Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has restated his rejection of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) policy of “consensus arrangement” and “adoption” rather than transparent elections to produce candidates for all elective offices, including the presidency. Responding to the proposal by the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih that the party should give automatic ticket to President Jonathan in 2015, the former Vice President recalled that he was repeatedly in courts to challenge this undemocratic arrangement and that the courts ruled that the policy is alien to the PDP and Nigerian constitutions. In a statement by his…
Author: tech
Nigeria has called for increased trade ties between Japan and Africa, saying a paltry $29 billion trade volume cannot sustain economic growth on the continent. Vice President Namadi Sambo, made the call on Saturday, at the fifth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development,(TICAD V), holding in Yokohama, Japan. Representing President Goodluck Jonathan at the Summit, Sambo stressed that if Africa must sustain its economic development, the expansion of trade within the continent and also with the rest of the world, including Japan was critical. He decried trade imbalance between Japan and Africa compared to Japan…
The Presidency has described a report aired by Al-Jazeera on the state of emergency in north-east Nigeria as contrived and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. Presidential Media Adviser, Reuben Abati said contrary to the report, the declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states was meant to protect the civilian populace from the insurgents. Therefore, to ensure adequate protection of the civilians, he said President Goodlcuk Jonathan directed that the rules of engagement be followed while he also recently ordered the release of women and children that were being held. “We view with grave concern,…
Nigerian military authorities have hailed the cooperation of civilians which enabled troops of the Special Forces to apprehend some insurgents who were in search of large quantity of food. The Director of Defence Information, Brig Gen Chris Olukolade said the civilians provided timely information that led to the tracking of the Boko Haram members who are now in the custody of the special troops. “The intensive cordon and search operation being conducted by the troops of the Special Forces received a major boost from civilian cooperation in communities close to locations being focused in the operation yesterday. “A group of…
It’s about three weeks to go to the extraordinary showcase of the latest wedding collection by renowned fashion designer Mai Atafo tagged ‘Dream Wedding II’. Dream Wedding I, which was the official launch of Mai Atafo’s wedding label “Weddings by MAI” was regarded as the most innovative and excited wedding event in the land. It featured numerous high points including music performances by Waje, ChiDynma, Yemi Alade, Bez, Praiz, Obiwon, Dipo and K-Soul and not to forget the kiss by the royal couple played by actor and top tv personality Uti Nwachukwu and ex-beauty, model and rapper Muna Abii. This…
Barring an unlikely politically negotiated detour, the United States President, Barack Obama, and his wife, Michelle, will not visit Nigeria on their forthcoming African tour, billed to take them to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania between June 26 and July 3.The White House announced last week the exclusion of Nigeria from Obama’s African itinerary, apparently, as a way of delivering a strong message to the country’s rulers on their slack anti-corruption policy and poor human rights record. Subsequent reports on the matter, however, indicate that Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye, is exploring the possibility…
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has enjoined the Federal Government to take pragmatic steps aimed at reversing the “dangerous trend” of insecurity, collapsed educational system, poor investment climate and increasing corruption. He gave the advice on Friday while delivering a lecture on the topic “Creating a culture of peace through service” organised by the Rotary International Conference, District 9125 (Nigeria) at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja. Atiku particularly harped on the need to address the security challenge in the overall interest of the country. He also catalogued the various challenges confronting the nation, including the…
President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday night hosted Chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to a Mid-term Family Dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The avenue for merriments and informal interaction among party stalwarts drawn from the 36 states of the federation, turned out to be an occasion for stock-taking and projection into the future. The chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT), Tony Anenih chose the occasion to inform party bigwigs that the members of the BOT have decided and thus proposing to the party that President Goodluck Jonathan should be given automatic ticket to contest the…
We began the assessment of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration by listing a number of the campaign promises he made in 2011 and added that the achievement of those promises was not easy to measure because in essence, they were just broad generalizations with no targets, deliverables or timelines. Perhaps, that was the point of making such vague promises; so that performance cannot be measured and failures would not be easily evident.This week, we would rely on field visits and the feedback received from readers who responded via email, phone and SMS addresses provided last week. These responses along with…