Dr. ONU is a distinguished and brilliant scholar academic and engineer before his foray into politics. He was born on December 1st 1951 in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State of Nigeria.
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Sunday 31 May 2015
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed the former Governor of Abia State and National Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, Dr. CHRISTOHPER OGBONNAYA ONU the Secretary to Government of the Federation.
Dr. ONU is a distinguished and brilliant scholar academic and engineer before his foray into politics. He was born on December 1st 1951 in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State of Nigeria.
He made a First Class Degree in Chemical Engineering in the University of Lagos before travelled to the United Kingdom for his post graduate studies in the prestigious University of California Berkley United States of America that culminated in the award to him of a doctorate in Chemical Engineering. The University of California, Berkley is one of the IVY leagues Universities in the United States. It is reputed to be the home of the American Revolution. He made a Division in his School Certificate examination that he wrote in Izzi Boys High School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. He is also alumnus of Mary Knoll College, Okuku, Ogoja, Cross River State. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science; the most prestigious professional association of country. He lectured in the University of Port Harcourt, Department of Chemical Engineering for many years. He is the first democratically elected Governor of old Abia State from February 1992 to November 1993 under the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC). He was Chairman of the Governors Forum from 19992-1993. The NRC was one of the two political parties decreed by the then Federal Military Government of General Babangida’s political transition from military to civil democratic Rule in the early 1990s But his four years term was cut short when General Sani Abacha on the 20th November 1993 toppled the National Interim Government set up by General Babangida after he annulled the 12th June 1993 presidential election widely believed to have been won by Chief MKO Abiola. A rugged, consistent and determined opposition leader he joined the All Peoples Party (later ANPP) after the ban on political activities were lifted in 1998 on the death of General Abacha and the taking over the reins of government by General Abdul Salam Abubukar who initiated a political transition from military to civil democratic rule in the country. He emerged as the first presidential candidate of the APP but never contested the 1999 presidential election because the APP went into a political alliance with the Alliance for Democracy and he had to step down for the Alliance for Democracy presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae. Again in 2003 was a strong presidential aspirant under the platform of the Party for the nomination of its presidential candidate for the 2003 presidential election. He later became the National Chairman of the defunct ANPP at most trying period of the party when consistent poaching by the PDP of its leading members and internal wrangling has progressively reduced the party from its previous status as the biggest opposition party in the country to a shadow of its former self. However through adroit administrative management of the party, Dr. Onu was able to stem the gradually drifting and decimation of the party until its merger with the defunct CAN; CPC and factions of APGA and DPP to form the All Progressives Congress in 2013. After the registration of APC by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Dr. Onu was among the senior leaders of the APC that were co-opted into its Interim National Executive Committee that managed the party from July 2013 to 11th June 2014 when a substantive National Executive Committee was elected. Dr. Onu was appointed the Chairman of the APC presidential Screening Committee that screened the presidential aspirants that contested for the nomination of the presidential candidate of the Party for the 2015 presidential election. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Party.
Dr. ONU is a distinguished and brilliant scholar academic and engineer before his foray into politics. He was born on December 1st 1951 in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State of Nigeria.
Make your assets declaration public – SERAP tells Buhari, Osinbajo
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to declare their assets publicly, consistent with their apparent anti-corruption credentials and their promise to do so.
SERAP made the request in a statement by its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, on Sunday, following the declaration of assets by the President and Vice President to the Code of Conduct Bureau as required by the Constitution.
“We welcome the official declaration of assets by the President and Vice President. This clearly complies with the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution as contained in Chapter VI Section 140. However, the declaration before the Code of Conduct alone falls far short of the commitment to publicly declare their assets.
“SERAP recalls that the President had said before the election that he would publicly declare his assets and liabilities, and encourage all his appointees to publicly declare their assets and liabilities as a pre-condition for appointment. We now expect the President to fulfil this promise to the Nigerian people,” the organisation said.
The organisation also expects the President and Vice President to “publicly declare their assets and to publish widely the information on a dedicated website.”
“Public disclosure of assets will give the general public a true picture of the assets of the President and Vice President and will send a powerful message that it is not going to be business as usual with this government.
“This will also follow the best practice by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, boost this government’s fight against corruption and impunity of perpetrators, and fully comply with the provisions of chapter two of the dealing with Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, which among others require the government to take steps to eradicate corrupt practices and the abuse of power,” the group added.
The group said that it believes that public disclosure of assets is crucial for ensuring that public officials’ personal interests including that of the President and Vice President as the leaders of the nation, do not conflict with their duties and responsibilities.
“Public disclosure also helps to provide a baseline and thus means for comparison to identify assets that may have been corruptly acquired and that a public official may legitimately be asked to account for.”
“”We also urge the President to urgently take measures to seek amendment of the law relating to declaration of assets to include the requirement of public disclosure so as to bring it in line with international standards and best practices such as the UN Convention against Corruption,” SERAP added.
SERAP made the request in a statement by its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, on Sunday, following the declaration of assets by the President and Vice President to the Code of Conduct Bureau as required by the Constitution.
“We welcome the official declaration of assets by the President and Vice President. This clearly complies with the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution as contained in Chapter VI Section 140. However, the declaration before the Code of Conduct alone falls far short of the commitment to publicly declare their assets.
The organisation also expects the President and Vice President to “publicly declare their assets and to publish widely the information on a dedicated website.”
“This will also follow the best practice by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, boost this government’s fight against corruption and impunity of perpetrators, and fully comply with the provisions of chapter two of the dealing with Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, which among others require the government to take steps to eradicate corrupt practices and the abuse of power,” the group added.
“Public disclosure also helps to provide a baseline and thus means for comparison to identify assets that may have been corruptly acquired and that a public official may legitimately be asked to account for.”
“”We also urge the President to urgently take measures to seek amendment of the law relating to declaration of assets to include the requirement of public disclosure so as to bring it in line with international standards and best practices such as the UN Convention against Corruption,” SERAP added.
My government will step on toes for good of Abians – Ikpeazu
The newly sworn-in Governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, on Saturday said that his government was ready to step on toes to change the status of the state for good.
Ikpeazu said this during a thanksgiving service held in his honour at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Eastern Union Conference Headquarters in Aba.
He, however, enjoined persons whose “legs are on the way to remove them before his arrival, in other not to have their toes stepped on”.
“I want God to make Abians to understand that if you want to eat an omelette, you must be ready to crack eggs.
“I thank God that I am courageous enough to take these decisions. God being with me, I will serve Abia and the people of Nigeria with the fear of God.
“I will also take decisions that may not be very palatable but will let the guiding principle be, “Is it in the best interest of the greater majority of our people?’’
The governor noted that it was time to turn things in the state around, adding that it would no longer be business as usual.
“We have travelled so long on the wrong path, probably by events not caused by governments but caused by our people.
“This is the time to turn around because this is not going to be business as usual.
“We must change the way we think, the way we do things, the way we build our houses, we must have respect for our neighbours; in doing so, we will be more responsible,” he said.
Ikpeazu said that he came to the thanksgiving service to present his plans and programmes before God, so that He could touch Abians to take necessary steps to turn the state around.
He said he would report for duty in Aba on Monday and visit Umuahia on Tuesday, adding that he would take time to inspect roads in both places and in Arochukwu.
Dr Bassey Udoh, the President, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Eastern Nigerian Union Conference (ENUC), had earlier charged the governor to watch what he did in order not to displease God.
Udoh, in his sermon titled “When God was Ready”, urged the governor to be wise, saying that he needed great wisdom to be safe in all he did.
“If God has given you money and you do not have the wisdom to manage it, you will soon die.
“If God has given you beauty and you do not have the wisdom to manage it, you will soon die.
“If God has given you a position and you do not have the wisdom to manage it, you will soon die, so be careful what you do,” he said.
Udoh added that God’s choice of an individual did not preclude such from mistakes, adding that the tendency to make mistakes should make God’s chosen ones to seek wisdom earnestly.
The cleric took his reading from 1 Corinthians 1 : 25 – 29 and said that God’s choices were always different from man’s, adding that God’s foolishness beats man’s wisdom.
He urged the governor not to fear because God was with him and would fight his battles for him, with no one being able to overcome him.
Bishop Nathan Kanu, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Aba, Ngwa-North, urged the governor to change the things that did not suit his plans for Abians.
He called on all Abia people to join hands to make the governor successful, adding that God, who had called him, would sustain and help him.
While delivering his goodwill message, a notable Abia statesman, Elder Emmanuel Adaelu, noted that the task before the governor was onerous and urged all Abians should ensure that he succeeded.
Daily Post
Ikpeazu said this during a thanksgiving service held in his honour at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Eastern Union Conference Headquarters in Aba.
He, however, enjoined persons whose “legs are on the way to remove them before his arrival, in other not to have their toes stepped on”.
“I thank God that I am courageous enough to take these decisions. God being with me, I will serve Abia and the people of Nigeria with the fear of God.
“I will also take decisions that may not be very palatable but will let the guiding principle be, “Is it in the best interest of the greater majority of our people?’’
The governor noted that it was time to turn things in the state around, adding that it would no longer be business as usual.
“We have travelled so long on the wrong path, probably by events not caused by governments but caused by our people.
“We must change the way we think, the way we do things, the way we build our houses, we must have respect for our neighbours; in doing so, we will be more responsible,” he said.
He said he would report for duty in Aba on Monday and visit Umuahia on Tuesday, adding that he would take time to inspect roads in both places and in Arochukwu.
Dr Bassey Udoh, the President, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Eastern Nigerian Union Conference (ENUC), had earlier charged the governor to watch what he did in order not to displease God.
Udoh, in his sermon titled “When God was Ready”, urged the governor to be wise, saying that he needed great wisdom to be safe in all he did.
“If God has given you beauty and you do not have the wisdom to manage it, you will soon die.
“If God has given you a position and you do not have the wisdom to manage it, you will soon die, so be careful what you do,” he said.
Udoh added that God’s choice of an individual did not preclude such from mistakes, adding that the tendency to make mistakes should make God’s chosen ones to seek wisdom earnestly.
The cleric took his reading from 1 Corinthians 1 : 25 – 29 and said that God’s choices were always different from man’s, adding that God’s foolishness beats man’s wisdom.
He urged the governor not to fear because God was with him and would fight his battles for him, with no one being able to overcome him.
Bishop Nathan Kanu, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Aba, Ngwa-North, urged the governor to change the things that did not suit his plans for Abians.
He called on all Abia people to join hands to make the governor successful, adding that God, who had called him, would sustain and help him.
While delivering his goodwill message, a notable Abia statesman, Elder Emmanuel Adaelu, noted that the task before the governor was onerous and urged all Abians should ensure that he succeeded.
Daily Post
Female student gang-raped by boyfriend, three others
Four students of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo have been apprehended by detectives attached to the Ondo State Police Command for allegedly gang-raping a female student of the institution
The suspects who are student in the Department of Business Education of the institution were said to have Gang-raped the victim who happen to be dating one of the boys
A police source said the victim, who is on admission in an undisclosed hospital, was became unconscious after the assault on her at a residence in the Oka area of the State.
It was gathered that the victim who resides outside the campus was invited by her friend to the house, and on getting to the residence, some boys including her boyfriend pounced on her, and they took turns to rape her till she became unconscious.
It was further learnt that the victim upon regaining consciousness, returned home where she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. She was placed on admission after bleeding continuously from her private part.
The suspects Who have already been arrested after the case was reported at the police station in Ondo town admitted to committing the crime.
According to the police, the suspects will be charged to court soon.
Daily Post
The suspects who are student in the Department of Business Education of the institution were said to have Gang-raped the victim who happen to be dating one of the boys
A police source said the victim, who is on admission in an undisclosed hospital, was became unconscious after the assault on her at a residence in the Oka area of the State.
The suspects Who have already been arrested after the case was reported at the police station in Ondo town admitted to committing the crime.
Daily Post
Kidnappers demand N50m ransom for Jonathan’s cousins
Gunmen who kidnapped Patience Egbeni and Kate Eni, cousins to President Goodluck Jonathan, have allegedly demanded N50 million ransom for their release.
The two women were kidnapped on May 20 at Akipelai, in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
According to reports, the gunmen contacted their families five days after their abduction demanding the N50 million ransom to set them free.
However, Police Public Relations Officer, Butswat Asinim, said the victims had not been released, adding that he was not aware of the ransom demand. He also disclosed that security agencies were still making efforts to free them.
According to reports, the gunmen contacted their families five days after their abduction demanding the N50 million ransom to set them free.
Gunmen invade Plateau community, burns 250 houses
About 500 gunmen on Thursday invaded Shonong village in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, burning down no less than 250 houses in the process.
The attack, which occurred at about 9pm was said to have taken residents of the community unaware.
According to a member of the community, who identified himself as Isaac Kahwun, the gunmen upon their arrival started shooting sporadically into the air.
Kahwun said, “We sent a distress call to the special task force in charge of the village and the security agents asked us to escape to safer places claiming that they did not have the power to confront the gunmen in case they came back in the night.
“As a result of this, all the villagers left their houses and took refuge in neighbouring villages. In the middle of the night, the gunmen returned and set all the houses ablaze.
“Some house where relief materials were kept for onward distribution to victims of the earlier attacks were also looted by the attackers while they set the remaining ones ablaze.
“Over 1,000 residents who fled their homes are now sleeping in primary schools in neighbouring villages.”
The Chairman, Riyom Local Government Area, Mrs. Josephine Piyo, who planned to visit the affected community was said to have been turned back by security operatives as her safety could not be guaranteed.
Piyo, however, disclosed her displeasure over the persistent attack by the gunmen on members of the community.
She said, “In the past two months, over 10 villages in my local government have been attacked and many people killed, yet security personnel are here watching without doing anything to defend the people or arrest the gunmen”.
Daily Post
The attack, which occurred at about 9pm was said to have taken residents of the community unaware.
According to a member of the community, who identified himself as Isaac Kahwun, the gunmen upon their arrival started shooting sporadically into the air.
“Some house where relief materials were kept for onward distribution to victims of the earlier attacks were also looted by the attackers while they set the remaining ones ablaze.
“Over 1,000 residents who fled their homes are now sleeping in primary schools in neighbouring villages.”
Piyo, however, disclosed her displeasure over the persistent attack by the gunmen on members of the community.
She said, “In the past two months, over 10 villages in my local government have been attacked and many people killed, yet security personnel are here watching without doing anything to defend the people or arrest the gunmen”.
Daily Post
Liberate our communities and take us home – Abuja based IDPs plead with Buhari
Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, from Chibok and Gwoza currently residing in Wasa 2, Abuja, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to help them by totally liberating their communities so they can return home.
The call was made by one of the IDPs, Haruna Wadda when a philanthrophist, Hon. kenneth Ibe Kalu visited them with relief materials.
According to Wadda, there are high hopes among the people in the camp with coming of president Buhari, who believe the security situation in the country will be handled.
Wadda further said the living condition in the camp in Wasa was very discouraging, adding that the best gift Buhari would give them was to liberate their communities so that they can return home and continue rebuilding their lives.
“We left our homes when the Boko Haram sect intensified their attacks and some of our wives, husbands, brothers, sisters and even children were killed while we were running. We practically sleep outside and are prone to all kinds of danger one can imagine.
“We are not here by choice, we are here because this is the only community that allowed us to settle in. It would really be a thing of joy to hear that the new government under president Buhari has successfully tackled the insurgents so that we can return home.”
According to him, all attempts to reach out to the senator from Gwoza, Senator Ali Ndume, the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima and any other honourable members for assistance have not yielded results, adding that they have all abandoned them to their fate and that is why they only depend on President Buhari for liberation of their communities so that they can return home.
“What we have got from our representatives in the National Assembly and even our governor is total abandonment. No one has said anything or assisted us in any way except for these villagers and Hon Ibe-Kalu, who has been visiting us with his group. This is why we really want Buhari to liberate our villages so that we can stop this begging and start making our own money at our homes,” Wadda pleaded.
Daily Post
The call was made by one of the IDPs, Haruna Wadda when a philanthrophist, Hon. kenneth Ibe Kalu visited them with relief materials.
According to Wadda, there are high hopes among the people in the camp with coming of president Buhari, who believe the security situation in the country will be handled.
According to him, all attempts to reach out to the senator from Gwoza, Senator Ali Ndume, the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima and any other honourable members for assistance have not yielded results, adding that they have all abandoned them to their fate and that is why they only depend on President Buhari for liberation of their communities so that they can return home.
Daily Post
Pic: Drogba shows off metal plate scar on his arm as he prepares for surgery
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba shared a photo of himself in hospital as he prepared to have a surgery to remove a metal plate from his arm in Barcelone. The footballer, who played his last match last Sunday, posted the pic and wrote - "Time to get ride of my ironman plate!! Sorry I can't see my fans from Thailand and from Australia. Have fun with my people out there!!!! #Barcelona #surgery"
LIB
Bomb blast in Maiduguri, four confirmed dead
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Buhari, VP fail to declare assets publicly
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have declared their assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau as required by the Constitution but failed to make the contents public.
The head of Buhari’s media team, Garba Shehu, in a statement on Saturday, said the President and the Vice President submitted their assets declaration forms separately on Thursday.
Shehu added that the CCB, through its Chairman, Sam Saba, on Friday acknowledged the receipt of the forms.
He gave Buhari’s declaration identity number as “President: 000001/2015.”
Shehu, however, did not disclose the contents of the assets declaration forms.
“By declaring their assets, President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo may have not only fulfilled the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution, but also fulfilled the first of their many campaign promises.
“While seeking election into the highest office in the land, the President had promised Nigerians that he would publicly declare his assets as soon as he took over government,” he wrote.
The Nigerian Constitution states in Chapter VI Section 140 that a person elected to the Office of the President shall not begin to perform the functions of that office until he has declared his assets and liabilities as prescribed in the Constitution.
Though the president’s aide believes the declaration was in fulfillment of Buhari’s campaign promises, analysts claim the President has not done anything spectacular because the contents were not made public.
In February this year, while campaigning Buhari had said that he would publicly declare his assets and liabilities, if voted into power.
Buhari stated this in a document. The document highlighted what Buhari would do in his first 100 days if he assumed power on May 29.
He said he would encourage political appointees in his administration to also declare their assets publicly.
Had the new president kept to his words he will be the country’s second president to publicly declare his assets.
Reacting to the news of the asset declaration by Buhari and Osinbajo to the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the PDP was not ready to engage the All Progressives Congress-led government on asset declaration by the two most important persons in the country or any other issue.
Metuh said, “No comment for now. These are early days. At the moment, we wish them well.”
The late President, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, also from Katsina State as Buhari, was the first and the only Nigeria’s President to have publicly declared his assets when he assumed office.
This action forced his then deputy, Jonathan, to also make his assets declaration forms available to the public.
However, since he assumed office as the substantive President, Jonathan had refused to make the forms available to the public, saying that he did that when he was serving as deputy to Yar’Adua.
But Buhari, in the document titled, ‘I pledge to Nigeria’ had also said that all his political appointees would only earn salaries and allowances as prescribed by the Revenue and Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission.
He said, “I pledge to publicly declare my assets and liabilities, encourage all my appointees publicly declare their assets and liabilities as a pre-condition for appointment. All political appointees will only earn the salaries and allowances determined by the RMFAC. I pledge, as Commander-in-Chief, to lead from the front and not behind in the comfort and security of Aso Rock, to boost the morale of fighting forces and the generality of all Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, about 48hours after they took their oaths of office, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have yet to move into the Presidential Villa, Abuja, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.
Investigation by our correspondent on Saturday showed that the duo only attended the events held in the Villa on Friday and returned to town.
While Buhari was suspected to have returned to the Defence House, the official residence of the President-elect, which he started using shortly after he won the March 28 presidential election, Osinbajo might have returned to his private residence.
Immediately after they were inaugurated as President and Vice President at the Eagle Square on Friday, Buhari and Osinbajo moved to the Presidential Villa for a state luncheon organised in honour of world leaders who attended the inauguration.
They left and later returned in the evening for the inauguration gala night held inside the villa’s old Banquet Hall.
“The President and the Vice President have yet to move into the State House. I learnt that the President returned to Defence House on Friday,” a source said.
Punch
PDP lost power because we took things for granted – Haliru Mohammed, acting BOT Chair
Dr. Haliru Bello Mohammed, from Kebbi State, just became the acting Chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the office vacated by Chief Tony Anenih.
Mohammed was National Vice Chairman, North West of the PDP, comprising Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa and Zamfara states; a Commissioner for the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC); and Minister of Communications
In March 2008, he was elected the Deputy National Chairman and, in January 2011, he emerged the Acting National Chairman of the PDP when Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo stepped down. He was later made the Chairman of a 20-member Board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and thereafter the Minister of Defence.
He was appointed the Chairman, North Central Zonal Reconciliation Committee of the PDP set up by the immediate past National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mauzu. One major assignment Mohammed undertook for the PDP before the March 28 presidential election was as Chairman of Presidential Declaration Committee with nine sub-committees.
In this interview, the acting BoT Chair of the PDP bares his mind on the presidential election, the PDP before and after the election, why former President Goodluck Jonathan refused the position of the BoT Chair and his expectations from President Muhammadu Buhari, among other issues.
BY HENRY UMORU
PDP lost the March 28 presidential election. How has it been as an elder of the party?
In the first place, I don’t believe we lost the election, we conceded the election because election is not lost until it is challenged in a court of law; that is what Buhari did the first three times he contested against PDP candidates.
At the time of the election, we foresaw that the mood in the country was such that if the result was declared otherwise, the country will be plunged into chaos and there will be protest and possibly loss of lives and property; that is why President Jonathan decided to concede. So I see it not that we lost the election but that we conceded defeat because if Jonathan hadn’t conceded, we would still be in court trying to determine the real winner and there would have been a lot of evidence to be presented. However, I am glad President Jonathan decided to concede so that we can have the peace that we have now in the country.
Did your party actually prepare to win the election?
PDP prepared very well for the election. It was clear we went round the country campaigning despite the hostility in some northern states where our convoys were attacked. We persisted, we went to all the states including those considered dangerous because of the activities of Boko Haram and we mobilized our supporters. There were a lot of negative campaigns coming from the opposition especially with regard to religion, terrorism which was active in the North – East of the country and these were the issues that worked against PDP especially in the North – East and North – West.
God has designed that, after 16 years, PDP will now taste opposition and give opportunity for the other party to also show what they can do for the people of this country. We don’t regret the president conceding because President Buhari has been contesting for a very long time and maybe he has now seen some ideas which he would like to put into practice in the governance of Nigeria. In a way, it is good to give him the opportunity, let the people of Nigeria see what he has to offer and PDP will stay as a viable opposition so that when he falters, we will be there to offer alternative opposition to the people. I believe that come 2019, it will be a clash of ideas. Let us see what Buhari and APC will unfold and compare with what PDP had shown in its performance and the people will choose.
Soon after the PDP lost, there was this blame game between the presidential campaign
organisation and the PDP leadership. Was it really healthy for the party?
It is true that a lot of mistakes were made; the leadership and followership of the PDP made mistakes. We took certain things for granted, but this is not the time for finger pointing. This is not the time for blame apportioning; this is the time that we should look in retrospect, come together and examine what happened and see how we can put our party together so that we can prepare for 2019. When they are busy putting their government together and showing Nigerians what to do, we will be busy rebuilding our party; we know how we did it in 1998; we know the right people to contact in every state who put the party together.
We are going back to those people. That is why I always say we take this party back to the people. We will go back to the roots and, once we do that, we will identify the founding fathers that have been sidelined and bring them back on board as many of them that are alive and available. We will build a formidable structure as we did in 1998 and it will be ready to offer an alternative government for Nigerians in 2019.
In specific terms, what did your party take for granted?
We took it for granted that the people of the country had accepted PDP as attested to in a number of states that accepted PDP, not only as ruling party at the federal level, but also as state governments. We took it for granted that our legislators will come back, but, unfortunately, the leadership of the party did not handle the primaries well. We took it for granted that whether we removed and replaced or not, whoever got the PDP ticket will win the elections and it turned out that it was not so. Nigerians have become more enlightened, they are voting more on the quality of the candidate than on blind loyalty to the party and we did not handle the primaries very well and that is a mistake that we have learnt from our actions and we will correct it come 2019.
We took for granted that the elections will be fought on issues and ideology and not on religion and tribal bases. That did not happen especially in the North where preachers in the mosques were demonising PDP, condemning PDP to hell and threatening our voters that voting for any PDP candidate was like buying your ticket to hell. All these things happened, but we didn’t envisage that politics will come down to that level; so we took it for granted that it will be based on policies and ideologies. We have learnt from this experience and, as you can see, PDP is full of people with ideas, great intelligence and we will sit back and re- adjust and we will bounce back in 2019. Looking at the APC line up, all of them with a few exception were trained by PDP in politics, so where they learnt, the residue is still there and we will stir it up and come back with a bang.
I want you to comment on the resignation of the Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mua’zu. Was it just Muazu or the entire leadership of the party that ought to have resigned ?
It is unfortunate that immediately after the election, some people lost their cool and started pointing fingers and shouting at one another. But it is not unexpected in a situation where nobody expected what happened to happen. People will feel frustrated and will be looking for scapegoats. The situation degenerated to what led to some of our supporters, out of their for the party and the love for the continuity of the PDP government, to blame and, naturally, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
So Mua’zu and his NWC were natural targets for this scapegoating, but I don’t think the blame for our candidate to win this election lies in one direction. We are all to blame including those of us who are elders who saw what was happening and kept quiet; but, this is not the time to accuse each other, this is the time to come together and see what went wrong and correct it.
How prepared is PDP to play the role of the opposition?
What is the role of the opposition? The role of the opposition is to offer an alternative to policy and to try to bring the government back on track when it tries to derail. So essentially, the role of opposition is to advice the government and offer alternative where government feels to be clueless on any issue. We already have people of experience, people of high level of integrity and knowledge and we have done governance for 16 years. We are very well placed to play the opposition role of telling the government this is not how to do it and this is what you should be doing; if they listen, of course they will succeed, but if they don’t listen, then the people of Nigeria will see what is happening and when it is time for the next election, they will decide.
PDP appear to be lucky to have somebody like you around, because they only look for you when there is problem. First, you were to look into the implementation of Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s Committee report; you were also the Chairman, North Central Reconciliation Committee. You acted as the Chairman. Can I say the party is lucky to have you?
I am lucky to have the party. There are people who are even better than me in the party. When we started, it was a party where you had the likes of Adamu Ciroma, Alex Ekwueme, Tony Anenih, Bode George, Ken Nnamani, Shauibu Oyedokun, Jerry Gana, Ebenezer Babatope and a lot of them. So you cannot say we lack people of high calibre, people who are materials to be president of this country and people with wisdom. We have all that in PDP. So it is just a coincidence if one person happens to hold a particular office and I believe anyone of us, given the opportunity, if we flock together to give our support, we will be able to deliver the party. Like I said, we are all guilty, we were complacent; that is why what happened has happened and now that we have learnt our lessons, I don’t think it will repeat itself.
You have just been made the acting Chairman of BoT, Before you came in, the immediate past Chairman, Chief Chief Tony Anenih, said in his letter of resignation that he did that for the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan to take over. How did it really happen that you came in instead of him. What are you bringing on board as BoT Chairman?
When we lost the election, we had a president who now have more time on his hands, a lot of people including Chief Anenih believed that we could use the president to lead the Board of Trustees. As it happened, after former President Obasanjo finished his term, he was made Chairman, Board of Trustees, so we could use his influence, experience and his wisdom because there is this plot nationally and internationally to move our party forward.
The same thing could have applied to immediate past President Jonathan and the offer was made as you have seen in Tony Anenih’s letter, but the immediate past president made it clear that he doesn’t want to be the Chairman, Board of Trustees; he wants to be one of the leaders of the party who will stay on the sideline and assist the party to rebuild itself. What he said was that if the party rebuilds itself and becomes the party in government again, then if he is called to take up any position, then he will be ready to take it. But for now, he wants to rest and give opportunities for other leaders to work in the party.
We respected his opinion. That is why we thought that one of us in the Board of Trustees should be entrusted to temporally lead until such a time that we are organised and we are ready to go into election to elect a substantive Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
As to what my party expects; it expects me to galvanize all members of the party, bring them together, stop the bickering that is happening and start the process of re organising the party from the grass roots to the national level. In doing that, of course, we are working with the National Working Committee and, as you know, the Board of Trustees is advisory. The executive authority lies with the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee, but because the residue of all the founding fathers is in the BoT, the role of BoT becomes very important at this point in time, so that the collective wisdom of the BoT will be put together and forwarded as advice to the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee.
We believe that the implementation of our collective ideas will bring PDP back to what it was meant to be by the founding fathers because we still have residue of the founding fathers in the BoT, and we know on what premise this party was built and we know the people who built it are still available in the various states of the federation. So if we take this party back to the grass roots, we hand it back to the people, it will resuscitate, revive and roar back into power in 2019.
In taking the party back to the grass roots, how do you avoid what happened in the past when Chief Anenih and his team in trouble shooting efforts were misunderstood by the former Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, that the former was usurping the functions of the latter?
Like I said, the BoT does not have executive powers. If we have brilliant ideas, we should discuss them with the executive arm of the party, that is, the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee. If the linkage is broken, then you have a situation where there is a breach in communication and then the implementation becomes fractional and therefore unsuccessful. This time around, whatever ideas we have in the BoT, we will implement together with the National Working Committee. If we are setting up a committee, it will be a committee of the party not a committee of BoT. If we are going round, it will be the party going round, not BoT or NWC or National Executive Committee. So the party will work as a unit not in groups of BoT, NWC, NEC. I have no doubt that we will succeed.
Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn in as the President of Nigeria. Before now, there were calls for the North to produce the President and some leaders of the North operated under the ACF to have it. Now we have it. As a Nigerian and not just as a northerner, is he taking us there against the backdrop of the issue of change?
Change was there before he came in. The principle under which PDP operates is that Nigeria should be seen as a united nation, but because of the present circumstances, we believe it will need time to blend as one people. And only when we can blend as one people is when every section of Nigeria will be given a sense of belonging and one of the innovative ways PDP has set out to build this sense of belonging is by making sure that whenever we set up a government, every part of this country, region, state, religious, tribal factors are put together so that the federal character of Nigeria is reflected in the government.
That is why we introduced zoning and rotation of power so that everybody feels he has something in the government. The six zones will feel that they have a chance and opportunity at one time or the other to produce whatever position, whether it is the president, the vice president, Senate president, the speaker, chairman of the party, chairman BoT.
That is one way we feel will further unify this country until we arrive at a time when Nigerian does not look at you as to where you come from, what religion you belong to, but what you can offer. Meanwhile, before we reach that, we have to create a sense of belonging that will eventually lead us to that position that a Nigerian is a Nigerian wherever he comes from.
That is what PDP has set out to achieve and I believe if all Nigerian parties accept that principle, it will not be long when we will reach the point where Nigerians will be seen as Nigerians regardless of where you live or come from.
Expectations are very high from Nigerians. The issues of power, petrol, unemployment, among others, are there. A new government is now in charge and I know you are not in the position to set agenda for it. But if you are to do that, what would you say and think the Buhari-led government should do if it must take us there?
I can’t think of what this government can do because I haven’t seen their performance. I was old enough to remember Buhari’s performance as a military head of state, but as to advising this government, I believe they have made promises to the people. The only advice I can give is that they should keep their promises to the people. The people expect power to operate normally, they expect security to be restored and enhanced, they expect all aspects of Nigerian life to operate smoothly whether it is education, health, transportation.
PDP has tried very hard and we have tried to publicise all that we have achieved in the last four years of former President Jonathan and in the 16 years that we have operated. For 25 years, the railway wasn’t working; I was fortunate to be the Chairman of railway when President Yar’dua directed that instead of going into standard gauge immediately we should first of all restore the narrow gauge so that people will start using that while we are working on developing the standard gauge and we thank God that the trains are now moving.
We planned to have railway in every state capital, the Ajaokuta/Warri to extend to Lokoja, the River Niger Marine transport.
The integrated master plan has been worked out and have developed gradually from Obasanjo’s time to Goodluck’s time. All these we expect this government to continue, otherwise the transport sector will be stagnant. In the power sector, so many turbines have been ordered by the PDP government, they have been put in place, but the required infrastructure to fire them is what is lacking and that is the next phase and we expect this government to carry on with the next phase so that all these turbines will be fired and, once they are fired, there will be enough power all over the country.
The power sector is such that you can’t do it over night, but we have set the trend, we have awarded contracts for many hydro electricity projects and the distribution is also another factor. Contracts have been given out for distribution system to cover all zones of this country. Towards the end of his administration, former President Jonathan and his vice, Sambo were opening various stations to make it possible for these distribution stations to send electricity to all parts of the country.
If the coming government continues with this process, they will set up transmission, which is already awarded in many parts, and distribution, which the DISCOs were set up to do, but you know they are still at the take off point, so the government should help them take off properly and they can do it in the four years they have and hopefully, in 2019, we will come in and continue from where we stopped.
Vanguard
Mohammed was National Vice Chairman, North West of the PDP, comprising Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa and Zamfara states; a Commissioner for the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC); and Minister of Communications
In March 2008, he was elected the Deputy National Chairman and, in January 2011, he emerged the Acting National Chairman of the PDP when Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo stepped down. He was later made the Chairman of a 20-member Board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and thereafter the Minister of Defence.
He was appointed the Chairman, North Central Zonal Reconciliation Committee of the PDP set up by the immediate past National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mauzu. One major assignment Mohammed undertook for the PDP before the March 28 presidential election was as Chairman of Presidential Declaration Committee with nine sub-committees.
In this interview, the acting BoT Chair of the PDP bares his mind on the presidential election, the PDP before and after the election, why former President Goodluck Jonathan refused the position of the BoT Chair and his expectations from President Muhammadu Buhari, among other issues.
BY HENRY UMORU
PDP lost the March 28 presidential election. How has it been as an elder of the party?
In the first place, I don’t believe we lost the election, we conceded the election because election is not lost until it is challenged in a court of law; that is what Buhari did the first three times he contested against PDP candidates.
At the time of the election, we foresaw that the mood in the country was such that if the result was declared otherwise, the country will be plunged into chaos and there will be protest and possibly loss of lives and property; that is why President Jonathan decided to concede. So I see it not that we lost the election but that we conceded defeat because if Jonathan hadn’t conceded, we would still be in court trying to determine the real winner and there would have been a lot of evidence to be presented. However, I am glad President Jonathan decided to concede so that we can have the peace that we have now in the country.
Did your party actually prepare to win the election?
PDP prepared very well for the election. It was clear we went round the country campaigning despite the hostility in some northern states where our convoys were attacked. We persisted, we went to all the states including those considered dangerous because of the activities of Boko Haram and we mobilized our supporters. There were a lot of negative campaigns coming from the opposition especially with regard to religion, terrorism which was active in the North – East of the country and these were the issues that worked against PDP especially in the North – East and North – West.
God has designed that, after 16 years, PDP will now taste opposition and give opportunity for the other party to also show what they can do for the people of this country. We don’t regret the president conceding because President Buhari has been contesting for a very long time and maybe he has now seen some ideas which he would like to put into practice in the governance of Nigeria. In a way, it is good to give him the opportunity, let the people of Nigeria see what he has to offer and PDP will stay as a viable opposition so that when he falters, we will be there to offer alternative opposition to the people. I believe that come 2019, it will be a clash of ideas. Let us see what Buhari and APC will unfold and compare with what PDP had shown in its performance and the people will choose.
Soon after the PDP lost, there was this blame game between the presidential campaign
organisation and the PDP leadership. Was it really healthy for the party?
It is true that a lot of mistakes were made; the leadership and followership of the PDP made mistakes. We took certain things for granted, but this is not the time for finger pointing. This is not the time for blame apportioning; this is the time that we should look in retrospect, come together and examine what happened and see how we can put our party together so that we can prepare for 2019. When they are busy putting their government together and showing Nigerians what to do, we will be busy rebuilding our party; we know how we did it in 1998; we know the right people to contact in every state who put the party together.
We are going back to those people. That is why I always say we take this party back to the people. We will go back to the roots and, once we do that, we will identify the founding fathers that have been sidelined and bring them back on board as many of them that are alive and available. We will build a formidable structure as we did in 1998 and it will be ready to offer an alternative government for Nigerians in 2019.
In specific terms, what did your party take for granted?
Jonathan, Haliru and Fayose
We took for granted that the elections will be fought on issues and ideology and not on religion and tribal bases. That did not happen especially in the North where preachers in the mosques were demonising PDP, condemning PDP to hell and threatening our voters that voting for any PDP candidate was like buying your ticket to hell. All these things happened, but we didn’t envisage that politics will come down to that level; so we took it for granted that it will be based on policies and ideologies. We have learnt from this experience and, as you can see, PDP is full of people with ideas, great intelligence and we will sit back and re- adjust and we will bounce back in 2019. Looking at the APC line up, all of them with a few exception were trained by PDP in politics, so where they learnt, the residue is still there and we will stir it up and come back with a bang.
I want you to comment on the resignation of the Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mua’zu. Was it just Muazu or the entire leadership of the party that ought to have resigned ?
It is unfortunate that immediately after the election, some people lost their cool and started pointing fingers and shouting at one another. But it is not unexpected in a situation where nobody expected what happened to happen. People will feel frustrated and will be looking for scapegoats. The situation degenerated to what led to some of our supporters, out of their for the party and the love for the continuity of the PDP government, to blame and, naturally, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
So Mua’zu and his NWC were natural targets for this scapegoating, but I don’t think the blame for our candidate to win this election lies in one direction. We are all to blame including those of us who are elders who saw what was happening and kept quiet; but, this is not the time to accuse each other, this is the time to come together and see what went wrong and correct it.
How prepared is PDP to play the role of the opposition?
What is the role of the opposition? The role of the opposition is to offer an alternative to policy and to try to bring the government back on track when it tries to derail. So essentially, the role of opposition is to advice the government and offer alternative where government feels to be clueless on any issue. We already have people of experience, people of high level of integrity and knowledge and we have done governance for 16 years. We are very well placed to play the opposition role of telling the government this is not how to do it and this is what you should be doing; if they listen, of course they will succeed, but if they don’t listen, then the people of Nigeria will see what is happening and when it is time for the next election, they will decide.
PDP appear to be lucky to have somebody like you around, because they only look for you when there is problem. First, you were to look into the implementation of Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s Committee report; you were also the Chairman, North Central Reconciliation Committee. You acted as the Chairman. Can I say the party is lucky to have you?
I am lucky to have the party. There are people who are even better than me in the party. When we started, it was a party where you had the likes of Adamu Ciroma, Alex Ekwueme, Tony Anenih, Bode George, Ken Nnamani, Shauibu Oyedokun, Jerry Gana, Ebenezer Babatope and a lot of them. So you cannot say we lack people of high calibre, people who are materials to be president of this country and people with wisdom. We have all that in PDP. So it is just a coincidence if one person happens to hold a particular office and I believe anyone of us, given the opportunity, if we flock together to give our support, we will be able to deliver the party. Like I said, we are all guilty, we were complacent; that is why what happened has happened and now that we have learnt our lessons, I don’t think it will repeat itself.
You have just been made the acting Chairman of BoT, Before you came in, the immediate past Chairman, Chief Chief Tony Anenih, said in his letter of resignation that he did that for the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan to take over. How did it really happen that you came in instead of him. What are you bringing on board as BoT Chairman?
When we lost the election, we had a president who now have more time on his hands, a lot of people including Chief Anenih believed that we could use the president to lead the Board of Trustees. As it happened, after former President Obasanjo finished his term, he was made Chairman, Board of Trustees, so we could use his influence, experience and his wisdom because there is this plot nationally and internationally to move our party forward.
The same thing could have applied to immediate past President Jonathan and the offer was made as you have seen in Tony Anenih’s letter, but the immediate past president made it clear that he doesn’t want to be the Chairman, Board of Trustees; he wants to be one of the leaders of the party who will stay on the sideline and assist the party to rebuild itself. What he said was that if the party rebuilds itself and becomes the party in government again, then if he is called to take up any position, then he will be ready to take it. But for now, he wants to rest and give opportunities for other leaders to work in the party.
We respected his opinion. That is why we thought that one of us in the Board of Trustees should be entrusted to temporally lead until such a time that we are organised and we are ready to go into election to elect a substantive Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
As to what my party expects; it expects me to galvanize all members of the party, bring them together, stop the bickering that is happening and start the process of re organising the party from the grass roots to the national level. In doing that, of course, we are working with the National Working Committee and, as you know, the Board of Trustees is advisory. The executive authority lies with the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee, but because the residue of all the founding fathers is in the BoT, the role of BoT becomes very important at this point in time, so that the collective wisdom of the BoT will be put together and forwarded as advice to the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee.
We believe that the implementation of our collective ideas will bring PDP back to what it was meant to be by the founding fathers because we still have residue of the founding fathers in the BoT, and we know on what premise this party was built and we know the people who built it are still available in the various states of the federation. So if we take this party back to the grass roots, we hand it back to the people, it will resuscitate, revive and roar back into power in 2019.
In taking the party back to the grass roots, how do you avoid what happened in the past when Chief Anenih and his team in trouble shooting efforts were misunderstood by the former Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, that the former was usurping the functions of the latter?
Like I said, the BoT does not have executive powers. If we have brilliant ideas, we should discuss them with the executive arm of the party, that is, the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee. If the linkage is broken, then you have a situation where there is a breach in communication and then the implementation becomes fractional and therefore unsuccessful. This time around, whatever ideas we have in the BoT, we will implement together with the National Working Committee. If we are setting up a committee, it will be a committee of the party not a committee of BoT. If we are going round, it will be the party going round, not BoT or NWC or National Executive Committee. So the party will work as a unit not in groups of BoT, NWC, NEC. I have no doubt that we will succeed.
Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn in as the President of Nigeria. Before now, there were calls for the North to produce the President and some leaders of the North operated under the ACF to have it. Now we have it. As a Nigerian and not just as a northerner, is he taking us there against the backdrop of the issue of change?
Change was there before he came in. The principle under which PDP operates is that Nigeria should be seen as a united nation, but because of the present circumstances, we believe it will need time to blend as one people. And only when we can blend as one people is when every section of Nigeria will be given a sense of belonging and one of the innovative ways PDP has set out to build this sense of belonging is by making sure that whenever we set up a government, every part of this country, region, state, religious, tribal factors are put together so that the federal character of Nigeria is reflected in the government.
That is why we introduced zoning and rotation of power so that everybody feels he has something in the government. The six zones will feel that they have a chance and opportunity at one time or the other to produce whatever position, whether it is the president, the vice president, Senate president, the speaker, chairman of the party, chairman BoT.
That is one way we feel will further unify this country until we arrive at a time when Nigerian does not look at you as to where you come from, what religion you belong to, but what you can offer. Meanwhile, before we reach that, we have to create a sense of belonging that will eventually lead us to that position that a Nigerian is a Nigerian wherever he comes from.
That is what PDP has set out to achieve and I believe if all Nigerian parties accept that principle, it will not be long when we will reach the point where Nigerians will be seen as Nigerians regardless of where you live or come from.
Expectations are very high from Nigerians. The issues of power, petrol, unemployment, among others, are there. A new government is now in charge and I know you are not in the position to set agenda for it. But if you are to do that, what would you say and think the Buhari-led government should do if it must take us there?
I can’t think of what this government can do because I haven’t seen their performance. I was old enough to remember Buhari’s performance as a military head of state, but as to advising this government, I believe they have made promises to the people. The only advice I can give is that they should keep their promises to the people. The people expect power to operate normally, they expect security to be restored and enhanced, they expect all aspects of Nigerian life to operate smoothly whether it is education, health, transportation.
PDP has tried very hard and we have tried to publicise all that we have achieved in the last four years of former President Jonathan and in the 16 years that we have operated. For 25 years, the railway wasn’t working; I was fortunate to be the Chairman of railway when President Yar’dua directed that instead of going into standard gauge immediately we should first of all restore the narrow gauge so that people will start using that while we are working on developing the standard gauge and we thank God that the trains are now moving.
We planned to have railway in every state capital, the Ajaokuta/Warri to extend to Lokoja, the River Niger Marine transport.
The integrated master plan has been worked out and have developed gradually from Obasanjo’s time to Goodluck’s time. All these we expect this government to continue, otherwise the transport sector will be stagnant. In the power sector, so many turbines have been ordered by the PDP government, they have been put in place, but the required infrastructure to fire them is what is lacking and that is the next phase and we expect this government to carry on with the next phase so that all these turbines will be fired and, once they are fired, there will be enough power all over the country.
The power sector is such that you can’t do it over night, but we have set the trend, we have awarded contracts for many hydro electricity projects and the distribution is also another factor. Contracts have been given out for distribution system to cover all zones of this country. Towards the end of his administration, former President Jonathan and his vice, Sambo were opening various stations to make it possible for these distribution stations to send electricity to all parts of the country.
If the coming government continues with this process, they will set up transmission, which is already awarded in many parts, and distribution, which the DISCOs were set up to do, but you know they are still at the take off point, so the government should help them take off properly and they can do it in the four years they have and hopefully, in 2019, we will come in and continue from where we stopped.
Vanguard
Nick Cleg Banned From Travelling To Russia
Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is among nearly 90 European figures on a secret Russian "stop list" banned from entering the country.
They are joined by MI5 director general Andrew Parker and the former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers on what appears to be a leaked version of the list that has appeared online.
The disclosure comes after a number of EU politicians tried to travel to the country in recent months, only to be told at the border they could not enter Russia because they were on the list.
The list was handed to the EU's ambassador by the Moscow authorities earlier this week after repeated requests.
The move has been condemned by the Foreign Office, which said there was "absolutely no justification" for it.
An EU spokesman said: "The list with 89 names has now been shared by the Russian authorities.
"We don't have any other information on legal basis, criteria and process of this decision.
"We consider this measure as totally arbitrary and unjustified, especially in the absence of any further clarification and transparency.
"We are keeping in close contact with the member states involved."
The Foreign Office said the existence of the list would not affect EU sanctions.
"There is absolutely no justification for this list.
"And the Russian authorities have not provided any legal basis for the list or for the names on it," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
"If Russia thinks this action will cause the EU to change its position on sanctions, it is wrong.
"The way for Russia to get the sanctions lifted is to remove its troops from Ukraine and comply with its obligations under the Minsk agreements.
"The EU and member states are urgently seeking more transparency from the Russian authorities for this move."
Mr Clegg has been an outspoken critic of Russia, with Lib Dem ministers snubbing last year's Winter Olympics in Sochi because of the country's anti-gay laws.
He also argued Russia should lose the right to host the 2018 World Cup following the downing of a civilian airliner in eastern Ukraine last July, with the loss of 298 lives.
Sky News
Friday 29 May 2015
Why Patience Jonathan failed to attend President Buhari’s inauguration
The absence of Patience Jonathan from the inauguration ceremony of President Muhammadu Buhari has raised different questions among Nigerians.
Mrs Jonathan, unlike other wives of Nigerian leaders was conspicuously absent from the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Many have said that Mrs Jonathan who was last seen with her husband at the inauguration dinner which heldThursdaynight had through her body language showed her displeasure over her husband’s outster by the current President as she never looked at the direction of President Buhari who shared the same high-table with her throughout the dinner.
However, report has it that it took the intervention of friends and family for the ousted First Lady to have agreed to follow her husband to the dinner. Her reason, according to a presidency source was that she may not be able to control her emotion as it’s painful giving up power just after one term in office.
The source further disclosed that Mrs Jonathan broke down in tears after the dinner last night and that could have been responsible for her absence from Friday’s inauguration as Mr. Jonathan may not want a repeat of the Thursday-dinner episode.
Another presidency source has however debunked the rumour that the former First Lady could not attend the inauguration because she was emotionally down. The source who pleaded not to be mentioned said ” Mama Peace has an important event to attend in Otuoke, their country home. You don’t expect her to attend the inauguration when people are waiting for her arrival back home. She is not aggrieved over anything and she is not the only First lady who could not attend the inauguration. Her attendance is highly insignificant. I don’t know why you, press people are trying to make something out of that.”
Meanwhile, Nigerians at different places have condemned her absence, saying that even though she has the right to stay away from any major event she is not directly involved, her absence at the inauguration communicates volume as to her grudge for the new administration of President Buhari and his wife whom she said she would work with and show direction.
Daily Post
Blatter named FIFA president for fifth term after Prince Ali withdraws
Sepp Blatter will remain FIFA president, after his remaining challenger Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein withdrew from the race, following the first round of voting.
The incumbent Blatter got 133 votes in the first round, while Prince Ali received 73.
However, the Jordanian FA chief stepped aside before the second round of voting.
“73 national organisations were really brave and I did it for them,” he said afterwards.
“I don’t want them to be in any more trouble. I hope that people will realise that football is for the world, and not just the way things are.
“I hope for the best, that the number builds up so we can have a real change in this organisation”.
This means 79-year-old Blatter will continue at the helm of affairs for the next four years.
The Swiss, reacting to the outcome of the elections, said: “I would like to give confidence and express my gratitude to his royal highness Prince Ali.
“Because Prince Ali was a competitor, a challenger and he has obtained a very good result and he, in a certain situation, easily could have said ‘no, let’s go further, perhaps I will receive more votes.’
On the other hand, thank you for the next four years. I will command FIFA. I will bring it back to the beach from offshore, we can play everywhere but we have to work on that”.
The incumbent Blatter got 133 votes in the first round, while Prince Ali received 73.
However, the Jordanian FA chief stepped aside before the second round of voting.
“73 national organisations were really brave and I did it for them,” he said afterwards.
“I don’t want them to be in any more trouble. I hope that people will realise that football is for the world, and not just the way things are.
“I hope for the best, that the number builds up so we can have a real change in this organisation”.
This means 79-year-old Blatter will continue at the helm of affairs for the next four years.
The Swiss, reacting to the outcome of the elections, said: “I would like to give confidence and express my gratitude to his royal highness Prince Ali.
“Because Prince Ali was a competitor, a challenger and he has obtained a very good result and he, in a certain situation, easily could have said ‘no, let’s go further, perhaps I will receive more votes.’
On the other hand, thank you for the next four years. I will command FIFA. I will bring it back to the beach from offshore, we can play everywhere but we have to work on that”.
Uduaghan pardons 24yr old student sentenced to death by hanging for stealing phones
Moses was charged to court after he and his robbery gang robbed a women of about N100k, phones, and recharge cards valued at over N100,000 in Delta state.
He was apprehended at the scene of the incident while other members of the gang escaped. After the verdict was handed by the presiding judge, the international community and local social crusaders launched a massive campaign for a state pardon for Solomon.
This wish was granted as Governor Uduaghan during his last Executive meeting at the government house, Asaba today, 28th May. Not only did he grant Moses total pardon, he also commuted the death sentences of three others to various terms of imprisonment.
LIB
Photo: Prof Osinbajo's mum ready for the inauguration
Father and son marry after they dissolve adoption
USA Today reports:
Norman MacArthur and Bill Novak spent the past 15 years as father and son in the eyes of the law; they’ll spend the rest of their years as a married couple. The couple, together for more than 50 years, married in Pennsylvania on Sunday, Yahoo News reports. Prior to the ceremony, the men told Patch.com they were “ecstatic beyond belief.”
Novak adopted MacArthur in 2000 after the pair moved from New York to Pennsylvania and realized their legal partnership wouldn’t be recognized.
“The only legal avenue we had in order to be afforded any rights was adoption,” MacArthur says. The “creative” strategy is “entirely understandable,” a lawyer says. “It reflects people’s deep need to protect each other as family.”
When a court agreed to dissolve their adoption this month so the men could marry, “The courtroom burst into applause. I burst into tears,” MacArthur tells the AP.
“They were certainly happy tears. After months of investigating ways that we could do this and finally having the decision coming down in our favor, I’m still walking 3 feet above the ground.”
This first case of an adoption-turned-marriage in the state “removes the hurdle for other people who may be in the same position as Bill and Norm,” the couple’s attorney says. He’s already representing another couple hoping to vacate an adoption in order to tie the knot.LIB
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