Sunday, 8 March 2015

Anti-Buhari protesters at Chatham House were paid —Graham(punch newspaper)

Nigerian freelance journalist in the United Kingdom, Mrs. Rose Graham, whose footage of anti-Muhammadu Buhari protesters at Chatham House two weeks ago has now gone viral, tells TOBI AWORINDE that she was not paid by the All Progressives Congress for her support

What happened at Chatham House on March 26, the day of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s talk?

I had never been to Chatham House; that was my first time there. I was given a description and saw a young, dark-skinned man. I just knew he was going there, so I followed him. When I got to Chatham House, right in front of the building, I saw the demonstrators getting ready. I felt General Buhari was not in yet and that it would be embarrassing for him because these people would put their placards in his face. I then told myself that before his arrival, I would quickly find out from the people why they were there and allow them to vent their anger about the military rule in the 1980s.

I wanted to find out if that was the reason why they were doing what they were doing. There is something I have come to notice: A lot of Nigerian youths do not understand and they are not concerned or do not want to know anything about those who rule them. Sadly, most of us are more interested in the latest fashion, cars, hairstyles, music, movies. We often complain: ‘We don’t want this old man. Obama was 22 years old when this guy was president; why does he want to be there again?’ But are we doing what we’re meant to be doing? That was why I walked up to them.

I first chatted with them and made myself familiar, before I went back to speak to them with my phone so I could get their responses on tape.

How many of them did you find protesting?

I am sure they must have been up to 25. After a while, the crowd grew larger. Later, APC supporters, made up of some activists that I know personally—family men and women—also gathered. The APC supporters were quite older than the youngsters who were protesting against the General. The youngsters came with music and they were beating drums.

At a point, they were making a lot more noise than the APC supporters. It was around then that I walked up to them to tell me why they were protesting, if they knew the person they were protesting against, and why they were taking a stand.

What led you to believe it was a rented crowd?

There was a lady there that I interviewed who I had met before. I had been introduced to her sometime in the past by my husband and we hit it off and promised we were going to meet again. But, as it turned out, there hadn’t been time for us to meet because of my baby. That was why I had not had time to see the lady. I know what she does; she is someone who usually organises people.

Based on an interview I had with her and another lady in a separate video from the one that went viral, it was clear that there was a collaboration. When I inquired from the other lady, she confirmed that she provides such services for people who require them and she seemed to be doing very well. I don’t know if the protesters were paid for that particular rally, but that is what I and a number of others have been able to piece together.

I walked up to them expecting them to say ‘No, we were not paid to stand here. We are just doing it out of our love for our country.’ But they did not even know who they were protesting against. As a result, APC supporters came together because they did not want the General to be embarrassed. They got there very early as well, came together, got their placards and they were also singing and chanting solidarity songs.

Social media is awash with allegations that you were paid by the APC to make the now-viral video of anti-Buhari demonstrators who could not defend their acts of protest. Has any party approached you either for support or to threaten you?

Yes, and I will refer you to what I have already made available for public consumption. I have been pushed and asked to work for President Goodluck Jonathan and that I should bring a budget. They said I should not worry; if I wanted to come to Nigeria, they would bring me. They told me that I would stay at so-and-so hotel and do this and that in exchange for compensation. But those were conservations on the phone. The ones that I put out there were sent to my inbox.

When I showed them to my husband and told him I didn’t want to be party to any of this, he told me what to tell them. So, I wrote a reply telling them that this was not what I was cut out for. I engage people; let us talk about how we can turn Nigeria around, because eventually the old politicians will step aside and we must rise to the occasion. Or are we going to let their children take over from where they left off? Are we going to let them claim Nigeria like it is their birth right to rule over us? No. If we are talking about 170 million people and we have well over 60 million youths, what are we doing? Or do we want the intelligent ones among us to be carrying bags for the old politicians and smiling to the bank? No. Instead, we should also step in to see the kinds of contributions we can make.

JEGA MUST GO-OPC

National co-ordinator of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) Otunba Gani Adams, has called for the immediate sack of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Attahiru Jega.

According to Premium Times, Adams a supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan, disclosed this while speaking at his organisation’s Eledumare Festival in Lagos on Sunday, March 8.

Among the reasons for his call, Adams said Jega has failed to explain how INEC was able to successfully distribute 90 per cent of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in North East despite the insurgency in the region.

“I Otunba Gani Adams is using this forum to call for immediate sack, removal or retirement of Professor Attahiru Jega, the chairman of INEC on the basis of PVC distribution, introduction of card reader and creation of 30000 bogus and fraudulent polling units in the northern part of Nigeria against the southern part,” he said.

Adams also voiced his opposition to the use of card readers for the general elections, saying, “We have not heard how card readers contributed or added value to any major election in the world.

“To me, it’s an attempt cleverly being injected by Jega to cause delay, confuse voters and prevent majority of voters in exercising their franchise on that day”.

The electoral agency had explained that the decision to use card readers was to limit electoral fraud by ensuring that only true owners of legitimate cards could use them to vote. The All Progressives Congress (APC) who supports the use of the readers, has repeatedly alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its supporters, do not want the readers used so as to perpetuate electoral fraud.

Despite INEC announcing it had dropped the plan to create additional polling units after the announcement last year, Adams accused the INEC chairman of proceeding with the plan.

READ ALSO: OPC Coordinator Okays Postponement Of General Elections

“In his ingenious but highly fraudulent stride at rigging the election, Professor Jega has gone through the back door at creating an additional 30,000 polling units not known to law and designated as voting centres to deceive people having been heavily criticised by distinguished and eminent Nigerians,” he said.

While calling for Jega’s sack, Adams urged the federal government to begin the search for a new INEC chairman.

“The new chair can come from anywhere. He can come from the north or south. I’m not choosing for the President, but Jega should go” he said.

Last week, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, also a major supporter of the president, supported the sack.

It would be recalled that the head of OPC, Otunba Gani Adams, said that six million members of the group have resolved to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan at the forthcoming presidential polls.

We Are Marching For Revolution, This Is A Common Sense Revolution - Tinubu

Ahead of the March 28 presidential election, the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged the electorate, especially the youths, to resist attempts by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the elections Vanguard reports.

The National leader who spoke at the 9.2 kilometre-man-march, tagged, “One Million-Man March- Walk For Change,” in Lagos State, yesterday said the gale of change blowing across the country would sweep away the vices presently rocking the country.

According to Vanguard Tinubu said the PDP- led government shifted the polls from February to March, thinking the month of March will not come, and urged the people to fight for their freedom with their votes.

“I thank you all for the way you turned out to walk for your freedom and marched for change. You all know that they postponed the election earlier scheduled for February 14th to March. Now we are marching for that change,” he said.

“We are marching for Buhari and Osinbajo and all other APC candidates. We are marching for revolution and this is a common sense revolution.”

In his address, the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, said Nigerians were tired of failed promises by PDP and are ready to throw out anyone that is troubling the ship of the nation from sailing smoothly.

The APC governorship candidate in Lagos, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, said at the gathering, “We told Lagosians that we will do a one – million-man-match and we have achieved it. They could shift the day of the election but they cannot shift our destinies.

“The only party that can give you a prosperous future is the APC. They have saying they will do everything to rig the election to retain power but you know that? All powers belong to God. 21 days from now we will embark on prayers and fasting. We will go to the mosque and churches nothing can stop our destinies.”

Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and Hon. Olamilekan, APC candidates contesting for Lagos East, Central and West senatorial districts, urged the electorate to ensure the collection of their permanent voters’ Cards, PVCs, and not risk losing their brighter future by selling the PVCs.

Meanwhile PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation has strongly criticized the solidarity rally in support of APC National leader, Bola Tinubu.

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My Party Plans To Deprive Me Of My Candidacy - PDP Candidate

A candidate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Semiu Oganla in Ogun State has alleged that there is a plot by some leaders of the party to scheme him out of the elections Premium Times reports.

Oganla, who is the PDP House of Assembly candidate in Abeokuta North Local Government Area, said despite winning the party’s primaries and being listed as candidate, alleged that there is a plot to snatch the ticket from him.

After polling 70 of the total 80 votes, Oganla on November 29, 2014 defeated other aspirants to emerge the PDP candidate. Other aspirants included Olugbenga Adebayo who scored 8 votes, and Eyitayo Soleye who polled 1 vote.

Oganla was subsequently listed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be his party’s flag bearer for the April 11 elections .

However, few weeks to the new date, PDP filed a suit claiming it made typographical errors in the candidates’ list it submitted INEC. The party sought an order from the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, to replace Oganla’s name with that of one of the losers, Soleye.

The party’s application, with suit number FHC/L/CS/347/12, is being presided by Justice O. Abang.

In the motion, the Ogun PDP sought, “An order correcting the typographical error in the names of candidate listed in the order of this honourable court made on the 15th day of December 2014 by properly stating the names of candidates for the constituencies listed below as shown hereunder and deleting the names mistakenly listed for the same constituencies in the said order to wit;…(11) Eyitayo Soleye replacing Semiu Oganla for Abeokuta North)”.

The motion on notice was filed on January 28 by R. Oluyede of D96 Landbridge Avenue, Victoria Island Annex, Lagos.

Also, in an affidavit filed by Chinedu Mbata, a litigation officer, in support of the motion on notice said the Ogun PDP Secretary, Semiu Sodipo, erroneously forwarded the name of the candidate.

“In the haste to send the result sheets and reports to our office in view of the urgency involved, he inadvertently sent a report of primaries for the House of Representatives, which contained an error in the name of the candidate of the party for Abeokuta North/Odeda/Obafemi-Owode constituency.

“He also made a mistake in wrongly forwarding to our office an incorrect results of primaries for Remo North and Abeokuta North State Constituencies,”the affidavit stated.

However Oganla stated that the suit is a ploy to deprive him of his candidacy.

In a petition to INEC, the candidate stated that, “Some unscrupulous elements within the party are crookedly planning to short change me by trying to substitute my name to one Eyitayo Soleye, their favourite, under the guise that my name was typographically in error forwarded to INEC.”

He alleged that there was an earlier attempt to forge his signature on a withdrawal letter, to indicate he was pulling out of the race.

It would be recalled that the Governor of Niger state, Aliyu Babangida said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would win the general elections in spite of increased propaganda from opposition parties.

Buhari’s Era Was The Golden Period Of The Oil Sector

Chief Michael Olorunfemi, a retired Group Executive Director of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), in an interview gives account of his working experience with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, at Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC.

Chief Michael Olurunfemi

How did you find yourself in the oil industry?

I was lecturing at the University of Lagos. After two years, I left because I did not feel like what I wanted to do was what I was doing. I was teaching mathematical engineering then. After two years, I saw an advertisement in the newspapers for a Senior Petroleum Economist. I was not in petroleum management, but I applied and, when I applied, I was given the job. That was how I came into the industry in 1972. I was then in the Petroleum Ministry. At that time some thought I had not taken the right step.

We learnt you had a working relationship with Gen Muhammadu Buhari at the time he was the Federal Commissioner for Petroleum Resources. Can you describe how you first met him?

It was at Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC that I had the knowledge of oil and gas because I had not spent five months in the ministry before I went there. I was the first Nigerian to be in OPEC. Nigeria joined OPEC in 1971 and I was the first representative in 1973. That period, 1973-1977, was critical in OPEC. I had only four years contract and, after the four years, I came back to Nigeria.

I came back to Nigeria the first day NNPC was born. That was in 1977. I met Buhari when I came back when he was the Commissioner for Petroleum Resources. He started in 1976 but I came back from OPEC in 1977. Because of my experience, when they wanted to have a national representative in OPEC, I was chosen as the Nigerian representative in the OPEC Commission Board.

There is an OPEC Economic Board which is another board where all decisions as regards price and all that is taken. So I was the Nigerian representative. I was still in Nigeria, but I was attending every OPEC meeting. So I was almost the first person people knew when they came around and that is how I came to know Buhari. I was always with him each time he came for OPEC meeting in Vienna.

How can you describe his capacity as a manager of persons and resources?

He was my boss, so it was normal that I knew him. What I admired in him was his ability to carry every one along. He is a good listener, which is a critical leadership quality. We used to have a professional boss, who was the Managing Director. At that time, the person was the head of NNPC. He liaised with the Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, who was Buhari.

And the method made things faster because Buhari could go to the Head of State straight away and that is why if you read our books, we said that the period of Buhari was the golden age of NNPC. It was the period when we got things done fast. All the refineries and pipelines were put in place during that period because there was just no intermediary, he could walk in and get approval from the Head of State, so everything was done fast and anybody who knew that period would know that it was the golden age of the NNPC.

What particularly attracted him to you?

As I said, one thing about him that struck me was that anytime it came to things like economics which I knew more about, Buhari would always listen to me. He has a listening ear. That is among his most important attributes. And there was another man then, though late now, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, he was the Permanent Secretary during that period, he also would say, let us hear them’, even though we were junior to them. He is one man that would listen to you and allow you to make your contributions and if it made some sense, it will hold.

Then one other thing about him was that he came to know that I went to the London School of Economics, so each time we came to London, he would call me and tell me to follow him to a bookshop. I would take him, from 1977 to 1979. I never saw him one day buy a wristwatch, only books. While others were buying other things, he was always buying books.

If you look at the period, 1976-1979, when he was Petroleum Commissioner; that was the period people started to acquire blocks. He must have looked at such things with disdain. He was the one to process it for them, yet he never got one for himself. He did not get a block or a petrol station, he was just a man that we could see, and I just could not understand him. He is a good manager.

But there was this problem of $2.8 billion. Can you give us an insider’s account of what happened then?

We had this problem of $2.8 billion, and it was mainly political. Chief Awolowo was not able to win the election and Obasanjo handed over to Shagari, and when this $2.8 billion issue came up, Awolowo and others saw it as a way to discredit Obasanjo thinking that the money was lost, when indeed the money was not lost.

And it was during the time Buhari was serving as commissioner; there was no lost money anywhere. An audit was made then by an external auditor and they came with an interim report. The interim report was supposed to be given to the NNPC management. It was not a complete report, unfortunately that day; there was no single photocopying machine that was working at our office then in Falomo, so they had to make photocopies. They went to another place to do it; unfortunately, one of the pages was left there, and that is where people saw it and reacted. People just wanted to hit at something, which is what happened. What happened again is that we just woke up one day and he was Head of State.

What about his time as Head of State?

I was then Deputy Chief Economist, and I had about five ranks above me. But I was in charge of what they called the Economic and Intelligence Department; I recommended prices to the government and all that. Being Well being a soldier, he was always very firm, and he would listen and, when you convince him, it is a go ahead. And then I had first access to the Head of State, so it made things very fast. And also, because of the link between him and the Managing Director, he was supposed to be a buffer between the Head of State and the NNPC and he was doing that quite well, that is why I can say that his managerial skill was thorough and fast.

Then we were doing things both on time and within budget because we had no excuse to fail. It was during his time that we had the Warri Refinery opened in 1978 and the Kaduna in 1980 but the work had been done already by him. Also the pipelines and the depots had also been done. When he was the Petroleum Commissioner, he had direct access to the Head of State, then he was in good partnership with the professionals at NNPC and he was always ready to listen.

The problem in NNPC since he left is that now, you cannot make a single recommendation to the minister without the minister taking it to the Federal Executive Council where they will begin to ask questions. That is where delay comes in especially on the issue of refinery maintenance. It is just like your car, you are supposed to service it as and when due. If the approval does not come quickly, the problems increase. During his time, there was nothing like that, there was quick approval.

Some people say that NNPC is not efficient, but when you come to NNPC, at that time, it was just like Shell. You cannot get in if you are not good. You are competent, that is why you get in, it was later on that things became bad. As Head of State, when we met him, he was already familiar with the industry, so he was familiar with how the oil industry worked. It was during the time of Babangida that this question of a minister being the accounting officer came up. That system ruined the whole set up. During the time of Buhari, it was still the Permanent Secretary, and these were people that were in the know. During that time, they would normally listen to someone who had been in that position for a long time.

But some have said that his subordinates were the ones calling the shots during his time as Oil Minister and Head of State. How true is that?

It was not that he was not doing anything, but the point is that there are establishments and people that had been there and you had to listen to them. It is wrong for people to say that Idiagbon was in charge. During our meetings, Idiagbon would sit and may not utter a word as long as we discussed, because he did not know anything about what we were discussing. And in fact, it is not wrong for you to listen to your subordinates because you can learn from their suggestions too. In fact, I never heard Idiagbon speak on petroleum matters.

It will be recalled that Adeyemi Adefulu, who was jailed by Gen Muhammadu Buhari during his regime 30 years ago, said that the former head of state remains the country’s hope for change. Adefulu, a Member of the Federal Republic (MFR), believes Gen Buhari is on a rescue mission.

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Jonathan In Closed-Door Meeting With Abdusalami, Mbeki

President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday met behind closed-doors with a former Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar (retd.), and a former South African President, Thabo Mbeki.

President Goodluck Jonathan And Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar

The meeting was held inside the President’s official residence inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

None of them spoke with journalists at the end of the parley.

The meeting however was not unconnected with preparations for the forthcoming general elections slated for March 18 and April 11.

It will be recalled that Abubakar is the chairman of the National Peace Committee for 2015 General Elections.

The former military leader had on Saturday met with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, over the elections.

Others who attended the Saturday meeting were the service chiefs including the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Vice Marshal Alex Badeh; the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, and leadership of the major political parties.

The meeting also had in attendance the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Sa’ad Abubakar III; Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan ; Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah; former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe; Special Adviser to the President on Inter- Party Relations, Senator Ben Obi.

Abubakar might have used the opportunity of the Sunday meeting to brief the President of the outcome of the Saturday meeting.

It will be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan and former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida plan to install an undemocratic Interim National Government (ING) and forestall Nigeria’s presidential election scheduled for March 28 has been revealed.

INEC Extends PVC Collection To March 22

The Independent National Electoral Commission has extended the deadline for collection of Permanent Voter Cards across the country by additional two weeks.

The commission in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of the commission, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said the latest extension offered the last opportunity for duly registered persons to collect their PVCs before the general elections scheduled for March 28 and April 11.

READ ALSO: PVC’s For Sale In Kaduna

“INEC hereby calls on registered persons that are yet to collect their PVCs to use this last opportunity in doing so, in order to participate in the forthcoming general elections,” Idowu added.

The commission said on Wednesday that it has succeeded in distributing 80.24 per cent of the Permanent Voter Cards to their owners.

This figure indicated that 55,232,874 out of the 68,833,476 registered voters had picked their PVCs.

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Out of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Ogun State remains the only state that had yet to reach 50 per cent PVC collection.

In the state, only 47.27 per cent of the 1,829,534 registered voters had picked their PVCs.

READ ALSO: INEC Runs Field Tests Of Card Readers In 12 States

This showed that only 864,292 voters had collected their PVCs.

It will be recalled that the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, had described the card reader machines INEC plans to use to accredit voters during the forthcoming elections as a fraud capable of destroying the elections.

Ogun Deputy Governor Regrets Working With Amosun

Segun Adesegun, The Ogun state Deputy Governor has revealed that he regrets ever working with Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

Mr. Adesegun had left the All Progressives Congress, APC alongside some federal and state lawmakers.

Ogun Deputy Governor Regrets Working With Amosun

Amosun and Segun Adesegun

The deputy governer was campaigning for his new party, the Social Democratic Party, SDP at Ijebu-East Local Government area of the state under.

He said: “Oh, my people, I entered one man chance bus, which I pray nobody would experience, because it was terrible,” he said. “Amosun’s administration neglected schools, many classrooms roofs are leaking, many school buildings are dilapidated; he neglected health, agriculture and embarked on road construction only in the cities, at the detriment of rural dwellers.”

In his comment, the governorship candidate of the SDP, Akin Odunsi, said there must be an end to what he described as misrule by the incumbent.

“Yes, there must be an end to this no mercy administration. They brought the so called technocrats who have no knowledge of our peoples’ needs, nor the terrain they operate,” he said.

“Here in Ogun State, we have competent and able bodied men and women who could work for us. The likes of my deputy, Prince Segun Adesegun who is highly experienced, was side-tracked in the administration because of personal interest,” he added

Governorship candidate, Mr. Odunsi said if elected he would rule under the guidiance of God.

“God has done all things for me, and I am satisfied and contented, so I need your votes because I want to genuinely serve and correct the wrongs, hence my involvement in politics,” he said.

He said that if elected, he would complete all projects Amosun has abandoned and teachers’ welfare would be paramount to his government.