TNN.ng

Nigeria's Military Plans To Establish An Interim Government - Soyinka

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yjxMG4fRAaBHkg1W_emVHrEmlpP3oEhhi448E2GToqY8wkT6ZIE0OHvm8kDBkeUHf7_s3E633R52wFbR3e-G-MHqXOVpX_ASZ3zatSSaj0lAZ6RhbjLYiNGF8IrPUU02deTDF8vDgMMU/s1600/Wole+Soyinka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yjxMG4fRAaBHkg1W_emVHrEmlpP3oEhhi448E2GToqY8wkT6ZIE0OHvm8kDBkeUHf7_s3E633R52wFbR3e-G-MHqXOVpX_ASZ3zatSSaj0lAZ6RhbjLYiNGF8IrPUU02deTDF8vDgMMU/s1600/Wole+Soyinka.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Nigerian Nobel laureate for literature, Wole Soyinka, has expressed concerns in an interview with DW that the military could take power following presidential elections in Nigeria on March 28.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The 80-year-old writer, who has taken an active role in African politics for more than 50 years, says he fears there are "clear indications of a military intervention."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Soyinka told DW: "Ex military officers and security officers are trying to push aside the political contestants and use the unrest as an excuse to establish an interim government. The nature of the interim government wants to pretend it's not really a military intervention. A few political leaders, well-known civilians, want to give the veneer of civilian structure, but basically it’s a kind of political intervention."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The presidential election in Nigeria, Africa's strongest economy, was originally scheduled to take place in February before it was postponed by six weeks. The vote pits Christian incumbent Goodluck Jonathan against Muslim Muhammadu Buhari.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Soyinka says his country "is aspiring very hard to become a failed state." Speaking about the more than 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped by terror group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria a year ago, he expressed little hope that "the majority of them" will ever be found. Despite military gains made by troops from neighboring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, Soyinka believes there’s no chance of a rapid victory over the jihadist group. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"It will take a generation at least to exterminate this phenomenon altogether. The military would not have had to cope with Boko Haram on this level if the proper action had been taken at the right time. This is the biggest problem I have with the Jonathan government."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Soyinka also laments the increasingly aggressive direction the election campaign in Nigeria is taking. Recently, the president’s wife Patience Jonathan called on her husband’s followers to stone people who demanded a different leader. Political observers saw this as a call for violence against the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is campaigning on a platform of change.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Soyinka told DW that while he doesn't support the opposition's move to file criminal charges against the First Lady in the International Criminal Court, her comments should not go unchecked.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"What she said was totally unacceptable. I no longer regard her as the First Lady of Nigeria," he said.</div>

Nigeria's Military Plans To Establish An Interim Government - Soyinka

The Nigerian Nobel laureate for literature, Wole Soyinka, has expressed concerns in an interview with DW that the military could take power following presidential elections in Nigeria on March 28. Th…

18 Mar 2015

Polls: Jega Ignored My Request For A Meeting – Oritsejafor

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKLNx5cqCrx0GHbhqHfNIJRJz3VYlWU4BtgEbVTdOqw3pn5-gXreXi5KNUxELwo1CkHzNkjxLec97fqHjMePZS6PBoUa665pEHOfBJAkYENZeA6bD5yqIDCcbQMhBvISlHmPBPLHBTkn1/s1600/Oritsjafor_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKLNx5cqCrx0GHbhqHfNIJRJz3VYlWU4BtgEbVTdOqw3pn5-gXreXi5KNUxELwo1CkHzNkjxLec97fqHjMePZS6PBoUa665pEHOfBJAkYENZeA6bD5yqIDCcbQMhBvISlHmPBPLHBTkn1/s1600/Oritsjafor_02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor Wednesday expressed bitterness over how the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega refused to hold a meeting with him.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Oritsejafor, who said the botched meeting, would have held earlier this year, hinted at the probability of Jega ignoring his request based on what some of the close associates of the electoral umpire must have told him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Some people have told me that I am too small to meet with him (Jega),” Oritsejafor said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He made this disclosure at a one-day interactive session of key stakeholders in the Nigerian project comprising religious, political organizations and security agencies organized by <b>Think Nigeria Christian-Muslim Movement</b> with the theme: ‘towards a peaceful and purposeful political transition in 2015.’</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Oritsejafor said: “The General Secretary of CAN has the INEC Chairman’s number. He sent him a text saying the CAN President wants to meet with you. The INEC chairman text back saying those days were not good so Jega gave us two days to choose from and we chose one and he (Jega) accepted. I do not live in Abuja, I live in Warri, and so I have to make my plans to come here. All my plans were made and just as I was ready to come to Abuja my General Secretary contacted me again that the INEC chairman (Jega) said he cannot meet with us that he is too busy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Till today I don’t have access to the INEC Chairman. I could not meet this man. We wanted to discuss things bordering us with him. We want to give him some solutions, suggestions but that was it. No new date for us to meet with him. So this is a problem that is why I am saying this now publicly. This happened a little less than two months ago.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“INEC is a necessary organization that every nation must have. I am concerned about two things. One is on the issue of the Permanent Voters Cards (PVC). I have had it said several times that there are many Nigerians who are refusing to collect their PVC. I beg to disagree on this because I sample this and the church I pastor in Warri with about 35,000 people and I asked to show me their PVCs and I was shocked, I tell you probably close to half of my congregation do not have their PVC.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I sent my pastors over 100 of them out to meet them and find out why this is so.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I think one of the things INEC can do is to publish the PVCs that they have quickly, so that Nigerians can easily locate them or pass information on it to each other, so that one can go there to collect it. I am not saying this will solve all the problems but it will go a long way to solve the problem. We charge INEC to please make sure that everyone of those Card Readers work. They should work, they must work.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Oritsejafor said for the election to be successful Christian and Muslim leaders must sign a peace pact ensuring that Christians and Muslims are safe before, during and after the general elections.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said: “If we are going to have a successful election there must be confidence building. And one of the things that will build confidence is that Christians and Muslims must resolve that we will protect each other.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Let Christians who live in predominantly Muslim areas not be afraid to remain there. Many are running away. They shouldn’t. After all they are Nigerians. And our Muslim brothers must make a commitment to say Christians will not be killed in predominantly Muslims areas while Christians should also say Muslims who live in their area will not be killed.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We must make that commitment to each other. And we must make it publicly. Let the nation know that nobody is going to be victimized based on his or her religion. Everyone must and should be free to go out and vote freely believing that who they are voting for will help them. That is what democracy is all about. Many of us here today are preachers; some are politicians and others. But the most important ones are the preachers because if you are politicians you will either go to the church or the mosque.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The preachers here must also make a commitment to go to the churches and to the Mosques to begin to preach that Christians are save everywhere and Muslims are save everywhere and we must begin to teach our people to believe in Nigeria. We must begin to emphasize to our people that we are all Nigerians.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He advised leaders of both religions that: “We must begin to tell our leaders, our followers to begin to think Nigeria. Nobody is superior to the other.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The CAN leader also urged all to encourage the military for their fight against Boko Haram.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The President General of the Supreme Council of Islamic Preachers in Nigeria (SCIPIN), Sheikh Muhammed Nourayn Bn-Ahmad said the two major problems: “currently threatening the corporate existence of the Nigerian nation are that of religious extremism/intolerance, as well as subterranean forces working to break-up Nigeria into those previous pieces and ethnicities that were amalgamated in the past 100 years.”</div>

Polls: Jega Ignored My Request For A Meeting – Oritsejafor

President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor Wednesday expressed bitterness over how the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Att…

18 Mar 2015

Buhari Right On Level Of Corruption, Says Emir Of Kano

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQtqSysx4jcGBBg09vA19cB4Hd7GkT3jzC7dCRodWHxvLbUq62ZTG5ZhjnXuxxxhT7S_YsdzJYQk1rNdsKyc1djoGUHq2sJXz3D50VXt_YRHAKEy66KB9Z-UYV9cO43-y0im-U5pbY49cn/s1600/sanusi-lamido-360x239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQtqSysx4jcGBBg09vA19cB4Hd7GkT3jzC7dCRodWHxvLbUq62ZTG5ZhjnXuxxxhT7S_YsdzJYQk1rNdsKyc1djoGUHq2sJXz3D50VXt_YRHAKEy66KB9Z-UYV9cO43-y0im-U5pbY49cn/s1600/sanusi-lamido-360x239.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said the All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), is right on the level of corruption in the country.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Speaking Christine Amanpour on CNN on Wednesday, Sanusi, the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, believed the level of corruption in the country was massive and needed to be addressed sufficiently.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Yes, General Buhari is right on the level of corruption in the country and we need to address this sufficiently. We have not helped the situation by living in denial (that the situation does not exist). I don’t want to dwell on this because of the time that we are and we are close to an election,” he added.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the pillars of Buhari’s campaign is to fight corruption, which he argued had not allowed the nation to grow appreciably.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Kano emir insisted that about $20bn was missing from the account of the NNPC, which was not remitted to the federation account.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“This has not been addressed adequately and from the account of the corporation, about $20bn was not remitted to the federation account. We need to address this,” Sanusi said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The monarch explained that other leaders must rise up to speak against the activities of the terror group, Boko Haram, saying he was not afraid to die as a result of his opposition to the sect.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I have achieved everything that I could achieve; so, what is there to be afraid of?” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sanusi decried the level of unemployment, especially in the North, insecurity and the endemic corruption in the country.</div>

Buhari Right On Level Of Corruption, Says Emir Of Kano

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said the All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), is right on the level of corruption in the country. Speaking C…

18 Mar 2015

6,000 Christian Clergymen Declare Support For Buhari

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFnSkc-YVN8NZsBxNCCLtaIZbNNRkKzWKCZw4OpgcXvEXIXVYDOD9yJcSIL3sVeMg8AnJZuGWcKGM1nVUutUmuZWBsDK2zegOdtfkUnkOn23R2luU7IRqjA2-N5GqUIS34gxJ-NRIHh7A/s1600/GMB+Catholic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFnSkc-YVN8NZsBxNCCLtaIZbNNRkKzWKCZw4OpgcXvEXIXVYDOD9yJcSIL3sVeMg8AnJZuGWcKGM1nVUutUmuZWBsDK2zegOdtfkUnkOn23R2luU7IRqjA2-N5GqUIS34gxJ-NRIHh7A/s1600/GMB+Catholic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Despite allegations that some pastors in the country collected ₦7 billion to support President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential ambition, at least 6,000 pastors in the Southwest are mobilising for the emergence of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as president and have declared seven days praying and fasting for God to grant him victory at next week’s poll.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The pastors under the aegis of Christians for Governance, Pastors For Change, held a news conference in Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, where they openly endorsed the candidacy of Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who is a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The clerics are drawn from various churches, such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Catholic, Orthodox, among others.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They declared that they were not part of Jonathan’s largesse and that nobody gave them money to support Buhari, but acting by divine intervention from God who told them that Buhari would be the next president of Nigeria.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The movement is being supported by Rev. Moses Iloh, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, Ayo Opadokun and many other bigwigs in Christendom.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Addressing the news conference, Bishop Kayode Williams, National Coordinator, Christians for Good Governance, said they have about 6,000 ministers who were part of the group calling for change in leadership as the present government had failed the nation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We want to observe seven days of special prayer on the seven mountains in the Southwest political zones comprising six states to pray for the victory of Buhari and Osinbajo in the 28 March presidential election.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We are using this opportunity to call on all pastors who believe that the time has surely come for change in Nigeria to exhort, mobilise, instruct and direct all our members from our churches, numbering 186,000 churches in the Southwest zone to adhere to this divine instruction from God,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to him, “we shall intensify our intercessory prayers to God so that there will be peace in the nation and that the election will be free, transparent and peaceful. We are asking our archbishops, evangelists, elders, deacons and deaconesses to join hands and make sure that the prayer programme is very successful.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Williams said if Christians pray, they believed God would grant Buhari and Osinbajo victory at the polls so that men of integrity and discipline could come to power to change things and fight corruption.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He lamented that in the last several years, Nigerians had hoped for improvement in national infrastructure and basic necessities of life with high expectations for stable and uninterrupted power supply, employment for the youths, significant reduction in maternal mortality rate, among others, but that nothing had been done ever since.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“No one can do the same thing and expect different result. Nigerians must therefore get a change in baton. It appears that many people at the top do not feel what an ordinary Nigerian feels: No job, no money, no light, health problem, sorrow and frustration everyday due to massive corruption at the top.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“All these must change. Nigerians deserve good life in the midst of all the resources that God has endowed us with,” he stated.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On allegation that the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, collected ₦7 billion through its leaders, Williams said he was not aware of any money collected, but noted that every rumour has an element of truth.</div>

6,000 Christian Clergymen Declare Support For Buhari

Despite allegations that some pastors in the country collected ₦7 billion to support President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential ambition, at least 6,000 pastors in the Southwest are mobilising for th…

18 Mar 2015

Ogun PDP In Free-For-All Over Jonathan's Dollars

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5BMz-zHc1oBf6pFXWv9M8CpBAk3sNpnyyvJXwhJiugZmCmNaw-bQpVzntL_s5nvMsQN6zlSpS7drnB29FSndsHWOex7zydbfnerdHpogt2zh1QCyFmVgcjJr4JqP3ABu8LihQMBkTD4P/s1600/PDP+Ogun.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5BMz-zHc1oBf6pFXWv9M8CpBAk3sNpnyyvJXwhJiugZmCmNaw-bQpVzntL_s5nvMsQN6zlSpS7drnB29FSndsHWOex7zydbfnerdHpogt2zh1QCyFmVgcjJr4JqP3ABu8LihQMBkTD4P/s1600/PDP+Ogun.png" width="586" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Funds earmarked for President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign coordinators across Ogun State, on Wednesday, led to fracas after party officials failed to deliver the funds to the beneficiaries.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The money was to be shared at a meeting of 708 coordinators drawn from 236 wards of the state, which took place at a hotel located along Quarry Road of Abeokuta.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the meeting, which lasted for five hours, ended in controversy after it became clear the funds were not available.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Trouble began after two leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Fatai Adeyanju (National Auditor) and Pegba Otemolu (South West Secretary) told the participants that the money was yet to be deposited into a designated bank account.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The news angered the coordinators, particularly, amid claims that ₦1million hotel bill had been allegedly issued for food and drinks which were not served.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The aggrieved coordinators consequently held the two party leaders hostage and insisted that they will not allow them go until the funds were released.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At this stage, some political thugs escorted Mr. Otemolu out of the hall, who then quickly entered his waiting Honda pilot jeep for a quick escape.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, in his bid to leave the area, Mr. Otemolu’s driver lost control and rammed into another vehicle and a passer-by.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The development sparked off multiple reactions as the angry group bundled Mr. Otemolu out of his car while his colleague, Mr. Adeyanju, took to his heels.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The commotion also led to attacks on two journalists, Daud Olatunji of Vanguard, and Razaq Ayinla of Business Day, whose work tools were seized by the political hoodlums.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was not clear immediately how the fracas was resolved.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Premium Times</b></div>

Ogun PDP In Free-For-All Over Jonathan's Dollars

Funds earmarked for President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign coordinators across Ogun State, on Wednesday, led to fracas after party officials failed to deliver the funds to the beneficiaries. The mone…

18 Mar 2015

We'll Collate Presidential Election Results At ICC Abuja - Jega

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Fg79IwefbAm9znEg4zN_2_3dCbC0KuHgjJyP-6sfdEs2kWR-2ihxsjglpcW5AG8vk-ONzvR2x47uCVpjaUVFkymsN7wxctnGBLa8qqa5sGiDneomUjsnqySX3wOR-Agv4dpIAvfbiUhK/s1600/Jega0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Fg79IwefbAm9znEg4zN_2_3dCbC0KuHgjJyP-6sfdEs2kWR-2ihxsjglpcW5AG8vk-ONzvR2x47uCVpjaUVFkymsN7wxctnGBLa8qqa5sGiDneomUjsnqySX3wOR-Agv4dpIAvfbiUhK/s1600/Jega0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says there are still a few security concerns hovering over the 2015 general election.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Jega, who refused to speak to the press after meeting the president and service chiefs on Tuesday, finally spoke at a situation room dialogue session at Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on Wednesday, where he revealed the outcome of the Aso Rock meeting.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Yesterday, I had an opportunity to brief security agencies and we received assurances that they were doing everything to provide security,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“There are still a few concerns and challenges which will be addressed with security agencies. There has been progress with the security agencies in getting rid of insurgents and there are three local government areas (LGAs) left to rid insurgents.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We are working together with security agencies to get rid of thugs identified in states. We have emphasised the protection of ad-hoc officials with security agencies and they have assured us progress has been made.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He went on to assure Nigerians that internally displaced persons (IDPs) would vote in the coming elections, adding that the commission has deployed necessary materials for the election.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We have plans on the ground for IDP voting. We have designated secure places for IDPs to vote,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We have procured and deployed sensitive and non-sensitive materials. We have completed outstanding distribution of PVCs to Ogun state and distribution has started in Jos.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We have secured the International Conference Centre as a better facility for collating results and meeting election observers.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On card readers, Jega said: “The card reader does not stop working at 1pm (the scheduled time to end accreditation); it stops when every voter on the queue has been accredited.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>TheCable</b></div>

We'll Collate Presidential Election Results At ICC Abuja - Jega

Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says there are still a few security concerns hovering over the 2015 general election. Jega, who refused to speak to th…

18 Mar 2015

How STV's Aishat Mustapha Was Murdered, An Eyewitness Account

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmShZhPw31IM18LzfMlRpO1LsLCcj09AiPgeJ2GOP_aq3M8rT9FUZHUFYQT8AZn1fAWAYzhdjcpsg6gjm7Ro1H0jRQST__cFFxKFry2Z9LUDqObClorgdmgQK2BVZYVC8SWHcwA1SJSva/s1600/AishaSTV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmShZhPw31IM18LzfMlRpO1LsLCcj09AiPgeJ2GOP_aq3M8rT9FUZHUFYQT8AZn1fAWAYzhdjcpsg6gjm7Ro1H0jRQST__cFFxKFry2Z9LUDqObClorgdmgQK2BVZYVC8SWHcwA1SJSva/s1600/AishaSTV.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The gruesome murder of Silverbird Television employee, Aishat Noble Mustapha on Saturday 14th March, soon after she returned home from work is still sending shock waves to the media community.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Viral reports claimed she was stabbed eleven times, however, an eyewitness who resides in her neigbhourhood in Ogudu GRA, Lagos, has now shared the true story with <b><a href="http://ynaija.com/silverbirds-staff-death-eye-witness-tells-true-story-graphic-photo/">YNaija</a></b>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The eyewitness reveals:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“It happened around 8pm on Saturday night. She had gone in after returning from work, and then this man visited her. No one paid attention until we started hearing arguments.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"The guy also resides in the estate. He is a married man and we could hear her threatening him, saying she will tell his wife about the pregnancy she had for him. The man was shouting back, and he got angry when she said she will report to his wife….But after a while, the argument stopped and there was no more shouting. Moments later, she ran out of the house with scars all over her body, and while running she fell into the gutter.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“That was when neighbors found her. She was still breathing so she was rushed to a specialist hospital along Ogudu road then to the General Hospital in Gbagada. But no one wanted to admit her without a police report…It was when she was taken to the police station that she gave up the ghost.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"We saw a knife with blood in the compound but by the time the police came to pick up the knife, they didn't see it again. Someone had taken it but I don’t know who.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The suspect:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"The guy (married man) was with neighbors all through, running up and down with the good Samaritans but he has now been arrested and is now in detention at Area F Police station close to the estate. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"This is so sad, she was a young promising and beautiful woman, she lost her sister just last year. It’s like it is the guy that rented the apartment for her."</div>

How STV's Aishat Mustapha Was Murdered, An Eyewitness Account

The gruesome murder of Silverbird Television employee, Aishat Noble Mustapha on Saturday 14th March, soon after she returned home from work is still sending shock waves to the media community. Viral …

18 Mar 2015

Atiku Disowns 120 Groups Defecting To PDP

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqoxeYLm_pBNarVXznqWnQyhDBH8VdC8-F5qHZlk7yUb3HdyGkqhH7mdzJeqetipJHGVJEZJrj7ybYY8bm9KiCyTYlkBhqRqymEcqlfGk6LYOGLZykgQ9pTBObzOWm5z93TcTwiwV6bHe/s1600/atiku-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqoxeYLm_pBNarVXznqWnQyhDBH8VdC8-F5qHZlk7yUb3HdyGkqhH7mdzJeqetipJHGVJEZJrj7ybYY8bm9KiCyTYlkBhqRqymEcqlfGk6LYOGLZykgQ9pTBObzOWm5z93TcTwiwV6bHe/s1600/atiku-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>A former Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Atiku Abubakar, has denied knowledge of the groups of politicians who announced their defection to the PDP from the APC.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Atiku said in a statement by his media office in Abuja that he remains a committed member of the APC and urged that the purported defections of these groups be discountenanced.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A total of 120 so-called pro-Atiku support groups on Tuesday defected from the APC to the PDP.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They dumped the APC for the ruling PDP at an elaborate ceremony held at Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, in a reaction, <i>Turaki Vanguard</i>, the umbrella group of Mr. Atiku’s supporters said members of the 120 groups were not supporters of the former vice president.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The National Publicity Secretary of <i>Turaki Vanguard</i>, Soji Bamidele, said that the defectors were not Mr. Atiku’s loyalists as they claimed.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“They are faceless groups, we don’t know them,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mr. Bamidele, who confirmed that Mr. Atiku was being wooed back into the party, said the former vice president “is not shifting ground and will never go back to the PDP”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mr. Atiku was a member of the PDP before decamping to the APC in 2014. He however failed to pick the presidential ticket of the party, losing to Muhammadu Buhari, who is flying the party’s flag in the March 28 presidential election.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While the groups were being received at the Yar’Adua Centre, Atiku was attending a meeting with Mr. Buhari and media representatives.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Peter Ogar, national coordinator of <i>Renaissance for Socio-Political Transformation of Nigeria</i>, who spoke on behalf of the groups, said they decided to return to the PDP as there was no alternative to President Goodluck Jonathan.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said after critically analysing the president’s development programmes, the groups came to the conclusion that they surpassed all those executed by previous governments in the country.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We have understood the event of December 10, 2014, wherein our able leader, the <i>Turakin Adamawa</i>, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was, through a gang up, denied us and indeed Nigerians the chance to have a true option in the forthcoming presidential election,” Mr. Ogar said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Accordingly, we had to take time to analyse the inner workings of the current administration under President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and came to the conclusion that outside the Turaki, there is no better candidate within any opposition political party, hence the need for a rethink and strategic political repositioning for the sake of our great country, Nigeria.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Receiving the defectors, the National Deputy Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, assured them that they were now in the right party.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Today, you have decided to return, you have equal rights with any other member of the party who have been there for a long time,” Mr. Secondus said. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“You are free to engage in any party activities especially at this time when we are campaigning and election coming on the 28th.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“There would have been no better time for you to show and to declare your support for the party and our candidate, Jonathan. The rally point today is Jo, he is the symbol of Nigerian unity.”</div>

Atiku Disowns 120 Groups Defecting To PDP

A former Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Atiku Abubakar, has denied knowledge of the groups of politicians who announced their defection to the PDP from the APC. A…

18 Mar 2015

We Assure You Of Press Freedom Under Our Govt, Buhari Tells Media Guru

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXudLwPJOw2osHJEikLMYNCPylgEanWr1XoaFlbb5_to0RtW2glDt1CmGz_qvDNQQY9PFAlMRN44uvGLB_9rS_sUIuNbc82F-GQWWldwue0DW77mF-SgG8jHFgXrsXtcEcsFpzFzpBp3b/s1600/Buhari+Pressy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXudLwPJOw2osHJEikLMYNCPylgEanWr1XoaFlbb5_to0RtW2glDt1CmGz_qvDNQQY9PFAlMRN44uvGLB_9rS_sUIuNbc82F-GQWWldwue0DW77mF-SgG8jHFgXrsXtcEcsFpzFzpBp3b/s1600/Buhari+Pressy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Below is the full text of the address of the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, to heads of media organisations in Nigeria.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Text of Address by His Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) Presidential Candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, at an interactive session with the Nigerian Press Organisation, NPO, in Abuja. Tuesday 17th March 2015</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thank you for honoring me with your presence here today. Thank you for heeding my invitation to this special meeting with key stakeholders in the Nigerian media. Our country is on the verge of something new. The tide has turned and the world can sense the wave of CHANGE that is about to flood this nation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In less than two weeks, the Nigerian electorate will head to the polls to make their voices heard. Through the ballot, without a single shot fired, a CHANGE revolution will likely take place. There are two specific reasons why I have invited you here today. The first is to use the opportunity to say a special thank you to the Nigerian media for the role you have played in advancing our country’s democracy thus far, and especially for being a platform through which Nigerians’ cry for CHANGE was articulated all around the world. On newspaper pages, TV screens and radio waves, the alarming depth of corruption and impunity in our country, the terrifying level of insecurity, and the grim state of our economy were kept constantly before the world’s eyes, making it impossible for the current government to doctor the truth, despite their meanest efforts.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I urge you to not relent in your role as watchdogs, to continue to be the voice of the people. The health of Nigeria’s democracy rests partly on you. Without a robust and thriving media, the masses would have no voice. The electorate would also not have sufficient information to make sound decisions, such as deciding to vote out a clueless government and vote in CHANGE.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Secondly, I want to give you my full assurances that in this democratic dispensation, I will ensure that the Nigerian constitution is upheld. This includes respect for the media, respect for the right to free expression and freedom of speech. Many of you are aware of Decree 4 of 1984, which was heavily criticised. I have said elsewhere that I cannot change the past. But I can change the present and the future.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Dictatorship goes with military rule as do edicts such as Decree 4. However, I am a former-former, note the emphasis on the word ‘former’– military ruler and now a converted democrat, who is ready to operate under democratic norms. I am not only subjecting myself to the rigours of democratic elections for the fourth time, but even after being elected, I will continue to promote the consolidation of democracy in our great country, Nigeria, by guaranteeing that the media’s freedom is not compromised in any way. I give you my full assurances that the Nigerian media will be free under our APC government.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
  </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I also want to use this opportunity to appeal to you to use your media outlets in shaping positive public discourse and eschew hate speech mongering and slanderous political rhetorics which heat up the polity for the sake of peace and stability of our dear nation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thank you, once again, for being here this afternoon. I look forward to working with you in future, and to similar meetings which shall take place on a regular basis to keep the Nigerian people constantly informed about the activities of the government that they will have elected to serve them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
APC Presidential Candidate</div>

We Assure You Of Press Freedom Under Our Govt, Buhari Tells Media Guru

Below is the full text of the address of the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, to heads of media organisations in Nigeria. Text of Address by His Excellency General Muhammadu Buha…

18 Mar 2015

Gani Adams' Led Anti-Jega Protest Splits OPC

<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8y-atAyCEPumT9trjUxu7JoqT5jtZzpyB_sBMgyfyYadqAx6-lE_T-WtTP1lAS0o4Fhuu1U1NaIRohvA_rHVztKZXs6Xc0jrdMBs6skuOzAjZGK9VTC6lKL-QWs461ygKPAVe1wmdVbD/s1600/Gani+Adams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8y-atAyCEPumT9trjUxu7JoqT5jtZzpyB_sBMgyfyYadqAx6-lE_T-WtTP1lAS0o4Fhuu1U1NaIRohvA_rHVztKZXs6Xc0jrdMBs6skuOzAjZGK9VTC6lKL-QWs461ygKPAVe1wmdVbD/s1600/Gani+Adams.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, may have split down the middle following the violent protests carried out on Monday in Lagos by a group under the control of Gani Adams. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The OPC National Co-Ordinating Council on Monday blasted Adams for organizing the violent protest calling for the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega. The council added that Adams has not only betrayed the OPC, but also the Yoruba nation. The statement was issued by Comrade Shina Akinpelu, on behalf of other members of the council who also were pioneer members of the OPC. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It reads: “We, the members of the National Coordinating Council of the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, the highest ruling body of the organization, wish to disassociate ourselves from the shameful, destructive, violent and reactionary activities of the Gani Adam-led team which occurred in Lagos today. What was witnessed today in Lagos was the highest level of political violence sponsored and funded by certain elements in the Jonathan government. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Gani Adams is on his own and does not enjoy the support of a large size of our membership spread across the country. He is working for the sponsors of violence against our people who want the March 28 elections not to hold. Unleashing terror on innocent citizens and killing them is not the way of democracy. It is not our idea of a people-oriented advocacy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Gani Adams is on dubious project. He is using the pipeline contract from the Jonathan government as a ploy or excuse to recruit people to work for Jonathan and PDP in the South West. Gani Adams is acting against Yoruba interest. The compromises he has made amounts to selling the Yoruba to the present government for a piece of Pipeline contract to line his pockets. OPC is not about Pipleline contracts or any other contracts for that matter. The Yoruba interest is beyond contracts. We seek justice and fairness from the current government. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We, members of the National Coordinating Council of the Odua People’s Congress, OPC, call all true Yoruba leaders, sons and daughters to stand with us in totally condemning Gani and his anti-democratic tendencies. We must renounce him and remind him he cannot sell the Yoruba race to Jonathan and PDP on the cheap. He also has no authority to speak on behalf of the Yoruba people. We pity those who rely on him to win votes. They will be sorely disappointed. Their investment is a bad one already. We reject today and always any attempt to use our organization and its members for narrow and selfish partisan purposes. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We must remind them that the Yoruba people cannot be hoodwinked by sweeteners. No one should expect them to kow tow to an individual who is a Lilliputian in the political development and history of the Yoruba nation. The Yorubas are a politically sophisticated persons and will simply ignore political opportunists like Gani Adams. We renounce him and his activities which are against the larger Yoruba interest. We renounce all other Yoruba sons and daughters who are playing roles inimical to the welfare and interest the larger Yoruba nation. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We call on our people to be vigilant politically at this time. Nigeria needs a new leadership, a new direction and a country that works.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
See video of Gani Adams' interview during the protest:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BTfbNqA90-0" width="640"></iframe></div>

Gani Adams' Led Anti-Jega Protest Splits OPC

The Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, may have split down the middle following the violent protests carried out on Monday in Lagos by a group under the control of Gani Adams. The OPC National Co-Ordinati…

18 Mar 2015

Jonathan Swears-In Obanikoro, 7 Others As Ministers

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQBFMYv9OOpDrHJPah5UZVccP44u2xA52zYWKl-34RnyC4XCN7hWnrzpz2UNL0Dn2SD_QcT-202HDkBJnC68E4xDs8wMGTGO256tKYIe7BdrTJ-2Rdxr__kHDndTTpWApKNeEUPy1_6Bo/s1600/Goodluck+Jonathan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQBFMYv9OOpDrHJPah5UZVccP44u2xA52zYWKl-34RnyC4XCN7hWnrzpz2UNL0Dn2SD_QcT-202HDkBJnC68E4xDs8wMGTGO256tKYIe7BdrTJ-2Rdxr__kHDndTTpWApKNeEUPy1_6Bo/s1600/Goodluck+Jonathan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday inaugurated the eight new ministers recently confirmed by the Senate before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The President thereafter assigned portfolios to them as follows: Senator Patricia Akwashiki (Information); Prof. Nicholas Ada (State, Foreign Affairs I); Senator Musiliu Obanikoro (State, Foreign Affairs II); Col. Augustine Akobundu (retd.) (State, Defence); Mr. Fidelis Nwankwo (State, Health); Mrs. Hauwa Bappa (State, Niger Delta Affairs); Mr. Kenneth Kobani (State, Industry, Trade and Investment); and Senator Joel Ikeya (Labour and Productivity).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The President also named the Minister of State, Health, Khaliru Alhassan, as the Minister of Health. Alhassan has been acting as Supervising Minister of Health since Prof. Onyebuchi Ckukwu resigned in 2014.</div>

Jonathan Swears-In Obanikoro, 7 Others As Ministers

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday inaugurated the eight new ministers recently confirmed by the Senate before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting. The President th…

18 Mar 2015

No News For Now On #Chibok Girls - Army Chief

<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBHr2IlhUtWHcBLI9hBigRORRXzGzKDcgjjuRFZkWF1Nm5bP_2Drme36q8FFt6G8XQbceiaH081IBlf5ZCJL5oeCLLcxRu8P3Ia7P4yF8tIY1uGYLSPIIzjWPqv8agmtKrbU_MZjfsQFY/s1600/Minimah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBHr2IlhUtWHcBLI9hBigRORRXzGzKDcgjjuRFZkWF1Nm5bP_2Drme36q8FFt6G8XQbceiaH081IBlf5ZCJL5oeCLLcxRu8P3Ia7P4yF8tIY1uGYLSPIIzjWPqv8agmtKrbU_MZjfsQFY/s1600/Minimah.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>People of the troubled zone of North-east will exercise their voting rights in the coming elections only when all the structures of government and governance there are reinstated.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This was the outcome of a meeting of the National Security Council presided over on Tuesday by President Goodluck Jonathan.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The meeting, which was held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, lasted several hours.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, briefed the council on the readiness of his commission for the elections.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Jega, who left the Presidential Villa before the meeting ended, simply told State House journalists</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
that the meeting went well.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The INEC boss said: “I believe it (the meeting) went well.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Jega, however, declined comments on his commission’s plan to use card readers during the elections.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Kenneth Tobiah Minimah, who addressed journalists after the meeting, said the people of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States could only vote when the structures of governance there are reinstated.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On the fate of the over 200 schoolgirls of Chibok, Minimah said there was no news for now.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to him, “You know Yobe and Adamawa States have been liberated completely and we look forward to the reinstatement of structures of government and governance. I’m also sure you know that in Borno State, out of the 27 local government areas, we have three local governments remaining: Abadam, Kalabaldi and Gwoza. And we are optimistic that with time, we will liberate those local governments”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On whether the council discussed the forthcoming elections, Minimah said only the INEC was competent to talk about the elections, adding that the commission had to reassess and evaluate the situation in the three troubled states.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Minimah, who said the military had liberated areas captured by the Boko Haram sect, said: “I’m not competent to speak on that matter (elections). The INEC is still there. INEC has to reassess the situation and evaluate because the areas have been liberated, but I can also tell you that not all structures of governance have been reinstated and they will need to be reinstated so that citizens can go back to their areas, and it is then I think they can execute their rights as voters”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Asked how soon those structures would be reinstated, the Chief of Army Staff said: “I don’t know”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On the abducted Chibok girls, Minimah said: “No news for now. In all the liberated areas we have, we have also made enquiries, but the truth is when the terrorists are running away, they also run with their families, and those we have come in contact with have not made any comments suggesting that Chibok girls were there and taken away. But we are optimistic that as it becomes closer, the territory is becoming elusive to them. We will get further details on that”.</div>

No News For Now On #Chibok Girls - Army Chief

People of the troubled zone of North-east will exercise their voting rights in the coming elections only when all the structures of government and governance there are reinstated. This was the outcom…

18 Mar 2015

Buhari And The South-West - By Okey Ikechukwu

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEGTDM4AgNOVvKNMYk5lYxD8wk1xMNdH8P_hmew9P6BM_PrpKQ5sQDVEmureozopyuk3fOg2LYnsRA10lNXrhKS66VEqiohFJMSiAp5G7BHigDMyvFNoUYcC-R_iKTo-CLywETluMlraC/s1600/Buhari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEGTDM4AgNOVvKNMYk5lYxD8wk1xMNdH8P_hmew9P6BM_PrpKQ5sQDVEmureozopyuk3fOg2LYnsRA10lNXrhKS66VEqiohFJMSiAp5G7BHigDMyvFNoUYcC-R_iKTo-CLywETluMlraC/s1600/Buhari.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Akin Osuntokun’s “Buhari: Which South-West”, which appeared on this page the other week, threw up an interesting perspective on the real issues facing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-west, with its fielding of retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate. The perspective was certainly disconcerting for those who thought they had pulled off a master stroke and were tapping their feet impatiently to reap the harvest of their very brilliant move. Osuntokun’s article became the subject of further discussion in Lagos last week, especially against the background of the growing realisation that the APC machinery is revealing itself to be only prepared for a hundred metres race in all core governance issues.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The gentleman who brought up the discussion argued that Buhari was not flattered by the write-up in question. He also further said that my defence of Osuntokun’s submissions in a subsequent article titled <i><b>“Soyinka’s Alleged Swipe at Buhari”</b></i>, and especially the idea that Buhari cannot be described as a friend of the South-west, overlooked the fact that Buhari was chosen by the leaders of the South-west geopolitical zone.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That was news to me. Was Buhari chosen for the APC by the South-west as a people and as a zone? Was there any real consensus, even among South-west APC politicians, regarding his emergence as presidential candidate? Possibly!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Then the man shot out without warning: “Please tell me, Dr Ikechukwu, if you don’t mind, what is your personal opinion of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari?” I replied that I considered him a serious-minded man, a professional soldier who means well for this country; but one who had chosen the wrong path in his current endeavours.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Then the man asked again: “So what would you advise him to do, if you were in a position to do so?” I replied that I would like to see a Buhari who, with other senior retired and respected officers, is involved in an effort to save and re-professionalise our armed forces. If he must go into politics, he should be part of a team of principled elders who screen those seeking office in his party of choice. Real political ‘godfathers’ like Sir Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awo and many others were custodians of specific political and leadership values. No one would be able to bribe Buhari to support the wrong person.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A ‘real’ political godfather has the duty of ensuring that the right people aspire to, and attain, leadership positions. He monitors and guides his protégés; weeding out those who are likely to fall by the political wayside. A godfather in this strict and proper sense of the term is simply one who stands in <i>loco parentis</i>, or one who is guardian to another on how to behave, and turn out well under certain accepted group values.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Osuntokun mentioned the metroline project and the subsisting negative effect of the cancellation of that project by Buhari as military Head of State. He did not, however, mention the full implications of the management of the funds put together under the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF). This was a consumption tax on petroleum products, arising from a hike in the price of petroleum products. The bulk of the consumption, consequently the source of the bulk of the PTF funds, came from the southern part of the country. The South-west was responsible for much of the overall PTF funds accruing from the southern part of the country. Meanwhile, the bulk of the expenditure, inflated or not, was not in the south.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These were some of the issues I raised with the man, to remind him that much could still be said that Osuntokun left out for lack of space. It was at this point that the discussion became somewhat personal, with the gentleman alleging a ‘mind-set’ against Buhari. He then said: “Do not think, Dr that I just stumbled on the articles of Osuntokun which I mentioned? I have followed most of you people in the media for some 20 years, all the way from The Guardian.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With that I then had to tell him to help educate those who do not know that the position of some of us on Buhari was not shaped by current events. For instance when in 1999, I wrote an article in The Guardian titled <i>“The Mutant Called PTF”</i>, the objective was to remind Nigerians that the PTF should be wound up after the elections ushering in a democratic dispensation. The idea was to allow the regular institutions of state the free space to rise to their statutory responsibilities under the emerging democratic order.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A Fund that was set up as a temporary bridge intervention, to use the new tax on petrol to address sundry issues of social infrastructure, could not possibly be allowed to continue in its capacity at the time, under the newly elected President Olusegun Obasanjo. The PTF would not have been necessary if the institutions of state were living up to their responsibilities. But they had all become dysfunctional to some degree. Thus one held, at that time, that the PTF should not be allowed to become a permanent feature of our national life. Statutory agencies should regain their strength and be allowed to do their duties, to eliminate double budgeting and the antics of agencies that hide behind interventions initiatives to shirk some aspects of their statutory responsibilities – or even wreak havoc on the common till.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For the record, the aforementioned article was actually a reaction to a PTF ‘consultancy’ that was then brought to practically all media houses. An otherwise sober and rational senior media friend had the rather peculiar task, at the time, of promoting the well-funded national media campaign to convince the incoming government of Obasanjo to retain the PTF. I thought the idea was absurd and said so. I also pointed out that the figures and records of the performance of the PTF were available as indices of a frightening case of avoidable inequities, questionable administrative processes and, possibly, procedural irregularities.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was difficult to also believe that Buhari was aware of both what transpired under his watch and the dubious endeavour to strike up a ‘consultancy’ that would keep him and the PTF afloat, while an army of ‘cow maidens’ were milking the agency. This was quite an issue in the media for a while, because the PTF had then been in existence for a few years. While that should have been enough time for the MDAs to come back on track, proponents of PTF longevity crafted the mantra of “You can’t abolish an agency that’s doing a damn good job”. But can you run a modern state, or demonstrate faith that the new dispensation would prove its mettle if you prolong the use of a life support machine for public administration? That would, in effect, be a vote of no confidence on the new government and on Nigerians.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Most media houses were approached with this brief. Many of them tried their best to argue that the then incoming civilian government should not scrap the PTF.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But it was easy to see that even the advocates did not believe themselves as they were all sadly present, and visibly confounded, at a forum where the expenditure profile and performance of the PTF was presented by agents of the organisation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Then as now, the suspicion is that Buhari does not seem to easily see the full picture when it comes to the workings of a modern polity, under a process-driven template. He never saw that outsourcing statutory state functions and also doing parallel funding of government services undermined the accounting system and created a dysfunctional service delivery environment. Perhaps Buhari can only be blamed to a limited degree for the lack of synergy to enable the PTF and other agencies do a cost benefit analysis of government expenditure. At the time everyone was spending money on the same things and cheerfully recording expenses, but that is not the case today. All the same, let the MDAs do their jobs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This brings us to what is essentially my purely personal problem with the very successful SURE-P programmes of the Jonathan administration, among others. That initiative is a runaway success today and the government should be commended for it. It came into being to address an alleged ‘integrity deficit’ in government and show Nigerians that the accruals from the hike in fuel prices would be well utilised. I dare say that Nigerians are now well convinced about that. They can see the projects, the jobs, the changed lives and much more. But it is important that it is reviewed, disaggregated its various components and retired to the MDAs that should ordinarily have statutory responsibility for those components of SURE-P.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Gen. Buhari would long since have made a lot of difference since he left active service if he had focused on helping develop his chosen profession. Today, chances are that his current sponsors only want to use him to secure new berths and expanses. The signs are emerging by the hour.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Culled from <a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/buhari-and-the-south-west/203931/">ThisDay</a></b></div>

Buhari And The South-West - By Okey Ikechukwu

Akin Osuntokun’s “Buhari: Which South-West”, which appeared on this page the other week, threw up an interesting perspective on the real issues facing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South…

18 Mar 2015

Introducing Goodluck Jonathan: Nigeria’s Provincial Baby President - By Japheth J. Omojuwa

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFZBGiMv33x67MXE68nRekFPOX0ScskVu8lK0AHBnOokHqMTU8GqmyzPCiuxrLz0gGAvf0LwXy-Y7fS9NR-E2TxFp_14DT8aVAEqkm7pRDwTY0WyHX4_opTZ4yFvvEmMjRCtL47K8xlK0/s1600/GEJ+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFZBGiMv33x67MXE68nRekFPOX0ScskVu8lK0AHBnOokHqMTU8GqmyzPCiuxrLz0gGAvf0LwXy-Y7fS9NR-E2TxFp_14DT8aVAEqkm7pRDwTY0WyHX4_opTZ4yFvvEmMjRCtL47K8xlK0/s1600/GEJ+001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>People who say, “President Goodluck Jonathan has done nothing!” are not being truthful, but those who take it literally are even more guilty. Jonathan has done something.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In November 2013, I travelled into Nigeria and wrote about the mess that was the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on this column. Sixteen months later, that same airport is very far from being world class but it is a long travel from the seamy dump of shame it looked like that November. I also believe that his administration has not done too badly with Information and Communication Technology. There are people who believe the successes in agriculture are more noise than substance but I am of the view that agriculture, while still very far from where it ought to be, has seen some improvements in terms of the process involved in helping farmers access extension support. It may sound like a campaign catch but that we didn’t have a famine after the 2012 flooding is credit to the work done by that ministry. Sports haven’t been stellar but you can’t say, “nothing has been done” here either. A former Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, achieved great things. So yes, Jonathan has done something. If you make a six-year old-child president, s/he also would get some things right in five years because someway, somehow, someone in his government would just decide to leave her own legacy behind and not mind the incompetence of the “baby president”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, President Jonathan’s failings are not as much about what he has done as it is about what he has not done. One believes the most important attribute of leadership is caring; Goodluck Jonathan does not care about the people. He is a provincial, insensitive, callous, selfish, clueless, top-of-the-range incompetent President who woke up one day with power and has spent half a decade still wondering what to do with it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you followed the Chibok girls’ abduction, you’d see the only reason Boko Haram successfully abducted the girls and still has them is because President Jonathan and his crew of “na our turn” handlers refused to believe the girls had been abducted. It took over two weeks for the President to acknowledge this. The cost of that delay is the reason almost a year after, the girls remain in the custody of their abductors.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
President Jonathan refused to visit Nigerian soldiers in Borno State until he had to visit the state to campaign. He then made one visit to the state just before his campaign visit; to deflect the criticisms that’d come from being seen as visiting Borno just for elections and not to meet with the citizens who had been burdened by insurgency for years. It was a callous act on the side of the President but it was consistent with his attitude.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When 59 boys were murdered by Boko Haram at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, President Jonathan and his handlers not only did nothing, they said nothing. The President only sent the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Abdul Bulama, one whole year after the tragic incident, to convey his “grief” with the parents. One year after? That is diabolical! Note this is not yet about the President failing in his sworn responsibility to protect the people of Nigeria – he has so failed that Nigerians themselves no longer care to expect him to be responsible on that front – this was the President not caring to commiserate with the parents and relatives. This is not only a failure of leadership; it is a failure of President Jonathan’s humanity.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A day after a bomb blast that killed over 200 people – government claimed 75 people but eyewitnesses including an online news medium stated otherwise – in Nyanyan, on the outskirts of Abuja, President Jonathan was pictured actually dancing “Skelewu” alongside a renowned northern artist, Sani Danja, while welcoming former Kano Governor Ibrahim Shekarau back to the fold of the Peoples Democratic Party. This happened last April. People say Nigerians suffer from collective amnesia but is it so chronic 11 months are so far into the past we cannot remember what happened? The late human rights activist, Bamidele Aturu, said at the time, “It is plain insensitive, really. It is an evidence that the leadership of this country does not take our lives seriously at all,” and few will argue against that statement even today.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You would think the President has learnt his lessons since all of the above and others too numerous to mention happened, he has not. Last Sunday, 80 people were killed as the Fulani and Agatu clashed. Instead of at least making a statement, the President chose to spend the time wining and dining with celebrities in Lagos. No word, no action. When 12 people got killed by terrorists at the Paris office of the satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, President Jonathan commiserated with the people of France, while on this same day about 2,000 people were killed at Baga – government claims the numbers are far less but no claim of it being less than 150 people – yet the government offered no commiseration, condolence or the usually tepid “we will bring the perpetrators to book” statements that both the spokesperson and the person who was being spoken for have never believed would happen.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, does not care! There are many facts to back this statement up but if the above tragedies are not enough to make the point, the point would never be made with a countless other examples.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Remember that the fuel price increase of January 1, 2012 could have been done any other day and month of that New Year. What sort of a person looks at the first day of the year and decides to take such a decision? Many still have sad stories about how returning to their bases post-Yuletide season was tougher than anticipated. The President – two weeks to the elections – is announcing a joke 30 per cent reduction in certain salaries. This promise was made three years ago when Nigerians marched against his government. Nothing happened in three years. He also promised to cut on his and his aides international travel expenses; check, the numbers have only increased since then.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You would see the President has been running around over the last four weeks – since the elections were postponed – to see if he can turn the tide. He took all of us for granted in the past because he never envisaged there would be an alternative to the PDP. Until these elections, no political party stood a chance of beating the PDP at the presidential poll. The All Progressives Congress was expected to crumble latest by December of 2014 when it held its presidential primary. Miraculously and against the usual order of opposition politics, the party came out of that even stronger. It was then and only then that Jonathan began to see that he stood a chance of losing the election. It was then and only then did he remember he had a country to preside over.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As he meets with Yoruba Obas, celebrities and those who claim to be youth leaders, amongst other interests, let the ones brave enough ask him: in a sane world, would he even be a candidate to run again after all his failures? This is Goodluck Jonathan, and there is no rational argument available to vote this man as President. He has done enough and not done enough to show that he took Nigerians for granted. His cup is full; it is time to let someone finally pay for this mess we have come to get used to. The power is in your hands!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Omojuwa.com</b></div>

Introducing Goodluck Jonathan: Nigeria’s Provincial Baby President - By Japheth J. Omojuwa

People who say, “President Goodluck Jonathan has done nothing!” are not being truthful, but those who take it literally are even more guilty. Jonathan has done something. In November 2013, I travelle…

18 Mar 2015

[VIDEO] Focus On Armoured Vehicles Made In Ogun State, Nigeria

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4end1JgS8BR4Zj-YoU0C8yJWI9PGc_nty2KotElbeGdZPK2jR8xkRpLmVU40gvVZn2z0gM57l94lLK8a-4sndRCuVf1-reaNMjsPB7CygyVTN9xGYORogOBZRixYki0HBRnMBVVlD7rS/s1600/ArmouredVehicles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4end1JgS8BR4Zj-YoU0C8yJWI9PGc_nty2KotElbeGdZPK2jR8xkRpLmVU40gvVZn2z0gM57l94lLK8a-4sndRCuVf1-reaNMjsPB7CygyVTN9xGYORogOBZRixYki0HBRnMBVVlD7rS/s1600/ArmouredVehicles.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>As interest in armoured luxury cars rises among the upper class, some Nigerian auto firms have intensified research work on the armouring technology.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Already, an indigenous automobile manufacturer, <b>Proforce Limited</b>, has commenced the production of Armoured Personnel Carriers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Proforce said it had sealed a pact with Defence Industries Corporation and some para-military organisations for the production.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Wealthy Nigerians and top public office holders import a number of armoured vehicles.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Managing Director, Proforce, Mr. Ade Ogundeyin, said in a statement that his firm was currently working with the Defence Industries on the APCs, just as he stressed it was equipped to armour other categories of vehicles.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He criticised the idea of importing armoured vehicles, saying it did not make economic sense for Nigerians to continue to import what was available locally.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“There is no need for government or anybody to import bulletproof or armoured vehicles. It is a waste of resources.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Why import at very high cost when there is capacity to produce better vehicles at comparatively lower prices locally? This is an issue I hope the new auto policy will address.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ogundeyin said the armouring materials were resistant to AK-47 gunshots and assaults with improvised explosive devices, stressing that the vehicles would run on special flat tyres that could endure several kilometres of journey even when deflated.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Proforce boss also expressed support for the recently developed auto plan, describing it as one of the best policies of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said if fully implemented, the document was capable of boosting industrial activities in the sector and contributing towards the achievement of government’s targets for the economy by 2020.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He aligned with the thrusts of the new auto policy, which were to encourage investment, enhance technological development and revive production activities in the industry.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ogundeyin said, “This is a laudable plan which is capable of transforming the local industry. The impact will be felt in many ways, including the establishment of many small- and medium-scale support industries, job creation and increase in capacity utilisation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“But a lot will depend on whether government has the will to fully implement the policy, especially the area that concerns their agencies or departments buying locally made vehicles. Another critical area that requires firm action on the side of government is the one that introduces stiffer tariff structure for fully built imported vehicles.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
See video below:</div>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UPyh2gevxAo" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
After armouring, the armoured vehicles undergo a ballistic test to prove that indeed bullets cannot penetrate them.<br />
<br />
See video of a ballistic test below:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KzgqzyrNthc" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />

[VIDEO] Focus On Armoured Vehicles Made In Ogun State, Nigeria

As interest in armoured luxury cars rises among the upper class, some Nigerian auto firms have intensified research work on the armouring technology. Already, an indigenous automobile manufacturer, P…

18 Mar 2015

Alinson-Madueke Asks Court To Stop Premium Times, 10 Others From Linking Her With Missing $20 Billion Oil Revenue

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX29FOrVLaWKyIg3JpvONucNDxJb3xh50OcFaQNIEs7RyzpUs6rXphtFG3eHIFijhiwQrSOc-aFp3O0fnpNFcFEJ6tBmTgx5jIMMg1G0jElcJTWvswi1pNluMpOmC5xtN6ah-Fg7P10_9p/s1600/Diezani.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX29FOrVLaWKyIg3JpvONucNDxJb3xh50OcFaQNIEs7RyzpUs6rXphtFG3eHIFijhiwQrSOc-aFp3O0fnpNFcFEJ6tBmTgx5jIMMg1G0jElcJTWvswi1pNluMpOmC5xtN6ah-Fg7P10_9p/s1600/Diezani.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has sued Premium Times and 10 other individuals and organizations to restrain them from further reporting on the controversial missing $20billion oil money involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In an application before Justice AFA Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s lawyer, Godwin Obla, from Obla & Co., sought and obtained an interim injunction restraining Premium Times and 10 others from “publishing or causing to be published any further defamatory statements” stating or suggesting that the minister “stole, misappropriate or colluded in the stealing of $20billion crude oil revenue”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the application dated March 13, 2015, Mr. Obla warned the persons and organisations to desist from “further publishing any disparaging defamatory or otherwise salacious materia (sic) as it relates to or affects our client.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Those listed as defendants in the case are the All Progressives Congress, APC, Vanguard Media Limited and its editor, Mideno Bayagbon; Leadership Newspapers Group Limited and its editor Ekele Peter Agbo; Premium Times Services Limited and its editor in chief, Dapo Olorunyomi, and Vintage Press Limited and its editor, Lekan Otufodunrin.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also joined in the application were the National Broadcasting Corporation and the Nigerian Press Council.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Court directed the two government regulators to ensure Mrs. Alison-Madueke is not linked in any report regarding the alleged missing $20 billion either on broadcast media, internet, print or radio.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The court specifically ordered the media houses to “desist from publishing any materials or running any programmme alluding to the complicity or collusion” the minister in respect of “$20billion, $49billion or any other figure, howsoever computed or arrived at, which are purportedly/allegedly missing or ‘unaccounted’ for”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“You are hereby advised to immediately ensure total compliance with the Order of the Hon. Justice Ademola and to further cease and desist forthwith from publishing any material, howsoever titled or presented and irrespective of its form and content, which alludes to any amorous, immoral, salacious and defamatory matters connected to or related with our client, including anything to do with any allegation(s) or insinuation that our client colluded, was involved with or is complicit in the matter of a purportedly/allegedly missing $20billion, $49billion or any other amount whatsoever, until the determination of the substantive suit,” it stated.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Warning that compliance to the court order was not discretionary, but mandatory, Mr. Obla said that any attempt to do otherwise would be tantamount to flouting a subsisting order of a competent court.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Failure to heed or give effect to the subsisting orders of the court will lead to the full force of the law being brought to bear upon your organization,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The missing $20 billion oil money was first raised by former Central Bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, who accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, of not accounting for the amount.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As petroleum minister, Mrs. Alison-Madueke is the chairperson of the board of the NNPC.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While the government denied that funds were missing, it ordered a forensic audit of the NNPC, carried out by PriceWaterHouseCoopers Limited.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Several months after the completion of the audit, President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the report be withheld.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last month, Mrs. Alison-Madueke told the Financial Times of London that the government was sitting on the report to ensure a “rabid” opposition does not exploit every of its detail to ridicule the government ahead of crucial polls March 28.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Under immense pressure from Nigerians, the government released a “highlight” of the report, which indeed proved the NNPC was indebted to the government, but at a much lower rate of $1.49billion.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The petroleum minister has since directed the NNPC to pay the money to the federation account.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Notwithstanding, many Nigerians have continued to demand the release of the full report.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The minister and her finance counterpart, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have repeatedly flouted the directives of the House of Representatives that the report be made public.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Premium Times</b></div>

Alinson-Madueke Asks Court To Stop Premium Times, 10 Others From Linking Her With Missing $20 Billion Oil Revenue

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has sued Premium Times and 10 other individuals and organizations to restrain them from further reporting on the controversial missing $20…

18 Mar 2015

Load more posts

TNN.ng

AdSense1

Nigeria's Military Plans To Establish An Interim Government - Soyinka

Polls: Jega Ignored My Request For A Meeting – Oritsejafor

Buhari Right On Level Of Corruption, Says Emir Of Kano

6,000 Christian Clergymen Declare Support For Buhari

Ogun PDP In Free-For-All Over Jonathan's Dollars

We'll Collate Presidential Election Results At ICC Abuja - Jega

How STV's Aishat Mustapha Was Murdered, An Eyewitness Account

Atiku Disowns 120 Groups Defecting To PDP

We Assure You Of Press Freedom Under Our Govt, Buhari Tells Media Guru

Gani Adams' Led Anti-Jega Protest Splits OPC

Jonathan Swears-In Obanikoro, 7 Others As Ministers

No News For Now On #Chibok Girls - Army Chief

Buhari And The South-West - By Okey Ikechukwu

Introducing Goodluck Jonathan: Nigeria’s Provincial Baby President - By Japheth J. Omojuwa

[VIDEO] Focus On Armoured Vehicles Made In Ogun State, Nigeria

Alinson-Madueke Asks Court To Stop Premium Times, 10 Others From Linking Her With Missing $20 Billion Oil Revenue

Popular Posts

Labels

Archive