Hi

We need to compile a database of Nigeria's April election fraud. I urge all Nairalanders to go out during the elections, dare the odds and arm themselves with cameras, camcoder etc. Capture whatever you can in your area. Please, post to this thread and let us have the name of the state, LGA and ward.

Its our moral and religious duty to ensure we do our bit to bring about a free and fair election in Nigeria this year.

Bode George needs help -Tinubu
By OLA AGBAJE
Tuesday, March 8, 2011


National leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday urged those who love Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Bode George, to prevail on him to keep silent and stop embarrassing himself in public.

Tinubu, who was reacting to an interview in Daily Sun in which George claimed that the former Lagos governor was responsible for his imprisonment, described George’s allegation as a product of “post-prison and pre-reintegration dementia.”
In a statement, signed by his chief press secretary, Olakunle Abimbola, Tinubu noted that notwithstanding George’s present misfortunes, the PDP chieftain still owed his fatherland a decent public conduct commensurate to his status as an elder statesman, former military governor and retired naval chief.

The statement said George’s claim of Tinubu’s involvement in his travails was absolutely illogical since the former Lagos governor was already two years out of office when the PDP chieftain ran into trouble. Tinubu wondered how George could claim that he was “convicted by Lagos State Government headed by Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.”

The statement reads: “In Yoruba tradition, and indeed in the tradition of any decent society, you do not kick who is already down. But what if he who is down viciously kicks you to force just any reaction? That is what Chief George is doing. But if he expects Asiwaju Tinubu to gloat over his misfortune, then Chief George has a long time to wait because he will not,” he said, adding: “But the moral in all of this is simple: those who crave to destroy others often end up destroying themselves.”

“The scandalous statement by Chief George, the indecorous language he deployed (‘It was made by Tinubu and his gang’), the ludicrous living in denial (‘It is a politically motivated conviction’), not to talk of the claim that Lagos State made a law to entrap erring federal officials, would appear to have issued from bitterness. For the sake of what is left of the George Family name and honour, Chief George should be prevailed upon to let himself go so as to earn a second chance. He fell into a prison ditch he, from the way he spoke, would have wished others would fall into. He should learn his lessons and realise that evil thoughts and actions eventually come back to destroy those who harbour or do them.

“Instead of trying to lay ridiculous charges on his perceived enemies, therefore, he should thank God for having saved him from his enemies. It is his so-called friends he must contend with. One of them, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, thought nothing of rubbing the face of a fallen George in the mud. Did Chief George realise how ridiculous he sounded when he said some ‘cabal’ wanted to ‘create fiction between Obasanjo and I’, only to realise that Obasanjo had already gone public with disowning George’s carnival-like reception?

“Another, a nameless collective that simply called themselves ‘Friends of Olabode George,’ launched into a tirade against Justice Joseph Oyewole, who tried the case, referring to the judge as one of Bode George’s ‘persecutors.’ Why a judge doing his work would want to ‘persecute’ a fellow citizen beggars belief. But it would appear a continuation of the dangerous trend by some elements in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to discredit the judiciary, each time a case goes against them. With all their wild allegations, they discredit no one but Chief George himself, after all they are an anonymous group hiding behind his face!
“Let those who dearly love Chief George prevail on him to stop these embarrassing tantrums, warts and all; he is an elder and, but for his prison stain, something close to an aristocrat in the Nigerian establishment, having been a military governor before. He was also not your run-of-the-mill naval officer, having earned a degree in engineering before enlisting in the Nigerian Navy, from which he retired as Air Commodore.

“Despite his current misfortune, he owes his country a lot – least of which is public decency. He can best achieve this by keeping a golden silence. After all, as the Yorubas say, if you crave not to be disgraced and you are, you pray for long life so that you can rectify the disgrace. Golden and dignified silence is what Chief George needs, not wild tantrums.”


Source: http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/08/national-08-03-2011-01.htm

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo broke ranks, yesterday, with his fellow PDP members on last weekend’s lavish celebration of the release of Chief Olabode George from jail, and declared that the former NPA Chairman should be condemned and not celebrated. Chief George, a PDP stalwart, had been jailed along with four others for corruption, during his tenure as Board Chairman of the Port Authority.

His party organised an elaborate reception including a Church Service to mark his release.

The service was attended by prominent Nigerians including Chief Obasanjo, provoking outrage across the land especially against the background of the instrumentality of the PDP to the launching of the war on corruption.

But speaking on the issue for the first time in Abeokuta yesterday, General Obasanjo who initiated the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said contrary to opinion in some quarters that Chief George’s conviction was politically motivated, he (George) “did not conduct himself properly” as NPA Chairman. He also said he (Obasanjo) attended the Lagos service in error.

His words: “I was not part of the celebration of Bode George’s release. And let us get a few things right. When Bode George went to prison, the first thing that I did was to find out things from his lawyer, what really went wrong. What the lawyer told me was not what I found eventually.

And what I found out eventually was that as far as I am concerned, Bode George did not conduct himself properly in the task that he had been given.

“And having done that, both as an elder statesman and elderly man to Bode George and as his senior in the Armed Forces and as his former Head of State, I have my job in putting him right.

“Then he sent a passionate message to me from prison urging me to attend a family church thanksgiving and I believe that for whatever any family is giving thanks in the church or in the mosque and he invites me and I am able to go there, I will go there; whether it is for marriage, for burial, house warming or christening a child. But when I got to the church, the atmosphere I found was more than a family affair.

“I even took the opportunity to ask the state PDP Chairman that is this a PDP affair ? And he told me it was not a PDP affair. Because I don’t see what PDP as a national party, as a party that is trying to form a government in Lagos State, as a party that formed government at the national level and in at least 27 states in the country, we would be celebrating criminality. Because whatever we may say, the reason Bode went to prison should be condemned by everybody and I have condemned it.

He did not go to prison for political offence. If he had been sent to prison for political offence, then he comes back and all his political associates may get round him and PDP must do something noble and wholesome but in this case, PDP as a party must dissociate itself from celebrating criminality.

“When I asked the state chairman, he said: “well, you know Area Boys, they do hijack this thing.” If it Area Boys, leave it to the Area Boys and not to PDP.

On the victory of his faction of the PDP over that of Governor Olugbenga Daniel in the struggle for the control of the party in Ogun State, Obasanjo said that the party remained one family and that reconciliation efforts were still on with the Governorship candidate; Chief Adetunji Olurin spearheading it.

He said “don’t forget that PDP is a family; there may be a little misunderstanding but we have to go to court for adjudication; the court adjudicates but as soon as possible, the family should come together and forge ahead.

“PDP nationally is a family; zonally is a family; state_wise it is a family; local government wise, it is a family; so the members in Ogun State should put behind them whatever might be their bone of contention. I am the Chairman of BOT of the PDP. As the Chairman of the BOT, I am supposed to be the conscience of the party.

Whatever be the rift, I am supposed find amicable settlement. I have done it in other states, why not in my state?

“I have told Olurin to extend his hand of fellowship to other people. I have told him to set up a reconciliation committee even before the court ruled”.

Chief Obasanjo spoke to reporters at the end of a lecture to mark his 74th birthday .

Jonathan felicitates with Obasanjo at 74

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday congratulated Chief Obasanjo on his 74th birthday saying he would continue to seek the former leader’s wise counsel and support as he runs for the April Presidential election.

In a congratulatory letter, the President said Obasanjo has contributed immensely to the unity, cohesion and general development of the country both as a leader and citizen.

“For over half a century, you have demonstrated unwavering commitment and abiding faith in the peace, stability, unity and progress of our nation,” Jonathan noted.

He stressed that Obasanjo has remained a steadfast epitome of consummate patriotism, uncommon diligence, exceptional courage and selfless service both as a military head of state and later as elected civilian president.

“Now, more than ever before in our political development history, Nigeria needs men and women of goodwill like you who are committed to the common good and are willing to partner with us in our national transformation enterprise.”

President Jonathan expressed confidence that he can count on Obasanjo’s wise counsel and unstinting support and wishes him many more years of service to the father land.



Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/03/celebration-of-release-from-jail-pdp-george-got-it-wrong-obj/

Irrespective of the fact that i will not take sides with the Minister of Finance for his impolite use of words, I take exception to the fact that Soludo actually said Nigeria was isolated from the global financial crises. I personally responded to him in thisday, March 30, please find the link below, i encourage everyone to read this:

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200903300087.html

I can stake my head for Soludo anytime, anyday. But, we shouldnt attack personalities and forget issues. This is fundamental. The difference between Soludo and Sanusi is that while Soludo is an academic authority, Sanusi is an ideologue. Without ideology your knowledge come to zero.

Part 1


[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4mo5XjmJdU[/flash]

I had to do a Part 2 of this video in response to the criticisms of Part 1. While I agree that the use of words may be misplaced, no one can deny perceived courage to bodly state SOME truth. I wish "the many professors" who know better can fearlessly do same

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8_2E88m_Y0[/flash]

If our leaders are responsible, they should be aware that their councel has gone this far in SA because of the right to get information from anywhere at anytime.

When we ague for Freedom of Information Bill, they start thinking of security of the money they want to loot. Our legislators need to make this bill law as fast as possible

If It Were in Nigeria,
10.13.2010

Last night I dreamt that 33 Nigerian miners were trapped underground and the government decided to send a capsule down to rescue them one after the other.

When the miners knew of the rescue plan, they began to argue amongst themselves on who goes first. Zoning was suggested but they could not agree on which zone will go first. Eventually in a struggle to determine who goes first, several of them got injured and MEND issued a threat message warning that they would set off a bomb if any South-south miner was critically injured.

Meanwhile, the FEC had awarded the capsule contract to JB and we are still awaiting delivery three months later. There is a probe going on to unravel this and retrieve the award sum before we get to the issue of what formula to adopt for the rescue and which miner comes out first.
In the mean time, traditional rulers from the miners' towns are paying solidarity visits to the president to thank him for his efforts to rescue the miners.

And the first lady had just invited the wives of the Nigerian miners to Abuja for dinner at the Hilton! The first ladies from the 36 states will also be in attendance. All including the wives of the miners will wear the Goodluck for President ankara.
CNN reported early this morning that after 10 months underground all the 33 Nigerian miners have died and the Nigerian government has declared seven days of mourning during which the Nigerian flag will be flown at half mast to honour the dead.
Meanwhile, JB has sued the FGN for the balance of the contract sum.
�Author unknown

Source: http://www.thisdayonline.com/

With due respect, i think the tone of Henry Okah's words is not healthy for the unity of Nigeria. Nigeria is bigger than his personal problems with Goodluck Jonathan. It would have been better if he had told us the way forward, we cannot continue like this. We cannot continue to allow innocent Nigerians die for a struggle that can be faught in more peaceful ways, to achieve even better results.

Goodluck Jonathan is also not helping matters. He is playing politics with sensitive issues. This factional MEND has to be brought to negotiation table. Let everybody know what their demands are, and let there be a concrete program of action to meet genuine demands, outside this, everyother person using the Niger Delta struggle to meet political fulfilment should be treated as a terrorist. We cannot continue like this, Enough is Enough

Pls can someone tell me what is wrong with some of our newspapers' websites? Vanguard, Thisday, etc have been down lately. We in the diaspora are missing out or could this be a sabotage?

If this is true, who is the first suspect that comes to your mind?

kenifeh:


The Attorney-General of the Federation, in an answer to a question, said: “There is an interim report. But again, I was also told that there are various versions of that report. As a responsible Attorney-General of the Federation, it would be hasty on my part to begin to act on such reports dealing with a sensitive matter.


“I have not come to a conclusion on the matter. This is because the international aspect of the issue had not been concluded. At the end of the day, I don't want to charge the wrong person to court. In the next two weeks, investigations would have been concluded on the matter, and I will address the press on the steps to be taken,” he said.

We are aware Obasanjo was indicted in the Halliburtton scandale, Am i the only one thinking this man could be worse than Michael Aondoakaa?

Attorney-General: Halliburton Report Ready in 2 Weeks
By Funke Aboyade and Tobi Soniyi, 08.08.2010

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, (SAN) said the on-going investigations on who played what role in the Halliburton bribery scandal believed to involve prominent Nigerians would be concluded in the next two weeks.
He told THISDAY in an interview at the weekend that “in the next two weeks,” he would address the media and unveil the next steps to be taken by the federal government on the matter.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, in an answer to a question, said: “There is an interim report. But again, I was also told that there are various versions of that report. As a responsible Attorney-General of the Federation, it would be hasty on my part to begin to act on such reports dealing with a sensitive matter.


“I have not come to a conclusion on the matter. This is because the international aspect of the issue had not been concluded. At the end of the day, I don't want to charge the wrong person to court. In the next two weeks, investigations would have been concluded on the matter, and I will address the press on the steps to be taken,” he said.
Adoke, who spoke on a wide range of issues, including the refusal of the National Assembly to send the amended 1999 Constitution to President Goodluck Jonathan for his assent, the overlapping functions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Matters Commission (ICPC), the return of the Vaswani brothers, among others, assured Nigerians that as AGF, he would protect the interest of the rule of law, the interest of every Nigerian irrespective of their political persuasion. He also said he believes that there was a need to segregate his office to insulate it from politics.


Giving his opinion on the raging controversy that arose from the insistence of the National Assembly that the amended Constitution does not require presidential assent before it becomes operational, he said he shares the views of Professor Ben Nwabueze that there was need for presidential assent for the process to be complete.
“The reason given by the National Assembly for not submitting to the President for his assent does not hold water because they seem not to have averted their minds to the clear provisions of the Constitution in S.58(1)-(5). The only time presidential assent is not required is when the President vetoes the amendment and they in the exercise of their overriding power pass it into law using the two-thirds majority,” he said.


Adoke, however, advised Nigerians to remain calm as the issue would be resolved by all parties involved to the benefit of the country. “The President has not refused to assent to the Constitution and they (National Assembly members) have not sent it to him. The issue of dispute has not arisen,” he assured.
Asked if he has advised the lawmakers on how to handle the matter, he said: “I have not had cause to advise the National Assembly because they have not formally informed me that they have amended the Constitution.
“The law requires that they would send it to me for gazetting. Nobody has formally informed me that the Constitution has been amended; until that is done, I will not want to take anticipatory steps.”


He said the President is not disturbed by the development as: “I have also averted the mind of the President to it. I have advised that there might be need to call the National Assembly for a dialogue.”
Adoke also said he chose to recommend the option of dialogue to Jonathan because: “One of the reasons advanced by them (lawmakers) is that they are the true representatives of the people.
He said: “To me, with all due respect to my colleagues at the National Assembly, I think that is not correct because there is no one that is more representative of the Nigerian people than the President who was elected by the whole country as opposed to them who were elected on proportional basis. But then, when we get to the bridge, we will cross it.”
“Should a dispute arise that will affect the forthcoming election, we may have to approach the Supreme Court directly. Where there is a dispute between the Executive and the National Assembly, the Supreme Court can exercise original jurisdiction.”


On why he brought back the Vaswani brothers to the country after their deportation by the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, he said: “Knowing the sensitive nature of the Vaswani brothers' case, I decided to write a memo to the President drawing his attention to the facts of the matter and the judgements. They have three judgements.
“Unknown to me, they had also written directly to the President through their lawyer. The President asked me for my advice and after reviewing the cases, without prejudice to any ill-feeling I may have against them, I found that the basis upon which the EFCC was prosecuting them had been annulled by the court and we will not prosecute any person just because we want to impress. ‘The court also said that their deportation was illegal and did not follow due process. This is a government that respects the law. We have no choice but to comply with the law.

Anyway, what is wrong if a person does business in your country and is alleged to have committed a crime, why don't you prosecute him? Why will you deport them?” he asked.
The minister said he would strive to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the ministry of justice, which he said was already a challenge to him to ensure that the “culture of impunity becomes a thing of the past.”

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=180215

Father Lord, pls bring a day when Pastor Chris Okotie and Patrick Obahiagbon will be on the same stage for a debate. Amen

Argentina’s goal against Nigeria in their group B encounter last Saturday, should have been disallowed by German referee Wolfgang Stark.

A FIFA post-match analysis ruled that there was a foul in the build-up to Gabriel Heinze’s stunning header, and that Stark should never have allowed the goal.

The FIFA referees’ committee released their findings on Tuesday, as a guide for future judgements in this year’s tournament. And amongst other rulings, they made it clear to referees that they must watch for infractions at corners and free-kicks — specifically attacking players blocking markers, as happened on Saturday.

As Juan Sebastian Veron’s cross floated over Walter, Samuel enveloped Chinedu Obasi and stopped him from moving, thereby giving Heinze all the space he needed to propel the ball home. Stark should have therefore penalised Samuel for obstruction and awarded a free-kick to the Super Eagles — a judgement that could have changed the course of the whole game for Argentina.

Although the ruling comes too late for Nigeria, it has interesting implications for the rest of the tournament; a sign that FIFA will not tolerate the pushing, shoving and holding commonplace on both sides at dead-ball situations, and that in future such offences will be punished with either disallowed goals or penalties in the case of the defence committing an infraction.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/06/15/argentina%e2%80%99s-goal-illegal-fifa/

Eighteen persons including nationals of Nigeria, Chad and Egypt have been executed after being convicted of premeditated murder, a Libyan newspaper, Cerene, has reported.


The number of Nigerians killed in the executions done last Sunday has not been ascertained.Of the 18, 14 were executed in the capital, Tripoli, Cerene reported, while the four other executions were carried out in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city. Their identities have not been made public by Libyan authorities.
More than 200 people are currently on death row in Libya, the Cerene report said.


They are believed to include a large number of foreign nationals against whom the death penalty appears to be used disproportionately.They are also often allegedly not provided with interpretation or translation assistance during legal proceedings, which are conducted in Arabic, or given access to their own government’s consular representatives.


A Nigerian on death row in Libya, Lawrence Ero, also confirmed the execution to THISDAY by telephone, expressing hope that the Nigerian Consulate in Libya would come and intervene in his case and those of others still on death row.
Reacting to the execution, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of not doing enough since it was made to be aware of the plight of some Nigerians in Libya last year.
“It is time we take up Libya on issues of execution because most of those offenders were killed simply because they could not understand the charges being read in Arabic,” she said lamenting that there is a penchant for killing blacks in the country.


Dabiri-Erewa also wants the country to appoint a charge d’Affairs to replace the ambassador recalled because of the statement made by the country’s leader Muamar Ghadaffi that Nigeria should be split along religious lines.
“No country watches its citizens being killed in another nation without intervening,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Amnesty International has maintained that it is opposed to death penalty in all cases, describing it as the ultimate form of cruel and inhuman punishment and a violation of the right to life.


Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Malcolm Smart, said: “In the case of Libya , we fear that death sentences are handed down after proceedings, which fail to satisfy international standards for fair trial.”
“Last Sunday’s dreadful events should not be repeated. The authorities should reveal the identities of the 18 people who were executed and vow to desist from further executions.” Smart said.


Amnesty International pointed out that foreign nationals are at a disadvantage compared to Libyans in seeking commutation of their death sentences because they generally have limited financial means and lack a family network in Libya that can assist them by negotiating with the family of their alleged victim.
“In cases of qisas (retribution for murder) and diya (financial compensation or blood money), the murder victim’s next-of-kin may agree to pardon the person convicted and under sentence of death in return for financial compensation.” Amnesty International explained.


It lamented that to date, the Libyan government has resisted moves towards the abolition of the death penalty recalling that in December 2007 and 2008, Libya was among the minority of states that voted against successful United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolutions calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.


“The Libyan authorities must declare a moratorium on executions and join the international trend towards abolition of the death penalty,” Smart said. “They should also commute the sentences of all those on death row.”


Amnesty International urged the authorities to ensure that the most rigorous internationally-recognized standards for fair trial are respected, particularly in death penalty cases.
“It is unconscionable that people may still be sentenced to death and executed in Libya after trials which fail to meet the highest international standards,” Smart said.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=174754

He will be remembered a the first Nigeria President to declare his assets publicly, RIP

This could be one of the tricks of Turai and the kitchen cabinet to see how the nation will react. Lets see his corpse before we believe

Hi all

I need to respond to some questions

Feraz asked how Nairalanders will be informed when the video is out: When the video is out, i will copy it to this thread. If you need to be personally informed, you can send me a private mail.

I am trying to represent the nominations in a spreadsheet. I will post the updated spreadsheet every monday according to the number of times each candidate was nominated for everyone to see and make inputs. I will also browse through Google to get links to newspaper publications to substantiate the nominations. We must make sure we can provide proof for the facts in the video. I feel that aside the Ten most Corrupt individuals, the video should also include a list of those whose names appered consistently in our nominations but have not been investigated.

hillsate mensioned that kosovo is kenifeh Anyone in doubt should send me a private mail and i will send my cell number so we can talk on phone. I am not kosovo. Go to Youtube and search for kenifeh. You will see two similar videos i have edited. No one has anything to hide. I do not have the authority to lunch a video, in the name of Nairaland, which does not have the approval of majority of contributors to the Topic.

Thanks for your inputs

Kenifeh
e-mail- kenifeh@yahoo.com

More, please

I must at this junction commend cadres like Bluetooth, Beaf and Shock.

Please Nairalanders this is no joke. When the Video comes out, cadres who didnt contribute should not complain. This is a moral question and our consciences ought to be challenged. Expecting more contributions. Thanks

Nairalanders

I am editing a video titled, Top Ten Most Corrupt Nigerians Alive- By Nairaland contributors

Please, Kindly send in your entry by writing the names of your nominees and copy to the thread. The video will be lunched on Youtube by end of May.

Only years back, the United Nations adjudged Nigeria the 5th most endowed nation in the world, but ranks amongst the 30 poorest. We hold it has a moral duty to protect our nation from currupt tendencies. Go check statistics of stolen funds and compare with the amount it would cost to give free education to Nigeria youths and you will be shocked at the potentials this nation has lost to greed.

Look forward to your responses.

Regards

Ghadafi eatin back his words

watch the video of the speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PZ5fnGg1s

He has appologised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PZ5fnGg1s

I find this very funny. Please watch this video


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PZ5fnGg1s