Nigeria make formal complaint over AYC pitch
Source: Kickoff
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have made a formal complaint to the local organisers of the African Youth Championship (AYC) over the poor state of the pitch at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg.
The stadium is planned to host all but two matches in the 28-match schedule of the AYC, but all the teams have complained that the muddy and uneven playing surface caused by the rains has worked against them thus far.
“The poor condition of the pitch has affected the quality of play and denied the players the opportunity to display their skills,” read the formal complaint signed by NFF assistant general secretary, Mohammed Sanusi.
“The condition of the pitch has kept deteriorating match by match. Using the pitch for the next matches will not only affect the quality of the play and entertainment, but also expose the players to injury.”
The NFF have therefore urged the organisers to move the remaining matches to a more suitable venue.
Buhari: Out with me in the cold
Source: Sahara Reporters
General Muhammadu Buhari ( GMB) was my preferred choice for the presidency heading into the polls which held last weekend. I mouthed his strong anti corruption credentials wherever I showed up.
I reckoned a strong pair of hands (which the General was sure to offer) was just what the Doctor would have recommended for an ailing country like Nigeria with a history laced with corrupt leaders and a near abysmal way of conducting its affairs.
I was a one man, raving campaign squad. Then came the tears. As my hero broke down two days before the polls, I knew the centre was gradually giving way. I knew we were in for a bashing come Saturday. I took to a social networking website to praise the fact that at least he had some emotions and was far from the iron clad disciplinarian who alongside his number two in the ‘80s, sent shivers and trepidation down so many spines. As my friends took turns in ridiculing me, I pointed to the comparisons with Christ shedding a few tears of his own in the Bible. For me, it was ‘Sai Buhari’ all the way!
Before his monumental meltdown in front of the TV cameras, I had had a feeling Goodluck was on his way to a full presidential term. The planned alliance between the CPC and ACN would have given Buhari’s presidential aspirations a shot in the arm. But the planned alliance proved dead on arrival. With Ribadu already sold out and Goodluck Jonathan dining with Bola Tinubu in Lagos in and around presidential jets, ‘Sai Buhari’s’ presidential hope, as far as calculations and permutations went, hung by a thread. Whatever it now seems like, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) scored a deft political move by holding talks with Tinubu.
Horse trading still ranks as one of the biggest tools in politics. It happens even in the developed world. Safe in the knowledge that he would need the South West votes to make it to Aso Rock, Jonathan was on the next flight to Lagos soon after parliamentary polls showed the South West votes could be the tipping point. Once the alliance had hit the rocks with Tinubu getting himself a new pair of goggles and grandstanding on the pages of newspapers on why the CPC ought to have known who the big brother in the alliance was, there was only going to be one winner: Goodluck Jonathan.
Then came Friday, twenty four hours before the polls. I rang my mum who was busy gathering produce at a farm in rural Cross River in readiness for the Saturday curfew. “ Who would you be voting for, mum?, I enquired ready to do some last rounds of campaigns for the CPC candidate. “ Goodluck to Nigeria. He is our anointed in the South South. He is our man.” She would not be swayed. Undaunted, I dialled my Dad’s number, but he was also in the same boat, practically heading for the creeks. I tried talking to a few colleagues in the office and called a few of my friends: the message had hit me hard– Buhari was a goner!
FG declares Good Friday, Easter Monday public holidays
Source: Vanguard
The Federal Government has declared Friday April 22 and Monday April 25, 2011 as public holidays to commemorate Good Friday and Easter Monday celebrations respectively.
The statement made available to vanguard Tuesday was signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Alh. B. S. Ozigis.
According to the statement, “on behalf of the President and Commander-in-Chief, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR wishes to use this opportunity to urge all Christian faithful to fervently pray for the successful conclusion of the general elections.
Interior Minister Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho had earlier been suspended as a result of “a number of lapses in the political leadership of the ministry traceable to his personal and official conduct’’.
Captain Ihenacho has since been directed to hand over to the Minister of Labour, Mr. Emeka Wogu who will oversee that ministry in addition to his present portfolio
Igbinedion condemns violence in the North
Source: Vanguard
FORMER Governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, Tuesday condemned the violence in some parts of the North following the declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan as the winner of last Saturday’s election, asserting that those propagating the violence must be brought to book.
The former Governor who hailed the emergence of President Jonathan as the elected President in the just concluded Presidential election, wondered why the violence as a result of the elections “when there was no violence in any part of the country particularly the South South when late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was declared President in 2007”.
“So I appeal to our Northern brothers and sisters to be good sports men and allow peace to reign in this country. We need a united country and it would not be fair for any body to try to forment trouble because of the Presidential election which was widely accepted by the International community and observers from Nigeria. So I appeal that we be calm and do all we could to remain as one united nation” he said.
While congratulating Dr Jonathan for his victory at the polls, Igbinedion asserted that “Nigerians have spoken and there is nothing any one can do about it. I expect those who lost to congratulate the President because this is the freest and fairest election we have ever had.
“I also want to commend Prof.Jega and his INEC for their effort in ensuring a free and fair election despite the earlier fears being entertained by the people. We are not there yet but at least we are moving forward democratically” he stated.
Observers ask Buhari, others to accept results
Source: Vanguard
ABUJA – A coalition of election observers in Nigeria under the auspices of Project 2011 Swift Count, Tuesday, urged the Congress for Progressive Change’ Presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and other candidates in the presidential poll to accept the results as declared by INEC in good faith.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was declared winner of the poll with over 22 million of the total votes cast, but Gen. Buhari has since discredited the exercise, insisting his party was rigged out in several states.
The Project 2011 Swift Count through its 1st Vice-President, Mr. Dafe Akpedeye, at a press briefing, in Abuja, described the conduct of the exercise as transparent, credible and confidence-inducing.
“INEC has conducted the collation of presidential results in a very open manner. Official results by states have immediately been posted on the internet for anyone to see. In order to ensure even greater transparency and accountability Project 2011 Swift Count calls upon INEC to also post polling unit level results on its website.
To give INEC, political contestants and the public greater confidence in this new methodology Project 2011 Swift Count will also publish on our website the official results from the individual sampled polling units that were used to calculate the Swift Count estimates for anyone to see.
We Shall Defend Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Mandate With the last drop of our blood
| Source: Nigeriavillagesquare
We, the leaders, former Generals and Commanders of defunct combatant camps and groups in the Niger Delta met today, Monday 18th April 2011 where we extensively deliberated on crucial national issues, especially the outcome of the presidential elections held last weekend and resolve as follows: 1. To Congratulate the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Atahiru Jega for successfully conducting what has gone down in history as the fairest and freest presidential election in the history of Nigeria. We however urge him to speedily declare the formal final result of the presidential election which is already well known to all Nigerians 2. We congratulate His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, for being the first sitting President of Nigeria to have conducted a transparently free, fair and credible election even while he stood the risk of losing at the polls. We note that it is the first time a sitting President has fully funded the Independent National Electoral Commission without interfering whatsoever in the commission’s affairs. 3. We also congratulate Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for winning, most resoundingly, last Saturday’s Presidential election. We are urging those who lost at the presidential polls to accept the result which indeed is the verdict of the people of our great country they themselves aspired to govern. They must also accept the verdict of God who alone bestows leadership on who He deems fit. God Almighty has chosen Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as Nigeria’s leader for the next four years and this fact must be respected by all 4. We condemn in very strong terms, the post election violence being perpetrated and sponsored in parts of northern Nigeria by disgruntled politicians and crises-profiteers. We regard the outbreak of violent protests as uncalled-for, barbaric and very retrogressive. But we dare assert that this sponsored violence does not in any way mirror or reflect the inner feelings of overwhelming majority of the northern masses. The northern masses, just like their brothers and sisters in the south, particularly the Niger Delta, are victims of years of misrule under the same persons orchestrating the post-election violence across the north. Because the northern masses share similar deprivation as their southern compatriots, they thronged voting centres in their respective wards last Saturday to vote for change, to vote for a fresh and better start, they voted for Dr. Jonathan who we all know is all too poised to pave the way for a better future for our great country 5. We call on the long suffering northern masses to resist the negative, selfish and self-serving antics of the political jobbers who are behind the political violence across the north. We urge the northern masses to challenge these crises profiteers to withdraw their sons and daughters from their expensive schools abroad to join the riots that they are instigating 6. We urge our brothers and sisters in the south, especially Niger Deltans to see what is happening in the North as merely bait or trap to join the fray. We must resist this temptation even when we have the capacity and capability to retaliate violence in any form or shape. Instead of succumbing to this temptation, we wish to thank all Nigerians for the national mandate they have given our dear brother, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. We note that because of the overwhelming support of Nigerians irrespective of region, tribe, tongue, religion, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has become the product of the freest and fairest election in Nigeria. 7. We affirm that we shall not retaliate any violence targeted at us, at least for now. We are however calling on the international community as well as all men and women of good conscience to promptly prevail on this political jobbers who are stoking the embers of war across the north to sheath swords given that the consequences of their action would most likely endanger the unity of this country. We are proud to say that since independence, the people of the Niger Delta have nurtured and nourished Nigeria with our God-given natural and human resources. And since 1960, a section of this country has consistently produced either the President or Head of State of our nation and the people of Niger Delta, the goose that lay the golden eggs, have consistently backed the north and continued to water the seed of unity and development of the country. We are piqued that for once, an eminently qualified Niger Deltan has won the freest and fairest presidential election in Nigeria and some crises-profiteers in the north are sponsoring violent protests. It is so sad and regrettable. 8. We are solidly behind the Nigerian mandate given Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and we shall join the teeming populace of Nigerians to defend the mandate with the last drop of our blood. On this score, we are calling all ethnic nationalities in the south of this country to temporarily return home for communal consultations as we await keenly the direction things will go in Nigeria in the next 48 hours. Similarly we have directed all our Generals and commanders to retreat to their communities and points and await further instructions in the next 48 hours. 9. We are also calling on the National Security Adviser and all security agencies to secure the lives and properties of all northerners and southerners alike in all parts of the country so as to avoid the escalation of the post-election crisis. We wish to remind them that it is their responsibility to stop those who hide under whatever guise to perpetrate criminality. Indeed we know for sure that if the ugly events playing out across the north had happened in the Niger Delta, the nation’s security agencies would have brought to bear the full weight of the law, including even the declaration of a state of emergency. 10. We commensurate with the families of the victims of the dastardly political violence in some parts of the North. We console those who have lost loved ones and heard-earned property and pray that the Good Lord who aided the emergence of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the popularly elected President of Nigeria will replenish their loses in record time. 11. Very importantly, we want all Nigerians and the international community to understand that if a Niger Deltan cannot be accepted to legitimately govern Nigeria despite our contribution to the economic well-being of the country, we shall not allow a non-Niger Deltan to rule over our resources. 12. Thank you. Signed: · Chief Government Ekpemupolo (a.k.a. Gen. Tompolo) |
30 feared dead in Kano riot
Source: Businessday
As normalcy gradually returns to the troubled city of Kano, where a deadly rampage broke out on Monday, unofficial accounts indicate about 30 feared dead in the incident. Also properties worth several billions of naira are said to have been lost in the riot carried out by mobs
Kano Riot
inspired by groups protesting the loss of the presidential election by the Political party –Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate Muhammadu Buhari.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Monday announced incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan winner of the election after a vote count. International observer groups incuding the Commonwealth Observer Group, the European Union Electoral Observation Mission, the African Union as well as the National Democratic Institute , described the election as credible and the fairest in Nigeria in decades. As at the time of filing this report, the number of those who loss their lives in the incident was yet to be official confirmed. Accounts from eye witnesses, medical personnel and sources close to security agencies gave various accounts.
Their accounts indicate that between ten and 30 people lost their lives in the rioting in Kano. Eye witnesses said most of the killing occurred on the highways and in the residences of the victims. The areas where most of the killings took place are: Hotoro, Zoo road, Sharada, Bompai, France road, Hausawa, Dakata, Badawa, Panshakara, and Gidan-Kaya in the metropolis. Several of those injured in the incident, are currently receiving treatment in some public and private Hospitals, particularly in the Sabon-Gari, where most the non-natives that were targeted in the attacks live.
Some of the victims are also receiving treatment at the Bompai Police Barracks, and at the Military Barracks. Buildings housing business outfits owned by the non-indigenes were also set on fire by the attackers in most of the affected areas of the metropolis. Our correspondent, reports that many non-natives are still in hiding, out of fear that the attackers might come back. All the markets and other business premises have remained closed, as armed troops continue to patrol major highways in the state capital Mean-while, the state Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, has made a state wide broadcast calling for and end to the riot and vowing that the law enforcement agentswill not spare any one caught in connection with the incident.Muhammadu Buhari, the CPC presidential candidate has distanced himselt from the rioting.
Jonathan Suspends Iheanacho, Minister Of Interior
Emmanuel Iheanacho(rtd)
President Goodluck Jonathan today unsheathed the big stick, the first significant action following last Saturday’s election, by suspending Capt. Emmenuel Iheanacho as Minister of Interior and member of the Federal Executive Council.
According to a press statement by Ima Niboro, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, the action follows “a number of lapses in the political leadership of the ministry traceable to his personal and official conduct.”
No specific issues were identified, but the action suggests that the President may now feel confident enough to insist on performance from Ministers and other office-holders in exchange for staying on the job.
Capt. Iheanacho’s position will be taken by Emeka Wogu, who will run the Interior Ministry alongside his Ministry of Labour.
Final tally:Jonathan: 22m votes, 31 states Buhari: 12m votes, 16 states
President Goodluck Jonathan
Candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Goodluck Jonathan was officially declared last night as winner of the 2011 presidential election, having clinched 57% of the total votes cast in Saturday’s election.
Chief Returning Officer of the presidential election Professor Attahiru Jega declared the official results at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s [INEC] headquarters in Abuja after a cumbersome collation process that lasted from noon on Sunday to 8.30pm last night. He said Dr. Jonathan got 22,495,187 votes and secured a quarter of the votes in 31 states to win the election.
Candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] General Muhammadu Buhari placed second. He got 12,214,853 votes or 31% and secured a quarter of the votes in 16 states.
The final election results also showed that Malam Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) came third with 2, 079, 151 votes representing about 5 percent. Kano State governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) came fourth with 917,012,000 votes or 2 percent. While Ribadu secured a quarter of the votes in three states, Shekarau did not make the benchmark in any state.
Jega said a total of 39,469,484 million votes were cast in the election with 38, 209, 978 million valid votes while 1,259, 506 million votes were declared invalid. The voter turnout represented about 54 percent of the 73 million total registered voters in the country.
The INEC chairman said “Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of the PDP, having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
There were no immediate comments from the candidates, though the CPC had previously rejected the results in the South East and South South zones. At INEC headquarters yesterday, only PDP’s representative agreed to sign the results at the collation centre, though ACN and CPC agents collected copies of the results, as did the police.
Saturday’s elections were the second in a row, preceded a week earlier by National Assembly elections. On Tuesday next week, the third and final round of elections will hold for state governors and members of state Houses of Assembly.
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