I WALKED into the east wing of The Palms shopping mall in Lekki, Lagos (popularly referred to as Shoprite); only to be buttoned-holed by a man trying to sell me a Honda Civic parked inside the hall. His sales pitch was that it was the first totally assembled Honda in Nigeria; built completely to Nigerian specifications. For example, unlike the classical Honda, the Nigeria model has a high clearance, being mindful of the potholes in Nigerian roads.
I had no intention of buying a new car, least of all a Honda Accord. Nevertheless, I could not fail to recognise that what he was touting is one of the many achievements of the Jonathan administration. In spite of the Buhari administration’s daily vilification of Jonathan, the achievements of his government continue to speak for themselves.

Jonathan put in place a policy that provided zero import-duty for completely knocked down vehicles; while discouraging the importation of already assembled cars; old or brand new, by the imposition of heavy import-duties. This propelled car manufacturers to set up assembly-plants in Nigeria that provide jobs for craftsmen, technicians, technologists, engineers, and other professionals across the value chain. The government also made it a policy to patronize locally-made and assembled cars.

The outcome is that local car-assembly is back in Nigeria; literally risen from the dead. Big auto giants, including Peugeot, Nissan, Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai and apparently Honda, now either assemble, or entirely manufacture, their cars, SUVs, trucks and buses at various locations in Nigeria. In addition, Nigeria now has an indigenous car-manufacturing company, Innoson, which is not only selling locally but already dabbling in exports.

Limits of denigration

These days, the most discernible policy of the new APC government is to attack everything Jonathan. However, propaganda can only mask the truth in the short-term. It cannot destroy the truth in the medium to long-term. No matter what APC traducers say, the fact remains that Goodluck Jonathan was an exceptional president by Nigerian standards.

Now is the time to re-affirm this and to invite a more dispassionate reappraisal of the facts, away from the lies and fabrications of the election campaign. It can no longer be argued today that anyone defending Jonathan is a PDP contractor; a favourite line of defence of Buharimaniacs. Neither can Jonathan defenders be accused any longer of wanting to replace Reuben Abati as the president’s spokesman. “You can do nothing against the truth but for the truth.” No matter what the APC continues to broadcast about the Jonathan administration, the truth cannot be silenced.

Fashola’s gaffe: After six months of stasis, Buhari finally unfurled his ministers in the most anti-climatic fashion. These long-awaited saints and angels turned out to be mostly Santa Claus.

Babatunde Fashola, former governor of Lagos State, is now the minister of Power, Works and Housing. At his maiden news conference, tagged grandiloquently: “Setting the Agenda for Delivering Change,” the same Fashola who spent the election campaign running down the Jonathan administration shocked his audience by revealing that, rather than embark on new road construction projects in 2016, he would only endeavour to build on Jonathan’s achievements.

Wittingly or unwittingly, Fashola gave the lie to APC propaganda that Jonathan’s years were wasted years? If Jonathan was as incompetent as the APC would have us believe, why could the party not launch its own superior nationwide road-building plan, as Buhari had promised in the heady days of the 2015 election campaign? Why rely on allegedly sub-standard PDP foundations?

Similarly, rather than jettison Jonathan’s power-sector reforms that APC derided volubly during the campaign, Fashola revealed that the government will be continuing with them. Jonathan completed 10 power-plants in Nigeria within three years; the first and highest of such record by any Nigerian president living or dead. The APC had accused Jonathan of awarding the power projects to PDP cronies and financiers who are incompetent and deficient. But rather than revoke those contracts, Fashola preached continuity. He also admitted that Jonathan‘s transformation in the power sector is above 50%, and that his job would be to build on this achievement.

Jonathan’s transformation agenda

Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, also had the same assessment of Jonathan’s achievements with regard to rail transportation. He pledged to complete all ongoing rail-restoration projects around the country started by Jonathan; as well as extend them to all parts of the country.

Jonathan inaugurated the Lagos-Kano rail line and the Port Harcourt-Enugu mass transit train. He also embarked on the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line. Furthermore, Jonathan’s projects include the Abuja-Kaduna fast train line; the 322km Lagos-Benin City line, 500km Benin-Abakiliki line, 673km Benin-Obudu Cattle Ranch line, 615km Lagos-Abuja high speed line, 520km Zaria-Birnin- Koni line, 533km Ega nyi-Otukpo and the Ega nyi-Abuja line.

Thanks to Jonathan, five million Nigerians are now carried by rail, relative to the one million before he came. An estimated 700,000 passengers are projected to ride the Abuja Light Rail (ALR) on a daily basis. Only recently, KPMG listed Nigeria’s high speed rail project proposed by the Jonathan administration as one of the global top 100 world-class infrastructures. The rail is expected to connect Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Warri, Bauchi, Abuja and Port Harcourt; at a cost of $13 billion.

, Audu Ogbeh, the new Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, did not even pretend to have an alternative to Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda. Speaking at the launching of the Anchor Borrowers Programme in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Ogbe commended Jonathan’s achievements in agriculture, while also praising his ministerial predecessor for the innovations he introduced.

Thanks to Jonathan, agriculture now accounts for 22 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, more than oil and gas which only account for 15.9 per cent. Under Jonathan, Nigeria recorded a more than 50 per cent reduction in food imports; from an import bill of N1.4 trillion to less than N700 billion. With the innovation of dry season rice-farming, Nigeria reached 60% self-sufficiency in rice production and became, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the largest producer of cassava in the world.

Anti-corruption hypocrisy

Rather than hit the ground running, the in-coming Buhari administration has spent the last six months on a campaign against Jonathan and his men, as if it is still shopping for Nigerian votes. This campaign has become a substitute for policy, leading to the conclusion that the APC never really expected to win the election and therefore does not know what to do now it has been declared the winner. What the party did during the election campaign was present pie-in-the-sky policies that were never intended to be implemented but were primarily designed to harvest votes.

This accounts for the government’s current embarrassment with its own party manifesto and the denial of its campaign promises. It has even led to APC legislators being constrained to vote against their own policy; the payment of N5000 monthly to the 25 million poorest Nigerians. In six months, the much-touted change of the APC has turned out to be counterfeit. What we have instead is a constant barrage of media trials pertaining to the alleged corruption of the Jonathan administration.

This anti-corruption crusade is clearly not addressed at curtailing corruption. Its primary objective is to kill and bury the PDP. Not even the most ardent supporters of Jonathan would insist that there was not rampant corruption under the PDP. What is unacceptable is the present government’s pretence that corruption in Nigeria is restricted to the PDP when, as a matter of fact, the APC is just as corrupt, if not even more because of its blatant hypocrisy.

The government’s anti-corruption crusade is already without legitimacy because it is unashamedly partial and selective. Allegations made against APC office-holders are procedurally ignored by the government’s anti-corruption watchdogs. Some of the APC chieftains accused of corruption have even been rewarded with major ministerial portfolios. Others have been nominated as APC candidates in governorship elections.

PDP members are labelled corrupt until they declare for the APC; then they automatically become saints. We are meant to believe that while the PDP used government funds to buy favours and votes during the election campaign, APC managed to spend massively to dislodge the PDP from power without doing the same. The truth of the matter is that corruption is not the exclusive preserve of any party or persons. Corruption is endemic to the Nigerian political system.

Selective maligning of the members of the former government will not rid Nigeria of corruption. Neither will allegations of corruption hurriedly put together for the sake of public consumption, which are then thrown out by the courts. Corruption has to be addressed systemically and structurally. But to date, there is little evidence that the government’s anti-corruption intentions go beyond the witch-hunting of the Jonathan administration.

Jonathan’s legacies

To the extent that the present administration can be said to have any policies after six months in office, they are all legacies of the Jonathan administration. The TSA is from Jonathan. The turn-around maintenance of our refineries is from Jonathan. The re-equipping of our military is from Jonathan. The improvement in electricity is a Jonathan legacy. On the other hand, the major policies enunciated in the APC election manifesto remain essentially pipe-dreams.

In spite of APC propaganda, Jonathan’s men keep matching on. Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Jonathan’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development is now President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Jonathan’s Minister of Finance, and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, is now a Senior Adviser at Lazzard; a prestigious 167 year-old global investment firm. Arunma Otteh, Jonathan’s Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is now a Vice-President of the World Bank.

To paraphrase Marc Antony of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interrèd with their bones. So let it be with Jonathan. The noble APC hath told you Jonathan was clueless. If it were so, it was a grievous fault, and grievously hath Jonathan answered it.”

The wife of the Governor of Anambra State, Chief (Mrs.) Ebelechukwu Obiano has said that women need empowerment in the form of education and life sustaining skills to enable them act as true catalysts for the future.

Mrs. Obiano stated this in her contribution today during a Round Table panel discussion on the theme: The Women Entrepreneurship as the Torch of the future “are Women the Catalyst for Emerging Future?”at the Women Entrepreneurship Forum Dubai 2015 which ended during the weekend.

Mrs.Obiano observed that women are catalysts because by their nature they add spice to life and ensure effective functioning of the society. In other words, societies may not function effectively without the inputs of women because it would lack the quality inputs of the woman whether as adviser in the family or role in the larger society.

However, a woman according to Mrs. Obiano, “must be adequately equipped with certain qualities to be able to play her role effectively. A woman needs education and also life sustaining skills to earn a living and be able to add value to others. Any woman with these qualities is then prepared to face life and is able add value, advise the husband and contribute her quota to improve the society.”

the founder and promoter of Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ), an NGO with a mandate for women empowerment, care for less privileged, uplift indigent widows, orphans, vulnerable children and persons with disabilities amongst others; recounted personal experience to buttress her points on the imperative of women empowerment. She highlighted her involvement in active charity works since 1991 and the expansion of her scope activities with the founding of CAFE in August 2014.

Some of the women empowerment programmes undertaken by Mrs. Obiano include; skills acquisition training in tailoring, hair dressing and beauty therapy, confectioneries and cake making and agricultural skills etc. She also enunciated plans to partner with other groups to train more women on modern skills that would enable them adapt to modern times so as to continue adding value; stressing that ”a well-trained woman is a role model to be emulated by any growing girl-child.”
Vice President, Mrs. Oludolapo Osinbajo, who represented wife of the President at the Round Table, said that women are created as catalysts and that is why they are able to multi-task by doing many things at the same time, and yet are able to create wealth. She advised Nigerian women to try and equip themselves for challenges by improving themselves to be self-reliant. She noted that the seventeen Goals outlined are about every single Nigerian woman, without tribe or religion and that if pursued to conclusion would definitely improve the fortunes of our Nation.

In her Vote of thanks on behalf of the organizers of the event, Forum Chairperson, HajiaSalamatu Umar-Eluma, thanked the wife of the President and Vice President and the wives of the governors of the various states in attendance for taking advantage of the forum to equip them for the programmes they are implementing in their NGOs and future. As she put it, “you are all champions of women empowerment. I plead that you go back and begin to enhance the quality of life of the rural women.”

Miss Ogochukwu Peace Okoye who won FABPAN 2015 and awarded Ambassador for Basketball and Tennis visits Veloxnews.com’s Studio. Miss Ogochukwu was awarded FaceoftheWeek in our prestigious website. From the interview we had with her on her visit, in her words she said , “I inspire to be a Queen, but not just a Queen with a Crown but a Queen with a Heart”. She have the zeal to promote young girls through her NGO, Zaulty Foundation. Watch her Interview Below and see what a model is suppose to look like.

Hahahaha…See these girls having a mess battle… guess how the battle was separated?? LWKMDH...

National Association of Computer Science Students kicks off their South East Convention today, 25th November, 2015 at Michael Okpala University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State. The Convention was graced with the presence of Prof. B. C. E. Mbam, Head of Department Computer Science Department of Michael Okpala University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State.

Prof. B. C. E. Mbam alongside with the NACOSS Presidents of different chapters, Matrons and Lecturers of Computer Science cut the NACOSS Convention cake.

Prof. B. C. E. Mbam in his Words, He gave his Goodwill Message to the Association (NACOSS). The Title of the the Convention is “Developing Internationally Acceptable Software” and the theme is “E-Governance And Cyber Security in Nigeria”. Prof. B. C. E. Mbam also gave a speech on Ethical Hacking.

Tomorrow, there will be a Software Exhibition Competition, Programming Contest, Hardware Exhibition and Networking Contest. Stay tuned at Veloxnews.com for more updates on NACOSS South East Convention 2015.

Obeleagu:
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, has refuted allegations that suspects who are being investigated for alleged corrupt practices by the Commission are made to give their statements under duress.

EFCC
Lamorde, who spoke in his office on Monday, when two officials of Amnesty International (AI), paid him a visit, said the state-of-the-art recording facilities in the EFCC interrogation rooms would not allow any interrogator to humiliate a suspect.

According to Lamorde, ‘‘The EFCC follows the rule of law. Our statements are recorded and are not taken under duress. Our rooms have cameras in them, so it is not possible to humiliate anyone.”

Lamorde, who expressed gratitude to the AI team for opening an office in Abuja, also described corruption as the worst type of human right abuse, adding that AI must continue to lend its voice to the anti-corruption war in Nigeria.


According to him, ‘‘Western countries must end the impoverization of developing countries. They must reject and return stolen funds, so that respective governments of the affected developing countries could use the money to better the lives of the poor in their countries. It is the common wealth of the people that has been diverted for private use. So, it is the worst form of human rights abuse. When corruption and impunity become the order of the day, human rights abuses flourish.

‘‘When you consider the cause of water-borne diseases suffered by people in rural areas, it is because someone has diverted the funds meant for pipe borne water in those areas. Also, when you consider the fact that our hospitals lack the basic amenities, it is because some people have kept the funds allocated to the hospitals to themselves. I, therefore, urge you to consider partnering with the EFCC,’’ he said.

In his remark, Mr. Colm O Cuanachain, Senior Director, Office of the Secretary General of Amnesty International, said that only nations that take anti-corruption war seriously could experience ‘‘phenomenal growth’’.

Cuanachain, who further expressed the readiness of AI to partner EFCC, also talked about the activities of the AI in the North- Eastern part of Nigeria, the Niger Delta and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he said corruption had contributed to human rights violation.

He, however, decried death penalty as punishment for looters of the treasury, adding that ‘‘it is not the best option in the fight against corruption.’’

Also, in his closing remark, Executive Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, M.K. Ibrahim, emphasized the need for the masses to be educated on the effects of corruption and human rights violations.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, has refuted allegations that suspects who are being investigated for alleged corrupt practices by the Commission are made to give their statements under duress.

EFCC
Lamorde, who spoke in his office on Monday, when two officials of Amnesty International (AI), paid him a visit, said the state-of-the-art recording facilities in the EFCC interrogation rooms would not allow any interrogator to humiliate a suspect.

According to Lamorde, ‘‘The EFCC follows the rule of law. Our statements are recorded and are not taken under duress. Our rooms have cameras in them, so it is not possible to humiliate anyone.”

Lamorde, who expressed gratitude to the AI team for opening an office in Abuja, also described corruption as the worst type of human right abuse, adding that AI must continue to lend its voice to the anti-corruption war in Nigeria.


According to him, ‘‘Western countries must end the impoverization of developing countries. They must reject and return stolen funds, so that respective governments of the affected developing countries could use the money to better the lives of the poor in their countries. It is the common wealth of the people that has been diverted for private use. So, it is the worst form of human rights abuse. When corruption and impunity become the order of the day, human rights abuses flourish.

‘‘When you consider the cause of water-borne diseases suffered by people in rural areas, it is because someone has diverted the funds meant for pipe borne water in those areas. Also, when you consider the fact that our hospitals lack the basic amenities, it is because some people have kept the funds allocated to the hospitals to themselves. I, therefore, urge you to consider partnering with the EFCC,’’ he said.

In his remark, Mr. Colm O Cuanachain, Senior Director, Office of the Secretary General of Amnesty International, said that only nations that take anti-corruption war seriously could experience ‘‘phenomenal growth’’.

Cuanachain, who further expressed the readiness of AI to partner EFCC, also talked about the activities of the AI in the North- Eastern part of Nigeria, the Niger Delta and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he said corruption had contributed to human rights violation.

He, however, decried death penalty as punishment for looters of the treasury, adding that ‘‘it is not the best option in the fight against corruption.’’

Also, in his closing remark, Executive Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, M.K. Ibrahim, emphasized the need for the masses to be educated on the effects of corruption and human rights violations.

Question 1: What is your relationship with Senator Stella Oduah?
Answer: She is my Senator, A Mother, a visionary leader and someone that is very close and dear to all Ogbaru people.

Question 2: What can you tell the people about Senator Stella Oduah?
Answer: All I can tell the masses is nothing more than to pray for her for God’s strength and knowledge that will enable her to accomplish the good humanitarian work and empowerment programmes that she has started. I, Comrade Nnabuife Chinedu is a beneficiary of her good works.

Question 3: There is this rumor in Anambra North about a car given to you?
Answer: Very True.

Question 4: What type of car?
Answer: A brand new kia Rio Model 2015 with fuel monthly allowances.

Question 5: Did you merit the car and are you a member of PDP or an observant.
Answer: Well the gift was not a party affair gift but an empowerment project.

Question 6: Tell the masses how Senator Stella Oduah Youth Empowerment project skim
Answer: So far so good. Her empowerment program has started with me and the on going talent hunt across Anambra North Senatorial Zone which comprises Comedy, football, swimming, boxing, music and how to make use of musical instruments not only that, she has an ongoing empowerment program on agriculture where she gives farmers money, skill acquisition etc.

Question 7: Describe Senator Oduah with one word
Answer: Mother of Mothers and Queen of Ogbaru Land. That is what she is. Thank you

There are strong indications that former governors of Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Anambra states; Babatunde Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi, Kayode Fayemi and Chris Ngige are among names submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari​ for ministerial appointments.

However, new reports have emerged on how a last minute change favoured one of the former governors.

According to a top presidency source, a last minute change by President Muhammadu Buhari, favoured former governor Chris Ngige, whose name came in at the eleventh hour, Daily Post reports.

Buhari, who has been constantly accused of marginalizing Ndigbo over their refusal to support him during the election, didn’t have it in mind to appoint Ngige.

The source told Daily Post that Ngige’s appointment was done to mainly compensate Ndigbo as President Buhari has constantly been accused of marginalizing the southeast.

“Ngige was not part of the first list of people compiled, I can tell you that. His name came at the eleventh hour. The president had a change of mind because of the complaints in many quarters that he was punishing the south east region because of their refusal to vote for him during the election.

“It took the intervention of some close associates and aides for the appointment of Ngige.”

When asked if the president was angry with the south easterners because of the outcome of the election, the source said: “That notion is wrong. The good thing is that Buhari has won the election and that is it. Where the vote came from is not the main issue now. Remember, he said he belongs to nobody and belongs to everybody.”

In his address in the wee hours of today, October 1, President Buhari explained why he sent an incomplete list to the National Assembly late yesterday, September 30.

He said the reason for the delay on the ministerial list was due to the fact he needed time to select those who were credible and trustworthy to run the affairs of the nation with him.

In the list presented to Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday, some notable names up for appointments include: Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom), former CPC legal adviser, Malami Abubakar, former CPC governorship candidate in Oyo State, Adebayo Shittu.

Aisha Alhassan, who lost the Taraba governorship election to PDP’s Darius Ishiaku is one of the females on the list.

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has addressed world leaders at the 70th United Nations Assembly in New York.

Buhari Addresses World Leaders
Buhari has departed Nigeria on September 25, Thursday. The president plans to hold series of meetings and interactions with notable world leaders there.

The president’s talks would mainly be on domestic developmental issues, bilateral relations, the war against insurgency and countering violent extremism.

President Buhari is accompanied by the team of 21 politicians, including the governors of Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger states, the National Security Adviser and the permanent secretaries in the Federal Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Finance, Health, Industry and Trade and Investment.

Buhari Addresses World Leaders
During the speech he promised that his government will address the problem of capital flight and oil theft which have seriously affected the Nigerian economy.

Nigerian leader similarly restated his commitment to transparency and accountability in the way in which the country’s revenues are managed, noting that aside attempts being made to improve and streamline internally generated revenue in the country, he would also plug all loopholes.Buhari Addresses World Leaders

Read Buhari’s full address below:

“Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to this important event. Let me express Nigeria’s sincere appreciation to UN-AIDS for the support and collaboration in organizing this event.

2. We are on the threshold of history as world leaders adopt the successor development agenda to the Millennium Development Goals. For over 30 years, HIV as a public health challenge has been causing havoc and untold hardship in virtually every part of the world. To date, several million children have been orphaned and some communities have been devastated, while economic activities have been disrupted.

3. Unfortunately, Sub -Saharan Africa bears a disproportionate burden of this epidemic. The good news is that the effort of the global community has resulted in greater control, less spread and better management.

4. Furthermore, we have made significant progress towards the interception of mother to child transmission of HIV. In 2014 alone, over 3million pregnant women were tested for HIV and 63,000 of these tested women, accessed anti – retroviral therapy. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

5. What is required in our continued fight against HIV/AIDS is improved health delivery system, education, and cheaper production of anti – retroviral drugs through technology exchange. Our countries should also look at the whole field of medicare and strengthen our partnership with all stakeholders including the civil society, inter- faith and cultural bodies for education and dissemination of information at all levels. Nigeria will also like to call upon all pharmaceutical companies for more cooperation and understanding in reducing the cost of anti – retroviral drugs through production of generic items. Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates.

6. Nigeria will continue to work with development partners and key stakeholders to strengthen the means of implementation of the SDGs as elaborated in the Post- 2015 Development Agenda. At the continental level, Nigeria remains fully committed to the outcome of the Abuja process as evident in the 2002 Declaration, the Action Framework on Roll – Back Malaria. In addition, the 2013 Abuja + 12 Declaration is a strong commitment towards eliminating HIV and AIDs in Africa by 2030. Globally, the United Nations Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS of 2011 is a major reference point for intensifying efforts to eliminate the epidemic.

7. Nigeria appreciates the support of our development partners for their support and commitment to the total eradication of HIV/AIDs, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as other deadly communicable diseases, for example Ebola, when an epidemic arises.

8. I therefore encourage you to continue in your efforts to sustain the fight against infant and maternal deaths, HIV and AIDs, Tuberculosis, Malaria and other communicable diseases, high on the global development agenda.

9. Let us work together to make HIV and AIDs history by 2030.”

Nigerian Army yesterday, tweeted that over 200 members of the dreaded Boko Haram Islamic sect, have surrendered to military troops. The Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Yusha’u Abubakar, said after the capture of Banki, a Nigerian border town with Cameroon, on Thursday,

that over 200 members of the insurgency group willingly surrendered to the military.

He spoke to journalists at about 11:00am on Friday, and said, “I have just received information from our troops about an hour ago that over 200 Boko Haram insurgents surrendered to them.”

He disclosed that what would have been a major disaster in Maiduguri was averted on Wednesday night, adding that the suspected bomber was caught at Medinatu mosque in the Low Cost area of Maiduguri, when he was monitoring the area with the intention of planting an improvised explosives device.

Abubakar added that the suspected Boko Haram member had given information that might lead to the arrest of those who planted the Sunday’s multiple bombs in Maiduguri that killed scores of residents.

By Samuel Oyadongha & Emem Idio
YENAGOA -Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and chairman of the PDP national electoral panel, Bayelsa State yesterday described Dr. Goodluck Jonathan former president’s participation in the primary election in the state as a “home coming” .
And Fayose went further comparing Jonathan to Jesus saying that Jonathan, just as ‘Jesus Christ did exactly to save souls’, gave it all.
He also said it was wrong on the part of President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint his in-law as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).

According to him, “A president took me out of the government house by force and another President gave me a leverage and a platform to come back. To whom much is given, much much is expected.”
Fayose, spoke during the Bayelsa PDP Primary in which the incumbent governor, Seriake Dickson, the sole candidate was elected as the party candidate for the December governorship election.

He said “My President and former President of Nigeria, my loyalty is not in doubt. Forever and ever I am your person and I remain your person, when others fall by the way side, disloyalty, consequences must come and we are witnessing consequences of such in the country.
Those of them that left us they should learn a lesson from what is going on. We will remain here when you come back, we will remain in the PDP when they come back.

“Your Excellency, the former President of Nigeria, the son of Africa, I don’t want to say the son of Nigeria, my former President, you have done what no African leader has done. You threw in the towel to save Nigeria, you gave us all the relative peace we are enjoying. You remain a man after my heart.

“I am a governor that has no apology for supporting you. Everybody must remember that it is a virtue to be courageous to defend the truth. Whether you throw your own virtue away, will not take away our own party. Jonathan is a man to be recognized in the whole world.

“Conducting an election that worked against his interest, he gave it all. Jesus Christ did exactly the same to save souls. Keep your fingers crossed. Every battle against you will fall by at your feet. There is a purpose of God for everything, you have done your best, leave the rest to God.”

Ayodele Fayose also said it was wrong on the part of President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint his in-law as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).

He also urged Governor Dickson not to entertain any fears over the forthcoming election, declaring that the governor has all it takes to defeat the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in the December poll.

Speaking as the chairman PDP National Electoral Panel, Chief Fayose said the party is closely monitoring the activities of the INEC, adding that at the appropriate time its hidden agenda will be made public.

According to him, “I have complained very clearly about the choice of the INEC chairperson. Nobody can give us an INEC chairman that is his daughter or in-law. This is our country and nobody can run out of Nigeria.

“Therefore, we are watching INEC and its activities. We will not allow you to play pranks. This is an Ijaw state and so they are going nowhere. This is a PDP controlled state. No hidden agenda will work in Bayelsa.”

On the preparedness of the party for the December 5 poll, Chief Fayose told the Bayelsa governor not to worry about the ranting of APC.
“In our place, it is one stone that scatters so many birds. Your (Dickson) stone will scatter their birds. I’ve worked with them before. I know their style and antics. So fear not.

“If you read the book of Joshua chapter one, it says, fear not. So don’t be afraid but be courageous because their armies will bow to your army.
“I am conducting this PDP primary in Bayelsa transparently in line with the PDP guidelines. I am not ready to dodge out of this stadium to run away. The truth will stand the test of time and speak for itself.

Describing Governor Dickson as a great fighter, he assured him of victory in the next election.
According to him, “You have won the battle already. This is not a party where they will do one primary today and cancel it tomorrow. In this our own, there will be no cancellation. This is an authority in Bayelsa.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha, has appealed to caregivers in orphanage homes to pay greater attention at every stage of growth of the children to properly develop their capacity for a stable future.

Mrs Buhari spoke in Gwagwalada, Abuja, where she joined children at the orphanage in Giri for the Sallah celebration.

She said it was imperative to take proper care of children by showing them love and care so they could become future leaders in their own right like any other child in the country.

Mrs. Buhari expressed optimism that necessary attention would be accorded orphanages by governments in improving facilities to meet required standard.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory administration, John Chukwu, said the motherly gesture of the wife of the president was a morale booster that would have positive impact on children .

Mrs Buhari later shared Sallah meal with the children, who sang songs and rejoiced.

She also presented thank-you gifts to the children before inspecting dormitories as part of her facility assessment tour.