₦airaland Forum

Presidential Aspirant on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and former Chairman of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu may have started testing the bitter pills of politics. Ribadu is said to have lost the support of former Lagos State Governor, Ahmed Bola Tinubu for the Presidential elections.

Ribadu had investigated Tinubu’s tenure as Governor of Lagos State while he served as the Chairman of the EFCC and in February 2007, Ribadu said in an interview, “Do not worry; we are coming out with a bombshell on Tinubu. All the Accounts he operates internationally have been investigated. Tell him that he will soon hear from us.”

But both men became political friends as soon as Ribadu decided to join the Presidential elections on the platform of ACN where Tinubu is a founding member.

Tinubu hitherto gave full support to the Presidential ambition of Ribadu and even toured around with him to some South West states where he canvassed for support for his Presidential aspiration. He is alleged to have also supported Ribadu financially in the course of his Presidential campaigns.

Sources told Pointblanknews.com that Tinubu has now dumped Ribadu to pitch his political tent with General Mohammadu Buhari with a hope of clinching the Vice-Presidential slot should the merger of the ACN and Congress for Progressive Change sails through.


According to a source, “Ribadu is not going to find it easy now with his presidential ambition because now that the merger talk between ACN and CPC is almost conclusive and it is becoming clear that Tinubu is going to revive his Vice Presidential ambition and team up with Buhari.”

The source added, “as I am talking to you now high level secret meetings have been going on lately between the Tinubu group and that of Buhari for a possible tag-team and if they finally agree to terms, you can be rest assured that Ribadu’s ambition will be over.”

Although sources told Pointblanknews.com that while Ribadu is not aware of Tinubu’s new moves, some ACN chieftains are not happy with the Presidential aspiration of Ribadu. It is alleged that core politicians in ACN who feel the former EFCC boss was foisted on the party would rather prefer a Buhari for the party’s presidential ticket.

The feelings of the core politicians within the ACN who are said to be major financial players in the party, informed the decision to reconsider the merger of talk with the Buhari group who left the party in protest to form CPC.

 
“You know Buhari had a lot of influence and respect within ACN and when he left in protest to form CPC, it was a major blow because his personality brought credibility to the party,” a source told pointblanknews.com

The source added “Ribadu’s membership is equally good but not to the extent of picking the party’s Presidential ticket. It is the opinion of some ACN chieftains that he still lacks the experience for a presidential politics and that is why Buhari is needed back.”

Although, it is not yet clear when the merger talk between the two parties would be concluded but sources hinted that before the middle of December both parties would have wrapped off the merger talk.


http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os4147.html

ivydearie:
The South East universities has been on Strike since July and nothing is been said about it. This is terrible. kai. Steadily loosing votes,

Akin-Egba:
2011: Atiku surges ahead , says survey
From FRANCIS AWOWOLE-BROWNE, Abuja
Monday, November 08, 2010
•Atiku
Photo: Sun News Publishing

   * More Stories on This Section

Despite late entry into the race for the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) ticket for the 2011 polls, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, is making significant inroads among delegates to the convention, cutting into the early gains made by other contestants.

The incumbent President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, former military  president, General Ibrahim Babangida, immediate past National Security Adviser, Lt. General Aliyu Gusau, and Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, all of whom are bidding for the PDP ticket had an early start while Atiku battled for the reinstatement of his party membership and waiver. But a survey by the London-based research group, International Institute of Social Science Research (IISSR) showed that in most of the states in the country, [size=15pt]Atiku has cut significantly into Jonathan’s lead and is a favorite for the PDP ticket.[/size]

Nuhu Shaibu of the research agency, who briefed newsmen on their findings in Abuja at the weekend, said Jonathan’s support in the North is on shaky ground due to the recent bombing incident in Abuja and the way it was handled.

They also found that the recent controversy concerning the alleged award of nine offshore oil wells to Bayelsa State, where the president hails from, has severely shaken Jonathan’s supporters in some states of the Middle-Belt. The findings of the survey also reflected the movement of support from Jonathan to other candidates in the South-East.

It cited in particular the government’s recent abortion of the Igbo Political Summit in Owerri, Imo State, which had the effect of alienating the President’s key supporters in the region. The survey indicated that not even a recent meeting between Jonathan and Dr. Alex Ekwueme, brokered by former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has been able to assuage the feelings of the people of the South-East, who viewed the disruption as an affront on Ndigbo.

“The effect of the radicalization of moderate political leaders in the South-East such as Dr Alex Ekwueme is also showing in the renewed agitation for zoning in the region,” the survey noted. The research, which the report said included responses from 1038 people, the majority of whom are PDP chairmen in 774 local governments and who are statutory delegates to the convention, gave reasons for Atiku’s upward climb in the race. According to the Chief Research Analyst, “Atiku has achieved the unbeaten record of having met between 60-65% of the statutory PDP delegates at home in their states, and in Abuja. Even where they wish to start doing this at the stage, the other candidates don’t have the time to do so.”

The research also found that Nigerians remain in a grim mood about the state of the nation. Overwhelming majorities are dissatisfied with their material conditions; are unhappy with the nation’s economy and the poor state of electricity supply, and also concerned about corruption and crime.

afam4eva:
When will this leaders learn that everything is not about money. Just create the enabling environment and everything will fall into place.

honeric01:
For God's sake, how many assistant coach does he need?

LAGOS—THE 17-man Committee of Northern elders to choose a presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was, yesterday, preparing grounds to manage the crisis that it now fears would shadow the revelation of its chosen aspirant.

The committee, according to sources, is scheduled to meet with traditional rulers and some other stakeholders today in Kaduna in part to win their confidence preparatory to the announcement likely to occur anytime from this weekend.

The committee’s anxiety came as chairman of the committee, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, came under blistering attack from one of the Northern political leaders, Senator Uba Ahmed, who accused him of hypocrisy, saying that Ciroma had, all his life opposed consensus in the choice of presidential candidates.

Ahmed, a Second Republic senator who later became Secretary General of the defunct National Party Nigeria, NPN, told Vanguard how Ciroma stoutly rebuffed plans to adopt Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Alhaji Shehu Shagari as Presidential and vice_presidential candidates of the party in 1978.

He also accused Ciroma of failing to adhere to the consensus arrangement when he ran for the presidential ticket of the National Republican Convention, NRC, in 1992.

Vanguard learnt that the Ciroma committee was now faced with the challenge of how it is going to manage reactions of the four presidential aspirants, namely Atiku Abubakar, Ibrahim Babangida, Aliyu Gusau and Bukola Saraki.

Sources close to the committee told Vanguard that the members were meeting last night prior to an enlarged meeting with some traditional rulers and prominent stakeholders in Kaduna.

It was learnt that the meetings were aimed at preparing the committee on how it would manage the consequences of the decision taken. Though all four aspirants have said that they would abide by the decision of the committee, it is generally believed that some would go ahead with their aspirations if they are not chosen.
Uba Ahmed flays Ciroma’s stand on consensus candidature

Meanwhile, Senator Uba Ahmed, one of the most powerful and prominent men in the Second Republic era has thrown salvos at Mallam Ciroma and his committee describing the very idea of consensus as anti_democratic and against the grain of politics.

While accusing Ciroma of opposing the idea of consensus in his past presidential runs, the senator said: “Adamu Ciroma was opposed to the principle of consensus in 1978 when he was a presidential candidate and we wanted Zik to come. When we wanted to merge NPP with NPN and for Zik to be presidential candidate and for Shagari to be his running mate, did he concede? No, he didn’t.

“We had fixed the convention for December 8 to 9, 1978, he was the one who stood up and said never. During the NRC, SDP days, he was again a presidential candidate when we met the senators for a consensus candidate, he refused when he realized that he was not going to get it. How now does he expect someone else to do what he himself refused to do?”
Aiming to gain relevance

Noting that the elder-statesman was only aiming to gain relevance, Ahmed said: “All that he is seeking is to force social and national relevance, he is seeking relevance and he is not consistent.

“He fought Obasanjo during the nomination and supported Alex Ekwueme and as soon as Alex Ekwueme lost, he abandoned Alex Ekwueme and joined Obasanjo and became director of campaigns of Obasanjo.

“When Alex lost why didn’t he continue with Alex, why did he go to become director of campaigns of Obasanjo? And when he became minister (under Obasanjo) who did he recommend to succeed him as minister? His wife!

“Now it is his cousin that is serving as a minister (Adamu Maina Waziri). Is it his house that represents the North? Which northerner has he ever recommended to be a minister? When he starts talking, he talks of North but when the benefits are being distributed it ends up his

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/11/consensus-candidate-uba-ahmed-attacks-ciroma/

AN opinion poll conducted by NOI Polls, in conjunction with the United States-based Gallup Poll, has rated President Goodluck Jonathan as the most acceptable presidential hopeful in the 2011 elections.

The poll, conducted between October 7 and 11, rated aspirants, including General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Babangida, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Kwara State governor, Dr Bukola Saraki and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

It reported that nearly all respondents (99 per cent) of the respondents said they were aware of President Jonathan’s ambition to govern Nigeria from 2011, while 87 per cent of the respondents said he should run for the office. Only 12 per cent of those polled responded that the president should not stand for election in 2011, while one per cent was indifferent.

President Jonathan’s closest rivals in the race, according to the polls, are former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari and the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

NOI/Gallup said in a statement announcing the polls: “Almost all (99 per cent) of the people polled said they were aware of President Jonathan’s intention to contest in the upcoming presidential election. Eighty-seven per cent of respondents said they feel he should run for office. This figure is slightly higher than before the president declared his intentions to contest, where 81 per cent felt he should run.”

While 97 per cent of the respondents are aware of Buhari’s intention to contest the 2011 election, only 41 per cent of the figure feel that he should run for office in 2011. Another 58 per cent say he should not run and three per cent of the population of the polls said they are undecided.

For Ribadu, 86 per cent of the respondents say they are aware of his ambition to contest the 2011 presidency but only 55 per cent think he should contest the election. Forty-one per cent think he should not run for the office.

Ninety per cent of those polled said they are aware of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s ambition to contest the 2011 poll, but only 27 per cent think he should run for the election. While 87 per cent of those who believe he should run say that it is his right to contest, 21 per cent of those polled say they don’t want him to contest because of their view that he is corrupt.

The ambition of former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, to rule is also well-known among Nigerians. Ninety-seven per cent of those polled said they were aware of his ambition but only 27 per cent feel he should run for office, while 69 per cent think he should not run.

The poll agency stated in a release: “While nearly all of those quizzed (97 per cent) are aware that Ibrahim Babangida has declared his intention to run for the 2011 presidential election, only 27 per cent think he should run for office.”

Of the 69 per cent of those who said IBB should not run for president, 19 per cent gave as their reason, IBB’s poor reputation, 17 per cent said he is corrupt and another 17 per cent want a new generation of leaders.

For Governor Bukola Saraki, 88 per cent of the respondents said they are aware of his plan to contest the election, while only 35 per cent want him to contest the election. Sixty-two per cent of the respondents said Saraki should not contest the election, while three per cent are non-committal.

The report stated: “While 88 per cent of the people polled were aware of Governor Saraki’s intention to run for office, only slightly over one-third (35 per cent) of respondents felt he should run. Sixty-two per cent said he should not run while three per cent did not have anything to say on the issue.”

When asked whether Governor Saraki should run for the 2011 election, 84 per cent of those who said he should run for the office, said he had a right as a Nigerian to vie for the office. Six per cent said he is a good man, while 35 per cent said he was experienced and a man of integrity.

Twenty-three per cent of the 87 per cent of the respondents who want Jonathan to run cited their reasons as his right as a Nigerian; 18 per cent cited his experience/competence and 16 per cent said he was innovative and a man of integrity, while 10 and 12 per cent said he was a good man and he represented a new generation of leaders respectively.

But 70 per cent of those who said Buhari should run said he is qualified as a Nigerian, while eight per cent said he had the experience. Another five per cent said he was a man of integrity while another eight per cent said he was a good man.

A complementary poll conducted on the state of security in Nigeria, however, indicated that Nigerians were apprehensive about the state of security in the country.

The survey, also conducted, by NOI/Gallup Poll said there was pervasive fear and general scepticism about the capacity of the law enforcement agencies to deal with the security situation in the country.

A release by the NOI Poll stated that Nigerians were asked in a poll representative sample of phone owning Nigerians the simple question how safe do you feel?

Reports from the field indicated that 64 per cent of the respondents said they felt unsafe or very unsafe as a result of the October 1 bomb blasts in Abuja. Sixteen per cent said they neither felt safe nor unsafe while only 20 per cent said they felt safe and very safe.

When the respondents were asked whether they had confidence in the Nigerian security services, 75 per cent said they lacked confidence in the security services while 24 per cent expressed confidence in the security services.

“This poll is part of the ongoing snap poll exercise conducted by NOI Polls to rapidly assess public sentiments following various social, political or economic events,” the research agency said.


http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/front-page-news/13169-2011-jonathan-most-acceptable-aspirant-us-gallup-poll-ribadu-buhari-trail-president-in-popularity-civil-societies-task-ciroma-on-consensus-candidate

supereagle:
Siasia will not collect that. They must have given the job to him to please Nigerians, they know quite alright they will disagree on negotiation and the Job goes to Keshi, the Big Boss.

honeric01:
And how does that make Siasia better than Keshi?

Is Maradona better than Siasia or Keshi? yet he was appointed because the fans loved him, the fans were clamoring for him, what was the outcome of Maradona's appointment?

dejyx:
I love Siasa so much. But now keshi has come in we have to be sincere. Keshi qualified Togo with average players. Imagine what he will do with Nigeria who has Excellent players.

honeric01:
you don't even know shir about Keshi, do you think Keshi is one of those feeding bottle coaches outthere? is adebayo the only player he has tamed and coached? when i am talking of world class players, i mean players like DIARRA, KANOUTE, SISOKKO, KEITA, ADEBAYOR to name a few, these are players who have seen money, they play in bigger teams and most of them play in clubs bigger than any of our current player's club, so what are you saying?

now tell me, in siasia's life time, which big player has be ever coached and tamed?

honeric01:
this same Adebayor was the highest goal scorer in the qualifiers, keshi with TOGO QUALIFIED FIRST from Africa, on their way, they beat the likes of CAMEROON, GHANA, EGYPT AND EVEN MALI,

honeric01:
Now you are talking about him losing all 3 matches at the nation's cup, DO YOU KNOW that during his stay at the nations cup, Togolese FA kept interfering in the player selection? Keshi didn't give them space to do that, confirmed sources said it was due to this reason that some of the boys in the team loyal to some of the FA officials decided to be loyal to their godfathers by playing badly, ask yourself this, if truly Keshi was that bad, why did they qualify for the world cup with maximum points beating all the beatable on their way up? Adebayor was trying to be disrespectful to Keshi, the big boss decided to tame him by not starting him, he never cared if he was a foreigner and that if adebayor was their ONLY star, we have seen Ferguson, Maurinho, Pep do the same thing, so what are you trying to say?

honeric01:
Lastly, he was removed prior to the worldcup just as they have planned it all along, what happened next? Togo couldn't even win any match at the worldcup even with their white coach?

honeric01:
As for Mali, it was the players that lacked the fighting spirit to qualify for the next round, he did all his best, we saw what he did against Angola when they were down by 3 goals, he made nice substitution which turned the game around, it was the players that made them not qualify, not the coach, most of the players complained of tiredness due to their numerous games for their various club-sides, so whether you like it or not, Keshi remains the most qualified of the 2.

I don't want to list out the weaknesses in Siasia and all his mistakes, i don't want to discredit him at all, so i will just ignore his case for now

honeric01:
^^^^

And he's more experienced!!!, he has coached and tamed bigger players than any player Siasia ever coached in his lifetime.

Hardtalk:
Did OBJ really went to any war? That will be another thread for another day!

Gbawe:
Are you at all serious ? The most corrupt and ruinous hands in Nigeria are behind GEJ . It is that simple and you are merely clutching at straws here by mentioning Ribadu. Talk about unrealistic and warped comparisons !!! It does not matter that Jonathan became substantive President recently. He has been part of a corrupt federal Government , as VP, for three years. In his time as President he has done nothing of note to fight corruption simply because , as soon as possible, he deliberately chose to consolidate power with the help of the most corrupt Nigerians alive . That is the truth even if you don't want to accept it .

As per the TI rating , slice it dice it whichever way , we all know that corruption is worsening in Nigeria . Yar Adua, as per being highly compromised , could not fight corruption and Jonathan , likewise , will also not be able to fight corruption .

By the way , why the bolded fonts? U don dey feel the 'heat' like GEJ?

Gbawe:
How can we achieve any improvement over last year's position when we are being led by those sponsored by the most corrupt elements in Nigeria? Yar Adua could not fight corruption and Jonathan , with the most corrupt Nigerians behind him, will never fight corruption. Is it not time we stopped  this macabre dance by voting out the PDP? Are we not ashamed of our poor international image and rating? A foreign business wanting to operate in West Africa would undoubtedly be interested in Nigeria. When that business merges our corruption index with poor power supply and the inadequate security in our nation they will be forced to think twice.

Our economy has worsened under profligate Jonathan . The man has no notion of prudence or fiscal responsibility . Britain is now groaning under severe cuts in public spending. While hash, it can be argued , right or wrong, that this is what is required for the UK to be prosperous again. All we are witnessing under GEJ is senseless, wasteful and entirely uneccessary public spending . We know Jonathan cannot fight corruption. Security is unlikely to improve under him as he blatantly played politics with his poor choice of IGP. Power supply is laden with double speak and deciet as has always been the case. Nigerians reject ethnic sentiments and make the right choice. We all want our son, brother , sister in power but let us be mature enough to note that we will not be immune from suffering if our son, brother, sister leads poorly.

globalaid:
will somebody tell this man to just shut up for once and concentrate on his job, this man should know he is the president of a nation and stop this his primary six attitude. Is it everything you have to talk about, what concern us with security breaking your cousin`s hand.

Gbawe:
Ah , the very chap I was expecting. Was it not me and you that debated about this topic back then when Jonathan was dragging his feet in failing to sign the electoral act ? Did I not state , at the time ,  that Jonathan was only delaying because he was looking for ways to remove the section that prohibits political appointees from being automatic Party delegates ? Have I not been proven right now in testimony to how some of us continuously assert that Jonathan's undemocratic desperation is very transparent and easy to decipher?

"KINI BIG DEAL"? Well the "big deal" is that Jonathan is openly acting undemocratically and against best practices to get what he want's . I would think the implications of such actions , for Nigeria, is obvious. If Mr. President is doing this then it blows out of the water any arguement that seeks to convince Nigerians that Jonathan is different to the Vultures and desperados in the PDP .

Gbawe:
Not acceptable .Jonathan should be intelligent enough to analyse advice effectively so that he can sensibly work out what advice to accept and which he should reject. Some of us are not opposed to GEJ for any reason other than that we are convinced , with his numerous actions/inaction, he is an insincere politician who has a similar mentality to our undemocratic past leaders who always put their own interests ahead of everyone/everything elses .

If you have been following this saga you will not cite that Jonathan is the victim of bad advice. When the electroral bill was presented to Jonathan for executive assent , Mr.President pontificated , perhaps to buy more time, because he saw that a section of the bill did not favour his attempt to frustrate democracy. Jega, the INEC boss, became fed up. He wen't to the press to announce that it is the problem between the Presidency and the NASS that may delay and derail next years election. The NASS immediately defended its corner by stating that the bill had been submitted to Jonathan in plenty of time. The office of the President had no choice but to sheepishly come out with lame excuses . The matter was now in the public domain and threatening to embarrass the office of the Presidency . Jonathan signed . When Jega subsequently asked for more time to conduct the elections , naturally, the need arose for a judicial amendment to the electoral bill . Jonathan , with enduring opportunism and political desperation, saw his chance. He was back trying to expunge a section of the bill injurious to his unpopular ambition when he had , only recently, assented to the same electoral bill in the entirety!!!

I dont see a victim of bad advice. I only see a [b]consistently[/b]determined opportunist willing to regress Nigeria's democratic maturation for his own selfish ambition. All over Africa , and even in West Africa, democracy is being strenghtened. We want to be included too as a nation doing everything possible to strenghten democratic practices. our President should be the last person to be found undermining that notion.

chosen04:
This make me remember FESTUS KEYAMO and his younger brother during the Ige's death saga. . . . . . . .Looks like the govt has paid Bowie to rant . . . . . . Just exactly like Keyamo'S case . . . . . . . .