(Polls) Explain To Nigerians Where You Got Money To Buy Your Private Jets, FFk Tells APC Leaders @Richard

It’s getting more interesting. After APC accused President Jonathan of planning to freeze the accounts of the party’s top members and also ground their jets to frustrate their campaigns, Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has said it is interesting how APC can come out to admit some of their leaders who had once held public offices and some still holding public offices really do have private jets, when the only way APC has acted in the past is to act like saints. 

Mr Fani went further to say the president is too busy to have their time and APC leaders are only running under the bed when nobody is actually chasing them. But they are prepared to humiliate them on March 28^th by giving them a crushing defeat. Continue…

“It is interesting that the APC has, for the very first time, admitted that some of its leaders own private jets.  It will be interesting to know from the APC how these leaders, who either occupied public offices or still occupy public offices, acquired these jets, Femi Fani-Kayode said.

“In fact, where did the money, with which they procured the jets, come from? And this is the APC whose leaders pretend to occupy a moral high ground and accuse everyone else, except themselves, of malfeasance.

“Once again, it is clear that the APC leaders have become prisoners of their own delusions and they are being held captive by their own hallucinations.  This is a clear case of extreme paranoia.

“They are running under the bed when nobody is chasing them.  There are no plans to clamp down on anybody in the opposition.  Our only plan is to humiliate them before the Nigerian people on March 28 by giving them a crushing defeat,” he said.

(Presidential Poll) Igbo Leaders Warns Against Attack On Igbos In The North @Richard

Prominent lead­ers from the South – east , including tra­ditional rulers, have kicked against what they described as un­necessary attacks on Igbos and their busi­ness interests in many northern states ahead of the tension soaked presidential poll.

Emerging from its 1st National Summit of Ndigbo in Northern Nigeria which was held in Abuja over the weekend, the leaders equal­ly accused the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega of plans to disenfranchise the Igbos, adding that the commission’s boss lacks the credibility to conduct free and fair polls.

Some of the leaders which include former gov­ernor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Eze­ife; President, Council of Traditional Rulers in the Diaspora, Chief Jonah O. Eze-Ekwueme; Coordinat­ing Secretary, South East Peoples Assembly, Dr If­edi Okwenna and other high-ranking traditional rulers, called on the fed­eral government to ensure that Igbos were protected before, during and after the presidential election in the country.

“We urge Ndigbo in Northern Nigeria not to fall to any form of intimidation and manipulation, but to re­main resolute, collect their Permanent Voters Cards and cast their votes accord­ingly to ensure the election of President Jonathan.

The Sun

(Polls) Jonathan Challenges Buhari To A Debate In Chatham House @Richard

President Goodluck Jon­athan has challenged the presidential candi­date of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to a presidential debate at the Chatham House, London.

Jonathan, in a letter to Buhari through his Non-Governmental Organization, the Wind of Hope Foundation, signed by its Na­tional Coordinator, Mr. Ono Akpe, said he was ready to spon­sor Buhari to participate in the debate.

The APC presidential candi­date had earlier rejected taking part in a debate put together for presidential candidates for the forthcoming general elections by the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG), citing the com­position of the body as reason for his refusal.
However, his recent outing at the Chatham House, where he outlined how he would fix Nige­ria, has generated controversy in the polity.

Jonathan said Buhari’s pre­sentation finally acknowledged the achievements of his admin­istration in growing the nation’s economy to becoming the larg­est in Africa, with a Gross Do­mestic Product (GDP) of $510 billion and maintaining a single digit inflation regime.

Jonathan’s letter to Buhari read in part: “Your Excellency, we wish to congratulate you on your recent visit to the United Kingdom where you delivered a speech at Chatham House, Lon­don, on Thursday, February 26, 2015.

“Your speech at the event is clearly a source of motivation for your supporters who in recent times seem to have lost steam in their aggressive marketing of your candidacy for the office of President. The author of the said speech must be commended be­cause your presentation finally acknowledged the achievements of the present government in growing our economy to be the largest in Africa, with a GDP of $510 billion and maintaining a single digit inflation regime.

“However, your actions or may we say, your party’s action with regards to the entire con­cept and aim of the forum, calls to question, your refusal to ac­cede to request for a presidential debate here at home in Nigeria.

“In our quest to deepen de­mocracy, which thrives on robust and constructive delib­erations that aid the electorate in making informed decisions, Wind of Hope hereby chal­lenges (or offers you a platform to debate) your excellency, to a debate with the incumbent Presi­dent Goodluck Jonathan before the forthcoming elections at Chatham House where you were so obviously at ease before your ‘supporters’ and the international media.

“We wish to state further, our readiness to fully sponsor such a forum. All we ask is that you state your preferred date and time.”

– The Sun

(Polls) Ohanaeze Endorsement Of Jonathan Is Gross Deceit –Okechukwu

 In his interview recently the Secre­tary General of the Igbo apex body Ohanaeze Ndigbo Dr. Joe Nwaorgu dismissed insinuations of a division in the Igbo body, describing the caretaker committee led by Chief Ralph Obioha as pretenders and members of a drinking club who are disillusioned.

H e also said Ohanaeze endorsed Jonathan because he is the only one of the two major presidential candidates who will implement the National Confab report. “We made input in that report and a lot of Nigerians agreed harmonious­ly, by consensus on the way forward for Nigeria. And between Jonathan and Buhari, Jonathan is the one likely to implement that report.”

In this interview Mr. Osita Okechukwu, the South East spokesperson of the APC joins issues with Nwaorgu insisting that Ohanaeze endorse­ment of Jonathan was on selfish grounds and a gross deceit of Igbo people and cannot be justified.

Excerpts:

Ohanaeze said they endorsed Jonathan because only he would implement the decisions taken at the Confab; do you agree with him?

He is not sincere in the sense that he is self serving and did not consider the collective interest of Ndigbo who reside across the length and breadth of our dear country. Methinks Chief Nwaorgu and his cohorts either did not thoroughly digest the outcome of the confab or sincerely do not appreciate what are the germane or true interest of Ndigbo. Do they have a Check-List of Igbo interest, if yes did they give President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR before endorsing him in 2011? Did they give him before the recent endorsement racket that our elder statesman, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, Chief Ralph Obioha and co are contesting?

One agrees with him that Jonathan convoked the National Conference; one agrees with him that Jonathan is the president but the constitu­tional conference submitted their report months back and President Jonathan has not found the political will to present the findings of that confab to the National Assembly. Nor has our dear president implemented those that did not require constitutional amendment, so who is fooling who?

He has not deemed it necessary to do so; he has not even issued a white paper report on the findings of the report. So for God’s sake what our Secretary-General Joe Nwaorgu is engaged in is wishful thinking. Delusion as he said in his interview and outright falsehood to the Igbo people. And I don’t like people trying to dish out lies to Ndigbo because even the enemies of the Igbos the traducers of the Igbos do not deny our hard work, dexterity and entrepreneurship. No Yoruba man has called an Igbo man a foolish man; no Hausa man has called an Igbo man a foolish man.

Everybody believes on the dexterity, the hard work, the entrepreneurship of the Igbo people. So if a president has convoked a conference and months after the delivery of the report, there is no white paper, no executive bill to the National Assembly for the amendment of the relevant sec­tions, how can you bestow Ndigbo hope on him? And there are also issues of policy; because some of the recommendations do not require constitu­tional amendment. So what one is saying is that the Ohanaeze Secretary-General, Joe Nwaorgu and the President Chief Enwo Igariwey are being less than transparent and should be condemned for being unfaithful to the Igbo cause.

Why do you say so sir?

I say so because I do not want to delve into the issue of whether they have four-year-tenure or two-year tenure because I attended the 9th November meeting of Imeobi meeting of Ohanaeze. I attended the January 3rd where they even made a presenta­tion or what they call the amendment; I don’t want to go into that because I asked the Secretary General “where is the minute notebook that detailed the amendment of that constitution in 2010. They didn’t read any notebook what they showed us is a projector film; I don’t want to go into that Nollywood film. I asked him, I said look; where is the newspaper you published the agree­ment reached to amend the constitution? And where are the copies of the amended constitu­tion you circulated to the general of Ndigbo?

In the Communique along this line which I read was published on 6th November 2010, which stated interalia, ‘the General Assembly resolved as follows, in accordance with article 29 of the Ohaneze Constitution, that amendments should be made, to the constitution to provide that the national and state offices be a one term of four years and the current executive commit­tee shall remain in office till December 2012 as approved by Imeobi on 30th October 2010.’ Is that amendment? But I don’t want to go into that money politics, where I am concerned is about the Confab.

We of the APC noted that the Confab was untimely, political motivated, predetermined to pursue a Jonathan agenda. That Jonathan as a wise PhD holder is aware that critical ingredients of elections in liberal democracy are about the performance of the incumbent and wanted to overshadow this core ingredient of democracy. He knew he failed; Soludo gave him F-9; Dr. Alex Ekwueme said he can’t get what he got in the South East; the London Economist magazine gave him F-9, the New York Times gave him F-9. So in an effort to circumvent that core ingredient of democracy, of the electorate trying to assess performance his performance he con­voked the conference as a cannon-fodder. This is why the APC opposed the conference. We said that Jonathan was sworn on May 6, 2010; that between then and 2014 he could have convoked a conference and there could be a lot of time to discuss what the conference had to offer. So that’s why I said it’s fraudulent for him and those other people who say it’s only Jonathan that can implement it; how can he implement it? In all honesty constitutional amendment is built around consensus of all, because you must secure 2/3 of members of the National and State Assemblies, before any amendment. Our constitution is a rigid constitution, therefore no group can amend any section by abusing or demonizing any sec­tion, talk less critical groups like the Hausas and Yorubas who embraced our great party the APC.

Are you saying that he wouldn’t want to implement it or that he doesn’t have the capacity to?

The 1999 constitution which is the foundation of any amendment or any law that is governing us states explicitly that for you to amend this constitution you need two-third of the National Assembly, you need two-third of the State As­sembly. My brother, Jonathan doesn’t haven’t the capacity; he has failed the South-South, he has failed the South-East, his core supporters; you don’t talk of the North, he has failed the North; he failed even the middle belt or what we call the North Central who hoped on him. So where is he getting the votes; why can we bank on a sinking ship? If the presidential election was held on 14 February, Jonathan could have lost, no matter the date he will loose, so why put all our eggs in one basket? What we studied in primary history, what they ask us in every history exam is the ‘rise and fall’ of empires. Jonathan’s empire is on the departure lounge, truly speaking.

Joe Nwaorgu, Igariwey and their supporters are trying to pitch the destiny of the great Ndigbo on a sinking ship; they are not kind, they are very fraudulent; they are thinking about themselves and their pockets; I should regard them as food-is-ready politicians. Are they happy that if Jonathan is voting back to office, the 2nd Niger Bridge will be the only federal toll bridge? Must our cow be the only one being milked?

Buhari wrote them a letter saying let’s discuss; what does the Igbo’s really want in a new dispensation lets categorize. I delivered that letter and I thought that the letter alone could have been a platform to tell Jonathan ‘please what is your checklist for the Igbo’s. They went out if their way; the only thing I have read from what they have said is that the only condition they are supporting Jonathan is because of Confab and I said if it’s the only condition then its fraudulent. As our leaders I challenge them to show us the Ndigbo Check-List? If they are truly Igbo leaders and not Food is Ready, why can’t they prepare a check list of Igbo demands and present to the two major contenders? Because they know that going by that constitution the ingredients of consensus, the ingredient of compromise, of negotiation are key. Jonathan doesn’t have the political will for negotiations because he is an auto pilot; he doesn’t have the will for compro­mise, he doesn’t have the will for negotiation, he doesn’t have the will for consensus and worse of all he doesn’t keep promises. So whats the chances he will implement it if he comes back. Did he revamp Enugu Coal which he promised? As Rev. Fr. Mbaka pronounced in the profound New Year Sermon; it will be a disaster for the country to vote Jonathan back power.

What do you think would hap­pen to the report of the Confab should Buhari win the election?

In 2003 I was in Buhari’s Presidential cam­paign and one of his programmes is restructuring of the country to true federalism. In 2007 and 2011 Buhari returned restructuring; in 2015 he returned the same agenda and luckily now Buhari has a bigger platform with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and co, who are adherents of true federalism.

In 2003, we had a Northern platform; in 2007 and 2011 we had a Northern platform but in 2015 we have a Pan- Nigeria platform that includes the South West and other progressive elements who are supporters of devolution of powers. Which is timely, as we of the APC do not want a Federal Government that drill borehole. And Buhari believes in democracy and the necessity of exploring the common ground, therefore it is futile not to support the Big-Battal­ion. Buhari is pleading with Ndigbo to vote for progressives, because Igbos are progressive by nature. Ndigbo had always supported restructur­ing and believes in devolution of powers; which includes creation of States. Buhari supports as well the creation one additional state for Ndigbo and the provision that the centre concentrate more on security, foreign affairs and policies. Buhari says he doesn’t believe in a federal government that drills boreholes; so what’s the local government doing with the money it gets? So that’s’ a new dimension; and he said that he believes sincerely that the Igbo people as hard working and enterprising group. My take is that we will benefit more from where there is transparency than patronage system. A lot of people forget that APC has in our midst those who support state police and all the fine points raised by theNational Conference. That’s what Buhari believes, that’s what Jonathan couldn’t do for six years. That’s why the country collapsed; that’s why we are broke; that’s why the naira collapsed.

So Buhari and APC are looking at what can change fundamentally; why did the West de­velop? Why did China decree a law which says anybody who is corrupt should be shot? Because they know that corruption is fundamental; and the Jonathan regime doesn’t care about or give a damn about corruption.

What one is saying is that Jonathan in 2010 awarded three refineries one for Bayelsa his home state, one for Lagos, one for Kogi at $23bn, it may interest you to know that on that date the federal government had $17bn as excess crude account; Which means that Jonathan was sitting on top of $17 billion. When the Chinese saw that he couldn’t pay from the huge Excess Crude Account, they offered to contribute 80% of the $23billion and Nigeria to contribute 20% . Despite this juicy offer Jonathan failed to honour it and the deal failed. The unfortunate outcome is that Nigeria sells the Crude Oil with right hand and buys refined petroleum products with the left hand; hence little is left in our coffers.

Is Jonathan the man you are saying the great Igbo people will hang their fate and destiny on; and you say you are sincere? It is fraudulent; gross deceit that nobody can pardon. For those who clamour for Jonathan have they forgotten how his regime awarded the Eastern Electric­ity Distribution Company to a company via less than transparent process? The unpleasant result is that the South East now has the highest electricity tariff in the country, which means that the few factories here will soon close. They can’t compete even locally as the electricity tarrif in the South West is cheaper than the Shylock Tar­rif approved by Jonathan who so loved Ndigbo than Buhari.

Considering this position of Ohanaeze what do you think will be the position of the Igbo’s should Buhari win the election?

The GMB I know if he wins the Igbo’s will be the greatest beneficiary as all hard working Nigerians not only the Igbos will be the col­lective winners. Buhari will run a transparent administration and transparency does not en­courage patronage. Because transparency is his foundation and transparency is for the talented, the hardworking and the innovative.

That GMB I know, if a Fulani man from Katsina fails in contract bid he won’t award him the contract, that’s why the elite in the North is fighting him. He is not being fought by the Southerners he is being fought more by the elite of the North, East and West. That’s why he is Mai Gaskiya; the Talakawa’s that are supporting him in the North, not the rich; and that’s why we have been supporting him. And so the gainer is the hardworking Igbo, the hardworking Efik, the hardworking Hausa, the hardworking Yoruba, the hard working people of all the tribes we have. Buhari will spread the joy. He will revamp Enugu Coal, generate electricity with it, export, attract coal ancillary factories and create one mil­lion jobs in four years in the South East.

-sun

I Disagree With The Bible On Sex – Queeneth Hilbert

Many writers have described Queeneth Hilbert as the most beautiful actress in Nigeria. Right or wrong, the model turned screen goddess is unquestionably beautiful with a touch of class about her.

When I first interviewed her I felt an air of derision about her towards men but she was quick to tell me she has nothing against them although she has had her share of bad experiences with men.

“ When I was trying to establish myself as a model, every man I met wanted something from me. In this country, most men you meet don’t want to do anything for you unless you are ready to offer sex. Only very few men are nice. I don’t know if it happens like that to other women but for me, it has and that doesn’t mean I have anything against men. I don’t” she says

And her feelings haven’t affected her desirability to have sex with the opposite sex. “Well, you see someone and you feel this guy will be good in bed, fine, go ahead and have it. Sex is something you can have if you feel good about it. I don’t believe all those Bible stuffs about sex” she quips.

– vanguard

(Politics) Elections: ‘President Jonathan Acting Like Adolf Hitler, Gbagbo’-Osun Progressives

An Osun based civil society group, the Osun Progressives Left has warned against further postponement of the general elections, removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attairu Jega and involvement of military in democratic process.

The group also likened President Goodluck Jonathan style of administration to that of a former leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler who started the World war 2 and former President of Ivory Coast, LaurenT Gbagbo who refused to hand over power after losing election.

According to the group, President Jonathan, like Gbagbo of the Côte d’Ivoire, was making frantic effort to frustrate the conduct of the general electionS, and if possible, stay in office beyond his tenure or handover to an interim government.

The spokesperson for the group, Comrade Wale Adebisi at a press conference in Osogbo yesterday, stated that just like Hitler who came from a minority group to rule Germany, President Jonathan wanted to continue ruling Nigeria at all cost and ensure that his ethnic group continue to loot the resources of the country.

Adebisi warned that the steps of the president on electoral process could lead to another civil war, threatening that the civil war of 1966 could be repeated if President Jonathan failed to conduct the general elections or relinquish power.

His words: “Ivory coast crisis started with election postponement. It degenerated to ethnical crisis and to a full war. It has been proven that people from minority group has the tendency of foisting themselves on people.

“Adolf Hitler was from a minority group and he wanted to rule the world at all cost. The Second World War started with ethnic crisis from Germany as well, when Hitler wanted to foist himself on people. I want to say that President Jonathan is also leading Nigeria like Gbagbo and Hitler.

“We need to call the president to order. Unfortunately, none of the government institutions is working in Nigeria. The National Assembly cannot call the president to order. The president’s ethnic people have been threatening war of he loses the election. If eventually the president loses election, his ethnical boys will launch attack and this will resort to another civil war.”

Adebisi stated that President Jonathan is using religion and ethnic differences to cause disunity among Nigerians which might fuel the imminent civil war like that of Ivory Coast, even as he called on Nigerians not to allow the divide and rule tactics of the president to dissuade them from promoting unity of purpose.

Speaking on rumoured plan by the Presidency to remove the INEC chairman, Jega, Adebisi said any attempt to do that was an invitation to anarchy, saying the President should not underestimate the sensitivities of Nigerians to the general elections.

According to Adebisi, Jega could not be subjected to any civil service law because his appointment and removal is established by law and needs to be ratified by the two-third of the National Assembly, adding that the president would rock the boat if he dares sacks Jega.

He warned that Jega must not be removed before or after the general elections.

On the proposed deployment of military for the general election, Adebisi said any involvement of military in democratic and electoral process has negate the doctrine of democracy, adding that democracy is no longer in place when there is involvement of military in elections processes.

Adebisi said it is unconstitutional and undemocratic for the federal government to deploy military for the conduct of the election, just as he call on President Jonathan not to rescind his decision to use military for the election.

The human rights activists called on Nigerians from various ethnic groups to unite, organize and resist any attempt by anybody to frustrate a democratic and electoral process for the conduct of the general elections, saying that the scheduled date for the elections must not be changed.

He said: “The election of 28th March and 11th of April are sacrosanct, which must not be shifted beyond those two dates. INEC chairman, Prof Atairu Jega should not be removed on or before the election dates. Nigerian from different ethnic groups should see themselves as one not as enemy and should not allow anybody to use them against one another.”

-Vanguard

Entertainment) Still On The Matter Of Quilox vs MI: I Was Also Disrespected @Richard

 Honestly I think our bouncers just needed to be trained, I was also embrassed by one of them. Truth is, I know they are doing their job but in the process of doing your job, you just to have some manners. Its okay to have some broad and large shoulders, but its not okay not to have some manners. I think our bouncers needed to be trained properly because of  the calibre of people who visits these hubs. There ‘re places I have mapped out never to visit again.

Quilox, for those who don’t know, is a popular night club in Lagos. Didn’t MI mention them in one of his songs, Bad belle? See more tweets after the cut…

(Politics & Religion) APC’s Attack On The Church Evil- Secondus @Richard

Prince Uche Secondus, the Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in this interview, bares his mind on how prepared his party is to win the March 28 and April 11 general elections, why Nigerians should vote for President Goodluck Jonathan, the politics of Rivers State, among other issues.

When is the PDP commencing the next round of campaigns?

Leaders of various groups or ethnic nationalities have been meeting with the President. You are aware the President was in Lagos. The Yoruba Council of Elders met with the President, the Igbo are also meeting with the President. So it is another form of campaign. We have been campaigning.

We are going to emphasize on town hall meetings, meeting directly with the people, face-to-face, to know what is going on and that has been going in virtually all the states of the federation.

You are aware that some of our governorship candidates have taken the campaign to the markets, to the mechanic workshops, talking to the people directly.

If you have to reflect on your campaign so far, are there things you would have wished they were done differently?

Not at all. The only regret is that when we visited some of the states in the North, some misguided youths threw stones at us.

We are inclined to believe that it was part of the APC propaganda to arrange the youths to attack Mr President in some of these northern states to create the impression that the President is not liked by Nigerians.

The fact of the matter is that a party has been on the ground for over 16years. If you do a comparative analysis, you will know that we have the structure across all the wards and the polling units across the country and this is their major headache, how to dislodge us. They believe that by engaging in the throwing of stones and misinformation and propaganda, blackmail, those things will turn the people against us. But those things are not working because we know their tricks.

Governor Amaechi of Rivers State, who is also the DG of the Buhari Campagn, specifically, accused the leadership of the Church in Nigeria of receiving N6billion from the PDP and the Presidency. This is part of the misinformation to the public, it is evil.

I have said it before severally that when they come up with all these stories, the ultimate aim is to misinform Nigerians in order to destabilize the country. So we should watch out. This was the trend in 1965, 1966. APC is beating the drums for crisis and bloodshed.

Amaechi   said they will form a parallel government if they don’t win. Oyegun (APC National Chairman) repeated the threat. This has to stop; the country has reached a level where people should know the truth about the lies being disseminated by the APC leadership.

But Governor Isa Yuguda   of Bauchi State said those who stoned Mr President in Bauchi were sponsored by the FCT Minister and that it was carried out by members of the PDP. How do you marry the claim with your allegation?

You know the governor and the FCT Minister have their own problem.

But what I saw that day because I was there is not the question of the PDP. Our people were at the stadium, we went to the palace to pay a courtesy call on the Emir. As we came out of the palace, the stones came in torrents. The stones could not have been from our people who were seated in the stadium. The blame game between the governor and minister shows the house is not united, but that is left for them to sort out. We believe those youths were sponsored by the APC.

Before the postponement of the elections, you went round the country. How do you assess your campaigns and was PDP ready for the elections and are you still ready?

PDP is 100% ready for the elections. As you are aware, we contested general elections from 1999 to 2011. So we are more on ground than any other political party in the country and we are ready.

We have been going round the states. Ours is not to bring zones to one state and do media gymnastics; we were meeting with the people directly. We have won elections in the past, so we know the style of winning elections. We were even ready for the polls on the 14th of February but for the fact that INEC was not ready.

Before the 14th of February, Jega (the INEC boss) called all the political parties to a meeting, I represented the PDP at the parley. 16 political parties said Jega was not ready, they accused him directly, not only on the issue of security.

At page 11 of his memo, he said if INEC had a little more time, they would perfect their arrangement. You can see that between the time he met with us and now, some millions of PVCs have been distributed.

They are just recruiting election staff and training them now.

We were ready then, but we said it was better for those PVCs that had not been distributed to be distributed and Jega himself asked for a little more time.

What is the position of the PDP on the issue of card reader and the deployment of military during elections?

The issue of security should be handled by experts, we are politicians. I believe that it is not the first time the country has deployed the military for elections. If you see what happened during Ekiti election, soldiers were stationed at strategic locations in case there was uprising, thuggery or whatsoever and that is how it is supposed to be.

What I suspect is that some people are afraid of enhanced security so that they can deploy their own private armies during elections; they want to throw this country into crisis and destabilize the nation.

Don’t forget the Americans have predicted that there will no country called Nigeria in 2015, but God forbid. The PDP supports the government to make sure that lives and property are safe guarded during the polls.

You remember what happened in the first republic. The then government was caught unprepared. But we are advanced now. In Ekiti, they accused us, the APC said soldiers were used. But reports from the monitors showed clearly that the elections were free and transparent. The soldiers deployed were not stationed at the polling booths, but strategically positioned for any unforeseen situation, you never can tell.

Maybe the recent video footage on the alleged compromise between the PDP’s candidate Ayo Fayose and military commanders in Ekiti informed the fears of the opposition.

Fani Kayode has said it was concocted by the APC. And we also showed what happened in Osun where some APC members were caught thumb printing. That didn’t happen in Ekiti. So you can see the difference. Who is fooling Nigerians?

Many people believe that if the PDP had put its house in order by not allowing its governors to defect, its leadership was not arrogant, it managed former President Obasanjo and President Jonathan very well, there would not have been this magnitude of challenge to the PDP ahead of the polls. What happened, why was the leadership of the party unable to manage the relationship between Obasanjo, Jonathan and the party?

Obviously,   human enterprise is the most difficult things to manage. When a child has grown to the age to marry and he feels he is independent, he goes out to marry, he separates   himself from the family.

Most of the governors felt they could do it on their own. There is no way you can control them. There were lots of peace talks; there were lots of meetings and all that and so on. And so it happens that if any man feels that he can do it on his own and that is what we find today, then it is healthy for politics in Nigeria. Let everybody   play by the rules of the game. The PDP is intact; there is no problem. Those who left have joined other parties. But it was not deliberately done on our own part.

On Obasanjo, I believe he can be best described by his children, Iyabo and Gbenga. I will not make further comments. He is their father. If you can have that kind of father, you know what it is, the kind of trouble that the PDP has gone through. They described their father. I am not here to describe Obasanjo.

The APC always accuses the PDP of trying to use the military to suppress the opposition and that the PDP is afraid of the growing popularity of the APC.

Mr President is the Commander in Chief; he is different from the previous leaders. Jonathan is such a quiet man that would not hurt a fly. Like I said earlier, these allegations are cooked up by the APC; there is no truth in it.

The President has never given order to the military to harass the APC or other political parties. In fact, you can see the case when they conducted election in Osun, they won. Some other President would have used the army to snatch that victory from them. The same thing in Edo, the opposition won. But the APC is such a propaganda freak that on every issue there must be propaganda in order to malign and blackmail the PDP. They cook up stories in order to cause confusion in the country.

What is your take on the crisis in your state, Rivers?

The cause of the crisis in Rivers is Amaechi. He shut down the courts; he shut the assembly; he is now the sole administrator and maximum leader and the people are resisting. Salaries are not paid as and when due, money is being taken away from the state to sponsor Buhari. Our jet is deployed for the campaign of Buhari, the people are not happy? So he is sustaining himself on the pages of news papers. All his projects have failed, he has collected so much money on mono-rail, and the project has failed.   No people oriented project in Rivers that is going on the last 3-5years.

He is now planning to release people who are awaiting trial, criminals arrested for cultism, to use them for elections. Is that a governor who wants peace? Now, PDP members are defending themselves. The Okrika issue is APC vs. APC, but Amaechi   in orchestrating it as if it is a PDP affair and even bringing the name of the wife of the President into it. Amaechi   has insulted the intelligence of the Rivers people.

He is now permanently based in Lagos. In fact, the government of Rivers has collapsed because Amaechi   is no longer governing. What is important to him is how, as the DG of the Buhari Campaign, the APC will win. He has left governance because the assembly doors are closed, the judiciary, which is the third arm of government, is shut.

Have you seen where a governor will present the budget and one hour after that budget is approved by the House? Is that not a shame to democracy and the man will come to the television and say he is democratic.

What are you doing to stop this as a national leader of the party?

All we are doing is that we are praying and asking the security services to take charge.

– Vanguard

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