Mimiano

The All Progressives Congress has pruned its search for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s (retd.) running mate to three incumbent governors and a former one. SUNDAY PUNCH reliably gathered on Saturday that the leadership of the party has the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN); his Edo State counterpart, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole; and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, as well as former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on its final list of four. It was learnt that the APC governors had demanded that one of them should be picked as the running mate of Buhari, who emerged as the party’s presidential candidate on Thursday. Our correspondents gathered that Oshiomhole and Amaechi made the list because some leaders of the APC feel that South-South should produce the vice-president in order to cut down the votes of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is also from the geo-political zone. Other party leaders are pushing for the South- West because of the massiv

National Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere Renewal Group, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo Pan-Yoruba association, Afenifere Renewal Group, has said former President Olusegun Obasanjo created some of the challenges bedeviling the country. In an electronic mail to our correspondent, the group’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, said though the ex-president shared the blame, the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the extent of insecurity, economic crisis and corruption in the country. He said, “With the security of the country at the lowest abysmal region and unbridled corruption eating daily into the fabric of our society, you can smell nepotism all over the place. “The reign of impunity and terror can be found in President Jonathan’s administration. Even as former President Olusegun Obasanjo created part of the problems confronting Nigeria today, his reign cannot be compared with the clueless Jonathan administration that some people ar

The emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan and a former military Head of State, General Mohammadu Buhari (retd), as presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress respectively have set the stage for a political war among various ethnic and cultural groups in the country. SUNDAY PUNCH enquires showed that while some of the groups have taken decisions to queue behind either Jonathan or Buhari, others are in the process of taking decision on whom to support. This is happening even as some of the groups have, however, chosen to be neutral. Buhari is the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate for the February 2015 election. He defeated four other APC aspirants: Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rochas Okorocha and Sam Nda-Isaiah to clinch the party’s ticket at a national convention/primary that held Thursday in Lagos. His victory sets him yet again as the number one challenger to President Goodluck Jonathan, who on We

Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, Akin Oke, has expressed his disappointment at a former governor of the state, Adebayo Alao-Akala, for his decision to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party to the Labour Party, instead of the ruling APC. Alao-Akala had joined the LP on the day the PDP held its governorship primary election in Ibadan the state capital, in protest against the outcome of the exercise. Oke, while speaking on the development, wondered why Alao-Akala made the decision when his chances of success were brighter in the APC. While recognising Alao-Akala as a political heavyweight in the state, Oke said although APC might not give the ex-governor its governorship ticket, he would have gotten a senatorial ticket and with bright chances of success at the polls. Oke said, “Incidentally, Alao-Akala is my brother; we come from the same town and zone. I know his weight, he has a formidable weight. But I think he

former United States of America Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell A former United States ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, has raised the alarm that current situations in Nigeria, especially falling oil prices, are making it difficult for the country to avoid disintegration. He stated that apart from the Boko Haram insurgency plaguing the country, the falling oil prices posed a new challenge to the Federal Government. Campbell also noted that any attempt by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to pursue policies of austerity could lead to a protest similar to that of the oil subsidy removal in 2012. The Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies writing on the Council on Foreign Relations website said, “National elections are scheduled for February 14, 2015. Elections are the occasion and the venue for competition, often violent, among Nigeria’s fractured political elite. In the past, abundant oil money provided a means to resolve numer