The Independent Television (ITV), owned by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, has apologized to the Governor of Edo state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole over a report it aired which it admitted was full of lies. The report, aired on both its Television and Radio stations, said that the Governor’s aides beat up a Catholic Priest at Ujogba. In a retraction and apology which was aired yesterday, the Television station said: “we hereby tender our unreserved apology for the embarrassment the broadcast must have caused the Governor and Government of Edo State. We want to reassure the Government and the people of our commitment to the peace and stability of our dear state.” The TV station had aired a fabricated report on January 12 that the Governor’s aides beat up a Catholic Priest for refusing to yield the way for the Governor’s convoy. The station reported that the incident happened at Ujogba, Esan West Local Government Area of the state where the Governor had gone to commission a project. However, the Governor neither went to Ujogba nor commissioned a project there, rather the Governor had commissioned the Amedokhian-Ugboha road in company with his Lagos State counterpart and no such incident took place. The Governor had refuted the report in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary and asked the Television station to retract same and issue an apology on same station. According to Okhiria: “the said report is not only callous, malicious and wicked, but clearly portrays ITV and its proprietor as the devil’s advocates who churn out falsehood to denigrate the Oshiomhole administration. “While we state that the Governor was never at Ujogba as reported by the TV station, the Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is known to be proudly Catholic and has boasted about his faith at many fora. “It is a fact that the Governor enjoys a robust relationship with the Catholic Church moreso as a baptized practicing Catholic. He is also in good standing with the Archbishop, Priests and Laity of Benin City Archdiocese, Auchi Diocese and Uromi Diocese. To the best of our knowledge, the ITV report was deliberately fabricated to promote hate sentiment against the Governor by the Catholic faithful.” The Catholic Church also refuted the report in a statement issued by Reverend Father Andrew Obinyan, the Parish Priest of St Albert’s Catholic Church, University of Benin while giving a homily. According to the Church, the ITV report “was a tale concocted to drag the Holy Catholic Church into the fray of politics of the APC and the PDP”, adding that “what is happening is a sad reflection of the intensity of the wave of political sentiments and the length to which some parties would go to paint the opposition black.” [myad]
Of course, with the assumption, rightly and or wrongly that the two main combatants: Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan and that for All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, in the February 2015 general elections in Nigeria, hold the ace to peaceful or otherwise of the elections, they were brought, along with other stakeholders, to sign what was termed Abuja Peace Accord on Wednesday, January 14. And when Jonathan and Buhari, in the process of signing the Peace Accord, embraced each other publicly, nearly all Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief believing that the trouble looming in the air was all over. Of course, in both reality and by implication, the signing of Peace Accord by the two supposed combatants should have signified a big break-away from the war-song that was gradually turning the country into frightening entity. Indeed, before Wednesday, many Nigerians had started moving their households to their homes: from the North to the South and from other parts of the country to other parts of the country in fear of the looming Armageddon. The fear, amongst the citizenry, of disaster occurring before, during and after the February elections, was founded on the behavioural pattern of the political campaign arrow-heads, i.e. Presidential candidates of the two main political parties in the country. But, despite the Wednesday Peace Accord Treaty amongst the stakeholders, the war songs, the bad-mouthed statements and campaigns of calumny are still ongoing amongst the die-hard supporters of the big masquerades. What was the content of the Peace Accord which the Presidential candidates signed? They pledged among others, to refrain from “campaigns that will involve religious sentiments, ethnic or tribal profiling, both by ourselves and all agents acting in our name. “To refrain from making or causing to make in our names or that of our parties any public statement, pronouncement, declaration or speeches that have the capacity to incite any form of violence before, during and after the elections. “To forcefully and publicly speak out against provocative utterances and oppose all acts of electoral violence whether perpetuated by our supporters and, or opponents. “To commit ourselves and political parties to the monitoring of the adherence of this Accord if necessary, by a national peace committee made up of respected statesmen and women, traditional and religious leaders.’’ As a matter of fact, before the signing of the Abuja Peace Accord, the major headaches of Nigeria were, on the side of General Buhari, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano state and governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state and other foot soldiers. And on the side of President Jonathan were Dr. Doyin Okupe, Barrister Olisa Metuh, Femi Fani-Kayode, Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state, Chief Edwin Clark among other surrogates. But less than 24 hours after the signing of the Peace Accord, while substantial number of such fire-spitting supporters of the two combatants subsided, even if for a while, the governor of Akwa Ibom state, Godswill Akpabio refused to down-tool. He went to town with a threat that the only way Nigeria can remain in peace and unity is to re-elect President Jonathan in the February 14 election. His Delta state counterpart, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, at a different occasion, also made it clear that Niger Delta people would not negotiate the second term election of President Jonathan. As if that was not enough, the ex-Niger Delta war lord, Asari Dokubo also went on the air, in an interview on Channels TV, openly insulting not only General Buhari but all the Northerners. Not only that, a few days later, the same Dokubo accused President Jonathan of paying a visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo whom he described as (Jonathan’s) enemy that should have been arrested and detained. He also accused President Jonathan of putting his enemies, whom he called “Gambari” from the Northern part of the country in the security system to fight Boko Haram. He even said: “I hate Nigeria.” (An average normal human being would do anything to destroy anything he or she hates. Do we take it then that Asari Dokubo is in this category?) Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday (Friday), cast doubt over the workability of the Peace Accord even as he added his own salt to the wound which the Peace Accord sought to heel. What has been missing in all the noises about the cry of war, war and war that have been coming from our brothers from Niger Delta in favour of their brother, President Jonathan, is the inability of the side of President Jonathan to effect the part of the Accord that talked about “restraining supporters” from drumming war song. From the beginning, it had never been the two principal actors that have been responsible for a heated political environment with provocative statements, and if they were, they could, and have easily refrained from such acts. It is the supporters, with some kind of ulterior motives that have been the main headaches. Obviously, if the supporters of President Jonathan have refused, as they have done, to respect the content and spirit of the Peace Accord by throwing insults at the other side, what would happen is a reversion to the unruly situation that prevailed before the Peace Accord. There is something the leaders of the Niger Delta region that are threatening fire and brimstone have forgotten: that Jonathan became President with combined votes of people across Nigeria. And that Nigerians from all walks of life cast such votes freely for him in 2011 without anybody using force. And that in 2015, in line with the principle of Democracy, it is and would be under the same condition that Jonathan should be returned to power. Threatening that the heaven will fall if Nigerians decide this time, to vote against him for reasons best known to them, is taking them (Nigerians) for a ride or saying that they are fools. The Niger Delta leaders are simply saying now that Nigerians should, in February 2015, resort to another form of strange Democracy or electoral process, where they would cast their votes based on fear, simply to avoid war or trouble. And, who determines where the pendulum would swing in war? Muscle flexing, using war-like threats to cajole the electorate in a democratic practice, apart from amounting to veiled rigging, is also a sign of weakness. It amounts to what late Fela Anikulapo Kuti described as “Shakara.” You may know the level of your strength, as Asari Dokubo confessed that the Niger Delta Militants still have sophisticated guns and weapons in their possession (to execute his imagined war with Northern “Gambari,”) but you don’t know the strength of the group you are charging at. It would therefore profit all of us, Nigerians, wherever we are, to respect one anothers’ strength and weakness, because, we all have the two sides. In any case, whatever happened to the principle of persuasion in an ideal election, away from eye-balls that are growing into ultra-red and rolling in their sockets while the chests are beating at hypertensive level as bodies are quivering!
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state has given the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), one of the machineries campaigning for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in the February election for his second-term in office, quit notice. The governor ordered it to leave the state and stop campaigning for the President, in what appears a battle between the governor and loyalists of the president’s wife who are in charge of the organization in the State.
In a press statement today signed by the governor’s spokesperson, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, governor Dickson directed the leadership of the TAN to immediately leave Bayelsa State.
The group had for several months staged massive rallies in support of President Jonathan long before the formal kick-off of electioneering in the country. At the time, the group claimed it was campaigning to convince Jonathan to seek re-election.
But in a fresh twist in relations between the governor and the wife of the president, whose loyalists are said to be in control of TAN in the state, governor Dickson accused the group of promoting subversive activities and inciting crisis and divisions within the PDP in the State.
The governor, who gave the warning at a meeting with the Peoples Democratic Party’s flag bearers for February general elections at the party’s secretariat in Yenagoa, said he is responsible for directing campaigns for President Jonathan in the state.
He described the PDP in the state as the only recognized political platform and structure saddled with the responsibility of leading the president’s campaign in the state with him as party leader.
Governor Dickson said the activities of TAN have outlived their usefulness even as he alleged that TAN and some members of its top hierarchy have become tools of subversion, creating needless rancour, acrimony and divisions.
According to the governor, the activities of TAN and the other groups, if not checked, could be counterproductive, especially with the presidential and other elections, only a few weeks away.
He said that he has the mandate of Bayelsa people to protect the stability, peace and security of the State.
The governor, who announced the planned visit of President Jonathan to the state, said he would use the opportunity on February 5 to express appreciation to Nigerians for their unwavering support and solidarity to the Jonathan administration.
The governor emphasized that Bayelsa State is a stronghold of the PDP and a strong support base for President Jonathan, whom he noted, does not need to campaign in his home state.
An unnamed official of TAN, who was contacted for comments, described the allegations as “wild and unfounded” adding that TAN had noted three unprovoked attacks on the organizations.
He said that the organization will deliberate and issue a statement in response to the comments by the governor.
“It is very primitive of someone who claims to be working for the President to try to attack an organization build to promote the candidacy of the same President, this development has exposed the workings of his mind,” the TAN official said. [myad]
Former leader of the Niger Delta People’s Salvation and Volunteer Force (NDSVF) Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo has made it clear that the Niger Delta Militants are still keeping more sophisticated guns than the ones they submitted as a mark of surrendering to the Nigerian state.
“We are warning the Boko Haram not to harm our people because if they do, we will tell Nigeria that we have more sophisticated guns than the ones we submitted.”
Asari-Dokubo who spoke today at Bungavilla Hotel, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, while addressing students of King Amachree African University, Cotonou, Benin Republic said that many people are angry with President Goodluck Jonathan’s leadership style.
He said Jonathan would have enjoyed an easy ride back to Aso Rock if he had done things properly, accusing him of squandering his political goodwill, which, he said, made him to tolerate his enemies instead of jailing them.
He described the recent visit by Jonathan to former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an embarrassment to the office of the President.
“You don’t naked the office of the President, but Jonathan has done that by not dealing decisively with his enemies. For instance, he has no business going to Abeokuta to see Obasanjo, he has squandered the political goodwill he has.”
“A lot of our people especially in Niger Delta are angry with Jonathan but they have no option than to vote for him because what is coming is worst than him. Goodluck Jonathan would have enjoyed an easy ride if he had done things strictly the way the people want it to be.”
On insecurity, Asari-Dokubo said Jonathan would not make any progress because those managing the security are against the president.
He alleged that top military officers in collaboration with some politicians in the North are the one frustrating the military victory over insurgency and by extension frustrating the government of Jonathan.
“The Vice-President is a Fulani man, Inspector-General of Police is a Gambari man, National Security Adviser is a Gambari man and Defence Minister is a Gambari man. The security arms are in the hands of those who are fighting him. How do you think he can do better in this area?
“The same people who are fighting him are the one he allows to manage security? It is like asking the rat to look after the fish.” [myad]
The General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has branded politicians liars and cannot be trusted. Adeboye spoke today at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, at a two-day interdenominational prayer. According to the cleric, politicians in most cases hardly fulfill their promises, even as he justified his position by giving an illustration with the story of three travellers – an Indian, a Jew and a politician.
According to him while on their journey, the three travellers had some challenges, and went to a farmer for help but the farmer said he could only accommodate two.
He said the Indian volunteered to sleep in the barn but returned a few minutes later that there was a cow there. The Indian, according to the illustration, said he can’t sleep there because cows are gods, worshipped in his country.
Adeboye said the Jew also came back complaining that the pig inside where he was placed was unclean, adding that the politician volunteered to go and sleep among the pigs.
Instead of the politician to come back complaining, Adeboye said, it was the pig and cow that came knocking that the politician be sent away because he had promised to make the environment, including the barn, conducive with air-conditioner.
“I don’t trust politicians; politicians are liars. They don’t fulfill most of their promises. A politician can tell you that they will give all of you (students) chicken each, which we all know it is impossible.”
The RCCG general overseer, whose one of his pastors, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), is the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), asked Nigerian to stop worrying themselves about who would emerge winner in the next election.
He explained that God is a “master planner,” who already planned the leadership development of Nigeria.
“Stop disturbing yourself about who will be the President of Nigeria. God has already planned who will be the President of Nigeria. God has already planned that before we were born. God is not like human beings, who doubt what is to be done. He has plan for everything.”
Vice-Chancellor of OAU, Professor Bamitale Omole commended Adeboye for his yearly presence in the university, saying his divine intervention is having positive impacts in the school.
“We appreciate the love of Pastor Adeboye. With God and his presence last year, we had no calamities and also emerged as the best university in Nigeria. I urge students to be prayerful and cautious of what they do as God will continue to protect us.” [myad]
Leader of the Niger Delta region and ex Nigeria Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has called on the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to sack former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the party even as he expressed doubt that the peace accord which President Goodluck Jonathan, General Muhammadu Buhari and other Presidential candidates signed in Abuja on Wednesday would work.
Clark, who spoke with journalists at his residence in Abuja today, accused the former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party of working with the opposition against President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said that it is wrong for Obasanjo to be working for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, which he said had shown with his (Obasanjo’s) criticism of the President.
He alleged that Obasanjo is defending Buhari over the N25 billion unaccounted for at the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), headed by Buhari because Obasanjo wanted Jonathan to lose the election.
“Obasanjo is defending him because he wants APC to win. How much corruption have you found in Jonathan that you are calling him corrupt?”
Clark observed that Muslims and Christians must live together in the country to hasten its development.
“What is wrong with PDP? That man (Obasanjo) should not be allowed to be in the party. You beg him all the time. He has made up his mind. He gathered APC women to abuse President Jonathan.
“If a man you dissolved his committee (PTF) and he could not account for N25bn and you are now saying that man is not corrupt. Buhari and Obasanjo are the same. They are in a marriage of convenience just to remove Jonathan.
“Because Obasanjo is corrupt, he doesn’t know what the definition of corruption is. There is big trouble in this country when corrupt people call others corrupt.”
Clark said he has no confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission as he alleged that the chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega was biased against the return of President Jonathan to office.
“I have lost confidence in INEC. How can a university professor be so biased and does not want Jonathan to come back? It is so disgraceful that he has allowed ethnicity and religion to take control of him,” Clark alleged.
He also observed that the violence-free accord signed by presidential candidates including President Jonathan, Buhari and 12 others will not work because Buhari is not likely to keep to the terms of the agreement.
He said he was happy that President Jonathan made himself available to sign the accord but that Buhari cannot be trusted to keep to the agreement in view of his alleged antecedent, including his refusal, when invited, to appear before the defunct Oputa Panel set up to advance the course of peace in the country.
Clark, who said the accord did not mean anything to him, said he would however be glad if it could engender the necessary peace before, during and after the elections.
He noted that the accord was not necessary, blaming its existence on what he said was the desperation of some people who he said believed that power belongs to them. [myad]
Presidential candidate of All Progressives (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari fell short of sending curse at the governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose for his statement to the effect that the General does not enjoy good health. In a statement issued in Abuja today, the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation dismissed such statement from Governor Fayose as “unsolicited, reckless and silly.” The statement from APC Presidential Campaign organisation asked Nigerians to ignore the statement from “the over-exuberant Governor of Ekiti State,” adding: “GMB is not given to curses otherwise he would have done as the late President Nnamdi Azikiwe did when a similar mischief played out over his health. Zik swore that whoever did this to him will expire before him, and they all did.” Governor Fayose was quoted as saying that former President Obasanjo was planning an imposition of General Buhari on Nigeria as he allegedly did the late President Yar’Adua while ignoring their health conditions. Garba Shehu, in the statement made it clear that General Buhari is as fit as a fiddle, adding: “he has no known ailment and is in excellent condition to pilot the affairs of the country.” According to Garba Shehu, General Buhari does not joke with his health, saying “Buhari is almost a health freak and that he exercises regularly and undergoes medical examinations at regular intervals. “On each occasion, the outcomes of those medicals have been favourable. The recent medicals he did gave him a clean bill of health,” Garba Shehu said. [myad]
Nigeria’s House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Steel to probe the N3.4 billion being spent as monthly salaries for staff of Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi state. The committee is also charged to investigate the current developments in the company and report back to the House. These were sequel to a motion moved by Abbas Tajuddeen (APC-Kaduna) which was subsequently referred to the House Committee on Steel for further consideration. Tajuddeen had said that the services of foreign consultants were engaged because the company had failed to live up to expectations. “In spite of the fact that the company is conceived and built to facilitate the industrialisation and economic transformation of Nigeria, it has failed to fulfill those expectations. “Hence the engagement of consultants from the United States of America and India under the technical management contracts for 10 years.” He said that the Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN), in conjunction with Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (EWUN), addressed news conference on Sept. 5, 2014 on the matter, quoting the two associations as saying that the monthly wage bill for 2,900 staff of the company was actually N288 million, and not N3.4 billion. He called for legislative intervention to complement the efforts of the Federal Government to revive the steel company and bring it back to a functional state. [myad]
President Goodluck Jonathan surfed to power six years ago on the back of widespread national approbation. His approval rating spiked through the roof in a historically-unprecedented fashion. He was Goodluck the beloved, Goodluck the saviour, it was all about Goodluck! Nigerians from all tribes were determined to make his battle their battle; wherever he led them, they had braced themselves to follow; and his God they were prepared to make their God. The good and virtues Nigerians saw in Jonathan were probably much more than the virtue Jesus saw in Judas Iscariot when he appointed him a disciple overseeing his treasury. Today, the President’s political fireplace has gone frigid, the fire-in-the-belly of his government has waned as Boko Haram and widespread economic uncertainties have come hitting Nigerians like an unannounced swirling killer-blizzard. And the President’s men, like a losing kick-boxer are flailing at anything and anyone real or imagined with the sharp instruments of presidential incumbency in an attempt to win the fight. My President is in the fiercest battle of his political life against Muhammadu Buhari, an astute, stout and sharp-witted retired Army General who is backed by an undying, increasing, and resolute following across Nigeria. Previous fights the President had won were fought by godfathers and the few powerful who believed in him. Many of the exalted positions Jonathan has so far occupied were brought to him by Goodluck. And where are those ardent and true supporters now? One by one, they have fled and found new friends in the arch-rivals of Mr. President as his ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, continues to run out of clue. Strip by strip, the carpet of support is pulled from under his feet, and the haemorrhaging appears to have just begun. Nine governors did not show up in his reelection declaration in Lagos; a buddy-priest of his, Enugu-based Father Ejike Mbaka, went on an endless tirade that our own Goodluck has actually brought Nigeria and especially the Igbo bad luck. On Monday, behind closed-doors in Abeokuta, the President smooched up in a room with two reputable Nigerian clerics and his estranged benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo, begging the latter for support. But “Baba” told his late-coming penitent son that someone else already sought and received his support. I learnt that this was the most depressing moment of Jonathan’s Presidency. From state to state, Mr. President is losing steam, ground, and men in thousands to the opposition party APC on a daily basis. I cannot recall in Nigeria’s history where a ruling party and an incumbent President have lost so much support in a rumbling sequence of 30 days before an election. Jonathan’s electoral chances in this election are getting dimmer by the day. His story can be likened to that of the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, whose administration was a train-load of unending scandals that ranged from cover-ups of shady business deals and large scale corrupt activities by members of his cabinet. Like Harding, no one has accused Jonathan of corruption; and like Harding, Jonathan’s Achilles heels are those around him who are believed to be the cruella-de-vil of greed, graft and gluttony. Money in the hands of Jonathan’s lieutenants at all levels of government, many believe, is like ice cream in the mouth of a child; it melts fast and easy through the conduits of corruption and thievery, and you will not remember it ever was. Because of the complex and intricate nature of Nigeria as a country, Nigerians could have probably been more forgiving if non-performance in government were the only shortcoming of this administration. But dismal performance conjoined with supersize corruption is not a transgression that Nigerians easily forgive. Profligacy has been rumoured to be at a scary scale with Nigerian politicians; and in the world of the ruling party, the PDP, it appears as if it is a necessary and desired undergarment. There is too much conscious or unconscious coddling of graft by this President. If former Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, believes that his administration should be considered an angelic being regarding corruption compared to Jonathan’s, then this administration must be the unrepentant Lucifer of larceny and a dashing baron of daylight robbery that ever existed in the annals of Nigerian history. We all remember Babangida and his men. When the President said that corrupt government officials will not see the four walls of a prison under his authority, it was an announcement that depraved minds will always have a free pass with him. Incarceration of those adjudged corrupt, Mr. President, is a very powerful deterrent for those who steal public funds. A heavy portion of this year’s budget was set aside for entertainment in the Villa, “estacode” for gazillion of aides travelling with the President all around the world, and the acquisition of more airplanes. The government is proposing to spend N517.9m this year on meals and refreshments for the Presidency, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, ministries of power and petroleum resources as well as their parastatals. For the office of the President, N142.47m was earmarked for 2015 for refreshments and meals, and N25.58m was earmarked for meals and refreshments for the office of the VP. In a country where over 100 million people are considered poor, this is nothing but a legacy of waste. The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Enwistle, has now told us that his country had intended to train a battalion of the Nigerian Army up to world standard; and the agreement was that the US would provide the trainers and the Nigerian government, the equipment. After a few weeks of training, the US had to back out because no equipment was provided by Nigeria. What happened to the N1tn the Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, publicly announced was in the 2014 budget for the military? What happened to the first-class equipment that should have been procured? The minister had said; “Defence spending is top in everything, you know that military establishment needs new things to assist in its work and ours will not be different…To be specific, the military has about N968.12bn and we have disbursed N130.7bn between January and April 2014.” With this huge sum, why is Boko Haram controlling more than 20,000 square miles of the Nigerian sovereign territory, an area larger than Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel and 144 other countries of the world? Why must our soldiers be ill-equipped, badly-managed, and morale badly bruised? About 17,000 innocent people have been killed so far more than those who died in the first US Gulf War. Presidents of nations make surprise visits to men and women who are laying down their lives for their countries in battles, but why is Jonathan not in that league? The music is fading for Mr. President, the light is dimming for the ruling PDP, and a shellacking train is about tearing through Abuja into Aso Rock taking the President and his men on a first-class cabin back to abodes of their choices. Nigerians can’t wait! Having expressed this opinion, Dear Readers, I want you to mark this: It will be at your peril and pitfall to count out an incumbent African President called Goodluck. The battle will get dirtier as we draw close to February 14. But what shines in the horizon is that candidate Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who took the centre stage of global attention four years ago is not the same candidate today. No doubt, the light has dimmed drastically upon him, but he remains the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria throughout the election period. You never know, President Jonathan may still have some oil of Goodluck left in his presidential jar. [myad]
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano State has announced that it would require a total of 48,000 ad hoc staff for the February general elections in the state.
The newly appointed INEC Commissioner in the state, Alhaji Munkaila Abdullahi, said at a news conference in Kano that the Commission would collaborate with the state NYSC Secretariat for recruitment of personnel who would serve as presiding officers and polling agents, as well as other officers.
“Election is a process and as such it requires the collaboration of other stakeholders, hence the need to collaborate with the NYSC.’’ Abdullahi said the Commission had already contacted relevant organisations for recruitment of the ad hoc staff, even as he assured all eligible voters who registered with the Commission that they would get their PVCs before the commencement of election.
According to him, the Commission has also concluded necessary arrangements for training of staff which will soon commence.
The commissioner said the Commission had been working toward ensuring that every arrangement was perfected for the conduct of free, fair and credible election in the state.
He announced that the Commission in Kano State had started receiving non-sensitive materials, including ballot boxes for onward distribution to local government areas across the state.
“I want to use this opportunity to solicit the support and cooperation of journalists in enlightening the public so that we will witness peaceful election in Kano State.” [myad]
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Goodluck 2015: The Light Goes Dim, BY Fola Ojo
President Goodluck Jonathan surfed to power six years ago on the back of widespread national approbation. His approval rating spiked through the roof in a historically-unprecedented fashion. He was Goodluck the beloved, Goodluck the saviour, it was all about Goodluck! Nigerians from all tribes were determined to make his battle their battle; wherever he led them, they had braced themselves to follow; and his God they were prepared to make their God. The good and virtues Nigerians saw in Jonathan were probably much more than the virtue Jesus saw in Judas Iscariot when he appointed him a disciple overseeing his treasury.
Today, the President’s political fireplace has gone frigid, the fire-in-the-belly of his government has waned as Boko Haram and widespread economic uncertainties have come hitting Nigerians like an unannounced swirling killer-blizzard. And the President’s men, like a losing kick-boxer are flailing at anything and anyone real or imagined with the sharp instruments of presidential incumbency in an attempt to win the fight.
My President is in the fiercest battle of his political life against Muhammadu Buhari, an astute, stout and sharp-witted retired Army General who is backed by an undying, increasing, and resolute following across Nigeria. Previous fights the President had won were fought by godfathers and the few powerful who believed in him. Many of the exalted positions Jonathan has so far occupied were brought to him by Goodluck. And where are those ardent and true supporters now? One by one, they have fled and found new friends in the arch-rivals of Mr. President as his ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, continues to run out of clue. Strip by strip, the carpet of support is pulled from under his feet, and the haemorrhaging appears to have just begun.
Nine governors did not show up in his reelection declaration in Lagos; a buddy-priest of his, Enugu-based Father Ejike Mbaka, went on an endless tirade that our own Goodluck has actually brought Nigeria and especially the Igbo bad luck. On Monday, behind closed-doors in Abeokuta, the President smooched up in a room with two reputable Nigerian clerics and his estranged benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo, begging the latter for support. But “Baba” told his late-coming penitent son that someone else already sought and received his support. I learnt that this was the most depressing moment of Jonathan’s Presidency.
From state to state, Mr. President is losing steam, ground, and men in thousands to the opposition party APC on a daily basis. I cannot recall in Nigeria’s history where a ruling party and an incumbent President have lost so much support in a rumbling sequence of 30 days before an election. Jonathan’s electoral chances in this election are getting dimmer by the day.
His story can be likened to that of the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, whose administration was a train-load of unending scandals that ranged from cover-ups of shady business deals and large scale corrupt activities by members of his cabinet. Like Harding, no one has accused Jonathan of corruption; and like Harding, Jonathan’s Achilles heels are those around him who are believed to be the cruella-de-vil of greed, graft and gluttony. Money in the hands of Jonathan’s lieutenants at all levels of government, many believe, is like ice cream in the mouth of a child; it melts fast and easy through the conduits of corruption and thievery, and you will not remember it ever was.
Because of the complex and intricate nature of Nigeria as a country, Nigerians could have probably been more forgiving if non-performance in government were the only shortcoming of this administration. But dismal performance conjoined with supersize corruption is not a transgression that Nigerians easily forgive. Profligacy has been rumoured to be at a scary scale with Nigerian politicians; and in the world of the ruling party, the PDP, it appears as if it is a necessary and desired undergarment.
There is too much conscious or unconscious coddling of graft by this President. If former Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, believes that his administration should be considered an angelic being regarding corruption compared to Jonathan’s, then this administration must be the unrepentant Lucifer of larceny and a dashing baron of daylight robbery that ever existed in the annals of Nigerian history. We all remember Babangida and his men. When the President said that corrupt government officials will not see the four walls of a prison under his authority, it was an announcement that depraved minds will always have a free pass with him. Incarceration of those adjudged corrupt, Mr. President, is a very powerful deterrent for those who steal public funds.
A heavy portion of this year’s budget was set aside for entertainment in the Villa, “estacode” for gazillion of aides travelling with the President all around the world, and the acquisition of more airplanes. The government is proposing to spend N517.9m this year on meals and refreshments for the Presidency, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, ministries of power and petroleum resources as well as their parastatals. For the office of the President, N142.47m was earmarked for 2015 for refreshments and meals, and N25.58m was earmarked for meals and refreshments for the office of the VP. In a country where over 100 million people are considered poor, this is nothing but a legacy of waste.
The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Enwistle, has now told us that his country had intended to train a battalion of the Nigerian Army up to world standard; and the agreement was that the US would provide the trainers and the Nigerian government, the equipment. After a few weeks of training, the US had to back out because no equipment was provided by Nigeria. What happened to the N1tn the Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, publicly announced was in the 2014 budget for the military? What happened to the first-class equipment that should have been procured? The minister had said; “Defence spending is top in everything, you know that military establishment needs new things to assist in its work and ours will not be different…To be specific, the military has about N968.12bn and we have disbursed N130.7bn between January and April 2014.”
With this huge sum, why is Boko Haram controlling more than 20,000 square miles of the Nigerian sovereign territory, an area larger than Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel and 144 other countries of the world? Why must our soldiers be ill-equipped, badly-managed, and morale badly bruised? About 17,000 innocent people have been killed so far more than those who died in the first US Gulf War. Presidents of nations make surprise visits to men and women who are laying down their lives for their countries in battles, but why is Jonathan not in that league? The music is fading for Mr. President, the light is dimming for the ruling PDP, and a shellacking train is about tearing through Abuja into Aso Rock taking the President and his men on a first-class cabin back to abodes of their choices. Nigerians can’t wait!
Having expressed this opinion, Dear Readers, I want you to mark this: It will be at your peril and pitfall to count out an incumbent African President called Goodluck. The battle will get dirtier as we draw close to February 14. But what shines in the horizon is that candidate Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who took the centre stage of global attention four years ago is not the same candidate today. No doubt, the light has dimmed drastically upon him, but he remains the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria throughout the election period. You never know, President Jonathan may still have some oil of Goodluck left in his presidential jar. [myad]