Etim - Esin and Baruwa omo Alhaja.

Is dier any part of Nigeria Constitution dt says an adopted son can not be a Governor ?

Is dier any prove that Tinubu is not a Yoruba ?

Everybody knows Tinubu is not from Lagos but Iragbiji in Osun State, why bringing up a dead issue that can bring division into the Yoruba race.

Am sure Pa Awo will not be happy in his grave with the way "Iya aku ma mo oju di, amo ona run ma lelo" wife is dragging his precious name in the mud. If you like hang urself to transformer TINUBU will be crown "ASIWAJU OF YORUBA LAND"

Mamora Straight,

Who is Sowore ? tell him to come to Nigeria and repeat the same tin, Ole, Ole abi ikan oku nin ara. i wounder wetin Tunubu do 4 una dis Tinubu dt Tinubu.

Can someone tell this Barbaric man calling himself man of GOD to shut up !!!! You saw revelation that MKO Abiola will never win the Election, you once said that "TALL TIN" (Referring to Buhari in 2007 General Election) is not the messiah we are expecting in Nigeria. 2011 you contested with the same man, my question to you, Didnt you see the Vision that you are going to loose the election ?


You are the main prob why the alliance between CPC and ACN didnt work out cos of ur selfish attitude, you better keep you mouth shut nw & 4ever,

Cool Topic,

Otito loso opuru,

A Nigerian Federal High Court has remanded the immediate past speaker of the country’s parliament, Dimeji Bankole, in the custody of anti-corruption police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Mr. Bankole was arraigned before Justice Donatus Okorowa at the Federal High Court 7 in Abuja, the nation’s capital, on a 16-count charge bordering on fraud related offences, including inflation of contracts to the sum of N894 million.

After pleading not guilty to the charges, Mr. Bankole, through his counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, made an oral application to be granted bail. He also accused the anti-corruption commission of utilising the media to persecute the embattled former lawmaker who was arrested last Sunday evening at his Abuja residence.

But counsel to the EFCC, Festus Keyamo, opposed the bail on the basis that the application for bail by the accused should be by written submission. He also refuted the accusation that Mr. Bankole was being persecuted, stating that the media was an independent institution not under the control of the EFCC.

Justice Okorowa after listening to both parties ordered Mr. Bankole to be detained in the custody of EFCC till June 10, 2011 pending when his application for bail would be entertained. He also warned the media against sensational reporting of the case, and set July 26 and 27 for commencement of trial.
Mr. Bankole, who kept a quiet mien and dressed in a white attire, was later escorted out of the court by EFCC operatives. In a telephone call, the EFCC spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said further charges against the former Speaker would soon be filed.

“In the first 24 hours after his arrest, he did not cooperate with our investigations. It was only later he started to, and which is what led to him being charged today,” Mr Babafemi said. “But these are just the initial charges. More charges are to come as investigations are ongoing.”

It is believed Mr. Bankole would also be charged in relation to a N10 billion loan obtained from a Nigerian bank, involving the questionable use of the parliament’s accounts as collateral.

Canada, USA & UK Visa within a week ? Bros u knw go change ? Na wa 4 u oooooooo

Last October I picked up membership of the Action Congress of Nigeria, and with that move, started an important journey, along with fellow compatriots, to help renew our dreams and our country. It was a journey and a challenge to correct what we diagnosed to be wrong and ill about governance in our country.

The moral dimension of governance in the country today remains indisputably negative, and this is not a construction in anyone’s head. The evidence speaks starkly of levels of poverty that is simply beyond belief; of a crumbled educational sector; a health sector that posts a terribly disgraceful score card; as well as an infrastructure and power sector that bear the vivid meaning of the word failure. Indeed, the picture in every sector remains one of shock, shame, and stoppage.

For the multitude of our youth that constitute 70 per cent of the population, their situation depicts a frightening reality of unemployment, and a furiously escalating surge of hopelessness, frustration, and anger.

Using the vehicle of our party, the Action Party of Nigeria, A.C.N. we traversed the broad stretch of our land retailing the message of hope, of social rebirth, and of generation change.

The elections have come and gone, and at moments like this when the results appear not to match up our expectations, the tendency is high to lapse into self-blame, and hasty but untested judgments about how we had invested in a failed project; and about how politics is too dirty and too evil.

We need to focus more on the goals of a better society and the vision of creating a community of opportunity in our country. Invariably, in that journey, disappointments and reversals will accompany us but with it will also come critical lessons, better clarity about means and ends. Ultimately we must remember that the conclusion of elections always raises the expectations of the people that things will change for the better and this election will not be different.

The truth is that the elections offered us lifetime and wonderful opportunities to encounter the vivid living realities of our people. It fundamentally challenged our received notions of development regarding one of the richest nations on the face of the earth but which nonetheless still ranks in the bottom file on all the human development indices. The election also built our resolve to be more committed to the challenge of constructing a modern, united, tolerant, just, and equitable nation on the best traditions of democracy.

Above all, however, the election also offered great opportunities for our young compatriots to partake in the civic service of helping to consolidate democracy in our nation. Some of the youngsters projected this faith by offering to serve as the brave and heroic NYSC election managers, but many more simply as voters seeking to use their thumbs to change the world.

I personally feel humbled by their role in my campaign and would like to specifically mention Team Ribadu and express my appreciation for the efforts and incredible sacrifices of these very special young men and women. I ask them to keep their vision, their hope of a new Nigeria alive, because the future belongs to them.

To those who contributed in one way or the other to the campaign, I want them to know that they earn my boundless gratitude. Many people worked tirelessly to ensure the success of our campaign; many donated their money, their precious time, family time and resources, election materials, and other items too many to be listed. I am truly grateful.

To our Diaspora support community who flew our flag in those distant shores from the US to Canada, Spain, the UK, China, South Africa, Ghana, and the Gambia. I salute and thank them for their tremendous demonstration of support in ideas, money, and valuable time. They have taught us the noble lesson that distance and a presumed comfort of exile need not inhibit the patriotic commitment to the remaking of their distress homeland.

From the very beginning, through the rough and tumbles of the campaign, the media offered us great support. I want to register my gratitude to them, but also urge them not to drop the ball in ensuring a keen audit of the governance process in the next four years.

By far, however, the lead heroes and champions of this process are the near three million voters who trooped out to cast a noble vote of support to our vision. Those votes were a testimony that a new Nigeria is possible.

I thank them earnestly; but I also urge them to continue to show keen interest and greater awareness of the importance of their votes by demanding accountability from those to whom they have bestowed the authority of leadership from local to federal institutions.

Yet we cannot lose sight of the fact that this opportunity to serve is made possible through the depth of faith, the vision, and generosity of spirit exhibited by our great party--the Action Congress of Nigeria.

In thanking the party for granting me the privilege of being their flag-bearer for this election, I also show gratitude to its leadership and members who toil for a great Nigeria knowing fully that their hopes for a better fatherland will be best served if we do not lose sight of the future.

In this journey, my good friend, Fola Adeola, cheerfully consented to be my running mate bringing in lasting values of companionship, trust, loyalty, and organisation. I thank him and his wonderful family and wish them well in the days ahead.

Finally, I wish to express my profound appreciation to my wife Zara, my children and other members of my family for their support and encouragement throughout this campaign.

Our nation is a great land, her promises are still unfolding, but with the persistence of love, unity, justice and equality, we shall conquer the stiffest challenges. God has a purpose of change and progress for Nigeria, and we shall certainly get to that promise land. Thank you, Nigeria, God Bless our nation.

Nuhu Ahmed Ribadu
A.C.N Presidential Candidate

Bros , d best strategy is to post the Price here for all to see.

cos them b Ole,

Only a mad fellow talk without a response, Bros u don kollo, GOD BLESS ASIWAJU OF YORUBA LAND. Tinubu nin Baba won.

This trend is not for Indian hemp smoker, pls go to the rite trend. Amugbo,

Aw i wish Baba Iyabo still dey around to deal with the Almajiris, as for ur question YES hes right infact shoot at sight should ave been the ideal word.

President Goodluck Jonathan today unsheathed the big stick, the first significant action following last Saturday’s election, by suspending Capt. Emmenuel Iheanacho as Minister of Interior and member of the Federal Executive Council.

According to a press statement by Ima Niboro, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, the action follows “a number of lapses in the political leadership of the ministry traceable to his personal and official conduct.”

No specific issues were identified, but the action suggests that the President may now feel confident enough to insist on performance from Ministers and other office-holders in exchange for staying on the job.

Capt. Iheanacho’s position will be taken by Emeka Wogu, who will run the Interior Ministry alongside his Ministry of Labour.

3 letter words, O L E,

Goodluck Jonathan
By SaharaReporters, New York

With some 72 hours to Saturday's crucial presidential elections in Nigeria, presidential Goodluck Jonathan is deploying state resources far and wide in an unprecedented effort to buy every inch of support. A Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) official told SaharaReporters today that in the extraordinary spending spree, the Goodluck Jonathan team had mopped up some N107 billion in funds from the Nigerian economy.

Much of the monies is going to the northern parts of Nigeria where the campaign has handed over N2 billion to each key state governors and People's Democratic Party (PDP) officials to capture the north for Jonathan.

A CNN report today validates what SaharaReporters has repeatedly revealed about Jonathan's lackluster campaigns in terms of the sparse audiences in his rallies despite millions of Naira consistently spent to bus supporters from state to state. Sometimes the same supporters are moved to other stops.
In “The Battle For Nigeria’s Presidency, CNN's Christian Purefoy reported from Sokoto State, “widely regarded as the base of northern power and the region with the highest number of registered voters.”
Showing a scanty crowd during a widely advertised campaign visit of Goodluck the report focuses on Jonathan’s near-absent support. “Pressed up against the fence here, it looks like a lot of people have turned out for the President Goodluck’s visit, but if you come forward to the space where he will be speaking, it is pretty much empty. And if you just come to the back just across two or three people deep, the crowd thins out dramatically, and the seats at the back of the stadium, even here behind me, they are empty too.”
In contrast, the report shows the campaign visit of General Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Political Change (CPC) to the same Sokoto location one week after Jonathan’s visit, where he is welcomed by a vast and raucous crowd. “The crowd is much larger and much louder,” the reporter observes. “Buhari ran for the presidency in the last two elections but claims the voting was rigged. This time he hopes these people will help him also try something never before done in Nigeria: beat the incumbent President.”
Referring to the significance of the huge crowds at Buhari’s speaking stops, the spokesman to the CPC candidate, Yinka Odumakin, cautioned against anyone trying to subvert the will of the people in Saturday’s presidential election through rigging, warning that it would amount to “Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen combined.”

A source within the Jonathan campaign boasted that although Jonathan may be short on substance or ideas, it is blessed with mountains of cash looted by his cronies who are desperate for his victory in order for him to protect them. Last week, the Lagos-based 234NEXT newspaper exposed how the Minister of Petroleum Resources, and Jonathan’s long-time mistress, Dieziani Allison-Mudeuke, was engaged in skimming off kickbacks from importers of gasoline to support the campaign. To avoid a public uproar, Diezani quietly left Nigeria about a week ago on a celebrated medical surgery abroad. While her medical trip abroad was being announced as a critical matter, it turned out that she had only gone to have an appendix removed.

The Jonathan campaign has also raised tremendous money from issuing import waivers to importers. Since he came to power, Jonathan has issued over N100 billion worth of import duties to the notorious Vaswani Brothers. In one instance last year, the import waivers, which were first granted through one Chief Omokaro, was sold to the Stallion group for $19 million. Two days later, the money was paid to President Jonathan through Omokaro. The Vaswani Brothers have been expelled twice from Nigeria for engaging in import scams.

Our CBN source said that state governors are Jonathan's best source of slush campaign cash. In return, they are granted excess crude cash allocations sometime several days in advance.

Jonathan, With An Eye on Saturday’s Crunch Vote, Meets Secretly with Jega
SaharaReporters sources said the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has also met secretly with President Goodluck Jonathan at a private house in Abuja . The meeting was conducted under a heavy veil of secrecy and was known only to very few officials.
In the past few days, and bolstered by last Saturday’s largely successful legislative elections, President Jonathan has told top party officials and hawks in his government that Jega is “no longer a problem” and does not need to be removed from his post.

Partly because of the threat to his exalted job following the aborted election of April 2, analysts say Jega himself seems to be acting with greater deference to candidate Jonathan. That view of him may have been strengthened by the curious secret meeting with candidate Jonathan only days to the crunch political contest.

But a spokesperson to the INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, denied the secret meeting was ever held. He told SaharaReporters that the only meetings Jega attended with Jonathan related to "election matters" at the National Security Council. He said Jega attended several of those meetings including one following the stormy outing where Jega's job seemed to be threatened.

@ Poster why blaming Tinubu for all your probs am sure if your wife fail to perform her Matrimonial Duty na Tinubu also cause am < Olodo,

Beaf we dey expect your Abusive word as usual,

Aminy or Anenih or Anini ? u knw go change ?,

@ Beaf, why do u like insulting people on N/L ? R u really campaign for GEJ or otherwise ? Please respect the rule of this forum and stop being childish with your P.D.P like response, Grow up man.

Dora, word of advise for you, Quit politics, dnt spoil your precious name,

The extraordinary conspiracy to keep the Action Congress of Nigeria gubernatorial candidate of Akwa Ibom, John Akpanudoedehe, out circulation played out again today before the chief magistrate of Akwa Ibom state, Edet Obot. The Magistrate court judge remanded Senator Akpanudoedehe in prison custody for 14 days after agreeing with counsels to the accused that his court lacks jurisdiction to hear the charges brought against udoedehe.

The judge claimed he was acting on a new law recently passed by the Akwa Ibom state house of assembly which empowers the governor to jail anyone for up to 30 days without trial.

Lawyers to Akpanudoedehe told SaharaReporters that this was the most extraordinary legal action taken by a judge that openly admitted he had no jurisdiction to hear a case.

Mr. Akpanudoedehe is billed to stand in general elections against the governor on April 23 2011.

Powerful Nigerians close to President Jonathan are pushing for the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega. They are using last Saturday’s botched parliamentary elections as a convenient peg, and are mobilizing members of the National Assembly to return to Abuja to carry out a speedy trial and removal of Jega from office.

The plot, which has identified the National Security Adviser (NSA), Owoeye Azazi, Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, Chief Anthony Anenih and former president Olusegun Obasanjo, centres on the “disloyalty of Prof. Jega to President Jonathan”.

Presidency sources told SaharaReporters on Monday that at a stormy “Security Council” meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja, which was presided over by Jonathan, the NSA and the IGP vociferously railed against Jega's bungling of the Saturday election.

Jega's “weakness,” according to several sources familiar with the discussions, is his alleged link with opposition candidates and civil society advocates. It is seen as reflecting his personal and strong desire to remove Goodluck Jonathan from office.

One source said Prof. Jega was summoned severally to the villa to discuss a suitable "election" strategy with which the President would be comfortable, but that each time Jega met presidency officials, he told them that he could not participate in the rigging of the election because the people of Kano, from where he hails, will wipe out his family.

But Jega's actual undoing has been his laziness, sources told SaharaReporters, stressing that since assuming office as INEC chairman, he has done nothing to dismantle the structures put in place by his predecessor, the disgraced Maurice Iwu.

An INEC source told SaharaReporters that the like of Philip Umeadi, Jnr. and Okey Ndeche, the INEC Operations Director and commissioner in charge of legal matters, have waxed stronger since Jega’s arrival. Mr. Ndeche, for instance, was made the INEC official in charge of "anti-corruption" even though his name featured prominently in the bribery case in the Ekiti election re-run saga which was investigated by the police.

The Iwu cabal within INEC is said to have been running circles around a complacent Jega, a factor which is said to have led to his problems in the running of the Commission. Since coming to office, Jega has presided over a turbulent election in Ondo south and then gone on to the unconvincing performance in the Delta State gubernatorial re-run that was ordered by a court.

The recently concluded registration of voters also put a huge question mark on Jega's competence. Not only was the register not properly processed, huge numbers hitherto unknown to the public later popped up in it. While he admitted that he had come upon many influential Nigerians that had multiple registrations, he has failed to identify them publicly or prosecute them, thereby granting them protection in effect.

Jega's incompetence and lackadaisical attitude has become his Achilles heel, but even his worst critics say he is not the rapacious bribe-grabbing personality that Iwu once represented. Jega, a source told SaharaReporters, might be lazy or even naïve, but he is not accumulating wealth. As it stands, Jega's "don't-bribe-me-policy" may not matter anymore; hawks within the Jonathan regime want his head and are scrambling to take advantage of the fact that his desire to hold a free and fair election will humiliate the president's chances of winning on the first ballot.

They had hoped that Jonathan would accept Jega's resignation at the emergency Security Council meeting, but Jonathan told the chairman not to resign, a smart move because if Jega's voluntary resignation were accepted, no one would have believed that he wasn't forced out, and the restless North, which has become Jonathan's greatest albatross, would refuse to accept.

Azazi, according to our sources, is particularly refusing to relent, and is churning out security reports that portray Jega as a CPC loyalist. One of those reports seen by SaharaReporters contains ridiculous insinuations that Mr. Jega's blood brother, Mahmud Jega, the editor of the Abuja-based Daily Trust newspaper, is part of the “conspiracy” to unseat Jonathan.

A United Kingdom High Court in London has ordered the former CEO of Intercontinental Bank and pastor of the widely-known Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Erastus Akingbola, to forfeit nearly seventy-five million British pounds to the bank.

Pastor Akingbola was arrested in 2010 after he returned from the UK, to which he had fled after his financial shenanigans were revealed by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was called in to prosecute such former bank CEOs who were found to have been involved in bank fraud.

According to the UK court judgement obtained by SaharaReporters dated March 24 2011, he will forfeit sums of £8,540,134.58, £68m and £1.3m to Intercontinental Bank.  The bank had approached the UK court after it successfully obtained a freezing order against huge sums of monies paid into various shell companies set up by Mr. Akingbola in the Cayman Islands and in which members of his family were beneficiaries.

The fraudulent payments saw Akingbola transferring huge sums of money from Intercontinental bank in 2009.  The payments, known as "1st Fuglers Payments", "Tropics Payments" and "2nd Fuglers Payments", together the three payment led to the transfer of a total of £80 Million; monies that were used to purchase expensive properties in the UK and beyond.

Mr. Akingbola siphoned most of the funds in dubious transactions between his shell companies in Nigeria within just six weeks through an illegal shares purchase scheme conducted by some of his companies.  Forty-one million pounds (£41m) of the money was looted by Mr. Akingbola in one day alone, on 11 May 2009.

Analysts say Mr. Akingbola's case reflects pervasive greed not only in Nigerian financial institutions, but often in her places of worship, where flamboyant pastors are perennially preaching messages of prosperity.  There is also persistent collusion between government and bank officials, one form of which involves governors and ministers transferring key accounts to specific banks with which they have worked out a profitable arrangement.  It remains to be seen if RCCG will issue a statement condemning Mr. Akingbola.

Last October, the former Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, was convicted of bank and securities fraud by the Federal High Court in Lagos, and was stripped of 199 assets and funds worth nearly N200 billion, much of which she had salted away all over the world.  On one street alone in the Upper Marlboro area of Maryland, United States, Mrs. Ibru bought at least six palatial homes in 2009, and they were registered either to herself, or to such close relatives as her son, Obaro, her daughter Janet, or her daughter-in-law, Kemi Da silva.  Despite the grievous nature of her crimes, however, Mrs. Ibru was sent to jail for only six months.  Even that slap on the wrist was "suffered" in the cushy confines of a medical facility that is built like a five-star hotel. 

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/uk-high-court-orders-rogue-banker-erastus-akingbola-surrender-%C2%A368-million-loot-intercontin

Women Affairs Minister, Josephine Anenih, is currently enmeshed in a huge scandal that may cost her the rest of her tattered reputation, and possibly her job.

Anenih, who is wife to Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), top gun, Tony Anenih, whose tenure as Works minister left sour taste in the mouth, is getting bricks thrown at her from her constituency, the PDP women wing.

Anenih , the former PDP women leader, is alleged to have last week pocketed over N150 million meant for her kinswomen in Anambra. The cash was part of huge pot of cash set aside by the PDP to assist female members running for offices at various levels.

She also allegedly cornered hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United Nation Development Fund (UNDP), meant to empower the women.

The development has also not got down well with Mrs Patience Jonathan, who has described the act as outrageous and anti-party.

Pointblanknews.com learnt that the cash were handed over to state Governors or the state party chairmen, but since Anambra has no PDP Governor, they decided to give the cash to the women Affairs minister, who is from Anambra.

According to top party sources, the party chairman, Emma Nweze was not available at the time the cash was given out by a member of the Jonathan/ Sambo Organization , Stella Oduah Ogiemwonyin, so being a party big wig from the state, Anenih took the cash on the Anambra women politicians behalf.

But, unknown to Oduah-Ogiemwonyin and Director-General of the organization, Dalhatu Tafida, Anenih had other plans. She dumped the cash in her private account .

Pointblanknews.com gathered that as the women ran around for cash, they learnt Nweze got the ‘support’ cash from Abuja. They stormed his office but he told them, he had no money. Nweze made some enquiries and found out that Anenih had their share.


Our source disclosed that Anenih, devised a means to hoodwink the women. She directed those eligible, to fill out some forms online. But as at Sunday night Anenih had not paid out a dime.

It was further learnt that when some top members of the women wing called up Anenih to find out what happened, she became furious and defiant, arguing that since she had spent so much of her private cash on women in six months, she would not give out a dime.

One of the women who got the running around from Anenih said “ she took over N150 million of party cash meant for us, and also took another huge sum running into millions, from UNDP. She asked us to go online, fill out a fake form, up till few hours to the postponed election, nothing, till now, she still has the cash”

Continued the source “ Josephine was not supposed to get the Anambra share in the first place. Nweze was the rightful person since we don’t have a PDP Governor in Anambra. So when they didn’t see the chairman, Josephine elected to take it, so they gave it to her. Don’t forget she is a minister from the state, and was woman leader. We were shocked. Now she is saying, she has spent her personal money in the past. We are storming Abuja tomorrow, she has to be sacked and the cash retrieved”

Eran iya nin ogbeni yi ooooooooooo

Beaf whr u dey ?? abi u don decamp ??

Nigeria’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was losing the parliamentary election in an embarrassing fashion in places where yesterday’s National Assembly elections took place, according to preliminary election numbers obtained by SaharaReporters from Kaduna, Benue, Gombe, Katsina, Nassarawa and Lagos.

From Gombe State, SaharaReporters obtained the following vote tally from Kofar Ajiya: PDP 10, ANPP 19 and CPC 121; Kofar Shetima: PDP 5 votes, ANNP 10 and CPCP 117; Kofar Sadauki: PDP 12 votes, CPC 132; and at Kofar Sarkin Dabe: PDP 1 vote and CPC with 48 votes.

Of equal interest, in Kaduna State, in Vice-President Sambo's own neighborhood of 500 voters, the PDP received only 100, and in Suba LGA, Kaduna out of 10,000 votes PDP only managed to get 500.

The elections were in progress before an unprecedented logistical collapse compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel them as the agency had failed to deliver voting materials to millions of voters across the nation on Saturday.

Meanwhile, major opposition parties met in Abuja earlier today and plan to meet with INEC chairman, Mahmud Jega later to deliver a unanimous request that the election, now rescheduled for tomorrow, April 4, be cancelled by INEC and postponed for at least one week.