Boko Haram Would have Overrun Half of Nigeria if not for Jonathan’

APC can’t defeat PDP In any zone,  says Metuh

PDP: Reduction in pump price not political

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that given its wide acceptability in all zones of the country,  the All Progressive Congress ( APC) cannot pull victory in any of the zones over the ruling party.

It further said that the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram would have overrun half of Nigeria if not for the tactics adopted by President Goodluck Jonathan in tackling the insurgency.

The party also dismissed political motif for the reason for Sunday reduction of the petroleum pump price from, N97 to N87 per litre.

National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) Olisa Metuh, said this Monday at an interactive session with journalists on the success of the Presidential campaign in the south west and and south east.

Metuh said the president’s train to these regions were overwhelmed by the support of shown by the electorates who thronged out to welcome President Jonathan and the party to their respective states.

He noted that as the campaign commences in the Northwest the party will proudly showcase it’s numerous achievements in rail, agriculture, education and others.

He pointed out that the construction of 150 almajiri schools and establishment of nine university in the northern region out of the 14 new university created by the Jonathan administration.

Metuh who said that the PDP will post victory in the forthcoming February election because it has justified the last 15 years within which it increased its performance in the last six years of Jonathan administration.

THISDAY

Arewa Youths, NANS Endorse Jonathan for Presidency

The Arewa Youth Integrity Forum has promised to mobilise 20 million votes across the 19 northern states for President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition.
The group in a statement signed by its National President, Hamid Usman, described Jonathan as a statesman who is sympathetic to the plight of his followers.
Usman also lauded Jonathan for the courage and bravery demonstrated in visiting Nigerian troops in Maiduguri’s, describing it as a bold step.
“Travelling to Maiduguri which is seen as a hotbed for crisis as not only commendable but exemplary for all intending leaders,” he said.
While expressing support for President Jonathan, Usman said the candidate of ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had proven his worth and deserves support from every Nigerian.
“He has what it takes to drive Nigeria to the next level, having defeated the local content of insurgency and ready to fight the foreign elements that have joined insurgents to make Nigeria ungovernable for the citizenry.
“The president had proved wrong a section of northern elders who said the president can not campaign in the North. We are confident that Mr. President will campaign anywhere in Nigeria even the north where it has been proven that he is popular against the propaganda advanced by spent horses.”
Also, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has made a public declaration to massively support President Jonathan in the February 14 presidential poll, assuring that millions of students, who are solidly behind him for re-election and will not let him down.
The declaration came just as the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, accused some key opposition leaders of being hypocritical and sympathetic to corruption based on their pedigree, even as he stated that force alone cannot resolve the current insurgency in some parts of the North.
Kuku said political, traditional, religious leaders and other elite from the north hold the key to resolving the puzzle associated with insurgency, challenging them to borrow a leaf from their compatriots from the Niger Delta who took up the gauntlet in the heydays of militancy in that region, culminating in a truce and the eventual granting of amnesty by the federal, which ushered in the extant peace in the area.
Led by its current President, Tijani Usman Shehu, current executive members as well as past leaders of NANS at the weekend thronged the Maitama, Abuja office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta in their numbers from all the zones in the country, to convey their support for Jonathan.
Present and past leaders of NANS took turns to express their resolve to rally millions of students across the country to ensure Jonathan’s victory at the polls, citing what they described as his laudable record of achievements and disposition towards upholding the rule of law.
Presenting the letter conveying NANS’ decision to support Jonathan at the February 14 poll to Kuku for onward transmission to the president, NANS President, Tijani Usman Shehu, who read out the content said “the choices facing the country today in the course of nationhood are simple: To move forward or to recede backward.
“We want to continue on the path of genuine democratic process, building institutions that guarantee qualitative change in terms of addressing and meeting the basic socio-economic and cultural needs of our people.”
According to the association, Nigerians have been able to see that Jonathan is a great leader and not a draconian ruler, adding that his “unrelenting zeal in initiating and executing people-oriented programmes with direct impact on the welfare of the people stand you out as the best president so far, hence, Nigerian students will forever prefer democracy to dictatorship.”
“Hence, we call on Your Excellency to match forward with assurance that over 40 million Nigerian students are solidly behind you. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the good triumph over evil. When the bad people conspire against you, we have decided to combine to support you with our vote,” the letter read.
NANS thanked Jonathan for building schools for ‘us and not prisons”, noting that “we have decided to match forward with Your Excellency in your quest to continue piloting the affairs of our nation till 2019”.
In the light of its decision to support Jonathan at the poll, NANS disclosed that it is set to formally endorse the president across its four zones, with the grand finale in Abuja.
Receiving the letter, Kuku, who thanked the association for its famed progressive antecedents, recalled his active days as a member of NANS’ executive body, admitting that he had not related well with his constituency for, but promised to identify with his ‘constituency’ henceforth.
Kuku, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, regretted that Jonathan’s record of achievements in office has been under-reported, chiding those who consistently refused to acknowledge the president’s patriotic efforts.
He said many of those who accuse the president of not doing enough to fight corruption were themselves everything but clean, adding that Jonathan is the only Nigerian leader whose children are all schooling within the country.
Noting that the president’s critics have been grossly unfair to him whenever issues of fighting corruption are concerned, Kuku regretted that when other arms of government like the judiciary fail to carry out their function effectively, the president was made the scapegoat.
He cited the case of an individual who was arraigned before a competent court for misappropriating billions of naira in pension fund, but was merely given what was at best a slap in the wrist by a judge, querying whether that was Jonathan’s fault.
Kuku alleged that the All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) national leader,
Senator Ahmed Tinubu; the APC presidential running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola were not the best Nigerians to accuse Jonathan of not fighting corruption, considering their antecedents.
“I am not saying that Ahmed Tinubu is corrupt, but he knows the odour of corruption. He is my leader, but I know he knows the odour of corruption. I know Fashola, he has done well in Lagos, but he was the Chief of Staff to Tinubu,” Kuku said.
According to him, Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (San) was the Chief of Staff to Tinubu when he was the latter was the governor of Lagos State, adding that together with Osinbajo, who was the then Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of the state at that time, they drafted the legal papers that allegedly handed over the heritage of Lagos to Alpha Beta, a company alleged to be owned by Tinubu.
He said it was regrettable that such people today were vociferous in condemning Jonathan for not fighting corruption.
On Boko Haram, Kuku challenged northern political, traditional and religious leaders, among others, to rise to the challenge of finding a lasting solution to the insurgency ravaging parts of the north.
He said force alone was not enough to resolve the problem, admonishing leaders from the north to adopt the kind of approach by leaders from the South-south, including president Goodluck Jonathan—the then vice president, who braved the odds to reach out to the militant leaders at that time to extract peace from them.

Thisday

Arewa Youths, NANA Endorse Jonathan for Presidency

The Arewa Youth Integrity Forum has promised to mobilise 20 million votes across the 19 northern states for President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition.
The group in a statement signed by its National President, Hamid Usman, described Jonathan as a statesman who is sympathetic to the plight of his followers.
Usman also lauded Jonathan for the courage and bravery demonstrated in visiting Nigerian troops in Maiduguri’s, describing it as a bold step.
“Travelling to Maiduguri which is seen as a hotbed for crisis as not only commendable but exemplary for all intending leaders,” he said.
While expressing support for President Jonathan, Usman said the candidate of ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had proven his worth and deserves support from every Nigerian.
“He has what it takes to drive Nigeria to the next level, having defeated the local content of insurgency and ready to fight the foreign elements that have joined insurgents to make Nigeria ungovernable for the citizenry.
“The president had proved wrong a section of northern elders who said the president can not campaign in the North. We are confident that Mr. President will campaign anywhere in Nigeria even the north where it has been proven that he is popular against the propaganda advanced by spent horses.”
Also, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has made a public declaration to massively support President Jonathan in the February 14 presidential poll, assuring that millions of students, who are solidly behind him for re-election and will not let him down.
The declaration came just as the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, accused some key opposition leaders of being hypocritical and sympathetic to corruption based on their pedigree, even as he stated that force alone cannot resolve the current insurgency in some parts of the North.
Kuku said political, traditional, religious leaders and other elite from the north hold the key to resolving the puzzle associated with insurgency, challenging them to borrow a leaf from their compatriots from the Niger Delta who took up the gauntlet in the heydays of militancy in that region, culminating in a truce and the eventual granting of amnesty by the federal, which ushered in the extant peace in the area.
Led by its current President, Tijani Usman Shehu, current executive members as well as past leaders of NANS at the weekend thronged the Maitama, Abuja office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta in their numbers from all the zones in the country, to convey their support for Jonathan.
Present and past leaders of NANS took turns to express their resolve to rally millions of students across the country to ensure Jonathan’s victory at the polls, citing what they described as his laudable record of achievements and disposition towards upholding the rule of law.
Presenting the letter conveying NANS’ decision to support Jonathan at the February 14 poll to Kuku for onward transmission to the president, NANS President, Tijani Usman Shehu, who read out the content said “the choices facing the country today in the course of nationhood are simple: To move forward or to recede backward.
“We want to continue on the path of genuine democratic process, building institutions that guarantee qualitative change in terms of addressing and meeting the basic socio-economic and cultural needs of our people.”
According to the association, Nigerians have been able to see that Jonathan is a great leader and not a draconian ruler, adding that his “unrelenting zeal in initiating and executing people-oriented programmes with direct impact on the welfare of the people stand you out as the best president so far, hence, Nigerian students will forever prefer democracy to dictatorship.”
“Hence, we call on Your Excellency to match forward with assurance that over 40 million Nigerian students are solidly behind you. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the good triumph over evil. When the bad people conspire against you, we have decided to combine to support you with our vote,” the letter read.
NANS thanked Jonathan for building schools for ‘us and not prisons”, noting that “we have decided to match forward with Your Excellency in your quest to continue piloting the affairs of our nation till 2019”.
In the light of its decision to support Jonathan at the poll, NANS disclosed that it is set to formally endorse the president across its four zones, with the grand finale in Abuja.
Receiving the letter, Kuku, who thanked the association for its famed progressive antecedents, recalled his active days as a member of NANS’ executive body, admitting that he had not related well with his constituency for, but promised to identify with his ‘constituency’ henceforth.
Kuku, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, regretted that Jonathan’s record of achievements in office has been under-reported, chiding those who consistently refused to acknowledge the president’s patriotic efforts.
He said many of those who accuse the president of not doing enough to fight corruption were themselves everything but clean, adding that Jonathan is the only Nigerian leader whose children are all schooling within the country.
Noting that the president’s critics have been grossly unfair to him whenever issues of fighting corruption are concerned, Kuku regretted that when other arms of government like the judiciary fail to carry out their function effectively, the president was made the scapegoat.
He cited the case of an individual who was arraigned before a competent court for misappropriating billions of naira in pension fund, but was merely given what was at best a slap in the wrist by a judge, querying whether that was Jonathan’s fault.
Kuku alleged that the All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) national leader,
Senator Ahmed Tinubu; the APC presidential running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola were not the best Nigerians to accuse Jonathan of not fighting corruption, considering their antecedents.
“I am not saying that Ahmed Tinubu is corrupt, but he knows the odour of corruption. He is my leader, but I know he knows the odour of corruption. I know Fashola, he has done well in Lagos, but he was the Chief of Staff to Tinubu,” Kuku said.
According to him, Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (San) was the Chief of Staff to Tinubu when he was the latter was the governor of Lagos State, adding that together with Osinbajo, who was the then Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of the state at that time, they drafted the legal papers that allegedly handed over the heritage of Lagos to Alpha Beta, a company alleged to be owned by Tinubu.
He said it was regrettable that such people today were vociferous in condemning Jonathan for not fighting corruption.
On Boko Haram, Kuku challenged northern political, traditional and religious leaders, among others, to rise to the challenge of finding a lasting solution to the insurgency ravaging parts of the north.
He said force alone was not enough to resolve the problem, admonishing leaders from the north to adopt the kind of approach by leaders from the South-south, including president Goodluck Jonathan—the then vice president, who braved the odds to reach out to the militant leaders at that time to extract peace from them.

Thisday

Dickson to TAN: Take Your Campaign to States Where the Opposition Has Greater Control

Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, has once again taken a swipe at the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), the political group led by the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, as the war over the control of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continues.
The governor who, at the weekend, mobilised Bayelsans from all the local government areas to rally support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in the February 14 presidential elections, called on groups like TAN and others in the state, putting up campaign structures for the president, other than the PDP, to take their activities to states where the opposition is presently enjoying greater control.
While, urging TAN and other groups like it not to dissipate energy campaigning for president in the state, the governor, assured that, Bayelsa, being the home State of the President, will give the PDP bulk votes come February 14 and subsequent elections in the country.
Speaking during the inauguration of the 120-member Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Team flag off of campaigns at the Peace Park in Yenagoa, Governor Dickson explained that the 120 membership of the committee was constituted to effectively coordinate the activities of the election of President Jonathan.
He said members of the committee should consider it a rare privilege and an opportunity to serve on a committee that would coordinate the campaign activities of the president that is one of their own and enjoined them to work assiduously to justify the confidence reposed in them.
“It is my singular honour and privilege to appreciate members and leaders of our party, who willingly accepted to serve in this important and historic assignment. It is historic, because it is not every day, that you get to work on a committee that will coordinate the election of one of your own, Jonathan.
“It is important because our nation and our people are at a turning point and we need to get him re-elected to finish the job that he has started. And it is for that reason that we have composed the state presidential campaign team, that will be chaired by me.
“Let me appreciate our party for always standing by us. Our party is the only platform that is not founded on the frontlines of our nation. There are some other parties, that are founded on ethnic and religious calculations.
“Our party is an all-inclusive umbrella body, that has space for all Nigerians; the so-called majority and the so-called minority.
Describing Bayelsa State as the home base of the PDP, the governor emphasised the need for Bayelsans to work with unity of purpose and shun any form of divisive tendencies and violence capable of tarnishing the image of the state.”
Dickson, who said the state was looking forward to playing host to Nigerians on February 5 when President Jonathan is expected to visit for his presidential campaign, noted that, the occasion would be a homecoming to the president, as he is a son of the state.
While thanking Nigerians for their support for the President, in the midst of daunting challenges, he urged them to give Jonathan their mandate for a second term to enable him finish the good works he has started.

Egbin Power Boosts National Grid with Additional 220MW

Ejiofor Alike

Power generation in the nation has received a major boost following the rehabilitation programme of Egbin Power Plc on ST-06, a 220 megawatt (mw) steam turbine generator after eight years during which the turbine was inoperable. This brings the plant back to its installed capacity of 1,320MW.

Disclosing the development in Lagos, the management of the company said the rehabilitated and restored Unit ST-06 has brought an additional 220MW to the national electricity grid and would also bolster power supply to the Lagos metropolis thereby improving socio-economic activities in the region.

ST-06 was first commissioned in November 1987, but suffered a boiler explosion during operation in 2006 due to some water tube phenomenon.

With the unit now generating at full stream, Egbin is currently in the final stages of a bilateral agreement to supply the 220MW to Ikeja Electricity Distribution Plc (Ikeja Electric) and Eko Distribution Company (Eko Disco), a development that is set to yield about 16 per cent additional power supply to Lagos, the nation’s commercial nerve centre.

The KEPCO/NEDC consortium, in which Sahara Energy Group through its subsidiary, Sahara Power, holds controlling interest, acquired Egbin power plant and Ikeja Disco under the privatisation programme of the federal government over a year ago. The group also owns and operates a power plant in Rivers State.

The transformation at the nation’s largest generation plant commenced following its acquisition by Sahara Power working through a number of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) in collaboration with its technical partners, Korea Electric Corporation (KEPCO).

The Sahara Power/KEPCO partnership has birthed in Egbin an unprecedented level of innovativeness, professionalism, human capital development and continuing investment in new technology.

Chief Executive Officer, Egbin Power Plc, Mr. Mike Uzoigwe, said the company considers the rehabilitation of ST Unit 6 to be a major breakthrough, noting that huge resources were deployed in achieving a complete tear-down overhaul of the unit.

Uzoigwe said that in spite of the fact that the electricity market in Nigeria is not yet bankable, Egbin has in collaboration with KEPCO continued to achieve laudable feats for the benefit of this country.

He added that KEPCO had begun the overhaul of unit ST-04 as the company continues in its quest to ensure Egbin operates in compliance with globally acclaimed standards.

“When we took over Egbin power plant in November 2013 there was a sworn declaration to deploy all of our available resources required to transform the plant into a centre of excellence.

“We are happy that this is being achieved through the expertise of our staff and KEPCO and we are delighted to say we are on course towards achieving our objective of being a foremost power generation plant in Africa,” he said.

According to KEPCO’s Mr. Gyoo Yeom, the unfolding plan for Egbin is aimed at replicating the success KEPCO is renowned for in the global power sector in Nigeria.

Yeom said Egbin has in its sights “further expansion of the plant as the new management continues to embark on achieving its vision of attaining 2,670 MW by 2017 and total capacity of over 10,000MW in the next decade, if the demand permits”.

Appealing for support as the reforms in the sector unfold, he added: “We are here to work with our partners in Egbin to ensure we build a future where uninterrupted and sustainable power supply is obtainable in Nigeria.”

Ongoing exchange programmes with Korea aimed at growing local capacity for Egbin staff have since commenced, as the company seeks to enhance its human capital capacity for enhanced performance.

THISDAY

I Had a Cold, Not Cancer – General Buhari

Accuses PDP of misinformation on PTF, certificate saga   • APC rejects plan to impose interim govt

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has expressed his frustration over the campaign of calumny by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against him, dismissing allegations propagated by the ruling party over his health, his stewardship at the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) and the controversy over his failure to submit photocopies of his academic credentials to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Buhari, who spoke on Sunday at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja, alongside the APC governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, and former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, described as unfortunate the amount of energy dissipated by PDP on his health and academic credentials.

He wondered how the PDP got the impression that he had prostate cancer, when all he had recently was a cold that did not deter him from his campaign rallies across the country.

“This desperation of misinformation that is being passed around will do nobody any good because our minds are being taken away from the serious issues of corruption and incompetence by the PDP.

“How they got the impression that I was sick, I do not know although I got a cold and that did not stop me from going through my schedule. A national daily reported that I was to jet out for a medical check-up yesterday, but here I am.

“I was in Nasarawa and Benue States yesterday. Tomorrow, I am going to be in two states. The day after tomorrow, in two more states. I am doing two states per day. How they got the impression that I was sick, I do not know although I had a cold, but that did not stop me from going through my schedule,” said a visibly irritated Buhari.

Buhari insisted that he was as fit as a fiddle, adding that it was not true that he was planning to jet out of the country for medical treatment as was reported in the media.

Still on the document flying around regarding his alleged ill health, Buhari said: “I don’t know of this desperation. The issue we are telling Nigerians is that of corruption in this country for the last 16 years under PDP has literally destroyed this country.

“That is the issue, so what does my health have to do with that? And documents from ABUTH (Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital) that have been put in the papers, on tweeter, that I am sick are forged. This desperation is beyond my understanding.”

When asked to make a categorical statement on his health, Buhari jokingly asked the reporter, “How old are you, 50 years? I am telling you if we go to the field, you would not last the time I will last in the field.”

Buhari also responded to the accusations by the PDP that he did not have the required secondary school certificate to contest the presidential election, describing it as the height of misinformation and desperation.

The former military head of state added that there was no basis for the allegation of fraud levelled against him by the ruling party regarding his management of the affairs of the defunct PTF.

Buhari said he had contested three times under same rules set by the INEC where the basic educational qualifications had applied.

“Why didn’t Nigerians ask when I contested three times under the same rules set by the INEC whether the basic educational qualification had been met and I was allowed to contest all these elections because my certificate was in order.

“There are individuals who wrote to the United States War College and the college responded and it was published by some of your papers.

“So really, this desperation for misinformation that is being passed around will do nobody any good because our minds are being diverted from the serious issues of corruption and incompetence by the PDP,” he said.

Buhari explained that he had decided to speak on the allegations in order to bring to an end the distractions being caused by the continuous misinformation.

Regarding allegations of fraud during his stewardship at the PTF, Buhari said there was nothing to respond to since former President Olusegun Obasanjo who investigated him had given him a clean bill of health.

“There was no fraud in PTF, there was an investigation and General Obasanjo has answered that questions. He confirmed that there was an investigation and the report was brought to him and there was nothing on ground as far as my management and chairmanship of the PTF were concerned.

“So what else can I say? the person who did the investigation has cleared me so what else can I say?” he asked.

Buhari expressed concern over the state of the Nigerian economy, alleging that the country was broke, adding that most civil servants were not paid their salaries before the Christmas holiday.

“Well, the country is broke now. How many states could not pay their workers’ salaries? Even in December, most families were hungry during Christmas because they had not been paid their salaries.

“Yet, they are talking about my health instead of paying the people,” he said.

Meanwhile, the APC has warned that it will neither accept an interim government nor a postponement of next month’s elections as being advocated by certain individuals, saying the elections must hold as scheduled on February 14th and 28th.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party warned that any attempt to scuttle the polls in preference for any other arrangement would be resisted by all available constitutional means.

“We are aware that those who are not comfortable with the turning of the political tide in favour of the opposition ahead of the elections are scheming to abort a possible victory for our party, through either an interim government or the postponement of the elections.

“These enemies of Nigeria include those who are worried by the strong anti-corruption stance of our party and its avowed commitment to good governance, and those who favour the status quo of anything goes, bad governance and massive corruption that have left Nigerians deeply pauperised and traumatised,” it said.

APC said those who may consider the two scenarios of interim government and postponement of the elections as outlandish should consider the published but yet-unrefuted statement by one Deji Adeyanju, said to be an official in the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe.

The party quoted Adeyanju, who handles Dr. Okupe’s Twitter Account, as saying in a Blackberry Messenger (BBM) statement: “Buhari can never be President of Nigeria. Quote me any day any time. Instead of Buhari to become President of Nigeria, Nigeria would rather break.

“A military coup will even be allowed than for Buhari to become the president of a democratic Nigeria quote me any day, any time.”

It said that since the statement had not been refuted, one could safely conclude that it represents the thinking in the presidency.

“If a citizen is advocating a military coup against a sitting government just to prevent a supposed election victory of the opposition, it is nothing short of treason.

“Yet, the security agencies that have been falling over themselves warning against incendiary and inciting statements have not yet swung into action over this inciting statement. This is not encouraging vis-a-vis the non-partisan stand of the security agencies.

“The truth is that what could well be a Freudian slip by Adeyanju has exposed the depth of panic and desperation in the presidency ahead of next month’s polls.

“This has also confirmed that those who have been canvassing, either openly or otherwise, the options of an interim government or postponement of the elections, are working at the behest of certain forces.”

The party called on Nigerians to be vigilant and be ready to do everything under the law to protect the nation’s democracy, imperfect as it might.

It also alerted the international community to the evil machinations of desperate politicians ahead of the forthcoming general election.

The opposition party challenged the presidency to state its own stand and distance itself from the anarchic and treasonable statement by one of its own on the forthcoming polls.

The party also dismissed as ridiculous the use of discredited PTF report to malign its credible and trusted presidential candidate, Buhari.

A statement issued by the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the seemingly exhausted and frustrated ruling PDP could hoodwink the Nigerian public in its sickening attempt to tarnish the towering moral stature of its presidential candidate by dredging up a discredited report.

“President Obasanjo who set up this panel to probe Buhari’s tenure at PTF discovered something shocking from the work of the panel,” Shehu said.

He recalled that after reviewing the report, Obasanjo directed the relevant authority to go after those indicted by the report.

Shehu said it was common knowledge that the Haruna Adamu Management Committee was sacked by Obasanjo in March 2000 for alleged incompetence, amidst charges of serious abuse of public trust.

According to him, several members of that committee were indicted and made to refund several hundreds of millions of naira of public funds, which they illegally took from the PTF.

He stressed that anyone under the illusion that it could use “a rotten report to smear Buhari must be living in fantasy”.

He regretted that these desperate tactics would only amount to a disservice to Jonathan and his party, the PDP.

The APC Presidential Campaign advised the Jonathan administration to focus its energy and attention on how to help give the country a new lease of life in the face of grim prospects on the economic front instead of wasting time on the futile efforts to smear its candidate.

Shehu stressed that the PDP administration lacks any iota of credibility

to throw stones at its candidate, who is by all accounts more credible and trusted in the eyes of Nigerians.

THISDAY

Northern ministers afraid of campaigning for Jonathan

Anxiety is growing among ministers from the North as the campaign train of President Goodluck Jonathan moves to the region from today (Monday), investigation has revealed.
The Peoples Democratic Party has so far held rallies in the South-West (except Ondo) and south- eastern states since it inaugurated its campaign in Lagos on January 8.
This week, the party is scheduled to hold its presidential campaigns in Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Gusau, Kano, Dutse, Bauchi, Makurdi and Maiduguri.
A minister, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent that the growing anxiety among his colleagues from the North was a result of the fact that they were not sure of the kind of reception that would be accorded the President and the party leadership during the rallies in the region.
He attributed the fear to the campaign of hate, which he said, the opposition had successfully spread against the President in that part of the country.
This, he further said, had led to a wide acceptability of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in the area.
He said, “We know that we ministers will be held responsible for the success or failure of the rallies in our region. We are also aware that we are going to be assessed based on the success recorded by our colleagues from the South-West and South-East who have, with all sincerity, put up good performances.
“In our region, there is currently a campaign of hate against the PDP and all that it represents. Majority of these claims are untrue but unfortunately, they are gaining ground.
“Have you not heard one of our governors in the region saying it publicly that the PDP members in his state are afraid to campaign for their candidates openly? Is that supposed to be so?”
The minister however said he and his colleagues would not spare any efforts aimed at ensuring the success of the rallies that would start today in Sokoto and Birni Kebbi, despite all odds.
Our correspondent further learnt that to achieve this, the ministers from the North had been holding strategic meetings with Vice President Namadi Sambo.
Apart from the success of the rallies, it was learnt that how to woo enough voters for the President in the North, despite the glaring hostilities, had formed part of discussions at such meetings.
Ministers from states where there are no PDP governors are taking charge of preparation for the rallies which will take the President to Jos, Ilorin, Lafia, Yola, Jalingo and Kaduna next week.

Lagosians now enjoy air-conditioned trains —Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan says his administration has transformed the railway system, adding that the people of Lagos now enjoy train rides in air-conditioned coaches.
The President said this in a Facebook post on Sunday.
Jonathan, who described the feat as a ‘silent revolution’ promised that his administration would do more in the coming years.
He said, “A silent revolution is taking place in Lagos. Every day, thousands ofLagosiansare escaping the hustle and bustle of Lagos traffic by traversing the mainland in the new air condition Diesel Multiple Unit trains.
“These trains were introduced by my administration as a fore taste of our plan to develop an inter-city and intra-city high speed train network for Lagos. The Federal Government has already signed a $1.5bn contract for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Express Train.
“This project, when completed, will make it possible to live in Ibadan and work in Lagos. This is progressing simultaneously with the $12bn Lagos-Calabar coastal rail project. This project is 1,402km long and will link Lagos to Calabar with stops at cities along the route. We have good plans for Lagos, plans that will ensure that Lagos continues to be the centre of excellence and a pride to Nigeria.”

Punch