Leaders of Ekiti, under the auspices of EKITIPANUPO, has openly disowned and condemned the front pade advertisement which the state governor, Ayodele Fayose placed in the Punch and Daily Sun newspapers of Monday, January 19, 2015.
“On the 19th of January, 2015, members of Ekitipanupo Forum saw the advertisement placed by the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Ayodele Fayose in the Punch and Daily Sun newspapers. We are bewildered by the fact that this appalling and disgraceful advertisement emanated from our Land of Honour.”
In a statement today, signed by the General Secretary, Kunle Oladele, Ekitipanupo, an Indigenous think-tank and intellectual roundtable, advocating selfless governance of Ekiti people declared: “like all well-meaning Nigerians, the overwhelming majority of Ekiti people are offended by this advertisement and hold the belief that the advertisement is in a bad taste.”
The group, representing Ekiti people home and abroad said: “we state categorically that the advertisement spoke only the minds of the governor whose actions we cannot control, his cabinet members and those of the newspapers that published it.
“Ekitipanupo declares that Ekiti people wish no harm to General Muhammadu Buhari or any other aspirant whatsoever.
We pray to God that has blessed Nigeria with him, to spare his life, grant him all his wishes that will benefit him both in this world and hereafter.”
The all-inclusive  preeminent Ekiti forum
further declared: “We hold in high esteem, all ethnic groups of our great country, Nigeria, especially all our brothers and sisters in the North Western Nigeria, that have produced many of our past leaders that served this country gallantly, some of whom have made the ultimate sacrifices in their services to the country.
“Ekiti people do appreciate these heroes and will forever remember their families in our prayers. Moreover, we believe Nigeria is a country where people of all faiths have and will live together in harmony. The good people of Ekiti State
subscribe to peaceful co-existence of all faiths and we live by this belief and continue to enjoy peaceful collaboration between all religious groups of the state.”
The group called on the publishers of what it called “the distasteful advertisement,” the Punch and the Daily Sun, to in their next three issues, dedicate their entire Front Pages to an apology to all Nigerians.
“Or we might be forced to ask our Ekiti compatriots to boycott any of the products of these careless newspapers.
“Finally, on behalf of well-meaning Ekiti indigenes we tender an unreserved apology to all Nigerians who have been offended by the said advertisement.
Ekitipunupo is being driven by sincere Ekiti indigenes, and for Ekiti people. [myad]

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari should produce at least secondary school certificate or be disqualified from the Presidential race.
A statement from the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential campaign organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode said that if General Buhari cannot produce secondary school certificate, “we believe that he is not qualified to run for the Presidency of Nigeria. This is a matter of law and not sentiment. Buhari, just like any other Nigerian, must be compelled to abide by the law and he must prove his eligibility for the Presidential election by simply producing his secondary school certificate.”
Fani-kayode argued that it is disingenuous for Buhari to say that he contested previous elections and that the issue of his qualifications did not arise. He said that if INEC had not complied with the Electoral Act this year, which requires that they paste the academic credentials of all the Presidential candidates, Nigerians would have remained ignorant of the fact that Buhari has probably been submitting affidavits for the past elections.
“The fact that he got away with it in 2003, 2007 and 2011 does not make it right. The minimum that Nigerians require from Buhari is the presentation of his secondary school certificate which enabled him to gain admission into the Nigerian Military College in 1962 and on which basis he became a commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army.
“This forms the fulcrum for the subsequent courses that he attended as he rose in the Army, including the U.S. War College. Failure to produce that school certificate implies that Buhari’s entire career in the Army was based on falsehood which cannot stand. This brings to question the admission system/policy into the Army in the early 1960s.
“Were the rules bent for certain individuals in fulfillment of the quota system? Anyone that reads General Alabi Isama’s book which was published last year will know that this was the case. In fact, Alabi Isama went as far as to allege that some Nigerians were admitted into the military academy without the necessary qualifications like school certificate.
“We believe that Buhari was one of those people and this is why he is unable to produce his certificate. The truth is that he was never qualified for entry into the Military Academy in the first place and consequently he should never have become a commissioned officer let alone a man that rose to the rank of General. At best he ought to have remained a non-commissioned officer.”  [myad]

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organization (APCPCO) has described Sunday night sudden slash in the pump price of premium motor spirit (petrol) as a panicky political measure far too short of the people’s expectation and contrary to the 50 percent relief suggested by the Buhari Team.
Mallam Garba Shehu, Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign said in a statement in Abuja today that “the Jonathan-led PDP government is beginning to listen to public outcry about bad governance, extortion and exploitation of the Nigerian masses in the oil sector where billions of naira is daily being ripped off the pockets of the common men and women through inaccurate pump prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene, despite the dwindling world market prices of these products.”
Garba Shehu faulted both the decrease ratio of N97 to N87 and the timing of the announcement by the Federal Government as “politically motivated, ill-timed and too little, too late.”
He noted that PDP has ran out of ideas for the presidential campaign and has resulted to raking straws from inertia ponds, adding: “this measure is not different from the President’s belated visit to a few places in the North East, a region which has been ravaged and devastated by Boko Haram’s brigandage, a situation to which the number one citizen seemed to be oblivious of until recently.
“The oil price decline is 55% and the cut in the pump price is 11%. The argument is that devaluation which is approximately 10% should be factored in. “However, the timing and the inadequate price cut smacks of incompetence, insincerity and desperation,” the APC Campaign Spokesman said.
According to him, the US has witnessed price cuts in excess of 50% from $4.00 to $2.00 which translates into 50c per litre or N60 per litre, including state taxes. “How can petrol in the US be 25% cheaper than in Nigeria? It just does not make sense. This is too little too late. The alternative will be to further reduce petrol prices and overhaul the subsidy system which is a cesspool of fraud, money laundering and imperfect market structures.”
Garba Shehu questioned the motive and  justification for a mere N10 cut in petrol price considering that global price of crude oil per barrel on which the pricing of petroleum products is predicated, has plummeted from $105 to $50.
“How did they calculate the ratio? Aside, if the new price took effect from 18th January, 2015 what happens to the backlog that has existed since December? Will the Minister and her boss give coupons to Nigerians to fill their tanks to make up for the arrears? Or who is benefiting from this windfall?”
He warned that any attempt by the ruling party to make a political gain out of this natural economic phenomenon of demand and supply would hit the wrong notes with the voters come February 14.