Photos: President Jonathan hosts president Yayi of Benin Republic

President Goodluck Jonathan met Sunday at the Presidential Villa with the President Boni Yayi of neighbouring Benin Republic. Both leaders attended Sunday service together at the Villa Chapel before proceeding to the presidential residence for lunch and bilateral talks.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo worshipped with President Jonathan and President Yayi at the Presidential Villa but did not participate in the talks between them. More photos after the cut..

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Gov Suntai speaks briefly on videotape •Tape played on Taraba television • Cabinet dissolved, lawmakers meet gov

Taraba State Governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai

The Taraba State Governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai, finally addressed the people on Wednesday , exactly  four days after  his return from a 10-month medical sojourn abroad.

The brief address was however not live but through a video shown on the state-owned television station in Jalingo.

His failure to do so earlier  and appear before the state House Assembly to formally intimate its  members of his desire to resume work had created suspicions that he was incapable of continuing to function as the state governor.

Before the video was brodcast, he met with  the  lawmakers and  inaugurated the newly appointed Secretary to the State Government, Timothy Kataps,  as well as the Chief of Staff, Mallam Aminu Jika.

The governor, who is recuperating  from injuries he sustained last October when a small aircraft he flew crashed, had earlier dissolved the state Executive Council, leaving only his special assistants.

In the address, Suntai  commended the people of the state  for their prayers and  for standing by him in his moment  of  trial.

“I thank  the people of Taraba State  for standing  by me and my family.I  also thank the commissioners for holding the fort  while I was away. Also enjoin all of you to continue to live in peace,” he said.

Suntai, who  wore  a sky  blue suit  and  a stripe shirt,  also congratulated the people on the  22nd anniversary  of the state which was   on  August 27.

He had while inaugurating  the new SSG and the  CoS  enjoined them  to to work in the interest of the people. The new SSG (Kataps), a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice,  took over from Mr. Garvey Yawe while Jika, who  once served in the same capacity  in 2007, replaced Alhmed Yusuf.

Yawe and Yusuf were among the members of the  sacked state Executive Council. The others are  all the commissioners and  22 special advisers.

The  Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Sylvanus Giwa,  had  at a news conference in Jalingo, said that the   appointments of Kataps and Jika  were  aimed at strengthening the machinery of government.

The governor also met on Wednesday evening with  members of  the House of Assembly led by their Speaker,  Haruna Tsokwa.

The lawmakers had resolved at their sitting earlier on Wednesday to meet with  the governor  to confirm his true state of  health before taking any position on his letter stating his intention to resume office.

Journalists, who were asked to wait at the assembly complex for the lawmakers to meet with the governor, were stunned when they  returned, held a brief closed-door session, and  said  they would  speak to the press on Thursday(today).

Suntai’s Chief Press Secretary, Hassan Mijinyawa, said  the meeting  was “meaningful.”

The Speaker had on Monday alleged that the House leaders were prevented from seeing  the governor.

Our correspondents learnt that the news of the sack of the executive council members  had  worsened the political logjam in the state  as Tsokwa  said  the  governor   had  no right to do so.

Tsokwa   had added that  the assembly recognised   the Acting Governor, Garba Umar, as the man in charge of the affairs of the state.

Also, Umar insisted that he remained the acting governor until there  was a contrary directive from the assembly.

The acting governor,  through his Chief Press Secretary, Kefas Sule, said  the  sacked  executive council was worried that some individuals were bent on fomenting trouble in the state.  He therefore  urged the people to continue with their normal activities.

“We shall definitely resolve this crisis. It is only one government here – the Suntai administration,” he explained, adding that he would address the people of the state on the  development.

Umar   said  since he was empowered in  acting capacity, the lawmakers had the right to ask him to revert to his former position as deputy governor or still continue in acting capacity.

  “I am waiting to hear from them. As I speak to you, if the assembly tells me to revert  to the position of deputy, I will comply,” he  said.

It was gathered that some of the sacked  commissioners and aides  accused    Suntai’s wife, Hauwa, of spearheading  the dissolution of the cabinet.

Our correspondents also learnt that a  faction in the  state assembly loyal to Umar insisted  on Wednesday that Suntai must appear before them to personally tender  the letter he wrote intimating the  assembly of  his desire to resume duty.

 A source close to the faction told The PUNCH that  the assembly  would have no alternative but to initiate impeachment moves against   Suntai  and  save the state from avoidable bloodshed. It was further gathered that some of the legislators close to the acting governor had started collecting signatures preparatory to the governor’s impeachment.

The source, who did not want his name in print,  said the state could not afford any crisis at this point, more so when such  could be avoided.

 “The pro-Umar lawmakers are  collating signatures  to impeach the governor because we  cannot afford this type of  avoidable crisis,” he said.

 Suntai’s  letter seeking to resume duty   had divided the political class   as the Speaker of the state assembly had insisted that the governor  needed  to  address the  lawmakers or allow principal officers of the assembly to have an interaction with him.

But  the Majority Leader, Mr. Joseph Albasu , asked the governor to start work with immediate effect.His  position was shared  by the attorney-general, who said that Suntai  needed not    appear before the lawmakers before resuming work.

culled from PUNCHNG

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Bola Tinubu recuperates after knee surgery in the US

Former Governor of Lagos State and leading founder of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has been absent from public engagements in the past few weeks. He sent out a statement in early August explaining that he would be traveling out of the country for knee surgery.

"Based on a previous sports injury on one of his knees and recent further aggravation on the knee from rigorous political and family related activities, he has been advised by his doctors, despite his persistent reluctance, that orthopedic surgery is necessary at this time.

The week of the 5th of August has been slated for the surgery. Governor Tinubu is expected to resume his normal political activities and public engagements following clearance from his doctors." The statement read

Tinubu has since had the surgery in a hospital in the US and is said to be recuperating.

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Fola Adeola’s governorship campaign posters flood Ogun

Campaign posters and banners of the former Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Mr. Fola Adeola, on Wednesday flooded Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Surprised residents of the Abeokuta metropolis woke up to behold the campaign posters and banners announcing Adeola’s readiness to join the governorship race in Ogun State on the platform of the newly registered All Progressives Congress.

The development occurred barely a month after chairmen of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in the 20 local government areas of the state endorsed the incumbent Governor Ibikunle Amosun for a second term.

But the campaign posters and banners bearing the APC logo, party slogan and the inscription: “Change 2015, Fola Adeola for Governor” were believed to be the first step by the financial guru to dabble in the politics of his home state.

The posters and banners of the running mate to the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in the 2011 presidential election, which were pasted in strategic locations of the metropolis, were prominent and conspicuous in Itoku, Isale Igbein, Ijaiye, Obantoko, Ake, Totoro, Iyana Mortuary and Lafenwa/Ayetoro Road areas.

Adeola and Ribadu contested for the Presidency on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria. The renowned banker could however not be reached by our correspondent for his comments.

But in his reaction, the State Publicity Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, Sina Oduntan, said the development was a normal thing. He said everyone had the right to show interest in any elective position in the party.

He, however, described the recent action of the chairmen of the defunct ACN in the 20 local government areas of the state as “just an endorsement”, stressing that it was not a consensus reached by the whole party.

“The governorship candidate will emerge from the state congress. Whether it is unopposed or not, the recent endorsement of Amosun is different from the consensus of the party, which is going to take place.

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ASUU strike: FG to meet varsity councils, VCs

The Federal Government  will before Sunday meet with  university councils and vice-chancellors   to  update  them on some of the decisions it had reached in its bid to end the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The Chairman of the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy Assessment Implementation Committee of the universities, Governor Gabriel Suswam, made this known on Tuesday  after President Goodluck Jonathan met behind closed doors  with key officials of his administration  over  the almost two months’ old strike.

 The officials  included Vice-President Namadi Sambo; the  Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim; the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadome;  the  Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayat Rufa’i; and  the  Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu.

ASUU, however, said shortly after the meeting ended  that the strike  would not be called off because the Federal Government was not sincere in its efforts  to end the dispute.

It was learnt that the Tuesday  meeting afforded the  government officials  taking part in  the negotiations with the striking university teachers the opportunity to brief the President on the latest  development.

Suswam, who is  also the governor of Benue State,  told State House correspondents after  the meeting that substantial progress had been made in the negotiations.

 He  expressed the hope that the strike would be called off  soon based on some of the mechanisms that had  been put in place to move university   education    forward.

The governor said while the issues surrounding the NEEDS assessment had been concluded to some extent, those bordering on the earned allowance component being handled by the SGF were pending.

Suswam  said, “As you must have heard, the Federal Government  made an offer of N30bn to assist the various councils of our universities to be able to pay the earned allowances.

“There is also N100bn and that is why  the Minister of Finance, the SGF, the   ministers of education and  labour as well as the Chief of Staff, the VP and myself  have just risen from a meeting to take some decisions that would end the strike  soon. The President has instructed us on    what to do and he has shown a lot of commitments  by starting  a project worth about N100bn  in all the universities in about 61 universities in  the country.

“So we are hoping that we will be able to see the end of the strike very soon if at the end of the day,  ASUU  is satisfied with the measures that  we have so far  taken .

“The Federal Government will also be meeting with the university councils and vice-chancellors of our universities within the week towards updating them on some of the decisions taken.”

The governor added that    the meeting with the varsity councils was necessary  because earned allowances had  to be certified by the management and councils of the universities.

He said since the Federal Government had offered to assist the councils with N30bn, it was important for them to go and verify  and pay the people who are  actually  entitled to the allowances.

“I think that the government had demonstrated some substantial faith . Yes, if ASUU said that this is the amount of money that the Federal Government  is owing them and the  government  has shifted ground from its initial posture, it means we are moving forward. With a N100bn available now for addressing the physical infrastructure deficit in our universities, I think the Federal Government has done quite well to have moved to where we are today,” he  added.

But ASUU has said  after the meeting which held in Jonathan’s office in the Presidential Villa, that the  Federal Government  was only using propaganda to curry public support rather than facing the issues raised by it.

A member of the National Executive Council of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Adesola, told one of our correspondents on the telephone  that theN30bn offered  to the striking lecturers  as earned allowances   was even worse than “where we were before the deadlocked  meeting  on Monday.”

The government, he said, had not shown enough commitment towards the settlement of the conflict.

According to him, the government only offered N30bn without saying anything on when the balance of the earned allowances would be paid.

He  also said that the declaration  by the government that it had  approved   N100bn  for  the development of infrastructure in the universities was  a mere propaganda.

 Meanwhile, the  All Progressives Congress  has  asked the government to honour its agreement with  ASUU in order  to end the  strike which began on July 1.

 The APC,  in   a statement on Tuesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said ASUU’s demand for N87bn was not open to government’s negotiation.

The statement reads, ‘’The N87bn that ASUU is demanding represents earned allowances hence cannot be renegotiated.

“In any  case, this amount pales into insignificance when placed side by side  the N1tr  that has been spent on federal legislators in the past eight years; or the frivolity involved in a government minister travelling to China to negotiate  a $1bn loan in a chartered jet (with its attendant costs) and with a retinue of officials  who earned generous estacode in hard currency.”

It said ASUU was not making any fresh demand beyond the agreement it reached with the government in 2009.

“Agreements are meant to be honoured, and breaching them comes with some consequences,” the statement added.

The  party said while the Federal Government refused to honour its own side of the agreement with ASUU since 2009, “it could pay out N3tn  in non-existent fuel subsidies to fat cats”.

It added that in place of ASUU strike, the Federal Government preferred to spend N1tn annually “to maintain the jets in the Presidential fleet and do little or nothing to prevent the  stealing of 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day.”

It condemned the  “non-chalance” of those who should be working round the clock to resolve the crisis, especially the Minister of State for Education, Nyeson Wike.

The APC claimed that instead of focusing on the problem, Wike “was launching vigilance groups and dancing ‘palongo’ around town when the nation’s public universities are shut and students are languishing.”

Reacting, Wike’s Special Assistant on Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, said “no administration has impacted on education like the Jonathan administration.”

He said Wike had actively participated in the process of resolving the ASUU crisis, with the Federal Government team led by the SGF.

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Kanayo O Kanayo Gets Appointment From President Jonathan

Reports reaching Nigeriafilms.com confirms that veteran actor, Kanayo O Kanayo has received an appointment from President Goodluck Jonathan. The prolific actor was made a board member of one of Federal Government's parastatals.

A statement signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, confirmed this in Abuja yesterday, where members of other boards were revealed.

The actor was made a member of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Studies.

KOK, as he is fondly called, has been romancing President Jonathan's administration before his appointment on Tuesday. He has been one of the major liaisons between the FG and Nollywood.

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Photos from Daisy Danjuma's 61st birthday party

Senator Daisy Danjuma celebrated her 61st birthday on the 6th of August at Wheat Baker Hotel in Ikoyi.

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Why I shunned Rivers deputy Gov in P’Harcourt - Patience Jonathan

According to media reports, the first lady shunned the deputy Governor of Rivers State who came with other government officials to receive her at the airport in Rivers state on Sunday as she arrived in the state for a private visit to make arrangements for her late mum's burial. In a statement released yesterday, Mrs Jonathan explained that the reason she shunned the deputy governor and other state officials was because the governor of Rivers state, his wife and other top officials of the state didn't pay her a condolence visit when she lost her foster mother. Read the statement below...

The attention of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has been drawn to reports carried in some sections of the media alleging that top officials of the Rivers government, including the Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru who came to receive the First Lady, were shielded from Dame Jonathan on her arrival at Port Harcourt International Airport on Sunday, (18/08/2013). Some of the media reports went to the extent of alleging that Dame Jonathan “snubbed” the Deputy Governor.

It is important to set the record straight in order to prevent the public from being misled. The First Lady arrived in Rivers State yesterday (on Sunday) for a private visit, to make arrangements for the burial of her late mother with members of her extended family.

Customarily, the wife of the State Governor receives the First Lady whenever she visits any state. That is why the wife of Bayelsa State Governor traveled from Yenagoa to receive the First Lady. Ordinarily, one would have expected the same complement from the wife of the Rivers State Governor.

It is instructive to note that since the death of Mrs. Charity Oba, the mother of the First Lady, several groups and individuals from across the country have come to condole the First Family at the State House, Abuja. They include Executive State Governors and their wives from all the political divides; Nigeria’s former Presidents and Heads of State and their wives, captains of industry, female Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Nigeria, other members of the diplomatic corps, royal fathers and traditional leaders - the list is too numerous to call. However, the Governor and the wife from the State which the First Lady hails have not paid such a visit.

It should be clear to all that for quite some time now, the First Lady has refrained from commenting on issues relating to the politics of Rivers State. Dame Patience does not want her name to be used to heat up the polity. We therefore urge that the name of the First Lady be left out of the politics in Rivers State.

The First Lady, like any Nigerian, is free to visit the state of her birth. But we are forced to ask: why the presence of the First Lady in Rivers State always generate rumpus? Dame Jonathan bears no grudge towards anyone as she is an individual who continues to tirelessly advocate for peace and harmony in Nigeria. We therefore reiterate that the First Lady’s name be left out of the politics in the State.

Ayo Adesugba (Mrs.)
Director (Information)
19 August, 2013

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Boko Haram leader Shekau may have died –JTF

There is  confusion in high security circles over the reported killing of the  leader of the Boko Haram Islamic sect,  Abubakar Shekau, by operatives of the Joint Task Force in Borno State.

The spokesman of the JTF, Col. Sagir Musa, said in a statement on Monday that the Boko Haram leader died of gunshot wounds he sustained during the invasion of the Sambisa Forest Headquarters of the sect in June.

Curiously, the Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen Chris Olukolade, referred our correspondent to the headquarters of the JTF  in Borno State, when he was contacted for further confirmation.

Ordinarily, the killing of the most wanted terror leader, who has a $7m  bounty on his head, would have been celebrated by all security agencies but the situation appears to be different in the absence of evidence of his death.

Musa said intelligence reports at the disposal of the JTF showed that “Abubakar Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted Boko Haram terrorist, may have died.”

The JTF spokesman said the Boko Haram leader was seriously wounded in the attack on the sect headquarters at Sambisa on June 30, by the special forces and was taken to a border community in the nation’s border with Cameroun, identified as Amitchide, for treatment.

He said Shekau did not recover from the gunshot wounds he sustained at the Sambisa Forest.

Musa added that Shekau was behind the abduction of elder statesman, Alhaji Shettima Ali Mongonu, and the French family of seven, comprising four children, at a border town between Nigerian Cameroun.

The statement said, “Shekau was mortally wounded in the encounter and was sneaked into Amitchide – a border community in Cameroun for treatment, from which he never recovered.

“It is greatly believed that Shekau might have died between July 25 and August 3, 2013. He was reported to have masterminded the kidnap of the seven French citizens and that of the elder statesman, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, in addition to many murders of Islamic clerics in northern Nigeria.

“He was also responsible for the bombings of many places of worship and public buildings, including police and United Nations Headquarters in Abuja.”

Musa added that a video released purportedly by the Boko Haram leader on August 13, 2013, was a deceit by a member of the sect to convince members to continue with the insurgency.

He urged members of the sect to lay down their arms and accept the Federal Government’s offer of dialogue.

 Musa added that the video was “dramatised by an imposter to hoodwink the sect members to continue with terrorism and to deceive undiscerning minds”.

However, it was gathered that the military high command in the country was bitter about the release of the statement on Shekau’s purported death because of the growing lack of evidence around it.

However, a top security source confided in our correspondent on Monday that the statement was viewed as a product of sabotage and an unnecessary contest for glory by the JTF, which prosecuted the war against terrorism.

The source said that the hurried release of the news of the killing of Shekau on the date a new division of the Nigerian Army was taking over from the JTF was rather suspicious.

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Nigerians must go to hellfire for saying we've never had a true leader - Obasanjo

For those of you complaining that Nigeria has never had a good leader, Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo has a message for you - you must go to hellfire for thinking that. Lol.

He said: "Does it mean 50 years of Nigeria we haven't got any leader that you can say made a mark? If that's the case then we must all go to hellfire. How can we say that? "

He then mentioned some of his achievements as military head of state and president.

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Akwa Ibom LG chairman arrested for smuggling $82,000 into the US

The executive chairman of Essien Udim local government area of Akwa Ibom state, Mr Nse Ntuen, was arrested at the BWI International Airport in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday August 16th for smuggling $82, 000 into the US. The Maryland State Police Department confirmed the arrest yesterday Sunday August 18th, saying Mr Ntuen did not declare the money with the US custom officials. They said he only declared $5,000, only for an additional $77,000 to be found in his bag.

Mr Ntuen explained that he brought the money into the US to donate it at the Annual International Convention of the Akwa Ibom Indigenes in the US and Canada which held on Saturday at the Marriot Hotel in Washington, DC.

Mr Ntuen was released after five hours in custody but he didn't leave with the money. The Maryland State Police Department confiscated it.

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IBB opts for low key 72nd birthday celebration

Nigeria's former military president Ibrahim Babangida turned 72 yesterday Saturday August 17th and opted for a low key birthday celebration. He marked the day with special prayers and celebrated with  close family members and a few business associates at his Minna, Niger State residence

Babangida received Aliko Dangote, Niger State deputy governor, some members of the state executive council and other prominent businessmen and politicians before rushing out to a wedding.

A day before his 72nd birthday, Babangida told newsmen that he wants to be remembered as someone who played his part and contributed his quota in Nigeria’s development.

Asked to write his epitaph, IBB said:

“Here lies General IBB born in Minna, joined military profession in 1962, stayed there for 32 years, serving this great nation and, by the grace of God, he became a military president and served this country eight years. May his soul rest in peace.”

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