Friday, 13 March 2015

I’m Not Behind Documentary On Jonathan, Patience And Alison-madueke — Saraki




The senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Bukola Saraki, has denied links to an alleged documentary which aims to expose the love triangle between President Goodluck Jonathan, his wife Patience and the Petroleum Affairs Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke.

The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation had alleged on Wednesday that Mr. Saraki and two serving All Progressives Congress governors were planning to sponsor and fund a damaging documentary about the private lives of the three titled, Dirty Love Triangle Between President Jonathan, Patience and Diezani.

However, a statement by his media aide, Bamikole Omisore, Thursday, said the senator, who is an APC member, was not aware of any love triangle between the president and the two women in question and therefore, had not been and would not be involved in anyway, manner or process of such a documentary.

“Senator Saraki has always centred all his argument on issues that affect the lives of Nigerians,” Mr. Omisore said. “Such issues include but are not limited to unemployment, mismanagement of public funds, and non-implementation of the budgetary provisions just to name a few.
“These are the things that affect Nigerians and as a Senator of the Federal Republic these are the issues Nigerians want the Senators to debate and not the private affairs of Mr. President.

“On the contrary it has been PDP that has been attacking the private lives of our presidential candidate and personal affairs of our leaders in the APC. We have maintained a certain respectable decorum in both the use of language and material in every campaign.”

The statement said Mr. Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State, was aware that the PDP was pushing such a ridiculous story as a way of blackmailing members of the opposition with spurious and cooked-up allegations.

“For the avoidance of doubt we have concrete evidence at our disposal to the effect that the recent bad press Senator Saraki has been receiving lately surrounding an old issue of over a number of years involving a bank loan and company called Joy Petroleum, are directly orchestrated by the presidency particularly documents sent by email to the judiciary correspondents for their use,” Mr. Omisore said.

“Senator Saraki is aware that the PDP has been going around Kwara State bribing and begging people to partake in a documentary against him to cause disaffection in the eyes of the public having adjudged him a threat in the forthcoming general elections.

“So it’s funny to now hear that the same party that’s organising such a documentary and from the beginning of this campaign have threaded on this dishonourable course using their own words should be accusing others of what they intend to do.”

The statement said the alarm raised by the PDP on the planned documentary was just a diversionary tactic in preparation of a bigger plan.
It said Mr. Saraki was not aware of any “love-triangle,” describing the allegation as baseless and lacking in substance.


“I want to reassure all our supporters that as you know this is not our trade in stock and should disregard this false alarm,” Mr. Omisore said. “Senator Saraki will like to warn all those still scheming to carry out this false documentary on him that he will fight back and legally defend himself and warn those in glass houses whose past particularly as regards their private lives is not honourable should steer clear and be warned. We have restrained ourselves not because we don’t have the capacity but because we have pledged that this election will be about issues.”

Mr. Saraki, according to the statement congratulated members and non-members of the APC but “rejected such evil offer because it is glaring that Nigerians are more concerned about issues that matter to them such as how to get jobs for their children, food on their table and security of their lives and properties and not the love triangle documentary or any of the derogatory attacks and documentary against opposition being sponsored by PDP.”

Buhari Praises Jonathan Fight Against Boko Haram

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari has commended President Goodluck Jonathan for mobilizing the military in their fight against the Boko Haram Islamist group. 
Buhari Praises Jonathan Fight Against Boko Haram
Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau has yet to be captured
Speaking through his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja Buhari commended the Nigerian armed forces in collaboration with a multinational force made up of armies of neighbouring African countries have recently recorded a number of significant victories in the fight against Boko Haram, with about 36 territories taken back from the insurgents over the past few weeks.
“This is commendable. We congratulate our armed forces. However, we cannot ignore the fact that President Jonathan left the issue to fester for too long.
“All this effort could have been applied much earlier, thus saving hundreds of lives and preventing thousands of displaced persons who are currently languishing in camps and homes in northeast Nigeria and parts of Abuja – with little help and attention from their government.
“We cannot but conclude that the Jonathan government allowed Boko Haram fester because of the political mileage gained from the crises. He did not show any concern for the people of northeast Nigeria while they suffered under the continuous, brutal attacks of the terrorists.
“He still does not care about them. For him, a victory over Boko Haram is simply an attempted victory over the hearts of Nigerian voters in the 2015 elections,” Shehu’s report on Premium Times reads.
Early Thursday morning, Islamic State, another Islamic insurgent group terrorizing Syria and parts of Iraq welcomed a Boko Haram pledge of allegiance,according to an audiotape Thursday purportedly from its spokesman.

Meanwhile, the military announced that had managed to clear the insurgents from Adamawa State after  recapturing Madagali, the last major town held by the Islamist terror group.

Immigration job: Jonathan gives N75m to 15 bereaved families

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday compensated each of the 15 families that lost their loved ones in the stampede that occurred during the 2014 Nigerian Immigration Service’s recruitment exercise in Abuja to the tune of N5m each.
A total of N75m was handed over to the 15 families during an emotion-laden event held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja shortly after Jonathan returned to the nation’s capital city after his two-day visit to the South West.
The event took place barely one year after the incident that occurred at the National Stadium, Abuja on March 15, 2014.
“I promise this country that such (fatal recruitment exercise) will not happen again. This will be the last of such things,” Jonathan told the bereaved families who also got 35 automatic employment letters during the event.
The President had shortly after the incident last year, promised to employ three members each from the families of the deceased while canceling the exercise.
Representatives of the deceased families got their cheques at the event while three family members were each given employment letters.
Jonathan justified the delay in fulfilling the government’s promise to put smiles on the faces of the bereaved families, saying it was due to the need so sort out some undisclosed issues.
He said the monetary gifts to the families of the deceased should not be seen as compensation because they were incapable of replacing the lives lost.
The Comptroller-General of the NIS, Mr. David Paradang, said that out of the 45 candidates, 10 had to be replaced because they did not meet the criteria of the service.
Paradang explained that some of them were shorter in height than required, overweight or overaged.
He said the 10 families had been asked to bring replacements for the slots.
He disclosed that some of the beneficiaries who are graduates were employed as Assistant Superintendent; those with National Certificate of Education were employed as Assistant Inspectors while those with the West African school certificate were employed as Immigration Officers 3.
He added that the service has currently resumed the employment exercise aimed at recruiting 2,000 officers.
Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, said those who sustained injuries during the incident would be included in the second phase of the recruitment.
THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER

EFCC Denies Allegations Of Harassing GEJ Opponents

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has disproved allegations that it is being used to harass political opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The agency also criticized allegations by the spokesperson for Muhammadu Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation, Shehu Garba, that the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, has been accused of corruption, stressing that there is no truth in the claim.
The Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, who said this at a news conference in Abuja on Friday, described as forgery a document containing the names of certain opposition figures said to have been marked for probe by the commission on the instruction of Chief  of Staff to the President.
Uwajaren dismissed claims that the commission owed its staff, stressing that the EFCC achieved 92 per cent implementation of 2014 budget on personnel emolument.
The EFCC spokesman said Garba had nursed a grudge against the anti-graft agency over the years as the spokesman for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, there is no truth whatsoever in the claim by Shehu that the ‘EFCC Chairman is accused by staff of corruption, the commission staff is also being owed salaries and entitlements, having not been paid for three months.’ The EFCC is alarmed by this claim.
“The chairman of the commission is respected in the law enforcement circles for his integrity and professionalism. Furthermore, the claim that the staff of the EFCC are being owed three months is the figment of Shehu’s imagination.
“As a spokesperson for the respected General, Shehu must be careful not to mask his personal views as those of Gen. Buhari or APC. We find it hard to believe that the views expressed by Shehu are those of Buhari or the All Progressives Congress.”
It will be recalled that earlier today a leaked image circulated the media wherein President Goodluck Jonathan ordered EFCC to secretly examine the personal and official finances of the leaders of the main opposition party.

Tinubu’s Claim Is Just Ridiculous - Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday said that he never offered former Lagos State governor and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu the opportunity to serve as Vice President in a proposed Interim National Government Punch reports.
Tinubu’s Claim Is Just Ridiculous - Jonathan
Jonathan, who spoke with State House correspondents in Abuja through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, described Tinubu’s claim as absurd and ridiculous.
Tinubu , in a statement by his media office on Thursday March 12, claimed that the recent attacks on his person were because he rejected the offer by Jonathan to serve as the Vice President in an Interim National Government.
He claimed that having refused the offer, the President was looking for ways to take him out either by killing him or getting him arrested based on trumped up charges.
Abati however insisted that the position of Jonathan on the idea of an Interim National Government had remained treasonable.
He said the President had made it clear that he had neither proposed the idea at any forum nor discussed it with anybody.
He added that as a democratically elected President, Jonathan’s ambition could never be to head an ING under whatever circumstances.
The presidential spokesman said Jonathan was going into the March 28 presidential election with the conviction that he had performed well and majority of Nigerians would vote for him massively.
He explained that the President therefore has no reason whatsoever to support such an unconstitutional proposition as ING which would amount to assault on democratic principles.
He said, “If you de-construct the statement that purportedly emanated from the office of Asiwaju Tinubu, you will see again the absurd nature of it. 
 
“The absolutely ridiculous nature of it in the sense that given the configuration of Nigeria, it is not likely, totally impossible to have an ING arrangement in which you will have a southerner as the President and then another southerner as Vice President. 
 
“It is absurd. It is not something that is likely to work given the nature of our politics.
 
“But the Tinubu camp, putting out that statement, were so much in a hurry to engage in their usual game of deceiving the public of propagandaism of the current electoral process, that the emptiness, the hollowness, the shallowness of their proposition escaped them.”
Abati appealed to Nigerians to dismiss Tinubu’s claim as “another gimmick coming from a desperate political group seeing that defeat is staring them in the face.”
 
He said Nigerians might witness greater desperation from the opposition’s camp as the nation gets closer to the general elections.
 
“But our appeal to Nigerians is that this country is greater than everyone’s ambition and at the end of the day what is important is Nigeria. 
 
“And those who seem determined to pull down this country with lies, with black information, they are the enemies of this country and do not deserve to be given the opportunity to occupy, to enjoy opportunities that they do not deserve,” Abati concluded.
However the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has questioned Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s mental state after the APC chieftain alleged that President Jonathan offered him the position of vice president in an Interim National Government (ING).

Presidency Tells EFCC To Investigate Opposition Leaders

President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to secretly examine the personal and official finances of the leaders of the main opposition party All Progressives Congress (APC).
The leaked image circulates on social media:

In a leaked note dated on February 19, 2015, President Jonathan through his Chief of staff, Brigadier General Jones Oladehinde Arogbofa (rtd), told EFCC investigate 20 persons including APC leaders like ex- Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, former vice-president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar and governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state.
Arogbofa said in the leaked memo with block letters that read: “The presidency: office of the chief of staff”:
I have been directed by the C in C to instruct your Agency to clandestinely investigate the personal and official finances of the following present and former government functionaries and report back by 16th of March.”
Others on the letter are: Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo; Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; Governor Aliyu Wammako of Sokoto; Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano; Former Gombe state governor, Senator Danjuma Goje; Former Kwara state governor, Senator Bukola Saraki.
Farouk Ahmed, Suleiman Barau, Habib Abdullahi, Captain Muktar Usman, Umaru Ibrahim, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Attahiru B. Yusuf, Aisha Abdurrahman, Sen Aisha Alhassan, Ahmed Modibbo (former Chief Registrar FCT Judiciary) Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, former Minister of Education make up the list.
The office of the Chief of staff is not yet to confirm the issue.
Presidency Tells EFCC To Investigate Opposition Leaders
The news caused different reactions among Nigerians.
Why secretly? The President is not afraid of any body. I doubt this story!” wonders one resident.
Doing the right thing at the wrongest time!
APC has accused Jonathan of supporting and candling corruption. They said he is not tough on corruption. Now Jonathan has decided to go tough on corruption starting with them and their leaders and they are weeping. Cheer hypocrisy if you ask,” added another Nigerian.
APC has accused GEJ of not fighting corruption and he has decided to start fighting it with them,” one more reaction.
APC members are corrupt why should they accuse GEJ of loving corruption while they are corrupt. Why should they be anti-corruption crusaders when they are corrupt?”
It should be noted that Muhammadu Buhari from the APC has recently cried that the EFCC is corrupt and finds itself under President Jonathan’s rule.
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Morocco: Jonathan An Exporter Of Conflict- Buhari

After destroying the communal relationships among Nigerians and tore them along ethno-religious and sectional lines, President Goodluck Jonathan is now taking the habits across the shores of the country, the Buhari campaign office has said.
The spokesperson of Buhari campaign Malam Garba Shehu said in a press conference on Thursday that Jonathan has once again dragged the country’s image in the mud, by lying that he spoke on telephone with the King of Morocco whereas he didn’t.

He said the diplomatic spat between Nigeria and Morocco was the outcome of Jonathan administration’s poor grasp of diplomatic relations which has been eroding the country’s image before other countries. “President Jonathan has once again dragged our country into the theatre of the absurd, making a mockery of his office through the current embarrassing debacle with the King of Morocco over a purported telephone conversation,” he said. Shehu added that “this is just the latest in a series of diplomatic faux pas.”

He said it was ridiculous for the Nigerians president to stoop too low to the point of lying against the head of state of another country just to achieve a political goal. He said “Jonathan is destroying international relationships that existed before his tenure. He has already earned the scorn of other world leaders, such as (President Barak) Obama, through his poor human rights record.”

The campaign spokesperson said Jonathan has succeeded in reversing the past successes of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). “Not only has he bound the EFCC from doing its job, Mr. Jonathan has also reversed some previous achievements of the commission by granting state pardon to erstwhile government officials whom it had uncovered as guilty of corruption,” he said. “To make matters worse, at present the EFCC itself is in turmoil. Its chairman is accused by staff of corruption. The commission's staff are also being owed salaries and entitlements, having not been paid for three months,” Shehu said.

The campaign also accused Jonathan's government of slashing the Ministry of Works' budget by 89 percent. “This forces us to wonder: Who was the intended recipient of the unnecessary, extra 89 percent? Into whose pockets were the superfluous millions intended? And if indeed the 89 percent was essential to the effective functioning of the ministry, is the reduction just an attempt by the PDP government to punish Nigerians for asking for change?” he asked.
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/news/49299-morocco-jonathan-an-exporter-of-conflict-buhari-campaign

Jonathan Denies Speaking With King Of Morocco, Orders Full Investigation

President Goodluck Jonathan admitted Friday that he did not speak on telephone with the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, as claimed last week by the Nigerian foreign affairs ministry, an apparently false claim that sparked a diplomatic spat between the two countries with Morocco recalling its ambassador.

The president has ordered a full investigation into the scandal and has promised to sanction the foreign affairs official who made that claim, a statement from his office said.

Mr. Jonathan was “shocked, surprised and highly embarrassed by the controversy that has erupted over whether or not he had a telephone conversation with His Majesty, King Mohammed VI of Morocco,” the statement said.

Diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Morocco worsened Tuesday after the North African country recalled its ambassador from Abuja, following the telephone call row.

The controversy began after Morocco revealed last week that its leader rejected a request from Mr. Jonathan for a conversation.

The Moroccan Foreign Ministry said the request was a devious move by Mr. Jonathan to curry electoral favour than a genuine diplomatic move.

“The request by Nigerian authorities for a phone conversation between HM King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President was refused by the Monarch who deemed it inappropriate on grounds of the upcoming elections in Nigeria,” the statement read.
However, on Monday, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement refuting the claim of the Moroccans.

The Nigerian foreign ministry claimed that King Mohammed IV of Morocco spoke to President Jonathan from France where he had gone for a visit.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also denied that the phone call was intended to confer electoral gains on Mr. Jonathan who faces a crucial electoral challenge from an invigorated opposition in two weeks.

“Since the King was in France and not in Morocco, both leaders spoke extensively over the telephone on matters of mutual interest and concern that have nothing to do with the conduct of re-scheduled elections in Nigeria.
“It is therefore preposterous to suggest that Mr President’s telephone call to the Moroccan monarch was intended to confer any electoral advantage on the President,” the statement read.

The North African nation responded furiously Tuesday, denying the claim by the Nigerian authorities, and recalling its ambassador.

The office of Mohammed VI denied the king ever spoke to the Nigerian president. It issued a statement describing Nigeria’s claim that a discussion took place between King Mohammed and President Jonathan as “unethical practices”.

The statement said it wished to state in the “clearest and strongest terms” that “there has never been a phone conversation” between the two leaders.
“The King’s Office categorically denies the false allegations made by Nigerian authorities about an alleged phone conversation between the Sovereign and Nigerian President,” the statement said.

A statement signed by Reuben Abati, the spokesperson for Mr. Jonathan, said the furore generated over the matter was due “entirely to misinformation as President Jonathan has neither spoken with King Mohammed nor told anybody that he had a telephone conversation with the Moroccan Monarch”.

“It is true that President Jonathan has been speaking with some African leaders to seek their support for Nigeria’s candidate for the position of President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

“In continuation of his efforts in support of the candidacy of the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina for headship of the AfDB, President Jonathan indicated that he would like to speak with the King of Morocco, the President of Algeria and the President of Egypt.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was consequently directed to make necessary contacts with the embassies of the three countries and arrange for President Jonathan to speak with their leaders.
“Since that directive was given, President Jonathan has spoken with the Prime Minister of Algeria and subsequently sent Vice President Namadi Sambo to Algiers as Special Envoy to follow-up on his discussions with the Algerian Prime Minister on support for Nigeria’s candidate in the coming elections for the AfDB Presidency.

“The President has, however, not yet spoken with King Mohammed VI and President Al-Sisi of Egypt as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must know.

The statement said President Jonathan has ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali, to urgently undertake a full investigation of the claim which emanated from the Ministry that the President spoke with King Mohammed VI.

“The investigation is to identify all those who were responsible for the unacceptable act of official misinformation which has resulted in an unnecessary diplomatic row with another country and national embarrassment,” the statement said.

“It is also expected to unveil the motives of the culprits.
“President Jonathan has also ordered that prompt and commensurate disciplinary action be taken against the culpable person or persons.

President Jonathan also criticised the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, which has since called for an investigation into the matter.

“While awaiting the outcome of the investigations, President Jonathan urges Nigerians to disregard the vituperations of opposition elements, who have, true to type, latched on to the regrettable faux pas as a fresh opportunity to unpatriotically denigrate the government of their country and advance their irresponsible quest for victory at any price in the coming elections,” the statement said.

Nigeria and Morocco have a history of frosty diplomatic relation due to the former’s support and recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic declared by the separatist group, the Polisario Front.

The Polisario Front, which is backed by Morocco’s neighbour, Algeria, seeks an independence for the Western Sahara region of Morocco, a move the Monarch has violently resisted.


http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/178441-breaking-jonathan-admits-nigeria-lied-over-morocco-phone-row-orders-probe.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

FG spends $60bn on power in 16 yrs, says Buhari



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Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, yesterday said the Federal Government has committed over $60bn to the power sector in the last 16 years.
The former Head of State, who stated this during a South-South Zonal Presidential Rally held at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led Federal Government and most of it’s the states it control have been fraught with ‘monumental corruption’ in the past 16 years.
According to him, despite the huge amount expended on the energy sector, Nigerians are still not enjoying steady power supply because of corruption.
Buhari maintained that corruption that has severely affected the oil industry has also crept into the sector.
He said: “In 16 years, the PDP controlled Federal Government has committed over $60bn into the energy sector, yet we still can’t generate up to 4,000 megawatts of electricity in the country.
He declared that if voted as Nigeria’s next president, his major challenge would be to ‘kill’ corruption.
Corruption, the former Head of State said had retarded Nigeria’s economic growth and development, “which has permeated virtually all spheres of the country.
“The issue before us is very clear indeed. Please sit in your home, or in small groups, and ask yourselves these questions:
How much has accrued to Nigeria in the past 16 years that the PDP has controlled the Federal Government?
“How much of these funds have trickled down to you as a Nigerian? Whatever answers you arrive at should determine what party and candidate that you will vote for on April 11. “We should not personalise this issue.
It is not about Buhari; it is about us; it is about you and I ; it is about our children and the future of our children. My fear is that if we don’t kill corruption in Nigeria, corruption will kill us.
So, the choice before us is to resolve to kill corruption and free our country from the firm grip of corrupt men and women.
“If those in the PDP who have been in control of our resources at the centre and in most states of the country have been responsive and responsible, there would not have been so much insecurity and poverty in the country today.
“If for whatever reason, you make a mistake and vote for the PDP at the centre or even in any state, I assure you, you are going to regret it,” he said.
Buhari insisted that if the PDP continues to control the centre, it would be tantamount to more unemployment, poverty and insecurity across the country. country”.
Also speaking, Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, and Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, said the PDP was against the use of Card Readers that has been introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to verify and authenticate genuine voters, “because it will minimise rigging, and the ruling party don’t want to hear that.
“The Card Reader is like purge to the PDP. Even PDP leaders, including their governors don’t want INEC to use the Card Readers on the day of election.
“Money was budgeted for the Card Readers and now that Nigeria has paid for them, it is only appropriate that INEC use the machine to conduct the March 28 and April 11 elections.
“In the South-South and the South-East, we don’t vote during elections, we write election results. But this time, we must vote.
In 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan got 1.8 million votes from Rivers State. Let him come and take it in 2015.
“You know I was formally in the PDP, but this is the first time I have seen fear in the eyes of PDP leaders,” he said. He assured that if voted into power, Buhari will continue with the amnesty programme for ex-militants in the Niger Delta, but with some modification.
“We (APC) will add what is not there for now. We will take away the arms with which some prominent politicians have re-armed some of the militants and give them something to do. We will create jobs for them.
The amnesty programme will be transformed into a welfarist programme,” Amaechi added. Buhari also yesterday urged Nigerians, especially the youths to resist any attempt to shift or postpone the general elections.
Buhari said timely, free and fair election is key to protecting the country’s democracy, even as there is no constitutional provision for frivolous shifts in the date of elections.
The presidential candidate, who addressed students and youths in the southwest, at a town hall meeting in Lagos, said the whole idea of the election is to “save and rescue” the country from the current economic free fall, insecurity and high unemployment.
He said the Nigerian public must be aware that the current competition in the polity is already getting out of hands, with all manner of ploy to resist change.
Speaking off the cuff, Buhari said: “It is a question of saving the country from free fall. I have not come here to make promises to you, but to tell you that we have a duty to save our nation. And that is what March 28 and April 11 election dates are all about.
“No Nigeria should accept any postponement because there is no constitutional provision for postponement. We must conduct election and it must be free, fair and credible.”
He added that APC had identified three problems facing the country, mainly insecurity; Boko Haram in the northeast, militancy in the southeast and pockets of restiveness in the southwest.
“Important issue for us is insecurity. Second issue is unemployment, and it affects you all, that still have more than 40 years to go. No matter how well I love to live, there is no way I live another 40 years. “I want you to reflect how lives have been in the last 16 years of the PDP-led government.
What is the strength of the naira from when they took over and now? It is now over N220 to one dollar. “To revamp the system, there is need for trillions of naira but where will they get it from? PDP has killed this country in the last 16 years. Many of us are still here because we have nowhere to go in the world than to stay in Nigeria.
“Our objective is to throw away PDP and rehabilitate our country. We will not be distracted by their plans and smear campaign.
“The problem of Boko Haram went haywire when the police arrested and killed their leaders, instead of prosecuting them. “It got so bad that Chad, Niger and Cameroon had to come and help Nigerian military to rescue 14 LGAs from the Boko Haram. PDP has killed the country. That is why this election will be very defining, especially for the youth and the change we all want,” Buhari 

Finally Cleared: Major Facts About Buhari;s Life, Education and Career Revealed

buhari as a soldierAPC presidential candidate’s life, education, career, and vintage pictures
BY LAWRENCE ENYIOGHASU
Well, not exactly the untold story of former military head of state and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). It is more like Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘unknown’ story, as not many Nigerians are familiar with the book written by Rosaline Odeh, the then Head of Research and Documentation Section, Federal Department of Information, in May 1984.
The book, Muhammadu Buhari: Nigeria’s Seventh Head of State, was published by the Federal Department of Information, Domestic Publicity Division, Ikoyi Road, Lagos. It is in seven chapters of 95 pages, and details the early life, educational qualifications, career, and thoughts of the then head of state.
Chapter 1 is on parentage and background of the Daura, Katsina State-born retired military officer and politician. He was the 13th and last child of his mother, and also the last of his father’s 23 children.
Gen. Buhari’s father was Hardo Adamu, a Fulani chief of Dumukorl, a village near Daura. He, however, died when the young Muhammadu was just four years old. All he can remember of him is that “he was tall and fair in complexion.” The young boy ended being brought up by his mother, Hajia Zulaihalu Musa, who had great influence on him.
Chapter 2 is on Buhari’s childhood and early education. This is the portion that, perhaps, unravels the current raging debate on his academic credentials.
At the age of six, the book says, General Buhari was enrolled at the Central Primary School, Daura. His nephew, Mamman, who is two and a half years older, says of the young pupil: “He was above average academically and more than usual naughty.” Buhari himself corroborated: “I was a truant in primary school. I spent a lot of my time playing around. But when I went to secondary school, I changed.”
Classmates at Daura Primary School remember Buhari as a fast runner and centre forward for the school football team. He was always neatly dressed. He was to finish primary education in 1955 at Kankia Primary School.
In 1956, he proceeded to the Katsina Provisional Secondary School (now Government College, Katsina. According to his schoolmates, he had then become “a serious and hardworking student who tried to excel in everything he did.” Deeply religious, he said his prayers regularly, and was among those who made prayer calls at 4:30a.m.
Who were some of Buhari’s classmates, and what did they say of him?
General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (now deceased): “He worked fairly hard at his studies and games. He was reserved. He was one of the few boys in the school trusted by his classmates, and was quite dependable.”
Alhaji Fathu Abdullahi: He made a lot of friends from outside his Daura group. He was very broadminded. Very serious for his age and had no time for frivolous talks. He was very religious, even at the age of 12.”
Mallam Muktari, Zango: “He used to baffle me. He was so strong-willed and principled. He always stood his ground and did not follow the crowd.”
Buhari was a school monitor in Class 2, later a school prefect, a house captain, and ultimately he was made the head boy of the school.
According to the book, of all the boys who applied to join the Army from Katsina Secondary School, only two were taken. Muhammadu Buhari and Shehu Yar’Adua. They both ended up as Generals.
Chapter 3 is on Buhari’s military career, which he started at Nigerian Military Training College, Katsina, in 1962. He then went to the Young Officers Course No. 5 at the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna, from May 1963 to July 1963, Mons Officers Cadet School, Aldershot, in the United Kingdom, and he was commissioned in the rank of Second Lieutenant and posted to 2nd Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta as a Platoon Commander.
What are some of the other courses Buhari attended? According to the book, he was at the Army Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course in Bordon, United Kingdom from May 1965 to June of the same year, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India, from January to November 1973, and Army War College, U.S.A, from July 1979 to July 1980.
During the Nigerian Civil War, he was the Brigade Major of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, and Commander, 31st Infantry Brigade.
Chapter 4 is titled ‘Food for Thought,’ and it chronicles Gen Buhari’s views on different national and international issues. It also dwells on his private life and family
‘Landmarks Along the Way’ is the title of Chapter 5. It details Buhari’s footprints on the sands of time: as governor, minister, a member of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), General Officer Commanding (GOC), and call to duty as head of state.
Chapter 6 is on ‘A Journey Into the Past.’ What are readers served here? The influences on Buhari’s early life that made him what he became, particularly as a modest, self-effacing man. Hear his comment on leadership: “If there is anything we need in this country, it is leadership, and I also think, if there is anything we have in this country, they are good soldiers. If you stay with your men, and train with them, they will follow you. Much will be accomplished. If you stay with them and train with them, they will do anything.”
And his philosophy? “You will never succeed if you are unjust to your people.”
The final chapter: ‘Moment of Decision.’ Here, readers will get the appraisal and comments of people on Buhari. They include Dr Onolapo Soleye, his Minister of Finance, the Emir of Daura, Gen Musa Yar’Adua, Alhaji Mamman Daura, Gen Martin Adamu, and many others. Adamu, who was Buhari’s Commander during the civil war, said: “I am saying with all sense of responsibility. I don’t think he is an ambitious man. He feels strongly about Nigeria as a country. Given the support of the Armed Forces and the public, there is no reason he should not succeed. This time is the last chance for Nigeria’s survival and territorial integrity. I believe everything he said in his first speech.”
Excerpted from The Sun
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