Clay Richie

The All Progressives Congress (APC) stated that the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari in tackling insecurity outweighs that of former President Goodluck Jonathan throughout his five years in office. Briefing newsmen in Abuja, National Publicity Secretary of APC who appealed to Nigerians to exercise patience with the current administration, blamed the delay in appointing a cabinet on the lack of cooperation of the past administration.

The battle for the control of the National Assembly may be long drawn as the leadership of the All Progressives Congress on Monday insisted on removing the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, of the minority Peoples Democratic Party.

By Ahmad Salkida and Johnson Chinedu Edwin In two separate newspapers articles published in 2006 and 2009 in the New Sentinel and Sunday Trust, and credited to one of us, the manner Boko Haram’s total disregard for civil values was the point of discourse. The report in question warned that government’s disregard of this rebellious inclination of the group would amount a calculated catastrophe to society. The authorities ignored this at society’s general peril.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that no amount of “intimidation, blackmail and propaganda” by the Presidency would stop it from demanding that President Muhammadu Buhari kick-starts government and commence implementation of his campaign promises for which he was voted into office.

Two reports released recently have set me thinking as to whether Nigeria is really winning the war against Boko Haram or the other way round. From the evidence before us, it appears while Nigeria is gradually but steadily winning the battle, Boko Haram may actually be winning the war as some strong voices on the international scene are increasingly showing more and more sympathy for the group’s devious and murderous activities.

Nigeria has been inundated with lackadaisical and dangerous press from both the presidency and private media. And the trend seems to be picking up pace, meriting some form of radical check. President Buhari’s media team have been rebuked for being either clueless or bent on sabotage. First was a press release claiming Buhari had declared his assets in fulfilment of his campaign promises.

The State Security Service has fired a blistering response to a directive by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Aide de Camp, Mohammed Abubakar, ordering personnel of the service out of inner Aso Rock and restricting them to guarding the “outer perimeter” of the presidential villa. In a memo, seen by PREMIUM TIMES Friday, Mr. Abubakar, a Lieutenant Colonel, had barred SSS personnel from locations inside the State House, saying personnel of the Armed Forces and the police, trained as Presidential Body Guards (PBGs), are to “provide close/immediate protection for Mr. President henceforth”.

Today, 29th June 2015, makes it exactly a month since President Muhammad Buhari became the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Since then, you cannot categorically say that he has not hit the ground running. It might not just be at the rate that you have anticipated. He has been here and there in search of solutions to the Boko Haram menace. Everywhere he goes; it`s been about finding a lasting solution to this scourge that has plundered our land for far too long.

Reviewing the actions and inactions of the administration in the first 30 days, the opposition Peoples   Democratic Party, PDP called for prayers for an administration it claims has shown no movement or motion. The party spoke through its spokesman, Chief Olisa Metuh.

This is an excerpt of one of the chapters of my soon to be published book titled Power To The People. Please Read and Share. If North Korea is the crying capital of the world, Nigeria holds the aces when it comes to smiling and laughing.                                                                                                    – Tolu Ogunlesi

Among other social issues in Nigeria, corruption has received serious and consistent attention from Nigerians and non-Nigerians. Many commentaries have been passed, several journals, newspaper and magazine volumes have been published on corruption in Nigeria, sermons and teachings have been preached in various religious centres, some academic institutions have held public lectures, symposium and conferences on corruption, numerous non-governmental organizations have championed strong advocacy against corruption, surprisingly, the more attention it receives, the more resilient it becomes. Corruption has stayed so long in the Nigerian society to the extent that it has become intrinsic and seen as a way of life.

Exactly a month ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took over the reins of power. It is still early days yet, just one month out of 48, a mere two per cent of a four-year term.  Ordinarily, it is too early for even a tentative appraisal. But these are no ordinary times. Nigeria is in a very terrible place. And most Nigerians, especially those who deliriously bought into the promise of change, expect the world of their new president, and expect it quickly, or at least expect to quickly see reassuring signs of it.

“This victory that we celebrate today won’t have been possible without God, the Sultanate and others across the country. For us who are Christian minorities in the North, we should acknowledge that this victory we are celebrating here today was made possible by the intervention of the Sultan and others. We should know that there is a new thinking in the North. We owe it a duty to make sure we unite our own part of the country. My emergence as Speaker is as a result of the support of all major tribes of Nigeria, and all faiths” Rt Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), on Friday, urged the public to ignore radio Biafra transmission. This was contained in a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs of the commission, Alhaji Awwalu Salihu, made available to newsmen in Abuja.

Ahead of the meeting of the National Executive Committee of the APC on Tuesday, there were indications last night that the governors elected on the platform of the party and state chairmen are pushing for Dr. Saraki and Hon. Dogara to comply with the party’s directive on the choice of principal officers of the National Assembly.

Pardon the cheek. I want to give you a quick assignment this morning. Please pick up your phone. Call at least three of your friends. Ask them to list the most urgent national issues, in their own opinion, at the moment. Let’s be quick with it, please. Here we go. One… Two… Three… Are you done? Great. Did any of them list Senate Majority Leader and Chief Whip as their priorities? What about Deputy Majority Leader? The ones I called said the urgent issues are the falling naira, unpaid salaries, the looming fuel crisis, erratic power supply and rising insecurity, notably the renewed Boko Haram attacks and increasing armed robberies. None of them mentioned Chief Whip.

Quote: In this job of speaking for others, the spokesman must get his timing right. The role of a spokesman, especially for the government, has come under scrutiny since President Muhammadu Buhari announced the appointment of Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu as the official mouthpiece of his administration.

The protracted scandalous impasse and controversy over the emergence of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and selection of other principal officers of the current National Assembly which escalated into fisticuff on Thursday June 25, 2015 in the House of Representatives evinces that our country is yet to be freed from the clutches of evil forces and imperial elements. We are back to the trenches of national ruination orchestrated by the egregious activities and aspirations of unpatriotic racketeers whose insatiable inclinations takes precedence over the collective good of our country.

My dear president, though I have for some time since after your inauguration President and Commander in-chief of the Armed Forces resisted the temptation to write this open letter to you, but each time I resisted or procrastinated on the matter, the spiritual urge in me becomes more serious as negative events kept unfolding each day particularly in the National Assembly.

If there is something that every man must avoid in life, unhealthy comparison should come to mind. That thing is killing- a slow killer- victims are mostly unaware of this slow poison. It eats deep into the psychology of people who are vulnerable to every and any remarks made about them. When anything negative takes control of your psychology, it morphs into your orientation and then, your entire existence is in soup. You see it haunting you, it dines and wines with you. Right there at your study, it sits winking at you for a session. At work, it is your only client- coming in different attires, genders and for different purpose. Then in its characteristic nature, it makes you run- not for a medal- but like a mad man chasing nothing. That race is what I seek to prevent with this piece.

Your Excellency, I write to you today with a heavy heart. The reason should be obvious. I was one of those latter day converts to Buharism, a political philosophy that believes in the reincarnation of former leaders in the days of tribulation. You were never the first man to resurrect from retirement and near political oblivion. General Olusegun Obasanjo bounced back from prison to Aso Rock Villa. In nearby Benin Republic, former military dictator and strongman, Mathieu Kerekou who had served as maximum ruler for about 17 incredible years, came back to defeat incumbent President , Nicephore Soglo in a 1990 election.  He led his country for another ten years and almost got another five-year term but for the age barrier that disqualified him.

For the past few days I have been thinking about the happenings in the new Nigerian ruling party, the All Progressive Congress, how a single individual or so it seemed to be projected or rather, the myth being created, has been able to take all within the party of change and won. Unfortunately, usually and traditionally, most myths are nothing but a product of clairvoyant concoction, propounded and propagated to explain scenarios that are not easily comprehended and generally understood. The reason why a single person, could be getting the upper hand, against the party which had brought him into power are basically two; which are the politics of 2019 presidential and general elections, in terms of who gets what, when and where future political destinies lies.

GREETINGS Good day friends, well wishers and citizens of Nigeria. Honourable and Dishonourable Members of the House of Reps, Distinguished and Extinguished Senators. Give me your ears this moment, forgive my audacity but I can no longer sit and watch as you play politics with everything under the sun.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, on Thursday said President Muhammadu Buhari would not intervene in the leadership crisis currently rocking the National Assembly until the All Progressives Congress’ state governors ask him to do so. Shehu said this while featuring on Sunrise, a programme of a Lagos-based private television station, ChannelsTV.

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki has said that yesterday’s  adjournment of Senate’s plenary to July 21, 2015, was meant to give the Senate Ad-Hoc Committees on Legislative Agenda and Review of the Senate’s Finances time to conclude their work and submit their reports.

The plenary sitting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday was disrupted by some members who are protesting the handling of the leadership tussle in the house. The House was expected to elect principal officers at the plenary which the pro-Dogara group has decided would go against the decision of the party.

Deputy Senate president Ike Ekweremadu yesterday survived attempt to remove him less than two weeks after he was elected to the position. He was saved by the Senate President Bukola Saraki when senators of the majority All Progressives Congress (APC) moved a motion that Ekweremadu’s election be quashed.

When the Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Doyin Okupe, swore that the All Progressives Congress would not last one year, many Nigerians went after him in anger. Maybe Okupe sowed some seeds that justify what he got, but the medic turned politician saw something that most of us did not pause to consider. In our anger, we condemned the message because of the messenger.

The federal government has constituted an investigation into the allegations levelled against the Nigerian military by the Amnesty International. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, signed by the permanent secretary, Amb. Bulus Lolo, and made available to newsmen in Abuja, he described the Amnesty International report as “serious allegations levelled against the military.”

The presidency yesterday reacted to what it described as a rumour an order expelling officials of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) out of the presidential villa. A statement signed the the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina said the president president has not giving such order.

Speaking in Abuja at the annual Ramadan Lecture of the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society of Nigeria last Sunday, the embattled Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, said: “The challenge I face today was not my making, it is a national problem. I borrowed N24 billion to pay salaries, but when the banks say I cannot borrow again, there is nothing I can do in the face of dwindling revenue accruing to the state.”

President Muhammadu Buhari is dangerously close to leaving Nigerians disillusioned. Forget about his failure (as at this writing) to announce his cabinet, bad as it is. For me, the deeper disappointment lies in the near-absence of the president’s voice from the national conversation.

When most of us voted on March 28, we did so with at least one conviction: our country needed to change. We realised we either re-focused our politics and governance or watch the whole house go down under the crushing weight of the previous government’s unheralded incompetence, corruption and zero sense of purpose. Some people do not like to hear it because it nails down the guilt of the previous administration; we have never been this indebted, it is our lowest foreign reserves in a decade, the naira has never known a worse year, we could be on our worst ever deficit…even if we choose to be deluded, we’d say things are bad. If we prefer to face the truth, the Nigeria house has been battered.

President Muhammadu Buhari has come under intense pressure from various security top brass to disband the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Secret Police. This is due to the alleged infamous role the once prestigious institution played in futile attempt to truncate democracy.

The crisis currently rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC), over the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representative Respectively, seem to have taken a further step higher as some governors under the party’s platform have asked it’s National Chairman, John Oyegun to resign.

With the recent spate of bombings, it appears that Boko Haram understands the art of war more than the Nigeria security apparatus. Having noticed that it can no longer confront the Nigeria military, it has since changed to suicide bombing and detonation of improvised devices as its new strategy to maximize casualty in its murderous campaign. However, it seems the Nigeria military has not moved from its old way of confronting the terror group by waiting for them to strike and thereafter looking for scapegoats.

Osun State judge, Justice Oloyede Folahanmi has called on the state House of Assembly to investigate the alleged mismanagement of the state’s financial resources by the governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola and his deputy in accordance with Sections 128 and 129 of the 1999 constitution, saying there is no moral justification for their continued stay in office.

As the jostling for cabinet posts in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration intensifies, there are indications that the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Babatude Fashola; former Head of Service, Mr. Steve Oronsaye; a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Abdulrahman Dambazzau; a former Managing Director of New Nigerian Newspapers, Adamu Adamu, and a former Military Administrator of Kaduna State, Col. Hammed Ali, may have been shortlisted for positions in the administration.

President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja assured State Governors that the days of impunity, lack of accountability, and fiscal recklessness in the management of national resources are over in Nigeria. Speaking at a meeting with the Governors in the Presidential Villa, President Buhari also vowed that funds stolen by government officials who abused their offices in the recent past will be recovered and systemic leakages stopped.

Nigeria is the only place we can call our home; we have not another one to brag about if it fails. The success achieved from the just concluded elections and the level of maturity displayed by the masses, have clearly shown that Nigerians are on the move. They are ready to match up globally with the league of patriotic nations. The people went to the polls, conducted themselves in a decent manner, cast their votes and remained peaceful even after the declaration of the winners.

The 2015 General Elections three months ago signaled the end of one political era in Nigeria and the start of one, and for the past couple of weeks, all eyes have been fixated on the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari, as they ought to be. The newspapers and social media is filled with speculations as to who will end up in President Buhari’s cabinet, with key positions such as the National Security Adviser and the Ministers of Finance and Petroleum the most keenly watched.

Ever since Unoma Akpabio nominated then Deacon Udom Emmanuel as her husband’s successor, not a few people believed that former Gov. Akpabio was angling for a third term by proxy. That Akpabio is now firmly implementing his third term agenda is no longer in doubt, but a material fact. I was in Nigeria during swearing-in and inauguration of the new administrations throughout the country, and have just returned. The tempo of the debate is heightening by the day regarding how Akpabio can double as governor of AKS and senator representing ISD.

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh, to remove military roadblocks nationwide. The president gave the directive yesterday during a four-hour closed- door meeting he held with the service chiefs at the State House in Abuja.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has advised that a good father should leave the value of integrity to his children. The Vice President who spoke on Sunday at the occasion of the Father‘s Day celebration at the Aso Villa Chapel in Abuja, said what a good father should leave for his children is not money but values of the Lord Jesus Christ, stressing that these values are integrity and forthrightness.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday denied the allegation that he has hijacked the All Progressives Congress (APC) structure in preparation for the 2019 presidential race. The statement described the insinuation as a figment of the peddlers’ imagination. He urged Nigerians to ignore such insinuation.

Think of it as you would a football league, only that in place of clubs you’ve got state governors, and instead of an annual calendar you’ve got a quadrennial one. Thirty six participants, competing for top honours. It’s not even a month yet since the kick-off whistle was blown, but a clear leader has already emerged; Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State.

The crisis within the ruling All Progressives Congress took a new turn on Sunday with the Senator Ahmad Lawan group in the Senate accusing the Bukola Saraki group of plotting to make President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration fail

President Muhammadu Buhari plans to totally remove fuel subsidy and use the proceeds for the provision of free and compulsory primary/secondary education across the country. The administration is also said to be working on unbundling the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to make it more efficient in the production and delivery of products to Nigerians.

The Nigerian Army said on Sunday that it had taken over the security of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines in the Lagos area, along with the Nigerian Navy, and craved the maximum cooperation of host communities. Colonel Mustapha Anka, the Director, Army Public Relations, 81 Division of the Nigerian Army in Lagos, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The 207 Special Mobility Group of the Nigerian Air Force in Calabar has carried out air raids on hideouts of criminal elements on Calabar waterways, the Commander, Charles Ohwo, has said. Ohwo, an Air Commodore, said Thursday in Calabar that the raids were carried out in compliance with the directive of the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, following a series of kidnapping and other criminal activities in Calabar.