Chartered jets: Why we won’t probe Diezani – Presidency

The affairs of the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, have recently come under scrutiny after it was revealed that she had spent N10 billion on private jets.The Presidency has however said through a representative that it has no plans to probe the minister over the allegations of financial impropriety levelled against her.This was disclosed yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe.Dr. Okupe is said to have added that the presidency wouldn’t probe Mrs Alison-Madueke because she was already being probed by the House of Representatives.
The Punch reports:  Alison-Madueke was alleged to have spent N10bn on a chartered Challenger 850 aircraft in two years for which the House of Representatives is currently probing her.Okupe said that the Federal Government could not institute a probe panel on matters that had not been substantiated.who spoke to one of our correspondents in a telephone interview in Abuja, on Friday, said since the House of Representatives had started investigating the matter, the right thing to do was to wait for the outcome of such a probe before any further step could be taken.
He said, “The Federal Government cannot set up a probe panel just on things that have not been substantiated as such. The information I have is that the House of Representatives is looking into the matter and they want to invite the honourable minister. Definitely, the right thing is to wait for the outcome of such an interaction before anybody can decide to do anything.”
Though the House of Representatives had assured Nigerians that it would investigate the allegations against the petroleum minister, it is yet to start the probe one week after it gave the promise. The House Committee on Public Accounts was given three weeks to conduct the investigation and produce a report.But as at Thursday, there was no formal action on the probe and no invitation had been sent out to any government official to appear before the committee.

On Progressives and Pro-aggressives - written by Reno Omokri

Article written by Reno Omokri, Special Assistant to the President on New Media.
All advertising is based on the theory of Proof by Repeated Assertion which provides that a proposition repeated and restated regularly using the mass media comes to be accepted as true irrespective of any contradictions in the proposition being asserted. This theory is very effective and even more so in the modern world where attention spans are limited and people read headlines and draw conclusions without reading the story. Gone are the days of Ronald Reagan where that great communicator urged us to "trust but verify". Nowadays, very few people are prepared to pay the intellectual price of verifying what they are served by the media and some individuals have clued in on this deficiency amongst Nigerians and the fact that we can be subliminally manipulated by what we read in the media and have used this deficiency against us.

You may disagree with me, but I will offer an elementary example. If you have been reading newspapers, listening to the radio or watching television, or even if you have been following the news online news media for the past year, you would have heard of the All Progressive Congress, APC, being described as a progressive party.  Many Nigerians have bought this asserted labeling hook, line and sinker. But do the facts bear this out?

A progressive party is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a group "favoring or implementing social reform or new, liberal ideas" one that is "modern, liberal, advanced, forward-thinking, enlightened, enterprising, innovative, pioneering, dynamic, bold, avant-garde, reforming, reformist, radical".

Let us pay close attention to this definition and then let us consider the facts.

For the first part, a progressive party has to favor or implement social reform and promote new, liberal ideas. Can those who promote the All Progressive Congress truly say that the party favours or is implementing social reform and promotes new, liberal ideas?

In recent times, President Goodluck Jonathan recognized the fact that there are structural errors both in our constitution and in Nigeria's body politics and though he was previously against the idea of a National Conference, he realized that there was no way Nigeria could avoid it if we had to address the challenges that have caused friction amongst the people of Nigeria.

Thus, he conceived of the idea of having a National Conference in the year 2014 where those who were most vociferous in advocating the case of their region, group or professional and social organization could come and talk things out.

Obviously, objective persons would agree that this was a move that favored social reform and promoted new ideas that could radically change the way we do things in Nigeria.

However, the APC, which brands itself as a progressive party rejected the idea of a National Conference with many of its leaders saying that such a conference is unnecessary? Not stopping there, the APC asked its members not to participate in the conference, an advise which even its own governors wisely ignored.

The question to a reasonable by stander is going by the above, who between President Jonathan and the APC is progressive?

I offer another example.

Since the time of the late great President Umaru Musa Yar'adua, Nigeria has had issues with an insurgency in the form of the Boko Haram insurrection. If you have followed the media, the APC and its leaders have criticized the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan for its handling of the insurgency, yet, they have not provided an alternative strategy to contain the insurgency.

On the other hand, the man they have consistently criticized has provided and implemented the following strategies to contain the insurgency;

On the 1st of January, 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan temporarily closed Nigeria's borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon to curtail the movements of arms and insurgents into Nigeria as well as declared a State of Emergency in some of the Local Governments most affected by the insurgency.

On the 24th of April, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North to dialogue with the insurgents and explore opportunities for an amnesty.

On May 14th, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan cut short his visit to South Africa and aborted a planned state visit to Namibia to address an upsurge in insurgent activities by declaring a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and constitutionally and democratically left the governors and governments of those states intact.

On July 2nd 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan sent 25,000 metric tons of assorted food items to residents of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states to facilitate their participation in the fasting period. Borno state got 324 trailers of food, Yobe received 195 trailers and Adamawa got 170 trailer. An eye witness and indigene of one of the states on sighting the supplies said "this is an unprecedented initiative by the president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. I have not heard in history where this amount of food was released to any part of Nigeria in the past".

Finally, on the 18th of March, 2014, the Jonathan administration launched a major economic recovery plan for the Northeast tagged ' Soft Approach to Countering Terrorism” which involves de-radicalising extremists and stopping others from being radicalized, mobilizing the society through strategic public communication and economic revitalization of the North-East states affected by insurgency.

On the other hand, the strategy of the APC has been to criticize Nigeria's armed forces who are risking their lives by engaging the insurgents with the attendant risk that their morale could be affected. Without providing proof, they have alleged that the insurgents are better armed and motivated than our military personnel. This is besides the fact that they have blamed the military for civilian loss of life and damage to property without investigation.

Now, take a scale and weigh the responses of the President Goodluck Jonathan led Peoples Democratic Party administration and the All Progressive Congress's approach to the insurgency and let your conscience direct you on who between the two is truly a progressive.

If you go back in history, it will be recalled that of all the parties that existed in Nigeria in 2011, ONLY the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, engaged in a presidential primary on the 13th of January, 2011. All other parties, including the now defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, chose their presidential candidates either by consensus or by imposition.

Now, fast forward to the 3rd of March 2014. The All Progressive Congress, which is composed of those same parties which did not engage in presidential primaries, announced that in a poll that they carried out, their unnamed presidential candidate was more popular than President Goodluck Jonathan and would defeat him if an election was held immediately.

Discerning minds would have noticed that from the above information released by the APC, it appears that the three parties which coalesced into the APC are up to their old games. How can they know their presidential candidate in March of 2014 when they have not conducted a presidential primary?

The answer is because old habits die hard and just as they did in 2011, they do not intend to hold presidential primaries and plan to coronate their already chosen candidate by imposition.

So, I ask my readers, drop your biases and preconceived notions and consider what I have written to you with an open mind and ask yourself whether the APC is a progressive party as they say.

Remember that the Oxford English Dictionary describes a progressive as one who is "forward-thinking, enlightened, enterprising, innovative, pioneering and dynamic".

Who does this definition fit? The APC or the President Goodluck Jonathan led PDP administration? Let's further consider other facts.

If a progressive is "forward-thinking", what would you consider the action of President Jonathan in signing the Freedom of Information Act into law which essentially demystified governance and opened it up to the populace such that every Nigerian now has access to each line item of the executive's appropriation and can tell how much the President spends on feeding and other sundry expenses? Has it ever happened in Nigeria before?

If a progressive is "enlightened" certainly, President Jonathan fits that mould as a man who is enlightened enough to be led by conscience and not ego and was able to gather EVERY living former Head of State and President to the Presidential Villa last month irrespective of party affiliation or recent history in keeping with the statement he made on the 18th of September, 2010 that "I have no enemies to fight".

If a progressive is "enterprising" what would you call a man who met Nigeria's Per Capita Income at $1091 in 2009 and grew it to $1721 as at 2013 (/y5tfwwd)?

If a progressive is "innovative" then tens of thousands of young Nigerians are witnesses to the innovativeness of the President being beneficiaries of the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin) scheme which gave them quality business training and support as well as granted them between two and ten million Naira to start a business so they could employ other youths.

If a progressive is "pioneering" then what better effort can a man pioneer than to build schools for itinerant Islamic Scholars (aka Almajiri) complete with Malam's Quarters, Hostels, Qu'ranic Recitation Hall and Science Laboratories?

If a progressive is "dynamic" then the President who goes about Nigeria fulfilling promises he made is dynamic.

Giving the opposition propaganda in the media about the President not fulfilling his promises, some of my readers may ask, what promises, if any, has President Jonathan fulfilled?

I would attempt to list just a few of them.

If you live in Southeast Nigeria, some of the promises the President is fulfilling for you are the 2nd Niger Bride now under construction as well as the Enugu International Airport. If you live in Northwest Nigeria some of the promises the President is fulfilling for you are new universities and schools for almajiris. If you live in Southwest Nigeria, some of the promises the President is fulfilling for you are the revived railways and the ongoing reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Rd. If you live in North-central Nigeria, some of the promises the President is fulfilling for you are the Zungeru Hydro Electric Dam, the Baro Port and the dredging of the River Niger. If you live in South south Nigeria, some of the promises the President is fulfilling for you are are the ongoing reconstruction of the Lagos-Ore-Benin road and the East-West road. If you live in Northeast Nigeria, some of the promises the President is fulfilling for you are a Green Belt to stop Desert Encroachment and new universities.

But perhaps the most significant promise the President has fulfilled to Nigerians is the promise of bequeathing free and fair elections for all.  In fact, after the APC governor of Edo state was re elected in July of 2012, he personally visited the President at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa to thank him for fulfilling his promise of ensuring free and fair elections. Governor Adams Oshiomhole's testimony with regards that election are so telling, so spontaneously true, that I think it best to reproduce them especially as he is of the APC.

Said Governor Oshiomhole,  “what the Edo election has confirmed is that when the President and Commander-in-Chief puts the country first and conducts himself as a statesman, not just as a party leader, credible elections are possible, because people were apprehensive that the Nigerian Army could be misused. But of course, I told them I didn’t think they were right, but the President’s clear directive was that the votes must count. He warned that there will be no rigging, no manipulation, no ballot snatching and orders were given to the Army to ensure none of those things happened and the Army carried out the order. The Police IG was similarly instructed. He deployed his men probably much more than we probably needed and they delivered on the President’s orders. The SSS were fantastic because they were always at the collating centres where some of the manipulations can take place".

You see, even an APC governor in a moment of candour recognizes the limits of propaganda. Recently, Local Government elections were carried out in some APC controlled states, I would eat my hat if anybody can come out and give the same testimony that Governor Oshiomhole gave with regards to those 'elections'!

I have had people complain to me that the opposition is outspending the government in the area of media propaganda and my response to them is that if a government keeps fulfilling its campaign promises to Nigerians, then Nigerians will open up their hearts to that government. President Goodluck Jonathan has a habit of delivering on his promises in a way that no one else has done before him and has a unique way of winning arguments with his detractors not by words but by results.

So for instance, his opponents may hold a rally and spend a good portion of their time insulting and disparaging the President rather than telling the people what they would do for them and think that they have achieved some big thing. But in actual fact, what they have communicated to thinking members of their audience is the fact that Nigerians enjoy a far greater measure of democratic freedoms under the leadership of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan because had someone else spoken in such a manner about some of these folk while they were in government they would certainly enjoy freedom of speech but not freedom after the speech. But today, they can say what they want to say without fear because we have a true progressive as President of Nigeria.

It is little things like this that give a clue as to who is really a progressive.

You see, being a progressive is not something that you become because you constantly parade yourself as such in the media. No. Being a progressive is just like being powerful. If you have to tell people you are powerful then you are not really powerful.

A true progressive is a newsmaker and not a noisemaker. He makes the news because he has something to say and something tangible to deliver. A false progressive is a noisemaker who makes the news because he wants to say something, not because he has something to say. And I wager that in the final analysis, Nigerians are wise enough to know that if it is not panadol it can not be the same as panadol.

Reno

Why Pastors Are Richer Than Their Members In Nigeria – Oritsejafor

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor recently bared his mind concerning the controversies surrounding churches and their flamboyant pastors.

When asked to explain why churches milk the poor, the CAN president and Senior pastor of Word of Life Bible Church, said “it is cheap to criticise; even to criticise what you don’t understand. Let me put it this way, in every good people, you would always find some bad people. The church is the greatest institution that has made the country today. If you look back, you would find out that the church brought education to Nigeria.”

Speaking further to Punch, he said “The church brought hospital to Nigeria. I think the church should be given credit for that. People don’t understand what they say about the church milking the poor. Can a poor man have money to pay tithe? A man who has no job, can he pay tithe? No, he won’t be able to pay. So how do you milk a man who has no milk? In a church, you have both the poor and the rich. It is generally not the poor that finance the church. It is those with the means. A man, for example, who earns N10,000, how much is his tithe? His tithe is N1,000. A man who earns N500,000, how much is his tithe? His tithe is 10 per cent which is N50,000. How much would you milk from a man who pays a tithe of N1000?

“We won’t say things like this usually because the church is a level-playing ground. Whether you are poor or you are rich, God sees everybody as equal. It is because of a question like this that sometimes, we have to take time to analyse things. I even hear people say that the poor give money to start schools, but their children cannot go to the schools. How will they give this money when they are poor? The truth is that, the people who actually give this money are those who have the means to do so. Those people make it possible for churches to start schools. Now again, why do churches charge high fees in school? You didn’t ask me that, but I’m just throwing that in free. People must understand that there is a standard.

“The church wants to maintain the standard. In those days, some people will say that when missionaries started school, it was free. Don’t forget that those missionaries were being financed from different places. Who is financing us today? We are financing ourselves. If I got free financing, why won’t we make education free? You must also understand that at the time, the cost of living was not the way it is today. The educational system of Nigeria is in serious trouble, so we need to up the standards. And to do that, you should be able to hire the best hands. If you hire the best, how do you pay them? Where do you get the money to pay them? How do you put the right infrastructure in place? How do you do many of the things that need to be done? How do you run the generators?”

On why there are so many poor people in churches yet rich pastors, Oritsejafor who recently completed an ultra modern 40,000 capacity church auditorium in Warri, Delta State, explained, “Remember that the pastors are pasturing both the poor and the rich. They are all in the same assembly. Both the poor and the rich, those who have the means in the church take time to be kind to their pastors. That is something most people don’t realise. They give their pastors money, food and different things. For example, a member of the church goes to his pastor and says, ‘I feel led to give you a car. Take this car.’ Now the pastor has a car. Did he steal it? As I sit here talking to you now, I can tell you that I am training almost 100 people in institutions of higher learning. Nobody is going to broadcast that. On every 26th of December, I organise what I call poverty alleviation. I have been doing it now for about eight years.”

Defending his aircraft and rift with Mallam Nasir el-Rufai “I am glad that there are people who challenged him. I would only be dignifying him if a person at my level starts exchanging words with a small person like el-Rufai. He is too small. I will not dignify him with a response. People responded. They told him that since he knew who gave the gift, he should provide the proof, which he hasn’t done till today. Obviously, he didn’t have any proof. That is the problem with Nigeria. We continue to celebrate people like el-Rufai. He is too small for me. I won’t waste my time on him”

JUST IN: Ali Modu Sheriff treating to beat up national leader of APC, Bola Tinubu- Premium Times

Sheriff (third from left) threatens to slap Bola Tinubu (right)

The recent meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, almost turned violent following the threat by a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff to beat up a national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu.
Mr. Sheriff exploded midway into the meeting, raining abuses on Mr. Tinubu and threatening to slap the former Lagos State governor.
But for the intervention of the some party leaders attending the meeting, including a former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari and a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, the former Borno Governor, almost made real his threat, sources at the meeting told PREMIUM TIMES.
The APC NEC meeting, which was held at the party’s headquarters in the Wuse 2 District of Abuja, was convened last Monday to discuss some pressing issues in the party, including the impending inaugural ward, local government and state congresses as well as a national convention.
The membership of the party’s NEC includes all members of the National Working Committees, NWC, Board of Trustees, BoT, former presidents, vice presidents, governors and their deputies who are members of the party, and leaders of the party in the National Assembly.
Mr. Sheriff is a member of the organ in his capacity as a former governor and a leader of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, which last year merged with the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Congress for Progressives Change, CPC, and a section of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, to form the APC.
He was the Chairman of the ANPP Board of Trustees until the merger. On his part, apart from being a former governor, Mr. Tinubu is a respected leading light of the country’s main opposition party.
At the end of the meeting, the APC NEC fixed May 24 for its first national convention. It also fixed April 5 for the ward congresses while the local government and state congresses will hold April 12 and 23 respectively.
Our sources said Messrs. Sheriff and Tinubu clashed when the meeting began discussions on the congresses and convention.
It was gathered that the during the discussion, the APC National Chairman, Bisi Akande, who was presiding over the meeting nominated himself and the National Secretary, Tijjani Tumsah to serve as chairman and secretary respectively of the National Convention Committee, NCC, which would also oversee the conduct of the congresses.
Angered by the suggestion, this newspaper was informed that the former Borno State Governor, who is popularly called SAS (Senator Ali Sheriff) or GAS (Governor Ali Sheriff) while in power between 2003 and 2007, grabbed the microphone and expressed his opposition to the choices.
Mr. Sheriff was also said to have made some remarks which suggested that he believed that APC was not yet mature as a party.
He was reportedly cautioned by Mr. Tinubu, who asked him not to speak about the party in a negative manner. The former Lagos State Governor also asked Mr. Sheriff to quit the APC and go elsewhere, if he was not comfortable with the party.
At this point, Mr. Sheriff, who was now holding firmly to the microphone, allegedly began to insult Mr. Tinubu, asking him if he owned the party.
“Who are you? Who do you think you are? Are you the owner of the party?” the former Borno governor reportedly inquired from Mr. Tinubu in a fit of anger.
All the leaders of the party present at the meeting reportedly watched with amazement as the 58-year old former Borno State governor reportedly rained abuses on Mr. Tinubu, 62, who on his part, kept his cool all through.
Out sources said Mr. Buhari saved the day when, sensing danger in allowing Mr. Sheriff to continue insulting Mr. Tinubu, intervened. The former head of state was said to have tongue-lashed Mr. Sheriff for losing his composure.
Attempts by PREMIUM TIMES to speak with Mr. Tinubu were not successful. His media aide, Sunday Dare could not also be reached as he did not respond to calls to his mobile telephone on Friday and Saturday.
Also, Mr. Sheriff could not be reached as he was said to have travelled out of the country on Friday morning.
A commissioner in his administration, who pleaded anonymity (saying he was not competent to speak for the former governor) said although he was not at the meeting where the two former governors exchanged verbal punches, he heard about it.
“I was not at the meeting, but I heard about it. I think it was just one of those disagreements among party members. Bola Tinubu was said to have made a remark, which didn’t go down well with Sheriff. But the matter has been resolved,” the former commissioner told PREMIUM TIMES.
No party official contacted was willing to speak on the matter. A senior member of the party, who said he was not competent to speak on behalf of the party, but who also confirmed the altercation between the two former governors to this newspaper, insisted he would not speak officially despite prodding by this reporter.
“I can’t speak on this matter. It will be against my principle and I may not be objective. Personally, I am not one to speak in a way that will portray my party in bad light,” the member said.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr. Sheriff’s action was a product of bottled-up anger over the refusal of the party to accord him a prominent place in the fold since the conclusion of the merger talks and eventual registration of the party.
The former Borno governor was said to have repeatedly position himself to play greater role given the positions he had occupied as a senator, governor and ANPP BoT chair.
Our source alleged that the former governor has always fingered Mr. Tinubu, for the “ill-treatment” and the former Lagos Governor’s remark presented a veritable opportunity to strike against him (Tinubu).
Mr. Sheriff, it was further learnt has always believed that Mr. Tinubu has not achieved politically than him as they were not only former senators, but also fellow two-time governors.
“All this is about ego. Ali Modu Sheriff believes that he was a governor just like Tinubu and both are former senators and so should not be treated in such manner,” the source told this newspaper.
Another source within the APC who is conversant with the workings of the opposition party, told this paper that Messrs. Tinubu and Buhari as well as some other key leaders are afraid that given him (Sheriff) a prominent role to play could backfire on the young party.
The source said Mr. Buhari had always been uncomfortable with Mr. Sheriff since their days in the defunct ANPP, where the former was presidential candidate twice (2003 and 2007.)
It was further gathered that some APC leaders suspect Mr. Sheriff to be a mole planted in the opposition party by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, perhaps due to his closeness to some senior members of the ruling party.
Besides, the role he is suspected to have played in the emergence and evolution of the extremist Boko Haram sect is  also a source of concern to some APC leaders.
The not-so-robust relationship between Mr. Sheriff and his successor, Kashim Shettima has reportedly not helped the ex-Borno Governor’s desire to play greater role in the APC.
However, in spite of all this, PREMIUM TIMES was told, some of the party’s leaders are not willing to let Mr. Sheriff turn his back on the APC as he still has some political value to bring to the merger. This, it was gathered, is majorly because of his popularity in the north eastern state of Borno.
One of our sources however argued that Mr. Tinubu has overreached himself by his disposition to some issues in the party, which, in his estimation, could affect the fortunes of the party.
“Tinubu forgets that the prefects he groomed are now principals in their own right,” the source volunteered. “Nobody will allow him to trade off this golden opportunity for the change Nigerians earnestly yearn for in 2015. He can be pardoned for what he did to Ribadu in 2011 presidential election, but not now.”

Why We Honoured Gen Abacha With Centenary Award – Presidency

Reuben Abati, the spokesperson for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is defending the Presidency’s decision for centenary award given to Late Sani Abachi.
At the award celebration held last week, the award was given to his widow Mariam. As we all know, this honour sparked a lot of controversy, with Wole Soyinka declining to accept the award alongside the former head of states and dictator.

“This (award) does not in any means translate to supporting sharp practices or corrupt practices. It is important to make the clear distinction in this regard.

I think it is important to make the necessary distinction here. The centenary award, like every award, has its own criteria. That centenary award was in relation to the amalgamation, the national unity, the history of Nigeria and the roles played by certain individuals.

The centenary award was not a test of sainthood. In giving the award to the former Head of State, Gen. Abacha, the committee in charge made it very clear that the award in the category in which the former Head of State appeared was awarded with regard to the contributions of those individuals in keeping Nigeria together.

You will find out that under that category, there were largely former Heads of State, persons who have at one time or the other presided over Nigeria and under whose watch, in spite of whatever challenges they might have faced, helped to sustain the unity of the country and helped to defend the integrity and sovereignty of the country. That was a specific criterion in this particular category. Of course, every award at all, be it for beauty or any other thing has its own criteria.”

Abacha was honoured during the nation’s centenary award last Friday under the category of “outstanding promoters of unity, patriotism and national development.” he said.

He also explained that the reason for his nomination was that “he took over power when the nation was on the brink of precipice. He mobilised the nation’s most prominent political class into his cabinet and succeeded in ensuring the continued unity of the nation. He also raised Nigeria’s international standing for his peace keeping military interventions in Sierra Leone and Liberia.”