Rebel governors not against Jonathan’s re-election – Akpabio

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, said on Monday that the seven aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party were no longer insisting that President Goodluck Jonathan should not seek re-election in 2015.

Akpabio, who is also the Chairman, PDP Governors Forum, said this while answering questions from State House correspondents after a meeting with Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.

He clarified that the aggrieved governors, after the Sunday night peace meeting, agreed that Jonathan’s ambition to run for another term in 2015 was in order.

He described the stakeholders’ meeting as cordial with clear commitments on all sides to resolve all issues causing the crisis in the first instance.

The governor noted that one of the demands of the aggrieved group was that Jonathan should drop his ambition to contest the 2015 presidential election but which they later reconsidered since it was a personal issue.

Akpabio said the peaceful process being undertaken to resolve the crisis  had shown that the disagreement could not consume the party because no individual or groups could claim to be the PDP founder.

He said,

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Lawyers Kick Against Ozekhome Call For Amnesty To Kidnappers

Following calls for amnesty for kidnappers, by human rights lawyer Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who was just released by his abductors, Some prominent lawyers in Lagos and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Friday frowned at the call, saying it would encourage young Nigerians to take to crime.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome, who regained freedom from his abductors on Thursday after 21 days in kidnappers’ den, said that the Federal Government should grant amnesty to kidnappers, saying it would reduce crimes in the country.

However, the NBA Chairman, Lagos branch, Mr Taiwo Taiwo, said that amnesty to kidnappers would increase crimes.

Taiwo said:

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Bianca denies dating Femi Fani-Kayode •I did not lie against her

Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has dismissed as a lie the claim by the wife to the late Ikemba of Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Bianca, that he never knew her.

In a statement by Mr. Bisi Lawal on his behalf yesterday (Friday), the former minister insisted that the former beauty queen’s claim was false.

Fani-Kayode was reacting to a newspaper advertorial where Bianca threatened to sue him for mentioning her name in his article.

Bianca claimed in the report that she had never met the former minister in her life.

Reacting to the claim, Fani-Kayode said,

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Is President Jonathan Afraid Of Contesting Against Buhari?

Rather than focus on how they can provide infrastructure for Nigerians, the Presidency is suggesting who and who should be the presidential candidate for the opposition party, APC? 
The Presidency has said that if the newly registered All Progressives Congress picks Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan will defeat him in 2015.

My concern is; could it be that the Presidency want the APC to field a candidate that would defeat President Jonathan or they are indirectly exposing the phobia they have for General Buhari?

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, in a chat with Punch, said: “As far as that merger is concerned, the calculation of the Congress for Progressive Change elements is that Buhari will stand for the election. If he stands for the election, it is a walkover for the PDP; so, we are praying that they field Buhari.”

Anyway, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin of the APC has reacted. He said:
“Putting Buhari and President Jonathan side by side is like putting light and darkness together. Buhari is head and shoulder above Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who is occupying the nation’s highest seat. “It is Nigerians who will determine who will win the 2015 election, but we know that in a free and fair election, Jonathan does not stand a chance against Buhari... We have said it that the PDP will be in the opposition as from 2015.”Nigerians should be allowed to have the final say on who becomes their president when the time comes.Posted byOlu Famousat11:32 AMEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookReactions: 8 comments:

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Eddie Iroh: On Kabiru Turaki’s ill-advised tirade against the media

Turaki launched a tirade against the media, the very institution he needs more than they need him to bring assurance and reassurance to a jittery populace.

As many will testify, I hardly dwell on persons in my occasional interventions on this page. My reason is that there are so many issues of concern to all of us to worry about, for one to dwell on individuals and personalities, even though we know that in nearly all cases it is individuals and their actions that underlie issues. But on this occasion I will make an exception.

First let me give The Honourable Kabiru Turaki his full, mouthful title. He is the Minister of Special Duties and Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue, and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North. Now not only is Turaki’s title fulsome, his responsibility in the resolution of the crisis in our national security is serious, strategic and critical to our survival as a corporate entity. I have no reason to believe that Turaki is not fully aware of this. Indeed I believe he must be aware that he is one of a handful of ministers in the federal cabinet whose performance or lack of it will determine the fate of the Jonathan administration. In this category of strategic ministers are Power, the Economy, and Works, among others. But few would disagree that without security; there would not be a conducive environment for the other desirable ends to be achieved. There has to be a safe and secure Nigeria for national development, for transformation, to take place.

It is in this context that I reacted with horror when I read the cantankerous altercation that Turaki engaged in with newsmen last week. According to both newspaper and online reports, newsmen had, quite within the bounds of their constitutional and professional duties, asked Chairman Turaki if he had made contact with the Boko Haram Kingpin, Shekarau. I believe this question was in the context of rumour that the chief terrorist had been killed or captured. Let us quickly recognise two things. First is that the question is totally legitimate because rumour is dangerous and damaging especially in times of crisis and national emergency. And rumour thrives where there is no reliable information. As my old friend Ken Mackenzie once wrote, sitting on the safety valve does not make for safety. But that is only one half of the story. The other half is that Turaki, considering the sensitivity of his task, does not have indeed has no obligation, to answer the questions from the journalists. At least not in the manner they put it or even the answer they wanted. And there is no contradiction here.

But Turaki’s handling of what should have been a simple response left me wondering whether he truly recognises the crucial link between his work and the mood of the nation in general and the affected areas of the North in particular. Admittedly I see no reason why Turaki should disclose the inner details of his efforts to achieve his objective. That kind of accountability is his responsibility to the president who appointed him. Every fair-minded Nigerian, including the reporters who asked the question should have no problem with Mr. Turaki dodging the question. That is what politicians do all the time, anyway.  And this is more in Turaki’s favour because in his responsibility for Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution he has also to be a diplomat.

But confronted with inquisitive journalists probing him for understandably unanswerable questions that touch on national security, Chairman Turaki proved that he was neither a politician nor a diplomat.  He could unleash an armoury of the good work his committee was doing, their expectation that peace can and will one day be achieved in the affected areas, and draw attention to what the security forces are doing to win the hearts and minds of the citizens of the area, – you know, take the opportunity to reassure the populace while dodging the sensitive question. Turaki did nothing of the sort. Instead he dug into his armoury, brought out an assault rifle – and shot both himself and his committee on the foot! Turaki launched a tirade against the media, the very institution he needs more than they need him to bring assurance and reassurance to a jittery populace.

In a bizarre outburst Turaki challenged the media to show what contribution they have made to fight terrorism, and practically accused the press of siding with the enemy. It also left me wondering what newspaper Turaki has been reading, if any at all. As a member of the Editorial Board of THISDAY, that paper has supported the state of emergency even when some of us found some contradiction between that and the need for dialogue. Similarly his committee has enjoyed unequivocal support. While I do not and would not want to hold brief for any media organisation that may have an axe to grind on the Boko Haram issue, I believe that the media have by and large been on the side of Jonathan and his administration on this issue because nothing unites a nation more than the security of the homeland anywhere in the world.
But what shocked me in this more than any was Turaki’s concept of communicating with the citizen. In his angry confrontation with media men Turaki blurted:

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