I Would Rather Die Than Be Extradited To The US – Kashamu

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Senator-elect, Ogun-East, Prince Buruji Kashamu, was said to have threatened to kill himself if officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) forced their way into his house, yesterday, claiming there was a court injunction against the NDLEA’s action.

Some of his friends who claimed to have contacted him on phone between 7 and 9 am told Sunday Vanguard that Kashamu said he would remain indoors till Monday.

But the narcotic agency explained that the operatives mandate was to put the politician, who is also the Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP in the South-West, under house arrest pending when he would appear in court on Monday.

According to Punch, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), said on Saturday that the house arrest which the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency placed on the Ogun-East Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu, was informed by a recent extradition request by the United States of America.

Adoke told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Saturday that the request came last week.

He said immediately his office received the request it was passed to the appropriate organ of government for implementation.

Responding to further inquiry, he confirmed that he was referring to the NDLEA as the appropriate organ of government to take up the extradition request.

“Of course, it is a drug-related offence and the appropriate government agency that handles such cases is the NDLEA,” Adoke said.

The NDLEA confirmed the confinement of the movement of Kashamu to his Lagos residence on Oladipo Street, Lekki Phase 1 pending his appearance in court on Monday (tomorrow).

No fewer than 10 operatives of the agency were said to have invaded the Lagos residence of Kashamu, around 5am on Saturday to effect his arrest following a purported extradition request from the United States on drug- related charges.

They were said to be heavily armed and were ruthless.

As soon as they stormed his residence, SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that some of the NDLEA operatives brought out a yellow tape and cordoned off the area, while others went straight to the gate.

After they (operatives) reportedly knocked on Kashamu’s gate, his security men were alerted about their mission.

Kashamu’s security men at this point demanded the arrest warrant from the NDLEA men but they could not produce any.Based on this, they were prevented from entering the residence.

However, this action was said to have infuriated the NDLEA officials who stormed the compound after destroying the gate.

The media aide to Kashamu, Austin Oniyokor, in a statement made available to our correspondent on Saturday, explained that the NDLEA operatives after they had forcibly entered the compound, headed for the living rooms and began to destroy all the doors one after other, in a desperate move to arrest Kashamu.

An NDLEA source said they (operatives) closed in on the bedroom of the PDP chief who was said to have threatened to commit suicide if the agency tried to extradite him to the US forcibly.

Oniyokor described the latest onslaught on his principal as a confirmation of the alleged plot to illegally abduct him despite the pending suit against his abduction.

Oniyokor, however, accused a Peoples Democratic Party leader, Chief Bode George, as being behind the onslaught against his boss, “in a bid to score cheap political points.”

He said he is doing this through his wife who is the Director-General of the agency.

Source-Vanguard/Punch

I Don’t Give A Damn What Obasanjo Says About Me — Atiku Abubakar

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, in this interview with NIYI ODEBODE, JOHN ALECHENU and ADE ADESOMOJU, speaks on the expectations of Nigerians from the incoming administration of Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), his perception of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, among other issues:

The President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has acknowledged the fact that expectations of Nigerians from him are very high. How do you think he can meet these within the next four years?

Whenever there is a change in government in a democracy, whether in Nigeria or anywhere else, normally the expectation tends to rise. It is not unexpected in Nigeria, particularly when this is the first time in our democratic process that we are witnessing a smooth change in government from the ruling party to an opposition. Therefore, expectations are much higher within the normal

circumstance of change.

After several shots at the presidency, will you still present yourself if the opportunity avails itself to you again?

It is quite too early for such a question. We are in a transition process. We have not even formed the next government. You are asking me whether I will like to run again or not. I think it is just too early. My concern is to make sure that the transition process is smooth and complete and a new government is formed because it is the party that I belong to that is coming in. My dream for Nigeria is always that we can, from time to time, change government so that there can be competition among parties and that competition will bring about, perhaps more development and progress in the country. I think that is my most important concern now rather than thinking of whether I’m going to run again or not.

Why is it taking your party so long to decide on zoning?

I think that is one fundamental thing Nigerians tend to forget. There is no zoning in the constitution of the All Progressives Congress. In the true sense of it, there is no zoning. But we also know that this country is between North and South, Muslims and Christians. It is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country; hence there is the need for balance of government appointments. We are not unaware of that. In the strictest sense of it, there is no zoning in the APC’s constitution. It is in the Peoples Democratic Party’s constitution and it has a long history. Those of us who were in the Constitutional Conference of 1994, 1995 actually initiated it.

What are the pitfalls the APC must avoid to steer clear of the fate that befell the PDP?

There are quite a few and fundamental ones that I will urge the APC government to avoid. Firstly, the political party should be allowed to freely operate on its own so that the issues of governors and the president being the leaders of the party and also the leader of government can be separated. It is only when one does that that internal democracy is allowed to thrive within the political party. Internal democracy is the building block, but when one mixes the two (leadership of political party and that of government), then one will find oneself where the PDP has found itself in the last 16 years.

Secondly, the governors and the president must be focused on key fundamental issues of governance. If they want to make an impact, for instance, in the first 100 days, three months, six months, as the case may be, they have to pick up certain key areas and also let Nigerians know that in the first 100 days, this is what you should expect from us. For instance, in my policy document, when I was running for the presidency, I said in the first 100 days, this is what you should expect from me. I think it will be necessary for the government to tell Nigerians that this is what you should expect from us in the first 100 days and so on.

What is your take on the prediction that the APC would be torn apart by the struggle for positions in the incoming government?

I don’t believe so. I think we have come across a number of challenges since the formation of the APC. I believe that government is not essentially an employer of labour. It should create the necessary environment for the private sector to create jobs. I think there is too much emphasis on government employment or government patronage in this country. This is because various levels of governance, whether local government or state, don’t function well. In other words, it is the failure of our institutions. If one goes to certain countries, one doesn’t find the president even having one visitor. For instance, I have visited my brother and friend, Jacob Zuma, several times. You don’t find even one single individual sitting with him and he goes out like a normal person because the institutions are working. The local councils are working. The provincial governments are working, everything is okay. Thus, whatever one is looking for at any level of one’s life is being provided for by the institution that is established to do it. Therefore, one doesn’t need the big man at the top. But unfortunately in this country, all our institutions are not working. They have been undermined. The constitution is very clear on that. But because the implementers of the constitution have not implemented the constitution as they should, the institutions are failing or have failed. Therefore, everybody looks up to the president to solve all the problems. No, that should not be. That is why we have local and state governments. Hence, I think we have to strengthen our institutions and make sure that they deliver services to their respective people.

The President-elect, like many other Nigerians, believes that corruption has reached an intolerable level in this country. Do you share the view that he (the President-elect) cannot achieve much in tackling the menace as he has promised because he is surrounded by many politicians that are also accused of being corrupt?

I think it takes political will to fight corruption. I have sat down with the President-elect and I believe he has the political will to do that. He told me clearly that anybody who is corrupt should not expect any appointment from his government and I agree with him. I also told him that if he really wants to cleanse this society, he should not make the mistake of trying to appoint anybody who is alleged or perceived to be corrupt and he can do that by making sure he gets the necessary information from the relevant government agencies. So, I believe he has the political will.

Apart from the area of appointment, what other specific areas must he explore to ensure that corruption is curbed?

Corruption has become so endemic in this country that any level of the society one goes to, it is present. Even in my house, my wife is always fighting with the drivers; fighting with the mechanic; fighting with the cooks. When she gives them money to do this or that, they do fake receipts and all that. Therefore, corruption is so endemic in the society, even in households. But then, if the political leadership provides the direction, the leadership and the will to fight corruption, one will find out that gradually we will be eliminating corruption and we will bring it to a minimal level. There is no society where there is no corruption, even in the advanced democracies there is corruption, but at a very minimal level. It is not threatening their progress as a country.

Still on corruption, you once said that you were one of the most investigated Nigerians. If the President-elect says, again, he is going to investigate the cases against you, will you be afraid or worried?

I’m not worried. You can investigate me. But you know most of my cases have ended up in the court up to the Supreme Court and the apex court has ruled on them. Thus, for you to reopen a case that has been closed by the Supreme Court … but I am ready to be investigated.

Before the general elections, President Goodluck Jonathan visited you. The picture that was being painted out there by his loyalists was that you gave a tacit approval for his second term bid. Can you use this opportunity to tell Nigerians what really transpired between the two of you at that meeting?

I have told Nigerians what transpired between the two of us. He wanted me to come back to the PDP and I said I was not coming back.

There is this story that the PDP is being repositioned and that the party is reaching out to you and Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State. If the party leaders reach out to you, will you return to the PDP?

Nobody has reached out to me yet. And for the question of if I would go back or not; how many people will the President go to their houses to say, ‘This is the favour I want’ and they will look at him in the face and say, ‘No, we are not going back?’ How many in this country will do that?

Your former boss, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, said so many not-too-complimentary things about you in his latest book, ‘My Watch’. Have you both met since then?

You know, really, I don’t give a damn (about) what Obasanjo says about me.

You talked about South Africa working. Do you think that the concentration of power in the hands of the Federal Government is undermining the development of the country?

There seemed to be better service delivery by the government during the period we ran the regional government system. I had said that in my paper to the last Constitution Conference. I wrote a very comprehensive paper on that. I believe that the powers of the Federal Government are too many and there should be power devolution to the state and local governments.

Still talking about former President Obasanjo, do you think he scuttled the best chance you ever had to lead this country as president?

I don’t think so. How? When?

Your second term with him as Vice-President between 2003 and 2007 was stormy and he did everything to stop you from succeeding him as a result of which you left the PDP for the then Action Congress.

As far as I am concerned, Obasanjo may believe that he scuttled my presidential ambition, but I believe it is about God. If God says I will be president, I will be president; if He says I will not be president, I will not be president. Let’s forget about Obasanjo.

You chaired the privatisation committee and you did a lot in various sectors, including telecommunication, by laying the foundation. I can’t remember you handling that of power…

I refused to handle that of power.

Why did you refuse?

I refused to because I had a fundamental disagreement with the President (Obasanjo). He believed we should go left; I believed we should go right. He said I should become the chairman of the committee, I accepted. He inaugurated it, but I never sat. I allowed the Minister of Power then, Liyel Imoke, to sit. You can see that I was right because I told him what we needed was short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions to the power sector reform. He wanted to go for the long-term and up till now, we are not yet there. If we had adopted the short- term and medium-term solutions to our power problem, we would have been self-sufficient by 2005; even before we left office; because that strategy was planned for small and medium power stations in various parts of the country. We had even harvested international bids: people, who were prepared to come and invest $500m, $250m to set up small and medium -size power stations. By now, we would have been self-sufficient, but he said, ‘Oh, we must go gas’ and I said, ‘Gas? There is a problem. It’s long term; a lot of investments. There is instability in the region (Niger Delta). You must bring peace, before they would allow you to evacuate the gas. There is the issue of building the gas infrastructure, which takes a longer time and also a lot of investments and that I don’t see us even getting there in the next 10 years.’ But he said, ‘No, this is the way I want. We must go that way.’ I said, ‘Ok, fine, you are the President,’ and I declined to sit on the power committee till we left office. That is why when there was an investigation by the National Assembly; nobody invited me because my name was never there. Contracts were awarded and paid 100 per cent upfront; people disappeared with the money, and even stole, yet no power. I stand by this: We must have short- term, medium-term and long- term power solutions.

Is that why you recently called for the reversal of the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria?

How does one begin to privatise distribution? Distribution of what? There is no power. First of all, one should start with generation. When one starts with generation, then transmission follows. After there is enough power, then one knows that one has the capacity to transmit and then one can now distribute. But they started with distribution, distribution of water or what? I mean, one can’t do that. Now we have privatised distribution, where is the power to distribute? No power! And they borrowed money from the banks to go and set up these companies. They said the Federal Government gave billions to encourage the privatisation; now they are not recouping the money. They have huge loans. There will be interest and there is no power to distribute. They have also increased electricity tariff when there is no power.

Some people have called for the removal of fuel subsidy while oil price in the global market has crashed. Are you in support of this and what must the incoming government do to diversify the economy because almost all the states have problems?

First and foremost, I was in charge of deregulation and we had started. If we had continued our programme, we would have finished deregulation before our government left office. But unfortunately we did not. Thus, as far as I am concerned, I’m in for full and total deregulation in the downstream oil sector. Let the market determine (the economic needs).

Believe me, we are complaining now because there is subsidy. By the time one deregulates and opens the market, everybody is free to bring in these finished products and sell, there will be competition and the prices are even likely to come down. I am for deregulation. There is no doubt about it because at the end of the day, I think that is the best for the country.

On the issue of the prices of petroleum, I don’t think $50 is too low because when we came in, how much was it? $20? Yet we were able to implement our programmes. Therefore, it is all an issue of planning. Of course, governments, both military and democratic, over the years have always been talking of diversifying the economy, but no government has really focused on the issue of diversifying the economy so that the reliance on oil can be reduced substantially. When we go back to the Gross Domestic Product, we know oil is just about 15 to 20 per cent; the rest is either services or this and that. But then, I believe the diversification of the economy would have been much better for us if we had done it a long time ago.

Do you have any pact with the APC leadership or the President-elect for you to nominate people into positions in the incoming government and what roles will you play in the next administration?

There is no pact. Essentially, I am a party man. Therefore, I will do wholeheartedly whatever the party decides I should do or that I should help in doing.

At the APC primaries you were expected to win, but you were in a distant third position.

No! With 20 votes.

But did you suspect any conspiracy?

As far as I am concerned, the APC primaries have become history. We have gone beyond that. I have endorsed the outcome of the primaries. I said the process was successful. That is it.

Talking about forming the next government, do you support reducing the cost of governance by cutting down the size of government in the country?

Yes, I believe that particularly, the Federal Government should cut down on cost. If we devolve more powers to the state and local governments, obviously we don’t need a very unwieldy government structure as we have. There is too much at the federal level – too much to do.

How many ministers should the President-elect appoint? The constitution says a minister must come from each state of the federation?

One cannot avoid constitutional provisions. One has to be law-abiding so he (the President-elect) has to go by the constitution as far as the issue of ministerial positions is concerned.

May 29, 2015: A Date Nigerians Keep With Destiny. By Adedayo Osho

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Days countdown to the fall of rulership by PDP, a party which steers the wheel of affairs in Nigeria since the rebirth of democracy in 1999.

I watch with glee the shift to limbo, if not extinction of that once great party. One lesson learnt by the victim is that in democracy “Power reside with the people” and as such they remain the custodian of arsenal to fire any under-performing or non-performing government. To the incoming, an average Nigerian electorate is already enlightened about the parameters to justify if a serving government live up to its traditional role or not. Buhari is free to repeat Jonathan’s mistake if he so wish.

As we anticipate the swearing in of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the president elect, I urge us to be wary of Fifth columnists. Their role in postponement of the earlier scheduled February 14 Presidential election is still fresh on mind. Regardless, the hand over date remain sacrosanct.

Any discerning mind should be able to read the sign of the time. On the part of the incoming, it appears these countdown days is too slow. On the contrary, it is just too fast to the incumbent power holders. In Africa, leaders are only theoretically committed to democratic ethos, their urge for power and thirst to retain same is second to none elsewhere.

Fast forward to Buhari’s Nigeria, the striving poor cannot afford to wallow in another four years of poverty. Failure to provide basic amenities have seen the rise in rural-urban migration. To an educated rural dweller, the Nigerian state is nothing but a nuisance to be avoided.

Chasing their dreams, artisans and small and medium entrepreneurs are bereft of steady electricity for operation. It is illustrative to note that the incumbent government met 2600 Megawatt, it struggled to achieve 4000MW, alas, power generation has slumped to 1327MW, the lowest and worst since 4th Republic beginning. We expect speedy upgrade of electricity. Each distribution company should be given a run for their money.

Since it is glaringly obvious to even the blind, that corruption has reached its seemingly Olympian height and has defiled all curative therapy. It is imperative we deal with its root cause. In Nigeria, the common man pays for the sin of a rich man.

I indicated in a 2014 piece that “With corruption effectively out of the way, Nigeria will catch up with the rest of the world and even leave some developed economies behind.” However, the potential to achieve this lies with having men of integrity at the helm of affairs. Those who perceive of stealing as not synonymous to corruption should have their brain examined.

My critique on Ethiopia reveals that with exception of the years of the great Emperor Haile Selassie, himself a man with chequered history, yet, his name can be found in African leaders Hall of Fame, the economic boom and recently, emergence of middle class families albeit immigration is not a product of election. Rather, change in the 2nd most populous African country was engineered by its dedicated revolutionary leaders, majority of whom are already aware of sufferings of their citizens and are ready to ameliorate it to the bearest minimum.

Despite the reality adduced to huge debt incurred, stipend or non-availabilty of funds in the national treasury and the failure of about 18 out of 36 states of the federation to fulfil wage obligation to workers, all of these to be inherited by incoming government{s}, the man whom the bulk will stop at his table, Buhari and his team should devise alternative medium to generate funds and vigorously pursue electoral promises. A sound note of warning should the passed across that Nigerians will not welcome irrelevant excuses. The first one year will serve as a yardstick to measure the intention of APC for the country.

With premium placed on youth and women welfare, intervention in the needs of people living with disability, pensioners and the aged. If implemented within earliest time on assumption, the masses will rally round the government.

If you belong to one of the hues which peddle false information about poverty and unemployment reduction, why not embark on an itinerary to our villages and observe social life? On listening to ordeal of many unemployed graduates, one wonder if truly here is where you can find one of earth’s purest crude oil, much availability of limestone and largest deposit of bitumen, second after bilingual Canada. On job creation, Nigeria need more of our own Aliko Dangote, Strive Masiyiwa or Patrice Motsepe.

The ability to faithfully address issues raised herein is a relief that Change has come indeed. It also have the potential to orchestrate the rebirth of a new Nigeria.

Adedayo Osho is a Political Scientist/Analyst based in Lagos, Nigeria. He writes on his own personal capacity. +2349030589989 {SMS only} On Twitter @Jahpolitical

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Nobody Forced Mu’azu, Anenih To Resign, Says Acting PDP Chairman

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Staff Reporter

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The acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Uche Secondus, has dismissed whispers that Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and Chief Tony Anenih were forced to resign their positions. Mu’azu on Wednesday resigned his position as PDP National Chairman while Anenih follow suit as Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT).

Secondus made the clarification on Thursday in Abuja when he led some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa. Fielding questions from state House correspondents the acting national chairman said, “nobody forced them to resign.”

US, Others Caution Buhari On Choice Of Next Petroleum Minister

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Ahead of the May 29 handover of the Federal Government administration to Muhammadu Buhari following his victory at the March 28 polls, friendly countries have continued to show renewed interest in who occupies some key posts in the incoming administration.
Already US had expressed concern over series of issues including human rights abuses by the Nigerian military in its prosecution of the war in the North-east, and the manner top officials of the Nigerian government have managed the oil and gas sector of the economy citing several acts of corruption.
A source in the Foreign Ministry which pleaded anonymity said the US is now eager to assist Buhari turn the situation around, as it has always considered Nigeria an important ally on the African continent. This was as Daily Sun learnt that several highly placed persons and multinational
companies who attended a recent US State Department briefing cited corruption as the main reason for low investment in Nigeria’s oil sector. Against this background, a source said the US is backing a senior official of a multi-national oil company from the Niger Delta who is conversant with transparency rules to emerge as the Petroleum Minister.
The source said, “in fact, the multinationals have discussed with the US State Department and have already agreed on a credible candidate, who they believe will be able to restore confidence and attract the necessary investment into the critical sector. Meanwhile sources say the US has already made this position known to the incoming administration cautioning the president-elect against making a wrong choice in the appointment to the office.
It urged the President to appoint people of integrity and proven track record into his cabinet to make the job easier for him. Already, top oil and gas industry operators have indicated their support for the candidate, who they believe will bring his vast experience to bear in the turnaround of the Ministry and give credibility to the sector and the Buhari’s “Change” mantra.
In 2014, Transparency International ranked Nigeria as the 136th most corrupt country in the world. In addition, a US report in March last year said that in Nigeria, “massive, widespread and pervasive corruption affected all levels of government and the security forces,” while alleging that judges were not left out of the massive corruption ring, the report accused the government of not implementing laws on corruption effectively, thus deliberately allowing “officials (to) frequently engage in corrupt practices with impunity.”
These are, possibly, part of what the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, saw when he cried out that the current administration’s “body language” encouraged corruption. The US government had also condemned the pardon granted some ex-convicts by the National Council of States headed by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013.
Recall that former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreiye Alamieyeseigha, the former head of the Bank of the North, Shettima Bulama and some other Nigerians were granted a presidential pardon. The US had roundly condemned the act, saying, “this decision undermines anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria and encourages impunity. If the government is serious about uprooting public corruption, sanctions against those who betray the public trust should be strengthened, not relaxed,” said Akere Muna, Vice-chair of Transparency International.
And now the US has sounded a note of caution to President-elect, Buhari, not to bow to pressure by allowing politicians foster any candidate for the Petroleum Ministry whose records are stained or for purpose of satisfying political patronage.
According to the US, it will send the wrong signal that business is going to continue as usual, in which case, the incoming president might not get the much needed assistance from the US or any European country for that matter.

Securing A Second Term In Power Is No Longer A Birthright For African Leaders- Obasanjo

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Former President Obasanjo says the outcome of the recent Presidential election in Nigeria has proved to African leaders that securing a second term in office ‘is no longer a right.’

He said this at a press conference organized as part of events to mark African Day in Berlin Germany yesterday. According to Obasanjo, Nigeria has gotten it right this time around with this election.

“The peoples wish prevailed. I am proud to say it here that Nigeria got it right this time around. The elections may not have been perfect, but it was a reflection of the people’s wish. Even where there were manipulations, it did not affect the results.
Attempts to rig did not yield any positive results. I think with what happened, people will no longer be eager to manipulate elections. When we started PDP many people thought and even voiced it, that the party will rule forever, but look at it today. It is only 16 years down the road and the PDP is already an opposition party” he said.

Obasanjo Blackmailing Buhari- Senator

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Staff Reporter

A former member of National Assembly, Senator Rowland Owie, has described ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Think-tank report as a document of blackmail for the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari,

In a statement issued in Abuja, Owie, who is also a former Chief Whip of the Senate, asked: ”How can Obasanjo be preparing a blueprint for Buhari? A Bini parable says, “how can an impotent man get medicine for his brother, who suffers weak erection”?

The Niger Delta ex-senator was disappointed that the in-coming Buhari administration is in romance with Obasanjo, saying, “Obasanjo will tell the world that the solutions he prescribed for fixing Nigeria were ignored.”

He said: “I just read Obasanjo think-tank has submitted a blueprint to Buhari. Blue what?

“I am shocked that great Nigerians of the likes of Prof. Akin Mabogunje, Dr. Idika Kalu and Dr. Christopher Kolade were involved. That Obasanjo is linked to the blue-print, it will be a document of blackmail to Buhari very soon.

“Wonders will never end! How can Obasanjo who allegedly wasted eight years in government pursuing perceived enemies, and tried to ruin the legislative and judiciary arms of government in Nigeria; wasted $16 billion on power and not a single kilowatt of energy was produced, destroyed Aladja Steel, Itakpe Steel, Ajaokuta Steel, NITEL, just to mention a few FGN parastatals, now begin to advise Buhari?

“How can Obasanjo, whose government received, in one year, a revenue equivalent of the total revenue that IBB regime received in eight years, yet, nothing to show for it, be handing over blue-print to the in-coming administration?

“While there are great legacies left behind by IBB, but Nigerians can’t find any useful legacies by a government that received the highest revenue, since the amalgamation of Nigeria.

“The legacies left behind by Obasanjo are allegedly hate, divisiveness, Zaki- Ibiam and Odi destruction, impunity in government business and the business of the PDP that was put together by well-meaning people, including my humble self, when he, Obasanjo, was in prison,” Sen. Owie said.

Owie also revealed that “the present state of PDP was created by Obasanjo when the late SB Awoniyi was rigged out in 2000 at Eagle Square and another attempt to rebuild the party through Chief Audu Ogbeh was frustrated when Ogbeh was forced to resign as PDP chairman.

“We thank God that now that Obasanjo has left the PDP, we can rebuild the party. Has Obasanjo not seen now the major achievements of Yar’Adua-Jonathan government within a short time,”? he asked.

Credit: sunnewsonline

We Get Too Many Complaints Against Obasanjo Foundation – UK Commission

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

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United Kingdom Charity Commission says it has received many complaints about the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation in London concerning allegations of financial misconduct and conflicts of interest.

The UKCC’s spokesperson, Sarah Hitchings, told Punch in an email that the commission had also started a broad investigation into the matters because the foundation had violated its regulatory standards.

She said, “We have received complaints about this charity and issues including alleged conflicts of interest and alleged financial misconduct. We currently have an open case in relation to this charity and have been in contact with the trustees.

“We have recently become aware of further information about potential wrong-doing at the charity which is of regulatory concern to the commission and we are currently considering this new information. We cannot comment further while our case is live.”

Meanwhile, the commission refused to comment on any actions taken against the recently sacked London-based Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Anne Welsh, on allegations of money laundering.

“We cannot give information about a charge on the chief executive officer – this would be a question for the Police,” Hitchings added.

The Chief of Staff to former President Obasanjo, Mr. Victor Durodola, had told Saturday PUNCH that Welsh was relieved of her duties due to allegations of money laundering activities.

“It is true and it is sad,” he said, while commenting on the sacking of the former chief executive.

SaharaReporters had earlier obtained a video footage, which showed that Welsh was allegedly involved in plotting a $4.9m (N980m) scheme to exploit the Ebola Virus Disease tragedy in West Africa through helping a group of “Lebanese businessmen,” who wished to donate money to the Obasanjo Foundation for some works in Sierra Leone.

The footage revealed that the group demanded that it would make a donation of $2m (N400m) to the foundation if it helped it launder the balance of $2.9m, which Welsh agreed to.

“I had to go through training, through president Obasanjo, political training for one year to become discreet,” she said in the video,” adding that, “Sometimes, we get dollars from people who give money to our foundation and they say they don’t want it to be known that they donated the money, but they want to have a letter on our letterhead and a letter from Obasanjo just to say ‘Thank you’ for your kind donations to the foundation for the work to support Ebola.’ That’s it. That is what we normally do.”

Welsh had also demanded from the group an interest of 30 per cent on the $2.9m.

“At least 30 per cent; think about the hard work I’m going to put into this, you will be so grateful to me,” she said.

The video evidence had also showed that the group agreed to give her the 30 per cent, which was $90,000 (N180m), and detailed how the money would be transferred via a Nigerian bank.

Obasanjo Hands Over Report On Strategic Devt Plan To Buhari

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Signs that ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo subtly amassed support for the election of General Mohammadu Buhari as the Nigeria’s next president and also wants him to succeed in office became evident Thusday when he handed over a report of a strategic development plan to Buhari.

The reports contained templates that would assist the incoming government to rapidly achieve its objectives of taking the nation a notch higher.

Top on the list were Education, Power sector, Economy, Security and Infrastructure.

The development followed a research work embarked upon by the Centre for Human Security of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library on major social challenges facing Nigeria 4 months ago.

The event which took place at the Buhari Support Organization, BSO’s office in Abuja featured the chairman, governing board of the Centre for Human Security of Obasanjo Presidential Library, Professor Akin Mabogunje, who was incidentally the chairman of the committee, former Minister of Finance and Committees vice chairman, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu who present volumes of the report to Buhari and Dr. Christopher Kolade who headed the power committee.

Speaking to Journalists at the end of the brief ceremony that was held behind closed doors, Mabogunje said the report contained policy documents that would help the president-elect restructure Nigeria, revealing that Buhari was full of thanks for the documents.

He said: “Centre for Human Security of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Liberary has being working on a number of critical issues for the development of this country and they have now sent a delegation of those who’ve been involved with the preparation of those policy documents to talk to the president-elect and get him to appreciate what is being done to help his administration. That’s why we are here.

“We’ve looked at education, security, economy, power and Infrastructure. Those are the areas we’ve made recommendations and which we hope the new administration will be able to work on.

“He (Buhari) was very happy that we’ve been thinking about how to help him hit the ground running and he expressed his appreciation for what we’ve been doing.”

Giving details of the reports, Dr. Kolade explained the long, medium and short terms goals of the report.

According to him, the strategic plan hoped to raise the country’s power generation to 10,000 MW within a short period of time.

Expanding thoughts on the development also, the Buhari’s media spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu said “the whole idea was that Obasanjo set up his own think- tank with the aim of carrying out a study on challenges facing the country in five key areas of Education, Power sector, Economy, Security and Infrastructure. The study was commissioned four months ago so that the outcome will be made available to the incoming administration after the election.”

He also stated that the president-elect expressed gratitude to Obasanjo for their kind gesture, however regretting that the outgoing regime of president Goodluck Jonathan had not done anything close to that.

“An appreciative President-elect expressed gratitude to Obasanjo and his team, describing their intervention as a great impetus for the incoming government.
Buhari regretted that the out-going government that is supposed to give him tips on how to take-off has done nothing so far. He thanked the Obasanjo for their gesture, assuring them that his incoming administration will be needing their advice as time goes on”, Shehu said.

Mallam Ahmed Joda, chairman of Buhari transition committee refused to speak in his capacity as the transition committee chairman when asked by Journalists to make input.

“I am here not in the capacity of the chairman of the transition committee. I am here because I am a chairman of one of the committees of the centre that consider security issues at the Obasanjo centre for human security”, he said.

Why I Dragged Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan To Court Over Presidential Elections– Buhari

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Staff Reporter

President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday explained why he challenged the results of the presidential elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011 in court.

The former head of stated spoke in Abuja when Delta State All Progressives Congress members visited him.

Buhari explained that he took the decision because he believed Nigeria needed freedom.

According to him, “Going through the court is not easy, both materially and physically, and I maintained that consistency because my view about my country is that Nigeria should be truly free.”

He equally commiserated with the delegates over the murder of some people during the last general elections.

The president-elect stated, “I understand why many of you, who were denied the opportunity to choose those you want to represent and lead you are taking the line I took in the last 12 years – in line with our constitution.

“Whether you get it or not, the most important thing is that you believe in the system and you should continue to try until the system is perfect.

Read More: dailypost

I’m Done With Partisan Politics, Obasanjo Turns Down Pleas To Help Revive PDP

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has rebuffed repeated pleas from concerned member of the Peoples Democratic Party to help revive the party following its defeat in the March 28 presidential election.

Concerned about the future of the party, some of its leaders have been reaching out to Mr. Obasanjo to return to the party and help build it ahead of future elections.

Reports gather that among those persuading him to return to lead the party were serving governors and federal lawmakers who believed the party should play viable opposition in the next dispensation.

Mr. Obasanjo’s close allies said the anxious party men have been pressuring the former leader, who was the first elected president on the party’s platform, by either visiting him or through telephone calls.

Report provides that the former president, who was also the PDP leader and Chairman of its Board of Trustees, has repeatedly rebuffed the request to return to the party.

Sources close to him said at some point he told those mounting pressure on him that rather than returning to the party he would encourage viable opposition from other standpoints.

“I’m done with party politics here on earth and in heaven. Period,” Mr. Obasanjo was overheard telling a PDP chieftain who telephoned him recently to raise the matter.

Mr. Obasanjo was also said to have told some people pressuring him that he could have considered returning to the party had his membership card not been publicly thorn before the general elections.

He was quoted as saying his membership card has been shredded and that “as it is now, a goat has eaten up the pieces”.

Mr. Obasanjo confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview that he has been under pressure to return to the PDP but vowed not to do so. “I’m not ready to discuss partisan politics because I’m done with it,” he said.

After a meeting with Mr. Jonathan sometime in February, the outgoing governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, had assured that the PDP would beg Mr. Obasanjo to return to the party.

“When a father is angry with his children, the children should beg him. Baba is more than a party man. He is an icon, a national symbol and a leader and inventor, a creator of all the institutions today in Nigeria from the president to the governors, who are his own sons, are all his creations.”

“And so when a father is angry with his children, we will only say we are sorry to him. But then, we cannot be renounced for whatever it is…….We might have made some mistakes, but abandoning us is not the solution because the country is first before anything else. So, he is our Baba even up to the president.”

But Mr. Obasanjo told PREMIUM TIMES he has foreclosed any possibility of returning to the PDP. “I agree that Nigeria needs a strong and viable opposition and I will continue to encourage that,” the former President said. “I will continue to do that even without belonging to a political party. I have moved beyond party politics.”

Credit: premiumtimesng

Jonathan, Obasanjo, Amaechi Reconcile

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

It is no longer news that there has been no love lost between President Goodluck Jonathan, former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi.

However, the last Council of State meeting hosted by President Jonathan yesterday, offered an opportunity for the three men to reconcile even if it was for the camera.

Before the commencement of the Council meeting, the governors across party divide were seen joking, back slapping one another and discussing in groups.

President Jonathan was also seen laughing, shaking and holding hands with Obasanjo.But the one that caught everyone’s attention was when the President, while waiting for the valedictory photo-session at the fore court of the Presidential Villa, had a handshake with the governors around him, and on sighting Amaechi, playfully hit him severally, with his fist on the shoulder and the Rivers State governor bowed, laughing and holding the President’s hand all the while, saying “Your Excellency.”

Obasanjo has been a constant critic of Jonathan’s administration, the latest being in February, when the elections were postponed.

The former president, had at his Hilltop Mansion residence in Abeokuta, likened the politics played by Jonathan to “the do-or-die” politics played by the former President of Cote d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo.

Also, Obasanjo, while reacting to the postponement of the general elections, said it was a grand plan by Jonathan to perpetuate himself in office till the situation became clear that the presidential election would favour him.

President Jonathan had in a swift reaction, fired back, saying the allegations were baseless and absurd.

Obasanjo had also in an 18-page letter a year ago, accused the President of deceit, deception, dishonesty, incompetence, having a killer squad and clannishness among others.

The Rivers State governor on his part, had always pointed fingers at the president and his wife, Patience on any crisis in his state.

Moved by the camaraderie seen inside and outside the Council chambers, a journalist later asked Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State how that could be translated to the common man on the street, and he replied: “I told you that one of the former heads of state moved for all these to be recorded, so that we make it as part of the tradition. Politics is not war.

Yes, there is a price, but the moment there is a decision and someone gets the price, everyone should come back and wait for another chance.

“So, the camaraderie that you noticed, is how it should be and we should send it down to our communities, to our people; so that even in one house, you can afford to vote for different parties but the moment results are announced, you will remain brothers and not enemies.”

Credit: sunnewsonline

Senate Presidency Tussle: Akume Meets Obasanjo, Tinubu, Atiku, Kwankwaso

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Ahead of the zoning of the Senate Presidency, former governor of Benue State and one of the top contenders to the nation’s number three position, Senator George Akume, has intensified consultations, meeting leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other stakeholders.

Akume, last week, met with former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; the APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu and former Osun State governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in the South West.

The former Benue State governor, who is returning to the Senate for the third time, met all the leaders in their respective domains in Abeokuta, Lagos and Okuku, respectively.

Though there was no official statement after each of the meetings, it was gathered that the parleys might not be unconnected with the position of Senate Presidency.

Sources told Daily Sun that Akume had also met with former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, who may likely emerge as chairman of the APC Board of Trustees.

Also, the former governor had visited Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, a senator-elect. He also met Prof Ango Abdullahi, an influential northern elder; a former Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Coomasie and former Kogi State Governor, Prince Abubakar Audu.

One of Akume’s aides, said of the meeting: “Senator Akume is a very highly regarded statesman in his own right. Consultations with like-minded leaders on issues bordering on our socio-politics should be a routine affair.”

On the Senate presidency contest, the aide stated: “If the APC is truly about change, that change should reflect in the way we do things; so, we send a very strong message to all Nigerians that they can be assured of a sense of belonging irrespective of where they come from.

“We have produced a President-elect from a majority ethnicity; we have produced a vice-president-elect from another majority ethnic group. APC must be sensitive to the sensitivities of the minorities across both divides of the Niger.

“Come to think of it, the outgoing President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, is from a minority ethnic group. What is in stock for the minorities in the incoming administration?”

Read More: sunnewsonline

I Was Trained By Obasanjo – Ms. Welsh On Laundering Scandal

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Staff Reporter

On Thursday, a video of Anne Welsh, the CEO of the Obasanjo Foundation in London, obtained by SaharaReporters, showed her boasting that she has operated a well-oiled money-laundering scheme for many years.

The video, discreetly shot by one of the participants in the meeting in the United Kingdom in December 2014, reveals that Ms. Welsh was involved in a $4.9 million scheme to exploit the Ebola Virus Disease tragedy in West Africa through helping a group of ‘Lebanese businessmen’ who wished to donate money to the Obasanjo Foundation for some work in Sierra Leone.

The group explains that it would make the donation on one condition: the Obasanjo Foundation would get $2m, as long as it helps launder the balance of $2.9m.

Ms. Welsh also makes a shocking accusation: she says she learnt the art from former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“I had to go through training through President Obasanjo, political training for one year to become discreet,” she says.

“Sometimes we get dollars from people who give money to our foundation and they say they don’t want it to be known that they donated the money but they want to have a letter on like our letter-headed paper and a letter from Obasanjo stating just to say ‘Thank you for your kind donations to the foundation for the work to support Ebola’. That’s it. That is what we normally do.”

On Friday, Premium Times reported that the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation fired Ms. Welsh over the revelations that emerged on the video.

Obasanjo said he, other trustees of the organization, as well as staff of the Foundation were deeply saddened and disturbed by the allegations from Ms. Weish.

“Accordingly, the Board of Trustees has asked her to immediately resign, and she has done so.” Obasanjo told Premium Times over the phone.

The former President also said the Foundation has launched a full-scale investigation into the allegations and has already reported the matter to the London Metropolitan Police and the UK Charity Commission for a thorough probe.

He also said his Foundation had already contacted personalities mentioned or photographed with Ms. Welsh in the publication that revealed the deal, as well as other dignitaries and partners to inform them that “she has now become a persona non grata with the Foundation and its Chairman/Founder.”

Obasanjo also claimed that Ms. Welsh had ceased to be the chief executive officer of the Foundation in December 2014 when she reportedly met the Lebanese businessmen to strike the alleged money laundering deal.

“The CEO of the Foundation at that time was Franklin Lisk,” the former President said.

“I can never associate myself with anything that has to do with money laundering and corruption, and this is a very disturbing development for us all,” the former President said.

Obasanjo, however, did not address Ms. Welsh’s accusation, where she said she learnt the art of money laundering under him for a year.

Obasanjo, whose regime has been labeled as ‘one of the most corrupt regimes’ ever in Nigeria history, comparable only to Gen. Sani Abacha’s tenure, has been in the news lately, with arguments coming up on social media as to whether or not he and his administration were corrupt.

Notable among his defenders is the former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, who claimed that Obasanjo cannot be labeled corrupt due to insufficient or lack of “empirical evidence”.

The link reveals a foreign affairs report detailing how Obasanjo manipulated the 2003 and 2007 General Elections.

Regardless of Obasanjo’s actions of firing Ms. Welsh and ordering an investigation, many believe he has not addressed the issues in her claims that she was trained by him and was acting on his behalf.

Many believe that the whole action was simply a façade for the international community, as he (Obasanjo) has not provided empirical evidence to ascertain his innocence.

Credit – www. post-nigeria.com

Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi Chilling With Obasanjo In London #Photo

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Check out Obasanjo and Emir Sanusi Lamido chilling.
during a recent trip to London. I hear Sanusi is trying to use OBJ’s influence to start his own foundation in the UK. Their friendship bond is now stronger than ever.

Obasanjo Foundation Sacks Trustee Implicated In Money Laundering Deal; Reports Her To London Police

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation on Friday said it has fired a member of its Board of Trustees, Anne Welsh, following shocking reports that she plotted to help some Lebanese businessmen to launder millions of dollars.

A new video obtained by SaharaReporters and published Thursday suggested Mrs. Welsh “operated a well-oiled money-laundering scheme for many years”.

In the video, which the news website said was discreetly shot by one of the participants at a meeting in the United Kingdom in December 2014, Ms. Welsh was seen negotiating a $4.9 million money laundering scheme that would have seen her pocket about a million dollars.

She was seen exploiting the Ebola Virus Disease tragedy in West Africa to help a group of “Lebanese businessmen” who wished to donate money to the Obasanjo Foundation for some work in Sierra Leone.

The group, the video indicates, explained it would make the donation on one condition: the Obasanjo Foundation would get $2m, as long as it helps launder the balance of $2.9m.

But when contacted Friday, the Founder/Chairman of the Foundation, Olusegun Obasanjo, said he, other trustees of the organization as well as staff of the Foundation were deeply saddened and disturbed by the allegations against Mrs. Weish.

“Accordingly, the Board of Trustees has asked her to immediately resign, and she has done so.” Mr. Obasanjo told PREMIUM TIMES on telephone.

The former Nigerian President also said the Foundation has launched a full-scale investigation into the allegations and has already reported the matter to the London Metropolitan Police and the UK Charity Commission for a thorough probe.

“We have asked the two authorities to investigate the matter exhaustively,” Mr. Obasanjo said.

The former President also said his Foundation had already contacted personalities mentioned or photographed with Mrs Welsh in the publication that revealed the deal as well as other dignitaries and partners to inform them that” she has now become a persona non grata with the Foundation and its Chairman/Founder”.

Mr. Obasanjo however explained that Mrs Welsh had ceased to be chief executive officer of the Foundation in December 2014 when she reportedly met the Lebanese businessmen to strike the alleged money laundering deal.

“The CEO of the Foundation at that time was Franklin Lisk,” the former President said.

Mr. Obasanjo said he would travel to London to make more enquiry about the matter and that his Foundation would soon release a formal statement on the development.

“I can never associate myself with anything that has to do with money laundering and corruption, and this is a very disturbing development for us all,” the former President said.

According to information on the UK Charity Commission’s website, the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation was granted charity status by the Charity Commission of England and Wales on September 24, 2012 with the vision of advancing human security in Africa.

“The foundation partners with change agents, policy makers, global partners and visionary individuals worldwide to tackle critical problems through the initiatives of leadership, of food and nutrition, girls education, youth empowerment and employment and health for non-communicable diseases. “

The charity, according to its 2013 annual report “works with countries across Africa —with a current focus on Republic of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and Ethiopia —that are at development turning-points, where there is clear potential and a leader with the vision and will to achieve progress”.

Culled from premium times

Oby Ezekwesili’s Gaffe, By Tony Ademiluyi

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Obiageli Ezekwesili came to national prominence when she was the Special Assistant on Budget Monitoring more popularly known as Due Process between 1999 and 2005 under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. She was said to have saved the nation billions of dollars in over inflated contracts and even once quipped that she could hardly afford to pay the house rent of her aged parents and was at a loss on how to complete the payment for her Harvard education. Such a person was extremely rare in a nation riven by graft and corrupt enrichment and it was no surprise that she later became the pioneer World Bank Vice-President for Africa after she left office. This certainly was good news and good image laundering as our rating by Transparency International at the time was at its lowest ebb. In a twist of irony, she was among the co-founders of the global anti-corruption rating body.

She raised dust last year when she alleged that about $67 billion developed wings during the Jonathan led administration. The powers that be didn’t find this funny at all as it even led to a collision course between her and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the de facto Prime Minister of the country who doubles as the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy who defended the government and cleared it of any wrongdoing. Her alarm was buttressed by a stinker which Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the ex-Central Bank Governor wrote which alluded to the gargantuan corruption of the outgoing government.

It was disheartening when she opined in an interview granted by Al-Jazeera’s Hard Talk that there was no evidence of corruption against the government of Olusegun Obasanjo. She was quoted to have said “I really like empirical evidence and right now you don’t have any. You just assumed.” She went on further to debunk the insinuations making the rounds that the Obasanjo government was more corrupt than Abacha’s. “There was no way it could have been more corrupt than the government of Abacha. I am sorry.”

It is an open secret that Obasanjo ran one of the most corrupt governments in the history of Nigeria – both military and civilian. When he was released from Abacha’s gulag in 1998, his farm which was acquired with questionable funds was

doddering on the verge of bankruptcy. It got suddenly transformed into a multi-million dollar empire in less than a decade as revealed by his erstwhile Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Femi Fani-Kayode who told a bewildered nation that the wonder farm was raking in 30 million naira monthly – a pointer to the fact that miracles do exist in Nigeria. His acquisition of 600 million naira shares in the Transnational Corporation was a monumental case of corruption. How did he get the funds for such a huge purchase? To douse the public outcry, he sold a dummy that it was done through a blind trust. His presidential library valued at billions of naira was openly done while he was still in office. That was a clear nauseating case of a conflict of interest as he used his enormous powers at his disposal to arm twist the corporate bodies to be generous with their donations. Under normal circumstances, he ought to have waited to have left office before embarking on such a mission if he felt he would still be sufficiently popular. There were two reports of either $10 billion or $16 billion disappearing from the power sector when frivolous and unexecuted contracts were indiscriminately awarded to fraudulent contractors. Obasanjo also owned up to some smuggled dollars found in Andy Uba’s private jet and said it was meant for the purchase for some equipment for his famous Otta farm. According to Jeffrey Tessler who has been convicted, the former president was said to have been one of the bribe takers in the Halliburton bribe scandal that shook the foundation of the oil and gas industry. How did he get the funds to erect his massive Hill top mansion in the ancient city of Abeokuta?

In a decent society, Obasanjo should be facing trial for grave corruption allegations. Alas, we are in a jungle that greatly rewards profligacy and doesn’t ask salient questions as to the acquisition of sudden and obscene wealth. What happened to Mobolaji Osomo, the erstwhile Housing Minister who was booted out for corruption? Did the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission take it up from there? It was ironic that even Nuhu Ribadu the first chairman of the EFCC which was a mere front for the witch hunting of Baba Iyabo’s adversaries admitted to the mind boggling corruption of his former boss’s regime. Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who served the regime as the Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises and Minister for the Federal Capital Territory revealed the

reality of the corruption scourge in his highly controversial book whose publication generated ripples across the nation and had the status of an international best seller.

Nobody has castigated Madam Oby for serving a corrupt government as she has not been found wanting. The Late Dora Akunyili’s international prominence was facilitated by a corrupt regime but that didn’t dent her global image. However to insult the collective intelligence of Nigerians that the Obasanjo government was akin to a Sainthood is taking the expensive joke too far.

Let us call a spade a spade!

Tony Ademiluyi

VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE SOLELY AUTHOR’S…

Extradition: Kashamu Sues IGP, NDLEA, 10 Others

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Prempting his likely extradition to the United States for alleged drug offences, Senator-elect, Prince Buruji Kashamu, has dragged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and 11 others before a Federal High Court in Lagos to forestall such move.

In an Originating Summons brought before Justice Okon Abang, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain alleged that there was a conspiracy between the law enforcement agencies of Nigeria and the U.S to humiliate as well as prevent him from being sworn-in as Senator.

Joined as defendants with the IGP in the fundamental rights suit marked FHC/L/CS/508/15, are Chairman, Nigerian Drug Laws Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA); Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC); Director General, Department of State Security, (DSS); The Interpol National Central Bureau, (NCB); and Attorney-General of the Federation, (AGF).

Others are – the Clerk of the National Assembly; the National Security Adviser to the President; Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); Nigeria Custom Services (NCS); Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Kashamu is seeking nine declarative orders from the court to restrain the defendants from arresting, detaining or otherwise effecting his abduction upon spurious allegation, that defendants’ actions are illegal, unlawful, ultra vires and a breach on his rights.

He also wants the court to direct the clerk of the National Assembly to accord all facilities and privileges due him as Senator-elect.

When the matter was called for hearing on Monday, counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, who said he was yet to see the court processes, prayed for an adjournment to enable him find out which of the agency’s offices was served.

He told the court that the commission was yet to reply to the suit because he hasn’t laid hands on the processes.

Apologising for stalling the proceeding, Oyedepo noted that it would be in the interest of justice if EFCC was given a short adjournment to reply to the suit.

But lawyer to the applicant, Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), urged the court to discountenance EFCC’s application for an adjournment, on grounds that the matter should be determined expeditiously.

He argued that there was no material fact before the court to exercise its discretion, adding that since EFCC had conceded that they were served and failed to respond after 12 days stipulated by Order 8 Rule 3 of the court, there was no room for extension.

Aside the EFCC, the NIS also pleaded for a short adjournment to enable its lawyer reply the applicant’s brief.

He told the court that the NIS has not been able to respond to the application as a result of the ill health of its counsel.

A Prophet Has A Message For Obasanjo, Buhari, Tinubu, Fayose

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Prophet Tibetan is one of the few Nigerian prophets who boldly predicted that Goodluck Jonathan would be defeated by General Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential election. He has come out with fresh sets of prophecies, one is that Nigerians should thank Baba Olusegun Obasanjo, Bola Tinubu, Rotimi Amaechi, etc for their efforts in salvaging Nigeria from the claws of bad leadership.

He has some words for Buhari and a serious message for Governor Ayo Fayose. Details below:

Buhari will not die in office:

Buhari will not die in office. God prolonged the life of King Hezekiah in the Bible and this is Buhari’s portion. He won’t die in office. He has a job to do. There is no time to waste. Mr. President-elect should hit the ground running on his first day in office because he already has the template of what he wants to do to liberate Nigeria since 2003. Remember I told the world in my Prediction 2015 book that General Buhari is not chosen by God but by the people of Nigeria to liberate them and since he is the one the people want, God answered their prayer by giving him the leadership of the country. Buhari should run the affairs of Nigeria without fear or favor because he has a limited time to do this work.

Obasanjo, Tinubu, Amaechi, Nyako deserve kudos:
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state and former President Olusegun Obasanjo are heroes who saved Nigeria and Nigerians from death. They are the Gideons of our time and their role in liberating Nigeria from problem is noted before God. God is happy with Tinubu, Obasanjo, Rochas Okorocha, Amaechi and Murtala Nyako, the former Governor of Adamawa state. Nigerians should give kudos to them for their heroic act.

Is there anything Buhari should do before moving into the Aso Rock presidential villa?
Yes, if General Buhari want to run his term successfully and does not want the fate of late President Umar Yar’Adua to befall him, he must make a complete and total cleansing of Aso Rock Villa before he moves in. Between now and when he would be sworn in, General Buhari must not step into Aso Rock Villa for any meeting either in the day or in the night.

And after he is sworn in on May 29, he must ensure that America, Britain and Germany help him snoop around the entire Aso Rock vicinity to detect anything that might have been planted in there for him. An entirely new security measure should be put in place to ensure the total security and safety of the new landlord. Until then, the General could run his own “White House” from anywhere but Aso Rock.

Will Ekiti State Governor still be impeached?
The Lord does not do mistake with his words, Ayo Fayose has just nine months to stay on that seat after which he will be going to jail. I don’t really have much to say on this. I have told you what the Lord will do on December 20 when I was launching my prediction book in Nigeria. Ayo Fayose will not see the end of 2015 as Ekiti State Governor.

Source: Encomium Magazine

How Babangida, Abacha, Obasanjo Shared Nigeria’s Oil Wells- Obinna Akukwe

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The process of sharing Nigeria’s oil block national cake is as fraudulent now as when Ibrahim Babangida started the process of discretionary allocation of oil blocks to indigenous firms. Discretionary allocation of oil blocks entails that a president can reward a mistress who performs wonderfully with an oil block with capacity for cumulative yield of over $20 billion dollars without recourse to any process outside of manhood attachments. Babangida, Abacha, Abdulsalami and Obasanjo awarded discretionary oil blocks to friends, associates, family members, party chieftains, security chiefs and all categories of bootlickers, spokespersons and cult members without any laid down procedures.

The recipients of such oil blocks will get funds from ever willing offshore financiers and partners to graciously settle the benefactors, the awarders, facilitators and the Commander-in-Chief through fronts. These settlements mostly paid into foreign accounts runs into hundreds of millions of dollars according to the potential yield of the block. Sometimes, the awarder (sharer of national cake and direct intermediaries) demand additional stakes in the bidding company. The awarder sends fronts as part of the directorship and management of the bidding firms without leaving a link to them. That is how the oil block national cake is distributed to a few Nigerians.

Signature bonuses which are paid when an investor successfully bids, wins and signs agreement with the petroleum ministry, running into tens of millions and sometimes hundreds of millions of naira ,is often waived off. There is actually no waiver; rather a diversion of what would have been paid to government t coffers is paid into private purse as appreciation gifts. That is why those in the Petroleum Ministry dread retirement as though it signifies going to hell fire. No matter how little your influence, something substantial must enter your hands especially in hard currency. The nation loses billions of dollars in diverted revenue whenever any round of auction occurs.

OML 110 with high yield OBE oil fields was given Cavendish Petroleum owned by Alhaji Mai Daribe, the Borno Patriarch in 1996 by Sanni Abacha. OBE oil field has estimated over 500 million barrels of oil. In layman’s language and using average benchmark of $100 dollars per barrel, translates to $50 billion dollars worth of oil reserve. When you remove the taxes, royalties and sundry duties worth about 60% of the reserve payable over time you get about $20billion dollars worth of oil in the hands of a family.

OPL 246 was awarded to SAPETRO, a company owned by General Theophilus Danjuma, by Sanni Abacha in 1998. Akpo condensate exports about 300,000 barrels of crude daily.

OML 112 and OML 117 were awarded to AMNI International Petroleum Development Company owned by Colonel Sanni Bello in 1999. Sanni Bello is an inlaw to Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Head of State of Nigeria.

OML 115, OLDWOK Field and EBOK field was awarded to Alhaji Mohammed Indimi from Niger State. Indimi is an inlaw to former Military President Ibrahim Babangida.

OML 215 is operated by Nor East Petroleum Limited owned by Alhaji Saleh Mohammed Gambo.

OML 108 is operated by Express Petroleum Company Limited is owned by Alhaji Aminu Dantata.

OML II3 allocated to Yinka Folawiyo Pet Ltd is owned by Alhaji W.I. folawiyo.

ASUOKPU/UMUTU marginal oil fields is operated by Seplat Petroleum. Seplat is owned by Prince Nasiru Ado Bayero, cousin to the Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi. This oil field has the capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil daily. This translates to $30million dollars daily at average benchmark of $100 dollars per barrel. Deducting all sundry taxes, royalties etc , this field can yield $12billion dollars daily for the owners.

Intel owned by Atiku, Yarádua and Ado Bayero has substantial stakes in Nigeria’s oil exploration industry both in Nigeria and Principe and Sao Tome.
AMNI owns two oil blocks OML 112 and OML 117 which it runs Afren plc and Vitol has substantial stakes in oil blocks. Afren plc is operating EBOK oil fields in OML 67. Vitol lifts 300,000 barrels of Nigerian oil daily. Rilwanu Lukman, former OPEC Chairman has stakes in all these named three companies.

OPL 245 was awarded to Malabu Oil& Gas Company by Sanni Abacha. Dan Etete, Abacha’s oil minister owns Malabu Oil. In 2000, Vice President Atiku Abubakar convinced Obasanjo to revoke

OPL 245 given to Malabu Oil. Etete had earlier rejected Atiku’s demand for substantial stakes in the high yield OPL 245 and it attracted the venom of Ota Majesty who revoked the licence. However, in 2006, Obasanjo had mercy on Dan Etete and gave him back his oil block worth over $20 billion dollars.

OPL 289 and OPL 233 was awarded during Obasanjo era to Peter Odili fronts, Cleanwater Consortium, consisting of Clenwater Refinery and RivGas Petroleum and Gas Company. Odili’s brother in law, Okey Ezenwa manages the consortium as Vice Chairman.

OPL 286 is managed by Focus Energy in partnership with BG Group, a British oil concern. Andy Uba has stakes in Focus Energy and his modus operandi is such that you can never see his name in any listings yet he controls OPL and OML through proxies.

OPL 291 was awarded to Starcrest Energy Nigeria Limited, owned by Emeka Offor by Obasanjo . Immediately after the award, Starcrest sold the oil block to Addax Petroleum Development Company Limited (ADDAX) Addax paid Sir Emeka Offor a farming fee of $35million dollars and still paid the signature bonus to the government. Emeka Offor still retains stake in ADDAX operations in Nigeria.

Mike Adenuga’s Conoil is the oldest indigenous oil exploration industry in Nigeria. Conoil has six oil blocks and exports above 200,000 barrels of crude daily.
The oil block national cake sharing fiesta could take twists according to the mood of the Commander-in –Chief at the particular time. In 2006, Obasanjo revoked OPL 246 which Abacha gave to Danjuma because he refused to support the tenure elongation bid of the Ota Majesty. In 2000, Obasanjo had earlier revoked OPL 241 given to Dan Etete under the advice Atiku. However, when the Obasanjo-Atiku faceoff started, the Ota Majesty made a u-turn and handed back the oil block to Etete.

During the time of Late President Yarádua , a panel headed by Olusegun Ogunjana was set up to investigate the level of transparency in the award of oil blocks. The panel recommended that 25 oil blocks awarded by the Obasanjo be revoked because the manner they were obtained failed to meet the best practices in the industry. Sadiq Mahmood, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum endorsed the report to then president with all its recommendations. As a result of the report Yarádua revoked eleven oil blocks.

In April 2011 Mike Adenuga attempted to buy Shell’s OML 30 for $1.2 billion dollars. The Minister for Petroleum and Nigeria’s most powerful woman refused the sale of the OML30 to Adenuga citing national interest. This block was later sold to Heritage Oil for $800 million dollars eleven months later.

This oil block business is so lucrative that Danjuma’s Sapetro divested of its investment in Akpo condensate for $1billion dollars. This business is second to none in Nigeria. That is why any attempt to investigate the activities in this sector will always be futile. The money is so much that they give bribes in millions of dollars. A birthday gift or child naming gift from an oil block owner to a government official could be as paltry as $2million dollars, and if the official’s father died, the condolence gift could reach mere $3 million dollars. When they want to bribe legislators, it is in millions of dollars and any ongoing investigation ends within weeks. They are so confident that with excess money they can buy up Nigeria and they are succeeding. In the name of competitive bidding, which Obasanjo introduced in 2005, Officials bring companies overnight and through processes best described as secretive and voodooist they award blocks to party faithful, fronts and phoney companies.

During the third term agenda, Obasanjo was deceived that the allocation of oil block to party faithfuls is to fund the third term agenda. With the failure of the third term, the beneficiaries went home with their fortunes and thanked God or Allah for buttering their bread. Senator Andy Uba co ordinate the award of the last rounds of oil block by Obasanjo in 2005 and 2007. The then minister of petroleum, Edwin Daukoru was a mere errand boy who took instructions from the presidential aide.

The regime of President Goodluck is not showing any signs of changing the status quo. Controversies have trailed the activities of the Minister of Petroleum and many players in the Industry accuse her of demanding stakes from every oil deal. It is hoped that President Goodluck Jonathan will remember his transformational promise to Nigerians and endeavour to face the hawks in the oil industry. The angst in the air is so much that if this monster of illegal allocation of oil block is not addressed, the much touted revolution could begin all of a sudden and all who condoned this illegality at the expense of hungry Nigerians may have nowhere to hide.

The religious leaders should tell these oil block beneficiaries, awarders, fronts, brokers and all involved in short changing the Nigerian people to find means or returning all these back to the Nigerian people, through massive development projects. The voice of impoverished Nigerians is crying daily and if care is not taken the God who delivered Nigeria from Abacha dark days will visit them with calamities untold. With the rot in this oil block awarding system and other loot all over the Nigerian nation, something worse than revolution may happen.

Credit: nigerianbulletin

Tinubu to Kashamu: I Do Not Need Your Praise-Singing

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has rebuffed his praise-singing by Mr. Buruji Kashamu, the senator-elect in Ogun state, wanted in the United States for drug offences.

Buruji in a press statement described Tinubu as his role model and spoke glowingly of him.

But in a response today, issued by Sunday Dare, his media adviser, Tinubu asked Kashamu to “stop this cynical fawning. It will not work.”

Here is the press statement by Tinubu as issued by his press office:

“The days of false adulation are gone in Nigerian politics. Fake praise singers like kashamu will find that their particular craft is no longer in vogue. During this election cycle, their practice has dramatically turned from the way things are to how things used to be.

“Henceforth, there will be consequences for the positions a politician takes and the words they utter.

“Politicians will no longer be able to change direction and loyalties as if they were changing clothes. Those in politics must know that responsibility and accountability shall now follow them. One can no longer walk both sides of the street at the same time. In case Kashamu has not noticed, the politics of principle defeated the politics of posturing.

“That Kashumu undermined the democratic process by buying his victory does not mean he is part of the new Nigeria. He is merely an isolated vestige of a dying past. The man is an extinct species the realization of which will soon dawn on him.

“For him to liken himself to Bola Tinubu is for a small rut to call itself a mountain. For Kashamu to call Tinubu a role model is kashamu ‘s admission that he does not know the meaning of the term. There are no grounds for comparison. There is only contrast. Tinubu has sacrificed years trying to bring democracy to Nigeria. He struggled in opposition to the powers that be. Without this, at times, lonesome fight and singular determination, the great change in Nigerian politics would not have happened as it did. TInubu is an architect of democracy. Kashamu is a failed demolisher of that which Tinubu has strived to build. Under Kashamu’s designs, our elections would be a wholly mercantile undertaking.

“Meanwhile, Kashamu has blown wherever the prevailing winds took him. He stood for nothing and sacrificed nothing except the people’s welfare.

“This same Kashamu rained insults on former President Obasanjo in a vicious campaign of calumny. Kashamu’s party, PDP sponsored defamatory documentaries full of lies and innuendos against me, General Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of APC. Please keep your peace until you make your trip to the USA as a Senator elect. Upon your return we can then have a conversation. We can then proceed with your repudiation of the PDP with a promise that you will stop corrupting and fouling the political system.

“That Kashamu would deign to compare himself with Tinubu is a distasteful insult to Tinubu and to anyone who knows Nigerian politics. If he has any sense of propriety, Kashamu should retract the corrupt missive and apologize for this latest lie to the public.

“Kashamu is a factory of incoherent mischief aimed at achieving selfish goals. Before the election, Tinubu was his arch-enemy. Now he seeks to be the prodigal son returned home. This scam will fail.

“Kashamu may be prodigal but he is no political son of Tinubu. Kashamu’s political lineage tracks to people like Bode George and President Jonathan. He should direct his encomiums to these men who are his true role models. They need his contrived affections more than Tinubu does.”

Credit – www.thenewsnigeria.com.ng

Court Lifts Ban On Obasanjo’s “My Watch”

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja has lifted the injunction barring former President Olusegun Obasanjo from publishing his autobiography, My Watch.

The court had in December 2014 ordered law enforcement agencies to confiscate the three-volume book when it was discovered that it had been published before the order was made.

Buruji Kashamu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had obtained an injunction restraining Obasanjo from releasing the book, saying the subject of the book was libelous to his person. Kashamu also instituted a N20 billion libel case against Obasanjo for referring to him as a drug baron in an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan in December 2013.

But Obasanjo ignored the court order and launched the book at the Lagos Country Club Ikeja on December 9. Justice Valentine Ashi of the FCT High Court on Tuesday ordered the release of seized copies of the book from the custody of the Nigerian Customs Service to Obasanjo. He set aside the order of injunction upon an application by Obasanjo’s lawyer, Kanu Agabi (SAN).

Read More: Punch

Stay Away From Obasanjo If You Must Succeed, Owie To Buhari

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Former lawmaker, Senator Rowland Owie, on Wednesday in Benin City, Edo State, advised President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) to avoid former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as a plague if he desires to succeed as Nigeria’s leader.

Owie, who gave the advice in a statement, said that “To Buhari I thank God for you, but you must deliver on your promises and also build on what President Jonathan did.
Above all you must run far from OBJ! (Olusegun Obasanjo). If he can’t control your government, he will fight you.

“He has done it to all former Presidents of Nigeria and even against MKO Abiola who was not sworn in. Never! Never! I say never discuss with OBJ unless you have at least two of your aides present!”

Expatiating on Obasanjo’s capacity for mischief to to achieve his goal, Owie recalled that “Half way into the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, a man who sees nothing good in anybody, except himself, Obasanjo, started trouble making by naming presidential and vice-presidential candidates. “First it was Gov. Sule Lamido as president and Gov. Rotimi Amaechi as his Deputy! A respectable Lamido, a founding father of PDP while OBJ was in prison was being urged to fight PDP.

“OBJ lured most PDP governors in the North into rebellion against PDP to destroy the platform that gave all of them relevance, including OBJ. The hate mood in the North for this election against Jonathan was such that, any candidate from the North would have won the election.

“The anger was that power must return to the North. Nigerians can see that rebellion against one’s own and betrayer of one’s party doesn’t pay.

“Gov. Aliyu Babangìda of Niger State, who led the rebellion against Jonathan and the PDP, lost his election to the Senate and also lost his state”, he added.

Read More: newmail

Obasanjo Hails State Elections, Says Nigeria’s Democracy Improving

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that the nation’s electoral process has improved remarkably.

Chief Obasanjo explained that the success recorded so far in the 2015 general elections, despite initial reservations and challenges over the process, is an indication that Nigeria’s democracy has matured.

The former president made the observation shortly after his accreditation at Ward 11, Unit 21 of Olusomi Compound polling centre at Sokori area of Abeokuta South Council Area in South West Nigeria, where he eventually cast his vote at exactly 2.25pm.

Buhari And Obasanjo Held Secret Meeting

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former president, and Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect, on April 7, held a secret meeting at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

A source from Buhari’s circle disclosed:

“Gen. Buhari and former President Obasanjo were in the inner lounge of the presidential wing of the airport where they held a secret meeting for almost an hour.

“The National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Senator Chris Ngige and many of us were made to stay at the main lounge throughout the meeting. We do not really know what was discussed but it must have been very sensitive.”

Read More: naij

Tinubu At War With Obasanjo For Nominating Soludo To Buhari As Finance Minister

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Internal politicking over the formation of the cabinet of president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has started in earnest.

Although, some individuals have been penciled down for certain offices, selection of those to fill the coveted “juicy” positions may not be an easy task as powerful party members and others who gave Buhari support from outside the APC are pushing one or two nominees they believe can do a good job.

DAILY POST on Monday gathered that former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo may have been presented by former president Olusegun Obasanjo as the possible Minister of Finance for the Buhari administration.

Soludo was a member of the economic team for the Obasanjo administration prior to becoming the governor of the CBN.

Soludo’s presentation to the incoming administration as candidate for Minister of Finance is reportedly causing disquiet within the inner circles of the party, 247ureports said.

Many APC chieftains are said to be against his candidature on two grounds. One is that Soludo remains a card carrying member of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and his appointment would been as taking from Peter to pay Paul.

The other is that it was under Soludo that the banking sector almost collapsed, a situation confirmed by former CBN chief and Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a staunch supporter of the APC.

It was also under Sanusi that the banking industry went through a recapitalisation process that led to the reduction in the number of banks from 50 to 25.

His clean up also witnessed the prosecution of bank Chief Executive Officers who were discovered to have robbed their own banks by almost unilaterally awarding contracts to phoney organisations and companies they either own or had substantial omnterest in.

DAILY POST gathered that former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, is strongly against Obasanjo’s recommendation.

Sources say he had in fact reached an agreement with Buhari prior to the APC presidential primaries concerning appointment into ministerial positions.

Tinubu, it was learnt, extracted an agreement from Buhari, to which the president-elect appended his signature.

According to the agreement, Tinubu will provide names for nine ministerial positions.

Some of the positions are said to include Petroleum, Finance, Works, Federal Capital Territory and Interior.

It is to this end that the camp of the party’s co-founder, Tinubu, frowns at the presentation of Soludo as Minister of Finance.

Soludo, who is keen on returning to government, is reported to have been convinced by Obasanjo to accept the position.

It is however left to be seen if Buhari will oblige Obasanjo’s request or stick to his agreement with Tinubu.

Obasanjo played a key role in Buhari’s emergence as APC presidential flagbearer and his eventual victory at the polls, thus, his words would not be discarded with a mere wave of the hand.

Soludo had been heavily critical of the economic policies of the Jonathan administration.

The most critical was in the build up to the general election where he alleged that the current adminstration mismanaged over N20 trillion of Nigeria’s money.

His criticisms, which were published in major newspapers and websites, unsettled the Jonathan administration with the Minister of Finance, Nigozi Okonjo-Iweala, taking on Soludo in more than one rejoinders.

Source – Daily Post Ng

5 Major Reasons GEJ Lost the Nigerian Election – UK Guardian

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Staff Reporter

For the first time ever a Nigerian president failed to win the popular vote. It’s a landmark for democracy, but where did it all go wrong for Jonathan? Nigerian historian, Max Siollun listed out 5 major reasons in a new article on UK Guardian. Who else agrees with him?

Goodluck Jonathan has earned the dubious distinction of being the first president in Nigerian history to lose an election. In many ways, Jonathan was the architect of his own downfall. He made critical mistakes that turned the public and allies against him, and led them to gravitate towards the opposition. Here’s where it all went wrong:

PDP Has Stabilised The Polity, Achieved Significant Milestones In The Last 16-Years, Says Mu’azu

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Staff Reporter

National chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Adamu Mu’azu, has described Presidential Goodluck Jonathan as a true democrat and elder statesman for conceding defeat to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of the All Progressives Congress.

In a statement, which he personally signed on Wednesday in reaction to the defeat suffered by the PDP in the just concluded presidential and national assembly elections, Mr. Mu’azu went down memory lane, recalling how the ruling party has impacted positively on the lives of Nigerians and strengthened institutions in the last sixteen years at the helm of affairs.

The statement reads:

“Sixteen years ago, Nigerians gave our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the mandate to build, nurture and deepen democracy after three decades of military rule in our country.

“That historic mandate was freely given in recognition of the courageous and patriotic role of the founding fathers of our party whose resilience and doggedness championed the return of democracy and the personal freedom we all enjoy today.

“Within this period, our party worked very hard in rebuilding and strengthening democratic institutions, tenets and norms while lifting our status as the leading democracy in Africa and one of the best in the world.

“It is incontrovertible that under the PDP-led government, our nation moved from a near pariah status to a strong actor in the international democratic arena, a product of various electoral reforms and our iron-cast commitment to transparent, free and fair electoral process at all levels.

“Even in the midst of obvious threats to our democracy, the PDP and the government it sponsored continued to stabilize the polity through strict adherence to rule of law and liberalization of the political and economic space.

“In the last 16 years the PDP-led administration achieved significant milestones in our social and economic lives. We moved Nigeria from a debtor nation to Africa’s largest economy and one of the fastest growing in the world, a feat, which is accompanied with unprecedented expansion of the private sector as well as multi-sectorial infrastructural development, all, great legacies we achieved for our nation.

“Presently, our nation is at the threshold of history and its defining moment for the future. As you are aware, in the early hours of Wednesday, April 1, 2015, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returned the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as winner of the 2015 presidential election.

“However, we have received reports of serious irregularities that characterized the conduct of the election and we shall channel our protests to the appropriate quarters in line with our profound respect for the rule of law and democratic ethos.

“Our party comes with great values and tradition and we will adhere to them and ensure that nothing is done to truncate our democracy, which we have proudly worked so hard to nurture and sustain to maturity.

“Therefore, if the outcome of the election is truly the reflection of the wishes and aspirations of our citizens, the PDP will most willingly respect that wish.

“What is paramount to us is the survival of our democracy, the unity, peace and progress of our dear nation and the happiness of all our people. Nigeria is bigger than any political party, individual or group and her overall interest must be our priority at all times.

“It is in this light that we as a party commend our flag bearer, President Goodluck Jonathan for his heroic act in conceding to the voice of the people, an action that stands him out as a true democrat and a statesman.

“We also congratulate the APC flagbearer, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari for his resilience and victory in this election while wishing him success in the onerous task of leading our nation once again.

“On the same note, we wish to also commend the electorate for the peaceful manner with which they conducted themselves in the course of this election.

“For us in the PDP, we want to state in very clear terms that we are not down. We are only at our redefining moment. Rather than demoralize us, this election has afforded us great lessons and we are now more than ever before reinvigorated for the race ahead.

“As we return to the electorate for the April 11, 2015 governorship and state assembly elections, we go recharged with faith in our heart. We assure all our candidates in the remaining elections that the party will stand with you, campaign with you and work vigourously to ensure your total victory at the polls.

“Finally, we call on our party faithful to remain steadfast in our renewed effort to deliver our flag bearers in the remaining elections”.

Signed:

Ahmadu, Adamu Mu’azu, CON.

National Chairman

2015 Elections: Obasanjo Uncovers Plot To Hand Over To Military

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Staff Reporter

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday warned against any military intervention in the affairs of the country for whatever reason.

Reacting to rumour that this Saturday’s presidential election might result in confusion and consequently lead to military take over, Obasanjo said such an action would undermine the integrity of Nigeria among the comity of nations.

He spoke when the South-West women of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) led by the wife of the party’s presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Hajia Aisha Buhari, paid him a courtesy visit at his Abeokuta Hilltop residence.

Obasanjo, who said he was happy that Nigeria had gone beyond the rumour of Interim National Government (ING) and that he hoped the country would also “survive the rumour of handing over to the military”, said the intentional community, especially the African Union (AU), would not accommodate or recognise any government that emerges outside the constitution of the country.

According to him, Nigeria has all it takes to dictate the pace for other countries in Africa, adding that Nigerians should blame themselves for where “it is today.”

Chibok Girls Could Have Been Rescued, Says Obasanjo

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

President Goodluck Jonathan’s corrupt and incompetent government failed to act quickly enough to save more 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram last year, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said. He said the government did not recognize the threat Boko Haram posed until it was too late, calling the reaction “lukewarm at best.” Jonathan took 18 days to contact the governor of the province from which the girls had been taken, he added.

“The government did not believe that there had been an abduction for some time,” Obasanjo told a panel at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai, the New Indian Express reported. “If that had happened maybe the girls would have been rescued.”

Read More: ibtimes

We Almost Issued Obasanjo An APC Membership Card – Oyegun

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman has revealed that Nigeria’s main opposition party deliberated upon issuing former president of the country, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo a membership card.

He revealed this at the 87th birthday celebration of Obasanjo in Abeokuta on Thursday. He said APC had thought of issuing Obasanjo a membership card after he tore his PDP membership card but decided to allow the man enjoy his new status of elder statesman.

“My president, my boss, someone I admire and later became my friend. Somebody was tearing his card sometimes ago, leaders of our great party, APC hurriedly sat and said we should issue him our card but we decided against it. He has now become truly father of Nigeria. We will be demeaning him if we went to him and say here is APC card.

“You have done APC a very great good by leaving the PDP because we all know your worth and what you are up to. Now that you remain an elder statesman with no political party attach to you, you know our presidential candidate very well, you know what he stands for, you know what he can do and not do,” Oyegun said.

“Now, a father, a non-partisan leader, first of its kind in the history of this country, one who we can all run to for advice. He is a kind of man that if he tells you well done, just go home and relax because if you have not done well, he will tell you to go to hell.

“Your Excellency Sir, if you can recollect, what I predicted over 20 years ago, it is now coming to reality. I told you then that you are the only leader everybody in this country will want to listen to. You should agree with me that, we all love you but you know where you are facing, where you are heading to and today and we are proud to have be part of this historic birthday for a great man who came from this side of the continent,” he noted.

Obasanjo Speaks Again: ‘We Need Do-Tanks, Not Think-Tanks’

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Staff Reporter

It seems President Olusegun Obasanjo is still firing shots at the presidency. While speaking at his Presidential Library yesterday in Abeokuta, during the celebration of his 78th birthday and 2015 annual summit, the former president said there were too many ‘think-tanks’ in Nigeria, instead of ‘do-tanks.’ Stressing that what we need right now are prayers to get leaders that occasions like this deserve.

Obasanjo went on to say West African countries are worried about Nigeria and even Britain isn’t left out too. They are worried about our security, political and socio-economic challenges. When they call me or I visit them, they ask these questions, he said.

“We are about 180 million now, our brothers and sisters in West Africa are worried and when they talk to me and I ask why they were worried, they always reply that, ‘if half a million Nigerians go to Republic of Benin, we will overwhelm them.

“If two million (Nigerians) go to Ghana… Even Britain is worried, they are worried. They said their problem is that if one million Nigerians go to Britain, they said in 10 years, there will be 10 million Nigerians in Britain and they will rather keep us here.”

He also emphasized that Nigeria is blessed with too many resources for any citizen to suffer.

“My concern is that we have too many think tanks, we need more of do tanks. The point is, we can do and we have no reason why we can’t do and we have also seen that one individual can make a difference.

“There is no reason why any Nigerian child, at this point in time should not have a basic education, food and nutrition. Not only Nigerian child, no Nigerian should go to bed without food.

“We have the resources to achieve all that, that we are not achieving it does not mean we don’t have the resources. It is because we haven’t managed our resources well.

“Employment, if all other things are right, there should be no reason for any Nigerian who wants to be employed not to have the opportunity for employment.”

How Obasanjo Dealt With Me Reshaped My Life- Tinubu

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, on Thursday admitted former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, re-shaped his life positively.

Mr. Tinubu, who is a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, stated this at Mr. Obasanjo’s 78th birthday lecture held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Mr. Obasanjo caught Mr. Tinubu unawares at the occasion, when he called on the former governor to address the guests. “You trapped me innocently with a great wisdom of a 78-year-old,” Mr. Tinubu said. “I’m honoured to be here and many of you will see this as a rare occasion but this is an opportunity to pay tribute to a nationalist, a teacher, a disciplinarian and a tutor in dignity and boldness.

?Mr. Tinubu, however, acknowledged past altercations between both leaders while they were in power.

“Yes, it is true, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics,” he said. “What is common is common interest. Once upon a time, some nine years ago, I went to the (Aso Rock) Villa, the President, Olusegun Obasanjo, asked me to walk out and was just abusing me in the papers and I said, “Baba, you are a tenant here. This house belongs to Nigeria. If I get to Ota, you can send me out. I brought file about Nigeria.”
And he said, “That is true, sit down.”

Read More: premiumtimesng

#PHOTONEWS: Captain Obasanjo Scores 2 Goals at Birthday Novelty Match

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Buhari Calls Obasanjo ‘True Statesman, Nationalist’ on Birthday

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Staff Reporter

General, Muhammadu Bahari has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a courageous patriot, who tells the truth when he is convinced that leaders are going wrong. In a statement he issued through Garba Shehu, his campaign media director, Buhari said the former president “is a nationalist whose commitment to democracy and good governance are worthy of recognition and praise”.

Buhari acknowledged that, although Obasanjo is widely perceived as controversial, such perception should not overshadow his patriotism and remarkable courage to speak up when things go wrong in the county.

Buhari described Obasanjo “as a true statesman and nationalist who doesn’t abandon his country when it needs his voice to jolt the conscience of leaders to listen to those they govern”.

Read More: DailyPost

Ex Militants Warn Obasanjo, Buhari

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Ex- Niger Delta militant leaders from the South- South geo-political zone has issued a stern warning to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the presidential flag bearer of APC, Muhammud Buhari, to stop instigating Nigerians against President Goodluck Jonathan.

The ex-militants, under the aegis of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiatives (LPCDI) cautioned the two former Head of State to be careful of what they say about President Jonathan.

Reuben Wilson, National Coordinator of the group, said the frequent media attacks on the President by Obasanjo were not acceptable,as they are further heating up the polity and fanning embers of disunity. He warned Buhari against the use of religion and ethnicity in the ongoing political campaigns.

Read More: Sahara Reporters

Obasanjo Must Apologise to be Re-Admitted to PDP, Says Official

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Staff Reporter

A PDP official has said that former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, will only be re-admitted into Nigeria’s ruling PDP if he tenders an “unreserved apology” to the party.

Walid Jibrin, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the party, stated this at his country home in Marmara, Nasarawa State, on Saturday.

Mr. Obasanjo’s membership card was publicly torn by one of his supporters when the former president recently announced his exit from the ruling party.

“Obasanjo must offer unreserved apology before he is admitted and his card re-issued,” Mr. Jibrin stated at a ceremony to announce the defection of his son, Imrana Jibrin, from the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the PDP.

Read More: premiumtimesng

I’m Not Wishing Buhari Death, He’s Too Old to Govern- Fayose

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, has again reiterated that he had nothing personal against nor wishing any harm done to the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate,Major General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) and that Obasanjo insisted that Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua must be the president in 2006 because he preferred him.

In a statement in Ado Ekiti ,the governor said his motive was to expose the hypocrisy of some of the leadership of APC,whom according to him are placing personal interests far above national interest.

“I remember then as the ad hoc chairman of the PDP committee to shop for the presidential candidate to replace former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a crop of suitable, brilliant, healthy and competent northern politicians? in the PDP were shortlisted by me for Obasanjo to pick from, but he overruled the list and asked me to contact the late Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua because he preferred him…”

Read More: vanguardngr.com

Obasanjo’s Exit From PDP Will Favour Buhari – Campbell

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Ex-US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, has stated that the exit of President Olusegun Obasanjo from the PDP would affect the second term ambition of president Goodluck Jonathan.

The envoy said the development will boost the winning chances of the presidential candidate of the APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the rescheduled March 28 presidential election.

Campbell noted that Obasanjo’s decision to quit the party on which platform he ruled the country, as a result of his unending fracas with Jonathan, would certainly work in favour APC and Buhari.

He said in a new article: “This move, along with numerous other defections from the ruling party, may be a sign that the hitherto badly splintered ruling elites may be coming together again in the face of the Boko Haram insurgency, corruption, incompetence of the federal government, and the Abuja government’s declining economic performance.”

The former US envoy who is also a Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations said that “Buhari’s positive polling data and the anecdotal evidence of his growing appeal in all parts of the country and across religious and ethnic lines may reflect on this emerging elite consensus.”

I Betrayed Amaechi, Kwankwaso, Others – Sule Lamido Confesses

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Staff Reporter

In politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interest to serve. Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has finally owned up to the accusation that he betrayed his fellow governors with whom he formed the group of seven governors (G7) under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Lamido stated this at the national headquarters of the PDP after he emerged from a meeting with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

When confronted with accusation of Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Lamido, said:

“I am a betrayer, confirmed. I betrayed them. I did, yes. I am aligning myself to what he said. I am aligning my answer to what he said. Go and find out from him.”

Governor Kwankwaso had accused Lamido of betraying five other governors who defected to the APC in 2013 following irreconcilable differences with President Goodluck Jonathan and the party leadership under former national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

Kwankwaso who identified Lamido as the leader of the G7 governors said Lamido and Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, were part and parcel of the move to leave PDP but failed to do so with others.

Out of the seven governors, Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara) and former governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako moved to the APC.

Governors Babangida Aliyu and Sule Lamido however refused to join the APC.

On the exit of President Olusegun Obasanjo from the PDP, Lamido said “You have a father and a son, you do not come between a father and a son. You do not go out in the open to insult your father, it is our business, so leave it. You are not his own son, he is our own father, so leave us a lone please.”

On whether he is still consulting for subsequent defection, Lamido said, “You see, sometimes you people have to listen to mischief. Ameachi and I are very good friends and colleagues, PDP or no PDP as Nigerians. So if Amaechi comes to me, we have to look at issues pertaining to this country.”

Stop Attacking Obasanjo & Buhari, Bamidele Tells Fayose

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Hon Opeyemi Bamidele, member of the House of Representatives, has advised Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose to stop attacking the personalities of the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and APC presidential candidate, Major General Mohammadu BuharI.

In a statement in Ado Ekiti yesterday, Bamidele said the governor should rather sit down and map out strategies on how he would solve the issue of serious financial situation facing the state rather than dissipating his energies on attacking the two leading personalities

Fayose had described the APC Presidential Candidate as too old and sick to be president of the country. Fayose had equally condemned Chief Obasanjo for his consistent attack on the president ,Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

Credit: vanguardngr.com

Obasanjo Destroyed an Expired Card- PDP

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Staff Reporter

PDP National Secretary Adewale Oladipo revealed on Tuesday that former President Olusegun Obasanjo destroyed an expired party membership card and not the new card being issued by the party.

Speaking during the welcome of a group of youth supporters, Oladipo explained that the membership card which Obasanjo tore was expired and has been signed by National Chairman Abubakar Kawu Baraje. The new, authentic card is said to be signed by PDP National Chairman Adamu Muazu and Oladipo himself.

Deputy National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus has boasted that the party is set to surprise the APC in the South West and that President Goodluck Jonathan will be re-elected on March 28.

Read More: Vanguard

Obasanjo’s Exit is PDP’s Death Warrant- Kwankwaso

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Gov. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State has described the exit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the PDP as a death warrant to the party. He said Obasanjo’s exit signified that the death warrant of the party is about to be signed.

He stated that the five governors who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) were vindicated for seeing the futility in remaining in the PDP that had lost credibility and steam.

Kwankwaso, who was speaking to newsmen in his office in Kano, said the PDP is on road to extinction in the face of the abysmal rot rocking its leadership.

Read More: Thisday

Fayose Calls Obasanjo “Bad Rubbish”

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, who had previously called for Mr Obasanjo’s dismissal from the party, arguing that his relentless criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan and his mingling with opposition leaders amounted to anti-party conducts, also congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan, saying with the exit of Mr. Obasanjo from the party, “the coast is now clear” for the president’s victory in the forthcoming election.

“Congratulation on Obasanjo’s exit! Obasanjo, the troubler and tormentor of our party is gone,” the advert announced.

“I congratulate our President, His Excellency Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the entire member of the Peoples Democratic Party on the exit of the mole in our party, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd). Good riddance to bad rubbish,” the advertorial continued.

“Our President, the coast is now clear for your victory!

Read More: premiumtimesng.com

Jonathan Exposes OBJ

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Staff Reporter

President Goodluck Jonathan has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of scaring investors away from the country by his consistent criticism of his administration. He accused the former President of ridiculing Nigeria before the international community and creating the impression that the country is on the verge of collapse.

He pleaded with Obasanjo to be civil in his criticism so as not to create the impression that the country is in crisis.

He said the actions and inactions, or utterances of the former president should be guarded so that the country is not exposed to the international community as if it is a country in danger, a country that is about to collapse.

Read More: Premium Times

Lamido’s Plan To Reconcile with OBJ

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State on Wednesday met the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Adamu Mu’azu, on how to convince former President Olusegun Obasanjo to return to the party.

The meeting was at the instance of Mu’azu, who is worried about the political implications of Obasanjo’s decision to dump the PDP. The meeting took place at the Abuja residence of Mu’azu.

Mu’azu during the meeting sought the opinion of Lamido on how to resolve the issues between Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan.

Lamido, who also met with President Jonathan on Tuesday over the issue, told Mu’azu to warn some members of the party, including a governor from the southern part of the country to stop abusing the former President.

Read More: Punch

Group Urges OBJ to Tell the Truth for Once Before He Dies

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Staff Reporter

A group named Move on Nigeria, has lambasted former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his recent acts and attacks against the office and person of President Goodluck Jonathan. National coordinator, Mr Clem Aguiyi, in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, said Obasanjo is a bad actor who thinks Nigerians are dimwits. “Why the PDP had tolerated him up to this point remains a worry and a puzzle,” he said.

Continuing he said, “We are aware of a plot by him and some persons within and outside the country to undermine the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. “We find the false claims and allegations reportedly made against President Jonathan by Chief Obasanjo on Saturday, in Abeokuta, very repugnant.”

Move on Nigeria said it is unfortunate that Obasanjo has made up his mind to mislead the nation with unfounded lies. “While we hope Nigeria survives his sinister interventions, we seize this opportunity to urge him to tell the truth for once before he dies…”.

Read More: dailypost.ng

How Fani-Kayode Defended Obasanjo Against Jonathan 14 Months Ago (See Photo)

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Staff Reporter

This is Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s response to Ex-President Obasanjo’s letter two December’s ago. But we are not taking sides on this one 🙂

Seun Kuti Blasts Obasanjo After Dumping PDP

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Staff Reporter

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Seun Kuti has reacted to the news of Olusegun Obasanjo dumping the People’s Democratic Party (PDP),by lambasting the former head of state. He reacted on his Facebook page by saying that Obasanjo has failed to take responsibility for killing his grandmother and other of his crimes.

“Baba obasanjo has blamed everyone else for this bad government except himself. You were no different and this is just an escalation of your tactics. Na so u burn my father house, kill my grandmother and blamed unknown soldiers.

“ Hian. Oga take responsibility sometimes too. Not only are we on the wrong journey we got lost there too and are on the wrong path. We are lost in a wrong journey and Obasanjo is the navigation officer,” he wrote on Facebook.

Credit: News24

PDP Set to Reconcile with Obasanjo, “Father of All”

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Staff Reporter

PDP is set to pacify former President Olusegun Obasanjo to reconsider his decision of dumping the party. Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, who disclosed the party’s move to reconcile with Obasanjo, said the former President remained the father of all. Lamido was speaking after holding a closed- door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Lamido, who is the North-West Coordinator of Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Council, noted that President Jonathan and all the state governors were creations of Obasanjo. He stated though the PDP might have failed to live up to Obasanjo’s expectations, abandoning the party was not the solution.

Obasanjo : His Architectural Design And Failed Pocketing Of A Nation By Fodio Ahmed

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Staff Reporter

I will try and keep it together, above all simple. Baba, I am not here to mount gramma or analyze your dramatic attitudes, but certainly as a former president who served both in the Military and Civilian eras, you need no introduction. Baba, you became a military president after the successful assassination of General Murtala Muhammed, I also do not have that unpleasant time to tell you, when was that. You tried to assassinate Late General Sani Abacha but you ran out of luck, the reason you where sentenced to life in prison.

Baba Iyabo, your release after the death of Abacha and the eventual search for greener pasture in politics began that same period, but of cause, it was clear how you made it out of prison. The discovery of your god in prison and seeing 1999 before 1999 was seen clearly by yourself, as being on a mission to restore Nigeria and her ribbons of troubles, starting with the defeat of separatism. Exactly, the vision you saw Baba came to stay, when you became the pioneer People’s Democratic Party’s presidential flag bearer and eventually the winner, I seriously do not want to discuss how you won that election, but then on 27th of May, 1999, you where sworn-in as a president elect of federal republic of Nigeria.

Baba, 4 years later from 1999, you needed an intact return in 2003, but your then Vice President was already seeing his transition glory from number 2 to 1. Atiku’s quest for transition secured an agreement, a gentlemen agreement with you, to be supported in 2007. Baba Kai!!!!!!! You are not a gentleman at all and I doubt, if you will see the glory of almighty, because you refused to respect that gentlemen agreement, rather you came up with the worst leadership desire called the 3rd term Agenda, that naked desire was the foundation of the architectural design of Nigeria’s present day misery.

Baba, can God Almighty forgive you ? He would, if Nigerians forgive you, so instead of all this stunts, it is better you seek for forgiveness from us. Baba, I seriously do not have that strength to outline your sins, against us, but aside your failed attempt to bury Nigerian constitution with whole lots of facial make up to suit your 3rd term agenda, to your many attempts to completely hijack the control of the party, or to the series of dislodgment plot within the party, which today is the reason all incumbents want be in charge of their party. Baba you successfully manipulated the PDP’s constitution which saw you becoming the Chairman Board of Trustees after dislodging Chief Tony Aneni. That post is the most powerful organ of the party.

Baba, you ko !!!! You even have the gods to accuse President Goodluck Jonathan of squandering Nigeria’s oil money, who was your Petroleum Minister during your 8 years serving as a President ? Nobody, you were the sole administrator of that Ministry, give us a detail report of the financial happenings then.

Baba, from what it is today, even the emergence of Goodluck was as your result of greedy political permutations beyond 2007, you knew the health condition of Late Umaru Musa Yar’adua, I am sure. His elder brother was once your Chief of Staff but you against all odds hand picked and did the peering, that peering now is where we are today. That peering is President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who took over after the death of Yar’adua. Baba then believed his plans had fallen into place, like since he didn’t secure a 3rd term bid, his puppet is there. Can we now see, where the politics of ‘hand picking a successor’ got its revelation ?. In fact, even the 2007 election that brought Baba’s peering was described as the most fraudulent election ever, well maybe the 2015 might take over that record, since it is believed that students learn better than their teachers.

Follow countrymen, all sins that Baba is pin pointing in this administration, got its root from Baba as a result of his failure to to secure a 3rd term agenda. Even the fuel subsidy crisis was exactly an opposite of the notorious “Ali Must Go” crisis. Baba didn’t use the military to intimidate but he also resigned lots of not loyal uniform men, his tool then was Nuhu Ribadu and his EFCC, a cosmetic anti corruption agency used for bringing sanity unto those who have gone against the political morality of Baba Iyabo. The same thing Jonathan does with our security agencies, but Baba played a matured one though. Baba, you brought Goodluck to become your errand president while from Otta farm, you wanted to control the Nation’s treasury and pocket Goodluck’s administration, but sorry you had the devil’s luck, coupled with the fact that what you did in PDP has started witch hunting you, physically and spiritually. It got to the peak, that was why you publicly tore your membership card.

Dear Baba Iyabo, we know you are just displaying your illusive patriotism and fraudulent heroic gestures because what Nigeria is suffering today is the manifestation of your sperm from the womb of her political system and let almighty GOD reward your accordingly. Amen. You have totally failed.

Now, to APC who are busy celebrating Baba’s fraudulent heroic act, to the extent of saying he is emancipating, we the people from the shackles of PDP, I now wonder, if the CHANGE that we the masses crave for, is exactly the CHANGE as seen in the opposition because it’s obvious that the APC are just after unseating then crushing the PDP, I mean revenge time. Who knows, but this is my prayer, Dear Lord, General Buhari no doubt is a man of integrity but not perfect as coined by mischievous political supporters and it is your will that he is so loved by the masses, but seems lots of wolfs are wearing the Buhari’s face and exploiting his integrity. I pray that God exposes them before they win elections and disgrace the general who clearly is on a rescue mission. Amen.

Views expressed in article are solely that of author and not www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Don’t Step Foot on Niger Delta Soil, Ex Militants Warn Obasanjo

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Hundreds of ex-militants thronged the Ohoror Junction axis of the East-West Road, promising to bar the former president from stepping foot on the Niger Delta region, following Obasanjo’s actions against President Jonathan.

They said they had resolved to attack Obasanjo’s business interest in Port Harcourt, Warri, Asaba, Calabar, Uyo and other cities in the Niger Delta, adding that since he had decided to label President Jonathan as an enemy, he is also an enemy to the region.

Mr. Preye Ekpebide, Delta State Chairman Phase Three Amnesty Programme, who addressed newsmen during the peaceful protest, said Obasanjo’s aspersion on Jonathan was as a result of his failure to use the president as a puppet and surrogate.

Credit: vanguardngr.com

Why I Shredded My PDP Membership Card- Obasanjo

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has opened up as to why he shredded his PDP membership card, following the various reactions and responses regarding his action.

In three tweets, last night, Obasanjo gave as his reasons, his uneasiness in abiding in the same party with a president who he said was determined to use corruption to destroy the country. He also said he would not abide in a party that is led by a ‘drug baron’, saying his action had freed him to comment on national issues as he felt.

Read More: vanguardngr.com

Obasanjo Tears His PDP Membership Card…

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Reports reveal that former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who is a founding father of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has dumped the party. Reports say it happened Monday morning.

According to Daily Trust, he handed over his PDP membership card to the Ward 11 leader in Abeokuta North local government, Alhaji Surajudeen Oladunjoye instructed him to tear it.

Read More: dailytrust.com.ng

Okupe Reports Obasanjo to God for Supporting Buhari

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Dr. Doyin Okupe has reacted to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s prediction that a new government will be formed on May 29, 2015.

It would be recalled that while speaking on election postponement, Obasanjo in an interview with Financial Times in Nairobi on Monday said: “I’ll only go by the constitution. By our constitution, there must be a new government on the 29th of May and the constitution lays out how that new government should emerge.

Okupe reacted on his Facebook page saying that “Someone was reported to have said “A new government will be installed on the 29th of may 2015?

Lamentations 3 vs 37 says “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not? Isaiah 7 vs 7 says “Thus sayeth the Lord God, it shall not stand neither shall it come to pass.”

Credit: xwaizi.com

I Did Not Endorse Buhari… As Such- Obasanjo (WATCH VIDEO)

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Credit: YouTube/ ChannelsTv

Why I Accepted to be Buhari’s Running Mate – Prof. Osinbajo

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Excerpts from Prof. Osinbajo’s interview with Daily Trust:

As a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former Attorney-General of Lagos State, it was never your kind of schedule to be travelling from one part of the country to another on campaign. How are you coping with the demands?
It’s been very hectic but exciting. It’s interesting. One is able to go the length and breadth of the country and meet with real people, with real issues and real problems. We’re able to get a general sense of how the man on the street, the average Nigerian feels about so many issues. I think it’s one of the most educative, instructive periods of my life.

If you look at the reception in Makurdi, people had high expectations from you and the Presidential candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari. How do you feel when you discover that people may be expecting much more than you can deliver, if elected?
I think it’s a bit overwhelming sometimes. But what strengthens me is the fact that I know that if the Lord helps us to win the election, we’ll give it our best; we would have no other objective than good governance, no private agenda, nothing. I think that commitment alone is what strengthens me. I know how committed General Buhari is; I know how single-minded he is and fortunately, I share that with him – commitment and single-mindedness to the Nigerian project.

How well did you know Buhari before you were named his running mate in the forthcoming election?
I had met him a number of times in the past few years. But before the presidential nomination, there was a time when we were drafting the APC manifestoes and other things I had occasions to interact with him quite frequently. I had interacted with him, spoken to him, discussed with him on few occasions.

If you didn’t know him quite well, if you become his Vice-President, you may not be able to function in harmony.
No. I don’t think. For instance, I had never met Asiwaju Bola Tinubu before I became Attorney-General. I had not met him before he won the election as governor-elect. But we had a working relationship that lasted eight years. I regard him as an older brother. And in many senses, he is also my leader. We’ve functioned so well, so effectively for all of these years. So, I don’t think it’s important that you know someone very, very well in order to work well with him. What is most important is commitment, loyalty and trustworthiness. That’s it.

Are you worried that some Christian leaders are campaigning against Buhari, expressing the fear that he could Islamise the country?
No, I’m not worried because I know that the truth will prevail. I know that there are some individuals who genuinely worry about Islamization. But there are others who know the truth but prefer the propaganda for their own interest. I know some people are genuinely worried, but there is nothing to worry about it. The reason why no one should worry is that there is no Islamic agenda; General Buhari has no Islamic agenda, and I can say that with conviction because I have interacted with him, and his antecedents do not show that he has any fundamentalist Islamic tendencies.

What are the antecedents which attest to your claim?
The first is that he was a Head of State of Nigeria from December 1983 to August 1985. In that period he had nearly absolute powers. He appointed the ministers, governors, his deputy was a Muslim. Of the 19 governors that he appointed, 11 were Christians. Of the ministers he appointed, 70 per cent of them were Christians. That was when he could have done what he wished. He was under pressure; there were forces that wanted him to join the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC). He refused to join the OIC. He took the view that Nigeria was a secular state and should not join the OIC as a member. He refused to join. It was only in 1988, thereafter, that the country joined OIC. But everyone of us knows that the first Nigerian Head of State to attend the OIC is President Goodluck Jonathan.

So, clearly Buhari is not going to Islamize the country. Also, the first Islamic insurgency that was suppressed in Nigeria, the Maitatsine insurgency, was suppressed by General Buhari. If he believed in Islamic extremist ideology, he would have allowed Maitatsine. He led the Nigerian Army and ensured that Maitatsine was completely suppressed. Besides all that, some people have accused him of saying that Muslims should vote for Muslims, Christians should vote for Christians. Not only is that absurd, he has denied that many times. It’s absurd.
The first time he ran for office, he chose Senator Chuba Okadigbo of blessed memory; the second was the late Chief Ume Ezeoke; the third was Pastor Tunde Bakare; and the fourth is myself. If he believes that Muslims should vote for Muslims, why should he go and pick a Christian running mate? That’s absurd. Why should anyone believe that funny story? Some people said he threatened to make Nigeria ungovernable if he lost elections.

He sued the newspaper company that published the story. The media outfit formally apologized publicly to him, that they lied against him. Some said, he promised to spread the Shar’iah rule. He has denied that repeatedly. On Sunday, some people were placing a mischievous advert, congratulating him on his plans to spread the Shar’iah. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) propaganda is very strong and they’ve tried their best to cause fear; they’re trying to spread fear in the minds of the people, especially Christians, saying Buhari is planning to Islamise the country. There’s nothing farther from the truth.

I’ve spoken to him personally, and he’s said to me, that the two people who were closest to him in the army and for whom he has the greatest respect are General Gowon and General T.Y. Danjuma. Both of them are Christians from the North. He said, ‘why don’t you ask them what their views are about me, whether I’m a fundamentalist or not?’ Finally, he said he has told us repeatedly, his driver of over 15 years is a Christian, his bodyguards are mostly Christians; some were killed when he was attacked in Kaduna. And Buhari said, ‘If I can’t Ismalise my cook and steward, driver, how am I going to Islamise the likes of Yemi Osinbajo, Rochas Okorocha, Ogbonnaya Onu, Governor Fayemi, Niyi Adebayo, Rotimi Amaechi?’
Besides, Islamization of the country is impossible, technically. You have to amend the constitution. Everybody knows how long it takes to amend the constitution. Not only do you need an act of the National Assembly, you need two-thirds of 36 states, that’s 24 states, voting together to say that they want an Islamic country. How are you going to get that? It’s not possible. Technically, it’s not possible. But when you hear people holding on to that, it’s because of the way the PDP propaganda has spread the lies. Unfortunately, many people have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Those who have their own private agenda are talking about Islamisation.
But I can say, definitely, that I’m a committed Christian, I’m committed to my faith, I certainly, know there is no such desire. But I also believe very strongly that my role in government would be to ensure there is justice for Muslims, justice for Christians, and justice for those who don’t have any belief system. Everyone of us must be treated fairly. The business of government is not religion. It is to protect the lives and property of its citizenry; to ensure that everybody has freedom of worship, to practice their religion, freedom to recreate, enjoy themselves and do their businesses peacefully. That’s what the business of government is.

What was the reaction of Pastor Enoch Adeboye to your appointment as the running mate to Buhari?
The first thing that I must say is that, Pastor Adeboye is my spiritual father. Beyond being my spiritual father, he’s a person I regard as a father to me. The first thing I must do, and which I did, was to speak to him even when the speculation was on that I was being considered as vice-presidential nominee. He unequivocally said to me that if the offer was ever made to me I must take it. He was categorical, that he thought that would be a wonderful opportunity, and that I should take the opportunity. Pastor Adeboye said he knew, because of my personal commitment, if I was offered and took it, and by God’s grace, we won the election, I would be able to contribute very effectively to governance and be a good representative of our faith. He was fully supportive of my taking the vice presidential candidacy offer.

When some preachers say they will open the gates of hell to those who oppose Jonathan, how do you feel?
Personally, I didn’t hear it. I haven’t come across it, really. I’m one that wouldn’t want to comment on the utterances of ministers and all that. I just don’t think that is appropriate to begin to comment on it. I didn’t hear anyone say that.

What does it mean to open the gates of hell for another person?
I don’t want to comment on it because I didn’t hear it. I shouldn’t waste my time analyzing it.

I learnt that former President Olusegun Obasanjo made an offer for you to be the Attorney-General of the Federation, but you rejected it. Why?
Let me just say that friends of mine within the administration, at one point in time, came together and spoke to me about it. But at the time I was the Attorney-General in Lagos State. I was committed to the job I was doing. At that time we had just got our decision from the Supreme Court on the Local Government funds withheld by the Federal Government.

The orders of the court had not been obeyed by the Obasanjo administration, and it just wasn’t something I considered honourable to do at that time. I told my friends who approached me that it was not an honourable thing, and that I could not, considering the circumstances, and given my commitment to the state and to the party Action Congress (AC).

But being the AGF would have given you more powers and even wealth?
That is not a relevant consideration for me because making a contribution requires you to go in with some credibility. You cannot do a dishonourable thing and hope that you’ll be able to make a serious contribution. Anyway, what sort of wealth am I going to make? It would be illegal. That was not a consideration, anyway.

What’s your philosophy about wealth, because you keep on giving the impression that wealth is not a serious motivation for you?
A concept that has always remained with me, is that affluence, wealth by itself is futile unless whatever it is that you have is benefitting others. It is for that same reason that I can’t take bribe because, aside from the fact that I’m a born-again Christian, I strongly believe that you cannot steal from people or government, to take bribes in whatever shape or form. My reasons for that are fundamental: you cannot in truth operate without integrity and expect God’s blessings.

You must act with integrity all the time as much as you can. For me, affluence by itself, if your purpose is to become rich, or your purpose in life is to become affluent, it’s a futile exercise. You’ll achieve nothing. Money, at the end of the day, is meaningless. If you get it by illegal means, you’re bound to regret it down the line. And if you are one who knows that you cannot do evil and then expect good (you reap what you sow), then you’re much more careful about anything like the illegal accumulation of wealth. I think that some of what you see in the society today have been created by the accumulation of wealth. There’s something that is dysfunctional about the human mind that operates at that level. People who have been entrusted with political power, power that is supposed to be to the benefits of over a hundred million Nigerians, would seize the commonwealth for themselves. That’s a dysfunctional mind.

Have you ever been tempted with money, a huge sum of money, and you looked at it and said, no?
You know, I served in government for eight years. Always, Nigerians want to subject authority, and because there is no consequence for giving and receiving bribes, many have come to believe that you must bribe public officials. If you’re in public office, you’re always confronted with this, not once in a while. It’s your duty to decide what to do. That’s why it’s important to come into office with a certain set of ethics, whether they are inspired by the fear of God or whatever. You must come to office with your ethics, your rule of engagement. Turning down a bribe, for me, is not an issue at all.

What’s your wife’s attitude toward such ascetic lifestyle? Women would always want to enjoy the good things of life which your legitimate earnings alone can’t afford?
My wife fully supports me (laughs). We share the same philosophy about money. We don’t believe that money is the purpose of life. We both accept that position, and we’ve been married now for 25 years. We’ve always lived modestly. We built our first home when I was 51 years old, after I left office. We’ve lived in rented accommodation for many years. We never used a brand new car until 1998. We always used Tokunbo cars. That’s not because we’re not hardworking, but we strongly believe that we must work hard for the money we earn.

We must teach our children the value of integrity. My own father said to me many years ago, (and we wrote the words on slab on his grave): ‘the place of integrity is where we ought to be found, whether or not it is also the place of wealth.’ He said we must be found in the place of integrity, no matter what. That’s been my guiding principle. For my wife, also, we don’t live beyond our means. We enjoy our lives; we’re happy with what God has provided for us.

It is speculated that you run 5,000 churches. How did you come about so many churches?
Well, that’s not truth. I’m a provincial pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). I have a parish, which I pastor in Banana Island. As a provincial pastor, I have 91 other parishes that I supervise. That’s the full extent of the church I pastor and supervise.

What’s more is that at the RCCG nobody owns the church. We’re all servants in the church. For those of us who are not full-time pastors, we don’t earn a salary. We don’t earn anything. We’re not paid. I’m a practicing lawyer. We don’t own the church. The fact that I supervise 91 parishes is because it’s my administrative responsibility as provincial pastor. I can be moved to any province any time. I was at another parish, a smaller parish, before I was moved to this parish. I don’t supervise 5,000 parishes, but I will be happy to.

When you heard that you had 5,000 churches, how did you feel?
I don’t understand what Vice President Namadi Sambo wanted to achieve by going around saying things like that. But it’s obvious that he was wrong. But if I could supervise 5,000 churches, there’s nothing wrong with it. First of all, I’m proud of my faith. I’m happy to be a Christian, but my faith also teaches that I must love and show kindness and justice to all men, regardless to their faith. I’ve good friends who are Muslims. Governor Rauf Aregbesola, for instance, of Osun State is one of the closest people to me. He’s a Muslim. His son, Kabiru, is a son to me. I have so many friends who are not Christians.

What the Christian faith teaches is that, even if you have enemies, you have to pray for them, not alone your friends. Jesus Christ came for the whole wide world. He came to show justice to all men. The Bible says, for God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whosoever believeth in him will have eternal life. Love for all is very important, justice for all is very important.

It’s speculated you would be vice president for six months, after which you would handover the seat to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. What’s the deal between you and Tinubu?
(Laughter). That’s the most unserious speculation I’ve ever come across. Frankly, I have not heard it. But there’s no such thing. As you know, Asiwaju Tinubu is known for picking people and supporting people he believes would do the best for the state or for the nation, as the case may be. That’s why we have the likes of Governors Fashola, Fayemi, Amosun, Aregbesola. They have done exceedingly well in their states. That speculation that I would quit after six months is too crude to be believed.

Did you give any conditions to General Buhari before you accepted to be his running mate?
No, I didn’t give any conditions. I had met with Buhari. I know he’s an honest man. He’s a straightforward man. He’s a man who wants to keep his words. And I share those values. We share the same values in governance. We believe that this country has been badly run; we must run it well. We must run it fairly and in accordance with the Rule of Law.

There must be freedom of religion; freedom of worship. There must be freedom to do business. It’s our business to create that environment. We must solve the problem of unemployment; we must deal with the power problem. We’re at one in all of the critical issues that affect our country. So there’s no need for pre-conditions.

If elected as vice president, how does your government hope to create jobs?
There are several things. In fact, in writing the APC manifesto, the major question that we asked ourselves while writing any policy was, ‘how many jobs will this policy produce?’ We have several approaches.

The first is some emergency creation of jobs by government. We’re looking at state governments creating a minimum of 20,000 jobs. That’s just a relieve measure. Then, we’re looking at giving incentives to employers of labour, who employ over 10 staff and pay them the minimum wage. We’re looking at giving them tax breaks. That’s just to encourage employers of labour. We also know that we need to clean up the business environment, create an enabling environment for investors and local people to do business so that we can expand the scope of commerce and business. Part of that is working on power sector.

Without power industries cannot thrive. We intend to tackle the question of power very seriously, especially decentralizing power and increasing embedded generation of power so that the current problems with the gas supplies to IPPs may be avoided. Or, at least, in the interim we may be able to provide power by decentralization, cabled to the places that we believe there ought to be power. For instance, we believe that where you have clusters of business, industrial estates, and the like, we should have IPPs to power industrial parks and estates so that industries would have 24/7 power.

We need to be able to invest heavily in building of infrastructure, like roads. That would also bring in many jobs. Farming and mining are two areas where we think considerable job creation is possible. One of the ways in which we intend to do it is by providing incentives to farmers, and this is using commodity exchanges policies. We’ll buy produce from farmers, paying a minimum price for them. That guarantees farmers that they would make money from what they produce. For instance, let’s look at rice.

Thailand does this effectively. Aside from all the other incentives and inputs that we intend to use like fertilisers, improved seedlings. We think that if you provide incentives to farmers by buying produce from them it will be great. Look at what Thailand and India have done. These countries ensured that they paid a minimum price for the production of rice. We now have Thailand rice flooding our market. You’ve got to provide incentives to farmers more significantly in order to make a quantum leap in agriculture, which we need to do.

The whole value chain is another area where we have to encourage private investment. Look at Benue State, with yams, oranges and all that. Rice farming is important, but you need milling. The private and public sector must work together to provide storage and milling and all that in the value chain. So we need to work actively on becoming a major producer of some of these crops. We must make a quantum leap; it’s going to cost us money to do so. Government has to intervene properly in order to energize that sector. Of course, it would provide hundreds of thousands of jobs.

With the dwindling prices of crude oil and the collapse of the value of naira, do you fear that if you take over in May, you would face cash crunch?
There may be initial problems, but that is also on account of misgovernance that we’ve seen in the past few years. Oil prices were consistently at the highest in the history of the country, and somehow our external reserves just never reflected that. Now, when we should have saved, no saving was made, so we’re in trouble.

The problem is not a matter of oil prices going down. Even if oil prices were $500 per barrel, the way the government mismanaged the resources of the country, we would still have ended up being broke and in trouble. The fall in the value of the naira is mostly as a consequence of the bad policies, not just the fall in oil prices.

The devaluation of the naira is a terrible policy choice and misgovernance, and outright corruption. If the Central Bank Governor says between $10 billion and $12 billion is unaccounted for and we are told that PriceWaterHouseCoopers would investigate and it’s been done and the report has been submitted since November, 2014, any government that is serious about management of resources would, by now, have identified what happened, is money missing? The $7bn kerosene subsidy scam is without explanation. The $1 billion supposedly missing from Excess Crude Oil Account has not been explained. The N2.3 trillion allegedly spent on oil subsidy in one year, and the investigation done on it, what has become of them? It’s just misgoverance and corruption.

Once the Buhari administration is in place, one of the crucial issues for us is drawing the line, as General Buhari has said, and say, ‘from now on, these are the rules. You cannot steal government funds. There would be consequences.’ Then we’ll put in place proper governance and ensure that whatever is received as revenue for the Federal Government is properly accounted for, distributed to the tiers of government as it ought to, and judiciously expended. Our take is that if you’re able to block the stealing alone, you’ll make substantial saving to do a lot of what you want to do.

Aren’t you going to look into the records, to say who stole what, and demand a refund to the treasury?
All that there is to do is an investigation by an independent accounting firm. There is a report already. All they need to do is to tell us what happened. All that needs to be done is who did it, why, what are the explanations.

We’ll ensure due process at all times to discover what went wrong. If a significant amount of money has been misappropriated, obviously those amount ought to be returned. We have to find out what exactly happened to it.

Credit: dailytrust.com.ng

‘Even Jonathan Didn’t Complete His PhD’–Obasanjo

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has predicted a victory for Buhari at the general elections next month and has insinuated that even Jonathan is aware that his days in office are quite numbered. Obasanjo pointed out that all the attacks being aimed Buhari’s way had to do with the knowledge in Jonathan’s camp that Buhari will win the popular votes come the presidential ballot.

“I see Buhari as the next President and Jonathan is aware of that, and that is the reason they are hitting him everywhere to put confusion in his camp. But a General is always a General… “ Obasanjo was quoted as saying by Greenbreporters.

The former President said the truth of the matter is that Jonathan is aware that Buhari is qualified to contest for the Presidential election but that “some hawks with Jonathan do not want him to contest because they believe that he will win and come for them”.

Obasanjo said the issue of Buhari’s certificate came up before the 2007 general elections and the former military ruler was given a clean bill of health to contest because investigations had proven that it was a non-issue.

“The issue (of Buhari’s certificate) came up in 2007, and we investigated and found out that his WASCE is with the military and that was why he was allowed to contest in 2007. Buhari cannot listen to anyone about his certificates because as a General of the Nigerian Army, he will speak when he chooses, not by Femi FaniKayode and Okupe asking him to”, Obasanjo said.

Why Agagu Boys Defected to APC in Ondo: The Obasanjo/Tinubu Connections – Vanguard

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Finally, the bubble burst on Tuesday, January 13 in Akure, the Ondo State capital, as some politicians known as the Agagu Boys defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC.

This development, though a big shock, but was dismissed by the State PDP, which said their defection was long overdue. Reports had it that the late former governor Dr. Olusegun Agagu, before his demise had been fraternizing with the leadership of the APC.

The late Agagu at some point was alleged to have met with the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu several times on the possibility to collaborate. The information leaked to the leadership of the PDP and Agagu was said to be sidelined on matters of the state, as Mimiko dictated the tune, even while in his former Party. Then, Agagu and his boys were tagged PDP Jagaban.

However, with the death of Agagu and the development which led to Mimiko defection to the PDP, the Agagu boys became threatened and uncomfortable with his leadership of the party.

Jonathan Still Silent To Obasanjo’s Five Questions

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

It was gathered that President Jonathan appealed for the support of Obasanjo at the meeting in Abeokuta, choosing not to respond to some of the questions posed by the former president.

At the meeting however, the former president had asked president Jonathan the following questions,

“ (1) Did you agree to run for only one term or not?

(2) What did you tell me was your reason for not going after Boko Haram insurgents even when I told you this will boomerang?

(3) What happened to Nigeria’s external reserve and Sovereign Wealth Fund? (4) Did you give licence to Niger Delta militants (Dokubo and Tompolo) to import arms in the name of their privately owned companies? If so, for what reason?

(5) Did you not get correspondence from the United States consulate that a certain citizen named Buruji Kashamu is indicted for drug trafficking? Why did you appoint the same Kashamu as South West leader of PDP rather than hand him over to the US? And did the PDP give automatic Senate ticket to a wanted and convicted drug baron?”

However, it appears that the President’s inability to respond to these question is yet to elapse as he has not or is yet to respond to them.

Olusegun Obasanjo: Whose Side is He On? – By Lagun Akinloye

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Last November at the popular Ake Arts & Book Festival held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, former president Olusegun Obasanjo described the achievements of the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration as being “below average”. Obasanjo, while acknowledging the personal role he played in Jonathan’s emergence as president, absolved himself of any blame stating, “I will not take responsibility for his performance.”

Obasanjo’s comments were just one of many in recent times aimed at denigrating his former protégé and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a party he once led but who have now turned him into a peripheral figure.

Having been openly courted by the opposition party the All Progressives Congress (APC), Obasanjo continues to reaffirm that he is still a member of the PDP but as a former president, he is a father to all.

The former president knows the political game better than most and by accommodating and fostering friendships with leaders of the opposition, while simultaneously acting as a rallying point for disgruntled elements within the PDP, Obasanjo hopes to preserve a comfortable seat at the front row of the election gallery as Nigerians head to the polls on February 14.

From the outside looking in

After leaving office in 2007, Obasanjo attempted to maintain his influence within the PDP, strong-arming the party into picking him for the highly prominent role of chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT). This allowed the former president an ideal vantage point over party matters but would eventually put him at loggerheads with Jonathan, with the latter refusing to do his bidding on issues including ministerial appointments and how Nigeria’s oil wealth is distributed.

Further cracks in their relationship emerged as the Jonathan administration actively followed through with clandestine plans to whittle down the influence of Obasanjo on party matters. Obasanjo, in an attempt to save face resigned from the position of BOT Chairman in April 2012, describing the move as one that will enable him to fulfill his duties as statesman both locally and internationally.

Those loyal to the former president were slowly eased out of the PDP’s inner caucus with the help of the newly reconstituted National Working Committee (NWC), the decision making organ of the party, in February 2013. The move saw Obasanjo’s chosen political appointees replaced with those more favourable to Jonathan, with similar actions replicated in appointment of party officers in Obasanjo’s own geo-political zone of the South-West and his home state of Ogun.

Dancing with the opposition

In December 2013 Obasanjo played host to the national leader of the APC and former governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu. Tinubu arrived at Obasanjo’s residence with a retinue of APC chieftains including their recently picked 2015 presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari. Tinubu extolled the virtues of the former president, praised Obasanjo for the role he has played in “building the nation” and lamented that the country was divided now more than ever. He concluded by urging the former leader not to shy away from speaking the truth whilst stating “we are resolved and determined to rescue Nigeria and we want you as navigator.”

Obasanjo thanked his guests for their visit but reaffirmed that he remained a card carrying member of the PDP, describing himself as an “Incurable optimist” and totally committed to the well-being of the nation. Obasanjo had some encouraging words for the opposition leaders stating that their emergence on the political stage had enhanced democracy in the county and encouraged them to play politics without bitterness and rancour.

Playing the game

Obasanjo’s parlay with APC’s leadership was curiously followed by an 18-page letter accusing Jonathan of failing to deal with the many problems facing Nigeria, including corruption, piracy, kidnapping and oil theft with Obasanjo declaring Jonathan “morally flawed” in his bid for re-election. The president dismissed his attack as “reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous”.”

Not satisfied, Obasanjo went on to release his autobiography in December 2014 in which excerpts described the president as a self-centred politician “who thinks less of the country and fraternises with corrupt and questionable characters.” The president’s men attempted to block the book’s release via a court order but the former president defied the injunction ruling by an Abuja High Court and went ahead with its unveiling.

But in a surprise move, a rapprochement of sorts took place on January 5 after photos were taken of Obasanjo attending the wedding of Jonathan’s adopted daughter. This was followed with a meeting at Obasanjo’s hilltop mansion the next day with Jonathan in attendance alongside prominent Christian religious leaders who would possibly act as mediators between the former allies.

The meeting was said to have broken down with Obasanjo refusing to throw his support behind Jonathan over his past transgressions as he once again welcomed the APC leadership and Buhari into his home only a few hours after the president’s departure. The APC, who were on a campaign stop in the former president’s home city, Abeokuta, paid him a courtesy call with Buhari stating that he had come to solicit his support and wise counsel. Obasanjo to the delight of his visitors declared “I’ll support the best candidate irrespective of party”, thus adding more confusion to his actual political stance and loyalty to the PDP.

But as the weeks draw closer to what will be Nigeria’s most keenly contested election since the return to democracy in 1999, the posture and leanings of Obasanjo, still a much revered and respected personality in both local and international political circles, will be watched closely as the question still remains, whose side is he on?

Lagun Akinloye

Credit: africanarguments.org

With Akinwunmi Ambode Lagos will Be Fine – @Lanre_Olagunju

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The phenomenal transformation Lagos has encountered in recent years is basically due to the brilliant heads that have governed the state. For the next gubernatorial polls, superficially looking at the calibre of the top two gubernatorial candidates, one can hastily say that Lagos, most likely will just be fine with any of them.

But considering the fact that democracy magnifies the essence of political decision-making, and punishes electorates when they decide not to look beyond the nose when taking political decisions; for that singular fact, I advice that Lagosians get their facts right to ensure developmental continuity in Lagos. Lagos can’t settle for less at this point, anyone replacing Fashola must have adequate experience to occupy that seat, not just any brilliant technocrat who is passionate about delivering Lagos to the People’s Democratic Party.

During an interview conducted by the convener of Good Governance Group (3G), Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was asked to shed light on the leadership problem in Africa, and some of his responses were quite revealing. “There is nothing wrong with Africa, there’s a lot wrong with our leadership. Will you say that God has not endowed us enough? Will you? Will you say God has not given us men and women who can stand on their own anywhere in the world? Will you?” Obasanjo asks.

He further expatiates on the leadership problem in Africa, recalling his own experiences as a Former President. “After I left government as military head of state, I realized that there are two areas of problems, I call one mistake of omission, mistake of omission is when leaders in any walks of life just don’t know any better, either because of limitation of education, limitation of experience, limitation of training, limitation of knowledge…whatever”

Obasanjo opened up that sometimes, those of them who have occupied leadership positions do not know any better, he illustrates this truth pointing at one of his un-thoughtful decisions – which had to do with putting a good and brilliant person in a position that basically requires knowledge and relevant experience. “When I was military head of state, using the example of the national carrier -The Nigeria Airways. The Nigeria Airways was a mess, whatever we tried to do we did not get it right, but I had the presidential pilot or the pilot of the Head of States, a man called Paul Taha. Paul was a first class man, decent, honest and well behaved. So one day I just got fed up with Nigeria Airways so I called Paul and said Paul I want you to take over running the affairs of the Nigeria Airways and Paul agreed, Paul never ran an airline before but he was a good pilot.

Well I should have known that being a good pilot does not mean that you will be a good airline manager, so every other day I will phone him “Paul how are you getting on?” He would say he is alright, one day I phoned him and he said “Sir, I feel like committing suicide” I said, I will pull you out rather than allow you to commit suicide, what is the matter? And he said there’s this airline either Lufthansa or KLM, they have an expert who used to visit Nigeria Airways for about a week, once in six months. So this man came and looked at the flight timetable that Paul had prepared, and when he looked at it he flung it, this took him two nights, and the man said “it might have taken you ten nights but what I see is that you go from Lagos to Kaduna everyday on Monday you take off at 8:30, on Tuesday you take off at 7, on Wednesday you take off at 8. How much convenient would it have been for you and your customers to know that there is a flight to Kaduna everyday, it is 7am daily except Sunday, simple thing!”

And Paul said that thing was so simple but the fact that he did not know of it .…” That’s what I call “mistake of omission”, because of limitation of experience and training” Obasanjo narrates.

In line with the above illustration by Olusegun Obasanjo, I strongly feel that Lagos will benefit a lot by having Akinwunmi Ambode as the next governor, considering his wealth of experience and knowledge, plus the credible achievement he has attained in his career and professional life. I am delighted about his candidacy. He is well versed as an Accountant, Administrator, Public Finance expert and also in civil service matters.

Akin Ambode Lagos gubernatorial aspirant

Ambode’s profile doesn’t agree with the perception that the public service is only filled with civil servants who are unimaginative. This is a man like Fashola who knows the Lagos State civil service and the working of government like the back of his hands. He has served as Assistant Treasurer to Badagry Local Government, Auditor to Shomolu Local Government, Council Treasurer to Alimosho Local Government and Council Treasurer to Mushin Local Government.

He was later appointed Auditor General of Local Government Councils. Thereafter, he become Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and later became the youngest Accountant-General of the state at the age of 37, a position he occupied till 2012, after which he voluntarily resigned – making his retirement the first ever recorded voluntary retirement by a Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Public Service.

Under his watch, Lagos state’s budget performed at an average of 85 percent annually.

He has been able to transfer his wealth of experience into private practice by establishing Brandsmiths Consulting Limited in 2012. Brandsmiths presently consult for federal, state and local government on financial advisory services.

Should we ignore Ambode’s 27 years of quality experience working with the State, where he has held key positions and made tangible contributions as Auditor General for Local Governments, Permanent Secretary and Accountant General?

Should we then suddenly start demanding change just for the sake of it and then suspend our reasoning as electorates? Experience counts a lot. The days of having good men in leadership positions merely because they are good are over. Anyone who must lead must be garnished with relevant experience that can be translated into development. Such must also have relevant and successful track records. You’ve got to be passionate about the people and that must show via your track records.

My fear with Jimi Agbaje is that in every sense of it, he doesn’t come close to Ambode’s wealth of relevant experience. Say I’m biased, but truthfully I have researched and concluded that Agbaje’s private sector experience isn’t any stellar. Let’s say it’s a little above average. At best! I wonder where he has been after he lost in 2007, only to show up all of a sudden.

The PDP certainly needs his good image to gain Lagos. But truthfully Lagos’ development needs more than that. This state needs to develop into a real megacity and Lagosians need to keep holding the leadership responsible at all times, so they can be accountable.

Eko O ni baje.

I am @Lanre_Olagunju on Twitter.

Views expressed above are solely that of the author.

Obasanjo to Jonathan: It is too Late to Support you

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The desperate battle to secure former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid may have collapsed, The Nation learnt yesterday.

Dr. Jonathan and Chief Obasanjo met for about one hour on Monday night at the former president’s Abeokuta home. The President requested for Obasanjo’s support.

“It’s too late; I’m sorry,” Obasanjo reportedly told Jonathan.

A source close to the meeting told our reporter on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the media.

At the meeting were two Christian leaders – Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and Bishop David Oyedepo of the Winners’ Chapel – who attended at Obasanjo’s request.

None of those at the meeting spoke about it, but it was learnt that it was brief because Obasanjo insisted that for him, it was too late to back Jonathan.

The former president has been a virulent critic of the Jonathan administration, which he accused of embracing corruption and burgling the anti-insurgency battle.

Jonathan replied, slamming some “elder statesman who talk like motor park touts”. He, however, did not mention Obasanjo.

Credit: The Nation Online

Buhari ,Tinubu And APC Leaders Visit Obasanjo #Photos

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Buhari and some other APC leaders visit OBJ @hilltop, Abeokuta. today…More photos below:

Obasanjo Refuses to See Jonathan

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The hostility between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo worsened Monday as the former President sneaked out of his palatial building in Abeokuta, immediately Jonathan arrived the state capital.

Obasanjo was driven out in a black SUV through a private gate in his house.

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria

Obasanjo’s Delayed Endorsement Of GMB Causes Panic Amongst APC Faithfuls

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Staff Reporter

There are indications that Ex President Olusegun Obasanjo has refused to endorse, the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), General Muammadu Buhari.

Also, the animosity between, Buhari and General Ibrahim Babangida, is also a cause for worry among the Buhari group. In his recent interview, Buhari hinted that he is still very unhappy with Babangida who sacked his military administration.

When President Goodluck Jonathan visited Babangida, the ex military gave a tacit approval of Jonathan when he urged Nigeria to support Jonathan for the unity of Nigeria.

His reason for his refusal is however unclear.

However, sources close to Obasanjo hinted that it may not be unconnected with a report by the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF) Interim Management Committee, instituted on July 7, 1999 by former President
Olusegun Obasanjo.

.Based on the report, the PTF under Buhari’s supervision was mismanaged. The report was however neither made public nor was it acted upon by the former president.In its summary, the Committee had advised Obasanjo to “set up a high powered judicial panel to recover the huge public fund and to take necessary action against any officer, consultant or contractor whose negligence resulted in this colossal loss of public funds.”

According to the report, the sum of N25,758,532,448 was mismanaged by the Afri-Project Consortium (APC), a company contracted by the PTF as management and project consultant. Buhari as PTF chairman was said to have also “delegated to them the power of Engineer in all appropriate project requiring such power,” which made them assume absolute powers to initiate, approve and execute all projects by the PTF.

Sources hinted Pointblanknews.co m that the body language of Obasanjo is troubling to the APC because it is at variance with his earlier promise

According to APC sources, when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu visited his Abeokuta residence , the former President specifically warned against fielding an “unclean vessel” in apparent reference to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who was his (Obasanjo) deputy from 1999-2007, as the opposition party’s presidential candidate in 2015.

But he assured Tinubu that whoever emerged, he would give his blessings, “but weeks after Buhari emerged Baba has avoided him, and has not accepted the request that the party brings Buhari and Osinbajo to his house, it is very troubling” an APC source said

Some APC top shots believe Obasanjo is playing games with both parties. They express worry at his moves. said another source, who is a member of the APC’s presidential campaign council. According to him ” We don’t know the game he is playing. He tells us Goodluck Jonathan must be stopped, he maligns him and his administration daily, but last Saturday he appears at his daughter’s wedding. we don’t understand him. it is like he is bargaining and playing safe with Jonathan, if he wins”

But one of his associate, Chief Oyewole Fasawe said in a statement that the ex-president sees the current political gladiators in all the parties as his political children and associates, hence, he would not endorse one over the other no matter the amount of pressure from any quarter.

Obasanjo Begged AD Govs for 3rd Term —Osoba’s “Watch the Watcher”

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Staff Reporter

As comments and reactions were still trailing the publication of an autobiography of former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo entitled, “My Watch” from well meaning Nigerians, former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba faulted claims made by the former President of not nurturing a Third Term agenda, saying that he (Obasanjo) actually canvassed for it.

Osoba was chairman at the launch of a book titled: ‘Watch the watcher: A book of remembrance of the Obasanjo years’ by Yinka Odumakin’.

He explained that while Obasanjo begged the leadership of the moribund Alliance for Democracy, AD, to support his tenure elongation plan, Osoba accused the former president of allegedly rigging out Alliance for Democracy governors in the 2003 governorship elections.

The former governor also disagreed with some aspects of the book ‘My Watch’ authored by Obasanjo saying he (Obasanjo) approached leadership of the AD to solicit for their support in 2003.

His words: “The Watcher (Obasanjo) wrote a book which Wole Soyinka has given his verdict. I am also going to give my verdict when I write my book. That he (Obasanjo) does not know about the pact with the AD governors is far from the fact. To correct him, it was July 2002, he (Obasanjo) came to the graduation at UNILAG, where we met at the office of the old Head of State. It was there that he almost went on his knees that we, the AD governors, should support his Second Term ambition.

“We (AD governors) told him that we were not the founding fathers of AD. We told Abraham Adesanya but he said he would never go to Abuja. He later agreed that he would meet us at the presidential lodge. Abraham Adesanya never met him at Abuja but at the slightest notice Obasanjo came to Abuja. Adesanya told him (Obasanjo) that he heard he was going to ambush us (AD governors). Present that day was Bishop Gbonigi, the Awujale and Cornelius.”

Osoba, who has since decamped from the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the Social Democratic Party, SDP, explained that “I am shocked and surprised that he wrote in his book that he knew nothing about the Third Term Agenda which he said God would have given him if he had asked.”

Commenting on the book (Watch the watcher) he said: “It is an event to put the records straight. Many aspects of the book written by President Olusegun Obasanjo need correction. He was at the centre of all the negotiations to broker a political agreement between Alliance for Democracy and the Peoples Democratic Party in 2003. For him to say he knew nothing about it, I totally disagree with him because the final meeting with him was attended by highly placed Nigerians, a highly placed royal father, the Awujale, Pa Adesanya, Bishop Gbonigi, Bishop Ladigbolu, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, all the governors and a host of others.”

Speaking further, he said “for him (Obasanjo) to say that he knew nothing about the arrangement between AD for which he aborted and rigged the election is totally incorrect. The book he wrote, is too voluminous, I don’t want to comment on other aspects because it is a very heavy book to read.”

Credit: www.vanguardngr.com

I Had To Sleep On The Same Bed With A Man In Order To Form Transparency International – Obasanjo Reveals

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Comrade Seyi Gambo, a former National PRO of PENGASSAN is the Convener of Good Governance Group (3G), a newly formed group which seeks to create a healthy environment for socio-political debates. Seyi’s team met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta where he and his crew had an “interview” with the former president.

Below is the raw transcript of what Obasanjo told Seyi and his crew:

Obj: this association why don’t you formalize it into an NGO? Why don’t you want to do that?

Comrade Seyi Gambo: My colleague actually brought the idea that we should metamorphose into an NGO, but I wanted something like the “patriots” that was headed by late Chief FRA William’s that wasn’t an NGO, just Nigerians coming from all spheres of life.

Obj: Even then, for instance I have being involved in a few of this young people having right ideas and getting themselves together…there is one of the groups that call themselves “Africa 2.0” and they have national chapters, another one is called “Young Entrepreneurs ” they get themselves together and their objectives are noble, but unless you have (cuts off )…well you can do a lot with loose collection of men or women but people will take you a little more seriously if you are formal and it doesn’t cost you much as you can register it anywhere in the world where your operation occurs. I just feel that way, that’s why I said that, but I think your objective is noble, if at your age you are not interested in how you can make things better in Nigeria or indeed in Africa then when will you develop that?

Big things start small, I started with Peter Haigin, I started what is now called “Transparency International” and when we were going about it, he convinced me and I started going round, we went all over the world. He had no money, I didn’t have money, so one day I think it was in South Africa we didn’t have money to take separate rooms, so I said Peter, “we will sleep in the same room, he said yes sir but he was being hesitant when I felt like sleeping I just entered into the room on one side of the bed I slept and told him you are not ready, you can’t sleep if you don’t want to sleep”.

Today of course I became the first advisory chairman of advisory body and he became the first chief executive, but none of us is directly involved today it’s become thing that is going on on its own but achieved the purpose we wanted to achieve and I believe in terms of importance and name it’s next to “Amnesty International” the other day he was telling me that “Transparency international” now has a budget of 56million Euros every year…I’m happy that I was one of the initiators, so I think that you should think about it, I’m just saying that’s the way you should go but you think about it.

Cmr Seyi Gambo: Our major coming together is of democracy and we want to know the leadership challenges in Nigeria because what we decided that before we can start criticizing or giving an analytical postulation on government policy- because that’s what we are actually about, that government policies from the federal, state and local government, we want to look at them and find alternatives if there are alternatives and if its is good we try and encourage them ……

Obj: Well I share the view. I have been experiencing it in many forums, writings and all sorts of authors that there is nothing wrong with Africa, there’s a lot wrong with our leadership. Will you say that God has not endowed us enough? Will you? Will you say God has not given us men and women who can stand on their own any where in the world? Will you? After I left government as military head of state I realized that there are two areas of problems, one that I call problems of mistake of omission, mistake of omission is what leaders in any walks of life just didn’t know any better either because of limitation of education, limitation of experience, limitation of training, limitation of knowledge…whatever.

We just does not know any better, and I always illustrate this with what I did when I was military head of state, using the example of the national carrier-The Nigeria Airways-the Nigerian airways was a mess, whatever we tried to do we did not get it right, but I had the presidential pilot or the pilot of the head of state a man called Paul Taha. Paul was a first class man, decent, honest, well behaved. So one day I just got fed up with Nigerian airways so I called Paul and said “Paul want you take over running the affairs of the Nigerian airways’ and Paul agreed, Paul has never run an airline before but he was a good pilot.

Well I should have known that being a good pilot does not mean that you will be a good airline manager, So every other day I will phone him “Paul how are you getting on?” He would say he is alright, one day I phoned him and he said “Sir, I feel like committing suicide” I said, I will pull you out rather than allow you to commit suicide, what is the matter?” And he said there’s is this airline either Lufthansa or KLM, they have an expert from them who used to visit Nigerian airways for about a week, once in six months. So this man came an looked at the flight timetable that Paul had prepared, and when he looked at it he flung it, and Paul was man that he took him two nights working hard on this, and the man said it might have taken you ten nights but what I see is that you go from Lagos to Kaduna everyday on Monday you take off at 8:30, on Tuesday you take off at 7, on Wednesday you take off at 8.

How much convenient would it have being for you and your customers to know that there is a flight to Kaduna everyday its is 7am daily except Sunday, simple thing! And Paul said that thing was so simple but the fact that he did not know of it that’s why he felt that way” that’s what I call “mistake of omission”, because of limitation of experience and training, but when you know that fraud is bad and you committed it that’s what i call “mistake of commission”. So talking about leadership we should always know that there are mistakes of omission but more importantly what we do is the mistake of commission! That’s the one that is very very depilating , very destructive ! In most cases you know it : corruption, nepotism, mediocrity they are all mistakes of commission, and lack of continuity I’ll give you two examples in that case.

When I was military head of state we started something we call “Operation Feed The Nation” simply to popularize agriculture and to make sure as many people participate in it, even at the back of your house you can grow vegetable, you can raise rabbit, grass cutter or poultry. When my successor came in they said they don’t like this “Operation Feed The Nation” they will go for “Green Revolution” so they ended up having no revolution and nothing green. The same thing when I was leaving as the elected president I emphasize that transportation and infrastructure is a must in this country and roads cannot be the solution because of our population and the expanse of our land, we did everything same thing with power. Our successor came and said he won’t continue and of course he was the one there. Somebody who was there said to be that the day he was going to cancel railway, he went to him weeping and said “look Nigeria cannot move forward without railway and you are talking about 2020”. The man said to him that “look, as at today we have 7000 tankers on the road, if we are going to achieve our objective for 2020 we would need to have 70,000 tankers, which road will take them? Does he think? Do they understand it?

TELECOMS
No! Let me give you this example again, I have an NGO called “African Leadership Forum”, some years back, in the early 1990s, my friend the was the prime minister of Singapore, so, I called him and I said, Lee, I have about 40 African up and coming leaders I want you to come address them under the auspices of my civil society organization the African Leadership Forum” and he said “look my friend I am sorry, you see once I go against timezone I am of no use for the next 48 to 72 hours, why don’t you bring them to Singapore” and I said “where do I get the money to bring them?” So he said he would pay, and he paid under the auspices of one of their institutes and we went.

And the question was “what is the magic?” By then he hasn’t written his book “From 3rd World To First World” what is the magic? And he said to us “there’s no magic, we got a few things right and we continued to do them right.” At the conclusion I said to my brothers and sisters, the young men and women who were there that look remember “they got a few things right, and they continued to do them right! What have you got right in your own country? And if you know what you have got right have you continued to do them right?”

With all due respect, in this country we got some right, even in agriculture we talking about we got “Operation Feed The Nation” right but did we continue to do them, right? We didn’t. As I have said to you, we got privatization of the telecoms right, its not a fluke. We wanted auction, one, because we want money from it. Our predecessors had given one of those lines for 3million dollars, we got 185 million dollars for each and we went for three, so it wasn’t a fluke, it wasn’t by chance and then of course we know that the private sector is in terms of services they have objectives, they have motives: profit, and for me there is nothing wrong with making profit provided it is not a monopoly and we didn’t make it a monopoly.

There were three we reserved one for our own government, NITEL, which of course was monotonous. So we taught of it, we planned it, we were one of those who pacified “Econet” as it were. He said he didn’t have confidence in the thing to start with, but when the process started, there was no lobbying, the auction was absolutely transparent, he said well, look this a new thing happening in Africa. We laid down what you must do, we set up the organization to manage it, we commissioned the NCC, a friend of mine that I know to be honest I put him in charge, I know that Hammed Jida would not fool around, he said look he will do only four years and I said just set it going. That’s all, so if it was a mistake I wouldn’t look for people, new people.

POWER
Not me! Now get it right, for 20 years there was no investment in power generation, now for a country that needs to advance, this country must be adding a minimum of 10, 000 watts to its generation every year to its generation, for 20 years there was not one! So as to bridge the gap. When I was military head of state, we built Shiroro; we built Jebba, that time we didn’t even need it. We planned Egbin, then for 20 years from 1979 to 1999 except that Shirroro was completed and commissioned; Ebun was completed and commissioned there was no new initiative. When I came in 1999, we have the capacity for generating about 5000, but we were generating less than 1500, not even the existing ones were managed and maintained to continue to do well.

We didn’t have money, and people have forgotten that when we came in 1999 the price of oil was around 8,9 dollars, so we tried the oil companies. The first one we tried was Mobil, look instead of flaring gas, go into using gas, the only company that did something was AGIP, so when we started having money we sail look what do we do, lets do the quick one of what we call ***** but what happened then was, I went to Umoku in Rivers state was using gas directly from the gas reserves instead of flaring it, they were converting it. I said this is the best thing for us, so what we have being doing in Afam and all that areas is pipe the gas, but what I saw in Umoku is not to pipe the gas but to do the generation with the gas on the spot and then use the pylon and then do the transmission. So we did 7 of those I said look, go around and find where we can do that, we found 7.

We called for the bid to supply turbine; we had about 3 or 4 of them. GE gave us the best, not only would they supply, they would do the maintenance because if any of our turbines requires heavy maintenance we have to remove it and send it abroad, they said no we don’t want that, and they said look the 18 we are buying and the ones we have before is enough to establish, so we went into all that and they we said we have what we call excess crude, this is when we say the benchmark for crude will be 60 dollars that’s what we budget on, if we are selling at 65 dollars, that 5 dollars we are not budgeting on it we are putting aside. By that time it was about $18billion, that money is for all the 3tiers of government, we will take that money and do the project and later on it will be privatized, when it is privatized that money will go back and it will be shared out.

That’s all! But you cannot start privatization, we did the basis for privatization, the number of transmission companies which is one and should be government and we have kept to that, the number of distribution companies and I think 11, they have kept to that, the number of generating companies they have kept to that, what they haven’t kept to is to do it they way we did telecommunications, then it become “who you know”and that is your failure it’s not mine. Not the people the government. (When I was out of government)

POWER PLAY
Look, if Abdulsalam deceives us, I will go back to my farm and I may say so here now, that on two occasion after I a have taken over, Abdulsalam came to me and said to me that he thank God that I came out, that if I had not come out, his own political program would have being a failure, when I did not succumb to this “Abubakar will deceive us” people came to me and said you will be the last president of Nigeria because after you there will be no Nigeria, there have being two presidents after me. So that was the situation I found in 1999 , the was $3.7billion dollars in reserve we were owing more than 35billion dollars. In fact we were spending around 3billion dollars to service our debts.

By 2007 you want to know were we were? We have paid our debts, the turn turn of our debts was less than 3billion dollars, and they are debts that we owe on Kanji dam, the extension of railway to Maidiguri, this were good loans then, and then we had a reserve of over 45billion dollars, we had excess crude of over 25billion dollars. We have moved in production of cocoa from 150,000 metric tons to 400,000 and you can say that in all other commodities. Cassava we were producing 30million metric tons we got to 50 million metric tons we were the highest producers in the world! Democracy was at work and nobody was talking of leaving Nigeria, if anything the want more out of the cake, which is a good thing. Oil production we were 2.6 million and there were Agbami (deep offshore) which later produced another 500,000, so we got to 3.5 million barrels per day. Today we are probably getting into our treasuries proceeds of not more than 1.5million barrels.

ISSUES WITH VICE PRESIDENT ABUBAKAR ATIKU
No, no no! I didn’t have issues, when you put it that way it annoys me; it’s not a personal issue. If I had personal issue with Atiku, I wouldn’t bring him out. In fairness to him he didn’t say he wanted to be Vice President, he wanted to be governor, now I decided, what do I need to do? I need to have somebody who will work with me and who will learn, and we will learn together and after 8years i can say, so that there will be continuity and he would have learnt the job. I know that Atiku didn’t have any experience of even running a local government. So I wanted him to come an learn. In fact he complained that I was giving him too much to do and in said “yes it’s deliberate, I want you for the first them to be immersed in domestic, 2nd term to start getting out and getting yourself” so it’s not an issue.

ROLE OF THE V.P
Well, it is as important as the V.P and the president making, because the truth is this, in our constitution the virtually nothing for the V.P or Deputy Governor, if you want your V.P to be attending funeral on your behalf, that’s what you will give him, I wanted a V.P that will learn from me and succeed me! That’s the kind of V.P I wanted. Before I picked Atiku, some people came and advised me, look take somebody who is of your age group so that he will not be digging a hole under you. I said, “no, no I want someone who will learn”, but maybe they were right at the end of the day, but it’s alright.

SECRET TO MAKE THINGS WORK?
You have to learn really what leadership is all about, and that leadership is very very critical! There’s no substitute for it. Don’t blame the not to be blamed: the advisers, cabal or opposition, I have never seen books written to bring people down as I have seen on Obama! Only yesterday I got three all directed to pull him down, but Obama is going on, you may not agree entirely with him. In spite of the success of the Republicans in the mid term election, he decided that yes immigration I would do something about it, and he went on and did it. 5million people who were outside have now been brought in, to me that is leadership. Yesterday he decided enough is enough on Cuba! We will normalize relations; some people criticized but is he right? For me, I believe, it is right! So that is all it takes, I overheard even President Carter saying “this is courageous, it’s the right thing and all that” although I don’t agree with him with the way he has gone to Lybia, because the fallout has strengthened Boko Haram.

LESSONS ON HOW TO MANAGE RELATIONSHIPS?
I am comfortable anywhere, the first thing you must learn as a leader, never have anything that you cannot defend before God and man, go and read my new book I lay it out there,the first too they want to do is to have something that they would say “Ah! Oga doesn’t let this come out” No! Don’t do any such, and there should be none of the people working with you that you cannot dispense with.

MONOPOLY IN ENTERPRENUERSHIP
We should have a law against it. Like anti-trust commission so that you can regulate it. For me, the big becoming bigger helps with economy scale, because if you are bigger the cost of production should be lower. Somebody said recently that Dangote reduced price of cement, so he was able to do that because of the economy of scale. For me I won’t go against a Nigerian or an entrepreneur getting big, I will go against him being oppressive.

All the billionaire today came under my watch, if Nigerians cannot be encouraged to create wealth then who will you encourage? Will you encourage “oyinbo” ? For example, one woman was abusing me, then she later started to praise me, Muazu brought her. The woman was importing 5Alive ?, you know I banned it. Then when Funmman juice in Ibadan produced, she went to take distributorship, when coca-cola produced their own, she went to take distributorship, and then she started praising me.

10 Things You Need To Know This Morning #NewsBits

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Good morning! Here are 10 things you need to know this morning!

1. Nigerians would once again experience fuel scarcity as Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and its Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, will as from today embark on an indefinite nationwide strike, in protest of governments failure to carry out Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, of the nation’s refineries. They are also protesting government’s refusal to reduce pump prices of petroleum products even as global prices of crude oil has fallen. Delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB as well as non-implementation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD were equally part of the reasons for the strike.

2. A 32 year-old Sani Saidu from Gombe State is currently in the custody of the Lagos state Criminal Investigations Department, SCID, Yaba , Lagos, over an of alleged murder of his master. Saidu allegedly murdered his master, a truck driver because he wanted to divert the petroleum tanker he was driving. He confessed that he murdered his boss because he needed N150,000.

3. There is an ongoing crisis at the Lagos State University, LASU, as the general congress of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, of the institution, weekend, suspended its Exco members led by Mr. Adekunle Idris over poor leadership style.

4. Human rights activist, Mr Femi Falana SAN, has petitioned the United States-based Coca-Cola Company, for failing to respect international standards in its manufacturing process and for also refusing to allow its products to be inspected by the Consumer Protection Council of Nigeria, CPC.

5. Even though the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, has said that the owner of the gas facility that exploded in Akure, the state capital, has no approval to operate in the area, he has promised that his government will compensate victims of the explosion and as well pay their medical bills. He made the promise at the Truama Centre in Ondo where some of the victims were receiving treatment.

6. The Force Headquarters on Sunday insisted that before security details can be restored around Tambual, he should apply to the police. The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu said police can only approve Tambuwal’s request as a governorship candidate and not as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

7. Former Niger Delta Militant, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo has denied the ongoing media reports that he has acquired six warships for the protection of the waterways. Speaking through his spokesman, Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, Tompolo said there was no element of truth in the rumour as the gunboats had been in the care of NIMASA for over two years and not under his care.

8. The Peoples Democratic Party has accused the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari, for allowing an alleged cabal controlled by a former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Tinubu to choose his running mate for him. This was contained in a statement the party issued on Sunday.

9. The All Progressives Congress on Sunday said the party was yet to settle for Buhari’s running mate. The APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, said the Nigerians should ignore all the predictions on Buhari’s running mate, saying that the selection would be highly democratic. The party requested for prayers as it makes to choose a running mate for its presidential candidate.

10. The Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole has asked Nigerians to vote out PDP in the 2015 election since the party has clearly failed the nation in its 16 years in power. The Governor was speaking at the 22nd convocation ceremony and the 50th anniversary of the Auchi Polytechnic.

Credit – Daily Post Ng

Obasanjo’s Book Sells Out, SSS Block Importation Of More Copies

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Staff Reporter

The controversial autobiography of former President Olusegun Obasanjo titled “My Watch” has reportedly sold out just four days after it was officially launched.

An associate to the former President who spoke with Sahara Reporters, said Obasanjo has exhausted the first copies of the book. “Baba sold all the copies that were brought in,” the associate said

The book sold out despite a high court injunction to stop it from circulating. A judge had ordered that copies of the book be confiscated by the police and the DSS after Obasanjo went ahead to launch it despite a court order not to do so…

The associate of the former President who spoke to SR said SSS have stopped the importation of more copies of the book. “The SSS people have told us that they won’t allow more copies of the book into the country,”

The three volume book among many things, critiqued the leadership style of President Jonathan as well as his former VP Atiku Abubakar, Late President Yar’Adua as well former Governors Ibori, Tinubu and Saraki.

Source – Global news

Obasanjo Appeals Against Book Seizure Order

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has appealed against the order given by a Federal Capital Territory High Court judge, Justice Valentine Ashi, that security agents, including the police and men of the Department of State Service, should confiscate his latest autobiography, My Watch.

The judge had given this order after the ex-president went ahead on Tuesday in Lagos to present the book to the public, in disobedience to the court’s restraining injunction. The Justice also gave the former president a 21-day ultimatum to explain why he should not be punished for flouting the court order.

However, Obasanjo, in his appeal, argued that he was in no way “daring the court” as widely reported by some national newspapers, describing such publication as misleading.

The Chairman, Mobilisation and Organisation Committee, the Peoples Democratic Party, South West, Mr. Buruji Kashamu, had instituted a legal action against some sections of the book. Obasanjo had, through his legal team, led by Gboyega Oyewole, filed an appeal challenging the confiscation order, citing 10 grounds to support the appeal and arguing that the trial judge erred in his ruling.

In the appeal with suit no. CV/472/14, filed in a Federal High Court, Abuja, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Abeokuta, the former president’s counsel contended that his client was dissatisfied with the ruling of the High Court and “appealed against the said ruling upon the ground set forth…”

He said, “The learned trial judge erred in law when he granted the interlocutory order of injunction, which inter alia restrained the defendant from the publication of his book “My Watch” or the content of the letter to the President, which is the subject of the suit before the trial judge in the said book. There was uncontradicted affidavit evidence that the defendant’s book, “My Watch” had been published and released to the public before the making of the interlocutory order. The plaintiff never alluded to this fact in his affidavit before the court. It is settled law that an injunction does not lie to restrain a completed act. His Lordship failed and/or neglected to allude to the affidavit evidence before making the interlocutory order. The learned trial judge erred in law and exercised his discretion wrongfully in granting the order of interlocutory injunction, subject of this appeal against the defendant, restraining him from publishing his book, “My Watch” or publishing his letter subject of the suit in the said book.”

Credit: Punch Nigeria

I’m Not Obasanjo’s Concubine –Oby Ezekwesili

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Ezekwesili

Court Gives Obasanjo 21 Days To Defend Self #MyWatch

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Justice Valentine Ashi of an Abuja High Court at Wuse Zone 2, yesterday, gave former President Olusegun Obasanjo 21 days to show cause why he should not be punished for disregarding a subsisting court order that restrained him from publishing his newly released autobiography entitled ‘My Watch’.

The high court, at its resumed sitting yesterday, held that the ex-president acted in clear breach of its order, an action it said was tantamount to contempt.

Justice Ashi was visibly irked by the general conduct of former President Obasanjo with regard to the N20 billion libel suit instituted against him by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the South-West, Mr. Buruji Kashamu.

Consequently, the court directed that Obasanjo should within 21 days from the day of the service of its order on him, adduce reasons why he should not be sanctioned for flouting its interim order dated December 5, even as it ordered security agencies in the country to promptly retrieve copies of the book from book stands.

More so, Justice Ashi restrained Obasanjo from further publishing, printing or offering for sale, the book, ‘My Watch’, which content touches on the subject matter of the suit pending before him.

The order followed Kashamu’s ex-parte application which was moved before the court by his lawyer, Dr. Alex Iziyon, SAN.

While delivering his ruling on the matter, Justice Ashi specifically restrained ex-President Obasanjo from either publishing the book or have it published on his behalf by anybody, pending the determination of the substantive suit before him.

– Source – www.vanguardngr.com

Obasanjo Defends Book Presentation

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who was responding to questions at the public presentation of his autobiography, “My Watch”, at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja yesterday, said despite the exigencies of office, he often found time to respond to his predecessors’ observations and remarks on the state of the nation while in office as president.

“But, this has not been so. And since there is no other way to put across my position, I think public communication is appropriate to do so. During my tenure, my predecessors always wrote to me too. And as much as possible I did respond either in action or replied to their letters,” Obasanjo said.

Obasanjo argued that he had not flouted any law or court order with the public presentation of the book. He said he was prompted to write the book not to castigate anyone but to point out the wrongs in the polity so that Nigerians may find solutions to them. He noted that the book had been in circulation before the public presentation yesterday.

Speaking on the challenges confronting the country presently, Obasanjo reiterated his belief in the unity of Nigeria, saying the country would surmount its numerous problems with time. He gave insight into what led to his incarceration by the General Abacha-led military government, noting that he was innocent of any wrong-doing, but was sent to jail for over three years.

“Third Term was not my Agenda”… Obasanjo Reveals Governors Behind 3rd Term Bid

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Staff Reporter

At the launch of his autobiography titled: ‘My Watch’, at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo denied seeking a third term but admitted he knew about it.

For the first time, he opened up on the third term agenda in the twilight of his two-term presidency, accusing some Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors of being behind the third term project because they were going to benefit from it. Obasanjo, who said he was not afraid of telling the truth, insisted that everything he wrote in the book was true.

According to him, “People say that it was obvious that I wanted a third term and I ask those who say I was behind the third term to bring concrete evidence to prove that I spearheaded it. I have presented evidence in my book that proves that I was not behind it, even though I knew about it. Some governors were the ones behind it because they felt the governors would benefit from it. If people say that it was obvious that I wanted a third term, they should present concrete evidence to the public that I am telling a lie. I have evidence to prove that everything I wrote is true and anyone that feels otherwise should present concrete evidence to prove his point.

“Third term was not my agenda or intention although I would not say I didn’t know about it. I didn’t mastermind third term. Those who were telling me to go on were the governors that were going to benefit from it.”

The former president also said he had no regrets in his involvement on how both late Yar’Adua and Dr Goodluck Jonathan became presidents saying, “I don’t regret bringing in Yar’Adua and Jonathan. If they don’t do well, those coming from behind should learn from me and do better”. He added that he was not infallible and people should learn from his action.

He also said that he had sought avenues to ventilate his observations and positions with President Jonathan but had to resort to writing open letters to him because his efforts were frustrated. He also commented on the injunction restraining him from publishing his autobiography.

He said: “I had given the book to my editors and to the publisher. As far as I am concerned, my job is done. I had written the book and printed before the court injunction. In a normal judiciary, the judge should be sanctioned and I hope something will be done. We are here legally and lawfully and we will continue to act lawfully and legally.”

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria

What Obasanjo Told PDP Govs in Secret Meeting

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Sad news for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid broke out from former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Hilltop Mansion, Abeokuta, yesterday evening, indicating that the outcome of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors who had gone there to plead for the President’s support was initially played down.

It was reported that Obasanjo flatly refused to support Jonathan although Obasanjo had publicly said that he only explained to the governors his position on national issues. But it was gathered that it was more than that as he maintained his stand against Jonathan’s style of administration which didn’t deserve his support.

This was even as Jonathan and the son of the late former Head of State, Mohammed Abacha met behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa yesterday, apparently to strategize on how to secure victory for him and the party in Kano and other States..

The PDP is presenting the junior Abacha, who was freed from corruption and theft charges by the Federal Government last June, as its governorship candidate for Kano, apparently based on his assumed influence and popularity to dislodge the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate backed by out-going Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

However, the five governors; Mallam Isa Yuguda of Bauchi, Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Godswill Akpabio- (Akwa Ibom) had approached Obasanjo on behalf of Jonathan and the PDP and pleading with him to not only tone down his verbal attacks on the president and his administration but back him in the forthcoming election.

The governors, who spent at least three hours discussing with Obasanjo, however were said to have left his mansion without any strong promise from the former president, who sounded rather defiant, claiming that it was clear to all Nigerians that Nigerian under Jonathan was in a bad shape.

Obasanjo was, however, said to have given his visitors some words of consolation, saying, ‘the situation in Nigeria today is bad but is not beyond redemption’. “That means that something can still be done to change it, if there is courage and determination to do so.”

A source close to the Abeokuta meeting disclosed that Obasanjo accepted to receive the five governors because of his respect for them as individuals and politicians who rode to national limelight through his instrumentality and not because of Jonathan or PDP. The source told our correspondent on Friday that although Obasanjo was disappointed by the action of most of the governors who visited him, he did not want to vent his anger and disappointment by turning down their request to visit him.

The source, who is close to Obasanjo said: “But the truth of the matter is that ‘Baba’ did not give them any promise of word of comfort throughout their stay in Abeokuta because he is very upset with most of them, who have betrayed him in many ways since he helped them to clinch power in 2007.

“He told them the truth as it is that Jonathan’s leadership had really hurt the image of Nigeria at home and abroad and that they themselves should help him to change course so as to help Nigeria and Nigerians out the doldrums.

“Obasanjo made it clear to the visitors that he was not just speaking out for the sake of bringing Jonathan or his government down but to draw his attention to the urgent need to rise up and fight the monsters of insecurity and monumental corruption that are fast eating away the fabric of the nationhood and making Nigeria a mockery before the international community.

Asked if Obasanjo had tabled any demand as a condition for backing Jonathan in next year’s presidential poll, the source hinted that the former head of state did not give any condition and was not keen on any since he was not ready to back down on his position.

“Look, let me tell you the truth; Baba stands on his position concerning Jonathan and his administration and he is not ready to change whatever he had said or written no matter who comes to him or not.

“I can tell you that if the mission of the five governors was successful, one of them, who likes to talk at every event, would have been the first to speak. What happened was more of a mission not accomplished to say the truth,” the source said.

A source close to the Presidency said that the visit by the five governors to Obasanjo might have been sanctioned by the Villa as a means of staving off lingering criticism of President Jonathan by Obasanjo ahead of the crucial presidential poll fixed for the first quarter of next year.

Obasanjo had last month described Jonathan’s performance so far as ‘below average,’ a rating that received an instant bashing from Jonathan’s aides, who descended heavily on the former leader, calling him names.

Meanwhile, although the details of the discussions between Jonathan and Mohammed Abacha were not made public, Abacha told State House correspondents shortly after emerging from the parley with the president that he was confident the PDP would ‘recover Kano’ from the APC.

According to him, Kano was stolen from PDP and the party is on its way to recovering the stolen ticket. Abacha was also optimistic he would emerge the party’s gubernatorial flag bearer,saying, “We are hopeful; I wouldn’t want to say too much. I said it before that it was a PDP state; it was a PDP ticket. It was taken or converted or even stolen; whatever you want to call it, so be it. The chances of the PDP are still bright.’’

Speculations had been rife that the Presidency deliberately withdrew the charges bordering on the alleged stealing of N446 billion preferred against the aspirant last June in order to pave the way for him to contest the Kano governorship election.

The government through the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, had justified the nolle proseque (don’t prosecute or discontinue prosecution) entered in favour of Abacha, claiming that it was done in the overall interest of the country and not for pecuniary or political reasons.

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria

My Comments On Jonathan’s Leadership Was Not To Castigate Him – Obasanjo

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, held a-three-hour- closed door meeting with five governors of the people’s Democratic Party, PDP, in his home and declared that, the problems facing the country are redeemable.

Obasanjo who hosted to Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa-Ibom, Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi and Liyel Imoke of Cross-River states said the closed door meeting was to deliberate on the serious problems affecting the country.

The governors who were led by the Chairman of PDP governors, Akpabio, into the palatial private home of the former President located at Olusegun Obasanjo Hiltop, in Abeokuta at 12:noon went straight to one of the private rooms of the former President for the meeting.

They emerged from the meeting three hours after and addressed newsmen who had besieged the house of the former President.

Security and economy

Addressing newsmen, Obasanjo thanked the governors for their concern for the nation, saying; “They were concerned about what you may call the situation of the nation-security and economy.

‘’I have raised most of what we discussed in my own public pronouncements in recent times, not to castigate anybody, not to bad-mouth anybody, not to run anybody down, but, out of genuine concern for the situation of this country and that is the same thing that brought them and I want to thank them.

“When we looked at these issues closely, very objectively, we came to the conclusion that, we have a bad situation, but, not irredeemably bad. Something can still be done and what now is required is the will and the courage to do something when and how it needs to be done. We agreed on that.

– Source www.vanguardngr.com

Akpabio, Yuguda, Other PDP Governors In Secret Meeting With Obasanjo

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Some governors of the Peoples Democratic Party are currently holding a meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo behind closed doors at his Hilltop Mansion in Abeokuta, ostensibly to pacify the former president, who appears to be dissatisfied with the performance of the current administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

In Abeokuta to meet with Obasanjo are Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum, Godswill Akpabio, who is the governor of Akwa Ibom State; his Bauchi State counterpart, Isa Yuguda and Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, among others.

Although the names of the governors on the visit or their numbers could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, it was discovered that the Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, is in the entourage by virtues of the number plates seen on the governor’s escort vehicles. The vehicles bear the state’s marks.

Other governors believed on the trip to the former president’s home are that of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke and his Bauchi State counterpart, Isa Yuguda.

Our correspondent gathered that Niger State governor, Babangida Aliu, is also at the meeting.

The purpose of the meeting, according to sources close to the governors may not be unconnected with the frosty relation between Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan.

The meeting is still ongoing.

Why Obasanjo Got It Wrong On Muslim-Muslim Ticket By Pas Chikero

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Staff Reporter

It is obvious that Obasanjo’s warning against a Muslim-Muslim ticket shows that he is judging the temperament of our nation from the perspective of his generation. A fully-grown man can only see clearly what is on the floor if he bends down, Obasanjo can only understand the thinking of the emerging Nigeria if he listens to the youths. When he does that, he will realize that we don’t care about religion and tribe! Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, once said that his is a wasted generation; I dare to say that tribalism and religion were the banes of that generation.

Olusegun Obasanjo warning the leadership of the All Progressive Congress against presenting a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2015 presidential election has done nothing else but take our developing democracy 15 years backwards. An APC Chieftain revealed that the party has decided to toe the path of the Ota farmer’s counsel by pushing forward a Muslim-Christian ticket from the North and South West, which automatically knocks off the most qualified man for the job, Babatunde Fashola the Governor of Lagos State. What this means is that the party will select a running mate for their Northern, Muslim presidential candidate based on religion and not track records. A nation like ours needs nothing but Technocrats like Fashola who have shown great leadership skills. If APC leaders adhere to Obasanjo’s opinion, they will definitely not be giving Nigerians their best.

Obasanjo needs to be told that the Federal Government Colleges, Higher Institutions and NYSC have in a way remolded the thinking of the Nigerian youth. We don’t think in religious or tribal currency, we want solutions to the problems bedeviling this nation and we don’t care if the Messiah comes in Agbada or Kaftan. We just want solution! Stressing the role of religion and tribe in the coming general elections is a disservice to our nation.

Elders must consider the direction the young ones are running to before giving success tips. A Buhari/Fashola ticket is formidable. It is a balanced ticket. Look at it this way, a former Military Head of State running with a Lawyer, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, moan elected Governor of the most economically vibrant state in Nigeria. That is a marriage made in heaven, what Buhari lacks, Fashola makes up. If Buhari ever loses his cool and swerves into his military mindset, there is a Lawyer to remind him that this is a democracy! While Buhari fights to cleanse Nigeria of corruption, Fashola can head the economic team to steer us to glory days. APC leaders must rethink this resolve because Nigerians can’t afford another clueless president and vice!

Paschal Oge Chikero @SirChikero

Views Expressed are Solely Author’s.

Declare To Everyone You Have Joined APC , Stop Destroying PDP – Yoruba Group Tells Obasanjo

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Staff Reporter

A group under the aegis, Afenifere Renaissance Youth Congress (ARYG) has condemned former President Olusegun Obasanjo for criticising President Olusegun Obasanjo openly when he has unfettered access to the Presidential Villa, describing the lampoon as unstatesmanlike.

Speaking against the backdrop of the recent attacks by Obasanjo on President Jonathan, on behalf of the Yoruba youth group, leader of the group, Mr Abimbola Owolabi in Abuja noted that it was difficult to believe that Obasanjo was still a member of the PDP, however urged him to formally dump his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the opposition, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The group which alleged that the former Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, BoT was working to damage the PDP from within, however called on him to move out of the PDP and pitch his tent with the APC now that he has donned the garb of an opposition element, adding, “Obasanjo is a war General; he should be bold enough to show to Nigerians his APC membership card. He is too old for this chicanery and the hide-and-seek game he is playing within the PDP.”

The group, which comprises many members of the PDP in the South-west zone, wondered why Obasanjo cannot respect the provisions of the Constitution of the party, especially the section that frowns at bringing the name and image of the Party to disrepute.

Source – Vanguard NGR

10 Things You Need To Know This Morning #NewsBits

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Good morning! Here are 10 things you need to know this morning:

1. Considering that the war against Boko Haram has no ‘end’ in sight, the Federal Government on Monday and for the third time resolved that the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states be extended. The decision on the extension was taken at a meeting of the National Defence Council held on Monday.

2. Report says some PDP Governors have threatened to work against the party in the 2015 governorship election as they are reportedly angry with the party Chairman Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, for allegedly manipulating the result of the ward congresses in their respective states. Some of the angry governors, according to report are Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State and that of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke.

3. A political drama ensued yesterday in Ado Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti state as the Peoples Democratic Party members in the state House of Assembly appointed Dele Olugbemi as Protem Speaker in the absence of the Speaker of the House. The PDP that had seven lawmakers in the 26-member assembly were reportedly joined by three unnamed persons. Report says all APC members of the House were stopped by security men from getting into the Assembly complex.

4. Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Convener of Save Nigeria Group and the General Overseer of Latter Rain Assembly,has said that former President, Olusegun Obasanjo killed students’ unionism in the country. While speaking at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, on Monday, Bakare said Obasanjo, as the then Head of State in 1978, used extreme force to frustrate Nigerian students during the ‘Ali Must Go’ protest.

5. The Senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Gbenga Ashafa, has said that the All Progressives Congress, APC will not be divided over the entrance of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal into the race for presidential ticket. He made this statement at an empowerment programme in Lagos.

6. The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress , Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had on Mondaytermed the celebration of the Nigerian military over the recapture of Chibok from Boko Haram as a disgrace. Oyegun said it was a big disgrace that the rag tag militant captured Chibok from the hands of the military in the first place.

7. The #BringBackOurGirls campaigners were yesterday ignored by the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau and Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, in their protest to the Ministry of Education over the killings of schoolchildren by Boko Haram in the North-East. The protesters who were at the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja from 4.10pm to 5.45pm were not attended to by the Ministers.

8. Femi Fani Kayode’s legal battle against the EFCC is almost over as out of the amended 40 count-charge, bordering on an alleged offence by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC charged against Fani-Kayode, trial judge, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, discharged and acquitted the accused of 38 counts, while ruling on a no-case submission filed by the defence ( FFK) on behalf of the accused.

9. Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Monday, said poor leadership was responsible for current national debacle. Soyinka advised that the country should rise above its present standard and equally raise a monument for the missing Chibok girls.

10. At least four persons were reportedly killed yesterday in Owerri, Imo State and Abonema in Rivers State, in different bloody attacks. In the attacks, several others sustained bullet wounds. Report says two of the deceased were killed at Ama Hausa, Owerri, Imo State capital, following a misunderstanding between a Hausa trader and an indigene of Owerri. The other two, according to report were killed when two rival cult groups clashed at Abonnema, headquarters of Akuku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Source – Daily Post NG

2015: Baba Please Forgive Us, We Have Sinned – PDP Begs Obasanjo

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Staff Reporter

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has begged its erstwhile BOT chairman and former president, Olusegun Obasanjo for forgiveness.

The party, said the ex-president should overlook the past and lead it to victory in 2015.

National chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu, made these pleas on behalf of the party in Abuja on Wednesday while welcoming defectors from the Labour Party, led by Gbenga Daniel, to the ruling party.

Mu’azu said, “All of us must beg Obasanjo to forgive us. We need to beg him. He is very prayerful and we need to ask him to forgive us so that we can be forgiven. We are your children.”

“We have made mistakes and baba, please forgive us. Come and lead us. We are your followers and we assure you that we are all good boys and girls. We have sinned. Baba please forgive us”.

Obasanjo Returns To School At 77, Eyes PhD In Christian Theology

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Staff Reporter

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo will today formally enrol as a graduate student at the headquarters of the National Open University of Nigeria in Lagos.

He is returning to the classroom for a higher degree in Christian Theology.

Having obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in 2009, the Owu-born high chief will now be working towards a doctorate degree, beginning first with a Masters degree.

#INSIGHTWITHLARIGOLD: #PASTORSJETS: MY ISSUES WITH NIGERIAN PASTORS AND THEIR JETS BY @LANRE_OLAGUNJU

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Staff Reporter

The most controversial issue on my TL this week was the issue of Nigerian pastors and their new quest for private jets. Just like it’s said that there’s no smoke without fire, the CAN president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s jet gift was actually responsible for firing this controversy. On the occasion of the senior clergy’s birthday and the celebration of his 40^th anniversary in ministry, he was given a private jet as a gift. It’s interesting to see Nigerians, most especially Christians get interested in issues that concern the extravagant lives of their pastors. It proves that the days of “sidon dey look” are over. On the present issue of extravagant living, I earnestly think that God is actually speaking to pastors with the voice of their followers.

Though pastor Oritsejafor’s jet was a gift, yet many argued that he could have rejected it. The past week’s controversy has revealed many other pastors who have quite a number, and the questions of “what’s the use?” keeps coming to mind. If we are advocating the need to hold our political leaders and office holders accountable, honestly speaking, pastors and Imams shouldn’t be excluded. To those who think it’s rude or ungodly to re-examine the things “men of God” do and say. I say wake up and take a cue from the Berea Christians in the bible. This guys do not just receive the word with all eagerness, they daily, personally, search out the scriptures, to check whether the things the preachers said were actually so.

Many of the preachers obviously claim and want us to believe that they need the private jets to spread the word of God round the world. The question is what are some of them doing with two, three and even four jets? As a child who was brought up with the Foursquarian doctrine, where moderation is a watch word. I keep finding it difficult to see our recent day clergies struggling with the biblical instruction of “let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” It’s ok to eat from what you do and be comfortable, be it circularly or in the religious circle but moderation is key.

During the #OccupyNigeria protest in January, Nigerians were clamouring that presidency should reduce the cost of running government, essentially when it became known to all and sundry that the presidency feeds on almost a billion Naira per annum. It’s sad that some religious leaders are also misplacing their priorities. The fact that Nigerians expects more from them than the dirty and heartless politicians is the reason why they purchasing private jets is becoming a bone of contention. Religious bodies should be thinking of more ways to eradicate poverty, speak truth to power rather than just eating and dinning with the political class and then claiming that all is well! With all the money in display, they should build schools that are affordable in the real sense of the word “affordable” just like the missionaries of old did.

Over 70% of the people they lead constitute the poor in the society and realistically it’s from the financial donations of these people that they accumulate their wealth. The major challenge with leadership in this part of the world is that it’s void of sensitivity and human feeling. Or how else do you explain that a religious leader who; flies a private jet in the worth of billions of Naira, who pays the Pilots thousands of dollars per year, pays for hanger charges at least $4000/month, Insurance, maintenance, jet fuel and the rest… has many of his congregation hungry, jobless and even homeless . Even Jesus was mindful of the belly of his congregation; hence he had to miraculously use five breads and two fishes to feed the multitude. By the time the fearful revolution former president, Olusegun Obasanjo predicted during the week comes, I’m afraid the mass of unemployed youth, in anger, might not be able to differentiate political leaders from religious leaders, because you don’t widen the gap between the poor and the rich and say all is well.

Beside that some of these senior pastors with their quest for privet jets are fulfilling the prophesy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, they are actually refreshing the relevance of some of his controversial sayings.

With this private jet issue, Fela’s suffering and smiling song , where he said “Archbishop na miliki, Pope na enjoyment, Imam na gbaladun” becomes much more than just a controversial song.

Follow @Lanre_Olagunju on Twitter.

Blogs @ www.larigold.blogspot.com

#INSIGHTWITHLARIGOLD runs on www.omojuwa.com every Saturday.