2015 Election Will Be Better Than 2011 - Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has given a firm commitment to the international community that the 2015 elections will be freer and fairer than the 2011 general elections.
 Speaking at a reception for the diplomatic corps in Nigeria, President Jonathan called for international support for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to realize the goal of surpassing the benchmark attained in 2011.
The cocktail reception on the lawns of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, is an annual ritual during which the president interacts with the diplomatic corps in Nigeria.
The president used the occasion to intimate the diplomats on preparations towards the 2015 general elections and to assure them on his determination to set a benchmark for free and fair elections.
“The general elections will take place early next year but the processes that will lead to the elections will commence this year. Parties will select their candidates through primaries this year, campaigns will commence this year, so this year will be full of activities. And I know that there is some apprehension with the elections.
“Let me reassure you that the general election that will come up next year will be better than the elections you witnessed in 2011. As we progress into the year, some of these tensions will come down.
“At the beginning of the electoral processes in most countries, especially developing nations, tensions use to be quite high even in developed countries. That is what we are witnessing now, but all these will come down. We will make sure that we maintain peace and security and that elections are conducted in the manner that will be seen as free and fair by everybody”, he said.
He told the diplomats that “I am placing before you to communicate to your organisations and countries that we still need your assistance to make sure that the INEC conducts elections that are even better than the ones they did in 2011.”
On global terrorism, the President said national and global development was being hampered by the menace of terrorism, adding that in 2014, sustained efforts through dialogue and other means must be mounted against terrorism.
On the forthcoming national confab, Jonathan said it was imperative since Nigerians feel that the 1999 Constitution that was midwifed by the military and still in place today, was not properly and fully deliberated upon or screened by the people

REVEALED: Why Jonathan Fired Nigeria's Army Chiefs

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, sent packing his service chiefs and appointed new ones in their place.

Investigation conducted by a national daily revealed that the President's became necessary because of the cold war going on among the service chiefs, which has affected the counter-insurgency war in the Northeast against the Boko Haram sect. There were reports that the then chief of defence staff, Admiral Ibrahim and some of the service chiefs were having issues. This had led to the then chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Ihejirika’s (who had been after his job) scheming against him and in the process, hijacking the prosecution of the war against terrorism.
According to a reliable source, when President Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, the CDS was mandated to preside over the prosecution. “But since it is the army that constituted most of the Joint Task Force operation team, the Army Council wanted to be in charge and this was allowed by the Presidency. The JTF was sacked; the army chief took over the war and set up the 7 Division of the army in Maiduguri. Although Ihejirika claimed setting up the 7 Division would bring the war to an end, it has not.”
Another source said whenever there was a victory over the insurgents, the army, through the 7 Division claimed the victory and this did not go down well with other security agencies like the Nigerian Air Force who are also deeply involved in the operations.
Another security source also disclosed that Ezeoba, though relatively new on the seat, was removed as a result of the seemingly endless oil theft in the Niger Delta where he hails from.
On why the president did not wait for NASS approval of the new service chiefs as directed by the Federal High Court in Abuja, a source said that it was due to the sensitivity of security and for political expediency.
The special adviser on media however said that Jonathan had briefed the leadership of the National Assembly before appointing the service chiefs.

Obasanjo Worsened Nigeria’s Problem By Imposing A Sick Man As President – Pastor Tunde Bakare

Convener of Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Wednesday said former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration raised the bar of corruption in the country, notwithstanding the ex-President’s “supposed achievements” in office.
Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly stated this while speaking in Lagos as the guest lecturer at the 10th Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture/Symposium, organised by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association.
The event, with the theme, ‘Nigeria at centenary: A nation still in bondage?,’ was chaired by former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami (retd.).
Justice Salami at the occasion also called for the separation of the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria from that of the Chairman of the National Judicial Council.
The Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture/ Symposium by the Ikeja NBA, which started in 2004, is organised to celebrate the virtues of the late legal icon, who later died on September 5, 2009 at 71.
In his lecture, Bakare said Obasanjo raised the bar of corruption to an unimaginable level.
He said, “Media was censored, outspoken critics were targeted and judicial decisions were subjected to executive interpretations. Meanwhile, Obasanjo himself raised the mountain of corruption to an unimaginable level.
“As apathy set in among the electorate, General Obasanjo, indignant that he could not foist third term agenda on Nigeria, imposed sick president on the nation through a fraudulent election, I beg your pardon, selection, overseen by Prof. Maurice Iwu.”
He said Obasanjo’s supposed achievement in office had no significant impact on the people’s lives.
Bakare, who expressed support for “a people-driven” national conference, said the atmosphere of abundance created when Obasanjo assumed office in 1999, provided a breeding ground for personal aggrandisement across government levels.
The Congress for Progressive Change presidential running mate in the 2011 election said, “The atmosphere of abundance provided the breeding ground for personal aggrandisement as politicians, from the Presidency to the state and local governments, helped themselves to the nation’s resources.
“Then, complacency set in as General Obasanjo, satisfied with his supposed achievements, which however did not reflect significantly in the living condition of the average Nigerian, sought to perpetuate himself in power and so unleashed the machinery of state against perceived enemies among the political class.”
Bakare suggested as a way forward that the Federal Government’s proposed national conference must be made to a people-driven constitutional conference where the defects in the nation’s federal structure could be corrected in a new constitution that truly belonged to the people.
While responding to questions after the lecture he said “Justice Ayo Salami is a victim of defective federal structure”.
Meanwhile Obasanjo’s spokesman, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye, on Wednesday declined to comment but said all comments be directed to the ex-President himself.
“Please meet Baba himself. I cannot say anything on that.

Tukur’s Successor: Patience Jonathan Schemes To Install Her Candidate, SEE Who It Is

As the battle to replace the embattled chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur continues, Dame Patience Jonathan, first lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is said to have a preferred candidate for the position.
The candidate that Patience is reportedly scheming to install as Tukur’s successor is the current minister of transport, Sen. Idris Umar from Borno State.
Tukur was said to have submitted his resignation letter to President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, but he denied it while speaking to State House correspondents.
The first lady’s choice of Umar has however been criticised by some leaders of the PDP who are of the view that she was part of the trouble in the PDP.
The source said: “We have been on this struggle for long, even before the G-5 governors made good their threat to dump the PDP; but each time we tried to effect it, we were always hitting the rocks because the president’s wife was convinced that it was only Tukur who could deliver her husband in 2015.
“And, unfortunately, there are some close aides of the president who, in connivance with the chairman, were always drumming it to her ears that those who want Tukur out were indeed after the president; all these are tissues of lies that actually prolonged the ultimate decision.
“But, again, even with his resignation, there is yet another challenge that is now threatening the unity of the PDP, and it is the influence of the president’s wife who again insists on Senator Idris Umar, the transport minister, to be made chairman. She has reached out to almost all those who matter in the party to support Umar but we will not bow to this because it is high time Her Excellency was counselled to be circumspect in the affairs of the PDP.”
However, the final decision on who takes over from Tukur would rest on the National Executive Committee (NEC) which meets today.
Prince Uche Secondus, the deputy national chairman,  would take over the leadership of the party in acting capacity, if the option to immediately pick Tukur’s replacement from his zone fails.

We Have Zero Tolerance For Corruption, Any Policeman Caught Is On His Own - CP

he Commissioner of Police in charge of Ogun State Command, Ikemefuna Okoye, says any policemen in the state that engages in corruption and other acts capable of tarnishing the image of the force is “on his own” and would face the consequence.
Okoye said policemen in the state had moved beyond acts of corruption and instead, were set to promote modern policing in the state.
The commissioner spoke during a training workshop for some policemen in the state.
It was organised by the command, in conjunction with Destiny Development Initiative, a Non-Governmental Organisation, a statement by the state command’s spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said on Wednesday.
Okoye, who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, said, “We have zero tolerance for corruption and incivility in this command. Anybody who engages in them and other acts capable of tarnishing the image of the force is on his own and would be punished accordingly.
“You are advised to concentrate and grab the knowledge needed for efficiency and ideological perspectives for promoting modern policing in Nigeria in line with the philosophy of the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar.”
The one-week training was said to have been organised to enhance efficiency and good service delivery in the state.
Adejobi said the training, which started on Monday, would end on Friday, adding that the command planned to train over 5,000 personnel on rotational basis.
He said the topics at the workshop included team building, coping with job transfer, attitude and behavioural management, result-oriented communication, leadership styles and principles of public relations.
Adejobi added, “The command has made necessary plans to organise more than 20 training workshops for its officers and men in 2014 to promote effectiveness and efficiency in policing Ogun State in particular and Nigeria in general.”

President Jonathan Gathers Arms Ahead Of 2015 - Northern Nigeria Traditional Rulers

The Northern Elders' Forum (NEF) have yesterday raised the concerns that President Goodluck Jonathan might be gathering arms for unknown reasons ahead of the 2015 general election.

At the meeting with the Northern Traditional Rulers Council in Kaduna, Kaduna State, the NEF stated they are opposing relocation of sophisticated weapons to Southern parts of the country.
The group have also alleged President Jonathan is having secret agenda in choosing to convoke a national conference.
The group's spokesman Solomon Darlong told the Hausa Service of the Voice of America in Abuja that they support only a Sovereign National Conference the outcome of which will uphold and determine the corporate existence of Nigeria.

Furthermore, Darlong also maintained that the North is being short-changed and victimized in the Federal civil service as it accounts for only 16 percent of the total workforce. He said NEF are against injustice, and divisive politics towards Northeners aimed to win elections.
"And we want the national conference to hold after 2015 elections but if they said it must be, then we want sovereign conference whose recommendations will bind on the country," he stressed.
The traditional rulers held consultations behind closed doors under the leadership of the Sokoto Sultan, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar. He was quoted as saying that the region must be frank and sincere in handling the problems confronting it.
It would be recalled that in his famous December 2, 2013, letter to President Jonathan, former President Olusegun Obasanjo made the same disturbing claim as the Northern traditional rulers.
"Allegation of keeping over 1000 people on political watch list rather than criminal or security watch list and training snipers and other armed personnel secretly and clandestinely acquiring weapons to match for political purposes like Abacha and training them where Abacha trained his own killers, if it is true, it cannot augur well for the initiator, the government and the people of Nigeria," he wrote.

2015: Only God Knows Who Becomes Leaders – Obasanjo

Ahead of another general elections in the country , Former President Olusegun Obasanjo Tuesday has said only God knows who becomes leaders.
He urged Christians to keep “fasting and praying” for God to see the country through its sundry challenges.
The former President who spoke in his Abeokuta residence when the leadership of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria(PFN), Dr Felix Omobude, paid him a courtesy visit.
He expressed confidence that regardless of what the present challenges of the country are, God would see Nigerians through. Obasanjo said early in his life as a military man, he had seen the country witnessed many turbulent eras and that just as everybody had thought the end was certain, God in his benevolence saw Nigeria through the ups and down.
He said Nigeria is a “God’s project” and has kept her as one indivisible entity despite the experience of war among other challenging problems plaguing her. Obasanjo said :”If there is anything that I would ask of you, it is that you should never stop fasting and praying for Nigeria I always say that I’m an incurable optimist about this country.
“In my short span of life, I have seen a few unexpected things in this country when we thought that the end would just happen, but God made us to scale through. “I personally never thought we would have a leader like (late Sanni) Abacha in this country, I was a victim(of his despotism) but God saw us through that situation.
“There is no situation we see or worry about that God will not see us through. That is my believe and that is what gives me confidence, it gives me courage, it gives me the ability to work for the country’s unity.
“No matter what is happening, as me and the country, all will be well. And those of you who believe all will be well for Nigeria should continue to shout Hallelujah.
God has done it for us.” In his remarks, Omobude who arrived Obasanjo’s home in company of PFN leadership in the state as well as pastors described Obasanjo as a “special treasure to Nigeria” who would continue to be pivotal in the affairs of the country.
Omobude however, assured that the PFN would not relent in its calling to pray for the peace, unity and progress of Nigeria, saying that is part of their pastoral duties to the country and its leaders.

Breaking News: PDP Chairman Bamanga Tukur Resigns

ABUJA – AFTER months of intrigues and political maneuvering ,embattled National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Wednesday bowed to pressure and resigned his position.

A source told Vanguard that Tukur has tendered his letter of resignation to President Goodluck Jonathan, who is expected to read the letter to members of the National Caucus when they reconvene at 6 pm.
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PDP Crisis: Nobody, Not Even Jonathan Can Force Me To Resign – Tukur

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took a turn for the worse on Monday as the embattled National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, declared that he cannot be forced to resign, not even by President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said since he was elected at a convention, he can only be removed through the same process and not through a political gang-up.
In a three-paragraph statement entitled “Convention, Not Jonathan Can Remove Me”, which he personally signed and issued to journalists in Abuja, Tukur also dismissed media reports that the president had asked him to resign from his position, stressing that the rumour was being planted by those he described as being in the opposition.
Tukur said, “I am an elected National Chairman, I have my certificate of return, I cannot resign. The convention brought me, so it has to take the convention that brought me for me to resign.
“So, not even the President can ask me to resign. Remember, some members of the National Working Committee were asked to go recently because the election that brought them was flawed. So, Mr. President cannot thread that route again”, he said.
Tukur also maintained that he had not been accused of breaching the party’s constitution and that no one had successfully proved any allegation of wrongdoing against him.
Information Nigeria reports that Tukur’s fate will be decided at a National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the PDP slated for Thursday.

Centenary Anniversary: Nigeria Moulded To Provide Leadership, Hope For Africa And Black Race, Says Shehu Sani

Congress, Comrade Shehu Sani, has described the 1914 amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates by the British “as the start of our trip to a bounded future”.

The civil rights activist contented that despite the enormity of challenges confronting the country which has strained our faith and tested our collective resolve, Nigerians still look to the future with renewed hope, adding that “We are a people moulded to provide leadership and hope for Africa and the black race”.
Sani, in a statement issued yesterday in commemoration of Nigeria centenary celebration said: “We have come a long way and have a long way to go. We have been through the thin of the independence struggle to the thick   of the civil war. We have been through the dreary and despicable era of colonial repression and plunder to the era of chaotic self-rule. We have been through the years of cruel military dictatorships to the years of democratic rule. We have climbed to the mountains of our fate and down to the valley of our future”.
He, therefore, implored Nigerians to extract from the bitter experiences those lessons that will keep the wheel of the future moving.
“The biggest hindrance to our country’s collective development is the persistence presence of pests and parasites in the corridors of power and nothing continually and negatively corrode our national solidity, solidarity and serenity than the ritual of manipulation of our ethnic and religious differences. We have lost so many good people to politics of ambition and self-interest, we have lost so many people to a period of senseless bloodletting and disorder, we have lost so many good people to neglect and insensitivity of the state, we have also lost so many people to a period of cruelty, infamy and abandonment”, he said.

PHOTO: Why Is Actress, Ebube Nwagbo Looking Different?

Sexy Nollywood actress, Ebube Nwagbo shared the photo below of herself online and her fans have expressed their concerns and fears over her new photo.

The beautiful actress since releasing the above picture, fans have been expressing conflicting opinions about how she looks.
Some have suggested that she looks completely different from her “original” self, while others have liked her new look and think there’s nothing wrong with it.