My congratulations to all the new ministers of the federal republic of Nigeria. Today, you begin the hardwork to help President Buhari deliver on the promise of change he has committed to.
The challenges before you are enormous. People's expectations are very high and expectedly so. The people's hope is hinged on the change our party promised. You are now the foot soldiers of that change. You have to be creative, proactive and bold. You are men and women of talent and experience of the moment and are lucky to be chosen. After the luck comes work. It is a new dawn for our country. Virtually every facet of our national life needs urgent attention. After the devastating effects of the mismanagement by the previous administration on our economy and the psyche of Nigerians you have been selected to help bring Nigeria back from the brink. Your assignment will not be easy. You bear the responsibility to move Nigeria forward into the rank of developed nations.
Let me share with you the words of Aneesh Chopra from his book "innovative State". His words resonate for you all today. "This is about creating an innovative State. A government for the 21st Century. One that engages its diverse society, encourages participation and creates a partnership towards problem solving".
I leave you with these words and congratulate you once more.
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Akinwumi Ambode a performer not a noise maker by Gbolahan Bakare http://www.citizenconfidential.com/news/akinwumi-ambode-a-performer-not-a-noise-maker-by-gbolahan-bakare/

Ambode has touched almost every sector to make lagos state a better state for all. He just not a noise maker .

Ambode, a Worker, not a Talker

I first met Akinwunmi Ambode at the Onikan Stadium when he declared his candidacy for the office of the governor of Lagos State. And I went away with the impression that he is meek, conversational, enthusiastic and spirited. It is also apt to add charming, engaging and razor-sharp. One thing I know that he has brought into the administration of Lagos State is that milk of human kindness that has been lacking for so long. Ambode does not believe in elitist approach to governance. His actions as far have demonstrated that he is ideologically opposed to such an approach.

One of the actions he took upon becoming governor is to release N11 billion for the payment of arrears of pension owed to pensioners since 2010. To take care of the welfare of our senior citizens is about the best way to start governance. By doing that, he clearly demonstrates that the State appreciates their labour of love and their contribution towards the development of Lagos State. A civil society organization, the Committee for the protection of Peoples Mandate(CPPM) has this to say: “we are quite aware of how Governor Ambode put smiles on the faces of state and local government retirees from ministries , parastatals and agencies early in August when he approved N11 billion to offset arrears owned since 2010. This is a clear departure from our history of shabby treatment of retirees in the public service.”

Efforts have been made towards stabilizing the financial status of the state. The Governor, through financial restructuring, has been able to stave off waste to the tune of N3 billion monthly. Nigeria’s creaking economy means that strict budgetary discipline and fewer splurges in spending will enhance growth. Ambode will follow the example of the Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo, who, when he began working on his statue of David, took a block of marble and chipped away “whatever was in excess.” He wants to cut away all the things that are in excess bureaucratically and fiscally. He is determined to put Lagos on the path to sustainable growth. The economic well-being of Lagos is critical to the recovery of the nation’s economy.

This policy of stopping waste will help in making funds available to inject into capital projects. The bold and inspiring governor wants to promote business friendly policies that will unleash growth while, at the same time, taking steps to ensure that the benefits of that growth are spread more wisely and equitably. The International Monetary Fund recently stated that nearly all economies in the world suffered a widening gap between the rich and poor in the past few decades. Nothing could be worse for an economy than inequality. It definitely slows the pace of growth and heightens economic instability.

As an Accountant, Ambode is clearly aware that the State needs to set in place market friendly policies to supercharge growth rate, thereby melting poverty away. The experience of the Asian Tigers has shown that there are two paramount ways to boost economic growth: create jobs and create jobs. To boost economic growth is just about the best way to do that. There is honesty to his performance that is so accessible and for the most part, real. He just has it. His policies are true, already being felt and surprising in its eruption of intensity.

Currently, he is reviewing government loans with banks with the intent to restructure them and free up funds for further development. It is beginning to bear fruits in terms of job creation and infrastructural development. He has recently ordered the employment of 1,300 primary school teachers. The new Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment is set up to check the alarming rate of unemployment in the state. Kamal Ayinde Bayewu, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, is of the view that the ministry will look into employment issue and investment opportunities. “And the moment these investment opportunities are coming in, then the employment window will now be opened to the youths. There is a great hope with the programme he has stated with, I wish the people who will take care of these ministries will have the same kind of vision the governor has. With that, the implementation of these programmes will be easy and everybody will be able to
key into the new Lagos we are talking about.”

Ambode has started so well by casting a harsh spotlight on unemployment in Lagos State. A sense of urgency has been successfully conveyed. The man is not loud, brash and uninhibited. He is quietly doing the job. And I just hope that stakeholders will come further along with him.

By
Ikechukwu Orji
Orji is a Journalist.
08023624097
ikechukwuorji@yahoo.com

Gov. Ibikunle Amosun, the people are not smiling (1)

This writer and this page will lead the applause for Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s stewardship the moment he surpasses his over-hyped and quite average performance. Apparently, Amosun has mended some roads, built new ones and constructed bridges. Among other schemes, he has initiated a 15-unit model school project, in purported fulfillment of his brief as Executive Governor, Ogun State. But tempting as it is to recount his laudable schemes, the purpose of this piece is to draw his attention to the maggots of neglect, arrant duplicity and underdevelopment infesting his government and the state, like a mind tumour.

Tumour has been known to cause its victims to hallucinate or descend into psychosomatic degeneration until death, particularly if located in the brain. But Governor Amosun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has never been diagnosed with any such affliction, physically or metaphorically; hence unlike an ill-fated administrator, leading a government afflicted by nerve and ideological tumour, Governor Amosun may yet fulfill the promise of his party’s philosophy of ‘Change.’

Until then, Amosun’s version of ‘Change’ will continually resound as a corny phrase he had to chant, to achieve an epic sweep at the polls. So far, it has worked for him. After all, he remains His Excellency, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State for a second term. It’s however, interesting to see him bluster through his second spell in office, chanting ‘Change’ yet denouncing it in conflicting tenor and undertones.

Amosun camp parades him as the people’s governor, a humane leader, yet he is stonily deaf and conveniently blind to the townships’ grief and the peasants’ sighs. There is a death trap at Owode junction, just before you get to Ifo; recently it claimed lives and property in ghastly vehicle accidents. And poor, helpless residents of Ijoko, Agoro, Ijako, Iyana-Ilogbo, Ilepa, continually die, slowly and accidentally, from the perils of plying their muddy and badly cratered roads.

There is devastation in Alade, Elekunmefa, Imise, Onihale, Singer, to mention a few and to residents and traders of Lusada, Atan-Ota and Igbesa in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state, the roads leading to their communities are nightmarish and inimical to growth.

At the point where the Lagos ghetto of Ayobo meshes with Ogun state, a hideous kind of filth palpitates. There is ugliness in Lafenwa, Aiyetoro, Olugbode and various communities along Itele road. More roads present an eyesore at Oju-Ore, Ilo-Awela and Oke-Aro. At Toll-gate junction, Joju, Temidire and environ, mucky pools still stagnate in devastating craters along the bypasses because these hotspots and scenes of multiple deadly accidents are allegedly inconsequential to Governor Amosun. Really?

Lest we forget the people of Ewekoro who are dying slowly from the dangerous fumes persistently discharged into their communities by neighbouring multinational cement company, LafargeWAPCO Plc. Persistent reportage of LafargeWAPCO’s dangerous commercial activities in the area have been randomly scorned and condemned by the incumbent government of the state in the past, until a five-part series by The Nation spurred the government to stage a theatrical intervention that has so far, produced a remedy that barely addresses the health and developmental challenges incited by LafargeWAPCO in the area.

A certain Barr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, who identifies himself as Secretary to the Ogun State Government, in a recent article published on September 5, by online medium, Opinion Nigeria among others, enthused that: “Of course, it is impossible to list the achievements of our government within this limited space. I must add that, Amosun, like our revered sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is a man that is conscious of his place in history. People like that are men of vision who will devote their all to the welfare of their people.”

Will Governor Amosun live up to the full measure of Adeoluwa’s hyperbolic cant? It’s about time the governor and his peers, stopped misappropriating substance by channeling it from the exploits of late Obafemi Awolowo. Is it so hard for Governor Amosun to become an icon by his own terms? It needn’t be too difficult for him to aspire to greatness by his handiwork, good deeds to be precise. Until then, no quality of spin or PR blitz would dull the jarring notes of sorrow and the portraits of death presented by Ogun State’s neglected townships, on his watch.

It is even more heartbreaking to see schools in the state deteriorate rapidly. Governor Amosun will do right by devoting greater attention to public schools on the decline. Consider for instance, the sad case of Salawu Abiola Comprehensive High School (S.A.C.H.S), built in 63 hectares of land in Osiele, Abeokuta; it is ironical that Governor Amosun continually commemorates the life and death of the school’s founder, late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O) Abiola on June 12 of every year, even as the school founded by the late politician and philanthropist, wither away in abject neglect.

The school, initially established as Moshood Abiola Comprehensive High School in 1979 was later renamed, Osiele Comprehensive High School after state government took possession of it from the owner in 1980. It was later renamed after M.K.O’s father as Salawu Abiola Comprehensive High School.

It need be said that while Abiola was alive, he traveled with friends and family on his birthday, August 24th of every year, to celebrate with students of the school. That day also happened to be ‘Abiola Day,’ a day set aside for rewarding outstanding students of the school with prizes.

As you read, S.A.C.H.S is virtually dead. The hostels are derelict and the classrooms and school laboratories are severely impaired.

There are other public secondary schools like S.A.C.H.S deserving Governor Amosun’s urgent intervention. While alumni of Abeokuta Grammar School, Baptist Boys Secondary School and African Church Grammar School (of which Gov. Amosun is an alumnus) to mention a few, have been staging progressive interventions to rescue their alma mater from neglect, S.A.C.H.S alumni have fared terribly in this respect. The latter’s intervention would have been a saving grace for the school since the Abiola family apparently considers it the government’s burden, and Governor Amosun conveniently neglects it and other diminishing schools, to actualize his mega-schools fantasy.

“Hundreds of school buildings have been renovated, but the governor will not waste the scarce resources of the state to maintain buildings that ought to be demolished…We will not deceive our people with cosmetic changes,” stated Adeoluwa in his fawning piece on Amosun’s model school project. No doubt, Adeoluwa and his principal, Governor Amosun, need to visit S.A.C.H.S, Egba High School, Egba Odeda High School, Methodist Grammar School, Arigbajo, and other schools within Abeokuta, Ijebu and the outskirts of Ogun State to determine if they are actually worth saving or not. So doing, both Amosun and his underling may see the error, wastefulness and pitiful grandstanding in expending millions of tax payers’ money on building new ‘model schools’ while several schools in the state suffer excruciating decline.

No one wishes that Governor Amosun deceives the citizenry with what he and Adeoluwa considers “cosmetic changes” but since he is been paid handsomely with tax payers’ money for running the state, he is duty bound to provide cost-effective education with justifiable infrastructure, good roads and safety of lives and property in the state. It is a way to fulfill the promise of “Change” we can believe in and prosper by, that he made to the electorate at election time.

To be continued…

Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Najeem Salaam has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to assent the constitutional amendment that accommodates autonomy of state Houses of Assembly.
Speaking at a closing segment of the Legislative Retreat of Kwara State House of Assembly in Ede, State of Osun, Speaker Salaam stressed that, for the the training and special skill acquisition on legislative matter to attain level of practicality, the autonomy must be obtained.
He said, "if a state parliament is self accounting, the chances are high that checks and balance contemplated by the framers of the constitutional democracy would be attained, but if a parliament would rely on executive for funding, then we should know that independence is redefined."
Speaker Salaam then expressed his optimism on the preparedness of the state legislatures across the federating units of the country, saying over two third majority of the state assemblies endorsed the autonomy at the last constitutional amendment.
In a related development, Speaker Salaam further pleaded with lawmakers of the state Houses of Assembly to halt the habitual haste of changing leadership of the parliament, saying that roving impeachment of Speakers had made assemblies unstable to the advantage of the executive.
According to him, "Another sore point in the weakness of legislature is incessant changing of leadership and until we halt the trend, the executive would continue to take the advantage of the situation, and we would not blame it for supporting a trend that keeps its interest, because this is politics."
Speaker Salaam also urged the electorate to be magnanimous to the legislators by re-electing them back for a long time, for the sake of cutting the cost.
Salaam said, "if we have our lawmakers reelected time and time over again, the cost of training new lawmakers would be saved, and the system would be better for it, because of the experience that would have been acquired along the line, but if we keep on changing the lawmakers, then we have to keep on training at expensive rate

Though the October 11, 2015 presidential elections in Guinea Conakry have come and gone, not many would forget in a long time the key role played by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And just like he did in the Nigerian situation serving as the catalyst, the fulcrum alongside others and perhaps the “babalawo” that brought the opposition to power and chased away the PDP after 16 years in power, Asiwaju Tinubu has helped retain a trusted friend and pan-Africanist in power. Prof. Alpha Conde, the first democratically elected president of Guinea is back for a record second term of 5 years after a commanding first round victory of 58 per cent of total votes cast.

The victory that came when the final results were announced was reward for handwork and a campaign that was on message. The political campaign of the incumbent president got a bite when Tinubu moved in to help his friend, a brother and a true African leader. The journey for Alpha Conde’s re-election began sometime in May 2015 when he came to Nigeria for the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari. President Conde not only met with Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, he met with other African leaders. He described his meeting with Buhari as very useful and insightful. President Conde in several conversations maintained that Africa has found in Buhari the leader it needs to lead it and move it forward. He said Buhari is best suited to lead Africa where Goodluck Jonathan failed.

On that same May trip, he also met with Tinubu to learn more about Nigeria’s political and election experience. He also discussed the political situation in Guinea and the Presidential election ahead. I recall that the President also met with the governor of Lagos State Akinwumi Ambode.

After the initial May visit, Tinubu in June 2015 visited Conakry to further assess the country's political terrain and the direction of the presidential campaigns. Soon after, Tinubu moved into Conakry personally with his team. The Tinubu election strategy and planning team comprising of six people quickly settled down to work with barely 60 days to the elections.

Embedded within the Alpha Conde campaign organization, the Tinubu team worked on political messaging, speeches, social media interventions, election monitoring and countering the opponents and a day by day review of the campaign. Perhaps the most the defining aspect of the presidential campaign was the ROBO call element, which was used for the first time in any election in Guinea. The Robo call involved the sending out of an automated message recorded by President Conde to about 6 million voters asking for their support and telling them he was their best choice. At least one in every 4 Guinean received such a direct phone call from the president. It soon became the talk of town as the president’s message in four languages went out to the electorate. It was out in French, Fular, Malinke and Sousou. The social media also went abuzz discussing the timely direct voice messages from the president to the people.

But back to the dynamics of the politics in Guinea. The last Presidential elections had some strong candidates in the opposition who were backed by big money and were armed to ensure they either win or create problems. The toughest challenger to Alpha Conde was the Fula leader and former Prime Minister, Ciello Djallo who had a strong 40 per cent support from his economically powerful Fula tribe. Several weeks to the election, the calls for the postponement were rife coming mainly from the opposition. They hinged their calls for postponement on the non-preparedness of the electoral body in the issuance of voter cards and the fear that the elections will be marred by violence. However, they had a game plan. Their game plan was to force a second round ballot in which situation they would a very good chance of unseating the president. They failed in their attempt to postpone the election. They however did not fail to generate some violence. The final
campaign by Djallo turned out very violent. Five deaths were recorded. The tension rose. It was a day before Alpha Conde's final rally for the RPG party.
The campaign organization had to re-strategize quickly. If the president went ahead there would be violence and that would play into the script of the opposition to have the election postponed. The president took the hard decision with his team to cancel his final rally. It turned out to be a very smart political decision. It brought down the tension and calmed nerves. The opposition bit their fingers.

The president went on Robo call to millions of Guineans asking them to remain calm. Not to burn Guinea but to build Guinea. He asked them to come out and vote peacefully on October 11. The decision not to postponement election was a tough one. Asiwaju Tinubu played a key role in advising the President to stick to the date, October 11. He provided context for the President by letting him into the experience Nigeria had during the last presidential elections. This insight along with the understanding of the dynamics of the Guinean political situation helped the President Conde not to postpone the elections. The electoral body also stuck to its gun that it was ready to conduct the elections. Perhaps the most important voice was that of the diplomatic community that rang out in unison that Gunea was ready for the October 11 Presidential elections and that the talk of violence was perhaps exaggerated. Muhammad Ibn Chambers, the head of the UN delegation
played a bit of shuttle diplomacy within Guinea nudging the diplomatic community to speak with one voice. He worked through the ranks of the Presidential candidates urging them to shun violence by speaking to their supporters to participate fully in the process.

Fortunately, Election Day came on October 11, 2015 and there was no single act of violence or voter intimidation. Polls were extended from 6pm to 8pm to accommodate all the voters. At the end, the people of Guinea demonstrated their love for democracy and peaceful elections. The United Nations infact adjudged the presidential election in Guinea as one of the most credible and peaceful in Africa.

The people of Guinea were patient enough for the electoral body, SENI to compile all results from across the country. It took about a week. But by the time 70 per cent of the results came in, the excitement began to build because Alpha Conde was in the clear lead and a first round victory was suddenly within reach. Sensing defeat the other candidates quickly held a press briefing to reject the results and ask for cancellation. It was a last ditch effort that failed. There was no way they could cancel the wish and the votes of nearly 6 million of their countrymen.
Alpha Conde went ahead to win and earn another 5 years in power. But after the celebration of victory, he must settle down to govern and place Guinea on the path of accelerated development. The Kaleta electricity project that was the corner stone of his performance and electoral success must be expanded quickly to generate more power beyond its present 240-mega watts. The roads need attention, more foreign direct investments are needed, urban renewal, job creation, education must be subsidized and programs to reduce poverty must be rolled out. Therein lies the only way he can reward the electorate for trusting him to be their leader for another 5 years.

The Nigerian experienced rubbed off. Thanks to Tinubu and many others who worked silently behind the scene to make sure democracy not only grows but also survives in a country like Guinea. Nigeria’s neighbor. Tinubu seems to be about the business of installing presidents across Africa. But beyond that he is more about ensuring democracy thrives and good governance is enthroned in Africa. Nigeria under the current leadership now has the moral and political leverage to support and lead other African nations on this path.

I have no reason to attack Tinubu – Tunde Bakare



Pastor Tunde Bakare has replied those who said he hates and likes to attack the former governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu that there is no basis for attacking the politician, except in the figment of the imagination of some people.



He said this in a recent interview with TheNEWS in Lagos. “Some times what looks like an attack is truth. Why would I attack Asiwaju? Talking of politics, he has paid his dues. People were not there when I preached the message and that really celebrated Tinubu. That he single handedly fought the PDP to a standstill in the southwest. I sent him the tape. Do you understand me?”



He expressed disgust at a situation in the society where, the moment you focus on issues, they reduce it to personalities. “May I ask you the question maybe that would throw light on areas that you call criticisms by those who do not know the difference between critique and a negative comment? Shall I pray for you that your children will not be greater than you? Will you say amen to that? So if God has used you to facilitate the emergence of someone who now performs better than you, shouldn’t you be happy? My mother is a happy woman, she didn’t go to school but she sent me. And today she is at peace with herself that she has worked hard and worked well and I give her the honour. You may never meet my mother but you have met the letter she has written to the world. It not a letter written with ink and pen. Do you understand me? I don’t have any problem with Asiwaju,” Pastor Bakare said.



Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu



He revealed to TheNEWS further that on 3 November 2014, he was in Asiwaju’s house and said to him: “Asiwaju, there are only four things left that I am pursuing in this world, and none of them is in your hands, my mother is 106, her prayer is that I should survive her and give her a befitting burial. Asiwaju, can you guarantee my being alive to do that?’ he said he can’t. No 2: ‘Asiwaju, I want to stay in health while waiting to give my mother a befitting burial, can any human being guarantee that?’ Nobody. I have five children by the grace of God, I want them to be greater than I am, and I don’t want them to go before me, ‘can you guarantee that?’ And finally I said I want to make heaven at the end, and to hear, ‘good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord your God’ can you guarantee that? He can’t. So what is the basis of competition? What I am looking for is not in your hand. Am not looking for power, I am not looking for position; I am not looking for appointment. Can’t you understand that? I have never done contract in my life. So there is no basis for attacking Asiwaju except in the figment of the imagination of some people. But something touched me, and when matters are brought to me, I look at some of them, I take them all, sometimes I don’t bother myself because you must not fight every battle and lose the world.”

EVENT- LECTURE. MUSON CENTER. 10AM. OCTOBER 22ND.



THE AKINTOLA WILLIAMS DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES. “LEADERSHIP FACTORS AND GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: KEY TO NATIONAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. OCTOBER 22ND, 2015. MUSON CENTER. BRIEF REMARKS BY ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU. GUEST OF HONOUR


PROTOCOL


We gather today to celebrate not just a great man but also the very notion of greatness. To celebrate the works and life of a man who has become an institution. A powerful mind whose contributions to societal good, the accounting profession and overall development remains unequalled. As if the gods knew, they have kept him with us this long because we need him and his wisdom around a little bit longer. We pray for a longer life for him.

This lecture, another in the series comes at a time when the nation is at the cusp of change. A change so long desired that it has finally come. And now that it has come, how it works, whether it succeeds or not will be dependent on each and everyone of us and what contributions we make. Largely also the impact and success of this change project will depend on how the change team, the coalition that worked together to make the change happen bound together. CHANGE is about team spirit sustained over time to activate the institutions, the resources and the personnel and galvanize them into action. If we fail Nigerians this time around, we would have ourselves to blame.

Good leadership is the driver for national growth and development. In the presence of a good leadership, the country is safely in the hands of not just visionaries but thinkers and agents of change. The conception and implementation of viable policies takes center stage. Priorities are set and state institutions function in tandem to the political and economic goals enunciated. Of course accountability becomes cardinal.

The history of Nigeria’s growth and development has not been an enviable one. On paper it looks good, but in reality we have failed to turn those brilliant ideas into practicable and workable solutions for our people. What them is the problem, many may want to ask? I guess the answers will flow from our lecturer today. Dr. Kayode Fayemi I believe will lend his critical mind to interrogate this issue thoroughly. With his experience in governance, his sojourn in the civil society and his academic research work, Dr. Fayemi I believe will provoke us all and particularly the current government in a manner that will galvanize us to action and greater commitment to change.

However before Dr. Fayemi takes center stage, let me offer my little tuppence with regard to the topic of the lecture on Leadership as key to national growth and development. Change is impossible without new thinking. So also is growth and development in any country impossible unless we have a leadership strong in character, deep in thinking and bold in action. In the lecture I delivered in 2011 at the NIPSS in Kuru, I posited that for Nigeria to develop the people must change their orientation, and give the progressives a chance to run the country.

To free ourselves of the old mental shackles, we must discard old thinking. We cannot do this by talking as we have talked before. The problem is that we have not produced an alternative worldview. People must think and act on something. Before they leave the old, you must offer them the new. Which is superior or more preferable.

In 2011, I argued back then that the progressives want to change the way we interact politically and economically in order to bring greater democracy and economic development. This is in contrast to the conservatives who believe in the status quo that got us into this hole. The progressives believe in the development of new ideas and its operationalization.

Now that the progressives have won power, we must work to lift Nigeria out of the hole by turning our riotous diversity into cooperative pluralism. No more the lack of continuity in development planning which has seen different governments enunciate different and often confusing social economic policies. We need forward thinking steeped in a renewed spirit of change and commitment to higher standards of good governance.
To this end, I believe that the topic for this lecture is timely and relevant. It is a topic I believe is dear to my father and Uncle, Akintola Williams. From this place today, our time would have been well invested if we go away with a better understanding about the role of leadership and good governance in national growth and development. But beyond that, we must act consciously at our different stations and desks to energize the process and contribute to this national rebirth.

I thank you for this special honor and I look forward like most of us to learn something new from the lecture today.
Thank you for listening and welcome.

AMAECHI'S SCREENING DEBACLE
The All Progressive Youth Forum (APYF) commends the strides and performance of the Ministerial nominees sent in by President Muhammadu Buhari. The caliber of the nominees was further proven by their show of exceptional understanding of Nigeria – her issues, and the solutions to her problems.



The Forum also wishes to commend the Senate president and his colleagues for displaying a level of maturity and patriotism in the conduct of the confirmation hearings so far.



However, it is of great concern to the us that the confirmation hearing of one the most dedicated public servants in the last dispensation; the erudite Director General of our presidential campaign and former Governor of Rivers’ State, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, is begining to take a new twist due to unnecessary and prolonged postponements on the basis of the absence of a report from the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions chaired by Sen. Samuel Anyanwu.



While acknowledging the constitutional right and independence of the parliament to conduct such hearings uninterrupted by anyone or anything, it behooves on us to call on them to do so without recourse to personal vendetta or partisan obstructionism.



Rt. Hon. Amaechi is a great Nigerian leader. He has served the nation, his state, his people and his party– the APC – with all of his being and resources. He is a rare icon, a tough and unwavering champion of the Change Movement and we support his nomination.



Political differences and partisan brinksmanship are normal in every society’s polity; nonetheless, they must be set aside when making decisions in the best interest of a nation. The moment we upgrade these differences to the fore in processes that affect national interest, then we will likely truncate the foundation of a functioning government, the very essence of us all occupying our respective positions in the polity.



In support of a New Nigerian foundation being laid upon by President Buhari, we look forward to Tuesday for the expeditious hearing of Mr. Amaechi and his beckoning to serve, once again, his fatherland.



Signed:



Barr. Ismaeel Ahmed

Chairman, APC Youth Forum (APYF).

Buhari's Ministerial Scandal continues to be Exposed. Do you know that the nominee from Jigawa Sulaiman Adamu is the same mother and father with the current acting INEC chairman Amina Bala Zakari. Haba Buhari!

The orchestrated delay by the Senate to confirm the ministerial nomination of Rotimi Amaechi is a brazen display of what happens when open and honest process is brushed aside so that the wiles of backroom and vengeful politics may take control of a vital constitutional function of the upper house of our National Assembly. The rule of fair law has been transformed into the rule of muddled evil.
They claim there is a petition against Rotimi Amaechi, Immediate Past Governor of Rivers State and a ministerial nominee. A court order enjoining his nomination is also alleged but no one seems to have seen the court order and
none can authoritatively state the name of the court that wrote the phantom order. Now, we have a phantom law and visible injustice.
This is but a slice of the bitter meal Senator Saraki hopes to serve Nigeria if he is allowed to continue to be the Chief Cook of the proceedings of the National Assembly. This ugly strategy against Amaechi shows the disregard the PDP and its allies have for constitutional and legal processes. To settle a local political score that resides only in Rivers state, they are willing to lay waste to the inner workings of the national government, particularly trashing the relationship between the Presidency and the National Assembly.
While we do not know from what court the order comes from but we fear with good reason that Saraki and company are turning the National Assembly into a court of kangaroos. There is a political gang-up against Amaechi by those who were his enemies in Rivers state. They were unable to touch him while governor; now they seek their pound of flesh.
We might expect this form of vindictiveness from the abrasive and embattled Governor Wike. Although, parading about with bombast and bluster as the governor, Wike knows his heavy skates are cutting into thin ice. The selection process by which he came to office cannot justifiably be deemed an election. If the electoral tribunal does as it ought, Wike's tenure will be aborted. He will be removed from the Government House and put on the streets. This fall he can't abide. He has nursed his wicked ambition too long to have it pulled from him after just as he is getting accustomed to it.
Thus, he has set himself on a most selfish mission. He has raided the cupboard of his state to pull out some of its precious funds to buy those senators, who would be bought, so that he can distort the national process to satisfy his parochial mission. Wike seeks to hold Amaechi hostage as long as the electoral case against him is pending. He hopes to trap Amaechi in among the worst of double traps. He attempts to roadblock Amaechi. Amaechi must somehow get the APC to abandon the tribunal case or Amaechi's nomination shall remain in abeyance. However, to jettison
the tribunal, Amaechi would have to beg the APC candidate as well as President Buhari and the party leadership. Not only would this be shameful, it would be political suicide for it is such
a toxic entreaty that it has no prospect of success. Wike seeks to make Amaechi so desperate as light himself aflame politically.
Thus far, Amaechi has been smart and disciplined. He has not put his neck in the noose. While Wike's scheme is cunning , it will enjoy a short shelf life. The rumor of court orders cannot stand. No federal court would dare issue such an order because federal jurists know that such an order would be an improper judicial encroachment into what is essentially a legislative function. Any order from a state court is an automatic nullity because federal institutions have primacy over state organs. As a son should not dictate to his father, a state court has no business entertaining an issue concerning the procedures of the National Assembly processes
and a state court is certainly not in the position to enjoin the National Assembly. Again, this not the rule of law; it is rule of the lawless and the law of disorder.
While we should not be surprised at the craven behavior of Wike, we should be taken aback that the senate could allow itself to be brought so low, so swiftly. It is as if a stiff wind came and blew the stony edifice down as if made of crumbled paper and old rag.
Ironic that Senate President Saraki would allow this to happen. Amaechi and Saraki were close allies as governors. That he would sell Amaechi down the river for so cheap a blandishment should give all other Saraki allies pause. The man is so loyal and concerned about self that he has no loyalty and concern
to bestow to others, to advance his cause one inch, he will slice the political neck of a friend. To be his ally is to begin to count the moments when
his self interest will make him turn against you.
Yet, in all of this, there is an even greater irony. Saraki has climbed the summit of hypocrisy. Amaechi has not been indicted much less convicted
of any crime. One cannot be barred from high office merely by the shadow of rumor and the craft of those who monger them. In a chamber where the presiding officer is undergoing a court trial for corruption and where scores of other senators are under investigations by various graft agencies, they have no moral standing to sidetrack Amaechi's nomination. Like the Senators, Amaechi is yet to be tried and found guilty by any court of law. Thus, he stands innocent until proven guilty. He should not be denied his rights and we, the people, should be denied our right to the fair and honest operation of the National Assembly in the exercise of its constitutional duties.
The change the people voted for was that our elected officials would abide the constitution and rule of law. What we did not vote for is that they would invent new, more odious ways to shackle democracy and undermine governance for all
in pursuit of their narrowing agendas.
If the Senate insists in not confirming Amaechi because of the allegations against him, then the Senate should begin to purge itself of members in like circumstances. The extraction should start at the very top. If the senators cannot treat Amaechi's nomination due to the extra-judicial allegations against him, then the Senate should suspend Senate President Saraki, who actually has a formal corruption case against him. Also, the other senators who are subjects of official investigations should be relieved of their duties until their matters are resolved. Put another way, if the law protects Saraki and others by regarding them innocent until proven guilty, that same rule must also apply to Rotimi.
The machinations surrounding the nomination of the former Governor of Rivers state show that an unfortunate segment of the political class
still fails to realize that change has come to Nigeria. They
still seek the bankrupt politics of old where money trumps right and affluence means more than the rule of law and decency. These people seek to keep us in the past.
Therefore, we must demand that the Amaechi nomination is moved forward. We do this not for Amaechi. Whether he comes or goes is in some ways irrelevant. It just so happens that, once again, he finds himself in the midst of a constitutional and political maelstrom. Eight years ago, the Supreme Court had to save his governorship seat. They did so, not out of personal favor to him, but to insert the rule of law in place of the rule of naked power.

We come again now to a moment where Amaechi is in the eye of the tempest but we recognize that the issue transcends him. The stakes are big.
We fight those who still believe they can purchase our institutions because Nigerian governance and democracy remain for sale. We must say that they are wrong and that if they persist in this misconduct, they will be facing more than allegations. They shall face the rebuke of the people and the close scrutiny of our judicial system.
Before they decry the speck on Amaechi's shoes, they better clear the mud from their own.

Alfred Omolewa lives and works in Lagos

SUNDAY OCTOBER 11, 2015
FROM GUINEE, CONAKRY
STATEMENT BY SUNDAY DARE, MEDIA ADVISER/CHIEF OF STAFF TO BOLA TINUBU

RESPONSE TO THE SUN NEWSPAPER’S STORY

“TINUBU REMAINS TRUE TO THE APC VISION AND THE NIGERIAN PROJECT”.

The SUN Newspaper has taken a sad excursion from journalism into the realm of gothic tales and political slander. That sheet has turned itself into a harbor of perjury and malice in telling tales by moonlight. In venturing to publish the recent story that Asiwaju Tinubu has conspired with Senator Saraki to thwart the Buhari administration, the SUN Newspaper has descended to the lowest and darkest rungs of journalism ethics. The stench of the piece and motives behind it are too noxious to ignore.

Those who midwifed this garish tale give birth not to truth but to lies intended to kill APC unity and to retard the Buhari administration’s strategic reform initiatives, as earlier outlined by our party manifesto. Given the potential for change that stands before us, we are now beginning to see the true nature of many people. There are those who truly want positive change so that we can break from the ways of a stolid past. Then there are those who speak of change with their mouths but never believe in it in their hearts. They came along with us for the ride or because no other political option availed itself at the operative time. Now given the chance to redeem themselves from their past political actions, they would rather return to the political morass from whence they came.

The idea of an alleged conspiracy between Tinubu and Saraki against the President is an execrable lie. Without any proof except the veil of innuendo and some hatemongers masquerading as presidency sources, the story proclaims that the government is surveilling Asiwaju Tinubu because of his purported unhappiness about the ministerial list.

Too mischievous yet cowardly for their own good, the yarn-spinners at the SUN neglect to precisely state what terrible thing they believe Tinubu to have done. This ambiguity is in part purposeful; their villainy seeks to place the innocent on edge and to cause those who must work together if the nation is to progress to begin to doubt the bona fides of each other. With such a story, they hope to break the walls of confidence so that they may kindle mutual animus between the President and Tinubu. By getting the two to fight and weaken each other, they may then swoop down to destroy both.

If this nation is to have more than a fleeting chance of escaping the quagmire into which years of PDP misrule have taken us, we cannot allow these regressive elements to deploy their cunning tricks to divide and pit progressive against progressive.

Here, I will do those who inhabit the shadows of untruth a favor. I will state explicitly what they hoped to get the reader to infer. Their claim is that Tinubu has joined with Saraki to scuttle the President’s ministerial nominations. They have misfired.

Their wrong is a great wrong. Like the rest of us, Asiwaju Tinubu waited for the President to select his cabinet. The majority of the selections have been made. There is nothing to do but congratulate the appointees and pray for them. Their responsibilities are vast, the future of the nation now rests on their shoulders. The challenges before them are manifold and daunting. Those who want the best for Nigeria can only hope that these people succeed. The only intervention that Asiwaju Tinubu would make is one of encouragement. He would charge them to remain true to the progressive vision of the party and our President. None should allow themselves to be enticed to join league with those who would cast us back into the old mold of PDP governance: to Pilfer, Destroy and Pillage. Instead they should cohere faithfully to the enlightened programs and promises made by our party and this government.

Other than voice this encouragement, Bola Tinubu will never say a negative word or lift a finger to forestall anyone’s approval before the Senate.

For the record, the Buhari Presidency was brought to life by the votes of millions of Nigerians who desire change. Such a collective and historic achievement is not one that anyone who worked to bring it to life would easily seek to deconstruct.

This government is for the betterment of the people and the national purpose is bigger and more important that any individual’s desires.

In our journey to national betterment, plans and policies will be made, then amended. Mistakes will occur and then corrected. Achievements will be had and replicated. Through it all, Asiwaju will remain true to the progressive ideals that fueled the creation of the APC. He has devoted his political life to achieve what has been achieved. His heart is too much of the people and his mind too fixed on establishing a positive historic legacy to suffer such a cynical policy or engage in the destructive pettiness of which he is accused.

He would not toss aside a lifetime’s labor because of an alleged slight and certainly would not join with Senator Saraki in stymying this government which may just be the nation’s last best chance to salvage itself.

Given the exigencies of his position, President Buhari is placed in an unenviable position to some degree. The duties of his office give him no choice; necessity constrains him, requiring that he discourse with Senator Saraki. As party leader, Asiwaju is free of such constraints. On these matters, I know where Asiwaju Tinubu stands. He remains glued to the party decision that the manner by which Saraki captured his current seat travestied party discipline. It was a crass act of disloyalty showing that Saraki may have joined the APC on paper but has remained true to the malpractices and wrong aims of the reactionary PDP in his soul.

The alleged conspiracy is a figment. It takes at least two people to make a conspiracy. There has been no substantive communication between Asiwaju and Saraki since the latter decided to foul the integrity of the Senate and the party. To be truthful, I don’t think Saraki would care to hear what Asiwaju would have to say to him. He would admonish the Senator to treat the nomination process with dispatch, justice, fairness, transparency, and most of all with the greatest patriotism.

He would counsel Saraki to shelve his personal situation for the moment to concentrate on the people’s business. It would be a grave mistake and abuse of office for Saraki to directly or indirectly inject his personal matter into the approval process. Saraki should not link the approval of a single Minister to his desire for extrajudicial treatment of his issues.


If adhering to the decisions of the party, supporting the government’s progressive plank and working for the good of the people qualifies Tinubu for surveillance, then he will accept that. However, we know that any such surveillance is not from state security organs. Such activity would come from the insecurity agencies of the PDP and its mercenary allies elsewhere who would seek to fragment the true core of the APC so that they may scuttle the Buhari reform program and return the nation to the misgovernance of the past. They hope to delude the APC into attacking itself. By so doing, they believe they can regain through stealth, the reins of government the people seized from them through elections. They seek to break the hearts and hopes of the people. Asiwaju Tinubu would never team with anyone to gain such an inhumane objective.

While the Sun seems to have abandoned its journalistic norms, Tinubu shall remain true to his progressive ideals.

*Signed- Sunday Dare
Chief of Staff to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu/Special Adviser Media

As the electorate in Guinee get ready to vote in a few days at the Presidential elections, they will have to make a simple but important choice. A choice between a man of Vision or a man that is selfish.
By Alfred Babuk

Cellou Diallo, the candidate of the UFDG, has made an unfortunate transformation. Many years ago, Diallo seemed to be a man of promise. However, that promise has melted under the sweltering heat of his personal ambition. He previously held several ministerial posts, culminating in serving as prime minister for two years. Given his time in government and the vast opportunities these offices provided him over the years, he is expected to behave with the wisdom and maturity of a statesman. Sadly, unbridled ambition for office has turned Diallo inside out. Whatever reason and judgment he once had, is gone. He is now a man whose appetite will end up eating him. We only hope that it does not wreck the nation in the process.

Diallo wants to be president so badly that he is willing to set the nation ablaze to capture this objective. He would rather be the captain of a sinking ship than be a contributing passenger to a safe and good voyage. Instead of holding the nation above his personal desires, he exalts his wants above the needs of Guinea itself. He does not operate according to the principle of democratic service to the people. He believes the presidency is his birthright, that the people should have no say in his ascension to the highest office in the land. He wants to scuttle the election, replacing it with his coronation. This man does not really want to be president but will settle for the office because it is closest thing to being a modern king in his mind. But his idea is not to serve and govern the people as their representative. His goal is to rule and make the people serve him.
Someone should inform this conservative economist that his dreams are of a bygone past. They are buried in the cemetery of forgotten ways. There they must remain if we are to progress. While Cellou Diallo might be stuck in the past, Guinee has moved forward. The people seek a better future for Guineans, no matter their ethnicity and social station. No one is more Guinean or less Guinean than anyone else. Diallo is wrong in believing the presidency is his due. The only thing due is that the people are due a fair election so that they may determine the leadership they want.

Faced with imminent defeat at the polls, Diallo has revealed the bleakness of his true nature. Instead of campaigning in a positive way to convince people to vote for him, he always speaks in undertones of violence and mayhem. Instead of relating closely with the people, he remains aloof and distant. He does not interact with the people well. He keeps them at arm’s length. He does not seek to express a vision of a brighter future nor show the empathy and humane compassion needed of a leader at this time. He would rather sit on his high chair and decree to the people then seek to explain to them and lead them democratically.


His campaign has been almost completely negative. His platform is not progress but fear. His messages are that no other electoral result will be fair unless he wins. Moreover, he exhorts his supporters to fight if he loses. Yet, he shows no proof of any conspiracy against him or of any electoral malpractice significant or widespread enough to sway the process.

He beckons to ethnic prejudice, seeking to stoke confrontations that have no place in the modern Guinea most of us want. The way a man runs an election mirrors his personality. The way a man wins an election is the measure by which he will govern the nation. Diallo seeks to scuttle the election because he knows he will lose it. Diallo seeks to foment ethnic violence because that is the only way he can scuttle the election. This is not the type of man to whom we should entrust our nation and all of its many peoples.
Behind the quiet and dignified exterior is a petty and mean heart willing to sacrifice the welfare of the people and the wellbeing of the nation to achieve his personal objective. Falling so far from the exalted office of prime minister, Cellou has revealed himself to be an incorrigible ethnic chauvinist, an unseemly rumor and hate monger. The man is not fit to be president of a modern and diverse Guinea. If he wants to go back in time, he is free to do so. However, he has no right to drag our nation along with him.

presents this oft beleaguered nation a chance to consolidate its frail democracy. It also promises to rebut the views of the casual observer of Guinean politics. Superficial analysis of the political terrain suggests incumbent President Alpha Conde is in a rut, perhaps a deep one.
After all, his chief opponent Cellou Diallo, the conservative economist, is of the Brahmin caste of the Puehl, the largest ethno-linguistic group in that nation, hovering around 35-40 percent of the population. Diallo lead after the first round of the 2010 election where he was barely edged out by Conde in a dramatic runoff. Add to this the lethal calamity that was the West African Ebola crisis. The epicenter of the outbreak, this nation lost over 2500 people to the hemorrhagic scourge. Ebola occasioned significant collateral economic damage as well. The outbreak felled commerce and investment. It slowed GDP growth to a nearly imperceptible pace. During the 2013 parliamentary elections, Conde’s Rally of the Guinean People was derailed in Conakry where the party failed to claim a single seat and did not win an outright majority in the National Assembly. Given these factors, it would seem that Conde is in trouble; prudence would require him to start
packing his bags from the presidential residence. However, the facts on the ground state otherwise.
A tribute to what some observers call his gutsy performance and to his underrated skills as a folksy politician, this former professor seems destined to win the approaching election and to accomplishing this feat without the suspense of a second round. Conde is primed to win an outright majority of voters in the initial balloting. Much like Guinea itself, his political fortunes seem to have risen from near death. ( if this last phrase is too strong culturally, “death” should be replaced by “oblivion” )

Despite the troubles the nation has endured and those it continues to face, the people apparently like Conde, and he has performed sufficiently to maintain their trust and affection. While elections in Guinea are notorious for being driven by ethnic loyalty, Conde’s support now cuts across these traditional divides. Recently campaigning in areas considered strongholds for Diallo, Conde drew large enthusiastic crowds. Locals say this surprising draw is attributable to the road work and other infrastructural projects Conde has directed to rural communities, including those in the Puehl heartland, much to Diallo’s consternation. As a result, prominent Puehl community and business leaders have angled toward Conde. As one of them bluntly put it, “Yes Cellou Diallo remains our son, but Alpha Conde is our man.”

Conde benefited the capital city while doing himself a valuable political favor by constructing the hydroelectric dam in kaleta. This dam furnishes Conakry with around-the-clock electricity. The city, once forebodingly dark at night, is now lit and livelier. Again, this is symbolic of Guinea’s recovery from Ebola. It was also timely politically. The electricity came not to early so that people would forget or take it for granted as they make their electoral decisions and it came not so late as to be disdained as a cynical delay in providing needed services just to curry maximum political favor. Some criticize Conde for delay in the dam construction and resultant provision of urban electricity. However, most seem to appreciate him for honoring the promise of electricity that many prior leader made but failed to keep.
A like sentiment describes the public’s perception of his handing the Ebola crisis. Some criticize him from being slow to realize the magnitude of the tragedy. However, Guineans are highly nationalistic. Because of the unique colonial history of the nation, they are acutely wary of foreign neglect and intrigue. Thus, in the main, they commend President Conde for his strident public criticism of international indifference and slowness in coming to the aid of the affected nations. He is seen as both championing the national cause as well as using his extensive international contacts to finally marshaled support for the nation during that awful episode in ways the other potential contenders could not have done.

While Conde enjoys a positive wind at his back, his chief opponents seem confused how to respond. Diallo may have lost whatever luster he had. His campaign is almost invisible. Appearing stiff and aloof in public, Diallo fails to duplicate the friendly connection with the average person the president has. Diallo’s platform is unimaginative and does not offer a compelling alternative vision. With a nation breaming with young voters and thirsting for development, his innate conservatism does not play well. “The people do not want to be told to tighten their belts, they want to be told they0 will soon have jobs so that they can buy a new and better belt,” according to a political observer. The observer continued that Diallo’s electoral strategy seems to rest on his ethnic appeal and his belief that the people cannot help but view him as innately superior to all other candidates, including Conde. Thus, his campaign seems static – almost caught
in 2010—and has not gained new traction in 2015. As with all old things that are not polished regularly, it has lost its gloss.
Other campaigns of the other candidates such as Sidya Toure suffer many of the same infirmities. Their campaign insiders know Conde is well ahead in public opinion. Their lone hope and objective is that Conde does not claim a first-round victory, then they can engage in the political horse-trading and exigent coalition building customary of second-round politics here. They also know a large voter turnout undermines this narrow objective. Sadly, some of these candidates and their parties have embarked on a strange campaign. Instead, trying to get people to vote, they now rumor violence and fear in order to suppress the turnout. This may be tactically the only move they can make. However, it is inimical to Guinean democracy and the stability of the nation because it augurs potential violence painted by ethnic colorations
In the end, the people of Guinea should have the right to decide their fate and to select the government of their choice in a clean, peaceful election. As it now stands, the more people that vote, the more likely president Conde will claim a first round victory

SENATE UNVEILS BUHARI’S MINISTERIAL NOMINEES
Senate unveils Buhari’s ministerial nominees
Senate unveils Buhari’s ministerial nominees
Posted By: ahmedon: October 06, 2015In: News, PoliticsNo Comments
The former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola and his counterparts from Ekiti and Rivers, Kayode Fayemi and Rotimi Amaechi have been nominated for ministerial appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The names of the nominees contained in a letter sent by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Senate was read out on the floor of the senate by embattled Senate President Olubukola Saraki.
The list also saw the the likes of Lai Muhammed, Abubakar Malami, Abdulrahman Dambazu and many more nominated.

FULL LIST
1. Babatunde Fashola
2. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi
3. Kayode Fayemi
4. Chris Ngige
5. Lai Mohammed
6. Udoma Udo Udoma
7. Abubakar Salami
8. Ogbonnaya Onu
9. Aisha Alhassan
10.bAbdulrahman Dambazzau
11. Kemi Adeosun
12. Adebayo Shittu
13. Solomon Dalong
14. Audu Ogbeh
15. Amina Ibrahim
17. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu
18.Suleiman Adamu
19. Ibrahim Usman Jubril

Tinubu Media office

Sallah message
As millions of Muslims in Nigeria and across the world celebrate the Ed Kabir Tinubu has urged all people of faith not to give up but hold up their faith that a better Nigeria is possible. " Today Nigeria is set on a new path of recovery because millions had faith In the change message and Agenda of the All Progressives Congress. They must continue to back up their faith with good works of patriotism" .
The national leader says Muslims are a people of faith and must through prayers hold on to a possible hope of a better society. " All people of faith must at this time of Nigeria's Renaissance bound together and work together to give Nigeria that great push to a new functional society that it so deserves". Continuing Tinubu says Nigeria is lucky to have had another shot at greatness with the Muhammadu Buhari led APC government. " our country is set on an irrevocable path of progress and no matter how much reactionary elements try to slow down the government they will fail because Nigeria has taken full flight under Buhari and their is no shooting it down. On my party I remain a firm believer in Nigeria and a committed soldier to the battle ahead against poverty, ignorance, Mis-governance and impunity. Haven labored all my political life to Partner with others to get Nigeria to this station, we will not roll over for a few with a retrogressive agenda to take over or distract the Buhari government from the onerous nation building task ahead",
Tinubu expressed satisfaction that the country's re-engineering has started in Ernest and all hands must be on deck to ensure that this journey ends at a destination of a functional Nigeria and a model for Africa. A reference point of development.

In recent case of AHMED v AHMED (2013) LPELR-21143, the Supreme of Court of Nigeria decided that the Federal High Court; (likewise State High Court) has no supervisory jurisdiction over the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

In other words, their decisions cannot be entertained in regular high courts (State and Federal High Courts) except in the Court of Appeal and except as case may be or in rare circumstances, in matters of procedures. Specifically, Section 12 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers as contained in Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution expressly forbids or ousts the jurisdiction of the regular high courts in respect of adjudicating on matters or violations of the provisions of the Code of Conduct.
an appeal filled at the Court of Appeal by Senator Bukola Saraki is meant to set aside the contempt order made by the CCT against him (a judicial decision); whereas the that of the Federal High Court borders on prosecutorial procedures before the CCT as adopted by the legal team of the Federal Government or absence of the Attorney General of the Federation in the instant case.

Tinubu Media Office

Our Mama, HID Awolowo exemplified the best of the progressive spirit and concern for all of humanity. We pause to mourn her passing but we also must continue to move forward in order to celebrate her life and the ideals for which she stood. I don’t believe she would have wanted us to respond in any other way.

She was a devout Christian and her life touched many. May her soul rest in peace. Her life spanned nearly a century of change and challenge in the world
and in Nigeria. Through it all, she remained true to great and noble ideas and did so with dignity, spirit and compassion.

Just a few weeks to becoming 100 years of age, she passed on. However, for nearly a century, she remained committed. In her gentle but strong way, she held forth the banner and nurtured the progressive legacy after her husband, the revered Obafemi Awolowo passed on.
This great jewel of the people withstood the test of time and weathered the political storms of dictatorships and mis-governance. Never did she bend or reject her principles and beliefs despite the pressures that came. She stood firmly in the courage of her convictions.

Our Mama, HID Awolowo was the Awolowo philosophy personified. She remained a constant source of knowledge, inspiration and wisdom. Her faith in the Nigerian nation was unwavering and revealed an uncommon, visionary political bearing. She gave a mother's love to all Nigerians irrespective of political differences and through her we learned that unity through diversity is the precious gift we must construct and give ourselves.

While we mourn, we must also take solace in the fact that she lived long enough to see the advent of progressive government at the federal level.
She has bequeathed to us a great legacy, a political legacy of intelligence, courage conviction, hope and belief in the goodness of the people. As such, we will miss her presence and are grieved by her departure. Yet, the story of her life commands us to do our best to turn Nigeria into the nation she dedicated her life to and that we all honor her every day by each one of us becoming better citizens, better Nigerians.
September 20th, 2015

Very unfortunate a Nigerian that prays for true democracy and change will say apc is not happy with Buhari and Tinubu over saraki's. Case.

The CCB's case against saraki did not have the influence of party as saraki loyalist sees it. The case is not between any party chieftain and saraki, it's between the CCB and the defendant. Saraki has ran foul of the law and we all knows that.

Saraki should face the tribunal on the allegations raised against him and stop sponsoring hungry people like Timi to miss inform Nigerians. This is an agency against saraki not a politician, accusing Tinubu and Buhari is total unfail to the duo.

Bukola saraki should respond to his case at the tribunal and stop paying people like Timi to come on here and say what is not. His better that writer gets a better job than enslaving his soul for crumbs he receives from the senate president. The senate president has lied and deceived Nigerians, there he should face his music and leave the president and the party out of this.

Very unfortunate a Nigerian that prays for true democracy and change will say apc is not happy with Buhari and Tinubu over saraki's. Case.

The CCB's case against saraki did not have the influence of party as saraki loyalist sees it. The case is not between any party chieftain and saraki, it's between the CCB and the defendant. Saraki has ran foul of the law and we all knows that.

Saraki should face the tribunal on the allegations raised against him and stop sponsoring hungry people like Timi to miss inform Nigerians. This is an agency against saraki not a politician, accusing Tinubu and Buhari is total unfail to the duo.

Bukola saraki should respond to his case at the tribunal and stop paying people like Timi to come on here and say what is not. His better that writer gets a better job than enslaving his soul for crumbs he receives from the senate president. The senate president has lied and deceived Nigerians, there he should face his music and leave the president and the party out of this.

While Senate President Bukola Saraki continues his battle with the Code of Conduct Tribunal for failing to appear before it on Friday, leading subsequently to an order to have him arrested, details of the assets the senate president declared in 2012 has leaked to the public.
According to the detials, the total wealth in cash and other assets, that Saraki decided to declare in his assets declaration forms was 2.607 billion naira (2,607,110,550 naira), 23.7 million US dollars (23,783,333), 7.4 million Pounds Sterling (7,406,500 Pounds Sterling), and 2.6 million Euros (2,600,000 Euros).
As at 2003 when he became governor of Kwara State, the senate presidents wealth according to the declaration he made was 10.2 billion naira (10,209,270,295 naira).
The assets declaration forms revealed that Mr. Saraki and his companies had stockholdings worth 2,145,550 naira, 2,600,00 Euros, and 6,108,33 US dollars.
The documents also reveal that Mr. Saraki’s wife, Toyin, and their two children, owned assets that were inexplicable and highly suspicious. The forms showed that the assets held by Mrs. Saraki and the senator’s two children included cash, property, and stock holdings valued at more than N8 million, 4.5 million pounds sterling, and $4.6 million.
Here is the breakdown of his properties worth N120 million and $224 million in incomes as annual rent from his landed properties in Nigeria and London.
BUKOLA SARAKI’S ASSETS as at 10 October 2012
Plot 212 Musa Yar’Adua Street, Victoria Island, N700 million.
Others are a plot of land on Lekki Phase (block 72), N7 million;
Ibafo near Ajah, N5 million;
Buildings on number 42 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, N750 million;
19 Roxton Road, Ikoyi, N500 million;
62 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, N100 million;
15A & B MacDonald, Ikoyi, N160 million
6 Vulga Street, Maitama, Abuja, N60 million.
HIS LANDED PROPERTIES
123A, Ashley Gardens, Thirleby Road, London, valued at $750,000. (N120 Million Naira)
56 Cheyne Court, SW 3, London, $900,000; (N144 Million Naira)
54 Ashley Gardens, Ambrasden Avenue, London, $2.5 million; (N400 Million Naira)
141 Ashley Gardens, Thirleby Road, London, $600,000; (N96 Million Naira)
Nell Gwynn House, Sleave Avenue, London, $400,000; (N64 Million Naira)
Ormond House, Ormond Street, S/London, $400,000; (N64 Million Naira)
53 Ashley Gardens, Ambrasden Avenue, London, $2.5 million, (N400 Million Naira)
70 Bourne Street, S/W London, valued at $4.8 million. (N768 Million Naira)
HIS MOVABLE PROPERTIES
Mercedes S320, N16 million;
Mercedes S500, N20 million;
Mercedes G500, N18 million;
Mercedes V220, N6 million
Mercedes 300E, N2 million.
Mercedes ML 240, N8.5 million;
Mercedes CLK 320, N9 million;
Mercedes E320, N11 million;
Mercedes G500 bullet-proof, N45 million
Mercedes S500 bullet-proof, N30 million.
Ferrari 456 GT N25 million;
Navigator, N15 million;
Peugeot 406, N2 million,
Lexus Jeep bullet-proof, N30 million
Lincoln Navigator bullet-proof, N25 million.
HIS CASH DEPOSITS IN DIFFERENT BANK ACCOUNTS
NIGERIA
Societe Generale; N11 million
Ecobank, Broad Street, Lagos, N350, 000;
Citizens Bank, Broad Street, Lagos, N390, 000;
Citizens Bank, Broad Street, Lagos, N600,000;
Ecobank Nigeria plc, Broad Street, N10.3 million,
Guaranty Trust Bank, Adeyemo Alakija Street, Lagos, N2.9 million.
Societe Generale Bank, Oke Arin Street, Lagos, N23 million
Guaranty Trust Bank, Adeyemo Alakija Street, Lagos.
FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNTS
Coutts & C, 440 Strand, London, £905,000; (N235.3 Million Naira)
Northern Trust International Banking Corporation, Merrillynch Piece Fender, $400,000 (N64
Million Naira)
Fortis Bank, Camoile Street, London, £2 million. (N520 Million Naira)
HIS FOUR CHILDREN
His four children Tosin, Seni, Teniola and Teniayo, are worth N741.89 million in cash,
HIS WIFE
Toyin Saraki, had a net asset of N1.49 billion as at 29 May 2003.

PEOPLE OF OSUN:
As every RATIONAL human being knows that things are tight for WORKERS in Osun due to non payment of workers' salary and which has led many to abject poverty, non payment of their children's school fees, health problems, stroke, and series of problems. It will be unfair if we all keep mute on this.
Please NOTE that Ogbeni Aregbesola has received the bail-out fund but as he has said he wants to ensure that he spends the fund appropriately for the benefit of his workers and that was the essence of the SCREENING...some workers ought to have retired like 10years ago and are still in service(where is the place of the youths) "He should have done the screening after payment" as many would say but the fact is that even with the outcome of the screening, the Governor will still have to pay. Ogbeni is a man of his people with goodwill for the State and note that he must RECTIFY and CALCULATE things well this time around as there is no further bailout fund for now. If anyone has been privileged to lead, I am sure you will understand what I am saying(many wrong advisers pretending to be good). I want to urge the Governor to WATCH OUT.

Please let's give the Governor till next week Wednesday before Sallah Celebration to fulfil his promises on the payment of Salary as he has requested.
Enough of RUMOURS. Workers? I know It's not easy tho! Please let's endure a little more.
......POWER IS RESPONSIBILITY
......GREATNESS IS ACHIEVABLE AND WITHIN REACH

The tribunal sitting in Asaba, on Monday 14th Septemeber, admitted documents "R1" filed by the first respondent (Okowa) in response to the petitioners (Emerhor/APC). The first witness for OKOWA/PDP was a farmer/business man named Nkechukwu Akozor a native of Ndokwa, and PDP LGA collation agent in Aboh. Under cross examination by counsel to EMERHOR/APC, he disclosed that the card reader was used to authenticate his PVC and also for accreditation purpose, and further went on to state that the INEC assistant presiding officer had made it mandatory for the use of the card reader. The witness also indicated that the card reader worked properly without recording any hitch and there was no reason for the "incident form" or manual accreditation. He then concluded by stating that collation of results ended on the 12th of April 2015, thereby contradicting INEC who declared the results a day earlier on the 11th of April 2015. With the questions asked by EMERHOR/APC and the replies from OKOWA/PDP, it is pertinent to note that the witness agreed with EMERHOR/APC that the card reader was successful with its data the basis for a credible election.

The second witness for OKOWA/PD was Mr Festus Ovie Agas, the current Secretary to State Government. Although he arrived with much confidence, he eventually agreed with counsel to the petitioner that Okowa’s purported number of votes far exceeded the total number of accredited voters in the state. The SSG tendered LGA results as his evidence and these were admitted by the tribunal as exhibit RW, however, the result of Ukwuani LGA was overruled for improper certification. The results were however labelled R2 - R25 for easy identification. The SSG admitted that the card reader was used at his polling unit and he was accredited by a card reader before he voted. The SSG further explained to his understanding that the card reader was used to authenticate and identify valid PVCs.
Under cross examination, he also stated that the card reader stopped working and alleged that there was a phony phone call to the Assistant presiding officer from an unknown entity instructing the reversion to manual accreditation. EMERHOR/APC's counsel punctured his statement by showing him the press statement by INEC stating the necessity and compulsory use of the card reader also stating that when a card reader fails to function, the election should be postponed till the next day so a card reader can be provided.
The SSG was shown exhibit P26 which contains the purported inflated result of OKOWA/PDP as 724,680 and was shown exhibit 1 and 1A which is the certified copy of the accredited number of voters as 709,700 initially, then as 715,392 when the INEC server had been fully updated. This revealed the discrepancies in the number of OKOWA/PDP's voters and the number of INEC certified accredited voters. The tribunal was made to understand that one of the major functions of the card reader is to fish out fake PVCs and render them invalid for voting. There was comedy at the tribunal when the SSG replayed the incident of the famous Returning Officer of the rivers election; the SSG, when confronted with the INEC certified accredited number of voters, resorted to demanding for more light insisting he suddenly couldn't read the paragraph in exhibit 1 and 1A, however it was read aloud for everyone by the tribunal.

The tribunal continues today.

There has been several noise on the social media, most of it ostensibly to discredit the effort of the governor and government of Kwara State.

I would have ignored the noise as rants of disgruntled elements, but experience have shown that when lies are left unchallenged for far too long, there is a propensity for the unsuspecting to believe such lies to be true.

Facts is that some ministries, departments and agencies such as tertiary institutions are revenue generating and were traditionally self sustaining. In such a situation, you won't expect the governor to distort an already sustainable system just for the fun of it.

However, due to expansion in their staff strength government has been giving them monthly subventions. But when the FAAC allocations situation became too severe, the government suspended subventions payment to such institutions and focused on paying core civil servants who traditionally don't generate any revenue due to the nature of their services. The Federal government bail out was therefore used to pay the arrears of core civil servants which are now up to date.
However, government has recently released one month subventions to all affected agencies who are revenue generating and the are expected to augment this largess from the government to pay their workers.

Also, the level of indebtedness to workers varies from institution to institution. Kwara State Polytechnic for example is up to date.

Some of the other institutions have also run into problems due to the order to close their various bank accounts and implement the The Single Treasury Account (TSA) in line with the Federal government directive.

Note also that most of these tertiary institutions had been operating illegal long distance learning and multiple campuses but when the government became inundated with complaints about the sharp practices going on in these various institutions, those affected were mandated to close down these illegal campuses and programs. Sadly their staff strength had become overbloated due to the practices noted above and this also contributed to their inability to pay staff salaries.

It must be stated that the state government will not be railroaded into making reckless financial decisions because of a few workers whose total population is less than 5 percent of the total population of the state.

It must be placed on recorded that his excellency, the governor of Kwara State, has touched the lives of other citizens and residents of the state through various ways using SMEs, helping cooperative development, commercial transportation, market women and men. He has shown that governance goes beyond just paying salaries, he has embarked on different innovative and creative projects to better the lives of the common people of the state.

We can criticize a governor and it is the prerogative of the citizens to do that, but we must always base our criticism on facts rather than lies and half truths...

The writer, Mr. Obaoye lives in Ilorin, Kwara State

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the Kogi State governorship election, Prince Audu Abubakar has pledged his commitment to Kogi Tripatrite Agreement , the agreement is a power rotation deal among the constituent groups of Igala, Ebira and Okun that ring Kogi State.

A statement by Prince Audu Abubakar Media Office on Sunday traced the narrative of the forthcoming Kogi State gubernatorial election to power rotation and infrastructural development.

“While it is an impeccable fact that the enduring infrastructures in Kogi State were products of Prince Abubakar’s stewardship, confirming the hope of sustainable development in Kogi State hangs on his return as the Governor of the State; it is also a matter of sacred truth that Abubakar is the only Igala man that can boldly, explicitly and committedly ensure the position of governor of Kogi State goes to the remaining groups, that is, Okun and Ebira”, the statement said.

He, however, sought peace and mutual understanding as the means of achieving power rotation in the state.

Prince Abubakar explained that how the leaders of Igala, Okun and Ebira reached power rotation deal in 1991.

According to him, the challenges of political domination and marginalisation of the Igalas in Benue State, Okuns and Ebiras in Kwara State led to intense agitation for creation of Kogi State for the three groups who had lived together peacefully under Kabba province for more than 70 years.

“So I have told all Kogites that when we mutually met at one Engineer Sule’s house in Okene, in 1991, the three groups –Igalas, Ebiras and Okuns – met and said to themselves that they believe in power rotation,” Prince Audu said.

He continued,“When God in his infinite mercy spoke to the former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, to create Kogi State; therefore, we have destiny in our hands and it was only fair to allow Igala to have the first shot. For that, the reason adduced by late Chief Awoniyi was that the component that came from Benue State, that is, Igala, had never had the opportunity to produce the Governor but the second component from Kwara State comprising of Ebira and Okun had had the opportunity in late Adamu Attah who was a Second Republic Governor of Kwara State.

“Following that premise, it was agreed that to give it to Igala. Further, after Igalas, it was agreed that the governorship seat should return to the other components – Okun and Ebira – which should meet to determine the next to have the seat after Igala.

“I am the first beneficiary of the agreement and thank God I am still living hale and hearty because most of us who reached the deal in good faith on behalf of our people are now late. When we returned to demoracy in 1999, I was uncompromising and firm in my intention to implement the 1991 agreement but I was blatantly rigged out. And that of course stultified development of the state in all facets.

“I have stood in the middle of Idah and Anyigba to tell Igalas that, since we are brothers who had lived under the Kabba province, we must make sure we make our gentleman agreement reality so that we can have lasting peace and confidence in one another. I don’t lie or deceive people. I am the only person with moral compass"


"We don't need acrimony to implement the Kogi Tripartite Agreement I am would make it a reality and I am the only Igala man that can stand in Idah, Anyigba, Ankpa and tell our people enough is enough and reciprocate the cooperative gesture of the Igbira and Okun people by 2019. "

Prince Audu in the statement also denied allegation making round that his coming back as Kogi Governor is hinged on his desperation for vengeance.

"It is important to state that am not going back to office as governor to take vengeance as being peddled by my opponents . I think nobody offended me but I may have offended anybody which I beg for forgiveness. If you say you want to take vengeance it means someone has offended you but I was not offended. My total intention is to ensure that I develop Kogi infrastructure and implement that agreement by the special grace of God. By God's grace after winning this 2015 election and by 2019 that would be the first time power would begin to rotate among the three stakeholders of the Kogi Tripartite Agreement ", Audu added

Signed
Abubakar Audu Media Office
Sunday, September 13, 2015

The piece “Buhari beware of Tinubu” in the 2nd September Sun newspaper comes from the depleting arsenal of the forlorn amalgamation known as the PDP. At least we can say that the Sun newspaper has remained faithful. It was propaganda vehicle of the PDP prior to the election and has decided to stick to that role.
This article can be cited as an exemplar of graveyard journalism, its author an unabashed romancer. For he disinters and romances old lies and falsehoods that have been investigated and buried because they were unfounded. No person so publicly and fervently revives old lies to express new truths. The author’s motive shall not be found in the codex of honesty and fairness. The purpose is as murky as the PDP and the former government it led.
Nothing these people do is straight. The arrows they shoot are crooked; the bow they use is warped. Nothing they say can be taken at face value. Every time they speak, they increase their inventory of lies by at least one per word spoken. While in office and with all the power of state at their disposal, all they could do was break the nation while defaming our collective intelligence by telling us all was getting better by the day. Instead of leading the nation to fine pastures, they led us into a dark cul-de-sac. Now they have the gall to castigate Bola Tinubu in order to distract the people from all the wrongs they have done and the money they squandered. Had they governed the nation as well as the APC’s progenitors governed Lagos, Nigeria would be a much better place. They know this. More importantly, the people know it.

In the article, a so-called guest columnist accuses Tinubu of having amassed an unimaginable fortune. The writer claims that Tinubu cannot be part of any progressive change and that president Buhari must disassociate himself from the former Lagos governor. This author is the latest to ply a transparently slanted and incredible theme that seems to have become a psychological life rope to the PDP and its mercenaries. “If we can only get rid of Tinubu” goes their salacious dialogue.
Implicit in this sinister plot is the belief that driving a wedge between President Buhari and Tinubu will not only take Tinubu out of the picture, it will leave President Buhari politically isolated and vulnerable. They seek to politically kill a progressive political actor in Tinubu and Buhari’s progressive government with one regressive stone. We could not reasonably expect a strategy any less treacherous from this group and they did not fail to live down to our low expectations of them.
None of the accusations made against Tinubu are new. They are a rehash of a rehash. All of these things have been investigated and discovered to be acidic lies. The writer tried to explain away the case that the Jonathan administration opened but lost against Tinubu. But the writer could not intelligently tell why the Jonathan team would have let Tinubu off the hook if they had incriminating, potentially incarcerating evidence against him. When they took him to trial, they were acutely aware of his political stand and the threat it posed to their hold on office.
They knew him to be the prime strategist behind the political merger that became the APC that would eventually unseat the PDP in the 2015 elections. While no person is indispensable, the APC would not have been established with the form and capacity it assumed had Tinubu been sidelined. The history of the elections might have been different and more beneficial to the PDP incumbent. Jonathan and his team knew this.
With so much at stake, there is no way that the Jonathan team would not have closeted Tinubu if they had the chance to sideline him with criminal culpability. They would have relished the chance because it would have come as close to sealing the election as any one singular act could. The decision not to pursue Tinubu did not result from a largess of spirit. The decision was based on the realization that they lacked evidence to pursue the contrived suit.
In any case many of the allegations made in the hatchet piece are already issues of libel in the law court against AIT and similar organizations.
That this story appears now is predictable. For the last few weeks, the regressives have tried their hardest to cause acrimony within the APC, publishing fiction that Tinubu was at war with important APC figures, particularly in the Southwest. Try as they might, those lies could not gain traction. Facts and common sense rebutted the machinations. The APC stalwarts were too wise to take the bait. Having exhausted that approach, the provocateurs quickly switched to see if they could pit President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu against each other. The attempts to tarnish Tinubu’s relationship with the President and with other APC stalwarts have been recurring tactics pulled from the PDP’s bag of tricks.
Having destroyed their own party from within, they now seek to destroy the APC. The observations we can make about them is that they excel at failure and are creative in destroying things. By their wiles, we know them. By the results their conduct has produced in Nigeria, we reject them.
Overripe with lies and falsehood, the article says more about its author than about Tinubu. The writing is a sad testimony to barrenness of the PDP. The party is slowly disintegrating before our eyes. Yet, they stubbornly refuse to change their ways. Like thief gravediggers they venture into the cemetery in broad daylight to dig up old, refuted calumny and defamation. As the opposition in an open democracy, they have free and wide latitude to offer alternative policies recommendations and a different vision for the nation. They can’t take advantage to this option because they could not produce one credible new idea if the whole lot of them gathered for a year of deliberations. After all they did not do it in sixteen years of blatant misrule.
We know now that the regressive conservatives who comprise the PDP and its allies are a stubborn brew. Their stubbornness so deeply envelopes them that it has affixed itself to them as terminal blindness. They refuse to see what is plain to all others. They lost the election because the people rejected their policies and the corrupt, mean way they implemented them.
These blind men now go thrashing about feverishly, trying to engage a battle already lost. They boast that they shall make the government and governing party quake. However, their desperation is palpable. While they rudely hector at the democratic procession passing them by, deep down they know their voice is weakening; they themselves are but apparitions, fading as a new and progressive political economy takes shape despite their futile efforts to halt it.
Try as he might to ridicule the President Buhari and Tinubu, the author of this piece merely showed the bankruptcy of his own mind and of those who asked him to sign his name to public libel and false witness. Instead of being aware of Tinubu, they ought to be aware of the hole they have dug. It appears they are close to falling into it.
-Sunday Dare is the Media Adviser/Chief of Staff to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Stop Attacking Our National Leader, Asiwaju, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Lagos APC warns Dele Akin Rahman, and his sponsors



Our attention has been drawn to an article published on the back page of the Sun Newspaper of Wednesday 2nd September 2015 written by one Dele Akin Rahman encouraged by his sponsors. In that potentially dangerous piece, Dele Akin Rahman and his dubious sponsors asked President Buhari to be “Beware of Tinubu” because he is a moral burden and a dent on his image”



Lagos APC condemns in strongest terms this calculated attempt to bring Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu down to their miserable level and to judge the consummate leader of men by their horrible and dubious standards.



“Before the 2015 Presidential elections our well-respected National leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed and President Buhari were subjected to vicious attacks and debilitating assaults just to bring them down but they failed woefully. President Buhari and Asiwaju BAT ran away with resounding and unprecedented victory on March 28 2015”



“Ever since then, Dele Rahman and his sponsors have been angry, frustrated, confused, humiliated, humbled, afraid and disgraced. Politically they have been decimated and relegated to the background, economically their business of stealing government money in billions has been checkmated and blocked and socially they have been ostracized and rejected by Nigerians”



“These fraudsters and morally bankrupt nonentities know that it is impossible for them to get to Asiwaju BAT’s intimidating, illustrious and glorious personality, so they resort to blackmail and character assassination to bring the sage, the colossus and the leader of men to the miserable level”



“Having failed to stop the Buhari-Tinubu tag that rescued Nigeria from the forces of decay, corruption, and rot, having failed to distract and derail the recovery of Nigeria from the forces of decay, the desperadoes are now trying a sly tactics of instigating Buhari to go after Tinubu for the crimes of wrecking and looting Nigeria blind for 16years when Tinubu’s only feel of power was 8 glorious years he ruled Lagos”



“It is obvious that these dying forces of evil are on a futile effort to parry their 16years of wreckage and who else to bear the brunt but a Tinubu who has come to personify a living nightmare to the dying PDP”



“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains a well-respected political figure in Nigeria, Africa and the world today and woe betide anybody who thinks in his wildest imagination that a strong and powerful image built for nearly 50years can be destroyed by the antics of a foolish constituency and men without honour”



“Every leader writes his own history through his own deeds and choices. Asiwaju BAT has become a working history in Nigeria by his actions and deeds for nearly 50years and no power in the tongue of any man can vitiate this even in this age or the age to come”





Joe Igbokwe

Publicity Secretary APC Lagos

From Left-
Sir Adewale Adeeyo, (commencement speaker),Senator Isiaka Adeleke (Chancellor), Bola Tinubu (Honoree),Dr. Adedeji Adeleke (chairman of Council) and Prof. Amusan Oluwole (Vice Chancellor, Adeleke Univeristy

Editorial: The Buharimeter 100 Days Scorecard
On September 8, 2015, it will be 100 days since the swearing-in of President Muhammadu Buhari. The President and his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) defied the odds and swept to office on the back of a near hysterical clamor for change. Read more @ http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/opinions/6107-editorial-the-buharimeter-100-days-scorecard




Many Killed As Trailer Falls Off Bridge in Lagos
There was pandemonium in Ojuelegba, one of the urban areas of Lagos State on Wednesday evening when a container-laden trailer fell off the flyover bridge in the area. Read more @ http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/huhuonline-more-news/6112-many-killed-as-trailer-falls-off-bridge-in-lagos




NNPC Moves to Unbundle PPMC…Kachikwu Says Refinries Not For Sale
In a bid to ensure lean, efficient and profitable operations, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is to commence the unbundling of the. Read more @ http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/huhuonline-more-news/6110-nnpc-moves-to-unbundle-ppmc



$15 Billion Oil Deal: Alison-Madueke Demands Apology From Indian High Commissioner
Mrs. Diezani K. Alison-Madueke, immediate past Minister for Petroleum Resources, on Wednesday dismissed allegations made by the Indian High . Read more @ http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/huhuonline-more-news/6111-15-billion-oil-deal-alison-madueke-demands-apology-from-indian-high-commissioner




FMOT Constitutes Verification Committee for NIMASA Projects
The Federal Ministry of Transport has constituted a committee to carry out verification of all projects currently being executed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).Read more @ http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/huhuonline-more-news/6109-fmot-constitutes-verification-committee-for-nimasa-projects