naptu2: Muyiwa Adekeye is the media aide to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. He posted this on Thursday.
Muyiwa Adekeye:
I consider the most recent speculations about Malam Nasir @elrufai as reflecting an unhealthy obsession with politics.
People have personal histories and relationships that predate political affiliations. It cannot be a hallmark of civilisation to have friends from within only your political party. When people visit each other or mingle across party lines, it is because human relationships exist, distinct from the political or the partisan.
Malam Nasir @elrufai is a senior member of the APC, one of the signatories to its merger documents, and a significant contributor to the party’s demonstrated viability. These contributions do not require that he treats friends as anathema on account of politics or maintains an antiseptic distance from them.
Malam Nasir @elrufai hosted some friends to Iftar on Tuesday, 19 March 2024. NSA Nuhu Ribadu was at the Iftar with a senior APC figure like Alh. Kashim Imam. SDP National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam was among the friends who partook in the Iftar. Gabam was not accused of considering crossing over to the APC on account of that.
When Malam Nasir @elrufai visited Gabam the next day, he was merely returning a visit to a friend who happens to be SDP chairman.
Malam El-Rufai is known for being open and forthright. If he had any political decisions to make, it would not be in character to let them be subject to speculation.
Unfounded speculations about Malam Nasir @elrufai have become an industry that has delivered tons of lies and clickbaits in the last 18 years. This is unlikely to abate anytime soon, given the persistent obsession of its purveyors who relish in negativity and their tireless indulgence in conflating assumption with fact. A recent instance was when he visited former presidents late in 2023 to explain his Nigerian governance study book project covering each of their tenures, the speculators said it was about politics! That is why it is sometimes necessary to clarify matters lest the unwary be taken in.
This remind me of the different lambs we heard during the last election about OBJ arranging a Russian lawyer to help Obi in court.
How will you think El-Rufai of all people will deputize Peter Obi? Fear God nao.
What this thread reminds me of is the day that someone told me that Goodluck Jonathan's spokesman didn't know anything about Goodluck Jonathan and that he knew for a fact that Goodluck Jonathan would contest the 2023 election on the platform of the APC (something that Goodluck Jonathan's spokesman had denied).
Interim Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Malam Nasir el-Rufai, was yesterday in Awka prevented from moving out of his hotel room to monitor the Anambra governorship election.
el-Rufai told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the ‘Finotel Hotel’ where he lodged that some armed men of the State Security Service (SSS) restrained him from moving out of the hotel to monitor the election.
He said:“I arrived in Awka by 7 p.m. on Friday and had a brief session with the APC candidate, Sen. Chris Ngige. When I came out to have my dinner, I saw three heavily armed SSS officers at the hotel.
“I asked them why they were following me; they told me that they were protecting me because Awka is not safe.
“I told them that I came with my own security. This morning, as I was about to have breakfast, they blocked the corridor and tried to restrain me from going out but I pushed by and went to the restaurant to eat.
“After my breakfast, I will be going to the APC Situation Room in town to monitor the election. I am being unlawfully detained here,’’ he said.
NAN reports that at this point, one of the SSS men entered the restaurant and confiscated the reporter’s tape recorder and deleted the recorded interview before returning it to her.
When contacted on telephone, the Director of SSS in the state, Mr. A.U. Okeiyi, confirmed the report, saying that el-Rufai was being protected.
“el-Rufai is not an ordinary person. If anything happens to him, they will blame the security,’’ he said.
Heavily armed security men were seen guarding the premises of the hotel.
Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, reacted angrily to the development.
He said the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had no business in Anambra State on the day of election.
The governor said genuinely accredited observers are not hindered by anybody.
“Accredited observers are moving around freely. But I am not sure el-Rufai was accredited by INEC as an observer.
“Like I said before, he has no business or any reason to be in Anambra at this time. All he is doing is dragging the name of Anambra in the mud.
“I can’t go to Katsina and monitor a governorship election. This is a federation. Even if he belongs to a particular party, the party has chieftains in this state and people of the southeast extraction.
“People should know that we have one country and we must build it for our children. el- Rufai has no reason to be in Anambra State.
“Quote me anywhere. I can’t go to Katsina State or Kano or where ever he may come from and go and monitor elections there. He should stay there”.
Where did Mallam Nasir El-Rufai go wrong in his presentation on Anambra’s budget of misplaced priorities? Is it the facts he presented that Anambra State with adult literacy at 74.0% is behind Imo (80.8%) and Abia State (78.2%) or that the two major contributors to IGR will be N6.76 billion from taxes and about N4 billion from fines and fees? If this IGR is measured against the state projected personnel costs of N16.3 billion, Anambra cannot pay its staff salaries without reliance on federal allocation; this means it is one of those ‘dependent’ states and is not economically viable for independent existence. Can anyone fault this simple analysis from information provided by the government itself?
I need not restate all that El-Rufai laid out in that piece but I was surprised that he was accused by Governor Obi of insulting the Igbos and that only Anambra State indigenes can assess his administration not outsiders who have never visited the state like El-Rufai. Anyway, I am an Igbo from Anambra State and I state as follows: I do not feel insulted in anyway by the article in question and being from Anambra State, I wish to exercise the right which the Governor graciously granted only the indigenes of Anambra state, which is the right to assess his administration.
Peter Obi brought civility into governance in Anambra State at a time politics in the state had degenerated to dangerous and unacceptable levels. That I must concede. But he has also taken, as they say, liberty for license, engaged in needless propaganda, pursuit of federal lucre and in the process, squandered a golden opportunity to positively transform a fruitful virgin state.
Propaganda works and it has worked well for Peter Obi, but it has its limits. One of the areas where a lot of propaganda has gone into in Anambra state is road construction. A lot of quality roads were constructed by the Ngige administration. But the present government claimed to have ‘Asphalted’ over 500 km of roads and claims that Anambra State has the best network of roads in the Country. How much did it cost the state, assuming the number is accurate and of what quality?
A government that prides itself as the most prudent in Nigeria should present the whole picture to its citizens. For instance, in May, 2011, the government of Cross River State under Senator Liyel Imoke, signed contract agreements Publicly with eight contractors for the construction of 474 km of roads valued at N20.325 billion to cover 28 communities across the State under the Cross River Rural Access and Mobility Project. The Projects are being jointly funded by the African Development Bank contributing N7.016 billion and Cross River State contributing N13.308 billion.
How much exactly did the 500km of roads built in Anambra State by Governor Obi cost? Informed citizens have put the figure at between N48 billion and N60 billion, more than double of what Cross River State is spending for corresponding kilometers of roads. As regards the quality of the roads, most indigenes would admit that you can determine which road was done under Ngige and the ones under Peter Obi by the standard. The roads built under Ngige are of a much higher quality. Most of the roads done by Peter Obi will have to be re-awarded, a case of penny wise, pound foolish.
Another major propaganda point is that the government of Peter Obi has not borrowed while other profligate states have been borrowing recklessly. How can a state with massive infrastructure deficits keep its funds in the bank while the Governor’s major developmental efforts will be in commissioning of bore holes, immunization programmes and giving grants to schools seeking accreditation? How much of the state government money is actually in the bank and can the government come out categorically and deny the rumor that over N150 million is paid out by the ‘banks’ as commission every month? Is there a correlation between these monthly commission payments from the banks and the fact that the average cycle of contracts and payment in the state is two to three years sometimes more in order to maintain a certain minimum bank balance?
While rebuking El-Rufai for daring to point out the facts about the state, the Governor claimed that he has attracted industries to the state and mentioned two: Innoson Motors and SAB Miller Breweries in Onitsha. Innocent Chukwuma is from Nnewi in Anambra state. His company, Innoson has always been in Nnewi, long before Obi became Governor. It started as a motorcycle assembly plant before moving to buses, and other vehicles. So Peter Obi did not attract Innoson to Anambra State. He considers as a major achievement the fact that he built the road leading to the Innoson factory and brought the President to commission it. Congratulations!
On Sab Miller, the Governor will need to address the rumor making rounds in the state concerning the ownership of 22% of Sab Miller shares. Anambra State Government owns 10% while the remaining 12% is said to be owned by other businessmen from Anambra State. Who are those other businessmen? Since they are not ghosts, it is important that their names be made public to avoid ugly rumors.
Talking about investment in the state, the Governor is known to be a successful trader before he became Governor. If the state is so attractive for business, what informed the decision of his own company NEXT International to invest over N12 billion building the two largest shopping malls in Abuja, one in Mabushi and the other in Central Area, opposite federal ministry of transport? The Governor announced proudly that this year, he will pay N32 million as tax in Anambra State. Why invest and create employment outside the state and then pay tax in Anambra State? It is a very strange way of doing things. Anambra State needs the investment and jobs that the Governor outsourced to Abuja and other places. I call on the Governor to publish his tax returns to know exactly where the N32 million income tax is coming from. Is it from dividends or other sources? Since he mentioned it, we need to know more.
Anambra State is a rural state and nobody can deny that. It has no airport, no stadium and no good public secondary school. If you fall sick in the state and you are unable to navigate yourself to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Federal University Teaching Hospital, you are finished. The State University Teaching Hospital, Awka, which was ‘commissioned’ by President Jonathan in 2010, is still an ongoing project in 2012. Yet, the money is in the bank! None of the three ‘cities’ within the state; Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi is really habitable. There is no public water supply system in those areas. The Government of Obi competes with individuals in the provision of boreholes all over the state with his so called development partners. No place like that can attract talents who will contribute to the development of the state.
Little wonder then, that two out of every three property/land transactions in Asaba and Enugu involve indigenes of Anambra State. Most members, past and present of Anambra State House of Assembly and Commissioners including most of the bank managers in Anambra State, all have their houses in Asaba and Enugu from where they commute to Anambra State. Why not? Their children have to attend good schools which do not exist in Anambra State. What Obi has managed to achieve in six years, is sustaining the rural status of the state.
The only habitable estate in Awka Capital Territory is the Udoka Housing Estate built by the Chukuemeka Ezeife administration in 1991/92. Across the other side of the Enugu – Onitsha expressway is the Ngozika Estate built by Obi’s government of a quality much lower than the Jakande houses of the eighties. He claims to have secured accreditation for School of Health Technology, Obosi, School of Midwifery, Nkpor, School of Nursing, Iyienu. Fine! But these are institutions built by his predecessors and he is listing securing accreditation as his achievement.
He announced that he invested N4 billion of state funds in Orient Petroleum but it was conceptualized and set up by Dr. Mbadinuju. The Anambra State University was set up by the same Mbadinuju and when Peter Obi builds a faculty building or hostel in the school, he will advertise it as a monumental achievement. Yet he claims that there was nothing on ground when he became Governor of the state. Even the Women Development Centre, Awka which is Anambra’s equivalent of the International Conference Centre, Abuja [Don’t laugh] was built by Mbadinuju. And I ask, apart from the State Secretariat, what project of note has Peter Obi initiated and completed in the past six years?
Thisday newspaper in awarding Governor Obi (4) four stars in its rating of Governors stated among other things that he built 77 bridges and 103 Schools. These are unsubstantiated claims. Some bridges, yes but not a single school was built under Peter Obi. What he did was that he awarded contracts to the 177 town unions in Anambra State to build 4000 classroom blocks in the schools within their communities. Unprecedented absurdity! He has no coherent educational policy. He would donate computers to some schools, give some principals’ money directly to build toilets in their schools and then supply some with generators as the spirit moves him. When the cacophonous interventions failed, he then out of frustration, rather than a carefully thought out policy, handed over the schools to the missions to continue from where they stopped 40 years ago. Lord have mercy!!
Thisday again listed a new Onitsha hotel and convention centre under construction as one of his achievements. This brings me to the issue of transparency and due process. Contracts under Obi are generally not advertised and are usually arbitrarily awarded. This ongoing convention centre was one of the few advertised and tenders received from companies all over Nigeria. After the pre-qualification and opening of the financial and technical bids, Costain won the bid and was invited by the Anambra State Ministry of Commerce to collect the award letter. Before that could be done, Obi unilaterally awarded the contract to another company. Serious companies avoid Anambra State resulting in the poor quality of work seen in the projects undertaken by Obi’s government.
Governor Obi has announced two years to the end of his tenure that he will build a new Governor’s Lodge and Governor’s Office before he hands over in March 2014. Informed citizens are asking him not to bother. Since he has lived in a temporary governor’s lodge and operated from a temporary governor’s office for six years there’s no hurry.
Lest I forget, three years ago when people complained about the lack of development in the State, Governor Obi announced to Anambra people that he was developing a base map for Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi with a United Nations group, Habitat in order to have orderly development. Great idea! Three years after, can someone please ask the Governor the status of the ‘base map’?
Hon. Chudi Offodile is a Lawyer and former member of the House of Representatives who served between 1999-2006 representing Awka North/Awka South Federal Constituency, Anambra State. He was also Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee of the House of Representatives.[/b]
dubem3: i decided to create this thread after reading through a thread where Peter Obi the incumbent Anambra state governor was accusing el rufai of insulting the Igbos. now, the first thing that comes to mind as an Anambrarian is how disgusting el rufai could be and the urge to call him all kinds of name and detest him follows. but then, i happened to also read further and saw how el rufai insulted ndi Igbo. All i saw was constructive criticism with facts and figures. My igbo brothers please before you feed on my flesh, hear me out. i happen to know peter Obi after he claimed his mandate (not personally). I attended a lecture he gave and truly i loved the man. he seemed to have vision. i saw the spark in his eyes while he spoke.i felt the passion he exuded. he was good. years later (more like many months) i began to have doubts. what was happening? before i get carried away with my thoughts, back to the topic at hand. the worst that could happen is we judge ourselves based on the pointers el rufai gave and seeing that we are better off than he gave us credit for, like the proverbial lizard that jumped down the iroko tree, we will praise ourselves if non would. but brothers, facts and figures don't lie.my questions are these
how would you access peter's performance so far? why did peter ignore all that el rufai say and focus on an insult that didn't exist? are these claims by el rufai true? Anambra, what's the way forward?
if you have something constructive, please share with us...no tribal bashing...below is what el rufai said...its long but you can take pains to read
Video of fire truck trying to make its way through a very narrow street. People had to use their hands to remove structures that were blocking the road so that the fire truck could pass.
Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service Successfully Controls Apongbon Fire
Lagos, Nigeria - April 8, 2024 The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service has initiated a comprehensive operation to contain a fire outbreak at 48 Breadfruit Street Apongbon Lagos, at about 12:24hrs Monday.
The blaze, originating from the second floor of a 3-storey building housing various hair wigs, prompted a swift and coordinated response from multiple fire crews, including those stationed at Ebute Elefun, Sari Iganmu, Dolphin and Alausa of the agency, as well as @Fedfireng
Despite challenges posed by the difficult terrain and heightened concerns among traders, the fire has been successfully extinguished, preventing its spread to adjacent properties and salvaging what remains of the affected structure.
There have been no reported casualties and the cause of the fire is attributed to careless handling of a generator.
Margaret Adeseye Director Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service
There has been an increase in cases of sextortion, which often lead to suicide. In this previous case, some Nigerians convinced a young American to send nude photos to them, then they began blackmailing him and sending threatening emails to him. The boy killed himself and the Nigerians were arrested and extradited to the US.
Two people have been arrested in Nigeria over an alleged sextortion attempt against an Australian schoolboy who took his own life.
Australian police say the teenage victim had traded explicit images with a person online before they began making threats and demanding money.
After a global investigation, the pair allegedly responsible were tracked down in Nigeria, where they will face court.
Police say sextortion - particularly of young people - is dramatically rising.
Details of the boy's age or where he lived in New South Wales (NSW) have not been released publicly to protect his family's privacy.
New South Wales Police described the alleged extortionists as "young males" and said they had threatened to send photos to the teenager's friends and family if he did not pay them A$500 (£260; $330).
"The messages are horrific. They're aggressive and put a lot of pressure on the boy to pay the money," the police force's cyber-crime commander, Matthew Craft, told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).
The boy died by suicide on the same evening, late last year.
Australian detectives worked with their counterparts in South Africa and Nigeria to trace the suspected perpetrators to a slum in Nigeria with a population of over 25 million people.
Evidence that the pair had also tried to extort other people was found on their phones, according to the SMH. They have been charged over the alleged extortion of the Australian boy, but not his death.
There have been several cases in Canada and the US in recent years of teenagers who have killed themselves after being targeted by sextortion plots.
Det Supt Craft said his team had seen a "huge spike" in sextortion cases and has appealed for anyone targeted to contact police.
"[They] are up nearly 400% in the last 18 months," he said in a statement.
"We want young people to continue to report these cases, and to never be embarrassed to talk to police.
"Sextortion is a very real crime... These arrests in Nigeria show just how far police are willing to go to seek justice on behalf of our young community."
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has arrived Lagos for the Eid el Fitr holidays. He was received at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. He then took a helicopter to State House, Dodan Barracks from where he went to his home in Ikoyi in a motorcade.
Properties › Re: Massive Fireworks Fire Destroys Buildings On Lagos Island. by naptu2(op): 5:39pm On Apr 09, 2024*. Modified: 5:58pm On Apr 09, 2024
