₦airaland Forum

Good for him..Shebi he is a coward nii..Idiot

Anduku:
Oga small small o, that table you are shaking has budaatum on top of it o

Is he a Buharist?

All of you blaming them would do the same..They are not doing it for free and they needed to put food on their tables..Don't be surprised if they won't even voting Sanwo olu weeere and be voting someone else..

What I sha know is that make Buhari comot for there next month..

Chikena

budaatum:
I'm sure there's enough here for a Trump led administration to lock her up or at least mount an investigation. If only Trump had won the election and was Potus in 2019 I guess.

Abi o..When I say trumpsters think like buharists and they dont seem to have a brain of their own them go dey vex..Just like buharists,All they do is to complain and whine even when they are in power..

From Tinubu's The Nation newspaper abi?..I don laugh so tey..Lol

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, is to address a world press conference over the sacking of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The press conference, according to sources close to the former Vice President, will hold this evening

Details later…

https://punchng.com/onnoghen-atiku-to-address-world-press-conference/

- Paul Manafort
- Rick Gates
- Michael Flynn
- George Papadopoulos
- Michael Cohen
- Roger Stone

The great people Donald Trump works with...

The new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, will on Saturday (tomorrow), swear in members of the National Assembly, governorship and state assembly election petition tribunals, The PUNCH has learnt.

Muhammad was sworn-in by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday afternoon shortly after announcing the suspension of the substantive CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, who is facing charges of corruption before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

The election petition tribunals will be expected to handle disagreements that may arise from the conduct of the elections which begin in three weeks.

Born on December 31, 1953 at Doguwa – Giade, a local government area in Bauchi State, Justice Muhammad attended Ahmadu Bello University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Law in 1980.

He later obtained a master’s degree and doctorate from the same university in 1984 and 1998 respectively.

https://punchng.com/new-cjn-justice-muhammad-to-set-up-election-tribunal-tomorrow/

Breaking---FBI Arrests Trump's associate Roger Stone on charges brought by the special counsel Robert Mueller..

Walter Onnoghen, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), postponed the 88th meeting of the National Judicial Council (NJC) at the eleventh hour without stating any reason. However, SaharaReporters now understands it was due to fears he could be suspended by the council.

The NJC held its 87th meeting on October 3 and October under the chairmanship of Onnoghen. At the end of the meeting, it recommended the appointment one Supreme Court Justice, three chief judges, three other judges of state high courts and a judge each for the Sharia Court of Appeal and the Customary Court of Appeal. The 88th meeting was to hold on Tuesday January 15, 2019.

But days earlier, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) had slammed fraudulent asset declaration charges against the CJN at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). Afraid that the NJC could suspend him because of this, Onnoghen — despite knowing that NJC members were already in Abuja for that purpose — postponed the meeting.

Notice of the postponement, served by Soji Oye, NJC’s Director of Information, read: “Sir/Ma, I am directed by The Honorable, The Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, Hon. Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, GCON to inform you that the 88th Meeting of the Council slated for Tuesday 15th, January, 2019 has been postponed to a later date to be communicated to you.

“Any inconvenience this might cause you is highly regretted. Please, accept the assurances of the high regards of His Lordship, Hon. Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, GCON.”

A source familiar with the development told SaharaReporters that Onnoghen took the step after advice from his lawyers, knowing the antecedent of the council.

“On June 15, 2018, the members of the National Judicial Council had assembled in Abuja to attend the statutory meeting if the body. To the surprise of the members the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen decided to postpone the meeting indefinitely,” he said.

“Even though no reason was adduced for the postponement of the meeting, Justice Onnoghen was not sure that the body would not suspend him until the conclusion of the case of false declaration of assets pending against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The fear of Justice Onnoghen is not unfounded as the National Judicial Council has placed all judges who are on trial on suspension pending the conclusion of criminal cases filed against them as a result of the 2016 arrest of judges for corruption.

“Justice John Okoro of the Supreme Court was recalled from suspension because he was not charged with any offence while Justice Ugwuta has not been recalled from suspension. As Justice Onnoghen would have been interdicted if the National Judicial Council had met he was advised by his lawyers and close confidants in the judiciary to shift the meeting till a later date when the coast would become clear. The Chief Justice followed the advice and directed that the meeting be postponed.”


Onnoghen has shunned the two sittings of the CCT so far, the tribunal setting aside subsisting orders of a Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court (NIC) restraining it from proceeding with the case.

At the last sitting on Tuesday, Justice Danladi Umar, Chairman of the CCT, ruled that the order issued by the two courts directing the tribunal to discontinue the case are not binding on the tribunal.

He declared the orders null and void, holding that the tribunal was established by the constitution and could not be stopped by orders of the two courts.

He therefore ruled that the tribunal would proceed with the case, and he directed the defendant to move his preliminary application challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal.

http://saharareporters.com/2019/01/25/exclusive-how-onnoghen-postponed-njc-meeting-indefinitely-fear-being-suspended

The sacked Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TeTFund), Abdullahi Baffa, said he was forced out of office owing to his refusal to provide monetary kickbacks to Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu

Baffa told BBC Hausa on Wednesday that the Minister had sent a contractor to him demanding his share of N200 billion disbursed by the agency to tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

He stated that he had never collected a dime from any of the benefiting tertiary institutions

“If they bring any evidence indicting me, I’m ready to accept death punishment,” Mr Baffa said.

Bichi also said he was sacked over ‘false’ accusations of insubordination, inaccessibility and speaking to the press without authorisation.

“On Friday night, I was informed at the Presidential Villa that Minister of Education came with a letter reporting me to the president.

“This is not the first time Adamu Adamu reported me to the president, requesting my sack but the president stood his ground and refuse to sack me,” he told the BBC.

When the interviewer asked him about the authenticity of his source, Mr Bichi said he was certain the information was accurate.

“My source is reliable. On Saturday night, I was reliably informed that I would be removed.

“I asked what was my offence? They alleged that the offences were inaccessibility, insubordination and speaking to the press without the minister’s authorisation.

“Allegation of inaccessibility is unfounded as the minister knows that I spend more time in the ministry as his technical aide than in my TETfund office.

“I do not regret my refusal to obey the minister’s directives because I cannot sabotage my country.

“Go and ask the minister. Eight months ago, Mallam Adamu Adamu sent one of his biggest contractors to tell me that the minister was angry with me for three reasons.

“The third issue is that TETffund disbursed over N200 million to universities without remitting the percent kickback, amounting to at least N20 billion at 10 percent rate.

“The fact is that since I started this job, I have never demanded a single kobo from any university. If any university shows proof of collecting kickback from them, let death sentence be passed on me,” he added.

http://dailypost.ng/2019/01/23/buhari-sacked-refusing-give-minister-bribes-ex-tetfund-boss-baffa/?fbclid=IwAR0vLGyjgnTShihZZx3tZDi8ZjM_7wETpFY4O32xms4CECyECTq8a2iu9rY

REDshouse:
.if there is no electricity to distribute , u will still come and seize licence.....see licence siezer...you better throw in toewel like oby has done and join the next level wagon

Shebi if there is power to distribute them go distribute am.. veekid come and see your padi.wayre.

highpriestess:
If only ladies will start applying some little sense after seeing how you men describe them after begging to sleep with them.
I'm sure you knelt down and promised her heaven and earth so that she can allow you put only the head. I'm sure you also gave her your life savings but the way you will come here to scribble bunkum just to garner some schmuck appraisals from uncouth talibans still amazes me.

Some of you Nigerian men are very much disgusting, immature, loud, lousy.
Geese!!!
If girls haven't learnt from the past one year you guys have been ranting and displaying your idiocy on this site, then the said lady is doomed.


You men are the biggest who're one can think of; worst is that you guys do with impunity, but believe me, some women are actually coming out stronger, this whoring thing is the new revolution on the female gender since you guys think is right to body shame women after doing the same thing with them.

Some of you guys have crayon dicks, sagged balls, the hole on the tip of your dick is so wide than the express way due to excessive cum, 1 minute men, very smelly putrid balls, but ladies hardly say bad about guys when they sleep with you men.

Every man has 53 litres of sperm to produce in his life span, but some of you have used 50l and not even married. Some of you no longer produce thick cum, your cum has become so transparent that it can't even impregnate a woman, cos of used and reused dick.
Let me stop here, but just know that this act of being lousy on social media is pitifully irritating and I believe ladies are so much learning( if only ladies can work their asses out, and stop depending on guys money, and parents stop depending on their daughters getting married to rich in law who would give them everything; something they didn't work for when they were young, then, most ladies will actually see the fact that some of you loud and uncouth men have little or no input)

Ps: my comment is for the loud and ill mannered men like this guy, I believe there are much mature men out there.

Guess your toto is wide or something or you are the girl in question..Why the epistle?Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

OGHENAOGIE:
sharap oga is China a capitalist state...as capitalist as America is dee are elements of socialism in it.. d Obama health,students loans etc Wat do u think de are

That's where you get it all wrong..Student loan isn't socialism cos it is being paid back.In a socialist society like you lazy people want,the money won't be loan it would be 100% Free..which is nothing but bullshit..

The government should help you so that you can help yourself not handing out handouts to you every now and then so that you can relax without doing nothing..

buharitill2023:
that is the same passion i have against capitalist,
capitalist encourage evil.

And socialism encourages poverty and lazy entitled People..Lest you forget,The best country on earth is a America which is capitalist 100% while one of the poorest with Super-Hyper Infaltion is Venezuela that practices socialism that is currently in estreme poverty and political distress.

"The monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned that the federal government’s debt levels could be fast approaching the pre-2005 levels.

Reading the communique of the committee’s decision at the end of its bi-monthly meeting on Tuesday, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, said: “On external borrowing, the committee noted the increase in debt level advising for caution, noting that it could fast be approaching the pre-2005 Paris Club level.”

On October 20, 2005, Nigeria reached an $18 billion debt relief agreement with Paris Club. Nigeria was required to pay $12.4 billion of its $30 billion debt stock in three tranches.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was the minister of finance at that time, led the Nigerian delegation while Xavier Muscat, chairman of the Paris Club, led the 15-member club to sign the agreement.

The deal saw Nigeria exit the club completely after the final payment was made on April 21, 2006.

According to data released by the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s external debt stood at $21.6 billion as at September 30.

Speaking on the federal government’s plan to raise more revenue through value-added tax, Emefiele said the committee was of the view that it would help reduce pressure on government expenditure.

“The committee also noted the attempts by the government to broaden the base of the Value Added Tax and urge the authorities to expedite action in that effect, arguing that increased tax collection will reduce pressure on government expenditure and create fiscal buffers to improve macroeconomic management,” he said.

The monetary policy rate was retained at 14% while the Cash Reserves Ratio was maintained at 22.5%.

Liquidity ratio was left at 30% and the Asymmetric Window was left at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR"

https://www.thecable.ng/debt-levels-fast-approaching-pre-2005-paris-club-level-cbn/amp

ObaofNigeria:
According to Nelson Mandela in his book long walk to freedom. He believes that developing countries NEED socialism to stand on their feet before thinking of capitalism. I subscribe to this idea
Socialism tackles poverty faster
We need socialism to grow our middle class and then capitalism to perfect our growth.
Pure capitalism at this stage leads to exploitation of the poor greed and elite minority centered growth
Socialism. Problem is corruption which can be tackled by choice of leaders

And did he ever introduce socialism while he was president between 1994 to 1999?

Dude is nothing but a fucking Socialist..Instead of him to answer how he is going to fund his socialist policies he is beating around the bush..

If you know the kain hate I have for socialists,I so much dislike and hate them with Passion.

karlboss:
I don't think so I saw the video on a Kenya group yesterday. It's not only trending in Nigeria

He don already trend on Whatsapps status here in Nigeria last year that was where I saw it..Na one of my crazy younger brothers put am on his status last year wey i see am..So I already saw it Months ago..

Think have seen the Video before and it has nothing to do with Malawi..They are Americans I think and this news is the handiwork of one useless blogger..

I dont know about that..All I know is that most of these so called church girls have irritating behaviors..Seeing them from Afar you go think they are the Holiest of the Holiest..Get closer to them and you will see they are so irritating and a bunch of Nags..

I have meet like 3 of them that I will never ever marry even in my next life..Who wants to end up with a Woman that would kill you with unnecessary stress and Wahala..

The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani has rebuffed an accusation by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, that President Muhammadu Buhari is not a ”full-fledged Fulani man because he cannot speak Fulfulde.”

Atiku, who made the claim during a campaign rally in Jigawa State, described Buhari as a fake Fulani man, saying, “a real Fulani man would not drag his followers into extreme poverty like what is happening under the All Progressives Congress administration.”

The National Secretary, Miyetti Allah, Mr Saleh Alhassan, however, stated that Buhari’s inability to speak Fulfulde did not make him any less of a Fulani man.

Alhassan said, “The truth of the matter is that, in several places in Adamawa State, they speak Fulfulde. The fact that Atiku speaks Fulfulde doesn’t make him a Fulani man.

“If you look at Atiku physically, he doesn’t carry the biological features of a Fulani man. You look at Atiku and you see the Bantu tribe. He doesn’t belong to the Sudanic tribe.

“Also, we don’t know Atiku’s uncle and all Fulani know their uncles. Have you ever seen Atiku’s uncle? His claim to Fulani background is shrouded in uncertainty because nobody knows his uncles. Buhari’s ‘Fulani-ness’ is not in doubt. His father was an Ardo, a Fulani leader. So, I think it is not an issue.”

The Fulani leader stated that his community had rejected Atiku in the elections because he “doesn’t share in our pains and problems,” adding that the PDP candidate wanted to “use our problems and campaign with them.”

He stated, “Is Atiku not responsible for the crisis on the Mambilla Plateau? They went there, took over the land from the indigenous people and created mega farms and ranches, plunging them (Fulani) into poverty.

“If there is anybody that has created poverty, it is Atiku and the PDP. Over the 16 years they ruled this country, they virtually raped the country in a very shameful manner. It will be a disaster for Nigeria for Atiku to become president and I know God will not allow it because he doesn’t mean well for the poor people in this country.

https://punchng.com/that-atiku-speaks-fulfulde-doesnt-make-him-a-fulani-man-miyetti-allah/?fbclid=IwAR2ubiZIN92nFS2k_B1H0zlkFTPNici2wYSYwYSzeNqgK5vSdtAQ_v1JwkQ

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the N27,000 recommended by the National Council of State as new national minimum wage for state and private-sector workers.

The body made the recommendation at a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday — the first in the year and only the third in the current reign of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It also recommended N30,000 as the new minimum wage for federal workers.
SEE ALSO

However, Peter Ozo-Eson, Secretary-General of NLC, told NAN that the federal government, by that action, is inviting a shutdown of the economy.

“The council has no jurisdiction to determine another amount after a Tripartite Committee had submitted its report,” he said.

“It is abysmal of government to be delaying the submission of an Executive Bill to the National Assembly and by wrongfully adopting N27,000 through the council of state.”

Ozo-Eson said the NLC had scheduled an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) for Friday to deliberate on the deadline given to government within which to submit an executive bill to the National Assembly.

“The Federal Government is only projecting a shutdown of the economy with its latest action,” he added. “This is because workers should not be held responsible for any development after its NEC meeting on Friday.”

http://saharareporters.com/2019/01/22/breaking-nlc-rejects-n27000-minimum-wage-says-govt-inviting-economic-shutdown

Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says former President Olusegun is seeking a return to Aso Rock villa, the country’s seat of power, "by hook, crook or utter fantasy".

Tinubu said this in response to Obasanjo’s State of the Nation address tagged ‘Points for Concern and Action’, during which the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman accused President Muhammadu Buhari of harassing his critics and opponents, and plotting to manipulate the 2019 general election.

Buhari has since responded, describing Obasanjo as needing a doctor so he can get well soon, but Tinubu has now joined in the rebuttal, identifying Obasanjo as being responsible for the flaws in Nigeria’s political economy since 1999. He alsod escribed him as an “election rigger without peer”.

“For Obasanjo to utter such an outrage is that he hopes lighting strikes twice. He was ushered into office after Abacha’s demise. He thinks if he can invoke Abacha’s name, the same thing will happen again,” Tinubu said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“By hook, crook or utter fantasy, Obasanjo seeks to return to Aso Villa, not as an irritating, importuning guest but as a long-term resident. He wants to be back in control. If he cannot be president, then the president better carve from his office a special room for Obasanjo.”

He also attacked Obasanjo’s bloated sense of self, saying: “Obasanjo thinks he is more than the greatest Nigerian. He thinks himself greater than Nigeria itself. Unless he is allowed to lead the procession, he will groan, grouse and grit. However, neither President Buhari nor the progressive APC have much use for his reactionary policies and his megalomaniac ways. Thus, we shall be forced to endure more of his letters. But enduring such missives is vastly superior and small price to pay for not having to endure a repeat of his unenlightened misgovernance.”

THE FULL STATEMENT
CHIEF OBASANJO – AT WAR AGAINST HIS OWN DEEDS.

Former President Obasanjo is many things to many people; but he is all things unto himself. His recent contribution to our political discourse wherein he alleges plots to steer the coming elections shows he benefits from an exceedingly faulty memory, is purely shameless or has a most wicked sense of humor. Perhaps all three are facets of his makeup and were equally on display in his latest prosaic display.

The crux of his long tirade was the allegation that INEC is poised to cook the election results. Chief Obasanjo should not get his dander up and waste good ink for nothing. This election will be a free and open exercise of the people’s right to choose their leaders. Obasanjo makes fiery allegations against this right but offers no corroborating evidence; he presents only reams of words. This is because Obasanjo is projecting onto the APC the misconduct he would wrought if still in power. Yet, the ways of Obasanjo are not those of the APC. And this difference has meant the better for Nigeria.

Moreover, Chief Obasanjo should be the last to complain about election rigging. His administration was an unalloyed miscarriage of justice and of the best aspirations of the Nigerian people. We all know he was not elected in 1999. He was handed Nigeria on a silver platter; perhaps because Nigeria was so easily given that he went about treating the nation as if it was a less than precious thing; he thought it was a cheap give-away not a privilege to govern this nation.

This man should have positioned himself to be the father of the nation. All the goodwill that could be granted a political figure was bestowed on him. The global economy was such that it fueled our growth. Everyone wanted Nigeria to succeed after emerging from years of noxious military rule. Despite the flawed exercise that rendered him president, we all bit our tongues in hope that he would say and do the right things that would move Nigeria forward.

Instead of being a unifying figure as Commander-in-chief, he lowered himself to being a divisive, vindictive conniver. There was no table which he neared that he did not upset and overturn. There was no one who came into his company for any period of time with whom he did not fall out if he expresses a thought contrary to one of his.

He tried to convert our young democracy into a one party state. His PDP boasted that they would rule for 60 uninterrupted years. Never did they boast that they would govern us well during even one year of the sixty. He could have placed the economy on the path to durable growth and shared prosperity through diversification, industrialization and creation of a social safety net for the poor. Instead, he handed the economy over to a tight group of cronies, turning what should be a modern economy into a version of the mammoth trading companies that dominated the 17th and 18th century. The Transcorp conglomerate was intended to be a throwback to monopolistic enterprises such as the East Indian Company wherein a select handful would control the national economy’s strategic heights.

We hoped that Obasanjo would personify statesmanship, thus showing the way to a more benign political culture. Instead, he bickered and feuded with his vice president and mostly anyone who dared remind him that he was human and thus infallible.

Given the vast margin between the good he could have achieved and the nebulous feats that comprise his true record, Chief Obasanjo is the person most responsible for the flaws in the Nigerian political economy since 1999. His ego is as expansive as the firmament but his good deeds would fit into a modest sachet with ample room to spare.

The worst of Obasanjo’s record, I have yet to describe. When it comes to elections, he has been a rigger without peer. There is no election which occurred under Obasanjo’s watch or in which he participated that did not involve cheating on his part. Even the late President Umaru Musa Yar ‘Adua admitted he was the beneficiary of a flawed election engineered by none other than today’s vociferous complainant. For Obasanjo to lament over electoral malpractice is tantamount to the ocean complaining that a few raindrops are causing it to get wet.

In his writing, Obasanjo alleges the Osun election indicates rigging will take place in the coming contests. Let’s go straight to the truth, Obasanjo has no grievance with the process. His personal history suggests fair process is the least of his concerns. What knocks Obasanjo off kilter is that he could not dictate the result in Osun. He told those in the PDP that he held sway in Osun and throughout the Southwest. They believed him. He led them to defeat notwithstanding the almost impossible voter turnout in PDP strongholds in that state. Obasanjo can only win an election when has the final say over the final vote tally. Otherwise, he is a troubled man.

In an attempt to relieve his trouble, Chief Obasanjo makes reference to a joke about INEC. He says, “The INEC was asked if the Commission was ready for the election and if it expects the election to be free, fair and credible. The INEC man is reported as saying in response, ‘we are ready with everything including the results.’” The joke has a touch of humor; we are glad that Obasanjo is not completely devoid of this most human of traits. However, he makes a telling omission by failing to give you the vintage of this bit of sarcasm.

The jest was not born last week. It’s vintage is circa 2003- a time when a certain President Obasanjo rode roughshod over INEC. He would summon the nervous INEC chairman to the Villa, proceeding to hector the man until he gave way to Obasanjo’s demands. At Obasanjo’s urging, INEC improperly published fake election results on the gubernatorial race in Lagos. Not until a public outcry did INEC back away from rigging Lagos. A similar attempt was made in Lagos in 2007. In essence, for Obasanjo to laugh at this joke means he has belatedly developed the ability to laugh at himself.

If Obasanjo was so committed to free elections, how could he countenance Atiku’s recent boast of single-handedly rigging elections in the Southwest. Atiku claimed that he took all states for the PDP but left Lagos alone due to some misguided affinity for me. By this statement, Atiku publicly admitted to rigged elections in the SW. Beyond resort to wholesale rigging, Atiku could never deign to be more popular and potent in the Southwest than the panoply of good and decent leaders that guided the defunct AC. Moreover, I can assure you that we did not need Atiku’s false beneficence to win the elections in Lagos. The people voted for us and their votes countered the ill-designs Obasanjo and Atiku set in motion. Thus, if Obasanjo cannot chastise Atiku for publicly boasting that he rigged elections, then Obasanjo’s display of righteous indignation is but a magician’s trick.

His fine words and sentiments come a dozen years too late. These noble things would have greater effect had he placed them into practice when he was at the helm of affairs. At that time, he was powerful so he did as he might. Now that he lacks power, he has taken to preach that which he never did.

In his commentary, he mentions that INEC has a record of past rigging. I wonder if he understands the admission he makes. No other president has exercised such tight control over INEC for as many years as Obasanjo. No president has had the domineering relationship with INEC that Obasanjo enjoyed. If there are reports of past INEC rigging, those reports are of Obasanjo’s making. It is the irony of ironies for Obasanjo to complain of the fruit on the table when his was the hand that planted the tree.

Chief Obasanjo tries to further confuse matters by pointing to the case of the CJN’s assets declaration as evidence of future vote-rigging via tampering with the judiciary. Again, Obasanjo goes into a personality shift. For years, Obasanjo has boasted of himself as our corruption fighter nonpareil. The very aim of this current letter is to attack imagined INEC malfeasance. Yet, with regard to the CJN, he blithely ignores the large cache of dollars in the CJN’s account and the millions of dollars that passed through the accounts. Obasanjo seems unbothered by the unexplained presence of such sums. Perhaps Obasanjo’s nonchalance regarding the money is that he expected the funds there because he knows both the origin and reasons for the trove.

Chief Obasanjo sinks so low as to suggest that the VP, during the exercise of his official duties, was taking the PVC numbers of market women and traders. This statement reveals the bilious nature of the man. Obasanjo even quotes the notorious Bode George in claiming that the VP was “gutting our collective treasury” by giving loans of N10,000 to market women under the administration’s empowerment programs.

What? Giving money to poor people to enhance their lives and escape the maw of poverty is, by PDP metrics, gutting the collective treasury. If helping the poor is gutting the treasury, Atiku’s privatizing large chunks of the economy into his own pocket must have been seen by the PDP as a vital public service. Jonathan and his Petroleum Minister’s siphoning government coffers of several billion dollars to enrich the already-rich must have been viewed by the PDP as the epitome of a social safety net. Obasanjo’s and the PDP’s disdain for the common person could not be clearer.

Obasanjo should be ashamed to even raise this issue. When he was president, the economy was on an easy sledding due to positive global trends. Obasanjo did not raise a finger to do anything for the poor. He and Atiku were champions of trickle-down economics. If anything good trickled down to the poor it was by accident. Obasanjo left the poor unattended because he cared nothing for them. Poverty increased under his cold indifference. Not one meaningful social program was established during his watch. The banking and pension deregulation he brought were geared to profit the wealthy CEO’s and managers of these financial entities. The malpractices attendant to these deregulation fiascos extinguished the savings of millions of Nigerians. In reliance on these artifices of Obasanjo and his ilk, many Nigerians were thrust down the lower rungs of the poverty they so desperately sought to avoid. Obasanjo’s allies gobbled the savings of the poor and still feast on them to this day.

Chief Obasanjo is one of the last people to preach to anyone about using public funds to care for the poor. He had the gall to fret that funds should not be given to the urban poor because they are not poor enough. But his grouse does not show any defect in the administration’s program. His complaint shows the defect in Obasanjo’s humanity or lack of it. To complain that some people are not poor enough for his liking is to reveal that seeing human suffering does not motivate him to cure it. He would rather that people suffer it the more. Your unease and distress becomes his entertainment or at least evidence he is superior to the common man. Watching a laborer struggle against penury is no more than a spectator sport for Obasanjo.

The most fantastic of all his claims is that this administration has returned Nigeria to the days of Abacha. If this were true, the press would be constantly closed. Obasanjo would be constricted in writing such letters. Elections would not be upon us. Atiku would not be able to freely campaign and the diversity of opinion in the public space would be suppressed.

For Obasanjo to utter such an outrage is that he hopes lighting strikes twice. He was ushered into office after Abacha’s demise. He thinks if he can invoke Abacha’s name, the same thing will happen again. By hook, crook or utter fantasy, Obasanjo seeks to return to Aso Villa, not as an irritating, importuning guest but as a long-term resident. He wants to be back in control. If he cannot be president, then the president better carve from his office a special room for Obasanjo.

Obasanjo thinks he is more than the greatest Nigerian. He thinks himself greater than Nigeria itself. Unless he is allowed to lead the procession, he will groan, grouse and grit. However, neither President Buhari nor the progressive APC have much use for his reactionary policies and his megalomaniac ways. Thus, we shall be forced to endure more of his letters. But enduring such missives is vastly superior and small price to pay for not having to endure a repeat of his unenlightened misgovernance.

http://saharareporters.com/2019/01/22/obasanjo-wants-return-aso-rock-hook-or-crook-says-tinubu

The Nigeria Immigration Service says it will commence issuance of new passport in the Federal Capital Territory from March 4.

This was disclosed by NIS Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sunday James in Abuja, on Monday.

It will be recalled that the new e-passport was officially launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, January 16.



According to James, the existing passport booklet will run concurrently with the new enhanced passport booklet until the former expires.

Other scheduled dates, James said, included Ikoyi in Lagos — March 25; Kano — April 1; Alausa, Lagos –April 8; and London, United Kingdom April 15.

He said the phase two multiple rollout in New York, Washington, and Atlanta, USA would follow immediately after London on April 22; while other locations, local and abroad, would follow in sequence from April 29.

The PRO further said that the passport reforms which included introduction of new enhanced passport booklet and passport with 10-year validity had various category of passports and approved fees.

He said that the cost of 32-page five-year standard passport stood at N25,000; 64-page five-year standard passport at N35,00; 64-page 10-year standard passport at N70,000; and 32-page five-year official passport at N15,000.

According to James, the new passport has enormous advantages which comprised passport with 10-year validity, self-tracking of application and express centers for urgent application.

Other advantages he said included weather friendliness, compliance with latest ICAO standard, polycarbonate technology that reduced incidence of damage as well saves Nigerians in the Diaspora time of frequent visits to Nigerian Embassies.

“We urge Nigerians to take advantage of the reforms, avoid patronising third party or touts and utilise the online platforms provided by the service for their passport application,” he said.

https://punchng.com/issuance-of-new-passport-begins-in-march-says-nis/

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says President Muhammadu Buhari is "sick in the body, mind and spirit and should be allowed to rest".

He stated this in an interview published by BBC News Yoruba on Monday evening.

According to the former President, Buhari has performed to the best of his ability and should take a rest.

He also urged Nigerians to take advantage of democracy and exercise their freedom of choice.

"Buhari is sick in the spirit, body and mind," he said.

"Let's beg him to take a rest. He has performed to the best of his ability. Some people have asked me about the person we're supporting if we're not worried that he won't perform. That's what's good about democracy.

http://saharareporters.com/2019/01/21/obasanjo-tells-bbc-buhari-sick-body-mind-and-spirit

Bolustical:
Atiku is losing with at least 5 million votes, bookmark this.

Whether you like it or not, the NW is already locked down for President Muhammadu Buhari.

PDP is a losing party.

The Northwest that never made him president for 3 terms till Tinubu came and brushed him up and called him the best thing to have ever happened after Jollof rice.Isnt it?

The People that wrote the Electoral Law of Nigeria did well..You can't be president of this country from winning just 12million Votes from a just a section of a country.

You need 2/3rd of the federation to be President.

QED!

The Peoples Democratic Party has said that the concerns raised by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, detailing President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged scheme to use apparatus of state to subjugate Nigerians in the 2019 general elections has vindicated its stand.

“It will undermine the democratic system, subvert the electoral process and perpetuate himself in office,” PDP said in a series of tweets on its verified Twitter handle @OfficialPDPNig.

“Obasanjo’s submission has also reinforced our position that Buhari and his party, APC, having realised that there is no way he can win in a free and fair election, is now besieging all democratic institutions, including the Judiciary, the Legislature, and INEC



“The whole world can see how President Buhari and APC’s desperation for power is putting the lives of over 200 million Nigerian citizens at great risk, as their actions stoke violence and push our dear nation to the precipice.

“President Obasanjo’s concern is, therefore, a clarion call to all compatriots, irrespective of ethnic, religious and political affiliations to rise in defence of our democracy,” PDP tweeted.

https://punchng.com/2019-elections-obasanjos-concerns-have-vindicated-our-stand-says-pdp/?fbclid=IwAR2-8vlNyClwwTTHVB5Ta59QVTMqNyPX7zOV2lm0qXE5oxH0NaxzyMLgwDk

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council says the visit of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the United States of America “smacks of things local ‘yahoo yahoo’ boys do to scam their victims”.

For the first time after more than a decade, Atiku stepped foot in the US on January 17, 2019.

There had been speculations that Atiku stayed away from the US allegedly due to the belief he would be arrested over allegations of corruption, including one by US congressman Williams Jefferson that part of the $100,000 cash found in his refrigerator was intended as bribe for Atiku for his role in helping American firm iGate secure a contract to expand broadband in Nigeria.

In a statement by Festus Keyamo, spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, issued on Sunday, APC said the visit was a "non-event", and “nothing but a downright catastrophe because rather than dispel the fact of indictments hanging over his head, it further confirms and reinforces those facts”.

The statement read: “In our press release issued on Sunday, December 30, 2018, titled ‘When the Thief is Shouting Thief: The Case of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’, we correctly predicted as follows: ‘By running for President of Nigeria, Atiku intends to get some immunity from prosecution. Already he is hoping to obtain a visa to visit the US, as a guest of the State department, a concession that the US will grant to a Presidential candidate of Africa’s biggest Nation’.

“Therefore, we were not surprised by his visit to the U.S. For us, this visit is really a non-event considering the issues involved in the forthcoming election. However, we have bad news for those who think this is a momentous event for Atiku Abubakar: the visit was nothing but a downright catastrophe because rather than dispel the fact of indictments hanging over his head, it further confirms and reinforces those facts for the following reasons:

“The visit had all the trappings of a fugitive sneaking into America under a ‘special diplomatic waiver’. For the candidate of the major opposition party in Nigeria, it is an absolute disaster that the visit was not announced ahead of time in Nigeria, with his programmes and itinerary clearly spelt out, the decent and customary minimum standard of such visits. This culminated in his close aides issuing conflicting statements about the visit when he was already on his way there. In fact, one of them called Paul Ibe actually spoke to the Press that his principal was nowhere near America! Such was the secrecy of the planning and execution of that visit.

“It is shameful that a presidential candidate of a major opposition party in Africa’s most populous country would visit America, and the international press was kept in the dark: There was NO SINGLE press conference with the array of international media and correspondents required for such ‘high-profile’ visit. Atiku knows he has no moral stamina to withstand the avalanche of hard questions bordering on his sordid past in America. In fact, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claims he visited the Voice of America (VOA) but only did two carefully-packaged interviews with the Hausa service and the English to Africa program - platforms that have always been available to him back home. How strange! In fact, both the Twitter handle (@VOANews) and official website of VOA did not mention any such visit of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to their station. For news hounds, you would agree with us that such an ‘important personality’ cannot walk into a news premises without reporters swooping on him. Whatever he went to do in the premises of the VOA must have been a carefully-arranged private visit for the photo-ops, which was intended to scam Nigerians. What more evidence do we need of a “sneak-in-sneak-out” arrangement than this?”

Targeting in particular the ‘Get Nigeria Working Again’ mantra of the PDP, APC berated Atiku on various claims, including that of meeting US government officials. According to Keyamo, Atiku only met with someone who is the equivalent of a House of Representatives member, noting that the visit has done nothing but to “expose him for the questionable character he is”.

The statement continued: “For a candidate who claims he wants to ‘get Nigeria working again’ (a meaningless phrase) to sneak into America without meeting major players in private businesses is a curiosity and an indication that we are dealing with a candidate with a dodgy and questionable character. He claims he went to the US Chamber of Commerce, which is supposed to be a business federation. Again, the Twitter handle (@USChamber) and the website of the organization make no mention of the visit of such an ‘important personality’ to them. Maybe their famous American lobbyist on a salary of N9million per month can help them ‘do something’ about this after this press statement.

“It is also an anomaly that the candidate of the major opposition party in Nigeria sneaked into America and did not meet large sections of political leaders of similar ideologies and persuasions towards which he claims to be inclined. For all his claim to be going to America to meet ‘US Government officials’, he only succeeded in meeting a certain ‘Congressman Smith’, who is the equivalent of a member of the House of Representatives in Nigeria. You would agree with us that as dignified and respected as the office of a Member of the House of Representatives is, an important personality cannot come to Nigeria on an official visit and claim he has met the ‘Nigerian government officials’ after he pays a private visit to that Member. For all we know, the Congressman Smith may just be a private friend of Dr. Bukola Saraki or Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. That reminds us of Atiku’s famous legislator friend he threw under the bus, Williams Jefferson, who taught us how to hide laundered money (which was meant for Atiku Abubakar) in the deep freezer when the cops came knocking on his door!

“In all, it is very obvious now that the so-called American trip was a desperate trip for photo-ops. Throughout the trip, Atiku Abubakar looked cagey, frightened and on edge. We note the close support always provided by Senate President Bukola Saraki like a comforting guardian angel. The visit and arrangements smack of things local yahoo yahoo boys do to scam their victims. It is utterly disgusting and puerile that it has been brought into a serious political contest.

“Rather than being the highpoint of his campaign, the American visit is indeed the lowest watermark of Atiku Abubakar’s campaign. It was a political and P.R disaster. The statements he released from there only to the Nigerian Press back home that he intends to alienate other countries and do business with the U.S is actually the antithesis to our policy of non-alignment.

“For the information of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his handlers, Nigerians know that Nigeria is already working again for everyone and not for a few. As confirmed by him in a town-hall meeting a few days before his disastrous trip to the U.S, he said he wants to “get Nigeria working again” only for few of his friends who he claims he wants to make rich. If he cannot get them rich now from his private businesses, it is obvious that he is referring to the use of public funds to make his friends rich. Nigerians should judge for themselves whether this is the type of President they want.

“Finally, whoever advised Atiku Abubakar to undertake that trip to America just destroyed his entire campaign and exposed him for who he is – a questionable character who has continued to leave huge questions over his suitability for the highest office of the land and as such cannot be trusted by the Nigerian people.”

http://saharareporters.com/2019/01/20/apc-campaign-likens-atikus-us-trip-yahoo-yahoo-boys-scamming-their-victims

Sonala Olumhense

If you are reading this, you are most likely also a reader who has this month seen in circulation a 39-year old editorial authored by The Guardian (Nigeria).

Entitled “The Arrogance of Power,” it comes from another era when The Guardian inspired journalism through fearless reporting, follow-up, character and judgement. This reproduction is from the Boss newspapers, as The Guardian itself sadly lacks an archive, but I was a member of its Editorial Board at the time and I authenticate it.



“The Arrogance of Power,” is so potent it could pass for one written this year, its re-circulator correctly implies, in its denunciation of the parochialism, inflexibility and meanness of the 1983-1985 military regime of Muhammadu Buhari.

Thirty years later, Buhari returned as Nigeria’s elected leader. But that editorial was published hours after his government was sacked by a group which justified itself by pointing at Buhari’s failure to address “decades of government mismanagement and corruption.”

The following are three paragraphs from the editorial:

“…It did not take long before the Buhari administration, so openly and so warmly received by Nigerians when it came to power, began to show its true and frightful face. Soon enough, it became clear that his administration had a conception of government in which the governed were regarded as a hostile, adversary force, and in which government was virtually an end in itself…

“…Blackmailed into silence, Nigerians watched as the traditional foundations of the state were eroded. Ethnicity became a principle of state policy. The economy sputtered along. Educational policy was in a shambles. Our hospitals became graveyards. And all along we were invited to believe, as an article of patriotic faith, that we lived in the best of all possible worlds.

“Ultimately, it was the arrogance of the Buhari administration that led to its downfall. For arrogance always leads to moral and political blindness. Blindness leads to isolation, and when any government is isolated from the governed, its end is always predictable…”

Again, that was almost 40 years ago. History confirms that The Guardian, which had been critical of the government before the coup, had read the situation correctly.

What is sadder then, is the realisation that Buhari read neither that nor similar comments that were widely available in the local and international media. There is no other explanation for a situation where, receiving another opportunity 30 years later, Buhari chose to inflict as inspired and patriotic governance, the same ramshackle and retrogressive administrative philosophies and practice that collapsed the first time.



Last week, in continuation of the “arrogance (that) always leads to moral and political blindness,” he finally yielded to the questions swirling around him concerning the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, perhaps the most abysmal and ineffective leader of the force since independence, whose term of office had expired.

The transition was an excellent opportunity for Buhari to demonstrate that he is perhaps not as narrow-minded and nepotistic as he had appeared since he took his oath of office, leading to all related offices but one being occupied by northerners and principally Muslims.

Buhari, a 76-year old man who has served in various federal posts in the past 40 years, had justified that appointment profile by claiming that he appoints people he can trust.

To begin with, that cannot be the truth given that on several occasions he has declared that he made those appointments on “merit,” not previously knowing the individuals involved. On what basis do you trust people you do not know to such an extent that the ensuing demographic overwhelmingly tilts towards your village?

The obvious and immediate interpretation of that claim, to the embarrassment of many northerners, is that southerners and non-Muslims are untrustworthy.

But while much of the criticism of this practice took place between 2016 and 2018, it might have been argued that, at least in theory at that point, Buhari was not running for re-election, as any man running for office would try to avoid self-inflicted political wounds.

Not Buhari: last week he had Idris replaced by yet another northerner, Mohammed Abubakar, whom, I believe, he “didn’t know.” It is safe to assume that the moment he heard the name, he saw colours and heard sounds of trustworthiness.

Of equal interest, last weekend was overrun by the news that based upon a petition, the trial for corruption of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, would commence on January 7. I am always delighted whenever a high official is made to face justice, as is the Chief Justice. He certainly has a case to answer because being forgetful, like being ignorant, is no defence in law.

The problem is that Onnoghen’s “trial” by the Code of Conduct Tribunal is deeply suspicious. First, the petition in question was received on January 4, a Friday, and his trial immediately set for the next work day!

Second, the petitioner is an insider of the presidency, revealing a subterranean attempt to remove and replace a man who cannot be “trusted.” It is on record that last June, while Buhari was declaring Nigeria to be secure, Onnoghen publicly described “frightening” and “horrific incidents” of police brutality, inordinate arrests, detention and extortion of innocent people throughout Nigeria.

Onnoghen should face the law, but only according to the established order, not politics, which is something Buhari has frustrated for four years through double standards.

But given his approach, the prosecution of Buhari himself could commence on May 30, one day after he loses immunity unless he wins re-election next month, among others for violating the constitution, the Code of Conduct laws and the Electoral Act through his acceptance in his re-election effort of a N45m campaign gift from the Nigeria Consolidation Ambassadors Network.

But it really doesn’t matter what Buhari says in this campaign because we have his records in 1983-85 and 2015-19 as evidence not simply that Buhari is not going to change, but that he is going to get worse.

This has nothing to do with Abubakar Atiku, but with the menace that Buhari is, which is now worsened by his poor health as demonstrated by his scary performance on the campaign trail. In just one week, the world has been able to see mentally, psychologically and physically fragile, incoherent and discombobulated he is.

Buhari is clearly a sick man: he appeared unable to hear; or hearing, to comprehend; or comprehending, to offer decent, relevant answers. The man did not know when he took office, or often what he was doing or saying. Anyone who advocates Buhari as being capable of leading even a local government insults that council.

Buhari should be in a hospital, not a political campaign, and that—not further power—is what his family should be fighting for if they love him. Upon review, perhaps the two men his wife blames for running her husband’s presidency are more heroes than sinners.

In my estimation, we have reached the end of this road, irrespective of what the options are. Only a suicidal zealot places prescription glasses on a blind pilot and gives him control of an aircraft of 300 people, including his own family.

With no irony suggested, here are wise words from 1985: “Blindness leads to isolation, and (the end) is always predictable…”

https://punchng.com/the-ranka-dede-republic/