“Ribadu’s Defection to PDP won’t Affect Our Electoral Fortunes” – APC

Yola (NAN) – The All Progressives Congress (APC), said on Sunday in Yola that the defection of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not affect the fortunes of the party in Adamawa.

Robin Williams Committed Suicide by Hanging Himself with a Belt

Sheriff Officials confirmed today Tuesday that Robin Williams committed
suicide by hanging himself with a belt at his San Franciso Bay Area home.

According to Marin County Sheriff’s Lt. Keith Boyd, Williams was found in a bedroom by his personal assistant on Monday at his Tiburon home.

Boyd said toxicology tests will be performed and the investigation is ongoing.

On Monday, a preliminary investigation determined the cause of death was suicide due to asphyxia. Williams had been battling severe depression.

GEJ says He Doesn’t Require Threat by Northern Leaders to Bring Back Chibok Girls

Yesterday, BN brought you the news that the faction of northern leaders gave President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan an ultimatum till the end of October to bring back the girls abducted in the Chibok area of Borno.

Today, through a statement by his Senior Special Assistant Doyin Okupe, the commander-in-chief made his position known and called the demands “contrary to common sense”.

Read the statement;
“

We read with deep concern the statement published in the Media today by the Northern Elders Forum giving President Goodluck Jonathan a two ultimatum on the Boko Haram Insurgency and the Chibok Girls abduction Saga.

We wish to state categorically that President Jonathan does not require any threat or ultimatum from any group of persons to be alive to his responsibilities to the Nigerian People.

The issue of Insurgency especially those ideologically based on Islamic extremism is a global phenomenon and requires tact, military capability, serious de-radicalisation techniques and community based counter insurgency programmes to ensure success.

In these areas, the Federal Government is making progress:

a) We are improving on our operational capabilities and efficiencies by acquiring more advanced weapons and technologies for our military and security agencies.

b) We have drafted more military personnel to the region to strengthen the fighting power of our armed forces.

c) We are taking advantage of the offers from our international military and intelligence allies to assist in identifying key locations.

d) We are working with our neighbours to secure the borders and limit the movements of the Boko Haram fighters, building on the agreements reached at the recent summits in Paris and London.

e) We are deploying more resources to maximize operational efficiency, acquire more advanced and relevant weaponry and boost the general morale of our combatants. This is why the Government recently requested for an additional funding of $1bn.

f) And the last piece in the puzzle is targeting the domestic and international funding, and stopping the money flows into the coffers of the terrorists.

g) With all these efforts and the support of our allies, these steps will help fight the threat of the Boko haram and move us closer to bringing the girls back safely.

Lastly, the suggestion that the Government is carrying out any scheme to annihilate any section of the country for political gain is preposterous, contrary to common sense, divisive and essentially a deliberate attempt to disseminate “hate mentality” and cause mischief.

President Goodluck Jonathan was voted for by an overwhelming majority of Nigerians across the board, and he will never promote any policy that is either divisive or inimical to the wellbeing of any section of the polity.

What the country needs today is total co-operation, of all its citizens and stakeholders, with the Government and our military and the security agencies.

We wish to assure Nigerians that in spite of this and many more distractions, the President is focused on continued successful executions of his transformation Agenda; and the guarantee of the security of lives and properties of the Nigerian people.

Northern Leaders Give Jonathan October Ultimatum to Bring Back Chibok Girls

#BringBackOurGirls

On Monday, the faction of Northern Elders Forum led by Maitama Sule gave President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan an ultimatum till the end of October 2014 to bring back the over 200 abducted school girls from the Chibok area of Borno.

They also told him to end the Boko Haram insurgency, and failure to do so means he is not fit to seek a re-election in 2015.

According to Channels TV, the leaders of the North noted that the warning became imperative because they were of the firm belief that the lingering terrorist attacks and other related security challenges in the country pose a major threat to the 2015 elections and the survival of Nigeria as a nation.

The forum allege that the FG’s failure to put an end to the insecurity in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa, was a plot to weaken the North’s political and economic potentials ahead of the 2015 elections.

Julius Agwu says Rivers State Indigenes asked Him to Run for Governor, Hopes to be President

What’s Julius Agwu‘s vision for 2015 – be the next Governor of Rivers state.

Last week, the comedian and singer subtly announced that he will be contesting for the seat of the governor of the state by posting a campaign photo online.

Julius who joins stars like Desmond Elliot, Kate Henshaw and Dan D’Humourous who recently announced political ambitions, got quite a backlash. But he is unperturbed.

In an interview with Vanguard, he explains his reasons for going into politics and what he hopes to change if he wins.
On reports that he is running for governor: “Yes, I am working on that project too at the moment.”

On if he will call himself a politician: “I cannot really call myself a politician, but l am someone who prays and wish for things to get better than it is in this country. I believe I can help to achieve what my brother started in Rivers State. It is a known truth that Port Harcourt was the Garden City of this great country, but we lost that glory because of poverty and neglect, coupled with incessant militancy and kidnapping. Governor Amaechi has done well for the State, but we still need good hands after he leaves to continue the good work.”

On why he wants to be governor: “Becoming the governor of Rivers State was not something that came up overnight. It was not on my radar back then. The people of Rivers State in the Diaspora and those in the State have been clamouring for me to come out as an aspirant. They believe I have what it takes to go for it. It just dawned on me that I indeed have what it takes. I have given it a serious thought and have given in to their pressure.”

On if they’ll sponsor him: “Yes, they will. But I do not want to disclose their names for security reasons.”

On his political party: “Yes, we shall, eventually, but I do not want to unveil that now.”

On possibly running for presidency: “Yes, when the time comes it will be revealed.”

Incumbent Governor Aregbesola Wins Osun Election

All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and incumbent governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has been declared winner of the Saturday governorship election.

He had a total of 394,684 votes, defeating his closest rival, Senator Iyiola Omisore, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 292,747 votes, Nigerian Tribune, reports.

I Will Support The Abolishing Of Age Limit For Presidential Aspirant: Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday made a case for the amendment of the nation’s constitution to abolish the age limit for anybody aspiring to become the President of the country.

The Constitution currently stipulates 40 years as the minimum age for anybody seeking the highest office in the land.

But Jonathan said the age limit was a discrimination against Nigerian youths who he said have all the wherewithals to rule the country.

Jonathan made his position known at an international youth summit organised by the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

He said if a former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.), could rule the country at the age of 32, there was nothing wrong in giving youths a chance to lead.

While urging the youth, who attended the summit with the theme “Capacity for Change for a New Nigeria” to initiate a bill to the National Assembly for the amendment of the provision, Jonathan promised to support such a step.

The President said, “The youths have no limit in terms of number and capacity to lead this country to greatness. The only limit is that for youths to contest as President, they need to be 40.

“If Gen. Yakubu Gowon was able to rule this country at 32, there is no reason why the youths should not be given the chance.

“I think what the youth should do now is to come together, and I will support you, and take a bill to the National Assembly to amend some discriminatory provisions of the constitution in terms of age.’’

Jonathan pledged that his administration would continue to come up with policies that would be favourable to the youths.

He listed some of the programmes already put in place by the Federal Government to harness youths’ potential to include YouWin, SURE-P, Graduate Internship Scheme and the Community Service Programme, among others.

Jonathan, while observing that youths were making the nation proud in all spheres, argued that those who beat the drums of war in the country were the old people.

He said young people are not part of those who, by their utterances, are trying to divide the country along ethnic and religious lines.

“I always say that whenever you read newspapers, watch 

television

 or listen to the radios, those who preach hate, quarrel and try to divide us on the basis of ethnicity and religion are not the young people but grandfathers,” he noted.

The President said experience had shown him that the youths are comfortable living with people of different ethnic groups or religions, unlike the elderly people.

“The youths live with whomever they are comfortable with regardless of ethnic or religious affiliation; they want to marry whomever they love.

“They are not like those old people who are disturbing us, who want to divide us based on religion and all kinds of sentiments,” he said

Obama Leaves Nigeria Out Of $110m Peacekeeping Fund

IN a rather surprising fallout of the US-Africa Summit with over 40 presidents and heads of state from Africa, including President Jonathan Goodluck, in attendance, US President Barack Obama has decided to leave Nigeria out of its multi-million-dollar effort to support peacekeepers from Africa.

Although Nigeria still has considerable promises and offers of support coming out of the week-long summit, the significance of the isolation of the country in an area (peacekeeping) it has been adjudged to be critically visible is revealing.

According to President Obama, who announced a series of American support and initiatives generated from the summit, the US government would be creating what it called “the African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Partnership (APRRP, “A-Prep” for short), with “a new investment of $110 million per year for three to five years to build the capacity of African militaries to rapidly deploy peacekeepers in response to emerging conflict, a concept that holds powerful life-saving potential.”

Observers, including those at the UN consider Nigeria among the topmost contributors of international peacekeepers in the world and especially in Africa based on its record in the last few decades.

Indeed the US has been very active in supporting Nigerian peacekeepers, who are deployed either on the platform of the United Nations or those of the African Union in the past. What is not clear is whether the non-inclusion of Nigeria from this new effort is a new indicator of what is to come generally or merely an isolated incident.

Specifically, President Obama said the nations the US would initiate the programme with are Senegal, Ghana, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The statement by the US said it will “develop a rapid response capability programme by building improved capacity in areas such as military training, equipment maintenance and repair, institutional support and interoperability with other Africa-based peacekeeping forces.”

According to the US government, it “strongly supports the work of more than 67,000 African peacekeepers serving with the African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) in Africa. These men and women are working to protect civilians, prevent violence, and promote security and stability in many of Africa’s most complex conflicts.”

But US sources explain that the non-inclusion of Nigeria from this (APRRP, “A-Prep is likely as a result of the allegations against the Nigerian military and security agencies regarding human rights abuses and violations in their operations especially in the ongoing insurgency in the Northeastern part of Nigeria.



In fact, the US Congress under what is known as the Leahy amendment, is outlawed from supporting any military that is known to be involved in gross acts of human rights violations and abuses. Notably during the just concluded US-Africa Summit, the Amnesty International (AI) released a very damning footage that alleged serious human rights abuses and violations against the Nigerian military. But often times the Nigerian military has denied such allegations.

However, there are still several offers, including in the areas of terrorism that the Nigerian security agencies like the military would still be supported.

For instance, during the summit, the US President announced that “the United States is building strong partnerships with countries to address critical terrorist threats on the front lines in order to confront the threat at its roots.”

In that regard, the US specifically mentioned “confronting Boko Haram.”

According to the statement, the US said “we are deeply concerned by Boko Haram’s ongoing attacks against Nigeria’s citizens, civil institutions, and infrastructure, including the group’s April 2014 kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls. To support the Nigerian-led efforts to combat Boko Haram, we are providing an array of military, law enforcement, and intelligence support, such as counter-Improvised Explosive Device training and forensics training.

The statement added that the US will also be “supporting the efforts of Nigeria and its neighbors to increase regional cooperation to combat Boko Haram. Because the specter of terrorism requires more than just a security response, we have also worked to encourage and support the Nigerian government’s efforts to promote development in northern Nigeria, including boosting health, education, and social service delivery. Our security cooperation also supports the professionalisation of key military units and underscores that effective counterterrorism policies and practices are those that respect human rights and are underpinned by the rule of law.”