₦airaland Forum

aletheia:
Dream on about consensus at this late stage of the game. It will never happen. BTW, will Buhari step down for Ribadu if ACN outperforms CPC come Saturday? See how we deceive ourselves?

PapaBrowne:
The timing is late!! These are things they should have done long before the elections. Nigeria isa large with majority of the voters having very little access to media communcation. One week is too short a time to communicate to rural voters in the south west that their candidates have changed.

Anyway, one thing I am glad for is the fact that for the first time in our democracy PDP may not have a majority in the senate/House so they would have no choice but to perform excellently. Jonathan will win the elections and I'm glad to be voting for him. But I must commend Buhari for giving the PDP a good run for the money. After this elections they will never joke with governance!!

Beaf:
Lol! GEJ wasn't ever looking for a deal! He's goal was to scatter them, look at what has happened to NPLF, half of them have gone with GEJ. Dude is very politically astute, people keep calling him names, and he just keeps right on defeating them. What battle has GEJ lost? He always wins quietly and people only realise the fact long after.

GEJ's next target is to cut Buhari support backbone in two. He has foraged far and wide in the North, gathering all the leaders into his camp. I can imagine that there will be a push this week to completly suffocate Buhari's support base. Buhari totally lacks skills and will be used as the greatest weapon against himself. Sit back and watch.

PapaBrowne:
True!! But that is only if Goodluck Jonathan gets no vote in the South West and North Central. Interesting Buhari will lose because he failed to outperform Jonathan in these two areas.

I know how muslims spread their message. Its through the mosques and transistor radios. And that is why he has the bulk of the muslims voting him in the Core North. In the south west however, majority of muslims are liberal and hardly go to the mosque.

Beaf:
You guys stun me! In the same breadth as you cry for blood over corruption, you also cry for preferred candidates to flock with the cabal and other demons.
Do you really have the interest of Nigeria at heart? Something is terribly wrong, its called hypocrisy.

As for "game over," ask Atiku.

Beaf:
Hmmmm! Last I heard, Ribadu and his VP were having dinner with IBB, who enjoyed their company so much that he endorsed them. Things didn't end there though, Ribadu and Buhari were last sghted holding meetings with Ciroma's NPLF, IBB and Atiku to decide the next Northern consensus candidate.

Hmmmmmmm!

PapaBrowne:
I agree with you on the bolded!! That's what keeps me wondering why Buhari has chosen to focus his campaign strictly in the north. Instead of wasting money holding rallies in areas you are so sure of victory, wisdom demands that you go to areas where the PDP doesn't exactly have a very strong showing.

Places like Kogi, Kwara and many parts of the south west could easily have voted Buhari if he constantly pumped the space there with his campaign. All this moving from North West to North East would not help the man get votes!! It doesn't cost too much money to rent the airwaves of a local radio or TV station in states where you could grow your margins!!!

The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) yesterday rejected the campaign jingle of the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) General Muhammadu Buhari on grounds that it contained messages that were offensive to the government. The jingle is the first intended to be run by the CPC on the national network. One of Buhari’s campaign aides who does not want his name in print told Daily Trust that after booking the advert and making necessary payments, they were later told that the jingle would not be ran on NTA because it was critical of government. The NTA authorities therefore demanded that such areas be removed. Director General of the Buhari campaign Alhaji Sule Hamma confirmed the incident, explaining that the jingle was turned down because it contains things like “no good roads,” and so on. “They said it was critical of the PDP government. By implication, NTA belongs to PDP,” he said. When asked what the campaign would do in view of the development, Alhaji Hamma said the CPC will explore constitutional means to seek redress.

He said the regulator body, NBC, has to ensure that every political party gets equal access to the media as provided by the law.

Attempts to speak with the NTA authorities last night failed.

Less than 48 hours to President Jonathan’s grand finale rally in Abuja, the Adamu Ciroma led Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) and the Igbo Political Forum have withdrawn their support for the president, citing what they called his deceptive attitude in the series of talks held recently to find a common ground before the presidential elections.
The two groups, which have been collaborating on the contentious issue of zoning of the presidency, took the decision to dump President Jonathan at a meeting in Abuja yesterday, saying that his failure to give a definite commitment on the issue of his exit in 2015 and where the presidency will shift to was an indication that he is not ready to quit in 2015.

“We have resolved that he [Jonathan] can go it alone because his failure to give a commitment regarding 2015 is imbued with deception. It shows he is not ready to go in 2015,” a dependable source at the meeting said.

“If he is giving the North, let’s know and if he is giving the Igbos, he should say it clearly, and then the Igbos will approach us to seek our support,” he said. He also said the group will in due course make known the presidential candidate that its members will support before the presidential election.

A communiqué released afterwards said the meeting reaffirmed members’ commitment to the principle and practice of zoning and rotation of key political offices in Nigeria, which they considered necessary and sacrosanct for the unity, peace and stability of Nigeria.

“We re-affirmed our position on term limits for key political offices, particularly the office of the President, to the extent that any occupier of the office in 2011 will not seek re-election in 2015, at which time the position will be rotated to another zone,” the communiqué said.

“We have therefore resolved to support any candidate who shares our commitment to these principles and who is committed to practicing it,” it said, stressing that “such a candidate must, as a precondition, exhibit other qualities that are conducive to good governance - honesty, integrity, competence, sound policy direction and requisite experience.”

The leaders then urged their supporters and sympathizers across the country to be “properly guided in their choice of candidates in the forthcoming general elections and to reject any candidate who does not possess these qualities or subscribe to these basic principles, does not honour them and will not realize them if or when he comes into office.”

The communiqué signed by Alhaji Magaji Danbatta, chairman, and Chief Udenta O. Udenta, Secretary, also said a 9-man Technical Committee was set up to examine the issues raised in detail, explore viable options for the coming general election and make recommendation(s) to the plenary within the shortest possible time.”

The also condemned the culture of impunity and high level of intolerance, particularly “the intimidation, harassment and muzzling of political opponents by incumbent governments at all levels and the denial of right of assembly to opposition parties, including the denial of space for them to conduct their political campaigns.”

The leaders argued that “the tension, violence, desperation for power, and the culture of impunity and intolerance that have thus far characterized the electioneering campaigns are directly related to the culture of dishonesty that has crept into our political life as well as consequences of the attempt by certain political elite to jettison enduring principles for national political consensus building and political inclusiveness.”

“This ugly trend, if not arrested, is capable of derailing our democracy and of creating alternative means for the expression of dissent and discontent,” the communiqué warned.

Top among those NPLF side include Malam Adamu Ciroma, General Ibrahim Babangida, Atiku Abubakar, Alhaji Magaji Danbatta, Professor Ango Abdullahi and Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura.

Prominent among the Igbo leaders who attended include Senator Ben Obi, ABC Nwosu, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Chief Dubem Onyia, and Chief Benjamin Apugo.

The meeting also recalled that on 10 August, 2010, the NPLF and the South-East Consultative Forum, now Igbo Political Forum, had met at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua centre in Abuja to renew the age-old strategic partnership between the North and the South East and to develop a unified position on the issue of power sharing in the context of Nigeria’s political experience since 1999.

Speaking on the preparation for the election, the meeting noted the efforts of INEC, especially the “improved voter registration” and the intensity of public enlightenment but observed that INEC, political parties and the judiciary have been unable to resolve the issue of candidates in some constituencies.

“This is a recipe for chaos,” the communiqué said and called on all stakeholders to play their part to ensure that the general elections do not follow the path of the previous elections as the conduct of free and fair election is not the responsibility of INEC alone.

Beaf:
Really? If you had been on NL just last year, you would have witnessed the way govt people dished death threats live. Today, there is no such thing anywhere.
Just last year as well, Ribadu was a fugitive in exile and fearing for his life, today he is in Nigeria contesting for the highest office. On several occasions, almajiri's have thrown stones at the Presidential convoy, they are still all alive, but just last year, the villages were the incidents occurred would most likely have been razed to the ground and the almajiri's summarily executed. Same goes for the taxi driver that rammed Jonathans car, he was arraigned in court. . .Alive.
Do I need to go on?

Under GEJ, Nigeria has changed dramatically.

Beaf:
Have you heard of "triangulation?" Its a political term for the Nigerian version of divide and rule. . . Ours is called "kill and divide" though, cos its merciless. GEJ has done it so well that poor Ciroma is totally rinsed! Even as spends his last gasps spitting blood at GEJ, his very own dear wife is on the campaign trail for Goodluck/Sambo! Revenge is best served cold.

Its called high politics, and those bufoons had no clue what was coming! Being so used to the politics of almajiri crowds and stone throwing. Yes, Ciroma has many reasons to be even more bitter than he was at the time of Atiku's loss.

Beaf:
Dude, I don't know about you, but Nigeria has changed. And it has changed for the better, never ever to return to the days of ethnic mafia's. The last embres are burning in Ciroma's eye's and he'll most likely have a heart attack as soon as GEJ's victory is announced. As for any rioting almajiri's, the thing that usually happens to them and the likes of Boko Haram will happen and Nigerians will clap.

Beaf:
Ciroma and his expired flock of old bats and decripit vultures!!!
Who cares?

Beaf:
Of course, I posted an article that clearly bears todays date in the past. Dude, you don't sound too clever, you must be tired, go and sleep.

The Mallam Adamu Ciroma led Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) and the South-East Consultative Forum, now Igbo Political Forum yesterday resolved not to support the presidential ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential election.

NPLF's new resolve in collaboration with the South Eastern leaders, Peoples Daily reliably gathered, was as a result of President Jonathan's failure to meet the two key demands of the groups concerning tenure and the return of power to the North in 2015.

The NPLF, at a meeting with the President at the Abuja residence of Ciroma recently put those demands before Jonathan requesting him to promise to spend only one term in office commit himself to the return of the presidency to the North in 2015.

Those demands were also put on the table by the three former PDP presidential aspirants; Gen Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Gen. Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (rtd) at their meeting with President Jonathan penultimate week in Abuja.

The insistence of the trio on having the President's commitment in writing was said to have resulted in the meeting ending in deadlock.

Although President Jonathan is keen to win the support of the NPLF, because of its perceived influence both within and outside the PDP, the party's Board of Trustees (BoT) last week warned the President not to enter into agreement with NPLF or any other group for a support.

In a joint communiqué announcing their stand issued yesterday, after their meeting, they stated that, "We reaffirmed our commitment to the principle and practice of zoning and rotation of key political offices in Nigeria, which we consider necessary and sacrosanct for the unity, peace and stability of Nigeria. We have therefore resolved to support any candidate who share our commitment to these principles and who is committed to practicing it. Such a candidate must, as a precondition, exhibit other qualities that are conducive to good governance - honesty, integrity, competence, sound policy direction and requisite experience. It is our conviction that the tension, violence, desperation for power, and the culture of impunity and intolerance that have thus far characterized the electioneering campaigns are directly related to the culture of dishonesty that has crept into our political life as well as consequences of the attempt by certain political elite to jettison enduring principles for national political consensus building and political inclusiveness. Those who come to equity, it is said, must come with clean hands.

"We re-affirmed our position on term limits for key political offices, particularly the office of the President, to the extent that any occupier of the office in 2011 will not seek re-election in 2015, at which time the position will be rotated to another zone," the communiqué further stated.

It stated that a 9-man Technical Committee has been set up to examine these issues in detail, explore viable options for the general election and make recommendation(s) to the plenary within the shortest possible time.