₦airaland Forum

AntiIPOOP:
The ineffectual Buffoon has no idea what it takes to earn that award, so do us a favor and shut the fûck up

Master of Flat-heads.

cuteboy2:
pulse.ng

Governor Dickson also commended the LEADERSHIP Newspaper for the honour done Dr. Jonathan and described the former President, as a distinguished statesman of inestimable quality.

The Governor noted that Democrats all over the world would continue to appreciate him for his exceptional display of sportsmanship in the 2015 election as an incumbent president.

The Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson on Thursday said only former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan should take the credit for conceding defeat in the 2015 presidential election.

Governor Seriake Dickson, who was reacting to the conferment of the joint award of ‘Person of the Year 2015’ on the former president by the LEADERSHIP Newspaper in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said though the award is well deserving of the former President, the singular action puts him miles apart from other leaders, within the African continent and beyond.

He also used the opportunity to call on Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to always accord Jonathan the respect and honour of a true statesman that he is, while also calling on him to always stand up and show leadership.

Governor Dickson also commended the LEADERSHIP Newspaper for the honour done Dr. Jonathan and described the former President, as a distinguished statesman of inestimable quality.

The Governor noted that Democrats all over the world would continue to appreciate him for his exceptional display of sportsmanship in the 2015 election as an incumbent president.

Dickson believes that the action taken by Jonathan saved thousands of lives that would have been lost and kept the unity of Nigeria intact, particularly against the backdrop of predictions of the nation’s disintegration.

‎It would be recalled that the Chairman of the newspaper, Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah, had explained that the award was in recognition of the sacrifice made by Jonathan in conceding defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari even before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) finished collating results of the presidential election.

4reala:
When u are good, u will always be remembered.

GEJ my Hero......

CACAWA:
wrong picture bro

teemy:
lady:fashioned after a goddess of justice. scales:your works would be weighed. cutlass:you are punished if found wanting. blindfold:without fear or favour. my guess

abokibuhari:
I am ready to follow SARAKI and ATIKU to anywhere

focus7:
In another country, Jonathan and his wife should be in kuje or kirikiri prison now.

sarrki:
My bro am not like that

I didn't see that thread

I don't support any party or any corrupt practices.

TPAND:
Someone preparing to Decamp soon. Watch this guy in 3weeks, he will decamp and deny PDP and claim APC

NextGovernor:
Don't deceive people. How did you know the election was free when you were in America during the election and your mate have resume their legislative duties you are still in America? He was never in support of Ize Iyamu from day 1. He spearheaded the primary conducted by Sheriff. He is the leader of sheriff PDP in Edo.

Even international and local observers have condemned the election...

Kingsley1000:
wailers who has not recuperated from edo election must be gnashing their teeth now......
God bless buhari,apc and oshobaba
if you don't my post go and........

By Bashir Adefaka
Let me start by saying, Nigeria, APC, Buhari and Nigerians, what is your general assessment?
Nigeria as a nation is highly stressed and Nigerians as a people are under stress and that stress can only be cured through attending to the causes of the stress. President Muhammadu Buhari is the “stubborn” man who is not swallowed by problems and I can say that he is the man at the moment who can address that stress. When you look at w3hat is happening in Nigeria economically, even in the area of security and politically too, they are signs of the time. In other words, they are worldwide. And the solution needs a wide approach, not in terms of our training to take and take and take but the need to establish value to enable us give and give and give.
You linked the stress that Nigeria suffers to some causes. What are those causes?
The causes of the stress in Nigeria, let us take economy, is that we are not in charge of the price of oil. It is a world event. Unfortunately more than 80 percent of our income comes from oil and this oil, the price of it in the international market, is less than $40 barrels a day and the production of oil, about two million barrels a day, has reduced to less than one million barrels a day because of the Niger Delta Avengers’ destruction of pipelines. So, we are not in charge of the price of oil and we are not even in charge of full production of our quota. Those are areas to address. And then addressing it is through short term and long term.
Address the problems through short term and long term, how?
Long term is talking about other sources of earning, for example, agriculture. If you know the massive output we have from agriculture now in the North, you will wonder why we did not do so years ago. If what is happening now is followed through, within the next two, three years, we will be exporting food. That is a solution because it is better late than never. That is part of diversification of our sources of revenue. We cannot be a mono-economy. Then solid minerals; the danger of what is happening in the Niger Delta, and I am from Niger Delta, is that the region will lose substantially on derivation and so if you have solid minerals being tapped from all over the country and 70 percent of such solid minerals are from the North, you will see the governments in the North accessing the 13 percent derivation which is Constitution guaranteed, we will now be abandoned in the South-South and Niger Delta to our pollution arising from the anger we are expressing now through the Avengers.
But critics say if there was any grievance, it should have been expressed during the time their kinsman, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was President. Do you realise any grievance as a Niger Delta yourself and leader of the ruling party?
Why not? But the grievance of a person is his perception of how life is manifested in the environment where he lives. The people of the Niger Delta feel marginalized. They quarrel about ownership of oil wells. They quarrel about the neglect of the communities. They are even asking for the control of the resources there. Then again they are also asking for the restructuring of the country. Those are what they believe will solve the problems of denial, the problems of deprivation. But that is from their own perception and so, as far as they are concerned, there is injustice if what they are asking for is not done.
Then what is the solution from your own perspective?
Justice.
In what way?
Through dialogue. All wars have always led to dialogue because, peace comes not through war but through dialogue.
But government appears to be in dilemma in the sense that, as it prepared to dialogue with a group of people, some other groups came up. What do you say to that?
Yes. The fact is, if there are one hundred groups, there should be one hundred dialogues. You cannot say because there are many groups, therefore, war will resolve the situation. War has never resolved any situation. People who say “If you want peace prepare for war” are misrepresenting life. If you prepare for war you have war. If you want peace, prepare for peace through dialogue, communication. There is no substitute to communication. War can only draw attention when you have parity in the power to inflict, the power to ensure your presence. Then people are weakened or you recognise yourself. You can now sit down and talk and, at the end of the day, dialogue.
Last year, you told me in this office that there was no issue with the opposition the PDP and others were mounting against the government as they were only doing the needful. But that needful has led to why Nigerians are now saying that the executive has tried, but one year down the line your party, the APC seems not to have moved Nigeria forward due to the challenges posed by opposition elements in the National Assembly. Do you still hold that view?
Well, our party has moved Nigeria forward because it is the party that presented Muhammadu Buhari to the Nigerian people and Buhari has moved Nigeria forward. You see, when things go on well they take you for granted. For the first time, there are no fuel queues. And when there is power, nobody will say there is no power. When the roads are done, nobody will say there are no roads. When there is no water and boreholes are drilled, you can’t say you have no water. So, infrastructure, satisfies the aspect of governance that addresses stabilization of the system because, first of all, you secure the system, you stabilise the system through infrastructure satisfies development, then prosperity will emerge. The only language that the hunger understands is food. You can’t be talking to the people to be patient about hunger. The fact is someone is hungry, you put food on his table and he fires on because that is the language that hunger understands. And that food you must grow. If you have not grown food for years, it is rather late than never. You must grow food.
So, the people crying that they are hungry, going by where the leadership stands, are right? Of course. The people who are crying that they are hungry are right.
There is a government now in town growing food and is addressing the issue of food which ought to have been but, before now, they failed to grow food as they were, spending billions of dollars importing food. When I was Minister of Information I brought a campaign slogan which I reflected in “Letters to My Country Men”, especially the one dealing with the food question and I said, “Grow what you eat and eat what you grow.” If, for instance, what you want to eat you don’t grow it, don’t eat it. Don’t spend money on what you can’t grow. Why do you import rice from Thailand when you can grow rice here?
What at that time were the challenges that slogan of ‘Grow what you eat and eat what you grow’ was faced with?
Do you know that, at that time, while we encouraged agriculture, market women refused to sell our rice? They said there were stones and so they preferred to sell Uncle Ben’s. When Jonathan was there, they had a lot of dollars, more than $100 per barrel. But now, we don’t have such money. So, how are you going to import food? Are you going to borrow money to import food? They say you should cut your coat according to your size. But the fact is we must cut our coat according to our cloth. A barrel of oil is less than $40 and production is not two million barrels per day but less than one million barrels per day and we are losing. We earn less than a billion dollars and, if our needs are one billion dollars a month, where are we going to get the balance from? Are we going to borrow money to import food? These are the challenges which someone must be strong enough to face and Buhari is strong enough to do that. But Nigerians really have to understand that.
And if Nigerians are not showing understanding as it looks, do you feel disappointed?
Let me tell you one story. One Imam sat down reading the Qur’an and then someone came and screamed, “Imam, Imam” and he lifted up his head. And the person said to the Imam, “Your farm has gone up in flame.” The Imam said, “Glory be to Allah” and continued his reading of the Qur’an. This same man came back later and again screamed, “Imam, Imam” and he said, “Yes?” And he said, “The farm that caught fire was not your own. It was another person’s farm.”The Imam again said “Glory be to Allah.” I am not saying people should be insensitive but the fact is, when you have hope in yourself and you know where the road is, be steadfast. At the end of the day, the people will be crying and asking you to do something that would undermine your journey to a particular destination, until you reach that destination, don’t give up. There were two cartoons I saw. The first cartoon said, “Those who want change, raise your hands.” Everybody raises hand. And the other said, “Those who want to be changed, raises your hand.” Everybody put down his hand (laughs).

In this interview with JESUSEGUN ALAGBE, the founder of The Latter Rain Assembly and convener of the Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, shares his thoughts on the country’s 56th Independence anniversary, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and other issues

Nigeria is marking its 56th Independence anniversary today. Is there anything worth celebrating?

If you ask a sick man who has gone through a lot of problems in his health and has made it through the Intensive Care Unit and is now beginning to live again, ‘Is there anything worth celebrating?’, he will answer you and say, ‘You should try to be in my previous predicament for you to know where I’m coming from and then you’ll see the reason for my celebration.’ There’s a lot to thank God for. We are not better than many nations which have broken into pieces. We are not better than many nations which have gone through bloodbath, but God’s grace and mercy have helped us to still forge ahead. It’s worth celebrating and when I say we should celebrate, I’m not talking about frivolity or spending the money that we don’t have to pay the workers or the money we could spend on much better things. I’m talking about having a sober moment to thank God and ask for a new opportunity to do it again, a new opportunity to build our nation so we can get the best of what God has in stock for this country.

If someone asks, ‘What is there to be celebrated about Independence in the midst of an economic recession? Why should I be happy?’ What will be your response?

First, we should thank God that we are alive to witness the 56th Independence anniversary. I was in school when the first anniversary was celebrated. I remember the fanfare, the flag, the jollof rice that we cooked to mark it. That was in 1961. And now, 55 years after, there are many individuals who have benefitted from this country. Such people should have moments of sober reflection to see how they can contribute their quota to make this country great again. I have a deep-seated feeling, you can call me an incurable optimist. I have this feeling that the future of Nigeria is more glorious than our past, all because of the intervention we expect from God and a change of heart from the leadership and people of our country. So we should thank God that we’re alive to see the future despite the challenges we might be facing. We must not give up on our country. There’s no other nation we can call ours. I remember that God who predetermined the boundary of every nation at the time of their creation also distributed to each nation gifts, endowments and gave each an inheritance. So it’s high time we located what ours is and maximise it. Nigeria is too rich to sell its assets at this time…

So you are against the sale of assets?

We must think beyond selling our assets. We are too rich to say we want to sell our national assets like the prodigal son did and we should not be little-minded like the elder brother of the prodigal son by saying we have little. There is much more in our ground. There’s so much in our human capital to be developed. I met a Nigerian recently who is a great designer of automobiles. He’s from Sokoto State and is making a huge impact abroad. He’s thinking about how to replicate what he has done abroad here at home. I look forward to a time when the resources of the best and the brightest — North, East, West and South — would come together to make this country great again.

Could this country be great again without restructuring?

It depends on what you mean. There are many people who are touting it and don’t even understand what it means. Restructuring is not about dividing this country and asking each region to go into disintegration. This is it: We have 36 states and not up to four among them can stand on their feet. Why do we create those artificialities that will keep on wasting our resources? In the past, the golden era was when the regions had opportunities to create, according to the law, and to maximise the potentials of their ground and their resources, and then paid taxes to the Federal Government through the federating units. But what we have now is what I call the ‘satellite shops’ of the Federal Government. They can, whether they sell or don’t sell, go with begging hands to Abuja to collect monthly allocations, whereas if you give this country, say six geopolitical zones, and say let there be decentralisation of power for those zones or regions to begin to maximise what’s in their grounds and pay tax to the Federal Government, we will have strong federating units. That’s the restructuring we are talking about. If we don’t do that, we are just postponing the doomsday because we cannot continue to sustain what we are doing right now.

When you visited President Buhari recently, did you discuss this issue with him as his friend?

The things I discussed with the President are very private. I learnt this from Dr. Billy Graham: You don’t throw on the pages of newspapers privileged conversations, but you can be assured that President Buhari means well for this country. He loves the country and in spite of all the challenges, he wants to give it his best shot to turn around the fortune of this country. I can say that to you. If you ask him what his vision is, he wants to fight corruption to a standstill. There are challenges because of the judicial system that he inherited and because of the investigative arms of the government, but we will get there. People may think it will not happen. It’s going to happen. When justice is not speedily executed, the hearts of men are settled to do evil. So there must be examples that will teach the next generations, ‘Hey, don’t go there. Don’t do this.’ Like I said, he wants to fight corruption to a standstill and second, he wants to ensure that Nigeria is secure. Third, he wants to diversify the economy into agriculture. Those are his three main visions.

Some people believe the President’s focus on fighting corruption is affecting other areas of governance like the economy. Do you think people should go hungry because the President is fighting corruption?

In fact, I don’t think President Buhari is the one fighting corruption. I only said it’s his vision. He’s not the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, he’s not the Attorney General of the Federation, he’s not the Inspector-General of Police. What needs to happen is to have a formidable team with clearly stated responsibilities. The President is one man and can’t do all the things I’ve enumerated on his own. When you have a team that is working together, things will improve because you cannot say this is what I will do and leave the other areas to suffer. It’s not going to augur well for the country. There seems to be a disconnect somewhere. However, in the month of October, I’m sure we will begin to smile. We may not laugh but I’m sure we will begin to see certain changes in certain directions.

You talked about the President having a formidable team with clearly stated responsibilities. Some people believe that the economy is bleeding because he put square pegs in round holes in the formation of his cabinet. Do you share same view?

If you believe so, you have to show me the square peg in the round hole and the round peg in the square hole. It took him six months to form his cabinet and do some things he had done. We should realise that governance is a complex thing. Do you know how many decisions he has to make and how many files are on his table on a daily basis? The quality of decision that a leader makes is contingent on two things — the information at his disposal and the people surrounding him. If the people surrounding you give you wrong information, you will make wrong decisions. For example, I was there (I wasn’t told) with two other people inside the Presidential Villa with former President Goodluck Jonathan when they called him from the Army headquarters that they had found the Chibok girls. While on the call, they told him that they had seen 85 of the girls. Meanwhile, it was a lie. I left the place that day thinking that solution had come, but unknown to him, it was a lie. In a proper society, what do you do to those people? Well, it depends on a number of factors. But you need to ask, how did those people get to where they were? Were they competent? I’m just saying all these because in the process of trying to kill the mosquito, you don’t smash yourself. These are issues that are complex and I’m not doing double-talk. Is it possible that mistakes have been made? It’s human to make mistakes, but we must have the will and the courage to correct them. I don’t know who’s a square peg in a round hole and I don’t know who’s a round peg in a square hole, but I do know there’s a clamour for change and I’m sure Mr. President is giving it its utmost attention.
[b]
Talking of former President Goodluck Jonathan. In 2012 when he increased the price of fuel, you — through the Save Nigeria Group — led many protests to ensure the price was reverted. But President Buhari did the same thing in 2016 and there was not a single protest. You even gave reasons why it was the right move to make. Is it because you’re President Buhari’s fan that you didn’t protest against his action?

You can’t be close to a man and go and fight him in the public. The fight begins when you have a leader who is unresponsive and irresponsible. For as long as they are showing you their cards and you know they are responsive and responsible, you don’t fight your friend in the public. You can fight behind closed doors and you shut your lips and you go out there and do what you need to do. I’m a very good friend of President Buhari, but I was not also unfair to the former President. In fact, eternity will reveal at the appropriate time the role we played to ensure there was no bloodbath and why the concession was that easy. I will leave that for posterity to judge. [/b]

Some say you perhaps want an appointment from President Buhari. So if he’d like to give you one today, which position would you want?

I learnt from childhood not to count my chickens before they are hatched and I don’t sit down and start contemplating, ‘This may happen, that may happen.’ When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. I’m not at home praying that God should give me this or that. What God has made me is already awesome and I’m contented. I’m fulfilled. The kind of access God granted me to President Jonathan and much more to President Buhari is not common and I would like to use that for the benefit of his administration. His success is my success. I don’t want him to fail at all neither did I pray for President Jonathan’s failure. He (President Jonathan) is coming up with a book soon and you’ll see what he wrote about me there. I was President Buhari’s running mate. You don’t run with a man at that level and then turn your back and walk away. You keep on supporting him, giving him your best. It’s like you have an uncle or you have a son. Do you abandon them because certain things are not going well? You keep on doing your best because you hope that one day, they will rise. When I was born lame and was crawling on my buttocks, everybody abandoned me. Only my mother stayed and played with me. On my third birthday, I had started running and I am what I am today by the grace of God. If she had poisoned me because of my condition, she would not have anybody taking care of her now. So let’s not give up on the leadership of the country and don’t forget, people deserve the kind of leadership they get and the leaders deserve the people who follow them. They are not foreigners, they are Nigerians. The wastage and the stealing that characterised the past administration are phenomenal. They are mind-boggling, but gradually we are coming out of the woods and I’m sure things will turn around for the better. So if I have to do anything with any government, it has to be by the direction of the Holy Spirit and it must be something that I’m equipped to do so that you will not tell the whole world tomorrow that I’m a square peg in a round hole.

Still on fighting corruption, some Nigerians would tell you that the fight is not fair as it is mainly directed at the members of the opposition. Someone even said recently that if you’re an All Progressives Congress member, you’d be in the President’s good books…

I remember the prophecy I gave when we lifted the ban on the election in 2015. I said those who hoped that the Peoples Democratic Party’s loss would be APC’s gain should think twice because after the election, PDP’s loss would be APC’s pain. Now there were PDP governors who switched over to APC and they are now ministers and there are APC senators who also switched over to become PDP senators. In every nation, democracy takes time to nurture. It takes time for it to mature. You can’t compare ours with that of other countries. The other day when my wife and I were watching the first United States presidential debate, you could see one thing that was evident in both candidates’ answers. Despite their political differences, they want their nation to be great again and they want to give it their best shots. That’s what we also need here. Nigeria is the only country where I know armed robbers remit money abroad. Recently, I was in Manila, the Philippines and when I landed there to preach, I saw red carpet from the stairway to the immigration portal. When I looked at the people walking on the red carpet, they were wearing beach slippers and were casually dressed. It caught my attention. I knew they could not be diplomats. So I went to the end of the red carpet to see what they put up there and there it was written, ‘We welcome our citizens who are working abroad and sending money home to ensure that our economy is buoyant.’ I’ve been to several nations, but this is the only nation I saw as unique. In our country here, an average Nigerian wants to buy the best house in California, US, and then they take all our resources out of the country. People like that hate our country. It’s not wrong to have houses abroad. By the grace of God, I have some here and there too, but this is the place I find peace and rest. My wife will tell you that anytime I travel abroad and it’s getting to 10 days, I find it uncomfortable again to stay there. In spite of the turmoil here, this is the only place I feel maximum protection. I fear nothing. There’s an inherent goodness in an average Nigerian, but we tap into it and bring it forth. I believe that with the right set of leadership, this country will be great again. I remember eight years ago when Barack Obama won the US presidential election, Nigerians made fabrics with Obama on them and they were buying drinks and were merry. I asked them, ‘How is Obama presidency going to affect you here?’ It was then I realised that social mobility is not frozen in this country. It’s quality leadership that is lacking. Look at our youths who are jobless, if you create farm settlements for them and you ask them to go and serve there and pay them what is commensurate with their labour, we will feed the whole of Africa in no time. Meanwhile, the future doesn’t belong to job seekers, but job creators. We can start small. You can do something to contribute your own quota. I agree totally that we should not begin to tell our youths, ‘Do not ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.’ You can quote John F. Kennedy a million times, but for JFK to have said that, he had benefitted from that country. We must put social amenities in place that will alleviate the suffering of especially our youths.

Some argue that this cannot happen when this administration has no clear-cut policies which propel it to excellence.

It will be absolutely wrong to say this administration or the APC has no policies in place. I’m not saying this because I’m a policymaker for the party because I’m not. I have never joined any party. In 2011 when I was the President’s running mate, I was just called to come and serve. That was when they prepared a card for me. I am a nation builder. But I know there are policies in place. People like Dr. Kayode Fayemi (the Minister of Solid Minerals Development) and others put in their energy to help in the formulation of the party’s policies. However, I agree that the implementation has been extremely slow and the reason for that is probably because of the rot they inherited from the previous administration. I know this shouldn’t be an excuse to hammer on all the time because you must at least have some ideas before you seek power. But if you find contrary things, then you must make sure you find a way of fixing those issues and then implement your own policies. If people say the party has no policies, then maybe PDP had and we can see where it has landed us. The time will come when we will stop the blame game.

When will the time come? Isn’t it depressing to keep hearing that PDP did this or that in the last 16 years?

Are those things true or false? No good doctor will treat a sick man without first diagnosing him or else he will use the medicine used in killing ringworm to cure leprosy and the doctor will realise he’s not making any lasting impact. I’m not saying they should keep saying they inherited so-and-so problem from the PDP because they knew they were going into problem, to start with. The economy was artificially buoyant and everybody thought we were good, but when the whole thing opened, we saw that we had been doing some juggling. Now we are faced with the reality, but should we now throw the baby away with the bathwater? If you look back, there were some things the past administration did well which have kept us going. Let’s hold on to those ones and remove the bad things. I believe strongly that surgery is better than tragedy. That’s why the Bible says if your right hand offends you, cut it off so you can still have the rest of the body to use. So let those people who know what to do be there. A great leader does not mind who takes the credit and he doesn’t mind who is more accomplished.

JayJohnson:
I want to assume you were a toddler when ACN members decamped to PDP during Yar'Adua's regime or perhaps you were not reading papers then due to your age!!

Alexis11:
For wetin na

ishowdotgmail:
Let's begin the celebration



Victory for APC

kings09:
I tot sai baba a.k.a Mr integrity cld use his influence to win any election any day, any time.

kings09:
Na war?

About 48 hours to the conduct of governorship election in Edo State on Wednesday, the police have intensified efforts at ensuring that the election is hitch-free with the deployment of surveillance helicopters and a combined team of policemen to the state on Sunday.

In all, the police have deployed three gunboats, five helicopters, 12 armoured personnel carriers and 25,000 operatives to ensure maximum security before, during and after the election.

Scores of police vans lined the Oba Market Road by the Oba Market Police State in Benin on Sunday afternoon, while police officers drawn from different commands in the country were seeing arriving the state headquarters of police on Monday.

Two helicopters inscribed with the name of police were sighted hovering over many parts of the Benin metropolis Sunday afternoon.

Marine policemen, who will man the gunboats to secure the waterways in areas such as Ologbo, Agenebode and Inikorogha, have also arrived Edo State.

The Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) in charge of operations, Force Headquarters, Abuja, Habila Joshak, has arrived Edo State along with four Commissioners of Police for effective monitoring.

The DIG, who is expected to coordinate security being put in place for the election, is to be assisted by Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 5, Mr Isaac Eke, Commissioner of Police in charge of Air wing, Mr E.D Zang, and Commissioner of Police, Mobile Police, Mr Bello Ahmed, among others.

The Commissioner of Police in charge of Air Wing, Mr E.D Zang, is expected to lead his men using the helicopters to view from the sky and promptly report to ground troops any unwanted occurrence.
The Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and other security agencies in the state would also be involved in the exercise.

Speaking at the police headquarters, DIG Habila enjoined the officers to display high level of professionalism and neutrality as anyone found to have violated the electoral act would be arrested and prosecuted.

He police officers, who would be involved in the election to ensure that adequate security and protection is given to the electorate, observers, ballot materials, INEC personnel, National Youths Corps members, party agents and everyone participating in the exercise.

HungerBAD:
I said it.

THE National leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists has said the ten persons currently in the custody of the Department of State Services for electoral related offences are not journalists.

The arrested persons had claimed that they were in Edo State for the coverage of Wednesday’s governorship election.

But while addressing journalists in Benin City on Monday on behalf of the National President of the NUJ, Waheed Odunsile, the chairman of the NUJ in Edo State, Roland Osakwe, said the suspects were unable to provide any form of identification linking them to any media house.

He said, “I must confess that the union was seriously embarrassed when it was discovered that the arrested persons were not practicing journalists as their means of identification were misleading. Their contradictory claims of working with Watch Dog, a publication based in Abuja, did not add up.

“Although one of them had an invalid NUJ national identification card, their inability to explain their mission in the state and the established fact that they were not practicing journalists, owing to the fact that none of them had any published story to their names, showed they were fake.

“Consequently, the national secretariat of the NUJ, particularly the President, who has been following the matter since it broke, has directed that the union publicly disclaim these fellows as a way of sending a clear message to those who find it most convenient to impersonate members of the pen profession for pecuniary gains.”

He urged members to ensure they were properly accredited before the coverage of the election so as to avoid clashes with security agents.

GoggleB:
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu the man for ED0 State..


Vote POI..

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the seat of Sen. Joshua Dariye in the Senate vacant.

Dariye, on Thursday at the Senate, announced his defection from PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing lingering leadership crisis in the party as reason.

In a statement by the party’s Deputy Chairman in the state, Mr Amos Gombi, on Friday in Jos, PDP urged INEC to immediately conduct fresh election for Dariye’s Plateau Central Senatorial seat.

It said that the fresh election would be in accordance with section 68, sub-section one of the 1999 Constitution as amended since Dariye had abandoned the party on whose platform he contested and won the election. ”

In 2015, Sen. Dariye contested and was elected on the platform of the PDP as senator, representing Plateau Central Senatorial Zone. ”But, by leaving the party, he cannot under this circumstance, lawfully and legally retain his seat as representative of the people in accordance with section 68 sub-section 1 of the 199 Constitution as amended. ”

We strongly condemn this act and demand that he should honourably resign and vacate his seat as senator representing Plateau Central, haven become a member of another party before the expiration his tenure. ”

So, we categorically call on INEC to immediately declare his seat vacant and conduct fresh election to replace him,” the statement demanded. The party denied any division or crisis in its ranks and called on its supporters to disregard such insinuations.

It urged the supporters and members to remain steadfast in their loyalty, saying that Dariye’s exit would do no harm to its popularity.

eshietIntrepid:
Is true that's Edo people will vote for PDP but the question is will their votes count?

APC will do everything possible to rig the election, the only way to avoid this is by adopting rivers and bayelsa pattern of vigilant follow ur vote make sure they are counted.

sarrki:
Let me spare my little time to give you adult education
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Do u need more light on this same topic ?

Ioannes:
How old are you?

APCsupporter:
Aftermath of the destruction of Nigeria by the ineffectual buffon, jonah-daft.