President Goodluck Jonathan leaves for Ghana tomorrow to attend the 47th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
A statement from special adviser to President Jonathan on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati today said that the summit will receive reports on the current situation in Burkina Faso and Guinea Bissau and deliberate on issues of democratic consolidation and regional peace and stability.
ECOWAS will mark its 40th anniversary during the summit.
The statement said that President Jonathan will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali; House of Representatives Majority Leader, Hon. Mulikat Akande and some of his principal aides.
It said that Jonathan will be expected back to Nigeria at the conclusion of the one-day summit. [myad]
Wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience has confessed that she suddenly took ill and was miraculously healed in German hospital immediately after her husband lost the March 28 election to General Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress (APC)
Dame Patience who spoke today at a thanksgiving service in honour of the first family, to commemorate their time in the chapel, expressed gratitude to God that she had been completely and miraculously healed from an ailment that made her undergo surgical operations four times in a German hospital. This, she emphasized, happened immediately after her husband lost the presidential election on March 28.
The first family bade farewell to the congregation, whom they asked to forgive them if they had erred or failed in any way during their time in office. This is even as Dame Patience said that she had never dreamt of becoming First Lady in her life.
The special session was also meant to serve as a handover service to the incoming Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who was, however, not present at the event.
The chaplain, Venerable Obioma Onwuzurumba, said that he would miss the friendly nature of the first family and was sure that this would be the same feeling for other members of the congregation, whose lives the first family touched in one way or the other. [myad]
Kaduna State Governor-elect, Nasiru El-Rufai has asked Nigerians to pity General Muhammadu Buhar and him as they prepare to face the onerous challenges of mending the battered economy.
According to him, those who have been congratulating him and the President might not have known the enormity of the challenges they are facing, alleging that the state of economy in his state and at the federal level has become so bad that the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government had to obtain loan to pay salaries.
El-Rufai who spoke at a special reception for elected officials by Kaduna Peoples’ Association (KAPA) and Special prayer for them by APC Yoruba Political Forum at Arewa House in Kaduna today said that Kaduna State is currently in debt to the tune of over N90 billion.
The governor-elect, however, assured that his government would not share the public fund to any persons or group, no matter how highly placed they were.
At the Yoruba Political Forum’s parley, El-Rufai said: “when people call me to congratulate me or come to congratulate me and General Buhari, I always tell them, thank you, but what we need is your sympathy and prayers.
“This is because, I and General Buhari are taking over bankrupt governments; it is so bad that, the Jonathan administration is finding it difficult to pay salaries, in fact, they had to obtain loan to pay salaries.
“In the case of Kaduna State, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s government has incurred debt to the tune of over N90 billion, and this may get to N100 billion before May 29. Therefore, what you have done is exactly what we need to succeed”.
He assured that his government will not segregate and discriminate among indigenes and settlers.
El-Rufai thanked the Yoruba community for living peacefully in Kaduna as well as supporting him and General Buhari during their elections. [myad]
The Official Portrait of Muhammadu Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo
President Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari has announced that as from May 29 when he assumes office as President, he would drop the title, ‘General’ from his name. A statement from his Media team today, signed by the Director in the Directorate of Media and Publicity of the President-Elect, Mallam Garba Shehu also released the official portrait of the President elect and his Vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. The one paragraph statement reads: “From May 29, 2015, the President-elect and Vice-President-elect are to be respectively known and addressed as Muhammadu Buhari, President, Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.” [myad]
The management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and the Kogi State government are exploring the possibility of accessing the excess power being generated by the Dangote Group at its cement plant, located at Obajana in Kogi State. The Dangote Group is said to be currently generating electricity in excess of the requirement of its cement production plant in Obajana area of the state. At a meeting held in Abuja mid last week, the AEDC management and the Kogi state government resolved to work together towards getting the Dangote Group to sell off the excess energy to the Disco, in order to help boost power supply to various parts of the state. Present at the meeting held at the AEDC office in Abuja were the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Neil Croucher, while the Secretary to the Kogi State Government, Professor Olugbemiro Jegede led the state government’s delegation. Others at the meeting include Engineer Abimbola Odubiyi, Executive Director, Regulatory and Stakeholders Affairs, AEDC; the company’s Chief Finance Officer, Mr. Andrew Atterbury, and its Executive Director, Technical Services, Engineer Joe Chiyassa, while Professor Jegede was accompanied by the Senior Special Assistant to the Kogi State governor on Power, Dr. Paul Attah. Both the AEDC and the Kogi government state were hopeful that such surplus energy, once accessed from the Dangote Group, will help significantly to enhance electricity supply in various parts of the State. Mr. Croucher used the opportunity of the meeting to reassure the government and people of Kogi State that the AEDC does not bill its unmetered customers arbitrarily even as he revealed his company’s plans to roll out its mass metering project for its customers in Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The AEDC boss advised those who cannot wait for the company’s metering plan to take advantage of a scheme put in place by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) called CAPMI. The CAPMI-Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation-is intended to speed up the metering project nationwide by allowing customers to advance money to the Discos to meter their premises, while the latter reimburse such customers in various installments. Earlier in his remarks, Professor Jegede extended Governor Idris Wada’s appreciation to the management of AEDC for delegating a high-powered team led by an executive director, to an earlier meeting held with representatives of the state government in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital. At the meeting held in Lokoja, various issues of mutual interest between the state government and the company were discussed, with a resolve to review progress made in implementing resolutions passed at that forum after one month. [myad]
Even before the release of time-table by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the governorship election in Kogi state later this year, no fewer than nine aspirants have emerged in the Central Senatorial District of the state, seeking the ticket of All Progressives Congress (APC). On the list of the aspirants, in the election that may hold in November or December 2015 is the former Managing Director of the Daily Times Plc, publishers of Times group of newspapers, Dr. Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo. Dr. Adinoyi-Ojo was also special adviser on media and publicity to the former Nigeria Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. Dr. Adinoyi-Ojo who is a Journalist, Play write and currently lectures media art at the Abuja University, was on the shortlist for the 2010 Nigeria Prize for Literature. He also contested the governorship of the state under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011.
Also on the list is also a veteran Journalist, renowned public relations and advertising expert and former Deputy Director (Media and publicity) in the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON), Prince Emman Otu- Adeku Omadivi. Prince Omadivi, who has a Master’s Degree in communication art from the premier University of Ibadan, is currently Chief Executive Officer of Spotlight Communications Limited in Abuja. He was born on December 22, 1955 and at different times, worked with the Kwara State Ministry of Information and Kwara Broadcasting Corporation.
Also in the contest is the former Assistant Chief Accountant in the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commissions (RMAFC) in Abuja, the Nigeria Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, popularly called FairPlus. He was born on June 18th 1975, at Okene in Kogi state, studied at the Faculty of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State where he bagged a Bachelor of Sciences, Accounting (B.Sc Accounting). He went on to obtain Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the same Faculty of Administration of the same ABU. Alhaji Yahaya Bello who is a member of various professional bodies, including Chartered Fellow, Association of National Accounts of Nigeria (ANAN) in 2004, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria (ICPAN) in 2002: Member and others, founded and financed the Kogi Youth Arise Group (KYAG) that successfully mobilized and delivered Kogi state for APC (Buhari/Osinbajo presidency 2015).
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state has described his new wife, Lara Forte as mother of his house even as she has also accepted to be the mother of his children who were born for him by his late wife, Clara.
Governor Adams told newsmen shortly after the wedding yesterday that his new Lara Fortes is “understanding, caring and a loving lady.
“She is very humble. She appreciates the nature of my job and life; that I return home late, sometimes 3am. She understands my weaknesses; she is more or less the mother of the house, the one that has accepted to be the mother of my children. “I am happy that all my children are at home with her and accept her as their mother even though she is not old enough to be their mother. She has accepted to fill that gap” he said.
Governor Oshiomhole expressed joy with his family for the support given to him to remarry, adding: “this is something that one is happy about. I am also happy that I have friends across all political divide. The occasion reminds me that across all divides, we have friends and well-wishers.” [myad]
Togo is boiling as two Presidents emerged in the Presidential election held on April 25, even as thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Togolese capital today to protest the results of the election that extended the Gnassingbe family’s nearly five decades in power.
Though national and international observers have called the April 25 election free and transparent even as the United Nations has approved of the conduct of the vote, but the opposition in the west African nation of some seven million people has labelled the results fraudulent.
President Faure Gnassingbe won a third term in office with 59 percent of the ballots while his closest rival, longtime opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre, finished with 35 percent.
“We need people to be aware of the seriousness of the situation and that, together, we are working to stop it,” Fabre, who has declared himself the elected president, said today.
Adele Wavisso, a 32-year-old bread seller among the protesters in Lome, said: “those in power know very well that we did not vote for Faure. Our president is Fabre, and we will not give up.”
The opposition has said it decided not to challenge the results at Togo’s Constitutional Court because it was biased in favour of the president.
Gnassingbe’s father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, seized power in a coup and ruled with an iron fist for 38 years over the former German- and French-administered colony until his death in 2005.
The military then installed his son as leader and elections later that year were marred by allegations of rigging as well as violence which left up to 500 people dead and thousands injured.
Gnassingbe then won 2010 elections that the opposition also declared fraudulent but which were judged acceptable by the international community. [myad]
Duduwale, another treckker escorted by some of his kinsmen as he began the journey
Disturbed by the growing number of his supporters and admirers that have now taken to trekking in solidarity with his victory in the March Presidential election, the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari has cautioned them to stop it. He particularly appealed to his supporters who are planning to either trek from far distance or hitch a ride to Abuja to witness his inauguration onMay 29 to put such plans on hold. General Buhari was addressing a group of eleven youths who rode on bicycles from his hometown, Daura to Abuja to meet him. The President-elect who took the health of such trekkers into consideration, also described the action as distractive as he needed quality time to concentrate on the task of fixing the nation from May 29.
Senator Ahmed Zannah, who was re-elected in the April, 2015 election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Borno Central Senatorial District, is dead. He died today at the age of 60 after a brief illness. Zannah who is a ranking senator, was once quoted as saying that he knew where the the female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno were being kept by members of Boko Haram who abducted them last year. He is the fifth senator to die while still in the Senate. Others who have died include Gyang Datung, representing Plateau North, Pius Ewherido, representing Delta Central, Awaisu Kuta, representing Niger East and Uche Chukwumerije, representing Abia North. Zannah is a successful businessman, and a member of the board of many federal establishments. In 2000, he was in the board of the National Electrical Power Authority (NEPA). In 2007, Zannah was one of the organisers of the Democratic Women Forum, an organisation that supported the political aspirations of former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida. He was also a member of the Power Sector Reform Committee.
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