₦airaland Forum

Small Doctor endorse Buhari-Osinbajo reelection
Popular Nigerian musician, Adekunle Temitope, aka Small Doctor has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for re-election in next week's presidential polls.
Small Doctor made the endorsement on his official Instagram account on Saturday. He also posted an animated video.
He explained that he was inspired to endorse President Buhari and VP Osinbajo after a meeting with Buhari-Osinbajo South West Support Group (BOSWG), a group led by Lagos based PR expert & Ife Princess Temilade Aderemi Okesanjo.
Buhari and Osinbajo are seeking re-election on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The musician deployed the tune and rhythm of his hit song, Penalty, to support the duo who he credited for fighting corruption and developing Nigeria.
“After meeting with the BOSWG, I believe we should stand up for what we believe in. We all should support and re-elect President Buhari,” he posted along with the animated video on Saturday morning.
Asides endorsing President Buhari’s re-election, Small Doctor urged Nigerians against selling their votes to other candidates.
“If you no vote Buhari, hide your face, won ti gba opposition lo throwing,” he said in the song.
BOSWSG led by Princess Temilade Aderemi Okesanjo, is one of the leading groups that support President Buhari and Prof Osinbajo’s re-election and it is also a group that Small Doctor supports.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has dismissed reports and claims that President Muhammadu Buhari or anyone for that matter has plans to Islamize Nigeria.

Osinbajo who resumed his unique Family Chat at Kurudu, FCT, told a mammoth crowd that no one is trying to impose any single religion on the country.

He explained that the propaganda peddled by naysayers is aimed at discrediting President Buhari who already has a record that shows he is a detribalized leader.

“I have interacted with this man (President Buhari), he is an honest man, he has no intention whatsoever of imposing his religion on anybody at all,” he told the crowd at Kurudu.

Prof Osinbajo added that, “In our cabinet, there are 20 people who are Christians, 18 who are Muslims and our Head of Service (Winifred Oyo-Ita) is a Christian from Winners Chapel. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Boss Mustapha) who is the highest civil servant is also a Christian, so there is no way in the world that anybody will tell you that. They are only spreading propaganda and they are trying to discredit the man (Buhari) but they are telling a lie,” Osinbajo said.

Prof Osinbajo added that this was how they previously lied that President Buhari was sponsoring Boko Haram and had told the terrorist group to attack the Jonathan government.

“In 2015 when we were coming into office, they said this man (Buhari) is the one sponsoring Boko Haram, they said it was because he didn’t mean well for Jonathan’s government, but it was a lie because on 24th July, 2014, Boko Haram attacked Buhari in Kaduna, killed 82 people including seven of Buhari’s relatives who were with him”.

“That is the same Boko Haram that they claimed he was sponsoring but now everybody knows that his not behind Boko Haram, the same Muhammadu Buhari is the one who drove Maitatsine out of this county, when Maitatsine was in this country and he is doing same thing to Boko Haram.

Osinbajo had earlier visited the family of late Major Solomon Kabiru Umaru.

The gallant army officer passed out from Nigeria Defence Academy in 2003. His last unit was 143 battalion, Ovin. He died on the 17th December 2014 serving the nation in the North East.

Prof Osinbajo also had a chat with his wife, Mrs Gloria Umaru and three kids Ruth, Solomon Jnr and Sarah.

The unique Family Chat style campaign by Prof Osinbajo is being taken to every segment of the populace

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has stated that the job creation and empowerment initiative of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government will treble when the government is re-elected on February 16.



Osinbajo who headlined Ondo and Ekiti State campaign rallies along President Muhammadu Buhari reiterated the commitment of the government to create jobs and create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs.



He explained that the APC government will continue to ensure that the monies of the people work for the people, insisting that even the enemies of President Buhari know that he is a man of integrity and uprightness.



He then assured the crowd that more unemployed graduates will be coopted into the N-Power scheme, tripling the figure from 500,000 to 1.5 million.



“The successful persons here are the ones who have decided to vote for a leader that fights tooth and nail against corruption and such a leader is President Muhammadu Buhari,” Prof Osinbajo said at the Ondo Presidential rally.



“I’ll be speaking on the three cardinal issues that are of paramount importance to this administration and one is, work for the youths. “The President is really interested in ensuring that our youths are gainfully employed. Our universities and polytechnics produce 1.7 million graduates annually and these graduates enter into the labour market after NYSC.”



“This was the main reason why we had to set up the N-Power scheme,” he said.



“We currently employ 500 thousand persons, but this is just the start as our target in the next level is to employ 1.5m individuals.”



“Power is the second item on our list, if electricity was available, we would all enjoy the benefits at our homes and work places which would only mean higher quality of work from our artisans. The issue of estimated billing comes a result of the companies that NEPA was sold to in 2005 not being able to perform up to capacity and as such we are looking to bring in new players into the fold. Companies that can transmit the power being generated to the people that need it.”



“Home Grown Feeding is another scheme that we are hoping to improve on. Currently the scheme feeds 9.2m children but at the Next Level, this figure is expected to grow up to 13million as we expand to cover all the states from the current 26 participants.



“This scheme is helping to engage our cooks and farmers on whose behalf we are entering into partnership with Brazil to provide us with equipment such as tractors and combined harvesters to spur on mechanized farming.”



“All the above can and would be achieved if we all here present vote for President Buhari, the man who was responsible for the construction of three of Nigeria’s Four refineries, over 3,500 km of pipelines.



“A man whose character profile is snow white clean when compared to his main challenger who not only publicly stated he was going to sell off the state owned NNPC but enrich his friends as well, if he came to power”.



Prof Osinbajo urged the teeming crowd to vote for the APC at all levels before he rounded off his speech with his signature tune, “Oke Oke Lan Lo oooo” (We are going higher and higher).

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others — Nelson Mandela

The stated mission of Amnesty International, an NGO founded by Peter Benenson in 1961 is to “campaign for a world in which all of the persons enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other International Human Rights Instruments. It is an organisation that was started by a pulse; a pulse felt by a man to justify the disgust of people who feel repulsed and disgusted by the various injustices around the world and their concomitant helplessness.

Their work was recognised when in 1977, they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the defence of human dignity and a UN prize in the field of human rights, in 1978. Their reach expanded and they came to Nigeria. And a cordial relationship started. However, a once-smooth relationship is now being threatened by a posture anew, open bias and misreported happenings.

The fight against terror in Nigeria popped up around 2009. What we watched on TV and from afar played out in our very own lives. The sanctity of places of worships was defiled. People died in their hundreds daily from bomb explosions. Military installations were attacked and military hardware were sometimes carted away. The gusto show by the terrorists, Boko Haram was scary. Flags were hoisted in communities they controlled while making the inhabitants pay tax.

The military was ill-equipped and badly motivated to fight Boko Haram controlled areas bigger than the entirety of Belgium, people couldn’t go to worship without being frisked for explosive devices.

Now! enter the Buhari administration. “Victory Is From God Alone” is the motto of the Nigerian Army. Pre Buhari administration, Nigerian soldiers ran away from the theatre of operations, under the guise of “tactical maneuvering” whatever that meant.

In the same vein, the terrorists are being decimated gradually. Areas they held sway was snatched away by gallant men of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Towns were liberated, schools reopened, social life came back to what it was, farmers resumed farming, major roads were reopened. The progress made by the Nigerian Armed Forces in neutralising Boko Haram Terrorists is very visible for all and sundry.

However, Amnesty International has persistently been misinforming Nigerians and the world about the myriad of crisis being faced internally and being solved by the security agencies. Amnesty seems not to care about the 30,000 Nigerians killed by Boko Haram and how the current administration is re-integrating hitherto internally displaced persons (IDPs) back to their communities, while recovering abducted Nigerians.

Conversely, under the Buhari administration, the relationship with our neighbours under the auspices of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) is firm and the result can be felt in the cross-border strikes where camps and armorers of the terrorists are being destroyed and neutralised. The Presidential assistant, on Media & Publicity Garba Shehu was apt, when he posited that “It often appears as if the Nigerian government is fighting two wars on terror: against Boko Haram and against Amnesty International”

Rather than join hands with the Armed Forces in this fight, Amnesty International has made it a routine to always puncture whatever successes the Nigerian Armed Forces records. The organisation releases statistics and statements that, according to it proves that Nigerian Army is unethical and unprofessional. It goes along to say things and even as far as publishing reports that makes Nigeria a sort of orphan in the market of military hardware.

This happened circa 2014 when the United States couched its decision of not selling hardware to Nigeria in a Leahy Law. This same organisation turns around in full circle to accuse the army of being “unprofessional”. It is always like the army is battling to combat the scourge of Boko Haram on one hand and the twisted narratives thrown around by AI on the other. AI has this tendency to recycle stories to downplay the efforts of the Army and the Nigerian Government.

Nevertheless, these stories, for whatever reasons they were recycled, look like a clear attempt to undermine the army, jeopardize the war on terror and constantly black-paint the successes recorded by the Armed Forces. It always trumps the human rights card. It would appear that AI has made it its mission to create confusion and derail Nigeria’s war effort with lies and conspiracy theories without solid evidence. When you press for more evidence from AI, you hear tales like we “protect our sources”.

One must note that, the timing and title of their last report was laced with desperation to truncate Nigeria’s war effort and send a signal of fear as Nigerians prepare to vote. The military registered its dismay to an unfair claim that OWN troops abandoned their deployment which led to the killing of innocent Nigerians. This claim is not only bereft of truth, but in its usual mannerism, another futile effort by AI to portray the Nigerian military as incapable and project the Nigerian government as not protective of her people in the eyes of the global community.

To underscore how the Nigerian Military had been willing to share its activity with AI for mutual understanding, a meeting with AI in Abuja — at the promptings of the Nigerian Military- took place, first of its kind anywhere in the world. Here, the army briefed AI on their activities and even answered questions. This is a first as no other country’s armed forces has accorded Amnesty that respect.

A human rights desk was established by the army to further underscore the importance and premium the army places on lives. Nigerian Army has strived to improve civil-military relations by interfacing with stakeholders, NGOs, CSOs and the media. Nigerian Army has collaborated with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), International Community For Red Cross (ICRC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) amongst numerous others. Soldiers even go as far as conducting sanitation of areas they stay/camp to boost civil-military relations.

The Federal Government has been proactive in its fight against terror. The evidence is the massive reduction of bomb blast across the country. Different battalions, Strike teams, Forward Operating Bases (FOB’s), Quick Response Wing (QRS) have been planned and established in these flash points.

Hitherto comatose Aircraft have been reactivated by men of the Nigerian Air Force, under its Research & Development saving millions of dollars, dozens of platforms procured. The synergy between the armed forces is such that the Airforce goes on Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) and helps the army with actionable intelligence which aides it to neutralize terrorists with their superior and precise fire power.

However, AI alleges that arrests haven’t been made on the farmers-herders crisis. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It’s amazing how AI, despite all the researching wizardry it’s known for, it missed the news of a key mastermind of the conflict, Alhaji Aliyu Tashaku who is in prison for deaths in this ugly conflict between farmers and herders. The army has made many more arrests.

The Minister of Information noted that “947 suspects have been arrested in connection with the farmers-herders clashes. While, 841 suspects are being prosecuted. Infact, 16 of the accused persons have been convicted.”

On mopping up of illegal weapons, It’s on record that, last year — a round of heavy weaponry were harvested in Rivers State, when 22,430 militants, agitators, criminals, cultists and sundry characters embraced the amnesty offer of the state government, and surrendered about 1,000 firearms, 7,661 rounds of ammunition, and 147 explosives. Smugglers were arrested for the unlawful importation of 49 boxes containing a total number of 661 high -calibre guns.

Also, the Nigeria Police has recovered 9,657 illegal firearms and illegal ammunition in the possession of suspected militias, bandits, armed herdsmen and farmers in a nationwide mop up exercise.

An update on their actions is very evident on their Twitter handle. It is left for Amnesty International to decide what it wants; a partner in progress or barrier in the project?

Akanji is a security analyst, and writes on topical issues from Abuja

VP Osinbajo resumes Family Chat in Kurudu, FCT this morning in the home of Late Major Solomon Kabiru Umaru. He passed out from Nigeria Defence Academy in 2003. His last unit was 143 battalion Ovin. Died on the 17th Dec 2014 serving the nation in the North East.

He was married to Mrs Gloria Umaru and he is blessed with three kids (Ruth, Solomon Jnr and Sarah)

For those who take The Economist prediction as gospel, you might be in for a long haul because they do have a handful of failed poll predictions that has hurt their believers hard in times past.

In 2016, they put Hillary Clinton to the sword by falsely making her and her campaign team believe that they will win. Here’s how The Economist predicted the outcome of the 2016 election in the United States.

“Could it happen? Absolutely. But it would be a very, very big upset—about as likely as, say, the Chicago Cubs baseball team coming back from a three-games-to-one deficit to win their first World Series since 1908. So yeah, Hillary’s got this. Democrats, just ask a Cleveland Indians fan whether you have anything to worry about.”

We all know what happened at the end. Clinton lost and Trump won. The Economist misled them and billions across the world. Coming back home for a bit. In December 2018, The Economist predicted that incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari will win a second term in office and that the opposition will collapse.

The Economist in its edition, “The World in 2019” said: “The president, Muhammadu Buhari, will win re-election in February, as the new opposition coalition may collapse before the vote.

Just to state categorically, the quote from The Economist claimed two things. One is that President Buhari will be re-elected and that the opposition will collapse before the elections. One thing is clear, President Buhari is clear favourites to win if the campaign rallies across the country are anything to go by.

President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have embarked on a more proactive and people-oriented campaigns than any other party in Nigerian democratic history. The mammoth crowds at the rallies are also a confirmation that the presidential duo is loved.

Fast forward to February 2019, barely two weeks before the presidential election in Nigeria, the supposedly reputed magazine did a U-turn and claimed that the main opposition party will win.

Please stop for a minute and take a deep breath, do you expect the truth from a man who speaks from both sides of his mouth?

Little wonder, economic historian and professor of Economics, Bradford DeLong wrote this about The Economist, “As a longtime reader of The Economist, let me just say that in the past six years I have come to the conclusion that in five important issue areas--U.S. politics, U.S. economics, finance (U.S. and global), Middle Eastern politics, and African politics — anything The Economist states that I did not already know is likely to be wrong... And it's the reason I pay much more attention these days to the Financial Times.”

In all fairness, there is nothing left of The Economist’s credibility when it comes to political calculations and predictions. Hopefully, The Economist will have the decency to apologise to Nigerians after the elections on 16 February.

*Akinloye is President of Initiative to Save Democracy. He is a social commentator and political analyst*

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE


*How he briefed G.O on his recent campaign efforts

*Lists names of those with him on the helicopter during testimony


TESTIMONY OF VICE PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, DURING A THANKSGIVING SERVICE HELD AT THE RCCG, CITY OF GRACE, LOKOJA, KOGI STATE, ON SUNDAY, 3RD FEBRUARY, 2019


On Friday, we went to (RCCG) camp; usually, I attend our Holy Ghost service. We came in very late from Akwa Ibom State. In fact, we arrived just in time for the grace at the end of the service.

Thereafter, our daddy in the Lord, (G.O) Pastor Adeboye, wanted to speak to me. He asked me how things were going on, the campaign activities and all that, and I explained everything; what I was doing on the campaign trail and all of that, some of the challenges.

He then said, I am going to pray for you. He said a prayer that turned out to be very interesting because usually, as you know, he doesn’t pray for long.

He said “Lord God Almighty, I want you to protect this man,” He said it three times and paused, then he continued. “You know how very dear he is to my heart. I want you to protect him.” I found it very funny that he repeated it several times and then he prayed for favour and other things.

So, when the crash happened, immediately it dawned on me that the Lord God had led him to say that very special prayer. And the Lord God Almighty delivered us in accordance with His word that, “even when 10,000 fall by our side, no harm whatsoever, will come near us.” I just want to thank the Almighty God for His grace and mercy that has been so abundant in my life and in all of our lives who are here.

(Earlier the VP had called up members of his entourage who were with him in the Chopper and who were in the church to join him at the altar.

They are: Labour Minister, Stephen Ocheni; & Mr. Femi Osinbajo, VP'S elder brother. He also called the names of Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser; & Ambassador Abdullahi Gwary, SSA Foreign Affairs/Protocol - although both of them were not in the service.

Others are Mr. Laolu Akande, the VP's Spokesman; Dr Biodun Adelowo, Personal Physician; Mr. Doyin Adetuberu, Security Officer; and Ayoola Oladunni, ADC).

This is my older brother, the same father, same mother. Our father passed on long ago, but our mother is alive. If both of us had lost our lives on the same day, that would have been an absolute tragedy, but God saved that from happening. We are truly grateful to the Almighty God and we bless the name of the Lord. And for all of you who are rejoicing with us today, your homes will be filled with rejoicing. You will not know tragedy, you will not know harm, all the days of your lives will be filled with rejoicing.”


Released by:

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
4th February, 2019

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE


*How he briefed G.O on his recent campaign efforts

*Lists names of those with him on the helicopter during testimony


TESTIMONY OF VICE PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, DURING A THANKSGIVING SERVICE HELD AT THE RCCG, CITY OF GRACE, LOKOJA, KOGI STATE, ON SUNDAY, 3RD FEBRUARY, 2019


On Friday, we went to (RCCG) camp; usually, I attend our Holy Ghost service. We came in very late from Akwa Ibom State. In fact, we arrived just in time for the grace at the end of the service.

Thereafter, our daddy in the Lord, (G.O) Pastor Adeboye, wanted to speak to me. He asked me how things were going on, the campaign activities and all that, and I explained everything; what I was doing on the campaign trail and all of that, some of the challenges.

He then said, I am going to pray for you. He said a prayer that turned out to be very interesting because usually, as you know, he doesn’t pray for long.

He said “Lord God Almighty, I want you to protect this man,” He said it three times and paused, then he continued. “You know how very dear he is to my heart. I want you to protect him.” I found it very funny that he repeated it several times and then he prayed for favour and other things.

So, when the crash happened, immediately it dawned on me that the Lord God had led him to say that very special prayer. And the Lord God Almighty delivered us in accordance with His word that, “even when 10,000 fall by our side, no harm whatsoever, will come near us.” I just want to thank the Almighty God for His grace and mercy that has been so abundant in my life and in all of our lives who are here.

(Earlier the VP had called up members of his entourage who were with him in the Chopper and who were in the church to join him at the altar.

They are: Labour Minister, Stephen Ocheni; & Mr. Femi Osinbajo, VP'S elder brother. He also called the names of Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser; & Ambassador Abdullahi Gwary, SSA Foreign Affairs/Protocol - although both of them were not in the service.

Others are Mr. Laolu Akande, the VP's Spokesman; Dr Biodun Adelowo, Personal Physician; Mr. Doyin Adetuberu, Security Officer; and Ayoola Oladunni, ADC).

This is my older brother, the same father, same mother. Our father passed on long ago, but our mother is alive. If both of us had lost our lives on the same day, that would have been an absolute tragedy, but God saved that from happening. We are truly grateful to the Almighty God and we bless the name of the Lord. And for all of you who are rejoicing with us today, your homes will be filled with rejoicing. You will not know tragedy, you will not know harm, all the days of your lives will be filled with rejoicing.”


Released by:

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
4th February, 2019

NBA PRESIDENT SHOULD LEAVE NJC

The ruling of the Court of Appeal that the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen should go and answer to his charges at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) is a vindication of President Buhari’s suspension of the Chief Justice, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said.

The group in, a statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, its Chairman and Secretary respectively, stated that the ruling by the Appeal Court re-affirmed the fact that Justice Onnoghen has a serious matter to answer to, and that the Tribunal has the powers to entertain that matter rightly, and as such also has the power to make an order for his suspension pending the conclusion of the matter.

The group also noted that the ruling of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Abdul Aboki, further affirms that: “the call by Paul Usoro(SAN), chairman of the NBA that the courts be boycotted showed that the man who heads the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) lacks an understanding of basic principles of the rule of law and does not appreciate the issue of jurisdiction of courts to matters.

“We also commend the various NBA branches that did not heed the senseless call for a boycott, but went ahead to attend court sessions and honor their clients and the temple of justice.

“This also shows that Paul Usoro has lost his credibility in the NBA due to his proclivity to defend corruption and stand for what is wrong - a characteristic that should not be synonymous with the Nigerian Bar Association.”

The BMO also called on the NBA Chairman to recuse himself from membership of the National Judicial Council(NJC), stating that a man who is facing serious allegations of corruption with the EFCC should not be found deciding the fate of people with similar moral burdens.

The statement noted that the NBA Chairman had also brought disrepute to the association, stating that the NBA was becoming an institution of ridicule because of the tainted leadership of Paul Usoro. “This should not be so as the association is made up of thousands of members with honor and integrity who should not be identified with corruption”.

The group noted that Paul Usoro was now also using the NBA as a tool to fight the institutions fighting corruption.

“Paul Usoro, a man facing serious allegations of corruption in the court is now using the Nigerian Bar Association to fight the institutions constitutionally mandated to fight corruption, including the courts.

“His kangaroo instruction to legal practitioners to boycott the courts was not just embarrassing and unfortunate; it was a mockery and an insult to the legal profession. Asides the fact that lawyers owe it as a duty to represent their clients in courts, they are not meant to insult their practice and the temples of justice by boycotting the courts.”

The group noted that the call for a boycott of courts by Paul Usoro was indeed corruption fighting back.

The group stated that Paul Usoro already had a damaged reputation, and lacked moral authority to lead the Nigerian Bar Association, stating that his leadership was bringing the association to disrepute.

The spate of criticisms and ‘concerns’ about President Muhammadu Buhari’s health is most regrettable, uncalled for and outrightly reprehensible. The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) says it is a smokescreen to embarrass and distract the President.

The group made this assertion in response to insinuations in the media, and a law suit, challenging the health status of the President. BMO made particular reference to a press statement signed by Ugochinyere Ikenga, spokesperson of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) in which the organisation stated that the President is not healthy enough to lead the nation for another four years, and that the courts should order President Buhari to make public his health status.



In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO asked Nigerians to dismiss “the moronic claim from Ikenga. He is the kind of person that is giving the Nigerian Bar Association a bad name, bringing all sorts of malicious lawsuits and invectives against the person of the President, He should be reminded that under the National Health Law any adult has the right to disclose or withhold his or her health Status.



“Aside from that, what could be more telling of the President's fitness when he has visited 21 states in the last two weeks, 18 states twice and three states once.

“President Buhari has shown that at his age, he is a hard worker, going by things he has put in place in three and a half years: the roads, the rail system, power supply etc. These are unprecedented achievements. No head of government has done half that in Nigeria’s history.

“In any case, President Buhari is not a Robo cop, he is a mortal like any one of us and can fall ill at any time- again, just like any of us. We at BMO are proud to be associated with him for the things he has done, which are unmatched and unmatchable especially by the ruinous People’s Democratic Party (PDP) elements.”

BMO said despite Buhari’s hectic campaign tours, to more than half of the States, “he has not abandoned his normal duties. Also, in all the states where he has campaigned, he has commissioned several Federal Government projects.

“Of course, we understand why PDP, in its blurred vision, cannot see any of this. We strongly recommend that PDP leadership should see the nearest Psychiatrist for evaluation and cure for their multiple neuroses. Perhaps then they will see what others are seeing.

“Pensioners are jubilant, workers being owed a back-log of salaries have being settled. There is endorsement galore; students, oil marketers, traders, fishermen, farmers and beneficiaries of Social Investment Programme (SIP) are all singing the Presidents praises.” BMO said only the myopic and people in perpetual denial will still challenge or doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari is fit, in good health, and more than able, physically and mentally, to discharge the duties of his office for the next four years.”

BMO says the CUPP spokes person Ikenga should be ashamed of himself “for collecting peanuts for character assassination. we want to remind the public that this ‘no chamber’, ‘charge and bail CAC lawyer’ was an aide to Bukola Saraki. Just a few years ago, he was parading himself as President of Youth Council of Nigeria.

“Ikenga should be reminded that pouring out the pot-pourri of invectives won't get to President Buhari’s base, a sea of patriots in all the states he has gone to in the last two weeks, unlike the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar who spent two weeks in Dubai for Medical treatment, only for his handlers to come out of that two-week haze with a compendium of what is now infamously known as the ‘Dubai Strategy’.



“We know Ikenga is only playing his role in the Dubai Strategy, so we are not bothered. President Muhammadu Buhari remains committed to lifting Nigerians out of Poverty, so far over 13 million Nigerians have been touched by his Social Investment Programme and the next level is definitely going to be more telling in the lives of the average citizen”, BMO added.

NAN Newsroom

News Agency of Nigeria –

*Adeboye leads service in gratitude for VP's deliverance


Thanksgiving

By Stephen Adeleye
Lokoja, Feb. 3, 2019 (NAN) Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday said that no amount of thanksgiving and praises to God would be enough for saving his life and nine others in Saturday’s helicopter crash.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Vice President survived an helicopter accident at Kabba in Kogi.

Osinbajo spoke during a Thanksgiving service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of Grace, Lokoja.

“Only God can take the glory for saving my life and that of the nine crew members on board.”

He said that it would have been a breaking news on local and international media that Vice President Osinbajo and nine crew members died in an helicopter crash, but God had not allowed such to happen.

“No amount of thanksgiving and praises to God would be enough for saving my life and nine crew on board.

“God is the one who can do all things, and only him can take the glory; we return the glory to him.

“We are here to say thank you, thank you JESUS. We bless his name forever and ever,” he said.

He prayed God to bless all the people that have celebrated with him in the state, the nation and the world at large.

“All I have to say is that we are grateful and we are moving to the next level; the Lord will uphold us to the next level and Kogi will be number one,” Osinbanjo said.

Earlier, in a live telecast from the RCCG headquarters, Lagos, the General Overseer of the church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, asked the congregation to rise and give glory to God for saving the live of his son, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, from a crash.

According to Adeboye, the devil wanted to take the life of Yemi Osinbajo, but God put the devil to shame.

He, therefore, asked the congregation to specially appreciate God on behalf of the Vice President and all the crew onboard, for his supernatural protection, saying Nigeria would not mourn.

In his sermon, entitled: “Carriers of Glory”, Adeboye said for anybody to carry glory, he must be a true child of God and live a life of holiness.

Taking his lesson from the Bible in the book of Matthew 5 : 14- 15, he said: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

“As a carrier of glory, anywhere you arrive the darkness will automatically disappear.

“When God begins to use you, the glory belongs to God and you, so you must learn to always give glory to God.

“Do not take the glory to yourself because it is not yours, it belongs to God,” Adeboye said.

Dignitaries that attended the service included: Speaker, Kogi House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole; Secretary to the State Government, Dr Ayoade Arike; Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Comdr. Jerry Omodara; commissioners and Sen. Smart Adeyemi.
(NAN)

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT 

PRESS RELEASE
 

*Continues Next Level engagements in Kogi

 
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has expressed thanks to Nigerians for their concern following the chopper incident earlier today in Kabba, Kogi State.
 
The chopper carrying the Vice President had crash landed after a landing incident, but everyone is safe.
 
Prof. Osinbajo is now in Kabba after the incident and continuing his engagements in the State, engaging the people on the Next Level plan of the Buhari administration. 
 
“We are safe and sound. Thank you to everyone who has expressed concern, and thank you to the crew who managed and the situation well. We believe that God will continue to keep us and Nigeria safe even as we go higher. We continue Next level engagements in Kabba, Kogi State,” the Vice President said.
 
Speaking at the Obaro of Kabba’s Palace, his first stop in his ongoing visit to Kogi State, Prof. Osinbajo expressed gratitude to God for the deliverance from the Chopper crash.
 
He added, “We are extremely grateful to the Lord for preserving our lives from the incident that just happened. Everyone is safe and no one is maimed. God has kept us safe and alive, delivered us from death so we can do more for our people and country.”
 
 
 
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
2nd February, 2019

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has arrived Kabba, Kogi State today. His Chopper had crash landed after a landing incident, but everyone is safe.

Prof. Osinbajo now in Kabba after the incident and continuing his engagements in the State, engaging the people on the Next Level plan of the Buhari administration.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
2nd February, 2019

He ( VP Osinbajo ) woke up in the morning and dashed to the airport for Yola in Adamawa State to address the annual conference of the Lutheran Church. He stood for 40 minutes without a prepared speech and held the mammoth crowd spell bound.

He moved on from there to Uyo where he did a home visit, visitations to a market in Ikot Ekpene and another in Uyo township.

We thought he was done, suddenly he asked the convoy to stop on the street of Uyo and thousands of people joined him shouting APC and Sai Baba.

We did about two kilometers on the road and with admirers of our party pushing and shoving and making their way to shake hands with him and take selfies.

From the Street Walk we drove to Ibom Hotels, a good distance from the town and entered a hall filled with men of God. Several questions thereafter he kept going strong his faith and self discipline being his guide

Down in a bigger hall were about a thousand business men and entrepreneurs waiting to be addressed on their concerns on business, government policies as it relates to the South South and Akwa Ibom State.
He calmly took their questions. I heard one in the audience said “this man is a genius” . There was no issue he failed to address from water ways to Oku Iboku Paper Mill Industry, Aluminium Smelting Company at Ikot Abasi to Coastal rail as well as the recurring issue of fighting corruption.

As a younger person with about four years in between us my legs were already reluctant and failing to obey me. He keeps going on and on and you begin to wonder what about this professor and pastor?

As at writing it is 9.05 pm and he is still talking , marketing the government and its policies, dispelling negative perceptions and winning souls for our party and government.
I have been part of campaigns since 1999 when I traveled around with an uncle who who was a top member of the Unity Party of Nigeria, my foray into campus politics, professional unionism down to my work with Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 1999 and the Ekiti engagements I have never seen anything like this. I am sneezing as I am writing and my nose running with Dr Ebi Awosika passing tissue paper to me but my principal is still bouncing as if he just got up from bed at the crow of the cock at dawn. I thought I was strong here is someone stronger than strong.

You know what he must still get to Lagos tonight and he will drive to Ogun State for an engagement. What a life? What a day? What a man?

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a trained health inspection officer who worked for the Nigerian Customs Service and as the Vice President of Nigeria, is seen by many as an irredeemably corrupt person who many see as corruption personified for the following reasons:

* He bought the PDP ticket to be its Presidential candidate in Port Harcourt by inducing each of the delegates that voted for him $5, 000;
* Making false claim of employing 100, 000 workers in his businesses;
* As PDP Vice President he implemented the instruction of his boss and orchestrated the kidnapping and detention of the Governor of Anambra state, Dr. Ngige;
* He conspired with his boss, President Obasanjo to illegally withheld FAAC allocation for Lagos States’ Local Government Areas;
* They rigged out AD Governors in the South West in 2003 by deploying subterfuge and criminal force;
* He played leading roles in the Halliburton scandal, the Siemens fraud, the Malabu Oil field criminal deal for which he was indicted;
* His money laundering case and indictment in the United States of America has been so thoroughly documented that, it will remain indelible forever;
* His role in handing over public assets built by patriotic Nigerians over the years to his friends for a token is proof of his lack of patriotism;
* Atiku Abubakar promised to enrich his friends by selling-off the family silver to them cheaply should he become the President of Nigeria;
* Atiku’s letter to foreign countries to fight the Buhari Administration on the CJN case exposes his status as a quisling of the West and an unpatriotic man who wants see his country ruined by others;
* Atiku on National Television bragged about how he stopped a former Governor of Anambra State, Chinwoke Mbadinuju from getting his second term.

Election campaign seasons always come with lots of animated drama, and sometimes pure comedy. How else would a sane adult mind conjure some things like this latest ridiculously desperate action by none other than the notorious CUPP, a coalition with no sensible bearing? By asking that President Buhari be declared medically unfit to seek re-election, they have only shown how shallow their thinking is, which comes as no surprise.

When a rag-tag army of disgruntled elements seeking a shred of relevance where there can never be none, decide to continue disturbing the peace of a country, we can only give them a passing glance because they are merely exercising their freedom of speech. Whether this expression makes any logical meaning is a whole different ball game.

Some lawsuits are clearly dead on arrival right from where the idea was finalized, so it will definitely come as no surprise when this gets thrown out for lack of any merit and is adjudged a total waste of the time of any competent law court in the land. If this was from the Nigerian Medical Association, one might even be tempted take the claims by CUPP seriously, but the comedy is unending as Imo Ugochinyere seems hell bent on providing comic relief in the days leading up to the presidential elections on February 16, 2019.

Simple ethics of Doctor-Patient confidentiality will negate this move seeking an order from the court directing Buhari to make public the result of his medical examination. Even a student doctor knows that much about the medical profession.

Only a criminal investigation can override some professional principles. This wishy washy lawsuit is none other than a national distraction along the lines of overly hashed rumours a la “Jubrin/Jibril from Sudan”.

He who brings a case before the court where there is obviously none, should be ready to bear the burden of proof that lies on him. Ugochinyere and his CUPP eagerly seek their 15 minutes of fame, no matter how ingloriously and from anywhere they can try to scratch it up, so we are truly not surprised at this episode which only amounts to the barking of a toothless bulldog puppy.

The president and his campaign entourage would do well to pay them no mind for as the saying goes, the dog barks but the caravan moves on.

Thursday, January 31, 2019

PRESS STATEMENT BY APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COUNCIL


Yesterday, Nigerians watched with shock and dismay the barefaced lies and outright dishonest claims of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi in the television show tagged ‘The Candidates’.

Let us tell Nigerians some of the lies they told in that programme, which some simple fact-checks would easily expose.

Lie Number 1:

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that at handover in May 2019, our GDP growth rate was 6%.

Fact Checked Truth: It is a well-documented fact that at handover, the GDP growth rate was 2.35%. The economy was on a free fall as the GDP growth rate had dropped for three consecutive quarters.

Lie Number 2:

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claims recession was caused by the APC Government.

Fact Checked Truth: With a consistent and rapid drop of our GDP, their Coordinating Minister of the Economy at that time, Okonjo Iweala, former Central Bank Governor Prof. Charles Soludo and the Central Bank Governor at the time, now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, warned the PDP Government and Nigerians that we were headed for a recession.

Lie Number 3:

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that security challenges were restricted to the North East during their time.

Truth: Nigerians will recall that the Boko Haram activities had spread all over the North East, North West and North Central. For instance, the UN Headquarters, Police Headquarters, a Bus stop in Nyanya, a prominent Plaza in Wuse II were all bombed during the era of the last govt. A church or Mosque was bombed every week in 2013/2014. The herders-farmers’ clashes were the deadliest in 2014, claiming over 1,300 lives in a short period across the North. Boko Haram occupied over 17 Local Government Areas and hoisted their flags, effectively establishing a caliphate in the North East. All these happened before the coming of this administration.

Lie Number 4:

Peter Obi claimed that out-of-school children grew to 13.5 million under this administration .

Truth: The figure of 13.2 million out-of-school children was a 2015 survey by UNICEF. An alarm was raised by several global bodies then because the figure had grown from 10.5 million in 2010 to 13.2 million in 2015, despite record earnings of the Government at that time. In other words, Peter Obi’s claim is self-indicting.

Lie Number 5:

That Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as a Customs officer, said there was nothing wrong at that time with setting up a company that had dealings in the Ports that were under Customs’ supervision.

Truth: The Code of Conduct for Public Officers was first enshrined in the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Atiku Abubakar co-founded the company, as a serving Customs officer, three years after the 1979 Constitution came into operation. According to Section 1 of the 5th Schedule to the 1979 Constitution, a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities. By establishing a company involved in Port-related business at a time when he was an officer in the Nigeria Customs Service charged with managing the Ports, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar definitely put himself in a position where his personal (business) interest conflicted with his duties as a public officer.

Lie Number 6:

Peter Obi claims Nigeria has record poverty now.

Truth: Despite high oil revenue, according to the World Bank, extreme poverty under PDP grew to 112 million in 2013 through 2014, compared to 86 million today. India pulled their citizens out of poverty for over two decades by using the same methods Nigeria is now using today.

In summary one would have thought that in the course of the programme, ‘The Candidates’, Atiku/Obi would have modified the lies they told earlier in their campaigns and make it consistent with reality as most of them were already fact-checked by independent bodies and proven to be lies. Alas they have continued on the same path, believing that ‘If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed’.

The Summary of their Presentations:

First and foremost, Nigerians should take note that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar defined Corruption as "the use of your privileged position to either enrich yourself or enrich your relatives or even your friends". When this is juxtaposed with his earlier statement in Lagos, that he will enrich his friends if he becomes President, we can safely conclude that he will be fully in the business of corruption if he becomes President.

Secondly, Atiku/Obi made it clear to Nigerians that conflict of interests as a public servant should be the norm as, during their tenures, they found absolutely nothing wrong then and today, with investing public funds in enterprises they own or their families own. For instance, Kadaria ran Peter Obi into a ditch when she asked him if his family was not enriched as a result of using public funds for his family business ‘NEXT’.

Thirdly, their claim on experience in running anything public or private cannot stand any act of scrutiny. The Presidential candidate, who is easily a major contributor to our huge unemployment problem today as a result of his corrupt privatisation programme, counts this failure as a huge experience and wants to repeat same if elected.

Finally, their proposed Agriculture Programme which they claim to have put together to lift majority of the people out of poverty is a version of what is already being implemented by the present government under the Anchors Borrowers Programme and the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programmes.

After watching Atiku/Obi on that programme, it has become clear to all Nigerians that our public institutions and commonwealth would be in grave danger if left in the hands of these dodgy and questionable characters who have no morals and no scruples about using and misusing public funds for private gains.

Thank you.

FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN, FCIArb (UK)

Director, Strategic Communications,

APC Presidential Campaign Council,

(Official Spokesperson).

Like a snow ball rolling downhill, the number of endorsements being heaped on the President and his Vice, Prof. Osinbajo, as he goes about on his door to door campaign is growing exponentially.

On Wednesday, 30 January 2019, the supreme traditional ruler of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi gave his own endorsement to the candidates from the ruling party.

The Deji of Akure endorsed the duo when Vice President Osinbajo paid him a courtesy call at his palace in Akure, the capital of Ondo state accompanied by the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu.

In his speech, the Oba, while speaking to the Vice President’s entourage and his subjects present said “Everybody likes to be in a progressive place. Anyone who wants to be a progressive, hands up please. Vote for the people, we are all in the same boat.

“Look at how he (VP Osinbajo) is carrying out his door-to-door campaign. He doesn’t say we know we are going to win, even though by a big ratio but he doesn’t take his campaign for granted”.

“He is still going from door-to-door to tell the people what they will do. They want to tell the people their manifesto, to tell them that their government will do better. Yesterday the Afenifere endorsed them and Afenifere is the leader of Yorubas, so Akure should follow suit to.”

Afterwards the vice president continued his unique Family Chat, visiting the home of Florence Aladetoyinbo. He will make other stops in Ondo as he continues to interact with the people from one location to the next.

On Tuesday, Afenifere, the highest-ranking pan Yoruba group, endorsed the incumbent duo who are seeking re-election for their second term on the platform of the All Progressive Congress.

This was followed by that of Owa of Idanre, Oba Frederick Aroloye, Arubiefin III who proclaimed the second term bid was secured as the people of Idanre would be voting massively for the incumbent President and Vice President. He was quoted as saying “Go and write it down, you have won.”

It is perhaps the biggest day of their lives, the anxiety and nervousness have reached pitch fever levels, they can’t believe it, they will be hosting Nigeria’s number two man in their ‘Face Me – I Face You’ (one-bedroom) apartment.

It is their shot at stardom but something keeps telling them that the VP won’t come, its never happened before in Nigeria history that the Vice President will visit a citizen who lives in the rural area but to their amazement Vice President Yemi Osinbajo showed up.

The whole street was agog with shouts and excitement, the VP was in their ‘hood’ and he’s shaking hands and acknowledging cheers, he’s even stopping to have a chat or two with their neighbours in Ijesha, Osun State as he visited the family of Alhaji Jimoh.

Unprecedented? This is beyond that, this is breathtaking. This is a man doing what he loves to do for his country and its people. This is a man that sees no social or political barriers, in short, this is a man that has redefined our political space forever.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is connecting with people like never before, this is a trait he is known for, right from the days when he was not yet VP. He finds door-to-door campaign interesting and it is seen to be more effective in reaching out to the people, who directly communicate with him, be it the ‘Molue’ or the fast food restaurant.

Prof Osinbajo is always on the move to improve direct communication between government and the people, over the years it has become his signature style. Now members of the opposition are embracing this same style by embarking on door-to-door campaigns but its obvious that they have no connection, no chemistry, they simply just do it for the cameras.

Nigerians know that Prof Osinbajo has their best interests at heart. With him, there are no Ghana-Must-Go Bags, no rice or ankara just genuine love for Nigeria and Nigerians.

Globally, Prof Yemi Osinbajo is seen as a man of the people, always spreading happiness and love. He is not your regular African politician, who distance themselves from the people on the streets, his humanity transcends like a million stars. Little wonder the people have nicknamed him ‘The Starboy’ because they see him as one of their own guiding them towards to the next level.

Amina Ahmed, Osogbo, Osun State

The 2016 election in the United States opened my eyes to collusion and by collusion, I mean the ‘Russian Collusion’ that has led Special Counsellor Robert Mueller on an investigation. As an African American I’m seeing similar signs unravel in Nigeria and I think a collusion might on the cards.

That Atiku Abubakar, one of the presidential candidates, share the same lobbyist as President Donald Trump should be worrying to Nigerians but more disturbing is the fact that the same night that Abubakar slept at the Trump Hotel, Vice President Mike Pence was at the hotel.

That was not a coincidence in my books, it was well orchestrated by Brian Ballard, a well-known lobbyist and a long-standing Trump ally, there the collusion must have been agreed.

Fast forward to last week, the President of Nigeria for some reasons suspended the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the reaction of Abubakar and his party was startling. They decided to suspend their campaign. Who does that? Is the CJN a member of their party?

No, it only goes to show that he has been assured that even if he doesn’t campaign, he will win the election. You’re probably wondering, why I said that, the statement of the UK, US and EU after the suspension pointed to a collusion.

Following the official statements released by the US, UK and EU on the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who has immediately been replaced by an acting CJN, one begins to see an all too familiar pattern.
The sovereignty of the Nigerian state is sacrosanct; hence this gang-up is not being convened in the best interest of Nigeria.

We are still watching the daily revelations coming out from the probe of Russian meddling and collusion in the US Presidential Elections of 2016 which produced Donald Trump as US President. For our ‘friends’ in the US, UK and EU, their stance clearly amounts to crying more than the bereaved.
They would not condone such infractions from their own judges, so it is baffling how they want to advise Nigeria to do the same.

Senior justices have been suspended and tried in American and British courts, but we never heard their outcry, why is it that Nigeria has suddenly become their favorite now that Onnoghen got suspended?

We know that Atiku desperately lobbied to get into the US using a PR firm that is loyal to Trump, so the swift alignment of the Trump administration that is mouthing the same words as the PDP is not surprising, millions of dollars are doing the talking here.

The UK government also tried its best to ensure safe passage to Atiku from UK to US but could not succeed until Ballard Partners were signed up to do the job. America should first take care of her domestic problems arising from the ongoing US government shutdown, before trying to pontificate on Nigerian matters. It would do well for the UK and EU to realize that the colonial era is long gone, and Nigeria is an independent nation. We need not cross any lines here.

This trend of events portrays a grand plan of interference and meddling in Nigerian affairs in order to effect a clandestine change of government by any means necessary.

Only the real voters of Nigeria have the right to decide who wins on February 16 and will get sworn in to occupy Aso Villa as from May 29, 2019.

*Bernard Oluwole is a political commentator and social activist*

US, UK and the European Union are not in a position to recommend to Nigeria what is not acceptable in their countries nor in other advanced democracies, and if they cannot help the country in the fight against corruption, they should not worsen the situation with insidious comments.

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) said, in reaction to a coordinated statement by the trio on the suspension of Chief Justice of Nigeria Walter Onnoghen, that their position smacks of hypocrisy of the worst order.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said the advanced democracies cannot in one breadth claim to support Nigeria’s fight against corruption and in another criticise bold steps taken in the course of the fight.

it said: “Do they want us to remain ‘fantastically corrupt’, to borrow the offensive and odious words of former British Prime Minister David Cameron, or do they want us to move against those who are giving the country a bad reputation within the ambits of Nigerian laws?

“There is nowhere in the world where the head of a country’s judiciary would be found to have committed an offence like that of Justice Onnoghen and the government would look elsewhere.

“Just like the Presidency said in its clarification on the matter, the suspended CJN was not only found to have operated several secret domiciliary accounts with unexplained amount of money which he admitted in writing but claimed to have forgotten to declare ownership of the accounts.

“Investigators also found multiple deposits of US $10,000 in some of those accounts on the same day which Justice Onnoghen has no plausible explanation for.

“This is clearly an offence under any jurisdiction, especially in advanced democracies like in the EU and the United States and there is no way the authorities in these countries would not have taken the type of action our President took.

“We are aware that, in the US, a West Virginia Supreme Court Judge Allen Loughry was suspended in June 2018 over allegations that he lied as well as used his public office for personal gains.

“India, Kenya and Malaysia are also known to have suspended Judges found to have been involved in bribery and other acts of corruption without any of these governments as much as batting an eyelid in reaction”.
BMO added that inspite of the evidence at his disposal, President Buhari did not immediately move against Justice Onnoghen until he received a valid order issued by the Code of Conduct Tribunal which is constitutionally empowered to try public officers who violate provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau on asset declaration.

It said: “What the US and the others may not have realised is that the suspended CJN had built a hedge around himself to frustrate his trial, including the indefinite postponement of the meeting of the National Judicial Council (NJC) ostensibly to avert any consideration of the matter.

“Coming at a time Nigeria is battling to shed the toga of corruption, these countries that pressurised us to set up anti-graft agencies about twenty years ago should be hailing the President’s move rather than reading subterranean meanings to it.

“We believe that it would be careless of President Buhari not to have acted on the information at his disposal, as well as a valid court order, on a tainted Chief Justice”.

As for suggestions that the suspension of Justice Onnoghen may have some negative effects on the forthcoming election, BMO said nothing could be more preposterous.

“There is nowhere in Nigeria’s electoral laws that links the suspended CJN or any of his colleagues to the forthcoming general election or the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headed by Professor Mahmud Yakubu.

“He also has no direct link to the electoral process or any of the activities leading up to the election and would only be involved alongside the Supreme Court as the final arbiter in a Presidential election dispute”, it said

1. What is the allegation against the CJN.

Ans: False or non declaration of assets.

5th Schedule, Part 1, Paragraph 11(1) and 11(2) of the Constitution codifies this as a breach of the Code of Conduct

2. Has the above been denied?

Ans: Not at all.

3. Who has jurisdiction to receive such complaints, investigate same and refer to Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT)?

Ans: Code of Conduct Bureau. Not the NICN or Fed High Court (FHCT) or Court of Apeal or NJC etc.

See 3rd Schedule, Part 1(A), paragraphs 3 d and e and 5th Schedule, Paragraph 12 of the Constitution

4. Who has the powers and jurisdiction to try any breach of the Code of Conduct of

Ans: Code of Conduct Tribunal. Not NJC or National Industrial Court or Fed High Court or Court of Appeal or Supreme Court.

5th Schedule, Part 1, Paragraph 18 of the Constitution

5. Can any other person or authority direct or control the CCB and CCT?

Ans: No. Code of Conduct Bureau cannot be subjected to NJC or National Industrial Court or Court of Appeal or any other authority with respect to its powers to try cases on declaration of assets.

6. Do CCB and CCT have jusridiction over the CJN on matters bothering on declaration of assets?

Ans: Yes.

Reason: The CJN is clearly mentioned by the Constitution as a public servant for the purposes of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Code of Conduct Tribunal.

See 5th Schedule, Part 2, paragraph 5.of the Constitution.

7. What punishment can the CCB or CCT impose for breach of the Code.

Ans: e.g

1. Vacation of Office and this is regardless of whether or not there is NJC as the Constitution have said CCB or CCT is not subject to any other authority.

2. disqualification from holding public office for a maximum period of 10 years.

3. Seizure and forfeiture of proceeds of corruption.

Now the onus of proof that assets, properties or monies are fairly attributable to income of Defendant is on the defendant.

See 5th Schedule, Paragraph 11(3).

Pls note that trial by CCB and CCT does not stop NJC or any other Court of Law from trying persons being tried by CCB or CCT and where the offence is criminal, the CCT can also impose that punishment if crime is proven.

See 5th Schedule, Paragraph 3.

*PLEASE STOP MISLEADING PEOPLE BY SAYING THE CCB OR CCT LACKS POWERS TO TRY THE CJN OR ANY PUBLIC SERVICE OFFICIALS, POLITICIANS*

PRESS RELEASE

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
described as a face-saving measure the decision by the PDP to pull the
brakes on its electioneering campaign over Justice Walter Onnoghen's
suspension, saying the PDP's campaign never gained traction in the
first instance.

Responding to reporters’ question in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital,
on Saturday, on the suspension of the PDP's campaign, the Minister
said: ''Which Campaign? Their campaign was over a long time ago. There
is nothing to suspend. We said it that their campaign had floundered.
You can now see. What they are doing now is looking for a face-saving
way out of a dead and buried campaign.''

He wondered why the PDP is crying more than the bereaved, and asked
the opposition party whether Justice Onnoghen is one of its members.

“And in any event, let’s ask them this question: Is there something
that they know that we don’t know? Is there something between them and
the suspended CJN? Otherwise, we did not see why they should suspend
their campaign anyway, but I can understand that their campaign was
bound to end this way,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

He said while Nigerians have been trooping out in large numbers
wherever the President’s campaign ship berths, the PDP supporters have
been dwindling by the day.

On the outcry by some people and organizations over Justice Onnoghen's
suspension, the Minister said it’s troubling that those who are crying
foul over the suspension of the CJN have actually ignored the fact
that a serving Chief Justice not only amassed millions of dollars in
his account, but admitted that he forgot to declare same in his Assets
Declaration Form.

“For anybody who read Mr. President’s address yesterday, two things
stood out. The first is that additional evidence has just been
revealed that the suspended CJN refused to declare millions of dollars
in his possession. More worrisome is the fact that when the suspended
CJN was confronted with the petition that he failed to declare his
assets, he added that it was a mistake, that he forgot.

“Now, I would have been a happier person if the same people who are
now crying tyranny and dictatorship could really address the issue raised
by the President, in his address on Friday, that addition investigations have
revealed that several millions of dollars were found in the CJN's account.
And when the CJN was confronted with the original allegation, he
admitted that he forgot to make full declaration, and that it was a mistake,''
he said.

On the constitutionality of the CJN's suspension, he faulted those
claiming that the President acted outside of the Constitution, adding
that in suspending Justice Onnoghen, the President merely carried out
an order of a court of competent jurisdiction directing him to suspend
the Chief Justice pending the final determination of the cases against
him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal

26Jan2019

President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to suspend the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, signifies a conscious shift of policy to fast track the fight against, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said.
This ,the group explained is because the suspended CJN had built a hedge around himself to continue in office in spite of his written admission of hiding several domiciliary accounts with suspicious lodgements of funds believed to be proceeds of corruption.
BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that President Buhari had no alternative but to respect a valid suspension order issued by the Code of Conduct Tribunal pending final determination of the case against Justice Onnoghen.
“Resignation was the only meaningful option for the suspended Chief Justice. He is indeed, a confessed felon after claiming in one breadth to have made a mistake and also forgot to have properly declared his assets in line with provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau for public officials when confronted by investigators.
“Just like the President said in his speech at the swearing in of the Acting CJN, someone with a moral authority so wounded by serious charges of corruption by his own written admission ought to have stepped down on his own volition.
“But in the character of tainted high office holders in Nigeria, Justice Onnoghen preferred to lash on to the rigmarole of legal technicalities as well as a desperately shallow opposition party that is on the lookout for anything to use to cast aspersions on President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to shore up its flagging campaign and an apparent failed effort to market a presidential candidate with questionable moral standing.
“The suspended CJN forgot, as usual, that he once ruled on a case in his capacity of a Supreme Court judge that the Code of Conduct Tribunal has the exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any violation of provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau notwithstanding the status of the public officer in question.”it said.
The group pointed out that the CJN’s suspension is in line with the President’s vow to respect the rule of law as demonstrated in this case by the order issued by the Tribunal on January 23.
It said: “President Buhari’s action cannot be said to be unilateral because it was based on the order of a duly constituted tribunal and it will pave way for the case against the suspended CJN to be heard on merit rather than a situation where it would be stalled by unnecessary judicial subterfuge which are associated with high profile cases in Nigeria.
“We consider the indefinite postponement of the statutory meeting of the Nigerian Judicial Council NJC by Justice Onnoghen as one of those unbridled manipulation of the judicial process. The postponement of the NJC meeting is a brazen abuse of office by Justice Onnoghen to prevent the other members of the Council from intervening in the Asset Declaration scandal which may either lead to his being suspended or being asked to recuse himself while the other members take a second look at the implication of the grave corruption allegation hanging on the head of the country’s judiciary.
“So, from whichever angle one looks at it, it would be difficult to fault the President’s action with all the facts at his disposal as well as the CCT suspension order”
BMO consequently urges Nigerians across the country to rally around the President at this critical time and ignore attempts by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate to obfuscate the issue with a view to scoring political points.
“No one should be surprised that Atiku and his corruption-loving party would jump into the fray in a public show of defence of the suspended Chief Justice as it is in line with their tendencies to defend the worst forms of value erosion that continue to assail our national sensitivity in recent times. It tells you all you need to know about a Presidential candidate that has vowed to enrich his friends obviously through corrupt means if (God forbids) he becomes President
But there is no way President Buhari, with his disdain for corrupt acts, would pretend that all is well in a situation where the head of the nation’s judiciary would have undeclared sums of money running into millions of dollars in accounts hidden from public scrutiny.
“We urge Nigerians across divides to show support and solidarity with the President in his bid to fast track the fight against corruption no matter whose ox is gored,' it said

The script is being acted in sequence and sustained by different actors- the general plot is to get President Muhammadu Buhari out of office. The plot started with the Shiite's daring masochism with the Nigerian Army, followed by the IPOB imbroglio and then the daring affront from the Niger Delta Avengers. While these flashlights of attrition were going on, the echoes of restructuring reverberated with cacophonous lightening. Almost every opinion moulders woke up with the singsong of restructuring. With Buhari in power, the country needed to be restructured, they fumed. Just as this sponsored dummy was fizzling to a vain crescendo, another antic surfaced, this time a purported fight between Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari- it took Asiwaju's blanket salvo to end the rumoured bad blood.

With the above-mentioned antics not getting the desired lethal effect, they found solace in the begging and itchy fingers of online columnists who were cheaply bought to write in venom. Overnight, teachers of grammar became bashers of PMB. The stranded professors got willing companions in other disgruntled elements.

With series of failed onslaught, the sponsors of destabilization lured some ferry pastors and Islamic preachers to incite and pour venom on the Nigerian state. Just when Christians and Muslims came close to rising up against themselves, they suddenly realized that it's foolish for brothers to fight against themselves. Shamed were the belligerent shamed as common sense prevailed over bigotry.

Then came the tool of mobilization against the state is the use of musical artistes. And they got hold of innocent Tuface Idibia whose innocence was vulnerably exploited. While Audu Maikori was crying genocide, Tuface was crying hardship. What a coincidental advocacy at the same time?

Tragically, surfaced another dangerous dimension to the onslaught, the narrative of gunmen and the politicization of the senseless herdsmen killings in Benue state. Instead of looking for solutions for this pogrom, the altar became centres of agitation. The cry of annihilation pervaded the air, shout of islamization raid the air and then come the verdict of the man next to God- Olusegun Obasanjo. After this, another script surfaced and as usual, it kissed the dust, as Nigerians gave no hoot to the mischief of the egoistic man. The can of mischief is loaded and inexhaustible but while they plan, they left out the master planner who watches in majesty the infantile treachery of mortals.

The stunts continue to fail, as the mischief planners continue to unleash their antics, from nowhere, Buhari of Nigeria became Jibrin of Sudan as they argued and swore to high heavens that the president died in London and was cloned and imported home by the cabal. Even highly educated folks bought this balderdash as they supported their claims with all shades of defences. When this failed, they hatched a new song, this time, the man was no longer in charge of the Nigerian situation but mercilessly controlled by the cabals. Who are the cabal and what have the cabals influenced that has affected national development? The man asked and still begging for answers that aren’t forthcoming.

The latest and the last of the oppositions’ antics are the vituperations of the former generals. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is ranting and writing letters, Chief Theophilus Danjuma is inciting people against the president and the other old guards are mobilizing against Buhari while the masses that are the beneficiaries of Buhari's policies are doing everything to have him re-elected. And Nigerians are saying ‘Never again shall we be dictated to by the grips of those who say they are the landlords of Nigeria.

This is a chronicle of the antics used thus far by the agent of destabilization. You can choose to see sense in them or see the rubbish in them but as usual, I chose to always write from the prism of common sense.

Traducelly musing
Abdullahi O.Haruna Haruspice

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for transmitting the bill for a new national minimum wage bill, and cautioned the leadership of the National Assembly against frustrating the bill by playing politics with it.



This warning became necessary in view of the record of some members of the National Assembly of habitually trying to truncate proposals from the Presidency, including annual budgets. Rather, the National Assembly should ensure that the new national minimum wage approved by the National Council of State becomes an Act of Parliament even before the 2019 federal appropriation bill, which contains provisions for the new minimum wage.



BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that Nigerians including Organised Labour would not tolerate slow pace of work on a bill that should be given speedy consideration by the National Assembly.



The BMO has observed that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, is dithering on the bill in a bid to delay it and shore up the flagging campaign of the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.



This is the time for him and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, to rise above selfish and petty political interests to ensure that the 15 per cent increase in the national minimum wage gets speedy passage by the legislature.



Organised Labour should come out to commend the President for fulfilling his promise to transmit the bill to the National Assembly within the time promised. President Muhammadu Buhari has clearly shown good faith by aligning with the demand for the new minimum wage by Labour and the onus now rests on the National Assembly to follow the same path in the national interest, the BMO said.



The group is however concerned that the scanty attendance in the two legislative chambers of late may contribute in delaying the passage of the minimum wage bill. This according to BMO is one of the reasons that little or no work has been done on the 2019 Budget proposal since President Buhari presented it to a joint legislative sitting on December 19th, 2018.



BMO said that only on Tuesday, the Senate had to adjourn because of its inability to form a quorum as only eight out of 109 senators were at plenary. This is about the fifth time recently that the upper legislative chamber would postpone its plenary because many of the senators are on the campaign trail, or have lost interest in legislative activities after their inability to win nominations from their constituencies.



Now that the members of the National Assembly are about to go on a four –week recess ahead of the February 16 election, BMO wants Nigerians to put pressure on the federal lawmakers to ensure that they work on both the minimum wage bill and the 2019 budget proposals.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday disclosed that the Federal Government would expand and strengthen the N-Power by increasing its beneficiaries from 500,000 to one million.
Osinbajo disclosed this at a town hall meeting organised by the sons and daughters of Remoland at Akarigbo Palace in Sagamu, Ogun State.
The VP added that the FG has been able to stem the tide of employment with the provision of “Tradermoni” and “Marketmoni” through the “N-Power” scheme.
He also said that all traders from Remoland, in Ogun East district, have been enumerated and captured electronically through the “Marketmoni”.
“Let us key into federal government programmes when they are available”, he said.

While responding to the questions from the audience, Osinbajo noted that though the federal government has played its own part in bringing development to Remoland through the provision of an enabling environment.

He said the responsibility of establishing a cargo airport rests squarely on the state government.

Osinbajo said: “We have federal government’s presence here in Remoland and we can still do more.

“We are already constructing the Ikorodu/Sagamu road. It is an important road and the contract for it was awarded six months ago.

“And when it is completed, it would help to ease traffic from Ikorodu to Sagamu and also from Sagamu to Ikorodu.

“Also, I have good news for you, that you will have a passport office in Remoland and there would not be any need to go to either Lagos or Abeokuta (Ogun state) or Abuja to get international passports.

“We are already paying attention to ecological funds and one of the projects is ongoing in Ikenne.”

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has prayed for long life for former President Olusegun Obasanjo so that he may give the right testimony on President Muhammadu Buhari.

Reacting to the recent 16-page write-up in which the former President listed a litany of allegations against President Muhammadu Buhari, the group said the allegations are false and they are only a figment of Obasanjo’s imagination.

The group described the allegations as “a calculated attempt to divert Nigerians’ attention from the misdeeds and maladministration of the former President’s party, Peoples Democratic Party over a period of sixteen years.”

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO says it is praying for long life for former President Obasanjo so that he will live long to attest to the monumental development of the country being undertaken by the Buhari administration, which successive PDP administration knowingly denied Nigerians during their reign.

“It is instructive to note that under the Buhari administration, and in less than four years, the country has been turned into a huge construction site as we see roads, railways and sundry projects being executed across the six geo-political zones of the country, unlike the PDP era when public funds were used to enrich and line the pockets of a few privileged Nigerians.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this is an administration that focuses on people-oriented projects with the sole aim to improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

“We consider the allegations against the President, APC and INEC by the former president as unfounded, cooked up, unsubstantiated, false and deliberately concocted to give the former president an unmerited relevance in the polity.

“We call on former President Obasanjo to respect himself, his age and the exalted office he once held and stop heating up the polity by constantly seeking relevance even at the risk of plunging the country into turmoil. As an elder statesman, he should know that such comments and vituperations maybe taken seriously by the unwary.”

The group then enjoined Nigerians to disregard the machinations of the former President “as he is only venting his frustration over his inability to railroad President Muhammadu Buhari to do his bidding and dance to his tune as was the case with previous administrations. We want to reassure Nigerians that the Buhari administration is determined to change their lives for the better, and will never tow the path of serving the narrow interests of a few.”

If Farook Kperoogi was a trader, his store would always have one police man and a customer inside, at every point in time. Why? He would have sold fake items, and the unsuspecting customers would have returned with the force of law to demand a refund and call for the shutdown of his store. Worse, if he was a pharmacist, he would have been responsible for the death of a great percentage of those who make the error of patronising him.

Farook Kperoogi is a trader indeed. But his stock in trade is not the sale of household items, pharmaceuticals or general goods. He is a merchant of fake news. Of lies and of stories that have no place in reality.

Farook Kperoogi is notorious for coming up with figments of his imagination and ascribing the status of fact to them, as if they were indeed so. He does not spare his unsuspecting readers in his most recent piece: A VOTE FOR APC ISN`T A VOTE FOR BUHARI.

In this ridiculous piece he points to the existence of cabals who he claims are stealing the common wealth of the nation. In his customary fashion, he shows no evidence, and provides no proofs. This has often made many question that he is a so-called lecturer. Shouldn’t a lecturer know better that you do not make assertions like this without at least any supporting evidence?

I have stumbled on some items of commentaries online on his lecturing by his students in Kennesaw University, and their reviews have helped me understand the absurdity that he is. They have most times noted that the Associate Professor is out of touch with reality and forces his wrong opinions on them.

In this ignorant piece that he attempts to sell, Farook makes an attack on the Vice President. A laughable one. He forgets that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has his credentials of integrity and unquestionable honesty intact. All times Professor Osinbajo has been accused of a wrong, all times it has turned out false. This cannot be said of Farook who at every time he has put his pen to paper and churned out half baked lies, he has been ridiculed and embarrassed with facts to the contrary.

He claims the Vice President is a mere figure-head. A man who teaches comprehension and communication and sees all the activities the Vice President is engaged in, yet calls him a mere figure-head is indeed a trader of fake news.

To start with, compare the Vice President with former Vice Presidents and the roles they played in office. Professor Osinbajo has stood out in terms of his active de facto participation in governance, in the economy and even in politics. It is no news that he is the only Vice President Nigeria has ever had who has acted as President, and exercised those powers as if he were the President with no shortcomings or setbacks - from the President or in the quality of the decisions he made.

As Vice President, Professor Yemi plays the constitutional and critical role of heading Nigeria’s economy. And he has done this fantastically well. He is credited for being the mind behind taking Nigeria out of recession by leading an economic management team that came up with the unconventional policies that has put Nigeria on steady growth.

He is actively leading Nigeria’s journey to diversifying the economy through the route of improving our non-oil sector growth and creating inclusiveness for the poor. The poor today are being given an opportunity to come out of poverty and take advantage of sustainable opportunities that would enable them create wealth.

Vice President Osinbajo is known to manage the Social Investment Programmes: Nigeria’s most ambitious, most credible, and most effective Social Investment attempt. It is recorded that over ten million Nigerians are in one way or the other benefitting from the programmes.

If Farook was an honest man, he would at least have put these in the front burner when he scribbled the insult of an article he penned. A compulsive liar and an evil one too. 

He also puts on the table some events that he claims to have taken place in the villa and says they indeed happened. He is obsessed with the existence of a cabal.

Asides the fact that these events exist only in the imaginations of Farook, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo does not just enjoy the respect, loyalty and honour of the friends of the President, his inner circle and his appointees, Osinbajo also enjoys the support, respect and regard of President Buhari - who has said this and shown this time without number.

The Buhari - Osinbajo relationship is blessed and orchestrated divinely - it is the most proactive, balanced and in fact the best synergy between a President and his Vice we have ever seen.

The likes of Kperoogi, the bitter rotten lemons, who are morose when good things happen may continue to sell their fake goods and fake products to unsuspecting victims. But like all fake items, they do not last, they cause a rumble in the tummy, and they are thrown away. Nigerians are wiser, they do not buy nonsense anymore.

The statement purportedly attributed to former president Olusegun Obasanjo regarding Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, and the Federal Government's TraderMoni microcredit scheme if, indeed true and accurate, is most unfortunate, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande.

While responding to media inquiries regarding the former president’s comments over the weekend, Akande noted that “it is either that the former leader is ignorant of the true workings of Trader Moni and the role of the Vice President in its implementation or perhaps he is on a mischievous mission.”

According to Akande, the former President has demonstrated “a surprising but complete misunderstanding of the workings of TraderMoni, that is if we assume there is no mischief intended. “

Firstly, the Vice President does not personally distribute money during his visits to the markets. He goes there to assess the progress of the implementation and to create awareness for a programme designed to meet the financing need of 2 million petty traders across the country in the first instance.

Secondly, while one will not bother to further address the issue of timing of the implementation since such issues are now known to be political posturing, it is important to note that TraderMoni is being actively implemented across all states of the federation and the FCT. It is not only Lagos and Abuja as was insinuated.

These petty traders at the bottom of the economic ladder, with an inventory often less than N5,000, are beneficiaries of the TraderMoni scheme which provides N10,000 collateral/interest-free loans to them, empowerment that improves their small businesses, their families, while also contributing significantly to the economy.

Thirdly, in what is certainly a curious comment, the former President has also been quoted as describing the TraderMoni scheme as idiotic. To label such people-friendly scheme as idiotic is not only an absurdity, it is also an affront to the sensibilities of these hard working Nigerians, the beneficiaries of the micro-credit scheme.

For emphasis, the Bank of Industry implements the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, GEEP, one part of our Social Investment Programme. Enumeration Agents have been engaged to visit the markets and other points where petty traders are found to confirm that they are traders and also take their biometric information for recording purposes. After the enumeration, the N10,000 collateral free loans are then disbursed electronically through the petty traders’ phones.

TraderMoni is designed to meet the needs of the larger population of petty traders at the bottom of the pyramid who do not meet the more stringent criteria of BVN, bank accounts, market associations, cooperatives, required for bigger Market Moni loans.

Under GEEP – which has MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and TraderMoni, at least 1.5 million Nigerians are already beneficiaries of the three-pronged approach of GEEP, while N-Power has created jobs for 500,000 young Nigerians graduates, besides non-graduates. Also, almost 300,000 Nigerians have benefitted from the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), which is given to the poorest and most vulnerable among us, and over 9.2 million school pupils are being fed a free meal daily in 26 states under the Home Grown School Feeding Programme.

It bears repetition that higher economic growth potentials are associated with lower income inequality. This makes a most overwhelming case for welfare payments like the social investment schemes like the TraderMoni/MarketMoni schemes. Such a micro-credit scheme provides a higher rate of inclusion into the financial bracket and is crucial in lifting hardworking people out of poverty as has been the case in other countries like India and Brazil.

Fourthly, the former president also rehashed discredited claims suggesting that TraderMoni beneficiaries were required to tender their PVCs, and questioned the timing of the implementation.

Let me, therefore, state again that beneficiaries of TraderMoni are not required to show their Personal Voters Cards (PVCs) or any document indicating their political affiliations to qualify for the loans. This is why the enumeration is done in the open markets and wherever the traders ply their trade. This issue has been addressed several times by the Presidency in the public space. Therefore the former president’s alleged comments smirk of outright mischief as it regurgitates blatant falsehood.

Equally, if the former president had conducted a simple act of diligence, he would have found that the National Assembly had approved this programmes and budgeted for them duly.

When President Muhammadu Buhari came into office, one of the major hinges of this administration was to uplift the common man out of poverty and ensure the welfare of ordinary Nigerians. TraderMoni is one of such schemes conceived in 2016 under the Social Investment Programme of this administration.

Being a former president, Chief Obasanjo ordinarily should appreciate the impact of such far-reaching social investment schemes, which has provided what is now the largest social safety net for millions of Nigerians and is unprecedented in the nation’s history.

Again, the former president’s attack on TraderMoni and the person of the Vice President is an indicator that he may be wittingly or unwittingly playing to the sinister script of the opposition party to spread falsehood and attack the social investment programmes of the Buhari administration, which champions such impactful schemes, and which is now attracting the praise and commendation of Nigerians everywhere.

It is pertinent to state that the false allegations against TraderMoni raised again by the former president is sadly a rehash of baseless claims previously made by leading chieftains of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, whose record of profligacy, corruption and mismanagement clearly show it has no agenda to uplift the common man or improve the lives of Nigerians.

Finally, attacks such as this on a scheme that benefits the masses of our people is a direct attack on the people and this kind of conduct does not reflect very well on a former president but is only self-denigrating and of no public value. As is already now obvious, the generality of the Nigerian people will not only reject that attack but will also condemn its source. We, therefore, urge the former president to be far more circumspect and more public-spirited in his utterances going forward.

An insider source very close to Senator Bukola Saraki, the Senate President and the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation has revealed how Senator Saraki engaged some American and other foreign Lobbyists to secure entry for Atiku Abubakar into America. Alhaji Atiku indicted by the American Senate for corrupt practices, who could not travel to United States of America for over a decade following intelligence reported that he was on the wanted list in America for various degrees of corruption offences was able to find himself into America for a less than 50-hours visit.

According to the source who preferred not to be named, he said Senator Saraki got some lobbyists who explored some loopholes in International Law and America’s Policy on Non-Intervention (Non-Interference) with political activities of foreign countries. The source said it was a very high level and secret arrangement, even most of the leaders of the Atiku Campaign Organisation and the Peoples Democratic Party were out of the picture.

The source said: “America has this policy that prohibits the country from interfering with political activities of other countries. The lobbyists simply put up well articulated argument which made it seem that America’s refusal to allow Atiku entry into America at this moment was already providing an advantage to the All Progressives Congress (APC)”. He said, in the lobbyists’ opinion, “any action of America that confers an advantage to a political party amounts to interference in the electoral process.”

It was based on this argument that Atiku Abubakar was given a waiver to enter into America and the waiver was for 6months. The entry was however subjected to so many restrictions, one of which was that Atiku could not stay in America for more that 7days on the entry within the waiver period. He added, “Atiku was prohibited from having any communication with any member of the American Government, whether of the executive or the legislature. He also signed 24 hours surveillance watch on him while in America”.

Independent investigation revealed that America is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention and Interference in the Domestic Affairs of States (UNGA Resolution 2131 (XX) of 1965. The resolution has formed the basis for the relationship between so many member states including America. In international law, the principle of non-intervention is not limited to the prohibition of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of a state, but also includes interference on the political independence of any state. The principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States also signifies that a State should not otherwise intervene in a dictatorial way in the internal affairs and electoral process of other States.

You would recall that weeks before Atiku Abubakar was granted waiver to enter into America, Mr. Russell Brooks, the Public Affairs Officer at the US Consulate General Lagos, was on the news to say that America would continue to remain neutral and do everything not to be seen to prefer any candidate. He said: “We are not favouring or supporting any candidate. It is up to the Nigerian people to decide. Our candidate is the process. The process should be free and fair, it should be a non-violent process. I am not talking of any plus or minus of any candidate, we are not favouring any candidate. We are not trying to influence the success of any candidate. That is not our role.”

The source made a rather more shocking revelation when he said that “the lobbyists charged $4m USD. The facilitators that link them to the lobbyists charged $800,000 USD”

Even though the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has described Atiku’s visit to United States of America as “political milestone achievement”, however the dominant public opinion is that it made zero impact on Atiku’s integrity or on his political campaign. The truth remains that should Atiku Abubakar lose in his presidential bid, he would automatically lose the privilege and waiver that got him into America after a decade of ban.

As an APC supporter puts it succinctly: “Alhaji Atiku is simply running the election to acquire diplomatic immunity to shield him from pending danger. It is the duty of Nigerians to stop him from acquiring that immunity and protection from persecution”.

Modupe Abiola
Ontario, Canada

Fourth Town Hall in Lagos in a row. Back to back VP Osinbajo today addressed the Christian community at The Grill in Ikeja, Igbos residents in Lagos in another function hall in The Grill, a group of disaffected politicians in Lagos at The Regency Hall in Alausa and the youths and professionals in Lekki.

Hundreds of them were there and he answered several questions, many of which will try a faint hearted person. He then moved to address representatives of Igbo’s in Lagos and he took time to address their concern. By the time he reeled out a list of Buhari appointees of Igbo origin and the projects ongoing in the East, the issues of marginalization and “ non juicy “ appointments fizzled out like smoke.

From there it was to Lekki where young men and women drilled him on issues of economy, unemployment and corruption.
For the disaffected politicians he generally pleaded with them to be patient while they remain committed to their party and its objectives.

With candor he took every questions and patiently explained what appears as grey area in government policy, giving statistics here, examples there and throwing wits and humor in between.

It is surprising the little the people know ,or do we say , are willing to know. For example how can anyone say that Ministries such as Trade and Investment, Education, Technology, Labour are not important or “juicy” enough for the Igbos. Or that the CBN governor and other Igbos from Delta State are no Igbos and therefore whichever position they are holding is not countable for Igbos. He also addressed the issue of who gets the Presidency in 2023. He told the audience it is the votes that will determine. Let the South West, the South East as well as the South South go and mobilize the vote and whoever brings the highest number of votes on the table picks the trophy.

Overall it was a good day and very useful interaction between the leader and the led, one that has not been experienced on this scale before.
To cap it all Osinbajo walked into Ikeja City Mall where he had engagement with the Tejuoshos who run a bookshop. He made a stop at a couple of shops. It was an afternoon of a thousand cameras. The young shoppers on seeing him could not resist the temptation to whip out their phones and took selfies with him. He did it with the patience of a shepherd and his herds. Before we left the scene scores of the photographs taken were getting back to us and a particular one with an actors had under three hours attracted close to 20,000 likes.
This in short is a life in the day of this passionate junior partner in the task of building a great Nigeria.