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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 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, stating that 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, 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 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.”
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The All Progressives Congress in Rivers state has listed 24 sins committed by former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, and their political party, Peoples Democratic Party against the people of the state.
APC claims that the duo of Jonathan and Wike have committed gross sins against Rivers State without any justification and should pay for these sins during the 19th March, 2016 rerun election.
In a statement issued on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, the state capital by the state chairman of APC, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, the 24 sins corruption, lack of political will etc.
Here are the sins listed by APC:
1. President Jonathan failed to muster the courage and political will in a PDP-controlled National Assembly to see to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the over six years of his administration to demonstrate his hatred for the Niger Delta region knowing that communities in Rivers State will benefit from the bill.
2 The East/West Road, especially Eleme-Onne axis in Rivers State, was not only abandoned but was a nightmare to travellers and commuters.
3. Bodo-Bonny Federal Road was completely abandoned just because it is situated in Rivers State.
4. Refusal to refund to the State Government over 90 billion naira used in the dualisation of Ikwerre-Owerri Road approved by late President Yar’Adua and other Federal Roads in the State executed by the State to ease the sufferings of the people of Rivers State.
5. Wickedly stopped Train 7 at NLNG Bonny and the loss of jobs to our people and revenue to Government.
6. Non-implementation of UNEP Report on the clean-up of Ogoni land despite all the pleas by our people and the International Community – just to punish the Ogonis and Rivers State irrespective of their overwhelming support for him during the 2011 elections.
7. Lack of any visible Federal Government project in Rivers State throughout his over six years as President of Nigeria. Instructively, of all the states Dr Jonathan has visited in the course of his re-election campaign, it was only in Rivers that he could not name a single development project he initiated, not to talk of executing.
8. Ceding of oil wells belonging to Rivers to Bayelsa and Abia states to ensure that the revenue accruing to the State was reduced to nothing.
9. Abandoned construction of the Port Harcourt International Airport after completing other airports started at the same time with it. The airport has thus become an eyesore and the worst airport in the entire world. Pictures of the current state of the Airport attached explain the level of hatred Dr Jonathan has for Rivers State and her people.
10. Turning the Port Harcourt axis of Enugu-Port Harcourt Express Road into a death trap. The pictures attached of the bad state of the road explain everything.
11. Posting and encouraging the excesses of the tyrannical Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu during his inglorious days in the State.
12. Supporting the impunity of daily killing, maiming of members of Rivers APC by the Police under the watch of Dan Barure then Commissioner of Police of the State
13. Supporting every imaginable act of impunity in the State, including the plot by five State Assembly members to impeach the Speaker in a House of 31 members.
14. Seizing and grounding the planes of the State for no just cause.
15. Harassing and intimidating the then Governor of Rivers State (Rt. Hon. Amaechi) for no just cause and even supporting the splitting of the Governors Forum into two just to ensure that Governor Amaechi, who was duly elected by his colleagues, does not have an easy reign as the Chairman of the Forum.
16. Refusal to allow the then Governor of the state to construct the Federal Road that leads to the Kalabari Kingdom just to ensure that during the rainy season the Kalabaris will not have a road to their place.
17. Refusal to refund the State the money used to construct the smooth, beautiful dual carriageway from Omerelu to Port Harcourt – particularly up to the Airport Junction from Owerri in Imo State, which the Federal Government abandoned just because Rivers State people ply that road.
18. Refusal to refund the money used by Rivers State to construct the Ahoada/Elele Alimini Federal Road and the interchange (Flyover) at Obiri Ikwerre.
19. Refusal to attend to the poor state of the Onne – Port Harcourt component of the East/West Road. This is the road that services the Port Harcourt Refinery from where petroleum products are supplied to the South East and parts of the South South. That is the road that leads to the Onne Free Zone and to Okrika, the home Local Government of Dame Patience Jonathan, Nigeria’s former First Lady.
20. Turning a blind eye while his party continues to kill, bomb and disrupt APC rallies.
21. Against the spirit of equity, unity, justice and fair play, Dr Jonathan and his wife, Damee patience Jonathan imposed Chief Nyesome Wike a cancellous fellow from the Ikwerre tribe as PDP candidate and Governor of Rivers State, knowing very well that the former Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, was also of Ikwerre extraction and that with Chief Wike as Governor that the Ikwerre tribe will governed Rivers State for 16 years to the detriment of other tribes and sections of the State. This shows that Dr Jonathan and his son and unjust party do not wish Rivers State any good.
22. Former President Jonathan released all the N25 Billion that accrued from the principle of derivation from the five Soku Oil Wells that rightly belong to Rivers State kept in reserve for Rivers State and Bayelsa State were all paid to Bayelsa State his home State to prove his hatred for Rivers State
23. As a President, Dr Jonathan continued to under fund the NDDC to ensure that Rivers State and in extension the Niger Delta region is not developed, till the time he left office, over N700B owed by the Federal Government was not paid to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)
24. Refused to empower and fund the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs initiated by the Yar-Adua’s administration. The then Minister of Niger Delta once stated that the N41.7B due to the Ministry was not paid until Dr Jonathan left office to ensure that 90 percent of the projects initiated by the Ministry were not executed by the Ministry in Rivers State and other Niger Delta States.
Ikanya said: “These, amongst other wicked acts against Rivers State for reasons only to be explained by Dr Jonathan are why no PDP should be voted for this Saturday’s poll.
“For the record, Dr Jonathan is from Bayelsa, a sister State to Rivers. He is married to Dame Patience Jonathan, who is from Rivers State and having schooled in UNIPORT and lectured in the State before joining politics; one would have expected him to be a key factor in the development of Rivers State after the State gave him the highest number of votes in the 2011 presidential election though not shockingly, he was the greatest undoing of his party in the 2015 general election.”
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The minister for information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has denied blaming President Muhammadu Buhari for the poor state of Nigeria’s economy.
“My views were twisted,” Mohammed said in a statement on Sunday. “I was reported to have said that the economy of our country is beyond the control of the President.”
A section of the Nigerian media had claimed that the minister while speaking on an Abuja radio station, said that the economy has not witnessed any tangible upward trend because it was beyond what the President can deal with.
With a weak Naira, sliding prices of oil on the global market and low foreign reserves, experts believe the country is not about to witness any economic revival anytime soon.
But the minister said President Buhari was on course to turn around Nigeria’s declining fortune. He said his statement was twisted for selfish gains.
“This is a gross misrepresentation of what I said,” he said. “I could not have said our economy is out of the control of our President or the administration he heads. As a matter of fact, this Administration has decided to turn the economic disaster‎ that we inherited to a blessing by diversifying our economy.
“I don’t know the reason behind the gross distortion of my comments on the…, but whatever the motive is, Nigerians should disregard such distortion and continue to support our President and his Administration to take our country out of the woods.”


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Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike  has declared that former Gov. Rotimi Amaechi is a failed governor  who needs urgent psychiatric evaluation  and  treatment.
Governor Wike  said Former  Governor  Amaechi  is monstrously  corrupt, pointing  out  that after  his litigation on his indictment by the judicial Commission of Inquiry, his (Amaechi’s) prosecution  over the embezzlement  of Rivers resources  will take place.
Speaking at the PDP Rivers West Senatorial District Campaign  rally at Ahoada on Saturday,  GovernorWike said  that  only a man with psychiatric  disorder  will compare his failed  eight years  in office to just eight months of  the new administration.
He said  the  former governor   failed in his eight as the  state chief executive. According  to  him, Amaechi  lacks proper parental  upbringing hence his desperation in the political arena.
Governor  Wike  said that  the APC  has refused to campaign  for the rerun  elections  because they are relying on the military  and  security  forces to rig.
“He is a psychiatric  patient who was at the radio station  abusing people who are old enough  to  be  his fathers/mothers simply because his party lost at the Supreme Court.
“We will  defeat Amaechi again and again.  No matter the deployed to  Rivers State,  the PDP  we will  all the seats “.
The governor  said  that  Amaechi  during  his radio tour confessed that the military  has been  handed over to him to rig elections  in  the  state. He added that the plot would  fail woefully  as the Rivers people  will defend their mandate.
He pointed out  that  Amaechi’s  personal  friend Mr Tosin Ajayi  was posted to  Rivers  State  as DSS director with the evil objective  of  creating  the  environment  of rigging.
He said : “Only yesterday,  I intercepted  the communication  of the  DSS director and the Brigade commander  where they were planning on the ways of rigging the election  alongside Amaechi.  That plot has failed.
“Amaechi  lacks sound parental upbringing. He has vindicated  us when he said that he has been given the army to rig the rerun  elections.  I know the Chief of  Army  staff  very well. He should not allow a psychiatric  patient  to use the Army to rig.
“Is Amaechi  now the Commander  in Chief of the Armed Forces  that he talks about deploying soldiers?  Our people  will rise up to defend  their votes. They will make  the  needed sacrifices their votes”, Governor Wike said.
He reminded the people  that on May 27, 2015, Amaechi  made a statement  that his (Wike ) administration  will be  unable  to  pay salaries and execute projects.  He said he has confounded through  the  execution  of  pro-people  projects  across  the  state, payment  of  salaries  and pensions.
He called on the people of Rivers West Senatorial District  to vote overwhelmingly  for the PDP  for uniformed  development  to be  entrenched in the state.
The Governor  said  that  development  of the communities  rests with his administration, pointing  out  that  he has discharged  his responsibility  faithfully.
Governor Wike  said no matter the time it takes Amaechi  will face trial for stealing  Rivers  resources .
“If President Muhammadu Buhari visits Amaechi’s house in Asokoro,  he will never allow him to come into Presidential Villa.  After the case initiated by  Amaechi  over his indictment,  he will face justice  for embezzling  state funds”
Also speaking , PDP  Deputy  National  Chairman  described  the  former governor  as a pathetic  liar who mismanaged  resources of the state.
He said : “Amaechi  needs urgent proper psychiatric  evaluation  and  treatment. We call on Dr Parker to treat the former governor “.
He said Amaechi’s  appearance  on different  radio  stations  is merely an avenue to create crisis in the  state.
 He said: “No amount  of blackmail  will pull down the  administration  of  Governor Wike.  Amaechi  was a failed governor “.
The Rivers  North West Senatorial District Campaign rally attracted PDP  faithful  from the  eight local government areas of  the district.
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The All Progressives Congress has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his shuttle diplomacy aimed at forging a stronger regional front against the Boko Haram insurgency. APC said the President should be praised rather than condemned for his efforts. The party position was contained in a statement in Abuja on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. It said, ”Boko Haram, which started off as a Nigerian problem, has now assumed a regional dimension, affecting many countries in West Africa. Therefore, any solution to the crisis, if it is to endure, must be regional in nature, with Nigeria taking the lead.” APC noted that since terrorism had assumed a global dimension, no nation, not even the United States, could fight the growing menace alone. ”This is why even in our days in opposition, we advocated a regional solution to the crisis,” it added. The party said Buhari’s trip to Niger and Chad, two of the countries worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency, “showed that he understands the regional dimension that the insurgency has assumed, and that for any effort by Nigeria to yield positive results, it must seek the cooperation of its neighbouring countries”. APC urged the President not to relent in his efforts to forge a regional front against the terrorists, despite the “misguided criticism” emanating from certain quarters. It stated, ”It is baffling that some opposition politicians wanted Nigeria to go it alone against Boko Haram, even as the terrorist group has taken its battle beyond the shores of Nigeria, to such countries as Cameroon, Chad and Niger. “It is common knowledge that the terrorists use these countries as launch pads for their attacks against Nigeria, and vice versa, and that they routinely engage in cross-boundary raids. ”It is common knowledge that Boko Haram’s tentacles have spread as far as Mali, the home base of the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa, a splinter group of the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. It is no longer a secret that Boko Haram has now affiliated itself to the Islamic State, seeing itself as the West African chapter of the terror group. “How then can Nigeria effectively deal with Boko Haram without seeking the assistance of other concerned countries?” The party reminded the critics of the President’s trips to Chad and Niger that even the US sought and had continued to seek a global coalition against Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, despite the country’s enormous military, economic and political powers. APC said it was particularly delighted that Buhari had continued to insist that the Nigerian Army was capable of leading the fight against Boko Haram. “Meaning that while there is nothing wrong in seeking the cooperation of Nigeria’s neighbours, the country has no business hiring mercenaries to lead the battle,” it added.
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APC Release New Official Portraits Of Buhari And Osinbajo, News, Politics, Buhari, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, APC,


The All Progressives Congress APC, has released this new portrait of the president-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and his vice president Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. They first released another portrait but it seems people did not like those ones so they got new ones.
See the first released portrait below...
Which one do you prefer between this two?
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An attempt by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress to elect a consensus candidate for the leadership of the Senate at a retreat organised for Senators-elect in Abuja was frustrated on Saturday as two factions emerged from the camp, endorsing two separate candidates.
The party leadership had planned to conduct a primary election for the 59 senators elected on the ticket of the party in order to produce a consensus candidate that would emerge as the next Senate President during the inauguration of the eighth National Assembly in June.
However, few hours into the retreat, a group, which identified itself as Senate Unity Forum, walked out of the event and addressed a news conference where they declared that they had resolved to support the joint ticket of Senators Ahmad Lawan and George Akume for the Senate top posts.
They circulated a resolution signed by Lawan (Yobe North), Akume (Benue North West) and the group’s spokesperson, Senator Barnabas Gemade, (Benue North East) wherein the senators-elect explained that their decision was in the best interest of the party and Nigeria.
The group, which did not disclose its membership strength said, “We, the Senate Unity Forum comprising senators-elect from various states and various zones of Nigeria, have met, held extensive discussions and resolved to support Senator Ahmad Lawan as Senate President and Senator George Akume, as the Deputy Senate President of the eighth Senate.”
But some hours later, no fewer than 24 senators-elect, under the aegis of, “The Like-minds,”   filed out of the retreat and announced that 35 members of the group had adopted Saraki (Kwara Central) as their next Senate President.
They also said each of the 35 members of the group, had signed a document which indicated their commitment to Saraki and had followed it up by jointly signing a letter, which they would present to the National Chairman of the party, Mr. John Odigie-Oyegun.
The Senators, in their resolution, read by Dino Melaye (Kogi West) noted: “Senators of ‘The Like-minds’ are here today at the retreat organised by our dear party, All Progressive Congress, which is meant to equip and empower senators-elect of the eighth Assembly to prepare them for the challenges ahead.
“We commend the leadership of our party for this timely and well-focused exercise. The issue of National Assembly leadership is about integrity, competence, discipline and leadership skills and not about fixing of candidates just for mere horse-trading.
“Our stand is about electing a senator who eventually becomes the chairman of National Assembly and relates with the executive on behalf of Nigerians, fellow senators and the National Assembly as an institution.
“Furthermore, the leadership of National Assembly is about the senator that has the wherewithal to stabilise the legislative institution, working with the executive and judicial arm of government to be effective and perform to their optimal capacity.
“In addition, we are aware of the fact that all senators from the North Central zone have taken a firm position that they are only interested in the office of the Senate President which has been earlier zoned by the National Working Committee of our party to the zone.
“We are also aware that North Central senators have resolved to abide by the resolution of the zone on a single candidate and anything short of this is an attempt to jeopardise the collective interest of the zone.
“Of the 59 senators of the APC, 35 of us present here today hereby reaffirm our collective commitment and resolution to ensure that the candidature of Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki as the Senate President of eighth Assembly.
“We have also resolved that the office of the Deputy Senate President be zoned to the North East.”
Our correspondent observed that the South-West APC senators-elect, except Tayo Alasoadura, were conspicuously absent at the briefing, while members of the Like-minds senators who were present, cut across the North-Central, North-West, and the North-East geopolitical zones.
The latest development has therefore pruned down the numbers of aspirants contesting the senate presidency from four to two because while Akume had accepted to be Lawan’s deputy, Ali Ndume (Borno South), was among the senators that endorsed Saraki on Saturday.
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The All Progressives Congress has threatened to probe the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan over some “last-minute dubious activities” ahead of the May 29 handover.
The party alleged that the outgoing administration had been looting the nation’s resources, hurriedly recruiting into the public service and privatisatising key financial institutions.
The APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday, said such actions would have serious repercussions after May 29.
It said apart from media reports of such anomalies, the party had received reliable information from members of the public about some dubious actions by key officials of the outgoing Jonathan administration.
The party said while the Jonathan administration remains in charge until the midnight of May 29, it was important for the outgoing administration not to create any more problems for the incoming government than it had already done, or to tie the new government’s hands through some suspicious actions.
The APC said although the Buhari administration would not needlessly probe the Jonathan administration, it would look into all actions taken by Jonathan’s administration after the March 28 presidential election.
The statement read, ‘’For example, the National Council on Privatisation, which is headed by the Vice-President, has just approved the financial bid opening for transaction advisers for the privatisation of the three development finance institutions in the country – the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and Nigeria Commodity Exchange. The question is: What is the rationale for rushing this exercise with just weeks left for this administration?
“Also, there have been reports, not refuted, of a planned hurried recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service, after a previous attempt ended in a national tragedy and the fleecing of innocent job seekers by mindless Federal Government officials.
Apart from the fact that this last-minute recruitment is suspect, it is irregular.
“The Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board is only empowered to recruit, promote and discipline only senior officers (levels eight and above). The power to recruit, promote and discipline junior officers is vested in the different services, in this case the Nigeria Immigration Service.
“Therefore, the recruitment exercise now being conducted by the federal civil service under the auspices of the Presidential Committee to Assist on Immigration Recruitment usurps the functions of the board as it relates to the recruitment of Senior Officers (level 08) and that of the immigration service as it relates to Junior Officers (levels 07 and below).”
The party also called the attention of Jonathan to a published report that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, plans to use the Federal Capital Development Authority to carry out a secret employment of no fewer than 500 workers before the end of the month.
‘’We do not know if this report, as well as others, is true. But if indeed these rushed privatisation and hurried recruitment exercises – in the twilight of the Jonathan administration – are true, they raise serious questions concerning the reasons behind such actions.”
The APC urged Jonathan to call his officials to order in order to save him of embarrassment.
It said it was such recklessness that led to the downfall of Jonathan’s administration and it would be unfair to bequeath such to the Buhari administration.
It added, “We are therefore compelled to call on President Jonathan to call his officials to order, lest they engage in actions that can later embarrass his administration.
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