nigeria Police have arrested three of its officers for allegedly burgling an Abuja home of former president, Goodluck Jonathan.

The home, located at No. 89, Fourth Avenue in the Gwarimpa district of Abuja was allegedly burgled by some police officers assigned to guard the house, Premium Times reports. The three officers are alleged to have stolen items valued at several millions of naira from the Abuja residence of the former president. Some of the items allegedly stolen include sets of furniture, dozens of plasma television sets, refrigerators, air-conditioner units and box-loads of clothes such as designer suits imprinted with the former president’s name, male and female Ijaw traditional attires, lace materials and bowler hats. The newspaper reports that the burgling of the home by the suspects occurred over a period of a three months beginning from around March 2016.

The suspects then allegedly stripped the house of all movable items, during the period and sold the items to dealers at the Panteka second-hand materials market in Tipper Garage, Gwarimpa. According to a security source involved in the investigation, by the time family members of the former president were made aware of the looting early this month, the house had been stripped bare.

Following the arrest of the policemen who were suspected of burgling the house, the two dealers who had been the main recipients of the stolen items were said to have closed down their shops at Panteka market and fled. The house which was burgled was inhabited by Jonathan about a year when he was vice president. His mother was said to have assumed residence there after Mr. Jonathan moved to the Aso Rock Villa upon becoming Acting President in 2010.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris has dismissed three policemen for illegal arrest, extortion of money from three people in Ijede-Ikorodu area of Lagos state. The dismissed policemen; AP.No 136005 Inspr. Okelue Nkemeonye, F/No. 355897 Sgt. Braimoh Sunday and F/No. 359928 Sgt. Yusuf Olukoga were attached to Area Command of the state, The Nation reports. NAIJ.com gathered that the officers who were armed pretended to be Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) assaulted the victims and collected N200, 000 from them before they were released.

This was made known in a statement released by Abayomi Shogunle, the officer in charge of Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) in Abuja on Monday, July 24. Shogunle said that investigations revealed that the policemen collected N90,000 through ATM withdrawal and N110,000 through mobile bank money transfer to a third party account provided by the policemen. According to Shogunle, the officers were found guilty and dismissed after they appeared at Orderly Room trial at the Zone Two Command Headquarters, Onikan-Yaba, Lagos

Read more: https://www.naij.com/1117837-gejs-abuja-home-burgled-by-suspected-police-guards.html

BeardedMeat:
Government of the people for MY people! That's the change buhary promised Nigerians!

no be lie my brother the 95%

BeardedMeat:
My brother.... Why would Buhary be so sentimental about the grass cutter? Why would Mr Integrity even toy with the ambition of finding an unofficial role for a confirmed thief? Why has Mr Integrity not given his Coordinator the free hand to act on this? What is so special about the grasscutter? Except buhary has skeletons in his own cupboard, except buhary is a beneficiary in all these, except these guys are fronting for buhary.....

show me your friend and i will tell you who you are, Buhari is CORRUPT

StephDamielola:
HOW WOULD HE IMPROVE THE ECONOMY WHEN THEY HAVE CRIPPLED HIM?

ALL WE OWE HIM IS PRAYERS AND LOVE.

HE HAD GOOD INTENTIONS.

Who crippled him?

Padi Padi government wen carry Nigeria enter recession

The suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal is currently meeting Nigeria’s ailing President, Muhammadu Buhari in London.





The meeting was arranged by the Chief Security Officer to the president, Bashir Abubakar.



The infamous grasscutter, Babachir Lawal was indicted by the Senate committee on humanitarian crisis in the North-East for allegedly awarding a N200 million contract for the clearing of ‘Invasive Plant Species’ at IDP camp in Yobe state to a company in which he has interest.





Mr Babachir David Lawal who was thereafter suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari over the allegations of violations of law and due process made against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr David Babachir Lawal, in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE) is said to be meeting with the President over his suspension as SGF and his possible return to continue as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.



You would recall that Babachir Lawal and President Muhammadu Buhari both have a long standing relationship. This relationship dates back to 2002 when Lawal formally joined partisan politics. Source close to the former SGF says, it was Muhammadu Buhari’s lifestyle and strict adherence to what he believes in that attracted Babachir Lawal. In 2003 when President Muhammadu Buhari first had a shot at the highest office in the land, Babachir according to source worked assiduously in ensuring that Buhari is elected President. Even in his failed bid in those 3 consecutive elections, Babachir Lawal’s faith in him still remained strong. It was not surprising to many when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him as SGF when he finally won the presidential election in 2015.



Sources within the Presidency told LeadersNG that despite President Buhari’s sentiment towards Babachir Lawal, the former is still wary of possible backlash and public outcry to Babachir’s reinstatement as SGF.



LeadersNG further learned that the the full report on Babachir Lawal and that of National Intelligence Agency DG, (NIA) Ayo Oke got leaked to the press by someone in Acting President Osinbajo’s office after hearing that Babachir Lawal was going to London to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari.



In the report, the panel led by the Vice President, according to source indicted the two officials and made a strong recommendation that the duo be fired as Secretary to the Government Of Federation and Director-General of National Intelligence Agency respectively.



The source close to President Muhammadu Buhari revealed that the President is not in a hurry to sack the suspended SGF as he is the head of the political Think-Thank of the administration, and he’s been the one reaching out to the Judiciary in many of it’s cases in court. The source further revealed that the president is also considering an unofficial role for the suspended SGF in the eventuality it becomes completely impossible to bring him back as SGF.

http://leaders.ng/breaking-suspended-sgf-babachir-lawal-meeting-buhari-london/

FATHER OF MODERN DEMOCRACY

LIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Agriculture
FG fertiliser hijacked, now sold above official price
By Hussein Yahaya,


FG fertiliser hijacked, now sold above official price
FG fertiliser hijacked, now sold above official price

– whistleblower number on the bag not connecting

– report to security agencies -FEPSAN

The Federal Government’s Presidential Fertiliser Initiative designed to get fertilizer to smallholder farmers at the approved prices has been hijacked by middlemen, our investigation has shown.

A bag of the NPK 20:10:10 brand is supposed to sell at the approved price of N5,500 each.

Howerver, reports from states indicate that farmers now buy the product at between N6,500 and N7,000 while the whistleblower number inscribed on the bag to forestall malpractices is not responding.

Many farmers across the country, confirmed that the whistleblower number is not active as several attempts to call the line failed.

Professor Salihu Dadari, a researcher with the Institute of Agricultural Research who is also a lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, told Daily Trust that he witnessed the fraudulent activities marring the government fertiliser sales when he went to buy the product.

He said: “I bought some bags at the initial the rate of N5,500 in my village. But when I went back to buy it again the situation had changed. I was there when the lorries came and after offloading, I asked for some bags to buy to apply in my farm, the agro dealer asked me to come back after a while. When I came back, he said he had already distributed the consignment to his agents.

“He referred me to the agents and they asked me to pay N6,050, while another agent said I should pay N6000. You find out that they have added N1000 to the government price,” he noted.

Professor Dadari expressed worry that the Federal Government’s fertilizer is now between N6,500 and N7,000. And the GSM number is not connecting; it has been demobilized.

“I tried calling the number severally, it’s not working. I think the way forward is to put all hands on deck in helping the government. Also, some people get the fertilizer, open it and mix it with sand, which they re-bag in their own bags which are similar to the original one,” he added.

In many parts of Katsina State, a bag of the Federal Government fertiliser goes for N6,200 instead of N5,500 approved price and at the open market, NPK 15:15:15 (Magic) goes for N8,000; Elephant brand, N7,700; Olam N7,800; Urea (Notore), N7,100; and Indorama, N7,000.

In Benue State, a bag of the government fertiliser is being sold for as high as between N6,500 and N7,500, same as is obtainable in the open market.

In Adamawa State, findings indicate that the government subsidized fertiliser is out of the reach of a majority of the farmers.

Abdullahi Maikano, former chairman of Rice Farmers Association in the state, said the state government officially pegged fertiliser price per bag at N6,110 but the commodity could not reach the real farmers.

Similarly, in Sokoto State, farmers are said to have resorted to the open market to get fertiliser as the government subsidized ones are yet to get to them.

At the open market, a bag of the commodity is sold at between N7,200 to N7,500 depending on brand.

At the building materials market in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, the secretary, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mohammed Fodio Umar, told Daily Trust that some fertiliser dealers in the market were selling at between N5,700 and N5,800. Marketers are reported to have added N300 per bag to cover cost of transportation.

In Kebbi State, farmers are said to be buying the commodity at the open market N6,500 and N8,000 per bag depending on brand.

The government subsidized ones are pegged at the N5,500 but mostly not accessible to the farmers.

In Kwara State, the FG subsidized fertiliser is sold for as high as N7,000 per bag and are not available in many parts of the state. Farmers, who complained bitterly over the development, said they were forced to patronize the open market, where it is sold as high as between N7500 and 8,000.

In Kogi State, the FG fertiliser pegged at N5,500 is not accessible to farmers. Investigation by one of our reporters shows that farmers in the state had resorted to open market, where the product is being sold between N6,500 and N7,000.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/agriculture/fg-fertiliser-hijacked-now-sold-above-official-price/207292.html

i come here to read comment.

APDA is only relevant on Nairaland.

three:
El-Rufai took a beating in this article so its safe to say that he will not win an election.

El-rufai can NEVER be a president in this country

he Northern Elders Forum warned agents of secession in the country to desist from it

- The NEF reminded those championing the agitation for secession to learn lessons from the Nigerian civil war

Northern elders in Nigeria have warned those fanning the embers of disunity in the country to immediately desist from it.

Under the Northern Elders Forum, the leaders in the region said Nigeria cannot break-up and that they were committed to this unity which started since 1914.

While cautioning against the quit notice issued to Igbo people in the north, they also described those agitating for secession as agents of disunity.

READ ALSO: 52 bishops, 144 priests attend burial of Governor Obiano's mother

They also condemned some elders in the region for making alleged unguarded comments that could further cause chaos in the country.

“It is unfortunate that at this moment, such unguided remarks are coming out from supposedly elders of the region,” a leader of the forum, Dr. Paul Unongo said when he paid a condolence visit to the family of late Maitama Sule.

According to Unongo, those causing troubles in the country do not understand the reality of the country.

He also said those issuing the quit notice and are speaking in favour of it do not represent the north and have not learnt any lesson from the Nigerian civil war.


He said: “No safe haven of those whose penchant for disunity is on a crude pedestal, regardless of the consequences of their campaign of attrition.

“An evidence of our commitment as one northern entity and to sustain the legacy left behind by Danmasanin is the decision of my colleagues in the Forum to trust me with its leadership.”

NAIJ.com earlier reported that Igbo indigenes in the north under the auspices of Ndigbo Youth Council in 19 northern states recently cautioned some senior members of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo against utterances capable of heating up the polity and putting their lives in danger.

Leader of the group, Chief Obinna Nwankwo, gave the warning in a statement sent to journalists on Tuesday, July 18.

https://www.naij.com/1116129-we-condone-agents-disunity-region-northern-elders.html

POLITICS is the survival of the fittest, and Nigeria is no exception. “The Hyenas and the Jackals will soon be sent out of the kingdom,” the first lady, Aisha Buhari, wrote on Facebook on July 10th, in response to a senator who had described her husband as “the absent Lion King”. Muhammadu Buhari has been in London being treated for a mysterious illness since May 7th, after spending a seven-week stint there earlier this year. His only recent communication has been a few written statements mourning deceased politicians.

Despite many rumours, Mr Buhari is probably not dead himself. The vice-president (and acting president), Yemi Osinbajo, rushed to London for a few hours last week. On his return he said his boss was recovering fast and would be back “very shortly”. But the beasts are circling, in the expectation that it will be one of them who gets to contest the next presidential election, due in February 2019.

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Mr Osinbajo, who was previously Lagos state’s attorney-general, will automatically take over if the president resigns or is declared incapacitated. His “godfather”, Bola Tinubu, is probably the most powerful politician in Nigeria’s south-west (Mr Tinubu, a Muslim, had to forgo the vice-presidency before the 2015 election as it was deemed politically toxic for both names on a ticket to be of the same religion). Mr Osinbajo, a Christian pastor who has said he is on loan from his church, has also been cultivating his own brand. When on tour he makes sure to be photographed chatting with market traders, hugging children and flying in for the funerals of departed politicians. “The fact that he is perceived as someone who is very loyal to Buhari definitely helps him,” says Chris Ngwodo, an analyst.

However, northern politicians will want one of their own to step in to any vacancy. There is an unwritten rule that the presidency rotates between north and south, and the northerner Mr Buhari has only served two out of his potential eight years (assuming he were to be re-elected).

The reform-minded governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, was once seen as Mr Buhari’s heir. But his intolerance of dissent, including the banning of a Shia organisation after at least 347 of its members were massacred by the army in December 2015, has seen him fall from favour. Christians, meanwhile, accuse Mr El-Rufai of siding with Muslim herders over lethal clashes with farmers in southern Kaduna.

Atiku Abubakar, a wealthy former vice-president, is likely to contest any primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party. However, he is dogged by corruption allegations and has already run unsuccessfully for president four times.

Another possible candidate is the Senate president, Bukola Saraki. The former governor of Kwara, a state in Nigeria’s “Middle Belt”, was not the APC’s choice to lead parliament. He was nonetheless elected with the backing of opposition party senators in June 2015. “He’s about as savvy as they come,” says a ruling party source.

But the northern elites reportedly do not see Mr Saraki as one of them. And though a tribunal recently threw out a case accusing the politician, who owns a multimillion-pound house in London, of not properly declaring all his assets, the government is appealing.

If Mr Buhari is too ill to rule but refuses (or is unable) to resign, government ministers and a medical panel set up by Mr Saraki would have to agree to remove him. The president of the Senate could strike a deal to become Mr Osinbajo’s deputy, says Matthew Page, a former American diplomat. Or he could wait for the presidential primaries in 2019, and run himself. The hyenas are not short of options.

https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21725289-muhammadu-buhari-has-been-absent-london-clinic-months-would-be-successors

representative of APDA will not like this

another good news for the PDP family.

An Appeal court sitting in Yola, Adamawa State, has acquitted former Adamawa governor, Bala Nggilari.

The Appeal Court set aside the ruling of the ‎state High Court which had earlier sentenced Nggilari to five year imprisonment.
Justice Ambrose Mamadi had convicted Nggilari for violating due process in procurement of 25 units of vehicles during his tenure as governor.

Details later.....

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/appeal-court-acquits-nggilari/206328.html

A mob has reportedly set two banks in Apapa, Lagos on fire after a policeman attached to Diamond Bank on Burma Road allegedly shot dead some trailer drivers.

According to reports, the mob also set a Sterling Bank branch on Wharf Road ablaze.

It was gathered that the trailer drivers had indiscriminately parked in front of the bank.

Angered by the killing and the bank’s refusal to hand over the policeman to them, the driver’s colleagues moved to set the bank ablaze, destroying properties and other valuables.

Policemen from Rapid Response Squad, anti-riot squad and Area B command, as well as operatives from the Nigerian Navy Ship BEECEOFT have been deployed to the scene of the incident.

See some tweets:

Sterling bank @wharf road in apapa on fire… Help!!!

— sarumi ridwon (@ridwon_sarumi) July 19, 2017

In retaliation,other tanker drivers have set same bank on fire. As I tweet this,the sterling bank beside it is on fire too.

— Omega male (@Ifedoh) July 19, 2017

Unconfirmed reports have it that Sterling bank at Wharf road in Apapa area of Lagos has been set ablaze by some… https:///ofyrJTZrlX

— niyi tabiti (@niyitabiti) July 19, 2017

Sterling bank @wharf road in apapa on fire… Help!!!

— sarumi ridwon (@ridwon_sarumi) July 19, 2017

Details later…

i'm here to Laugh,

someone say APDA is dead on arrival. hahahaaaaaaaaa.

My friend will not like this

When Garba Shehu says that the Jonathan administration increased the activities of terrorists, he betrays a very shallow grasp of history which I will now prove with the benefit of some historical facts.
When the Jonathan administration imposed a state of emergency in certain local governments in the Northeast of Nigeria to contain terrorists, it was precisely Muhammadu Buhari that said on Monday the 3rd of June 2013 that ‘the military offensive against Boko Haram is anti North’.

Again, after the Jonathan administration banned Boko Haram in 2013, it was precisely Lai Mohammed, President Buhari’s current minister for information, who on Monday the 10th of June, 2013 said that banning Boko Haram was unconstitutional and that “the proscription stifles the press and tampers with the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.”
So it is therefore rich for the Buhari administration to start making these claims against the Jonathan government.
It may be that Garba Shehu is not aware that this administration has lost any credibility it has especially as regards the anti terror war.
On Thursday the 24th of December, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari told the world that Boko Haram was ‘technically defeated’ and gave himself a pat on the back after claiming that the terror group had lost its capacity to conduct “conventional attacks”.
Since that time, Boko Haram has attacked military barracks and military formations multiple times as reported in the media.

Since that time, there has been an upsurge in suicide attacks with more than 30 attacks reported in the media. In the last week alone, there have been three such suicide attacks with almost 20 deaths, according to media reports. There has also been attacks on military and police convoys with Boko Haram terrorists releasing a video this week of several women it says it kidnapped from a police convoy.

Nigerians may want to note that it was under the Buhari administration that the World Economic Forum on Tuesday June 20, 2017 listed Nigeria as the fifth most dangerous country in the world because instances of Fulani Herdsmen terrorism are so rampant and continue with impunity.
Fulani herdsmen operating in Nigeria were also named the fourth most deadly terrorists group in the world by the Global Terrorism Index on Wednesday November 18, 2014. This is not surprising in a situation where a governor, who happens to be a close confidante of President Muhammadu Buhari, confessed to giving Fulani Herdsmen money.

It may also be recalled that on February 2, 2017, the US Congress cited Nigeria “as the most dangerous place for Christians in the world and that impunity for those responsible for the killing of Christians in the country seems to be widespread.”

All these are proof positive that not only has Boko Haram not been defeated, they have metastasized under Buhari and indeed other terrorist groups have become emboldened to expand their activity nationwide.

Nigerians will remember that the Jonathan administration was able to crush Boko Haram in the first quarter of 2015 which was why the 2015 elections were able to hold throughout the entire Northeast of Nigeria.

The question that Nigerians may want to ask is if elections can hold in all areas of Borno state today. The answer to that question will show Who between President Buhari and former President Jonathan really defeated Boko Haram. Reno Omokri Author of the #1 Amazon bestseller, Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years: Chibok, 2015.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/us-congress-cited-nigeria-dangerous-place-christians-world-reno/

President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft war has suffered a massive set-back with the suspension of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) from the Egmont Group, TheCable can report.

And if Nigeria fails to comply with the group’s demands for a legal framework granting autonomy to the NFIU by January 2018, the country will be expelled from the global body which provides the backbone for monitoring international money laundering activities.

In the event of an expulsion, Nigeria will no longer be able to benefit from financial intelligence shared by the other 153 member countries, including the US and the UK, while the country’s ability to recover stolen funds abroad will also be hampered.

The federal government is currently seeking to recover funds laundered globally by politically exposed persons and their associates.

Another major dire consequence will be the blacklisting of Nigeria in international finance, and this could affect the issuance of Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards by Nigerian banks.

It could also affect the international rating of Nigerian financial institutions, restricting their access to some big-ticket international transactions.

Nigeria’s admittance into the group in 2007 is considered to be one of the biggest achievements of the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

The membership ensured the removal of Nigerian banks from the blacklist of international finance.

The blacklisting had prevented the banks from engaging in correspondent banking with foreign institutions and also denied Nigerians access to foreign credit cards.

“It was one hell of a struggle to get Nigeria as a member,” a former senior official of the Obasanjo administration told TheCable on Tuesday.

“The suspension is a massive blow. It is going to set us back by a number of years because it is not easy to get admitted into the group. I hope things are still redeemable before it ends in an expulsion.”

https://www.thecable.ng/buharis-anti-graft-war-suffers-massive-setback-egmont-group-suspends-nigeria

PDP is back.

Biggest political party in Africa. Power to the people. I know my friend from a APDA will not like this

God bless the Shiites, they are indeed peace loving people