“I am aware of the neglect”: Buhari sends goodwill message to the Armed Forces.

On the occasion of the Armed Forces Rememberance Day, the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his condolence to the families of members of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria who have lost their lives in various military operations to keep Nigeria secured since the Armed Forces were established. 

 Read Full Message Here:

“My father’s ambition is about reviving Nigeria” – Zahra, Buhari’s Daughter

Zahra Buhari, the daughter of APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari who earlier this week rocked the social media with her tantalizing pictures has been tweeting some of her thoughts on the state of the nation.

She has now come out to state clearly that her father’s ambition is not about her happiness but about “reviving Nigeria’’. She said that Buhari was deeply moved by the pains which have been inflicted on Nigerians by the Peoples Democratic Party administration.

The Girl is fine sha...........Thats all!

Jonathan, Buhari disagree on 2011 post-poll crisis, sign pact

President Goodluck Jonathan said on Wednesday that the post- election violence that erupted in some northern states in 2011 was not caused by electoral malpractices.

Many including 10 members of the National Youth Service Corps died in the violence that erupted after the 2011 presidential poll.

The President, who spoke in Abuja at an election sensitisation workshop on non-violence ahead of the 2015 general elections, said the fear to accept defeat was responsible for the violence.

A former Head of State and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who also spoke at the event, reiterated the need for the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct credible poll as a panacea to post-election violence this year.

He recounted his experience of having to resort to court to challenge the outcome of the presidential elections in which he was a candidate in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

But Jonathan disagreed with Buhari on the cause of the post-election violence, insisting that election malpractices were not necessarily the cause of post-election violence.

He, therefore, charged the next National Assembly to look into the nation’s laws with a view to amending them in order to give room to parties with substantial popularity to be part of government formed by the party which polled the highest votes.

He said, “If you look at the 2011 election, we approached it better and I’m quite pleased that a number of civil society activists are here; a lot of observers are here and they did mention that the 2011 election was much better any election conducted by the country . We thank Prof. Attahiru Jega and his team.

“But even then at the end of the election there was violence in some parts of the country. In Kano, properties were destroyed, residential homes were burnt down, and business premises were burnt down. In Bauchi State, 10 young corpers that were involved in the election were slaughtered. Then we asked what led to this level of violence? The violence came when election result was being announced.

“INEC had announced results at every polling unit. The violence didn’t come up in the middle of the election. The results collated had already been announced. But as we are approaching towards the end, it was clear that maybe a candidate was likely to win and violence erupted in Kano and in Bauchi.

“We cannot say there were malpractices to favour the candidate that won because in Kano we got 16 per cent, in Bauchi I got 15 per cent of the votes – those were the least. Even in states where we got 80 per cent or more than 50 per cent, even in opposition states, there was no violence.

“So you see what leads to violence sometimes is not necessarily electoral malpractices but some other causes of violence.”

The President, who said a total of about N10bn had been paid to compensate victims of the 2011 post-election violence, again charged INEC to ensure that no eligible Nigerian was disenfranchised in the forthcoming elections.

He said failure to ensure that every Nigeria voted in the forthcoming polls was a recipe for violence.

The President said, “A number of Nigerians are complaining that they don’t have permanent voter card, what INEC calls the PVC.

“If some people don’t have permanent voter card, the assumption is that, from the beginning, INEC wants to rig election and there is the tendency for those kinds of people to go violent.

“I have been mentioning this to the INEC chairman that you must make sure that every Nigerian votes. If INEC is unable to make sure that every Nigerian votes, that is a recipe for violence.”

At the workshop where a former Secretary-General of the United Nation, Kofi Annan, was a special guest of honour and chaired by a former Secretary-General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the presidential candidates in the forthcoming poll signed a five-point accord for peace ahead of the general elections.

Buhari said when Nigeria returned to democracy “16 years ago, we hoped that the developed countries which went through the painful processes of stabilising their system, should learn from them rather than insisting to make the same mistake.”

He said the speeches by speakers at the event were only anchored on hope as his past experience about elections in the country had been nasty.

He recounted how his party competent agents were able to show how he was programmed to lose 40 per cent and 26 per cent respectively in two northern states in 2011.

He said, “They (the agents) compared the results against the INEC register and they put it in the computer garbage in garbage out. What came out is that the presidential candidate of that party was programmed to lose 40 per cent of its scores and when it was done in another state it was 26 per cent.”

Recalling that the cases he filed to challenge the outcome of the three presidential elections all ended at the Supreme Court, he said he spent 13 months in court in 2003, 18 months in 2007 and nine months in 2011.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, also gave an undertaking that it would not be partisan in conducting the general elections, adding that all candidates would be given a level playing field.

Anan said that Nigeria faced a critical test in the 2015 elections, apart from the barbaric Boko Haram insurgency and the falling oil price and its impact on the economy.

He stated that the success of the elections was crucial to the future of the nation and Africa, noting that chaotic elections would send a bad signal out at this crucial time.

Anan therefore challenged the stakeholders to ensure fair, free and peaceful elections, stressing that the success of the polls was not the sole responsibility of INEC.

According to him, political parties, their candidates and supporters all share responsibilities for ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.

 

Credit: Punchng.com

Buhari’ll defeat Jonathan, Amaechi boasts

AHEAD of the general elections in February, the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has expressed the confidence that Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, will defeat President Goodluck Jonathan.

Amaechi also said that the APC in Rivers State would win in the governorship, state and National Assembly elections.

The governor, who spoke on Wednesday at the APC rally at Abua Central in the Abua/Odual Local Government Area of the state, described Rivers as a satellite Nigeria, adding that the people of the state had always dictated the voting pattern of other Nigerians.

Represented at the event by his deputy, Mr. Tele Ikuru, the governor recalled how Rivers had been following the voting pattern of other parts of the country since 1962 to date, adding that 2015 would not be different.

He said, “Rivers State is a satellite Nigeria. Whatever happens in Rivers State is what will happen in Nigeria. In 1962, Rivers State voted for the NPC (Northern Peoples Congress), and the NPC won in the state and at the national level.

“In the second republic, we voted for the NPN (National Party of Nigeria) and NPN won the election in Rivers State and the national level. In 1999, Rivers State voted for the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and PDP won in the state and the national level.

“In 2015, Rivers State will vote for the APC and APC will rule the state and at the national level. Any direction the state votes are the direction Nigeria will vote.”

The APC governorship candidate in Rivers, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, alleged that the PDP was plotting to rig the general elections in the state.

Peterside called on the people of the state not to succumb to overtures and tricks of moneybags from the PDP, who might want to buy their votes.

He pledged to run a transparent government and improve infrastructural development in the Abua/Odual Local Government Area and the state as a whole if he is elected as the governor.

Reacting to the allegation that the state PDP was planning to rig the general elections in Rivers, the State Assistant Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, described Peterside’s allegation as false.

“If Dakuku Peterside could make such a false allegation, it is a sign that he has lost the election and it is a welcome development. The truth is that the PDP is not planning to rig any election because we do not need to do that to win the 2015 election,” he said.

Credit: Punchng.com