Author: Editor

By William Oyo-Ita 6 April2015 7;18pm

3000 PDP members in Benue state tore their party membership cards as they decamped to the APC at a ceremony in Benue state recently. Lol. The ruling party is the winning party

By Efio-Ita Nyok, 6 April 2015, 1:48pm

Following concerns on the challenges as well as fears from some political quarters on the use of the Card Readers(CR), the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), through its Secretary has reiterated its stance to use the CR in the forthcoming gubernatorial/House of Assemblies election slated for 11 April 2015.

It has been perceived that most of these concerns are genuine. For instance, the CR, during the just concluded presidential elections of 28 March 2015 is noted to develop some technical hitches. Like the battery running down, network failure, inefficiency of the staff handling the machines etc. On the other hand, some of those pooh-poohing the use of the CR are those political parties, like the PDP, who are afraid of the free, fair and credible elections the use of the CRs occasions. Be that as it may, the insistent use of the CRs by INEC is commendable. However, the genuine concerns raised by critics should be looked into by INEC. Below, is the reading of INEC’s official position.
    

The Independent National Electoral Commission wishes to inform all Nigerians that Card Readers will be used for the April 11, 2015 Elections.

The provision of the Guidelines for the conduct of the 2015 General Elections which outlined what is to be done if a Card Reader fails and cannot be replaced by the Commission within a specified time frame (i.e. Reschedule the election to the next day) will be enforced.

By William Oyo-Ita 6 April 2015

Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu has threatened Igbos in Lagos, saying any Ibo man or woman who fails to vote Lagos state APC governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode as Governor in next Saturday’sgovernorship election will die within 7 days. According to Oba Akiolu, he owns Lagos and his bidding must be done by everyone in the state.


Daily Independent reports that Oba Akiolu gave out the threat when he met with Igbo leaders resident in Lagos at his Palace yesterday April 5th.

“On Saturday, if any one of you goes against Ambode who I picked, that is your end. If it doesn’t happen within seven days, just know that I am a bastard and its not my father who gave birth to me. By  the grace of God, I am the owner of Lagos for the time being. This is an undivided chair. The palace belongs to the dead and those coming in the future. On Saturday, if anyone of you, I swear in the name of God, goes against my wish that Ambode will be the next governor of Lagos state, the person is going to die inside this water.
For the Igbos and others in Lagos, they should go where the Oba of Lagos heads to. When they were coming to the state, they didn’t come with all their houses. But now they have properties in the state. So they must do my bidding. And that is the bidding of the ancestors of Lagos and God. I am not ready to beg you. Nobody knew how I picked Ambode. Jimi is my blood relation and I told him that he can never be governor in Lagos for now. The future belongs to God. I am not begging anybody, but what you people cannot do in Onitsha, Aba or anywhere you can not do it here.

If you do what I want, Lagos will continue to be prosperous for you, if you go against my wish, you will perish in the water. I am for the progress, growth and development in Lagos, Ambode is highly cerebral, he’s a symbol and he is going to deliver the message which I the Oba of Lagos have said. And he will govern the state for another eight years. He is going on a mission and God will give him the wisdom and knowledge to fulfill that mission. Almost a year ago, I declared that Ambode will be the next governor of Lagos and it will not change. From time immemorial, the previous occupiers  of this house will say what they wanted after consultation with other people. And this hasn’t change and it will not change at this time.” he allegedly said

By William Oyo-Ita 6 April 2015

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised market men and women in Ogun state to come out en-mass for the Governorship election coming up next Saturday April 11th and vote the way they did last Saturday during the Presidential election. The former President gave the charge to the traders while on an Easter visit at the Itokun market earlier today. After his familiarity tour, newsmen asked him what his message was to the traders ahead of next Saturday’s governorship election and he said “They should do exactly as they did last Saturday”

By William Oyo-Ita 6 April 2015

The APC said when they found out they’d won the election, they feared that Pres. Jonathan would reject the result and invent a military intervention to stop Buhari from being president but were surprised when, not only did Pres. Jonathan concede defeat, but called Buhari to congratulate him. This was something the APC didn’t expect and would be forever grateful to Jonathan for…

The Director, Media and Publicity Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Organization, Mallam Garba Shehu, talked to Vanguard about APC’s surprise on GEJ’s phenomenal move…

“I can say that the President acted with grace. He surprised us because we never expected that they would accept defeat. In fact, the sense everyone had was that they probably had plan A, B, C or D. And in any case, with the kind of thing that Mr. Orubebe did at the collation center, you knew that even when the President had grace, given the chance with the community of people around him, they could have threatened this democracy.

 “Look, I have been involved in presidential campaigns about three or four times in the past, the difference is that this is the most fearful campaign that I have ever experienced. This is the most life threatening campaign because we were dealing with opponents we thought would stop at nothing because they were throwing everything into it.

So, we were not taking anything for granted. It affected our lives. Would you see me in a night club? You couldn’t risk it because you didn’t even know who was trailing you. And it came as a huge relief.

“Again, we were getting security reports from our own sources. Until the President said ‘I concede’ and congratulated Buhari, we felt every minute that something wrong would happen. There was a clear and discernible threat to democracy as a system of government.

“Look, everyone felt concerned because, what if, God forbid, he declared a coup? These scenarios had been laid before Nigerians. Mr. Okupe, the Special Adviser to the President, was he not on Youtube, recorded on video, saying that Buhari will never become President? What do you take that for? It means that Buhari would win and they will take it away from him.

“This careless talk, arrogant display of power, it had come from the Villa. Many sources with linkages to power: Asari-Dokubo, Chief E.K. Clark and all of them, were they not sounding words to the President? They had said it that they would take away their part of the country from Nigeria if Buhari won.

“But for the President to have come and say ‘I accept defeat as the leader of the country’; that had an effect of really calming things down. And that’s why, whether they like it or not, President Jonathan has written his name in gold in so far as this is concerned.” Shehu said.

He then assured that the Buhari would not avenge the attacks on his person by the allies of Jonathan, saying there was enough work to do to meet the aspirations of Nigerians than pursuing mundane things.

Source: Vanguard

By William Oyo-Ita 6 April 2015

President elect, Muhmmadu Buhari, has asked Nigerians not to expect him to perform miracles once he assumes power come May 29th. Gen Buhari said this while speaking on the war against Boko Haram in an interview with BBC. According to Buhari, the triumph against the sect members would not be immediately achieved once he gets into power but said with cooperation from Neighboring countries and the commitment of the military, the war would be won in a short time 


“For five, six years, the Nigerian enforcement law agencies, including the military, couldn’t secure 14 Local Governments. How can I promise miracles when I come? But with the cooperation of our neighbours Cameroon, Chad, Niger and the international community, and the commitment we are going to get from the military, I think it will take us a much shorter time to deal with it”,

Southampton are closing in on the signing of Chelsea Goalkeeper Petr

Cech on a short term emergency loan deal. [Tutto Mercato]

By William Oyo-Ita 5 April 2015


African leaders from West and Central Africa will be meeting in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday April 8th, to discuss on ways to combat the terror group, Boko Haram in the continent.


The summit which is being jointly organised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) will among other things discuss on ways to tackle the sect activities which according to ECOWAS, if not checked, will destabilize the region.  

“In the face of the mounting and increasingly bloody attacks by the fundamentalists against Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad and the series consequences for these countries, and the real risk of destabilizing western and central Africa, the two organizations have decided to take action,”Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, is being jointly organized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

“In the face of the mounting and increasingly bloody attacks by the fundamentalists against Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad and the series consequences for these countries, and the real risk of destabilizing western and central Africa, the two organizations have decided to take action,”