Presidential Candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari has left for the United Kingdom today on what his campaign organisation described as “a short working visit.”
In a statement, the director of media and publicity for the campaign organisation, Garba Shehu said that in the course of the visit, General Buhari is expected to hold meetings with key members of the British political establishment and interact with some global institutions with stakeholder interest in the affairs of Nigeria.
He said that Buhari may give a talk at the prestigious foreign policy hub, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatam House in London.
This was even as Garba Shehu said that APC now has evidence to show that a top management staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency (NIMASA) has been behind the dirty campaigns of hate, recently featured in AIT and NTA, against General Buhari and his family.
He said that the Campaign Office has confirmed that the agency was indeed the sponsor of all the dirty campaigns against the APC presidential candidate on AIT, NTA and several other media platforms, the action which he said contravenes the NIMASA Act, the Public Service Regulations, and the INEC Act 2010 as amended, among others.
Garba Shehu said that APC and the campaign organisation were miffed by a situation where a government agency would use public funds to sponsor a campaign of calumny against the candidate of the party.
He emphasised that such act is illegal and needs to be condemned and investigated by the Joint Committees of the National Assembly on Marine Transportation.
“If these claims were to be found to be true by the Joint Committee, the statement said, disciplinary action should be taken against the agency and its leadership.
“It is a well known fact that the Director General of the Agency, Mr. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi was President Goodluck Jonathan’s and a well-known ex-militant’s errand boy. He was appointed there for the sole aim of satisfying an ex-militant’s camp, an assignment he has carried out well to the satisfaction of those who put him there through the award of a concessionaire phantom PPP project. Under this contract, a certain company, (Global West Vessels Specialists Ltd) was handed the legal responsibility of the Nigerian Navy (NN) of protecting the Nation’s Waterway and NIMASA’s Maritime Security function to the surprise of all industry observers and yet fail woefully in offering the necessary protection for the theft of Nigerian Crude Oil, which has only increased since then among other sea related crimes.”
Garba Shehu also condemned the illegal use of public funds by the chief executive of any government agency to finance disparaging media campaign against an opposition candidate.
He decried the increasing helplessness of regulatory agencies in the country, charged with the certification of commercial advertising, that are now being ignored by the PDP in placing libellous and defamatory campaign materials against the opposition in TV stations they control.
According to him, President Jonathan should prove to Nigerians that he is sincerely committed to the rule of law by taking immediate action against the NIMASA boss, adding: “it is not enough for President Jonathan to claim he doesn’t know the sponsors of smear adverts if he lacks the courage to punish them once they are exposed.” [myad]

Director of media and publicity for the Presidential Campaign Organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Femi Fani-Kayode has defended some footage of a meeting involving some PDP leaders in the southwest zone which purportedly reflected attempts to rig the Ekiti governorship election, describing it as both petty and despicable.
The leaders involved in what has now been termed “Ekitigate” include Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro of Lagos state, Minister Jelili Adesiyan of Osun state and Senator Iyiola Omisore of Osun state.
At a news conference today in Abuja, Fani-Kayode said that he has listened to the audio clip and he found out that the discussion that took place in it did not make any mention of any form of rigging in the Ekiti state governorship election and neither did it contain any evidence of any conspiracy to rig.
“Rather than attempting to orchestrate rigging, what the audio clip clearly reveals was Governor Fayose expressing concerns that a Military commander was not acting on information about illegal movement of weapons into certain parts of the state. The Governor and others were apparently worried that safety of the voters and INEC officials could be compromised if security measures were not strictly enforced.”
He challenged opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to do a critical content analysis of the discussions in the audio clip and that it would find out that the claims of rigging against Governor Fayose and all the others that were mentioned cannot be sustained.
“Sadly the same cannot be said about the electoral perfidy which the APC
perpetrated in the Osun state
governorship elections. During the course of those elections, some of their agents gathered in secret locations where they thumb-printed ballot papers in favor of their governorship candidate, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.” [myad]

President Goodluck Jonathan, today, commissioned four large Naval ships in Lagos. They are the Nigerian Navy Ship OKPABANA, a High Endurance Cutter acquired from the United States of America; Nigerian Navy Ship PROSPERITY, a former Irish Navy fishery patrol boat, acquired purposely for use as a training ship; and Nigerian Navy Ship CENTENARY, one of the two offshore patrol vessels procured from China and Nigerian Navy Ship SAGBAMA, which was donated by the Peoples Republic of China.
Commissioning the ships, President Jonathan announced that the ships are part of 6 which will be commissioned for the Navy this year. He said that one of the ships which came from the United States was the 6th from that country since 2002.
The President said that the high dependence of the nation’s economy on offshore resources, as well as the enormous potentials of the maritime sector to contribute to food security and employment generation have made the provision of effective maritime security very imperative.
“Therefore, the Nigerian Navy, as the lead maritime security agency, deserves all the support it needs, to effectively carry out its statutory roles.
“In this regard, and in spite of other pressing demands, my administration has continued to support the fleet recapitalization objective of the Nigerian Navy Transformation Plan 2010 – 2020, which was formulated to support the realization of the goals of the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda.
“This commissioning ceremony gives me opportunity to once again reaffirm my confidence in the competence and commitment of the officers, ratings and civilian staff of the Nigerian Navy.  I am glad to particularly note the achievements of the Navy in the fight against oil theft and other maritime crimes.”
President Jonathan reassured the Navy that his administration will not waiver in its support to the on-going capacity building effort it has started.
The President acknowledged the fact that this was the first time any Nigerian government would commission 5 Naval ships at the same time, adding that the last time such thing happened was when the then President Shehu Shagari commissioned three ships.
Speaking earlier, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin commended the present administration for committing huge resources into the advancement of Naval operations, adding that the commissioning ceremony was a milestone in the history of the Navy.
According to him, the 4 Naval ships would be deployed into the effective patrol of the country’s territorial waters.
The Naval Chief also handed the 4 ships to their respective commanding officers.
NNS Okpabana was handed to Captain Majidadi Ibrahim while NNS Centenary was handed over to Captain Chidozie Donald Okehie. Captain BK Effiong was given the responsibility to command NNS Sagbama while Captain Musin Yahaya Abba will take charge of NNS Prosperity. [myad]

February 27 has been announced as the date for the burial of the late Executive Editor of Frontiers Newspaper Online, Mr. Daniel Ovwigho Idonor. He died in Abuja on Monday February 2, 2015.
An official announcement from the family showed that a Christian Wake and Service of Songs would be held at his residence, 16 Pibe Street, Mpape, Abuja, on Monday February 23, by 5.00 pm while his remains will be laid to rest at his residence Opposite Victory Group of Schools, Old Ogor Road, Ughelli, Delta State, on Friday, February 27.
Already, many prominent Nigerians and professional colleagues, including spokesman of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati,  Mallam Umar Sani, senior special assistant on media and publicity to Vice-President Namadi Sambo and members of the State House Press Corps have visited his Abuja residence to commiserate with the family.
Aged 45, Mr. Idonor, popularly called “Chair” by his colleagues in the media, died on Monday, February 2, at the Nigerian Air Force Hospital, Abuja, after a protracted illness.
A devoted Christian and a Deacon with the Living Faith Ministry, Abuja, the late Idonor was a former Chairman of the State House Press Corps, Abuja.
He is survived by a wife and four children. [myad]

A 35-year-old fashion designer in Lagos State, Damilola Emmanuel, is appealing to Nigerians to assist him by contributing to the sum of N12 Million he needs to raise to enable him undergo renal trnsplant in India.
Life Support Medical Centre, located at 1, Oba Docemo Street, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos State has been handling his case and he has been on weekly dialysis.
A letter signed by the Chief Medical Director of the Centre, Dr. U.B.C. Onuzo, said the patient was diagnosed with “acute renal failure” and was referred from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital “for urgent dialysis in our centre.”
The hospital said that the solution to the patient’s medical condition is renal transplant.
Emmanuel was said to have had “five sessions of haemodialysis and several blood transfusion but cannot keep up with the treatment cost.”
A session of the dialysis costs about N70,000. And it is done weekly.
As a result of this, Onuzo said he has not been complying with his treatment, adding: “this letter is written on his behalf, for whoever is willing to assist him. Renal transplant is the definitive treatment.”
The transplant is expected to take place in India at the cost of N12 million.
Emmanuel gave his account details as follows:
Name of Bank: Skye Bank
Account Name: Damilola Shedrack Akinuyi.
Account Number: 1019053381. [myad]