Nigerian Christian and Muslim leaders are set to sign a peace agreement at a one-day Peace Declaration Summit scheduled for next week Tuesday September 18. The agreement will aim at demonstrating their commitment to the promotion of peaceful co-existence among themselves. A statement from the organizers, the Nigerian Inter-Faith Action Association (NIFAA), said that the purpose of the Summit is to bring together the nation’s religious leaders to declare peace among Muslims and Christians in the country, denounce intolerance and promote tangible development outcomes. It said that the event will be attended by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Dr Samson Ayokunle. Members of the diplomatic corps and political leaders and development partners, among others, are also billed to attend the event. The statement said that one-day summit is coming on the heels of the 2018 International Peace Day on September 21, as declared by the United Nations. The General Assembly of the UN had passed a resolution in 1981 establishing it declaring every September 21 as the International Peace Day in order to promote the “strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and people.” NIFAA, an interfaith body that has several international partners, has so far trained no fewer than 2,000 Nigerian religious leaders and equipped them with relevant skills to deliver health and peace messages to their followers.
Presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has begged his fellow aspirants, including Atiku Abubakar, Senator Bukola Saraki, Sule Lamido and others to unite in order to defeat what he called “common enemy,” the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 general elections.
Addressing party supporters at the PDP secretariat in Minna, Niger state today, Wednesday, Kwankwaso said: “all contestants and other stakeholders should unite in the general interest of our party and country.”
He also called on PDP’s leadership to be fair to all aspirants during its forthcoming primaries by ensuring level playing field for all, even as he remained silent on the issue of consensus, but promised to support whoever emerges as the party’s candidate.
Kwankwaso said that he regretted supporting President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2015 presidential election, saying: “we sought for change in 2015 and along the line, I realised the change only brought about more killings, hunger, under-development, poverty and unemployment.
“I will not support or remain in that type of change that is why I am back to the PDP to change the change that has brought untold hardship on Nigerians.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has made it clear that it has no plan to postpone the 2019 general election as reported a national newspaper today, Wednesday and quoted by some online media as well as social media.
In a statement today, Wednesday to debunk the story, chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu said that at no time the INEC Chairman alluded to the notion that the Commission “may shift 2019 polls over threat of violence” as reported by the national newspaper
“Our attention has been drawn to a story with the headline – We May Shift 2019 Polls Over Threat Of Violence – INEC which appeared on the front page of a national newspaper today, but which did not correctly reflect what the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu said at the meeting.
“To be sure, INEC has no plan to postpone the 2019 General Elections.”
A newspaper had reported that INEC might shift the 2019 polls over threats of violence, saying that the chairman made the remarks at the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting that took place at the commission’s headquarters on September 11.
A major research firm, Forbes Africa, has rated Nigeria as the 2018 best economy in Africa. According to Forbes, Nigeria came top with $172 billion and was followed by South Africa with $166.735 billion.
Egypt came third with $78 billion, Algeria with $66, Lybia :$65, Botswana: $22.675, Ghana :$20.458 Morroco :$18, Ivory Coast :$11 and Madagascar with $6.766 billion.
Nigeria’s West-African neighbours, Ghana, is seventh with $20.458 even as Morroco came eighth with $18 billion, Ivory Coast is ninth with $11 billion while Madagascar is tenth with $6.766 billion.
Former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has described the national Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, as a leader that is one of the the Voyage of Tactless desperation by accusing him of starting the vote buying phenomenon in the Nigerian political evolution.
“We really do not know the real reason for this misleading falsehood, at this point in time. However, we can only guess that Mr. Oshiomhole who is currently operating under tremendous stress in the bid to steady the already floundering ship of his administration as the new leader of his party, may have got himself entangled in a voyage of tactless desperation. In a statement by Ikechukwu Eze, who is the Media Adviser to Jonathan, entitled “Oshiomhole: The burden of blame game and tumultuous leadership, ” the former President said that the allegations were false and misleading. He said ‘Our attention has been drawn to a media report in which the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Mr. Adams Oshiomhole was alleged to have claimed that Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, started vote buying in Nigeria. “While featuring on a Channels Television programme, Roadmap, Oshiomhole was quoted to have said the following: “President Jonathan started this massive vote buying in Nigeria and the Media must play back and do proper interview and proper investigation to discover the origin of vote buying. “His recent flip flops where he praised Governor Samuel Ortom and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso one day only to denounce them the very next day, is enough evidence of his fragile psychological state. “Not only is he content on squabbling with members of the opposition, we note the self-destructive tendencies of Oshiomhole who is locked in a feud with members of his own party including the minister of labour, Chris Ngige, and a host of APC Governors. It appears that Mr. Oshiomhole’s psychological strain may have reached boiling point. “On the vexatious issue of ‘vote-buying’, which has unfortunately found its way into our election lexicon, this is what we know: It is obvious that the shameful development in our democratic experience became very glaring during the 2016 gubernatorial elections in Edo State; an exercise that took place more than one year after President Jonathan had left office. “It is therefore disingenuous for any politician or group to link the former President with the anomaly, no matter how they want to stretch the now-failing blame game.” Dr. Jonathan said that the issue of vote buying didn’t come up in the assessment of elections while he was in Office as President between 2010 and 2015. “Jonathan conducted many elections including the 2011 and 2015 general elections, and many off-season gubernatorial and parliamentary elections in some states like Anambra, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo; and not for once did the issue of vote buying come up. “It is instructive that in each case, the former President was given a clean bill, with both local and international observers commending him for having supervised a credible and transparent process. “One of those who gave the former President a clean bill of health, was Mr. Oshiomhole himself who on July 16, 2012 said: “What the Edo election has confirmed is that when the President and Commander-in-Chief puts the country first and he conducts himself as a statesman not just as a party leader, credible elections are possible.” “When you juxtapose the above statement with Mr. Oshiomhole’s current statement, it becomes obvious that the APC Chairman is suffering from multiple personality syndrome and has a Jekyll and Hyde schizophrenia. “We would like to point out that the wave of commendation for Dr. Jonathan’s electoral conduct has continued, long after he had left office. In November 2017 a United Nations delegation led by Ambassador Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, and Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) commended former President Jonathan for the positive outcome of the electoral reforms he initiated during his tenure, and prayed that the institutions he built and the high standards he set in organizing credible and peaceful elections are maintained and sustained by his successors.” he added He said that it was instructive that he also received plaudits from the visiting UN team over his conduct of the same 2015 elections which “Oshiomhole had casually singled out for condemnation. “This was how Ambassador Chambas verdict differed from Mr. Oshiomhole’s jaundiced assessment: “What we noticed in 2015 was that there was a display of maturity in the way the elections were handled. There was hardly any major incident between the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The problems were mostly internal to parties. “It may be that Mr. Oshiomhole’s false accusations against Dr. Jonathan stem from his own guilty conscience arising from the unenviable behaviour he exhibited during the September 2016 gubernatorial election in his state, when his bid to anoint his successor pushed him into desperate measures and a win-at-all-cost mentality that introduced flagrant vote merchandising in our polity, thereby making Edo State the clear starting point of that cankerworm. “After observing the Edo 2016 gubernatorial election, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) a coalition of over 400 civil society organizations spread across the country, said the following about the exercise: “The most frequent reported incidents (of electoral irregularities) are vote buying/voter bribery.” The trend was later to spread to Ondo, Anambra and Ekiti States governorship elections, all taking place after Jonathan had left office as President. “What also changed was that Oshiomhole’s emergence as the national chairman of APC and the burden of ‘delivering results to his party’, has pushed him into exporting and escalating this vote buying dexterity to other states, as recently witnessed in Ekiti governorship poll. “The fact is that inducement as a tool in the hands of politicians is an old malaise that no Nigerian can be proud of. “It is bad enough that this has been allowed to fester and morph into the ugly trend that is today called vote buying. Given this circumstance, you would expect a statesman of Oshiomhole’s standing to offer perspectives on how to solve this problem that is already making our country an object of scorn in the eyes of the international community. “That Oshiomhole only resorted to blame game rather than offer any useful suggestions to the election management bodies on how to solve this shameful problem, in the cited television interview, is a sad commentary on the quality and character of today’s political leaders. “A Government that continues to blame its predecessor rather than show its scorecard, less than one year to the end of its four-year tenure, is only giving the impression that it is already at its wit’s end. “We believe that it is high time Mr. Oshiomhole began to put a leash on his unhelpful, ill-conceived comments and tumultuous style of leadership, to enable him offer quality service to the party he currently leads.”
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Alhaji Ibrahim Inga has said that no fewer than 1,300 people have been sacked by flood in eight communities of Niger State. The NEMA boss who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna today, Wednesday, said that the communities are around Zungeru Hydro Power Station which were submerged following the release of water from Shiroro dam. Ibrahim Inga said that farmlands and houses were also affected, adding that the displaced persons have been evacuated to Central Primary School Zungeru. “This water is flowing from Shiroro hydroelectric power station as a result of the spillage ongoing into the villages. “We have communicated to the management of Shiroro hydroelectric Power Station to reduce the level of their spilling to enable the people return to their homes,” he said. He said that the agency is taking inventory of the affected persons to ensure that they were free from diseases. The official added that the Agency would immediately provide the victims relief materials, including food.
President Muhammadu Buhari has made a wake up call on the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to prepare, strategise with the aim of winning the 2019 general elections in the country. The President, who formally submitted his nomination form to the party’s national chairman, Adamas Oshiomhole at the party’s national secretariat to contest the Presidential Elections next year, cautioned against allowing those who ruined the country from coming back to power. “Let me today appeal to party members not to be complacent but to prepare, strategize and win in 2019 elections. We must not allow those who brought the country to its knees from 1999 to 2015 to come and take us back.” President Buhari said that the step he is taking towards the second term is” with all humility, sense of responsibility and an unquestionable desire to serve and protect the interests of all Nigerians.” The President expressed gratitude to those dozens of organizations who have joined together and contributed funds to purchase the forms for him, giving them and the rest of Nigerians the assurance that, if nominated and if elected, he will continue to serve them to the best of his ability.
The media handlers of the governor of Lagos State have listed 35 achievements of Akinwumi Amabode that qualify him to be voted back to serve a second term.
The list goes thus:
1. Backlog payment of N11billion as arrears to retirees of Lagos State Government.
2. Built the Safety Arena, in Oshodi, to bring all the Departments and Agencies responsible for safety and emergency management under one roof.
3. Completed or close to completing more than 300 Local Government road projects, since 2015.
4. Repositioned Lagos State Emergency Agency, LASEMA. The Agency now operates via 4 centres, namely Command & Control Centre, Alausa, Ikeja; LASEMA Response Unit (LRU) Cappa Oshodi; LASEMA Response Unit, Lekki (by Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge) and LASEMA Response Unit, Onipanu. Equipped LRU with modern equipment (trucks, power bikes, heavy-duty vehicles and fire trucks, Mobile Intensive Care Ambulances and Light Rescue Equipment, and 14 new BMW Power Bikes for on-spot reconnaissance assessments of emergency incidents.
5. Launched Amnesty period for land/property owners to obtain/regularise building permits. Between March 1 and August 31, 2018, Lagos State Government will not charge any penalty for those who have erected structures on their land without a building permit. This window offers a 6-month grace period for landowners to obtain their building permit.
6. Commenced construction of 10-lane Oshodi–Murtala Muhammed Int’l Airport Road, 6. Commenced construction of 10-lane Oshodi–Murtala Muhammed Int’l Airport Road, scheduled for completion by December 2018.
7. Completed palliative repair work on section of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway between Eric Moore and Okokomaiko. Work ongoing on Okokomaiko to Badagry section.
8. Established Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, LASCOPA in 2017, for speedy redress of consumers’ complaints.
9. Acquired equipment worth more than 5 billion Naira for the State Police Command and Rapid Response Squad. Equipment donated include 100 4-door salon cars, 55 Ford Ranger pick-ups, 10 Toyota land cruiser pick-ups, 15 BMW power bikes, 100 power bikes, Isuzu trucks, three helicopters, two gun boats, 120 power generating sets, 15 armoured personnel carriers, revolving lights, siren and public address system, vehicular radio communicators, security gadgets including bullet proof vests, helmets, handcuffs, uniforms, kits and improved insurance and death benefit schemes for officers.
10. Launched the Bus Reform Initiative, to bequeath a world class transportation system to the State. It will see the construction of new bus terminals, introduction of 5,000 new buses, and construction of 100 modern Bus Shelters across the State. Already completed Tafawa Balewa Bus Terminus and Ikeja Bus Terminus; Acquired 434 new buses for Ikorodu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor; and commenced work on Oshodi-Abule Egba BRT corridor along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway (13.5 kilometers; 14 bus stations; 14 pedestrian bridges).
11. Launched the Lagos To The World (#L2W) global campaign, to better market and communicate investment opportunities in the State. As part of the launch of L2W, the Ambode Administration has also unveiled a deal book detailing investment opportunities in key sectors including health, transportation, oil and gas, among others.
12. Employed 1300 teachers into primary education system; and Provided free medical services and psychosocial therapy to 700 survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
13. Presented 500 million Naira in Grants to 275 Community Development Associations in July 2018 to enable them complete various self-help projects.
14. Installed Skywalk Bridge to link Terminals 1 and 2 at Oshodi Bus Interchange
15. Upgraded 9,174 square meter Alfred Rewane Garden, Ikoyi and opened it for use by members of the public within and around the Ikoyi axis.
16. Established N25 billion Lagos State Employment Trust Fund. The Fund has provided loans worth more than 5 billion Naira to more than 8,000 persons since inception, and helped create more than 11,000 jobs.
17. Commenced development of N49 billion Public Private Partnership Medical Park in Ikoyi, to be located at the old Nursing School along Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. (Lagos State contributing land; private investors putting up the funding).
18. Redesign of Lekki-Epe Expressway to improve journey times and reduce gridlock by replacing roundabouts with traffic lights
19. Launched Ready-Set-Work, an entrepreneurial and employability training programme aimed at ensuring that every student who graduates from any tertiary institution in Lagos has knowledge, skills, and attitude required to gain employment upon graduation. More than 2,500 final year students trained since 2016.
20. Launched Lagos State Traffic Information System (LATIS), a world-class traffic information and management system comprising hundreds of cameras, road sensors and electronic displays specially designed to collect and deliver real time information to city commuters, and thus help regulate traffic.
21. Launched Code Lagos, an initiative aimed at teaching 1 million Lagos residents to code by 2020. Currently, Code Lagos has trained over 31,000 Lagosians to code while 364 Coding Centres have also been set up in 352 primary and secondary schools as well 12 Out-of-School Centres. http://codelagos.org/
22. Annual hosting of Lagos City Marathon, since 2016. The Marathon has placed Lagos on the global athletics map.
23. Received Presidential approval for handover of National Stadium to Lagos State, to redevelop and transform it into a world-class facility; Rehabilitated Agege Township Stadium to meet Confederation of African Football (CAF) standards; and Mobolaji Johnson Sports Complex, Rowe Park, Yaba
24. Upgraded 14 flagship Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs); Provided 20 Mobile Care Unit ambulances and 26 Transport Ambulances across the State; Approved the establishment of three new Maternal/ Child Health Care Centres to expand the scope and reach of public health service delivery.
25. Constructed Flyover bridges for Ajah and Abule-Egba areas, and Multiple Lay-by to ease traffic congestion along the Third Mainland-Iyana-Oworo-Toll Gate Road.
26. Established Special Task Force, ‘Operation Restore Sanity On Lagos Roads,’ to clear Apapa-Oshodi Expressway of Trucks, Tankers and Trailers. Between July 20 and 22, 2018, the Task Force successfully cleared more than 2,000 Trucks from section of road between Toyota Bus Stop and Mile 2.
27. Rebranded and expanded the Lagos Countdown, into the One Lagos Fiesta, to boost tourism and entertainment. The fiesta now holds simultaneously at five locations across the state: Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry, Lagos Island and Ikeja
28. Established three new Fire Stations at Bolade-Oshodi, Ejigbo and Abesan, and upgraded facilities at the existing Fire Stations in Alausa, Ikeja, Isolo, Agege, Ilupeju, Badagry-Suru, Ikotun and Agege. Rehabilitated 225 old fire hydrants in Lagos metropolis, and installed 50 new ones connected to the mini/micro water works across the State. Also employed 250 new personnel into the Lagos State Fire Service, and purchased new fire-fighting equipment such as complete sets of Master Breathing Apparatus, Tripod Stand Rescue Equipment, Dragon Max Floodlights, Duraline Hoses, and Power Stream PPU Blower.
29. Completed Ojodu-Berger Flyover Intersection; completed 21 roads and two bridges with a combined stretch of 27.4 kilometers in Alimosho-Agbado-Oke-Odo area.
30. Established Relief Resettlement Camps in 34.Launched, in partnership with the private sector, the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), to improve waste management and processing in the State, by, among other interventions, constructing Transfer Loading Stations, Maintenance Depots, and Engineered Sanitary Landfills.
31. Established Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment to promote and coordinate investments in Lagos State, and the Small Claims Court to fast-track justice delivery in commercial disputes involving claims not exceeding N5 million. The entire period of proceedings from filing to judgment will not exceed 60 days.
32. Developed the Strategic Plan for Accelerated Agricultural Growth (SPAAG), and set aside 50,000 acres of land for agriculture in the State. The land will be allocated to farmers and investors for production of tomato, rice, fish, etc.
33. Collaborated with Kebbi State to produce LAKE (Lagos-Kebbi) Rice; and with Kano State to organize the first Lagos-Kano Economic Summit.
34. Launched, in partnership with the private sector, the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), to improve waste management and processing in the State, by, among other interventions, constructing Transfer Loading Stations, Maintenance Depots, and Engineered Sanitary Landfills.
35. Signed into law the landmark Lagos State Electric Power Sector Reform Law, to guarantee 24-hour power supply in line with Governor Ambode’s vision to attain a 24-hour economy. Also signed into law an Amended Land Use Charge Law.
“I want you to know that there is no fight anywhere. The National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and my good self we are not in any fight, we are not in any controversy, he said to party faithfuls in Epe.
“We are praying to God that the best is yet to come and the best will be what Lagos State deserves and I want you to just continue with your prayers that at this time, God will show His hand and make sure that everything that is of blessing to Lagos State and also blessing of Epe will come to pass.
“We have just concluded our Delegates’ Election in Epe Local Government and by consensus, we have picked our three delegates that will be going to the National Convention come October 6 for the Presidential direct primaries and the convention for all other people.
“I want to say a very big thank you to all our delegates that are present here; I want to say a big thank you to all our leaders that have also supported us to make sure that this event has come and is done very successfully.”
At the event which was held at APC’s Secretariat in Aiyetoro, Epe, Alhaji Shakiru Seriki (Bamu), Otunba Bode Alausa and Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, the State’ Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, were elected as national delegates from Epe division which comprises of one Local Government Area (Epe) and two Local Council Development Areas (Eredo and Ikosi-Ejirin).
The party leaders and faithful in the division also took turn to affirm their unalloyed support for the second term bid of the Governor.
The animosity between the two became public knowledge last month and descended into a row this week after 57 Local government heads endorsed the candidacy of Jide Sanwo-Olu.
A 28-year-old housewife and mother of one, Mautin Idowu, has pleaded to a Badagry Customary Court in Lagos State to dissolve her five-year-old marriage to her husband, Michael, who she lied to her by saying that he had no wife.
“I discovered that my husband had two wives and six children which he hid from me during our courtship. That was when I was seven months pregnant. He lied to me, my world broke down but I survived the trauma.”
Mautin, who looked apparently disturbed threatened to jump into a river in the coastal city if the court declined to grant her request.
Mautin, who is a teacher in a public school, said that she was tired of her husband’s disrespect for her family, his intolerable behaviour and lack of love.
“I was in 300-level at the Lagos State University Distance Learning Programme when I met Michael Idowu in 2012.
“He was a teacher and I was teaching with my National Certificate in Education (NCE) then; he proposed to me but I rejected because he was older than me.
“Michael told me that his wife divorced him with two sons and out of pity, I fell in love with him.
“Few months after, he took me to meet his family. When I got pregnant in 2013, we got married and he paid my dowry.
“ Michael kept me in a two-room apartment in a bushy area, but I still managed to have my baby, ” the petitioner said.
She told the court that her husband abandoned her and her baby and disrespected her parents by shouting at his mother-in-law and hanging up the phone on her father.
The respondent was, however, not in court.
The court’s President, Mr Sakirudeen Adekola, adjourned the case till Oct. 18 to give room for an amicable settlement between the couple.
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The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Alhaji Ibrahim Inga has said that no fewer than 1,300 people have been sacked by flood in eight communities of Niger State.
“I want you to know that there is no fight anywhere. The National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and my good self we are not in any fight, we are not in any controversy, he said to party faithfuls in Epe.
A 28-year-old housewife and mother of one, Mautin Idowu, has pleaded to a Badagry Customary Court in Lagos State to dissolve her five-year-old marriage to her husband, Michael, who she lied to her by saying that he had no wife.
