NGF crisis: Obasanjo peace move crumbles

 

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

 

THE efforts of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to douse the tension among the governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party have failed.

Obasanjo met with the governors on Tuesday night at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to intervene in the crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

A major decision at the meeting was to persuade both Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; and his Plateau counterpart, Jonah Jang, to step down for a neutral person as Chairman of the NGF.

But The PUNCH learnt on Wednesday that the two governors had refused to step down.

Amaechi and Jang are both claiming the chairmanship of the forum since its controversial election three months ago. The NGF has since split into two with Amaechi and Jang controlling different factions.

Before the Tuesday’s meeting, which ended at a few minutes after 3am, Obasanjo had earlier met with the governors on Monday night.

We demanded N87bn, not N92bn – ASUU

Okonjo-Iweala

 

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday faulted the statement credited to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, that the union demanded for N92bn, describing the claim as false.

ASUU said it never demanded such amount as earned allowances in the 2009 agreement it reached with the Federal Government.

Okonjo-Iweala had on Wednesday in Minna, said the Federal Government couldn’t meet the N92bn allowances as demanded by ASUU.

The univerisity lecturers, in a statement by the University of Ibadan branch chairman, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, described the amount mentioned by the minister as “a the imagination of the minister.”

Ajiboye explained that the earned allowances, the union and the governemnt calculated in the 2009 agreement, amounted to N87b, which covered allowances for three and half years for the lecturers in the nation’s universities.

The Lion vs The Governor-General: We break down the battle between Amaechi & Wike

Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi has been known as the lion. Maybe not as an official nickname, but he at least acted like one.

From his days in school, where he was national president of the National Union of Rivers State Students, he has been known to be very outspoken, stubborn if you like.

Taking up a life in politics, he was  speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly for eight years between 1999 and 2007 and then he aspired to be governor but lost at the primaries in controversial circumstances.

#2013Budget: Are Okonjo-Iweala and the National Assembly on yet another collision course?

The protracted disagreement between the National Assembly and the Presidency over the 2013 budget does not seem to be going anytime soon. In spite of the budget’s recent passage, the non-implementation of constituency projects may lead to new friction when members of both houses of the federal legislature resume from their vacation next month.

According to a report in the Vanguard, constituency projects contained in the 2013 budget may not be implemented this year because the executing ministries, departments and agencies of government had been directed not to do so.

“I thought about this merger in 2007″: Buhari states the one thing that will make him run in 2015

Veteran presidential candidate and a major stakeholder in the new All Progressives Congress, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) on Tuesday restated the new party’s determination to push out the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in 2015.

In his words, “The APC is focus-driven to push the PDP out of power by 2015,” Buhari told members of the Democratic Emancipation Movement who paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna.

Buhari has vied for the Presidency on the platforms of two political parties in 2003, 2007 and 2011 and lost in all of them to PDP candidates. He hinged his 2015 ambition on only one condition – if the APC wants him to.

Did you invite Goodluck Jonathan?: The APC’s first NEC meeting in #SixQuestions

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday in Abuja had the inaugural meeting of its Interim National Executive Committee of the party. National Chairman (also interim), Bisi Akande, was naturally all beaming. Here’s our debrief of the meeting in six questions.

What’s the next move now that you’re registered?

As part of efforts towards strengthening the party, a former House of Representatives Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Masari, was appointed to chair a nine-member committee to advise the interim national leadership on how to set up structures in all parts of the country.

The APC is also considering holding its congresses and convention by December to elect those who will formally occupy key positions in the party. The interim committee has a lifespan of six months.

Who will be the presidential nominee for 2015?

Tukur recants, denies abusing Aliyu, Kwankwaso, others

PDP National Chairman, Dr Bamanga Tukur
 

THE National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bamanga Tukur, on Wednesday disowned a statement by his media aide in which the PDP chair was said to have slammed five northern governors whose statements were described as “unguarded.”

Tukur said he never asked his spokesman, Oliver Okpala, to abuse the governors for calling for the PDP chairman’s removal as a precondition for peace to reign in the party.

The PUNCH however learnt in Abuja on Wednesday night that the embattled Tukur was pressurised to repudiate his abuse of the governors.