Factional National chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ali Modu-Sheriff, says he is willing to resign as the PDP chairman if the other faction would agree to hold an open and transparent convention in Abuja.
Sheriff spoke during a television interview on Sunday, saying that he had handed a list of his demands to the party’s reconciliation committee which was setup to bring an end to the ongoing leadership crisis rocking the party.
Crisis in the party deepened after a national convention held in May led to the removal of Modu-Sheriff and the setting up of caretaker committee led by Ahmed Makarfi.
But the former Borno State Governor dismissed the decision of the party members, insisting that a court had issued an order barring the party from holding the convention.
During the interview on Sunday, Sheriff said he had given the committee certain conditions that must be met before he would voluntarily resign.
“What I want is that the convention should be an open and transparent convention held in Abuja where everybody will participate. I work with my principles.
“We will not let PDP to be hijacked by few people – Governor of Rivers State and Governor Fayose,” he said.
He also said that part of the agreement was for the convention that the party planned to hold on August 17 to be shifted as it would violate a court order which directed that the convention should not hold.
On his alleged ambition to run for the Presidential candidate of the party, Modu-Sheriff said he had never discussed that with anybody.
“I have never discussed with anyone about any plan to run for presidency,” he said.
Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State says the country is in bad shape because it is being run by “Wrong managers.”
In a statement by his special assistant on public communications and new media, Lere Olayinka, the governor accused the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal government of running the economy aground.
Fayose alleged that Nigeria is currently witnessing the worst form of nepotism in its history, as rather than work with competent individuals who can tackle the country’s challenges, President Muhammadu Buhari has “opted for his relatives, friends, in-laws and very close associates”.
“Nigerians are suffering, hungry and angry because the APC federal government has run the country aground,” the statement read.
It went further: “Nigeria has gone beyond recession, the economy has collapsed completely and painfully, those who should revive the economy do not have any clue as to what to do.
“The country is in the hands of wrong managers who do not know what to do and out of nepotism, not ready to be assisted by those who know.
“Nepotism is the reason our president discarded competent people in his party that should be running the government with him. The only qualification to hold key positions in the presidency is to know a certain nephew of the president or be a member of his family, that’s nepotism and what nepotism breeds is incompetence.
“The most influential person in the presidency today is said to be one Mamman Daura, who is a nephew of the president. Personal assistant to President Buhari is said to be the son of Mamman Daura while the state chief of protocol is said to be married to Mamman Daura’s daughter.
“It is also the height of nepotism that apart from just two, all security chiefs and heads of all the paramilitary agencies in Nigeria, as well as all the political-heads overseeing all the military and paramilitary arms and agencies are from the north of Nigeria.”
Fayose said some of the people who supported the president during the election are regretting their actions.
“Exchange rate was less than N200 to $1 when President Buhari took over power, as at today, it has gone beyond N400 to $1 and naira is still undergoing a free fall.
“One bag of rice was less than N8, 000 as at May 2016, it is now N20, 000. Kerosene is now beyond the reach of the masses.
“Nigerians voted for change because the APC promised them solutions to the country’s problems, but all we hear every day from the APC federal government are complaints upon complaints as if Nigerians elected a government of complaints.
“Obviously, the APC government has failed Nigerians and the president has resorted to putting his immediate family members and close associates in key government positions to protect himself from the fear of the unknown that has enveloped him.”
The Borno State Government Has Flagged Off A Food Distribution Programme Courtesy Of The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation Which Recently Made A Cash Donation Of $1 Million To The State.
The flag-off ceremony was held today at Mainok village, one of the liberated communities, not very far from Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital.
Governor Kashim Shettima at the ceremony said the intervention by the Gates Foundation is a testimony that peace is gradually returning to the state, adding that the programme would involve direct distribution of food items, as well as funding farming activities for farmers.
The governor said : “It is the state government that is carrying out procurements in the implementation of this particular intervention, which is targeting returning and resettling communities by giving them food aid and also helping them return to their family ways of producing food themselves and commercial purposes.
“The intervention from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is being used for food supplies and to fund farming activities for households.”
Shettima said the donation was the first cash donation received by the state government since the floodgates of donations opened in the state.
Hundreds of people gathered at a primary school compound in the village where the food items were distributed.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Babagana Umara, the state commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, said that the ministry has acquired 100 hectares of land where beans will be planted.
“Half hectare of land is being allocated to a farm-family with a target of reaching 200 households,” he said.
He said the farms are located in Damboa and Konduga Local government areas and each household will be provided with fertilizer, improved seeds and a support service of farm extension officer.
Each beneficiary of the direct food distribution are expected to get a 25 kilogram bag of rice and a 10 kilograms bag of beans and the about 40,000 insurgency victims are expected to benefit from the intervention.
Head of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, in Maiduguri, Cesar Tshilombo, commended the state government for its passion in making life better for the people affected by terrorism in the state.
“I have been in the humanitarian services for over 22 years and I have visited 42 African countries, but it is the first time I have seen Africans taking care of their own population by dealing with the crisis like the way I have seen in Borno,” he said.
He also praised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for making the project a reality.
Following the claims by the Boko Haram terrorist group in a video released On Sunday, the Nigerian Army has declared a journalist, Ahmed Salkida and two other persons wanted.
The others are Ahmed Bolori and Aisha Wakil.
A statement by Sani Usman, Acting Director of Army Public Relations, said the wanted persons are believed to have information on the whereabouts of the missing Chibok girls.
The statement said following the abduction of the Chibok girls two years ago, the federal government had made several appeals for their release while the military had also made several attempts to rescue them.
“However, two recent incidents have pointed to the fact that, there are three individuals namely; Ahmed Salkida, (Ambassador) Ahmed U. Bolori and Aisha Wakil that have information on the conditions and the exact location of these girls.
“Therefore, the Nigerian Army hereby declare the two gentlemen and the lady wanted for interrogation.
“We are relying on the relevant laws of the land and in particular the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended) where Nigerians could be punished for failure to disclose information about terrorists or terrorists’ activities.
“This becomes necessary as a result of their link with the last two videos released by Boko Haram Terrorists and other findings of our preliminary investigations.
“There is no doubt that these individuals have links with Boko Haram Terrorists and have contacts with them.
“They must therefore come forward and tell us where the group is keeping the Chibok Girls and other abducted persons to enable us rescue them.
“We are therefore calling on all Nigerians and peace loving people to give us useful information on their whereabouts. We are also liaising with other security agencies for their arrest if they failed to turn up,” the statement stated.
In the video released on Sunday, the Boko Haram spokesman warned the federal government about believing anyone who claims to be intermediaries between the sect and the government.
The spokesman said the only people they relate with are journalists, and the military believes the people declared wanted are those the sect was referring to.
In a number of tweets on Saturday, Salkida had said he was “studying the video of the #Chibokgirls that was sent exclusively to me before their abductors upload on it YouTube later.”
One of Salkida’s Tweets
The video was later uploaded by the Boko Haram on Sunday.
Governor Ganduje during the foundation-laying ceremony of the proposed waste recycling company
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has said that the state government is to construct a waste recycling company, to be named Shara Dukiya Nigeria Ltd., at the cost of $100 million at Kawo, in Gabasawa local government area of the state.
According to him, his administration has expended not less than N2 billion on refuse collection and management as demonstrated by the provision of heavy waste disposal plants and equipment, construction of drainages and dredging of major ones at sundry locations in the state capital.
During the foundation laying ceremony of the project on Sunday, Ganduje explained that it would be executed under a public/private partnership with Waste Services International of Malta and City Central Group of Companies, a Lagos based company.
His words “Under this collaboration, government is to provide the site and continue to support the company with necessary assistance to ensure the sustainability of the programme thus representing 40% of the partnership contribution”
Ganduje noted that “on their part, the two companies are to provide part funding for the manufacture, delivery and installation of the plants in addition to the provision of skilled manpower requirement and the engagement of our teaming unemployed youth, putting their combined investment in the project at 60% of the total financial structure”.
He maintained that the decision by the his administration to establish the plant was informed by the need to properly handle municipal solid waste, which is being generated in large quantity on daily basis, in view of the high population and heterogeneous nature of Kano State.
When the company becomes fully operational, the governor assured that the problem of refuse will be completely resolved,
He further disclosed that farmers will have alternative source of fertilizer for enhanced agricultural production in the state.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, City Central Group of Companies, Mike Nwakalor, explained that the company, which is expected to be completed within 18 months would create nearly 10, 000 direct and indirect jobs
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer, Waste Services International, Karl Wismayer explained that besides transfer of technology, their group would pay a lot of attention to community education on sustainable environmental management, especially through engaging schools.
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, represented by the Sarkin Dawaki Maituta, Bello Abubakar appealed to the Federal government to actualize the Green Wall Project, to save the northern axis of Kano from desert encroachment and commended Kano state government for its foresight in conceiving the waste treatment project.
The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, is examining the latest video from Boko Haram insurgents purporting to show some of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.
Some girls wearing headscarves, in the video, were seen behind a Boko Haram militant who demanded the release of fighters in return for freeing the girls.
The militant also claimed that some of the girls have been killed in air strikes.
The Director Defence Information, Rabe Abubakar, a brigadier general, disclosed that the military is examining the video clip to verify its authenticity.
He said: “Currently we are studying the video clips to verify its authenticity and analysing the comments of the speakers in the video especially the terrorist member and the girl that spoke in mother tongue.”
Abubakar also disputed allegations in the video that some of the kidnapped girls were hit by an airstrike.
He said: “It is extremely difficult and rare to hit innocent people during airstrike because the operation is done through precision attack on identified and registered targets and locations.
“The Precision Airstrike is very effective at taking out targeted enemies because it is not a random operation.
“We are nevertheless studying the video clips to examine if the victims died from other causes rather than from airstrike.”
A statement by PRNigeria stated that the Nigerian Air Force through its Component in Operation Lafiya Dole has focused on sustaining air operations and providing support to ground troops of the Armed Forces’ strive to rid Nigeria of the Boko Haram insurgency.
“Airstrikes are controlled by professionally trained officers who coordinate the strike with friendly ground troops, after a lot of surveillance to limit casualty on the ground,
“Nigeria Air Force employs precision guided weapons with modern Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance systems to reduce likely collateral damage from any airstrike.
“All the areas stroke throughout the operation were thoroughly monitored on intelligence surveillance and eye services before the attacks or shelling. Most of the targets areas were clearly identified before the air strikes to avoid collateral damages.”
Meanwhile the Defence Headquarters has promised to issue an update after its investigation.
Garba Shehu, SSA, Media and Publicity to the President
The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has come to the defence of his principal over the “unfair criticism of the Buhari administration” on account of the numerous challenges facing the Nation under his watch.
According to Shehu, “the last couple of weeks have witnessed the heaviest public criticism of the Muhammadu Buhari administration since he came to power.”
He added that “Unfair criticism of the Buhari administration especially on account of escalating prices of foodstuff and the liberalization of the currency exchange needs to be challenged before it overshadows the commendable job the President has done in fighting terrorism as part of overall effort to secure the country, reducing corruption and yes, arresting the economic slide before it sinks the nation.”
Shehu said that the international perception of Nigeria has tremendously improved under the present administration and can lead to foreign investments when properly capitalized upon.
He accused the country’s media for not projecting the many positive attributes of Buhari’s leadership but has succeeded in winning “sympathy for anyone with a view that runs counter to the President’s.”
“The lavish praise the President gets abroad and the wide public support he enjoys among the lower segment of the local population is, by contrast, given a short shrift in the local press, mainstream and online.
“Boko Haram terrorist leader, Shekau or the pipeline vandal from the Delta region is more likely to get newspaper front pages today than the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige or the Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun talking about jobs creation in the economy,” Shehu said.
Buhari Feels The Pains Of The People
He said the president feels the pulse of the citizens and appreciates that things were not very smooth presently, but assured that things will soon change.
The Presidential Spokesman said: “President Buhari has himself on numerous occasions admitted that the change mantra has brought with it pain and suffering which he likened to the pains of labor. It is a passing phase.”
“He has said times without number that his government is dedicated to the poor. As can be seen from the 2016 budget, this is a government that is determined to hugely empower the disadvantaged groups- the poor, the jobless, the widows and the orphaned children including those of the North-East.
“Following the budget, the administration has begun rolling out several social welfare programs. The direct cash transfer to the poorest of the poor, the school feeding and the recruitment/skills training of about one million jobless citizens are such an example.”
Luck Has Not Been On Our Side
Shehu said that all leaders need luck on their side, in addition to hard work, in order to create what is sometimes seen as economic miracles.
He said: “As a leader, President Buhari never had the luxury of high oil prices as did his predecessors in office.
“When he first emerged as the military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari saw oil price, the mainstay of the nation’s economy sank to as low as $8 a barrel.
“He rolled up his sleeves, worked on diversification strategy of the economy only to be eased out of power just as they began to take hold. Thereafter, his successors abandoned these efforts.
“On his second coming, this time as a democratically elected leader, the collapse of oil prices has challenged President Buhari to quicken efforts towards the diversification of the economy with emphasis given to agriculture and solid minerals mining.”
Diversification Is Key
The President’s media aide said that the country must not lose the opportunity presented by the current oil crisis to diversify the economy and our foreign earnings.
“As the country hopes for a bumper harvest this year, government is taking steps to ensure that no farmer will sell at a loss or fail to find markets for their harvests.
“Grain silos are being readied nationwide to receive excess produce for warehousing to ensure food security, avert market glut and price collapse. By this, government will ensure a minimum guaranteed price,” he said.
Shehu added that the administration is devoting attention to ridding the country of its notoriety as a difficult place of doing business and the National Economic Council under the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo was making significant progress with that regard.
He also mentioned many projects that the administration was treat as priority. They include: “the Second Niger bridge, the East-West expressway, the green field Lagos-Abuja expressway and important national railway projects, Lagos-Calabar and Lagos-Kano,… the 4,000 MW Mambila power plant” as well as the Cleanup exercise “Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.”
This Is The Change We Voted For
The presidential aide said that “The change (Nigerians voted for) is working for the nation and sooner than later, the testimony shall be given.”
He noted that “the removal of subsidies on the petrol products has saved the government more than two trillion Naira annual expenditure.”
Shehu added: “President Buhari’s foreign trips have brought many things to the country. He has energized our foreign policy. It is generally accepted that good foreign relations bring foreign direct investment.
“His knack for prudent spending and effective management of resources is in the belief that this country can only prosper when there is transparency, reduced corruption and a drastic cut in bureaucratic red tape.
“His decision to have a small cabinet, reducing government ministries from 46 to 24 has the effect of relieving the treasury of the burden of salaries, allowances and miscellaneous expenses now being counted in billions of Naira.
“It bears repeating that the President is a different kind of leader, who just happens to be a victim of the tyranny of high expectations. He has brought positive intention, commitment, honesty and personal integrity into governance. This is why the country’s poor hold him so dear; this is why the world is in love with him.
“President Buhari should be credited for the unblemished record of his ministers. This is a government that has stayed above scandal for a year.
“The President needs our support with understanding and patience. No matter how hasty a president wants to bring changes, there is no magic wand in that office to make everything change from bad to good or make all of us prosperous with a wave of the hand.
“This change is on course. It requires patience,” Shehu concluded.
A picture of the chibok girls as seen in the Boko Haram Video
Boko Haram terrorists have released a new video showing some of the school girls kidnapped by the terrorist group in Chibok, Borno State, more than two years ago.
An insurgent dressed in Nigeria’s military camouflage who spoke in Hausa claims in the video that a military jet bombed the location of the Chibok girls and killed unspecified number of the girls.
The video also shows images of the girls allegedly killed during the bombing.
The insurgent who spoke in the video in Hausa called on the parents of the chibok girls to tell the federal government to released members of Boko Haram and their relations detained in various prisons in Maiduguri, Lagos, Abuja and other places across the country if they want their girls released.
He said this was the only condition for the girls to be released.
He said if the government or the military believe they can get the girls through military means, then they should know that they will not get them alive.
The Boko Haram spokesperson also said that only 40 of the girls have been married out to their members while the others not shown in the video were among those killed in the bombing by a military jet.
There are not more than 34 girls shown in the video.
One of the girls, who gave her name as Maida Yakubu, was asked to speak and she called on the authorities to release relations of their captors so that they could regain their freedom.
The girl claims to be a student of GSS Chibok.
Meanwhile, Minister of information, Lai Mohammed, reacting to the latest video of the Chibok girls, said that government was in touch with the Boko Haram group.
In a statement issued by the minister’s media aide, Segun Adeyemi, he said that “The government is in touch with those purportedly behind the video.”
“We are on top of the situation. But we are being extremely careful because the situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of Boko Haram.
“We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of the girls.
“Since this is not the first time we have been contacted over the issue, we want to be doubly sure that those we are in touch with are who they claim to be,” he added.
President Muhammadu Buhari has praised the Nigerian soccer team to the Rio Olympics Games, popularly called Dream Team VI, for their 2-0 victory over Denmark to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s football event.
Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, made this known in a statement shortly after the match on Saturday Night.
“Again and again, the unconquerable Nigerian spirit has come to the fore, showing that where there is a will, there’s always a way,” the statement read.
“This was a team that was not given much chance, but which has now advanced into the semi-finals.”
The president urged the Nigerian team to focus their minds on winning the gold medal and making the country proud.
“Go for it,” he said, “Go for the gold, and let the Nigerian banner be held proudly aloft once again on the global stage. We are almost there. Let’s go.”
President Buhari urged every Nigerian to pray and support not only the football team, but the entire Nigerian contingent to the Olympics, “so that the rest of the world will know that even in the face of economic adversity, the Nigerian spirit remains resolute and lifted high.”
“And this, we shall demonstrate in every sphere of our national life,” the President concluded.
Normalcy has returned to Akokwa, a town in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State after a deadly clash between some Hausa residents in the area and some members of the host community which resulted in the death of 6 people.
Journalists report that there is heavy presence of security operatives in the area and people are going about their normal duties.
However, the indigenes of the area have called on the government to look into the matter critically and to prevent any future occurrence.
Some of the residents, who narrated the incident, alleged that the Hausa man, who was hired as a security guard in the one of the buildings in the area, had a misunderstanding with a young lady named Ngozi and the misunderstanding became intense that he pursued and murdered the lady in cold blood with a shovel, adding that he also went ahead to kill one Beatrice Ibe, who was trying to settle the dispute.
Imo State Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, who led security operatives and other top government functionaries to the scene of the incident, also used the opportunity to visit families of people affected in the clash while assuring the people that the state government is on top of the situation.
He pointed out that the incident is a clear case of homicide and not related to ethnic clashes.
Also, Taiwo Lakanu, the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, has asked for the cooperation of the people while imploring them to remain calm and desist from any behaviour that might cause breakdown of law and order in the state.
In the meantime, the corpses of the affected victims have been deposited in a nearby mortuary, while some others who were wounded, including a 7-year old boy, are receiving treatment in a hospital.
