NOT AN EASY WAY TO VICTORY - BUHARI'S STORY.

Victory did not come easy for Nigeria’s President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari. Being the strongest rival to incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the presidential election was keenly contested.

From the onset, his acts as a former military dictator appeared to have posed a challenge but it was a challenge he stooped to conquer.

This was his fourth time out after 2003, 2007 and 2011 against a president from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). However, it was the first time that he is heading an almost united opposition, which greatly increased his chances, although his credibility has taken a few knocks.

AISHA BUHARI - BEAUTY AND BRAIN IN THE VILLA.

 

Few would have believed that the taciturn, austere General Buhari had a soft, smiling and sweet woman at home.

She was finally unveiled to Nigerians as the campaign unfolded, and to some extent, also got her own campaign bruises. While her husband suffered the pains and knocks from the hard hitting PDP campaign, Mrs. Buhari’s pains were not just that her man was under attack, but she at one time during the campaign came under physical attack of hoodlums in Ilorin, Kwara State.

What manner of style Mrs. Buhari would bring to her time in the villa would undoubtedly be dictated by her husband. Given that the general finally unbuckled to expose his wife to the rudiments of the campaign, it would not be a surprise if he allows her to perform the perfunctory duties of the wife of the president.

THE MEN WHO MADE BUHARI'S VICTORY POSSIBLE.

The significance of Muhammadu Buhari’s victory is underlined by the fact that this will be the first in the history of Nigeria’s electoral process when an incumbent president is defeated. It was no small feat that was achieved by some of the country’s most prominent political figures.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
The former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is considered a master political strategist who guided Buhari’s aspiration to a success at the party’s national convention last year.

Tinubu was able to ensure that not only did Buhari get the block vote of the Southwest, but also ensured that many states outside the region that did not have governors in the contest supported Buhari.

APC WINS MAJORITY SEAT IN THE SENATE.

The result of the National Assembly election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday has pushed the opposition All Progressives Congress to the majority status in the 109 membership Senate.

Before the election, the Peoples Democratic Party enjoyed the majority status in the red chamber with 64 members while the APC has 41. Other parties, like the Labour Party, the Accord Party and the Social Democratic Party, shared the remaining five seats.

The APC will now have 64 senators; the PDP, 45; and the Labour Party, one.

HOW PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN LOST THE ELECTION.

If President Goodluck Jonathan was afraid of the outcome of the just concluded presidential election, he never showed it. Before the election was held, he had started giving conditions on the type of people he wanted to dominate the forthcoming Eighth National Assembly

 “I would want you to elect members of the Peoples Democratic Party to the National Assembly so that I can work with people who are not rancorous” – President Goodluck Jonathan told party supporters at one of his numerous presidential rallies.

But like the biblical Moses, Jonathan has failed to lead his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, to his dreamland. His reign has brought to an abrupt end the 16-year uninterrupted reign of the party, whose former National Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, had boasted would remain in power for at least 60 years. A senior employee of the party told our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday that the former party chairman could have probably meant 16 years in his projection.

APC ORDERS 19 EXILED EKITI LAWMAKERS TO RETURN IMMEDIATELY.

The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has asked the 19 APC lawmakers in the state to return and commence sitting, saying the end of impunity has come with the victory of Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

“Buhari’s victory marks the beginning of sanity in the polity wracked by lawlessness, corruption and impunity. All democratic institutions will operate unfettered within the ambit of the law.

“On this note, we urge our 19 members in the House of Assembly to return to work immediately and take control of the affairs because a new era of law and order has returned,” the Ekiti APC said on Tuesday in a statement by its publicity secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun.

HOW IMMATURE EX-MINISTER ORUBEBE DISRUPTED THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF ELECTION RESULTS LIVE ON TV.

The fever generated by the eagerness of Nigerians about the outcome collation of the presidential election results in Abuja inched to its peak on Tuesday, when the Peoples Democratic Party’s agent, Godsday Orubebe, caused a row at the venue.

Tension rose as those within the hall and others watching the exercise on the television sets in their homes began to entertain fear that Orubebe’s attempt to stop the proceedings from going on could truncate the electoral process.

The drama had barely ended when Orubebe’s profile, was immediately updated on Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, as attempting to disrupt the announcement of the presidential election on Tuesday.

PDP HAS ESTABLISHED A LEGACY OF DEMOCRATIC FREEDOM, REJOICE - PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said despite his defeat in the hands of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of the All Progressives Congress in the last presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party should be celebrating rather than mourning.

In his statement after the announcement of the election result, Jonathan said the PDP should be rejoicing because it had in the last 16 years steered the country away from ethnic and regional politics.

He said, “To my colleagues in the PDP, I thank you for your support. Today, the PDP should be celebrating rather than mourning. We have established a legacy of democratic freedom, transparency, economic growth and free and fair elections.

FIVE KEY REASONS NIGERIA'S GOODLUCK JONATHAN LOST THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. #NIGERIAHASDECIDED.

President Jonathan has made history as the first sitting President to lose an election in Nigeria. Born in oil rich Bayelsa, he became President under a dramatic circumstance when his boss, Umaru Musa Yar'adua died in 2010.

Jonathan completed Yaradua's term and contested for the 2011 general elections under the ruling PDP. He won in 4 of the 6 geopolitical zones to defeat the current President Elect, General Buhari,

Below are five key reasons he lost the 2015 general elections.

THE 61 PROPHESIES FOR 2015 BY APOSTLE JOHNSON SULEMAN.

1.There shall be harvest of testimonies for women looking for fruit of the womb.

2. President Obama needs serious prayers for his health.

3. I see a woman becoming the president of America, but her health needs attention.

4. Britain needs prayers because of her Queen.

5. I entered the house of former president Shehu Shagari in the spirit and I saw RIP; he needs prayers.

FEDERAL HIGH COURT BARS USE OF SOLDIERS IN ELECTIONS.

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that the Nigerian Armed Forces have no role in the conduct of elections in the country.

The court relied on a recent Court of Appeal ruling that barred the use of soldiers in the conduct of elections, stating that it was a violation of Section 217(2)(c) of the Constitution and Section 1 of the Armed Forces Act.

The appellate court had also relied on a judgment by a Federal High Court in Sokoto last January also barring the use of armed forces in the conduct of elections.

The latest ruling says the Nigerian government should not deploy soldiers at polling units, a plan that had generated controversy between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC.

WHY I DUMPED APC FOR PDP. TELE IKURU, RIVERS STATE DEPUTY GOVERNOR.

The Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Tele Ikuru, has given reasons for dumping the All Progressives Congress to join the Peoples Democratic Party, saying the APC is of rebels, insurgents and anarchists.

The news of Mr. Ikulu’s decision to return to the PDP in a move that is considered a betrayal of his boss and friend, Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Mr. Ikuru, who was one of Governor Amaechi’s major ally, is said to have announced his defection in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Sunday.

70 YR OLD NUN RAPED IN INDIA. #SAYNOTORAPE.

A Nun in her 70s has been gang-raped by a group of bandits when she tried to prevent them from robbing a Christian missionary school in eastern India.

According to the Police, the nun who has since been hospitalised was in serious condition after the attack, which was committed by seven or eight men at the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in Nadia district, 80 kilometres northeast of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, the police said.

The men escaped and police are searching for them, said an officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters.

PRESIDENT JONATHAN DESERVES PRAISE FOR GIVING OPC CONTRACT - GANI ADAMS

The National Coordinator of a Yoruba group, Odua Peoples Congress, Gani Adams, says President Goodluck Jonathan deserves praise from members of the All Progressives Congress for approving a contract for the OPC to protect pipelines across the South-West.

Adams said the contract would provide at least 5,000 jobs for his boys and 10,000 jobs for other youths in the South-West.

He said this while reacting to the allegation by the APC that Jonathan bribed ethnic militias with N9bn to scuttle the elections.

KIDNAP OF CHIBOK GIRLS IS THE GREATEST EMBARRASSMENT IN NIGERIA'S POST INDEPENDENCE HISTORY - BUHARI.

General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), yesterday, described the kidnap of the Chibok schoolgirls as the greatest embarrassment in Nigeria’s post-independence history, just as he threw a challenge to anyone to dispute his success in protecting the economy while he was Head of State.

Speaking at a security summit organized by his campaign team, the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential flagbearer also lamented the failure of the administration to put the country’s refineries in shape, saying his agenda in office would be to tackle insecurity, corruption and the destroyed economy.

Noting the administration’s strategy against insurgency, he faulted the absence of a comprehensive welfare policy or plan for soldiers in the battlefield, saying it was irrational to send soldiers to battle on an empty stomach.

THE PRESIDENCY HAS NOT ADDRESSED THE MISSING $20BN ADEQUATELY - SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI.

Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and   the current Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, says the issues surrounding the missing $20bn oil money have not been adequately addressed by the Federal Government.

Sanusi, who is now known as Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II, had last year raised the alarm about missing $20bn but was removed shortly after by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Federal Government later hired an international audit firm, Pricewaterhousecoopers, to audit the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The PWC   report stated that NNPC must remit $1.48bn to the Federation Account.

HUNT IS ON FOR TERRORISTS WHO KILLED 19 IN MUSEUM ATTACK.

The hunt is on for three suspects whom the Tunisian government says are linked to the deadly terrorist attack at a museum in the North African nation's capital.

Gunmen killed at least 19 people, most of them foreign tourists, in an assault on the Bardo Museum in the heart of Tunis on Wednesday, rattling a country widely seen as the lone democratic success story of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Two attackers were killed by Tunisian security forces who moved in to end the hostage siege, Prime Minister Habib Essid said. But he warned that three other suspects are still at large.

JONATHAN'S CAMPAIGN FUNDS TEARS OGUN PDP APART

Funds earmarked for President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign coordinators across Ogun State, on Wednesday, led to fracas after party officials failed to deliver the funds to the beneficiaries.

The money was to be shared at a meeting of 708 coordinators drawn from 236 wards of the state, which took place at a hotel located along Quarry Road of Abeokuta.

But the meeting, which lasted for five hours, ended in controversy after it became clear the funds were not available.

BOKO HARAM AND THE ELECTIONS.

The announcement by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, that the 2015 elections would be postponed for six weeks was not a total surprise. Several weeks earlier, members of President Goodluck Jonathan’s inner circle, particularly the National Security Advisor, Col. Sambo Dasuki, and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, had begun to lay the groundwork for a postponement. Their remarks focused on the deteriorating security situation in the northeastern states and concerns over the challenges faced by INEC in distributing the Permanent Voter Cards. Yet, in his press conference, Jega stated that INEC was ready to proceed on time. As he later described it, the INEC decision to postpone the vote was strictly security-based, in response to a direct request from the military and concerns that the safety of poll workers and voters in the northeast could not be assured.

SWITZERLAND SET TO RETURN N75.2BN STOLEN BY ABACHA TO NIGERIA.

Swiss officials have said the $380m siphoned off by the family of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, and confiscated by the Geneva authorities, will be returned to Nigeria. The amount is about N75.2bn at N198/dollar interbank rate.

The file on the matter, opened since 1999, would be closed, the officials said in a statement on the website of the Geneva public prosecutor’s office.According to the office, the move comes now that Nigeria and the Abacha family have struck a deal.

The Federal Government has long been chasing funds looted by the Abacha clan while the matriach was in power from 1994 to 1998.