Unknown Gunmen Kill Couple In Benue

<div style="text-align: justify;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJYrMTGHCQK_uO8_voW-sRr5nhKOPSCmkr_y10o-tinpxUzivjV9GvmZrQk0NKstoT8T5pGZWalGqbJeD2kf2k4-7ifEovqhfeUooTkJoLyWDyBXkAXN3V7AdKHaj_ek6OOvOIVdLfgL9/s1600/Pastor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJYrMTGHCQK_uO8_voW-sRr5nhKOPSCmkr_y10o-tinpxUzivjV9GvmZrQk0NKstoT8T5pGZWalGqbJeD2kf2k4-7ifEovqhfeUooTkJoLyWDyBXkAXN3V7AdKHaj_ek6OOvOIVdLfgL9/s1600/Pastor.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>A middle-aged man, Tersoo Iwanger, and his girlfriend, Aisha, have been killed by unknown gunmen in Gboko, Benue State.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Tersoo Iwanger who is a Tiv and his Fulani girlfriend, Aisha were shot several times on Sunday, February 1.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Tersoo Iwanger and his girlfriend as the killers stormed their apartment around 6am when the couple was still in bed.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Their bodies were discovered in a pool of bold.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> According to the <b><a href="http://pulse.ng/gist/cruel-world-assassins-murder-popular-pharmacist-in-benue-state-id3428439.html">PUNCH</a></b>, the killing might be connected to the murder of a pharmacist who was killed in the same area last month.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Tersoo Iwanger who is popularly known as Steco is said to be among the youths that were investigating the killing of the pharmacist, Cletus Ternenge Labea who was murdered in his office.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Residents think Steco would have been killed because of his involvement in the murder of Cletus.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Steco along with some youths in Gboko were investigating the killing of a pharmacist, which has now resulted in his death.They arrested one of the gang members shortly after the murder of the pharmacist and handed him over to the police. The killers saw him as a potential treat,” an anonymous resident told Punch.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Benue State Police Public Relations Officer, John Bako, however said the killings were as a result of gang war.</div>

Unknown Gunmen Kill Couple In Benue

A middle-aged man, Tersoo Iwanger, and his girlfriend, Aisha, have been killed by unknown gunmen in Gboko, Benue State. Tersoo Iwanger who is a Tiv and his Fulani girlfriend, Aisha were shot several …

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Jonathan Renews Push For Election Postponement As Hope Fades For Victory

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkEllQCx8V39lTmzPUdpDAwm9XUvrGfXzuR_vnV4p_D6tgYZ59Xt73-4dA2LwAVVPJMc-9sxY9ipHke5BNJX5dmH4OkNqGnCufSlpTfs4yZNupmHYKbnrCkNWXf7Z4o2MaQooMkRzSR5K/s1600/Goodluck+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkEllQCx8V39lTmzPUdpDAwm9XUvrGfXzuR_vnV4p_D6tgYZ59Xt73-4dA2LwAVVPJMc-9sxY9ipHke5BNJX5dmH4OkNqGnCufSlpTfs4yZNupmHYKbnrCkNWXf7Z4o2MaQooMkRzSR5K/s1600/Goodluck+(1).jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>In the face of dwindling prospects for his re-election bid, President Goodluck Jonathan has embarked on a renewed three-pronged approach to scuttle the presidential election scheduled for February 14, several sources within the Presidency have disclosed. In a startling disclosure, our sources said Mr. Jonathan was willing to entertain a military take-over as one of his options, according to <a href="http://saharareporters.com/2015/02/02/jonathan-renews-push-election-postponement-hope-fades-victory">SaharaReporters</a>.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Over the last two weeks, it had dawned on Mr. Jonathan that his hopes for winning re-election had dimmed significantly. Our sources said the president was deeply distressed to find out that several governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had been working quietly with the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to thwart his re-election. “Apart from Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Mr. President is no longer sure that he can count on the support of any of our other governors,” an insider in the Presidency said. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Another source said several PDP governors were aggrieved that Mr. Jonathan shortchanged or abandoned them during the party’s primaries. Several of them are reportedly paying the president back by standing aloof from his campaigns or actively mobilizing support for Muhammadu Buhari, the APC’s presidential candidate. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Our sources revealed that the president and hawks within his administration held a prolonged meeting yesterday and decided that the elections must be frustrated at all cost. Two of the sources said Mr. Jonathan intends to call a meeting of the Council of State for Thursday to persuade its members to back a proposal to postpone the polls. In place of an election, the president wants to set up “a government of national unity” to be headed by him for 18 months to two years. It is unclear whether the council would endorse the plan to reschedule elections. The council’s membership includes past heads of state and presidents, and some of them have been openly critical of Mr. Jonathan’s record. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> One source stated that, as part of the broad strategy to scuttle the elections, the Presidency would refuse to pay the balance of the contract for the printing of ballot papers. The contract was awarded when the Nigerian currency, the naira, officially exchanged for N165 to a dollar. The source said the contractor, who claimed to be sourcing his foreign currency from the black market, is now seeking an adjustment to his contract. “The contractor wants to be paid N210 to a dollar, but President Jonathan and his team have refused to help the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) source the balance,” our source revealed. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Instead, the president and his team have advised INEC to look for a local Nigerian printer to print the ballot papers. INEC chairman Attahiru Jega and some of his top aides have balked at the idea of using a local printer. They argue that such an arrangement would be a perfect recipe for chaos, allowing the Presidency to use its considerable slush funds to illegally print duplicate papers with which to rig the election, as happened in several states in 2011. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> A source at INEC told SaharaReporters that the commission’s chairman and some top officials suspect that the Jonathan administration was working seriously to undermine the commission’s credibility. “There is a lot of internal sabotage going on at INEC,” the source said. He disclosed that some resident electoral commissions were giving contradictory statements and reports about the commission’s preparedness for the February elections, without clearing with the headquarters. “Can you imagine also that even non-essential materials are being stolen from INEC offices, all in an effort to undermine the effort to hold elections,” said the source. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Presidency’s second option is the recruitment of some members of the defunct National Conference to press the case for postponing the elections until Nigerians discuss, adopt and implement the resolutions of the confab. In order to push that agenda, the Presidency has released more than N2 billion to Raymond Dokpesi, the owner of Africa Independent Television (AIT), to coordinate the campaign for postponement of the elections. Using AIT and other willing media, Mr. Dokpesi is expected to press the case for constituting an interim national government headed by Mr. Jonathan. Earlier today in Abuja, Mr. Dokpesi’s AIT aired a live discussion by members of a “post national conference consultative committee”, to begin framing the case for postponement. The live program featured Bolaji Akinyemi, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Femi Okurounmu, who headed a nationwide consultation for the national conference, Maurice Iwu, a notorious former INEC chairman, Mike Ezekhome, a lawyer, G.G. Darah, a professor and close associate of jailed former Governor James Ibori of Delta State, and Balarabe Musa, a former governor of Kaduna State whose involvement is perhaps the only surprise. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Dokpesi’s group is expected to use its huge war chest to argue that elections are untenable because of INEC’s questionable preparedness as well as the tense security situation in Nigeria’s northeast. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Presidency’s third option is the possible use of the Nigerian military to scuttle the election. Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, General Tobiah Minimah, is reportedly a key player in executing the military option. One source reported that General Minimah, who is from President Jonathan’s Niger Delta region, was initially reluctant, but eventually signed up for the scheme to use the military to intervene should the elections proceed and not go President Jonathan’s way.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Our sources said the president was irate that INEC chairman, Mr. Jega, had been avoiding meetings with him and his presidential aides. “Professor Jega has maintained that he wants to be seen to have conducted a free and transparent election, even if imperfect. He has therefore maintained that there is no point going to Aso Rock to hold meetings exclusively with Mr. President, who is a candidate, and the president’s team,” one source close to Mr. Jega said. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Our Presidency sources disclosed that Mr. Jonathan had started looking for ways to remove the INEC chairman from office. “If they succeed in postponing the elections, the president will either suspend Prof. Jega, the way he did to former Central Bank Governor [Sanusi Lamido Sanusi] or ask him to go on compulsory leave pending the end of his tenure.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> While SaharaReporters was about to publish this report, several sources told our reporters that President Jonathan and his co-travelers have moved to the courts as a way of scuttling the elections, at least five court cases have been filed to either postpone the elections and disqualify the APC candidate , Muhammad Buhari. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> A reliable   source told our team of investigators that President Jonathan is shopping for a federal high court judge to scuttle the elections with a court order in the next few hours.</div>

Jonathan Renews Push For Election Postponement As Hope Fades For Victory

In the face of dwindling prospects for his re-election bid, President Goodluck Jonathan has embarked on a renewed three-pronged approach to scuttle the presidential election scheduled for February 14…

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President Jonathan Lied On Malete Dam, Says Saraki

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit7HNv6udd7CwswFSufwU9TnH21N7aVg82V-i8wUpMGKudHFysufVhWW61geMloh-hVPNym0UrSISxx5K_zonp6m8fxgz_IxPGgdN4tc_jBAe3Rjw1sofxTgsW8J3kGk3yZGAPWZAWT819/s1600/Bukola+Saraki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit7HNv6udd7CwswFSufwU9TnH21N7aVg82V-i8wUpMGKudHFysufVhWW61geMloh-hVPNym0UrSISxx5K_zonp6m8fxgz_IxPGgdN4tc_jBAe3Rjw1sofxTgsW8J3kGk3yZGAPWZAWT819/s1600/Bukola+Saraki.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Dr. Bukola Saraki disclosed yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan lied during last Monday campaign to Kwara State that his administration was responsible for funding a multi-million naira dam in Malete, Moro Local Government Area of the state.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Jonathan had during his campaign visit to Ilorin, the state capital, mentioned the project as one of the contributions of his administration to the state.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Similarly, Minister of National Palnning, Dr. Sulaiman Abubaka had also at a meeting with newsmen later in the day listed the dam project as one of the various projects sponsored by the federal government in the state.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Malete, in Moro Local Government was where Senato‎r Bukola Saraki located the Kwara State University while he was the governor hence to him, it was a pay back time.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> ‎The fomer governor and APC leader in the state had insisted that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has not done anything for Kwara in six years.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Saraki, while addressing supporters of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at Malete yesterday hinted that funding for the said Dam project was from the constituency allowance of federal lawmakers from the state with the exception of Senator Simon Ajibola whom he claimed refused to contribute to the project.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Vanguard reliably gathered that Saraki from Kwara central and senator Sha’ba Lafiagi from Kwara north contributed ₦125 million each while each of the six members of the House of Representatives contributed ₦62.5 million into the project.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> His words, “I was amused the other day when President Jonathan came to Ilorin and he said they have given you dam in Malete. I laughed because I know that money for that project was from our constituency project. Each of us who are senators was supposed to contribute our constituency allowance just like the House of Reps members.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “We held a meeting, nine of us from the state, on the project but senator Ajibola refused to put down his own money. He never foresaw that he would one day need you but today he is coming to ask you to vote him as governor. Would you vote for someone who refused to contribute to your wellbeing; a project that is meant to provide water for your community and the entire local government?”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The senator harped that it was his administration that brought the state university, KWASU, to the community because of his love for the residents and which has brought tremendous transformation to the area.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He urged the people to reciprocate his good gestures to them and vote for all the APC candidates and assured them of more presence of federal government projects under the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari.</div>

President Jonathan Lied On Malete Dam, Says Saraki

Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Dr. Bukola Saraki disclosed yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan lied during last Monday campaign to Kwara State that his administration w…

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Buhari’s Statement Of Results For Dummies - By Surajudeen Oyewale

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XYkUDc_WKAX19hRl0k2Fa4HL1X9KIyccFsUoqStFCyOyqMld9JvzAQNjUwYwwPvP6WNxtE0XSt4ZSsZOtc-rbsCLrcQmmkg0Z8dlcn3joO91-x8tDWMEdlB-_5QFOKjzSk4Oz6r4myge/s1600/Buhari+Video.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XYkUDc_WKAX19hRl0k2Fa4HL1X9KIyccFsUoqStFCyOyqMld9JvzAQNjUwYwwPvP6WNxtE0XSt4ZSsZOtc-rbsCLrcQmmkg0Z8dlcn3joO91-x8tDWMEdlB-_5QFOKjzSk4Oz6r4myge/s1600/Buhari+Video.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>I have watched with keen interest the new round of controversies that were triggered by supporters of President Goodluck Jona­than on the Social Media over the veracity of the results re­leased by Government Col­lege, Katsina. The arguments defy common sense and they are not worth replying in a for­mal medium like a newspaper OP-ED page. However, see­ing that even well respected citizens like a senior lawyer that was on Channels TV the morning of the day the result was published in national dai­lies, not getting this basic fact, it becomes imperative to of­fer some explanations to the questions raised. I will take them one by one.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>One, that <b>this is a statement of result, not certificate</b>.</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Do people know the mean­ing of certificate at all? Certifi­cate is issued in one copy, and by the examining body, not the school, which is a mere ex­amination center. My WASSCE certificate, issued by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) in 2000, after showing my details, says “having been in attendance of the following recognized school…”. This fol­lows what should be common knowledge that, it is the exam­ining body, not the school, that issues results, and the result is the property of the student, not the school. What the school is­sues is statement of result which is copied from the result mas­tersheet also supplied by the ex­amining body to the school, and retained by the school. It is this masterlist that is the property of the school. Of course, schools may – and that is common now – keep photocopies of the cer­tificates for their own records, but that is just a cautionary ap­proach for acknowledgment, it doesn’t override a more compact masterlist which is what is for the school for keeps. And I can par­don a school that did not photo­copy the originals of certificates handed to students in 1961 – in a core northern school for that matter, at a time when education was just picking up in that part of the country. Even if copies were kept, it is also pardonable that such results may not be found in 2015. How many public schools can produce 1951 records?</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Certificate, it should be noted again, is issued by the examining body, not the school. It is only a statement of result that a school issues, and that is what was published by Buhari’s school. A statement of result can be issued as many times as possible since it is just by copying the informa­tion on the masterlist sent to it by the examining body.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Two, that the result carried a 2015, not 1961, date.</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Simple: Does anyone expect the current principal to use 1961 as date for a re-issued statement of result? If you completed sec­ondary education 50 years ago and, due to loss of the initial copy you were issued, you applied for another one today, do you expect the current principal to backdate the issue date to 1961? Of course, the current principal could not have been the one that issued the initial copy 50 years ago. Do you expect him to go and invite the principal of the school 50 years ago to come and sign – even if we assume he is alive? Is it not the current principal that will sign? Do you expect the princi­pal in 2015 to backdate to 1961, when he may not even have been born?</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Three, why are we seeing A1, B2, B3 etc, a recent grading sys­tem, on the published statement?</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> A1, B2, B3 etc grading system was introduced in 1999. There is what is called template. Every institution or organization has a template for issuing documents, and this evolves overtime. If I lose my WAEC statement of result and go to my secondary school today to apply for another copy, I don’t expect the school to still be using the template it used when the initial copy was issued 14 years ago, today. Do I expect them to go and revert to their old template because of me?</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Another analogy: If I apply for my 1994 bank statement in say GTB, do I expect it to look like that I collected in in 1995, when the bank may have changed the format, and all that. Is it not the date of transaction, credit, debit, balance and beneficiaries that are important to me? Why do I have to mandate GTB to use the format they used for me in 1995 for me?</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Simple: Buhari’s school has only used the current template it uses in issuing statement of results which has A1, B2, B3 printed somewhere on the side, and doesn’t change the substance of the result.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Four, the result reads Govern­ment College, Katsina state but Katsina state was not existing in 1961.</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Poor debaters, so if someone that schooled in say Lokoja, old Kwara State, now Kogi state, in the eighties applied for a fresh copy of his statement of result today, the result will read, “ABC College, Lokoja, Kwara State” and the signature will bear 2015!</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> I guess Union Bank should also be using Barclay’s Bank let­terhead if it wants to respond to a 1971 enquiry in 2015. As we say on the Social Media, shaking my head! </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Five, that the passport used was recent.</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The school was issuing an­other copy of Buhari’s state­ment of result in 2015, in the currently used template, which requires passport photograph af­fixed. The school never claimed it was not a 2015 document – it is a 2015 document confirming a 1961 event.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Six, that the result reads “Mo­hammed Buhari”.</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Well, maybe I should also throw away my WAEC-issued o’level certificate despite car­rying my picture. After all, the name reads “Oyewale Tunji Surajudheen”, and my official name currently reads “Oyewale, Surajudeen Oyetunji”, which was the spelling I used when I wrote my UME in 2000.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Seven, that Nigerian educa­tional system did not have class 6 in 1961, contrary to what the school claimed</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Another product of poor re­search. I will just reproduce what Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, former governor of Abia state, said on this: “Many young people don’t know we used to have Form 6. I attended Form 6. I attended higher school that is what it is called then and you spend 2 years at the lower and the up­per. You can’t go to Form 6 un­less you completed your Form 5 and he got all the credits in the relevant subjects. So all those are in his file.” – (Vanguard, 22 January 2014).</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Eight, that Hausa language was not offered as a subject in 1961</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Another lie. An email sent by my friend, Sodiq Alabi, to Cam­bridge Assessment Archive Ser­vice, when the debate was raging on the Social Media, was replied within hours. Responding to Sodiq, Jacky Emerson, Ar­chives Service Delivery Officer of Cambridge Assessment (ar­chives@cambridgeassessment. org.uk), wrote: “Dear Sodiq Alabi, According to the regula­tions for 1961, African language papers, including those for Hausa were set for West African School Certificate”.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>Oyewale writes from Lagos</b></div>

Buhari’s Statement Of Results For Dummies - By Surajudeen Oyewale

I have watched with keen interest the new round of controversies that were triggered by supporters of President Goodluck Jona­than on the Social Media over the veracity of the results re­leased by Go…

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