The cabal comprising some members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s extended family and friends are the powers behind the throne.
This group is said to have the ear of the President, influence policy-making and determine those who get major appointments.
Sources said the cabal members also warned the President against handing over to the vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Bola Tinubu, national leader of the party.
“Buhari’s cabal members have asked Jonathan to prepare for the party’s ticket. They said they don’t want Tinubu or Osibanjo,” a presidential source told SaharaReporters.
At the moment, the top contenders for the presidency in the APC are the Tinubu, Osinbajo and Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State.
A former governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has also voiced his intention to join the presidential race.
Tinubu and Umahi have openly declared their intention to contest the coveted seat after their separate meetings with Buhari.
For Osinbajo, he has neither declared interest nor said a word on the matter, even though groups loyal to him have been clamouring for his candidacy.
Others who have presidential ambitions in the APC but have yet to declare include the Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi; Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi; and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.
SaharaReporters further learnt that Jonathan had been under pressure to defect to the APC by the cabal.
The former President was said to have surprised the northern elite and the cabal by his disposition to the Buhari presidency despite all the dirt and campaign of calumny thrown at him and the PDP before the 2015 presidential election, which gave Buhari an unprecedented victory over an incumbent.
It was learnt that some cabal members had also been impressed that despite the Buhari government's glaring failure, Jonathan had not openly criticised his predecessor or his administration, much unlike ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Obasanjo had written open letters condemning the Buhari government and also verbally berated it at any opportunity.
SaharaReporters learnt from sources that the establishment of 'Almajiri' schools by Jonathan to reduce a large number of out-of-school children in the North also scored the former president good points in the eyes of the northern cabal in the APC, especially with most of it now rotting away, even under a northerner as president.
I’ll rate the airfield as an 8.5/10. It looks organized, especially with the CAT 3 ILS.
However, I’m not comfortable with the terminal building. I feel Soludo could partner with the Chinese or Julius Berger to build a proper 5-10 million capacity terminal building equipped with no less than 8 avio bridges. The cost of constructing such a facility could be borne 80% by the contractor and 20% by ANSG, and it shouldn’t cost more than $35 million (even after accounting for inflation)
Spandau: The only thing I see this woman doing, if Nigerians get hypnotized enmass to install her as president, is to graduate the "Diezani" syndrome to higher scales while making Nigeria a kunnu producing and exporting country.
It’s your “ kunnu producing and exporting country” for me
The airline CEOs are now asking Biden to end the mask/testing requirements
“The CEOs of 10 airlines and cargo carriers have signed a letter to President Joe Biden saying he should end the transportation mask mandate and testing requirements for international travelers.
In a new letter, industry group Airlines for America wrote, "now is the time for the Administration to sunset federal transportation travel restrictions -- including the international predeparture testing requirement and the federal mask mandate -- that are no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological environment."
The media professional said she intends to merge all specific projects to create a product that can be easily evaluated in 10 years.
She said, "The way we intend to go about it is to create a vision for what we want the country to look like. There are specific projects, but rather than having them as projects we need to combine them to create products, whereby in 10 years, we want to have this amount of industrialization in this area.
"So we are creating jobs, employment, health services, everywhere you have an industrial path, and powering them with the energy sector. By this, we are also creating an enabling environment for investors, and a safe place for skill acquisition and transfer of knowledge."
Women Inclusion
An Okunnu-Lamidi-led government will advocate for a 50% inclusion rare for women in politics and governance.
In her words, "as a woman, I cannot but champion these policies for us to have a 50% women inclusion rate.
She explained that this is what Nigeria needs if leaders must make good decisions. She also noted that women determine the wealth of the nation.
"It is definitely what we need if we are going to make good decisions. Women's inclusion ensures that policies are able to carry along as many women as possible. There's a woman in every household. If you do not enable these women, the poorer the women the poorer the nation," she said.
Education and Innovation
The 38-year-old, who hails from Lagos Island, noted that Nigeria is yet to meet world standards, and if elected, her government would bridge the knowledge and application gap between the nation and the rest of the world through technology.
"Our children here can learn the same things that their counterparts are learning across the world. This also helps us in the application of knowledge. What we do in Nigeria is to only teach, we do not actually teach to apply knowledge, or how to think in different scenarios and situations.
"We have put these two hand-in-hand (education and innovation) because where we are at the moment is so far behind that we have to use technology to meet the standards of the world."
Governance and Welfare
Mrs Okunnu-Lamidi said that the Nigerian government has missed its essence of governance by competing with local businesses.
"We think governance is business, that is why governments are competing with businesses, that is wrong government.
She further said her government, if elected, will ensure that the government agencies and parastatals will focus on their functions in order to elevate people living "beneath the dignity average of human existence."
Law and Security
"Without law, there is no order", Okunnu-Lamidi said. She explained that the state of security in the country can be controlled by law and justice.
"So we put law and security hand-in-hand so that the justice system can work very closely with the security system and we can solve our security issues through legal means."
The presidential aspirant, who is the daughter of former Federal Commissioner of Works and Housing, Lateef Femi Okunnu (SAN), officially declared her intention to run for the Office of the President of Nigeria in 2023 in January 2022
The founder and chief executive officer of Slice Media Solutions disclosed that she is motivated to vie for the presidency because of her desire to restore hope and make Nigeria work for all Nigerians.
DumaEmpire: But ripping the club off in the process ofcourse.
Money gotten from sale of tickets goes straight to the Premier League and FA purses. Not even to the Ukrainian people who claim to care about.
Omo the team has been performing outstandingly without the fans.... That's way better than this rip off
The performative nonsense from so-called “elite-educated” politicians is absolutely disgraceful! I can’t also fathom how preventing home fans from buying tickets helps Ukraine FFS!
Himtulie247: Do you now how much ILS , Glides lope , localizer , runway lights etc cost ? Even in foreign countries not all runways are CAT 1 certified ! Please go find out about Cost of Avionics and then come back and rewrite your comments ! Or you think is just concrete and Betumine
Na so! Such a project should cost more than N15 billion, if we are being honest with ourselves
AmazonTopaz: Former U.S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has passed on.
I would have said RIP, but the fact that she, as SOS, justified the deaths of thousands of Iraqi children under US/UN sanctions, makes me not to say a nice thing about her.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N92.1 billion for the construction of a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Council’s approval came barely 24 hours after the inauguration of the new terminal building at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
At the inauguration of the terminal, the president directed the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning to look for special funding for the construction of the Abuja second runway.
The president also directed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to conclude the documentation of the approved 12,000 hectares of land to accommodate the runway and other developmental projects.
Addressing State House correspondents on the outcome of the Council’s meeting, presided over by Mr Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said the administration would use same pattern it had used to raise funding for all of its other projects across sectors to achieve the new task.
According to him, the Abuja runway project is expected to be completed within the next 12 months.
The federal government had in 2017 repaired the airport’s runway at the cost of N5.8 billion.
Originalsly: Hmmmm.... a fully vaccinated passenger has to be tested on arrival. Why?..... if he is fully vaccinated is he not protected from contracting the virus? Can someone explain?... I'm really confused.
I can't really explain because there are many cases of fully vaccinated (and boosted) individuals still contracting covid.
The federal government says from April 4, fully-vaccinated travellers entering Nigeria will no longer be required to take pre-departure PCR COVID tests.
Boss Mustapha, chairman of the presidential steering committee (PSC) on COVID-19, said this on Monday at a media briefing in Abuja.
The PSC chairman said although there has been a consistent decline in number of cases around the world, it should not be a reason completely relax protocol considering recent report of infections in countries like China and South Korea.
He said the the PSC has reviewed the situations around the world and revised the international travel protocol which is expected to come into effect on April 4.
“In-bound (fully vaccinated) passengers arriving in Nigeria will no longer be required to take a pre-departure PCR COVID-19 test,” he said.
“On arrival, for fully vaccinated passengers, a sample will be taken at the airport for rapid antigen test by the NCDC within the arrival hall of the airport.
“Passengers who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated shall take a COVID-19 PCR test 48 hours before departure, or do a day 2 and day 7 test on arrival. Such passengers will be expected to pay for their PCR tests through the travel platform.
“Fully vaccinated passengers will not be charged for arrival rapid antigen tests at the airport.”
Mustapha added that the rules also apply to children aged between 10 and 18.
“Rules that apply to fully vaccinated adults also apply to children aged 10 to 18 years; they will not be required to have pre-arrival PCR tests but will have a sample taken at the arrival hall but not charged,” he said.
“All passengers travelling out of Nigeria are encouraged to be fully vaccinated and to fully comply with COVID-19 protocol and requirements in their country of destination.
“The PSC continues to strongly recommend the use of face masks in enclosed environments. In open spaces, the use of face masks is discretional.”
yinkeys: Another qualifiers again ? I thought the falconets qualified already
The Falconets have to play the 2nd leg of their last round of qualification matches against Senegal on Saturday. Obviously, its only the first leg that has been played
Coincidentally, the existing international terminal was also commissioned by the then Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo military government in March 1979….
Moreover, this new terminal will be the 3rd of the 4 terminals being funded by the $500 million Chinese loan (with $100 million counterpart funding by the FG) to be commissioned by President Buhari, after the Port Harcourt Airport international terminal was commissioned in November 2018, that of Abuja in February 2019.
Features:
- The new terminal would reportedly have the capacity to process 14 million passengers/year,
- 66 check-in desks
- 16 immigration desks at the Arrivals area, and 28 Immigration desks at the Departures area
President Muhammadu Buhari will commission the new Murtala Muhammed International Airport terminal, tomorrow, March 22, according to the official IG handle of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ((FAAN).
The new terminal will exclusively handle international flights.