How Ministers, Governors Sabotaged Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan etched his name in gold in history books when he called president-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd) on March 31, to congratulate him even before the result of the presidential election had been completely collated and the winner declared by the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC). But while it would appear to all that President Jonathan has already moved on after conceding defeat, LEADERSHIP Sunday can authoritatively report that he is nursing the sting of betrayal by his close allies, which led to his loss at the polls. According to reliable presidency sources, beyond the pain of losing out, he is disappointed that despite assurances from his cabinet members and other trusted political appointees as well as high ranking officials of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that they had vigorously campaigned and sold his achievements to the people and were sure from feelers they were receiving that he would be re-elected, it turned out that they had in fact, not campaigned for him as they made it seem. The president, it was gathered is particularly peeved by the action of some governors of Northern and North-Central states where he suffered the worst defeat. Of the 19 states in the north, the PDP, the president’s party only won the presidential election in Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba. LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that the sum of N500million was given as campaign fund to each state but those who the funds were entrusted to, rather than use the money for the purpose it was meant, held on to it. The money was disbursed through PDP-led state governors and cabinet ministers or political appointees in opposition-led states. In Ondo State for instance, LEADERSHIP gathered that the money was disbursed through one of the principal presidency officials from the state but as at night fall on the election eve, the official was yet to deliver the money to the state governor for the campaigns. The leadership of the PDP in the state, it was learnt, resorted to calling managers of banks in the state late in the night on the eve of the presidential election to ask for funds but could only get very little, by which time there wasn’t enough time to reach out to a large number of electorate in the state. A similar scenario reportedly played out in Oyo State where a minister from the state who was entrusted with the campaign funds allegedly held onto the money. In Kogi State where the PDP also lost out in the presidential election, LEADERSHIP sources said money for the election was also diverted to other uses such as payment of debts, hence the abysmal result the party got in the state. The abysmal performance of the party in Benue, Bauchi and Kano states, where the PDP has two governors, a Senate president, national chairman of the party and three cabinet ministers, Gabriel Suswam, Isa Yuguda, David Mark, Adamu Muazu, Bala Mohammed, Ibrahim Shekarau and Aminu Wali, respectively, but could not garner votes for the president, was also said to have drawn his ire. Our source said the president despite having received security reports that a high ranking official of the party was allegedly covertly working for the opposition was particularly annoyed that he had trusted the said official and waved the reports. Sources in Kaduna State where the vice president, Namadi Sambo hails from and where there is a PDP government in charge, also informed LEADERSHIP Sunday that in one of the local governments in Southern Kaduna, only N100,000 was allotted to two polling units in one of the wards with a voting population of over 1,000 people in sharp contrast with the situation in some local governments in Edo State, where eligible voters with Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) were given N2000 each to vote for the party, hence the success recorded. Recall that few days before the election, LEADERSHIP Sunday’s sister publication, LEADERSHIP, had exclusively reported that allegations of embezzlement and diversion of campaign funds were rife in the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO). According to the report, coordinators of some of President Jonathan’s campaign groups as well as state and zonal coordinators were taking steps to ensure that they did not lose out completely, in the event that he does not win. LEADERSHIP’s investigations in Abuja revealed that the coordinators, rather than use the money for campaigns, had been scouting the Abuja property market with dollars, acquiring choice property. The campaigners, it was gathered, rather than use the money for the purpose it is meant, have resorted to investing the money in property, so that in the event that their candidate does not emerge, they would have something to fall back on. Real estate agents privy to the development told LEADERSHIP Sunday that since the campaigns began and particularly after the postponement of the elections, there had been an upswing in the number of persons looking to buy property and most of them who usually pay in dollars had been linked to the campaign. Recall also that about two weeks before the presidential and National Assembly election, there was a free-for-all among some PDP officials in Ogun State, following the failure of those entrusted with the money to release same to campaign coordinators across the state. It was gathered that the campaign coordinators suspected foul play when the money which was to be shared among 708 of them was not, over claims that it was yet to be paid into a certain designated bank account. Similarly, another report had it that a former governor deeply involved in President Jonathan’s re-election campaign had rather than use money given to him for campaign, deposited it in a bank for it to yield interest and possibly remain there till after the election, after which it will be forgotten and he would convert it to personal use. Sources within the president’s campaign organisation, said such funds were being used by those they were entrusted with as they pleased and that the situation had compelled the president to personally take charge of his campaign especially in the Northern and South-Western parts of the country. At the time of the report, a high ranking member of the campaign organisation had confirmed to LEADERSHIP that the headquarters of the campaign organisation was in the know of the development. “State coordinators are responsible for mobilising and organising campaign rallies in their respective states while zonal coordinators do same for zonal campaigns and when people from the headquarters attend such rallies, they take note of the lapses in planning for further action. The money for such organisation and mobilisation is disbursed by the PDPPCO. “It has come to the knowledge of the campaign organisation that some coordinators have been telling party members that the money given to them is not sufficient to do what they expect of them but this is not true. They have been given adequate funds. However, the matter cannot be handled now till after the election when the coordinators would be required to retire their spending. The focus right now is on the election,” he said. It was further gathered that while collation of results was on-going on March 31, after the result of Delta State was presented and it became imminent that Jonathan had lost out, as results from Sokoto, Borno and Yobe were still being expected, some allies of Jonathan met him at the Presidential Villa, where they reportedly prevailed on him to stop further collation and announcement of the results. While the desperadoes were trying frantically to make Jonathan see reason why he should not accept the outcome of the poll, people on the other divide, led by former head of state, Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar, who were for peace urged Jonathan not to allow the moment of making history slip by. The president eventually, the source said, rebuffed them saying after failing to convince people to vote for him, they were now suggesting ideas that would set the country on fire. Following the president’s refusal to play ball, his allies who by now had realised that they would also lose out if he is not re-elected, immediately reached out to the party’s representatives at the collation centre, Dr. Bello Fadile, who is also a director in the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, following which Orubebe disrupted collation of results for several minutes, citing INEC’s refusal to attend to a protest by the PDP over results from some Northern states whereas the commission had set up a committee to investigate allegations against the party in Rivers State. Jonathan, our sources said, called and ordered Orubebe to desist from further disrupting the collation process, failing which he would be whisked out by security operatives, which explains why Orubebe who had earlier rebuffed all entreaties to retreat from the podium, suddenly went back to his seat and remained calm for the rest of the exercise. The source said that following the development, the president had directed that certain members of the party including governors of some Northern states should not be allowed access to him for now, “and that is why it was only governors of South-East and South-West states that paid him a visit on Monday. The only Northern Governor on the entourage was the Plateau governor. The party won in his state.” Meanwhile, governors, states chairmen and governorship candidates of the party have been strategising on how to win the governorship and state assembly elections this Saturday. They met at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja, on Friday. SOURCE:http://leadership.ng/news/423130/how-ministers-governors-sabotaged-jonathan

Buhari May Find It Hard To Change Nigeria

Change. It was the word printed on Nigerian billboards, shouted at rallies and uttered in greeting among supporters of Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress party. Nigeria’s election may have ended with a winner and a loser, but it was more about the process than thecandidates. And there, great gains were made. For the first time in the country’s short electoral history, an incumbent lost. By holding a politician accountable, Nigerians have made it more likely that their leaders will be responsive in the future. President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari can build on this progress by appointing a cabinet that reflects Nigeria’s ethnic diversity, making good on his reputation as an anti-corruption crusader, and providing quick signals about economic policy to shore up his credibility with investors.


Now comes the hard part: making good on promises he made on the campaign trail.

The president-elect's slogan was a powerful rhetorical tool, a striking alternative to Jonathan’s appeal to continue his “transformation agenda,” political commentator Chris Ngwodo said.

"There was no doubt about the argument for change, in terms of juxtaposing the incumbent president with the president-elect," Ngwodo said. "… Buhari certainly represented a departure from him" in style, substance "and in temperament as well."

Cabinet appointing

The parties that merged to form APC are the Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change. Buhari has been head of state before, as a military dictator from December 1983 to August 1985. He won praise then for appointing a cabinet of technocrats, but that was a different time. Under the current constitution, Buhari must appoint a minister from each of the 36 states, and there are plenty of state governors and party lieutenants that he will need to reward for their loyalty and campaign efforts.

Time to follow through

Now he has to deliver. Buhari’s promises include an end to the Boko Haram insurgency, which has ravaged the country’s northeast in its quest to impose strict Islamic law. He also campaigned on cutting down corruption and implementing universal healthcare.

But when he takes office in May, Buhari will inherit a government that is borrowing to pay its bills and still has not passed a 2015 budget. Chuba Ezekwesili, a research analyst at the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, said promises of spending on social programs, such as universal health care, may end up on the back burner.

Ezekwesili said most of Nigeria’s budget goes toward "recurrent expenditure," covering salaries and expenses but not capital costs. "If we’re already at the point where we’re borrowing money from the World Bank to pay for the 2015 salary," he added, "then it shows that we are in a dire situation."

Boko Haram a priority

Much of Buhari’s campaign centered on snuffing out Boko Haram, but the militant group is perhaps at its lowest point in years. Over the past few weeks, the Nigerian military, with help from foreign mercenaries and troops from neighboring countries, has chased the militants out of almost all of the towns they overran in the northeast.

Dawn Dimowo, a Nigeria-based analyst for the Africa Practice consultancy, said it will be up to Buhari to figure out how to put the group down for good.

She said it might mean creating something like the Niger Delta Development Commission, a federal program with a stated goal of regional growth "that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful," as its website says.

Any proposal will have to tackle the social and economic problems fueling the insurgency, Dimowo said. It must “address specific issues in that part of the country … [and] the hostile environment that would allow that kind of radical ideology to foster and develop to the point that this group to be able to take over a part of the country.”

But because cash is short, Dimowo said, tackling those problems may have to wait.

Economic policy

In economic policy, one area in which the Jonathan administration made progress was the privatization of the state’s electricity sector. Power plants and local utility companies have been sold off, but state commitment to regulatory reforms and to facilitating sufficient supply of natural gas to power plants is needed to spur investment. The electricity shortage is one of the country’s chief problems, and Jonathan might have kept his job had the reform process gone faster.

NNPC missing funds

Buhari was known in his military-dictator years for fighting corruption, and in a region that has some experience with that problem, Jonathan’s administration was widely perceived as worse than most. In 2014, former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. of illegally hoarding between $10 billion and $50 billion that should have been sent to the national treasury. That led to an independent audit of the state oil company, but few details of it were ever shared with the public. Buhari will face pressure to share the results as soon as possible and to force change within the company.

Obama Awards ‘Certificate Of Commendation’ To Jega

The United States president, Barack Obama, has commended Prof Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), over the way the presidential and National Assembly elections were credibly conducted on March 28, 2015.

Obama awarded the INEC boss with a “Certificate of Commendation”

According to Leadership, Obama awarded the INEC boss with a “Certificate of Commendation” for his outstanding and faultless performance during the elections. The president stressed what the professor of political science had done deserves replication by all.

READ ALSO: Obama Praises Nigeria’s President For Conceding Defeat 

President Obama, represented by James Entwistle, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, also congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan and the president-elect, Mohammadu Buhari, for their roles in the election and the prevailing peace all over the country.

Following of the announcement of the presidential election results on April 1, Obama called to both leaders individually and commended them for their roles in Nigeria’s first democratic handover of power.

Meanwile, the INEC chairman has recently declined any offer to extend his tenure as the head of Nigeria’s electoral body.

“I am grateful to God. I was asked to come and contribute my own quota to the national development and I have done my bit to the best of my ability,” he said.

Bayelsa Group Preparing To Welcome Jonathan "As A Hero"

The Bayelsa Development Forum (BDF) is planning to welcome the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, who unsuccessfully contested for re-election on the PDP’s platform, as a hero once he returns to his home state.

The group’s secretary general Ebimo Anderson, in Saturday’s statement, said they have already sent a letter to the Bayelsa state government to inform it of their plans to host a welcome reception, and to ask for their support to mobilize the residents to turn out en masse for the event.

“As Ijaw people and proud Bayelsans, even though we are deeply pained by the loss of our son at the polls, we are grateful to God and Nigerians for entrusting one of our own with the responsibility of leading this great nation at a time when it was thought impossible that a minority from the South-South will hold the highest office in the land,” Anderson said.

“We are indeed glad that President Jonathan did not disappoint us as a nation by his sterling leadership and in the process making history.”

Anderson further thanked Governor Seriake Dickson for standing by President Jonathan all through his presidency. He warned Bayelsans against falling for any propaganda and campaign of calumny against the governor allegedly being perpetrated by a senator, Heineken Lokpobiri, on social media.

Goodluck Jonathan became the first incumbent president in Nigeria’s history to lose an election when he was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari of the APC in the March 28 polls.

Judicial Commission Will Investigate Election Deaths

The Rivers State governor and director general of Buhari’s campaign organization, Rotimi Amaechi, has announced that the state is planning to set up a Judicial Commission of Enquiry to investigate violent deaths of some Rivers citizens during the March 28 presidential election.

Governor Amaechi

According to PM News, the governor made the disclosure at the weekend while addressing supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during a victory rally in Obio/Akpor local government area of the state.

“This morning, I got approval from the Executive Council to set up a Judicial Commission of Enquiry to investigate those deaths that happened before election, during election and after election. Anybody found guilty will go to jail. I didn’t set up administrative enquiry, I set up judicial commission of enquiry. It means that the man sitting there is sitting as a judge. He is not sitting as chairman, he is sitting as a judge, if you are found guilty, straight to jail,” he stated.

Amaechi condemned the police for their brutal actions on innocent voters in the state during the presidential election. However, he assured the people that next Saturday’s gubernatorial election in the state would be peaceful with the new tide across the country following the victory of Muhammadu Buhari in the country’s presidential election.

“This time, election will be peaceful, free and fair. Last time, we saw policemen thumb printing for them. This time they will not. If they do that, take their name, take their number, record them for us,” he said.

READ ALSO: Forgive Me, Begs Amaechi Before The Governorship Election

Continuing his statement, Amaechi said he is justified in leaving the PDP for the APC, describing his action as his best political choice at the time.

“People blamed me for leaving PDP to APC and I said they are wrong. They are wrong because God has directed that we should move to APC and because God said it and I have left them”.

The governor took the opportunity to reiterate that the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, would not Islamize Nigeria.

“I made it clear that God has said we would win Saturday’s election and I said we would be fighting with police and army but God would be behind us and if God is behind us, we would win, didn’t we win?”

“They went to churches to preach, they went to incite our people in churches and said that Buhari is a Muslim, he will Islamise Nigeria, and I said I didn’t see that. I said to them I am a Christian, I am a Catholic, nobody can Islamise me. This afternoon, I observed the Catholic ceremonies for Good Friday. On Sunday, I will go to Church to pray to my God and thank Him for bringing victory to us.”

“Buhari’s administration would be just and God-fearing and would not use police to harass or intimidate anyone,”  the governor stated.

READ ALSO: Gunmen Cause Mayhem In Rivers

Amaechi called on the people to be peaceful in the forthcoming governorship election in the state and vote for the APC governorship candidate.

“We would go out and bring in the votes. My phone will be open on that day, if you are bringing in the votes and any policeman harasses you, don’t fight back. Just give me the person’s name and number.

“I say they have the police, they have the army and I told you they don’t have God. Didn’t I tell you that, have you seen God work now?”, he asked.

Earlier this week, during a short chat with reporters Amaechi stated that the elected APC administration would do all the things the PDP-led government failed to do.

Muazu Predicts PDP's Victory In 24 States Come April 11

Adamu Muazu, the national chairman of the PDP, has voiced his confidence in the party’s nationwide success in the April 11 governorship elections. He called on fellow PDP members to contribute to the party’s victory in 24 states.

PDP national chairman Adamu Muazu

In his statement on Saturday, Muazu named the targeted states: Lagos, Rivers, Imo, the currently PDP-controlled Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, Ekiti and Ondo.

Even after the opposition APC’s Muhammadu Buhari defeated the PDP’s Goodluck Jonathan in the closely-fought presidential election, Muazu was positive the PDP still had the ability to retain its influence come the governorship elections.

“I urge the PDP faithful to pick up the pieces and ensure that we return quickly to our old winning ways. There should be no room for voter apathy that was a major factor to our losing the presidential election,”Muazu said.

“While our opponents were savouring their famous victory, we should out flank them and corner at least two-thirds of the states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“This is not an impossible target if we return to our elements with immediate effect. We have done it before and we can do it again. Nothing will be sweeter than PDP taking Lagos, our own Rivers state, and Imo. Our candidates in these states are first-class material who have fully penetrated the political structures of those states and are set to win.

Muazu says the PDP are keen on demonstrating to the APC that“their presidential victory is nothing more than a one-off that won’t be repeated in a long while.”

“The key to winning the remaining election is heavy turnout and voting the PDP all the way. There should be no tactical voting. Be consistent in your support for the party. What we experienced in the presidential election is merely a hiccup which we must cast out in the gubernatorial polls.

“All PDP supporters must remember their pedigree, our track record and history of the party and the source of our electoral feats of the last sixteen years. We are the reason that democracy has taken root in Nigeria since 1999. This is something every member of our great party should be very proud of.

“We have only lost a battle, but the war to bring our country to the highest level of democratic governance is still to be won or lost. Our governorship candidates should go out and finish the good fight and come up trumps in the remaining gubernatorial and houses of assembly election on the 11th of April. We are remaining the winning party, and, by God’s special grace, we shall win again and again.”

Igbo's Myopic Thinking Has Now Denied Us Senate Presidency - Okorocha

The Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha on Thursday blamed Igbo leaders of what he called “unholy acts” which has now denied the region the chance to produce either a Senate president or the Speaker of the House of Representatives in June.

The All Progressives Congress lost all senatorial and House of Representatives elections held in the region.

Ngigie, Okorocha, Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo

All 15 senatorial districts in the five states, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo were picked by the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party.

However, with the victory by Muhummadu Buhari from the North and his South West deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, the Senate president position would have normally gone to the South East but for the outcome of the elections.

After Thursday’s Owerri rally organised by the South East APC to celebrate Buhari’s victory, the Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha, said that the region should have elected a ranking senator or member of the House of the Representatives on the platform of the party to occupy either of the positions if PDP leaders from the zone had not engineered the rigging of the National Assembly election held the same day with that of the presidency.

READ ALSO: 2015 Elections: Why Igbo Leaders Are Lamenting

He said that the former governor, Chris Ngige, or the former senator, Osita Izunaso, both of whom contested the election, would have been elected Senate president if they were not rigged out at the election.

He said, “The South East is entitled to either the Senate President or the Speaker of the Federal House. But as I speak to you now because of the unholy act of last Saturday they (Igbo leaders) have not been able to give us any ranking member of the Senate or ranking member of the Federal House.
“You cannot be a Senate President, you cannot be a Speaker unless you are somebody who has been there before. It is our plan that Osita Izunaso should go to the Senate, Ngige should go to Senate.
“Gentlemen, the truth is that one of them should have been Senate President of Nigeria. But our people, in their myopic thinking, in the smallness of their brain could not see the light and today this act of theirs has denied Ndigbo the Senate President, this act has denied Ndigbo the Speaker of the Federal House. I weep, I weep that this kind of thing can be allowed to happen here.”

READ ALSO: Igbos Must Support Buhari To Secure Their Lives And Property – Onu, Okorocha

Okorocha said that politics in the North is quite different from the kind of politics being exhibited by South East leaders.

“This kind of thing could not happen in Kano, it could not happen in Sokoto,” he said.
“But here in Igbo land they use soldiers to kill their people. It is our political leaders who sponsored this unholy act and we shall hold them responsible for every blood dropped during this election.
“We know them and they know we know them. They can be having their children abroad and be killing the poor people here. We will resist it and we will say no. “

The governor accused Igbo leaders of manipulating results and trying to give 1.3 million votes to Jonathan in Imo state “but for our resistance they could not do it”.

He stressed, “It is not true that anyone defeated Buhari in Imo State. He won this election in this state. The nonsense is over. We have the details of all that happened in INEC headquarters. It will be embarrassing if we show all that happened to the world.”

Ngige explained how he was rigged out of the polls in which he lost to a serving member of the House of Representatives, Uche Ekwunife of the PDP.

He said that one of his agents was kidnapped and the collation order was also kidnapped.

According to the former governor, “The only thing I want to assure you people is that you have lost nothing. General Buhari has won the election. APC will form the next national government. We are going to recover all these seats, all the allocation they gave to us. All the allocations they gave to us, they allocated to me 20 votes from Anambra Central and Buhari 17, 960 votes, for the whole of Anambra. Is it possible?”

The APC had lost all the senatorial positions in the South East and accused the PDP of rigging the elections in the region.

Jonathan Did Not Bribe Us – Oritsajefor’s wife

Pastor Helen Oritsejafor, also known as Mama Helen Oritsejafor, who also doubles as a co-pastor of the Word of Life Bible Church, Warri in Delta State, is the wife of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the national president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

In an interview with Vanguard, she talks about the money received by her husband allegedly from the presidency to campaign for Jonathan’s re-election.

Helen Oritsejafor

She said that the country has been suffering from a lack of people who think and that’s why some people keep playing with the nation’s intelligence.

She said this in response to the allegation that her husband received funds from President Goodluck Jonathan to campaign for him.

Excerpts:

There is this controversy that CAN, led by your husband, received, first, N6 billion and later, N7 billion, from the Presidency to campaign for GEJ’s re-election. What was your initial reaction?

It’s quite laughable. The challenge we have in this country is that we are not people of thinkers, and it’s quite unfortunate. And that’s the reason some of these people keep playing on our intelligence. If we are people of thinkers, it would be very difficult for them to do so. A thing like that never happened to start with. It’s what propelled it that I think I will like to address.

The whole essence was to create division amongst Christians. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. Suddenly, Christians are now the ones that everyone believes that in order for them to win an election, they must have our support, for the first time in the history of our nation; instead of people to play it right and bring down their manifesto.
When they are unable to do that, what they now chose to do is to discredit the leadership hoping to be able to leverage through that by securing a portion of our Christians to be in support of what they are trying to do, which is extremely sad because what that tells me is that they must be the ones doing it and they also think that others will have to do same as well.

READ ALSO: CAN Prays For President-Elect, Buhari

And since they could not get the leadership of Christians, the question will be who tried to bribe the leadership of CAN to sway their votes two years ago and how much was it they offered the leadership of CAN? And at the end of the day, the leadership of CAN stood up and walked away from such the meeting because the question then was all we just needed you to do is to de-marry this man and we will give you this and this man walked out of the meeting.

And that’s why since then they have been going after him because they believe he is a man that cannot be bribed. He is a man that is very passionate about everything he is doing. And because they know that, they are doing their very best to see how they can malign him and give him a bad name. They’ve done everything to set him up.

I thank God no one has been able to come out and say that he was caught in the house of XYZ. Everything you see is to come up with different stories to give him a bad name. But it’s too late now. The reason I say it’s too late now is because we have Nigerians who are smart enough to read between the lines knowing fully well that something is evidently wrong here.

The question is, are you going to vote someone to power who has done everything to rubbish your faith and to rubbish what you believe by going under the leadership to cast aspersion on it, or are you going to support someone who is upholding your tenets? It’s an easy question.

It’s just like someone telling you that your parents are bad but the children are good. The same yardstick used in caning your parents will be used in caning you too. If you are a true child of those parents, you will know that whosever can wag his hands on your parents can also do same to you and you will never pay attention.

David said to Goliath, how dare you defy the king of the Jews?’ I want Christians to know that their destiny; let us not sell our birthright because of whatever reason. Let us follow our spirit. It is my prayer that we will allow reasoning to come to bear in this matter.

READ ALSO: Opinion: Buhari’s Victory: Who Lied, Nigerian Pastors Or God?

Can you tell us who attempted to bribe some people two years ago?

I’m not going to talk about the governor who unfortunately is very desperate right now. He’s desperate because a man who thought he was going to end up being a vice president is no way in the same politics where he started off as a governor. The initial offer dangled at him that made him to betray and leave a party for another was because he was to become the vice president should this party win.

Unfortunately, he’s no longer in the race and he has spent all of his life in it, so obviously he has to continue to gain relevance in that position. The pastor collaborating with him; I feel for him because he is a pastor that my husband has helped so much. There is nothing my husband has not done for him. But we had a big challenge with him for which we had to keep our distance.

It was at that point in time that my husband felt he was no longer going to have anything to do with him. I just see a man who feels that this is a time I can get back at this man. He’s been coming to beg. I’m quite aware that he has been looking for different ways to come and apologise for what he did.

From what I heard again, I hear he’s putting it on somebody else which I’m not going to mention the name. But the fact remains, Jonathan does not need to bribe Christians to vote for him. He’s a part of us. What we are talking about here has to do with Christians in Nigeria. I’ve not heard anyone trying to give us that assurance that we are safe in this country. What I have seen is someone trying as much as possible to label us by creating division, not giving us assurance that we are safe. No one has been able to say it with his mouth.

READ ALSO: Christian Association Of Nigeria Has A Message For Buhari, Jonathan

What the leadership of Christians is saying is; are we safe? Will Nigeria become an Islamic country if we bring you in? Because I keep seeing adverts from a part of the West saying when you become the President of Nigeria, we believe you will introduce Sharia. They claim we have one million Muslims in the West and yet they don’t allow them to practice their religion.

Now we are saying it’s not about money here; we are not going to sell our birthrights. I want to secure a nation for myself, my generation and generations to come. And we are asking, are you going to give us that leverage to continue to practice our religion or are you going to force another religion on us? And no one has been able to address that. Instead of addressing the real thing, they are casting aspersion because it’s more or less like divide and rule.

I still have a fresh memory of what happened many years ago when these same people were in power and I couldn’t wear trousers, I couldn’t wear my scarf, I couldn’t leave my hair uncovered. Nigerians forget easily. When these people were in power, I can never forget, my stepmother was to go to the market to buy something, she didn’t have her head covered, they had to smuggle her inside a store and look for a scarf for her because she was almost going to be arrested for not covering her head. A son or a daughter who decides to align with the enemies of his parents is a bastard, and I’m not one.

The CAN under the regime of Ayo Oritsejafor has been accused of being used by Jonathan for his campaigns.

Mark, Amaechi, Amosun, Oshiomhole Send Easter Messages

For politicians, religious holidays are a great chance to send messages to their nations within holiday greetings. 

As all Christians celebrate Easter in the country, the Senate President, David Mark, in his message called for renewed faith and commitment to the ideals of nationhood. According to Premium Times,  he further stressed that Nigerians should continue demonstrating resilience and perseverance as always in order to reach the Promised Land.

“Whichever side of the religion or political divides we may find ourselves, what must be paramount is the interest of our country. What makes for the good of all; welfare and security of our citizens must of a necessity be our vision and purpose,” he said.

Rotimi Amaechi, Rivers state governor, in his turn, called on Christians across Nigeria to use the Easter celebrations to thank God for his grace on Nigeria and continue to pray for peace, development and the greater good of the country.

He  added that during the Easter period Christians should thank God for the success of the 2015 presidential election and  pray for peaceful conduct, fairness and credibility of the gubernatorial elections.

READ ALSO: Easter 2015: President Jonathan Issues Congratulations

In his message, Adams Oshiomhole, Edo state governor, also called on Nigerians to thank God for the peace which has prevailed in the country after the election. Oshiomhole added that the Easter offers people another opportunity to reflect on their lives and their commitment to God.

“This period, we are enjoined to show love to our neighbours, our family members and indeed to our great country,” he said.

Ibikunle Amosun, Ogun state governor, urged all Christians to ponder over the supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and take a cue from his selflessness, by eschewing all forms of political, social and religious vices. Amosun also prayed for God’s guidance and blessings for the Buhari presidency and continuity in Ogun State, as Nigerians go to the polls to elect their governors and State Assembly members next Saturday.

The president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, and the All Progressives Congress have recently issued a  congratulatory message to Nigerians.  The leader urged all people to unite and use the season of Easter to celebrate both the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the rebirth of the Nigerian nation.

PDP Are Still Lying — Fashola

The Lagos state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has revealed that Lagos state is the first Nigerian state to implement the federal government-approved minimum wage.

He also denied an allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Akinwunmi Ambode, the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer in Saturday’s gubernatorial election in the state, was sacked from Lagos public service.

Governor Babatunde Fashola.

“He retired voluntarily after 27 years of meritorious service”

He also alleged that the PDP candidate, Jimi Agbaje, placed posters around the state secretariat, Alausa, promising to implement the national minimum wage and pay leave allowances to public servants if voted in.

READ ALSO: Nollywood Stars Share Their Thoughts On Jonathan’s Defeat

This was all contained in a statement by Hakeem Bello, the special adviser on media to the governor, which claimed that the Fashola administration was not only the first to implement the minimum wage but also added to the N18,000 minimum wage across the board.

The Lagos guber elections will see the PDP’s Jimi Agbaje and the APC’s Akinwunmi Ambode fight to become Lagos’s next governor.