Criticisms trailed Gov Fayose comment on "chibok girls not missing.

Ayodele Fayose

Criticisms have trailed the outburst of Governor Ayodele Fayose on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls

Fayose had said the abduction was not true, but a political instrument to vote out former President Goodluck Jonathan.

While the Boko Haram group had shown the video of the over 200 girls in captivity, a global outrage had trailed the abduction.

In a recent interview, a former British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock, said US and UK intelligence surveillance located the missing girls at the Boko Haram Forest but could not do anything as Nigerian authorities did not ask for help.

But Fayose, on Wednesday, added a twist to the abduction saga when he said that the abduction was a political strategy employed by some people.

He spoke in Ado Ekiti while declaring open a two-day workshop on capacity building among female political aspirants from Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states.

The administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan had lived in denial up till three weeks after the news of the abduction broke, saying no schoolgirl was kidnapped in Chibok.

The senator representing Osun-West senatorial district, Isiaka Adeleke, said Fayose should put himself in the shoes of the schoolgirls’ parents, adding that even former President Jonathan later admitted that the schoolgirls were kidnapped.

Adeleke, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress, said, “Fayose should not trivialise this touchy issue. The governor should use his time wisely and pray for the safe return of these girls.”

The senator representing the Osun-East senatorial district, Babajide Omoworare, called on the country’s security agencies to invite Fayose to tell Nigerians where the kidnapped schoolchildren are.

In a reaction on Thursday, Omoworare said his called for the interrogation of Fayose because the governor appeared to have classified information on the whereabouts of the girls.

He said, “Security agents must invite Fayose for us to know where the schoolgirls are. He is probably having classified information. However, if he is playing politics as usual, it is cruel to mock the girls’ parents and Nigerians who are daily in agony and hoping that someday, the girls would come back alive.

“The Buhari administration will do all it can to bring back the girls and end the mockery from people like Fayose.”

Also, a former member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Faparusi, described Fayose’s claim as a threat to national security.

Faparusi, a chieftain of the APC in Ekiti State, maintained that Fayose by the statement had insulted the sensibilities of the families of the missing girls.

He called on the security agencies to invite the governor for questioning to shed more light on his claims.

Faparusi said, “Governor Fayose has given the whole country the lead that these girls were neither missing nor dead. All we need to do is to ask him to tell the whole country where they are being kept and nothing more.

“The world-renowned activist, Malala, came to Nigeria to visit Dr Goodluck Jonathan and begged that these children must be recovered. Even after the abduction, some of these girls escaped and were later reunited with their families when Jonathan was still in the saddle.

“Could it be inferred here that the former President who is also a member of Fayose’s party, had lied against his own administration?”

A former Executive Secretary, Ayedire Local Government Council of Osun State, Gbenga Ogunkanmi, said that Nigerians should not accord Fayose attention.

In a statement by his media aide, Ismail Usman, on Thursday, Ogunkanmi said Fayose had lost the sense of dignity and integrity.

He said, “It is shocking that a person occupying the exalted position of governor could open his mouth and gush out these insensible utterances. It shows how debased our political system is. It shows that something is wrong with how our political leaders emerge.”

Also, the Lagos State chapter of the APC slammed Fayose for describing the abduction of the missing schoolgirls as a political gimmick to pull down the Jonathan administration.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday, the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Joe Igbokwe, said Fayose had subjected himself to public ridicule with his comments.

He said, “It pains me to no end that we are still providing a chance for world-class joker, Fayose, to continue to insult our intelligence. Fayose is an indictment on all of us, especially the educated people of Ekiti State.

“Fayose is a punishment to the people of Nigeria and Ekiti State. The people deserve the kind of government they get. Again, the relocation of Ekiti lawmakers to Oyo State is not unconnected with the house of fraud called Ekiti Government House. Nothing good can come out of Ekiti as long as Fayose is there. Out of nothing comes nothing. You cannot give what you do not have.”

World Bank to spend $800m in rebuilding North East Nigeria.

The World Bank is setting aside $800 million in support of the rebuilding of infrastructure devastated by years of Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast.

The United Nations (UN) Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Fatma Samoura, who disclosed this on Thursday, stated that the global body was increasing its presence in Borno and other Northeastern states devastated by insurgency.

Samoura, who is also the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative in Nigeria, spoke in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, during a courtesy visit to Governor Kashim Shettima.

She, however, expressed regret that the UN was having challenges in mobilising resources for Nigeria in view of the humanitarian crises in other parts of the world.

She said: “Yesterday (Wednesday), we had a long discussion with the World Bank team that came from Washington D.C. to attend the workshop.

“The workshop is for validating the year findings of the recovery and peace-building assessment. They have promised to leverage 800 million dollars for the Northeast in response to recovery, rehabilitation, de-mining, waste management and debris processing for the Northeast of Nigeria,” she said.

“As we all know, the Syrian crisis that is affecting Europe is also taking a heavy toll, in terms of funding, from our traditional donors. We are trying our best to ensure that our advocacy and our communications strategy are up to the levels where we will be receiving more attention from the donor community.

“The humanitarian response plan, as we speak, is just 10 per cent funded, meaning we have only received $24 million. This is out of $248 million budgeted for the Northeast of Nigeria for 2016,” she explained.

Samoura, however, pledged that the UN would continue to complement the World Bank and the EU’s support to address the root causes of poverty and exclusion in the Northeast.

“The UN will be on your side in order to address the humanitarian situation. The UN will also support the Borno government in its work on recovery and rehabilitation for the safe return of the IDPs (internally displaced persons) back to their areas of origin,” Samoura assured her host.

Her visit to Maiduguri, she said, was a demonstration of the sympathy of the UN to the deplorable situation of the 1.8 million people displaced by insurgency, even as she applauded the strong leadership and commitment exhibited by the governor in exploring lasting solutions to safe and voluntary return of the IDPs to their original homes.

In his response, Shettima thanked the UN for identifying with the government and people of Borno in finding out the causes, as well as exploring lasting solutions to insurgency.

The governor stated that the $800 million financial commitment by the World Bank was grossly inadequate considering the enormous challenges wrought by insurgency.

According to Shettima, “It is in the interest of humanity to rally round Nigeria against Boko Haram. The developed world gave Turkey $2 billion to resettle refugees from Syria. There are about two million IDPs from Borno and 20 local government areas were overran by Boko Haram and there is food crisis now in the state,” he said.

The federal government last July, obtained a commitment of $2.1 billion as credit from the World Bank to rebuild the Northeast zone when President Muhammadu Buhari visited the United States.

Speaking after the meeting with representatives of the World Bank and other donor agencies, Buhari hailed the decision to invest $2.1 billion in rebuilding the troubled region.

“The World Bank will spend the $2.1 billion dollars through its (International Development Agency), which gives low interest rate loans to government.

“The first 10 years will be interest free, while an additional 30 years will be at lower than cammercial market rates. The World Bank is eager to move in quickly, give out the loan, and give succour to the people of the Northeast, long at the mercy of an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 souls,” Buhari had said.

Treasury looters don't deserve bail - Femi Falana.

Femi Falana

A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says politically-exposed persons facing corruption charges do not deserve bail.

“Since victims of grand corruption including armed robbery and kidnap suspects are not usually admitted to bail, those who are charged with looting the treasury should no longer be granted bail,” Falana said.

While expressing worry that many of the ongoing high profile corruption cases may not be concluded before 2019 when President Muhammadu Buhari would have finished his term, Falana also made a case for the creation of special courts.

The activist lawyer expressed these views in a paper he delivered on Thursday at the roundtable on anti-corruption war convened by the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, University of Lagos, where he was the keynote speaker.

The roundtable, which was chaired by the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), had a former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Dr. Femi Aribisala and Dr. Ayo Obe as discussants.

In his paper titled, “Rule of Law and Treatment of Politically-exposed corruption cases,” delivered on his behalf by Mr. Wahab Shittu, Falana said if the Buhari government did not undertake an urgent reform of the criminal justice system, including creating special courts, its anti-corruption war efforts would amount to nothing.

He also took a swipe at the Nigerian Bar Association and the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, who had called on Buhari to respect the rule of law, saying they were not sincere.

He said, “The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria has urged the government to fight corruption under the rule of law. On its own part the NBA has censored the Federal Government for violating the human rights of certain suspects. But neither the BOSAN nor the NBA has deemed it fit to caution the members of the legal profession who are determined to frustrate the prosecution of corruption cases.

“As far as both bodies are concerned, human rights are the exclusive reserve of the bourgeois. Hence, the tenets of the rule of law are only invoked when the trial of VIPs is involved, while human rights are violated in Nigeria when the looters of the treasury are arrested and detained for a few days without trial.”

Falana wondered why BOSAN and NBA did not talk of human rights when “70 soldiers were recently tried in camera, convicted and sentenced to death for demanding weapons to fight the well-armed terrorists,” and why the two bodies were not bothered about the plight of “40,000 out of the 52,000 prison inmates who  are awaiting trial under dehumanising conditions.”

In his opening remarks, Sagay lamented that highly-placed Nigerians who were once celebrated are now the same set of people being exposed as “looters, bandits and locusts.”

“I fear that Nigerians may become so sated with this daily diet of financial brigandry that they may no longer feel shocked, disturbed, angered and determined to see justice served on the guilty and their stolen property recovered,” Sagay said.

He linked the daily woes of the country in form of poverty, poor roads, poor power supply, poor health care and so on to corruption.

Ezekwesili, Aribisala and Obe advised the Federal Government to put in place measures that could deter corruption.

 Also speaking on Thursday at the special congress and public lecture organised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, chapter, Falana said judges who granted frivolous perpetual injunctions in cases of corruption and lawyers who filed for such injunctions were scuttling the anti-corruption war in the country.

Falana, who was the guest lecturer at the event, also attended by the President of ASUU, Isa Fagge, noted that the neo-colonialist nature of capitalism being practised in the country had produced a set of wealthy Nigerians who “are bigger than the nation’s laws.”

He said, “The criminal justice system has been hijacked by the corrupt and looters of the public treasury and their lawyers. It is only in Nigeria that an accused will ask his trial to be suspended.

“Many of the governors who faced corruption charges, their lawyers had asked for their trial to be suspended, and judges granted this. How would a lawyer also plead with a  judge that a criminal should not be arrested?

“Someone who stole millions of naira getting perpetual injunction not to be arrested and prosecuted, lawyers must allow cases to go on.”

Falana, who spoke on the topic: ‘The limits of anti-corruption law’ said there was nothing close to equality before the law in the country, as the wealthy and influential Nigerians get lighter punishment while the commoners get stiffer penalties in the criminal system.

He said, “In Edo State, someone was sentenced to three years imprisonment for stealing bush meat, another one who stole handset in Osun State was also sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

“But corrupt public officials prefer to be remanded in Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s custody or being remanded in Kuje Prisons.

“Let me tell you, EFCC cells have beddings and mosquito nets, and I have been detained in Kuje Prisons twice, it is one of the best prisons in the country. Why didn’t they take them to Kirikiri or Ikoyi or Ijebu Ode Prisons?

“And whoever have been detained in police cells would know that they sleep on bare floor, and a bucket put at a corner to serve as container for their faeces.”

He noted that with the way the cases of corruption were being handled by the EFCC currently, and given the incessant injunctions being granted, the government might not get more than five convictions.

To tame the lawyers involved in this practice, he called for publication of the names of those being tried for corrupt practices and those of their lawyers.

He specifically asked ASUU to also join in the fight against graft.

Fagge, on his own part, said the universities had deviated from their original role of carrying out research and making it available to the society.

He also noted that corruption had continued to thrive because no one had been brought to book.

Why we fled Ekiti - Ekiti assembly lawmakers lament.

Nine members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly yesterday stormed Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to brief reporters on their alleged harassment from law enforcement agencies.

At the Iyaganku Press Centre of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) at 6.30am, the lawmakers said security agents  were trailing them.

Led by the Deputy Speaker, Adewumi Olusegun, they appeared to be on transit as they hurriedly addressed reporters and drove away.

The Chairman, Committee on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan, assisted by Dr. Omotoso Samuel and the Chief Whip, Akinniyi  Sunday, alleged that there were offerred $1million to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose.

In their prepared speech, they unequivocally restated their loyalty to Fayose as they maintained that “no amount of intimidation, arrest, detention, harassment and monetary inducement will make us dance to the tune of those whose only interest is to truncate the Fayose-led government and return to power through the backdoor”.

The lawmakers said: “They should stop trying to get into power through the backdoor. They should stop this harassment, intimidation and use of federal power to oppress innocent Nigerians.”

They alleged that their lives were being threatened  “and we no longer feel safe in our homes in Ekiti State”.

“We want Nigerians to help us ask the police and their collaborators what the arms they claimed were stockpiled during the election used for? Could arms have been stockpiled and no violence, death or attack recorded during and after the election? “Why is the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State willing to ridicule all government agencies? Why have the police not arrested the APC Chairman, Jide Awe, who is wanted for alleged murder and Temitope Aluko, who was declared wanted by the court for perjury, and instead providing security cover for them?

“Even though we believe that the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, a thoroughbred professional, cannot be part of this clandestine plot, we call on Nigerians to impress it upon the police not to allow themselves to be used by desperate APC politicians. This is because doing so will further expose the penchant of the Buhari-led administration for dictatorship.

“No member of the Assembly is remaining in that state. It is not a question of nine of us here with you. All of us, the 26 members, were targeted but they were trying to arrest 11 of us. Some of us seated here have our names on the hit list.

“We are not going to hide for them. We will resist them with the last blood in our vein, we won’t be coerced. Let it be known to them that we won’t shift ground, no matter the amount of intimidation and harassment. We won’t go into hiding.”

On whether or not the incident is affecting their parliamentary functions, the Deputy Speaker said the lawmakers were still working and passing bills as at Tuesday.

How A Lagos Factory Worker Went Against All Odds To Breakthrough From A Business Everybody Thinks Is Only Meant For The Rich Read His Story Here...

A natural way to completely reverse TYPE 2 DIABETES and get free within the shortest possible time. Click Here to Learn How.

3 Simple Tricks to Turn Your Facebook to ATM MACHINE that Vomits cash

Tags:Lawmakers

Share4

Tweet0

Tinubu made the impossible happen - Fashola.

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), says the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, made the impossible happen by ensuring that for the first time in Nigeria’s history, opposition parties successfully merged.

Fashola said this in a video tribute to commemorate Tinubu’s 64th birthday.

The minister, who was present at the colloquium held in Tinubu’s honour in Abuja, on Tuesday, said Nigeria was falling apart under former President Goodluck Jonathan, adding that Tinubu steered Nigeria away from the course of destruction.

Fashola said, “It was dangerous for Nigeria to keep that administration for another term and the evidence of that was before us. The country was falling apart. You must salute the courage, the passion, the foresight of Asiwaju to reach across and say ‘let us forge a partnership to save Nigerians, to save ourselves’.”

The minister added, “On whether or not there could be a merger, everyone said it wasn’t going to happen, it had never happened in the history of Nigeria and as far as that was concerned, it (the merger) was a victory that the impossible had become not only probable but possible and that was due to Asiwaju’s self conviction and, as I said, his ability to mobilise people and materials behind an idea.”

Ekiti assembly lawmaker to DSS - We won't honor your invitation again.

DSS 

Members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly have vowed not to honour any invitation from the Department of State Services (DSS), following the plight of their colleague, Afolabi Akanni, who spent 18 days in custody.

There was drama at the Assembly complex yesterday when the three lawmakers allegedly abducted by the DSS appeared from “hiding”.

Musa Arogundade (Ado 1), Sina Animasaun (Ekiti West 2) and Badejo Anifowose (Moba 2) appeared at a briefing addressed by Speaker Kola Oluwawole and Information Committee Chairman Gboyega Aribisogan.

Oluwawole confirmed that they went underground to evade arrest by DSS, contrary to reports that they were “abducted” by the security agency.

He said: “The three members and some governor’s aides went into hiding when it became obvious that the DSS was desperately after them.”

Oluwawole added that the lawmakers had resolved to shun any invitation from DSS henceforth, alleging that the security agency still plans to arrest and detain more of them over what he called “spurious allegations”.

The Speaker  said: “We are lawmakers and not law breakers. If the DSS has started on a good note, we would have cooperated.

“We have collectively resolved that based on that suspicion, we may not be able to honour any invitation by DSS because of our safety.”

Aribisogan condemned the alleged crackdown by DSS, saying the  agency’s action did not portray Nigeria as a democratic country.

CCT Trial: Saraki flies in US, Israeli forensic experts to defend him at tribunal.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki

•  PDP senators vow to produce next senate president if Saraki loses

In his determination to win his ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for alleged false declaration of assets, Senate President Bukola Saraki has flown in experts from the United States and Israel to team up with his legal team led by Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN).

However, it was learnt that the experts are not lawyers but crack investigators, forensic and handwriting specialists with the mandate to provide information on witnesses and documents presented at the tribunal by the prosecution.

The experts who were said to have arrived Lagos on Monday, would leave Lagos for Abuja to join Agabi’s team and commence work soon.

A source in the Senate, who disclosed this yesterday, said the information to be provided by the experts would assist Saraki’s legal team make a credible defence at the Tribunal.

“The investigators will ferret out and scrutinise thoroughly, all available information on the eight prosecution witnesses, including their school records, service records from the past and present, places of employment and personal information that may help the defence team in the course of the trial.

“Most of those so-called witnesses will not be credible when information concerning their life is presented publicly before the tribunal.

“It is also expected that with the fear that the prosecution may present forged documents, our team needs to be vigilant and pro-active considering the manner in which the proceedings before the tribunal is being conducted.

“Our people believe that with the way properties that have nothing to do with Saraki are being put on the charge sheet, there is the suspicion that the documents to sustain their claims may have been forged.

“All these, the experts will screen and help the lawyers with information that may help them,” he explained.

The list of witnesses lined up against Saraki are said to be officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc.

But as Saraki’s trial reopens in the next few days, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Peter Nwaboshi, yesterday said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate would not support the emergence of an All Progressives Congress (APC) senator as the 
next Senate President in the event Saraki loses at the CCT.

He said PDP would seize the opportunity to produce the next Senate President.

The senator, who said this while fielding questions from journalists in Abuja, said the PDP would replicate the current United States scenario in Nigeria where the opposition controls congress.

He said: “Well, I wish APC the best of luck if they are making that wild goose chase. But I want you to mark what I am saying. I was the first to address the press in Port Harcourt and I told them that Saraki was going to win the Senate presidency and I gave them my reasons.

“Then, nobody ever thought that Saraki was going to win. People were saying that APC had decided. But it was clear to me that he was going to win and I had to address the press.

“I said Saraki was going to win and that he was going to get my vote. Eventually, we went there, he won. If, but God forbids, because we don’t see it coming, by chance Saraki is removed, I can tell you that PDP will produce the next Senate President.

“We only need three APC senators and we have them. The calculation is very clear to me. The calculation is very clear for PDP. We know what it would take us.

“When I told them that Saraki was going to win, I did a lot of mathematical calculations based on the facts on the ground and it is even clearer to me now that the PDP will win it. We will win it.

“If anybody is thinking that a PDP man is going to vote against a PDP candidate, he is telling you a lie. We have people and we know how to get the people from APC. We will win and that will be very interesting.

“What is happening in America is going to happen in Nigeria. America has a Republican Senate but the executive is led by a Democrat, so it’s happening in different parts of the world. I can tell you with what’s on the ground that we will produce the next Senate President.”

Dr Braithwaite's death a huge loss to Nigeria - Joe Okei Odumakin.

Late Braithwaite

President campaign for democracy and  Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, has joined Nigerians across the country to mourn the foremost politician, lawyer and activist, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, who died on Monday at 82.

The deceased, who was also known for his passion for activism, was once the presidential candidate for the defunct Nigeria Advance Party (NAP) , which he founded.

On her Twitter page, she wrote, “Still difficult till now to believe that I would call Dr. Tunji Braithwaite and there won’t be a response on his line. Haa. Rest in Peace.”

Afterwards, in an interview with THISDAY she said, “The Centre for Change and Women Arise for Change Initiative, received with shock, the demise of a foremost nationalist and activist, Dr.Tunji Braithwaite. This is no doubt, a huge loss to Nigeria as a nation.

“The gap created by the demise of Dr. Braithwaite to us, would be near impossible to fill, as an organisation and as Nigerians, considering his immeasurable contribution to National development through participations in politics with His National Advance Party, and activism which he dedicated an unquantifiable number of his life and times to.

“Dr. Braithwaite will forever be remembered for always being in the forefront of the struggle for a better country almost all of his life.

“We cannot quickly forget moments of his fearless confrontation during the military era and his passionate and highly cerebral inputs to political situations.

“It is our prayer that God will grant him an eternal rest and grant the family,the fortitude for his family to bear the great loss.”

Rivers Killing: Woman group wants federal government to question Gov Wike.

•Wike

Women Arise for Justice Wednesday called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to question the Governor of Rivers state, Chief Nyesom Wike, over numbers of people who lost their lives at the just concluded legislative re-run elections in that took place in the State.

The women condemned the killings, calling for the arrest of those found guilty or associated with the violence.

The group also wants the Federal Government to probe the abduction and the eventual killing of an army Colonel, Samaila Inusa, in Kaduna on Tuesday.

The over 1000  women who  stormed the Presidential villa in Abuja during a peaceful protest said  all the  deaths, abduction, intimidation and destruction of properties were the product of the do or die politics that featured  during the last  Rivers state re-run election.

The National  President of the group, Jummai Samuel Pukat who led the protest  said the Governor should be held responsible for all the atrocities since his body language and utterances
 directly constitute instruction to his political killers to deal with those not on the same side as him.

According to her, “It was Governor Wike who threatened that there are areas that people from the federal level cannot access in the state. It was him who said anyone coming from outside Rivers State for the re-run must first write their will, which implies that he was confident of how to make sure federal agents do not make it out of Rivers state alive.”

She said that all those who died in the Rivers State re-run must not die in vain, adding that those
 who lost their properties must be reassured that there is still a government and that it enforces the 

law.

“Our sons, brothers, husband and fathers cannot be continually cut down in their prime with the federal government remaining indifferent simply because the murder took place in Wike‘s Rivers State.

“We cannot wait until more governors join in this killing spree. We dare not contemplate what will happen if Wike’s approach to treating human lives becomes the new norm. As mothers we no longer have the ability to sleep at night when our loved ones have to undertake even the most basic assignment in Rivers State,” she said.

Pukat said the deafening silence from the federal government has made Wike to continue insulting and assaulting our sensibilities with lies meant to shift the blame for the killings of others.

She said history will not be kind to them if the memory of the dead is so desecrated with lies.

“Our hearts bleed Mr. President. We are worried and confused and we ask if Rivers state is still part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” she added

Share342

Tweet0

Nine Ekiti house of assembly lawmakers flee homes, resurface in Ibadan - if you're innocent why are you running away from your official duty - Police tells runaway lawmakers.

• In a dusk to dawn movement from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state, to the city of Ibadan in Oyo state, nine lawmakers of the Ekiti state house of assembly in the early hours of Wednesday stormed Iyaganku press centre of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) where they addressed newsmen on their plight in the hands of the security agents trailing them for arrest.
  Led by their Deputy Speaker, Adewumi Olusegun, the lawmakers who apparently fled their state for refuge, appeared to be on transit as they hurriedly addressed reporters and drove to another unknown destination, which inner room  sources said was in response to the latest invasion of the state by one CSP Mohammed Abubakar of the Force CID, Abuja.
  Addressing journalists on behalf of his colleagues, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan assisted by Dr. Omotoso Samuel and the chief whip, Akinniyi Sunday, alleged that there were moves to infiltrate their ranks through monetary inducement amounting to one million dollars to impeach the state governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose.
  In their prepared speech, they unequivocally restated their loyalty to Fayose as they maintained that, “no amount of intimidation, arrest, detention, harassment and monetary
   inducement will make us dance to the tune of those whose only interest is to truncate the Fayose-led government and return to power through the backdoor.
  “They lost election in June, 2014 and they lost four other elections in 2015. They should stop trying to get to power through the backdoor. They should stop this harassment, intimidation and use of federal power to oppress innocent Nigerians,” they declared.
  Sensitizing Nigerians on the dangers that the continuous victimization and invasion of Ekiti state by security agents portend for the nation’s democracy, the lawmakers further alleged that their lives  and existence is now being threatened by agents of the Federal Government “and we no longer feel safe in our various homes in Ekiti state.
  
  

I wouldn't have become president without Tinubu - President Buhari.

Bola Tinubu

President Muhammadu Buhari has attributed the triumph of the All Progressives Congress in the 2015 general election to the vision of a National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Buhari said this in a recorded tribute which was presented at the 8th Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Abuja on Tuesday.

At the event, which was held to commemorate the 64th birthday of Tinubu, the President said the former governor of Lagos State was the brains behind the merger of Nigeria’s main opposition parties in 2013.

He said without Tinubu’s vision and intelligence, the party would not have been formed and the APC would not be in power today.

Buhari stated, “If Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not participate, there wouldn’t have been a merger and there wouldn’t have been an APC government at the centre. That is absolutely clear.

“He should thank God that he has gone through so much and has remained relevant, that he is healthy and young.”

Earlier in his address, the President had contended that Tinubu remained one of the most important figures in Nigeria at the moment.

Buhari added, “There are very few patriots, alive or departed, who can match the commitment, resilience and creativity that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has, over the past few decades, demonstrated in organising Nigeria’s public life for good.

“As he adds another year today, my best wishes and prayers go out to a man who deserves a lot of commendation for what he continues to stand for.”

The President’s address, which centred on the theme: ‘Agriculture: Action, Work, Revolution’, highlighted the several opportunities which abound in the agricultural sector.

According to him, it is unfortunate that Nigeria is importing food when it should be exporting.

Buhari said, “Nearly all our crop-based farming activities are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, and this makes our agricultural productivity entirely vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

“In the past few years, on the average, we have spent in excess of $11bn annually importing wheat, rice, sugar and fish. We need not, and indeed we cannot afford to continue on this trajectory.

“Agriculture is the key to our economic growth and social investment policies. Our administration’s key strategy is to ensure that Nigeria becomes self- sufficient in the foods that we consume the most.

“Maize, rice, corn, millets, fruits, poultry products and their derivatives can all be produced at home if we put our hearts into it. Our policy is simple: We will produce what we eat! It is not only logical, it is necessary.”

In his tribute, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, recalled the role Tinubu played in bringing aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party’s governors into the APC after the crisis in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

Amaechi said Tinubu convinced the members of the APC to allow the New PDP members to join its fold at the time.

He said, “He was able to gather the leadership of the political class together. He was key; more than gathering the public because once you gather the leadership of the political class and ensure that there is unity of purpose, they could share to the public jointly this change mantra.

“We in the New PDP were in constant contact with him and we virtually negotiated through him. By the time the President (Buhari) and others got involved, we had gone far with Asiwaju. He played a key role.”

Also speaking in the tribute video, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, described Tinubu as a visionary, noting that the ex-governor of Lagos was dependable and loyal.

Sanusi, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said, “It was people like Tinubu that insisted that this country could not afford another four years of that kind of thing (past administration) and basically laid down their lives, laid down their resources and gave their all to ensure that change happened.

“He is extremely loyal and that is how you know your friends. It doesn’t matter where you are or what happens to you, you can always be sure that Asiwaju will be there.”

Tinubu, while speaking at the event, recalled that the 2015 presidential election coincided with his birthday.

He said Buhari’s victory at the polls was his biggest birthday gift yet.

The ex-governor described the PDP-led Federal Government from 1999 to 2015 as a deceptive one.

The APC leader recalled that the PDP government claimed that it had established a Nigerian Commodity Exchange to provide a practical solution to a number of challenges that have adversely affected the growth and development of the Nigerian agricultural sector, contending that the initiative was a sham.

He thanked guest speaker and Ethiopian agric expert, Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, for exposing the dubiousness of the PDP-led Federal Government.

Tinubu said, “We have had a series of promises in the last 50 years and particularly in the last 16 years. I remember the article I wrote after the presentation of the book, Financialism: Fetching the water from a dry well’. It was about this commodity exchange.

“The deceptive government at that time announced immediately that same week that commodity exchange had been established. It took an Ethiopian to discover its lies, but thank God, we are taking it more seriously now.

“I salute the President and the entire cabinet that Nigeria is being redirected. There is no option for us but to revalidate our faith in our country and take the hard decision now. Our renaissance must come from within. We have the land, the mind, the capacity and the ability.”

Earlier, several of the contributors at the event decried the over $11bn that Nigeria had spent yearly on the importation of wheat, rice, sugar and fish products.

They noted that the whole of Africa accounted for a mere  5.6 per cent of the global meat production while Asia accounted for 42.3 per cent; Europe, 18.7 per cent; Asia, 42.3 per cent;  America, 31.4 per cent; while others accounted for two per cent.

It was generally agreed that the narrative must change for the better.

Some of the dignitaries, who attended the event, included The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu; the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II; and the Ooni of Ife,Oba  Adeyeye Ogunwusi.

Others were the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN); the governors of Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Niger, Kebbi and Imo states; several senators and members of the House of Representatives.

Senate President Bukola Saraki; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara,  were, however, not at the ceremony.