Nigeria’s new president, Muhammadu Buhari, faced the first political storm since his inauguration when both the Senate and House of Assembly elected leaders on Tuesday in defiance of the ruling party’s choice of candidates.

The vote for the nation’s number three and four positions followed weeks of festering division among newly elected legislators and officials within Mr Buhari’s All Progressive Congress and came as politicians jostle for influence over appointments to the new government.

The 72-year-old former military ruler became the first opposition candidate in Nigeria’s history to unseat a sitting president in April elections, after pledging to stamp out corruption, spread wealth more evenly and defeat Boko Haram insurgents. Inaugurated on May 29, he is under pressure to take decisive action in his first weeks in office to head off the effects of the oil shock.

The fall in the price of crude has left state coffers depleted, fuel in short supply and the incoming government facing up to $20bn of short-term liabilities, including salary arrears, according to a draft action plan for the president’s first months in office seen by the Financial Times.

Mr Buhari must quickly determine whether to maintain multibillion-dollar fuel subsidies that the state can no longer sustain or remove them and potentially stir popular unrest, the document advises.
But tension between newly elected legislators and APC officials have raised concern within the business community of a drawn-out process for approving cabinet appointments, which could in turn delay action on the fiscal front.

Bukola Saraki, a former state governor and flamboyant, at times controversial force in Nigerian politics, was elected as Senate president by just over half the chamber, with the majority of his support coming from the former ruling People’s Democratic party, from which he defected only 18 months ago.
The APC’s preferred candidate was not even presented for the vote because he was at a party meeting at another location.

APC officials and advisers to Mr Buhari were still trying to make sense of the setback late on Tuesday.
However, they played down its significance, pointing out that Mr Buhari had remained studiously neutral and had pledged to work with whoever came out on top.

“The Senate has chosen their own person. That doesn’t mean they will oppose everything. It is something to celebrate. We are coming of age — we have proved we can change a sitting government, we can also allow the Senate to make its own choices. This is the separation of powers at work,” a close adviser to the president told the FT.

Other political insiders pointed out that Mr Buhari’s ability to press forward with reform will be determined in part by his relations with members of the Senate and House of Assembly, where voting also went against the APC hierarchy’s choice.

The action plan for the president’s first months in office was drafted by an APC transition team with the help of consultants KPMG, and makes priorities of short-term remedies for electricity blackouts, fuel shortages and salary arrears. It also suggests that a new government will move quickly to plug leakages at the state owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Under former President Goodluck Jonathan, these allegedly cost the treasury billions of dollars in potential savings against an eventual fall in the price of oil, on which the state depends for about two-thirds of earnings.

Mr Buhari returned from meeting G7 leaders in Germany on Monday, having won international commitments to support his government in the fight against Islamist insurgents who stepped up a campaign of suicide bombings in his first days in office.

However, to the extent that Dogara’s deputy is from the APC, the problem in the House of Representatives will be easier to resolve. But how does APC reconcile itself to the fact that the Deputy Senate President is from another party? Saraki himself must be in a quandary over the choices he made. How do those colleagues of his who were backing him feel now that their candidate has practically been taken over by the opposition party? Dealing with these issues in the days and possibly weeks ahead will not be easy either for Saraki or the APC.

drtwist:
your story about Ogor is a very big lie. Ogor is my guy close pal and he said he was the person that refuse the position. That it will have less effect in the progress of his region. But my guy believe he did it because of formal president jonathan who refuse PDP supporting any formal member that betray them.
So get fact b4 pasting any information

AhmedMustapha:
This op you reason like you were born in the year 2015. If Saraki wants to become the President in 2019 there's no problem with that but he would have to go through APC party primaries right? If Saraki's victory was Tinubu's loss that means he will get little or no support from Tinubu camp of APC in the 2019 primaries. With the power of incumbency on PMB's side he should have the support of the NE/NW delegates so no show for Saraki. If Saraki moves to the PDP and picks its presidential ticket, PMB can go to sleep as the margin with which Saraki will be defeated will be wider than that of Jonathan. If 51 APC members are against Saraki that means that PMB can't be impeached as you will need 2/3 of the total number of reps to do that. PMB has neither lost nor gained from what happened yesterday, those who have lost out should learn from their mistakes

spenca:
Buhari is also involved in the plot that brought Saraki to power

NgeneUkwenu:
A lot have been said, written and speculated about Saraki and Dogara defying and going against the decision of their Party in tomorrow's election into offices of the National Assembly. Why no one can readily and accurately predict what would happen in the Chambers tomorrow, it will not be out place to reexamine the chances and results of those who had taken similar route before and the consequences!


1. Ibrahim Shekaru: He was the governor of Kano State for 8 years spanning 2003-2011, a former strong member of APC, a Stalwart of ANPP who contributed in no small measure in the merging of the legacy parties that formed APC.

However, during the integration of then newly formed party, Shekaru felt, he would be sidelined in the scheme of things in Kano State with entrant of The then governor of Kano State, Alhaji Kwankwaso, defied all the entreaties of the party for reconciliation and defected to the then Ruling party PDP.
Result: Aside the 6months, jonathan invited him to "come and chop" he has been politically rendered useless in the National and Local Politics:

2: Buba Marwa: Just like Shekaru felt, he would be sidelined in the party, given the presence of then Governor Of Adamawa State , Murtala Nyako, decided to shift base to PDP while lampooning APC.
Result: His 2 years sojourn in the PDP brought misery and tears to him. There is speculation is about declaring for APC. Talk about going back to your Vomit.

3. Nuhu Ribadu: A former Presidential Candidate of The defunct ACN, was a major force in the then New party. In fact he practically went to everywhere selling APC manifesto to the people. However when Nyako of Adamawa State was impeached, he saw a quicker route to the governorship seat and against all odds decided to dump APC for the then Ruling Party. And like the proverbial mad dog, he refused to listen to the wise counsel from his Friends in APC.
Result: He was roundly and disgracefully defeated in the just concluded guber election thereby rendering him a political nonentity both locally and nationally.

Tom Ikimi: According to him, he was the "sole" brain behind the formation APC. In fact he claimed that APC was formed in his parlour! But like orders who had defied the party, Ikimi felt the Chairman Seat should be reserved for him, without going through the elections, of which the party objected. He felt 'betrayed' and wrote a lengthy letter abusing Tinubu-the undisputed party leader and consequently defected to PDP.

Result: I have not heard from him for so long.

5. Ali Modu Sherrif: Another astute politician who defied the orders and instruction of APC and got himself burnt politically. No need to write more on him.

Others are Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto, Belgore of Kwara States etc all tried to defy and challenge APC but learned the lesson the bitter way!

Now, is history going to repeat itself in the cases of Saraki and Dogara?? Time which is actually Tomorrow will tell!

Article Written By Miss Ngene

Cc: Ishilove, lalasticlala, Seun

North-West
North-West geopolitical zone with APC senators will play a major role in who becomes the Senate President if the zone decides to vote in bloc.
In Sokoto State with three APC senators, Ibrahim Gobir, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko and Ibrahim Abdullahi, the three senators are said to have identified with Saraki.

In Kano State with three APC senators, Barau Jibrin, Mohammed Rabiu Musa and Kabiru Gaya, are likely to vote for Lawan.
Kabiru Gaya, a former governor of Kano State and Jibrin Barau were among the senators who met APC leaders to push for the use of the principle of ranking as one the major criteria for the election of the Senate President.

In Katsina State with three APC senators, Mustapher Bukar, Abu Ibrahim and Umaru Ibrahim Kurfi, the three senators are also likely to vote for Lawan. Abu Ibrahim for instance is one of those who are pushing that the principle of ranking should be embraced as one of the criteria for the election of the Senate President.
The vote in Kebbi State with three APC senators is likely to be divided. Former governor of the state, Senator Mohammed Adamu Aliero, has been fully identified as ready to vote for Lawan. Senator-elect Bala Ibn Na’Allah is also said to be for Lawan but the other Senator-elect, Yahaya Abdullahi, is said to be undecided.

In Zamfara State with three APC senators, Kabiru Marafa is likely to vote for Lawan while former governor, Ahmed Yerima Sani, is one of the campaign directors of Saraki. The third senator from the state, Senator-elect Tajjani Yahaya Kaura, is said to be undecided.

In Jigawa State with three APC senators, Muhammad Ubali Shitu, Sabo Mohammed and Abdullahi Gumel, the senators are said to be undecided.
Gumel is one of the senators-elect who met APC leaders to canvass the use of the principle of ranking for the election of the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President.

In Kaduna State with two APC senators, Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, Shehu Sani and one PDP Senator Danjuma La’ah, only Senator Sani is known to have openly identified with Saraki. The other two senators are said to have been undecided.

*North-Central
North Central geopolitical zone with a mixed bag of senators will be a battle ground for the two top contenders.

In Kogi State with three APC senators, two, Dino Melaye and Abdulrahman Abubakar, are openly supporting Saraki while the third senator, Mohammed Abdulsalami Ohiare is said to be undecided.

In Kwara State there are three APC senators. The two remaining senators apart from Saraki, Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi and Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim are likely to vote for Saraki.

In Plateau State with three PDP Senators, Jeremiah Useni, Joshua Dariye and Jonah David Jang, the coast is not quite clear but insiders said that Jang and Useni may go for Lawan.

In Benue State with two APC senators, George Akume and Gemade and one PDP Senator, David Mark, Lawan is sure of securing the three vital votes.
Akume has been slated as the Deputy Senate President if Lawan wins. Mark and Lawan are said to be close. Gemade on the other hand is the arrow head of Lawan’s Senate Presidency.

In Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu is also one of those insisting that the principle of ranking should be the basis for the election of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President. Adamu is one of the front campaigners for Lawan’s Senate Presidency. On the other hand, Senators Philip Aruwa Oyunka (PDP) and Salihu Hussain Egye (APC) are said to be undecided on who to vote for.

In Niger State with three APC Senators, Senator David Umaru (Niger-East) is known to have identified with Saraki. The other two senators, Mohammed Garba and Aliyu Abdullahi are said to be rooting for Lawan.
In the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Philip Aduda, the only FCT Senator is likely to vote for Saraki.

*North-East

The North East geopolitical zone is another interesting case. Senator Lawan comes from the zone. Ordinarily one would have concluded that the zone is a done deal for Lawan but that is far from the situation on the ground. Senators from the zone are sharply divided between Lawan and Saraki.
Insiders attributed this development to the alleged influence of a money bag politician who has been spending lavishly to favour one of the two leading contestants.

In Borno State for instance with two APC senators, while Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume is solidly backing Saraki, Senator Abubakar Kyari is said to be for Lawan.
The third elected senator from the state, Ahmed Zannah, gave the ghost recently.

In Gombe State with two APC senators, former Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, Senator Bayero Usman Nafada and former governor of the state, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, have not hidden their support for Saraki.

The third Senator from the state, Joshua Lidani (PDP), is said to be undecided and may likely vote in line with the party’s dictate.
In Taraba State with three PDP Senators, Lawan may likel secure two vital votes from Senators Emmanuel Bwacha and Marafa Bashir Abba while Saraki may receive the remaining one.

In Adamawa State, Senator Binta Masi Garba has openly indicated resolve to vote for Saraki while the two other APC senators, Ahmadu Abubakar and Abdul Azziz Murtala Nyoko, are said to be undecided.

In Bauchi State, Suleiman Mohammed Nazif (APC) is one of the strong backers of of Lawan while Malam Ali Wakili (APC) and Isa Hamma Misau are said to be waiting on the wings.
In Yobe State, it is certain that Lawan will receive the three vital votes at stake from Senators Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Mohammed Hassan of the PDP and his own vote.

The remaining days before the election are crucial. The gladiators for the plum job are on the move to swing the senators to their side. Money is also said to be changing hands in a manner that will shame even money bags outside the National Assembly.

That influence notwithstanding, it seems the lawmakers will answer their names this week when the senators will finally decide who leads them.

However, supporters of Senator Saraki, are arguing that if the issue of ranking was such a primary factor, where was Lawan when Senator George Akume became the Minority Leader in the out-going senate? A source however confided to The Nation that when that question was asked in one of the crucial meetings with the party leadership, the Saraki group was informed that Akume emerged the Minority Leader then because he was an ACN senator as his party (ACN) has more senators in the Red Chamber than Lawan’s ANPP.

Also, the Lawan and Saraki’s groups are not agreed on the mode of the primary election that should be adopted. While Saraki’s group wanted secret balloting, Lawan’s group preferred open balloting.

Besides the mode of the primaries and other areas of disagreement, the Saraki supporters are said to have demanded that the Kwara State senator should be preferred as a way of compensating the New-PDP members that merged with others to form APC. That suggestion, according to our source, was roundly criticized when it got to the hearing of the APC leadership.

It was said that the leaders of the party unanimously frowned at such suggestions, as they admonished and pointed out to the canvassers that APC is now a family, a single political party and not one made up of segments.

While these debates are ongoing and supporters of the two leading contestants are wooing senators to file behind their candidates, we gathered that one of the groups has been spending money lavishly with the hope of inducing senators to vote for their candidate.

We gathered that President Muhammadu Buhari is not happy with the monetary dimension of this contest. Our source said the president’s attitude is that the contest for the Senate President is an intra-party affair; “so he wondered why people should go to that length in such a family affair.”

Voting pattern

State-by-state findings of the likely voting pattern of the senators showed that the race for the position of senate president is still too close-to-call.

*South-East
In the South-East geopolitical zone, Abia State with three PDP senators, only one, Senator-elect, Mao Ohuabunwa, is said to have decided to back Saraki.
The other two Senators, Theodore Orji and Enyinnaya Abaribe are said to be undecided. Observers however say that Abaribe’s closeness to Lawan may push him to vote for the Yobe lawmaker.

In Imo State also with three PDP Senators, Senators Hope Uzodinma, Samuel Anyanwu and Achonu Athanasius Nneji are said to be undecided and may vote according to their party’s dictate.

In Enugu State with three PDP Senators, Ike Ekweremadu, Gilbert Nnaji and Utazi Chukwuka are said to be undecided but Ekweremadu is said to have sympathy for Saraki.

Anambra State with three PDP senators, Andy Uba, Uche Ekwunife and Stella Adaeze Oduah; only Andy Uba is likely to vote for Saraki due to his closeness to the Kwara Central Senator.
Senators Ekwunife and Oduah are said to be undecided and may vote according to PDP’s dictate.

In Ebonyi State also with three PDP Senators: Samuel Egwu, Ogba Joseph Obinna and Sunday Ogbuoji, only Egwu is likely to vote for Saraki while the other two are said to be undecided.

*South-South
In the South-South geopolitical zone, Akwa Ibom State with three PDP Senators, namely Godswill Akpabio, Nelson Effiong and Bassey Albert Akpan are said to be undecided on who to vote for.
Akpabio who played a major role in the election of the other two senators from Akwa Ibom State is likely to decide how they will vote.

Bayelsa State senators, Emmanuel Paulker, Murray Bruce Ben and Ogola Foster, all PDP senators, are said to be for Lawan.
In Rivers State with three PDP senators.

In Edo State with two PDP senators and one APC senator, Clifford Ordia (PDP), Mathew Urhoghide (PDP) and Francis Alimikhena (APC), the two PDP Senators are said to be undecided while the only APC senator is likely to vote for Lawan. However, Alimikhena is said to be close to Saraki, closeness which may inform how he votes.

In Cross River State with three PDP senators, John Owan Enoh, Rose Okoji Oko and Gershom Henry Bassey, the senators are said to be undecided.

In Delta State with three PDP Senators, while Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, Delta North Senatorial District, has openly opted to vote for Saraki, the other two senators, James Manager and Ighoyota Amori are said to be undecided.

*South-West
Majority of senators from the South-West geopolitical zone are overtly rooting for Lawan as Senate President.

In Lagos State, the three APC Senators, Oluremi Tinubu, Olugbenga Ashafa and Senator-elect Adeola Solomon Olamilekan have not hidden their preference and support for Lawan.
The same scenario is also playing out in Osun State where the three APC Senators, Olusola Adeyeye, Babajide Christopher Omoworare and Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke are said to have decided to vote for Lawan.

In Ogun State with two APC senators, Olanrewaju Tejuose and Joseph Dada and one PDP Senator, Buruji Kashamu, the votes are likely to be divided.
The two APC Senators are likely to vote for Lawan while the PDP Senator may go for Saraki.

In Ondo State, the coast is not quite clear though Senator Robert Ajayi Borofice (APC) has openly shown support for Lawan’s Senate Presidency.
The other two senators from the state, Senator Donald Alasoadura (APC)was seen in company with Saraki supporters while the only PDP senator from the state, Yele Omogunwa, is said to be undecided.

In Oyo State with three APC senators, Monsurat Sunmonu, Buhari Adulfatai and Rilwan Akanbi, the coast is also not quite clear. The senators are said to be undecided.

In Ekiti State with three PDP Senators, Duro Samuel Faseyi, Fatimat Olufunke Raji-Rasaki and Biodun Olujimi, the three senators are likely to vote according to the position of PDP.

The race for the President of the Eight Senate in Nigeria, which has witnessed a lot of intrigues, entered the final curve on Thursday with the adjournment of the Seventh Senate sine die.
Maneuvering and horse-trading for the exalted position heightened even at the valedictory session that the upper chamber conducted to mark the end of the Seventh Senate.

The out-going Senate President, David Mark, however ruled out Senators from the fold of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the race.

Mark tactically reminded PDP Senators that the leadership of the Eight Senate would be composed mainly of Senators from the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform as members of the majority party in the Senate.

Mark’s remarks may have foreclosed the clandestine moves by some PDP Senators to form part of the Body of Principal Officers in the Eight Senate.

PDP Senators angling for prominent positions in the Eight Senate are said to have been unhappy with the unexpected pronouncement by Mark that they should perish the idea of becoming part of the leadership of the Eight Senate.

Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan who represents Yobe North Senatorial District and Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki of Kwara Central Senatorial District have already emerged as front runners for the plum position of President of the Senate.

Two groups, Senate Unity Forum, led by Senator Barnabas Gemade and Like Minds Senators with Senator-elect Dino Melaye as its spokesperson, have also emerged to champion the aspiration of Lawan and Saraki respectively.
While Gemade’s Senate Unity Forum has thrown its weight behind Lawan’s aspiration, Melaye’s Like Minds Senators proclaimed Saraki as its choice for Senate President.

With the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government on May 29, the question in political circles across the country is who will succeed David Mark as President of the Eight Senate?

There have been claims and counter claims by the Senate Unity Forum and the Like Minds Senators about who, between Lawan and Sakari, has greater number of APC senators backing him.

While the Senate Unity Forum projected the necessity for unity in the upper chamber even after the election of principal officers of the Eight Senate and to ensure that the rising standard of the Senate is sustained, Like Minds Senators on the other hand have been harping on being independent minded in choosing the presiding officers of the Senate.

Gemade made bold to state in Abuja that the Senate Unity Forum is made up of many Senators from all geo-political zones of the country united in one common course to actualise the Senate Presidency of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Deputy Senate Presidency of Senator George Akume.

Like Minds Senators on the other hand, claimed to be prepared to fight what they called “imposition from outside” and vowed to ensure the actualisation of Saraki’s Senate Presidency with an unnamed Deputy Senate President from the North-East geopolitical zone.

What is not clear is whether the group of Like Minds Senators wanted to go it all alone without the slightest input from the party that gave them the platform to emerge as Senators.
It is also not obvious what the relationship of the APC senators and their party would look like if the lawmakers are left to completely dictate what happens in the Senate chamber without the party’s guidance.

An insider source, apparently worried by the development, wondered aloud, “Where in the world, maybe in a wonder land like ours, will the parliament work without contribution from the ruling party?”

PDP senators-elect are also not left out of the unfolding frenzy. The opposition lawmakers are known to have been working covertly to actualise the election of their preferred candidate.

Top on the agenda of PDP senators-elect retreat in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, was said to be how to ensure that the opposition lawmakers voted as a bloc during the election of the Senate President.

Observers believe that with 49 Senators in its fold, PDP senators are determined to play a pivotal role in deciding who will be the next President of the Senate.

The unpredictable scenario may have informed the covert and overt scheming by the front runners in the Senate Presidency race to gain the support of greater number of PDP lawmakers.
Although PDP Senators are considered the beautiful brides in the race, APC senators with their simple majority of 59 senators, have the ace.

APC as a political party is also fully aware of the scheming and is not sleeping over the matter. The leadership has therefore been meeting with the contestants or their supporters within the party.

Parts of the outcome of such meetings are the arguments of both the Lawan group and that of Saraki. For example, the Lawan group is believed to have convinced the APC leadership that the choice of the next Senate President should be primarily based on the highest ranking senator amongst the contestants.

They also argued that the zone that garnered the highest number of votes for APC, aside the North-West, which has already produced the country’s president, should be favoured to produce the Senate President.

Added to these, they argued, is the need to compensate the North-East, which has never produced a top legislative officer like Senate President since 1999.
If these issues are finally adopted as the deciding factors, Lawan will emerge the Senate President.

barcanista:
We PDP supporters shall campaign for Saraki to emerge Senate President.

A 25-year-old Nigerian man, Austin Chukwuna lost his life on Sunday after an ingested hard drug he was smuggling out of Indonesia bust in his stomach.

The Indonesian Police said Chukwuna who checked into a hotel close to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the country on Sunday suddenly ran out, screaming like a lunatic shortly after he checked in.

Adding that the deceased ran to the hotel’s car park, where he broke a car glass which he used in cutting himself in an attempt to get rid of the drug from his system.

A Police Chief Comr. Heddi Managsi said, “Austin Chukwuna, 25, ran out of the Ibis Hotel near the airport compound where he had just stayed a night.

He allegedly tore open his abdomen with pieces of glass,” The police chief said when they searched inside his hotel room; they found three methamphetamine capsules and another eight meth capsules on the highway. “We then took him in an ambulance, but he died on the way to Tangerang General Hospital,” he added.

Senate President, David Mark, has warned Ben Bruce,
the senator-elect for Bayelsa east senatorial district over his unguarded statements on issues relating to National Assembly.

The business mogul has been in the news lately after he took to his social media platform to accuse Nigerian lawmakers of enriching themselves at the expense of Nigerians.

“There is a freedom of information law in Nigeria.

Nigerians have a right to know everything about the national assembly’s finances. I will push for openness,” he wrote on his Twitter account earlier in May.

“I would sponsor a bill that would seek to reduce the cost of running the government immediately after the inauguration of the 8th national assembly.

I will publish names of any of my colleagues who vote against it. We will deal with them.

“I am fighting corrupt elite. When they drink a bottle of champagne that can educate a child, they should know Ben Bruce will fight them.”

However, speaking on Monday during a retreat of lawmakers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state, Mark said details of the finances of National Assembly was available to the public.

“Every time you hear people talking about the national assembly budget, for heaven’s sake, the national assembly budget is in the open,” he said.

“Unless you would say you have never seen the national budget, it is a public document. The national assembly budget is there with every other budget.

“Our budget is open, what we earn is open, if anybody wants to receive his salary and donate it, he can donate it; he doesn’t need to consult us.”

“We were the first to make a cut in 2015 budget and people should appreciate what we are doing, not to come and give an impression that our budget isbloated. Has every other person made a cut? No,” he
said.

Senate President, David Mark, has warned Ben Bruce,
the senator-elect for Bayelsa east senatorial district over his unguarded statements on issues relating to National Assembly.

The business mogul has been in the news lately after he took to his social media platform to accuse Nigerian lawmakers of enriching themselves at the expense of Nigerians.

“There is a freedom of information law in Nigeria.

Nigerians have a right to know everything about the national assembly’s finances. I will push for openness,” he wrote on his Twitter account earlier in May.

“I would sponsor a bill that would seek to reduce the cost of running the government immediately after the inauguration of the 8th national assembly.

I will publish names of any of my colleagues who vote against it. We will deal with them.

“I am fighting corrupt elite. When they drink a bottle of champagne that can educate a child, they should know Ben Bruce will fight them.”

However, speaking on Monday during a retreat of lawmakers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state, Mark said details of the finances of National Assembly was available to the public.

“Every time you hear people talking about the national assembly budget, for heaven’s sake, the national assembly budget is in the open,” he said.

“Unless you would say you have never seen the national budget, it is a public document. The national assembly budget is there with every other budget.

“Our budget is open, what we earn is open, if anybody wants to receive his salary and donate it, he can donate it; he doesn’t need to consult us.”

“We were the first to make a cut in 2015 budget and people should appreciate what we are doing, not to come and give an impression that our budget isbloated. Has every other person made a cut? No,” he
said.

Dollyak:

If he is allocated the senate will it count as southwest share due to kwara?

Dollyak:

Is saraki regarded as southwestern?

Jarus:


Oga, if Tinubu is not jittery, he won't beg that other former governors prevail on Saraki to drop his ambition. He would threaten to meet him on the field.

This is looking like a lost battle for Tinubu. And what they did against Mulikat Akande in 2011 is now set to happen against them.

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

Nnewi – No fewer than 69 persons burnt to death Sunday evening when a trailer loaded with Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol that was descending from Army barracks side of Onitsha Enugu express way lost control and rammed into the Asaba Motor Park at Upper Iwekas Onitsha and exploded.

Eleven vehicles mostly commuter buses and two motorcycles inside the Asaba Park Onitsha including the 40 foot tanker laden with petrol burnt beyond repairs inside the park.

Governor Willie Obiano and the Anambra State Commissioner wept on seeing the number casualties when they visited the scene of the accident, the Governor told the relations of the victims to take heart and promised that the state will help in ensuring that the living victims are well taken care of in their respective hospitals

The Nigerian Red Cross Society officials were the first to arrive at the scene of the incident, and according to its Chairman Prof Peter Emeka Kathy “we have sixty nine burnt to dead persons as at now, there are other 30 casualties, a casualty is a living person, a dead person is no longer a casualty, so 69 persons are dead, and they have bee evaluated to various mortuaries in Onitsha, from Toronto to St Charles Boromneo Mortuaries and others in town”.

A former governor of Adamawa state, Murtala Nyako, who was impeached by the state Assembly for gross financial fraud, has returned to Nigeria from a self-imposed exile.

Mr. Nyako and his deputy, Bala Ngilari, were impeached by the Assembly under Speaker Ahmadu Fintiri.
Shortly after his removal, Mr. Nyako fled Nigeria amid speculation​s​ he was to be arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Mr. Nyako’s supporters believed the impeachment was orchestrated by the Presidency as it came shortly after the governor wrote a scathing letter accusing former President Goodluck Jonathan of carrying out genocide against the people of the north east.

The former governor left Nigeria for Germany, then England, where he had been since July 2014.

Although his deputy, Mr. Ngilari, succeeded ​in upturnimg his impeachment in court, Mr. Nyako was not so lucky as a Federal High Court sitting in Yola last week dismissed his suit challenging his ouster.

Mr. Nyako returned to Nigeria Saturday afternoon and was received by friends and associates at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja. Some of those who received the former governor were​ Senators Binta Garba, Abdullahi Adamu and Danjuma Goje.
Mr. Nyako played a prominent role in the emergence of the new governor of Adamawa ​S​tate, Umaru Jibrilla.

He directed his supporters who formed the majority of the membership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Adamawa State to vote for Mr. Jibrilla in the two primary elections held in the state; first during the bye election (before it was cancelled by the court), and in the run-up to the 2015 election.

After his victory in the April 11 election, Governor Jibrilla said he remained loyal to Mr. Nyako. To prove his loyalty, he appointed three core loyalists of Mr. Nyako as part of the five appointments he made shortly after he was sworn in Friday.

Mr. Jibrilla announced the appointment of Umar Bindir as the Secretary to the government, SSG, Abdulrahman Jimeta, as Chief of Staff, Abdullahi Bakari as Principal Private Secretary, and Ahmed Mahmood as the Director of Protocol, while Yohanna Mathias was appointed as the Chief press Secretary.

soe:


Are you talking to me like that? you are so rude

soe:
Why is this guy loudmouthed


For making this outburst...Onu will not be chosen as SGF.


Governors have no right to choose for Mr President.

If you like Onu that much, appoint him as your SSG.

Period

bogs4real:
I noticed that no one seems to have given a hoot about the quick scene during the general handshakes when Jonathan was going around shaking dignitaries...Jonathan almost skipped obasanjo but OBJ extended his hand and stood, it was then that GEJ turned back swiftly to shake baba iyabo....Pls holla if u noticed it and throw ur opinion open

Lemon12:
Pls som1 should tell President Buhari that it's almost 21hours since he took over yet we don't have light in my area,shebi he promised us light??even the queue is still here in this filling station and d roads are still bad,what has he been doing in there since he was sworn in.. !

Ababadada:
I am core Niger Delta, to be precise Bayelsa state. I support Biafra with my last blood. I don't how long it will take for us get there. Now we know the problem of Nigeria is Yoruba according to Sanusi. They are evils, they neither here nor there, they are liars. They do not keep agreements. Know this principled. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan formally dissolved his cabinet midnight Thursday.

Shortly after the presidential inauguration dinner held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja, last night, he and his ministers proceeded to the Council Chambers tea room.

A toast was proposed in his honour by one of the cabinet members a few minutes before 12am.

Jonathan thereafter said the cabinet stood dissolved by midnight.