Politics
Obasanjo Morally Squalid, Attacks Leaders Out Of Frustration – Garba Shehu
Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media & Publicity, has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a morally squalid individual who attacks leaders out of frustration.
In a letter, Mr. Obasanjo claimed that Mr. Buhari had dragged the country below its 1999 status.
Reacting, Mr. Shehu in a statement on Monday, said Mr. Obasanjo is so well known to all that no one needs to describe who he is.
His statement reads: “former President Obasanjo is so well known to all that no one needs to describe who he is.
“But, four things we will like to say:
“One is that he will not stop attacking President Muhammadu Buhari because the former President won’t stop being jealous of anyone who beats him to a new record in the nation’s development process.
“President Buhari is ahead of Chief Obasanjo in all fields of national development and to do that is cardinal sin to Obasanjo whose hallucinations tell him that he is the best ever to lead Nigeria and there will never be another one better than him.
“President Buhari just completed the world class edifice that is the Second Niger Bridge after three decades of failed promises. It is now awaiting commissioning.
“Obasanjo laid the sod for the bridge in his first term as elected President and work never started.
“When he sought re-election for his second term in office, he returned to the site to turn the sod for the bridge the second time. When the Obi of Onitsha, forthright and scholarly, reminded him that he had done this in the past, Obasanjo told the foremost Southeast traditional ruler that he was a liar, in the full presence of the Chiefs and Oracles in his palace.
“Obasanjo lied to the Southeast to get their votes. President Buhari didn’t get their votes but built the bridge because he believed it is the right thing to do.
“Two, President Buhari had been bagging awards and encomiums for trying to do that which the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says a leader should do: serve one, or a maximum of two terms and go.
“President Buhari has been stating and restating that he will supervise a better election than the one that brought him to the office and to leave as and when due.
“Having tried tenure elongation and failed, Obasanjo’s fictitious mind must be telling him that he is the one under attack.
“But he is not on President Buhari’s radar because experience has shown, especially lately in West Africa where there have been at least three successful coups and many other failed attempts, that third term or tenure elongation is a recipe for political instability.
“Furthermore, the totality of African leaders appointed President Buhari the Anti-Corruption Champion of the continent.
“You can’t be an anti-corruption champion if “you meddled and bent the rules,” carrying the putrid responsibility of what happened to national assets in the name of privatization as documented by the Nigerian Senate in 2011.
“As an insight, the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, which was set up with $3.2 billion, was sold to a Russian firm, Russal, for a paltry $130million. Delta Steel, which was set up in 2005, at a cost of $1.5billion, was sold to Global Infrastructure for just $30million.
“ALSCON got back $120million for the dredging of the Imo River, which was never carried out.
“Three, which is linked to the one above is the growing profile of President Buhari as the Champion of Democracy not only at home and in the West African subregion but the African continent as whole.
“As President, Obasanjo destabilized internal democracy by orchestrating impeachment after impeachment of governors who were not compliant with his highly imperial administration.
“As we said sometime back, Mr. Obasanjo’s tenure, 1999-2007, represented the dark days of Nigeria’s democracy due to a slew of assaults on the constitution.
“The former president deployed federal machinery to remove governors Joshua Dariye, Rashidi Ladoja, Peter Obi, Chris Ngige and Ayo Fayose from office. They were the then governors of Plateau, Oyo, Anambra, Anambra and Ekiti, respectively, unjustly removed using the police and secret service under his control.
“Under him, a five-man legislature met at 6:00 am and “impeached” Governor Dariye in Plateau; 18 members out of 32 removed Governor Ladoja of Oyo from office; in Anambra, APGA’s Governor Obi was equally impeached at 5:00 a.m. by members who did not meet the two-thirds required by the constitution.
“Lawmaking powers of the Rivers State legislature were transferred to the federal parliament to punish Governor Amaechi for shifting his political alliance.
“Moreover, he damned the Supreme Court and unlawfully held back Lagos State revenues due from federal sources on account of his pettiness against Governor Bola Tinubu.
“On the other hand, in Washington a few weeks ago, the US President Joe Biden at a meeting with African Heads of States and Government described President Buhari as a champion of democracy and role model for the leaders of African states.
“Clearly, Obasanjo has become even more jealous by adopting a vengeful attitude.
“Four, to say that “frying pan to fire” is the situation in Nigeria at this time should be read to mean a personal experience to him and we know what that means.
” “Hell” for Obasanjo is when a President, any President that comes after him refuses to be his own puppet, to do as he wishes on all matters and at all times.
“He then keeps attacking out of frustration.
“Obasanjo’s vengeful attitude towards President Buhari is the height of selfishness and little short of moral squalor.”
Mr. Obasanjo, recently endorsed the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, while ignoring the Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu despite being from the same region.
It was a plethora of pleasantries in Osogbo on Thursday, when Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke was named 2024 Governor of the year and endorsed for second tenure in office by the top management of the Leadership Newspaper.
The newspaper’s team was on a courtesy call on Gov Adeleke, Biztellers reports.
Receiving them at the Government House, Gov Adeleke noted that his administration had reduced the infra deficit by over 40 percent.
He added that his administration had also bridged access to primary health care, with an ambition to expand health access at medium and tertiary levels.
He said, “Osun State is constantly getting recognitions for what outsiders and even opposition members regard as our commendable performance.
“In the last one year, our government has been conferred with several awards across the sectors. Aside from reputable newspapers like the leadership stable, we have received accolades from several federal agencies and non-governmental bodies. The consensus from those reviewing our performance and service delivery is that we are true agents of good governance.
“In all these positive ratings, my response has always been to task my team to double their efforts. In the face of overwhelming positive reviews and high approval ratings, I am compelled to drive my team harder. When recently, some opposition figures confessed to our positive ratings, I still believe we have a lot of grounds to cover.
“I am not allowing the praises to enter my head. While it may be true that I have delivered a four-year task in under two years, I am propelled to do more because Osun has been left behind on many fronts. As I have reduced the infra deficit by over 40 percent, my real target Is higher. As I have bridged access to primary health care, my ambition is to also expand health access at medium and tertiary levels. While our records across the sectors are laudable as your newspaper has acknowledged, the ultimate goal is to accelerate infra upgrade alongside the boosting of soft investment for the well-being of our people.
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“I appreciate your candid endorsement of our performance. It is important to note that your yardstick for recognizing us correlates with similar reasons adduced by others. Our huge governance records are undeniable facts especially in workers’ welfare, infrastructure delivery, educational expansion, health care access improvement, solid mineral sector reforms, digital economy initiatives, agricultural mechanisation among others.
“I want to assure the public that our administration is not slowing down. Very soon, I will flag off ongoing remodeling of Osogbo stadium to assume international standard. Prior to the ongoing stadium project, we have engineered the creation of Osun Sport Commission and Osun Sport Fund through appropriate legal and policy framework.
“Very soon, I will be flagging off the dualisation of phase one of Odoori – Post office road at Iwo. The contractor for Iwo -Osogbo road has mobilized to site. We plan to complete the two projects within the life of this administration. Meanwhile, the dualisation project at Ilesa is progressing while the flyover bridge at Ile Ife is ongoing with appreciable progress. 2025 is billed to be a year of further expansion of good governance for the good of man and humanity.
On his part, the Vice Chairman of Leadership Group Mike Okpere, noted that the recognition is in order to give Gov Adeleke an insight and encouragement to do a second term.
“Your excellency you will see that, we didn’t just come down here, we had a meeting before the award and that is why we are here, so this trip is to notify you formally for this award and we personally invite you on the 8th of April at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Asokoro where this award will be handed on over to you.
“Our Reputable Person of the Year is Aliko Dangote, you all are aware of the investment he just concluded, by bringing fuel production into Nigeria, because of that and many other things, we chose him as our person of the year.
“Other person’s that would be sharing the merit are other governors that have touched people’s lives, among them is the Governor from Akwa Ibom State, the Governor of Enugu State, the Governor of Jigawa State and the Governor of Kano State.
“We didn’t call this Leadership Governor of the year, we call it Governor of the year, in other words, what we are saying is that, this recognition will give you an insight and encouragement to do a second term.
“As a newspaper company, we don’t endorse Governors but when we see something we say it, your Excellency sir, I therefore want to present this notification and official invitation”, he added.
Other members of the Leadership Newspaper team includes, Abraham Nda Isaiah, Director, Leadership Group, Ibidiran Ayokunle, Head Southern Operations, Joshua Dada, Osun State.
The Cross River State House of Assembly has initiated the process to amend the Local Government Law 2007, introducing provisions to expand political appointments and enhance local government administration across the state.
The bill, sponsored by Rt. Hon. Davies Etta, representing Abi State Constituency, was debated on Tuesday in Calabar.
It proposes increasing the number of appointees in each Local Government Area (LGA) to 50. Among the new roles are 16 Special Adviser positions and a cadre of officials known as Ward Relation Officers.
According to the bill, “The Chairman of Council may appoint such a number of Special Advisers to assist him in the discharge of his duties, provided that appointments, when added to other statutory appointments, shall not exceed a total number of 50.”
The proposed Ward Relation Officers will hold ranks equivalent to Special Advisers and will report directly to the Chairmen of their respective LGAs.
This move, the Assembly says, is aimed at fostering grassroots engagement and improving governance at the local level.
Another key provision of the bill seeks to elevate the office of the Head of Local Government Administration (HOLGA) to the status of a Permanent Secretary within the state public service.
The amendment stipulates that HOLGAs will enjoy all the rights, privileges, and entitlements of Permanent Secretaries, including pensions.
“The office of the HOLGA shall be equivalent to the office of a Permanent Secretary of the State Public Service and shall enjoy all rights and privileges of the Permanent Secretary, including pensions,” the bill states.
It also specifies that appointments to the HOLGA position must be made exclusively from within the local government service in the state.
The bill, which has passed its first and second readings, has been referred to a joint committee on Local Government Affairs, Judiciary, and Public Accounts for further review and consultations with stakeholders.
Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem, underscored the importance of the proposed amendment, noting that it would strengthen local government administration and improve service delivery to the grassroots.
The Assembly is expected to hold further deliberations before making a final decision on the proposed amendments.
Donald Trump has completed his return to the White House with his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States (POTUS).
Trump’s historic return, on account of adverse weather conditions, happened with a remarkable ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda, on Monday.
In his inaugural address, President Trump outlined a bold agenda for his administration, touching on issues of gender, race, border control, economic reforms, and energy policies.
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President Trump asserted that his administration would recognise only two genders — male and female — effectively dismissing identities such as transgender, non-binary, and genderqueer.
President Trump asserted, “This week, I will end the government policy of engineering race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. Henceforth, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”
He unveiled plans to overhaul the trade system, introducing an “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs from foreign countries, promising to shift the economic burden away from U.S. taxpayers.
“I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump stated.
The POTUS vowed to make America a “manufacturing nation” again by leveraging the country’s vast oil and gas reserves.
“America will be a manufacturing nation once again. We will use our liquid gold — oil and gas — to bring prices down, fill our reserves, and export energy worldwide. We will end the Green New Deal and revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry,” he said.
On border control, President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border and announced measures to combat illegal immigration.
“All illegal entry will be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions of criminal aliens. The Remain in Mexico policy will be reinstated, and catch-and-release practices will end. Troops will secure our borders to repel this invasion,” he announced.
He also pledged to designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to combat criminal networks.
The POTUS announced the formation of a Department of Government Efficiency and outlined measures to tackle inflation and high costs.
He also promised an aggressive crackdown on crime, leveraging federal and state resources to eliminate gang activity.
“As commander-in-chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions,” President Trump added.
He recounted an assassination attempt during his campaign, framing his survival as a divine sign of his purpose to “make America great again.”
In addition, President Trump criticised America’s healthcare and education systems, promising significant reforms to address inadequacies exposed by recent natural disasters.
The event, attended by lawmakers, distinguished guests, and family members, marked the beginning of President Trump’s second term. Vice President JD Vance was also sworn in, taking the oath of office in a ceremony presided over by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
It was gathered that earlier in the day, President Trump and Melania Trump met with outgoing President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden, continuing the tradition of a handover meeting between administrations.
At a pre-inauguration rally, President Trump addressed supporters, promising to pardon January 6 defendants and issuing executive orders on his first day in office.
Despite freezing temperatures, the ceremony proceeded with President Trump expressing confidence in his administration’s vision and America’s future.
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