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Analysts: Nigerian Oil Shake-Up Shows Buhari Serious About Reform | VOA

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<b>DAKAR, SENEGAL - On the campaign trail, newly-elected Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to stamp out corruption in Nigeria. </b></div>
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To do that, analysts say he must reform the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation or NNPC, which has long been dogged by allegations of waste and graft. </div>
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Buhari showed he was serious late last month by firing the NNPC’s board.</div>
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Dolapo Oni, head of energy research at Ecobank, said that move effectively put him in control of the company.</div>
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“I think he has direct access to information from within them and possibly can also, to some extent, micromanage the administration of the NNPC himself,” Oni said.</div>
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Oil is the economic backbone of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy. But proceeds from the petroleum industry are so poorly distributed that only the rich elite benefit from it, while millions live in poverty. </div>
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Cleaning up the NNPC has long been seen as crucial to fixing this disparity. </div>
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Former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi said in 2013 that the NNPC had not handed over billions of dollars in oil money it owed the government and was fired after making the allegation.</div>
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There are risks and rewards to President Buhari’s firing of the NNPC board, said Yvonne Mhango, sub-Saharan Africa economist at Renaissance Capital.  Reforming the NNPC may ultimately help Nigeria boost oil production and cut graft, she said. </div>
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Without a governing board or a petroleum minister to oversee it, however, the NNPC is at risk of being leaderless.</div>
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“For one, it brings around policy paralysis, because now, it’s a sit and wait mode,” she said. “And secondly, the shakeup of any industry would of course have some downside risks.”</div>
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Appointments for petroleum minister and other Cabinet postings are not expected until September.</div>
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<b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/nigerian-oil-shake-up-shows-buhari-serious-about-anticorruption/2847997.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">VOA Africa</a></b></div>
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Analysts: Nigerian Oil Shake-Up Shows Buhari Serious About Reform | VOA

DAKAR, SENEGAL - On the campaign trail, newly-elected Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to stamp out corruption in Nigeria. To do that, analysts say he must reform the state-owned Nigerian N…

03 Jul 2015

Tinubu Stands With Buhari, APC But... - Aide

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<b>LAGOS, NIGERIA - The spokesman to Senator Bola Tinubu, the APC National Leader, Mr Sunday Dare has disclosed the chieftain’s take on the crisis rocking the ruling party. </b></div>
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This disclosure was made in a series of tweets by Dare who said:</div>
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After one week of political meetings Tinubu departed Lagos for Abuja at 3.30pm today with aides. Hours after APC meeting ended. </blockquote>
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Tinubu stands with the President and with the party but stands against all those in the party who disrespect APC. </blockquote>
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President Buhari has spoken. We know he stands for party discipline without which there can be no unity. </blockquote>
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It is only the leaders that led the APC to win the battle that can fight the war and win for Nigerians. Others are pretenders.</blockquote>
See his embedded tweets below:<br />
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After one week of political meetings Tinubu departed Lagos for Abuja at 3.30pm today with aides. Hours after APC meeting ended <a href="https://twitter.com/GbengaGOLD">@GbengaGOLD</a></div>
— Sunday Dare (@gebusites) <a href="https://twitter.com/gebusites/status/617008096347574272">July 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Tinubu stands with the President and with the Party but stands against all those in the party who disrespect APC <a href="https://twitter.com/GbengaGOLD">@GbengaGOLD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/olulateef">@olulateef</a></div>
— Sunday Dare (@gebusites) <a href="https://twitter.com/gebusites/status/617011010596118529">July 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
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President Buhari has spoken.  We know he stands for party discipline without which their can be no unity <a href="https://twitter.com/NigeriaNewsdesk">@NigeriaNewsdesk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GbengaGOLD">@GbengaGOLD</a></div>
— Sunday Dare (@gebusites) <a href="https://twitter.com/gebusites/status/617011517519712256">July 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
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It is  only the leaders that led the APC to win the battle that can fight the war and win for Nigerians. Others are petenders <a href="https://twitter.com/GbengaGOLD">@GbengaGOLD</a></div>
— Sunday Dare (@gebusites) <a href="https://twitter.com/gebusites/status/617012263472492544">July 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Tinubu Stands With Buhari, APC But... - Aide

LAGOS, NIGERIA - The spokesman to Senator Bola Tinubu, the APC National Leader, Mr Sunday Dare has disclosed the chieftain’s take on the crisis rocking the ruling party. This disclosure was made in …

03 Jul 2015

Buhari Says Nigeria’s Ruling Party Risks Losing Internal Unity

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirhtrEsu9_k3FNhAF7aAfV5vQB3LnwXkZzLspdybSUu3wk_mbgY7nhFrrkFSdsmJn4jF6D-TqiV7pchyphenhyphenrnLRXVHPr_4fT-AgUG852mLERB29CQRDcUyGR4CyrJoB8MBOPcAYHVW3xd3GL/s1600/PMB+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirhtrEsu9_k3FNhAF7aAfV5vQB3LnwXkZzLspdybSUu3wk_mbgY7nhFrrkFSdsmJn4jF6D-TqiV7pchyphenhyphenrnLRXVHPr_4fT-AgUG852mLERB29CQRDcUyGR4CyrJoB8MBOPcAYHVW3xd3GL/s1600/PMB+002.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>ABUJA, NIGERIA - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the ruling All Progressives Congress risks losing its internal united and cohesion after winning elections in March.</b></div>
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Buhari urged the APC "to work hard to quickly resolve internal differences in the party and avoid disappointing Nigerians," Femi Adesina, a presidential spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. </div>
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"The president affirmed his belief in the supremacy of the APC’s Change Pact with Nigerians over the personal ambitions of its members."</div>
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Buhari is facing discord among his party after the election of Bukola Saraki as chief of Nigeria’s Senate last month. Saraki, an APC senator who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, drew on support from his former PDP colleagues to win the Senate leadership, riding over the APC’s preferred choice.</div>
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<b><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-03/buhari-says-nigeria-s-ruling-party-risks-losing-internal-unity">Bloomberg</a></b></div>
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Buhari Says Nigeria’s Ruling Party Risks Losing Internal Unity

ABUJA, NIGERIA - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the ruling All Progressives Congress risks losing its internal united and cohesion after winning elections in March. Buhari urged the APC "to…

03 Jul 2015

Gov. Ambode To The Rescue Of Abandoned Mother Of Triple Twins

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJF5u6470tLj3-_-O9WHGNwytd6eTCKjo-H6y_kRCkqcGCO61GT9naVYYMODgFpl7BWS11BPknAHPZkCxXCCtlJVV-G3Q8FdRil6Fzu4Y87Qp1uzhH0k2NBA8ahhPQRLC2EWIo0R-nn7F/s1600/Iya-Ibeji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJF5u6470tLj3-_-O9WHGNwytd6eTCKjo-H6y_kRCkqcGCO61GT9naVYYMODgFpl7BWS11BPknAHPZkCxXCCtlJVV-G3Q8FdRil6Fzu4Y87Qp1uzhH0k2NBA8ahhPQRLC2EWIo0R-nn7F/s1600/Iya-Ibeji.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>LAGOS, NIGERIA - Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode,  the Governor of Lagos State, has directed his deputy, Dr. Mrs. Oluranti Adebule to  immediately rehabilitate and provide welfare assistance to Mrs. Ruth Uche, the mother of three set of twins whose husband absconded from their home in Agege, Lagos.</b></div>
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This was made kwon in a statement signed by the Governors Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna  on Friday.</div>
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Ambode's directive followed newspaper publications which narrated the ordeal of the woman, who spoke with reporters during her distress visit to the Government Secretariat, Alausa on Thursday.</div>
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We reported earlier that <b><a href="http://nigerianewsroom.blogspot.com/2015/07/man-flees-home-after-wife-gave-birth-to.html">Mrs Ruth Uche was abandoned with here children after the husband, Benjamin, learnt she was pregnant with another set of twins after the the initial two sets</a></b>.</div>
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The Governor touched by the woman and her children  plights  noted that as a responsible government, the well-being of the people of the State irrespective of their ethnic, religious or political affiliation is paramount to his administration and assured that his government will continue to provide good leadership that will guarantee adequate protection of lives and properties of all Lagosians.</div>
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Her husband, Mr. Benjamin Uche was alleged to have absconded from home as a result of the expected birth of another set of twins from his wife, making it the third in a row.</div>
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While acknowledging the present economic situation in the country, the Governor noted that it is not proper for anyone to abandon his family, especially young children that they willingly brought to life, admonishing that it is only when such children are properly taking care of that they can achieve their full potentials in life and become responsible citizens in the future.</div>
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Gov. Ambode To The Rescue Of Abandoned Mother Of Triple Twins

LAGOS, NIGERIA - Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the Governor of Lagos State, has directed his deputy, Dr. Mrs. Oluranti Adebule to immediately rehabilitate and provide welfare assistance to Mrs. Ruth Uche, …

03 Jul 2015

Tinubu, Akande Absent At APC NEC Meeting

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIgI1xnPPHKNGsigHOoMpQ4RUJSj7sg9n6K1JzQ7YL7RO0debt1JyzPkQxQK51Qg_wdlIcicMQcwxF9PnDBdGOPYnuoo0n8hZ3FT1gaMsip66RAFG5E-Z0pj4mxqxoEw43mUCtv4dhI51/s1600/Tinubu007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIgI1xnPPHKNGsigHOoMpQ4RUJSj7sg9n6K1JzQ7YL7RO0debt1JyzPkQxQK51Qg_wdlIcicMQcwxF9PnDBdGOPYnuoo0n8hZ3FT1gaMsip66RAFG5E-Z0pj4mxqxoEw43mUCtv4dhI51/s1600/Tinubu007.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>ABUJA, NIGERIA - National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is absent at the ongoing meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party in Abuja.</b></div>
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Also, former interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande was also not present at the meeting.</div>
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Both leaders of the party have apparently not hiden their dissatisfaction with  the national assembly leadership election held on June 9.</div>
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The elections eventually plunged the party into crisis, eliciting verbal attacks and cold war amongst leaders of the party.</div>
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Early this week, Akande wrote a controversial open letter where he alleged a conspiracy of the north against the south west, warning that the party may lose future elections if the crisis was not nipped in the bud.</div>
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The letter has generated reactions within and outside the party.</div>
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Details later.</div>
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Tinubu, Akande Absent At APC NEC Meeting

ABUJA, NIGERIA - National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is absent at the ongoing meeting of the National Executive Committee (N…

03 Jul 2015

US Congress Honors Nigeria's Fela Anikulapo Kuti

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0QyQ9XTV_jmBge51J3__Y3TPE_Mr_uyHJ70lOoh4kgsZ81vWPv2kIxG2eyyA73FtnvCtFmMPofs4svOWq5xD1irfwBJSjziO5dft38hoAtdj6czlwJ_aI4kpR9lSVksJbMTLtX8257KL/s1600/Fela+Anikulapo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="543" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0QyQ9XTV_jmBge51J3__Y3TPE_Mr_uyHJ70lOoh4kgsZ81vWPv2kIxG2eyyA73FtnvCtFmMPofs4svOWq5xD1irfwBJSjziO5dft38hoAtdj6czlwJ_aI4kpR9lSVksJbMTLtX8257KL/s640/Fela+Anikulapo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>TEXAS, USA - Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti has been honoured by the United States Congress for his contributions to music and political activism.</b></div>
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A Certificate of Recognition signed by a member of the US House of Representatives, Sheila Jackson Lee, on behalf of her constituents and the American congress, cites Fela as a music legend. Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents Texas constituency is a big Fela fan.</div>
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She hosted the cast of Fela! On Broadway back in 2012 and is believed to have advocated for the proclamation. The certificate, presented to the family of the late icon, was shared on Instagram by Seun Kuti.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><a href="http://thesheet.ng/wow-united-states-congress-honours-fela-anikulapo-kuti/">The Sheet</a></b></div>
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US Congress Honors Nigeria's Fela Anikulapo Kuti

TEXAS, USA - Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti has been honoured by the United States Congress for his contributions to music and political activism. A Certificate of Recognition signed by a membe…

03 Jul 2015

Pocket Your Personal Interests and Ambitions, Buhari Tells APC MPs

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRdJ1CEgtUJc1RgZl7iEJSGpCKY_VNTxsoQqG7m7Zvdwq0awgDm1Cof06INsBPRLWp9QYNbw_UGnwEYD3uqmwz5OlAWKegdeUNstPdnG9-K-zGOJ6EH42zM5vtdNurQc5V1XMRHE4eGx9/s1600/PMB+Reps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRdJ1CEgtUJc1RgZl7iEJSGpCKY_VNTxsoQqG7m7Zvdwq0awgDm1Cof06INsBPRLWp9QYNbw_UGnwEYD3uqmwz5OlAWKegdeUNstPdnG9-K-zGOJ6EH42zM5vtdNurQc5V1XMRHE4eGx9/s1600/PMB+Reps.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>ABUJA, NIGERIA – President Muhammadu Buhari has said that all APC faithful must collectively come together to rise above the current crisis threatening to engulf the party.</b></div>
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Buhari made the call in Abuja on Friday at the first National Executive Council (NEC) emergency meeting of All Progressives Congress (APC) after its victory at the polls.</div>
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He said ‎party members should strive to win the war (National Assembly crisis) as they won the battle (general elections).</div>
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He said: </div>
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APC has won the battle and lost the war which is a paradox of democracy and we shall see how we shall manage it.</div>
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How do we manage it? We move forward.</div>
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I have already appealed to you through the chairman, the leadership of the party, through the governors, through our lawmakers and the APC must not disappoint its constituency, the nation. </div>
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We have had to convince our ‎individual constituencies that we are worthy of sacrifices they had made in staying awake days and nights, travelling all over the country and making sure the party emerged victorious. </div>
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What subsequently happened is human and as human beings we are not perfect but let our collective actions prove that we've won the election, the battle, and we will eventually win the war.</div>
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Buhari‎ further urged the party members to honour the platform through which they won the elections and gave a background of how he contested his present position and lost three times.</div>
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"Whoever wants to run for elected office as a Nigerian must have a platform and that platform is the political parties hence the superiority of the party because that is our platform", the president said.</div>
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He told the story of the party from the beginning when other parties came together to form APC, how INEC rejected their initial merger, how the first convention was planned and who was instrumental at the initial stage.</div>
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I am going through all these (stories) because not all of us here participated in this and for you to reflect and thank the leadership of the party at various stages for going through all these which wasn’t easy. </div>
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But God in his infinite mercy has paid us by giving us success, let us not throw this success to the wind. </div>
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Let us as members of APC ‎no matter our personal differences, get together and meet the mandate given to us by this country. </div>
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This is my personal appeal and, in the name of God, whatever your personal interest is‎ and ambition, please keep it close to your heart and in your pocket. </div>
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Let APC work and let this system work and let us have a government that will earn the respect of our constituencies.</div>
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I appeal to you to please continue working together and please accept the superiority of the party….because I respect the superiority of the party, he said.</blockquote>
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The president congratulated the APC Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, for leading the party to victory and acknowledged the presence of the president of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives.</div>
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Earlier, Odigie-Oyegun said it was unfortunate that the first NEC meeting was convened hurriedly but congratulated the members on the landslide victory at the polls.</div>
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"The main item on the agenda is the ratification of aspects of members of the Board of Trustees", he said.</div>
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He lauded the character of the president and his deputy, saying APC became easily believable because of their integrity.</div>
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He said that "(APC) governors have swollen from 14 to 22 and we are still counting."</div>
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Buhari arrived at the party secretariat at 11:04 a.m. and left ‎at 12:40 p.m.</div>
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The governors of Sokoto, Kebbi, Plateau, Imo, Bauchi and Lagos ‎States were among dignitaries at the event.</div>
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Others were APC National Working Committee ‎members, state chairmen, former governors, senators and zonal leaders.<br />
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<br />
<b><a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/let-apc-work-and-let-this-system-work-buhari/">Vanguard</a></b></div>
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Pocket Your Personal Interests and Ambitions, Buhari Tells APC MPs

ABUJA, NIGERIA – President Muhammadu Buhari has said that all APC faithful must collectively come together to rise above the current crisis threatening to engulf the party. Buhari made the call in Ab…

03 Jul 2015

[FLASH]: MKO Abiola's Daughter, Rinsola Appointed APC BoT Member

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AJB2cOZWRneH5AXRGAVcx7u_wQPEtwezdCZex9NYIhQ-o7iG3tGQDWbEpH3KeSq2laRaWF6pKtXn-fuIjIL_CpcJ-fjR9UXF5zFwLxJ3wBkn2JUtPfmCpwnXJ3l2Y_ckq9AEMM5oNLhm/s1600/Rinsola2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AJB2cOZWRneH5AXRGAVcx7u_wQPEtwezdCZex9NYIhQ-o7iG3tGQDWbEpH3KeSq2laRaWF6pKtXn-fuIjIL_CpcJ-fjR9UXF5zFwLxJ3wBkn2JUtPfmCpwnXJ3l2Y_ckq9AEMM5oNLhm/s1600/Rinsola2.png" /></a></div>
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<b>One of the daughters of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, the late Bashorun M K O Abiola, Rinsola, has been officially appointed a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).</b></div>
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<br />Rinsola Abiola is a PR Consultant. She served as PRO of APC Youth Forum (APYF) from 2013-2014, and is currently PRO/Secretary of the APC Young Women Forum. And, like many of her peers, she played a major role during the run up to the recently concluded 2015 elections that saw the APC winning the presidency.</div>
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Rinsola broke the news of her appointment via her twitter handle <b>@Bint_Moshood</b>. See the tweet below:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSJsKloNZ0DRuwU311Mjrrond8m8qjaW3qkEVxUp7FpwNXfJ1dSTugta955SwmX_vuDs0h4QPrLtmxQQ3kpBvQW-VyrYLpKyhuYzO9wbdN9TqEcrmiQrucXPwRM3qgxhORGGU3pTWAlsm/s1600/RinsolaTweet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSJsKloNZ0DRuwU311Mjrrond8m8qjaW3qkEVxUp7FpwNXfJ1dSTugta955SwmX_vuDs0h4QPrLtmxQQ3kpBvQW-VyrYLpKyhuYzO9wbdN9TqEcrmiQrucXPwRM3qgxhORGGU3pTWAlsm/s1600/RinsolaTweet.jpg" /></a></div>
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We at <b>The Nigeria Newsroom</b> congratulate Rinsola on this appointment.<br />
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[FLASH]: MKO Abiola's Daughter, Rinsola Appointed APC BoT Member

One of the daughters of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, the late Bashorun M K O Abiola, Rinsola, has been officially appointed a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT)…

03 Jul 2015

San Diego Couple Married For 75 Years Dies In Each Other's Arms Hours Apart

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq188VOOiGK58RLF_0MxO8S5pTtvjAV27tgoENBGzZuAen3t6HmadY_BrPLvUOceBKdv03ae9Au8nMzpNH_BhfI8Xe6oj41VV-cPsGk9vGHgXTpC3qcMGVDN6zs1nWHBfefXOmakYxKk0S/s1600/Couple-Dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq188VOOiGK58RLF_0MxO8S5pTtvjAV27tgoENBGzZuAen3t6HmadY_BrPLvUOceBKdv03ae9Au8nMzpNH_BhfI8Xe6oj41VV-cPsGk9vGHgXTpC3qcMGVDN6zs1nWHBfefXOmakYxKk0S/s1600/Couple-Dead.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>SAN DIEGO, USA - A San Diego couple who had been married for 75 years died less than a day apart, fulfilling a promise they made to peacefully pass in each other's arms while holding hands.</b></div>
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Jeanette and Alexander Toczko's touching romance ended as sweet as it began when the two fell madly in love at just 8-years-old and soon learned they hated being apart, their children told <a href="http://www.10news.com/news/couple-married-75-years-dies-in-each-others-arms"><b>ABC 10 News</b></a>.</div>
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Jeanette and Alexander Toczko got married in 1940. They fell in love at age 8.</div>
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"Their hearts beat as one from as long as I can remember," daughter Aimee Toczko-Cushman said. "He died in her arms, which is exactly what he wanted.</div>
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"She hugged him and she said, 'See this is what you wanted. You died in my arms and I love you. I love you, wait for me, I'll be there soon.'"</div>
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The lovebirds, who were both born in 1919 and got married in 1940, were determined to follow through on their dying wish to go out together.</div>
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Jeanette and Alexander Toczko died in each other’s arms less than a day apart after their 75th anniversary.</div>
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Alexander Toczko, a 95-year-old World War II veteran, arranged for their hospice caregivers to set up a bed in their home next to his wife, 96.</div>
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That's where the two celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary on June 29. And it's where they had their final moment together.</div>
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"Even the hospice nurse said it was the most incredible thing to see the two of them taking those last breaths together," Toczko-Cushman told ABC through tears.</div>
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Alexander Toczko died first on June 15. Jeanette passed less than 24 hours later, according to their obituary.</div>
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They were buried Monday at Miramar National Cemetery.</div>
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"They both entered the pearly gates holding hands," said the couple's son Richard Toczko.</div>
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<b><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/san-diego-couple-dies-arms-day-article-1.2279407">Daily News NY</a></b></div>
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San Diego Couple Married For 75 Years Dies In Each Other's Arms Hours Apart

SAN DIEGO, USA - A San Diego couple who had been married for 75 years died less than a day apart, fulfilling a promise they made to peacefully pass in each other's arms while holding hands. Jeanette …

03 Jul 2015

Man Flees Home After Wife Gave Birth To 3rd Set Of Twins

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LUZugZVGofEvszZBDuMuojp2WeCNyNgIrj5nDjXW7_Dt7iqZy0D1eqos2YWGuPVvyOI4iSRaMorgtr60v-tbv1k7VRsqUZe3rop22SAPqpbKAMERRQIeEHaLvkS_LiwGDcQnHD7FP74A/s1600/Iya-Ibeji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LUZugZVGofEvszZBDuMuojp2WeCNyNgIrj5nDjXW7_Dt7iqZy0D1eqos2YWGuPVvyOI4iSRaMorgtr60v-tbv1k7VRsqUZe3rop22SAPqpbKAMERRQIeEHaLvkS_LiwGDcQnHD7FP74A/s1600/Iya-Ibeji.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>LAGOS, NIGERIA - Where  is Citizen Emeka Benjamin Uche, a Lagos factory worker?</b></div>
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<b>That was the big question yesterday as his wife, Ruth, 34, from Abia State broke the news of his disappearance since February.</b></div>
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Uche, 39, fled home when he learnt that his expectant wife was carrying a set of twins – the family’s third.</div>
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Mrs Uche was at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa yesterday with her six children, pleading for help.</div>
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Not many knew what she wanted as she stood under a tree, close to the Press Centre, carrying the babies. Her first two sets of twins, much older, stood close to their mother, and did not in any way seem intimidated by the sea of cameras and faces focusing on them.</div>
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Mrs. Uche was receptive when<a href="http://thenationonlineng.net/new/man-disappears-over-wifes-third-set-of-twins/">  <b>The Nation</b></a>'s reporter approached her to narrate her ordeal.</div>
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In 2009 when she first conceived, she was delivered of two girls – Goodness and Godnews. The second conception, two years later, produced another two – a boy and a girl, named John and Joyce.</div>
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But when her husband, Emeka, learnt that the third pregnancy was another set of two he fled their number 32, Awori Street, Agege home on the outskirt of Lagos to an undisclosed location in Ikorodu, Lagos.</div>
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The third set of twins arrived last month. They were named Daniel and Daniella.</div>
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Mrs. Uche said she could no longer cope with widening needs for food, clothes, drugs and school fees.</div>
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Her meagre earnings as a teacher in a private school in Lagos can no longer meet their needs.</div>
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Her story: “I met my husband in 2002 but we got married in 2008. We met in the village at Umuahia. I don’t want to leave the children and run away. This is why I want government to help us,” she said.</div>
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She recalled that she never wanted the third pregnancy, but her use of traditional means of family planning (counting fertile and infertile days) failed her.</div>
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“I was using traditional way of family planning where I calculate some days before having intercourse. It was working for me. You can see my first set of twins is four years old.</div>
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“You know as women, we cannot deny our husband that thing whenever they request for it. Whenever I mistakenly take in, he would say that I was pretending. Sometimes, I would go through long process to abort the pregnancy. After that, another one would happen. I would still have to go through the process again to abort it. When this one happened he still insisted that I was pretending until the pregnancy became obvious.”</div>
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“My Church was responsible for the payment of the first delivery. The church paid ₦120,000 for the delivery of the first set of twins. The two deliveries of the twins have been through Caesarean Section for which we paid ₦120,000 each. The last twins are through normal delivery”.</div>
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Mrs. Uche explained that her husband, a factory worker in Iju Road, Agege, has since refused to pick her calls. She learnt that he stays in Ikorodu.</div>
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“Since I gave birth to the children, I have tried calling my husband but he would not pick once he knows that it is me. I contacted his mother and other relatives to tell them that he has run away. They promised that they will call back. Since then, none of them has called me. It is not easy for me at all.</div>
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“I know only two of his relations. One of them lives in Ikorodu; the other one lives at Ajegunle. My elder brother, who could have also helped, is very angry with me for giving birth to another set of twins. He warned me before not to have any other child after the two sets of twins, especially with the kind of husband I have.</div>
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“I cannot put my hands in blood shedding by committing abortion. I want Nigerians to help me because there is nobody to pay their school fees.</div>
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“I went for immunisation some days ago and I told them my condition and why they have not been seeing me. It was there that they advised that I should come to government. Government should please help my children; no one to help me with house rent, electricity bill, school fees, food and so on,” Mrs. Uche said.</div>
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Man Flees Home After Wife Gave Birth To 3rd Set Of Twins

LAGOS, NIGERIA - Where is Citizen Emeka Benjamin Uche, a Lagos factory worker? That was the big question yesterday as his wife, Ruth, 34, from Abia State broke the news of his disappearance since Fe…

03 Jul 2015

APC NEC Meeting: Ex-Govs Back Saraki, Dogara; Want Tinubu Out of NEC

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<b>ABUJA, NIGERIA - The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) may simply worsen during and after its much anticipated National Executive Council (NEC) meeting friday, as all indications point to likely tough exchanges between various interest groups within the party, in what has been described as political fireworks, which could lead to a stalemate.</b></div>
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This is fuelled by the belief that some former governors, who are members of the party, and a group of Northern stakeholders in the party have resolved to defend the elections of both Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively.</div>
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Today's NEC meeting is expected to be attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Senate Leader, APC state governors, NWC members and APC state chairmen, among others.</div>
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Other prominent leaders of the party expected at the meeting are former governor of Lagos State Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, Chief Ogbonaya Onu and other leaders.</div>
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<b><i><a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/apc-nec-may-be-deadlocked-as-ex-governors-back-saraki-dogara/213739/">THISDAY</a> </i></b>learnt that the former governors of the party met during the week and agreed not only to back the emergence of Saraki and Dogara as the Senate President and Speaker of the House but also to strongly advocate the restructuring of the party along the line of legacy parties.</div>
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This decision, <i>THISDAY </i>learnt, was spurred by the perception of the ex-governors as well as some Northern leaders that the protracted crisis in the National Assembly is being orchestrated from only the South-west chapter of the party.</div>
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There is the belief that the opposition to the leadership structure in the National Assembly is being championed by Bola Tinubu whose preferred candidates lost out in the struggle for the leadership of the national legislature.</div>
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Many suspect that the NEC meeting of Friday may seek to remove the elected leadership in the Senate, a development which could pose some legal problems to the party given the fact that the senate leadership which has fully crystalised had gone through  the normal legislative processes.</div>
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Any form of alteration to the emerged leadership structure can therefore be through impeachment which has to be done by two-thirds members of the Senate.</div>
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It was further learnt that the former governors, who are vehement in their resolve, have decided to force their way into the venue of the meeting today on the grounds that if a National Leader of the APC, Senator Tinubu, who is also a former governor, is allowed in, there is no reason they should be denied entry into the meeting.</div>
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The former governors are also insisting that there is no provision in the constitution of APC which accords recognition to the position of a National Leader with the argument that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.</div>
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Hence, they said if Tinubu, who is their colleague is allowed in, they also possess the qualification to be part and parcel of the meeting.</div>
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However, one of the former APC governors, Dr. Kayode Fayemi who spoke to <i>THISDAY </i>last night denied knowledge of any plot to storm the NEC meeting or move against Tinubu.</div>
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"We are not members of NEC and I am not aware of any plan to attend the NEC meeting by former governors in the party. You know there are former governors and there are former governors."</div>
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Fayemi noted that it is possible perhaps to allow former governors into the meeting, but only as observers as they have no voting right, asking "so what is the essence?"</div>
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He further reasoned that none of the about 15 former governors is likely to do what has been suggested.</div>
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In order to achieve their objective, they said they had planned to assemble at the party’s national secretariat with a view to joining the meeting once Tinubu is granted access into the meeting venue.</div>
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<i>THISDAY </i>also gathered Thursday evening that the party leaders had resolved to uphold the sanctity of the party’s constitution by denying anyone who is not a legal member of the party's NEC access to the meeting.</div>
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On their part, northern stakeholders of the party were said to have been aggrieved over insinuations that the South-West chapter of APC was heating up the party with a warning that the National Assembly crisis "was gradually becoming a distraction to the party and could stall its manifesto of change."</div>
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The northern stakeholders flayed Chief Bisi Akande over his comment on Monday that the elections of Saraki and Dogara were sponsored by oil barons and that the northern elite were conspiring with Saraki to frustrate the South-West.</div>
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They described the allegation "as a failed attempt to pit the North against the South-West and it should be stopped before it does more havoc to APC".</div>
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However, governors elected on the platform of APC were scheduled to meet Thursday at the Imo Governor’s Lodge in Abuja so as to arrive at an initiative to resolve the current logjam in the National Assembly.</div>
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Another source of tension was the allegation of under-hand action levelled against the party's National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun which has been condemned by many of the stakeholders as false and selfish witch-haunt.</div>
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Although many of the party leaders have issued statements stating the contrary, fears and apprehension have indeed gripped many party members over what may likely be the outcome of the NEC meeting.</div>
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The party's national chairman, Chief Oyegun, who has been at the centre of the crisis that bedevilled the party in the National Assembly, described the bribery allegation against him as rubbish and an attempt by persons without conscience to smear his long-standing image.</div>
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Addressing a group of South-East and South-South Professionals who paid him a solidarity visit Thursday, Oyegun urged all the interest groups to accept compromise in the interest of the party and Nigeria generally.</div>
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When they say I'm taking money from a Senator, to do what? I am not a Senator, I cannot vote, I cannot by being chairman pronounce him as Senate President or Senate Leader so what is he giving me money for? How many people know me personally? It is annoying, it is dirty, it is crude, it is unbecoming and it can only be from people who are totally devoid of conscience at any level of humanity that can do things of that nature.</blockquote>
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There is nothing they have not said about me. But when you ask what has the man done, one of their reports said the present executive cannot win us elections in 2019, Good lord! You've not even finished with 2015, you are talking about 2019.</blockquote>
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The one that annoys me is the attempt to rubbish 75 solid years of a character that I've put together. They said I take gratification, gratification to what purpose? The only people who can say that are the people who don't know my background or history.  I was just over 30 when I started joining teams that were buying aircraft from Holland and Soato in United States. That could not corrupt me. I was on the board of the Railways, NPA and the rest of them, if all these did not make me corrupt, how can I at 76 take money, money from who to do what?</blockquote>
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At 75 years and having occupied various important positions both in government and out of it, I do not have a land in Abuja. If people are devoid of conscience, it should not make me lose sleep," he said.</blockquote>
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In a related development, the senator representing Niger East senatorial district, Senator David Umaru, said Thursday that the emergence of Saraki as Senate President and Dogara as Speaker of the House of Representatives was a fait accompli, recalling that members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were the majority senators on the floor of the Senate when the election was held on June 9.</div>
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“They could have snatched the Senate Presidency from us," he observed.</div>
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He also debunked the belief that Senators of Like Minds, the group that is loyal to the Senate President, negotiated away the office of Deputy Senate President to the PDP, adding that the bulk of the senators present in the chamber during the election was from the PDP.</div>
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He insisted that the positions of the Senate President and the Speaker were “no longer negotiable even at the NEC meeting. What our party should know is that the outcome of the election could have been devastating”.</div>
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He said: "Whether you like it or not, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) represents President Buhari, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is represented by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has the National Chairman, John Oyegun. It therefore follows that Saraki and Dogara represent the New PDP component in the party.</div>
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"The New PDP, with five governors, a former vice-president of the country cannot be ignored. At least, equity demands fairness and the elections of Saraki and Dogara represent that fairness."</div>
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In the same vein, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of APC, Timi Frank, who spoke on African Independent Television (AIT), has urged the party to accept the outcome of the National Assembly elections and move on.</div>
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He reasoned that the PDP could have nominated themselves to be Senate President and Deputy Senate President, "and you cannot take that from them".</div>
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"We should thank PDP for what they did, for being democratic. They know they are not the ruling party, so they respected themselves by making sure an APC Senate President emerged. They unanimously gave their support to Saraki as we only had about seven or eight APC senators in the Senate as at that time.</div>
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"I see no reason anybody should blame Saraki for what has happened. We should be happy that he was there to at least save the situation at that time. If he wasn’t there, the situation could have been different," he said.</div>
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Querrying the flop of the APC by swarming to the International Conference Centre (ICC) on the day of the election, Frank said: “The question we should be asking is: Who asked 51 senators to go to the International Conference Centre? What did they go there to do? I don’t know who called for that meeting, as a party man. We should not blame Saraki for becoming Senate President. We should put the blame on the party and whosoever that called that meeting. Has the president come out to tell Nigerians that he called for a meeting and Senator Saraki wasn’t there? Even the president wasn’t at the International Conference Centre. Why did you expect Saraki to be there?</div>
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"Everybody is saying the president called (for a meeting). Who gave the directive for the meeting? So, this is the big question, a very critical question we should be asking."</div>
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He also denied that there was a trade off between Saraki and the PDP.</div>
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“To the best of my knowledge, this is a contest between two political leaders in the same party. Both of them were banking on the support of PDP senators because APC senators alone could not have made them Senate President. What happened was a victory for democracy, a victory for the people. You can’t take it away. The Senate or House (of Representatives) is an independent House. These people decide on what they want. They go for what they are comfortable with," he said.</div>
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He therefore urged his party to move beyond the crisis and forge a common front, adding that: “One of the APC senators that was present contested alongside Ekweremadu and lost. Not that they just asked Ekweremadu to be the Deputy Senate President. No! It was live on TV. PDP was more in number, so, they voted for their own. At the end of the day, Ekweremadu emerged as the Deputy President of the Senate”.</div>
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APC NEC Meeting: Ex-Govs Back Saraki, Dogara; Want Tinubu Out of NEC

ABUJA, NIGERIA - The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) may simply worsen during and after its much anticipated National Executive Council (NEC) meeting friday, as all indications poi…

03 Jul 2015

[OPINION]: Of Tambuwalism And Buhari's Headaches - By Segun Adeniyi

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<b>It was four days after I came back to Nigeria in June 2011, leaving my family behind in the United States, and a day to the inauguration of the 7th National Assembly, when I got a call from Mrs Ebere Ihedioha, asking me whether I was at home. When I replied that I was not, she pleaded with me to go home. It was a strange request that got me immediately worried. My first response was to ask whether there was any problem with her husband with whom I was earlier that day and she said there was none but the more I kept probing, the more insistent she was, “There is no problem with your friend, Segun; please, just go home and wait.”</b></div>
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Obeying Ebere’s directive, I went home to wait. Not long after, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha arrived carrying a hand luggage. What is the matter I asked? He said he and Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, (who was contesting to be Speaker with Ihedioha as his deputy) had been tipped off about a plan to arrest them that night so that they would not be in the House of Representatives the next day for the election of principal officers. I made some calls to people around the president and from their tone, it was evident that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan had taken the aspiration of Tambuwal and Ihedioha as an affront to his person and authority and some enforcers were ready to do anything to ensure the president was “not humiliated”.</div>
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With that, I knew I had “political contraband” on my hands so we considered it necessary to take certain precautions. By the next day when Ihedioha left my house for the National Assembly, dressed in an unusual “babanriga”, nobody was certain how the drama would play out. But he and Tambuwal (who also did not sleep in his house and was camouflaged with an Ijaw hat that morning) eventually made it to the House chambers on that fateful day of 6th June, 2011. The rest, as they say, is now history.</div>
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However, what happened at that period was for me a gross abuse of presidential powers. I did not see what crimes Tambuwal and Ihedioha committed to warrant being hunted, just because they nurtured ambition. Besides, I saw how the whole episode was mismanaged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the president who refused to see reason with the majority of House members, especially within his party, that the results of the 2011 general election had made the PDP zoning formula untenable.</div>
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I have read so many reports about the “Tambuwal rebellion” in recent weeks even as the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to make the same mistakes that the PDP made in 2011. But the wrong parallels are being drawn. And because of that, President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party’s leaders are compounding the problem for which they may pay very dearly if they do not make a course correction. As I said, it was the presidency and PDP that must take the blame for what happened in the House four years ago.</div>
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With the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) sweeping the 2011 polls in the South West, most of the prominent PDP members, including then sitting Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, were defeated. In fact, in the entire six states within the region, only five PDP members were elected. To worsen matters, even when the South-west PDP caucus had endorsed Hon Ajibola Sabauna Muraina (at a meeting attended by all key members at the residence of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was at the time the Board of Trustees Chairman), some people in Abuja decided to jettison that decision to anoint Hon Mulikat Akande-Adeola for the office of Speaker.</div>
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As it would happen, at that period, four of the zonal caucuses in the House had decided that they would not back Hon Akande-Adeola. With influential House members such as Bello Muttawali (Zamfara), John Enoh (Cross River), Leo Ogor (Delta), Ogbuefi Ozomgbanchi (Enugu), Samson Osagie (Edo), Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos), Abdulrahaman Kawu and Farouk Lawan (Kano), Ahman Pategi (Kwara), Emmanuel Jime (Benue) and Bashir Adamu (Jigawa) throwing their weight behind Tambuwal, it was evident that Hon Akande-Adeola (whose main supporter incidentally happened to be a certain Hon Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi) was fighting a lost battle. Even if the contest were restricted to the PDP members, Tambuwal was still going to win by a comfortable margin and that explained why he secured 252 votes as against 90 votes garnered by Akande-Adeola.</div>
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It is therefore incorrect to say that Tambuwal was elected speaker by the opposition. In the House in 2011, the PDP had 203 members followed by the defunct ACN with 69 members. The equally defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) came third with 38 members while the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) had 28 members. Other parties with members in the House were Labour Party, eight; All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), seven; Accord Party, five; Democratic Peoples Party, one; and Peoples Party of Nigeria, one member. Yet, despite all the bribery and intimidation from some presidential do-gooders, Tambuwal still won with 74 percent of the total votes cast, essentially because he had overwhelming support from PDP members.</div>
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Four years later, APC leaders have not learned any lesson from that experience. With the president saying publicly on the eve of the assembly inauguration that he had no dogs in the fights, the resolve of the party leaders who were using his “body language” to sell some candidates in the contest had been severely weakened. And it was no surprise that the PDP capitalized on that to produce the deputy senate president. But the real problem now is that with the elections of principal officers won and lost, what is happening in the National Assembly is a disgrace that does not in any way advance the interest of either the president or that of the APC. It is even more unfortunate that respected leaders like Chief Bisi Akande would be making ethnic imputations to what party leaders should ordinarily accept as a temporary setback and move on.</div>
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I fail to understand how ethnic conspiracy came into what is going on in the National Assembly.Pa Akande and his group wanted an Ahmed as Senate President and a George as his deputy as well as a Femi for Speaker and a Monguno as his deputy. Fair enough. At the end, they got a Bukola (married to a Toyin) as Senate President and an Ike as his deputy as well as a Yakubu for Speaker and a Lasunkanmi for deputy. Pray, how does such an arrangement work against the interest of Yoruba people just because their preferred candidates lost?</div>
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However, any discerning reader of events cannot but understand the nature and context of the power struggle going on within the APC against the background of the forces that combined to ensure the victory of President Buhari at the polls. But the way Pa Akande and his group seem to be framing issues, abusing and maligning those with whom they disagree is not only dangerous for the health of our polity, it is also counterproductive. Sometimes, it is strategic to concede a battle to win the war but some people believe they just must win every battle hence the current recourse to some self-serving politics of identity.</div>
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What the APC leaders must realize is that politics is about managing conflicts and as the new ruling party, they should take the National Assembly upheavals as part of their learning curve. With just one month in the saddle and one crisis, party leaders are already planning to pull down the house they sacrificed so much to build. Yet, if the APC leaders will be honest with themselves, the problem in the National Assembly stems from the attempt to sacrifice principle for expediency. From the United States where we borrowed the presidential system of government, the leadership of Congress is never an imposition from outside but rather a process of consensus built by the members themselves with the usual practice being that the Minority Leader becomes Speaker once his/her party wins a majority of seats at the next election cycle.</div>
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Ordinarily, the APC leaders would have been on solid ground if they had insisted on Senator George Akume as candidate for senate presidency and Femi Gbajabiamila for House Speaker. With both of them being Minority Leaders going into the election, the APC leaders could have used that to make a compelling argument about “party supremacy.” But the moment the election of presiding officers was made to look as if one all-powerful “maximalist” politician was trying to impose his own candidates on both the House and the Senate (which is not entirely true), the problem started.</div>
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Nothing describes the situation in the Senate today better than the Yoruba adage, “adie ba lokun, ara o rokun, ara o ro adie” for both the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the APC—the import of which is that there can be no peace for either until they come together to resolve their differences. But that will not happen until President Buhari begins to play the right politics. The message is simple: There is nowhere in the world where an elected president in a polity with such aggressive partisanship as ours can afford to be apolitical on matters that are tearing his party apart so early in the life of his administration.</div>
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For instance, if the president had intervened after Saraki became Senate President by calling all APC senators for a meeting and reiterating the need for Ahmed Lawan to be compensated with the position of Majority Leader (the way President Jonathan did in 2011 for Hon Akande-Adeola in the House), the outcome would have been different. Whatever the misgivings against Saraki’s emergence as Senate President, the fact remains that he could not have foisted Senator Lawan on his colleagues as Majority Leader without his hands being strengthened from Aso Rock. That did not happen.</div>
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Now, before I go further, I want to make something clear. The most common charge against Saraki is that he is “too ambitious”. It is ridiculous. Any politician who says he/she has no ambition is either a fool or a fraud. So having the ambition to be president of Nigeria in 2019 (if that is his desire) should not count against Saraki. For me, that is not an issue. What some people from my state, Kwara, hold against Saraki is not his ambition, which is legitimate but rather the exploitation of, and seeming disdain for, the ordinary people. That is where Saraki needs to look himself in the mirror again if he is to avoid hubris.</div>
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Because he is young, brilliant, politically savvy and self-assured with a network of friends across the country, Saraki has so much going for him. But there are legitimate concerns about what he stands for by both friends and foes alike and he has them in equal measure. Since I do not want to digress too much (I will come back to deal with the Saraki issue in future), what I will stress here is that Saraki will make a good Senate President only if he can bring himself to realize that power mongering for its own sake or for the promotion of personal interest would bring neither fulfillment nor enduring legacy. I hope he gets the message that material possession counts for little and begins to think of what he would be remembered for when the history of this era is written.</div>
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However, APC and the president should come to terms with the fact that Saraki is the Senate President now and relate with him. That was the mistake President Jonathan made when he and the people around him continued to undermine Tambuwal who was able to rally his colleagues. It was the inability of the presidency to accept that it could not dictate to the House who would be speaker that eventually “radicalized” Tambuwal and the PDP ultimately paid the price. Buhari cannot afford to make the same mistake with Saraki and Dogara who now head a separate but very important institution in any democracy. I am aware that the President has hosted the Speaker to a private audience in recent days. He should extend the same courtesy to the Senate President.</div>
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For sure, Saraki has fences to mend, beginning with the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. In the aftermath of the National Assembly elections, I have read several “political obituaries” of Tinubu by those who do not know what they are talking about. Fortunately, Saraki knows, or at least should know, that he cannot afford to take Tinubu on. It would be politically suicidal. The point here is that Saraki cannot be effective as a Senate President if he has to be constantly watching his back. Somehow, he must reconcile with Tinubu, once he settles with the president.</div>
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The situation in the House is a bit tricky but also fortuitous, in a way. Even if by default, that a Christian from Bauchi State would become the number four citizen is a plus for our democracy and Buhari should be happy for such a thing to happen under his watch. Besides, only few people come to the office as prepared as Dogara given his background and temperament so I don’t think the House made a mistake. In any case, there was a proper contest for the position of Speaker even though at the end the result was close.</div>
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Perhaps if the party leaders had not been so overbearing, they could have worked out an arrangement in which whoever between Dogara and Gbajabiamila won would pick the other as deputy. Now with a deputy speaker already elected from the South-west, it is difficult to have a Majority Leader come from the same zone. But I believe that there are several ways in which Gbajabiamila, with his legislative experience, exposure and intellect, can be useful to the House. The APC leadership should find a way to broker compromise between him and Dogara since they cannot force the issue.</div>
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Finally, the election of National Assembly presiding officers is not as important as the APC leaders are making it to be. There are serious challenges ahead and they should get serious. In fact, what the APC leaders are doing today reminds me of a famous refrain of Mrs Oby Ezekwesili whenever she describes people who do not take their responsibility seriously. She says such people major in minors. And at a time like this, the APC leaders should remember what Ezekwesili told them last year.</div>
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At an elaborate national summit in Abuja to launch its Road Map on 6th March last year (at a time the party was just building a coalition against the PDP), Ezekwesili, as the Keynote Speaker told them that seeking to wrest power from a sitting government is more about preparation to make the requisite sacrifice “so that the people may prosper and thrive” than merely dreaming of occupying some fanciful offices. I hope the APC leaders who are behaving as if they are still in opposition would go back and re-read the text of her presentation so they can understand the enormity of the challenges before them and stop messing around with inanity.</div>
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The National Economic Council was inaugurated on Monday with some startling but not surprising revelations about the management of our oil revenues in recent years. Now we hear of probes, which is not a bad idea. After all, according to Robert Coase, "if you torture the data long enough, it will confess". However,the fact also remains that a fixation with oil money (which in any case is dwindling) will get us nowhere as a nation. And the earlier the APC leaders come to terms with that reality, the better for all of us.</div>
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This was the way Ezekwesili explained to them last year in case they have forgotten:  “The trend of Nigeria's population in poverty since 1980 to 2010 for example suggests that the more we earned from oil, the larger the population of poor citizens: 17.1 million in 1980; 34.5million in 1985; 39.2million in 1992; 67.1million in 1996; 68.7million in 2004 and 112.47 million in 2010! This sadly means that you are children of a nation blessed with abundance of ironies. Resource wealth has tragically reduced your nation- my nation- to a mere parable of prodigality. Nothing undignifies nations and their citizens like self-inflicted failure.”</div>
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I have deliberately brought that reminder because it would seem that to some APC leaders, the most important thing in the world right now is how to upstage some principal officers in the National Assembly. Whatis particularly galling about such disposition is the hypocrisy of it all. In the Benue State House of Assembly where PDP has majority of the members, the APC government in the State, by a sleight of hand, ensured the emergence of Hon. Terkimbi Ikyange (APC member) as Speaker with Hon. James Okefe Ejembi (PDP) as his deputy. The same thing happened in Plateau State where the APC (which won the governorship election) has produced the speaker despite the fact that the PDP has more members in the House of Assembly. I have not heard one word from my uncle, Alhaji Lai Mohammed about such “anomaly” and that is why I fail to understand the vicious campaign against Ike Ekweremadu being the deputy senate president.</div>
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Fortunately, there is an opening for the president and the APC leaders to work out an acceptable resolution of the problem they have vicariously created in the National Assembly by their collective tardiness. In a way, the audacity of Saraki and Dogara has helped the president to resolve some inherent geopolitical headaches that were waiting to haunt him. It has thrown up a Christian from the “Core North” as Speaker just as it has produced a Deputy Senate President from the South-east at a time when the APC should be worrying about how not to exclude the zone from the national ring. The challenge for the President is to have the sagacity to 'own' these advantages while using his party to encircle the leadership of the National Assembly.</div>
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If the APC is clever, the enlistment of PDP legislators by Saraki and Dogara to emerge as leaders of the National Assembly can be appropriated as a bi-partisan platform to forge a stronger cohesion on critical national issues. But it is also the responsibility of the president to massage some bruised egos. In the end, the way the hiccup in the National Assembly is resolved will determine whether or not the APC can navigate the disparate interests of political factions that coalesced to form what has now become the ruling party in Nigeria. That may also determine whether or not President Buhari succeeds with his agenda to reposition our country.</div>
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<b><a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/of-tambuwalism-and-buhari-s-headaches/213601/">ThisDay</a></b></div>
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[OPINION]: Of Tambuwalism And Buhari's Headaches - By Segun Adeniyi

It was four days after I came back to Nigeria in June 2011, leaving my family behind in the United States, and a day to the inauguration of the 7th National Assembly, when I got a call from Mrs Ebere…

03 Jul 2015

[PHOTO OF THE DAY]: Oops!!! Isn't It High Time She Took A Break?

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<b>This is more than a FAIL, if only you care to agree with us. Ouch!!! It's obvious she didn't know it's her period. Otherwise, she could have prepared herself better. And, that moment she noticed this should be her time to take a break.</b></div>
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This is one of the most embarrassing cheerleader fails.<br />
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You can see more cheerleader fails <b><a href="http://likes.com/comedy/the-most-embarrassing-cheerleader-fails?v=56grGULsd0n4CxvaR5XgoA811zaPF10fOw7i0&page=1">here</a></b>.<br />
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[PHOTO OF THE DAY]: Oops!!! Isn't It High Time She Took A Break?

This is more than a FAIL, if only you care to agree with us. Ouch!!! It's obvious she didn't know it's her period. Otherwise, she could have prepared herself better. And, that moment she noticed this…

03 Jul 2015

[JUST IN]: Accept Party Supremacy, Buhari Tells Senators, Reps

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<b>ABUJA, NIGERIA - A serious brawl may be in the offing should some Senators and members of House of Representatives decide not to heed the advice of President Mohammadu Buhari on the party's position on the principal offices in both chambers, the <a href="http://linkis.com/www.vanguardngr.com/YIT7g">Vanguard</a> reports.</b></div>
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Buhari who has not spoken publicly since the election of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the House Speaker, Rep. Yakubu Dogara on the inauguration othe 8th National Assembly has just opened up.</div>
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Making his opening remarks at the ongoing meeting of National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja which has brought who is who in the ruling party, Buhari charged everyone to put whatever interest they have in their "pocket" and accept the supremacy of the party in the overall interest of democracy.</div>
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More details shall be brought to you as they emerge.</div>
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[JUST IN]: Accept Party Supremacy, Buhari Tells Senators, Reps

ABUJA, NIGERIA - A serious brawl may be in the offing should some Senators and members of House of Representatives decide not to heed the advice of President Mohammadu Buhari on the party's position …

03 Jul 2015

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[OPINION]: Of Tambuwalism And Buhari's Headaches - By Segun Adeniyi

[PHOTO OF THE DAY]: Oops!!! Isn't It High Time She Took A Break?

[JUST IN]: Accept Party Supremacy, Buhari Tells Senators, Reps

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