BUHARI’S ENDORSEMENT: OBASANJO HAS COMMITTED POLITICAL SUICIDE, SAYS FAYOSE

For allegedly endorsing the presidential candidature of Major Gen Muhammadu Buhari for the 2015 poll, the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, on Wednesday advised Nigerians not to fall for the antics of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Fayose described Obasanjo's declaration of support for Buhari as a political somersault and a suicidal mission. Fayose, in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, asked Nigerians to ignore Obasanjo because of his antecedent as a man who has penchant for deceiving people for his own political gains.
It will be recalled that Obasanjo at a book launch in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday declared support for Buhari, saying he has capacity to fight corruption that is killing the system.

Jonathan a misunderstood leader – Maku

Former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku on Tuesday in Abuja, denied reports making the rounds in the media that he accused President Jonathan of being the sponsor of Boko Haram.
Maku, who addressed newsmen, said the reports were false and an attempt to discredit Jonathan by using his ardent supporters to make the falsehood look believable.
He said that his campaign organisation had long refuted the publication.
He added that he had to address the press as the issue was still being mischievously peddled by some media platforms.

Why we shot a video for President Goodluck Jonathan – Rita Dominic

Nollywood leading actress, Rita Dominic has broken away from her normal routine of acting to romance politics in the heat of the around-the-corner presidential election. In a letter she wrote to her fans, Rita explained why she and her company, Audrey Silva, a company she co-owns with her manager, Midred Okwo, shot a video to support President Goodluck Jonathan re-election bid.
According to her, President Goodluck Jonathan has done more for Nollywood than any Nigerian President in history.

Presidency debunks rumours of Jega’s removal

The Presidency has debunked rumours gaining ground in some online and social media that the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, had been sacked by the Federal Government.
A source from the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, citing security concerns yesterday, warned politicians against spreading falsehood capable of inciting violence to desist from doing so.
The source said they have been bombarded with calls from all parts of the country, describing the rumoured sack as an outright falsehood and mischievous propaganda, allegedly engineered by some forces within the main opposition, All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to a Presidency official, “the rumoured sack of Jega is not from the Presidency, but part of the propaganda by the opposition to soil the good name of the President, to discredit the government and cause trouble.”

Five reasons Nigeria’s poll delay is fishy

There was a whiff of something rotten in my kitchen on Saturday – and it wasn’t the cooking. No, it was emanating from the press conference I was watching live on my smartphone, in which Nigeria’s national electoral commissioner announced that polling, scheduled for February 14, was to be postponed by another six weeks.

So now, tens of millions of Nigerian voters will have to wait until March 28 to choose between an increasingly embattled incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan (Peoples Democratic Party) and his challenger Muhammadu Buhari (opposition All Progressives Congress). Governorship races (including my friend and former CGD visiting fellow Nuhu Ribadu running as the PDP candidate in Adamawa State) must now wait until April 11.

Karen Attiah in the Washington Post also noticed the smell. The official reason for the postponement is that the military needs six weeks to launch a new offensive against Boko Haram and cannot guarantee election safety at the same time. This is potentially plausible. But here are five reasons why I’m sceptical.

Soldiers lay siege to Tinubu’s home

A former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says soldiers have placed him under surveillance for the past three days.

Tinubu,   in a statement on Tuesday by his Media Office, claimed that the soldiers numbering 30 were first noticed in a truck close to his Ikoyi, Lagos residence around 11pm on Sunday.

A soldier, Capt. Sagir Kooli, who exposed the alleged rigging of the June 2014 Ekiti State governorship election,   had in a video which went viral last week said   that Tinubu’s telephone was bugged by the Department of State Services.

The former governor said in the statement that the soldiers were initially stationed about 500 metres from the gate of his house   before they moved closer.

Tinubu   explained   that on Monday night , the soldiers returned   in two vans and stayed throughout the night.

He claimed that some of them alighted from the vans and walked back and forth in front of the house.

The APC leader,who   alleged that   the vans   were stationed on both sides of the house on Tuesday morning,   vowed not to be intimidated by the government.

Presidency, PDP reject card reader for election

There were indications that the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party were already commencing tactics aimed at frustrating the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission to make use of card readers for the 2015 elections.

Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja on Monday and Tuesday, indicated that the ruling party and the Presidency were already looking at the possibility of mobilising Nigerians to demand that the use of card readers for the election be stopped.

This is coming as a former National Chairman of the ruling party, who is now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said there were signs that the PDP was not interested in holding the elections.

Rather, Ogbeh said, the party was still hell-bent on foisting interim government on Nigeria.

A source in the Presidency, who spoke on condition of anonymity with our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, said that both the Presidency and some members of the National Working Committee of the party had been asked to continue to either condemn the use of the card readers for the elections or also that the commission be told to allow Nigerians to use the Temporary Voter Card instead of the Permanent Voter Card for the election.

He said, “We are not comfortable with the card readers. For example, we have not seen any and we don’t know how it works.

I won’t go on terminal leave – Jega

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said he does not have any plan to embark on terminal leave.

This was contrary to unsubstantiated report that Jega would proceed on a forced terminal leave on March 1.

But Jega’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kayode Idowu, denied this saying his boss was busy preparing for the conduct of the elections.

He said, “Jega is busy preparing for the elections and you are asking about terminal leave. Does anyone planning to conduct elections go on terminal leave? There is nothing like that.”

Idowu had in an interview on a TV programme monitored in Lagos, on Tuesday, said Jega’s appointment was not guided by civil service rules and would serve until the end of his tenure on June 30.

He said the postponement of the elections would make INEC better prepared for the elections scheduled for March 28 and April 11.

Read What Nigerians are saying on social media

Nigerians have taken to their social media pages to react to the new poll timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

INEC announced late on Saturday that the general elections would now hold on March 28 and April 11 as against the initially scheduled February 14 and 28.

Below are a few posts from Facebook and Twitter:

I won’t go on terminal leave – Jega

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said he does not have any plan to embark on terminal leave.

This was contrary to unsubstantiated report that Jega would proceed on a forced terminal leave on March 1.

But Jega’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kayode Idowu, denied this saying his boss was busy preparing for the conduct of the elections.

He said, “Jega is busy preparing for the elections and you are asking about terminal leave. Does anyone planning to conduct elections go on terminal leave? There is nothing like that.”

Idowu had in an interview on a TV programme monitored in Lagos, on Tuesday, said Jega’s appointment was not guided by civil service rules and would serve until the end of his tenure on June 30.

He said the postponement of the elections would make INEC better prepared for the elections scheduled for March 28 and April 11.