Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered five telecoms firms to continue with the fund-raising platform for the Presidential campaign of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, thus over-ruling the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) that had earlier ordered its stoppage. The Judge of the court, Justice Ibrahim Buba, who made the ex-parte order in respect of the APC’s motion, also made an order of interim injunction restraining Etisalat, MTN, Glo, Airtel and Visafone from giving effect to a directive by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which warned them against running political promotions that will portray them as being partisan. The judge ordered the telecoms firms “to continue to run, operate and/or restore to its full operative use the SMS Code platform 35350 created for fund-raising for the applicant’s presidential campaign.” The orders are to subsist pending the hearing and determination of APC’s originating motion on notice. The court also granted APC leave to serve the originating motion on notice and other processes on NCC (the first defendant) outside the court’s jurisdiction. APC said the platform is to operate till February 12 when campaign activities for the presidential election will end in line with Electoral Act and the election time-table. In the originating motion, APC is demanding N25billion damages from the defendants for violating the fundamental rights of the party and its members. It said since the platform was suspended, it has been unable to disseminate or receive information from its supporters via the SMS code 35350. The party said while the platform was suspended, NCC has allowed that of President Goodluck Jonathan to run seamlessly. The party said it created a “premium SMS code 35350″ through which willing donors could contribute to its presidential campaign fund. Within hours of its creation, APC said it was getting about five messages of N100 each every minute. A total of 5,400 messages were received, it said. However, NCC in a January 19 letter, directed all telecoms service providers “to avoid running political advertisements that will portray them as being partisan.” NCC said it would “not hesitate to sanction any service provider that will flout this directive.” As a result, the telecoms firms suspended the platform. However, APC said political parties have been using several media platforms to advertise, with none accused of being partisan. [myad]
President Goodluck Jonathan’s political ambition is getting undermined by the day as his men have become more desperate to ensure that he returns to power. The latest desperate move which appears to have backfired is the launch of a hate documentary full of lies and distortions about All Progressives Congress (APC), presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.
After watching the documentary, viewers still favoured Buhari in an opinion poll conducted by the same TV station that aired the vile documentary against the former Head of State.
The one hour offensive documentary is being aired on the Africa Independent Television, AIT, and the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA.
The documentary focuses on what transpired during the military regime of Buhari in 1984 and 1985 with lots of distortions to discredit Buhari’s candidacy.
Many people who have viewed the documentary were outraged about the desperation of Jonathan’s men and how far they could go to get another term for their principal.
One of such lies in the AIT documentary spotted out by viewers was that it was Buhari who expelled Ghanaians from Nigeria. Rather, it was Shehu Shagari who repatriated Ghanaians and other foreigners from Nigeria.
Also, the issue of Gloria Okon disappearing under Buhari was also concocted as she disappeared under General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime for which Dele Giwa was assassinated on Sunday, 19 October, 1986, long after Buhari had been ousted by Babangida.
Also, Fela’s mother died after Kalakuta republic was attacked by soldiers sent by Obasanjo’s government in 1978 and not under Buhari as claimed in the documentary.
Viewers also wondered what the death of two of Buhari’s daughters has to do with a documentary of Buhari’s ability to rule.
Reacting to the documentary, Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is only chasing shadows as the documentary is irrelevant and could not determine the presidential election.
“It was not Buhari who drove Ghananians away from Nigeria and the aspect of the documentary that said Gloria Okon and Fela’s mum died under Buhari are lies.
“PDP has just pushed the panic button. The PDP in their desperation has descended to a maniacal level, it is simply madness.”
Comrade Debo Adeniran of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, described the documentary as irresponsible on the part of the PDP.
“Everybody in Nigeria knows that Buhari was a military man, thus the use of military tactics. We should put that behind us. There are so many things happening now that are worse than during Buhari’s period,” he said.
Adeniran said it was unthinkable for Jonathan to think he could get cheap popularity through the documentary, while decrying the taunting of the deceased members of Buhari’s family in the documentary, saying it is unAfrican.
A member of the House Representatives, Lanre Odubote, condemned the documentary, saying it smacked of desperation on the part of the PDP.
He said the PDP is already feeling jittery, which he said had led to desperation and sponsoring of all kinds of anti-Buhari campaigns.
Mr. Joe Igbokwe, Publicity Secretary, APC, Lagos State said: “everything under the sun is being unearthed and exhumed just to stop candidate Buhari by the PDP and their agents, but the man’s towering popularity continues to soar like the eagle.”
Igbokwe said: AIT cooked up a documentary to paint Buhari as an evil man and sadist and thereafter set up a public opinion poll to gauge the popularity of Jonathan, but that Buhari still floored the president.
“Every issue they raised has worked against President Jonathan. This is a silent revolution, Buhari is the next president of Nigeria, case rested,” he stated.
Despite the negative documentary, the popularity of Buhari appears to be soaring on daily basis as he floored his opponent, President Goodluck Jonathan, in an opinion poll conducted by the Africa Independent Television, AIT.
AIT, the television station that has shown strong support for Jonathan, conducted an opinion poll after launching the offensive documentary on Buhari.
The poll was conducted on its website: aitonline.tv/elections.
The TV station simply asked: who will you vote for in the presidential election? AIT went on to list the names and logos of all the presidential candidates for people to vote.
As at 8:30pm on Tuesday, result of the poll which kept on growing showed that Jonathan was lagging behind Buhari. While Jonathan, as that time was scoring a little above 2,000, Buhari polled about 8,900 votes, which is about 78 percent of the total poll.
With the result of the poll getting more favourable for Buhari and drawing serious public discourse and comments, AIT quickly shut down its website at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
The website was still shut as at the time of filing this report with all contents removed on Wednesday.
This might not be unconnected with the result of the poll favouring Buhari and showing Jonathan’s seeming unpopularity in the eyes of the public.
AIT simply placed on its website this information: “Our website is currently being improved to serve you better, please.”
Here is the result of AIT Online Poll amongst the Presidential candidates in the February elections.
Elder statesman and former Defense minister, General Theophilous Yakubu Danjuma has called for the arrest of Asari Dokubo, Government Tompolo, Boyloaf and others over recent war threat by the ex-Niger Delta militants.
General Danjuma who spoke to reporters at the permanent site of North West University , Kano, after he commissioned the multi billion naira in Kwankwasiyya city said the threat by the Niger Delta militants was highly irresponsible.
The civil war General said: “those were reckless statements coming from irresponsible individuals; they should be condemned and be arrested immediately.”
Bayelsa state Governor, Seriake Dikson hosted the former militants last weekend where they threatened to declare war against the country if President Jonathan is defeated in the February 14 General election. [myad]
The All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Organisation has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of what it called “his usual complicity and alliance with ethnic warlords who have been threatening to tear the country apart in case he (Jonathan) fails at the February 14 presidential polls.” In a statement in Abuja today, the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation said that this unholy alliance by the President with elements that served notice of their diabolical intention to foment trouble is in negation of the oath of allegiance sworn to, over five years ago by the President, to maintain the territorial integrity and indivisible Nigeria. The statement which was signed by the Director of Media and Publicity of the Organisation, Mallam Garba Shehu, condemned the President’s attitude of “condoling treasonable statements and gross indiscipline by some elements of his kinsmen – as a breach of presidential oath to protect all Nigerians and a sheer display of double standard and selective justice. “How can the President feign ignorance of the war plots and call to arms in Bayelsa State Government House in Yenagoa, supervised by a PDP Governor, Seriake Dickson, and the Presidential Special Adviser on Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, with majority of Niger Delta ex-militant kinsmen,” Shehu said. “Whereas this President was quick to condemn MEND for allegedly supporting the opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, and lambast claims by the hoax Federal Government-hired Australian negotiator with the Boko Haram, Dr Stephen Davis; publicly bad-mouthed his critics particularly former Head of State, Olusegun Obasanjo; yet he has refused to call to order tribal war-mongers like Kingsley Kuku and his cohorts – Asari Dokubo, Tompolo, Boy Loaf and others. This is a total and unequivocal support of Mr. President for aiding and abetting treason in the land, an impeachable offence by all standards.” Garba Shehu also recalled similar situations of Jonathan’s lukewarm attitude towards probing or punishing alleged criminal plots as contained in a letter by former President Obasanjo him, of a ‘hidden agenda by snipers trained abroad to eliminate 1000 opposition politicians’ in case Jonathan fails to return to Aso Rock Villa in 2015. “Up till now, no inquiry has been instituted to probe the serious allegation.” He attributed the clandestine procurement and distribution of arms and ammunition across the nation, all in the name of fighting insurgency, to a grand design by the incumbent President and his party to scuttle democracy or eventually break up the country for parochial gains. “It is now common knowledge that strange planes and helicopters laden with arms have been landing at unauthorised spots in some parts of the country. The incident in Kano where a cargo plane supposedly going to neighbouring country of Niger landed unexpectedly, and the use of drones one of which allegedly crashed recently; coupled with the shady movement of millions of raw dollars to do undercover black market buying of weapons in South Africa. All these incidents ride against the tide of transparency and public accountability and a clear breach of the President’s oath of allegiance to the country’s Constitution.” [myad]
President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he dedicates thie year, 2015 to the Nigerian youths which is why his administration has opened 12 more universities to absorb them. The President, who campaign train reached Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital today, told a tumultuous crowd: “this year is dedicated to the young people. We wanted to make sure that all states had federal universities and expand the capacity of school system to admit youths. That is why we built 12 new federal universities.” The President thanked the people of Rivers state for their support, even as recalled how he had spent most years of his growing up in Rivers. The President asked the crowd at the Adokiye Amasiamaka stadium to keep supporting all the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) across all levels, promising to work with the people to bring development to the state. President Jonathan, who spoke briefly, pledged to leave an indelible mark in the state if he is re- elected even as he accused the All Progressives Congress, (APC) of being insincere in its allegation that he has not been doing anything for Rivers and Bayelsa people. He added that the same party has also accused him of concentrating developmental projects in the Niger Delta. The President made it clear that he would rather concentrate on how his administration agenda is transforming all facets of national life. The Vice President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo said that President Jonathan has made Nigeria’s economy the largest in Africa while bringing back the moribund rail sector. Speaking earlier, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan asked the people to give 2.4 million votes to her husband on February 14, over and above the 2 million votes they gave in 2011. Both governor of Akwa Ibom state and former governor of Rivers state, Godswill Akpabio and Peter Odili respectively had said that since the South South region had carried the country’s economic burden for 50 years, President Jonathan should be allowed to do a second term in office unconditionally. [myad]
Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari has expressed shock at reports of the latest mindless attacks by Boko Haram on Maiduguri, Konduga and Monguno in Borno State with over 40,000 more refugees reportedly joining the ranks of the internally displaced. A statement from the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation and signed by Mallam Garba Shehu, Director of Media and Publicity quoted Buhari as expressing his condolences, support and prayers to all those, including Nigerian soldiers that were affected by the latest insurgent attacks. General Buhari assured that the situation in the affected areas won’t last forever, adding: “while I commiserate with the latest victims of this despicable orgy of violence of Borno State, I equally implore them to bear in mind that this situation won’t last forever. “In spite of the incompetent handling of this insurgency by the Federal Government, solution is in sight with the APC set to dislodge the PDP administration that has ruinously led this great country for nearly 16 years.” [mya]
Former Nigeria information minister and now, governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Nasarawa state, Labaran Maku has accused the Senate President, David Mark of Hypocracy, even as he asked the former chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Amadu Ali to shut his mouth up. Maku, who Amadu Ali referred to as “a dangerous boy” at the PDP Presidential campaign rally in Lafiya, the Nasarawa state capital yesterday said that the power-that-be both at federal and state level is against his ambition to be the state governor because he is a Christian. Reacting to the barrage of accusation and curses which PDP chieftains hipped on him yesterday, Maku said: “the real issue in Nasarawa state is that some people within and outside the state believe that no Christian should ever be governor of Nasarawa state. Therefore, Mr. Maku is being persecuted purely for religious reasons.” The former information admitted that he had high respect for Senator Mark and Dr. Ahmadu Ali and would not want to join issues with them, but that he finds it especially curious that Senator Mark has remained mute over the defection in his own native Benue State of former Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr. Sam Ortom and former PDP National Chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade who have gone all the way to the opposition APC to contest for the governorship and senatorial positions respectively. He aked: “why has Senator Mark not condemned these defections from his native Benue state? Why the undue attention on Mr. Maku and Nasarawa State?” The import of these attacks on the APGA governorship candidate, Maku stressed, clearly shows that there is panic in the PDP in Nasarawa State following his emergence of Maku as Flag bearer of APGA. He said that the attacks on him are orchestrated to sustain the status quo in Nasarawa, which is already leading to destruction of the state by insurgents and mercenaries. “This development portends danger to the future unity and development of Nasarawa state and our dear country. Maku said that his well considered decision to leave PDP for APGA was actually intended to bring out the real hidden issues that have continued to undermine the unity and development of Nasarawa State, adding that in doing so, he is fully aware that he will be blackmailed and maligned because he ever dared to challenge the status quo by those who want a divided state. “It is equally curious how some of the PDP chieftains openly expressed their anger because I am campaigning for the president in Nasarawa State even though my new party, the APGA, has adopted Mr. President as its own presidential candidate because of his sterling leadership qualities and many achievements in office.. The APGA governorship flag bearer said that he viewed the sustained attack against him as a desperate measure by some leaders of the PDP to distract him from campaigning to defeat their candidate and the incumbent in the upcoming governorship elections, adding that he is experienced enough in politics to know there is no way a sitting president will support him in an opposition party against his own party. Last week at the PDP rally in Keffi to flag off the campaign of the state PDP governorship candidate, Alhaji Yusuf Agabi, Senator David Mark had accused Maku of being ungrateful because he left the PDP to emerge as the governorship candidate of APGA in the State. Only yesterday, Tuesday, various speakers at the presidential campaign rally in Lafia repeated the same accusations. But Maku insisted that he had never told anyone even while contesting for the governorship ticket in the PDP that the president was behind him, neither did he suggest to anyone when he decamped to APGA that President Jonathan supported his decision. According to him, the PDP primaries were marred by irregularities, including the change of delegates’ list and the manipulation of religion to impose Alhaji Yusuf Agabi as candidate. He said that some delegates’ lives were openly threatened at the ill-fated PDP primaries at Nasarawa town if they ever voted for him, saying that before he finally left the PDP, he followed the due process to seek redress over the highly bungled governorship primaries, including petitioning the PDP Governorship Primaries Appeal Panel under the chairmanship of the National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mua’zu on the irregularities and other anti-democratic activities that led to the imposition of Alhaji Yusuf Agabi as the candidate of the PDP. He said that the Appeal Panel neither acknowledged nor invited him to defend the appeal he filed against the conduct of the governorship primary election. Acknowledging that loyalty is crucial in party politics, Maku made it clear that despite that he had been a loyal party member and leader of the party in Nasarawa state for four years, he was schemed out of the PDP primaries on the basis of religion. He asked a question: “why scheme out a loyal party member who stood by the party and defended its policies and programmes at the state and national level for many years only to turn around to use his loyalty against him?” He asked his teeming supporters to disregard all insinuations and threats and sustain the tempo of the campaign for him and Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to emerge as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and governor of Nasarawa State in this year’s general elections. [myad]
Four more Nigerians have gone to court to challenge the validity of the school certificate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari before an Abuja Magistrates’ Court. They alleged a fresh criminal suit of alleged perjury against him.
They are Shield Jones Ufot, Jimmy David, Ogueri Enwerem and Tochukwu Okorie who filed the direct criminal complaint through their lawyer, Ugochukwu Ezekiel at the court. They mentioned Buhari as the only defendant in the suit.
The complainants alleged that Buhari gave a false evidence to a public officer contrary to Section 157 of the Penal Code which is punishable under Section 158 of the Penal Code Law.
They identified themselves as Nigerian citizens, activists and social crusaders who are committed to ensuring obedience to the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a duty to report crime and ensure prosecution of offenders. They also claimed they are tax payers and voters in Nigeria qualified to vote and be voted for in Nigeria.
The crux of their complaint against Buhari is that he, on December 18, 2014, filled and submitted INEC Form C.F 001 to the Independent National Electoral Commission (a public office) wherein Buhari gave his qualification to contest the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as West African School Certificate (WASC), which he claimed to have obtained in 1961.
They went on to allege that Buhari never sat for the West African Examination Council examination in 1961 as he claimed and that in the entire records of the school and WAEC, there appeared no name of the said Mohammadu Buhari.
The activists maintained that Buhari with an intent to mislead a public office in order to comply with the provisions of Section 31 of the Electoral Act, 2010, deposed to various affidavits in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja wherein he stated that he attended Provincial Secondary School, Katsina and obtained a West African School Certificate and that the certificates he claimed to have obtained are with the Nigerian Army. [myad]
All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has said that President Goodluck Jonathan should no longer be taken serious whenever he vows that he would end Boko Haram soon even as the sect, under his Presidency, grew from mere armed delinquents to hard fighting group. A statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of the campaign organization, Mallam Garba Shehu said that the claim by President Jonathan during his campaign visit to Maiduguri, capital of Borno State and hotbed of the insurgency that he would deal with the menace of the terrorists looks more like a joke or mere talk designed for the occasion of the campaign event. “President Jonathan has been at the helm of affairs in Nigeria for more than five years. During this time, the Boko Haram has transformed from a group of armed delinquents to an active fighting group or movement without the government headed by President Jonathan able to contain it. It is childish for the same person to say that he would deal with a group that became a monster under his watch.” Garba Shehu advised President Jonathan to stop talking about dealing with Boko Haram as he has clearly shown little appreciation and leadership in the area of national security. “Rather, he should join eager and long-suffering Boko Haram victims across the nation and other well-meaning Nigerians to ensure that General Muhammadu Buhari emerges victorious in the February 14 poll to deal with Boko Haram, as well as unemployment and widespread official corruption, two other vices ravaging our nation under his watch. “If President Jonathan and his party want to be true to Nigerians, it is for them to acknowledge that to deal with Boko Haram, and the wider national security issues it has thrown up over the years is within the scope of his opponent, General Buhari, because the latter has travelled similar road in the past with distinction when the nation’s security and well-being was endangered as it has been in the last four years since Boko Haram became a national security and regional security menace while Jonathan fiddled.” APC Presidential campaign spokesman insisted that Boko Haram terrorists are no longer a group that President Jonathan and those who work with him can handle, saying that a new and committed leader is needed. “This is made more necessary because the terrorists have been holding more than 200 Nigerian school girls hostage for several months and has taken over chunks of the nation’s territory, without a whimper from the “happy-go-lucky” government of President Goodluck Jonathan.” He argued that if in the past five years, the Boko Haram has transformed while Jonathan made empty promises, “pray, how can such a leader make any difference in another four years? The most likely scenario if Jonathan is given another four years in office is that the terrorists would effortlessly take over the entire country.” [myad]
A Yoruba group, going by the name: Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) has distanced itself from another group, Afenifere which declared its endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for second-term in the February 14 election.
In a press statement signed by its publicity secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, ARG described the use of its insignia to promote the said endorsement as fraudulent and an attempt to deceive Yoruba people.
The group wrote: “it has come to our notice that some broadcast stations are using ARG’s name and logo to promote the said endorsement. This is fraudulent and we wish to advice media houses to be wary of such fraudulent promoters especially now that public interest must be defended by the media.
“The ARG is not a party to the endorsement and does not in fact think the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan since May 2010 is worth the endorsement of any patriotic citizen. We believe there is a difference between ‘transformation,’ which President Jonathan promised Nigerians in 2011 and mere ‘reform’ of the same governance culture that Nigerians have rejected.
The ARG does not dictate to the generality of the Yoruba people, rather it gives voice to their feelings and aspirations. The extensive consultations we have made showed that Yoruba people have come to a firm conclusion that they have been at the shorter end of the stick under the Jonathan-led government, under whose administration, nepotism and ethnocentrism have taken over as the emblem of our presidential politics.
“ARG therefore stands with the aspirations of Yoruba people for change. As echoed in Abeokuta recently at the public lecture organised by the Ogun State chapter of ARG, the change that we demand include a public pledge to restructure the country in such a way that power will devolve to the most efficient federating units.”
The Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, had told journalists in Akure, the Ondo state capital yesterday, Tuesday after meeting with President Jonathan, that the group had endorsed the president who was in the state as part of his state wide presidential campaign.
The meeting took place at the residence of the National Chairman of Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.
Leaders that attended the meeting include governor Olusegun Mimiko of ondo State, two former governors of Osun and Ogun state Iyiola Omisore and Gbenga Daniel, Chief Ayo Adebanjo. [myad]
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
