In the first pic taken in September 2013, you will notice that they are actually wearing lighter clothes. Now take a closer look at the second picture and tell me what you observe.
For those who are slow on the uptake - not only are they both wearing much heavier clothing but Tinubu, who has now fully recovered from his knee-surgery, also appears to have gained weight Furthermore, my sizeable desktop monitor shows Tinubu has more hair in pic3 and pic4 (below).
A serious concern is that while government relies on external validation (opinion) as ‘proof’ of its performance, it is selective in the process—accepting the positive ones and disparaging the negative ones. Our recent exchanges illustrate the point. In my first article (26th January): “Buhari Vs Jonathan: Beyond the Elections”, I argued that “the economy seems to be on auto pilot, with confusion as to who is in charge, and government largely as a constraint. There are no big ideas, and it is difficult to see where economic policy is headed to. My thesis is that the Nigerian economy, if properly managed, should have been growing at an annual rate of about 12% given the oil boom, and poverty and unemployment should have fallen dramatically over the last five years”. No one has credibly challenged the above, except what the Financial Times of London described as a “furious response by the Minister”. But, the influential Economist Magazine of London and New York Times agreed with us. According to the Economist editorial (7th February, 2015):
“… as Africa’s biggest economy stages its most important election since the restoration of civilian rule in 1999, and perhaps since the civil war four decades ago, Nigerians must pick between the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, who has proved an utter failure, and the opposition leader, Muhammadu Buhari….The single bright spot of his rule has been Nigeria’s economy, one of the world’s fastest-growing. Yet that is largely despite the government rather than because of it, and falling oil prices will temper the boom. The prosperity has not been broadly shared: under Mr Jonathan poverty has increased. Nigerians typically die eight years younger than their poorer neighbours in nearby Ghana”. I gave the Government an “F” grade on economic management, and the Economist described its performance as “utter failure”. The Economist also basically agreed with me that the re-basing of the economy and its observed ‘growth’ have nothing to do with government policy. Again, government has not credibly challenged the above or is the Economist’s view also ‘all political ’? Government simply waved it off. My point is that if Government has to rely on the “impressions” of external bodies, then it should be consistent and comprehensive.
4. In conclusion, let me re-state that I firmly stand by my earlier statements. These are weighty statements which I weighed carefully before issuing. I appreciate that this is an election time and so attempts would be made to trivialize, or either play politics with, or divert attention from, them. In a serious society, we should have had a good debate on these matters as they could provide some of the building blocks in trying to pick the pieces after the elections. Part of our citizen duty in a democracy is to raise such issues and demand for answers. In the meantime, I grant that our leaders are busy with campaigns but these issues won’t go away until we have a transparent resolution. Be assured that after the elections, we will be back with even more questions!
My attention has been drawn this morning to an article entitled: “Jonathan Replies Soludo over “missing N30 trillion” claim”--- extracting from Mr. President’s interview as published by Thisday newspaper. ThisDay quoted Mr. President as saying that “Soludo said that under Ngozi’s watch they stole N30 trillion” but that since the sum of the federal budget over the last four years was less than N30 trillion, such an amount could not have been “stolen”. According to the President, “it is all political”.
I had earlier stated that I would not make further comments on the issues until probably after the elections but since Mr. President has decided to join the fray, I am constrained to make a further brief clarification. For me, President Jonathan is a gentleman and a friend but I have a fundamental disagreement on his management of the economy. On the issues at stake, I believe that the pressures of office and the hectic electioneering campaigns have not allowed him time to read my articles or that his staff have not explained the contents to him hence he totally missed the point in his comments. For the avoidance of doubt, let me clarify as follows:
1. In my article entitled “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Missing Trillions”, I presented some rough calculations covering: oil theft, money that ought to accrue to stock of foreign reserves, unbudgeted oil subsidy payments, customs duty waivers, leakages through the self-financing government parastatals, unremitted sums by NNPC, etc. I concluded that section of my article by noting that: “I have a long list but let me wait for now. I do not want to talk about other ‘black pots’ that impinge on national security. My estimate, Madam, is that probably more than N30 trillion has either been stolen or lost or unaccounted for or simply mismanaged under your watchful eyes in the past four years”.
2. It is evident that the monies I referred to are “off-budget”. These are monies that did not make it to the budget. I find it funny that the Government deliberately avoided the issues raised above but instead has sought to divert attention by focusing on the “federal budget”. Let me state for the record that I believe that the amount of resources that are either stolen from the economy or out-rightly mismanaged by government far exceeds the federal budget per annum. Ours is about a N100 trillion economy, and I will be shocked if the government pretends that it does not know that currently about 10% of the GDP falls into a ‘black hole’ on annual basis. We have not added figures based on counterfactual analysis such as the cost to the aggregate economy of bad or misguided economic policy. For example, in today’s Thisday newspaper, a headline news reports that “Aliko Dangote, Africa’s Richest Man, Loses $7.8 Billion as Naira, Stocks Plunge” while reporting that “In dollar terms, the devaluation has knocked more than $40 billion off the value of Nigeria’s economy”. Of course, most people predicted that oil prices would soon fall but we were caught unprepared, and today, the parallel market exchange rate is N225 to the dollar. Thus, the kind of analysis in today’s Thisday is just one little example of the kind of collateral damages--‘costs’ or ‘losses’-- that mismanagement foists on the system. To repeat, my article did not focus on the federal budget: the mismanagement of the consumption budget and its unprecedented debt accumulation (with low value-for-money expenditures) are entirely different matters.
3.What I found particularly disconcerting as a Nigerian from the comments I read is the fixation to validation from the World Bank. According to Mr. President, “we asked the Minister how her colleagues at the World Bank saw the accusation”. I shook my head in disbelief. It is instructive that no one asked what Nigerians thought or ‘how Nigerians saw it’ but rather what was important to government was the impression of the World Bank. If this is the mind-set of our leaders, then ordinary citizens have real cause to worry. Well, I have read several editorial comments of Nigerian media and they do not agree with the ‘impression’ of the World Bank official. I read a similar comment by a high government official stating that World Bank officials and CNN had told them that government was doing well and therefore who else could question them. But neither the World Bank nor CNN conducts comprehensive independent surveys on the economy--- they comment based on the data they are given--- and their subjective “opinions” cannot substitute for hard facts. The World Bank is not a statistical agency. I can provide a long list of countries that World Bank reports praised as ‘star performers’ and they slumped into deep crisis almost immediately after. Check out the World Bank and IMF reports on the US and other countries’ economies shortly before the unprecedented global financial and economic crisis in fifty years (the Great Recession of 2008/09). Actually for many countries once they start getting such ‘praises’, then perceptive officials begin to worry. Nigeria is probably the only country where its government officials quote the World Bank while ignoring data from its own statistical agency!
TONY BLAIR DENIES MEETING WITH MUHAMMAD BUHARI IN LONDON
Former Prime Minister and UK envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair, has denied meeting with the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari ( AKA Buhari) in London, weekend.
It has been confirmed too that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State claimed that Gen Buhari was not in any meeting with Tony Blair is true, rather the former head of state Muhammad Buhari aka Buhari checked into a London hospital for medical checkup. It has been confirmed too that APC photoshoped a photo showing Tony Blair, Buhari, Governor Amosu of Ogun State and former Kwara State Governor, Bukola Saraki.
NewsDay Reporters London contacted Tony Blair’s office and got confirmation that the former Prime Minister did not had any meeting with the APC candidate in the name of Muhammad Buhari aka Buhari.
In an e-mail response to NewsDay Reporters inquiry, Sally Paterson, Senior Media Manager at The Office of Tony Blair, said: “ Mr. Blair did not had any private meeting with General Muhammadu Buhari in London, she also express frustration about the level of FABRICATED NEWS flying in NIGERIA.” She lamented too that Tony Blair was currently returning from Sebia where he attended peace talk meeting .
It will be recalled that Fayose had claimed the photo of Buhari meeting with Blair was photoshopped, that is the true picture of the news .
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said, ”Without doubt, it is obvious that these cabal in the APC are trying so hard to deceive Nigerians on Buhari’s health status. That’s the reason they have been using ‘Photoshopped’ pictures to defend their lies on Buhari’s UK trip. ”First, they used a March 5, 2013 picture, claiming that Buhari was taking a walk in London on Thursday. Later they came up with another poorly cropped picture of Buhari with former British Prime Minister,Tony Blair.
Click on the link below and read more about Tony Blair engagement with SERBIA
We urge Nigerians to be very careful with APC.. They are first class liers, deceivers and cheaters, they can do anything for power, they have demonstrated their frustration by cooking up malicious stories, creating a dangerous atmosphere for ordinary citizen ..
The type of junk that only a junkie could have composed.
Sally Paterson, Senior Media Manager at The Office of Tony Blair, said: “Mr. Blair did not had any private meeting with General Muhammadu Buhari in London, she also express frustration about the level of FABRICATED NEWS flying in NIGERIA.” She lamented too that Tony Blair was currently returning from Sebia where he attended peace talk meeting.
In an email response, she said: "Mr Blair did not had..."
^^^Zwingina highlights existential fears of the unashamedly corrupt
SENATOR JONATHAN ZWINGINA IN N2BN FAKE CURRENCY SCANDAL, THE DOCUMENTS THAT NAILED HIM
November 24, 2013
Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina is one of Nigeria’s A-list politicians in the current political dispensation. A four-time senator who represents Adamawa South Senatorial District in the senate and Chairman of the Board of Rural Electrification Agency, Zwingina has been a notable figure in the political landscape since the aborted 3rd republic when he was appointed National Coordinator of Late MKO Abiola’s Hope 93 Campaign Organization.
Subsequently, he became Commissioner for Health and later Water Resources and Rural Development in Adamawa state between 1994-1997. A former lecturer, he is a member of several committees in the senate, and was the chairman, Works & Housing. In 2011, he was Consultant Director General of the President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation.
Investigations revealed that Senator Zwingina has used a fair chunk of public money in public offices he held to feather his nest quite comfortably.
The senator has to his name several choice properties and big investments within and outside the country, including a university in Ghana, which is under construction. He is also the owner of IEI Anchor Managers Ltd, a pension administrator that has its head office at Plot 51A, Oro Ago Crescent in Abuja.
Sources told orijoreporter that the Adamawa-born politician who was born in Falu Guyuk Village has a strong desire for wealth. This we learnt makes him to fall into temptation of easy profits even in businesses that run afoul of the law.zwingina 2
It was alleged that the former deputy senate leader recently joined the fraternity of counterfeiters when he allegedly attempted to clone $11.5million (over N1.8billion) in Abuja.
Few months back, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) expressed serious concern over the increasing prevalence of currency counterfeiting in the country. The CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi while speaking in Abuja at the regional workshop on Banknote and Currency Management in Central Banks organised by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) in collaboration with Currency Research USA Corp., said currency counterfeiting has become a major challenge for the apex banks on the continent in performing one of their critical functions of currency management.
Sanusi said counterfeiting in Nigeria as well as in the continent of Africa is becoming even easier to accomplish due to advances in technology.The Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint are both in charge of the production of American dollar. However, it happened that Senator Zwingina, who is a professor of international relations, contracted the services of two companies, Skybird Incorporation and Global Monetary Trust about three months ago to print $ 11.5million for him.zwingina doc 1
The phoney companies, which posed as affiliates of United States of America Department of Treasury have their offices at Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
Inside sources told orijoreporter that Senator Zwingina first close a deal with Skybird Incorporation on the 12th of August when he paid some millions of naira to the phoney company for the printing of $5m (about N800m). Later on in September, he approached Global Monetary Trust for the production of another $6.5m (over one billion naira).
It was said that he paid a combined sum of N150m to both companies for the printing of the fake dollar as well as filling and signing two forms, which copies( pictured above) were made available to orijoreporter.
It was further gathered that some materials for the printing of the fake currency were handed over to the senator, which we learnt are presently housed in his No 7, Chuba Okadigbo Street, Apo Legislative Quarters residence.
Efforts made by our reporter to confirm or deny the illegal printing operation from Senator Zwingina through his mobile phones, an etisalat and MTN lines did not yield fruit as calls made to him were not answered.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for Adamawa South Senatorial District, Silas Zwingina, has claimed that the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, intends to send public office holders to jail if he emerges president.
Mr. Zwingina, therefore, urged his party members to work hard to ensure that Mr. Buhari fails in his bid to become president.
Speaking in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, Mr. Zwingina said “we have to stop Buhari and his plan to build more prisons to jail politicians.
“You know Buhari, he will send us to jail for between 200 to 300 years and it is the lucky ones among us that will get 50 years.
“As you know, there is no way you will hold office in Nigeria and go scot free if the authorities want to get you.
“Buhari is determined to send people to jail and even APC governors are not comfortable with him and that’s why many of them are not following his campaign team,” Mr. Zwingina alleged.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan is better than Mr. Buhari and needs to be returned to continue his transformation agenda.
“Let me tell you, that Jonathan is 1,000 times better than Buhari and that’s why people resolved to vote for our candidate, President Jonathan,” he said.
He also urged the people to elect the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Nuhu Ribadu as Governor and vote all other PDP candidates in the state.
In his remarks, Mr. Ribadu pleaded for the unity of PDP in the state if it must emerged victorious.
“If you vote me, I promise you that I will not betray you. I met just recently with Mr. President and he showed concern over the level of underdevelopment in Adamawa with the promise that Adamawa is among the states he will accord priority in terms of federal projects.
“In 2011 election, we gave the president 65 per cent and I promised him that this time around we will give him 80 per cent,” Mr. Ribadu said.
papaejima1: The Last time Buhari was seen in public was February 16th, 2015 in Maiduguri. This is 8 days ago!
This is something we need to ask the APC guys who want us to believe all is well with GMB. If the man is well as they claim, why do they all rush to London to pay him a visit just one week into his trip?
Ibikunle Amosun, Bukola Saraki, his wife Aisha and daughter and now Bola Tinubu and even John Oyegun. Next will be Kwankwaso, Amaechi and El-Rufai
Instead we are inundated with fake photos of GMB meeting with heaven and earth in London.
Much as I wouldn't wish the old man any evil because he is old enough to be my father, I'd appreciate it if the APC can come clean and tell us his true condition. If he needs prayers we will gladly pray for him and if he needs to retire peacefully he should quietly go home and enjoy his grand and great-grandchildren. politics need not claim him at this point in time when he should be raising smaller and more fiery Buharis.
Remember that Yar'adua was said to be exercising and running up and down stairs when his own issue came up. We all know how it ended.
A detachment of armed policemen yesterday morning took over the Niger State House of Assembly, after blocking the Paiko Expressway leading to the state Assembly. The development led to a traffic gridlock in the area.
Daily Trust gathered that at the weekend, there was rumour that a group loyal to the Deputy Governor, Ahmed Musa Ibeto, was planning a protest at the Assembly.
The relationship between the state’s deputy governor and the governor degenerated shortly after the former defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Last week, the governor, who was billed to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Lesser Hajj, directed the Speaker of the House of Assembly to act in his absence, shunning the deputy governor.
Other sources said the policemen were drafted to the area to prevent any attempt by two members of the Assembly Bashir Abdullahi Isa Lokogoma and Nazeer Abdullahi from gaining entrance.
The members representing Wushishi and Rijau Constituences respectively had their seats declared vacant by the Assembly because they defected from the PDP to APC.
But Clerk of the House of Assembly, Abdullahi Kagara, said there was no plan to impeach the deputy governor, as being speculated. On the deployment of policemen, he said he did not know why they were at the premises, but added that they could be acting on a security report.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ibrahim Gambari, said the deployment was based on intelligence report, adding that it was normal for security agencies to dispatch operatives to flash points.
“Police are just being proactive. When we envisage a problem, we do not need to waste time. We must act accordingly. Policemen were not only drafted to the House of Assembly, some were sent to coppers lodges,” he said.
queensmith: So what you are saying is that there is indeed no evidence of Shehu making those statements? On the whole of this WWW?
We can conclude that he didn't then. Like a sensible being would.
Also I've read from many of the more reliable Nigerian publications the statement issued by the campaign spokesperson and the only mention of Kemi Fadojuti is those made by Femi Fani Kayode and Fayose.
No mention of any of this on APCS website or twitter feeds?
Phew! Found it.
Like I said earlier, I don't make light of issues like this.
" Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories" ~ Amilcar Cabral
Garba Shehu, APC Media Director speaks to SaharaTV about the elections, and Buhari's activities in London.
queensmith: For the life of me I've been looking for this source and cannot find it. Please post the link here so we can all see.
I understand it doesn't paint GMB in a good light but we should be exposed to the truth and make a habit of using it to make decisions.
It wouldn't even make sense do APC to do, a meeting with Tony Blair and talk at Chatham House trumps some interview local interview any day. He has already been interviewed on AlJazeera, he doesn't need to pretend he has strong international support.
I am afraid that one-on-one interview with Shehu Garba is no longer on the SR website or anywhere else for that mattter. It was there late last night, though, as I listened to it
According to a press statement from the Directorate of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO), Chatam House will post the event and send out invites on Monday, February 23.
The statement signed by Malam Garba Shehu reveals that as part of his ongoing engagement in the United Kingdom, General Buhari had an interview yesterday with a local medium, the “All Eyes on Africa TV Show” with Kemi Fajodutimi and met with Tony Blair on Saturday, February 21 morning.
Shehu disclosed that Buhari left the London residence of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona at about 1.30 pm UK time and returned to his rented flat in the city.
queensmith: Change agents being the official APC spokesperson?
The press release made no mention of this purported interview, Biluhari has in fact held a meeting with a member of the political establishment as mentioned and he is also scheduled to give a talk at Chatham House tomorrow.
Please tell me which argument exactly these Tanoids have won? Please direct me to where exactly APC have embellished the truth in this matter? The press release you have pasted is proven 100% factual.
I don't speak with levity on these matters - not under my banned user-handle or this one. Have you listened to Shehu Garba's interview, where he referred to the 'All eyes on Africa' TV show?
I try not to draw attention to these gaffes so as not to equip TANoids, you know...
queensmith: APC have a website, a spokesperson and frequently address the public on ongoing events and activities, they also have twitter and a Facebook page. No where in any of these sites have they posted thus photograph and claimed this meeting took place on London. The original newspaper that apparently printed this is nowhere to be found and Linda Ikejis site is a gossip blog, not where one will go to ascertain facts.
Instead of you to follow common sense and understand Fayose has created an argument with himself, you are regurgitating information which has already been proven untrue, and allowing this senseless goat of a man to continue his spree of nonsense.
Queensmith - you advance a spirited argument, but I am afraid there is no getting around the fact that TANoids won this particular battle. Change-agents let the guard down by circulating airport pics from 2013, as well another which showed Buhari going on a walkabout in that same year. To be frank, transcorpgate has to be viewed within the context of the misplaced euphoria generated by those earlier pics.
Of course this is not to suggest that TANoids have been particularly truthful with various claims made in the past few days. From assertions about Buhari being stretchered out of Nigeria - when he held at least one public meeting in Abuja the same day he departed - to blatant denials about his tête-à-tête with Tony Blair, those urchins have demonstrated an apptitude for distortion and dishonesty.
My advise to change-agents is to take the moral high ground and not allow yourselves to be goaded into making statements that cannot stand up to serious scrutiny. I say this because while Shehu Garba started off well with the press release copied in below, he also chased the news reported elsewhere and ultimately succumbed to embellishment - as his latest SR interview shows.
PRESS RELEASE
Buhari, APC presidential candidate undertakes a short UK trip Abuja, Nigeria, 19 Feb 2015: The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari today (Thursday) left Abuja on a short working visit to the United Kingdom.
In the course of this visit, General Buhari is expected to hold meetings with key members of the British political establishment and interact with some global institutions with stakeholder interest in the affairs of Nigeria.
General Buhari would hopefully give a talk at the prestigious foreign policy hub, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatam House in London.
Signed:
Garba Shehu Directorate of Media and Publicity APC Presidential Campaign Organisation Plot 781 Herbert Macaulay Way Central Area Abuja.
TANoids appear to have won this particular battle, I am afraid. I have been very careful not to provide them with much needed munition but the truth is, they figured it out in the end
pmc01: Seriously, your current condition is pathetic. You've been reduced to a cry-baby. Too naive. I learnt you were an 'intelligent analyst', but I'm still waiting to see at least, a trace of that, irrespective of your new political inclination.
To address your feeble argument against that allegation, who doesn't know each side of the political divide have moles within the ranks of the other? We all read of OBJ's monitoring of Atiku's camp, without the other been aware. So what childish talk are you posting here?
Before you start another childish argument, this post is not intended to agree with Fashola's allegation, but to point out how weak and silly your argument is.
Still waiting to see a flash of your 'intelligence'.
Exactimo. Fashola is not one to make incendiary remarks for the sake of political capital. Everyone knows GEJ's camp is filled with moles batting for the other side, as is the case with Buhari's.
And then the forked tongue - Femi Fani-Kayode - speaks...
… Presidency, PDP turn Amaechi to national hero –Fani-Kayode
... ...
.... ... Fani-Kayode who served as a minister during the former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, said with the open persecution, the Presidency and the PDP NWC were only making hero out of Amaechi.
“Their action was illogical, 35 people voted and this man scored 19 and his challenger, Governor Jonah Jang garnered 16 votes and the loser turned around to say he won the election,” he said. The former minister made the statement at the Government House, Ado-Ekiti on Monday while formally declaring for APC during a visit to the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayode.
“Automatically, Amaechi remains the popular wish of the Governors’ Forum, who are populated by highly distinguished and intelligent Nigerians. This had shown that no election could be scuttled by the Presidency. No matter how powerful an office or someone might be, one should be aware that there is a supreme man that is directing the affairs of men,” he said.
ochejoseph: First it was Gov Amosun who was supposed to be in London appearing on Channels day event
Then came Transcorp interview which they said took in the London area of Abuja
How will Buhari head for London for an event which he was not listed One full week ahead?
Shocked by the embarrassment of GMB'S Non appearance at the townhall Meeting they hurriedly arranged a Chatham House event for thurs
And Now this un verifiable story from sowore , Last time Nigerians were told Blair was in Uganda
APC should just come clean we will Understand!
[/s]
Absolute tosh.
To those who are a little more objective - if you can look beyond the rants of TANoids (like the one above) and some of the more extreme change-agents on these boards, you would note that his reasons for travelling have been in the public domain since the 19th of February.
PRESS RELEASE
Buhari, APC presidential candidate undertakes a short UK trip Abuja, Nigeria, 19 Feb 2015: The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari today (Thursday) left Abuja on a short working visit to the United Kingdom.
In the course of this visit, General Buhari is expected to hold meetings with key members of the British political establishment and interact with some global institutions with stakeholder interest in the affairs of Nigeria.
General Buhari would hopefully give a talk at the prestigious foreign policy hub, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatam House in London.
Signed:
Garba Shehu Directorate of Media and Publicity APC Presidential Campaign Organisation Plot 781 Herbert Macaulay Way Central Area Abuja.
As the press release highlighted above clearly shows, at no point was his visit to Chatham House previously set in stone.
davidstones: With due respect to you my friend you are missing the point. Where ones lives is not that important but if all you can point out is the fact that someones lives in London, then that tells so much about your thinking.
In respect of where Tony Blair was, do the needful, all that information is at your finger tip. No need for education. if you are here on NL then you have access to how you can get that information if that is too much to ask of you sir.
It was you who made a big deal about residing in London first, not me, capisce?
I Met Buhari Saturday — Tony Blair; APC Candidate To Speak Thursday — Chatham House
Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has confirmed that he held a private meeting with the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, in London on Saturday.
There has been speculations in Nigeria that a picture showing Messrs. Blair, Buhari and Governor Amosun as well as a former Kwara state governor, Bukola Saraki, was photoshopped.
Mr. Buhari’s campaign office had stated that the former head of state was in the U.K. on a working visit.
However, Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state and supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, are claiming that Mr. Buhari is in the UK for medical treatment.
To buttress their claim, some of the critics claimed Mr. Blair was not in the U.K. on Saturday and could therefore not have met Mr. Buhari.
PREMIUM TIMES Monday contacted the office of Mr. Blair for confirmation and we got a response that the meeting actually held.
“Mr. Blair had a private meeting with General Muhammadu Buhari in London,” said Rianne Buter in an email response to PREMIUM TIMES’ inquiry.
Ms. Buter also said Mr. Blair “hopes to visit Nigeria shortly when he will see the President”.
Mr. Buhari’s campaign office also issued a statement saying the APC candidate “would hopefully give a talk at the prestigious foreign policy hub, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, in London.”
Chatham House has now confirmed that Mr. Buhari will speak Thursday on the topic: “Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition”.
Details of the event as posted on the website of Chatham House also revealed that Mr. Buhari would speak for one hour between 10 and 11a.m. and the event would be chaired by Richard Gozney, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria between 2004 and 2007.
Chatham House encourages interested persons to send questions to Mr. Buhari via Twitter.
“Send questions for the speaker by using #CHAfrica on Twitter. A selection will be put to him during the event,” it said
davidstones: With due respect to you my friend you are missing the point. Where ones lives is not that important but if all you can point out is the fact that someones lives in London, then that tells so much about your thinking.
In respect of where Tony Blair was, do the needful, all that information is at your finger tip. No need for education. if you are here on NL then you have access to how you can get that information if that is too much to ask of you sir.
^^^LoL
An admission of failure! Tail capped firmly between the hind legs
You see, I knew you could not prove anything - anyone who is a little too reliant on the Aye Dees of this world, would always come up short.
davidstones: Sorry please enlighten us about the wheat from the chaff? APC lieing through their teeth that Buhari took picture with Tony Blair that was not even in UK? Sir I wish you all the best about your thinking about any Mr 'I live in London'. But sir, I cannot be deceived like some may be not because I know everything but at least I know some things and can see some things by myself.
Put your 'I live in London' attitude where your mouth is and prove that Tony Blair was not in the UK at the appointed time.
He also said to the general momoh guy immediately after Obanikoro spoke about being a happy man and sky being the limit
Omisore: "and also we can use you again for another one" (with Osun state in mind)
Of course the tosser is a liar. Look at his face.
Caleb Olubolade: Listen koro, I was asking you one question one time. (Senator Omisore cuts in “they have collected money. The police now that are working, they are dis-arming them too.”) I asked one question from you, why was our police men dis-armed, you now answer are they working with us? I want you to continue from that place. Its means you are the one giving them info General: Yes! You know why I said so? It’s a very simple question; if… you know when I saw Chief, Chris Uba I was so happy, because he came. The people that are on the field now are people we briefed, not only soldiers, not only soldiers, SF were there now any vehicle you see now we have….. a Hilux carry about 8 men its mix together. You don’t know the directives, you don’t know the situation they found those police men. The vehicle that left now, under “OC Mopol” from my own with Chris Uba in charge and myself and three of us, it’s almost 140.
Senator Omisore: i would just say that we don’t have to argue this much, we have seen some lapses yes, its just this evening. there is nothing happening now that we cannot contain before tomorrow morning, there is nothing.so ba mi so fun general, we can be together on this matter. your boys can be overzealous and do things that are not sent, (Obanikoro cuts in “and some can be compromise too.”) yes! What am saying momoh is that, at this level, any information that you hear from us, we are on ground here, move swiftly to those information, and act number one. Instead of you defending them even blindly. You go and find out what is really happening there. We have areas that are faulty areas, look into it, “ikere”, “ilawe”. Let them confirm what is happening there. My friend major is looking to “oke-mesin” himself.
Obanikoro: the people you want them to take control of would arrest before the morning, can make their list and their local government go and bring it.(general cuts in: that chairman now, he’s already with SS now.”) let me tell you, they say there is one place that has been flooded “Ecomog” from osun “omisore cuts in: that’s oke-mesin, he spoke to the Oba of Oke-mesin” that oba, you must ensure, that those people are flushed out.”
Omisore: Oke mesin.
General: Oke-mesin where? (Omisore cuts in” he knows the place”) oh, i know Oke-mesin very well.
Obanikoro: am not here for tea party, am on a special assignment by the president (Caleb Olubolade cuts in: “so that when next we have someone 2 send on special assignment, it’s would be you. There is one thing i want to tell you, we are anticipating tomorrow, because this people know we have people that want to vote for us tomorrow, this people might come out with thugs to destabilize our people at the polling unit. we want you to work with the police too, and arrest whoever wants to cause problem a any polling unit. People speaking for a while…….
Omisore : there is a contact man in wusi. Call that contact person now.
queensmith: APC have official twitter handles and spokespersons from what I understand, none of these are the source of the soo called doctored photographs, how can we accuse them of a lie they didn't tell? We can't hold the party accountable to Nigeria's shoddy journalism.
And if you are visiting Linda ikejis blog expecting to find credible information I am sorry for you. I find myself having to check recheck, and double check anything I read coming from Nigerian sources.
You are wasting your time with Mr 'I live in London'. He is not interested in separating the wheat from the chaff, certainly not while he considers Aye Dee as an authoritative source of information on 'all things Nigerian'.
Too many untutored minds on these booards, I tell you.
Seun: Let's be frank. This is not why he travelled. If this was his reason for travelling they would have posted the info before he left. Having said that, there is no cause for concern over GMB's health. 'Worst' case scenario, Prof Osinbajo, a truly educated man, will become the acting president.
If you can beyond the rants of TANoids and some extreme Change-agents on these boards, you would note that his reasons for travelling have been in the public domain since the 19th of February.
PRESS RELEASE
Buhari, APC presidential candidate undertakes a short UK trip Abuja, Nigeria, 19 Feb 2015: The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari today (Thursday) left Abuja on a short working visit to the United Kingdom.
In the course of this visit, General Buhari is expected to hold meetings with key members of the British political establishment and interact with some global institutions with stakeholder interest in the affairs of Nigeria.
General Buhari would hopefully give a talk at the prestigious foreign policy hub, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatam House in London.
Signed:
Garba Shehu Directorate of Media and Publicity APC Presidential Campaign Organisation Plot 781 Herbert Macaulay Way Central Area Abuja.
davidstones: Buhari never visited Tony Blair last week (the picture being shown is over a year old) neither did he meet any group of Nigerians in the UK last week. I live in the UK so I know.
Mr 'Live in the UK' - prove the pictures with Tony Blair are at least a year old or zip it.
Although one can never put anything past the hawks in government, this one sounds rather far fetched in my opinion...
Last time I checked Shekau does not give a rat's arrse about either of the leading contenders
Jonathan, Buhari are infidels, says Shekau
JANUARY 22, 2015 ... ... ... ... ... The sect leader, Abubakar Shekau, in a new video on You tube also taunted Presidents Paul Biya of Cameroon, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger and Idris Deby of Chad.
He also expressed disdain for President Goodluck Jonathan, and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the February 14 presidential election, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), describing them as infidels.
Shekau, who spoke in Hausa said, “Jonathan, you are in trouble. And Buhari, do you think he is a true Muslim? He’s an infidel.”
Linda Ikeji, Mukhtar Alexander Dan’iyan,Alias Aye Dee Lied, Google Has nothing to do with Site temporary Shutdown. Documents Tendered by Aye Dee were all forged
In igbo land, there was a story of a man who stood at the village square daily to raise alarm of being attacked by some forces. His kinsmen on each occasion all rushed out to rescue him and saw nobody. The day he was killed, no one came to his rescue after he raised alarm. The villagers all looked at him as a false alarmist!
Nigerians who use the Internet, felt bad after reading that Linda Ikeji’s site was shut down by Google, the internet giant. It was widely reported that Google suspended her site for plagiarism, today, this writer can tell you such thing never happened. Who then raised this false alarm?
Linda’s site was registered in July 2007 a month after Ayedee-mukhtar alexander dan’iyan’ s site was registered. While mukhtar alexander dan’iyan- AyeDee’s site ranked 500.000 globally, Linda Ikeji’s site ranked a little under 2,000 globally. How is it possible that the new man being referred to as an Internet guru has only 4 site linking, Linda who has no clue of the dynamics of the web has over 2000 Site links?
On Aye Dee’s site, he writes-
“Who are We? …5Past8 MEDIA GROUP owns and operates hundreds of websites.
Since inception in 2006, millions of unique visitors have visited, and continue to visit our diverse properties.
Covering, news, science, finance, technology, scandal, entertainment and so much more, if people are talking about it and looking for it, we’ve probably got it covered.
Each article on every site is carefully curated or created by a human being, thus allowing us to have highly engaging and deeply meaningful interaction with our audience.
Safe to say, at any given moment, tons of people all over the world are visiting our properties, shouldn’t you have your message in front of them?-5Past8 MEDIA GROUP…
His site has only 5 links Icon. Two of the links are the same. Every web master out there will tell you that 3Past8 Media is a scam site. According to Alexa.com, the only 100 views this site got came in October after Linda Ikeji introduced AyeDee’s name to Nigerians. Unfortunately, Alexa.com analysis shows that Aye Dee’s site which was updated last in 2012 has a-
Bounce Rate of 27.40% - Daily Pageviews per Visitor- 2.90 and time spent on site- Daily Time on Site 1:52 .
Folks, there is no way anybody who technically understands the web would have such poor numbers.
Since 2007, Aye Dee bought a web template from Heat Map, due to the fact that he has no clue on how to configure that template, he did not update it . Aye Dee also claims on that site that he has many hundreds of other sites. 9jalife.com which he registered in 2009, ranked almost 600.000 -globally and in the US, almost 2million! Obviously for those of us who use Dreamweaver to code templates, I can tell you again, the man is clueless when it comes to how to build, design and code a website. So, how did Linda Ikeji’s site became suspended?
Ayedee could not accuse Linda Ikeji of plagiarism when on the other hand, every content he tweets are other people’s contents. The Russians and Ukrainians are very good at Hacking people’s site, Aye Dee has friends who are internet hackers. It is very easy for them to bring a site down. It is a matter of sending malicious traffic to a non secured site, it will temporary shut a site down.
Mukthar Alexander Dan’iyan, alias Aye Dee’s colluded with Linda Ikeji to take her site offline temporarily. Linda Ikeji might pride herself as the queen of Junk journalism in Nigeria, this writer can say without any shadow of a doubt that she is an ignoramus. Through how she handled this whole crises and her ostentatious display of wealth which is very unusual for an Igbo Lady-her lies that Range Rover Envoque was bought for $145k when the original price of this car is $45k, leaves me with no choice than to affirm her lack of finesse, truth, class and honesty as a blogger.
All the documents Aye Dee presented to the press purported to come from Google are all fake. According to his wife, Liz Dan’Iyan who spoke to this writer from California, says ‘ Aye Dee is a master forger’. All the documents he posted online were forged! His wife told NigerianFM that the man she married in 2001 is ‘an internet rat, he is not an internet guru or Middle east expert’ as he tells people. Please listen to the audio tape of my interview with her.
For Linda Ikeji, Over the last six months, her site, has been on steady decline on page views . As at now,
her site’s bounce rate has 38:90%, 14% down versus the last 3months. Daily Page per visits is 3.49%, 11 percent increase from the last 3 months. Daily time on Linda’s site is 7.41% a 2% spike versus the last 3 months.
Audio Interview: Ex-Wife of AyeDEE aka Mukhtar Alexander Dan’iyan Comes Forward with Damning Allegations of Fraud, “419” and More.
...Listen in on the interview and feel free to share your thoughts:
In the interview, the woman alleges the following:
1. She was married to him from 2001-2004, and is now divorced. They have a child (son) together.
2. She claims he does not pay child support. The host ask, if you know his location, job and he does not pay chid support, why didn’t you go after him? She responds that she lives in another state plus he always files 1099s. She also claims he uses other women to hide money under various names so it is hard to go after him.
3. She claims he is a fraud. He lives in a house where he does not pay rent and is a squatter. She claims he is a dangerous man.
4. She claims he spends a lot of time on the internet bringing down people. He allegedly has “psychological issues.”
5. She claims women need to be careful because he uses women for his agenda.
6. She claims he is half Nigeria and half Ukranian.
7. According to her, all of the above information is verifiable information via public records.
8. She denies he is a Middle East expert as his twitter profile indicates.She claims he is “broke and poor and swindles people.”
After failing to blackmail Linda Ikeji, Mukhtar ‘Mr. Aye Dee’ Daniyan, a Twitter predator, seeks out another victim, this time Bola Tinubu but it is a journey that has ended even before it began.
The man, who canonized his name and sought to change it from Daniyan to Dan’Iyan, a.k.a. @Mrayedee, never rests nor slumbers in his relentless search for a prey, someone to blackmail. He has been around for a long time, since the days of the struggle against dictatorship but while others fought at the battlefront, he was at the rear with the “gang of four” as described by Prof. Wole Soyinka, sabotaging the efforts of the team and seeking to profit from the struggle.
[b]Here is more of what Prof. Soyinka had to say about ‘Mr. Aye Dee’ in his memoir, “You Must Set Forth at Dawn”:
“One was a self-hating Igbira, a minority tribe from the Nigerian hinterland, whose yearning to be mistaken for a Fulani aristocratic scion had resulted in his changing his name from Daniyan to Dan’Iyan. Partnering him was an ambitious youth from Swarthmore College, Jude Uzowanne. The third member was a labor unionist from Edo in southern Nigeria, Tunde Okorodudu, an activist in his own right who fell under the spell of the fourth member and center of intrigue, the liaison officer for the U.S. Boston chapter, Maureen Idehen, a pharmacist who had worked closely with me and was central to the coordination of activities for much of the United States. Together, this Gang of Four—the accolade was spontaneously bestowed—succeeded in serving a timely lesson on the power lust even among a yet inchoate formation that sought to curb power at its most virulent and malignant. It was a low point in the career of the anti-Abacha movement, suddenly compelled to confront the banal distractions of trite intrigues and personal ambitions. Expelling the miscreants took its toll. The liaison officer, the Boston-based Maureen Idehen, made off with our scant funds, leaving behind a trail of bad checks.”[/b]
Enter @MrAyeAee, the Twitter handle he now deploys as weapon to move from prey to prey, victim to victim, to destroy reputations and pass old, fake and fallacious information over to an unsuspecting public as the gospel truth. He has employed his IT knowledge in the most dubious schemes. But Google has found an answer to his type, thanks to the Linda Ikeji saga that exposed him as a cyber predator and serial blackmailer.
Ayedee or Dan’Iyan covertly and overtly worked to destroy Linda Ikeji, accusing her of plagiarism. Imagine the chief plagiarer pointing fingers. He got Linda’s blog shut down. He thought he could destroy her reputation. But he failed as most blackmailers do. Days after, in an unprecedented decision, Google decided to bring Linda back. Exposed, AyeDee has moved to another prey. This time he is looking for big money and big attention. He has chosen the wrong person to blackmail in Bola Tinubu.
Digging up court documents nearly 20 years old whose veracity are yet to be confirmed, AyeDee has been all over Twitter and Google Plus, slicing up false, old and unverified statements and reports to blackmail Tinubu and his family. Many would want to ask, ‘Why now? Why dig up an open and shut case from the US courts even if it was true?”
The ways of the blackmailer are not hidden. They can dig up anything and serve up anything as new.
Let’s for the sake of argument agree that such court decisions exist and Tinubu was mentioned. Was he ever convicted? No. He was never. The US government sought for a settlement because they could not prove their case against him. Period. So, whose interest is ‘Mr. AyeDee’ serving by bringing up documents about a case that is closed and that has been denied by those mentioned? They were allegations that the US could not prove.
‘Mr. AyeDee’ no doubt has pay masters namely, Musliu Obanikoro, whose credit card crime remains on the books. I challenge him to travel to the USA today if he will not be apprehended. I am willing to buy him a first class return ticket.
Tinubu today travels in and out of America without anyone stopping him. HE TRAVELS IN AND OUT OF EUROPE without anyone stopping him. He is invited and visited to international functions in the USA and Europe. He is well respected. His democratic credentials are unquestionable. A towering figure in Nigerian politics. Tinubu’s place is secured and no amount of regurgitation by the likes of Mukhtar ‘Mr. Aye Dee’ Daniyan can change that.
Plus the loss of land mass that is equivalent to the size to Belgium
Boko Haram controls an area just over 30,000 square km of territory, about the size of Belgium, according to a Reuters calculation based on security sources and government data.
Politics › Re: Exposed: Buhari Tinubu Photo In Doubt by TheOtherview: 8:56am On Feb 25, 2015
Furthermore, my sizeable desktop monitor shows Tinubu has more hair in pic3 and pic4 (below). 
