Home Blog Page 2663

SPOTTED: Self-acclaimed ‘wife’ of stabbed-to-death Bilyamin Bello is Shehu Shagari’s granddaughter

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
SPOTTED: Self-acclaimed ‘wife’ of stabbed-to-death Bilyamin Bello is Shehu Shagari’s granddaughter

 

Amina Bala Shagari, “first wife” of Bilyamin Bello, who was stabbed to death by his second wife Maryam Sanda, is a granddaughter of Shehu Shagari, Nigeria’s first democratically-elected President.

On June 25, Amina, who earlier said she was “married” to Bilyamin, used her grandfather’s picture as her profile photo on Facebook, and when her friends showered the nonagenarian with prayers, she was quite appreciative.

A friend even commented: “Amiable grandpa of snazzy Amina Bala Shagari”, to which she replied “Yess. chichi love xx“.

Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari GCFR was born on February 25, 1925. He was as the first and only President of the second Republic, assuming power in 1979 after the handover of power by General Olusegun Obasanjo’s military government. He won reelection in 1983 but he was in office only a few months before he was overthrown in December in a military coup by General Muhammadu Buhari.

Shagari also served seven times in a ministerial or cabinet post as a federal minister and federal commissioner from 1958 to 1975.

Amina

Meanwhile, Mohammed Bello Shagari, another grandchild of his, has lambasted those saying that Bilyamin got what he deserves for allegedly cheating on his wife.

He wrote: Only a stupid person can stand to defend Maryam who have stabbed her husband thrice to death. And only a foolish person would think that the world would believe it was a fight. And only a heartless person would say he deserved death for whatever reason.

In case you do not even know, she reportedly stabbed him near a prayer mat which he often used to perform sallah. So she either killed him while he was praying or when he finished or about to start. Because she can’t overpower him.

For those who are also trying to say that it was a drug influence. Even the worse enemy of Bilya knows it is a bad argument to be brought forth. Because Bilya does not smoke even cigarette which some of our fathers and mothers smoke decently.

Yes, he smokes shisha like most of your children, brothers and sisters. And shisha is not toxic. Perhaps,  it is something else. The husband killer too is not known for drugs. She’s simply a spoiled brat who thought she can get away with anything including murder. She reportedly was saying that he deserved what he got.

And finally, beware, anybody defending the actions of that dark soul woman is capable of doing the same.

‘Goodbye my love’ — first wife of Maryam Sanda’s husband pens emotive tribute

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
‘Goodbye my love’ — first wife of Maryam Sanda’s husband pens emotive tribute

 

Amina Shagari, first wife of Bilyamin Bello

Amina Bala Shagari, first wife of Bilyamin Bello, who was stabbed to death last Saturday by Maryam Sanda, his second wife, has revealed that he once asked her what she would do if he died.

The obviously-distraught lady made this known in an emotional farewell message to her former husband on her Facebook wall.

Shagari said she immediately started crying when Bello asked her the question, and she reprimanded him for even contemplating death.

“You once asked: ‘What would u do if I die?’ I promptly started crying and abused you for suggesting you would die and I’d be around,” Shagari wrote. “Those tears shocked you. Well, if you could see me now…”

THE FULL TRIBUTE

“(I) Will love you always. You would have been 36 today. May Allah rest your beautiful soul as people continue to say your name every day.

“You were the kind of person to leave that kind of impact in your wake and slumber. I’m sorry we drifted apart. I wanted you to have peace.

“I was so proud of myself for letting her have you to herself. ashe ashe. It wouldn’t even come close to being enough my darling friend.

“In different points of my life you were everything, a brother who pulled my scarf when I did wrong, a friend who knew me best.

“We decided to get married out of pure friendship. How strong was that bond, and when we couldn’t we still found our way back to being friends.

“My darling, I don’t have enough words. You once asked “what would you do if i die?” I promptly started crying and abused you for suggesting you would die and I’d be around.

“Those tears shocked you. Well if you could see me now.

“The thing that was most endearing to me that probably meant nothing to you was the way you never ever allowed me to cross the road without holding my wrist to do it for me. It used to infuriate me before I came to expect it.

“I’d be like “see this guy, before him didn’t I cross the road?” (smiles).

“Even when we fought, you held on. Even if we didn’t talk, you held on. It was funny, it was special, because it was not the hand but the wrist, as if to assure yourself you wouldn’t let go. That was who were.

“Till I suggested I wanted your jealous wife to have peace. I wouldn’t call, I said you would and you did whenever you could, and you saw me whenever you could.

“Bye my love. May Allah link us up in jannah. We will love aleesha xx.

El-Rufai: If things change and Atiku thinks he can get APC’s 2019 ticket, he’ll come back

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
El-Rufai: If things change and Atiku thinks he can get APC’s 2019 ticket, he’ll come back

 

Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, says there is nothing surprising about the resignation of Abubakar Atiku from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

While fielding questions from journalists after the Friday Jumaat prayers at the Aso Presidential Villa, el-Rufai said Atiku would return to the party today if he feels he can get the 2019 presidential ticket.

He said Atiku was never actually an APC member but rather a serial presidential contestant looking for any available platform on which to contest.

“Well, I won’t even say we were in the APC together. Some of us formed the APC, some of them joined because they thought that the APC was a platform for which they would contest election but when they didn’t get the opportunity they started looking around,” el-Rufai said.

“I have heard about what the former Vice President said about leaving the APC. We knew he was going to leave in December but he has left in November, which is good because the earlier he leaves for where he belongs, the better.

“He has changed political parties a few times, there is nothing surprising. Before the 2019 elections if situation changes and he thinks he can get the ticket in 2019, he will come back. That is what he has done a few times.”

El-Rufai further expressed certainty that no APC governor would follow Atiku out of the party, including that of Adamawa, Atiku’s state.

“I don’t know about the loyalists in the APC that will go with him but I want to assure you that there is no one governor in the APC that is going to go with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar,” he said.

“The only governor that he would think would go with him, the Governor of Adamawa State, has already endorsed President Buhari for the 2019 elections.

“And there are many governors… I will not mention the number, but a majority of the APC governors have already taken the position that the President should run for a second term in office.”

He added that even if Atiku joins the PDP and is offered the party’s presidential ticket for 2019, he does not pose any significant threat to Buhari’s chances of winning a second term in office.

“I do not see any Nigerian from the northern part of the country that will be able to match him [Buhari] in popularity,” he said.

“The people of the 19 northern states and Nigeria have decided because of the President’s past history of integrity and good governance; they are committed to him. Anyone standing up to challenge him is wasting his time.”

FLASHBACK: In 2014, Atiku said APC was his ‘final bus stop’

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
FLASHBACK: In 2014, Atiku said APC was his ‘final bus stop’

It is possible that Abubakar Atiku, former Vice President, may be shocked by his own resignation from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), although the rest of the public cannot say the same.

This is because the ex-VP once said APC was his ‘final bus stop”.

In 2014, during the Peoples Democratic Party’s national convention, where Goodluck Jonathan was unanimously adopted the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku and his loyalists famously staged a walkout and went to a separate venue where they held a parallel convention under the name the ‘New PDP’.

Few weeks later, Atiku and some other PDP stalwarts, led by six PDP governors, joined the APC.

Reacting to Atiku’s defection at the time, Rufai Alkali, then special adviser to Jonathan on political affairs, said Atiku would return to the PDP before the 2015 general election.

“Atiku is a PDP man to the core and has gone on vacation. I hope he will come back to the party before the elections and support the president,” Alkali had said.

However, Atiku described Alkali’s statement as “funny”, insisting that APC was his final bus stop.

“You know, it’s funny how some people put politics and vacation in the same sentence. Let me assure you: politics is a serious business, it is hard work, and for me at least, it is more than a fulltime job,” he said.

“I really don’t know how you can seriously think of taking a vacation, in a country like ours, with the politics we have.

“I did that when we built the great assemblage of the finest men and women under the umbrella of the PDP to get rid of the generals; I did that when I left and returned to the PDP, and I did that when I helped to turn the APC into a serious opposition party.

“When I toured our country, and listened to the hopes, fears, and expectations of Nigerians from all walks of life, I said the APC is the final bus stop, and that it is the end of the line. Because it is, for me.

“So some say I’m a PDP man to the core. I’m asking you, what does this even mean? What is the PDP?

“You know where I stand: I want a competitive democracy, true federalism, a government that creates conditions for people and business to thrive, and keeps out of business and people’s lives, and I want a country that is united and proud of its diversity.”

During the run-up to the APC presidential primaries, when Atiku was asked if he would dump the party should he lose the presidential ticket, his response was: “I am not aware of anyone contesting that wants to give up on APC. I know Rabi’u (Kwankwaso) will not do so, General Muhammadu Buhari is not going to do that. As for me as far as I am concerned, APC is my final bus stop.

“Nigerians should see me as new Atiku. I was in government the first time from 1999 to 2007 and I always thank my God that it did not continue.

“I have had a break. That break has enabled me to interact with ordinary Nigerians and know what they want and listen to them.

“Probably if I had continued and became the president I wouldn’t have been the new Atiku.”

However, on Friday, Atiku moved on from his final bus stop. It is not not clear if or how soon he will announce a new final bus stop.

VIDEO: Killer wife Maryam Sanda studies the Quran in court

Damilola OJETUNDE
-
0
VIDEO: Killer wife Maryam Sanda studies the Quran in court

You already know something about Maryam Sanda, daughter of Maimuna Aliyu: she is alleged to have stabbed her husband to death.

Something that wasn’t yet known about her, at least until Friday, is that she is a diligent student of the Holy Quran.

When she was arraigned at an Abuja High Court on Friday, Sanda was seen studiously reading the Holy book of Muslims, her six-month-old daughter strapped to her chest.

Another side, though, could be that she needed to avoid all the attention around her, and the Holy Quran was the only cover she could think of.

See for yourself in the video below, courtesy of SaharaReporters:

Ribadu, Agbaje… five politicians who switched political parties but still lost elections

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
Ribadu, Agbaje… five politicians who switched political parties but still lost elections

The resignation of Abubakar Atiku, former Vice President of Nigeria, from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday came as little surprise to many Nigerians who were already in tune with his recent body language.

Also, Atiku’s statement that he was taking some time off to ponder on his future, is barely believable given that he has never hidden his ambition to one day be Nigeria’s President.

This is not his first time of dumping a ruling party and joining an opposition party in a bid to actualise his presidential ambition. He is also not the first politician to decamp from a ruling party in pursuit of “greener pastures”.

But how many of them have won the elections for which they dumped their original parties?

ATIKU, 2006 AND 2014

In 2006, just before the expiration of his tenure with President Olusegun Obasanjo, Atiku, sensing that he did not have Obasanjo’s support to run for the presidency, decamped from the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

He contested the 2007 general election but lost to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

Atiku returned to the PDP in 2009 but could not clinch the party’s presidential ticket for 2011. Therefore, he again announced his defection from the PDP to the then newly formed APC, citing, among other things, the “impunity that had become part of PDP’s DNA”.

“I have decided to cast my lot with the APC, a party of change, committed to the improvement of the lives of our people and to the continued existence and development of Nigeria as one indivisible country,” Atiku stated at the time.

“This is the right decision.  As in 2006, it is the struggle for democracy and constitutionalism and service to my country and my people that are driving my choice and decision.  Let me emphasise that this is not about me.”

Familiar line! Whatever party Atiku joins next, expect him to say it’s about the people!

JIMI AGBAJE, LAGOS 2007

Jimi Agbaje was a member of the ACN in Lagos State until 2007 when it became obvious that then Governor Bola Tinubu had “anointed” Babatunde Fashola to succeed him.

In protest, Agbaje defected to the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), perhaps having seen that Musiliu Obanikoro, who was contesting the same election on the platform of the PDP, was too strong a candidate to dislodge.

However, both Agbaje and Obanikoro lost the election to Fashola, who went on to serve two tenures and is now Minister of Works, Power and Housing.

Agbaje tried his luck again in 2015, this time under the PDP, having defeated Obanikoro in the primaries, but again, he lost to Akinwumi Ambode of the APC.

IFEANYI UBA, ANAMBRA 2013

In 2013, Ifeanyi Ubah, an oil magnate-turned-politician who had never hidden his ambition to be Governor of Anambra State, left the PDP, the the ruling party at the centre at the time, to the Labour Party.

Ubah had announced his intention to run for the governorship seat under the PDP, but he lost out the primary to Chukwuma Soludo, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Dissatisfied over the “irregularities that characterised the primary election”, Ubah left for the Labour Party.

“I have made consultations before deciding to join Labour Party. After the consultations, I came to the conclusion that the only party that has human beings as their symbols is only LP while others are represented by inanimate objects,” Ubah said while announcing his defection.

But hardly had Ubah lost the election to Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) than he returned to the PDP where he campaigned vigorously for the party in the 2015 general election which, incidentally, the party lost.

NUHU RIBADU, ADAMAWA 2014

Like Atiku, Nuhu Ribadu, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), also ditched the APC for the PDP in 2014 to run for the governorship position in Adamawa State.

Ribadu was the presidential candidate of the ACN in 2011 and he was considered one of the candidates to contest for the presidency under the APC in 2015.

However, following the impeachment of Murtala Nyako as Governor by the Adamawa State Assembly, Adamu Muazu, former PDP National Chairman, persuaded Ribadu to join the party and contest for the vacant governorship post.

Ribadu accepted the offer and decamped, but he lost the election to Umar Fintiri who was Nyako’s deputy at the time.

Ribadu would again decamp from the PDP to APC in July 2016.

OSITA CHIDOKA, ANAMBRA 2017

It is no secret that Chidoka, former Minister of Aviation and former Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), is a loyalist of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

But when it became obvious that his loyalty to Jonathan may not count for much in securing the PDP governorship ticket, Chidoka decamped to the lesser known United Peoples Party (UPP) on which he contested and lost the just concluded Anambra governorship election.

To put the story in better prospective, Chidoka’s younger brother, Ikenna, is currently a member of the House of Representatives on the platform of the PDP!

The act of political jumpology  is not a new phenomena in Nigeria, that is why many Nigerians are convinced that Atiku’s next port of call, whenever he finishes pondering on his future, will be the PDP.

If you don’t believe I’m strong, come and see me at night, says ‘diabetic’ Obasanjo

Kingsley OBIEJESI
-
0
If you don’t believe I’m strong, come and see me at night, says ‘diabetic’ Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says he was diagnosed with diabetes more than 30 years ago but he is growing stronger, as the disease kills only those who are careless.

Obasanjo said this in Abeokuta on Friday during a road walk organized by the South West Zone of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria to draw attention to diabetes and how to manage it.

He said that diabetes is not a killer disease if one takes care of himself by exercising regularly and eating healthy.

“Diabetes is not a disease that should kill. I was diagnosed to be diabetic more than 30 years ago but rather I am growing stronger,” Obasanjo said.

“If you don’t believe I am growing strong and you didn’t witness this walk, come and see me at night, you will know I am growing strong.

“Come and see me in the morning, you will know I am growing strong, even in the afternoon; you will know I am growing strong.

“What is necessary is management of diabetes. Some people said some diseases are incurable but diabetes is manageable and compliant.

“My headmaster in primary school was diagnosed at the age of 50 and died at age 85; you will agree with me that he tried.”

Obasanjo advised diabetic persons not to be nonchalant about it but that they should exercise regularly and adhere strictly to prescribed medication.

“Three things are important: the food you eat, regular exercise and prescribed medication; those are the three most important things,” he said.

“You can be diabetic and still live till 100. I don’t know when I will die but I am above 80 and many youth could not catch up with my pace during the exercise this morning. Many of them were running after me.

“This is my message. Whether you’re diabetic or you have a family or friend who is diabetic, diabetes is not a killer disease or it should not be a killer disease unless you are careless.”

Abdulrasheed Akanbi, traditional ruler of Iwoland, also took part in the two-kilometre walk, alongside Babatunde Ipaye, Ogun State Commissioner of Health.

READ ALSO:

Alhassan, Garba Shehu… four people who could follow Atiku out of APC

YEKEEN Akinwale
-
0
Alhassan, Garba Shehu… four people who could follow Atiku out of APC

 

To many political observers and analysts, the resignation of Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was long overdue. He never hid his unhappiness with being sidelined by the party.

Despite his role in APC’s success in the 2015 presidential election, which produced President Muhammadu Buhari after he lost the party’s primary, Atiku has no significant representation in the government — except for Aisha Al-Hassan, Minister of Women Affairs, who has openly declared her loyalty to him even as a Minister in Buhari’s government, and Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the President.

No one needs to be told: If needed, these two will follow Atiku out of APC. But who else could follow suit? 

GARBA SHEHU

Before his appointment in 2015, Shehu had been Atiku’s media adviser since 2003.

“When I left my job at the Triumph Newspapers in Kano, I went to the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, Ikot-Abasi as the Pioneer DGM (Public Relations). It was from there that I joined the Vice President as Special Assistant Media. That was in 2003,” he once said in an interview.

Shehu is said to be the brain behind Atiku’s vibrant media office, which is arguably the most organized and structured by a Nigerian politician.

Of how he runs the media team, Shehu once said: “The media office is hierarchically structured but is operationally run like your regular newsroom. Decisions are made horizontally.

“The media operations staff sit around a conference table for daily editorial meetings. We review the print and electronic press and the new media that is now making huge inroads. Anything touching on Atiku is of interest to us. We discuss all the stories and determine our lines of action. We do proactive plans and we carry them out as well.”

As a man who says he derives fulfillment in Atiku’s trust in him and respect for his professional judgement, Shehu won’t find it too difficult relocating with his “boss for life”, especially as it was clear from scratch that Buhari always wanted only one spokesman: Femi Adesina.

AISHA AL-HASSAN

‘Mama Taraba’, as Alhassan is fondly called, has her body with the APC and the Buhari government, but her soul is indeed outside the party and with Atiku Abubakar.

She stirred controversy back in September when she swore to Allah that she would support Atiku, her “godfather”, even if Buhari indicates interest in contesting in 2019.

“Atiku is my godfather even before I joined politics…,” she had said. “Let me tell you today that if Baba said he is going to contest in 2019, I swear to Allah, I will go before him and kneel and tell him that ‘Baba I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me to serve your government as a minister, but Baba just like you know, I will support only Atiku because he is my godfather.'”

Buhari was widely expected to fire her; and although he didn’t, Alhassan had already said: “If because of what I said, I am sacked, it will not bother me because I believe in Allah that my time has elapsed.”

Alhassan to Atiku is like the Biblical Ruth to her husband: where he goes she will go!

BUKOLA SARAKI

Saraki is seen by many Nigerians and observers as not working along with Buhari. Many are quick to cite the circumstances of his emergence as Senate President and also his visit to Atiku just after he won the seat.

After the Saraki ‘coup’, the visit prompted suspicions that connived with him to circumvent the party’s arrangement, especially as both were both in PDP before the formation of APC. Their alliance since PDP days may still be alive.

Plus Saraki’s presidential ambition is no secret to followers of Nigerian politics. If Buhari remains a stumbling block in 2019, therefore, Saraki could follow Atiku out of APC. He did it with PDP before, why can’t he do it with APC?

YAKUBU DOGARA

Like Saraki, Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of House of Representatives, is seen by many political observers as not being completely loyal to the ruling party. He was a member of the defunct New Peoples’ Democratic Party (nPDP), which later fused with the APC .

Also, based on the events that led to Dogara’s victory at the lower chamber, he is still largely seen as a PDP member and by extension, one of Atiku’s few loyalists. However, it is only a matter of time for the coast to become clearer on Dogara’s romance with the APC.

Bail rejected — ‘killer wife’ Maryam Sanda goes to jail

Rebecca Akinremi
-
0
Bail rejected — ‘killer wife’ Maryam Sanda goes to jail

 

An Abuja High Court has ordered the remand of Maryam Sanda, the woman alleged to have killed her husband Bilyamin Bello, son of former PDP National Chairman, Mohammed Bello, at Suleja Prison.

Sanda is the daughter of Maimuna Aliyu, the former Executive Director of Aso Savings and Loans Limited, whose nomination to the board of ICPC was withdrawn by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo following corruption allegations exposed by the ICIR.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command had filed criminal charges against Sanda for allegedly stabbing her husband to death last Saturday, to which she pleaded not guilty.

The police said the alleged killing was premeditated, and as such, they would be seeking a death penalty should the accused be found guilty.

Attempts by her lawyer to ask for bail orally or alternatively from police custody was turned down by the Yusuf Halilu, the presiding judge.

Bilyamin was allegedly killed in his Maitama home in Abuja on Saturday night by his wife who stabbed him in the neck, chest and genitals following allegations of infidelity.

He was later rushed to the hospital where he eventually gave up the ghost.

The couple had a daughter together.

 

Back from exile, Mugabe’s ex-deputy Mnangagwa sworn in as Zimbabwe president

Damilola OJETUNDE
-
0
Back from exile, Mugabe’s ex-deputy Mnangagwa sworn in as Zimbabwe president

Emmerson Mnangagwa has been sworn in as Zimbabwe’s President at a ceremony at inside a packed stadium in the country’s capital, Harare.

The swearing ceremony followed the dramatic departure of Robert Mugabe after 37 years of authoritarian rule.

The dismissal of the  former Vice-President earlier this month led the ruling Zanu-PF party and the army to intervene and force Mugabe to quit.

Mnangagwa, who had fled the country, returned from exile on Wednesday. Until recently, he was one of Mugabe’s closest allies.

He took the oath of office at the National Sports Stadium on the outskirts of Harare to an explosion of cheers from the full-to-capacity crowd.

“I Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa swear that as the President of the republic of Zimbabwe I will be faithful to Zimbabwe and obey, uphold and defend the constitution and all other laws of Zimbabwe,” he said as he took the oath of office before the Chief Justice.

He then received the chain and sash of office, and took salutes and pledges of allegiance from the country’s military and security chiefs.

Mnangagwa, 75, said earlier in the week that Zimbabweans were witnessing “a new and unfolding full democracy”, although critics say he is a hardliner in the ruling ZANU-PF who gained power in a de facto military coup.

1...2,6622,6632,664...3,440Page 2,663 of 3,440