Muawuya Zakariah Adam Gombe

Sunday, 26 December 2010 00:00 Nuruddeen M. Abdallah Alhaji Atiku Abubakar The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) delegates have assured the former Vice President and presidential aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of their support in the forthcoming party primaries. The delegates gave Atiku this assurance during his two-day campaign trip to the region to meet statutory delegates of the party. The presidential aspirant met with the delegates from Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States at the Protea Hotel, Lagos less than 24 hours after the same delegates, numbering about 585 purportedly endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as their preferred presidential candidate. Reacting to the purported endorsement of Jonathan by the delegates, a delegate from Ogun State sent the meeting reeling with laughter when he asked rhetorically, “have you seen where all 585 Yoruba delegates will all vote for one person? Even at the height of Papa Awolowo’s popularit...

Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation The Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation ,in a press release, said it has come to its notice that a document being purportedly authored by the campaign organization is circulated to media houses, online media and foreign embassies by the Atiku Abubakar campaign organisation, “With the intention to blackmail the person of President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the Goodluck Sambo Campaign organisation.” The release, signed by Mike Omeri, Director Planning, Research & Strategy of the organisation, continued: “This document is the latest desperate act to place obstacles on the path of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in order to stop him from contesting the PDP primaries.” But the Atiku Campaign Office, in an e-mail sent to Weekly Trust, stated that the oft-repeated assurances by President Goodluck Jonathan that he will deliver on a credible, free-and-fair polls in 2011 may yet be a hoax, if the document they say obtained wit...

[President Goodluck Jonathan] With political parties’ primaries in the offing, it is evident that President Goodluck Jonathan and his political spin doctors are not ready to leave anything to chance as he prepares to clinch the slot of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming elections despite the controversy trailing the party’s power rotation agreement. The latest political strategy adopted by the Jonathan camp is the PDP governors’ endorsement of the president to serve a four-year single term which expires in 2015. It could be recalled that having failed to push through legislations that would have ensured that his ministers, advisers and the army of aides become delegates to the PDP presidential primaries of 2011, President Jonathan had turned to the National Assembly with a view to break the near stranglehold the governors have on the ruling party. To his chagrin, that attempt also failed, including the one on the order of the primaries. It was as a fall-out of...

Ibrahim Dankwambo wants to govern Gombe The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ibrahim Dankwambo, resigned yesterday to pursue his political dream of becoming the next Governor of Gombe State, in the forthcoming 2011 elections. Mr Dankwambo’s resignation brought to an end months of speculations about his political future. In his letter of disengagement, titled “Withdrawal of Service as Accountant General of the Federation”, Mr Dankwambo said the decision was in response to the call of his people to participate in the unfolding political process. In the letter, which was addressed to Mr Jonathan, the former AGF stated “I wish to inform you that I have withdrawn from the service and voluntarily relinquished my appointment as the Accountant General of the Federation with effect from Monday 20th December, 2010. This has become necessary in order to answer the call of my people at home to participate in the on-going political activities in the country.” Copies of Mr...

dampened the hope of campaigners for new states as it said the current National Assembly would not be able to create states. Giving the position of the House, the Speaker, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, explained that the legislature had limited time to go through the rigours of creating states before the expiration of its tenure in 2011. The current legislature has less than six months to the end of its tenure on June 22 next year. Bankole gave the position of the House as a delegation of elders from Edo, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Ondo states visited the National Assembly to express opposition to the demand for the creation of Toru-Ebe State. Those opposing the creation of the state are Bini, Ibibio, Itsekiri and Ilaje ethnic nationalities. The Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Tunde Akogun, who received a petition from the delegation on behalf of Bankole, said that due to time factor, the present set of lawmakers would simply pass over all demands for new states to the next legislature. ...

ABUJA—TWO chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and two-time gubernatorial aspirants in Adamawa and Taraba states respectively, Mr. Bala Takaya and Senator Abdullahi Kirim, yesterday, asked an Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama to issue an order stopping former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from contesting the impending presidential primary of the party. Interestingly, three associates of the former vice president; Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, Hon. Dubem Onyia and Alhaji Lawal Kaita have also filed a suit at an Abuja High Court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from accepting President Jonathan as a candidate of PDP for the 2011 presidential elections. The plaintiffs are also asking the court to restrain PDP and its National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, from presenting Jonathan as the party’s candidate for the election. Meanwhile, January 4, 2011 has been fixed for hearing of the case while the suit filed by the PDP chieftains t...

A Lagos High Court, Tuesday, freed Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha, former CSO to late head of state, General Sani Abacha, but still faces a murder charge alongside CSP Rabo Lawal, a former Head of the Aso Rock Anti-Riot Police, over the killing of the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola. However, Lt. Col Jubrin Bala Yakubu (rtd), former Zamfara State military administrator and ex-Lagos Police boss, James Danbaba, were freed of the charge. All of them stood trial over alleged attempted murder of publisher of The Guardian Newspapers, Mr Alex Ibru in 1999. Trial Judge, Justice Mufutau Olokooba, in his ruling on a no-case submission by the defence team, held that the evidence on all the counts preferred against the accused persons were worthless, adding that there was no evidence of conspiracy as alleged on the first count. “I hold that no prima facie case has been established against the accused persons. I hereby acquit and discharge them,” the court held. However, in his reaction to the...