Gunmen kill 27 in Plateau

Boko Haram Gunmen

The Chairman of Riyom Local Government in Plateau, Mrs Josephine Piyo, has said that 27 people died in an attack by gunmen on Bachi District of the area on Thursday.
She told a joint team of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) on visit to the area on Tuesday that the attackers torched 70 houses and left them in rubbles.
Represented by the Council Secretary, Mr. Alex Kundang, the chairman said the attack also led to the displacement of no fewer than 3,520 people from their homes.
She said those displaced were currently staying at different camps for Internally Displaced Persons in the area.
Piyo described the situation as pathetic and that urgent national attention was needed to address the situation as the attacks on Riyom people had become recurrent.
“The methods of the attacks are similar to that of Boko Haram in terms of approach and the weapon used,” she said.
The chairman appealed to the Federal Government to design a strategy to check the attacks in the manner it had tackled the Boko Haram insurgency.
Mr Eugene Melong, a senior official who led the NEMA North Central team on the assessment visit, expressed sadness over the incident.
“We are here with my team to carry out on the spot assessment, generate report and then send it to our headquarters to enable the government to render some assistance,” Melong said.
The Executive Secretary of SEMA, who was represented by its Director of Administration, Mr Biser Longnan said that the Plateau Government planned to assist the displaced persons.
Mr Dalyop Kanbut, the leader of displaced persons in Camp 1, located at Farinlaba Local Education Authority Primary School, Riyom, called for a lasting solution to the attacks.
He said the attacks had brought untold hardship to the people.
At Camp 2 located at Riyom Community Hall, Mr Sunday Baren said the people needed assistance, especially food and drugs.

Jonathan’s Claims To Rebuild Rumuwoji Mile One A Deceit  

 

President Goodluck Jonathan

Angry reaction has trailed the plan by the Federal Government to rebuild the Rumuwoji Mile One Market as announced yesterday by the President Goodluck Jonathan through Adamu Muazu, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, while handing over N250 million cheque and some relief materials to the traders who suffered fire disaster in December last year.
The Mayor of the Port Harcourt City Local Government Council, Nnamdi Nwuche, has pooh-poohed the announcement as a mere deceit by Jonathan to gain cheap popularity in a state that he had abandoned, and cannot lay claim to any tangible project his administration had executed despite garnering the highest votes in the Rivers during the Presidential election.
Nwuche gave his swift reaction in a statement in Port Harcourt a few hours after the announcement made by Muazu that rebuilding the Rumuwoji Mile One would be one of President Jonathan’s first priority project if he wins the second tenure in 2015. He brandished the statement by Mu’azu as a fake promissory note that is “unachievable and unrealisable.”
He said: “The PDP and Mr President knows that building and the running of local markets are the statutory duty of the local government councils as laid out in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The Port City Council boss whose council regulates the daily operation of the market announced that contrary to the impression the federal government has created thereby turning the grief of the hapless traders in a political campaign article, the Rivers State Government has mobilised the contactors to start the building of a new market.
“Governor Chibuike Amaechi has graciously approved the mobilization of contractors to commence work at the burnt market. Monier Construction Company, MCC, limited is one of the companies that were awarded the contract and the company would mobilize to site two week’s time,” Nwuche said.

Published on October 14, 2014 by

President Goodluck Jonathan

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed the PDP-led Federal Government for its insulting and disingenuous explanation aimed at deceiving Nigerians over the US$9.3 million cash-for-arms deal that went awry in South Africa, saying everything about the deal is shady.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the deal violates the foreign currency laws of Nigeria and South Africa, violates Nigeria’s Money Laundering law as well as the Public Procurement Act and makes a mess of the Federal Government’s cashless policy.

In addition, it said, all the circumstances surrounding the transaction were umbrageous, including the fact that the funds involved, though in cash, were neither declared before departure in Nigeria nor declared on arrival in South Africa.

”Based on these shady circumstances, one can safely conclude that the arms to be procured, if at all, were not meant for any Boko Haram fight as claimed by the government but perhaps a ploy to stockpile arms for the private militia of the PDP ahead of next year’s general elections.

”As we said in our earlier statements on this issue, the office of the NSA cannot and does not procure arms for the armed services. These services procure their own weapons. Therefore, it baffles that the office of the NSA issued the end-user certificate for the transactions. This is a shady deal,” APC said.

The party said in order to buttress its assertion that the whole deal is shady, there are questions that the Federal Government has bluntly refused to answer in connection with the ill-fated deal, including why a private plane was used for a supposedly-official deal when there are over 10 aircraft in the Presidential Fleet.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed

Nigerians are also eager to know why the money for the purchase of the arms was not transferred to the country’s Embassy in South Africa for onward transfer to the contractor, if indeed a contractor was used as claimed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or the money transferred directly to the contractor, and why the Nigerian government chose to deal with an arms contractor with questionable registration in South Africa.

”If indeed the transaction was clean and official, which representatives of the office of the NSA and the Chief of Defence Staff were on the dollar-ferrying plane? Who indeed was the arms meant for? And perhaps the most important information of all: Who and who were on the plane?,” it said.

APC said Nigerians are more interested in who was on the plane rather than who was not on it, hence the government should stop hiding behind ‘national security’ and come out to identify those on the plane.

The party said irrespective of the feverish moves by the Federal Government, using less-than-sincere officials, to spin the whole shady deal and make it look clean and official, the truth is that even terrorists could not have been engaged in a shadier and more crooked deal to obtain weapons.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A U.N. medical official who caught Ebola while working in Liberia has died in the German hospital where he was being treated, the clinic in Leipzig said on Tuesday.

"The patient sick with Ebola fever died during the night in St. Georg Clinic in Leipzig. Despite intensive medical measures and maximum efforts by the medical team, the 56-year-old U.N. employee succumbed to the serious infectious disease," it said.

The medic, who has not been named, arrived last week and was the third Ebola patient to be treated in Germany.

It's been seven months since Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 simply vanished like Amelia Earhart's plane did over the Pacific Ocean in 1937. The latest official news update suggests Flight 370 made a left turn before spiraling into the Indian Ocean. However, one airline CEO is not convinced. Emirates Airlines' Sir Tim Clarke stops short in alleging a cover up in the planes disappearance, and offers this shocking theory: Malaysia Flight MH370 was not on autopilot and was likely under control of the pilot until the very end.

A crew member looks out an observation window aboard a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P3 Orion maratime search aircraft as it flies over the southern Indian Ocean looking for debris from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

Photo by Pool/Getty Images

According to an October 13 news update from The Independent on the missing airliner, Clarke is quoted as saying, "MH370 was, in my opinion, under control, probably until the very end.” Of course, Clarke's statements conflict with the current generally-accepted data analysis from the Australian transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB), which says 370 was flying by computer assistance and crashed after the Malaysia Boeing 777 ran out of fuel.

 President Goodluck Jonathan

The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, has insisted that the President has not stolen any public funds since the beginning of his tenure.

Abati said on Sunday while responding to questions on the listing of President Jonathan as one of the richest African presidents, during a programme on Channels Television.

The presidential spokesperson, who earlier issued a statement on the matter, said the website which claimed that Jonathan was worth $100m, mischievously wanted to portray the President as corrupt.

Abati stated that President Jonathan had not stolen any public fund since he came into office and described him as an honest man.

He said, “What that Internet site and those copy-cat media houses tried to do was to give the impression that the President is corrupt. The site even said the leaders they had listed stole their people’s wealth. It’s absolutely untrue. President Jonathan has not stolen anybody’s wealth.

“He is a very honest and decent man. Those who know him knows that he is not in office to amass wealth but to serve Nigerians to the best of his ability and to leave a legacy that the present and the next generation would be proud of.”

In a response to demands by some Nigerians for the President to publicly declare his asset, Abati said Jonathan would not go against the law to declare his assets publicly.

He said, “President Jonathan has dutifully complied with regulations and has declared his assets, every year and at all occasions. If anyone wants to find out, President Jonathan does not have $100m either in cash or in assets.

“He has always declared his assets but the law does not require any public official to declare his asset publicly. The body that is in charge of declaration of assets is the Code of Conduct Bureau.

“The President has done what is required, anybody who is looking for information on his assets should know that the appropriate place to go is the Code of Conduct Bureau. You don’t expect the President to go against the law and do a public declaration.”

Abati noted that there was still a possibility that the President will go ahead and sue the website for libel.

He added that what the website did was not a retraction and said its management had also not apologised to the President.

“Before the statement that was issued went out, President Jonathan briefed his lawyers. It’s for the lawyers to take it from there,” Abati said.

 Governor Kayode Fayemi

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said he is ready to face any probe panel in order to defend the actions his administration.

Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Ado Ekiti, the governor said there was nothing unusual in an administration being called upon to defend the actions taken while in office.

He said, “I expect that I would be called upon to defend certain actions or clarify actions and explain what I have done in office. That is stewardship. Anyone who has served must be prepared to render an account of stewardship, but even before I am called, I mean I have almost 1,500-page handover note for the incoming administration and I am sure they would have enough to chew on.

“And if they are not satisfied, I am sure they can ask questions as long as the questions are asked in a manner that does not impugn my character which I hold very dearly. And there is no reason why they should not be free to ask questions. It is a legitimate expectation of any new government to ask questions about what has transpired.”

Fayemi also said the All Progressives Congress will maintain control of the Ekiti House of Assembly after he exited power on Thursday.

He said, “We were 24 (lawmakers) before; we are now 25 in the House. So, if we assume that the lone PDP member is likely to join us, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the 25 from our side would do an Adamawa overnight and cross over to the other side.”

The governor, who described the recent attacks on the state’s judiciary as an aberration, stressed that his administration embarked on fundamental development of institutions in Ekiti rather than engage in frivolous politicking.

“I’m a student of the Awo School, I cannot recall any time while growing up, in all my admiration of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, hearing that he was sitting by the road side eating ‘boli’ (roasted plantain) with some people in order to demonstrate how close to the grassroots he was and I never saw him ride on ‘okada’ (commercial motorcycle) because he wanted to prove that he was a grassroots person,” Fayemi said.

He further condemned the recent attacks on judiciary workers in the state, describing it as a “monumental travesty.”

He called on right-thinking persons to condemn attacks.

“Once brigandage and thuggery descend on any society, there is a problem. What we have seen in the courts in Ekiti is monumental travesty that really shouldn’t be supported by any right-thinking person,” he said.

 The Edo State House of Assembly quarters and the vandalised cars after the attack

Members of the Edo State House of Assembly on Monday recounted their ordeal in the hands of political thugs that attacked their   quarters in Benin on Saturday.

Two of them – Folly Ogedengbe and Adjoto Kabiru – who were among those that took turns to speak during Monday’s plenary, said the attackers operated like Boko Haram insurgents.

Others accused the Peoples Democratic Party leadership in the state of sponsoring the mayhem   and alleged that the state police command was complicit in the crime.

Ogedengbe, who spoke under matter of urgent public importance, said,   “The armed thugs came in a Boko Haram style and shot sporadically at every building they saw.”

He added that his 85-year-old mother was in his home when the hoodlums shot his bedroom windows   and at every door in his apartment for over 25 minutes.

The lawmaker added, “I thought the world was coming to an end. But the Almighty God saved   me and   my family. In fact, My 85-year-old mother was inside my home with me.

“The attack was initiated by   PDP leaders and some of them are already celebrating their victory on television.”

In his contribution, Kabiru said the attackers came “in a commando-like manner” in batches.

He said, “I saw them from a vantage position because my house is just about 500 metres from the main gate of the   Legislators’ Quarters.

“I saw them all. They came in batches and were led by   policemen.   As they were entering, somebody was giving them order by   pointing at houses.

“One of the police officers wore a bulletproof vest,   boots and black trousers.

“What is worrisome is that the police have degenerated into the military wing of the PDP.”

Claiming that there was another plot by the masterminds of the attack to trace the lawmakers to their respective constituencies, Ogedengbe, who is the assembly’s chief whip urged the assembly leadership to inform the Oba of Benin that the lives of the lawmakers were in danger.

Another legislator, Michael Ohio-Ozomo, described the scene of the incident as a battleground.

He specifically lamented the level of destruction visited on Ogedengbe’s   home by the hoodlums   and called on   politicians to embrace peace.

He said, “ When I got into the quarters,   I stopped by the Chief Whip’s residence. It was like a war zone. I saw spent cartridges and bullets on floor. Looking at the level of destruction, I asked myself: ‘Is this what   we are supposed to be doing to ourselves? That a man I spoke with only a few minutes had   gone though such an ordeal?

“It’s about time that we asked ourselves, ‘Is this the kind of politics that we want to play?’

The Speaker, Uyi Igbe,who also lamented the incident, said it was regrettable that the police which was aware of the plot withdrew their men and   officers from the quarters.

“I think what is more worrisome is the fact that the police were aware that this attack will take place and rather than beef up security, they actually withdrew security and left only one policeman there.

“So, it shows the police complicity in the attack. One wonders   if writing a petition to the police would not amount to wasting our time. Instead of being Nigeria Police Force, it’s now PDP Police Force and it’s unfortunate. I think something has to be done.”

The Deputy Speaker, Victor Edoror, said the attackers threatened to revisit them and urged his colleagues to be on the alert.

The Majority Leader of the assembly, Philip Shaibu, claimed that the thugs were mandated by their sponsors to kill at least two lawmakers in the quarters.

He singled out a chieftain of the PDP in the state as the brains behind the attack and alleged that the police were informed of the plot.

Shaibu   said he   was detained by the police even after reporting himself to them.

He said, “The attack was planned in the office of a PDP chieftain and when the meeting was over,   the   Police were adequately informed.     The mandate   they had was to kill at least two of us.

“As we speak,   all those that were involved in this attack   are still on the streets walking freely.’’

The majority leader,who   claimed that   his son and himself were hurt in the attack,   advised that a petition be sent to President Goodluck Jonathan, the Inspector-General of Police, the office of the State Security Service and the military formation in the state.

Another lawmaker, Bamidele Oloruntoba said, “I came out that   morning to warm my car.   It was then that they burst into my premises.   One of them said, “That’s one of the assembly members. When I heard that,   I took cover.

The only female member of the assembly, Elizabeth Ative, said she was about travelling out of Benin with her uncle when the attackers arrived.

“I was about to travel with my uncle for the memorial of his brother-in-law. But when I stepped out,   I remembered that we had not said our morning prayer.

‘‘So, I quickly went back inside and called my family members for prayer. But when I came out and entered my car, the gate was flung open and I heard ‘look at them; look at them.’

“When we ran into the   building before my own, we noticed that   it had also been invaded. I saw all of the attackers. They came from the PDP. I know all of them.

Ative urged youths to resist the temptation of being used by politicians to perpetrate violence.

The lawmaker, who called for the removal of the state police commissioner , challenged the PDP to test its   popularity at the polls.

Also, Paul Ohonbamu, who described the invasion as an act of cowardice, said   he “saw sorrow, tears and blood in the quarters.’’

He said, “It was after the damage had been done that the police came; the governor even got there before the Commissioner of Police.

“What happened on Saturday does not call for celebration. Rather, the sponsors of the attack failed woefully because it was an act of cowardice.”

Johnson Oghuma said, “I had sounded a note of warning. I was taken aback that day when the police commissioner   strolled into the quarters by noon.

“If the President will not question the commissioner of police or replace him, then he is inviting trouble.’’

After their contributions, the lawmakers passed a   motion raised by   Ogedengbe calling on the Federal Government, the Inspector-General of Police and the DSS to investigate and prosecute all those involved in the incident.

In the four-prayer motion, Ogedengbe informed the assembly that   the Speaker,   the Majority Leader and himself had been invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to appear at its Abuja head office on Wednesday.

He called for a proper investigation of the role of the Edo State Police Command in the attack.

Subsequently, the Speaker ordered that a clean copy of the resolution be sent to the office of the President, the IG, the AIG (Zone 5), the state police commissioner, the state Director and the Director-General of the DSS.

Also to receive the resolution are the state governor, the Oba of Benin and the NSA.

About 36 cars and seven buildings were vandalised by the thugs.

Oba of Benin cautions politicians

Meanwhile, the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, has called on politicians in the state to “refrain from politics of bitterness.

The monarch, who expressed worry over the rate of political thuggery and violence across the country by supporters of   political parties, urged political leaders   to “be mindful of the fact that only the living can play politics and not the dead.”

“As political leaders, you are supposed to show good examples for the younger generations to emulate, rather than recruit them as thugs,” the royal father advised in a   statement   by the Information Office of the Benin Traditional Council.

The Oba directed the Enogie, chiefs, Igiohen and Edionwere in Benin Kingdom to pray for peaceful co-existence of Nigerians.

APC indicts police

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress has condemned the attack on the legislative quarters   and alleged police complicity in the act.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,   lamented that the attack reminded Nigerians of the level of impunity witnessed last in the dark days the of the military.

The APC insisted that the incident had police backing because of   the ease with which the thugs invaded the quarters .

It added, ‘’Governor   Oshiomhole said the government got intelligence report on the attack and informed the state Police Commissioner. Instead of sending in reinforcement to prevent the attack, the few policemen attached to the quarters were withdrawn .”

The party described as a dangerous phenomenon, a situation whereby the Police would appear to be partisan and carry out only actions that would favour the ruling party at the federal level, to the detriment of the other political interests.

The party alleged that the police were used to harass Governor Rotimi Amaechi, while they stood by while thugs beat up judges and sacked courts in Ekiti State.

It also claimed that the PDP-led Federal Government had   used the police and other security agents to prevent the re-opening of the Ekiti courts despite the order by the National Judicial Council.

It also lamented that the police offered protection to PDP lawmakers in Edo State at the expense of the majority, while the crisis in the assembly lasted.

The statement reads in part, ‘’The IG takes orders only from the President. Therefore, where the President decides to turn the police to his personal militia for use in vindictive and vendetta attacks,the IG is not only required to comply; he is also expected to pass the same orders down the hierarchy.

“This is what is happening across the country. The danger, however, is that when a society descends into anarchy,the same police will not escape the consequences, and will also not be able to handle the outcome of its collusion as professionalism would have deserted it and discipline compromised.”

The APC said the attack on the legislative quarters   would have been prevented if the thugs who molested Oshiomhole and some top officials of his administration, when they went to the airport to receive   Jonathan a few days earlier, had been censured.

It said, ‘’By failing to sanction them accordingly, the powers that be, have simply given a seal of approval to their actions and empowered them to do more, hence they became emboldened to attack the legislative quarters.

The party called on the international community to “pay a very close attention to the impunity in Nigeria, especially ahead of next year’s general elections.”

It said, “It can only be imagined what role the police and other security agencies that have been heavily compromised will play during the elections.

“It is therefore imperative for the international observers who will be coming for the elections to take this into consideration in their report on the processes before, during and after the elections.”

The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and Ayodele Fayose

 

The feud between the outgoing Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and the Governor-elect, Ayodele Fayose, is affecting the plans for the October 16 inauguration, it was learnt on Monday.

On September 15, Fayemi inaugurated a 19-member transition committee, comprising members from his administration and those nominated by Fayose.

But since the inaugural meeting of September 15, the transition committee has yet to meet.

There had been counter-accusations between the administration and the Peoples Democratic Party on the running of government after the June 21 governorship election won by Fayose.

The head of Fayose’s nominees, Chief Dipo Anisulowo, who was named as co-chairman of the committee, has expressed concerns over the attitude of the government’s team.

In an interview with our correspondent on Monday, Anisulowo said, “We are leaving in an abnormal time. Transition is supposed to be done by the two parties but this time around we are just on our own.”

He alleged that the government’s team had been evasive on plans for the inauguration.

He said, “The outgoing administration is not cooperating with us at all. The only time we met was the inaugural meeting. Since then, there has been no meeting.We have written several letters to them to make inquiry but they are not forthcoming.

“We ask for the state of account, plans for the inauguration, the logistics and useful information that will aid our preparation but there has yet to be any response. What they keep saying is that they will provide information in the handover note.”

However, Anisulowo, who was the Director-General of the Ayo Fayose Campaign Organisation, was optimistic that the inauguration would hold on October 16,

“The inauguration will hold by the grace of God, it cannot be scuttled. We are communicating with the Chief Judge, so we are confident the inauguration will hold,” he said.

Despite the non-cooperation of the outgoing administration, Anisulowo said the PDP would continue with its own plan no matter what.

“We would hold a reception in honour of the Governor-elect tomorrow (Tuesday). He is expected to come to Ado-Ekiti. We would also organise same for our guests who are coming to town on Wednesday,” he added.

Efforts to speak with the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Ganiyu Owolabi, who is the chairman of the transition committee, proved abortive.

He neither answered his calls nor responded to a text message from our correspondent as of press time.

During the committee’s inaugural meeting, Owolabi, who stood in for Fayemi, had declared that the governor would continue to take actions and decisions till his last day in office.

“There cannot be a vacuum in governance and it must be known that the present government has a mandate of four years during which it is expected to provide leadership without fail,” he said.

 Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar

 

The National Judicial Council has directed the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodele Daramola, to announce the re-opening of the courts in the state following the crisis that rocked the state judiciary on September 22 and 25.

A source, who attended the meeting disclosed to our correspondent on Thursday, that the crisis in the Ekiti State judiciary was part of the issues deliberated upon by the NJC at the opening of its periodical meetings on Monday.

The meeting , which was presided by its Chairman, who is also the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, is to continue and end on Tuesday.

“The Ekiti Chief Judge was in attendance. But the major crisis in the state has been deliberated upon at the emergency meeting of the council on October 2. So the council asked the CJ to go ahead and announce the reopening of the courts,” the source said.

Following this, the Chief Judge is expected to announce the reopening of the courts later in the week.

Justice Daramola had ordered the closure of the courts following the repeated attacks on the court by political thugs.

But security agencies comprising soldiers, police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps had taken over the premises of the Ado Ekiti High Court and the Court of Appeal since October 7.

The NJC had, at its emergency meeting on October 2, asked the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, to “take over” the investigation on the attack on judges in Ekiti State and ensure that the culprits were brought to justice.

The council, also at the meeting presided over by Justice Mukhtar, asked Abba to provide adequate protection for the judges in the state.

A statement by the council’s Acting Director of Information Unit, Mr. Soji Oye, said the council condemned in strong terms the attacks on the court on September 22 and 25, 2014.

The NJC’s emergency meeting on Thursday followed the petition by the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, to both the NJC and the Commissioner of Police in the state, alleging that the state’s Governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, was the one who led the thugs that attacked the court.

Crisis in the state judiciary started on September 22, when political thugs invaded the Ekiti State High Court presided over by Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi to disrupt proceedings in a case challenging the eligibility of Fayose, to contest the June 21 election, which he won.

The thugs had invaded the court shortly after the judge refused an application to set aside an order abridging the time for Fayose to file his defence in the case instituted by two members of the Ekiti-11, Mr. Adeniyi Ajakaiye and Olufemi Ajayi.

On September 25, another judge, Justice John Adeyeye, was beaten by some political thugs who also tore his suit into shreds.

The latest invasion disrupted the proceedings of the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal where Fayemi and the All Progressives Congress were challenging Fayose’s victory.

Prof. Wole Soyinka

 

The Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State has criticised the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, for saying that the defeat of the outgoing Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, was a mystery.

In a statement on Monday in Ado-Ekiti by its State Publicity Secretary, Kola Oluwawole, the party said the statement was “a product of stomach honorarium.”

The PDP alleged that Soyinka was brought to Ekiti for the inauguration of the new Government House in a chartered helicopter paid from the coffers of the state.

It wondered why Soyinka suddenly turned himself to an image maker of an incumbent governor, who lost an election in all the 16 local government areas in the state and won in less than 20 wards out of 177 wards in the state.

GOVERNOR Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State

 

GOVERNOR Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State said on Monday that two governors in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would soon defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Kwankwaso said this when he paid a courtesy visit on his Kwara State counterpart, Abdulfatah Ahmed.

Kwankwaso was in Ilorin as part of his consultations for the presidential ticket of the APC for the 2015 election.

The governor described APC members as practical people with extensive grassroots reach to tackle corruption and other national malaise.

“Our economy can never be good in a situation of crisis; our economy can never be good in the face of corruption," Kwankwaso said.

He said that in line with the constitution, the APC would explore the possibility of consensus presidential candidate within the ambit of democratic culture.

He commended the Kwara State Government for initiating poverty alleviation and employment generation programmes to reduce youth unemployment and restiveness.

Gov. Ahmed assured that the choice of the APC presidential candidate for 2015 general elections would be devoid of acrimony and strengthen the party.

Ahmed said that Nigeria had the misfortune of bad leadership and expressed hope that APC would evolve more qualitative leadership after taking over the Federal Government.

He said APC was the fastest growing party in Nigeria and the only truly national political party, given the nature of its emergence as an off shoot of mega parties. (NAN)

 Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar

FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar Monday picked the expression of interest and nomination forms worth N27.5million to vie for the presidency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). 

In a  related development, the presidential bid of the APC chieftain, Maj.-Gen. Mahammadu Buhari gathered momentum in Lagos  on Sunday as he paid a visit to the Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN,) to deliver a special invitation for his formal declaration n to contest the  2015 Presidential polls .

Atiku who was accompanied by a horde of supporters to the APC secretariat in Abuja,  

reiterated his call on the party leaders to ensure a level play ground for all the presidential aspirants before and during the primary elections.

 Atiku also unveiled his economic agenda to retool the Nigerian economy by ensuring that the private sector in effect becomes the engine of growth.

The action , he explained, would be aimed at reduction of waste and ensure that the nation’s wealth trickles to every Nigerian.

   He promised this amid allegation that there exist a high network mafia in the energy sector of Nigeria and attributed the woes of citizens to the menace and has promised to smash the syndicate if given the opportunity to lead Nigeria as President so as to free Nigerians from the harrowing experience caused by the mafia.

Specifically, he alleged that Nigerians have continued to witnessed pains in power and petroleum products supply because of the mafia in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria ( PHCN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC) .

Atiku stated this in Abuja  at a press conference to unveil his economic blueprint ahead of the 2015  polls where he is seeking to fly the flag of the APC as its flag bearer.

   He explained that the economic blueprint  by anyone aspiring to lead a country like Nigeria had become imperative to provide opportunity for the electorate to make informed choices of who govern them as it has appeared that some people in Nigeria are not prepared for the enormous task and demand of the Office of President, but would just stumble into office and begin to learn on the job.

    Again, Atiku  insisted that in contemporary and global worldview, governance has become pure  business hence those without sound and successful business acumen in governance today would become disasters to the people they lead because they would be unable to perform.

“ We have recorded impressive growth right from our own Administration. But unfortunately this impressive growth has not trickle down to the ordinary people because the way government is so structured is such that the wealth has continued to remain in the hands of very few people , top echelon of the population. In other words, our job creation records has been very poor. It’s only when the job creation effort is good that that growth in GDP can be translated because we have at the moment the highest rate of unemployment which is not good.”, he added.

   Lofty as the plan is, the former Vice President announced that the Economic blueprint is to be reviewed on October 27 at the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

On if the choice of the venue was an attempt to seek for his former boss’ endorsement, he denied and said it was purely based on logistical convenience as considered by his Director of Campaign, Prof Babalola Borishade who was also with him at the briefing .

  Again he said : “  The purpose of this press conference is to announce that we will be hosting a policy review summit on October 27, 2014 at the Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta. The Summit will host a panellist of experts who will fine-tune the elemental details of the Atiku 2015 policy document. The Draft Policy to be reviewed was drawn up within the context of the Manifesto of our Party, the APC.

This document provides an overview of our Policy Position.

The main thrust is the explicit bid to modify the way the machinery of FederalGovernment works by:

•Clarifying and streamlining MDAs remits and responsibilities, removing overlaps and operational redundancies

•Systematically devolving and delegating operational responsibilities to states and local governments, and  private sector organisations (commercial and charitable)

•Addressing habits and practices that currently compromise policy implementation

•Enshrining good governance as the hallmark of his administration and

•Eventually ensuring that solutions can be implemented, monitored and evaluated.

Buhari, who arrived the Lagos House, Marina, in company with members of his team, said he decided to convey the invitation personally because Lagos was  the biggest and most viable constituency of the APC adding that he would also do same to all the other governors in the Southwest.

According to the APC chieftain, who was national leader and Presidential Candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011, he would also visit Oyo  and Kwara States and go round to the other States by tomorrow, which according to him, was  the D-Day