₦airaland Forum

I stumbled on this caption on Facebook this morning and I wondered what the right answer is...

lloyds:
Every time I see pictures of Abuja, you wonder if it's still same Nigeria. Such a clean and very beautiful city.

Lols!!
There's more to what you see in pictures that meet the eyes. BTW, all that's glitter is not gold my friend

brown06:
Hi bro... Have you written URS?

Yes, I have

Jimwalex:
First of all I wish you all the best in the test,may you scale through. As for the test,go back to the beginning of the thread ,you will see some tips that could be of help. Personally, I got to the last interview stage where just four of us were shortlisted for interview that was conducted via Skype. Eventually, just two were offered the job,and the guys are there now working.
Apart from basic mathematics, the essay and most of the questions asked during the interview were about current affairs. I was even asked about the country PMB travelled to for medical treatment.. just practice the basic mathematics, practice more about essay writing and you are good to go.
Good luck!

Thank you buddy, it means a lot.

xsanctus:
Most people don't scale through. Once you are successful at the test you MUST be invited or placed in a pool of talents to be invited for subsequent openings. Your major concern now should be to pass the test.
Regards.

Thank you baba, I appreciate!

xsanctus:
Just study GMAT. Nothing far from there. All the best.

Thanks buddy.

So what's up with you and them now? I hope you heard from them eventually? I managed to stumble on a couple of threads on here where applicants who wrote and passed CrusaderSterling test claimed they waited to be called for the next stage, and it never happened.

Anyone with a genuine idea of what CrusaderSterling Pensions aptitude test like? I'm scheduled for Monday at her Abuja office.

Please I'm open to real-time ideas to aid my preparations.

Sleek05, Unike1, and Ajasa4link; you guys input will be appreciated.

Anyone with a genuine idea of what CrusaderSterling Pensions aptitude test like? I'm scheduled for Monday at her Abuja office.

Please I'm open to real-time ideas to aid my preparations.

babawata, Jimwalex, and xsanctus; you guys input will be appreciated.

Barely few hours to the rescheduled general elections, security agencies in Edo State, have apprehended one Mr. Edwin Edosomwan in Iyekogba axis of Oredo Local Government Area for being in possession of 2000 Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).

The PVCs, it was learnt, was purchased from residents in Iyekogba, Oredo Ward 2, as the man, nabbed on Thursday evening, allegedly claimed he was a mobiliser for one of the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) contesting in Saturday’s elections.

The development is coming less than 24 hours after a Benin-based research group, Edo Socio-Political Research Group, released findings of a study on PVC collection in the state, which showed that some candidates of the PDP had engaged in ‘systemic rigging.’

In the study, it was discovered that there was a dubious rate of PVC collection in Oredo and Ovia North East, areas where the PDP candidates in the state would vote. The research showed that the two local councils were outliers in the rate of PVC collection, while the trend seemed normal in the 16 other local councils.

Mr. Edosomwan was caught in Oredo local council, one of the councils that the Edo Socio-Political Research Group had raised the alarm of a possible plot of ‘systemic rigging.’

Speaking to reporters while being paraded by security operatives, Mr. Edosomwan allegedly claimed to be a member of the ‘Operation Show Your Result’ team, a support group for the candidate of the PDP for Oredo Federal Constituency, Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide Ihama.

He said he was mandated to get as many PVCs of eligible voters as possible within Oredo Federal Constituency with the aim of buying over their votes.

He added that he bought the PVCs for as low as 5000 naira per PVC, noting that he and members of his campaign group have been instructed to deliver their units at all costs.

Mr. Edosomwan was later taken in by law enforcement agencies for further interrogation.

https://thenationonlineng-net.cdn.ampproject.org/v/thenationonlineng.net/polls-security-operatives-nab-man-with-2000-pvcs-in-edo/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=http%3A%2F%2Fthenationonlineng.net%2Fpolls-security-operatives-nab-man-with-2000-pvcs-in-edo%2F

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday arraigned one Valentine Ezeife, an alleged internet scammer, known as“yahoo–yahoo boy”, arrested with N20 million, a Lexus 570 and Toyota Camry car 2013, before FCT High Court, Apo.

The EFCC charged Ezeife, of Life Camp, Abuja on two counts of Internet fraud and unlawful possession of N20 million.

The prosecutor, Mr Samuel Ugwuebulam, told the court that the defendant was arrested on Jan. 16, in a Life Camp residential area in Abuja, following intelligence reports of shady activities traced to him.

Ugwuebulam said the defendant was in possession of N20 million, Lexus 570 and Toyota Camry car suspected to be unlawfully obtained.

The offence, Ugwuebulam said, contravened the provisions of Section 319 of the Penal Code Act.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Justice Valentine Ashi, ordered the defendant to bail to submit his international passport to the court ‘s Registrar.

Ashi ordered the defendant to produce a surety who must be blood relations and also reside within the court’s jurisdiction.

The Judge adjourned the case until Feb. 25 for trial.

https://thenationonlineng-net.cdn.ampproject.org/v/thenationonlineng.net/efcc-arraigns-yahoo-yahoo-boy-for-being-in-possession-of-n20m-exotic-car/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=http%3A%2F%2Fthenationonlineng.net%2Fefcc-arraigns-yahoo-yahoo-boy-for-being-in-possession-of-n20m-exotic-car%2F

Traders in foodstuff at the Kaduna Central Market, Bakin Dogo, were on Wednesday left in shock and confusion by an early morning fire outbreak that consumed 31 shops along Birnin Kudu Road in the market.

The fire which began at about 2 a.m. was said to have started from the palm oil sellers’ section of the market. Affected most were the local yam flour sellers’ section of the market and a Mosque at the palm oil sellers’ section.

It was gathered that the night guards on duty at the market alerted people close by following the outbreak.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the cause of the fire was not yet known. But the traders attributed it to an electrical fault.

The Cassava Grinders Union chairman at Bakin Dogo, Alfa Hussaini, who addressed journalists at the market said about 31 shops were affected at the section

“The fire I was told started around 2 a.m. when all of us were at home. By the time I came to the market, most of the shops were burnt completely. We lost millions of naira because most of the affected shops have two to four grinding machines.

“I think only God can help us because as you can see, most of the owners are women working hard to feed their family members. We are calling on the government to come to our aid,” he said.

An elderly man who identified himself as Baba, said he lost everything in his shop to the fire.

He ‎said: “We need assistance because we lost everything in the shop. All my grinding machines have been destroyed,” he said.

He said men of Kaduna State Fire Service promptly responded to a distress call but it took them hours to stop the fire.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the scene, shop owners were seen in groups consoling each other and picking from the debris of their burnt shops.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/nwest/314134-31-shops-mosque-burnt-in-kaduna-market-fire.html

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is reported to have arrested an associate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate,Atiku Abubakar, over alleged laundering of $4 million.

The money is termed “suspicious election cash”, the Nation said.

The arrest followed an intelligence report on a suspicious transaction by a Bureau De Change (BDC) operator.

The Nation had exclusively reported how the PDP reportedly allocated $3million each for “logistics” to its 36 state branches and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Most Bureau De Change operators and banks have, however, refused the “pressure” to convert the hard currency to Naira.

“A BDC operator was intercepted for shipping $2million from Abuja to Lagos for suspected money laundering,’’ Sources in EFCC is reported to have said.

The source said the BDC operator admitted that the suspect paid the Naira equivalent of $4 million into his account in exchange for hard currency.

“We invited the suspect for interrogation on Monday and Tuesday. Our detectives have also conducted a search of his home. Some useful documents were retrieved. Investigation is, however, still in progress.”

“Apart from documents relating to posh properties at home and abroad, a copy of the EFCC Investigation Report on Atiku’s relationship with a jailed U.S. lawmaker, Williams Jefferson, was retrieved.’’

https://www-vanguardngr-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2019/02/4m-puts-atikus-man-in-trouble/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanguardngr.com%2F2019%2F02%2F4m-puts-atikus-man-in-trouble%2F

Music star 2Baba has just shared a tweet on his official Twitter page that has his fans going wild and asking what happened.

The singer wrote:

I’m sorry to say that i have f***ed up so much. i have f***ed up as a role model as a father and as a husband. annie im sorry. i know u tried your best

While there has been no response from his Nollywood actress wife Annie, fans can’t stop speculating in the comment section. Some people think it’s a song, others think it’s a prank, while some fans are also just wishing the couple positivity and love if they are facing some challenges.

A couple of weeks ago, 2Baba and his wife Annie were joined by D’Banj and his wife Lineo as they vacationed in Ghana and shot a music video for their collaborative song “Baecation”.

https://www.bellanaija.com/2019/02/this-tweet-by-2baba-has-fans-going-wild-asking-what-happened/

Numerique:
Did you attend the interview?

No, I didn't

About four years ago just after the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lost the 2015 general election, the death pangs of the party whose officials once boasted it would rule for 50 years were felt all around the polity.

At the peak of its power just after the 2007 general election, the PDP controlled patches of territory across the country with the opposition relegated to far off places. Only four of the nation’s 36 states can today boast not to have had the PDP flag in the Government House. The four are Lagos, Zamfara, Borno and Yobe.

So it was a bit of spectacle when not long after the All Progressives Congress, APC came to power in 2015, that several prominent officials of the party started defecting from the PDP to the APC.

Among the most prominent defectors so far have been two former national chairmen, Adamu Muazu and Ali Modu Sheriff; a former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, former governors among many others.

Indeed, with the spate of defections and sordid revelations of alleged misuse of funds from the office of the National Security Adviser, the forecast for the party was dire.

So clouded was the future of the party that until not too long ago, the suggestion to change the name of the party was a matter for regular discussion among party adherents.

So how the PDP reinvented and turned into a significant threat to the ruling APC is remarkable.

The first praise must go to Chief Olisa Metuh, who in the days following the defeat and even before the new APC administration settled down, marshalled an agenda to provide vibrant opposition.

Metuh’s regular engagements of the new administration in the media space, however, did not resonate well with some within the new administration and it was no surprise that not too long after the new government came to power, he became a major casualty of the administration.

The court trial over allegations that he received funds from President Goodluck Jonathan for party administration has now dragged on for close to three years leaving his health in jeopardy. Metuh to his credit presciently told this correspondent sometime around April, 2015, that the future of the PDP was in wooing Atiku Abubakar, who was then in the APC back to the party and making him the 2019 presidential candidate!

While Metuh took on the administration in the media, perhaps the strategic role of Senator Ike Ekweremadu in using the legislature to repair the PDP cannot be underestimated.

Even before the Eight National Assembly was convened, Ekweremadu as the highest elected political office holder in the new dispensation was able to bring the PDP legislators to a conference in Port-Harcourt where tactical decisions were made. It was at the Port Harcourt retreat for the PDP legislators that the decision was taken to enter the leadership contest as a bloc. That and subsequent caucuses in Abuja led to the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively.

That was perhaps the masterstroke that helped to unbind the unity with which the APC leaders won the general election. Indeed, since the emergence of Saraki and Dogara, the APC leaders have been fighting one another in a war of attrition that has allowed the PDP to rebuild itself.

However, Senator Ekweremadu who emerged as Deputy President of the Senate has just as Metuh also carried the bruises of the battle. The whisper at one time was that everything was being made to compel him and some other top leaders of the PDP to defect to the APC.

Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate Minority Leader and second highest elected official of the party apparently unable to take the heat defected in August 2018.

Ekweremadu, however, refused to buckle. He was bundled to court for allegedly forging the Senate Rule Book; a charge that the Senior Advocate of Nigeria hired by the government to prosecute quietly withdrew.

Besides the often repeated media trials by government agencies that were never brought to court, some swindlers also succeeded in duping security agencies with the claim of knowing alleged funds and assets secreted away by Ekweremadu. But the man remained unbroken and was head of the PDP panel which recommended the zoning of the 2019 presidential ticket to the North.

That recommendation alongside the many foibles of the ruling APC have now rejuvenated a party that was not too long ago in a state of atrophy.

But there were others like Chief Dan Orbih, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Senator Joy Emodi and many other men and women whose fidelity to principle above purse ensured that the PDP did not die. It is to the credit of all these men and women that the PDP remains as a force and a fitting balance in our multi-party democracy.

Whoever wins next Saturday’s contest the sustenance of an active opposition would be a gain for democracy.

https://www-vanguardngr-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2019/02/how-did-the-pdp-bounce-back/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanguardngr.com%2F2019%2F02%2Fhow-did-the-pdp-bounce-back%2F

dynamic007:
It is very important for any human being male or female to have some level of financial muscle. Apart of the confidence it confers on the woman, it will also help your peace of mind brother whether she has it before marriage or during. Remember wisdom is a defense and money is a defense. Ecc 7v12.

But wisdom preserves those who have it, and that's it's advantage over money, isn't it?

Controversial on-air personality, Daddy Freeze says pastors whose God is their belly are after him because he has been exposing how they milk the congregation.

His Instagram account was missing on the internet on Thursday. Searches made by PM News on Instagram to get his account was abortive.

But on Friday morning, Daddy Freeze has come up with his back up account on Instagram and posted: “Why are they so carnal? What are they afraid of? Why can’t they leave me to God? Because their god is their belly.”

According to Freeze, his messages on Instagram had been disturbing the pastors and their business formula and disrupted their earnings.

“We have definitely disturbed their business formula and disrupted their earnings, their god who is in their belly has been disgraced and they are raging.

“If not, why are they so desperate to shut me up?

“Even if they close all my social media accounts down and close down all the accounts of all #FreeNation members, they still cannot mute a conversation that is already gaining momentum,” a determinant Freeze said.

Freeze quoted from Philippians 3:19 to back up his assertion: “Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.”

https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/02/08/pastors-whose-god-is-their-belly-are-after-me-daddy-freeze/

A blaze has engulfed a dormitory at the youth team training centre of one of Brazil's biggest football clubs, killing 10 people, local media report.

Three people were also injured when the fire broke out at Ninho de Urubu, the training ground of Flamengo football club, in Rio de Janeiro.

The fire reportedly broke out as players were sleeping. The cause is not yet known.

Flamengo is one of Brazil's biggest and best-known clubs.

Social media posts showed the extent of the devastation at the ground.

According to the G1 news portal, the fire began at 05:10 (07:10 GMT) and was extinguished by 07:30.

None of the victims has been identified but players aged between 14 and 17 are known to have used the dormitory.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital, firefighters say.

The Ninho de Urubu centre was expanded two months ago, Reuters news agency reports.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47170055

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, raised the alarm over an alleged plot to arrest some of his key associates in the run-up to the election.

Atiku accused an unnamed governor from North-West and a prominent minister in the current administration of working in cahoots with All Progressives Congress, APC, to achieve the plot.

However, Muhammadu Buhari Campaign immediately dismissed the assertion and warned that opposition was not a licence to commit offence.

Spokesman of the Buhari Campaign, Mr. Festus Keyamo, said: “If they have done nothing, they have nothing to fear, but the fact that you are in the opposition is not a licence for you to commit illegality. If they do anything illegal in the days to the election, they will be arrested.”

But in a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the PDP presidential candidate said his close political associates were being targeted for arrest by APC-led Federal Government, which is hell bent on derailing the electoral process.

He said: ‘’The architects of this plot believe that unless the APC destabilises the main opposition party and gets rid of the key associates of the PDP presidential candidate, President Buhari’s plan to clinch a second term in office will be in jeopardy, especially as they are afraid, for obvious reasons that the president has become unpopular and won’t be re-elected at the poll.

‘’The first step in this desperate plot is to arrest some of our associates using the EFCC with others soon to follow, based on a list that has been drawn up by the cabal,” the statement said.

https://www-vanguardngr-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2019/02/atiku-raises-the-alarm-of-plot-to-arrest-key-associates-3/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanguardngr.com%2F2019%2F02%2Fatiku-raises-the-alarm-of-plot-to-arrest-key-associates-3%2F

The National Pension Commission says total pension fund assets have grown to N8.63 trillion as at December 2018.

Ms Aisha Dahir-Umar, its Acting Director-General, disclosed this at the public hearing of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee in Abuja on Thursday.

The committee is mandated to investigate activities of PenCom and alleged violation of Acts establishing it.

Dahir-Umar said the fund had an average monthly contribution of N29.15 billion, while the total pension assets were equivalent to 7.40 per cent of the Nigerian rebased GDP.

She said that the pool of pension funds generated by the Contributory Pension Scheme had aided the deepening of Nigeria’s financial sector.

The PenCom boss said that the fund had also provided a platform for attaining strategic programmes of government in the areas of infrastructure, housing and the development of the real sector of the economy.

She said that the number of registered contributors grew to 8.41 million as of December 2018.

According to her, this figure represents about 12.09 per cent of Nigeria’s working population and 4.29 per cent of total Nigeria population.

She said that the Contributory Pension Scheme had simplified the process of payment of retirement benefits through the issuance of effective regulations and guidelines for accessing such benefits.

Dahir-Umar also disclosed that 260,808 persons had retired under the Scheme as of December 2018 and were currently receiving pensions as and when due with an average monthly pension payment of N10.18 billion.

“The pension reform has gained public confidence and acceptability within the short period of its implementation.

“The private sector, which hitherto was apprehensive of the CPS as a ploy by the public sector to raise funds to address its huge pension liabilities, has come to accept and is religiously implementing the reform.

“To date, about 200,000 private sector employers of labour are implementing the CPS and have contributed about 60 per cent of the total pension fund assets.

“The Contributory Pension Scheme has also introduced transparency and integrity in the pension administration system in Nigeria and inception of the reform to date, there had not been a single incidence of fraud or mismanagement of the pension funds and assets under the Scheme.

“Attracted by the enormous benefits of the Scheme, 24 States of the Federation and the FCT had enacted the laws on the CPS and are at different stages of implementation, six States are at the Bill stage on the CPS, three states have adopted the Contributory Defined Benefit Scheme.

“And two states are currently drafting Bills to introduce CDBS, while one state has continued with the Defined Scheme as at December, 2018,” she said.

The PenCom boss said that Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate was established to handle issues of Federal Government’s retirees exempted from the CPS subject to the regulation and supervision of PenCom.

https://punchng-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/punchng.com/pension-fund-assets-hit-n8-63-in-dec-2018-pencom-boss-tells-house-of-reps-committee/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fpunchng.com%2Fpension-fund-assets-hit-n8-63-in-dec-2018-pencom-boss-tells-house-of-reps-committee%2F

She's missinformed with wherever version she read that passage from. The passage says thus; do not get DRUNK on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

Isn't getting drunk different from drinking in it's entirety?

As a matter of fact, that wasn't even God nor Jesus talking. It was some prophet advising his people.

Has anyone had a real-time experience with this real estate firm? I got an interview invite from them schedule for tomorrow. I really want to know if it's worth the rush from Abuja.

Address: 3rd Avenue, A Close, Plot 155, Opposite Dominion Cathedral, Gowon Estate, Egbeda Lagos

Thank you

A cross section of Nigerians have reacted to the allegation against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

The IPOB leader had alleged that Abubakar was an indigene of Cameroon and not a Nigerian.

Kanu made the claim during a live broadcast from the United Kingdom, UK, over the weekend.

However, Nigerians who took to their Twitter handles expressed their various views.

See their reactions below:

@Ayourb: “Nnamdi Kanu is right… atiku and OBJ ceded the oil rich Bakassi to his native county of Cameroon, so the Mazi is right on this one…”

@kakra68: “Atiku should remove his trouser to prove he’s not from Cameroon. He has a sharp Cameroon tribal mark in his buttocks. I have more to expose about fraudulent Atiku.”

@yinkanubi: “It is ironic how those who gleefully believed and pushed the fake “Jubril from Sudan” story as presented by Nnamdi Kanu are now hyperventilating over the ridiculously false “Atiku from Cameroon” story. One wise man once said what goes around comes.”

@YemieFash: “Deji Adeyanju was right about Nnamdi Kanu after all. The Albino dude is a complete fraud.”

@Ogundamisi: “When Nnamdi Kanu derided @MBuhari they all danced and encouraged him, now he’s after @atiku they now agree with us that Kanu is a clown not worth all the attention, please Kanu should also confirm if that our other Sister is Olusegun Obasanjo’s daughter, since na mad season..@atiku the Turaki of cameroon. See as Nnamdi Kanu trace @atiku family tree. We have Jubril al Sudanese you have @atiku of Cameroon. 1-1 goaless draw.”

@Ezekachikozie: “After Nnamdi Kanu revealed that @atiku is a Cameroonian, sold old Ipobians went on rampage. Some said he’s mad, others called him a coward but I saw one comment that said “ii will kill him anywhere I see him”..lol

“RIP Biafra! @Ayourb @MrLekanAdigun @Victoria_NGR @SusanHenshaw50.”

@Johnfanimokun: “Our wailers now want Nnamdi Kanu to provide proofs but they were very quick to believe that Buhari is Jubril from Sudan.

“If you believed the Jubril’s story, it will be foolish of you to debunk the FACTS of a Cameroonian Atiku.”

https://dailypost-ng.cdn.ampproject.org/v/dailypost.ng/2019/02/04/nigerians-react-nnamdi-kanu-says-atiku-abubakar-cameroon/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=http%3A%2F%2Fdailypost.ng%2F2019%2F02%2F04%2Fnigerians-react-nnamdi-kanu-says-atiku-abubakar-cameroon%2F

https://www-vanguardngr-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2019/02/war-over-participation-of-foreigners-in-pro-buhari-rally/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanguardngr.com%2F2019%2F02%2Fwar-over-participation-of-foreigners-in-pro-buhari-rally%2F

PRECISELY 14 days to Nigeria’s presidential election, the presence of serving governors from Niger Republic at the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential rally in Kano, has heightened fears among the opposition that foreigners may likely take part in the exercise in border states.

Besides the apprehension over the likelihood of such, the opposition is worried that the development could undermine the electoral process and national security as well.

For the APC, the issue constituted no threat to the nation in any way, but the leading opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, considered the presence of Governor Issa Moussa, of Zinder State and his counterpart Governor Zakiri Umar of Maradi State, as inimical to Nigeria’s interest.

The two governors from Niger Republic, who wore APC campaign attires, were seen, actively taking part in the exercise last Thursday in Kano.

In addition, the foreigners were seen taking photographs with President Muhammadu Buhari at the event.

Irked by the situation, the PDP, urged security agencies to immediately investigate the circumstances leading to the presence of the governors, with a view to stopping further involvement of foreigners in subsequent exercise.

Apart from the party, Saturday Vanguard observed that a cross-section of Nigerians condemned the development on the social media, saying it could undermine the credibility of the poll in border states and as well, endanger national security.

Many of the commentators argued that it had given credence to claims that foreigners had been registered from neighbouring countries especially, Niger Republic, during the continuous voter registration exercise.

Thugs from Niger Republic

However, the PDP toed the line, yesterday, saying the APC has concluded plans to rig the election with mercenaries from Niger Republic.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja, its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, expressed worry that the development could pave the way for influx of non-Nigerians into the country to illegally participate in the 2019 elections.

He said: “The PDP demands an urgent and thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to the presence of politicians and thugs from Niger Republic at the APC presidential rally in Kano last Thursday.

“Our security agencies must immediately investigate and lay in the public domain the circumstances leading to their presence, which more or less confirmed that the APC has lost all domestic credibility and has assumed a desperate mode.

“The APC and the Presidency must immediately explain the roles being played by Issa Moussa, Governor of Zinder and his counterpart from Maradi, Zakiri Umar both of the Niger Republic, who were sighted decked in the attires and official logos of the APC, in our political affairs. President Buhari and the APC, in their desperation, have compromised our territorial integrity as a nation and this portends grave danger to our national security and the sanctity of our electoral process.

“For a nation contending with insurgency and banditry, the involvement of mercenaries from neighbouring countries at the APC rally must be condemned by all and sundry. This is particularly against the backdrop of claims by President Buhari that killer herdsmen ravaging our nation are mercenaries who are infiltrating from the Sahel region.

Mobilising merchants of violence

“Unscrupulous elements are already mobilising merchants of violence, including armed bandits and terrorists to orchestrate violence during the elections in several states of the federation. Miscreants who came from Niger Republic to President Buhari’s rally are being offered accommodation in our country by the APC to unleash violence immediately it is clear that President Buhari is losing.

“The presence of the Niger Republic governors at President Buhari’s rally signposts a direct assault on the credibility of the presidential election. This is particularly against the backdrop of INEC’s plans to allow Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in that country to vote in our election, a situation that opens the way for aliens to infiltrate as IDPs and participate in our elections.

“Our apprehensions are accentuated by INEC’s recent mass creation of additional polling units which have not been properly designated and which may be deployed for the perpetuation of monumental electoral fraud. We note how Kano State, in 2015, delivered 1.9 million votes to the APC presidential candidate in circumstances devoid of transparency and credulity.

“Moreover, the promise by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state to deliver five million votes to Presidential Buhari in the 2019 elections is predicated on the unfettered opening of our international borders to foreign political interests.

Chadians, Nigerians, others free to join Buhari

On its part, APC said citizens of other countries were free to participate in its electioneering campaigns.

Director, Field Operations of the Buhari Campaign Organisation and former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu said this while speaking with Saturday Vanguard on the sidelines of a one-day workshop convened for canvassers.

His words: “It is a free world and it is the constitutional right of everyone to be where he wants to be. You have no right to stop anybody from doing what he wants to do. People from West Africa are free to move into Nigeria.

“We have a protocol or agreement that they don’t need visa to come into this country. I know for sure that they don’t have to vote but as a free West African who believes that someone has done extremely very well, and decided to identify himself with what he believes in, I don’t think there is anything wrong and I don’t think there is any crime committed. You cannot and you have no right as a Nigerian to stop them from exercising their fundamental rights to identify with their friends.

“Their presence may or may not have any impact on the re-election but they are entitled to it. We have to guarantee their freedom because their presence is within the law and we don’t have the right to stop them.”

Buhari undermining national security, electoral sanctity—SMBLF

Also, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, said the participation of the foreigners was an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and abuse of diplomatic relations.

In a joint statement by Yinka Odumakin, South West; Prof Chigozie Ogbu, South East; Senator Bassey Henshaw, South-South; and Dr. Isuwa Dogo, Middle Belt, the group said the action validated the desperation of the APC to deploy every untoward scheme to impugn the integrity of the forthcoming election.

The southern and Middle Belt leaders said: “For an administration which recently lampooned Western diplomatic powers and bodies for criticising the unconstitutional suspension of the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Walter Onnoghen from office, this is the height of duplicity and doublespeak.

“Never in our political history has our national security been so endangered in the name of politics and politicking, a situation which calls for an immediate investigation by relevant security agencies. The National Intelligence Agency, NIA, the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA and the Department of State Services, DSS, must interrogate this development and report their findings to Nigerians whose best interests they swore to serve.

Unholy philandering

“In a country which has been in the vice grip of accentuated terrorism, herdsmen killings, banditry and kidnapping in parts of the country especially since the advent of the Buhari administration, the kind of unholy philandering between Buhari and regional neighbours suspected of complicity in our internal security challenges, calls for introspection.

“Last year, President Buhari prioritised the construction of a rail line from Kano to Maradi in Niger, at a time several aspects of our national infrastructure were and are still begging for attention. Maradi, the third largest city in Niger Republic and Zinder, are two prefectures in the country which are predominantly populated by Fulanis with a consanguineal relationship with Daura emirate, Buhari’s birthplace.

“As military Head of State in 1985, Buhari purportedly favoured Ide Oumarou, a diplomat from Niger, over and above Nigeria’s own Peter Onu, in the race for the position of Secretary-General of the African Union, AU, to underscore his consanguineous relationship and sentiments with and for the Nigerien Oumarou.”

Disqualify Buhari, Secondus tells INEC

Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to disqualify President Buhari over what he termed importation of mercenaries.

Secondus said this yesterday in Enugu during the party’s presidential campaign in the state.

He said “In Kano, Buhari brought mercenaries to vote and influence elections in Nigeria. I, therefore, call on INEC to disqualify Buhari for bringing mercenaries.”

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has described the running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi as a liar.

Amaechi, who is the Director General of the President Muhammadu Buhari campaign, said Obi twisted facts and figures during the Town Hall meeting aired live on Television, yesterday.

He spoke during the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential campaign rally in Kano State.

Amaechi said the claims by Obi that former President Goodluck Jonathan paid contractors handling some railway projects were false.

According to the former Rivers State governor, the Lagos-Ibadan rail project was a brain-child of the Buhari’s administration.

He said: “I have told my very good friend and former Governor, Peter Obi that its not correct what he said that Jonathan paid all the money for railways, if he paid why didn’t they the contractors finished the projects then.

“Its not correct that Obi said Jonathan paid for the Abuja-Kaduna project. The Lagos-Ibadan project is not at all correct, we started this project and if Obi wants I’m ready to open debate with him.

“As a former governor and running mate of a presidential candidate, Obi should have come to me and I will present the records to him to see.”

The Minister also declared that states like Bauchi, Katsina, Kano States will massively vote for Buhari in the forthcoming election.

“Whether they like it or not, states like Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, will vote for Buhari. We will get 5m votes from these states,” he added.

https://dailypost-ng.cdn.ampproject.org/v/dailypost.ng/2019/01/31/2019-presidency-amaechi-points-lies-peter-obi-told-tv-interview/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=http%3A%2F%2Fdailypost.ng%2F2019%2F01%2F31%2F2019-presidency-amaechi-points-lies-peter-obi-told-tv-interview%2F

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Friday demanded the disqualification of President Muhammadu Buhari from the 2019 presidential election.

National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus made the call at the party’s rally in Enugu. He accused Buhari, candidate of the All Progressives Party, APC, of bringing in machineries from Niger Republic to manipulate the election.

He said “by the power conferred on me as the PDP national chairman, I call on the INEC Chairman, Mr. Yakubu to disqualify Buhari from contesting the election.”

More to come…

https://dailypost-ng.cdn.ampproject.org/v/dailypost.ng/2019/02/01/2019-election-breaking-pdp-demands-buharis-disqualification/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=http%3A%2F%2Fdailypost.ng%2F2019%2F02%2F01%2F2019-election-breaking-pdp-demands-buharis-disqualification%2F

GreenLite:
Any update on this?

I just got an invite today.

I didn't think it's worth the journey from Abuja, hence why I didn't attend the section.

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar has condemned President Muhammadu Buhari over his response to the foreign interference on the suspension of Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen.

DAILY POST reported that the international community, including the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom over the weekend expressed serious concern over the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen.

But, Buhari in a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Saturday, warned against foreign interference into the nation’s affairs.

The president noted that foreign interference was capable of creating apprehension, distrust among citizens and undermining the transparency and acceptability of outcomes of the nation’s electoral process.

Atiku, reacting to Buhari’s statement, reminded the president of celebrating commendations and statements from UK,EU during the 2015 elections.

In a statement he personally signed on Sunday, Atiku said: “To those who accuse these governments of interfering, I remind them that they made no such accusations when they celebrated a statement from the US/UK/EU calling for free and fair elections in 2015, just after the postponement of the 2015 elections to make room for a final assault against Boko Haram. What has changed between then and now, except that they are now in power.”

The former Vice President also noted that his fight against suspension of Onnoghen is for the protection of the nation’s constitution.

“I am not fighting for Justice Onnoghen. I am fighting for the constitution. Once we open the Pandora’s Box of unconstitutionality, we cannot tell where it will end.

“This scenario appears to me like déjà vu. Under a particularly brutal military dictatorship, Nigerians witnessed the illegal and arbitrary removal of many innocent people from their positions of authority and many said nothing because they were not from the ethnic group of those affected.

“I remember speaking up then that what we know is when the rain begins, but we do not know when it will end. My warnings were ignored by some until they woke up one day and that dictator removed no less a personality than the Sultan of Sokoto.

“It is worth pointing out that Muhammadu Buhari was by his side when he did that. He obviously learned very well from his teacher.

“If they come for the heads of the legislature and we keep quiet because we are not legislators, if they came for the heads of the media and we keep quiet because we are not journalists, if they came for the head of the judiciary and we keep quiet because he/she is not from our area, there may be no one left to speak up when they come for us,” he said.

http://dailypost.ng/2019/01/28/not-fighting-justice-onnoghen-atiku-condemns-buharis-reaction-eu-uk-us/