Cracks have appeared in the political camp of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as his loyalists are divided. Some of the loyalists want to remain in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, while others are in favour of defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC. . It gathered that some of the ex- president’s loyalists, who ruled out the idea of defecting into APC, are behind President Goodluck Jonathan in his second term ambition. . It was gathered that at a meeting of the PDP caucus in Ogun State, held at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Friday night, a motion was moved…
Author: David F.
Nigeria has set a date for its presidential and parliamentary elections but the main question dominating discussion in the country is whether Goodluck Jonathan will seek a second term. . The 56-year-old, who stepped up to the top job in 2010 when former head of state Umaru Yar’Adua fell ill and later died, has yet to declare his candidacy. . But sustained speculation that he will run for re-election on February 14, 2015 has caused deep rifts within his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). . Five influential governors quit the PDP for the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Alliance (APC) on Saturday in Osogbo pledged to shun thuggery and rigging in the forthcoming 2014 and 2015 elections in Osun. . While the gubernatorial election is scheduled to hold in Osun in 2014, the people of the state will join the rest of Nigerians for the Presidential and National Assembly election in 2015. . The Osun gubernatorial election is slated to hold on Aug. 9. . Mr Diran Odeyemi and Mr Kunle Oyatomi, spokespersons of PDP and APC respectively made the pledges in separate interviews. . Odeyemi said that the PDP…
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), said on Saturday that the rain which fell on Friday evening in FCT and its environs was not the beginning of rainy season. . A statement from the agency said “a sudden weather change occurred over Abuja around 4 p.m. due to a rapid northward movement of the line of demarcation between the south-westerly winds. . “The winds brought moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and the dry north-easterly winds from the Sahara Desert’’, the statement quoted the Director-General of the agency, Dr Anthony Anuforom, as explaining. Anuforom noted that this led to the influx of…
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, President, Al-Mustapha Peace, Unity, Development Initiative (APUDI), says his organisation will empower majority of the 22 million unemployed Nigerian youths with skills. . Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer to late former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, made this known while speaking with journalists in Gombe on Sunday. . He said the organisation was compiling the list of youth organisations across the country with a view to assisting the unemployed youths with skill acquisition and other entrepreneurship development schemes. . “APUDI will go all the way out to call on the attention of all people that…
Some religious leaders in Omu-Aran, Kwara, have commended President Goodluck Jonathan, for signing into law the same-sex marriage prohibition bill recently passed by the National Assembly. . The religious leaders, who gave the commendation in Omu-Aran, Kwara, on Sunday in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the move was a step in the right direction. . The Bishop of The Cathedral Church of St. Paul’s, Omu-Aran, Rt. Rev. Phillip Adeyemo, said the president had the right to protect the sovereignty of the country and also sustain the values of its cultural heritage and practises. . “I…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described critics of its directive to its National Assembly members to block all legislative proposals as those who are either ignorant of the workings of democracy or those who have chosen to play to the gallery for pecuniary gains. . ”Ether way, these critics have rushed to judgement without even taking time to study the directive, without understanding that governance is about people, and without caring about the principles of fairness, justice and equity, and they should cover their faces in shame,” the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by…
The Northern States’ Governors Forum has charged security agencies to end the killing of defenseless citizens, especially in the North-East region, where suspected Boko Haram members have continued their bloody campaign since 2009. . The forum’s Chairman and Governor of Niger, Dr Babangida Aliyu, stated this on Sunday in Minna, noting that members of the forum were seriously concerned at the renewed attacks, which have killed 18 persons around Maiduguri. . “The forum is particularly alarmed that the shooting to dead of 18 persons in Njaba, Mude, Kwaljiri and Kaya villages in Borno followed the same pattern as previous midnight…
Militants appeared to have captured five Iraqi soldiers near Fallujah, according to witnesses and online videos, while anti-government fighters took control of more territory in Anbar province Sunday. . Meanwhile attacks elsewhere in Iraq killed 13 people, pushing to more than 850 the number of people killed this month. . Authorities have been grappling for weeks with a deadly standoff in Anbar province, west of Baghdad. Foreign leaders have urged the Shiite-led government to seek political reconciliation with disaffected minority Sunnis in order to undercut support for militants. . But with elections looming in April, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki…
Leaders of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Oyo State Chapter, have called for the suspension of the All Progressives Congress (APC’s) membership registration in the state. . This is contained in a statement signed by its former State Leader, Mr Abdur-Raheem Shittu, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Ogbomoso. . The group said that members of the defunct CPC in the state were totally excluded from all the membership registration’s preliminary activities. . “Consequently, upon the non-inauguration of the Harmonisation Committee in the state, the APC in Oyo State can be…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has strongly condemned the harassment of its Deputy National Secretary, Malam Nasir El- Rufai by the Department of State Security (DSS), describing as a shameful overkill the storming of his residence in Abuja by armed DSS operatives on Friday, without producing any arrest warrant. . In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party expressed shock that the DSS was seeking to arrest El-Rufai for merely exercising his constitutional right of free speech. . It said there was nothing inciting or extraordinary in the statement…
The Nigeria-Turkish International Colleges (NTIC) Foundation, marking this year’s education of its education support initiative tagged, “I Support Child’s Education”, has continued its distribution of stationery packs containing books and other writing materials in Ogun State. The books distribution kicked off on Friday 17th January, 2014 with the Government Primary School, Gbessan, along Airport Road, Abuja. . Collaborating with Ogun State Ministry of Education, the NTIC Foundation, basically a charitable organization, converged on Isheri Primary School, Isheri Olofin, Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, on Friday 24th January, 2014 to do the replicate of the Abuja event.
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP chieftain, Buruji Kashamu has insisted that he’s not the same as the person wanted in the United States of America over drug related offences. . Buruji in a statement by his media advisor, Austin Oniyokor yesterday stated that he was making the clarification as a result of “yet another obviously twisted report by some online news portal that Prince Buruji Kashamu is still wanted in the United States of America for some drug-related offences.” . He explained that “having sufficiently stated our case in the public domain, we would have ignored this latest report except for…
The Supreme Court, yesterday, dashed hopes of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to reclaim the governorship seat of Imo State through the instrumentality of the judiciary. . A seven-man panel of Justices of the Apex Court in their consensus judgment yesterday, held that the Owerri Division of the Court of Appeal, grossly erred in law when it gave PDP and its candidate in the April 26, 2011, governorship election in Imo state, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, the leave to challenge the outcome of a suit that was filed and lost at the Federal High Court by the defunct Action Congress of…
As part of efforts to reduce inmates in prisons, the Bauchi state Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Zango has reviewed cases of 44 prison inmates and discharged them from Bauchi Central Prison. . This was contained in press release signed by the Public Relation Officer of the Nigeria Prison Service Command Bauchi, ASP Abubakar Adam and made available to newsmen yesterday in Bauchi. . According to the release, cases of 44 inmates awaiting trial was reviewed by the Chief Judge and were subsequently discharged. . Justice Ibrahim said prisons congestion can lead to security breach in the state, hence the…
There are indications that the crisis brewing within the All Progressives Congress Congress may lead to the suspension or expulsion of several prominent members of the party who are currently perceived as working against its interestIt was learnt that some of the prominent members including former governors may be shown the way out of the party if they continue to resist the take-over of the opposition party’s structures by the G-5 governors who recently defected from the People’s Democratic Party. . A reliable source within the National Secretariat of the party who spoke to Saturday Vanguard on condition of anonymity…
Feb 14, 2015: Presidential, N/Assembly elections Feb 28, 2015: Guber, State Assembly elections June 21, 2014: Ekiti Guber Aug 9, 2014: Osun Guber . The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed February 14, 2015 for next year’s Presidential and National Assembly elections. . This was contained in a statement issued last night in Abuja by the Secretary to the Commission Mrs Augusta Ogakwu. . The statement further indicates that the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections would take place on 28, February, 2015. . The Commission’s Scribe also released the detailed time table for the Ekiti State governorship…
Counsel to Charles Okah, one of the accused persons being tried for the October 1, bombing in Abuja, Barrister Festus Keyamo has alleged attempt to murder his client, following refusal by prison officials to administer High Blood Pressure drugs on him. . Keyamo in a letter addressed to the Controller General of Nigeria Prisons and made available to journalists in Abuja yesterday, accused a certain MDeputy Controller of Prisons of refusing to administer the drugs to Okah. . The letter signed by Barrister John Ainetor, Esq and Ms Benedicta Obanye, both of Keyamo’s law firm read: “ It is our…
Three nigerians were feared dead after the motor boat on which they were riding from Tincan Island Port to Ojo area of Lagos capsized Thursday at about 8.30 pm while returning from their place of work. . A passenger by name Peter, said that the incident occurred when the operator of the boat tried to maneuver his boat from another oncoming boat but eventually lost control. Peter who claimed to be in another boat when the incident happened, explained that they had to go and assist the 10 passengers in the small boat. . According to him, they were only…
Sen. Smart Adeyemi, Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory, has described APC’s directive to its National Assembly members to block all legislative proposals as anti-people. . Adeyemi, in a statement issued in Lagos on Friday, said it was most unfortunate for a party that claimed to be progressive to come out with such a directive. Adeyemi, former President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said: “It is undemocratic and non- religious position to be taken by a political party in the history of modern politics. . “We look forward to an opposition that will help in galvanising and accelerating…