' If Buhari wins In 2019, Nigerians will be running to neighboring countries to feed' - Ayo Fayose

The immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose says Nigerians will be running to other neighboring countries to feed if President Buhari wins a second term in office come 2019.

INEC commences distribution of PVCs in Katsina

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has commenced distribution of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) to eligible voters who registered between 2015 and March 2018 in Kastina state.

Alhaji Abubakar Zarewa, INEC Resident Electoral Commission (REC), in the state made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen in Katsina on Thursday.

“We will also give priority to those who registered from March to August 2018 especially those that will participate in the by-election in Kankia, Kusada and Ingawa Federal Constituency.

“We are calling on all eligible voters who registered to come forward and collect their PVCs in our offices in the 34 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state.

“Anybody that has any complaint is free to forward it to us,’’ he said adding that ‘‘people are free to do so.”

Zarewa advised the electorate to protect their PVCs after collection in order to make proper use of them during the 2019 general elections.

Lai Mohammed Says FG Spends N3.5m Monthly To Feed Shi'ites Leader El-Zakzaky

Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, yesterday revealed that the Federal Government has been spending N3.5m monthly to feed detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria known as Shi'ites.

He disclosed this while addressing state house correspondents after FEC meeting.

Ibrahim El-Zakzaky was arrested in December 2015 after members of his religious group had a clash with men of the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna state.

 Lai said;  ''It cost the Federal government N3.5 million every month to feed him''.  

I’ll Lift 80 Million Nigerians Out Of Poverty - Ezekwesili

The presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, on Monday, promised to lift over 80m people out of poverty if voted into office in the 2019 general elections.

Nigeria must discard 1999 constitution to make progress' – Professor of International Law, Akin Oyebode

Akin Oyebode, a professor of International Law and Jurisprudence, has said the 1999 Constitution must be discarded before the country can make progress.

Buhari must be naive to think Obasanjo's son would be loyal to him'' - Reno Omokri

Reno in this tweet suggests that Olujonwo, the son of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, is just playing his father's script.

Obi urges Nigerians to join forces in fight against corruption

The vice presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Peter Obi has urged Nigerians to join forces in the fight against corruption in the country.

Obi made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

‘The Mother Of Our Nation’ —FFK Celebrates Patience Jonathan On Her Birthday

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode is celebrating the former first Lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan, as she adds a year today. Femi Fani-Kayode shared a throwback photo of the time Patience Jonathan and her husband Goodluck Jonathan visited him and his wife Precious Chikwendu at their home.

I earned N60.2m in three years, Atiku tells INEC

PDP candidate paid N10.3m tax

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has declared a personal income of N60.2 million in three years, according to the credentials he filed with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

Uwazuruike opposes Nnamdi Kanu's call on Igbos to boycott 2019 election

The Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), has urged Igbos to disregard the call for boycott of election by Nnamdi Kanu describing it as `unrealistic'. 

Obi meets Umahi in Abakaliki as part of consultation with Igbo leaders

Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, on Monday evening met with Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State as part of his on-going consultation of Igbo leaders.

They don’t deserve it-Aisha Alhassan retrieves rugs,computers she donated to APC

Former Women Affairs minister, Aisha Alhassan, who recently resigned her appointment and dumped the All Progressives Congress, has retrieved computers and furniture she donated to the party’s state secretariat in Jalingo.

PDP declares seven-day mourning for the victims of the gruesome killings in Plateau state

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared a seven-day mourning for the victims of the gruesome killings of innocent Nigerians by bandits in Plateau state and other parts of the country.

Consequently, the party directs that its flags at all its offices and formation at all levels across the country be flown at half-mast during the period in honour of the victims.  

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, PDP urges the people of Plateau state to exercise their rights as global citizens, work with other public-spirited Nigerians and groups and take President Muhammadu Buhari and his government to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague for acting helpless in the face of continuous mass killings in our country.  

'The PDP firmly holds that the life of every Nigerian is sacred. All Nigerians must be protected whether they are Birom, Basange, Igbira, Tiv, Idoma, Hausa, Igbo, Fulani, Gbagyi, Yoruba or from any other tribe whatsoever. The fundamental duty of government all over the world is the protection of lives and Nigerians can no longer continue to fold their hands while compatriots are being daily hacked down by marauders'.

Presidency lists steps taken to forestall reprisal attacks in Plateau state

The presidency has listed all the steps it has taken to forestall reprisal attacks in Plateau state. See the list below

Photos: President Buhari's closing remarks after attending Day Two of the APC convention in Abuja

The 2018 APC convention to elect new party leaders wrapped up at the Eagle Square, Abuja yesterday where President Buhari gave the closing remakrs.

Accoridng to the president, 'It gives me great pleasure to address leaders and delegates of our great party, as we wind down on the convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which began here yesterday'.

Read the rest of his speech below....

Let me salute the patience, forbearance, and spirit of accommodation that has been on display, as we held elections to fill positions in our National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee.

I salute aspirants who for the common good, had to shelve personal ambition, and stood down for others they were to have contended with. I also salute those who went the whole way, contested, were voted for, and who emerged victorious, or otherwise.

Everything was done in an atmosphere of give and take, knowing that in such contest, only one person would ultimately win. Let the victors be humble in victory, and let those who didn't win be also gallant and gracious in defeat.

We are members of one party, and it is not about winners takes all. Rather, the purpose is to build a party that would put its best foot forward, and serve our country to the best of its ability.

You were all here through the raw weather that persisted from yesterday till today, but you bore it patiently. You persevered through the night, and deep into another day. Thank you very much.

At the end of all proceedings, I believe we have put in place an executive that we all can be proud of, one that would lead our party from victory to victory, from progress to progress, and one that Nigerians can be proud of.

I thank and congratulate members of the immediate past executive, led by His Excellency, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, for their selfless service to our party, and urge them to always lend the wisdom of their experience to the new executive members.

Together, we will all build a cohesive party, that will do our country a world of good. As you all return to your destinations, I pray that God almighty will take you safely home.

In our country, not only the labour of our heroes past shall not be in vain.
The labour of the current generation shall also be rewarded. APC will serve Nigeria to the best of our God given abilities, and move our country to its right position in the comity of nations.

Long live APC, long live our great party, long live Federal Republic of Nigeria.

God bless.

This photo from APC's National convention has got people talking on social media

Can you see anything odd in the photo? Lol.

Delta State delegates exchange blows at the APC Convention (Photos)

Delegates from Delta State exchanged blows at the Saturday national convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC, which was held at the Eagles Square, Abuja.













Photos: Olatunji Obasa

How Ahmed Musa Proved Buhari to Be a Liar - By Reno Omokri

Read the write up from Reno Omokri below...

On April 18, 2018 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, Nigeria’s President listened as other commonwealth leaders chose to promote their countries and people and when it got to his turn, President Muhammadu Buhari chose to describe Nigeria’s youth as a lazy and uneducated.

 

President Buhari said:

 

“We have a very young population, our population is estimated to be 196 million in 2018. This is a very conservative one. More than 60 percent of the population is below 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, healthcare, education free”.

 

This would not be the first, second or even third time Muhammadu Buhari has disparaged Nigerians to the international community. On February 5, 2016, he told the Telegraph of the UK that the reputation Nigerians have for crime has made them unwelcome in the West.

 

In the case of the Lazy Nigerian youth statement, what was worse is that when given the opportunity to dial back from that statement, the Presidency released a statement the next day (April 19, 2018) explaining that what the President meant is that most, but not all, Nigerian youths were lazy.

 

Even if I tried to make it up, my fiction could not match the unprecedented cluelessness of President Buhari and his media team.

 

How can a President who cannot name one project that he initiated, started and completed in the last three call Nigeria’s youth who have accomplished many great things in the same period, lazy?

 

Since the President’s favourite pastime is to blame his ineptitude on his predecessors rather than take responsibility and lead from the front as he promised, I would like to single out one of such youths as a role model to President Buhari.

 

During the Nigeria versus Iceland World Cup game that took place on Friday April 22, 2018, Ahmed Musa brought more joy to Nigerians in 90 minutes than Buhari has brought to Nigeria in three years. He did not engage in Buhari’s pastime of blame game. Neither did he make excuses to justify failure. This young Nigerian youth just scored. And to prove it was not a fluke, he scored again.

 

I personally believe that Ahmed Musa would do a better job of governing Nigeria than the inept tyrant who called Nigerian youths like Ahmed Musa ‘lazy and uneducated’! (Almost anyone would do a better job of ruling than a man who still thinks that there is a country called West Germany).

 

And if all Ahmed Musa did was to prove to Buhari that Nigeria’s youth are not lazy, he would have done enough. But that was not all he proved. Not by a long shot!

 

President Buhari is notorious for being against any attempt to restructure Nigeria and prefers the status quo which has set Nigeria backwards and to borrow the words of Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, made “the country look big for nothing before international circles”.

 

Ahmed Musa has proven President Buhari’s fears to be unfounded by establishing once and for all that talents abound in all parts of Nigeria and that no part of Nigeria will lose out if we restructure and replace ethnicity with merit. If not for this Northerner names Ahmed Musa, Nigeria would have had little hope in this #RussiaWorldCup2018. All Nigerians matter.

 

If there is anything President Buhari can learn from Ahmed Musa’s feat, it is that Nigerians want a leader that can deliver results, like Ahmed Musa, not one that delivers activity, like Muhammadu Buhari.

 

Nigerians need a leader with vision, one who gives hardworking youths opportunities instead of rewarding degenerate terrorists openings that should go to youths who can really contribute to Nigeria’s growth.

 

?Let me at this point go on record as saying that I am shocked at the alleged plans by the Buhari administration to recruit ‘repentant’ Boko Haram members into the police. Thank God the Christian Association of Nigeria has rejected the evil plan. How can terrorists police us?

 

Next, Buhari will recruit herdsmen in the army if he has not already done so! Must this government show its open bias in favour of one religion over the other? What is this madness? Will Donald Trump or Theresa May ask their respective police forces to recruit former jihadists or alqaeda members? All Nigerians must reject this devilish plan! ?

 

And while our youths like Ahmed Musa continue to advance the frontiers of Nigeria’s greatness, Buhari and his team persist in diminishing Nigeria by their unprecedented hypocrisy.

 

For instance, on Thursday June 21, 2018, Buhari while delivering the keynote address at the opening of the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress at the Conference Centre of the Presidential Villa, asked journalists to halt fake news.

 

Really? Is this not the same Buhari who lied that there was no fuel subsidy and that Jonathan was deceiving Nigerians only for him to get into power and start paying double the subsidy Jonathan paid even after increasing fuel price?

 

At the same event, Buhari also appealed to journalists not to carry hate speech, yet his own spokeswoman calls the Christian Association of Nigeria a ‘CAN of worms’. How hypocritical can the President be? Aso Rock under Buhari has become the headquarters of hate speech and fake news in Nigeria.

 

The truth is that Buhari has proved to Nigeria’s youth that he should be in Daura spending his pension rather than being at Aso Rock directing their futures.

 

Before I end this piece though, permit me to say something about a Nigerian youth that is my inspiration and hero.

 

?Four months ago, Leah Sheribu was abducted by Boko Haram, who continue to hold her captive because she refused to abandon her faith in Jesus. I wish feminists, like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, could use their celebrity to focus the world’s attention on Leah. Leah may not be Hillary or chivalry, but she is worthy of heraldry.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari appears to have forgotten all about Leah. He did not mention her in his Democracy Day speech that was riddled with lies. And when the Christian Association of Nigeria reminds the President of his duty to rescue Leah and prevent the killings of Nigerians by his herdsmen kinsmen, his spokeswoman Insulted them by calling CAN a CAN of worms. If you have read this, please can you stop what you are doing and just say a prayer for the safe return of Leah? ?

 

Will APC Survive Its Self-induced Hurricane Today?, By Dele Momodu On Pendulum

Will APC Survive Its Self-induced Hurricane Today?, By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, please, allow me to put it the way the late cerebral politician and legal luminary, Chief Bola Ige – former Governor of Oyo State in the Second Republic, former Minister for Power and Steel and later, Attorney-General and Minister Justice under President Olusegun Obasanjo – also known as the Cicero of Esa Oke, would have described it: “today may be a day of the long knives within the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, APC”. The problem will not be with filling the various positions which exist on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling Party, but with the way and manner in which those positions will be filled, especially those factions of the Party that will benefit and those who will not.

The position is that barring any unforetold and unforeseen earthquake of monumental proportions, which is very remote indeed, my former Governor from Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, will be crowned as the new National Chairman of APC. His coronation has become a procession and is now going to be no more than a mere formality because there is not a single challenger that can withstand the blistering and overwhelming support my dear Brother commands within the rank and file of his party, and his erstwhile challengers, the last being former Governor of Cross River State in the Third Republic, Clement Ebri, have now come to that realisation and thrown in the towel. I take this opportunity to congratulate Comrade Adams selection on his unopposed and unanimous nomination and election as the next Chairman of APC. I also congratulate all other members of the NEC who will be elected or returned unopposed into various positions in the NEC. I wish them all the very best, especially because the task before them is not an easy one. The Party has imminent elections to fight, but all is not well as there are many disgruntled elements wishing to be heard as to the direction the party should take and their concerns and protests are simply being waved aside. How the Oshiomole led NEC deals with this grave issue will be the litmus test of the new Executive and may well determine whether it will be boom or gloom and doom for the party at the next polls.


History is very strange and dramatic. Comrade Oshiomhole is set to take over from another great man from our dear beloved Edo State, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, a former Governor of the State like Comrade Adams, and a leading light in the fight for democracy in Nigeria, which led him into forced exile in England. A perfect gentleman, Chief Oyegun led the All Progressive Congress to victory in 2015 ensuring that he achieved the first of leading an opposition Party to victory in Nigeria. However, since then he has had to fight an endless war of attrition and rebellion inside his own party. His first real test came with the Party’s failure to manage election, or shall I say selection, for the leadership of the National Assembly culminating in the debacle which led to the People’s Democratic Party’s, Ike Ekweremadu, being elected as Deputy Senate President.

Oyegun’s unflinching and unyielding loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari brought him into frontal collision with those within the party who felt that he did not protect them at all against the onslaught from the Presidency. There was also a time the party was having problems with a major pillar of its success in 2015, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was supposed to be one of his solid backers in the past. Oyegun’s position at that time was considered a betrayal of Tinubu who had expected that his support and assistance to Oyegun in times gone past had not been repaid. His loyalty therefore became an albatross which he couldn’t shake off easily. Oyegun had wanted an extension of his tenure as Chairman of APC’s NEC, but he soon found that he could not count on the support of President Buhari. Try as he may to get the backing of the President on this issue he found out that he was only meeting with an immovable force, a concrete brick wall in the President. Indeed, the President was later to practically decree that the NEC should be dissolved and fresh elections conducted to fill the vacant positions. Oyegun threw his hat into the ring but soon found out that he did not have the support of the Presidency, although this remained an unspoken, but open secret. In consequence, Oyegun withdrew from the Chairmanship race and slunk into a corner to sulk and lick his real and festering open wound!

Well, having practically disposed of its Chairmanship palaver, the bickering, intrigues and betrayals all end today, as a new chapter is opened in the party. According to impeccable sources, the party wants to make a clean sweep and start today and reject any candidate suspected to be coming from the camp of perceived renegades. And if the truth be told, there are many of such rebellious elements within the ruling party. Their disaffection and the damage that could be caused if the situation is not properly managed has been much chronicled by many people, including myself, but the party seems adamant on having its way. For me, this is the crux of the matter. APC must tread softly, softly, lest it repeats the mistakes of the leadership of its immediate predecessor in government, PDP, which fought so much, on many fronts, till the centre could no longer hold and mere anarchy was loosed upon its fold. At that time, PDP was rooster sure that those who wished to quit the party were free to go. My advice is that APC should not abandon its reconciliation moves no matter the magnitude of the problems and attendant confusion at the moment. The party still has in its favour, the fact that the perception of the generality of Nigerians is that notwithstanding its fumbles, wobbles and stumbles, the party is still a more trustworthy party than the PDP because of the unrivalled pillaging of the country which took place in the 16 years of PDP misrule. However, if the problems within the APC community continues unchecked it is not unlikely that people get irritated and frustrated that the party is unable to put its house in order and may start seriously considering alternatives, including the much-maligned PDP.

For this reason, the party must remember that there are general elections in less than nine months and so it has little time to restore order amongst its ranks. The party cannot afford to be complacent. Whilst there is no doubt that the party won a convincing victory in the 2015 elections, the margin of victory and the number of those who apparently exhibited voter apathy and abstained from voting at the elections should be a veritable source of concern to the party. Indeed, had PDP gotten anything close to the number of voters in the South South and South East, and to a lesser extent the South West, that voted for it in 2015, it would easily have won the Presidential elections.

A brief recap shows that in 2011, PDP and its candidate, President Jonathan, won almost 22 and a half million votes, with a considerable chunk coming from the South South and South East, whilst CPC and its candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, won just about 12 and a quarter million votes. The candidate for AC, Nuhu Ribadu, the former anti-corruption Czar won just over 2 million votes. If one adds up the progressive votes of CPC and AC, which were the votes of the opposition at the time, the total comes to about 14 and a half million votes. The total votes cast in that election was about 38 million votes and the margin of victory over the opposition was about 8 million votes. In the 2015 elections, President Buhari and the ruling APC, which was an amalgamation of CPC, AC and the new PDP as the major parties, could only manage just under 15 and a half million votes. In effect this was just one million more votes than the opposition had garnered in the 2011 elections. On the other hand, PDP could only muster just under 13 million votes. The margin of victory was only just over two and a half million votes. As can be seen, it was not therefore that the opposition gained a lot of votes as much as that PDP lost almost 10 million votes which was a clear sign of how badly it was perceived by the people who decided that they would not vote for it. Thus, the numbers must therefore add up or APC may die a premature death as the ruling party. I’m sure PDP is yet to fully recover from the cataclysmic fall it suffered in 2015. This was how it started like a joke.

I have watched in utter dismay how some party chieftains have been boasting that they will win elections no matter how many people abandon the party. It may turn out to be much more complex than they envisage. Some of those being suspected of anti-party activities include the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, The Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Governor Waziri Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, Dr Samuel Ioraer Ortom of Benue State and several others. Of course, there has been no love lost between their different camps. It seems the main apparatchik never trusted most of those who joined APC from PDP. They’ve been treated like second class citizens. All efforts to reconcile the party have failed so far.

If the APC loses only some of the votes that this group commands it is clear that its wafer thin majority may disappear and so will its government, bad PDP or not. That is a chilling prospect for APC to consider when it decides to share the spoils of victory at its National convention today.

Nigerian Senators Meet With Ahmed Musa After World Cup Match In Russia. Photos

Yesterday, the senate president; Bukola Saraki, senate minority leader; Mr Godswill Akpabio, president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick were present at the Volgograd stadium in Russia to witness Nigeria beat Iceland 2-0 in their second match of the ongoing World Cup.

Ahmed Musa scored both goals for the Super Eagles, as they claimed their first win at the tournament in Russia.

The senators met with Man of the Match, Ahmed Musa after the crunch game to congratulate him and also encourage him.

NFF President Pinnick addressing the players and delegates after the match said the presence of Senate President Bukola Saraki led to Super Eagles’ win.

According to him “The Magical presence of Senate President, Bukola Saraki brought luck to the Super Eagles and Nigeria.“We thank you for coming to watch the eagles alongside other delegates sent by President Buhari.”

Nigeria will now face Argentina on Tuesday, hoping to book a place in the knockout rounds.