Buhari: Boko Haram Did Not Nominate Me As Their Mediator

 Contrary to the news making the rounds that the Boko Haram sect has nominated Former Head of States, General Muhammadu Buhari as the mediator between them and the Federal Government of Nigeria in the proposed peace talk, the retired Military General has denied knowledge of his nomination.

According to the National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Engr Buba Galadima, the national leader of the CPC is not aware of the appointment: “As at 10pm yesterday (Thursday) when I spoke with him,he said he has not even heard about it.”

Galadima said: “He (Buhari) said the whole thing to him, is just speculation. And since nobody has contacted him as a person for him to even know who is behind what, and what are the motives of the whole exercise, he would not speak to the press.”

He revealed that Buhari, the 2011 presidential candidate of the CPC, further told him that as an elder statesman and a patriotic Nigerian, he will continue to pray until peace and tranquillity return to Nigeria.

It would be recalled that the sect had said in a telephone press conference in Maiduguri, Borno State, through Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, who claimed to be the Boko Haram commander in charge of Southern and Northern Borno that they would prefer the former military leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, ex-Yobe State governor and now Senator, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, first Nigerian Minister of Petroleum, Shettima Ali Monguno, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Insecurity in the North-East, Ambassador Gaji Gatimari, and other prominent members of the Borno Emirate to mediate between them and the federal government.

Abdulaziz claimed he had the mandate of their leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau, disclosing that the sect was highly offended due to what happened three years ago (referring to the killing of the sect’s leader, Mallam Mohammed Yusuf).

Speaking on to the development, the CPC national publicity secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashekun, has lambasted President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over Buhari’s nomination.

Fashekun described Buhari’s purported nomination as “the latest gambit in the desire of this organically corrupt PDP-led Federal Government in diverting the attention of the unsuspecting Nigerian public from the on-going massive looting of their common patrimony.”

Fashekun also said: “Without any scintilla of equivocation, General Muhammadu Buhari has never been directly or remotely connected with any insurrection or insurgency against the Nigerian nation and her people. He remains the quintessential patriot that continues to magnetise the very best across the ethno-religious boundaries within the Nigerian nation-space.”

The party chieftain accused the PDP of being responsible for the growing insecurity in the country, insisting: “As we have stated in an earlier communication, the (PDP), as a corporate entity, is the harbinger of the insecurity travails of the Nigerian people for the sole reason of ensuring perpetuity in governance.”

Fashekun listed the three categories of Boko Haram and alleged that the PDP-led government is sponsoring one of them.

“From recollection of events of the last two years, there are three variants of the Boko Haram: the original Boko Haram that is at daggers drawn with the Nigerian authority for the extra-judicial killing of their leader; the criminal Boko Haram that is involved in all criminality for economic reasons and of course, the most lethal of all, the Political Boko Haram, which this PDP-led Federal Government represents.

“The President, Goodluck Jonathan, had once alerted the nation of the ubiquitous presence of Boko Haram in his government, a fact aptly amplified by his erstwhile National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi.” He further drew instances from the revelations made by State Security Service.

Undoubtedly, the latest revelations by the State Security Services (SSS) on the complicity of the top echelon of the PDP leadership in Boko Haram activities aptly bear testimony of the noxious subterfuge to extirpate the essence of our nationhood, he said.

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“Corruption came into petroleum sector during Babangida, Obasanjo & Jonathan’s era”

Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, in the last general polls, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) said Monday that lack of sincerity on the part of Nigerian leaders was responsible for the security problems confronting the nation.

 He added that the Federal Government, since the administration of Gen Ibrahim Babangida till date was responsible for the “high level of corruption and destruction” in the petroleum industry. 

 The former military ruler said these while receiving leaders and members of CPC led by House of Representative representing Funtua/Dandume Federal Constituency of Katsina State, Dr. Mansur Abdulkadir who paid him a visit ahead of the forthcoming local government election in Katsina State. Said Buhari: “for Nigeria to move forward and realise its quest for development, its people must come out with trusted leaders to steer the affairs of the nation. 

There is no country in the world, where impunity strives like Nigeria. “The biggest challenge of Nigeria is for adequate security to be in place and fashion out ways in which we can protect the wealth of this country and provide job opportunities for the youths, so that we can build more industries as it was before. 

 “Inability of these industries to work has brought mistrust and corruption to Nigeria. Therefore, our leaders have to be sincere and lead with the fear of God and carry all along for Nigeria to be a better place. “All leaders should stand and keep promises to the people. 

We cannot move forward if things that are supposed to be put in place are not done. The money which was siphoned in the recent pension scam and the petroleum industry scam must all be brought back into the government’s coffer for good leadership”. “Therefore, all those that want the masses to vote and be voted for should go to the masses and get their mandate. The era of using money to bribe the masses or use it to get political office is gone. 

 “A leader that wants to be a good leader must look at what are the needs of the people, the suffering, and the humiliation and proffer solution to those problems and together we shall achieve greatness”, he said. Buhari however pointed out that, corruption came into the petroleum sector during the era of Ibrahim Babangida, Obasanjo and the present administration of Goodluck Jonathan because they had the mind of cheating the masses. 

 In his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Honourable (Dr.) Mansur Abdulkadir said, the purpose of their visit was to wish General Buhari, Happy Eid-l-Fitr celebration and seek his blessing ahead of the forthcoming local government election in Katsina State. He therefore prayed that, Nigeria be blessed with honest and committed leaders like Buhari to get the nation out of the woods.

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Buhari - Why I wept openly for Nigeria

A former Head of State, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), has said the appalling state of Nigeria and the hardship of the citizens in the midst of abundance compelled him to weep openly for the nation in 2011.

Buhari said this while addressing journalists during his visit to the headquarters of his political party, the Congress for Progressive Change at Utako in Abuja on Thursday.

Buhari, who was the CPC’s presidential candidate in the 2011 election, said he wept when he looked at the way the country was blessed by God, but its citizens were poor.

He said, “This is a country that is well-blessed both materially and otherwise. God has blessed us more than we expected. We have so much land for agriculture.

“But majority of Nigerians can’t send their children to school, can’t afford medicine for their children, and no potable water to drink. Where does the money go to?

“This was why I broke down when I was rounding off up my presidential campaign in 2011.”

Buhari added that he became a democrat when the old Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, a development he said changed his political belief.

“That was the time I became a democrat because I believed that democratic system is superior to any form of governance.  Otherwise how can an empire collapse like that,” he said.

He took a swipe at the one year old regime of President Goodluck Jonathan and declared that the country was retrogressing.

He argued that with the level of corruption in the country and the poverty level of majority of Nigerians, there was nothing to show that the country was moving forward.

Buhari said, “From the level of exporter we have moved to the level of importer of oil? Are you surprised? All the infrastructure were allowed to die and decay.

“And now they say they want to remove subsidy. I was there when the refineries were built with Nigeria money and we didn’t borrow any kobo to do that.

“Now we have ended up buying fuel from the world market. I believe that God will punish those who have perpetuate corruption in this country and put us where we are today.

“I think we are reversing. With what is happening in the petroleum industry and all the corruption, we are reversing. You know about the pension scam?”

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Revolution ‘ll consume you,FG replies Buhari

The Federal Government yesterday told former Head of State, Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), that any revolution in the country would consume him and his party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Speaking through Information Minister Labaran Maku, the government said the revolution would wipe out the CPC and its men, not the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains. Gen. Buhari, who was the CPC presidential candidate in last year’s elections, while speaking in Kaduna at the weekend, expressed indignation over the unsavoury state of affairs in the country.

 He cautioned that if the ruling PDP did not wake up to the challenges of governance, it would be consumed by the peoples’ revolution. “If there is no social justice, there will be revolution one way or the other. The PDP doesn’t believe in real democracy and I hope they are strong enough to go through the consequencies of their injustice… People are dying in twos, while others are syndicates of thieves, with people stealing and keeping money in their houses up to the tune of N2billion. By 2015, whoever steals public funds has automatically sentenced himself to death,’’ Buhari said at the launch of a poverty alleviation programme’’. 

 But reacting yesterday when he led a delegation of PDP members from Nasarawa State to the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, Maku dismissed Buhari’s admonition as misplaced. Maku hails from the state. The minister said that CPC did not win election in Nasarawa, but rigged itself to power. “We were robbed in Nasarawa, we won a clear election; none of us here is happy. We won, but lost in the court. We won, clearly, there is no doubt about it. So, you can see that you cannot have twenty-four members in the house of assembly and you say we lost the general election. 

 “CPC isn’t organized anywhere. You can see from Kaduna, to all the other places, CPC isn’t an organized party. We have heard them talking about revolution, but it will sweep the other side. We should reclaim Nasarawa; it is too close to the Villa to be left to the opposition; we cannot allow that’’. In his remarks, PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, thanked the leaders of the party for the visit, assuring the faithful that the ruling party would live up to the expectations of Nigerians and co-operate with President Godluck Jonathan to deliver on his manifesto to the electorate.

 “I must thank you for the support you gave us at the national convention. There is hope for our country; we came with a new zeal, we came with a new determination and commitment to ensure that our party, the greatest party in Africa takes the lead. With the kind of support I have seen here today, we can achieve more. We have a very clear manifesto for our people in order to assist our people take the advantage of the development fortunes that is in our country today, to make it better. “I have said in my acceptance speech that we should bring reconciliation and reformation to build our party on equity and justice.

 If we get that on the ground, we can be sure that peace will come; we can be sure security will be with us; we can be sure investment will flow in. These should be our cardinal principles. “That’s why I want to make sure that we are all on the same page to support the Executive achieve what we want them to do, in all ramifications’’. Tukur noted that the party is supreme and admonished elected PDP’s public officers to submit themselves to the party. 

 “The party is supreme, because it is the party that gave platform for the President to run, the Senator to run, members of House of Representatives. So, it is our party and we are all under it. We need discipline so that we can all work under that rule, because when we allow our party to be disciplined and do the right thing, I can assure you, our future is very bright.’’ State chairman of the party, Yunana Iliya assured the PDP NWC of the co-operation and support of members of the party.

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BUHARI CAN'T PAY ABUJA N20 MILLION RENT, EVICTED BY LANDLORD

Former Head of State and one time minister of oil resources, General Muhammadu Buhari, (rtd) has been ejected from his Abuja residence following his inability to pay the N20 million rent demanded by his landlord, Newsdiary Online, a news portal has disclosed.

According to reports monitored by our reporter in Abuja, the retired general who is also the presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC in the April 2011 general elections, was expected to renew his rent which was due after the initial payment.

Consequently, he decided to move his property to Kaduna when he could not raise the amount demanded by the landlord.

It was gathered that owing to inability of Buhari to raise the N20 million earlier requested as rent for the building at Number 11 Queen Elizabeth Street, Asokoro District, Abuja, the landlord reportedly reduced the rent to

N15 million but Buhari could still not raise the funds.

Reports say the original rent was paid on his behalf by a former minister of defence, General Theophilus Danjuma, (rtd) which enabled Buhari to move into the house which provides shelter to him any time he is in the Federal Capital Territory.

Buhari was said to rebuff suggestions by his friends to approach Nasarawa State governor, Alhaji Umaru Almakura who won the governorship seat on the platform of his party, CPC, for financial assistance insisting that he would rather maintain his integrity than ask the governor for money.

It was also gathered that Buhari also resisted a similar pressure to approach President Goodluck Jonathan for assistance to enable him keep the apartment.

“Some of Buhari’s associates who wanted to avoid his ejection actually reached out to the owner of the property, and the landlord even agreed to slash the rent to N15 million for the sake of the General. Sadly, he could not pay and he accepted the option of moving his property to Kaduna.

Buhari is believed to have made up his mind to put up somewhere he can afford whenever he has something to do in Abuja henceforth”, the News portal stated.

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Buhari vs Jonathan: S’Court delivers judgment today

The Supreme Court, will today, deliver its judgment on an appeal challenging the outcome of the April 16 presidential election.

The appeal which is seeking to sack President Goodluck Jonathan from office, was filed before the apex court by the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.

The opposition party is urging the Supreme Court to set aside the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which on November 1, affirmed President Jonathan as the authentic winner of the presidential contest.

It specifically prayed the apex court to either annul the election and mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to organise a re-run election between its candidate, General Muhamadu Buhari (rtd) and that of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, President Jonathan, or in the alternative, remit the case-file to the tribunal and order the Appeal Court President to constitute a fresh panel to hear the appeal de-novo (afresh).

Listed as respondents in the appeal were INEC; its Chairman, Prof; Attahiru Jega; the Resident Electoral Commissioners in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT; President Jonathan, his vice and the PDP.

It would be recalled that the Presidential Election Tribunal which held its sittings at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, not only dismissed CPC’s petition against the April 16 general election, but equally held that the electoral exercise was conducted in line with provisions of both the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution as amended.

However, expressing its dissatisfaction with the decision of the five-man panel tribunal led by Justice Kumai Bayaang Akaahs, the CPC, through its lead counsel, Mr Oladipo Okpeseyi, SAN, told the Supreme Court that the tribunal wrongfully evaluated evidences that were adduced before it by witnesses the party called.

In a brief of argument it entered at the apex court registry on November 28, the opposition party contended that the trial tribunal erred in law when it rejected documents required to prove multiple thumb printing, non-distribution of electoral materials as well as occasioned miscarriage of justice by not ascertaining the actual number of required voters, the accredited number of voters and the actual number of voters that voted in the disputed election.

On the other hand, counsel to President Jonathan and his vice, Sambo, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, urged the apex court to go ahead and dismiss the appeal in its entirety, saying it grossly lacked in both substance and merit.

After all the parties had adopted their briefs of argument, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, who presided over a seven-man panel of Justices of the Supreme Court that heard the appeal, adjourned the case till today for judgment.

The other Justices on the panel are, Mahmud Mohammed, Walter Onnoghen, John Afolabi Fabiyi, Olufunlola Adekeye, Bode Rhodes-Vivour and Sylvester Ngwuta.

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Election Petition: Jonathan Floors Buhari

The Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja has thrown out the petition of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) challenging the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan and the People’s Democratic Party at the 16 April 2011 general elections.

After six months of serious legal tussle, the CPC’s petition was unanimously dismissed for lack of merit by the five-man panel.

The CPC’s candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) had headed to the tribunal after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Dr. Goodluck Jonathan winner of the presidential election. Jonathan who was subsequently sworn-in as President had 59 % of the total votes cast in the election while Buhari had 32 %.

While reading the ruling on Tuesday, Justice Kumai Akaahs stated that “the petition fails in its entirety and is hereby dismissed.”

While disclosing to newsmen after the verdict that his party will contest the judgment, Prince Tony Momoh, Chairman of the CPC said “there are three types of judgment, judgment of the conscience, judgment of the people and the judgment of God Almighty, we will go ahead and appeal”.

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President Goodlock , Buhari know fate today

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal chaired by Justice Kummai Bayang Akaahs will today deliver judgment in the petition filed by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) against President Goodluck Jonathan’s victory in the April 16 election.

Notice of judgment was served yesterday on counsel after the Supreme Court struck out the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the petition.

The apex court held that the 60 days allowed for hearing and determination of an interlocutory appeal had elapsed.

The appeal arose from the July 14 ruling of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, then chaired by the suspended Appeal Court President, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, that held that the CPC’s petition, which was filed on a Sunday, is competent and proper in law.

Jonathan contested on the platform of the PDP. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was the CPC’s candidate.

Jonathan and PDP had urged the Tribunal to dismiss the petition for being filed on Sunday, a public holiday.

But the Tribunal said that the petition was filed on a Sunday conferred no advantage on the petitioner, adding that it will be determined on merit and not ‘technicality’.

Dissatisfied, the PDP approached the apex court. But the interlocutory appeal could not be heard within the 60 days allowed.

The apex court directed all parties to go back to the Tribunal, which will deliver judgment in the substantive matter today.

At the last sitting, Jonathan and the ruling PDP disagreed openly on the status of the appeal.
The Justice Kummai Bayang Akaahs-led five-man panel will today deliver judgment in the substantive suit.

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