HELLO

Northern elders have pointedly said President Goodluck Jonathan will not be re-elected in 2015. They, therefore, said a segment of the Niger Delta people, particularly erstwhile militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, who said there would be war in Nigeria if their kinsman, Jonathan, is not re-elected, may start their action now. According to them, the Jonathan sympathisers do not need to wait until their kinsman is defeated in 2015 to act. The northern elders, under the aegis of Northern  Elders Forum (NEF), hinged their opposition to the president’s re-election on  non-performance. They added that Jonathan was not entitled to the office of president in the first place. Prof. Ango Abdullahi, their spokesman, conveyed their position in an interview with Sunday Vanguard. Abdullahi, a former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, pointed out that the North was dissatisfied with Jonathan’s presidency. “We in the North are not going to support Jonathan in 2015 because he has

The House of Representatives yesterday, ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to return N236 billion to the treasury of the Federal Government within a month. The order was given by the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Adeola Olamilekan. He said the order was in line with the query of the Auditor-General of the Federation which the corporation failed to defend before the committee. Cross-Section of members of House of the Reps Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Mr Andrew Yakubu, was billed to appear before the committee, along with the heads of the Federal Inland Revenue Service,FIRS, Petroleum Products Pricing Agency, PPPRA, and Accountant General of the Federation, among others, over the Auditor -General’s query on the fuel subsidy regime but delegated the General Manager, Process and Procedures, Mr Abdullahi Kalami, to represent him.

Robust support came for President Goodluck Jonathan from South-South and South-East governors, who yesterday, gave a strong endorsement of his leadership and charged him to confront terror wherever it may be found in the land. The governors at a meeting in Asaba, Delta State, condemned the behaviour and antics of Nigerians and those they described as their “evil collaborators,” who according to them, have decided to assault the collective consciousness of the nation by encouraging terrorism in the country. The meeting of the governors was across party lines. The only absentee was Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State. Those present were Senator Liyel Imoke of Cross River; Peter Obi of Anambra; Chief Theodore Orji (Abia), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Hon. Seriake Dickson, Bayelsa and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta. Also present were Chief Martins Elechi (Ebonyi), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), while Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was represented by his deputy,

State of emergency: Northern leaders in crucial meeting Alarmed by the grim prospects of the declaration of a state of emergency by the Presidency in five of their states, Northern elders are converging on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, with a view to taking far-reaching decisions to halt such a move, which they see as punitive. Meanwhile as the northern leaders were putting heads together to come up with a decision, the 36 state governors under the aegis, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, yesterday, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ignore those agitating for state of emergency in some troubled states. There were reports that the Presidency was contemplating the declaration of a state of emergency in five states of Borno, Yobe, Nasarawa, Benue and Plateau states following escalating violence. But the Presidency said on Saturday that it had not yet taken a firm decision on what to do in those states with rising violence.

Femi Okurounmu A leader of the apex Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Senator Femi Okurounmu, in this interview with ALLWELL OKPI speaks on recent political developments in the South-West

Former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Saturday said he cautioned some Peoples Democratic Party governors against arming the youth for the purpose of winning elections. Atiku while speaking in an interview on the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation monitored in Kaduna on Saturday said his advice was not heeded.

CHIEF Great Ovedje Ogboru has resonated as a political factor as a result of his bid to govern his home state of Delta since 2003. In this interview, Chief Ogboru who was emphatic that he had not lost any election speaks of the status of the legal battles for the governorship of Delta, attempts to ruin his businesses, amnesty a la militancy and Boko Haram, and President Goodluck Jonathan. Excerpts: Less of you is being heard in your party, Democratic Peoples Party (DPP). Are you quitting? That assertion is not correct. The Democratic Peoples Party, DPP is fully on ground and has its fair share of the news space. There is this assumption that you appear to be winning at the polls and losing in the court? This, unfortunately, is a topical issue of what we have come to know as the Nigerian factor, where things that are seemingly equal today are tomorrow not equal, or where one plus one in a particular situation becomes less or more than two in another situation even when the circumstan

ERstwhile senator and minister, Abdulrasheed Akinlabi Olasunkanmi is one of a handful of  aspirants for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP ticket in the 2014 gubernatorial election. In a session with newsmen, Olasunkanmi gives reasons why Osun State should get a change in leadership and why he is the best person to lead that change. Excerpts: Why are you in the race? I am in the race because of the problems, because of the issues, because of the challenges that our people in Osun State are facing  since the emergence of Governor Aregbesola after his judicial victory. Yes, it was a judicial victory.  He never won the election, it was the judiciary that awarded him the victory. You see after this judicial victory, we thought that as he had always been propagating, we thought he was going to make a difference in the governance of Osun State but, no. And it is a thing that really, really bothers me, it is a thing that saddens me that since Aregbesola has been in the saddle in  the governme

Riveting media reports of last Thursday’s court judgment on the celebrated land dispute between Dame Patience Jonathan and Hajiya Turai Yar‘Adua was a sweet piece of cake for many. It was especially so for those who abhor the aggrandisement that has in recent times been associated with the spouses of the country’s leaders at national and state levels. It was no surprise then that one common headline in the news reports was “Turai floors Patience,” a slant that was reflective of the empathy of the media towards the oppressed. Both ladies interestingly, lay claim to the disputed land, not for personal use, but for some good works. The choice piece of land in the heart of Abuja was first allocated to Mrs. Yar‘Adua’s NGO, Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation, WAYEF by the FCT authorities in February 2010 while her husband was president, and Dame Patience was in her shadow as wife of the Vice-President. Remarkably, the allocation was confirmed on February 19, just five days before late P

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has threatened to expose some Abuja-based politicians from the state owing to the crisis currently rocking the Peoples Democratic Party in the state. Amaechi, who said he was no more running for any political position, added that the people of the state would lose their respect for his critics by the time he opened up on their past deeds. Amaechi, who spoke when the Archbishop of the Niger Delta Diocese, Anglican Communion, Archbishop Ignatius Kattey, paid him a courtesy visit in Port Harcourt on Wednesday lamented that nobody realised the efforts put in place by his administration to ensure that peace reigned in the state. He said, “I will speak to the state, but not now. When I speak to the state, you will not respect any of these people (Abuja-based politicians from Rivers). I am now determined to open up. “I am not running for any other position that they would say ‘you must manage information so

The House of Representatives, Arewa Youths and Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State were among other Nigerians, who Tuesday, urged the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, to investigate the Presidential Adviser on Niger-Delta Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, as well as the former leader of Niger Delta Volunteer Force, NDVF, Alhaji Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo, over alleged “inciting statements” capable of causing disaffection in the country. Both Kuku and Dokubo were alleged to have threatened that there would be upheavals in the country, if President Goodluck Jonathan was not voted into office in 2015 to complete the amnesty programme for the Niger Delta militants. In Minna, capital of Niger State, Governor Babangida Aliyu, also urged security agencies to arrest the NDVF leader, Dokubo over what he described as his alleged treasonable offence against the nation. Aliyu spoke just as a former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye  called for arrest of Dokubo

Mr. Sambo said this on Saturday. The Vice President, Namadi Sambo , on Saturday assured the Canadian Government that Nigeria would remain its largest trading partner in the sub Saharan Africa . A statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant, Media to the Vice President, Umar Sani, said Mr. Sambo gave the assurance at the just concluded Nigeria - Canada Investment Forum in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Sambo said Nigeria and Canada enjoyed excellent bilateral relations with a new chapter of mutually strategic relations. “Nigeria remains Canada’s largest trading partner with a trade volume of more than 3 billion dollars in the sub Saharan Africa,” he said. The vice president also noted the positive contributions of Canada to Nigeria’s successful democratic journey. “Canada recognises Nigeria’s unique role in Africa and global affairs and expressed readiness to take good advantage of the investment friendly environment provided by Nigeria through the economic, social, institutional and politi