₦airaland Forum

Trump and his many controversies

Boxing Day

Wonderful! Its My New Dawn...

WASHINGTON — Late to his own meeting and waving a sheet of numbers, President Trump stormed into the Oval Office one day in June, plainly enraged.

Five months before, Mr. Trump had dispatched federal officers to the nation’s airports to stop travelers from several Muslim countries from entering the United States in a dramatic demonstration of how he would deliver on his campaign promise to fortify the nation’s borders.

But so many foreigners had flooded into the country since January, he vented to his national security team, that it was making a mockery of his pledge. Friends were calling to say he looked like a fool, Mr. Trump said.

According to six officials who attended or were briefed about the meeting, Mr. Trump then began reading aloud from the document, which his domestic policy adviser, Stephen Miller, had given him just before the meeting. The document listed how many immigrants had received visas to enter the United States in 2017.

More than 2,500 were from Afghanistan, a terrorist haven, the president complained.

Haiti had sent 15,000 people. They “all have AIDS,” he grumbled, according to one person who attended the meeting and another person who was briefed about it by a different person who was there.


Forty thousand had come from Nigeria, Mr. Trump added. Once they had seen the United States, they would never “go back to their huts” in Africa, recalled the two officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss a sensitive conversation in the Oval Office.

As the meeting continued, John F. Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, and Rex W. Tillerson, the secretary of state, tried to interject, explaining that many were short-term travelers making one-time visits. But as the president continued, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Miller turned their ire on Mr. Tillerson, blaming him for the influx of foreigners and prompting the secretary of state to throw up his arms in frustration. If he was so bad at his job, maybe he should stop issuing visas altogether, Mr. Tillerson fired back.

Tempers flared and Mr. Kelly asked that the room be cleared of staff members. But even after the door to the Oval Office was closed, aides could still hear the president berating his most senior advisers.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, denied on Saturday morning that Mr. Trump had made derogatory statements about immigrants during the meeting.

“General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims,” she said, referring to the current White House chief of staff, the national security adviser and the secretaries of state and homeland security. “It’s both sad and telling The New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous ‘sources’ anyway.”

While the White House did not deny the overall description of the meeting, officials strenuously insisted that Mr. Trump never used the words “AIDS” or “huts” to describe people from any country. Several participants in the meeting told Times reporters that they did not recall the president using those words and did not think he had, but the two officials who described the comments found them so noteworthy that they related them to others at the time.

The meeting in June reflects Mr. Trump’s visceral approach to an issue that defined his campaign and has indelibly shaped the first year of his presidency.

How We Reported This Story
The Times conducted over three dozen interviews with current and former administration officials, lawmakers and others close to the process.

Seizing on immigration as the cause of countless social and economic problems, Mr. Trump entered office with an agenda of symbolic but incompletely thought-out goals, the product not of rigorous policy debate but of emotionally charged personal interactions and an instinct for tapping into the nativist views of white working-class Americans.

Like many of his initiatives, his effort to change American immigration policy has been executed through a disorderly and dysfunctional process that sought from the start to defy the bureaucracy charged with enforcing it, according to interviews with three dozen current and former administration officials, lawmakers and others close to the process, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail private interactions.

But while Mr. Trump has been repeatedly frustrated by the limits of his power, his efforts to remake decades of immigration policy have gained increasing momentum as the White House became more disciplined and adept at either ignoring or undercutting the entrenched opposition of many parts of the government. The resulting changes have had far-reaching consequences, not only for the immigrants who have sought to make a new home in this country, but also for the United States’ image in the world.

“We have taken a giant steamliner barreling full speed,” Mr. Miller said in a recent interview. “Slowed it, stopped it, begun to turn it around and started sailing in the other direction.”

It is an assessment shared ruefully by Mr. Trump’s harshest critics, who see a darker view of the past year. Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-immigration group, argues that the president’s immigration agenda is motivated by racism.

“He’s basically saying, ‘You people of color coming to America seeking the American dream are a threat to the white people,’” said Mr. Sharry, an outspoken critic of the president. “He’s come into office with an aggressive strategy of trying to reverse the demographic changes underway in America.”




Read more https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/23/us/politics/trump-immigration.html

I cant stop laughing

This what you get when you elected President through Black Market...




lalasticlala come and see your Gomina.

Our able God will surely deliver us from these agents of the devil

Becareful what you wish for sir

Lot13:
I would rather pray the death of PDP and its members that are determined to destroy my dear country.

abeg how much dem dey dispense fuel for your area Continue ur suffering n smiling syndrome

Aonkuuse:
you people need prayers more than the state ojavascript:void(0);f the country now

This is serious!

By Francis Etuko

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi has denied statements credited to him in which he justified the current fuel scarcity.

The Minister was said to have made the comment in an interview with a popular talk radio station in Abuja WE Fm 106.3, where he was quoted to have said “Don’t mind Fayose, he is a noisemaker”

The purported statement has generated a lot of comments online by unsuspecting members of the public

The Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Mr Olayinka Oyebode, said in a statement in Abuja on Friday that Dr Fayemi never granted any interview to WE FM 106.3 or any other media outlet on the fuel situation.

He said the purported comment was deliberately crafted and circulated by some unscrupulous elements working in the media office of Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose.

ALSO READ Senate Orders Police IG to Restore Governor Obiano’s Security
Oyebode in the statement said: “ It has become necessary to debunk this wicked falsehood being spread by mischief makers via the social media, especially for the sake of well meaning members of the public, who have expressed concern over the source of the falsehood.

“The honorable Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, never granted any interview with WE FM 106.3 and the management of the radio station can attest to this fact.

“Members of the public should note that the fabricated comment, emanated from no other source than the media unit of Ekiti State Governor’s Office, which is now a den for fraudsters and where falsehood and blackmail have been elevated to statecraft.

“Anyone who knows the pedigree of the Minister would attest to the fact that he is not capable of making such a careless statement”. The statement read

“Dr Fayemi remains focused on his current assignment and no amount of “manufactured” lies can distract him”.

“We implore members of the public to be wary of this dangerous trend of character assassination being masterminded by Governor Fayose’s media aides, who in a similar style, had also credited another false statement on the fuel crisis to Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) through a fraudulent twitter handle.

“We only hope the perpetrators of this criminal act fully understand the nature of this crime that has become a past time for them and their pay master.”



http://wdn.com.ng/fayemi-denies-justifying-current-fuel-scarcity/

if you kill by sword you will surely die by sword...

let him go and continue with his cows

tuniski:
The nigerian gift! Daura must receive buhari come 2019!

What a wonderful gift

December 22, 2017

 

Press Statement

 

PDP Challenges President Buhari On Lingering Fuel Scarcity

…Says Nigerians Languishing Under His Rule 

 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari, as Minister of Petroleum Resources, to find a quick solution to the lingering fuel scarcity now ravaging all parts of the country.

 

The PDP, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Friday insisted that it is not enough for the President to sit in his comfort zone and put the blames of the fuel scarcity at the doorsteps of marketers, while Nigerians continue to suffer untold hardship.

 

“The unbearable fuel situation in the country is completely unacceptable. Mr. President must become up and doing. He should not allow anybody to push him to claim that the issue of fuel scarcity is not under the purview of the Minister of Petroleum Resources. When he took office as President of Nigeria and also as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, he was aware that the buck stops at his table.

 

“Nigerians must not be made to suffer especially at this time of the year when we have the yuletide and New Year festivities, which come with a lot of activities.

 

“This is the same APC government that promised that it will make fuel available and affordable. Today, under their deceitful and corrupt watch, fuel has not only become extremely scarce, the price has also risen from where the PDP left it at N86.50k per liter to as high as N300 per liter and above.

 

“The effect is that transport fares, running costs, prices of food, medicines and other basic needs have soared beyond the reach of Nigerians, who are now groaning heavily under the hardship of APC misrule.

 

“But should Nigerians be subjected to this type of anguish and pain after supporting APC to win election in 2015? Does APC indeed deserve another support in 2019?”

 

“Whereas we know that the time is already up for the APC, we nevertheless urge Mr. President to, within the remaining short time, rise up to his responsibilities as the minister of petroleum or immediately relinquish that position and allow a competent person to run the ministry. Enough is enough”, the party said.

 

The statement urged Nigerians not to despair but rekindle their hope in the future as the PDP is now repositioned to regain power in 2019 and return the nation to the path of good governance, social stability and economic growth, for which it is generally known.

 

Signed:

 

Kola Ologbondiyan

National Publicity Secretary



http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/do-something-about-fuel-scarcity-pdp-challenges-buhari/

Happy Christmas to you Mr Chairman

They are falling apart

By Francis Etuko



Though all may appear quiet in the ruling All Progressive Congress, some very keen observers have described the calmness within the party as very disturbing

This development may not be associated with recent ‘Allegiance Meetings’ where key governors of the APC were locked out or were totally oblivious that such meetings were held.

WATCHDOG news gathers that though the meetings were billed as ‘Political Consultations’, they were actually a platform to obtain the allegiance of serving Governors who the conveners believed were more loyal to the President who is not hiding his intention to contest again in 2019.

The first meeting was held on October 27, this year and WATCHDOG News can reliably inform you that the meeting was called by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the Governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasir El Rufai and the venue was the Abuja home of the transport minister, Amaechi.

Six governors were said to be in attendance at the meeting, they include Kano Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, Kogi state Governor Yahaya Bello, Ibrahim Gaidam Yobe, Tanko Al Makura Nasarawa, Mohammed Abubakar Bauchi state.

It was leant that at the meeting the six governors gave their commitments to support the tenure bid of the President come 2019 and having satisfied the expectations of the conveners of the meeting, were led by the governor of Kaduna state to the Friday congregational prayers at the Presidential villa and later presented to the president by the Kaduna state governor who informed Buhari that the six had given their commitment and pledged allegiance.

A second meeting WATCHDOG gathers held on December 18, 2017 and in attendance was the governors of Plateau state, Simon Lalong, Jibrilla Bindow Adamawa, Samuel Ortom Benue and Abubakar Bagudu Atiku of Kebbi state.

These developments has sparked some bad blood among governors like Godwin Obaseki Edo, Bola Ajimobi Oyo, Rauf Aregbesola Osun and Akinwiunmi Ambode of Lagos who are said to be more loyal to the APC chieftain, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose disposition towards president Muhammadu Buhari’s desire to seek a second tenure in 2019 is yet to be known.

However, some governors like Owelle Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, Rotimi Akeredolu Ondo, Kashim Shettima Borno, Aminu Bello Masari Katsina and Abdulaziz Yari are said to be angry upon learning that two meetings held without their knowledge even when they are known to equally be staunch supporters of President Buhari.

The reason for keeping such governors like Kwara state and Niger may not be unconnected to the fact that the duo are close to the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki who is said to equally nurse a presidential ambition come 2019.

Furthermore the decision to keep the governor of Sokoto, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal completely in the dark has remained unexplained till date.




http://wdn.com.ng/apc-allegiance-meeting-14-governors-aggrieved/

#TotalChairman and My Role Model...

This man wont kill me with laughter

The UN General Assembly on Thursday opened an emergency session to vote on a motion rejecting US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.



The 193-nation assembly will decide on a draft resolution reaffirming that Jerusalem is an issue that must be resolved through negotiations and that any decision on its status must be rescinded.




https://www.channelstv.com/2017/12/21/breaking-un-general-assembly-opens-meeting-jerusalem/

Abdullahi Bello, a 23-year-old Fulani herdsman, was on Wednesday beaten unconscious after being caught attempting to escape from Kuje Prisons, where he has been remanded. Mr. Bello, a married father of one, was said to have become traumatized by his stay in prison after seeing inmates who have been detained for as many as 12 years because of delays in their trials.

A source told SaharaReporters that Mr. Bello has also been a victim of long adjournments following his arrest and that of two others for abduction. At his last court appearance, Justice Binta Nyarko of the Federal High Court, Abuja, adjourned his case from November 5 to March 1, 2018.

The source added that Mr. Bello became depressed following a visit by his wife and infant daughter. He was said to have told the wife that he could no longer bear her seeing him in prison custody. The experience led him to start making plans for escape, which he commenced on December 20.

Mr. Bello, disclosed another prison source, went to the prison mosque for prayers. After the prayers ended, he hid himself until he was locked in the mosque. He later crept out of the mosque and went over the hole-ridden wall, but was spotted, chased and arrested. He was subsequently beaten unconscious.

“His situation is unknown. There are speculations that he may have died because of the savage beating he received,” said a source.


http://saharareporters.com/2017/12/21/kidnapping-suspect-remanded-kuje-prison-beaten-over-failed-escape

His recent political comments, realignments and permutations notwithstanding, Atiku Abubakar has not decided to run for president in 2019.

The former vice-president told VOA Hausa when he featured on a magazine program there Tuesday that Nigerians will know when he eventually takes the bold move.

“For now I have not made up my mind,” Mr. Abubakar said. “When I decide, I will let the world know.”

Mr. Abubakar’s statement is capable of demoralising his supporters, some of whom have already commenced groundwork for his 2019 bid, said Azibola Omekwe, the national coordinator of The Atiku Rennaisance, a political group.

Mr. Azibola said the 2019 ambition of Mr. Atiku has gained considerable momentum in recent weeks, a ‘moving train’ he said would be difficult to reverse.

“Just recently, some people came out to say that they will sue the former vice-president if he fails to join the race,” Mr. Azibola said. “That’s how serious some of his supporters have now taken his ambition.”

Mr. Abubakar’s spokesperson, Paul Ibe, said the politician’s fans should not be demoralised by the comments.

“He spoke in the context of his ongoing consultations, but he’ll eventually make up his mind to run,” Mr. Ibe said. “Those who have started politicking on his behalf should continue.”

Mr. Azibola acknowledged that the final decision on Mr. Atiku’s political choice in 2019 would be the former vice-president’s to make.



“But I’m sure he will ultimately decide to run because he’s the best option to beat President Buhari,” said Mr. Azibola, a former state legislator in Bayelsa. “We expect him to do this within the first quarter of 2018.”

The last one month had seen Mr. Abubakar resign from the ruling All Progressives Congress to return to the Peoples Democratic Party, under which he served eight years as VP between 1999-2007.

After using his resignation letter to convey his misgivings about President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Atiku granted a media interview in which he accused the president of incompetence.

He also accused Mr. Buhari of stoking ethnic and tribal divisions in the country, saying he will handily ‘defeat’ the president in 2019.

Mr. Buhari has not openly exchanged words with Mr. Abubakar, but the presidency warned the former vice president to stop disparaging the president.

The reprimand followed allegations that Mr. Buhari was banned from travelling to the United States for 15 years as a consequence of his religious views.

Mr. Abubakar used the purported ban to ward off allegations that he is wanted in the U.S. for fraud.

Mr. Abubakar said he had applied for visa to the U.S. but was denied on administrative grounds.

He, however, failed to present evidence of his claim that Mr. Buhari was also banned from the U.S. despite being challenged by the State House to do so.

American authorities have not responded to PREMIUM TIMES requests seeking clarification about both Mr. Atiku’s status and the alleged ban of the president some years back.



https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/253188-2019-ive-not-made-mind-run-president-atiku.html

This is wonderful! I hope our friend from kogi state do same

Forward ever Backward never... We are moving forward... PDP... Power!!!

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus has reacted to the ongoing investigation of the immediate past President of the Senate, David Mark by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Mark is currently undergoing investigation over his alleged role in the disbursement of election funds in 2015 and the purchase of his official residence while he was the Senate President.


The government had indicated interest in the said building located within the Apo Legislative Quarters and had issued Mark with quit notice.

Airing his views on the matter, Secondus said Mark’s travail in the hands of operatives of the anti-graft agency amounted to injustice and willful harassment of opposition figures by the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government.

He stated this while addressing journalists at the Abuja secretariat of the PDP on Tuesday.

He insisted that the investigation was part of a grand plan by the ruling APC to continue to harass and intimidate prominent opposition figures with the view to frustrating them and dampening their morale ahead of the 2019 general election.


Secondus said, “Enough is enough. All over the world there is no place a former Senate President can be treated the way David Mark is being treated. They have failed and they know Nigerians know it.

“All they do now is to attack and harass the opposition. Don’t attack the opposition. That is injustice. Concentrate on fulfilling your promises to the people. Enough of this.

“We are not in a military era. God does not sleep. What you serve others, is what you will be served with. We handed over freely in 2015. APC should also be ready to handover without intimidation.

“Nigerians will vote and kick out APC with their voter cards. Stop intimidation of our leaders. We will no longer take it. People in power should be very careful because power will come and go”.


Secondus further called on PDP members to rise to the challenge of unseating the APC in 2019, stressing that they should not harbour any pessimism in the task of reclaiming power in the next election.


http://dailypost.ng/2017/12/20/secondus-speaks-efccs-case-david-mark/amp/

Those social medial opponents must be ghosts then

More Pictures...

…Wants an open contest for presidential ticket


The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has charged the newly elected National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ensure transparent and credible primaries ahead of the 2019 general election.
 

He blamed the party’s defeat in the 2015 general election on lack of internal democracy that manifested in the forms of imposition of candidates and disregard for the party’s constitution.
 

Ekweremadu stated this in a keynote address he delivered at the opening of a two-day retreat for the NWC and State Chairmen of the PDP in Abuja on Tuesday.


He said: “Another election year is by the corner. The new NWC must ensure that the party does not repeat past mistakes. We must return power to the people, as our name and slogan rightly demand of us. This will not only reassure Nigerians that we are indeed an improved and rebranded PDP, but will also encourage the massive return of former party faithful.


“Furthermore, the public will evaluate our commitment to end corruption and promote accountability and transparency by the way we handle internal party affairs.


“We have a history of fighting corruption and our systems must be corruption-free. This should stand us out as the only hope to eradicate corruption in Nigeria. The PDP established the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.


“We saw to the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act and introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Treasury Single Account (TSA), and the Biometric Verification Number (BVN). The PDP also ensured that the Civil Society Organisations and the press flourished to promote an accountable and open society.

 
“There was no effort by the PDP to tame the Non-Governmental Organisations or the use of the social media. Importantly, we beamed the anti-graft searchlight on our own members to demonstrate that there must be no sacred cows in the war against graft.


“Therefore, we must conduct our affairs in a way that reassure Nigerians that under the incoming PDP administration, we will not only consolidate on all these track record, but will also firmly eradicate corruption from 2019”.

 
The Senator also warned against any form of undue interferences by the NWC in the affairs of the state chapters of the party.

 
“I appeal to the NWC to ensure that the state executives of the party enjoy the freedom to run the affairs of the party at the state level. The current NWC should emphatically denounce all forms of impunity and the politics of godfather and godson.


“The state executives and members of our party at that level understand the character of the aspirants, their popularity, and the local circumstances in their jurisdictions. They should, therefore, be allowed to work with the electoral panels to pilot the primaries transparently and creditably.
 

“But like Caesar’s wife, the state executives must also live above board. This is a new PDP”, he added.
 

On the party’s presidential ticket, Ekweremadu urged the NWC provide a level playing ground for all interested and qualified aspirants.


He said: “Of utmost importance in the build up to 2019 election year is our choice of presidential candidate. The fate and political fortunes of the party depend on the party’s presidential candidate.


“The party must, therefore, identify a candidate with the credentials, reach, charisma, competence, and popularity to outmatch any candidate presented by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and any other party for that matter.


“The party’s leadership should encourage every interested and qualified member to vie for the ticket in a free, fair, and credible party primary. Let the best candidate emerge”.



ENDS

 
Uche Anichukwu

Special Adviser Media to Deputy President of the Senate

19/12/17

Our party is on the right path to reclaim what was stolen from us...

#TotalChairman you have our full support.