₦airaland Forum

400billionman:
Stop exposing your ignorance. I bet you, if you are given that damaged Porsche free of charge, all your savings won't fix it.

cuteani04:
Who tell u

The peace committee chaired by Sokoto State
Governor, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, appeared to
have failed to resolve the leadership tussle in
the caucus of the All Progressives Congress at
the House of Representatives.
The indication of this came on Wednesday as
the leadership of the House on Wednesday
dismissed as “nothing like party position” an
earlier letter the APC wrote to the Speaker,
Mr. Yakubu Dogara, on the zoning of principal
offices.
After the Tambuwal committee met with the
group led by Dogara, and that of a former
Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the
issue at the centre of the crisis – the sharing of
four principal offices – remained unresolved.
Findings showed that the Gbajabimaila group,
at its meeting with Tambuwal, had restated its
stance that the decision of the APC on the
allocation of the offices must stand.
The party had written to the Speaker that the
South-West should produce the Majority
Leader; North-West, Deputy Leader; North-
East, Chief Whip; and South-South, Deputy
Whip.
However, the North-East and the South-South
later swapped their positions, but still said they
remained loyal to the APC.
An offer to Gbajabiamila to head the AdHoc
Committee on Constitution Review in place of
being the majority leader of the 8th Assembly,
was also reportedly turned down by the former
minority leader.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the
Dogara group too had maintained its stance
that federal character and zonal balancing must
be reflected in the sharing of the positions “in
such a way that no zone of the country” would
be left out.
“It was this same position that they presented
before the Tambuwal committee last night”, a
National Assembly official told our
correspondent on Wednesday.
However, the spokesman for the Dogara group,
Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, on Wednesday said
that at the meeting with Tambuwal, the group
agreed to concede the House leader to the
Gbajabiamila group “provided that neither the
South-West nor the North-East” would take the
position.
Jibrin added that, in the event the
Gbajabiamila group did not accept the
“concession”, all the APC caucuses in the House
would go for an election to decide who would
become the majority leader.
Jibrin also said similar elections would be
conducted to fill the three other positions in
line with the provisions of the relevant rules of
the House.
“The entire APC members would hold an
election to elect the House leaders. If someone
says he has 174 members, fine; let us hold an
election and see if he actually has that majority
he claims,” Jibrin told a news conference.
Our correspondent observed that the
‘concession’ implied that Gbajabiamila would
still not be the majority leader, an indication
that no headway had been achieved.
Gbajabiamila’s group confirmed this in a
statement it issued soon after Jibrin spoke with
journalists.
It said that the group indeed met with
Tambuwal and made its position known that
party supremacy must prevail.
It said that the sharing of the positions
remained the way the APC originally zoned
them.
“To the best of our knowledge, no counter-
offer has been made to the APC Loyalists’
group after her first meeting with Tambuwal
peace committee, wherein the APC loyalists
clearly stated that in line with party supremacy
resolution reached at the last APC NEC
meeting, the position of the party on Femi
Gbajabiamila as the House Leader is non-
negotiable,” a member of the group, Mr. Rufai
Chachangi, said in a statement.
However, like the Dogara group, the
Gbajabimaila group also subscribed to the
proposal of conducting elections to pick the
House leaders.
The statement added, “However, as a group
that wants peace and quick solution to the
logjam in the House, the APC Loyalists group
would equally subscribe to an election among
entire members of the APC House Caucus,
where all members, irrespective of zones,
would exercise their right to elect their
principal officers.”
It expressed surprise that the Dogara group,
which had opposed zoning before the
speakership election, was now canvassing
zoning.
It also queried the suitability of a South-East
member for any principal position in breach of
House rules when the zone’s only two APC
members in the House were first timers and
not qualified to hold leadership positions.
On the Tambuwal committee, the group noted,
“In playing his mediatory role , the former
House Speaker, Governor Tambuwal agreed to
take our position to Dogara’s group for
consideration and convene a joint meeting of
both groups, which is yet to be convened as of
Wednesday evening.
“So, any purported decision reeled out to the
public in the name of the National Assembly
peace pact before such joint meeting is
lopsided and not acceptable to the APC
Loyalists’ group.”
However, giving the official position of the
House on the crisis, a member of the House
AdHoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs,
Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, said the House backed
the sharing of the positions among all the six
geo-political zones in the country.
He dismissed the APC’s letter to Dogara, saying
that it did not follow due process by getting the
approval of the National Working Committee of
the party and the ratification of its National
Executive Committee.
He said, “For the House, we believe that this so
much talk about party position or letter from
the party, I think it is actually being
misunderstood.
“For us, the position of the party has to go
through certain laws, certain process; the party
caucus in the House would be involved, we
believe that the caucus here in the House
should be aware of the position of the party.
“As far as we are concerned, the party did not
approach anybody or zonal caucuses to say
these are the names selected from the party.
We are not aware of that.
“Two, we also know that for a party to take a
position, to be regarded as the party position,
it has to go to the National Working
Committee. The NWC must have met and
agreed on the position, but it appears some
members of the working committee are not
even aware of this position.
“Again, even if the NWC agrees to it, it has to
be ratified by the NEC and the speaker and
deputy speaker are also members of NEC.
There has never been any time that this issue
was brought up.
“But, in any case, the first NEC meeting that
was held, this matter was not brought up. So,
that means clearly it is not the party’s position.
The position of the House is that there is
nothing like party position. We won’t accept the
said letter as a letter from the party.”

wisefizz:
stale..... this is wat happen wen som1 calls his younger brother his hero....

Hassan080196:
Wa gbayi...

tuffgongjo:
If you sow Wind you reap WhirlWind is what's happening.

Revealed: Real reasons ministerial list is delayed

Why Buhari fired CSO, AO

Written by:
Taiwo Adisa -Abuja

FURTHER details have emerged as to the true reasons the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has not released the list of ministers expected to serve in the administration for vetting by relevant security agencies.

The Department of State Services (DSS) plays a key role in the screening of appointees, especially ministerial and ambassadorial nominees, but sources said in Abuja that the decision to delay the list was partly due to the fact that the president did not want to release the names to the former Director General of DSS, Mr Ita Ekpeyong.

The bad blood generated between the DSS and the campaign organisation of General Muhammadu Buhari had informed the procurement of a private security organisation by the campaign team, in place of DSS operatives.

It was gathered that the Buhari team had carried the animosity over into governance and had signposted Ekpeyong and the DSS as an enemy.
It was further gathered that while media reports were indicating that the president would hit the ground running upon his swearing-in, the DSS had constituted a team to vet the ministerial list immediately it was made available by the president.

But the organisation, under Ekpeyong, had to disband the team when nothing was forthcoming, it was gathered.

Sources in the administration said Buhari did not want the DSS under Ekpeyong to handle his list of ministers, a carryover from the bad blood of the presidential campaign period.

Ekpeyong was, last week, relieved of his position in what was seen as the first of the security chiefs to be so axed by the administration.
It was gathered though the president was till compiling names of his ministerial nominees, hatred for the DSS under Ekpeyong was responsible for the delay in releasing the ministerial list by the Buhari-led administration.

Sources in government said that while the president was said to have compiled a list containing some of the names of his would-be ministers all along, he refused to make it available to the DSS, which ordinarily carries out some vetting before the screening by the Senate.

A source in the polity said the president could make available the ministerial list to the DSS any moment from now, following the resumption of Lawan Daura as the Director General of the Service.

The Senate, it is noted, will not commence screening of appointees whose curriculum vitae is not accompanied by security reports from the DSS.

It was also gathered that the misgivings between the administration and the DSS eventually consumed the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Abdurahman Mani, who was, last week, relieved of his position.

Sources said Mani’s alleged closeness to Ekpeyong and the service’s former spokesperson, Marylyn Ogar, might have also cost him the job.
Mani, hitherto a close ally of Buhari, whom he had served in the last four years, was promoted by the DSS on the promptings of the president when he became president-elect.

It was learnt that the DSS under Ekpeyong had presented possible names to Buhari as his CSO, but that the president rejected the names and opted for Mani.

When he was, however, told the Mani was not up to the rank of CSO to the President, he asked the Service to promote him so he could do the job.

Sources, therefore, said it was curious to see the same Buhari order the cancellation of the promotion and transfer of Mani out of the Presidential Villa.

barcanista:
APC can kill themselves

For another record time since its establishment
in 1948, the University of Ibadan has emerged
the best in Nigeria.
Its enviable position arose from the latest
ranking of African universities and higher
institutions conducted by Journals Consortium
on 1,447 higher institutions.
The Journals Consortium utilised research
publications and citations from the last five
years (2010 to 2014) as well as visibility on the
internet.
In Africa, UI was the eight best university, in a
ranking largely dominated by South African
institutions which occupied six of the first best
10 institutions.
The results of the ranking which is available on
the web http:/ranking.journalsconsortium.org/
indicated that South African institutions
dominate the top 10 with University of Cape
Town topping the rank with a Total Influence
Factor (TIF) of 45.02, followed by Cairo
University (43.43) and the University of
Pretoria (43.35).
The top 10 include six institutions from South
Africa, two from Egypt and one each from
Kenya and Nigeria (University of Ibadan).
First generation universities were in top
positions in the latest ranking with University
of Ibadan coming eighth and first in Nigeria
followed by University of Nigeria (13th),
Ahmadu Bello University (18th), University of
Lagos (UNILAG-20th), Obafemi Awolowo
University (24th), University of Ilorin (31st),
University of Port Harcourt (36th), Nnamdi
Azikiwe University (42nd), University of Calabar
(43rd), Federal University of Technology (FUTA,
49the) while the only private university in the
top list is Covenant University which is placed
53rd in the ranking.
Reacting to the ranking, the Vice-Chancellor,
University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac
Folorunsho Adewole, stated that the vision of
the university is to be a world-class institution
for academic excellence geared towards
meeting societal needs.
The vice-chancellor added that University of
Ibadan would not rest on its oars until it ranks
at par with renowned universities and higher
institutions globally, saying his administration
was poised to expanding the frontiers of
knowledge through provision of excellent
conditions of learning and research.
Adewole also called for special funding status
for the university from the federal government
for its vision and mission to be fully realised
towards transformation of the Nigerian society
through creativity and innovation.

The Nigerian Police Force has given reasons for
inviting the deputy president of the senate, Ike
Ekweremadu, to its headquarters for
questioning.
The police explained on its Facebook page that
it received a petition from a senator who
alleged unauthorized substitution of senate
document.
It said in line with the policy of the police
leadership on evidence gathering, the matter
was referred to the Force CID in Abuja for
investigation.
Following the investigation, a letter was
subsequently sent to the clerk of the National
Assembly to facilitate a meeting of some
principal officers of the senate and the clerk
with the police investigating team headed by
the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force
CIID, the statement said.
The meeting, the police said, is expected to
also hold at a time and location convenient for
the parties involved.
The statement said the force has respect of
democratic values, and therefore has no plans
to arrest the deputy senate president.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party had
on Sunday accused the ruling All Progressives
Congress of plotting the arrest of Mr.
Ekweremadu after failing to force him to resign
from his position.
However, following the PDP’s accusation, the
spokesperson for the APC, Lai Mohammed,
issued a statement, saying the party had no
hand in Mr. Ekweremadu’s ordeals.
Mr. Mohammed said the APC neither wrote a
petition to the police nor was it aware that any
petition was written against the deputy senate
president.
Mr. Ekweremadu is expected to appear for
questioning Monday morning at the Force
Headquarters in Abuja.
At Senate plenary on June 24, Kabir Marafa
(APC-Zamfara State) a senator opposed to the
emergence of Bukola Saraki and Mr.
Ekweremadu as President and Deputy
President of the Senate respectively, made an
attempt to question the June 9 elections of
Messrs Saraki and Ekweremadu.
Mr. Marafa, relying on Order 110 and 3 (e) (i),
of the Senate Standing Order, sought to know
which of the Order Books (2011 or 2015) was
used to coordinate the election.
He described the 2011 Senate Standing Order
as “genuine and authentic” thereby countering
the authenticity of the Senate Standing Order
2015.
The elections of Messrs. Saraki and
Ekweremadu were reportedly based on a
revised edition of the Senate rules, version
2015.
“I am still referring to the events of the 9th of
June, 2015, in this chamber. I have two Order
Books and I am running into confusion, and I
think there’s a need for the President to rule,”
Mr. Marafa said.
“Which of the Order Books are we going to use
to coordinate the activities of this Senate?’’ he
asked.
Mr. Marafa insisted that there was a conflict in
the two books as to the procedure that should
be taken for election of presiding officers of
the senate.
He said as a former Senator, he was unaware of
when the 2011 edition of the rules was
amended.
Mr. Saraki however ruled Mr. Marafa out of
order, thereby stopping what appears an
attempt to oust him and Mr. Ekweremadu.
In his explanation that day, Mr. Ekweremadu
said that from 1999 till date, the Senate had
always come up with its own rules.
“There was Senate Rule of 1999, 2003, 2007,
2011 and now 2015,” he said. “The reason is
quite simple.
“If you look at Section 64 of the 1999
Constitution it says that the Senate and House
of Representatives shall each stand dissolved at
the expiration of a period of four years
commencing from the date of the first sitting
of the house.
“So, the implication is that the rule he was
referring to ended with the Senate on the 6th
of June, 2015.”
With the police now investigating the matter, it
does appear Mr. Marafa is not prepared to
allow the matter die yet.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
has alleged that the governing All Progressives
Congress, APC-led federal government plans to
arrest the Deputy Senate President, Ike
Ekweremadu.
The PDP spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, who
addressed a press conference on Sunday in
Abuja, said to achieve the aim, the Inspector
General of Police, Solomon Arase, has invited
Mr. Ekweremadu to report at the Force
Headquarters in Abuja on Monday after which
he would be detained.
Mr. Metuh said the APC leadership is not happy
with the emergence of Mr. Ekweremadu, a PDP
member, as the Deputy Senate President and
that after several attempts to make him resign,
has now resorted to underhand tactics.
He said since President Muhammadu Buhari’s
statement that Mr. Ekweremadu’s election was
‘unacceptable’ to his party, the Deputy Senate
President, who can only be removed by the
Senate, has come under threats and intense
pressure from APC leaders to resign and allow
a senator from the ruling party to take his
position.
“We are aware that some APC senators
opposed to the emerge of Senators Bukola
Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as Senate President
and Deputy Senate President respectively met
last week and concocted a petition accusing the
Deputy Senate President of altering the Senate
Rules on the process of election of the
Presiding Officers, upon which the police via a
letter dated July 1, 2015 and signed by the
Deputy Inspector General in charge of criminal
investigation at the Force Headquarters has
invited him to appear tomorrow, Monday, July
6, 2015 where he will be detained and put
under pressure,” he said .
Mr. Metuh said apart from the fact that the
Nigerian Constitution clearly guarantees the
two chambers of the National Assembly the
powers to regulate their proceedings without
external interferences, the alleged petition by
the APC senators who he said enjoy the
sympathy of some APC leaders, lacks merit.
He said Mr. Ekweremadu or any other senator-
elect prior to the inauguration of the Senate
and the election of presiding officers, could not
have been involved in the process of producing
the 2015 Standing Rules of the Senate, which
was strictly done by the bureaucracy under the
Clerk to the National Assembly.
“Senator Ekweremadu was not in any way
involved in the process other than being
nominated for the position of the Deputy
Senate President and could not have been privy
to the secret ballot procedure adopted by the
National Assembly bureaucracy, which has been
widely adjudged as transparent and credible,”
he said.
Mr. Metuh added that apart from the plans to
use security apparatus against the Deputy
Senate President, the PDP has information that
there are instructions to certain officials at the
Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC “to alter some electoral documents and
records in order to create the impression that
Senator Ekweremadu did not file proper
documents for the general elections to
eventually pave way for his removal
“In line with the above plot, the APC has been
having secret meetings with some judges and
lawyers to procure injunctions to prevent
Senator Ekweremadu from playing his role as
the Deputy Senate President.
“We are also aware that part of the plot is a
conspiracy to tarnish Senator Ekweremadu’s
image and open him to public ridicule.
“Last Monday, some APC leaders met in Abuja
to perfect a plot to blackmail the Deputy
Senate President by planting outlandish
publications against him in the media,” Mr.
Metuh said.
The PDP spokesperson said the Nigerian
government and APC leaders should be held
responsible should any harm come upon the
Deputy Senate President or any of its leaders.
He said the notice became necessary because
the PDP has information indicating that there
are also plans to compromise security around
the Deputy Senate President to make him
vulnerable and open for sponsored violent
attacks.
“We do hope that the era of political
assassination is not about to return to Nigeria
and that our nation will not descent into a
draconian regime where a strike force is
created to hunt key opposition figures
“We call on our citizens to note that the PDP
will not consider it a mere coincidence if our
key leaders suddenly become victims of terror
attacks or are suddenly killed by armed
robbers,” he said.
Mr. Metuh added that PDP is aware that the
APC has gone to the “ridiculous extent of
trailing key PDP leaders and bugging their
telephone lines”.
This, he said, is in addition to hiring some
disgruntled PDP members, to use the guise of
an ethnic solidarity to create some
disturbances, distractions and disruption of the
smooth operations of the PDP.
“The APC is indeed in the process of elevating
violence, ethnic and sectional interests once
more in our democracy and we call on patriotic
Nigerians across the country to resist this
dangerous design
“We are aware that President Buhari, who had
earlier restated his willingness to work with
anybody elected by the legislature, has been
put under intense pressure resulting in his
statement on the emergence of Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, which is now being misconstrued
by some of his overzealous party members and
security officials.
“We therefore urge the President to bear in
mind that the onus therefore lies on him to
moderate the political temperature of the
country by calling his overbearing party
members and security officials to order,” he
said.

maestroferddi:
Who has time for Obasanjo's old wives tale?

This is 2015 Nigeria where all the parts that make up the critical mass are important. Perish the thought of mythical Fulani man or legendary Kanuri figure...

If Tinubu did not lend his organisational skills, your Fulani man would still have been expending handkerchiefs in wiping the tearful eyes of a serial loser.

nkem123:
Ekweremadu is nt d target, d target is Saraki.by removing Ekweremadu, it will pave d way for APC deputy senator, by then Saraki will be impeached then lawan can takeover.impeaching Saraki isn't d issue, d issue Is nt allowing Ekweremadu of PDP take over after d impeachment.so Ekweremadu must first be removed.saraki saw that earlier before opting for a PDP deputy.

maestroferddi:
Buhari won't do jack.

He has since lost the plot.

The ongoing power tussle between him and Tinubu will further diminish his fading powers.

The fact that he has started on a wrong footing will hardly help matters.

There has been nothing smart about the nature of appointments made by Buhari so far...

BiniShrine:
Will be by His grace. Send me a PM wit ur bb pin den. Awesome

BiniShrine:
Hope you are good bro. Nice knowing you. Cheers. Don't knw hw to speak ooo.

Fresh crisis is brewing in the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC) over the
chairmanship of the party’s Board of Trustees
(BoT).
It was learnt that a fresh crisis is rearing its
head in the party over who will chair the BoT.
The National Executive Committee (APC)
meeting held last Friday endorsed the
constitution of the party’s BoT. No date was set
for that.
An official of the party revealed to Sunday Sun
that some chieftains of the party are in the
trenches over who heads the yet-to-be-
constituted BoT.
According to him, the initial permutation was
that former vice president, Atiku Abubakar
would chair the advisory body. The move, he
said was championed by former Lagos state
governor and leader of the party, Bola Ahmed
Tinubu who wanted the former vice president
to support his candidates for the National
Assembly leadership.
However, the APC stalwart who does not want
his name mentioned said the music had since
changed. According to him, the emergence of
Saraki and Dogara as senate president and
House speaker and the role allegedly played by
Atiku in the controversial election had pitted
Tinubu against the former vice president.
His words, “we may be working towards
addressing the crisis in the National Assembly
but I’m saddened that we may court a new
crisis.
“Power struggle is going on over chairmanship
of our BoT. Initially Tinubu wanted the position
to go to North-east. In fact he lobbied Atiku for
it in exchange for his support for his candidates
in the National Assembly.
“When Asiwaju lost out in the National
Assembly, he changed his earlier stand that
Atiku should head the BoT. The reason is clear.
He was disappointed that Atiku was one of the
arrowheads that torpedoed all the plans made
by him.”
Right now, the APC chieftain claimed that
Tinubu’s henchmen were wholly against either
making Atiku the chairman of the body or
giving it to any person from the North-east. He
did not, however, state the zone or person the
ex-Lagos State governor was rooting for. He
only predicted that the fight over the office
would soon take a messy dimension.
“I will not be surprised if the struggle over the
position takes a larger-than-life dimension. I
think the matter will be decided by President
Buhari who is the leader of the party,” the
source said.
He said though some APC chieftains from the
South-west were rooting for Tinubu to run for
the position or nominate his ally from the zone
to contest for it, such proposal would not work.
According to him, the South had the position of
national chairman and could not be supported
to produce chairman of BoT.
He said, “the South is occupying the office of
national chairman , the BoT must go to the
North. It will be difficult to bring up any
argument that will change this equation.”
On the possibility of Atiku clinching the position
even in the face of opposition from Tinubu, the
APC official said the vice president enjoyed the
support of most governors from the North who
would nominate the BoT members.
He said, “the former vice president is playing
his politics very well at the moment. He has
the support of most Northern governors. You
and I know that these governors are the ones
who will nominate the BoT members again
tomorrow night. So I believe we are making
some progress, not that everything is signed,
sealed and delivered.”