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Ryan Lochte Apologizes for the Rio Robbery False Story

Atiku May become PDP 2019 Presidential Flagbearer

The crises bedeviling the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been blamed on the adoption of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to fly the flag of the PDP in 2019.

Abubakar was the vice president during the eight years in which President Olusegun Obasanjo ran the country under the platform of the PDP.

A member of the G-34, which saw to the formation of the PDP, the former vice president used his financial war chest to see to the success of the party until schism and internal bickering in the Presidency made him join the opposition.

But things appeared to have changed as emerging facts show that PDP governors and other notable leaders in the party may have identified him as the most viable candidate to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) after the 2015 presidential fiasco.

It was gathered that some hawks in the troubled party had conceived earlier in the year that ex-president and current African most celebrated democratic icon, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, might be the ideal candidate due to his rising domestic and international stocks but he turned it down, advising that the leaders of the party should search more broadly.

Jonathan was said to have been approached by the controversial factional chairman of the party, Ali Modu-Sheriff to provide N3 trillion so that he could be adopted as the party’s sole candidate when “the time was ripe,” a source in the National Working Committee said.

Even though the source could not clarify if Jonathan was personally informed, he was sure the former president knew and when reports were brought back that the former president was not disposed to ruling the country again, “Sheriff started to nurse the ambition. That was why he manipulated some current PDP governors to adopt him until 2018 when he would step down as the party’s chairman and be adopted as the sole candidate to run for president.”

But things did not work out, the source said, adding that in one of the meetings held at the residence of a former senator from the north central zone, Mr Sheriff’s calculations were immediately uncovered.

“His calculations were made clear at the meetings. So moves were made to first unify the northern PDP members and then reach out to the south. The knock out blow was the shrewd role of Senator Ibrahim Mantu and former Minister, Professor Jerry Gana, who stuck to their guns and informed PDP governors and other members of what was in the offing.

“At the first Port Harcourt’s conference, the table turned as Rivers State and Ekiti State governors quickly aligned with the Mantu group and left Modu-Sheriff alone,” the source explained.

“Once that was achieved amid erroneous courts judgement that were obtained by Modu-Sheriff, the need to quickly shop for ideal candidates started. At a meeting in the governor’s lodge of one of the south south states, it was agreed that two PDP members who decamped to APC were ideal candidates.”

The source explained that the two mentioned were Atiku and Senate President Bukola Saraki.

To achieve this, a more amenable and corrupt-free party chairman must be chosen. “The need to zone it to the south was strategic just like the need to zone the party’s candidate to the north was,” another source explained.

“The calculations were not to scheme out people but to let a popular candidate win and that popular candidate, by the governors calculations who are scheming to clear the way for Atiku, was Jimi Agbaje. The PDP governors accepted him without a dissenter. And he is not running for the Alausa office again.”

Sources then said that the governors settled for Atiku owing to his complete understanding of the political process, broad political space he has created, stupendous financial possession and his position on key issues plaguing the nation – true federalism.

“He is for true federalism. The larger south sees him as one of theirs. Far above that, his acceptance to provide a whopping N3 trillion for the party since PDP is no longer in power and would compete against federal resources was far seen as an incentive than anything else,” the source averred.

According to the plan, Abubakar would officially decamp early next year after all the party’s structures have been created. A lot of consultations are ongoing such that once he decamps, “about 30 political parties would adopt him to send a strong message of his acceptability.”

According to another source in the PDP’s National Executive Committee, Abubakar prefers to use the platform he helped to form, he nurtured and “served in as a VP. Far from that, you can see the disenchantment in the nation. Even the APC is bogged down with internal crisis. The party is disappearing because of infighting. PDP did not witness this when it was in power. While it had crisis, the party’s chairman was not made to look like a little and confused boy as you see in APC.

“But the APC’s undoing is their unreadiness to lead the country. The indices are against them. Nothing is working. Even those ruling us are hungry and angry, could you imagined? That is why they are confused and Nigerians are against them.

“Would you run under such a crazy platform? Abubakar I know would not accept that. In no time, he would come back home because the PDP is his home. He would come with over 300 Atiku Abubakar support groups. Do you know what that means?

“With last Wednesday’s Federal High Court ruling in Abuja barring Modu-Sheriff from parading himself as the PDP chairman, sources say a new convention date might be announced and the venue could be changed to Abuja.

“This hint emerged on Friday as almost all PDP bigwigs gathered in Abia State for late Chief Ojo Madueke’s interment. Leaders of the party, a particular source said would discuss the last Wednesday’s botched party convention in Port Hacourt informally and seek for a short date for “a mother of all convention.”

Conclusive Polls Not Guaranteed in 2019 - INEC Chairman

The National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, on Friday said he was not in a position to guarantee conclusive polls in 2019 because he would not be pressured to step outside the lines of the Constitution, the Electoral Act and the Guidelines to impress anyone.

The INEC boss, who said this last night during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, noted that the conclusiveness or otherwise of any election owes greatly to the behavioural pattern of voters, of which he has zero control, adding that he would not dare second-guess any election.

He, however, frowned at the non-existence of any law prosecuting electoral offenders, saying the absence of such a provision or law has allowed for an abiding culture of electoral malpractices responsible for some of the many hitches the commission has been dealing with.

Dismissing the swirling assumption that virtually all the elections conducted by the commission under his leadership were inconclusive, Yakubu said so far since he assumed office, the commission had concluded about 137 elections, 80 of which were rerun and the rest were isolated polls like the Kogi and Bayelsa States elections, including also, the recent elections into the Federal Capital Territory.

While noting that the commission has continued to conduct elections practically every weekend unknown to many Nigerians, Yakubu maintained that “We won’t conclude elections at all means. But we will only always conclude elections with regards to the laws of the land and the Electoral Act.”

The INEC chairman, who noted that inconclusive polls were not peculiar to his leadership, went down memory lane to recall some of the major elections that were not concluded in the past with resounding emphasis on the 1983 re-election of former President Shehu Shagari, which propelled the military takeover of the Muhammadu Buhari junta.

Although he claimed not to be proud of such developments, Yakubu said the narratives trailing some of the elections conducted under his watch have made it look like it had never happened before, citing also the start of the 2011 elections, which the former INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega had to postpone even when voting had commenced in some parts of the country.

He, therefore, reiterated that “I can’t guarantee conclusive elections in 2019. I cannot second-guess Nigerians and I don’t know where they would head in 2019,” adding that he would not step a foot outside what the laws and guidelines dictate for the conduct of elections, urging Nigerians to work with him in ensuring that the polls are conclusive through shared roles and responsibilities.

Continuing, Yakubu said “The Electoral Act envisages the commission to sufficiently comply. You can’t second-guess any election. You can’t conclude an election on behalf of the people. The Kogi election came within two weeks that we assumed office and with its peculiar challenge. I don’t think anyone should blame the commission, but we found a way out.”

Identifying some of the challenges being encountered by the commission, Yakubu said the prosecution of electoral offenders was crucial to successful elections but noted that INEC neither has its own police nor the capacity to investigate infractions during elections.

He also identified threats of violence as well as over-voting as some of the challenges that informed why some of the elections usually turned out inconclusive. He maintained that “every vote in Nigeria must count and every polling unit must account. What they do at the polling units must be recognised and respected,” he added.

In addition to some of the distractions that the commission has had to deal with, Yakubu said his leadership met about 680 litigations in which it was joined, adding that whilst 600 of them were dismissed, 80 were upheld and that 80 were part of the ones responsible for some of the reruns held so far.

Tinubu, PDP and the Road to 2019 by Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, you must be wondering what this title is all about. Please, calm down, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, one of Nigeria’s iconic politicians, is not about to dump his party, APC, for PDP, the party he fought hard with others to sack from power just last year.

The reason for bringing PDP into this article which largely concerns the Tinubu conundrum is very simple and straight-forward. PDP has suffered calamities upon catastrophes since General Muhammadu Buhari sacked President Goodluck Jonathan from office. It is hard to imagine, or believe, that a party that held Nigeria by the jugular for 16 solid years could attain meltdown so soon and almost disappear into oblivion.

One would have expected PDP, despite its electoral misfortune, to provide a formidable opposition to APC and keep President Buhari on his toes but that has not been the case. APC has wasted no time in sending PDP to an early grave by throwing poisonous darts at it from every angle.

The war against corruption has been a most veritable weapon with stupendous impact used by APC to scatter most of the PDP apparatchik to the winds. The strategy was to weaken them by showcasing the humongous corruption that was perpetrated and perpetuated during their reign. The PDP brand was thus obliterated in a jiffy. Many of their bigwigs confessed to nefarious and horrendous crimes of looting and brigandage. They coughed up or vomited incredible sums of cash. All entreaties and shouts of a vengeful witch-hunt against President Buhari fell on deaf ears. The more they screamed the more they were horse-whipped into submission and made to weep bitterly.

As if that was not bad enough, PDP engaged itself in a war of attrition and became a house divided against itself. It was only a matter of time before it crumbled like the proverbial cookie does. Today, PDP has become its own worst enemy with the brickbats being thrown at one another by members of what used to be touted as the biggest political party in Africa. How are the mighty fallen!

The aim of my piece this week is to attempt what I did in 2014 when I wrote a permutative article titled ‘In Search of Mathematicians’. That was how I predicted a win for Buhari when many pundits still doubted such possibility. I intend to do so again in this column by painting a picture of what to expect in 2019. If you think that year is still far away, perish the thought.

The battle for the next Nigerian Presidential election started as soon as the last one was lost and won. The hurly-burly of the elections had not yet settled down when the potential gladiators picked up their gauntlets in readiness for the next combat.

The ruling party APC has suffered its own casualties as a result of its self-immolating wars of anticipation. What do I mean? The new men of power are already thinking ahead and wondering who may be too ambitious within their own fold. Any of such recalcitrant and ambitious rebels must be cut down to size, no matter his or her contribution to past victory and glory. Without mincing words, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is the first victim and he has suffered massive collateral damage on account of suspicion. APC itself has suffered almost fatally in the process. The only thing holding it together for now is the fact that it is the party in power and thus presumably has limitless opportunities to distribute largesse to the army of party operatives and their cronies.

By this time next year, as this government enters its third year in power, reality would begin to set in and President Buhari will begin to discover and see original animals in human skin.
I foresee and predict a re-alignment of political forces from 2017. President Buhari will be encouraged and persuaded to run a second term by those who are currently profiting from his government. It is only normal and it is their legitimate right. Nothing stops the President from seeking a re-election within our Constitution. The only snag is that many politicians are going to gang up against him because they see him as an outsider in politics who has benefitted from their massive support but in return has been messing things up for them.

If the President remains stoically stubborn and refuses to play ball with politicians, he would have to fight dirty to win his ticket. It seems to me that he would have to do everything to retain the loyalty of one man by all means, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is almost impossible for any candidate to become President of Nigeria without the overwhelming support of the Yoruba and their current generalissimo, Tinubu, in particular.

Tinubu derives his stranglehold on power from his iron grip on Lagos. Lagos is a microcosm of Nigeria. Whoever controls Lagos owns the commercial nerve-centre of Nigeria, just like the California of America. Tinubu has been very lucky in that his anointed candidates, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode, have been very cerebrally successful. The current Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, is already set, after just one year in office, to surpass all expectations.

According to impeccable sources, Buhari may therefore be forced to risk and pick Tinubu as his running-mate if push comes to shove. Tinubu’s protégé, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, is the current Vice President, who comes with intimidating credentials but may not have enough political muscle to deliver enough votes to the kitty. The dilemma for Buhari is whether he should buck the trend set by his predecessors, starting from Shehu Shagari, and jettison his Vice President, especially when a cordial and mutually respectful relationship exists between them. In addition, Osinbajo has been doing exceedingly well and he is seen as one of the few shining lights of this Administration. There is also the fact that Prof Osinbajo is a highly regarded and esteemed senior Christian figure and the President has needed him to silence those detractors that consider him an Islamic fundamentalist.

However, I believe that the controversy that could ensue from a potentially volatile Muslim/Muslim ticket may have been fixed substantially. Firstly, there is a precedent set by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola the acclaimed winner of the 1993 elections who picked a fellow Muslim, Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe, as his running-mate and still won in Nigeria’s freest and fairest election to date. Secondly, though Tinubu is a devout Muslim, his beloved wife is a hard-core Christian and a top-notch member of the same Redeemed Christian Church of God as the Vice President. Thirdly, there is the fact that Tinubu supported a Christian, Akinwunmi Ambode, as his anointed candidate for Governor of Lagos State, a deft move calculated to pacify those who may wish to foment religious crisis and conflagration then and in the future.

Tinubu is believed by many to have served Nigeria meritoriously and selflessly by suppressing his own personal ambition for that of others and it is believed that the kingmaker deserves a chunky reward the next time around if he so desires. He is acknowledged as being one of the most knowledgeable leaders in Nigeria today and a lot of people feel that his background in business and politics could bail Nigeria out of the economic quagmire of the moment. He is known to be a practical politician who knows how to make the world better for most people.

If the hawks succeed in getting Buhari to snub Tinubu because of his perceived threat to the President himself, the APC may split like PDP did before the collapse of the Jonathan Presidency.
One potential candidate is hovering in the wings and that is the Turaki of Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who has never hidden the fact that he wants the Presidency by all means. My next permutation is that the former Vice President and Tinubu who are two of the three most powerful and influential politicians in APC today (the third is Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki with his firm control of the Senate) may combine forces to thwart a Buhari re-election bid. They have been old allies since the time of Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. If they join forces, it may therefore spell doom for those seeking the re-election of President Buhari.
After the seeming lull in the Buhari-Tinubu love, it seems the recent appointments given to some of Tinubu’s acolytes appear designed to assuage his feeling. But would this be sufficient to bury the combustive ambition of a man who believes he still has so much to give to his country?

The third option which also involves Tinubu in the mix is one on which for a variety of reasons Buhari chooses not to run again. Without doubt, there are several other forces contending for power in case Buhari decides not to seek re-election. In this category, Tinubu’s name still features prominently. No one can deny the ability of Tinubu to transform Nigeria the way he did in Lagos. It is presumed that Buhari may generously want to pay Tinubu back for the support he gave him. He may also want to leave a lasting legacy and shed the toga of an ethnic jingoist by handing over to a Southerner. If this happens, I foresee the visionary Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, a core Buhari loyalist, becoming Tinubu’s running-mate, notwithstanding that this is another Muslim/Muslim ticket. Many APC loyalists believe this combination may fly.

There is a fourth option and this is coming from the direction of PDP. The theory here is that PDP can still spring a surprise on Buhari and pay him back in his own coin. The PDP apologists believe the North has lost more under Buhari despite allocating many political appointments to the region. They are of the opinion that former President Jonathan did more for them and gave them access and respect than their own man Buhari who they accuse of being standoffish. This is the reason that many Northerners, apart from his kinsmen in the South South, have become the biggest promoter of PDP.

In case you think Jonathan is dead and buried politically, perish the thought! He still holds the biggest ace in PDP. In fact, many in PDP today see him as their best candidate in 2019 because some of his transformation agenda are beginning to come to fruition. They are hoping and banking on Buhari becoming so unpopular that Jonathan would be sorely missed by Nigerians who would practically beg him to come back.

The rising profile and the promotion of Jonathan in the international community is part of that systematic way of re-polishing, repackaging, redefining and preparing him for a return to power. Every attempt to smear him with a tar brush would be rebuffed by his die-hard loyalists who see Buhari as someone trying to kill any future role for Jonathan as Nigerian President. They are totally committed to ensuring that Jonathan is well protected between now and next year when serious politicking would have reached a crescendo again. The hope is that as a former civilian President, he can bounce back to power like President Mathieu Kerekou did in Benin Republic, when he returned in 1996 after quitting in 1991.
Who knows tomorrow?

Minister of Education urged Governors to access education grants

Nigeria Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu has told state governments to provide matching grants to the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, to enable them gain access to additional funds. He said a situation where billions of naira were not accessed each year by state governments, was unhealthy for educational development.

Adamu, who flagged off the 2015 National Teacher Professional Development Programme at Government Junior Secondary School, Jabi, Abuja on Tuesday, also noted that professional and qualitative teachers were at the core of building a globally competitive and development oriented education system.

He said government had adopted a deliberate policy on teacher training to boost their quality and professional output. The Federal Government places high premium on the training of teachers and the education of managers at the basic level. But in addition to government’s concern for quality teachers, quantity is also of the essence. There is a wide gap between the number of teachers required and the current number available in the basic education sector.

That is why, in addition to its existing intervention through the agency of the UBEC, the Federal Government is working to recruit and inject 500,000 teachers into the basic education sector across the country. This, when completed would place more responsibilities and higher expectations on states and local governments in terms of the roles they would be playing in providing more teaching infrastructure and institutional materials. However, the inability of some state governments to promptly access the matching grant and other non-conditional grants from UBEC should be of great concern to all of us.”

Read more at www.scannewsnigeria.com

Gospel Faith Mission International @60: Buhari Felicitates with GOFAMINT

As the Gospel Faith Mission International (GOFAMINT) celebrates its 60 years anniversary, President Muhammadu Buhari felicitated with the General Overseer, the leadership, and members of the Christian organization.

According to a statement by his special adviser media, Femi Adesina, in a letter to the church, the President said, “Sixty years is a significant milestone in the life of any individual or organization. As the Gospel Faith Mission International turns 60, it is my pleasure to rejoice with the leadership, the teeming members and adherents of the Christian faith, who worship in the church.

Six decades of labour in the Lord’s vineyard must have produced innumerable fruits, with great impact from now to eternity. I wish GOFAMINT many more successful decades of fruitful service to the nation.

As you celebrate, accept my best wishes. And kindly tell your members that a new dawn beckons in the country. We see it ahead, and we shall step into that land of unity and prosperity. God will take us there by His Grace,” President Buhari added.

Read more at www.scannewsnigeria.com