Former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu, has insisted that he worked hard to ensure electoral victory for the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, but that he was voted out of office by Nigerians.
He said: “In all sincerity, I gave my best and all to my party. Those who blame us for not delivering maximum votes to the former President in the north seem to have forgotten that it is the people who vote.”
Adamu Mu’azu, who was reacting to the former President’s allegation in a new book: “Against the Run of Play” written by Olusegun Adeniyi, that he (Mu’azu) and some other trusted allies worked against his re-election said: “in the face of abuse, insult and open ridicule by our friends and brothers we supported President Jonathan faithfully.”
Mu’azu who is also former Governor of Bauchi State, on his Facebook account, said that he found it difficult to believe that President Jonathan would level such allegation against him.
“Ordinarily, I would have ignored the allegation that I betrayed President Jonathan and my party, but doing so could create the impression that I really did.
“As the then National Chairman of the PDP, I have been at the forefront of the presidential campaign train. Those who insinuate that I betrayed President Jonathan and my party are being economical with the truth.” [myad]
The Senate majority leader, Senator Ahmed Lawal has assured the nation that the 2017 appropriation bill before the Senate will be ready for the Presidential assent next week.
He said that the bill would have been passed on April 25, but for the incidence that happened whereby police raided the residence of the chairman of the appropriation committee, Senator Danjuma Goje, carting away parts of the documents relating to the budget.
Senator Lawal, who spoke to newsmen today after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said: “let me say that there is nothing to worry about. The National Assembly had intended to pass the budget in March but because of some parameters that we didn’t have control over, we couldn’t pass it. It was our design and desire to pass it within this month, April, but somehow, something happened.
“One of our colleagues, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Distinguished Senator Danjuma Goje’s house was raided by the police after a whistleblower gave information and when parts of those documents were taken away, it was reported that parts of the budget papers were included.
“This and other things that happened and essentially, the trauma that the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation had to go through, affected the process of budgeting.
“When we were going on Easter recess, members of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, including that of the House, did not go on recess. They stayed back because that was the arrangement, so that by the time we returned on April 25, that was Tuesday, they should lay the report of the budget.
“Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible because of what happened. But the good news is that we are doing everything possible to ensure that we catch up with the lost time.
“So, by the grace of God, I’m thinking that by next week, we should be able to finish our own work and pass the budget for Mr. President to sign.”
The Senate leader said also that screening of the two ministerial nominees, from Kogi and Gombe states, will begin next week
“Certainly not this week because this is the last legislative day of the week but l have the feeling that the Senate may be looking at that and indeed others, by next week In Sha Allah.”
Senator Lawal wanted lobbying to form the nation’s democratic culture, adding that lobbying is being fully practiced by lawmakers, especially to get private bills and motion through.
“ In a democracy like ours, presidential system of government, when we talk of lobby, lobby is such an extensive work in the sense that it is not what you narrowly define it to be. In Nigeria, most often, when we say lobby, people narrow it and limit it to be giving somebody money to buy his conscience to do something for you.
“But in the United States of America, after which we have decided to design and shape our democracy here, it’s to talk and engage continuously; talk with some people who have some mandates and some jurisdictions on some issues and therefore, what l meant is that there should be continuous engagements; continuous and sustained interactions between the President and the legislature, especially at the level we are.
“And l know clearly that there is independence of each arm but l also know equally well that there is so much inter-dependence between the two arms and even among the three arms of government in Nigeria. Therefore, we need to always close and narrow the gap and that is what l mean.” [myad]
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has inaugurated a Ministerial task force to decongest traffic along the Abuja-Nyanya- Karu-Jikwoyi-Karshi road as well as evacuate accumulated refuse from that area.
Addressing the Task Force, the minister said that it is unacceptable that a dual carriageway well constructed to the highest engineering standards to cater for the residents of that axis has become a long stretch of refuse dump.
“For the first time in my life, I have seen a place inhabited by very vibrant people, very affluent, yet it is one aspect of Abuja where I see that people will collect their refuse and drop on the road median.
“I have never seen that anywhere in the world and definitely you all agree with me that this is not acceptable and should not be part of the Abuja of our dream.”
According to him, the initiative is aimed at working out a sustainable action that will improve both the aesthetics and traffic situation along that axis and one that would be owned by the people after the Task Force might have completed its work.
Musa Bello charged the Task Force to reach out to traditional, religious and political leaders along that corridor as well trade groups, to communicate with them and have them buy into the project, which he said is for their collective benefit.
“The ultimate goal of course is to have a clean environment. A clean environment means a healthy people; a healthy people mean a productive people; a productive people mean a very vibrant community. Once our community is vibrant economically, a lot of our social and political problems will be reduced.
“You have to be very diplomatic, very kind, very accommodating, very understanding as much as possible, that is why all the key departments are in this task force. If for any reasons, relocations have to be made, make sure you make alternative arrangements for whoever is going to be relocated.”
The Minister expressed confidence that given the caliber of the membership of the Task Force, the city would be the better after they completed their assignment in six months.
Chairman of the Task Force, retired Major General Emmanuel Nienge, solicited for the cooperation of the stakeholders and the general public, saying that members are going to carry out adequate sensitization of members of the public. [myad]
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has offered the sum of $100 million to authorized dealers to meet the requests of wholesale customers at the forex auction in the interbank wholesale window.
The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the apex bank, Isaac Okorafor, who made this known today, said that no intervention was made in the retail window in yesterday’s auction.
He said however, that the bank had continued its weekly sale of forex to the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment to meet the needs of low-end users.
He said the CBN had observed that quite a good number of dealers were adhering to the forex guidelines and that the apex bank will continue to monitor the activities of authorized dealers to ensure that no outfit or individual circumvents the laid down forex rules.
Okorafor asked all concerned to put the Nigerian economy first, even as he reiterated that the CBN is determined to guarantee the international value of the naira.
Meanwhile, reports gathered in Abuja and Lagos on Thursday indicates that the Naira sold at the rate of N380/$1. [myad]
There are many people today who argue that Islam and Christianity are locked in a civilizational war, a view that has become a rationale for a number of the Trump administration’s policies.
This argument, however, is an inaccurate and simplistic assessment of the relationship between these two faiths. Quite distinct from the apocalyptic struggle many espouse, an examination of the foundations of the Islamic faith shows respect for Christianity.
Islam is part of the same Abrahamic tradition as Christianity. Key figures within the Bible — Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), Mary (Maryam), and Jesus (Isa) among others — are all respected prophets and figures within Islam. There is a chapter in the Quran about Mary and, within the Quran, Jesus is the only person who can perform miracles.
Within Islam, Christians and Jewish people are therefore treated as “People of the Book” whose rights and religious traditions were to be fully protected as monotheistic faiths with revelations understood to be earlier versions of the same revelation to the Prophet of Islam.
The protection that Christian communities were meant to receive under Islam was enshrined in a letter of protection from Prophet Muhammad to the Christian monks at St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai in the early seventh century. This letter promised the monks that, under Islamic rule, the Christian community, as a “people of the book”, shall have the freedom to practice their religion and be protected from any unlawful interference or molestation, whether in their communities or while traveling. Distinct from a war with Christianity, Prophet Muhammad further stated, “No one shall bear arms against [Christians], but, on the contrary, the [Muslims] shall wage war for them.”
The respect that Muslims have for Jesus in particular is demonstrated by the verses of Hafez, the most famous and beloved of Muslim poets from the 14th century. In one stanza, he writes, “I am a hole in a flute that the breath of Christ moves through/Listen to this music.”
Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the former Pakistani Ambassador to the UK and the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, who I was privileged to have worked for as a researcher, reflects today this same admiration when he stated unequivocally in an interview, “For me as a Muslim, Jesus is the ultimate symbol in the Quran of compassion, love for humanity, piety, and simplicity.”
This kind of respect is not just a one-way street. Even America’s Founding Fathers spoke with admiration for Prophet Muhammad and respect for the rights of Islam in the United States. John Adams called the Prophet one of the world’s “sober inquirers after truth,” and Benjamin Franklin cited him as a model of compassion for the world.
The foundational principles of our country set down by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who owned a copy of the Quran, was to be open and receptive to people of all religions, including Muslims who would be under the “mantle of [the law’s] protection”.
Far from a civilizational war, we see a situation in which two religions have much in common, but this commonality is too often lost in the turmoil and din of antagonistic voices who push a politics of fear and division.
There have been many problems and conflicts that have unfortunately existed between Christians and Muslims over the centuries, and will continue to exist, as the close relationship and theological bonds were forgotten under the pressures and priorities of contemporary politics. But these political conflicts do not negate this rich history and theology.
For many of the conflicts and challenges across the Muslim world, the Trump administration and politicians around the country should not be working to promote further conflict between Christianity and Islam through the frame of a civilizational war. They should, rather, focus on what is held in common between these two great world faiths in order to work together to solve any seemingly insurmountable issues.
Pushing these two faith communities further apart will do little to halt the mistrust and violence that currently exist and make any real problems even more difficult to solve.
Harrison Akins is a graduate research fellow at the University of Tennessee’s Baker Center for Public Policy. [myad]
Senator Abubakar Girei has warned former President Goodluck Jonathan that the like of retired Colonel Dangiwa Umar, ex Kaduna military governor cannot save him from eventual prosecution for corruption and jail.
He said: “the likes of Colonel Dangiwa Umar and their pay masters cannot save him (Jonathan) and his cohort from paying for sins sooner than later.”
Senator Girei, who represented Adamawa Central Senatorial Zone from 1999 to 2003, said that Jonathan was uncharitable by blaming his defeat in the 2015 Presidential election on anyone, saying he was the architect of his own defeat and not anyone.
Jonathan had recently expressed dissatisfaction with the way the then Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega conducted the election.
The former President said he had a meeting with Jega to express his reservations about the preparedness of INEC for the exercise, but the ex-INEC Chairman maintained that the election would go ahead as scheduled.
But in a statement today, Senator Girei who is chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),, insisted that Jonathan was defeated because he imposed Boko Haram insurgency, Niger Delta militancy, armed banditry, and all forms of insecurity to remain in power.
“Having failed woefully, he has now turned round to blame local and international leaders who have seen through his foolery and decided to ditch him in the interest of Nigerian, their respective countries and humanity in general.
“GEJ and his cohorts should bury themselves in shame as the nation awaits their eventual prosecution and imprisonment. They must pay for their sins, especially for the thousands of our people in the North East who lost their lives and over two million others displaced from their homes for more than five years now.
“GEJ said it without mincing words that he did not concede defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari for patriotic, nationalistic or even Godly reasons but purely because all the tactics and strategies employed by his clueless self and his greedy co-travellers could not work.
“These include the looting of our treasuries, imposition of state of emergencies, sponsorship of insurgency, militancy, armed banditry and many other forms of insecurity in almost all parts of Nigeria to enable him cling on to power by all means.
“I am compelled to respond to GEJ’s widely reported remarks in the papers today (yesterday).
“That the cat is now out of the bag is no news. What makes the news juicier is that former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan let the cat out of the bag by himself.” [myad]
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, who was on a visit to Brazil, has been conferred with the Brazilian Military Order of Merit Award at Brasilia in Brazil.
The Brazilian military order of merit award, which is the highest military honour in the country, is awarded to military officers, who have distinguished themselves in various military endeavours.
According to a statement today, Wednesday by the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman, the award was approved by President Michel Temer of Brazil.
Brigadier General Sani said that the approval was based on the recommendation of the Brazilian Army Commander, General Eduardo Villas-Boas.
According to the citation at the occasion, the award was in recognition of Buratai’s exemplary and world’s recognized leadership qualities and the Nigerian Army’s effort in the fight against terrorism and insurgency.
“He is one of the few foreign dignitaries to be so honoured with such an award by the country,’’ the army spokesman said.
In his vote of thanks, Buratai expressed appreciation for the award.
He said the honour was not only to himself but to the entire officers and soldiers of the Nigerian army and indeed, Nigeria.
“I had never imagined that I was going to be given such recognition when I was planning to visit the Brazilian Army.
“It is no doubt a great honour to me, the Nigerian army and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to be bestowed with the Brazilian military order of merit, which is the highest and most prestigious award in the Brazilian army.”
The Nigerian army chief said that the award was a clear manifestation of the long-standing relationship between Brazil and Nigeria, which also portrayed the recognition of Nigerian army’s effort in the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria. [myad]
Ex President Goodluck Jonathan has alleged that he was voted out of office in the 2015 Presidential election via ethnic politics.
He said: “I felt really betrayed by the result coming from some northern states. Perhaps for ethnic purposes, even security agents colluded with the opposition to come up with spurious results against me.
“You saw the way the Inspector General of Police, a man I appointed, suddenly turned himself into the ADC to Buhari immediately after the election.
“How could we have lost Ondo, Benue and Plateau states if our people were committed to the cause? If you examine the results, you will see a pattern: in places where ordinarily we were strong, our supporters did not show enough commitment to mobilize the voters.
“What happened was very sad not for me as a person, but for our democracy.”
“Take, for instance, the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu. I believe he joined in the conspiracy against me. For reasons best known to him, he helped to sabotage the election in favour of the opposition.”
Jonathan made these allegations in a book titled: “Against The Run of Play,” written by the Chairman of ThisDay Editorial Board, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi.
On the method adopted by President Muhammadu Buhari to fight corruption, the former President said: “I feel sad about the way my family is being hounded. Society is like a building. You build it one block at a time. If every president decides to go in to dismantle what his predecessor did, society will never make progress. I expected President Buhari to correct whatever mistakes I may have made and then carry on from there.
“But a situation in which people go into exile for political reasons is not good for us.
“His style of fighting corruption is different from mine and since most Nigerians apparently prefer his style, it is okay. There are steps you take that will help in retrieving ill-gotten wealth and punish offenders while restoring confidence in the system. But there are also things you can do to damage the system.” [myad]
The Presidency has asked ex President Goodluck Jonathan to stop dictating which style of fighting corruption is most effective, describing his regime as one in which corruption had a free and uninhibited reign.
In a statement debunking allegations by Jonathan that President Buhari is harassing his family, the special adviser to President Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina said: “with regard to President Buhari’s anti-graft style, which the former president deprecates, given the scale of revelations and recoveries so far by the anti-corruption agencies, it is obvious that corruption had an uninhibited course during our recent past.
“In any case, time will give the verdict on whose style of fighting corruption ultimately yielded the most dividends. For now, President Buhari is resolute and single-minded in the fact that his crusade against graft is not targeted at any individual or group. He firmly believes that national interest must always be placed above personal interest, no matter who is involved.”
Ex President Jonathan, in a book authored by the Chairman of ThisDay Editorial Board, Olusegun Adeniyi entitled: “Against The Run of Play” claimed that Buhari is using the instrumentality of security agencies to harass his family.
But, Adesina said: “we make bold to state unequivocally that President Buhari harasses nobody; he merely allows the law to take its course.
“For the umpteenth time, we say that anybody without skeleton in his or her cupboard, has nothing to fear about the bared fangs of the anti-corruption initiative. Fear belongs only to those who have abused trust while in office.
“Anybody who feels aggrieved is free to approach the courts to seek redress or justice. President Buhari believes in the rule of law and that is why his campaign against corruption is anchored on that plank.” [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has extolled a veteran journalist and former Minister of Information and Culture, Prince Tony Momoh for his respect for the truth which culminated in the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 Presidential election.
President Buhari, who sent a birthday wishes to the former information minister as he celebrates his 78th birthday tomorrow, April 27, said: “Momoh will always be remembered for his unalloyed support for the truth that culminated in the electoral victory of 2015.”
The President commended the courage, versatility and nobility which Tony Momoh has been displaying in making tough and selfless decisions for the benefit of the nation, “which includes choosing to serve with opposition parties, like All Nigeria Peoples’ Party and Congress for Progressive Change, with all the odds.”
He said that Momoh’s career in journalism, as an editor and administrator, covered some of the most dramatic, and defining moments of Nigeria’s history even as he recalled with delight his many insightful encounters with the septuagenarian over the years.
The President, who described the celebrant as a statesman, prayed to God to grant him longer life, good health and more wisdom to serve his community and the country. [myad]
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