I won’t share govt money to anybody – el-Rufai

The Kaduna State Governor-elect, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, says it will be a wishful thinking for anybody to believe that he will share public fund to individuals or groups in the state after May 29.

He said his administration would not condone the sharing of public funds to anybody in the name of godfather or group, no matter how highly placed.  Rather than doing that, el-Rufai said the state resources would be judiously utilised for the development of the state and the people.

This was just as the governor-elect said that the debt profile of the state would run into N100bn before the May 29 hand over date.

El-Rufai noted that as the administration of the Peoples Democratic Party ended in May, both at the federal and state levels, what both the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari and himself needed was prayers from Nigerians to succeed.

The former Minister of the FCT added that the government of President Goodluck Jonathan and that of Governor Mukhtar Yero had become so bad that they had to obtain loans to pay salaries.

According to el-Rufai, Nigerians should stop congratulating him and the President-elect but should rather pity them and pray for them to succeed because of the “bankrupt economy” they would inherit.

El-Rufai spoke at a reception organised for him by the Kaduna Peoples Association at the Arewa House, Kaduna on Saturday.

The governor-elect , who told the gathering that the state, led by Yero, had incurred N90bn debt, noted that before the May 29 hand over date, the debt might increase to N100bn.

Meanwhile, at a prayer session for them by the APC Yoruba Political Forum in Kaduna State on Saturday, el-Rufai insisted that the incoming government needed nothing but prayers from Nigerians.

The governor-elect said,

“When people call to congratulate me or come to congratulate me and General Buhari, I always tell them, thank you, but what we need is your sympathy and prayers.

“This is because, myself and Buhari are taking over bankrupt governments; it is so bad that the Jonathan administration is finding it difficult to pay salaries. In fact, they had to obtain loan to pay salaries.

“In the case of Kaduna State, the Peoples Democratic Party’s government has incurred debt to the tune of over N90bn and this may get to N100bn before May 29. Therefore, what you have done is exactly what we need to succeed.”

El-Rufai urged other elected officers to strive hard to deliver the dividend of democracy to the electorates. He warned that if they (elected officers) failed in the discharge of their duties to the people, they would be voted out like the PDP come 2019.  He assured the people that in his administration, there would be no discrimination among indigenes or settlers while noting that the Yoruba community had lived peacefully with their hosts over the years in the state.

Punch

Obiano felicitates with Obi of Onitsha

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has congratulated the Obi of Onitsha and Chairman, Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, on his 74th birthday. Obiano, in a statement in Awka on Monday, thanked God for the gift of Achebe to humanity and the state.


He said it was with a sense of pride and admiration that he sought to share in the joy of the anniversary. According to him, the premier traditional ruler belongs to the class of those who not only attained great heights but live to be widely celebrated. Obiano said the record of Achebe’s service in the oil industry where he rose to the height of his career was inspiring; just as the seamless switch to royal leadership had been remarkable.

He observed that the Onitsha community in particular and Anambra in general have been better for it in a climate of peace and cultural renaissance. The governor said it was a source of pleasure that at 74, Achebe was strong and focused as ever, suggesting that the best was yet to come from him. He restated the commitment of the state government to a robust partnership with the traditional institution for the benefit of the people. Obiano prayed God to grant the monarch good health and protection, while wishing him many more happy returns.

Two good must watch CrossTalks about the Middle-East

Chris Attoh writes lovely message to celebrate wife's Birthday.

WoW!! I go love oh !

Happy Birthday …

EU, US denounce Morsi death sentence

The European Union and the United States have denounced the death sentences handed to deposed president Mohamed Morsi and more than 100 others by an Egyptian court.

The court on Saturday delivered the death sentences for their role in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

The EU said the penalty stemmed from a flawed trial and was “cruel and inhumane”.

“The court decision to seek the death penalty… was taken at the end of a mass trial that was not in line with Egypt’s obligations under international law,” the EU’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

Mogherini added that Egypt had to guarantee defendants’ rights to a fair trial and to an independent investigation. Her statement said the EU believed the sentence would be revised upon an appeal.

The US expressed “deep concern” after the verdict.

“We have consistently spoken out against the practice of mass trials and sentences, which are conducted in a manner that is inconsistent with Egypt’s international obligations and the rule of law,” an unnamed state department official said on Sunday.

Noting that they were preliminary sentences, the official added: “We continue to stress the need for due process and individualised judicial processes for all Egyptians in the interests of justice.”

The court’s verdict on Saturday has already prompted immediate condemnations from Amnesty International and the Turkish president.

Many of those sentenced on Saturday were tried in absentia.

The sentences are subject to legal appeal and the court will pronounce its final decision on June 2, since under Egyptian law, death sentences are referred to the grand mufti, the government’s interpreter of Islamic law.

Enough of your hate & antagonism on my person - Gen Olukolade writes Oby Ezekwesili, BBOG organizers

Representative of The Defense Headquarters, Gen Chris Olukolade has conveyed a letter to the convener of the Bring Back Our Girls group, Dr Oby Ezekwesili and different individuals from the group, Mrs Hadiza Bala Usman and Bukky Shonibare, speaking to them to stop what he termed the “disdain and careless hostility” the group has propelled on his individual since the advocacy for the abducted Chibok young ladies began in April a year ago.

Gen Chris Olukolade, in the letter, expressed that he had a life after the military and would be reasonable for the group to “work only with the end goal of devastating my notoriety and years of submitted and unblemished record of administration to my nation.

Continue reading bellow.

The letter in part reads;

“Being in the forefront of the efforts to disseminate information is a job I do with passion and sense of responsibility. I do not deserve the hatred and mindless antagonism your organization has continued to unleash on me. I certainly have a life out of here and it is unfair to work purely for the purpose of destroying my reputation and years of committed and unblemished record of service to my country. Despite the regular focus and disdainful reference to all communication from me as prompted by those who are so determined to ruin other people’s name and career, I have maintained the restraint required of me both by training and upbringing. Indeed, I am also conscious of the enormous power you wield.

The belief is that your organisation has the determination to ruin the name, career, and reputation of some targeted military officers among whom I have been specifically marked for such cruel treatment. I can only leave such matter to God and the good judgement of people who read or hear you. I am so sure I will enjoy the blessing of being vindicated at last. Meanwhile, I wish your team will consider my point here and spare me and the Nigerian military the undue attacks we have continued to be subjected to in the name of monitoring or calling for accountability.

We call for fairness as against the present campaign that is fraught with calumny and promotion of one man’s malice against us and anything government. I will not be surprised if this appeal draws more or fresh vitriol from your organisation, especially at the prompting of the hawks in your midst who are the disciples of that prominent member and proponent of the malicious campaign. This is more likely, considering the determination and unhidden hatred of those who have been acting with a view to drawing me out for a street fight. I can assure you that I will not react or join issues under whatever provocation. I will be leaving all such sworn enemies to their conscience and God if they believe in Him at all. To you as an organisation, please save your platform from being used to perpetrate this injustice as inspired by the prominent and phony member of your BringBackOurGirls campaign.” he said

Acknowledging that the group and the military can work together to achieve more result to finding the girls, Gen Olukolade appealed to the group to stop its “hate campaign”. He denied claims that the military was engaging in propaganda in any form

“Indeed, there is still room for more merciful and robust engagement or interface between you and the government and security agencies in the drive to secure the return of our girls. Enough of undue hate campaign and antagonism. I have followed your activities with due interest. I personally have nothing against your organisation or its advocacy concerning efforts to recover our girls from captivity of terrorists. I believe that someday, both your efforts and that of the Nigerian military will be duly understood and appreciated. It is unfortunate that some have sought to equate our efforts to give accounts of activities on the nation’s war on terror as propaganda or cover-up. This is not true. We know the difference. The fact is that the battle situation around could be very fluid and susceptible to rapid changes. The situations around the battle could also change accordingly in an inexplicable manner. This trend is also compounded by various perspectives that have been employed to seriously polarise the understanding of the situation along the line of all kinds of sentiments and biases prevailing in the environment. We cannot engage in a shouting match with those who have other motives. We can only try to explain situation to the best of our understanding and available information. The report we present on situations are based on the available information and observance of the elements of propriety, security, policy and accuracy, which has remained our guiding principles. It is really not true as you have been made to assert repeatedly that the Defence Headquarters and myself are the only sources of information on the operation.

The sweeping judgement and insistence that we must do things in a particular way or your claim that we do not follow best practices as well as your remarks comparing our approach to that of other armies is very unfair. Indeed, you must know that no two military operations are the same, and the conduct must endeavour to reflect the realities and peculiarities being confronted in the field. Your allegations or claim that we lack transparency is definitely not well informed neither is it being expressed in good faith.” He stated that no one was being restrained from going to the restive areas to carry out their independent verification of facts presented by the military.

He said the only concern of the military is the safety of anyone who wish to carryout such exercise “Be assured that nobody has been restrained from accessing the mission area in the ongoing operation except when there is clear case of undue interference with safety and operational environment. Infact, occasionally, we conduct the media on tour of the operational area. Our concern remains the issue of safety for anyone in search of information. Much as we want to assist genuine seekers of information, we do not feel obliged to devote scarce resources to satisfying the fancy of pleasure seeking adventurers or the curious and mindless critics who just want to roam around with questionable motives. We should not be blackmailed into compromising the security of information and operations in the name of undefined idea of transparency. We have strived to keep the populace informed in the best way possible in the circumstances we find ourselves.”

Source: The Nation Online

3,900 migrants, others arrested as South Africa begins crackdown

More than 3,900 people, including 1,650 migrants, have been arrested in South Africa during a police crackdown following April’s deadly xenophobic violence, authorities have said.

“We are satisfied that we have stabilised the situation and further loss of life has been prevented,” the government said in a statement released on Sunday.

“Security agencies continue to work around the clock to protect both foreign nationals and South African citizens against any attacks.”

Some 2,260 South Africans have also been arrested on a variety of charges since the operation began.

“We will, in the next weeks and months, accelerate our efforts to take back public buildings that have been hijacked, either by foreign nationals or by South Africans; rid our townships and villages of drugs… that are destroying the lives of many young people,” the government statement said.

The crackdown came after at least seven people were killed as mobs hunted down migrant workers from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other African countries, forcing hundreds of terrified families to abandon their homes.

The arrests of the so-called “illegal” migrants have prompted concerns that the government is fanning xenophobic sentiment, though authorities have denied that the operation targeted foreigners.

In April, authorities launched a joint operation between the police, Ministry of Home Affairs and the army, targeting undocumented foreign nationals across the country. Human Rights groups and activists have described Operation Myala, that has resulted in at least 750 arrests so far, as “state xenophobia”.

The police operation was strongly criticised during a rally on Saturday in a migrant neighbourhood in Johannesburg.

Xenophobia: SA repatriates 5,645 immigrants

South Africa has repatriated 5,645 foreigners since the end of xenophobic attacks in late April, the government said yesterday. A Minister in the Presidency, Jeff Radebe, who said this in a statement, added that the foreigners chose to leave South Africa voluntarily.

Malawians made up the bulk of the foreigners, numbering 3,506, followed by Zimbabweans (1,440) Mozambicans (682), while Tanzanians had (17). Mr. Radebe said the repatriation process started soon after the latest spate of xenophobic violence ended in April.

“The Department of Social Development continues to work closely with other relevant departments, as well as civil society organisations to provide support to displaced foreign nationals,” Mr. Radebe said. The official also said over 1,000 foreigners received trauma counseling.

According to the statement, 10 women with children under 12 months of which three had just given birth were flown to their respective countries on their insistence. Mr. Radebe further said the department would continue to do its work to ensure that the underlying socio-economic issues that gave rise to tensions between South Africans and foreign nationals were dealt with.

He also defended the current Operation Fiela (meaning “sweep’’ in Sesotho language) launched after the end of the xenophobia attacks. He said the operation was meant to address the security challenges in a structured and coordinated manner.

(NAN)

See back in the day Photo of President-elect Buhari

Buhari together with his wife, Aisha pictured just after they got married on February 2nd 1989.

Nigeria police responds to alleged ‘Human Flesh Restaurant’ in Anambra story

A few days ago a couple of foreign  media including BBC, AFP and Daily Mail distributed a story asserting a Nigerian eatery in Anambra was close down for cooking human fresh flesh.


The Anambra State Police Command reacted to the story yesterday Sunday May 17th, saying nothing of such happened. The State’s Police Public Relations Officer, Uche Eze, said;

“There was nothing like that. I advise you to ignore that report. It’s not true and it did not happen. We don’t have such record. It’s embarrassing. I think we definitely deserve an apology because this story has already been sold out to a huge international audience who made so many unnecessary comments about Nigeria and Nigerians” she told Punch

N/Assembly management asks lawmakers to vacate offices today

The National Assembly bureaucracy has asked members of the House of Representatives to pack all their personal belongings out of their offices latest Monday, May 18 (today), with just 17 days to the end of their tenure.

Findings by The PUNCH on Sunday showed that an internal memo from the management conveyed the directive to the 360 outgoing lawmakers.

Senior legislative aides and other non-civil service members of staff in the lawmakers’ offices reportedly received a similar memo.

“They started receiving the memo on Wednesday last week, specifically asking them to move their personal effects out of the offices by May 18 (today).

“Many of them actually started complying almost immediately, particularly members who are not coming back to be part of the 8th Assembly.

“I have seen a couple of lawmakers’ aides moving personal property out of the offices since the memo came in,” a National Assembly source informed The PUNCH in Abuja on Sunday.

More than 233 of the current members will be out of the House by June 5, though the memo was addressed to both returning and non-returning ones.

One official, who did not want to be named, claimed that the directive was “procedural” and meant to prepare the offices for re-allocation in the weeks ahead.

The official explained, “We have to prepare the offices because there is a lot of work ahead to be done.

“We are welcoming a new House. Most of the offices will be re-allocated. The name tags will change. Some ranking members will have to change offices.

“The same thing will apply to the sitting arrangements in the chambers. If we don’t start work now, we will not meet up with the schedule before the inauguration of the 8th Assembly.”

The official added that, “with or without memo,” it was expected that members would start moving their belongings out of the offices since the tenure was over.

When contacted, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, confirmed knowledge of the memo, but he dismissed it as “nothing serious.”

He said, “That one (memo) is nothing serious. I think it has to do with some renovations or repairs that they have to do in some of the offices.

“It is just to say, ‘give some space for the repairs’, a normal thing that happens.”

Pic: Annie Idibia & her daughters step out in corresponding outfits

Annie and her little girls looked exquisite in coordinating outfits as they ran errands yesterday May 17th. Annie’s mum is pictured on the far right.

Pics: Kaduna state Council of Chiefs pay courtesy visit toPresident-elect Buhari

The Kaduna State Council of Chiefs drove by HRH, the Emir of Zazzau, Alh Shehu Idris paid a graciousness visit to President-elect  General Buhari in Abuja today May 17th.

More pics bellow.

Cities In Sambisa And Myths Of Booby-traps

With shallow graves of unveiled bones, rivers of shed blood, wounded homes and don’t-ask-for-my-dad babies of the living martyr mothers of Sambisa, it is a tale that will never be untold.

Nigeria’s bloody six years; the never ending cold days and treacherous nights of 2010-2015. The long and short of this tale is that Jonathan and his Army chiefs lied to us. We were duped, fooled, defrauded and betrayed.

Boko Haram were never ghosts as Jonathan claimed. They were never an enemy he and the Nigerian army could not pinpoint. As we now know from videos of Sambisa and numbers of liberated abductees, Boko Haram established cities and towns in Sambisa. Far from being ghosts, they were a brazen nation hiding in clear aerial sight. Nigerian air force jets and drones over the years took pictures and shot videos of inhabited expanses with camps that included buildings and hundreds of vehicles with human activity rivalling Nigeria’s fairly populated cities. The entire global intelligence departments saw these densely populated fossil fuel powered towns in Sambisa holding hundreds of Nigerian prisoners and realized Nigeria was in a mess too big for them to amend without sacking the country’s lying military and civilian ‘leadership.’ In disgust they resigned from helping to “bring back our girls” and did the best they should: denied Jonathan guns Boko Haram confidently relied on.

Was it booby traps or booby towns he meant?

And as we free the hundreds of pregnant, irreversibly abused, violated and abandoned Nigerian women from the cities of Sambisa and kill all the escaping male youth also imprisoned there, not being able to tell which male is ours or forcibly conscripted to theirs after abandoning them so long, we ask Jonathan, Ihejirika, Minimah and Badeh, where are the booby-traps you spoke of when you refused to bring back our girls and denied our brave and determined ex-servicemen, vigilantes, hunters and Civilian-JTF the permission to go into the cities of Sambisa and rescue our Chibok princesses?

Dr. Peregrino Brimah; http://ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something] Email: drbrimah@ends.ng Twitter: @EveryNigerian

Islamic State Captures Iraq's Ramadi

The Islamic State jihadist group has captured the central Iraqi city of Ramadi in its entirety amid disputed claims from US and local officials, according to Monday’s media reports.

A day earlier in neighboring Syria, US special forces killed a senior ISIL official and captured his wife in a clandestine ground operation. Abu Sayyaf was purported to have been in charge of the group’s illicit oil trade, which is believed to be the extremist group’s main source of revenue.

“The city has fallen,” Muhannad Haimour, Anbar province governor’s spokesman, was quoted by the New York Times.

He added that over 500 civilians and security personnel died in the fight for the provincial capital some 60 miles west of Baghdad.

ISIL claimed late Sunday that it seized Ramadi from Iraq’s security forces, but the US Defense Department that monitors ongoing events was unable to immediately confirm the militant group’s reports.”The situation remains fluid and contested,” the outlet cited Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steven Warren, as saying.

Other reports quoting local officials stated that Iraqi troops were abandoning their positions en masse despite Prime Minister Haider Abadi’s appeals for them to await reinforcement from Shia militias.

Ramadi has been the hotspot of clashes between the militants who seek to establish an Islamic caliphate in territories under its control and the Iraqi forces.

'Twin Peaks' Shooting in Texas Kills Nine, Several Injured

A shooting incident in the southern US state of Texas has led to a number of fatalities, local police said on Sunday.

 

 Police officers from several cities and deputies from the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office were surrounding the Twin Peaks Restaurant, in the Central Texas Market Place after several people were reported shot during a rival motorcycle gang fight, Waco police stated.

“Multiple injuries to include multiple fatalities at Twin Peaks Shooting. Officers were on scene when shooting started. No officers have been injured,” the Waco Police Department said in a statement.

According to local media reports, the armed standoff between biker gang members at a restaurant parking lot led to nine deaths, all of them presumably gang members.

Gang members were shooting at each other and officers at the scene fired their weapons, as well, Swanton said. An earlier Waco PD message advised the public to avoid the Central Texas Market Place area while authorities were investigating the incident.

Sunday afternoon’s deadly shootout reportedly occurred between three rival motorcycle gangs.

Pics: Davido buys a house in the US

Davido  posted a video on Snapchat saying he purchased a house in the U.S, possibly in Atlanta. Bravo! More photographs after bellow

"Yes, I've married another but it is not a replacement" - Gov. Adams Oshiomhole

Talking during his Thanksgiving Mass held in Auchi yesterday Sunday May 17th, Governor Adams Oshiomhole said his new wife is not a model as generally speculated  in the media. He likewise said Iara is not a swap for his late wife, Clara Oshiomhole.

See what he said bellow…

“When I read newspaper stories and they say that Comrade has married a ‘top model’ I’m like maybe it’s another person. The lady that God has directed to my path and heart to marry is not and was not a model. Of course, she looks beautiful and I understand that is why people assume that this kind of a lady must be a model but of course, she is a model in my heart and we hope and pray that we will be models in the heart of our God and I think that is the most important thing”.

“I ask you to please continue to pray for us. It is not easy. I lost my first wife and it is not possible to replace her. Yes, I have married another but it is not a replacement. You cannot replace a wife especially one you married when you were young and you were anonymous. Nobody knew you from anywhere, you had nothing, no car, no house; now, that you can never replace but I understand that under the Catholic doctrine I am entitled to have another wife which is what I am trying to do.”

“Thank you for your prayers, support and blessings that you have always showered on me and the one you conveyed this morning on me and my new wife and we ask for more and more prayers that this marriage will be my last and that God will help us, to unite us and bond us together with the blood of Jesus”

Source: Vanguard

Ini Edo shines rocking bum short on boat cruise

Ini Edo pictured hanging out with friends on a boat cruise today and shared some lovely pics of her adventure on IG.

More photos bellow.

Photos: Popular music producer buys RR for girlfriend

Producer, vocalist and lyricist Spellz of 323 Entertainment purchased a dark color Range Rover for his better half, Dije Badaki. She shared the photograph on instagram and composed.

“Whatever a man does in life if Gods favour is not involved, it will never work. thank you Lord for this, thanks to my baby too. best have ever had #spellz”.

Spellz, whose notable works include Burna Boy’s Don Gorgon and Shaydee’s Chakam, has been spoiling this Kogi state born CEO of Dehadza fashion store, silly.

I was flown out for surgery during campaigns – Mama Peace

Wife of the President,   Patience Jonathan, on Sunday disclosed that she battled with another round of ill-health   during the re-election campaigns of her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan.

Mrs Jonathan, who was flown abroad about two years ago on health grounds, said the latest   was so severe   that she had to be sneaked out of the country to Germany in January for a   major surgery.

She spoke during a farewell service in honour of the Jonathan family at the Aso Villa Chapel.

The President’s wife said before she left the German hospital after the operation, she was billed for another in a bigger hospital immediately after the elections but that God miraculously healed her.

She said after her husband lost his re-election bid, she returned to Germany for the surgery.

According to her, she was about to be taken into the theatre when doctors decided to carry out another round of checks on her.

Like her previous health challenge about two years ago,   Mrs. Jonathan   did not disclose the nature of the last ailment.

She said, “During the   last campaign period, the devil struck   again. I was in pain and was rushed to the hospital in January and the doctors told me, ‘mama, you have to go for a major operation now now.’

“What again? I asked. The campaign was still going on and I wondered how we were going to explain to Nigerians.

“You know that even when you go for medical check-up, they will be writing in newspapers, saying all sorts of things.

“I said my husband will continue with his campaign until the last day. That was how I went in for the first major operation (surgery) in the end of January.

“By God’s grace, I went for the operation (surgery) and came out. On my return from there,   I went straight to the campaign ground.

“They said to me when I was leaving the hospital: ‘mama, there is another bigger operation that you have to go in for again. This one will not be in this hospital. This hospital is too small for the type of operation you need when you come back. You have to go to a bigger hospital.’

“I said ‘ha! while   will you tear   my body again after I had done 12   operations within one month last year?

“I said my God will see me through because he created me for a purpose. I told my prayer partner to continue praying for me. I said to myself that I will never be used   for a sacrifice.

“I was booked for the operation in a bigger hospital and I was asked to go back to Nigeria and return after the campaign. They gave me a date. When I went back, I paid for everything and just when I was   to be taken into the theatre, the doctors   said, ‘let’s check her again.’

“By then, my husband had lost the election. I had packed out of the Villa. Behold! I went to four hospitals again and the thing was said to have vanished. My doctors were surprised; they didn’t believe that that could happen.”

Mrs. Jonathan recalled that many people thought it had ended for her when she went through 12 surgeries about two years ago.

She said although she was “dead,” God sent her back to complete her work.

But the President’s wife added that her husband’s electoral loss was an indication to her that she had completed the work given her by God.

She said, “I thank God for keeping me alive today. God is so wonderful. Just two years ago, I went through operations upon operations. Within one month, I passed through 12 operations.

“Some people said I was dead, yes, I was dead but God resurrected me.

“God told me, ‘my daughter, go back, I will give you a second chance, go and finish your work.’

“And since my husband lost the election, I believe God has made me to finish the work.”

Mrs. Jonathan said she would forever remain thankful to God because many people had prophesied that either her or the President would not leave the Presidential Villa alive.

She recalled that that was what happened in the case of Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who died while her husband was still in office.

She said it was gladdening that she and her husband would be leaving the Villa on May 29 hale and hearty.

Mrs. Jonathan said she would continue to thank God for His mercies because she never dreamt of becoming a wife of a deputy governor much less of a President’s wife.

She   said, “I never thought in my life that I will be First Lady. I never dreamt of being the wife of a deputy governor because my husband was not a politician. But God made it possible and God lifted us up from deputy governorship position and here we are.

“We should be grateful to God for what he has done. To me and my family, we praise God.

“To our followers, today, it might not be too good but I want them to be grateful to God because they have followed us for a long time from deputy governor, governor, Vice President to President.

“You know that no position is for a life- time. There is no permanent thing so I want you to take it in good faith that it is the will of God. You should be praising God. God is really wonderful.”

Mrs. Jonathan disclosed that some unnamed persons had been visiting her since the March 28 presidential election with the hope that they would meet her in a mourning mood.

Thereafter, Mrs. Jonathan danced forward for a special thanksgiving to God for sparing her life throughout their stay in the Villa despite her sickness.

APC disowns ministerial list

The All Progressives Congress on Sunday dismissed as mere fiction, a list of ministers being circulated by some online journalists.

According to the APC, the party has nothing to do with the said list and urged Nigerians to wait for the authentic one which would be made public through the appropriate channels.

This was contained in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja.

Mohammed said, “Nigerians should disregard these lists and await the authentic list which will be communicated through the appropriate channels at the right time.”

The APC also cautioned the media against using statements attributing actions to the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, without clarification.

The party urged the media to clarify with the authentic officials of the party and the Buhari Campaign Organisation any issue having to do with the actions of the President-elect, in order to avoid presenting falsehood as facts.

APC said, “The appeal becomes necessary following recent media reports on the actions which the President-elect will purportedly embark upon once he is sworn into office.

“Various people have been quoted in the media on what the President-elect will do or will not do once he assumes office.

“The truth is that these people do not speak for the President-elect, hence the need for the media to clarify such issues with the Chairman of the party, its National Publicity Secretary or the spokesman for the Buhari Campaign Organisation. These officials are always available to clarify issues.”

The party noted that the ongoing transition is a delicate period that fifth columnists could capitalise on to cause disaffection or overheat the polity, hence the need for all stakeholders to be extra-cautious and to put the national interest above all other interests.

Nigeria is broke, Amaechi insists

The Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has again declared that Nigeria is broke and blamed the inability of the state and others to pay workers’ salaries and pensions on the nation’s current poor financial condition.

Amaechi said that the nation’s economic condition could be noticed through the dwindling statutory monthly allocation usually received by the state from the Federal Government.

Speaking during a thanksgiving service organised by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, and his campaign outfit, the Greater Campaign Organisation in Port Harcourt on Sunday, the governor recalled that he was described as an alarmist last year when he cried out over Nigeria’s poor financial state.

Amaechi pointed out that the nation’s economy had continued to fall since he made the statement in December 2014.

“When I said sometime last year that Nigeria’s finances was in a dire strait, some people referred to me as an alarmist. Since I made that statement in December last year, the statutory allocation to the state has continued to decline.

“Now, almost all the states are finding it difficult to pay salaries. The state government owes civil servants their April salaries and pensioners’ four months’ salary arrears because the state does not have the money to pay them,” the governor said.

Amaechi explained that he decided to channel financial resources towards the completion of ongoing projects, which he promised would be completed before the end of his administration on May 29, 2015.

He said, “Some people have chosen to make an issue of the difficulty we are currently experiencing in paying the salaries of civil servants as well as the arrears of our retirees. It is not our making.

“No government will deliberately refuse to pay the salaries of its workers. We will pay as soon as we receive our share of our statutory monthly allocation from the Federal Government.

“It is not easy to joggle the payment of salaries and the implementation of capital projects that are actually geared towards developing the state, creating jobs and improving the economy of the state because more monies go into the society when you award contracts and pay the contractors on time so that they can also pay their workers on time.”

Nigerian Female Student Dreams Of Jim Iyke Marrying Her In Her Dreams

So this exceptionally intriguing dramatization happened on Jim Iyke’s IG page after he posted this photo of himself with Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State. Jim with infectious inscriptions was flaunting how much he respects the governor for his grand accomplishments in his state, just for Jackiffy to ‘interfere’. lol. Wetin Jim do these ladies?

The remark certainly got consideration of Potpourri who chose to search the young lady out. In a BBM talk with her later on, Potpourri discovered that the young lady is a Nigerian teacher in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She goes by the name Ify Jacob.

When she was asked if she had ever had any crush on Jim as many girls do, chiq bluntly replied:

    “That is where the problem is. I never had a crush on him before but all of a sudden I started having dreams that I am married to him for more than three years now. You cannot understand because you are not Jim or a pastor. I don’t like it. It is disturbing to me.”

Jonathan Is Useless, He Betrayed Me and the Entire Niger/Delta - Timipre Sylva

Former Governor of Bayelsa State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Timipre Sylva, in this interview with ADELANI ADEPEGBA of PUNCH, talks about his relationship with the Peoples Democratic Party, President Jonathan and how he betrayed him.

What is your relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha like?

I would say it’s neither here nor there. Sometimes, you think you are very good friends or brothers with some people, but it turns out that you are not really brothers or friends. That’s the way it has always been. I sometimes feel like the biblical Joseph that was sold by his brothers. That’s actually the way I feel sometimes, when I think about the way I was treated by my own people — the people I call my brothers.

You sound betrayed.

Yes, I feel betrayed by them; by President Jonathan especially.

You were removed as a governor. What was your offence and how did it feel?

Till today, I am still trying to know what my offence was. At that time, the party chairman, Abubakar Baraje, now a member of the All Progressives Party like me, said I knew the offence I committed and he apparently didn’t know. It seemed it was only I that knew the offence I committed. I don’t know the offence I committed up till today. In truth, there was no offence — somebody just wanted me out of the way because he was afraid of my rising profile and he decided to move against me. That’s all.

But why would the person be afraid of your rising profile? Did he see you as a threat?

This is politics. It’s about space. When you occupy a certain space and people see that they may not have the kind of headroom within that space for them to be active, they want to get you out of the way, especially, if they have the means of keeping you out of the way. Jonathan was President, he wanted me out of his way and he got me out of his way.

Beyond politics, do you think he had personal issues with you?

I wouldn’t really know, but I would think so because what they did was beyond politics. They didn’t just remove me, they committed moral murder. They almost killed me morally by trying to brand me as a very corrupt person and tried to charge me for corruption. They also went ahead to molest my family and me endlessly. At some point, a lot of people were afraid for my life. That cannot be politics. It must be beyond that. President Jonathan even accused me of wanting to kill him and then I was to be charged for treason. What does that mean? If I was convicted for treason, the punishment would have been death; that means President Jonathan wanted me dead. So at that point, I became very afraid for my life. It could not have been just politics, definitely.

What do you have to say about the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigation and prosecution?

Clearly, it was a witch-hunt. If you look at the status of the case today, every accused person has been discharged and acquitted. The Accountant-General of the state has been discharged; the Commissioner of Finance, who was also arraigned with me, has been discharged, leaving only me, because I was the one they wanted. No governor has access to the treasury without the Accountant-General and I am not a signatory to the state account. Therefore, if all the signatories to the account have been discharged, then why am I still being prosecuted? Of course, they wanted me and they know that the charges cannot convict me, so they want to keep the case in court to give the impression that I am being tried for corruption. As soon as my name came up for the very temporary job of transition committee, you saw all kinds of articles: ‘Oh, he is being tried for corruption,’ ‘Why did you give him this kind of position?’ They just want to keep the case alive so that I would never get anything in this country, by their own reckoning.

What is your relationship with the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan like?

I don’t have a relationship with her other than her being my First Lady at the time. There is no relationship. I mean, there is no need for any. On a lighter note, she is a married woman.

Some believe you betrayed the Niger Delta region by working against the region’s foremost son. What’s your reaction to this?

Today, I think a lot of those people think differently. I kept telling them: first, I was forced to do what I was doing. I was forced out of the party. I didn’t have any party to go to, I still have a political career and I needed space to pursue my career. Thus, I moved to the APC. I believed that Gen. (Muhammadu) Buhari was going to do a better job. I actually mentioned it to a lot of my Niger Delta brothers that there is no way we can hinge the future of the whole Niger Delta on the destiny of one person. President Jonathan is from the Niger Delta, but his destiny is not equal to the destiny of the Niger Delta. We still have a life after the Jonathan presidency and we should think about this and caution ourselves. The kind of language that was coming out of the Niger Delta from misguided elements were in bad taste in some cases and I thought we should think about our future within Nigeria beyond the Jonathan presidency and today, that day has come. I think everybody knows that what I did had a lot of merit; some traditional rulers phoned me immediately after the election to thank me for the roles I played. They said but for the roles I played, the Niger Delta and Bayelsa State, especially, would probably have been shut out of this political space completely. A lot of them really think differently now, but it’s unfortunate that many of them were living in the euphoria of having the Presidency. When you even sit down with most of them and ask, ‘what has President Jonathan done for the Niger Delta?’ they can’t tell you anything he has done. It was all sentiment. Of course, I couldn’t be moved by sentiment, apart from what Jonathan did to me personally, if he had developed the Niger Delta, I probably would have been persuaded by his performance. But in a situation where I saw practically nothing in the Niger Delta, I felt there was no need carrying on with that.

    Are you saying Jonathan disappointed the Niger Deltans?

He did, every Niger Deltan knows and a few people have said it and I don’t want to repeat what others have said. Niger Delta is actually in a worse situation today than we have ever been in our history because we have got nothing from this Presidency. Therefore, Niger Delta people, including myself, feel very betrayed.