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Lagos, Nigeria – President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will contest the 2011 presidency, according to the Presidential Assistant on Assembly Matters, Mr. Cairo Ojougboh. The development puts paid to speculations that Dr. Jonathan would or would not run for the office of president in 2011. Dr. Jonathan ran as Vice Presidential candidate with candidate Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the duo came to power in May 2007. Following Yar’Adua’s death on 5 May, 2010, Dr. Jonathan was sworn in as President the following day (6 May) to hold office for the rest of the Yar’Adua/Jonathan four-year term which ends in May 2011.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Nigeria’s new president says he will make sweeping electoral reforms before next year’s nationwide vote. He has laid out an aggressive agenda to complete the term of former President Umaru Yar’Adua, who died late Wednesday.
In their time of mourning, President Goodluck Jonathan says Nigerians must aspire to uphold the values that Mr. Yar’Adua represented.
“We must, in the midst of such great adversity, continue to garner our collective efforts towards upholding the values which our departed leader represented,” said President Jonathan. “In this regard, our total commitment to good governance, electoral reform, and the fight against corruption will be pursued with greater vigor.”
President Yar’Adua and then-vice-president Jonathan came to power in a 2007 election that was widely criticized by political opponents for voter intimidation and ballot-box stuffing. Mr. Yar’Adua recognized the flawed nature of that vote and set out to make Nigerian elections more transparent.
President Jonathan says that mission must now be completed before local government, legislative, and presidential elections scheduled for next year.
“We must enshrine the best standards in our democratic practice,” he said. “One of the true tests will be to ensure that all votes count and are counted in the upcoming general elections.”
U.S. President Barack Obama says Mr. Yar’Adua was committed to creating lasting peace in Nigeria and continuing that work is an important part of honoring his legacy.
U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley:
“President Yar’Adua was working towards building strong democratic institutions based on constitutional processes, and we know that he would want Nigeria to continue on this civilian democratic path,” said P.J. Crowley. “We urge all Nigerians to place their faith and support firmly behind orderly, democratic, and constitutional mechanisms.”
The change of leadership is not so dramatic for Nigeria as President Jonathan has been running the country for the last several months because of Mr. Yar’Adua’s prolonged medical absence. He had already appointed a new Cabinet and started leading efforts to boost electricity supplies.
“I want to reassure Nigerians that the pledges which we have made to improve the socio-economic situation which we face through improved access to electricity, water, education, health facilities, and other social amenities will continue to be given the needed emphasis,” said Goodluck Jonathan.
Improving the economy in Africa’s largest oil producer means preventing a resurgence of violence in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
“The efforts at ensuring the sustenance of peace and development in the Niger Delta as well as the security of life and property around the entire country will be a top most priority in the remaining period of this administration,” he said.
President Yar’Adua secured an amnesty deal with Niger Delta militants last year. But the plan to supply job training and a monthly stipend to former rebels lost momentum because of his health problems. Nigerian security forces now say former gunmen frustrated with the pace of the amnesty plan are once again stealing oil.
Akwa Ibom Senator Effiong Bob says it is up to President Jonathan and the National Assembly to follow through with Mr. Yar’Adua’s strong start in the Niger Delta.
“Militancy has drastically reduced because of his action,” said Effiong Bob. “What we need now is the continuation and completion of the policy initiated by him.”
At the most, President Jonathan has just one year to accomplish these goals before voters go to the polls to choose a new leader.
Under an unofficial power-sharing agreement between northern and southern Nigeria, the ruling party would name a northern politician to run for what would have been President Yar’Adua’s second term.
President Jonathan is from the south so would not be a candidate under that arrangement. But there is no constitutional provision stopping him from running for his own mandate, and he has not ruled out doing so.
How much he can get done in the next year may well determine whether President Jonathan challenges the ruling party’s regional apportionment or decides to run as an independent.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, has died after a long illness, according to his office in Abuja.
Segun Adeniyi, chief press secretary to Yar’Adua, confirmed that the President died about 9 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Wednesday in Abuja.
Mr. Yar’Adua, 58, had been suffering from a heart ailment since November, which necessitated his seeking treatment in Saudi Arabia and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan assuming office as acting president.
A former governor of the northern state of Katsina, Mr. Yar’Adua was elected president in 2007 following controversial general elections.
His term was dominated by speculations over his health, as he has suffered a chronic kidney condition for at least 10 years.
In the last three years, Mr. Yar’Adua has twice been flown to Germany for emergency treatment and visited hospitals in Saudi Arabia.
In February, Mr. Jonathan became acting president following Mr. Yar’Adua’s three-month absence as a result of pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining of the heart.
Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua (second left), shakes hands with
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after the ceremonial welcome in Abuja.
Gursharan Kaur, wife of the premier and Hajia, wife of the President are also seen.
File photo: PTI.
Mr. Jonathan, 52, was elevated from vice-president on February 9 by the Nigerian National Assembly in Yar’Adua’s absence.
Yar’Adua, 58, had not been seen in public since November, when he went to a Saudi hospital for treatment of the heart. He departed without invoking constitutional measures to temporarily hand over power, leaving Nigeria with a political and legal vacuum.
After both chambers of the legislature voted to install Mr. Jonathan as acting president, Mr. Yar’Adua returned to Nigeria and reoccupied the presidential palace but remained out of sight.
Mr. Yar’Adua was a Muslim from northern Nigeria, while Mr. Jonathan is a Christian from southern Nigeria.
In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama expressed condolences for the death of Mr. Yar’Adua, in a White House statement.
“We remember and honour President Yar’Adua’s profound personal decency and integrity, his deep commitment to public service, and his passionate belief in the vast potential and bright future of Nigeria’s 150 million people,†Mr. Obama said.
He praised Mr. Yar’Adua’s work “to promote peace and stability in Africa through his support of Nigerian peacekeeping efforts as well as his strong criticism of undemocratic actions in the region. He was committed to creating lasting peace and prosperity within Nigeria’s own borders, and continuing that work will be an important part of honouring his legacy.â€
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A month after the federal government first indicated that it might discontinue the trial of Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke Bello, yesterday formally withdrew the case against him. Mr Ribadu has been facing charges for not declaring his assets while he was the chairman of the anti-corruption agency.
Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of the EFCC
Mr. Adoke, citing the powers of his office under the Constitution to withdraw any criminal matter against anyone at his discretion, withdrew the case being heard by a three-man tribunal led by Muritala Sani, its acting chairman. The Tribunal, therefore, discharged Mr. Ribadu and struck out the case against him.
Mr. Ribadu, who was represented by his counsel, Femi Falana, was not in court during the proceedings. He remains in the United States, where he recently completed his fellowship at the Centre for Global Development. But his friends and family members, including former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai – who himself was granted administrative bail by the EFCC less than 24 hours earlier – were in court to watch the proceedings and they all showed their joy at the news.
An exclusive NEXT report had indicated that Mr. Ribadu has accepted to serve as a special adviser to the Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, on anti-corruption and good governance.
Trumped up charges
Following Mr. Ribadu’s controversial removal from office, and subsequent dramatic dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force, the former attorney general, Michael Aondoakaa, filed charges against Mr. Ribadu, accusing him of failing to declare his assets while he was the EFCC chairman. Mr. Ribadu, who has always denied the allegations, told journalists that his asset declaration forms were, “submitted on assumption of office in March 2003, and my exit from office in December 2008.
“I assert that there is no substance to this case; that my assets were declared. How could I have been confirmed for my position in 2003 if I did not submit an asset declaration form to the Senate, as all officers needing Senate confirmation are obligated to do?” he asked. He said the charges were trumped up basically to smear his name and persecute him because he had crossed some influential people while in office.
The Code of Conduct
Tribunal, which was hearing the case, declared Mr. Ribadu wanted on Friday November 20, following his refusal to appear before it. Mr. Falana, had asked the tribunal to guarantee the security of his client if it wants him to return to Nigeria and appear before it, saying there had been two attempts on his client’s life before he left Nigeria.
Mr. Falana declined to say when his client would return to Nigeria, though Mr. Ribadu is expected to come back in the next one month to resume his post as Mr. Jonathan’s adviser. Ironically, as part of his job, he will be expected to oversee anti-corruption agencies – including the EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ABUJA – A former Nigerian government minister accused of misappropriating millions of euros will face corruption charges in court Thursday, days after returning from self-imposed exile, his lawyer said.
Nasir el-Rufai, the 2003-2007 minister in charge of Nigeria’s federal capital of Abuja, wanted to clear his name of the allegations, his lawyer Abdulakeem Mustapha said Tuesday.
“The former minister, Nasir el-Rufai, will appear before the court of law on Thursday on a nine-count charge,” he said.
Rufai, a close ally of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, returned last Saturday after two years in exile.
Mustapha said he accompanied the former minister to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission offices Tuesday where he was quizzed for nine hours.
“The two parties appeared to be satisfied. He said he was coming to Nigeria to clear his name. He has submitted himself willingly,” Mustapha said.
Rufai is suspected of misappropriating 32 billion naira (213 million dollars or 162 million euros) of public funds when he was in office.
He is also alleged to have reclaimed land allocated to the electricity supply agency and given it to relatives.
Commission spokesman Femi Babafemi told reporters Rufai was granted bail and Thursday’s hearing would focus on corruption and abuse of office.
The ex-minister has said in the media that the charges against him are politically motivated.
His return to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and a leading oil producer, comes as political tensions increase ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
I have been struggling with this letter. The reason is not because I hate to write to you, rather it’s because my heart is heavy and troubled. My feeling towards you is becoming leaden. I do not want to fake my laugh to your silly jokes anymore. I cannot stand your big boisterous voice and your inability to do something right. Hence, I have been riddled with so many aches in my heart towards you. I search my soul to find a soft spot for you, but obviously I am losing it. I just find it extremely difficult to break into a happy smile when the thought of you creeps into my mind, because you have not been true to me lately. You have made me to cling onto false hope all these years.
Whenever I remember you, I remember failures; I remember lies, the selfishness of your politicians, your weakness, and your shame among other nations. I am truly sad about how you have detoriated and decayed. You have harbored kidnappers, murderers, thieves and all sorts of criminals in the form of politicians. You have lost your good precepts and also have failed to chastise them that disobey them. It seems that you have abandoned it all for the worst.
I recall the words of my parents, how they were happy at the mention of your name and how they were proud of you. Sorry! Their beautiful memory of you does not coincide with mine. I have known you these years as one that has lost direction, as a mother that does not care nor take pride in her kids, as a vampire sucking on the blood of her children, and as a sick, mean and unpredictable man . I cannot contend the sickening feeling I get when I look at other nations politicians thinking and acting in every way to ensure, establish and promote the happiness, comfort and beauty of their fellow citizens; while your politicians are more interested in degrading the standard of life of their fellow citizens from level poorest to most poorest.
Time after time your politicians have proved that they are incapable of making positive changes. All their changes are targeted to finding a way to punish and steal from your poor citizens for reasons that I do not know nor can I fathom. I wonder if you are destined to be so, ineffective, corrupt, nonchalant, irresponsible, fugitive, weakling, destitute, poor, needy, ill, failure and disgrace in the world. I keep wondering if they ever sit and give thought to the negative steps they have made you (Nigeria) to take ever since you gained independence. I wonder if they ever consider it wrong that your reputation, wealth, strength and intelligence has plunged disgracefully low among many nations in the world. I wonder if it ever occurs to them that they have made you worst than you were 50 years ago. I wonder a lot about you, my dear country!!!!
Obviously, your politicians take pride in bragging about their corruption. They take awful lot of pride in bragging about how they care less about your citizens. They feel that it is just and right for your citizens to be hungry, destitute, poor, and fleeing to foreign countries. They enjoy having their association of irresponsible shameless idiots in the helm of your affairs. Irresponsible, untrustworthy and corrupt politicians that care only for their selfish gain, how to steal and embezzle the public money and stuck them away in foreign banks, that care only about how to drastically and fatally murder innocent citizens and people that points out their sins to their faces or try to blockade their hideous selfish quests and device schemes that will prolong the hardship of your citizens. It is a big shame!!!!
They have made life unbearable for your citizens, hence chased your citizens out. Their reckless actions and neglect for the life and well being of your citizens have encouraged the young, old, healthy, sick, educated, illiterate, rich, poor, and all alike to run to foreign countries; where they are treated like 125th class of human beings, regarded as less privileged to life and less valuable than pets; and are subjected to scorn, disgrace, humiliations, harassment, intimidation, verbal and moral assault, and all unimaginable kinds of hideous aversion. Your dire situation caused by your politicians spurs your citizens to take suicidal routes to foreign countries in order to flee from the encroaching wickedness and desolation. Some of your babies end up in the sea bed, some in jail, and others in the streets homeless. Your politicians have no regard for their existence. To your politicians, they are valueless or fool seeking for a better life in foreign land. Perhaps they even consider your citizens as burden.
I recall the first few lines of your national anthem, which says “arise o compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey, to serve our father land, with love and strength and faithâ€. It has become arise and kill yourselves oh fellow Nigerians. That’s why the perpetual act of Muslims constantly and repeatedly killing of Christians in the north goes unpunished every time. “ To serve our fathers land with love strength and faith†has become steal and embezzle our fathers land wealth with greed, strength, no doubt, no moral thoughts, no remorse and above all unashamed.
Is it not ridiculous that in this 21st century that you still cannot boast of steady power supply per day? Is it not shameful that your roads are death traps, a route where armed robbers lurk in wait to prey, steal and kill road users; and unfortunately also your police force (the guardian of security over people and property) sets check points in order to extort money illegally and forcefully from road users, and even condescend to shooting and killing those that refuse to bow to their demand. People are still living in slums, epidermis diseases killing people constantly, lack of good hospitals and medicines, schools going on strike for more than half of each academic year, kidnapping and all sort of crime on the rise daily, poverty enduring and waxing strong, and the list continues.
With all these atrocities happening, your politicians turn blind eyes and fly high. It is very disheartening and infuriating. It is downrightly sad and hurtful. And I hear year after year the large sum of money that have been pumped into power and energy sector, works and housing sector, roads construction and rehabilitation, health and other sectors; but still yet, all to no avail. No positive change ever made!
Is looting and embezzling of the public fund a symbolic act of good governance? Is ever metamorphosing cruel crimes an essence of development? Oh how can I forget that they have no clue to the meaning of human right, social amenities, good hospitals and school, and rule of law? I assume that they lack the desire to be good, that’s why they strive to be worse than ever with each new administration.
Are you bewitched, my country Nigeria? Are you bewitched by irresponsible and unrepentant politicians sadists in the form of politicians? Is this your destiny?
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
WASHINGTON – For days, as an oil spill spread in the Gulf of Mexico, BP assured the US Government that the plume was manageable, not catastrophic.
Federal authorities were content to let the company handle the mess while keeping an eye on the operation.
United Stares President Barack Obama
But then government scientists realised the leak was five times larger than they had been led to believe, people were saying it threatened to eclipse the Exxon Valdez disaster, and days of lulling statistics and reassuring words gave way yesterday to an all-hands-on-deck emergency response.
Now questions are sure to be raised about a self-policing system that trusted a commercial operator to take care of its own mishap even as it grew into a menace imperilling Gulf Coast nature and livelihoods from Florida to Texas.
The pivotal point had come on Thursday, at a news conference at an oil research centre in the tiny community of Robert, Louisiana. That’s when Americans learned the earlier estimates were way off, and an additional leak had been found.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama set in motion a larger federal mobilisation, pledging to deploy “every single available resource” to the area and ordering his disaster and environmental leaders to get down there in person.
Only a few days after the Coastguard assured the country there was “ample time” to protect the coast if oil came ashore, warnings from the Government were newly alarming.
“I am frightened for the country, for the environment,” David Kennedy, assistant chief of the National Ocean Service at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said.
“This is a very, very big thing, and the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling.”
The political subtext of the crisis was clear and increasingly on people’s minds, whether from a federal office deploying oil-containment booms or from a Louisiana parish awaiting yet another sucker punch from the sea.
Will this be Obama’s Katrina? Should the federal and state governments have done more, and earlier? Did they learn the lessons of the devastating hurricane?
Political calculations vied with the increasingly scary Gulf reality – hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and its progression to landfall overnight.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who is also in a hot campaign for the Senate, flew over the slick and commended the federal actions to date but wondered if anyone, really, could be doing enough in this situation.
“It appeared to me that this is probably much bigger than we can fathom,” he said.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency yesterday so officials could begin preparing for the oil’s impact.
He said at least 10 wildlife management areas and refuges in his state and neighbouring Mississippi were in the oil plume’s path.
The declaration also noted that billions of dollars had been invested in coastal restoration projects that may be at risk. He also asked the federal Government if he could call up 6000 National Guard troops to help.
The crisis began with a massive explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20, more than 60km off the Louisiana coast. The search for 11 missing workers overshadowed environmental concerns until they were given up for lost.
Rear Admiral Mary Landry, chief of the Coastguard in the region, said at the outset that most of the oil was burning off, leaving only a moderate rainbow sheen on the water and no sign of a major spill.
“Both the industry and the Coastguard have technical experts actively at work,” she said. “So there’s a whole technical team on both sides of the aisle here to ensure we keep the conditions stable.”
Two days later, the Deepwater Horizon sank and crews spotted a massive sheen with a dark centre that appeared to be a crude oil mix. Obama got his first briefing on the accident.
Landry said the following day that no oil appeared to be leaking from a well head at the ocean floor, nor was any leaking noted at the surface.
At the White House, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said sometimes accidents happen, and the loss of the Deepwater Horizon was no reason to back off on the President’s recent decision to support expanded offshore drilling.
Throughout the Government was deferring to BP on what was being done at the site and on assessments of progress.
The Coastguard was not doing its own independent, first-hand assessment of the seabed rupture. Landry repeatedly asserted that BP was the responsible party and would shoulder the costs and organisational duties associated with the cleanup effort while the Coastguard monitored things and approved the numbers of vessels working the scene and the methods of control.
On Tuesday, Landry offered assurances that the Gulf Coast should be safe.
“This is ample time to protect sensitive areas and prepare for cleanup should the oil impact this area,” she said.
And at sea, BP officials were “doing their best”.
On Thursday night, she reported the findings of federal experts that up to 5000 barrels (757,000 litres) a day were leaking from the well. BP had estimated only 1000. What’s more, the company told the Coastguard a new leak had been found. Obama was briefed on these developments on Air Force One while returning at night from the Midwest.
At that rate, the spill could eclipse the worst oil spill in US history – the 275,000 barrels that leaked from the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989 – in the three months it could take to drill a relief well and plug the gushing well 1500m underwater on the sea floor.
The spill could grow much larger than the Valdez because Gulf of Mexico wells typically hold many times more oil than a single tanker.
By yesterday afternoon, the White House had assembled a team of top advisers to showcase the Administration’s determination to head off the damage posed by the oil slick. And Gibbs acknowledged details of the President’s drilling proposal might be revisited, depending on the investigation into the rig explosion and spill.
The equation had changed, like a hurricane setting a new course.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, last Wednesday, bowed to pressure both locally and internationally as he directed Maurice Iwu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to proceed on a pre-disengagement leave
Jonathan’s directive was given in a terse statement signed by Ima Niboro, his senior special assistant on media and communication. He directed Iwu to “hand over to the most senior national commissioner, who shall oversee the activities of the commission pending the appointment of a substantive chairman.â€
The removal of Iwu as INEC chairman did not come to many Nigerians as a surprise. This is because in the past few months, there has been persistent campaign against his reappointment for second term. Some civil society groups, including the Save Nigeria Group, had also organised rallies to press for his removal .They blamed him for the flawed 2007 general elections which produced the incumbent administration.
The United States government had also advised the acting president to sack Iwu as a recipe for free and fair elections in 2011. Johnnie Carson, US assistant secretary of state for Africa, had categorically called on the acting president to sack the Imo State-born electoral umpire. During his recent visit to the US, Jonathan indicated that Iwu’s removal was imminent when he promised that major changes would be implemented in the management of the electoral body. Many Nigerians have applauded his removal. Balarabe Musa, former governor of Kaduna State, described Iwu’s sack as good riddance to bad rubbish. “Those who demonstrated recently that Iwu should be re-appointed for a second term are those who benefited from his rubbish. It is certainly a positive development. It means that despite the unfavourable condition the acting president is facing, he would try to make the 2011 general elections at least tolerable,†Musa said.
Bamidele Aturu, Lagos-based lawyer, said the acting president’s decision to send Iwu on pre-disengagement leave,was an unnecessary euphemism for a long overdue sack. he said. Aturu asked the acting president to go further and disband INEC and appoint Nigerians with impeccable record of integrity to make the commission truly an independent umpire.
Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary of Action Congress, AC, said the removal of Iwu was in line with the opinion of democrats. He, however, explained that the total disengagement of Iwu would only serve its purpose if someone of integrity replaces him.
Iwu was an INEC commissioner until 2005 when he was appointed the chairman of the commission by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, after the expiration of the tenure of Abel Guobadia, his predecessor.
Although he has been directed to proceed on pre-disengagement leave, his five-year tenure expires on June 13, this year.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Even after its no-victor-no-vanquished national executive committee, NEC , meeting of last Tuesday, the leadership of the ruling PDP remains divided down the line over the widely speculated presidential ambition of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.
Already the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has sent word to the Acting President to ensure that “the virtues of peace, fairness, equity and justice are the guiding principles of his administrationâ€.
The ACF, Sunday Vanguard can also reveal, is insisting that the zoning arrangement of the PDP is a sure panacea for the evolution of equity in the country.
A source in the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, told Sunday Vanguard that “what we are hearing is that the Acting President wants to contest the presidential election of next year and it is dividing the party.
“Although I have not heard it from him, that is the general story.
Acting President Jonathan
“The only problem is that when the National Assembly made its proclamation making him Acting President, we had thought that he would just focus on solving the immediate problems in the country which is power supply and security.
“But we are still waiting to see what happens because things are not very clear now; may be in a couple of weeks we would be sure of what is happening and at that time we can speak better.
“The other problem is that the north has made its position clear about the matter and they are not lying low. They say they still want the issue of zoning which, to be fair, is their rightâ€
Asked about the role of Obasanjo in the plot about Jonathan’s ambition, the source said, “we are watching events and if we discover that the Acting President will refuse to be his own man, then we will have to leave him to his fateâ€.
North Kicks
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the ACF in making its position on the issue of zoning known to the Acting President, last week, was very clear: it must remain.
Already, three northerners, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd); National Security Adviser, NSA, General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (rtd) and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar are in the race for the presidency next year – although Gusau and Atiku have not made their ambition public.
The numerical superiority of Northern PDP in any election is what the ACF is said to be banking on in its insistence that any attempt to disorganize the zoning arrangement would not be taken lightly.
Jonathan’s Base Meanwhile, there are indications that the acting president may not have an easy ride in his reported presidential ambition in his South-South base.
Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States are not known to swing in the way of Jonathan in the emerging political re-configuration for next year’s presidential election.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State is a member of the Action Congress, AC, and, may therefore, remain indifferent; a large segment of the political leadership in Delta State does not share the Gestapo-style approach of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in its pursuit of the case against former governor James Onanefe Ibori of the state; and there is the challenge from his home Bayelsa State where the state governor, Timpreye Silva is at loggerheads with the Acting President.
Added to this is the concern in some quarters that Jonathan had never really mounted the rostrum to campaign in an election for himself and, therefore, may not have the political wherewithal to mobilize for himself.
For Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom State, it would only be a matter of time for their hands to be played out.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
LAGOS, Nigeria — The marriage took place at one of the Nigerian capital’s most recognizable landmarks, under the golden dome of the National Mosque in front of an audience of the elite.
But the recent wedding of one of the Muslim leaders who brought Shariah law to Africa’s most populous nation is under scrutiny as human rights groups say he married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.
As authorities investigate Senator Ahmad Sani Yerima, the marriage is drawing fresh questions about the role of religion in a country of 150 million people split between Christians and Muslims.
Yerima, 49, arranged the marriage with the girl after paying her family a $100,000 dowry, according to a complaint filed by the Nigerian Human Rights Commission in April. Initially, Yerima couldn’t arrange a visa for the girl to travel from Egypt to Nigeria, so he instead brought the girl through neighboring Niger, said Chidi Odinkalu, a lawyer for works for the Open Society Justice Initiative.
That leaves Yerima open to human trafficking charges, as well as possible child-sex and endangerment charges, the lawyer said.
“You don’t need the Quran or the Bible to get this,” Odinkalu said. “I think most people, irrespective of the cleavage between the two faiths, wouldn’t marry off their 13 year old.”
Yet 30 members of the girl’s family attended the ceremony at the National Mosque, the human rights commission said. It’s unclear who else attended the wedding. Ustaz Musa Mohammed, the chief imam of the National Mosque, could not be reached for comment.
Under child protection laws enforceable in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, a woman must be 18 before being able to consent to marriage. However, those laws aren’t enacted in all of Nigeria’s 36 states and activists say child brides have been married off in Muslim communities after their first period.
It also isn’t the first time Yerima has apparently married a child bride. The right commission alleged that he married a 15-year-old girl, only to divorce her at 17 as she nurses his child.
“The senator is in the habit of marrying minors and has gained notoriety in enticing girls to marry him,” the commission said.
Yerima himself appears unrepentant in recent interviews, though he has declined to say how old his new wife is.
“As a Muslim, as I always say, I consider God’s law and that of his prophet above any other law,” Yerima told the BBC’s Hausa language radio service. “I will not respect any law that contradicts that and whoever wants to sanction me for that is free to do that.”
Religion has played an integral part in Yerima’s political career. As Nigeria came out of a string of military dictatorships and into democracy in 1999, Yerima was elected as governor of Zamfara state in northern Nigeria. There, Islam has been the dominate religion since Muslim warriors on horseback claimed the territory in the early 1800s.
When he became governor, Yerima was one of the first politicians to champion the idea of putting a Shariah court system in place, which rules based on Islamic civil law. Now, more than a dozen northern states allow Shariah law, something that Nigeria’s Christian south warily accepted — if at all. Rioting and violence over the introduction of Shariah law left thousands dead.
Yerima himself blames the attention on his marriage to that, though it sealed his political fortunes.
“I consider all those complaining about this issue as detractors, because since 1999 … many people have been waging different kind of wars against me,” he said.
But those who have brought the allegations against Yerima are struggling not to make it a religious debate in a nation where killings over faith still happen. The Senate is investigating Yerima over allegedly breaking the law, while other agencies are examining whether he illegally brought the child bride into the country.
“He’s breached the law. It’s not about faith,” said Iheoma Obibi, executive director of Alliances for Africa, a human rights group. “In the campaign with the sisters from the north, we’ve been very careful not to address this in the religious situation.”
The whereabouts of the Egyptian girl remain unknown.
“She should be in school,” Obibi said. “She shouldn’t be rolling off your bed.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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