Jonathan’s wife resigns as Bayelsa Permanent Secretary

Mrs. Patience Jonathan

Wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, has resigned her appointment as Permanent Secretary in the Bayelsa State Civil Service.

The 57-year-old Patience was said to have left the service voluntarily.

She was one of the appointed 17 permanent secretaries in the state civil service in July 2012.

The appointment had caused outrage in the state at the time with some Bayelsa residents accusing Governor Seriake Dickson of politicising the civil service in the state.

Though Ministry of Education sources said Patience disengaged from service voluntarily, there were speculations that she resigned because of alleged rift between her and   Dickson.

The alleged frosty relationship between the governor and the President’s wife was said to have been triggered by Patience unwillingness to support Dickson’s second term bid.

Instead, it was learnt that Jonathan’s wife had expressed her preference for the Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Matters, Mr. Waripamowei Dudafa.

It was learnt that Patience resigned her appointment to enable her to have the moral justification to push her candidate.

At the state’s Ministry of Education on Thursday, many of the civil servants refused to comment on the development.

But our correspondent learnt from reliable sources that the ministry had computed her terminal benefits already.

One civil servant, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity, said, “The whole thing is political. It appears Madam (the President’s wife) is not happy with the governor. With her resignation, the battle line has been drawn.

“I feel the President’s wife resigned to enable her to have the moral right to slug it out with Dickson ahead of the governorship poll in the state. Let no one deceive you, the whole thing is politics. After all, she is 57 and the retirement age is 60.”

When contacted, Chief Salo Adikumo, who resigned during the week as Commissioner for Education, said he was no longer the commissioner.

“I resigned recently as commissioner to enable me to pursue my political ambition. Please direct all your enquiries to the ministry, “ he said.

However, a ranking official of the ministry said it was true Patience had resigned voluntarily.

The official, who did not want her name in print because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, said she was not aware of the resignation having political undercurrents.

She said, “I can say Patience Jonathan has voluntarily retired. But whether there is political undertone in her resignation or not, I cannot say.

“I think the First Lady felt that her continued stay as Permanent Secretary will be depriving others. Now that she has resigned, it will afford others the opportunity to take over her position.

“Already, in accordance with the civil service rules, we have prepared all her entitlements. Whatever is due her will be given to her. She will also be receiving her pension.”

I have accepted offer to contest, says Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan

After many months of suspense, President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday opened up on his intention to seek re-election during the 2015 presidential election.

All organs of the Peoples Democratic Party had before now endorsed the President as the party’s sole candidate for the election.

Groups such as the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria had also been   campaigning for Jonathan by highlighting at rallies and through advertorials what they consider as his achievements.

Even though he had   kept mum on the matter, his body language clearly showed that he had made up his mind to seek re-election.

Jonathan, who has already raised a 37-member declaration committee, will   formally declare any day between November 7 and 15.

A reliable Presidency source, who pleaded anonymity told journalists in Abuja that Jonathan made his intention to contest known to the party leaders at a closed-door meeting in one of the guest houses inside the Presidential Villa.

The source said after thanking the party leadership for giving him the right of first refusal as far as the party’s presidential ticket was concerned, he told them that he had accepted the offer and was ready to run.

Jonathan was also quoted as telling the party leaders that he would come to the party headquarters to pick his nomination form before the October 30 deadline fixed by the party.

The source said, “President Jonathan today (Thursday) met with the leadership of the PDP and party leaders from the various zones of the country. He thanked them for giving him the right of first refusal as far as the party’s presidential ticket was concerned.

“The President told them that he had accepted their offer and he was interested in the presidential race.

“He told them that he will come and pick up his nomination form before the deadline stipulated by the party.”

The source added that following the declaration, the President announced the composition of a committee saddled with the responsibility of coming up with an elaborate declaration programme.

He said the committee chaired by a former Minister of Defence, Dr. Haliru Bello, was asked to work towards ensuring that the declaration held between November 7 and 15.

The committee, according to the source, has a former President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, as the deputy chairman, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim,   as secretary.

Members of the committee include a governor from each of the six geopolitical zones of the country, four National Assembly members; four members of the Federal Executive Council; four PDP officials as well as eight party members and four others appointed on presidential discretion.

A breakdown of members according to zones showed that the South-South, the North-East and the North-Central have six representatives each while the South-East, the South-West and North-West have five representatives each. The Federal Capital Territory has one representative.

Apart from Bello, Nnamani and Anyim,   Prof. Rufa’i Alkali,   Julius Imagwe and   Baraka Sani are members of the committee.

State governors representing the various zones are Liyel Imoke of Cross River State;     Theodore Orji of Abia State,   Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State,   Babangida Aliyu of Niger State,   Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State, and Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State.

The National Assembly representatives are   Hosea Agboola, Ahmed Makarfi,     Bitrus Kaze   and Salmas Badru.

Representatives of the Federal Executive Council are the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke;   Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Abduljelili Adesiyan;   Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina; and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed.

Officials of the party in the committee are the Deputy National Chairman,   Uche Secondus; Benue State chapter Chairman, Chief Emmanuel Agbo;   National Woman Leader, Kema Chikwe;   and the North-West Zonal Chairman,   Ibrahim Kazaure.

Party member representatives include Stella Omu, Walid Jibirn, Ibrahim Bunu,   Jolly Nyame, Aniete Okon, Peter Obi,   Remi Adikwu-Bakare,   A. B. Mamman and   Abdullahi Maibasira.

Those appointed at the President’s discretion are   Halima Alfa,   Nimota Akanbi ,   Micah Jiba   and Sam Ikon .

Shortly after that meeting, Jonathan also entered into a crucial meeting where a committee saddled with the responsibility of raising fund for the PDP presidential campaign was formed.

The committee has a former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, as the chairman.

Party chiefs who attended the meeting included the PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu; the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Tony Anenih, and the President of the Senate, David Mark.

The All Progressives Congress has however described Jonathan’s decision   to seek re-election as an anti-climax.

Its National Publicity Secretary,   Alhaji Lai Mohammed,   said it would have been news if the President had declared that he was not running.

Mohammed said, “This is an anti-climax. Of course, if the TAN have been going all around spending billions on television advertorials and campaign, all the governors have adopted him, the National Working Committee, said he is the only one. As far as we are concerned, it is an anti-climax. It would have been news only if he said he wasn’t running.”

Presidential bid: Falana knocks Buhari for taking N27.5m loan

Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, has criticised the All Progressives Congress presidential aspirant, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for obtaining a loan of N27.5m to procure his party’s expression of interest and nomination form for the 2015 presidential election.

He made this remark on Thursday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while speaking at the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Paramount FM Chapel Press Week.

He noted that the action of the former head of state was indefensible, stressing that it amounted to monetisation of politics.

He said, “It is indefensible for Gen. Buhari to have obtained a loan facility of N27.5m just to obtain a form of intent to contest in the presidential election in 2015 under the All Progressives Congress.

“Is he going to obtain another loan during his campaign, because in Nigeria, it costs billions of naira to run a presidential campaign?”

Falana, who was the guest lecturer at the event, spoke on the topic: ‘Current Security Challenges: Implication for 2015 Elections’.

On the coverage of the 2015 election, the legal luminary advised journalists not to give undue advantage to any candidate, but should give all of them equal coverage, devoid of ethnic or religious colouration.

He also advised journalists to be wary of phony politicians who would want to play to the gallery, but should focus on issues.

He said, “Journalists must show more than a passing interest on how those aspirants want to manage the economy. The government must address mass illiteracy, corruption and poverty.”

Falana noted that the nation was facing security challenges such as kidnapping, armed robbery, terrorism, human trafficking because of the unemployment rate.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria called on the government to wake up and fight the security challenges confronting the nation the same way the Ebola scourge was tackled.

“Government gave Ebola Virus Disease attention because it is no respecter of anybody. But government is not conscious of the security of the people because they have security guards protecting them,” he said.

The event, which also featured award presentation to deserving members of staff, was graced by the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Prince Segun Adesegun, the state NUJ chairman, Mr. Wole Sokunbi, and the secretary, Mr. Soji Amosu, among others.