Lagos not ready for experimental gov – Tinubu

National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday in Lagos lambasted the President Goodluck Jonathan administration describing it as a failure.

He also declared that Lagos state is not ready for an experimental governor which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) parades.
Tinubu said this during the kick off of Lagos APC campaign rally in Ikeja.

According to him, Lagos state is yearning for another technocrat that will further turn the fortunes of the state around.

He, however, reiterated that the APC governorship candidate, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode remains the best candidate to govern Lagos state.

The mega rally which was to begin by 12pm could not take-off until about 1pm as security operatives had serious problems controlling the mammoth crowd that besieged the venue.

Vehicular movement was brought to a stand still along the Oba Akinjobi street, GRA as APC supporters thronged the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral field (Old Airways groud) as early as 9am.

Notable personalities present at the rally include Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Princess Adejoke Adefulire; former deputy governors of the state, Mr Femi Pedro and Princess Adebisi Sosan; Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Adeyemi Ikuforiji; Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Prince Oluyole Olusi, Lagos State chairman of the APC, Chief Henry Ajomale; Chief Yomi Finnih and Mrs Abimbola Fashola among others.

Jonathan’s govt, a failure — Tinubu
Tinubu, who took a swipe at the Jonathan administration expressed dismay at the dwindling fortunes of the nation’s economy.

His words: “Nigeria is going through trial right now and the fortunes of the country will further dwindle if you continue to vote for the President who is full of excuses. He recently admitted that he has failed and we cannot continue to vote for such a person”.

Tinubu, however, maintained that the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket was capable of turning the nation around.

He said “we need a straightforward, honest and capable Nigerian that will move this nation forward; someone who will be that agent of change our party preaches and that is exactly what Buhari/Osinbajo ticket stands for. So we need to rise up and chase out this PDP at the forthcoming polls else this nation will be ran aground”.

Why Ambode is the best man
On why he settled for Ambode as the party’s standard bearer, the former governor explained that “what we have seen in the last eight years is performance, unbroken promises, employment, skills development, road construction, health centres and hospitals and several achievements.

Whatever anybody that says, who is the founder of those talents?”

Commending the performance of the outgoing governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, he said “our prayer is that our children will perform better than us and that is why I am a proud man today because my successor in office who I brought, Governor Babatunde Fashola has performed exceptionally and that is why I can beat my chest today”.

Speaking further, he said “when youths came to me that they want another dynamic governor, I told them not to be in a hurry and that help is on the way but I can categorically state today that we have found someone in the person of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode and I can say the revolution is here and Lagos will experience another level of development with Ambode”.

Calling on the people of Lagos to resist any attempt by the PDP to allegedly rig itself into office, Tinubu said Lagos is not a laboratory.

His words: “When we were in AD, the PDP candidate in Lagos was with us but he failed. He also joined us in APC and contested the primaries with Fashola, he also failed and when we told him to come and learn the ropes in governance, he refused and joined DPA but nothing came out of it. Before we could open our eyes again, he has joined PDP”.

PDP government is full of deceit — Fashola
In his remarks, Governor Fashola said the PDP led government is full of lies and Nigerians cannot afford another four years of President Goodluck Jonathan.

He stated that the PDP led government has failed in its responsibilities to provide power, security and tackle corruption.
Faulting the President’s claim on Buhari’s failure to equip the military, he said “Mr President is a man full of excuses and he keeps claiming those who were in office before him refused to buy guns and that is why he cannot curb the insecurity ravaging the country”.

He argued that “General Buhari left office since 1985 and President Jonathan claims he refused to equip the military. Does he want to use the 1985 military equipments to fight the 2014/2015 insecurity that is ravaging this country. We should not forget that our military performed in places like Sierra-Leone and other peace keeping missions outside Nigeria and yet Mr President keeps claiming nothing was done by former heads of state”.

Calling on Lagosians to vote for continuity, Fashola stressed that the party has found the man to do the right job.

Lagos will be economically viable under my govt —Ambode
In his speech, the APC candidate, Mr Ambode stated that he will ensure Lagos state is economically viable and safe for all under his administration.

According to him, the last 16 years of APC in Lagos have been full of positive change and hence there is need for continuity to further develop the state.

Fashola to Jonathan: You, not my generation failed

LAGOS—Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, publicly disagreed with President Goodluck Jonathan over the statement that his generation has failed Nigeria, saying, “You (Jonathan) failed Nigeria because my generation did not fail this country.”

President  Jonathan made the statement last Thursday while addressing youths at the flag-off of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP campaign held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS Lagos.
Fashola however reacted at the 2015,  First Quarter of the Town Hall meeting with stakeholders in the transportation sector held in Agidingbi, Ikeja, which also had in attendance Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and others.

The governor urged Jonathan to accept responsibility over his failure to address the challenges confronting the nation over the last six years of his administration rather than point accusing fingers to past leaders, “late President Musa Yar ‘Adua’s short tenure was better than that of this administration.”

Fashola said; “He (Jonathan) said his generation has failed, he should account for himself because I refuse to join the generation the President was referring to.

President Jonathan and Gov Babatubde Fashola of Lagos

According to him, “He is in his 50s, I am also in my 50s, and we appear to be, because I don’t even want to join that generation because my own generation has not failed, I have done well on my job and I am proud to say so. If he has failed, let him account for himself, he should not join us”.

Fashola described the present administration as “A failed government that has lost total focus. Seven years ago, they started with Vision 2020 but later they said that they are transforming. And all these have yielded no result. And that was why they have stopped working.

On Boko Haram
He lamented that the situation in the North-East region of the country was pathetic because citizens have become refugees in their father land due to the inability of the present administration to tame the Boko Haram insurgency.

“And rather than the President using the recent campaign in Lagos to gain the support of the citizens the president was busy telling you they tried to kill him four years ago and we did not know. That is a serious national security issue because nobody wants our Commander in Chief dead. If anybody tries to kill him, we should have known. And if I was Commander in Chief, and the person who tries to kill me is in a South African jail, I will ask that he should be repatriated to Nigeria to come and face punishment.

“He (Jonathan) also claimed that General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) didn’t buy arms in 1985. And after Buhari left office, the Nigeria army got recognition for their role in protecting West Africa and was the guns bought 30 years ago be effective to fight today’s insurgency.”

Fashola added that President Jonathan made the statements to gain the sympathy of the electorate and woo them ahead of the presidential election.

He said: “In 2011, it was no shoes, now he is saying they tried to kill him, it won’t work this time. This time it is the job record, the promise that you must look at”.

We‘ll provide 720,000 jobs in a year — Osinbajo

Prof. Yemi Osibajo

VICE Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has unfolded plans by his party to introduce a social security scheme for the elderly and disabled in Nigeria just as he promised that APC-led Federal Government will provide 720,000 jobs in its first year, when elected come February 14.

Professor Osinbajo disclosed this on Thursday in Benin City when he met with the people of Edo State across political divides where he articulated the position of APC in its quest to effect change in the social and economic life of Nigerians.

Addressing the mammoth crowd at Imaguero College Hall, Osinbajo said, “For the first time in the history of Africa, we are introducing a social security scheme. It means the elderly who are poor and the disabled will be given stipends.

“Now the reason why that is important is because our country has continued to be one of the poorest 35 countries in the world despite our resources. We have 110 million people who are extremely poor, so we need to lift people out of poverty.”

He said: “As a first term relief, the APC intends that state governments will, with the backing of the Federal Government that has 52% of the revenue control, employ 20,000 young persons per state acting as emergency relief.

He said, “If we do not tackle that emergency, we will run into trouble because as you can see, there is a lot of youth restlessness. You will notice that unless we do something about this, we will be in great trouble.”

Stop blaming past leaders, Fashola tells Jonathan

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, on Thursday took a swipe at President Goodluck ‎Jonathan, for blaming past leaders for the problems facing the country and his administration, advising him to “get out of the kitchen, if it is becoming to hot for him.”

Fashola spoke during the mobilisation visit of the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign held at Imaguero College in Benin, Edo State.

The governor also berated the President, whom he said had shown anger about Nigeria’s problems and blamed “everybody,” during the commencement of the presidential campaign of the People’s Democratic Party in Lagos on Thursday, without proffering solutions.

He said the February 14 presidential election would centre on the assessment of the president in his six years in office, noting that unlike the PDP, the presidential‎ candidates of the APC had provided viable solutions to the myriad of problems facing the country in three weeks.

He said, “I spent about an hour this afternoon listening to the President in my state and, for almost the same period, I saw a very angry president. I saw a president who was recriminating ab‎out people criticising his jobperformance and was blaming all those who ruled before him, forgetting that he had been on this job for six years.

“And he kept saying that, ‘They say we don’t have a plan.’‎ But for 25 minutes, he did not reveal a plan onpower; he did not reveal a plan on security; he did not reveal a plan on corruption.

“Now, after six years, without being able to articulate what he is doing and what he will do and he keeps blaming everybody, forgetting that he is the Commander-in-Chief, if the kitchen is too hot, as it is becoming of late, you must get out of the kitchen.”

The governor also assured Nigerians that, drawing from the developmental success recorded by the APC states, Nigeria could be better, if the right kind of people managed the nation’s resources.‎

The Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, ‎lamented that while many Nigerians languished in poverty, some of their leaders were only interested in their personal interest.

Oshiomhole, who recalled that the nation’s past leaders had provided infrastructure not based on ethnicity or religion but on the basis of developing the country, challenged Nigerians to choose the path they desired.

He said, “So, no more lamentation, we have got to choose whether to continue to say, ‘God dey’ or to recognise that God gave us everything and he didn’t and he didn’t ask us just to rely on him for manner to drop from heaven.

“In 2015, Nigerians must make a decision, today, to interrogate those who will drive those changes so that your children don’t inherit a culture and tradition of lamentation.”

Vice presidential candidate of the party, Prof Yemi Osinbajo,‎ stated that the APC presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, was known for his stand on corruption.

He added that an APC-led Federal Government would revive the nation’s power sector by encouraging the establishment of more independent power projects, as alternative sources to ensure 24 hours of power supply to different parts of the country.

“In solving our power problems, we have to ensure that we do something about the cost of gas. We need to rewrite the regulation so that many, who are producing can make some money from their gas, as an incentive to supply gas,” he said.

How Jonathan Killed His Good luck by Aliyu Adekunle S

How Jonathan Killed His Good luck

With a tension soaked atmosphere, the Nigeria general election hits a countdown of days as various political parties and contenders continue to rally round for the sympathy and votes of the electorates. Apart from the federating states with rainbow like contending parties, the presidential election which seems to have gained more international interest and attention is arguably between the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Initially, many pundits in spite of the on-going insurgency in the North East and unending daily bashing of whatever is left of President Goodluck Jonathan’s goodwill by the press and the opposition believes the President may pull this battle through and we were right in making such calls as at then. Looking at the factors that determine electoral victory, President Jonathan as at November, 2014 was still doing well in the race. His strongholds were still under his control. Public perception (though battered, still share some level of sympathy for him), the religion card, coupled with his frequent visits to Jerusalem and the apathy of voters' towards presidential election were elements, if sustained could have earned him victory.

Events in the past few weeks have however shown clearly that the people with such believe of President Jonathan's victory come February 14, 2015 may have overestimated the political exposure, determination and goodwill of the President. From available facts, President Jonathan seems to be suffering from cerebral leukemia- a blockage of the flow of reality to the brain, creating a delusional image of popularity and acceptability, hence decisions are irrationally taking without recourse to pragmatic events.

Undoubtedly President Jonathan hasn't been the best president in the history of the country with unending allegations and counter allegations of financial misappropriations, downtrodden economy and perpetual insecurity in the North East but the zenith of this is his unholy charade with a renowned poster boy of a military junta and another captain of corruption who have suddenly leveraged on the inept trait of the president to take a sainthood form and rewrite their narratives. This window created by the president is unforgivable!

Away from the razzmatazz of social media, the defeat of President Jonathan at the poll in 2015 will be largely due to his own undoing. In all sincerely, a close examination of Jonathan disposition to the 2015 election shows a man who is tired of the pressures and demands associated with the presidential seat. Left to Mr. Jonathan, he would have thrown in the towel long ago and take a trip to the serene and calm village of Otuoke but for the notable cabals who benefit immensely from his incapacitation. For them, the demand for him to continue in office is overwhelming.

The All Progressive Congress on the other hand, having identified these elements took no time in unnecessary glorification of illusional popularity and worked vigorously at ensuring a united team, creating a strategic campaign system where people-focused manifesto devour of unnecessary 'TAN-nated' dancers are passed directly to the electorates. Paint a message of anti-corruption ( though giving no convincing model to be adopted) against a generally perceived corrupt government. Build a mindset of change seeking electorates who would see the election as a form of revolution waiting to happen and position itself as the long awaited saviour. All these it got right!

President Jonathan's campaign strategy is currently based around the following factors. Grassroot penetration, Religion, Southern support and achievements in office.

Grassroots politics has been identified as the strong pole of electoral victory as mostly those in the grassroot have limited access to the media hence their decisions are not based on press influence, they believe majorly the decisions of charismatic leaders they know and trust. Using this model in core consideration of the INEC election timetable which places National Assembly and presidential election on the same day one would have expected the president to ensure candidates of his party contesting for the National Assembly seats are people with massive grassroot presence, well respected and loved. The effect of this, is to have the president leverage on the popularity of these individuals at the poll, hence electorates are indirectly forced to vote for him without much ado. Unfortunately the list of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates flying around shows clearly that the president may not be well informed. A case study is that of Ogun State where Senatorial tickets are dashed out to concubine of kinsmen and renowned international fugitive who have lost every bit of acceptability and whose name continue to be a stain to the already tainted garment of PDP leaves the mind dazed.

In a similar way he has presided over Nigeria, President Jonathan has further carried his indecisive mode to the PDP. With few weeks to the election, the party is still engulfed in unnecessary division largely due to the inability of the president to call the shot and take a concrete stand on issues surrounding the candidature of some of the aspirants. This the party may soon pay for dearly!

As a Christian, President Jonathan believed strongly that almost every Christian would overwhelming vote for him come February 14 and he was right about this. If there is one thing the PDP has done successfully, it is the painting of General Buhari has a bigot, however, this was before the emergence of Pastor Osinbajo as the APC vice-presidential candidate. Unlike Pastor Tunde Bakare who was General Buhari's running mate in 2011, Osinbajo comes from one of the most conscious and populated Church in the world, the RedeemedChristian Church of God (RCCG) and even though the General Overseer, Pastor Adeboye is yet to publicly endorse any candidate,members of the church are aware of the strategic plans some of the most influential pastors in the church (who are known to be the G.O's footsoldiers) are putting up to ensure Pastor Osinbajo comes out victorious. This is not limited to the RCCG alone as close sources within the Catholic faith and other radical pentecostals are now much more sympathetic to the progressives cause having also revealed similar plans. If these works out, President Jonathan maybe more empty politically than we think. This is the price you pay when campaigns are based on religion rather than issues and policies.

As at last year, even though the All Progressive Congress controls majority the Southwestern states, pragmatic politics showed that the electorates may favour Jonathan (with exception of Lagos) compared to Buhari largely due to the rancour among leaders of the All Progressive Congress in the states and lack of connect of the Governors in those states with the electorates as against a perceived united Peoples Democratic Party. However, the lack of decisive leadership saw the party losing what could have been a bulk vote in Oyo state torn into shreds with the emergence of major political heavy weights under different party platforms. The implication of this is that the votes which ought to have been galvanised for PDP during the presidential election will now receive minimal attention from political actors, some of whose parties are even without presidential candidates as the political exposure of an average Nigerian is still immature to result into voting for different parties in a single election.

The Southeast which was initially penned down as the unshakable stronghold of the president now appears as uncertain. The endless bickering on PDP's gubernatorial candidature in Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo have opened a glimmer of hope for APC in those states. The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) believed to represent the political consciousness of the south Easterners has suddenly pulled out of its usual endorsement for President Jonathan to pitch tent with General Buhari. In a similar action, foremost Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohaneze Ndigbo in spite of pressures to endorse Mr. Jonathan have refused to yield. The South South region also doesn't seems united in having Jonathan win the election with divisions in Bayelsa, Delta and Akwa Ibom. The results from these regions may not only be shocking but catastrophical.

If there is one thing APC has gotten right, it is its campaign strategy. Beyond criticism, the party has been able to put forward a well coordinated campaign with the youth at the forefront of its media and mobilization section. This has helped the party reach out to minds of young ones in schools, Colleges, Universities and other tertiary institutions. The party has also done well in the management of resources, as funds get to the right hands and used judiciously.
The Peoples Democratic Party in spite of its huge resources continue to run an uncoordinated, uninspiring, ridiculous and tan-ated adverts which possesses little or no content but a choreography of dancers dancing to nowhere.

Let's believe the world may have been bamboozled into believing lies and propagandas against the President but what excuse can the president give to these elements right under his control that he let slipped away?

Some say the time for change is now, I say let what will be, be. As for me, I stand with history in February, praying silently that this path would never be taken again!