Does PDP Really Need Igbos? I'm Not Sure - Okorocha

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo
State recently held a media chat with some journalists in the state. He she'd light on many state and national issues.

Excerpts: What would be your next
political ambition come 2015, are you going for re-election as governor or aspiring for the presidency?

Let me make this point clear that I'm a member of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA); that is my party there is no controversy about it.
APGA still remains my cultural party
because for an Igbo man, APGA
represents a way of life, but it is not a national political party. If you may recall APGA became divided.

One APGA looked towards the side of PDP and the other that I was a member looked towards APC.
I was in APGA as political party but now I am in APC and for one reason if you may recall Action Congress of Nigeria
ACN, Congress for Progressive Change CPC, All Nigeria Peoples Party ANPP were a regional party, and all these parties came together to form a national party
to challenge PDP.
So it would sound very phony to have APGA as a regional party when others have merged for a common purpose. So the wisest thing do was to merge with
APC and the remaining APGA are in PDP.
For me APC is good for the South East because from the way political equation is structured in Nigeria, it doesn't appear to me that PDP has any plan for Ndi Igbo.
For instance, none of the positions of the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, was allotted to the South East by the PDP.

As I said earlier, the best thing is to join the APC to remedy the imbalance in future. It is only wise to say that South East is better off in APC because there's
no way the positions would elude the zone if APC finds itself in government.
Again PDP has never had any stiff
opposition. This is the only time we have
a formidable opposition in the country.
And I am confident that come 2015 APC will take the day.
Asking for my political ambition in 2015, you may wish to recollect that I was once a presidential aspirant and came second in the primary that produced the
late President Umaru Musa Yar'dua. So I am not a new person in the presidential race of this country.
Actually I need your advice on what to do. Today, among all presidential aspirants, I am still a force to be reckoned with. I have a strong passion for my Imo people and my vision is of a national capacity.

Why are still not a registered member of APC, have you been refused your formal registration?

I am one of the founding members of the APC and it is not true that I have been refused registration in a party that I am a leader. It is mere speculation.
Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN) who is one of those saying that I have not been registered with the APC was a member of merging parties.

But the issue is that we in APC have not started registration yet but that may commence before the end of the year because for now all the structures for registration are in place.

Since your party has not yet zoned
the presidency to any region in the country, what does it portend for the Igbos?

Let me again say that our party APC has not zoned the presidency to anybody and does not believe in zoning.
We believe that anybody that has
something upstairs irrespective of zone rules this country because zoning does not rule a country.
Zoning has rather produced mediocrity. I think we have come of age when men must be elected into offices purely on their individual merits instead of laying
undue emphasis on where they come from.
Since the committee that probed your predecessor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim submitted its report nothing has been heard of it.
Does it mean that your government
has abandoned the project?
That is something that Nigerians should
ask questions about. I have made my
report to EFCC to inform them about the
N67 billion in question which is missing in the state coffers.
But it looks like people who are assumed to be having relationship with the presidency cannot be probed.
There have been so many cases of such bordering on many individuals in the country but because of their relationship
with the presidency both the EFCC and the ICPC have to stay clear.
There is no reason my predecessor
should not have been called to question on how he used the state funds.
I can authoritatively state that there is no single structure anywhere in this state which my immediate predecessor will
say that he did with tax payers' money.
But even at this the EFCC has continued to harass officials of my administration with invitations to answer one allegations that are baseless.
I think we have done our job and what is left now is to take it to the people's court. I do not have the organ to prosecute anybody and it is as a result of this that we have established our own organ known as Imo State Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which of course is in the pipelines and when we have it, we will be able to act.
Very soon, the nation would be
celebrating her Centenary following the 1914 historic amalgamation of the then Northern and Southern protectorates.

What is your reaction?

Our strength lies in our market and in our population. I do not support isolated calls for division or disintegration because to me, this is a "no go area" whether Nigeria should be or not to be.

I congratulate Nigerians on the forth coming Centenary celebration. Every nation on earth has its problems and so Nigeria cannot be in isolation.
Therefore the call for disintegration is neither here nor there. We are building something here in the state in commemoration of the 2014 Centenary.

What is your reaction to the just
conducted Anambra State
governorship election?

It is a monumental shock to Nigerian because even a goat noticed the glaring irregularities that trailed the polls and which even INEC shamelessly admitted.
The elections in Anambra and Delta
states are eye openers because this
nation should not be ran in this manner at all.
INEC officials were arrested and locked up in Imo.
The police, INEC and the PDP all
combined to perpetrate unprecedented electoral fraud and the slogan has always been "get the result, write it and announce it and let them go to court".
Look at what happened in the Oguta re run election in the state.

With the defeat of the APC in
Anambra, there are speculations that you might abandon the APC for another party?

I am not a respecter of party but a
respecter of vision. I have critically
examined the structure of the PDP and I want to let us know that in the next 20 years Nigeria will be in bondage if PDP retains power.
If I am given the opportunity to rule this country I will transform it in just two years.
My journey to APC is because of the way PDP is structured and no young man will ever survive in PDP.
Everybody is tired of PDP and the APC is the only way to go and I will stand for justice and fairness wherever I go.

Defected PDP Governors Will Soon Return, Begging For Forgiveness – Gulak

The Special Adviser to
President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Affairs, Alhaji
Ahmed Gulak, says the defected PDP governors are "prodigal sons" who will soon return to the fold, begging for forgiveness.

Gulak stated this as a special guest at a dinner organised by the "Goodluck Support Group (GSG)'' in New York on Wednesday.

The event was well attended by
Nigerian-Americans, congressmen and the business community.
The night also witnessed formal
inauguration of zonal coordinators of GSG with a presentation of a documentary on
"See what President Goodluck Jonathan Has Done in 2 Years''.
"Some of these governors are so
unpopular; they cannot win elections in their states, no political analysis can
show that Rotimi Amaechi can take
Rivers State to APC. It is simply
impossible that Amaechi's APC will take the votes away from the PDP whether at the governorship or presidential levels and other levels for that matter.
"In 2011, Buhari contested on the
platform of the party he formed, the CPC while ACN fielded Ribadu and they were again defeated; I assure you that we will
always defeat them and come tops,"
Gulak said.
"This is a game of politics just like what is happening here in the U.S. where the opposition shut down the government.
"They called the president all manner of names and insisted on budget cuts.
Those who jumped ship will come back again.
"Atiku left PDP for ACN and returned to the fold with profuse apology. He was
welcomed back like a prodigal son; we will welcome back our prodigal sons because out there, it is nothing but empty shelves full of mediocre," he said.
He, however, noted that no Nigerian leader had been so qualified to lead
Nigeria as Jonathan, adding that the president gave a score-card of his performance in two years.
Gulak stated that the evidence on
ground showed that the president's
transformation agenda was real.

EXCLUSIVE: Obasanjo Writes Jonathan, Accuses President Of Lying, Destroying Nigeria, Promoting Corruption

An apparently angry and frustrated
ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo
has written what clearly competes
as one of the most acerbic letters
in modern history to President
Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of
ineptitude and of taking actions
calculated at destroying Nigeria.
“Nigeria is bleeding and the
hemorrhage must be stopped,” Mr.
Obasanjo said in the 18-page letter
dated December 2, 2013 and
exclusively obtained by PREMIUM
TIMES Tuesday.

He said Mr. Jonathan has failed to
deliver on his promises to the
Nigerian people, stem corruption,
promote national unity and
strengthen national security.

He said in the letter titled “Before
it is too late” that rather than take
steps to advance Nigeria’s interest
and up the standards of living of
Nigerians, Mr. Jonathan had
betrayed God and the Nigerian
people that brought him to power,
and has been pursuing selfish
personal and political interests
based on advice he receives from
“self-centred aides”.

In the detailed letter, dripping of
anger , frustration and what
appears a genuine concern to
rescue a nation on the brink, Mr.
Obasanjo lamented that Mr.
Jonathan had become terribly
divisive and clannish, destroying his
own party, polarizing the country
along regional and religious lines
and ridiculing Nigeria in the comity
of nations.

Without mincing words, Mr.
Obasanjo blamed Mr. Jonathan for
the crises tearing the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
apart.
He said apart from using party
chairman Bamanga Tukur to cause
multiple crises and divide the ranks
of the party, the president’s failure
to keep a promise he made not to
seek a second term is also
generating tension within the
ruling party.

“It would be unfair to continue to
level full blames on the Chairman
(Tukur) for all that goes wrong with
the party,” Mr. Obasanjo said. “The
chairman is playing the tune
dictated by the paymaster
(Jonathan). But the paymaster is
acting for a definitive purpose for
which deceit and deception seem
to be the major ingredients.

“Up till two months ago, Mr.
President, you told me that you
have not told anybody that you
would contest in 2015. I quickly
pointed out to you that the signs
and the measures on the ground
do not tally with your statement.

You said the same to one other
person who shared his observation
with me. And only a fool would
believe that statement you made
to me judging by what is going on.

I must say it is not ingenious. You
may wish to pursue a more
credible and more honorable
path.”
The former President said Mr.
Jonathan told him before the 2011
election he would not seek a
second term, and made the same
promise to governors, party
stakeholders and Nigerians.
The president’s refusal to keep that
promise cast him as a man without
honour, Mr. Obasanjo said.

Saying it would be “fatally morally
flawed” for Mr. Jonathan to contest
in 2015, Mr. Obasanjo added, “As a
leader, two things you must
cherish and hold dear among
others are trust and honour both of
which are important ingredients of
character. I will want to see
anyone in the Office of the
Presidency of Nigeria as a man or
woman who can be trusted, a
person of honour in his words and
character.”

Mr. Obasanjo also accused Mr.
Jonathan of anti-party conducts –
supporting opposition parties’
candidates in governorship
elections in Lagos, Ondo, Edo and
Anambra states at the detriment of
PDP’s own candidates –, and of
pitting party members against one
another.

Saying the President had failed to
address the underlying causes of
the Boko Haram menace, Mr.
Obasanjo urged Mr. Jonathan to
adopt a carrot and stick approach in dealing with the insurgency
explaining that “conventional
military actions based on standard
phases of military operations alone
will not permanently and effectively deal with the issue of
Boko Haram”.

Mr. Obasanjo also tackled Mr.
Jonathan for allegedly being
clannish. “For you to allow yourself
to be “possessed”, so to say, to the
exclusion of most of the rest of
Nigerians as an “Ijaw man” is a
mistake that should never have
been allowed to happen. Yes, you
have to be born in one part of
Nigeria to be Nigerian if not
naturalized but the Nigerian
President must be above ethnic
factionalism. And those who prop
you up as of, and for ‘Ijaw nation’
are not your friends genuinely, not
friends of Nigeria nor friends of
‘Ijaw nation’ they tout about.

“To allow or tacitly encourage
people of ‘Ijaw nation’ to throw
insults on other Nigerians from
other parts of the country and
threaten fire and brimstone to
protect your interest as an Ijaw
man is myopic and your not openly
quieting them is even more
unfortunate.

Two Ijaw men, ex-militant Mujahid
Dokubo-Asari, and a former federal
commissioner for information,
Edwin Clark, who carries himself
around as the political godfather of
the president, are known to talk
down on people opposed to the
president.
Mr. Obasanjo also accused Mr.
Jonathan of placing over 1000
Nigerians on political watch list and
“training snipers and other armed
personnel secretly and
clandestinely acquiring weapons to
match for political purposes like
Abacha and training them where
Abacha trained his killers”.

He wondered why the Presidency
was providing assistance for a
murderer to evade justice.
“Presidential assistance for a
murderer to evade justice and
presidential delegation to welcome
him home can only be in bad taste
generally but particularly to the
family of his victim,” Mr. Obasanjo
said. “Assisting criminals to evade
justice cannot be part of the job of
the presidency. Or, as it is viwed in
some quarters, is he being
recruited to do for you what he had
done for Abacha in the past?
Hopefully, he should have learned
his lesson. Let us continue to
watch.”

Mr. Obasanjo did not mention the
name of the murderer he accused
the President of protecting but he
seems to be referring to Hamza Al-
Mustapha, a former security aide to
late Head of State, General Sani
Abacha, who is facing trial for
allegedly masterminding the killing
of Kudirat Abiola, the wife of
Moshood Abiola, the winner of the
annulled 1993 presidential
election.
Mr. Al-Mustapha was freed by the
appeal court in July but the Lagos
state government has since
appealed the judgment at the
Supreme Court.

The former President also called on
the National Assembly to rise up
and take decisive action over the
recent allegation in the country
that the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation failed to
remit billions of dollars in proceeds
of crude oil sales to the federation
account.

“This allegation will not fly away by
non-action, cover-up, denial or
bribing possible investigators,” Mr.
Obasanjo told the President.
“Please deal with this allegation
transparently and let the truth be
known.
“The dramatis personae in this
allegation and who they are
working for will one day be public
knowledge. Those who know are
watching if the National Assembly
will not be accomplice in the
heinous crime and Unclad grand
corruption. May God grant you the
grace for at least one effective
corrective action against high
corruption which seems to stink all
around you in your government.”

Mr. Obasanjo said he wrote the
letter in the national interest,
saying nothing, at this stage of his
life, would prevent him from
standing up for whatever he
considers to be in the best interest
of Nigeria, Africa and the world.
He said he was ready for whatever
backlash his letter would provoke
from the presidency.
“Knowing what happens around you most of which you know of and
condone or deny, this letter will
proke cacophony from hired and
unhired attackers but I will
maintain my serenity because by
this letter, I have done my duty to
you as I have always done, to your
government, to the party, PDP, and
to our country, Nigeria…,” Mr.
Obasanjo said.

“I have passed the stage of being
flattered, intimidated, threatened,
frightened, induced or bought…
Death is the end of all human
beings and may it come when God
wills it to come.”

"Blame Your Past Leaders, Not Jonathan"- Maku Tells Northeners

Information minister, Labaran Maku, has lashed out at former presidents from the North and leaders in the part of the country.

In the opinion of the minister, who
spoke on Tuesday in Kaduna, President Goodluck Jonathan has developed the North more than past leaders of the region since independence.

According to Maku, the North should blame its past leaders and not the Jonathan for the underdevelopment of
the region.

Being also the supervisory minister of defence, Maku claimed that northerners should be grateful for the efforts Jonathan makes to provide infrastructure
for the region.

He said, "There has been a denial, a deliberate denial that President
Goodluck Jonathan is not developing the North and there has been an agenda of
deceit, which is carried out mainly by people and some politicians in some part of the North, who want to deny the imprint of this administration.

The official stated that the role of the acting government was tremendous in the development of the North. He said he was ready to debate with anyone on
this and to back it up with facts.

He concluded his speech, noting that the evidence is very clear that since 2007, the Yar'adua/Jonathan Presidency has impacted so much on the development of the North.

Associated Plane Crash: Senate Says NO To Oduah’s Explanation

The Senate on Tuesday rejected the
explanation of the Minister of
Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, on the ill- fated crash involving a 23-year-oldbPropeller aeroplane on the fleet of the Associated Airlines on October 3.
Ms. Oduah was also urged to re-submit a detailed presentation on the incident.
The minister appeared before the Senatebin company with heads of the variousbagencies under her ministry. She limited
her presentation to the information
retrieved from the black box of the
aircraft.
Stella Oduah explained that the Accident and Investigations Bureau began investigation and diagnosed the black box in the airport's laboratory and demonstrated a 2-minute video of the conversations between the two pilots, adding that both engines of the aircrafts
were faulty and should not have been allow to fly.
She pointed out that the speed of the plane was not enough for the engine to take off and that the co-pilot warned that the bird should not take off but that his colleague, who was in charge of the
flight, ignored the advice.

She said, "As the minister of aviation, the fact that we got preliminary report in our
laboratory without waiting for the final report, showed that we have put in placebpreventive measures."

The minister proceeded with a power point presentation, containing graphic and pictoral details of the state of the
various airports in Nigeria and how her administration had been able to carry out a comprehensive transformation of the
sector.

Having listened to the presentation, the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, who represented Senate President David Mark, said Oduah's explanation fell
short of addressing the circumstancesbthat surrounded the crash.

For instance, Ningi said the minister should come up, at another date, with
details about the processes that led to the take-off of the aircraft on the fateful day, especially those whose responsibility it was, to have alerted relevant agencies on its condition.

INEC Demands N2.2m To Make Anambra Electoral Documents Available To APC

The Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) in Anambra State is demanding an illegal sum of N2.2m to make certified true copies of electoral documents available to All Progressive Congress (APC),
It was ordered by the Governorship
Election Petition Tribunal Awka, citing "hike in the price of materials."
The memo was issued at the instance of, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof Chukwuemeka Onukogu, and could set a dangerous precedent for INEC work
in the country.
In rather atrocious English, the memo said:
"Taking cognizance of the hike in the price of materials in the bid to producing gand furnish interested Applicants with all the electoral documents they may request/require to prosecute their
respective election petitions, the above members arrived at the prevalent costs listed below viz:

1. 100 Cartons of A4 Paper @ N3, 500 each = 350,000.00

2. 25 Packets of Toner @ 20.000 each = 500,000.00

3. 100 litres of Diesel for Generator @ N170 per litre for 14 days = 238,000.00

4. Photocopying personnel @ N25,000 each for 21 Local Government Area = 525,000.00

5. Miscellaneous Expenses such as
servicing Generating plant = 100,000.00

6. Servicing of Photocopier Machines = 100,000.00

7. Purchase of 10 Giant Stapler @ 5, 000 each = 50,000.00

8. Purchase of 10 packets of stapling pins @N 200 each = 2,000.00.
--------------------------------
N1, 865,000.00
Certification Fee is 355,000.00

INEC warns politicians in Bauchi against early campaigns

Bauchi - The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned politicians in Bauchi State against any form of campaign towards the 2015 general elections.
The warning is contained in a statement signed by Dr Samuel Madaki, the INEC Resident Commissioner in the state, and
made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Bauchi.
The commissioner also warned political parties against backing such campaigns, reminding them that the law prohibiting all campaign activities at this time was still in force.
He said the commission was unhappy over the activities of some politicians aspiring for public offices in the state who have since commenced campaigns.
"The commission has noticed the posting of campaign posters of some aspiring politicians throughout the state, which
was wrong and against the law.
"Some programmes on radio and
television stations aired and aimed at promoting certain individuals politically must stop or defaulters would be brought to book.
"These activities are in contradiction of
the Electoral Law 2010 and whoever flouts it, will be dealt with accordingly,”
he said in the statement.
Madaki added that any politician, political party or their representatives found guilty of flouting the law, would be liable to a fine of N500 000.
- NAN