KNOW YOUR WOULD BE MINISTERS

Buhari Unveils, Submits First Ministerial List to Senate, to Retain Petroleum Portfolio

 President Muhammadu Buhari today sent the first ministerial list containing the names of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola (SAN); former Rivers Governor, Chibuike Amaechi; former Ekiti Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; and a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd.), as the first batch of ministerial nominees to the Senate.

Kachikwu’s name on the list, confirmed information at disposal that he may hold the double portfolio of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and GMD of NNPC, while Buhari will retain the post of Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Buhari said: “I intend to remain the minister of petroleum resources,” Buhari said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. A minister of state would oversee the day-to-day running of the petroleum sector, he revealed.

The ministerial list said to contain only 21 names, was submitted to Senate President Bukola Saraki at 5 pm by the Chief of Staff to the president, Alhaji Abba Kyari, who was accompanied by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang.

It was learnt that another list  containing 16 additional names  will be sent to the Senate soon.

Confirming receipt of the long-awaited list through a tweet posted at 5.20 pm, Saraki said: “I can now confirm that I just received the list of Ministerial nominees.”

Efforts made by journalists to access the list last night proved abortive as Saraki’s media aide, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, said the list was sealed and would not be opened till Tuesday when the Senate resumes plenary.

He said: “The President of the Senate did not even open the envelope. The list is sealed and will remain sealed till Tuesday when he will read it on the floor of the Senate."

It was thought authoritatively gathered that other names on the list submitted to the Senate included the former Governor of Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige; a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Ogbonnaya Onu from Abia State; National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed from Kwara State; Senator Udo Udoma (SAN) from Akwa Ibom State; and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ms. Amina J. Mohammed.

Others include the APC governorship candidate in Taraba State, Senator Aisha Alhassan; former National Legal Adviser of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Alhaji Abubakar Malami (SAN) from Kebbi State; Senator Hadi Abubakar Sirika from Katsina State; a governorship candidate in Oyo State, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu; and the immediate past Commissioner for Finance in Ogun State, Ms. Kemi Adeosun.

Before the list was sent yesterday, the Senate had adjourned plenary to next Tuesday after waiting in vain for the names of ministerial nominees from the presidency.

The tension caused by the wait in the Senate resulted in some mild drama when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus protested the failure of the president to submit the ministerial list as promised.

Leading the protest, Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, recalled that the APC-led government had promised to submit the list to the Senate before the end of the month.

But Deputy Senate Leader, Ibn Na'Allah, countered Akpabio, saying the Senate President’s office would be open till midnight and since midnight was still several hours away, it was too early to conclude that the president had failed to submit the list as promised.

The Clash of the Political Titans: Who is the Winner as Metuh and Lai Mohammed Spar on Sundry Issues?

 The Clash of the Political Titans: Who is the Winner as Metuh and Lai Mohammed Spar on Sundry Issues?

The altercations between the Spokespersons of the  ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, continued unabated today with both men throwing tantrums at each other.

While Metuh said he has no apologies to offer to the APC, especially its spokesman, Mohammed, for exposing his penchant for barefaced lies, insults and distortion of facts to deceive unsuspecting Nigerians, Mohammed admonished the PDP spokesman to show some decorum in his public statements.

Metuh, in a statement rday, described as “a mockery of self opinion, Mohammed’s early morning tirade wherein he attempted to pontificate on decorum, a field where he has no credentials, being the originator of hate campaign, with which he fouled Nigeria’s political arena and influenced hundreds of young people, who now engage in abusing one another on the social media, thinking that such is what publicity is all about.

“It is, to say the least, a dance of hypocrisy for the APC spokesman to wake the nation up at exactly 7:29 a.m. on Tuesday morning to bemoan his being fittingly described as ‘a renowned liar’, when he, in his widely covered press conference the previous day, called the acting National Chairman of our great party, Prince Uche Secondus, and the entire leadership of our party liars, for exposing the involvement of the APC-led government in the invasion of Akwa-Ibom State government house by the Department of State Services (DSS) in addition to moves to compromise that state governorship election tribunal.
“It is also a common knowledge that during the 2015 campaigns, Mohammed distinguished himself in hauling insults at everyone, including continually denigrating and labelling the person and office of the President of this country, an excursion he saw nothing wrong with, at that time.
"While we appreciate the sleeplessness and nervousness of the APC spokesperson in his desperation to be noticed for an appointment, we have no apologies for exposing his lies and hypocrisy.”

The PDP spokesman added that: “Lai Mohammed, in his early morning outburst, sought to divert attention and failed to address the issues raised by the PDP regarding his proclivity for distortion of fact.

"We therefore want to remind him that Nigerians are still waiting for his explanations for becoming the mouthpiece of the DSS, which has a spokesman and internal machinery for public communication.
“He has failed to address the contradiction in his statement where he claimed that the APC was not privy to the reasons for the DSS' search of the Akwa Ibom State Government House while at the same time explaining that the agency acted within its area of competence and authority.

“Furthermore, apart from ‘a liar’, what words would Lai Mohammed use in describing himself when he, in May this year, nearly scuttled the transition programme with his false statement alleging that the APC team was being frustrated, only for the head of the APC’s Transition Committee, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, to announce that there was nothing of such?
“How else would Mohammed describe himself when he, in June 2014, issued a statement alleging that a plane carrying former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, to attend an APC rally in Ekiti State was denied landing permission in Akure, only for Kwankwaso’s Director of Press Affairs, Baba Dantiye, to announce that his boss was at another event in Kano on that date and had no plans to travel to Ekiti State?
“We are not yet talking about the denial of the list of campaign promises upon which the APC rode to power at the centre and the endless propaganda, insults and blackmail hauled at well-meaning Nigerians when they attempt to offer advice on observed infractions and anti-democratic tendencies of the APC administration.

"Our handicap here, however, is that we have in our hands, a ruling party and a government which are unable to articulate any policy direction in the economy or any other critical sector of the polity since its assumption of power in May. Instead, what we are witnessing, sadly, are administrative confusion, abuse of process, constitutional violations, political witch-hunt and sleazes in government quarters.”
But in a counter statement issued  yesterday by its National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC said Metuh's increasing
resort to the use of putrid language in his statements is
distracting from the message he might want to pass across, while at
the same time sending a bad signal to the younger generation of
Nigerians who look up to him and other politicians.

“Metuh, being the spokesman, first for a ruling party and now for
the main opposition party, puts you on the complex level of a being a role
model and a pace setter. You denigrate your office and your party when
you use that platform to spew out hate and abusive words.
''You might choose to be bombastic, sharply critical and even
aggressive in your statements, but you do not have to resort to the
use of crude language like calling your fellow spokesman a 'renowned
liar', a ‘master liar' or a 'shameless veteran' to make your
point. Apart from distracting from the issues at stake, those words
reflect more on your personality than on the man you have chosen to
skewer, and their vulgarity is stomach-churning,'' it said.

The APC said every statement being issued today would become a
reference material in the weeks, months and years ahead, hence the
need to keep them decent, polished and dignifying, even when they are
hard-hitting.
The party said it has chosen to call the PDP spokesman to order rather
than reply him in kind, hoping he will see the reason for him not to
continue on the path of profanity.
''After all, it was American religious leader, Spencer W. Kimball, who
said 'Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself
forcibly','' APC said.

World Peace Day: Obasanjo Launches Story Book on Peace for Children

 World Peace Day: Obasanjo Launches Story Book on Peace for Children

As the world celebrate World Peace Day, former President Olusegun Obasanjo today launched a children story book on peace for the 2015 International Peace Day.
The story book which was written by the ex-president, is titled: 'Peace Story for Children' ‎and was presented to the public at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

While launching the 14-paged booklet, Obasanjo illustrated various cartoons displayed in the book.

The book launch was attended by pupils from different secondary schools in the state. The former said it had become imperative to sow the seeds of peace in the minds of children whose minds were more receptive to ideas.

He added that doing this would ensure the entrenchment of sustainable peace in the country.

Obasanjo who is currently outside the country on peace missions to some other parts of the world was represented by the Director of OOPL Centre for Human Security, Prof. Peter Okebukola, noted that since the youths are the future leaders, imbibing the essence of peace at young age should be vigorously pursued.

The event also witnessed debate with the theme: 'Whose Responsibility is it to ensure peace? Is it the people or the government?’.

Okebukola disclosed that Obasanjo called him overnight to tell Nigerian children to imbibe the culture of peace while still young.

"Baba believes that the youths are going to be the leaders of tomorrow and so we should start planting the seed of peace in their hearts.

"We are conveying the peace story in a story book. Children love stories. This book is to tell the children how they can be part of peace-making process in their homes; peace makers with their friends, peace makers in their schools and the nation.
" Obasanjo is abroad now preaching peace. I'll say that Baba deserves the Nobel Peace Prize because over the last several decades he has been in the vanguard or has been part of groups that have been solving challenges; he has been part of efforts building bridges, building national unity and promoting peace," he said.

Speaking further on the International Day of Peace, Okebukola commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his efforts at fostering peace in the country.

He enjoined all Nigerians to support the positive changes being brought about in the country by the Buhari administration.