All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Organisation has described Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu as an incurable liar afflicted with the diarrhoea of the mouth.
In a statement, the Director of Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said that claims by Governor Aliyu that presidential candidate of APC, General Muhammadu Buhari signed a single tenure pact is a figment of his imagination, jaundiced, ill-motivated and irresponsible.
Garba Shehu said that Aliyu has made a bad career of misguided claims of this nature in which he presents himself as a clairvoyant fly perching on the walls of political meetings across the country.
The APC Presidential Campaign Organisation Spokesman dismissed Governor Aliyu’s recent vituperation and insinuation as the outbursts of a perpetual rabble-rouser, amateurish ethno-religious propagandist and unrepentant mischief-maker bent on stocking division and disaffection in the APC.
Garba Shehu said that the APC Campaign is, however not surprised at Governor Aliyu’s blatant lies considering that he has also been at the centre of controversy of being in possession of a letter in which his party’s presidential candidate signed onto a one-term pact with governors of the ruling party.
“When has this Governor of a grossly underdeveloped state suddenly become a clairvoyant who knows what obtains in places where he was never present or represented? Is he an APC member? If not, how and where did he get his information from? And what Northern Nigeria is he representing? Nigerians are wiser now and they know what to do come March 28 and April 11. For the time being, our suggestion to Governor Babangida is that he should use the balance of his time in office to right a few wrongs in his state, currently adjudged as the most lacking in the North when it comes to development.”
There was a mild drama today in the Nigerian Senate, when Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators used their majority to clear and confirmed Musiliu Obanikoro as a federal minister, even as the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators who insisted that Obanikoro should be made to answer questions on his role in Ekitigate walked out.
The PDP Senators, led by the Senate President, David Mark asked Obanikoro to take a bow with regard to the fact that he was a former senator too.
Obanikoro, who resigned from the federal cabinet to contest the primaries of PDP for the governorship of Lagos state but failed, was brought back by President Goodluck Jonathan. Obanikoro was subsequently named in a leaked tape as a principal actor in the Ekiti state’s governorship election rigging in 2014. The Nigerian government has refused to investigate the claims.
The Senate approved Obanikoro’s nomination as a minister today after repeated deferments and despite protests from senators from Lagos State and other opposition APC senators who had vowed to stop the clearance until he clears himself from the Ekiti electoral scandal.
A court in Ivory Coast HAS sentenced former first lady, Simone Gbagbo to a 20-year prison term on charges of “undermining state security” during post-election violence in 2010-2011 that left nearly 3,000 dead.
“The court, after deliberation, unanimously condemns the 65-year-old wife of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo to 20-years in prison, court president Tahirou Dembele stated. Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year sentence.
The trial is viewed as the biggest judicial challenge faced by the post-crisis government of the West African nation.
Violence broke out in Ivory Coast in 2010 when Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power to his rival Alassane Ouattara, who was declared the winner of a presidential poll.
Laurent Gbagbo himself has been held for three years in The Hague facing charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). But Ivory Coast has repeatedly refused to hand his wife over to the ICC on the same charge.
The presidential couple was arrested April 11, 2011 after five months of fierce fighting following a final push by French forces against their residence.
Fervently Christian but ruthless by reputation, Simone Gbagbo has never sought to deny exercising political influence after her husband rose to power in 2000 elections in which former prime minister Ouattara was barred from standing on the grounds he was a foreigner.
“All the ministers respect me, and they often consider me above them. I’ve got what it takes to be a minister,” she told the French newsweekly l’Express in 2001, justifying her stance after a life she said had been dedicated to activism.
“I engaged in political struggle against the former regime alongside men. I spent six months in prison, I was beaten, molested, left for dead. After all those trials, it’s logical that people don’t mess with me.”
Test for justice
A key issue in her trial was whether she played a part in directing the death squads that ran amok in the weeks after the disputed vote.
Judicial authorities argued that the proceedings were a test of the west African country’s capacity to conduct a fair trial, while contributing to national reconciliation.
As observers noted at the December 26 opening of her case — when Gbagbo appeared in a bright yellow dress, carefully plaited hair and a defiant air — she is not inclined to wilt in the face of adversity.
Born in the predominantly Christian south in 1949 as one of 18 children of a policeman, she studied linguistics and history before becoming a trade union activist.
“God is on our side, God is with us,”
she told a joyful crowd after her husband
rejected electoral defeat. “God has already given us victory.”
Her militancy led to a jail term in the 1970s for openly criticising then President Felix Houphouet-Boigny — Ivory Coast’s first leader after independence from France in 1960 — when he rejected opposition calls for multi-party elections.
She and Laurent Gbagbo married in 1989 after founding the opposition socialist Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), and she was later elected to parliament in the world’s leading cocoa producer.
Her husband sought to change relations with former colonial master Paris, arguing that previous regimes had been servile, and the first lady proved a fierce critic of “neo-colonialism”, once famously describing France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy — a main mover in her husband’s downfall — as “the devil”.
Supporters of Simone Gbagbo’s commitment to political causes hailed her as “the Hillary Clinton of the tropics”.
But for detractors, the “Iron Lady” became the “Blood Lady”, amid allegations by human rights activists that the regime used teams of killers to deal with opponents.
Those concerns were reinforced when she was implicated by a French judicial inquiry into the sinister disappearance of French-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer in Ivory Coast in 2004.
Gbagbo frequently mingled politics with the evangelical faith she practised after “miraculously” surviving a car crash and starting prayer meetings at the presidential palace.
“God is on our side, God is with us,” she told a joyful crowd after her husband rejected electoral defeat. “God has already given us victory.”
Families of victims have said previously they cannot win even if Gbagbo is convicted by a domestic court, while rights monitors had been keen to see how far the trial may venture in tackling crimes against humanity on home ground. [myad]
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has thrown more lights on why it insisted that it will use Smart Card Readers (ACRs) for the March/April elections in the country, saying that apart from ensuring electoral credibility, it would also bring about other benefits.
In a statement by its Chief press secretary, Kayode Robert Idowu, INEC detailed four main objectives of the card reader. They are:
To verify Permanent Voter cards (PVCs) presented by voters at polling units and ensure that they are genuine, INEC-issued (not cloned) cards. From the reports on Saturday’s exercise, this objective was achieved 100 per cent.
To biometrically authenticate the person who presents a PVC at the polling unit and ensure that he/she is the legitimate holder of the card. In this regard, there were a few issues in some states during the public demonstration. Overall, 59% of voters who turned out for the demonstration had their fingerprints successfully authenticated. But the Commission, in agreement with registered political parties, had provided in the approved Guidelines for the conduct of the 2015 elections that where biometric authentication of a legitimate holder of a genuine PVC becomes challenging, there could be physical authentication of the person and completion of an Incident Form, to allow the person to vote.
The SCRs provide disaggregated data of accredited voters in male/female and elderly/youth categories – a disaggregation that is vital for research and planning purposes, but which INEC until now had been unable to achieve. The demonstration on Saturday fully served this objective.
The SCR sends the data of all accredited voters to INEC’s central server, equipping the Commission to be able to audit figures subsequently filed by polling officials at the PU and, thereby, be able to determine if fraudulent alterations were made. The public demonstration also succeeded wholly in this regard.
Only yesterday, Monday, 09th March 2015, top officers of the commission met to consider field reports from the public demonstration of Smart Card Readers (SCRs) conducted in 12 states on Saturday, March 07th 2015. The states were Rivers and Delta (South-South), Kano and Kebbi (North-West), Anambra and Ebonyi (South East), Ekiti and Lagos (South West), Bauchi and Taraba (North East) as well as Niger and Nasarawa (North Central).
The Commission took a serious view of the high rate of the SCRs’ failure to authenticate voters’ fingerprints in some areas, particularly in Ebonyi State, and has decided to thoroughly investigate the cause; as well as repeat the public demonstration in that state. This demonstration will be conducted in the particular Registration Area involved in the last exercise, namely Izzi Unuhu (Abakaliki Local Government Area); as well as in Ibii/Oziza Registration Area (Afikpo North LGA). The repeat demonstration will be on Saturday, March 14th 2015.
INEC said that it is satisfied that the use of SCRs in the 2015 general elections will add tremendous transparency and credibility to the accreditation process on Election Day.
The Commission reassured the public that it will do everything necessary to ensure that the processes of the elections are seamless, free, fair, credible and peaceful. [myad]
Director of media and publicity for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Organisation, Garba Shehu has exposed what he called “the deceit, squander mania and looting associated with this (Goodluck Jonathan) administration.” Garba Shehu, who addressed newsmen today in Abuja began with the lie told by the government regarding the East-West Road, saying that it is on record that work started on the road in 2006, under former President Obasanjo but that due to the activities of Niger Delta militants then, work stopped midway and the initial contractor Julius Berger left the site. He said that in 2009, work was resumed on the road but was given to three construction firms in order to hasten its completion by 2011 as anticipated. “It is pertinent to note that appropriations were made for the construction in 2009 and 2010, but after Yar’Adua’s death, work stopped on the road and money set aside was diverted. I have gone to this length to illustrate to you that the construction of this road has lingered due to the lack-lustre approach of the Jonathan administration. “Their initial promise to complete the road by 2013 never materialised and till today the East-West road is yet to be completed.” Garba Shehu beamed his searchlight on the Second Niger Bridge and that contrary to the strident efforts of the Jonathan team to assure the people of the South East that the Second Niger Bridge has been awarded and now under construction, the truth is that the PDP administration is only deceiving the people. “If you may remember, President Jonathan anchored his 2011 campaign in the South East on the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, but four years down the line, we are now realising that the bridge is still at the drawing board table and may not be realised after all under Jonathan. We recall that the money set aside for the project was channelled into the Presidential election of President Goodluck Jonathan. “The main problem with the Second Niger Bridge and which the Jonathan administration has failed to respond to is why public private partnership should be adopted in constructing the bridge at triple the real cost, whereas government is in a position to bear the full cost, more so as the project falls under the social contract between the government and the people. If this arrangement is not reversed, and the Federal Government takes full responsibility for the funding, the implication is that the South East people will perennially remain at the mercy of the investors for a period not limited to 25 years in the first instance.” On women’s rights and participation in government, Garba Shehu referred to the fact that the Presidential candidate of APC, General Muhammadu Buhari has made women as pivotal to the change he envisaged for the country, quoting Buhari as having said severally: “I will recognise and protect women empowerment and gender equality with special emphasis on economic activities in the rural areas… Women all over the world are playing an ever increasing role in moving their nations forward both in and outside government… In keeping with the times, my government will ensure that Nigerian women are given the opportunity to rise and play an even more prominent role in moving our great nation forward.” The media and publicity chieftain of the APC presidential campaign organisation said that said that General Buhari has shown that he is not a male chauvinist and that he has a definite and robust programme for women if elected President. On corruption, Garba Shehu described it as the major hindrance to the National Development, adding that General Buhari, with a sterling record of fighting corruption, will spare no effort in ensuring that Nigerians have value for their commonwealth. “To underscore the importance which His Excellency, General Buhari attaches to the cankerworm known as corruption, permit me to paraphrase a portion of his speech at the recent visit to Chatham House London: “On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration. First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only. Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. “The institutions of state dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference.” He said that openness in employment under APC government will be the norm, “unlike the current arrangement where you need a godfather/godmother, and sometimes you need to gratify government officials to get employment. Only recently over 300 staff were recruited by the National Universities Commission without due process and transparency.” Garba Shehu said that Mrs Buhari, as First Lady, will not be in the habit of having agents in MDAs for the purpose of collecting kickbacks and gratifications for her. On innsecurity, Garba Shehu regretted what he called “the devastating effect of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, and general insecurity pervading the land” saying that it is an issue that has continued to bewilder Nigerians but that the situation was in existence simply as a result of lax attitude of the government. The insurgency, he explained, would not have continued to fester if appropriate steps were taken earlier, quoting General Buhari as having said in his speech at the Chatham House: “Let me assure you that if I am elected President, the world will have no cause to worry about Nigeria as it has had to recently; that Nigeria will return to its stabilising role in West Africa; and that no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be lost to the enemy because we will pay special attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service, we will give them adequate and modern arms and ammunitions to work with, we will improve intelligence gathering.” On South East region, Garba Shehu recalled that some German partners were to be engaged to build standard airports across the country including Enugu but that along the line, President Jonathan discarded the plan. “Today, what is being trumpeted at as Enugu International Airport is a shoddy job done through direct labour and at inflated cost. “To further demonstrate that President Jonathan has serially failed the South East, we want to put it on record that late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had commenced and indeed reached an advanced stage in the dredging of River Niger, and construction of Onitsha seaport. Regrettably this was again truncated by Jonathan as till today the seaport which is expected to promote economic development in the region and beyond is yet to take off and the dredging stopped.” Garba Shehu restated General Buhari’s total commitment to the peaceful coexistence of all Nigerians, as well as to the growth and nurturing of democracy in our land. He added that APC presidential flag bearer is also committed to the peace pact which he co-signed with President Jonathan in Abuja even as he said that the General will continue to use any available forum to impress on his followers on the need for the path of peace at all times. “And this is in spite of serial violations of the latter by the other side. Above all, General Buhari and his administration would practice and promote politics of nationalism, patriotism, character, equity, accountability, religious/ethnic tolerance, morality, justice and fairness and service to humanity.” [myad]
Former Nigeria Vice President and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar has made it clear that he would not leave APC for any other political party not even in a dream. He said that he is committed to the success of the party’s Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and other candidates of the party in the 2015 general elections. In a statement today reacting to reports in a section of the media of his purported return to the fold of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku said that he would never leave APC for any reason. “I remain irrevocably committed to the APC, as I promised in my concession speech at the conclusion of our party’s presidential primaries, and has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the victory of General Muhammadu Buhari and other candidates of our great party at the general elections.” Atiku said that his purported return to the PDP or any other party is the handiwork of mischief makers focused on pitching him against other leaders of the opposition APC. Atiku Abubakar said that for the avoidance of doubt, he is unequivocally committed to the unity of APC and that it will take more than the antics of mischief makers to break that bond. He said that his return from Adamawa, where he convened a stakeholders’ meeting and reconciled disagreeing camps within the party, towards ensuring victory for the APC bears eloquent testimony of this commitment. The former Vice President said that he is currently supporting the financial operations of the APC in many states, in most cases as a sole financier. “I have backed my words and commitment with my resources to ensure that I bring my influence and support to bear on our party’s march to victory at all levels in the general election. That should be enough to shut up mischief makers bent on derailing the APC’s success at the March 28 and April elections,” he said. Atiku said however that as one of Nigeria’s astute politicians and businessmen, there may be overtures from across political divides him, but restated that he has publicly made his commitment to the APC clear even as he privately rebuffed the approaches from all quarters. [myad]
All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter has accused the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan of descending into what it called the abyss of opprobrious indecency with the words and body language that have been coming from her recently, asking her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan to call her to order. In a statement today signed by the party’s state publicity secretary, Senibo Chris Finebone, APC described the First Lady’s recent campaign address at rallies in Niger Delta region as “extremely shameful,” adding: “ordinarily, the APC would have remained amused at the futile comic relief her court-jestering was providing the serious political space and environment. But that cannot be the case when she has, in the past two weeks, descended into the abyss of opprobrious indecency with her words and body language.” The APC said that it is worried now because, the First Lady has gone from personal insults and unprintable words on the APC Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and now “foraging into areas where even angels fear to tread. By going beyond insulting General Buhari to taunting the section Buhari hails from as procreating uncontrollably, the APC wants to believe someone should caution Mrs. Patience Jonathan to be aware of the ensuing whirlwind that will result from the wind she is planting. “The APC would like to inform Mrs. Jonathan that the Ivory Coast’s former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, has just been sentenced to 20 years in jail for her role in the violence that followed the 2010 elections in that country. This should be instructive to our First Lady that her utterances have far-reaching consequences, good or bad. “And how she ends up in history remains her responsibility, meaning that she should hold herself responsible for whatever her verbal incontinence and indiscretion brings to her, now or in the future.” “It is important to remind our dear First Lady that wars and conflicts have, sometimes, been caused by wrong people finding themselves in the right places as we seem to have now. But when the bell tolls, everyone will answer according his or her deeds but not before the damage is already done and lives lost. “However, it is the hope of the APC that Mr. President will do what any good husband does: call the wife to order. This will avert the fast growing anger building up in our brothers and sisters from the North who perceive her recent demeaning utterances as a collective insult. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine!” [myad]
Director of media and publicity for the Peopels Democratiic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode has asked people in the opposition political parties, especially All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop trivializing any issue he raised as campaigns for the March/April general elections hot up. “The truth is that when we speak out and make these grave and serious allegations, we do not do so lightly. When I say this thing and raise this question, I am not doing so in my personal capacity but as Director of Media and Publicity of the Jonathan-Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation. “When I raise these questions, I am doing so on behalf of the President, the Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO), and millions of PDP leaders and supporters from all over the country.” Fani-Kayode, who reacted to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state that dismissed his earlier accusation that the Governor was guilty of the abduction of Chibok girls by Boko Haram said that PDP and each and every one of the people are deeply concerned about the role of Shettima in the Chibok affair said “we would continue to ask those questions on their behalf, whether Shettima likes it or not.” [myad]
President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked the Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), General Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.). A three-paragraph statement from the special adviser to President Jonathan on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati did not give reasons for the sack, but said that Mr. Ishaya Dare Akau has been appointed to take over from General Agwai. He said however that the sacking and replacement was part of the efforts of the President to continually re-energize and reposition agencies of the Federal Government for optimal service delivery, The new SURE-P Chairman hails from Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State and holds Bachelors’ Degrees in the Arts and Law. The statement said that Akau has years of experience as a high-level administrator in the nation’s public service, adding that his record of service includes tenures as Chairman of the Kaduna State Universal Education Board and Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission. Meanwhile, President Jonathan thanked the sacked Chairman of SURE-P, General Agwai for his service to the nation and wished him well in his future endeavours. [myad]
National Publicity Secretary of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh has dispelled the rumour of a rift between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, saying that that there is no love lost within the party.
In a statement today, Metuh said that the PDP is resolute as one united family and that no amount of what he termed media fabrications and malicious insinuations would distract the party.
“In the light of various attempts to drag down the National Chairman of our great party, Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu, using spurious publications in a section of the media, the PDP wishes to state clearly that our leaders and members nationwide are impressed with his style of leadership which has in the last one year enhanced our support base and public rating ahead of the 2015 general elections.
” As one of the founding fathers of the PDP, the National Chairman has continued to add immense value with his mature and decent approach to issues in keeping with the tradition and vision of our great party, a disposition that has continued to attract massive support across board for our presidential flag bearer, President Goodluck Jonathan.
“It is incontrovertible that the National Chairman has been at the forefront of our Presidential campaign train and enjoys an excellent working relationship with President Jonathan as exhibited in their bond at rallies, visits and meetings with stakeholders across the country.
“Whereas we recognize the zeal and enthusiasm of some of our supporters who are repaying the opposition in their own stock, our National Chairman, as the face of the PDP, has remained restrained despite numerous unwarranted provocations.”
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