Actress Addresses Her 'I Can Die For PDP' Statement

When Nollywood actress, Toyin Aimakhu made the statement, ‘I can die for PDP’ at the #MeetThePresident event on Sunday, little did she know what the aftermath would be…

Toyin Aimakhu at the #MeetThePresident event

The statement got lots of reactions from the screen diva’s fans home and abroad. While majority of the reactions scolded the actress for making such an unruly statement whether jokingly or not, only a few were behind the actress, supporting what she said.

READ ALSO: LAGOS POLITICS: 7 Top Music Stars Took APC Campaign To Another Level

However, the actress has released an official statement to disabuse the minds of a lot of people blaming her for saying she can dies for the Peoples Democratic Party. She says she has the right to say and do what she wants as there is something called freedom of speech and right. Toyin also added that it was just a joke, she didn’t mean the statement, and then Nigerians should learn not to be hard on celebrities. She further says you should stop envying other people’s success.

Read the engaging piece below:

Our country has given its citizens the right to freedom of speech and right to vote and be voted for, I’m most definitely not an exception. As of 1999, Nigeria has about 29 political parties, allowing every citizen to choose at their own free will. It is then left to us not to undermine the decision or choices of others as it is loathsome. We live in a world where people take pleasure in bringing other people down. I feel obliged to address the matter of me dying for the PDP. 
Firstly, no one is dying for anyone and the last time I checked only Jesus had died for us with no strings attached or money promised to his family when he’s gone. He died to save us all. Haven’t pointed that out, I will like to say, I will not , in any way, for no reason whatsoever, die for a person or a political party.

READ ALSO: SEE What Toyin Aimakhu Was Spotted Doing With President Jonathan

Secondly, I personally feel it is pathetic for anyone to take my word literally when it was simply a joke. As a successful Nollywood actress, it is not unusual for people in my line of work to use the phrase ‘ha baba, walai mo love yin gaan mo le ku fun yin ni sir’ with smiles on their faces. This was me, just doing my job as a host of the event, trying to be funny, which by the way, worked. It is absurd to take my word out of context.

READ ALSO: How Premarital Sex Affected Me and My Husband – Popular Actress, Toyin Aimakhu

Furthermore, my choices, should however in no way be a channel for condemnation. Celebrities and public figures, just like every other people, are allowed to campaign, vote and support whomever and however we please. As many great political parties we have, we cannot vote for them all. It is a one man, one vote society. I love everyone as best as I can, most especially my fans ,make your choice, respect the choice of others, let it be, and most especially, do not allow the choice of others affect yours.
In conclusion, let’s try to help others grow and support them. Don’t let the success of others make you feel resentment against them or envious, simply learn from them and strive to do better.
I wish everyone safe, free and fair election.

It would be recalled that just recently, in order to show support for President Jonathan, who is bidding for re-election as the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, a porn star popularly called Afrocandy made a music video. 

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BUHARI RETURNS FRIDAY

General Muhammadu Buhari, the popular presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), will return to Nigeria on Friday, following nearly 10 days in London on a campaign break. He had campaigned in 35 states before traveling out of the country. Buhari, whose prolonged absence fueled a festival of negative rumors from his opponents, is reportedly in great health. He responded to those challenges in one television interview by challenging his detractors to a road race, saying he would like to see how long they can last against him. A source in his camp said General Buhari stubbornly stuck to his decision to rest for 10 days after the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) postponed the elections, which were initially scheduled for February 14th. A campaign team member told SaharaReporters that apart from his highly successful outing at the famous Chatham House last week where Buhari gave a powerful speech about Nigeria’s democratic hopes and challenges, he remained in in an apartment in London where he received visitors and friends. The source further stated that Buhari’s holiday break has enabled the APC to conserve its meagre resources to enable the party cope with campaign finance requirements. Since the postponement of the elections two weeks ago, President Goodluck Jonathan and his People’s Democratic Party have spent a largesse of close to $200m as gifts to traditional rulers, religious groups, youths and students, as well as on amorphous groups that are pursuing a variety of legal challenges towards getting Buhari disqualified from the race. A sizable portion of the money was dedicated to discrediting the chairman of Nigeria’s electoral commission, Attahiru Jega. The administration is known to be considering getting him out of office for refusing to bow to its wishes. Mr. Jonathan, along with former dictator Ibrahim Babangida, is also known to be considering putting into play an Interim National Government, rather than lose the presidency to someone who will look into the records. It is understood that last night, the United States and the European Union put their feet down on the issue of the Professor Jega, threatening to send President Jonathan to the International Criminal Court if anything goes wrong with Nigeria as Jonathan tries to tinker with the election outcomes. APC sources said on Tuesday they had not decided on what form Buhari’s return might take on Friday, as some people have suggested a tumultuous party. http://saharareporters.com/2015/03/03/buhari-return-nigeria-friday (Quote) (Report) 11 Likes (Like) (Share)

'Fuel Scarcity Will End Before Weekend'-NNPC -

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to pay with immediate effect, all outstanding monies owed to oil marketers so as to end the current fuel scarcity that has crippled the nation and caused untold hardship to millions of people.

This was just as the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (downstream) yesterday summoned top management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) among others, to appear before it tomorrow by 2pm prompt.

The president, who restated his commitment to Nigerians, said the public should not bear the burden of needless bureaucracy, as was presently the case. He stressed that Nigerians don’t need excuses but solution, which must be provided.

The summons by the Senate Committee was issued against the backdrop of the absence of the agencies to defend their 2015 budgets before the committee.

Committee Chairman, Senator Magnus Abe and his Deputy, Mohammed Goje, said their appearance would have enabled the agencies to explain to Nigerians the cause of the present fuel scarcity and measures put in place to address it.

Infuriated by the absence of the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Joseph Dawha, and other officials at the budget defence session, Abe openly directed the committee Clerk, Mr. Anthony Ikem, to immediately write to the NNPC and other affected agencies to explain why “the corporation did not even have the decency to inform the committee of its planned absence at the budget defence session” either through a letter or a phone call.

“We invited NNPC to this session since last week. The corporation did not even have the decency to inform this committee ahead of its absence today; a very bad practice we thought it had ended with, since last year.



It’ll end before weekend –NNPC

From AIDOGHIE PAULINUS, Abuja

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), yesterday, said the current biting fuel situation in the country will end before the end of the week.

The NNPC Group Executive Director, Commercial and Investment, Aisha Abdulrahman, who gave the assurance in Abuja, said all queues at filling stations across the country would disappear before the end of this week.

Speaking when the Supervising Minister of Information, Chief Edem Duke, led a team of reporters on an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the filling stations, Abdulrahman said the situation had been addressed, adding that the NNPC currently had adequate stock that could last between 20 and 30 days.

She urged filling stations to complement the NNPC retail outlets by selling petrol for 24 hours to clear the fuel queues across the country.

Abdulrahman discouraged speculation, panic buying and hoarding of fuel, saying the NNPC had flooded the country with petroleum products.

On his part, Duke took a swipe at the opposition political party, denying that there was fuel scarcity.

He said all the depots across the country were wet with fuel, but that the queues in the filling stations were due to speculation and panic buying.

He lambasted the opposition for cashing in on the fuel situation to score cheap political point, even as he assured that the Jonathan’s administration would remain responsive to the welfare and economic well being of the citizenry.

“A good government cannot inflict scarcity on its people. It cannot bite its nose to spite its face, especially at a time when there is political tension.

“There is no government worth its onions that will say, rather than focus on strategies to win election, ‘let us deprive the citizenry of adequate supply of petroleum products’.

“So, when people are sitting in Dubai and issuing statements that are unfounded, I think we, as the conscience of the nation, should know better,” Duke said.

Obasanjo Predicts Victory For Buhari March 28

Nigeria’s former President, who has been recently in the news over his quit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), predicts the outcome of the upcoming presidential elections.

  Olusegun Obasanjo

Many lamented over OBJ’s decision to leave the ruling party after years of service.

Several times the country ex leader blasted President Goodluck Jonathan over his performance in the office. At the same time he noted the good things about the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

It was even alleged more that once that Obasanjo openly endorsed the former military Head of State.

Speaking in Kenya last month during his autobiography presentation, he praised Buhari calling him “smart enough”, “educated enough” and “experienced enough”. However, soon the former PDP politician debunked reports about endorsing GMB saying that he would simply be guided by “track of records” while deciding who to support.

According to the latest report by P.M. News, this time Obasanjo predicted that Buhari would win March 28.

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He made a claim in Abeokuta, Ogun state March 4, Tuesday, during the meeting with  a group that styles itself, Concerned Citizens of Nigeria.

He also denied the possibility of elections annulment like it was the case in 1993 and the following violence.

READ ALSO: We Advise Obasanjo To Rethink Before It’s Too Late – Ex-Militants Threaten OBJ, GMB

On its part, the group urged Obasanjo to intervene in the lingering political crisis in Nigeria before it gets worse.

According to the body:

“We have come to express our deep concern over series of dangerous political miscalculations currently going on under Jonathan administration.

“We are afraid that crisis is seriously looming and it is like another June 12 crisis is on the way and it may be very tragic for the country. We want you to as a matter of urgency intervene into the matter before it is too late sir.”

To which OBJ responded:

“You need not to worry about anything. There can never be any June 12 annulment again. Buhari is not Abiola, he is a trained and highly intelligent soldier.

READ ALSO: I Am Not Avoiding Jonathan – Obasanjo

“Oyegun is not Anenih, Osinbajo is not Kingibe. Jega is not Nwosu, Jonathan is not IBB and this time around, Obasanjo will not support any interim government.

“Obasanjo will rather support a free, fair and credible election.”

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APC Allegations On Poll Shift, Others Baseless —presidency - Politics - Nairaland Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / APC Allegations On Poll Shift, Others Baseless —presidency

The Presidency on Tuesday took a swipe at the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, saying they had resorted to propaganda, blackmail and deception because their imminent loss in the forthcoming general elections was staring them in the face.

The Special Adviser to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, said this in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH in Abuja.

Abati was reacting to the statements credited to the APC that President Goodluck Jonathan was planning another poll shift, making moves to sack the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega and taking steps to freeze the accounts of some of its leaders.

The presidential spokesman described all the allegations as baseless, false and meaningless.

He said the opposition party decided to heighten its level of hideous propaganda because of the “sudden disappearance” of its presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

Abati argued that out of desperation, the APC leaders needed to occupy the media space without considering their shallow tactics.

He said that was why when the opposition leaders speak, people would notice so much incoherence and noise.

On another round of poll shift, Abati said, “Anybody who has been listening to news will see that the President has consistently said he does not see any reason why the polls will be shifted again.

“He has consistently assured the international community that government has no intention whatsoever to shift the polls because the date of the inauguration of a new government is May 29 and that that day is sacrosanct.

“Whatever postponement that has taken place is within the frame of the law and it is constitutional. The law gives a timeframe to hold elections.”

On the plot to remove Jega, the presidential spokesman said Jonathan had made it clear that the INEC boss had not committed any offence that could warrant his sack.

He expressed the hope that with the love the opposition leaders were displaying for Jega, they would be able to come out at the end of the election and accept the outcome.

Abati said, “The President himself has addressed this categorically that he has never at any time discussed the issue with anybody that he wants to sack Jega.

“He said before you can remove anybody, you have to first establish that the person has committed an offence and that there is nothing before him to indicate that Jega has committed any offence.

“The APC, because its key spokespersons seem to have talent for noise making, keep insisting that there are plans to remove Jega. The question to be asked is if there is something they know that we do not know. Is there something between them and Jega that they are so desperate?

“What it means is that at the end of the day, we do not expect that the APC will turn around and say they have no faith in the outcome of the election or that Jega did not conduct the election very well.

“The way they are packaging Jega, you will think he is even a member of their party. I hope that when eventually they lose the election, they will be honest enough to accept the outcome.”

Abati said there was no sense in the claims that Jonathan was planning to freeze the accounts of a former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.

He explained that no individual, no matter how highly placed, had the right to freeze anybody’s accounts.

The presidential spokesman said, “That allegation is a no brainer because people like making unintelligent comments as if they never went to school.

“The President cannot just stand up and say he is freezing somebody’s account.

“When people’s accounts are frozen, it is because may be they have been indicted and a court of law has given an order to that effect.

“No one individual, no matter how powerful he is, can just wake up and say he is freezing somebody’s account.

“I am surprised that anybody will take them serious on this. If they keep saying it despite the emptiness of the claim, then it again proves the point of their desperation.”


http://www.punchng.com/news/apc-allegations-on-poll-shift-others-baseless-presidency/

Apple Inc. Buys Chinedu Echeruo’s Hopstop.com For $1 Billion - Investment -

Apple has acquired Chinedu Echeruo’s HopStop.com, The Wall Street Journal’s publication, AllThingsDigital reports. Founded in 2005, HopStop.com makes mobile applications for both iOS and Android that covers over 300 cities and that helps people get directions or find nearby subway stations and bus stops. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed as at the time of this publication.

Chinedu Echeruo, formerly an analyst at investment banks and hedge funds founded HopStop in 2005. Echeruo is now Chairman of the Board for HopStop.

HopStop has oft been compared to Israel’s Waze which was recently acquired by Google for $1 billion. The move is seen as Apple’s plan to bolster its map offering especially given Google’s recent acquisition of Waze.

A serial entrepreneur, Chinedu Echeruo grew up in Eastern Nigeria and attended Kings College, Lagos. He attended Syracuse University and the Harvard Business School in the United States and founded HopStop.com after working for several years in the Mergers & Acquisitions and Leveraged Finance groups of J.P Morgan Chase where he was involved in a broad range of M&A, Financing and Private Equity transactions. He also worked at AM Investment Partners, a $500 million volatility-driven convertible bond arbitrage hedge fund.



He founded and raised nearly $8 million for his two U.S based internet companies; Hopstop.com andTripology.com. Tripology.com was acquired in 2010 by American travel and navigation information company, Rand McNally. He was named Black Enterprise Magazine’s Small Business Innovator of the year and listed in the magazine’s Top 40 under 40 and is currently a partner and head of the Principal Investing group at Constant Capital, a West Africa based investment bank.

True to form, Echeruo is working on yet another venture but this time, focused on small businesses in Africa. Check out a video of Chinedu Echeruo below at last year’s TedxIkoyi where he talks about his latest project for small businesses in Africa; “crowd sourced business in a box.”

According to him:

“There is no reason why every entrepreneur should have to reinvent the wheel every single time in all the countries in Africa. My idea is to essentially to have one place where a budding entrepreneur can access a template for starting a business, and then customize it to suit their own situation. Essentially a business-in-a-box.”

Anti- Jega Plot Crashes As Presidency Hits Dead End. -

LEGAL experts have told the Presidency the bitter truth about Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega — he cannot be sent on terminal leave.

There are two reasons for the legal opinion. They are that:

•no law or regulation compels political appointees to proceed on terminal leave; and

•the timing is “inauspicious and not strategic”.

Faced with the legal obstacle, the Presidency may have dumped the option of asking Jega to go on leave.

Besides, President Goodluck Jonathan has said although he has the power to remove Jega, the INEC chief has not done anything to warrant his removal.

A top government official yesterday said Jega will not be removed or asked to go on leave.

But the comment of the supervising Minister of Information, Mr. Edem Duke, has caused disquiet in the cabinet.

Some ministers believe that Duke’s “inexplicit response to questions on Jega’s fate” last Friday has been heating up the polity.

Duke said although the President has no plan to sack Jega, ‘’this is not to say that, if it is time for INEC chairman to naturally exit his office, then the natural course of public service rule will not take 
place when he has reached the age of retirement or exhausted his tenure.”

According to a source, the legal advice emphatically said “political appointees are not subject to terminal leave”.

The source added: “I think we have been having this apprehension on Jega’s fate because of the politics which beclouded non-renewal of the tenure of ex-INEC Chairman Prof. Maurice Iwu.

“I think in managing Iwu’s exit, those behind it did not look at the legality of the process in asking him to proceed on leave.”

The source also said the Presidency was advised against allowing Jega to go on terminal leave because the “timing of the agitation is inauspicious and non-strategic”.

A top government official said: “President Goodluck Jonathan will not remove or ask Jega to proceed on terminal leave. He has told the nation of his position and he will stand by his words.”

At INEC, however, a woman National Commissioner is still feeling bad that she was linked to the plot against Jega.

“The National Commissioner has been psychologically disturbed that she is being associated with treachery.

“Were it not for pressure, she would have addressed the press with some commissioners on why they are standing by Jega,” a source said.

Duke’s comment is said to have caused disquiet in the cabinet.

“Everyone is disturbed that Edem Duke was not circumspect enough because as a Minister of Information, he ought to know that the press will take note of what is said, intended or unsaid,” a source said, adding:

“No one is happy that the story about Jega has been bordering on alleged plot to remove or ask him to go on terminal leave by the President. We believe as cabinet members, we should also not heat up the polity or create an image crisis for this administration. If you have noticed, the debate on Jega’s fate heightened after Duke’s briefing last Friday.

“Not all members of the cabinet approved of Duke’s comments, which left a few things hanging.”

Jega has shelved today’s meeting with the 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC).

Instead, the INEC chairman has deployed all National Commissioners and the 37 REC in 12 states for the mock election taking place on Saturday.

The states selected are: Ekiti and Lagos(South-West); Anambra and Ebonyi(South-East); Delta and Rivers(South-South); Kano and Kebbi(North-West); Bauchi and Taraba(North-East); and Niger and Nasarawa(North-Central).

The mock election will be used for “field testing of the functionality of the Smart Card Readers”.

A National Commissioner said: “All National Commissioners and RECs are going to take part in the mock election which we are using to measure our preparation for the general election.

“The session between INEC chairman and RECs will now hold next week to enable the commission to consider the report on the mock election.”

House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal said we cannot play the ostrich with the plot to scuttle the elections.“It is clear that some people are not interested in a free and fair election.”

Tambuwal, who spoke when he received a delegation from the Situation Room Advocacy also condemned any move to install an interim government which he said will amount to a coup because it has no place in the constitution.

Also yesterday, the House of Representatives sounded a note of warning to President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration on the danger of removing the INEC chairman before the general elections.

To show its seriousness, the threatened to initiate court action within the country and at the International Criminal Court (ICC), over supposed plots to remove Jega and shift the March 28th and April 11th elections.

The resolution of the House followed the adoption of the prayers of a motion by Hon. Ali Ahmad, Chairman House Committee on Justice,

The “Motion on threat to further tamper with the status quo arrangements for the 2015 general elections” was seconded by Hon. Goni Bukar

The House urged “the political class, government of the federation and of states and security agencies to heed the warning of imminent and present danger associated with any interference with the existing schedules of the general elections”.

It said it will “hold personally accountable at domestic judicial forum or at the International Criminal Court “ any person or Organisation that foists on INEC any decision or action whatsoever, including unconstitutional attempt to remove the current INEC chairman, that has the effect of making it impracticable for the elections to hold on 28th March and 11th April, 2015”.

Arguing the motion, Ahmad said the initial postponement of the general elections for six weeks due to security concerns related to the Boko Haram insurgency has further heightened the tempo for pre-election violence.

He expressed concern on the possibility, threat and insinuation to precipitate actions that would cause further alteration to the status quo arrangement and regulation of the general elections

Ahmad said: “That such threats to tamper with the status quo may take several forms including , but not limited to, illegal removal of the current INEC Chairman.

“That there is already documented evidence from several sources that any change in status quo arrangements, especially removal of the INEC chairman, presents a possibility of violence and would occasion the sowing of seeds of a major crisis,” he said.

The lawmaker said civil society organisations and lawyers, including usually reticent Senior Advocates of Nigeria have sounded “a note of warning” and threatened a “showdown”.

According to him, such removal will be unconstitutional, “given the decision of the Supreme Court that removal of the chairman or members of such an independent electoral body as INEC pursuant to S.157 (1) of the Constitution can only be achieved when two things happen, viz: (a) for his inability to discharge the functions of the office, or ( b) for misconduct, as determined by 2/3 majority of the Senate ( Governor of Kwara State v. Ojiabor. 2007).”

Ahmad said such deliberately induced violence “ may snowball as it did in 2011 post-election period into widespread or systematic attack, persecution, arson, murder, thereby amounting to serious crimes of concern to the international community, as contained in Article 5 of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Nigeria is a signatory.”

However, the Deputy Leader of the House, Leo Ogor, objected to the motion, saying that it was “totally speculative” at best and should not even be entertained, not to mention being passed.

His objection was overruled by Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, who called for a voice vote. It was unanimously passed by members.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/reps-jega-polls-schedule-stay/