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You Were Paid to Criticise Buhari, Onochie Tells CAN President

Published

6 years ago

October 10, 2018

Eric

A social media adviser to Nigerian president has criticised the leader of the country’s Christian Association in an open letter posted on her Facebook page, calling the Christian leader “pretenders to the throne of God”.

Lauretta Onochie was miffed by Samson Olasupo’s criticism of Buhari’s appointments, which the latter said were lopsided.

But Onochie insisted that the CAN president’s criticism were misinformed.

“I do not really understand what you, as the leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), stand to gain from constantly misinforming Nigerians,” Onochie said.

“You keep harping on the lie that appointments made by President Buhari and VP Osinbajo, were lopsided.”

She argued that appointments made by her principal were based on “merits” and that “the appointees are qualified”.

The presidential aide accused Olasupo of being a paid agent, whose reason for criticising Buhari is motivated by money, noting that the cleric is a servant of “Mammon, commonly known as money.”

Olasupo in September said Buhari was discriminatory and partial in his appointments, with most of his appointees coming from the Muslim majority north.

He said the deliberate marginalisation of Christians by the president had added to the tension in the country.

“The dangerous and religious discrimination and partiality that have characterized the President Buhari-led administration. We believe the marginalization of the Christians is deliberate to heighten the tension in the land for whatever reasons,” Olasupo said in a statement.

Olasupo said the recent appointments of Yusuf Magaji Bichi, a Muslim, from Kano State to replace Matthew Seiyefa, a Christian from Bayelsa, Zainab Ahmed as finance minister to replace Mrs Kemi Adeosun and that of Abbas Umar Masanawa as the director-general of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company were an indication of Buhari’s nepotistic appointments.

But Onochie said the claims of favouritism were untrue. She explained that the president had been faithful to the principle of federal character.

The 1999 Nigerian Constitution expressly stated that “the government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.”

“It’s on record that this government has fulfilled the quota system and the federal character requirements in federal appointments,” she said.

“Olasupo’s criticism of Buhari’s appointments reeks of religious bigotry, ” Onochie said. She tagged the CAN president as a hater of Muslims.

However, the CAN president is not the only person that criticised the president’s appointments. Many critics said the lopsidedness in the process set a “dangerous” precedent.

“Against the clamour to broaden the heads of our nations security framework, PMB has proven himself an irredeemable irredentist,” said Donald Duke, a former governor of Cross River State and the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party in Nigeria’s next general elections.

The Guardian

Featured

Stay Away from CBT Centres, JAMB Warns Parents, Threatens Arrest

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

As this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) begins on Friday, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has vowed to arrest parents found near any Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre during the 2024 UTME exercise.

The directive was issued at the final briefing of the CBT centre owners, which was held virtually on Wednesday, 17th April, 2024.

The spokesman for JAMB, Fabian Benjamin, said this directive became necessary following the intrusive disposition of some parents during the Board’s previous exercises.

Benjamin, who quoted JAMB Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said any parent, who disobeys the order would not only be arrested but his ward would also be disqualified from sitting for the examination.

Oloyede explained that this measure became necessary as it has been discovered over time that many of these intruding parents are facilitators of examination infractions while others have, by their actions, disrupted the Board’s examinations in the past.

He added that some miscreants also disguise as parents to infiltrate the centres to perpetrate all forms of infractions.

“The Board’s helmsman noted that going by the extant national policy on education, a candidate for the examination must have attained the age of 17 years.

“Therefore, it is evident that these parents had not allowed their wards to pass through the classes as defined in the document, hence the desperation to follow their wards to the examination venue with the aim of compromising examination officials.

“At any rate, it is clear to any discerning observer that these parents deserve to be sanctioned as they had obviously ‘smuggled’ underage children into the ranks of those scheduled to sit the examination,” the Board note through a statement.

Furthermore, the Registrar said all arrangements have been concluded for the conduct of the 2024 UTME, which will be held in over 700 CBT centres across the nation.

He disclosed that the Board expects a seamless exercise but it has nevertheless made adequate provision to tackle any technical glitch that might occur in the course of the examination.

He, however, warned that if a session experienced any technical challenge, candidates in subsequent sessions would be allowed to sit their examination as scheduled while the candidates in the challenged session would be rescheduled for the last session for the day or the following day or even further depending on the centre schedules.

Featured

Oyo Govt Demolishes Operational Base of Yoruba Nation Agitators

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

The Oyo State government, on Wednesday, demolished a building serving as the operational base of the Yoruba Nation agitators led by Modupe Onitiri-Abiola, in Ibadan.

Onitiri-Abiola, one of the widows of late Bashorun M.KO Abiola, had declared the creation of the so-called Yoruba Nation in a video posted online, which has been widely condemned.

Last Saturday, some armed men in military uniforms invaded the Oyo State Secretariat, with the motive to forcefully take over the State House of Assembly, before they were dislodged by the combined efforts of police and troops for the Nigeria Army 2 Division..

Mr. Fatai Owoseni, Special Adviser on Security Matters to Governor Seyi Makinde, confirmed the demolition of the house located at Toye Oyesola Street in Ibadan South West Local Government Area.

Already, no fewer than 29 suspects – including a lecturer – arrested in connection with the foiled armed invasion were on Wednesday arraigned by the police before a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ibadan.

In a case with charge number Mi/520c/2024 between the Commissioner of Police and the 29 suspects, they were accused of a seven-count charge of treasonable felony, unlawful society, illegal possession of firearms, and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

Inspector Bakare Rasaq, the Investigative Police Officer (IPO) at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan, said the offence contravenes, and is punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

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PDP BoT Queries Damagum, Anyanwu’s Continued Stay in Office

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

The Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party has queried the continued stay in office of the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, and National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.

Recently, many party members have raised concerns about the ongoing tenure of Damagum and Anywanwu in their respective positions.

Previously serving as the PDP National Deputy Chairman (North), Damagum assumed the role of acting National Chairman following the court’s suspension of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, in March of the preceding year.

With the National Secretary being selected as the PDP candidate for the Imo State 2023 governorship election, the South zone has been grappling with nominating a replacement. Despite this, he, along with other party leaders, contested and retained the position of party secretary after losing to Governor Hope Uzodinnma.

The Punch