₦airaland Forum

The president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, is obviously not happy with the Nigeria’s private TV channel, African Independent Television (AIT). The reason is known to every Nigerian who was aware of the hate campaigns characterizing the last elections. But for those who are shocked that AIT was barred from broadcasting events involving the president-elect, I will bring in some updates. Nigeria’s presidential election 2015 will go down in the history of Nigeria as one of the most fiercely contested.

The presidential election that pitted the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan against the incoming Buhari was a tug of war both in the media and the political space. Two major political parties, the opposition APC (as it was then) and the ruling PDP, deployed everything at their disposal to convince the electorate. In the print, electronic and online media, both parties published documents, slogans and jingles. But the campaign was unprecedented. It was not a campaign of issues or policy. Politicians from both parts of the divide played dirty. They threw everything at each other.

The country was almost plunged into chaos by the violent rhetoric deployed by “win-at-all-cost” politicians. The toxic speeches directed at the opponents overheated the polity. Citizens feared the country may be thrown into war. The private television station, AIT, owned by the business magnate, Raymond Dokpesi, played a big but predictable role in the campaign. The seed of the present rift between AIT and Buhari was planted during the campaign. Throughout the campaign period, the TV station was running a documentary that was thought to be injurious to the president-elect.

In the documentary, Buhari was portrayed as incapable to govern Nigeria. There were clips from the documentary that deliberately described him as an Islamic fundamentalist plotting to Islamize Nigeria. The documentary also alluded to the time when he was a military head of state and was said to run a brutal regime unjustly imprisoning journalists, politicians and ordinary Nigerians. The retired general was said to be a cold-blooded person, a founder of Boko Haram terror group who signed the death warrant for three drug couriers. Other AIT media campaigns also targeted Buhari’s private life.

Many Nigerians were confused by the blatant manner in which AIT documentary attempted to demonize the president-elect. In fact, many wondered why AIT would broadcast a documentary that sought to paint Buhari in an unsavory manner rather than dwell on issues. But the documentary was also aired by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Many also reasoned that if the NTA could be excused for playing the script of a government in power, AIT, a station thought to be independent, should not have done so.

But those knowing Raymond Dokpesi as President Jonathan’s loyalist and a member of the PDP were not surprised by the role his station played during the election. The ethical questions of balance reporting and the independent role of the media did not matter since the media house did not hide its loyalty to the president’s party. Some even assumed that he got a substantial amount of the media campaign funds allegedly disbursed by the outgoing president in his botched re-election bid. While the president’s supporters enjoyed weekly “Buhari and the APC bashing” in the thick of the campaign, a lot of Nigerians were riled and put off by the documentary classified as hate broadcast. Experts have opined that one of the reasons why Jonathan lost was because a lot of Nigerians were embarrassed by Buhari bashing and decided to vote for the opposition APC and Buhari who was seen as the underdog at the time. . Following the recent barring of AIT, it has become obvious that Buhari was hurt by AIT’s role in the campaign. His offence has come to the fore recently when the station was barred from covering the events organized by the president-elect.

However, the APC swiftly issued a statement in which the party cleared AIT. According to the statement, AIT was free to play its media role in covering all activities of the president-elect. The controversial owner of AIT, Dokpesi, who almost lost his life during the election, released a “we-don’t-have-any-regret” response. In his statement, Dokpesi appeared to be unrepentant. He said he stood by his decision to broadcast all the campaign materials that were thought to target Buhari. He added the station was just fulfilling its role as a media organization.

It is interesting to see how Buhari-AIT situation will be resolved in the coming years of Buhari’s presidency. One thing is clear: going by precedent, Buhari may not tolerate excesses in the media such as the one displayed by AIT. Will there be a face-off? Is the matter now resolved with the APC intervention? Dokpesi’s pugnacious response to the barring of AIT looks like the continuation to the face-off. Has AIT oversteped the border as a broadcasting medium? Should they apologize to the president-elect or should they call it all bluff as Dokpesi has done?

He said that the bad governance of the PDP
provoked Tinubu, Buhari and other progressives to
deploy time, treasure and talents to rescue Nigeria from the un-progressive cabal.

olenime:
Give her some time to forget him since u claim to till luv her!

fairlyisabel:
your royal majesty go and sleep. Leave this issue for the gods to handle. I tire for you abegi

sniperr007:
Doesnt justify ur comment. Most Ibo guys I've met complain abt d bride price and if possible, try to reduce it to d lowest minimum.

sniperr007:
Sefinat doesn't sound like an ibo name?

Ahmed0336:
no derail this thread Abeg

A middle-aged-man, Collins Nduka, on Thursday pleaded with an Ojo Customary Court in Lagos State to order his wife, Sefinat Nduka, to refund N1.4 million he spent in marrying her.

Lagos – A middle-aged-man, Collins Nduka, on Thursday pleaded with an Ojo Customary Court in Lagos State to order his wife, Sefinat Nduka, to refund N1.4 million he spent in marrying her.
Collins told the court that his wife, whom he married three years ago, had decided to abandon her matrimonial home for more than a year.
“I would want a refund of the amount that I spent as marriage and dowry expenses because she has become unfaithful.
“My wife is not faithful to the marriage because she has other relationships apart from me and I no more love her. After all, she has not given birth to any child for me.
“The most painful thing is that she has parked all my belongings in my house to an unknown place in addition to her emptying my shop which I stocked with over N750,000,” he said.
According to him, the three-year-old marriage is being threatened and every bit of her action portrays her as someone no longer interested in the union.
“I invited my friends from outside the country to make the marriage an expensive one and after it, she wants to leave me for another man, I need my dowry so she can be free,” Nduka said.
He pleaded with the court to dissolve the marriage and order Sefinat to return his belongings which she allegedly parked away and money to him so that he could continue with his life.
Sefinat, who was absent in court, had earlier told the court that she did not cart away her husband’s property as he had alleged.
She, however, said that she was ready for the divorce.
The President, Chief Joseph Ogunmola, while advising the husband on the dangers of divorce, instructed that the respondent be invited to the court.
“The court does not dissolve any marriage except in extreme cases, we need the consent of both parties before judgment so she must be invited, “he said.
Ogunmola, therefore, adjourned the case to May19 for further hearing. (NAN)

Stolen:
[b]This thread is invalid becos only yoruba men are commenting on them.

The igbo men seem fine with the Bride Price arrangement.

For igbos marriage is a very serious affair and not childs play.

Yorubas want to use marriage as pretence to date igbo girls and then later move on. That is the only way for them.

The Bride Price means they cannot divorce their wife and go after another igbo family becos the thing will get expensive.


Igbo guys are not complaining becos they don't have this agenda and intend to marry only one, so no expenses as every body spend on their wedding.

My advice to the yoruba tribe is to stop planning evil for the igbos tribe, u have ur women to marry and divorce as u like be happy and content with that and leave evil.


U are trying to degrade igbos and avoid a cost, that wont happen as it will be costly to u.

Igbo girls only became ashawo wen a select few started accepting marriage proposal from very rich yoruba familyl, before that they were not ashawo.


I can tell u that the real ashawo of Nigeria are yoruba women, they have the highest rate of baby mama and divorce rate in the country.

I know too many yoruba baby mama.[/b]

Itulah:
This is to all intending Groom to be, I got married to my beautify wife last year November. I am from Edo State and she is from Egbu, Imo State.
Monetization of the 5 pages lists below was implemented to avoid stress.

Enjoy your view.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the JonathanAdministration of plotting to hinder a smooth handover of power on May29th,. as it is becoming apparent that the Administration will not fully cooperate with the incoming government, despite its public posturing in that regard.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also described as an act of hostility and a patently-misplaced aggression the unnecessary vituperation against the incoming Buhari Administration by the Jonathan government, ostensibly because of the terms of reference of the Buhari Transition Committee but in reality part of an orchestrated
plot to sabotage the transition.
It rejected the continued blackmail by the Jonathan Administration as a result of President Jonathan’s concession of defeat, wondering whether the concession, gracious as it was, has now become a shield for all wrong doings.
”We are sick and tired of being blackmailed by the Jonathanians. Gen. Buhari won the 28 March Presidential Elections fair and square, having satisfied both constitutional and other statutory requirements. We
have no apology for our victory, and the concession of defeat – while it may have increased the political stock of President Jonathan – has by no means diminished the historic and emphatic victory of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress,” APC said.
Justifying its statement that the Jonathan Administration is plotting to hinder a smooth transition of power, the party said while the outgoing government had earlier issued a memo to all ministries, departments and agencies to make sure their handover notes are ready by April 20th, the same government has now reversed itself and said the handover notes will not be ready until May 14th.
”With the new date, the Buhari Transition Committee will have little or no time to take a thorough look at the handover notes or seek clarification on knotty issues, effectively handing it (Buhari Transition Committee) a fait accompli as far as the handover notes are concerned. This does not augur well for a smooth transition and gives
the impression that the outgoing Administration is trying to hide something.
”By its dillydallying on the date for the readiness of the handover notes from the MDAs, the administration’s posturing that it is ready to hand over has been exposed as nothing but a smokescreen,” it said.
APC described as illogical and strange the claim by the Jonathan Administration that the President-elect is trying to set up a parallel government simply because he has set up his own Transition Committee and given it terms of reference meant to guide the members on the discharge of their duties as members of that Committee, wondering how
on earth those terms of reference have become the concern of the outgoing Federal Executive Council.
”In case the Federal Executive Council has forgotten, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress was declared the winner of the March 28th Presidential Election by INEC. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is therefore today the President-elect and the All Progressives Congress
the incoming government. It is therefore illogical to accuse the President-elect and the incoming government of setting up a parallel government.
”It is either the outgoing Federal Executive Council has something to hide or is bent on sabotaging the incoming government. There can be no other reasons for the misplaced aggression that was exhibited in that ill-intentioned, unprovoked and vitriolic statement from the Jonathan
government,” the party said.
It said that in order to put the matter beyond doubt, the party has decided to publish in full the terms of reference in question so that Nigerians can judge for themselves whether there is anything suggestive of intimidation or running a parallel government in the document.
APC warned the Jonathanians not to overstretch the goodwill which the President has earned by his gracious concession even before INEC officially declared Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the March 28th Presidential election, saying while it was momentous, it was not unprecedented in Africa, where power has changed hands peacefully between the ruling and opposition parties in several nations.
”Are they now saying that because the President conceded defeat, the incoming administration can no longer ask legitimate questions or seek clarifications that may arise from the handover notes.
”We will not surrender to any blackmail, subtle or otherwise. We shall ask questions and ask for explanations and clarifications whenever and wherever we deem such necessary. We cannot run a transparently honest government or fight corruption if we are prevented from asking legitimate questions and seeking clarifications from the outgoing government during the transition process. Let the Jonathan Administration not tie our hands behind our back just because he conceded defeat after losing an election,” the party said

By Henry Umoru
ABUJA—governors elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have concluded that the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and other members of its National Working Committee, NWC, should take the path of honour and resign immediately.

Mu’azu: PDP’s game changer
This was the outcome of the meeting of 19 PDP governors held Tuesday night, which extended to the early hours of yesterday at Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja.
They resolved that it had become imperative for them to go to pave way for new leadership, following the abysmal performance of the party at the March 28 and April 11 general elections.
The meeting, which was the first since PDP lost the presidency after 16 years of leadership, was a post-mortem on the election and the way forward for the party.
The party, which controlled the Presidency, House of Representatives and the Senate since 1999, did not only suffer defeat at the presidential election, but also lost in its traditional states of Plateau, Niger, Kaduna, Benue, Bauchi and Jigawa.
It became the opposition party in the Senate with 46 senators,while APC has 60.
It was gathered that at the meeting, which was held behind closed doors as journalists were not informed, had Muazu, his deputy, Prince Uche Secondus and National Legal Adviser, Victor Kwon, and all 19 governors in attendance.
A source at the meeting told Vanguard that Muazu and his team were later asked to excuse the governors.
Soon after they left the Akwa Ibom State Governor’s Lodge, the governors, the source said, agreed unanimously that the party would need fresh persons and that Muazu and his team must pave way for the new blood that would be required to run the party.
Following the decision of the governors, who want to take total control of the party, members of the NWC, yesterday, went into a marathon meeting even though they were said to be on break for two weeks.

From TAIWO AMODU, Abuja

The outgoing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors and the party’s na­tional working committee (NWC) are set for a show­down over the resolve of the former to mobilise sup­port for the removal of the National Chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu and his team.

A party source revealed that the governors were pushing for the sack of the national of­ficers of the party, whom they blamed for the poor outing of the PDP in the just concluded general elections.

The source revealed that a meeting of the PDP Gov­ernors’ Forum was held in Abuja with Adamu Mu’azu and the party’s National Le­gal Adviser, Victor Kwom, in attendance to brainstorm on why the party lost and the way forward.

Checks Daily Sun, how­ever, revealed that the plot to push out Mu’azu and his col­leagues was hatched after he left the venue of the meeting with Kwom.

It was gathered that the governors blamed the national officers for their alleged half-hearted commitment to the party presidential campaigns and the manner they handled the party primaries which they noted created a lot of disaffec­tion and distractions for Presi­dent Goodluck Jonathan.

Further checks revealed that the party’s NWC got wind of the plot by the outgoing gov­ernors and had vowed to fight back to nip the plan in the bud.

A member of the PDP NWC told Daily Sun in confi­dence on phone: “We are wait­ing for them. We know they want to push for an emergency National Executive Commit­tee (NEC) before President Jonathan’s handover date.

“Let there be a dispassion­ate post-mortem on why we lost. Enough of this buck-passing by those whose impu­nity in their respective states pushed a lot of well meaning individuals out of PDP state chapters.

“It wasn’t the NWC that canvassed automatic ticket for Dr. Jonathan. This same Governor Akpabio led his colleagues and we all know what transpired at the Board of Trustees, the NEC meetings and who said what. “

The national officer also alleged that the Akwa Ibom State governor was using the PDP Governors’ Forum to usurp the functions of the NWC, a statutory organ of the party.

Goke7:
don't mind the pdp, they are trying to get relevance by their usual bragging since Jona is still in aso rock, they forget that the dynamics will change from may 29, that 140 they have in the house of representatives will reduce in a few months time.

the Pdp has shown that majority of their politicians don't really have that staying power especially with the way they've been frolicking with the General after March 28. Time will tell

Ogor (Delta/PDP), a returning lawmaker, said
constitutionally, any political party was allowed to
produce the Senate President, House Speaker,
their deputies and other principal officers –minority or majority status notwithstanding.

temitemi1:
Someone should please tell tinubu that this is not lagos,osun,oyo or ogun where is selfish intrests is always the best for his LAKEYs(the governors), This is FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA where nobody give a damn abt what his intrests are
GOD BLESS NIGERIA!
GOD BLESS MY HERO(GEJ)
GOD BLESS my ROLE MODEL(FAYOSE)
GOD BLESS TEMITEMI1.

fairlyisabel:
Jesus. Didd you just type this? Sweet heart come back and read what you posted. So you think a cheating woman cannot repent from her bad ways due to her husband's good way of life ?. Are women without feelings bikonu? Sweet heart please get this right. Women are human beings that have body soul and spirit just like men. Both gender has similarities when it comes to behaviour and emotion. Please stop making me run around this issue.

A 42-year-old Kenyan female dancer, Samira Johnson was on Tuesday apprehended by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, with cocaine weighing 5.345kg at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

This was disclosed by the anti-narcotic agency spokesperson, Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju, in a statement in Lagos.

Ofoyeju noted that female dancer allegedly hid the drugs in some school bags.

He said, “The suspect was found in possession of four blue parcels of white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine weighing 5.345kg.

“Johnson, who was born in Mombasa, travelled with a Kenyan international passport with number A1536020.

“She departed Bujumbura in Burundi en-route Nairobi to Lagos on a Kenyan Airways flight.

“During routine screening, she was found with four parcels of cocaine concealed in school bags. She claimed to be a professional dancer in Kenya.

“She claimed she was given the school bags in Bujumbura by a friend to deliver in Nigeria.

“Two Nigerian auto parts dealers based in Uganda (names withheld) were equally caught importing 6.250kg of cocaine and 1.490kg of heroin, respectively, into the country.

“All the cases are being investigated and I urge members of the public to report suspected drug traffickers to the nearest NDLEA office.

The anti-narcotic agency spokesperson disclosed that the culprit will be arraigned in court soon

A suspect now in police custody in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Saturday Akpan, has explained why he hired assassins to murder his uncle, Pastor Okon Nnnana. The late Nnnana hailed from Ika Local Government Area of the state. Akpan told journalists that he hired assassins who demanded N250,000 but got only N100,000 and kidnapped the old man from his family compound. [color=#99000]The suspect added that the man was taken to Ikot Udo forest where he was murdered and buried in a shallow grave. He said he ordered Nnnana’s murder because of a land dispute involving the extended family.[/color]
The suspect’s accomplice, Mr Friday Akpan, noted that while he witnessed Nnnana’s torture and eventual killing, he did not partake in the act but swore an oath of secrecy. He said that his younger brother, in whose house the victim was kept and tortured, died of a strange illness a week after the man was murdered. Addressing journalists at the police headquarters, Uyo, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Gabriel Achong, said the son of the deceased reported the case of his missing father to the police, after a quarrel concerning a family land.
The police boss, who spoke through the Asstant Commissioner of Police, Mr Mike Okoli, noted Saturday Akpan, who was arrested along with Friday Akpan, owned up to the crime during interrogation which enabled the police to discover the shallow grave where they dumped their victim. He said: “Even the efforts made by the family to ensure amicable resolution of the matter by conveying a family peace meeting was snubbed by Mr Saturday Akpan, prompting suspicion that he has a hand in the disappearance of the late Pastor Okon Nnana “They led the police to Ikot Udo forest where they dug a shallow grave and dumped the body of their victim with his hands tied to his back.
“The relations of the victim were invited while the body was exhumed and handed over to a pathologist for autopsy to enable police to begin prosecution of the matter.” The police chief regretted that the rate of senseless killing was on the rise in the state especially over very trivial.

fairlyisabel:
and forgetting that as long as the world shall last there will be wrongs and if nobody objected and nobody rebelled, those wrongs would last forever. Men..... always on the wrong side in this type of case.

He urged General Buhari to carry everybody
along, especially when it was realized that there were people in the South East who campaigned vigorously and voted for APC and its candidates.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali, on Tuesday in Abuja, said the Nigerian government will demand N84 million from South Africa to pay victims of xenophobic attacks.
Mr. Wali stated this while briefing the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on his visit to South Africa.
Mr. Wali said the attacks were instigated by some chiefs to kill Nigerians in their country.
He, however, noted that the South African government was not in support of the killings.
Giv​ing​ a rundown of damages ​done by Nigerians, Mr. Wali said: “Total of Nigerians wounded or hospitalized is two, shops looted and damaged five, number of displaced Nigerian men is two, number of displaced women six, and number of displaced children eight.
“In terms of these attacks, our situation is minimal and luckily there are no fatalities and there is no serious injury.
“The assessment in terms of the compensation that we intend to now demand from South Africa when we have our next bi-national commission meeting in Abuja is N84 million.”
Mr. Wali also said Nigerians should be ready for evacuation in case the problem intensifies.
He said Nigeria should try to rub minds and assist the South African government to overcome this crisis.
“Recalling an envoy is a very serious matter and there are steps that would be taken,” he said. “What happened in South Africa will not ordinarily warrant the recall of an envoy particularly when Nigerians are still there.
“You need the full complement of the Nigerian mission there to be able to handle the situation.”
He said an investigation was ongoing on the alleged instructions from King of the Zulus, Goodwill Zwelithini, that South Africans should get rid of fellow Africans stealing their jobs.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Musiliu Obanikoro, said the South African government had stated that unemployment played a major role in the attacks.
He also said the Zulu king had publicly condemned the crisis and, being a king, showed a sign of true repentance.