USA Today Editorial Describes President Trump As Unfit To Clean Obama’s Toilets

December 13, 2017

USA Today published a brutal editorial yesterday, Tuesday, after President Donald Trump had smeared Senator Kirten Gillirand by saying that “she would do anything for campaign contributions.”

“A president who had all but call a senator a whore is unfit to clean toilets in Obama’s presidential library or to shine George W. Bush’s shoes,” USA Today’s Editorial Board wrote, adding that Trump was clearly suggesting Gillibrand would trade sexual favors for campaign donations.

The board added that Trump is a “uniquely awful” person with “sickening behavior.” His tweet was a new low for a president redefining rock bottom, they wrote.

Gillibrand and her support were quick to respond. The New York senator tweeted that she would not be silenced by Trump, a person who brought shame upon the Oval Office.

After ripping Trump for his attack on Gillibrand, USA Today’s Editorial Board listed key instances when “Trump’s utter lack of morality, ethics and simple humanity” was on full display.

Read the editorial below:

Will Trump’s lows ever hit rock bottom?

With his latest tweet, clearly implying that a United States senator would trade sexual favors for campaign cash, President Trump has shown he is not fit for office. Rock bottom is no impediment for a president who can always find room for a new low.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday dismissed the president’s smear as a misunderstanding because he used similar language about men. Of course, words used about men and women are different. When candidate Trump said a journalist was bleeding from her “wherever,” he didn’t mean her nose.

And as is the case with all of Trump’s digital provocations, the president’s words were deliberate. He pours the gasoline of sexist language and lights the match gleefully knowing how it will burst into flame in a country reeling from the #MeToo moment.

A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.

This isn’t about the policy differences we have with all presidents or our disappointment in some of their decisions. Obama and Bush both failed in many ways. They broke promises and told untruths, but the basic decency of each man was never in doubt.

Donald Trump, the man, on the other hand, is uniquely awful. His sickening behavior is corrosive to the enterprise of a shared governance based on common values and the consent of the governed.

It should surprise no one how low he went with Gillibrand. When accused during the campaign of sexually harassing or molesting women in the past, Trump’s response was to belittle the looks of his accusers. Last October, Trump suggested that he never would have groped Jessica Leeds on an airplane decades ago: “Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you.” Trump mocked another accuser, former People reporter Natasha Stoynoff, “Check out her Facebook, you’ll understand.” Other celebrities and politicians have denied accusations, but none has stooped as low as suggesting that their accusers weren’t attractive enough to be honored with their gropes.

If recent history is any guide, the unique awfulness of the Trump era in U.S. politics is only going to get worse. Trump’s utter lack of morality, ethics and simple humanity has been underscored during his 11 months in office. Let us count the ways:

He is enthusiastically supporting Alabama’s Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of pursuing — and in one case molesting and in another assaulting — teenagers as young as 14 when Moore was a county prosecutor in his 30s. On Tuesday, Trump summed up his willingness to support a man accused of criminal conduct: “Roy Moore will always vote with us.”
Trump apparently is going for some sort of record for lying while in office. As of mid-November, he had made 1,628 misleading or false statements in 298 days in office. That’s 5.5 false claims per day, according to a count kept by The Washington Post’s fact-checkers.
Trump takes advantage of any occasion — even Monday’s failed terrorist attack in New York — to stir racial, religious or ethnic strife. Congress “must end chain migration,” he said Monday, because the terror suspect “entered our country through extended-family chain migration, which is incompatible with national security.” So because one man — 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. who came from Bangladesh on a family immigrant visa in 2011 — is accused of attacking America, all immigrants brought to this country by family are suspect? Trump might have some credibility if his criticism of immigrants was solely about terrorists. It isn’t. It makes no difference to him if an immigrant is a terrorist or a federal judge. He once smeared an Indiana-born judge whose parents emigrated from Mexico. It’s all the same to this president.
A man who clearly wants to put his stamp on the government, Trump hasn’t even done his job when it comes to filling key government positions that require Senate confirmation. As of last week, Trump had failed to nominate anyone for 60 percent of 1,200 key positions he can fill to keep the government running smoothly.
Trump has shown contempt for ethical strictures that have bound every president in recent memory. He has refused to release his tax returns, with the absurd excuse that it’s because he is under audit. He has refused to put his multibillion dollar business interests in a blind trust and peddles the fiction that putting them in the hands of his sons does the same thing.

Not to mention calling white supremacists “very fine people,” pardoning a lawless sheriff, firing a respected FBI director, and pushing the Justice Department to investigate his political foes.

It is a shock that only six Democratic senators are calling for our unstable president to resign.

The nation doesn’t seek nor expect perfect presidents, and some have certainly been deeply flawed. But a president who shows such disrespect for the truth, for ethics, for the basic duties of the job and for decency toward others fails at the very essence of what has always made America great.

USA TODAY’s editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature. [myad]

57 Member-OIC Calls President Trump Bluff, Declares East Jerusalem Capital Of Palestine

Greenbarge Reporters

December 13, 2017

Leaders and representatives of member states pose for a group photo during an Extraordinary Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 13, 2017. (AFP Photo) — Leaders and representatives of member states pose for a group photo during an Extraordinary Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 13, 2017. (AFP Photo)

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has gone the other way against President Donald Trump by declaring East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine that is “under occupation.” The organization challenged the US President to go ahead and withdraw from the peace process and back down from its Jerusalem decision.

In a statement issued following an extraordinary summit in Istanbul today, Wednesday the OIC also called on other countries to recognize East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

Following the summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and OIC Secretary General Dr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen held a joint press conference to announce its results.

Abbas said that Palestinians can no longer accept the U.S. as mediator in the peace process since it has lost impartiality. “We will aply to the UN Security Council for the annulment of US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” Abbas said, noting that all 14 member countries of the UNSC other than the U.S. support Palestine’s position.

As the final leader speaking in the summit, Erdoğan bitterly criticized the U.S. and Israel for reckless decisions placing themselves above the international law. “I believe that with this historic summit we have shown the world that Jerusalem is not abandoned,” Erdoğan said and thanked all leaders for convening in such a short notice. “I think this portrait of unity on Jerusalem should set an example, lesson and warning for everyone,” he added.

Invited by Erdoğan, leaders and representatives of 57 Muslim countries gathered in Istanbul in response to last week’s U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a decision believed to be pushed by President Donald Trump.

“Trump, do you stand behind this Israel? There is occupation, torture, terror there. Do you defend this Israel? But I find it normal since the [same] Trump mentality that used terrorist YPG/PYD against Daesh also does this,” said Erdoğan while condemning Israeli security forces for the violence against protesters.

Erdoğan once again urged all countries which have not already done so to recognize the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Lebanese President Michel Aoun are among the heads of state attending the emergency summit in Istanbul, as well as the emirs of Qatar and Kuwait and presidents of Afghanistan and Indonesia.

Trump’s announcement drew widespread international rejection and condemnation and sparked a wave of protests across the Muslim world.

Tension has particularly mounted in the Palestinian territories. Israeli security forces have so far killed two Palestinians and injured several hundred during demonstrations against the declaration.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem — illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 — might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

According to the final communique of the summit in Istanbul, the OIC members agreed to:

1. Reject and condemn in the strongest terms the unilateral decision by the President of the United States America recognizing Al-Quds as the so-called capital of Israel, the occupying Power; reject it as null and void legally, and consider it an attack on the historical, legal, natural and national rights of the Palestinian people, a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts, an impetus to of extremism and terrorism, and a threat to international peace and security; and call upon all member states to give high priority for the Palestinian question in their daily discourses and foreign policy agenda, especially in their dealing with counterparts in other parts of the world;

2. Reaffirm the centrality of the Cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Ash-Sharif to the Muslim Ummah; renew our principled support for the Palestinian people in their pursuit to attain their inalienable national rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the borders of 4 June 1967, with Al-Quds Ash-Sharif as its capital; assert the status of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif in the hearts and minds of the Muslim and Christian peoples throughout the world because it has the first of the two qiblas, the third holy mosque, where Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, started his Mi’raj (Ascension to Heaven), and the birthplace of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him; and resolve to confront any steps that would affect the historical, legal, religious or status of the or political City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif;

3. Reaffirm our attachment to the just and comprehensive-peace based on the two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine and consistent with internationally-recognized terms of reference and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative adopted by the Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference in Makkah Al-Mukarramah in 2005- as a strategic choice; and call on the international community to act in an effective and serious manner to achieve this solution;

4. Reaffirm our adherence to all resolutions adopted by the regular and extraordinary sessions of the Islamic Summit on the Cause of Palestine and the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif, in particular the Extraordinary Summit in Jakarta, including the affirmation that a comprehensive and just peace will be achieved only by ending the occupation and establishing the independent State of Palestine that has full sovereignty on the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif as its eternal capital;

5. Consider that this dangerous declaration, which aims to change the legal status of the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif, is null and void and lacks any legitimacy, as being a serious violation of the international law, and the Fourth Geneva Convention in particular, and all relevant resolutions of international legitimacy, particularly the U.N. Security Council resolutions No. 478 (1980) and 2334 (2016), the foundations of the peace process that stipulate that City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif as a final status issue, the agreements signed and the undertakings made in this regard by the United States of America, which requires the immediate reversal of this decision;

6. Hold the U.S. Administration fully liable for all the consequences of not retracting from this illegal decision; and regard it as an announcement of the U.S. Administration’s withdrawal from its role as sponsor of peace and its realization among all stakeholders and an encouragement of Israel, the occupying Power, to continue its policy of colonialism, settlement, apartheid and the ethnic cleansing it has been practicing in the occupied Palestinian territory in 1967, and in the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif at its core;

7. Thank regional institutions for their positive stand in favor of the State of Palestine and the status of Al-Quds; and mandate the General Secretariat to mobilize support for the cause of Palestine from all regional organizations.

8. Declare East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine and invite all countries to recognize the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital;

9. Assert our continued commitment to protecting the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif, its historic status, its cultural mission, and its legal status, and to take all necessary measures to put an end to the violations committed by the brutal Israeli occupation and any party that supports this occupation and its colonial and racist policies; and condemn in this regard the full and unjustified bias of the U.S. Congress in favor of the imperial and racist policies and practices of Israel, the occupying Power;

10. Welcome the international consensus rejecting the declaration of the U.S. Administration, which violates all resolutions of international legitimacy, because of its serious repercussions on the security and stability in the region and the world; and regard this international consensus as a message of strong support for the rights of the Palestinian people and their just Cause and right to their land, notably the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif;

11. Support all legal and political steps at the national and international levels, which contribute to preserving the historical and legal status of the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif; and support the State of Palestine in its efforts in all international forums to consolidate its sovereignty over Al-Quds Ash-Sharif and the occupied Palestinian territory in general;

12. Call upon all States to continue to fully implement UNSCR 478 of 1980 and in this regard urge all States to: a) refrain from supporting the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the so-called capital of Israel and; b) not to relocate their Diplomatic Missions to Al-Quds Ash-Sharif;

13. Call on the U.N. Security Council to assume its responsibilities immediately and reaffirm the legal status of the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif, and to end the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, to ensure the international protection of the Palestinian people, and to implement and respect all its resolutions on the Palestinian Cause;

14. Affirm its readiness to take up this grave violation in the U.N. General Assembly should the U.N. Security Council fail to act in accordance with the U.N. General Assembly resolution no.377A; the “Uniting for Peace resolution”;

15. Stand for the Cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Ash-Sharif as the main issue in international forums, including Member States’ voting in favor of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, the UNESCO and other international organizations and expressing their rejection of any action contrary to this principled position, and any member state taking a different stance shall be considered to have left Islamic unanimity and should therefore be held accountable;

16. Urge strongly all member states to support Bayt Mal Al-Quds Ash-Sharif, the executive arm of Al-Quds Committee chaired by His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, in order to help the steadfastness of the inhabitants of Al-Quds;

17. Express unequivocal support for the just struggle of the Palestinian people and our condemnation of the Israeli attacks on the peaceful protests of the Palestinian people against the illegal declaration of the U.S. Administration and our full solidarity with the Palestinian people in these difficult circumstances, which require Member States and all peace-loving forces to take urgent action to avoid taking any similar steps and to respond to the imperialist and racist procedures by Israel, the occupying Power, towards the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif;

18. Also affirm commitment to provide the necessary material resources to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people within the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in the City of Al-Quds Ash-Sharif, who continue to protect the historic, civilizational and legal identity of the Holy City;

19. Strongly urge all Member States, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations in the Member States to increase their contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) so as to ease the ongoing financial crises, exacerbated by the current humanitarian situation on the ground, and to support the Agency’s valuable work in assisting the Palestine refugees;

20. Call upon the Member States and relevant OIC bodies to continue to provide all forms of economic, social, technical and material support and assistance to the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine including promotion and facilitation of trade with Palestine, developing capacity building programs and enhancing financial and economic assistance to build up a strong and independent Palestinian national economy and to strengthen the economic and social development of Palestine, including the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, as its capital;

21. Call upon the OIC Executive Committee and its Bureau and the Ministerial Contact Group on Al-Quds to act expeditiously and communicate with the governments of world countries and international organizations to raise their awareness of the seriousness of this step and the actions of Muslim countries in this regard and to act preemptively concerning any negative consequences of the declaration of the U.S. Administration;

22. Request IDB to support economic and social development endeavors in Quds Al-Sharif and other occupied territories through the “Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development” by prioritizing Palestine’s projects and formulating special and flexible mechanisms and procedures for them;

23. Assert the need to continue to follow developments in this regard and to take the necessary action accordingly.

Source: DailySabah[myad]

Atiku Welcomes Ambassador Of Niger Republic

Greenbarge Reporters

December 13, 2017

Former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar, welcoming the Nigerien Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Aleit Maigaskiya, who paid him (Atiku) a courtesy in Abuja today, Tuesday. [myad]

Security, CBN Operatives Arrest 13 People Selling Naira Notes In Rivers

Greenbarge Reporters

December 13, 2017

The security forces, made up of police and personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS), have arrested 13 people found to be illegally selling naira notes in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The security operatives, in what is called: ‘sting operation’ that also included officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said that the suspects who were all women, were arrested in different parts of Port-Harcourt and are currently being held at the State CID. They are helping the Police with investigations.
Speaking to news men in Port Harcourt today, Wednesday, the Police Public Relations Officer, Rivers State Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Nnamdi Omoni said that the sting operation, which was carried out in line with the provisions of Sections 20 and 21 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act (2007), was aimed at checking illicit sale of the Naira notes.
The Command’s spokesman said that the sum of N2,937,430 consisting of various denominations were recovered from the suspects.
He said that investigations had already commenced to ascertain the sources of the new Naira notes.
Omoni said that the operation would be a continuous exercise by the relevant Security Agencies with a view to clamping down on persons illegally trading in the nation’s legal tender, punishable under the extant CBN Act with a jail term of not less than six months or a fine of not less than N 50,000 or both.
“The acts of spraying the naira notes at occasions, soiling and writing on them, mutilation, squeezing, as well as hawking and selling the Naira notes, are forms of abuses of the Naira as such should be discouraged by all.”
Omoni called on Nigerians to respect the Naira note in all ramifications as it remained one of the symbols of the country’s national identity.
Section 20 (4) of the CBN Act (2007) makes it an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment not less than 5 years for any person to falsify, make or counterfeit any Bank note or coin issued by the Bank which is a legal tender in Nigeria while Section 21(1), makes it an offence punishable for any person to hawk, sell, or trade in the Naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the Bank. [myad]

National Assembly Clinic Turning Into Death Trap, 2 Die For Lack Of Drugs

Greenbarge Reporters

December 13, 2017

Information reaching us has indicated that the National Assembly clinic has turned to death trap with pathetic conditions.
It was gathered that two persons recently died as a result of lack of basic drugs and equipment despite huge budgetary allocation every year.
It was learnt that doctors mostly prescribe drugs for patients, most of whom are personnel of the National Assembly for them to buy outside.
It was gathered that due to the pathetic state of the clinic, Senators and Members of the House of Representatives no longer seek medical attention at the centre even as the junior ones have no alternative.
This is coming a few months after the wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, raised an alarm over the poor state of the State House Clinic, which she said lacked drugs and equipment.
According to source, the management of NASS is trying frantically to cover it up so as to avoid embarrassment like that of the State House Clinic.
The source said: “doctors are hardly enough. But even if they are, there will be no equipment to work with. It is either the ones available have broken down after months of acquisition and usage with myriad of outstanding promises of fixing or changing them or that the machines are not available. That is the case at this clinic.
“I’m sure, you can always get paracetamol and other routine drugs. But anything outside that will take the patient to outside the clinic where he will be advised to buy the drugs.
“A thorough look at what constitutes a hospital for the Legislative Arm of the Federal government reveals a deliberate detachment of some offices at the basement on the left flank of the Complex, just before the Senate.
“Even though it is partitioned and made so compact to accommodate all the units of the clinic, it is still not enough let alone providing offices for the Heads of Unit. That is to tell you, what someone who is seriously sick will go through to get treated.
“For instance, the Office of the Head of Pharmaceutical Service is located in the Senate new Building, miles away from the “White House” where the clinic is itself located. Again, the clinic does not admit patients at the National Assembly. Admission is only done at Area 11, the extension of the clinic which operates in a rented 3 -bed room apartment. You can see for yourself that, it is not advisable for any one to go through all of that.
“Then the Laboratory Centre of the Clinic is situated miles away entirely from the whole Assembly Complex to another wing called “annex.” This means that whatever test recommended by Doctor, one simply needs to go with taxi to the place. But unfortunately, there are no taxis. We therefore, walk on foot, meandering through the buildings, doing a lot of stairs climbing or lifting becomes the only option available to get to the Lab Section. And then, one is told on arrival to the clinic that all the tests ticked for cannot not be done.
“There are no kits, at least, for some time now. The kits have remained unavailable, and we can’t talk, because there are a lot of cover up with a lot of things going on in that clinic, but we can’t talk because of our job.
“In a situation where a patient becomes angry and in an attempt to pacify such patient, he or she will be advised to pay some money for the test to be conducted outside. it is not mandatory but strictly optional.
“This is because no one pays a dime in the clinic. At least, that is the situation for now. May be that could be the reason why some prescribed drugs are hardly available.
“The worst of all, is that you can get drugs base on your personal relationship or your level in the office. Those staff that know one or two persons there , don’t face what others go through, because they personally bring drugs for them to avoid problems. This may also explain why serious screening are done before a staff can be attended to in the clinic.
“The annoying part is that the staff at the clinic, including cleaners are part of all kind of malpractices in that place, because they do not have choice. Any attempt to go against them, is to risk your job,” Peoples Daily quoted an insider in a recent report published by the newspaper.
When contacted, the Director/ Secretary of the Health Services, Dr. Eme Moma Efretuei, declined to speak on the pathetic state of the clinic.
She said: “you know in civil service, this is not allowed. You don’t expect me to respond when I have my boss. The Clerk is in position to respond to you, unless there is clearance from him, I cannot say anything.”[myad]

After Declining Vice Presidential Ticket From Buhari In 2014, I Can’t Now Be Interested, Tinubu Replies The Sun

Greenbarge Reporters

December 13, 2017

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said that there is no rational for him to be eyeing Vice Presidential candidate of the party ahead of 2019 election when he actually declined the same position offered to him by the then Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.
Tinubu, who replied to the SUN newspaper’s insinuation in its publication today, Wednesday, that he will replace the present Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo in 2019, said that there is no truth at all in the report.
“Contrary to the impression the Sun (newspaper) seeks to create, my kind of politics is not that of unbridled personal ambition for selfish interest. When at some point in the build up to the 2015 election, President Buhari offered me the Vice –Presidential ticket, I gratefully and publicly thanked the President. When it turned out that such an offer would not be in the interest of the party and would play into the hands of enemies of change, I unreservedly and passionately threw my support behind Osinbajo as the best man for the job.
“My opinion has not changed. Indeed, my confidence and belief in Osinbajo has been amply justified by his (Osinbajo’s) sterling performance in the office. The attempt to cause disaffection between me and Vice President Osinbajo cannot and will not fly.
“As I firmly asserted in a public statement on December 17th 2014 endorsing Professor Osinbajo for the position of running mate to President Buhari “After all the political calculations are made and the dust of competition has settled, it must be this nation and its people who stand first and foremost. The question becomes whether we stand strong, able to shape ourselves into our best future or will we stand frail and trembling, burdened by the abject failure to surmount the multiple problems confronting us…For me, political ambition will never triumph over patriotic conviction. This delicate moment affords no space for emotion to intrude to blind us from what is best. The APC is the best and only vehicle to enact the progressive and broad change this nation cries for. I eagerly lend myself to this fine cause without me having to be on the ticket. This is a time for cohesion and an overriding sense of mission. We must defeat the foe before us and resist all temptations intended to entice us to fight among ourselves.
“As it was then so it remains today and on this patriotic and selfless commitment I stand unshakably.”
Asiwaju Tinubu, who expressed his batterness on the inferences made in the Sun publication, in a statement by his media officer, describing the newspaper report as a “classic case of utterly and irredeemably-fake news.”
He made it clear that he and the people of the South-west have absolute confidence and are exceedingly proud of the excellent job Professor Osinbajo is doing as Vice President of Nigeria.”
The SUN, in a front page lead story today, Wednesday claimed that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was considering to return to full church work and that Tinubu was being mooted as a replacement for him. According to the newspaper, this is the way to have a solid South-west support for the APC, in the face of a Southeast/South-south alliance in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Part of the Asiwaju Tinubu’s statement, titled: “Asiwaju Tinubu Debunks SUN Report on 2019 VP Slot” reads:
“The attention of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Media Office has been drawn to the front page lead story of The SUN newspaper of yesterday, December 13, 2017, which sensationally and ridiculously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari may pick Asiwaju Tinubu as his running mate for the 2019 election. This is a classic case of utterly and irredeemably fake news.

“There is no empirical or logical basis for this mischievously speculative story. Is it even conceivable, as the story recklessly insinuates, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would be considering returning to full church work rather than run with his boss, President Buhari for a second term if the latter so decides without as much as discussing such a sensitive issue with his party and with Asiwaju Tinubu? In any case, is this story not entirely unwarranted and indefensible as the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket has an electoral mandate of four years out of which it has spent only over two years and a half years?
“This is clearly an attempt to distract the APC Federal Government from the yeoman’s job it has been doing in rescuing the country from the deep rooted socio-economic, political, security and moral mess inherited from the PDP’s 16 years misrule of Nigeria, instigate crisis within the party, stoke dangerous embers of religious disaffection within the party and the country generally and stem the remarkable progress being made in the reinvention and revitalization of Nigeria.
“The SUN newspaper, through this kind of story, does great discredit to Nigerian journalism, which has made considerable strides towards greater professionalism and excellence over the years. For the avoidance of doubt, Asiwaju Tinubu has absolute confidence and faith in both President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo who have been working hard harmoniously in offering inspirational leadership to Nigeria at a most critical period in her history. The hemorrhaging of the national economy through the wanton and unprecedented corruption that obtained before the advent of the APC Federal Government has been stanched.
“There is greater sanity, accountability and transparency in the management of the country’s finances. The Boko Haram insurgency has been substantially contained. We should not allow ourselves to be derailed from the job we are effectively undertaking in fulfilling our campaign promises anchored on the tripod of containing insecurity, taming the scourge of corruption and resuscitating the economy.
“The Buhari and Osinbajo-led Federal Government is deftly steering the country out of an economic recession that was the result of the ineptness of the PDP years of the locusts. Asiwaju Tinubu will never support any attempt to distract Buhari and Osinbajo from the job they are passionately doing through the kind of false report carried by the Sun. In particular, this story does great injustice to Vice President Osinbajo. Here is a man of the highest integrity, moral rectitude, amazing humility, high intellect and unimpeachable credibility. Here is a man of fierce loyalty and absolute trustworthiness who will never do anything in word, thought or deed to undermine his boss. His unquestionable dependability and indisputable fidelity to his oath of office was demonstrated beyond question by his honourable conduct during the President’s medical vacation. Asiwaju Tinubu and the people of the South West have absolute confidence and are exceedingly proud of the excellent job Professor Osinbajo is doing as Vice President of Nigeria.
“Asiwaju takes serious exception to the insinuation by the Sun and in some other quarters that there was ever any so-called frosty relationship between Buhari and Tinubu. We challenge the Sun to provide any evidence where Tinubu has ever complained of any grouse against Buhari. As Asiwaju had cause to point out recently, having been elected President, Buhari had to be given the space to run his government. There have always been and will always be channels of communication between Tinubu and Buhari as members of the same party. Their interaction must not necessarily always be conducted in the public space.”

Niger Delta Minister Says East-West Road Was Designed By Previous Governments To Fail

Greenbarge Reporters

December 13, 2017

Niger Delta Minister, Uguru Usani Uguru has regretted that the east-west road, on which over N300 Billion has been sunk in the last 10 years, was designed to fail by the previous governments.
“The east west road is a project that has been messed up from inception, naturally designed to fail by all the agreements and designed concepts that we have seen.”
Uguru, who addressed news men today, Wednesday, shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the N16 billion approved for the NNDC’s project should not be compared to the east went road project.
“Some times when questions or concerns comes from the public, you provoke our thoughts to get back to our sense of history.”
He said that what Muhammadu Buhari government is doing now is simply to put things in order so that Nigerians would begin to see the terminal point of that projects.
“The project started more than a decade ago and in 24 months we have made the progress we have made on that project, correcting even the construction deficits in the area. I think you should be able to appreciate what we are doing.
“One, you talk of N16 billion as if it is so relevant in completing the east west road. I wish to tell you that the outstanding certificate on the east west road amount to N30 billion. So if we put N16 billion there, in fact, one and the other are not substitutes. Two of them are essential infrastructure projects that must go on, so it doesn’t mean that if we put that money on the east west road then it will satisfy the needs of housing the NDDC.”
Uguru stressed that the Niger Delta region has a prime position in the preference of Buhari’s government to develop the area.
“And so, there are no substitutes. So even if we are not going to do the NDDC headquarters, it doesn’t mean we will complete the east west road. They are all important and I want you to get that into your mind.”[myad]

Amaechi Wants Nigerians To Stone Ex President Jonathan For Messing Up Railway Projects

Greenbarge Reporters

December 13, 2017

Minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi is still bitter over the disappearance of billions of naira left by the government of Olusegun Obasanjo that could have been used to complete railway projects in many parts of the country.
He regretted that even the railway project in Warri has been on the drawing board for 34 years, adding that the railway starts from Itakpe and till now, has not even gotten to Warri town; “it stops at Alaja. “So we should be carrying placards.
“Under Obasanjo, he saved between 65 billion and 68 billion dollars. Not even in foreign reserve but in Excess Crude Account. I heard that we require about 36 billion dollars to complete all these rail works in all the State capitals.
“Obasanjo left that money and President Goodluck Jonathan became President and that money was in that account, so, why couldn’t we have spent $36 billion building rails all over the country?
“You as journalists didn’t ask President Goodluck Jonathan that question; nobody asked. I was a governor then, there was no agitation for rail. There was no construction going on. “Instead of using that money, we borrowed $500 million to construct Kaduna/Abuja rail.”
Amaechi, who was the governor of Rivers State during Jonathan’s government, asked Nigerians to stop politicising the railway issue.
“The railway project should not be politicised, it should be left as an economic driver. it drives even oil because if you import fuel, liquid cargo, we transport by rail. Like I said in the South South we should also be shouting.
“Let’s deal with the issues as they come, whether you are from North or from South or from East or West or anywhere, let’s deal with the issues as they come.”
He said that his ministry is currently negotiating with so many contractors on the best terms to raise loans to carry out the project.
“If we get the right loan terms that the country can take, we will go back to cabinet and ask for approval, that is what we are doing.
“In the Ministry of Transport, every day I meet with the Chinese because that appears to be the only place where they have funds.”
Amaechi then pleaded with Nigerians to be patient with the government and his ministry, adding: “let us find money because there is no money. Since there is no money, let us be patient.”[myad]

3 Nigerian Refineries May Start Full Operation By 2019, Minister Of State For Petroleum, Kachikwu, Assures

Greenbarge Reporters

December 13, 2017

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu has given assurance that three Nigerian refineries might start full opeartions towards the end of 2019.
He said that the refineries would go for 12 to 18 month resuscitation or turn around maintenance TAM after completing the procurement processes by the end of this year.
“If we can do that, hopefully towards the end of 2019, we should have the three refineries being able to produce for the first time in decades, within 425,000 barrels per day name-plate capacity.
“We are also looking at the AGIP refineries. We are also looking at the Petrolex refinery that myself and the Vice President went yesterday to commission.
“We have commissioned their storage facilities. They have been granted approvals through us for an elevation of their refining plan from 150,000 barrels a day to 250,000 barrels a day.”
“Given the history they have had in the success of building their storage and maritime facilities I believe they can meet up.”
Kachikwu advocated private sector funding towwards the fixing of the refineries, saying that his ministry has already designed a model to find private sector funding into these refineries.
“We expect that before the end of this year, we will at least get to the final contracting stage in terms of announcing those who are going to take this up.
“It takes about six months to do this and do it thouroughly but that requires raising close to N2 billion from private sector participants to get this done.
“A lot is being done on refining and we have focused on it so much to the point where I have put my credibility on the line.”
The minister said that the aim is stop importation of petroleum products.
“We have encouraged private sector. (Aliko) Dangote is working very hard on this. I have told the officials of Dangote that as opposed to the 2020 completion period, they are looking at they should assist us by trying to deliver this in 2019, hopefully.[myad]

Trouble Brew In Benin As Ijaw And Edo Youth Beat War Drum Over Benin Kingdom

Greenbarge Reporters

December 12, 2017

“Any attempt by persons or groups to create a Kingdom within the Benin Kingdom, is not only illegal, it is sacrilegious, treacherous, anti-people and a deliberate invitation of the wrath of God and our ancestors to self; Benins/Edos must rise up in unison to resist this bad blood in the name of Ijaw nation.”

These words of warning were issued today, Tuesday by the Benin youths under the umbrella of Benin Fundamental Movement to the Ijaw Freedom Fighters who were said to have threatened the traditional institution of Benin kingdom.

In a press statement issued in Benin today, Tuesday, the Benin Fundamental Movement stressed that the fact that the Benin people are hospitable and receptive and will continue to accommodate the Ijaws particularly as the tenant in the Benin Kingdom should not be taken as weakness.

The convener of the group, Comrade Edosa Idada, regretted what he called ‘hurried and illegal creation of the Olodiama Kingdom with a coronation of a Pere,’ the 21-day ultimatum slammed on the Oba of Benin and the Edo State Government, the threat to lay siege on the Palace of the Omo n’Oba and the Edo State Government house, adding that these were steps that should be considered to be signs of confrontation.

Saying that such steps are condemnable and an assault on the Benin Kingdom, the Benin youths wanted Ijaw people that have been enjoying the opportunity to occupy an area for work and business now claim ownership of same, to be careful not to go out of their boundaries.

“Ijaws in Benin are customary tenants; they must remain as such or relocate to their land. We wish to send a very strong warning to the Ijaws to desist from this war and the calamitous situation they are about to bring upon themselves; they do not have the monopoly of violence.

“First of all, the Ijaws may have to be reminded of UWAIS J.S.C. writ of summons taken out of the 9th June, 1970 from former Mid-Western State High Court, Benin that affirmed the earlier decision of an Appeal Court Judgment vesting ownership of Gelegele in the Benin Kingdom to the Benins.

“Secondly, by fiat, by heavenly and earthly authority, global and legal recognition, there is only one (1) Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare N’Ogidigan II, he is the supreme Oba of the traditional Benin Kingdom and the head of all traditional rulers in Edo State. [myad]

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