JONATHAN IS NIGERIA’S BEST PRESIDENT EVER, MAKU INSISTS

A former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, on Friday called on Nigerians to vote for dependable candidates in the forthcoming general elections.
He made the call on Friday in his home town, Wakama, Nasarawa, while addressing some of his supporters who paid him a visit.
The immediate past minister also urged Nigerians to vote popular candidates irrespective of their ethnic or religious affiliations.
“Nigerians must know that in this 21st century, elections must be based on issues and not on religious or ethnic affiliations,’’ he said.
Mr. Maku called on political leaders, especially those seeking election into public offices, not to be self-centered.

Salary arrears: Governors shun bank loans

Nigerian workers may still need to be more patient as the 36 states of the federation have shunned bank loans to offset the backlog of their workers’ salaries.
Ashiwaju.org  learnt that the states will have to rely on internally generated revenue as against borrowing to pay their workers.
It was learnt that the states shunned the bank loans because the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had instructed banks not to grant credit facilities to them without her approval.
Some of the states have, however, adopted other strategies to shore up their revenue such as slashing the salaries and allowances of political office holders, if necessary and plugging loopholes in their revenue-generating drive.
The Kwara State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Tunji Moronfoye, confirmed to one of our correspondents that Okonjo-Iweala had, on three occasions, turned down the state government’s application seeking approval to borrow money from banks.

Army condemns four more soldiers to death

The General Military Court Martial set up by the authorities of the Nigerian Army to try some soldiers of the 111 Special Forces Battalion, Maiduguri, have again condemned four soldiers to death by firing squad.

Investigations revealed that the President of the Court, Brig.- Gen Musa Yusuf, found the four soldiers guilty of conspiracy to commit mutiny and thus sentenced them to death.

It was learnt that the court condemned the four soldiers to death on December 24, 2014.

The GCM had earlier convicted 54 of the 59 soldiers to death after finding them guilty of conspiracy to commit mutiny on December 17, 2014.

IBB as GEJ’s ‘fada,’ and the long goodbye

The Nigerian section of social media is horrified by President Goodluck Jonathan’s comment that Dec. 28 was the New Year. This gem dropped while Uncle Lucky was speaking with journalists following his visit to former President Ibrahim Babangida in Minna on Sunday. To me, this is not a big deal because in a round world (not flat, as Thomas Friedman claims), Dec. 28 could have been January 1 somewhere though it was just Tuesday morning in India – which is how far I mapped the time zone. There is always outer space to consider!

The President also said IBB is his “fada.” My response? “No Sir, you are no son of IBB’s!” A man “fada-ed” by IBB would have known better than to claim him so publicly 45 days to a critical election in which he seeks a mandate for four more years. If he wins, President Jonathan will tie with General Yakubu Gowon as the longest serving head of state in Nigeria, longer than IBB!

Pastor Chris Okotie Shows Off His Phantom Rolls Royce Worth N80 Mllion

The name, Pastor Chris Okotie, is a household name in Nigeria being the Pastor of the Household of God Church International Ministries. The 56-year-old pastor has had a lot going for him as a pop music artiste in the 1980s and now as a preacher.
Okotie is a lover of good things and has often been criticised for flaunting his wealth.
To celebrate his 27 years as a pastor and 30 years as a born again Christian, Okotie acquired the 2014 edition of Rolls Royce Phantom in 2013. The car reportedly cost him N80m.

Photo News: How Father Films Daughters Playing With Burmese Python

A father from Detroit, Michigan has released a video of his baby daughter interacting with a 13-foot Burmese python, in a bid to dispel the snakes’ poor reputation.
Jamie Guarino, a professional snake handler, filmed his daughter Alyssa playing with the family’s pet python, Nay-Nay, at their home in Warren, a suburb of Detroit, when she was just 14-months-old. As the Daily Mail reports, he has made it a personal mission to educate people about snakes, attempting to dispel the perception that pythons and their ilk are dangerous.
“I was trying to show that snakes are not evil creatures, they can be a loving pet despite their bad reputation,” he said.

Chibok schoolgirls’ parents blast President Jonathan

Two-hundred and sixty-two days after their daughters were kidnapped from school, some of the distraught parents of the students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on Thursday criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for not fulfilling his promise to rescue the girls from the custody of Boko Haram.
The abduction of the 219 girls from their hostel at night on April 14, 2014 has attracted global outrage and the President had promised several times that the girls would be rescued alive.
Nine of the abducted girls’ parents, during their meeting with the BringBackOurGirls group on Thursday in Abuja, carpeted the President for failing to bring back the schoolgirls.
The leader of the parents, Rev. Mark Enoch, accused the government of having a hand in the abduction of the girls, noting that the principal of the school in Chibok had, few hours before the abduction, locked the girls in their hostel and warned them not to leave.
Enoch explained that the relatives of the principal and the school matron were able to rescue their daughters

Step down for Buhari, Catholic priest tells Jonathan

Renowned Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to abandon his re-election bid so that the All Progressives Congress candidate, Maj.Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) can emerge the winner of the presidential election next month.
Mbaka, who heads the popular Catholic Adoration Centre in Enugu, said this in his New Year sermon titled “From Good luck to Bad luck,” while addressing thousands of parishioners on Thursday.
He urged all well-meaning Nigerians to vote for Buhari on February 14.
According to the cleric, Jonathan has disappointed Nigerians and cannot deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
Mbaka subsequently knelt down in front of the altar, cried and asked God to give Nigeria a good leader and not Jonathan. He used the opportunity to beg Nigerians to vote wisely in the forthcoming elections.
He said, “I love President Goodluck Jonathan and I used to be his ardent fan, but I want good for my people and that’s why I want Nigerians to vote out Goodluck Jonathan and vote General Muhammad Buhari. I don’t care if Buhari is a Muslim and from the North; all I care about is that Buhari can save Nigeria.”

PDP woos Atiku, Kwakwanso, others

The Peoples Democratic Party has said that it is wooing former members of the party, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Kano State Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Kwakwanso, who defected to the All Progressives Congress to return to the party before the next general elections.

The PDP National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, who stated this on Friday at a press conference in Ile-Ife, said the party had begun moves to bring back the former members.

He said, “The PDP has begun moves to bring back some of our former chieftains who are now in the APC. The PDP reconciliation committee set up by the National Working Committee will meet with all former members for the purpose of bringing them back before the next general elections.”

Jega Cries Out:FG yet to approve N75bn INEC budget

Six weeks to this year’s general elections, the Federal Government has yet to appropriate the remaining N75bn out of the N120bn budgeted for the conduct of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
This, according to social commentators, lawyers, and other concerned stakeholders is already hampering the INEC’s preparations for the much awaited elections.
Ashiwaju.org gathered that INEC had estimated that it would need N120bn to prepare for the elections, but only N45bn was appropriated by the Budget Office of the Federation in 2014 budget, leaving a shortfall of N75bn.
The House of Representatives had recently raised concerns over the general elections, saying that adequate funding and security would determine the credibility of the polls.
The House Committee on Electoral Matters said it had resolved to summon the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to brief the lawmakers on the preparedness of the commission to conduct the poll.