ICC to probe Patience Jonathan

Mrs. Patience Jonathan

The Internal Criminal Court on Monday said Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is liable to prosecution.

The global criminal court added that it had begun conducting preliminary examinations relating to the situations in Nigeria.

In an email written to our correspondent, the Office of the prosecutor stated that it received the petition written by the major opposition party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress, asking the ICC to prosecute President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife for making inciting comments that might lead to violence.

The email read, “Under Article 15 of the Rome Statue, the Prosecutor of the ICC may receive information on crimes within the jurisdiction on the Court (also called ‘Communication’).

“With regards to your enquiry, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court can confirm receipt of the communication referred to since the sender (APC) has made this fact public in the media.”

It added that the court would take all the necessary steps, which will likely include interrogating the President’s wife and others mentioned in the petition of the APC.

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“The office will give consideration to this communication, as appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, as it does with all such communications,” the email sent to our correspondent concluded.

Also, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, on Monday issued a press statement made available to our correspondent.

In it, she reiterated the stance of the ICC to prosecute anyone who promotes or instigates violence before, during or after the general elections.

The ICC prosecutor noted that it had already started to conduct independent and impartial investigations and prosecution of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur, Sudan, Libya, Ivory Coast and Mali.

“The Office is also conducting preliminary examinations relating to the situations in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Iraq, Nigeria, Ukraine and Palestine,” the ICC said.

We’ll gladly receive Gbemi Saraki, says APC

Gbemi Saraki

The All Progressives Congress in Kwara State on Monday said it would gladly receive one of the governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Gbemi Saraki, if she finally decides to defect from the PDP to the APC.

The Kwara APC Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, in an interview with journalists, said Saraki’s defection would be a welcome development to APC.

He, however, said she had yet to officially inform the APC that she wants to defect.

There are insinuations that she may soon defect to APC because of the alleged unfair treatment from PDP to her.

Buhari said, “We will gladly receive her. It will be a good development for her to defect. However, she has yet to consult us at the party level. Everything is still in the realms of rumour.

“If the politician decides to come to APC she is welcomed. APC is a larger house that can accommodate everybody. It is good for her to make up her mind at the appropriate time. It is clear to all in the state and the entire country that APC is the party to beat in the forthcoming elections. Nobody wants to belong to a sinking party like the PDP.”

But the state PDP Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Razaq, said the party is still urging Saraki not to defect to APC.

He stated that it might not be a good political decision for her to defect to APC, having invested significantly in PDP.

Razaq said, “At this critical time in the life of our party in the state, we believe that all hands must be on deck to sustain the party and lead it to victory in the forthcoming polls.

“As a party, we believe Senator Gbemi Saraki has made invaluable contributions and sacrifices for the PDP in the state and beyond. We particularly noted her maturity and sportsmanship before, during and after the party primaries which produced distinguished Senator Simeon

Ajibola as the party’s governorship candidate for the April 11 governorship election in the state.

“It would therefore be sad if such an individual, who has immensely uplifted the party in the state, abandons the house she has built at its time of need. This is Kwara PDP’s time of need and we urge Senator Saraki to remain in the party and see through the struggle for the liberation of the masses.”

I’m not ready to feed Jonathan in prison – Patience

Mrs. Patience Jonathan

Wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, has said she is not ready to feed her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, in prison.

The President’s wife spoke in Ado Ekiti, on Monday, during the rally of the women’s wing of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Making a reference to the All Progressives Congress, she asked, “What did they forget in Aso rock? If you vote PDP and Jonathan, it would be better for you. If you vote APC, you will go to prison. How can you jail somebody for 300 years? I’m not ready to carry food to my husband inside prison oh!”

She openly admitted that the Office of the First Lady, which she occupies, is illegal.

She, however, said there was nothing wrong in a woman supporting her husband in office.

She said, “They said there is no Office of the First Lady. Already, we know that there is no Office of the First Lady but there is wife of the President.

“As (the) wife of the President, if you are good, people will love you. You will have a Non-Governmental Organisation through which you will touch people’s lives. That is why I brought Women for Change Initiative.”

While she was talking, women – both old and young – fought to have their share of the leftover of rice distributed by Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, during the last Christmas festival, packaged in small bags.

The women were still struggling over the rice packaged in small bags when attention was diverted to another struggle for buckets presented by Senator Gbemi Saraki in commemoration of the October 16 inauguration of Fayose.

In the struggle, which almost resulted in a stampede, many of the women got injured.

Shoes, headgears, wigs and bags littered the floor while a woman was heard complaining to a friend that she lost her bangle.

Security men had a hectic time controlling the surging women who engaged in a brawl.

Mrs. Jonathan described APC as a poison, saying, “If you drink APC, you will die.”

Accusing the party of having to change name several times, she said, “Since my father was born, they have been around changing from one name to another. Very soon they would answer Ebola. The name can’t change you; it is only performance that can change you. If you like change it 100 times.

“Nigerian women shine your eyes, don’t go for analogue, go for digital. PDP is digital, APC is analogue.

Fayose at the event took a swipe at former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying his tacit support for the APC presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhamadu Buhari (retd.), would get him nowhere.

“After Jonathan, the North can have their own eight years. Whether they like it or not, whether that our baba, you know him, whether he tore his card or not, whether he ate the card or not, Buhari is going nowhere,” he declared.

“Goodluck is our own. He is coming back. I am carrying the madate of a people who believe in me. If they do elections here 20 times, I will win,” he boasted.

Mrs. Jonathan said it was time for the women to pay back her husband for appointing several women into positions of authority.

“This is the time to say thank you so that he will do more. Those people when they were there, they said we didn’t have brains. Jonathan came and lifted us from where we were lying helplessly.”

She urged the women to collect their Permanent Voter Cards and vote massively for the president.

“PDP is not a party that tells lies. Whatever we promise to do, we do. We are not a propagandist party. Ekiti women, your mother is here and I will not tell you lies, but the truth.

“Nigerian women shine your eyes o! Vote with what you have seen, who you already know and who has performed. If anyone is telling you change, they are deceiving you.

“These were people that when they were there before Goodluck Jonathan, they did not count you women as anything. But today, PDP has wiped away our tears. Jonathan has wiped off our tears. He has fulfilled his promise of giving women 35 per cent participation. He gave 16 seats to women out of 42 slots in his cabinet. He is a performer.”

Earlier, over 100 wives of Ekiti monarchs welcomed the President’s wife to the palace of the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, where seven of them prayed for her while she knelt down in their midst.

Speaking through the wife of the Ewi, Mrs. Abosede Adejugbe, the wives of the monarchs appealed to the President’s wife to extend the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme to Ekiti State fully.

She assured her of total support in the coming general election.

The wife of the Ewi also called on six other ‘oloris’ in addition to herself to pray for Mrs. Jonathan, describing seven as a powerful number.

Jonathan, wife planning to kill me –Father Mbaka

Ejike Mbaka

Enugu-based Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has alleged that President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, were planning to kill him over his criticism of the Federal Government and his opposition to the President’s re-election.

Mbaka, in a new video currently trending on YouTube, made the allegation during a sermon he delivered in his church.

The congregation erupted in a howl when Mbaka said, “President Jonathan and his wife are planning to kill me.”

The Roman Catholic Priest, whose recent comments on the general elections generated ripples, said the plan to assassinate him showed that the President no longer had the fear of God.

He said, “Although I sent a letter about this somewhere but I want to say this to the atmosphere. Let me say to the whole world that President Jonathan and his wife, Patience, are planning to assassinate Father Mbaka. It is a known secret, so whoever they want to use, I don’t know. They may not come themselves. They may use these unemployed people. The same people I am speaking for. I don’t know why people no longer have the fear of God.

“Do they think that killing Father Mbaka will make Jonathan and his wife win the election? Is Mbaka their problem? And a priest asked a question that touched me. He said all this while that Father Mbaka has been supporting Jonathan and his wife, did Buhari and his party make any statement to threatened him?”

Mbaka maintained that his criticism of the Jonathan administration was a divine mandate, while making allusion to the bible story of when God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

He compared his New Year message against President Jonathan to Moses’ message to the Egyptian King, Pharaoh.

He said in the video, “I am just trying to tell any Pharaoh that is threatening to kill any Moses to remember what happened in Exodus chapter 12. After the Passover, the family of Pharaoh cried. They ended in the middle of the Red Sea.”

The Catholic priest said despite the threats, he would continue to discharge his duties without fear of anyone.

Mbaka also denied that Patience Jonathan gave him any money when she visited his church.

He said although President Jonathan dropped money for him through Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, he left the money with Ekweremadu and his wife. He also said that Patience Jonathan’s offering to the church was also rejected.

Mbaka launched a scathing criticism of President Jonathan last year when he gave a sermon condemning his re-election.

TB Joshua Speaks On Elections, Predicts Plane Crash

 


On Sunday 15th March 2015, Nigerian cleric T.B. Joshua gave a warning to Nigerians over the upcoming elections, further adding that he foresaw an imminent plane crash within Nigeria.

“Pray for Nigeria because I am seeing a plane crash,” Joshua stated in a service televised live via Christian channel Emmanuel TV. “It’s not a good thing to lose personalities again,” he added, specifying that prayer and fasting should be especially offered from 19th to 23rd.

Addressing the contentious elections scheduled to hold on March 28th, the cleric stated, “The challenge Nigeria is facing – on the day of voting, when you drop your votes in the ballot box, you will know who is PDP and who is APC. It’s a parable; very delicate. Because everybody plays a game; we deceive ourselves. ‘So this man voted for this party but he’s in that party.’ ”

Joshua stated that a dark cloud was hanging over the nation. “The cloud is darker. When it is about to rain, you cannot see in front again,” he vividly described.

The cleric further emphasised that vengeance was nigh for the perpetrators of the building collapse that left 116 dead last year September, insisting it was an attack. “There must be vengeance concerning what happened here. Both the slaves and masters must pay the price.”

He stated he was unhappy due to the innocent blood spilled in his church premises and the refusal of those responsible to admit. “God gave me an order that I should continue this work – so I must do it. Nothing can separate me from the work of God but your prophet is not happy. I will be happy when vengeance comes,” he stated, with a markedly stern countenance.

The cleric further prophesied concerning the nation of Russia, referring to the recent assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. “I am still seeing the same thing happening – killing of a hero, even bigger than the one that was killed. I am talking in parables. Who could be bigger than the man that was shot in Russia? You should pray for the authority there; pray for the President of Russia.”

Joshua also stated that he had collected his own Permanent Voters Card (PVC) as a responsible Nigerian citizen, although admitting his approach oftentimes did not reflect his citizenship. “I am living as if I am a stranger in my own country,” he told congregants.

APC has evidence of Jonathan’s interim govt plan –Fayemi

Kayode Fayemi

Ex-Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said the All Progressives Congress has strong evidence against President Goodluck Jonathan over his alleged plot to foist an Interim Government on the country.

He said the allegation made by the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that his life was being threatened confirmed the desperation of the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government and Jonathan.

Fayemi, who said this in Aramoko Ekiti on Saturday during the 40-day Fidau for the late Pa Jejelola Akingbolu and Mrs. Raliat Akingbolu, also lambasted Governor Ayodele Fayose for allegedly lying against the APC Presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), over his health status.

“We have heard somebody whose own definition of politics is about lying, saying Gen. Buhari was taken to a hospital in London. Buhari never went to the hospital throughout the 10 days he was in London, because I was with him throughout.

“Fayose even used his mother as an example of how people who are old used to behave just because he wanted to drive home a point that Gen. Buhari was sick. This is like disgracing his own mother in the public and it is against the value Ekiti is known for.”

The ex-governor said Jonathan could not deny that he invited Tinubu to be part of the planned Interim Government, saying that the APC leader made the allegation in good faith and not to discredit the President or heat up the polity.

He said, “President Jonathan is becoming desperate by the day and he would stop at nothing to return to government. You know what they did in Ekiti. So, there was nothing Tinubu said that was not verifiable.

“I have evidence that he (Tinubu) was invited to be part of the Interim Government as a way of dividing us as a prominent member of our party. There is absolutely nothing they cannot do to distract us because they could see that the Presidency is gradually slipping off their hands.

“It was good that these alarms were being raised and put in the front burner that there was a sinister intention to subvert the will of the people.

“What Nigerians are looking for now is for the elections to hold on March 28 as scheduled by INEC and for the victor, who will be overwhelmingly elected by the popular votes, to be announced.

“We, as party leaders and members of opposition, are ready to congratulate the winner but if they go ahead and subvert the will of the people, they will surely go to jail.”

Fayemi assured Nigerians that Buhari would keep to his promise not to dig into the financial corruption perpetrated in the past under Jonathan if that was what members of the ruling party were afraid of.

“Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari said he won’t look into the past. He said he will draw the line on the very day he took over and I don’t know why President Jonathan, who has the paraphernalia of office, is afraid of election.

“There was nothing the PDP, even as a ruling party has not done to ensure that these elections are not held. We have heard about the sowing of fake Army uniform. We have heard about how they want to use the Army to rig the election. We have seen attempt to sack Prof. Attahiru Jega. We have heard about how they have been preaching about religion, talking about the health of Gen. Buhari and the way they had been canvassing for postponement of elections and non-usage of card readers. The big question still remain, why are they afraid of election?”

Fayemi declared that the government of Jonathan would be held responsible, if anything bad happened to Tinubu.

Don’t attempt to kill Buhari, APC tells PDP

Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd)

The All Progressives Congress has called on the Peoples Democratic Party and the Federal Government to shun any plan to assassinate Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

The APC also raised the alarm over an alleged plot by ruling party to discredit Buhari.

But the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Abdullahi Jalo, has urged the APC to provide evidence of any of such plan by the ruling party to assassinate Buhari.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed, said that the PDP-led government had security men specially trained as snipers to eliminate those opposed to President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.

He said, “I have never seen a government so terrified of elections as this present administration. And I have never seen a candidate so terrified of the opposition as Jonathan. Even as recent as last week, (Ekiti State Governor Ayodele) Fayose was asking for the withdrawal of Buhari from the Presidential election; and it is just bizarre -but that coming from Fayose, one should not be surprising.

“Coming to issue of security, they have made an attempt on his (Buhari) life once before; it can be done again. But, let us warn them that any attempt on the life of Buhari or Bola Tinubu will lead to a consequence that will be very dear for this country. They should not even contemplate it.”

Muhammed told one of our correspondents that the allegation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo concerning President Jonathan’s administration training snipers to assassinate opposition politicians was true.

The APC spokesman claimed the Special Force Team was drawn from the Police, the Air Force, the Navy, the Department of Security Service and the National Intelligence Agency.

“It is true. They were trained in Belarus. They are security agents drawn from the NIA, the DSS, the Police, the Air Force and the Navy. They were trained on how to take out targets without any trace or without being discovered and they will leave the scene quietly.”

In spite of this alleged threat, Mohammed said all APC members and supporters should remain resolute and calm.

Speaking further, the party’s spokesman berated the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, for allowing himself to be bullied by the Presidency and security chiefs.

Reacting to the allegation, Jalo told one of our correspondents that the APC spokesman and his party were known to make wild, unproven allegations, saying the allegation to take out Buhari was not true.

“The PDP is committed to the election peace pact signed in Abuja. We will abide by it. It is a covenant we are determined to keep. Having said that, the burden of proof concerning Lai’s allegation rests on him and the party. In the usual manner of whipping up sentiments to deceive Nigerians, they have come up with this propaganda. Let him and his party provide photo, video, audio or meeting place where a plot to assassinate their presidential candidate was hatched. Nigerians have become wiser today. They cannot be swayed by the APC propaganda machine,” the PDP spokesman said.