Nigeria needs ‘do tanks’ not think tanks –Obasanjo

                                                                   Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday said Nigeria’s   peculiar   challenges   required leaders with requisite experience to tackle them.

He told guests inside the auditorium of his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, during the celebration of his 78th birthday and 2015 annual summit, that there were too many ‘think-tanks’ in the country instead of ‘do-tanks.’

The former President, who looked resplendent in a white flowing agbada,   therefore prayed to “ God to give us leaders that occasion like this deserves.”

He said that West African countries and Britain were worried about developments in Nigeria.

Reiterating his commitment to the country, Obasanjo said each time he travelled to these countries, he was usually inundated with enquiries about Nigeria’s security, political and socio-economic challenges.

Chibok girls alive – Jonathan

                                                                        President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed confidence that the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in their hostel   in Chibok, Borno State last year are still alive.

Jonathan, who also said that his chance of winning the March 28 presidential poll was slimmer than in 2011, based his position on the fact that terrorists would naturally   display the corpses of the girls if they had been killed.

He spoke while featuring on Kakaaki, a breakfast programme on a private television station, African Independent Television.

Fayose more desperate than Jonathan– Fayemi

                                                                                 Fayemi and Fayose

During an interview monitored on Adaba 88.9 FM, a former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, spoke on an audio tape about how the June 21, 2014 governorship election was purportedly rigged in the state. JOSIAH OLUWOLE monitored the interview

Recently, an audio file was released detailing how the Ekiti 2014 governorship election was rigged. Why did you go ahead to congratulate Fayose on June 22 with this information at your disposal?

I am glad we have come to this point in Ekiti. Even those who were deluded into believing that the voters in Ekiti voted against our party are beginning to see the comprehensive grand plan. You raised a pertinent question and I would like to answer that question. Yes, I was very careful in the couching of my statement. I said if this is the will of the Ekiti people… The qualifier there is the word ‘if’. If it is the will of the Ekiti people then I accept, but the second paragraph went into great detail, stating all of what you heard, the harassment, the arrest, the intimidation and the grand plan from Abuja, I spoke about all that.

Tinubu, Fashola, others to hold one-million-man march

                                                                                       Tinubu and Fashola

In a bid to neutralise the effect of the visits of President Goodluck Jonathan to Lagos, chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, led by former Governor Bola Tinubu and Governor Babatunde Fashola, will on Saturday hold a one-million-man march.

Lagos, which has the highest number of voters in the country, will be a major battleground between the Peoples Democratic Party and the APC.

Addressing journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, the Lagos State coordinator of the APC Campaign Organisation, Mr. James Faleke, said the walk would begin from Maryland through Allen Avenue and end at Alausa, behind the Ikeja City Mall.

He said, “In order to psychologically prepare the minds of our voters and give a psychological defeat to the opposition, we are planning a one-million-man march on Saturday by 8a.m. It will commence at Maryland through Allen Avenue and will end behind Shoprite, Alausa.

PDP planning to frame Jega, Tinubu, says APC

                              National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress says it has uncovered a plot by the Peoples Democratic Party to frame the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in order to justify his sacking.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday that the PDP was plotting to deposit a huge amount of money into the bank account of Jega and make it appear as if the money emanated from Tinubu.

Mohammed said since the PDP had been unable to stop the use of Permanent Voter Cards and card readers, the next step would be a plot by the ruling party to attempt to undermine Jega’s credibility in the eyes of Nigerians so as to get him sacked.